So what's been going on around here?

Here's a bit of December catch up.

Kids making "funny videos" with their friends. And for some reason they are loading as still shots. I'll work on that. Millie was a happy spectator.

Many boxes of chocolate were sold for a school fundraiser in hopes that they would win an ipad.

Amelia decides to water the flowers and insists that even though it is 50 degrees outside, a swimsuit must be worn in the off chance that some water gets on her.

Many many hours are spent playing with the little darling that I watch everyday. She is seven months old and she and Amelia cannot get enough of each other!

SO MUCH DRESSING UP! Amelia makes sure that even little E gets in on all the action.

More dressing up.

And more pics to come!

Thank you

The month of May turned into a crazy one. I had committed to do a few things for a couple different committees at school and am the secretary for the Relief Society (women's organization) at church, and just had some of the general busy-ness that comes near the end of school.

All of it was going to be manageable until the school district decided to postpone all extra-curricular activities for two weeks due to the swine flu threat. (Puh-lease.) So all the things that were originally spread out thru May, were all dumped in one week. That meant juggling things at the same time, spending a lot of time redoing things that had already been done for our school's silent auction, redoing signs and posters, remaking cakes for the cake walk....on and on. All I can say is that my body physically gave out each night. There was too much to do and too little time. Mike was fantastic to help out either cooking dinner, or at least not complaining when he often was home before we were. He put the kids to bed, was supportive of every meeting I needed to be at, and always gave me encouraging words for all the things I was working on. Sorry for the back up in laundry family!! (ummm..backup is not the right word. Jacob actually had three different days where there simply was no clean underwear left...small pajama shorts under regular shorts? Sounded good to us!)

Anyway - my family was fantastic, but the reason I started down this long wandering narrative was to say thank you to my sister in law, Jenny. On the day of the silent auction I had so much to do, a filthy kitchen, no energy left, and was just feeling awful about how little I was getting done around the house. I could barely stand up anymore and had six cakes to frost and decorate. Ding dong! Jenny flew in, blew around my kitchen for half an hour, infused me with energy, gave me a great hug, and left me with a spotless kitchen and a humongously thankful heart. It meant a lot to me. Thank you Jenny! You were just what I needed!

**And yes! I do know when to say no to volunteer "opportunities." This just ended up being an awful time for any parent at our school, due to overscheduling events. An example - in one night of the crazy week they jammed the Book Fair, Gallery Night, Talent Show, and ISP Presentations. AYE-YI-YI-CHIHUAHUA-MAMASITA!!**

Dashing thru the snow,

or at least through the 20 degree weather! Not sure where it came from, but I wouldn't mind a little snow if it's going to get that cold!

Anyway, we went CAROLING last night and delivered zucchini bread to lots of families. It was so much fun! We had a big box full of gaily wrapped bread situated between the front seats and it reminded me of doing the same with all my cousins many years ago in my grandparent's big green van.

All the families loved it and a few had never been caroled to before! I'm very happy that a number of our friends have expressed interest in joining us in the future, so that we have more voices to, uh, BLEND with, ahem.

Oh- and whenever the boys would hand the bread over they would exclaim, "It's zucchini bread!" (one of their favorite treats ever.) The looks on a number of faces - especially those of the children- were classic. (Revolting! Vegetable bread?!?) I finally told the boys to stop telling people what it was, so that it would be a sweet surprise.

So that's that. Had to remember this. Such a great night. And Amelia was decked out in the CUTEST little Christmas outfit with boots and hat. Adorable. Brought the camera, but I guess it wanted to stay warm in the van....

I love...

the innocence of little boys. Jake was picked up for a playdate a few minutes ago. He was posted at the front window anxiously awaiting Jackson's arrival. As soon as their car pulled in, the door was flung open and both boys shouted in excitement and jumped up and down.

Big hugs and shouts are a common occurrence at the playground. Jake and Simon (not so much this year anymore) can be seen holding hands as one pulls the other toward their bandit hideout.

I will miss this as my little sweethearts grow into macho men. Really, though, it is difficult for me to imagine Jacob without exuberance. How it will manifest itself is something I look forward to seeing.

Goulash

Here are some random items from the past few days:

#1: We had some of the boys friends come over for a night hike on Friday evening. Tons of fun. The weather was perfect, the moon was out, and the sandwiches and brownies tasted delicious. Something like "hunger is the best sauce"....

#2: Some background for this one - Jacob has/had a habit of eating everything. He's done this since the time he could coordinate his arms and hands enough to get things to his mouth. When I say eats everything I am talking wood (including his bunk bed), any plastic toy, cups (all the plastic ones have been completely gnawed around the rims), shirts (he sometimes would come home from school with little holes gnawed from the collar to the belly button - and soaking wet), pants (a brand new pair of church slacks had a 1/2 inch hole chewed through the knee in the first hour of wearing them), all the buttons off his shirts, snaps off his jackets, I think you get the picture. For a time I viewed clothing as disposable - a one use item, if you will. We accepted hand-me-downs from as many sources as were offered, and he probably ate his way through 30 t-shirts, 3 pairs of church pants, and probably 4 different button down shirts were always sitting on top of my mending pile. Luckily he seems to have by in large curbed this habit. (Unfortunately his fingernails now bear the brunt of the incessant chewing. We offer carrots constantly as a substitute - but, whatever... hopefully he'll grow out of it.)

SO... Anyway, as we were driving to our night hike I overhear this exchange between Jake and Simon:

(Simon is an accomplished whistler - I am not exaggerating...and he's 8 years old. He had been whistling and I think Jake was feeling some pressure to show off some of his stuff as well.)
Jake: "There are a lot of things I can do too, that you probably don't even know about."

Simon: "Can you chew through a telephone wire?" (In a challenging voice)

Jake: "Well, yeah, probably. I mean - it might get a little shocky as I got to the electricity, but I could do it."

Simon: (you could hear him shaking his head) "Dude, you're a hamster."


#3: Andrew woke up with a fever early Sunday morning. As the day wore on, his stomach ached. At one point he bounded down the stairs and said, "Mom! I said a prayer to God to not let me throw up, because it hurts my throat so much, and now I don't have to throw up anymore!!" So darling. He even told Jacob last night about his experience and told Jacob that "he could pray when he was sick and Heavenly Father would help [him] too."
Fast forward to this morning. He wakes up feeling worse. He tells me he has said "three..what comes after three? (I answer) Four prayers this morning and i still feel yucky. Then a few minutes later, as he is puking____ "God"....barf..."didn't"...barf..."listen to"....barf..."my prayers!"...sobbing.
Oh my goodness. What do you say? It broke my heart, and I told him that maybe Heavenly Father knew there was stuff inside that needed to come out. Poor, sweet, Andy Roo.

Feeling Blessed

I am sitting here this evening reflecting on the wonderful blessing of friendship in my life. How full I feel inside! There are so many incredible people who have come into my life - some to stay, and some who have been around for a season and then parted. Each has had something so precious to give me. I have been taught lessons, shared laughs, been silly, been hugged in times of distress, been buoyed up by levels of thoughtfulness that I could never have imagined, been pranked, received flowers, treats, or calls at crucial moments - that only those so close to you can know the need for.

I am so grateful for each one of my friends. I (for once) am lacking words. I am just filled with emotion and a deep gratitude. I sometimes wonder why I am so lucky to have countless relationships with great people. They seem to surround me! Special neighbors, extended family, siblings, parents, other friends who might as well be my sisters, those I have worked with in various capacities, some who have just been a listening ear or a consistent smiling face.

Thank you all. I would be a happy girl if I could do half as much for you as you do for me.

Money in the Wind

On Saturday I went over to give a final goodbye to my friend who was moving away. As I sat on the porch of my "born and raised in Texas" friend, I was struck by how different all my friends are.

We were sitting on her back porch, with a mess of kids running around whooping and hollering as they "shot" each other with play rifles. Two big dirty dogs were lying at our feet, beer bottles were here and there, and her husband and his brother were playing horseshoes - wearing Wranglers, no shirts, and camouflage baseball caps.

At one point these guys left to gas up the truck in preparation to go, and when they came back, they tossed my friend one of about 5 large lottery tickets. She excitedly started rubbing away with a coin, and started jumping up and down and screaming that she had won 70 bucks. Then her husband laughed and said it was a good thing, because they were 50 buck tickets. I laughed and dismissed the comment, and was excited with my friend.

THEN.....she lays the ticket on the patio table. "$50" is what I read in the upper right hand corner . "What the...?" (to steal a phrase from my boys). They sell 50 dollar lottery tickets?!! I wanted to instinctually shout out, "Who buys these things?!"

But I already had my answer. My friend does......and I love her anyway.