I'm listening to my favorite thing about Christmas.  In case you missed it (like me) you can still watch or listen online.  Go to www.lds.org and on the home page should be "First Presidency Christmas Devotional".  It should tell you how to watch and then you can even choose your language.  I'm thoroughly enjoying it. :)  You can also watch last year's if you have time.  We also had a nice morning waking up to treats in our shoes and a chocolate initial from St. Nikolaus.  We went to church and then went to the Creche display which was beautiful. Our church members donate their own creche displays for a weekend so anyone interested can come view them.  They have a list of things to find for kids and they can get a candy cane when they are done.  They also had a room set up for kids to play dress up and do puzzles or nativity sets that can be played with.  There was also beautiful live music from various choirs.  I love how the Savior has touched the hearts of the world and all cultures embrace him as their own by creating a creche of their own environment and culture. Today was a great kick off to the season.

Here's some pics I never blogged about, but meant to.  One is my kindergartner's various turkeys he made at Kindergarten, one being his winning turkey for the turkey bingo coloring contest- it was cute, he thought the whole class got coupons not just 3 kids in the class.  Luckily his older brother heard it announced on the intercom and told us- only then we kind of had to support the PTO by attending turkey bingo.  Another pic is my daughter at the Junior High production of Bye Bye Birdie.  She worked in the sound and lights booth so it's not too exciting of a picture, but you'd rather see her than a bunch of strangers dressed in too much stage make-up right?  Everyone really did an amazing job.  My kids are always singing songs form the show- even my littlest who saw it twice.

I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did and Happy Thanksgiving! (soon) This is better than my playlist for Thanksgiving. :)  For more great vidoes check out
http://www.youtube.com/mormonmessages  I'll add it to my links list too.  My next recommendation is the one titled Create.

For all you who are curious about what I looked like growing up and what my family looked like growing up, you will not want to miss my sister's latest blog.  Yes, the one I usually send you to, Keeping Up With the Jones.  Enjoy and chuckle a little.  I'm going to have to find pictures of her...

I updated my play list for Thanksgiving.  Have a good laugh if you are lucky enough to listen before I change it- my sons helped me pick some of the songs- Iron Maiden?  Seriously?  And sorry Adam Sandler gets a little inappropriate by the end of his song so if your kids are int the room you may want to skip the end of it.  I am not a Guns N Roses fan, but this song was HUGE when I was in high school so I thought I'd throw it on for fun for a couple of days.  I updated my playlist for Halloween, but thought it didn't work --they got added to the bottom.  The last 10 are Halloween and I will probably take those off soon too.
Happy November!

I added a new link to a healthy immunization schedule- I wish I knew about it when our first child was born, but I'm adding it in case anyone else I know can benefit.  I am pro immunizing, but not pro mercury or 5 at a time.  The doctor's schedule I am linking to wrote a book called Healing the New Childhood Epidemics:  Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies.  I found the book very interesting, but as with so many books I read by doctors I just end up wishing the doctor lived in my neighborhood.  A friend of mine lent me her copy of the book after we found out nearly one year ago that one of our children has a walnut allergy.   Ironically, nearing this allergy anniversary, I put war paint on my kids and a neighbor and my neighbor had a reaction to it.  I felt horrible and luckily his mom is still my friend even though her son's eyes nearly swelled shut. Unfortunately I couldn't find an ingredients list.  It was a day going completely wrong so rather than fight I joined it (in ways I didn't intend, i.e. allergic reactions) by building a teepee out of our sunflowers and letting my boys paint it.  It distracted them for maybe half an hour.  I was hoping longer.  Here's pictures of our happy moments. They painted buffalo, and my youngest painted buffalo and hunters in a forest.
For our allergy anniversary I will share our story (and add an allergy website link) in case it ever helps anyone else. 
Thanksgiving day one son decided to grab a fistful of walnuts and chew them up and show me.  Another had to do the same- of course.  The other child in the time it took him to walk from our kitchen table to our sofa to show me a mouthful of chewed up food began crying his nose hurt.  I asked him if he put nuts in his nose.  He said "Yes, in my nose it hurts!! it hurts!"  Mother's intuition- I really didn't think he put them in hos nose so I asked his brother who said No.  In this short time he began crying his mouth hurt.  I went to get him some milk and in that short time his cheeks were turning bright red.  I thought what would (my neighbor-different neighbor than already mentioned) do?  She would dose him with benadryl.  So we looked frantically for the benedryl which was all gone.  Lesson 1- always keep benedryl on hand.  I called my neighbor, whose curse with peanut allergies became my blessing.  She came right over with benedryl and my son immediately felt much better.  By then he was saying his nose and mouth were hurting and he kept touching his neck.  the reason this is dangerous is that if the mouth and throat itch or hurt swelling can begin and the sides of the throat can swell together and cut off the capability to breathe.  I will forever be grateful to my neighbor for being knowledgeable and available in my time of need.  Some things she told me that no pediatrician has, #1 being super important is:  After giving the first dose of benedryl even if he is fine and even if he is sleeping to wake him up and give him a second dose 4 hrs. later to make sure he doesn't relapse with a reaction.  she also told me the individually packaged doses fit nicely in a pocket or purse, restaurants to avoid, lent me her fantastic book, gave me info on foods that crossover that could also cause him to have a reaction, and told me you have to have eaten something a few times before for your body to have an allergic reaction (we had walnuts previous to last Thanksgiving with no incidences), and allergies can get worse and one nut allergy can become any tree nut allergy in the future.  Also, peanuts are actually legumes.  Just to note I do have a new pediatrician that has told me the second to last 2, and is much more knowledgeable on the subject of allergies since he has a child with a peanut allergy.  Our whole family now knows how to use an epi pen, (but we should probably review).  My neighbor also gave us sunbutter wich is sunflower seeds instead of peanut butter and now I love it more than peanut butter.  If you get the chance you should try it.

Shhh don't tell my mom the weirdest thing in my life happend on friday. I was at my school party and everybody kept geussing who I was the first guess was santa, and the seocond  jesus. How does that compare to gandolf  Why I was tricker treating a guy thout I was moses I mean I had a sword on!!!! And I might get my own blog and name it Life on Mustafar.

Friday was a Halloween party at church.  We had a lot of fun.  We also went trick or treating Saturday and now we have a  year supply of candy.  Saturday we made our traditional Halloween dinner of Goblin stew, bone bread, and blood to drink- split pea soup, corn bread, and red juice.  I can't think of much else to say about it, so here's some pics:

Last week was busy, but we managed to squeeze in a quick trip to the pumpkin patch.  I wanted to go all month, but with kids sick one week then one sick the next and then bad weather and more bad weather, it didn't happen.  Finally (Wednesday) I said I'd go no matter what the weather- buying pumpkins from the store costs way too much.  I was very glad we went.  My two little boys had a blast. There is something about running around in mud and wide open space they find soothing or exhilirating or both.  One was more excited to feed the cows than get a pumpkin and was delighted to tell everyone what he did at the pumpkin patch that day- feed cows.  I think it might have been the best day of his life.  The cows were pretty big, so I thought he might be nervous, he is kind of my shy one, but he seemed right at home and spent a good half hour feeding cows.  I almost had to carry him away so we could pick up his older brother from school.  I guess it's in his blood.  I think some of us have a psychological need to be outside working.  His first word was outside, or actually some word he always used to mean outside, and whenever he cried as a baby he would stop if we went outside.  Part of me would like to live on a small farm -it would be good for my boys.  And I think I would like it too, but ...my dad always said I could never handle all the work :)... That's what the boys are for right?

If I could have my very own Elm Creek Park I think it would be heaven (without ticks of course).  Saturday we went to the Halloween walk in the woods.  It was beautiful.  After days and days of rain and cold we had a sunny day with no rain and the temperature was perfect for an evening walk in the woods.  The kids got dressed up in this year's costumes: Gandolph, Robin Hood, an owl and a turtle.  Before our walk began we went inside the nature center and played some games.  We played ring toss on antlers, velcro tic tac toe, a bat matching game, bat roulette? for candy, raced worms, and ate worms (well half of us ate a worm- I'll let you guess who).  On our walk we met and visited with bones, a mole, a skunk, a squirrel, a turtle, and a woodpecker who told us about their life in the woods and gave us treats.  I learned a lot I didn't know.  After our animal visits we came to the top of a hill to see down below a deepening blue sky over a small lake with gentle ripples and a long bridge going across lit by jack o lanterns.  We crossed the bridge and sat near a fire and snacked on popcorn, cookies, and cider.  We heard there were fire dancers so we headed for the show -WOW!- is all I can say.  After the show we went back inside the nature center and my turtle showed me the turtles...and frogs...and snakes they have inside.  They do have dangerous snakes in Minnesota!  I knew it.  We also got to see a real owl they are taking care of at  the nature center- he can't hunt very well because he only has one eye.

It was a wonderful Saturday.  I hope you enjoy the pics (even though they don't do justice).

Happy Columbus Day!  It snowed all day on Monday.  I'm hoping this is a fluke thing and the weather warms up again.  We haven't had fall yet.  We had a cooler summer, a September with a few days in the 80's and them bam, it's winter.  Most of the trees' leaves haven't even changed color yet.  So, with an English accent (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) Winter came. Spring came. And then gave summer and autumn a complete miss and went straight into winter.
Other random things going on- everyone seems to finally be well and now my oldest has a lot of homework to do today, but I can hear her tap dancing in the kitchen instead, hmmm.
I have been working on Halloween costumes.  Everyone finally settled on one of their many ideas:  last years gnome is this year's turtle, last year's Maxwell Smart is this year's Robinhood, last year's Indy is this year's Gandolph, and last year's butterfly is this year's owl.  I'm almost done and soon I will post pictures.
Have you ever read Robinhood?  We checked out a shortened for kids version at the library.  That is a very "boy" book!  They beat each other up and then make friends. I think that sums up every chapter.  My kids loved it.  Guys.  Now we are reading a book called "Freddy and the Men from Mars".  It was written in the fifties so it's been kind of fun.  We've read one chapter and there are silly rhymes and references to "commies".  It should be a good one. 

My sister's son's school class had a snail olympics (blog-Keeping up with the Jones).  I think it is the coolest thing.  I am very excited to find my own snails and try it out. -Maybe if the ground thaws. :)
PS I fixed my comments WOOHOO!!! Now you can go back comment on everything I've ever written. YAY! I've been waitng for months. :)

Why We Got A Rat in the First Place

I see the good in my husband's love for animals, but I don't have the same comfort level. I have to admit I have a hard time repressing the "fight or flight instinct" when I am surprised by a spider crawling out of my cereal bowl when I pour the milk on it for example. Yes, that really did happen Friday, and no, I didn't kill it. I screamed and made my kids catch it and throw it outside.

To encourage my children to be more like their dad instead of me and because it can be hard to ignore the pleading eyes of the ones you love, I gave in to getting a pet rat. It all started when my daughter was in kindergarten. Maybe because everyone called her "little mouse" or maybe because her baby blanket had pictures of rats playing jazz instruments. Whatever the reason, she wanted a pet mouse. I said if she wanted a pet mouse she would have to do a lot of reading about how to take care of a pet and all about the pet. I figured if she was serious it would be a good place to start and if she didn't want to put in the research I would know she wasn't serious and maybe the idea would go away. She very soon after brought home books from the school library about pet rodents. Of course since she couldn't read to herself at that age, I also became educated on the subject and every book said rats are the best. I happened to meet a handful of people who had pet rats at one time or another who could say nothing bad about them, except they have short life expectancy of 1-5 years. To me that was a bonus.

So after 3 years of being asked and avoiding it by buying stuffed animal or toy rats or mice instead, we decided the desire of owning a pet rat wouldn't go away. We got our daughter a rat for Christmas one year.

I learned that even though rats always seem so scary and gross and have a naked tail that is kind of creepy and pink beady eyes, they aren't that bad. In fact they come in nice colors and only have pink beady eyes if they are entirely white. They love being played with, they can learn their name and come when you call them (if they want), and they don't bite unless you stick your finger in their mouth or have something very tasty on your fingers unlike all other rodent pets. My kids and the neighbors have loved taking our rats outside to play in the sandbox and love building sand castles for the rats to play in. Rats are also very easy to take care of and cleaning the cage is manageable. I have to admit I would highly recommend them, especially as a first pet.

Sadly, after a short life, our first rat, princess Amelia died. She was played with alittle too rough one day. We took her to the vet and the luckily the vet didn't think I was an animal killer and had caught her boys playing catch with a hamster once. My children can never forget this next part, EVER. If they ever say I don't love them, remind them of this instance. Because of Amelia's injuries she couldn't urinate on her own (the vet said this would eventually heal it self) and so the vet taught me how to assist Amelia by gently squeezing her bladder, and I did it because I love my children (I don't love rats that much) and because my husband was out of town. As soon as he was back in town he had to do it. Princess Amelia died a day or two later. There was sadness in our house and in the neighborhood. I realized that I am the type who needs time and cannot replace a loved one, even a pet rat. My kids wanted another one, but it took me ahwile to warm up to the idea. Eventually, I realized with a little coaxing from my neighbor (an amazing animal lover) that my son and his friend need to right the wrong so they could forgive themselves and have closure. My neighbor took them to the pet store to pick out two new rats, who we named Cinnamon and Cocoa. They were very cute and lovable. We have had them for two years this October. Cocoa has been looking old and frail so we were kind of expecting she wouldn't be around too much longer. Both Cinnamon and Cocoa had become a little less playful lately, kind of like grumpy old people. I am a little worried about Cinnamon because she is now alone and was less social than Cocoa. I'm hoping she doesn't pine away and die from losing her best friend. Oddly the first day after Cocoa was gone she was practically skipping around the cage...hmmm, suspicious. It could be she was nervous according to my animal expert neighbor. My two oldest are sad and cried a little bit. The second to last said "Why are you crying? Now we almost can get a dog." And the youngest said, later in the day when it was brought up again, "What? A rat died? We can get a dog!!!" :) I am warming up to the idea. Pets can be a good thing.

Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.





Wednesday our pet rat, Cocoa passed away. In honor I'm posting some pictures of our rats and dedicating this page to pets. All who have had pets they love know animals can be a testimony of God's greatness and His love.
To be honest I was never really much of a pet person growing up. I didn't always get the point of pets, I think they smell bad. However, I have a husband who loves animals (and people). He is very comfortable around all animals and even catches bugs inside the house to let them go outside. Living with someone who respects all creatures and life this much has caused me to do some thinking about it. Watching him and my children interact with animals has helped me understand that all of God's creations deserve our respect and reverence. I often think of the scripture I quoted above and remember that when a sparrow dies The Father notices and loves all of his creations. Having a pet can be a good thing.
Having a pet die can also be a good thing. It creates a teaching opportunity to learn and understand about life and death. It's good to remember that there is a place after this with God's creations and to remember that our families can be together forever. Pets passing on is an easier time to ask questions about life and death than when it is a person very close to us.
We believe that all people were spirit children of a Heavenly Father and Mother and that when we came to Earth we were given a body. When we die our Spirit leaves our body and returns to Heaven (essentially, if you want more details, ask me). My favorite way to illustrate this to children (I got this right out of our church's primary [for children] manual), is to pretend your hand is your spirit and your body is a glove. You then put on a glove and then remove it to represent your spirit leaving your body.
So, does this apply to pet rats? Yes, it does. Here's my scripture references.

1. Moses 3: 5, 7, 9
   5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For I, the Lord God, ^acreated all things, of which I have spoken, ^bspiritually, before they were ^cnaturally upon the face of the earth. For I, the Lord God, had not caused it to rain upon the face of the earth. And I, the Lord God, had ^dcreated all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ^eground; for in ^fheaven ^gcreated I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air;
   • • •
   7 And I, the Lord God, formed man from the ^adust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the ^bbreath of life; and ^cman became a living ^dsoul, the ^efirst flesh upon the earth, the first man also; nevertheless, all things were before created; but spiritually were they created and made according to my word.
   • • •
   9 And out of the ground made I, the Lord God, to grow every tree, ^anaturally, that is pleasant to the sight of man; and man could behold it. And it became also a ^bliving soul. For it was spiritual in the day that I created it; for it remaineth in the sphere in which I, God, created it, yea, even all things which I prepared for the use of man;

THE
DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS
OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

SECTION 77

Revelation given to Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Hiram, Ohio, March 1832. HC 1: 253–255. The Prophet wrote, “In connection with the translation of the Scriptures, I received the following explanation of the Revelation of St. John.”

1–4, Beasts have spirits and shall dwell in eternal felicity on an immortal earth;

1. D&C 77: 2
   2 Q. What are we to understand by the four beasts, spoken of in the same verse (John 4th chapter, and 6th verse of the Revelation)?
   A. They are ^afigurative expressions, used by the Revelator, John, in describing ^bheaven, the ^cparadise of God, the ^dhappiness of man, and of beasts, and of creeping things, and of the fowls of the air; that which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal; and that which is temporal in the likeness of that which is spiritual; the ^espirit of man in the likeness of his person, as also the spirit of the ^fbeast, and every other creature which God has created.

Finding opportunities to teach my children, seeing my children find joy and responsibility with an animal, even a rat, and seeing a rat enjoy company and being cared for has reminded me that all creations are a witness of God's love.

1. Moses 6: 63
   63 And behold, all things have their ^alikeness, and all things are created and made to ^bbear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.
   

If you would like a bit of history or explanation about the book of Moses or Doctrine and Covenants or families being "together forever"please ask me or visit lds.org or mormon.org.

P.S. Just an update on our lives besides our rat incident- all 4 kids also had strep this week and two are still sick with something (flu like symptoms), Brian was called as High Priest Group Leader at church (which is really simply put the leader of the group of "old" men at church), and a chipmunk stole my sock and stuffed it in a hole near our rain gutter.

Just when I thought it's been awhile since I've added to my list of "Things I Never Thought I'd Say" I found myself writing a "Things to do" note to my husband saying, "Please get the socks out of the recycling bin." We were folding socks and I asked my youngest to throw away a couple that had holes. He knowingly threw them outside in the recycle bin thinking he was clever and funny. I was not amused. Our recycle bin is very large and I cannot reach the bottom of it so I wrote a note because I knew I would not be thinking about old socks in the evening.
We have survived the beginning of school, and maybe even enjoying it. I went to parents night at school the other day. I have to admit reluctantly, but it was well worth it. :) There are many a crazy parent out there and it was fun to hear them get defensive with teachers for no reason. One parent was upset the children are having a Halloween party, gingerbread house making party, and a pizza party this year- she is trying to teach her daughter "to regulate how much she eats and to eat healthy and does the school even teach kids about healthy eating in health?" One mom was upset with school projects costing so much money- last year her daughter had to build a model of the solar system that cost $60. Where was I? I know Isaac never did any projects like that. He did have a space project to do, but the class was given a list of options with many of them not costing anything. My favorite was when the teacher said for spelling tests those who get 90% or higher on the pretest she will give them a list of harder words using the same principles they are learning with the other words for the spelling test. One father said, while he supports this he thought she should know that his son thought it was a punishment. Another mom piped up asking if the students who get the harder words would also receive "star bucks", the teacher's reward system. Thankfully, she said no. Her point in assigning words is to give all students something to study and learn because she doesn't want anyone in her class to think they already know everything and are done learning; no one is ever done learning there is always more to learn. I was very happy with her answer. Another woman was not and tried to start an argument about that not being fair because it was just summer and she can't get her daughter to spell (a word I don't remember) correctly, and other parents tried to explain the meaning of pre-test, and ...it was interesting. So all in all, I was glad I went. I found it rather entertaining.
We have had some interesting events with school starting so I'm going to let each kid tell there story.
#3 I came to school and did some math and then I went to the library to borrow a book, go back to my classroom and eat snack and sing a song and go back home on the bus. When I get home my neighbor friend is waiting for me in my yard.
#4 I like to play outside. I take my sister to the bus and I take my brother to the bus. I get to have a "playdate".
#2 Hi I really don't have that much stories but I'm on patrol this year but here's my sister
#1 the first day I had to sit in the nurses office because I was not immunized . the second day in my science class room the sewage pipes broke and stuff started coming through the floor so we were in the auditorium. It still smells bad!!! Last, I made it on the crew for the school play!!!YAE!!!
More info: #1 was not immunized because when we made an appointment and went to it for an update the nurse and doctor told us she is up to date and sent us away. It was a tetnus booster, so good grief, did she really have to sit in the office half the day? It isn't like she is going to give that or get that at school, it isn't exactly contagious. The nurse told Brian there were 60 kids in the office for not being up to date, and they told the students they had to stay in the office- no talking, no walking around, no leaving to get homework to work on, no going home. Of course that didn't work with that many people in the office for 2 hours. We ended up figuring out the mistake by Wednesday morning and made an appointment for that afternoon and our daughter was able to attend school.
I was kind of hoping she would be escorted from the building by police in handcuffs because that would make for a great photo- this tiny little innocent girl being forced to leave school for being a danger to her peers.
I should post a link to a healthy immunization chart, but I'll save that for next time.

Tuesday will be the first day of school for us. While I am still slightly in denial, I have to admit it will be a good thing. My oldest will have a bigger pool of people to make friends at Jr. High; my second will have something to do after he has done his chores, practiced piano, and ran laps around the house by 8:30; my third might stop picking on his little brother, his big brother, and his big sister; and my littlest (don't tell him I called him the littlest) will have that alone time he has been coveting this last week that drove him to send himself to bed for a nap. Friday I asked him to take a nap because he was very grouchy. He went upstairs and played with Lego's, singing and talking to himself while everyone else was outside. After awhile I went up and pointed out he wasn't napping. He smiled and laughed and said "No, I'm not taking a nap." I said, "Well, when you're done playing and you're ready to play nice with the kids please clean up and you can come outside and play with everyone else. A few minutes later I went upstairs and he was sleeping like a rock in his bed and all the Lego's were cleaned up.
I was giving myself a slight guilt trip about this summer not being very eventful and feeling like we didn't spend a lot of time doing fun stuff -we never went to the lake or got out the wading pools or went fishing. I felt like my whole summer was spent enforcing chores and doing the job right the first time, not the third time, until I was looking through my pictures and realized we had a pretty full summer of fun stuff. Here's a list of things we did:
Our family trip to Utah(#3's favorite)
swimming lessons and stayed late at the pool once
soccer
football
art lessons and art show
kids made a ramp/bike jump
night games a couple of times
made movies of spring and summer art lessons and our vacation
made a book of numbers with pictures of things in the yard
local kids race (our runner was 5th I think?)
church breakfast and race (our runner was first!)
saw the firetruck at national night out neighborhood party
cub scout day camp
my oldest cooked and baked a number of times (yummy!)
picked cherries
picked currants
fireworks
babysat birds
checked on the neighbor's dog (fed and walked it)
kids hired to water the neighbor's plants and killed some of them because they did it just like they did their chores at home :)
had some new window and doors replaced- still waiting for them to come back and do the job right (just like my kids and their chores)
watched the garden grow
played outside in the yard with friends (#4's favorite)
had Cheetos fingers
painted the front living room, entry, and hallway (finally after 3 or 4 years of talking and thinking about it)
saw our neighbor play the part of the fiddler in an outdoor play of Fiddler on the Roof
my brother and sister visited (#2's favorite)
took our guests to our favorite park and to a new discovery- Big Stone Mini Golf
found frogs in the garden
set up a pulley (I am really tempted to hang my laundry on it, but I think we have the junkiest yard in the neighborhood already and it won't add to the curb appeal- people were mad when someone put up a shed, so I haven't dared hang out my clean laundry)
went to the county fair and demolition derby

Things I wanted to do but didn't quite get to:
Write my "dissertation" on gifted and talented education to the school district
paint the family room and basically redecorate and get rid of toys (NO MORE TOYS FOR CHRISTMAS!)
paint two paintings or three
sew new drapes for the main floor
finish the basement -rotten windows and doors took priority :(
move to a beautiful new house a block over -I should have charged $600 dollars instead of $6 for those art lessons!
open a restaurant in an old mill (I had two possible places in mind) in my parents' town-victims of arson, one a total loss and the other one was sold the day before I had my creative burst of an idea by a historical group who wants to turn it into...exactly what it used to be, a planing mill. How boring. Oh well, Ana's not old enough to legally be head chef yet. Oh, but it would have been gorgeous! It would be old stone inside and out and have a waterwheel on the side and inside would be tables with white table cloths and candles and the chairs would be a honey colored wood, French Provencal ladder back style, and there would be pictures of my favorite places in Europe and America, and there would be music- maybe a live string quartet. All my favorite foods would be served. The menu would be seasonal and food would come from a garden growing in back of the restaurant. And there would be a pond and a row boat and I'd live close enough to ride an antique bike that I don't have to put fresh flowers on the tables every morning. Okay, it's probably obvious why that didn't happen this summer. Anyone with property fitting this description? How 'bout just willing to invest? :) Maybe if none of the fancy house properties down the street sell and there are empty lots they will donate them to my wonderful idea. If any of you want to steal my idea at least let me be in charge of decorating and designing the building.
Okay, so the first 4 I will move to my fall things to do list, along with the other stuff already on my fall to do list.
Ugh. I still need to get my kids haircuts- that might also get moved to my fall list.
Okay, so new fall list:
get haircuts
paint room
sew drapes
paint paintings
Dr. appointments
dentist appointments
fix lawn (dig out yucky grass and weeds)
move sand
take care of garden
patch cracks
"dissertation"
Halloween costumes??
Church stuff/Cub scout stuff
help kids with homework
drive kids to after school stuff
shut off outside water
Christmas letters, cards, gifts
plus the regular laundry, cleaning type stuff

Good luck with your fall lists!

I just realized this weekend that there are only two weeks left of summer before school starts here. I feel like I should at least have another month. I'm speechless.
I'll post some photos since I am still in shock.
Okay, so one photo worked and the rest were called a "bad request". Maybe I'll try again later.
I took this picture at the "turtle park" when we went there with my brother and sister. I'm glad they decided to visit. We had a great time. We also went to a mini golf place that a sculptor made. It was very awesome and maybe if my sister sends me some pictures I can post them; or if she posts them I can send you to her blog (a different sister than the one I typically divert your attentions to). I couldn't take pictures because my camera card was full.
We finished up art lessons last week and had a great art show. I'm hoping to get some of those photos posted soon too, and a movie made (that's not working either). Since things aren't working for me maybe it's a sign I need to do my laundry. ...Or maybe it's a sign I shouldn't in case my washer or dryer quits too. It is one of those days where nothing much seems to be getting done. I did learn a little bit about bearded collies though- my children are into books about dogs in hopes they can get one. One son told me he is going to start buying dog food just so we have to get a dog to use up the dog food he's storing. Luckily he can't drive himself to the store & I don't think he can carry a bag of dog food on his bike. Puppy keeps appearing on my grocery list- thank you pbs. Eventually I think I will have to give in. For now we still have two pet rats and my reason for not getting a dog is that a dog will kill the rats, and I only want one pet or type of pet at a time. Yes, we have two pet rats. I don't think I've mentioned them before. Another thing to post pictures of and blog about another time. For now I should think about dinner; and all the things I'm supposed to do before school starts.

Here it is August already... Our summer has been going well. We just finished up swimming lessons and lucky me they all had swimming lessons at the same time so I was able to read or watch my kids swim or watch other moms take care of kids while one had lessons. It was nice!
My littlest is now 3 and old enough for swimming lessons. He passed red cross level 1 and was very excited, but mostly excited that he had swimming lessons. Every morning he would say, "Swimming lessons? Again? Huh? For me too? Yay!! He used to only get to sit and watch.
My oldest son finished up soccer a couple of weeks ago and was thrilled because they were undefeated this year.
Hmm. What else have we done that I forgot to write about? Last week or maybe two weeks ago my kids were so naughty and mean to each other that I tied three of them together at the wrists and told them they would have to learn to work together and love eachother because that is who they are stuck with forever and had have their chores done by the time I got back from the store with the youngest. It sounds kind of crazy and mean, but it worked- they were surprised I was serious and giggled into loving each other again and did get the chores done.
What else? ...oh, my middle son is way into simple machines, so we rigged up some pulleys from the deck to the swing set and the kids have been sending eachother messages and freezies in a bucket. What are freezies? Well, if you're in the west they are otter pops, or what else are they called again? I can't even remember. If you're in Germany, it's colored frozen sugar water in a skinny plastic tube or bag. I know, how do Americans come up with these things?
Today my middle son is spending his day dressed as Nacho Libre and my youngest is wearing a sombrero. I need pictures. My daughter just ran in to get her camera because the neighbor boy (4) is wearing a dress. He's a really "tough" boy and will hate it when he's a teenager-- she is thinking future blackmail I think. My house is total chaos and looks like a pigsty inside and out so I should actually do something about it. Enjoy those carefree summer days....

June seems to have just flown by. Ever since we got back I have been hiding in my computer room working on a family movie of our vacation. It is taking me a while to edit it and mostly to find songs I want to put with our pictures. I can find words I like, but the music doesn't go or I find the perfect music, but the words don't fit. You would think that with the million songs available I would find something that fits, but in my typical fashion I have an idea and nothing matches that idea and so I feel like I need to do it myself- so I am going into the recording and composing business. I wish I could, but I really am no musician and don't have access to a symphony orchestra. We have a neighbor kid that is amazing at the violin so maybe if I watch carefully, especially as she enters her teen years, I can find a way to blackmail her and then when she's an adult and is AMAZING at the violin she'll have some connections and I can have my own composer for my movies. I wouldn't really do it! And someday when she is playing and composing music for my movies you will know it is because she loves me and somehow I made a big break and came across a lot of money to pay her, which isn't likely. So my search continues and hopefully before July is over I will "settle" for something and move on with my many projects.
We had nice Fourth of July. Everyone in the neighborhood was gone so we walked around in our jammies and played our music really loud. Not really, but we did stick around and just did stuff around the house like mow the lawn. We didn't go anywhere because this last week our youngest was potty training- and I never dare go far or for long when that is a new thing. He is doing awesome!!!!!!!! Yea!!!!!!!!!!! It took him a couple of days to realize what was going on since he has been a little too comfortable with diapers and I think he forgot that actually happens. After a couple of days of many accidents and one day of me making him try every hour, and the fourth day getting to call dad on the phone every time he went, now he tells me when he needs to go, and has made it 90% of the time. I am so happy. I know you are singing on the inside. Especially our bachelor brothers who have no idea why I'm blogging about this.
Happy independence day and freedom from diapers!

Hey everybody,
this is going to be a quick one- I am just now getting into the out of school phase, the freedom of summer, the constantly reminding everyone we do still have manners and are not letting everything go phase. I am a little behind in this phase than my neighbors and friends here because they got out of school a week and a half ago, but we just got back from vacation.
We had a blast and I love my sister so much because she already blogged and posted pictures so I can just send you to her sight (Keeping Up with the Jones) and my job is done! I think I keep doing that. Hmm. Well, hopefully soon we get into a bit of a routine and I don't have to remind my kids where we keep the peanut butter and the knives and that we do turn off lights and close the cupboards. Why do I keep walking into rooms and finding cupboards open?
By the way, if anyone wants something to do this summer my mom sent me a link to the family history sight that has projects for kids (teens and adults too) to do this summer that have to do with learning more about their grandparents. It lists which projects work for cub scout and girl scout requirements too. They've called it the Summer of Sleuthing and you can see it at wiki.familysearch.org Enjoy turning the heart of the fathers to the children and heart of the children to their fathers (3 Nephi 25:6 & Malachi 4:6). I really do have to stop typing now. My son and I are in a classic Bugs Bunny argument where I want fish and he wants popcorn chicken and now I turned the table and the argument is still going on. I want popcorn chicken and he wants fish.

My sister chipped the polish on her nail. She made it into a fun psychoanalysis game. Look at the nail and decide what it looks like. Then she will tell you what your answer means. It's pretty fun. She has some good answers. Her link (Keeping Up with the Jones) is on my list of blogs I read. When you get to her page scroll down to the post titled psychoanalysis and leave a comment.
Have fun!

All in a day...

Here's kind of just an update on things going on in our life lately. I updated our photo for the month to one of our crabapple trees because they are in full bloom this weekend. I think it's a little earlier than usual, but I won't complain- I love it!

My littlest had his 3rd birthday a couple weeks ago. He had a great day- because every day is great when you are 3, right? When we asked him what he wanted for his birthday he said, "Um, just nothing." Then a little later he said, "I want chocolate cake and ice cream." I love that he was easy to please. :)

Speaking of birthdays, he was invited to a birthday party yesterday. It was a pretty busy day for us- we had swimming lessons, art lessons, a dance dress rehearsal (actually 2), the birthday party, 4 other things we ended up skipping out on, and I wanted to get a tree I bought Monday planted, and dandelion killer put on the lawn. After the dress rehearsals we needed to pick up some dirt form the hardware store and return a pear tree (because after researching online we discovered the pears on this variety aren't very tasty fresh). My husband and I decided why not go together after we drop off our 3 year old at the party since he wasn't sure what I wanted at the store. We got to the party and while my husband goes to the door with our little boy I notice other people arriving as two parents with their one child or oldest 3 year old and a baby, thinking "Oh how cute, I remember that phase!" and suddenly realized about our party hosts, "Oh! it's their first child turning 3, there's no way there expecting us to just drop off our 3 year old- they would never do that!" So just as I'm processing this my husband comes back to the car to tell me his side of the story (They asked him if I was going to sit in the car the whole time). I slightly embarrassed ended up staying with our 3 year old and my husband came back to pick us up later.
I can remember feeling weird about dropping our oldest off places when she was 4 so I see their side, but with older kids I am just so used to dropping them off and taking the next kid one place and coming back to pick one up... I decided I am in a whole new stage.

Speaking of new stages, my oldest got her braces on and now looks her age. I was way worried about her going to jr. high- jr. high was the worst time of my life ever, and I don't know anyone who liked it. Well, except maybe my husband, who I don't think liked it, but didn't mind it. I think I did meet one teenager who told me she liked it. Anyway, not my point so I'll move on. I was worried until I heard about her experience at the dance. There was a school dance (actually a fundraiser for families to come spend money in the name of education) and my daughter's friend was having a birthday party that included going to the dance. All week she was wondering what she was going to wear. Her friends were going to wear "booty shorts" (we called them hot pants), and some of these friends were going to change into them at the dance so their parents wouldn't know. My daughter told them no way would she do that, but when she told them what she wanted to wear they told her it wouldn't look good. Well, she wore what she wanted and one girl wore booty shorts, but her mom caught her, another friend changed into her booty shorts at the party before the dance, and the party hostess wore her booty shorts. I asked my daughter where these girls got there booty shorts if they were worried about their mom's finding out. The one who got caught cut off a pair of her pants, and I said, don't you think her mom is going to notice when she does the wash or notice a pair of pant legs in the trash? "That's what I said!" She told me. The other girl is only allowed to wear her booty shorts around the house not in public. So they went to the dance, boys looked, one boy pretended to "hump" a girl and they got way mad about it. I was a little shocked and disgusted seeing that it is elementary school and it was a third grader, but here's what I love, my daughter said, "Well, what did you expect would happen if you dress like that?" So now I have decided not to worry quite so much about jr. high. My girl can take it.

One thing I have come to love about the Midwest is the love of baseball. I have become a huge Twins fan. While the smell of fresh grass and the crack of the bat and the huge crowds singing "take me out to the ball game" are as comforting as apple pie, I have to admit, I am a huge fan of the Twins because of their TV commercials (I consciously allow commercials to make or break a product for me). This is my all time fave Twins commercial,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9H8ZudKo3M
but to see more, and I highly recommend you do check them out (look at all the years not just 2009) on http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/fan_forum/commercials_2009.jsp
I also love the Twins because they are good role models for kids. They seem to get that it's part of their job, and since I am a mom of three boys who love sports it's a big deal to me.
Here's my son's take on what he says was probably the best day of his life:

I: I almost jumped out of the stands me and my friends were jumping and screaming "WOOOOOYEAHICAN'TBELIEVEIWASALIVETOSEETHIS!!!!!!!!!!!WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" I screamed my head off Jason Kubel had a grand slam and a cycle baby! Woohoo! Bring it on!
M: I don't know what that means.
I: You don't know what a grand slam is? *sigh* A grand slam is where the bases are loaded and the person at bat hits a home run. A cycle is where somebody hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in one game. And the last time that happened was 17 years ago.

I think he came home a little hoarse after that game. For the record, I think I did know what a grand slam is, but not until he started playing baseball last spring, and I didn't know what a cycle is, plus all that screaming and woohoo's threw me off. My husband wants to clarify it was 17 years ago in the metrodome. You can watch what he's talking about at this link: http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200904184190325&c_id=min
PLAY BALL!