Nuggets--literally--of thought

Well, I am a ward widow again today. Burke is gone with the youth to youth conference. He is in charge of planning and organizing it. The interesting thing is, we are leaving for my family reunion tomorrow, and youth conference doesn't end until Saturday. Burke made the only choice he could (and remain married) by coming to the reunion and letting the youth conference leaders finish it out on their own. The reunion has been planned for two years, and youth conference has only been planned for about 5 months. Besides, family is supposed to win out right?
Because of my widow state, I thought it would be lots of fun to take the kids to the splash pad again today. We were there for all of 10 minutes when all "heck" broke loose. Kade was running around (after I told him not to) and fell and skinned his knees and elbows. Annika was walking but not paying attention and ran into another little girl who was running (I am sure she wasn't listening to her mom either). Annika sustained most of the impact to her nose and it began to bleed which in turn led to a bout of hysterical crying and dramatic screaming. After I calmed Annika down, Adrienne chose that moment to answer the call of nature and pooped in her swimming "soup"(as she calls it). That was the last straw! We decided to leave and try again another day.
The interesting thing is that in all of this, I was able to make a spiritual point. Kade was lamenting his poor skinned knees and bleeding elbows (he had to emphasize the bleeding portion--at our house we had to make a rule that you aren't allowed to cry unless you are bleeding). I was giving him a lecture that it happened because he was running around after I told him not to. I asked him why he thought I didn't want him to run (I guess this may have been rhetorical, I was a little frustrated). Did he think I just didn't want him to have fun? (Rhetorical again). No, it was because I knew what could happen to him, and I didn't want him to get hurt. I was impressed to tell them that Heavenly Father gives us rules to live by as well, and if we follow them, life will be easier because we can avoid some things that are painful.

Weekending

We have been very busy trying to get in the last of the summer fun. We took the opportunity to go to the drive in on Friday night to see Wall-E and Journey to the Center of the Earth. I liked Journey better. I don't go to movies to be preached to. By coincidence at the movie, we had the opportunity to park right next to the insurance salesman who tried to rip us off a couple of weeks ago. It was a little uncomfortable, as his wife was shooting daggers at us with her eyes. Once the movie started, we munched happily on the candy purchased with the money we had to yell at him to give back.
Saturday we went to visit Burke's parents and see the new babies born three weeks ago. It was so fun to hold them and love them and give them back to their parents. I don't miss the baby thing much. Burke, on the other hand was reminiscing about how wonderful babies are all the way home. Burke's brother and his wife blessed their baby at Burke's parents home so that Burke's dad would be able to participate. It was really nice to see everyone and visit. Adrienne and her cousin of the same age were inseparable the whole evening. We are looking forward to doing it all over again when his other brother and his wife bless their baby in September.
I gave my lesson on Sunday, gratefully getting it out of the way for this month. I didn't know the Stake Relief Society presidency was coming for class beforehand, but that is probably good. It would have just made me more nervous. Now, on to August...my next lesson will happen when school is starting!!! Yay!!!

At the parade

We headed to the parade on Thursday morning. I rousted the kids out of bed as early as I dared for a good spot, but unfortunately we ended up being in the very hot sun for most of the parade. The kids were fine as long as the candy was forthcoming from the parade people, but as soon as the supply dried up, they were ready to go.This picture is of Adrienne crying to leave with red hot cheeks. We were all overheated, but made it until the end. The girls really enjoyed the marching bands and got their groove on when they came by. This is a movie of their moves, but I couldn't get it to flip right side up. It was too funny to leave out, and just demonstrates their personalities so much.

Helpers

The kids went out to pick raspberries the other day. Adrienne came in with a big smile from ear to ear.
"Daddy will be so happy", she said.
We all know how much he loves home grown tomatoes.

That's Not Right

I am a talk radio junkie. I admit it. However, the other day I got sick of hearing about the war, gas prices and the election and decided to flip through stations on the radio (FM band!). I found an oldies station that was playing 80's music! I was happy to hear it again, but quite disgusted that that good stuff is now considered oldies. My kids were shocked that I knew the words to music other than Primary songs and the Little Mermaid soundtrack.
I decided that I would like to bring back the great eighties and put some music on my blog. If you were raised in the 80's, grab your denture cream and cane and enjoy!

Starting Over

I used to go and exercise at the rec center every day...until school got out and then it became too difficult to referee between all the kids while I was trying to keep my heart rate up. Usually, the only thing to go up was my blood pressure, so I stopped going for the summer but then my weight went up. Bummer.
Today I decided to bite the bullet and try to get back to the gym. I went again for the first time in over a month. It felt like I had never been there at all! So frustrating.
I was encouraged by the realization of how far I had come before school got out. I got tired today after doing about a third of what I normally did before. The discouragement came with the realization that I had to start all over again. I am hoping it will come back faster this time though.
Even if it takes longer, I think that exercising helps my mood and patience, so I will try to tough it out until school starts again and I can go sans kids, or at least with only Adrienne.

We made it!

We finished the ward widow weekend with some Karate lessons, school clothes shopping, eating lunch in the park, and more Karate lessons. The kids think I am pretty boring.
Burke finally came home all in one piece, and thankfully, all of us were in one piece as well. It sounds like Burke really had a lot of fun despite having only four boys show up. (Again with the did they reaaaaaalllllly neeeeeed youuuuuu?) They bonded, fished, and ate like kings. He came home sunburned and smelling of campfire, so that is considered a good trip, right?
We were very happy to have him home, especially the kids. They loved him and kissed him and complained to him about how boring mom is. I was just glad they were complaining to someone else besides me.
I have to say how grateful I am that I am not a single parent. You would have to have the patience of Job, and I definitely don't.
This picture is of Adrienne getting her hair done for church on Saturday night. She doesn't like rollers much.
If you could see her pajama top in the picture it says "Miss Independent" on it. She lived up to it today in Sacrament Meeting. At the end of the meeting, when it was time for the closing prayer, I reminded all of the kids to fold their arms in preparation for the prayer. Adrienne perked up and proclaimed that it was her turn to say the prayer. I hurriedly told her that someone else was going to pray, but she was adamant. As the sister in our ward began to pray, you could hear Adrienne, "DEAR HEAVENLY FATHER....THANK YOU FOR THIS DAY!"

Kung Fu Fighting

I have been neglecting my blog in favor of reading a new book by Lyn Hamilton. I love her stuff. Anyway, I finally finished it, so I need to catch up.
Last Friday, Burke and I took the kids to a rodeo that is an annual tradition on Burke's side of the family. The kids absolutely loved it. It was really fun, especially seeing all the aunts and uncles that we only see once a year. Burke's Aunt Lana kept the kids well supplied with candy throughout the evening, so they were quite happy with the rodeo experience in general.
In other news, we have been busting at the seams around here with babies. Burke's older brother's wife had a new baby last week, Burke's younger brother's wife had her baby, my younger sister is due in a few weeks, and I found out that my older sister is expecting as well! I say keep them coming, there is nothing sweeter than a new baby. Congratulations to all the expecting and new moms and dads.
This week has held the anticipation of Burke going on a camping trip with the scouts. They are heading to the Uintas to eat, fish, eat, bond, and eat some more. After much questioning in what may be called a bit of a whiny tone (But whyyyyyyyy do you have to goooooooo, do they reaaaaaaally neeeeeeed youuuuuu?) I was told the purpose of the trip is to allow the boys to bond together and with their leaders. I guess I didn't realize that teenage boys were capable of bonding.
So, while Burke is busy bonding, I am busy trying not to go crazy with the knowledge that I have four kids 24/7 for a few days. Things didn't get off to a very good start when Annika woke up this morning and saw Burke was packing for a camping trip that didn't include her. Her tender feelings were quite stricken, and she cried and pouted for at least an hour after he left. I had finally had enough of the bickering and took them all to see Kung-Fu Panda this afternoon. I must say I think I liked it even better than the kids did. It was hilarious. Kade, of course had to pick out the moves he knew, while Annika decided she had just had a primer and was now a black belt. She was doing Kung Fu all the way out to the parking lot.
One day down, two to go...

Splash Down

I took the kids to the splash pad the other day. We had a lot of fun and got a chance to cool down, since it has been so hot. Nathan and Adrienne played the whole time in the water, but Annika and Kade were a little wimpy and had to keep wrapping up in their towel because they were so cold.
Nathan enjoyed being able to legitimately squirt people with water
Adrienne pretended she was in the shower
Here is Kade for the short while he got wet
And Annika found the only mud puddle around for miles and promptly fell into it

Mini-Vacations

This week was lots of fun. We took an impromptu vacation to stay at Burke's parents' timeshare. We found lots of things to do there, especially catching up on relaxing. There was a beautiful pool and some hot tubs as well as some outdoor activities. The best thing was that the boys had their own room with their own TV, which meant that the kids woke up and watched TV for a while before they came to wake up Burke and I claiming they were half-starved. I also got to do some back to school shopping for the kids (oh yeah, we are counting down).
In other news this week, Kade advanced to a Little Dragons Purple Belt. He was thrilled and is eagerly awaiting his Black Belt which he is sure will be coming up very soon. His karate teachers want to try something new with the kids, called sparring. If you know what that is, you might be a little worried. The kids basically fight each other. The point is to teach them how to use the things they have learned in class in a practical application. In order to spar, however, you must have protective gear which includes a helmet, mouthguard, mits, and foot coverings. Boys also need an extra piece of gear, which Kade didn't quite know what to make of.
This is Kade getting his new belt in the little ceremony they do for the kids who advance.