Felt So Fine

Bless his heart

2011-10-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

As many of you already know, our world was turned upside down this week. Last Tuesday, our sweet little Spencer had a stomachache that didn't go away. After a couple of trips to the doctor we finally took him to the ER on Saturday night and within hours we found ourselves admitted to the Pediatric ICU in SLC. Spencer's heart is in failure and he is a very, very sick little boy. The doctor's don't know what is causing it but they are working their hardest to fix it. We've had some awful conversations with doctors regarding ventilators and possible heart transplant, but it's just too depressing and shocking to even know what to do with that info at this point. Hopefully the current meds do their job and we can forget that those conversations ever occurred.

We are so grateful for all of the love and prayers. It helps so much!!

I probably won't be on here much. My sis-in-law, Haley, created a page for me on Caring Bridge that will allow me to update everyone on Spencer's status much easier. Here is the link:
www.caringbridge.org/visit/spencerfelt

I don't know much about the site yet but Haley said that you can sign up to get emails whenever we update.

Love you all!!!

Just Peachy!

2011-09-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

Dear September,

How is it that you are able to sit there on the calendar so humble and unassuming? Does December, in all her arrogance, pretend to look down on you? I'm sure that July won't have anything to do with you, being so independent all the time. (And yes, November, we see how grateful you are when your turn finally rolls around. No need to wear it on your sleeve like that.) It's no surprise that February loves you no matter what you do, but what about the others? Do they realize just how fabulous you are? Do they try to befriend you, hoping it will make them more likable? Or do they leave you out, gossiping with each other to make themselves feel better? Whatever the case may be, PLEASE don't change a thing!! Where should I begin? The weather? Perfect! The colors in the canyons? Stunning! The kids back in school? A small slice of heaven! Football season? Archery season? Well, a happy man IS a happy home! And then there are the peaches. Forgive me if I get a little bit emotional, but really? All of that AND peaches?? You're beyond amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you, September!!

Love,

An adoring fan.

Back to School

2011-09-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

Okay. So I'm a little bit late posting the first day of school pictures. I know this because yesterday I scheduled my appointments for parent-teacher conferences. Really?? Already?!

The kids seem, for the most part, to be enjoying school. From what I overhear, kindergarten is SOOOOO fun, eighth grade is stupid and a complete waste of time, third grade is awesome because "Brooke sits right behind me!" and sixth grade was scary at first but having a locker totally makes up for the confusion of seven different classes! As for me, I'm just trying to stay on schedule. Getting four out the door in the morning, only to then have the first one return home three hours later, followed by the others over the next three hours, requires no small amount of planning. Luckily, I have Claire to keep me on task.

Here is my new middle-schooler, Corinne. She's the first one to leave. It was barely light enough to even take this picture!

Nicole is also at a new school as she started Jr. High this year.
Paige is in third grade and a very good helper to her little brother.
Yay! Waiting for the first day of kindergarten was a LOOOOOOOOOOONG wait! Spencer loves school and is really excited to have FOUR other boys from the neighborhood in his class. (That poor teacher!)

First library book!!!

Paige's Baptism

2011-09-12T13:06:00.000-07:00

Last week, Paige was baptized. It was such a great day and we were so happy to have so many family members join in our special day with us. Paige was very excited leading up to her baptism which made it all the more enjoyable!

This is the picture for her invitations: Here she is with Matt right before the baptism.

And here she is looking beautiful and happy as the newest member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Today, her class celebrated her un-birthday (since she's a summer baby) and she is the Star Student of the week. Here she is explaining the pictures on her poster:
And here she is introducing her classmates to "Hermity" the Hermit Crab. (My kids are all naming impaired.)

Claire-ification

2011-09-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

Today's post was actually supposed to be back-to-school pictures but Matt has taken my camera hunting, AGAIN. I believe I had this problem last year. Consequently, those pictures will be posted at a later date.

So instead I've decided to treat you all with a few random pictures of our little Clairey-berry. She's a firecracker! Keeps us all running from morning until night. And she makes us smile. Often. Yesterday she and Spencer came inside quarreling over something and she turned to me and said, "Mo-om, Spencer hurt my heart and it's trying to break in pieces!" (Oh honey, guard that heart well. This is only the beginning!)

One day this summer the kids transformed themselves into superheroes with names, homemade masks, unique traits and powers and special assignments. The older girls helped Claire with her costume and gave her the very appropriate moniker, Atomic Bomb!
My girly-girls! Claire loves to keep her nails painted and lately if she can't find Corinne to paint them she goes next door to the neighbor mom-of-three-boys who loves their "girl time".
Good thing someone around here is willing to do windows...
With the neighbor boy:
She just squealed with delight when she discovered this little Marilyn Monroe trick. And that mess you see on her face? Yeah, that's my lipstick.

Loaded Question

2011-08-22T18:48:00.000-07:00

"Are you sure garbage day is tomorrow?" He asked innocently enough as I pushed the big black receptacle past him toward the street. He was busily attempting to shoehorn camping supplies for seven into the back of a seemingly shrunken SUV. As the words left his mouth there was a jolt as the earth stopped spinning and I felt a disturbance in the time-space continuum. I stopped where I was and turned to stare at him. To the outside observer it was a silent moment except for the rustling of nylon sleeping bags being pushed against each other. But inside my head the storm of the century was raging.

Am I sure? Am I sure?! AM I SURE??!! Well, let's see, for the 307 Tuesdays that we have lived in this same house, on this same street, with this same garbage schedule, I have done a fairly perfect job getting the garbage can out on the right day all 307 times. I can see how this might cause you to doubt me. It's apparent now that I have a LOT of work to do. I am well behind in my preparations because I only have twenty-five more years to devise a strategy for dealing with what will no doubt be a monumental test of my patience. That is to say, YOUR RETIREMENT! I can hear it now. "Are you sure you know how to scramble those eggs?" "Are you sure this is the right setting on the washing machine?" "Are you sure you paid that bill on time?" "Are you sure we need to buy that much toilet paper?"

Pausing his activity, he looked at me.

I gave him my sweetest smile. "Yes, I'm sure." And away I went as the earth resumed her rotations and the crickets dared chirp again.

SHEESH!!!

-----------------

Because I love him more than I love sarcasm, which is to say--A LOT--I will try to be fair and add here that he did notice the expression on my face and had the decency to look sheepish....That's right, Mister!

Eight is Great!!! (and so is backpacking...)

2011-08-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

Happy, happy birthday, Paigie-bug!! Our "Paige in the middle" turned eight this month and we celebrated from dawn 'til dusk! (Which is a lot of hours in August.) She was able to have a slumber party with two of her cousins to ring in the birthday. After she and Kinley fell asleep, her older sisters and Kaiya decorated the whole house with "eights". We breakfasted on aebleskivers, scrambled eggs and strawberries then loaded up and went to Grandma's house where more cousins were waiting. We spent an hour or so at the park and by late afternoon we were ready for the pool and pizza. It was so fun as the evening became a mini-reunion with ALL 26 of the cousins together for a rare moment! We capped off the day with another cousins sleep-over and Paige is officially eight!!

Although I try, I cannot be perfect all of the time, :) and this day my flaws came through in the form of very little camera action. What kind of a mother (and blogger) am I that I didn't record her every moment?! We were just too busy having fun, I guess. :) Hopefully these will give you a small idea of her joy!

In July Matt took Nicole and Corinne backpacking with friends, Troy and Rachel. They were excited when they left and happy when they returned so I think it was another successful adventure!
Corinne landing a fish with Nicole's fly rod:
It's hard to see, but it's there.
Nicole reeling one in:
Matt said that Nicole really wanted to catch, clean, cook and eat a fish all by herself this time, and she DID!
Around the campfire:
On the trail for home:

Pioneers & Pancakes

2011-08-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

Here in Utah, in July, we celebrate Pioneer Day to commemorate the arrival of the Mormon Pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley. Here in our little town we do it up right. Beginning with a flag ceremony and a pancake breakfast followed by a first class "bike parade". Complete with streamers and balloons and manure encrusted four-wheelers, we remembered the pioneers in high fashion!

Corinne, Claire and Spencer lined up for the parade: (Yes, someone brought their tractor to the breakfast because it was attached to their truck.)
Paige lined up to go. Check out the intensity of these girls, they mean business!
Nicole ready to lead the pack:
Corinne is such a good sister. She rode with Claire the whole way around the block!
Nicole coming to the "finish line".
Here is video of some of the parade--Paige is right in the middle and very happy about being filmed.

Here is video of Spencer and his friend in the home stretch:

And here are Corinne and Claire. Claire LOVED the parade. She pedaled like that the whole way just as happy as could be!

Jackson Hole 2011

2011-07-26T10:10:00.001-07:00

Oh my GOSH, I love this town! A long weekend in Jackson is medicine for the soul. We spent a very short 48 hours there this month and had a great time. We enjoyed Billy's Burgers and Moo's Creamery again. Wahoo for tradition!! (And wahoo for vacation calorie-free-for-alls!) We also spent a day in the mountains and a late night of dancing after the kids went to bed. Rest?! Pfft...No time for such nonsense!

I love these first pictures! There was a cow moose and her calf hanging around the cabin. I took these of the kids watching her from the safety of the laundry room.And here she is, back with her calf.
And a view of the calf from the deck.
Taking a little breather during our walk around town.
Corinne's new hat
Here are the girls goofing around in the park after ice cream.

Our big excursion on this trip was our hike into Cascade Canyon on the west side of Jenny Lake. Our friends offered to watch Claire at the cabin all day. A very generous offer that we gladly accepted. It was about 5 miles round trip and the scenery was gorgeous! (I'll warn you now, I was able to narrow down the pictures of our hike to about two dozen.)

On Saturday we got up very early and drove into Teton National Park. Here we are riding the ferry across Jenny Lake.

My happy family walking up the trail.
I HATE this picture. It gives me the creeps every time I look at it. That river was absolutely RAGING! I was very glad that the trail wasn't right next to it the whole way up the mountain.
Destination #1: Hidden Falls...Check!

These cute little chipmunks were so curious about Corinne's shoes.

Stopping for a rest and a snack. Paige and I found a very comfy rock!

If you'll notice in all of the pictures, everyone is carrying a backpack except for one person. I would have been willing if he had wanted me to--but my man took good care of me. :)
Destination #2: Inspiration Point...Check!
Back on the trail.

Destination #3: Gorgeous setting for our lunch break...Check!
Nicole wading in the stream (See the waterfall behind her?)
Spencer got in the cold water just long enough for this picture, then he was done!
Click on the picture to see if you can find the two, cute little mountain goats.
The girls cooling off before we hit the trail again.
Paige on the boat back across the lake.
Claire may not have hiked five miles with us, but....
Until next year...

Back on the Wagon

2011-07-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it was about this same time last year when I became somewhat complacent in my blogging and didn't have a new post FOR FIVE MONTHS!! Now, I've never been one to let history repeat itself, so of course I...Oh stop laughing! Failed chore charts, last minute Christmas shopping, and unopened exercise equipment don't count!! But I have learned this. Pain hurts! And it was painful to play catch-up last December so I am jumping back into my blogging with both hands--and only ONE MONTH later! Ta-da!!! Okay, a little motivation never hurts either. I keep hearing these complaints coming from Nicole's general direction, "Mom! Why did you blog about Claire's birthday, but not mine?" What can I say to that but "Squeaky wheel--here is your grease."

Before we get to her big day though, here is a picture of her triumphant return from Girls Camp. She looks appropriately tired and happy. Just how they should come home, no? And by the way, Kudos to whomever scheduled this years camp for the whole week before her b-day. Easiest. Sneaky-birthday-prep. EVER!!
Thirteen gifts for my new teenager! Side note: She is annoyingly good at guessing her gifts so I put all of those little presents in one big box and wrapped it. Am I a bad mom for enjoying the disappointment in her eyes when she thought that she only got ONE present? Hahahahaaa!!
Happy Birthday, Colie!!
Why yes, that is a homemade cheesecake. Thank you for noticing. (It was delish!!)
Okay...break time. I give you enough to read on this blog so let's just play a little game. Can you find the difference in these two pictures?
Need a hint? How about 24 months and 4000 dollars worth of difference. Happy day for Nicole!!

The first week of July was extra fun for us because our cousin, Ethan came all the way from California to experience summer in Wellsville with us. I think we were quite accurate in what daily life is like here.
One of the days when Ethan was here the kids began the daily whine "Mom, what's for lunch?" I (half) jokingly answered, "I don't know, what are you going to make?" So they got to work. Here is proof of their industry. I'll tell you what--they make a mean quesadilla!
These cousins love each other! (We miss you, Ethan. Come back!)

Birthday Girl

2011-06-23T07:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to our little Claire Bear!! She turned three on Sunday and we just love her so much! Having five children means that every time we've had a birthday party for a 3 year old, there was another little baby in my arms or on the way. At those moments I have said, "See? This is why I keep having babies. So that I can always have a three year old in the house!" I just love three. It's such a fun age to experience with my children. But alas, there comes a time in life when a person, (translation: Matt) just has to say, "Enough is enough!" Which means we've just had our last 3rd birthday party. It isn't sad. It's just one more milestone. But it's true that you learn to appreciate the little moments more and more. So this birthday was especially fun for me. And I think that Claire enjoyed it too!

I asked her what kind of cake she wanted.... "Pink!"
Opening presents with plenty of encouragement from siblings.
A thank you hug to Corinne for the stickers.

Blowing out her candles!

Sporting her new pink sunglasses and piggy from Aunt Barbara.

And here she is the next day with her new sand table. I know. You're probably tempted to point out the fact that our whole backyard is a sandbox. But that dirt is off limits. Grass is on the way! (Maybe the power of positive thinking will make it come true.)

Wind Caves

2011-06-16T18:48:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Matt took the older kids and went for a hike to the Wind Caves in Logan Canyon. They had a great time and Matt said Spencer asked to go again before they had even made it back to the truck. Maybe next time Claire and I will get to go!

Nicole, Spencer and Paige on the trail:
Nicole and Corinne
Yay! They reached the caves in one piece!
Spencer has always really loved Spiderman. Now I know why! I never knew they were related.
Okay, just kidding. The picture above wasn't rotated correctly. But I had to put it in because Spence laughed so hard when he saw it like that. He kept saying, "It looks like I'm climbing on the ceiling!"
Paige finally found her niche in life. (Wow! Did I really just type that? Sorry!)
Pictures like this are the reason I don't go...
And this...

Not a bad view! (And the scenery is pretty great also.)

Summer Home

2011-06-03T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well, it may not be a cabin on Lake Tahoe or waterfront property in the Hamptons, but my kids love it! Officially, our summer vacation started yesterday at 11:30am. But Nicole, Corinne, Paige and Spencer got a jump on things on Monday by literally moving into the playhouse. They've assigned themselves each a bunk, decorated, and stocked their "adult-free zone" with all sorts of necessities: books, crackers, FM radio, more blankets and pillows than I can count, and board games. If the playhouse had running water, it's possible that I wouldn't see them all summer. (Hmmm....that's something to think about.) Truthfully, I was skeptical. I remember plenty of summer nights sleeping outside in which I ended up trudging back inside to my own bed. These pictures aren't just from their first time sleeping outside this summer. This is their first time EVER! So, I left the outside lights on and the doors unlocked, sure that I would hear them soon enough. But no! The only thing that finally drove them from their haven was nature's call the next morning! And then they were gone again--but not before stealing more "supplies" from the kitchen. Fun stuff!!

P.S. In other news: Tonight is the second night in a row that Matt and I are awake much later than we'd like to be because our "nearly teenager" is at a party, so we have to wait up for HER!! I really feel remorseful right now for all the many nights I kept my mom up. It never even occurred to me that she was tired! I guess it's payback time...

One Year Older...and Wiser, Too!

2011-06-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Matt's birthday! It's always such a big day for him. He looks forward to it with much anticipation and excitement. Oh wait, my mistake. That would be ummm....anybody else. Matt has to be reminded.

"Yes, tomorrow is your birthday. "

"Good morning, Happy Birthday!...Yes, you!"

"Hi! Just calling to make sure you're coming home on time today...Why?? Because it's your birthday and your mom and grandparents are coming!"

Fortunately for him, he has plenty of reminders. Five of them to be exact and they were more than willing to help him open his presents and blow out his candles. We sufficiently celebrated him one year older. We love him and we're very glad we have him. We'll keep him around for many more birthdays!!

Now for the "wiser". You thought that title referred solely to Matt's birthday didn't you? Nope! That man is already far too wise for my own good. The "wiser" in this post is Spencer! He graduated from Preschool last week. It was a close one. We had some late nights making sure he had all his assignments in and a couple of projects to help bring up his grade in "Cutting With Safety Scissors". But fortunately for all of us, he has been deemed worthy to move on to kindergarten in the fall. Here are THREE (yikes!) video clips from the program. The first is of Spencer reciting his part. The next two are samples of songs they sang during the program. He's quite the silly yet handsome little man! (If I do say so myself.)

Miles of Fun!

2011-05-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

Corinne has had a busy couple of weeks at school. I guess in order to get these 5th graders all ready for Middle School, they have to pack a lot of extra-curricular into their schedules. We've had fun cheering her on in her different events.

Here are some pictures of the Wellsville Mile. She ran her mile in 8:33 and took 20th in her heat. (Out of 105.) I am so proud of her! Here she is at the starting line, #1286.

Here she is crossing the finish line:

And here she is with her friend, all smiles, after the race.
I also got to go the her graduation from NOVA. A program done by the Sheriff's Dept. for all of the 5th graders in the valley. She enjoyed this a lot!
The school also held their annual dance festival. Each grade learns a dance and performs for the rest of the school. Here is Corinne's:
Here is Paige's:
And lastly, here are the kids right after they helped Grandpa blow out his birthday candles!

Mother's Day

2011-05-10T19:00:00.001-07:00

I really do love Mother's Day. I tell Matt that I don't want anything, and I mean it. But he knows better. He knows that what I really want is chance after shameless chance to milk this day for all it's worth.

"A spinach omelet and orange rolls please. Oh, and make them into cute mini-rolls because it's Mother's Day."

"Don't look at me like that, it's Mother's Day!"

"Don't be silly. Of course I can help with the dishes...." (Never heard his response I was already two rooms away with my feet up.)

The best part of the day though, is the assortment of gifts presented by my loving children. All five of them home-made something this year and they were so excited to give them to me. It was a deep kind of joy that I felt in that moment.

However, my day went from this:

To this:
Those are staples you can see in Claire's scalp. The little munchkin fell off a stool and hit her head on the corner of the tile foot rest. It happened while we were at church and she and Nicole were home being sick. Poor Nicole had never experienced the blood loss of a head wound before. She did great though and after we got home I made a quick trip to Instacare, and then home again to find dinner waiting for us. Not a bad day, actually!

Neither the fall nor the staples have slowed Claire down AT ALL. Yesterday, just for fun, I tried to catch on film all the times that Claire changed clothes. I didn't even get half!!

Here she is ready to "kill the bad guys".
The shirt is on backwards, but at least it matches the pants.
One of the three dresses she wore yesterday, paired with her favorite slippers.
I have no idea what she is here. But wouldn't it be fun if as adults we could dress like this and get away with it? I really think it would make my grocery shopping much less of a chore!

Straight from the horse's mouth

2011-05-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

Something happened the other day that brought to mind a funny (depending on who's telling it) story from my youth. I've been chuckling about it for a couple of days now so I thought I'd put it out there for all of you to judge as you see fit.

On Wednesday, my little man came into the kitchen and announced, "Mom! I just cleaned the whole bathroom floor and the toilet with this!" You know how sometimes your kids say things and that part of your brain that is able to give them a semi-sufficient response answers, while the rest of you stays focused on whatever task was interrupted? Well, not this time. With that statement he had my whole undivided attention. My head snapped up to see the item in question and I saw his big sister's pink and purple toothbrush as he wielded it proudly above his head. Two thoughts formed: "Thank goodness he TOLD me and didn't just put it back in the drawer." AND "Huh. The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree."

Rewind about thirty years. Little Nancy was enjoying a carefree summer afternoon when she became aware of an atrocity in her very own backyard. Nellie, our gentle, sorrel mare had YELLOW TEETH. Not on my watch! I marched into the house in search of dental care. As I looked at the assortment, only one rational thought surfaced, "Not mine." Otherwise, it didn't really matter to me. I picked a fine looking brush and marched right back to where I had left poor, neglected Nellie. I did my best and was very persistent despite Nellie's lack of enthusiasm with the chore. And when it was over, I did what I had been taught to do, and "put my things away where I had found them". That evening I entered the bathroom to brush my teeth, and already standing at the counter was my dad and, sure enough, thoroughly scrubbing her molars with THE toothbrush, my teenage sister. I swear on my life to you that the next words to come out of my mouth were said with ZERO malice and genuine excitement. "HEY! That's the toothbrush I used to brush Nellie's teeth!" The next few minutes were full of spitting and swishing and yelling and possibly a little cursing, as well as suppressed laughter. (How Dad held it in, I'll never know!)

I think I might be risking an estrangement with my sister by bringing this story up all these years later. Or maybe the statute of limitations has expired on "rotton little sister pranks". (Again, I swear my innocence regarding intent!) Either way I feel that given the events of this week I can now be granted a complete and absolute pardon for my actions because obviously it's hereditary. And you can't fight good genes!

Z: Zoo

2011-04-30T17:26:00.000-07:00

It was like a ZOO yesterday! So many bodies. The screaming and yelling went on forever. And the celebration lasted well into the night. No, I'm not talking about William and Kate's Royal Wedding. Although there is that. Corinne had a "late night pajama party" to get herself all turned 11. And I think it worked!

Here she is with flowers from Dad.
The little family party before THE Party. (A little party, not little family!)

At her party she and 9 other girls played all sorts of giggle/squeal inducing games. The favorite one was Spin the Nail Polish. Each girl would spin a different color of polish and whoever is pointed to had to paint one nail that color.
The colorful results:
The girls thought it was really funny that she got TWO of these. One girl said, "Now you have enough to make each of us a bracelet!"
The birthday girl in her new chair.
What a fun group! After pumping them full of M&M's and cupcakes, we had them all home by 11:00pm.

Thanks for sticking with me to the end of my A to Z challenge. Today's been so busy I was afraid I'd blow it on the last day. If you'll look to the right, you'll notice that the highest number of posts I've ever done in a YEAR is 27. I've just done 26 in a MONTH!! (You might not hear from me for a while.) Now that it's over I won't stay up so late working on my blog and instead I'll get some ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ's.

Zee End.

Y: Yearly Celebration

2011-04-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

After much planning and speculating and waiting it's here! Finally!! The most anticipated day of the whole year! Who will be invited? What will the cake be like? What will she wear?? No, I'm not talking about William and Kate's Royal Wedding. Although there is that. I'm talking about Corinne's birthday! And I may be prone to exaggeration at times, but THIS is not one of those times. If there was ever a girl who loved her birthdays, it's Corinne. She looks forward to it all year long. And it's not about the presents--ever. Truly, I sometimes wonder if she's pleasantly surprised on birthday morning to find gifts waiting at her breakfast plate. Kind of like, "Oh yeah. And presents, too!" She just loves the whole day! I have to admit that I do too. It's starts at bedtime when I tuck her in and say, "Good night. Sleep tight. Don't fall out of bed when you turn 11 at midnight!" (I started saying this years ago. Now the kids roll their eyes at me and give me a "Mo-om!" So of course I'll never quit.) I, and sometimes siblings, wake her in the morning with that song from "Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses". And just yesterday I realized we have another tradition. I asked Corinne if she wanted to get up really early to open presents before Matt and Nicole left or wait to open them at dinner and she said, "No. I'll open them at dinner, except for the one with new clothes so I can wear them to school." I stood there like a guppy with my mouth opening and closing. I had no comeback. She was right! There was a new outfit sitting in my closet ready to be wrapped. But SHE didn't know that. I guess that's the downside of tradition. You sort of give up the surprise element. No matter. It was still a lovely morning of cinnamon rolls and singing and new clothes. She left for school with a whole day ahead of her--much to her delight!

(Click on the link to hear our Barbie Birthday song: YouTube - The Birthday Song . Cute huh! Now you'll have to watch the whole movie to see what happens next!)

X: eXempt

2011-04-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

No one in the Family Felt plays the xylophone. And no one has had to have an x-ray recently. (Knock on wood) And since this IS a family blog I can't do X-rated so I'm going to have to cheat today. I'm perfectly okay with that.

As a matter of fact I feel eXhilarated at the thought! I've always felt that an eXcess of eXactness is eXasperating. Matt of course being my eXception. ;) As I eXert myself to eXpatiate on this subject I eXhort you to eXtend eXorbitant amounts of eXculpation. My eXposure to the topic is eXiguous and this eXperiment is nothing short of eXhausting to us both. My eXploit seems eXtreme, so without eXplanation I make my eXit before I eXpidite a mass eXodus from my blog!

(So apparently X means whatever I want it to mean. Don't you judge me! It's not the easiest letter and I'm on DAY 24!! My thinker is running out of thoughts!)

W: Writing

2011-04-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

I am in awe of great writers. Anybody who is creative and talented enough to author a story that gets my heart pounding and demands my attention to the last page has my deepest admiration. I LOVE books. When I find a truly great book it is a treasure. I was only 18 when I read Lonesome Dove but I can still remember clearly, racing through all 960 pages only pausing when absolutely necessary and even then keeping it next to me with my finger marking my place. The first time I read Jane Eyre I was blown away! More recently I read The Book Thief. The story was very good, but the writing was amazing! I would read a line and stop to exclaim to Matt, "Listen to how he worded this sentence!" Sometimes it's a character who grabs hold of me. Mrs. Baker, in Wednesday Wars, is someone I would love to be friends with, and who wouldn't want to attend a meeting of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society? And then sometimes it's not the best writing but just a true story that had to be told and opens my eyes to things far removed from my safe little world. Books like Lone Survivor and To Destroy You is No Loss affected me deeply. Our grade school librarians tried to instill in us that "we can travel the world just by opening a book". I agree! I would love to see The British Isles, but if I never get there I've read some very beautiful and magical stories that paint a picture in my mind that may be better than the real thing!

About a year ago I was approached by a friend who wondered if I would be interested in joining his writing group. He knew that I liked to read and they were looking for people willing to critique for them. Surprisingly enough, it sounded really fun to me. I couldn't figure out why. It's basically like homework. I give my time and energy freely, with nothing in return. When I explain this to people I get a little embarrassed because even to myself it sounds weird. But I love it! The only explanation I can come up with is that I guess I've finally found my true talent in life: telling other people what they are doing wrong and how I think they could do it better! (Matt's known for a long time that I'm very good at this.)

So now I'm in a writing group. But I don't write. The writers in my group encourage me to give it a try but I have a lengthy list of excuses ready for them. "Who has time?" "I don't have any ideas." "Maybe when my kids are older." "I'm not talented enough to actually publish anything, so why waste my time?" They don't accept any of them. And why should they? They're actually doing the work and laying themselves out there each week for me to slice and dice and skewer any way I see fit. I try to let them know, often, how very impressed I am with them. They are all very talented and I get so excited for them when they produce something extraordinary! As for myself, I'm content for now to write this blog and enjoy the delicious fruits of others' labors.

(SHAMELESS PLUG: One of the writers in my group just published his first e-book on Amazon. If you have an e-reader go buy it for .99!Amazon.com: Jabberwocky eBook: Daniel Coleman: Kindle Store He's really good!)

V: Vick's Nyquil

2011-04-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at this time, I felt completely healthy. Not even a hint of what was to come. Sometime in the late afternoon, I began to sneeze. By evening my nose was running, and by bedtime I had myself diagnosed with acute viral rhinopharyngitis--the common cold. It's inevitable with five kids that there will always be some bug running around between us all. Especially with one of them going to preschool and another one in that dreaded cesspool disguised as a church nursery. Over the last decade-plus, with the kids bringing all of these germs home, I've had MORE than my share of colds, but this time it's different. I get to fight back!! For the majority of the past 13 years I've been either pregnant or nursing, which if you've ever taken the time to read the warnings on ANYTHING, you know that means that I was not allowed to medicate myself, repair a toaster, or read past a 3rd grade level. But now, my body belongs to me and only me. I can drug myself to my heart's content without any amount of guilt. So I did. Right after threatening all of the kids to go to sleep or I'd PUT them to sleep, but just before turning my back on a kitchen that still had dinner dishes on the table and dirty pans on the stove, I downed a pharmaceutical cocktail specifically designed to bring me to that blessed oblivion I so craved. And HALLELUJAH! It worked!! I slept fabulously and woke this morning to a foggy, drug-induced medicine head that was more than worth it. Thank you, Mr. Vick for a good night's sleep!

P.S. I may be able to take all manner of FDA approved goodies now, and enjoy more intellectual reading, but I still can't repair a toaster.

U: Unplugged

2011-04-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

We tried something this weekend that we've never done before. We went "Unplugged" from Saturday morning to Monday morning. That meant NO computer, NO television, and NO video games. I've been toying with this idea for a while now since this is my most common sight of my children around the house:

So with "U" coming up, now seemed like a good time to try it.

As I anticipated, my idea met with some resistance. Wait, let me rephrase that. There was a major freak-out on Saturday morning! The weeping and wailing, and gnashing really didn't do much to help their cause. It kinda made us think we should have done this long ago and more often. But as the day progressed and they began to understand that we weren't going to budge they realized that there is life away from the screen.

We took a small road trip, painted Easter eggs, visited friends, and read a book. We also weeded the flower beds, played cards, made crepes and went to grandma's house. The road trip had me worried, without a DS or DVD player to keep Matt and me sane. And I'm not sure the kids avoided the TV at Grandma's house completely. But when the weekend was over, it really felt good. At dinner on Saturday, Paige said, "This is the best Saturday ever!!" You better believe Matt and I didn't let that go without a few "We told you so's!!".

In the weeks leading up to this I had these grand visions of something amazing happening due to our self-imposed denial. Perhaps by Sunday evening the kids would all be serving one another, finding fulfillment in being together, and the lion would lie down with the lamb. But it really was just another weekend. It was very nice not to have to deal with kids fighting over the computer or the DS, but that doesn't mean they didn't fight. I myself had a few moments where I looked at the computer and gauged my chances at being able to check my email and be done before they came back in the room. But I held strong.

This morning on the way to school I told Nicole that I really liked going unplugged and thought we should do it again. I won't go into detail but I really don't think she shares my view. At least there was no teeth gnashing!

T: Teller of Tales

2011-04-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Last night, Nicole and Corinne and I rushed straight from the soccer field to the “Author Event” being held twenty minutes away at the same time as our games. It was a dilemma. On the one hand we had our games. And you learned yesterday, we’re kind of fond of those games. On the other hand, this was a chance to meet our FAVORITE author! But apparently you CAN have your cake and eat it too, because we made it just in time to get in line and become sufficiently star-struck. Jessica Day George was the object of our affection. She’s not a household name yet, not like say, that Rowling chick. But I will love her forever. She taught my girl the joy of reading!

In 5^th grade, Nicole was old enough now to check out something other than comic books from the library, but nothing appealed to her. I tried and tried but she just had no interest in any of the novels I suggested. But one day she came home with her nose in a book and didn’t look up for two days! I was shocked. “What is this book that has finally caught her eye?” It was Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George.Well, I had to know what kind of book this was so I could go stock my library with more of the same, so I opened the first chapter. And two days later I looked up. It was just a sweet, funny, action packed, story of a young dress-maker who happens to be friends with the dragons which of course means there is danger and adventure and a prince. It was the first of a trilogy, so we ordered the next two. And I’ve since bought the other three novels written by this author. Corinne is almost through all three Dragon books now and loves them too. This one is my favorite. (I would LOVE to wear that dress! Look at the embroidery on that thing!!)

So yesterday evening found us standing in front of our hero of sorts, with our arms full of her books and trying our best not to embarrass ourselves by acting all fan girl on her! It was a fun experience and I was so happy to be able to share it with my girls. To see them enjoy a book the way that I enjoy books is gratifying indeed!

S: Soccer

2011-04-22T20:25:00.001-07:00

If you can believe it, adding up the cumulative soccer seasons of five kids, we've been able to avoid 19 opportunities to be soccer slaves each Spring. Until now. Nicole and Corinne decided that they were missing out and asked to play this year. Oh, that's all fine and good. It's really not a problem getting them to practices and games. Outfitting them didn't even turn out to be as expensive as I thought it would be. And they really love playing. But then, the unthinkable happened. I called the coordinator to find out about Nicole's team, because games were starting soon and we hadn't heard anything.

Her reply: "Oh, yes. We haven't put that team together yet because they don't have a coach."

Big pause.

Me:"Ummm. Oh."

Big Pause.

Me: "Soooo. Um."

Big Pause.

Her: "Yeah. They don't have a COACH?"

Bigger Pause.

Me: "Do...you...want......(choke)...ummm....me?"

NO PAUSE!

Her: "Okay! Thanks! I'll get your roster to you this week. Sounds great. Bye!"

So, despite the fact that I've never played a minute of soccer outside of the 3 week unit in 9th grade P.E., and despite the fact that my kids have never played, so I've never even watched a minute of soccer; I've been given the reins. Who knew it was SO MUCH FUN??! I coach Nicole's team and I can't believe how totally into it I am. The kids are great and I'm learning a lot from them. Like, how many people play at a time, what a goal kick is, and what to do if the ball goes out of bounds. They are very patient. In return for their patience though, they get a coach who is very fair, understands that we're all here for fun, and is so competitive that at halftime she whispers cheap tricks they might want to try on the opposing team.

But enough about me. The girls are doing great and they have so much fun. Corinne's team works so well together. I went to her first game and was way impressed. She's got hustle! She's all over that ball and when she took her turn at goalie she had several stops and came away good and muddy. (It rained through the whole game.) She had her second game tonight (which Matt went to since Nicole's team played at the same time) and they are now 2-0.

Nicole's age group is co-ed and it's so fun to see them all play and have so much fun together. We only have 1-2 subs a game so she gets plenty of running in and does a great job! They are also 2-0 and tonight's game was against what I thought at first impression would be a really hard team, but it was never even close. She generously told her team before the game that if they won she'd buy them all a pop. I guess I should give her props for the good motivation! GOOAAALLLL!!

R: Ramsey-itis

2011-04-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight Matt and I will attend our final class--graduating if you will--from the Dave Ramsey school of "How to stop being stupid and learn how to be a gajillion-zillionaire like me". We are followers of the almighty Dave. Because of his wisdom we are now RACING with gazelle-like intensity toward Financial Peace.
For 13 weeks now we've gone every Thursday night and heard Dave tell us things like:

"I've done extensive research & found that 100% of foreclosures are on houses with mortgages."

"People resist change much like a 2 year-old resists having his diaper changed. It might be stinky, but it's warm and it's all mine!"

"Broke people giving financial advice is like a shop teacher with missing fingers."

"If you want something you've never had, you'll have to do something you've never done."

"Life is hard. But life is REALLY HARD for stupid people."

See? Brilliant! I admit, in the beginning I resisted. "No!" I told Matt. "I do NOT want to have some guy tell me that I can't spend my money!" But by about halfway through class #2 I was SOLD! Now, I'm just another sheep in Dave's herd, baa-ing to the masses about his greatness and glory. I feel a little cheap but I can't stop myself! Most of my conversations these days eventually work their way round to, "Well, Dave Ramsey said..."

I apologize now if you've been the recipient of my enthusiasm. (Which is YOU if you've just read this post!)

In other "R" related news: I noticed yesterday that a prong on my wedding ring was bent! The diamond was still there, thank goodness, but I took the ring off until I can take it in to be repaired. It's driving me NUTS!!! I didn't realize how many times a day I fidgeted with it.

Q: Quid pro quo

2011-04-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Q is for quid pro quo. Which should be double points for me because it has TWO "q" words. I picked this today because it's a cool phrase. At least I've always thought so, ever since Hannibal Lecter creeptastically introduced it to my generation.

So...what was given? In exchange for what? Well, I spent the better part of my day yesterday making Matt's favorite dinner. Spring Rolls. How two simple words can create such paradoxical feelings is crazy. I often find myself channeling Joan Jett when I'm making them, "I hate myself for lovin' you!" They are divine. Mouth watering. You can't eat them standing up. But to make them requires serious planning, patience and three or four mental pep talks. I picked yesterday because the kids didn't have school. I needed Nicole and Corinne here to help me with the wrapping. And Paige kept Claire and Spencer busy during that time. A regular little sweat shop. We made 134 rolls and with all three of us wrapping it took us just over an hour. And that doesn't count the hour it took me to make the filling. Or the hour to prepare the vegetables and sauce. Or the hour to fry them. Can you see why maybe this deserved a little quo? or quid? or whatever? Anyway, the fam LOVED them. I was a little shocked to see that between the seven of us we ate 92 of them at dinner. That's like 14 a piece!

So after dinner I told Matt that I thought I would go out for the evening. A little shopping maybe. And he just gave me a kiss goodbye and told me to have fun and be careful. He was a happy man. I was a happy woman. All is right with the world today!

P: Pets

2011-04-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

P is for PETS! This is a gratuitous post to introduce you to the other animals in our family. Even though they are strictly outdoor creatures and they do not vacation with us, wear clothes, or eat gourmet food they are still an important part of our lives and we love them! Right now we have four pets in our care.

First is Lily, the buck rabbit. Lily is somewhat androgynous because we really don't know whether to use he or she when talking about him/her. He/she started out as a girl and we loved her and named her Lily. And she loved us! When Lily was about 6 months old I was holding her and petting her and I had her cradled on her back like a baby and was scratching her tummy when I noticed a TUMOR growing on her abdomen. I gasped and thought "Oh no! Not our Lily!" But my fear turned to confusion when I suddenly noticed ANOTHER tumor, exactly the same shape and size right next to the first one. "What?" I thought. And then, "Ohhhhhhh." We didn't tell the kids for about three years. Moral of the story: Don't ever believe the teenage boy at the farm store who says, "Yes, this is a girl." Because what he is really thinking is, "How the hell should I know? Just buy the stupid rabbit already!"

Next on the food chain is Ginger. She is our mommy cat. But due to some promiscuity 2 years ago (once we can understand, but twice in 3 months?? Noooo, ma'am!) she is past her kitten bearing years. She's a good girl though. She has a favorite spot on the window sill outside the family room. She can watch over her domain and her family at the same time.

Here she is with her first litter. She had ONE! Weird, right? But, as I said above, then proceeded to have four more 10 weeks later. They found new homes, but this little guy got to stick around.
His name is Tigger and here he is two years later. He's a beauty. Really! I think his face looks like a bobcat--which I'm sort of partial to. He and his mom are also good mousers. Which is probably the ONLY reason Matt hasn't put an arrow through them both.
Last summer he adopted Claire. Anytime she went outside he was right there with her. It was a mutual love and fun to watch.

Last but not least we have Belle. Her official AKC name is Belle O' the Ball. Because we're Irish. Or Southern. Or she likes to fetch. Or everything else that went with "Belle" was already taken. Or something like that. But for the first few years of her life her name was NoBelle. Like the prize. OH MY GOSH! Do not underestimate anyone who ever tells you that a puppy is a lot of work! She's five now and it's SOOOO nice to finally see some mellowing going on.

But look at that face! So stinkin' cute.
A picture of her first hunting season. She does AWESOME! Never runs out of energy and finds and retrieves the birds amazingly well. (Or so I'm told--you won't find me tromping through the river bottoms on a frosty November morning!)
Here she is looking slim and trim on a little outing we took one evening.

She totally thinks she's a kid. Once I took her for a run and we went past SO many dogs and she never left my side. Then we got to the school and the second she saw the kids she was gone!

We really weren't trying to be mean in this video.

And here she is this morning. In dog years she's about my age now, so I'm not going to judge her too harshly for those extra inches of winter blubber. But she and I have some running to do!

O: Old?? Oh no you DI'INT!

2011-04-16T19:17:00.001-07:00

Three months ago I was sitting in church, minding my own business, when I glanced down at the announcements and read, "If you are interested in playing on the Relief Society Basketball team at the Region Tournament please call...". Wait, what?? Relief Society? Basketball? Since when did they let the women play basketball?? I read it again three times to make sure that I had really read it correctly. I was so excited!! Nearly bouncing on the pew, I leaned over to Matt and pointed at the words on the paper. He read it, looked up at me in what seemed to be something like disbelief/mockery and said, "It's been a LONG time since you played basketball." Then looked away as if to say, "end of discussion." Wet blanket, bubble burster, you pick your metaphor. However, because I was in church I couldn't give voice to the response that was quickly forming in my mind, so I placed a few more kids between us and fumed.

In all fairness to Matt, he WAS right. It had been a LONG time since I played basketball. There was nothing but truth in his words. But COME ON, Baby!! Have you not learned yet how and when to lie to a woman??

No matter how indignant I felt, the seeds of doubt had been planted. By the end of the meeting I had convinced myself. He's right. I'm too old. What am I thinking?? But I really WANTED to play. So a week later in Primary, when they read the same announcement out loud and even had little handouts to go with it, I timidly raised my hand. GAH! What if the other women look at me and wonder what's wrong with me? I have 5 kids! I'm too OLD to play basketball. But I squashed those feelings aside and showed up at the meeting two days later. Are you dying yet to know the end of this story? (Or just dying to be at the end of this story?) Well, turns out, there were 8 other women at this meeting, ALL within a couple of years of my age. Some older! I'll skip some of the gory details. Yes, we played at Region. And yes, those younger girls from Logan wiped the gym floor with our sorry hides. But we had fun! And no one needed oxygen.

So fast forward to now. The gals and I decided we liked it and started playing regularly every Thursday A.M. We run hard and trash talk and make fun of ourselves and it's so fun. Given that we all have too many kids to count, we bring them all and try to play around them. It works best when we play full court because then when they come to us wanting something we just run away. It's pathetic! But have I mentioned we LOVE it?

Matt has come around now and seems to think it's great. But last week, one of the gals shared with us that her husband had asked her if maybe she didn't think she was too old to be playing basketball. Well, that just opened the floodgates! In my naivety I really thought Matt was an exception. I pictured all of these other supportive hubbies, but NO! Every single one of us at one time or another has been asked/told in one way or another that perhaps we're too far on in years to dribble anything but saliva. I seriously don't understand it. They want us to exercise and be fit and healthy. But we're too old for basketball? Are they embarrassed? Or just protective cavemen? Granted, we're not Spring chickens. Between Kelly's back, Laura's ankle, Valerie's knee, my shoulder, and Julie's feet we're kind of falling apart. But OLD?? Never!!

N: Nearsighted

2011-04-16T15:49:00.000-07:00

N is for Nearsighted. I am nearsighted. I wear glasses and because some eye doctor long ago told me that I have an astigmatism, I've never worn contacts. It's a nuisance. I'd love to have Lasik, and plan to someday, but for now, I wear my glasses when I want to see things. And it works! I put on my glasses and I can see clearly all those distant sights that were so blurry just seconds before. This post isn't about eyesight though. It's about being nearsighted in life. Sometimes it's too easy to focus on what's right in front of us and get distracted from the better, more important future.

Nicole really wants a horse. I mean she REALLY wants a horse. She has saved every penny she's ever earned or been gifted and now has the funds to pay for half a horse. The problem is, the other half will be financed by Mom and Dad, but conditionally. Before we will give the okay for her big purchase, she has to show that she is really ready to be mature and responsible with horse ownership. We're getting closer to an actual realistic date so to help her out with this I made a sign recently:
The arrow moves up and down depending on, well, lots of things. I KNOW she wants this. But the arrow just kind of hangs around the middle. It's a little depressing to me. Frankly, it won't matter to me one bit if the horse doesn't happen for several years. But it breaks my heart to see her giving up on her goal because it's not fun to clean her room or practice the piano. She's certainly not alone. How many chores and projects and piles do I have that get put off and put off because it's just not fun NOW. I need to do better and hopefully by my example and help, all of my kids can learn that deferred gratification--a concept pretty foreign to their generation--is really the only way to reach their goals. And the goals I am most worried about are FAR more important than a horse. I wish we had a pair of glasses that we could slip on and bring those big goals right into focus again anytime we lose sight of the prize. But I guess if it were easy, everyone would do it, right?

M: Musician

2011-04-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

M is for Musician. In an attempt to bring more culture into our lives, (and to support our daughter) Matt and I attended the Mountain West Strings Academy South Cache Concert last night. A couple hundred 4th and 5th graders playing their hearts out--it was awesome! I love orchestra music. To be honest I'm very glad my kids play string instruments because I'm just not sure I could find the same enthusiasm for band. (And now I've offended all the band people out there. It's just a personal preference, people!) Anyhoo--Corinne is in her second year playing the cello and she does a great job. Here are some shots of my little beauty with her instrument, as well as 2 of the songs that she played last night. As you can see, we had very good seats!

Wipe Out!

Fiddler's Frolic: Part I

Fiddler's Frolic: Part II

L: Little Man

2011-04-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

The daughters had their 15 minutes, so of course I will give equal time to Spencer! He is my Little man. He looks at me with those big brown eyes, and I melt every time. He's such an easy going, happy boy. All trucks and dinosaurs and cowboys. You would think being surrounded by princesses and barbies and butterflies he'd get sucked in. But he holds his own and keeps an even balance in the house. One day I found a barbie in the garbage can and I yelled, "Who threw this away??" He scowled and explained, "They left that dumb girl in my room!!!" He's just such a delight to us all. He loves to play rough and tough and wrestle with his dad, but then at bedtime he snuggles right up with a big hug and kiss.

It's so different being a mother to a boy. When the girls were born I was filled with joy at the thoughts of shopping and talking and friendship for life. But with Spencer it was almost a crazy feeling of panic from the moment I held him. I felt that every minute that passed was one minute closer to him leaving me. Someday he'll grow up and some "girl" is going to take him away from me. I hate her guts already!! It makes me sad, and it also makes me feel deeply indebted to my mother-in-law for letting me steal Matt away from her. Although, if she would like him back, we might be able to work out some sort of joint custody arrangement? Maybe during hunting season?? :) See?? I'm awful! Daughter-in-laws are awful!! They make mean jokes about their husband. What if some bratty girl who knows how to bat her eyes just right at Spencer, makes a mean joke about him someday? UGH!! Not only am I a mean DIL, I'm also going to be a Monster-in-law, aren't I??? No. I'm not. I'm going to get it together and spend the next 15 years coming to grips with the fact that it's not only okay, but it's wonderful for Spencer to grow up and leave his mom and be a great husband and father just like his dad. But maybe I'll start tomorrow. Tonight I'm going to read him a story and when he smiles at me, I'll just fall more madly in love with him. And then in the morning I'll think about growing up.

This last picture just made me laugh. He's trying to be very sneaky and lick the snowman while I take his picture, without me knowing.

K: Kinky

2011-04-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

Of all the letters so far, this has been the hardest one for me. I have been completely stumped by "K". Until last night when inspiration struck. No, don't get ahead of yourselves. It was last night while checking the comments on my blog. A friend commented on yesterday's post: "Your posts are always so refreshing and wholesome." Like milk. So I thought, "Do I need to mix it up a little bit? Make sure my readers (all 3 of you) don't get bored?" So today I'm doing away with refreshing and wholesome and I'm going to tell you about a little weekend getaway that Matt and I took. It started out fairly innocent. But when we got to our destination our room was double booked as was the whole city due to the "Wizards & Turtles Fetish Convention" being held in our very hotel. Well, we had two choices: turn around and go back to the kids or...Nope. Just one choice. Long story short, one thing led to another and we found ourselves in the hotel ballroom picking out our wand and shell and...yada, yada, yada...we're now card carrying members of the WTF association. The nightmares and flashbacks only lasted a couple of years.

Now don't get used to this type of sharing. I think I'll probably stick with refreshing and wholesome. It's who I am. It's how I roll. It has to be. My mom reads this blog. But get me alone some time and get a couple of virgin jello shots in me, and who knows what will come out!

J: Just for fun

2011-04-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after the kids got home from school I took them up to USU for an Easter Fair that I had seen advertised. The fair turned out to be quite a bit less than what we were anticipating, but Matt came and met us after work and we let the kids wander around campus for a while, Just for fun! Both of us having gone there for school, we love that campus and it was just really nice and relaxing to explore with no schedule or deadline. The kids seemed to love it and were quite impressed that "ALL of these buildings are one school!".

Sitting atop the famous "A". The kids thought it very gross what goes on there.
Claire on the balance beam.
Posing with the statue of the boy who found the severed hand. (10 points if you know the quote!)
They found a "tree fort"
Katniss, I mean Nicole, climbing a tree. (5 points for that source)
Another statue:

In this picture Matt is pointing across the island to the other bench, showing the kids where he grew up.
We ended the evening with Aggie Ice Cream. SOOOOO good!!!

I: Imitation

2011-04-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Okay family, tomorrow is 'I'. What should my post be?"

"Ice cream!"

"Icicles!"

"Iguana igloo!" (What?)

"Illegal immigration!" (Not gonna touch that one!)

Or how about Claire's cute version of a favorite childrens' song: "Itchy Bitchy Spider"? (I know she'll grow out of it, but for now it's funny to me every time she sings it! And I don't blame that spider, what with all of that rain always washing her out!)

Eh, who am I kidding? I knew all along what I would do. "I" is for Imitation. The greatest form of flattery. It happens all the time around here. "Mo-om! Paige is copying me!"

Me: "Ohhh...what a compliment! Say thank you!"

Just this morning I heard the two year old yell at some offender "Get out! I'm getting dwessed!" (Thank you, big sisters for your great examples.)

Recently, for a project in her "Gifted & Talented" class, Corinne had to choose a person from history, and then learn all about that person, create a display board with some facts from their life and give a short presentation dressed up as that person. Well, Theodor Seuss Geisel ought to feel mighty flattered sitting up there in heaven or on Mulberry Street or wherever wonderful authors like himself wind up, because I thought her imitation was spot on!

H: Happy Birthday!

2011-04-09T07:30:00.000-07:00

H is for Happy Birthday Grandma Pat!

Today is her birthday so she gets her very own post. (I'm sure she's thrilled about this.) She's a wonderful Mom/Grandma and we have lots of fun with her. Thank you Grandma for everything you do!

We love you Grandma and hope that your 39th birthday is the best one yet!!

P.S. She reads this blog and the comments, I think. So feel free to give her a shout out! :)

G: Grain, Grinder, Gluten, Goodness & Grandma's

2011-04-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

I made bread today. It's a common occurrence these days but it didn't use to be. The first many years of our marriage I tried now and again to make bread but it NEVER worked. Finally a few years ago I took a couple of classes at a local kitchen shop and it all clicked. Now, if we need bread, I start at the beginning.

1. The Grain: Here is a bucket of Hard Red Wheat. Some people say they prefer the slightly more expensive White Wheat but we like them both just fine.

2. The Grinder: A pampered chef I most definitely am with my super duper wheat grinder. I put in the grain and out comes this beautiful, healthy flour.
3. The Gluten: I was actually planning on making bread yesterday but I opened my pantry only to find that I had used up all of my Vital Wheat Gluten last week. I called Matt in a panic. "PLEASE stop at Kitchen Kneads and get me some wheat gluten. It's VITAL!!!" Can you see those perfect little gluten strands formed throughout the dough? "They" say that's the secret. Don't ask me though. I just follow the recipe and hope to get lucky.
4. The Goodness: Even now, after several years of making my own bread. It's a joy to pull these loaves from the oven. I'm a little bit amazed every time that it actually worked. All those failed attempts kind of scarred me for life.
Here are the taste testers with the final verdict! YUMMY!!!

Part II:

As I was writing this post the kids said, "For 'G' you should do 'Grandma's House'!" "What would I write for that post?" I replied. Nicole: "You know, just tell about all the things we like about it." So I asked, "What is your favorite thing about Grandma's house?" And then I typed as they yelled out their responses:

Paige: Um, well. There's cousins sometimes.

Spencer: There's toys!

Nicole: All the fun we have there.

Corinne: The games we play with cousins.

Spencer: (Whispering) Don't forget the candy!

Claire: Uhhh...CANDY?!

Here is a video of some of the "fun they have there". It's long and silly but might be fun for the moms, dads and grandparents of these kids to find out what our kids are doing all those hours that we are upstairs visiting and (ahem) eating responsibly.

Starring: Anna, Jacob, & Corinne

Videographer: Nicole

And lastly, I don't even have a "G" word for this. Unless it's Good Grief! Today is April 8th. Let me say that again...APRIL 8TH!!! And THIS is the picture I took from my back door this morning. It's beautiful, but as Nicole said when she saw it. "I thought it was Spring Break this week not Winter Break!"

You are all welcome to join us for a warm piece of homemade bread today, but if you come, wear your boots because I don't shovel snow in April.

F: Fly Fishing & Fanclub

2011-04-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

"There ain't but one time to go fishin' and that's

whenever you can."

It's that time of year again. As the hunting seasons wind down and the temperatures creep up, Matt starts showing distinct symptoms of what he has diagnosed as "the fishing bug". The obvious cure is to spend an hour or two when possible standing in the middle of a stream with his fly rod. But since someone has to pay for our lights to stay on and food in our pantry, that isn't always possible. Fortunately he knows what to do to help him through the long hours between fishing trips. He prepares for said fishing trips. The last few weeks he has spent many evenings (and several conference sessions) filling up his fly box with all sorts of creatures. It's pretty impressive really, watching him take these tiny little hooks, bits of fur and feathers, and turning them into a tasty dinner for some unsuspecting trout. The kids have expressed some interest and almost all of them have had a chance to tie their first fly. I tried it once. It was tedious and frustrating. All the more reason I am impressed with his ability.

F is also for Fanclub. Because last night I looked out my window to see half the neighborhood watching in awe as Matt shot his bow. It was cute!! He even let some of them try a few shots with the kids' bow.

P.S. Regarding yesterday's post, Matt read it and said, "I think "E" should have been for elk. You could have told about all the elk I've shot over the years and made it sort of a tribute to...blah, blah, blah..." I kind of stopped listening about then.

E: Edward

2011-04-06T08:52:00.001-07:00

E is for Edward. Yes, that Edward. The one with the smoldering eyes and the chiseled jaw and the wild, sexy hair and best of all, that dazzling, crooked smile. Since I got so serious yesterday for "D" and bragged up my daughters, I thought it only fair that today I let you in on my dirty little secret. I have a wicked crush on a fictional vampire. There, I said it, OUT LOUD. A few years ago I picked up this paperback with an apple on the cover and thought it was a fun story right from the start. But when HE said, "I'm tired of trying to stay away from you." My heart nearly stopped. Little 17 year old Nancy, who had long lay dormant under thousands of loads of laundry, and cases and cases of diapers, and whole trees worth of grocery lists, popped her head out and said, "Oh my."

Now I consider myself somewhat mature and intelligent. I am well aware that the above paragraph falls under embarrassingly pathetic. But here's the thing. I really can't find it in myself to care all that much. We all need our little moments of escape from the drudgery of daily life. Do I mock Matt when he gets up at 4am to hike up a mountain and butcher innocent animals? Yes, yes I do. But my point is: His little escape makes him happy so who am I to judge?

My mother gets me. Probably because she had to expertly guide little 17 year old Nancy through those boy-crazed years way back when. So she recognized the gleam in my eye for what it was. And that is why last year on my birthday, my wonderful mom gave me my very own Edward. Usually, she gives me a book. So the shape of the package had me confused. But when I opened my present and saw my Edward, I was stunned. I looked at the mischievous glint in my mom's eyes and laughed. HARD! Because really if I can't laugh at myself I'm missing out on a great joke! My face went red as I looked around at my loved ones, all looking at me with equal parts confusion and pity. I didn't know if I was more embarrassed at the fact that she had given me Edward or that I was so happy that she did!

It's really quite perfect having Edward around the house. By day, he keeps the Barbies in the dollhouse entertained. And by night he watches over me as I sleep. And sometimes hums lullabies. But that's it, I swear...

D: Daughters

2011-04-05T19:31:00.001-07:00

D is for daughters. When asked how many kids we have, Matt and I sometimes reply with a borrowed joke, "Five. And they are all boys except four." I have two older sisters as well, but grew up in the middle of four brothers and Matt has three brothers, no sisters. I don't think either of us really imagined when we started our family that in no time at all we would have a houseful of girls. And I also don't think that either of us could have guessed how much we would love our houseful of girls. The responsibility of raising these girls is overwhelming at times. Especially now as they get older and new challenges come their way. I certainly don't feel adequate. But I am so grateful for the trust that Heavenly Father has placed in me to be a mother to four of his choice daughters. They truly are a blessing in our lives.

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I want to be
In my daughter's eyes

~~~~~~~~~~

Nicole is our tomboy. Born with 2 inches of thick, white hair and a very intense energy she was quickly dubbed "The White Tornado" by her Grandpa Bryan. She loves all things outdoors but her passion is and always has been horses, horses and more horses. She is in Young Women's now and last week we went to the General Young Women's Broadcast for the first time. It was wonderful! She was less than enthused about going, especially when she learned that she needed to wear a skirt. But she came around by the end of the broadcast. And when I informed her that it's a tradition to go for cheesecake afterwards, she really got on board! It was a testament to her personality that on the way to cheesecake, in our dresses, she talked me into stopping at the farm store "just to look at saddles for a minute".

~~~~~~~~~~

Corinne is our sweet and sensitive girl. And she is ALL girl. She loves pink and ribbons and clothes and talking! Matt says she is a "little Nancy". I'll take that compliment, thank you! She has a great sense of humor and a real talent for story telling. At school recently her teacher had all of the kids write a story. They turned in their rough drafts and then had to revise, revise, revise. Except Corinne. Her rough draft was accepted as her final draft. She has a very creative mind and knows just how to get it down on paper!

~~~~~~~~~~

Paige is our little adventurer. She lives for summer vacation and spends every second of it outside wandering the pasture, climbing trees, collecting bugs and getting a great tan! She's a very analytical mind--our little engineer. She thinks things through carefully and only when she's certain that she has something figured out will she proceed. She's our most independent, but also the first to miss me if I'm not home. She was blessed with her Grandma Pat's beautiful eyes, but everything else about her is uniquely Paige!

~~~~~~~~~~

Claire is our happy little "life of the party". There is nothing undeserving of her enthusiasm. And her energy is nearly limitless. I say nearly because she does have to sleep sometimes. But when she is awake, she has one speed! She also seems convinced that she is just as capable of doing anything that her older siblings--and even her parents--can do. Life is just so exciting to her and the smallest things make her happy. Last week I was cooking dinner and she said, "What you making, Mom?" I said, "Rice." And her reply: "OH YAY!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!"
These beautiful girls, who are growing up to be such beautiful young women, are EVERYTHING to me. And I am thankful everyday that they are ours!

C: Conference & Concerts

2011-04-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

C is for Conference. I LOVE Conference weekend! Who doesn't?? A lovely, relaxing weekend with family. Listening to talks from our prophet and general authorities. It's just a very uplifting two days. I think my favorite talks were yesterday afternoon. Elder Richard G. Scott gave an absolutely beautiful talk about the wonderful blessing of being married. And then Lynn G. Robbins (I think?) gave a talk about parenting. His timing was PERFECT! Just before he spoke we had total nirvana going on in the house. The older kids were playing a game while listening to conference on the radio. I was across the room helping the younger kids with puzzles and Matt had sequestered himself in his den with a radio and his fly tying supplies. All of a sudden all hell broke loose. It was like a switch flipped! The kids started fighting and crying and wrecking and so naturally I started fighting and crying and wrecking. Then as I pause for a breath I hear Elder Robbins in the background say something to the effect of "when the kids are frustrating you, what is the proper response...?" It was enough to stop me in my tracks. So I decided to cut my losses and walk away. I grabbed a bucket of candy (absolutely a shameless bribe!) and the main culprits and went downstairs to the TV where I was able to listen to the rest of that marvelous talk in which I was taught that being blessed with less than perfect children is God's way of enrolling me in Parenting 505. And "I need these children as much as they need me." It hit home big time, let me tell you!

C is also for Concerts! Spring is here (sort of) which means Spring Orchestra Concerts. Nicole had hers on Wednesday last week and it was really fun. She's been playing violin for 4 years now and she's really enjoying it.

She performed a solo in this concert and did a great job. Her class decided to add some actions to her "up and down song", Gavotte:

And here is a video of part of one of the songs performed by the whole orchestra:

P.S. "C" can also stand for uConn. I picked them to go to the championship game. So thanks to their win the other night my bracket is not a complete bust yet, but more importantly I am ten points ahead of Matt and that's what really matters, right? Although I will be cheering for Butler tonight!

B: Bountiful Baskets

2011-04-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

At the risk of sounding like a sales pitch, today's post is all about the wonderfulness that is Bountiful Baskets. I first heard of this a year ago from a Tucson friend who LOVED it. Then several months ago I heard that it was in my area. But it wasn't until my sis-in-law got me motivated a few weeks ago that I really got serious. Today was my second basket and so far, so great!! Every Monday I go online, order my basket and pay my $15. Then on Saturday morning I take a 2 minute drive to the Middle School and pick up my basket of produce. 6 veggies and 6 fruits and it's a surprise every time. It's like Christmas morning every Saturday!! Here is today's basket:

Thanks to last weeks basket we had spinach omelets and grapefruit for breakfast a couple of times, sweet potatoes and asparagus for dinners, green salad, cantaloupe and plenty of apples and carrots for snack time. I even learned how to cut and eat a mango! Are you getting my point here?? I LOVE this!! It's a great deal and it means my family is eating stuff that they should, because it's already here in my kitchen! So thank you, Anneke for the great idea. I love my beautiful, bountiful, basket.

And because it's late--B is also for Bedtime. Good night!!

A: April Fools

2011-04-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

April Fools? Why yes, yes we are! Especially today. I am a fool for April! It was beautiful today and we did our best to soak up as much vitamin D as possible. We went to a friends house and planted grass in our Easter Baskets so our eggs will have a soft place to lay come Easter Eve. We also went to the park, TWICE, and for dinner had a picnic at the reservoir while the fishers fished. A great day!

Okay...so it didn't go completely without a hitch. It is April Fools Day after all!

We were victims of a nasty prank by our "good friends". Actually they really are GREAT friends but they have us looking over our shoulders this time of year because this is not the first time (more like the fifth year in a row!) that we've been in their crosshairs on April 1st! When I came home from one of our many outings today, THIS was the view pulling into my driveway.

Apparently they think we're rednecks and they wanted to help us with our look! (No Wellsville comments, y'all!) We got them back though, we PAINTED their goats. (And they think we're rednecks. Heh heh!) I turned Nicole and Spencer loose with the paint and glitter with instructions to label them after our dear friends. So here is the final makeover of Dan and Jodie.

A Patriot and an Artist

2011-03-15T14:09:00.001-07:00

The second graders put on a President's Day program at school last month. Paige sang all of the songs and did a great job on her part: "They built guardposts and blocked roads leading out of Boston."

Here she is, all smiles, with her class on the stage.
After the program with her friend, Skylee.
Last Thursday, Nicole attended the Young Writers and Artists Fest at USU. An activity for Middle School students from all over the valley, selected by their teachers based on projects that they entered. Claire and I went along for some of the workshops, and Matt joined us for lunch.

Here is Nicole in one of the workshops learning how to make a sketch book.
Here is her entry. She made this in her after-school art class and gave it to Matt for Christmas. It was a fun surprise!

Spelling Bee

2011-02-18T10:46:00.000-08:00

Nervous...N-E-R-V-O-U-S...Nervous. Yes, that is how I felt watching Corinne approach the microphone in the first round of the Wellsville Elementary Spelling Bee. But it was unnecessary because my cool-as-a-cucumber girl rattled off h-e-s-i-t-a-t-e with no hesitation! Then she proceeded to spell her way through five rounds until in round six they found her achilles heel with c-o-e-r-c-e. Darn that "coerce" and it's crazy "s" sound! I am so proud of her. She did so great and didn't seem nervous at all. AND she finished 3rd place!! She got a bronze medal and a certificate and I've granted her the title of my "queen spelling bee" forever!

Here is a sampling of round 5 as she spells "whistle". The 3 kids on the right are all that are left in the competition besides her.

Big smile for a job well done! We L-O-V-E you, Rinnie!

Two-Wheelin'

2011-02-15T13:50:00.000-08:00

Yay for Spencer! With this gorgeous "winter" weather we've been having this week, Matt got the kids bikes out, including taking the training wheels off of Spencer's bike. Within minutes he was doing tricks, jumps, racing his sisters...well, maybe not all of that, but he was riding without falling down and having a great time!

In other news, on Friday Matt and I went out and Nicole and Corinne babysat. We told them they could have a movie night. What we meant was, "You can get your pajamas on and watch a DVD." What they heard, "Make a big mess in all of your closets!" So after we left they all got dressed in their finest to go to the movies. CRAZY! I have to nag and beg and yell to get them dressed on Sunday mornings, and this, they do for fun?

Here is Spencer in a hand-me-down suit that he hasn't grown into yet. I don't know who tied the tie, but I love it!

Here is Spencer with his date. Paige is wearing an original "Disney" (night)gown, turned inside-out for a dramatic flair.

And here is Claire, walking the red carpet with her matching clutch bear and blanky.

Ski Bunnies

2011-01-19T16:40:00.000-08:00

On Saturday Matt, Nicole, Corinne and I went skiing. This was our second time this year as we went night skiing with the ward a few weeks ago. That time we had Spencer and Paige with us as well, but NO CAMERA!! Even though I have no evidence to back up my claim, I'll just say that Spencer and Paige rocked that mountain! It was the first time for both of them and they had a 1 1/2 hour lesson and then had enough time for 2 runs down Little Beaver. It really was shameful that I couldn't take pics! I atoned this weekend though, and here are the pictures of Nicole and Corinne, plus one with their cousins, Mady and Mayci who were there with Grandma Pat. It was a fun day! This is my first year back skiing after 15 years and 5 babies. I wasn't sure how my body would react, but I was able to keep up with the girls and the next morning who had sore muscles? Not their "old" mom!! I made sure to rub that in their faces when they dragged themselves to the breakfast table complaining of their aching legs.

Corinne, Mayci, Mady and Nicole

Corinne coming off a jump
Nicole, picking up speed

Nicole going off a jump

Corinne going off a jump--be sure to watch for the wave at the end. :)

Happy Birthday Spencer!!

2011-01-19T16:24:00.000-08:00

Our Spencer-man turned five years old yesterday. Matt asked him what was the most exciting thing about turning five and he said, "Being able to reach high stuff." On Monday we went bowling and arcade-ing and let him pick dinner (pizza and hot dogs at Sam's Club).

Here are some pictures of him opening his presents Tuesday morning and blowing out his candles that evening.

Disclaimer: As for the flowers on his cake? We let him pick his own cake when we were at Sam's Club and this was the only one with BLUE frosting. He really didn't pick a "girly cake". Not that there's anything wrong with that!

WE LOVE YOU, SPENCER!!

2011-01-10T13:43:00.000-08:00

So, I'm talking on the phone. And I'm also baking cookies. Trust me when I say, this NEVER turns out well.

Me: "Umm...Barbara? I just put 3 dozen spoonfuls of cookie dough onto baking sheets but I'm thinking maybe I forgot the flour."

Barbara: "Hahahahaha!" (See how supportive sisters can be?)

Me: "Well, I'll just bake this first sheet and see how it goes."

Seven minutes later--and the verdict is:
I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't even be able to blame this disaster on altitude!

Ah, now! This is what I was going for. A little oatmeal, some raisins...pure bliss. What? Bliss isn't good enough for you? Fine, then. I'll throw in a healthy serving of semi-sweet chips and the result is heavenly! Thank you to my MIL for this fine recipe (and her fine son!) I love them both.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-02T16:56:00.001-08:00

We had a great Christmas! Fun and busy and tiring, and I'm sad to see the vacation end. This post is FULL of pictures. But when you've got five kids enjoying holidays...well, the camera doesn't sit still for long.

Here is Paige at her 2nd grade sing-a-long.

And Corinne at her 5th grade sing-a-long. The camera died after one picture so this is the closest I have. Front row in a green shirt.

Here is Corinne, as a shepherd at our ward Christmas party, making her way to the stable. You can see that it really was crowded in Bethlehem that evening.

We had our annual Felt Christmas Party at Jake and Lisa's this year. It was a fun evening, and the kids love exchanging gifts with their cousins. Claire got a phone and a crown.

Nicole and Corinne at the party.

Spencer and Koler playing with Spencer's new John Deere.

Paige and Mayci with the new Lite Brite

On Christmas Eve, Grandma Pat and Grandma and Grandpa Lindhardt came for dinner. Here is Pat giving Spencer a photography lesson.

We also held a small cello/violin/piano recital. Good sports, these two!

CHEEEEESSSE!

Matt and Nicole. (He looks tired, but being Christmas Eve, his night is just beginning. Muwah-hahaha!!)

New jammies!

After putting on their new jammies, they all promptly fell asleep.

Treats for Santa and his eight plus one reindeer. Individual servings, of course.

All lined up on Christmas morning for the big reveal!

The frenzy begins.

Santa ate his treats!

New calendars

Spencer with his new gun.

Nicole and her new set of pastels.

This is Spencer's new piggy bank. Don't try to tell that to Claire, though.

Fairy wings!

Paige and Claire playing with Moon Dough.

Nancy plays catch-up: Take 5 (This & That)

2010-12-18T13:23:00.000-08:00

Here's a little assortment of pictures from some of the moments of interest in our lives over the last couple of months. And if you can believe it, I think that this post brings us up to date now. Woohoo!! Now I can start the New Year with a clean blog conscience. Hope your holidays are great!!

Once upon an August evening, I was rushing as usual to get the laundry folded, keep the kids from killing one another and get dinner on the table all at the same time. Matt came in from work, I called the kids and finished pouring the milk. We said the prayer, passed the dishes around--oh, up again for the salt and pepper shakers--when suddenly I looked down at my plate and time stood still. How can something so simple and ordinary be so beautiful?? A plate full of garden bounty on a beautiful summer evening. It really is one of life's little joys. All the more appreciated this summer since due to our landscaping we didn't do our own garden. Thanks to Dad for the corn, new potatoes, summer squash and carrots, and our wonderful neighbors for the string beans. Yummy!
The kids at the The Labor Day parade.Spencer woke up one day and said he wanted to go fishing. That pretty much settled it for Matt right then and there. Here are pictures of two fish that he caught all by himself!

Here is Spencer in his Knight costume at his preschool Halloween party.
Spencer wasn't feeling well and wouldn't keep his helmet on, Paige couldn't see, Claire was shivering and her lips had turned blue by the third house, and it was raining all evening. But they still got their candy so it was a great Halloween.
We had a great Thanksgiving week with cousins. We went to the Utah State/Utah game on Wednesday and gorged ourselves on Thursday. On Friday of that week we celebrated Grandma's birthday at a party at my sister's house. It was a fun celebration and as you can see Grandma had plenty of help with her presents and candles. We had much to be thankful for this year.
The girls trying their hand at foosball at Grandma's party.
On Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, the girls and Grandma Pat and I went to the Rockette's Christmas Extravaganza in SLC. It was really, really fun! The show was amazing and a fun way to "kick off" the Christmas season. (See what I did there? Clever, aren't I?)

A careful mom I ought to be,

these little people follow me:

Paige, Spencer and Claire made this little fort the other night and had "book club". They would each read a book for a few minutes and then tell why they liked their book, "I like this book because it has a horse on the cover." "I like this book because the penguin falls down." Then they had their refreshment and adjourned for a month. It did my heart proud!

And finally, for those of you with any last minute shopping to do, here is a preview of next years hottest toy: The Jiggle-Me-Claire!

Nancy plays catch-up: Take 4 (Landscaping)

2010-12-13T08:54:00.001-08:00

This summer we took on the BIG project of getting our yard landscaped. The first crew pulled in about mid-July and our final tree was planted last week. (They weren't really THAT slow. It was just a replacement tree.) Grass will be planted in the spring and then, Hallelujah!, it's done!! Here are a few pics of the progress.

This is a view from the back of our old "yard" with the pasture still behind me. We shrunk the yard a bit. We really didn't have a desire to mow all of that! The big poplar tree on the right of the picture is now gone.

Pouring the pad in front of the shop.
The kids enjoying breakfast and a show.
Moving the playhouse twenty-ish feet to the NE. This was AWESOME! There was a small part of me that was morbidly hoping the thing would fall or collapse or something since I had my video camera rolling, but it was an uneventful, perfect move.
The giant dirt pile that the kids were hoping was a permanent feature.
The sidewalk and fire pit are in.
Grading the back yard.
Curbing around our front bed.
Front yard from the street.
A completed bed and the trampoline border.
Our inaugural use of the fire pit. It works great. The smores were delicious!

Nancy plays catch-up: Take 3 (August)

2010-12-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

Whew! It's nice to be done with July. That was the big one! And here I am ready to move on to August. You didn't think I'd really stick with it, did you??

In August, Matt and I paused long enough to tell each other Happy 14th Anniversary and then got back to life. We really did schedule so much fun last summer that we had to work really hard in the down times to feel justified! The weekend after Jackson Hole, we spent a day on the beach at Bear Lake. The kids love this--especially Paige! She asks for it all year long. So we decided to go for her birthday. We had great weather the whole time we were there. After we packed everything up, we drove to a yummy little "greasy spoon" and ate our food while watching a HUGE storm blow in over the lake. We drove home in pouring rain! It was a great day--but not too surprising to anyone who knows Bear Lake.

Our budding artist. She used herself and anyone who would hold still as her palette.

Our Paigie bug turned seven on August 8th. When I asked what kind of cake she wanted? "Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate!" She comes by that honestly. We love you, Paige!
Here is a picture of Nicole at her end-of-summer violin recital. She's really getting good! A while ago I was in my room and she was practicing in the kitchen. After a few minutes she started fiddling and I came out to see if it was still her playing or if Matt had taken the violin from her--it was that good!
Alas, all good things must come to an end, and our summer vacation was no exception. But to be honest, I was so tired that I was looking forward to the "slower pace" of school, homework, music lessons, etc. We had just returned a few days previous from our family reunion in Colorado (See below--I had a fluke moment where I WAS on top of things for a minute and posted the pics from that trip.) and the kids were ready to go!

Nicole on her first day of 7th grade:
Corinne, first day of 5th grade:
Paige, first day of second grade:
And here is my little man! He started preschool this year and was SO excited. I posted two pictures of him because really, would you be able to choose between these two?

Nancy plays catch-up: Take 2 (July)

2010-12-05T18:45:00.000-08:00

Continuing on with my summer in December...the dust had barely settled from our busy 4th of July weekend when Nicole packed up her bucket, donned her skirt and bonnet and set off for the 19th century. Having turned 12 less than two weeks earlier, she was able to join the rest of the Wellsville Youth on a Pioneer Trek. It was quite an introduction to Young Womens! She pushed her handcart across Wyoming and had a great time. It was a wonderful opportunity for her to walk the same trail that her pioneer ancestors walked a century and a half earlier. We missed her and worried about her and were very glad to see her smiling face 4 days later.

All packed and ready to go!
Sun-kissed cheeks and sore feet were the souvenirs from her trip.

Also in July, Matt took Nicole and Corinne backpacking in the Uintah Mountains. They went with Matt's friend and his kids and they all had a great time--and good luck with the fish!

They returned from that trip only for Nicole to turn around two days later and go to Girl's Camp. This was her first year and was extra fun for me because I got to go with as the Camp Director. It was a fun week but we both came home EXHAUSTED!! And, masochists that we are, we did laundry as fast as our Maytag would allow and packed our bags again for our annual trip to Jackson Hole. We have such wonderful friends who invite us each year to disrupt their peaceful summer for a few days at their cabin. It was a very fun and relaxing weekend after a VERY busy month.

Carter, Spencer and Nicole canoeing the Snake River.

Cute kids and gorgeous scenery

Paige and Spencer at the cabin

The kids at the cabin

We went to the Bar J Wranglers Chuckwagon dinner and show. Matt and I loved it, the kids thought it was too long!

Paige and Spencer with their new hats in Jackson.

Claire, trying on hats in Jackson.

There's a story behind this cone. We were getting ice cream at this cute little shop, but knowing our Claire, Matt put her up on his shoulders so she wouldn't touch anything. We forgot to take into account the height of the counter where the cones were kept, and too late we noticed her taking bites out of this $4.00 chocolate dipped waffle cone (the same one that we told all the other kids "No, it's too expensive!"). So as usual, she won--but we made her share, and it was GOOD!! Almost worth the $4.

Lunch at Billy's--the best burgers and fries in town!

Nancy plays catch-up: Take 1 (July)

2010-12-02T11:51:00.000-08:00

Hola, mi amigos! So, I've been called out lately (Pat!) on my lackadaisical attitude toward my blog. I could give excuses but we all know that's all they are--so let's just get down to it. I'm back and I have some catching up to do. I'll warn you now, that I'm not paring down any of it! These posts are going up for my own selfish reasons so that I can enjoy them forever. Of course there are some of you out there with genetic ties to the little people in these pictures that will pore over every word and image I create. But as for the rest of you...well, these posts are almost 1/2 a year old, so thanks for humoring me!

Aside from the reunion pics, I haven't updated since JUNE! We had a busy July though--which come to think of it, makes sense!

We celebrated the 4th of July with Matt's ENTIRE family in town. It was the first time in years that we were all together. We enjoyed the parade, the fireworks and a fun party with them all. (And thanks Andy for sharing your pics with us!)

Nicole, Corinne, Ethan and the dogs getting ready for a walk/ride.
Claire and Lainey riding in style.
Dutch oven dinner on the deck with the whole gang.
Just hanging out while the food cooks.

Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen

Grandma Felt, Calvin and Paige

Ethan, Spencer and Calvin (Spencer is SOOOO happy when there are boys to play with)
Paige and Ethan

Cowgirl Paige

Claire and Charlotte

Some of the cousins on the trampoline (AKA: the calm before the storm)

Claire and Lainey with Uncle Jake

Lindhardt Family Reunion 2010

2010-08-21T11:59:00.000-07:00

We returned home Wednesday evening from our big trip of the summer. My (Nancy's) family had our bi-annual reunion. This reunion was hosted by my brother Doug and his wife, Haley, who live in Colorado. They found an incredible cabin in an absolutely beautiful location in Estes Park, CO, which is just outside of Rocky Mountain National Park. The reunion started on Saturday, but Doug and Haley invited anyone who could take an extra day, to come a day early and join them for a Rockies game at Coors Field. We, along with my brother Tom and his family went to the game with them. Haley's dad sacrificed his 4 tickets so that we could enjoy the game up close, so we all rotated between those seats and the other seats that we bought. It was our first MLB game (as so many people found out--thanks again for all the freebies!) and we had a great time!

Nicole and Cooper--what a fun pair!
Coors Field
Spencer with Aunt Haley
Matt and Nancy

Corinne, Kaiya, and Anna
My brother, Doug--the one responsible for it all! (And yes, that is a compliment!!)

Saturday, our 3 families packed up all the food and caravaned to Estes Park. By dinner time all 7 families plus Grandpa and Grandma had arrived and settled into our wonderful cabin that was able to accomodate all 42 of us. That evening Matt and nephew, Brian followed a trail just down from our cabin and met up with these two gentlemen:
They came back to the cabin and got all the cousins and several parents to come with and see them again. By the time we got back to them, only one was there and he didn't seem to care one bit about all of us tromping around near him trying to get a closer look.

The next day, Sunday, we held our own sacrament meeting. We had several talks and a special musical number by the grandkids. We also learned quickly why Mormon chapels don't have giant windows like this one. The view can be very distracting... :)

Sunday afternoon we went down to the field and played a delightfully, painful game of kickball. Delightful because we all laughed a lot and had fun together. Painful because only a lucky few walked away uninjured.

Sunday dinner: Triple L pulled pork sandwiches and corn on the cob from Grandpa's garden.

Monday we all went for a small hike around Bear Lake inside RMNP. It was just right for everyone, young and old.

Here are some of the cousins:
Jill and Nancy with kids on the trail.

Paige wading at our picnic spot.

We each took turns providing a meal--Matt and I had the picnic lunch Monday.
Monday evening we held FHE back at the cabin. Here is a picture of Grandma during the lesson. I told you the windows were distracting! I have to wonder if after being with her 40 descendants for 48 hours at this point, was she wondering here, "What have we done??"

Here is Corinne acting out a scene with her cousins for Uncle Mike during the FHE "game show".

The show stealer of the night award goes to Abbie and Uncle Paul. She had a loose tooth and decided it would be fabulous if her Uncle Paul pulled it out for her during the talent show. EPIC!!

Tuesday we all went into Estes Park and took a few runs down the giant slides.

After the slides some of us drove into RMNP again and took the Trail Ridge Road to the top. That is a stunning drive and well worth doing once (or more) in your life!

Here are some more of the cousins (including Spencer the Pirate!)

Matt and kids at the top

Tuesday afternoon Corinne, Paige and some of their cousins went to the craft cabin and painted ceramics. They came home with masterpieces. (Haley, thanks for taking such great pictures--hope you don't mind that I stole a few!)

And lastly, here are Grandma and Grandpa. Thank you so much for a great reunion and a wonderful family to enjoy! We love you very much--you provide this family with much joy! ; )

Swim lessons are OVER!!

2010-07-01T20:54:00.000-07:00

After four weeks of swim lessons...yes, you read correctly...four weeks of daily driving to the pool 20 minutes away, and taking towels, floaties, lunch and a change of clothes for 5 kids, we are finished!! Well worth it, of course. The kids all improved so much and none of them drowned, which is a bonus. But I am glad to check that off of the summer schedule.

Birthday Time!

2010-06-29T09:16:00.000-07:00

We celebrated two birthdays in June. Claire turned 2 on the 19th and one week later, Nicole turned 12! We had a lot of fun with both of them. Claire has learned how to hold up two fingers and she LOVED blowing out the candles on her cake. On Nicole's birthday she had a big party with 20 friends. They played games and ate snacks until it started getting dark and then they walked to the town square and played a big game of capture the flag. They had a lot of fun! On Sunday Nicole went to Young Women's for the first time and loved it. Exciting times!

Here is Claire looking at her new book.
And here she is, so proud of herself for blowing out all the candles!

Her favorite summer pasttime--sitting in HER spot on the porch and chain-sucking otter pops!

Nicole blowing out her candles.
Playing a game of fruit basket.

Memorial Day

2010-06-01T14:19:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday was the last day of school. The kids had a great year and are very excited for all of the summer fun to come. Yesterday we celebrated Matt's birthday. We had lunch with family and then took grandpa's canoe to the reservoir in the evening. No fish, but the kids loved being out on the water.

On Friday, I loaded up the kids and went with Grandma and Grandpa to put flowers on graves. We visited cemeteries from Ogden to Mink Creek, so it was a long drive. But the kids did great (thanks to a stop for lunch that included a play area), and I really enjoyed the day. I love that my Mom and Dad have always made it a priority to visit graves on Memorial Weekend. Here they are with the kids at my Grandma Lindhardt's grave.

Here is my Grandpa Lindhardt's grave. Spencer wasn't about to let the rain stop him from helping with the flowers!
We hoped the rain would clear out by the time we got to Mink Creek, but no such luck. Here is my Grandpa and Grandma Baird's grave. And as a side note: Mink Creek is BEAUTIFUL right now! Everything is so green. It was fun to see.

I love this next picture because of the story behind it. However, I will warn you it's a long, boring story. I'm putting it on mostly for my own sake, but if you'd like to read it, you're more than welcome! As many of you know, Matt and I were fortunate enough to find out, during our engagement, that we are related! Thanks to that good pioneer blood and plenty of polygamous ancestors we have the same great-great-grandfather. (Actually he is Matt's G.G.G. Grandfather--he's a generation younger than me!) Anyway, this grandfather, James Morgan Keller, had 5 wives. One of them is my GG Grandmother and another one is Matt's GGG Grandmother. Do you follow so far? So, a couple of years ago, Mom and I were putting flowers on graves here and we noticed that James Morgan Keller is buried next to only two of his wives. Guess which two?? It was a touching moment for me to think of these two grandmas up in heaven looking down on my kids---their shared grandkids--at their graves. Sort of a full circle kind of moment. So this year I remembered my camera. On the left is my grandma--Anna Christina, in the middle is our grandpa--James Morgan Keller, and on the right is Matt's grandma--Karen Valentine.

If you made it this far, I'm sorry for the gigantic narrative, and I am well aware that I have invited any and all redneck comments and kissin' cousin jokes so bring 'em on!

Wellsville Mile

2010-05-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

"A little rain can't hurt you!" Isn't that what we tell our kids? Well, this morning Corinne found out how true that is! The annual Wellsville Mile, which, if you've read my other post on this subject you already know that I am more than a little bit fond of this tradition, was held today. It was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but it was a little bit rainy that morning so they postponed it until today. The poor kids had to run in a downpour. And if you think that was bad, you should have seen all the poor parents who had to watch in a downpour! We all survived though, and Corinne was very happy with her performance. She ran it in 9:26 which is about 45 seconds better than her best practice time. She also came in 12th in her heat of over 100 girls! She'll get to run it again next year as a 5th grader and she's already looking forward to it. Good job cute Rinnie!!

All smiles at the starting line.

Running strong and being paced by a HS track team member.

Warming up after the race. She was even too wet and cold to want her drink or ice cream they handed out!

Here is a video of Corinne crossing the finish line.

Happy 10th Corinne!

2010-04-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, our sweet Corinne celebrated her 10th birthday! She's such a joy in our home and we love her very much!! And we still enjoy the same sweet smiles that she gave as a baby:
And as a little girl:

We had a fun day with lunch together at school, donuts for her class, and dinner with 3 grandmas at Chili's. (Sounds like a good name for a band!)

For you Webkinz fans out there, the cake is a "W". Recognize it now?

And here are the GORGEOUS flowers from Matt.

Mighty Hunter

2010-04-27T12:48:00.001-07:00

Well, it took her almost 12 years since her birth, but Nicole finally shot and tagged her own turkey. She drew out for this turkey hunt, and last Saturday she and Matt found this big guy in the hills above our house. To say they were both excited would be putting it rather mildly!
Here is a reenactment of the kill shot...

Here she is trying to hoist all 20 pounds by herself.

Death Row

2010-04-23T06:32:00.000-07:00

The kids didn't have school on Tuesday so we all went shopping. We ended up at the pet store and left with two extra family members. I figured at 13 cents a piece, goldfish were a great end to a whole bunch of boring errands for the kids. Before we purchased them though, I explained that sometimes goldfish don't live very long and I would only buy them if they promised not to cry if their fish died. They agreed and home we came. My talk must have made an impression, because one of the first things Corinne did was make this "fish living chart", so that they can track how long each fish lives. (Click on it for detail.)

As you can see, poor Shiny didn't even last through day 3. But here is Splat, swimming happily in his fresh water. Everybody send up a prayer for little Splat. Maybe he'll make it through the weekend!

Baby Animal Days

2010-04-13T08:21:00.001-07:00

Last Friday we went to Baby Animal Days. It was Grandma Pat's b-day and she came with us. The kids had a lot of fun seeing all of the animals, riding the train, and playing games. Here are some pics from the day!

All of us together with our gorgeous mountains (and a rusted out car) in the background.
Spencer petting one of the baby cows.
Spencer got a special treat when the conducter invited him to climb up and blow the whistle for him.
Matt, Paige, and Corinne playing "Indian bowling". Paige rocked this event!!

My favorite baby animals!!

2010-03-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

It's been a beautiful few days here. The sun is out and teasing me with thoughts of Spring! I'm not sure why, but this winter has really been quite long enough for me this year. March is always such a long month for me anyway, between the yucky weather and the fact that it is the only month of the school year with NO vacation days. So this sunshine is welcome, indeed!

Yesterday the elem. school celebrated Dr. Seuss's b-day by letting the kids dress up as a favorite character from a book. Here is a (quickly thrown together) Star-bellied Sneetch, and Pinkalicious. It was a fun day for them!

I have no explanation for these other pictures. I just found them on my camera...I guess this was a fun day for them, too!

And here is a picture that looks adorable at first glance, but actually strikes fear in my heart--Claire recharging her batteries!

Just for Fun

2010-02-02T08:39:00.001-08:00

Here are some fun pictures of Claire that show her personality a little bit. Always happy (well, almost always), always busy (truly, always!) and just a little bit crazy!!

I don't know why I love "cookie dough pictures" so much, but I do!

Here is Paige, caught in the act. She got this art easel from Santa and we now have an art gallery downstairs.

And lastly, here is a picture of me with my Christmas present. Neighbor dogs, be warned! My backyard is no longer your personal bathroom!!

Happy Birthday Spencer! (& more)

2010-01-25T09:35:00.000-08:00

Spencer turned 4 last week and we had a great birthday! The girls were home from school so they played and played with Spencer's new train set. (He finally got a turn to play when they went back to school on Tuesday!) We ended the day with a pizza party celebration in our little man's honor!

On another note:

We had a great Christmas break! Christmas morning was so fun and messier than it's ever been. Here are some pictures of the kids with their new "outfits" (in one form or another).

The day after Christmas we went to the Living Planet Aquarium in SLC and had a great time. The kids had fun with all of the sea life and it was just a nice get-a-way with the family. Tom and Anneke directed us to a great burger joint for dinner: 5 Guys Burgers & Fries--awesome!

It's a good thing that we had a fun weekend because on Monday morning we took poor Nicole in for surgery. She had all four wisdom teeth removed as well as surgery on a tooth in the front. It was a rough day but she came through it like a champ! Here is a picture of her poor swollen cheeks on Wednesday. I was afraid they would pop!

Christmas Sing-a-longs

2009-12-18T11:59:00.000-08:00

Corinne and Paige had their Christmas sing-a-longs at school this week. This is definitely one of my favorite parts of the season.

And here is Claire...table dancing.

Don't Blink!

2009-10-20T05:58:00.000-07:00

Wow! School started and two months of my life seemed to disappear into a black hole of cello lessons, violin lessons, orthodontist appointments, and the never ending mountain of homework that finds it's way to our kitchen table every evening. It's busy...that's for sure...and my kids don't even play soccer!! We have, however, had a few moments here and there to take a deep breath and enjoy one another. Here's a little recap:

Somehow, I forgot to post one of our most important events in August. Our Paigie had her 6th birthday! She chose to have a bowling birthday party at the Fun Park, and it was very fun indeed! We love you, Paige!

Labor Day weekend is a big celebration in our town. We celebrate our Founder's Day (complete with an oh, so politically correct Sham Battle--worth a look-see once in your life!) We enjoyed the parade, the pit-beef dinner in the park and later that evening the Little Buckaroo Rodeo for the kids.

Nicole and Corinne riding a float.Spencer and Paige waiting for candy

It must not have turned out the way they hoped...

But Claire looks happy!

At the rodeo, Paige participated in a critter chase. Here is what she caught, and therefore, got to bring home. "Clucky" joined our family for a few weeks until he was invited to live somewhere else, where he could be very happy with lots of hens.

Here is a picture at the temple the night that Dad was set apart as a sealer. This is Mom and Dad with 14 of their 25 grandkids!

Nicole, Corinne, and Paige all lost teeth on the same weekend! They put them under their pillows on the same night. Talk about a banner day for the tooth fairy!!

On Sunday we went for a little hike in the "hills" above our house to see the fall colors. Gorgeous!!

And this picture, titled "Rabid Claire", shows what was left from her cupcake the other day!

First Day of School

2009-08-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

Well, summer flew by and here we are headed back to school. Nicole is in Middle School this year and even though she says she's ready, I'm not sure I am. I'll be very glad to get her home this afternoon and see if she survived! : ) An hour and a half after I took Nicole to school, I made my way with Corinne and Paige to our (thankfully familiar) Elementary school, and they were very excited to go. Paige was especially excited to eat school lunch since this is her first year of full days. Nicole ready to go, bright and early!

Corinne with her teacher

Paige all ready for 1st grade!

Four more kittens!

2009-08-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

This is Corinne and I wanted to tell you about

our four new kittens! Nicole, Paige, Spencer,

and I each have our own. Here they are.
Pepper is Spencer's
Snowball is Paige's
Polka (polk-a-dot) is mine
Roo is Nicole's

Hungry, maybe?

2009-08-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

Funny Claire! She loves foraging in my kitchen drawers and cupboards. I spend half my day putting away things that she gets out. Well, the other day I came into the kitchen and found an empty bread bag next to the open bread drawer, so I went looking, and this is what I found!

What choice did I really have? To the victor go the spoils...

Brace Yourself!

2009-07-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

We entered a new phase of life this week as Nicole got braces on her teeth. She has a long road ahead of her because of an errant tooth that decided to turn right when it should have gone straight. She'll get the bottom set on in about 12 more weeks but for now she is enjoying her new look!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Summer Vacation

2009-07-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

Last week our family took a vacation! We spent two nights camping in Yellowstone and then two nights staying with friends in their cabin in Jackson Hole. We had a great time! We saw the sights of The Park, fished a little, picnicked a lot, applied mosquito repellant, had plenty of smores and hot chocolate, visited the souvenir shops, got dirty, took over 100 pictures, canoed in the shadows of the Tetons, reapplied mosquito repellant, saw buffalo, elk, deer, chipmunks, and birds, waited in construction jams, reapplied mosquito repellant, heard coyotes howing at night, watched the Jackson Hole shootout, and arrived home Sunday afternoon with plenty of mosquito bites as evidence of a great outdoor adventure. We can't wait 'til next year!

Hot chocolate around the campfire
Spencer and Claire enjoying their breakfast

Nicole, Paige, and Corinne at Lewis Lake

The Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River

Buffalo, buffalo, and more buffaloOur lunch spot on the Firehole River (just upstream from the above buffalo herd)

In Jackson Hole

Paige at String Lake

The cabin we stayed at in Jackson. (You can see the view we had from our bedroom windows reflected behind the kids.)

The beautiful Teton mountains

Happy Birthday Claire!

2009-06-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

Has it really been one year already? Our little sweetie turned one year old on Friday. We have loved every minute of her and are so glad to have her in our family. Here are some pictures of Claire with her cake. She didn't quite grasp what we wanted her to do with the candle, but she LOVED it when we sang to her. She just laughed and laughed and made the best faces. So we did it twice!