Joke of the Day

Husband: Will you still love me when I'm old and overweight? Wife: Yes, I do.

Have An Armadillo Day!

Isn't it funny how some sayings stick with us? We find a funny or catchy word or phrase and start repeating it. Pretty soon it's part of our every-day vocabulary and even makes sense to those around us who know the history of the saying.

Last fall when I was walking Benj to school we were lucky enough to see an armadillo. This wasn't your usual road-kill, bloated, feet-in-the-air, dark red blood variety. We have been here 9 years and have only seen dead armadillos. The armadillo that we saw on this morning was alive and running! We followed it through 3 or 4 neighbors yards and around the corner. There weren't any other kids close to us to see it, too. It was just a moment for Benj and me to share. The rest of the way to school we talked about how cool it was, about where it was and where it ran to, and basically cherished the moment. Well, our day was not ordinary anymore! We had seen an armadillo and followed it for almost a whole block! We were so happy about it, the entire day was great. We were having an armadillo day! And, even now, when the stars seem to be aligned and everything is going great, we say that we're having an armadillo day!

Some pics of our latest escapades

Ready to go!

Prom girl got a corsage.

From Chris' trip to Switzerland--going up Mt. Rigi in a tram.

Luzernne, Switzerland --definitely gotta go there.

Benj a week later. Less swelling, more color.

Benj soon after dumpster diving--lots of swelling.

Stef going to 8th grade dance.

P.S.

I have been feeling so out of control I'm right back to my lists. Things were calm before. Sheesh. I think I need to vent. Two days after my last post, we were at a ward service project--great idea for a ward activity--family service day. OK, so we were cleaning out a couple of houses in a neighboring ward that needed some major help. Kids were in and out of the dumpsters all morning having a great time playing in the trash. Someone that didn't know there were kids in there heaved in a heavy table and it landed on Benjamin's face. Chris and I were inside scrubbing walls when we heard screams. Worst nightmare ever. When I climbed up on the side of the dumpster and looked in there was blood everywhere. I reached over the side and hauled him out (he was standing up and Jace was boosting him). Anyway, I carried him in the house and assessed. I always knew that you could bleed a lot from head/face wounds but this was ridiculous. He had a TINY cut right between the eyes that produced blood all over his face shirt, shoes, the dumpster, and me. It was like a fountain. His right cheekbone looked like it was starting to swell up so we got ice. We needed to treat him for shock. We took him home, gave him some ibuprofen and he was fine. No concussion, no broken bones, no stitches. He was up and running around within half an hour. Kids. It did look absolutely horrible and was so swollen all across his face that the school nurse insisted on icing him every hour for a whole week. We got that under control and then I got bronchitis. Lovely. Right when I was doing my visiting teaching conference. Luckily I had already done all the planning and arranging. I just had to show up, smile, and teach one of the workshops -twice. I had no energy, no voice, and was very out of breath. I love cough syrup with codeine. It is my friend. I'm going to make my bottle last a long time. Oh, did I mention Chris has been out of town most of the last 2 weeks? And we're making mother's day projects in preschool (which at the age I teach is mostly a teacher project), and swim team has just started. Practices every day. Oh, and did I mention I'm in charge of concessions? First meet is this Saturday and I haven't even pulled the book out from last year. All I really know is we're going to order chick-fil-a and not do hamburgers this meet. I did have a productive day today, though. I bought Gracie some more doggie meds. She's got a weird flea problem from all of the squirrels and possums she catches and it's hard to get rid of. She scratches and bites herself so much she gets sores and then infections. Very expensive at the vet. I 'm halfway done altering Erin's prom dress. Just got to tack the lining back down. (note to self: When Cait goes to prom, order modest dress 3 months early.) I finally sent J&K's baby gift today. I hope the outfits still fit. I got everything checked off my list today except changing the oil in the Mazda. There's always next week.

Lists

I’m a list maker. That’s just how it is. Sometimes when things get busy and I feel like I’m running from one thing to the next, I cannot function without a list. I cannot start my day without knowing what needs to be done during my precious kid-free hours. I even write down my afternoon kid destinations even though they are mostly the same week after week. I write down things after I do them just so I can cross them off! Wow—I am accomplishing a lot! Mostly, the lists are made the night before so I can sleep knowing that I am ready to hit the floor running when the alarm goes off. This is life with five kids. Five busy kids. Recently life has been busier than usual. Extremely busier than usual. Lately, E. is busy with all that goes along with high school graduation. Ordering pictures, addressing announcements, AP tests, working part time, prom, studying for pharm tech certification, friends, church stuff, etc. C. is in Corpus right now with the orchestra. We miss her. She’s busy with practicing, tests, driving, church, tutoring 5 kids 3 days a week, and another year of swim team. S. just made the color guard for high school next year. Orchestra, private lessons for violin, studying, 8th grade dance, NJHS, swim team, and now color guard practice. J. is keeping himself busy with trumpet, piano, scouts, lots of GT and pre-AP projects, trying to mow lawns for a little pocket money (I finally hired him), swim team. B. is playing piano, and we have talked him into another year of swim team (he really doesn’t like it). So, I manage all of their schedules and my own. That takes lots of lists. I’m currently working part-time teaching preschool so I only have Tues and Thurs to get anything and everything done. This includes doing 15 loads of laundry a week, cooking lots of dinners, trying to lose weight, grocery shopping, substituting in primary, planning a visiting teaching workshop, making a t-shirt quilt for E., making a smaller quilt for NAM, altering E.’s prom dress, making a shrug for S.’s 8th grade dance dress and altering it a bit, planning concessions for swim team, ordering senior pictures, finding addresses for announcements, driving back and forth on Louetta every afternoon—to school, to church, to Target, to piano, to violin, to swim, to Kroger, to orthodontist. This past week, I’ve been flying without a net. I haven’t really had time to make lists. I’ve got my purse-sized calendar, which I consult occasionally, and then I hit the road. Looking back over this maddening week, I realized that there was a different feeling --something that I haven’t felt for a long time. I was enjoying all of the craziness as it was happening. I wasn’t trying to get through it just to cross it off. I was enjoying the moment and not just getting through it to get to the next thing. It was liberating to be free of the paper and pen! Not to say that all of my weeks will be like this, but for all of its craziness, I sure enjoyed it.

Joke of the Day

A Russian, a Texan and New Yorker were going out to dinner together. The waiter came to the table and said, "Excuse me, we have a shortage of steak tonight."

The Russian said, "What's a steak?"

The Texan said, "What's a shortage?"

The New Yorker said, "What's excuse me?"

April Fools' Day!

Sometimes we get a little silly with April Fools Day. I love to watch the kids thinking up tricks to pull on each other. Benj was so excited to take a fake spider to school to scare his teacher. This is a picture of our breakfast. It sure looks normal enough. The 'fried' egg is actually vanilla pudding with half of a canned peach on top. It was great. A few years ago we actually had meatloaf made out of Cocoa Krispies with bits of red and green fruit roll-up in it to help it look seasoned.