Sunday School - little mr. j's Primary talk that we wrote together

little mr. j gave a talk today in Primary.
We wrote it together.
He spoke very clearly and enunciated his words and didn't look up the whole time and maybe didn't breath either.
But it was great and I think we are a good team.
Here you go:

Living the Gospel Blesses My Family
J. E.
21 Sept 2014

The Gospel teaches me to be a good person and be like Jesus and when I do that, it helps my family. A good person, who follows Jesus, makes choices every day that makes family life nice.

For example, the Gospel teaches us to serve. Some ways I serve my family are: making my bed in the morning, helping unload the dishwasher, and helping clean the house. When I do these things, this gives the other people in my family a chance to get their responsibilities done and then we have time for fun. Sometimes I don’t feel like doing my chores, but I know I can sacrifice and play later.

The Gospel also teaches us to be kind. Sometimes I don’t feel like being kind to my brother and sisters. Sometimes they make me mad. I try to be kind and forgive them and I try not to be annoying. It’s more fun when we all get along and are kind to each other. Some kind things my siblings do for me are: share, play with me, and listen to me when I talk to them about things that are important to me.

We learn to be grateful in the Gospel. We focus on the blessings we have and not the wants we don’t have. We have a lot to be thankful for.
Doctrine & Covenants 59: 7 says, “Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.” In our prayers, we should always talk to Heavenly Father about what we are thankful for before we ask for anything. This helps me remember that I have so much and have a better attitude and not want so many things.

I can be like Jesus and bless my family by serving, being kind and being grateful. I am thankful that living the Gospel will get me to our family’s ultimate goal - being a family through eternity.

In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Update. Again.

Oh I miss writing.
I was looking at the little thingy down there in the bottom right that lists the number of posts published each month/year. It's easy for me to correlate the slower pace of posting with what was happening in my/our life/lives given those particular months and years. Good things going on.
A lot of "becoming versed" in situations that required privacy.
A lot of prioritized activities and a lot of growing.
So where we are now.
We are still here.
miss h is now a Mrs. M. and we've added a son-in-law that will get a blog name soon. They are living in a state near but not adjacent to us.
miss s is a resident of another state and studying music therapy.
little mr. b is quite a lot taller than me and in high school.
little mr. j is happily reminding me that his birthday is very soon and I keep telling him, "Be quiet, you are not allowed to have your birthday this year or to grow up." He is happily ignoring me.
my mr. ran a marathon today and has blisters on his feet. 
I have been taking pictures of our building progress, but the big news is:
I've started a new adventure.
I'm learning a lot.
A lot, lot.
And I'm tired and busy and happy.

(Picture from late July - trying to get room together)

I am in 1st grade again and I love it.
Now I get to help a bunch of little ones on their life journey of becoming versed.
And it's awesome.

There you have it.
An update.
Again. :)

Manners - found & lost

I came across this picture from months ago - taken at a banquet honoring all the new eagle scouts in our district. Guess why we were there? :)

Our little cub scout came along to honor someone he looks up to very much.

While we were eating, I looked over and saw him cutting his meat European style.

We do not know where he learned this, but he is very proficient.

At dinner tonight he was sitting like a monkey with his food in his hands and sloshing milk onto his chair.

Maybe we should make all our meals be banquets.

When we're helping we're happy

From my Facebook archives of January 2013:

"Our boys were great helpers cleaning up the yard yesterday. It was especially fun watching little J follow his dad's instructions to 'run and put the bags over by the garbage cans.' (We were working on the other side of the house.) He literally ran each one over and this is what we saw when we finished."

 

Parenting makes great entertainment 

Cleaning List - It's the little things that matter

Here's a change - we've always had weekly "zones" that each family member is responsible for, I was still having to remind the other family members of the details that their "zone" entailed even though it was the same thing each week and each room. I grew weary, so I made a list.

This little list has become dear to my heart.

I especially love the "extra chores" section.
It enables flexibility. A flexibility that is the total opposite of what happens when something long and gooey hardens somewhere where it shouldn't.

Side note- once I broke up with a boy ever a booger. I think that is an important lesson for my young sons know. Their future may depend on it.  

My children are pot heads or Playing with change

Something changed in my little home office and I am typing on a much smaller keypad and looking at a much bigger screen, but the most exciting thing for me is that I downloaded the 750+ photos and videos off my phone (which I really shouldn't call a phone- for me it's more a camera that can communicate with the outside world). Well, they are still on my phone because I was too nervous to say yes to the "remove photos from your mobile devise" question. I will get to that later. (Yes, you may call me a virtual hoarder. And you may not look in my bedroom closet.)

So, I'm playing with my new toy and want to share some of the fun.

This has been some of what we've been up to while not being here with you:

I wish I could figure out how to post the video on here.

It's much more entertaining.

But, 

these will just have to do.

And, 

if you want,

you can imagine them running & spinning around like this in the driveway.

See- way more entertaining. 

(Even if the pictures are almost a year old.)

This Year's Christmas Fails

So, I'm just going to do my part to break the cycle of perfection that runs so rampant in the blog world.

Nobody's perfect. We can try to look it. We can try to act it. We can try to post it. But, we're not. It's just how it is.

As my gift to all those women who put too much pressure on themselves trying to keep up with the Mrs. Joneses out there on Pintrest, I give you yesterday and today and one from last year.

Overnight turkey- This one I got from a woman in our ward. It looked good when she talked about it on facebook so I asked her for the recipe and she sent her entire Thanksgiving file over email, which was very awesome and entertaining and I'm very grateful. 

I tried. I really did, but I think my oven's 170 degrees is less than her oven's 170 degrees. (The turkey does take a 300 degree stint at first to kill the bacteria.) And it didn't help when I came home from the grocery store yesterday morning and the oven was off. So I stuck in my thermometer and the temperature was ok, but not close enough to where it should have been at that time, especially since the oven was on when I left for the store.

The temperature did not rise in a timely manner. In fact, that turkey hogged the oven the entire day! Not cool.

We ate some for dinner and nobody got sick, but I'm not sure if I will try that again.

Cinnamon Rolls- This one's not a fail yet, but I'm calling it.I should have listened to my inner voice while at the grocery store and not bought them. They look kind of browned too much and I'm really not sure how good they will be Tuesday morning. The phone call from little mr. b while pulling out of the grocery parking lot doesn't help my confidence. "Mom, did you buy the cinnamon rolls yet because you don't have to. Mrs. L just brought some over for us for Christmas." Mrs. L is perfect.

Nuts- Well, almonds. Thirteen years ago, I made the most wonderful spiced nuts for Christmas and gave them out as little neighbor gifts. Thirteen years I've been trying to do that same thing, but no luck. This year was no different. 

Gingerbread- The boys really want to build a gingerbread house. I have some cute gingerbread house wall/roof/chimney cookie cutters and tried to use them tonight. The only pieces left uncrumbled are the chimney, one long wall, two side walls and part of half a roof. miss h told me that I should just tell them they're making their gingerbread house out of graham crackers. We'll see what tomorrow brings with their construction decisions.

Peppermint Popcorn=Broken Pestle- My mortar is now without it's pestle. Did you know that if you drop a marble pestle on the granite countertop, something will break? I'm just thankful it wasn't the countertop. 

Snap- I was grumpy a little bit. Not all day, but still not good.

Sugar Cookie- Nightmare. I made the dough yesterday so we could just cut them out and cook "later." Later turned out to be this afternoon and apparently this recipe didn't want to wait. I almost gave up and was about to take a nap when miss h said, "Want me to go google what to do with dry weepy sugar cookie dough?" Of course I said yes.

She found a fix and fixed it. Phew.

We only lost one little bag of dough.

The rest of it has now morphed into a large amount of cookies that are sitting on a big pink platter waiting for frosting.

Gifts- I am a horrible sister/daughter/daughter in law. Mom, K & G if you are reading this, I am so sorry. Fail, fail, fail this year. I think that this year I'm not a very good giver of things. I hope you will understand.

little mr. j, I am sorry that Santa has to talk to parents first when it comes to live animal requests. You know what we told him. And the only other thing on your list is something that I know one of your siblings is blessing you with. 

Cards-I love Christmas cards and sending them out before Valentine's day the next year. I love that my miss h totally did them for me this year. Just like I love that miss s totally orchestrated our Christmas Eve dinner last year when I was down, half dead with the flu. I remember her coming into talk to me and asking me what needed to be done- reality hit when I found the notes she took a few weeks later.

That's it for now. At least I think that's it. I probably forgot something big and will feel like a big failure on my fails, but I didn't take that nap and it's way past my bedtime, so ---

I just wanted you to know that I won't fail to fail again and I will always to be grateful to those who help me pull through my failures, except when they try to take my picture.

Verification - a gift

a little gift to you for you to see

hope it makes you smile

it sure made me

(especially how the pop up positioned itself right above that headline!)

I've been learning a lot lately and not having the time to choose to use to share with you is so very sad for me.
So I am going to take a few minutes before I go to bed to rest my weary head and let you know what is going on with me, the mrs.

I am working part time now.
Last week, the teacher I work with made a comment to one of the students (after one of the students suggested that I would not be happy with them and do/say something negative) that she seriously doubted that Mrs. the mrs., would be capable of that. That in fact, in the few weeks I've been working with her, she has not seen me not smile.

And I was amazed.
Because she was right.
I go to that little part time job that I found because I was in so much turmoil because the substitute thing was just not right for me and I was not smiling and I was not happy and I was not in a very good place because the plan I had for the beginning of the rest of my life when all my children were in school all day was not working out the way I had envisioned and I had to create a new vision but the vision was very blurry and my current situation was not working for me or my family and I prayed for help.

And my prayer was answered.
All the little details like hours, how it would effect home life, working better one on one or in small groups, my worries about being valued after being 'at home' for all these years, etc.
All were answered.
And I am in awe of our God.
And grateful.

Here's the catch- I am a wife & mom first. Then I have my church calling (job) responsibilities next. Then I have the time I spend during the day at the school. My hours and minutes fill up fast and I love it. But, it leaves little time for me to be here (or in the gym - a place I really need to get back to). I am working on finding balance. For instance, everyone has clean clothes for the coming week and we are having leftovers for dinner tomorrow. I am getting there. I am excited for time in the future months to see how I will make it all fit.

And I will smile.

___________________________________________________________________

FYI - I am working at an elementary school in the town just north of us (not far at all). I am a Title 1 Reading Tutor. I have a name badge and even a desk (that I don't sit at much)! The days go fast, so I know I am enjoying it. I really believe this job was made just for me!

A Little Worn Out

These little shoes say it all.
At last Saturday's game, little mr. j's soles came loose.
It was hard for him to run and even after my mr. taped them up (again and again), he still ran a little awkwardly.

The last few month's my souls been a little loose. My glued expectations came off. We taped me up the best we could and I think I am becoming more comfortable.

little mr. j used his regular school shoes in tonight's game. They worked fine. His little team was seated 5th in their tournament and they ended up winning 3rd place.

my mr. taped me up. Helped me create an impressive resume from a life where I thought not much had been accomplished. Encouraged me and has been patient. I feel like I almost have my regular shoes on again.

Thank heavens!

I will be going to work tomorrow at a job perfectly suited to me and I will be back home to give hugs when school gets out, make sure the backpacks get cleaned out and put away, and take care of the dear souls I'm blessed to call family.
-------------------------------------
Ok, friends, this post is something new for me. I'm typing it on a smartphone and hope all turns out alright. Please let me know if you see anything wonky.

Dreamy

*Day 2

The alarm woke me mid dreams of silverware.
little mr. j woke up saying, "I had the best, best, best, best, best, best, best dream ever."

I had to ask, "little mr. j, what was the best, best, best, best, best, best dream ever about?"
He was smiling and animated and told us (the whole family was together in the living room because we get up at an horrible hour weekday mornings to have family prayer).

Fast cars. Lots of them. "And I mean lots, like lots lots of super fast ones."
What kinds of cars? I can't remember all he said, but Porsche was one of them.
No Ferrari.
Which is weird because that boy used to want to change his name to Red Ferrari.

I'm trying to figure out why no Ferrari.
I think maybe it's because a few times the last few weeks, I have used the word practical.

He wanted to know why more people don't drive Ferrari's.
So I told him the weren't practical.
And he has asked what that word means.
And I have tried to explain to him that it means something useful or that is helpful or needed.
And he said he just didn't get it.
So I said that
a Ferrari wouldn't be a practical car for me to have.
It could go fast, but it couldn't carry many groceries or people.
He decided that the car I have is practical but it sure would be nice if we had a Ferrari.

I fear that our practical conversations have impeded upon his dreams.
I sure hope not. I hope his dream Ferrari was just hiding out, waiting to appear on a night it's truly needed.

And I'm a little bit perturbed about the dream & the dream conversation & the happenings after the prayer and the second dream conversation.

When I asked him to please tell me all about the dream again - this time in front of a camera (because my brain loses things and this is a cute memory I want to replay) - he decided it wasn't practical and that it was plain embarassing.

So I said, "go back to bed."
And he did.

It's amazing how things can become impediments on our dreams.

Bye for now- I need to get some kitchen work done.

_____________________________________________________

*The photo above is part of a photography challenge  that my husband's cousin's husband is hosting.
 Day 2: Something blue.

Doo not ete me!

We did not eat the chalk turkey.

We ate a different turkey.

And it was the best roasted 'herb' turkey I've ever cooked/eaten.

Found the recipe here.

I also have a new phone/camera/life enhancer that I am learning and playing

around with and found an app that little mr. b, my comic lover especially likes.

(I really did love my old dumb phone, but it stopped speaking to me & I had to move on.)

I've also been taught by that young man how to make a screen shot,

so you can see what I used to alter that beautiful 'herb' turkey picture.

Here's that for you now:

I have one last screen shot for you.  I took it the old fashioned way.

We paused the screen, I walked up to the television and took a picture.

Because with all this 'herb' turkey talk,

I had to laugh when the following popped up.

(25 seconds - I rock in the running to get the camera category!)

Apparently, followers of a certain cartoon will all soon be speaking Ferb Latin.

And adding 'erb' to  many of our words.

Hi guys. Whatcha doin'?

Erb-ferb Atin-Lerb.



image from here

We heart Phineas & Ferb. We also love Candace, who totally reminds us of one of our children,

who is taking Latin right now. She's worried about her grade in that class.

Maybe she'd do better with Ferb-Latin. It might seem more familiar to her.

This year I am thankful for:

emerging readers & writers

technology

the ability to laugh

my family

my friends

good 'herbs'

and that our turkey wasn't one bit chalky.

Ok, so I am very thankful for oh so much more than just that list. You need to know that. Also, you need to know that I am especially grateful for you. Thanks for spending a little of your precious time here with me.

Happy Thanksgiving {weekend}!

__________________________________________
PS- I forgot to show you the Thanksgiving pepper miss s caught for us.
It had disguised itself as a little turkey, but miss s is clever - she found it and carved it up.
yum, yum, yum.

Turkey Hunting at the School

Every Thanksgiving, our school has a traditional feast that the children invite their grandparents and parents to. It's pretty amazing. Here's a link to where I wrote about last year's event and explained more about it.

I still think it's awesome. And after substituting a few times, I am thinking it's an especially ingenious way for the teachers and administrators to have the opportunity to send those kiddos home with their parents after the feast and get a little time to themselves to get things done before their holiday.

I heard that they were expecting over 1200 folks this year. Our lunch ladies rock.

This year, I attended wearing a beautiful indian corn brooch 

(that little mr. j wanted to give to his big brother instead of me,

but we asked his brother if he would wear it and he said no, so yay, I got it)

and an agenda.

I came to hunt turkey.
Because next year, we won't only be doing this:

We'll be needing to make a turkey.
On my subbing days the past couple of weeks, I had been watching the first grade tables to see what came in.
(FYI- Crafty things give me the willies and projects like the one coming up next year scare me. I've been concerned since seeing our neighbor's cute turkey last year. Situations such as these require stealthy reconnaissance to prevent a project panic attack.)
They all were awesome, but there were a couple that really stood out.
And they were my prey.

But, when little mr. j was still picking at our feast and the rest of us were finished, I pulled little mr. b aside and said, "Ok, there's a turkey in here that looks like........ please help me find it."

But, apparently most all the first graders and their families eat a whole lot faster than us because when we started looking down the rows of table tops, many of those turkeys had been taken home already.

So we hit the halls.
Out of the two basketball themed ones I had my eyes on, I caught one:

(the little shoes were painted blue!!!)

The other one used an actual basketball and net. I couldn't catch it and, after walking quite awhile with my older son, gave up on finding the one I most wanted to get.

Our family gathered our things and headed toward the main doors to begin our trek home.

Guess what walked right in front of us!

Yes!

The turkey!

(And the human family it belonged to.)

And I said, "Hey, wait, can I please get a picture of your turkey. You know- word at the school is that your Then the mom said, "Oh, so you're going to copy it next year."

And I said, "No, I'm not that good, but I want to show it to the world."

(Now, hopefully the world will come here and see it, because it is pretty cool.)

Anyway, without any further ado, I give you the prize turkey that I hunted down at the school today:

(Incredible little plastic army/cowboy/indian guy turkey - I hope they keep it forever and bring it out every year. I know I would-that's the kind of decorator I am.)

Happy day before Thanksgiving!

Has anyone seen the turkey?

No.

Good.

Because that was our Kindergarten assignment.

Disguise it to prevent it's early demise.

I think we did a fantastic job.

Yay little mr. j and me.

(Can you see the turkey now?)

Happy almost Thanksgiving!

(And FYI- I did not do most of this project. I did buy the red feathers, nag him to cut out the white paper feathers, figure out how to do the face, purchase fun foam for the pupils & brows (sketch, cut out, and prepare those and the beak to be glued on), ask him to color the feet black & explained why I thought he should do that, bought clear washable liquid glue, helped with face placement, and didn't get worked up when he glued the feathers on in the direction I thought they should not go- he will hand it in tomorrow. Phew.)

(And FYI again- the instructions clearly stated that this was a 'family' project. Next year, in first grade, 'he' gets to build a turkey from scratch. We have already had one preproject planning meeting.)

Oh, and another FYI - Last week a real, live turkey walked through our yard, across the street, and between my two across the street neighbors' homes. The next day, my mr. saw it in our behind our house neighbor's yard. It jumped their fence.

Incredible and timely.

Benefit of having children....

Cheap Entertainment.

(This one's from the archives, way before little mr. j arrived.

We had the best day. It still makes me cry laughing tears.)

Marriage Advice & a Recipe

You know you're getting old when.....
A friend from high school writes and asks for something for her daughter - who is getting married!
This is where I am.
And this is what I said:

Dear C,

I know you don’t know me. I am one of your mom’s friends from high school. Your mom sent an email asking for a favorite family recipe and marriage advice.

While I don’t claim to be a marriage expert in any way, my husband and I are well into our 21st year and going strong. We’ve had some wonderful years together along with some very rocky and unpleasant ones. The wonderful ones are much more enjoyable. I hope you have many of those.

Here are a couple of the most important things I’ve learned along the way:

Let your spouse grow & change. Allow yourself to do the same. We got married pretty young. I would say that we are both probably on the third or fourth incarnation of ‘who’ we are. I’ve found time and experience changes people. If you don’t fight it, treat each other with respect and compassion, you will look back together and be amazed at how far you’ve both come as both individuals and a couple.

I hope you are marrying your best friend. Keep him number one in your heart & life. After you make that marriage promise, no other man belongs there (with exception, of course your own father and God –who isn’t really a man). We all have acquaintances and associations with other men, but for me, defining and keeping healthy personal, professional and social relationship boundaries has kept my most important relationship strong.

And last, you have no idea what you are getting yourself into. It’s like one of those totally dark roller coasters. You think you know what will come, but really life together brings lots of surprises. Hang on and enjoy the ride. Enjoy the nice times and don’t let the really bad parts scare you away from each other. (Hopefully you two won’t ever have any bad parts.)

Wishing you the very best!
the mrs.

A very vague Stew recipe

(from the the mrs.- originally from her dad)

about a pound of stew meat

2 medium potatoes (about 2 cups worth)

carrots (about 3 or 4 cups worth when they are cut up)

onion

one can tomato soup

½ a can of water (sometimes-makes it more soupy)

salt & pepper

Cut the veggies up about the same size as the meat.

Put it all in a roasting pan.

Here’s the weird part:

Pour in some pickle juice (we use dill). I think I end up pouring in about a cup or less.

Then, if you have it and you want to, add a 2 or 3 beef bullion cubes.

Cook it in the oven at 275 degrees for about 3 hours.

**I like to add different vegetables. You can really just add whatever & it will taste pretty good. The veggies below usually don’t need to get put in until about an hour before it’s done-but if it’s in the oven while we are at church, I just add the zucchini & squash at the beginning with everything else. Then I’ll just microwave the corn & peas and stir them in before we eat.

zucchini

summer squash

corn

peas

sometimes I throw in a can of tomatoes (makes it less thick, more soupy)

Make this a couple of times & you’ll see what works for you—sorry it’s so vague, it’s really just something I learned from my dad.

Sight Words

little mr. j  has a growing stack sight word flash cards for his kindergarten class.
(Words he is supposed to know when he sees them instead of sounding them out.)
He knows them already (thanks to the awesome mom that I am), but I still think we need to practice those sight words.
Last night while I was doing something on the computer, I gave him his cards and asked him to please go through them.
I was kind of listening and had to laugh when he read these cards - in order - one quickly after the other:

green

and

go



What are we teaching these kids?

My final note to my college girl this summer

In honor of all the back-to-schoolness

and the many, many "kids" we know heading off to college,

I give you the words I left my daughter this past June

as I dropped her off to begin her university experience.

It brings joy to my heart to know they meant so much to her that she memorialized them on facebook.

Thank you miss h.

(And aren't you so impressed with my skills using the photo messing with tools

that I used to hide your name? I am.)

This Summer

Calendar image from here - it doesn't match what we have had going on, I just liked the visual.

The last week of May I started my first summer PACE (brain training) client.

T-ball started.

The first week of June I went to girls' camp with the awesome young women

and leaders from our ward.

The second week of June little mr. b, my mr. and a bunch of their scouting friends

went to scout camp.

And swim team started.

The third week of June my mr. went out of town for a bit.

And then the boys, miss h and I started out road trip.

At the end of that week,

miss h became an independent university girl.

And the boys and I went to a family reunion in Rupert, Id.

And they went back to Boise with my parents.

And I went back to Utah.

By myself.

And had a great time.

The forth week in June I drove to Colorado Springs for PACE Advanced training.

I'm glad I went.

On the last Saturday in June, I drove home.

The next Monday, I started with another very cute PACE client.

The last week of June, my mr. went out of town for work.

This first week of July, I will go to Youth Conference with the youth in our ward.

The second weekend of July, my mr will host

 family reunion in Boise.

He will pick up the boys.

Who have been having an incredible time in Idaho with both sets of grandparents.

On Thursday, July 14th, we are in charge of the treats and drinks after the t-ball game.

Someone gets to go to golf camp the third week of July.

And there's a swim meet.

The last week of July, miss s gets to go to San Antonio (lucky)

with a super fun friend to attend EFY.

And I think there is another swim meet and couple of t-ball games in there.

The first week of August little mr. b goes to soccer camp.

The second week of August brings "back to school" information day and

hopefully a visit from the university girl herself, miss h-

but only if that job she gets will allow her the time off,

right, miss h?

The third week of August brings eye doctor visits

and the first days back to school.

miss s has a full time "nanny type" position with two

very cute young ladies.

miss h was their "nanny type" last summer.

I think being a "nanny type" gives wonderful life lessons.

miss s has greatly enjoyed her one on one time with

both her father and me.

And so have we.

also if you are part of this group:

his "cousins' on his mom's side,"

please don't be alarmed.

my mr. has the reunion all under control.

We set the date for the reunion before we knew about the Youth Conference.

We didn't want to change it.

And lunch is fried chicken.

Yum!

But miss s will not be there to do the kids' events like we hoped.
(miss h gets to be there thanks to some wonderful "cousins' on his mom's side's" kindness.)

mr mr. was going to delegate, but I don't know if he did.

If he didn't, he might need some help in that department.

I am sorry.

But I know you all will have fun.

And I will miss seeing you.

Very much.

Happy Summer!

As promised..... a picture

I love freaked out first lost tooth photos, don't you?

This photo taken last night by my brother-in-law in Boise

of my youngest born going through that milestone event

without his parents in even the same state.

I was told,

"It's a little tooth. It's small, like a fruit fly, no like a house fly. It's small."

by little mr. j.

He told me that again today when I spoke with him on the telephone.

He also told me something else.

Apparently the tooth fairy that covers

the territory that includes my parent's home

(where the boys were sleeping last night)

is really on the ball.

He told me that the tooth fairy brought two $1 coins

that grandpa told him are collector's items.

Great.

Not only do we miss the first tooth lost,

but now grandpa's tooth fairy

is setting very high expectations.

First night service & "collector's items"

Sheesh.

Are you reading this tooth fairy?

Your counterpart up in the Northwestern USA

is excelling in his/her position.

It's time for you to get your act together.

Please.

Thank you.

Home Safe

Hi.
I am home safe.
Arrived home about 8:30pm, Saturday night, fully in caffeinated mode.
miss s enjoyed mocking me.
No more doctor for me until my next road trip.
(And I am fully confident that I can do road trips on my own after this past ten or so days. Yay me.
Ok, maybe not fully on my own-the doctor will come along, but I only will use him for his caffeine.)

And there are only two heads under this roof tonight.
(Well, three if you count the dog, who is under the patio roof, which technically is part of the house roof, but she dug another hole today-a very neat hole this time, yay, I was very impressed by her pawdiwork {handiwork-in dog terms}. Rectangular, about a foot and a half long, five inches wide and six inches deep. I think she's lonely.)

my mr. is off at a meeting.
We had a lunch date/family reunion planning meeting today at the Shartel Cafe.
And,
He flew with his friend in a plane this evening and had dinner at the same restaurant as miss s and I did tonight, only in a different city.
What are the odds of that happening?
(hmmm, does she mean eating out two meals in one day or going to the same venue in two different cities?)
(hmmm, I don't know. You can decide to think what you want.)
I drank water.

I think miss s is enjoying the one on one time she's getting with us.
I think miss h is enjoying the none time with us she's getting in Utah.
I think the boys are enjoying the time they've been sharing with my parents and cousins and aunt and uncle in Boise the past week and a half. (They head to my in-laws' home tomorrow.)
I think my mr. will not sleep well tonight because he misses me.
I think I will be glad when July is half over and we can get to the lazy days of summer.

I'm sleeping in tomorrow.
And
have a picture to show you (finally).
It's a cute one! You're not going to believe it, I'm showing someone's face!
See ya!