A Place For Everything...

What does Cam like to do on Sunday afternoons?

Organize his dresser.

I'm more of a lay-around-the-house-and-catch-up-on-television kind of gal, but who am I to say what makes the best use of time?

We have the pants and shorts...

and the shirts, stacked by brand.

The crowning top drawer glory: underwear and socks. And scout badges that wait to be stuck on a shirt or something.

That boy loves to organize!

I'm thinking of renting him out by the hour.

Double Digits

Aaron turned 10 yesterday.

He had more hair on the day he was born than he has right now. I still have that hair - along with Cam's curls and a pile of teeth - stuffed down in the bottom of my underwear drawer.





At 10, he loves Nerf guns, the trampoline, truckin' with Dad, computer games like Oblivion and Call of Duty, Drake and Josh, silly jokes and books like Ripley's Believe It or Not and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He also loves the watch he got for his birthday. It has a stopwatch feature and we now know that the opening song in Sacrament Meeting lasted 2 minutes and 36 seconds and the closing song was well over 4 minutes. Teeth brushing rounded out at a minute and thirty seconds.

He does not like waking up, showering, brushing teeth (mornings are a blast!), homework or bleu cheese. I think he'll come around on the bleu cheese.

Is it just me, or does he look like he's wearing some big fancy headdress?

He's my errand buddy, my tennis ball picker-upper, my drink getter, my foot rubber, my food taster, and the one who always remembers to say prayers - even when I'm tired and forgetful.

He's generous with compliments, enjoys using a broad vocabulary (be still, my heart!), and still lets me give him a hug and a kiss in front of the school.

Love you, Aaron! Happy Birthday!!!

There's a New Kid in Town

I know, I know...I said we wouldn't get another dog just to keep Troy company while he's out on the road.

I lied.

Only it's not really a lie if it happens to be the truth at that moment. My intention was to not get another dog (at that moment). We did not need another dog (at that moment). We were NOT getting another dog (at that moment).

The moment passed.

Meet Pippen! He's 5 years old, a Scottish Terrier/Miniature Schnauzer mix. At least that's what they tell us.

He's had a busy past few weeks. A little over a month ago, he was probably with a family and was well taken care of. We think this because he is well mannered, house-trained, knows commands, he's been neutered, etc. He's also had his voice box removed, and while we don't particularly like that it happened, it's evidence that he had people in his life.

But then he got lost. Or "let go" when his people couldn't afford him. We'll never know.

He was found wandering around and taken to a shelter where he hung out for about five days. He was adopted by a young couple and stayed with them for three weeks before they realized that they just weren't able to spend any time with him. They both worked, the man was going back to school at nights, and the woman really wasn't a dog person. Pippen was practically living in a laundry closet. And they were feeding him really cheap dog food.

Thank goodness we came along!

It's been a love at first sight kind of a thing.

Pippen's been a bit of a fixer-upper in his first two weeks with us. He had some itchy skin because of the poor quality dog food he'd been eating, but that's cleared up nicely. His initial vet check showed a few problem teeth that needed to be removed. Eating and chewing on rawhide is much nicer without the pain!


And since he was knocked out for the dentistry, I had them remove a mole from his back!. He's been sporting a little Frankenstein look.


Moles can go bad, the vet told me, become cancerous and such. Truth is, I had that mole removed because it freaked people out. It was right on his back and when people petted him they would hit that mole and pull their hand back and go "Eewwwwww! Is that a tick?"

After having that happen half a dozen times, and yes, I was a little freaked out myself, that mole was coming OFF!

He's a mellow little guy, content to just sit...

...or lie on the floor. This particular way of relaxing is a Scottie trait. And we laugh every time he does it.

All in all, Pippen's transition into our family has been perfect.

Pippen is home.

Yeah...Well...You're Short

I called over a kindergartner to read to me today. I patted the seat next to me so he'd sit down. He scrunched up his face and sighed.

"When I'm close to you it makes me very nervous."

"What? Why do I make you nervous?"

"Because you are so old."

Maybe I smell like his great-grandma?

Love my job.

Taking Precautions

...and not taking any chances.



Happy Monday morning!

At least (so far) no dogs have gotten in the way.

Just In Time For Spring

For most of last week there just didn't seem to be anything to write about. Nothing that seemed to be terribly interesting or even worth the time to write about it. Ho-hum life.

Then it changed. The house was no longer quiet, there were people coming and going, carting things out, hauling things in. Oliver not at all happy about strange men being in the house all day. It was the opposite of ho-hum.

The opposite of ho-hum cost us $4000.

'Twas the furnace.

Back on Monday, I woke up to a chillier than normal house. I like it cooler at night, but this was a bit much. If the weather had been properly warming up, I might not have noticed, but the thermostat showed under 60 degrees.

I threw some clothes in the dryer for the boys ("Hot clothes! Getcher hot clothes right here!), 'cause that would be the only way I could coax them out of bed to get ready for school. I called Troy and he led me through the steps of checking the pilot light and so forth. At first it wouldn't re-light...and then all of a sudden it did. Then the blower wouldn't come on...and then it did.

The house heated up nicely and to me that was the last I was going to think about it.

It would be like our microwave. 6 months ago if you simply shut the door and pushed start it would make a clicking sound and never heat your food. But if you SLAMMED the door, it worked fine. Then one day, and ever since, no slamming needed. Food's hot, everyone's happy, no money spent.

That's what this whole furnace thing was. A little blip that fixed itself.

Then it happened a few more times and Troy called the Action guys that were out here sometime and left a magnet on the side of the water heater. How handy.

They were scheduled to come out on Friday morning between 9 and 11, and they showed up right at 10. Oliver was not happy. They removed some panels and did what they do - I won't even try to explain it. Bottom line - the circuit panel needed to be replaced, and some other big important part of the furnace was cracking and rusting and heading south fast. Carbon-monoxide City, to be exact.

Repairing the (16 year)old furnace would cost about as much as a brand new one (after the rebates and tax refunds), so before I knew it I was applying for their 36 month payment plan. I signed on the dotted line and then they left.

They were the diagnostic and repair team. The out-with-the-old and in-with-the-new guys showed up about 45 minutes later. Again, Oliver wasn't happy.

They stayed for almost 6 hours. It wasn't until the 5th hour that Oliver accepted them and wouldn't bark at them whenever they came up the stairs or in from the garage.

I reallyreallyreallyreally dislike having workmen in my house. I don't know what to do with myself. If I stay near, do they think I don't trust them? If I go too far away, I hear "Ma'am? Ma'am?" as they try to find me.

If I go to the bathroom, will they hear me? Will they judge me for watching my shows that have been recording for the week, thinking that all I ever do is watch tv all day? How about if I sit at the computer?

Are they checking out my storage shelves and the remarkable number of boxes of tampons that I have stacked up? What did they think when they caught me standing in front of the open freezer door, eating cookie dough? When I eat lunch, do I need to offer them some?

Oh, and while I was holding it all day, they were not. One guy spent a good 20 minutes in the bathroom and I was dying. All I could imagine was that he was on the other side of the door, wrangling whatever wouldn't flush, without the aid of a plunger. And he's too embarrassed to ask for one and he has no idea that the bamboo skewers under the sink are what we use for that sort of thing.

Yes, bamboo skewers. Plungers gross me out. Skewers are long, they can rearrange or chop, whatever the need may be, there's no splashing, and they are easily disposable. Take my word for it, skewers are the way to go.

So this was my entire day. I couldn't go anywhere, couldn't do what I wanted to do, men were in the house and I had just bought a $4000 furnace - I was as big a mess as Oliver. By the time Troy showed up, I was exhausted and had emotionally eaten my way through the kitchen. I made Troy check out the bathroom before I went in.

But I guess when all is said and done (and three years of payments have passed), it's a good thing, right? New furnace, 95% efficient, lifetime warranty and lower heating costs, and that little thing about not dying in the night from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Yes, we are blessed.

But man, that was a long day.

Ho-hum really isn't all that bad.

Yeah...He's That Kid

It's the karmic circle of parenthood.

1. See others of this kind and mock them.

2. Believe that my own would never dress this way.

3. Realization and the holding of the tongue.

4. Acceptance.

5. See other people mock my son.

Cold Cereal and How My Family is Abusing It

We keep the cereal down on the bottom shelf of the closet pantry in the kitchen. We used to keep it in the two little half-cabinets above the stove until the boys were old enough to make their own bowls, and then I moved it down to where they could reach it. If they were going to eat 8 bowls a day, by golly, they could fix it themselves.


The shelf itself is pretty big, holding a 4 slice (2 that work) toaster, the canisters of regular and quick oats, a giant bag of add-water pancake mix, and a stack of plastic cereal bowls along with all the boxes of cereal.


That's right. ALL the boxes of cereal.

A dozen to be exact. All open. Some were duplicates.

When I investigated further, I found that seven of the boxes held maybe a quarter cup of cereal.




Not enough to be considered empty and thrown away, but not enough to fill a bowl either. And instead of pouring out the last few squares of Golden Grahams and then topping off the bowl from a new box, they (the kids) have been pushing the almost-but-not-quite-empty boxes to the back of the shelf and just bringing up another box from food storage.

Hence the 12 boxes of open cereal.

Do they not want to be accused of being the one who ate the last of something?

"Hey it's not all gone...saved those last 10 flakes for you!"

Do they believe the cereal "dust" is toxic?

Okay, I don't like the dust either, but now is not the time to be wasting food.

So I'm melting marshmallows and margarine and whipping up that classic after-school snack:
Rice Krispie/Cheerios/Golden Grahams/Frosted Mini Wheats/Crispix/Frosted Flakes/Cocoa Krispie/Cinnamon Life Treats.

A few extra marshmallows ought to hide all the dust.

Spring Haircut

Ollie got groomed today, and with tip and nail grinding (as opposed to just nail cutting - hey, nothing's too good for our pooch), it came to $50. Spiffy scarf and the expression of anal glands is included, and that right there makes it all worth it.

Aren't we brilliant to get a dog the EXACT same color as our carpet, so if he ever were to shed it wouldn't be very noticeable? But Schnauzers don't shed, which is one of the top reasons we got him.

That is one handsome dog, even if they did cut off a little too much of his beard.

Ollie's been having some adventures lately. He's become a part-time truck dog, traveling around with Troy in the semi. He likes sticking his head out the window, curling up on the bed for long naps, and watching the world from the front seat. Troy likes the company.

But we miss him when he's gone. We've thought about getting a second dog, one that Troy could take along all the time, but then those $50 grooming fees remind us that it's probably not the best time to own two dogs. Besides, Oliver would be sad that he wasn't the truck dog anymore.
And who would want to make this little guy sad?

Proof of Life

"Are you okay?" asked a concerned friend in an email over the weekend.

"Are you dead?" whispered Aaron's teacher from last year. She might have yelled it, but we were waiting for the temple dedication to start.

"Update your blog! I'm tired of looking at naked Cameron carving a pumpkin," demanded (nicely) another.

I guess a 4 month hiatus is long enough.

Honestly, I've been touched and even a little bit flattered that so many people care. And I'm sorry to have left you hanging back there after Halloween. I'm not really sure what happened. I think I just started feeling a little redundant.

I'd written about Thanksgiving and Christmas the year before and I didn't really have anything new to write. Life carried on. We had New Year's, Cam's 12th birthday, Valentine's, a new calling (Primary Secretary), and another shot in the foot. What more was there to say?

Not that I didn't feel guilty. Besides the occasional urging of family and friends, I knew that blogging was a record of my/our life and that it needed to continue. It was a good thing to journal our ups and downs, put up a picture or two, and connect with people.

But then a week turned into a month and that turned into two, three, and four months, and now I've got people wondering if we're even alive! Sorry about that.

We are alive. We are well. We are happy.

We are kicking back on a Sunday night.

Aaron on computer. And thank goodness for that. He's been practicing the recorder all weekend, and I am frankly all Hot Cross Bunned out. If you know what I mean.

Troy, fresh from a shower after 4 1/2 days on the road. He's relaxing with a game that has him battling Nazi Zombies. Not how I would relax, but he's pretty into it. See how he attempted a smile, yet he couldn't even take his eyes off the screen?

And here's Cam, organizing his dresser. That's just what he likes to do on a Sunday evening. Is the top of your dresser that neat? Mine isn't either. How about that haircut, folks? Scroll back down to see what it looked like in November.

Ollie, sitting in his favorite spot where he can look out the dirty window and let us know if anyone is passing by. Oliver is getting his hair cut tomorrow.

And here's my foot. Got an injection last week, and I'd like to say that it looks worse than it is, but that would be a lie. In an otherwise very blessed, busy and happy life, my foot continues to torment me. Not much has changed.

In other words, life is good.

It even felt good to blog again.

Halloween and Stuff

Pumpkin carving

(in the nude)

It's a family tradition

At least for Cam it is. I can't get that kid to wear clothes around the house for anything. Perhaps I need to turn down the thermostat?

Halloween was a little different this year: Cam officially declared his independence and went out with just his friends. I can't even tell you what they were...three guys in black robes, maybe?

Aaron (after practically fasting and praying over it) decided to go with Troy on the road. He was immensely happy, so I think he chose well. Cam generously agreed to share his loot.

But that left me, alone with Oliver, to do the whole door thing. And Oliver doesn't do well with the whole door thing. It bothers him terribly that others would dare cross our doorstep, let alone ring the doorbell. The barking can be ear piercing, but I couldn't put him away in a bedroom - he'd still hear it and that would make him anxious.

Oliver + anxiety = liquified bowels.

Yes, there is a story behind that equation. No, I won't share it. I'm still in therapy.

So it was a 2 valium night for my Ollie.

He slept soundly in his crate (in the front room with me), then he'd wake and try his best to bark whenever the doorbell sounded.

I ate candy, surfed the internet, answered the door, and occasionally called Cam to make sure he was okay. Aaron checked in every once in a while from Arizona, reporting that they were 15 miles from the border and hauling a 53 foot trailer of jalapenos. I joked that they better not crash with trucks hauling tomatoes and onions -- that would be SALSA!

Gone, gone, gone are my days of dressing my kids in adorable costumes and delighting with them in the magic of a holiday.

In reality, it's been gradual. I mean, we've lived out the same days, weeks and months that everyone else has, but it feels like I blinked and suddenly my boys are grown into pre-teen man creatures. And they don't need me so much. Certainly not to trick or treat with, or even to do the carving on the pumpkin.

Great job, by the way, my little naked carving boy

Yup, I've seen my future.

Me and my stoned dog.

Pass the candy.

Out They Go

A couple of months ago, Aaron was complaining of another sore throat. He was getting them a lot, never tested positive for strep, and with Tylenol he'd be just fine. Sinus drainage? Random topic to whine about?

Nope.

Tonsilliths. Or tonsil stones, if you prefer.

As I peered down his throat one day, I noticed a little white thing sticking out of his right tonsil. Well, that just wouldn't do, so I wrestled him to the ground, promised him money if he'd just let me "look", and then pushed on his tonsil with a Q-tip.

The white thing popped out of his tonsil and stuck to the back of his throat. Aaron was gagging as I tried to pick it up with the Q-tip and pull it out of his mouth. Success!

It was about the size of a small pea, grayish white, firm like a cottage cheese curd, and stinky. Really, really stinky.

So gross.

Soooooo cool!

I thought is was just a big ball of hardened pus, and surely there would be more...but Aaron wouldn't let me "look" again. Surprisingly, his sore throat was completely gone.

A few weeks later it happened again, and once more, it was awesomely cool. And gross and stinky.

Time to see the doctor - this had to be one horrible infection.

Saw the regular doc who sent us off to an ENT, who diagnosed Cryptic Chronic Tonsillitis - the tonsils have swiss-cheese like holes that fill up with food, bacteria, mucous, and saliva, and it gets all compacted and hard (now it's a tonsillith) and bothersome or even painful when it starts to come out. It's actually very common, and many people express their tonsils once a week or more. Sometimes the tonsillith will work its way out on its own or can be coughed out. It can cause bad breath.

Since Aaron was pretty young to be getting these, and they were causing frequent sore throats, we decided to get his tonsils out. Better at 9 than when he's older.

This is a small tonsillith - very similar to what Aaron's looked like.


And this is a really big one. You could pull that one out with tweezers.

So yesterday morning, even though I didn't have my driver's license, insurance cards or money that I could access, we headed to the hospital to have those pesky tonsils removed. Funny...my kid going in for surgery was not the most stressful part of my week.

Geez, we had to get there early: 6:30 in the morning

Glad it's not me!

Cameron being uncharacteristically helpful in getting Aaron into his gown.

Cheery yellow socks

Confident before surgery

Well, maybe just a little anxious

Then 20 minutes of surgery, an hour of recovery and he's dressed and almost ready to go home.

First, we must contemplate the popsicle.

And somehow get it to the mouth.

Home...and this is pretty much the rest of the day.

Sleep tight, Aaron.

I promise I won't let your pain meds run out before I give you the next dose.

There's No Witty Title Because I'm Still In Shock

Just when I think there's nothing going on in my life that's blog-worthy...life sort of rears up and smacks me upside the head. Hard.

When we walked out of church last Sunday, this is what greeted us:

And this:

Before the broken glass littered the inside of my car, my purse was cleverly (so not!) concealed inside a jacket, tucked halfway under the seat, and a magazine and a sunshade were tossed on top. You know, so it just looks like I have a messy car, and not a purse full of things that ought to be stolen.

I wasn't fooling anyone, especially not the low-life, scumbags who decided to pull the ol' Smash-n-Grab on me. In the church parking lot, no less!

Church gets out at 2. Troy, unable/unwilling to use the facilities at the church, drove home during the last meeting and returned at about 1:50. He went inside and was talking with our home teacher - in the foyer. If he'd turned around, he might have seen them. At 2:05 ('cause we aren't ones to linger longer) we walked out and saw the glass, the open glove box and center console, the missing purse and (yes, it gets even worse) the missing house keys!!!!!

Seriously, did they follow him into the parking lot and simply watch him go inside?

More people came out and stood with me, sharing in my shock and anger. Police were called. A neighbor drove Troy home so he could get our cell phones. Troy announced that he was going to Walmart to see if they were shopping for electronics and drove off while I waited for the police - he wasn't thinking clearly, just that HE MUST STOP THEM!!!!!!!

A kind ward member gently pointed out that Troy ought to call the credit card company and stop them from that end instead of tackling random people at Walmart. I called him, he went home and called our bank. I only had one major credit card and one debit card (same bank), so that went pretty smoothly.

They'd already been to Walmart and charged $115.30 and they were trying to buy gas at a Holiday when the card got cancelled. They were fast, organized, and they knew right where to go: Walmart - with those lovely self-check registers.

The police came and took our statements and a list of things that were in the purse. He went off to do his thing and then we went back to our now unsecured home to take care of things on our end. We're still not done.

• House re-keyed on a Sunday: $180
• New mailbox lock/driving to post office to get new key: $15
• New driver's license: $18 - haven't done this yet
• Ordering new cards from credit union
• File fraud report with credit union
• Cancel Kohls card
• Call insurance company and order new cards
• Call auto glass people and wait an entire day for them to fix my window. But let's hear it for full glass coverage!
• Call Equifax and other credit reporting agencies to put a fraud alert on my life. Side note: the guy at Equifax sounded exactly like Balki from Beverly Hills Cop. It made me giggle.

It's just all so irritating and time consuming. It takes forever to call some of these places because everything is in English and Spanish, and I had to navigate through the phone system, hoping that I could somehow just push #7 and speak to a real person. Waiting for the glass people was the biggest pain. Even though we specifically asked and begged them to put us at the top of the list so I could get new bankcards and a new license, when the guy finally showed up, he told me that he saved me for last because he lives close by. Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh!!!

The inconveniences are overwhelming. Aaron was getting his tonsils out today and the hospital needed me to bring my driver's license, insurance cards, and some money. Sorry...I don't HAVE any of those things anymore. The post office wants ID before they will give me a new mail key. The bank wants ID before I withdraw anything. Albertson's wants ID before they give me a new Fresh Values card, Sam's Club, the pharmacy, everyone. Oh yeah...it's all about the picture ID, unless you steal someone's credit card -- then by all means, shop away...no one's gonna stop you.

Okay, just a few more rants, on a minor scale.

It was a good purse. Not too big, not too small, with all the features I want and none that I don't need. It was brown with some leopard fabric accents, little end pockets for a cell phone, secret zippered pouch for tampons, perfect length straps...I really liked this purse. Gone. Perfect wallet...gone.

Last Christmas I splurged and bought myself some lovely lip glosses from Bath and Body Works. Chocolate Mint and Peppermint Shimmer - both with peppermint oil to plump the lips and taste yummy. Gone.

Gift cards and refund cards to Kohls, Barnes and Noble, Seagull Book and Tape, Subway and Cafe Rio. Gone.

Cute little mint tins, one with mints, the other with Tylenol and Excedrin. Mirror, gum, my favorite pen, temple recommend...gone.

I have ipod shame now - because it wasn't stolen. It was practically like they put it back. What...my little shuffle isn't good enough for you?

But, there is a bright side. Really.

I did not have my social security card in my purse. Or my check book. Not that I could write a check without my ID. I only had one credit card with me. We found out fast and were able to stop them before any more damage was done. Our cell phones weren't in the car. Troy was home when this all happened. There wasn't any cash in my purse. Good friends and neighbors stood with us, called to check on us, and generally made us feel loved.

Troy has every right to say I told you so - he has asked me again and again not to leave my purse in the car. I would just brush it off and explain that I "hid" my purse. He hasn't said a word about it. Not one. Good guy, that Troy.

That very day, I taught a lesson in Primary about Mormon witnessing the downfall of the Nephites. It went on and on about how the cities were full of robbers and people with no conscience. Nothing was safe. If it could be stolen, it was.

I think I prefer my object lessons a little less real.

A Few Weeks Ago On TV

Like pretty much everyone else, we couldn't get enough of the Olympics. Even the computer games were turned off as we watched together - perfect family entertainment.

Favorite things...

• anything with Michael Phelps
• women's beach volleyball
• anything with Michael Phelp's mother
• synchronized diving
• this picture of Michael Phelps

• teaching Aaron to "do the Michael Phelps"

• gymnastics
• oh, just everything
• but mainly Michael Phelps

Swim lessons for everyone!

Back In School

I started back to school at the end of July, but the boys didn't start until the middle of August. I made them practice reciting the fun things that we did over the summer, just in case a teacher asked them what they did. I didn't want them saying "Played computer games."

Not that they didn't spend quite a few hours on the computer, I just wanted their teachers to know that I tried to make the most of the six weeks that we had.

First Day of School 2008

You are correct, the fourth grader is now officially taller than the sixth grader.

So it's back to early mornings, cold or hot?, deodorant?, backpacks, did you brush your teeth?and hurryhurryhurry. Four weeks into the school year now and things are going great. Both kids have teachers that they really like, not a huge amount of homework, and going to bed earlier hasn't even been a problem. Whew!

This is Cam's last year in elementary. How crazy is that?

Almost as crazy as these two...

First Day of School 2004

Love you guys...have a great school year!