Eight is Great!

Birthday boy on his birthday! Before being baptized...mom's wearing 4 inch heels so looks like a giant!

Granpa Dooley, Grammie S and Zane

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson and Zane

Chase Pack and Zane

The boys and Dads all in white

Zane and Dad!

Bishop Higham and the boys after the baptism

Dear Zane....

You turned EIGHT on March 22. I woke up that Tuesday morning full of wonder just thinking that I had been a mom to you for 8 years. I don't know where all the days, minutes and seconds have gone but where there was once a wrinkly, red, new born baby, there now is a handsome, tall and energetic boy. I am in awe of your testimony. It is so strong and you live what you believe every day. I pray that this is a trait you will carry with you for the rest of your life.

Two weeks ago you had your bishop's interview for baptism. And when I asked you how it went, you said pretty good. And then proceeded to tell me that the only question you had problems with was the word of wisdom question. I was slightly alarmed but tried to ask casually why that had given you problems. You said you told the bishop that you "mostly" follow the word of wisdom because you sometimes have treats! Our bishop assured you that treats sometimes is fine and you came through with flying colors. We had such a good talk that day on the way to and from church about baptism, and the Holy Ghost. We both felt the spirit and it was a great experience to share with you.

Preparing for you baptism was surreal and a little frustrating for me. Surreal because I can't believe it's here, and frustrating because combined baptisms were implemented this year and it meant some concessions on things I had already planned...and you had to un-ask one of your witnesses. I was really disappointed for you, but you handled it so well!

You turned 8 on a Tuesday this year...so that meant you got to start cubs on your birthday! You were so excited and couldn't wait to get going on everything! Mom didn't know you needed a cub shirt so you didn't have that (sorry :) ) but you came home with great stories, memories and an enthusiasm for your troop. It's so fun as your mom to watch you do these new things and find joy in them.

As you continue to get older you amaze us with your wit and smarts. The other day Dad had some music playing and you asked "dad, is this music from the 19's.....?" Letting the question linger and effectively making mom and dad feel old. You've asked me a similar question with the definite impression that you consider anything before the 2000s to be sooooo old.

You are the best big brother anyone could ask for. Although you and Rhett have your arguments, you are quick to mend them. Thank you for taking the time to play with your younger brothers and include them with your friends and in your interests.

You LOVE hockey right now. Any kind. Watching it on TV, playing stick hockey in the hallway, on the XBOX, collecting cards and stickers or playing table hockey. You amaze me with your grasp of the rules and game play, and how many players and teams you know. I laugh because the first thing you do in the morning is check the scores from the games the night before to see who one and who lost.

Your love for sports is contagious and we can't wait for the snow to melt so you can be outside improving your skills in soccer, basket ball, biking and of course hockey.

Your reading level continues to improve and at this point you are ahead of your grade average. It brings me so much joy to listen to you read and to see you get into a book. I know you don't always want to sit down and read but when you do you remember just how enjoyable it is!

You and technology seem to be a match made in heaven. You were THRILLED when mom and dad gave you an ipod for your birthday and have been excellent at sharing it with your brothers. And you learn things on the computer and other techie things around the house with ease. I'm anticipating that one day soon you will be the one teaching me how to use my phone, computer, etc....

We are so proud of you Zane! You work hard at being good, following the commandments, and living the way that we have taught you. Happy Eight Birthday and Baptism! We love you more than words can express!

Mom and Dad

Look Who's 2!!!!

SERIOUSLY?!?! How did this happen so quickly? Brock turned 2 on the 8th and also managed to score 2 birthday parties! We wanted to celebrate with our Payne family members so I brought cupcakes and tarts along to the Sunday dinner they invited us to. And as you can see from the above pictures, Brock is seriously considering a future career as a fire eater...among other things! But his entirely unreasonable mother (me) blew the candles out before he got much closer! We gave him one of each - cupcake and tart - and I guess you can see what he went for! 2 in fact! Sorry you have to scroll back up to view the picture - blogger and I are not agreeing on where these pics should go and I don't want to re-load them.

And the bruise on his forehead? He was climbing up the ladder to Zane's top bunk the night before and slipped and bashed his head. At least that's what I THINK happened as I found him there, he's been know to climb that ladder quite frequently, and the shape of the bruise is consistent with a ladder rung. It was UGLY Saturday night - black/purple and a good 1/2 inch off his head. Ugh. But after 10 minutes of crying and cuddling with mom he was off and running again. Not much slows him down! On Tuesday, his actual birthday we put candles in 2 cupcakes (the tarts were all gone) and he tried to blow them out this time instead of eating the fire! We opened presents and after he opened the basket ball hoop there was no hope for anything else. For the next couple of days until Cliff got it mounted to the bedroom door Brock would bring me the hoop to hold so he could shoot!

And at 2 he is still up to much busyness! He loves mommy's i-phone and daddy's new samsung galaxy captivate, LOVES the backyardigans and laughs and giggles as they sing and dance. LOVES to shoot hoops. He got a little one that you mount to a wall or somewhere for his birthday and he'll literally spend 1/2 an hours shooting balls at that thing. NBA here we come! Grandpa Dooley and I wonder if maybe all the Raymond water I drank growing up has something to do with it.

Lately he goes to bed almost every night with either 2 soft basketballs clutched in his hands or a hot wheels monster truck.

He still climbs all over everything, occasionally sabotages my laundry, crawls into bed with us every night, and is starting to throw out more words - when he feels like it. And never on demand. He always makes me laugh when he jabbers at me in his own language and ends the phrase like a question and then looks at me expectantly. Oh, gibberish.

He is still pretty good about eating whatever I give him but I'm seeing signs of pickiness...sigh. Another one. He loves pb, jam, cheese, yogurt, animal crackers, spaghetti, soup, bananas, apples, fruit leathers, toast and anything that is on mom or dad's plate!

He has recently developed quite the love for his daddy and loves to wrestle and play and of course play on daddy's phone!

And he ADORES his big brothers. He's getting old enough now to be fun to play with in more than the baby fun sense, and the boys enjoy wrestling, chasing, tickling, hockey, basketball and just about anything else they can think of that might make him laugh! Having 3 boys is really fun :)

We love our Brocker boy to bits and although we have already been treated to some of the terrible twos tantrums, he continues to be a happy, busy little boy!

Not just party-lag

I have a reality. And it's not a pretty reality. In fact, it's kind of a skeleton in the closet kind of reality.

I am suffering from depression.

It's not full blown, as in can't-get-out-of-bed-or-function, - yet - But it is to the point where I have to admit that this is more than just a bad couple of weeks. And that I need to fight to get back to me.

I'm blessed with a great support group of family and friends - some who have experienced depression themselves, some have worked professionally with this, and some are just great resources of positivity and love.

I've started cataloging my days and mood on those days using weather terms. A "me" day is what I describe as a sunshine-y day. And then there are days that are mostly sunny but slightly cloud covered - you know - like the clouds that blot out the sun temporarily during the day but the sun always pulls through. I have days that are more cloud then sun. And then there are the cloud-locked, no hope of sun days. Thankfully, I haven't had too many of the cloud-locked days in a row. But I have had several of the cloud covered with brief rays of sunshine.

And I don't like me this way. It feels wrong and awful.

So, I swallowed my pride, talked to some of my closest peeps, and got help. I've started a great vitamin regimen to re-balance the old brain, I've cut back in some areas, and I'm trying to not expect quite so much from myself as I get myself back on track.

And that is the real honest reason that I haven't been writing here a lot lately. I have an
un-censored journal that I have been writing in and it's been great and cheap therapy!

I don't want to be one of those blogs that's all unicorns and rainbows, but there are some issues that I'm working through that I just don't feel comfortable airing on the internet - at least not in their entirety.

The main reason I'm writing this now is because I thought that one day, a long way down the road, someone in my posterity might need to know that they're OK because I suffered from this too. And people on both sides of my family suffer from this too.

Genetics are not always the best thing, but knowledge is power and I intend to use mine to get back to sunshine days!

Party-lag

Everyone has heard of jet lag. And most of you have probably experienced it. I am currently experiencing party lag! And maybe you will too after my quick update of events in the last month and a bit!

The early part of December was spent participating in Christmas concerts and food drives for the school. We had planned on going to the Creche but it was too COLD! Zane did a fantastic job in his "choir" for the school Christmas play and it was a bit of a jolt to realize that next year Zane will be IN the play and Rhett will be in the choir. Wow. I'm feeling slightly old. We also went as a family and took part in a performance at an old folk home. Zane and I did some piano duets and the boys dressed up like shepherds for the nativity song.

I also finally made it to see a doctor who believes in removing tonsils (harder to find then you may expect). After hearing my sob story (8 strep throats in 18 months) he looked at me and told me it's not IF they should come out but WHEN they should come out. Much rejoicing on my part. I'm not excited about the pain after wards - it's supposed to be pretty brutal, but looking forward to reducing sickness by a lot!

Later that same day (the 17th) Robison's came from Eckville and we partied it up with homemade pizza, and Wii entertainment for the kids and dads while Leslie and I visited. We're good at it :) They stayed late and about 15 minutes after they left Mom and Dad J, Auntie Kristie and Uncle Jamie were here to start our first Christmas celebration!

We had lots of fun hanging out on Saturday playing games and watching movies. Cliff and Jamie took Zane and Rhett sledding while Brock had a nap and mom and Kristie iced my sugar cookies! Good deal all around I think! After a yummy roast beef meal we exchanged gifts and were royally spoiled! The kids were so excited and had a lot of fun the whole weekend.

Monday brought reality back a little as Zane still had 2 days of school and I had seminary to teach. The girls came here and I made them breakfast...we were going to watch a movie as well but that didn't work out. Oh, well.

School was finally out and I was frantically trying to finish shopping (one of Cliff's gifts didn't arrive like it was supposed to - grrrr!), clean my house, drop off goodies to friends, finish off teaching piano and the last minute baking and grocery shopping that needed to get done. Why do you ask? Because we were hosting Christmas! That's right! For the very first time in our married life we were not the ones doing the travelling! No packing up kids and presents and driving....just a whole new set of things to get done in a time crunch! But it was so fun!
Mom and Dad R and Auntie Kizzy got here Thursday night in time for supper and were royally entertained by my children. Especially Brock. He has Papa wrapped pretty tight and those two were thick as thieves almost the whole time they were here. Over the course of the weekend he beat Papa up with a pillow (randomly walked up and started beating him), danced all over Auntie's quilt that she was sewing the binding on (broke it good for her) and learned how to touch the ceiling from Zane's bed and throw pillows off the bed to much adoring laughter!

Christmas Eve we played and ate and played some more. We bundled everyone up and went sledding behind the high school. Zane LOVES sledding, Rhett prefers to watch (you're shocked I know) and Brock was fascinated by his boots leaving prints in the snow. We did take him down the hill a couple of times but he was underwhelmed so he and Papa walked around the bottom of hills and the school just being busy. I tried to knock myself out when I took a jump on one of our tubes and bashed my head on the ground after landing. And as I lay at the bottom of the hill seeing stars Zane's at the top yelling for me to move so he can come down. All in all a lot of fun had by all of us!

After a supper of home made pizza, we watched Mr Kruger's Christmas, opened the boys' Christmas jammies and got them ready for bed. Stockings were hung, cookies were left out and the boys were off to bed! We all stayed up and played cards until Santa showed up and helped him fill the stockings before heading to bed.

Christmas morning the first thing the boys saw was the HUGE hockey table Mr. Claus had left for them AGAINST the advice of Mrs. Claus. (She would be happier about it if we had a basement - but we don't and it now resides in front of my window, Grrr.) Of course the boys and Cliff love it. Once again, I am out voted. Stockings and presents were opened, and we commenced in making our breakfast waffles - waffles with all the ooey, gooey, sugary toppings you want. By the time we finished that we decided to officially move our turkey dinner to the evening so we could actually enjoy it! The rest of the day we spent playing new games, watching new movies, and doing the small things to have the dinner ready. Turkey dinner was a smashing success and I was glad for the help of everyone - either in prep or keeping the kids entertained and out of my small kitchen!

Our family left early the next morning so they could get to Alisha and Jays and we set off for church without Cliff as he had to work. Zane and I played Silent Night as a duet and then I continued with a medley of Silent Night and Sleep, Sleep, Sleep. BEST mom moment ever I think. Zane hit every single note and played perfectly! So many people stopped to tell me how much they enjoyed it and some even called to tell him themselves. It was awesome to sit there with him while he preformed and think "wow. I taught him how to do this!"

The next week was filled with some piano lessons, reading, playing and getting ready for New Years. We went to a great party at the Piersons, played and ate too much, stayed out late and had a great time. Grammie S arrived the next day to spend some time with us - Grandpa Dooley was coming too but his truck broke down in Idaho :(. But we had lots of fun with Grammie. We hibernated and the boys and grammie played games all day. At least between the times they were fighting and trying to kill each other. Cold, cold weather and couped up all the time is not a good mix for Zane and Rhett. But we made it through!

Zane started school on the 5th and I turned 30! Yep, I finally made it to 30! I was really excited to get here and had a great day. Slept in, had a lazy day at home, taught lessons and hustled the kids into Red Deer to meet Cliff for supper. It was great. That Saturday (the 9th) we had a grown up party to celebrate my oldness. Again, so much fun with great friends and I laughed so much! What a great way to celebrate :)

After another week flying by it was Friday night and me and my best girl friends went out for our once-a-month girls night. Since it is my birthday month we used that as our excuse and off we went. The weather prevented us from heading to Red Deer as originally planned but we improvised and hit a great restaurant here in town. We started a tradition a couple of birthdays ago of the birthday girl wearing a tiara and the last birthday guest didn't forget. So, despite a few glances, I wore the tiara proudly as we laughed and talked and had a great time. We went to Kathleen's house for a movie and there they surprised me with a DQ cake! I have the very best friends in the whole wide world! And they bless my life so much! After lots of cake, laughs, a horrible movie, and more talking, it was 1:00 before I got home and 2:00 before I un-wound enough to sleep.

And now you're caught up on all my partying. No wonder I have party lag! But I wouldn't have traded it for anything! What a great month and half it has been! And I'm looking forward to the rest of 2011!

2 Months - Part one

It's almost been 2 months since I last posted....and this bugs me. So I've been trying to figure out the last couple of days what happened? Why haven't I been writing? I think there might be a few others who have been wondering the same thing.

I didn't come up with anything concrete. I have a few legit excuses - sickness - me and the kids, painting the bathroom, getting ready to host Christmas, and oh yeah, my destructive toddler. But mostly, I think they just all boil down into one category - I've been doing other things! So if you care, stick around for the next little while and I'll try and rewind a bit and catch up.

First off, Brock. I'm sure if you looked up BUSY, DESTRUCTIVE, CONSTANT MOVEMENT, or other such acronyms you would find his picture. To prove my point, here are some pictures of some of his latest handy work :

This is a pan of banana bread that Brock "helped" himself to while I was changing laundry around!

Basically, he would pull a piece off, take a bite and put it on the counter, than start over. We ate a lot of banana bread that afternoon!The next morning, I took a shower. (I know, totally irresponsible!) Came out to find the older two totally engrossed in their video game while Brock was destroying the kitchen. First he pushed a chair over to the counter and started throwing the pens and stuff on the floor....Then he knocked over a full cup of juice that an older brother kindly left in his reach....And then he climbed on the counter, opened the cupboard, and started emptying it onto the floor. That's when I showed up.But I held it together. Took a big breath, sent him packing to another room and started cleaning up. I headed back to the bathroom to dry my hair and found Mr. Busy with his hand in the toilet, a bottle of shampoo open and dripping in the linen closet, and the bath toys dumped in a huge puddle of water. I washed his hands, kicked him out of the bathroom, closed the door and sat down on the floor and cried! I was so frustrated!

I'm not laughing yet. I know you're rolling around on the floor holding your ribs....but I'm not there...yet. And that's because this is a fairly typical example of what most of my days are - minus the breakdown. I usually don't do that. But the cleaning up after my little tornado - yes. He is allergic to order and LOVES nothing better than to dump the bucket of hot wheels, the two buckets of Lego, the bucket of balls and the tote of trains. And he can do that in 2 minutes flat. Once all dumping is accomplished he looks around with a satisfied look, and then walks away. When I catch him in the act I get him to help clean up, but lots of times I come upon a mess and he's no where to be found....moved onto the next mess! He also has figured out how to take off the heat vents and stuff things down there. So I am routinely pulling toys out of my heat vents!

He's not all trouble...he's also very energetic, fun and learning new things at an astonishing rate! He's very physical - at not quite two he's doing a two-footed jump, ball handling and slap-shooting with mini sticks and balls, (with a golf-swing follow through!) and can jump shot a full size basketball! He climbs everything, rarely walks, jumps on the ottoman and my bed like it's a trampoline and can go from jumping to doing a bumsy like he's lived on a trampoline his whole life! He still loves to play the piano whenever he can - especially when Zane is trying to practice, and is learning new words all the time. He speaks in complete sentences...in his own little language and I've been joking that I need a translator collar like the dogs have in the movie UP. He LOVES nursery, is starting to do actions to some songs, hates to sit still -ever - and is fascinated by his boot prints in the snow. And he refuses to sit in a booster seat or wear a bib when eating. Needless to say meals are slightly messy when he is involved. And he's a mooch. He likes lots of different food but mostly when it comes off of someone's plate!

Grandpa Dooley calls in frequently for his update on "Calvin" (Calvin and Hobbs) as we have nicknamed Brock in his "busy" moments, and has started referring to Brock as his client and himself as Brock's lawyer as I complain about the latest thing he has destroyed or done. We're working on probation terms.

I know it's a stage. And chanting that little mantra gets me through most days...and I'm trying to laugh and document so I will remember that it was only a stage. I'm also trying to enjoy the snuggles, and the little mom moments I still have with him. He's rapidly growing up - can't believe he's almost 2! And I know my days are numbered with someone this little around. But I'm also LOVING that he's growing up to. It's sometimes an odd conflict for me. Mostly I'm trying to enjoy him now...and buying stock in paper towel!

I know....

you can't believe that I'm posting...again. I don't post regularly for months and now the third one in November, already! It's not that I haven't wanted to post, really, but I already covered that sob story a couple blogs back. So onto the new.

I've had a topic rattling around in my wee little brain for the past couple of weeks as I notice things that I've said, thought, done in reaction to things that my children have said and done.

When we started on this journey called parenthood I wasn't completely ignorant to children and their ways....or so I thought. I'd done A LOT of babysitting through my teen years, even some overnighters....and yet when I look back on the last 7 1/2 years I amazed at the things I didn't know, but know now. Hence, my witty title. (Admit it, you're all envious with how clever I am on cold meds and antibiotics :))

So, mostly for my own enjoyment I bring you:

THE THINGS I KNOW:

- I know that every stage/phase does end...eventually. But that doesn't make

it any easier to get through it

- I know that all little boys are inexplicably drawn to the toilet and it's bowl

of water until it is time to actually learn to use it.

Case in point: the recent drownings of a balloon, transformer and toy hammer

- I know that klutziness is a gene that is passed on

My proof: Z: Mom, do you notice anything different about my head?

M: umm, why do have a big scrape and red mark there?

Z: Because I ran into a brick wall at school....

M: you are so my child

(there was an accidental trip from another child involved, but still!)

- I know that cursing your own children with picky eaters of their

own is a curse that WILL come true...thanks mom!

- I know that a child can exist quite happily on PB sandwiches,

cheese, crackers and apples (by their choice) with the occasional

chicken nugget and fries thrown in

- I know that a toddlers laugh is something no one can resist!

- I know that laundry and dishes multiply at night behind my back

and that someone sneaks around spreading crumbs on my floor!

- I know that I am constantly amazed at the things my children

learn without me consciously teaching them

For example: R walked outside the other day, took a big sniff

and declared that it smelled "DISGUSTING!"

Umm, excuse me? When did you learn that word?

- I know that toddler boredom is my number one enemy!

How else do you explain the mass destruction that takes

place every day by his hand?!

- I know a hole and toy are irresistible to said toddler...

as my heat ducts would testify to if they could

only talk! (Why do they make these things so easy

to pull out of the floor?!)

- I know that reading to my children every day is great

for them...and love to see the results in Z's reading

and R's comprehension and recognition!

- I know that it's easier to laugh then cry and better

to laugh than yell....but it doesn't always happen that way!

- I know my oldest is great at making friends and am so

thankful for that

- I know I will never fully understand boy logic,

but I'll never stop trying to!

- I know that I shouldn't tell B that I'm going to cut his

fingers off if he touches "that" one more time...R gets a little

worried and asks me not cut any of B's fingers off!

- I know that little boys under the age of 3 are convinced that

water on their head will make them MELT! At least, I think

that's why B has such a fit every Saturday night when I

wash his hair!

- I know that #3 is in a huge hurry to grown up. Things that

are no longer acceptable include: a booster seat with a tray,

a booster seat AT ALL, bibs are occasionally tolerated, shopping carts

are torture devices, and holding mom's hand is soooo last year. He

should be free to run wherever he wants and is quite vocal in his

opinion. Which brings me to my next I know...

- I know that a screaming child strapped into a shopping cart brings

either a: sympathy

b: condemnation

c: unwanted advice

d: a smile, nod and a "I've been there"

from the shoppers around you

- I know that I love my three boys more

than words can express, and in the end,

that's all that counts!

Absent...

That's what I've been from my poor blog lately.

Some of you may remember the good times I had with strep throat last year...(don't worry if you don't).
Apparently my body decided that since we had such a great time with it last fall we should try it again this fall.

***Long, suffering sigh.****

The short version is that I am on my THIRD antibiotic and when I have completed it, I will have been on antibiotics for 25 days. Bleh. I've also been referred to a throat specialist to talk about having a tonsillectomy, but my doc said it will probably be a couple of months before I get in. And then who knows how long it will be if I decide to have the surgery (I'm fence sitting, but leaning heavily towards having them removed.) Mostly because we figure I've had 7 rounds of strep in about 18 months.

And when I have strep I have about 1/2 the energy that I normally do. And yes, I'm whining. And that's my lame excuse for not blogging lately. By the time I get done everything that HAS to be done in my day I very rarely have energy for the extras that I want to do.

BUT, I am going to attempt to write the 3 or 4 posts that have banging around in my head for the past couple of weeks over the next couple of days. Including the Halloween pictures. Better late than never, right?

Some halloween....

Wednesday before Halloween Paynes came over for a pizza and pumpkin night! We made yummy homemade pizzas and then got busy with the carving of pumpkins. My job was picture taking, Rhett supervised, Brock was very un-interested with all the going ons and everyone else was pretty hands on!

Cliff and Rhett planning their pumpkin

some of the guts....there was lots more to come!

Zane's first scoop of guts all by himself - and yes, he is wearing a plastic glove - sometimes it's just whatever works!

Johnny showing his 'gutsy' hands

Zane showing off

the five spooky pumpkins

and the five spooks with their pumpkins!

Zane ready for the Halloween parade at school
He and I have been reading the Harry Potter books and
he couldn't wait to wear his costume!

Zane and Rhett ready for trunk-or-treat
My brave silver knight!
Knight with a reluctant hockey player.
He didn't want to hold still for the picture!

And one more of Harry!
This was Brock's favorite part of the trunk-or-treat.
He self-appointed this job, and was great at setting up the
pins after the "bowling" ball hit them.
I had to drag him kicking and screaming away when it
was time to be done!

Thankful....

It's been an action packed month since I last blogged with lots to be thankful for. And since we just returned safely from visiting our families in southern Alberta I thought I would take a moment to jot down some of the things I'm thankful for. So in no particular order here are my thankful thoughts:

- my calling as a seminary teacher. Teaching Doctrine and Covenants and Church History this year is really stretching me. I'm learning to study my scriptures better, to prepare better lessons, and most importantly to pay more attention to those quiet promptings that I receive.
- quiet promptings. I've had some wonderful spiritual experiences in the last month (planning on a separate blog for those) and it's truly been a blessing in my life.
- prayer. I've recently gained a strong testimony of praying vocally and continue to strive to improve on this.
- my husband. I have the best one out there. He loves me, supports me, puts up with my craziness and helps me to be a better wife, mom, person.
- my kiddos. Oh the joys of raising boys! I have such GOOD kids. We really are raising a chosen generation and I am in awe of their wonderful spirits. I'm also in awe of how loud, destructive, busy and wonderful they really are. I wouldn't trade any of them for all the pink in the world!
- that Rhett is now finally and officially going to the bathroom all the time without threats, bribes or melt downs. It did finally happen. And hell didn't freeze over - but it was close!
- for our families! We left Thursday night and got home LATE last night (Sunday). We had 5 huge dinners - chinese, 3 turkey/ham dinners and one roast beef wedding supper. We laughed until we couldn't breathe (OK, that was just me and literally, my diaphragm froze and I couldn't breathe - a little scary), stayed up late, played hard and loved and enjoyed EVERY minute of it. Minus the wind. And yes, we are central Alberta people who whine about the wind now. You love us anyway.
- for generations of great family members and their examples. We had 3 family gatherings and dinners where we had 4 generations of family members there. It's so wonderful to belong to such great people and have our kids associate with them. That's why it's worth the work and the effort to be there for these big holidays.
- for safety! Travelling on Thanksgiving weekend can be a little interesting sometimes but we were blessed with safety.
- for the gospel and all the glorious truths that it proclaims. Cliff and I watched all 4 sessions last week and we got so much out of it. We are truly blessed to live in a time of Apostles and Prophets and to be able to partake in the blessings that come through the Atonement of Christ.
- for friends that LOVE us. We have been blessed with wonderful friends who are like family to us. We love and appreciate all that they do for us!
- Cliff's good job and my piano students. Although I don't have as many as I thought would be great for our family, the students I have are a blessing to our family. And Cliff is blessed to have a job that he enjoys (most days).


And some quick things that I want to remember about this weekend:
- Brock loving chow mein noodles
- me and Brock sleeping in the bottom bunk and Rhett and Cliff sleeping in the big bed
- uncle Jamie building the boys an awesome fort in the basement
- Zane running on the tread mill
- trying to get all the cousins to hold still for a picture at grandma great Johnson's
- watching the boys run around the church foyer like crazy kids with their cousins during Paige's wedding reception
- Zane's determination to try pumpkin pie - he likes it
- Grandpa Dooley putting the mat back on the trampoline so the boys could jump - and their pink cheeks and frozen toes after they played out there
- movies watched
- conversations held
- babies cuddled
- Phase 10 games played - the longest one EVER last night - more than 3 hours!
- The love we feel for and from our families!

Grade 2...

Holding still long enough for mom to snap a picture...

2 fingers up to show he's starting

grade 2!

Almost out the door!


"One more mom and that's it" smile in the not-good light of the entry!

The has come and gone that Zane started his grade 2 career. He was VIBRATING! We had free tickets to a the Rebels Black and White hockey game the night before (the undecided hopefuls all play each other to help the coaches make the final cuts) and he had been out LATE! We're good parents that way...ya know, making sure our grade schooler is in bed at a decent time before his first day of school...but I digress. He was so excited for the first day of school that he was up by 7:00 and had his morning all planned out. Hang out, have some breakfast, get dressed by 8:00...out the door by 8:20. We met his teacher and dropped off all his supplies the day before (that's how they do it here) so all the hard stuff was out of the way. I barely got a kiss after prayers before he was bounding out the door and on his way. And I'm not going to lie, I did tear up just a little bit. I think I always will on the first day of school. It's a start and end of many things. I'm always a little nervous for him - for lots of reasons. One of the big ones is being different - he is the ONLY LDS kid in his school. And me growing up in Raymond - that's a big deal to me. But he's a champ and has a great testimony, and so far a really good group of friends. He came home just as charged and of course starving! Rhett did pretty good with him being gone. He only asked a couple of times when Zane was going to be home. :) His teacher is Miss Warke and so far the only issue we've had is having no nuts in the class and not being able to send food that can be warmed up. We're working on it....and I'm trying not to throw a tantrum. His school does the nut ban by classroom, so if you don't have a kid with a nut allergy in your class you're fine to bring nut products. We didn't luck out so well this year. But I'm not going to get into it here. If you want to read a good blog on the issue you can read my sister Alisha's blog here. If you do, please remember that we are all entitled to our opinions - I'm not trying to start a blood bath over an issue here.

My grade 2 boy you amaze me!

Love mom!

Summer confessions....

I fell off the good-eating and exercise train. Hard. In fact I still have 10 lbs to show for it. It was one of those one-thing-led-to-another thing. Nothing big or horrible. Just little slips that kept adding up and now here I am a lot further AWAY from my goal than I had planned on being at the end of the summer. So what, may you ask am I doing about it?
Weeelllll, since you asked so nice I'll tell ya.
I joined a gym.
And I'm learning to love it. My stomach clenches a bit every morning when I get there hoping that my favorite tread mill is available (control freak remember), and I literally have to bribe my butt out of bed (5:30 is sooooooooo early) BUT I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the hour I have all to myself. Sweat drips, I listen to some sweet tunes, I don't talk to anyone if I don't want to (except the head nod to friend Dave who gets there before me) and I ignore any and all barbie moms around me. I like that no one (well except Dave but he doesn't count right now) knows who I am, what my story is, or how horribly I failed at my summer goal. And if I'm really lucky, I get home and a blissfully long shower before any little feet are awake. Ahhh. Bliss. And the scale has moved slightly lower....still working on the eating thing.

Today is day #3 of no chocolate. I did this once before earlier in the year and decided to do it again. Pushing for past Halloween this time. Why chocolate you ask? Because if I eliminate that I take out a lot of tempting things. Day 3 is always the hardest. And I didn't time it well...not only do I have chocolate withdrawal today but I am also slightly PMSing. Yeah, not good.

Other summer confessions....I hate a really wet yucky summer. I'm not a huge fan of the extreme heat but I do like nice sunny skies, pleasant temps and lots of good long days to play outside with friends. I don't know what happened to the summer I ordered but it definitely did not come through. We made it to the beach one time people....and we live in Sylvan Lake....3 blocks away from a lake! That's how gross it was. Which may or may not have contributed to confession number one.

I did not enjoy my boys playing with the neighbor's grandson. Even though they would spend time outside with him....I just struggle with him. I try to remember that my kids are being examples to him, and possibly planting gospel seeds that will be remembered later in his life....but there is something that makes me want to grind my teeth every time I see him. I think that might put me on the bad person list.

I read....a lot....and neglected my house...a lot....and maybe let my kids watch a few too many movies. Seriously, I think I read 10 books in about 6 weeks. I recorded them all and when I read them - something I picked up from my friend Rebecca. I really enjoyed all the reading - I don't usually do a lot of it any more because I kinda get sucked into a book and put everything else off and off and off until I finish the book and look up to see the house destroyed and children and husband neglected. So it was guilty indulgence that I allowed myself.

I can't believe that summer is gone and that we are two weeks into school already!

August Pics

Grammie and the two big boys snuggling in the morning. They actually all slept here for awhile.

Cliff posing with waterfall during the hike at scout camp.

Brock roaming around Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house.

Cutie pie nephew Cohen!

Standing on Grandma's coffee table.

Mud wading!

Testing the water....

Pa coming to the rescue and waiting for shoes...

Cleaning off the shoes...

Jumping can be hard work! Papa and Rhett completely zonked out!

Auntie Kizzy and her boys before heading to Waterton

Brock coming down a ramp - he would have done this all day if we let him!

Me and the boys at the end of our first walk

Trying to keep Brock still for the picture

Auntie and the brave hikers!

At the end of our bike ride..trying to keep Brock from wacking his head...he was getting a little tired and starting to the head bob thing

Showing off the Waterton war wound - two days old. He got out of the stroller and walked 2 steps before his feet stopped and the rest of him didn't. Poor kid.

Still soooo cute, even scraped up!

One of the many reasons I don't accomplish what I want to during the day!