Zeke's Musical Debut!

Remember when I said something about Zeke and a sailor hat?

Well, he was asked to perform at a fundraiser a few weeks ago for the Utah Festival Opera Guild. Are you wondering if Zeke sings opera? Well, he doesn't (at least not professionally... ha ha ha!) Are you wondering if this is something Zeke does regularly because he's a musical performer? No, this is the first time! So why is he doing this? When our friend, Kree, asked him to I thought, "Oh, that would be so fun, but I bet he'll say NO WAY!" And he surprised me and said, "Huh, that sounds kinda fun, what the heck, I'll do it!" Isn't he wonderful? They got a copy of the music just a couple weeks before and only had two practices -- so they really did great considering that.

It was such a fun night. The theme was "Some Enchanted Evening" and there were several musical numbers from "South Pacific". Zeke sang, "There ain't nothin' like a dame!" Two other guys from our ward performed as well, so their wives and I got to come and watch and have a night out together. I might just be a *little* biased, but our guys were the last number of the night and they stole the show! The crowded cheered 10 times louder for them than for anyone else. That could have been us, but hey, I was proud! (Thanks for the video from Lora and David -- my camera didn't do too well with the lighting.)

The "Sailors" from our ward: David, Aaron, and my sweetie, Zeke

Zeke and his "dame" (Thanks for the pictures, Diana)

I have always loved musicals and I have always loved Zeke,
but this was heaven. :)

Feelin' the LOVE

Still blogging on fumes here... I get seasick from the waves in my computer screen.

Quick update: Beck's dentist appointment went really well this morning... he's doing great. Thanks for your prayers. :) The Spirit really helped me to be calm. Beck wasn't afraid at all and he did really well with the anesthesia.

Okay, so I just had to tell you about the best parenting moment I've had with Gabe in a LONG time. Nothing pre-planned or fancy or forced. It was just an opportunity to spend a little one-on-one time together. There's a million things to do everyday, but I will be forever grateful that I chose to sit down and just BE with my son.

After school on Tuesday, Gabe and I cuddled up in the recliner and watched "River Monsters" together. The host is so funny! He is a true biologist -- VERY passionate about what he does. Gabe and I had fun trying to imitate his accent and add to the show (think Mystery Science Theater 3000). We were laughing so hard we were crying. Gabe leaned over and said, "Mom, I love you, you're so cool to hang out with." How many 13 year old boys say that to their Mom? I don't think I will EVER forget that. Ever.

This Might Be My Last Post...

It's Tuesday and well, I just haven't been in the mood to blog...

but our computer is being REALLY weird now... as in, I think it may be dying for REAL. Yes, I already told you that I'm a "bit" dramatic. It may be the video card? I don't know, but I've been storing photos like crazy expecting the worst. This is not good.

This just might be my last post... until we can save enough money for whatever it is we might need to replace... gripping, isn't it?

We had a great Easter weekend...

other than I was threatened by a Tongan woman in our ward that she would choke me if I tried to pay her husband for helping with the food for Zeke's graduation party! Yeah, good times!! :) ha ha ha (it was all in good fun) Love you, Sister Pauni! You have to hear her say it, "I come ovah and I choke you!"

took my family rolling Easter eggs... for the FIRST time. Zeke says I'm nuts. Maybe it's a Utah thing...

tried to sing "Because He Lives" with the ward choir on Sunday, but I cried through most of it. Sorry 12th ward for the ugly faces I was trying not to make ... I'm not a pretty crier. That song just gets me.

drum roll... we now have a family room (again). Oh, it's fun to have room to breathe and move around a bit more... I love to move furniture and rearrange rooms... it's a bit of a neurotic thing... I'm taking pills and having injections.

Tonight I told Beck it was time to get out of the tub and he stood up, saluted me, and said, "Yes, your Majesty!" I do not know where he got that one from.

Earlier tonight, Beck got a blue-coconut slush from Sonic and said, "This is the best yummy ever!"

My friend, Tawnya, came over today... I feel so special. I just met her in February and well, she's rather groovy. :) Beck and her son, Sammy, had fun too. She's one of those people that I feel like I just "click" with... do you know people like that? Isn't it great? (I am not sure if Tawnya feels that way, but just keep letting me think that, okay?)

Last week my dear, sweet, wonderful, awesome, groovy neighbor Lora showed up at my door with flowers and candy for ME! "just because" Wow, my life is so blessed right now. I am her visiting teacher and she came over just to cheer ME up. Here's the flowers!! (My camera is not great, but hey, I had to get a picture.)
Getting nervous for Beck's dentist appointment on Thursday... we'll be there for at least 4 hours... I'm bringing 3 books in hopes that at least one of them will keep my mind off of Beck, because I am not allowed to go in with him. The books are:

"The Help" been wanting to read this one for forever.
"Beyonders" Brandon Mull's new one... enough said.
"The Thirteenth Tale" this is the book club choice for April... I need to finish it by May 5th...

I'm planning to bring some chocolate too! Say a prayer for my lil' Beck if you can. This is the FIRST time any of my children have ever had general anesthesia. He can't have any food or water after midnight tomorrow... I hope they can get him in early. I'll be so happy to have it done. Poor lil' gaffer.

I hope you all have a great week!

P.S. If any of you would like to come to Zeke's graduation party on May 7th, send me an email and I'll let you know the details.

I've walked where Jesus walked

A lady in my Mom's ward read this poem in sacrament last time I was there. I loved it so much I asked her about it afterwards. The very next week my Mom sent me a copy and said "Linda wanted you to have this." Thanks, Linda!

If I could go to Galilee and walk where Jesus walked

And sit in tender grasses on the hillside where He taught;

If I could feel the gentle breeze that lifted from the sea

where He chose the humble fisherman, how full my heart would be.

If I could sit and ponder on a rock that knew His hand,

or walk along the seashore where His feet had touched the sand;

My spirit yearns within me, but it doesn't seem my fate,

I'll never walk where Jesus walked,

I'll never see... But wait,

I've worshiped in His temple where I know He's walked before,

Have His feet been down this hallway?

Have His fingers touched this door?

Has He stood here in this very room and looked at what I see?

In the beauty of His temple, I can feel His love for me!

I close my eyes and picture Him... my worries melt away.

I don't need to go to Galilee or travel far away.

For my tender heart is filled with what He wants me to be taught

And my testimony burns within me... I've walked where Jesus walked!

written by Carma Salveson
Tremonton, Utah August, 1997

I just want to wish all of you Happy Easter and tell you that He LIVES!

Doctrine and Covenants 76:22-24 "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God."

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the only reason I survive in this crazy world.
I love you all and hope you feel peace in your life because of Him. :)

Satan gave me some Zyrtec

You know that song, "Satan gave me a taco" from Beck. Yeah, you probably don't, but it's one of our family favorites. You just might click on another blog right about now...

Well, as you know, yesterday, was not my best day. However, I woke up feeling absolutely FABULOUS today... could it be all the wonderful comments you posted yesterday? DEFINITELY. I'm so thankful for all of you. I love you all!

Could it be a random girl's night at my neighbor Lora's house? YES, most definitely! Oh dear, have you woke up the next morning after a night of crazy and thought, "Why did I say that?", "Why did I do that?" Yeah, it was that fun! Here are my accomplices, if you ever need any dirt on me, they have it:

LORA
TAWNYA
SHARI
ALLISON (I don't know if you have a blog and
I think I might have freaked you out a little, but I thought it was fun.)

Well, I also realized that way back on Monday, I was having seasonal allergy issues, so before I went to bed I took a Zyrtec. And when I woke up yesterday I felt AWFUL. Shaky and stressed and tired and groggy and DEPRESSED. It was the Zyrtec. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! By the way, I did NOT take a Zyrtec last night, but I did consume quite a bit of chocolate. Hmmm... I think there's a connection.

So, I have to fill you in on the events yesterday:

Visiting teaching went really well. Prayer changes things. Even my prideful stubborn heart. (sometimes) I had a strong feeling that I'm right where I need to be for the moment for good or bad. My partner has a lot of strengths I didn't recognize until yesterday. The Spirit helped me a lot. I think sometimes Satan doesn't want us to go visiting teaching because it's so good for us. Carry on.

"Zoe and Kaia and sharing a bedroom" SAGA: Zoe prayed about it again yesterday morning before school and we made another list of pros and cons. Zeke and I talked with her about when you make a decision and pray about it and get a good feeling that you shouldn't second guess it. If it's right, it's right. That being said -- it doesn't mean everything will go smoothly 100% of the time. We tried to use the analogy of us getting married, we know it's right, we love each other, but sometimes we really can't stand the sight of each other. (NO, we didn't say that to Zoe!) But we did say that sometimes it's hard being married, but we keep going because we love each other and it's mostly FUN:)

So, after school, she said, "I really want to share a room with Kaia, it's more fun than not!" She has been at peace ever since... and I am more than a little excited to reclaim the family room! HAPPY DAY!

Oh, one of the MANY topics of conversation at girl's night:

If you don't know, this guy is Jani Lane, the lead singer from a 90's hairband called Warrant. (Yes, I LOVED them!)

Don't you think I look like him? My brother says I do.
(Thanks for the picture, Tawnya)
Being totally whacked is much better than being depressed.
Oh, and I almost forgot to thank my awesome hubby for encouraging me to go hang out with my friends and for taking care of the kids. LOVE you.

So tell me, what does it feel like when you're having a nervous breakdown?!

Okay, have you ever had the feeling like you're treading water FOREVER and your legs start to cramp and you can't breathe and you sink a little and water goes into your mouth and you panic and tread harder and come up a bit and try a little harder, but your legs are on FIRE and you know you can't do this forever.... and then you have 4 (sometimes more) little weights hanging on you, depending on you to hold them up?

I seriously feel like my head is going to explode today...

I am having a hard time with:

visiting teaching.... I was so frustrated on Sunday... I could not stop shaking. I just don't know if I'm cut out for it.

my house... blah.... I can't seem to keep up

my kids, each for very separate reasons...

Beck has to go to the dentist next week for an IV sedation procedure, his teeth are in BAD shape. Yeah, whatever, judge away... I've never done anything different with my other kids and their teeth are fine... I guess if you play Russian roulette, the chances are you'll eventually get shot.

Kaia has a weird mole/growth thing on her tummy that I showed the doctor yesterday and he wants her to see a dermatologist ASAP. I am more than a little freaked out.

Zoe is trying to decide if she wants to share a room with Kaia or NOT. Long story.... a couple years ago we made our basement family room into a bedroom for Zoe to ease contentions with siblings and to make an office for Zeke while he's in school and there was no where else to study - NOW, Zoe and Kaia are in Kaia's room together every second and they beg to sleep together every night AND Zeke just does NOT use his office anymore... so I'm thinking let's reclaim our family room and give us some room to breathe. We spent most of Saturday moving rooms after Zoe BEGGED me and prayed about it and now she hates it! It's been a rough couple of days...

And then there's Gabe... I love that kid... he had a TRULY valid reason, he did, and it all worked out eventually, but he "sluffed" the last 10 minutes of one of his classes yesterday. That's always a fun phone call to get!

Our basement does have wallboard and studs, but I want it finished, it has been that way since 2009... I want to put my bookshelves back downstairs so I can have room to walk in my hallway and bedroom... I just feel so claustrophobic and squishy and overloaded right now.

We are having a big graduation party for Zeke on May 7th and I'm being fussy and I want to get the house cleaned up, but it's not happening. Zeke is so busy teaching his class it doesn't feel like he's really out of school at all... I guess he's getting paid for it at least, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. That day is going to be a HUGE day, two commencements he supposedly MUST attend... and he's planning to go camping with Gabe the YM the night before... YIKES?!

How do you not stress about stuff? Do you ever feel like you just want to throw almost everything in your house away? Do you have most of your income budgeted for doctor bills and future doctor bills? Maybe I just need Spring to come. My cats need Spring to come... they are so fussy and unsettled and so am I.

I am so selfish right now... I stress and look around at all the stuff I should be doing and I just want to lock myself in my closet and read a book! I feel so discouraged... I just want to pause the world and give myself a day or two to catch up. The pile is too big...

Compassion and a Question

This is a wonderful story that has been circulating through emails for awhile. I had forgotten about it and my sister-in-law shared it with me again. Thanks, Dani! I love this story so much I want to share it with you! I truly believe that we are here to help each other and we can make a big difference in someone's life. (You might want to get a tissue handy...)

There is a nine-year-old boy sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there
is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks
that his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this
has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they will never speak to him again as long as he lives.

The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, "Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat."

He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her
eyes that says he has been discovered. As the teacher is walking toward
him, a classmate names Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with
water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl
of water in the boy's lap. The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while
is saying to himself, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!"

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the
object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym
shorts to put on while his pants dry out... All the other children are on
their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is
wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been
his has been transferred to someone else - Susie. She tries to help, but
they tell her to get out. "You've done enough, You clutz!"

Finally at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy
walks over to Susie and whispers, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
Susie whispers back, "I wet my pants once too."

WE ARE THE ANSWER TO EACH OTHERS' PRAYERS EVERY DAY, WHEN WE SHOW COMPASSION.

I hope I can be the answer to someone's prayer today. I hope others will show compassion to me.

Okay, now I'm whining...

I'm stressing a bit right now... I need some advice. I used to be the type of person that if someone is bugging me, I go right to that person and try in a nice way to explain what I'm upset about. You know, try to work it out and let them know how I feel? Well, the problem is I've had that backfire horribly a few times and now I'm pretty hesitant to "say what I need to say".

Instead, I've been taking my problems to Heavenly Father in prayer and for the most part just trying to love people more and smile at those who frustrate me. It has worked really well for minor things and one-time misunderstandings and I'm ashamed to admit that I usually realize that I was the one at fault. Even if my mistake was just assuming something. Never assume anything.

However, I've really been having trouble getting along with someone for over 3 or 4 years now. I try to be patient and just "walk it off" but there have been several times that have become much more frequent lately that I feel like she is putting me down and well, quite frankly, being BEYOND very rude. She talks over the top of me when we're with a group of women and if I have to change my plans she gets really upset and acts like it's the end of the world and I'm a complete idiot. She treats me like I am not capable of doing my part, that she has to hold my hand and put up with me. (Maybe I am all this, but again, I've tried to look past her quirks and issues and make it work.) After this weekend, I'm ready to be done with our friendship altogether. (Again, I tend to be dramatic if you didn't already know.) Zeke says I'm being prideful, which I know is true. I don't care what she thinks of me, but at the same time, I don't have to deal with her, do I?

What would you do?

Kaia's Birthday

One of my most favorite quotes is from Albert Einstein, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." Translation: I'm going to try and blog at night when all the kids are in bed. Problem: I am having trouble keeping my eyes open. Anyway, I wanted to put up Kaia's birthday pictures...

Beck and the birthday girl before school

Kaia and her cake

Zoe and Kaia had fun decorating the cake

The party! Doesn't Gabe look HUGE?
Beck was asleep for most of the party,
this was a huge blessing since Zeke had to work late.

Kaia and her friends, she has her arm around her "BFFBT"
(Best Friend Forever Big Time! you have to hear Kaia say it)

Opening Presents!

The keyboard!

The PURPLE keyboard! It was a stampede!

Kaia putting her candle in her cake... I didn't get many pictures of her blowing out the candles or us singing to her because Beck was awake by then and he was a sad boy.
Here she is on her 3rd birthday back in 2007, she looks so little.

Happy 7th Birthday, my sweet little Kaia Bear!
You are the "Queen of One-Liners"!:)
Love you

If you could

If you could see my pile of dishes. I'm really glad you can't.

If you could be with my 3 year old and understand just how crazy and busy he is. He needs some serious Mom time.

If you could know how crazy my day was yesterday and even how much crazier my night was. It takes a village...

If you could understand what it's like to have a child with asthma and everything that goes along with that. She misses out on so much.
This time of year is hard.

If you could get inside my brain and see how much I really want to read all your blogs and make a fabulous post about Kaia's birthday.

Not today.

"No success can compensate for failure in the home." -- David O. McKay

I will try to fix you...

I just heard this song the other day from that great documentary I told you about called "Young@Heart"... you should seriously watch it. I love Coldplay. What a beautiful song! I am so thankful for my wonderful family and friends... I couldn't survive without you. Love you all!

Back in the saddle again!

Hello there! My awesome husband got our computer running much faster last night. Thank goodness. I couldn't even bring up a link from another page or more than one tab! Wow, that is so pitiful. But I was so bummed yesterday morning I didn't even want to touch the computer ever again. I'm so dramatic.

Computer is back! :)

Kids are back in school! :)

Yesterday was nice. I love routines and structure. I love to have a break from my kids. I know that may sound mean, but I'm just being honest. I think it's good. They come home and hug me and tell me they missed me too. We are refueled from our time away and now we can enjoy each other again. Just Beck and me at the grocery store... better than all four children, but if I had to choose one to shop with it wouldn't be Beck. :) He's three. Yeah.

I love my kids, but we are a crew!

Yesterday was my sweet little Kaia's 7th birthday. I'll post some pictures later. She is such a great blessing to our family.

Had a great Saturday with Zeke's family.

I bore my testimony on Sunday and I always make such a fool of myself, but I just really felt like I needed to. We are so blessed. I am amazed at things I've been able to do with the help of the Spirit guiding me (and usually telling me to bite my tongue!)

Do you ever get the feeling that people think you're a complete idiot? Maybe you don't, but I am convinced that a few people feel that way about me and they're not very good at hiding it anymore. Oh well, I probably am. But to quote John Dryden, "There is a pleasure in being mad which none but madmen know."

ahhh... my fingers are happy to be typing again.

oh, Beck has to go to the dentist today :( no bueno...

Please Stand By

Hello out there...

This week has been BUSY! My children have been home for Spring Break and it's been snowing ALL week, yeah. We have one computer and 5 people who want to use it.

Our computer is having technical difficulties and I feel so lost..... sad, huh? but it's true.

My husband has been installing new anti-virus software on our computer today and it's having issues... it took over 10 minutes for me to bring up my blog and get to the "new post" page. While I was waiting, I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and put on my pajamas. (I have no patience and I cannot sit still for more than 5 minutes.)

Anyhoo, I just wanted all of you to know that I'm still here and I'm missing all of your blogs somethin' fierce! Ha! Zeke is working out the kinks on the computer and hopefully things will be a LOT faster by Monday. I can't wait to see what you've been up to!

P.S. I went to Book Club Thursday night. It was AWESOME! These women are so fun, but I always feel kinda dumb.
P.P.S. I watched some fun movies on Netflix and such this weekend:

• "The Pajama Game"-- 1957 musical with Doris Day (yeah, I like that kind of stuff) This one was really silly and some of the choreography was so different and just plain weird; my girls and I could not stop laughing.
  
• "Young @ Heart" -- kind of an independent film/documentary about a Senior Citizen's Choir from Massachusetts that sings songs from Jimi Hendrix, Coldplay, The Clash, Sonic Youth, etc. It was a hoot! Seriously, I want to be like that when I get old.
  
• NOT on Netflix (don't get excited), but we also watched "Tangled". Okay, so I just love this movie to pieces! I have to remind Beck that I'm "happy crying" because he keeps saying, "What's wrong, Mama?" I just love to be in love and see movies with happy endings. CHEESY! But that witch person, Mother Gothel? Yeah, I like want to hurt her (what a hypocrite, I know) but when she sings to Rapunzel, "gettin' kinda chubby" and all of that other horrible stuff, I really want to hit her with a frying pan or something! She's so awful, but isn't that what the Disney villains are supposed to be?
• We've been watching a lot of clips from the musical "South Pacific" on "you tube" this weekend. WHY? Well, it's a bit of a surprise and it involves my husband and a sailor hat...I cannot wait!
  

sorry for the lack of pictures and links..... blah.

How was your conference weekend?

Monkeys climbing on the "tree" in between conference sessions

Zeke says, "Did you get a picture yet, or what?!"

Well, I survived the weekend. I wrote a silly post about some home repairs and updates we did on Saturday and I just wasn't that into it. My heart is so full and my mind is so stressed. I needed to write a different one.

I am so thankful my Mom is okay from her "heart problems" last week.

General Conference was AWESOME, but isn't it always? We still have a hard time truly focusing on all of it with 4 children who really aren't that into it? I have a question for all of you bloggers out there: do you have or know of any children that actually enjoy conference and like to sit still and just listen to the speakers and not talk and not fight and not throw ice cream on your cats?

just wondering...

or is it something you make them do and it's kind of like torture with bribes and you wonder if it's really a big contradiction because they are feeling anything but the Spirit?

just wondering...

And really don't make me depressed. I don't want to hear how perfect your family is. If I could type the sound of a "raspberry" I would. Thbtttt!? Just because I'm in Parenting 4210!! Enjoy your 101 class... HA!

We did make some seriously awesome ice cream sundaes during the Saturday afternoon session. I got 6 different flavors of ice cream and twice as many toppings and such. It was so much fun -- the rule was that you could eat as much ice cream as you wanted IF you sat at the table and listened to conference AND were quiet enough to let other people listen. Yeah, I got that idea from a cute book I read a couple weeks ago, "Bullies in the Headlights" by Matthew Buckley.

Our whole family listened to this book on tape and the prequel, "Chickens in the Headlights". If you want a good family read that will have you laughing so hard that you can hardly breathe, these are the books for you. But be warned!! Your children might learn AND use new terms to insult one another with: You TOILET SEAT!! You're just a big POT LICKER! Yeah, I love this book! Oh, and my dear sweet daughter belched at the dinner table the other night and instead of our required "Excuse me" she yelled, "TA-DAAAAAH!" Just another fabulous treasure acquired from the pages of these books. Seriously, if anything, you should read them so you can learn a whole new version of the Primary song, "Two Little Hands." ha ha ha ha ha... I won't tell you, you'll have to find out for yourself or my kids can sing it for you. They're just waiting for the opportunity.

Why is it so funny to read about OTHER people's naughty children?

Anyway, conference was a good mix. Some talks I felt great comfort and peace; like Elder Bednar's about Revelation. Wow! I never realized how much information I am receiving. Am I listening? Am I applying it? The Holy Ghost is speaking to me all the time. Little by little I am getting help every moment of every day. I just need to be humble and do what the Spirit tells me to: go play with my children, love others -- even those who are hard to love, study the scriptures, forsake worldly things, serve in our community AND not what I want to: sleep more than I should, eat more ice cream, hide in my room when my kids are bugging me, fall asleep in my bed before I say my prayers. I'm a bad girl and this is just the tip of the iceberg. What about not answering the phone sometimes because I just don't want to deal with the drama on the other end? Or thinking really mean thoughts about people who have offended me? I have been offended by? I need to do better and this is exactly why I need conference.

I love Elder Holland's term "Bedlam-ites". They definitely live at my house. I wonder if there are any at your house? Sometimes I feel like our house is so CRAZY, you know, full of BEDLAM. I looked up bedlam in the dictionary: a scene or state of wild uproar and confusion. Yep, that's us. And sometimes I think we have no idea what we are doing as parents. But we're really trying...

I really REALLY enjoyed the talk by Elder Lynn G. Robins of the Seventy about "To Be" lists and parenting. The Spirit pricked my heart more times than I am willing to admit that I really need to make some changes in my life.

Elder Ballard's talk about small and simple things, Elder Cook's talk about women (YEAH!) and another talk by ? about the characteristics of people who follow Christ are some of the talks that really stood out to me. I find it interesting how much President Monson has emphasized missionary work the last few conferences.

We have decided as a family to make a monthly contribution to the ward and general missionary funds. I want my children to know that I want to "Follow the Prophet" and I think this is something tangible for them to physically do and actually see with their eyes.

My kids are home from school this week for Spring Break.... again I am thankful for Conference; it helps me survive. I'll write another post about this week... "...by small and simple means are great things brought to pass." Yes, I'll keep chanting that and try my best to keep smiling.

I guess this conference was much better than the last one. Last time we got e-coli. Yeah.

What a week!

Okay, I feel like I just finished a big race and I'm bent over heaving in gulps of air and pouring water over my head... I think this week has finally calmed down. (famous last words...)

The toilet is Noira's new fascination. Oh no! She has become quite a crazy little thing. My squirt bottle is always waiting on the counter.
I love her to pieces, but she's been naughty!

I'm still worn out and I can't think today...blah blah blah... I'm tired.

Tuesday night was CRAZY!!! My Dad called around 5:15 to tell me they took my Mom in an ambulance to Provo. Then, of course, 3 people instantly stopped by my house for whatever reason (2 unexpectedly) and I was a total brain dead mess. Sorry, Colleen. Somehow, I helped Kaia finish her Science Fair project and somehow I fixed dinner. It was a long night.

Basically, my Mom was in the hospital for a few days down in Provo and it scared the HECK out of me. But she's fine now. They thought it was a heart problem, turns out it was severe heartburn. (It's okay, Mom, better safe than sorry! I want you around for a LONG time!) I spent a LOT of time on the phone and MORE time praying. We have been truly blessed.

Oh, and Kaia lost another tooth.
The tooth fairy even stopped by in the midst of all the chaos.

We all felt a little sick off and on this week. Nothing big, just headaches and a general "blah" feeling, but it just added to the stress of everything and on Monday, I had to cancel dessert night with friends :(

The Science Fair was on Wednesday. Zeke had training in SLC Wednesday night. So it was me and the kids. Always a little crazy, but can I just say how much I love the Elementary School my kids go to? They really ROCK! I am amazed at the participation certificates and awards they give out to every student that does a science fair project every year. 100's of them. Cute little treat bags with candy and plastic test tubes and latex gloves and bubble wrap and those little capsules that turn into creatures when you put them in water, you know, science stuff! It really was above and beyond awesome! THANKS!
I saw Gabe's Algebra teacher at the Science Fair. His son is in Kaia's class. We talked about Gabe for awhile. He's been a great help to us. Gabe is really struggling right now. He loves school, the SOCIAL part of school anyway. And wait, he loves Utah Studies and Gym and Ceramics, but after missing a few days this month he's gotten behind in some of his classes. In middle school, this is NOT good. It's been hard for him to catch up = he's been really REALLY grumpy. Oh man, I'm sure I'll survive this parenting thing, but some days I really wonder. We've taken away every "privilege" other than food, clothing, and shelter until he's caught up. Tough love. It's worth it. I know it!

Kaia's birthday is coming up on the 11th of April and she really wants a keyboard. She has decided that our family is going to start a band. Beck and Gabe will play the guitars, Zoe will be the lead singer, and she will play the keyboard. I'm not sure how her siblings feel about this (or if they even know), but she really wants a keyboard anyway. I have been researching online for a few weeks trying to find a good one.

There are hundreds of different keyboards out there. Every price range and option imaginable. How could I choose? There were good and bad reviews on all of them. I had it narrowed down to 10 (yeah, "narrowed down", right?) I was looking at them yesterday while the kids were doing homework. Kaia leaned over my shoulder and said, "Mom!! Is that a purple keyboard?! I want that one!" Wow, I should have asked Kaia weeks ago. What the heck, we'll give it a try. Who cares what it does, it's purple!! Enough said. :) I love how kids think.

Oh, and my sweet husband brought me the family some fresh Asiago cheese and garlic bread last night from a vendor that comes to their work. I ate way too much. It was so YUMMY! In case you locals were wondering, it's called "The Grainery Artisan Bakery" in Newton.

I'm really looking forward to conference this weekend. I'm so thankful my Mom is okay.