BUSY LIFE, BUSY WIFE

Been super busy on the home front here. I think just being alive makes us busy. I'm still working on that whole simplifying thing. Heather Jo and I have been helping each other again with deep cleaning projects and have been happy with the results. We still both have a long ways to go, but it's nice to be able to support eachother in something that we both struggle with. Last week, her, I and all our kids helped stack a huge pile of wood that has been bugging me for 3+ years. It was just thrown under the basketball standard and I didn't like that that area wasn't functional like it should be. We told the kids they were all beavers and had to help move the wood to make a beaver dam before the water came. They actually loved it. Then we had to buy them swedish fish because beavers eat fish. I was actually surprised that it took less than an hour to clean something that had bugged me that long and I am happy to say that I sprayed the black top down and it's ready for a basketball net. Looking forward to more deep cleaning projects to get my life simplified.

Stuck in the Swing

So it's early in the morning and I've got the windows open, hoping to catch the last of the cool air before it really heats up. I hear Hunter hollering at Carly in a panicky voice to "Go and get mom!" I hustle outside and this is what I find:

I chuckled and ran to get the camera. My kids will probably always hate this aspect of their mother... Running for the camera before she resuces them. Anyhow, he had climbed in the baby swing and put his knees where the baby's legs would go and he was totally wedged and couldn't get out. Hence, the call for mom's help.


I tried and tried to pull him up out of it, but it wouldn't work. Pretty soon, we were both laughing hysterically and he was still stuck. I had to turn him totally upside down and pry his feet out from under him and shake the swing back and forth before he was free. Funny, he hasn't climbed in that swing since.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY {YESTERDAY!}

We had a great father's day. I sent Dan and the kids on a scavenger hunt around the house to collect his father's day gifts and cards. The kids totaly loved it. We had dinner at my parents and all the kids had a great time building a "clubhouse" in their basement. We're off to the dinosaur park today!

That feeling

For the last couple of days, I've had "that feeling". Heather Jo knows that feeling I get well. She used to call it my "Sixth Sense" in High School. I'd get to school and find her and tell her I was having that feeling... that feeling that something was going to happen. I didn't know what or when or if it was good or bad, I just knew. I'd spend the day being a little restless and prayerful at the same time. I'd ask God to help me prepare for whatever it was that was coming. There really isn't any rhyme or reason to it, just that I know to be aware and on guard. And the moment "it" happens, I immediately know it was the reason for my feeling.

I've come to the conclusion that I have a very sensitive spirit. Like the day I attended Lauren and Lexi's funeral after they'd been shot in their beds by Lauren's stepson. When I walked by Lauren's casket, I just know her spirit sat up, said "Hi Marc!" like she always did and my spirit smiled back at her and hugged her like I always had. I just know our spirits communicated because I felt it.

Maybe this is God's way of "bringing me back to the fold". His way of keeping me from getting too wrapped up in the world and reminding me that he is in charge. His way of preparing me to become a goddess of Lewis heaven one day. His way of staying in touch.

Draw U

Carly: "Mom, draw U!"
Me: "The Letter U?"
Carly: "No! Not the letter ME! Draw You!"

Sorry, my mistake :)

Why did you name her Chigger?

Mitchell was over to play last week and came out back while we were tending to Chigger's self inflicted injuries. A few days earlier she had taken off from Dan while he was trying to catch all 1000 pounds of her, ran in the stall, fell down, scrambled to get up and in the process got her leg stuck under the 600 lb panel stall wall and ended up with what seemed like endless bleeding just above the white line of her hoof. She never learns... Anyhow, he asked
"Why did you name her Chigger?"
Dan replies "Because we did."
Mitchell came back with "Was it because she Chiggers?"
Curious, I asked him "What do you do when you Chigger?"
"You do this" He says then he starts his rendition of "Chiggering" a kind of silly dance involving running, kicking and giggling. Kinda reminded me of Elaine's dance on Seinfeld and I busted a gut laughing.
No Mitchell, we didn't name her because she "Chiggers" :)
That's what she was called when we got her.
Truth be told, her real name is "Two Eyed Shadow Jack"
I prefer Chigger.

Stress Management

I read this today on Denise Gibbs blog and loved it.

Stress Management
A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked

"How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call and amublance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden become increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, can can carry on with the burden."

"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can."

So, my friend, put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.

Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
- Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
- Always keeps your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
- Always ready stuff that will make you look good, if you die in the middle of it.
- Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
- If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
- If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
- It may be that your sold purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.
- Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
- Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
- Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
- The second mouse gets the cheese.
- When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
- Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
- You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
- Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
- We could learn a lot from crayons...some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull. Some have wierd names, and all are different colors but they all have to live in the same box.
- A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

I've been tagged

I've never been tagged until Heather Scott got me. Here it is:
5 Snacks I enjoy:
1. Nachos with Medium cheddar cheese, salsa and FF Sour Cream
2. Bowl of any kind of Cereal
3. Ice cold Diet Coke {Is that a snack? I thought it was a meal...}
4. Sugar Snap Peas
5. Raw Almonds

5 Things on my To Do List:
1. Take my kids to the Zoo
2. Repaint the kitchen wall that my little "Artist" attacked with a Red Sharpie {Magic Eraser won't take off the red without taking the paint off too. Oy...}
3. Pack for Moab
4. Take a load to DI
5. Put new blades on my horse clippers

5 Things I would do if I was a Billionaire:
1. Pay off my house & invest in Rental Properties
2. Take my family on a nice vacation and then take a trip with just Dan and I
3. Buy my parents each a new vehicle. My dad still drives his $100 car :)
4. Meet the financial needs of Dan's parents
5. HIRE A MAID

5 Jobs I have had:
1. Arctic Circle Cashier and Manager - Every sibling except Cammy ended up working here too along with my good friends Heather Jo, Stephanie, and Brynne -for about a week :)
2. Accounting Assistant at First Class Cars - I worked with Cammy here
3. Accounts Receivable at Bonneville News - I had chronic fatigue and slept every day in my truck on my lunch hour.
4. Accountant/Receptionist at National Events - I got to go to Alabama
5. Documentation Clerk at Bold Technologies - Way fun, I worked with my mom

Bad habits I have:
1. Getting angry when I get interrupted. It starts a whole chain of events because then I lose my train of thought, get sidetracked and can't seem to get back on track again.
2. Forgetting to turn off the water to the horses. I even left it on once when we left for Logan and had to call a guy in the ward to turn it off for me. Dan has dubbed me the water master, although he's known as the water master at my parents for leaving their hose on while watering their horses.
3. Saying yes to something, then kicking myself for saying yes when I know I should have said no for my own sanity.
4. Staying up way too late, but it seems to be the only quiet time I have to myself that I can actually think.
5. Letting the laundry breed. It's like a bunch of rabbits have been thrown down the laundry chute and multiplied over and over again.

5 Places I have lived:
1. West of Salt Lake by the airport
2. Taylorsville, Utah
3. Sandy, Utah
4. West Jordan, Utah
5. In my mom's tummy

I am tagging:
Heather Jo
Kayla
Grandma Jo