2020 – Terry Family Shenanigans

New Years Eve

The French family was still with us for Christmas Eve. The Ross Terry family joined us and we had a New Year’s Eve party at our house. Matthew went and did his own thing with friends but returned just a few minutes after midnight and ended the night with us.

Ryan smoked some pizza’s for us, and we had way to many snacks and and treats to munch on. Allison put together some minute to win it games. We rotated through them all then the winner of each team challenged each other to win the final championship. Jovee put together a scavenger hunt that was boys versus girls. Leah put together a Jeopardy game for us to play. It was pretty fun and she did a great job at the questions. It was challenging for the adults and the kids. Before the adults played their own game and the kids did their own things we had a glow in the dark dance party. It was fun! I like dancing in the dark, you can dance however you want and enjoy yourself without worrying about looking like a goof ball. Most of the dads watched and cheered us on but everyone else got our glow in the dark dance moves on.

We all had sparkling cider and watched the ball drop in New York at midnight. A lot of crappy things happened in 2020 (pandemic, riots, earthquakes, fires, killer hornets so name a few) but it wasn’t all bad. There were a lot of good happy moments too and despite a global pandemic we were able to see most of our family between Thanksgiving and New Years. Nothing magically changed when it became 2021 at midnight but it is nice to have a new year to start fresh with and make the most of. Here’s to a great year in 2021!!

CHRISTMAS!!!

Christmas Eve was a big family dinner at the Terry Homestead (AKA Grandpa and Grandma Terry’s). The highlights of the meal for me were ham and rolls and corn and pies. We read the Christmas story and watched a new church video about the Nativity. We sang a few songs and the kids opened their new Christmas pajamas to sleep in.

We slept and woke up in our own home then returned to Grandma’s to open a few more presents with them. Ross made some coffee cake for breakfast (its actually cinnamon flavor not coffee, but it is meant to eat with coffee so it is called coffee cake). The rest of the day was spent playing with the new toys, eating left overs, and enjoying each others company.

In the past we had told the kids they couldn’t wake us up before 6:30. Every year without fail and the help of NO alarm clock they have woken up on the dot at 6:30 ready to open presents. We hadn’t reviewed this protocol with the kids the night before, everyone was pretty tired and we thought we would wake up when they did and let them sleep in a bit if they did. I woke up on my own at 6:25 and all was quiet. I laid in bed enjoying the morning coziness. (Have you ever noticed in the morning when it is time to get out of bed, all of the sudden your bed gets more warm and cozy?! It is like it is begging you to stay in it.) At 6:29 I was thinking maybe I could read a book or something for a bit but just like past years at 6:30 one of the kids popped up out of bed and all three of them were in our room dragging us out before the clock hit 6:31.

Allison got a new book case for her room that she wanted and a beam to practice her gymnastics on at home from Santa. She got some cute new clothes, and good smelling girly pampering things. Ryan and I were stumped on what to give her then decided to do an indoor skydiving experience for her. She was very thrilled.

Matthew got an xbox that can handle all his games and updates from Santa. He got a wallet and a few new sweatshirts. He debated for a while to ask Ryan and I for new air pods. In January of 2020 he bought his own with his own money and by March they were lost. He and I both searched the house and couldn’t find them and they haven’t turned up since. He said if he asked for them he knew his old ones would turn up but he decided to ask for new ones. That is what we gave him and when he opened them and the case with a clip so he didn’t lose them he was very happy and said “Watch, my lost ones will turn up within a week.” Fast forward about three days, we had everyone over at our house for dinner and games. Uncle Jake was in the study and when he stood up he felt something on the back of the couch. He found a pair of air pods. He showed Allison and she said they were Matthew’s. The next morning I found them on the counter and called Matthew to come take care of them and ask why they weren’t in his case with the clip. When he walks into the kitchen he is wearing his air pods in his ears, so the ones I was holding were the long lost air pods. So after looking for a year, three days after buying new ones, Jake found the original air pods and Matthew’s prediction of finding the old ones within a week came true. Aaaahhh! Allison and I are now sharing the old ones and Matthew has the new ones he got for Christmas.

Emilee got a new bike and a toy horse trailer from Santa. She was thrilled and rode it around the block many times despite the freezing cold temperatures. Ryan and I gave her several ‘little toys’ because she loves playing with little tiny objects. She was also hoping the family would get some virtual reality goggles to play games with and we did so she was very excited to try play with them too.

Ryan got some accessories for his smoker (and his smoker). I got a 9mm hand gun and a bunch of passes to the range. I take my conceal carry course in February.

The kids and I went to the store and they all did some shopping for each other and any friends or family they wanted to. Matthew got his girlfriend, Emilee, and me a present. Emilee got grandma a present. Allison got everyone that would be there Christmas morning a gift. She is a sweet girl and gift giving is one of her love languages. She lit up watching people open their gifts from her and they were all thoughtful gifts.

It was a fun magical day as Christmas is supposed to be.

December Activities

The month of December went by very fast as usual. I used to have a list of things we did but then I started feeling like everything was a more stressful and we were just trying to cram everything in. I like for December to be open for whatever comes up and whatever we decide to do to enjoy the holiday season.

One of the things we decided on doing was the 12 days of Christmas for the sister missionaries in our ward. We found a nativity with twelve pieces and left them a piece every night with a scripture and then a small gift to go with it. It was fun and we often went to look at Christmas lights before or after we dropped of their gift. Some of the little gifts we gave them we saw them wearing at church like a head band, a Christmas mask, and a scarf. The girls thought that was great to have a secret. The missionaries were usually not home when we dropped off the items each night so that did take a little fun out of it. We didn’t have to worry about being caught. I also wonder if one or two of the gift was taken before they came home… it was still fun though. Another Sister in our ward put together a 12 days of Christmas for a family that recently lost their mom. We were able to get one of the days for that. When we dropped off our two turtle doves gift, they were home walking all around the house and even had the front door open with just the storm door closed, and a dog to help alert them to people coming up to the house. The kids loved staking the house out, making an approach plan and successfully leaving the gifts without being caught. Allison was decided on being the runner since Matthew was recently in his cast and couldn’t get anywhere fast. They lived close to a corner so we parked around the corner, Allison put the package on the porch, ding dong ditched them and ran faster than we have ever seen her run in her life. It was great fun.

We had several nights of making hot chocolate and taking it to drink in the car while we drove around and looked at Christmas lights and listened to Christmas music. I think we managed it without any arguing or melt downs this year, which is a FIRST. I think in general there were a lot more lights and decorations up this year, and earlier than usual as well. My opinion is that after all the crap of 2020 people wanted a little extra Christmas cheer. There were a lot more people driving around looking at lights as well. One neighborhood had a two hour wait to get into to see their lights.

We made neighbor and friend treats. Usually we do chocolate dipped pretzels but this year we made a box of whoppers look like a reindeer and put a poem on it that said it was reindeer droppings. I also sent out Christmas cards that the kids helped me address and mail.

Our house was decked out for Christmas, I loved reading a book with my hot chocolate by the fire place with all the Christmas lights on, we listened to Christmas music ALL the time and Allison and I played as much Christmas music on the piano as we could. We focused on having secret people within our family each week to do nice things for. My mom started that tradition in our family growing up. With each kind deed we put a straw in a manger to make soft for baby Jesus on Christmas.

Ryan decided that he wanted an electric smoker for Christmas. He also decided that he was going to have Santa deliver it early so he could practice smoking a few things before Christmas, then by Christmas he would be good enough to cook for the family when they all came.

We did our Christmas puzzle while watching Christmas movies. Christmas is a good time to do puzzles, also while drinking hot chocolate with the fireplace going.

Since we have been married we switch between the Terry family and the Jones family for Christmas and Thanksgiving. My family has switched to having a Christmas in July when it is easier and more fun to travel and having our get togethers then. This year was a Terry Christmas. Obviously Ross and Ryan already live here. Becky and her family came the week before, and Rachelle’s family decided to stay in Texas this year.

It was a very fun week before Christmas. We had lots of family dinners. Ryan tried his smoker many times and each time got better and better. The cousins had fun playing with each other all day everyday. Grandma handed out way to much candy. Ross baked and cooked all kinds of yummy food. Many board games were played, crafts were made, gatherings were had and movies were watched. I didn’t get nearly enough pictures.

A few days after Christmas my sister Sherri and her family joined the festivities. They love KC BBQ so we made sure we went to one of their favorites- Q39 for dinner one night. We also tried out the pizza oven in the smoker and had several good rounds of pizza. The week between Christmas and New Years had a good snow storm. We got about 4-5 inches of perfect packing snow. Aubry being a Florida native, was a little hesitant at first but once she got out in it spent as much time as she could in the snow. We had a couple snowmen, a wall for protection during snow ball fights, and Allison had a pretty legit igloo going before the snow started to melt. Ryan resurrected our Nintendo 64 and Sherri and I relived our glory days of playing Tetris Attack from decades ago. I can’t believe I am old enough to say ‘decades ago’. I won on occasion but Sherri pretty much kicked everyone’s butt. Matthew and Allison were very glad that video games have come a long ways since Nintendo 64 but still had fun playing the game.

We spent one of the afternoons at Dave and Buster’s with the French family. We all found a game or two that we were hooked on and spent our token allotment on. Ryan dropped balls into a hoop and won the jackpot, I liked a musical ping pong game, Allison loved the Deal or No Deal, Matthew liked the ship spinning wheel and hit a jack pot on it, and Emilee loved the motorcycle racing games. The French family was well rounded and helped all of us find our favorite games. When we were all done and turned our tickets in for prizes we had balls, stuffed animals, silly straws and a ridiculous amount of stupid candy. We followed it up with lunch at another favorite, a Mexican restaurant called K-machos.

Sherri and I were able to spend part of a day getting our nails done and doing some shopping. Neither one of us was interested in clothes shopping so we went to a makeup store, grabbed lunch and then stopped at Nothing Bundt Cakes for dessert.

I have some serious junk food habits to break and a lot of exercising to do after Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.

There were a lot of other things that happened that I am not recalling at the moment, but the main thing I want to remember is it was a wonderful holiday season. With the exception of the Lee family we were able to have all of our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in our home at some point or another. There were a lot great memories and fun times had, meals shared and relationships grown. At some point or another when we were putting decorations away and taking down lights all the kids and Ryan and I talked about how much fun we had over the last few weeks and how awesome it was to see so much of our family. Not a bad ending for the year of social distancing.

My Secret Note

I was making dinner and cooking something on the stove. I looked up and saw a little message for me on the microwave. Allison left it for me. Sweet girl. It made my day.

December Get Away

Last December when we went on a cruise with the kids for Christmas, Ryan booked a cruise for just the two of us for this December. When COVID hit in March we were not even concerned about it affecting our cruise. When school started we thought surely we would still be going on our cruise in December. The beginning of November we were told the cruise had been canceled. We rescheduled it for April 2021 and are hoping that will happen.

Even though our cruise was canceled, Ryan decided he still wanted to go on a trip for a few days with just the two of us. Ryan is awesome to vacation with. He takes care of everything. I really just have to show up. He arranges the travel, hotels, car if we need it and does the research to see what to do and where to eat. I love it. The best part of vacation for me is just being able to show up and not have to plan anything.

He came up with a train ride to St Louis. We were thinking of a few other locations but a lot of places are still pretty shut down with COVID so we went with St Louis. We have wanted to try a train ride and see if it is something the kids would enjoy. So Thursday morning we drove downtown to Union Station and got on our train. About six hours later we arrived in the St Louis Union Station. It was nice to be able to talk and walk around and not have to be driving ourselves. It is a lot like a plane but more space and less restrictive on moving around. We stayed at the Hilton Union Station Hotel. It was a pretty awesome giant old stone building. Lots of cool architecture. They had it decorated gorgeous for Christmas and in the evenings they had laser light shows about every 30 minutes to watch. We met some long time friends for dinner one night, otherwise we just hung our around the hotel area. There were lots of restaurants, and a Ferris Wheel. We went through the aquarium and went to a movie. The Aquarium was small but nice. They had several petting/feeding areas that were not crowded at all so we got to take our time. The picture with our hand in the water is some kind of fish that eat all the dead skin off your hand when you put it in the water. It felt very creepy and weird but I made myself do it. There was one other person in the movie theater with us. I haven’t gone to a movie since January. I miss going to the theater. There wasn’t a lot of people around but there was still small crowds. Lots of little kids running around in their PJ’s on their way to see Santa.

It was a great long weekend. We had no schedule. It was very relaxing. We rode the train back Saturday afternoon. The kids spent one night at the Terry Grandparents, and one at their cousins. They were waiting for us when we got home that night.

Question.

How many Terry’s does it take to hang a TV on the wall?

Answer. Five. Two workers, one supervisor/vacuumer, and two wives with uncanny eye leveling skills.

Matthew’s 2020 Basketball Season.

Since baseball ended for Fall, Matthew has been gearing up for basketball season. Ryan signed him up for a private club. He could go play pick up games whenever, there was skill clinics daily and then he was put on an eighth grade team and could play in tournaments most weekends. Matthew was hoping to get up to speed with his skills and then start improving before school basketball started. His plan was going well until this past week, I picked him up after practice and he was limping and said he hurt his ankle when he did a layup and came down and landed on someone.

We took him home, iced it, elevated it gave him a large dose of Tylenol, wrapped it and he went to bed. The next morning he was not able to move it at all without a lot of pain. Ryan took him to the doctor and they did an x-ray. He had broken two ankle bones and fractured his tibia. They put a boot on his foot for him to wear until Monday then we will go and get a permanent cast. The fracture in his tibia is close to his growth plate that is wide open so he has been given strict instructions to stay completely off of it for two weeks so he doesn’t make the fracture worse. Then he has another 8-12 weeks in a cast after that and then physical therapy. Luckily he does not need surgery. Basketball season is gone and baseball conditioning will be well underway before he is back at it though.

After getting all that information from the doctor, the main take away Matthew focused on was the doctor saying his growth plates are wide open and he is getting ready to have a big growth spurt. He is very excited about that.

Emilee’s Baptism

Emilee and one of her besties Reese both turned 8 this year and they have wanted to get baptized together. They have known each other since birth and they are two peas in a pod. Their due dates were just a few days apart but Emilee decided to come a few weeks early. Technically we were not supposed to combine baptisms still because of stupid COVID but I am currently the Primary President for our church so I bent the rules a bit. We did keep it to grandparents and immediate family only for attendance so it was still pretty small.

They were baptized the day after Thanksgiving while everyone was here. My parents and Roger came in person, everyone else watched from home over zoom. Emilee was a little nervous in the morning about it but as soon as she saw Reese she was giddy and excited about it.

Reese was baptized first, then Emilee, then they switched for their confirmations. Emilee’s Grandpa Jones and Reese’s Grandma May gave the talks and they each picked a song and someone to say a prayer. It was a really sweet baptism. It was a little bitter sweet having our youngest kiddo get baptized. We don’t really have little kids anymore.

Thanksgiving 2020

We were originally supposed to be going on a cruise the beginning of December so we were focused on that and we didn’t have any clear cut plans for Thanksgiving this year. Then not much to our surprise our cruise was canceled because of COVID. We decided to focus on our Thanksgiving plans instead, we talked about just staying here, going to Utah, Florida, or joining someone else. In the end Kenny and Sherri suggested they come see us. They were supposed to go on the cruise with us and wanted to get out of Florida and have a little winter weather. So they decided to come. When my parents heard they decided to join us as well, so I figured I should invite everyone from my family so no one felt left out. In the end everyone ended up coming except Kenny and Sherri and Aubry. Sherri is pregnant and still gets pretty sick so traveling is awful for her, and Kenny came down with most likely COVID and felt crappy too. So it was a bummer that the people that started the party ended up not coming but the rest of us had a fun time for them.

We had 19 chairs, 11 kids, 8 adults, 5 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, 2 tables, 1 dog and a guinea pig ‘in a pear tree’. It was a house full, I don’t think it felt like it though. The weather was nice so the kids could jump on the trampoline and play outside. They had the basement to play in as well and had some pretty good games of foosball going most of the time. I don’t remember any fights or tears, I think siblings and cousins got a long great and if there was a minor skirmish there was a dozen other kids to go play with instead. John and Ryan usually had some three hour game going. The rest of us hung out, played our own games, watched a movie, visited, and there was always some food to cook or dishes to do.

We went with the traditional Thanksgiving plans for dinner. We invited Ryan’s parents to join us but they decided to stay home because Rhonda wasn’t feeling well, but Roger cooked our turkey for us with his trash can convection oven sounds gross but is delicious method. I made rolls, and lemon, chocolate, and banana pie ahead of time. Then on Thursday we made the sides, veggies, and potatoes and gravy and had a very delicious meal for Thanksgiving. I made or bought a few meals that were frozen and just ready to cook for the rest of the weekend so we didn’t spend all our time in the kitchen.

I had a stroke of genius and put my dad in charge of taking the pictures for the weekend. He loves to take pictures and I love to have pictures but always forget so I gave my camera to him and now have 200+ pictures of our weekend. They are a little heavy on the dog side but everyone else got some good shots. We got a good group shot of everyone too.

Some of the favorite pass times were Among Us, On the Dot, foosball, Catch Phrase, Celebrity, and a few episodes of the Masked Singer. Friday night we told the kids if they stayed in the basement and played they could stay up late and the adults had our traditional white elephant party. Ryan picked his own present and ended up with a new Gerber knife. I ended up with a motion sensor toilet light for middle of the night pee-ers. Someone left a tacky bowl with candy so old my kids wouldn’t even eat it as a bonus gift but over all, most people were satisfied with their gifts to the degree that if they couldn’t find a use for them, someone they new could have it. Roger and Rhonda now have a motion activated glowing toilet that they think is the handiest thing ever.

The Cazier’s and Jones families left Saturday morning. We relaxed with Grandma and Grandpa the rest of the day. Allison and Grandpa enjoyed a few Pink Panther movies together, then my mom and Allison and I went to Hobby Lobby and got new decorations for my Christmas tree and put them up.

My parents flew out early Sunday morning. I did take a nap Sunday afternoon, but I wasn’t exhausted or worn out from the weekend. It was fun to see my family and be social and enjoy everyone’s company. I even enjoyed having a dog to sneak food to and pet for a few days. If the French family had made it, that would have been icing on the cake. Next time hopefully.

My dad took a face shot of everyone. Here is the line up of 2020 Thanksgiving Attendees.

Life in November

First up is a flash back from 2012. Ryan had this picture pop up on his Facebook feed and he sent it to me. This is our little family the day after Emilee was born. This is the first time Allison and Matthew saw her. Pictures are so awesome. Literally a frozen piece of time that you can look back at and remember forever. They remind you of all kinds of other moments at the same time also. This was a fun day. Those days were physically exhausting but sweet and gone to fast. The picture next to the hospital one is fast forward eight years to Emilee mucking up horse stalls. Ryan was waiting in his car for her to come out because he was cold and it was almost thirty minutes past time for her lesson to be over. He went into get her and she was just helping get the barn shut down for the evening. The girl will go to any lengths at home-including going to bed at 5:30 in the evening to avoid chores but will happily freeze her bum off to shovel poop and dirt because it belongs to a horse.

The girls and I were comparing our genetics the other day. Being able to roll or wave your tongue (I have since learned it is called a clover leaf tongue) is a genetic trait. All of us can roll our tongues, the girls can make the clover (Matthew can do both as well), I can’t. A lot of people in my family can also roll their tongue but no one else can do the clover. The girls don’t share any DNA with Ryan’s side of the family because he is adopted but I don’t think any of them can do it either. Ryan can not do either one. So most likely it comes through my side of the family, I just got the rolling but not the clover gene, or my tongue has not reached its full genetic potential. Fascinating stuff here!!

In addition to a report on our tongue rolling skills, I have some more exciting news!! Allison found my bells in the closet and got them out the other day. She has been playing them a lot. She really likes Christmas music so there have been a few very good performances with the bells the past few weeks. Emilee and Matthew will join in sometimes but Leah and Allison have been the main players. When they get together they practice a few songs and then perform them for everyone. My hopes of a Terry Family Bell Choir have been renewed! I was a little ambitious in getting it started years. Now everyone is old enough to play and most of the time I would say half of us are willing to participate without coaxing. The other half can be bribed to play for 5-10minutes. Woohoo!

Matthew is wearing shorts, not just socks😁.

The past several years when I have asked the kids if they want to go see Santa at the Bass Pro shop, Matthew has rolled his eyes, Allison said “meh” , Emilee tears up and asks if she has to talk out loud or touch Santa, and Ryan says, “I don’t think the kids really care.” This year events unfolded a little differently so my girls were happy to go and I got a cute picture of them with Santa. First, their cousins invited them which makes everything more fun. Second, their brothers stayed home so there wasn’t a constant stream of snarky comments from them. Third, “thanks to COVID” instead of talking to Santa and sitting on his lap, there is a giant clear plastic screen between you and Santa and you get to ‘touch fingers’ through the screen then sit in front of the screen and take a picture. The screen makes it pretty hard to hear so most people just leave a letter or mime what they want to Santa, or just skip the talking part all together. It sounds ridiculous but my girls loved it, and honestly I think Santa loves it too. He seemed more authentically jolly then in past years.

I was thinking of waiting to put decorations up for Christmas after Thanksgiving but I didn’t make it. After all the stupid COVID crap this year I think I needed Christmas to come a little earlier than usual. If I remember right I have put my decorations up mid November for three years in a row so maybe it is just my new normal. This year I don’t think I am alone though, Christmas lights and decorations started appearing several weeks earlier around town and our neighborhood then they usually do. I have spent many a night reading a book snuggled up by my fireplace with just the Christmas lights on. My mom helped me redo my tree decorations when she was here for Thanksgiving. I’m feeling the red this year so I went to a red and white and I LOVE IT!

Allison had one of her big 5th grade projects this past month. They have to pick a Native American tribe to research and write a report on and then build an example of their homes. She picked the Anasazi Tribe. Allison is very detailed and willing to focus as much time on a project as she needs when she gets focused. She had a vision in mind and didn’t care how long it took to make it happen. She did this ALL on her own and did a great job. Her report was VERY THOUROUGH and researched too. It took a few conversations and showing her emails from her teacher for verification to convince her she didn’t need three separate sources to verify ANY fact she put in her report. There are some time management skills that need some polishing with that girl-she will not be rushed- but her creativity, attention to detail, and building skills are pretty great!

Allison’s Chalk-Up Meet

Allison started gymnastic when she was about 4 years old for fun. A few years ago she decided that she wanted to get a little more serious with it and start competing. We switched to a different gym and she had to get to a certain level before she could compete in meets. She worked for almost a year and made the team to start competing. The week before she started her team practices she broke her arm and wasn’t able to compete that season. When she was cleared she was a little behind again and had to do some catch up again. She was almost caught up and then COVID put a hold on everything for a few months. Even though she couldn’t go to class for a few months she worked at home to stay limber and work on getting better at her stuff. Once they started back again she made Team 4, she worked really hard again and in August right before school started they asked her if she would be interested in competing and moving up to Team 5. She was pretty excited and she has worked really hard and gotten a lot better. After 2 1/2 years of setting her goal to start competing in meets with a team, she had her first meet this past weekend! She did a great job and it was fun to watch her. Dad and I were the only ones aloud to go in person and watch because COVID is still raining on everyone’s fun, but I was able to record it and we watched it with the family when we got home and sent it to grandparents and other people. Dad and I are both proud of her for working hard and accomplishing her goal. She thought it was pretty fun and wants to keep doing more and getting better.

Hair glued to her head so it won’t move at all.

Emilee’s 8th Birthday

Well, Emilee-whemilee turned 8 this year! She has been counting down to her birthday for the last 7 months and after “taking forever, and no days going by” her special day finally came!

Her actual birthday was on a Tuesday so we opened presents and had a cookie cake and went to dinner as a family. Emilee picked Sake Lounge for her dinner. She stuffed herself on her favorite sushi roll, called The Shaggy Dog. She has been wanting her very own hover board so that is what she got from her family. She got some snuggly jackets, candy, and a stuffed animal or two as well. She had treats at school with her class and overall it was a happy day for her.

Left to Right, Peyton, Cambrie, Reese, Jovee, Emilee, Anna, Anna, Summer

She wanted to have a birthday party at Main Event with a few of her favorite friends. She picked bowling and the ropes course after stuffing themselves with pizza and a sundae special birthday treat and opening presents with her friends. I think she had a great time. We are glad Emilee is in our family. She is a happy little caboose, and we love her!

Matthew vs Dad Race-Age 14

On his actual birthday this year Matthew was to cool to race his dad. He was sulking a little bit about not having grown as much as he wanted to for the past year. A week or two later he changed his mind and challenged his dad to their annual race. They actually did three races this year. Matthew won the last one by a smidge but we told him the only one that counts is the first race, and he lost. Dad gets to keep the bragging rights for another year at least.

Just in case the video leaves any doubt, here is the photo finish.

Halloween Week Festivities

Halloween was on a Saturday this year, which was really nice. There were several activities throughout the week that kept us busy before the final culmination of gathering pillowcases of candy to shorten the life of our pancreases and challenge the strength of our teeth.

Matthew had his last baseball tournament bringing to close a back to back Spring and Fall season that was very fun but very long. The weather was COLD. The high for any of our four games was 39 degrees. Grandpa and the girls watched for bit then decided to return to Grandpa’s house for pizza and hot chocolate. Ryan was having a Man Trip with his mission buddies so he was warm and cozy in the hotel lounge he was watching football with his friends at in Vegas. Matthew and I survived the cold. He layered up and used hand warmers and running around helped. I made myself a cocoon of about 5 blankets, several layers, winter coat and boots, and about a dozen hand warmers strategically placed around my body. They were all good games and the boys ended up winning the entire tournament.

Next up on our Halloween week was actual snow. The original estimate was about 8 inches but luckily it was not that intense and with the ground still being pretty warm we had a nice slushy two inches when it was done. The girls had a fun time playing in the snow but luckily there wasn’t enough to stop school or anything else really.

Matthew had his written drivers test the same day as the snow. I finally convinced him he might want to study a little before he take it instead of just winging it. He did some practice tests that he failed with flying colors and decided to put a little more serious effort into his preparation. I encouraged him to not fail as he walked back to take the test. About ten minutes later he returned and said that the 25 question driving test was the most stressful test he has ever taken in his life but he passed with 88%. Now he gets to take Drivers Ed and get about 50 hours of practice in the next year then he can get a restricted license to drive himself to school or work when he is 15. He is a little hesitant to practice but is getting better. It will be pretty nice to have a third driver before to long.

Allison searched high and low for a costume for Peanut this year so he wouldn’t be left out of the festivities. She was very happy when she finally found one that was small enough to fit him. Peanut seemed less thrilled about it, but tolerated it well enough.

The girls had Halloween parties at school. They were a little different this year because some people are trying to hang onto COVID for as long as they possibly can. They got to dress up and play some ‘socially distanced’ games though. Our church had a Trunk-or-Treat too. It is the first ward activity since COVID. Everyone that wanted to come met in the parking lot and we had pizza and visited for a bit and then the kids made the rounds through all the cars to get as much candy as they could. It was a fun time.

Emilee had a Halloween Costume Parade at the barn where she takes riding lessons. Everyone was assigned a horse and then they were supposed to come up with a coordinating costume for them and the horse. Emilee was partnered with Reese and her new friend Peyton. They decided to be ballerinas. They thought is was extra funny because the horse they were assigned was a male and a big one at that. Peyton was not able to make it to the actual parade part so Emi and Reese did that, but when she did get there we took pictures with her. It was a fun time. The girls love any excuse to ride or be around the horses. Emilee stayed an extra hour after her last lesson to help clean up the stalls and get the horses ready for bed. Ryan took her to her lesson and when she came home she ran to me and said, “Guess what!? I got to scoop up horse poop and feed them hay!” That is funny in and of itself but Emilee is very adverse to any type of manual labor especially if it resembles ‘work’ in any way so it was very impressive that she not only did it but was thrilled about it as well.

The girls had to carve their giant pumpkins. We did that the day before Halloween. Allison did hers pretty much all by herself, she is a creative little girl. She has been watching a show called “Halloween Wars” that makes giant Halloween themed creations out of cake, modeling chocolate, pulled sugar, and carved pumpkins. She was itching to try some ideas she had from that.

This next picture is a little set up of Emilee’s I found one day this week. She has been playing something with the legos and included some of the Halloween decorations in her imagination playing. I took the picture because it won’t be long before she is to old for this and I will miss her little zoos, parades, fights, shows, or whatever else she comes up to imagine with her toys.

After all this fun festiveness it was finally time for the actual day of Halloween. We did our usual tradition of having the McDonald’s over for pizza and home made witches brew (root beer) then we all went trick or treating together and come home and have a giant swapping/trading market. I was very happy there were a lot of people trick or treating this year. Some people were trying to cancel it-with COVID as the excuse, but there were a lot of people out that did it. Most people just put their candy on the corner in a bowl but that was fine. The kids had a great time. Matthew went and did his own thing with some friends. He is having a hard time coming out of his shy bubble since COVID so Ryan and I helped him get invited to a things with some of his friends. He had a fun time and then texted Ryan to come get him when they started watching a scary movie. He had a good time. The older girls went back out for round two of trick or treating after we came back with the littles from the first. The adults played a game. Ross and Lauren are under quarantine for five more days because Ross got COVID from someone that stayed at their house. They stopped by in their van and we gave them some candy. I delivered it to them in my Betty the Dinosaur costume. They weren’t scared. Grandma also made personalized trick or treat bags for all the grandkids which they thought was great when they stopped at their house to trick or treat.

Emilee was a scary clown, Allison was a police officer, and Matthew was a baseball player. Allison went to the store and picked out her costume but being 2020/COVID they wouldn’t let her try it on and it was in a bag. It still had a picture of it though. However, when she got home and opened it up she was less than pleased with it and proceeded to let all of us know how disappointed she was for the next hour and went on ranting and raving about how stupid it was and she wouldn’t wear it. Her and Cambrie were planning on both being police officers and she wasn’t going to look stupid. I asked Lori to send a picture of Cambrie’s costume. It was the exact same one! I showed Allison and within 10 seconds she decided that it was fine and she would wear it. 🤦‍♀️😒 Oh well, problem solved.

It was a fun night, everyone enjoyed themselves and had way to much sugar. As usual by the time Halloween night is over I am happy to see it done. It was a fun night. Oh! Allison had a fun experiment she wanted to try with the dry ice this year. She made soap bubbles from evaporating dry ice. It worked well and she was quite happy with herself. She decided to speed the process along with a straw.

Who Ate Pretzels In My Car?!

My sweet husband is pretty patient and tolerant person. If you listed our family in order of who has the most pet peeves or gets irritated about stupid things he would be towards the bottom for sure. There are a few things he has a hard time ignoring though. One is glasses full of liquid left on the island in the kitchen that are inconveniently the height of his elbow so he constantly knocks them over. The one that tops all other misdeeds in his eyes is anything to do with his car. The number one pet peeve is now no longer an issue. It was getting in his car and banging his knees because I am shorter than him and had the seat up. His Tesla has a fancy function that will move the seat back when ever I get out so he doesn’t hit his knees anymore. However, his second pet peeve of his car appearing like it has been sat in, touched, or used in anyway is not so easily fixed. EVERYONE knows you can’t eat, drink (not even water) or even bring food into dads car. You can’t cross your legs and rest your foot on the dash or console. You can’t touch or breath on the windows. You can’t leave anything in the car that came in with you. As you can imagine, his car is pretty immaculate and frequently cleaned and checked to make sure it is up to snuff. These rules apply to dad’s car whether he is in it or not. Ironically I have tried to enforce these same rules in my own car with ZERO success.

At some point last week I took his car to take someone somewhere and may or may not have been finishing a handful of peanut butter pretzels when I got in the car. When I got home I forgot (admittedly AGAIN) that I was supposed to plug the car in to charge and went into the house and continued on with my day.

The next morning Ryan left early to travel somewhere for work. I was still in bed and heard my text message ding. I looked and it is a picture of his car not plugged in. I curse myself for forgetting and debate on just apologizing or being snarky and tell him it was probably him that forgot.😁 But as I was debating I got a second picture from him.

Caught by a stupid pretzel!🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Meet Betty

Betty is the name I gave my inflatable T-Rex costume. These costumes have been around for years. There is always one or two walking around on Halloween night. They always make me laugh too. It is really hard not to smile or laugh out loud when one of these wanders by with its tiny arms and tail that waddles like a duck when the person inside it walks. Many times when I’ve seen them I’ve thought I should get one of those and have some fun with it. I decided to do it this year. Betty has been worth every penny. Just try and have a bad day if a giant inflatable dinosaur chases you around the yard. Or better yet, be the one inside the giant inflatable dinosaur chasing someone around the yard. Betty has tried her hand at cooking dinner, napping on the couch, jumping on the trampoline, sauntering around the house, watching TV, going on a walk or a jog down the street, and many other things. Betty’s favorite thing to do is jump out and chase someone around while roaring. She is pretty good at it. The neighborhood children have come out in hoards to watch and wave at Betty. Stay tuned, I am sure you will see more of Betty.

This is Betty, waiting for the bus to come around the corner so she can roar at the kids when they get off.

Primary Program 2020 COVID Style

Church is still not back to normal yet. Each Stake is doing things a little different depending on how it best works for them. Our ward has been having very small groups of people attend church each week. This past week they have changed it a bit and now the ward is split in half so you will go every other week and then do your own at home every other week. In the past, every year in October the Primary Children do a sacrament program to share what they have been learning in Primary. They sing songs and have little speaking parts they share. It is one of my favorite sacrament meetings of the year.

This year I am the Primary President so it is my job to put the program together with my presidency. Most wards have canceled it due to COVID, some have done a virtual program. We decided to put together a virtual program for those kids that wanted to participate. I will plan on attaching it to this post when it is complete. The girls did their part for it today. They each wrote an answer to a question. Emilee’s was, how can I keep my baptismal covenants? Allison’s was, how can I teach others about Christ?

GNO

I print my blog in six months increments. I just got the most recent one printed for January-June 2020. It was about half the number of pages as the other volumes have been. Not as much to write about when the world shuts down and people try and keep it that way as long as possible. Our family is trying to get back to life as much and as normal as possible. It has been a long time but I went on a Girls Night Out with some of my friends the other night. We met for dinner and then most of us went to an escape room afterwards. It was a really fun night, we all had a great time and enjoyed being together. There was great conversation and we kicked the escape rooms butt!

Emilee the Horse Whisperer

This little girl is in love with her new hobby. She loves going to her riding lessons. She will not commit to any other activity before clarifying that it doesn’t interfere with her lesson first. She does great. It is amazing to me how she has no fear, she just goes for it and does whatever her teacher says. The other girl she rides with is Peyton. They like to take turns bringing apples and carrots to the horses for a little treat afterwards. They give them to all the horses, not just the ones they rode that day.

She has her pants, shirt, socks, boots, and helmet all set out so it looks like a little person on her floor days before her lesson. She comes home and gets changed and counts down the minutes until it is time to go. It is fun to watch her.

I made a friend too. This cat comes and jumps in my lap every week and takes a nap. I am not a big cat person but he keeps me warm so I allow it. He is pretty sweet. The first few weeks he would try and I would shew him off, so he would sit right next to me. He has a little bucket that he curls up in sometimes too-which is pretty stinking cute. He finally wore me down and I let him curl up on my lap.

Matthew Gets His Learners Permit…Soon

Matthew turned 14 this year! Time really does fly. We have done a few test drives and I have him signed up to take the written drivers test next week. He thinks he is going to ‘wing it’. If he fails he has to wait a bit to take it again so I am encouraging him to study. I am actually looking forward to him being able to get himself around a little bit in the next year or two. Shuttling everyone around can be a full time job.

He decided to have a few friends spend the night for his b-day. Ryan took them all to an Escape Room. They were able to figure it out and escape with a few minutes to spare. They ate pizza and candy the rest of the night while playing video games.

We were out of wrapping paper so I just decorated the box myself.

The past week of so I have spent a lot of time reminiscing and thinking about being his mom the past 14 years. I have been blessed with a very good son. A lot of the qualities and strengths he has I have seen in him since he was born or very young. They have become more pronounced or developed more but I’m always amazed at how much of their personalities are present and distinguishable when they are born, some even before that. Matthew has always been sweet and kind and tender hearted. He is quick to pick things up in all aspects of his life-physical, emotional, mental. He is a very good friend and likes to have meaningful friendships but his shyness can slow the process down a little for him. He is a happy person. He is hard on himself and tries to improve, he hides this so well that sometimes I forget he tends to put too much pressure on himself until it boils over sometimes. He wants to do good and be good. He internalized things far better than I ever did at his age. He has a good sense of humor and is fun to be around. He has empathy, compassion, and kindness. His sisters look up to him and love it when he gives them attention. His dad says, “The gospel rests on his shoulders well.” I agree. He listens and understand the gospel well and works on his testimony. I am glad that I get to be his mom, I am excited to see what he is going to do with his life over the next few years. He is good.

His best friend not girlfriend Campbell (she is his girlfriend) has a birthday the same week as Matthew so she came over and I took them to lunch with the family and they exchanged gifts. They each got each other candy and a sweatshirt. She is a very sweet girl and I like her. Matthew has liked her since she moved here in 4th grade. They just started talking and becoming friends at the end of last year, and over the summer have become “really good friends”. The discussions of dating, expectations, guidelines and family rules have been reviewed A LOT in our house lately. The sweet spot the Terry family has been riding the past few years of self sufficient low drama children has sprung a leak. I have heard myself saying many things to him that I know I remember rolling my eyes at when my parents said them to me when I was his age. My number one goal right now as we tip toe into learning how to guide him through relationships with the opposite sex for the next few years is keeping the lines of communication open. He knows I don’t want him to get serious and have a girl friends for several more years down the road but if he is going to do it anyways I don’t want him sneaking around doing it. I want him in my house under my supervision. His sisters are also excellent information gatherers and reporters and chaperones as well, and are very willing to help.

Pumpkin Picking

Matthew was to cool to go to the pumpkin patch with us this year. The girls and I went to the Louisburg Cider Mill. You can watch the process of them making the cider from a whole apple to sealing the lid on the jar. They also have pumpkin spice donuts that are made fresh and you can watch that happen too.

We didn’t have a ton of time this year so instead of meandering through the entire pumpkin patch the girls picked a pumpkin from the mini patch they had next to the store. They could pick any pumpkin they wanted as long as they carried it themselves. I had my hands full of donuts and all of our cider slushies. We had to stop and give Emilee a few breaks on the way to the car but we made it, and ate another donut to celebrate.

We decided to get extra donuts for our cousins. They had a visitor that had COVID when she came so they have to quarantine again, and on day 10 of their quarantine Ross and we think Lauren came down with it too. We thought they might enjoy some fresh donuts. We took some to Grandma and Grandpa Terry too as a perk for living by us.

I thought this was a handy dandy apple chart. Big shocker that all our favorites are the sweet ones.

…September…It Came…It Went…

Well, September was a bit of an odd month. Mostly because of school. The girls continued to go every day. Matthew continued to be ‘educated’ (I use that term VERY loosely) virtually from his computer 6 hours a day. It is ridiculous. The majority of parents are ticked off at how schooling is going this year. The whole situation of how COVID 19 is handled is one big joke. The information is mixed, the reporting is inaccurate, it is safe to play sports but not go to school. Basically all adult needs and wants are up and running to some degree, kids are supposed to be the least effected by COVID and schools are acting like it is a death sentence to have school. There was finally a School Board Meeting and they voted to start in person school for the middle school and high school kids. If all goes according to plan then Matthew will go back to ‘in person school’ on October 19th. The three biggest school districts are holding strong to their no in person schooling though. It is awful. I could go on and on but I’ve written enough emails and letters about it to various boards and useless leaders that I don’t want to spend more time on it here.

There was some more notable things that happened in September. Grandma and Grandpa Terry moved into a house just down the street from us so we spent lots of time helping them get settled. There is still a lot of things to do to help them get settled but it is nice to have them close. The girls like to go over once or twice a week after school and hang out with them. Matthew has suddenly started going on ‘bike rides’ that end at Grandma’s house, specifically her pantry where she keeps the soda and jelly beans.

I turned 39. My last year of 30’s. Not sure how I feel about that. Ryan planned a night away for the two of us at Excelsior Springs. We stayed in the Elm’s Hotel and had a nice dinner and went to their in house spa. I loved their quiet room. I sat in a comfy chair and read a book until I fell asleep. I also got a facial. The girl was really good at balancing the comments of how youthful my skin looks with recommendations for products and treatments I need to get so I don’t look old. For my family birthday cake I requested a chocolate layered dessert. Ryan made it for me. It has a crust with chocolate pudding and a cream cheese filling and whip cream on top. Yummy! When I took the first bite I was sorely disappointed to find out that Ryan had forgotten to bake the crust first so it was raw. He claimed he couldn’t even tell and finished eating his piece. I disagreed and requested a cooked birthday cake. His second try was much better.

Emilee found her new favorite hobby! After enduring being dragged to sport after sport and tolerating the games and practices to appease her parents, Emilee found her passion. She started taking horse riding lessons. She counts down the days then the hours then the minutes every week until it is time to go to her lesson. She was learning to post and trot within 30 minutes of getting on the horse her first lesson. We got her some riding gloves, helmet, pants and boots. We are glad she is really enjoying herself. Nervous that someday she thinks she needs a horse.

Matthew passed on playing football this year. He focused more on baseball, and he is doing some basketball training to help get ready for the season in December. After a few lessons at the club, they asked him to be on their 8th grade team. I love watching him play baseball but basketball is a very close second. I just enjoy watching all my kids do the things they enjoy.

Allison moved up another level in gymnastics. She is now on team 5. She has her first meet coming up in November.

Firebird Baseball Club Fall 2020

Matthew started his new baseball team for Fall. I mentioned it a little before but Ryan and Jimmy joined with another coach named Robby and they combined part of three teams into two teams. For Fall they will be mixing and matching the boys up different for each tournament and then settle into more permanent teams in the Spring. It is still new but we have played several times and are getting to know each other and learning to play with each other. Matthew caught a ball with his cheek bone the other day and has a nice black eye to show for it. They have finished in the top three for several of tournaments we played which is fun and encouraging.

First Day of School

Well, it was delayed 2 weeks and then middle school and high school were changed to virtual only for an undetermined amount of time based on a ridiculous skewed made up ‘gating criteria’ but we had the first day of school this past week!

The principal kept all the walkers until after the car riders were gone so Allison sat in the class room an extra 45 minutes, got home an hour after school ended, and crossed a four lane road without a crossing guard, but after what I can only imagine was a full inbox, many phone calls, a meeting with the teachers, and even more in person conversations she decided against that and let the kids go when school was over the next day. This was a big issue several years ago but the principal in her never ending attempts to control every single thing tried it again. Four years left of this woman…four years.

Allison rode the bus the first day with Emilee so she wouldn’t be by herself and is in 5th grade. Her last year of elementary school. Her teacher is Mrs. Brown and seems to be pretty awesome so far. Back to school night was all virtual and she did a good job so you could actually hear and see what was going on. I think she will be a good fit for Allison. As I mentioned, she can ride the bus but most of the time wants to walk or ride her bike to see her friends because none of her best friends ended up in her class. We have made the deal that on days I work and dad isn’t working from home she has to ride the bus, other days she can pick. She is going to do one more year of girls scouts. She is doing cheer one last time (hopefully) and has gymnastics twice a week for 2 1/2 hours. She color coded all of her school supplies to the correct pencil box they go in. As usual she is up to date on all the school gossip and happenings, even some from the middle school, despite being with her class and her class only all day long. Lunch is in the class room, and recess is rotating to different areas with your own class. She is glad to be back in school though and see and interact with more people.

Emilee is starting 2nd grade. She will ride the bus each day. She puts her mask on and they take her temperature then she is whisked away to the school. Once she is dropped off she walks around a one way loop at the school until she arrives at her classroom. Her teacher this year is Mrs. Trimble. Allison had her for 2nd grade as well and I wasn’t impressed. I requested a change but the principal said she can’t do anything about it. For now we will keep her there and hope that it goes well. If it doesn’t I will have a meeting with the principle about it. Anyway, she is doing good so far. There are 18 kids in her class, 6 of those are girls. She seems to be pretty comfortable now since she knows most of the kids and is familiar with the school. Recess rotation on the grass with no balls and not allowed to play tag is pretty boring but she did find two frogs so that brightened her day. She is not going to do Girl Scouts this year. Hopefully activity days will be starting again before to long. We will get her on a basketball team in the winter. We are also looking into horse lessons with her bestie Reese once a week.

Matthew is in 8th grade. He started conditioning this summer with the intentions of playing football but ended up deciding against it. He has put on a grand total of 5 pounds this last year and 1 inch making him 5 feet even and 85 pounds soaking wet. He decided to focus on getting better at basketball and baseball instead of getting squished in football. He was supposed to start school full time in person, but the school switched a few days before school started to all virtual. Apparently it is safe enough to play sports…but not sit in a desk at school. So he has four classes a day for 1 1/2 hours each via zoom. That is a long time to be staring at a computer screen. We are trying to make the best of it and hopefully it will not last much longer. He is pretty social and is finding and settling in with a good group of kids it seems like. None of them are close enough to hang out after school without parent assistance in getting there but they are close enough it is pretty easy to get them together. There is one boy in particular we are glad he is buddies with. Tyson Beshore. The whole family is a great family, anytime we can get them together we are more than happy to do it. Matthew can get his learners permit for driving in October. That is pretty crazy.

So the 2020 school year if off to a start. It is going to be a different, frustrating, and hopefully end well but we will see. I hope my kids can learn and grow mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally.

Random Cute Picture

Kayaking

We got a new neighbor last August right next door to us. They are a nice family. I chatted with them a little but when COVID quarantine was going in March and April her and I got to know each other a little better. Her name is Margarita. We started going on walks together and then she asked if I wanted to play tennis with her on the neighborhood court.

When we started playing I was only half interested. We plan on playing for an hour and after 40 minutes I was ready to be done. My endurance has improved along with my skills so I enjoy it much more now and look forward to going. I even asked for a new racquet for my birthday. I also got a brace for my elbow because I am old and got tennis elbow. Maybe in a few decades we will be in the Senior Olympics together in tennis. She is a good friend and we have fun together. We can share our woes of children with each other too when we are on our walks.

She got into kayaking this summer too and invited me along with her. It is very peaceful and relaxing and we enjoyed the sunset.

Butterflies

We made it to Powell Gardens again this year with the McDonald family to see the butterflies and walk around the gardens. It is always beautiful. With the COVID restrictions we had to wait in line a bit to go into the conservatory but it wasn’t to bad.

The kids played in the fountains for a little while. There was a new kid area for them to dig in the dirt and plant stuff. There was a second monarch butterfly house as well. The weather was not ridiculously hot so it was a nice day.

It was nice to get out and have something to do. We usually go to the Cultural Festival with the McDonald’s in August as well but that has been canceled this year.

Allison is DOUBLE DIGITS

Allison had her 10th birthday. Double digits for her is a big deal! She has told us that her standing in the world is basically an adult now that she has two digits in her age. She is beyond excited to be able to say, “I am 10 years old!” Instead of the slightly less dignified, “I am basically 10.”

She originally approached me with a three day two night party plan with her closest 20 friends. After some negotiating we were able to get it narrowed down to something a little more manageable for her no fun mom. She helped plan a very good party for herself. She invited a few friends over to watch a gymnastics movie about mid afternoon and play some games. Then per her request we had Wendy’s for dinner. Of course their was blowing out candles and a cookie cake and opening presents. Then they went not just swimming, but swimming at the end of the day so it was dark and the pool lights were on. It is fun to swim in the dark.

After swimming they cleaned up and watched a movie outside in the driveway with lots of movie snacks. Then they goofed around in the basement until they fell asleep. The next morning we had donuts and juice for breakfast. After breakfast they all piled into the car for the last activity of the party, open gym at the gymnastics gym. When that was over everyone was pretty tired and went home to hopefully take a nap.

It was a fun group of girls, I think Allison had a fun time and loved celebrating herself. Her dad and I gave her a hover board which she was beyond excited about. She zips around all over the place with it.

Just Going to Leave This Right Here.

All right dear Allison. This post is about you. Maybe no one ever reads it again. Maybe we laugh about it together in the future. Maybe it is just for immediate therapy.

You are a strong willed, determined, passionate human being. I love those qualities in you but I admit they are also sometimes difficult to help you learn to manage and direct. I know sometimes I am to overbearing and short and impatient with you. I promise it is something I work on daily. Darn it girl! You don’t make it easy sometimes. We seem to struggle more sometimes than others with getting along with each other and lately it has been more struggle than not.

Yesterday we had some dentist appointments and then were meeting some friends at the Butterfly Garden to spend the afternoon. The dental appointments went a little quicker than usual, we had an hour drive and were still going to be a little early to meet our friends. There was a McDonald’s right next to us so I asked the girls if they wanted to get a little snack to eat on the way at McDonald’s. This is how the next few minutes went.

Me: Ok, I will swing by McDonald’s and you can each get something.

Allison: Is there a Wendy’s? I like Wendy’s better.

Me: No, there is not a Wendy’s around here. We are by McDonald’s already, that is why I said McDonald’s.

Allison: We passed a Burger King on the way here. Can we go there instead?

Me: (deep breath- 9 out of 10 times when we have any plans or decisions made Allison will request they be changes for her convenience- we have time to kill, it isn’t a big deal) Sure, it isn’t on the way but since it is pretty close and we have a little extra time we can go to Burger King instead.

A few minutes later pulling into BK I ask the girls what they want. Emilee wants french toast sticks and Allison requests mozzarella sticks. It is still early so I ask the employee if they are making mozzarella sticks or not. They say they are not but will make them ‘special’. I look at the menu and it says 4 or 8 sticks, and ask Allison how many she wants.

Allison: I want 5.

Me: They don’t do 5. You can do 4 or 8.

Allison: I only want 5. I will eat 6. Can you ask them for 6.

Me: (deep breath-Allison often likes to ignore facts, rules, or guidelines and will just keep repeating her question/statement to see if the answer will change) 6 is not an option. 4 or 8 is the option. If you want 6 get 8 and share the rest with others.

Allison: Uugg. I will do 4. Ask them for extra mozzarella.

Me: They are already made sticks, you can’t add mozzarella to them.

Allison: Why can’t you just ask. It doesn’t seem hard to add cheese to something.

Me: (deep breath) Tell the person we are ready to order and ask for 8 mozzarella. As I do this Allison repeats over and over in my ear from the back seat to just ask for extra mozzarella. I ignore her.

Allison: Rolls her window down (which I usually have locked for reasons just like this) and interrupts me and asks the employee if she can change her order to 6 sticks and add extra cheese.

I take another deep breath while the employee says, as you might expect, “We only have 4 or 8 sticks, and we can’t add extra cheese but we can do extra sauce.” Allison then changes her order to 4 sticks and NO extra sauce. I take another deep breath and pull forward to get the food. As we wait she repeatedly asks in my ear from the back seat to ask for extra sauce because she now wants extra sauce. They hand me me the bag and there is a large container of sauce-easily plenty for 4 sticks. She insists it is not enough, so I ask for an extra sauce and we drive away.

Allison ends up eating 4 sticks with no sauce because ‘it tastes weird’.

I have had several conversations with Allison in the past when my patience is better about doing things efficiently, or easily, or conveniently, or considering others time or preferences. When I finish she explains to me that efficiency, ease, and convenience are below zero on her scale of importance when making decisions and other peoples needs she will try to consider more often but by her tone are barely above the previous reasons. Her desires, interests, aesthetic appeal, and fun are what drives her decisions. So we continue our daily interactions with very different approaches. One thing is for sure, we will both help each other build our patience and endurance.

It is STILL Summer

Since school ‘ended’ after Spring Break in March, it has been a LONG break. I started working a few days a week in May and the kids are technically old enough to watch each other but to be blunt, they aren’t very good at it. Maybe because they aren’t old enough after all, or because like me their patience with each other is low after being together 24/7 for months. Whatever the reason, it was causing me some stress to come home to arguing kids that had eaten junk food all day, a destroyed house. Ryan’s boss has a daughter who is in college that was not supposed to be home but like everyone else, her plans were canceled when COVID started. We asked her if she would come over on the days that I work and help keep the peace and sanity of the kids. It has worked out great. The kids get up and get ready and do their jobs and then she comes over from 11-5 and takes them to the pool, or does things around the house with them. Matthew is more on his own and can do things with them or go hang out with friends. The girls love her though. They ask if Claire can come over everyday. I am glad it is working out for all of us.

After two years I am signing off as the Girl Scout Leader for Emilee’s troop. She is old enough for Primary Activity Girls now and enjoys going to that. I don’t have as much free time once all the kids activities get going too. We had one last activity together this past week to celebrate the year and their hard work selling cookies. I rented a big blow up water slide, set up the slip-n-slide and they played on those for a few hours. We had pizza for dinner and played some more. Then when it got dark we watched Aladdin on an outdoor screen in the back yard. It lasted about 7 hours. It was exhausting, but the girls had a blast. They were a really good group of girls. I had fun being the leader but I am ready to pass the torch.

Girl Scouts watching a movie in the back yard.

It seemed like things were slowly getting back to normal and school was scheduled to start August 12th. Then the Kansas Governor decided to make an announcement saying that she was issuing an executive order to post phone school starting until after Labor Day. I am not going to lie. It was a big mental blow for A LOT of people, and while she had her ‘reasons’ they seemed unfounded to me. The Kansas school board voted against her executive order, which meant each school district could decide when to start for themselves. The two biggest districts around us decided to just do what the Governor said so they could be better prepared. I am not sure what that means…did they not know they were going to start school on August 12th when they made the calendar and gave it to everyone?! Everyone seems to be sitting around waiting for someone to tell them what to do instead of making a decision and moving forward. Anyway, our school district is having a meeting soon so decide when we will start. It will be Aug 12th as planned, Aug 26th to allow ‘a little more preparing time’ or September 8th. I think if they delay it once they will just continue to delay it and dig the COVID recovery hole deeper and deeper. We need to start and get society and life back on track. A regular school schedule will help with that A LOT. Unless you think I am insensitive to the pandemic, I am not, I check the numbers, I know the risks, I am just in the opinion that we mitigate the risks (reasonably) and keep life moving.

Fourth of July

We thought last year would be our final year in Lincoln Nebraska for July 4th. However, Roger and Rhonda dragged their feet and delayed long enough to get another one in. This one will be the last though because right before the weekend they bought a house in Olathe, right down the street from us actually. Then shortly after the weekend they listed their current house and it sold in less that 24 hours. They are set to move mid August and will be Kansans again.

The Fourth in Lincoln is always a great time though. I will miss our gatherings there. Neighbors all around us do amazing fireworks for hours and we get some good ones of our own. It is just a nice relaxing holiday. This year I asked Ryan to blast some patriotic music while we lit them off, that was inspiring.

It will be better to have a Grandma and Grandpa closer all year round though.

Spring Baseball 2020

Spring baseball for Matthew didn’t end up starting until June, so it was more like REALLY HOT SUMMER BASEBALL but Matthew and the rest of the boys didn’t care. They just want to play and have fun. We did lots of tournaments and played League games so we were able to get plenty of games in. The girls have a good group of friends that they run around with during the games (other players younger siblings) so they love it just as much.

Matthew likes to wear silly socks to games and practices. These are the best ones.

We had a fun tournament scheduled in Branson Missouri in June. We decided to post phone until July to have more/better competition. Then to make a long story short a few lame parents were able to manipulate the head coach into canceling it all together. Instead of Branson Missouri we went to Liberty Missouri which is not the same, but we tried to make the best of it and planned some team activities to get the boys together on the days we were supposed to be in Branson. They had a sleep over with the whole team and basically stayed up all night. We went to a baseball museum and lunch at Chicken-n-Pickle were they could play pickle ball for an hour or so. We also scheduled a parent vs player whiffle ball game but that hasn’t happened yet because of weather.

One of the highlights of this season for Matthew was his double that ended the game with a walk off. I made a little ‘news shot’ from the Game Changer recap of the game. I was the one keeping score and I know the score would actually be 4-3 since it was a walk off hit, but since he hit a double the App recorded both runners that came in. Anyway, it was an awesome hit and the boys were pretty excited to win.

Matthew just his a double and they won with a walk off.

The parent that takes all the awesome pictures for us is moving so this is probably the last season she will take picture for us. After this the quality of pictures will change drastically because I am the one taking them. I am trying to improve my photography skills though.

Another big change for baseball is that Ryan and Coach Jimmy Adams didn’t like the way the 14 year old program is run so they have decided to leave NBA (the academy Matthew has played for the past three years) and do their own team for at least the next year. They are combining teams with another coach and are planning on having two teams that will practice together and mix and match through the Fall then be divided into more permanent teams in the Spring. Matthew will now be on a team called FBC (Fire Birds Baseball Club). We played a tournament with some of the boys on his new team this past weekend. There were a few bloopers because they had never played together but they ended up winning the tournament. Matthew is pretty excited, they will be a pretty competitive higher end AAA team. Ryan likes to say, “They will be a really salty team.” Once they practice with each other and get to know each other. I think it will be good for Matthew because instead of being closer to the top of the team talent, he is more mid range so he will have to challenge himself more to get better and have more kids to learn from.

This is a tournament that his new team FBC played and won together.

Emilee and Allison have a group of friends they hang out with during the game. The younger siblings of players group. They all have a good time together. At one of the last games, the boys dugout had some weird holes in it, probably for drainage, but the girls decided to make good use of them.

The last two league games for NBA were back to back. The first game was a blow out. The final score was 18 to 3 or something like that. One of their players ended up getting hurt and they didn’t have enough so we lent them one of our just so we could keep playing. The coaches let the boys try spots they usually don’t play, one player even tried batting left handed and got a double. Matthew got a chance at pitching, which he has been begging for all season. While he was warming up the score was 17-0 us, the catcher and him were joking around that hopefully their lead was big enough Matthew didn’t blow the game. He only gave up 3 runs though.

The last event of our season and time with the NBA-Adams team was a parent vs player wiffle ball game. It was a lot of fun. A lot of cheating from the parents, but a lot of fun. For example, after each hit I relocated second base to give us the advantage of them not knowing were the base was to get them out.

Dad’s Birthday

Dad turned 41 this year! We went out to one of his favorite restaurants, Sake Lounge, and had a lot of yummy sushi. In the past he has requested his mom’s chocolate cake but this year he changed it up and asked for a lemon cake. I only have one cake recipe that has lemon in it so I made that. I nailed it. It was delicious. Not what he wanted, but still delicious. The cake I made had a glaze instead of a frosting and he said he had envisioned frosting. It was still delicious though.

We were a little short on gift ideas so he got some new pajama pants and some snazzy socks. I remembered him mentioning that he wanted a good chopping knife, ours are getting pretty dull. I found him one, and it is definitely sharp. It has cut all of us that have used it. Apparently we need to work on our knife safety skills. Allison decided it needed to be named so we now refer to it as Kevin.

Emilee Starts Softball

Thanks to her friend Stella, Emilee was willing to try a new sport this Spring. We signed her up for Softball. It ended up not starting until June but we were still able to do it.

Practices were fun and she liked going to those, but once games started it was a little trickier to get her there. I ended up bribing her with an ice cream cone from McDonald’s after each game she went to. We still missed a few but she got to most. She did really well too! She got a few good hits in and ran the bases. She chased the ball down and threw it to first a few times and got two outs. She learned a lot about how the game works and what you are supposed to do on offense or defense. They usually got a team treat afterwards to that was a motivation for her to go. I didn’t know that until after promising her an ice cream cone so she loved getting a bonus treat.

She loved when we would come watch her too. Allison and I made it to most of the games. It was a bonus when dad and Matthew came, his baseball overlapped a lot.

Dad and Matthew tried to help her practice hitting and play catch with her during the week too. Emilee is naturally athletic but she is averse to sweating so we are hoping she will push past that and try again next year.

Family RV-cation to the Ozarks

We are in the process of dissolving our RV business. As that process has continued to play out we have ended up with one of out RV’s here in KS. Li’l Sebastian is enjoying the heartland. Ryan decided that if we are going to have it here and are paying for it we might as well use it and enjoy it. He planned a quick family vacation to the Lake of the Ozarks. We loaded up Sebastian and drove down Friday night to the KOA. Ryan has been there many times for work, none of the rest of us have ever been.

It is a nice little town. There are all kinds of things to do. The KOA was pretty new and updated. The first thing we did upon arrival is light a fire and roast some smores. We explored the campsite a little. Then it was pretty late so we started a movie together in the RV then went to bed.

The rest of the weekend was pretty packed with cool activities. We went to a water park, toured Bridal Caves, hiked a few trails including one that had castle ruins to see, we also went to the lake and swam for a few hours. We cooked over the fire for dinner each night and had smores. There was park and a pool at our camp site that we swam in too.

This is a peak at one of the huge underground lakes in the cave.

There was a lot fewer people than usual because of COVID still but that made it not as crowded when we went to all those places. Ryan and I have decided we are ready to pretty much go back to our normal lives. We understand the risks of being in public and getting Corona and we are fine accepting those risks. Just like we do with the flu, and colds, and every other disease we might catch by living our lives. The purpose was to slow the spread to not overwhelm the hospitals and we did that- a while ago- somewhere along the road the goal for some became to have no one else get COVID ever and that is ridiculous. Then the riots and protests and looting has started with ANTIFA and BLM groups. Thousands have been gathering in groups to do that…it is hard for the media and liberals to convince people we have to continue to stay home for everything except protesting and rioting. Anyway, I digress. Back to our vacation.

For some reason the girls were intent on seeing a turtle. They picked their wish well. We saw our first turtle cruising across the highway right as we got to town. He was luckily on his way off the highway. On our hike there was one imitating a rock right on the trail we were hiking. The last one we found was next to our campsite buried in the leaves. He was the luckiest because the girls gave him a snack of lettuce and blueberries before he moved on.

This is the turtle we almost missed sitting on the path we were walking on.

It was a very nice relaxing weekend. I am glad that we did it and enjoyed our time together. The RV survived and is still running. We did dismantle the table because we couldn’t figure out the correct way to turn it into a bed. It is a fairly easy fix though. I followed in the van so we would have a vehicle to drive around once we got there. The first two minutes were exciting to watch as we left. The door flew open, and a couple of the side panels fell open. We had to stop once on the way there because Emilee was trying to move around when she wasn’t supposed to and crashed her face into a window and started gushing blood. Luckily it wasn’t broken and we got it under control pretty quick. After that the rest of our trip was accident and injury free.

Strike Two

Awhile ago I posted some ‘Mayochup’. It was a good effort at fry sauce, but not quite the right ratio of ketchup to mayonnaise-and the name is stupid. I saw this in the store the other day, and it took some brainstorming with a few people to figure out what it was supposed to be- mayo and seratcha. No Heinz, just no.

Summer Begins!

The kids finished their online Covid 19 schooling and are now enjoying their summer. Things are gradually starting to open again but by no means would I say things are back to normal. The city pools are not going to be opening, but they did open our neighborhood pools. The rule is that we can’t bring any friends with us for now though, which is a big bummer. We have been finding fun things to do still and will make the most of our summer.

Matthew had to imitate a picture for his last 7th grade art project. He picked the picture of a bear in his room from our trip to the Smokey Mountains.

We had a donut truck visit the neighborhood. Allison spotted it and we got way to many donuts.

I am ‘allowed’ to work again. I used to wear a mask and glasses, and of course gloves. Now the new PPE requirements are head cover, face shield, glasses, TWO masks, glove and a jacket. It is hot, hard to breath and sometimes hard to see.

I talked Matthew into letting my use my extra hair color on him. He hated it at first and wouldn’t go anywhere without a hat but has now relaxed and is waiting patiently for it to grow out. Pretty crazy how a color can make you look different.

My presidency and I put together a little drive through ice cream stand for our ward. It was a chance to celebrate summer starting and an excuse to see people face to face. We had a good turn out and it was a lot of fun.

Emilee tried softball this year. She did great for practice, but once games started she wanted nothing to do with it. It took 30 minutes to get her in the dug out for her first game. Then she was fine and did a great job hitting and catching and throwing. The second game she went with protest and still did a great job. I don’t know if we are going to get her to anymore though. She is a little home body.

We found a fun place to have a picnic and then play in the creek or stream with our cousins. The kids were skeptical on our way. None of us had been there before and we didn’t know if the stream was a puddle or deep enough to play in. It turned out great though. It has a shallow still areas, and deeper areas and a little ‘rapids’ area that they thought was great fun. There were fish, shells, crayfish and frogs to chase around. Everyone tried their hand at rock skipping. It was a fun day!

This young man is thrilled to be playing baseball again. It is ridiculously hot, but they don’t care. They had a weekend of scrimmages, then a tournament and a few more tournaments to come plus the regular league games. He still can’t get enough of it.

Mother’s Day 2020

We weren’t under a mandatory stay at home order for Mother’s Day but it is still requested that you stay home as much as possible. Anyway, I requested the children each give a talk on mothers for church and sing me a musical number for part of our church at home sacrament meeting. They all did a good job. They sang ‘Gethsemane’ for me. I was hoping for a new song or a song related to Mother’s Day but I will take it.

Best Memes of COVID 19

With being stuck at home, I was able to keep up on the news more than usual. The important and the trivial. I decided to make a collection of the memes I thought were the best, either for sarcasm, irony, absurdness, or just plain funny. I picked my top 5 too.

The Office is one of my favorite sitcoms. During all the time this was going on, it was also the 15 anniversary for the show starting. I believe this meme is posted earlier in my blog but it made me laugh and it has some nostalgia to it so it gets a re-post here.

This got a good chuckle. Usually the sign is about accidents in the work place. Some nice ironic humor in lieu of the entire world being a dangerous work place. Also, if we had this sign at our house, the number got a lot higher than 6.

Good old fashioned dad humor always gets a highlight on the list.

Due to the horrible job and flat out lying the Chinese government has done with handling the virus they are under some world scrutiny. This meme was a dig at them from a different angle then everything else China related at the moment.

Top 5 favorites. We are starting to see the evidence of no haircuts around our house. Matthew and Ryan are using this opportunity to try some new hair styles.

May…or was it April Happenings

It is about the middle of May. The Kansas state wide stay at home order ended May 4th. Our county extended for another week. Bringing our areas stay at home order to last a whopping 52 days. Now we are in Phase II of the Covid 19 recovery plan. I believe phase IV is when things are supposed to be back to ‘normal’. The media and politicians are a mess, it is ridiculous to listen to everyone basically bicker and fight and make things up to get their own agendas across. The original idea of slowing the progression of the disease so health care could get prepared has now been changed to-no one should leave their house again until their is a vaccine or cure discovered, and if you think differently then this you are a selfish, hateful, evil person. We will not be done with Covid 19 until NO ONE ever is at risk of dying from it again. Interestingly enough the people I see against moving forward all have a guaranteed paycheck and other than socially their lives haven’t been disrupted that much. People on both sides of the argument have started protesting. The research and numbers from across the United States and other countries-excluding China who had obviously lied from the start, is coming back that while this disease is very contagious, it is not as deadly as first thought. The number of people that have or had Covid is way higher, I’ve seen reports that say 22-44% higher than the numbers show. So deaths are said to be between 4-10% are actually less than 1%. That is using the current death number which is suspected of including anyone that has died since March 13 whether it was from Covid or not. It is really hard to figure out what is fact or fiction on the news end of things. That is what the media is shoving in our faces. The impression I get and see and feel in my little world is that people are wanting to continue to be cautious but are ready to get back to their lives. There are risks all around us everyday. It is impossible and ridiculous to think you can eliminate and control them all. It is also quite evident that there are emotional and economical issues along with other consequences that I think are going to start causing a lot more problems than Covid, the longer things are put on hold.

We have done our best over that last few weeks to make the most of our situation and keep life happy and normal as possible. We have been blessed that Ryan has still been able to work from home. We have not had to worry about food or water or toilet paper or meeting financial obligations. We have been blessed with peace and calm in our situation. All of us have had struggles on occasion emotionally and socially. People are social and emotional beings and we have learned how important our needs in those areas are and require more attention then one might think. Luckily we have all been healthy for the most part as well. Ryan’s arm has started bothering him again, but he was able to get into Physical Therapy and is hopefully on the road to recovery. My finger was the only other trip to a doctor we have needed.

We decided to put in a basketball goal. This turned out to be a bigger project than planned. We ordered the first one and had Matthew dig the hole. Then we set the post and filled it with concrete. A few days later when we went to finish it we discovered there were missing and broken parts. So we tried to get a new one but the people we ordered it from were unable to tell us when that would be possible, if possible at all. So we returned as much of the old one as we could then ordered a new one from someone else. We got that one and it was the wrong one. Instead of a nice sturdy goal it was a cheap crappy one. So we returned it again and got the right one. This one was a square post instead of round so we had to dig a new hole and set the new post. Then dig out the original one enough to put dirt and grass in the area again. Finally we were able to get a basketball hoop in and we have all enjoyed it. Matthew taught me how to do a lay up too.

Matthew learned many new skills with this project. Including how to use a jack hammer.

I finished a project that I have had on my mind for a while. I did a picture wall in my basement. I have tons of frames I have collected over the years and plenty of pictures that I like to look at. I love the idea of a picture wall but I was worried about it not being my usually clean minimalist style and getting on my nerves after awhile. I settled on doing it in the basement because I knew it was going to be busy, but I wouldn’t have it in my face all the time so it wouldn’t bug my clutter avoidance side. I liked the way it turned out and I put a lot of my favorite snap shots over the years up. Just FYI the top far right picture has since been fixed so it is not crooked and taller then the rest. I promise.

We have gone on many walks over the last 52 days. Most around our neighborhood and on the near by walking path but we also explored several new areas too. I don’t know exactly I have just been told that Olathe has over 100 miles of walking paths to explore. We saw lots of animals on our walks including many different kinds of birds, frogs, snails, fish, cranes, squirrels, dogs, cats, spiders, rabbits, turtles and more. Matthew snorted a large bug up his nose on one of our walks. It took several minutes and lots of sneezing to finally get it out. I did not take a picture of it. My brother and his family came to see us for a few days on their way from Connecticut to their new home in Oklahoma. We went on a walk with them and saw a village of fairy houses that had been set along the path.

Ryan and I also celebrated our 18th anniversary. I got a little excited and told everyone that it was our 19th anniversary, but Ryan showed me the math. LOL. We will plan on celebrating together later in the summer. On the actual day I went back to work for the first time in a few months, and Ryan traveled to Wichita for the week to help catch up on some stuff. Also his first time ‘going’ to work in over a month.

This is our favorite new recipe we discovered over the quarantine. Everyone liked it. Matthew said it is like eating at Chipotle.

The elementary teachers all drove by in a car parade to say hi to the students. This was so exciting and a high light of our day.

A few weeks into the quarantine I got around to going through the kids back packs and putting them away for next year. I realized waiting this long was risky and when I opened Allison’s first and saw her lunch sack I was very nervous. Luckily she had emptied it at lunch her last day so when I opened it I was not accosted by rotten moldy food. The rest of hers and Emilee’s back packs was uneventful. I was about done with Matthew’s when I felt a lump in one of the side pockets. I dug it out and pulled out a potato complete with a face and hair. When all the kids saw it they were very excited to see “Beth” again. Apparently it had been several months since the last time they saw “Beth”. She was much more wrinkly and had grown some extra arms and hair. Thank goodness Beth didn’t turn into a pile of mush while tucked away in the dark pocket of Matthew’s bag. Apparently Matthew had made her for some project at school and when he brought it home everyone had met Beth on the bus then he forgot about it and left it in his bag. He even had a picture of Beth with one of his friends that had made a Rapunzel potato. Weird.

Beth as a young potato with her Rapunzel friend.

Most nights we tried to have a family activity before the kids went to bed. We would play a game, or watch a movie, or hang out and visit. One of our favorite games we ended up playing most nights is called ‘Cover Your Assests’. It’s perfect because even Emilee can play. She is actually pretty shrewd and does a good job. Matthew on the other hand is known for having the worst poker face ever and most often looses the game in spectacular fashion because he doesn’t use much strategy either. It was always fun though.

Emilee wanted a picture of her extra big win for one of her hands.

Hair salons have been closed long enough for people who rarely get haircuts to miss one. For Matthew and Ryan who prefer to have their haircut every month they have missed a few. The girls have taken full advantage of their longer locks and enjoyed trying different styles for them. Both have been good sports about letting the girls have fun with their hair. Ryan has also grown his beard and let it grown until this past weekend. Then he decided to have some fun and shave a Hulk Hogan style mustache to gross us all out with. We went on a walk and much to Matthew dismay and my embarrassment drew far to much attention from passerbys. He has also gone to the store and a few other public places sporting his new look. Most people don’t know it is a joke and just think he is a gross weirdo, but his friends have all chimed in with their two cents. He is keeping it to get a reaction from his co-workers tomorrow on his video calls. Then I’m sure he will shave it and come up with some other creepy style. Matthew just looks at him and shakes his head and says, “How do you expect me or anyone to take you seriously when you look like that?!”

I went back to work last week. I am filling in at an office that opened the first day the stay at home order was lifted. It was a little stressful at first. One of their hygienists called and quit the day before because she couldn’t deal with the work and stress of coming back to work. The assistant had a panic attack about 15 minutes after being there. I had a pretty good mental battle of my own between rational and fear based anxiety. I think it will be a real problem for the majority of people when they start going back to work. After the first patient or two there we were able to get the flow down with the new safety precautions and procedures that we will have to do for an unforeseeable amount of time. It was nice to get out though and interact with people. I am going to be working there Monday and Wednesday until they find a new hygienist.

It is interesting to see the price and availability or lack of availability on certain items with all this going on. My kids always enjoy a fun slip-n-slide in the summer. I used to find them for 5-20 dollars. Granted they never last the summer but they can use them enough that I feel they get my money’s worth from playing on it. Pools opening up are still in question for summer so they have been begging me to get a slip-n-slide. When I started looking if you could find them you had to plan on paying anywhere from 100-250 dollars! They were heavy duty ones but they are still made of plastic. Good grief! I was able to find a ‘deal’ on one and told me kids they better take good care of it because this is the last slip-n-slide I will ever be buying. They have used it many times so far and love it. They best part is they can set it up and clean it up themselves.

Easter

This past Sunday was Easter. It was a very nice day. The kids woke up and found their baskets and eggs and enjoyed those for a bit. Then we had breakfast together and got all cleaned up and ready for church. We had a good at home sacrament meeting. Sometimes we have more of a discussion, other times more someone talks and everyone listens. For Easter we had a good family discussion about why we have Easter and the kids asked some good questions. Then we all sang some songs together, including Gethsemane which is a favorite of mine.

After church Ryan and Matthew took naps and the girls were playing happily so I decided to start on dinner. We usually just have two meals on Sundays. A late breakfast and lunch then a snack before bed if we need one. Our traditional Easter meal is ham and cheesy potatoes. We had that and I made scones with honey and a veggie to go with it. We all had a nice meal together.

Afterwards, we cleaned up and then watched a movie called “The Fighting Preacher” together. It is one my mom told me about. It is about a couple that were asked to live in the Joseph Smith home in Palmyra after the church bought it in the early 1900’s. It is a good little film.

Ryan decided that he wanted to have the family learn a hymn together and sing on the parts. We worked on that after the movie. It didn’t go as well as we hoped. The kids were only semi interested and not all of them can…naturally carry a tune. I tried to teach them how to sing but it ended up just singing the same off tune note at different volumes instead of actually changing notes. Ryan and I are ok singers but neither of us were successful at figuring out how to teach and explain how to sing a certain note. We will revisit that plan later and stick with the melody for now.

It was a peaceful and quiet Sunday. Everyone got along and enjoyed being together. It was a good day. I am glad for the life and sacrifices of our Savior so we can remember and celebrate all he did for us on the last week of his earthly life.

Changes…

Being in a quarantine obviously changes your daily routines and habits a little. I thought I would make this post about some of those changes. Some things might make more than one list.

Things we will have to relearn or get used to again when this is over:

How to do my makeup
How to wake up before 8… ok 9am
Getting dressed everyday
How to drive
Where everything is located
Talking to people in person
Wearing shoes
Being able to touch someone in public without public shaming
Get used to NOT hearing the word ‘Mom!’ every 5 seconds.

Positive side of a quarantine

Less laundry
Ryan is home all the time and loves to cook dinner
Lots of family time
Everyone can sleep in
Learn how to SLOW down and live life simply
Simple schedule and plan for each day
Can catch up on EVERY SINGLE THING you have been meaning to do at the house.
Lots of time and opportunity to teach and learn from each other
Puzzles
Don’t have to hear stupid presidential campaign advertisements every 3 seconds
Games
Technology
Kids becoming better friends with each other
Find areas that you might want to improve for your food and supply storage in the future
Better our piano skills
Reading
Social media
Catch up on any movie you have ever wanted to see
Quiet and peaceful when happy

Negative side of a quarantine

No one thinks they need a bedtime
Lots of family time
Social Media
Lack of motivation
Vacation with sisters was canceled
Spring Break trips were canceled
Ryan’s Vegas trip was canceled
Window leak…no one is working to fix it
Can’t travel
Supply shortages
Media and political RIDICULOUSNESS
Economy will struggle
Can’t go shopping when you want
Lonely and depressing when sad
More cleaning
Anxiety for kids
Cabin fever

Unexpected surprises

Teacher parade in cars down the streets to say hi to the kids
Weekly window surprises to look for on walks
Sidewalk dance moves drawn by neighbors for walks.
We were “egged” by a mystery someone for Easter-they left treats and a little plant.
All the neighbors eating out front in their driveways together to say hi.

Renewed appreciation for

Fast Shipping
Toilet Paper
Freedom
Running clean water
Families
Books
Humor
Time with Family and Friends
Prophet and Church leaders
Comfortable home
Jobs
Structure

I was going to post this when the quarantine was over but who knows when that will be so now is as good a time as any.

April General Conference 2020

President Nelson: Welcome to conference. After Sunday morning session we will have a Hosanna shout together.

Elder Ballard: Reviewed history of early life of Joseph Smith and Hyrum and Joseph Smiths sacrifice of their lives for the Savior.Think of an offering you can give to the Lord in the next little bit. Then do it.

Elder James R. Rasband: Story of Alma. He repented and mourned for himself, but also those that he lead away. He was not able to right the wrongs and heal and restore for all those individuals. That is what the atonement is for. To heal and repair the wrongs and mistakes we can not do ourselves.

Sister Joy D. Jones: During a time of uncertainty a woman’s influence on others can be increased ten fold. “The Lord loves effort, because effort brings rewards that can’t come without it.” (President Nelson) Effort. Hard work. Study. Learning is integral to progression.”I plead with you to improve your ability to receive individual revelation.” (President Nelson) Use the spirit to know which of our many hats we should wear and focus on. We can’t wear them all at the same time. Seek personal revelation

Elder Neil Anderson: During times of difficulty in our lives, the Savior will bring moments of confirmation of love and spiritual assurance of past experiences of the Holy Ghost witnessing truth to us. Listen for and be aware of those spiritual defining moments in our lives. Seek and remember moments of personal revelation. Embrace, record, and share (when appropriate) our spiritual memories.

Elder Douglas Holmes: The purpose of the Children and Youth program is to help get the gospel and its principals deep into our hearts. Relationships are important to help and support each other along the way. Develop by gathering, listening, spending time, speaking and sharing with others in our lives. Spiritual experiences are essential to our progression. This will fuel our desire to become more like the Savior through repentance and change. Heavenly Father doesn’t want us to just do what is right, he wants us to CHOOSE to do what is right. Engage in the gospel-ACT.

Elder Henry B. Eyring: The work of the gospel will require all the energy and skill of the saints. We don’t know everything but we do know- we will share the gospel with the world, we will gather together. We do this by growing in spiritual power through repentance, live the commandments, praying in faith to seek personal revelation. Ask ourselves- What would He (Savior) have me do? Prayers of faith like- Joseph Smith and Enos will provide us guidance in our lives. Find joy in the work we are asked by Him to perform.

Elder Ulisses Soares: Retold story of Joseph Smilth seeing Moroni, getting the plates and translating them. We should each gain our own testimony of the Book of Mormon by reading and pondering the words and then praying to Heavenly Father and ask with a sincere heart and pure intent in faith if the words you are reading and studying are true.

Elder John A McCune: Our ability to help others come unto the gospel will be reflected upon by the example we set ourselves in living the gospel. When Lehi invited his family to come to the tree of life, he didn’t leave the tree to get them. He stayed and beckoned them to come to him.

Elder Dale G. Renlund: Story of man that needed a heart transplant. His grandson was in an accident and his heart became available to his grandpa. After the surgery he lived 13 more years. Don’t seek to change God’s will. Seek you have your will aligned more with God’s will. Act on the commandment to “Hear Him”.

Elder Benjamin Tai: Just like a regular physical checkup with our doctor, we should do regular checkups on ourselves to evaluate our spiritual heath. Study the Book of Mormon according to our circumstances (story of man that studied the children’s Book of Mormon and using dictionary to understand as best he could because it was not available).

Elder Gary E. Stevensen: History of the building of the Salt Lake Temple. Steps that are being taken to strengthen the temple foundation from earthquakes. We should evaluate our personal foundations and evaluate ways we can strengthen and renew our personal and family foundations. Family prayer, scripture study, temple attendance and gospel study with Come Follow Me.

Questions to help make sure you have a sure foundation in the gospel.

Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the eternal father, his son Jesus Christ and the holy ghost?
Do you have a testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ and of his roll as your savior and redeemer?
Do you have a testimony of the restoration and gospel of Jesus Christ?
Do you sustain the president of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as the prophet, seer and revelator and as the only person on the earth authorized to exercise use in priesthood keys?

Elder Gerrit W. Gong: Hosanna and Hallelujah. Easter represents a physical and spiritual restoration.

Sister Jean Bingham: Adam and Eve had same goals and desires even if their approach was different. Families are essential unites of eternity. Satan tries to pit men and women against each other to drive a wedge between them and assist in the downfall of the family. Desire the happiness of your spouse more than your own. Help pick up the slack when one of you is struggles. Work to change and improve areas of personal shortcomings.

Elder Henry B. Eyring: Doctrine and Covenants Section 110. VS 4- I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father. (The Savior has many names and descriptions. Advocate is one of my favorites. I tell my kids that I am their advocate. I remember a talk discussing the significance of the word advocate verses a friend or something else.) Whenever we perceive to solve one problem and receive revelation, we open the door to receive more revelation. The Lord has seen everything coming that is happening and has prepared things for us.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks: The power of the priesthood is used in the church and in the family. In the temple women do not hold an office in the priesthood but are given authority to help with ordinances. Parents should encourage more priesthood blessings in the family. Mortals bodies can be full of light or darkness. What we do and allow into our minds is what determines if we are full of darkness or light. By your fruits ye shall know them.

President Nelson: Began by reminding us why it is important to call the church by the correct name. The Church of Jesus Christ. Introduced the new symbol of the church. It will be used as the official identifier of official church information. Fasting. Asked everyone to join again in a fast on April 10th for the relief from the pandemic, the economy and healing throughout the world.

Elder Ronald A. Rasband: Reviewed and shared many prophecies from ancient prophets and Joseph Smith that have or are being fulfilled. The essence of pure religion is what draws people to the gospel. We must be prepared in heart and mind to receive the Savior whenever the Second Coming happens. NO unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. The truth of God will go for boldly faithfully and independently.

Sister Bonnie H. Cordon: Intentionally shine your light so others can see it and know where to find the truth.

Elder Jeffrey R Holland: He asked himself the question- If I lived 200 years ago, what would I feel is missing? In response to the prophets challenge to prepare for this conference. He would have been looking for God to be speaking and providing guidance and love like he did in ancient times-Prophet of God. He would have hoped for evidence that Jesus is the Christ-The Book of Mormon. Hope for someone with true priesthood authority to fulfill needed ordinances and covenants. Ordinances available for those that lived and died without the knowledge of Jesus Christ could be done for them.

Elder David A Bednar: Our hearts denote what our inner desires are. The gospel santifies our hearts and “turning the hearts to the fathers and the children to the fathers” changes our hearts and brings us closer to our father in Heaven. The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. In 1924 when President Nelson was born there were 6 operating temples. There are now 168 operating temples, 48 additional temples announced or under construction. The work is accelerating and growing. Prophets of all ages have looked forward to our day with anticipation and delight and the work that will be done for the salvation of the human family. This latter day work will destroy the darkness of evil and bring about the salvation of the human family.

President Nelson: Every time they showed a shot of President Nelson during this conference he has been smiling and almost bursting with excitement and joy. He is a true prophet of God and his countenance alone brings hope and comfort when I see him. What does the restoration of the gospel to the earth mean for us? It means families can be sealed together for eternity, it means we can be baptized by one with authority and have the constant companion of Holy Ghost, it means we are never left comfortless or without access to the power of God to help you, it means the priesthood power can bless you as you make and keep sacred covenants. The Lord communicates simply quietly and with stunning plainness. When we have fear and uncertainty Heavenly Father knows that is when we need to hear the Savior’s voice. Hear Him. As disciples of Jesus Christ our efforts to hear him need to be more intentional and purposeful. Hear Him in the scriptures daily. Hear Him in the temple. Increase your time in family history work to hear Him. KNOW HOW THE SPIRIT SPEAKS TO YOU. Do whatever it takes to increase your ability to receive personal revelation. Hear Him by heading the words of prophets, seers and revelators. You will be blessed with power to handle stress and evils that come our way. Today I will be reading and releasing a new proclamation to the world titled, The restoration of the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ a bicentennial proclamation to the world April 2020. Then he led all of us in the Hosanna shout. “The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ would take the slums out of the people, and then they would take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.” ~Ezra Taft Benson

Elder Dallin H. Oaks: In ways that have not been revealed, our actions in the spirit world effected our time here in mortality.

Elder Ricardo Gimenez: All of us will have storms or moments of stress in our lives at one point or another. No matter what kind of storm or the duration. The only refuge for a storm is the Lord Jesus Christ and his atonement. To one with faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.

Elder Deiter F. Uchtdorf: Our part is to love God, as we do that he will provide us with things that we need.

Elder L. Whitney Clayton: Fine homes are established by 1. Quality of spirital attributes in the inhabitants. The reflection of Christ in their countenance is seen by others. 2. Make time to study the words or scriptures and prophets every day. Remodel your home if needed to have family and personal studies. 3. Follow the blue print created by the Lord for the temples. Compare this to keeping the commandments, steady discipleship. Use our temple recommends as often as possible. 4. Refuges from the storms of life. Those who keep the commandments of God will be prosperous and be able to weather storms in life on their own. Faithful living will provide strength, fortitude and peace through their trials.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: Love, example, and use of the Book of Mormon are how we should share the gospel with others. “Do not burn my book. Go to your room and read my book.”

President Nelson: Reminded us of the new Proclamation, the church wide fast, and all other guidance we were given through the talks of this conference. Even with the temples closed you can still draw upon the power of your priesthood covenants made in the temple. Apostolic blessing: Bless you with peace and increasing faith in the Lord, bless you to repent and draw closer to the Savior each day, bless you to know that Joseph Smith is the prophet that brought the restored gospel, bless you with healing. There were 8 new temples announced including one in Shanghai China.

The themes that stood out to me for this conference is the blessings of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The importance of seeking, recognizing, listening and following personal revelation from the Holy Ghost. Learn how to hear Him.

April Fool’s Day

This is a day that I usually prefer to pass by unnoticed and then pretend to be disappointed when someone remembers we missed it. Most of my family seems to be on the same page with my opinion, with the exception of Allison. She anticipates it for months and has almost the same giddy excitement she has for Christmas or her birthday when it gets close. With the entire Nation on stay-at-home orders I think in general most people paid more attention to it this year, simply because of lack of other things happening. Allison had a long list of tricks ready to go.

She placed a piece of card board in all the toilets. Thank goodness she hasn’t discovered other ‘options’ for this classic trick, that I will not even mention here because she does eventually read this.

She put tape across several doorways. This happened to be the day I did laundry and often was carrying things in front of me so I couldn’t see as well. So I personally ‘fell’ for this one at least 5 times and so did others. She was very pleased with herself.

I also found tape covering the faucet when I turned it on in my bathroom.

The one she did that made me chuckle the most was drawing on Emilee’s arm while she was sleeping. Emilee came in and said, “Mom, I don’t remember drawing any of this on my arm.” She still draws on herself enough that it was a total possibility she did it, but was confused she couldn’t recall it.

Allison’s pride and joy prank for the day was getting a hold of Matthew’s cell phone and changing her contact to “Campbell” who is Matthew’s crush. She then texted him like she was Campbell. Matthew figured out pretty quickly that it wasn’t Campbell but he thought it was her sister. He even told Allison about it and she was giggling while she sat right next to him and continued to text. He figured it out shortly after that. Then I helped him change it back and change the password on his phone so she couldn’t get into it anymore.

The winning prank of the day was by me though. Thanks to my neighbors. They pranked me first with the following pictures.

This is the Governor of Kansas. I was shocked when I saw the schools would go through July.

Once they new they got me they said they were looking it and would send me more info when they found it. A minute or so later she said here is what we found. and send me this.

I was still a little confused and thought it was not very appropriate of the Governor of Kansas to do something like this. Then I saw the subtitle-the Hogan’s are the neighbors that sent it to me. They got me good. Then I decided to pass it forward to my kids.

Allison was mad for a good 30 minutes before she calmed down. 🤦‍♀️

Survey Says…

Ever since I did the questionnaire with the kids answers the other day they have been asking to do it again. They loved it. So I am working on finding another one for them to do. In the mean time Lauren posted one for spouses today on Facebook that was fun to read so I am copying it for Ryan and I to do. You have to write EXACTLY what your spouse says for their answer.

Ryan’s answers for me:

How tall am I? 5’6″ (nope 5’5″)
What is my favorite thing to eat? chocolate lava cake
What do I do when I’m not with you? read a book, take naps (read yes, I rarely nap unless it is Sunday)
What is my favorite movie? The Notebook
If I could go anywhere, where would I go? Anywhere with my sisters
How do I annoy you? You don’t…Make me take these dumb quizzes.
What is my favorite show? Seal Team (Yep!)
Who is my celebrity crush? Chris Hemsworth (Very good guess , but it is Ryan Gosling)
You get a phone call that I am in trouble, who am I with? DeAnna
What do I hate? Being cold (very true)
What is my favorite drink? I don’t know, milk? (Vanilla Italian Soda)
What gets my temper going the most? Something with the kids, them not listening.
What is my shoe size? I don’t know, 7? (7-7.5 depends)
Describe me in three words. Loving, good mom
If I became famous, what would it be for? Your organizational skillzzz.
What makes you proud of me? When I see your influence on our kids. (Awe)
Where can I most likely be found? In our house.
What is my favorite restaurant? Bonefish Grill (Yes!)
Who is my favorite person? me
Where would I go for a long weekend alone? In our room on our couch with a book.

My answers for Ryan:

How tall am I? 5’11” but you will say 6″
What is my favorite thing to eat? You are a foody, anything yummy, but you love burned popcorn (kind of the opposite what a foody would eat) and Extreme Moose Tracks Ice Cream (Ok, I like Sushi)
What do I do when I’m not with you? Hang out with friends, play board games (Probably golfing)
What is my favorite movie? I don’t know, you like the new Star Trek movies and Avenger movies a lot though. (Probably one of the Star Trek movies)
If I could go anywhere, where would I go? A cruise
How do I annoy you? making ‘noise’ when you are sleeping
What is my favorite show? Seinfeld
Who is my celebrity crush? Scarlett Johansson
You get a phone call that I am in trouble, who am I with? Michael Aaron Johnson
What do I hate? Pickles
What is my favorite drink? Lime or vanilla coke, smoothies
What gets my temper going the most? being woke up from a nap
What is my shoe size? 10.5 (11, my feet are growing)
Describe me in three words. Driven, intelligent, dramatic-I mean passionate.
If I became famous, what would it be for? Some business idea
What makes you proud of me? You are a very good dad
Where can I most likely be found? Watching or playing sports-specifically baseball
What is my favorite restaurant? K-Machos, Sake, or The Thai Place
Who is my favorite person? Me
Where would I go for a long weekend alone? Las Vegas and you would meet Michael Aaron Johnson there.

We don’t quite get it.

There has been some videos on the news of people that live by hospitals coming out to their balconies at shift change time (which is usually 7am or 7pm) and clapping and cheering for the doctors and nurses and other health care staff that are working so hard right now helping all the patients with COVID 19. It is very touching and it is great that the people living by the hospitals show support for them.

Our neighbor across the street has apparently also seen these videos and is trying to get a neighborhood nightly ritual going. They have been posting on FB and texts to the neighborhood asking to have people come out at 7pm every night and clap for one minute for the health care workers. Might I point out that there are no actual health care workers.

The first time they did it, we were not aware of what they were doing. Ryan and Matthew were playing catch in the street by the front yard. All of the sudden their whole Stutzman family came out and without saying a word start clapping and cheering. Ryan and Matthew didn’t know what they were doing and thought they were clapping at them for some reason. They stopped and looked at them and then after the minute ended without a word they all turned around and went back in their house.

The next night we got a text from a different neighbor explaining what was going on and said that it was going to be something that happened every night at 7pm. We forgot and missed it that night.

Tonight we set an alarm because we got more text invites and didn’t want to be the stick in the mudds. So at 6:59 I dragged the kids to the front porch and told them we were going to clap for 1 minute for all the healthcare workers. At 7 o’clock sharp the Stutzman family came out and started clapping…our family and one other family were the only other families I could see. We all clapped for a minute then at 7:01 the Stutzman family stopped and walked back into their house. The entire time we were clapping my kids repeatedly asked me questions like, “Why are we doing this?” “When are the doctors coming?” “Why are we clapping if no one is here?” “Can the doctors and nurses see us and we just don’t know?”

It was a little weird. Again, if they were actual people to clap for I would be all for it…but since there isn’t…I think it is strange for people to come out on the porch and clap for a minute with out any converstation and then go back inside. At least say hi and wave or something.

We might be busy at 7pm most nights.

Who broke a mirror or walked under the ladder?

The last 24 hours have been a busy one for our little neighborhood area. They say things happen in threes but we might be going for three sets of threes.

To start it off, yesterday I was doing some lawn work and trimming up some bushes for Spring. I was using our electric trimmer and the automatic shut off switch that is supposed to release when you take your hand of the power button got stuck and I wasn’t being careful enough so I cut my middle left finger through the side into my nail. I had a glove on and was hoping when I pulled it off that it wouldn’t be bad enough to need stitches but could tell immediately that was not the case. So I went in to wash it off and was debating with myself to just super glue it instead of going into the doctors with all this virus crap. Ryan saw it and said I had to go get stitches. I told him to call my regular doctor instead of going to the ER. He tried calling Steve to see if he could stitch me up but he didn’t answer. My doctor wasn’t in but another doctor said he could do it. Ryan drove me there but he couldn’t come in. Everyone was wearing masks, and by that I mean the skeleton crew that was working. I didn’t see any other patient. I had to fill out a bunch of paper work to screen me for any possible sign of Covid 19. Then there were only some chairs labeled that I was ‘allowed’ to sit in. Talk about feeling like you are in some apocalyptic movie but it is your actual life. The doctor said it needed one or two stitches. While his two nurses where getting the room ready for ‘the finger lady’ they had a very loud conversation with each other about how it is ridiculous that people can’t follow directions and stay home and not do unnecessary things. Then they specifically mentioned that yard work and house work are not necessary. They were sure to leave the door open too in case I couldn’t hear them through that. I was pretty ticked. The doctor numbed me up and gave me my stitches. When he left the nurse told me to come back in a week to have the stitches taken out. I told her I could take my own stitches out so I didn’t have to come back and put up with her poor bedside manner again. Then I walked out. That was a lot nicer than the other things going on in my head. Give me a break. I know lots of nurses and health care workers that are caring and compassionate. It is kind of part of the job. Why go into healthcare to help people in stressful hard situations if you are that unpleasant of a person.

Later that night we had a really gnarly thunderstorm and shortly after a loud crack of thunder a bunch of sirens came over by us. Someone’s house had been struck by lightning and caught fire. I don’t know how extensive the damage was before they were able to put it out.

Matthew’s friend a street over had the fire department show up at his house today. His older brother ordered a new battery for his phone. When he put it in, it started getting really hot, he dropped it on the floor so it wouldn’t burn him and it caught the carpet on fire! They got it out pretty quick so it is just a small area of carpet they will have to replace.

Tonight Ryan and I went on a walk after dinner. We started hearing all kinds of sirens around us. When we got around the park we saw a bunch of lights in the school playground. The neighbors that were out watching said it was some kind of a medical emergency. We kept going and headed back in the direction of our house.

When we turned the corner there were a bunch more police cars blocking off the roads. We had to walk that way to get back to our house. We asked the neighbors in that area what was happening and they said that there had been shots fired at “Crazy John’s house” which is on the next corner up from where we were. We walked back home and there were police cars across the street from us in our neighbors back yard blocking off the house from that direction. Then we could hear the police announcing over their speaker, “This is the Olathe Police Department, John come out with your hands up.” They said it about five times. Then he must have come out because shortly after that they all left. I haven’t heard if anyone was hurt of not.

The black circles were the fires. Yellow circle is the medical emergency. Blue dot is our house and location of the hedge trimmer incident. Blue circle it the shots fired area where “crazy John” lives.

Lots of craziness. Hopefully it is done. You can tell that some people are starting to get a little crazy with all the changes because of the virus. I don’t know if any of these were related or not, just reports and posts I see on the internet are starting to have some crazies coming out. We were worried our kids were going to be panicked when we got home with all the police cars around. A while back our neighbors had a fire truck come to their house while we were gone because of a medical emergency and the kids were freaking out about it. Luckily when we got home tonight they were all in there evening electronic comas and where none the wiser to the whole situation.

Quarantine Entertainment…Day 2 of SECOND Quarantine

Emilee’s Answers (Age 7)

If you won a million dollars, what would you buy? candy and a new bike and some stuffed animals and more candy
How long does it take to get to the Europe? 10 hours
What do I always say to you? I love you
What job do you want to do when you grow up? Dolphin trainer
What is the capital of America? The flag or the eagle
Where do babies come from? Your mom’s belly
What age do you become an adult? 31
If you could change one rule your family has, what would it be? Eat candy for dinner
If you could be a superhero, what superpower would you have? speed and magic
What would you do to save the planet? pick up trash
If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be? donuts
How much does it cost to buy a house? $1000
Why do you think we should be nice to others? Because it spreads to be kind to others
What does love mean to you? That you love someone with your heart
What are you scared of? The dark
What it so important to you? My family
What makes you angry? When someone sticks their tongue at me and calls me names.
What is your favorite thing to do? Play with electronics and my Lego dragons.

Allison’s answers (Age 9)

If you won a million dollars, what would you buy? Pets
How long does it take to get to the Europe? 1 day
What do I always say to you? Do your job.
What job do you want to do when you grow up? Nurse
What is the capital of America? A
Where do babies come from? The butt
What age do you become an adult? 18
If you could change one rule your family has, what would it be? You can get a phone when you want, or have multiple pets.
If you could be a superhero, what superpower would you have? Fly and invisible
What would you do to save the planet? Get rid of plastic bags and straws
If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be? Pizza and donuts
How much does it cost to buy a house? $24,000
Why do you think we should be nice to others? It is easier
What does love mean to you? caring for others
What are you scared of? Spiders
What it so important to you? Peanut my guinea pig
What makes you angry? When Emilee is annoying
What is your favorite thing to do? Watch You Tube and eat donuts

Matthew’s Answers (Age 13)

If you won a million dollars, what would you buy? House
How long does it take to get to the Europe? 8 hours by plane
What do I always say to you? Listen!
What job do you want to do when you grow up? Play baseball or do something sports related
What is the capital of America? Washington DC
Where do babies come from? Women
What age do you become an adult? 18
If you could change one rule your family has, what would it be? No electronics on weekdays
If you could be a superhero, what superpower would you have? reading minds
What would you do to save the planet? Cure cancer
If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be? Sushi
How much does it cost to buy a house? $500,000
Why do you think we should be nice to others? So we could get along and have a better world.
What does love mean to you? Family
What are you scared of? Suffocating
What it so important to you? Sports
What makes you angry? When Allison is rude.
What is your favorite thing to do? baseball

Quarantine…Day 12

This is going to get weird. It already is weird but when I stop and focus on it, it feels even more weird. It is like I am in one of those movies where someone is stranded or lost at sea and they start counting the days. It has been 12 days since they asked people to so a 14 day self quarantine. They announced yesterday that starting this Tuesday at noon there will be an even more strict 30 quarantine going into effect. Basically all businesses that are not essential are to be closed and other than emergencies, no one should leave their house unless it is to go to the bank, grocery store, hardware store, or doctor office. I have also heard that they will start fining people that are not following the quarantine and multiple offenders can even get up to 6 months of jail time. I have not verified that so I don’t know if it is true or not. This is when things could start getting ugly.

Matthew and Allison seem to be doing ok so far. I can tell Emilee is stressed, the past day or so I can tell she is getting some pent up energy and she keeps asking a lot of the same questions over and over. Maybe I will start a rating system for how we are all doing mentally.

We had church today. This is the first time in my life that I have ever had to have the sacrament done in my own home. I thought is was a really good meeting. I could feel the Spirit. It is a huge blessing and comfort that we have the Lords gospel and it is organized and clear how to do things. Even when new situations that haven’t ever really happened before come up there is a clear process and way to do things. We kept it pretty simple and did an opening song,prayer,business, sacrament song, Ryan blessed the sacrament and Matthew passed it, then we read scriptures and had a closing song and prayer. Our Primary pianist and chorister made a video for the kids to watch for singing time so we did that afterwards. We assigned out some parts for next weeks church.

We had a planning meeting today also for this upcoming week. We talked about making sure all our bodies needs are met-physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. We discussed things that each of us need to do each day like;

Switch off between exercising and stretching for 45 minutes each day
Personal prayer and scriptures
Family prayer and scriptures
Read for fun for a minimum of 30 minutes a day
Go outside everyday
Daily chores
Laundry helper (kids will rotate each week)
Cooking helper
Practice piano minimum of 20 minutes each day
Teaching life skills with mom ~2 times a week
Hygiene habits with mom ~2 times a week

There is other things that vary a little bit but those are the things that will be standard each week. School stuff will get added in there too when the school stuff is out online from the district more. Life skills and hygiene habits are short little sessions with mom that review some aspect of hygiene (like using a q-tip) or life skills (how to sweep a floor) that they already know or should know but need a review. For example today we covered how to shower. They thought it was hilarious and were mortified that I had a stick figure drawing to help illustrate but all of them discovered 2-3 things that they were forgetting or not doing right.

Allison is going to get a little garden started this week with her dad. She is hoping to be able to do a salad garden with lettuce, peppers, and carrots. She wants to take over the whole back yard but I told her she has to start small and if it goes well she can expand.

Ryan is going to build the shelves in the basement bedroom closet. Emilee and I are going to finish condensing the toy room and her room while I finish getting the basement bedroom converted from a toy room to a bedroom. Matthew is planning on focusing a lot on his hitting and throwing for baseball.

It is all just odd. The world we lived and worked and socialized in less than two weeks ago has completely changed. Basically it has been canceled. There is nothing to prepare or get ready for, nothing to go to. It is a weird feeling. No reason to go to bed, no reason to get up in the morning. No plans. At. All. I can see how isolation can get to people. I wouldn’t say it is getting to me yet. I am pretty good at being alone but I have always had the option to change that when I decide I am not good with it anymore. I have my family too, so technically I am not alone. People that are single or live alone are in for a long couple months. Ryan is lucky to still have a job to work at home from too. So many people have been let go or had to close their business and that starts a whole other train of people that become affected as well. The economy was strong-growing and thriving in fact but this is a huge set back to recover from. I wish they would just implement a ‘pause’ in all of the financial stuff until this is over so people don’t have to declare bankruptcy or lose their job. It is going to be a job to get everthing ‘back to normal’.

I am sick of social media. The memes are funny but the rest of it just drives me crazy. Lots of rumors, misinformed or uniformed people ‘explaining’ things, people criticizing others. There is lots of good stuff going on as well. Many businesses and people are donating supplies or food or services during this time. I have taken a break from pretty much all of the news for the next little while. Ryan will let me know if I need to know something.

The icing on the cake today it that we found another gift from our crappy builder this morning. It has been raining a lot and one of our living room windows has water dripping inside from somewhere. We are thinking it is probably flashing or something but…getting it fixed is going to be a pickle. It might just be a ‘caulk the crap out of it’ until all this is over fix.

House Projects

I’ve been getting a few things done around our house the last little while that have been on my list. Some of them I have done myself, others I hired out. The two that are the most exciting is out fireplace and the basement bathroom.

We have a gas fireplace and I have wanted to get a fan on it to make it functional not just pretty. The first time they came I asked them to show me how to adjust the flame and we found out that our stupid builder put a propane insert in instead of a gas one. I started this blog after we moved in but to catch everyone up. Our builder was a jerk on purpose and an idiot on accident so we had a lot of issues. So I was disappointed but not surprised when I found out they had installed the wrong fireplace insert. I was very relieved when they were able to find a conversion kit for $125 instead of needing a new $4000 insert. So they fixed that and then put the blower in. Now I can sit in front of my fireplace and read a book and get nice cozy warm toes.

The next big one that just got finished is our basement bathroom! They did the final paint touch-ups the day before they started all the quarantine stuff with COVID 19. Perfect timing! The plan is to move guest room downstairs when people visit. All the ‘rooms’ are done in the basement now. There is still a little finish work to done eventually but our house is getting closer and closer to our finished plans.

I don’t have a picture with all the finishings in it but you get the idea. 🙂

Florida in February

Before all this COVID 19 business I went to see my mom in Florida. She had shoulder surgery in January. DeAnna went out to visit at the beginning of the month and I went out at the end. She is doing pretty good when I saw her. She can’t drive so I think one of the hardest things for her is getting lonely when my dad is gone at work. She can’t use her right arm at all though. It is still pretty sensitive if it gets bumped even a little bit. We got out a little bit and did some window shopping. I helped her get some of their food stocked up. I made cookies, granola, and a breakfast casserole. We went on some walks. My dad took us around their apartments walking trail and we saw on of the three alligators he likes to keep tabs on. We watched some good movies too when she got a little worn out. I had a very nice trip and was glad I got to see her and my dad for a few days. They seem to be getting used to Florida and I am glad they have their own place now.

We have decided to dissolve our RV rental business. There seems to be a lot more interest from buyers at the price we want to sell them at here in Kansas so instead of flying back, I drove our RV “Cowboy” back. Kenny was following me a few days later with “Lil’ Sebastian”. I didn’t want to drive myself and luckily Lauren and Ethan were in Florida for a mother son trip for his 12th birthday so she was awesome and said that they would drive back with me instead of fly. It was slow going but we made the best of it. After getting flipped off, honked at, and yelled at by a few truck drivers we finally figured out the ‘rules of the road’ for driving in harmony with truck drivers that don’t like RV drivers.

While I was gone in Florida Ryan held the fort down at home. He went and ate lunch with both of the girls one of the days I was gone to be a nice dad. He also was able to watch Emilee receive her Student of the Month award from her teacher. Emilee also had her final basketball game for her season. She did really good this year. She improved and learned a lot, I was proud of her. Her stamina improved a bit too. She asked her coach to take her out many times but she never just walked off the court and sat down like she did last year.

She was more excited about the treats afterwards then the game.

Matthew had his 7th grade regional basketball tournament while I was gone as well. His team ended up winning first place for 7th Grade JV. He got a taste of the basketball excitement this year with playing and is already looking forward to next year.

When I got back I spent the next week cleaning and detailing the RV’s. Oh my goodness, it was so exhausting! I got Cowboy done just in time for Sebastian to arrive. Luckily Sherri came with Kenny so she helped me get him ready. Kenny fixed up the last few things on them and winterized them and set up showings. We sold Cowboy that weekend!! Woohoo! Sebastian is ready to go but hasn’t sold yet. All the COVID 19 stuff has shut down people’s interest in buying things for the moment, so hopefully once that all blows over we will be able to get that one sold too. The girls loved having their cousin Aubry around to play for a few days.

Finishing Pre-Spring Break

Saturday was busy with Girl Scout Cookie Booths, baseball practice, basketball games, and a friends baptism. As we were finishing up the last activity we had scheduled for the day Grandma and Grandpa Terry arrived to stay for a few days.

The rest of Saturday through Monday we made our house the gathering spot and the kids played and had fun together. Grandma had brought her usual stash of candy and crafts or other activities for the kids to do. They had a lot of fun art projects to decorate their rooms with (or sell was Allison’s plan). Grandpa was recruited to read or make up his own stories too.

Emilee went to work with her dad one of the afternoons. She has been begging to go with him for awhile so Ryan took her. She actually loved it. She brought her lunch and they ate in the kitchen together and she sat next to him at his desk and helped or watched a movie on Netflix.

To feed everyone I went with my favorite winter meal planning for dinners-soups! Chicken noodle, broccoli cheddar, potato, and chili were all part of the menu.

Tuesday the kids went back to school. Roger and Rhonda visited with me for the morning and then went to look at houses for a bit before everyone met at Matthew’s basketball game. He had a good game and enjoyed showing off his skills he has been working on the past few months. After his game we decided to do a ‘traditional’ dinner out together for our last meal with all of us before Grandma and Grandpa Terry headed back home.

The past few years when Grandma and Grandpa come to visit we have been going to a place called Steak-N-Shake for dinner one of the nights they are here. It has a variety of options for adults and kids so everyone is happy. It is a fifties style diner so it is casual and a fun environment. It isn’t usually to busy so all 12 of us can get a table together pretty quick, and the food is decent and pretty cheap as well. The best part is they last part of their name…the Shakes are delicious and there are many choices. We have gone there probably a dozen times at least in the past few years.

However, each time we go we are always a little surprised to see that Steak-N-Shake is still actually in business. The service is ridiculously awful. Not intentionally, which is why instead of never coming back we usually joke about it instead. They are very polite and try their best it is just…silly. This time we discussed it might really be time for us to find a new dinner place when Grandma and Grandpa come to visit. Here is how our last dinner there went.

Once we all got situated at the table our waiter arrived about 10 minutes later, which is much faster than usual. We estimated he was maybe 15 years old, maybe I am old so everyone seems young to me but I don’t think anyone working there including the cooks looked like they were older than 18. He took our drink order (11 waters and 1 coke) and disappeared to fill it. He made several trips back and forth between our table and the kitchen but eventually successfully got everyone something to drink. He then left. A few minutes later we flagged him down and asked if we could place our food order. He apologized for the delay and says yes but then realized he didn’t have his pad or pen he needed to take our order and runs to get it. When he returned with his pen he made the announcement that he was a little flustered because he was new. Brand new. We were his first order. We were not surprised at all because EVERY time we eat there the waiter at some point or another tells us they have been working there for less than a week. We don’t know if this is true or a tactic they are trained to say to get more leeway with their horrible service. In this young mans case I think he really was taking his first order. Whoever the person in charge was, thought giving the new guy a table of 12 people for his first go as a waiter was a good idea.

He went around the table and took each of our orders. He was very thorough and asked a lot of questions. When he was all done he asked if he could repeat it back to us for accuracy. When he did this we thought he didn’t know how to read his own handwriting but found out that the restaurant uses its own short hand or abbreviations when taking orders to make it ‘easier’ for everyone to understand. However, our waiter (I’m just going to call him Ben from now on) didn’t quite have the abbreviations down so when he tried to repeat it back to us he wasn’t sure what he had wrote and he basically had to take our orders again.🤦‍♀️ Eventually he got it down and once again headed back to the kitchen to give our order to the cooks.

When Ben gave us the receipt to pay for our food, he also handed us the papers he wrote our orders on. I was almost sassy and asked him if he wanted to keep them in memory of his first day on the job. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and decided to take a picture for my own memory of our fun time-probably the last time- eating at Steak-N-Shake. We tried to figure out whose order was whose but we couldn’t.

This is about the time we get nice and settled in because we know we aren’t going to get our food for a while. I often look around at this point and do a little people watching in the restaurant. There is usually one or two other tables. One of them has often placed their order sometime before we even arrived but hasn’t got their food yet. Sometimes the mom might be reminding everyone to be patient, “It can’t possibly take to much longer.” The dad sometimes will be muttering about his irritation at the wait. Often at some point people start comparing with other tables about how long they have been waiting.

Since the kids are older now, it isn’t to big of a deal for us to wait. Especially since they each have a cousin to interact with while we wait. About 15-20 minutes go by and Ben comes over to check with us. We tell him we are doing fine. He tells us that the cook ‘flipped out’ when he saw our order but it shouldn’t be much longer. We kind of laughed and said something about we hope that means he doesn’t spit in our food, to which he replies, “Oh no, I don’t think he would do that.” 🤦‍♀️ In the mean time the shakes we ordered are ready so he will bring them out. Seven of the 12 of us ordered a shake with our meal. They only brought 6 shakes and of those, only three were made correctly. After figuring out what was ordered and if anyone wanted to switch their order for what was actually brought they had to remake two of the shakes.

While the new shakes were being made they brought out the first few trays of food. I was watching Ben the hole time and saw it happen but still couldn’t figure out how. About half way to our table the top half of one of the burgers just rolled right off the tray to the floor. Ben tried to catch it but just hit it and flipped it around a little more before it hit the floor. I don’t think he realized how close he came to dumping the other four plates of food still on the tray while trying to save the burger. Luckily it just teetered a little and smacked the lady at another table still waiting for her own food to arrive in the back of the head. Ben decided to leave the burger on the floor and come set down the tray he still had (very smart decision Ben). He told us that HALF of one of the burgers had not made the trip from the kitchen to our table so he was getting that fixed. Then he gave everyone else a plate of food. When he left to get the new ‘top half of a burger’ we all switched plates and gave it to the correct person who ordered it. I was the lucky winner of the half cheeseburger plate. I watched Ben like a hawk to make sure I actually got a new burger and not the same one that had been brushed off. Instead of a whole new burger he quickly brought back a new cheeseburger on a top bun with lettuce ketchup and mustard and slapped it down on top of the bottom bun and tomato that had survived the first trip with all the grace you would expect from a 15 year old on his first day on the the job.🤦‍♀️

After a few more trips to the kitchen and back we all ended up with our orders. Jovee was in the mood to be a problem solver instead of waiting for Ben so she went to the kitchen three times herself to request items we were missing once we had our food. Once for silverware, once for napkins, and once for spoons because the silverware didn’t come with spoons.

It was about a 1 1/2 hour ‘fast food’ meal by the time we were ready to leave. We all got a good laugh about our experience and enjoyed our meal together. That is not the end of the story though. You still have to pay for the food. It doesn’t seem the restaurant has a clear plan for how to check someone out when they are ready to leave. You have to stand in front of the register and announce you are ready to pay about three times before someone comes over. Then they always seem to find the one person that appears to have never seen a cash register before, let alone used it. It takes FOREVER. We have all found things to entertain us while we wait. Roger is sweet to pay for everyone. Ross assists Roger because he usually has some combinations of coupons he insists we use that complicates the process for the already frazzled cashier. Ryan and Rhonda recalculate and sneak in an extra tip at the table without Roger noticing. The girls beg for quarters for the candy or toy machines they have. Matthew and Ethan pretend they are too cool for the candy machines by explaining they are designed to take your money without giving you a toy but if the girls have money they will help them get the toys, and Lauren and I try to figure out what this sign directly above the checkout counter means.

We did our best to guess but couldn’t figure it out. We weren’t sure what the second letter was. We thought it was maybe another language so we cheated and googled it. Google said it is TAKHOMASAK. A ‘famous’ saying created by Steak-N-Shake encouraging customers to take a sack of burgers home with them when they leave. We were still confused until we said it out loud. Get it… Takhomasak=take home a sack.

Fun times at Steak-N-Shake! Hurry in and have your fun time before the health department visits and shuts them down, it burns down because they have five new untrained teenagers running it every week, or they go bankrupt because no one knows how to run the cash register.

Parent Teacher Conferences

As I have mentioned part of the reason for our pre-Spring Break is because it is parent teacher conference time.

I went and saw all of the kids teachers and saw how they are doing. Matthew was supposed to come with me and show me a presentation that he had made about how his year has been going. He was sick so I just went myself and his teacher showed me. He is doing great. He catches on pretty quick most of the time and things seem easy. His biggest area to grow in is challenging himself more. Not just doing the minimum and being done. Pushing himself to go above the minimum even if it is uncomfortable (because it will be) and growing more than the ‘requirement’. When I was telling him how his conference went I told him this is a nice way of his teacher saying-don’t be lazy, and I agree. He rolled his eyes and said ‘okay mom’. Then I gave him a hug and told him I am proud of his effort he does put in. I know a lot of moms that have to remind, nag, beg, threaten their kid to not just do homework but turn it in, and even admit they have it. I ask Matthew on occasion if he has done his homework but more so he doesn’t feel like I don’t care than I am worried he hasn’t done it. Since Kindergarten he has come home and done his homework on his own unless he needs help without being asked.

Allison was also supposed to come with me to her conference. She did and showed me her slide presentation she prepared for me. Then we went through some of the papers she had written the first part of the year. She is doing very well and her creativity shows just as much in her school work as it does in other areas of her life. I took a picture of a couple so share. Even her research reports are fun to read. She is a talented girl. She excels in many areas. One of her favorites right now is Math. She seems to have a good portion of her dads engineering brain. I am very proud of her and how hard she works. Her area of improvement is to slow down and take her time. It isn’t a race to finish everything. Then she gave me all the sticky notes she had collected from various teachers on the board of “items needed” for their classrooms, while she was waiting for me to finish Emilee’s conference. When I tried to explain the items are for the kids/parents to get that are actually in that teachers class and picking one was enough she was mortified at my “lack of caring for others and their needs.” When I told her I would split the cost of whatever she wanted to get for the teachers she put a few back and kept a more reasonable amount of sticky notes. 😘

Learning about geese was more entertaining then I thought possible

Emilee was the only one that was not supposed to come to her conference. While I enjoy my children’s company this is the way I prefer to have a parent teacher conference-with just the people listed in the title of the event. Emilee has improved her reading a lot this year. I will admit I was a little bit nervous at the beginning of the year. It was a bit of a struggle to get her to even try to read. She has tried hard and is doing really well now. In Emilee’s life in general I feel like she has started to accept the fact that she can do a lot of stuff for herself. While she is the youngest and all of us are guilty of just doing things for her because it is easier-and quite frankly she prefers it that way- I think we have made great strides in her willingness to try doing things on her own and for herself. She has shown it in playing basketball and not taking herself out of the game because she is ‘done’, making her own peanut butter sandwich, and reading books on her own even though she might not know every word. Her teacher said she is a happy fun girl to have in class and I am proud of her too. She had a very good folktale about how guinea pigs learned to run I got to see at her conference.

Patterns

This is the third year that I have been writing my blog. I just had the 4th six month volume printed and delivered last month. The kids like to look at them and I feel like one of my goals for having a blog has come to fruition. I have started a family journal that is documenting our family and helping us remember the fun, mundane, silly, happy, great and not so great memories of our lives while we have these years all living together that might seem like the permanent normal but before we know it will be history.

This being the third Winter I have blogged I have also started to notice some patterns that seem to happen in our family each year. We all seem to get some illness to varying degrees at the end of January beginning of February. It started last this past week for us. Allison got it first, then Matthew, Ryan and I have a very mild version that is hardly noticeable, and Emilee is now taking her turn. It was Matthew’s turn to get it the worst. Since he has asthma it is often his turn. Allison took the longest to recover, but all in all it wasn’t a bad year for sickness. I know a lot of other people that have had it pretty bad. I am jinxing myself and knock on wood we don’t have a round two but I am counting it as a blessing and hoping to keep my streak going of, “No cleaning up puke in 2020!”

Another annual event in February is the pre-Spring Break in preparation for the actual Spring Break next month. I don’t actually count because I really don’t want to know, but between the already short month, teacher conferences, snow days, and holidays if the number of school days isn’t less than the number of days off, it certainly feels like it. I didn’t even count sick days in that either. They had a half day Wednesday and now don’t go back to school until Tuesday.

So far we have been keeping busy. We ate lunch with dad yesterday. Then they all invited a friend or two over.

Emilee had Jovee over so that was business as usual. They played great together and watched Frozen II and went to bed without any issues.

Allison invited a friend over and they played, made slime, and entertained Peanut but I told her she could have a sleepover a different night. She asked Leah to spend the night tonight.

Matthew had two friends over. One had spent the night before but the other hadn’t. Two boys is a lot different than three and boys are a lot different than girls. Me being a girl, I always feel a little more…out of my wheel house with boys. I usually have Ryan check on them most of the time. I always monitor them and screen any movies they watch and collect all electronics/phones at bed time and tell them when it is time to go to bed. I feel like I am pretty good at thwarting possible problems. When the new friends mom dropped him off she talked with me a lot about electronics and sugar. She wanted to know my policies on both. Like I said I watch them but I felt like she wanted a written contract spelled out. After the conversation she had me a little stressed out. Then as she was headed out the door she “warned” me that she had found one of them awake at 4 in the morning when she had the two (not Matthew her son and the other boy) stay at her house one night. I thought, “How often was she checking on them to know they were awake at 4am) I felt like she wanted me to be sitting with them at all times during waking hours and at least hourly during sleep hours. Then I started worrying if it was because she was worried about her son doing something, my son doing something, or just general worry. So I was paranoid and got a crappy night sleep on the couch upstairs because I thought there was going to be some catastrophic event at any moment. They were fine and other than making the basement look like pigs had lived in it for the last year (which I made them clean up), they went to bed when I told them slept until I woke them up at 9:30 for breakfast while rubbing the kink in my neck. Uggg.

Sleepovers are not my favorite but with cousins around they love to have them and it is nice that they can. I felt like a bit of a hypocrite saying they could only have sleep overs with their cousins and no one else so while I don’t suggest them myself, I let them have them on occasion.

I am going to go down a little bit of a rabbit hole here, then get back on track with my original thought process. After worrying and having a crappy nights sleep last night I started evaluating myself a bit. I’m not mad or annoyed at the mom for asking about how I do things with electronics. I am glad that other mom’s are concerned and watch out for things like with kids. And good for her for straight out asking. Most of the time I am not that brave. The more eyes the better. I am mostly annoyed that it made me question myself. I do that a lot. I can get stressed and confused trying to guess what other peoples expectations are and live up to them instead of being confident in my own decisions and expectations. It is something that I am consciously trying to work on. It seems to me like some people are really good at thinking through what they think and feel about things and forming an opinion ahead of time before a situation arrives. I remember in church they told us that a lot when I was growing up. Decide what you are going to do in a situation ahead of time so when the time comes you aren’t put on the spot and you have already made the decision. I think that is good advice and I tried to do that with bigger obvious decisions that might come up in my life. I don’t know if I am just not as creative as some people but this is not a natural thing for me to do. A lot of people I talk with seem to be very good at this. Some people do this with EVERYTHING and that actually annoys me and I think it is exhausting and if it isn’t true it at least appears that they are impossible to please if others don’t know or agree with their opinion. I guess I should say with inconsequential things this annoys me like ‘how to empty the dishwasher’, ‘how to correctly replace a toilet paper roll’. That stuff is inconsequential and it seems trivial to me to think about how I like every single thing to be in my life. Yes, we can have preferences, that’s different. The bigger, more important things I tend to find myself having a general thought about something but until I actually do it myself or am confronted with something myself I generally don’t form a solid response or opinion. Another way to look at it is I guess I am not the best on the spot thinker. I do better at either being able to take a step back and take time to think, or if that isn’t possible afterwards evaluating how it went and then if that situation happens again I have a much better handle on what I want to do. But sometimes in life- a lot of times in life we have to react on the spot. When this happens to me instead of trusting myself, I often find myself trying to guess what the other person is wanting me to say or do and then my people pleaser self tries to please them. It is easy to see how this can get stressful pretty fast, as I can not read minds. My point to this tangent is that I am trying to make a more conscious decision to remind myself when those new situations come up-like a mom asking what my electronic/sugar policy is-that I can and should trust myself to just say what I do then taking her feedback, instead of trying to guess exactly what she wants me to say and then hovering over the boys like a weirdo all night. I am biased but I have a pretty good head on my shoulders. The longer you live the more experiences you have and there is a lot to be said for life experience. Which brings me to another point. Pay attention and read this next part closely my children. This isn’t anything you haven’t heard before. Your dad and I tell you and try to help each one of you on a daily basis with our own life experiences. You will be very familiar with what I am going to say…something in the language of- “The reason we are having this conversation is because we are trying to share what we have learned with you because”… we have ALREADY done it or something similar to it most of the time. And if we haven’t, all the other experiences we HAVE had will help you more than all the experiences you HAVEN’T had yet. The older I get the more I appreciate life experience, mine and others. One of my favorite quotes right now is, from Socrates. He is getting the credit if it wasn’t him. It sums up a lot of what I have been rambling on about.

Smart people learn from everything and everyone. Average people from their experiences. Stupid people already have the answers. ~Socrates

I have been all three of these. Most of the time I’d like to think I am an ‘average smart person’ but I hope I’m at least leaning more and more towards a ‘smart person’ every day.

That rabbit hole was longer than I thought. Where was I…After our sleepovers everyone went home then I picked up the rest of the cousins (we already had Jovee) and went to the community center and swam until they were all exhausted. Then they paired up and split out among each others houses to spend the rest of the afternoon playing. So we have had a successful two days of pre-Spring Break so far, and a fun low key Valentine’s Day. Three more days to go!

Tomorrow Grandma and Grandpa Terry are coming to stay for a few days. I will wait to blog about that until it happens. 😁

Allison’s Famous Pictures

This is when Allison was three maybe 4. Ryan’s company was putting out some new media and asked if Allison could be the kid for the pictures about their work with different school districts. She looks adorable but she was having none of it that day. She wouldn’t smile for anything. The best they got was a silly face. Every now and then it pops up on mine or Ryan’s Facebook feed. I know it is in a picture book somewhere but I don’t think it has made it to my blog yet so I am going to put it here because she is a cutie.

The look on her face to me says, “You can beg me all you want to smile, I am no ones puppet.”

Guess what time it is?!

It is Valentine’s celebration at school time! It was Emilee’s turn to have me help at her class party so I went and ran a game for them. There were many cute boxes and lots of excited kids. It is cute to see them deliver all their valentines. I helped with a game called Cupids Arrow. Each kid get a straw and a bunch of q-tips. They put the q-tip in the straw then blow through the straw and try to get it in a bowl. One boy started at the game area and was not happy at it because ‘the games are always boring and the worst part of the party’. Once I explained and started the game, he ended up being the biggest fan and was hard to get to move on to the next area. Emilee opted to go with a traditional mail box for her Valentine Box that she decorated.

Handing out her candy and excited about the candy she will find in her own box when she is done. The girl has the worlds biggest sweet tooth.

Allison’s party was not at exactly the same time so I was able to stop by and hang out with her at her party for a little bit too. True to her previous endeavors when making her Valentine Box she had to go bigger then the year before. Last year is her last year to make boxes which will be sad to not see the creative ideas she comes up with, but good in that they can’t get to much bigger or she won’t be able to carry them with out help. She went with the Rooster theme like last year but created an entire scene instead of just one rooster. This poor guy is running for his like so he doesn’t get eaten by the roosters that are quickly gaining on him. The last rooster is reminding them that they are vegetarians and don’t really want to eat him. The barn door is where you put the valentines.

Allison stuck with the Rooster theme again this year.

Matthew’s Basketball

Matthew missed about half of the basketball tryouts because we left for Florida for Christmas. He was nervous he wouldn’t be able to make the team but he ended up getting put on the Junior Varsity team. He has been loving it. He has been getting better each week too. There team is 10-1 so they have had a good season. One of the games they were down by more than 15 points almost the whole game then they came back and won in triple overtime. He loved the excitement of the whole experience. The jersery’s are already made and the bigger the number the bigger the size of the jersey. His usual number he likes to be is 14 butthat jersey was to big so he had to settle for 11. He is very aware of his lack of height compared to almost everyone else on his team but he makes up with it with speed and effort. He is getting really good at darting around and stealing the ball from the other team.

They start each game with the National Anthem, which I love.

Emilee’s Basketball

Emilee tried basketball again this year. She played on a team with her friend Stella. Stella’s dad was the coach for the team.

She has done a really good job. You can tell that a few things have clicked for her on how to play so she enjoys it more and her skills are getting better. It is fun to watch.

The girls are still young enough that some pretty cute mistakes or distractions happen during the games too. Sometimes they get confused and shoot at the wrong basket. Another time two girls that were guarding each other decided to take a break for a minute to play patty cake together.😂😂

Fabulous February

It has been snowing almost weekly this winter. That is a lot more often that usual for us. Most of them have been less than an inch but some have been a couple inches. Several of them have been the really wet snow that is good for snowman building. We have played a lot in the snow but winter is always a time to get creative about what to do indoors.

Allison has her braces on and gets to go to the dentist a lot these days to have them checked. She found a fun toy in the treasure box after her last visit.

Allison also tried her hand out at the school National Geographic Geography Bee this year. She was the representative for her class. I was proud of her for trying it. The questions were pretty hard.

Family Flexibility

The range of flexibility in our family goes from Allison doing full splits and bending over backwards to Ryan and Matthew who can barely bend forward let alone touch their toes.

The past year Matthew has started having issues because he works out so much and then doesn’t stretch enough. On top of his lack of flexibility his muscles tighten up from working out and make him even less flexible and more tight. He has had to do several rounds of physical therapy. Of course Ryan and I have been nagging, harping, reminding, lecturing, begging, threatening, and anything else we can think of to get him to stretch 1-2 times a day. I’ve made him do Yoga with me. He is pretty ornery about it ,mainly because it hurts, he doesn’t like it, doesn’t get the importance of it, he is not good at it, and he is a belligerent teenager.

Our chiropractor gave us a video to use with some basic stretching. Ryan realized he needs to do it just as much as Matthew so the two of them have been doing it together at night. It is so ridiculous watching them. I switch between laughing so hard my eyes water to rolling my eyes as they moan and complain and roll around on the floor supposedly stretching but looking more like they are having a seizure or full body muscle spasm.

Kudos to them for trying though. They get an ‘A’ for effort. Well Ryan gets a ‘B’ and Matthew gets ‘C-‘

Philosophy and Toothpaste

I am not an idealist, I am a realist. Usually an optimistic realist but have my moments on the pessimistic side as well. So maybe you could say most of the time I am a realistic idealist, heavy on the realistic. 😂😂😂 I wonder if that is an original joke, or if my brain pulled it up from my memory that I heard somewhere before. Anyways. The reason I am rambling on about this is because it is a new year! One of, if not the highest time of year that people focus on making new goals for achievement and self improvement.

Ideally, many of us decide on something that we think will make our life better, or happier and make a plan to achieve it. Then follow the plan and achieve the goal. This process can then be repeated and goal by goal, step by step you are farther along the path of being a successful, fulfilled and happy person until your life is perfect and you are perfect.

Realistically, most of us start with great intentions and ambitions but then usually loose interest, desire, and/or motivation, and shortly afterwards and are back to our old habits. Old habits are hard to break and new habits are harder to make. Of course individual circumstances fortitude, self discipline and other traits have a big effect on success/failure too.

However, from an ideal realistic point of view. Sometimes we set goals for ourselves and are successful, sometimes we fail, sometimes we change our mind and change our goals. Sometimes we take a break then start again. There are almost numberless possibilities and reasons for why we do and don’t achieve goals. I think that the desire to make goals and put effort towards self improvement can be praised for heading in the right direction. Hopefully each day we can take another step in the direction we want to go. Sometimes the steps might be baby steps, giant leaps, maybe even a slip backwards, or complete stand still. Some goals are achieved in a day, some take years, some a lifetime, some are frivolous, inconsequential, life altering or even eternal but hopefully when all is said and done if you haven’t yet achieved the goal, you are closer than you were. And, along the way when needed you have the discipline to rededicate yourself and try harder, the courage to re-evaluate and change course, and the brains and humility to know which one of those to do-or come up with a third option.

Anywho. I am going to switch gears a little now and address the second part of the title of this blog. Toothpaste. The recent focus of a minor goal in my life.

Throughout our marriage we have lived in several different homes and sometimes Ryan and I have shared a bathroom sink, sometimes we have had our own. Depending on whether we shared a sink or not we would also share a tube of toothpaste or each have our own. Currently we have our own sinks and have our own toothpaste.

A while back while we were brushing our teeth one night, I made the comment that when I was helping the girls brush their teeth their toothpaste had so much dried toothpaste gunked up around the top that you couldn’t squeeze anymore toothpaste out even though it was at least still half full of toothpaste. Ryan chuckled and said it must be hereditary. To which I rolled my eyes and changed the subject because I knew where the conversation was headed. Ryan being Ryan wouldn’t let it go and asked to see my tube of toothpaste. I told him to not concern himself with my toothpaste…yaddy yaddy yaw…Ryan makes fun of me…I call him a turd…as the conversation is wrapping up he says something to the effect of it boggles his mind that he is a less detailed oriented person and messier than me but his toothpaste is clean as a whistle. I am a clean, organized, person but there are a few things in my life that are just a mess like my sock drawer and my tube of toothpaste. I laughed at the sock drawer comment because I know why I do that. It is the perfect amount of ‘controlled chaos’ for me and I like it. The toothpaste though…I don’t try and make it gunky but it usually is that way and I have to clean it up pretty often. So my curiosity was piqued as to why it was messy too.

So I decided to make it a goal of mine (definitely in the frivolous goal category) to keep the toothpaste tube nice and clean. Each time I brushed my teeth I made a conscious effort to leave the toothpaste nice and clean. A week later…it was getting gunky again.

I casually inspected Ryan’s toothpaste and noticed that he doesn’t just flip the lid down, he snaps it on tight, so I tried that. A week later I couldn’t snap the lid tight because it was getting gunky again.

Now it went from curiosity to a mission. So I checked the toothpaste after I put it on and and sure enough it was nice and clean but when I set it down a little toothpaste would come out the top and start building up. A little more trial and error and I discovered the proper way to apply toothpaste if you want to have a gunk free toothpaste tube.

Squeeze the toothpaste to get the toothpaste you want. Then while simultaneously releasing the squeeze on the tube so it will suck the toothpaste down into the tube apply a moderate amount of pressure with the toothbrush while applying the toothpaste so that the bristles scoop out more of the toothpaste and leave a little dip going into the tube instead of a the toothpaste being flush with the opening. Then close the lid tightly. This method has successfully kept my toothpaste gunk free for several weeks. Also, a note is to squeeze from the bottom not the middle of the tube which is different then what I used to do.
Basically, Ryan applies his toothpaste more aggressively so it stays clean. I have a more delicate approach due to the fact I inadvertently try not to touch the bristles when I apply toothpaste to anything except the toothpaste. If you have your own toothpaste either way is fine, but if you share a tube my way is a little more hygienic…until the tube gets gunky.
I successfully achieved my goal (which turned out to be more of a science experiment) and now tend to switch back and forth between my old way and Ryan’s way.

I know it seems like I spent a lot of time and effort on this, but I would like to say I really didn’t. All the thinking and pondering of what to do next occurred during the time I spent applying the toothpaste. I have however spent a lot of time writing this blog about toothpaste.😁