Happy Late Birthday Sara!

Sara and I are 14 months apart in age. Every memory I have includes her. Growing up we shared a room, clothes, friends, classrooms, and secrets.

Sara is the only person in the world who can make me laugh so hard I wet my pants.

Jenny I got your number . . .

One night Sara and I and a friend, I can't remember who, decided to call 867-5309. (I know, can you believe we were so clever?) Where did we ever come up with that idea? We called and were told that this was a long distance number and that we needed to add the area code first. So we called 801-867-5309.

"ring, ring"

"Hello."

"Hello is Jenny there?"

"YOU BETTER STOP CALLING US!! #$*&! IF YOU CALL AGAIN WE ARE GOING TO CALL THE POLICE!!" Click.

Robin got a cell phone yesterday.

William Tell Overture

Germs

I noticed awhile ago, that every time we moved, especially once school started, we would be unusually sick for weeks.

Sure enough, someone has been sick at our house for two months now. Someone gets sick and then it runs through the family, (repeat 12 times). ~ear infections, sore throats, upset stomachs, head aches, sinus infections, stuffy noses~ My guess is that we are just being introduced to new germs but I have to say it is getting a little old.

I finally got everyone well and back in school on Monday and I went to help in Gloria's class. While I was in the hall working with some kids, Gloria's teacher Mrs. Shine, came out and told me Gloria was crying and that her head hurt. She was burning up, 102 degrees. By the time we got home she was 103 degrees. We are on day 3 and I can't get her temperature down under 101, even piggybacking Motrin and Tylenol.

We're off to the doctor today and then I need a nap.

Happy Birthdays Jeana and Richard!!

Jeana's on the 21st and Richard's on the 22nd.

Are they gorgeous or what?!?

We love you!!

Great Kids!

Robin came home last night from work with a raise. They like her at Doc's. She is a hard worker, she shows up when she is supposed to and she isn't afraid to do the dirty jobs. Did I tell you how she stood up to this young man at work? He went after her because she is LDS and was making fun of her wanting to serve a mission. When she first told me about it I was so mad because the young man is an adult and shouldn't have said what he said. But then she told me what she said to him. She didn't get ruffled or mad she just told him what she believed and didn't back down. You'll have to ask her about it. She constantly floors me with what a fantastic kids she is.






Paul came home from his football game last night with another win. The Lindale Eagle are 4-0! He got lots of playing time and made 3 tackles! WOO HOO! We didn't get to go to this one because of sick kids. BUMMER!

Last but not least, Gloria didn't hit anyone on the bus this week. This would be different than last week when a little girl wouldn't leave her alone and Gloria clocked her. If she does it again she will be kicked off the bus for the rest of the year. Nice.

Kindergarten Project

Gloria made a poster that was supposed to be "All About Me". She picked 5 things that she loves to do. These are the things she chose.

1~ Swimming (floating mostly) at the lake and in the ocean.

2~ Catching grasshoppers

3~ DDR Last night she called it, "Dance Dance Revolution" (think think think) "Extreme!" (think think think) "2!"

4~ Reading

5~ Ballerina dancing

These are the pictures we used for her poster.

Rabbits

We have rabbits in our yard. They actually live in the field next door but they come into our yard and hop around in the evenings. They are small and very cute, although I am not sure how cute I will think they are when they are eating my garden. One evening Sara and Gloria were watching them and Sara said, “I wish we could catch them.” Gloria heartily agreed. The next day Paul took them out and they built a rabbit trap. He is so great! It seems to work, however so far . . . no rabbits.

Thrusday Night Lights

The Lindale Eagles'JV team is 3-0! Paul is #84.

And now for something completely different

Happy Birthday Dad

20 years ago last week, I had just met Paul, Dad and I went to Tijuana. It was just the two of us. I was married a few months later and that trip ended up being the last trip he and I would take on our own.

We went to Tijuana for a $200 paint job. We ate at the Caesar Hotel, the birthplace of the original Caesar Salad, and I bought a denim, drawstring, purse.

How Do You Commemorate September 11th?

Last week, I overheard some men talking about 9/11 and one of the men was upset because someone was planning a birthday party that day. "It's disrespectful." the first man said. "It's not his kid's fault that he was born on September 11th. What? No one is allowed to smile because of something that happened 6 years ago?" the other man said. The first man paused and then said, "Yes, that is exactly how I feel."

September 11th is such a strange day. How should we commemorate it? Should we commemorate it? A day of prayer? Read all the names of those who died again? Nothing? Never have a birthday party?

It has been important to both Paul and me, that our children understand what happened that day, the sacrifice and heroism, the events of the day and what has happened since. We also want them to appreciate the firefighters and other public servants who stand ready to put themselves in harm's way so we can live our lives without worry and fear.

So in our family, we take a treat or dinner to the firefighters in our neighborhood. We've had four different addressees since 9/11 and everywhere we go I am so thankful for these good men who willingly do such an essential job. Our gesture is a small one and I don't know how meaningful it is to them, but in the giving, it is sincere and heartfelt. Afterward, we come home and we replay our memories, and we look at pictures in the TIME magazine and others I saved, and we talk about what it all means.

What do you do?

Friday Night Lights

I love this face!! To me Paul has always looked exactly how a boy should look, right down to the freckles across his nose. Perfect!!

.......

You can tell by the look on his face in each picture that the first one was taken before he understood how serious the game of football is. (And in Texas it is VERY serious.)

Why do I hear water running? or It's so nice to have a man around the house.

I could hear water running the other night and couldn't find it's source, that is, until Paul cut a few holes in the bedroom wall. We found the leak at about 11:00pm on Tuesday. There was nothing we could do until morning so we turned off the water and went to bed. Poor Robin woke up to a note telling her no shower.

Thankfully, Paul knows how to do everything so a trip to Lowe's, a couple of cuss words and another trip to Lowe's later and it was all fixed.

Oh, I forgot to mention that on Tuesday we also found out that the front axle on our van was broken in two. At least it's still under warranty.

Finger Lickin' Good

Last night I made Chicken Ziti Alfredo using Erin Stanley's recipe. (I can’t figure out how to add links from other blogs or I would have added it) I used the chicken breasts from the chickens we raised. I actually planned on using some other chicken but decided I was being a baby. So I used this chicken and I have to say I am amazed at the difference. People kept telling me how much better it would be but I didn’t really believe them.

Here are my observations: First of all it didn’t smell, not at all. It didn’t smell like chicken or anything else. It smelled . . . clean. It also wasn’t slimy. Then I cooked it, WOW. The flavor was so nice. I got over the yuckiness of the other day very quickly. It took on the flavor of the garlic and onion so subtlety but cleanly. (Does that make sense?) It was tender and juicy. Everyone loved it.

I have always been a big label reader and I try to be careful about what kinds of food I feed my kids. I liked thinking that there was nothing suspicious going on with the chicken, no hormones or preservatives. We even talked last night about letting some of our eggs hatch and doing this again. The only down side is of course the slaughtering but it just may be worth it.

One more difference. I felt a reverence for our food. My pray of thanksgiving was more sincere and I was very upset when someone left chicken on their plate to be wasted.

Running

Did you know I run almost everyday? Well, I do. I love to run in the mornings when the air is cool and everything is quiet. I run out around the farms near our house. It is so beautiful.









I found this website http://www.walkjogrun.net/
on

It is one of my favorite things. I love running new routes and then coming home and measuring how far I ran. I liked that it even let us measure how far I swam across the lake the other day.