Late Breaking News!!!

Swimming lessons start tomorrow and his sisters finally convinced Michael to let me buzz his hair.

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

4th of July Weekend

Belated Happy 4th of July!

We have almost had too much fun this weekend (and I have the laundry to prove it!). Friday, we went to our ward 's 4th of July breakfast. It was fun as always. I love seeing the scouts perform the flag raising and then saying the Pledge of Allegiance. I was so happy, we actually made it on time this year and were there for the whole thing.

After the breakfast, some of the kids and I headed to Kmart to buy a frisbee while Stan and the others made a pit stop at home, then we met on the way to the movie theater. Wait, did you read that right? Did we go to the movies? Yep, for only the second time in memory, we took all the kids to the movies. It was fun! We'd probably do it more often if it didn't involve taking out a home equity loan (just kidding) and if we weren't so picky about what we'll go see. We had the whole theater experience because I found only slightly expired coupons on the internet for a free small (a quart, at least!) soda and popcorn. Which meant three kids had to visit the restroom during the movie, Naomi leaked on my lap because her diaper got too full of processed fruit punch, and three more kids had to rush to the bathroom before the credits were done. All in all, we had a great time. We saw WALL-E and all enjoyed it.

After lunch, Stan watched some kids and I took some others to JoAnn's with me and bored them out of their skulls while I pattern and fabric shopped. Now I have more projects and plans to sew with no time to do it. Let's just call it my ongoing brush with a fantasy - me with time to sew!

Later that afternoon, we packed for the beach. We figured a holiday weekend would be a good time to get there early and leave early (we were right!) and I made muffins so that we could take our breakfast with us. In addition to our new frisbee, we loaded two cars with -

Towels

Swimming suits

Toy shovels & buckets

Boogie boards - 4

Sunscreen - 2

Baby powder – for getting the sand off

Blanket

Umbrella

Chair

Water

Cashews

Milk

Camera

Big shovel

Hats

Apples

Muffins

Sandwiches

Napkins

&

Nine People

Then, we headed off to see the fireworks. They set off about three or four, there was a fire, then we waited for about half an hour and we left. As we were driving off, the fireworks finally started up again, so we turned around, parked and watched the rest. I love fireworks :)


Saturday morning, we got up before seven and started getting our swim suits on. The beach was already filling up when we got there before nine. We ate our muffins, played in the sand...

...explored the tide pools, did lots of boogie boarding and had an all around good time.

Summer found a crab crawling on her after she got out of the water!

We were all exhausted when we got home. I told Michael to wait for me in the laundry room while I got him something to wear so that when I took his swimsuit off, sand wouldn't get all over his bedroom (we were procrastinating his bath until after he played outside in the back yard a while) and I guess I took too long...

Stan's Family Reunion

At the end of June, we went camping with Stan's family. They are so much fun. One of the many things I love about them is how nice they are. There isn't a rotten apple in the bushel - and it's a big one :)

We had a blast.

One of the things we did was all pile in the back of George's pickup so that Daphne could drive us to the swimming hole.

Well, okay, some of us climbed in the back, others of us had it easier.

Kelly was brave to put her feet and ankles in the water...

...because it was COLD!!!

We warmed up that evening around the fire while the family showcased their talents and performed skits. Here is Uncle Will and various grandchildren passing along the bad news of "Uncle Jed" dying with a sty in his eye, his face all awry and his leg way up high.

Stan was laughing so hard, tears were rolling down his cheeks. Some of the next generation has acting ability.

Summer and Niquelle were happy to get home and showered (and made up, bejeweled and primped) so that they could go dancing. What cuties!

Body Parts

I've been tagged, again.

Here is the first one, for you curious types who missed it last fall.

And, here is what Claire had to say about it this time when she was tagged. "So, my dear friend Peggy hates me so she tagged me." and "Since I had to suffer through this, I'm spreading the joy." So, thanks to Claire and her positive attitude, here we go.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago, I was probably procrastinating packing. That would have been right before we moved away from Virginia at the end of Stan's postdoc. Heather had just been born two months ago, Rachel was 2 1/2 and Summer was almost 5. It was also the time I was a ward librarian. I only had the calling for a few weeks, but I really enjoyed it...maybe someday I'll get to do it again.

2. What are five things on my to-do list today?

1. laundry
   
2. clean up after breakfast
   
3. laundry
   
4. fix Summer's swimsuit
   
5. laundry
   

3. What are some snacks that I enjoy?

Almost every day, especially school days, the kids and I have shake and popcorn for our afternoon snack. My favorite kind of shake is mint chocolate chip, but I also like peanut butter banana, chocolate hazelnut, pina colada, black cherry and licorice chocolate chip.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire.

• Have a swimming pool put in the back yard
  
• Have a helicopter pad put in the back-back yard
  
• Get my helicopter pilot's license
  
• Buy a helicopter that will simultaneously hold every member of our immediate family and enough luggage for two weeks

5. Places I've lived.

• Colorado
• New York
• Connecticut
• New Hampshire
• Utah
• California
• Virginia
  

Procrastination

I gave Rachel three choices this morning - shower, practice the piano, or put pictures on the blog. You can tell which she decided to do and which two she is procrastinating until I bug her again.

We went to Heather's dance assembly last Friday. Here she is with her partner. They danced the Samba and the Foxtrot.

These are two of the Michaels in the audience.

My mom washed 30 pairs of jeans on Saturday.

Fun in the backyard.

Naomi also said her first pair of words - "baby kiss." Here she is kissing her baby doll.

Happy Birthday Kelly

Kelly turned six this past week. We are all happy for her and happy she is our girl. She was so excited to gain her freedom from the car seat :)

We saved her birthday for a day so that she could share it with her cousins. Cynthia, Niquelle, Nikki, Andrea, and Tristan went to the beach with us (Will was at a training) and then we came home, cleaned up, did some last minute birthday shopping and had a party. Grandma sent some light sticks for the party and I bought these funky plastic, probably toxic, "candles" at the dollar store that burned with different colored flames. It was fun, fun , fun all around.

Mother's Day Adventures

Maybe I was thinking more in depth about my responsibility to train my children to behave well than I do on other Sundays.

Maybe it was that we sat up closer to the front of the chapel than we have been for the last few months (we've been ending up in the back row a lot lately) and I was worried about bothering the people sitting behind us as well as the people in front of us.

Maybe it was because Stan made a breakfast (in bed for me) of eggs and toast instead of my usual cold-cereal-on-Sunday fare and the kids had more energy to burn off.

Whatever it was, Michael and Naomi were in true Mother's Day form (as in, "I think I'll just show everyone how imperfect you are, Mommy") and did the following during Sacrament Mtg.

Naomi -

said, "more" about two dozen times after the bread left our row,

stood on the pew, yelled at the top of her lungs and waved her arms, frantically trying to get the Aaronic priesthood to bring the water to her before the bishop,

pulverized a fish cracker into 227 crumbs that needed to be picked up individually,

pushed Michael off my lap at least five times,

played, "I want Daddy, no, I want Mommy, no, Daddy..." for two minutes,

and threw a major tantrum when Rachel left for Sunday school.

Michael -

needed to be reminded (threatened) on a continual basis to sit down instead of lean on the pew in front of us,

made a loud raspberry sound with his mouth (we hope) on the pew in front of us during one of the times he was ignoring the threats and during the quietest part of the meeting,

crawled under the pew to retrieve something from under the feet in front of us,

pushed Naomi off my lap at least six times and stepped on her at least twice,

tried to eat the fish crackers as fast as possible so that he could get as many as possible before Naomi got some more,

wrote on his tie,

and tickled (while yelling, "aarghhh" each time he reached for her) one of the the pretty girls in front of us.

All of which caused me to get the giggles and contribute to the general commotion, right when someone was talking about the nobility of mothers.

Ah, well, you all know I wouldn't trade it for the world. Isn't life great? Here's to all you mothers -

Happy Mother's Day :)

Piano Recital

Heather, Rachel and Summer had their piano recital today. Since all of our extended family live too far away to come listen, we're sharing excerpts from the two pieces each pianist played.

Animal Sounds

Tidbits From the Weekend

Yesterday, Summer and I took part in our stake's Tin Man Triathlon. We both have red dots on our bibs because we were only taking place in the run/walk, not the swim or bike race. Summer ran three miles in just over 31 minutes and I racewalked it in 35 minutes, 20 seconds. My goal was to make it in under 40, so I was happy :)



This morning, while we were getting ready for church, I was wetting Michael's hair and getting ready to comb it down. He looked at the shelves next to the mirror and politely asked, "Can you put jello in my hair?"

How could I say no?

Cha Cha Cha

Heather recently competed in a ballroom dancing competition. She got to pick out a new dress to wear as part of her birthday presents.

We put her hair up and found her something sparkly to put on.

Here she is with the group she went with...

...and here she is dancing the SALSA...

...the SWING...

...the CHA CHA...



and the FOX TROT!

If...

...you are Bored Beyond Belief,you could always head over to my other blog

and take the poll :)

Michael the Landscaper

The funny thing is...we only have a small patch of grass. It covers maybe 20-25 percent of the back yard and that is not counting the south forty. Most of the yard is dirt...arranged with swings, a rabbit, chickens, fruit trees, this year's garden, the track, etc. There is more than enough space for any kid to dig and cover themselves in humus and disintegrated rock. I guess Michael thinks you can never have too much of a good thing.

Michael - Mommy, sometime we should take away all the grass in the backyard.

Me - But I like the grass. You don't like the grass?

No.

If we do there will just be dirt.

Yeah...and mud. (happy, happy face)

:)

Taiwan Mayor Seeks Missionary Help

What I've been doing lately...

...is sewing pioneer clothes for Summer and a friend to wear on the youth conference pioneer trek.

An Eventful Day

Happy Birthday Heather!

(The candle is for one decade and yes, she does have a flaky mother who doesn't keep enough cute little b-day candles in the house.)

Heather's birthday was a busy day. Summer went to the orthodontist and had her bottom wire changed. We all loaded into the car and headed west. We went to IKEA for lunch and then all seven kids had appointments for dental checkups. It was Naomi's first time and she did well. The good news was that in all those seven mouths full of teeth, there were no cavities.

Heather wanted chicken and dumplings, artichokes and German chocolate cake for her birthday. We didn't end up eating the artichoke (they were $2 each, so we all shared one) and cake until her birthday was almost over...

(that's p.m.)

because...

Stan and I spent most of the evening with Kelly in Urgent Care waiting for her to get her stitches and glue.

Grammar is Strange Sometimes

The other day, I was working on the budget at the computer desk. I needed to talk to Heather about something, but didn't want to lose my train of thought by going to get her, so I thought I'd ask Michael to be my go-fer. Here's (approximately) how the conversation went.

Me - Michael, I need to talk to Heather. Could you ask her to come here, please?

Michael - Where is her?

You mean, where is she?

Yeah, where is she?

I don't know, go look for her.

You mean, go look for she?!?!


Poor kid, grammar is strange sometimes :)

A Couple of Random Thoughts

I found Michael surrounded by sisters and this is what he looked like. It must be time for a haircut...

This is why the baby of the family is spoiled. They do the same obnoxious things as all the older siblings (like writing on the sheets), but the mother has been through it so many times before, stuff isn't shocking anymore. EVERYTHING is cute and sentimental. "Look dear, the baby is ______ (fill in the blank with something horrid), isn't she darling?"

Or MAYBE it is just that most of the families belongings have already gone through the kid machine, so there isn't much to get upset about.

Or maybe the mother's brain is just addled by then.

Trip to the Big Apple

Gwen, Naomi and I flew to PA to visit my parents a few weeks ago. One of the things I wanted to do while we were there was visit "the city". To people who have lived there, there is only one place that qualifies for that name. Every other place pales in comparison. There are wonderful places all around the world and I've been to a few of them, but no place is as much of a city as New York. We drove to Staten Island and parked at the ferry terminal. Here is a picture of Gwen sitting on the orange benches on the outside deck of one of the new boats...

...and here she is on one of the older boats a few years ago.

What a cutie :)

Riding on the ferry and then getting on the subway brings back such a rush of memories for me. So many hours of my life were spent on public transportation - reading, talking, drowsing, pushing, daydreaming, flirting.

The first place we went was the Toys R Us magnet store in Times Square. They have a full size (three stories high) ferris wheel inside. Gwen is in the green car on the top right.

Each car had a theme.

After the toy store, we went to M&M world, which was a disappointment. It was just tourist stuff and m&m's for $9 a pound. At least the Jelly Belly Factory had free samples...

One fun thing that happened on our way out was running into a police dog (not literally). The officer kindly let Gwen hold his leash (the dog's).

The ferry has one of the best views of the Statue of Liberty. We also saw one made out of legos in the toy store and even a giant green m&m Statue of Liberty.

Last of all we went to the Metropolitan museum of Art. Here is Gwen entering the Temple of Dendur.

It was a wonderful day. We ate bagels, hot dogs off the street (better than it sounds) and pizza. We even tracked down a piece of cheesecake to take home to Stan. Thanks Mom for the fix. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the calendars!!!