One.....Two.....Three....

One: No Photo Available
Kate smashed in the entire side of the suburban. She was turning left, when all of a sudden she changed her mind and decided to turn right. Little did she know a car was already to the side of her turning right. She didn't stop until, the entire side of the Suburban was smashed.

Two: She got hit in the round-about at UVU.


Three: Before, accident two is even repaired she backed into another student. Fortunately, the student was an auto repair mechanic and duct taped her bumper back on her car for the ride home.

Poor little grey car, is looking older and more tattered and torn. Little grey has got to last through this child.

My wallet may be lighter, but fortunately, no one has been injured in these three accidents! As for Kate's driving skills, well, let's just say they are in question.

There is a rule about three's: "Good things come in threes. So do bad things. And even things that are neither good nor bad."Since Kate has hit the magically three number, I am hoping that she has ended her unlucky streak.

Deja vu

Isn't the definition of deja vu, something already seen or experienced? Only two days ago I was taking pictures of Mike and his date before the Homecoming Dance. Tonight he got asked to the Halloween Dance. Wow, girls are very prompt, and on-the-ball. Fortunately, it is a girl's choice this round, so there is no planning, and not much work to do on our part.

Not Grounded

Several weeks ago, I found out from a little bird, that Bountiful High School's Homecoming dance was going to be held on September 24th. Upon my discovery I asked Mike, "Who are you going to ask to the dance." "No one," he responded. "Well then, you are grounded," I replied half kidding and half serious. He flashed me his usual smile that he gives me when I make idle threats.

That may sound a little harsh, but having 4 girls of my own, I understand how important it is for girls to be asked to a dance. If boys don't ask, girls don't go. It's as simple as that.

I knew Mike wouldn't let me down, and within a week's time, he had asked one of my favorites. They have a big group of 26 who are going to Snowbird for their day activity, Biaggi's for dinner, and of course the school for the dance. Hopefully, all goes as planned.

Hmmm, this adorable girl looks a little familiar. Two dances, same girl? That's okay, I adore Chandler!

Running Red

The fiery rivalry between BYU and Utah was evident long before game time on Saturday. School kids expressed their alliance to their college of choice, bantering with their rivals as to whom would come out on top. Adults also voiced their preference through social media outlets, wearing their color of choice, and displaying flags and other paraphernalia representing their team.

Our family is no different than any other sports enthusiasts, we love our college football. Our allegiance is completely towards our crimson red Utes. Steve and I both graduated from the U in Communications and have raised 6 loyal Utah Fans. We inundated them young dressing them in the smallest Utah attire, and taking them to games at a young age. Yes, there is no mistake we are RED through and through.

Saturday night was the “BIG” game of the year, with the mighty Utes playing on the Cougars turf. On BYU’s first play, Heaps chased down the ball and tried to pick the ball up and throw it. The ball came out of his hand backward and Shelby, a defensive lineman for the U, fell on it in the end zone for a Utah touchdown. Wowza! What a way to start out a game.

The game didn’t get much better for the cougs. Seven BYU turnovers lead to a blowout, with Utah winning 54 to 10.

My favorite player of the night was John White, running back for the Utes. White scored 3 touchdowns, one being a 63 yard romp. The BYU fans were seen exiting as White made that spectacular touchdown. They'd seen enough.

Ben and I watched it on television. With just a measly two viewers at my house, the house was anything but quiet. Ben and I were very boisterous in our enthusiasm over the Utes crushing the Cougs.

During the game Ben said, "Do you feel someone else here?" Not quite understanding what he meant, I didn't respond, prompting him to ask again. This time I responded, "Do you feel Dad here." "Yep", he said a little introspectively.

Steve was one of the most avid Utah fans around. You can’t watch or attend a Utah sporting event and not think about Steve Brown. He wouldn’t miss a game, and would trek the kids to bowl games, conference games, to whatever or wherever the Utes were playing. We all believed that last night he was happily smiling down upon us.
Steve and Mike.

My weekend visitors are killin' me!

Scrapes and Bruises

Ben has been less than thrilled about his bike lately. He had Mike get down Sarah's old green bike, with gears, for him to use. It is a tad too big, but he still enjoys riding this bike rather than his bike which is the perfect size, but without the gears.

Ben is really quite a careful little kid. You will rarely find him with scrapes and bruises on his body. That is until he started riding the larger bike. This past week, he has had numerous accidents on this bike, but still continues to prefer it.

His last tumble was a little bloody. Not serious, just bloody. Nursing is not one of my best traits as a mom. After 6 kids you would think I would be better at it, but I am not. I did know I needed to clean out the wound, apply a disinfectant, and bandage it. Due to my lack of products (Kate took 4 first aid kits to college with her), I was left with only alcohol swabs to apply.

Sarah heard the screams from one floor down. “Mom, you wouldn’t be pouring alcohol in Ben’s wound, would you,”she shouted. A little alcohol swab is a far cry from “pouring” alcohol in a wound. Needless to say, I have up-dated and replenished my one and only depleted first aid kit.

The Adverse Effects of SpongeBob Square Pants

A recent study conducted by the University of Virginia, shows that children age 4 who watched nine minutes of “SpongeBob” did significantly worse on four tests they administered, than those children that watched PBS programming.

“Apparently the fast-paced television show has profound impacts for children’s cognitive and social development that need to be considered and reacted to,” wrote University of Washington pediatrics professor Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis in an editorial accompanying the study.

What???? Poor Ben…. Ben loved SpongeBob Square Pants and watched it frequently when he was young. I may have even used it as a babysitting tool to take a quick shower, or get a thing or two done around here.

He validated his love for this cartoon as he excitedly responded to his first birthday party theme of SpongeBob Square Pants. The mere fact that he was able to verbalize the name SpongeBob shortly thereafter reinforces the absurdness that this cartoon has a negative cognitive affect on a child.

If you knew Ben as a toddler, and if you know Ben now, you would definitely have to dispute this study. He seems to excel both cognitively and socially.

Ben continues to secretly love this little guy. At age 9 it's not "cool" to watch SpongeBob anymore, but once in awhile I see him sneak a peek.

Who is going to tell Ben as well as a few other unnamed children of mine that they may have some deficits from watching SpongBob? Not me! I’m definitely not a believer!

Okay, so maybe he has just a few deficits. (Just kidding Ben)

Remembering 9/11

Most everyone can remember where they were and what they were doing the morning of September 11, 2001. Three of my children were in school, two were home with me, and little Ben was yet to be born. I was preparing to bottle peaches at my friend’s house, when she called and told me to turn on the TV quickly. I watched as the second plane hit the second tower. Disbelief and horror filled my soul as I sat in complete silence watching as America came under attack.

“On Sept. 11, we saw evil in the deeds of a few, but we also saw the good in the hearts and souls of all Americans." U.S. Rep. Gary Peters

Today, 10 years later we pay tribute to those who lost their lives when America was attacked by terriosts. We also pay tribute to the heroes who selflessly risked their lives to save others. As a nation we stood united, one nation under God.

The media events covering the 10 year anniversary have been numerous. I was mesmerized with the stories of bravery, of sadness, and of loss. Tears streamed down my face as I watched the widows recall their heart wrenching stories, stories that I can now relate to in some way.

America will never be the same. We are stronger and we are resilient. President Barack Obama said, “It will be said of us that we kept the faith, that we took a painful blow and emerged stronger."

May we all honor and remember those who lost their lives, the brave hero's, and those whose lost loved ones in this most tragic event.

Fall Harvest

Time seems to be going by so quickly. It has been one year since this. Last year, on September 15th, Sarah was diagnosed with a large tumor and had surgery on the 30th. There was only a 2 week period from her diagnosis, to surgery and the pathology results. Those two weeks seemed to drag on, and my mind filled with distress and concern over the challenge that lay ahead.

I tried to keep busy, and began canning salsa, marinara sauce, as well as making freezer jam, and freezer fruit cocktail as a distraction. My distraction has now become a necessity. My kids loved the fruits of my labors, and have gotten a little spoiled and picky about these few things. Needless to say, I have been busily canning this past weekend. Thankfully, my kids have been very helpful and involved to make the process easier.

I have been fortunate to have my parent's and sister’s gardens to pick beautiful, red, succulent tomatoes. There is something personally rewarding for me to gather tomatoes from these gardens to make these heavenly goods. In some small way, I feel like I am “living off the land”, so to speak, or being resourceful.

Winter hasn’t even begun, Kate has taken and used some marinara sauce down at college, and Mike has downed an entire bottle of salsa in just one day. Hopefully, the canned goods will last through winter.

My parents in their garden.

College Roomies

This is a picture and text Kate sent me. The picture is of her roommate's side of the room. Her roommate is in hair school, and has lots of mannequins to practice her hair skills on.

"They won't stop looking at me."

Ben's First Third Grade Writing Assignment

A little mature I might say, but none the less, priceless!

Meal Planning

Among other things, Saturday is grocery shopping day at our house. I think I have mentioned this before, that I loathe grocery shopping. Kate enjoys grocery shopping, and therefore, has been my personal grocery shopper for quite some time. Since she was in town for the long holiday, I decided to make a menu of meals, and a list of groceries needed in hopes that Kate would do my shopping.

One of the meals on my menu was Mexican Pulled Pork Carnitas, from Si’s blog. To make this meal, you begin by cooking a pork butt for several hours. I had placed that item on my grocery shopping list along with the remaining weeks necessities.

Kate searched, and searched, and couldn’t find a pork butt at the grocery store. Finally, a clerk asked her if he could help her, and she told him she was looking for a pork (smile, maybe laugh a little) butt. The clerk grinned and informed her that there was no such thing as a pork butt, that they only had rumps.

When Kate returned home, she was sure I had set her up for an embarrassing grocery encounter. I had to retrieve Si’s recipe to insure her of my innocence.

Strollers

My youngest child just turned 9, so I have been without a stroller for many years. Today I was contemplating purchasing a stroller. Not an ordinary stroller, a stroller like this:

This morning my dog Bella, and I went on a walk to Vinestreet (the street at the end of Bountiful Blvd.) and back. It’s really not too strenuous of a walk. There are a few hills, but that’s the purpose of choosing to walk North verses South on Bountiful Blvd. On the way back she stood in front of me, barked, and jumped (she literarily tries to jump in my arms). That is code for, carry me. I didn’t want to carry her, and felt like she should be able to walk this simple path with me.

After multiple times of her insisting I carry her, I started daydreaming about a pet stroller. I know I would be taunted, and ridiculed, but my dog is getting lazy.

When I got home I was sharing my daydream with Katelyn, when she said, “Mom, I took Bella on a run last night up 1800 (a very steep hill).” No wonder she is tired. She’s not as old or lazy as I thought, poor Bella. I wonder if Mike took her on his run too.

No stroller necessary! Whew, I really didn’t want the taunting.