She's Baaaack.

This isn't "she", but it's funny. My kids always go out back and get on the trampoline. Vegeta wanted some of the action. So one day, after my kids came in the house, this kid jumped up onto the tramp. He does it regularly now. Silly goat.
Here "she" is! Cass is back and she's gettin' fat and she'll be a mama next Spring. So the words once coined by the Mamas and the Papas are fitting. No one's gettin' fat 'cept mama Cass.
Now we have all 3 of our goats back. Next March or April we'll see just how many more we have.

Cute Quips.

I had put a collection of little boy halloween costumes into individual sacks and then all of them into a large garbage bag. I'm taking them to my mom's tomorrow to show to my sister in law so she can see if she wants them for her cute little Joshey. I put that bag in the laundry room so it would be easy to grab on our way out tomorrow.

I also got the trash completely full and took it out of the can and set the large trash bag in the laundry room so it would be easy to grab on our way out tomorrow.

I began getting things put together for tomorrow and noticed that both large trash bags were gone! GONE! I yelled to Daniel! Daniel! Did you take both trash bags out to the trash?? Yes. (Proud of the fact that he had taken it out!) I told him he took costumes out and needed to go get it out of the garbage and back in the laundry room. He rolled his eyes and got it. Then he pointed out that it looks like trash and he always takes out the trash when it sits in the laundry room. Point taken. But one bag was obviously not trash! It was costumes in little individual gracery bags inside the large trash bag. DUH! Not Trash!

We discussed this little tidbit for a while. Joshing each other and flirting with each other. Then Isaac came up with a brilliant idea...

"Why don't you put a "T" for Trash on the bags with trash in them and "NT" for Not Trash on the other bags. Then you'll always know which is trash."

Now that sounds like a solution to me!

With Grateful Heart.

On this night before Thanksgiving I thought it necessary to share my gratitude. First, to my Heavenly Father for His eternal love for me. Second, for the blessing of my family who are a distinct reminder of how much Heavenly Father does love me.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Enjoy every moment of it.

Late Last Night.

This is the surprised look of a boy out of bed when everyone else is in bed, including mom and dad, because we are tired, who is making himself a scrambled egg and got caught by his dad. By the way, when Isaac got home from school yesterday he had two certificates from the science fair. One was for participating. The second, well now the second only had his name on it because they didn't have my name available to them. "Excellent Display Board" I curtsied and took the applause graciously. I thanked my adoring public and will be hanging it on my wall. I just need to figure out how to get Isaac's name off and mine on! Thanks for your support.
(P.S. Isaac really did do a lot of work on his project. And he did a great job. The board was mine because I cut the paper and glued everything together and made sure this young son of mine got the work done. So he does deserve much credit and praise. But so do I!)

Science Fair Project...DONE!

Breathe a sigh of relief. But first...Just a look at what's living on our deck lately. We now have a "poop deck" again. Cass will be home next week!
Science fair was today. Here is Isaac after getting his poster put together. I told him I better get a good grade for all my work on the poster. This look is usually the one I get when I talk like that. But it's the truth. What can I say?
And just to prove that dad was there... We really enjoyed walking through all the projects and looking at all the really cool things these kids did. Lots of really great ideas proven and reported.

I Like To Look For Rainbows...

Today was a very beautiful day. This chicky pie was baptized.
And by her dad. Despite the rain that later turned to snow, all of our family on each side came.
Isn't she gorgeous? She was so excited and just a little bit nervous.
She was baptized with 2 of her sweet friends, Tally and Brooklyn. Aren't they all just divine? Can you see the glow? This is right after their confirmations. Tally's mom gave each of the girls flowers.
And with mom and dad. I think she looks like a princess. A very clean and pure princess.
We came home and had some lunch. Here is Ruthie with Abbie and Poppy.
And here is the pretty girl with Grandma and Grandpa.
And here she is with Meme, my Grandma. She brought Hummingbird cake. I got to keep the leftover cake. I'm a happy gal.
And here is the princess up close.
We are so proud of Ruthann and her decision to be baptized. She received a beautiful blessing when Daniel confirmed her a member of the church and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost. All of my children have entered the path to return to their Heavenly Father and they each of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. My heart is filled with Joy!

A Thought For Thursday.

The time change is still getting certain little people, and a certain bigger person, out of bed early. Early! Do you hear me? This morning my boys were flipping the channels on the satellite and stopped on a TBA. It happened to be one of those silly shows from the 80s. Remember Family Matters? Remember Steve Urkel? Yep. I hear Urkel's voice and cringe. I remember all too well. That laugh. That dumb humor. This morning's episode has Urkel at the dentist and on laughing gas and my boys are laughing hysterically. Like serious gut bustin' laugh out loud I'm gonna hurt someone because I'm laughing so hard. Laughing hysterically. Who knew? Funny boys.

On now to more serious things. The other day I had Ruthie's baptism dress hanging on my closet door while I removed tags and organized shoes, socks, headband, bracelet and slip. I looked at the dress, just overwhelmed by how beautiful it is and a thought occurred to me. Not too far from now (30 years at least!) we will have another beautiful white dress hanging there. I teared up a little at the thought of my baby girl one day wearing a wedding gown. Then Ruthie came in a I showed her the dress on the door and started to tell her about when we will have another dress hanging there. It will be white and beautiful and a little longer and... She cut me off in a flat voice and a roll of her eyes with "my wedding dress". I sniffed back the tears as she shot me another look of "please!" and so I sent her on her way. I did remind her as she ran off that she can't start dating until she's 30!! "I know mom."

Here is the gorgeous baptism dress she'll get to wear on Saturday! The picture doesn't even come close to the reality.
When gorgeous girl Ruthie is in the dress Saturday, the pictures will be way better!

Since February.

So let me tell you what's been happening here since February. Not that it affects you. It doesn't. But it does affect me. So here it is. Since February I have steadily gained a couple of pounds. I have had pre-cancer stuff removed from my arms and legs. I thought I was having a heart attack. My hair has gained more gray. The wrinkles on my face are more noticeable. To me. You may have been able to see them just fine. But my contact prescription has gotten a bit stronger and so I can't see the stuff on my face. Like stray eye brows. Oh, and wrinkles. Sorry about the stray eyebrows. But I do see them when I choose to look closely. My back hurts more. I've grown far more cranky than I've ever been. I get heart burn easier. I need more sleep. I have a bad attitude and it affects my ability to get along swimmingly with certain things. I also lost a 5 year hope for another child.

But one thing I've noticed since February is that I am really happy about being 40. I turned 40 in February, in case you weren't aware. Now that you are, I am really happy about it. I love being 40. I love being in my 40's. I love being able to say “now that I'm 40” or “so now that I'm in my 40's”. And so I've been trying to put a finger on why I am loving it so much when there is so much of the undesirable going on. And I got it! I know why I love it so much.

You see, when I was 12 I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. And with that came years of being told and reminded and whispered to of the things that I couldn't do. Have babies. Be healthy. Live long. Seriously. I took the “you won't live long” to literally mean I wouldn't live past my 30's. If I even got to my 30's. I knew I would die in there somewhere. Why? Because that's what they told me. Back before my bad attitude had me question and then research things people told me. Anyway, I made it. I survived my 30's. I can easily say I did it. And now that I'm 40, or, in my 40's, I rejoice. I actually have great Joy in that. Weird? I guess. Just wait til I get to my 50's. Oh, it'll be grand!

Economics Fair.

6th grade is killing me. To you parents of 6th graders, especially at our school here, does it seem there is a project of some kind or other every time your kid comes home from school?? A friend of mine who has one in high school now says that junior high is way easier than 6th grade. To be fair, they are learning. I mean, do you see all that homework and stuff? And do they understand that parents have to be directly involved in some of this stuff? You can't just send a 6th grader home to make or build 100 somethings for the economics fair telling them it's their project, mom can't help, and expect him to get to it. I have to purchase things. I have to help in the assembly line. It's only the beginning of second quarter and I'm beat. Ready for summer vacay. Okay. Done.

So let's look at the Economics Fair fairly. The assignment was to make or build 100 somethings to sell at school. Then the money they would bring in would be used through the year to pay for things such as field trips and parties and such. So Isaac takes in a few ideas and one was accepted. Jack O Lantern suckers. Easy. So we got all the stuff and cut stems and put a line together to put them together. We wrapped each sucker with orange napkins and wrapped and tied brown yarn around it. Then I hot glued a stem on top of each and then Isaac and his siblings drew faces on the things. 100. Did I tell you it had to be 100 things? The day of the fair I went in to check it out and see what everyone had done. I have to say I was disappointed. Some of those kids had only done something like stick a paper saying "witch's brew" on a soda can. C'mon. That's building or making something?! Here is my sweet boy. He did work hard. But he had a sore throat and couldn't yell over the ruckus around him. But he did sell a few.
They did turn out cute. He sold 36 of them. So guess what we handed out to all of our trick or treaters? Yep. 2 Jack O Lantern Suckers each. So now we just eat the rest of them whenever. There are so many. One mom spent waaaaay more for supplies than the recommended amount and did tons of work to help her son make these really cute steel wool spiders. But in the end he sold fewer items than Isaac. She asked if I wanted any spiders to decorate my house. I suggested a trade for some suckers. She suggested next time she'll just donate money and keep her kid out of it.
The bigger issue for me right now is the stupid science fair. Another teacher is having every student do it. The other teachers don't know what's involved with it so you have to either fend for yourself or go see that other teacher. I've done both. And it ain't pretty. By next Thursday I'll have pictures and a smile again. Until then I just remind myself that it's only 6th grade. It's not a Masters program. It's not do this or die. It's just 6th grade. Speaking of 6th grade. I had to retake my 6th grade yearbook picture. So I dolled up. I'll let the picture speak for itself...
Never mind. I must speak. I was the coolest person in the world with that head band on. My mom didn't like that I wore it in the picture. At least she didn't have to sweat a science project.

Birthday Craft.

For Ruthann's birthday party we needed a craft idea. I found a cute idea on Family Fun (which I LOVE) and wanted so much for the girls to make these cute little compacts. It required little candy or mint tins though. I could not find a little tin anywhere. Well, except for big tins for chocolates and such for Christmas. While I was in Dilly Dally's, I was looking for little "things" to put into a compact, and hoped I would happen upon a little tin. Instead I found square soap boxes for vacation!! Your reaction might be "square is normal for soap boxes" Well, no, in fact you are wrong. Most soap boxes, now that I take many opportunities to study soap boxes, are rounded on top.

So. I bought 8 of them and all the cute "stuff" to go in them. Here is Ruthie's final result. We glued a square, okay, rectangle, of cute felt (I had many to choose from) onto the top of the lid.
Then we glued a small mirror into the inside of the lid. A girl must be able to see herself! We then added some essentials to our boxes.
Lotion, lip gloss, nail file, stickers-which the girls used to decorate the boxes inside and out. What is not in the picture is a small pack of gum and hair pins.
Last night Ruthie's mirror fell out. I hot glued it in. Then it fell out again and the felt on top fell off. So I hot glued the felt and used double sided tape on the mirror. Viola! Done. Ruthie brought hers to church yesterday in her bag. The lip gloss was needed, and so was the mirror. The nail file was used by a brother with a gnarly hang nail. Oh I am a genius!

O Happy Day!

A red letter day if ever there were one. Ruthie is 8!! My baby! I can't believe she is getting so big. We celebrated on Friday night at Burrito Grande and she got the fried ice cream as her birthday treat. Isn't she beautiful!?
Today, the official day, we had a little party with some friends. If I had said she could invite 20 of her closest friends she would have come up with a list of 35 of her closest friends. We narrowed it all down to a group of 8. They played games, made and ate pizza, decorated cupcakes and made cute little boxes for their "stuff".
I've been begging my kids to stop growing and just stay young. I get a rousing round of "MOM! I can't stop. You know that!" Well. If I could stop it, I would.
Next week my baby will be baptized. Then she'll receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then all my children will have that special companion in their lives. What a blessing.
Happy Birthday Ruthann. We love you and are so thankful you are ours!

And It Ended With...

First of all, I know it's been a long time. But. We've been sick. My baby is turning 8 tomorrow and I have been getting a party ready as well as planning a baptism. There is a 6th grade science fair project looming and the 4th graders have been weaving and needed help! And 2 children went on field trips on the same day. I chose to go to the outside freezing one. There was something about dressing up and begging for candy that had to be done. So is it any wonder that I forgot about Disneyland?! Mickey who? So I figure since I have all those other things to catch up on I would just go straight out on Disneyland and get it done. When you get to the end you will see how it ended. Cryptic. I know. So let's start here.

In line... Tuesday morning beams smoggy, foggy and chilly. We met at grandma and grandpa's room at 9:30 and then started to California Adventure. Now remember, all the pictures were taken Monday in Disneyland. So no C.A. pics. Darn. That's Aunt Nicole taking a picture.
Here are some cousins and Isaac in line for Space Mountain. We went into C.A. and saw Soarin' Over California. Super cool. We then went to see the Muppets in 3D. Fun, but got old real quick. At least for me. Daniel and the kids and many others enjoyed it in its total. We then went to the Tower of Terror. Um. Didn't like it one bit. We then went to see Aladdin. Wow! What a great show!
Here we are on Space Mountain. Note: For Halloween they have the Ghost Galaxy on Space Mountain. We are not big fans. But the ride was still very cool! After Aladdin we went to the California Screamin' roller coaster. BIG HIT! For everyone. Including grandpa.
Hey! It's grandma and grandpa. I think grandpa had a terrific time on the rides. Grandma preferred to stay off most of them. But she still had fun. And the kids loved sharing this whole adventure with them!
We loved Star Tours in Disneyland. After all the C.A. to-do we went back to the hotel and ate dinner and rested and got our sweatshirts and headed to Disneyland for Mickey's Halloween Party. Now this is a special event for which you must buy tickets in advance. I was told over and over and over by anyone who has been to this party that it is a must do!! So we did! I would recommend it if you wanted to go in the first place. If you are wishy washy on it, leave it. It cost our family $250 and was basically a great way to get TONS of candy. But as we walked to a particular "land" they were closing it all off for the fireworks. Then they were closing other areas down, not just for fireworks, but for a parade. So we couldn't do all we wanted to do and it was getting more and more cramped with people as they closed areas down. We still rode a few rides with grandma and uncle Steven, aunt Nicole and cousin Zack. We had fun. But we feel it important to not go back to Disneyland for Halloween again. But don't be sad!
I love the look on Ruthie's face! I don't know what's up with Isaac there. Must have snapped the picture as he blinked. We loved the Indiana Jones ride. Super great!
Wednesday was another cold start. It would be cold and foggy, and then by lunch time the sun would be so hot it bore a hole into your soul if you stood still long enough. Then as the sun went down it would cool off to a really nice temp. Wednesday our family went back into Disneyland to spend our last day. Everyone else would stay through Thursday, so they spent more time in C.A. Riding California Screamin' no doubt. We went to Fantasy Land. Oh joy. As we went on all the character rides the best response from Isaac was, "Can we please stop going on all the girl rides?!" Okay.
So we went back to ride everything we loved and thought we would love if we tried it. It's A Small World was loved by Ruthie and mom. Not so much by all the menfolk. I believe Isaac's word was "Annoying" regarding the song. I don't care. I have very strong memories of that ride from when I was a child.
This is the jungle cruise! We were really bummed that Pirates of the Caribbean was closed. It's the off season, so something will be closed. That is another of my favorite ride memories from childhood. When we met up with grandma and grandpa to ride the train around the park, grandpa told us about an experience he had had over at C.A. He had been sitting and then they all got up to go see Aladdin again. So he went in, sat down, enjoyed the show and then realized he didn't have his backpack. So he headed out to where he had been sitting outside to find many big burly security guards surrounding his backpack. He went up and told them it was his. They asked what was in it. Water, granola bars, etc. They gave it back to him but with a warning to never do it again! We were glad they didn't haul him off for questioning!
We rode the big Mark Twain Riverboat on Monday. Then on Wednesday all the menfolk wanted to go again. So Ruthie and I went window shopping and they got on the boat. Then I got a text from Isaac saying they were in the captain's quarters and steering the boat!! Wow! Here they are in the waiting area to get on the riverboat.
They got to steer and shake the captain's hand and ask all the questions they wanted. What a fun day! This here is one of the girl rides. But look at Isaac's face. Don't tell me he doesn't look like he's enjoying himself. This is a new ride and pretty fun. If you like that sort of thing.
Wednesday evening we all met for dinner at a restaurant called the Rain Forest Cafe. Fun atmosphere and good food. It was pricey, but fun. After dinner our family ran back to Disneyland to hit Splash Mountain one more time! Here we are in line for Star Tours. Our last ride of our fantastic stay.
Here is mom the pack mule. With all the candy from the Halloween party. It was a lot of candy. In fact, we still have much of it left.
The wrist bands from the Halloween party.
Our maps!
Oh! That's right. The key card to our hotel room. First of all, we were in a terrific hotel. We could watch the fireworks on Saturday and Sunday nights from the rooftop and could see lots of park, too. It was walking distance from a lot of eating spots and the park. We lost a second card when we got to our room and someone just set it somewhere. It was just gone. We didn't replace it. Then we got all the way home and Daniel took this key card out of his wallet. So we stripped the hotel of 3 key cards. They may not want to see us back again.
And that reminds me. The way this ends. It began as "This is a one time only trip! Enjoy it and don't complain!" It began to end on the drive home with, "I think we should come back in a couple of years" via Daniel, to ending with, "Let's just go back every couple of years". I agree. So do the kids. This will definitely happen again!