WebCam Wednesday - Hola from Elder Snow

Yep, you read it right. I have a new weekly post. Don't worry, sooner or later I will run out of days of the week, and you will all be safe. (If you couldn't tell, I have this thing for alliteration.)Anyway, I was given a flip camera by my father for Christmas. He loved reading his daughters blogs everyday and he wanted to give us a handy way of sharing video. I feel bad that I didn't post more videos for him to see. But I have decided to bless you all with a little sneak peek into our everyday lives. Hence the birth of WebCam Wednesday.

For today's video I have chosen this little video taken on Mother's Day. My brother Sam is serving a mission in Mexico City. He was able to call home and talk to us all on Mother's Day. My mom did have to remind us that he called to talk to her (some of us were a little piggy with the phone-Stephen). We loved hearing his voice with his newly acquired Espanol accent. Only 3 1/2 more months and he will make his way back to us and we can see him in the flesh. But for now, this is all we got: (sorry my children are so obnoxiously loud-welcome to my everyday)

(I just remembered why I don't post more video. It takes a very looooong time to upload. I might have to rethink this whole Wednesday thing.)

Baby Jam

Addy listening to mommy's iPod.

Monday Morning Musings - Finally Gettin' Around To It

I just finished folding 5 loads of laundry, which probably shouldn't have even been folded because they have been all squished up in the laundry basket for so long. I have about 5 loads of towels that still need to be folded. I have a load in the washer, one in the dryer, and 8 loads sorted but dirty sitting on the laundry room floor. In the book I am reading, it takes place in the 1100's, and there is a monk and he is talking about how it has been like 6 months since he changed his clothes. I am very tempted......but then I read on about how lice and boils are a regular part of everyday life back then, and so I continue to bathe and change my clothes on a daily basis. Good old 21st century living, every things gotta be so clean.

Speaking of laundry.....SOCKS! I don't mate socks. I like my socks to live a celibate life. So I don't buy any cutsie, colored socks. Everyone has white, and everyone has only one kind of sock. That way when I do laundry I just put all Emily's socks in a pile, all of Zac's in a pile, and so on. Then I don't have to worry about there being an even amount or finding the matches. Only problem is they don't sell a package of all white socks for feet of Addison's proportions. That really irritates me. I bought a pack that had mostly white but still had some colored. I am really tempted to just throw the colored one's away.

While we are on the subject of socks being irritating, Steve has sock issues. He has this thing about buying new socks. He usually buys them when he is out of town on a job and feels the need to buy more....for some reason...I don't know. His problem is, he buys a different kind every time. That really goes against my one kind per person rule (he doesn't feel the need to conform to any of my rules, you unruly man you!) (that was said with my fist raised and shaking, just in case you didn't get it right). So if you thought I was irritated by trying to find the matches to Addison's socks, you should see how irritated I get when I have 20 different stacks of Steve's socks all over my laundry room table. Oh no, I'm not even slightly exaggerating. He has 20 different kinds of socks. And he likes to switch 'em up everyday.

I just went back and read that paragraph and I couldn't even make it past the first sentence. You know, the one where I said Steve has sock issues. I hate to admit it, but I could be the one with sock issues.

I bought a couple pairs of new capris the other day. And they both have the kind of waist doer upper things (I don't know what else to call it) that have the zipper, then a button above the zipper, then they have the part that goes over and fastens to the side. You know what I'm talkin' about? Well, I am used to pulling up my pants and only having to perform 2 tasks to get them all done up. Adding a third thing is really throwing me off my game. I find my zipper unzipped quite regularly. Ya know, cause I do the button, do the other fastener, and well, that's 1, 2 things done, and I think I am done. But really, I'm not.

Anyway.......maybe I should talk about something other than laundry.

The other day I Steve and I heard a song. And it was an old song, but someone had remade it. And I said, "Turn that off, they have totally screwed that song up". And Steve had never heard the song before and I said, yes you have to have heard it before, everyone has. And so I sang it for him, but he still said he had never heard it. And he asked me how old it was. And so I started doing the math. And it was from the 60's and, well, do you know that the 60's were FIFTY years ago. I mean, I know I wasn't even alive then (although Steve was), but most of my favorite songs are from then. So that means that the music I listen to is FIFTY years old. And when I think of it that way, it makes me feel really old.

Oh, and Karri Bertrand, if you are reading this, I just saw your comments in my picasa album. E-mail me! I'll put my e-mail in the comments of this post. And anyone else who wants to e-mail me too, feel free!

It's A River In Egypt. Oh, And By The Way, Happy Fathers Day.

Has it really been five months?

I have had that phone call before.

"Allyson, there is something wrong with your dad. They don't know if it is a heart attack or what but they are taking him to the hospital. Your mom wants you to meet her there."

The first time was on Mother's Day, 2000. We got in the car and drove to Dallas.

The second time, we were already in Dallas. Steve and my dad had just been at a Stars game. We had only been asleep for a short time when my mom came in and said my dad was having a heart attack and she was taking him to the hospital.

This time Steve and I made the 40 minute drive in silence. Almost. I kept thinking it would be just like the other times. It would be scary, but he would get better. We would be at the hospital a few days and then bring him home. Then, after driving for about 30 minutes, a thought came to me. What if this time.....what if this time? I turned to Steve and said,

"What if my dad dies?"

I didn't know I was speaking of an event that had already occurred.

Sometimes I wonder if I am still in denial. I still have his e-mail address in my address book. I still have his cell phone number in my phone. 5, send. That's all I have to push and my phone will dial his phone. I tried it the other day. I got a message saying his "The person you are trying to reach is not taking calls at this time." I didn't even get to hear his voice mail message.

I have thought, "I should probably delete those". But that just seems......wrong. I will never use them again, but......

Sometimes I think, "It has been a long time since I have talked to dad, I should call him". Then I remember.......

A couple weeks ago, I was driving and I saw a blue truck that looked just like his. These are the thoughts that went through my mind in about 1/2 a second:

"is that Dad's truck?"

"no, it can't be, he's at work this time of day"

"i should call him and see if that was him"

"what is wrong with me?"

I am so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so thankful that I know that my father's spirit is alive today. I am thankful that I know that I will see him again someday. I am thankful that I know that my family is Eternal. We will be with him again someday.

It just seems like someday is a long time away.

Flashback Friday - Do I Have Something On My Face?

We took dinner up in the mountains and built a fire and made 'smores. Aubrey thought they were really yummy. It seems like this was just the other day, but it was 3 years ago. Aubrey was only 2 years old. Time goes by way too fast and my kids are moving right along with it.

When The Root Children Wake Up

Aubrey and Emily had their spring concert last Saturday. It was called "When The Root Children Wake Up". It is an old German story. They had a narrator telling the story during the performance. I think my girls did a fabulous job. Here is

Aubrey's Bumblebee dance:
(Aubrey is the curly headed girl who is always to the right of the screen, she is the first bee to sit and spin on the far right at the back)

Emily's Off To School Dance:
(Emily is the 2nd to the last dancer to come out)

The grand finale:
(it is hard to see Emily in this but Aubrey is wearing black leggings with a black sweater with a fur collar)

Yeah, I'm Eatin' Out Of The Trash. Ya Got A Problem With That?

Yesterday I took the kids to the park for lunch. Only I didn't eat lunch at the park. I sat and watched them eat their corn dogs and day dreamed of the leftover taco stuff I had at home waiting for me. I was starving by the time I got home. I couldn't wait to dive into those tacos. I got all the stuff out, meat, lettuce, cheese, olives, salsa. I heated the meat up in the microwave. Then I went to get the taco shells out of the bread drawer. They weren't there! When we had tacos the other night for dinner, I put the tortillas and the hard shells both in the bread drawer. For some reason, Addison really likes playing with the box of hard shell tacos. I have found it in several different places all over the house. Well, I was hungry. My meat was warm. All the other ingredients were just sitting there waiting for me. So I quickly searched the whole house over. I looked in all the other kitchen cabinets, under the couch. In closets, in the bathtub, in her dresser. I was getting really angry and my taco meat was getting cold. DANG IT! I really wanted those tacos. I couldn't eat them on tortillas because the kids finished those off yesterday. Should I just eat the meat and all the stuff, shell-less? Nasty. While I was wandering through the house debating, while still trying to uncover the shells, I found a piece of trash on the floor. So I picked it up, walked over to the kitchen trash, opened it up. And there, half hidden under the refuse, I could see the top of the taco shell box. THE TACO SHELL BOX! So I pulled it out, tore off the used band aid that was stuck to the side, opened it up, and ate my tacos. They were really yummy.

Monday Morning Musings - School's Out, Scream And Shout. Literally.

Ahhhh. Summer vacation. Here....at....last.......Sob. (That was me crying. I was crying loudly and so I capitalized all the letters in sob and it looked like I was swearing. Which I kinda am on the inside.) There is a part of me that is so glad we are done with homework, spelling tests, getting up and ready and out the door every morning on time. There is a part of me that is excited about lunch at the park and swimming and the library. Then there is a part of me that is crying on the inside because there will be fighting and yelling and messes and 4 kids to take to the grocery store.

Emily, I love her so much. She has inherited my sisters volume level for her voice. And it is constantly set to max. And I wish you could hear her right now. She has been hyped up since she woke up and I've had about all I can stand and she hasn't even been awake for an hour. I feel bad because when my sister was here at Christmas she was telling us that she never understood it when people would always tell her to be quiet or use her inside voice. She didn't know she was being loud. But I'm about to like, lose my mind right at this moment.

The other day I told the kids we were going to Costco. Zac started whining and said, "Do you know how many countless hours I have spent at Costco, against my will?".

Apparently I have genius children. Addison can count to 3 and Aubrey can read. I take full credit for Addison's counting because she has been hearing this on a semi-hourly basis since the day she was born, "If you don't come here by the time I count to 3.....1.....2.......3......". Unfortunately I can't take any credit for Aubrey's reading. She just busted out with it one day. Shocked the heck out of me. She is my first child to read before kindergarten.

Last week, no one came to see my house. The week before we had 3 showings set up and not one of them came. Do you know how irritating it is to get all excited and get my house all clean and leave the house with my kids for hours at a time and then not have the people show up?

Is it wrong to have my heat on in the summer? I just turned it off yesterday and I said, NO MORE! But when I woke up this morning it was 65 degrees in the house and everyone was shivering. I am actually enjoying the beautiful weather. My kids are getting mad that we can't swim though.

Flashback Friday - Oh Happy Day!

Kristy, Farrah, Steve, Allyson, Kay, Earl, Sam and Lauren

Marisa, Hallie, Kristen, Allyson, Farrah, Cloe, Kristy, Lauren

I'm a little irritated with my scanner. Most of the time it works just fine and dandy. But ever so often it just decides to really tick me off. On Tuesday, my anniversary, I was trying to scan a bunch of pictures from my wedding to make a slide show. I only got about 5 done and my computer stopped recognizing the scanner. I found a really good Flashback Friday picture today to use and, by golly, it's still not working right. I don't feel like dealing with it now so you are stuck with some of the pictures I was able to get scanned on Tuesday.

Thinkin' Thursday - You Spell Potato, I Spell Potatoe

The votes are in. 12 voted for Thinkin' Thursday to stay around. 1 voted for it to disappear.

Alright people. You asked for it. Here it is. I begin this Thinkin' Thursday with some trepidation. But I will give it a go and see how it works out. I know there will be people who will disagree with me and I am worried they will feel like they can't share their opinions. I want everyone to be able to express their thoughts and feelings, so please do. But maybe we can try and do it in a nice way?

This weekend Hilary Clinton will officially drop out of the race for the democratic nomination. I can't believe it, but I am sad. More scared than sad actually. I have made my feelings for BO known before. This is what worries me. And don't go gettin' all in a tizzy Democrats about what I am about to say. I am unabashedly Republican, in case you hadn't figured that out yet. So of course I am gonna want a Republican President in office, right. So just like plug your ears if you have to to make it through this next paragraph.

I am a little nervous about who BO is going to pick as a running mate. Because I have a feeling. A very bad feeling. It might be nothin'. Only time will tell. BO has said in the past that he will not choose Hilary as a running mate. However, I am afraid that some special high up important Democratic people will try and convince him to choose her. I mean, I could be totally off base here, but this is what I think. I think the two of them have made such a mess and a divide of the Democratic party that people are totally split. I think that the Dems will feel that in order to assure a win they will have to put them both on the ticket. And if they do that, I think that they will win. I really do. And I don't like it. Remember, this is my OPINION, and I am entitled to it so like I said, no Freaking out.

That really isn't what my TT is about. This is what it's really about. I'm not going to say anything about the media (who I believe is just an extension of BO's campaign), I will let you make up your own minds.

Can any of you think back to 1992? I know, it was a long time ago. It was the year I graduated from High School. YIKES! That was the year that Vice President Dan Quayle misspelled potato:

Oh my. The media would not let him live it down. They still won't. I just heard someone make a reference to it just a few months ago. It was all over all the news everywhere. People wouldn't stop talking about it.

How often do you hear people talking about this:



HOLY GEOGRAPHY BATMAN! Apparently my teachers lied to me in school. I had no idea we had that many states!

And what about this one:



He wasn't too far off. He only miscalculated by a few thousand, give or take. Actually 12 people died.

And most recently:



What's wrong with this one? Well, I believe, I mean my teachers may have been wrong about this one too, but ummmm, wasn't it the Russian's who liberated Auschwitz?

Why don't we hear about these (and many more blunders) over and over again in the media? Just sumpthin I was wondering about.