Wednesday, March 13, 2024

      February was a cold and snowy month.  We got to celebrate McCabe’s 17^th birthday.  We went to Handel’s ice cream with some friends and the 4 Taiwanese students we were hosting.  At Handel’s, he got his birthday present of Jean Paul Gaultier cologne.  The bottle was shaped like a male torso.  It was funny but McCabe loved it.

                As a tradition for birthdays, each child gets to choose what he wants for his birthday dinner and I make it.  McCabe chose Chic-Fil-A chicken nuggets.  I love copycat recipes, but making the chicken nuggets was a labor of love.  It takes hours.  Fortunately Teagan was there to help. 

                Xadia is quite the little cook.  She loves to make desserts.  She made these cute lemon cupcakes and decorated them with a fun topping.  They tasted so good.  And she made some mint chocolate cupcakes topped with an Andes mint.  I love it when she bakes because I get to sample the goodies.

                Being a mom is busy.  Especially when your son forgets to order a corsage.  So here I go again, making my 3^rd corsage.  It turned out beautiful.  It was for McCabe’s date to the Sweetheart’s dance.  It is kinda fun trying new things and getting better at them with practice.  This corsage was simple but very pretty.

                Teagan started boxing.  He loves it.  It gives him a good workout for an hour.  He comes home sore but I like it when he shows me his moves or how I should act in certain situations.  He is too young to spar.  Teagan will need to wait about 2 more years before he can enter the boxing ring.  For now, he is learning the numbering system for punches and jabs.  I will admit that it makes me a little nervous to have him in a boxing ring.  Some of the fighters can suffer serious injuries.

                Nana Hansen had a girls night out with me and Rox and our daughters.  It was so delightful.  We ate at Costa Vida and then saw, “Boys in the Boat.”  That was quite a phenomenal movie.  It was like “Chariots of Fire” but with a boat.  Watching that movie was time well spent.  It made me realize that goodness and positivity can be spread in so many ways.  It is too bad there are a lot of trashy movies being made when a lot of good could come from them.

                Fozzie is a funny dog.  He thinks he owns the house.  Fozzie likes to follow me around.  Once while in the work-out room, McCabe thought it would be good to show Fozzie who is the boss.  So McCabe proceeded to lift the dog like a dumb bell and do reps with him.  There is no doubt in my mind that the dog puts up with way too much.

                I love it when Tim brings me flowers for no reason.  He surprised me at work with a beautiful bouquet.  It smells so lovely. I would love to have an air freshener of cold carnations.  It reminds me of a floral shop.  Which then reminds me of Grandma Blackham because she worked at Huddart Floral.  I miss her.  She was such a neat lady.  She taught me a lot about sewing and signed me up for a floral arranging class.  Best of all, she spent time with me.  I really liked that.

                McCabe finished the wresting season.  We were able to go to his banquet where he was awarded with lettering in wrestling.  I am glad he got the opportunity to wrestle and improve his skills.  Now he is onto lacrosse.  He came home the other day with a huge bruise on his arm.  I asked if he had protection gear and he said, “yes, but it does not cover the area he got hit.”  Just our luck.  If the hit was any higher or lower, he would had been protected.  Lacrosse is an aggressive sport. 

                Jacinda applied to BYU-Idaho.  We are waiting to see if she has been accepted for fall.  I am very excited for her.  She is going to do great.

                March brought Teagan’s birthday.  We celebrated by going to “Get Air,” and then eating pizza, cake, and ice cream.  He, Xadia, and Kade worked on frosting the cake.  Kade said they messed up so they put sunglasses on the cake.  I thought they did a good job.  The cake was tasty.  He got a lot of money and candy for his birthday.  The family gave him a season pass to Lagoon.  That was the last party I throw for my kids.  Once they are in Jr. High, they now plan their own parties.

                I found some great curtains for my room, however, they were too short.  After some brainstorming, I came up with an idea.  A little bit of ruffle and viola, the curtains are no longer too short.

Sunday, January 22, 2024

                January is off to a great start.  We are having cold snowy weather and having fun sledding.  Teagan and I went the other night.  It was a riot.  We were sledding on partial ice and partial snow at the old stake center.  I got so much momentum, I almost ended up in the fence.  Walking back up for another sled ride was tricky since there was so much ice.  It was a battle of balance and not falling.  It did not help that it was dark, and you could not see where you were going, however, the stars in the sky were amazing.

               I need to say something about Christmas vacation.  It was awesome because we spent it in California with family.  We went to the beach, the rose parade, Disneyland, and spent a day in Mexico.  The weather was lovely.  Much warmer in California than in Utah.  I loved riding E-bikes at Oceanside beach.  The water was too cold for me, but McCabe and Teagan got in a splashed for a while.  They had a great time skim boarding.  Xadia and I played volleyball and Tricia sat in her chair dressed like an eskimo.

               We did Christmas a little differently this past year.  Instead of mom and dad being Santa Claus, we gave the kids $200 each to spend on Christmas gifts for the family.  Kids could combine their money and buy a gift for another person, or they could purchase gifts on their own.  It took a great deal of stress off me, and it was fun to see what each person got.  Everyone except McCabe liked the idea.  McCabe said that he does not want to do that again.  He likes it better when mom and dad are Santa Claus.

               Jacinda turned 19 in December.  She is busy working at the local theater as a stagehand or helping with costumes.  For her birthday, she got some Bildad the Shuite shirts which she loved.  You can tell by her reaction on the video.  She was laughing and so enthusiastic as she opened the gift.

               The other day I was in the fabric store with Teagan looking for fabric to add to a dress to make it more modest.  When I told Teagan that I was looking for some fabric for a dress, he said, “Oh you are looking for fabric for your Sunday costume.”  I started to laugh because that is a good way to describe some of my outfits.  They are a little different than the normal Sunday attire.  They are a more Edwardian style than a current trend of today.

               I got to watch McCabe at wrestling.  He has improved tremendously since Jr. High.  I was a little bummed that he told me not to bring my cowbell or else he would not invite me to another match.  I tried to reason with him and said that I would ring it for other wrestlers, but he said no.  So I was a good mom and did not take it.  McCabe did well in his match.  Both wrestlers put up a good fight.  He was exhausted afterwards.  I enjoy supporting my kids in their activities.

  Xadia had a volleyball tournament.  She is improving also.  She played all day.  The one thing she is trying hard to work on is her serve.  She is playing the position of a blocker.

               Teagan had an orchestra concert.  He is learning to play the viola.  It is fun to watch him play with Kade Mcpheters and Sam Sorenson.  Teagan had a big day today, he passed the sacrament for the first time.  He did great.  What made me really happy is as soon as he walked through the chapel doors, the sitting deacons were waving him to come over to join them in passing the sacrament.

Sunday, December 10, 2023

        We had a good November.  One of our walls was completed and we hung a huge flag on it for the annual gun range turkey shoot.  There were a lot of people honking and giving thumbs up approval for the patriotism.

              Tim has lost his taste for sweets due to a medication he is taking for a toe fungus.  The kids think it is great because they now eat his treats.  Here are Xadia and Teagan helping themselves to Tim’s peanut butter pretzel treat.

              Teagan had a parent teacher interview because it was the end of the term.  Mrs. Shorts had nothing but good things to say about Teagan.  I am very glad he is helpful in class.  Here is with a certificate to Culver’s and a picture of his death mask.  Most everyone liked it because of the mustache.  It was the only mask with one.

              Work is the one activity our kids get a lot of in their youth.  Here we are with ice cream cones after a morning of door tagging.  Door tagging is where you walk around a neighborhood and put big sticky notes on front doors notifying that there might be an interruption of internet service on a certain day because of work occurring in the area.  It is good money and the kids like it.  The kids even invite their friends to do door tagging.

              Tim bought some walking harnesses for the chickens.  We have only used them once because the weather is cold and snowy.  Chickens do not make good walking pets.  They go all over the place.  It is a riot to watch the kids try to control where they go.

              Fozzie is definitely loved on in this house.  Jacinda was having a conversation with Tim while holding Fozzie.  Fozzie was so comfortable, he started falling asleep.  This dog is treated like a king at this house.  He even has his own chair to sit in.

              Thanksgiving was fun.  We went to Mimi’s house.  I was in charge of the stuffing, green beans, and desserts.  I took cheesecake and caramels.  The cheesecake was the recipe my mom had.  We loved eating it when we were younger.  It was fun making the cheesecake.  I learned that it is very important to let the cream cheese sit a room temperature for a while or else you will get big chunks in your final product.  It was great to have 4 of my 6 siblings at thanksgiving with their families. It is good to get together.  I am trying to get the energy to have a Christmas eve dinner, however, I am struggling right now with exhaustion.  I don’t know what is causing it but it is a real thing.

              It’s been fun having the chickens.  We give old food and leftovers to them.  I think Fozzie got jealous and wanted to have some of that slop.  We found him hanging out with the chickens eating the food.  As a result, he had diarrhea for the next few days. (Yuck!)  One of our chickens is laying monstrous eggs.  They are so big, we cannot close the egg container.  Many times the eggs have 2 yolks in them.  It is so fun.

     Yeah!!!  I am so happy we are making lots of progress on our south wall.  Hopefully it will be done by the end of the month.  It is looking awesome and so fun to see the progress.

              McCabe had a dance and forgot to order a corsage.  So last minute he asked if I would make one.  Here we go again.  I went to the store and got the supplies.  Funny thing, I met another mother, Tracy Larsen who was doing the same thing as me.  We were scouring over the flowers looking for the best ones.  Eventually I found some and made McCabe’s date a corsage.  Funny thing, he forgot to take it with him so he had to come back to the house to get it.

              We attended the ward breakfast yesterday.  There was a lot of yummy food.  The ward had a guess the candy jar game.  This is one of my favorite games.  I won two out of the 8 containers.  I got to take home the gummy bears and the peanut M&Ms.  Xadia won the big taffy container….you go girl!

Sunday, November 5, 2023

     I had a great birthday.  As I get older, birthdays become more special.  We did not nod anything big.  I went to Xadia’s volleyball game against Centerville Jr. High and her team won.  The family made me dinner.  We had Costco rotisserie chicken, loaded mashed potatoes, and a quinoa salad.  Xadia made me a fabulous birthday cake with multiple layers.  It was so nice to be remembered.  Later that week I went to lunch with a childhood friend.  We always have a good time catching up.  It is amazing to reflect on the different relationships in my life and to see where they are now.  Some people I’ve lost touch with others are still in my life.  However, family takes priority…that is for sure.

     McCabe went to homecoming with Ashlyn.  He forgot to order a wrist corsage, so I had the opportunity to make one.  It was my first time ever and I think it turned out pretty good.  Of course, it was huge because I went overboard.  But is was just so fun making it.  I also got to take their pictures.  However, silly me called Ashlyn by another girl’s name and McCabe (and MJ Smith) gave me the look of death.  (Oops!)  That was the second time I called one of his friends (who happens to be a girl) by the wrong name.  The truth is, I cannot keep them all straight because he does not introduce me, and he always refers to them as “my friend.”  Oh well, they had a good time at the dance, and I got some really good pictures.

     I love the fall colors.  Teagan and I went on a geocaching walk/hike.  It got my heart racing because it was so high.  The clue was, "snow cannot touch me."  Um, yeah because it was at a top of a fence post.  Here is Teagan with the scroll of names on the geocache find.

     Xadia had her 14 birthday last month.  She got some ballerina pink crocs.  Unfortunately, the wrong size came so we had to return them for a larger size.  She finally got them.  Xadia loves to play with the dog, Fozzie.  Fozzie is a good sport to put up with so much love.  Xadia decided to make Fozzie a halloween costume out of an old sheet and take him on a photo shoot.  In order for him to hold the bag in his mouth, Xadia put a chewy stick with the handle and told him not to eat it.  Fozzie puts up with so much.  He is a good dog.  The joke with the picture below is, "If you don't believe in ghosts, explain this to me."

     Jacinda is big into Cosplay and working at the local community theater as a stage hand.  She has multiple costumes for the same event.  Here she is getting ready to go to anime Bonzai.  I am amazed with her talent of costuming.

     Let's take a moment and talk about the world I live in.  Inflation is taking its toll on everyone.  People are maxing out their credit cards and dipping into retirement funds.  Gasoline 3 weeks ago was $3.99 per gallon.  It has gone down to $3.49 a gallon now.  There is war over in the Gaza strip dealing with Hamas, Palestine, and Israel.  Trump, who is a former president, is being prosecuted for fraud while our current President Biden, receives suspicious funds from relatives who have ties to foreign countries.  People are having identity crisis trying to figure out if they are a man or a woman.  To help exaggerate the craziness, Tim occasionally send funny memes such as the ones below.

     I love it when Tim and I get to have a date.  McCabe was at a another dance and the other kids went to the Living Aquarium.  Tim and I seized the moment and went to El Matador.  Jacinda was sending us updates about the aquarium so I sent her an update about me and Tim.  Here we are waiting to be seated.

      Halloween was a success.  The kids went with a Spongebob theme.  Kade was mermaid man.  Teagan was Barnacle Boy.  Xadia was Spongebob.  Kate was Patrick.  They went trick or treating for 4 hours and got so much candy.  Xadia weighed her bag and it was 15 pounds.  That is going to contribute to a far amount of cavities if they don't brush.  Yikes!

Here are the trick or treaters the next day knocked out with a sugar coma.

      I was able to dress up for halloween.  The office was holding a party and a costume contest.  I won first place and got $50.  Yeah me!  That $50 went to pay for 1/2 of my car's oil change.

     I love where we live.  Coming home from work the other day I had to stop for some turkeys to cross the road.  These silly birds have also left their prints in the new sidewalk that was poured near the trail head.  What a crack up.

     Jacinda was invited to a Gala fund raiser with Seth.  However, she did not have anything to wear.  I put on my fairy god mother hat and got to work.  We went to the D.I. and found a dress for $10 and a men's jacket for another $10.  I transformed the jacket into a more feminine version.  I just love to create fun clothes.  Here is the jacket before the make over.

Here is the jacket after the make over.

     We had some family photos taken.  What can I say....my family is the best!  Look at these fabulous pictures.