Not One Goat, But Two!

Introducing Cassidy.

She's a goat that, until now, lived across the street.

Our neighbors are moving and Cassidy needed a new home.

So we volunteered to give her one.

She has an attitude.

Seriously.

She keeps getting out of the chain.

She helped her friend Cooper hop the fence.

We chained them together for bonding time.

Dumb goats.

Cooper is the goat that the neighbor wants back.

She likes him.

But Cassidy will be with us for a while.

And the feeling now is that Cassidy will be nothing but trouble!

Where The N*ked L*dies D*nce.

My kids take piano lessons.

They have a great teacher.

She teaches them from the John W Schaum piano course books.

It's awesome.

My kids get the songs quickly.

A couple of weeks ago Isaac was practicing The Snake Song.

It's the tune you might remember from elementary school.

There's a place in France where the ....

You know the rest.

I sang it out loud while Isaac was playing.

I couldn't stop myself.

I've had to repent and explain to my dear children that we really don't sing songs like that.

Daniel was shocked.

But I knew the song at their age.

Isn't it a right of passage to sing about n*ked ladies in France?

Maybe not.

Maybe not in Utah.

But I hear about n*ked ladies every once in a while.

For the most part, they've forgotten the words.

I have to stop myself from making the snake dance move I remember doing while singing the song as a kid.

Sad.

Oh. And slightly embarrassing.

Attack Of The Legos.

I went through my pictures on my camera to post something and found all these Lego pictures. Isaac is our resident Lego man.

Here's a taste of the Lego mania...

A robot.

A car.
Lots of cars.

A robot. A car. Lots of cars. All together.

Oh! And NEVER bug this chick when she's trying to practice the piano!!

Trust me!

Never a dull moment at our hogar!

Getting Along Swimmingly.

Lots of water fun this week. And it's only Tuesday!

Monday we went to a local park with a splash pad. Free water fun!

And playgrounds. Heaven.

They played for as long as they could until they were starving and we needed to come home to eat some lunch.
We will definitely go back
But today we spent 3 hours swimming.
We are exhausted!
Well, I'm exhausted. My kids didn't want to leave.
But now they are in jammies and laying on the couch.
I think they're exhausted, too.
I am showered and dry.
My ears are still a little wet.
Tomorrow is movie day and piano lessons.
Wednesday will be a dry day.

What's Going On?

There is a lot going on in my mind and my heart right now. No. Nothing to announce. In fact, I wonder what it is that my family, and me in particular, are supposed to be learning during this horrendous wait. I know of many women, who, over the past 4 years since we have begun waiting for our next child, have had 2 or even 3 babies. Oh my heart.

I have been asked by several women over the past few weeks if I'm okay. I say I am. With that slight smile that could tell anyone asking that I'm not. But I can't really share the things going on in my heart and mind right now. How do you tell someone who hasn't been waiting for over 4 years for a child how you feel? Honestly, I don't know.

I should put in here that we have had a busy summer. Cruise. Water. Movies. Camping. BBQs. Cousins. Lagoon. Bikes. Frosty Freezy Freeze treats. Friends. Crafts. We are never bored. So I have had a lot to keep me busy. And my kids are terrific entertainers. Today they single handedly put together a show to film and then send in to America's Funniest Home Videos. It's very clever. You'd never know it was staged. They make me laugh!! And when we rode rides at Lagoon, Sam would yell out, "I'm too young to die!" and "Whoever made this is crazy!" Do you know how hard it is to laugh when screaming on a roller coaster?!

So what is it I'm trying to say? Heck! I don't know. I really need to put more energy into sharing our fun with you, though! I need to take my camera with me more often. We are more than halfway through our summer! Yikes. And then my babies will be gone ALL DAY! ALL 3 OF THEM! What will I do with myself? I am working on that. Something will come to me. Daniel asked if I would get a job. HA!! I don't know that many of you knew me when I worked. It's not a good thing! The workforce is better off without the likes of me! But I will figure something out. And maybe I'll let you know. So for this Sunday evening, goodnight.

Oh. And never believe a lady who has been waiting for an elusive adoption and says she is okay. She's not. She might just need a hug. Or something.

A Thought For Thursday.

Trust God

and believe in good things to come.

Jeffrey R Holland

It's Alive!

Well, I'm still alive. Just lost my bloggin mojo there. I'll be back soon. We are happy, healthy, playing and loving. And hot! I will update this blasted thing soon....

It Rang!

My adoption cell phone rang tonight!!

I answered...

Me: "Hello!"

Her: "Um. Hi."

Me: *in my head= "Oh WOW!"*

Her: "Is Bon Jovi there?"

Me: "Excuse me?"

Her: *giggle* "Is Bon Jovi there?"

Me: *disgusted* "You've got the wrong number."

Her: "Oh, sorry."

Dang!

Element Bending.

My kids enjoy watching Avatar, The Last Airbender. Then something extraordinary happened. They made a movie! Yay! We watched the ads for the movie over and over with "This film is not yet rated" for many many weeks. Finally, about a week before the release date, which changed from July 2 to July 1, they pinned a rating. PG. Cool. We could take the kids. We are diehards when it comes to ratings. But PG is doable. Well, usually it means we will buy it and watch it at home. But since it's summer and my kids love the series, we decided The Last Airbender would be a family movie experience.

So we put it on the calendar. July 10. Matinee. Popcorn. Licorice. Cold theater. Assigned seats. As the day came closer, I found myself watching the series with the kids. I love what those people can do. The benders. Water, Air, Earth, Fire. Amazing. Ruthie would bend water in the tub. They would all bend earth outside in the garden. We can all bend air by just moving our arms really fast. Fire is a little harder to do. I don't let them play with matches.

Here is what they all bend...
Isaac-Air
Sam-Earth
Ruthie-Fire
At least that's what they bend today. All I have to do is ask. On Saturday as we drove to the theater we all chose what element we can bend. They were all picked by the time I got to choose. So I chose to be the Avatar. Bend it all. And this is how I'd use it:

Air-Blow the barn and/or skunk stink out of the neighborhood when necessary. Cool off the cake quicker so I can frost it quicker so I can taste it quicker. Create dust storms when I felt I wanted a dust storm.

Water-You know how I feel about water. I would use this bending skill to water the garden. Water the lawn. Get my kids wet when it's hot. Make a floating swimming area in the yard and all they would have to do is step out of it to be out. Shower myself when camping.

Earth-Prepare the garden for planting and then push the weeds out so Daniel doesn't have to work so hard. Create a mountain where I think a mountain should be. Dig a tunnel underground to play in.

Fire-Heat the water to boil quicker. Heat my water bending shower while camping. Make an easy and large campfire so we can make s'mores. Make a fire wall to keep my enemies away.

And all together I'd use them to just do really cool stuff. And I'd have a flying bison. Only I'd name my flying bison Fred. But my kids tend to think I can't be the Avatar. I have to choose just one. So I choose Water. Think about it. Water makes Earth into mud...Earth becomes defenseless. Water puts out Fire...Fire becomes null and void. Water, well, I don't know what water can do to Air. Air can maybe be more powerful than Water because Air would put lots of bubbles in Water and make it defenseless. But Water is heavier than Air. So Water's gotta be more powerful. But I think I'd just like to have them all. Too bad it's just an imaginative cartoon.

We enjoyed the movie. It was Book One:Water. So 2 more movies should be coming. Aang's gotta learn Earth and Fire. I look forward to Toff joining the crew in Book Two. And Zuko seems like a nice guy underneath all the fight. So I look forward to Book Three.

So if you could bend, which element would you choose?

Cute Quips.

I send a Slim Fast drink in Daniel's lunch bag each day to work so he can drink that in the morning to hold him over to lunch. The kids call it dad's chocolate milk.

The other day I told the kids to get some breakfast and then get dressed and brush teeth so we could get our day going. I walked out to the kitchen to make sure they were eating. This is what I saw... This is what I heard...

Ruthie: "That's what you're eating for breakfast?"

Sam: "What? Dad has chocolate milk for breakfast!"

So true. So funny. I still laugh when I think about it!

Excuse Me?

What was that you said?

Did I hear you right?

My kids are the cutest in the world?

Why, of course they are!

Check out this site.

Spaces for Faces.

Scroll down down down.

If you didn't see it yet, scroll down some more.

Did you see our pass along card with my kids on it?

Yep!

Cute kids

and a subtle reminder that we

Are. Still. Waiting.

P.S. The lady who made our cards at this place was FANTASTIC! I highly recommend them!

What Time Is It?

IT'S BIRTHDAY TIME!

Daniel is ......

40!

Oh yes, ladies and gents.

And a handsome 40 at that!

What can I say about the man I married?

I could list 400 things that I love. That I adore. That make me smile.

But I will shorten it to 40.

1. His sense of humor

2. His smile

3. His hands

4. His teeth

5. His laugh

6. His attitude

7. His legs

8. His testimony

9. His love for our kids

10. His willingness to Do

11. His care of our garden

12. His hugs

13. His kisses

14. His silliness

15. His gray hair

16. His winks

17. The way he sings to our kids every night

18. The way he looks at me wherever we are
19. The way he says goodnight

20. The way he takes me out on a date

21. The way he loves our family

22. The way he flips our kids around

23. The way he reads the scriptures

24. The way he shares stories with us

25. The way he smells

26. The way he loves me

28. His walk

29. His love of life

30. His pepsi one drinking ways

31. The way he holds my hand

32. The way he holds our kids

33. The way he makes me feel

34. The way he takes certain things very seriously

35. The way he takes over when I can't anymore

36. The way he cares for our home

37. The tenderness in him

38. The fight in him

39. The love in him

40. The life in him

I love you Daniel!

Happy Birthday!

Not So Bored.

When Daniel read my Mono/bored post he asked me a dumb question. "How can you possibly be bored with all that stuff going on?" Well, okay. I guess I'm not seriously bored. But it's hot outside and I'm not an outside person and so that is a double hit to my woeful self. I send my child to the mailbox so I don't get sunburned on my arms. I turn the A/C on when it's slightly stuffy in the abode. I really don't enjoy summer in Utah. I'd rather be in Alaska. Where it's 60 degrees and overcast. Oh well. I had my chance. Daniel wants to move to Hawaii because he lived there while a single guy and would like to just live there again. Too hot. Plus humid. And milk is like $7 a gallon. Nope!

Anyhoo. I should just move on. I came up with a brilliant idea last night. Well, I was reminded of someone else's brilliant idea. I got some old popsicle craft sticks out and am putting together an "I'm Bored" jar. So when someone is bored, I just grab the jar and we pick a stick.
Brilliant! And when it's really really hot, the stick that says "Go for a bike ride. or..." Says "you pick" on the back. So they get to choose what we do so mom doesn't get super cranky in the heat. Or something. So I'm really not so bored as I am just boring. hah! I need to go find a jar now and make it cute and not so boring! Wish me luck!