Month of Gratitudes

I have had such a hard time getting back here and writing.  I don't know that I want all the bad and hard stuff out there in cyberland (even though I know my few faithful followers would never care or share it) because a lot of what has been going on is my boys' story, their healing and trauma and not mine to share with the whole of the electronic world.  And somehow writing about the good stuff has been hard too.  I don't want only writing about the good stuff to make it appear that everything is okay or somehow to minimize the challenges and difficulties of our lives and how truly difficult it is and what a long journey healing is.

That being said, I need an out...somewhere to remember that our lives are going on and not just ending here.

So.....what to do?  I'm not going to make promises or set goals or whatever because I've done that before and never followed through....but I am giving myself permission to blog....and we'll see where that takes us...

Today I finished a weighted blanket and pillow case for a friend and they'll go in the mail on Monday...

I also made yummy bias to edge another quilt that has been a lost unfinished orphan for far too long

It snowed...the boys had fun....most of it is gone now

Brady worked with the boys on getting a roof on the tree house

Church is hard.  The Primary President has issues with children with mental health challenges...we haven't attended in over 2 months.  I don't know how to resolve it...but I cannot let them attend in an unsafe environment.


We want to move but the more I want to move  the more things get in the way and let me know we are going to be here awhile....I've been told in answer to my prayers that living here will always be the same the people will never change and will never truly care about our family.....I'm trusting in the Lord that if we are meant to move that he will provide a way.


The time changes tomorrow.....I'm looking forward to being able to sleep in...

I'm going to go ask my music man...if we can go out to eat....

Good Things Utah

Someone was kind enough to bring attention to the work I am doing with Lottes of Love http://lottesoflove.blogspot.com/ to help my friend Charlotte with her cancer related medical bills.

Thank you for helping to spread the word about Lottes of Love!

JANITOR'S BOOK SIGNING!

Soon after returning home from vacation the much awaited book Janitor's written by Tyler Whitesides (husband of Samuel's much loved teacher last year Connie Whitesides) was released and he was signing books at a local book store.  Of course we had to pick up Jackson and go!  It was so fun! 

The boys loved seeing Mrs. Whitesides almost as much as getting their books signed.

Samuel was trying to catch Tyler up on all his doings of the 

summer in the 30 seconds it took for his book to be signed.

Benjamin was a little shy but loved getting his own signed book as well.

Jackson was quite pleased that Tyler remembered him from when 

he was in Mrs. Whitesides' class the year before.

We even had a special treat of being able to see Tyler and his percussion friends perform before the signing.  You can relive it all here:



 

I didn't get a picture because I was driving but their noses were all buried in books on the way home.  Definitely a memory worth recording.  Now when is book 2 being released?

Pacific Northwest

 For our summer vacation we took a 19hour road trip to Washington State.  While there we jumped in the Pacific Ocean.

Looked for sea shells, starfish, hermit crabs and a whole variety of other ocean life in Larabee and Birch Bay.

 The music man and I took a moment to reconnect and just enjoy the beauty of our surroundings

 Took a family picture with all of us in it.  Our last family picture was taken before Tiny T joined our family..

 Climbed all over some rocky outcroppings, looking in the tide pools as these rocks were all under water when the tide was in.

We were lucky enough to be able to tour a couple of tall ships that were in port for the day.  The crew was in  period costume and answered all of our questions.

We had a great time playing with our friends the N family.  Strengthening our friendships and having a new adventure together.  The boys are already talking about what they want to do when we go back again next year.  It was so nice to disconnect from the world, slow down our pace, relax and enjoy the beautiful world Heavenly Father made for us.

Commitment or Fudge?

So sometime in January when we were having some kind of freaky Spring weather break.  ( It was in the 50's and 60's and we were running around outside without any jackets and talking about pulling the bikes out of storage, oh and thinking about planting a garden--I even bought the seeds)  I read about the Mom's going to Orlando planning to do a 5K.  Corey even challenged me ( and you, and your neighbor, and your sister's neighbor) to join them and run our own 5K wherever we were.  I was EXCITED! 

I thought to myself, "Self!  You can do this!  You can come home after church and run back and forth along the river-walk (It's a mile each way) and then call and have Mr. Music Man and the kids pick you up on the other end of the trail as you start your last mile." 

And my self said, "OH YEAH!  We are going to DO THIS!"


So I emailed Corey and said I was in.  Of course the next day it snowed and I was welcomed back to the reality of a Northern Utah Winter.  But I didn't care  I started visiting the rec center more often and working out in my Living Room and my self reassured me saying, "Surely by the 2nd week of March the Spring weather will be back again."  And I kept working out and feeling pretty good.  A friend even said (and I quote), "She put on her ninja suit and she’s kickin’ it and she is doing a fine job of it, too."  Which is taken slightly out of context but she did say it about me and so she can consider me posting it her consequences for talking about me in front of ya'all's faces.(And if you don't know what that means you don't read enough, truly!)

Then came the Saturday before the Orlando 5K and this is what we were doing outside that day:

Uhm, yeah and I committed to run a little over 3 miles the next morning and the Rec Center in town is not open on Sundays here.  So I got creative and this is the Wii and me after finishing my 5K Sunday night.

(and yes you are seeing a few Christmas Decorations that have not yet been laid to rest sitting on the mantle still)

Then the other day I went and made a commitment to Kiss refined sugars goodbye and I've done pretty good so far, except for gum.....and that's not real sugar so it doesn't count right?

What have you committed yourself to lately?

And did you have to fudge the rules to keep it?

You Hit me First! No! You Hit Me FIRST!

So I've been noticing all of the visitors to my blog and I'm grateful ya'all took a minute to stop by.  I'm guessing that you probably hopped here from a comment I left on your blog or a blog that you read.  And yet when you arrive you have been greeted with messages that are months old and truly the last year I have not posted much of substance or consequence.

Well that is all about to change!  (maybe I'm feeling grandiose and motivated at the moment just in case you couldn't tell)

I'm Writing it on the Wall (so to speak) to give myself a wee bit of accountability.
  So If I fall behind comment and get me back on task.


So here are some bullet points of what I've been up to:

*  The Tyrant embarked upon the great adventure of potty training and he has mastered all the necessary skills in record time (that is what you came her to learn isn't it?  :P )

*  The Engineer has been working with his hands of late and learned how to use sand paper, a coping saw, paint and some tape to create his first Pinewood Derby Car.  The big race is tomorrow night!  He is SO EXCITED!

*  The Comedian has been dabbling in the literary world once again.  He has written, illustrated, and published several short books about dragons in addition to the short stories he has shared here on the blog.  He is also embarking on a journey of writing and illustrating  a 6 chapter book about different kinds of dragons and how they help children work through their fears and problems.  I've promised him that when it is done we will see if we can get it published in a real book format.  He's also invited two of his dragon friends to come and live with us for awhile to help him with some of his worries.

*  Mr. Music Man had the opportunity to present at a DJ conference a month or so ago and came home totally reinvigorated and full of ideas on how to improve our business.  He's had some great ideas and is really throwing himself into steering the business in a new direction.  It must be working because he's booked practically every weekend for the next couple of months.

*  I have been so excited to be a little bit involved in some of the planning and even more excited to be able to attend the 2011 Utah Mom's Retreat the second weekend of May.  So excited in fact that a couple of weeks ago I told the children at church that we had to really work on getting ready to sing for Mother's Day because it was only 5 weeks away.  It only took me 48 hours to come to the realization that I want May to be here so much that I had in fact misled them as at the time Mother's Day was 9 weeks away.  But whose counting?

So for now there's the update on us in a nutshell.  Thanks for stopping by!


But uhm....hitting isn't nice!

Some Summer Fun

What are they doing?  

I'm really wanting the cold to go away and the summer warmth (or at least the spring warmth) to come and play with us again.  There have been several days during the last week that our high was in the single (and sometimes in the negative) digits.  So here are some fun pics from Summertime to warm me up.

Slides are sooooo second grade!

Mom he's making a road with my War Cards!

So what exactly is the point of 52 card pick-up?

Overheard at My House

2010 was a year of trauma, sorrow, grief, anger, rage and more pain than I have the skills to adequately convey in written form.  Not to mention that this really isn't the proper medium to do so.  Those of you who have walked the walk with me have an idea of what we've been through.  For a variety of reasons I have not written much over the last year.  However, The true purpose of this blog is for my boys to have a scrapbook of their childhood.  And while the year was full of difficulties there were also moments of typical childhood, joy, and all out silliness.  So with that in mind I went back through my journal and Facebook status (what would we ever do with out Facebook?) and found moments that I find memorable  So here's a compilation of things overheard at my house during the last year or so.


Guess who said, "My dad is the oldest kid in my family. I don't know how old he is but he's older than Braden. He's so old he only has to ask permission sometimes"  (April 10, 2010--The credit for this one goes to Miss Emma who is not my child but it was too good to not record)


Guess who said, "I don't want any root beer floats because I'm feeling obnoxious." (May 8, 2010)  Hint:  It was NOT the comedian

My boys were playing some sort of treasure hunt, knights game crossed with Star Wars and Dinotopia universe. One boy said dramatically to the other, "No give me the REAL treasure so I can keep it safe!" Other boy handed over a small container of dental floss. I'm sure their dentist will be impressed! (May 13, 2010)

"would you like to play meteors killed herbivores?" (June 6, 2010)  Note:  They played but somewhere along the way the herbivores became space ships made out of Legos

So far the "Where's goose?" count is up to 12....somehow I think it is going to be a long day of helping the little one locate "goose"  (August 2, 1010)  *note:  "Goose" is my sister in law's cat who is going to be a long term house guest while they are working out their relocation plans.  His name is actually Bruce but at our house....Goose it is! At least according to our Tiny Tyrant*

My 6 yo lost a tooth tonight!!!! His 8 yo brother carefully examined his mouth and expressed deep concern over his bleeding gums, then dramatically announced that we needed to call the doctor because there might be complications! *roll eyes now*  (August 25, 2010)


Comedian requested "Noodles with crackers on top and some cheese" for dinner....so uhm...Not Your Mother's Tuna Casserole it is  (Oct. 18, 2010)

Comedian
 ". . . but can nickels be used as quarters?" (Jan 25th, 2010)

"Well, maybe your teacher doesn't know as much as momma knows!"

"Mama, I'm sure glad that the school lets us have EVERY SATURDAY off! That is so nice of them!"



Tyrant exclaimed, "Engineer you're a boy!" (really? hmmm.... tell me something I didn't know.) (Jan 1, 2011)


Engineer, "Mom do you think we could have some kind of treat? A cold treat? Like maybe a Popsicle? I'm not going to push you too hard and ask for ice-cream or something...but would a Popsicle or something like that be okay?" (Jan 6, 2011--by the Engineer)

Shhh......Don't Tell

"The autobiographies of parents and grandparents can be valuable 

in providing information to the family's children for any number of reasons

---from merely the delight of a hobby to a medical treatment. ..."

"Individual autobiographies provide insights that contribute 

to the family both now and as they are passed along to following 

generations. An autobiography provides a unique outlook that 

helps to establish a family identity, a foundation that can influence 

the members of that family for ages to come."

To look at my extended family you would never know that we are a family built upon secrets. Secrets that have been and will probably be taken to the grave. There is much weird and quirky stuff that is not a secret. My great grandfather and his brother married sisters and lived in the same home together. Whoever was currently pregnant got the privilege of living downstairs while the other couple lived upstairs. My mother's first cousin married her husband's sister. I have a first cousin who married my second cousin and had 5 children together. And none of this is secret. My mother's step-sister ran away from home in her teens and nobody knows where she is, however months after she left her purse was dropped by at my grandmother's home with a note saying that "Lynette won't need this where she is"

However my mother still seeks for information about her biological father. All she knows is a name from her birth certificate, and whispered unconfirmed rumors. Maybe he was a polygamist, maybe he was a pharmacist, maybe he used to work in Spanish Fork. My grandmother is alive and well and this is something she is unwilling to talk about. I know that this bothers my mother as we've talked about it and she has spent considerable time trying to locate him or find out any information that she can about him.

My mother's older brother doesn't even have a name on a birth certificate. He was mostly raised by my great grand parents. He's dead now and I wonder if his children wonder about his ancestry as much as I do.

I was born when my mother was still in High School. I know this mostly because there is a picture of her holding me in her graduation gown. I don't know who my biological father is. There are rumors that I've heard all my life. Maybe he died in a car crash, maybe he died in Vietnam, he was a cousin of my grandmother's next door neighbors who I grew up playing with. I don't even have a name on a birth certificate to go on. I was legally adopted by my step-father when I was quite young and a new birth certificate was issued.

There is a family rumor that my great-grandfather caused my mother and step-father to get married at "gunpoint" when she became pregnant with my younger brother.  I know they were married at Niagara Falls or something like that because a picture exists of my mother in her hot-pink mini- skirt that she wore for her wedding dress.

One of the reasons I want to keep this record of our family is I want my boys to have something that they can look back on and remember what our life was like when they were 2 or 5 or 8, etc.  I don't want them to be constantly floundering to find their identity wondering what if.  I want them to know and remember both the good times and the hard times.

This last year has been full of hard times.  The details don't need to be included here, although I may add them in when I print this into a book for our family records.  What does need to be remembered is that through the hard times we had each other.  Their father and I moved heaven and earth to keep them safe and to help them heal and move through the hard times.  Our Savior was there each and every moment and heard our prayers and comforted  and healed our hearts, minds, bodies and spirits.  We are beloved children of a wise and loving Father who lives in heaven and He will see us through all the experiences we have during our lives here on earth.