Our morning walk

This morning, I was sick to death of doing the treadmill, so I decided to take Malia for a walk. We walked from our neighborhood to the next neighborhood and to the grocery store to get a movie. On the way, Malia and I saw three roosters, one black chicken, four horses, five or six goats, a few dogs, and one gray cat. And this was just a little walk! Fresno is a great place for adventure...

Mornings...

Folks, you may or may not remember that I am not particularly fond of mornings...a trait I get from my own mother. I distincly recall having a sleep shirt when i was a teenager that said in very large letters, "I don't do mornings." I echo those sentiments now more than ever. Anyhow, as many times as I've tried to get over this fact of life, I HATE MORNINGS. I DESPISE THEM. I DON'T LIKE THEM. I would be happy, indeed, if I could blisfully sleep until say, 8:30 every morning. But alas, my chidren are early risers and one, the eldest, thinks it is his duty to start talking and continue until he gets on the school bus. So every morning, I "endure" the mindless chatterings of a certain child who seriously cannot stop. Perhaps the most irritating part is that he is either telling tall tales or telling me things that I already heard last night when he was going to bed. I would really like nothing more than to relish these moments, but for n ow, all I can do is endure...How are you mornings???

Bella

We all know Bella has a bit of sass in her. Well, since she's gone to kindergarden, it seems she thinks she is all th emore grown up. A couple of days ago, she asked me, "Mom, why did you give me Carter's sandwich for lunch?" I said, "I didn't. I gave you your sandwich." Then, she marched over to her lunchbox, picked it up, unzipped it and pulled out her sandwich. Then, she took it apart revealing the dreaded mayonaise on her bread (which of all my kids, only Carter likes). Then she says, "Then explain THIS!" I couldn't help but laugh which just enraged her more. Man, that girl has some serious attitude!

I need to gag my kids in church

OK, so you all read the story about last week in conference with Brandon.

This week, Brooke and Brittany stand up in sacrament meeting and tell me that they need to go pee (well, Brittany already did go in her diaper, but she of course wanted to go with Brooke while she went).

So, on the way down the hall in church we passed a door that was open. It has one of the young men's classes from the other ward in it. On her way by the door, Brittany stops ... looks in ... and says "I no like you" and then matter-of-factly resumes her march to the bathroom.

I'm bringing duct tape next week.

Tender Mercies...

Yesterday when I was at Target I ran into Carrie Crane and the usual topic of the custody battle came up. I told her that there had been no movement in months and there is no end in sight. I also told her that this was just one of those weeks when I was having a hard time dealing with the whole situation, especially with stupid stunts "voldimort" has been pulling recently. I'm tired of living in a different state than my husband and not being able to start our lives together and work on blending our two families. As much as I love my work, I'm sick of that too. My house has been in escrow for how long??? When is the deal going to close? As I was laying in bed monday night, the thought really crossed my mind to pack up my car and just drive to Arizona without Mackenzie and tell her she could join me when all this crap was settled. OK, it's written proof that I'm going crazy. Carrie reminded me that as cliched as it sounds, to really make it a matter of prayer again. I've really tried to be patient with this whole situation but it's really wearing on me now. So I took Carrie's advice and readdressed this issue in my prayers. Yeah I'm sure Heavenly Father is sick of hearing it, which is why I try not to ask too often.

So today i'm at the shrink. After he finishes his "mormon bashing" rant I start to see some progress. Though "Voldimort" has been feeding him alot of crap, it appears that Dr. Bruce is seeing through it. He made several comments that really gave me some hope. He mentioned that Mackenzie should have no problem adjusting if she moves in the middle of a school year and that he thought he would be done with his evaluation by mid-November. If any of you recall, December has been my target date. That's the longest I can promise to stay sane in the midst of this custody battle. I was hoping that we could celebrate the holidays with the family in Cali and then pack up and move out to Arizona so Mackenzie could change schools in between semesters. Up until today, there were no indications that Dr. Bruce would be done in time. Now I have some hope that even if he falls a little behind, we still might make it to Arizona by the end of December. As if that wasn't a gift enough from the Lord, while driving home from the shrink's office Kevin (my realtor) sends me a text that we have officially closed escrow and asked if I wanted him to pick up my check. Christmas in September.

Thank heaven for the tender mercies from the Lord... and for the prayers that have been offered on our behalf.

Thanks everyone! I love you guys alot!

XOXO

Strange happenings in Fresno.....

So this morning while I was standing at the kitchen looking out the window, a flock of seagulls flew over. They were making so much noise. It was impossible not to notice. Uh, maybe they didn't notice that we live 2 1/2 hours from the ocean!!!! Then, the other day the boys and I were driving home and we had to stop in the middle of the street to let these roosters cross. WHERE AM I? This is one crazy place...

My kid loves conference

So, along with Tamadam and Justie, we had conference this weekend. Ours was with Elder Bednar. He started his talk around 11. Probably about 30 minutes into it, Brandon turned to me and said, "Daddy, if I was talking this long, I would lose my voice." A little while later he said, "He's STILL talking." Of course, all of this was out loud and there were people from our ward all around us in close proximity. Yep. That's my boy.

You know you're a football finatic when...

You are helping your daughter (not son, daughter) learn to write the number 4 and she says, like a touchdown sign mom? (Meaning, of course the field goal uprights). Yep, you got it kid...

Free time...

Today Malia had preschool which gives me 2 1/2 hours of beautiful free time. Business before pleasure, right...So, I did my annual Woman appointment (if you know what I mean). Then, I had 1 1/2 blessed hours all by myself. I went to the library. I wandered around all by myself in blissful peace. I looked at other books by authors that I like and checked out the computer for the best selling books. It was a thing of beauty. I picked out a couple books (including My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult - thanks Judy for that idea) and then I had enough time to go to 7-11 and get myself a big drink. I was driving down Clovis Avenue thinking...Did I die? Am I in heaven?

On a side note. After my fabulous free time, all H*** breaks loose. I had to pick up Bella from a friend's house, go home, make dinner, feed the girls and Rick and then go get the boys, hand them a snack, get Carter changed in the car, and take the boys to soccer. Then, we sit at soccer for an hour (which is actually quite pleasant...picture Carter, set free after being at school for 9 hours, with a ball, and freedom to run all over the place...good stuff). Then, I bring the boys home at 7:15 or so, fix them dinner, get them showerd and into bed. It's crazy, but that free time in the middle of the day is something of beauty...

Malia's game...

Every night when Malia goes to bed, in her prayers, she says, "Please help that Nana can come over tomorrow." Then she opens her eyes, looks at me and says, "Mom, can Nana come over tomorrow?" To which I replay, probably not tomorrow. She kept getting so mad that finally I started answering, "soon Malia. Nana will come over soon." So she extended her game. Now, at least 10 times a day she asks me when Nana is coming over. Well, thinking I would make her happy this week, I told her we were going to Nana's on Friday. She got so mad. She said, "No mom. I ask you when we go to Nana's house and you say 'soon.'" Lesson learned after like 5 times of this happening. So today, to give Rick a taste of it, I responded to her question this morning by saying "on Friday we'll go to Nana's house." She of course yelled back, "No mom, you say soon. Not Friday. Soon. OKAY?" I walked in the kitchen to find Rick chuckling because he had heard the exchange...

It is not a fun game. I am tired of answering the question 10 times a day only to be yelled at if I answer incorrectly. It's like being on some kind of sick game show you'd see on Groundhog Day (the movie). Someone get me out of here!!

wow......I mean, I don't know what else to say...

I had a blonde moment today. I mean a really really blonde moment. You want to know what it was, don't you? Well keep wondering...it is a secret I shall not divulge. Thankfully there were no witnesses. Keep on guessing...you'll never get it.

Hmmmm...

I wonder why my clicker on my keys isn't working...could it be because I sent it through the washing machine with a load of towels twice so they would be super clean(the towels, not the keys)? What were the keys doing in the washer? Isn't that where everyone puts their keys?

The haps in Fresno...

Jake had his first cross country meet. He placed 14th out of 66 4th graders which I thought was so fabulous! It was crazy hot...104 in Fresno. They say this is the last heat wave of the summer and I am hoping for Jake's sake that they are correct! He was so strong...there were little kids laying on the grass crying because they hated running in the heat and they were tired. Jake was completely energized and excited to be there.

Bella, Ammon and Malia lplayed in our white trash swimming pool. I mean, what else would you use a cooler for?

Seriously, three kids never had more fun with water than this cooler, the hose, and our swingset. Why would I need a real pool???
It's been a long week. I am so tired. The kids are finally in bed and the weekend has begun. I am looking forward to planting myself on the couch tomorrow to enjoy some serious football. Too bad UCLA is not playing! Go Cougars!

The Skinny from the Big D

In an effort to catch up on the last few, I thought I'd go nuts and post some pics...

Elizabeth had her 2 week appointment today. She weighed in at a crushing 8 lbs. 1 oz and she had grown almost an inch since her two day appointment. Is it me or is she getting cuter every day? Judy, if you're reading this, I would love to schedule a photo shoot with Elizabeth while we're in town for Christmas. Let me know.

Coach came to town and was the most fun to have around. You can see the kids didn't object to her visit at all.

She was a total show off and got Elizabeth to go to sleep when I struck out at it.

And she cut my hair off! Isn't she the raddest? I think so.

Elizabeth got to meet just about the only one of our single friends we ever still hang out with and she loved him!

And here's your bonus photo. Elizabeth in her Bruin colors to show her support of the family team. You'll notice that she's scowling at the camera because I have her in her carseat. Alalalala. And that's the scoop from our neck of the woods. What's new with you all?

It's a beautiful day in our neighborhood...

Is anybody else still in shock? Outside sources confirm that the Bruins actually did win. I don't think that I have ever seen such a contrast between a first half and a second half. Pretty fun to watch.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/