Cutie Patooties!

 A few weeks ago, 
I took some picts of one of the wonderful

families in my neighborhood.

They are cutie patooties!

 

 

Ryan, Connor, and Usain Bolt

This morning Ryan and I were discussing his upcoming visit with one of his younger cousins, Connor. On the scale of 0 to BUSY, Connor would qualify for BUSY plus! He keeps EVERYONE on their toes.

Knowing Ryan LOVES a challenge, I told Ryan, "You are going to really have to watch out. Connor is going to run you ragged and will definitely keep you on your toes. Do you think you are up to that challenge?"

Without skipping a beat, Ryan replied, "Mom, I can keep up with anyone no problem.....except Usain Bolt!"

I think he is right!

Gambler's Anonymous possibly needed for a 4th grader?

In Ryan's 4th grade class, each week his teacher gives each student $5 in "Wilson Bucks," if earned, as a reward for good behavior. This "money" can then be spent in various ways in the classroom.

Yesterday, Ryan told me that a group of his friends in class had filled out brackets for March Madness. They were each contributing $5 Wilson Bucks into a collection and whomever has the best bracket at the end of the tournament, would get ALL the Wilson bucks.


I asked, "Does your teacher know about this?"


"No."


"Who's idea was this?"


"Mine."


Should I seek professional help now or later?

Are we contributing to the deliquency of minors?

Today Matthew was done with his appointments by 11:00 a.m. Normally, he would continue on with his never-ending list of tasks. Today, however, was different.

He decided to pick up the boys from school on his way home and bring them home to watch the BYU vs. Florida game. Since we could only get it via internet, they took his computer and projector and watched the game "big screen" on the wall in the basement.

In order to check the kids out of school, you  have to sign them out and give a reason. 

He wrote "NCAA."

I wonder if we are going to get a visit from Social Services....

GO COUGARS!!

A Thought for the Day that I love...

"God programmed the experience of life to be one of continual lack. Our resources and abilities seldom equal what is required to heft our burdens. As we struggle to cope and progress, we find ourselves in the constant need of seeking help from someone who has greater strength and ability. Try as we might, we cannot change life’s program. But once we admit that we will never have enough and that we need constant help, we will be in a better position to come to Jesus and draw strength from a Resource that never diminishes." -- Larry Barkdull

Maybe there IS something to a messy room....

Time:  8:00 a.m., this morning

Place:  Ryan and Taylor's messy room

Participants:  Ryan and me---picking up Ryan's dirty clothes so they could be put in the washing machine. 

Me:   "Ryan, this room is such a mess--especially the floor."

Ryan:  "I like it that way. It's beautiful."

Me:  "Are you kidding me?"


Ryan:  "No. It's like always having a rainbow on the floor---beautiful!

Hiney Shots now available at Walgreens

Overheard in the car this week:

Ryan, snickering:  "Hey, Kristen, they are giving Hiney shots at Walgreens now."

Kristen: "What????"

Ryan:  "Really. Look at the Walgreens sign on the way home."

While passing the Walgreens sign on the way home.

Ryan:  "Look, Kristen---'hiney shots now available'."

Kristen:  "Ryan, they have H1N1 shots, not hiney shots!"

(In Ryan's defense, the Walgreens sign used all uppercase letters, including "I" for the 1's. A very honest mistake!)

Everyone go get your hiney shots today!!

Congratulations, Elizabeth!!

Elizabeth called me today with GREAT news.

She got her acceptance letter and

is now officially in the

Communications Program

at B.Y.U.!

Her roommate, and bestie, Kiersten, 

was also accepted!!

Congratulations Elizabeth and Kiersten!!!

We are proud of you 

and your hard work!!

Valentine's Day No More??

Many moons ago, I remember thinking how lovely it would be to have someone profess their true love to me on Valentine's Day.

How romantic---right???

This morning, the thought crossed my mind that I didn't need Valentine's Day---and I haven't needed it for a long time.

That seemed like kind of a strange thought. But then I realized why I don't need a Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day is set apart for people to do nice things and profess their love and be oohy-gooey.

I realized, since marrying Matthew, pretty much every day around here is my Valentine's Day. He doesn't treat me any different on Valentine's Day than every other day of the year. 24/7/365. (Other than get me a card or two and flowers, which I love, mind you!)

He treats me special EVERYDAY. He expresses appreciation to me EVERYDAY. He does thoughtful, nice things for me EVERYDAY, even when he doesn't feel like it. (But he has this magic way of making me think he WANTS to do all those things for me...I just know it can't be true, though....)

EVERYDAY he is kind, loving, thoughtful and grateful.

I say everyone should have someone

that gives them Valentine's Day

EVERYDAY!

Happy Valentine's Day!

May LOVE abound

in your home today

as much as it does in ours...

Valentine's Parties----No more

Remember the good ole' days....

Christmas school parties and
Christmas vacation.....

Easter vacation and
Easter parties....

How about the school VALENTINE'S PARTY?

Here it is no longer....

It is now officially known as

the FRIENDSHIP party.

At least in these parts.

This morning Ryan was collecting his "friendship" treats to take to school for the "friendship" party and getting his "frienship" box ready for his friend's "friendship" cards.

Our conversation then turned to the finer, nuanced differences between love and friendship.

Ryan informed me that friendship and love are indeed different.  I agreed with him but said that I loved my friends but I didn't love them like I loved Matthew.

"Oh, yeah. I get that," he said.

A few minutes later, as he was headed out the door I reminded him, "Remember not to use the "L" word today at school."

"Right, Mom," he said. "I'll just stick with the "F" word!"

One DECADE today!!

Ten years ago today, on February 9, 2000,

Ryan entered the world and our home.

Ryan is such a sweet, happy, adventurous, energetic boy!!

We are thankful EVERYDAY he is part of our family.

Here is how the Birthday Man

(He informed me this morning it is Birthday Man, not Birthday Boy)

decided to spend his morning....

At 5:10 a.m., I found him here:

shoveling the show with Matthew.

At 6:10 a.m., I found him here
bounding down the stairs.

At 6:30 a.m., I found him enjoying his

birthday balloon.

At 7:00 a.m., I found him here:

And at 8:00 a.m., he was still here:

Then it was time to get serious about the day,
which meant doing a little math homework
and getting ready for (boring) school.

At 3:34 p.m., Ryan bounded in the door,
 home from school,
happy as can be.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RYAN!!!

Monday, Monday....

Hmmm....I don't look that happy---but I am!

It's MONDAY, afterall!!

And the winner is.......PLUS a SHOUTOUT!!!

For those of you dying to know the answer to this post, the answer is:  

I had an assignment for my photography class looming and knew I could do a story in pictures of going to a nail salon. However, I needed a good reason to take Kristen.

We had just had parent/teacher conferences for the kids. Kristen's conference was exceptional and so I took her to do something that she's never done before but REALLY wanted to do---and got my photos done at the same time.

So, the winner is.......LINDE.....which is handy, because I have been wanting to give a SHOUT OUT (and I mean a LOUD SHOUT OUT) to her husband JASON.

Jason and Linde are coming to visit in March and I just want them to know that we are E.X.C.I.T.E.D. about their impending arrival. 

Personal message from Kristen:


JASON and LINDE and JACOB:  Get here now before I explode!!!

Just felt like posting this....

Last year in my photog class, 

we had to do a picture story line.

This is what I did.

I named it "Parent/Teacher Conference Time."

My teacher, who is single,

didn't get the title.

Do you?

Good Point!

Yesterday, before heading out the door to school,

Ryan looked at me and said,

"I don't understand why we have outdoor recess.

We can only go on the blacktop and

they won't let us run

because we might slip.

So we just get to walk around

in circles."

Good point.

Walking around

in circles

on the blacktop

in the cold.

Awesome times.

Back to School - Part 2

Today Elizabeth left to go back to BYU.

I'm so happy for her---but sad for me!

We had a great two weeks with her.

This was her first day of Kindergarten in 1995.

She attended school in Beijing, China.

Being that she is a journalism major now, it is interesting

that she felt the need to bring a

tape recorder on her first day of school.

Maybe she was hoping to get some great quotes on the first day....

Matthew and Michael bidding Elizabeth "adieu"

as she gets ready to get on the bus.

Back to School

Wish the weather was as nice today as it was in August last year when the kids went back to school....

First day of School

August 25,2009

I did what I was asked....

Being the good mother that I am, I took down my post from last night.

Being the good daughter that she is, Kristen had this to say:

You're welcome!!

It never gets old.

Ryan just ran in my room again. 

We had said prayers. He got in his bed. He got out again. 

He came in and asked me if he could get a drink. 

Yes he could. 

He came back in and reported that he got his drink.

Then he asked, "Did we already say good-night?"

"Yes," I said. "I even kissed you goodnight."

Grinning, he said, "You did? Oh, well. 

We can say goodnight again.....It never gets old." 

And then he cuddled back up to me 

and I kissed him goodnight again.

You're right, Ryan---it never gets old---especially with someone like you!!

Good night. Sleep tight.

Great way to end the first day of the new year!