It's A Wonderful Life!: September 2013

Monday, September 30, 2013

Family History Sunday

This was an awesome Sunday. Spent the morning blogging, then went to church. Church was uneventful, but nice. Our third hour was a lesson on family history. I'm not going to lie, I was NOT looking forward to it. We've had a lot of lessons on family history and indexing so I was a little burned out on that one. But I went. That afternoon, we had our friends, the Kettrings, over for dinner. Delicious Alfredo, corn casserole, garlic bread, salad and pumpkin apple muffins for dessert. After dinner everyone pulled out their laptops and started looking up their "fan charts" on familysearch.org. Turns out Melanie and Glade cross over somewhere. The kids all started wanting to see theirs and then I pulled out the old pictures I got in Illinois from Grandpa Joe a couple of years ago. They are almost all unmarked and very old. But it was fun to go through them and read some of the things that were in there. Old cookbooks, report cards, journal type books, etc. Finally we all settled down to watch Ephraim's Rescue. Mel and I had seen it, but no one else. I just love that movie! The kids eventually got into it. At one point when they were showing a little boy crying as his mom was trying to convince him to walk across the icy water with her, Bo pipes up and says "I thought the pioneer children sang as they walked!" I guess he got to see the reality of pioneer life. But it was a wonderful night with great friends. We finished with prayer and ended the night. I love having great friends who believe as we do and share common interests and values. Now what to do with all those amazing pictures??

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Being a Mom is a Crime?

Yesterday, a midst all the craziness, I had my panties in a wad over an article I saw on FB. It was really stupid and the article itself meant nothing to me, but the comments are what really got to me. Essentially the gist of what people were saying is that LDS women are oppressed and have no clue about the world. I know that people are idiots and say things about things they know absolutely nothing about, but when it's about something you hold dear and means so much to you, it's just hard to swallow. So I decided to put my 2 cents in and make sure there was some voice of actuality on this thread. Here is what I wrote:
Where's the crime in loving your children? Wanting to be with them, nurture them, teach them? I'm a very smart and ambitious woman and I CHOOSE to stay home and raise my NINE children. Why are the only valuable activities attached to a pay check? You want to see success, see a contribution to society?? Follow my kids around for the next twenty years. You will find honest, hard working, faithful adults. Ones with integrity. That's because I chose to stay home and teach them. No value?? Oppressed? You telling me I have to earn a pay check, is oppressive. I'm not a man, I'm a woman and we're different. EQUAL, but different. I absolutely love being taken care of by my man. He treats me like a woman. We're a team! Just because you don't understand something , doesn't make it wrong.

My comment received several "likes", but I was also told that I clearly missed the point and that I couldn't possible be very smart if I had nine children. And if I did need that many, why didn't I adopt children who were abandoned and make a difference? I refused to enter into the banter and abuse that was going on. These were not people who wanted to understand or learn, just ones who wanted to be hurtful. The ridiculous things that were being said and name calling are so shameful. The bottom line of this for me is that we ( our church) base our lives and actions according to the scriptures and Gospel teachings. If you don't believe in that or put value in it, then we really have nothing to talk about. Why would you understand the Divine calling of motherhood? Or the respect and reverence we give to the priesthood? Or the sanctity of marriage and family that we believe in?

So why would I cast my pearls before the swine? To people who believe that unless a woman earns a paycheck and makes her mark in the business world, she has failed to "become". She has given herself no value. That staying home to care for and nurture your children is a wasted life. That we are so oppressed and "in the dark ages" that we can't possible know what's out there waiting for us. That success comes from your title. My question is, if all women need to get out there in the work force and prove their worth, who IS raising the children? No one. This is why we have 15 year olds killing out of "boredom". Statistically speaking, our prisons are filled with people coming from homes without mothers or fathers at home taking care of them.

One thing is correct, my success does come from my title. The title of Mother. Never have I had a job/title that has been so rewarding. None that brings me more honor and joy than that of teaching and loving my children. The world may see me as a wasted life. Ask my sweet (not so little) ones if I have no value. If my being at home is a waste, disappointing? Ask their future spouses and children and employers.....my contribution to society will be way more felt than any business I could run or title I could hold. Children need their parents, homes need mothers and we all need God.

Parent Teacher Conference

This kids had early release all week due to parent teacher conferences. With my first couple of kids I always looked forward to these because they were so good in school and the teachers always had such sweet things to say about them. Then we got to the middle three who were a bit more challenging in the school department. I still hold my breath when report cards come. They all have plenty of ability, it's just weather or not they choose to do the work.

But now I have Bo and Katy. It was an absolute joy to go to theirs. Katy had a practically perfect report card. I'm very sure her teacher even used the words "she's the perfect student". All her scores are above her class average and she does better on phonograms than almost everyone else. She said she was a great leader, reads SO good and that she can always count on Katy to know what's going on or to help her. Yep, that's my girl.

Bo's teacher wasn't quite as raving, but said he was always smiley, nice to the others and his scores are about off the charts. He is so stinkin smart. Be the end of his 3rd grade year, they want them reading at a 5.3 grade level. At the beginning of his 3rd grade year, he's reading at a 6.4 grade level. He's never missed a phonogram and she has started him on multiplying already. She also has requested him to be tested for speech because of his lisp. I was so grateful to get that letter! There's hope now!

Dalin is in JH so they don't really have conferences unless you request one, but he's doing really well except his English. For some reason, my kids just don't get it! But he's loving school, running XC and being in the choir. Switching schools was definitely a good thing for him. He ran his first meet yesterday and did well. He came in 45 out of 116 boys. Not too bad for his first meet. The fact that he even does it is awesome!

Counting Down

We have a lot of counting down going on around here. The big one, of course, is the wedding this coming Friday. We are all counting down that one for different reasons. Whitley can't hardly stand it and I just want my brain (and car) back. Katy on the other hand is counting it down cuz she just wants a play date! My standard answer to all the "can we.." questions is "Can we just do that after the wedding?" Stinks for them, I know, but our weekends are just really full right now!

Rhett is counting down till next Friday for a whole nother reason. That night is not only the reception, but a big XC meet as well. We discussed it as a family and decided to let the kids go run in the meet. They will have spent the whole day doing wedding stuff and will only have to miss part of the reception. This is a pretty big one as well. Yesterday he PR'd at 20:05 and finished 9th. He didn't even look that tired. He's finally got that need to win. I absolutely love it! Now, most of the boys PR'd so one does have to wonder if the course was as long as it was supposed to be, but they all assured me it was just a fast course. Doesn't really matter, he was stoked. I guess it will only matter next week when he does more like his normal times and is disappointed. Anyway, he can't wait for the next one. His coach said he is really working hard at practices and that makes me happy. Rhett isn't one to always do the hard things when someone isn't standing over him.

Nick is counting down to the day he can walk, about 12 days I think. He has been on crutches since that fateful jump from the cliff. He is extremely sick of having this limitation. If all looks well, he can START putting pressure on it. The doc said it might take a week or two before he can finally put full pressure on it. His one leg is SO skinny. Like seriously noticeably skinny. We will all be glad when he's not just a texting couch potato all the time. To give him due credit, he goes with Glade every Saturday to whatever service project they are doing and helps in whatever way he can. He's really good like that.

They are all counting down to fall break. Stephen is off now for two weeks, but the rest have another week before they get their break. The weather has sorta cooled off, but not great yet. The mornings are usually in the 60's which is nice, but it has warmed up beyond my comfort zone usually by about 8:30. Still 90's in the day. But at least it feels like a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Too bad we can't do anything very exciting over break. I'm sure just recuperating from wedding stuff will be just what we (I) all need.

Me, I'm counting down to all of it. I love Whitley and it has been seriously not stressful to plan the wedding, but I'm kinda done. Just want it to be here and over. My brain wants to move on to the next thing. I love watching Rhett run so I'm always excited for the next meet as well. As for Nick, way over that!! Mostly, I'm just excited to give myself permission to move on to the holidays!!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Another ReCap

My intentions are good, but I just never quite make it to staying caught up during the week. This week was no different. I can't even give a summary in chronological order so here goes the chaos:

- Helped at the kids school to do Health evaluations. I got the easy job of weighing and measuring height. I could have been stuck doing eye charts, but that was crazy. The little ones all pretty much tested as blind, lol. It was fun to be there though and I got to see Katy's cute little boy in her class. He is SO cute!

-fought with Rhett's teacher about online homework. That's another ranting and raving post I could do! But in the end it turns out Rhett wasn't missing a single assignment, but the teacher's electronic system wasn't recording properly. Not even an apology from that guy. It did entice me to write to all the administrations of my kids school though. I let them all know how I felt about online homework and why I disagreed with it. I only got one response and it was from the principal that when I heard he was the new principal I almost cried right there on the spot. Can not stand this guy, but decided to forgive and move on. Now I remember why I didn't like him.

-Allergies. Spent the entire day Wednesday sneezing. By the afternoon, I was so miserable and loopy from the Benadryl that I could barely function. I was in bed by 7:30. The next morning I looked really bad with my swollen eyes, but that afternoon when I picked the kids up from school, Katy gasped and told me I looked much better! You look perfect, she says. Love that girl.

-Choir concert. We all know how much I hate those, but I was going to go because I love the choir kid. He told me he was singing in the first two groups and then the very last. I thought it would be sufficient to stay for the first two then head home. After all, it didn't start till 7:30 and that's pretty late for a Mom who has children at home to tuck in. So I showed up at 7:25..... just enough time to hear him sing the last song of his second group. Apparently it started at 7. Dang! Now I had to stay to the end. It's all good though because when Stephen came off the stage, he came and stood by in the entry way and talked to me for several minutes. Then, right in front of the whole choir, kissed me on the cheek and went back to his seat. I guess I can stay....

-My friend Veronica has offered her professional skills at party planning/catering to help out with the wedding. So excited!! She already has had some really great ideas and I'm excited to let her run with it.

-Whitley has been SO sick. Hopefully she will get it out of her system soon. It's really not very productive to try to make last minute wedding preparations with a coughing, fevered bride. She goes through the temple next Friday, can't wait!

Book Shelves

Be-U-tee-ful!

I saw these on a FB page that is set up for local community use, and just had to have them!! My front living room has been a storage room for the last year and a half as I decided to redecorate. It took me way to long to get it all done, but now that's the last room I have to do. Soooo, I bought these beauties to inspire me to get it done! Over the past couple of weeks, I've been slowly getting crap out of there. Taken many things to Goodwill, given them away, sold them on FB...whatever it took to empty that room. I'm still not completely there, but getting close. Because I have the wedding in two weeks, it's still holding all the wedding stuff (that will need to find a place after that). But I did get a good start on it! And these shelves are perfect. They'll be one of those things I just sit and stare at and think to myself "good job!".

Stephen's Homecoming 2013

Stephen, senior year 2013, asked Katie Cooper to go with him to homecoming. He gave her a bucket of starburst and wrote the letters of his name on individual ones so she had to sort through to find out who it was. She answered with some Star cookies that said YES. They went first to play practice (good boy), then took them paint balling. I advised against that due to the welts those cute girls would surely end up with, but they went anyway. And had a blast! Even Katie said the welts were worth it.

I was the photographer for the night so I got to go pick her up with Stephen. Weird, I know. Luckily he still likes me. She was gorgeous! We met the rest of the group in Seville and took the rest of the pictures. They left there, went to Yao's for dinner and then to the dance. I heard them all come in to our house about 11, but they didn't stay long so I'm not sure what that was about. But by the FB posts I saw this morning, I'm pretty sure they all had an awesome time!

Whitley's Bridal Shower

We had Whitley's bridal shower here yesterday afternoon. It was so cute and there was such a good turnout. Chelsey, as her sister and Matron of Honor, took the reins and planned an awesome picnic party. She was aided, of course, by her super crafty Aunts.. Amy and Sherry. I can't forget all that Grandma does behind the scenes.. awesome! They had fun games, delicious food and of course wonderful friends and family.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

How it's going

Well it's going quite awesomely actually, thanks for asking! But for real, As busy and a little overwhelmed as I have been... things are shaping up nicely. I only have one song left to do for Grease, which is actually not a song I was slated to do, but the other girl is feeling stressed so I am. And the songs I have done weren't that stressful to do. It's a weird thing to say, but I'm actually kinda happy with how they turned out. I hope they end up good on the stage. Normally doing this really stresses me out and I stand there listening to the music having no idea of what to do, but this time was different. I can't say everything is 100% original, I've watched a lot of youtube videos. But before, I would sometimes have to resort to taking a whole chunk straight from a video when I would get stuck. I never did that this time. I definitely took moves I liked and incorporated them, but most of it just came to me as I worked on it. It felt really good!! Plus it's been really fun working with my kids. I even had someone comment on how cool it was how Stephen and I work together. Because there's so much partner dancing, I use him to demonstrate. He's big and strong and I know he won't drop me. Most of the time. But all in all it's been really fun so far and mostly drama free.

The wedding is coming along nicely as well. I started to stress that there was so much that still needed to be done and that I didn't have enough decorating ideas, so one day I took Mom and Chelsey and we went and got some stuff done. Some of the little things that weren't difficult, just needed to be done. Then last night a couple of new decorating ideas came to mind and now I'm actually a little excited about it. If we can just get these last invites out so that's not nagging me all the time, I'll feel much better!

The family life is same old same old. Busy!! But everyone seems to be doing well in school and loving the things they are involved with so that makes my life pretty easy. I often sit and reflect on how easy my life actually is and how seriously awesome I have it. It almost feels to good to be true! Speaking of which, my Grandma Bea is coming out for the wedding!! That is a miracle right there. I'm just so excited to have her hear I can't even tell you. We will be able to take a 5 generation pic with Brynlee. As for her, she is up to 8 lbs and smiling fairly regularly now. She's still a skinny little thing, but it's fun to have her react to you. I only see her about twice a week since they don't live that close, but it's so delicious to be able to kiss her to death when I do.

So, how's it going?? Awesome...just plain awesome!

Rhett in Cali

Rhett spent the weekend in Cali to run in a race with his team. Nine boys were chosen to go and he was one of them. I wish I knew more details about the meet, but I don't. I know that there were 19 teams and 9 boys per team. They left on Thursday, ran on Friday, played on Saturday and returned home late that night. I sent Rhett with our extra phone and he texted me the whole time. Now, I know that having a phone when you haven't before is really fun, but I like to believe he didn't just text me because he had a toy, but because he loves me.

He roomed with 4 other boys. He took his scriptures and said they all had scripture study before bed the first night. I haven't heard about the second night, but I love that they are willing. Friday he called before his race and then texted me as soon as he was done. His text was so awesome! I hope this isn't an invasion of his privacy but with technology today I decided to just show you straight from the source. This was his text when he was done:

This was his fastest time from last year and last Saturday he came in 7th on his team, so this was improvement. What I love most is all the exclamation marks. I've almost resigned myself to having to be ok with Rhett being totally fine being average. He puts very little effort into his running. He's so good just naturally, that it's frustrating to think how well he could do if he just tried a little bit. But he doesn't seem to want it like I do. So I had decided that I may just need to be Ok with it. But things like this make me think that he might get there someday. The hunger to do better and compete. I love to see him care.

The following texts are just plain sweet and special to my heart. We have a goofy thing between us about the song "A Thousand Years". I like to tease that it's our song. He likes to protest that that's weird. But it's a fun game to play. So the first text is from Thursday while he was bored and texting me on the ride to Cali. The second is from Friday night after the race as he was checking in with me at the end of the day. He was actually telling me that a girl he liked, liked him back. I made sure to tell him no smooching allowed! He said he doesn't "role like that". So I was telling how cool I thought he was and this is how the conversation ended. Mine is blue, his is yellow.

I will love him for a thousand years...

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Bo's a Smarty

As unfocused and squirlly as this little guy is, he's so stinking smart. He received awards for top speller, top multiplier and highest phonogram score. This, at a school that many label as scholastically challenging. If he can ever figure out how to stay moving and on task, he'll be ruling the world!! Ok, so maybe not the world, but he has great things in his future. ♥

STOP!

That's how I feel about time right now. Just give me a sec to catch up and take a breath. Apparently stopping time has not been figured out yet. Bummer for me. Life is going at warp speed for me right now. Trying to get Whitley married off (planning a wedding), choreographing Grease (so fun!) and keeping all my kids in the right places at the right times. My days are spent trying to get a run in, keep up on paperwork and try to not have laundry everywhere. That pretty much takes up all my time. Add in groceries, errands and trying to do anything fun OR get a nap in and I'm just spinning. Oh what I wouldn't give for a magic wand to just make my house clean and organized all in one swoop and let me start over from scratch. So many cupboards and shelves and closets that need help, but if I take the time to do that, my house ends up a mess and I spend the next two days trying to catch up on that! I think I just need to throw everything away. That sounds awesome right about now! I'm not actually complaining, just stating the facts.

Seems like Sunday I was going to do a great blog post about something, but never got to it. Now I can't remember. That's why its so hard to play catch up. I had Bunko last week and again with my other group tonight. Grease is going well, I'm actually not very stressed about that at all. Glade was home for dinner last night, which NEVER happens. He's been trying really hard to be present more. Stephen asked a girl to homecoming and she said yes. Rhett is dying to be 16 so he can get in on this dating thing. Nick fell three times on his crutches at school yesterday due to all the rain. Whitley is working at a daycare ( I did that) and is so far liking it. We got our first batch of invites mailed out and her shower mostly planned. I know there are tons of little things for her reception I haven't thought of that will hit me all at once. Less than a month! It rained like insanely crazy yesterday and I LOVED it! Flooded our street and all sorts of places around the valley. This morning was only 72*. That won't last, but I took advantage and swept the porch and the garage. If only my energy and availability could get on the same page!

So life at home on my own hasn't exactly gotten into a routine yet. Still feel pulled in many directions. Thinking that after the wedding maybe it will seem more slow paced.... (shh, that gives me another month of hope)

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Cross Country (XC) has Begun

Rhett and Brooklyn had their first meet yesterday. They get up and go run every morning at 5:30 with their team. Luckily for all of us, yesterday was overcast and almost cool, at least not hot. Not luckily it was clear out in Maricopa. It's a long way to go for a 22 min event. But I love to go and usually Mom goes with me as she did this day and even Glade came this time!! Right before the boys lined up, they all huddled for prayer. What sweet kids.

This was Brooklyn's first high school race. Before, she only ran a mile and a half, now it's 3.1 miles. She is not a natural runner but she tries hard. And even though she is almost always last, she keeps going. She finished in just under 40 min this time. We were told the course was actually 3.3 miles, but we're never really sure. I was so proud of her for doing it though. Nice strong finish!

Rhett never has a good first race. He psyches himself out. He starts off, sees all the people in front of him, talks himself into believing he can't win and he's not very good then stops trying. Then usually he crosses with some sort of cramp or ache and tears. Nothing different this year. I wish he could just believe in himself. Last year he finally got it by the state meet. Hopefully it doesn't take that long this year. His time was 21:55 with his best ever being 20:21. If it really was 3.3, that would put him quite a bit faster comparatively. He came in 7th on his team, not sure over all. Top 20 though. He's going to Cali next week to compete with his team. Wish I could be there.

Student of the Month

Katy was chosen for student of the month. This is awesome on so many levels, but mostly because she was chosen first last year and then again this year at a totally different school. She just loves school and has made lots of new friends. When she gave me her progress report, she sadly told me she wasn't that good in math. She had 100% in all areas except for math. That was 95%. Poor thing, how will she ever get through with grades like that!? I may have already told this story, but one day she came home with wet pants and told me her teacher didn't let her go fast enough. I asked why she didn't go during recess and she said she wanted to, but there wasn't enough time. She said she couldn't run because "that's a rule, ya know!". She takes rules very seriously. I love that about her, but also worry that she will stress too much as she gets older. I miss snuggling with her every day at nap time. Luckily for me she is usually very willing to take a nap on Saturday or Sunday so we still get a little time together. ♥

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Talent Show

Bo and Dalin both made the talent show at the end of the year last year. Bo did his cup stacking and was AMAZING. Cute not have been any cuter. Dalin sang a song Roses and Butterflies. He didn't exactly hit all the notes, but he's so fun to watch! (gets better at about 2 min in) I love that they have the confidence to go up there and do it.

The Wiz

Our Family was lucky enough to participate in a little known show called the Wiz. I was the director (sort of) and all the kids had parts, including Katy who wasn't actually quite old enough. Whitley was a crow/tornado dancer/citizen, Stephen actually dropped out not to far into it because of work, Rhett was a citizen/winkie, Brooklyn was a citizen/worker, Dalin and Bo were both evil monkeys and Katy was a munchkin. The show was a blast, we had amazing talent and the people were just awesome. One of the best experiences (aside from the directing). Just loved the whole cast! So enjoy a few snipits I was able to glean from others photos.