MagMadness MONDAY!!!

KIDS CAN HEAR...APPARENTLY

We were on vacation last week and, therefore, could not impart upon you our vast wisdom and knowledge for MagMadness Monday. I'm afraid this Monday will be more of the same. However, Rachel did say a couple of funny things this week worth sharing. Our conversation went something like this:

RACHEL: Mom, where do Aladdin and Jasmine live?

MOM: I'm not really sure.

RACHEL: Just guess.

MOM: Okay. I think they live in India or Morocco or some place like that.(someone correct me if I'm wrong)

RACHEL: Oh, like "Morocco Bama".

MOM: Where did you hear that name?

RACHEL: From that news you play in the car. Who is that?

MOM: He wants to be the next President of our country.

RACHEL: Do you want him to be the next president?

MOM: I'm sort of leaning toward "no".

RACHEL: Why not?

MOM: Because I don't really agree with the things he stands for.

RACHEL: Then I don't want him to be President, either.

Oh the power and the influence I hold in my hand...(insert sinister chuckle here). If only it were that easy to influence her on everything else. Unfortunately, it's not.
This experience made me realize that our kids aren't deaf, despite how many times you ask them to pick up their toys or get their shoes on, as they stare right through you. They do have, what I like to call, selective hearing.
When I take the kids to the doctor for their checkups, he always asks if they're hearing "when they want to". And he's exactly right. They hear you when they want to. The problem lies with the fact that you can't predict when that will be, and what it is they will be tuning in to. Case in point: Yesterday, my fourth child, Shawn(age 33), was teasing and taunting Brooke(age 4) to the point where she was screaming louder than Rachel's movie. With her eyes firmly fixed on the TV screen, Rachel yells out, "IGNORE HIM!"
Hmm...where has she heard that one? Kids do hear. I guess we'd better pay attention to what they hear or it will come back to haunt us...

TWIN LAKES REUNION

Another great week at Twin Lakes has come and gone. It's always fun to be with family and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Melissa and I celebrated our birthdays together and Colleen always goes above and beyond in making it a special day for us. I got to enjoy some quiet time while the baby napped and then when the kids were tired of the water, they went back to the cabin and I stayed and swam with Karissa and had a lovely time chatting it up with one of the coolest people I know. Followed by yummy salmon dinner...(I mean YUMMY!) and my favorite birthday cake, to boot, which was dee-lish! It was a fun week with great weather and great company. We missed Mich and Bennett and Nic and Hyrum! It wasn't the same without you!!!Till we meet again, enjoy the pics!

The kids had to get in on the candle- blowing extravaganza. There were PLENTY o' candles to go around, believe me, but pity was shown on us and there were only four on the cake.

Oh, BABY, she is edible! Almost as much as the chest hairs sprouting from Dad's shirt....rarrrr!

(BTW-every cousin in the pack is about as edible as they come. How is it that one family can produce so many insanely cute children?)

RACHEL has turned into quite the little swimmer. After some..shall we say.."encouragement" from Dad, she was jumping into deep water without her life jacket and dog paddling like a pro. She was proud of herself, and then the next day, forgot how brave she was and felt safer with a flotation device. She is a water baby, like her sister, and we could barely get them out of the water. They LOVED it!

To jump or not to jump? That is the question...

Rachel and Tori named this dolphin "Daisy".
What a pal!

Rachel and Karissa having an intense conversation about trolls and something else...I can't remember, but very important, nonetheless. Thanks for amusing her, Kissa.

Rachel learned how to blow up a balloon. We had to record it for posterity.

BROOKE, of course, was occupied with three activities...digging, taking a break from digging, and digging with cousin, Eli...

........digging

...more digging

....getting water for digging

...taking a break from digging

...Brooke and Eli "jumping" off
the dock into 6 inches of water...
SO BRAVE!

Dad having some fun in the sun
with his girls

This is the third annual t-shirt making
activity for the grandkids. Grandmas
know how to make everything fun! The
kids love this part and wear their t-shirts
with pride all year.

Grandma led the cousins on a fun
scavenger hunt around the yard for
some delicious treats!

Kristina devoured Grandma with some
yummy kisses!!

This picture is just a small taste of how
beautiful the setting is. This is Grandpa
bringing the boat in after another day
of skiing.

The car is packed and ready to go....
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

We are always sad to leave Twin Lakes. It's a beautiful spot, guaranteed sunshine, and when you're surrounded by family, it can't be beat. We always leave wishing we would have gotten in one more swim. The kids played hard, though, and we were ready to get them back into a normal routine. Needless to say, we came home to cloudy, 60 degree weather...(gotta love Seattle).. and a two day battle with the stomach flu. YUK! We were wishing we hadn't left paradise so early. Until next year.............

MagMadness MONDAY!!!

I think we will make this the forever face of MagMadness Monday. Hope she doesn't mind.

CEO of the GREATEST CORPORATION ON EARTH!!

The phrase, "I'm bored" is a big no-no in our house. I am never bored. There is always something to be done. And when there isn't anything to do, which is rare, I relish in the moment that there is nothing to do. So when Rachel informed me that church is boring, I squelched that one immediately. What she meant was, I don't understand, therefore, I am bored. So we focused on what she can understand, which is the sacrament prayer. We read it together from Moroni and then I challenged her to listen closely at church....(in the midst of all of this, I am force feeding the baby, cleaning Brooke's spilled milk, finding shoes, gathering my things for my sharing time lesson)...so it wasn't the quiet, spiritual moment you are all envisioning. Nevertheless, I felt good about the tiny lesson we had and off to church we go.
During the sacrament, she was snuggling close to me and I was whispering in her ear some of the things I was feeling in regards to the sacrament, when she asked, "Mom, why do those boys pass the sacrament?" I replied, "Because they have the priesthood." She asked me, "Do girls get the priesthood?" I said, "No, Heavenly Father gave us our own special role on this earth.'' To which she replied, "Oh, yeah, you clean." BAM!-end of spiritual moment.
Okay, so I wouldn't normally be annoyed, but this just so happens to be the SECOND time she has referred to me and my role in our family as "The Cleaner."(see earlier post "Kids Say the Darndest Things")

What is a mother's role in the family, besides "woman who always cleans"? To make me feel way more important, I have decided to dub myself the CEO of our home and Shawn the CFO. While he serves diligently to provide the financial stability we all appreciate, I, to quote Rachel, "do everything else." And what is "everything else?" In a nutshell, (because us mothers know the list is very long), it's executing the plans Shawn and I have discussed as a means to creating a loving home environment. This is no small task, mind you, and I take the challenge seriously. It requires all of the necessary skills needed in running a successful business, (i.e. time/money management, organization, delegation, ingenuity, assertiveness, flexibility...etc.) That's some serious skill! And these skills don't pay in money, fame, recognition, like in the "outside" world. It pays differently. Better.
It was mentioned in the last Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting that there is a difference between "homemaking" and "housekeeping". Apparently, Rachel thinks I've got the housekeeping down, but what about my skills in making a home? I am seeing that these skills are constantly being tested, tried, and refined. Because motherhood does not reward with instant gratification. No Way! But when the moments come, it is better than anything else. Like when one child accidently breaks the piggy bank of the other child, and they care more about each other's feelings than the broken toy. These are the moments I love, even if they only come twice a year. They're still worth all the blood, sweat, and tears. And, hopefully, it is creating a strong corporation that will stand the tests of time.
What are you doing to make your house a home? And what are some good housekeeping tips, because, apparently, I am not very time-efficient?

P.S. To those of you who think our home is clean(i.e. jimmy), my secret is that I know when you're coming and I hide everything in inconspicuous places so as to create the illusion that we do not live in utter squalor. So if you want the truth, just pop in unannounced at any given time(but mostly between the hours of 4-6pm) and you will see an amazing science project in the works. The secret is out!

I have to add a couple of funnies our girls said lately. It's makes me smile when I'm reminded how much our girls are still learning especially when it comes to the English language. The other day I asked Brooke if she wanted a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, and she replied, "Yeah, 'cause we don't eat boy-cheese sandwiches."
Now, if you say "grilled-cheese" fast, out loud, mixed with a little ear-wax build up, it really sounds like you're saying "girl-cheese". It took me awhile to figure out what the heck she meant by that, but when I did, I died laughing. How long has she been thinking that's what it was? THEN, Rachel asked me why we only have "ancestors" and not "anbrothers". I was confused until I realized she thinks I say "an-SISTERS". My goodness. Either we're raising our girls to be extremely gender bias or I have a serious speech impediment. Some one break the news to me gently.

SUMMER FUN!

Summer has officially arrived in the Seattle area! It takes awhile, but when it comes, the wait is all worth it! 70's and 80's with low humidity and beautiful sunshine, followed by cool breezes in the evening-you can't beat that! Aside from the subzero temps of the lake water, I can handle it. We've been spending some time in the sun, going to beaches and lakes, and letting the girls dig in the sand where ever they go. Brooke could literally dig for hours. There is something about creating a big pile of sand that is so fulfilling to her. When we went to the zoo for Rachel's birthday, she had to stop every few feet to make new "piles" of dirt on the path. The urge to let the dirt run through her little fingers was so enticing, she couldn't resist. It's like her addiction-I love it. Enjoy the pictures of our fun in the sun. What is it about little bums with "wedgies" that's so darn cute?

MagMadness MONDAY!!!

LOST/FOUND/JUST PLAIN CONFUSED......

I'm really lost as to what to write about this week, and since I don't want to disappoint all 2 of you who look forward to MagMadness Monday, I figured I could write about the phenomenon which is "LOST"(a.k.a. one of the greatest TV shows EVER).
So, if you've never watched this show, it is virtually impossible to bring you up to speed. I realized this one night when Mom asked me to fill her in on what was happening, and quite frankly, about 20 minutes into me explaining things to her, my head (and hers) was spinning in confusion. There are way too many twists and turns to keep it straight, but here is a very brief synopsis: A plane crashes on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific, and the survivors soon discover they have landed in a really bizarre place, equipped with secret hideouts, and weird people. What got me hooked on the show, was that each episode followed a different survivor back in time, to give you the story of their life and how they ended up on the plane. You soon discover that they all share one thing in common-they're all big-time screwed up. One's a murderer, one's a drug addict, one's on the run from the law(for murder), one had an affair, to name just a few. Oh, yeah, and they all hate their fathers. Hooked yet? It gets better. Then, you discover even further that they are all linked somehow to each other. And you don't know how or why, so you keep watching. And watching. And watching. It has become an addiction. Shawn, who has a lot more emotional stability than me, has no problem walking away from the whole thing. He'll watch it with me just to keep me company, but he finds the whole thing ridiculous. Obviously, NOT a true fan. I, for one, have become too emotionally invested in the characters and it would be next to impossible for me to walk away now. I need closure, and I just want them to find happiness. Only Josh and Kristina understand my predicament. So, if you have nothing productive to do this summer, check out the DVDs, starting with Season 1, and get all caught up for the next season which begins in January. I promise, you'll get gleefully lost with the rest of us.
Speaking of "lost", did you hear about the lost civilization "discovered" in South America? It was plastered all over the news as being this major discovery, and then it turned out to be a hoax concocted by some reporter, so as to prove his point about the destruction of the rain forest or something like that. Which one of these characters actually turned out to be the lost one, mmmmm?

P.S. To you LOST fans-what are some of your "LOST" theories: Were they all orchestrated by some mastermind to come together?....Are they dead?......give us your theory:)