Monday Morning Musings - Because For All Intents And Purposes, Today Is Really Monday

Fruit by the Foot Addy, compliments of big sister Emily.

I forgot to post these cute pictures on my garden post. Addy was helping me with the garden before the kids got out of school last week. Above she is taking a nap in the ground cover. Below she is feeding a worm to a chicken. She fed a lot of worms to chickens that day.

When the girls got home from school on Wednesday and I informed them that they were going to be spending the rest of the day helping me plant the garden, Emily said, "Why wouldn't we want to help you in the garden? You gave us the most wonderful gift of life and of feathers!" Yes, I took the girls last week to get feathers in their hair. Thank you Steven Tyler.

A few weeks ago, I was having Addy help me with the laundry. I was letting her put the clothes in the washer and I let her put the soap in and push the buttons to start it. The only thing I didn't let her do or see me do was take the lock off the washing machine. You have to hold the pause button for 3 seconds to do that. I always lock it when I have a load in because it is front loading and there have been times buttons have been pushed and I've had to start a load over. So it stays locked until the next time I do a load and I unlock it and then lock it again. Well last Saturday I heard the washing machine running and I knew I didn't start a load. And, quite frankly, if I didn't start it...well...then the only other reasonable explanation is that a ghost came from the grave and started it, because ain't nobody else 'round here gonna do such a thing. But turns out it wasn't a ghost. It was Addy. She took all her dirty clothes, put them in the washing machine, unlocked it and started it.

One of Addy's favorite cartoons is Max and Ruby. I can't stand watching it though because every time it's on, I have this overwhelming desire to punch Ruby in the face.

Back a few weeks ago when the Mavs were playing Oklahoma, Steve was saying something about what a good match up that was. Emily was asking why and Steve told her about the Red River River Rivalry. He told her that in school in Texas they teach kids to hate Oklahoma from the time they are in Kindergarten. Emily looked at me with total seriousness and asked, "Really?"

Last week I packed the kids lunches and I packed one for Addy as well. When it was time for lunch she got it out and she was so mad that I only made her 1/2 of a sandwich instead of a whole. When she said the prayer before she ate she said in a slightly perturbed voice, "And please bless that next time my mom will make me a BIG sandwich."

I've said it before and I say it again. I have the hardest working husband EVER! He worked such long and hard hours last week. There was one day when he worked all day and all night and got home at 8:00 the next morning, slept for 3 hours and went back to work and worked until 11:00 that night. Stephen, I love you!

Last summer we had season passes to a water park. This year we downgraded to passes to the city pool. It opened on Saturday and the girls begged me and begged me to take them even though it was absolutely freezing outside and it was raining off and on. I finally gave in late that afternoon and took them. This was our first time at this pool and lets just say, it wasn't the best experience. I had no intentions of getting in the pool. I was content to sit and watch the girls swim and read my book. They have 2 slides at the pool. Emily and Aubrey went down them and so of course Addy wanted to. She ran over and went down the slide and *WHISTLE BLOW*. The lifeguard said that you couldn't go down the slide with floaties on. So I told Addy she would not be able to go down the slide. She begged me and begged me to let her take her floaties off and let her go down. So I finally gave in and got in the dang pool so she could take her floaties off and go down the slide and I could catch her. She takes them off, goes down the slide, I catch her. *WHISTLE BLOW* "YOU CAN'T CATCH ANYONE COMING DOWN THE SLIDE!" What? So I asked him if it would be better for me to just let her drown rather than catching her. It was the most irritating experience, the whole thing. Emily and Aubrey were in a part of the pool and they were playing this game where they were trying to see who could touch the bottom of the pool first with their feet. They were just staying in the pool and going under, not jumping in or anything, and one of the lifeguards made them stop doing that. It felt like every 5 seconds the whistle was blowing. *WHISTLE BLOW*WHISTLE BLOW*WHISTLE BLOW* It was so ridiculous. My girls were complaining and saying they don't ever want to go there again and can we please get passes to the water park again. And I told them they should just be thankful we could afford passes to the pool because the only other option for them would be to stay home and fill up the little blue plastic pool that has a hole in it. I was trying to explain to them that there are rules to everything and they make the rules to keep people from getting hurt and sometimes we don't like a rule, but we just have to follow it. But it was a little hard for me to not be somewhat irritated on the inside with all the whistle blowing going on. I'm really hoping that maybe it is because it was the first day and the lifeguards were all ready to flex their whistle blowing muscles and there were 3 of them and 4 of us in the pool. Hopefully next time we go it will be a much better experience.

In Memoriam

Today is Memorial Day. Steve and the kids and I went this morning with my mom to the cemetery where my father is buried for a Memorial Day service. Below is one of the speakers, General Brian L. Tarbet from the Utah National Guard.

Towards the end of the program, they played Taps, and as they were playing it, I had in my direct line of vision this very decorated older gentleman that you can see in the above picture. He is seated and he is on the left hand side of the picture. He became so emotional and started crying, and it made me cry, and I am not a crier. As I was watching him through the tears in my eyes, I couldn't help but wonder what thoughts were going through his head. What was he remembering? Who was he thinking about? What horrible scenes has he witnessed?

It made me think of a book I read recently. It is one of the most fascinating books I have ever read, and I believe every American should read it. Should read it and learn of some of the sacrifices that have been made on our behalf. Should read it and see how pampered and spoiled and lazy we are today in comparison with those who came before us and gave so much so that we can be pampered and spoiled and lazy if we so choose.

The book is called Unbroken. It is the amazing true story of WWII Veteran Louie Zamperini. Louie went from being an Olympic athlete to a bombardier in World War II. His plane went down and he was lost at sea for 47 days before being "rescued" by the Japanese. He then spent 2 years in a POW camp and endured horrific atrocities. It really is an amazing book and you should read it. I started reading it to Steve and Zac when we went to Moab in April. We didn't finish it before we got home. Zac was just chompin' at the bit for me to finish it for my book club so he could get it and finish it, which he did in less than 2 days. He loved it too.

After reading that book and getting just a small bit of insight into what those who have served and are now serving us and our country sacrifice...it has made me so appreciative. It has made me want to learn so much more. It made me think of both of my grandfathers. My mothers dad is pictured below. I have this picture of him in a uniform, but I have no other knowledge of his military service, other than that at one time, he wore a uniform and had a picture taken.
And it made me think of my dad's dad. We visited his grave site in December when we were in Dallas. It was upon seeing his headstone that I learned he served in World War II. How I would love to know more about that, especially after reading this book about WWII. It really made me sad to think that both of my grandfathers were in the military and one that I know of served in a war and I have no knowledge of this. And not only that, my children have no knowledge. How I would love to be able to share stories with them about their great grandfathers and the service they provided to our country. So if any of my family members reading this have any information on either of my grandfathers and their service- PLEASE! Do share. It's times like this when I really wish my father was still around. He would know the answers to my questions.

After the Memorial Day service, we went to visit my father's grave, conveniently located about 20 feet away. And yes, that is fresh powder on that mountain. Just put there today.

Then we went to my mothers house and had a fabulous lunch. She made oh so yummy, melt in your mouth brisket. Among other things.

Then we went to the dollar movie to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2. Here is a picture of the girls waiting in the line that was wrapped around the whole building. We made it into the movie and even got seats all together on the first row. I was for sure I would fall asleep since I had so scoot down in my chair and lean my head back on the seat to see the screen, but hey! I stayed awake for the whole thing!
Then it was back to my mom's house again for leftovers for dinner! Now we are home and the kids have had baths and are all snuggled in their beds. And I am taking this moment to remember those who have come before me and given their very lives to make my way of life possible. And for those who choose to serve today. One of the things the General said today in his speech was that since 1973 all of our military has been on a volunteer basis. To all of those who have served and are currently serving, from the bottom of my heart - Thank you.


"Each died for a cause he considered more important than his own life. Well, they didn't volunteer to die; they volunteered to defend values for which men have always been willing to die if need be, the values which make up what we call civilization." - Ronald Reagan

In My Lovely Garden

This is our 3rd Spring/Summer in our new home. The first year, there was not even a slight chance of a garden. Last summer, I kept thinking I was going to plant one, but by the time we had the yard plant worthy, it was too late. So this year I am determined to have a garden. We have not exactly been having garden friendly weather here this spring. It has been freezing and raining. In fact, it is freezing and raining as I type. It was nice last Saturday and I tried to get everything ready to plant, but I just ran out of daylight. So on Wednesday when the skies cleared up and the rain stopped, I decided I was getting my plants in the ground no matter what.
I have only had a garden a few other times in my life, so I am far and away from being any type of expert. The years I had a garden at our old house, I just threw some of this black cloth down (I don't want anyone to think for half a second that I would spend even a minute of my summer pulling weeds), stuck some plants in the ground, set the timer on the sprinklers, and harvested the goods. That was pretty much all the effort I put into it, and stuff actually grew. I am a little nervous with this garden because we have this lovely clay like soil here. And it is so full of rocks, I will be surprised if anything grows. Not to mention the fact that, as you can clearly see from the pictures, we put it right next to the trail. And well, you know what happens on and mostly off of that trail. Yep. We're just pretty much settin' ourselves up for failure with that one.

In an effort to actually get the garden planted on Wednesday (because it was supposed to rain Thursday, but I don't remember if it actually did or not), I enlisted the help of my cute little girlies. They were a big help and they actually planted most of the plants. Zac didn't help only because I stuck him on the mower to mow the weeds, uh, I mean lawn.

It was pretty late by the time we finished and we were all tired, but so happy with ourselves. It was beautiful! We took baths and got all tucked snug in bed and had a sweet nights sleep.

I woke up at 6:00 the next morning, walked into my kitchen, looked out the window, and this is what I found:

At that moment, my brain could not process this. So I went into my bedroom, turned on Oprah, and folded a couple loads of laundry. By the time I finished, I was ready to handle the situation. I woke Zac up so he could get ready for school, and I woke the girls up earlier than normal and drug their sleepy booties outside and made them help me fix this mess.

I had used the stakes that came with this fabric and added some rocks to hold it down. But apparently the stakes are pretty much worthless and it was pretty windy over night. And when it is windy here, believe me, it's windy. Thankfully that huge pile of rocks that I loaded up in the wheelbarrow last summer and walked across the trail and dumped on the empty lot were still there. I did however find it ironic that I was once again loading them up and bringing them back into my yard. We also located every inch of scrap lumber and metal fence stakes to hold that fabric down. We had to poke all the plants back through the holes and about half of the plants were fine, and half were pretty damaged, but mostly just the tops. The base of the stems seem to be fine so hopefully they will grow OK.


So now, I am pretty confident that that garden is not going to fly away again with all the crap I have holding it down. However, it is totally white trash looking. And just last week I made Steve and the kids de-white trash the chicken coop and chicken run. I kinda feel like if the garden is gonna be white trash, we should re-white trash the coop. Because if you're gonna go white trash, you might as well go all out.

Monday Morning Musings - Apocalyptic Style

American Idol down to the last two! For the record, I predicted long long long ago that these two would be in the finale. We just finished watching last weeks episodes the other day. At one point, when Scotty (Addy's fav) was back in his hometown, he was crying. Zac said, "Real cowboys don't cry". And Addy got up in his face and gave him the evil eye and said, "HE IS A REAL COWBOY!!!"

Addy loves going to story time at the library every week. It is something she looks forward to all week long. And it is a bonus day for her because her best friend Auntie La La comes with us and spends the whole day with us on library day. Last week it was pig day at story time. There's Miss Addy in the pink and black coat (yes we are still havin' stinkin' coat weather!) and pig get up she got to make.

Saturday was the big Old Navy $1 Flip Flop Sale. My girls have been looking forward to it for over a month now. We were up at 6:20 AM, in line outside Old Navy at 6:50 AM, doors opened at 7 AM, we were loaded up with 20 pairs of flip flops (there was a limit of 5 pairs per person) and were in line to pay by 7:15 AM, and back in our car by 7:25 AM. Here's what we came away with:

The thing about it is, my girls think it is awesome to go out and pick out that many new pairs of shoes at a time, because when does that ever happen? NEVER. And now they have shoes to match everything all summer long. But really, the best part about it is when it is time to go somewhere, when there are this many pairs of flip flops in the house, everyone is bound to find some kind of shoes and be in the car in under 2 minutes flat. Except Addy. Who on Monday morning (2 days after buying these shoes) could not find one pair of matching shoes. Serious.

Saturday was a marathon day for us. The girls and I left Old Navy and went straight to pick up our food co-op. We went home, ate breakfast, showered and got dressed, and went to the church. We had a Mother/Daughter Activity Days Spa and Luncheon. Activity Days is a program in our church for 8-11 year old girls. I was just recently called to serve as an Activity Days Leader, so the girls and I were there early to set up and late to take down.

Steve and Zac were at work all morning and afternoon so Addy came to the Activity with us. When we got home I left to go buy plants for my garden since Saturday was to be our only non rainy day in who knows how long. I got back and went to work in the garden. In the meantime Steve and Zac came home and then Steve and Aubrey left for a Blaze football game and Zac went to mow my mom's lawn. I was so determined to get that garden planted before nightfall! I sent Emily in with Addy to make dinner and get Addy ready for bed. I worked until it was dark outside and almost had the garden ready to be planted. I was so sad. But I did as much as I could that day. I hit the ground running at 6:20 AM and didn't stop for a minute until after 9:00 that night. It has been raining ever since then, but cleared up this afternoon. So hopefully tomorrow I will have the garden in!


On Saturday, my sister Lauren participated in Regionals for Special Olympics. That girl cleaned up! She came home with 2 Gold Medals, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze! We are so proud of her!

On Monday morning in between rain storms, Addy and I went for a walk. I told her to go and get dressed and once again she came up with a most fabulous outfit.

I am determined to get the city to put a fence up between my yard and the trail. What I haven't put on my blog since my last chicken attack post is that only a few days after that attack, we had a chicken killed by an unleashed dog. Or really, 3 unleashed dogs. I can't stand it anymore. I can't go all summer worrying about my kids and my chickens and my garden. I was planning on going to the city with only my chicken sob story. But then Steve reminded me about all the many runaway horses we have had in our yard. And not only the run away horses, but all the horses with riders who ride right straight through our yard. When the trail is RIGHT. THERE. HELLO! So Sunday I just happened to be walking back from my neighbors house and spotted some horse tracks right there in the mud in our yard. I took a picture and showed how far off the trail and how far into our yard they are. I also took a picture that same day of a kid riding his bike through our yard, but I just took it for fun- not evidence, kids in my yard don't bother me. I wouldn't want to be like Grumpy Old Shirtless Lawn Mowing Man, now would I? And just pretend like my yard isn't just a bunch of weeds and dirt. We actually planted grass seed here last fall but the only thing coming up is weeds. But the other side of the yard looks great!

On Sunday night, Zac informed us that even though the world did not come to an end the day before, there was going to be a Zombie apocalypse the following day. Emily and I both looked at him like he was crazy and said, "WHAT?" at the same time. Then he got all exasperated and said, "WHY DOESN'T ANYONE KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS WHEN I TELL THEM? ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT A ZOMBIE IS? AND DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT AN APOCALYPSE IS?" And then were were like, "Dude. Calm down. People aren't looking at you like they don't know what a zombie or an apocalypse is. They are looking at you like you are just plain weird."

Helping Hands

Last night we had the great opportunity to participate in a huge ward Family Home Evening. We were able to help with a yard clean up for a member of our ward whose wife recently passed away. It was a fun experience and I am glad we were able to go. There were so many people there to help. I LOVE this neighborhood. It is the best!

Monday Morning Musings - Hats, Clips, And A Cowboy Name Scotty

I told Addy to go get dressed for school one day last week and this is what she came up with.

One of Emily's teachers is from Kentucky. So last week at school they had their own Kentucky Derby. There was a hat competition for the girls. Here is Em's hat. I think it is pretty good considering she told me about it 15 minutes before she had to leave for school and the only hats we had in the house were this one (that we had to search for to find), some winter hats and a Dallas Cowboy hat.

I don't know if you can guess who Addison's favorite American Idol hopeful is from this picture or not:

Yep, it's Scotty. She loves him and freaks out every time he comes on screen. We were watching it the other day and when he came on she jumped up on the entertainment center and gave him a kiss and a hug. Later, when he was singing another song, she was up there dancing with him. Every week when he is on she asks, "Is Scotty going to Hollywood?" We try to explain to her that he already is in Hollywood. I think what she is really asking is if he is still on the show or not. She says she likes him because he is a cowboy and he talks like a cowboy.


On Friday night, Steve was out of town. He was able to go ride with some friends in Moab. The kids and I went over to my mom's house and we made some TOTALLY CUTE hair clips. We had so much fun and all the girls loved it. Zac even made some because he wants to sell them and make money.

Yesterday we had my mom and Lauren and Lauren's friends John and Brandon over. While they were here we made more cute hair thingys.

The whole time I was making them I was thinking about how cute they were but how I would never ever wear one myself, being the anti-foof person I am. Well, I have worn one every day since Friday. In fact, I'm wearing one now. Even though I am so dressed up in my sweats and t-shirt. Hey, it matches, what can I say.

These yellow and purple ones Aubrey made are some of my favorites.

Here are some others we made:

Never A Dull Moment - Girl Got Skilz

As usual, I'm so behind in the posts department. In an effort to catch up, I am going back through my pictures month by month trying to condense and post. So here ya go.

I've told you before, I live in the strangest place. I see weird stuff out my very own window all the time. In an effort to document the strange happenings and preserve them for future posterity, here are just a few recent things that have happened in my neighborhood. First. Aubrey ate dinner across the street at Lori's house a few weeks ago. She came home and was so amazed because Lori was showin' off her former waitress skills by carrying multiple plates to the table. I was like, "Pshhhh. Please. Girl. Yo momma has former waitress skilz too! Stand back and watch this!" *Snap* I made Emily take a picture because I was gonna go right in and post it on facebook and start a waitress skills battle with Lori, but I never posted it....So here it is now!

Also last month, we had a fire out behind us burning all day. I wasn't too concerned until it seemed to get bigger, closer, and I could actually see the flames. I posted this picture on facebook, my neighbor saw it, called a friend from the fire department, found out it was a controlled burn, and put my mind at ease. How did we ever survive without the internet and facebook?

Addy and I were driving home from the library one day and it took us forever because this monstrous thing was in front of us. I don't have any idea what it is, but it was ginormous, and this is the second time I have seen such a thing right outside my neighborhood. They had to have people out with poles, lifting up the power lines so it could go by. Once we got to the intersection, we took a detour around it, and by the time we got back to this road, but in front of this cargo, we could see people with a big long measuring pole measuring the big long stop lights to see if it would clear them. We didn't stick around to see if it could. Does anyone know what this is? It isn't a nuclear reactor or anything, is it?

OK. This has been buggin' me for a few months now. The empty lot next to mine has this corral thing sitting on it. I don't know where it came from or how it got there, but one day I woke up and there it was. With nothing in it. There is a ranch behind us, but this isn't a part of the ranch. It is in our subdivision on a vacant lot. I have never seen an animal in it. And it is so small, I don't know what kind of animal you would put in it. Anything small enough to fit would be able to crawl under or through the bars, and anything big enough to not fit through the bars is too big for such a small space. So why is it there, and can I put my 4 year old in it to play and keep her contained when I am busy?