Table for Eight

Jay and Jr. built this rollercoaster yesterday.  It's pretty amazing--see video below. When I was young er, I never imag ined I'd be a mother of 6 k iddos.  It sounds like so many kids, no? A half-dozen ?! I mean really, even today when someone asks me how many children we have, I'm almost shocked to hear my own reply : "We have six children ." Six! That's a lot of small people under our watch.   S o much responsibilit y.   And so much ... well, so much of everything! I'm g rateful I get to spend my time o n the planet with each of our beautiful kids.  I love you Jay, Bam, Papaya, Jr., Zu and Lu . (And I'm grat eful to each of their birthpar ents for bringing us together. I love you, too. XOX O .)     Jr., Z, Papaya, Bam and Lu--in line for the ferris wheel at Sheel's. Bam and our dog Harriet. Bam. Papaya. Papaya and Lu--when it snowed last Friday. Our neighborhood park ... a

A typical expression for me. My Cali cousin calls it "The Kid From Home Alone Face."   So, this weekend I was on Pinterest and came across this pin which just SPOKE to me.  They were the r ight words at the right time. So, I thought I would share them with you , too. PS: The "letter" was written by Robin Kramer, author of the blog Pink Dryer Lin t. PPS: AS I was posting this blog, I was also getting dresse d, grading papers, and help ing ou r ki ds make scramb led eggs /ham. Turns out I didn't learn a dang thing from this letter ( yet) : I burned the eggs! ***************** Dear Woman Who Is Trying to Do It All: Please stop. I could end my letter at this point, but I fear that two words wouldn't be enough to convince you.  I know this because I'm one of you.  I'm a feet-hit-the-floor-already-running, head-hit-the-pillow-still-thinking kind of a girl. It's hard to slow down when so much needs to be done, an

Voting day always reminds me of how fortunate I am to live in a democr a cy. Love. America. And love you, too. Have a great day.  

The theme for the night was "Let Your Light Shine."   Last night our two teenage daughters celebrated the annual "Young Women in Excellence" program at our church. It's a really nea t night: each girl shares something she's worked on during the year or a talent she is developing. The re are motivational speakers, musical numbers, and of course--true to Mormon-fashion--TREATS! I know pride is a really wonky emotion, but I did feel really proud of our girls last night. They are both 100 times the young woman I was at their age. I'm really proud of the people they are becoming. They have kind hearts and are great daughters. And ... I'm super thankful for a program like this that give s them a chan ce to share their accomplishments.     Bam and her friends set out their displays. Bam shared her guitar and the musical number she is learning in voice right now. Papaya shared her Ukulele talent. Here's the song she's

  I love love love Hal loween . But, b etween Sandy hitting the East Coast and just general "b usy-ness " here in Utah, Halloween sure did feel different this year.   That being said, the kids still had a great time ce lebrating and Trick- or-Treating ( W ell, the ones under 13-- our older teens are pretty much in the "hand-out-candy - or-watch-scary-movies-phase " vs. " Trick-or-Treating-phase.").  BT W: I think poor Dave walked nearly 6 miles Trick-o r -Treating with Lu and Zu last night (Utah ns really REALLY celebrate Halloween. It's like the set of Happy Days here during the holidays.) .  Anyway, my point!  Dave walked those 6 miles on an injured foot . Yeowch ! He deserves Father of the Year for that . (Well, that and about 2.7 million o ther reasons --which I w ill outline in a future blogpost. LOL.) I hope you and your family/friends had a great h ol iday.   (PS: I haven't watched last night's Survivor yet. I do