Reflections

Alex and Max both participated in Reflections this year and the theme is "Wow." They both took photos, and I absolutely LOVE what they produced. Max took the photo of our bird standing on top of our turtle. It took several hands to get our animals to cooperate, but it was fun. Alex took the photo of our good friend Johnny on the tramp. She laid down on the tramp and took several photos of him, his sister loni, and Alex's brothers while they did tricks. She got bounce around quite a bit. They are both going on to the next level, which is great of course, but what is most exciting is to see what a great eye they both have and how they worked hard, and patiently, to get some great shots.

Brutus Maximus

I swore for YEARS that after Chap was gone, there would be NO MORE DOGS. Well, less than than two months after Chap . . . enter Brutus Maximus.

Dan, who has never been a fan of small dogs (aka rats) suggested the less-than-wimpy name. We thought it was hilarious and it stuck.

I'm such a pushover.

Snow

We woke up yesterday morning to snow! Not just a little, but probably ten inches. That is a huge amount for us during January, but this is October. It 's supposed to be 60 or 70 degrees fahrenheit for us this time of year. During the winter, areas east, north or even south of us usually get dumped on while we get just a tiny amount of snow. But those areas, at least yesterday morning, got nothing. It felt a little Topsy Turvy for us, but the kids thought it was great fun. They even had a news crew on the sliding hill just behind our house because it was so unusual.

Dan was in top form yesterday. He loves the cold. He made hot chocolate and scones for us. Yum! He went outside in the snow to play (while I stayed warm and made dinner). He also took this photos of Jackson, Max, Alex and Alex's friend. It doesn't look like as much snow here, maybe because it was later in the day, and there are grassy spots only because they stole snow for the snowman.

Today it's still cold but it's sunny. The snowman is leaning dangerously to the left. I'm feeling a bit wimpy because I cannot bring myself to go running in 40 degree weather. I'm also feeling wimpy because I seem to be the only one in my family who is not energized by the surprise snow. I think I'm actually in mourning for the premature loss of the last bit of heat and sun for the season.

I know there is a lot a good that comes from this early snow, so I'm going to think about all the positives. Hmmm . . . . OK, I'll have to amend this later.

Machupicchu

Can you believe this photo is real? It was so awesome, since I wasn't in Peru with Dan and Max, to get photos sent to my email from Dan's Blackberry in real time. OK, this one came that evening and NOT in real time because he couldn't get a signal there. I cannot imagine why! Look at the peak in the background. Max and Dan hiked that as well. They missed school and work for two weeks, and they went with other family members Anni and Amanda. What a great experience. I'm jealous! Jackson, Alex and I had other commitments so we didn't go, but we had a good time in different ways here in the good ol' U.S.A.

I will post more photos when I can but this my favorite and I couldn't wait.

First Day of School

I was totally dreading the first day of school, but here it is, the unofficial symbol of the end of summer, the end of warm weather and the end of carefree fun. I'd so much prefer to have the kids with me, but I guess I can get something done now. Oh well.

Can you see how thrilled Jackson is that I am taking his photo on the first day of school? You cannot tell here, but he is thrilled beyond belief to be in Junior High. He after a couple of weeks he still loves it. Yea, we are so happy for him!
Max here is also trying, but not really succeeding, to be happy with my obnoxious photo taking. I keep telling them they'll love me for this when they are older . He gets last year's teacher this year again and that's good news because she is tough but fabulous! Yea for Max!
Alex is TOTALLY fine with my photo taking. Isn't that wonderful? Thanks Alex. She has a new school this year and finally gets to be with Max. She loves to find him at recess to just watch him. Max wasn't quite sure what to do about his "audience" during his recess activities, but now he seems to have settled into it just fine. Yea for Alex!

Meet Sandy and Ivy

Well, we jumped into a the new pet thing rather quickly after our sad news. A friend at Dan's work was trying to find a new home for their two Russian Tortoises, and kids have asked for them over the years.

So, we are all sitting there the first night taking turns playing with and holding the tortooises and when it was my turn, I set one on my lap (they don't like being held up in the air). I was having a lovely time and then out of the blue I hear this relatively loud swoosh sound, and then I feel it, urine all over me, about 1/2 cup. It was a TON in my opinion for such a little tortoise. We were all cracking up. I cannot get that swoosh sound out of my head, and I cannot believe how fast it came out, like it was dumped all at once. It was freaky..

Max and Jackson fishing Sandy out of the garden.
Jackson and Alex with Ivy.

July

OK, so I'm a little behind on my blogging. I'm not trying to do a history, but there are a couple of July photos I want to share. First, Jackson was in July officially a teenager. He is with a couple of good friends and his brother and sister after a night swim and of course the requisite fireworks.

Dan and I were a Ma and Pa on our stake Pioneer Trek. This is our family, with four AMAZING teenagers who were our "kids" and the best "Aunt and Uncle" anyone could expect to have. Dan and I are on the left with hats. It was extremely hot and we went about 30 miles in 3 days. It was definitely memorable and worth going. And, with the exception of one incredibly windy night where I was POSITIVE our tents were all going to collapse, I even slept well.

Boston

This summer Dan had a conference in Boston. Jackson flew out with Dan at the beginning of the week, and when Dan was in meetings, he just hung out in the room. He was in heaven being able to justify just laying around. He is so busy, he normally doesn't get to do that.

About midweek, I flew in. While Dan was in meetings, Jackson and I discovered Boston. We had a riot. We saw tons of stuff, but I tried to post photos that represent some of Jackson's favorite things.

First, the subway system. We bought a week pass and we used it constantly.
He was a pro by the time we left. This photo with Dan was just after a fabulous dinner in the Italian section, and a visit to the "must" shop called Mike's Pastries. Thanks Janie for your fabulous suggestions! Yum. We also introduced Jackson to Gelato. To say that Jackson loved it is an understatement. He is now obsessed 24/7 and we visited many stands during our trip.
This is the MIT Museum we visited before we went to the MIT campus . It was fascinating to Jackson and I literally had to almost drag him out of there. All this techy cool stuff that was interactive. The campus was not particularly beautiful, especially compared to Harvard (which we didn't see given our time at the museum), but it's an amazing school and right down Jackson's alley.

This photos was in a tiny, tiny little restaurant in the Italian section. It was so tiny you had to wait in line outside the restaurant. There was quite a wait too, but it was fun chatting with some locals. I posted this because Jackson is really starting to appreciate good food (too bad he doesn't get it at home . . . ha) and he is now willing to try just about anything. He had some great meals with some fun new taste experiences.


And finally, the photo here (oops, the photo at the top) is a photo of our fun whale watching trip. It was amazing! We saw tons very close and I don't think either Jackson nor I will ever forget it.

Thanks Dan for a fabulous trip!

Good-bye to Chap

Monday we lost our dear friend Chap, our full-of- beans yet gentle, English Cocker who has been part of our family for more than fourteen years. We all had a chance to say good-bye and Dan, thankfully, was with him at the Vet when he went peacefully.

I still remember when he picked him up at the airport after his flight from Virginia, his home. He was so adorable and tiny. He was scared and he whined, but we figured out what made him feel safe and he seemed happy after that. He loved learning how to hunt and he loved going out to find birds with Dan.

Chap was such a wonderful addition to our family, and he loved the kids. I remember being nervous when Jackson was born that he might not know how to deal with a baby, but he was fabulous with him. He was just as great with Max and Alex too. When they were little, the kids didn't know better, so they'd pull on his fur, his whiskers, anything, but Chap would just sit there, take it, and love them back. He licked food off their faces, and he cleaned up messes for me (our our built-in vacuum).

When the kids were older, he'd play fetch and doggie language and have fun forever with a moving flashlight. He got into trouble sometimes, usually when he'd go on his "adventures" but he seemed to love that too.

As he got older, he wasn't able to hunt and play as hard. He slowed down, and had a little some discomfort, but even then, he was still as gentle and loving as ever. We loved Chap and we really miss him. It's just not the same around here without him. One of these days we'll stop shedding tears

Under the Knife

Max went under the knife yesterday. He inherited (from me, ugh!) tendons in his toes that are too tight and subsequently, as the toe grows, it starts to curl. Two of his toes had curled enough that he was walking on his toe nails rather than his toe pad, so we decided to take care of it while it's (relatively) easy to fix. While Max was under general anesthesia, the surgeon "released" the tendons on six toes.

Max was the picture of calm both before and after the surgery. He has always been easy going and has quite a high tolerance for pain. I, however, was concerned that this whole experience would be hard on him. NOT. When they finally allowed me in with him to post-op, he was of course still groggy and coming out of the anesthesia and didn't talk. No whines, no moans, no difficulties at all.. When he became a little more aware, this was our first conversation:

"Max, how are you?"

"mmmmm"

"Do you hurt?"

(head shake to the contrary)

"Do you want water?"

(head shake to the contrary)

"How about this raspberry slushy?"

(head shake to the contrary)

"Do you need something?"

(head nod in the affirmative)

"What do you need hon, do you hurt?"

"Shhh . . .. "

"What?"

"Shhhhhha . . . "

"What?" (Putting my ear right to his mouth so I could hear)

"Shhhhhhhake . . . . Star . . . . bucks . . . . Shhhhhake . . . ."

Leave it to Max to ignore any pain or discomfort and focus on food. He is SUCH a foodie! Dan thought it was hilarious. As he became more and more aware, his limited conversation surrounded only food, and what sounded really good at that moment, like cheeseburgers, pizza's and of course the shake from Starbucks that Dan promised him after the surgery.

Jackson cheerfully held down the fort at home and took care of things in his usual responsible way. Besides practicing with Alex (since I couldn't), he took care of meals and even ran over to the neighbors (with a first aid kit even) when he overheard a message for me, from a neighbor mom about her son who had just taken a bad fall on his bike, was bleeding everywhere, and she wasn't home yet.

When Max got home, tender-hearted Alex wanted to help her "Maggie" and, when she couldn't find a bell for him to ring when he needed us, so she made a "shaker" and instructed him to shake it any time he needed anything. She would be there, she said, to bring whatever he needed (and she was). Jackson hung with Max while Max rested. They are great friends and they had (and continue to have today) great fun watching movies, watching the olympics, and playing games.

Max continues to handle this experience amazingly. And, now that he has food in his stomach, he has no, seriously NO, complaints at all. They said he'd need prescription Lortab but the only time he has taken anything was one Ibuprofen pill, and that was after I asked if he was in pain.

Yesterday and today helped remind me how grateful I am for my children. They are amazing and wonderful and continue to teach me. It doesn't get much better than that.

Napoleon Dynamite

We went on our Annual Andersen camping trip in Idaho. We usually go in July or August, but it's usually so hot then that we decided to try June. Well, June wasn't so "hot" this year in Idaho. It actually snowed on us. Nice. We did, however, have fun in the tents (I won't mention those wimps in the rv's) but after a while, we all got a little tired and disgusted with the weather. So, we decided to drive into Preston for dinner rather than dutch oven cook. And where else do you go in Preston, Idaho for dinner? Napoleon Dynamite's burger joint of course. It was fun, expecially since we have the entire move script almost memorized. I did miss Dan B's famous dutch oven dinner.

We had lots of fun on the four wheelers,
and with the guns,

and with the horses. Thanks to Andersens for creating great extended family trip memories!

And by the way Ben, I found those lovely self-photos you took on the sly with my camera. Watch for future posts!

Amanda, Anni and Teresa, did you notice I didn't mock your trip into town to sleep in a motel rather than brave the weather . . .?

Very Happy Feet

I discovered this wonder lotion Amlactin a couple of months ago. It's so amazing, I have to do a quick post so others can enjoy this miracle cure. I normally have horribly dry heals with chunks of thick skin attempting, but not succeeding, to flake off. My heals are normally white rather than pink due to the large amount of dry flaky skin. Pedicures often improved them, but didn't clean them up completely, and the dry skin came back relatively quickly. I know this description is gross, but I you have to understand what this stuff will do. Thanks to my dermatologist's suggestion, I picked this non-prescription lotion up at Costco (under $20.00) and applied to my heals immediately after showering every day (it won't work unless you apply after the shower/bath). After less than a week, my feet looked like they belonged to someone else. I'm not kidding, NO flakes. Zero. Zippo. Null. And this is only the lotion, not even the cream which is supposed to be better. After trying everything, it was just shocking to have this actually work. I am very pleased about my very happy feet!

Dohh!

So I'm really behind on my blogging and there's so much to update, but this one is too good to pass up. In June, we hosted a neighborhood party. Early that morning, Dan worked in the yard to get ready, and as he left for work, he told me he had the hose in the pool to bring up the water level. I said great and went about my busy day.

About mid-afternoon I went outside to start setting up and to check on the pool water level.

What I saw horrified me. Dan had neglected to open the pool cover and consequently, the hose was filling ON TOP of the cover, NOT INSIDE the pool. There was a good 6 inches of water on top of the cover. That amount of water with our little water pump would take several, several hours to pump off, and we had about two hours. Since it was a pool party, that was a problem!

This was so completely and utterly out of character for Dan. He is normally very present and in the moment and pays attention to what he's doing. I, on the other hand, often get the kind advice (from the King of Present) about how I could be much more present. So, with the tables turned, I of course immediately took FULL advantage of the situation and made that WONDERFUL call to Dan with the good news. I cannot imagine why he didn't think it was as funny as I did, but EVERY SINGLE person with whom I came into contact the next several days sure thought it was entertaining.

This photo shows what a GREAT mood Dan was in as we all tried to get the water off in enough time. Can you tell how happy he is ? I'm sure it helped that I was laughing, taking photos and video taping!

Anyway, it all worked out and we literally finished one minute after the hour neighbors were to arrive! WHEW!

I think there are many captions that could go under this photo. If you think of any good ones, please, PLEASE share! It doesn't have to do with what happened, it could be anything. I may even make an honorary poster with a bunch of different captions and an enlarged photo.

6th Grade Graduation

Last week did not disappoint with all the typical insanity that May brings. Included in this flurry of activities, was 6th grade graduation. When did this start, an actual graduation ceremony? How did we survive as kids without it? I think it's a great idea. It is definitely a huge milestone and one to be celebrated.

As part of this celebration, we hosted, last Saturday, a class party (thank heavens it wasn't the entire grade!) of a couple dozen or so 12 year olds, girls and boys, all with varying degrees of hormones, for more than seven hours.

Need I say more?

The photo is what remains of some of our pool noodles. This is only the tip of the iceberg, but I didn't think to take other photos. The pile of ruined items was hilarious. Our eight year old girl was so appalled by the level of, shall we say, "energy" that she started quietly, but quickly, grabbing pool accessories and toys that she particularly liked and hid them from the mob.

Later that night, when I was scraping brownies, cookies and any other food item that can be ground into a floor -- and let me pause here for a moment and suggest to anyone who is finishing their basement that they should MOST definitely stain your cement floor rather than carpet --- I realized that it was the first time in a long time that I was actually happy about cleaning (which is a relative BREEZE with a cement floor). I was happy about it because it was a riot to see the absolute pure joy that kids are so great at harnessing. They had an absolute ball, they didn't do any permanent damage, and they are really awesome kids who have a great future ahead of them.

Here's to Jackson, his class, and newly graduated 6th graders everywhere! And finally, here's to SUMMERTIME!

Surprise!

Well today was a banner day. I spent all morning working on projects I hadn't found time to do. I was so proud of myself. I had a huge list of things to get done, and I literally marked 98% all off that list before I decided to reward my amazing efficiency by taking a break and watching part of a movie while I ate lunch. I hopped in the shower quickly since I hadn't done that yet (I usually do that first thing in the morning but I had planned to go for some exercise). Then, while I was eating, a dear friend called and we commenced chatting while I finished eating. Life was good!

During this lovely and most rare, but enjoyable time, about 1:20 p.m., the doorbell rang. My immediate thought was, I don't know who that is, but I'm certainly not going to answer it. I was chatting with my friend, I was still eating, and most importantly, I was without clothing, but for a robe, and my hair was dripping wet. Make up hadn't entered the picture yet and my hair was barely combed through.

Suddenly, my stomach dropped to the floor. I remembered, with HORROR who was at the door. Oh my gosh! I screeched into the phone, It's my VT ers! These sweet friends had been trying for months, not weeks, to work with my difficult schedule and actually come see me. Just yesterday, we discovered this day and time would work.

I had absolutely no choice. I had to answer the door.

Well, we had a wonderful visit. They are fabulous and I'm glad they came . . . almost. It ended up not being that big of a deal (or at least I tell myself that). I did learn a good lesson though. Never, never, never brag to yourself about how efficient you think you are because in my case at least, it just ain't true !

Possessed email?

OK, in ONE DAY I managed to do three strange and out of character things with my email.

First, I tried to forward an email from the Director of a Board on which I serve to Dan to pass on some information and ask him a question. Instead of forwarding it to him, I replied right back to the Director. Nice. It was a really good thing there was nothing private in the email but it's still embarrassing.

Second, I tried to send an email to one of my kid's teachers. Instead, because I typed the wrong address, I sent it to someone else with the same name. NICE! This time, there was quite a bit of private information, but gratefully, the kind woman emailed me back, informed me of my mistake, and I think, moved on.

This made me wonder whether these two mistakes were truly out of character, or whether I've really done it more, and I just didn't know because a some kind person didn't take the time to inform me. How many orphan emails do I have out there?

I choose to believe NONE. I choose to believe my email was possessed for a day and it took over my brain and my fingers.

I'm pretty sure about this possessed email thing because the clincher, my final act, happened that evening. I was responding to several emails including a few from Dan. A few minutes later, Dan walked into the room and said, "Hmmm, Susan, do we have some communication issues? I just received some emails from you, and I'm just in the next room."

Obviously I need a vacation from my email . . . or does my email need a break from me?

Somewhere over the Rainbow

I love this song, the lyrics, the music, the everything! I have several "favorite" versions of the song that I love, but this one (the one playing as you read this) by Hawaiian musician Israel K. is most definitely my favorite right now. It is such a wonderfully peaceful and unique arrangement.

As I listen to it, I can't help but reflect on my life, and that peaceful feeling from the song just washes over me. O.K., it also makes me wish I were in Hawaii, but oh well.

Seriously though, I listen and I realize I CAN be in that place, I AM in that place, the Over the Rainbow place. As cheesy as it sounds, it really is a Wonderful World (also woven into this arrangement if you listen long enough). Don't get me wrong, my life is certainly not perfect and it's definitely full of challenges, but it is all such a state of mind. A friend once told me years ago about how she made a decision that her life was going to be positive and full of joy. Having a great life isn't an event, or chance, or luck. It is a decision. It's as simple as that.

True, I cannot control much of what happens, and BELIEVE me, that fact drives me crazy. OK you can stop laughing now, I'm working on it, and, thanks to Dan's coaching, I will one day be cured. In the meantime, I can continue to remind myself that I CAN control my attitude about life, and as a result, how my life actually plays out. And I choose that cool place, the Over the Rainbow place. And you know what, it's a pretty great place to be!

Ode to Spring

Spring is such an awesome time of year. Every year I decide I love this season most . . . until Summer comes, and then of course I fall in love with Fall too. I cannot say I love Winter anymore though. Such a shame.

Anyway, during Spring I love the welcome feel of skin warmed by the sun. I love the smell of freshly turned soil, freshly cut grass, and the smell of pavement after rain. I especially love the colors after so much drab . . . the grass, the sky, the flowers, everything And the s'mores. We can finally do s'mores again out in the fireplace!

Spring also brings tons of events and activities for the kids. It is a wonderfully crazy time of year. It seems everyone comes out of hibernation and it MUST ALL be done in April or May. Part of that craziness, and I emphasize only PART, includes spring sports and events.

So, to aid in my Ode to Spring, I include in this post some photos of the kids and their various athletic activities.

Jackson fell in love with lacrosse after his cousin Mitch introduced him to it a couple of years ago. It is becoming quite a popular sport and he is doing awesome. He has since introduced the sport to his brother Max and to some friends. Max even uses some of Mitch's old gear (thanks Mitch and Jane, and Steve especially for bringing me gear last minute!)






Max loves soccer and gets to play with many of his friends including his Dad. He smiles half the time he's playing because he is having so much fun. It is great to see! so much joy! Jackson loves soccer too and I would post fab photos taken by my dear and talented friend Lynell (which are much better than mine) but I'm not techy enough or patient enough to figure out how to do that.



Alex fell in love with dance a few years ago, probably again, due to my dear friend Lynell who was actually her first teacher. I took this with her friend Lonica (coincidentally Lynell's daughter) the evening after they had just both won Queen (first place) for their solos. They competed, thankfully, in different divisions. They competed together with their team the next day and did awesome as well. Go girls!



So much fun! Here's to Spring!

"Did you really just SAY that?!"

I was finishing up getting dressed the other day when Alex came in and, with a smile on her face, said "Wow, mom, you look so . . . hip!" After taking a second to try to wrap my brain around the fact that my eight year old daugher just used the word "hip," I opened my mouth to thank her for the compliment. BUT, before I could do so, she suddenly looked concerned and said with a serious tone "Mom, you better change."

Hmmm.

I thought a bit about that comment the last couple of days, and I found myself compiling a list in my mind of similar "reality check" moments I've had over the years. I had so much fun remembering that I thought I'd share a few of my painfully favorite ones.

The second comes from Alex as well. When she was about four, we were having a lovely mother/daughter meal at Wendy's (her choice) and, as we ate, I watched her looking around at some of the others in the room. She seemed to be most interested in the two older, gray-haired couples and the large group of boys and girls about High School age. She suddenly had what appeared to be an epiphony, and she turned to me with all the excitement a four year old can muster, and said, "Mommy!!! You are almost a Grandma!!!!!"

"Oh, really . . . .(through pasted smile and gritted teeth) . . . why do you say that?"

"Because your skin . . . your skin . . . is crumbly!"

CRUMBLY!

The third was several months after having my son Max. Dan and I were at a party with some of my old high school friends. One of my close friends was there, and, although I had kept in touch with her over the years and had seen her when she came into town, I hadn't seen her for a while. I gain a TON of weight with pregnancy, and I look generally quite horrible during that time, and I had to work after the pregnancy to lose weight and look a little better. When we walked in late, my dear friend said in front of the big group "Suey, wow, look at you!"

I was so pleased she noticed that I had lost weight, and I opened my mouth to tell her all about it, and how painful it had been. Thankfully, before I could do that she finished her thought, "You finally look like you have some meat on your bones!"

Let's just say the room was uncomfortably quiet for a few too many seconds.

My last, and definitely not my least, happened at a Super Bowl Party. Some of us were having sort of a light conversation about sports and it grew into the topic of guys, and well, you know, it was a fun conversation. Somehow I started going off about what I liked in High School and College about a bunch of different sports, and certain uniforms, and certain uniforms for those sports, and particular body parts that looked particularly pleasing to me in those uniforms and well, you get the picture. It was kind of funny, or at least I thought it was. Then, a friend, who had been more quiet than others during this conversation looked at me and, with a straight face said, "Susan, I had NO IDEA you were so . . . so . . . so . . . SHALLOW!"

Painful? Yup. Do I want to hear it? ABSOLUTELY. I always appreciate people around me who are willing to tell me what they really think. So, I'll keep trying to have a sense of humor and, hopefully, I'll still learn something.

Way to go, Alex!

So Alex entered the annual PTA Reflections contest last fall with this photo of her brothers and her cousin (well, first cousin once removed to be more precise). The theme was "I can make a difference by . . . " and she said something about being kind to those who are smaller.

She took first at her school level, then first at council level, then first at region level and then went to State!! There were over one-hundred other photos in her category at State and only four received an award. We learned recently that SHE WAS ONE OF THEM!!! Of the four, one was chosen to go to Nationals and three were awards of merit. She received an Award of Merit and we are so proud of her. She has a great eye I think!

Way to go Alex!

Inspiring

I've been reading about "Women in History" the last couple of days. I have to say I am so inspired. It is good to be reminded of the amazing impact women have had on our country. Without their courage and insight, our lives today could be very different. The woman in this photo was the first woman in Congress (1916). This was even before all American women had the right to vote! What would our lives be like if Susan B. Anthony hadn't been courageous enough to vote (and consequently get arrested) in 1872? I remember in law school studying cases where women were considered "chattel" (or property) just like livestock. I cannot imagine!

And what about Fanny Wright who in 1825 had this "radical" opinion that slavery was a horrible "pestilence"? She was considered dangerous! Remember, the Civil War didn't start until 1861 and even then, the war was as much (and some say more) about State's rights as it was slavery. Fanny lost half her fortune helping African-American slaves and trying to stand against slavery.

And of course I love Marian Wright Edelman's concerns about child abuse and other children's issues. She founded the Children's Defense Fund in 1973.

Now I may not agree with every single idea these and many other amazing women have had, but what matters to me, what is so inspiring, is their ability and courage to be free thinkers, to not just go along with the crowd and assume that certain current ideas or customs are just or correct. And then, to take that "outside the box" thinking and do something about it, to stand up for it and take action, despite the consequences.

Wow.

What will they say about us in 100 years? 200 years? What will we have changed? Will I have been part of the "group think" or will I have been willing to think and act "outside the box"?

Hmmmm.

My husband's advice

Dan, the one who doesn't quite get the whole blogging thing, checked out my blog and was surprisingly restrained. I actually kind of missed the whole mocking thing, but the relative silence was a bit unnerving. I wasn't disappointed for long though. An article SILENTLY appeared on the bed the other day. It discussed the questionable safety of mom/dad blogs. Hum.

Thanks Dan.

Dan also VERBALLY suggested that I add more photos of myself. The problem with that is I'm usually behind the camera instead of in front because I love my digital NIKON so much (a VERY big and WONDERFUL Christmas surprise from Dan a year or so ago). I take so many photos that once in a while Dan feels obligated to take a photo with me in it. This action is his insurance policy, the "let me get a photo of you so you cannot mock me for your glaring absence in our family photo albums" kind of insurance policy.

I thought, o.k., maybe I'll insert one photo of myself. It would be nice to show off my dear husband's photographic talents. So, I went through some of the recent photos and I found to two PERFECT photos. The first photo, the one at the beginning of this posting, is one I took. We were up early to enjoy the sunrise one morning on our trip. Don't Dan and Alex look awesome? Dan then said, let me take one.

Here it is!!! What do you think? Is this another SILENT statement from Dan? What is he really trying to say by taking this photo?

P.S. Fine, he really does take some great shots (and is an amazingly fabulous husband). It was just TOO tempting to let this "shot" go!

P.P.S. The article was on deseretnews.com March 24, 2008 and is called "Mom blogs-Does posting photos online jeopardize your family?"

"O.K. O.K. I'll do it"

So my older sister Jane, the kinder, gentler version of me, tells me it is my duty to create a blog. If I don't want to do it for fun, she says, I should at least do it for my kids. She knows me too well. My Achilles heal, my vulnerable spot, is my kids. I'll do just about anything for them.


So, here it is kids (and Jane), the "Days of our Lives" (yes, I am sad to admit I was a huge fan of this soap back in High School). Since my schedule is already hectic, I decided to replace any cleaning duties I have around the house with this blog. So Alex, you know that black fuzzy ring in the toilet you so tactfully pointed out the other day? Good news! We can leave it there a little longer JUST so we can see how it can grow! Think of it as a sort of science fair project. You could maybe even write a report for extra credit at school. Jackson and Max, I am happy to report you will still be able to write your names in the dust on the entry table for a few more days. Dan, because you love nature so much, I am going to make a sacrifice for you! I am going to leave those spider webs in the house just a little longer. I noticed you were trying to pull them off the other day in the sweetest attempt to help me with my amazing cleaning skills. No need to help anymore! Let's see how many spiders and webs we can get in our house! It will be like living outdoors. How fun is that!


Whomever said I'm not a "Giver" obviously doesn't know me very well.


And Dan, my kind husband, if you mock the fact that I now have a blog, I'll be forced to post that snorkling photo of you that you love so much.