Olympaholics unite!

I have something to confess........ I'm addicted to the Olympics.  It doesn't matter what sport, I am glued to the TV, on the edge of my seat, with a hanky clutched in my hand.  My heart swells with pride for our nation and all of the athletes competing.  Hearing the Star Spangled Banner leaves me in tears, as I also point out to my children that if they are ever on a podium they should cry. It's guaranteed camera time, and it makes those of us at home cry too.  I love the emotional drama, and the superhuman efforts that the Olympics create.  The Olympics are fickle at best.  It is a place where the greats are rewarded and humbled, and where the meek can surprise and surge to stardom.  Although the networks try, this type of atmosphere cannot be scripted.  The human spirit at it's best and worst.  I love to sit there and point out to my children how many times 'hard work' is mentioned.  It is pretty easy to pick out the divas and the athletes who put their head down and get to work, and just like life sometimes the hard worker doesn't win.  Sometimes, the hardest worker has to go home and work harder, his goal to return and be worthy of that medal.  That is the moment I love!  That special moment when everything works as it should.  When hard work pays off, when the moment is perfect, and everyone in that gym or auditorium can feel it too!  We cheer, because for a few moments the world feels right, the good guy won.  On the other hand, there are times when the good guy doesn't get the gold.  That moment when they smile that brittle smile for the camera, say the 'correct' things, and then find that silent place under the bleachers and deal with heartbreak.  We feel for these individuals, for have we all not experienced heartache or failure?  It connects us, touches us.  I will say it again!  I love the Olympics!  I'm grateful for beautiful and touching stories that remind us that each of us are human.  We all have hopes and dreams. I love this quote from President Uchtdorf......

" The pure love of Christ can remove the scales of resentment and wrath from our eyes, allowing us to see others the way our Heavenly Father sees us: as flawed and imperfect mortals who have potential and worth far beyond our capacity to imagine."

May Day! or is it MAYDAY!

We could celebrate the end of cold winter nights with flowers and a good ol' fashioned Irish bonfire, or we could go scream into our pillows that this is May, possibly the second busiest month of the year (December is still queen).  Everybody who is anybody holds a recital this month, and yes group lessons and practices are mandatory.  Not to be outdone, all sports are required to hold at least one major tournament this month. The apple of every parent's eye is graduating.  That means lots of gifts to buy and BBQ to attend.  If we are lucky, we could have two or three on the same day as the soccer tournament and piano recital, but only if we are lucky!  Oh!  and tests!  How could I forget the agony of semester exams and the emotional trauma involved during that week! Then there is the poor kid with the birthday in May (sorry Marla!).  I'm not their birthday is really even allowed to happen, unless, they are graduating and then we can roll it all into one big event!  Then to top off all the craziness, we celebrate Mothers!  Forget breakfast in bed, these poor creatures will barley survive the month.  Watch and document closely their sad demise from a confident and capable human being to a quivering mass of hysteria by months end. 

So good luck to all!  The countdown to Summer begins now!  May we all survive and meet on the other side in June! 

Gotta love the crazy Target mom.  She is so inspirational!

Making the grade.......................

Springtime brings flowers, sunshine, and the high pitched wailing of little elementary school students. Seriously!  These poor kids are so wound up for the state tests, that they are nervous little wrecks the night before.  I found Tabby in a heap of tears on my bed, she didn't think she could pass her tests!  Really!!!!?????  I'm all for showing what you know, and the rational side of me knows that we need some kind of standard as to measuring school performance and ranking.  BUT, and it's a big one, do we really need to focus two complete weeks on testing?  Do we need to teach to these tests exclusively?  Do we need to drill mercilessly into the minds of these kids that all their educational dreams are riding on this test every year?  I think I'm going to start looking around and research a bit, as I really want to know what makes a good student, school, teacher, etc.  I have some ideas, with the ability to work hard being at the top!  This world is tough, competitive, and (at times) harsh, I hope to give my kids the things they need to survive.  I believe I will start with coping skills for surviving testing mania.

 

Throwing traps off a cliff..........

This year I don't have to make a leprechaun trap!  Woohoo!  I loathe those traps.  Well, I do get to use extravagant amounts of glitter and that makes me happy.  Beyond that fun diversion, I detest this project.  Forcing people to be creative is just wrong,  AND it is just another holiday character to impersonate.  I've told my kids that leprechauns hang out at schools and sunny meadows with rainbows, and that said meadows are usually in Ireland.  So far that is working for me.  I have not had to hide any gold coins or turn any chairs upside down in delighted mischief.  Although, Tabitha mentioned the other day that she wanted to make a family leprechaun trap. GASP! Maybe I can distract with the movie 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People.'

I long for civility!

I love 'Downtown Abbey!'  Some may turn their noses and refer to it as nothing more than your basic soap opera, disguised in English gowns and maid uniforms.  It may indeed be just that, but it entertains me, and there is not much out there that is smart, elegant, and well written.  This past weekend, I was ill and spent the entire night of Friday on the couch watching episode after episode.  My children even enjoyed it, and were caught up in the storyline.  We actively booed the villains, cheered the heroes, and cast votes as to the characters in that gray area of moral fence sitting.  I love how the English use their language.  They have the ability to say the kindest,  meanest, sharpest, funniest, clever, spot on retort  leaving their prey wondering if they have just been complimented or if they are bleeding profusely from a word inflicted wound!  I love it!  The Dowager is the best at this game of mental fencing.  I leave you with some of her best.  Enjoy!

Auntie Em! Auntie Em!

There are few things that will put me into a bad mood real quick.  My children fighting is chart topper, along with having to fix a car or an appliance.  Right at the top of that list is the wind.  I am not a fan!  Today, in the great Land of Enchantment, we are in for a very windy day.  One knows it will be awful when the wind speeds are up to around 40mph before ten in the morning!  Ugh!  It grates on my nerves!  There are many beauties to behold in the southwest, unfortunately, Springtime is not one of them!  Today I will be holding onto my hat, my car, Molly and Tabby's backpacks, and the occasional door.  Hopefully I will find myself on the right side of the rainbow tomorrow!

Moving Out

Well it is official. We are out of the house now. Emily has been working her tail off in order to get things ready and to do be honest that is quite a task with the two boys. It was sad to spend the last night in our home. We spent a lot of fun times there and if it were not for the future I might even dwell on it. We are really excited about moving up to Logan. I am excited to finally after all of these years start my real job. Even today I am getting run down at being a resident. I have learned a lot and look forward to showing how much I really did not learn.

I think I can do this blog stuff mabe

Jack singing to Charlie

This was like the perfect video and highlight of things in our home.  Jack and Charlie really are good friends as long as Charlie can handle the hyper nature of Jack.  Jack for the most part is really gentle with Charlie, but really there are times . . .  Anyway the video is really cute and thought that you would enjoy it.

Standing tall.............

Last night at Young Women, we had the opportunity to write our testimonies.  I took that challenge and wrote down my testimony on a simple piece of paper.  Knowing this paper might actually get to someone, somewhere, I took the time to articulate my true feeling about my Savior, Jesus Christ.  It was a moving experience for me.  I was touched as I watched the girls pondering their own words, they took great responsibility for what they wrote.

After we finished, we tied our testimonies to yellow balloons and let them go into the night sky.  Because of the city lights, they seemed to glow like a cluster of stars for a long time. It was beautiful.  I know we were all hoping that someone might find our words and that it might make a difference in someone's life.  It was a special moment, and one that I was grateful to experience.

Here is a link to the Youth theme for this year.  It is an uplifting happy song.  Tabby likes to dance to it! ;)

Enchanted!

Bret and I went to see 'The Artist' this weekend.  It was lovely!  A beautiful movie that captured the best of 'old' Hollywood.  I will warn you, it is a silent movie. Don't let that scare you off!  I promise, it is good. The musical score blocks the annoying munching of popcorn, so don't worry about having to sit and listen to people eat for two hours. 
Here is a sneak peak.... I found the leading man completely charming!  I love that smile!

 

Post Call

A common occurrence in our home is dealing with life after working all night. Unfortunately I have been covering in the pediatric ICU over the weekends which means that each weekend I have to pull a 24 to 28 hour shift. These times are disheartening for a number of reasons most of which I will not go into but suffice it to say that they are very long shifts. When I get home tired it is always a blessing and sometimes a curse to find an anxious two year old to greet me. Today as I drove up I could see him peering through ur front window waiting for me to show up and when he saw my car start bouncing up and down running to hide. You see his new game is to hide when I get home so that I have to find him. The only difficulty comes up when it is time for me to get some sleep. For example today, I fell asleep with him sitting next to me trying to play my iPad. Then about 30 minutes later he woke me up trying to give me a pretend hammer to smash the pretend bats that were flying over our heads. Finally I awoke with about three different trains on top of me as he eas making a new route over the bed. Of course Emily would keep him out of the room if I did not insist that he be allowed to play. When you are away from home this much it is difficult to make these firm boundaries as something so small as sleep.

Are we sick yet?

For the past six years, we have been making donuts on Superbowl Sunday.  It is messy, it takes time, and I am usually pretty tired on Sunday.  That said, my kids really look forward to this day, and of course that makes me happy.  Molly loves to roll out the dough and cut out the donuts. Tabby likes to shake them in the bags of sugar, and there is usually a dance involved (lots of booty shakin!). Brigette likes the chocolate glaze. Dallin is in and out of the kitchen with pithy and sarcastic comments about the state of affairs in the kitchen.  It is funny how each child has developed their own role in this process.  Of course we all help eat and then are sick for the rest of the evening!  It's fun to start traditions, especially when they are semi successful!  Which this year's batch of donuts have been dubbed as the best!  Without bragging....... they were AWESOME! :) 

I leave you with our favorite/disturbing (Brigette found it very disturbing) commercial from the Superbowl........

Eliminate Sprite

Hard to believe that a can of soda could be so effective. Last night as we were leaving Costco I decided to grab a soda for my wife because sometimes she needs a little Coke pick me up. While looking at the drinks I thought sure why not and called Jack over and asked him if he wanted a green soda. Since the little guy thinks the color green is the best thing ever. I grabbed the soda and we all headed home. Now of course my son has had soda before but we hardly ever let him have a full soda all to himself. The result of this quick intake of sugar was incredible. He was literally bouncing off the walls. He jumped on top of Charlie a number of times and thought the couch was his personal trampoline. It took the threat of placing one of his trains in timeout that final got him to brush his teeth. Luckily for us the sugars falls as quickly as it peeks and he crashed in his bed within 10 minutes. Lessened learned at the very least we will think twice before we all the green brew to be so easily offered.

Matt Signing On

Right now I am supposed to be listening to a lousy talk on newborn jaundice. The good thing about finally being in my third year of residency is that a lOt of the information is really second nature. I thought I would share our sinner experience past night. My wife thought that it would be a good idea to have the missionaries over more often. Especially with Jack getting older not to mention the smaller chances we may have living in Utah. So the sisters came over last night. They arrived right at the same time that I was pulling not the drive. Unfortunately Jack had fallen asleep later in the day and was still asleep by the time hat I got home. Emily had tried to wake Jim up several times but to no avail. Well as you can imagine Jack was not excited. He then proceded to pout and cry. When it came down to it he wanted me to hold him all throughout dinner. He really is dramatic at times throughout the whole dinner he was lying across mylap while I sat on the piano bench trying to eat. Periodically he would let out a little wimpper and cry. He hardly would even poke his head above the table that was even after a couple of stern talkings in the hallway. Finally after the Sisters had left who were not your communicative type, Jack finally perked up and acted like nothing had happened. So much for our missionary experience.

Groundhog day!

 Mr. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today, that means 6 more weeks of winter.  That news delivered, I propose we think of happier thoughts. Summer! (See what a giver I am? :) I live for winter and the rare day that we actually have clouds down here in the Land of Enchantment!) So to help those of you in colder climates I found this craft on Pinterest; firefly jars!  It looks simple, it looks easy.  Does it work?  I have no idea, but I am willing to try.  Here is the link; http://www.curbly.com/users/chrisjob/posts/10546-how-to-make-glowing-firefly-jars   

Merlin

My family loves this series.  This montage features the different knights in the series.  There is not much in there about Merlin, so I should point out that we love the Merlin Character.  It is a family series and nothing too scary!  Who doesn't love Aurthur, Merlin, and the knights of Camelot?  It can be found on netflix!  You can thank me later!  I should also add, that you will probably be wanting a long flowing cloak after you have spent some time with this series.  I don't know how many times I have mentioned the need for a cloak and a deep dark forest.

Genealogy Fan Chart

Genealogy Fan Chart

Yo Adrian!!!!!! I did it!!!

One of the best scenes from any Rocky Movie!

Geneology, I am doing it! My genealogy......

Another reason to start this blog is to share stories of our families, present and deceased. Last night for FHE we logged into the church history section of lds.org. Go to the youth page, click on family history, and waaalaahh! You can create a genealogy fan for the members of your family. It is pretty cool. There are also some great names to be found. A few of my personal favorites; Zebiah Razee, Isriel Wickam Morrison(hopefully his character was much better than Jane Austen's wickam!), Pleasant Basham, Mahala Buckeleu, and my personal favorite, Jimima Holdaway! I am curious to know some of their stories. I wonder what records are out there. Mom? Do you know? Also, we should recognize mom's efforts on behalf of dad's family. I believe she is the only person who has completed work for his side. There is a lot left to do! Maybe we can work on that this summer.

" The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together." ~Erma Bombeck

Starting with something nice!

Okay! So I would like to start this blog for our family. We will all be living in different states in a few months, and I would like to keep up with everyone and have a bit of fun too! Feel free to send me photos, videos, information, and I will post it! Now, that the housekeeping is finished..... let's start!

An official family blog would be off to a great start if we could give each other advice and hot tips! Well.... we are in luck! Marla has found (well, I had discovered it also, but credit goes to Marla. She actually took the time to make all the phone calls to take credit! Ha!) So, do you want long, fake, and gorgeous eyelashes? hmm? Look no further... Voluminous Million Lashes (L'Oreal) stands up to the test. :) I want pictures of your eyes, or the eyes of cute nieces and the occasional nephew if desired.