Events take place even when we don't want them too.

Summer is coming up.  Luke asks me every day if it's summer yet.  I keep telling him NO.  Because I don't want it to be summer.  At least, not yet.  I'm not ready for the heat, or for a house full of kids.  Not ready. Let me tell you why, least you think I do not love my children, or that I don't want them around, because I do.  REALLY.

Luke will be heading for first grade.  That means he isn't so little anymore.  He will be turning seven.  He will going to school all day, leaving me home all day with his little brother, who I will have to entertain by myself.  All day.  he will be eating lunch at school, which stresses him out.  He will also be asking me every day if we can go swimming.  Which means I have to squeeze my sorry self into my bathing suit, every day.

Sariah will be heading into seventh grade.  She will also be joining the Young Women's program.  I am in denial.  I do not have a child that is that old.  Or that tall.  I have to hide her from the eyes of peering teenage boys.  I feel like shouting to them, whilst hiding Sariah behind my large rear end.."Stop checking her out, sick-o, she is only 11!"  soon to be 12.  Twelve.   I remember myself at 12.  I was a nightmare.  I was also very boy crazy, and didn't stop being boy crazy, until maybe yesterday?  She will also tell me every day that she is bored.  Although, judging by the tornado that crashed in her room, I don't think she will bored for too long.

Ethan.  Ethan with the brown eyes, and silly grin. He will be teasing his brother, and getting himself into all sorts of trouble.  Luke and Ethan while they love each other, fight tooth and sometimes nail.  And the bugger doesn't like the pool.

But, I am sure this summer will be fun.  And to kick it off, we are spending a very much needed week with my parents.  I need to be home, just for a little while.  Hopefully I am not the only one who misses home, even though I am 32 and have a home of own.  Sometimes, a girl just needs her mommy.

an ode to salad

Every time I make up a weekly menu, I never put salad as one of the items.  But when I go the store, I pick some lettuce up.  With the intention that you know, lettuce is good.  It's obliging.  You can put almost anything on it and it works.  Fruit, vegetables, cheese, heck, even chips.  Right?  So I buy it.  I even get organic lettuce.  I feel so virtuous when I buy it too.  Like I am doing the world a favor when I buy organic lettuce.  The world is thanking me, I think.  And I come home and place that plastic box of virtue in my chiller.  And it sits there.  And sits there.  And I look at it when I open my fridge, and I think, I really don't like lettuce.  Every time.  A week goes by, and I make the planned meals, and we eat them.  And i think, maybe I should make a salad?  But I don't really like salad.  No, I'll just make something else.  So I do.  And the poor lettuce.  It just sits there.  Until two weeks has gone by and I finally pick it up, and look at it.  Because it has gone slimy, and brown.  And I think, well that was a waste of three dollars.  I throw the blasted thing away.  And I not longer feel virtuous.  I have no longer given the world any kind of gift.  Just another plastic container to sit in a landfill.  And I slightly twinge.  I really don't like salad.  Maybe I should just stop buying it.  We have a lettuce patch in our back yard, I have a sinking feeling my husband will want to eat lettuce at every meal.  Lettuce.  Which means salad.  And seriously, I really don't like salads.  :)

A little bit of yogurt in my life.

Tonight, I had the greatest pleasure of taking my two oldest out on a little date.  It wasn't long, and we didn't really do much.  We went to get Menchies frozen yogurt.  Luke picked out...Vanilla.  He loves vanilla ice cream.  I can't get that kid to taste any other kind.  Sariah had chocolate and vanilla, swirled.  They both topped their yogurt with candy, some fruit and called it good.  I had got my cake batter, and some dark chocolate chips, and some weird fruit popper things, which my kids ate.

 We sat in the car and talked.  We talked about school, and Luke told us about his kindergarten class and how he listened today.  We talked about when I met Mike, and how we kissed.  (Sariah thought that was gross)  We went on a little drive and saw the house our friends are building.  My kids told me they wanted a huge house like that one day.

We came home, and Ethan ran up to me and wouldn't let me go.  He clung to me like I had left for days.  He has been doing that a lot lately.  It was nice to spend time with my kiddos.  They are funny and charming.  They have some more silly quirks, and they make me laugh.

I needed this little date with my two older kids.  I needed that re-connection with them.  I love how Luke laughs, his laugh is so silly and deep.  Sariah is turning into a Young Women, the last of her little girl-ness has gone, suddenly.  I look at her, and I see the woman she will be in a few short years.  I cherish this moment.  Eating frozen and some what expensive yogurt.  Fighting over who ate the last fruit popper, and what they really are made of.  Ah, motherhood.

Conference Weekend

I will admit something.  You are going to gasp and shake your head.  I didn't watch conference this weekend.  There.  It is out.  My dirty laundry.  Saturday, I spent the morning session getting my two oldest ready for the first soccer games of the season.  Missing cleats, socks, and preparing snacks were all important to do's on my mental to do list.  I lost track of time.  And we had to be on the field by 12.  We barely made it on time.  And the boys and I sat and watched Sariah's game under my cute umbrella, because the sun has finally decided to make an appearance and it's too early in the year to get a sunburn...so...we didn't watch the first session.  Luke's game was at three, we went to the store, picked up some more cold drinks. Man was the sun shinning!  And headed to his game.  Where the wind started blowing, so no cute umbrella to block out the sun's happy rays..I got sunburned.  Headed home and made a very sad dinner because our cupboards were bare.  So, I went to the store.  Sunday, we woke up and headed up to Cedar City to visit Mike's grandparents.  We spent the day with them.  I spent most of it reading.  What?  Well, I was reading Catching Fire, the second book the Hunger Games, and yes, I have read them before.  But you know.  I had free time.  I spent conference weekend with my family and reading.  Gasp.

 I suppose it's a good thing they record the sessions, and that I can take my time reading the undoubtedly inspiring talks that I missed.  And honestly, I only pay attention to about half the talks anyway. I usually fall asleep during some point in either afternoon session, never fails.  At some point, I'll redeem myself.

A P- P- P- POST.

I obviously took a little hiatus from writing on the blog.  I'll be honest.  I was worried about this blog.  I got intimidated by all the great blogs out there, some of them are dear friends, and I couldn't help but compare my shaggy blog to theirs, and I let my blog go for a little while.  It's sad. only it wasn't. I think I need the break from my blog. But here I am again.  Hopefully I will reach my expectations of this blog and it will be FUN.

Considering I haven't updated in a while, a quick update:

Sariah had her first choir concert for sixth grade.  She did great.  She also got glasses.  They make her look like she is fifteen, which isn't so great.  She is not officially taller than me, again, not so great in my view.  She is not even 12 yet!  She made the high honor roll, we are proud.  She is in love with a boy named Max.

Luke is doing great in kindergarten.  I found out that he and a friend, another boy a named Max, (go figure) are the leaders in their class.  All the kids kind of follow whatever it is they are doing.   He is also the class clown, but the teacher said he knows when to be silly and when to be serious.  I suppose that is a good thing.  He is reading, and being silly, and loves playing dreaded video games, I keep making him play outside.  He loves riding his bike, without training wheels!

Ethan.  He is still getting into everything.  He demands my attention, a lot.  More so now, i think than ever before.  He plops himself on top of me if I happen to be sitting down.  He helps wash dishes.  (he fell in the sink  a few weeks ago, luckily I was right there to rescue him)  he loves his play kitchen.  He cooks me dinner every day, at least five times a day.  He is now going down the scary slide without any problems.  Now if we can get him to like the swing, Lagoon might be fun for him this year.

Me, I am trying to keep my house clean.  It's a work in progress.  I will forever be astounded by the women who can keep their house clean, all the time.  I lack the energy, maybe even the motivation to clean my house all the time, around the clock.  If you stop by, it looks lived in, but not dirty, enough said.  Also, my big sis, Jeni, dragged me to a writing event in Provo last week.  I met a couple of Authors based here in Utah, like Shannon Hale, Tracy Hickman, Brandon Sanderson, and Lisa Mangum, Bree Despain.  I had one of my novel ideas critiqued by Lisa Mangum, who turned out to be very nice and likable, she talked to my sister and I for a long time.  My sister said that Ms. Mangum really liked my story.  I was so nervous I didn't notice.  It was a very interesting and I suppose rewarding experience.  I have wanted to be a writer since I was 12, but you know, life happens.  Next post will be amazing, or at least interesting... :)

Hello World, It's been a While.

That title almost sounds like a Bon Jovi song...

I did not realize how long it had been since my last post.  Apparently I haven't had much to say.  Even know, I am struggling.  I have been reading too many blogs and feeling slightly less par, I suppose.  But hey, I am here now.  Time to start again.  As always.  Things have been busy around my house.  Ethan has been coming into his own.  He never stops.  He has been coloring all over the house.  I find his art work every where.  And when I say every where, I mean it.  He does this when I am sleeping, or going to the bathroom, or distracted by the phone or the Ipad, or cooking his meals.  He also loves playing outside and making mud pies.  His play house is filled with sand he has been spending the past four months transferring from the sandbox to the play house, one bucket full at a time.  It is now the mud house.  I love him.  Which is what I chant now every time he is up to something naughty, it seems to help slightly when I want to scream things.  I don't scream as loudly..or as long, or not at all when I say that, over and over and over again.  (which reminds me of a She &Him song)  Luke has been thriving in kindergarten.  He is a social butterfly. (can you call a boy a butterfly?) He loves kindergarten.  He loved learning about Thanksgiving.  He loved learning about the Indians and how they helped the Pilgrims plant their corn by putting fish in the garden, he wondered if we could put fish in our garden.  He did a great job singing in their kindergarten program.  He is one of the tallest in his class.  Which we knew and still can't believe.  Sariah had an accident two weeks ago.  She picked up a fork.  A fork?  Yep, a fork and injured her wrist.  She know has to wear a brace for two more weeks and then we go in for yet another appointment.  If it is not better by then we have to get an MRI done to see if something else is up.  YEAH.  she is growing up way too fast.  She looks older than 11, which can't be possible, it really can't.  I am too young to have a pre teen, really, I am.  Let's see...Thanksgiving was quiet this year.  It was spent at my parents house, which I love.  I enjoyed the caramel  yam the most this year.  Maybe because that is the only time I eat yams?    My kids got a lot of time with Grandma G.  They love that.  We put up our tree this year.  Mike got to put lights on the tree. (we got a new tree last year, no pre-lite tree..)  He picked colored lights.  Which wouldn't be that big of deal, except all my ornaments are red and white.  I don't really like the colored lights.  It looks off to me, but I decided not to change anything on the tree this year, and I let the kids just decorate the tree how they wanted and it is now the morning after and ladies, I have not touched the tree!  This is a huge step for me. :)

I am sure that other delightful things have happened, and I am sure I will think of them once I end this post.  But my brain is foggy from some dayquil I took, thank you little E man for giving me your cold..so I am off to veg out on the couch and watch Modern Family..oh my my.

Bad Mom Moments

You know you are a bad mom when you go to the store, and suddenly notice that your child has a dirty face, but not just a dirty face.  NO.  He has dirt all over his body, from head to toe.  The worst part?  You just shrug your shoulders and go into the store anyway.  Hopefully you don't run into anyone you know.

You know you are a bad mom when you encourage you five year old to skip school to stay at home, because GRANDPA and GRANDMA are coming to town, you even encourage you child to tell his teacher.  At least he got his homework done yesterday!

You know you are a bad mom when your daughter starts crying because you told her that the word "also" did not have to be in her language arts paragraph, and that using the word "fun" in a sentence twice isn't necessary and to think of another word and she protests that she does not know another word for FUN.

You know you are a bad mom when your kids are eating out of the cereal box and seven because you were too busy to make dinner.

If you can't tell, my life has been a little crazy.  I have spent all day cleaning my daughter's bedroom.  GASP.  I know, she is old enough to clean her room, and I know that having her clean her room teaches irresponsibility and integrity..but after three months (no joke) of telling her that her room did in fact need to be cleaned, and even after threats of dire consequences, and still the room looked like a flash flood, tornado and earth quake had invaded it was time to step in.  By stepping in, I really mean, throwing away a lot of junk.  Three hours and two garbage bags later the room was finally up to my standards with threats that if she does not keep it clean, then she will come home to an empty bedroom.

I have also taken it upon myself to make Luke's birthday cake.  He wanted a SUPER MARIO BROTHERS cake.  DUH me, thought this would be brilliant.  because you know, I have so many success stories on decorating cakes, why not just jump right in and make one?  WHAT AM I THINKING?  making the cake has been an adventure.  It started out with planning, and sketching and making.  Chocolate plastic my friends.  I thought, hey I can do this, it's just shapes!  UM..I forgot that i am not artistically inclined.  Oh well.  At least it will taste good right??

Now it's a matter of waiting for the aforementioned grandparents to arrive and have my weekend full of family and hopefully lots of fun.