funny jokes

tonight was a pack meeting.
our pack meets at the chapel.

noah's a wolf.
the wolves were in charge of the "skit."
the wolves den mother has pneumonia.
she sent an email to all  parents asking if the boys could come prepared with a joke or two.

we practiced with noah.

knock, knock
who's there?
panther
panther who?
panther no panths, i'm going thwimmin'!

great joke!  my all time fav.

he was all set.  i even wrote it out for him.

noah went 2nd.

"what word starts with an "f" and ends in "u" "c" and "k"?
"firetruck!!"

that is the truth.
chris and i turned towards each other.  there were no words.

i'm laughing now.

today

today we sat at a football game watching noah tackle 3rd graders.  he is in heaven.



today i sat with lana and noah listening to conference.  lana was hoping to re-watch the first session because she said she felt so "snuggly." i whispered it was the spirit.  she replied:  i know.



today i missed ceily and eddie.  they are at kings dominion getting chased by goblins and ghouls.  very surprised eddie is actually there.  he is weak in the knees when it comes to scary things.  (we just got a call from eddie.  he accidentally called my phone.  he thought he was calling ceily.  he just wanted to let her know he's hiding out at starbucks.  alone.  i guess he's still scared.)





today my sister summer sent me THE BEST PICTURE EVER!



today i can't believe i've been so neglectful.  i'm blaming everything on pinterest.  there's so much there to see, i don't have time to post about my family life and goings-on.

today i dropped my phone and shattered the screen.  i tried to blame it on lana.  she's the one that took the folding chair out of my hands.  i guess i should have listened to that little voice that said to just leave it in the car.  i'm glad it still works.

today i was thinking to myself what is the worst ever question...what's for dinner? was my choice.

today was good.

now i have to go to the grocery store because i have to prepare for dinner tomorrow.

remembering a bus crash

you have those times in your life you will never forget, right?

i remember riding home with my mother and sister after some shopping. we had gone to jack-in-the-box. we had just dropped off my sister's friend, ann. i was still drinking my soda. looking up, i saw a car ahead in our lane coming the opposite direction.  that car crashed into us. i screamed. my drink spilled all over my lap. an old man-  a drunk old man had hit us. no one was hurt, but i still remember the chaos and police cars and my sister's friend and her mom running out and helping us.

last month ceily had one of those experiences.

she was riding home from school and her bus was in an accident with an ice cream truck.

i had a phone call telling me she was on the way to the hospital.

after trying to find her, and wondering and worrying for about 30 minutes we finally found her and this is what we saw.



well, actually, as soon as i poked my head in, she started to cry. i rushed in and took her hand. i tried hard to not freak out and cry myself. she looked really bad. i hadn't been nervous before, but after seeing her for the first time, i felt nervous.



as we stood there she described what had happened. they were heading home from school. ceily was sitting in the front seat opposite the bus driver. she remembers looking up and seeing the ice cream truck swerve into their lane. after that she doesn't remember what happened. she does remember having blood everywhere and trying to get off the bus.   (i asked her after why she was sitting in the front seat. she said she always sits there. she hates the bus. quick on. quick off.)



she had so much glass from the window shield in her hair, in her shirt, in her bra, down her back, in her shoes and in her face and forehead. every time she would shake her head, handfuls of glass would spill out! (weeks after she is finding little pieces of glass still in her face.)



the worst wound was a gash on her forehead. they said it was about 1/4 inch deep. ceily had an out of body when they even mentioned stitches, so she opted out. the doctor said it was probably better because it would give an opening for the glass to come out. i think there is still pieces remaining.

it was crazy the amount of blood. we were positive she had a bigger cut somewhere hidden by her massive curls, but we never found one. she tells the story that as everyone was getting off the bus, the boy that was helping everyone down, wouldn't help her because she was so bloody. she was so afraid to look at her face because she thought if she looked it was "going to be torn off."



but the best part, if there can be a best part to a bus accident, is she was interviewed by the local news. she even invited one of the reporters into her room and gave him an exclusive cell phone video interview. later after she was released from the hospital, the reporter came to the house and interviewed her again. she was gracious and eloquent and explained she was glad her face wasn't ripped open and grateful nothing more serious had happened. she closed the interview by explaining she would never ride a bus again.

she has held true to that statement.  every day at 2pm, she gets a ride home in the mini van.

what IS UP?

so, can i even remember what's going on here?
i can try.


after the ghost whisperer ended, i have yet to find a new obsession.  that's ok.  i've been playing drawsomething for a few weeks now.  that counts.


it's almost time for school to end.  the weather is turning warm. ticks have appeared. that i do not like.  at all. they are gross. 


today i actually have my air conditioner on.  we opened the pool today for good.  eddie and ceily are almost finished with spring sports.  ceily has one more field hockey game to play.  eddie will play two more lacrosse games and be done.  


we still have piano lessons once a week.  sometimes it's once every other week.  that works too.  every child still complains.


lana and noah play soccer three times a week.  our saturdays are spent getting everyone to where they need to be.  it can be hectic.  but it's a good hectic.  there's nothing better than watching your children do something they enjoy.  


i'm still waiting for them to enjoy piano and chores.  still no luck.


noah turned 8.  he is a wonderful 8 year old. he's happy and funny and energetic and kind and smart and good.  


he aspires to be a football player, or a police man.  he loves soccer right now.  he's our competitive one.  but he's also gentle.  his football coach called him the "gentle giant."  his football coach wished he could have called him the ferocious one.  he reminded me the other day we are very lucky to have him in our family because he has mad video game skills.  the levels would not be reached if he didn't live with us.  
most important, he got baptized.  i can't believe he's the last one. 


i need to take the time to post about eddie and his love of lacrosse. he's a good player.  he's strong and able and excited.  tonight he had two penalties for illegal checks.  i have no idea why they were illegal, because the other two checks were not, but he was proud he knocked guys down. he's also smelly because he plays so hard.  i just told him today i will gladly wash his pads, but i refuse to dig them out.  i draw limits sometimes.  eddie has gotten way tall.  he's growing up.  his voice is even changing... :) he makes us all laugh.


ceily surprised us all and said yes to field hockey.  she's good.  she will disagree if asked, but we see her talent.    
she came back from practice tonight and her legs and knees and bum were dirty.  she plays hard too.
she babysits and she's good at that too.  the children love her.  she likes/loves/adores/obsessively checks facebook.  i guess that's par for teenagers.  she's kind and gentle and everyone wants to be her friend.  it's always a little bit more fun when ceily is around.  


 
lana still will not clean her room.  she's a stubborn one.  but i'll keep her.  she's a hard worker.  she's way good at soccer.  she plays hard too.  she was invited to join a travel league, but they play on sunday.  
she's a kind sister.  she's a good and kind friend. (pictured with her bff above.)  she notices those that need and makes them feel loved.  she starting to shave her legs.  i had to do it for her the first few times, but now she's an expert.  


life sure is different when there's no more diapers, or potty training, or sippy cups, or high chairs, or naps, or constant eagle eye watching.  i'm enjoying my big kids.  they work hard, they play hard, they do good things, they are kind.  


i am lucky.
i am blessed.

i'm a little bit...

...obsessed with the ghost whisperer.

for those of you unfamiliar with the ghost whisperer, i can fill you in.

jennifer love hewit can see ghosts.
a lot of them.
all the time.

and she likes to show her cleavage.

a lot.

all the time.

she not only sees them, but talks to them. (ghosts, not cleavage.)

it's her "gift" or calling in life, to help lingering dead souls to cross over. they need her help to sort out the unanswered questions they have. usually, we see the scary ghost. then the scary ghost appears to jennifer. then jennifer looks perplexed. then she searches for the ghost and tries to find out the issue or issues this ghost has.

usually about this time, jennifer is awoken by a dream or "vision" and is startled awake, and jerks up and her cleavage is exposed, because she wears revealing night gowns. and it's always a different one, but always a long one. and one that accentuates her lovelies.

by this time we have found out the ghost has died in a bad way. either been murdered, or they fell over a cliff, or into a well, or they got chopped up by a lawn mower. or they were buried underground the city, in tunnels. (this is probably why ghosts are drawn to this particular town. and jennifer herself. lots of dead souls.) we usually find this out when the power is out and it's dark.

jennifer is able to find out the name of the ghost. she just asks them. then she googles the name, finds out if they have living relatives, goes to see the living relatives, tries to feel them out for unusual facts, or important information about the dead person. usually, the living person has no idea there's a problem. but sometimes they "feel" a presence. like that person is near them, even though they are dead.

most times the living relatives think jennifer is crazy. but then they don't.

her husband jim is filled with faith. so he believes that she can see dead people. but now, he actually died. and came back. so now his soul lives in another man's body. but jennifer can see her jim in his eyes. they are now expecting a baby. (at first she was like, no way is she having a baby. she can't possibly pass on her gift to a child, but jim really wants a baby, but he'll be patient. then she helps this dead lady, that really wanted a baby, but her husband didn't, and realizes she can't wait forever. but then jim died after they found out she needed to take some pills to get pregnant. but then she finds out she is pregnant, and it was before jim died, so it's his. yea!)

she has this friend that can hear ghosts (jamie kennedy), so he helps with the work, because sometimes jennifer needs help.

near the end, the dead people and the living relatives have been reunited, with the help of jennifer. she's usually standing to the side, looking longingly into space, listening to the dead person. of course, the living relatives can't hear the dead souls, so jennifer relays the words. the living relatives are usually looking up, or down, or sideways, because they can't see the dead person, but can "feel" them. the dead soul tells jennifer how much they love their son, or husband, or mother, that they forgive them for being bad, or ask forgiveness from the loved ones, or tells them it's not their fault, or tells jennifer to make sure the loved one knows they will always be with them. then jennifer nods her head, smiles and tells the living relative that their daughter loved them very much.

then the soul sees the light and asks if it's for them. jennifer gently nods yes, or gently tells them to cross over. then the soul turns and fades away. we then see a close up of jennifer, and usually a tear is in the corner of her eye, just ready to spill over, but never really does.

oh, and she owns an antique shop.

watch it.

i think you might like it.

i remember

ceily at 8

noah at a few weeks

eddie at 6

lana at 4

Valentine's

every year ♥ valentine's day ♥ comes. every year eddie turns another year older. this year he's 13. a real teenager.

it was heaven that day; having a baby all wrapped up, warm and snug. the perfect valentine's day gift. my doctor recommended we name him adonis. i ignored him of course. eddie spent all of his 2nd grade year trying to convince me to call him james. he had succeeded in convincing all of his elementary school to call him by his first given name. it was always very confusing when i was talking to his teacher (i was the room mom and i talked to her A LOT!!) because she would be talking about this boy named james, and it took me a while to finally realize this boy named james was my son named eddie. once he stood in front of all his classmates, and other parents, and read a short story. i thought how nice he was, to be reading a story his friend james had written, finally realizing, james was edddie and it was actually his story.

all his friends would yell to him in the hallways.

"hey james!"

"james, is that your mom?"

"what's up james?!"

more than once i pulled papers from his folder reading JAMES scribbled in the top corner, thinking his teacher had mixed up and put in the wrong papers.

i'm pretty sure his teacher thought i should call him james too. when i would correct her, saying we actually call him eddie, not james, she would ignore me and continue to address my eddie as james.

he worked hard to convince me. he would have had his dad's support if i hadn't given chris the evil eye every time it was brought up. it didn't help matters that his best friend across the street had changed to his first name, joseph, from his middle name, peyton.

i still refuse to call him james. eddie it will always be.

but i will always remember that ♥ valentine's day as my favorite.

ever.

(well, this year chris got me two more burners for my stove-top. tears welled up as i read the receipt. this year might be a VERY close second.)

my big brother

i am the third child of seven.

before me was kasi and then conwey.

conwey is my older brother by two years.

yesterday he turned still older...than me.

i hope he had a great day.

i remember him as a ball-er. :) it's true. he always played ball. football, basketball, baseball.

he was very good too. i loved going to his games. i loved watching and cheering (quietly of course.)

i loved that he was older and had very good looking friends. i even dated some of those friends.

he always watched out for me. older brothers have a protective calling. they have to, they want to, look after their little sisters. i know i was blessed on many occasions because he took care of me.

he was a good example. served a mission. wrote me letters. went to the temple. let me borrow his car at college. (even when he didn't realize i was borrowing his car as he lay sleeping.)

he is a good example. he's a good father. he takes care of his family. he buys his wife diamonds :)

he has a strong testimony.

i love him.

happy birthday conwey.

xoxo

quotes

riding in the car with ceily, she mentions the all guys suck.

i mentioned that all guys do not s... her dad doesn't. my dad doesn't. ceily quietly replied:

"yeah, grandpa's cool."

yesterday, sitting in sacrament meeting,

noah leans over to me and whispers:

"mom, i want to do home schooling for college."

after i asked eddie to unload the dishwasher, and threatened to send him to bed if he did not, i also mentioned he would become a teenager soon. as he opened the machine and i folded clothes he asked:

"so... what about that snake you're getting me for my birthday? yep, the corn snake. it's the only thing on my birthday list."

as i was at the grocery store and chris was at golden corral for lunch he texted me the following:

"grossest ever."

random words. random photos.

today i watched three episodes of will and grace.
in a row.
it's funny.

sarah came over. and suzanne of course. they are a pair. we like them. it's fun to sit and watch sarah smile. and eat. and dance a bit. she's cute.



did some laundry. swept the floor. folded clothes. dishes. work of course.



we have lots of homework.
everyone needs help. even extra help.



3 of the 6 in this house need to practice piano.
yesterday as ceily practiced, she dozed off.
4 in the morning is way too early to rise.



lana had basketball practice. i drove.
eddie and ceily had basketball practice and then church activities.
that means chris did too.

just finished making lunches.

i did make some yummy chocolate caramel shortbread squares.
they sit in my fridge for consumption tomorrow.

lots to do.
i may attempt to start a wreath for my front door tomorrow.
and repeat most of the above.

or maybe look for more episodes of will and grace.

today...

...my best friend in the whole, wide world called me.

it was early in the morning.

"jayne?" she asked.

"yes, it's me," i answered.

"oh! it didn't sound like you. you sounded like an old lady!" she exclaimed.

yes. it's true.

i am old.

one year older today.

our 2011 christmas in pictures

our christmas was wonderful. always is.
this year our tree was a cut tree. the children were happy that it was "normal" and not "dumb" like the others have been.
we made gingerbread cookies for santa and the elf. they both ate them.





every year we have the children draw names. they then get to stuff that person's stocking. it's always fun to see what they get for each other. there is always a lot of help and suggestions given.




(our house is now filled with lots of "swagger" as well.)

santa did not bring a new camera. i wasn't expecting him to, so i wasn't disappointed. we used our video camera to take still shots. it looks like i took stills from video clips though. i think this year will be the year i master my iphoto skills.

today...

...lana's class frog died.

a week before christmas break, it was a friday to be exact, as i was brushing lana's hair, she asked that question: "mom, can i be in the drawing to bring home the class frog over christmas break?"

my answer was of course, YES! i'm a nice mom. i was also sure her name wouldn't be chosen.

i was wrong. she came home that same day, arms filled with a plastic cage. inside the cage was the frog. "wow lana. you are lucky your name was chosen," i said. "i was the only one that wanted to bring her home!" she replied.

oh.

we traveled to petco three, actually four times to obtain crickets for food. that's gross. crickets in bags. lana showed her borrowed pet to willing friends. as i was looking through photos on my ipad just recently, there are many of a frog sitting on a hand. many. lana enjoyed her babysitting duties. she was a good baby-frog-sitter.

on saturday night, i was in lana's room, and i glanced down at the cage. i noticed there were some large crickets hopping around. i thought to myself it was odd there were still large crickets hopping around.

"mom, can i check on the frog?" lana asked. i was hesitant. i had a feeling she wasn't going to find a happy, living frog. "let's wait until after you have eaten your breakfast," i said, knowing it wasn't going to be a happy ending.

"mom!!! the crickets ate its face!!" tears were already spilling over.

poor thing.

we are blaming chris. he was in charge for a few days when we went to arlington...

after school, i'll take lana by the hand and we will return to petco and find another frog.

and i actually, almost, tried to talk chris into getting a dog for christmas.