Squeeze Me

I'm just going to squeeze this in before December. Blog entry condensed style:

Welcomed a new member to the family.

Met the house of mold.

Saw a lady twirl in her skirt time after time.

Was given a lucky stone.

Lost a child, gained an adult.

Had a little help from my sweet in-laws.

Saw a lot of shirtless males.

Laughed.

Cried.

Ate.... a lot.

Saw the exhibit "Poo on a chair"

Slept too little.

Was married longer than ever.

Wished one loving, kind mother a Happy Birthday.

In your face November!

Distant Memory

It's over. October is over. November is such a bully, so I'm going to soothe October by paying homage to our memories.

Hey October, remember when we started off with General Conference? That was one great way to start off a month. Then, remember when Hunter finished his Eagle project?

The snowfall & freezing temps weren't very welcoming, but you ended on a high.

I really enjoyed the opportunity you gave me to teach some trainings. My grandma's birthday was a blast. The Windows 7 party offered some shockers with a set of party goers leaving as another set arrived. Fun times October.

Then there was Halloween. Aside from the wind, it was warm and sunny and full of addictive promise. All in all, you did pretty good October. I would have given you an A+ if you had found a family for our home. I guess you had to leave some fun for November! See you next year and I promise to be more on top of things and ready to decorate and celebrate.

The bird has flown the coop

I've never felt jilted having only boys. Boys are fun to raise. They are fairly easy for the most part, but there is one thing about boys that chills me to the bone. You may remember a previous post titled, "Scouts, schmouts" I wrote. For me, scouts is a pressure filled, treacherous program fill with risk taking in the hopes of attaining a badge, belt loop, knot, or some other masculine trinket.

The epitome of a true scouter is the rank of Eagle scout (do you hear the harps playing...I do). If you dare to take your boys down the path of scouting, be prepared for the wrath of eagle lovers everywhere if your child doesn't make it to eagle scout. There are whispers in the halls and the closer your son gets to the ripe old age of 18, the louder those whispers become.

Here's the deal. I don't do my children's homework. I don't hound them every second of the day about it either. I don't force them into sports. I don't force them into music. If they want to try something, I'll support them (except drugs). I don't micromanage their lives. AND...I don't do their scouts projects for them. So, I'm happy to report that Hunter, at this own direction and in his own, sweet, procrastinistic time, has completed his Eagle project with the help of some incredible people.

Throughout this journey, Hunter has had some dedicated leaders, friends and family who have been loyal to the scouting cause. I appreciate them a great deal. Yesterday it rained, thundered, lighteninged, and hailed...but the dedicated crew pushed on. Congratulations Hunter!!! I knew you could do it.

To all you all whisperers, call me later and tell me who we're whispering at next.

Slow on the get go

It's October, actually half way through October, and I just barely changed my blog appearance (as in seconds ago). I haven't put up a single decoration (packed), baked any Halloween goodies (lack of beaters), and I just started gathering Cooper's costume parts. I'm an October failure this year.

What have I done? Well, I started buying winter gear (still in storage unit) because winter came calling in a megaphone sort of way. I did hang out with a very sick Coops. Stomach flu one week, real flu the next. I did purchase more work clothes because naked isn't in this year. See, I've done things, but I sure miss doing my October things.

I've heard through the grapevine there was an open house at our Meridian home yesterday. I wonder if it's true. Last week was my parents 40th anniversary and my in-laws 44th anniversary. They are 2 couples who know how to stick together through the roller coaster of life. This week is full of crazy..which I guess is fitting for Halloween. Besides my full work week, I have 2 district trainings I'll be doing on Tuesday & Thursday evening. Then, on Saturday, Hunter and friends will be working on his Eagle project and that evening I'll be hosting my Windows 7 launch/Halloween party. The biggest event though...it's my Grandma's birthday on Thursday. Too bad I'm working a 11 hour day. I'll be sure to make it up to her the next week because I love a good birthday.


Speaking of spooky, yesterday I let Hunter go with a group of friends to Missoula to visit Brooke. This was not easy & I'm not fully convinced it was worth it yet.

ps. Did you know my sister is expecting? It's true.

I hope everyone is fully taking advantage of October to make up for my downfall.

Gingerbread personalities

Last week for family home evening, we created gingerbread people in small teams. Kelli came up with the activity and we were pretty excited to play. As we split into teams and began to build our g-people, certain personalities of team members slowly began to emerge.

Our g-people guidebook was given to us before we started our creations.

The teams were split as follows:

Hunter & Leslie
Cooper & Kurt
Mike & Gracie

Kelli was the manager of the activity and Molly was the taste tester.




Kelli handed out the bowls of frosting in the following order: 1st to Hunter & I, then Kurt & Coop & Finally Gracie & Mike.

As soon as Hunter & I received our frosting, I was ready to win. Hunter started dipping the cupcakes, but I didn't feel he was going as fast and efficiently as he could, so I took over. Hunter could care less and started eating accessories and playing with Molly. When Kurt & Coop received their frosting, it took them (Kurt) about 5 minutes to plan out what he was going to do while Cooper kept begging to get started. Mike and Gracie got their frosting and went to town, with little forethought of a final product.



If this was a timed race, Mike & Gracie would have won. They were the first to finish even though they received their frosting last. Hunter & I (basically just me) finished close behind while Kurt & Cooper (really Kurt) took forever to finish. As the leader of my team (not appointed of course), my goal was to create a gingerbread person that closely mimicked the book picture with a couple of original ideas. I think Kurt's goal was to create the most perfect frosting lines in the history of this field while making sure the accessories were symmetrical. Mike & Gracie's goal was to decorate with grandiose style, throwing anything they wanted on.

In the end I think we all accomplished our goals.

Identity Crisis

On Friday, after helping students in one of our computer labs, a student came up to me and asked if I was the "technology expert" for the middle school. Kurt happened to be visiting me at the moment, so I deflected the student toward him but it did make me wonder about my new identity as a working mom. Who am I? Last year at this time I would have quickly replied, "I'm a stay at home mom, wife and student". I'm now a mom, wife, student and teacher, but none of those labels really capture who I feel I am.

I was visiting with my Grandma and she was telling me that she can't think of one thing she is an expert of. I feel the same way. People who are true experts in their field cannot separate their identity from their expertise. They are so entwined they can't be completely distinct. Those people win the Nobel Peace Prize, have highly successful careers in the arts, are the top of their field in athletics, etc. My identity is one of a dabbler. The closest thing that defines me is my religious beliefs. They are tied to my soul and cannot be untangled. Other than that, I have a lot of things I feel comfortable with but not one thing I solely focus on. I'm okay with that.

So when people as me what I do, the list is too long to name. It's as if they are asking me to bundle all of my interests and intriques in a few short words. It just can't be done. I'll let all the experts of their fields continue to make impressive and sometimes frightening societal changes while I work in the background doing good where I can and learning from others. What do I do? I'm a dabbler. What are you?

Routine..new & old

What do frantically shopping for jeans that will fit Cooper, buying a pair of jeans for Hunter in the hopes he will wear them at least once, and traversing retail establishments looking for that last elusive pencil case have in common? It's school time again and it's bigger and better than ever.

Hunter is a senior. I think some dust just flew in my eyes. How can it be? This I know for sure: Senioritis is a real ailment and Hunter is stricken with it. On his first day of school, hold on tight people because this is going to come as a huge shock to you, he wore basketball shorts. The shorts are new. The shoes are new (as usual). The shirt...is old. He's just that kind of kid.

Cooper enters the 5th grade and we were able to enroll him in a school near my job. He has been belly aching about getting back to school all summer and I'm fairly certain he couldn't have waited a second more. He wore his new jeans and hoodie, but the shirt is older. Taking after his older brother, he'd decided the more shiny the shoe, the better.

I'm back in school with a double dose. I began my fantastic job as the Technology Instructional Coach at East Middle School and I started my new semester at BSU. I know I'm still in the honeymoon stage of my job, but I LOVE it. I move fast, really fast. Lunch lasts 10 minutes at the most. My tasks are diverse. Unfortunately, the glitz of my job has overshadowed my normal love of my grad classes. I'm delving deep to find some motivation.

Kurt, Cooper & I ride to our various locations together every day while Hunter heads to seminary (early morning for the 1st time). Gracie peeked her bright eyed head out for a goodbye on the 1st day as well. My busy life was just amped up and hopefully we, as a family, can rise to the challenge.