A day in the life

Yes, this pretty much sums it up. And currently my son is sitting on the floor of the kitchen feeding the dog his toast.

I've been tagged

Ok, so I was tagged a full month ago and never got around to listing the five things about me that people don't know. The truth is, I have no surprises. Nonetheless, here it is...

1) I hate reheated poultry-especially in the microwave. I think it has a funny taste. Any leftover chicken or turkey will be eaten cold by me.
2) I get tremendous satisfaction from getting stains out of clothes. I have ample opportunity to do this, which is a bonus. Too bad my satisfaction does not extend to the folding and putting away of the clothes.
3) I'm afraid of heights. It's not a crippling fear, but it's there. So, I went to the top of the Empire State Building, but was not thrilled about it.
4) The song "Sometimes When We Touch" by Dan Hill evokes such agitation and annoyance in me that I can feel myself become almost physically ill/violent. I HATE that song.
5) I love to cook for people. This one is no surprise but I thought I would throw it in anyway. I love having people over to my house for a big meal.

So, that's it! I have nothing left to hide.

Isn't he lovely?

Quite often Brad and I entertain ourselves with crazy conversations about which one of us is better at a certain task or skill. The personal resume that we give each other contains hyperbole after hyperbole of our particular skill set. These conversations usually end with me talking loudly, flailing my hands, and Brad doubling over in a laughing fit, completely unable to speak. Good times indeed.

I bring this up simply because I must occasionally give up the fight and give him credit for being the fantastic husband (and friend) that he is to me. He can work 10+ hours a day (for days on end) and still come home and willingly help me out with the continual domestic madness. He does dishes, changes diapers, runs errands and referees children. Plus, he shows me genuine sympathy when my Yankees dissapoint me and lose in the first round. That is a good man.

On top of all of this, Brad just spent all three of his days off last week with my ex-husband, who was in town to visit Mady. He not only entertained him but truly showed interest in his well being. I believe that Scott left with a desire to be a better person for the time he spent with Brad.

So, could I be luckier? I don't think so.

Although, out of sheer pride, he will never beat me in soccer.

Liza learning to twirl

My favorite part of the video? Hearing my mom laugh.

Here come the terrible twos...

So, everyone keeps asking me why the blog is so sporadic. Well, this young lady would be why.

She woke up about two weeks ago as a completely different child. I don't know if I am going to survive all of the following:

• climbing into sinks with the water running


• grabbing handfuls of the sauce that I am making with dinner and sucking it down while it drips on the floor


• taking endless amounts of cereal out of the pantry and dumping it on my kitchen floor


• using the dog as a step stool


• trying to "hug" Daniel until he screams


• crying at anything and everything at the TOP of her lungs while screaming "No, NO, mommy!"

Ok, ok, to be fair, she has her cute and funny moments, too.

• She loves to have Grandpa pretend like he is sleeping so that she can kiss him and wake him up.


• Anytime she wants you to move she says ,"Beep, beep" instead of "excuse me".


• She has the best look of surprise. Any time she sees or hears something new she looks like Mccully Culkin on Home Alone with the mouth open and the eyes wide. It's very cute.


• She will sing little songs to me. I have no idea what she's saying, but she'll do it over and over again if I ask her to.


• She loves her siblings. She asks about them all day long while they are at school. Also, she loves to have Daniel follow her to her room so that they can play. She'll stand in the hallway and say, "D, play. D, PLAY."


• She loves church. As we pull into the parking lot she says, "YEAH, YEAH!"


• She gives me butterfly kisses.

So, forgive me if the blog is not current. I'm tending my babies, and babies don't keep.

Back in the saddle

So, it's been awhile. I truly apologize. Life gets away from you when all six kids are at home. So, now that 4 of them are back in school, I have no excuse (other than the fact that Liza is currently trying to push me off of the chair...).

I really have nothing to report except that I am quite unsure if I will survive the experience of my children entering middle school. If anyone has a tip or two on getting through this phase, I would be glad to hear it!

As for Liza and Daniel, they are delightful! My new found joy is that Daniel will toddle back to Liza's room and start playing with the toys. Liza is soon to follow. So, for a few minutes they will listen to music and play together! This, I love.

family and fun

We have had such a good time with all of the family visits this summer. Here are a few pictures.

It has been a lot of fun having Liza as my shadow in the garden. She comes out to help me water each time. I have loved sharing that time with her.

We also enjoyed visiting the gardens at Thanksgiving Point with Tammye, Candy and Brynna. We spent 4 hours there and it just flew by. Tammye took these fantastic pictures for us. None of us had been there before so we slowly took it all in. It was one of those rare, perfect days that you love to look back on later.

Bon Voyage!

I have been so behind on posting photos from all of the events of this summer. Here are some from the barbeque for Carl before he left for Virginia. There were so many great ones of everyone. Sorry I can only post a few!

Enjoy!

Good things come to those who wait (for their mom to visit...)

I must give a little shout out to my mom. She swoops into town, sprinkles her fairy dust over my house, throws in a good measure of elbow grease, and viola! my plants are thriving and happy.

Thanks to her I have my trellis' up in my garden, my herbs planted in pots, and I even got a night out with Brad! Amazing. She is truly able to accomplish more in one hour than most of us accomplish in a week. And, having seen her recently use both a pick ax and a shovel, I'm pretty sure she can still take me in a fair fight.

What would we do without our mothers? THANK YOU MOM!

The quiet moments

I wonder why it is that we love so deeply in the quiet moments of life.

It's midnight. I'm just finishing a movie and Daniel wakes up. I'm rocking him to sleep and he reaches up and touches my face with his hand. He's touching my cheek and my chin with his soft little baby hand and my heart is filling to the brim. He's so perfect and beautiful. He crosses his little legs and makes cute little clucking noises with his tongue. He smells good from the bath I gave him tonight. I like the way he holds on to me now when I rock him-like he's giving me a hug as he rests his head on my shoulder. My heart is completely full.

Of course, this feeling of bliss lasts until I lay him down and tiptoe out of the room. He begins to cry, which then wakes up Liza. They are both now screaming their heads off.

So much for the quiet moment...

Oh, what do you do in the summertime?

Well, it has begun. With much excitement, my children are welcoming summer vacation. The pool is open and all is well with the world.

The girls and I took Eliza for her first little swimming excursion. She was a little nervous when she felt the cold water. However, after a little coaxing from Mady she took right to it and had a ball.

Also, we have begun the the process of planting our garden. We are looking forward to having something grow in our yard! Hopefully the grass won't be too far behind.

And last but certainly not least, THE SPURS AND THE CAVS! Certainly not the matchup I would have predicted at the beginning of the season, but we'll take it. GAME ON!

A fond farewell to the Jazz

Well, seeing as how the Jazz are down by 25 points right now, I feel pretty confident in bidding them adieu. They gave it a valient effort. Plus, they're young. They'll be back.

My condolences to Brad, Scott, and all of the other dissapointed Jazz fans. Oh, and GO SPURS!

Does it get any cuter than this kid? He's been crawling for a couple of weeks now. He's everywhere I turn! He started to pull himself up on a basket today. Unbelievable.

Our ducks, all in a row

Well, it isn't until you look at pictures of your kids that you realize how fast they grow. Here's a little FYI on each of them...

Matt is finishing up 8th grade right now. I believe he is counting down the days until summer break. He wants to camp and fish the days away so that he can come home dirty and tired. He's looking forward to the hike that the young men in our ward are going on in July. Brad is going with him, so I think he is especially looking forward to that.

Adara is excited to be out of elementary school. She starts 7th grade next year. She will be playing the cello at school and is looking forward to the summer orchestra program that the school has during June. This will also be her first year going to girl's camp. She is very excited for that as well.

Madyson will be in 5th grade next year. She is currently taking violin lessons and had her first recital last week. She is also looking forward to swimming and playing soccer this summer.

McCandliss is going into 4th grade next year. She is playing the piano and enjoys having her turn to play the prelude music in Primary. She is looking forward to the outdoor pool opening up again so that she can go off the diving board.

All of the girls (along with their cousin, Angie) are participating in a 4-H sewing group that is taught be their Aunt Karen. (Who is fantastic with them and shows an endless supply of patience!) They just completed some book marks and some travel kits. They are very excited to display all of their projects at the fair in July.

Eliza and Daniel continue to delight us. Liza is still the queen of the castle. She is learning to say everyone's names. Matt's is of course the easiest. She loves to yell that out in the middle of church(which I think pleases Matt to no end). She is also endlessly entertaining to Daniel. She cracks him up by coming up to him and saying,"HI! HI!" I don't know what I will do when they are 2 and 3 years old. I can see all sorts of trouble headed my way.

Daniel has started to crawl this past week. He now knows no boundaries. He'll go anywhere. He is really such an easy going child. He is the perfect caboose for our family.

I think that's everyone! Hopefully I will be able to post some videos soon, so stay tuned...

GO SPURS!

I thought I would just take a moment to express my joy. Tony Parker comes up big and it's on to the Western Conference Finals. I acknowledge that this next series with the Jazz may strain my marriage and permanently alianate Scott Eck from my home. But, such is the life of a sports fan.

GO SPURS!

Fishing with carl and Charity