What it really means to be a Christmas Crazy

I have a reputation. Well, probably a few, but one big one is that I LOVE Christmas.  It's kinda my thing.  Some may use phrases like "Christmas Crazy" or OCD Obsessive Christmas Disorder (I had shirts made with that on it).  It's true, every bit of it.  I will own it loud and proud.  What I think some people miss in this whole picture of "full of Christmas", that's how Katy described me on a paper, is what it actually means to LOVE Christmas.  I mean, really, what's not to LOVE?!  The money? The hubub?  The busy-ness?  Guess what, you can LOVE  that too!  Let me tell you why I LOVE Christmas, for reals....

I once told my daughter not to get engaged around Christmas.  It might be tainted.  Why, you ask?  Because Christmas is LOVE.  In a million different ways, Christmas brings feelings of LOVE.  First and foremost, there's the LOVE of and for our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He is the reason for the season, right?  We celebrate His life every day of the year, but in December, we celebrate his birth.  Another reason for LOVE.  The miracle of life!  I have experience that exact same miracle and emotion of pure LOVE every time I gave birth to one of my children.  Nothing more witnesses to me that God is real and that He loves me than to bring a precious soul into my family and into my arms.  Children.  Not just the gift of them, but the world through their eyes is so beautiful and trusting and  innocent and magical!  Christmas brings that out in abundance and it's such a joy to watch a child experience all that Christmas has to offer.  Watch a sappy Hallmark movie or listen to the songs of the season, it's all about LOVE!  Ooey Gooey romantic and beautiful LOVE.  Makes you all warm inside.  Warmth.  I live in a miserable hot existance where a roaring fire only makes things hotter.  But, a glowing fire, twinkling lights, hot chocolate, cozy blankets...all provide warmth for your soul.  Guess what adds the big cherry on top to all the warmth?  Family.  Every aspect of Christmas revolves around the family.  Whether its gift giving, parties, baking, crafting, movie watching, light seeing..being with family brings the ultimate warmth to my soul.  LOVE.

Combine sparkly, pretty things, warmth, family, a Savior and ooey gooey LOVE...why wouldn't I want that to last as long as possible?  When you fill your holiday with things that matter,events that bond, things that bring warmth to your soul, the messy things like money, crowds and calendars become not so burdensome.  You unconsciously smile when you see a lit up tree, or hear a familiar song or smell your favorite holiday candle because you have filled your holidays with beautiful things that build and grow LOVE.  And every year after year, that big sleigh full of blessings and memories and warmth and LOVE comes jingling back reminding you why you LOVE this time of year!  Yes, I'm a Christmas Crazy.  My children are becoming the very same thing and I LOVE that they have felt and experienced the same warmth and love that I have as we've shared our Christmas' past.  So bring on Christmas in October or June or maybe even March....can there be too much LOVE?

On an awesome funny/wonderful side note...Whitley called me the other day to tell me that when she is older and has all the money in the world, she is going to have a Christmas room.  One that is Christmas all year round.  That way, if she is ever sad or just misses Christmas, she can go in there and sit for awhile.  THEN, she says, when I (me) get old and delusional and can't take care of myself, I can come live in her Christmas room.  I'll take it!!

First Day of School 2015

It's July 22, 2015 and the kids have just gone back to school for their first day!  This is a scary day because my two oldest just switched back to a school they have been away from for 3 years.  I hope they do ok, and find their friends from before and new ones that will help them to be successful and happy.  Dalin is starting high school this year, making 3 high schoolers!  Yikes for me.  Bo and Katy both got the teachers they were hoping to get and I know they'll do great.  Now, I'm not that mom that's all gushy like "oh my babies, I'll miss them so much!".  Nope, let's get real.  All day every day togetherness is not really good for anyone!  I love them to pieces, but we are all happier when we've had some time away.  Sincerely, my kids are so much happier when their brains have been active, their bodies moving and they've had interaction with peers.  This is healthy!  And I love being able to get stuff done and have my brain all to myself for a bit each day.  Then I'm way more ready to take on the rest of the day and the chaos that comes from homework, extra curriculars, dinner and bedtimes.  It's a win win.  As we were looking for classes at the HS, I saw this on the wall and was super excited that my kids school does not shy away from using scripture in their teaching.  I mean after all, what better book to get good advice from?

It's Our Song

Ok, Maybe this is weird, but it is what it is.  I kind of have a "song" with some of my kids.  You know, something happens and it just kind of becomes "your song".  Not all of them are even mutual, but just that that particular song makes me think of them.

 For Chelsey, it's Don't Break Even.  We were driving up to Flagstaff to get her ready for college and it came on and I hadn't heard it much and I don't know...seeing her in the seat next to me, her singing, me liking it, us doing something new and important together...It just kind of stuck.  I think of that moment every time I hear it.

I'm not really sure I have one for Whitley, but here are a couple that make me think of her for strange reasons.  Thunder is one, cuz she loved it and it was my ringtone for her.  Then there's Wanted.  That's totally weird cuz it's really something that was between her and her first boyfriend, Jordan.  But it was so sweet and then I was sad when they broke up and now this awesome song with a sweet experience was tainted, lol.  I'm not sad they broke up, just that it ruined the song.  Weird, I know.

Nick, well there's this song...How to Save a Life...probably self explanatory.

Stephen has two.  One is because we were driving and it came on and he cranked it and started singing along saying how much he loved it.  I'm not even sure of it's official name, but it was a country song about Rolling the Windows down.  He was so cute.  Then there's Uncle Cracker's You Make Me Smile.  That one makes me do a little gasp whenever I hear it now that he's been gone for so long.

Rhett's is probably the most "mutual" one.  Long story short, I fell in love with this song and wanted someone to sing it for auditions.  He readily agreed and when he sang it, it was so beautiful. Seriously, I wanted to punch him it was so sweet.  It's A Thousand Years.  So now that's our song.  We were skating one time and it came on and he yelled "mom!" across the rink and pointed at me.  Now that he's getting older, he's a little less "committed" to it, but he knows. ♥  The other day he suggested a new song become ours.  I can't even remember what it was, but it was funny.

Just the other day Bo declared that he and I have a song.  Just randomly, the same song has come on twice recently while we were driving and he was in the front seat.  It was Separate Ways by Journey.  he was just drumming and air guitaring with all his might!  We talked about how some things are just always great, like Journey.  We sang it loud and proud.  The second time it came on, he lights up and says "Mom, this is our song!".  Sweet, we have a song!

That brought up the conversation with the other kids about "whats our song?"  I tried to explain that you don't just choose one, you have an experience and it all just connects.  So now sweet Katy is looking for something to be our song.  Right now she's going with Shake it Off, but I'm sure something real will come along sometime soon.  That just leaves Dalin and Brooklyn.  Guess we gotta keep driving places!!

The End of Summer

It's a bit misleading..that whole "end of summer" thing.  That would truly be delightful, but it's gonna be summer here for about 3 more months.  BUT, school has started so it's the end of summer VACATION. So here's what we rounded our summer out with.  

 Cow day at Chick Fil A!!  This is a tradition and when it started, there weren't many who did it, but now it seems everyone is on board so it's always a crazy busy day there.  The deal is that if you dress like a cow, you can have any meal for FREE.  What we won't do for a free meal.  

We tried to take full advantage of Pogopasses this summer, but I kinda waited till the end so we did lots of stuff the last week or so.  This is Laser Tag.  Chelsey and Spencer came with us as well as my Mom.  She is the sweet one to always sit out with Brynlee so the rest of us can duke it out inside.  This time we were all on the same team though.  And I'm sure I have to tell you that "I won the whole game!".  Ok, so there were lots of little kids in there, but I still won!!  Rhett took me 2/3 in air hockey games though.  

Before we played laser tag, we went to Happy Joe's for pizza.  This is a place that is big back in Illinois.  Many fun birthday memories here (or there).  So when they opened one in AZ, I was very excited.  But I must say, it was a bit of a disappointment.  First, it was really expensive!  Our very favorite place to go is Barros and it's like almost half the price.  Now, they don't have the taco or BLT pizza, but it was still a bit of sticker shock for me.  Plus, what you see in the picture is pretty much the whole restaurant.  Super tiny.  But, we went and it was good.

Sunsplash!  This one outing is what we say makes the pogopass totally worth it.  Last year was the first time the kids had been.  We had a blast.  This year, I don't know...they just seemed really bored.  Not sure why.  We left and got dinner at McD's and stayed till it closed, but honestly, it was a little "clouded" by the amount of nakedness there.  I know, it's a pool, but my kids had lots to say about it when we left.  Even Katy was uncomfortable with how many peoples boobs she saw that day.  That's a whole different post though.

 Three Days of Service.  That's what the youth in our ward did one weekend.  They were supposed to do as much service as they could find.  Dalin went all out the first day.  Brooklyn did tons of stuff too. Rhett, well let's just say he could have done a little more.  This is Dalin making rubber pancakes for everyone.

In case this is news, Chelsey is having a baby!  She is due the beginning of December.  She was lucky enough to have her ultrasound on her birthday so she found out what she was having that day.  Fun bday present!  So, she's having a girl.  I guessed it!  I know, it's 50/50 but I still guessed it.  She brought over chocolate cake and we sang to her and enjoyed celebrating her loveliness.

 On the last day  before school started, the little kids had meet the teacher, of which I took no pictures.  Both kids got the teachers they wanted and are very excited to start school.  After, we all went to Mod Pizza for lunch with Gram.  After that, the big kids and some friends of ours all went to the Temple to do baptisms for the dead.  I took them for ice cream after to finish out a fun last day of summer.  

This is Glow Golf at Fatcats.  Another pogopass outing.  I wasn't in love with this one.  This concept is cool, but it's really hard to play golf in the dark!  I can't tell you how many times I hit the ground before the ball cuz there's no depth perception.  If I wasn't so competitive I may have been able to enjoy it.  Besides that, it was really noisy and chaotic.  We'll go back and do their glow bowling another day.

Cherries!!   I always buy the 30lb boxes of fruit and then get in a panic and have to do something with them in a hurry so they don't go bad.  So we all pitched in and pitted them all and got them canned.  This same morning, I wasn't letting anyone on the "screens".  I had found an old bag of flower seeds in my closet so I gave them to Bo and Katy and told them to go find a place to plant them.  It kept them busy for about 30 whole minutes!  They each picked a place, raked it, threw down some soil and planted their seeds.  I'm fairly certain they won't grow or that they will even remember that they planted something, but at least they were up and doing something!

This is what I'm left with now that my big kids are moved out and I have Rhett as my lead.  Wrestling all the time!  Oy, I hate boy behavior.  Really, we can't sit and play barbies or dress up?  Its always something physical where I'm sure something is gonna break.  But look at those faces!

Switching Schools

Got some big changes going on over here.  A bit of history: 3 years ago when Rhett started HS, the school we were currently attending and LOVED didn't offer a high school.  So we switched to a new school that was just opening very close to our home.  We really liked it the first year.  Since then, it has really troubled me.  Every year there has been a different principal and many teachers leave right in the middle of the year.  I won't go into the details of all the reasons we have chosen to leave, I'm not looking to defame or insult anyone, but let's just say "it was time".

Back in February, I kind of tossed out the idea of switching back, our school now offers a high school.  I was really just expressing frustration, but Rhett jumped right on it and hasn't wavered in his decision.  Brooklyn, however, laid on the floor and cried at the mere mention of it.  So I wasn't ready yet to make her do it.  We went down the road of getting Rhett switched over and the more we did  it and dealt with both schools, the more I was sure that Brooklyn needed to come back as well.

Let's just say it didn't go well when I told her.  I waited till all her finals were done and there was only a day and a half left of school.  But surprisingly, she came around quite quickly.  It's still not her first choice, but she has been very mature and reasonable about the whole thing.  It's honestly been such a huge relief to cut ties and have all my kids back at the same school again.

The challenge comes in because it's Rhett's senior year and according to AIA rules, if you move, you can't compete in sports for a year.  Dumb.  But even knowing that, we still felt it best to move on.  We have an appeal in to the AIA asking them to make an exception.  We won't know the outcome of that for another couple of months.  I'm so proud of both of them for doing hard things even though they don't completely understand all the reasons.  Two more weeks till school starts and I'm so nervous for both of them!  They will know lots of kids, it's just hard when you've been away and your loyalties were elsewhere.  But thank Heaven for consistency and same schedules and trust and happy families. ♥

Stephen in Hawaii

I won't say a lot about this, he has a mission blog.  Oh wait, he gave that up after a few weeks.  We'll get it going for him again though.  What I WILL say is that he is doing GREAT!!  He's been out a year and a month and loves it completely.  He's only been in two areas thus far with about 5 different companions.  The people there take really good care of him and I'm fairly certain he is planning on returning to go to school there when he's done with his mission.  We'll have to see about that one. Here are just  few pics of what he's been up to.

This was really special because someone else posted it.  This sister missionary was hit by a car on her mission and was in critical condition.  Her parents were working in Hawaii, so once she was stable, they transferred her to a hospital there.  Stephen was privileged enough to get to go sing to her.  Imagine my surprise when I saw this video and it was MY boy singing.  Her name is Kendal Levine and you can google her to read her story.  It's amazing!

Rhett

Where to even begin with this kid?  Rhett turned 17 in February and will be a senior here  in a couple of weeks.  I like to describe my relationship with Rhett as bipolar.  Either I want to hug him, or punch him in the face.  Not much in between for this kid.  He is super smart and talented and completely unmotivated to do anything with it.  He was in his school's high choir, but will still insist he can't sing.  He was on the back up ballroom team and that's probably his very favorite thing to do. He wasn't able to do track because he was in the school play HSM as Ryan and they overlapped.  He continues to work at  Taco Bell, over a year now.  He has taken a recent interest in  Rugby and Parkour.  Both make me nervous.  He's had a girlfriend for the last couple of months and I'm pretty sure that's the only reason he passed his classes.  Thanks Jocelyn!  He serves as the first Asst in the Priest Quorum at church and is planning on serving a mission when he graduates in a year.   

Glade took the priests in the ward on a ski trip that I was lucky enough to tag along for.  Rhett had never skied and is not much of an adrenaline junkie.  To make a long embarrassing story short, it took a really long time to get down the hill the first time.  I'm sure his girlish screams and tears were a sight for many that passed us.  Yes, he did take the lessons first.  No, he didn't quit, the second time down he went like a champ and even tried to coach his friend like "it was no big deal".  Funny boy.

One of these Elders were transferring so we took them to Taco Bell to be able to say goodbye to Rhett.

For Rhett's birthday, I took him out of school and we went to Firehouse Subs for lunch. I love that he is not yet embarrassed by me, but is happy to still hang out with me.

I took Rhett and Dalin to see a movie McFarland which was about cross country runners.  It's fun to spend some time with my big boys. 

Rhett in choir

Rhett got the part of Ryan in the school play.  He was awesome!  This is the first time he's ever had a lead role.  He's had lots of "second string" parts but nothing lead like this where he sang solos and had lots of lines.  Love love loved watching him shine.

If you're gonna use Mom's phone to take 50+ selfies, be prepared to suffer the consequences

This is what kind of ended his obsession with Parkour.  He actually is pretty good at it for having no training, but just messing around.  He got his back flip down pretty good and even did it for a show he was in.  He could do it pretty much anytime.  Well, he was practicing it for another show and he was still kind of walking when he went into it, so he lost his footing and face planted.  When the school called to tell me and ask me to come get him, I was kind of mad.  I was thinking "I have to get you for a little rugburn?"  Then when I saw him, I felt really bad.  That is NOT makeup of any kind, that's what he looked like.  He hasn't done a flip since.  Gotta get him back on the horse.

Ballroom