no game shows for us!

Yesterday I was rushing to go teach seminary (I got called at last minute) so I asked Kevin to make me a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich to take for my lunch.

I made it to the seminary on time and taught a few classes and then sat down to enjoy my sandwich.  I was hungry and was really looking forward to that Nutella (it's all Whitney's fault - she got me addicted).  I took one bite and almost spit it out.  It was PB&J.  Ugh!

Being the patient, loving wife that I am (okay, just that I WISH that I were), I called Kevin to sweetly ask him why chew him out (no pun intended).  Why, oh why, would he make me PB&J when I HATE that?

His reply?

He didn't know I hated them.  Nearly 25 years of marriage and I have NEVER, not even once, eaten a PB&J sandwich and he has no clue!  Probably hasn't even noticed that Alec is our only child who likes PB&J (probably because their demented mother ruined their lives by never making them a PB&J sandwich.  Shouldn't that be a normal childhood staple? It's probably in a parenting handbook somewhere.).

And that, my friends, is why Kevin and I are never going on the Newlywed Show (that and the fact that after 25 years and 5 kids and 1 DIL we no longer count as newlyweds.)

what do you get?

What do you get when you cross a goat, a chicken, eggs, Halie, and McKayla? A great big laugh!

Several weeks ago they asked dates to Girls' Pref.  They put a chicken and a bunch of eggs in a box on the porch, tied the goat to the porch, left a sign that said, "don't be chicken, say you'll "goat" to Pref with me, rang the bell and ran.

First, Sage (Halie's date).  He came out and laughed and grabbed his family.  They all got a good laugh and went back inside.  Halie and McKayla attempted to retrieve the goat and chickens but had to untie 7 knots to get the goat free (they were so afraid of it getting loose) that they ended up getting caught.  Sage told them that Joe's house (McKayla's date) was hard to find so he'd go with them.

So, Sage is in the back seat of our car holding the goat and getting very strange looks from passing cars.  Then the goat starts burping and McKayla said the car stunk so BAD!

They repeat everything at Joe's.  Only he runs back inside and grabs and knife and fork and comes back out and yells "Dinner!"  Halie shrieks, "not my chicken" so they are caught again.

On the way home the goat actually poops in the car.  Ugh!  Luckily, it was pellets so not too nasty to clean up.

McKayla couldn't stop laughing when telling us about her adventure.

Cruisin'

We had a fantastic time on our cruise to the Bahamas!  We are relaxed, well-rested, and completely overfed!  We even got a touch of sun!  We are still in Atlanta so we haven't even had to go home to the cold temps yet.  Whitney sent us a picture of snow back home - can I say that we are less than thrilled to go back to that today after enjoy temps in the 80's?

Highlights of our trip:

• snorkeling in Nassau
• comedy shows (the clean, family ones)
• the 80's show (yes, Kevin & I are from the 80's)
• miniature golfing onboard
• magic shows onboard
• our waiter - Colin (from the Caribbean)
• souvenir shopping (the kids had fun getting gifts for their friends)
• ice cream
• chocolate melting cake every night for dessert
• for me - reading
• playing Bananagrams
• BEING TOGETHER AS A FAMILY!!!!

truly Christlike

Every Mormon knows all about church ball. Heck, there's even been a movie made about it. It's the subject of jokes and the stuff of legends. It's rough. It's vicious. It's foul (no pun intended).

 I think it's the exact opposite of Special Olympics basketball.

I had the privilege of watching Alec play this past weekend. What a joy and what an example. One of his teammates, Jason, had an open shot. However, unselfishly, he tried to pass the ball to a teammate who hadn't even touched the ball yet. He missed and hit an opponent in the head with the ball (don't worry. it wasn't thrown hard). The other team came up with the ball and headed down court to try to score. Was Jason concerned about the turnover? Heck, no! He was apologizing for having hit the other player. He insisted he didn't mean to.

Where else but Special Olympics could you see players all gathered around a teammate who is upset about missing a shot? Again, they aren't concerned about the other team shooting the basket uncontested. They are worried about their teammate's feelings and are reassuring her that she is doing a great job.

There are so few fouls in Special Olympics. They don't want to hurt anyone.  If anyone does get hurt, play automatically stops because everyone from both teams is checking on the injury and trying to help.

 These athletes are the best examples of Christlike behavior you'll ever see.

instant religion

I was reading an article in the newspaper this morning about how ministers/pastors/evangelical leaders are cutting services shorter to encourage people to attend church services. One leader holds church services for 30 minutes. Nothing says I love God like "let's-get-this-religion-thing-over-and-done-with-so-we-can-get-on-with-our-lives". I guess I shouldn't be surprised. In this world of extreme busyness, instant gratification, high-speed internet, etc I guess that high-speed church fits right in. I do wonder what's next...drive thru baptisms? phone-in confessions? maybe we could just tweet a mini-sermon and count that as our religious services? Don't get me wrong. I am not trying to poke fun at any particular religious group - just our hurry-up culture as a whole.

catch-up

Chandler has been off-track for almost 2 weeks.  It has flown by.  We've gone to the city library, Trafalga Fun Center, worked on the merit badges for Sports and Citizenship in the Community, taken a hike, gone to Discovery Gateway Museum, and played in the dancing waters at Gateway. 

In addition, I've cooked for the teachers at the middle school twice, baked 10 loaves of sweet breads (cinnamon, banana, pumpkin, poppyseed, and zucchini) for the teachers at the high school, taught 2 days (a 3rd tomorrow), and worked on Shanley's room.

Life is great!  (and busy)

blogging woes

I have hardly had any time to blog lately and when I do I just seem to experience problems.  I'm not computer-expert enough to know what the problem is - just that I can't load pictures and when I try I get kicked completely out.  Frustrating!

So, quick recap:

Chandler is off-track so we're trying to have fun playing.
Kevin has already been snowed in on a flight (Fargo, ND).
McKayla had a great time at Homecoming.
I fed the teachers at the middle school on Weds. and Thurs.
McKayla's cross-country team qualified for State.

Special Olympics Basketball

Alec started basketball last Saturday. His team played 3 games and badly lost all three. They didn't have a clue what they were doing and scored about 14 points total. The good news is that Alec scored 8 in the final game so he was very happy!

 Here is Alec with a few of his teammates.

I don't know the boy but the girls are Sierra Wigren (2) and Celeste Clark (14). They both attended Herriman High and are a year behind him in school. Alec met Sierra last year at Special Needs Mutual. There was a dance where the 2 of them were inseparable. After that, Sierra would call him (on my phone) and would ask me to tell him that "his girlfriend" called. Alec has known Celeste for years. Last year when she was voted Homecoming Queen, Celeste's mom asked if Alec would accompany her to the dance. He loved it!

 Funny story now: Celeste's mom told me that now that all three are in the same class, the two girls kind of "fight" over Alec. She told me that Alec is really good to give both of them attention. Yep, he's a ladies' man!

Resolution check-up

Home Improvement
 1) Build shutters for the windows in the front of my house - I'm done. Bought, cut, and painted. Even bought the stuff for Kevin to hang them. They are just awaiting the hang job. Maybe if Kevin were ever home.
2) Paint the shutters, outside trim, and outside doors - Outside trim - done. Outside doors - done. Shutters - done.
3) Plant lavender in front of the house - Done.
4) Do window treatments for family room, dining room, kitchen, Shanley's room, and the master bedroom - I bought new curtains for Shanley's room. So, I've done the family room, Shanley's room, and the master bedroom.
5) Paint/stain the back deck - Finished!
6) Paint the master bathroom - The paint is picked out but again, no money to purchase it.

 Family
1) Plan a special date with Kevin once a month - did not do
2) Spend one-on-one time with each child every month (away from the home) - Did it!!

 Social
1) Have 2 game parties for adults this year - one so far this year
 2) Host 2 special FHEs with other families this year - one so far this year

Physical
 1) Lose 20 pounds - After gaining in August, I held steady in September. Ugh.
2) Climb Mount Timpanogos - DID IT!
3) Run a marathon and a half marathon - done

 Mental
 1) Make sure 1/3 of what I read is uplifting (spiritual, classical, best-book type stuff) - have done this
2) Write a book - No real progress

Spiritual
1) Spend 1 day a month in the temple - Did it!
2) Go to 3 new temples - no new progress (still 2 of the 3)
 3) Read the New Era and the Ensign every month - did the New Era but only part of the Ensign.
 4) At the end of every day, record the hand of God in my life for that day - Did

Overall - Progress in some areas and not in others. Life seems so frantically busy.