Not Join Amberly Swim Club? What was I Thinking?

For the past two summers, we have joined the Amberly Swim Club. We really love it there. It has been a spot of many great memories. The first summer, we spent nearly every day there. Last summer, we did not go as often, but we did get our money's worth. Many of our friends are members there as are many of the faculty and children who attend E.R. Dickson, so we are never at a loss to find someone to play with.

This year we opted out of joining. Well, I guess I should say that I did. Mike thought it was a great idea, but I am really trying to be a little more frugal, and a better steward of the money the Lord has provided for our family. Plus, I REALLY, REALLY want to go on a mission with Mike someday and I know the only way that will be possible is if our house is paid off and we are out of debt. So, I thought we have a pool in our backyard, why should we spend $300 to swim at someone else's. Really, the girls have had a great time at ours. I have not regretted not joining, but it is always fun to be able to go and hang out with people you love!
Yesterday, we were reminded though of how much fun we had at Amberly. The Ottingers invited us to be their guest and we had a blast. We saw a lot of friends: The Constantines, The Fagerstroms, The Mannings, The Burdens, and the Bakers just to name few. Here are a few pictures of our fun day!

Kendal and Cecily. Cecily adores Kendal, and Kendal is very sweet with Cecily. She always looks after Cecily and plays with her.

Justin, Ariel, Kendal, and Cecily hanging out in the pool. Cecily is trying to dive. She always says she wants to dive as good as Mrs. Susan.In this picture, it appears though Ariel is trying to drown Justin, but I promise they are just playing.

When it was time to leave, we told the kids they needed to get out and dry off. This was their response.

Thanks again to the Ottingers for inviting us!

As a side note, we all got sunburns. Ariel and Cecily have one on their faces, and I have one on my back and shoulders (and boy does it hurt). I feel horrible about the girls getting one. I'm their mom, I should make sure they are well covered and for the most part I do. Cecily and Ariel both were swim shirts, which they don't mind, and I thought I applied enough sunscreen, but apparently not. Every time the girls and I get burned (Ariel has only been burned about 2 times in her life, but unfortunately with Cecily having such fair skin, she has been burned a few more times than that), I promise myself that I will never do that again. What is wrong with me??? Mike gets upset with me especially when the girls get burned, because due to his job he often has to frequent the Cancer Center at the hospital to work on their computers. I can always tell the days he does. He comes home a little more somber. It is sad to see and hear of people of all ages being affected by sun cancer--something that usually we inflict upon ourselves. Last week, Mike said he saw a beautiful girl who could not have been over 16 have cancer splotches all over her face. Every time the girls get sunburns, he threatens to take us all on a field trip to the cancer center. He believes that one visit will cure us (or I guess I should say me, because I'm the mom) from being so absent minded when it comes to protecting our skin from the sun. I've promised myself again to be more careful and I hope this will be the last of our sunburns this summer and all the summers to come. Let's just hope and pray that if we do ever have to visit the Cancer Center, it will be just for a field trip, and not for something more serious.

Oh My, Am I Still Breathing???

Before I was pregnant with Cecily, my best friend Susan and I began jogging. Let me just say jogging has never really been my thing. In fact the only time that I attempted it before then, was when my college roommate, Hollee, tried to get me to go with her. That attempt ended with me making an appointment to see the doctor. Not kidding. I thought I was dying. Anyway, when the doctor came in after giving my physical and running some blood work, I just knew he was going to give me bad news, and I guess in a way you can say it was, at least to my ego. He said, "No you are not dying, you are just out of shape!" Those words can often be heard ringing in my brain...YOU ARE OUT OF SHAPE! Who wants to hear that.
Anyway, years later Susan had told me that I could do it. She would work with me and we would do it together. She is like a sister to me and I trusted her. Plus, at the time she was a fitness instructor, so I knew she would know what to do with me if I passed out. LOL.
Well, we began running a slow jog and walking a little and then in a few weeks, what do you know....I jogged about a mile non-stop! Susan was right, I could do it. I can't tell you how excited I was. Running was very good for my body. I think the best shape I was ever in was when I ran. Let me just say this again, I NEVER liked running, but I LOVED what it did for me. It was hard waking up some mornings (even in freezing cold weather and to go jog. We went early in the morning like 5am! before our husbands left for work). Susan was a great jogging partner and encouraged me to try and go a little further each time. We got so we could do 4 entire laps around Cottage Hill Park non-stop (which is almost 4 miles). And guess what? I wasn't out of breath.
So why did we stop? Well, blame me. Remember I said I NEVER really liked to run. When I got pregnant with Cecily, even though my doctor said it would be fine to keep going because I had been doing it for so long, I decided to become a quitter, because I never started up after she was born.
Funny thing is, that whenever people would talk about running, I was always like.. I used to run almost 4 miles non-stop (all proud of myself, like I was still doing it). Until one day when I said that, I stopped to realize that hey Cecily is now 6. Sometimes you need to let things go and realize that was in the past.
So what does this all have to do with my post? Today, Susan and I decided to take up jogging again. Just like the good 'ole days! I tried not to psyche myself up too much reminding myself it has been quite a while since I've done anything more than walking. I did join the Y after Cecily was born, but that turned out bad because she hated their nursery---I'll have to blog about my cycling experience there though, pretty funny story.
We walked the first lap pretty quick to warm up and then we decided to jog the second lap. I didn't really think I would be able to jog the whole thing, but guess what? I did! Wasn't sure I was still breathing at the end, but hey, I ran the whole lap without stopping. It was hard and I prayed the whole time that the Lord would not have me die on the sidewalk. Again, not kidding. It really was hard, but I did it. We finished up walking 2 more laps--I did not want to push myself too much on the first day. BUT YEAH for me, I ran an entire lap, when I wasn't sure if I could. It truly was just like the good 'ole days! Cya Tuesday Susan!

My Unwanted Rock Garden

When we moved into our house, there was a huge eye sore that I knew needed to be taken care of---this huge bed of rocks (of all sizes) that were left in the middle of our beautiful green lawn where they had taken up this "yard well" that I guess they used as a lawn decoration. I was glad they took it up, because that is just not my style. However, in its place they dumped what seemed to be a million rocks.

The first month we were there, the girls and I removed a box full of them, but it seemed never ending, so we quit with the thought of returning to it another day. Well that day never came until last Tuesday. Last Tuesday, the girls were outside swimming and I was going to get in with them, but I kept looking at those rocks and decided it was time for them to go. They had been messing up the beauty of our yard long enough. I wish I had taken a picture before I started so you could have seen what a mess it was. Boy was it a lot of work.

Here is a picture of part of our yard.

Imagine over to the left of the first

palm tree, a huge rock pile.

This is what was left when most of the rocks, bricks, yes bricks were under the rocks were removed. We are going to buy some grass sprigs to put down there.

Here are the rocks I removed on Tuesday evening. Don't forget we also removed a medium size moving box of rocks when we first moved in. I was dumb because I put the box out for the garbage truck to pick up and when they lifted it with the machine they have the box fell apart and I was left with rocks to pick up again! DUH?? OH the rocks I removed are just those on the sidewalk, the rocks behind it are part of a rock bed that we are keeping.

The Domino Effect

This week, being our first full week of summer vacation, this phrase came from both of my children's mouth: "I'm bored". What how can they be bored? They both have a DS, bikes, scooters, we have a pool, a bazillion board games, yard games, we own just about every kids DVD you can think of, and we have a million books. How can you be bored? I threatened them both that if they were that bored, I could always find them something to cure that, like....I don't know....scrubbing the toilet bowls (they both HATE the thought of that chore. You should see Ariel attempting it. Too funny).
I soon realized, they really wanted one thing: "Someone else to play with besides each other." They didn't really need me to go buy another game, or movie, or take them somewhere that cost a lot of money, because that is a just a temporary cure. They just wanted someone else to play with. Think about it, why do kids usually dislike school---the school work, right? However, they LOVE socializing with friends, at least mine do.
So, who has become their extra playmate? ME! It's actually been pretty fun, and I have to admit that I'm enjoying the time they are wanting to spend with me because I know that will probably be coming to a halt quicker that I know it.
This leads to the next part of my blog (see the domino effect). I'm sure my girls will have a different spin on it (we'll have to see if they put their ideas on the other blog). On Tuesday, the girls and I decided to play dominoes. We discovered how much fun they could be on Monday and have been playing them a lot lately. Our games on Tuesday are the cause of this blog.
Let me just say, I am VERY competitive. I hate losing---even to a 7 year old. Mike will purposely lose to build their self esteem and he tells me that I should be a "grown-up" and do the same. However, I have a different philosophy--they need to learn that losing sometimes happens too, and you need to learn how to deal with it. Trust me, if you don't you could become a 34 year old sore loser (like me, there I said it.).
So, I'm in it to win it baby! Don't get in my way.
Well, our first game of dominoes was pretty laid back. We all played well, and had a great time. AND I WON!! The girls seemed okay with this, or so I thought. We decided to play another game. Second game started with the "snake eye or double one" domino. Both girls were able to come out on the board, but not mommy. I have to put out my train and pick up another domino. Second turn, both girls play, but not mommy. Third turn girls both play, but not mommy. I think you get the point. I am having the worst luck ever. I keep picking up dominoes, but nothing with a one. Cecily, who is always kind hearted said, "Maybe I should help you out mom." But Ariel, in her cunning way, reminded Cecily, "No don't help her out. Do you want her to win again?" Am I hearing right? Are they joining forces to have a coup over me (there mom who is playing with THEM)? The answer is YES! and that's how it all began. I went around for about 10 turns still no domino to come out on and what made it worse was knowing that both girls could have helped me out, but were ganging up and not doing so.
Finally, I got a domino with the one, but as luck would have it, the other side of the domino did not have the number that I needed to lay any of the other 20 dominoes I had lined up. So my train had to go out again! I could not believe it. Let's just saying I was quickly starting to hate dominoes.
The girls decided that they would finally help me out. So much for help! They both put dominoes down in which I needed a domino with a "one dot"---the very number that started the whole mess! Their giggles could be heard, which was not pleasant for me at the time.
Being the poor sport that I am, I began getting a little upset. I just sat there making comments like, "So much for your help, I'll remember that when you need something." Both girls were laughing and saying, "You're just mad because you are going to lose, and one of us is going to win." I said, "No, I'm not." Even though I really was.
After getting tired of hearing their taunting, I said:"Ya'll keep talking your smack. You'll see. I'm going to win ,and ya'll are going to both be stuck with one domino that you can't play because you will need what I have."
Then they said, "Yeah, right. " Cecily copying Ariel.

Well, this is how the game ended:

Notice they both have one domino left. I had about 8 dominoes left when they had to put out their trains. So I had the entire board to play off of and I played my dominoes just right because guess what? I WON!!! We have this annoying thing that we do in our family (and only with our family--the girls have been warned) when someone wins, which today I had great pleasure in doing. We sing at the top of our lungs, "I AM THE CHAMPION, NO TIME FOR LOSERS, I AM THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!" The girls were very good sports though and laughed at my singing.
To the victor go the spoils! Anyone up for a game of dominoes?

Girls Really Do Just Wanna Have Fun...

Some of you may have noticed under the "Let's Keep In Touch" section of my blog that I have added two VERY important people....Ariel and Cecily. They have been wanting a blog forever. Ariel even asked for one for her birthday (HA!), and we did start one titled, "Leave It All To Me", which I found very fitting for her, but then we noticed the rules (yes, I do read them) of blogger stated that she was not old enough to have a blog. So we shut it down before it even got fully started.
But then several of their friends, who are old enough, have one, and I found them wanting to take over my blog with their ideas, funny thoughts, tags etc. Now keep in mind that I'm not above sharing, BUT remember I started this blog to tell MY side of the story. I did not want it to be overtaken by their side of story.
I so love that blogging is getting people back into journaling (is that a word--oh well, it is now) and I have to say, my girls, so far, like to journal, so I want to continue encouraging it. Therefore, I decided to begin a second blog (I tried to have it linked on my page, but then it changed info on my blog). They will be my ghost writers. Under my direction, they will tell me their ideas and views that they would like posted (I think that fits within the parameters of the rules). My other blog is titled, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!" (the girls came up with it). Believe it or not I think this whole blogging thing has helped them learn to work better together. Two great minds coming together to create one awesome blog.
As I said, I will be overseeing every single bit of it AND it will only be for those who have been invited to view it. I too want to keep them safe. If you would like to view it, and have not yet been invited, just let me know, I will add you! Anyway, hope you enjoy!

I Will Learn...Hopefully Sooner Rather Than Later

You know how people say that sometimes the Lord gives one trials to see if he/she will be obedient ie: Abraham with Isaac, the Saints in Zion's Camp? Well, Mike has often told me that everyday we are given test, sometimes they are big, and sometimes they are small---and often times, we bring these test upon ourselves, by the choices we make. Sometimes we recognize them, sometimes we don't. He has told me in the past that when I realize I'm being tested (usually when I'm frustrated): That I should stop and ask myself, " how am I going to handle this? Will I handle it in a way that is pleasing to the Lord, or will I let my "natural man" take over? Basically, am I going to pass or fail? My choice. Will I be faithful and obedient as Abraham and Job, or will I be like many of those "murmuring souls" of Zion's Camp that we can read about? He also tells me to stop and thank the Lord for the "test" because if that is the hardest test of the day, then I should be grateful. He reminds me that undoubtedly someone is going through something harder at that very moment.
I try hard to remember this, but today I failed... again. I'm ashamed to admit that I seem to be doing that a lot lately. But hopefully by blogging about it, I am beginning to learn. Sis. Hughes once taught a R.S. lesson in which she said, "There is nothing wrong in making a mistake, unless you failed to learn from it." I like that and think that it is true. So here's me trying to learn.
The Terminix man came out this morning. YEAH! But when he came in, I started telling him about the termites and he said, "Oh, I'm not here for termites. I'm pest control and that the termite man would be out at a later date." (after our experience, I made Mike sign us up for pest control too!) I was like "Oh. Okay. But we aren't having trouble with bugs right now, just termites. I'd rather take care of that first."
Well, Jimmy was a REALLY nice man and he said that he would do a termite inspection too, even though he was the pest control guy. YEAH. He asked me all sorts of questions and looked all around and then he went into the attic and looked around. Well, he came down and said, "I think you have problems, but since I'm the pest control man and not the termite man, you will have to wait for him to come out and check."
He informed us that after Thursday night there were a lot of calls, and we were about call #250 so it would be a while before the termite guy would be able to see us. He even said that it has been so bad that the news stations have been reporting about it (too bad I don't watch the news). He was very apologetic and super nice. However, he did say that he thought that the termites may have nested in our fireplace. OH NO!!!! He said that when he was in the attic, he saw that it looked like we might have had a roof leak recently. I told him yes, a few months ago we had a bad storm and our "brand new roof" had leaked where they did not seal around the fireplace, but we called our "roof people" and they came out right away and fixed it. Problem solved. Or so we thought. Jimmy said that he thought, we had termites in our chimney and the water leak gave them a source for water--because termites need water to survive.
So, he left and I called Mike and told him. Then I three-way called with Susan and Lisanka and I was murmuring and complaining that had our home inspector noticed that the chimney had not been sealed, we would not be having this problem (nor would we have had to pay the money to have it fixed. Then I just went on murmuring about how awful our home inspector was. That had he also checked the outside faucets he would have realized the one on the front of our house was broken, and we would not have had to pay the plumber to come and fix the huge leak we had a few weeks back. I was just complaining about everyone and everything. My friends have to be good to put up with me. Seriously.
There was no gratitude in me. I was feeling sorry for myself. I was not looking at all the blessings that really matter: my healthy family, the gospel, Mike has a job that allows for me to stay home, we can pay our bills even when we have to pay someone to come and fix a problem like the roof, we have a termite bond on the house etc... Let's face it, I have a lot to be grateful for.
Well, somehow, the Lord still manages to bless us even when we are least deserving. Because after all this verbal complaining, I heard a doorbell. It was a new Terminix man--Jeff! I was like "What??? I thought you would not be here for at least another week, if not longer." He said that he was on the phone with Jimmy after he left our house and Jimmy was explaining what he thought the problem was, so Jeff decided to come right over! WOW---Can I just say, we are VERY, VERY, VERY Happy with Terminix. (If you are in need of a Termite or pest control company, I highly recommend them. If you do go with them, mention our name and street ,or call us and we can refer you--we can get a discount.:) )
Well, Jeff who specializes in termites (18 years of service) first went all over the house and outside, and then he went up into our attic to check it out. When he came down, he said good news----NO TERMITES! He believes that they just came in through the chimney where the smoke comes out, and through the attic fan vent. He said he inspected everything and it looks fine. YAY! Mike came home as he was finishing up and talked with him. Jeff told us that Jimmy really specializes in the "pest control" part of Terminix, but I'm grateful that he did "his own termite inspection" because that bumped us from customer #250 to customer #1. We love JIMMY AND JEFF! Hats off to both of them.
When they left, I had a feeling of gratitude in my heart, as well as one of disappointment in myself. Because I realized I failed my first test of the today. I failed. Instead of turning to the Lord in prayer, I murmured. Instead of being grateful for what I have, I murmured. Will I ever learn?
Thankfully, the Lord is always there when we are ready to turn to him. Knowing this, before Mike left for work again, we came together as a family and gave a prayer of thanks , and I also was reminded to repent. Ariel said it all worked out because of her prayer to the Lord on Thursday night. I am reminded to have more faith in the Lord because when I do, it will work out--not my way, but his. The Lord is good. Here's to passing that next test! Pray for me, I need all the help I can get.

A Special Thank You to Our Military

Today is Memorial Day. I just want to stop and pay my respects to all of those and their families who have literally lost their lives; and also to those who put their lives in danger on a daily basis so that me and my family can enjoy all the freedoms this wonderful country has to offer. You are the heroes. Our family thanks you and your family for your sacrifices so that we can be safe. God Bless You!

Tag! I'm It...An ABC Tag This Time

Well, after posting my previous blog, I went and checked out everyone else's blog and noticed that Ann tagged me. So I thought well, at least this is something I can do. And then I really have to get back to cleaning. Oh, even if your not interested in my answers, go to "T" and see if you have been tagged (Oh, Susan and Lisanka I would have tagged you, but Ann already did).--A.

A. Attached or Single- Attached--happily for 14 years

B. Best Friend(s)- Susan, Lisanka and Mike

C. Cake or Pie- Cookies!

D. Day of Choice- Saturday

E. Essential Item- Toilet Paper

F. Flavor of Ice Cream- Chocolate Mint Chip

G. Gummy Bears or Worms- Yuck, neither unless I'm in a weird mood.

H. Hometown- Mobile Al (I've lived here the longest, so doesn't that qualify it. I'm thinking so)

I. Indulgences- honestly, I indulge myself so seldom, that I don't know, maybe blogging....

J. January or July- January--I like new beginnings

K. Kids- 2 wonderful girls

L. Last movie I saw in a theater- we rarely go to the theater. I think the last movie I saw was Ratatouille (and no, I'm not counting the ERD movie night. It has been a long time)

(Ann said: there is no M, can you think of one?)I'm saying Musician: Joshua Radin-discovered him on Lynne's blog, but then I've heard his music several times on Grey's. LOVE HIM!

N. Number of siblings- 9 (some are half and step)

O. Orange or Apples- definitely oranges, if they are big, sweet and juicy

P. Phobias or Fears- BUGS (right now termites), snakes, and CRAZY people

Q. Quote- I love quotes. Sometimes, I will just do searches for quotes. I like the one underneath the title of my blog.

R. Reasons to smile- Just to be alive is reason enough and having the knowledge of the true gospel. Everything else is icing.

S. Season- Fall when it is breezy and crisp outside (ditto)

T. Tag 4- Annie, Carly, Lynne,Brooke, and Chrissy (Mike's co-worker)--I know it said 4, but I'm a rule breaker. LOL

U. Unknown fact about me- Some things are better left unsaid.

V. Vegetarian or oppressor of Animals- Oppressor, but I do like my vegetables.

W. Worst Habit- Procrastination, quick to judge, I have a lot of bad habits. Like I've said before, I don't like to focus on them. Perhaps if I did, I might have a chance at perfection. LOL. If you want to know--ask Mike.

X. X-rays or Ultrasounds- Seriously????Neither. Well, I guess I have to take that back, when I'm pregnant, I can't wait for that ultrasound.

Y. Your favorite Food- Greek, Mediterranean

Z. Zodiac Sign-Scorpio, but I don't get into that

The Insanity

Well, I should be cleaning the bathrooms right now, but I decided to take a break. Cecily has gotten addicted to the Impossible Quiz on the Emmertson's blog and she asked for my help. Well, she got bored and left, but I kept getting stuck on question #56 (it was the question that says "I hope you remembered!" and it shows the Vanish bottle. I have been working on that one for about 15 minutes, but can not figure it out. It is driving me insane because I know it has to be something simple. If anyone knows the answer, PLEASE, relieve me from my insanity and tell me the answer.

THEY'RE BACK! UGGHHHH!

Last night we shut all of the curtains, the blinds and all the lights were off by 7:30 pm. Mike, Ariel and Cecily were watching TV and guess what landed on the TV screen? Yes, Termites. We had not seen them the previous night so we thought we would be fine (now we are thinking the rain may have kept them away). We did not think the light from the TV would be enough to attract them. Guess we were wrong. Luckily, it was just a few, but even one would be too many. So we shut off the TV and we killed what we saw and shut the door to the hallway then we shut all the bedroom doors (hey, we are desperate). And we went to bed at 8:30 pm. Yes, the girls were too scared to sleep in their room, so we all piled up in our bed. We ended up telling the stories where one person starts and someone else chimes in (that was pretty fun, and we managed to have quite a bit of laughs. I guess that's what you call making the best of a bad situation). I'm thinking they are nocturnal because we don't see them during the day. I'm making Mike call Terminex back in the morning. We found several dead termites in the den this morning. I guess they lost their wings and fell onto their backs. UGGG! I want them gone! Trust me, Wednesday can not come too soon!

Our Personal War of the Worlds

WARNING: THIS BLOG ENTRY IS NOT FOR THE WEAK AT HEART OR FOR THOSE WHO ARE EASILY CREEPED OUT BY BUGS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK--YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!
I have been putting off this blog post today because I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the insanity and chaos of what actually happened to us last night (Thursday evening)! Today (Friday), when Mike got home he said that several of his co-workers were wondering why I had yet to blog about it. Well, no good reason except that this may be one experience better left alone.
Let me start at the beginning. Last night just as we were finishing our nightly family scripture reading, I looked down and saw this little bug which caused Ariel and I to both scream (for some reason, half way through scriptures Cecily sometimes falls asleep and tonight this was the case or else she would have been screaming too). Then Ariel said there's more and it seemed like all of a sudden hundreds of these flying bugs were flying around us. Upon inspection, Mike realized that they were termites! YIKES! Again leading Ariel and I to freak out. It was so creepy--almost like what you would see in a movie--a B rated movie. All of these bugs flying around with Ariel and I freaking out. My initial thought was the story in the scriptures of one of the ten plagues that the Lord sent to Egypt--the Locust, except ours were in the form of termites (Hey, we has just finished reading the scriptures when it happened).
All I know is it was the creepiest thing ever. I felt like we were being cursed. We were trying to figure out where they were coming from, and as we looked out our back door window we saw what seemed like a million termites swarming our house! NO LYING.
We did start our adventure with prayer, because we definitely needed help from the Lord. Mike was the bravest ever. He wanted to try to keep as many as possible from coming in, so he went out to face the termites one on one with the RAID can. I promise it was like nothing I have ever seen before. Those things were covering him, but he managed to kill a good many of them. Poor Mike, he had to keep asking us to calm down. Easier said than done. Trust me. Ariel finally went into her room and shut the door and fell asleep crying, and I can't blame her. As a side note, I know this is one of the times Mike was questioning why the Lord would give him 3 women to live with--oh the drama.
I was up until 12:30am trying to rid our house of them, and then Mike asked me to go to bed and he would finish up. Sweet man. He did not go to bed until 2am and then he was up and ready for work this morning. When I did go to bed, I kept trying to be positive saying, "This too shall pass, You're blessed., it could be a hurricane etc. I just knew that if I did not try to be positive it would only make the situation worse, and really there ARE a lot worse things in Life, it's just hard to remember that when one is in the moment. I have to say though that I should have just stayed up because, to be honest, I did not get any rest. Every time I shut my eyes, all I could see was swarming termites, or nightmares of those things crawling on me. UGHHH!
I'm not joking when I'm saying that there was tons of them in our house-hundreds, maybe even thousands (okay, maybe not thousands, but definitely hundreds), magically appearing as though from no where. From what we can figure they may have come in through the chimney or a crack by our back door. We did find out today that termites are VERY ATTRACTED TO LIGHT and we had our ceiling fan light on which is VERY BRIGHT and the curtains open (the funny thing is we RARELY ever have that light on). So the lady at Terminex told Mike that they were flying to the light. Now when one usually hears the phrase, "come into the light" it is often referencing death;unfortunately this was not the case of the termites. However, many of them started to lose there wings and so we got out our trusty vacuum and began to vacuum those little suckers up--boy our vacuum got a workout. We had to empty the canister twice. YUCK! Mike was like a hero. He was getting them quick--even killing them with his hands (it still makes me shudder). By vacuum, hands, or being swat at, death did eventually come!
At 7 am this morning, Mike called our termite people, Terminex, and found out that this is the swarming season for termites and apparently there has been a big wave of them across West Mobile. According to the lady at Terminex, last night began their swarming season. Because of this many people have been calling them and they are BOOKED UNTIL WEDNESDAY! WHAT??? But what is one to do?? Luckily the Lord did answer our prayers and we were able to rid our house or them, at least what we can see. So at least the wait won't seem so bad. I'm going to count that as another "tender mercy". Seriously.
Mike called me earlier today from work relating stories of his co-workers and these creepy crawling bugs. I heard a bad story where they struck at a ball park here in Mobile and landing on people causing chaos. Plus, there were several other similar cases like ours. I guess Mike was trying to make me feel better by telling me their stories. But, honestly it didn't help much. I'm a firm believer that bugs ,and most animals, have their place on earth and inside my house is not it!
The Terminex lady did tell us to keep off our lights especially bright ones during the night, because that is what attracts them. So tonight, we are sitting in the dark or reading to the light of the computers. We are taking this serious. And for the first time in a long time, we were all in bed by 9pm. Can I just say one more time: I HATE BUGS!

Okay, Okay...I'm a Poser!

When I was in junior high or maybe it was high school, if my memory serves me right, I remember if someone called you a "poser" it wasn't a good thing. You basically were trying to be someone or something you are not. Well, I guess yesterday, I officially became a poser. Let me explain (you knew this was coming didn't you). I've never been one to purposely pose my kids or our family in a picture to get that perfect shot. First of all, I like pictures that tell what my life is really like, not what I want it to be, and secondly the few times I have tried, it never works out anyway. Those pictures always seem to say, "that's so not real, or they just look strange." So I figure, what is the point.

Yesterday, I caved in and did the thing that I hate to do. I asked my children to pose and by posing, I don't mean just smiling and saying cheese, I mean put your arm here, do this, look like this etc. I think you get my point. I was on the phone with Ann Jordan and the girls were swimming in the pool. Well, I was watching them out the windows and I saw Cecily standing on Ariel's shoulders in the water as though she thought she was the cheerleader who stands on the top of the pyramid, and then Ariel began walking across the pool with Cecily there. My first thought was Cecily is going to fall and break her neck. I told Ann to hold on while I scolded them. I ended my scolding by telling them to never do that again. Then, I said to Ann, "man I should have gotten a picture before I got onto them."

When I got off the phone with Ann, I was still thinking I wish I had thought to get a picture of the girls. So what did I do? I went outside and told Cecily to get back on Ariel's shoulders and stand up like she did before. It's funny because they both protested reminding me that I said to never do it again. I said, "Okay, just this once you can do it so that I can take your picture, and then after that NEVER, EVER AGAIN." I guess that could go down in the rule book under bad parenting 101, but they obliged.

At the same time I did say a prayer asking the Lord to keep Cecily from falling because it would be just my luck the very time that I ask them to pose (especially doing something I specifically said to never do again), that she would fall and break her neck and trust me, if that happened, Mike would never let me live that down! Luckily all ended well and here is the picture and proof that I'm officially a "poser"!

Funny thing that I just noticed, Ariel looks like she might be skinny dipping. LOL--but trust me, she's not!

Let's Get This Party Started!

This year, Cecily's end of the year party was pretty laid back, especially in comparison to last years (which personally, I like the laid back parties better). They just had pizza, ice-cream cups which they could put sprinkles and chocolate syrup on and their favorite---orange soda (although, not Cecily's. Cecily's drink of choice is--water.). Here is Cecily enjoying her favorite food of pizza! Mrs. D had treat bags for them that I had put together. They had jump ropes, bubbles and sidewalk chalk in it. We took the children outside for about 30 minutes and then came in and had the food (Surprise, I forgot to take a picture). Pretty laid back. When every thing seemed settled, I went downstairs to Ariel's class. I'm sooo glad that another mom stepped up to be a room mom in her class. After doing both last year, I realized for me, it was a big juggling act to do both. Ariel's class had pizza and made ice-cream sundaes too. The older the kids get, the less fancy they are, but I realize the kids just like hanging out! Here is a few pics from her party:


Ariel and her home room 4th grade teacher: Mrs. Carter. We are going to miss her.

After spending a few minutes at Ariel's party, I went back upstairs. When I reached the top of the stair case, I heard a lot of kids sounding as though they were having "too much of a good time", if you know what I mean. After having been in Mrs. Payne's class last year, I thought, "Oh, it must be Mrs. Payne's class.--Because that is definitely a teacher who knows how to throw a party." However, when I got there, nope... not the orgin of all the noise (althought they were having a great time, or so it appeared). I wanted to investigate because I was dying to know what those kids where doing to be having what sounded like such a good time. I thought, "Oh, maybe it's Mrs. Burris' class a little further down". I knew they were having a Pirate Party and thought perhaps a few pirates were getting crazy. But again, not them. I turned the corner and to my surprise all the ruckus was coming from the class with the "laid back party". When I entered the room, this is what I found:

You can't tell from the picture, but music was playing and the kids started a Conga line and Jullian the leader was taking them out into the hall and back into the class. It was really cute and funny. Look at Cecily's face to see how much fun they were having. Who says you need a lot of "fru, fru" to have a good time? When they came back into the class, I made them stop their line so that I could get a better pic. (remember, I'm a bad photographer).

The Conga Line

Here is a picture of Cecily with her teacher Mrs. Dauenheimer, whom we will also miss. I later found out that Cecily had this face because she was contemplating putting bunny ears on Mrs. D.

The next picture is of Mrs. D looking at her end of the year gift from her class. Over the past few years, I've been trying to be better at this. I want to make sure the gift will be something the teacher can actually use (but not cost much since I never collect money for it because the chances of getting any money sent in are close to nil). Last year, I did umbrellas with the children's hand prints (which has been great, I often see the teachers using it during carpool when it's raining), but Mrs. D already has one of them from when Ariel was in her class and I was room mom. So, this year, I bought the book, "Stand Tall Molly Lou Mellon" for her class library. Inside I put a picture of their class on one side and a note to Mrs. D and her future students on the other side and then I let all the kids sign. She now has a gift that can be used over and over again in her own class library. I did this last year for Teacher Appreciation Week and the teachers seemed to love it. I think Mrs. D did too, and the kids loved that their class picture was in the book for future classes to see. Cheap, easy, and loved---sounds like a winner to me!

Listen to the Sound of a Rain Forest

It is tradition at E.R. Dickson to hold a sing-a-long on the last day of school. The choir does their thing and then they let all the kids sings as well. This year, the choir director, Ms. Hegwood had the children do the coolest thing. She had them simulate the sounds of a rain forest. They snapped fingers, patted their legs, stomped their feet and then rubbed their hands together. It really sounded like the different stages of a rain storm. If you choose to listen, try doing it with the sound turned up and shutting your eyes. I think it's cool. Here it is:

Don't Cry Because It's Over, Smile Because it Happened

I love the quote above and find it a fitting title for my End of the School Year Blog. At the end of each school year, I find myself stopping to ponder another year being "over". And yes, as sappy as I am, I am a bit sad, well maybe a lot. But at the same time I'm happy. I love that I get to be "out of the routine" and that I can spend more time with the girls (we'll see how long that will last once they start bickering. LOL ) and that I can look and see how much my girls have grown in those few short months.
I am what you would call a pretty active mother and as my OBGYN says, "I'm going to be one of those mom's who does not know what to do with herself when her kids are grown." I'm sure I'll be like a little lost puppy looking for its own mother. Let's just say, I'm pretty involved in my girls life and I like it that way.
I find myself being sad because as each year goes by, my own girls get a little older and a lot more self reliant. I'm sure there will come a day when they won't want me to hold their hand as we walk into school much less give them a kiss as they walk off to class. Mike's mom sent me another quote for Mother's Day, that I found great meaning in, it says: "A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.-D.C. Fisher".
As I ponder the school year ending, I also find sadness leaving the other children I have bonded with. I love walking down the halls of the school and hearing the children say, "hi Mrs. Odom, or for those in Mrs. Payne's class, hi, Mrs. Andrea." Or the best part, a child running up and giving me the biggest hug imaginable. You can't but help feel loved. I've formed a bond with many of these children and yes, I know many will be back next year, but some won't. And then there's those who seem to have a whole Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde experience over the summer and come back as someone you barely recognize.
But, let me get back to the title of my blog. I could sit around and cry about it being the end (but then again, is it really--or did this just lead to another beginning?). However, I would like to take a whole new approach and smile because it happened. For those are all memories that I can take with me for the rest of my life. Memories of my girls growing wiser and older; and knowing that the experiences over the past year are helping them to grow into great young women who are capable of great things. And knowing that the experiences of the past year have helped me come a little closer to reaching one of my greatest desires as a mother--having my two girls to grow up loving the Lord with all their heart and being kind. You have to admit, that definitely is something worth smiling about.

Little Girls, Little Girls....

My girls and I absolutely love the movie "Annie"--the Disney version only. That is one movie we can watch over and over. We also love to listen to the sound track. We love singing the songs in the car on the way to school in the morning. One of the songs is, "Little Girls". My "little girls" can often be found singing it and it just cracks me up. So I thought that I would post a few pictures of my "Little Girls".

My Hair Raising Experience

Yesterday, I decided that it would be a great idea to get my hair cut. It had been about three months since my last one. I thought about growing it out for Locks of Love, but it was starting to look not so great and I found myself putting it up in pony tails more and more. It was definitely time to get it cut, plus I was selected to be one of the few parents to be on the interviewing committee with the MCPSS for 4 new principals in Mobile (one high school, and 3 elementary). I thought it was an honor and I wanted to look a little more professional, and I thought getting a haircut would be just the thing, or so I thought (hindsight is 20/20).

Can I just say that I hate getting my hair cut. First, I hate the fact that when you go to a beauty salon they always say, "What do you want?"

---"Umm. Are you serious? Okay, I want you to make me look like Jennifer Aniston or someone equally beautiful. Maybe a little younger. Or Hmm... well let me see, hello, I'm in a salon, maybe I want a hair cut. Now that's a novel idea." I've always had the mind set of:"Isn't that what you went to school for?' Can't you give ME some ideas that would look good with my face shape, hair texture, etc. I mean if you do ask questions, maybe you could ask how much time I want to spend daily fixing it. But shouldn't that be the stylist's job to tell me what would be best and then I could say yeah or nay? Then again, maybe it is because I go to the cheap salons like SuperCuts that I get this response. Although, I have been to places where I have paid more and still they will say, "tell me what you want." I really do want to say, "I don't know, maybe a haircut, but then who knows what I would end up with." Someday, I want to go to someone like Nick on "What Not To Wear". He is so good at what he does; he can tell me what would look best. Does anyone understand what I'm trying to say??Probably not...so perhaps I should just move on.

Anyway, I went in to get a haircut. The past few times, I have asked for my hair to be cut just above my shoulders with some short layers. I have loved the cut and most everyone else has liked it too. Well, yesterday for some reason unbeknown to me, I said, "I want it cut at my chin with short layers." Well, when she made the first cut I was like, "OH, no what did I say!" But it was too late. The hair was gone.

Oh well, I guess it will grow back,and luckily my hair grows fairly quick. I have to say, this is one of the only times I have ever felt like crying. When I left she had it totally curly. I felt ridiculous.So I went home and flat ironed it. It is really short and I don't like it, but I got WHAT I ASKED FOR. WHAT WAS I THINKING? Oh yeah, I wasn't! Someone hit me up side my head, because I should have had a V-8!

Me and my really short "boy" haircut. I realized too that I really need to get contacts again!

On a lighter note, last night, Cecily asked me to put rollers in her hair so that she could be like "Annie". So I did. This morning, she came in my room early to get her hair fixed. Cecily's hair is so fine and straight that it is hard for curls to really take, but she did not care. She loved it. She kept asking over and over, "Don't I look just like Annie?" I said, "yes, red hair and all." Then she looked at me weird and said, "I don't have red hair." I guess she's still too young to get sarcasm. Ariel kept telling her she looked more like Shirley Temple. Shirley or Annie, Cecily did not care...she loved the curls and wanted me to take her picture. When she got in the car today after school the first question was, "Will you roll my hair again tonight?" My answer was, "no." I don't want that to become a habit. It takes forever to roll hair. I know, mean mom. Here is my little Annie. Oh, and the funniest part is that she kept sing songs from Annie today while we were at Wal-mart. I guess she wanted to put on a show. Too funny.

I'm Bummed, kinda sorta

Ariel, Cecily and I just finished watching our first finale of American Idol. First, are the finale's always so long? For a while, I felt like geesh how many people's careers are they trying to jump start. I did not mind when the contestants were singing, but come on, it went on and on and on....... Also, I know I'm the last person that should be given fashion advice, but what was up with Carly wearing those jet black tights with that red dress? Cecily kept saying, 'can't she erase those tattoos?" LOL.
Anyhow, let me just say that I liked both of the David's, but I guess I was hoping, along with the girls, the David A. would win it. But how can I be totally bummed because David C. was so nice and generous, and he really does have a great voice. I think they both will do well after this show.
It's funny because when Brooke got voted off, Ariel said, "Maybe it was meant to be. Maybe winning wasn't what Heavenly Father had in mind for her. Maybe it would have changed her." And tonight, Ariel said she was sad that David A. did not win, "but oh well, he needs to be preparing for a mission anyway." Way to keep things in perspective Ariel. Although Cecily cracked me up by her question, "Do you think I can marry him?" LOL.

Ariel's bread

Here is Ariel with the bread she made on Saturday night for the sacrament. She was pretty excited about it.

WOW, Look What I Can Do!

You may have read my experience with the bread making. I'm really excited about it, and have made bread 3 times now! I'm really enjoying it and I love the way it smells as it is baking! I also bought ingredients to make banana bread for the girls. They love it! Then after talking to Annie about how great her jam was; yesterday, I went out and bought the stuff to make home made jam. I've decided to stop talking about things I want to do and just do it. I realize that I am becoming quite the little homemaker.

I'm also excited to announce that I have learned how to do something else--make rag quilts. Last Saturday, our ward held an Enrichment meeting called Operation Freedom Quilts. Everyone attending was asked to bring material to make a quilt that would be donated to wounded soldiers.

Well, me being the absent minded person I am, just showed up. Yup empty handed like--"Hey everyone, here I am!" Well, I need to be honest, I am one of those women who rarely read the handouts. This happened to be the case on this occasion. Luckily, the other sisters there were extremely nice and had brought extra material and said that I could help them. I was like, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't think to bring material to a quilting activity. I just showed up." Again, how lame am I?

So, I went over where Shawna was and she was cutting up blocks to make one of her famous rag quilts. If you have never seen one of these, they are SO cute! A lot of work, but very cute. Shawna is an expert at making these things and she is very fast at doing it too! So, she asked me if I wanted to help her and I said sure. I'm really glad that I did, because I learned how to make a rag quilt. YAY! Not only is Shawna very good at making these quilts, she is also very patient at teaching others. She tried to tell me what I needed to do, and I told her that I am the type of person that needs to see and then do. So she showed me a few squares and then watched me do a few. I was so paranoid that I was going to mess up, but after a while, I think I got the hang of it. I had to leave before the quilt was finished and Shawna asked me if I wanted to take it home and finish it. I was excited to do so.

I have sewn costumes and chair covers. And now I've learned to make rag quilts, bake bread etc. It's really satisfying . I love the feeling of seeing something completed by my two hands. But I'm also so amazed that I actually can do something. I catch myself saying: "WOW, Look What I Can Do!".

Taylor's Right!

Last night during Activity Day for Girls, I had bought some of the Great Value Butter Flavored spray. I don't usually buy this "flavor" (I usually use the canola or olive oil cooking spray--which are fine to me), but when I was buying the the ingredients for the bread, I passed by this and thought that the butter flavor would be good for bread. Well, last night while we were spraying it on the pans Taylor said, "That smells like throw up." The weird thing was, I didn't really smell it, I guess I was in a daze---because now I'm thinking how did I NOT SMELL IT.
Tonight when I was cooking, I needed some cooking spray and that just happened to be on the counter from last night and I sprayed it. Oh my goodness. Taylor you are soooo right. It does smell like throw up! Not kidding. Mike came in the kitchen and walked by and said (again not kidding), "What smells like throw up!" I said, "I know, it does. It really does." Let me just tell you I have a weak stomach and I thought I was going to throw up from smelling the "throw-up spray". I had to wash out the pan. I told Mike that Taylor said the same thing last night and he then questioned why I used it at all. His exact words were, "Why would you cook with something that smells like vomit." LOL!
Needless to say, I'm throwing that nasty stuff in the trash! Sorry to the Activity Day Girls for making you smell that stuff, thankfully it didn't seem to ruin the taste of the bread. Oh, and sorry if I grossed any of you out by this post, but I just wanted to give ya'll a warning.

"Ohh, mom we forgot the butter..."

These words were uttered from the mouth of my little sous chef (or maybe I should just say wanna be chef), Ariel, last night as we were wrapping up our Activity Day for Girls activity at church.

For those of you wondering, no that is not my new calling in church, but the person who was over it can no longer do it, and since I am currently the only person left in a semi-leadership role (secretary) in Primary (0ur President moved, and they have yet to call a new President), I begged Mike to let me step up (he is currently over Primary in our Bishopric). I just did not want Ariel, or the other girls, to have to go with out an Activity Day leader once again. It seems that calling is hard to keep filled. Okay enough of that.

Let's do like they do in the movies and go back a little in time so that you can see how we arrived to this whole "we forgot the butter" point. There was a post where someone taught her activity day girls how to make bread and then they can freeze it and bring it back on Sunday and use it for the sacrament bread. I thought that was such a great idea!
But, if you read my previous post, you would realize that I, unlike my mother-in-law, am not a baker of bread. It has always seemed overwhelming to me. In the past, I attempted to make my mom's bread recipe once and it seemed like there was a million steps, so half way through I quit. Mike's mom even bought me a bread maker and I have yet to use it. What is wrong with me???

Anyway, back to the point. So I kept thinking the girls really needed to do this. I felt strong about it. I felt like it would be something they would find fun to do, yet also get a valuable spiritual lesson about the sacrament (we talked about the sacrament and how we could remain faithful while the bread was rising). I also thought it would be special for them to know that the bread being used for sacrament, something so sacred, was the bread they made.

But again, I thought "wow this will take too much time" because even though I have not made bread, it always seemed like a 3 hour job. So what did I do, you guessed it, I called Mike's mom. I knew if anyone could help, she could. And I was right. I explained my time dilemma and I also told her that I really did not want to have to have the girls go home that night and be up past 9pm baking bread. She quickly told me that there was a cool rise dough recipe that could be made up within the hours time and then the girls could each take the dough home and let it rise for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator before baking. She sent out the recipe the next day. But I was still a little apprehensive, remember I've never baked bread before.

Well that soon changed. On Tuesday night, drum roll please, I made bread with Ariel and Cecily for the first time, just to test it out. I called Mike's mom several times in the process to make sure I was doing it right. It seemed to be fairly easy (once I kicked the girls out half way through the kneading process. I really don't have patience. I wish I did). I was actually impressed at how easy it was. In less than an hour I had the bread in the refrigerator to sit overnight to rise. The next morning I got up and baked one of the loaves for breakfast. The girl devoured it. It actually came out great. Later that day, I cooked the second loaf to take for the Activity Day girls.
Let me just say, I am an over achiever---or at least I try to be. I wanted each of the girls to have their own bread to take home, so I decided each girl would make her own batch, with her moms help of course. ( THANKS ANNIE AND LISANKA for all your WONDERFUL help. Those moms are angels, I tell ya! I could not have done the activity without them. And oh, if you have read Annie's blog, the jam she made doesn't just look good, it taste AWESOME! Thanks Annie!)

I have to admit, I felt slightly overwhelmed having to go back and forth between Ariel and another little girl during the activity since I only had made the bread once before and remember, I was the teacher.

Have you ever heard the saying, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry"? That's what should be at the top of my blog because it is so me. I have these great ideas and plans with the best intentions and somewhere along the way something always seems to happen. So what happened tonight? Let's fast forward. The girls all had their two loaves of bread all nice in their pans (they looked so nice too) and they were eating the bread I had made earlier with Annie's jam and Ariel chimes in with, "Ohh, mom we forgot the butter." Me thinking that she was talking about having butter with bread said, "NO Ariel, that's why Sis. Emmertson brought the jam. We eat jam with bread. We don't need butter." Then she said, "But didn't we put butter in our recipe last night, and then she pointed to all the sticks of butter that I had on the counter."
YUP, you guessed it. I totally forgot to have the girls put the butter in the recipe. I felt like such an idiot and thought that I ruined the bread. The funny thing was that Ariel kept telling everyone all night "how to make their bread, like she was an expert." Where was she 45 minutes ago?

This morning, we baked our bread because I felt so bad and I just had to see how it turned out. Guess what, we were totally blessed. The bread was good. My girls gobbled up the whole entire loaf for breakfast and we are going to eat the other loaf for dinner. I am going to make another batch with Ariel on Saturday and we will bring fresh bread to church on Sunday for sacrament. YEAH!! When I told Mike's mom what I did, she said that it would be fine, that there are many breads that you can make without butter or oil!

I have to say this is the best bread recipe EVER. Not only is it easy to make (less than an hour, leave it in the fridge over night and then bake for 35 min). It is pretty much idiot proof. I mean come on, we left out the butter, the girls pounded that bread to death and it still came out good. Lisanka said that Hannah cooked her bread this morning and her entire family loved it. They are eating the rest of theirs for dinner too and making more on Saturday. I think we might have created bread making monsters! LOL.

Thanks again Heidi for all your help and for the wonderfully easy FOOL PROOF bread recipe. I wish I had thought to ask you for a recipe like this years ago, because there is nothing like fresh homemade bread! If anyone is interested, here is the recipe:

Coolrise White Bread

5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

2 pkgs. active dry yeast

2 tblsp. sugar

2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup soft margarine (1/2 stick)

2 1/4 cup hot tap water

Salad Oil (or canned spray)

• Combine 2 cups flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in large bowl. Stir well to blend. Add soft margarine.


• Add hot tap water to ingredients in bowl all at once.


• Beat with electric mixer at medium speed 2 minutes. Scrape sides of bowl occasionally.


• Add 1 cup more flour. Beat with electric mixer at high speed 1 minute, or until thick and elastic. Scrape sides of bowl occasionally.


• Stir in just enough remaining flour to make soft dough that leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn onto floured board. Round up into ball.


• Knead 5-10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap and with towel. Let rest on board 20 minutes. Punch down.


• Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Roll each portion into an 8X12" rectangle. Roll up tightly into loaves beginning at 8" side. Seal lengthwise edge and ends well. Tuck ends under.


• Place in greased 8 1/2X 4 1/2 X 2 1/2" loaf pans. (Correct pan size is important for best results. ANDREA HERE--It comes out perfectly fine if you only have a regular 9 inch size bread pan because I used one that size for one loaf.)


• Brush surface of dough with salad oil (or you can use can spray). Cover pans loosely with waxed paper, brushed with oil, and then with plastic wrap.


• Refrigerate 2 to 24 hours at moderately cold setting. When ready to bake, remove from refrigerator. Uncover.


• Let stand 10 minutes while preheating oven.


• Puncture any surface bubbles with oiled toothpick just before baking.


• Bake at 4oo degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, or until done.


• Remove from pans immediately. Brush top crust with margarine if desired. Cool on rack. Makes 2 loaves.

The Real Life Martha Stewart

I would like to give a shout out and a big thank you to one of the most remarkable mothers I know. She truly is. She is one of the few women that I know who can do just about anything. She's pretty close to perfect in my eyes. She can cook (and do it healthy), she can sew, she can quilt, she can do fancy needlework, she is a true artist (her art hangs in people's homes all over the world--were people have purchased it), she can do fancy needle work to make curtains and table cloths, she can knit and crochet, she can make baskets from pine straw, she cans food, she has a garden, she is a good mother, she volunteers, she knows her scriptures, she loves the Lord, she takes care of her elderly and feeble mother-in-law better than any nurse, and she makes a mean loaf of homemade bread in just about any variety that you can think of. And she has patience too! I know I'm leaving things off. Let me just say this, if there is something you need to know how to do, she can do it. And I know when she read this, she will be humble and think anyone can do that, but not anyone. Not me.
So who is this amazing woman? Mike's mom, Heidemarie Elfriede Schlick Odom (I know I am going to have to come back and edit this because I spelled the name wrong, sorry Heidi). When I first started dating Mike and realized how talented his mom is, I was a bit nervous because I have never been the "crafty, cooking sorts"---ever! I even thought perhaps she is a bit worried that her son is marrying someone with no talents. But that quickly changed. She was always helpful and quick to answer any questions I might have and always willing to teach--no matter what time of day or night. But her most kind and loving words, "You can do it. I know you can. If you can read, you can do it." She would say this whether it was a recipe or helping me with the latest costume I was sewing with the girls. I love that about her. I wish she lived closer to us because I know my girls could learn a lot from her. But for today, I will blow her some kisses and tell her that I love her. Martha Stewart has nothing on you!

Fourteen Years. Can It Really Be?

WOW! It doesn't seem possible that yesterday, on May 13th, 2008 , Mike and I celebrated our fourteenth anniversary. It is funny to think of all the things that have happened over those years. It's probably cheesy, but Mike and I like to reminisce about the "good ole days" of dating and early marriage (well, probably more me, and Mike just goes along with it. Boy has he learned a lot over the years). We laugh about the funny times and the things that drove each other crazy like me getting water all over the kitchen floor and leaving it (hey, it will eventually evaporate, right?? or Mike leaving the toilet seat up and me falling in the toilet in the middle of the night. Talk about a rude awakening! Mike says: hey it will dry, right??) Ohh the memories!
It seems like just yesterday, although not really. I have to say it has been the best 14 years of my life. Most of it has been good, but I'd be lying if I didn't say there wasn't some bad. I always think that the greatest thing about being married is learning to love someone else more than yourself, and for me that wasn't always easy. Over those years, I have grown up A LOT (I had just barely turned 20 when I got married). I have learned to love and to be loved, became a little less selfish, learned that someone who can drive me absolutely CRAZY can also bring the GREATEST joy to my life. If I had it to do all over again, would I??? UMMMMMMM......Let me think...............YOU BETCHA! Love ya Mike. Here's to the first 14 years and to a million more!

"Is That What You Call Hustling?"

This morning the girls reminded me that they needed a quarter to buy a freeze pop during their P.E. time today. Well, I never carry cash on me and when you tell me the day of, I might be able to rustle up 50 pennies, but that's A LOT of change to have to carry. So...I asked Cecily (who always seems to have money) , "Let mommy borrow a quarter and I will give the money back to you. She said, "Okay, but you owe me a dollar then." I was like, "What?? I don't owe you a dollar, I just need a quarter. I owe you a quarter. One quarter for one quarter." I thought she must be confused because after all she is just in the first grade and maybe she was sleeping when they went over money.
Obviously not! She said, "No, if I give you a quarter, you will owe me $1.00 when you pay it back." (Maybe this is why she always has money).
I said, "No missy I don't think so. You will GIVE me a quarter OR you can just forget the freeze pop today, how about that?" She was like, "Okay, you can have the quarter. " And then she said the funniest thing, " Is that what you call hustling?"
That alone made me laugh. Where is she learning things like hustling??? I asked her that question and she said, "I don't know, but remember Ariel tried to hustle that man out of $5.00 by selling her raincoat to him when we got off of Kali River Rapids at Disney World. (Ariel really did try to do this and the funny thing was the man was going to pay her for it. I told her no way and made her just give the raincoat, which only cost me 50 cents, to the man.). I had to explain that hustling really isn't an attribute that we are trying to achieve, but there is nothing wrong with trying to be an entrepreneur.
Donald Trump better watch out because if he bumps into my two girls, he may meet his match. I think Mike and I are going to have our hands full with these two.

Stamping Out Hunger

One thing I love about living in a neighborhood is having a better sense of community. Yesterday, Saturday, May 10th was Stamp Out Hunger. The mail man leaves a plastic bag for you to fill with food and then the carriers pick it up. We saw many of neighbors participate too. It was a nice feeling like we were joining together with the mail carriers to "Stamp Out Hunger". It may sound cheesy, but I really did feel good about it. We did it a few times when we lived at the apartment, but to be honest, I always wondered if the food was still there when the carrier got there. We had fun picking out food from our pantry. Here's what we saw up and down our neighborhood streets.

E.R. Dickson Student Council Car Wash

For the past two years, Ariel has been a member of her school's Student Council. She loves being on it. She loves the meetings, selling Candy Grams at Valentines, Selling Spirit Strips. She loves everything about it.

Yesterday was their annual Car Wash. This year the money raised at the Car Wash will go toward purchasing playground equipment that can be used by the fourth and fifth graders because the fairly new and very expensive playground that we currently have is not allowed to be used by the older kids.

Anyway, Ariel had a BLAST at the car wash. We got there around 8am and left around 1:30pm. It was a long day, we both got sunburns, but we also had fun doing service.

When we got there, Ariel's friend ,Nolan's dad, gave her the spray hose and jokingly said, "Okay, it's your turn to soak whoever you want." Well, as he said that, Mrs. Carter (Ariel's teacher and Student Council Advisor) said, "Don't say that. She'll take you literally." Too late, I was SOAKED! Needless to say, they needed a parent to go and hold signs by the road. I took the job because it was in the sun and I thought I could get dried, plus it was funny watching some of the other children dancing trying to get the cars attention.

Ariel stayed washing cars. When I came back, she was soaked too, as were most of the other kids. I told her that I wanted her to come and take a break and hold signs. She needed to take a turn at everything. She needed to be a team player. After all, if people did not know there was a car wash, there would be no cars to wash. So her and Ross Jordan and his mom Ann came out and held signs. too. I have to say that this was one of the highlights of the day.

Hearing Ariel and Ross yell at the top of their voices over and over again: "E.R. Dickson Car Wash. Help the 4th and 5th graders get a playground PLEASE. Donations Accepted." Cracked me up. They were too funny. They were so loud that Mrs. Carter said they could hear them as far away as they were. A few times I just put the sign down that I was holding to laugh. I saw people in their cars laughing. They did manage to get several cars to give them money right at the street during red lights. I'm a little convinced that it might have been payment to try to keep them quiet until the light turned green again. LOL.

Finally, we were called back to the car washing area to help finish up washing the remaining cars. It seemed though, even without us holding signs, cars kept coming. The kids were having fun washing, and it was money so we didn't turn them away. At the end, there was 4 kids left washing, and we had fun. Mr. Carter told the children earlier that he would donate $100, if they wet Mrs. Carter's legs. They waited to do this at the very end and well, let's just say, he got his money's worth! Here are some pictures:

Ross, Ariel, Nolan, and other Student Council members working hard washing cars.

Kambria and Ariel

The Last Ones Standing. We were the one's who held out to the very end.

From L-R: Nolan, Mr. Mynatt, Jacob, Kambria, Ariel, Mrs. Carter, Me, Ross, and Ann

Kambria, Ariel and Nolan making sure Mr. Carter gets a good return for his $100 donation!

Mr. Mynatt was trying to help Mrs. Carter out.

"Please Girls, Be Reverant"

It seems as though I say this a bazillion times on Sunday. Today, while sacrament was being passed, I whispered to Ariel, "Please turn around and be reverent. You should be thinking about Jesus." She was turned around looking at Owen Jordan who was sitting behind us.
She said, "I am." I whispered back, "How can you be thinking of Jesus when you are looking at Owen?" Without taking a second to think, Ariel replied: "When I look at Owen, I think about how Jesus might have been as a baby."
Enough said.

Happy "Mother's Day Weekend" To Me

Okay, here's a warning for those of you that no matter how hard I try to convince you, still think I'm perfect. You may want to stop reading. Because this post will definitely let you see the imperfect, selfish side of me. The side Mike likes to call, "The Nature of the Beast."

If you're still reading let me just say, "I warned you!" LOL,
Here it goes:

There are two days out of the year that I think should be "ALL ABOUT ME": My Birthday and Mother's Day! This should be no cooking, no cleaning, don't ask me to do anything more for you than to give you a hug or kiss. I know selfish, but it's true. For 363 days of the year (364 on leap years) I am all about trying to be super mom--what do you need, what toilet can I clean, are you hungry, time to wash more clothes or dishes etc. So I think for these two days it's my turn to be pampered.

This year, however; after last year, I realized Mother's Day being on a Sunday for me, just doesn't work. I mean, now that Mike is in the Bishopric he has to be at meetings way early in the morning and then he has meetings again after church--even on holidays (I know what you're thinking, don't get me started--I told you, you were going to see the selfish side of me). What kind of break is that for me? No one to make ME breakfast in bed, no one to pamper ME. Instead it was me making breakfast then lunch, making beds (I can't stand leaving the house with unmade beds--it's true), doing dishes, taking care of kids etc.

So yesterday, I had the FABULOUS idea of "Mother's Day Weekend". Instead of one day, I'll give myself a whole weekend! Not a bad idea right? So now we have a new tradition at our house and it's all about me---"Mother's Day Weekend". Not so sure everyone else has jumped on the train yet, but hey I'll give it a couple of years and I'm sure they'll come around.

The great thing: Mike makes dinner for two nights! YEAH and cleans up. What are we having tonight: Peanut Butter and Jelly (when mom's off--dinners are definitely light). While I'm eating it, I'll imagine it's a steak, salad and baked potato." And oh yeah, I'll also be counting my blessings that I AM A MOTHER because--no matter what--peanut butter and jelly and all--I really am!

Okay, Forget Orthodontist

Yesterday, we had to get a plumber to come out and fix a faucet connected to the outside of our house that was spewing water. For less than an hours work, we were charged $172. YIKES! I told the girls to forget about being an orthodontist instead I want them to be a plumber.
Ariel said, "Gross. No way! I'm not cleaning up peoples nasty toilet problems. I told her "Look, the man that came out today didn't even touch our toilet." She said, "That's not every time though." I said, "yeah, but they probably charge more for nasty toilets." She said, "It's still gross."
Okay, so maybe she has a point. I said, "Alright." But not wanting to give up the fight, I said, "Maybe you should at least consider marrying a plumber." Needless, to say she left the room. She did not want to hear any more of it. Plumber, anyone?