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.

Sunday, October 1, 2023

                Tomorrow is my birthday.  I am very excited and we as a family will decorate the house for Halloween.  It is our family home evening activity. 

              This past weekend was general conference.  It is spiritually fulfilling.  I really like the talk about face blindness.  I can relate to being face blind and only seeing people as rule makers or as a set of rules instead of a person.

               Jacinda has been working at Center Point theater as a stagehand.  She absolutely loves it and got some comp tickets to Jekyll and Hyde.  Hallee, Tanner, and I got to see it.  Wow!   What a wonderful performance.  Such great talent.  Jacinda also impressed me with her binder of notes.  She marked areas where she is supposed to get a prop for a character or when a glass of water is needed for an actor.  It is absolutely her element.  Jacinda recently dyed her hair bright red.  It is a change.

               I get the privilege to help McCabe with his homework.  Some of it I remember, and some of it I am using Google to find the answers.  Last night we solved for standard deviations.  Then we identified molecular structures of amino acids, carbs, fats, sterols, and nucleic acids.  We spent a good 2 hours on his homework, and he got it in by midnight.  I consider that a success.  Something funny happened about two weeks ago.  I was at work and got a phone call from McCabe.  He said I was on speaker and wanted to know 2 results of the 1935 Nuremberg Law.  He was playing a game in one of his classes and didn’t know the answer so he asked the teacher if he could make a call.  The teacher said, “yes,” so McCabe called me.  Good move, I quickly Googled the law and gave him the answer.  I thought that was funny.  What kid calls their mom for help on a school game?

               Xadia is playing volleyball for the Jr. High.  It is so fun to watch her games.  She has had a season of learning and growing.  I like how she claims the ball and talks to her other teammates.  She is not afraid to hit the ball.  She steps up.

               Teagan is playing soccer and is a beast.  He has a solid defender kick and is a wall when opponents come against him.  I took my cowbell to the game yesterday and cheered.  A little 18-month girl took interest in the bell and had the chance to walk around ringing it.  She was so cute.  Teagan also got to have a dinner night out with us.  He chose Texas Roadhouse and enjoyed a 12 oz. steak.  Teagan also went to Fan X as Spamton G. Spamton.  He was so excited when people recognized his character.

               Fozzie got a haircut to help him stay cooler.  We go 4 new chicks and Fozzie took on the responsibility to helicopter over them.  He loves to watch them and run after them.  He is so funny and is absolutely perfect for our family.