On Strike

This is my lonely workstation in my home office, where the Livingston Ward Liahona is created and Life in a Northern Town is maintained... This is me telling you:

"I refuse to post anymore until I get some comments."

It's like talking to a wall....and I even took off word verification, folks...come on.

(Okay...I WILL post just one more funny little thing...this photo of my girls on the carousel last Saturday, in which Addie seems to have gone mad and Heidi is saying "Heil Mommy!")

PS: Last night, we happened upon a Documentary Channel presentation of "Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator" which features girls I went to high school with but didn't know, one of whom was killed by Gator Rogowski, the skater probably most famous for his appearance (with his Tucson girlfriend, Brandi) in Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'"video. It was a fun little walk down memory lane (well, not the Gator-becoming-a-murderer part) to hot days on the half pipe and cool nights on the Bank banks on the west side, when Tony Hawk weighed about 101 pounds and starred in a Mountain Dew commercial with Lance Mountain, Itchy Foot Moe's, Willy's Pocatello Mall half ramps and that one poser dude in the hills who had a lighted half pipe in his back yard...what a funny little subculture....

On This Date in History...

1978: My cute sister, Dana Lynn was born (that's her with her daughter, Leanne)

Happy Birthday, Naner...I miss you!

and...

1983: My darling sister-in-law Kristen was born. (Sorry I keep using wedding pix of you, Kristen, but I LOVE this one!)

Happy Birthday, Kristen!

PS: Here is a fun place to meet some Crazy Fun LDS bloggers.

Sunday

Today was Selection Sunday for NCAA Men's Basketball (the only sport anyone in our house is remotely interested in, besides the occasional futbol match, which we only like to watch on Spanish language television). I think it's quite telling that I slept through the selection coverage. It's a bad sign that I haven't seen even ONE Arizona game this season (I have checked scores and standings, though...sad times). I think the times they are a-changin' and My Teams are falling from grace. Dare I say Papa Lute and Coach K are gettin' old? I don't really know what I am talking about, but I will cheer on my Wildcats, my Tarheels, and my Blue Devils, even if the fun is all over next weekend. *SIGH.* Bear Down, Arizona

On another note, I have a dear friend who joined the church a few years ago and has really grown spiritually the past year or so, but sadly, her husband has not followed (even though he's been a member "technically" most of his life). She is at a real crossroads and I want her to know that I really feel for her and she's in my prayers. It's so hard, believing what we believe/know about families, to decide what to do in these situations. Of course everyone deserves a celestial marriage, especially when one is willing to pay the price, but it's a delicate situation when one finds oneself alone in such a pursuit. I've met a really amazing wife whose answer to her prayer was to wait for him because, as she put it, he was her brother before he was her husband, and he needed her love and support to help him back to where he should be. But many others have had to cut bait and move on. And then there are the kids. Do you sacrifice your family life for your own personal happiness and hope it all works out for them? These are hard questions and I don't have the answers.

Well, wait--I do have one answer. Only God knows our potential and our limitations. Only he knows if your husband is ever going to come around, or if your kids can withstand a divorce, or if there is indeed someone else to make your dreams come true. Only he can intervene and change someone's heart. Only he can tell you the right choice for you. You just have to be ready for and willing to act upon the answer with faith. Like Nephi told the angel in 1Nephi 11:17, "I know that he loveth his children, nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." I applaud you for caring enough about him and your children to work on it rather than doing what would be much more comfortable and easy for you--leaving and returning to the comfort (and SUNSHINE) of your family of origin.

We had a great Sabbath today. I am always so happy to be at church in my own ward and be able to attend all three meetings with little interruption. So thanks to my kids for giving me that today. I needed it. And thank you to Rich for letting me sleep off my ear infection and all the exhaustion from partyin' like a 20-year-old this weekend :) I had a long and much needed nap today, and I didn't actually get out of my bed (snuggling with James) until 6pm! We all worked together to get the laundry and laundry room cleaned up (we started that on Friday), and then we took some of those under-the-bed storage boxes and made a "Memory Box" for each kid. We needed those because, as you probably well know, they bring lots of treaseures home from pre-school and church nursery and we needed some place besides the fridge door and the office to keep them all. It's been a nice evening, and now I should try to pack it in. Happy Monday, everyone!

Weekend in Photos: SATURDAY

As soon as I got home from Chico on Saturday, I got everyone ready to go to Helena to celebrate Jared Lehman's 6th Birthday at the Great Northern Carousel. Addie and Heidi were so excited to wear their spring clothes, even though it was about 58 dgrees outside. Addie in her her sporty new skirt and shirt

(which looks really 80's to me).
Heidi was excited to wear "short pants" and no socks!
Addie got spun around super-fast by her Cousin Gabriel on the carousel.
The birthday boy on a bobcat.
Rich and Heidi on the carousel (with Uncle Darrin in the background).

James watched gleefully from his seat...
...as Aunt Laura observed the opening of the gifts.
Addie oo'ed & ahhh'ed appropriately as Jared opened a cool birthday gift.
Happy Sixth Birthday Jared!

We took the Lehmans and their loot home at 5pm and hung out for a while at the house. Laura was so thoughtful and sent home treats for all the kids, as well as some great clearance scrapbooking stuff for me (THANKS, Lulu!). We got home to Livingston at 8pm, but we pretended it was 9pm since DST was sneaking up on us this morning!

Weekend in Photos: FRIDAY

While I was getting ready to go to the retreat at Chico (which was totally fun), I mesmerized the girls with Little Einsteins......while James did his tummy time on the floor.
He's so sweet! See how he's holding the blanket with one hand?...
...Well, a few minutes after this photo was taken, I went back in the front room and he had rolled over holding the blanket (which then covered him up) and fell asleep there in the sunshine. He looked like a tiny angel.
While I was at the retreat, Rich had a "campout" in the basement living room with the kids.
Here they are roasting mini marshmallows over a candle.

They had a fun time, and he is the best dad EVER!

Lazy Farmers

Just a friendly reminder from your Montana friends (DISREGARD if you're lucky enough to live in Arizona where they are too cool for DST) to SPRING FORWARD tomorrow! Don't be late for church, y'all!

Quote of the Week from Stephen Colbert: "I still don't see why the whole nation has to suffer just because lazy farmers won't get up at 4 unless we tell them it's 5" (Tuesday, March 6th on the Colbert Report's "Threat Down")........ I agree 100%.

And I bid you adieu, since I gotta catch that lost hour of sleep somewhere...

PS: Happy Birthday, Jared (click)! Thanks for the fun party!

Oh The Sweetness

I hope it's okay with Penelope's parents that I am uploading this gorgeous photo of her.

I simply can't resist!

Many Happy Returns of the Day

I am happy to report that we all feel much better today. We did, in fact, get a nap, thanks to my SIL Angie taking Addie and Danny to the park, allowing Heidi, James, and me to rest peacefully. I made stir fry for dinner, and then took Heidi with me to the Beehive's Tacos-n-Personal Progress night at the Orton's house. It was pretty fun and I love those girls! Heidi rocked out to the Cars soundtrack--it was hilarious!

Today I have been busy cleaning and cooking for a baby shower (for Katy, whom I visit teach) I am hosting tonight. We are having a variety of wraps for dinner, so Heidi and I have been mixing up all kinds of chicken and tuna salads and choppin' veggies. It's sure to be a fun time!

Thanks to all of you who de-lurked; I haven't had any comment spam yet, so I'll leave off the verification as long as I can. Keep commenting--it makes me happy!

AND BEST NEWS OF ALL...

These two people are my Cousin Dave and his wife Lacy (this was the day they got married almost 2 years ago--aren't they so cute?) According to Dave's brother, Brent, they had a baby girl

AT THEIR HOUSE (that was planned) yesterday morning.

Congratulations, Mayberry Family!
Welcome to the World, Penelope!

I'm TARD! (that's southern for tired)

My happy little bubble of good nights' rest was burst with gusto last night (hey, it was only 6 days old anyway), as James was awake from 11pm til 4am, and Heidi graced us with several tantrums in that time span. To top it of, my neck is severly "Out," and my entire left side, from my jaw, down to my fingers and toes, is tingling, my left ear is ringing, and my left sinuses are clogged. THANKS, KIDS!

Last night I put a counter on my blog. If you are lurking here, I cordially invite you to make yourself known and leave a comment. It's kind of freaking me out how many people tell us they read our blog and have never left a comment...so stop in and say hi. I'll even take off word verification for the day to make it easy for you.

Now I am off to ice my neck and get dressed before I go see the chiro. Hopefully my exceedingly tired and grumpy children will nap today so we all feel better this eveing. UGH!

Figgerin' Stuff Out

I must insist that you click on my Brother Sam's link over there on the right (or right here) and tell him how cute his wife is and that they should keep blogging because we love them!

Since my new camera has a very fun and easy-to-use video camera in it, I intend to post clips here in the future. Tonight after Family Night I taught myself how to do it, and hopefully it will work. Here's one of the first videos we made the day we got the camera.






James, Heidi, Gram on Vimeo

PS: I Adore Addie

On Saturday, I had to trim Addie's bangs because she cut a small chunk of "hair that was bothering" her and I got upset with her.

Later she was upset about something and she muttered under her breath, "I'm just stupid and ugly." I told her we don't talk like that, and she said, "But I said it to myself, not to Heidi, and I can say whatever I want to myself." I said, "No, you can't even be mean to yourself, because Heavenly Father made you and when you say bad things about yourself it hurts his feelings. He thinks you're beautiful. And I helped to make you, so it hurts my feelings, too."

I thought about that all night and how much my self-talk must hurt Heavenly Father's feelings. It was a great epiphany for March Forth.

Later that night (last night), Addie and I went on a date (thanks, Granmda Rosalie, for filling in for the babysitter--you're the best) and we went to see Bridge to Terrabithia. We both cried and talked about it all the way home. Addie really liked it, and today she told me, "Using your imagination can help you to be nicer and have a good day, even be nice to bullies." Yep.

I also watched Marie Antoinette by myself Friday night. Fun and worthwhile, I thought. Two best things:
1. Kirsten Dunst always reminds me SO MUCH of Heidi Egan and I can't put my finger on why, but it's fun to watch her for that reason alone (especially in Bring It On, imagining Heidi as a competitive cheerleader...heh, heh).
2. Best moment of the movie (which has an 80's soundtrack): When the Cure's "Plainsong" just blasts after the wedding scene--exactly the right song for such a moment. LOVED it.