Live!

Saturday morning I awoke to a dense fog and freezing temperatures. Makes a body want to sit inside in front of a warm fire and sip hot cocoa. Instead I had a crazy notion and threw on some warm outer wear over my jammies and went out to see what I could find in the window of my camera.

Later in the day I took my baby girl and Mr. C to their horsemanship lessons. On the way home, a song came on the radio.

"....what you don't understand is
I’d catch a grenade for ya
Throw my hand on a blade for ya
I’d jump in front of a train for ya
You know I'd do anything for ya
I would go through all this pain,
Take a bullet straight through my brain,
Yes, I would die for ya baby....."

It's got a catchy tune but all I could think while I listened to the song was, good grief! Thank heavens The SM would LIVE for me!

Sounds all romantic to youth I guess to have somebody say they'd die for you but let's face it, in reality, it is much harder to live.

I'm so grateful for The SM in my life. The day in and day out living he does for our family. The commitment and promises made that he takes so seriously. How in the world did I ever get so blessed........ I'll never know....

Phew! That Was Close!

The sun is out.  Blue skies.  Beautiful January day.  I sit looking out of my front window enjoying the feel of warm rays on my face.  And then...... I see it.  They come out of the woodwork on warm sunny days like ants to a greasy fried chicken picnic. 

I'm watching as he approaches my neighbors house and creeps up her stairs.  I see him look over at the cooler on her front porch.  He bends down and slowly opens the cooler and peeks inside before slowly lowering the lid.  Reaching up he knocks.........

I spring into action.  I know he's coming for me next!  I grab a piece of paper and a marker and write a message.  After looking out the window to see if I still have time, I rip off pieces of tape, yank open the front door, stick the paper to it, and then slam the door holding my breath as I flop into a chair.  Phew!  That was close!

Entertainment. At Levi's Expense

I did not take this photo.  Photo credit goes to the photographer of which I can not find. 

This is where my hands get slapped and I am told, "Bad parent.  Bad parent"! 

You know how some dogs will go 'round and 'round and 'round chasing their tails?  It's funny to watch isn't it?  So you'll forgive me if I sit and watch Levi and laugh when he tries to put on his coat by himself.

He'll get one sleeve in and then as he reaches back trying to get his arm in the other sleeve not quite being able to make it, he walks in a circle 'round and 'round and 'round trying to catch that sleeve and get his arm in......

Finally after I get my fill of giggles I walk over and help him.  But only after I've been fully entertained......

On another Levi note that is NOT so funny and entertaining....... never have I sat looking out my windows hoping, praying, wishing, WILLING the Fed Ex man to come the day before yesterday...... yesterday....... today?  Oh please oh please come today!

I kinda sort of forgot to order Levi's diapers until we were almost out!  And you can't get his diapers from Wal-Mart......oooh no.  They have to come all the way from Alaska.  Yes, you heard right.  Alaska of all places and they aren't even made with whale blubber!   I on the other hand am about to blubber big time if they don't show up. 

There are few things in life chocolate can't fix.  Levi running out of diapers.......... is one of them.

Is It Really That Difficult??

The SM went to Austria for a week.

We love it when The SM goes to Europe.

Why can't the US figure out how to make good chocolate..........?  Repeat after me.  "Chocolate should not taste like wax"!  Thank you. 

And thank you to The SM for once again feeding my addiction.  I love that my husband is an enabler. 

Magic Beans. Did Jack Take Them All?

Yesterday I had to take the little man, Mr. J to the doctor. He is not getting better and night after night of him writhing in pain and crying, only to continue it through out the day is obvious that something is wrong. Not just, it's a flu bug and it will pass eventually. One of our worries is that there might be a problem with his appendix.

Off to the doctor's we went. As we were sitting in one of the exam rooms, Mr. J pointed at a big poster on the back of the door. It was a cartoon character of, "Jack and the Beanstalk". He asked me about it and I realized much to my shock that I'd not read that to Mr. J.

How is it possible for a child to go through life not knowing who Jack and the Beanstalk is!

Tests and x-rays taken, we came home. Miss K said she'd read the story to Mr. J as one of her chores is reading out loud to Mr. J everyday for at least twenty minutes.

During a rare moment of Mr. J having some reprieve from pain, he snuggled up next to his sister while she read him, "Jack and the Beanstalk".

I've no idea what happened to our copy! In all of the gazillion books we have in this house, we somehow can't find ours. Thank goodness for modern technology and the Internet! We found one online and Miss K read it to Mr. J which then lead to "The Gingerbread Boy" and onto who knows how many other stories Miss K found that she felt she had to read to him.

The doctor says it doesn't look like the problem is his appendix. There does appear to be a blockage in the bowel so today we are working on trying to get things moving.  It's a slow process.  I wish it were like in fairy tales and some old person stopped me on the street and handed me some magic beans....

January and Geometry

January has to be my least favorite month.  It is usually brown, grey, cold, and long.  This year it has been white, frozen, grey, and long.  But, in order to get to spring we all have to go through January which is reassuring to me when that applies to life.  Sometimes, life can be like January.  Knowing that it won't last forever and spring is around the corner makes it bearable.

About a week ago, it was especially grey and cold outside.  Depressing if you ask me.  I was reading up on some of the blogs I love to visit and this post came up in Linda's Natural Suburbia.   After watching the video I knew Mr. C would be absolutely thrilled to try it beings as he's doing Geometry and all.  Okay, absolutely thrilled might be pushing it a bit but it was a change!

 I told Mr. C to get some paper, his protractor, and colored pencils and then proceeded to show him why I was so lousy in Geometry and art class. 

Mr. C then proceeded to show me how smart he is when he got out his ruler and found the exact dead center of his paper and then began to show me, the teacher up.  The punk!

The center of this one looks like a sand dollar to me.



We all have January's in our lives.  I hope we can all find some color to put into our January's as we move towards spring.

I'm off to take my youngest to the doctor.  Almost a week of intense tummy pain keeping him up day and night (AKA:  and The Mum too) has us puzzled as to what is wrong.  Hoping what ever it is would take care of itself.  Don't you just hate taking your child to the doctor where they perform all sorts of tests that cost up the nose and they still have no idea what is wrong!?  Yeah.  Me too. 

Have a great week!!

Teenagers! You Give Dem An Inch...... And They'll Eat Da Whole Bag of Cheetos.

Today is Friday.  I can not tell you how happy I am for it to finally be Friday because that means, tomorrow will be Saturday and The SM will be home.  Did you know, it is 8:36 AM here in Utah?  Right this very minute as I type this.  In Austria it is 4:36 PM.  I know.  For a week now I have been counting forward 8 hours thinking of The SM.  Tomorrow afternoon when I look at the clock, I won't have to count forward 8 hours anymore because he'll be sitting right next to me.  Probably sound asleep from jet lag, but next to me.

It's been a long week.  Going down with my health and then having my youngest Mr. J get so sick.... it has put a lot of responsibility on The Native's.  Especially my oldest.  He's under a lot of pressure right now in school trying to keep his grades up.  Taking both high school and college classes means lots and lots of homework.  Hours. 

He's been helping me a lot in the evenings with dinner and getting little ones to bed.  I've not been able to drive again except driving home after taking him to school.  The Native's have been living on a lot of cold cereal this week...... which means our usual 8 gallons of milk per week ran out even faster than normal. 

Last night Mr. B drove me to the grocery store to get some milk.  It was the first day I felt the fog had started to lift and I was able to get out of bed and up and around.  As we pulled into the parking lot, Mr. B commented about a girl getting in her car.  He said that from where he was sitting, she looked pretty cute.  Mr. B and I got out of the truck.  Laughing, I told him that he better not walk too close to me then because beings as I was so young looking.......  Mr. B started to laugh and said, and beings as I'm so much older looking....... and then he did something that shocked the patooties out of me.  He sped up and caught up to me and put his arm around me and said he didn't care. 

When a mother's teenager does something like this there is only one thing she can do.  I bought him a bag of Cheetos and then proceeded to eat half of it with him.

What?  The photos?  What do they have to do with this post?  Nothing actually.  I was just wondering which one you like better and why? 

Before/After--Then/Now

Digging around the other day I found this snapshot of my baby girl. 

Sigh...... where does the time go?

Why is it time stands still when I am watching the clock but the second I look away........ time races forward and she goes from being a baby to the beginnings of a young lady?

I want my uterus back...........

Calling The Kettle Black. Again....

I realize this photo of Mr. J last summer, asleep in the backyard, with his butterfly net has absolutely nothing to do with what I am writing about but it gives me hope that even though it is grey, dark, and cold outside....... warmer green days are just around the corner.  Actually, now that I think about it, this photo goes quite well with what I am going to write about! 

It's cold, rain mixed with snow, dark outside, and I've got to take Mr. B to school.  I'd rather snuggle down in my nice warm bed but Mr. B being late for school isn't an option so I roll out of bed. 

Sitting in the truck waiting for Mr. B as the truck heats up I listen to the local news on the radio.  I-15 is once again stop and go.  Accidents because people can't seem to realize that slushy road conditions means slow down.  It's January.  Not the first snow storm of the year.  People should be getting it by now...

As I drive Brennan to school I am slow and cautious.  I am of the opinion that the less I use my breaks, the better.  This means the second I see a light turn yellow, my foot comes off the gas as I coast for awhile.  Usually, by the time I get to the light, it is now green, and traffic is moving.  I point this out to Mr. B.  who is still a new driver.  I show him places on the road to avoid.  Obvious places.  Big puddles of water.  Large areas of slush.  Just take it slow and you'll be all right I tell him.  No rush or hurry.  It's not worth it.

As we come to some side roads that are less traveled I see that they are covered in slush.  Going slow and cautious, I come to a stop sign and rather than wait to the last second to slam on my breaks, I coast into it.  I stop.  I look both ways, and as I am slowly pulling into the turn, the car behind me starts honking.  I'm not going fast enough to their liking.  I tell Mr. B, there will always be someone who wants to go faster.  Don't let them frustrate you or make you go faster because they are behind you being obnoxious.  I pull the truck over and let the person pass.  They gun their car as they fly past me.  I shake my head.  So not worth it.....  remembering the car accident our family was in earlier last year.  So not worth it....

As we pull up to a stoplight right before the University there sits the car that had been so impatient, two cars ahead of us.  I tell Mr. B, it amazes me how some people will risk so much to get nowhere.  Wooooow!  They got all of two cars ahead of us! 

After I dropped Mr. B off at school and on my way home I started to think about what had happened and how often in my many years of driving I've witnessed this.  Driver's who risk so much to get nowhere fast. 

I thought to myself that I would post some sarcastic status on Face book about this very thing and tell people to slow down.  Then it hit me.  Am I so blind?  Who am I to sit all snarky, looking down my nose when I am doing this very thing and have been for years.  How many years?  How many years have I been fighting WNV?  How many years have I pushed myself only ending up back on the couch?   Risking so much to get no where fast?

Going to the gym for the last two weeks jumping back into work outs as if I had no reason to pace myself....?  And here I have been, in bed since Sunday afternoon........ getting nowhere fast. 

Seems like before I go and tell others they need to slow down, I need to once again, remind myself of the important things around me, like having the energy to take care of The Native's and The SM and slow down myself. 

Movie Making...

This is what happens when one sits in bed all day whilst The Native's are away at school and one has picked all of the fuzz out between their toes and can't figure out what to do next.  (Remember, no fuzz in belly buttons that used to be a cute little tiny inny which is now a stretchy.  Fuzz doesn't reside in stretchy or fuzz picking out of belly button would have been next.  Don't make me have to remind you again.)

Ahem.  Moving on.

Mr. C, the photographer took so many photos of Levi bowling and some of them so quickly that if you put them together really fast they are kind of like those old fashioned Mickey Mouse drawing movies that Walt Disney used to do.  Sort of.  Use your imagination folks!  After watching this delightful little movie I just made putting together a bunch of photos you can only imagine where my movie making skills can go from here.

Are you ready? 

And for your after movie entertainment a quip from Mr. J who is sitting next to me in bed:

Mr. J:  (Covering his mouth with both hands) Oops!  My burp poofed.

Me:  Your burp poofed?  What do you mean?

Mr. J:  My burp poofed out my bum


Popcorn anyone?

Some Days Are Just Like That

It's a holiday.  Martin Luther King day.  All of The Native's are home.  We had plans.  Big plans.

Yesterday, I went to church.  I felt great!  I was happy.  I smiled.  I came home.  I got tired.  I took a nap.  I slept for about fifteen minutes.  I woke up.  I wasn't feeling so good.  I went down.

Having older Native's to take over the younger ones is pure heaven on earth as I lay in bed listening to them fix food and care for their younger siblings.  Games are played with them.  Stories are read to them.

Today is a new day.  The plans.  They've changed.  I'm still in bed.  Me.  My laptop.  Julie, Levi's dog who cares for me now too.  Levi.

Levi wants to watch a movie on my laptop.  He wants to watch G-Force.  I was going to write a fabulous blog.  Plans have changed.  I'm going to let Levi watch a movie on my laptop. 

Me. Levi.  Snuggling in bed while the sheep outside my window should be eating pasta instead of grass.  According to Levi.

I need to go now.  The movie is about to begin....... The Native's are home.  I don't want to miss one second of our holiday.

Special Olympics Part Two. A Story Told In Photos

The Native's watching.  Cheering for Levi.  Until three games of bowling got a little long winded and Mr. J the little twerp asked The SM if he could use that swipey thing so he could go and play some games in the arcade section of the bowling alley.  A little confused at first, The SM soon realized the punk was asking for his credit card! 

 

Levi made a friend right off the bat.  Kamal.  The two were an absolute riot and entertained each other the entire three hours.  You behave Kamal would tell Levi.  No, YOU behave Levi would tell Kamal and then the two would burst into a fit of laughter pointing and laughing at each other.  

 

The SM trying to work and cheer on Levi.  Not sure he got much work done but beings as he was gone for a week and was able to get home for this special day despite cancelled flights and snow storms, we were thrilled. 

 

Cool shirt!  Thanks to the Lehi team for lending Levi a shirt so he could feel like he fit in!

 

It begins......  we take careful aim......... and hope the ball knocks the pins to oblivion!

 

This is harder than it looks.  Getting your little fingers in those holes just right..... takes concentration.

 

You got some Levi!  You knocked some pins down!

 

I love you Levi.  You're doing a great job!

 

Come to Levi!

Thumbs up!  It's a hit.  Roger that.

It's looking like.........

 

Yup!  Houston.  We made contact!

 

Sometimes things didn't go so well.  We tried using the force.  We tilted our bodies trying to get the ball to listen.  It didn't listen.

Fingers Levi.  Remember, don't shove the ball down the ramp.  Just use your fingers.  It's okay.  We'll try again.

 

Maybe if we try this technique we might have a better grip on the ball......  anything is worth a try....

 

Add sticking our tongue out and we might just come up with a secret strategy.

 

It worked!  STRRRRIIIIIIKE!

Booo YAAAA!  Levi's a rock star!

 

Rocket Levi!

 

The peanut gallery.  This is when it appears the photographer started to get bored taking photos of just bowling.

 

Curious.  I wonder who the photographer is...........  I just found it really interesting that several of these types of photos kept showing up at random throughout the almost 700 photos that were taken....

 

The awards ceremony.   Kamal!  They're calling your name!  You won the bronze!! 

What?  Doth our ears deceive us?  Nahhhh!  Of course not.  We already knew Levi is gold.  Having a gold medal to put around one's neck lets others know what we already know.

 

Sorry about the pixelated faces but I forgot to ask if these fine people were okay with me putting their photos up on my blog.  Shaking hands with Levi after putting his gold medal around his neck.

 

Did I mention Levi got the gold?  Here, he'll show you.

 

The best part of the whole experience.  Levi making a new friend.  Having friends is golden.

 

So is having family that loves and supports you.

 

Even if they are a bunch of gremlins.