Spiffing Things Up A Bit

The past couple of years I have been trying to complete the renovation on the main level that started about 4 years or more ago. I have been purchasing furniture on occasion at the 50% off sales at a local furniture store.

While I have found some beautiful furniture, I just haven’t been able to put it all together. Recently, I had assistance finishing the project. Here are a few of the finished rooms:

College Options

Katelyn will be graduating from Bountiful High School this year. I can't believe how quickly time has gone by. Most kids (well most of mine), seem to take a lighter load in high school their senior year. Not Kate, she has been taking classed such as AP Calculus, Sports Med, CE English, and Honors Physics to name a few.

Applications to the colleges she was interested in were due February 1st. Most applications require essays, some ecclesiastical endorsements, etc. This is not a small feat. She applied to at least 5 colleges, although she was mainly interested in BYU, and UVU. She started the application process the evening of January 31st, and submitted the last college application at 11:58 that evening. There is nothing like a lot of pressure, and a little procrastination in submitting her college apps.

The U of U (her parents' alma mater) was a top choice; however she wanted the experiencing of living away from home for awhile. We haven't heard from BYU yet, but UVU has not only sent her an acceptance letter to their school; but has given her an Outstanding Merit R Scholar Award. It is a full ride scholarship to their school.

I am so proud of her. Her emphasis on academics in high school has benefited her college options. Way to go Kate!

Helpers

I greatly appreciate the extra help my older kids that live at home give me. I have learned that each child is unique and individual, and that ALL my children have positive attributes to accentuate.

For instance, Sarah is my gift shopper. She is adept at shopping for holiday gifts, birthday gifts, just about any gift at all. She enjoys shopping, as long as she isn’t paying. She is a great bargain shopper, and loves to shop with coupons or other discount tickets. I enjoy someone finding the perfect gift for the special someone on my list.

Mike is my handyman/grounds keeper. He is always puttering around in the garage, re-organizing gear, finding lost treasures, and cleaning up our messes. He has the snow removed before dawn in the winter; and weeds pulled before we begin to garden in the summer.

Kate, is proficient at grocery shopping. She does not like to shop for apparel, but is a whiz with the grocery shopping. On occasion, an elderly woman in our neighborhood also entrusts Kate to do her grocery shopping for her as well. We both send her with a list, but sometimes she tends to deviate from mine just a bit.

Today I sent her to the store with a very small list. I had just shopped at Costco on Friday and only need two things; lettuce, and a fresh vegetable for tomorrow. This is the extras she came home with:
I'm not complaining, I'm just beginning to understand why she really enjoys grocery shopping for me.

Concussion

Tuesday afternoon The Bountiful Braves basketball team battled their rivals the Woods Cross Wild Cats. Mike got clocked by one of his good friends on the opposing team. At first glance it didn’t look like anything substantial, but when he hit the floor and didn’t move for a minute one had to wonder.

He doesn’t remember anything that happened. He only remembers waking up on the floor and not being able to see. He doesn’t remember making his free throws, sitting on the bench, talking to team mates (repeating the same questions over and over again), or walking into the locker room.

Fortunately, his doctor’s wife who is our good friend, was sitting with me as a fan, so we were able to get him examined quickly. He has a mild concussion.

The High School Athletic Association has a 5 day moratorium for anyone that sustains a concussion while participating in high school sports. Unfortunately, this means that Mike will not be able to play in the Olympus game today. He’ll dress and sit on the bench for the sophomore, JV, and Varsity games, but will not play. Fortunately, it will give him time to get healthy again.

Young Women Basketball

Preparing for her basketball debut. Dance pose or basketball pose?Tonight was Lizzy's first Young Women basketball game. Lizzy is a dynamite dancer, and a tremendous tumbler, but has never taken an interest in sports such as basketball. I was quite surprised when she wanted to play basketball with the Young Women.

I had no idea how fun it would be. Girl's ward ball is so much different than boys. There were no angry words; nothing but smiles, giggles, and blushes when they would get a foul called on them. There wasn't even any hair pulling. What no hair pulling? I thought all girl's basketball games had a little of that:). They even had refreshments at the end of their rigorous game.

I'm not sure that any of the girls will get drafted in the WNBA, but they definitely know how to have a good time.

Puppy Love

When Mike was in elementary school he used to have school girl crushes. Each Valentine’s Day he would have a special someone that he wanted to purchase a Valentine gift for.

No young boy wants to ask a parent for help in obtaining the perfect Valentine’s gift for their adolescent love. So Mike would requisition, or maybe even bribe, one of his older sister’s, (who had a driver’s license and good taste), to pick him up a few Valentine gifts.

Why a few gifts one might ask? Well, Mike was an entrepreneur at a very young age. He would take these gifts to school and sell them to his friends who didn’t have older sisters. His friends would put in their requests for Valentine gifts; Mike would mark up the price, and sell them to these desperate love sick boys.

I pretended not to know about his scheme, and Mike continued to quietly pursue his puppy love.

Valentines Day 2011

The kids’ Valentine’s Day consisted of school parties, treats, valentines, valagrams, and heart shaped pizza for dinner.

I enjoyed listening to the recap of their day. Lizzy had a 50’s dancing party. The girl’s all dressed in poodle skirts, and enjoyed a variety of dance techniques. The waltz, the swing, and two-step were among the favorites. They also line-danced, as well as danced with BOYS!

Ben couldn't wait to tell me that he received 14 valagrams; eight of which he claims are from “mysteries”. I think he may have over exaggerated a bit. He also mentioned the anonymous conversation heart that was placed on his desk and said, “hottie” on it. He makes me laugh.

The doorbell has been ringing a lot, and that is ALL I can say about the older kids. They won't let me divulge anymore. Let's just say, it's been a very eventful day.

I was invited to dinner with Becky and Craig Parry. We spent the evening dining at the Thaifoon Restaurant, on tasty Asian food.

There was speculation at our table about couples dining at the restaurant,and what their relationship may or may not be. I am sure others in the restaurant were conjecturing about the relationships at our table as well.

Missing Him

Valentine’s Day, is a day that couples spend time together, and express their love, and devotion to one another. Today, I am missing being a couple. I am missing having Steve here.

Grief seems to ebb and flow, and today it is flowing. I asked the kids on Sunday if it would be okay for me to go alone to the cemetery on Valentine’s Day; they obliged.

On the way to the cemetery, my mind was full of sadness and thoughts such as, “I am only in my 40’s, I have 6 kids, and I’m going to visit my husband on Valentine’s Day at the cemetery; this is crazy.” I never would have imagined that life would have taken such a turn.

My emotions are running high today, and buckets of tears have been shed. I’ll wipe them away before my kids get home from school. They don’t like to see me sad, and why should they; it should be a Happy Valentine’s Day for them.

Pre-Valentines Day Celebration.

Valentines Day is a day we focus on and pay particular attention to those we love. It is a time to do something extra special for the important people in our lives.

On Sunday, we had a Pre-Valentines Day celebration. Meg and Quinn were in town from Las Vegas, and Sarah and Jordan were visiting from Provo. I invited some guests for dinner, made them a special dinner, opened gifts, and of course had heart shaped sugar cookies for desert.

My family keeps growing, which has been such a blessing. I love them ALL!

Braves Up-Date

The mighty braves have been playing with all their heart. They have played Woods Cross, Olympus, Stansbury, Tooele, East and Highland (since my last post). Mike was unable to play in the Woods cross game due to an upper respiratory infection. Unfortunately, the Braves lost to Woods Cross, and Olympus.

The Woods cross team consists of many players from the Rebels team. They are undefeated, so it would have been great to have a win, but it was not to be.

Oly is my alma mater, so it was a win I personally wanted to see happen. Unfortunately, the Braves just couldn’t pull it off that day.

Mike is playing real well. He had 19 points against East, and is seeing quite a bit of JV time.

The game against Highland was intense to say the least. The coach and the fans were very excitable. Their intensity brought about the removal of the coach from the game, as well as an obstreperous fan.

The boisterous fan, jumped from his seat yelling viciously at a referee, running towards him as if begin a physical altercation. He dismissed himself before he was ejected from the game.

Sweetheart Dance 2011

Beautiful Kate!

Kate was accompanied to the Sweetheart Dance by Wyatt Fraiser. He was very suave, and handsome. He captured my heart right away with his politeness, etiquette, and questions and comments. Some of which were, "When should I have her home? and Thank you for letting me take your daughter." Wow, what a gentleman, just what Kate deserves!

The Cake Nazi

Today was the day we met with the "Cake Nazi" to decide upon the perfect wedding cake. One might say it is a little harsh to refer to this kind, eccentric, older woman, in those terms, but I do it in the fondness way. She is extremely presumptuous about her abilities to prepare, create, and display wedding cakes. She presents a variety of flavors of cake, frosting, and fillings. Many of these she has prepared and ready for you to sample during the decision making process.

One of the reasons we fondly refer to this woman as the "Cake Nazi", is because she has specific spoken, and unspoken rules (maybe she refers to them as recommendations).

First, there is NOT a bad choice when selecting one of HER cake flavors. They are all wonderful.

Second, She makes the best marzipan in Utah.

Third, Never push or shove cake into your wife or husband's face at the reception.

I am sure there are many other recommendations that she had, that we just nodded to gracefully. It's just easier that way.

We sampled a variety of cake flavors. While sampling the coconut cake, Sarah blurted out a VERY loud, BLAH!! Jordan kicked her under the table, I gasped, and the "Cake Nazi" said, "Don't you like coconut cake?" To which Sarah replied, "No I don't like coconut cake." The crazed "Cake Nazi" responded, "Well, I'm sure you like MY coconut cake." To which we all nodded, and praised the cake.

We were afraid our plans for the wedding cake were shattered, after offending the "Cake Nazi". Jordan quickly smoothed things over, and we wrapped up our meeting. The last thing we wanted to hear was the dreadful words, "No cake for you."

The Pinewood Derby

Last Friday night was the pinewood derby for scouts. We have never participated in one before, and I must say, I was impressed, stunned and happy.

I was impressed by the workmanship of the cars. Some dads had spent numerous hours fine tuning their son’s cars down to the final detail. It was rumored that one dad had stayed up until midnight the night before attending to the details. Whatever the case, each car looked spectacular!

The runway for the race cars was meticulously assembled, with a computerized mechanism that calculated 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place. Each car competed in each lane, just in case the lane made a difference on its rank.

I was stunned by the competitiveness of this event. Many parents were adamant about their son’s car placing first. I began to understand why the computerized calculations at the finish line was necessary.

Ben had assistance with his car from our kind home teacher. I was so glad that our home teacher took on this project that I knew nothing about. Another father at the race assisted him with lubricants for the wheels. Another thing I knew nothing about.

I was happy, because Ben was happy. I only cared that his car made it across the finish line. Not only did his car make it across the finish line, but it took 1st place in the first round, and 3rd overall. This is extra impressive considering we had multiple wards participating.

Way to go Ben! And THANKS Home Teacher!

The White Suburban

Tonight was Ben’s third Jr. Jazz Basketball game. We left the game with a mighty win to a comparable team. His team’s record is now 2 losses and 1 win.

Ben’s personal adviser, Mike, comes to all of his games to give encouragement, and assess Ben’s skills for the game. Most of the time, it is greatly appreciated, some of the time it is contentious. Ben is lucky to have such a great mentor.

Mike left the game a few minutes early to retrieve the car. It is freezing cold outside, so I didn’t bring up the fact that he doesn't have his license yet.

Ben and I must have been overly excited with our victory tonight. As we were walking out of the game, conversing with one another, we noticed a white suburban parked close to the door. I was thrilled Mike had found a parking spot so close to the building. Ben and I both opened the car door at the same time, (me the front, and him the back) only to find someone we didn’t recognize sitting in the driver’s seat.

The man was about my age. His eyes widened, his eyebrows lifted, and in a very spirited tone he said, “Well, come on in.” I was so stunned, and was laughing so hard, that I didn’t even have a good come-back.

Ben and I then went in search of OUR white suburban. When we thought we found our car, I wouldn’t get in. Mike had put his baseball cap on backwards and I wasn’t sure it was our car. Finally, with a little encouragement, we got in and drove off.

I think there are TOO many white suburban’s in our little community.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Brrr.....it is so cold outside. Yesterday, I had scheduled my upstairs carpet to be cleaned. I couldn't believe that out of 365 days of the year, I would pick the coldest day of the year. It took the vendor 2 hours from start to finish to clean my carpet. During the process the garage door had to remain open in order for the hoses to be attached to his truck. Another hose had to be attached to a water source. He turned on the faucet in the garage, which usually works, but would not turn on. "Maybe it's frozen", he suggested. He found another usable water source and began carpet cleaning.

For 2 hours the door was open, and I was cold. I tried to continue with my usual routine, cleaning, cooking, and more cleaning. It was so cold, I finally turned on the fireplace, and wrapped up in a blanket. My kids were stunned with my choice. "Why didn't you just go downstairs where it is warm?"they mumbled. I hate it when they are so logical.

To make our cold day even colder, the garage door wouldn't shut. I tried all morning long to get it to shut, using all my tricks, but it didn't work. I finally called a vendor to come and fix the door. I was so glad he was in the neighborhood and got it fixed by late afternoon.

Last night I succumbed to my kids request, and let Snowball, aka, "the rat killing, garage cat" sleep inside. I had rules about the sleeping arrangements. The cat could ONLY sleep in the bathroom by the garage with the door shut. I thought my instructions were clear, until about 3:30 a.m. when I was sound asleep and a BIG, white cat, jumped on my face. That can be a little startling when you are awaken so abruptly. I guess someone didn't get the memo about Snowball's sleeping arrangements.

Early this morning I went to let the cat out, when I heard a strange sound coming from the garage. It sounded like a waterfall. The water pipe in the garage, attached to the sink where the carpet cleaner had tried to attach his hoses, had burst. Water was emptying into the garage at a rapid pace. Fortunately, it had just recently happened, fortunately we woke up early, and fortunately Mike knew how to turn off the water. Yikes!

On the way home from taking Lizzy to her Harp lesson, the younger kids had a great time watching the car thermometer dip from 6 degrees down to -1. "It's going to be another cold day", I told them.

Every winter day is a battle with Ben as to what it appropriate to wear to school. He wants to wear basketball shorts, sports tee-shirts or jerseys every day. It doesn't matter how cold it is. I told him that I look like a bad parent when he wears shorts with only a sweatshirt in the middle of winter.

When Ben started getting ready for school this morning he put on his usual basketball shorts, and sports tee-shirt. "What?" I exclaimed. I thought I said it was going to be a cold day. After MUCH encouragement (maybe even some threats), I finally got him to wear sweat pants.

I told him he MUST wear a coat today too. "I'll put it in my backpack," he grumbled. I found his coat crumpled on the floor. I picked it up, put it in the car, forced him to put it in his backpack, and took them to school. On the way to school we passed the kids waiting in the bitter cold, at the bus stop for the bus. Ben looked at a boy dressed in basketball shorts, and wearing only a sweatshirt and said, "I guess his parents don't really care about him."