We've done it again!

Last week we were sitting around the table eating lunch and drawing names for family gifts. Gabe got my name and asked me what I wanted. I said, "You know what I really want? Another kitten!!" The kids all screamed YESSS! in agreement. Well, Zeke says I started a mutiny that just 5 hours later, resulted in this:

I'm just a *tiny bit* impulsive I think.

He kinda reminds me of Yoda...

However, we can't totally settle on a name.
First, he was going to be Hiccup.... I still like that one, but I was voted down.
Then, he became Skeeter (from "Bedtime Stories" because he was for FREEEEEE! We thought Skeeter was a better name for a cat than Ferrari.)
Now, we call him Percy. My older three kids say he's Perseus, as in Percy Jackson. Beck thinks he's Percy from Thomas the tank engine.
I'm not sure... Zeke and I really like the name Thor.
We've also considered Taco and Zucchini... I'm not joking.

Needless to say, we are having SO much fun with him right now. He's a sweetie and Caspian and Nora don't seem to mind too much... other than the 23 hours a day he's trying to bite their tails. He's had a few good whacks to the head... ahhh, I love it!

Someday when I get around to it, I'll tell you the whole story...

P.S. In other news, I sent my story to two publishers last week! Cross your fingers!!! If I get brave enough, I'll post a bit of it for you...

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.

Spring Clinging

It's that time of year. The "Winter Blues/Blahs." I feel like that sometimes. On Monday, it was SO "warm"; the snow was all melted and the temperature was 38 degrees! Yeah, we were having a heat wave (for January in Logan really!) I went to the grocery store wearing flats WITHOUT any socks! Yeah, I'm a rebel.

I knew it wouldn't last. The weather is just a big tease here. In fact, it's a common saying in Logan that if you don't like the weather just wait 5 minutes. Winter can be very dark and dreary. And we have serious inversion to add to the yuck. Spring doesn't really come until April or May. In fact, I remember one year our Young Women got snowed on at girl's camp -- in JUNE!

On Tuesday the temperature had only gone down to 35, but I woke up to 2 or 3 inches of snow; somehow it seemed much colder. I was determined not to let it get me down!

As soon as I got the kids off to school, I reached for my therapy:

I've been reading my scriptures in the morning now for 5 days in a row! This new habit is really changing my perspective on the day. Really. I feel a little more happy, a little more patient, a little more loving, a little more energetic, a little more tolerant. It's only a little, but it's amazing how much better my day goes.

I'm reading in 1st Nephi right now about the Tree of Life. I really like the imagery in verse 24 of chapter 8: " And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree."

The mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil. The iron rod is the word of God: the scriptures. Notice the word clinging. Not just touching the iron rod or occasionally holding it or having someone else put our hand on the rod for us, but these people are CLINGING!

To me, clinging implies a "white-knuckled" holding on for dear life kind of holding! In the dictionary, clinging means: to adhere to as if glued firmly or to hold on tightly or tenaciously.

I think this means that living righteously can be hard, but the way has been prepared. Clinging to the rod of iron requires DAILY effort! DAILY scripture study. We can't afford to let go of the iron rod for even one moment! "The iron rod is the word of God; 'twill safely guide us through." (Hymns # 274) I hope my new habit will help me cling better. :)

After reading my scriptures and taking a shower, I took down my "Winter Magic" snowman wreath in protest. The magic is over for the season.
So I put up this:

Pretending it was Spring,
I painted my toenails and went barefoot in the house all day:

Yes, I know I have THE longest toes ever, but hey, don't you love the bright pink? I did a coat of Zoe's gold sparkly over the top just for fun :)
By the way, isn't Noira cute?

I have another ritual to lift my spirits. I change my shower curtain
(and rugs and towels) every 6 months or so, just to brighten things up.
Here's my "Fall/Winter" shower curtain:
And here's my "Spring/Summer" one:

Things are looking bright! Happy Spring Clinging!

Wonderful "Wii"-kend

We went to visit my parents over the weekend. It was really fun, but as usual, just as CRAZY! We adopted Noira on Thursday and I was worried she would run away since she doesn't really know us yet, so we took her with us! Yeah, have you ever traveled with a cat? Nope, we haven't either. But there was no way I was waiting any longer to see my Mom! Noira was actually really good and it ended up being a lot of fun to have her there.

My Dad really enjoyed Noira:

We finally exchanged Christmas presents:

The much awaited Pillow Pets!!

Ecclesiastes 3:4 "A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to DANCE..." (Thank you, Kevin Bacon!)

My parents got us "Just Dance" for our Wii. We "just happened" to bring our Wii with us. It is REALLY fun. My Mom was even doing it, but she refused to hold a controller. How funny! Zoe was doing better than anyone. Zeke took some pictures of us while we were dancing to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper. Yeah, I'm a nerd, but it was awesome:

The kids always love doing crafts at Grandma's House.

Thanks to my niece, Angee, for the great presents!

I love Zoe's tongue in this picture:
The boys had to engage in their traditional wrestling match
(or two or three):
What is it about wrestling at Grandma's house?

We watched the movie "Despicable Me" with Steve Carell. I have to tell you, I didn't think I would like it. Zeke and the kids really wanted to see it. My Mom got the DVD from my brother, Brady, for Christmas. Guess what? "Light bulb!" I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!! Really, it was that good to warrant 9 exclamation points. It made me cry and laugh and feel all warm and fuzzy inside (the best kind of movies). I am definitely going to watch it again:

(photo from Internet Movie Database)

On the way home, we stopped at Jody's house (my brother). He and his wife, Kiersten, fed us some yummy dinner and we laughed so hard I thought I would choke. They are so fun! I'm just a sappy little sister I'm sure, but my brothers are SO cool. I just think they are AWESOME! Jody reminds me a lot of Zeke (and vice versa). They are so kind-hearted and generous. They're always making jokes and impersonating voices and not being too serious. It's so good for me. Kiersten is so spunky, I think she's the only person who could put up with Jody. I mean, Jody is great, but he and Zeke can be so exhausting with their silliness sometimes. Gabe thinks Jody is the coolest guy ever. Jody gave Gabe his old amp "just in case" Gabe gets an electric guitar for his birthday. Their kids are SO cute. And well, I left my camera in the car :(

But this is Oskar, Beck, Max, and Kaia when we visited them in August
(I could NOT get them to hold still!):

Here's my wonderful brother, Jody, with baby Samantha
(she's just 4 days old in this picture):

and Noira makes three!

Here she is!

Well, you knew we'd get her, didn't you? I called on Thursday and no one had claimed her... so a quick drive to the Humane Society, $85 later, and she's OURS!

Zeke and I both agreed it was a LOT of money, but Zeke also said, "I can be easily swayed." Well, that's a YES in my book! I know it's silly. It's just a cat. But I am so thankful that Zeke got this new job in October so we could afford to adopt Noira. She is really sweet. It is SO worth every penny to see my children enjoying her; to see Gabe hold her and talk to her like she's a little baby. Thanks, honey, for giving in!

There was a sign at the Humane Society: "Cats are like potato chips, you can never have just one!" When I was a little girl, I had a "School Memories" scrapbook. Each page was for each school year. There were different sections of the page to fill in different things about you such as: friends, teacher's name, interests, favorite school subject, etc. There was also a section labeled: "When I grow up I want to be _________." When I was 10 years old, I wrote in the blank: "a person with 100 cats." Well, I won't get 100 or even 10, but I really enjoy having them in our home.

I'm quite surprised at how well Caspian and Pippin are handling the new addition. She's been growling at them tonight when they get too close, but that's about it. They just look at her and then at me like, "What's her problem?!"

Staring contest:

Pippin was showing off after we brought Noira home.
He was vying for some serious attention:

Caspian was bored with the whole ordeal and promptly went to sleep on top of Kaia's coat:

P.S. The Humane Society named her "Simone." So we decided that would be her middle name. "Noira Simone" sounds very French, doesn't it?

P.P.S. Just for the record, Caspian's middle name is Blue (also from the Humane Society). And Pippin's middle name is Zucchini (from Kaia).

Doctrine and Covenants 59:18 "Yea all things which come of the earth are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart." Well, I think Heavenly Father created cats to gladden our hearts.