Friday Feast and Friday Fill-In

The chef is still having technical difficulties and so I made up my own. Someone else did some Texas questions but I didn't feel like those applied so I did some Utah ones. Feel free to grab them and add to your blog!

Appetizer

What are your feelings towards lightning/thunder storms?

I absolutely love them! Any kind of rainy weather instantly puts me in a good mood! I know it's not real safe, but I love to go outside and just watch them. If the thunder is real loud, I do get a little scared though. We live right next to the mountain and several years ago it caught on fire because of lightning. That was pretty incredible but very scary! They were able to put it out before it did any damage to the homes....including ours thankfully!

Soup

Have you ever experienced an earthquake?

When I was about 12 or so, I was practicing the piano and I saw this lamp on the piano start to move. I had no idea it was an earthquake at the time. It was a small one, but it was still large enough to do some minor damage to some homes. I currently live 50 yards away from a major fault line. Kinda nerve racking!

Salad

Dry heat or humid heat?

Definitely dry. We lived in St. Louis for a couple of years and that humidity just wears you out! I hated always feeling sticky!

Main Course

Are you a skier...snow or water?

Yes, I am a water skier, but as far as a snow skier, I am not sure how to answer that. I have been several times but I am not good at it. The first time I went I was in ninth grade and one of the boys talked me into going on a slope called Wild Cat (yeah that should've been my first clue!) and I ended up in a tree! Seriously I did! I was not having a good time and so I took off my skis and slid down on my fanny the rest of the way! Pathetic!

Dessert

What are your top three favorite ice cream flavors?

Oh, I love ice cream! My top three flavors are Farr's Licorice, Spumoni, and Cherry Chocolate Chip. I also love Mint Chocolate Chip and Pistachio. Haagen Daz' Creme' Brulee' is good too! I could list about 20 or 30 favs!

1. I believe whatever doesn't kill you makes you older. heh-heh
2. If you're good at something, share it with others.
3. Why so much money for gasoline!
4. Something is out there, it's my son who is supposed to be inside right now.
5. If my life were a sitcom, it would be titled Boys R Us.
6. Sitting on my back porch I see our waterfall, beautiful trees and flowers, and the mountain.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to attending our ward party and watching my three year old nephew for the weekend, tomorrow my plans include NOT doing my long run since I did it today!!! Yea! 10 miler!, playing with my nephew, picking up McKay's football gear, and doing something fun! and Sunday, I want to go to church, then chill and take a nap! I always say that but it never happens!


Have a great weekend!!!

Parenting Pointers Post #9

Parenting Pointers Post #9
Help for the Frazzled Mom!
Based on Dr. Glenn I. Latham's book The Power of Positive Parenting

"Behave well. Good parenting is first a matter of teaching, second a matter of modeling, and never a matter of reacting." Dr. Glenn I. Latham

Yes, I already know I have been a real slacker when it comes to writing this weekly post lately! My problem has been not only is it summer and it seems all schedules go out the window (do you know how many times I have forgot the boy's piano lessons and scouts already?!!!) and on top of that for some reason it seems my Wednesday's are always craaaaaaaazy!

Yes, I know you are thinking that maybe I should just write this post on another less busy day, and I would totally agree with that logic, except I haven't been able to find another less busy day! So, I hope you will forgive me if you have come here seeking great help from Dr. Latham's wonderful advice and left empty handed. I promise I will do better! In fact I even started writing this on Wednesday....it is currently 11:55 p.m., but still Wednesday! I wonder if I can finish it in five more minutes??? Highly doubtful, but I will try! If not, I will still publish it as if it were really completed on Wednesday. But that is our little secret!!! Shhh......

Okay down to business.

One of the greatest things I learned from Dr. Latham was to clearly establish and communicate our expectations to our children. It really seems like such a no brainer and a very simple thing to do, but it is so often overlooked by us as parents. Don't you like to be told what is expected of you when you are doing something? I think we all do. Otherwise it is left to us to figure it out on our own and the way we think it should be done may not always be the way others want it to be done.

For example when your children are busily engrossed in their play or in something else, give them a little warning before they need to stop. If they are going to have to clean up their toys or stop doing something, then when it is 10 minutes before it's time to do that, tell them that they have 10 more minutes before it is time to stop and ask them how much time you said they have and have them repeat it back. Give them another warning at five minutes and ask once again how much time before they need to stop. That always makes the transition go so much more smoothly.

Dr. Latham suggests that we communicate clearly to our children what our expectations are and then always have them repeat them back to us. That way we know that they understand what we expect and it also reinforces it to them.

"Johnny, I need you to be home tonight at exactly six o'clock and not one minute later so you can get ready to go the program with us." Johnny responds with, "Yeah, yeah, okay mom." Then you say, "Johnny what time do I need you to be home tonight?" To which he replies, "Six o'clock...I heard ya, I got it." You then follow it up with a comment that reinforces your expectations once again. "Thank you Johnny, I am so glad I know I can depend on you to be home at six o'clock."

If we don't communicate what we want to happen then we really have no one to blame but ourselves. It is too much to ask for children to know in advance what is expected of them if we never TELL THEM! And always have the child show his understanding of the expectations by repeating them back to you. Here's some more dialogue of how it might sound.

"Sara, I need you to clean up the mess in here by folding and putting away all the blankets, putting away the games, and taking the dishes upstairs before dinner."

"Okay mom, I will in a minute."

"What do I need you to do Sara?"

"You want me to clean up this mess."

"Yes, you are right. But what exactly do I want you to do?"

"You want me to fold the blankets, then put them away and then put away all the games too."
"That is great! But there is also one more thing I need you to do."

"Oh yeah, and take the dishes upstairs."

"You got it! Thank you so much for doing those things before dinner. I really appreciate you being so responsible and helping out."

I am always amazed at how much faster things get done when I clearly state my expectations and then have my boys repeat those expectations back. Once that is done there really is no room for miscommunication. It is so worth the extra few minutes it takes.

As always...good luck, and as Dr. Latham used to say:

Happy Birthday Taylor!

Wow, it's hard to believe my

Taylor is 15 today! That boy has been a joy from day one and continues to bring so much happiness in to our lives! Happy Birthday Rouz! We LOVE you!!!

Here are FIFTEEN reasons why I am so happy AND grateful you are my son!

#1 You have been the happiest and most good natured guy since you were born. I am so amazed at how laid backed you are . Nothing ever gets you real riled up. Even in times of stress you just go with the flow and keep that happy smile on your face. What a blessing that has been to me!

I just love this photo of him and brand new McKay!

#2 You are very kind to others and always go out of your way to offer a helping hand. I was just told last week by a friend that she saw you go over and help an elderly woman with her garbage can when you saw she could use some help. And of course you never mention anything to anyone when you do great things.

Click to enlarge (umm...these are ancient scrapbook pages that were done before scrapbooking was invented! Heh-heh...so no judging please! :D)

#3 You are a serious tease! But that makes life fun around here!

No mischief in those eyes! Nope...

#4 You are a great brother and an awesome big bro to McKay. He looks up to you and watches everything you do. I am so grateful you are such an incredible example to him!

























#5 I love to do things for you because you are always so appreciative and grateful when I do. More so than most anyone I know. You are always the first to say thanks.

#6 You are never in a bad mood. Not sure how that is possible, but you are always happy! You don't have a temper and are so easy going with everyone. Nothing really stresses you out. You are a great athlete because whenever your team loses a game, it just slides off your back and you move on and go forward.

#7 You are a leader among your peers. They look up to you and want to be like you. You have great leadership ability and others are always following your lead.

#8 You are a lot of fun to be around. You have a great sense of humor.

click to enlarge

#9 Even though you have a lot of reasons not to be, you are a very humble person. Humble, yet confident. Not an easy combo to have!

#10 You are a very hard worker. You have learned how to do what needs to be done without complaining.

#11 You are a self starter. I never have to wake you up in the morning, I never have to remind you to do your homework, I never have to tell you when you have a meeting...you are always on top of it all. In fact, I would really like YOU to be MY personal secretary! You are very organized and very efficient for one so young!

Taylor won the District Cub Scout of the Year!

#12 You are extremely smart. You excel in school and always are at the top of your class. When you were five you knew your seven times tables! No one taught them to you, you just somehow picked them up. Everyone was amazed. In elementary school you took second place in the school spelling bee and went on to district to represent your school for two years in a row...not an easy feat! You were also on the Math and Science Olympiad Team and represented your school at district.

#13 You are also extremely athletic and excel in sports. You are an amazing basketball player. You play very unselfishly and are always a team player. You are also a great football player and even though I don't like to see you out there getting hit and tackled, YOU absolutely LOVE it! You have the drive and skill. Most every sport comes easy for you, but you are willing to sacrifice the time and effort to become even better. You still hold the school record in the shot put at your elementary school. You also competed in the District Pentathlon for your school for three years straight.

Tay's comp basketball team (one of three he played on this year)

#14 You have been described as a gentle bull in a china closet because even though you are a big and tough guy, you are also very gentle when needs be. Like when giving your mom a big hug without crushing her bones! Although you did break my tailbone when I delivered you! Something I won't let you forget!

#15 Overall, you are an amazing, awesome, talented, happy, smart, loving, and INCREDIBLE son!!! Thanks for being soooooooo great! I love you bud! HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY!!!!

Yo...my peeps!!!

Yo!

Sup my peeps!!!

I was just chillaxin here trying to do a little pimpin' to my blog because after all that's how I roll.

Just trying to be a little more stylin', aight? As if.

I was reading a blog the other day that was all that and a bag of chips. It was sweet. I mean total gravy! I mean it really was da bomb! Oh snap! I can't remember which one it was. My bad. Sorry if you have a problemo with that. Please don't wig out or go postal on me m'kay? If you do have issues with that then talk to the hand.

But let me tell you, this blog was really trippin'. It had an extremely fine post that listed a bunch of slang words that are actually in the dictionary. Of course that would mean the freakin' unabridged dictionary. But still!

Anywho it sparked my interest because back in the day the dictionary was old school and didn't contain slang. I am sure Mr. Webster (whom I heard was a real hottie btw...sorry, but I'm just sayin') would roll over in his grave if he knew some of the words that were now included under his name.

So for you my bloggin' homeys, here are few of the words that I found in Mr. Webster's on-line dictionary. Please forgive if this is TMI.

turd (yeah turd! Can you believe it!)

loopy

booty

hottie

bazillion (but no "brazillion" my personal fav - at least not in this context)

ginormous

wth (wtf was also there but this is a family friendly blog!)

phat

yadda yadda yadda

swagger

aight

gazillion

yo

bounce

sup

pimpin'

crunk

homey

peeps

spaz

unibrow

bling bling

Well, I am sure there are a brazillion more but it's time for me to bounce my peeps!

Peace out!

Until next time... laterz!

Things are NOT always as they appear...

Look closely at the photos below. Do the words overworked, exhausted, pooped out, drained, fatigued, spent, tired, wearied, worn-out immediately pop into your mind?


























Now look closely at these next photos. Do the words pamper, enjoy, gratify, luxuriate, satisfy, spoil immediately take over your brain?

Here's one more... Do the words happy, joyous, delighted, glad, jubilant, radiant, elated, euphoric, cheerful, blissful immediately fill your head?

If the answer is YES to the above questions, then I have just proven that things are NOT always as they appear. Oh no, not by ANY means!

The first collage appears that we are not "THE MERRY MAIDS", but more like "THE MARTYRED MAIDS" , which is entirely NOT the case. Yes, we had worked our little tushes off cleaning the house that day as an act of service for my mother-in-law who was not feeling well, but we were happy, chipper, cheerful, joyful, very MERRY, and in great moods. Even house work is fun when you do it with a bunch of people you like to be around. So, things are NOT always as they appear.

The second collage appears that Karen and I are not "THE PEON PEDICURE QUEENS", but more like the "THE PAMPERED PEDICURE QUEENS", which once again is entirely NOT the case. YES, we did go to pamper ourselves by getting pedicures, but ended up being two women who was HAD by a very unprofessional nail salon. What we thought was going to be great pedicures, ended up being a bunch of pedi-crap. The lady that did my toes was extremely unprofessional, beginning with talking me out of getting acrylic toes, which is what I really wanted when I went in. When she needed me to put my feet up or down, she would yell at me to do it.

"Feet down!"

"Feet up!"

There was no asking me nicely to do so. I asked her to be careful with (what I call) the cheese grater on my left baby toe because it had a sore on it. But she just went to town and started to grate that toe with the others! OUCH! I jerked my foot a little, but she just kept on going. I said, "No, not that one, remember?" To which I got ZERO response.

Zip. Nada. Nothing.

I started to wave my arms at her to try and get her attention. Totally futile. Luckily she started grating my other foot. But things got worse. After she put the top coat on my toes she walked away without a single word. Not even the normal phrase, "Five dollar more for a flower". I didn't worry because I knew she would return to apply the second VERY needed, and I might add, VERY expensive second coat.

Wrong. Incorrect. Mistaken.

As she walked by again, obviously moving on to her next customer, I said VERY LOUDLY, "Excuse me, but I need TWO coats!", to which I got NO response. I gave her the benefit of the doubt because she was Vietnamese and didn't speak English real well. Though I was not happy knowing how much I was forking out for my toesies (30 smackaroos!) and so I started to wave my arms. An act of futility once again. The guy that was doing Karen's toes pointed to her ears, to which I saw HEAD PHONES inside them! She had her IPOD on the ENTIRE time she was working on me! WHAT? Head phones inside a nail tech's ears? Totally unprofessional! I had to get Karen's tech to apply the second coat for me!!! Mine was just interested in getting out of there and going home. There is even more to the story, but I will spare you the rest of that. But once again...things are not always as they appear.

In the third and final collage, it appears as if we are not "THE TEARFUL TROOPERS", but rather "THE HAPPY CAMPERS". Nope. Wrong again! My darling nieces were heading back home to Arizona and so the pictures were taken when we're saying good-bye. The top two were taken when little MacKenzie was asking me why she had to go back home the next day. Nothing about them going back makes me happy! So yes folks, it does appear that things are not always as they appear.

I could have posted these photos and just left them at that...but then you would have just thought things WERE as they appear. So sorry, but I just couldn't do that to you, my truth seeking readers. I know you want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!

Oh...and I won't tell you the name of the nail salon, but it starts with Le and ends with Nails. I also won't tell you where it is located, but that starts with New Gate and ends with Mall.

I'm just NOT sayin'....

That Dam Race!

WOO-HOO!!!

























For that story and the results go HERE !