Picture Purge

I just figured out a quick and efficient way of getting the photos from my phone to my computer. I know it is 2013, but I didn't know how to upload them as a group until last week. Warning, there's quite a few photos, but here is the month of May as seen through my cell-phone.

The day all five children ate a piece of french toast covered with this syrup... I laughed hysterically upon the discovery, my children were NOT amused.

Loved spending a weekend with these amazing ladies (and more). This photo is probably only half of the Power of Moms board. Absolutely LOVE the friendships and associations I have with some of these women.

My girls and I enjoyed a nice afternoon at City Creek for a Mother's Day girls lunch with extended family.

Got a big kick out of these two "panhandlers" sitting outside Temple Square. I couldn't resist tossing some loose change their way.

I loved the boys' enthusiasm to take a bouquet of tulips to their school teachers one afternoon.

Megan had a harp performance at the city hall.

Unfortunately this was the gift Ellie gave me for Mother's Day. Apparently she misunderstood her Activity Day leaders, and thought hiding a plant in her closet for six days was a good idea.

I absolutely LOVED walking outside one afternoon and seeing Ellie and her good friend swinging in the backyard while browsing magazines. It was one of the cutest things I've seen in a long time. My favorite part was when they'd stop swinging long enough to point something out in their magazine to the other. (The magazines? Justice clothing and American Girls catalogs.)

 Drew and Mom's impromptu stop at a park to eat Cutler's sugar cookies together.

(gotta love the saliva oozing from Drew's mouth)

Instead of clearing up dinner like she was supposed to, Megan began entertaining herself with a raw tortilla-turned mask. Mike and I really were not amused UNTIL Megan went into the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. Her hysterical laughter at herself made it pretty hard not to join in. Sometimes her ability to entertain herself with really dumb things, makes me wonder if she really is the age we think she is.

Drew's dives into the bath-tub. I try not to throw up while watching his enjoyment of submerging himself in his own filth.

Megan used a lot of different bowls to make different colors of cake batter for Ellie's birthday cake. Mike apparently loves cake batter and kept insisting to Megan that he got to lick the bowls. Disgusting.

My way of making a BSA statement, without really making one. Mother's pins? So completely over-priced (as are all the BSA awards and paraphernalia) and what do mom's ever do with them? I've NEVER seen anyone wear them. Except me. I used to wear them to every Cub Scout Pack Meeting, and now I wear them to Court of Honors. Luke added one to the collection after the photo was taken. Enough said about BSA, especially after last night. Don't get me started.

Ellie had a piano recital. I hope she keeps practicing her 2 songs, "Oh Susannah" and "Clementine". SUCH good songs to sing along loudly to. (Much to her annoyance.)

I LOVE seeing rainbows in the sky. I'm known to tell my children to keep their eye out for one after a storm, when the sun is just right. Love them. Joshua begged me to let him go find the end of it to see if there was treasure.

Luke has been a part of our life this month, I promise. But somehow his activities don't get recorded quite as much. Probably because he's been busy building a BMX bike ramp in a horse field (it's too muddy for me to be interested in following him out there), aerating people's lawns (I'm not sure OSHA would agree with his work, and therefore I'm not going to capture it on camera.), and bringing his goats over to our house (shaving Hank practically IN the garage wasn't exactly the smartest decision on his part, and capturing it on camera was the last thing on my mind-how mad Mike would be was at the forefront). Regardless, I still love Luke even if I didn't capture any photos of him. Although he did have about 47 (no exaggeration) self-portraits on my phone, but I deleted them in a huff the other morning.

And that about wraps up the month of May via a cell-phone.

It's Mighty Fine Turning Nine

a picture essay for Ellie's special day...

as per tradition, opening presents in mom and dad's bed

breakfast of choice (homemade waffles)

insistence on wearing new outfit despite cold temperatures

homemade birthday cake (courtesy of Megan)--LOVED that I didn't have to make it

dinner at restaurant of choice (Granny Annie's)

(the free birthday cinnamon roll was a nice bonus)

wearing the birthday hat to gymnastics 

singing happy birthday with cousins through the amazing wonder of Facetime

the surprise polka dots inside the cake

and that about wraps up the day Ellie turned nine
let's look at my favorite photo of the day again

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Judging Less, Loving More

Recently, one of my children was involved in an unfortunate exchange with an adult. As a parent, I was shocked and disgusted at the event, as was my child. Although the person later apologized for "misunderstanding the situation", there was no apology for more specifics as I would have liked.

(I am purposefully being vague about this particular situation. The specifics do not need to be shared publicly.)

I only shared the situation with one friend, knowing I could trust her completely, and hoping for a little advice. Although this particular friend has scaled much greater mountains of compassion and forgiveness than this little (somewhat) insignificant situation I found myself in, she validated my feelings.

As the days passed, I felt myself feeling more and more irritated that this event happened, and that an adult would act in such a way. It isn't that it necessarily surprised me that this particular adult would be capable of such an exchange, but that it would happen with one of my children is what bother (s) (ed) me most.

I found myself disappointed in myself that I would even temporarily hold a grudge, and kept doubting my ability to be cordial to this person when a future (inevitable) interaction happens.

My focus this last week has been on "forgetting" the incident and feeling no ill-will towards the person involved. I find it no coincidence that on Sunday morning a dear friend shared with me specifically, a video. Knowing nothing about my previous week, but recalling a conversation from months before, this friend believed I would appreciate the video. I'll take it one step further, I think this friend was inspired to send me the video. (Thank you, Michelle!)

As I watched the short video I found myself imagining the specific "descriptions" applying to the adult in the questionable exchange with my child. With tears in my eyes, I was humbly reminded, that it is not for me to judge another person's actions. And though a child of mine was clearly wronged, what a lesson for me (and Mike) and one of our children to (re) learn--we have no idea what was going on in that person's life that day.

Instead of holding a grudge or being irritated, my job is to judge less and love more.

I shared my experience and the video with my little family this afternoon. Now I'm sharing it with you.
~enjoy

(This video was put together by a hospital in Cleveland. Believe me, it is well worth 4 minutes of your time to watch.)

A Few Facts

Fact #1
Mike watches very little television. The nightly news and maybe Seinfeld re-runs if he didn't fall asleep during the weather forecast.

Fact #2
For the last 8 years, from January through May, Mike watches television every Wednesday and Thursday night. For five months, our lives and schedules revolve around a television show. American Idol.

Fact #3
Viewership for American Idol is at all-time lows. Even in our own family, everyone has lost interest in the show. Except Mike.

Fact #4
For the past several years, Mike has correctly guessed at least 2-3 of the top 5 contestants during 'Hollywood Week'.

Fact #5
This year is probably Mike's favorite year. He loves. I mean LOVES the last few contestants. (And yes, one of the top 2 he has predicted all along.)

Fact #6
My dear husband works very hard. He is hard to convince to ever take time off of work. Our most frequent arguments for 16 years of marriage are about days off of work (or the lack of).

Fact #7
Neither Mike or I are spontaneous people

Fact #8
Mike is frugal.

Fact #9
Mike rarely takes time off of work.

Fact #10
Did I mention Mike is frugal and favors days at work.

Fact #11
Mike loves American Idol.
Correction.
Mike LOVES American Idol.

Fact #12
When my brother Casey called to say he has a ticket to the American Idol finale one week away, Mike replied, "I'm going."

Fact #13
A plane ticket to California with one week notice isn't exactly cheap.

Fact #14
This is a very busy time of year for someone in the construction/landscape business.

Fact #15
Mike is at the American Idol finale.

Fact #16
It makes me laugh. Although I think Keith Urban is HOT and I'm mildly jealous Mike will see him in person.

Fact #17
You know those dads you see on videos singing lullabyes and stuff to their children via cell-phones at airports, on the bus, etc? I think Mike should have been a good sport and not selectively "forgotten" this sign (made by Megan) when he left for the airport.

Fact #18
My husband is a nut.

If You Need To Slice Strawberries...

(I was never sure exactly what I would do with this photo of myself that Megan took on Mother's Day. So I'll be brave and share it with the world on a blog post about me and my unfocused mind.)

Have you ever read the series of books such as "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" or "If You Give a Dog a Donut" books? Ellie loves them and I think has nearly all of the series. They are actually quite fun to read, I should retrieve them from her room and read them to the boys.

The other day I found myself feeling as though my morning could have been taken from the pages of one of those books. Except, in the book most of the tasks relate, in my life that day (or any day for that matter) there really was no correlation between one task or the next.

It went something like this:

My nice neighbor's mother offered to watch my boys while I ran to the grocery store. Feeling so grateful for her generosity, I tried to be very quick at the store out of politeness towards her. I think that was my first mistake--it set me off into a rushed speed--at a time in my life I'm trying desperately to slow my pace during the day-to-day tasks I embark on.

Anyway.
After arriving home with my groceries, I started to put them away. As I opened the fridge, I realized I hadn't sliced and frozen some previously bought strawberries for a frequently made DELICIOUS summer dessert. So I began slicing strawberries.

In the meantime, Drew came into the house asking for a peanut butter sandwich. I stopped to fix him one, being sure to make one for Joshua too, to eliminate another interruption. Except I forgot to put jam on Joshua's, and just as I was returning to the slicing of strawberries, Joshua returned into the house asking for jam. Which I swiftly applied to his sandwich. Using the last of the jam, I rinsed out the jam jar to put in the dishwasher. Suddenly I remembered I had forgotten to buy eggs at the store, so (A FIRST FOR ME) I went outside to see if the chickens had laid any eggs that morning. Reminding myself that retrieving chicken eggs IS NOT in my job description, I called for Joshua to help me. After washing the eggs and putting them in the fridge, I realized I should finish putting away the groceries. As I went to throw away something, I noticed the garbage was extremely full, so I pulled out the full bag and went to retrieve a new garbage bag. Except I couldn't find them. It was then I realized an overly helpful child had put away the paper towels, shoving the garbage bags and paper plates to the very back of the cupboard. I emptied the paper towel rolls one by one, and reorganized the cupboard. Eventually retrieving the garbage bag and putting it in the can.

Seeing the full garbage bag sitting to the side, I took it outside to the big trash can. As I glanced over to the chicken coop, I remembered the bag of rotting apples that were a complete waste of money (I will NEVER buy pre-bagged apples again on sale) and decided I should take them out to the chickens.

Meanwhile, I remembered the laundry needed to be switched right then. (I'm picky about things sitting in the dryer too long.) I ran upstairs to do that, and afterwards got side tracked putting some out-grown clothes into a bag to give away. I stopped to take a potty break, and realized I should refill the toilet paper holders in all the bathrooms. It was then I remembered I never replied to an email from Mike that morning asking if I could pick up a few items for the office. Upon my return downstairs to use the computer, I saw the semi-sliced strawberries sitting on the counter and remembered,

That I was actually in the middle of slicing strawberries.

Mike's email never got replied to. But after slicing strawberries, I did grab a notebook and write down everything I had just done in a 25 minute period. If for nobody else but myself.

Well, and for Mike. Perhaps then, he can better understand why he eventually felt the need to purchase the office supplies himself.

Not the Best, But not the Worst

(Yes, in case you are wondering, my hands are holding children in place and are not gentle grips of love or affection.)

As far as Mother's Days go, I've had better ones. But as I prepared for bed on Sunday night, I reread the notes my children gave me and was reminded that I really do like my job.

"You are nice most of the time."

"My mom is fune" (funny)

"You are pretty much the best mom!"

"I like you."

"I hope I'm like you when I'm older."

I think my favorite Mother's Day gifts were the coupons I received from Ellie, especially these two. Although the excitement over them quickly evaporated when I showed them to Mike and he laughed. Not so sure he exactly permitted Ellie to grant me such a gift.

Oh well.
I could say the great sunny, Sunday spent with my fabulous children was far better than if a weekend away by myself to a fabulous location AND an unlimited shopping spree had legitimately been on my list of received gifts.

But that would be a lie.

And I'm not good at that.

Which is why I'll say, as far as Mother's Days go, there have been better ones.

My Brief Encounter With Stardom

(I may or may not have taken this photo secretly from the window, hoping the professional reporter (who really was very down to earth and I loved her!) couldn't see.)

It was kind of a fun surprise on Tuesday morning when I had an email from a KSL Radio reporter (television and radio station here in Utah) asking if she could interview me. Yes! Of all people, me!

She had heard some recent podcasts I was involved in and some articles I've written on Power of Moms, and wanted to come to my house and interview me for a 2 part series in honor of Mother's Day.

It was a little exciting.
OK-kind of a lot exciting.
Like, immediately call Mike to tell him kind of exciting.
Except he didn't answer.
So I called him again.
He didn't answer. Apparently he was in a meeting.
So I called him again. I mean, come on! His wife is about to be interviewed for a radio show and a meeting with some architects is more important??
So I called him again.

According to Mike, he apologetically said to his fellow meetingers, "I'm sorry. I should take this call, I think it may be an emergency." (Because I don't get emailed by reporters very often, and therefore, rarely call him 3 times in a row.)

So okay, it wasn't exactly an emergency, but I still think Mike should have started jumping up and down with my good news instead of whispering, "Nice. But can I call you back? I'm in a meeting." (He didn't even tell the good news to his fellow-meeting attendees!!!!!)

And to think a couple of hours later I was being interviewed and actually referred to him as my "biggest cheerleader."

Which he is...
As long as he isn't in a meeting with architects.

Anyway.
It was fun standing with my children gathered around the radio in my kitchen Thursday morning and hearing the story on KSL. I loved that Megan requested being driven to school so she wouldn't miss it.

Then again, as dinner was being served on Thursday evening, we listened to it being aired again.

Friday morning we listened intently again gathered around the kitchen radio for Part 2. Except Megan, after being assured it would be on again Friday evening said she was going to ride the bus. I did suggest she ask the bus driver to switch the radio to 102.7FM.

She rolled her eyes.

Seconds after both Thursday and Friday radio segments were over my phone rang with Mike whooping and hollering with pride. I have now forgiven him for the whispered, "Nice. But can I call you back? I'm in a meeting" response from Tuesday.

For Thursday's Part 1 segment, click HERE.
(Yes. The whole "lay on the couch" part was slightly out of context. I must do a blog post about the real "lay on the couch" practice though. It has resonated with a lot of people.)
Friday's Part 2 segment, click HERE.
(This one should air again today at 5:45pm)