A week in a day

So because of a recent, certain, obsession, I have neglected many things this past week. One of them being, everything that has been going on. Everyone posted their kids starting school. I took pictures, then went back to reading a book. (again, an obsession).

So let's start. Here is Ella on her first day of school.

Yep, sick in bed on her first day. She didn't seem to mind much. In fact, I would say she was quite happy about it, and if I hadn't felt the fever myself, I would have thought she was faking it. The next day, she was happy and well. So I am posting the pictures of the second day of school. Which was really more like what the first should have been like, since Dwight was home sick the first day also. I didn't get the full experience of everyone gone, until the second day. So it's the second day, but really the first day....get it?
The week went really well. Dwight made a rule about no TV or video games on school nights. I thought it would be depressing, but it worked out beautifully. The boys spent a lot of time at the local YMCA, Ella and Howie did a lot of playing together outside, I got a lot of book reading time in.

The kids didn't have school on Friday, so I took them and some of their friends, to the movies. The dollar movies, I'm not THAT rich. For $3 you get a movie ticket, a drink and a treat. What a deal!!! So for a mere$24, I was the winner of the cool mom award.

Saturday, was a lazy day. We relaxed, trying to rest up for the big game that night. For the last 5 years, Dwight and I have had season tickets to the BSU football games. We have had the same seats, next to all the same people, making the same jokes......"laces out"......"Is that Rick Lance?" (local celebrity weather man who has seats a few rows below us). Too much fun.

Sunday, woke up feeling a little not so good. Thought it may have something to do with that one thing girls get every 28 days or so. Took my time getting ready for church. Really didn't want to go, but have missed the last three weeks from either being out of town, or someone being sick. Sat in church, feeling a little too cold, but figured someone got a bit crazy with the a/c. we do have a few elderly's in the ward who seem to be hot all the time. By the time I was sitting in mutual, I realized I was sick. I had full on chills, achy skin, dizzy, trying not to throw up. Make it home....barely, and go right to bed. Just as I get into bed, Dwight gets home from work, with the same symptoms. We both stay in bed for about 5 hours, leaving our kids to fend for themselves. I mean, I am pretty sure we almost died, so what else could we have done right? As we slept, I could hear bits and pieces of fights going on. I figured it must have just been the fever, because my kids don't fight. Then I remembered, two of them do. Calvin and Ella. I finally decided to get out of bed, and find out what was going on. Apparently, Calvin was making up all kinds of new rules to try to keep Ella out of his room. His room is also Bailey and Howie's room, which meant, he was keeping Ella out from everyone else. This could have been a fight easily fixed.......had I not been delirious with fever. So I overreacted a tad bit, and told Calvin if he couldn't let Ella in their room, then I would give him a new room, all his very own. He got too excited. So I made a quick decision, that his new, very own room would be......the garage. Again, he got a little too excited. Him and Ella went right out and started cleaning out his new room. (Apparently they are friends again).Then they called me in to take pictures of what they did.
The stroller is his chair.

This is him in front of his bed.......he plans on sleeping in the car.

Here is where he is going to hangs his things, and put his clothes.

I sure showed him.

****Update...The dark garage got the better of him, and he decided he would love to have his sister hang out in his room (the upstairs one) anytime. I definitely need to get my parenting book published!

Where are all the SmartRemarks?

Okay, thanks to this persons tid bit of info, I sat up all night reading the same book from another perspective. I am just waiting for the go ahead from our SmartRemarks club, to talk about it. Are we gonna do another review or not? Either we review or we need to move on to something else, fast! I thought Jenny would put out the info on "Lord of the Hissy Fit", but I have yet to hear anything from her. So I guess I am throwing out the choice. Is is going to be a review on half of the unedited "Midnight Sun", or "Lord of the Hissy Fit" . If it is Midnight Sun, it starts tonight (it's only part of a book, you can do it, and I am sure you already have). If it is Lord of the Hissy Fit, we need to first get the real name, Jenny has it, and give it a month to order and read it. Or, you can throw our another option, we'll vote, we'll read, we'll mock, we'll laugh, we'll continue to ignore our responsibilities, it will be fun.

Visions and Intuitions

My sister Jenny was describing herself as a "know-it-all-book-snob". She apparently predicts things as she reads a book, then as proof of her visions, she writes herself a note in the margin. Well, she isn't the only know-it-all-book-snob in the family. I, myself have had several experiences with this sort of thing too.

For example, when I was reading Harry Potter, I had some pretty good intuitions going on. Here's my proof:

Then, I had the same thing happen when I read Star Wars. See.....

I've had many more, but I would have to get into the BOXES of books and scan them all for you, and I am pretty sure you get the idea. Just a talented family I guess, not too different from the Cullens.

BOOK CLUB REVIEW

***I had to add another thought at the end****

***I also forgot to mention, there are a few spoilers here, so read on with caution....sorry Becky and Jami*****

Believe it or not, (Edward would believe me) I finished all four books in four days. Talk about dedication. I discussed some of it with Jenny (who was trying to ruin it for me with her negative thoughts) as I was going through the last book. I have to say, I loved the last book. I have not slept well these last few days. So many questions going through my mind. I hated the depression Bella felt in the second book (I know we are discussing the fourth book, but you can't really do that without going through the entire story, plus since I read all four together it sort of feels like one LONG story to me). I hated the depression felt by Jacob in the third book. I needed the whole thing to be resolved with all parties being happy. I need to be able to sleep.

I am going to follow Cristin's pattern here.
Things I liked about the book:

1. I liked that Bella finally became the vampire she WHINED about wanting to become throughout the first 1500 pages or so. I liked that she became less whiny as a vampire.
I also liked that she changed just enough to make her become an improved Bella, that doesn't whine so much.

2. I liked that she had a child (we'll get to that child's name in my next grouping) and that Jacob "imprinted" on it. I could tell it was coming, and I was glad I was right. I didn't feel shocked by any of these things, I don't know why, I guess Stephanie must just be a good writer. I can't wait to have you all hear Jenny's points on this part, although negative, it made me laugh.

3. I liked how the author gave a lot of excessive descriptions and recapping for us all, and I am glad that I am so good at skipping all of that crap, so I would be able to read the book in such a shorter amount of time than I would have, had she filled all those pages with something important that I needed to read.

4. I liked how every single person important in Bella's life was so bonded at the end. Even though they were all fighting on such opposite sides to start. I really hate family conflict and drama:)

Things that annoyed me about the book:

1. Renesme..........I am not a fan of made up names. Sorry to those of you who are and who have given your child one. I am just telling you how bad this name annoyed me. I think that is why I liked Jacob so much, especially when he called her Nessie instead.

2. Rosalie did creep me out when Bella was pregnant, and during the delivery.

3. Bella's relationship with her mom was kind of dumb.

4. They didn't defeat the Vulturi, although this could be good if it left it open for another book.


I am glad I read the books, even if I had to sacrifice my family for them. Which is something Bella would have never done. I love all the religious innuendos throughout the book. "Eternal Marriage", "The final battle", "Not murdering", "Love your family", "acceptance", "The Book of Mormon is true", "Family Home Evening", "Saying no to premarital sex", "Saying no to abortion"..............wow, I never realized until now, how religious this book really was. I guess I should try to share it with some of my non-member friends as well.

I really could go on and on, but like I said, I have ignored my family for long enough. I would just like to close, by telling you all, that I love my family. I love my mom and dad. I love my roommates. I know this book is true. And I know that I am secretly Bella, and Edward loves me.


**I just started thinking. Have any of you ever seen The Truman Show. It is a kid that grows up on Tv, like the ultimate reality show. People watched it obsessively. They sat in the bar watching it, watched it at work, even in the tub. Then when it finally ended, after 30 or so years, they all just sat there a brief minute, then it was like they were free to go about life normally now. Well that is how I feel right now, having finished this series. I feel free to go on, and just be free to have a normal life again. Just wanted to add that thought to all of this. I hope it didn't deter from my earlier testimony.

Pathetic

I am getting prepared to start the final book. I LOVED the third one. I am pretty sure I have a few bed sores though, so I am going to switch rooms and sit in a recliner for awhile. I know you would all be worried about me......at least Edward would. I do feel torn between the two...Edward and Jacob. I may be starting to lean toward Jacob though, I really hate being cold, and I feel so more relaxed snuggled up to Jacob's warm body than Edward's hard, cold one.
I am pretty sure Dwight feels about me the same way Bella's men feel about her. Who else would let their wife ignore EVERYTHING around her for 4 days while she just sat and read a book. We even have two sick kids. He is sick too, and is making all the meals, running to get refills on prescriptions, and even just left to get me the final book so I can continue to ignore them all, just to make me happy. Yep, I'm more loved than Bella.
So hopefully I will still make the deadline for the SmartRemarks club, I did try to guilt Jenny into holding off another day. My powers on Jenny aren't as strong as they are on Dwight, so we'll see.

Wasting my time away

I just read the first two Twilight series books in 24 hours.

THIS IS WHY I DID'T WANT TO READ THESE!

Thanks alot!!!!!

Stupid book club.........

What the.......

OK, I have had THE most annoying day, and I have decided to share it all with you. First, I went to finish getting all the school supply list stuff for the kids open house tonight. RIDICULOUS!! Ella needed 2 dozen pencils. Okay, I can get that. But no......they have to be "Ticonderoga pencils". What the crap? I went to two different places and couldn't find them. So I just got the plain old yellow #2. She also needed and eraser, but not just any eraser. She needed a "plastic Staedtler Mars White vinyl eraser". I didn't even waste my time on this one, she got a "pink pearl" eraser. It came in a 6 pack, which would give me what I needed for Bailey and Calvin's lists. Bailey's list had things on it like....a flash drive, rewritable cds/dvds, binder with zippers..... So I finally got everything on the dumb list, paid all the "school fees", and bought some school lunches to get them started, and I will now be filing for bankruptcy. Then, I found out the shuttle bus that I took them to last year to take them onto school is no longer going to be running. That means I will have to drive them to and from school. It is not close...at all. I am going to get killed with the gas. The last straw of the day was going to mutual. I usually enjoy this every week. I like hanging out with the youth, they are funny girls. But tonight we had a combined activity with the boys swimming at our neighborhood clubhouse. When it was time to go, we had a really hard time getting them to leave. One of the young men (he's 12 or 13) got really rude and snotty with me about it. Like I was some kind of jerk, and the rules didn't apply to him. He went on a rant about it. I just thought hey, we took time out of our night to watch you guys swim. Then we provided a tasty treat for you to enjoy as a desert. Then, we cleaned up your mess. The activity already had gone about 45 minutes long before we finally politely told you all it was time to go home. And this is the thanks we get..... I was just floored at the disrespect. So I ended up on a rant myself about it. I am pretty good at the lectures, I was taught well:)
On a lighter note. I did finally give in and bought the stupid Twilight series today. I don't know if I will be ready in time for the next SmartRemarks book club meeting. But I decided to go ahead and read them when I found out even Uncle Mark was reading it. I figured if Mark is in love with Edward, maybe I should get to know him too. I am just leery of getting hooked on things ever since my Alias series incident. I have a couple days left of summer, with the boys home to occupy Howie, I could maybe get it done. I will be taking time off from reading though to entertain THIS guest! Maybe I will entertain her by reading aloud to her?

Back again

I am back from another trip. I took the kids up to Montana to visit some friends from Calgary. They just bought a cabin in Kallispell. We spent the days out on the lake. The kids got to go tubing, and ride the jet ski's. I was pretty bad with the camera, but I got this beauty with my cell phone. Apparently, I have passed my paranoia (which I got from my dad) onto my kids. Here is Howie in 2 ft. of water with a life jacket and a float tube on. Safety first is my motto.

After Montana, I made a trip down to Utah to see some family. I stayed with Anna. It was a short trip, but we made the most of it. We took the kids to the zoo. Again, no camera, but if you want to see pictures, just check out Amanda's blog. That night, me, Anna, Amanda, Dan and Laurie, met up with our cousin Rachel and her boyfriend/fiance for dinner. We hadn't seen her for years, and I am pretty sure we were pre-described to her man as a bunch of freaks. I am sure once he met us though, we disproved that....................

I also spent the ENTIRE trip sick with a horrible cold. When I got home, it just seemed to get worse. I finally went into the Dr. today and I have a sinus infection and a double ear infection and my chest has sounds of a bacterial; infection as well. So, apparently I am the worst guest ever. I would recommend to Anna, Amanda, Rachel, Dan, Laurie, and my friend Alison to stock up on the Zicam and MusinexD. I am truly sorry! You are welcome to come visit me and pass on something to us. Diarrhea would be a good one, I could use to lose a few pounds.

Blog confessions

So, today I suffered from major boredom. Church got out at 11:30 am., and Dwight was gone until about 6:00. I was going to take a nap, because I couldn't sleep the night before, but I couldn't fall asleep for a nap either. So I decided to waste a few hours on the computer snooping around on blogs. I know alot of you do it too, I always see people from all over reading my blog. And I don't mind, I'm glad someone finds me interesting enough to stay on for an average of 4 1/2 minutes. When I look to see who is on my blog, I can only see from what city,state, or country they are from, not their blog title or anything. So I am just having to guess who it is. For example, on July 28th, someone from France spent about 2 1/2 minutes on my blog. I am quite certain it was someone from the Pitt/Jolie residence. They are currently living in that area, so obviously that is who it must be. He probably did a Google search on New Orleans, read about my trip and the work I have done there, and decided to keep tabs on me for future visits.
Anyway, today I was doing some scoping around myself. Sometimes I will do a blog search to look for someone in particular, or somedays I might just go to someones blog and click on one of their friends, and click on one of their friends friends, and so on, to see if I will ever eventually get back to my own blog, or find a mutual friend somewhere in there. I try to see if the whole seven steps o Keven Bacon rule works in the blog world too. I feel pretty safe doing this. Anyone whoever looks will just see that someone from, my area, has been reading their blog. They won't know exactly who from my area. They could take a guess, but they will probably guess Demi Moore or Ashton Kutcher, never me. So today I went to an old friends blog, and started to click away at her list of friends. One of her list of friends is a wife of an old family friend and they had posted a very sad story. I wasn't able to get through it. (I had a few interruptions) So I came back again and clicked on the friend and read the rest of her post. As I went back to the original friends blog, I noticed something along the side of her blog. I saw the name of the town I live in. I saw it several times down the side of her blog. Then I noticed my name attached to the name of my city. THEN, I noticed it showed ALL the friends I had clicked on from her blog. She had a ticker thing that showed who had been to her blog and where they went from there. Everyone can now see who the big snooper is. I had to laugh. Here I thought I was so invisible. I decided the best way to handle the situation would be to just come clean. I LOVE TO READ BLOGS I HAVE NOT BEEN INVITED TO READ. I don't care if it is family, or
a perfect stranger or an old friend. I love to see what is going on in other peoples lives. Especially when I am totally bored on a Sunday afternoon. I am pretty sure you all do it too. At least I know someone in France does.

Vacation Part2, Part3, Part4, Part5 &Part6

I don't really know why I put "Part 1" on my last post. I think I was just trying to be cool like Jenny, who always leaves everyone hangin' with her 6 part posts. It didn't really work for me though. But I decided to go ahead and do a part 2 just to tell you about the great parts of our vacation. We had a condo in Oceanside for a week. It was right on the beach. I had visions of just spending my days sleeping in, then slowly getting up, putting on a suit, packing a cooler full of diet coke and snacks, and sitting on the beach watching Dwight taking the kids out into the treacherous waters. It didn't quite work that way, but we still had fun. Anyone who knows Dwight, knows he can't sleep in past 6:00am. He also can't handle sitting around. He doesn't like to eat junk food everyday. And he burns easily. So we made a few compromises. He would get up between 5 and 6 every morning. But instead of waking us all up, he got a gym pass to the YMCA down there, and went every morning while we slept in. Then we bought a pass that got us into a whole slew of things in the area; the museums, the zoo, the wild animal park, Legoland, and Knott's Berry Farm. There were a lot more, but those were the things we chose to do. So every morning after he got home from the gym, he would wake us up. Then while we got ready he would pack up a healthy and sensible lunch into the cooler, and map out where we were going to go that day. He said he was going to "walk the crap" out of our kids. He really walked the crap out of me. What was nice about our passes was that we could go to Legoland (for example) in the morning, leave after just a couple hours, and then do the same thing the next day. We could get in as many times as we wanted within 5 days. So that is kind of what we would do. We would be the first ones in, hang out until it got crowded, then leave and go do something else.


My favorite place to go down there was Barber park in San Diego with all the museums. The kids liked it quite a bit too. Here is one of the few pictures I got of all four of them together. (If you recall from my last post "Part 1", Howie wasn't fully cooperating throughout the week)

The kids liked Legoland alot. Ella especially. Everything was just perfect size for her. The boys acted like they may have been a little too old for them but I think secretly they thought it was perfect for them. We went here a couple of times. The second day, we got there before it opened. They wanted to be the first ones to ride a roller coaster that had an hour wait the day before. We were lined up along a chain counting down for it to open. When it did Dwight, Bailey, Calvin, and Ella took off running. I walked more casually with Howie to a ride near the roller coaster that Howie was tall enough for. While we were standing in our line, I heard the roller coaster finally start up. Then I heard a very loud and very recognizable "WHOOHOO". I look up to see Dwight, Bailey, Calvin, and Ella all on the first car of the first roller coaster ride. Maybe you have to know Dwight, but it really was the funniest thing I have ever seen. He kept screaming down to us about them being the first ones on, while the car is clanking up the first hill.
That day, we left Legoland after only 2 hours, and decided to hit the beach. Dwight bought a couple of cheap boogie boards from the grocery store (high quality). And we spent the rest of the day swimming at the beach. It was our funnest day of the whole trip.

Remember how I said Dwight burns easily? Despite put on 50 SPF sunblock religiously every 30 minutes or so, he still got a ridiculously bad burn. We all got burned, but Dwight especially. Within 24 hours, the rest of us would go from red to golden brown. Dwight is still red, then maybe within another day or two, he night turn pink. So the next day we decided to either stay covered up or stay indoors. We chose to stay covered up, and Dwight wore a long sleeve shirt and pants to Knott's Berry Farm. (This is where the boys decided officially that Lego land was too sissiesh for them) And I didn't take my camera, so you will just have to take my word on it that we went there. We did get souvenir cups and t-shirts if you do need some sort of proof though. Our last day, Dwight was still suffering from his burn, so we chose to stay in doors and headed back over to the museums. There are too many to mention, and a person could spend an entire week just looking at all the museums and still not see everything. But the kids thought they were all cool, and I was glad that they were fine with a museum and not wanting another theme park.
Outside of a museum, Howie wanted to wade in a fountain. I told him he couldn't because he would get his shorts wet. This was him showing me how he would avoid that.

On our way home we stopped of at Sam and Michelle's (who if you remember are excellent hosts). They had an amazing meal waiting for us. Stayed up late talking. We woke up to an amazing breakfast waiting for us. Then a tired Sam went off to work, and Michelle and Meagan headed down to the bay with us. We walked around, let the kids get wet and sandy, went over to a restaurant for some of the best clam chowder in the the best sourdough bread bowl. Said our goodbyes, and backed out to leave......when I scraped my car along the side of someones new Honda minivan. I had to go in, find the owner, who was completely shocked I would have done that, and then gave her my info. I haven't heard from her, so I am hoping she was able to just buff it out, but I am not holding my breath. Anyway, we finally made it home at about 3:00 the next morning, and are totally bummed to be home. We are looking forward to our next vacation in October to see family at a mini-reunion. (I am still waiting to hear from some of you, you have to give some sort of response, it is rude to just ignore an invite)