keeping points

I took a "Love and Logic" parenting class a few years ago.  LOVED it.  I left thinking, "OK, I got this..."  And since then I can say that while the parenting that's in my head is pretty impressive, what actually occurs is more mediocre.  I think I'm just too lazy to be an A+ parent.  ...So maybe I'm giving myself too many props for the victory this evening.

...maybe.

Remember this post?

Well it is indeed working.

So as Brenda (flashing her clean, pearly whites) triumphantly accepted another NEW lego set, I sat back, folded my arms and thought, "Yes little lady, you think you're in control?  Yeah, you go ahead and think that..." 

Point for Lindsay!

Grown-ups don't scream.

With being the YW president I feel the need to behave with a certain amount of sophistication, wisdom, and bravery.   

Sure Lindsay, sure...
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..shut it. 

This was a particular challenge during our activity tonight.

image of a different scary forest from HERE

We surprised the kids with a trip to a HAUNTED forest.  You know, witches, ghouls, chainsaws, clowns, etc...

I was all smug in my cool Columbia hat and warm black jacket.

..."What sweet children.  All giddy and hyped over some spooky nature walk..."

I proudly stood back with the other calm, cool adults while we gathered to the entrance. 

"Stay in your groups little ones!"  (sing-songy voice)

"Remember the creatures won't hurt you!" 

And we go in.

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I spent the next 20+ minutes hyperventilating and just praying that my pants stay dry.  I'm not proud of the fact that I more-than-once pushed poor friend, Sheri, into the path of evil, cannibalistic demons just so I could get a head start in my escape...

No, not proud.  But I did survive.

Afterwards I again stood with my fellow leaders, chuckling at the holiday delights while secretly rejoicing in my still-being-alive and dry pants.  I consoled the young ladies sharing their tales of terror.  I patted the backs of frightened teenagers.

I returned to my smug adulthood.

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Nah, I don't think I fooled anybody...

While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.
~Angela Schwindt

Kids’ Deep Thoughts
From an actual newspaper contest where entrants ages 4 to 15 were asked to imitate “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey.”

I believe you should live each day as if it is your last, which is why I don’t have any clean laundry because, come on, who wants to wash clothes on the last day of their life?
–Age 15

Give me the strength to change the things I can, the grace to accept the things I cannot, and a great big bag of money.
–Age 13

It sure would be nice if we got a day off for the president’s birthday, like they do for the queen. Of course, then we would have a lot of people voting for a candidate born on July 3 or December 26, just for the long weekends.
–Age 8

For centuries, people thought the moon was made of green cheese. Then the astronauts found that the moon is really a big hard rock. That’s what happens to cheese when you leave it out.
–Age 6

Home is where the house is.
–Age 6

October evening running

Thanks goodness for headlamps...

Hold your applause...

So OH BOY I'm tired.  But before I crash I have to share why my life is AWESOME.

1) Ran a half marathon Saturday morning-

Me, runner/facebook friend Mike, and Solana

-weather was perfect, I felt great and my finish time was 1:58.  Yesssssssssssss...

2) Attended the Best of EFY program on Saturday with the youth in the ward.  The speakers were SPECTACULAR, and sneaking out with classy-cool friend Monica (going to Red Robin) was a special treat.

3) My dad has recently embraced his love for photography and suddenly we're spending all this timing hovering over photoshop, talking lenses, or planning photo trips...  (Anyone who knows my dad knows how lucky I am.)

4) Brenda imitates the Three Stooges while playing Lego Harry Potter.  "Alright fellas...  Why I oughta..."

5) Mike sat and played Bingo with Brenda and Suzie the other night.  Both girls were in heaven and Mike didn't seem to mind either...

6) Garret is responding to the GFCF diet with better sleep and improved attentiveness at school.  Still in trial mode, but looking good.

7) (And perhaps the most important)  EGGNOG is here!!!!!!!!!!!!

At the pretty, pretty pumpkin patch-

 

Garret struggled to enjoy the field trip today.

He wasn't upset.  -just wanted peace, quiet and to be left alone.

But a ride on the hay wagon pulled him out of his funk.

And we finished with smiles.

Brenda, on the other hand, relished in the farm-delights.

She'll be talking about this all day long...

OK, nap time.

Blogger-friend "N" knows what I'm talking about...

So on facebook I am often getting annoyed at all the "repost-or-you-are-evil", song lyrics, or pointless ...statuses.  (I had this urge to type statusi.)  I've hidden friends that I want to be connected to, but don't need to read about every activity of every moment.  I've blocked all the whatevervilles and ignored the game invites.  And I've limited my info down to the bare minimum... 

So I've found that my time just sifting through updates is not such a burden.  Even to the point that I don't feel the pressure to even keep up with all the updates. 

That being said, I am a huge fan of my specialty groups.  Running, running teams, church groups, photography and family stuff.  That's where I'm getting sucked in. 

A few minutes on facebook and I'm antsy to get the running shoes on, take a photo trip, etc...

With all the moments I've had thinking, "I'm just done with this.  I'm done.  I'm closing my account.  Closing nnnnnnow.   No, NOW.  Ummm, maybe tomorrow..." I'm also feeling amazed and spoiled with all the positive connections I have at the tip of my fingertips.

Here are some gems I plucked off the homepage:

So I doubt I'll ever leave facebook.  Just please avoid being hacked.  Those obvious hacked links and messages are about as obnoxious as obnoxious can be.  Hate 'em.  (I've never been hacked.  Am I doing something right or just lucky?)

Showing off Oregon

After less than 3 hours of sleep I snuck out of the house at 4:55 am Saturday to meet a group of fellow-photography enthusiasts.  We wanted to get into the Columbia Gorge before the sun came up.

Look!  Look where we were!!

We handed off  tripods as we scaled huge logs and waded through freezing water.  I was the only one without boots so I just shrugged and eventually ended up with jeans soaked up to the pockets.

Yes, I am wearing my daughter's hat.  It kept the frizz down and my head warm...

My dad (one of the enthusiasts) was excited to try out some new lenses.  (I had to try out a couple of his lenses too.  He's turning me into a lens snob, dang it.)

That's my dad!  Hi dad!!

A most excellent outing.  

Next is talk of a historical downtown Portland photo shoot.  I'm feeling goofy with anticipation!  

Want to see more of my trip pics?  I tossed 'em onto the *photoblog*.  (Don't laugh at my sloppy signature.  I'm yet to catch up on sleep!)

spooks and aging

Because Brenda loves dressing up, and because Brenda loves Halloween, and because Garret doesn't mind as long as there's treats- we put on a Halloween-themed birthday party. 

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Brenda may have gotten her love for dressing up from me.  (Thank you Anna for the costume!)  Mike was my knight in shining armor.  (I officially knighted him after the disaster clean up.  Remember?  He deserved it.)

Honestly, I don't know what Garret's costume is, but he was comfortable and handsome.  

win-win

 Don't be scared!  This Darth Vador is only about 4 ft tall and wears pink underpants...

Suzie appropriately donned a clown costume.  That's a given, right?

The cousins and friends were scary and lively and pretty and exhausting!  (in a good way, of course)

 Bosom-friend, Darcy, wowed the crowd with a masterful creation-

Remember the cupcakes she made on my birthday?   ...I know, right?

And so we decorated pumpkins, put on skits, danced and tossed beanbags...

Oh how we partied...

Next year you're all invited.  (I say that now but a couple days before the event I was panicking at the thought of my house full of young'ins.  ...So we'll see.) 

Feel free to take notes.

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of me becoming a parent.

(Nevermind the kid's birthday.  This post is all about me.)

If I've learned anything about parenting it's this:


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ummmm...

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(cricket's in the distance...)

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I, uh...

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Well, how about a picture of the birthday boy?

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OK I've got one!  -I've learned that I've got a lot to learn.

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Yeah, that's it.

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Have I showered today?


(Stay tuned for pics from one awesome birthday party.)

A movie worth the hype.

So a couple friends and I saw The Help.  I had heard the ravings over the book and the high marks for the movie, so perhaps it would be worth the movie ticket price?

Yes indeed.

I already miss "Skeeter".

Wasn't she fantastic?!


And I love when you can love/hate the villains:

The styles of the 60's are just eye candy for me.  

 Each scene sucked you in because every character had their own story.

 My only complaint is that there wasn't enough.  I just fell in love with these women and want to know the rest of their stories.  (Fictional, I know, but still...)

 In the end the story made me want to be brave and do something important.  ...But that won't last long because later this week my buddy is bring the Oceans 11 & 12 movies over.  I haven't seen 'em but I bet those make me want to be a fancy crook, right?

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And happy birthday! to my wickedly-tenacious Brenda.

I just love her lots.

Dr Blog

I don't mean to whine more about the constant state of my home, but this makes a good story-

Typical evening.  I had just watched some rerun of "King of Queens" and I go to check on Garret who has been a bit too quiet.

I head down the hallway and my heart sinks when I hear his giggles in the bathroom.  (We do our best to keep him out, but he keeps getting in...)  

Now, mind you, this image is graphic.

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Those with weak stomachs should turn away.

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Oh don't worry.  It's all just mud.

My guess is that before bed Brenda had snuck in some dirt using that green bucket (probably making a home for some poor worm?) where it was abandoned until Garret found another use for it...

As I stood in the doorway staring at the mud and toilet paper and other whatnots covering the entire room my first reaction was the urge to run screaming from the house and never return.  But after about 3 frozen seconds it hit me-

...BLOG POST!

So Garret was tossed in the bathtub (which was also splattered with mud, so the bath wasn't the most successful) and I ran for my camera with a crazed gleam in my eye.

Thank you Blogger!  ...'Cause I can't afford a shrink right now.

P.S.  My hero of a husband came home, donned a hazmat suit, and cleaned it all up.

This one's called- Girls' Night In.

Dedicated to my husband's 3 gorgeous sisters

When you're out of finger paints...

aka "Hucko Tider"

"Little" brother Tyler and I are sitting at the computer while the kids are watching an evening movie.
We're playing a game- building houses and fighting giant spiders.  You know, all that really important stuff us adults do while on the computer.

Unfortunately this game attracts children.  Who do they think they are? 

Tyler opens a web page with stock market updates.

Every time a kid approaches the page pops up and our conversation changes,

"Man, that NASDAQ is all wild and stuff."

"I am so down with the DOW."

"Any value in aluminum?"

It only takes a minute for the child to bore of us boring old people and they're back to their movie.

We smirk and go back to the game.

I like being an adult...

Here's some Tyler shots for the all the single ladies out there...

All the ladies say "Hey"!