Going Home is never the fun part. It's always sad to realize that vacation is coming to an end for another year. I'm pretty sure these faces are the proof.
But like any good vacation, there is always the aftermath. A few miles down the road from camp and the kids had crashed. They were so tired. But it also means they had a great time!
Each day, we planned a craft for the kids. Friday was my day and we did tie-dye t-shirts. They turned out really well, even if it was a lot of work.
Each night, those who had the energy stayed up and played spoons. It is violent and vicious and competitive--so players beware!
Here are Cory's parents with all 13 of their granchildren (there is also one on the way next month.)
Here Cory and Elise are taking a break from swimming. It had been chilly and overcast most of the day, but finally warmed up and turned out to be a really nice day for the water park.
Merry Grace tried on my hat. The water really was too cold for her to do much more than wade around in, but she had fun anyway.
Elise enjoys standing under the buckets that fill up with water and spill over on you. BRRRRR!!!!
Cory and Uncle Neal took turns pretending to be "sharks" and chased after the little swimmers. They would swim from the edge to this island, screaming and shrieking, but loving to be chased the whole time.
Ian jumping off the edge. He and Elise were like little fish out there. Thank goodness for water wings. =)
One of the highlights of the week was the sandy soil all around for the kids to play in. They built sand castles, dug holes, and had all sorts of imaginations out there.
This is one cute baby. What more can I say?
Ian liked the handicapped shower stall in the bath house, mainly because he like washing off with the "telephone." =)
Every time Elise wrapped up in a towel after swimming in the lake, she would take off running, yelling, "Superwoman." Here she is with Katie and Emmy.
Because there were so many of us at camp, we didn't have to cook every day. We ended up having to cook one day plus one meal. Here is Cory doing perfectly browned grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast.
Here is Elise at the lake. You can only imagine what happened next. =)
Here are four of the girls, posing for the camera. =) Kyleigh, Emmy, Katie, & Elise
Vacation was a great time to catch up on some sleep. Lucky for Merry Grace, Cory was willing to put the baby down for a nap. ;)
I brought glow bracelets for the kids each night. It was so cute to see them running around camp, glowing up a storm.
Merry Grace enjoyed everything, too. She really liked digging in the sand, especially since the water was a little chilly.
Last week we went on vacation with Cory's family. It's at a campground complete with cabins, bathhouse, and mess hall. We spend the week at the lake, the nearby water park, doing crafts, and just being together. It is lots of fun for everyone.
This is Elise walking down the dock. We walked down there our first night at camp. It is so relaxing an peaceful.
Here are most of the kids from camp. After we grown-ups tired of chasing kids down the dock, preventing them from falling in, and a couple of almost heart attacks from a few near-misses, we corralled the kids here for a picture. =)
Sarah, Elise, and Katie--Elise with her cousins from the bayou. Being with family is what this vacation is all about.
What a mess this baby is!!! She's too adorable. She loved the independence of camp and being able to chase after the big kids. She really didn't realize that she was a little bitty thing.
We went to the lake every day. It was beautiful weather, even a little cool for summer. But not too cool for the kids to jump right and and get down to the fun!
Here are some pictures from around our house this week. This first one is of Ian. This is why boys are great. He helped me with some cleaning around the house--like spraying out the trashcans, cleaning the dustpan off, and other dirty jobs. But he was so helpful and had a blast in the process. After he would clean out one thing he would come back and say, "Mommy, I need something else to wash!"
Here are Elise and Ian with there bargain bubble guns. They work really well and they had soooooo much fun. Merry Grace thought it was pretty neat, too.
This is a new sign Elise has on her bedroom door. She made it all by herself. I'm pretty sure it's directed at either Ian or I, but I'm not sure which. It's so cute and funny. And doesn't she have nice handwriting? =)
Here is my dress-up queen. If she finds an item of clothing around, she must have it on. Here she is in a pair of Elise's panties, over her shorts. And she is so pleased with herself. Yesterday for a while she wore a bathing suit over her entire outfit. It makes her happy and I think she can pull it off. =)
Here is a video of Ian singing the verse from Book of Mormon stories called, "Samuel was a Lamanite." I've included the translation below, since that makes it even cuter. =)
Samuel was a Prophet-ary
with Samuel was a on the city wall.
Arrows could not hit him
For of God was he.
In the God, In the land,
Righteously!
The other night I fixed corn on the cob for supper. The kids devoured it, even Merry Grace who I thought was going to gnaw through the cob. After we ate, we went outside to play and Merry Grace carried her cob out with her to munch on.
Ever the one to share, she gave Max a little snack while she took a break. This is pretty typical. Whatever food she is eating, she will usually pass off a few bites to her four-legged buddy. This time it just seemed she was doing it somewhat unknowingly.
But why let it go to waste? A few doggy kisses on your corn never hurt anyone. =)
This spring I planted my garden, as I've done to varying degrees each year. Its ranged from a tomato plant in a pot on the porch to a nicely tilled bed of weeds, to a full-fledged garden. This season's attempt appears the most promising yet. I've diligently tilled, planted, weeded, and watered my little garden and the beginnings of vegetables have appeared. There are quite a few green tomatoes, six or seven baby crookneck squashes, and sevearl othere veggies well on their way. I even have a row of herbs, which has been fun. Last night I was making fajitas and the kids and I went out the garden and gathered an herb cocktail to season the chicken and peppers. There are still many months to go. I can only hope it pans out as well as it appears right now.
With Mother's Day being this past weekend, the topic of motherhood has been on my mind quite a bit. Ian has this lovely habit of stripping down completely nude when he needs to poopy. So he sits on the toilet, naked as a jaybird, and while he does his business he stuffs as much toilet paper as he can down the toilet. Unfortunately, this is not a single event, but a pattern. If the job is a quick one, we can avoid a clogged pipe. If not, well, you can imagine what happens. So on Saturday, I responded to the call of "MOOOOOOOMMY, I'm dooooooone." When I got to the bathroom, there was my little boy in nothing but his birthday suit, sitting on a virtual mountain of TP. Since we have had the conversation about why this isn't a good idea multiple times and had had several incidents where I was sure he had learned his lesson, I was extremely frustrated to find all the toilet paper on the roll filling up the toilet. Becuase playing in the toilet isn't high on my list of fun things to do, I quickly lifted Ian off the toilet and had him do the dirty work. Apparently, stuffing the toilet full is more fun than cleaning it out, so at one point I was holding Ian's arms, using them as, sort of, salad tongs, (sorry for the visual) to lift the paper out of the toilet and drop it into the trash can. Mama (who was down for the weekend) walked by in the midst of all this and said, "When you dreamed of being a Mother, is this what you imagined you'd be doing?" We had a good laugh over it, but it got me to thinking.
I had lots of lofty goals and ideals about what motherhood was going to be like for me. I pictured happy, lovely, healthy children; a clean house; peaceful, nutritious, enthralling dinners; enriching conversations with my husband, and educational moments with my children. I never imagined the many daily tasks for which there would be no obvious reward. Humanity will never praise me for having my three-year-old clean out the toilet by himself. Most days have some combination of sick or dirty children, at least one or two disagreements among the siblings, meals are often hot dogs (with ketchup being the vegetable of choice), the laundry (dirty and clean) piles up, as do the dishes. And if Cory and I have time at the end of the day to watch one episode of "The Newlywed Game" then we feel that we've had quality time together. =) As I type this, Ian is hard at work spitting down the air conditioning vents while Merry Grace looks on, and Elise is holed up in her room because Ian was aggravating her. No one is going to applaud most of the things that fill up my day.
Even having said that, I wouldn't trade this job for anything else in the world. The hugs from my kids, the ability to be there for all their milestones (even the ones that involve poop and other fun stuff), the thrill of seeing them grow and develop into these amazing little people. When they "get" something that I've been trying to explain to them or when they finally accomplish something they've been working on--it's wonderful and beautiful and fulfilling. Being able to rejoice with them in their many triumphs--for their triumphs are mine as well--is what makes me so humbled to be able to be a mom. Their mom. I love them with a ferocity I could never have imagined, in all my dreams of being a mother. It is the hardest, most demanding, challenging, all-encompassing job I've ever considered. There are days I need a pep talk and days I wonder what in the heck I'm doing. But even in all that, I can't imagine any place I'd rather be than wrapped up in a tight hug from one of my babies.
So I guess several of you have seen the new look, based on the comments. It's only been 2 1/2 years with the same layout, so I thought I would update. Heaven forbid, I should rush into things. =) Unfortunately, I'm not a computer whiz and formatting and HTML is right over my head. So there are some layout things I would play around with, were I to know how to do it. As it is, this is the best I can do. I didn't want to change it unless I found something I really loved. When I found this, I felt like it was my old format, only better! So there you go. I have two funny videos from Elise's birthday I want to post, as soon as they are finished uploading to google videos. We doing good, just busy. Take care, everyone!
...as only a boy can do. The other day at Wal-Mart, Ian and I were in the garden section, looking for vegetables for the garden. One minute I'm debating tomatoes, whether to go with Early Girls or Big Boys, the next minute I see Ian peeing down a drainage grate, next to the vegetable stand. I couldn't believe it! I should've known, though--that boy can & will pee any time, any place!
The next story is from the camping trip he and Cory went on this weekend. Apparently he was quite intrigued by the port-a-johns. Not only were there lots of them, but there were different colors. At first he would pee in the woods, but once he made a trip to the port-a-john, it was all over. He LOVED it! He kept wanting to try out the different colored ones, like there might be something different about them. I suspect someday that will change....
My goodness! Has another week come and gone already? I feel that I am on a wild circus ride. Life these days is busy, busy, busy. My calling is by far the most demanding I have ever experienced. A lot of that is due to the sheer number of sisters involved. There are just sooooooo many people. There are so many meetings, so many tasks to remember to see about, so many needs to be met. It can be a little--ok, quite--daunting and overwhelming. That being said, I can see Heavenly Father's hand in almost everything I do. I can literally feel myself being lifted up when I am tired, to be able to take care of what needs to be taken care of. Somehow I am able to meet demands that I never thought I could. I never want to lose that feeling. Speaking of all things Relief Society (these days I wonder if there is anything else), we had a fun activity last night. This month the YW have been paired up with RS sisters, with the RS being secret sisters to the YW. It has been super fun and I feel like it was a wonderful bonding activity for all involved. Last night was the culmination with everyone finding out who was who. Really fun.
Our AC messed up again. If any of you have followed my life at all, I am beginning to wonder if a broken AC is just the curse of my life. In running back over the years in my mind, we are approaching the 8th summer that Cory and I have been married. I can only recall one summer without any AC problems and I'm sure if I could remember things more clearly, there must have been something to happen that year. Could we possibly have had one summer without AC trouble? Anyway, it was 85 degrees in the house today--with windows open and fans blowing. Hopefully we will be on to cooler times soon. =) Thankfully it is only April.
We've had a field trip for Elise, her spring festival, t-ball games, piano lessons, RS meetings, and a few other odds and ends since I last wrote. But we're doing well. We're all reasonably healthy, definitely happy, and just hanging on for dear life. If you follow the link for "Barnett Bunch Pictures" on the side of the blog, you can find the latest pictures of the family. The last two albums are the most up-to-date.
Easter completely snuck up on me this year. It's not like we didn't talk about it or think about or send things to Elise's school for the holiday. I guess I really thought the Easter bunny was going to deliver the stuff this year. Usually we do our big celebration on Saturday morning so we have more time, so we can spend Sunday doing more of the spiritual stuff, and so we can cut down on the sugar rush that the primary presidency has to deal with by getting the chocolate in on Saturday. But this year, all of a sudden it was Saturday evening and we still hadn't even gotten so much a a few pieces of candy. Cory went out for an emergency run that night, but after he got home I realized I had left a few important things off his list....like plastic eggs for one. Every year we hide eggs throughout the house or in the yard so that the kids can have an easter egg hunt provided by the Easter bunny, first thing in the morning. A little hard to do without eggs, though. But it was already late and we were scrambling, so we just went with what we had. Elise woke up early and walked into the living room where I was and sort of looked around, a little puzzled. Finally she asked, "Did the Easter Bunny hide our eggs?" Boy did I feel rotten. I tried to explain it away, and she accepted it, but she was obviously disappointed and I was feeling like a loser. =) So we just did things "better late than never". Monday afternoon brought a letter from the Easter Bunny, apologizing to the kids for leaving their eggs at the wrong house & asking their permission to leave eggs for them that night. The kids were really excited, left lettuce and water out for the Easter Bunny, hunted their eggs the next morning and just had a ball. So all was well and all was forgiven.
I went in last week for Elise's parent/teacher conference. Elise got fabulous comments from her teacher, so indulge me in a little "my child is the most wonderful person in the world" moment. =) Elise's reading, writing, and mathematical ability are well into the first grade range. Some of her strengths are vocabulary--using, understanding and being able to spell lots of words. She's also very good at sounding out words that she doesn't know how to spell. Patterns, sorting, and organization are other things she excels at. She's a great independent worker and is a good friend who is able to play and work with everyone in the class. She has super neat handwriting and her teachers use her work very often as examples to show the rest of the class what to do. She's just an all-around good kid who her teacher and classmates love.
Of course, I wasn't at all surprised to hear the good comments from her teacher. I see those kinds of things in Elise at home too. She's a wonderful big sister, often helping wash, dress, or play with Merry Grace. Ian, of course, adores her as well, and partly at least because she is good to include him in what she does and teach him things, too. She's so sweet and tenderhearted and sometimes prays that she will "always be a peacemaker". She's just a joy to have in our home and our family is happier when she is around. We are so blessed to have her as part of our family.
Sometimes the way the day starts out just doesn't bode well for the rest of the day. This morning was one of those times. It was cool and rainy here, so everyone slept in a little bit. I was finally woken only to realize that the little boy sleeping next to me had had an accident and I was soaking wet from about the waist to the knee, give or take a little. I jumped up and realized that I needed to let Max out. I walked straight to the backdoor, but I got there--only to step in a puddle of dog pee. Apparently our sleeping in had thrown Max off his schedule as well. So within the first five minutes of being awake I gotten into two instances of pee. You just wonder if maybe you should climb back into bed and just start over. =)
With Merry Grace being sick this week, housekeeping has pretty much gone to pot. I got an email today with a couple of quotes that describe perfectly how I'm feeling about whipping the house into shape.
"My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first one being -- hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint. " -Erma Bombeck-
"I'm not going to vacuum until Sears makes one you can ride on." -Roseanne Barr-
And with that, wish me luck!
That's what we've been this last week. Actually we've all been healthy except Merry Grace. She started getting sick last Wednesday, having diarrhea twice. That night she just didn't seem like herself, but slept well. Thursday she wasn't top notch, but nothing obvious as to why she didn't feel good. I took Elise to the dr. for a double ear infection (which she had) and while he was examining her Merry Grace threw up all over herself and me and the floor. What a mess. She threw up again in the dr.'s office and at least three more times in the car and once when we got home. Although by the end, there just wasn't much left to come up. She slept well again, but threw up first thing Friday morning. She went the rest of the day Friday without vomiting, as well as all day Saturday, but you could tell she still didn't feel good. She wasn't happy and playful and just wanted to be held. Then Sunday morning started off with her throwing up again two or three times and then several times that afternoon, and then a couple of times in the middle of the night. But so far she hasn't done it again since then. She actually started smiling and playing a little bit last night and some this morning, so I'm hoping she's on the mend. Its been a hard week for all of us. And yet, thankfully, no one else has gotten whatever horrible bug she had. I can't imagine all or a couple of the kids having that at the same time--or heaven forbid--one of us. I don't know how we would have taken care of everything. So we are certainly grateful for that and are hopeful that MG has seen the last of this yucky bug!
As Elise was getting ready this morning, she said something funny. She had taken a shower and gotten dressed, but her hair was still wet, so I was going to wrap it in a towel while she ate breakfast. I started to reach for a white towel that was on her rocking chair, but she said, "Hey! That's not the towel I was using!" She was right, so I reached for the pink striped towel she'd used after her shower. Once again, Elise yelled, "Not that one! Its got boogers on it! I wiped my boogers on it!" For some reason it struck me as really, really funny. Thank goodness we caught it before she had to use the booger towel. =)
Yesterday wasn't a good day for the Barnett kids. It started in the morning with Merry Grace hitting her cheek on Elise nightstand. She was sitting on Elise's bed with me while I was helping Elise get ready for school. She slipped and caught the corner of it and it left a pretty good bruise. Poor kid.
Then Ian was trying to jump up and get the helium balloon string when he fell and cut his forehead (right above his eyebrow) on a stool. It bled a lot. From the time he fell to the time he could walk the few feet over to me, the blood had run down his face, dripped down his arm and tummy, and was making droplets on the floor as he walked. It was a mess. I debated on whether to take him to get stitches, but in the end decided he would be ok. The trauma of "unnecessary" stitches might be worse than the wound itself. Its a pretty good cut, but he's going to be ok. =)
What a day!
Ian got a tick on him one day this week. While he was using the bathroom (in his-stark-naked-sitting-on-the-john-position), I heard him yell, "Mama! What is this?" Of course, my immediate thought is, "I don't even want to know..." I went in there to find him pointing at what, from a distance, appeared to be a freckle. But upon closer inspection I discovered it was a very small tick. I think it was crawling when he first saw it, but when i got there it was either trying to attach or already attached. We got it off quickly and disposed of it. Its a little worrisome because if it were a deer tick, they are the kind that carry lyme disease, so that gives me something extra to worry over. But then again, I'm pretty good at it, so why not?
Elise is playing t-ball. There are 9 girls on her team, 5 of which are in primary with her. Its so cute. All of the 5 are girly-girls, but they are having fun. And they love being together. It will be interesting to see how they do. The last time we did t-ball, it was more of an instructional thing. Once, Elise and her cousin Emmy were put on opposite teams, with Emmy batting and Elise between first and second base. When Emmy rounded first, she saw Elise standing there, stopped, and had a nice chat. All the while coaches were screaming, "Run!!!" which of course neither girl heard because they were too busy catching up on things. Cory is helping coach, so Elise loves that. This past weekend they got to try hitting the ball out of the pitching machine. Elise was the only one of the girls to be able to do it. Such a proud moment for all of us.
Merry Grace is as cute and sweet as ever. She did something funny tonight. She had on a skirt, but no bloomer, which turned out to be a problem. You see, she's a pro at diaper removal. So, unbeknownst to us, she took off her diaper, peed all over the floor and herself, and then let us know how disgusted she was with the whole situation. (I'm pretty sure she thought it was all our fault.) It was so silly, though. She's a charmer, though. That little smile could win anyone over.
here is the list of things i would love to do right now, but just don't have the time.
1. read a good book
2. sew a dress (i have the pattern and the fabric). its for me and it would be cute.
3. plan and plant my garden. it needs tilling again and some fertilizer, too. i may need a few planters (meaning containers) for a couple of things.
4. remove my nail polish. it looks like it will just wear off, instead.
5. scrapbook a page or two in each of my kids books.
6. go for a bike ride
7. just sit on the porch for a while. just sit anywhere, actually...but especially outside. it is beautiful today. i did open this windows, but it seems that may be as close as i get today.
8. watch a couple of the shows i've recorded. i have a house i want to see and maybe an american idol...
9. plant some flowers. its still a little early for lots of things, but i might be able to put some in pots...if i had the time.
10. play the piano
so there you have. here is my list of things i NEED to do, but will probably only have time to do 25-50% of these.
1. laundry--and lots of it.
2. sweep and mop. that's 2, but they sort of go together.
3. vacuum
4. clean off the top of the TV cabinet
5. change all the sheets on the beds and wash them
6. clean off my sink
7. organize some clothes
8. dishes
9. organize & clean in the laundry room
10. straighten my cabinets. i have lots of new tupperware that need some order and control
the good news is, i have done several important things and accomplished a few other things to boot. i've done some good things. just don't look at my house. or the closets filled with things i would like to do.
in other news, enrichment was a success last night. a great activity, at least as far as i could see. good ideas, good companionship, good fun. i had my second meeting with the outgoing RS president. (i'm still calling her that b/c she's not going to be gone until i get a little more information out of her. =) we're still not done, but we're getting there. she is so patient and helpful. i will be forever grateful for her patience and help. there are sisters in our ward who are so good. one jumped in last night and vacuumed for us after the event. it was a little thing, but was so helpful and kind. especially b/c i know she is busy and has tons to do, but took time for that. and i got wind she did it for me. can there be anything kinder? everyone has been so supportive, that i have been truly overwhelmed. this time in a good way. =) i'm feeling more like i belong in this role, although when i introduce myself to a new sister as the new relief society it feel very foreign and sounds foreign to hear those words coming out of my mouth. all things in time, i guess.
I'm pretty sure I should be in bed right now, so instead of going off to do that, I'm going to take a minute to type on my blog!
What a couple of days its been! I think I'm been thrown into my new role with full force. Last night I got word that one of our elderly sisters had been taken to the intensive care unit at the hospital and then tonight I got the call that another one of our sister's house had burn down. No way to ease into things that way is there?
I feel like this week I will be immersed in Relief Society, but maybe by next week I can come up for air. I spent this morning visiting with the outgoing president to get things in order. And the week just continues on from there. Elise also had dance and t-ball today, so its made for quite the hectic day and night.
Well, I'm off to bed. I'm praying for a peaceful night's sleep. I'll let you know how that goes!
Well, its official now. I have a new calling. As of yesterday, I am the new Relief Society president. I have so many thoughts and feelings about it, that I'm at a complete loss for words. Let me just say that I am excited, scared, overwhelmed, terrified, and grateful all at the same time. I know it is the right thing, I just don't know why and I'm not sure how! So say a prayer for me. I'll need every one--and then some!
a while back i posted pictures of ian jumping in a mud puddle, wearing his suit, after we had taken pictures to go on our christmas cards. nothing, however, can do the movie justice. and then just imagine that it went on for about 10 minutes! =) my favorite part is that he kept his pants legs pulled up. thank goodness! otherwise he could have made a real mess!
elise found her first loose teeth by accident a couple of months ago. on monday, we realized that one of them was ready to be pulled! what a big day!
so after some wiggling and prepping and pep talking she was (almost) ready.
cory was quick and efficient and with one strong pull, the tooth was out and we were ready for the tooth fairy!!!
as you can see, the gum bled a little bit. this was what freaked elise out the most. as we were getting ready to pull the tooth out, cory made a comment like, "you need to have kleenex ready for the blood." elise had not even considered that this might be a possibility. but after being quite taken aback, she jumped back in and let cory pull out the tooth with only the slightest hesitation.
and here is her newly toothless grin. how cute is that? the tooth fairy came that night and left her a five dollar bill. she didn't realize how lucky she truly was that the tooth fairy only had the $5.00 bill and some odd coins on hand on such short notice. =)
the tooth fairy turned out not to be the coolest thing ever. apparently she doesn't have the same appeal that santa claus does, at least not around our house. the next night as i was tucking elise in she expressed some concern that the tooth fairy might try and sneak back into her room. max had to sleep on her bed for protection.
ian has been up to his old tricks again--acting like the rambunctious boy that he is. he's had an incident or two here recently, and before i can write about them, he does something else.
the other night in the bathtub he went on a splashfest and had the entire bathroom floor covered in standing water. i knew this was going on, but it was one of those things i wasn't in the mood to stop and wasn't sure i wanted to enforce. so i just let him keep it up. after all, what can you expect when you're using your hands as shovels?
another time he took two of our fancy goblets into the bedroom and climbed up on the bed to "do cheers with them", only to have them shatter all over the covers. all over. that was fun to clean up.
we've had the vaseline out quite a bit recently, with cold weather and colds, for dry hands, chapped cheeks, and irritated noses. ian had other ideas for it. he smeared about a third of a cup all through his hair. what a mess!!!!! you'd be surprised how many washings it takes to get it all out.
he's also done what i consider minor things--like stripping down my freshly made bed to the mattress. i have a foam mattress pad on the bed and he pulled chunks of foam out of it just "bee-tause". he spit a kool-aid drink out all over the deck, so the whole thing was sticky and blue. he tried to be helpful and fix his own supper--by eating half of an uncooked hot dog. he helped me do laundry, by pouring the rest of my fabric softener into the washer. (luckily it was less than a quarter of the bottle. thank goodness for small miracles, right?) and i can't even begin to count the number of shampoos, conditioners, shaving creams and body washes that have become vicitms to ian's bath escapdes.
and these are just the first things that popped into my head. i know if i sat here and thought about it for a moment, 30 others would come to mind. lucky for him he's very cute and hilarious. it helps him out tremendously in times of trouble!
while out running errands yesterday i heard an interesting topic being discussed on talk radio. the topic was, "how does a presidential candidate's religion (or lack thereof) influence your vote?" they brought up the issue of mitt romney's candidacy, and how he was having to address questions about his religion. they also brought up the situation that happened out here with john edwards' campaign. two of his paid employees wrote negative and derogatory statements about religion and specifically catholics on their personal blogs. john edwards refused to fire them, although they later resigned. there were many in this area who felt he should have taken stronger action against them, arguing that he would never have tolerated them making racially derogatory comments, so why did he allow the religiously derogatory ones. with those being their talking points, they opened the phone lines. the calls were pretty much all over the map, however most seemed to feel that it was important for a person to be religious and/or have a strong faith in God. there were also many who felt it was important, yet their main concern was that they had a strong moral code which they lived by. several were disgusted that it was an issue at all. one lady, using romney as the example, said she was frustrated that she knew that mitt romney was a mormon, yet had no idea where any of the main candidates stood on border security, homeland security, social security reform or education, and she felt that the media was largely to blame for the hype of the religion issue. others, as you can imagine, had strong feelings about a person's specific religious affiliation, stating that they would not vote for a candidate belonging to certain religious sects. other points brought up were about the difference between someone who was was truly religious, and someone who did it purely for political gain or just the appearance thereof. another one was the difference between being religious and spiritual. it was a very interesting discussion and debate. so what are your thoughts? where do you come down on the issue?
i've been baking tons of brownies the last two days for a ward activity tonight, so i've had flour, sugar, cocoa and the like out over the counters. just now i was doing some laundry, and as i got down to the last items in the basket, i came across the open bag of sugar, sitting there in the bottom. i'm pretty sure while i was baking in the kitchen, ian snuck into the laundry room and helped himself to some sugar. he's a big fan of it when i'm baking. sneaky little rascal. the funny thing is, if he'd just put it back where he'd found it, i probably would never had known what happened. lucky for me, he hasn't figured that out yet.
my kids have a funny game they play. elise & ian pretend that merry grace is "a bad stingray". they will squeal when she gets close to them and take off running. merry grace has no idea what this game is about--just that the big kids want to play with her. so she takes off crawling as fast as she can after them. elise and ian wait until she gets close again and yell, "ahhhhhh! the bad stingray is going to get us!" and run away again. if she loses interest or gets sidetracked, the kids will get down close to her and in a singsong voice say, "bad stingray.....come heeeeeerrrrreeee...." its one of the funniest things and chock full of imagination. i mean, a stingray? where did that come from? a tiger or a bear or a monster i would expect--but a stingray?
as i speak, elise and ian are hiding in the laundry room, peeking out to see if the "bad stingray" is coming to get them. she's not. she was sidetracked by a few snack crackers. give her just a minute....
so much has happened the last couple of weeks that blogging has taken a back burner. actually, its just a little daunting to do justice to all the fun activities in a few short sentences. so here's the long and the short of it...or maybe just the short.
my youngest brother, logan, & i took a trip out to utah to see our other brothers who live out there while they're going to school. we were gone for five days and had so much fun. we didn't do anything particularly spectacular--hung out at the hotel, swam in the pool, worked out in the "fitness center" (otherwise known as a small room with an exercise bike & a treadmill), went out to eat, watched arrested development, and just enjoyed being together. it was the first time that my siblings & i have been together without our parents. it was an interesting experience, but it was fun. we decided we want to have a "siblings weekend" every couple of years. we also got to spend some time with my aunt, uncle & cousins, which was so nice. we don't get to see them as often as we'd like, so we enjoyed hanging out with them. it was hard for me to be away from my family, even for 5 days, but i think it was worth it. "a fun time was had by all."
the week i came home, my baby, merry grace, turned one year old. i can't believe she's that old. not that its "old", but i can't believe its been a whole year since i gave birth to her. its flown by. but she 's cute as a button and as sweet as ever. her personality is growing and developing and we're just loving her more and more each day.
then there have been the usual activities of elise's school, getting ready for the ward activity this weekend, choir, and a million other odds and ends. so its been busy, its been fun and we're ready for more!
Here are a BUNCH of pictures I've been meaning to post of life in our neck of the woods. Hope you enjoy catching up on what we've been going on around our place....
I think this is so cute. Max is licking Elise's face. She loves him & he does the same. Her nickname for him is "Maxadoodle".
I'm so excited that Merry Grace can actually keep a bow in her hair now. I love it. And she pretty much always has a smile on her face. How lucky are we?
ian and merry grace playing. i think my kids play so well and happily together. its so nice to see them love each other so much.
We fingerpainted this afternoon. Elise got a book from her book order about fingerpainting and it included paints and paper. So we tried them out. Elise painted a peacock.
Here is Ian's fingerpainting. He's an artist in the making. I think he liked painting his body afterward almost as good. ;)
Elise is playing basketball this winter. Its so cute to watch them play. Elise is number 2.
Elise received the 'kindness' award at school last week. We were very proud, but not a bit surprised because Elise is so kind around our house and with her brother & sister. Her teacher said she had "definitely earned it!"
Last night we discovered that Elise has not one but two loose teeth. She was ecstatic and her excitement is just contagious. I can't imagine how wonderful it will be when the tooth fairy comes!
Here is a picture of Ian's new boots. This picture doesn't do justice to how truly horrendous they actually are. There are these gigantic spidermen on each side and are quite bulky. Its even better when he wears them with pants. Most pants won't fit over the boots so they're just bunched up around his knees. Lovely. But that smile makes it worth it! =)
With kids around, the bathtubs are always a surprise. Even still, every morning I get a little start when I see this plastic fly lying there. There are some things I could just do without....
Several weeks ago, we had a little bit of snow. It only lasted half a day, but it was fun for the kids to actually get to see some of the white stuff. And of course, Elise got to miss a day of school and have a two hour delay the next day. I didn't realize how much I'd missed seeing some, until we woke up to a white yard.
Here is Max's puppy cage. As you can see, he's not the only one who enjoys it. Fortunately for us, she learning how to share! ;)
ian & i had our special date tonight. we went to eat at cici's pizza, known by the barnett kids as "the pizza place". ian was so excited by the aspect of being in a restaurant that it took him a while to settle down and eat anything. basically his meal consisted of once slice of pizza, hi-c, and a packet of sweet-n-low. he also likes to lick the powdered sugar off the brownies. he took a swipe at the first one, and as the sugar came off he goes, "oh! its brown under here. i not like brown." then he turned to me and said, "you can have the brown." surprisingly, i wasn't interested in his generous offer. =) after he ate, we played a few games in their arcade and then walked next door to shoe show. ian's foot has grown in the last little bit and only has one pair of shoes that fits. so we were hoping to get a bargain on a new pair. what we ended up with was a bargain alright. but not on the nice pair of tennis shoes i was thinking of. after ian spotted what had to be the ugliest pair of black spiderman boots i have ever laid eyes on, it was all over. so $9 later, we walked out with them. and he is in love. he put them on in the car and wouldn't even walk in the house in them because he was afraid he might get them dirty. i'll post pictures soon. anyway, we had a great time together. he told me he was glad he'd come so i didn't have to go on a date "all alone". then he told me that he and lisy would never leave me all alone. what more could you ask for?
elise was out of school yesterday for a snow day. (aren't they the best?) anyway, this morning she had a two hour delay, but even as the morning progressed, it became apparent that she was not interested in going to school today. she kept trying to talk her way out of it, and ended up expressing her concerns over her health. she had a "runny nose, a cough, and my voice is going away." she was not even close to being too sick to go to school--and i told her as much. when she insisted, i told her that she must immediately go to her room, hop in the bed, and be done for the day. anyone that sick had no business being up and about. she followed my instructions, but after about 15 minutes came back out and began playing. when i told her she must go back to her room, she replied, "oh, i'm feeling better. resting in my bed must have really worked!"
will wonders never cease?
i love listening to the kids have conversations. on monday we went to the dollar tree and the kids each got to pick out a prize. elise decided on a new barbie outfit, which she immediately began putting on her barbie once she got out to the car. as we were driving off i heard the kids have this conversation:
ian: that barbie not lut (look) bery (very) dood (good).
elise: ian! why would you say that?!
ian: well, she's nay-ted. (naked)
elise: oh. yeah. no one looks good when they're naked.
there are just so many places i could go with that, i don't know where to start. suffice it to say that kids are funny folks!
merry grace loves to pretend to get dressed. if i'm doing laundry, she takes the shirts and pants and puts them around her neck--which is her attempt at pulling it over her head. i didn't realize how observant she was until doing laundry just now. i had a pile of clothes, with a pair of ian's underwear amongst them. i watched her pick up the pair of ian's underwear and instead of putting them around her neck, tried to put them over her foot. during the whole time, she never once tried to put them over her head or around her neck. i was amazed that she knew the difference. who knew?
this morning we were in various stages of eating breakfast and i was packing elise's lunch and snack for school. i got a chocolate pudding cup out of the fridge to put in her lunch box when ian spotted it and wanted one too--only for breakfast. my first reaction was, "no, you need to eat something healthy first." and even as the words were leaving my mouth, i looked over at elise and saw her eating a chocolate chip cookie dough poptart. somehow it had not even phased me to hand her that for breakfast, but the pudding caused me to pause. needless to say, ian ate chocolate pudding for breakfast this morning--after all, its high in calcium. ;)
elise just said a couple of things that cracked me up, so i wanted to post them before i forgot.
first, she and ian were playing with this big exercise ball i have. elise had done some kind of trick on it and then ian said, "let me show you lisy. let me show you something even cooler." elise responded, "no, ian. its not even cooler. they're just the same amount of cool!"
then a few minute later ian came running up to her and goes, "lisy, lisy, lisy.." she cut him off and said, "no. call me superwoman."
that's my girl!
one of my favorite christmas presents this year was a stocking stuffer. its a crest spinbrush, a battery operated toothbrush. this is my first one ever, as far as i can remember, and i am in love. i don't know if it actually cleans my teeth any better than my ordinary toothbrush did, but this much i do know: its a lot more fun! its just a different toothbrushing experience, and i think because its so much fun, i'm a better, longer, more thorough toothbrusher than before. so while the product itself might not be any better, the operator sure is!
i love cookies. but they have to be done just right. hard cookies just don't do it for me. i like them soft, chewy and almost not even cooked. last night i started cooking some chocolate chunk cookies and then left to go see to merry grace. i left cory and elise in charge and they got the cookies too done. they weren't burnt, just solidly done. that's when i realized how much distaste i have for hard, crunchy cookies. i may have even said as much to my trusty assistants. (yes, it was juvenile, and yes, i apologized.) the discovery was this: even with my sweet tooth--and it is a very big sweet tooth--i won't eat "done" cookies. so while it may encourage me to eat healthier, it isn't very much fun. so for lunch today, i got around that little problem--i just ate the cookie dough right out of the container. perfect!
merry grace took her first real tub bath tonight. it was so cute. and the other kids thought it was really neat. they all had fun entertaining her and helping wash her. elise even washed merry grace's hair all by herself. and she did a great job. of course it helps that merry grace loves baths, showers, and just being washed in general. even with getting a couple of cupfuls of water dumped on her head, she didn't make a fuss. what a good baby!
cory has decided to give us all nicknames. so far the only one that i thought was perfect, was the one he picked out for elise: "boss". unfortunately, she hates it, so its not going to stick....which once again brings into focus why the name is perfect.
is there anything better than a nap when you're completely exhausted? snuggled up under a warm blanket and letting the world fade out while you drift into a nice peaceful slumber...i took a rare nap today, and it was wonderful. ian and merry grace snuggled up with me and it was heavenly. i realized as i rested with them that i don't do that nearly often enough. i used to rest with elise when she was little, and while i rarely napped, the quite peacefulness has been missed.
i love typos. not in something important, but when i'm just typing along and hit a wrong key, it just give me the giggles. in the last paragraph i was typing "snuggled", but hit the 'i' key instead, and ended up with "sniggled" instead. that's infinitely funnier than "snuggled." =)
