Dreams really do come true!

Last week Gavin's ultimate dream came true. He walked out of his kindergarten class and guess what was waiting...Grandpa Smith and a 57 Chevy!!! You haven't ever seen a kid that awkwardly excited! They went and picked up Brent from work and the self proclaimed, "Three Dudes" had a day out on the town. Gavin has never felt so cool and has not stopped talking about it! I'm not sure there will ever be anything that will top this!

Here is Grandpa, parked and waiting for school to let out.Here is Gavin--he was to the car and already in the backseat in 3 seconds!
Aunt Amber helped arrange the whole thing and even had these cool 57 chevy t-shirts. Unfortunatley, I don't do laundry fast enough for him to wear it EVERYDAY!Thanks Grandpa and Amber! You really made his day!

Channeling Carol Brady....grrrrr...

So for Mothers Day, I thought I would pamper myself a little. These days pampering is either a brand new outfit from Target (if I am feeling rich--Wal-Mart if we're broke), or a haircut. Since I just bought a new Easter outfit a couple weeks ago and Brent, of all people, pointed to my head the other day and said, "you have this really weird line that goes across your head", I knew I better choose the haircut--and touch up.

I HATE getting my hair cut. A few months ago I went to a new girl who cut hair out of her basement (red flag #1). She was super cheep (red flag #2) and said she had gone to a neighborhood hair cutting school that let her learn as she went so she felt like she was WAY ahead of those girls who have to go to school for 9 months before they start getting their "real" experience (red flag #3 WHY DID I NOT TURN AND RUN?). I told her I wanted to lighten things up for spring, you know, with a few highlights or something. I came out of that basement florescent green--with a few chunky orange streaks. *#!@*!! I really was too depressed to do anything about it and have just kinda let things just go from there--so you can see the need for some help as my dark brown roots have been approaching the 3 inch mark lately.

This morning I made an appointment at a nicer studio, crossing my fingers that I would have some better results. This girl seemed nice and things started out great. She really understood how much this last lady had fried my hair with bleach and an orange marker. She asked me what I wanted and I told her I liked my length, but wanted things "cleaned up a little" and I really didn't feel like I was a good blond...never should have left things that open ended. She went to work putting in some new highlights and dying the rest of my hair back to it's original brown. She even dyed my eyebrows for free! What a nice girl she was turning out to be! Once I was rinsed, I really liked the color and was feeling really confident that things were really going to turn out. Somehow, in all the excitement, I forgot to knock on wood.

Have you ever had an out of body experience? Something is happening and you have no control over it and the more you worry, the faster things go. I'm telling you, as soon as I sat back in her chair after being rinsed, she disappeared and Edward Scissorhands attacked my hair and did not stop for breath until I was a dead ringer for Carol Brady. I kept thinking--she knows whats she's doing...she said she would take care of me...WHY IS SHE STILL CUTTING? At one point I said, "Wow, that sure seems fun...you know to be snip, snippin away so fast...it's like a cartoon where there is just a whirlwind of cutting and then your done! It's got to feel kinda good to be able to do that and know what you are doing!" I seriously said that...kickin myelf.

I can't post a picture of this horrible mess just yet. I need a few days...

Happy freakin Mother's Day!

Congratulations, Mr "V"!

My dad is retiring after 34 years of teaching. I was lucky enough to have him for my teacher in 5th grade and it turned out to be the best year ever. He was always one of the most requested teachers and you could always find kids from other classrooms hanging out in his classroom during recess. He was a great teacher, but he was also a guy who had a passion for building kids confidence in themselves. Who wouldn't want to be close to a guy like that?

Life lessons I learned in 5th grade:

"If you can't create it, don't destroy it." My dad has a love of nature that translates into his classroom in a way that will stick with you for life. His motto of, "If you can't create it, don't destroy it," runs through my head every time I kill a spider...the guilt of knowing I am killing a little brain, a nervous system, a working digestive system...it is not a secret that we are not a hunting family! My memories of my 5th grade classroom are filled with plants, hamsters, hamster babies, fish, snakes and a preying mantis that became the class mascot. Animals were only a part of it. Every season change, we all went outside and painted a seasonal picture of Mt. Timanogos. We had seasonal walks and even walked all the way to Geneva Rd. to collect caterpillars, that became crysulus', that hatched into butterfly's. Magical!

"No downers, only uppers" Sounds like drugs, I know. But it is all about RESPECTING OTHERS. My dad did not tolerate bullying, clicks or prejudice of any sort. If you were caught doing any of the above, you would find yourself answering to Mr. V...and that could be very scary indeed. He is the ultimate example of someone who lives what he believes and practices what he preaches.

Self Confidence. My dad had a very special way of giving a little confidence to the kid who was really struggling. He taught all his students how to juggle. Kids who didn't have anything that they could "do" or were good at, learned how to juggle! He would say that every kid needs SOMETHING that they feel like they are good at--and juggling is easier to teach than football!

He also had us give 2 minute talks every week. I think this really helped me come out of my shell and be able to talk in front of a group of people without crawling under my desk. Another way to help kids become more confident in themselves.

Keep it fun. No matter what we were in the middle of, our class broke for 10 minutes to go out and enjoy a rainbow, or catch those HUGE snowflakes during a heavy snowfall. We sat in a circle and popped popcorn during rainy day recesses. We always had an all day read-a-thon on the day after a major candy holiday like Halloween or Easter. He knew kids on a sugar high were not going to be able to concentrate so why not make it fun!

I could go on and on. Dad, I love you. You were the best teacher ever and I feel blessed to have you as my dad. ENJOY YOUR RETIRMENT!

Why I don't attempt more...

Have you ever noticed that as soon as you start a project, your kids begin to fight, want you to watch EVERYTHING they are doing, want something to eat, spill something, get hurt, and open the doors so a tornado can blow through the house...?

Seriously. This week has been a nightmare. I attempted several projects and have learned a very valuable lesson: These are not the project years.

Project #1: Jenna and Kesley's princess bed
Results: Kesley was "a little disappointed", and Jenna almost...well, she got a hold of this drill I was using and was sitting on the ground pushing the button making it turn. I thought it was the regular screw gun until I heard her screaming! She had pushed the button and the drill caught her diaper. From the first glance I thought the gun was going right into her--privates--CAN YOU IMAGINE! She was screaming bloody murder! I couldn't get the drill to come out! She wouldn't let me touch her! I took off her diaper and was SO RELIEVED that the drill came too. I still couldn't tell if she had cut herself and she was so traumatized, she wouldn't let me touch her. I unwound the diaper and found that the drill had stopped at the very last layer--the one that is pretty much transparent. It was that close. I can't even think about it. Here is a shot of the drill bit I was using....Here is what the living room looked like when I finally came out of that room with a finished project...it was clean when I started...I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture of the kitchen.

Project #2: Clean the house.
Results: Gavin snuck out front to ride his bike, fell over and somehow got his foot stuck. I tried to free him for 15 min while he screamed, and finally realized there was no way I could do it. I didn't have ANYBODY who could help. No neighbor. Brent was at work. What do you do? I called the fire department. Not 911, just through dispatch. I was sure they would show up and free him in 2 minutes and I would feel like a total idiot, but I needed help.

I don't know why it made me so happy, but it ended up taking 4 firemen, 20 minutes to free that kid! They had to take apart the whole bike! They were so great about the whole thing and even stayed to put the bike back together!Project #3: Mow the lawn. Sounds easy, but it is an acre of very tall weeds.
Results: 1. Broke the $500, borrowed lawn mower. 2. Lost my debit card filling up the gas can. 3. Left the gate open and the dog got out and was hit by a car--she's OK, but it cost $600! 4. The house was a once again a complete disaster by the time I got back from the vet.

I didn't take any pictures of any of this, and I hope to never think about this day again.

Project #4: Take today off and not try to do anything.
Result: I almost broke my neck--really.

The girls were invited to a play date this morning, so I decided to let Gavin bring a friend home from school to keep him occupied. What do I do with all that free time??? A project I cannot do with all the kids around! I decided to prune our huge trees out front. They have lots of dead branches that have always bugged me. My neighbor lent me this saw on a stick thingy and I got out my 6 ft. ladder and went to work. I guess I looked pretty ridiculous and was really worrying a few people driving by. I had one lady stop and say, "Your going to kill yourself!" I had another lady stop and ask me to please come borrow her ladder which was a Little Giant and much more sturdy. I didn't even know her! I totally took her up on it and put it in the upside down "V" formation and sawed away. Wonderful! After a while I decided to make the ladder into the straight formation which would allow me to climb way up into the tree and get those pesky top branches. Try lifting one of those heavy ladders sometime. It's hard enough when it's all compact, but out in this straight formation--IMPOSSIBLE! Just trying to lift it up into the tree made my tired arms shake. Somehow the ladder got stuck on some smaller branches and totally threw me off balance, making the ladder fall backwards. There was no way I could stop that thing from coming down! I tried to let it down slow, but my arms were too tired. The ladder ended up on my shoulders with my head in between two rungs, which pulled me all the way to the ground and totally tweaked my neck. It was all in slow motion and I really thought my neck was going to break there at the end!

Let's just say I put everything away and I have no plans to attempt anymore yard work...maybe forever.

No pictures of this, but here is a cute one of Kesley and her newest makeover accessory: STICKERS! Maybe she could use my attention, like to learn how to put on makeup without looking like a clown...hmmmm....is that what mom's are supposed to be doing?

Perhaps too creative?

I am getting a little tired of having to be so creative with space. Our little 800 sq. ft. gets smaller and smaller everyday. My latest idea has me thinking I may be a little border line crazy lady...

Three years ago, Brent turned one of the 2 bedrooms this tiny house had into a laundry room. NO COMPLAINTS because I couldn't handle the washer and dryer in the kitchen any longer. The idea was to finish an addition off the house to give us some extra bedrooms, but until that was completed, we moved all the kids into one room. This was not an issue, because the kids were so young and liked being together, and didn't have any strong decorating opinions. Well, that time has passed, and lately Gavin has been EXTRA creative with his top of the bunk bed... This new trophy shelf is full of, you guessed it, OLD FASHIONED CARS!! Ok, so this picture makes it very clear that I am pretty leinient on letting him decorate his own space--it's his space to do what ever he wants!In order to create more "space" in their crowded bedroom, I converted the lower bunk into a full size bed and had the girls sleep together. They haven't ever complained, and it did create the space I needed, but I have always felt like they were getting the shaft. They are not quite into decorating like G is, and I wanted to do something to make their space a little more "girly."

Here is my latest and greatest--I was just thinking the pictures don't do it justice, but then again that could be the crazy lady talking.I used quilt batting to line the posts and up underneathe the top bunk and then I covered that with pink satin. I added little jewels to cover the staples and create a little carriage feel...stop snickering... Here's a view of their cealing...it really does look a lot better in person...All the edges are finished off with tewel and ribbon...

Anyway, it is only a temporary fix. We hope to have our little addition completed by the end of the summer (fingers crossed) and G will have his own room and we can re-do things for the girls, but until then...

Cute moments for the scrapbook....

Can I post a funny, naked picture of my 2 year old? Jenna just started this ultra private walk to the tub. Where she got the idea, I have no idea--but it is too funny not to share!

Kesley has started loosing teeth! She had her top one pulled awhile ago, but just recently lost her first official tooth. It just happened to be directly underneath her top hole, and she now has an open door instead of a window! The Christmas ornament pose seemed like the best way to display this...



Kesley had her little cousin, Naomi, come play the other day. They did their own "make overs" and came up to show me with a, "Mom, how do you like us?" I took one look at them and could not help but let out a little laugh! Kesley was a little thrown off by the snicker, and probably felt a little embarrassed...so she tried to recover by quickly adding, "Mom, can we dress up like clowns?" Then I really laughed!





This is so cute, but also kinda sad. Gavin was trying to get on my nerves the other day and was getting more and more obnoxious. He does this on purpose in order to get my attention--but man--it really almost pushes me over the edge! I finally got mad and told him to leave me alone and let me finish sorting the laundry. Well, I came out of the laundry room to find this note.

Yes, I went and found him and gave him a great big love. I love this kid!

Easter

Ahhh, Easter. I love Easter. Easter means it is officially spring and summer is on it's way. I love Easter dresses and Easter egg hunts. I love Easter chocolate and Easter dinner. I love following the Saviors life through the week leading up to Easter Sunday and trying to keep the focus on him. Every year this seems to get a little harder.

This year I thought I would try to do without the candy, except for what the kids find in the easter egg hunt. Somehow Gavin still ended up with a HUGE basket of candy (from the church egg hunt, teachers, etc.) and all Kesley keeps asking me is why the Easter bunny didn't come to our house.... Ooops, I've never been a fan of the Easter bunny. We use our Easter baskets to collect eggs and haven't really expanded things from there. She came home from church and was so confused as to why the bunny had brought her friend presents and candy and hadn't brought anything to her. Why has Easter become another Christmas? I can see an Easter basket with a little chocolate or whatever, but why gifts? I just don't understand it. Now I feel like a mean mom who has sucked all the magic out of Easter...I just can't win.

They did, however, get beautiful new dresses and Kesley never felt more like a princess. She got to wear her hat and some new little heal shoes to church. Gavin and Jenna were not very cooperative in letting me capture their Easter cuteness, but Kesley was more than willing to pose and pose and....Jenna was just in awww of Kesley. Was it the hat or the dress? Kesley was loving the admiration--she was the princess among the paupers. I call this shot, "The Condescension of Kesley"
Jenna wouldn't really pose, but this one turned out cute.We did have a great day and a yummy dinner up at Gram & Grandpa Smiths. Next year, I will continue in my quest to celebrate the true meaning in Easter, but I think I will add a tiny amount of pizazz to the basket...just so my kids aren't traumatized.