Thoughts

*My poor Byrson's mouth problems never end. I took him in last week for a retainer check. The orthodontist took one look and asked Bryce how many times he had missed wearing it. Bryson replied that he had only missed a couple of times. I believed him. I don't think the ortho did. The reason he asked was because the retainer really didn't fit anymore. His teeth and jaw had moved. How is that possible one might ask? Well, it is possible when your sweet little boy is not putting in the retainer correctly. For 2 months Bryson has faithfully put in his retainer each night, BUT he has put it in wrong or hasn't clicked it into place. He felt bad. I felt worse. After some tweaking and pushing he finally got it in and now Bryce has to wear it all the time instead of just at night until his mouth adjusts again. One of these days all of his dental problems will be over. One of these days!

*I couldn't register Tyler for SEOP's on the computer. It just wouldn't accept his birthday. Sometimes it's really cool to have a leap year birthday. Sometimes it is a big pain.

*I was in Oregon last week and had a fabulous time (there WILL be a post, I promise Sarah!) I got home and my house was spotless, there was a sign and balloons to welcome me and everything was in order. My sweet husband even made a full on green dinner for my kids on St. Patrick's Day without me. I am wondering if my family even needs me. Everything seemed to run pretty smoothly without me. I decided that either I am a really great mom and had everything so organized and had my kids trained so well that they could do everything on their own OR they really don't need me. I'm going with the first one. It makes me feel better. Anyways, as always it is good to be home.

*Ethan is all of a sudden really into math. Yes, math. I guess while I was gone he found a little math workbook and he fell in love. The other day he did math worksheets, for 2 hours, for fun. Now those three things don't really go together in my mind, but I guess in his intellectual mathematical genius brain they do. If he keeps going at this pace, by next year I won't be able to help him with his homework.

*A couple of weeks ago for FHE we went to BYU. It is so fun to stroll around that beautiful camputs. We browsed the bookstore, bought treats, and ate at the Cougareat. So many great memories from that great campus. We then went to the Carl Bloch exhibit. It was amazing. The spirit was so strong. I think all of my kids were touched. I definitely want to go back.

*We are still working on rotating our 72 hour kits. This week I made my kids do a little taste test. They thought it was great to taste all of these foods that were 6 years old. For the record granola bars, hot chocolate, nuts, and beef jerky are totally not edible after 6 years. Also, for the record, fruit roll ups are, but they will take you about 15 minutes to get them soft enough to chew and swallow (which my kids were successful at). The same is true for the sticks of gum. And the dollar store chicken noodle soup packets won the taste test over the Lipton brand (these were not 6 years old). Come on, I had to give them at least one thing to taste that wasn't rotten.

*Alyssa came home with big news from school this week. It was actually huge news. She came home breathless as she recounted the events of the day. The day where partners for the big 2nd grade dance festival were chosen. The boys probably could have cared less, but the girls, oh the girls. Alyssa told us who she was hoping to get partnered with and who she actually ended up with. It was all very exciting. And even though she got paired with a boy who is shorter than her, she is still thrilled at the thought of dancing with and holding hands with.......a BOY! She refused to stay home from school when she had a little cold because it was a dance practice day and one day I went into her room and she was standing in front of her closet sifting through her shirts. I told her to hurry and get dressed. She said, "but I need to look cute today" and then she quickly added, "ya know, for the teachers and stuff." Uh, huh for the teachers and stuff. It's going to be a long 8 years until this one turns 16!

*It's my own fault. I have always had a joke that if my boys ever wanted to grow up to be doctors they had to be either a podiatrist or a dermatologist. I have worked with too many cardiologists and heart surgeons to know that they get LOTS OF emergency calls in the middle of the night and that is not fun for them or their wives. My joke was what could be the worst emergency for a podiatrist? What about a dermatologist? A big zit on prom night?! Ha Ha, funny, right? Wrong! Guess who made an emergency visit to the dermatologist 2 days before prom? Yep, me- although I wasn't the patient. Kara got the biggest zit she has ever had 2 days before prom. We (I) named it Big Bessie. And she was big. Big enough to warrant an emergency call! Are you serious? I was the butt of my own joke. It was a real emergency and Big Bessie needed to be seen. Thankfully, the dermatologist said he does these "emergency" calls all the time for proms and weddings and stuff. He took care of Big Bessie and she looked beautiful (Kara, not Bessie!) and it looks like dermatology is out of the running. Podiatry it is!

*I'm very sad to say goodbye to my son Jimmer. It's been a fun ride and we will miss him.

Until next week!

thoughts

*I am not much of a TV watcher. I just don't have time. But hello, Ralph Maccio is going to be on Dancing with the Stars. I had posters of him on my wall when I was a tween. Yes, I did, and I am not ashamed. I just might have to break down and watch my karate kid twirling around the dance floor, at least once or twice. Okay, maybe more.



*KBYU and KUED were having their telethons this last week and both stations were featuring Les Miserables in concert. I watched it like, 3 times even though I didn't have time to. My kids watched it too. We all loved it. And Kara and I have been singing it at the top of our lungs ever since (I swear I have a good singing voice when I sing Les Mis). It is the best musical of all time in my opinion. Hands down.


*I FINALLY took Tyler to get new church shoes this week. I think he told me his old church shoes were too small like 11 months ago. He hasn't complained much, which amazes me now. Why? Well, when they measured him at the shoe store they told me he was a size 9. This isn't too surprising because he is growing like a weed, but what is surprising and a little alarming is that his old church shoes were a size 6! Yes, he had been wearing church shoes that were 3 sizes too small. Yep, another vote for me getting mom of the year award. I deserve it, I know.


*While we were eating lunch one day this week Ethan informed me that when he grows up he wants to be a chef....or work in grocery store....or both. I'm glad. I could use a good chef around here.


*One day last week I walked into the family room where my boys and some of their friends were hanging out. I was taken back by the game they were playing. A little game they like to call "assassinate the Pope." Nice. One of them was dressed in Kara's BYU Snuggie with their arms stretched out (kind of creepy, but it did look like a Pope's cloak) and the others were trying to shoot him with their Nerf guns. Let's just say I put a stop to that game right away. It may have been started because Tyler had just shown his friends the letter he got from Pope Benedict congratulating him on receiving his Eagle. He even sent a picture! And that's the thanks he gets for his nice gesture, assassination attempts. Boys, I tell ya.

*Bryson is working on the artist pin in Weebelos right now. He came home from his last den meeting with one of his projects. It was a ball of clay. I asked him about it and he said it was his sculpture (one of the requirements is to sculpt something out of clay). I said, "You sculpted a ball?" He said, "Yep." I proceeded to probe. "What shape was the clay in before you sculpted it into a ball?" "It was a ball." "Umm, so what you are telling me is that you sculpted a ball of clay out of a ball of clay." "Yes." Well, I am pretty picky about scout requirements and this ball of clay sculpture didn't rest well with me and I let him know. But my Bryson is so tender hearted; I probably should have been more gentle. My first clue that I hadn't been too gentle was when he broke down in tears at the dinner table over my disappointment at his sculpture. Come to find out he did make some other sculptures before his masterpiece, which we now call "the ball." He had sculpted a snowman (isn't that just 3 balls?) and a tower. I was satisfied with this and apologized for my insensitivity to my very sensitive budding sculptor/artist. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

*I knew it was a bad sign when I drove up to Walmart and there was 3 firetrucks outside. But when you got to go to Walmart, you got to go to Walmart. So, I grabbed my cart and in I went. I had a return, so I headed to the service desk. Right when I walked in I felt a little tickle in my throat and started to cough. I apologized to the service clerk as I coughed and coughed and then I went on my way into the bowels of the store. My cough continued as I shopped and at one point when I stopped to look at something on the shelf, I swear I heard a lot of other people coughing, if I listened closely. Weird, and probably just my imagination. At this point Ashlyn started coughing also. Okay, now I had to get to the bottom of this. I asked the next worker I saw and she informed me that there had been a fire in the deli, that is why the firemen were there. The fire had been in the microwave. In the microwave were some jalapeno poppers. Fascinating. I had never experienced anything like it. I went on my way to continue my shop with Ash, and I was coughing every couple of minutes. Every other customer I passed was also coughing. I ran into a neighbor and we had a lengthy conversation, where we had to pause between each sentence to cough. Did I also mention that they had every door open and it was snowy and FREEZING outside? But that didn't stop me or the other hundred customers from shopping away at our friendly Walmart, amidst a jalapeno haze and a tickle in your throat to beat all others. Note to self. If you see a fire truck and smell a hint of jalapeno in the air-stay away!

*I was not happy that I had an early morning Stake meeting on daylight savings day. My meeting started at 7:30 a.m., which was really 6:30 a.m., which meant I had to get up at 5:30 a.m.. No, I was not happy at all. And when will my kids ever go to bed now, if before the change they were all up until 10:30 anyways? I give up.

*My kids were all fascinated with a story in the newspaper about a farmer in Utah who was going to breed his donkey with a zebra to create a zonkey. Really? A Zonkey? With how interested my kids were, we'll probably end up owning one of them one day as a pet. I can just see it now, the Allred family out for a stroll on a Sunday leading around their pet Zonkey. I'm sure they'll talk us into it one way or another, and if they can't get us they'll hit up Grammy.

*Brandon is currently working on his Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge. He went to the class and had an assignment to make or go through his 72 hour kit. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and do it for FHE. So on Monday night we brought down all of our kits, pulled them all apart and updated and talked about what was in them. We then proceeded to have a lengthy discussion about Earthquake safety. We talked about what to do at home or at school, our out of state contact, where to meet, etc. We talked about aftershocks and the dangers that an earthquake can cause. We talked A LOT because the kids had a lot of questions. And then 3 days later the earthquake in Japan hit. I never turn on the TV in the morning, but for some reason I did that morning and of course it was all over the news. My kids were riveted. We had just talked about it. They saw people getting under desks. They saw why it was important to do that. They saw computers and shelves and buildings falling down. They saw the complete devastation and they understood. They understood, better than I could have ever taught them, why what we had just done and learned at FHE was so important. The Lord works in mysterious ways. I am grateful to be prepared. I am grateful my kids are now better prepared. I am grateful for lifesaving merit badge classes. I am grateful all the missionaries are OK. I am grateful for prayer as our family continues to pray for the people of Japan.

Until next week, or the next since I am going to Oregon to see my sis! Yeah!

thoughts on a monday

*Kara went to the Sadies Dance a couple of weeks ago. She was gone almost all day. I barely had time to snap this cute picture of her before she dashed out of the house again to pick up her date. That's Kara these days, dashing here and there and everywhere. She barely has a minute to breathe. I miss her.

*Our dryer broke this week. With the amount of laundry that this household produces, this was not a good thing. Not a good thing at all. We are relying on the downstairs dryer alone, which is a small capacity one until we can get the upstairs one fixed. I sat the kids down and gave them a lecture about dirty clothes. I instructed them to really look at their clothes before they put them in the dirty clothes. If they had a stain or were stinky, yes, put them in the dirty clothes bin and I will wash them. If they aren't dirty, then fold them neatly and put them away. We'll see how this goes. Especially since in this house if my kids even look at their clothes, they end up in the dirty clothes, that is always overflowing with, I'm guessing, not so dirty clothes. I am hoping my lecture will sink in, but I am not really that hopeful.

*Last Sunday, I called out for Ethan to get his church pants on. He ran upstairs, opened his drawer and yelled back down to me, "Mom, the blond ones or the brown ones?" He ended up wearing his blond church pants and he looked handsome.

*Last Sunday we watched the Academy Awards. OK, only some of us watched it. I happened to be bedridden that day so I gave myself the go ahead and some of my kids walked in and out and caught glimpses of the show. Alyssa apparently caught a lot of glimpses, because the next thing I knew we were holding our very own Academy Awards in our home. One of Alyssa's favorite things to play is "church" where she dresses up in dress ups and gives long lengthy talks. When she saw the Academy Awards her eyes got big and she ran out of the room. She came back in layers of dress ups (multiple lacy skirts all worn at once to create a fantastic gown, worthy of any red carpet). She then proceeded to hop up on the fireplace with her microphone and give the most elaborate acceptance speech you have ever heard. She actually gave multiple acceptance speeches to no one in particular. In fact, most of the time I don't think she had any idea I was even watching her. It was darling and I am afraid that her "church" play just might take a back seat to the all new "Alyssa Allred Academy Awards Show." It is a show that could probably win an Academy Award itself. I'm serious.

*So, I finished up my first first aid merit badge class. I had about 7-8 eleven to twelve year old boys. They did really well and I really pushed them, because I feel very strongly about what they were learning. On the 2nd day of the class I had the resuscitation mannequins from the hospital to practice CPR on. It was all going fairly smoothly until we began compressions. They were baffled as to why "Annie" had a girl head and yet when we unzipped her shirt to find our hand placement she had a boy body. They dutifully did their compressions, checked pulses, gave rescue breathes, the whole deal, but continued to be confused. It took a turn for the worse when they started to ask if they should undo a shirt to do CPR. With big eyes they looked at me and said, "NEVER, if it is a girl!" Well, OK, yes, I guess, but when it comes to actually saving a life I don't really think that the person without a heartbeat would really care whether their shirt was undone or not, but I couldn't really tell them to undo a woman's shirt, now could I? So, I told them that most likely there would be another adult there who knew CPR and that they wouldn't have to worry about that decision. Who knows what they went home and told their parents. And I am starting a campaign to change the name of that darn mannequin to Al instead of Annie. Are you with me? I think the boys would be.

*For about 2 weeks in a row Trevor and I have had church stuff every single night. That includes Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. It has been crazy. It has been too much. I believe in service, but I also believe in family time. We have not had a lot of that lately. We are trying to find the balance and to know what to cut out. We haven't found it yet and sometimes feel like we are barely hanging on. I'm praying that things will settle down this month.


*Kara was in the newspaper 2 days in a row this week. She's practically a celebrity around here, well at least among her siblings she is. One picture was at the BYU basketball game. We lined up at one of the tunnels to try to get a high five from Jimmer. Of course, we didn't- there were too many people- but we were there. The next day in the paper they had a picture of Jimmer high fiving people in the tunnel and as I looked at it, I recognized a handsome profile. I could make out my handsome husband standing in the background. Right beside him was this little face with a huge smile. Yep, it was Kara. We were thrilled to have spotted her and her dad. Then the next day she was in a big picture as the High School representative for the community service week. This time it said her name and everything. Now if that's not a celebrity, I don't know what is. Two times in a row, I'm telling ya.

And that's all ya'll.

Until next week, or the next, at the rate I'm going.

Thoughts

*Apparently, I am the queen of first aid. I was asked by the ward to be the first aid merit badge counselor. I taught my first class yesterday. I got an email from Alyssa's Activity day leader asking if I would be willing to teach the girls first aid this summer. And last week the Girls Camp director called and asked me to go to girls camp this year to be the first aid specialist and resident nurse. All of a sudden, first aid is my life. Am I really that good at first aid? Absolutely not! I haven't worked as a nurse for like 10 years, but I'm always up for telling a good and gory first aid story (of which I have many). And teaching someone skills that might actually save somebody's life, well that ain't so bad either.


*Alyssa lost another tooth this week. It was the top front. Now she is missing both front teeth. The exaggerated lisp that accompanied this tooth loss was cute for about oh,.....5 minutes and then it turned very annoying. She looks cute, but I'm kind of sad. Goodbye tiny cute white teeth. Hello awkward tooth stage. I'm not ready for that on her cute little face just yet, but ready or not here it comes.


*This has been a crazy week, as usual. I felt swamped, again! I was trying to plan 3 Valentine Parties, prepare for my first aid merit badge class, prepare for a Stake meeting, prepare a court of Honor, attend the Worldwide Leadership meeting, attend a School District meeting with Brandon for scouts, buy and help my kids assemble all of their Valentines and make 2 Valentine boxes for the big contest at school. I was barely making it, and then Ethan came home from school excitedly waving a bright colored paper in the air. "Guess what mom? I'm the star of the week!" Are you kidding me? But what could I do? He was so proud and excited and just couldn't believe his luck that he was the star of the week on Valentines Day! I couldn't believe my luck either. And somehow, we will pull it off, the poster, the treats, the favorite book, everything that being the star of the week involves, and it will be great, for my Eto, because he really is a star!


*So, not only does Bryson not yell, he doesn't really complain either. When he does complain it is quiet and brief and so naturally I don't pay much attention to it. Really, the squeaky wheel gets the oil right? Well, Bryce is definitely not the squeaky wheel. So the other night I noticed he was hobbling around the house. He could barely walk. I asked him what was wrong and he told me his feet were really hurting. Yes, he had complained a few times about his feet, but it wasn't a lot and I just told him to go put some cream on it. Well, when I say him hobbling I thought I better look at his feet. He took off his socks and I was horrified. He has suffered from eczema of the feet every winter, but I had no idea it could get this bad. He had open cracks all over the bottom of his feet. No wonder he could barely walk. I called the doctor the next morning and we got in to see him that afternoon. The doctor said it was one of the most extreme cases of that he had ever seen. He had to superglue all of the cracks and prescribed some way strong cortisone cream. I felt horrible. I asked the doctor if he thought I was going to win the mother of the year award. He said he doubted it. Anyways, 1 week later Bryce is no longer hobbling around. His feet are so much better. That kid has just got to talk louder, or cry more or yell, or something!


*When it rains it pours for my little Bryce. A couple of weeks ago he told me his tooth hurt. I looked at it and noticed that the gum looked a little funny. He said he couldn't even brush his teeth over that tooth because it hurt so bad. I took him into the dentist and he said he had gum recession. I asked him what in the world causes gum recession in a 10 year old boy. One guess. Overcrowding. Surprise surprise. So last week we had our consult with a periodontist and will soon be scheduling Bryson's gum graft. Yes, a gum graft for my 10 year old. After all his poor mouth has already been through. Of all my kids, Bryce is the one who is the most terrified of the dentist. He literally gets tears in his eyes just even thinking about shots in his mouth. This should be fun. Really fun.



*We had one really warm day this week. Every single one of my kids was outside playing. It was heaven. I realized again how much I miss my kids playing outside. The house was quiet, I got some things done and my kids were getting some exercise and sunshine. I repeat, it was heaven. I went out to check on them at one point and found them (the 3 little ones) so so busy with the other neighbor kids making a fort in the field. I stood and watched for a while and snapped a few pictures. There is just something about kids making a fort. They were so serious and all business. They had propped up 3 big sticks into like a tee pee shape (that was the fort). They had picked up trash and gathered other sticks I really couldn't figure out how this construction of the three sticks had taken 2 hours but it did, and I was glad. I also got to witness the attempt to attach trash bags to the fort to try to block wind that was beginning to blow. It was hilarious and so sweet and so old fashioned and so refreshing. I loved it. Within minutes of the trash bag attempt, a storm blew in, it was quite a storm and soon that sturdy little fort was covered in snow and the builders were safe and warm inside our house. But I am confident that the construction was sound and strong and that little triangle fort will be ready and waiting for the next warm day. I hope it comes soon.


*Last week Ashlyn had been assigned to give the prayer in Primary. She is a new sunbeam and this was big news. She could not wait, to speak into the microphone for real. It was a dream come true. She must have known it was a very special occasion and she must have figured she had better look good and so she did what she had to do. When she came into my bedroom that morning to ask for breakfast, I looked at her and noticed she had bright pink lipstick all over her mouth. Now this was no ordinary lipstick. It is some weird color changing lipstick given to her by Nonnie, that does NOT come off. I tried and tried but to no avail. And so when that magical moment arrived, she marched right up there and said that prayer clear as a bell. Clear as a bell wearing the brightest pinkest, jaggedly applied lipstick there is. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. And this girl looked good!


*I was in Ethan's class doing his Valentines party on Friday. A little girl came up to me and said, "You look just like my home teacher!" Umm, aren't home teachers usually men? I didn't even want to ask.



Until next week!

Thoughts...which are coming faster than I can type

*I really don't have time to blog and that is the honest truth. Truly, once my feet hit the floor in the morning I am going all day. Most days I feel like I never stop. That's what happens when you have 7 kids, a calling, a house to run, endless errands, homework and projects to help with, dinner to make, etc. etc. There really is very little down time. I have good intentions every day to blog, to document, to journal, but by the end of the day when I finally have a minute to do it, it is late and I am exhausted and it gets pushed to the next day where the same scenario happens again. And then... and then I look at my blog and I feel so happy that I have these memories, these glimpses into the lives of my family, of my kids, these journal entries that I would never remember if I hadn't "blogged" about them and I realize I have to make the time. It is important to me. So tonight, I downloaded the pictures for 20 new posts. Tonight, I pulled out my little scrap of paper, my list, with my thoughts. Tonight I will begin to try to catch up. Here it goes...


*I just finished renewing my nursing license. I always get a little panicky feeling when this time rolls around every 2 years. I must have had a bad dream once that I missed the deadline and lost my license. But, I am happy to report, I didn't lose it. It is done and I already have my new license all filed away. I'm glad it's over and I don't have to worry about it for 2 more years. I'm also so glad that I'm a nurse. As I was taking the course I realized I miss it. Sometimes, I miss it a lot. Nursing really is a part of who I am, it always has been. It has been such a blessing in my life to be a nurse and in the life of my family. So that little license of mine will be renewed, no matter how much stress it causes me, until I am a very old lady.


* Kara got her first speeding ticket this month. I was not happy. She was devastated. She was especially upset because she got the ticket on a Sunday night...while she was driving somewhere to do service ...AND it was right in front of the temple! A triple whammy! Darn those police for working on the Sabbath. Trevor was out of town when it happened. When I told him about it on the phone I thought he would be upset. His reply, "Good. It will be a good lesson for her. I got my first ticket right after I turned 16 and I haven't gotten one since." We're all hoping that will be the case for her too.



*Speaking of the above incident, the cost of that little ticket and the cost of traffic school is not cheap. About a week after the ticket Kara casually asked me , "Mom, can I go roofing tomorrow?" Excuse me, did you say "roofing"? Yep, that's exactly what she said. The boy whose house she was driving to to deliver cookies that fateful Sunday night, felt really bad that she got a ticket, so he offered her a small job helping him shingle, or "roof," a house. What!?! I told her I had to talk it over with dad. It sounded a little risky to me. She kept saying he felt really bad. I kept saying I think he would feel a lot worse if she fell off the roof and died! Trevor, however, was all for it. And so, Kara spent Martin Luther King Day teetering on the top of a roof, in the snow, shingling a house and she earned herself $50 to go towards that darn ticket. So if anyone is in need of a "roofer," give her a call. After all, she is experienced now....and she still needs some money.



*My younger kids have discovered old Disney movies. One morning we were reading a Bugs Life book we had and they loved it. I asked them if they have ever seen the movie 'Bugs Life" They looked surprised, "Theres a movie?" So we dusted off some of our old VHS movies and they have loved them. Most recently it has been Bugs Life, Monsters Inc., Lion King, and Tarzan (all of which they recognized from books we have). After they watch the movies they spend days "playing" the movies. My favorite: watching them reenact Tarzan. One of them will strip down to their underwear (aka loincloth) and crawl around on all fours monkey style. You have never seen a whiter, skinnier little Tarzan before in your life. It is absolutely precious.



*Trevor and I went out to eat the other night to our new favorite restaurant, La Jolla Groves. It was delish-we have not been disappointed yet, and what made the meal even more exciting is that Jimmy Osmond was sitting at the table right next to us. I could have reached out and touched him and I almost did. Okay, honestly I would have preferred Donny, but any Osmond is better than none, right?



*Is it wrong to put blush on a 3 year old? It is winter, my kids do not see the sun and it shows. They are pale, extremely pale. Ashlyn sometimes looks so pale, almost sickly, so I occasionally put a little blush on her in the morning, you know, to add a touch of color, a touch of life. The other day at church I glanced over at Ethan and he was looking quite pale too. Okay, no, now that would be wrong. I will restrain. Blush on a boy. Wrong. But I'm telling you I have been tempted and as the winter wears on my boys had better steer clear of my bathroom while I am putting on my makeup in the morning or they just might get swiped.



*Ashlyn has this cute little pair of silver pants. She loves them and the other day as she was strutting around in them she said in a kind of braggy voice, "I have Lady Gaga pants and Alyssa doesn't!" Again, how in the world is my 3 year old familiar with Lady Gaga and how does she know what kind of clothes she wears? It is a scary thought, but I have to admit when she wears them they do scream Lady Gaga. And by the way, Alyssa IS jealous!



*I brought home a surprise for Tyler this week. It was a Utah Driver's Licence book for him to study. Are you kidding me? In less than a month he will take that test and then be behind the wheel. How can this be? He is too small! Okay, he may be getting tall- but he is still so small. I can't believe I will have 2 teenage drivers this year. Heaven help us. Please!



*We watched the Super Bowl tonight. I don't feel bad about it. We were all together, having fun, laughing at commercials and eating tons of food. It was a little weird to break our fast with "football" food, but we did and it was OK just this once. I didn't even really know who was playing and I didn't really care. It was fun and festive and for me, to be all together with my family, snuggled in our basement, well, it added some warmth to this cold cold winter. And for that I am grateful.



Until next week!

Thoughts

*January is the worst month ever in Utah. I absolutely love the snow for the holidays and then, on January 2nd, I am done. January is so cold and so dark and so dirty and there really isn't anything to look forward to. It is a hard month, and February isn't much better. But this year I am a little more prepared and I have a few tricks up my sleeve to make this dreary month a little more exciting. We'll see how it goes.

*So we moved to 9:00 a.m. church this year. I have mixed feelings. From 7-9 in the morning I hate it. At 12 noon, I love it. My teenagers are especially struggling with it because it takes away one precious day of sleeping in. I feel bad for them because they do get up really early and work hard all week long and they kind of do need some days to catch up on their sleep. I told them to come home from church and take a good long nap. That's totally what I used to do. I think on fast Sundays I literally slept from the time I got home from church until I could eat again. It worked out perfect for me. I also told them that sacrifice brings blessings. I don't know if they believe me yet.

*The other day I ate a candy bar while I was walking on the treadmill. I really did and I didn't even feel too guilty about it, because it was really good.

*My dad gave me his old Vita-mixer. I am totally into making green drinks for me and my kids now. The first morning I made one, I served it up to all my little kiddies who were all sitting at the counter eagerly awaiting this magic drink I kept telling them about. Brandon took one look into his cup and said, "this looks exactly like Bilbo's fresh poo!" And you know what? It really did. We named our new magic, healthy drink, 'turtle poo' and all of us drank it right down. (Thankfully, it did not taste like turtle poo, not that I would know what turtle poo tasted like.) Anyways, we have enjoyed fresh turtle poo every morning since. Delicious and nutritious, despite the greenish brown color.

*I saw a recipe one day that intrigued me. Kara and I looked it up and even watched a little video on how to make it and that settled it. We were determined to make us some fire and ice pickles. And we did just that. Now that's a cure for the January blues, making fire and ice pickles with your daughter. The verdict is still out on these intriguing pickles because they have to fester in the fridge for 1 week for them to reach their optimal taste. We have 3 days to go and then let the fire and ice pickle tasting begin.

*My kids came home from church with a little scripture and prayer chart to put by their beds since they are learning about the scriptures in Primary. On Monday, Ethan was sitting at the kitchen table with his chart. He was coloring it and doodling on it. And then multiple times as I walked by I saw him with his head down on the table. I finally asked him what he was doing and he replied simply, "I'm praying mom!" Well, there you go. The more you pray, the more squares you get to color in. He colored in a whole bunch of squares that morning. I wouldn't be surprised if half of his chart is complete. Now he can sit back and relax the rest of the month, because his January praying is all checked off. He is one spiritual kid!

*The other day Ashlyn came up to me and said, "Mom, memember when we went to Stinky Petes?" I'm sorry, but I didn't remember Stinky Petes. She said again, "Stinky Petes, memember when I frowed up at Stinky Petes and there is water and slides and I frowed up?" OK, yes, now I remember when you threw up all over the sidewalk and me and you as we were waiting in line to get in at Seven Peaks last summer. How could I forget that day. I have no idea why she was thinking of that, but now it's all she thinks of. She asks every day when we can go to Stinky Petes again. I keep telling her that when the snow melts we can go. Every day she looks out the window, desperately hoping that the snow will be gone. I don't know what I am going to do when that day comes. I'm going to have to come up with one pretty good distraction, that's for sure.

*Brandon is playing basketball this winter. He came home from his first practice and I asked how it went. He said it went good, but that when everyone got there they all changed out of their 'street' shoes and slipped into their fancy basketball shoes. Brandon, of coarse, doesn't have fancy basketball shoes, and he felt a little sorry for himself. But, honestly, I am cheap. And I don't see the point in buying expensive basketball shoes for a short 8 week run. I know, I am a mean cheap mom. Well, luckily he has good friends who don't have mean cheap moms and by the next practice he had 2 sets of hand me down basketball shoes to try on and keep. He tried some on and even though they are a size too big he is thrilled with them. Brandon is great at basketball and so fun to watch. But please imagine those wintery white stick legs coming out of some big ole black, one size too big, basketball shoes. He is a good sport and laughs right along with us as we talk about his new magic shoes. What a confidant and talented kid I have. And you should see his left handed lay up!

*It's January and therefore time to up the ante on my excercise routine. I am pretty faithful about walking on the treadmill, but with this new year have added Jillian Michael's 30 day shred. Feel free to laugh because my family totally does. Like I am really going to get shredded (I don't even really know what shredded means), but I am going to give it a shot. I have been very faithful in doing it every day of the week except Sundays, when of coarse, I rest from my shred. When I was doing it last Saturday, Kara snuck up behind me and started taking pictures, saying "I am so going to blog about this." I was doing jumping jacks in my Rosie robe. It was quite the sight. And it will absolutely never be blogged about. Ever!

*It is the end of term for my older kids. I got an email from Kara's seminary teacher saying that at the end of every term he likes to invite the parents in to bear their testimonies. He said it is always a wonderful meeting and to just email back if we would be able to attend. I wanted Trevor to do it, but he couldn't so I emailed back that I would be there. I mean, what would it look like if Kara was the only one without a parent there? I went and began to feel a little uncomfortable when after 30 minutes I was still the only parent there. Finally and thankfully, one other dad came in and the 2 of us bore our testimonies. Did none of the other parents have the same thought that I did? I guess not. Anyways, it was a wonderful experience and the spirit was strong. Kara has absolutely loved her teacher and her class and has learned so much. I was amazed at this class and this teacher and the whole seminary program here in Utah. It was so different from anything I had ever experienced in Seminary. I am grateful for the amazing teachers and experiences my kids are having in Seminary. It was definitely a highlight of my week.

Until next week, or the next.

thoughts on a sunday

*I have more thoughts in my head than could ever be written down. It is one of my diseases. My brain never stops. It is why I can't sleep at night. I hate it sometimes. I haven't written my thoughts down for a couple of weeks. I have just been too busy, but I will try to catch up a little this week. We'll see how far I get.

*A girl called Tyler a couple of weeks ago to come over and help her with Geometry. He said, "Sure, I'll be over in about 15 minutes." He's pretty new to this boy/girl thing. How do I know this? Well, because right before he left to go over to her house he ate a whole bag of ranch flavored corn nuts! Really? Corn nuts? I quickly slipped him a stick of gum and he left. He is such a cute boy and one of these days he will care about girls and ...um...his breath!

*It is no secret that I love our pet turtle. Kara calls him my 8th child. I just call him Turd, and yes, I do care for him. So you can imagine my feelings when I heard one of Brandon's friends run down the stairs yelling that the turtle had been dropped. I had the same reaction I sometimes have when I know one of my kids has been hurt. I just sat there, closed my eyes, prayed it wasn't true and that the injuries weren't life threatening and then made Trevor go and check to see if my turtle was OK. I am happy and relieved to report that he survived the mishap. He was a little shaken up, but after a treat of some extra banana slices, he was back to normal. And all is well with my children, all 8 of them!

*All of a sudden I like sushi. I have no idea why or how it happened. But I like it. I even crave it a little. That is really weird, because it's raw fish with little fish eggs on top sometimes. It used to make me cringe, and when you think about it, it's really sick! And now I crave it. Really weird!

*Last month Trevor and I went out to eat with just Kara. We were all sitting cozy in our booth, talking and eating and Kara asked, "So what do you guys do when it's just the 2 of you on a date, gaze into each others eyes or something?" Trevor quickly replied, "We make out." Kara gagged. Right about then I wanted to taste something that Trevor had ordered so he got some on his fork and I tasted it. So I added, "And we feed each other food." And then he added again, "And then we make out some more." By this point Kara had lost her appetite. We thought we were pretty funny. If she only knew that our dates are sometimes the only time we have to talk so they are usually filled with lots of talking, mostly about our kids, and mostly from my mouth, becasue I am the talker and Trevor the patient listener. The make out date actually sounds pretty good, somthing different to do. Something much more fun than talking. Maybe on our next date we'll do just that, make out. It's been a while. We'll try it out, and then come home and report to Kara how it went. I'm sure she'd love that!

*The other night we were watching Paula Abdul's new dance show. My girls immediately ran up and got their dance shoes and were leaping and twirling all over the room. But that is to be expected. What wasn't expected was Eto, my little ballerino! He was hanging in there with the best of them, with moves I can't even describe. There wasn't any twirling, they were very macho moves. I was impressed and completely entertained. It was a great show (my kids, not necessarily the one one TV).

*I bought a snowballer at a garage sale this summer. My kids can make like 50 snowballs in a minute, just like the commercial says. They have used it every time it has snowed and have had awesome snowball fights. Best $.25 I ever spent.

*Ethan told me the other day that he forgot to make a birthday wish when he blew out his candles on his birthday cake (like over a month ago). I asked him what he forgot to wish for and he said, "That it would be a Wii day EVERY day" and then he added in a hushed whisper, "even Sunday!" We'll it's probably a good thing he forgot that one, because then he would be really sad when it NEVER EVER came true!

*I got some boots from Old Navy for Christmas. Actually, they were for Kara, but they didn't fit her so I just kept them for myself. I had to run errands one day and so I slipped on my new boots, hopped in the car and was on my way. When I got to the store and started to walk around I noticed that the boots felt a little different. Something was not right and it was really bothering me. I got home took off the boots and sure enough, one was a size 7 and one a size 8! Is there anything more annoying than that?! Especially when I had already tried to return the boots to get Kara's size and they were completely sold out, not getting any more. What am I supposed to do, walk around with one snug boot and one all loosy goosy?! I don't think so. It will drive me nuts! Aghhh!

*Warning-this story contains potty talk, but it involves a potty so there is no way around it. A couple of weeks ago a certain boy(boy #1), who will remain nameless, was using the bathroom. He noticed there was no toilet paper so he called out to boy # 2, who will also remain nameless, to get him some. Boy # 2 got the TP and then, not wanting to actually go into the bathroom to deliver it just tossed it in. His toss was a little forceful and it knocked Kara's flat iron, which was teetering precariously on the edge of the sink right into the toilet. And lets just say that the toilet had a little more than pee in it, if you know what I mean. The question still remains as to why boy #1 was not actually sitting on the toilet at the time of the toss. Boy #1 still refuses to respond to any inquiries about "the incident." Trevor, the wonderful dad that he is, spent practically 30 minutes disinfecting every square inch of the flat iron. He was very thorough, as he always is. But Kara absolutely refuses to use it. And do you really blame her? And as for the flat iron, well it is still hanging around here, festering. Nobody will touch it. And I just can't, in good conscience, give it to DI where some poor, unsuspecting person would buy it and never know they were using a contaminated appliance on their hair. That would just be wrong. This whole story is wrong, because it is about poo! Wrong, but sadly, true!

And on that lovely note, I will conclude my thoughts.
Until next week!

Thoughts

*Is it a sign or a bad omen that our Christmas lights fell down into a pathetic sag on December 1st before we even had them turned on for one night? They usually do get pulled down by the icicles, but not until at least mid January (I will blame it on the dumb blizzard!). We looked like white trash for a couple of days until our wonderful neighbor helped us get back in the Christmas spirit by putting them back up. He used some sort of duct tape and wire to secure them so hopefully they will last. (Even though duct tape on the outside of our house is kind-of white trashish too!) I am very picky about my lights so I am thankful they are still up.

*Last week we took treats to someones house on Monday night. We had tons of yummy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with cinnamon cream cheese frosting and so we made up a plate, put a secret note on it and ding dong ditched it. My kids loved it. It was so fun we decided we want to do it every month. Oh yeah, the Family Home Evening Phantom is back!

*My kids new favorite show is Funniest Home Videos. (Without cable, they have limited options) They think it is hilarious, and when I walk by and see some of the clips, I have to agree. And now every time Ethan does something even remotely funny or gets hurt in some way he says to me, "you should have gotten that on video and sent it to AFV! We could win lots of money!"

*Because it was fast Sunday my 2 oldest didn't have presidency meetings. Everyone had bathed the night before, I didn't have sharing time and so I was excited to sleep in. As I was snoozing away, Brandon quietly came into my room and whispered, "should I walk to fast offerings?" I had totally forgot that I have a new deacon who has new responsibilities on fast Sunday. But he didn't. Of course, he remembered. Of course, he didn't need to be reminded or woken up or urged to get dressed quickly. He was up and ready to go all on his own. And then he wanted to get to church an hour early to get a chance to pass the sacrament (with 20 deacons you have to fight for a spot!). I talked him into leaving about 20 minutes early--and he got a spot. Do I need to say how much I admire this kid?

*A Christmas miracle has occurred. Ashlyn is totally potty trained. All on her own. There had been no talk about it or attempts or anything, it had been put on the back burner until after Christmas. But after her bath on Saturday night apparently (I wasn't even upstairs) she hopped on the toilet and went #1 AND #2!! Who knows why, she just did. Ethan came running downstairs to tell me. I ran upstairs and sure enough there it was in all its glory. I would normally do a huge post with a picture and everything but she was buck naked sitting there on the toilet and so my kids would call that pornography....speaking of...

*I was in a hurry Saturday night and so bathed my 3 little ones together. Alyssa usually showers but begged to take a bath that night and I let her. At one point in the very crowded bathtub Ethan stood up to get something. Alyssa pointed and then screamed "That's pornography!" Now granted it was right in her face, but pornography? Um, I guess so...no...I don't know! I concluded Alyssa needs to stick to her solo showers where she is safe from the evils of her little brother...and pornography!

*I was released today from Primary. I have been in the presidency for over 3 years now. I have loved it. I love being where my kids are. Being released from a calling is always bittersweet. I will miss it a lot, especially as I have watched little Ashie come in with the nursery in preparation for next year. I wish I could watch her for a little while longer, but it is time to move on. I look forward to whatever is around the corner (I just hope it is after Christmas!) There is a quote I love that says something like, "just as soon as you are called, the clock begins ticking towards the moment of your release, it is up to you as to how you will serve and use that time." I feel good about my time in Primary, the spirit is strong in Primary. It is where my heart is. I will miss it.

* I am desperately trying to catch up on all our Thanksgiving week festivities(blogging them, that is) I am just doing them one at a time and then plugging them in where they go chronologically. One of these days I will figure this whole blogging thing out. One of these days!

That's all.

Thoughts

*Kara gave the prayer at a Regional Fireside with a General Authority, Neil A. Anderson. It was held in the Tabernacle where there was standing room only and broadcast into an overflowing Stake Center. I wasn't there, but heard she did a great job. She was nervous. The next day at school some random guy (who by the way, she says was cute) came up to her and asked for her phone number. Apparently, he made a bet with a friend that he would ask out the girl who said the prayer at the fireside. Funny what happens when you pray!

*Ashlyn informed me that after Christmas she would become a big girl. She said she will stop sucking her thumb and wear panties. We'll see about that. It would truly be a Christmas miracle if it actually happened. Please let there be a Christmas miracle.

*Ethan is totally reading. He brings home those little beginner books and reads and re-reads them over and over again. He is very proud and so am I. He was, however, very upset after reading one of the books where a pet dog is left on a bus. He said, "that was the saddest book I ever read in my whole life!" Luckily, for Ethan, and the pet dog, he was reunited with his owner at the end of the book. Thank goodness for happy endings.

*Last week at church our family pew was pretty empty. I looked around the chapel and found my 14 year old sitting by the door, ushering and handing out programs, my 12 year old passing the sacrament and my 16 year old up on the stand playing the organ. I feel so blessed to belong to a church where we are taught to serve so early in our youth. I felt even more blessed that my kids were worthy and willing to do so.

*I got my hair done this week. Nothing new, just a cut and some highlights. Well, I have never received so many compliments. Everyone kept telling me how great my hair looked- family, friends, strangers (no, not really strangers, but they might as well have been). I came to the conclusion that it wasn't so much my new "do" that was so great, but that my old one was really bad. I kept telling everyone thanks, but I would look just the same as I did last week when I did my hair myself. I just don't have time to blow dry and flat iron my hair for hours each day like my hairdresser does. I just don't. So, sorry to everyone who thought I looked absolutely beautiful, but the ugly old fashioned "do" is just going to have to do! Like it or not, Mark, the claw is coming back!

*I am grateful for the Winco candy bins, and here is why. This last week alone, this is what I had to send to school with my kids: 25 candies for a Christmas countdown calendar. Candy corn for a Thanksgiving project (preferably brown candy corn). Birthday treats for my 6 year old. Treats for 2 separate Thanksgiving feasts, one in the second grade and one in kindergarten. And trinkets or treats to be traded at the 4th grade Mountain Man Rendezvous! That is a lot of treats for 1 week. Luckily, I can go to the bins and get exactly the number and color that I need. Winco, I am thankful for you this week!

*So there was this huge blizzard warning this week. It was huge- the warning, that is. They were cancelling schools. They were cancelling surgeries. They were cancelling concerts. They were urging everyone to leave work early and get home. They told everyone to stay home unless absolutely necessary, and if you had to go out to bring blankets, food, and water in your car. I was expecting to be snowed in my house for days. I went to the grocery store that day along with the rest of the state. In my defense, it was my regular shopping day. I felt a little panicked as I was pushing my cart through the crowded store, but was a little more relaxed after I got my shopping done and all of my little chickies were home in my nest. And then we waited. And waited. And waited. There was some wind, a skiff of snow, and some pretty cold temps, but that was it. It was the dumbest blizzard I have ever been in. But one thing it did do was again make me think "how ready am I? How is my food storage? Do I have enough medication to take care of my family?" When things like this happen (like the swine flu scare, earthquakes around the world, and dumb blizzards) it always makes me grateful I have followed the counsel of our leaders and have tried to be prepared. It also makes me even more determined to get even more ready. One of these days I am going to depend on that preparation. I just know it!

*I have a few thoughts about sickness, because we have had a lot of it in our house this week. We have had strep throat, a nasty cold, pink eye, and the vomiting flu all going around in our family. It was lovely. The worst part is, I got sick. It's never easy when mom is down. As I was saying my prayers on the night I was sick, I started to pray that nobody else would get sick...and then I stopped. A thought came to me that I really couldn't pray that nobody would get sick, because we were going to get sick. It is a part of life. Has anyone really gone through their whole life without being sick? And then I realized that being sick served several purposes. Being sick makes us stronger, by helping our bodies to form antibodies and to help us fight off things later, and most importantly, being sick makes us appreciate being well. As I laid in bed all day feeling sick to my stomach, I had to turn my head when food commercials came on TV, I thought about Christmas and how awful it would be if you couldn't eat or be up and around and I was grateful. I felt grateful that this sickness wouldn't last forever. I felt grateful that my body can fight sickness. I felt grateful that in a few days I would be back to normal and would be able to watch food commercials and eat Christmas treats. I just felt grateful. Truly there must needs be opposition in all things. I have a stronger testimony of that now. It all sounds kind of silly right now, but at the time as I was laying in bed hour after hour it had a profound impact on me and I needed to jot it down somewhere. And so here is where it was jotted.

*We had 2 family baby blessings this week. They were wonderful. I am so thankful for all of these sweet little nieces and nephews that are coming to our family. I love them and my kids adore them. It was a great weekend filled with family, family, and more family. We wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

*Christmas is practically here. I still haven't started my Christmas cards. Help me!

Thoughts on a Sunday

*I was informed by my 5 year old that bald men can have ponytails. He then proceeded to tell me all about how it was actually possible. He described what it looked like and everything. He was very interested and informed on the subject. I have no idea where he got his information or when he last saw a bald man with a ponytail. But, perhaps it will come in handy for his dad, who just might need his tips in the years to come.



*Is it just me or do Halloween candy wrappers multiply. They are literally ALL over my house. And it seems as if I am the only one to even think about throwing them away. At least breeding season is almost over I think. The kids bags are looking pretty picked over. Thank goodness.



*Brandon was scouring the pantry the other morning looking for a little debbie brownie. When he discovered that there weren't any left he was disappointed saying, "now what am I going to trade!" I had to clarify. You trade your food? Did anyone know that trading in school cafeterias really happens? Brandon claims he can trade for anything with a little debbie brownie. That surprises me. They are cheap and disgusting. Who would want to trade for one and what in the world is Brandon getting for his golden brownies. I must investigate further.



*I am typing this entry on my new laptop. My sweet husband, who takes such good care of me, bought me a new computer so I can blog and do stuff in bed or wherever I want to. I like to think it's because he loves me so, but it also might have to do with the fact that several weeks ago I stormed into his office and said "I need another computer NOW!!" You see, with 3 kids in the house who do most of their homework on the computer (actually 5 kids do homework on the computer now. Did you know they now have sites recommended by the teachers to practice spelling on?) anyways, with 5 kids fighting over the computer every night, I could never get on for very important things like blogging and such. Well, my sweet pea solved our little dilemma. Now the kids fight over who gets to type their report, or look up information, or get on spelling city.com and I peacefully sit up in my bed and blog away. I am spoiled, I know!



*I made a realization the other day. I was sitting on the couch and I realized that I had never heard Bryson yell. Never. I racked my brain for even a small memory of him raising his voice. I couldn't find one. I asked Kara who was sitting there, if she remembered ever hearing him yell. She couldn't either. This couldn't be. I found Tyler and asked him, his answer was the same, nope he had never heard him yell. I don't know if another child in the whole world exists who hasn't yelled once. He is not perfect, he gets upset, he cries, but he just never yells. He is a phenomenon. He is a prodigy. He is my sweet quiet little guy. I love him! (I'm pretty sure he gets it from me!)



*I discovered Raspberry cheesecake hot chocolate this week. Yum-o! It is a new favorite!

*Trevor and I had two hot dates this week. Our first was at Roundtable. We sat snuggled side by side in our matching Scout shirts. It was very romantic. Our second was at the Worldwide Leadership training meeting. For two hours we sat in the chapel together, holding hands as we looked over our new handbooks. With as busy as our weeks get, I am grateful for any dates we can get, as long as I'm with him, I don't care where it is! (But hopefully next weeks date will involve some food!)

*It is official. My son is an Eagle Scout. Of coarse, I will do a huge post on this major accomplishment later, but it was definitely worth mentioning here. It was a lot of work, for both of us. One down. Three to go!


*My sister and her beautiful children are in town. That makes me happy!



Until next week

Thoughts on a Sunday

*You know it's bad when you wake up with a "lack of sleep" headache. It has been a very long, tiring, exciting, party filled, fun, and exhausting week. We did so much. We ate so much. I am glad its over.

*I am going to spend all next week catching up on my blogging. October in our house is filled with fun things and lots of traditions- almost as much as December, it sometimes seems. I like to tell myself things will slow down. I know its not entirely true, but a girl can dream. At least all the sports have stopped until January, so that does open up a few nights, but they are quickly filling up I am finding. Oh well, such is the life with 7 children.

*I cleaned out some of my kids drawers this week. That cycle of rotating clothes for kids never seems to end. Get out the summer. Put away the shorts. Pull out the winter. Do they each have enough hoodies? How about coats? What doesn't fit? What can I send down to the next child? Does it have holes? DI or try to sell to Kid to Kid? Do they own any socks without holes? Who needs underwear? Is this even still in style? Who cares, are they still going to wear it? As I was sifting through Alyssa's pajama drawer I noticed one of her favorite nighties. I looked at the size. It was a 4T. Hello, she is 8 years old! I took it and placed it one drawer down in Ashlyn's pajama drawer, where, apparently, it still will have about 5 good years left.

*The other day I was dropping Ethan off at kindergarten. I pulled up to the school and he got out of the car. He turned and said, "Bye mom, bye ash." Ashlyn then piped up and said, "Bye Eto, I love you." He replied with a very sincere, "I love you too Ash!" Be still my heart. My heart was happy all day long.

*I took my boys to get haircuts this week. They all needed it. Why don't I know how to cut boys hair? It would sure save me a bundle. Anyways, Tyler noticed a sign at Fantastic Sams that has had us chuckling all week long. It said "WALK IN, STRUT OUT!" It has been funny to watch my boys mimic 'strutting' around with their new haircuts. They make me laugh.

*I attended traffic school this week. I have never been before. I hope to never go again. Really all it was was asking the police officer questions. I had a few, but never was able to ask them. Instead people went off on a 'right to bear arms' tangent. One man's question was, "So, I own a rifle and I drive a motorcycle. Will I get in trouble if I strap my rifle to my back and ride around the streets on my motorcycle with my rifle on my back?" What? What in the world does that have to do with anything?! (By the way the answer is NO, if he has a gun permit and if that there rifle on his back is not loaded) I'm pretty sure I was the only one in the room who did not have a concealed weapon permit. It was a complete waste of an hour, but my ticket is now wiped off my record, so I guess it was worth it. I guess.

*I love having a kindergartner. Everything is so new and exciting to him. For example, library day is big news and a very anticipated day each week. The first assembly he went to was huge. He came home bursting with the information about how he was never going to be a bully. This past week was red ribbon week. He could hardly contain himself. Backwards day, hat day, tie day, and crazy sock day was practically more than he could handle. My other kids were like, whatever, I'll just wear this old hat, but not Ethan! He was truly excited and could hardly wait for school each day to wear exactly what he was supposed to to show he was never going to take drugs. And to cap it off, his first ever Halloween parade was precious. He was beaming. If only they could hold on to that enthusiasm forever!

*Speaking of that cute little kindergartner. One day this week I was straightening out his bed. I pulled off his pillow to pull up his comforter a little when I noticed two small treasure chests under his pillow. I recognized them immediately. They were those little chests they give kids when they get their teeth pulled. I would know, my kids have had about 1000 teeth pulled between them all. All of them except for Ethan and Ashlyn. So these chests belonged to Brandon, who had these particular teeth pulled months ago. I guess he was saving the teeth. Well, Ethan saw them and devised a plan to outsmart the tooth fairy. He decided he was going to try to trick her with these impostor teeth and get himself a few dollars. His plan was foiled when mom found the chests. I asked, "Ethan, what are these doing here?" With a very guilty and sheepish look he said, "I don't know" I decided to let this little white lie go, because well, he's cute and pretty smart, I mean he really doesn't have any other way to earn money. What's a boy to do? Try to trick the tooth fairy, that's what! What he doesn't realize is that the tooth fairy is one smart woman!

*I have a huge zit in the middle of my forehead. Nice! I have been telling people I am being a teenager for Halloween. It makes them smile and it makes me feel better, just a little!

Happy Halloween!

Thoughts on a Sunday

*A couple of weeks ago, I wrote that Ethan hasn't had a tantrum at night for a long time. I think I even called it a miracle. Well, this week he has had two night tantrums. Bad ones, where he is wandering around in the basement, lost, confused, screaming. Trevor thinks it is because I blogged about it. I am forbidden now to blog about Ethan not crying at night. He thinks I cursed it. He may be right. So it will not be mentioned again. I hope that means it will stop....again.

*Ashlyn found a little spider on our porch this week. She told me about it and I went to check it out. It just so happened that it was a huge black widow spider, right there on our porch. The word quickly spread amongst our children. I tried to keep it from our arachnaphobe, but he caught wind of it and ran out to see it. I feared we would have big nightmares that night, but amazingly we didn't. I'm not too afraid of spiders, I mean really, what are the odds of being bit by a black widow? (Ok, don't ask Sarah that question!) Trevor bravely killed the innocent spider and peace was restored to our household.

*We were involved in a hit and run this week. Trevor was getting his haircut and while he was in the back leisurely getting his shampoo, someone came running into the store asking if any one had a Suburban, that it had been hit. Since Trevor was otherwise occupied, he didn't hear this news. When he did emerge from the bowels of the hair salon they asked again and he went out to see. Two people had witnessed the lady back into our car, look anxiously around, and then quickly drive off! Can you believe that? Trevor called the insurance and to have it fixed we have to pay our $500 deductible! It is very frustrating and just plain rude!

*I love having 2 kids in seminary this year. Each Sunday we have them share something they learned that week. What they share is inspiring and uplifting. I am so grateful for their seminary teachers and for the experiences they are having. I love that they can feel the spirit like that at school.

*My kids had a piano recital this week. It was great. I love their new teacher and they are progressing very well. This was Alyssa's very first recital, she had only been taking piano for 4 months. She stood up, announced her pieces and then on the last piece, stated, "And I'm going to sing this one!" And sing she did. My little 8 year old, sang Families can be Together Forever at the top of her lungs as she accompanied herself. It was absolutely precious and something I myself never could have done. She amazes me!

*At the dentist last week, we were told Ashlyn really needed to stop sucking her thumb. A couple of days later I put a band aid on her thumb to see what she would do. Right after I did it, she looked at it for a while and then slowly laid down on the floor. She laid there, curled in a little ball and wouldn't talk or move for a long time. After trying everything to get her to get up and come eat lunch, I finally went over and ripped the dang band aid off. She then snapped out of her depression and came over to eat. What am I going to do with this one!?!

* We had a ward activity this week based on the show Iron Chef. The secret ingredient was rice. I am proud to say that I won first place for my stuffed mushrooms! It was quite an accomplishment because I really don't love to cook, Ive never seen that show (not that it really mattered) and I've never even tried this recipe before. I am now making my family call me Iron chef. Yep, I'm pretty proud and my family is pretty lucky to have me making all of their food!

*We had our Primary Program today. It was wonderful as usual. I felt the spirit and feel so blessed to serve amongst these little angels.

Until next week!

Thoughts on a Sunday-written on a Monday

*I really think Fall might be my favorite season. We got out all of our Halloween/fall decorations and I love it. My house looks so cozy with all my decorations out. I lit my pumpkin spice candle and my whole house smells like fall. One of my favorite things are those little battery operated tea light candles; I have them all over in all my little decorations and each night we turn them all on and enjoy the soft flickers in all the decorations. Love it!



*We had parent teacher conferences this past week. I have great kids. I just really do!



*I think Ethan, who has been our most difficult child in the night, has turned a corner. It used to be at least 2-3 times a week that he would wake up- confused, disoriented, and oh so cranky. He would scream and cry; you really couldn't console him. What he needed was to go to the bathroom, but he refused to believe that. It was a nightmare, has been for 3 years, until now. He hasn't had an episode in weeks. And recently, I will wake up because I hear something and it is little Ethan going potty all by himself- without tears, screams, or flailing arms. In my book, this is a small and very welcomed miracle. I hope it lasts.



*Did you know they make dry erase crayons? Well they do, and I bought some. They have been a hit at our house and I have no more worries that the dry erase markers will get all over the carpet or get dried out because someone left the lids off. Yeah!



*We had a huge storm this week. It was a night to remember. My kids and I were watching a Mormon message on youtube (yes, we are very spiritual around here), when we heard a huge crack and the power went out, right from under us. My kids ran around trying all the switches; they couldn't believe the TV didn't work. It was glorious, for many reasons. First, it was cozy. We lit some candles, even though it wasn't totally dark yet, and turned on all of our tea lights (see above entry). It was quiet for once in our house. There was no TV or music. The kids played quietly and it was divine. I didn't have to make dinner. I just couldn't without electricity! We had a busy evening ahead of us, so busy, in fact, that I was triple booked. It was going to be tricky, as it is so many nights, to get and be everywhere we needed to be. Because of the storm, 3 soccer practices were cancelled. Because of the lack of electricity, pack planning meeting and pack meeting were cancelled. It was wonderful. Trevor took the boys to their football games (which never get cancelled), and I was able to attend the Mr. Caveman competition with Kara at the high school. I am hoping for the power to go out at least once a week until Christmas. Is that too much to ask?



*We got an email from Brandon's teacher this week telling us what great boys we have. Apparently, Brandon is in charge of flag duty at the school for the time being. The other boys who were supposed to be helping him didn't show up for a couple of days. Brandon went to get his teacher to help with the ropes (a two man job). She got out there and said she witnessed Bryson helping Brandon fold the flag and little Ethan holding the state flag while they tended to the American flag. She ended her email by saying that the elementary school was a better place today because of the example of the Allred boys. Like I said, I have great kids. Also, I am so thankful for good teachers who take the time to tell me things like this. I probably would never have known this little incident happened if it wasn't for her email. She is a fantastic teacher!



*One of Alyssa's spelling words last week was "dude." Really? Dude? How am I supposed to use that in a sentence for her spelling homework? "Hey, dude, pass me a cig." "Dude, you look tight today!" Anyways, she kept spelling it dood, an honest mistake when you have other words like smooth and food. I wasn't too worried about it, because honestly how many times in the real world will she need to spell it? Dood I have no idea!



Until next week!

Thoughts on a Sunday

*This is one of my favorite weekends of the year. I love General Conference. I decided this weekend that I really think we should start having Conference 4 times a year. I think I will write to the Prophet and tell him that. I love the counsel that is given. I love being at home with my family. And I love the spirit that I feel and the desire I have to be better. Yep, I could use that at least 4 times a year.

*We are now at the time of year where soccer and football seasons overlap for about 2-3 weeks. It is madness because that means we have about 10 games a week. It is crazy and busy and exhausting and my boys are loving every minute of it. Me, not so much.

*Speaking of soccer, Ethan came home from one of his practices and told me that his coach told the team they would be moving up a level next season because they were so good. His exact words, "the people who made soccer said we are moving up to play 8 year olds." Wow, I didn't know the people who made soccer had time to watch some little 6 year olds running around, but I guess they do because the rumor was actually true. Gotta love those Lemonheads!

*Three of my boys need new church shoes. Every Sunday they squeeze their rapidly growing feet into their old church shoes and complain all the way to church. I promise every Sunday that I will buy them new church shoes THIS week and then I forget, because I am not thinking about church shoes during the week. It's a vicious cycle-you get the picture. Needless to say, they still don't have new church shoes. I am going to try really hard to remember this week.

*I have been nesting like crazy lately. I am cleaning out closets and garages and drawers like a mad woman. You would think I am having a baby or something. I am definitely not, but am acting like I am. There's not much I love more than a clean, organized clutter free house. Mine is getting there. I love getting rid of things, de-junking and simplifying my life. It feels good.

*Ethan and Ashlyn have been playing so good together lately. Every morning after the kids go to school they trot on up to the playroom and just play. They play a lot of barbies (Eto is always an animal, never a barbie), school, cars whatever. I love to just listen to them pretend and be friends. It warms my heart and allows me to get ready each morning in peace. It is wonderful.

*One of Alyssa's favorite things to do is play church. Today she played "conference." The only difference between church and conference is that she added a pearl necklace to her dress up dress like the General Primary President wore in her talk. She then gave a pretend talk about a person who died. I asked her what her gospel point in the talk was. She said there wasn't one, the person just died! Oh well, I guess she isn't totally ready for the big pulpit just yet.

*I have started Christmas shopping. I actually started over a month ago. It makes me happy. I am ready for the holidays to start. My little pile of presents in my closet is starting to grow. Yea!

*On a very sad note I lost Nanny McPhee. Nanny McPhee, the very appropriate nickname for my mouthguard, is gone. I have searched high and low for her. I tore my bed and bedroom apart looking for her. She is really gone. It's too bad too, because she cost over $300! Ouch!

And those are just a few of my million thoughts this week!

Thoughts on a Sunday

*Kara asked someone to Preference this week. It is not until November. We happened to be at the mall for another reason and we stumbled upon a formal dress for $10! Of coarse, I bought it. We have nicknamed it Banana. And you know what? So far, banana is looking like the number one choice!


*Ashlyn's new word is freaky. "Mom this barbie looks freaky." "Mom it is freaky in here." "Mom, the song 'Thriller' is so freaky!" Where did this come from? She's 3!

* I got a ticket this week. Five of the kids were in the car with me. I think they were scared to death. Ethan was in tears because he thought I was going to jail. I was nearly in tears because I just don't need this right now and it has been a really long time since I have gotten a ticket. It was not a happy morning.

*I am trying the new Avon revitalist anti-aging serum because I am an old lady. It is supposed to make you look ten years younger. So far, nobody has mentioned that I look younger. Actually, one man at church told me I looked like I was 18. Does it count that his wife sold me the magic serum and he was standing right there when I bought it? I didn't think so.

*Brandon made himself a tinfoil yamika. He wore it to Scouts. Is that sac religious?

*Tyler had his first flag football game on Tuesday. I am so happy to say that the fun is back in football , just as it should be. Such a contrast to last year's tackle football experience. He had so much fun and scored 3 out of the 4 touchdowns. It's going to be a great season!

*I went to help in Bryson's class this week. When I walked in, one kid asked, "Whose mom are you?" I told her I was Bryson's mom. She said, "Oh, Bryson sure doesn't talk much." Nope he doesn't! He really just doesn't.

*It's very hard to get anything done around the house when you have soccer games all day on Saturday and soccer and football games every week night. Trevor and I agree that we definitely need one more day of weekend to be able to check anything off our very long to do list.

*I've been reading Little House on the Prairie to the little ones. Sometimes I wish I lived back then. Sometimes. This week I spent a good part of the week dealing with peaches. Canning and making jam and peach pies, I connected a little with "Ma Ingles' this week because I felt very old fashioned as I canned and stuff. I think I might have my kids start calling me "Ma."

And those are my thoughts in a nutshell!

Thoughts on a Sunday

Since I started blogging, I haven't written in my kids journals. I am OK with this because blogging is so much more fun and I can put pictures with the stories. But, the one thing I miss is writing down the little things, the day to day occurrences and the funny things that don't necessarily have a picture to go with it. I have nowhere to document those and so I will attempt to start my thoughts on a Sunday like my wonderful sister Sarah. In time, I hope to come up with my own original name for it, but until then, here are my thoughts on a Sunday:


*Tyler went to his first Stake dance last night. He really didn't want to go and has had no interest in dances whatsoever. But, he has good friends and they forced him to go. He almost backed out when he found out it was church dress, but after reluctantly putting on his shirt and tie he shuffled out the door. He came home at about 11 and I think I detected a little spring in his step. He actually enjoyed himself. And after claiming he wasn't going to slow dance at all, he ended up dancing every single slow dance. I am proud of him and so very thankful for his friends who didn't give up on him.

*Kara went to a missionary farewell today for one of her friends. Is she really that old? I so remember the days of going all over the stake to my friends farewells. Those were good times.

*I made my second attempt to potty train Ashlyn this week. It didn't go well. When your daughter holds her pee for 12 hours one day and 18 hours the next you just have to give up. It was either that or have her bladder explode. I chose to give up. She had actually become kind of depressed and lethargic during the process. Today, being back in a diaper, she is happy as a clam, laughing and chatting and running around the house without a care in the world. I put the singing potty chair back up in the closet....again. I don't know when we'll see him again.

*Ethan has scored 3 goals so far this season. He is thrilled. He keeps telling everyone he has scored 3 goals in his whole life! He loves soccer and is enjoying his team, the Lemonheads, very much.

* I have been so busy this week that I haven't had much time to talk to my sisters. I miss them.

*It's caselot time and so my food storage room is overflowing with boxes of cereal and canned goods that need to be put away. I still wish we didn't have to eat, so that I didn't have to go through my food storage and actually rotate it. But we do eat, we eat a lot, so I am grateful for these caselot sales that help keep my pantry stocked.

*Trevor and I went on a date last night. It was the first one in a long time. We needed it. We went out with some friends. We ate and talked and laughed a lot. Just like I am thankful my kids have good friends, I am thankful we have good friends. They uplift and inspire me. I wish we could do it more.

Until next week!