TGIF!!!

Wow, some weeks just take you by the tail and leave you a little wild-eyed! I am shouting Thank Goodness It's Friday!! Even though our weekend is just as nuts, it gets me one day closer to a day when I can just laze around. I love this goofy looking glass cat. It is only about an 1 1/4 inches high. It is so ugly that it endears itself to you. At least it makes me laugh. I keep it on my desk to remind myself to laugh and not take everything so seriously.

Wax Museum

Ah, you can always tell when 5th grade rolls around. Parents sitting calmly, enjoying a rare moments rest on a Tuesday night, when out of the blue "someone" (we won't mention Joey's name) urgently says, "Mom, I need to look like Abraham Lincoln on Thursday morning! I need black hair, a suit, a background poster and oh yeah, I told Kris you could help him with his costume and Lane that you could make him a half bald Benjamin Franklin wig." First order of business. Repeat in a monotone with a modicum of panic...I love my child, I love my child....Then get down to business. Call in a favor from a friend, I helped turn her daughter into Annie Oakley at last years wax museum, surely Ranae has a suit jacket. Dig the magician's top hat out of the toy box...wonder where the rabbit went to? I am not an American citizen yet, but I am pretty sure that Abe didn't need a rabbit so we are okay. Add church pants and Abe is looking pretty snazzy, except for the fact that my child is blond and has not started growing facial hair yet...Joey is REALLY attached to his hair. He wanted to dye it black until he realized that he would have to buzz it afterwards. As he and I were scrubbing paint off of my kitchen floor, cabinets, counter and the stove hood (don't ask me) I realized that we have tons of powdered tempra paint. So we mixed up some of the black and gave it a go. It actually worked! I wish that I had taken some on the first day of the museum, it was black. Then the second day it faded (which is a good thing)I had to laugh at him and Colton (his vice-pres)With Joey's hat pushed so far back he looked like a slightly derelict president, you couldn't see Colton's feet, but his shoes were off and he was wearing crazy socks. They both received an A+ though. I wonder who Lissie will be next year? By the way, it has been several weeks and even though I am obsessive about clean hands, my nails and cuticles are still black. Joey's hair is back to blond though!

President in the family

Why we do this thing called motherhood

Oh mama!

Being a mom is totally tough, you wonder if you can do it, and then you turn around and have your heart melted by huge blue eyes and a sticky kiss. I used to think that being a mom was very hard when they were little, four of them close together, hard pregnancies, Shon-O travelled all of the time and asthma. Then they started to grow and thrive like we prayed and a whole new set of fears crops up. Will they be liked at school? Will they understand their work, play dates, friends coming over...I would think, man! This is the hard part. Now, I have my little baby who is turning 14 next month and he and his friends, still come over, but now they are all legs and hair in their eyes, getting old enough for dances and wanting to go to movies by themselves...driving soon and even worse, getting in the car with other teenagers who are driving and I think man! This is the hard part. Luckily, they still give me kisses, not so sticky, but just as sweet. Their eyes are just as big and melt your heart blue, beautiful and without guile, which I pray they stay that way. You wonder, am I teaching them properly? Will I be strong enough to trust their agency and let them go? I love the poem below, I don't know who wrote it, but it makes me hope I can be strong enough to be a mean mom.

I just hope I am mean enough....

Someday when my children are old enough to understand
the logic that motivates a parent, I will tell them,
as my Mean Mom told me:
I loved you enough
to ask where you were going,
with whom, and what time you
would be home.
I loved you enough to be
silent and let you discover that
your new best friend was a creep.
I loved you enough to stand over
you for two hours while you cleaned
your room, a job that should
have taken 15 minutes.
I loved you enough to
let you see anger, disappointment,
and tears in my eyes.
Children must learn that their parents aren't perfect.
I loved you enough to let you
assume the responsibility for your
actions even when the penalties
were so harsh they almost broke my heart.
But most of all, I loved you enough . . .
to say NO when I knew you would hate me for it.
Those were the most difficult battles
of all..... I'm glad I won them,
because in the end you won, too.
And someday when your children
are old enough to understand
the logic that motivates parents,
you will tell them.
as my Mean Mom told me:
I loved you enough.......

Pollyanna and Wednesday

My mother in law is truly blessed with a sunny nature. I however, am just a "little" more moody. :-) Sometime, about 12 years ago, we were joking about it and decided that she was just like Pollyanna, happy, looking for the best in everything and everyone. We thought that Wednesday Adams was a little bit more like me. One time we were on a double date and were calling each other Wednesday and Polly like usual. Shon and Wayne wondered why, we explained and then as they were laughing, they asked when we had started doing it. We said, "oh, only about 6 years ago!" Boys! We sure love them! Lately, I have discovered traces of Pollyanna "ish" behavior creeping in to my personality. Oops! Time to turn up the theme song to the Adams Family! Care to snap your fingers along anyone?

oops!

Here is the other view of the backyard!

Home Sweet Home

Shon and I have prayed and saved and hoped for our own home for so long. In October we were very blessed to move into our first house that WE own! Today we spent the whole day in the yard, exploring, planning, trimming, pruning and dreaming. We are trying identify some of the bushes and other plants and decide whether or not to keep them. Here are some "before" pictures, as we progress, it will be fun to see how things change. The back yard is nice and big, so we are excited about making it a place to hang out. We pulled out the swing set and gave it to a friend for her little girls. Our kids were getting too big and hanging from it like monkeys. It was a broken leg waiting to happen. This is so much fun, we love our sweet house!

Sweet Girls

I love living in Montana, but one of the sacrifices that I ended up making was being so very far away from my family. I am very close to my sister. She is one of my best friends and I just love my nieces so much! I just wish that I could live closer to these beautiful, smart funny girls and be a bigger part of their lives. These were taken on Haile's 14th birthday. She and Uncle Shon share the same birthday. Bobbi and I were pregnant with Haile and Alex at the same time and thought that Haile was a boy too. I went up to Whitehorse with her to watch Savannah while she would be in the hospital. Bobbi wasn't due for a week so we were going shopping. When Bobbi asked Shon what he wanted for his birthday he told her a niece and a red tool box. We went shopping for a red tool box, she went into labor that night and delivered a niece! When we called Shon to tell him, he was thrilled, but couldn't talk long because our cat decided to start having her kittens in our bed. Truly a birthday in every sense of the word! My gorgeous nieces are left to right, Sara (11) Haile (14) and Savannah (15) I love you girls!

Alex Update

We finally have an answer for Alex's troubles. He has IBD inflammatory bowel disease. Worse than irritable bowel disease, this actually causes his digestive tract to bleed inside and his body treats his own digestive tract like it is allergic to itself. It is a chronic condition. He lost 45 pounds in about 2 1/2 months, something I would like to do, but not through those methods. He has been out of school for weeks now, having a home bound tutor while he regained some strength. Now for the good news. There is medication, he is on four different kinds now, and should be able to drop down to two that he will have to take for his lifetime. The Dr wants him to gain a few pounds back, but not too many. If we can get him to a healthy place, he actually looks great! It should be interesting what the girls will think when he goes back to school part time on Monday! Here is a weird coincidence. The two tutors that were assigned to Alex were Mr. Wirtela and Mr. Sandler. Oscar Wirtela was the vice-principal when Shon and Colett (and maybe Amy?) were up at Skyview. Bob Sandler was an English teacher up there at the same time. There are at least 50 home bound tutors...what are the odds we get those two? Here are some updated photos of what Alex looks like.