FEELING BETTER

Thank you, prior commentators! I took some of your advice:

1 - I am done with the costume for the Stake. She didn't give me the right zipper and other notions and I am tired of looking at the picture and trying to make the pattern fit. I am just going to have Larry take the box to Helen's house and drop it off. I will include a note that says, "I did as much as I can." I feel badly because someone else is going to have to finish it, but I told her I could do it in February and that I definitely wouldn't have time in April or May because that is when I sew for hula. (Thank goodness that hasn't started yet!)

2 - I put the urchins to work. They have their chores, and they do them, but they don't clean like I do. I am ignoring this. Sorry mom and dad. When you come to visit, wear your flipflops in the bathroom. In two weeks Larry is putting down a new kitchen floor. How badly does this one need to be scrubbed?

3 - I talked to Rachel and explained to her that under the BEST of circumstances two weeks is barely enough time for me to make a formal dress. I told her how I wanted it to be perfect and not look homemade. I told her I couldn't do it. (I think she thinks she is not a priority but that is too bad - she is - hopefully someday she will understand.) I told her to look at the pictures we took of her in the dresses and pick her favorite. She asked which one Teilani (my sister) liked best. I told her what Teilani said. She went with the green. I will call them later today, and have the dress put on hold, I hope it is still there! So, I am not sewing Rachel's dress anymore. Whew. I can do sleeves in an hour. They are easy. (knock on wood!) I am not crazy about spending that much money, but oh well! We should be getting our "free" tax rebate any day now!

4 - I also took deep breaths.

5 - I took Kristine up on her offer (demand? - thank you :)) to take Matthew to the park with Katherine. Yay me! Snaps to Kristine, I know she is super busy, too. That means I can work on my talk while Joseph is at kindergarten.

6 - My old mission companion called last night and talking to her was refreshing and renewing. I swear, the air felt better to breath after I hung up with her! Thanks Elizabeth!

7 - I talked to the person who I need to scan a bunch of photos and write memories for and told her that I was sorry but I wouldn't be able to scan until tomorrow at the earliest. She was very nice about it. Thank you!

8 - I reminded myself that saying no often means saying yes to better things. (Thanks Elizabeth and Shelli!)

Finally, thank you all for your sympathy and support!

I got a good night's sleep last night and I think I can handle everything now. (((((knock on wood again :) ))))))

GOING CRAZY, I AM!

No, really, I am about one step away from certifiably cuckoo! This is not a practice drill. This is a real emergency!

And...They're coming to take me away HAHA
They're coming to take me away HOHO HEHE HAHA
To the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats
And they're coming to take me away HAHAAA

I can not do it all.

I have to talk in Stake Conference this Sunday, I did my assignment, but I don't know what to say about it.

I have to finish sewing the freakin' costume for the Stake "play". When I agreed to it, I had time, when they finally got me the material and less than half the notions, I was out of time.

My laundry is so far behind, it will be weeks to get caught up.

My bathrooms are a health hazard.

My kitchen floor is a petri dish.

My entry floor isn't much better.

My carpets ... ugh.

My paperwork in the last week has had babies and quadrupled itself. Soon it will have taken over all the flat surfaces above knee level.

I bought a bunch of flour and rice and I still need to put it away, in the meantime it is stacked on the floor and Nordic Track coat rack.

My refrigerator needs to be cleaned.

The cars will soon be able to drive themselves.

You can break your neck walking through our garage. (At least you can still easily park both cars in it!)

I have to scan a bunch of pictures and find more in my humongous stack of cds and email them off. I am already very late in doing this and will regret it if I don't get my act together.

My window treatments are half finished for the TEN windows in my great room/kitchen/nook. (And five of the windows have cafe curtains, so that is double the work.)

I could go on but I am starting to hyperventilate. Also, I don't want to go past what HAS TO BE DONE into what would be nice to get done.

I don't think I have time to sew Rachel a dress for prom. I just don't. I feel terrible about it.

How bad would I suck if I went to the store and bought this dress for Rachel and just added sleeves from the extra fabric on the skirt? (Even with the puffy out slip on and on her toes, there was a good 4 - 6 inches all the way around.

I LOVE to sew! I LOVE to create! This is just the worse two weeks to do it.

OH!! And (this really is the icing on the cake) I got my haircut on Saturday at one of the those great-super-clips-cut places that someone I know said was good (and her hair looked cute) and my hair is - thank you - TOTALLY CROOKED!! The right side is at least 1 1/2 inches longer than the left. It is totally noticeable. I have to get a new haircut somewhere else, and call and complain and get my money back at the first place. I have to plan revenge on the chick who suggested the place to me.

WEEKEND UPDATE (with more font trouble - I don't know why!)

Joseph had team pictures for soccer and then his coach treated them all to an icecream at “Basket Robert 13 flavor choices” before their game. It really doesn’t get any better than that.

I took Daniel to the orthodontist and got his braces bands changed. He is tolerating those appointments much, much better, which is a huge blessing!

Sari reports that she had a "slightly boring" week. She is hilarious. She is getting ready to be all certified so she can go to Girl's Camp this year.

Ben went on the Mountain Man Rendezvous and had a fabulous time! Knife throwing, clay-pigeon shooting, black powder rifles, archery, tomahawk throwing, log sawing (not sawing logs - haha), log tossing, canoeing, etc., etc. Pretty much Ben Heaven right there.

Rachel had a fun week. First she joined the Environmentalist Club at school. Her friend (Cassie) started it as a last minute school project and it totally took off. They are getting shirts AND going on a field trip. She is the only YCL in our ward who has all her camp certificates so she is the only one who can pass off the 9 first year campers. She has spent a lot of time teaching them everything she forgot so they all can be ready. Her big news was on Friday night, she came home from seeing a movie and there was a big pot of jello in our driveway. Inside was an envelope for her. Yep, she was being asked to Senior Prom by Clayton. (Deep teenage sigh here).

So on Saturday, Rachel and I spent HOURS and HOURS shopping and looking for SOMETHING for her to wear because I knew the next two weeks were going to be CRAZY! Of course everything needed to be fixed to be modest but here are some samples:

After searching in vain (nothing she LOVED) Rachel PLEADED with me, "PLEASE MOM, PLEASE sew me a dress! I know I am spoiled but I want something that will fit me perfectly in the colors I LOVE." We finally went to the fabric store and bought three patterns (on sale) and fabric and I am going to sew her a dress. She is really excited about it and knows this is a crazy time but so happy that I will do it. It is hard to be frustrated when she is so grateful.

Friday night Larry and I went to the temple to counteract the spiritual sabotage from Wednesday night :) . Then we went to Red Robin and I had their garlic fries which were almost as good as the garlic fries at this deli, Loren's. Sadly, the deli is now closed.

Interesting, this is an old picture of the temple, they changed the front and made a bigger waiting room area.

Larry invited a family he Hometeaches over for FHE tomorrow. I am not much in the mood to entertain, with so much to do, but I am sure we will be glad that we did it, when it is over.

ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE!!!!!! (okay, that's the Scorpions - but you get the idea)

So, we went to the REO Speedwagon, Styx, and Def Leppard concert on Wednesday.

It was fabulous!

We went with the O'Donnals.

You can see why Charmaine and I have to separate Larry and Tracy when we go out in public together. (One day I will post the video of the two of them singing karoake to "Endless Love". The funniest thing) ... anyway ...

We were TOTALLY in the nosebleeds. But we brought the binoculars and had a great time! In between the bands they took down the one set and reset up for the next band. So we had TOO MUCH TIME ON OUR HANDS and we started laughing and you know how it is when you are laughing really hard and can't stop and it wasn't really that funny but it seems really funny at the time?

Below is one of those pictures. We were taking funny pictures of each other for our cell phones' picture caller i.d. I kept trying to do the Angelia Jolie thing, but since I have thin lips and my sunglasses kept sliding down, it doesn't work. We were being dumb. Charmaine does like the fifth take on this picture, when Larry leaned over and did this:

Sorry folks! You missed it!

In case you don't know Larry - this is entirely UNCHARACTERISTIC of him! I mean really! When I realized what he was doing, well, we all just laughed our eyes out. I don't know how long he'll let this picture stay up, so enjoy it before he finds it!

Did I mentioned that we laughed all night?

That was the social end of it - here's the concert:

REO Speedwagon was THE band from my high school years. I think Kevin Cronin (leader singer, white spiky hair) is amazing! Long blond hair dude bugged me.

Styx was another band from my high school years. At the concert they played mostly their earlier stuff. I was a little disappointed, but it was still great!!

Apparently the keyboardist was not the original one but he was just as freaky as the original one and I wanted to shoot him with a tranquilizer gun, he got on my nerves so.

Don't die of shock, but Def Leppard is probably one of my least favorite bands. I was not a rocker chick (band geek, turned recluse) in high school and they became more mainstream about the time I left high school. My opinion of them went from a strong 2 to a weak 3 seeing them in concert (on a scale of 1 - 10).

I spent their performance with my earplugs in. It was MUCH more pleasant that way! Their encore number was "Rock of Ages" which is one of their only songs that I like, in fact, I love that song, so that was good. Also, listening to the words to the song, "Pour Some Sugar On Me" ... wow, I just never understood the words before and it is a really dirty song!

You know how some people are lactose intolerant? I am "insanely long guitar riffs" intolerant and "screeching-amplified-guitar" intolerant. Enough already! We got home before midnight, I fell asleep some time after 2 a.m. I had ringing in both ears. The next day I still had ringing in my left ear, a sore throat, and raw hands from clapping so long and hard. It was was TOTALLY worth it!

Of course I also had to play "find a freak" (snaps to Utah for teaching me this game). It wasn't hard to do. This lady proudly and loudly announced to several rows of people that she still had her Def Leppard shirt from her high school days - "and it still fits!" I beg to differ. Clearly, you think your clothes fit better than they really do once you've had some of that yellow liquid in the clear plastic cup.

One of my favorite FAF (found a freak) was this young, talented hottie: (look in the top center, you can see the lights through her hair).

She just kept drinking her beer and flipping her head like that through the entire FOUR HOURS!! She has a remarkable equilibrium. I tried to imitate her and I about fell over halfway through my first hair flip (and I was beer-free, of course!). You can't tell in the movie, so I will tell you - she was wearing faded, light blue overalls, one side hooked and a ... TUBE TOP!! She could also swing her head and keep her cup steady. That's talent. Sorry the picture is so bad, I had to take the video on my cell phone and I was practically leaning over the row in front of me to get what I did.

MY VERY CREATIVE SISTER

My sister, Teilani made this mask for her son Logan to ask a girl in his school to their masquerade Prom.

Logan scrambled the letters in his name. It took this cute girl two days to figure out the name.

NATHANIEL JOHNSON GOING TO BRAZIL!

This weekend we were privileged to be invited to our friends' house for their son's farewell dinner and setting apart as a missionary the next day (Monday). Garth and Kuulei Johnson moved back to our ward about four years ago (after a 3 year stint in Portugal and they had lived here before). I had heard stories of how fun and hilarious Kuulei was, so when she moved back, I made it my goal to be her friend. It took some effort on my part, but at last I persuaded her and now our families are good friends. Kuulei is also my daughters' hula teacher and I sew for her Halau. Garth and Larry spent a few years in the Young Mens together and went on many, many camping, scout camp, and high adventure camps together over the years.

Nathaniel is their oldest son and such a beautiful boy. I remember their first fast Sunday back and he stood up with confidence and bore his testimony to the truthfulness of the gospel. I got goosebumps about this young man with such a great understanding of the Plan of Salvation. Over the years we've watched their family grow and Nathaniel has continued to be the delightful young man he was when we first met him. Coincidentally, last year, when I volunteered on the Senior Presentations, I happened to be one of the community members for Nathaniel's presentation. He knocked the socks off the panel. I have to say, I was hard on him because I knew him and I expected a lot. He got a perfect score from everyone. Afterwards, one panel member asked if Nathaniel would please marry her daughter. He may be the only Senior who got a wedding proposition at their presentation.

They sit in front of us at church and I love how he puts his arm around his mom during Sacrament Meeting. It is so sweet!

So, here are some pictures from that night: (Some of my fellow bloggers used to live in our ward/stake, so I thought they might enjoy seeing some of the whose who.)

Nathaniel was set apart in his home by President Wells and President Robinson. President Lattin was out of town and so President Wells did it. I LOVE that our stake does this in the missionary's home. It was the perfect setting for this experience.

The Johnson Family - Samuel, Nathaniel. Tearzah, Kuulei, and Garth.

The Sants who went to the setting apart. We had Sari babysit the three little boys, as we felt they wouldn't appreciate what was happening here. Also, Sari and Tearzah are good little friends and we didn't want Tearzah to be distracted.

Afterwards, we took Ben and Rachel to Didiers for frozen yogurt. I LOVE frozen yogurt!

WEEKEND UPDATE - sorry the fonts are so messed up! I am giving up on fixing them!

Since this week I did a pretty good job of keeping up on the daily minutia that means so much to me (and my readers), you might think that the weekend update will be pretty short ... never fear! I have SO MUCH TO SAY!!!!

This is Ben with his friend Eric (same kid who Ben was wrestling when the broke the glass out of my hutch-thingy and my phone headset). The high school kids got out at 10:15 every day and Eric's mom works at the Middle School and had to work her normal hours. They live way out on Greenbluff so Eric came to our house. He is a good kid, energetic, hard working farm boy who is really good with kids and Ben's best friend in the world. He and Ben tore out my overgrown and ugly Mung pine bushes in the front yard. They are also played darts on Larry's formerly super nice dart board and completely tore up the wall and the board (which is ridiculous because Ben is an excellent shot at darts). Larry was furious. So he asked Ben, "Why did you do this?" To which Ben replied, "I don't know."

The kids had WASL at school. That means the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. Here is my rant: (Sorry if you've heard it before.) I hate the WASL. I agree that they have to have a way to make sure kids are being taught what they are supposed to be being taught but in our school district (one of the top placers on the wasl) that is ALL they teach. My parent teacher conferences focused on the practice tests, practice writings, and what they do to prepare the kids for the wasl. In high school, the 10th graders have the tests they have to pass in order to graduate. So they take one test a day, for two hours and then go home at 10:15 a.m. Four school days of that! The 9th graders take the practice wasl and have the same schedule. The 11th and 12th graders who passed the wasl (most everyone) just get to stay home that whole week! Growl! Sari had 6th grade wasl (counts) and Daniel had 4th grade wasl. He is back in special education now so he doesn't HAVE to pass the wasl and his non-passing score will not count against the school. I think that is one of the reasons they agreed to take him back into that program. I could go on. I will stop. The teachers have us make a card for the elementary school kids, encouraging them to do their best. Each kid gets a card placed on their desk. Here is the card I made for Daniel:

Ben and Larry thought it was donkey, but it looks like a dog, right? RIGHT??!!

Joseph loves soccer so much that it is worth the pain to get him where he needs to be when we see his humongous smile while playing. We may have to reconsider our previous ban on fall soccer. (Because Rachel has cross country and Ben has football. I cannot imagine throwing soccer into the fray!)

I had student led conferences with Rachel and Ben. They are like Parent Teacher Conferences except the student takes accountability for their grades by leading the conferences and conversations. They are big on goals and planning for the future.

Rachel’s went like this –
Rachel: "these are my goals {nurse or dentist}, this is what it will take to achieve them, I could work harder in my classes than I have been, I recognized that a few months ago and I am working really hard and doing well.” (Rachel always thinks she can be doing better.)
Teacher: You are a delight! I enjoy having you in class and you are just wonderful!
Mom: I agree.

This is how Ben’s went:
Ben: “I want to be a dentist.”
Teacher: “That’s great. Do you know what kind of grades it takes to be a dentist?”
Ben: “Yeah, all A’s.”
Teacher: “Well, in my class {Spanish} you have a D. You aren't doing much better in your other classes. How’s that going to work for you?”
Ben: “Yeah, this has been a hard year because I can’t just do whatever and still get good grades. I have to actually do my homework and that is a new thing for me. {Chuckles and sighs} But now I know that and so I am going to bring my grades up."
Teacher: "I've heard that before, Ben, what is your plan to make it different this time?"
Ben: "I'm going to actually do it."

UGH. It has been a hard lesson for him to learn that FINALLY teachers aren’t swayed by his humor and personality and they say, “Yeah, you got an A on the test, but you didn’t do ANY homework!” It is a hard thing to parent a VERY smart (top 100% on national testing), VERY unmotivated kid.

Our stake had an awesome parenting workshop day on Saturday. They had all sorts of specialists come and teach us about different aspects of parenting in workshops. Larry and I took "Teaching Kids About Money Management" (we rank a C- in this topic), "Work and Education" (interesting statistics about how important it is to teach kids to work hard), "Media Influences" (a little disappointing and not what we were expecting, too much time defining media - duh), "Nurturing Children" (Fabulous!!!!), "Behavioral Health with Youth and Children" (Ben is situationally ODD - meaning he is oppositionally defiant disorder to Larry and I only, therefore, not technically ODD, he is an angel for most everyone else. There is not much you can do either way.), "Parenting Teens" (without access to their frontal cortex teens ARE actually insane. It stands to reason then, that parenting teens makes YOU insane (my summary, not official). And the reason Ben said he didn't know why he threw darts into the wall and spent Saturday night on the Stake Center roof - he really doesn't know why!), and Larry attended "The Father Daughter Relationship" (he came out of it with all the women in his family analyzed and lots of good information). I saw my friend's mom there - Arlene Komm. I just spent a few minutes with her, but she is one of those people who make you feel better about yourself than you really are. I am so glad that I know her.

So, here we are, all smart now, ready to parent our kids!

That VERY night Ben and Rachel went to the Stake Dance. Ben and his friend Dustin climbed on the ROOF of the Stake Center and spent their time on the dance up there! Larry and I got a phone call saying Ben and Dustin were not at the dance so we drove out (at 10:30 p.m.) to look for them. Found them. Gave them lectures. Larry told them about the time he came home from a stake dance and the police were waiting for him. Someone had accused him of vandalism. Because he was where he was supposed to be, his name was cleared. I told them that there were heartbroken girls at home thinking to themselves, "I am fat" or "My hair is ugly" or "I hate my clothes" or any of a number of self-demeaning things all because two hotties like Dustin and Ben wouldn't dance with them. They were unmoved.

I don't have a picture of Rachel this week but when I was looking for another picture, I found these and since I am going to talk about her, here are pictures from last year's luau. As long as I am embarrassing her, I will put in two pictures!

Rachel called and asked if she could go to the park with a group of friends after the dance. Because she is over 16 and has not ever broken our rules, we said, "Yes". (In the winter they go to Shari's, in the summer, they go to the park.) Well, she called at 5 to 12 and said she would be late. She actually got home at 12:41 a.m.! Larry stood on the porch and waited for her from midnight on. It was freezing outside but I don't think Larry felt it. Turns out, they were at the park UP THE STREET from our house! They drove PAST our street out to 5 mile to take one kid home, and way north to take another kid home, THEN Clayton brought Rachel home! If she had come straight home she would have been home on time, but she wanted more time with Clayton. When she walked up the steps (Clayton did get out of the car and open her door) Larry just let her in the house. I said, "Give me your phone." She did. I gave her a kiss and said, "Goodnight. I am glad that you are safe." and I went to bed. Larry talked to her for another half an hour. Then Larry got up at 5:30 and started his 12 hour day.

We were emotionally sabotaged in the space of 1 hour. Never fear! Matthew is 4 so we only have 15 more years. Surely we will have figured something out by then!

Sunday night we were invited to the Johnson's for Nathaniel's last supper at home. We were also invited to his setting apart at the Stake Center tonight. Nathaniel leaves Tuesday morning to go to the MTC in Brazil. Then he will be a missionary there, as well. He is really excited and such a good boy and a good example.

Nathaniel is the second one in on the left. (The only Hawaiian one!)

Here is Ben and Nathaniel arm wrestling in our driveway last summer. I don't know why they picked the driveway (as opposed to our grassy front lawn not 4 feet away).

By the way, the Luau this year is on June 28. You are all invited!

BEN

Tonight's Stake Youth Dance theme was Mexican, which Ben remembered after he dressed as Batman. We found a sombrero for him to wear (of course it didn't fit on his huge head) so he was kind of Zorroish and we were wishing I had time to make the bandanna and cape.

As Ben was leaving I said, "Remember who you are."

Ben said, "I am Zorro."

He can be such a ham.

BEING OUT MAKES YOU IN (this post contains shocking confessions about my Hathaway temper)

So tonight Larry and I ventured off to our Stake Adult Institute class for the first time. The lesson was on one of my favorite things - PASSOVER!

As many of you know, I am pretty much obsessed with all things Israel. If I didn't believe the Messiah had already come, I would totally be Jewish. (It was the true church at one point, after all.) So I was really excited to have a little refresher course and remembrance of my time in Israel.

The night was a bust! We were ready late because Larry got home from work late, Ben invited a friend over without letting us know, and Sari was asked to babysit (and we had the pleasure of dropping her off and we will be picking her up). Don't get me started on that one!

So we headed out the door late and hungry and Larry heads off in the "wrong" (i.e., slow) way. He continues to go the "wrong" (that is to say, slowest) way and it is getting on my very low blood sugar nerves. Finally, I say, "We have VERY different ideas of the best way to get there." Larry replies, "Yes, the fast way and the wrong way." Inferring here that HIS way was the fast way! Which it was NOT! So I was even more annoyed. Then he started to pull away from the apartment curb before Sari was fully in. At this point, I was ready to yank the steering wheel out of his hands!

When we got to the church, we were late, and we parked on the "wrong" side - for sure this time. We finally walk into class, pick up our plate of matza, bitter herbs and sweet stuffs and sat down. That's when we realized, we were the YOUNGEST ones in the room - by a LONG shot! I mean, by AT LEAST 20 years! We were the only ones without all our children MARRIED! But, that's okay. We still knew everyone in the room, I mean we are all in the same stake and we have lived here for 6 1/2 years now. I have friends in all age categories and don't give it much thought, either way.

We listened politely (even though the teacher kept sniffing in the microphone) and at one point the teacher asked a question, which I raised my hand and answered (correctly, I might add) and he said, "Uh, okay .... that may be, too, I guess." The pause there is the kind of pause where it is clear he is trying to figure out how to save his lesson from this moronic comment. I wanted to crawl under my seat! I resolved to not speak in class again and realized that no one else answered his questions either. (Probably had the same experience as me earlier in the year.)

After the lesson we lingered with others in the classroom (and were ignored) and then went out to the foyer for refreshments and we were COMPLETELY ignored there as well. Larry said, "I am glad that I didn't bring a non-member!" No kidding. No one talked to us or even looked at us. We just left. And when I walk away from strawberry shortcake, you know it's bad!

Anyway, that is when I realized - I wasn't frustrated with Larry anymore! And I hadn't been for the whole lesson because I knew that he had my back and HE was there for me. And in fact, we were the ONLY ones there for each other. So, Larry was in again, all because we were out with the crowd.

I should say this whole out thing with Larry was entirely me and he was sitting all happy with no idea of how frustrated I was or that he was out. I was still in. Now he is BBQing me a steak AND he made me homemade baked fries. I am such a lucky girl!

MY LIFE IN THE COMICS

I had this post about comics in my drafts and I just needed to add one from this last Sunday. I was stalking different blogs yesterday and came across this comic on Shelli's blog.

I just had to put on mine - it was the perfect start for this post! Thanks Shelli! (And when you click on her link, you should know that yes, she is all that.)

Like most people, I love to read the funnies (my family calls them comics, Larry's calls them funnies. I find that I am starting to call them funnies, too) on Sunday. Often they correlate in eerie ways with my life. My favorites are Baby Blues and Zits.

Been there, done this:
Interesting (to me) is that even though I am 40 years old, almost EVERY time I call my mom on the phone, she is in the bathroom. It is just something I am good at. Mom, you are welcome!

This is what I tell myself EVERY summer, EVERY day, several times a day:
AHHHHH ... When I was on my mission and we would go over to members' houses on Sunday and you could tell that they had all been having naps, I would just be SO jealous! I didn't take naps while I was a missionary. Not even on Sunday and who has time on P-Day. Elizabeth R. was one of my companions and she can vouch for the no-nap policy. (Remember, Elizabeth, when we had two dinner appointments in a row and I puked at the Lybberts, they served us a Mexican fiesta? And you were so mad because you wanted to puke too?) Anyway, to this day, Sunday afternoon naps (in the sun through the front window, if it is cold) are one of my favorite things!

I still remember, after giving birth to Ben, when I threw out the whole nuture thing and went with nature, after seeing the innate differences between Ben and Rachel. Six kids later, I am still more of a nature believer, although, I never discount the IMPORTANCE of nurture. Still, the is Rachel and Ben:

So, have any of you actually met Ben? The writer of this comics MUST know him! This is us at Costco:
He cut this one out and hung it on the fridge for Larry and I:

He is also now smart enough to not make comments like these AND he warns the other kids when they do. Bummer!

I am sad to say I have been in a Young Women's Presidency where the President was pretty much like this pointy hair lady and the rest of us like this poor man. I can laugh about it now.

This one is dedicated to all the teens out there who think that everyone WANTS to see their butt crack (B.C.) and/or their sequined thong or boxers. I found it on Elizabeth T's blog. More karma for me to post about comics today!

Hopefully you can click on the pictures to make them bigger to read them. Except for the one right above here. That one is plenty big as it is!

PS Matthew walked by the computer screen and saw this comic and said, "Ith that a pitture of Ben?" I said, "No." And he said, "Oh, thought ith wath becauthe his pants are down." haha Ben has boxers that show, no butt crack. I am so proud.

TIME TO CLEAN UP MY DRAFTS ...

Awards I've received: The idea here is that you take the award, with a kind acceptance speech, and then you pass it on. Both of these awards came from Elizabeth, who I have never met, but thanks to Al Gore and the miracle of his invention, the internet, I have a new friend AND two awards!

This award is for blogs that cheer me up. I pick Amy, Utah, Kristine, Marja, Jennifer, Kim, Elizabeth, Tristie, Missy, Shelli, Tisha and Jason. More of you have blogs that cheer me up, but gosh darn it - YOU HAVE TO POST (more than) OCCASSIONALLY!!! (cough cough Elizabeth, Wendi, Staci, Jodi, Sue, Mom and Dad I could go on and on.)

This award I am especially proud of: I got this FROM ELIZABETH too! The main rule she had was that you had to post often and comment on her blog. I can't pick just a few to give this one to, so I am going to give it to everyone on my contact list! Thank you all for being my friend (or family - my luck!) and thanks for keeping in touch! ((((Blows hugs and kisses.))))

Now for all the tests I've taken that I know you are all DYING to know the result to ... I am: You Are a Pear

You are independent, intelligent, and a free thinker. You can accomplish great things, especially when you do them on your own. You are direct, honest, and sometimes even a bit brutal. There's not much that gets in the way of you and your ambition. While you are hard nosed, you do have a much sweeter side to you. It takes times for you to soften toward someone, but once you do, you'll be their friend for life.

I LOVED this song ...

What's Your Song?

My Result: Funky Town

Bold, outrageous, and unafraid to ham it up. Like your signature song, you're upbeat and tons of fun. When it comes to having a good time, your imagination knows no limits. Whether you're out on the town or at home with friends, you can be counted on to be the ringleader.


People are drawn to your lightheartedness and offbeat sense of humor. You're not one to take life too seriously, and that's why you're such a hoot to be around. Not to mention, you always manage to keep people guessing what you'll do next. Stay funky!

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=yoursongogt&c=50652

I am so happy to be Miss Elizabeth Bennet (!!!!) - not that this test had a lot of options, it only had six of Jane Austen's heroines.

You Are Strawberry Cake

Fresh, sassy, and romantic. You're a total flirt, who never would turn down a sugary treat. Occasionally you're a bit moody - but you usually stay sweet!

I think all religious Mormons would score the same, or close to:

How Bright Is Your Aura?

My Result: Violet

People who have Violet as their brightest color of their aura have a deep sense that they're living the life that was intended for them. At the same time, they likely see this existence as having a specific purpose, which may relate directly to their occupational calling. Their ideal job would be one that fulfills their life's calling. They would not likely be satisfied working a job that compromised their integrity or kept them from doing what they feel they're meant to do in this life.


In their love lives, they likely have peaceful and calm partnerships. They may see sex as a spiritual connection between two souls, and be drawn to a partner who also exudes a purity of being. And while they enjoy this deep connection, they probably find it challenging if their romantic relationship interferes with their intended direction in life.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=auraogt&c=50652

You can look up how many people have your name in the United States. In my case, there is NO ONE else like me! I am one of a kind!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

WEEKEND UPDATE

At church we sang, “I Believe in Christ” and Matthew didn’t know the words, but he just lay on the bench and sang his little lungs out saying stuff about Jesus. It was so cute! Then, he fell asleep during the closing prayer and stayed asleep all through Sunday School. We woke him up for the last hour of classes.

Joseph had a great week with soccer! He is also learning how to ride a two wheeler and he can cross the monkeybars on our playset.

Daniel played outside on Friday and Saturday. On Saturday, when it was about 70* he declared it too hot and turned on the hose! Ugh!

Sari started to sew an apron in Activity Days and she babysat for Larry and I while we went to the movie "Leatherheads". Ben was home, in case of emergency, but Sari did all the work and got none of the glory. I guess that's life when you babysit your siblings!

Ben and Larry went shotgun shooting with the Teacher's Quorum.

See the clay pigeon in the upper right hand corner? Larry did get it.

This is Ben and his teacher's quorum advisor/Varsity scout leader, Chris Grimes. Looks like Chris just flung the clay pigeon.

Rachel ended up spending most of her weekend "hanging out" with Clayton, while with a group. Hmmm... this is something we will be monitoring more closely. I snagged this picture off her phone.

Matthew and I met my friend, Kristine and her daughter, Katherine at “Old European” for brunch. I haven’t been there since I was pregnant with Matthew, and it made me terribly and horribly puktatiously sick. I even got nauseous looking at the sign. This was my first time back in five years, and it was yummy and I didn’t get sick! Bonus! Neither did Matthew. AND, It was nice to catch up with Kristine again.

Sweet little cherubs:

The truth:

Friday night Larry and I went to see “LeatherHeads” with Tracy and Charmaine O’Donnal.

Afterwards we went to “the Onion” for “dinner”. I have been there three times in seven years, but each time the restaurant is filthy, the food is greasy and overpriced, and the staff is barely nice. I am just not going to go there again. Ever. No matter how much peer-pressure I get.

I also painted the family room and kitchen – changed it from that awful “dove” that I have hated since I put it on (4 1/2 years ago) to a pale yellow (the exact color of butter from Costco). I absolutely LOVE it! I still have to do behind all the shelves in the family room, but most of it is done. I feel happy every time I walk in the room. I love it with the purple in my living room, too. I feel … irisy or pansy …ey. I feel springy!

Church was one of those odd days that all the talks are amazing, the songs are great and correlate perfectly and no one says anything weird. I was glad I went. Afterwards we fed the missionaries.

I am getting a lot of pressure (in a good way) from some of my friends to go to BYU education week in August. We would make it a chick trip. I don’t know … still thinking about it … I have until tomorrow to decide. I WANT to go, I just don’t know if my family can handle me being gone for a week (not in an arrogant way, just in a “I am the mom” way).

Monday and Tuesday mornings Larry substitute taught the Juniors’ Seminary class for Cathie Layman. Teaching Isaiah is like an occasional oasis surrounded by desert. He said each day he was able to give them some good stuff, but it was always surrounded by a lot of very dry stuff. When Cathie got back on Wednesday and asked them what they learned from Brother Sant, they said, “we learned what the symbol for water is.” They always commented on his chalkboard drawings. (He really is quite the artist, this symbol does not demonstate his abilities.)

And he would want you all to know that the upside triangle has three lines under it, to depict the water level. I just couldn't find on google images one that did that.

SUNDAY NIGHT DANIEL ASKED

THIS POST HAS AT LEAST A PG RATING AND YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO READ IT ALL.

I hesitate to post this. I have sat on it since Sunday, trying to decide. I am going to because this blog is mostly my journal and I import it to Blurb and make a book and walah ... my journal is done. But here are my concerns: this is near and dear to my heart. I am sensitive about it. Someone in my family doesn't think this was as bad as it was. They weren't in even in the state when it happened, but they insist it wasn't as bad as it was. That irritates me. Also, as a warning, you may find this disturbing. I am sorry. But you DID choose to read it :).

I never thought that we would be having this conversation with my son. This is it to the best of my recollection.

(Not THAT conversation. Larry and I do that one together, yes, but at about age 8.)

This conversation:

Daniel: "My DS says to talk to the Doctor before you play it if you have epilesephy."
Me: "Ephiliphsy?"
Daniel, "Epilesephy."
Me: "Epiglotitus?"
Daniel: "No, I don't think so. Maybe."
Me: (putting it all in context now - NINTENDO DS) "OH, epilepsy."
Daniel: "yeah, so do I need to talk to my doctor?"
Me: "No, you don't have that anymore."
Daniel: "Okay." Stands there. I am busy. It is past bedtime. I ignore him. Larry is at the table studying for the seminary lesson he has to teach the next day.
Larry: "Daniel, do you have more questions?"
Daniel: "Yes."
Larry: "Okay, come sit on the couch with me. What are your questions?"
Daniel: "What happened when I was born?"

Wow.

For those of you who knew us, oh, ten and a half years ago, you know what's up. It's not that we never talk about it. We do. "You were hurt when you were born." "Your head was too big and the doctor made a mistake and broke the bones in your head. That hurt your brain." "You can do hard things. Lots of what you've learned was hard at first, but you can do it!" "When your head was hurt, it hurt your brain too, so you learn how to do stuff differently." "Heavenly Father has a special plan for you, that is why you got better."

This time was different. It was in the air. He wanted to KNOW.

So, we got out Daniel's scrapbook and we went through it with him.

Daniel: "How did my head get hurt?"

Larry: "Well, the Doctor thought that since mom had had other babies, she could have you, too. But your head was too big and mom was too small. Then, we the Doctor put the forceps on, you know how babies have soft spots on their heads and you have to be careful? - well, he felt the wrong soft spot. So when he put on the forceps, which help a baby come out, instead of going on right (he demonstrates with his hands what the forceps are shaped like and how they fit nicely under the chin, next to the ears) they went on like this (he demonstrates again with one hand cupped over the eye, and another hand across the back of the head). So, that broke the bones in your head because it smashed your head."

Daniel: "oh"

Pause.

Daniel: "What is this?"
Then we went over the picture details one at a time.

This tells us how much oxygen is in your blood.
This tells us your blood pressure.
This is giving you more blood.
This is sucking the blood out of your stomach.
This is blowing air into your lungs because you couldn't breathe.
This is catching the blood that was coming out of your ear.

Larry: "Let me show you something, Daniel. Do you see this picture?" (At my mom's house, making gingerbread houses, the week before he was born, with Teilani's kids there.) Do you see all these people?

Now lets look at them here." (Shows more pictures - Rachel at the hospital, Ben at the hospital. Same at home.) "All these people love you. Look how worried they are about you. Look how happy they are to have you. When this happened to you, we all moved into Grandma and Grandpa Hathaway's house. Grandma took care of Rachel, Ben, and Sari while we stayed at the hospital with you. Then when you came home Grandpa Sant came and lived with us for a week and took care of mom and everyone because I had to go back to work. Everyone loved you and helped out so you could get better."

Tifani: "Rachel was so worried about you that she forgot how to read."

Daniel: "Really?"

Tifani: "Yep, she was in kindergarten, just like Joseph, and after you were born, she was so worried that she forgot all the letters and the sounds they made. All her brain could think about was you."

Larry: "Here you are, six days old and this is the first time we got to hold you! ((Pause)) I am so sorry, Daniel, that we didn't get to hold you before then. We really wanted to, but you were too sick. It would have hurt you if we held you." (At this point I had a lump in my throat the size of Texas.)

Blessing certificate page.

Larry: "You know how when a new baby is blessed, they do it in church and everyone gets to see the baby? Well, we didn't get to do that with you. The first blessing you got, well, everyone was going crazy working around you. They called in an xray guy and he happened to be in our ward in Santaquin (where we lived at the time). So, I asked him if he would help me give you a blessing. Since this was Provo, they had oil in the desk there, and I asked if I could give you a blessing. They said, 'Okay, you have one minute.' So, this was before they bandaged your head, and we put our hands on your head and Brother Parsons anointed you with the oil and then I blessed you and said that whatever was wrong would be fixed and it was. You were bleeding and you wouldn't stop, but then, after the blessing, it stopped."

Larry: "The next morning, really, really early Brother Oliphant, who was in the bishopric in our ward, came to see us and he helped me give you a name and a blessing before the helicopter took you to a different hospital. Your pediatrician was in the room and he said, 'If it's alright with you, I would like to stay.' So he stayed and we gave you a name and a blessing. Afterwards, I couldn't remember what I had said, but Brother Oliphant could and he told us that I said that you would get better and live to go home and live with your family. And the pediatrician said that will take a total miracle for that to happen."

Daniel: "Why are my eyes like that?"
Larry; "They were really swollen from the blood and the fluids. They didn't open for about a week. When we tried to see what color your eyes were, the bottom lids were swollen up so high, we couldn't see."

Daniel: "What is the black stuff on my eyes?"
Larry: "You had black eyes for about 4 months. That is from the bruising and the blood in your brain."

Daniel: "I thought you died if you bled in your brain."
Larry: "Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. It depends on where it is bleeding. In your case, yes, that kind of bleeding in your brain will make you die."
Tifani: "But Heavenly Father has a plan for you. Do you remember the story I used to tell you so you would fall asleep."
Daniel: (embarrassed) "Yes, about how I was a Ninja Missionary for Heavenly Father."
Tifani: "Well, I said Ninja because that is what you wanted to be, but we have already been a missionary for Heavenly Father. Everyone who meets you comments on your kind heart and you taught so many people about prayer when you were born."

More questions - when did I walk? When did I start to hear? When did I see? Would I be like this if I was still in a coma? ((Head lolls back, tongue out, eyes closed)) When did I stop having seizures? Will I know if I do again? How will I know? What should I do?

Tifani: "Do you have any more questions?"
Daniel:"Yes. When are you going to open the Star Wars game for the Wii and can I play it?"

((Hugs, kisses, goodnight))

Tifani (to Larry): "How did you know he wanted to talk about that?"
Larry: "I just had a feeling that this time was different."

Larry is the man you want with you in a crisis. He tells things straight forward, in a calm way and not scary. He is my go-to man.

I meant to write about Daniel and the miracle he is on his 10th birthday, back in December, but I just didn't have it in me to revisit there. It is all so huge and so complex. There are so many things and parts that just take forever to tell. There are so many gaps and holes in the story, although, this post pretty much covers with Larry and talked about with Daniel. I've forgotten things, I know I have. I have tried to be like Mary and keep these things (miracles, tender mercies) in my heart but I don't feel like any of this comes close to explaining what happened. Sorry.

SPRING BREAK 2008

Spring break.

That is what I WISH we were doing ...
Or this ....

This is what we DID do:

That's right, we sat around and measured Rachel's hair, which is giving her a major headache and needs to be cut off for that reason. You know you need to kick your life up a notch if you are measuring hair length for fun.

Matthew, who is well past four and starting the climb on five STILL doesn't have a scrapbook. I was crazy and naive enough to start one for each of my kids. Matthew's stuff all sat in a folder labeled, "Matthew". He used to ask for his scrapbook. I said, "When you are three." Then "For Christmas, maybe." Then, "When you are four." Then, "Maybe for Christmas."

Last Sunday the kids were looking at their books and Matthew wandered around, a lost soul, to several of them, saying, "Show me pictures of me." Poor kid doesn't have his own book and has to bum a peek off his siblings. This finally broke my heart enough that Monday morning I got out his folder and I started his book. It isn't cute. It isn't fabulous. It is just pictures and some words. No stickers. No diecuts, no fonts. Just Matthew. I filled 45 pages - so 90 pages total up to our Disneyland trip in November (I still haven't developed anything after that trip.)

Whew!! Matthew was SO happy to have his book! He showed everyone who came over.

Then I went to work on catching up Joseph, who was TWO the last time I caught up his book. I caught him up also (to November 2007), to the tune of another 46 pages - 92 if you count both sides and I do.

That is 182 pages in 3 days.

Now I just have Daniel, Sari, Ben, Rachel, and the family left to do.

I hate to scrapbook. Really, I do. At some point, I'm gonna say, about kid number four, I just really quit enjoying it. I think it is of value. I think it is probably one of the most important things I have done for my kids. It is absolutely money well spent. (I judge the success of my page by how many pictures I can fit on it - so my pages are cheap as far as that goes.) It warms my heart and helps me have good dreams at night when I see them huddled up on the couches pouring over (and over and over) their books and each other's books and talking about the memories. I love that. I hate to assemble, I hate the cutting and the cropping and the writing and pretty much everything! I am looking for a new way. Digital may be the answer, but I am unsure of how that works, do you develop the 12x12 and still put it in. Do you just order the book and order extra pages blank so you can mount the awards and certificates and "extras" that come along? I don't know. I need help! Someone help! Please!

But, did I clean my house? No, I did not. Kristine even came over to see the nightmare we were living in. She can verify that we were about one step away from the board of health closing us down. Nothing got done by way of organizing or cleaning.

This was the weather so no yard work, either:

They did call the game on account of the snow, which surprised me, since they practiced in it. And we did have moments of sunshine. Today we had lots of sun, as we watched the hail pound us. Twice. Sunny and hailing. We even heard thunder which we rarely hear here.

OHH!!! But we did make chocolate chip cookies THREE times this week and muddy buddies one day, too. Here is the recipe for THE BEST chocolate chip cookies you will ever eat (back me up here, Kristine - she even asked for the recipe and Kristine has forgotten more than Martha Stewart KNOWS so that tells you how good the cookies are.)

THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES YOU WILL EVER MAKE

3 eggs
2 cups brown sugar
2cups white sugar
1 pound of butter (you didn't think they would be low fat, too?)
1 Tbsp REAL vanilla (just kick out the good stuff here - and not the mexican kind)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
Mix it all up until it is fluffy and light. Add:
6 cups of flour
Mix it just enough to add the flour. Add:
18 oz. (or more) chocolate chips
Bake at 350* for 8-9 minutes.

This makes the best cookie dough I have ever eaten, too. Really, I gained 4 pounds this week.

OH!!!! AND I won chocolate from See's on my friend, Elizabeth's blog!! My name got drawn and it was totally random! That never happens to me!

Ben broke one of the glass panes out of my old (and totally cool) hutch. It was old glass, too, the wavy kind that you can't buy anymore and it won't match if I just put in plain glass. When he broke the glass in my hutch, he was lucky he didn't break my china. Little stinker. He also broke my headset to my phone and a Legoland tomahawk (which you can only get at Legoland it was totally cool) all while wrestling with his friend, Eric. Ben also had three days with his friend Jake Grover over day and night (Rachel babysat Jake's sisters at their house while the parents were out of town). Even with all that entertainment, Ben dug more holes (bored dogs dig holes, so does a bored Ben) but let us focus on the positive: he did a very funny impression of me tonight during scripture study and I could have been mad, but instead I laughed, he laughed, Larry made another joke, and we all went on. (This was the impression - "Sari, I will tell you what mom tells me: (high squeaky voice) 'If this is how you act after having a friend over, you won't be allow that privilege next time.' (Both hand up in front, shoulder height, palms facing out, then flop down the hands, flopping wrist like, on the "next time".) Hilarious. Trust me. I know funny.

We had our BFFs (Best Family Friends) the O'Donnals over for Conference today. They came before the first session and stayed until about 7 p.m. We had lots of good food and a BBQ for dinner. We ate all day. It was like the MTC - sit and eat and listen and learn and sit and eat and listen and learn and sit and eat. We took a picture but you would not believe how FAT I look in it, so I am not putting it on. It was a terribly unfortunate pose.

And to wrap it all up - General Conference, aka Get Out of Jail Free day! I love Conference! I try to listen to all the sessions. I loved all the talks, but especially Sister Tanner's and Elder Ballard's. Oh, and Elder Holland's and Elder Bednar's. Okay, basically all of Sunday afternoon. And Elder Uchtodorf's. And Elder Scott (he always takes the hard ones). I was also glad that we took the time to watch the Saturday morning solemn assembly and participate at home in that occasion. I thought it was very special to do that in our home, with our children.

I have loved President Monson's talks all my life. One year, when I was at Ricks, I saved my money and bought my Grandpa Harding a book of Thomas S. Monson's favorite quotes. I really wanted to keep the book, but I knew that my Grandpa loved Thomas S. Monson's talks, too. So, I gave him the book. To my COMPLETE surprise, my Christmas present from him that year was that same book! I really felt like I could see the mantle of the prophet (whatever that is) on President Monson today. I knew he was a prophet because I believe in the Church and how it is run. Today I felt my testimony of HIM as the prophet grow, if that makes sense.

While watching Conference I made these critters for my friend, Julie's, kiddos:

I have to show you the tail shot, too:

And the monkey, I will just show you from the side. I made two of these, one for Sari, as well. Hers is similar, only I made her ears and tail pink.

I also made Joseph a snake, but it just a snake and pretty ugly, to be frank. He loves it. He and Matthew fought over it for the rest of the night. Go figure.

I saw this picture on Rachel's facebook account several times before I saw something that made my heart stop for a second. Do you see it too? Ten bucks says my brother, Jason saw it before he even finished reading this paragraph. Larry saw it right off. I just thought, "Oh, Jordan cut her hair." That is NOT what you should be looking at.

Last but not least, Sari spent time at the O'Donnals and got pretty silly. Here they are: Styx, Foreigner, and Journey with chocolate on their faces.