The Big Storm

It's pretty exciting. Everyone is home! School's out and Brian's employer says he's non-essential. WHATEVER 

Check the Couve!!

Cute Carter

Cute Rozzie

Cute Daddy

Me :)

Here we are :) 

L to R: Taj, Regan, Roz, Lilly

Lily and Roz: snowball fight!

A great hill

Whee!

The big kids got in on the action too.
Breven, Jaydn, Tyler, Breanna, Bella, Harrison

This was quite the storm. School was cancelled for a couple of days, as was church on Sunday. Woot! I mean, sadly, we couldn't even go to church on Sunday.

Note to self

I made Rice Krispie Treats today, for tonight's Mutual activity. I never make Rice Krispie treats. This is not important information to have, unless you're me, and you've forgotten yet again that any time you get sticky stuff on your hands that won't easily come off, it's enough to make you wanna scream. Just one more weird thing about me that you may not have known. NO STICKY STUFF. It's probably why I'm not more into baking.

"Welcome to Hell, Mrs. Brinatty. You will spend eternity attempting to remove Rice Krispie Treat guck from your hands. Enjoy."

When I expressed this displeasure on Facebook I was met with comments like, "Just eat it off." Yeah, but when you're planning to serve these treats to other people, can you really be stopping to lick your hands while you're trying to press the guck into the pan? No. You cannot. You have to be all hygienic and stuff. 

My handsome Harrison

...got a haircut tonight. It had been a while, so yes, we took a picture. WOW.

yep

Today wasn't my best parenting day. Later in the evening:
Me: I have been argued with enough today that I need to go to bed.
Brian: YOU HAVE NOT

4 1/2 hours of sleep last night:

Everything is hysterically, Muttley-laugh funny.

I found this mondegreen (misheard lyric) website long ago, just perfect for a day like today. My favorite mondegreen song is Africa by Toto:

I know that I must do what's right
It sure is killing old Gerald Rysen above the leopards
A bunch that Sarah can eat

And the perennial favorite:

I MESSED MY HANES DOWN IN AAAFRICA

Because no matter how many birthdays I have, I will still be twelve years old. 

Lovely Day

Hubby stayed home for my birthday today. We had a wonderful time of shopping and eating.

While inside JCPenney, over the PA system, we heard an amazing cover of Bill Withers' Lovely Day by Jill Scott. *Almost* better than the original. Seriously beautiful and happy.



The only thing that would make this day better would be meeting, and dancing with, this guy:

Lice Lice Lice Yeahhh (They're Gonna Get You)

Don't let the smile fool you. This poor girl is NOT happy.

H came home with a pretty severe case. He's in middle school, so I haven't washed his hair since last year (snerk), let alone combed it for him. But he pulled me aside and very sadly told me that he had "bugs on his comb", and when I combed through his hair, HOLY YIKES. There was a small city on his head.

Fortunately for him and C, we were able to just give them short haircuts and wash all their stuff and hope we didn't find any new critters. But with poor R, wanting to keep her pretty hair, we had to do the whole business of oiling her head and trying to kill them that way. Trying to get all the nits out was murder. 

Ultimately we discovered a great way to kill them: Scope mouthwash. Now you know. When you go to the store to get lice killer stuff, don't bother - just grab the Scope. Put the kid in some old clothes, lean her over the bathtub, and pour it on. Then wash her hair with shampoo.

We had to watch for nits for a long time afterward, but eventually they were conquered. 

Horrible things!

Soccer Mom by Default

"I hope it's warm inside the Porta-Potty" pretty much sums up my morning.

YEAAAHHHHHH

We started 1:00 church today: Come home from church, put on pajamas. Quite civilized.

Happy New Year!

We've had a nice holiday season, but I'm ready to be done with waking up in the morning and trying to figure out what day it is.

Stretching out like a road of new possibilities
(or something deep and inspiring like that)

Selfie!

Ring Out, Wild Bells

We sing this in church around New Year's Day. Only a few verses are included in the hymnbook, something I didn't know until I looked it up online. Beautiful.

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out thy mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

We spent our New Year's Eve at the Turleys' house and had a great time at their NYE party. We brought our Wise and Otherwise game to play and a plateful of chocolate-covered bacon. Oh yeah! We did cover that bacon with chocolate!! Later we came home and toasted the new year with Martinelli's sparkling apple cider. What a fun night.

Awesome Santa

DREAM:

We moved back to Logan and I was enraged to learn that there was no WinCo or Burgerville for miles. Quelle nightmare!!

To have Logan painted in that light was a shock. I miss the canyons and the mint brownies and the snow (a little). And my Logan friendies.

Carter's Birthday Party

We have a local gymnastics center that rents out for birthday parties.

That's what Carter chose for his party.

We held it earlier this year, since his birthday is so close to Christmas.

Left to Right: Roz, Nathan L, Harrison, Carter, Carson, Tyson, Luke,
Ethan, Hailey
Bottom row:

In the foam pit

What's On Your List Today?

I found this at Fred Meyer.
Heheheheheeee

Life Returns To Normal*

Concussion Child is much better today and going back to school tomorrow. Let us all rejoice. By the way, did you know concussions make people cranky?

*Whatever that is

Anyone Care If I Take a Nap?

No? Okay.

Later: Good nap. Hope I can sleep tonight.

"Luck had nothing to do with it!"

A lady from the ward called me yesterday and, perhaps being surprised that she caught me at home at 10:00 AM on a Monday, said, "Are you one of those lucky moms who gets to stay at home?"

I don't feel lucky so much as grateful - that I CAN stay home, that Hubby agrees that it's a good idea, that President Kimball gave this advice, and that we followed it. I don't fault any mom who wants or needs to work. I've held jobs and run little home businesses while I've been a mom. But today, I'm grateful that we made this choice. It was the right one.

A Personal Day

What you may not know is that if you give a talk AND perform in a musical number in the same Sacrament meeting, it's like a get-out-of-church-free card, which I cashed in with my family today, like the big heathens we are.

No explanation for our naughtiness, we have just been really busy lately and needed a day off. I realize this is not a good excuse, but it's the only one we have.

Later, watching Say Anything:
"Nobody thinks this is gonna work, do they?"
"Yeah. You've just described every great success story."

Today is Thankfulness Day #3. I am thankful for our success story: our marriage and family.

Whaaaaaa?

It's Thankfulness Day #2, and I am thankful for this song.



It's so dippy. It's so cheesy. It makes me laugh. I bought it on iTunes some time ago - why, I cannot tell you. I think I saw a clip of it on one of those Time-Life CD informercials.

(You know, I can appreciate those CD collection-selling companies trying like mad to hold on to their little corner of the music market, but I can't think of anyone who would rather make five payments of $26.99 for 8,000 CDs with maybe three good songs on them, when they can look the songs up on iTunes and get only the ones they actually like for 99 cents. More than once, a Time-Life informercial has been responsible for my music purchases.)

Miss Pam called me later in the day and asked if Bella was going to the Priest-Laurel murder mystery thing. I said, "What Priest-Laurel murder mystery thing?" But no matter, if the Turleys are in, we're in. Mike and Jaydn went to the high school to fetch Bella, where she was ushering at the school play. It ended up being at another stake, for the young single adults. Ooops! And that was how Bella ended up eating Taco Bell at the Turleys' tonight. Fun :)

ELLENOR GEE I THINK YOU'RE SWELL

Carter stayed home from school today not feeling well, and it wasn't because of the copious amounts of candy he brought home and then tried to eat last night.  Along with a snotty nose and cough, his jaw was really tender on the right side of his face - I was thinking, "WE IMMUNIZED!! This better not be mumps or some weird disease!!".

Thankfully, he later remembered that he and another kid bumped into each other and knocked each other down on the pavement last night, and he landed on his face and then rolled over and hit the back of his head, which - when he touched it - was also sore. Whew! Problem solved.

Today is Thankfulness Day #1, and I am thankful for indoor plumbing. I'm glad I was born into an era where that function is firmly in place and working well. Otherwise, YIKES.