Champions

Emily played on the YW basketball team and they made it all the way to the championship game then lost by a couple points.
They played great and at the end of the championship,  the region director lady came and told our girls that she's never seen girls play with so much heart.
That was the biggest compliment of all and makes them the champions.
It was so fun to watch them with the other parents.
Little Johns Teachers team made it to the region game right before the championship and big John made it to the region game right before the championship game with elders quorum. It's been a fun few weeks.
Little john also had a great time on his Jr. Jazz team but had to cut it short for leg surgery.

Beautiful days

This is what I usually get from Emily when I ask for a smile.  She's goofy and cute and I adore her.
She is with her good friend Allie.
Allie and her brother Nate live a few doors down.  They pick up Thomas and Jack for school every day and Allie is so kind and patient with Jack and his "personality".
They come over often and I LOVE IT!!!!  I love to have the neighbor kids at my house.
I have spent the last two beautiful days outside with the kids.
I mostly neglected my house but got a "bug" when I woke up this morning and cleaned my room a lot.
John is tired of his bum leg.  He can't wait to play basketball again.  He has been ornery and critical of everyone else but I need to be patient with him.  And understanding.   While helping him remember to be kind.
Sam was pushing Leah in the stroller and it flipped over and she smacked her head on the ground.  Later when she wad in the kitchen, the front door opened and she took off.   On the way, she smacked her head on the table in the same spot and it immediately swelled.  It is bruised now.  Poor girl.
It is super windy now and tomorrow is going to br stormy and cold.  A good day to stay inside, drink green Smoothies, and watch conference.

I'm missing Thomas in these pictures.   He spent his day at lacrosse, watching a movie, and playing the Wii.  He was outside too.  I guess I wasn't taking pictures when he was around.  He is just as loved as the others.
(He did break Jack and Sam's bedroom window by throwing the lacrosse ball against the wall and hitting the window.) 
Such is life.

Jack is a Wolf

Jack is so excited to be in scouts.  He was introduced tonight and enjoyed being with all the boys as a scout this time.  Not just the brother of a scout.  He's a great kid.

Jacks Birthday at the Lion House

The most crazy of all the Lion House parties. My feeling with this one is I'm glad it's over. The taffy was sticky. The boys were LOUD. The hostess struggled. But I'll stop complaining. It's just good to be done and we're glad Jack felt loved being surrounded by so many friends. That is just what he needed and he was happy.

No fear

Leah has no fear.  She rides scateboards and scooters and jumps on the trampoline just like the big boys.  Here she is lifting up her hands and feet and starting her way down the driveway.  We have to stop her every time or she'd have a bad ending.
Love this girl.

Leprechaun

So my three little boys made traps for a leprechaun.  They didn't catch one but lucky for them, the leprechaun dropped gold coins as it ran around the front porch and through the traps.
Every year, the milk magically turns green.  We had green German pancakes and green Gatorade.
I love their imagination.
We now are drinking green Smoothies too.  Sam is okay with it because I told him they are leprechaun Smoothies.  Awesome. 
I feel like a better mom when my kids get veggies and fruit in them.
Check therecipesociety.bligspot.com for the recipe.  Soon.

From my phone

So I just found an app that will post from my phone.
Yeah.......we'll see.

10

1. I love to play the piano. I haven't had a lot of lessons and if I had, I think I'd be really good. Nonetheless, I like to play.

2. I took violin lessons from 3rd - 9th grade. Never was really good but at the 6th grade concert, my dad told me I was first chair, first violin. I didn't know what that meant. But I remember him being proud of me.

3. Blue. Blue. Blue. Blue. Blue. I LOVE blue. Every shade. I have to make myself buy things in other colors otherwise everything would be blue.

4. I was in the "gifted and talented" program when I was in 3rd grade. That is where I started violin and I learned French for one year. At some point, I turned not smart. I wonder if I can get smart again?

5. Mr. Porter was my 4th grade teacher. Mr. Walker was my 5th grade teacher. Mr. Chamberlain was my 6th grade teacher. I don't know why I got all the men or the least desired teachers. But they were good teachers and I survived.

6. When I was 12, I started cleaning the common areas of apartment buildings with my mom and sister. We made good money but it couldn't have been easy on my mom. I think we drove to Salt Lake twice a week when she got home from work and cleaned three different buildings.

7. Cleaning those apartments is where I met Adele. An old lady with a smelly, perfumey, apartment and I started cleaning for her all the way up until soon before I had Emily. 8 or 9 years I cleaned for her. Knew her for around 10 years. One day I went out to clean and someone else answered her door. I guess she fell or something and they moved her out. I called people and tried to find her and never did. Just last month, John finally found her obituary. She died in 2002. I like the name Adele. I think it's cute. And I hope Adele is happy in heaven with her husband. He died in a war years and years and years ago and she was so in love, she never wanted to remarry.

8. My second job, when I was 14, was at the snow cone shack. I sampled every flavor and would have to close shop to run into Winegars grocery store to use the bathroom every time I worked. I made about $3.25 an hour.

8.5. My third job was helping to cater receptions and parties at McCune Mansion in Salt Lake. I was good friends with the lady who owned it. She lived in my ward and I was the youth camp director when she was the camp director. She liked me and she hired me. I served at these parties. Set the tables, help set up the party and help clean up at the end. I turned 16 during this job and soon after I got my license, we had to take a "party" to another location and they told me to drive their Lexus to the party. I was scared because it was a Lexus. But it was cool that they asked me. They trusted me. I liked that job and I liked them. I'd do well in that sort of business. And the McCune Mansion is haunted. But that's another story for another time.

9. My fourth job was for MaryAnn Watson. I ran errands, opened mail, and did data entry for Radiologist Billing. I'd go in the back at the radiology department at Lakeview Hospital and deliver things and pick up things. I got to know the receptionists and doctors. I still see them when I go into Radiology but I don't know who remembers me any more. Except Sid. She remembered me. I wasn't a very good employee and I will forever regret that. Our life was topsy turvy at the time and I wish I could start over. I liked that job and if they needed me, I'd do it again today. I like that kind of office work. And I love MaryAnn. She passed away a few years ago after battling cancer for about 16 years.

10. My fifth job was at the Remote Encoding Center for the US Postal Service. I took a typing test and a written test, passed both and was hired just after high school. When I started, I had to get my mom's signature because I was only 17 and you had to be 18 to work there. Luckily I would be turning 18 soon and they let me keep the job. Mostly lucky because this is where I met and fell in love with John. We worked there with Nairn, Richard, Robert, and Jolie. It was nice to quit just before Christmas 1997. Little John was born one month later and that was the beginning of my sixth job. I still have that job and it will last a lifetime. It's the best job of them all.

I love data entry/clerical/secretarial/paper work and if I ever had to go back to work, I'd choose to work at a doctor's office. Yep!

Arizona

I find myself wanting to move to Arizona. A lot. I don't know why. I've never even been there. For years, off and on, I talk to John about the possibility. There isn't one.

I get an itch to move often. In the last hour, it has led me to many thoughts that I just need to clean my house and pull out some decorations. Problem is that I'm not good at either. Cleaning or decorating.

Those "cleaning" thoughts lead to wanting all of my children and husband to go to a movie or drive to St. George and back or something so that I can clean my house in silence. I'm trying to imagine it (the silence) but with the sound of video games and little boys, I'm struggling to "hear" it.

All of these thoughts remind me of someone once telling me that when I get the itch to move, I just need to go on a little vacation to cure it. Vacation even being getting out for a couple hours. Problem is I can't leave on "vacation" until my house is clean and this takes me back to the beginning.

Arizona is beautiful, isn't it?

(Speaking of Arizona, have you seen "Raising Arizona"? I love that movie. Thanks dad for your love of movies. We've seen A LOT because of it.)

Success is....

...getting your crippled son to the bathroom and back to the couch. In 45 minutes.

I'm worn out but the job is done.

(added later: you don't want to know what I've had to do today to help this teenage boy of mine. I don't want to know. Luckily we've both laughed about it.)

Little John had surgery to correct his left leg on Tuesday. The right leg was done 4 years ago and we had hoped to not have to do the left. No such luck. The surgery went well. It started 2 hours late and lasted 2 hours. We saw him around 5:00 and he slept until about 8:00. He was sick to his stomach and after eating a little he threw it all up. But I think that was key to him starting to feel better.

He was so excited for the hospital stay. To relax and eat anything he wanted whenever he wanted. Sadly, he didn't feel well enough and didn't get that luxury and the next day he was ready to come home. He did order breakfast and lunch and enjoyed that. He had to be able to get around on crutches, eat, and he had to get the IV out. All was done and he was home by 2:00. He was suppose to stay 2 days but they did a new kind of medicine. He has a tube going in his stomach that goes along a nerve and releases medicine for two days. It is suppose to keep his leg comfortable without having to drug his entire body. This afternoon, I get to pull the tube out.

We had Jack's 8 year old birthday party at the Lion House at 4:00 so my mom came and stayed with John, Emily, Sam, and Leah. John's friend Grant and his parents came by. They had gone all the way to Primary Children's to see him just to find out he had gone home. Sad. It was very kind of them.

Since around 6:00, John needed to go to the bathroom. Grandma tried to help him but he was in so much pain, he couldn't get to the bathroom. She got him into his wheelchair and when John and I got home just after 7, he was sitting in it wanting to get back to the couch. He sat there not wanting to move until 10:45 when we started the trek to the bathroom. There were a lot of tears and prayers and he made it back to the couch at 11:30. I slept on the couch across from John and set my alarm to go off every one to two hours for the rest of the night so he wouldn't miss a dose of any medicine he was able to have. He said just now that he slept really good last night. Even though I was waking him up so often he said he would fall right back to sleep. I am so glad to hear that.

At about 9:30, we started the trek to the bathroom again. It was a success and he made it back to the couch in about 30 minutes. He planned this surgery just right (on purpose) so he could be home to watch the tournament games. My alarm will go off in about 10 minutes for his next dose of medicine, he's snacking and watching basketball and feels great.

Not only was I woken by my alarm all night but Emily's alarm went off at 6 and I had to go up and turn it off only to have it go on 10 minutes later. I listened to it beep for about 20 minutes then finally called John upstairs in bed and asked him to go take care of it. My alarm went off again at 6:45 for the next dose. Wow. Quite the night but luckily I seem to be doing fine today. I went to bed at 12:30 and times for Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and Oxycodone were 1:45, 2:45, 4:45, 6:45, 7:45, 10:45, then the times start over, around the clock. He also took valium last night because of muscle spasms in his leg. It was sad to watch.

His doctor is Peter Stevens and we really like him. He is a great doctor. The nurses and everybody at Primary's are wonderful. We are grateful for good people in their professions and otherwise. We are grateful for good family and neighbors and friends. We are grateful for good insurance and a good job for John. They have been so great to have him do whatever he needs including work from home if needed. Emily was in tears last night right along with John when he was in so much pain. She tried so hard to do what she could to help. She has been wonderful during this busy week. She has been so helpful to watch the kids and feed them and take over the parent duties. We are glad this surgery is over and that we are on to recovery.

He can not put any weight on his leg for one month. At that time, he will have an xray and if it is healing and can learn to start using it again. I'll update as there are things to update. Until then...

Emily Mud

Oh Emily!

These are two of Emily's bestest friends. This picture was taken about a year ago and these three have grown and changed so much already. They are now big Jr. high students and teenagers......almost. She needed these pictures at school and she gets them by taking them off my blog so she asked if I'd put them on here.

Emily Maude was called Emily Mud when she was itty bitty. Mostly by her cousin Julia and her uncle Nairn. At least those are the two I can "hear" it still.

Emily is tall and beautiful. She is sweet and fun and I love her to pieces. She reminds me so much of me and it scares me sometimes. It shouldn't. I turned out okay, I think. I just hope as she goes through the same thoughts, feelings, and temptations, that she too will make the right choices.

School is not her forte. She struggles to pay attention and comprehend. Like mother, like daughter. I feel bad for her because I know how frustrating that can be. I am still that way. I don't remember anything and I can spend 30 minutes reading and in the end have no idea what I just read. It takes a lot of work to stay focused and I think Emily is the same.

Doesn't seem fair when it comes so easy to John. Both Johns. But I guess we all have our different strengths and weaknesses.

Emily's strengths come in music. She picks up on music so easily. She loves to play the piano and is ready to take lessons again. She plays the guitar and is really good. She sings with the guitar and I cry everytime she performs for me. It's beautiful to see a talent in your child.

Emily plays basketball and now wants to play Lacrosse. We told her she's got to make some choices because we can't do everything. We'll see what happens.

She struggles to make decisions. Like REALLY struggles. She's not sure if she wants her room painted purple or silver or blue or coral. It changes every day. We've finally helped her narrow it down. It's time to register for 8th grade and she has come home every day with different classes she is signing up for. I hope she'll be happy with what she finally narrowed it down to.

Emily has beautiful, long blonde hair. She is really good at fixing it too. Better than I ever was. She plays around with styles and she always looks beautiful.

She is on the YW basketball team and their team will play in their second region game this weekend. They are doing awesome. She played on a competition team put together by someone that the Jr. High girls team coach asked her to put together. We were out of town the day of tryouts and the rest of her team made the jr. high team. We have been heartbroken. The coach asked her after where she was and why she didn't try out. Hopefully this is good news for next year.

Emily has a lot of friends. She makes friends easily and she is a good friend. She loves Young Women's and it's crazy sometimes to see her in that group of girls. It's amazing how fast time goes and that she is a part of that great group. And now that she's started 7th grade, she'll be graduated in no time. That's just how it works and I don't like it.

She "likes" boys. I've finally convinced her to tell me who she likes. It changes often. That's good. She thinks kissing is gross. THANK GOODNESS.

For birthdays and Christmas, Emily finds random things around the house and wraps them up as gifts. It's always fun to see what she comes up with.

She has spunk and is such a fun daughter. I think I hold her back sometimes with my orneriness and I've got to stop that so she can bloom into the real her.....not tainted by my weaknesses.

Emily loves food. Pretty much anything but especially chicken and rice. Joyluck is her favorite restaurant. She has quite the appetite too and we don't know where it all goes. She likes the color purple and she loves to go to the temple. She loves to hang out with her friends and have late nights as much as possible. Which ends up being maybe once a month. If even that. She has organized her room and takes good care of it. She uses furniture from my grandma Jamison. The furniture that was in her "gold" room that I slept in when I was growing up.

She is 2nd Counselor in the Beehive Presidency and loves the young women. She is two weeks shy of missing the cut and could be in 6th grade right now had we held her back. We use to wonder if we made the right choice. She has some good friends that are in 6th grade right now and maybe she'd excel in school a little more if she weren't the youngest in her grade.

But it is what it is and she's doing great where she is.

For years, little John has struggled with Emily. He hasn't been very kind to her and doesn't treat her well but Emily ALWAYS forgives. If we get mad at little John for something, she sticks up for him. She adores him and I am so glad. They have been becoming better friends recently and it is wonderful. They play basketball out front almost every day.

She has always been quick to forgive. One of my favorite stories of Emily is when we lived in Provo. She was only 2 or 3 and we were walking on campus one day during school. A lady was passing us the opposite direction and she was dressed in an 80's style dress and I found myself thinking about her dress and the way she looked. (I wasn't being mean in my thoughts, just noticing she was a little out of date and not the most beautiful woman, which I hate to even say). As I was having these thoughts, Emily looked at me and said "Mom, she is beautiful." I can still hear her voice and I will never forget the example she was to me that day.

That's just how Emily is. She is good at seeing the good in things and in people.

What a lucky woman I am to have this beautiful girl in my life. It is still hard on her at times to not have a sister close in age but she's done well stuck in between so many boys and Leah is a lucky girl to have Emily has her example in life.

I love you Em. You mean everything to me!!

And you play your part well.

Happy Birthday Jack!!

Jack turned 8 years old today and when he went to bed he said "today was the best day of my life". Jack says this often. Funny coming from a kid who daily throws MAJOR tantrums and claims that no one likes him and he should die.

Wow. That was a lot to take in, in one paragraph.

Jack is our only blue eyed child and wow they are a gorgeous blue. Ice. With a little yellow around the pupil. Beautiful.

We think he might be a perfectionist. This may explain some of the tantrums. But what do we know?! He is a genius. Really. He is so smart. He was given a letter to go to the spectrum program but he will have none of that. Neither will we. He thinks it's best to be wherever Thomas is and knowing Jack, we agree.

He is a stubborn kid and when he has in mind that something should be a certain way.....well, this is usually where the tantrums come in. But somehow, after a lot of tough stuff, his little mind somehow figures it out and once he grasps the new concept, he kind of shrugs it off and is okay again. It really is the most interesting thing. It's Jack. It's a daily thing we go through.

He is my only child that I get an overwhelming feeling of "wow, he is really ours?" He is my child that helps me realize who he really belongs to. And that is our Father in Heaven. He is His and on loan to us. We've been trusted to do our best with him and I hope we do it right. There's just something about him.

Just after Jack turned 4, he almost drowned. We were in a hotel pool, John was watching the kids while I was on the treadmill in the other room. Something I never do. I ended my run and thought hmmm, I'll just do 5 more minutes. Well, that five minutes made a huge difference in our lives. In that 5 minutes, Jack went under water and no one saw him. not the other people in the pool, not the people on the side, not the people in the hot tub. Until Jack's 6 year old brother Thomas saw him and lifted him out of the water. At this point, John and Emily saw Thomas holding jack and they got him to the side of the pool. He was lifeless. The kids came and got me and when I got into the pool area, he was on a chair, wrapped in a towel, but breathing. We took him up to the hotel room and gave him a bath. I didn't feel okay about anything but John (and I don't blame John. it's just the way it was) said he'd be okay. At midnight, we said a prayer and right after I took him to the emergency room.

His oxygen was in the 80's with 90 for a high. I asked if he'd be okay and they said "we don't know". This is when I first pannicked becaused of course he was going to be okay. It's always okay. Then I was told he needed to be transported in an ambulance to Primary Children's. It was secondary drowning they were afraid of. The chemicals in his lungs poisoning him. He stayed two nights in the hospital and then came home and thankfully we still get to keep him.

I think this may be a big reason why I have such a different feeling with this boy.

He is precious. Uncle Nairn got through to him and somehow connected and we are so grateful for his patience and love for him.

Jack plays the piano but is taking a little break. He plays baseball and loves to play with his brothers, his sisters, and his friends.

There really is just something about this kid but there is no way to get what that is from my heart and mind onto paper. So I'll treasure it inside me and be grateful for every day I have him.

When I was pregnant with him, we thought he would be a girl. We hoped he would be a girl because I knew I had two girls (another story) and I wasn't sure I wanted to keep having kids. Well, the day we found out he was a boy I called my mom and she laughed and said "there is something special about this little boy" and it eased my anxiety and I've always been grateful for her doing that for me.

Jack is a good boy. He is a helper. Thomas is his best friend. He adores Leah and has to hug and kiss her every night. She looks for him every night too to say good night.

He is a super blonde and skinny. He loves to eat chicken pillows and his favorite colors are yellow and orange. He has great handwriting and he will sit down and do 14 pages of homework in one night. He loves to read and now that he is 8, he has his own scriptures with his name on them. last night he laid in bed and wouldn't stop until he read one chapter.

He wants to learn to play the ukelele. He has only lost two teeth, besides the tooth that came out when he fell when he was one. So three officially.

Jack will be baptized and is very excited for it. He will also be taking swimming lessons this summer and it's a scary thing for him.

We sure are a blessed family to have him and he fills his spot just right. We need him. We learn from him. And we love him deeply.

Happy Birthday Jack!!

JackaLacka. Gack.

Goings On - with little big John

Little John just played in his last Jr. Jazz game for the season. Next week is his last game and the tournament will go for two weeks after that. They haven't won one game. His team is funny. It consists of every random, tall, short, skinny, goofy kid there is. And John. He's the star of the team and has been doing awesome with his 3 pointers. John's Teachers basketball team lost in the stake tournament game last night. By one point. Bummer. But they still get to go to region which starts next Friday. John will be missing every game because on Tuesday he is having 'rotational osteotomy of the femur with rod placement'. Long for leg correction surgery. I have not been at ease with this surgery. Life is so short. Childhood is so short and I don't want him to miss a season of baseball or anything else that a kid should be doing. So I called my favorite doctor....Lisa Sharp at Dr. Coombs office. She talked me through it and said that Dr. Stevens is a master and she would trust what he says. He did the surgery on his right leg 4 years ago and we love him. I trust him. I don't trust myself. But I do now. Lisa also said that our bodies are geometrical and everything works with each other. So if his leg is growing crooked then his muscle won't grow properly either. She explained just right and although I still wish there didn't have to be a surgery, I am more at ease now and SO grateful for this doctor. She has been perfect for me and my kids.

Little John also picked up on reading his scriptures daily and the change in his life has been AMAZING. He recognizes it and we recognize it. He tries harder with his family. Especially Emily. He is more pleasant and kind and it has been a beautiful change in him.

He is in 8th grade and wants to try out for madrigals. He loves to play basketball, baseball, and golf. He wants to run for Youth City Council next year. He is growing like a weed....literally. He is handsome and kind and EVERYONE loves him. Really. He is just one of those people that gets along with everybody. Just like his dad.

He is great at keeping his room clean and for the most part keeping his stuff put away in the house. He loves toast with peanut butter or butter and marionberry jam. He loves carnation instant breakfast and pizza. He plays basketball outside everyday with Grant or Emily. It takes him less than 10 minutes to get ready in the morning and he always hugs me and tells me he loves me. ALWAYS. Even if he is late and might miss the bus and has ran out the door, he runs back to hug and love. If he goes to a friends after school, he always calls. He always thanks me when I make him food or do anything for him.

We accuse him of being lazy but no matter what I ask him to do, he does it without complaining. If I ask him to clean for 20 minutes, he whines and complains, but if I ask for specific tasks, he can't bare to tell me no.

John is smart. Smart in that he gets good grades with little effort. Although we're trying to help him to be smart enough to realize that if he put forth a little more effort, he would easily have straight A's. Effort has been the focus in our house with everyone lately. A is for Effort.

He adores Leah and Leah adores him. They all adore him. Every kid loves and admires John. Even when he is so mean to Emily, she ALWAYS sticks up for him.

He has good friends and makes good choices. He hates 'bad' words and iffy movies. He gets very uncomfortable around any of that. He refuses to tell us who he "likes". We're okay with that and keep reminding him to not waste any time with "girlfriends". There is plenty of time for that later. Like after a mission. :)

We say often that John (and Emily) are our guinea pigs. We are learning to be parents with them and they get the worst of us. Darn it. I wish it wasn't that way. We seem to be a lot easier on our younger kids. But man on man if he only knew how much we adore and love him. I sure hope he knows.

He is looking forward to two nights in the hospital with all he can eat of whatever he wants and video games and being loved and doted on. I don't blame him. Where can I sign up for this surgery?!! He is also looking forward to a week or two at home and honestly I'm pretty excited to have him home with me too. I miss him. I miss my little John and time, oh time, is slipping away and I don't like it. I see now. I want to bottle him up and keep him safe in my home with OUR family forever.

Don't get me wrong, how exciting it is to think of his mission and college and finding the girl of his dreams and getting married and having his own kids. That will be here before I know it and it is exciting. But right now I just want to cherish every moment I have left. If he marries like his dad, I will be a grandma in less than 10 years! HA!!!

I love you John John. I hope you know.

You've been placed at just the right spot. The oldest child in this family and you fill it perfectly.

Broken Self

Lots of thoughts on this one.

The key is to keep taking those little steps.