Belated

Okay, okay, I know it's been forever since I posted, but listen...I threw a party on Saturday night which had 50 guests (not exaggerating--that was the headcount), then I did the Primary music Sunday and went and worked 3-11pm Sunday evening, then Monday my horrible sore throat and cough came back! And right now I am on my way to work, but here is a sneak peek at what's in store when I get a minute: James on Saturday night, all dressed up for our back-to -school Luau.
Addie at school this morning...yeah, SCHOOL. My daughter is enrolled in public school and today (8/29) was her first day of kindergarten. More pix coming soon. Initial report: "It was totally easy" "We read good stories" and "I love hot lunch! I had a chicken sammich today!"

Yay, Addie!

Meanwhile, no word from Headstart about Heidi getting in. That will mean more to you after you read my upcoming post about yesterday, aka Jamie and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day.

Til then, adieu, blogosphere.

September Gurl

It's almost my favorite month and my favorite season!

And how cute (thoughtful) is my Grandma to send me THIS?...

...with a note that said, "I thought you would love this." Pretty dang cute. And she was right! I DO love it, and not just for the awesome quote and fun photo, but because it says "SEPTEMBER!" I am a September Girl/Gurl (as are many of my best friends like Sooz, Lisa A., and Aunt Party) and now I have a little September Boy!

And I am soooo excited for fall!

So, seriously, my grandma is so great. She is always thinking about her family, sending little notes and clippings to us. Clipping and Word Searching and crocheting in her comfy chair watching cop shows with Gramps. Almost every week I get a little love note and all the relevant Sunday paper coupons. I take a few that I use and pass the rest on to my friends. I bought a file to keep them in now so we can make better use of them;I hate for her hard work to go to waste.

And you know what else? That cute September picture came to my mailbox on Grandma & Grandpa's 57th Anniversary...they celebrated with a Sweetheart trip to Mesa to attend the temple and go out to lunch. I think it's pretty cool that Gramp can still take Gram on fun dates when he is 82...all you husbands take note!

Hope you had a Happy Anniversary,

Grandma & Grandpa!

Dawg Tard

I am super-tired! This is the end of my Day of Accomplishing Things. It began with putting clean sheets on the bed last night, a good night's sleep, a little Denise Austin yoga with the girls this morning, prayers and goddbyes to daddy, and yogurt parfaits for all of us for breakfast (fresh strawberry banana parfaits with vanilla yogurt--yum!).

Addie lost her "All About Me" book that she was going to give her new teacher, so I made new ones for her and Heidi to fill out today. We had "preschool time", which included a welcome song, a dance, a story from the Friend magazine which arrived Saturday, and we filled out and colored out books. I tried to help them memorize our address and phone number--Addie's got it, but Heidi doesn't because she has a hard time saying "six." On the page about what I want to be when I grow up, Heidi drew dinosaurs because she wants to be a "dig-upper." This is what she calls a paleontologist. It cracks me up!

So I put on some music for the girls and cleaned the kitchen with James. He went down for a nap and we had burritos for lunch with Daddy and shopped online for discount dance supplies for Addie's ballet class, and music theory and piano books so I can teach her at home (I know it's really hard to teach your own kids, but I'm poor and should put what little knowledge I have to work). Addie helped me make some visual aids for Primary and some games for family night bingo (game called "I Will"--all the squares say things the kids should be doing to make a happy family, like be kind, listen, help mom, say prayers, etc...) while Heidi was asleep, and then we ate dinner (pork chops, couscous, green salad and fruit salad), had FHE, and shared a banana split at Dairy Queen (where we saw Zuzana & Peter working).

After the kids went to bed, I put in three hours work on Primary music (while watching hurricane coverage on CNN--poor Mexico!) and just finished my latest post on Framanisco. Check it out.

So now it's technically Tuesday and I need a shower and some sleep. It should be nothin' but fun the rest of the week (before my babies go away to school--ugh!).

Lame

So Monday I went to the Doctor and the initial throat swab they did was clear of strep, so the doc diagnosed me with a "possible" sinus infection (was it the gallons of Mountain-Dew-colored slime coming from my nose that gave me away? Or the swollen ears? or the fact that my throat was so irritated I kept losing my voice?). He said he though I just had a viral cold, but in case I wasn't better when I woke up on Tuesday (huh?), he gave me a Z-pack prescription but told me to wait until Wednesday to fill it because he had a gut feeling I was getting better.

Um, no. I went ahead and filled the prescription and started taking it Tuesday. I was done on Thursday, and still sick as a dog until that night. Friday I felt much better and canned a bazillion pints (nah, just 38) of applesauce, when the nurse called.

"Um, we were just wondering if you were feeling any better?... (yes, a little) Because we got your throat culture back and it turns out you DID have strep...Oh, so it's a good thing you went ahead and took those antibiotics, huh?...well, call us if you're not well on, like, Monday...."

Dear Clinic,

THANKS, GUYS! I totally diagnosed AND medicated myself, but I appreciate you taking that $75 plus the $30 for the culture to tell me what I told you first!

Hugs-n-kisses,
JM

I'm off to nap before I have to work tonight. Ugh.

Kitchen Fun

This is how Heidi helps us with our harvest canning...entertainment.
Addie was my official applesauce cranker...she put the cooked down apples through the sieve to get all the seeds and skins out.
Here's Addie with the fruits of our labors: lots of applesauce--the darker ones are cinnamon for eating plain or with pancakes' the lighter ones are plain applesauce, which we mostly use in baking. The sauce is made from the small greenish Transparent apples that grew on the trees in the garden area at the ranch. In a few weeks we will make pie filling and apple chips with the big crisp red ones that grow up on the hill.
Takine a break from cranking...

...Heidi loves to twirl (whirling drvish)
Sister Hug!
Here is the pizza we were making the other night when we talked to you, Gram & Gramp. One is BBQ chicken pizza with bell peppers and red onions and bbq sauce and low-fat cheddar cheese; the other is pepperoni with olives and mushrooms and mozzerella cheese. They were yummy!

Courtesy of Aunt Party

Yesterday I had a night off work and so did our tenants (Peter & Zuzana) for the first time in 6 weeks, so we all went to Bozeman together. We had the pleasure of introducing them to Old Navy (Zuzana: "I really like zis store!"--she had to buy large Girl sizes instead of Women's because she is so tiny). While they shopped, we exchanged Aunt Marti's shoes and got all of the stuff pictured below for the refund price plus 6 bucks:

That's two Hawaiian shirts for Bubby, a stripey dress for Addie, a Surfer Girl shirt for Heidi, and polka dot "Gramaree Shoes" for me! Neighbor, that's a GANGA!

Thanks, Aunt Party!

Happy Birthday, MOM!

Untitled from MelinFamily and Vimeo.

Big Week for my Big Girl

Sweet Adeline started Kindergarten Camp this week and she LOVES it!!! Here she is outside of the kindergarten room on Monday the 13th
There are two of my good church friends, Charity Winsor & Jenn Young with their kindergarteners. Addie spotted her friend Boston right away but they are not in the same class. I love Alexander's face in this picture--Charity said that he bursts into tears each day when they leave his big sis at kindergarten camp. Funny...Heidi celebrates! She loves when Ad's gone, but just for an hour or so...then she gets bored, I think.
Addie was excited to find her name on her desk!

"Real" kindergarten starts on August 30th.
Here's a random picture of James on Tuesday...
Here's me (with totally red eyes from my sinus infection, and frizzy hair from not blowing it dry) with Addie--she's showing her loose tooth.

Daddy yanked it out with the pliers...
TA-DA! Her first lost tooth!
Here she is this morning with a hole in her smile, happy about the dollar the tooth fairy left in the little tooth pillow we made yesterday.



And yes, it's killing me that all of this is happening at once...my baby!!!!

Dear TJay,

We are so sorry that we keep thinking your birthday is on August 14th [it's the 13th]...will you fogive us? Gosh, you've had 4 birthday parties, you'd think Aunt Jamie would get it right by now!

Anyway, we just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY and we love you. Thanks for being such a good cousin and friend to Addie Rose, Heidi, and James Ole. We sure are glad you're part of our family, and we're glad your mom and dad gave you such a fun party! We'll try to get the date right next year!

Love, Uncle Rich, Aunt Jamie (or Uncle Jamie, as Danny calls me), Addie, Heidi, & James XOXOX

Obscurity Knocks

Here's some Scottish fun for ya this stormy Friday. Back in 1990, we sure loved us some Trashcan Sinatras (Willy's an even bigger fan than I am). This song always cheers me up (even though the lyrics are depressing). So enjoy the vid, and then go make the most of one of your last weekends of summer (we will try to do the same, all though I am laid low with sore throat and hacking chest cough!).

Come on, sing along...

"Rubbing shoulders with the sheets till two
Looking at my watch and I'm half-past caring
In the lap of luxury it comes to mind
Is this headboard hard? Am I a lap behind?
But to face doom in a sock-stenched room all by myself
Is the kind of fate I never contemplate
Lots of people would cry though none spring to mind"

(click for more)

PS: The CHERRY ON TOP (best cover of this song EVER! do you agree? I'm in luv)

Sad for us, Good for Him...

THIS news made me a a little sad this morning.

BUT...if I could plan MY last words, I hope they'd be a powerful as THIS.

Here's a thought for the day...

"Dr. Sidney Simon, a recognized authority on values realization, has provided an excellent definition of forgiveness as it applies to human relationships:
'Forgiveness is freeing up and putting to better use the energy once consumed by holding grudges, harboring resentments, and nursing unhealed wounds. It is rediscovering the strengths we always had and relocating our limitless capacity to understand and accept other people and ourselves.'
"Most of us need time to work through pain and loss. We can find all manner of reasons for postponing forgiveness. One of these reasons is waiting for the wrongdoers to repent before we forgive them. Yet such a delay causes us to forfeit the peace and happiness that could be ours."
-Elder Faust

Four days before I went into the MTC, I attended conference in the Assembly Hall where he was presiding. Afterward I went to shake his hand and told him I was on my way to the MTC, and he said, "I could tell." We talked about my choice to serve a mission and how I debated whether to go now or later with my husband and he said, "You should do both...but it's better to go now because you may not get the opportunity to go with your husband. And you'll be a better wife and mother if you go now." We talked about other things, but those words stuck in my mind. I have always love Elder Faust and will miss him.