BIG NEWS!

My little brother David is getting married!!!!!!! To Kimberly. HOORAY!!!!!! Aren't they so cute? Their big date is August 19th. Congratulations you two!

Wordless Wednesday

A super, fun day!

We went out playing on the water yesterday. This kids had so much fun. I don't think we have been on the water in over 5 years. They were all so excited but a little cautious at first. Once we got out on the lake and stopped to fill up the tub, the kids all decided to jump in.

Kate and Henry were still very upset at being caged in their life jackets.

Zach and Justyn were the first to ride the tube. They didn't last as long as I thought they would.

Shaelynne rode with her friend Logan.



Alexys rode with our friend Stacy.

And that was all that they did. They were happy to spend the rest of the day just playing in the boat and being with their friends.

Our friend Stacy asked if I wanted a turn. I overheard Justyn say, "My mom doesn't do those kinds of things. She's too afraid." HA! He doesn't know me very well. I'm up for a challenge. I rode the tube with Stacy and that was fun. A little too much jarring on my not-so-young body though. I did try surfing. That was very fun. Troy, Stacy's husband, called it a woosy sport. I'm okay with woosy.

I also tried the wake board (pictures are on my friends camera). After a couple of tries I figured out how to get up but I wasn't very good at staying up for more than about 5 seconds. It was fun to try though.

When Ken and I dated(the whole 2 months that we dated), we spent alot of time out on the water. Ken loved to waterski. Back then I was more worried about being embarrassed and always looking cute then actually learning to ski. Now that I'm a couple years older, I don't actually care how cute I look and I'm way past being embarrassed so it's more fun to actually try different things. Now I'm just really out of shape. My body gave out long before my determination did yesterday. Today I'm feeling it though. I didn't want to move at all last night when I crawled into bed. If I stop moving, I start hurting so I think it's time to be done on this post.

The best part of the whole day was just being out with my kids. It was a great tension breaker for us. Being on the water was relaxing and the company was fantastic. So, thanks Stacy and Troy and Amanda and Andy for letting letting us crash your party. Quoting Alexys's words, "We had the BEST day ever!"

Remind me again...

Little kids, Little kids, what are little kids good for?

We took the kids bowling for Justyn's birthday. I will just say it right up front, I AM NOT A GOOD BOWLER. But I think it's fun to do so as long as no one care what my score is, then I really enjoy playing. Ken put me on the little kids lane and he was on the big kids lane. It was perfect because my score made all the little kids feel like they were doing really well. In my defense, I had Henry in one arm, my camera in my other hand and Kate hanging on my legs so my balance and concentration level may have been slightly off. At one point, I threw the ball and it went in the gutter, again, and I turned to Kate and said, "Oh man, I'm just not a very good bowler." She wrapped her skinny little arms around my neck and said, "Listen, Mom, you are a great bowler, just like me. You just need to use my ball." "Really? You think that would help me?" "Sure," she says, "it's pink!" Then she lowers her voice and whispers in my ear, "and pink is magical." Believe it or not, using the pink ball on my next turn, I knocked most of them down. Kate came running as fast as she could to give me a hug, squealing and laughing and clapping all the way, "You did it! You did it!" That's why I have little ones, to remind me to look for magic everywhere and to be my own personal life-cheerleaders.


Bigger Kids, Bigger Kids, What are my bigger kids good for?

This morning, some friends called and invited us to go play on the lake with them in their boat. My kids have been eyeing this boat since we met them so this is the day all their dreams will come true. They are all ready to go right now and we don't even leave for 6 more hours. It's going to be a long morning. Anyways, Justyn just walked past me and he was laughing to himself. I called him back and asked him what was so funny. He said, "Well, at least you don't have to worry about wearing a swimsuit." I said, "What? I have a swimsuit." He laughed, "I know, but I know you and you will definitely be too embarrassed to wear it." "No I won't." His laughing stopped instantly and a look of sheer terror crossed his face. "You're not going to wear it,(pause) are you?" "Are you going to be embarrassed if I do?" He quickly nodded his head yes. Now I'm the one laughing, "Oh yes, my dear, your mother is definitely going to be wearing a swimsuit today, out in public. Don't worry, I'll be sure you get to hang out with me ALL DAY LONG." Desperately he said, "But,...your a....mom!" I put my arm around him, "Ah yes, my son, I'm often reminded of that small detail." He turned and walked away shaking his head and I heard him mumble under his breath, "Oh man, and I was hoping this was going to be a fun day." HeHeHe!!! This is so going to be a fun day!!! However, he is right. I'm not a big swimsuit person so I was already having doubts of my own. In his most gentle but totally honest way, Justyn has helped my feel even more self-conscious about my super white, slightly unfit, yes,-I-really-had-all-those-kids body. Yes,yes, my bigger kids do a great job at keeping me humble.

Teenagers, Teenagers, what can they possibly be good for?

I was visiting with my neighbor the other night, and she made the comment, "My husbands young men think I'm hotter than he does." Zach was sitting there with me and he chuckled out loud and said, "Oh yeah!" Since he just happens to be one of her husbands young men, I turned to him with a look of shock and disbelief on my face. He looked at me and quickly cleared his throat and added, "Umm, yeah, I've heard some of the other young men talking about that. We really love to hang out over here!" Then he looked at her and said, "S, you rock!" "See," she said, and then we continued on with our conversation while, behind my back, I'm frantically trying to shew Zach off to play someplace else. I am clueless when it comes to this teenage thing. I failed my own teenage years miserably. I've decided that the one thing that this age is definitely good for is the whole shock factor thing. I never have any clue what to expect next, and most of the time, what does come out, puts me into a mild state of shock and I often find myself gracefully trying to deal with my reactions, often times while surrounded by people in a public setting. It's really good for my stress level. I figure, I'll either learn to leave them all home, or I'll get better at lightening up and remembering how to enjoy life a little more, the way he does. After all, LIFE ROCKS!

So, the next time you need some no-fluff honestly in your life, get yourself a kid. If you need help finding one, depending on the day, I might have a few spares on hand. And mine are 100% guaranteed to keep it all real, all the time!

Wordless Wednesday

Crazy Eights

Okay, I've been tagged by Venita (and several others, I just can't remember now who)to do six things about me tag. I've done this one a couple times before and I always reveal things that make me seem a little OCD or strange. So, I am a little hesitant to do this one again but I found this tag over on Tanya's blog and it is sort of the same thing but different so I'm going to do this one and call it the same. It's called CRAZY EIGHTS...


Eight things I have a passion for...

Anything with my kids
My husband
My stay-at-home mommy career
My extended family
Love
Friendship
Knowledge
Art


Eight things I would like to do before I die...

Kiss my grandkids
Travel (I'm working on my list)
Get my degree
See all my children in the temple
Learn to swim
Get healthy
Laugh more
Stress less


Eight things I say a lot...

No! Don't ask me again!
I love you!
Clean up your rooms
I need your laundry
Shut the door
Do your chores
Why isn't anyone listening to me
Stop fighting


Eight books I have read recently...

The Horse and His Boys (Chronicles of Narnia)
Body for Life
Body for Life for Women
Natural Prozac
I was a really Good Mom before I had kids
Tending Roses
I am a Mother
1 Nephi (Book of Mormon)

Eight movies I have seen 8 times (more like 800 times)

Sound of Music
My Fair Lady
High School Musical 1 & 2
All the Barbie Princess movies
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Parent Trap (Haley Mills version)
Top Gun
Wizard of OZ

Justyn turns 11 today! He is such a fun kid. He is at an age where he is still such a little kid at heart but every now and then I get a glimpse of him trying to grow up and it kind of makes me sad. Here are 11 things that I love the most about my Justyn.

1. Justyn loves animals. He's scared to death of them but he has a huge heart for them. He especially loves dogs.
2. Justyn loves adventure books and movies that take place in mythical lands. He loves Chronicle's of Narnia, The Inheritance Series, and Harry Potter are top on his list although he has many, many more that he loves.
3. Justyn loves Lego's and small animals and figures. He likes to combine all his toys to create these amazing imaginary worlds that he lives in.
4. Justyn loves to have stories read to him. He is always listening to a book on CD and he begs to have me read to him at night. I'll probably be reading him bedtime stories until he leaves home.
5. Justyn loves history. He remembers everything he hears or reads. Any time I have questions, I just ask him. He knows everything and if he doesn't know it, he figures it out.
6. Justyn has an excellent memory. He can remember details about so many things. He also likes to annoy us by constantly repeating scenes from movies word for word, over and over and over.
7. Justyn loves to draw. I find his drawings everywhere. Most of them are of these complicated machines that do amazing things or of some detailed scene from a book or imaginary place he has created. Writing is very hard for him because he writes as though he is drawing.
8. Justyn loves to create things. He loves to design things on paper and then create them out of wood or clay or Lego's.
9. Justyn loves to have fun. He loves to laugh and has a strange sense of humor.
10. Justyn is very close to the spirit. His testimony is so strong. He had a talk to give a couple of weeks ago and he couldn't find what he was looking for so he wrote the story himself. He had us all in tears when he was finished.
11. Justyn loves his family and he has a strong sense of loyalty to all of us. He is very respectful to me. Ken teases him because he calls me Momma. I don't know why he does. He just always has and I like it.

I love watching my kids grow up. They are becoming these amazing little people and I am so honored to have the opportunity to be their mother. I just hope I don't blink. I might miss something. The time is going by way too quickly.

Happy Birthday Justyn!