Believe It or Not

All right. So Mom and Bob spent the night at Aunt Betty's, and after I dropped the kids off at school, I drove up there and picked up Mom, and we were off (like a... never mind).  We were finally going to go shopping for my birthday, hooray! Now if I could just think of something I wanted, life would be grand.

I was tired of my mall (who isn't), so we headed to Washington Square Mall in Beaverton... but while driving around trying to find it, we happened upon a cute little mom-and-pop home and garden store, and before long we were inside, inspecting their wares. We ogled the baby chicks, ducklings, and turkey-lings (what are baby turkeys called?) and reminisced about our little family farm in Brookings, including our baby turkey named Hugh Beaumont (seriously) after the actor who plays Ward Cleaver in "Leave It To Beaver." We watched the reruns every day after school, and Ernie named the turkey after him. We brooded the baby chicks and the turkey in our bathroom.

"Remember the day we came home from church and there were three dead baby chicks nose-down in the toilet?" she asked.
"NO!! How horrible!!"
"Well... I guess we didn't tell you guys about that."

Yikes.

This store's prices were INSANE (but not good insane) so I dialed up my trusty GPS lady to find the nearest Coastal Farm and Ranch, since it's just what the country needs, except when you can't find it and you drive all over Creation and past the Nike campus, and your mother keeps saying "I don't think this store exists" and you tease her back with, "It's just over those hills!".

Stupid GPS lady.  What a big stinky liar she is. 

So, back over the river we went... sigh... to my mall.  I still didn't know what I wanted for my birthday, but no matter, we were having a good old time anyway.  Once at Macy's, we meandered aimlessly toward the bedding department, when it hit me that we needed a new bed set ("needed" being a relative term) and Mom was alllll over it - a lot more all over it than she would have been about setting me up with baby chicks.  I can't blame her.

I ended up with this:

ahhhhhhh

At first I was going to get something completely different from our old set, but then I remembered the batik bird picture and we went with the same color scheme.  Which worked out great, because I kept two throw pillows from the old set and now it looks all FANCY.

Then we picked up kids, went to the store, picked up the last kid, stuffed him in the clown car with the first two kids and the groceries, and headed back to my house.  Then it was back to Aunt Betty's. 

Mom had mentioned to Betty that I like to cross stitch, and Betty had promised me all the cross stitch supplies I wanted, since Uncle Thos was also an avid cross stitcher - he was seriously an amazing man, cross stitching is just the tip of the iceberg.  We went through her closet and boxed all his cross stitch things up and they were now mine.  It was hard.  It's been a year since Thos died, and I never had the chance to meet him, but Betty had a hard time here and there and I wished with all my heart that Thos were still around so she wouldn't have to be so sad.

I drove home with my new stuff, grateful and glad to have it but feeling terrible for poor Betty.  And Bob, who lost his only brother.  And Mom.  CRAP I hate death.

Later I happied up with this:

 

Happiest TV show theme song EVERRRR.

Oh Good.

New-to-us couches!!  Hooray!!  Mom and Bob brought over the ultra-comfy leather couch and loveseat set that Mom bought in Walla Walla years ago... we are so grateful.  THANKS Mom and Bob!!  They brought other goodies as well, including a batch of Mom's Blarney Stones (they were covered with Easter egg-ish colored sugars and coconut flakes and chopped peanuts)... to die for.  Oh.  How I love Mom and Bob.

We visited with them and Hattie the Dog for a while, then it was off to Aunt Betty's for them to spend the night.  See you tomorrow!

UPDATE: This morning we found out that our little Girl Scouts sold all their cookies and get to go to camp. Yay! Glad they had enough people come out. Kayelyn certainly did her part.

MEAN.

My round Pampered Chef baking stone met an untimely death today when it was used to make cheesy biscuits (the perpetrator shall go unnamed), and, while still hot, was placed in a sinkful of not hot water. Snap, crackle, pop! The poor child who caused this sad accident was later heard to say, "I forgot how to physics." Well, dear, Mother has made silly mistakes too. I'm not interested in replacing it, because I don't know that I want to own anything more high-maintenance than I am. Rest in peace, Pampered Chef baking stone. Sorry about the hot watery death.

Can you believe the way someone duped those poor Girl Scouts? My bloggy friend Kayelyn didn't have any Girl Scouts knock on her door to sell cookies this year, so she sent us some money and we're going cookie shopping tomorrow. So awesome of her. We might have to buy a couple boxes for our not-needing-cookies-at-all-but-are-suckers selves.

Trying to get rid of this thing.

I placed a "free" ad on Craigslist and mentioned we were giving it away on Facebook. ACK! The horribleness!!

Just.  Ugh.

Also: I went to orchestra rehearsal and came home with "Popular" (from the musical Wicked) stuck in my head. And I only know the one part, and it keeps replaying over and over again... Grrr.  It's so hard to be me.

FINALLY

But first: Bella, for the last two days, has awakened with GUNK leaking from her ears. First one ear yesterday, and the other ear today. So we made an appointment and went to the doctor (which is always fun, she absolutely loves being around doctors) (not), and guess what the dip doctor said? "HER EARS ARE PERFECT."

Our lovely HMO, while I really do love and appreciate it, has a way of making us feel like a family of hypochondriacs sometimes. Her ears! Were leaking!! At what point do you not freak out and call the doctor about that?

The doctor (who was not a dip, but was the slightest bit condescending, lecturing us about the importance of Hepatitis A vaccines) said it was probably just some drainage from Bella's most recent cold. GEEEEZ. I promised myself I would not take any of these children to the doctor again unless a limb fell off or they were bleeding out their eyeballs. (not) (but sort of)

It's about dang time

I don't know, and don't want to know, which year it was that I started this stocking.  I know it was a January because I thought, I'll stitch one of these per month for each of the seven of us, make them all into stockings in August, and we'll all have new stockings this year.  Cross stitched, by me.  How heroic will I be.

Glad to have it over with, but not looking forward to making the other six, so much.  I'm not a fan of stitching the same thing twice.  And it took so long, I may have grandchildren before I get them all done, and yada yada... Just don't let me do stuff like this anymore.

In other news: A few people went skating tonight.

That's All I Ask of You

This morning I woke up and looked in the mirror and thought, Holy Bedhead Batman! I forgot about this aspect of short hair. Time to go hat shopping.

Tonight while we were trying to go to sleep: The kids are watching Phantom of the Opera, and I guess I should be happy about it but I mostly feel like telling the TV to can it. 

Good grief, just END IT already.

Don't Know Where This Came From

Things have become pollen-y and blooming-y enough around here that I finally broke down and popped a fake Claritin today. Ah, the first allergy pill of the year... Such a milestone.

I love it :)

Always After Me Lucky Charms

Hair Update: I can still make a ponytail! YESSSSS

Bella's team played their championship game today, and Hubby normally passes off Sunday coaching responsibilities to his two co-coaches, but one wasn't able to be there today, so Hubby dressed in his church clothes and left for the soccer field. We (minus Brennan) took off for church.

As usual, about an hour before church started, we remembered Roz had been assigned to give a talk in Primary, and couldn't find the assignment slip with the topic "Jesus Christ is our Savior" until we were running out the door, so I spent Sacrament meeting plaigarizing paraphrasing True to the Faith's section about the Atonement.

The Rhy...s spoke about their temple mission in Hong Kong, from which they had returned just a week or two before, and the meeting was awesome. The Hong Kong temple is my favorite.

Hubby met up with me later in the Primary room - he was glowing so I knew the girls WON the championship! Hooray! Roz did an excellent job with her talk - Hubby and I were very proud.

The new 'do garnered a few comments - Bishop shook my hand and asked if I was a new sister in the ward.  However, I did not wear green to church today (I don't think any of us own anything green). I was pinched three times. RUDE. (But not by the bishop)

After church, Breven came back over to hang with the boys. The home teachers later joined us for a half hour or so. We had dinner, roasted chicken and potatoes. Breven ate with us and told us a little bit about his family. Such a sweet funny kid.

Bella had a camp meeting at the H building, so Hubby stayed with her instead of coming home and going back to get her.

Longview, New 'Do

A busy, busy soccer day that was over early enough to get some other things done. Yay!

Hubby was on the run all day, picking up, dropping off, coaching, what have you. He had me and Bella meet him at the H sports complex, and passed off Carter to me. Carter had already played a game with his regular team that morning, but for some reason I'm unaware of has also picked up another team (because we don't play enough soccer in this house - wink, wink).

The game was in Longview, which I was happy about because I'd been getting a little bored with sticking around town all the time. So Carter and I left, and since we can't lock the Clown Car's doors (because the tip of the key is still in the ignition), I pulled out the soccer chair and sat on the grass next to the car for the game.

He played well, but the poor team lost badly - something like 9-1. Carter tried to get Goal #2 but a kid kicked him in the ankle, so he spent the rest of the day with a slight limp. It rained just a bit. I had an umbrella but no blanket, darn it.

Afterward we went to Shari's restaurant in Kelso and had a lovely lunch. I had a turkey half-sandwich and caprese salad and marionberry pie with ice cream. Carter had macaroni and cheese. All of it was wonderful as always. Carter was a perfect gentleman during our date... though he did make me pay for lunch.

Starting around yesterday I was getting really sick of my growing-out hair, especially the gray and split ends, so I called up Marisa B in McWard.  She did this:

 

And this:

Well, I added the clippy on my bangs.

The bangs ended up really short, but otherwise I LOVE IT.

School Days

This week has been a big Mommy-at-school week - first the field trip on Wednesday with Carter, and today I met Rosalind for her school lunch time.

Afterward we went to the book fair, and then back to class, where she gave an awesome report about koalas. I enjoyed being with her.

These were waiting for us at home.

"Every Day We Fight the Fight"

Man, did we ever fight it today.

I helped chaperone Carter's class field trip to a local nature center today.  Absolutely exhausting and I wore the wrong shoes.  But he had fun, so there.  I had fun seeing him interact with the other kids and made a couple of fifth grade friends.

Betcha never smelled a real school bus before.
 

Trying to collect specimens

It's about dam time.  (Sorry)

Note to self: NO.  MORE.  FIELD TRIPS. in these shoes.

After school, we brought Tyson home to play with Carter. Roz had dance class followed by Activity Day. In the meantime I loaded up all our fire supplies and portable fire pit for a Young Women's activity. Good freakin grief, the things we end up doing when we open our yaps in presidency meeting... From now on I am giving NO suggestions, I don't care how uncomfortable the silence gets.

Now home in bed, and Hubby asks why I keep sighing. Just de-stressing, dear. Pass the chocolate chips. :)

In Which We Drop Names

So on the way to school today, the kids were messing with the radio and landed on this song:



The kids tried to turn it to something else but I said "TURN IT BACK" and made them listen to it. A few seconds later Carter observed that he thought it was the song "Ghostbusters". I told him he had a good ear. RAY PARKER JR., if you're reading this, you know what I'm talking about.

Then I mentioned that Daddy had met the singer, twice. This was enthralling news to the kids. Hubby met Huey Lewis while working security at a couple of golf tournaments. His working security at concerts and sporting events has given us multiple opportunities to pipe up during the ever popular "Have you ever met anyone famous?" conversation.



The evening was very musical.  Bella played with her orchestra at a local middle school gig, while Rosalind and I traveled across town to hear our cousin Mackenzii play in her school band.  I dropped her off at home afterward.  It was fun to see her and Mandi and Sienna and Ryan.  And the puppies and the bird.



 

 

Second cousins :)

Hubby went to a soccer meeting.  Gee, I hope they hire him back on.  (wink, wink)

Peekaboo.

(Maybe that should have been her name.)

Walking up the stairs to wake Rosalind for school, I caught sight of this girl.
 

I didn't move any closer, I just stood on the stairs and talked to her and Roz through the railing. Olive stayed out from under the bed the entire time. Once Roz was out of bed, Olive followed her around like a puppy and nuzzled her and wound herself around Roz, asking for more pats. Once or twice she stopped and looked at me and kept her distance, but she didn't run away.  Progress!

So CUTE and heartwarming to see this poor kitty love and trust someone (especially my sweet youngest) and feel safe again.

After I dropped Carter and Rosalind at school, Harrison mentioned that Carter seems to have forgotten all about the arts school thing (so far Carter's brought it up one other time). Harrison said, "They're stupid. It's their loss." I was proud of him for being so loyal to his brother. Love those little "nice sibling" moments.

Here we are waiting for Harrison after school. Carter and Roz got in a little tree climbing.

Roz with Sock Monkey; Carter's legs

Jump!

There she goes

On our way home, Harrison said that he found some forgotten work for his math class and turned it in, which was sure to bring up his grade. His other grades are coming up too, and he's excited about a history class project he's working on, involving the Bill of Rights. Sounds like he had a happy day.


Happy Dance!

Bella's day was quite awful, however... Someone in her calligraphy class stole her iPod. She said she turned her back for five minutes, and then looked and it was gone. She's quite upset and angry at the "juvenile delinquents" she goes to school with. Poor thing.  She came home and wrote a very pointed letter to her school principal about the shoddy security provided for that part of the school... she once saw a girl shooting up, in that same place.  Ah, public school... educating our children in more ways than one.

Brennan was surprised to find out that the old building he went to for his GED classes no longer carries GED classes.  Now he must go to the actual college.  That's what he'll be doing tomorrow.

Hubby went to his yearly soccer coach interview, a silly new thing the silly new soccer administration people started doing because they're silly (and new).  According to them he, and all the coaches, must be interviewed in order to keep doing the same thing he's been doing for the last twelve years.  I loved it when he said they asked him what his strengths and weaknesses were, like they haven't known him forever, and like it's an actual job.  Fortunately Hubby's very good about being honey instead of vinegar, despite his naughty bad influence of a wife.



Catness Fetches.

She loves to play with the girls' elastic hair bands more than almost anything else. This morning she brought one to Hubby, and he threw it out the bedroom door into the hallway, and she chased it and brought it back several times. Cute kitty.

In Olive news: Rosalind had a bad dream and came downstairs to watch cartoons and fall asleep on the couch. Olive followed her and climbed up next to her on the couch. Hubby also thought he heard her playing around down here. We are DYING to get to be in the same room with her and watch her play someday. (Are we just weird cat people?)



As I was walking into the bathroom this morning, I heard Bella's familiar half-frustrated, half-amused wail coming from upstairs... she had just discovered that sometime during the night, she had taken off her shorts and thrown them across the room. This has happened more than once, it always freaks her out and it's always hilarious.

Along with the usual sleep-talking and sleepwalking, and occasional disrobing, here are some other weird things Bella has done while asleep:

1) Walked and talked - came down into our room and asked us for stuff, completely asleep
2) Painted her fingernails, very badly
3) Drank bubble solution, thinking it was water. That time she woke up and screeched at herself.

Choir and church went well today.  No choir next week (yay) and Kerri is considering switching choir time to 4:15 on Sunday afternoons.  Fine by me. 

Brandee the Laurel adviser and Cari the YW president were out of town today and asked me to teach the Laurel class.  I'm loving the new youth curriculum.  The lesson outline (repentance) suggested a question and answer period with the bishop, so I called and asked him Friday night and he was good to go. 

The girls each wrote down a question about repentance for him and Bishop answered each one and did a great job.  Some of the questions were pretty thought-provoking.  Then we talked about repentance the rest of the time, using our resources and work stories from Hubby (he also joined us), and it was a great discussion.  I miss teaching the young women, it's so much fun and I love hearing what they think about and the kinds of things they're experiencing.  I'm glad I still get to work with them.

Bella went to another camp meeting. 

Harrison made brownies for us.  He cracked an egg into the bowl and apparently it went well because he then said, "That's a beautiful crack."  That one got a chuckle from the group.

Hubby got to pet Olive for a half-second.  He was so happy.

Miss Camparella*

So this was funny, Bella hopped into bed next to us this morning and said that last night at their meeting, she told her camp presidency about the year I went to camp as a unit leader (2011, Ann P was my partner).  The second or third day of camp, I cracked a joke about all the camp songs being about boys and kissing.  "Don't you know any songs about quilting or something?"

So she told the girls this story last night and said it was funny to watch their faces as they realized it was TRUE!!  "We're being brainwashed!"  Sounds like the songs may get changed up a little this year... ahem.

Hubby took Carter and Rosalind to Carter's soccer game in the 28° weather.  Suckerrrrrrrrs.  Brennan and Harrison found themselves alone with the XBox and were never seen or heard from again, except to resurface for food.  Love these busy soccer weekends!

Later Bella left for the stake girls' first aid clinic (via bus, how very ghetto, but she'll stay humble that way), and from there, traveled to the proposed camp site with her presidency and the stake YW leaders.  We're so excited for her and proud of her.  It's a kick in the head to see our girl take on this enormous responsibility and do so well with it.

Randy H, Michelle H, Sara J, George G, Bella, Monique B
Taken by Joni G

I spent some more time unpacking in the Disco (I'm calling it the Disco - it has a good dance floor, the computer and iTunes are out here, and every house needs one) and found a Sacrament meeting program Hubby and I wrote notes to each other on, from March 8, 1992.  We'd been married a whole WEEK.  I'm so glad we kept that... how darling!  And, you know, mushy and gross.  "I love you."  "You're so beautiful."

This afternoon Carter came home from Game #2 with our friends Dawn and Nathan L, looking like this:

Soccer kills.

Yes, that would be my boy with his eye smacked by a soccer ball.  He said it didn't hurt and his vision was fine.  Thank goodness.

Dawn said that Miss "I don't know how you can stand being married to her" Coach said that he should have it looked at by a doctor just to make sure nothing behind his eye was injured.  That was awesome news to hear with my NO CAR (Hubby was coaching Bella's team's game). Luckily Hubby came home shortly afterward and took Mr. C to visit the doctor, where he was pronounced perfectly healthy. Whew. 

Hubby then took Carter and Rosalind swimming, and they and Bella arrived home about the same time. It was a good day.


Caught!  H brushing R's hair.  So sweet

Song of the Day:


*Girls Camp 1985, Kennewick East Stake: The stake camp leaders held a beauty pageant at camp that year.  I still remember the last bit of the song the leaders sang as Kristene C. was crowned Miss Camparella... "She reads her scriptures, prays too... Miss Camparella, we love youuuuuu." 

Also, unrelated: 8th Ward's skits were THE BEST.

Ouch.

A while ago I discovered that rather than let myself get distracted and overwhelmed when I have a huge project, it's better if I take on the job in teensy bites. "Oh really?"  Yes. Everyone knew that but me, I guess.  And when I say teensy, I mean... I'm kind of embarrassed to say what teensy means. 

I had a great morning working in the "work room", which needs a new name, but we can't figure one out. Probably because of the serious mess.   Brennan helped me move the file cabinet next to the computer, then I moved on to sorting stuff in boxes in the Horrible Pile.

The office portion of the work room

Still lots of boxes, but now they all have a reason for being.

Pile, you will soon be conquered.

Meanwhile, Hubby lunched at the carts in P-town.

This afternoon I finished the French knots and Lazy Daisy stitches on that Christmas stocking I've been cross stitching since... which year was that?  I was glad to find my French knots are still functional.  Still trying to decide what I'll do with this stocking that was supposed to take a month (ha).

In kiddo news: Harrison spent the morning at a fun field trip with his robotics club over in P-town.  He came home with lots of swag.  He needs a bulletin board for his bedroom wall so all those nifty pins will be on display.

Sad news came when Carter received a letter from the arts school, telling him he did not make the cut and was #62 on the waiting list.  Poor guy.  His friends Ethan and Tyson weren't accepted either, but his friend Carson was.  He handled it pretty well at first, but a few hours later came to our room and asked me, "Mama, what did I do wrong?"  Just about broke my heart.  I told him he did nothing wrong, just that there were so few spots and so many kids applying that they could only take so many... Apparently there's still a chance he could get in, but I told him we would just forget it for now and perhaps be pleasantly surprised later. 

Daddy plays Barbies better than Mommy.

Also, Hubby took a turn playing Barbies with Rosalind. It was ADORABLE to listen to. He can rein in his silliness much better than I can. They went on a very nice date to the movies and grabbed a bite afterward... I think it was nachos. Hubby also spent some quality time cooing to Olive the cat, who continues to avoid everyone but the girls (she's still under Roz's bed). For the last few weeks Bella and Roz have been getting her to come downstairs sometimes, but only in the early morning. "We've picked up a weirdo..."

Speaking of weirdo kitties, tonight Bella was able to get Olive to come downstairs into the kitchen and *almost* to the basement stairs, while the rest of us were awake and inhabiting the house.  It was definite progress.  Bella and Rosalind ARE The Kitty Whisperers.

As Carter sits at the piano and figures out "Grandfather's Clock" by ear with only a little help from me, I can only wonder what those arts school peeps were smoking.  :)

Barbies and Relief Society

Miss Rosalind sought her friend Leah for a playdate after school today, but it didn't work out and she was sad when we arrived home.  I offered to play with her.

First we emptied and put away everything from one of the moving boxes in her room - her idea - and with some wrapping paper, scissors and tape, we turned the newly empty box into a Barbie furniture box.  Then we coiffed and dressed her Barbies and her Ken doll till they were all dressed and spiffed up for the Barbie Prom.

One thing that surprised me about playing with Roz is that she prefers my "normal" voice to all the silly accents and affectations I like using. She takes these Barbies pretty seriously. I always loved my mom's goofy voices when she played with us.

The ward Relief Society dinner and program were held this evening and were wonderful. Cupcakes, yay! And the ward sisters and a few brethren performed a reader's theater of the first Relief Society meeting in the Red Brick Store in Nauvoo. Very fun, and very well done, and inspiring. I love the theatah.

Hubby was off with our ONE CAR at Bella's soccer practice, so I bummed a ride home from Terri B. I didn't know this but she's quite the theatah buff herself - she condensed the script for tonight's program. It was perfect. We were both wishing we had a local venue for musical theater, but alas....I guess I'll just have to sneak my acting into playing Barbies with Roz...if she'll let me.

Dancy Dancerson

Happy kiddo.

We were so excited to find out last week that Rosalind was given a spot in the free dance program sponsored by the arts school.  Her fitness teacher at school is "best friends" with the lady who runs the dance program, and she told Roz that she asked her friend to watch out for Roz.  Here she is all barefoot and ready to get her groove on.

 

After the dance practice, the kids were all taken to P-town for a dance recital field trip.  Rozzie had a great time.

 

For Mutual tonight, the young women had a stake sports night complete with volleyball, limbo and hula dancing (sounds like some peeps would rather be in the Islands), and Harrison and Carter had Scouts. We gave Brittany Z a ride.

 

In other news, WE HAVE A WASHER!!  Hubby and Brennan brought Hanna's washer in from the shed, and Hubby attached it to the hoses, turned it on, it worked great, and we were good to go.  We spent a blissful evening washing our stacks of dirty laundry and eating Domino's pizza. 

 

YES I said "blissful" and "dirty laundry" in the same sentence.

 

Along with the usual, I put together to-do and shopping lists for housey projects on Cozi.com, and shredded a pile of old paperwork that was cluttering up the work room (where we have the computer and piano and a stankload of boxes at the moment).  Sweet.

What???

I gardened a bit today, just mild stuff like pruning the roses and shrubs, pulling some weeds and hacking away at the blackberry jungle in the backyard.  Rosalind was a great helper.  Carter saw us and joined us, and invited Roz to play the soccer tire game with him.  I would have done more outside, but the padlock on our shed (where the big garden tools are) was impossible to unlock.

I teased Hubby about keeping me out of the shed, and he happened to remember that Hanna had left either a washer or dryer behind and had offered it to us... since we had our own set, she put hers in the shed.   We couldn't remember if it was a washer or dryer, though.  After work, he unlocked the shed and lo and behold... it's a washer.  HOORAY.  He promised to bring it in and set it up tomorrow night after work.

So grateful.

Bella gave a presentation about YW camp at a stake Young Women leadership meeting tonight.  We had Arby's afterward and marveled at her awesomeness.  Kidding.  Kind of.  ;)

Mental Health Day

I did nothing but the usual drop-offs and pick-ups today. Yay.

My new book came in the mail and I spent some good time with it.

 

Took some pics of cute babies and promises of spring. 

In his crossing guard uniform :)

Carter drew this.  The kids are HUGE into the My Little Pony cartoons.

 

Daffodils

 

Tulips

Hubby took Carter to soccer, then came home and picked up Harrison and went to H's soccer practice.

Bella and I tried washing some clothes in the washer....but it's not only merely dead, it's really most sincerely dead. We spent the rest of the evening quite frustrated. 

The clothes did get clean, eventually....and that's all I have to say about that.

*cue Elvis singing "In the Ghetto"*