The Nightmare

I found Ian sleeping on the living room floor this morning when I got home from the gym.

"Ian, what are you doing out here?"

"Oh, Mom. I had the scariest dream. It was like a nightmare!"

"What was it about?"

"I was running down the street, I tackled a girl, and I kissed her. It was disgusting."

I think it may be time for a father/son talk.

Home Alone -- Boo Hoo!

Everyone keeps saying, "Vanessa, what are you going to do with all your free time?"

"Vanessa, were you in tears when you dropped Carson off for his first day of kindergarten?"

"Oh, you poor thing. I bet you don't know what to do with yourself!"

Are you kidding me? Carson is six years old and attends kindergarten for a mere 2 1/2 hours a day. I barely have time to put in a load of laundry, take a shower, and do all the PTA work the school has decided I need to do now that I am so "bored", before I have to be back at Larsen to pick my baby up from school.

I just wish Carson was in full day kindergarten so I'd have time to dig up trees, build on an addition to the house, and make homemade wheat bread in all my spare time.

The Concert

Guess who we went to see at the E-Center on Tuesday night? That's right. We went to a concert on a weeknight! Who says we're getting old? We can still rock out with the best of them. The only problem is, all the people at the concert were in their 40s and 50s. What does that say about us?




So, any guesses? Who did we see in concert? None other than Depeche Mode. Boy do those guys love to be on stage! So entertaining! Check out this video clip. I can't get over all the waving arms.

I AM IN HEAVEN

The doorbell just rang. There was a Fed Ex box on the doorstep. Look what was inside!

OK. Some of you may be saying to yourself, "What? A greasy box? But no. Just wait.

Look at those beauties. 8 cookies, count them again, 8 cookies, from Levain Bakery in New York City. Look at the size of them. The package weighed 5 pounds, and check out how an Oreo stacks up beside it. It doesn't!!

Anyone can make a big cookie though, right? But, how does it taste?

And the answer is . . .

One down. Seven to go. I need to hurry before the kids get home from school. Caleb, this picture says it all . . . YOU ARE #1!! Thanks for being such a fantabulous brother. I love you! and i love these cookies . . .

First Guitar Lesson

I took my first guitar lesson on Tuesday morning. I've always had dreams of being a rock star, but have no talent in any of the areas necessary -- singing, dressing myself, strumming a guitar -- so I decided I'd start out my lifelong dream with babysteps.

1st step - Learn to play the guitar

I found during my first lesson that my sweaty palms are a hindrance to my new profession. My fingers slipped along the strings, not allowing me to make any pretty notes come out. Also, I seem to have UTPATT Disorder: Unable to pay attention to the teacher. I had to ask her to repeat everything she said about 10 times. Then I would say, "I am so sorry. I promise I'll practice it at home. I think it will get better when I am alone in my padded room plunking it out." I know she thought I was mentally challenged or psychotic.

After our lesson was over she said, "So I'll see you next week?" which interpreted really meant, "Please don't ever come within a mile radius of me again!"

I blame my catastrophic lesson on a number of things:
1. Lack of sleep
2. No schooling in the past 10 years
3. Dropped the guitar on the way into the lesson which took a chip of wood out right where my arm was supposed to rest, and chafed my bicep throughout the lesson
4. Terrible social skills
5. Had never held a guitar in my life up until that moment

Cross your fingers that next week's lesson will go better. Yes, Teacher, I'm coming back!!


What do you mean I'm not holding the guitar correctly? It feels right to me!!

The Potluck Picnic

The other day, all of the kids were playing in the front yard with their friends. Nyah came up to me and said, "Mom, can we all have a picnic?"

I knew I didn't have anything "fun" for lunch so I said, "No, not today, Nyah."

Well, one of Nyah's friends came up with an ingenious plan. She got up her courage and asked, "Sister Heber, could we have a picnic if we each bring something to share?" What a fabulous idea. And . . . the kids ate like kings!!

Ian is almost a teenager!

What Ian really wanted for his b-day this year was to go golfing with his dad and Uncle Ryan. So, we celebrated his b-day early, on July 28th, while Ryan, Em, and Cousin Brock were in town from California.

There was only 1 problem: July 28th is Grandma Joannie's b-day! Grandma was nice enough to let Ian share! We all (there were 17 of us) went to A Slice of Pizza (a new pizza place in town.) The owners are so nice! They let us use almost all the tables in the joint, gave us free tunes on the Juke Box, and set up all of our pizzas on the buffet table. Ian loved it!

The b-day boy left the party early to head out to the green with Uncle Ryan who gave him a new golf glove for his b-day.

Ian also got a Gameboy Advanced and lots of games off of E-Bay from Grandma Joannie, Grandpa Markie, and his lovely parents. (Some of you may remember that Ian owned a Gameboy and lots of games about 1 1/2 ago. He got tired of it and sold it on E-Bay for some quick cash. We were basically rebuying! What can I say? The boy is fickle like his mom!)

Ian topped off the night with some guitar strumming with his Cousin Brock.


On his REAL b-day, weeks later (August 15th), Ian went to Webelos Woods for an overnighter with his dad up at Scofield.

Some of the manly activities they participated in were:

The famous Stick Pull! Ian prides himself on being able to take anyone down!

BB Gun Shooting. This did not go as well. Ian claimed his gun was "a piece of junk!"

Archery. This camp was basically heaven for Ian. He told me about a week ago that when he grows up he is going to be an outdoorsman, like Indiana Jones. I reminded him that he needs to find a way to make money to support his family as well. His response to that was, "I don't think I'll have kids, and my wife and I can just live in a shack!" I can't wait to see what his wife looks like!

My Baby is Six!

Carson turned 6 and I've finally decided to let him go to kindergarten. I thought about waiting one more year, but was worried about him being made fun of if he started school with a mustache.

He asked for some real Legos for his b-day(Santa brought him a fake brand for Christmas.) He got enough Legos to keep him occupied for years. It was a great birthday!

Looking more like his dad every year!

Grandma Joannie and Grandpa Markie were heroes -- REAL LEGOS!!

Nyah spent $25 of her own money on a Build A Bear for Carson. He has always wanted to go to Build A Bear. The funny part is, that Nyah wanted to build the animal herself (that's all the fun!), so she sent Carson to another part of the mall while she put it together. Nyah surprised Carson with the stuffed dog. Boy was Carson surprised! He got a Build A Bear, but he didn't get to Build the Bear!

Cali got Carson a Medieval Creature for his castle.

The Tooth Fairy . . . to be or not to be . . .

Carson recently lost his 2 bottom teeth. He is quickly catching up with his 11 year-old brother, Ian, who has only lost 4 teeth so far!

Grandma Joannie finished Carson's tooth pillow in the nick of time. The night of the first lost tooth, Carson put his tooth into the tooth pillow and walked up to his dad saying . . .

"Dad, you're the tooth fairy!"

"What? No. Why do you say that, Carson?" Aaron tried to look serious but was a bit flustered by his 5-year-old's accusation.

"People don't have wings!"

Aaron was silent.

Then, Ian, who I remind you is 11-years-old, said, "No, humans don't have wings, Carson, but fairies, nymphs, and other creatures do."

Carson looked confused and went to bed where he quickly went to sleep. He awoke, happy to find $2, no longer caring if the money came from his wingless father or from the winged nymphs of Ian's imagination.

Surprise !! Nyah's 9th Birthday

We surprised Nyah for her birthday this year! We "secretly" invited her friends over for a b-day breakfast. On the morning of her birthday, Nyah woke up and we told her to stay downstairs because I was making her a fun breakfast. Meanwhile, her friends showed up and hid in the backyard where we had the food set up. Nyah was expecting pancakes, but got pancakes and lots of friends to boot!

When the girls yelled, "Surprise!" Nyah turned to me with happy tears in her eyes, gave me a huge hug and said, "Thanks so much, Mom!" I love my life!

Cousins. Friends. Bullies? Enemies?

Buddies!

Not Buddies!

Carson's cousin, Eli, came to town for a 3 week visit from Indiana. Both Carson and Eli had been looking forward to it for months.

During the 1st week of the vacation, the boys were best buddies. They were inseparable.

Then small spats began.

Then the "bully" game started. One boy would punch another one and have him pinned to the ground. The game always ended in tears.

I had many long talks with Carson about not hitting. "If Eli hits you, don't hit him back. Just come tell me and the moms will take care of it!" I thought our talks had solved the problem.

The next day, Nyah ran inside and said, "Carson and Eli are fighting! They are hitting each other!"

I went outside to talk to the boys. Carson instantly said, "Eli hit me first!"

"Well, why did you hit him back? We talked about this. What are you supposed to do if someone hits you, Carson?"

"Come tell you, Mom," Carson said glumly.

"Well, if you know that, why did you hit him back?"

"SATAN TOLD ME TO DO IT!" Carson replied, with a very serious look on his face.

Well, what do you say to that. End of conversation.

Hopefully, I won't walk by Carson's room anytime soon and hear him talking to someone with an evil sounding voice!

Fabulous Sunday Activity - only to be enjoyed once every 10 years!

Is it legal to have this much fun on Sunday? We drove to the Church Museum in Salt Lake and hung out for the afternoon with the cousins. Before we went into the museum we picnicked on the sidewalk in downtown Salt Lake. We got a few strange looks. Other exciting parts of the day: Cousin Sarah was saved by certain death on the escalator by Uncle Aaron, the kids almost broke the 50 lb. set of Golden Plates on display, and the best part of the day . . . the children dressed up like creepy shepherds in the kids' room. We also watched the Joseph Smith movie for the 3rd time on the big screen at The Visitor's Center which a few of the children felt angry about. We will return to the museum in the year 2019 for another fun-filled day.

Mummies in June?

Don't hate me Earth Lovers and Conservationist Buffs, but we did not recycle this toilet paper!! Aunt Kaylyn and her 4 cuties came to visit back in June. I don't know if the kids were feeling bored or creative, but they decided to dress each other up as mummies. I thought about reusing the t.p., but I just couldn't bring myself to wipe with it after it had been wrapped around the kids' faces. Fun times!

Mummification is an activity enjoyed by all ages (2-11) as can be sign by Ian's mummy costume. He must've been really bored that day!

It's . . . Cousin Bentley!

Ian felt really good about the job he did wrapping up Cousin Riley!

Nyah got a little bit scared by the mummies!

Who is it? Carson!!