Thursday, May 29, 2008

Remembering



Saw this tonight on AOL NEWS and it brought back so many memories. We used to love this show when I was a kid. My favorite episodes were between these two and it was always best when Tim Conway could get Harvy Korman cracked up. I think I have seen just about every skit ever. Definitely good ole classic tv.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Five-day Furry

What a week!........will add pics later!!!
Wednesday-----Lily's End of the School year Picnic and "Graduation". We had a picnic at Frasch Park and Lily received her "diploma". I told her that she was graduating, too, this year. She is expecting that she will receive gifts like Alex has been. I hate to tell her....This is the closest she will come most probably. I did buy her a little bear holding a picture frame that I told her she can put a picture of she and Alex in. This was somewhat satisfying, though not as much as the graduate Barbie she was eyeing.

It was also Sarah Beth's actual birthday. She went to lunch with Mama and Daddy at Olive Garden and got to stay home the rest of the day. She got the Wii Fit game, some Croc flip-flops, and a scrapbook set. The highlight of the day was going to mutual that night. She was sooooo excited and was NOT disappointed. Her sweet leader, Lindsay, made it a really special day. They dressed her up and took her to the mall on display. This was the perfect activity for Sarah Beth and she will never forget it.

Thursday---Graduation Day. I spent the whole morning cleaning and getting ready for my family to come that afternoon. My sister and her kids got here about 4:00. My dad even came to our house to visit before the graduation. This was a surprise as I had not seen him in 10 years. It went well. My mom got here about 5:00. We left to go to the Civic Center at about 6:15. The graduation was really nice. Not too many tears. Just a since of "where did the time go". It does not seem possible. I know every parent must feel that way, but it is a real feeling. Just shocking for me that this is my child. What a great kid, too.

Friday----Emma had dance recital practice at McNeese. Ran all over campus trying to find the right auditorium. I know them all now.

At 7:00 we had a little graduation party for Alex. We cooked hamburgers, and sat around and talked and talked. It was so much fun. I am so glad Alex finally relented and let us do this. It was great. I think he even had a good time.

Saturday----Emma had her dance recital practice at 12:15. We all went out to the river to swim after. The kids had a great time in the paddle boat and on the rope swing. We came home just in time to grap a leftover hotdog and get up to McNeese for the recital. Emma was thrilled to be performing. Not a bit of nervousness. She even decided that she could do without her finger splint. She was so cute and had just as much fun back stage. She kept asking me to take her picture.

Mary Catherine had another bit event tonight. Her 8th grade party. Will someone stop these kids from growing and moving tooo fast? The party was at the school. They got a beach towel monogrammed with "SHS 2012", a memory book, and a SHS Tor cookie. I felt soooo bad that I wasn't there, but it was the same time as the recital. She had a great time, but unfortunately I got NO pictures. She went to a friends afterward for about an hour. She had a great time and is soooooooo ready for high school.

Angela and I took Sarah Beth, Claire, and Sam to the movies after the recital. They saw Chronicles of Narnia........we saw What happened in Vegas. I'm a little embarrassed to admit. It was actually not as bad as I had feared.

Sunday-----Alex was ordainded an Elder at church on Sunday. It was a really special thing. Zack was able to do the ordination and Troy Mire happened to be there that day. He ordained Zack a high priest, and he is going to send his line of authority to Zack and Alex. Quite a coincidence. I am so proud of Alex. He had a strong sense of testimony and duty. I admire his ability to do the right thing. I can't wait for him to have a mission experience and go to the temple. It is a really exciting time for him.

Monday----Angela left with her kids, and Sarah Beth. I know.......she has school. They promise me they are not taking role at school. I hope that is correct!! We took the opportunity to clean out her clothes. Two bags to haul off. She plans on shopping for things for 's Camp in Dallas. She will meet me in 2 weeks in time to go to 's camp.

Also, Alex had his Eagle Board of Review tonight. It went really well. He said they just talked. He had to write something for the board. He is such a great writer. I told Zack he is either full of it, or had a great head on his shoulders. :) Maybe a little of both!!

I have had so many really big events packed into such a short time......my head is spinning. I am so grateful for the gospel and the safety it provides to me and my family. I am realizing how much I need guidance and direction through prayer. Life is really good. We have had such wonderful blessings in our family. I am so thankful to all who inspire and help us.

I am tired and getting really stressed out about camp. Got to get on that. Did a little today. It will be fine, but we have ALOT to do in the next week or so. Thankful to all who are working so hard pull this whole thing off. It will be a great event for the s and their testimonies.

Need to go to bed!!!!!!!

Black and White

After our trip to the emergency room, we came home to help Sarah Beth celebrate her 12th birthday! She had three s spend the night. They ended up not sleeping that night. Then the next day went to opening day at SPAR Waterpark for a little while and then came home to get ready for Sarah Beth's first party with the mutual kids from church. She had a Black and White Theme. We had fun decorations and good friends. They played outside, played hide and seek, and just had a good time. I think she was VERY happy. The kids really made her feel special......and giggly.


Sarah Beth with Hannah and Haley!

I'm not sure what they were playing, but they sure are good kids. And I think Sarah Beth was more than a little pleased to be surrounded by these boys!

Forgotten Drama


It was not really forgotten, but I didn't blog it. On Friday, May 16, we had the annual Beach Bash at Maplewood. It is usually so much fun and Emma and Lily were even more excited than usual to go because they had a water slide this year. So, we were there....trying out all the other activities before we went to the slide. We sidetracked into the cafeteria to look at something and ran into the Turner's. As I talked to Wendy, Emma and Lily decided they were starving, so I sent them outside to trade our money for tickets to buy food. On there way back Emma somehow managed to let the cafeteria door....big metal door........close on her picky finger on the hinge side of the door. OWWW!!! Wendy said it looked broken........I thought it looked broken.....off to the emergency room.......leaving Sarah Beth and her friends spending the night at the school with Mary Catherine(I will explain in the next post).

Long story short, on the way to the hospital I realized I had my camera....YEAH!! I can blog it!! Anyway, it is not broken, but badly bruised. Emma has worn a splint on it for 1 1/2 weeks and it still hurts pretty bad. Never a dull moment. Thanks to Wendy, Gwen, Alex(who had a flat tire on the way to the school to pick up the big girls), and Vicki Cordell for helping us get all of them home safely. What would I do without these wonderful people I can trust and call at the MOST inconvenient times to bale us out of a pickle.

Emma sure was sweet and cuddly in the hospital...silver lining.

Finally, the weeball pics!!




Ok, so this is not the one I thought it was, but it will have to do. So cute!!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Wee-ball and Great Kids

Today was Lily's first ever game of Wee-Ball. This is a rather new version of T-ball. Because of rain, she ended up only having one practice. This has been at the ball park her entire life. I thought for sure she new all about the rules and structure of the game. I was late to her game because I had to pick up Emma from dance. When I arrived she was in the outfield. If you look very carefully you can see some glimmer of pink on the ground next her her. That would be her glove. Her hands were hot.

Next was her at bat. On her way to the batter's box I yelled for her to hit it hard. She annoyingly looked over at me and put her finger to her lips........SSSHHHH! Gosh mom, how embarrasing. She got a really good hit and got to first base. The next batter sent her to second and this is where it gets a little touchy. She soundly rounded second and ran right back down the second base line, back towards first and into the dugout. She didn't feel good. She was finished. The coach, Judge David Ritchie, looked up at me and said, "who are her parents?!?!" Very funny, to which I replied, "I don't know, who is her coach?!?!" At least she didn't hear us.....that would have meant the end of wee-ball for the day.

Sarah Beth had a great game today, too. She got a good hit and scored. Yeah!!!Sarah Beth.

Taylor was the biggest help today. He went to SPAR to play basketball after school today. I told him that I needed him to help, though. So, he left SPAR at 5:00 and walked over to Pattison, met Mamaw Zack, who was dropping Lily off, and took Lily to her game, got her uniform, and went with her to the bathroom while she went in to change. When I came up he had her clothes folded--sort of--and under his seat. He even had a cute story about Lily. When they got back to the field from changing her coach told her to get out there. She then ran into the dugout, deposited ALL her things and headed out to the field. Taylor yelled, "Lily, you might need your glove!" Lily whipped around and shook her fist at him while she went to get her glove. She knew what she was doing....

I feel so blessed to have such helpful children. Mary Catherine went to Sarah Beth's game. I just couldn't be everywhere I need to be tonight. Zack and Alex are in Houma getting Alex the training he needs to work this summer for ES&H. So, I had to rely on the big kids. They were great.

While we were driving to dance today, Emma decided that she wanted to be in charge of FHE. Not knowing how much time we would have after games, I was a little concerned about this. So, we talked about what she would do and mapped it all out. We decided that we would act out a story from the Book of Mormon. I didn't realize, but she told her Primary teachers that this was her favorite activity at FHE. She chose Ammon watching the sheep of the King of the Lamanites. And, of course, drop cookies, which turned into custard when we realized we did not have cocoa. We had a great time and then turned our attention to the Hornets, who did not have such a good time tonight. They are going home. Season done in game 7. It was a fun night. And I REALLY need to go to bed.

OK, I was trying to get the pictures on here, but for some reason they will not load onto the blog. Very frustrating. I'll try tomorrow.

Friday, May 16, 2008

The Real Me?

I am Marianne Dashwood!


Take the Quiz here!



I need to read the book, now. I need to know how I am. That is a goal for the summer, read all Jane Austin's books. Fun stuff.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

To-Do Thursday

Feeling quite lazy today. Just need a little time to refuel, although I have lots to do. A list of the things that I need to do and things coming up:
*Fold 6-7 baskets of laundry.
*Pay a few bills.
*Get new glasses.
*Grocery shopping for the missionaries to come tonight.
*Clean house.
*Send out some YW e-mails.
*Plan Alex's graduation "Party"--finally convinced him we were having one.
*Fix lunches for MC and SB and bring them to the school.
I'm sure there is more, just can't think of it now.

Alex's seminary graduation was last night in Orange. He has completed four years. I'm a little bummed that it has to be him finishing. He is the easiest of all our kids to wake up. It is down hill from here on that note. I am so grateful for seminary. I am so thankful that Alex has always been happy to go. He never complained about it. Even when it was tough. Now, I don't know that he was always awake during seminary, but I am happy that he knew it was important to go complete it. Seminary senioritis actually only set in the last week. One down, FIVE to go!! It will be interesting to see how Mary Catherine is next year.

Other news: my SIL is having a baby and we just found out yesterday that it is a GIRL!! Another one!! for the family I mean. This is their first child after 15 years of marriage. That makes 9 girls of my mother's 12 grandchildren. WOW, poor boys. It will be nice to have a baby around again for holiday's. And I will just get to hold and smell and squeeze!! Even better. When this baby is born, my youngest will be SIX. How did that happen? The youngest in the family will be four. Time passes way to quickly to waste any of it.

Ok, must get off the couch and get something done. I think I will pay bills, send emails, and fix lunches first. Then groceries, and off to playgroup at the Gardner's. Fun stuff.

Have a happy rainy day!!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Ok This one definitely does not work!!


You Are Cinderella!
Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Dignified and hard working. With a gentle and soft-spoken manner you have something many people don't. Patience. Even through the moments of heartbreak you're still able to hold onto all of your hopes and dreams. Bide your time; your dream will come true.


Which Disney Princess Are You?

The personality test we did at enrichnment was much more acurate, at least to me, than this one. I don't see myself this was in the least. Definitely not patient.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

DANG!!

Here's what I wish I had said....."It's ok, drive safe, good luck on your test, I love you." Here's what I did......"Hurry, you didn't say anything to me about what time the test was, it is not MY fault"....and other general eye rolls and disappointed looks. Alex asked to sleep in this morning so he would be rested for the English AP test this morning. After the other kids got off to school, I yelled up the stairs to wake him up. I heard him get into the shower. Then the phone rang and it was one of his classmates. She asked for Alex and I told her he was in the shower. She said, "oh, he is LATE for the AP test!!!" Freak out....I yelled up to him as a reminder. He freaked out. I had the opportunity to support him and be a safe mom for him and I didn't do it. I'm disappointed in myself.......but, at least I see it now and I'm not still fuming. I want to motivate by encouragement, not nagging and putting down. He already felt stupid enough....I probably made him feel more so. I will do better next time!! So, good luck Alex, I love you. Forgive your mama.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Finally, Prom Pics

Handsome Man!!
















Alex has things a little mixed up!
















That's Better, goof balls!













Alex and friend, Wesley!!

I Love Lily

Wow, today, Lily threw the biggest fit I might have ever experienced as a mother. We went to Emma's class to watch the class for her teacher. On the way home, she just wanted to go home, but I had some errands. We met Zack and then headed to Care Help to drop off some clothes and things to donate. I was trying to divert her attention from the fact that we were not going home, so I told her what we were doing. I told her we were bringing somethings that we didn't need anymore. So, of course, she asks if anything was hers. I tried not to answer that question. I was doing pretty good until we got there and she saw her old bed railing. You know the one you slide between the matress to stop them from falling off the bed. Well, I assumed that since it had been under her bed for about 2 years and then in the hall for another 2-3 months, that she didn't care about it anymore. I couldn't have been more wrong. Apparantly, she can't live without this item. And furthermore, she wants to save it for her own children along with all the clothing that she can't wear anymore. She proceeded to ....um....explain.. this to me as we made our way home. She was yelling, screaming, kicking, hitting the window, anything else she could do to get my attention. When we got home, I offered to help her out of the car, but she proceeded to continue the above, so I just came in the house. She then honked the horn on the car for a couple of minutes. Poor Bubba across the street. She finally came inside and yelled, "Don't you know I don't like to walk across the driveway with Pippin" at which point I put myself in timeout in my room. Amazing.

For those of you who are marveling at my self restraint or thinking that I am an overly permissive mother.......I had been reading Christlike Parenting this morning and was trying out some of their techniques. I have to say that I was questioning the sanity of this several times along the way.....but, when she finally gave in and let me hold her and ended up falling asleep on me on the chaise, I was very happy with MY actions. I didn't feel at all guilty and I knew that she knew that I loved her. I told her this several times during the fit to which she responded..."if you love me, then go back and get it!!!" Probably my favorite line during the whole thing.

Lily and Brett during happier times!!

Go Mary Catherine



Mary Catherine has been trying out for the Sulphur High School Volleyball team for the past 2 days and we found out today that she MADE IT!!!!! She will be on the Junior Varsity team next year. It is hard to imagine her in high school. When we moved here she was just 2 and a half months old. I'm so glad that she will have a group and be part of something already in high school. She was really nervous about the tryouts, but that makes it even better. Her brothers took her to Casa Ole after mutual tonight to celebrate her victory. Of all the sports she and her sisters have played, volleyball is by far the most fun to watch. So, yeah for me too. I'm sure I will be spending lots of time in the next few years watching her. (yes, that is Lily in the background of the first pic!--so cute)

Saturday, May 3, 2008

18 years


Today my baby turned 18. He is a legal adult. He could go to war. He can vote. Where did the time go? People kept asking me if I was going to cry. I don't feel sad. I feel pretty excited for him. He is excited. He has so much in front of him. He is excited to go to school. Tonight he went shopping with some friends and came home and actually tried on his purchases. He did a good job. This is the first time he has gone shopping without me. I feel a little insignificant. But, suprisingly, that is a pretty good feeling. He is growing up and doesn't need me as much. He is definitely more independent. I like watching him like this. He likes being independent. He is going to apply for a new job on Monday. He needs to make some money this summer to be ready for college.

I can remember becoming a mama 18 years ago. It was so exciting. We loved Alex so much. We would sit around our living room and just watch him. He was such a mama's boy. I would hold him for hours. I went back to school in 3 months and would read my text books to him. He loved for me to read to him. He would sit for an hour by the time he was a year. We thought he was the most amazing baby. I can remember coming home from church and Zack, my sister Angela, and I talking about the other babies in the ward and how they just weren't as cute as Alex. We actually felt sorry for them. Angela said one time that at least Alex showed emotion--meaning he cried, ALOT. She said the other babies just sat there stone faced. Not happy or sad. But, OUR baby was expressive!!!

And, now that boy is 18 and I still like to sit and watch him. I am still so proud of him. He still likes to read. And, he is still VERY expressive. Most of his expressions now are happy now. He loves to laugh and have fun. He is one of the only people I know who can sit in a room by himself and laugh out loud at something he is watching on TV or reading in a book. A deep belly laugh. I will miss him so much....our family will not seem complete when he is not here. But, I know that he will always be a part of us and we will be a part of him. And I WILL be excited for that...........even if it kills me.

Happy Birthday, Alex!!!