The Scene

I had my first official piano recital at my house tonight. It was intimate and fun and so rewarding to see my students perform. They did wonderful and I might have cried at the end when I told them how well they did. Not very professional, but what a blast!

Happy Wandering Baby

This morning I found Nathan sitting in front of the tv with this pile of crackers he had brought over to enjoy. Are babies supposed to be eating Saltines? Are they a choking hazard? I have no idea. To be honest I seem to have gotten stupider with each child. I have no idea what they are supposed to be doing at what age, and what I should or should not be allowing them to do. Nathan just wanders the house getting into all kinds of things. Yesterday I found him after he had tipped over the garbage and was rummaging through it trying to find something yummy. Nice.

Happy December

Black Friday

I love it.

I really love it. I have developed a strategy that has worked wonders over the years. And now I am going to share it with you. First of all, I don't really Christmas shop on black Friday. I shop for myself. For me it takes away most of the stress and is just the most fun shopping day of the year! I enjoy the crowds, meeting people in line, finding amazing deals. These are three things I do not really enjoy on any other shopping day. Well, I like finding amazing deals, but I am not willing to put in the work.

So, that is what you should know about me. I am a snobby shopper. I hate stores like Ross, Marshal, TJMax. Ugh, shoot me now. I know there are amazing gems in the junk at these stores, but I just don't have the patience. But one day a year I am willing to enjoy bargain shopping, mostly because the stores make it so easy.

I have discovered the perfect time to go shopping on black Friday. I have tested my theory in Virginia, Utah, Oregon, and Idaho. So far it has passed the test in these four states at several different malls. Now that is another thing you should know. I like to mall shop that day. I avoid the big superstores and electronic stores. I'm sorry, but that is where the crazies are headed. Most days if I make it to the mall it is with some kids in tow, and I have to get in and get out in record time. Black Friday is my day to hit any and every store I want.

Now, the perfect time. There is a secret window of shopping time. It is between 9am and noon. The crazies are heading out by then because they have been there since 4am. And the families that are sleeping in start to arrive around noon. Most early bird specials last until 11am, some even until 1pm. So you are getting the same deals as the crazies that showed up at 4am. You can find a parking spot easily, and there are usually not lines at checkout.

I realize that some of you are ready to write comments defending the crazies. Because you are one of them, and it is the only way to get the best deals. Fine. You might be right. But do you love black Friday as much as me? Are you having as much blissful fun as me? Pleasantly strolling and enjoying every moment of the holiday shopping experience? I refuse to race someone to the back of the store for that perfect deal. How about you?

Buds in Stripes

This week has been a tough one for many different reasons. Mostly because being a Mom is just hard. But look at these pictures. I mean really. Really. I am so lucky!

Halloween

Well, life moves on. And that is difficult, but refreshing too. I have been amazed at how many little blessings we have seen in the past few weeks. For example, getting to spend Halloween with our Utah family! We continued the super hero theme. Nathan did not dress up. I don't do baby dress up. Sorry! See? I am supposed to be a boy Mom!

I was so impressed with their cousin Josh going trick or treating with his much younger cousins. What a sweet kid! He was so helpful with Matthew when he was having trouble keeping up. Love that!

This is Jeremy's Omi, she is always so sweet and loving with our boys.

One Week Ago Tonight....

We got the very unexpected news that Jeremy's Dad had passed away. The grief is overwhelming and deep, and especially to witness through Jeremy's eyes. I love this picture today after spending the last week with his siblings and appreciating their great strength and grace in dealing with their Father's passing. The funeral was a beautiful tribute to him and his life.

Soccer and Onions

I love this picture of Sam playing soccer. This pretty much sums up his soccer season. Running on the field with a smile on his face. He loves to run the entire length of the field smiling and waving at us. He has a good season with much improvement getting into the action. Sam is a defense man, and he is especially good at tripping any opponents who try to score a goal!

This year the farmer behind our house decided to plant onions. It has been one big stink bomb around here for the past few weeks during the harvest. They finally finished the job this weekend. Our house is covered in dirt. I can't get away from the smell of onions. The dumbest part of my weekend was buying onions while this was going on outside my window.

30 seconds of Nathan

Saturday Morning Classics

This morning is the neighborhood yard sale. They have one every Fall and Spring. It has started to become a tradition in our family to do our family yard sale walk.

Matthew woke up and came down the stairs and said, "It's yard sale day! I need to go to the yard sales."

Sam said as we were walking along, "Happy yard sale day Mom!"

The boys always end up with a few more toys. We added to Spencer's spiderman action figure collection. It is getting quite impressive. Until We realized one of them we bought was a Burger King toy. I felt conned even for that quarter.

After we got home I heard Sam yell at Matthew to go away because he didn't want to play with him. Matthew immediately yelled back, "Ow! That hurt my feelings!"

Labor Day

Here is our annual Christmas card reject. Although I do love this picture of all my boys. We had a great holiday hiking, swimming, and ice skating in McCall, Idaho.

My Man

Handsome
Artsy
Persuasive
Pleasant
Yowza

Brilliant
Intoxicating
Respectful
Teacher
Happy
Dashing
Affectionate
Youthful

Joking
Entertaining
Refined
Energetic
Molly's
Yes

The Skinny

Yep, I did it. I took a giant fashion leap forward, or backward depending on how you look at it. I bought some skinny jeans. Actually leggings. If you must know, the pants I bought came with a vocab tag attached. When I shop I like to get smarter and cuter at the same time. Jegging: a jean-legging hybrid with the look of denim but the fit and comfort of a legging.

Now, don't go judging my jegging. I wore them on my date Saturday night and I felt like a million bucks. Mainly because I really needed some new clothes, and because I felt like I had just jumped into the now. Or maybe I jumped into yesterday because the skinny has been in for so long and I just got on board. Anyway, I wear hybrid pants. With a very long shirt, or a dress depending on how you look at it.

When I bought my fancy pants the lady at the store asked if I was going to wear them with heels or boots. I was holding a baby in one arm and had another attached to my leg. How about flats or running shoes? Would that work? Maybe next year I can make that leap.

Thursday Morning Mystery

This morning I went on an early morning run to the Maverick for some milk. Have you had Maverick gas station milk? It is really creamy and good and cheap! Anyway, Matthew and I needed milk for our morning hot chocolate and we were out. Jeremy had already taken Spencer and Sam to their bus on his way to work. We headed out for our breakfast of champions.

We got back into the house, and I unloaded the milk. Matthew and Nathan were playing in the family room. All of a sudden I heard crying. I looked over and both of the boys were happy, it wasn't them. The crying was really loud. I figured it was coming from outside my windows. I started to walk around the house, and it became obvious that the crying was coming from upstairs. I walked back in and looked at the boys again, because it had to be one of them if their was a child crying in my house. Nope, they were both fine. My mind was spinning. The child sounded in distress. Did one of the boys get left behind from school? No, it sounded more like a baby.

Slowly I started to walk up the stairs. I was nervous, what would I find? Was it a toy gone crazy? As I got upstairs I realized the sound was coming from the master bedroom. It was obvious there really was a child crying in my house. Who could it be? I was really nervous! I walked into the bedroom, and then headed to the master bath where the cry was coming from. I paused because I was so nervous. Was this a trick?

I turned the corner into the master bathroom and there was a baby boy lying there in his pajamas crying on the floor. I had never seen this boy before. I didn't know what to do. He looked to be about 18 months to 2 years old. I figured I better pick him up since he was obviously distressed. When I picked him up he stopped crying. He seemed to be in a deep sleep.

Right as I picked him up I remembered something. When I came home I had seen a lady on a cell phone a couple houses down looking worried. I had taken note because it was odd so early in the morning. This had to be his Mom. I went downstairs and out the front door. The lady was gone now. I wandered down the street a bit. I started to head back to my house. The boy was heavy and poopy. What to do next? And then I heard the Mom talking on her cell phone in a panic. I called out to her down the street. She came running. The pure relief of a Mother. She told the police he had been found.

We tried to piece together how this happened, but I think it will always remain a mystery. She woke up and he was gone. I came home and he was in my master bath. My garage was closed. The front door was closed. He must have closed the door behind him? The whole thing is just too weird. And crazy. Totally and absolutely crazy.

I am glad he found his way to my house. I am glad he was safe. There are two large ponds in our neighborhood one block away. He has epilepsy and was probably sleep walking. He was so little and his Mom was visiting her parents in our neighborhood. I'm glad he found refuge in my bathroom so I could take him back to his Mom.

His Turn

Matthew headed out for another year of preschool. He showed me some of his dance moves.

Can you see the "cheese"?

Oprah

I love her. I hate her. She is brilliant. She is literally the Devil. We have a very tormented, complicated relationship. I tried not to watch her this past season. I am feeling a little torn with this "last" season coming up. She said on her website she is trying to create moments for this last season. Moments, people. Is that worth my time? No, I hate her! But....

I do have to say that she did give me the gift of my favorite all time TV moment ever. Do you remember when she gave all those cars away to every member in the studio audience? And they were all teachers? I'm sorry, but that was awesome.

We were living in Utah at the time, and the season premiere of Oprah was on a Monday. That had been advertising for weeks, maybe months about a big surprise. I was mildly intrigued. When I was at church on the Sunday before a lady from my church told me her daughter was going to be on the show, who was a teacher. The show was about teachers. So, she had ruined the "big" surprise, but I decided to watch anyway since I practically knew one of the people on the show! Do you remember the moment? First, she gave away cars to about 10 people on the stage who were all teachers and had sad, sad car situations, if any at all. It was great, they all get cars. Then she said that one lucky audience member would get a new car too. Check under your chair for a box and the one with the key wins! They start opening. Their is screaming and confusion. And then, Oprah is screaming and jumping. I am crying and smiling so big. They all get a car. EVERY BODY GETS A CAR!!!! I'm laughing and crying at the same time. This is so fun!! Then she walks the entire audience out to the parking lot and there they are. All the cars. It was great. I love her. Maybe. not.

Two Down

Fourth and First grade this year. They are only two years apart, and they wear the same size clothes.

Matthew waiting for the bus to arrive in the afternoon. It was 20 minutes late, I was getting a little nervous. Apparently the Kindergarten teacher had to have a long discussion with their bus driver. At least that means it wasn't about one of mine. Phew!

Gifts from my hubby this year

A Garden A Book

and A Baby

Jeremy has always been a very thoughtful gift giver, but this year might take the cake!

Who is Harry Potter?

In May Jeremy told Spencer that if he reads the first Harry Potter book he would buy him the lego Harry Potter video game. Although he was drooling over the video game every time we went to the store, Spencer refused to open the book. We just let it go, and then this weekend he picked up the book and read the whole thing in two days.

With Spencer's autism he has a hard time with reading comprehension. He is an excellent reader and his spelling abilities are off the charts. But chapter books are just words strung together for him because he has a hard time visualizing them without pictures. We are trying to help him with this. We have been trying different ideas, and he usually needs strong motivation.

After he finished the book, I asked him about Hogwarts. Spencer immediately looked at me funny and said, "Hogwarts? What's that?" Hmmmm. Then I asked him what he thought about all of the magic in the book. "Magic. What magic?" Oh boy. So he basically missed the whole book. Jeremy and I have asked him on separate occasions what the book was about. His description seemed a little too rehearsed. Then we realized he had memorized the summary from the back of the book. Brilliant. Do you think that ingenuity deserves a video game???

and Sisters

Jeremy has four sisters too. We hit the sister jackpot when we found each other! Rachel is the oldest sister. We have been on a journey together, and I think it is going really good places. There are so many things I admire about Rachel. She seems to have found the perfect balance between being a mom and friend to her kids. She is an amazing party planner including finding the best treats for any occasion. Rachel is artistic and thoughtful. She is super smart and funny.

Anne is next and so kind and good. Her voice is soft and reassuring. Anne will always be on your side, whatever side that is. It is so lovely and refreshing. I love her hair. Anne is stylish and athletic. She is a brilliant decorator and quilter. Anne is good at all things artsy and crafty. She has an amazing eye for color and organization. Anne is caring and easy going.

Kjerstin is the academic extraordinaire. She is so gifted in so many areas it is hard to describe. She loves to experience life and all its little splendors. Kjerstin is independent and has the best smile. Her cooking skills are amazing and artsy. She has an adventurous spirit that she actually follows which is extremely inspiring. Kjerstin has gone out of her way to be my friend in her hectic life.

Melissa is the youngest sister. She is a gifted artist. Melissa is very compassionate to people and animals. She has such a kind heart and will always be there to listen. Melissa is really fun and open to trying new things. She is super cute and has great taste. She has always been very sensitive to my needs and looks out for me. I know she does the same for all her friends and family.

Sisters

I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful sisters in my life. Since they are really the most loyal and consistent readers of my blog I thought I would give them a shout out. This is Katie. She is the oldest sister. Exactly two years older than me because we share the same birthday! Katie has always been there for me. Katie has the biggest heart and wants to help everyone around her. She is hands down the most creative and fun mom you will ever meet. And I know a lot of moms. And she beats them all. Seriously. Katie is a fixer and loving and doesn't care if she looks silly. She just loves life.

Stacey is the sister just younger than me. The creative and artistic genes skipped right over me and landed on her. She is a total babe and is really good at doing creative things with her hair. Stacey is a strong independent woman who can accomplish goals like nobody's business. She has a killer sense of humor and is really good at organizing parties and games, definitely the one you want to hang out with at the party. She is also very good with Spencer, which has been a gift.

Karen is the fourth girl in the family. My mom used to call her the sunshine girl. Because that is what she is. She brings happiness and light into every room she enters. She is tons of fun and really fashionable. Karen is really good at making friends. She is good at remembering birthdays and sending cute cards she has made. Karen is generous and giving and wants to make sure people around her are happy.

Sally is the youngest girl in the bunch. We are almost exactly 10 years apart. I cannot imagine our family without Sally because she is the cutest and most kind person. She loves all of her nieces and nephews, and they love her. She is really good with children, and will be the best elementary teacher this year! Sally is easy going and always willing to lend a hand with my crazy life.

At the Playground

Nathan in the Summer

Nathan celebrated his first fourth of July. He is 6 months old, and I can't believe it!! We just got back from our second trip to Utah in two weeks. The week before that we went to Oregon. We jam packed all our summer travel in three weeks and now we are ready to kick it by the pool and have lazy summer days. Hope you are enjoying yours!

Summer Truth

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children she did not know what to do.Lets face it. We are living fake lives during the school year. We go to the grocery store with one, maybe two kids. We might even go to a doctor appointment and sit in the waiting room leisurely reading magazines like that is our real life. Sitting around reading magazines. And then summer hits. Reality check. I am dragging four kids everywhere with me. And people are stopping me, are those all yours? Doctors are surprised to realize I have this many kids. Where did they come from? Have you always had this many kids? There are people in my life that have no idea how many kids I have. And they are shocked. Because I guess I had them fooled. But summer comes and there ain't no more foolin'. This is me. This is my real life. Kids everywhere. Toys everywhere. Doors always left open. Shoes everywhere. Snacks. More snacks. Sticky floors. Bikes on the front lawn. Did I mention they need snacks? Mismatched clothes. Garage doors left open all night. Broken screen doors. Bugs. Oh, and you can push a cart with four children on it. But, you block traffic and you get stinky looks. So then you make them follow you in a line. And then you really get looks. Me, pushing my baby boy with three boys following me in a line. But then I look back and the three boys are on the floor wrestling. This is my summer life.