Sunshine and Snows in Texas

Some Days...

2012-01-24T13:53:00.001-06:00

Some days I realize we have way too many toys, and very unmotivated children...

When you see the toys falling out of the toy room into the hall, and can't shut the door because there are too many toys in the way...

And you can't open the door all the way, but when you push your way in this is what you see...

You start thinking long and hard about this... (thanks Pinterest).

They're 4!! Almost...

2012-01-19T15:05:00.000-06:00

Cael and Landry turn 4 tomorrow. I'm not sure where the last 4 years have gone, but I'm pretty sure I was absent for most of it, because it flew by and I don't remember much of it. Thank goodness for a blog, right?

In their life they've moved a measly two times, but they've driven the roads between Utah and Texas at least 15 times.

They've known two pet dogs, and buried one. They've known 18 pet chickens, and luckily missed out on the burial of 15.

They're the two kids I had hoped would grow up not knowing what snow was, and they build a mean snowman when it dumps on us.

They're as different as night and day, they're best friends and worst enemies.

They can throw amazing tantrums, when they want to. They give the best snuggles I've ever had.

They pick a pink cake and a blue cake, consistently, every year. They've never had a beautiful cake, in fact each on deserves it's on post on Cake Wrecks (yes, including this years...).

They finally caught up to the growth charts while they were 3. For starting out so small, they've certainly caught up. Even though Landry started out a pound lighter than Cael, she's consistently 1 inch taller and 3-4 pounds heavier. Always.

People don't assume they're twins, I am constantly asked which one is older. When people do ask if they're twins, more than half the time that question is followed up with, "Are they identical?" I've stopped answering that one.

Their favorite foods are macaroni and cheese, pizza, yogurt, cereal and any breakfast foods. They are by far my pickiest eaters. Cael would love to live on only fruit snacks, bananas peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and yogurt. He will not eat protein, such as eggs, meat, beans, etc. unless it is so disguised that he can't tell it's in there. He ends pretty much every dinner with his one bite of meat, and chews on it so long without swallowing that he's undoubtedly received any nutrients he can out of it, simply because he doesn't want to swallow the meat. Landry will eat most things, but if someone at the table complains about the broccoli, the eggs, or the meat, she also will have the same complaint.

Cael is extremely strong and athletic. He loves to be physically active. He's extremely coordinated, he takes after Shane. Landry often has issues walking and talking at the same time. She takes after me.

Landry enjoys playing barbies and coloring. She loves to play with Savannah. She enjoys teaching herself the alphabet, numbers, shapes, colors and anything else she can glean from the world around her (which is probably what she's doing when she's walking...). She's taught herself 4 songs on the piano, with limited help from anyone else. Cael will color when he feels obliged. He will play on the piano if someone else is. He knows his numbers and letters too, just because he wants to keep up with Landry, but it's not that big of a deal to him.

They hum. All. Of. The. Time. Particularly Landry who hasn't yet come off the Christmas music kick.

Landry loves to pet the dog. She literally hangs on her when they're out playing. Cael barely tolerates her, and if she licks him he immediately asks to be washed off, because there are "dog germs!" on him. Neither of them like to be dirty.

They love to play dress-ups. Christmastime brought Cael more boy dress-ups. He still occasionally puts on a fairy costume. To be fair, it's what he was used to. Also, they're usually not the pink ones. Landry never puts on the boy costumes.

They crack each other up. A lot. Usually during nap time or mealtime. They also fight a lot. When they're not fighting you can usually find them doing something they shouldn't be doing...together...quietly. Like ~~hacking~~ playing on the computer. When you find them, squished together on the computer chair, playing purble place, they always say the same thing, "We're just having a good time"...

I love them both so much. They're always going to be my "babies" even though they're four. I'm so grateful for them, and the joy they (and their siblings) bring to our lives. Happy birthday Cael and Landry!

Summing Up - In Pictures

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

Christmas came with loads of presents, and family, and fun. Grandma Kinghorn came and stayed with us for a couple of weeks, which we loved. She also got roped into staying a bit longer and accompanied Brooke in a string duet in church. We love having her here, even if she ends up with a cold every time she comes. She brought the cold, Christmas weather with her this year, for which the kids were grateful...

We passed around a little cold, which may explain why the kids decided it would be good to include a Vitamin C with the cookies to Santa this year.

The reindeer checked on the kids this year, as evidenced by their "piles of poop". The kids were as grossed out as ever, but swear they actually heard the reindeer in their room checking on them.

The reindeer didn't love the apples as much as the carrots, but most of them stayed outside.

We've now had 3, yes, count that T-H-R-E-E big snowstorms this year. We had one of the few White Christmases in the Nation this year, and one of the few Midland has ever had. We had over 5 inches for Christmas, and we got another 10 inches this week. (our house only got 4 inches). Meanwhile, our friends and family in Utah had a brown Christmas. That's ok, we get the moisture we need, and it melts fast. Best of both worlds.

Savannah asked for Barbies and a DS. She got Barbies and a lot of crochet and loom stuff.

Landry wanted Princess stuff. She got it and a lot of art stuff.

Cael was still terrified of Santa, but told us he wanted Robots, Cars and Spiderman stuff. Wishes granted, he got all that and more.

Yes, he's a little embarrassed by this photo, but blackmail must start somewhere. He, of course, asked for books. And more books. He got them.

We attended Lincoln's first cello concert. Three months work and I was pretty impressed by the orchestra. However, three months' work, 8-10 songs and the concert literally lasted less than 10 minutes...I may get around to posting the videos. Maybe.

I am proud of him, he's doing really well on the cello and he likes it. Trevor and Sandee, Grandma and Grandpa Snow all came to watch.

Awards ceremonies for Savannah and her straight A's and perfect attendance...

and Lincoln and his perfect attendance. (Seriously, my kids need to get out in the sun more, they're so pale at school!)

I held my Winter Piano recital. We had a great audience and most of the kids did pretty well. Lincoln and Savannah both participated and I am so proud of their progress. I may get around to posting these videos too.

I got my craft on over the winter break. Well, I got my yarn on. I made this wreath for my Mom for Christmas...

And this headband/earwarmer for Savannah (yes, I know it's on Landry, she was just trying it on)

And this hat for Landry, and another hat for Savannah. Clearly my crocheting skills need a little work, but since I just taught myself to do it, and I'm improving every time I have to brag. I've moved from Yarmulkes to skull caps, eventually I'll make a normal sized hat, but I don't know how to read patterns so I'm just eyeing it...

We experienced seeing midnight for the first time, right before switching to 9 a.m. church. Somehow it's always more fun the night before.

We got a trampoline. Somehow it's just not as fun with the snow on it.

We saw old friends at a baptism.

And played in snow,

and more snow,

and more snow.

The End. (for now)

Latest Photo Shoot - My Yearly Favorite!

2012-01-11T10:35:00.001-06:00

I'm "That Person"

2011-12-16T10:43:00.001-06:00

You know "that mom" at Walmart, the one whose kids are running around like banshees, whose basket is overflowing with food, who looks like she's one twitch away from losing it completely...

that was me yesterday.

You know "that mom" who sends raunchy emails to elementary school principals when errors are made and their darling little overachieving first grader doesn't receive the Principal's Award (honor roll)...who in said email gives a scathing review of the world's worst fine arts teacher who makes kids cry when they cough and some kids would rather wet their pants than ask to use the restroom, who openly dismisses parents and students if he's busy with something else, and loudly yells at classes full of kids (or individuals in the large class) because they're not perfect, and is an open supporter of OU...

that was me today.

But in my defense, I did not copy said teacher in said email, even though I twice put his name in there, I also twice deleted it. And the look from Savannah when she didn't receive the Principal's Award would break anyone's heart, because her lowest grade all year was a 95. She's an over-achiever who was truly heart-broken because of what we can only hope was an oversight.

I'm also "that mom" who was sooooo pleasantly surprised when her husband came home unexpectedly early last night, because she'd been missing him all week. "That mom" who baked 18 dozen cookies for family, friends and neighbors for Christmas treats. "That mom" who made 45 classroom goodie bags for Christmas parties at school today. "That mom" who takes annoying numbers of pictures at both awards ceremonies and both class parties. "That mom" who is just as excited (or more) than her kids that they'll be out of school until January 3rd.

So I'm not all bad.

Just Another Day In Texas

2011-12-09T11:46:00.001-06:00

Yes, I am totally just making myself blog lately. Though we've been insanely busy, it's nothing that is really all that interesting to you, my readers. Do you really want to know about all the Christmas shopping, and errand running, house rearranging, floor mopping, phone call making, child consoling, craft trying, house cleaning, children chauffering, recipe cooking, etc. that we've been bogged down with?

I didn't think so.

Hence, this post. It's what you get. Be happy and know we love you, even if we are a little busy.

Thanksgiving break gave us another opportunity to hit the gun range, this time with Lincoln and Chris. Yes, that Chris. My ex and my husband together with loaded guns.

It's a good thing we all get along or that might be weird, right?

Lincoln shooting a shot gun. We both fired shot guns for the first time. I'll stick with rifles and pistols...so will Lincoln.

We love that on this range there are a couple of bays that allow you to take stuff and shoot at it. We had quite the set up of soda bottles, boxes and other junk that was laying around. It almost makes me want to go dumpster diving before going, just to have more fun stuff to shoot.

Here is the proof that we all get along. Two men, two loaded guns, and no injuries...it was great.

This is just proof that I was there, with my gun, and I'm not totally a bad shot.

Rifle time. Lincoln's favorite. I think he'd be quite happy just unloading hundreds of rounds at the iron cut-outs on this range. And he's pretty much a better shot with a rifle than me.

Winter Wonderland

2011-12-05T12:48:00.001-06:00

Today

2011-11-22T16:06:00.001-06:00

Today I'm thankful for a week with my kids at home all day long, a pantry big enough to hold the hundreds of items I shoved in it this morning, an extra fridge to store the pies I get to make this week, and a husband who is the most amazing man in the world.

Yesterday I was thankful for hot cocoa. That was pretty much it...

Obviously I'm handling today much better than yesterday.

Man, They Grow Up Fast

2011-11-17T09:35:00.001-06:00

K, now that I posted pictures, compare to where we were just a short 3 years ago...

Why do they have to grow up so fast?

I Promised

2011-11-10T10:27:00.001-06:00

I promised a post with less talk and more pictures...I keep my promises.

click on the collage to make it bigger

I Promise I'm More Than Just Really Long And Wordy Posts...

2011-11-08T09:39:00.002-06:00

OK, this is so unlike most of my other posts, that I need to apologize if you are thrown off by the length, and the topic. I was asked to speak in church on October 30. If you know me, you know there isn't much worse than having to speak in front of people. Add to that the topic of forgiveness, and I was seriously looking for some reason to leave town at the last minute. I got through the talk ok, and had basically put it out of my mind, when I woke up last night to an awesome thunderstorm. For some reason I really felt like I should put the text of my talk on here. That thought has been haunting me all morning, so rather than feel like I hsould be doing this all day, I'm just going to post it and hope that whoever needs to read it (ie: probably myself) "hears" it and understands it. For those of you who don't need it, ignore this really, really long post about something only some of us need to hear...I'll post something less serious later.

There are many sides to forgiveness. There is the necessity to forgive those whohave wronged us, and there is also the need to search out forgiveness for thesins we have committed against others, or against ourselves, and then there isthe need to forgive ourselves after we have repented. All parts of forgivenessare difficult.

To forgive is a divine attribute. It is to pardon or excusesomeone from blame for an offense or misdeed. The scriptures refer toforgiveness in two ways. The Lord commands us to repent ofour sins and seek His forgiveness. He also commands us to forgivethose who offend or hurt us.

Seeking Forgivenessfrom the Lord

Sin is a heavy burden. While carrying it around it literallyfeels like you’re carrying around extra weight. It is always at the back ofyour mind, and is the backlight of every motion and thought. It brings thetenseness of guilt and the anguish of knowing that we have acted against the willof our Father in Heaven. It brings lingering remorse as we realize that becauseof our actions, we may have hurt others and prevented ourselves from receivingblessings our Father has been ready to give us. Sometimes our transgressionsseem so numerous or serious that we feel we have no hope of overcoming them.Sometimes even though we have made efforts to repent, we still worry that theLord has not forgiven us.

President Spencer W. Kimball explained that everyone canhave the blessing of forgiveness: “Sometimes a guilt consciousness overpowers aperson with such a heaviness that when a repentant one looks back and sees theugliness, the loathsomeness of the transgression, he is almost overwhelmed andwonders, ‘Can the Lord ever forgive me? Can I ever forgive myself?’ But whenone reaches the depths of despondency and feels the hopelessness of hisposition, and when he cries out to God for mercy in helplessness but in faith,there comes a still, small, but penetrating voice whispering to his soul, ‘Thysins are forgiven thee’.”

When the prophet Alma was young, he spent such atime “racked,” as he said, “with eternal torment, [his]soul … harrowed up to the greatest degree.”

He even thought, “Oh, … that I could be banished andbecome extinct both soul and body.”

But his mind caught hold of a thought. When he nurtured thethought and acted upon it, the morning of forgiveness came, and he said:

“I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed upby the memory of my sins no more.

“And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold;yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!” (Alma 36:12-20)

Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can receiveforgiveness for our sins through sincere and complete repentance. Sinfulnessbrings suffering and pain, but the Lord's forgiveness brings relief, comfort,and joy. The Lord has promised:

“Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same isforgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (D&C 58:42).

“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white assnow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

We can experience this miracle, whether we need to repent ofserious sins or day-to-day weaknesses. Just as the Savior pleaded with peopleanciently, He pleads with us today:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and Iwill give you rest.

”Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek andlowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew11:28-30).

“Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins,and be converted, that I may heal you?

”Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me yeshall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, andwhosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come untome“ (3 Nephi 9:13-14).

As President Spencer W. Kimball observed, peace and theSavior’s doctrine of forgiveness are inseparably connected: “The essence … offorgiveness is that it brings peace to the previously anxious, restless,frustrated, perhaps tormented soul.”

To earn forgiveness, one must make restitution. That meansyou give back what you have taken or ease the pain of those you have injured.

President Harold B. Lee taught: “If the time comes when youhave done all that you can to repent of your sins, whoever you are, whereveryou are, …then you will want that confirming answer as to whether or not theLord has accepted of you. In your soul-searching, if you seek for and you findthat peace of conscience, by that token you may know that the Lord has acceptedof your repentance. Satan would have you think otherwise and sometimes persuadeyou that now having made one mistake, you might go on and on with no turningback. That is one of the great falsehoods. The miracle of forgiveness isavailable to all of those who turn from their evil doings and return no more.”

D. Todd Christofferson spoke on Forgiveness in OctoberGeneral Conference:

With faith in the merciful Redeemer and His power, potentialdespair turns to hope. One’s very heart and desires change, and theonce-appealing sin becomes increasingly abhorrent. A resolve to abandon andforsake the sin and to repair, as fully as one possibly can, the damage he orshe has caused now forms in that new heart. This resolve soon matures into acovenant of obedience to God. With that covenant in place, the Holy Ghost, themessenger of divine grace, will bring relief and forgiveness. One is moved todeclare again with Alma,“And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I [do] behold; yea, my soul [is]filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!” (Alma 36:20).

Whatever the cost of repentance, it is swallowed up in thejoy of forgiveness. In a general conference address entitled “The BrilliantMorning of Forgiveness,” President Boyd K. Packer provided this analogy:

“In April of 1847, Brigham Young led the first company ofpioneers out of Winter Quarters. At that same time, 1,600 miles [2,575 km] tothe west the pathetic survivors of the Donner Party straggled down the slopesof the Sierra Nevada Mountains into the Sacramento Valley.

“They had spent the ferocious winter trapped in thesnowdrifts below the summit. That any survived the days and weeks and months ofstarvation and indescribable suffering is almost beyond belief.

“Among them was fifteen-year-old John Breen. On the night ofApril 24 he walked into Johnson’s Ranch. Years later John wrote:

“‘It was long after dark when we got to Johnson’s Ranch, sothe first time I saw it was early in the morning. The weather was fine, theground was covered with green grass, the birds were singing from the tops ofthe trees, and the journey was over. I could scarcely believe that I was alive.

“‘The scene that I saw that morning seems to be photographedon my mind. Most of the incidents are gone from memory, but I can always seethe camp near Johnson’s Ranch.’”

Said President Packer: “At first I was very puzzled by hisstatement that ‘most of the incidents are gone from memory.’ How could longmonths of incredible suffering and sorrow ever be gone from his mind? How couldthat brutal dark winter be replaced with one brilliant morning?

“On further reflection I decided it was not puzzling at all.I have seen something similar happen to people I have known. I have seen somewho have spent a long winter of guilt and spiritual starvation emerge into themorning of forgiveness. When morning came, they learned this:

“‘Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same isforgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more’ [D&C58:42].”

President Hinkley said: I know of no more beautiful story inall literature than that found in the fifteenth chapter of Luke. It is thestory of a repentant son and a forgiving father. It is the story of a son whowasted his inheritance in riotous living, rejecting his father’s counsel,spurning those who loved him. When he had spent all, he was hungry andfriendless, and “when he came to himself” (Luke 15:17), heturned back to his father, who, on seeing him afar off, “ran, and fell on hisneck, and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).

I ask you to read that story. Every parent ought to read itagain and again. It is large enough to encompass every household, and enoughlarger than that to encompass all mankind, for are we not all prodigal sons anddaughters who need to repent and partake of the forgiving mercy of our HeavenlyFather and then follow His example?

His Beloved Son, our Redeemer, reaches out to us inforgiveness and mercy, but in so doing he commands repentance. A true andmagnanimous spirit of forgiveness will become an expression of that requiredrepentance.

Forgiving Others

In addition to seeking forgiveness for our own sins, we mustbe willing to forgive others. The Lord said: ”Ye ought to forgive one another;for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned beforethe Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgivewhom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men“ (D&C64:9-10).

In the everyday circumstances of life, we will surely bewronged by other people—sometimes innocently and sometimes intentionally. It iseasy to become bitter or angry or vengeful in such situations, but this is notthe Lord's way. Just like sin is burdensome and heavy, carrying blame, hatred andanger against others is poison to your body and spirit. It is heavy and harmfulto you and those you hold feelings against. The Savior counseled, ”Love yourenemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray forthem which despitefully use you, and persecute you“ (Matthew 5:44). He set theperfect example of forgiveness when He was on the cross. Referring to the Romansoldiers who had crucified Him, He prayed, ”Father, forgive them; for they knownot what they do“ (Luke 23:34).

Theodore M. Burton spoke of forgiveness: For an appropriateexample, I look to my own grandchildren. Occasionally they quarrel or speakharshly one to another. But I am amazed and pleased when I observe how quicklythe victim of a harsh word or action forgives and forgets. I am delighted thatthe offender is soon welcomed back into the fold of love by his brothers andsisters. Mother and father teach the offending child not to give offense again.So the family grows in affection.

If we are going to teach our children the principle offorgiveness, we need to begin with our own lives. We must set our children agood example. In dealing with family or friends, we hurt them when we areselfish or thoughtless. But if we change our ways to avoid giving offense inthe future, it is easier to receive forgiveness. Repentance is a change ofbehavior which invites forgiveness. If father and mother forgive each otherquickly and afterward show increased love and consideration for each other,their children will quickly learn to act likewise. Repentance and forgivenesswill become standards within that family.

If we learn to forgive one another within the family, wewill be able to forgive more readily within the Church and within thecommunity. Like many good things, forgiveness begins in the home. We mustremember to teach our children that even if others fail to be kind andconsiderate, we ought to be slow to condemn and very quick to forgive. We neednot be tolerant of sin, but we must become tolerant and forgiving of thesinner.Jesus Christ gave his life to reconcile us to God so that throughhis atonement we can repent and receive forgiveness of our sins. We owe ourSavior a great debt. Part of that debt is the obligation we have to forgive oneanother.

President Gordon B. Hinkley told the following story: Guy deMaupassant, the French writer, tells the story of a peasant named Hauchecomewho came on market day to the village. While walking through the public square,his eye caught sight of a piece of string lying on the cobblestones. He pickedit up and put it in his pocket. His actions were observed by the villageharness maker, with whom he had previously had a dispute.

Later in the day the loss of a purse was reported.Hauchecome was arrested on the accusation of the harness maker. He was takenbefore the mayor, to whom he protested his innocence, showing the piece ofstring that he had picked up. But he was not believed and was laughed at.

The next day the purse was found, and Hauchecome wasabsolved of any wrongdoing. But, resentful of the indignity he had sufferedbecause of a false accusation, he became embittered and would not let thematter die. Unwilling to forgive and forget, he thought and talked of littleelse. He neglected his farm. Everywhere he went, everyone he met had to be toldof the injustice. By day and by night he brooded over it. Obsessed with hisgrievance, he became desperately ill and died. In the delirium of his deathstruggles, he repeatedly murmured, “A piece of string, a piece of string.” (TheWorks of Guy de Maupassant, Roslyn, New York: Black’s Reader Service,n.d., pp. 34–38.)

With variations of characters and circumstances, that storycould be repeated many times in our own day. How difficult it is for any of usto forgive those who have injured us. We are all prone to brood on the evildone us. That brooding becomes as a gnawing and destructive canker. Is there avirtue more in need of application in our time than the virtue of forgiving andforgetting? There are those who would look upon this as a sign of weakness. Isit? I submit that it takes neither strength nor intelligence to brood in angerover wrongs suffered, to go through life with a spirit of vindictiveness, todissipate one’s abilities in planning retribution. There is no peace in thenursing of a grudge. There is no happiness in living for the day when you can“get even.”

I love President Hinkley’s words as he continued: If therebe any who nurture in their hearts the poisonous brew of enmity toward another,I plead with you to ask the Lord for strength to forgive. This expression ofdesire will be of the very substance of your repentance. It may not be easy,and it may not come quickly. But if you will seek it with sincerity andcultivate it, it will come. And even though he whom you have forgivencontinues to pursue and threaten you, you will know you have done what youcould to effect a reconciliation. There will come into your heart a peaceotherwise unattainable.

That peace will be the peace of Him who said:

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenlyFather will also forgive you:

“But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither willyour Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matt. 6:14–15.)

We should pray for strength to forgive those who havewronged us, and we should abandon feelings of anger, bitterness, or revenge. Weshould also look for the good in others rather than focusing on their faultsand magnifying their weaknesses. God will be the judge of others' harmfulactions.

So, to sum up forgiveness, I return to President Hinkley’stalk:

1. A spirit offorgiveness—an attitude of love toward those who have wronged us—is the veryessence of the gospel.

2. Jesus taught itand exemplified it.

3. This spirit offorgiveness is needed in our homes, among neighbors, in our businessassociations, in all our relationships.

4. Before we mayreceive forgiveness from the Lord ourselves, we are required to forgive others.

5. Let us bind up thewounds that divide, receive the peace that unites.

I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, for Hiswillingness to suffer for all that I’ve done wrong. I am so grateful forrepentance, and the ability I have to be forgiven. I pray that I can forgivethose who have caused me pain, for I know that I am not the judge, and I am notperfect. I know this church is true, and that Thomas S. Monson is our livingprophet today. I know that the Book of Mormon and the other scriptures canteach us the truth, and can lead us and guide us back to our Heavenly Father. Iam so grateful for the sealing power and the temple, so that I can be with myfamily forever. I love my family so much, and I hope I can teach and guide mychildren as I have been entrusted to do.

Thankful for Thanksgiving

2011-11-04T09:12:00.001-05:00

It's the month of Thanksgiving. I've had daily reminders of how I should be more public about my gratitude for the things that I've been given. I have blessed with so many things, and though I feel I'm fairly grateful in my daily prayers, I've realized the importance of publicly sharing our thanks as well. But, since I'm no where near enough motivated to post every single day this month, I'm taking the lazy way out and posting them all today. Then, if I get super motivated or even more grateful I'll add to it throughout the month. So, without further ado...

1. I am super grateful for my husband, who knows a little bit (or a lot) about everything. Who works hard each day to support our family, including our remarkable grocery budget, and the neighborhood birds who eat all of our chicken and dog food. He is amazing, and I wouldn't know what to do without him.

2. I am very grateful for Lincoln. He is so responsible and respectful. He loves to play with his little brother and sisters. He is so smart. I love hearing stories from people who see him interacting with his siblings or other friends and tell me how kind he is.

3. I am grateful for Savannah. She shows me each day the excitement of learning. She is helpful with her little brother and sister. She loves learning the piano, and loves learning to read and write.

4. I am so grateful for Landry. She's such a little spitfire sometimes and I love that she's teaching me patience. She's so anxious to learn, and I'm grateful that she's so motivated to devour any information she can. She knows her letters, shapes, colors, and taught herself how to play "Mary had a little lamb" on the piano.

5. I am very grateful for Cael. He's such a little snuggler, I could cuddle with him all day long. He's so athletic and fun. He wants to be a super-hero when he grows up. He loves to play with friends and loves to try to be like his older brother and sister. He's so animated about learning new things.

6. I am thankful for my house, to keep me warm when it's so stinking cold outside.

7. I am thankful for warm clothes that keep me warm, and hide my extra weight with their bulk.

8. I am grateful for movies like Leapfrog and tv shows on PBS that entertain my kids for periods of time, yet teaches them at the same time. I am certain Landry and Cael are as smart as they are because of shows like that.

9. I am thankful for running water. Seriously. We went without running water for a day last week when we replaced our water heater. It was miserable.

10. I am also thankful for flushing toilets and toilet paper. I think toilet paper is a better invention than computers. You can't wipe anything with a computer. Or at least nothing important.

11. I am also grateful for computers. Even though they're completely unhelpful in the bathroom, they provide us with so much information. I use computers to stay in touch with friends, keep family and friends up-to-date with our family, prepare my weekly church lessons, to research things that my kids ask me, check the weather, schedule things, etc. I'm not sure our lives would run very efficiently without our computers.

12. I am thankful for my mom. She's amazing. She is the most selfless, giving, caring person ever. She is smart and raised me to be who I am. And she's coming to visit me, so I am also thankful I get to see her this month! I wish she lived closer so we could see her more.

13. I am grateful for my in-laws. They raised an amazing man, who I couldn't live without, and they've got to be pretty responsible for that. Plus they're wonderful people, and very helpful to live close to.

14. I am grateful for my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. My testimony means so much to me. Christ's atonement means that I can live again, if I live worthy to receive those blessings. The plan of salvation means that we can live together forever. I love my family enough to do anything to be with them forever. And ever.

15. I am grateful for the friends I have. The ones I get to see weekly and the ones that I only get to keep in touch with online. Without friends our existence would be very lonely. Plus, I learn a lot from my friends and they are very helpful too. I wish I could be a better friend.

16. I am grateful for my talents. Though I wish I were better at them all, I am grateful I've been blessed with talents that I can use to help my family and others. I love being able to play musical instruments, and to be able to teach piano. I love being able to document my family history through photographs, and to be able to take family pictures for others. I love being able to cook for my family and friends.

17. I am grateful for my work ethic. I love being able to find satisfaction in hard work. I want my kids to learn to work too, so they don't grow up leaning on others to provide for them.

18. I am thankful for hot cocoa that keeps my insides warm, and my fingers warm on cold mornings like today.

19. I am grateful for kids who will eat almost anything I put in front of them. That they'll eat their veggies and ethnic foods, and that their favorite foods are almost always healthy and different.

20. I am grateful for time with my family each day. I love that we eat breakfast and dinner together, at the table, every single day. That we read scriptures and pray together in the morning, pray together at night, and have family home evening every week. Even though reverence isn't attained at every one of these gatherings, we are consistent and it's consistency that matters.

21. I am grateful for half-siblings that care. As frustrating as family can be sometimes, it's nice to have people who care, even when others don't. People who show they love you really make up for those that don't.

22. I am thankful for comfortable furniture and a house that is kid proof. I love that I no longer have to stress about the kids ruining anything in my house. If it used to be nice, it isn't any longer, so when the kids inevitably jump on the couches and pound their eating utinsels into the table, I don't have to care too much. It's all worn out and comfortable. Maybe one day I'll have a house too uncomfortable to live in, but I don't know. I kind of like it the way it is.

23. I am grateful that dry-erase markers come off walls with baby wipes. And that crayons come off wood with just a little scrubbing. I am also grateful that my front-room rug is a busy enough pattern that the large orange soda stain isn't as noticeable as it could be, since I can't remove it.

24. I am really, really, really thankful for baby wipes. When you're just anal enough to not like some things dirty, they really come in handy. Plus they remove dry-erase markers from walls, fridges and mirrors. And, they're handy to hand to piano students who just picked their noses and started to put their hands back on the piano. (blerg...)

25. I am grateful for grandparents who are still close, even after they've passed. I've totally felt them near when I needed a little hug, some comfort or a little push of motivation. They were wonderful in life, and I'm grateful that they're helpful now too.

26. I am thankful for books and the ability to read. I've read some really great books lately, that have helped me to be a better person and have expanded my perceptions of others. I am thankful that I can learn from books. (and I'm grateful for a few minutes each day to read)

27. I am thankful for modern technology and modern medicine. Without it I wouldn't be typing this blog post, and I wouldn't have gotten rid of my nasty headache last night. I wouldn't be able to bribe my children with PBS television, entertain myself while ironing, or help my children feel better when they're sick. Or, quickly heat a cup of water for hot cocoa. I just wasn't cut out for an un-modern society.

28. I am grateful that I live in America. I am proud to live in America. I am grateful that even though I don't necessarily agree with everything going on in America, I can vote for those people I support, and I can express my frustrations and anger against things, because I have rights.

29. I am grateful for those who dedicate their lives to fighting for those rights. They are heroes.

30. I am grateful for holidays, like Thanksgiving, that allow us to cook for days, eat for minutes, and give us the opportunity to publicly express our gratitude on lists like this one...

Mean Mom

2011-10-26T14:24:00.001-05:00

After spending a week, or so, being the world's lousiest mom, I decided something had to change. I either had to get rid of all four kids and become an old hag with 57 birds in her house (so not an option) or I had to try to be a better, more patient, more kind, more understanding, more hip mom (yes, those were my options).

So, last night I put one of my children to bed at 7 p.m. (he needed it, trust me), followed by another at 7:30 p.m. (she also was pushing her luck), and the lucky two (who must be most loved, of course) made it just before 9 p.m. Personally I was hoping for 7 p.m. for all four, but that doesn't work when you're campaigning for the world's most hip mom.

Then today, after making breakfast (german pancakes, their favorite) I made their lunches. They lovingly left them on the table. I lovingly walked to school with thing 1 and thing 2 to eat with things 3 and 4. Somehow all of this qualifies me to be cool with everyone but things 1 & 2 who were now mad that they could not stay at school the rest of the day.

Something about really making the effort to be nicer, and more patient, and more kind, and more understanding, has really worked today. Thing 1 has eaten both meals today with limited coaxing needed. Thing 1 & thing 2 both willingly laid down for their naps after walking to and from the school. Thing 3 & thing 4 both thought I should win "Mother of the Year" for cooking their favorite breakfast, and for the loving little note tucked into their lunchboxes, oh and for bringing their lunches to them on the day no one eats school lunch. (seriously, any other day I'd let them eat school lunch, but Wednesdays...never).

So, I think I should now formally announce my candidacy for "2011 - Most understanding/kind/patient/loving/nurturing/hip Mom of the Year". If I don't announce now, tomorrow could be too late. How long can I really keep this up?

Book Review: Nourish & Strengthen

2011-10-24T12:35:00.001-05:00

I have amazing friends.Smart, talented and gorgeous friends. There's no wonder I often feel a littleinadequate about myself. I am surrounded with smart, talented, gorgeous people.If you're reading this blog, you're probably one of the ones I look up to, sothanks. Really, thanks.

One of those nice, smart,talented, organized and gorgeous people let me read/review her book. Yeah, shewrote a book. And I love to read. It was a match made in heaven.

BOOK SYNOPSIS: Chloe Taylor has the perfect life: a model'sfigure, a husband who adores her, three healthy children. So why does she feelso much less than perfect?

After losing forty pounds, Chloe Taylor is finallyhappy with her body. What she doesn't realize is that she's not the one incontrol. When Chloe is called as the Primary president, she discovers thatmanaging the highs and lows of a chronic illness may be easier than the ups anddowns associated with family, friends, and church callings. Consumed by her ownchallenges, Chloe fails to recognize the issues her friends are facing and is indanger of losing their friendship. As Chloe strives to develop Christ-like lovefor herself and those around her, she learns that outer appearances are farless important than inner peace and spiritual strength. But is she strongenough to face her most difficult trial yet?

Nourish & Strengthen wasas easy a read, and as intriguing to me, as the Hunger Games or Twilight series'but I came away smarter and better (which I can't really say from those otherbooks). I downloaded it to my phone and had the laziest two days of mylife. Yes, two days. I stayed in my pajamas until the kids got home fromschool. I couldn't put it down. I usually have to read books in 5 minutespurts between chores and other obligations. There were no 5 minute spurtswhile reading this book.

One of the best thingsabout this book is that it's clean. Absolutely clean. There's nothing Iwouldn't want my mom or kids to read. It's written by an LDS author; it talksabout church, but it's about relationships and life...and reality. Addedbonus, if you're not LDS and you don't know some of our lingo, there is aglossary to help out with unknown terms.

Click here if you'd liketo read the officialsynopsis. You can also purchase the ebook from that site, the Kindleedition hereat Amazon, or go here fora paperback copy at a great price.

If you want to learn moreabout Maria, (you know, the smart, talented, gorgeous author of this book, whohappens to be my friend), check out her blog.

One More Down

2011-10-23T22:47:00.001-05:00

Here's my latest project. I've been busy enough with photography lately, I'm thinking maybe I should dedicate these photography posts to my actual photography blog, considering I NEVER post on it, and this one gets bogged down with all my projects.

Sorry, family news is same old, same old. I'll post on all of us soon enough. For now enjoy the latest...

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Absent Again Albeit Adequate Alibis

2011-10-22T23:05:00.002-05:00

It's been almost a week since I've posted.

Have you missed me?

I have a great post planned for next week, because I reviewed a great book this week. That's where I've been. On the couch, in my pajamas, reading.

I've also cleaned my house, I promise.

And taken a few pics...

Here is a sample. Which do you prefer - black and white or color?

I think it depends on how you're going to display it. I'm all for large groupings of black and white...like my family wall.

5k

2011-10-17T12:04:00.002-05:00

I ran/walked a 5k this morning. At home. On my treadmill.

Big deal, you say. You ran one every day last week...

Well, blerg, to you, I say. I didn't. And actually, to toot my own horn, I went overboard and went 4 miles. Which is approximately 2 miles longer than I've ran/walked in a long time.

And it didn't take me forever, either.

And it didn't feel to bad while I was doing it either. (That was for Shane. See, Babe, no knee surgery needed. yet.)

And I'll do it again. Just so I can start to be like the majority of my known readers. You know who all of you are, the runners, who laugh at a 5k because it's just a drop in the bucket of your marathon workouts each day.

Laugh all you want. The little runner I see inside myself is coming out. Slowly, very slowly, but she's in there and she's fighting.

And she probably looks a lot like this...

The bottom one, FYI.

Alms For The Poor...I Mean School

2011-10-14T17:23:00.001-05:00

Hi, my name is Brooke and I hate school fundraisers.

Problem is, we are living in the land of apparent school money shortages. It's apparent because so far this school year (8 weeks) we've had approximately 48 flyers per child come home begging for money in some creative way or another. If they would actually just beg for money I'd be happy to participate, but they don't. They ploy the kids with grandiose ideas of treats, parties, prizes and fun, all for making their parents feel guilt about giving money for stuff.

I'm trying to de-stuff-ify my house. I don't want more crap.

But, so far we've had a fundraiser for household decor, jewelry and cookie dough, constant PTA membership drives, box top drives, ads to buy a t-shirt (the kids all get one free shirt at the beginning of the year, this is for the special ones), ads to buy a special red ribbon week t-shirt, and this week it was the stuff-an-animal fun party (like build-a-bear), yearbook pre-order drive, oh, and school pictures.

I'm a scrooge. I told my kids no to almost every single thing. (except for the box tops, I already spend that money)

The issue I have with this is simply, how much of that fundraiser money is seriously going to the school. Yes, the PTA money does, and I've joined. But the actual household decor, jewelry, cookie dough and stuff-an-animal fundraisers give almost nothing to the school. They just tell the kids to sell to their family and friends so they can win prizes and attend exclusive "high-seller" parties.

What happened to fundraisers that encouraged physical activity like "jump rope for heart" or earned money for other causes like "MDA drive" or "Pennies by the inch"? They probably had the same reimbursement rate for the school, but they encouraged good things in the kids. I really, really wish they still did this. I can make my own cookie dough, I don't need more home decor, I've got plenty of jewelry and wrapping paper, and I for sure don't want any magazines coming in...

Do you ever get tired of telling your kids no? (or am I the only one who does?)

Prayers and Proof

2011-10-13T09:58:00.003-05:00

God answers even stupid prayers. The proof is in the video. It worked out fine.

So, other than having the complexion of 14 year old, bags under my eyes that are bigger/darker than anything, and the propensity to shudder/yell at anything that moves, it's been a great week. The stress is over.

I finished the shoot/video, and I taught the follow up class to this one from last week. There were no adults in the room, I taught like a tenured professor. Thank you very much. Apparently I'm afraid of adults.

Which would explain the complexion. Teenagers are afraid of adults too.

I Love To See The Temple

2011-10-09T22:06:00.001-05:00

Check it out, my newest project in preparation for a newer project this week. My first video. Hopefully the one I put together this week will turn out as well as I'm praying it will.

Seriously, I'm praying, it's for a missionary...you can pray for stuff like that.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

TGITW

2011-10-07T20:32:00.001-05:00

It's Friday!

That means homemade pizza, movie night (Rio), and the potential for sleeping in tomorrow morning. Plus it's Texas vs. OU tomorrow...

Thank Goodness It's The Weekend!

Teaching Terrors

2011-10-06T10:40:00.000-05:00

I grew up with a mom who was a teacher. When I was little I aspired to be just like her. I wanted to grow up to be a teacher too. She wisely talked me out of it. She spoke of the ~~disrespectful little brats~~ students and their ~~careless/incompetant~~ somewhat supportive parents, the curriculum that you couldn't control, the pay that never changed, the benefits that went down, the non-supportive administrations, etc. You get the idea. She was a great teacher. I know this because years later she still has students who love her. Plus she taught me everything I know, and we all know I know everything. (Stop laughing...)

So, when I was adequately persuaded to look into other career options, I headed another way and never looked back.

Until I started teaching piano. Then I remembered the lessons of my mom. Not the lessons mentioned above, but the lessons of how, when you're teaching, you're holding minds in your hands and are molding them. I sort of freaked out. I'm a really, really crappy artist. Sculpting is not something I'd trust me to do, with minds particularly.

So, I'm described accurately as a nervous teacher. Never sure that I know what the crap I'm talking about, yet I'm spouting information that is filling (and molding) my students heads. Some people would rise to the occasion and welcome the power. I shrink from power, it scares the crap out of me.

Then, I got called to teach a class at church. Every week. I welcomed the challenge of learning more about the gospel. But, here we are months after receiving this calling and I still get nervous every single time I open my mouth to teach the girls. Sure, like piano, I know what I'm talking about. I just doubt that the words are going to come out how they should to embrace and explain the thoughts in my head. Plus, it doesn't help that you're preaching to youth who are staring at you with blank eyes and no comments. Even worse, there are often other adults in the room who I KNOW are much smarter than me. I just wait for one of them to stand up and say, "You know, I think I'll just take over, I'm pretty sure ANYONE could do this better than you", but they're too nice to ~~put me out of my misery~~ do that.

Then, even better, I was asked to do a class on photography. Seriously.

So, I'm proud enough of my pictures to be able to state I can take a decent picture or two. But I've never studied photography. Ever. I've read a little bit here, and little bit there. But I prefer to just play around with my camera settings and so I had to school myself a lot on F-Stops, Apertures, Shutter Speeds, ISO speeds. A lot. I wrote it all up, nearly verbatim, because that's how I roll. I had lots of example photographs, I had lots of information, I felt I was adequately prepared.

Then I stood up in front of the 8 kids, 3 adults and I froze. It was an epic fail, I tell you. Epic.

I'm totally blaming it on the three terrible nights' sleep beforehand, as well as the potential illness my body is fighting, and let's throw in the fear of teaching other adults (and children too).

I'm certain the other adults were laughing inside that I couldn't stream a sentence together without confusing everyone in the room (yes, including myself) even more. I'm pretty sure I've gotten myself out of any further speaking engagements. Whew.

The one consolation? Lincoln was there and he said he liked it. I'm not sure if that's because he likes to see me fumble around, or that if he believed that I wouldn't feed him if he said it stunk, either way he made my evening.

Senior Shoot

2011-10-04T17:29:00.003-05:00

I shot a senior last week. I did. Thankfully it was with my camera. He's ok. So are the shots.

Alex is one of those guys who has it all going for him. He's talented. He's smart. He's cute. He's an excellent pianist (like, better than me, but I'd never actually admit it). He's teaching himself cello. And he's a BYU fan, so he redeems the dark side of me.

How'd You Get Here?

2011-10-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

So, I like to know who is reading my blog, where they live and where they came from to get to my blog. I occasionally have a laugh over the key words used to find our blog, or keywords used to find something else and happened to land on my blog.

For example:

brookaandshane - though a keyword that found our blog, it was not a keyword that kept anyone on our blog for very long. Perhaps there is another brookaandshane out there that we didn't know about.

pink pistol - brought several people to the blog, successfully. Yes, I feel special.

1st time shooting target - seriously people, I blog about a whole lot more than guns and shooting...but this was the winner, the most used keyword to find our blog in the last month.

However, extend the search parameters out, say a couple of months...29 searches, so for an exciting countdown...because I have nothing else to blog about (I totally do, but this was more fun-right now).

Drum roll. Please.

29 - striped roses (loved them, they're gorgeous)

28 - snow family blog texas shane brooke (comprehensive, much?)

27 - shawn m and brooke snow (soooo close, yet just not quite)

26 - shane snow blog (hello...)

25 - shane brooke wedding may 2011 utah (hmmm, try july 2004)

24 - pink pistol

23 - yeah, I'm censoring this one, something about drugs, colors and guns... (hmm, privacy?)

22 - pink .22 pistol

21 - no enough water in texas (seriously, not "not" it was definitely "no", I checked)

20 - miranda cosgrove wearing a diaper (I love me some ICarly, but nope, not here)

19 - lincoln's awards (bounced, guess it was the wrong lincoln)

18 - larin pistol (apparently not my brother-in-law)

17 - kids swimming party

16 - images of miranda cosgrove wearing diapers (someone really wanted to see this)

15 - hawaiian fruit platters (mmmm, yes please)

14 - brooke snow billings mt (man, almost)

13 - brooke shane band sydney (I've always wanted to go to Australia)

12 - brooke and shane

11 - brooke & shane (for those a little lazier than #12)

10 - brookaandshane (just call me brooka)

9 - ab dream diaper apple (???)

8 - 1st time shooting target

7 - "phil bildner" (I totally had to google this one, but I get it now...thanks Maria!)

6 - "jen and scott" and "utah state" (I have both on here, but two birds with one stone...wow)

5 - "brooke and shane" for those not as lazy as #'s 11 and 12

4 - shaneandbrookesnowfamily.blog spot (just one space....one little space)

3 - flowers that drive scorpions away (???, the answer, btw, is delphineums...)

2 - boy scouts diapers (because I always thought 12 was the perfect age to toilet train)

and the number 1 keyword that brought you, my readers to me was.....

1 - brooke snow blog (thank you, thank you very much)

Water Works

2011-09-30T14:13:00.000-05:00

Why does this qualify for the photo of the week?

I don't know.

It was just a picture that happened to remind me that I hadn't ever really blogged about the last round of swimming lessons.

The round in which we had 3 kids taking swimming at the same time.

The round in which all 3 kids decided they liked water. And probably wouldn't drown if they were dropped in a pool. And could go underwater and come back up, on their own. And would put themselves underwater on their own, and come back up, repeatedly.

Yes, I may have had to bribe Savannah with goggles to go underwater. She earned them on her 2nd lesson. Then she decided she could swim on her 3rd lesson and shocked us all by turning into a little fish. She can front stroke and back stroke well now.

Cael had the same teacher he had last time. I believe he's in love. He was in a class with all girls, but he only had eyes and words (lots of them) for his teacher. He would spend the whole lesson cracking her up. I have no idea what he was saying.

Landry realized she could float, and liked to, as long as her teacher didn't ask her to do it. Then she immediately decided she didn't want to. I think she thought it was really fun to "tease" her teacher, even though I don't really think she was teasing. She's really head strong.

I am really excited to get them registered for another round of lessons. I was amazed by the progress during this last round. Particularly with Savannah. And, I was glad to learn that Landry's behind isn't the only thing that floats on her.

Austin = Music, Food & Beauty

2011-09-29T15:01:00.005-05:00

That is the beauty of Lady Bird Lake, which isn't really a lake, but part of a river, that flows just south of town. That is more water than we have in the rest of the state of Texas. One bridge down was the bat bridge, we didn't go see it, we'll blame it on bad timing, but really we just didn't want to get covered in bat skat. (which is funny, because it rhymes...)

Chad and Shane pointing to their hometown, Midland. Which, funny, is located in the middle of a giant mural on the side of some building. Fittingly, it's just West of green with no rivers around.

Footwear of choice? Flip-flops. Odd man out? Shane. Plus, notice we're the only ones in pants. Neither of us wear shorts very often. This was the elevator ride in the funkiest building around. The UT Tower. Talk about your twilight zone moments...we rode this elevator to the 24th floor because we couldn't get any higher buttons to light up. We ended up on the 25th floor, where the elevator opened up to a miniature classroom. Chad fittingly asked where all the miniature people and desks were. Then Brad found a miniature table and it wasn't so funny anymore.

Bevo, on a wall. By Brooke. Art at it's best.

Chad and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Stevie's looking all stoic. Chad's looking all white gangsta. This is at Lady Bird Lake. Just a few blocks north of here is 6th street, known for it's bars and music. Austin's own Bourbon Street (on a miniature scale, kind of like UT Tower). I wish we'd been able to spend some time walking down 6th street. We drove it and there were places of all kinds, like Irish pubs, Country bars, Jazz lounges, Blues bars...and we heard some awesome Stevie Ray emanating from one of them.

The group, minus Clint and Karen. Seems as though 4 couples went on this trip and only 3 couples got pictures taken together. I swear there were 8 people represented there. Just imagine Clint and Karen to Kristin's left. They were also wearing blue.

Salt Lick BBQ. Amazing. Cash only. No split checks. Middle of nowhere. BYOB. Live music. Lots 'o meat. Period, the end.

See...good food, good company, good game, good city, good trip.

Must do again...

The End

For the Love of All Things Texas

2011-09-27T11:00:00.000-05:00

Have you heard the rumors that the Texas State Capitol is the only capitol in the US taller than the US capitol?

Not true.

We are taller than the Nation's capitol building, but so are a lot of other states.

We are the biggest capitol building, however. By a long shot. The main building is 360,000 sq. ft. Not so big, you say? Well, then take into account the addition. It is attached to the main building, and is considered an addition because each room in the addition has windows that open to sunlight. But the entire building is underground. The first story is 25 ft. underground, then there is another floor and two parking garages below that. The windows open to sunlight provided by solariums. The addition has 650,000 sq. ft. That makes the grand total sq. footage of the Texas State capitol building to over 1,000,000 sq. ft., quadrupling the next biggest state capitol building.

Thank you very much. EVERYTHING is bigger here in Texas.

You can walk through all 1,000,000 square feet if you'd like. We stuck to the tour and had the most amazing tour guide. Ever. There are four stories that you can walk through, and here's a look up from the main floor up through the dome.

The little tiny star up there? It's 8 feet wide from tip to tip.

And it says TEXAS.

This was a common sight all weekend long. BYU and Longhorn fans side by side as friends. Our group included.

House of Representatives room. They vote electronically. Our congress meets the least amount of all states. 140 days every other year. They get everything they need done, and get back to their real jobs.

These tiles, which are also represented outside on the exterior of the building, show the six flags that have flown over Texas (hence, the theme park "Six Flags"...)

The flags of six nations have flown over Texas. They are:

Spain (1519-1685; 1690-1821)

France (1685-1690)

Mexico (1821-1836)

Republic of Texas (1836-1845)

Confederate States of America (1861-1865)

United States of America (1845-1861; 1865- )

https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ref/abouttx/sixflags.html

The Senate room. They still vote by raising their hands. That guy on the side was the best tour guide. If you go, ask for Michael.

Everything has stars on it.

See? Stars, and if you look close, the stars spell out TEXAS. Seriously, click on it.

Even the door hinges made sure you knew where you were. Three hinges, every door, whole main building...

Just pretend this picture isn't sideways. It doesn't matter anyway, you get dizzy whether it's right or not. I really, really wanted to go on that spiral staircase. They closed it a few years ago because we are now a nation of fat, unhealthy people and they didn't want anyone to die.

The perfect view of the stadium out the capitol windows.

The view of the dome from the fourth floor.

The view of the rotunda from the fourth floor.

Awww, I know!

And this isn't the capitol grounds, but the restaurant we ate at before we headed to the capitol. Serrano's. It was delicious. It was also the only meal I've ever eaten where I was reduced to tears. Seriously. Between the temperature (hot) of the food, and the spice (HOT) of the jalapenos, my eyes started watering, completely involuntarily. I'm really glad I got to taste my food before my taste buds withered and died..

Yep, She's Mine

2011-09-26T21:31:00.001-05:00

FHE treat tonight? Ring pops. Landry stated so at breakfast this morning.

This is the same daughter who introduced me to a fellow mom at the park last week like this, "This is my Brooke".

Also the same daughter who stuffed two (different sized) balls up her shirt tonight and posed in front of the mirror. And readjusted as necessary... in front of Shane (I mean, her Shane), and me. I swear I don't stuff...

Should I be worried?

Bad Moods and Autumn, They Can Not Exist Together

2011-09-26T10:39:00.000-05:00

I've been in a sour mood lately. I'm reading an amazing book, but it's really pointed some things out in real life that I don't love. Like lazy people. Like incompetent people. Like hypocritical people. Like ungrateful people. (yeah, I have my days too...)

I'm reading another book that tells me to fix myself before I get down on everyone else for being human too. (yes, I am totally human...)

It's sort of contradictory to be reading them both and feeling mixed emotions about everyone around you.

Then I look outside and see Autumn. My favorite time of year. The crispness in the air, the cooler temperatures. (seriously, guys, 90's instead of 100's, I'll take it) Football on tv. Fresh peaches, nectarines and apples.

Then I realized it's sort of contradictory to be sour on people and loving the time of year. So I got over it.

Now I love people who are stupid, and football teams who are stupid too. See, it's all good.

Oh, and if I can remember I'm going to start doing a photo of the week. Last week's photo of the week was.....

I had so much fun doing this photo shoot. Lucky for me he let me shoot a few just for fun shots like this one. This 2012 graduate is amazing. He's smart (National Merit Scholar), talented (plays the piano better than me), nice (hello, shots like this on his photo shoot), cute (I have proof), funny, nice, patient....thanks for the photo of the week!

Budget Cuts

2011-09-22T17:32:00.003-05:00

So, posting this for everyone to comment on, seriously, all 5 of my loyal readers, please comment.

I asked the kids how school was going. They are loving it. The principal seems to have gotten her act together since last year, the teachers are great. But...

Savannah just barely got her math workbook today. 5 weeks into school. Which means they can now actually start learning math.

Lincoln commented that they hadn't gotten their literature workbooks yet. I had a long phone conversation with his teacher today, and she confirmed they not only hadn't gotten them yet, they weren't going to be getting them because of budget cuts. So, any book work in literature was scrapped for the year. They were still doing projects and learning, but actual book work from their own, personal workbooks will not happen this year. Instead they will be reading out of school assigned texts, which they barely have enough of, and can not bring home. The texts are available online, and she could assign homework out of them, but is not allowed to require work that involves needing a computer, because not all students have access to a computer. This is only his literature/social studies class, I haven't yet spoken to his math and science teachers...

Lest you think I am a tyrant and feel the need to burden my children with homework, I am not. I love having the afternoons free for my kids, but I want to know they're working. I see nothing come home to show what they're working on, nothing I can work with them on, other than monthly progress reports.

Am I crazy, or does this seem weird? All because of budget cuts.

Brain Food, or Food For Thought

2011-09-20T22:35:00.001-05:00

Savannah and I always discuss her school day when she gets home from school. Usually her words are being thrown out at a mile a minute so she doesn't forget anything.

"Mom, today we learned about brains. My brain is this big (puts two fists together)! Oh, and there are three parts of your brain. The first part is the stem, the brain stem. The second part helps you to think and learn...oh my gosh, I'm using that part right now!!"

Then we were interrupted by cartoons, or a doorbell ringing. Or possibly a small child screaming for attention.

But, several hours later, over the dinner table we continued our discussion, with everyone else there.

"So, dad, there's the brain stem, and the thinking part...and, ummmm, the part that helps you remember things. Man, I almost forgot that one..."

She didn't understand why three of the six people sitting at the dinner table just about lost their drinks through their noses.

Austin - Bob Bullock State History Museum

2011-09-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

The Bob Bullock State History Museum was the last thing we did before heading back to reality. It's located south of the capitol, but right downtown. It's website is found here. In addition to the exhibits, we saw a great IMAX film on tornadoes. I love me some storm chasers, and the film didn't disappoint.

Apparently I missed the memo, or at least the sign saying no photography...I didn't use a flash if that helps my case at all...and if I get arrested for these photos, well, it was worth it.

The Texas High School Football exhibit. Tons of information on the state sport of Texas High Schools, including stats, film footage, uniforms, mascots, cheerleaders, etc. Highlight of the museum.

Wreckage of some ship. I didn't read it all, but the stuff they had under glass was awesome. Old wood combs, pewter dishes, beads, weapons, clothes, etc. Now, if I only knew what the ship really was...

The first Lady Liberty from the dome of the capitol building. She's huge and extremely ugly, but if you read the sign it's because she's meant to be seen from so far away. I guess you can justify it any way you'd like...

An old cannon. Basically I took this one to show my kids how they aimed cannons, by either tilting the cannon itself, or by running it up and down on the track. There was also a replica of the smaller cannon that spurred the "Come and Take It" flag. That's my new motto...

This flag is what the State of Texas came up with after they were admitted as the 28th state in the Union. There were no rules as to the design of the flag, just that there needed to be thirteen stripes and 28 stars. Texas, being the lone star state, designed to design the flag with the 28 stars in the shape of a star. If I had this flag it'd totally be flying on my walls...

And of course, the gigantic Texas star outside. It's the same kind of star that they have at the top of the dome inside the capitol, just a little bigger. (though not that much bigger, considering the one in the capitol is 8 feet from tip to tip...)

Photo Of The Day

2011-09-17T08:52:00.000-05:00

Cael, my pickiest eater, found a bag of trail mix after an outing to a park for a picnic. He ate ravenously, like he hadn't been fed in a year. Note his beloved bear, strewn aside without care as he munched his way through the bag of nutty/fruity goodness.

Bathroom In Pictures

2011-09-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

Sunny Days, Chasing the Clouds Away

2011-09-15T10:00:00.000-05:00

After many, many days like this...

and this...

and finally a forecast like this...

It makes me really homesick for days like this...

I think the kids miss it too.

Sleepovers

2011-09-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

We are still a little bleary eyed and zombie-ish around here. We're really trying to get back into the swing of things, but seriously, waking 2 hours earlier than you're used to is hard no matter which way you look at it.

I didn't realize how much we thought about sleeping, until I downloaded all my cell phone pics from the last few months and saw that a lot of them had to do with sleeping...or the lack thereof.

Please, enjoy the following pics, and their captions...

"Mama said there'd be days like this, there'd be days like this my mama said..."

Cael needs to have naps, if he doesn't this is what he looks like come dinnertime. Thankfully, he's also my child who will ask for a nap if he feels that he's needing one. Usually it's to get out of eating, but still, he asks for naps...I'll take it.

This was discovered by Lincoln one morning, when the rest of us were sleeping. Or maybe not, but it's in his bedroom. This is the shadow-light that was on his wall. Something about the angle of the sun, between his blinds and the curtain ring...

"It's not quite as fun as it was last night..."

Lincoln went to a sleepover, which he apparently didn't remember was a SLEEP-over. Between the 6 or so boys I don't think there was much sleeping. I'm pretty sure Lincoln made it all night without a wink. Apologies have been given to the hosts of the party...not so much to the 11 year old who may have learned how important sleep really is. This was what happened when I asked him to unpack his pillow case and get me his sheets. He couldn't even make it through the unpacking. He just leaned over and fell asleep.

"Still not as fun as it was last night..."

This is Lincoln several hours after being asked to clean up his nook. Passed out cold, on the hardwood floor with his head on a shoe box. Needless to say he slept well that night.

"Dreaming of Sugarplum fairies, or rather cinnamon rolls..."

This is what Landry consistently does with her blanket when we put her to bed. She rolls it up, then winds it up like a cinnamon roll. Then she curls up and goes to sleep, sans blanket. Not one of the younger three kids will sleep with a blanket on.

"You take that side, I'll take this side, maybe someone else will take the middle..."

I'm pretty sure this is after I'd already removed them both from their car seats and carried them into my mom's house. They didn't even flinch. I wish I could sleep that soundly!

Savannah seems to be my normal sleeper. Which is odd, considering she used to be the world's lightest sleeper. These days school must be wearing her out, because she's out within minutes of hitting the pillow every evening and she's still out when I wake her up 10 hours later. She also refuses to leave blankets on, and has been known to kick off blankets while you're re-covering her up at night. I give up, maybe one night they'll get cold enough to pull the blankets back on by themselves.

The Post In Which I Explain Why Some People Think That I'm Traitor...But I'm Really Not

2011-09-13T21:23:00.001-05:00

There we were sitting in DKR Memorial Stadium, in Austin, Texas, enjoying a perfectly wonderful weekend with friends and family. Two orange shirts in a sea of blue.

(Did I mention we got our tickets through BYU?)

So we were literally the ONLY two orange shirts in a section of blue. Thankfully we were somewhat warmly received by those around us. Throughout the entire first half that is, when BYU was ahead. During the second half the loud, irritating fans around us mellowed somewhat and the rest of the game was much more enjoyable. At least for us. (PS, I'll never understand how fans who bring their kids along with them, or who don't bring their kids with them, can feel good about themselves yelling things like, "kill him" and "take him out", etc... Your kids and people around you can HEAR you and it's kind of inappropriate).

In fact, the game was entirely enjoyable for us orange shirts after the first half, when I stopped sweating and realized that the Longhorns, my Longhorns, were actually going to pull off a win against the Cougars, my Cougars. That's pretty much when I realized that they weren't my Cougars anymore.

I may have felt a sense of longing as I watched the thousands of Cougar fans loitering about the shops and restaurants with us. I may have searched the crowds for people I knew. I may have actually thought that I should have been wearing a navy blue shirt like the rest of our group. But I realized that night, as I sat with my husband and my orange shirt in a sea of blue, that my heart belonged to Shane and my shirt represented my solidarity with him and his Longhorns.

As we drove home the following day I was still trying to sort it all out in my mind. When exactly had I decided I liked orange over blue? The answer surprised me a bit, because I was certain it had to do with Shane, but then I realized I had loved BYU when I lived there in it's shadow, when I ate their famous ice cream, and walked it's campus. I loved BYU when I went there for piano and violin recitals, and EFY, and sports games, and art exhibits. For all those reasons I still love BYU.

But I loved BYU football when Lavell Edwards was there.

When I met Shane in 2003 I was a girl without a football team. Sure, I was still cheering for the Cougars, but there wasn't much love there. The love had left three years before with Lavell. So, when Shane came in with his Longhorn fetish and a team and a coach worth loving, my heart turned from blue to orange. After eight years of watching Longhorn football and Mack Brown, it was a dream come true to step into DKR Memorial Stadium, with it's 101,000+ seats.

It felt just like the first time I watched Lavell coach at Cougar stadium.

House Divided

2011-09-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

This is the college that Shane roots for, come hell or high water. Shane has not attended a day of school here...

These were our wedding colors, for reals...

Remember? Yeah, burnt orange and white, with black to make it all fancy and stuff...

This is where Shane went to college, and where he graduated from college... which also happens to be the school that I grew up in the shadow of, and rooted for, like, forever... I used to say that I bled blue.

That is what is going on this weekend...

Here's what the weekend is going to consist of:

1 house with a jacuzzi
4 couples alone without their combined 14 children
4 days in Austin
1 football game
5 BYU grads, 2 former BYU students
2 confirmed die hard UT fans
1 person who knows her team is going to win, no matter what

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be wearing a Texas shirt with a BYU jacket. Just to cover all my bases. I had grand plans to make shirts that looked like this...

But I got lazy...

But I seriously don't know who to cheer for. My first love was always BYU, but then I got married to the world's biggest UT fan, and he's sort of now my first love, so I probably should cheer for UT...

Like I mentioned, I think I'll come out ahead, either way I'll have bragging rights!

I Totally Used To Be Better

2011-09-07T16:35:00.001-05:00

I'd advise you to never look back on what you've done. That was then, this is now...and now is so much better than then, right?!?

I made a mistake today. I looked in my blog archives for something a year ago. I was a whole lot funnier a year ago. My blog posts had substance and humor.

Humor...and substance...and they coexisted together well. And, that was when I was in school and life was completely hectic and crazy.

Man, I really need to bring it with these posts...I need to step it up...I need to be me, a year ago, only without the chaos and the un-pottytrained kids...

Nah, no one needs to go there.

Perhaps I just need to find more humor in life. Like the fact that my house has the most dust bunnies per capita anywhere, and I just swept yesterday. Where do they come from, and why do they actually reproduce faster than actual bunnies?

Party....

2011-09-02T11:53:00.002-05:00

Savannah turned 6 back in July, while we were in Utah for Grandma's funeral. We had started planning her party, and I just sort of let it slide when we got back. She is quite the persistent child, and we heard about her desire for a friend party nearly every day. I got busy with everything else and I sort of hoped it would just slide away without too much drama. She promised it wouldn't.

So I planned a party, at the last minute. A surprise party. Complete with email invitations because it was so last minute. And her friends came and they spoiled her with presents and they spoiled my rug with their food...seriously, anyone know how to get orange soda out of a wool rug?

But they had fun. And it was easy. And that's what it's all about, right?

Last Week - In Pictures Because Who Wants To Hear Me Talk?

2011-09-01T12:10:00.000-05:00

The 1st Grader - So excited to be going back to school. Super excited about actually having homework this year. Super excited, right until she came home from school this first day and realized what homework really is.

The 6th grader - also excited about being back in school. Looking forward to another year with no homework, hasn't been disappointed yet.

Together, all smiles even though they were wakened about two hours before they were used to getting up during the summer months. Gotta love the sleepy-eyed smiles and bleary eyes of the first day of school, but that was behind the camera. Kids are just so dang resilient!

Yes, we took funny face pics of all of the kids before school. Why, I don't know.

It seems this is the only face my kids know how to make at 3.

My boys, hilarious, right?

Sometimes she makes this face when we talk about boys, or I deliver a particularly healthy meal for dinner.

The babies with their backpacks. They received them on Tuesday, right after Lincoln and Savannah headed to school for the second day. They haven't been removed from their backs yet...

On Friday Shane had to do some work in Lamesa, which happens to be about halfway to Lubbock, where the nearest temple is. He asked me if I wanted to spend the afternoon with him in the Courthouse, abstract office and tax office, then hit up the temple with him that evening...it had been awhile. I am so glad that we did. I am so grateful for family that we can shuffle kids off to at the last minute. Particularly when they're willing to crash on your couch until you finally show up around 11:30, even when there's a bed one room away...

Our New Addition

2011-08-31T14:04:00.000-05:00

Thankfully, no, we haven't added another pet to our menagerie. But it's going to take work, time and money, just like a pet or a kid.

I have now completely moved into living vicariously through my children. I play violin and piano, I've tried learning guitar, but now Lincoln (and I) are going to learn the cello.

Lincoln has the opportunity, as a 6th grader (gasp, seriously, he's that old), to take strings instead of his regular old music class with the grumpy, ornery, and super not fun regular old music teacher. He couldn't wait to sign up. I tried to talk him into the violin. I tried hard. I discussed how we already have violins of all sizes, so we wouldn't have to rent/buy one. I reminded him that the cello doesn't often have the melody of the songs, so sometimes it'll be hard to know what you're playing. I reminded him that he's walking to and from school this year and a violin would be oh, so much lighter to carry.

He looked at me and said, "Ok, I know, but I want to play the cello"....

So we got a cello.

And I get to learn right along with him.

Plus side of this whole thing, (other than me being able to learn the cello), is that if he decides to switch instruments next month, or decides to quit strings altogether, we can take this lovely cello back, no questions asked. That's right, we're doing a rent-to-purchase. I think they should do that for pets and kids too.

Family-isms...and stuff...you know, just to catch up...and stuff

2011-08-29T10:45:00.003-05:00

Landry and Cael this morning singing The Farmer in the Dell, the "Wrat takes the Wratch, the Wrat takes the Wratch, Hie Hoe the Dairy-o, the Farmer goes to Jail..."

Savannah had her head resting on Shane's chest and she said she heard his heart beeping. "Just like this Daddy, Beep, beep, beep, beep...boom."

Landry counting the beads on my bracelet. She can count to twenty, fairly well, but there were twenty-two beads on the bracelet. She concluded while pointing to each of the last 5 beads, "...eighteen, nineteen, ummm, twen-ent-teeeee" (each syllable for a different bead).

Cael walked into my bedroom while I was getting dressed and found me standing with just a bra on top. He asked me what my bra was, to which I replied, "A bra". He sat there for just a second then commented, "hmm, I like it".

(This was from several months ago, just getting to it...) After riding in the car for 4 1/2 hours, I was talking to Shane on the phone to see how his drive with the older kids went. He replied that the drive was fine, when in the background I hear Savannah quip, "the hail wasn't", which of course sounded like, "the hell it wasn't". Shane asked her again what she said, "the hail wasn't". Apparently, she didn't love the hail that they drove through on the way to the campsite...

Landry and her prayers, just conversing with Heavenly Father about everything. Singing songs for hours about anything, but all to the same music. Hissy fits and carrying on while I carry her out of the situation. Sticks her butt out when posing. Loves to show off her "silly button" (belly button). Often says "that's enough" to people when she feels they may be taking too much of something she wants. She loves princesses, pixies and dolls. She also loves to color, give her a coloring book, paper, crayons or anything that writes and she'll be happy for hours.

Cael, such a great cuddler, wants me all the time. Won't eat protein or much of anything. Doesn't have to have his bear, but is surely relieved when he gets it back after a break. Nearly falls asleep at the dinner table every Sunday. Loves his sleep and will sometimes suggest it's time for nap/bed. Loves wearing his "plip-plops". Loves trains, trucks, planes and legos. He doesn't love coloring often he feels obligated to color when given paper so he'll draw a scribble or two just to satisfy the obligation. However, we gave Cael and Landry backpacks filled with a notebook and school supplies so they wouldn't feel left out when Lincoln and Savannah started back to school. He will not go a minute during the day without his backpack firmly attached to his back. He may not love to color in it, but he'll carry the crayons and paper around with him all day long.

Savannah is growing teeth fast and losing them faster. She's missing most of her front four and a couple on the sides are loose. She still claims to want to be a vet but can not stand the sight of blood (to the point she'll throw up if she starts thinking about a scab or a scratch too long). She loves to cuddle and loves to read and draw pictures. She is a great mother-hen to Cael and Landry. She tends to be boss, but in a fun way. I worry that she is wanting to grow up faster than she should, but she always looks up to the older girls for ideas. She couldn't wait to be six so she could start piano lessons and go to the big kids room at the gym. She's excited to be in first grade and can't to get homework.

Lincoln is my best helper ever. He is always willing to help with whatever, including watching the kids and taking care of the animals. He knows just what buttons to push to anger/annoy Savannah and he uses them more than he should, but he does it in a playful way. He loves to collect things. Everything. He is not organized and I'm not sure it's even in his make-up. He loves to read, and reads way above his age level. He reads books until they fall apart, like the Harry Potter series that he has read 8 times. He does well in school, and makes awesome friends. He's looking forward to starting cello in school this year.

Shane and I are almost done with our remodel of our middle bathroom. He gutted it completely and we've got it all pretty much put back together with a new tub, new vanity, new light, new wall texture, new paint, new tile and a redone closet. It's so nice to be able to use it again. One bathroom for six people was a little bit of a challenge. Now we're back to two and one day we'll be able to use all three! Yay! But, lest Shane and I feel left out of the above list of things that we're learning and growing here at our house, last Saturday I learned how to load Shane's nail gun, and he learned how to correctly put Contact paper on shelves...see we're learning too!

Summer Vacation 2011 - Episode Thirteen

2011-08-26T12:34:00.000-05:00

Last, but not least....

And of course, our favorite Episodes of all...

Visiting my Grandma Teichert.

You take family for granted when you live close to them. While we lived in Utah, my grandparents lived about 15 minutes from us. Though we visited them frequently, in retrospect I wish I'd been there so much more. When we moved to Texas I really missed them. I knew that my time was limited with them, and so we made every effort to see them when we went back to Utah. We, thankfully, got to see Grandma quite a bit this summer, but on our last visit we both knew it was the last time. You can see in her face, and I can still feel the sickening feeling I felt when I closed her door that last time.

I am so glad that we had that time with her, and I still miss her so much. I know she's watching over us, because I've felt a hug or two from her when I needed them. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that we'll see her again, when our time on this Earth is done. And that knowledge makes it easy to be better each and every day. Because I want to see Grandma and Grandpa again.

Summer Vacation 2011 - Episode Twelve

2011-08-25T11:45:00.000-05:00

We're running out of 2011 Summer episodes. But before we end, just wanted to post these beauties...my kids. They're amazing, cute and I love them so much! Even though we drove around 6000 miles between June and July, they traveled like pros. No major complaints, no accidents, very few movies, and my car survived with very few messes. Thank you kids.

Summer Vacation 2011 - Episode Eleven

2011-08-23T09:57:00.000-05:00

On our busiest day this Summer we cheered on my sister-in-law as she ran a half marathon in Springville, then we hiked a beautiful hike in Draper, followed by one last family reunion in Salt Lake City. With everything that day I was most impressed with my sister-in-law's accomplishment of her first (and I'm sure not only) half marathon. She inspired the runner inside of me to speak out, actually yell at me, to start running again. It's still yelling at me almost 2 months later, I probably should appease the little devil... But since I'm technically not supposed to run anymore, I'll live vicariously through amazing people like Natalie.

Way to go, Nani! You're amazing!

Summer Vacation 2011 - Episode Ten

2011-08-18T09:56:00.000-05:00

Family is the main reason we trek 1,000 miles every summer. We are lucky to have family close by in Texas, but still, the majority of both Shane's and my family live in Utah. We schedule around family reunions, and juggle our schedules to attend every get-together we can.

The Billings and Snow families have their set reunions every year, but the Teichert family and Kinghorn kids are just sort of hit and miss opportunities to see each other.

This was the third year I've managed to meet with the Kinghorn kids. More of the kids have made it each year, with 5 of the kids (plus me) attending this year! We met with Scott and Cassie (Idaho), Dan and Patty (Idaho), Sarah and Larin (Nevada), Emily (Utah) and Alex (Idaho) for a "leisurely" hike up Bell Canyon. I think my kids are better hikers than I am! (If I can get it to load I will post a great video of Landry hiking, soooo funny!) It was so beautiful hiking past rivers and lakes. I failed to pack enough drinks for us, but we managed drinks from the swift flowing river and it was the most delicious water EVER. The hike was fun as we managed short conversations with whoever happened to be walking near you at the time. It's so nice to hike with so many helpful and willing adults. Just when I was so tired of carrying Cael (who was burning up with a fever), someone else was willing to step in and take a turn. It's fun to keep up with them, even if it is once a year. After the hike we headed to Emily's apartment for lunch. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had other reunions to attend. I am so glad that they are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to get together each year, and I'm looking forward to next year already!

Yes, we were that sweaty, it was so hot! I wore a backpack and my entire back was soaked! We learned that if you had a hat and dunked it in the freezing water of the lake/river and then put it on your head it felt REALLY good!

Summer Vacation 2011 - Episode Nine

2011-08-17T09:57:00.000-05:00

Of course, we didn't hit all new places for our vacation this year. I mean, what would a trip to BYU be without seeing the Bean Museum, the Dinosaur Museum, and the Creamery?

I know.

So we did it again this year, only we took Shane along for the ride. I graduated from BYU, lived in Provo/Utah County for almost a decade and had never been to either museum...

I know...

So, getting past the fact that we spent the day looking at dead animals, and extinct ones, the ice cream is unbelievably good and the kids loved it all. I even enjoyed the cheapness of the day and watching students dig fossils out of rock never gets old.

Summer Vacation 2011 - Episode Eight

2011-08-15T10:31:00.000-05:00

We had to enjoy the outdoors while we could in Utah. Between other obligations and rain, we only got up the canyon to fish once, but we loved it! We bought day fishing passes, along with the other necessities like bait, additional poles, and of course the picnic food. We hit up Payson lakes for an afternoon of fishing. Just when we were going to call it a day of wonderful-outdoor-fun-but-no-luck-fishing we caught one, then two fish. It was great for the kids to be able to reel in the beautiful trout. It was even better to cook them up that night and let the kids eat what they caught. I'd love to say it went over great, but my kids are just not fish eaters. Lincoln, Shane, Mom and I loved it, though. There's really nothing like providing your own dinner.

Cael-ism of the Day

2011-08-14T13:27:00.001-05:00

We've remarkably had two rainstorms this week. One was a great big shower that lasted a while. Yesterday it was just a sprinkling of water, enough to pull some of the dust out of the air and onto the cars and houses. While we were looking out of the windows watching the rain a couple of stray dogs ran back and forth around our yard. Cael was fascinated, and shouted to Shane, "Daddy! There are dogs running around. They forgot their people!" Both Cael and Landry were fascinated by the fact that the dogs were out without their people...

Summer Vacation 2011 - Episode Seven

2011-08-13T09:00:00.001-05:00

I make a list every year of things I want to do with the kids while we're in Utah. It usually consists of the zoo, the dinosaur museum, shopping, the treehouse museum, seeing family and friends, going to the park, etc. We've done it all for a couple years in a row, and I wanted to try a couple of new things this year, and wanted to take it a little easier as well. Dragging kids around day after day is wearing on everyone. (But mostly the adults involved....)

This year, I really wanted to do something that Shane would enjoy while he was there. He only gets to spend a little time there with us, and I didn't think he'd want to drag around the zoo in 90°+ weather. So...I made him drag around HAB airplane museum in 90°+ weather. I think it was worth it. He and Cael were in heaven, but it was fun for everyone. We got to read and talk about each of the planes, what they were for, how old they were and it was great for the kids (and me) to hear all that Shane knows about the planes. (yeah, he's so smart, you can ask him about anything and he knows the answer)

Summer Vacation 2011 - Episode Six

2011-08-12T11:29:00.000-05:00

Independence Day was full of family and fireworks. We got to spend the evening with the Billing's family for a gigantic pot luck dinner and fireworks show. Savannah and Sierra are inseparable, and for Savannah's sake (and mine) I wish they lived closer. The fireworks were spectacular, particularly because Utah allowed aerial fireworks this year. It was awesome to see the great big fireworks. We taught the kids to cover their ears for the big booms, but Cael was so enthralled with the fireworks he didn't even care about the noise. We came away with the only injury from our trip, a fingered burned by a sparkler. Not bad, if I say so myself.

Summer Vacation 2011 - Episode Five

2011-08-09T16:29:00.000-05:00

When we visited the Heber Cemetery, (a regular stomping ground for me when I was a kid), this Summer, I had no idea I was going to be back there in less than a month to bury my Grandma. We strolled through the grass, looked at family grave markers and took flowers to honor Grandpa. Red ones, because it was his favorite color, and wild flowers because I couldn't imagine anything else adorning his gravestone. Next year we'll take red and pink...

I miss you Grandpa and Grandma. You're always in our hearts and on our minds!

Summer Vacation 2011 - Episode Four

2011-08-08T09:47:00.000-05:00

We went to the Aquarium this year. I figured I'd treat my kids to a fun, water-filled afternoon. Obviously we don't have aquariums in Midland, we barely have fish tanks. We used to have a duck pond, but since it's nearly dried up, my kids just enjoy seeing water of any kind.

Plus, the aquarium was boasting about their penguins, and penguins are Lincoln's favorite.

So we went, and it was great. We saw the penguins, all sorts of fish, some scorpions, the kids got to "drive" a boat, they got to pet anemones, sea urchins, sea stars and a sting ray. The best part for me was the sting ray, but it was in deceptively deep water. When you looked in the pool it only looked like it was 8 or so inches under the water, but when you reached down to touch them you had to reach nearly to your shoulder (an adult shoulder). Savannah and Lincoln both managed, but some poor kid was trying and he fell all the way into the pool!

Thankfully we escaped with no injuries, and no soaking wet children...

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig....Again

2011-08-05T10:12:00.000-05:00

Let's see...since June 20th:
I have put over 6000 miles on our car.
I have seen more of New Mexico than should be humanly possible.
I have been to 2 dentist appointments for my kids.
I have cleaned my house twice. (hey, I've been out of town...)
I have see family members from every branch of our family trees.
I have attended one funeral, and seen two brand new babies.
I have purchased four (yes, 4) new cookbooks.
I have made one new ice cream recipe and I'm in love! (Banana cream pie...apple pie is next)
I have read five books.
I have attended my ward one time.
I have taught one YW lesson.
I have been to Home Depot/Lowe's approximately ten times.
I have celebrated one anniversary.
I have celebrated the birthday of one daughter.
I have bought school supplies that would supply many third world countries entire schools for my two kids in school.
I have also bought school supplies for the two at home, just to make them feel better.
I have decided to stay more in touch with family, friends and my cleaning supplies...so now that I'm back (again) I'm also back to blogging.

You're welcome!

Belated Birthdays

2011-07-29T22:59:00.000-05:00

Savannah turned 6 yesterday, so she's now 6 going on 16. She's infatuated with all things that might make her seem older, including her "high heels" (church shoes) which she insisted on wearing yesterday. Then last night I put her to bed with a quick 6 birthday spanks and a pinch to grow an inch.

This morning she stood in the bedroom, looked down at her feet, looked up at me ans quipped, "mom, I don't think I am any taller. You gave me a pinch to grow an inch, and I don't think I am any taller."

Then to Shane, later today, she stated, with all her 6 year old wisdom, "All I wanted for my birthday was for Landry and Cael to be quiet so I could go to sleep, and they didn't do it."

So, Savannah, happy belated birthday. I love my beautiful, precocious, 6 year old more than ever. I can't wait to see how well you turn out. I am so grateful you came to our house to live, and I am so grateful you were willing to share this years' birthday with funeral plans and siblings that were unwllling to let you sleep. I love you so much, forever and always!

There Is Beauty All Around

2011-07-21T15:14:00.000-05:00

Have I mentioned where I live?

~~Desolation~~ Er, I mean West Texas.

As my father-in-law states, "It's beautiful in it's own way"... and also, "There are mountains here, they're just underground..."

In Utah there are no excuses, it's just plain pretty. There are mountains, lakes, rivers, flowers, and green grass that you can walk on with your BARE feet.

See, I told you so!

P.S. My lovely, beautiful Grandmother passed away today. So, Utah is just a fraction less beautiful today...

Homesick

2011-07-20T09:59:00.000-05:00

I realized, while in Utah, you can be homesick for a place that you're at. Particularly when you know that you love that place, and that you're only there temporarily. I love Utah for the beauty that it holds, but most for the family that it holds too. My kids love seeing their "other Grandma's", Grandma Kinghorn and Grandma Teichert. It was so hard to leave Grandma Teichert this time, it was like we both knew we probably wouldn't see each other again. She cried, I cried. We hugged, again and again.

Every. Single. Time. We. Visited...

Then we left, because we had to.

Three days later she fell and broke her hip and had to have surgery. Now she's not doing well at all, and I'm just praying she's comfortable and praying she can soon be back with my Grandpa, because that's what she told me she wanted.

Selfishly, I don't want her to get her way.

Good luck, Grandma! WE love you!

Rain Does Exist, In Some Parts Of The World...

2011-07-19T09:22:00.000-05:00

This is a collage of pictures of my kids enjoying a nice, afternoon rain, in Heber. We headed out to see Grandpa Teichert's grave after enjoying Granny's food and shakes, of course. It started sprinkling as we were leaving the graveside, and continued as we visited with Robin.

The babies had no idea what was going on, and could not grasp why the sky was leaking...that's how desperate for rain we are! They loved playing in it, and trying to catch the drops, and opening their mouths and drinking in the moisture.

I finished the day by leaving the kids with my mom and heading on my traditional date with Natalie. Just us two, enjoying pedicures and sushi. Thanks Natalie...I loved it all, especially when you knocked over your glass and it broke, and then you looked like you wet your pants, and they had to get you a new plate, and everyone one staring.... :)

It was a great day, full of great weather, awesome family, good food, and wonderful memories.

Park Place

2011-07-18T17:26:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like ending a swimming party with a bbq. There's also nothing like a sister-in-law that's not afraid of charcoal briquettes and lighter fluid. Add to that amazing hot dogs, perfect weather and a playground....my kids' perfect evening.

Thanks Nani...

Summer Vacation 2011 - Episode Three

2011-07-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

I think the highlight of the trip for the kids was swimming in Nani's pool. Seriously, swimming...

K, it was probably the fact that we never go swimming in Texas, and it was Nani's pool...

But still, why did we drive 1000 miles for this?

Because my kids love it! There's nothing like seeing your kids tooling around in a pool on their own (with floaties). Plus the fact that I had a few extra arms, just in case, was great. I'm not sure the swimming lessons they've had taught them anything useful, but at least Cael wasn't stuck to my chest this year. Lincoln showed off the front and back flips, and the handstands, just to prove the lack of swimming skills didn't start with him.

They start swimming lessons again this month, and I'm hoping by next year, at Nani's pool, we'll be void of all flotation devices...or not.

Rain, Rain...

2011-07-16T19:00:00.000-05:00

Y'think we need some rain? We haven't had measurable moisture in basically a year. Our last reservoir is at 1%. Every church is praying and fasting for rain, not just the "Mormons", so you KNOW it's significant. We had a brief storm the other night, a teaser of a storm, that lasted (depending on the area of town you live in) about 10 minutes and yielded exactly enough water to dirty our cars.

Now for some awesome graphics...

Summer Vacation 2011 - Episode Two

2011-07-16T09:36:00.001-05:00

I'm a planner. I love to plan things. Parties, showers, recitals, packing, dinner menus...whatever it is, if I can make lists and plan things I am at home.

I'm also an only child, so there aren't a whole bunch of family things for me to plan, right? That's why I adopted myself a sister. She's my cousin, actually, but she has only brothers, so she kind of adopted me right back. Y'know, sisters from sisters...

Anyway, she's pregnant, and so there was no way I wasn't going to throw her a baby shower. I've had it planned for years, but we went all out with the games, and the cheese...just because I could. And, Kristi was kind enough to plan this pregnancy so I could do her shower while I was ever so conveniently already in Utah. Maybe she's a planner too...

Thanks Kristi, for dealing with the heat and the pregnancy fun, just so I could throw my sister a shower! I'm sure it was totally worth it!

And Not To Forget The 6 year Itch...

2011-07-15T14:26:00.006-05:00

I may be one of the luckiest people on earth to have been married one year by my father-in-law, and be sealed the next year by the same father-in-law. These pictures prove that I chose Shane forever, instead of just for now. Which I rub in his face frequently when he starts complaining about the projects around the house...

Here's to FOREVER!

Yes, I'm totally 9 months pregnant in this picture. I did not, however, have to be sealed in a muu-muu...they had a perfectly fine dress that I managed to squeeze into instead.

This one is proof that Shane used to have brown hair, and probably also proof of what caused the distinguished gray color...

Seven Year Itch

2011-07-15T14:18:00.001-05:00

**Those of you readers who can't stand a little cheese, please, by all means look away**

Today is our 7 year anniversary. Happy anniversary to us!

So, to go along with tradition, let's do some counting...

We've moved 6 times

We've owned 4 houses

We've owned 8 vehicles

We've had 10 jobs (that doesn't include remodeling houses, teaching piano, or doing photography, and all but 2 of those were Shane's...)

We've delivered 3 children

We've potty trained 3 children

We've provided food, shelter, and love (ie: parented) to 4 children

We've owned 2 dogs, 2 geckos, 1 snake, 1 horned toad, approximately 10 fish, and 18 chickens

We've owned 3 sets of couches

We've traveled over 25,000 miles on vacations

We've spent approximately 6 nights away from the kids

We've gone through 3 cameras

And I can't wait for a hundred more anniversaries. I love you Shane, you're the best husband a girl could ask for!

And now, for an exclusive, first time look at some pictures of our wedding, because though we did have someone taking pictures for us, I'm not sure we ever got them, or printed them, or....(see above list, life kind of happened and pictures were not the biggest concern most of the time)...

So these pictures are compliments of someone who had their camera ready, honestly I'm not even sure who took them, but we found them within the last year, and I scanned them in today. Yay!

The family, man, we were young!

Lincoln, as he was handing us our rings, which just moments before were lost in the grass by his seat. We were laughing with relief...

Gross, I know...right in front of my father-in-law and everyone else!

Doyle and Shane, waiting for Lincoln and me to make the really long walk down the "aisle"

Cutest picture EVER, right? Lincoln's looking at me, carrying the ring box, and I'm trying my hardest not to trip on the grass with my chunky flip-flops and drag him down with me.

All in unison, AWWWW. Lincoln in a tux, me and my boys...it was a great day.

Did you note the wedding colors? Burnt orange and white? Yep, UT fans to the end. Hook 'em horns...

Summer Vacation 2011 - Episode One

2011-07-13T10:19:00.000-05:00

And so, it starts. Episodes of our summer vacation to date. In pictures. Just to make you jealous of just how awesome we are.

After living in Midland for over three years I finally succumbed to the need to do something more than feeding the now unfeedable ducks at the local duck pond. Putt-putt was out of the question with 100+° temperatures and two 3-year olds, so we decided to check out the children's museum.

Totally worth the cheap entrance fees for the younger crowd. Lincoln put on his game face and pretended to enjoy it anyway.

Remember, you can click on the collage to make it bigger...

The kids favorite part? Pretending to make food and serve it in the "Burger King". Awesome, I'm pretty sure I am raising three food service workers, or caterers... but, if you remember this post at least they'll get paid the same as most college graduates...

I'm Baaaaack....

2011-07-11T17:42:00.000-05:00

Wow! Three weeks without blogging. It can happen! We had a great vacation, full of lots of pictures, activities, family and friends, which you will all be blessed to see.

I know, you can't wait, right?!

You'll have to wait a bit though. I walked into my house for the first time in three weeks last night, around 1 a.m., and realized I may be cleaning most of this week. Something about 3 weeks of West Texas dust build-up, in addition to the mess of remodeling (did I fail to mention we're redoing two of our three bathrooms?), and the general lack of cleanliness exhibited by my children as they unpack/play/live.

Sooooo, updates and pictures to come. Here's a sneak peek at my newest project...

Happy Belated Birthday, Shane

2011-06-17T11:18:00.000-05:00

Yes, the plan was to take a week off of blogging. I was all caught up on posts, and then my husband had to go and have a birthday...his 36th.

So, because I've never done this before, and the cheesy-ness isn't lost on me, I'm going to list 36 things I love about Shane.

1. He kills bugs and spiders for me, with minimal teasing.
2. He loves my cooking.
3. He loves me.
4. He's frugal, thrifty and loves to save money.
5. He can fix anything.
6. He usually picks good movies to watch, and when he doesn't he doesn't mind that I give him crap about it.
7. He loves our kids, all four of them, equally.
8. He works hard for us.
9. He understands that sometimes girls are hormonal, and he just gets over it. (even when all three girls in the house are ornery and moody)
10. He enjoys music. Pretty much all kinds of music.
11. He will participate in dance parties with the kids and me.
12. He plays a little piano, violin and guitar, but he'll deny it if you ask him.
13. He sings really well, but he'll adamantly deny that if you mention it.
14. He is irritated by the same kinds of people that irritate me.
15. He loves motorcycles.
16. He speaks Japanese.
17. He didn't whine too bad when I signed us up for a dance class with some friends.
18. He dances well.
19. He is a great husband and father.
20. He upholds all of his duties at church, at work and here at home.
21. He takes care of the pets, even when he doesn't want to.
22. He takes care of the yard, even when he doesn't want to.
23. He isn't afraid of puke, and will clean it up...even when he doesn't want to.
24. He changed diapers and never complained.
25. He is warm to my cold and doesn't mind me taking some of his body heat when I'm freezing.
26. He loves chocolate, almost more than me, and can sniff it out anywhere in the house. Anywhere.
27. He taught me to love sushi and other Japanese food.
28. He loves sports.
29. He is super smart.
30. He has great friends, and he'll keep them for life. Plus his friends have great wives, so I totally lucked out.
31. He can do our girls hair almost better than I can.
32. He bought me a pink gun, then took me shooting with his "guy friends" and didn't even think twice about the embarrassment that could have caused him.
33. His resume is as eclectic as his taste in music, and he's learned something good from every single one of the jobs...including helping me pick out the best bra size.
34. He has a great family.
35. He loves my family.
36. He loves me and treats me like a princess.

So, there you go. Cheese and all. I love Shane more and more every day. I am so glad that we met and fell in love seven years ago. He truly is the yin to my yang. He is the most wonderful husband ever. He gives everything to his family, without complaint. I love you, babe!

I Think I'm Caught Up...

2011-06-13T12:19:00.000-05:00

Not on laundry, or mending. Definitely not on ironing, or cleaning...

I think I'm caught up on updates. For now.

And just in time too, since I'm leaving for our monster vacation in a week.

There will be plenty 'o pictures and stories to come. However, if I'm missing in the meantime it's because I really do need to get caught up on all the above mentioned tasks. Oh, and I probably should pack.

Plus I have a dentist appointment...anyone want to cover that for me? Pleeeeease?

Like Father, Like Son

2011-06-12T21:08:00.000-05:00

I was so excited when my last child came out looking like me, or at least my side of the family...

then I took this picture and realized, alas, even that was too good to be true.

Cael really is his father's son.

Puttering

2011-06-11T08:10:00.001-05:00

Puttering is a term my cousin, Corinne, once used in her blog. Corinne has seven kids. SEVEN. And she's totally beautiful, organized, and sane. Plus, she's super talented and she has a clean house. I don't know her secret for everything else, but she swears the reason she has a clean house is because she "putters".

Puttering means seeing a toy on the floor and instead of walking past it while thinking that you'll have to get to that in a few minutes, you go ahead and scoop the toy up, put it away and then move on to whatever you were doing. (I only recommend this unless the said thing you were doing involves potty training toddlers...)

It takes but a second to pick up the toy and it's the only way to keep a clean house amidst children that don't understand the sanity that comes from a floor free of debris.

For some reason this term has been on my mind daily lately. It could be because I have more children at home lately, creating more messes than normal. Or, it could be that whenever I get a little frustrated with the clutter level of my toy room, or the dining room table, I happen to visit a home that is at a level of chaos never reached at my house, and I'm really, really grateful I began puttering after I read about Corinne's secret. (FYI, don't get paranoid, I'm not talking about anyone who reads my blog, and if you've ever been to my house you know I don't putter in the toy room until the kids are in bed...)

See Ya Later, Alligator

2011-06-10T10:06:00.000-05:00

I envisioned at some point, while living in Texas, I'd find myself in a dangerous situation, with large, scary animals lurking in close proximity to me. I kind of figured it'd be rattlesnakes or tarantulas, or perhaps cockroaches.

But, while in Houston, I put myself in the dangerous situation, with somewhat large, scary animals lurking in close proximity to me. And I shot them...with my camera...and I wasn't scared at all. Seems that being reassured that there have been no issues with these large, lurking animals in the last 26 years brings out the bravery in me. That and the fact that they really did seem to be harmless and cute...ish.

So, what did we see? Nine alligators. Where? Brazos State Park. We also saw a bull frog, a tortoise, lots of really cool birds, and lots of really weird spiders on really big webs. Oh, and dragonflies, several of which my kids are convinced were "eating each other". They weren't eating each other but I wasn't about to have "that" conversation with seven kids listening. So, in case you hear, there are cannibalistic dragonflies at Brazos State Park. For real.

(oh, and if you're not in the mood for pictures galore with lame captions, I'd skip the rest of this post...)

View into the lake

Our happy family

Clint and Karen, the hosts...thanks guys!

The cannibalistic dragonflies. Yes, I took a picture, don't judge...

the tortoise

We also got to pet a 10 month old alligator and a huge, ginormous rat snake. My kids had no issues with either one of these animals, which made me really grateful to have so many adults along with us, in case one of the kids wanted to pet the larger, less tame alligators. Luckily there were no issues, the kids lived to see another day and Brazos State Park can continue to boast a perfect injury-free record.

the baby alligator

it's about 10 months old

it was cute, I totally would have taken it home with us

the rat snake, also cute, but I would not have taken it home with me

Old man's beard in the trees, pretty, but apparently bad for the trees

part of the group, I just love how Lyndon and Savannah were holding hands

can you see the bird?

another bird

a duck

the head of a loon

another pretty white bird

ducks on algae

big bird on a stick

big bird on a log

more weird ducks

the bull frog

another view of the lake

another bird

an alligator, cooling itself with it's mouth open

alligator

can you see the alligator?

alligator

I didn't really have to zoom for this alligator, he was right off the path, just waiting for one of our kids to venture too close...had they been any grumpier I don't know that we would have argued...

Teeth and Tears

2011-06-08T17:22:00.000-05:00

Have I mentioned we're all about teeth around here? Savannah's on her third lost tooth, and it came out with a bit of drama, and a confirmation that being a veterinarian is not for her. At all. And her fourth tooth is loose. I'm thinking she's going to hate corn on the cob eating season this year.

Then, after losing her third tooth she felt pain in the back of her mouth, and we looked and found...more teeth. She's getting more molars, one on each side. So I guess they come in as they're going out...and...

Lincoln lost a tooth too. Seriously, the tooth fairy has been very, very busy around here. Lincoln hadn't lost a tooth in over 3 1/2 years. It must be contagious. Plus, at the dentist last week, Lincoln was told about three more teeth would soon be loose. Tooth fairy is going to have to take out a loan for her work around here.

But, at least Lincoln lost his tooth before he headed to Utah for a few weeks. He is currently enjoying Utah summer weather, which includes nice 70-80° weather, rain, flooding and snow in the mountains. We are currently enjoying West Texas summer weather, which includes 100°+ weather, no measurable moisture for nearly a year, and wind that kicks up so much dust it actually looks like we have smog...

Savannah, is currently in a funk, like every summer, because she misses her brother, who happens to be her favorite tormentor while he is near her, and her best friend when he is not. I am also in a funk, because I lost my best helper and my live-in babysitter. Man, I can't wait for things to get back to normal...where everyone is back home and everyone has all of their teeth.

What We've Been Doing This Summer So Far

2011-06-07T21:24:00.000-05:00

Watching movies in our Nacho Libre Mexican Fighting masks

And putting finger prints all over mom's clean mirrors...

Over and over again.

They've been having fun, I've been cleaning. They move a lot faster than I do...

Cellulite and Rainbow Brite

2011-06-05T22:22:00.000-05:00

Why is it so cute for a 9 month old to have legs so fat that the rolls have tan lines in between them, but the same tanned cellulite look on an adult female is beyond repulsive? Seriously, if you spread her rolls on her legs and arms you can see tan lines... Go ahead and join me in a collective, "Awwwww!"

Then there are the three amigos. Thanks to Grandma Snow they're matching amigos that look a lot like Rainbow Brite. Without the moon boots. And they're definitely cuter. If you look closely you can see Savannah's latest lost tooth. She's about to lose the other top tooth, and she's already lisping. It's great, I mean there's nothing like missing your top two teeth during corn on the cob season...

Above: the three amigos, Below: the fourth amigo who, with her moon boots, didn't fit in so well in Texas in May.

Huh?!?

2011-06-04T09:27:00.002-05:00

In addition to fun pictures, great memories, and full tummies, we also returned from Houston with some sort of a bug. It started with a random act of carsickness from Landry on the way home. Ever the optimist, I convinced myself it had to be a mixture of the sun, the Dairy Queen and the hills that spurred the only carsickness we've ever had.

Until the fevers and the nausea started the next day. For everyone. It hit Lincoln, then Savannah, and finally Cael. My newly potty trained Cael. He, like me, doesn't throw up (yes, I know what typing that sentence just did...I have a bucket ready). He does however get a little runny on the other end. So, when he entered our room to use the bathroom yesterday morning, like he does every morning, and he sat down on the toilet, like he does every morning, and he peed, like he does every morning, and he tooted, like he does almost every morning, something came out. You could hear the horror in his voice with his comment, "Huh?!?" To which, of course, Shane and I responded by laughing so hard we cried. Then I spent the rest of the day reminding Cael that on days like yesterday, you can't just toot in your underwear...three pairs of underwear later I think he started catching on, about the time the bug decided to move on.

Latest Photo Shoot

2011-06-04T06:04:00.002-05:00

Our buddy Malea has been hanging out with us a little over the last few months. She's the world's best babysitter, seriously. If I could keep her I totally would, I mean, we've talked about it and everything. But, her mom wants her back, and I don't blame her, Malea's awesome.

For her birthday I gave her a photo shoot, to create some memories with some friends before she deserts us all for Idaho this week.

We grabbed a couple of her friends and headed out this week, you know, to create memories. Like posing in the West Texas heat with a scorcher of a sunburn and not complaining at all. I told you Malea's awesome!

Here are a few of my favorite shots...

Da Beach

2011-06-03T16:14:00.001-05:00

We spent Memorial day weekend with Clint and Karen in Houston. It was Clint's birthday weekend and we're so grateful we could spend some time with them. They obliged by letting us crash at their house, eat their great food, and taking us to see things that West Texans don't get to see, like water...

We spent Saturday at Surfside beach. It was perfect weather, just cool enough that none of us realized we were getting burned. The water was nice and warm, there was a great breeze and our kids were in heaven. We convinced Malea to come along for one last fun-filled weekend before she deserted us to Idaho. We gathered sea shells, saw people fishing for catfish, and apparently lucked out with no shark sightings, since this happened just a couple of days later at the same beach.

Our kids...and a few extras. Seriously, at church all seven kids were sitting with us and Shane looked down the row and started having seizures, I looked down the row and was amazed at how well they were all behaving. One 14 year old, one 11 year old, two 5 year olds, and three 3 year olds... Behind us, Clint and Karen were laughing with their one 9 month old.

Lyndon, poised and ready to take on the oncoming wave.

Landry enjoying the sun and the sand.

The water was warm, the waves were big. It was a perfect day! This may be the only picture I have of Lincoln and Malea in the water. They are the black dots in the upper left corner. They loved the surf and spent all their time further out than I was willing to take my camera. Apparently the reflection out there accelerates the sunburns, because they both got fried!

Landry and Cael, with their protector of waves and all things scary.

Cael and the seaweed. What more could a boy want?

Savannah practicing her balance on the boogie board.

Lincoln's Awards...Tutorial On How Not To Smile In Pictures

2011-06-02T21:13:00.001-05:00

Lincoln's awards ceremony was awesome! I love seeing him get up and and be acknowledged for so many great things! He got perfect attendance awards for two sections, honor roll and was commended on all three TAKS tests (which in Texas is a BIG deal). Not only was Lincoln constantly being called up on stage, but so were all of his friends. I LOVE that! He has great friends, but not only are they great, they try as hard as Lincoln does to achieve good things.

So, with him being up on stage so often, you'd think I'd get some great pics, right? He refuses to smile for the camera, REFUSES...Here are some of what I got.

I almost caught a smile here, almost...

I love that he is completely ignoring the girl smiling at him...

and I love the look on the girls face behind them...

Nearly a smile...

Lincoln's friend Mercedes in the clover shirt.

Lincoln's friends Aaron and Josh.

Lincoln's friends Sam and Nathan.

Mercedes, Lincoln and Aaron...

Lincoln and Ms. Buchanen...

Lincoln and Ms. Kelleher.

The principal, who pronounced Lincoln's name incorrectly two of the three times she called his name...

how do you ever get the 'v' sound out of two 'f's? Perhaps she needs to take a course in pronunciation?

Swim Graduation

2011-06-01T07:00:00.002-05:00

Looking into the pool, notice the swim diaper free bums...

Being hilarious, waiting for Miss Ashley...

Miss Ashley talking about swimming, coaching them on what they need to do...

Boat safety and fun...

Pool safety talk, pep talk and I'm sure a very intellectual discussion...

Doing a lap on their own. Cael stuck mostly to the side of the pool, Landry preferred the rope...

Talking with the ladies in the water aerobics class...

They passed their first session and can't wait to join Savannah in another round of lessons in July.

I Blog Fast Enough To Keep Up...

2011-05-31T09:17:00.000-05:00

Savannah's award ceremony...

with her friend Brooklyn...

awards for perfect attendance...

I am so proud of her! Love you, Nannah!

Field Day, Take 2

2011-05-27T11:15:00.001-05:00

Lincoln's field day was held at the practice stadium, next to his school. The "grass" was greener, which as great, the sun was bright, and the breeze was cool. Sam Houston competed against Fannin again this year, and this year we won!

Lincoln participated in the 50 yard dash, the 100 yard dash, the tug o' war, and the water balloon toss.

Here is Lincoln with his friend Aaron.

And the stairs that were the entertainment for the day for Cael and Landry.

Seriously, what's better than a stadium full of stairs?

The view from our seats. We were at the 50 yard line.

Prepping for the tug o' war with Ms. Buchanen's class.

On the ground after being defeated...

The water balloon toss, he and his friend Carson got 3rd. They started 10 yards away from each other and ended 25 yards away from each other. Seriously, who can throw a water balloon 25 yards?

I totally would have stuck around and gotten a close up of Lincoln with his friends, but Landry pooped her pants and I was afraid of everyone's reaction (it was so gross), so we held on until they announced the end and scooted out of there as fast as we could. I'm sure Lincoln appreciated us keeping the poop far away from him.

Kindergarten Field Day

2011-05-25T11:46:00.000-05:00

We were late arriving for Savannah's field day, and unfortunately only caught the end of the tug-of-war and missed the sponge pass, but we managed to catch Savannah hopping on a bouncy race. She expressed gratitude for knowing how to bounce on these things, since kids around her were being thrown off at an amazing pace.

The cheerleaders, eating their breakfast since they'd just come from swimming lessons and we all know not to eat before we swim, right?!?

Then there was the water balloon toss. Savannah did pretty well, as did her friend Brooklyn. Nothing like tossing balloons full of cool water on a hot Summer day!

The happy "almost first grader".

(note the amazingly green grass in all of the pictures. We finally received a few minutes of rain last week after nearly 300 days without any moisture. It obviously didn't green anything up...)

Mother's Day Revisited - In Pictures and the After Effects

2011-05-23T15:08:00.000-05:00

Striped roses - unique and gorgeous

Pink Pistol - pink and gorgeous

Target - happily, effectively shot up and gorgeous (the smaller holes are from Shane's .22, the bigger holes are from my pistol.)

Not bad for a first time shooting...

Proof That Cheap Toys Make Happy Kids

2011-05-20T14:36:00.000-05:00

Dollar store dress-ups. Best $2 I've ever spent.

Superstitious?

2011-05-17T11:03:00.000-05:00

You know half of the reason I haven't been blogging lately is because I am a super-busy-mother-of-four-potty-trainer-of-two-piano-teacher-of-twelve-preparing-for-a-Spring-recital-young-womans-advisor-of-eight-visiting-teaching-coordinator-of-one-hundred, but the other reason? I'm superstitious.

I used to scoff at superstitious people, because I wasn't one. Karma, baby, karma.

I am no longer willing to blog about how healthy, happy, lucky, blessed we are, because the minute you say something like, "We haven't had an accident all week..." someone poops their pants, and when you say you have a few spare minutes on your calendar you get a new church calling, and when you say you've been healthy someone pukes at swimming lessons.... Just sayin'.

So, we're not healthy, happy, blessed, or busy. We're not, we're really not. And you will all get a great blog update when things change. I am however, letting myself plan a great celebratory party for the day when we can get rid of our training potty. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Playing Catsup? Or is it Ketchup?

2011-05-15T21:06:00.000-05:00

I am certain you all have been missing us, right? The comic relief and humor-inducing stories have been missing. But I'm trying to make a comeback. For now you're stuck with a month's worth of pictures that have been sitting, untouched on my computer...

So, without further ado...here's April, and a little bit of May.

Landry and Cael have been rocking their swimming lessons. Rocking so hard that, well, you know what happened last Monday... They are loving it, their teacher is great, and I get to socialize for a few minutes, twice a week, with other mothers, without working out at the same time. A-mazing...

Savannah had her Kindergarten program last week. If it wasn't such a pain I'd totally post the videos (like all 6 of them), but it is, so just imagine the absolute adorable-ness of kindergarteners singing cute songs. I know, right? Plus, only one song was in spanish. Oh, and Savannah got to stand almost next to her BFF, Brooklyn.

I try to visit the ducks at least once a week. The babies (yes, I'm going to continue calling them that until they graduate from high school...) love seeing the ducks. This time there were more turtles than ducks, but the babies still loved chasing them all back into the water. Turns out the city no longer wants you to feed the ducks, so when we went this last week to have our picnic there, the geese were a little more needy than normal. We may resort to feeding them just to keep them away from our PB&J's.

I promise Savannah also celebrated Easter with us, but for some reason instead of any pictures of her I have this keeper of Sandee... (Love you Sandee! :)) Shane was camping with Lincoln and Savannah on Saturday, so we scrapped our normal Easter Bunny traditions on Saturday and combined everything on Sunday. Between eggs from the Grandparents, Rhett and Missy and our family, we probably had around 200 eggs stuffed with candy for the kids to find. It was a blast!

Also, Cael has found his favorite magazine...The American Rifleman. Like Father, Like Son.

Which brings us to Mother's day... The kids spoiled me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, including the most unique roses I've ever seen, a Kool-aid man t-shirt (Heeeeey, Kool-aid!), and a nice blouse. Shane got me my pink pistol. Yep, I am now a true Texan. Now I just need to get out and learn how to shoot it.

Unemployed? Need Work? Come To Midland...

2011-05-14T18:05:00.000-05:00

Seriously.

I think our unemployment rate is hovering around 2%-ish.

Why, you ask? Because we're an oil town. We may be paying nearly $4 a gallon for gasoline, but we're rolling in the oil work right now.

That means everyone who's anyone is working for big money drilling and pumping oil. That leaves everything else in town looking for quality employees. Trust me, now is not the time to be dining out, or the time to look for quality customer service.

Stuck to my car windshield the other day was a flyer from McDonalds advertising one of their upcoming hiring days. Other than a few mis-spelled words, this flyer touted the benefits of working for the fast food company. And the plus, for those who read this blog religiously, it was ALL in English!

So, if you're looking for a job, starting at around $10+ an hour, with great benefits including flexible hours, free transportation to and from work, insurance, free meals until first check and discounts thereafter, monthly incentives, friendly working environment, and opportunity for growth, head to a local Midland, Texas McD's...

They need you.

Similar offers available at pretty much every restaurant and/or retail store in the city. They need employees like we need rain. Desperately.

Knock On Wood

2011-05-11T22:44:00.000-05:00

We are down to one child in diapers...

ONE...which means...

We may only have to send one child to kindergarten in diapers.

Rules

2011-05-11T21:51:00.000-05:00

This week I realized the reason for the "Don't go swimming for 30 minutes after you eat" rule. Well, not me personally, but I learned by proxy, and earned yet another "Great Parenting Moment" award.

I realized the purpose of this rule about 25 minutes into Monday's swimming lesson when Landry's breakfast made a beautiful resurgence...cocoa puffs and blueberry yogurt...

And I realized just one more reason why I hate swimming pools.

Pictures of swimming lessons to come, not of this particular lesson, but lessons where no rule breaking took place.

My Favorite - A Post About Mascara

2011-05-06T09:22:00.000-05:00

If you've ever seen me without mascara on, you know how badly I need it. My lashes are decently long, but they're as blonde as Cael and Landry. My mom actually thought, just after delivering me, that I would keep the mascara business in business. I may not single-handedly do that, but I do my share.

I've found a new favorite mascara, it's totally awesome.

Seriously, it's the best. I freaking love it...

(The Falsies, Mabelline)

My Two Minute Escape

2011-05-03T13:45:00.000-05:00

This week's to-do list is incredibly long. It has the usual laundry, bathrooms, floors, etc., but also added are swimming lessons, teacher appreciation week, mother's day, lesson preparation, piano recital organizing and a lot of other things that just sort of cropped up.

So, instead of folding and ironing laundry, I'm taking a two minute break. I'm sitting in front of the computer and faking an interesting blog post, so I won't feel guilty for sitting down.

Funny thing is, you all read it anyway...

Thanks!

Arrow Of Light Ceremony

2011-04-29T15:22:00.000-05:00

Lincoln received his Arrow of Light in Cub Scouts yesterday. It's the equivalent of an Eagle in Boy Scouts, but on a smaller scale for Cub Scouts. I'm proud of the work that ~~we all~~ he put into achieving this goal.

I hope he continues to put in the effort towards his Eagle with the same enthusiasm he has tackled Cub Scouts. He's already been on two campouts with Shane that go toward requirements.

I think he's most excited to be working with his Uncles Trevor and Rhett in 11 year old scouts this year. There's nothing like having leaders who care about you personally to make it more fun!

Dear YMCA swim instructor,

2011-04-29T11:34:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to give you ample warning. Starting Monday your preschool swimming class is going to be rocked by the two cutest 3-year olds I know. However, that being said, you'd better be prepared for the hormonal mood swings of a 3-year old girl, and her temperamental counterpart a 3-year old boy, who also happens to be a bit of a chicken.

They're cute, but a handful. And you're going to be teaching them to swim. Please.

So, best wishes, good luck. I'll be watching behind the soundproof glass...

B

The Hole

2011-04-13T13:50:00.000-05:00

I soaked a corner of our yard today. Our dirt is so hard here that anytime we have to dig more than a few inches deep it's best to soak it with water and let it sit before hitting it with the shovel.

Tomorrow we're likely going to be digging a hole. Not for a garden, or a tree, not for anything living this time. It's going to be for something dead.

A hole. For something dead.

That's no way to sum up what we're actually going to be doing. We're going to be memorializing a member of our family. We're going to be shedding sweat and tears to make a lasting home for a loyal friend.

Shai's dying.

She's sick and it would be unkind, unethical and immoral to keep her in her current suffering state. She's spent the week at the vet suffering from what the doctor has described as pancreatitis. It's hard to treat in humans, and nearly impossible to treat in dogs. They either get better, like she did last time, or they don't...like this time.

Shai's been a member of our family since we've been a family. Shane and I bought her when we got married. She's lived with us at 6 different homes. She's delivered 2 different batches of puppies. She's been with us on vacation, to family reunions, to the lake and on countless walks.

Even though it was my idea to go look at puppies and even though I jointly picked the beautiful black lab that we named Shai-anne, I swore I wasn't going to get attached. I'm not a "pet person", I said. So she became Shane's responsibility, and he was her love. She'd bark at the french doors when she saw us hug, because he was only supposed to love her. She'd follow his boat around the lake and nearly drown trying to get to him, rather than stay with me on the shore. She loved Shane, so much. But when she got pregnant the first time, she'd come to me to be petted. She knew I had compassion and empathy for what she was feeling. It was our connection, and she knew it.

I've tried to not get attached, because I didn't want to feel anything when this day came.

It didn't work. I'm going to miss her. A lot.

I'm going to miss her endless energy, her crazy high jumping skills, her undying loyalty to us, and her unwillingness to come back to us without a stick when playing fetch, even if it was in the water and she was so tired she could barely swim. I am going to miss her beautiful brown eyes, and her strong, thick tail that whipped so hard when she was happy that she could bruise you. I am going to miss her hops that she would do when she was on a walk, because she was so excited to be out, but didn't want to pull forward, so she'd hop, like a kangaroo on a leash.

I am going to miss the protection she gave, or at least the appearance of protection she provided, even though if someone had just petted her she would have been their best friend. I always felt a little safer at night when Shane was gone, knowing she was out there for us.

I'm glad that we still have a little piece of her around, in Snowflake, even if they don't look anything alike.

And we'll have her hole. The one in the ground, and the one in our hearts...

I'm going to miss you Shai.

Potty Training Stinks...Literally

2011-04-06T19:41:00.000-05:00

Thing #2 has pretty well mastered the first part of potty training. You know the peeing in the toilet, waking up dry, not having accidents and dribbling pee through the house and on the floor part. We've rarely had an accident in several weeks. (knock on wood and say my prayers, because anytime you verbally announce something like this it jinxes you...)

Thing #2 can not figure out the second part of potty training. Can. Not. The only indication I have that he needs to go #2 is by him walking to me with a funky walk and a full load in his underwear. Too. Late. He's been successful just once in this regard, after Shane left him for literally 20 minutes on the toilet while we were at church (I think Shane was trying to get out of teaching...). I'll take any advice you have on getting through this, because I'm THIS close to leaving him in diapers...

Thing #1 has no desire to master potty training. She has been bribed with candy, treats and her favorite "piggytail" underwear (yes, Tinkerbell). She has been persuaded perhaps three times to empty anything out on the toilet. I'm thinking she may be ready by kindergarten....or first grade. Maybe.

Errands...With The Babies

2011-04-01T13:41:00.000-05:00

I had a ton of errands to run today. I probably should have spread them out over the whole week, but then I'd have to run errands with two 3 year olds on more than one day, and that's just to tiring to think about. So, instead I run a few throughout the week and delay the majority of them until one day when I just can't put it off anymore, like today.

See, Shane and Lincoln are camping with the scouts tonight, so we needed to get Lincoln's new scout book, and I needed to go to the storage unit for the tent, the sleeping bags, the pads, the cooler, the camp chairs and anything else camping related that I could think of, oh, and the Easter stuff. Then I had to go to the bank, because it's the first of the month and we had some deposits and withdrawals to do. Then I had to go to the store, you know, to stock up on camping snacks, and food for the family pets, and the family humans.

By the time I hit the storage unit, stop #2 on the list, Cael informed me he had to go to the bathroom. Now, he's doing really well on managing to not wet his pants, but still two weeks into potty training is still a little early to make him wait until we got to a restroom, so I pulled him out of the car, pulled his pants down to his ankles and instructed him to pee on the nearest plant. (It's a dumpy storage unit, with no one around, don't judge). He looked at me like I was crazy, the proceeded to "hold it" until I told him he needed to pee or get back in the car. So he peed, right on the plant with yellow flowers, with a look of concern on his face the entire time. When I strapped him back in the car he excitedly told Landry, "I peed on the plant, it's going to grow!"

So, if my dead plant in the entrance to our home all of the sudden comes back to life, we'll know that Cael is continuing to do well on his potty training...

By the time we hit stop #4, Sam's Club, Landry was done with errands. I was too, but somehow I manage to control my tantrums while in public. Landry hasn't figured that out yet. She was whining and wailing and I calmly asked her if she'd like a spank. "Nope, I'm good...." came the reply, followed by chuckles from the woman in back of us.

I didn't even get to stop #5 on my list...looks like Shane's going to be without smores' tonight...

Lincoln's Birthday dinner

2011-03-29T09:54:00.000-05:00

Sour Cream Apple Pie...

Cherry Pie...

Veggie platter with broccoli and cauliflower...

Fruit platter with pineapple...

Mango and kiwi...

Potato salad...

Shrimp cocktail...

Cream soda...

and hot dogs and hamburgers. The birthday dinner of choice for an 11 year old.

Am I impressed with his great taste?

Absolutely.

He requested books (of course), shorts, church shirt, church shoes, and sweet pickles and summer sausage.

I'm pretty sure I was blessed with the best kid ever!

Love you Lincoln!

Pinewood Derby Picture Overload

2011-03-27T21:26:00.000-05:00

The "Lincoln" car

It's named after Lincoln, for Lincoln, with Lincoln's on it...pennies...

The "Whistlin' Rabbit Racer" car, designed by Lincoln, produced by Shane, and surprisingly faster than it looks...and...

it whistles! Yep, it does. I didn't go fast enough down the track to whistle while driving, but if you blow in that hole in the front, it totally whistles like a train.

One looks fast, one looks not-so-fast, and yet, when raced against each other, they tied (each one won one race), which raises the question, "what about aerodynamics?"

Carson obliged by racing one of Lincoln's two cars this year. He got 3rd place in his division.

Lincoln's unique design won Judges Favorite.

My Drive With Savannah

2011-03-23T21:48:00.000-05:00

I took Savannah to the store tonight, just me and her. That almost never happens. Typically we've got babies too. I totally would have brought the babies with me, but Landry had just pooped her diaper, and Cael was in his high chair fighting the opportunity to eat rice and salmon. I'm glad they were otherwise occupied, because I had a great conversation with Savannah.

On the way out of the door I grabbed Savannah's coveted Hannah Montana CD. She rarely gets to listen to it, and she's never watched the show, but she's enthralled with Hannah Montana. When we got into the car, with her in the front with me (yes, I could get in trouble, but it was worth it for this conversation), I popped the CD in and she started dancing (in the confines of her seat belt, give me a break) and singing (without knowing the music or the words) to Miley Cyrus (whom she's never watched). It was priceless. She was being overly dramatic, which by all means is an exact replica of Miley Cyrus, motioning this way and that, lip syncing words she doesn't understand. She was in heaven.

Then, she asked me who the brown haired girl on the CD case was.

I explained to her that it was Miley Cyrus, and she pretends to be Hannah Montana; kind of like Miranda Cosgrove pretends to be Carly on ICarly (something she does understand). She let that sink in for a minute, then she looked at me at pronounced that she would like to meet Miley Cyrus. I explained that would likely never happen, because not only is she not doing Hannah Montana anymore, but I don't exactly agree with her being a great role model. This was of course greeted with a blank stare from Savannah, so I explained. I said that sometimes Miley Cyrus wears things that aren't good, or says things that aren't good, or makes decisions that aren't so good...things that wouldn't make me happy. Savannah looked at me with her innocent, 5 year old eyes and said simply, "Well, then she's probably not going to get anything from Santa".

True that, babe.

After we left the store we passed a man begging for money. Savannah asked what his sign said, to which I responded, "Stranded, need help". She asked what stranded was, and after receiving the explanation, she looked at me and said, "how would we know where he lives?" I told her that he'd know where he lives, but that he felt he needed money and was asking for people to give. She expressed real concern about someone needing money, and so gently I explained that sometimes people who are begging really do need money, but sometimes they don't and they're just pretending. She thought about that for a minute, then blurted out, "Couldn't we just pay him to stay out of our car?"

I love the way she thinks!