Monday, June 18, 2018

School is out and the kids are so happy.  We made treats for the teachers as a thank-you.  I hoped they enjoyed their apple cupcakes.

Life has been so busy so I am taking my lunch break to write in my journal.  We had the opportunity to clean a cabin at camp Piuata.  It is located 30 minutes east of Kamas.  We decided to make it a camp out with the family.  It was so beautiful.  When we arrived, we went straight to work.  There was a lot of mice droppings (gross!).  I was saying a silent prayer that the haunta virus would not get us.  After cleaning the cabin, we went exploring.  I loved the smell of the pine trees.  We had a great time looking for fossils and catching frogs in the pond.  When nightfall came, we mad hot cocoa and saw a bat.  Tim got a fishing pole and swirled it in the air to see if the bat would go after it.  Sad to say, the bat knew better but Teagan thought it was the neatest thing.  There was no cell phone coverage so we got to enjoy the great outdoors.  We slept on cots in the cabin.  Around 3:00 am I had to go potty.  Stepping outside and gazing at the stars was amazing.  I was so tempted to wake Tim to enjoy the beauty with me.  But, I let him sleep and I walked to the bathroom. 

                The morning was gorgeous.  We were making breakfast as the other ward members arrived to clean the other cabins.  Tim was making egg, ham, and English muffin sandwiches.  I was getting warm by the fire.  I was thinking about how beautiful the day was and the fun time we will have fishing.  My thoughts were over taken by McCabe coming over and saying, “I got some bad news.”  I wondered to myself, “now what in his 11-year-old mind could be bad news.”  “I locked the keys in the car.”  Yep, that was bad news.  Plan B went into immediate action.  We bummed rides off other ward members.  Once home, we got the spare keys and drove 1.5 hours back to camp.  The boys went fishing and I drove back home.  I was so tired I fell asleep.  After my nap, the girls (Soli, Jacinda, Xadia) and I went to the Mandarin restaurant for a nice Chinese dinner.  Then stopped by avalanche snow for a Sno-cone.  It was a fun evening to spend with the girls.

                This past weekend was father’s day and celebration of our 19^th wedding anniversary.  Tim and I went to Wendover and watched a tribute to the beach boys.  It was fun to dance and sing along to the music.  I also got to eat a hug éclair.  It was sooooo good.  Margaret stayed with the kids.

                Sunday we celebrated Tim and the good job he is doing as a dad.  He got candy bars, letters, and a tie (with the kids on it) for father’s day.  The kids are very fortunate to have Tim as a dad.  He is very loving and does a good job teaching the kids about the gospel.  I hope one day the kids realize how good a dad Tim is.

Thursday, May 17, 2018

          It is not very often I get to have a girl’s night out.  But when it happens, I love it.  The girls and I spent a night in Eden.  We rented a condo.  We ate microwave dinners.  Played a “sleep over party” game.  I got a funny card.  I had to act like a teenage vampire that just ate garlic.  Another silly card was have a dance party for 2 minutes.  Xadia got a card that said, “Explain how to make spaghetti with an Italian accent.”  She did not know how to do an Italian accent.  So I had her say, “that is a spicy meatball,” with an accent.  It was hilarious.  We all took a turn saying “spicy meatball.”  After the game, we went hot tubbing and then got in our pajamas and watched “Coco.”  We also ate junk food.  I was really tired after the movie.  It was 10:30 pm.  I needed to go to sleep.  Xadia wanted to play the game again.  I told her she could play with Jacinda.  She ended up going to sleep.  In the morning, I slept until 9:30.  The girls made a smoothie and cinnamon biscuits for breakfast.  It was really yummy.  We watched “The Little Rascals,” and ate.  We then cleaned up and went home.  It was a fun time with my girls.

                It is not very often I get to go on a field trip.  I got to go to the zoo with Teagan.  He wanted his dad to go instead of me because I went on the zoo field trip with the other 3 kids.  Too bad for him.  But we had a good time.  We visited all the animals.  His favorite part was the playground.  The boys in our group played for an hour.  After the playground we saw the polar bear and the seals.  The boys loved that exhibit because they can the animals under water and above the water.  Just before leaving we bought cotton candy.  When I asked Teagan what his favorite part of the zoo was he said, “the playground and cotton candy.”  Forget about all the neat animals.  He is just a simple boy. 

Sunday, May 13, 2018

      Happy Mother's Day to all those beautiful moms.  I love being a mom.  I love it when my kids give me home made cards or fresh cut flowers (weeds) from the yard.  Today was so special.  I woke up to Teagan snuggling next to me.  Then I was told by Tim not to come downstairs because of a surprise.  When I finally got to go downstairs, I was served breakfast.  There was bacon, eggs, biscuits, smoothie, and a heart shaped pancake on my plate.  I truly felt spoiled.
     After breakfast, I opened my gifts.  Xadia and Teagan both gave me home made cards where they saw what they liked best about me or how they would describe me.  I laughed because one of Xadia responses was that I liked to "sleep."  Oh how true that is.  Being a mom can wipe you out.  After breakfast we got ready and went to church.  The kids sang primary songs to their mothers. This was the last year McCabe will sing a mother's day song to me in church.  He is growing up so fast.
     We ate lunch and then played two rounds of one night ultimate werewolf.  The kids always cheat at this game.  Tim's favorite saying is, "cheaters close your eyes."  What is really supposed to be said is, "players, close your eyes."  After the game, Tim and I got a nap.  After being abruptly woken, the family headed over to Nastia's house to give them a ladder.  Nastia is moving to Kansas.  I wanted to stay and update my blog/journal.  So here I sit in an empty (and messy) house.  The house is messy because I have not lifted a finger today and it has been great.  But come tonight or tomorrow it will be cleaned because I don't like to live in filth.
     It has been a happy mother's day for Tim.  He finally got the truck he has always wanted.  It is a beauty.  Here the boys are unloading potential campfire wood.  This was the first major use of work for the truck.

We will also be using it for the lawn business.  Each week we mow several lawns.  This will make it easier to pull the trailer.  The kids just walked through the door.  They are back just in time for AFV (America's Funniest Videos).  However, McCabe made a suggestion that he wants to watch the 3 Amigos instead.  This is a movie I got for Mother's Day.  It is one of mine and Tim's favorites.  I guess we will take a family vote.

Sunday, April 29, 2018

I don’t have much to report this week.  The lawn business kept the kids busy during the week.  The boys have a camp out coming and I was planning on a girl’s night out but Jacinda and Xadia would rather play with their friends.  That hurts me but they are 13 and 8 and that is what is important in their lives.

This past week our family attended a dance performance, “I can dance.”  McCabe’s whole 5^th grade along with other schools danced for an audience.  It was very inspiring.  Many of these kids were from tier one schools.  McCabe’s school got to participate because Michael Smith’s mom (our neighbor) teaches for Ballet West and pulled some strings.  It was really fun watching so many kids.  Some were enjoying the spot light others did not.  Bottom line, it was so good for those kids who needed an outlet for expression.  I put together a video of McCabe’s performance.

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Family pictures…..or as I like to call it, “voluntary torture.”  We had pictures taken last weekend.  It was not as bad as some years but Teagan could not give a decent grin.  So we did the best we could.  A little sprinkle of rain was occurring.  Nothing too major, but as the shoot continued, it started to pour.  A few of the pictures were not very pleasing because our shirts are sprinkled with rain drops and our hair is flat and wet.  I selected the best ones and will display them around the house.  One of my favorite pictures is our “crazy pose.”  I am hanging that on the wall between the office and the bathroom.  I want all to see that one.

(Crazy poses)

I love my family.  I have some of the goofiest boys.  They loved to making silly poses or doing funny things in front of the camera.  My girls were more reserved.  I can see how the boys take after Tim and the girls take after me.

Xadia is in a slime phase.  She loves to make slime out of glue, borax, and cornstarch.  She and Zoey Kister cold spend hours making buckets of slime.  I am so pleased with Xadia.  She is doing well in school and works hard to complete her piano each day.  She has become quite a reliable person.  A few days ago at the chili cook off, she did such a great job watching Sammy and Louie Neilsen.  Xadia is going to be a great baby sitter someday.

   McCabe is gearing up for lawn mowing season.  Each day he makes calls to the neighbors about taking care of their lawn for the summer.  It is a great business for the kids….and Tim.  I occasionally help when my schedule does not conflict.  Mac likes to earn money and then spend it at the gas station.  He usually buys f’real ice cream or slurpees.  I am glad he is learning the value of hard work.

Jacinda is becoming quite a good little artist.  She has an assignment to draw 5 mouths, 5 noses, and 5 sets of eyes.  I am so impressed with her ability.  If I were to try that, you would get stick figure faces.  She is amazing.  She also got her hair cut and braces on her teeth.  She looks so good with her shorter hair.  She does not like it.  In fact, she was crying and telling me to stop cutting it.  I think in time she will like it especially since she looks a lot like her best friend Brooklyn Thompson.

             Teagan is my reading machine.  He likes to read his phonic books so he can get a treat from the treasure box at school.  He also likes to play on the computer and watch videos.  Once I walked in the room and he was watching an animation on babies growing in the uterus.  I don’t know if he is paying attention to the content or if he is just numb and being entertained with the animation.    

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Spring break is the best.  We went camping at Lake Mantua.  We used our new (to us) trailer.  About 4 miles into the ride, we had to pull over and load the bikes in the trailer because the trailer bumper was starting to split from the weight.  Once at camp, we made a fire and ate cup of noodles, hot dogs, and an army MRE (meal replacement equivalent).  Tim did not enjoy the MRE clam chowder.  He was spitting chunks into the fire.  He said, “even I have my limits.”

                After dinner, we went on a bike ride to the park and played tag.  I lasted for 3 minutes before taking a permanent rest on the bench.  Jacinda was content in the swing the whole time.  The rest of the kiddos played on the equipment.  After our bike ride back to camp, McCabe went fishing with Xadia.  The rest of us hung out around the camp fire and drank cocoa.  McCabe and Xadia came back with a bunch of crawdads.  McCabe wanted to fry some in the fire and eat them.  Fortunately, their lives were spared and sent back into the lake.  Just the thought of eating those things is nasty.  They are like bugs of the water.

                Jacinda headed to the showers before bed.  The rest of us cleaned up and set up our beds.  We were very cozy in the trailer.  I read a few chapters from “The Janitor’s Boy.”  This is a book for McCabe’s book report.  We listened to a few comedians on Tim’s cell phone.  Said a prayer and then went to bed.  I tossed the whole night.  I was comfortable, but just slept really lightly.  Every little sound would disturb my slumber.

                Morning came and we ate breakfast at the campground’s café.  The kids then went on an Easter egg hunt and scored many treats.  Some of the kids stayed and played on the playground, some went fishing, and the rest went on a walk.  After a few hours, we packed up and headed home.  Once home, I made a pizza.  Ate lunch and took a long nap.

                Sunday was awesome.  We had a nice breakfast and then watched general conference as a family.  In between sessions, we took a hike near our home.  Watched the second session and then visited my mom’s and dad’s grave.  It was nice to see the dates engraved on the headstone.

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Hooray for March.  Tim and Teagan both have birthdays this month.  We had a super fantastic party for Teagan.  It started with decorating gift bags.  Then we made an ocean scene for the fishing game.  We played bingo with M&M’s.  Tim sat back and enjoyed a few handfuls.  The kids won Twix candy bars which they put in their gift bags.  We then decorated our ocean scene and played the fishing game.  We opened presents and ate hot dogs and cake.  The cake was made by Teagan.  It had to be a “stacked” cake.  He chose the frosting and the decorations.  It was a yummy cake.  He did a great job.  After the party I asked Teagan if he liked it.  He said, “It was not as boring as I thought it would be.”  That made me laugh.  Happy 6^th birthday little buddy.

Jacinda is working so hard on her grades.  I am very pleased with her dedication.  I love it when I get to help her with homework.  Last night, Tim joined our math discussion and Jacinda helped him solve for X.  It was a good refresher of 7^th grade math.  Tim was a good sport because he does not believe that letters and numbers should mix.

McCabe is also very dedicated to his school work.  He wants to wake up at 6 in the morning to complete his homework…actually to get it done early so he can hand it in days before the due date.  McCabe is enjoying scouts.  Unfortunately we cannot find his scout shirt.  I love it when he asks me where it is.  Of course I don’t know where it is because I never wore it.  Ahhhh I like the lessons we learn as an 11 year old.

Xadia is becoming quite the reader.  Last night she read 2 stories out of the Friend to the family.  She read about a boy who likes Easter because it reminds him of Jesus Christ and about the prophet Noah.  At this time in her life, she loves having her ears pierced and can’t wait until she can change them.  She has to wait until May 1 before she can switch her earrings.  She also wants a pet really badly but Tim and I will not allow it.  So we compromised on a plant.  Now we just need to make it to the store to buy one.  So each day after school I get a nudge to take her to the store to buy a plant.