Does it Get Better?

So Chelsey has been gone for about 10 days now. It really wasn't a huge deal at first, but now I cry little tears every time I read her blog or talk about her being away. What will I ever do when my boys go on missions?!? At least now I can call her and take a trip to see her. I love that she is blogging and doing so great at it. Whitley is getting to ride up with our old Bishop and his family over Labor Day weekend to spend time with her. What a blessing for Whitley. I'll have to get a hold of a paper she wrote for an English assignment. It's titled "She's Not Dead". She asked me to edit it, but I couldn't through the tears. Crazy girl.

In the meantime, I have been keeping busy with trying to do better with my laundry and running when I can and playing taxi. All the kids got parts in Alice in Wonderland, which practices for that start soon. Stephen is in baseball and Rhett is trying out for the basketball team. Brooklyn is running for secretary of the 6th grade and Nick is possibly starting with a training team for cycling. It's not even spring yet! (that's when it's supposed to be crazy)

Last Saturday we went running at Ussery. It's 3.5 miles very uphill and then you turn around and go back down, 7 miles total. I hadn't run 7 miles since the Ragnar in Feb. The uphill killed me. The downhill was fun, but I couldn't keep my pace without cramping. When it was all said and done, I averaged 11 minute miles. Not terrible for that long of a distance and the hard uphill. I am plenty sore though. My thighs are killer. I think we may run it again this Saturday since our Red Rock Relay is the weekend after that. I'm a little nervous about it, training has been difficult due to the heat. It will be fun to hang with everyone anyway.

It's canning season! Peaches, pears, tomatoes (salsa), apples....all coming in to season. It's very exciting, but a little stressful at times as well. I love to can when it's leisurely, but doing this much in such a short time can get overwhelming. It's totally worth it though. I think I'm done with pears, have done a few peaches, made a little jam and will do salsa this weekend. Then after the race, I will do more peaches and then it should be time for apples. We just planted tomatoes, cucumbers and pumpkins in the garden for winter. All that is can-able as well. Should keep me plenty busy!

I was called to be the Ward Activity Specialist (not sure what the exact title is) but I get to plan all the church activities. Right up my alley! It's a tough start though because Trunk or Treat and Christmas are right around the corner and it's the end of the year so the budget is pretty well drained. I have lots of ideas but am still trying to sort out which ones will be best. Any good ideas are welcome!

Sunday Best

Just a quick observation. We go to church every Sunday with the same people. I love to be at church and I love the people I see there each week. For some reason, this Sunday I saw it through different eyes. I got the warm fuzzies noticing the families walking in together. Girls with cute bows to match their dresses. Dirty little boys all cleaned up and looking spiffy. Dads carrying little ones, sisters holding hands....it just made me smile and be so grateful to be part of this community of wonderful people.

The end of Scouts

So I'm officially not a CubMaster any longer. I was actually sad to be released. I've never been a big fan of scouting, but I actually started to really like what I was doing and feel comfortable doing it. I guess that's when you get booted! Anyway, there is some relief, but not much...when I was asked to come meet before Sacrament meeting, I was not happy. My biggest fear was getting a new calling that wouldn't allow me to go to relief society. I stressed about it for several days. Truly, this wasn't the best time to make changes in my life. After all, my daughter just left me!! Like I need anything else.

Sunday morning came and I couldn't keep the tears away. I'm sure it was a lot of everything, but I wasn't looking forward to going to talk with Clint. Of course, I would say yes to anything they asked of me, but I was practicing my "I'd love to!" face. I can't really say what they called me to yet, but it does allow me to go to Relief Society. For that I'm SO grateful. I can't say I'm overjoyed about my new calling. It kind of feels like a "we have no use for you right now so we'll stick you here" kind of calling. I know that's a terrible attitude and I will actually enjoy what I'm doing, just feels out in sucky right field.

This weekend was auditions for the upcoming fall plays. Whitley, Stephen, Rhett, Brooklyn and Dalin all tried out. The first three got call backs but we won't know what they are doing till probably Friday. So proud of them for their ability to get out there and DO it. I miss those days.

I thought the heat couldn't get any worse. I was wrong. Throw a quick rain shower into 109 degree weather and you have 109 with 58% humidity. Yikes! Seriously...ENOUGH!!

Off to College

The day has arrived. After the dance last night, I came home to find Chelsey still puttering around at midnight. I told her to go to bed! She was up by 6 and hanging out with the two little ones. She had Bo in tears, so I assured him she was just a few hours away and that we would go visit her. I had planned on leaving my kids to fend for themselves all day, but that started to make me nervous, so I farmed them out to 5 different places. SO grateful to those who helped! We planned on leaving by 9 but didn't get out till almost 10. Glade, mom, Nick and I all came along.

We hadn't gotten too far when Chelsey started complaining about cramps. We gave her some Motrin but it wasn't doing much for her. Within not too long, she was crying and saying how bad it hurt. Once she started crying, she had a hard time getting a hold of it. Soon she was saying her hands were cold and numb and it was hard to breathe. Mom rubbed her back and we tried to calm her down. We decided to pull over and get a drink and let her out for a minute. We were barely in Phoenix at this point.

As soon as she got out of the truck, she sprawled herself on the dirty sidewalk in front of the QT. Now she was white as a sheet and not crying, but moaning and a little "out of it". I sat beside her while the others went in to get a drink. She was saying everything hurt, her arms were tingly, she couldn't breath.... honestly, she looked like a strung out teenager. A couple of people even offered to call 911 for us. Mom and I came to the same conclusion rather quickly. She was having a panic attack. I went through something very similar as a teenager and when they took me to the hospital, they insisted I tell them what drug I took so they could help me. I assured them I hadn't but they didn't believe me. Watching Chelsey, I could see why, she was a wreck.

I explained what was happening to her and that there wasn't anything a doctor could do, she just needed to calm down and relax. I convinced her to take a Motrin PM to relax her and help her go to sleep. I helped her up to take her to the bathroom before we left and she could barely walk. Wouldn't keep her eyes open. She had been in the stall for a long time and I was worried that she would pass out, but I hadn't heard a thud yet so I waited. Finally she opened the door, but stayed in the stall (handicapped) and sprawled herself on the floor right there in front of the toilet. In a gasp a tell her to "get up!" She said she couldn't, it was too hot, she needed the cold. I pulled her up and walked her to the truck. She kept saying she needed Daddy to give her a blessing.

Once she got to the truck, she crawled in the back seat and laid there moaning. At first Glade was a little annoyed with her behavior, but I assured him she wasn't just being dramatic about cramps. As I was telling him what was going on, she started calling for him "Daddy! Daddy.." That got his attention. He stood right there by her and gave her a blessing. When he was done, she asked me to sit in the back with her, so I did. She laid her head on my lap and within minutes, her color was back and her skin had gotten warm again and she was completely relaxed. The other three were in the front seat and Glade had gotten some Gobstoppers. She heard the box rattle and said "is there candy up there?"

She ate several Gobstoppers, downed the turkey sandwich we bought her, had a little bit of conversation and then slept the rest of the way. Totally fine the rest of the day. I look at it as such a blessing that I had that experience as a 16 year old. Had I not, we probably would have taken her to the hospital, but I was able to talk her through it and know what to do. Mostly, so grateful for the Priesthood and a husband who is worthy of it.

The rest of the day was extremely uneventful. All four girls were there with their families trying to move everything in. It was quite chaotic, but very exciting. Mom and I left for lunch and were gone probably too long, but there wasn't much we could do anyway. Once most things were settled, we made a grocery list of all their necessities and went to the grocery store. Finally it was time to leave. It wasn't a big emotional goodbye, just some hugs and last minute directions and advice. On the way home, Nick said "I thought I was excited for her to leave, but now...it doesn't feel like it." Whitley avoided her when we left and was in tears when we got home. She will miss her big sister the most. They talked for an hour before they both went to bed. She told Bo she would call him when he got home from school on Monday. I think we will all feel a little lonely for the next few days.

This is her back yard. Nice! It was a hard thing, but I'm so proud of all she's accomplished and I know she will do great. Like I keep telling everyone else, she's only a couple hours away!

Dance!!

For a long time I have wanted to put on a dance for the grown ups. We don't dance nearly as often as I would like. Well, we never dance actually. So I made the arrangements and organized a playlist and invited all my closest (everyone I knew) friends to come and party with us. I had a lot more promises to come than actual people come, but that's to be expected. We had 11 couples with final count. I can only speak for myself, but I had a blast! It was slow getting started but it wasn't long before all caution was thrown to the wind. I stopped worrying if I looked good or if people thought I was weird and just had a great time. Of course, I loved every song played ( I made the list) so it was just really super fun for me. I think everyone else had a good time and I was grateful they all obliged me and came along!



Clint and Alicen were our dance instructors for the evening. They can cut quite the rug with the partner dancing.

I think everyone enjoyed the line dancing. We did Boot Scoot and Boogie, the Electric Slide and the Casper something or other.

They looked awesome!

I loved seeing everyone get out there and give it there all.

BFF Leslie. She and Christian stayed with me to the end! Just like the old days.

The Kettrings. They both proved that white people CAN dance!

Ok, so a lot of people pooped out by then end, but I'm ok with some good old fashion "chat".

I think it was a success. I had to ponytail it not too long after it started. Dancing till you sweat comes a little easier than it used to! Maybe we'll do it again one of these days!

Old friends from high school, it was so good to see everyone!

Counting the Days

Right now I'm living day by day. Somehow a whole lot got crammed into one week. Thursday was my first canning class. A few of my friends helped convince me this would be good. I was really nervous, I've only been canning about a year and I'm a little of a rebel when it comes to following the rules. Anyway, nine gals showed up and we learned how to do fruit. It was awkward at first and I have a hard time staying on track, but I think it turned out good in the end. I will feel successful if one girl gets a bug for canning and being self sufficient. Next week we are doing meat and jam.

Stephen's baseball meeting was that night. We paid for him to do fall ball so he would have a chance come spring. This has been a real challenge for him to be the little fish in a big pond. He's been very frustrated and down on himself questioning whether or not he should have done it. They have been divided into two teams now and most of his friends are on the same team so that's helpful. Let's just hope he can give it his all and have fun in the end.

After, we went to watch the kids roadshow practice. It's very cute and I'm excited to see it finished. Rhett struggled in his normal "weird way". I hope this gets easier for him as he gets older. While there, Chelsey called and wanted permission to stay out all night with her friends. Now, they would be at a house, but they wanted to stay up all night before one of them left the next day. I told her no, it wasn't a friendly exchange. The next day was her last day here and she had a lot to do. It just didn't make sense. We both hung up mad. I finally came to the conclusion to let her suffer her own consequences and let her make her own choices. I did inform her though that I had stuff to do and wouldn't be rearranging my plans to fit hers once she decided she was too tired to get up. By the time I decided this, she decided she was coming home anyway. Grrrrr, parenting is hard.

Why oh Why

Why does everyone else's decisions have to impact me. It's really just too exhausting to be the parent of a bunch of teenagers. Isn't there a trade in program somewhere? Everything is so dramatic and earth shaking. This is where the "satan" part of me likes to rear it's head. Let me just make that choice for you so we can all move on! I guarantee mine will bring you less stress and drama. I don't remember having that much emotion about everything as a teenager, I'm sure I did, but I must have blocked it. Kinda seems the same as homework, I've already put my time in...I'm not doing anymore homework, it's yours! Well, I already put my time in with the heartache and drama and hard choices, why do I have to go through it all over again?? Oh yah, cuz I love them and their pain is my pain. *sigh*

Toot Toot!

That's me blowing my own horn. It's my blog, I'm allowed! This morning I was unfortunate enough to be awake at 5:30am. Seems to be the way of it these days. I mumbled to Glade "do you supposed it's cool outside?" He gave me an emphatic "yes!" I think he even quoted me 73 degrees. Ok, Ok...up I got. I haven't been so faithful in my running lately, I only ran once last week. I ran Monday night because I got a surge of energy and felt the best I had felt in almost 48 hours (allergy attack) so that was good.

Since I was pushing time (gotta get back for scriptures), I decided I would just run 3 miles hard. I could do that. I got about a mile and a half and was pooped! I walked just a little and then went on. The "coolness" of the morning no longer felt good. I'm pretty sure if it's above 55 it's too hot. Anyway, past 2 miles, I had to walk/run the rest of it. Basically I walked over half a mile total. Not that great for someone who was going to run it hard. By the end, I was dripping with sweat and very ready to be done. I turned off my iPod (keeps track of my runs) and it told me I averaged 10:20 min/miles. Hmmm, it also said I ran my fastest mile. That last part isn't accurate cuz I've had to reset my iPod so it doesn't have my actual fastest one on there.

What I'm really "toot"ing about is that when I got home to analyze my run (iPod again), most of my running was between 8:40 - 9:15 min/mile. What's really the great thing about that is that I didn't feel like I was running that fast. What that boils down to is that my sprints on the treadmill are paying off. I'm starting to run that fast as my normal pace. That's awesome! What's not awesome is that I can't keep it up for long distances, hence why I was so stinkin pooped. That's ok though cuz it's still progress. THESE days make me want to run again! "toot! toot!"

AHHCHOOO!

Sunday sucked. I woke up sneezing and could never stop. I took both Clariten and Benadryl but neither did anything for me other than make me spacey and tired. By the time it was time to go to church, my head was pounding and my throat burned. I contemplated staying home, but that seemed silly since I wasn't "sick". I decided to lay down for just a few minutes to see if that helped. Church starts at ten. At 9:26 I was still in bed. I decided to just get up and go. It was the right thing to do. I barely combed my hair, threw on clothes I hated and started out the door.

I called for the big girls, but they didn't come down. We always leave at 9:45 and now it was 9:52. I was really irritated so I left without them. Chelsey can drive so I wasn't too worried. Got to church, got settled and had even given myself a pep talk about enjoying the day. It wasn't too far into church when the sneezing started again. Sneeze, blow...sneeze, blow...grrrrr! As the sacrament was being passed, Dalin was messing around leaning forward playing with his shoes so we passed it right by him. I could have nudged him, but again...irritable. When he sat up and said "I didn't get one!" I barked at him that maybe if he paid attention he wouldn't miss things. That made him cry, which made me cry. I was being so mean and it wasn't even his fault. Once the tears started, there was no turning them off. I kept my head down, but now I was really needing to blow! As soon as the sacrament was done being passed, I turned to Glade and told him I was going home. I guess he hadn't noticed the crying so he was a little in shock. I got up and left.

At home I crawled into bed and slept for the next 2.5 hours. The kids came home (Chelsey took Whitley to the singles ward with her, but was there at the end to bring them all home). They were very sweet, Chels made lunch and Bo kept telling me he was sorry I was sick. I took another hour nap with Katy after lunch then had to get moving for Sunday dinner. The evening wasn't as bad as the morning, but still bad.

This morning I'm still sneezing, but now it's all settling in my chest. My sinuses are still congested and my throat still burns. I hate allergies. So today has been a jammie day doing nothing but laundry and computer stuff. Luckily the menu calls for homemade chicken soup tonight. I really need to run, but can't see that being too realistic. Lots of people called to check on me and that was really sweet, it's nice to be missed.

The week went really well. Everyone still loves their teachers. Thursday night I decided to take them to the pool after school to escape this awful heat we are having. This was the first time all summer I couldn't wait to dive in! I had Enrichment that night so we were home in time for dinner and for me to get there by 7. We had our annual "clothing exchange". I didn't really bring much home, not much was needed, but I saw several who did, what a blessing for them.

Friday I took Katy grocery shopping, just the two of us. It's been awhile! I very much enjoyed leisurely shopping, not worrying about what was happening at home. Bo came home kinda grouchy so right after lunch he asked to watch TV in my bed. Wasn't long before he was out. He slept for almost 4 hours. I am anxious to get Brooklyn out of their room and upstairs with Whitley. I'm hoping they will get to sleep earlier. We'll have to see.

Chelsey's mind is running a thousand times a minute. She has made a to-do list and carries it around with her. There are some important things and then are some that I tell her can wait. Everything is urgent to her at this point. She's very cute, but making me a little crazy with it all! I will miss her terribly.

This morning, Whitley had a 6am work meeting so I decided since I had to be up that early anyway, I might as well go running while I waited for her. Glade came with me and we ran at the park. The low last night was like 87. Didn't make for a very cool early morning. We only got 3 miles in when a friend showed up looking for her husband. I guess he was out for a ride and had crashed somewhere at the park. Glade ran and got to him and helped him back with his bike. Their son was getting baptized today so it was very unfortunate timing. Turns out his collar bone is broken. Very sad, but glad he's going to be ok. So far it's been a long day of taxiing kids around in the heat. Tonight we are seeing "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the Broadway Palms. That should be lots of fun! Next week bring tons of activity so right now I'm taking one day at a time!

First Day of School

The long awaited first day of school. The day before, we went to meet their teachers. Everyone was happy with who they got and very excited to see all their old friends. Unfortunately, that night was our crazy Tuesday night with Pack Meeting and mutual, so it wasn't a calm, get ready kind of evening. Brooklyn was very helpful in getting everyone showered and clothes ready for the next day. Sleeping did not come easily. I sent Bo back to bed several times, he has a little nervous excitement going on.

They were all up and dressed by 6 am, ready to go. This practice will fade within a week, always does. In the meantime, I don't mind too much. I made them tidy up before they left. We got everyone loaded up and headed out. I walked Bo back to the playground and showed him where to put his stuff. He played on the playground for a few minutes before the whistle blew. I love that I don't have clingy, shy kids. It makes it so much easier! Now, on the other hand, I had to drag Katy out by her hair. She sat down with arms folded and said she wasn't leaving.

While Bo was at school, Chelsey, Katy and I went and did a little shopping for Chels before she heads out in a week. Bo came home right at 11:30 and when I asked how his day went, he said "three words: Gr-eat!" He had some lunch, told us about his day, which was uneventful and then Katy stated she was ready for her nap. It was only noon, so I told Bo he could watch a movie while I laid down with Katy. I also told him if he wanted to come lay with us, he could. About 1, Bo poked his head in ( I was reading my book) and said he was tired. So I laid with him for a few minutes till he fell asleep. Now I had almost 2 solid hours till anyone came home. I vacuumed and swept and cleaned and loved every minute of it! I organized my coupons, made a shopping list..very productive time. I had to get the other kids around 3 and they all reported that they had the best teacher at the school. Glad to hear that! Rhett did fine on his first day of Jr. High. He's always a little nervous with new things so I didn't expect a glowing report from him, but it wasn't bad either.

About 4 pm, I finally insisted Bo wake up from his nap. Three hours! I knew morning kindergarten was the best option for him. I had a short time before dinner so I headed to Fry's to use my coupons. My original total was $152, my final total after sale prices and coupons was $41, plus a $3 off my next order. $30 of my savings was just coupons. That pays for two months of my newspaper subscription! I love days like that.

I made dinner, got everyone settle and went to sub for a bunko group in our ward. Chelsey did the mom thing for me in exchange for me not waking her up early this morning. Fair trade to me! It really was a great first day and I think we'll all be happier now that there is routine and our time is organized and productive.

Rhett

Brooklyn

Dalin

Boldon

Katy

Bo and Dalin on the swings

Brooklyn took Katy and played with her while we waited

Lainey and Bo waiting in line

Everything BUT the race

My pictures are all in a scramble so I will just have to jump around. To leave off from my last report, the boys came back from their ride Friday morning and we all left for a run. The weather for running is Perfect! Because it was pre-race day, we had a lot to do. After getting ready for the day, we headed to the high school in Windsor to pickup their race packets. Once they had all their stuff, we drove part of the bike course and went to the beach where they would be starting the swim. It was a tiny beach, amazing they could fit that many people in one place.

Once the business was taken care of, we decided to spend the rest of the day at a little county fair nearby our hotel. Oh the smells of the fair! It's been awhile since I've been to a fair. We ate kettle corn and Jake ate some raw fish dish, ewww! We watched the horse races and looked at lots of farm animals. None of us were much for thrill seeking, so we didn't ride any rides, although Jake was itching to go on one, none of us wanted to go along. When dinner time hit, we went to a fancy pasta place, gotta get loaded on carbs ya know! We looked at the menu and decided we would fair better across the street at Sizzler. It's also been a long time since I've been to Sizzler! We turned in early so everyone could get a good nights rest.

We were up at 4:30 to get to the start line. I will go into race details another time. While the boys did their thing, Jenny and I filled our time with a few other things. I went running while they did the swim since there wasn't really time to leave. It was my fastest 5K. The town was a little hilly so the roads were either up or down. I averaged 9:36 min/miles, for me that is really good! We went back to the hotel and showered and then headed to the outlet mall. It was kind of small, but I came back with a few little things, nothing too exciting. We needed to get back to the race so we grabbed lunch and then spent the rest of the day sitting in the grass watching the boys run back and forth. We got back to the hotel about 11:30pm. Not one nap or snooze!

Sunday we drove to San Francisco to see what was to see. We first stopped at the Golden Gate bridge, then went over to the city to Fisherman's Warf. I didn't realize it was so commercial or I wouldn't have suggested it for Sunday. We walked around a little, the boys were limping is more like it. We bought taffy for the kids and tried to get on the trolley, but the wait was over an hour. We had lunch and then headed out. We drove as far as a little town called Solvang and stayed there for the night.

Got up and ran again Monday morning, again...so great! After breakfast we went around this little town that has a dutch theme. It's very cute and had tons of little bakeries and antique shops. We didn't have a lot of time, we needed to be getting home, but we did stop in at a little Christmas store. I got all my kids ornaments for this year while there. So, back in the car we went and pretty much came straight home. We got home right around 8 pm to a great welcome by most of the family who had come to welcome Glade home and hear his experience with the race.


These are the piles of crabs that lined the street in San Fran. The smell was seriously gagging me.

Glade tried his hand at "milking " the cow at the fair.

This is what lots of the roads looked like as we drove around Napa Valley, so beautiful.

This is where they swam for the race.

I only include this cuz the story is funny. We were running on Friday and Glade is always faster than me, but because he was taking it easy before the race, he stayed with me the whole time. Right at the end, he took off ahead of me...so in my competitive way, I decided I could keep up with him and stepped it up. What I didn't realize was that he was running ahead cuz he wanted to take my picture. He turned around to take it and "bam" there I was. Woops, sorry honey!

Willie Birds...nuff said.

Heading out for our run.

San Francisco from across the way. Amazing. While driving around, we went all the way to the top of the city and then back down. It's seriously steep! Every time we headed down, I would throw my arms above my head and scream. Crazy.

Funny thing about the bridge, it was super cloudy and cold over here, but when we went across to the city, sunny and warm. Looking back at the bridge, it still looked like this.

Alcatraz Island. I really really wanted to take a tour, but they were sold out till middle of August.

Jake, Jenny and Glade walking down the pier.

This was the scene in the little town the swim was in. I got to run with this as my view, gorgeous!!

Hills and hills and miles and miles of grape vines.

On the Softer Side

With so much that has gone on this summer, I feel like it's been a little bit of a wild ride. I need to get the rest of the pics of the race then I will finish that post. But on a softer note, some other little good things have happened lately that have made my heart smile.

I have had some concerns lately about a few of my kids, nothing serious, just concerned. I know we aren't perfect parents and haven't done all that we should, but I do feel like we have tried really hard. When they start thinking for themselves and have the freedom to act independently, it makes me a little nervous. It's kinda sucky cuz I want to tell details to make my point, but then there's always the privacy factor to consider. I guess I will just say this, even if lots of times they appear to be doing the opposite just to spite you...or trying new things cuz you never let them...there are also moments when they come right back and do all the things you hoped they would. Free agency is such a blessing, but it's also a cause for anxiety to a parent. It's nice to have little glimpses that all the time and effort hasn't been for naught. That underneath the teenage exterior is a kid who likes their parents. Even if they are small and not as often as I would prefer, it's so rewarding.