So...Eli ran away with the SD card for my camera. He blames Nate, says, "daddy take it and put up high", which of course Nate denies. So, no pics for a while I guess!

It is cold and snowy again, which I'm very tired of. But yesterday morning was beautiful and I had the chance to clean the strip of land between our house and the neighbors. It was filled with leaves and garbage and just junk. So I raked and shoveled it out and when it was done, it looked so nice. And there were several places where the lillies were sprouting through...and it was soothing to me! I am so incredibly thankful for this time of year. While I hate the snow that now covers my lillies...I am grateful for the reminder that life begins again. I'm grateful for a Savior who regardless of my continual mistakes, forgives me AGAIN AND AGAIN so that life can begin again. Its so easy to be bogged down by the stresses of life...and for me, to replay my continued mistakes in my mind to the point of driving me crazy! I am eternally thankful that Heavenly Father isn't going to do that...He's going to shovel away the crap and look at the sign of new life that remains.

As a side note: Again, I apologize to those who read this particular post. I am feeling very reflective this week, and it needs acknowledgement. Anyways, if by chance someone reading this has been offended by me at some point...I BEG your forgiveness. I am trying, I really am. I know I've been just a jerk in the past at times...and sometimes I slip and repeat myself...but I'm hoping for something of a fresh start myself...

Funny stuff.....

So, I'm just apologizing up front for those of you who read this....this is SERIOUSLY my journal, and this needs recording.

We had friends for dinner on Friday...they became SUPER thankful we ordered in! I got home from buying groceries just before they got to the house so while we waited I was taking care of the food. I hate grocery day, because it means reorganizing and cleaning the cupboards and fridge. Anyhoooooo......I pulled the bottom drawer of the fridge out to put away the lettuce...and it was swimming in liquid. I am a freak...so I was thinking, great, what's broken and leaking out into my fridge...blah blah...blah. So I pull it out and asked, mostly to myself, 'what the heck is this stuff in my fridge?' Right then Eli comes trotting through the kitchen and he says, "I peed!" My good friends laughed out loud....ALOT! To which Eli replied, 'Twice." Okay, I am a bit afraid of whatever possessed him to do it....and I'm a bit gunshy to eat out of my fridge now. Thank heavens he's cute...because he's banking on it this week!!!
Tonight we were watching American Idol and I was complaining about that one guy's hair, the one who wears more makeup than I do....I said it a few times and Eli grabbed my cheek, and said, 'MOoooommmmm.....look at me. His hair is FINE!" It was funny. Apparently I demand he listen to me alot! (Its making SOME kind of impression:)
Kolbe had a tummy issue this week. I popped by the gas station to get a big pop on the way to school the other morning and he said his stomach hurt, and that maybe he shouldn't go to school today. Um....hum....this kid is a faker so I said, "Do you think you could eat a donut?" Of course he did....so I sent him to school. That night(this is gross) he had super stinky toots....and the next morning too. I was complaining about his 'problem' as I dropped him off for school, and pleaded that he not do it in class, but excuse himself. Last night as I was tucking him in I remembered the 'problem' and asked him if he 'please...didn't toot at school today.' He shrugged and said, 'Don't worry mom, I only tooted 7 or 8 times." Of course I freaked! He acted like, 'relax mom, I handled it' and said, "Mommmmmm.....don't worry, everyone thought it was Landon!" I explained that letting someone take the blame for it was terrible, and he reassured me he didn't say anything about Landon doing it, but that he always does it so people just assumed it was him. Okay, that's better!!!
May I just say that I love my sweet Kolbe. He is a tv-junkie that pesters the heck out of his siblings...and requires being asked 14 times to do something! But that's it...his laundry list of faults! He is hysterically quit whitted, and super sensitive(he's the one that cries at sappy shows)...he's tender, and I love him.
Kenna got 100 points today for AR. For those who don't know, this is a reading program most elementary schools participate in. All books are assigned a point value, and kids have to test on the book, if they pass, they are awarded points. Most books in the classroom are .5 points....so essentially, she's read 200 books this year! She is reading at 3.5 level, which her teacher is really impressed with. All we had to do was tempt her with the idea that the best readers in the class would probably get over a 100 points! So competitive!!!
I have tried really hard to be more involved with the kids...a bit of a guilt complex for tax season! Anways, Miss Avery is loving it! She loves Candyland...and Memory. I just have to make sure that she doesn't draw a picture card that sends her back to the beginning. She likes the idea of beating me...and gloats the whole time. I know, I'm not doing a good job of teaching her about real life... winning, losing...but its so fun!

uh....huh......

So, this morning on the way out to Arkoudis'....Kolbe was looking across the fields and he says, "hey mom, did you know its mating season for the pheasants?" I sort of smiled, because he's always been super interested in all facets of animal life. Then he said, "Oh....I just saw a hen in the ditch there...(big sigh)she must have just gotten done getting mated." Yeah....I almost wrecked I was laughing so hard!

dEATH by BasKETbaLl

uGH.......so, for the first time since I graduated from highschool(sshhhhh....its been almost 13 years) I decided it would be a good idea to play basketball. A friend from Simms that I played against in highschool and her husband have asked us a couple times to come play co-ed ball with them. Apparently its their Friday night 'date'. Well, since MY Friday night date(if there ever was one) consisted of EATING....this was a little intimidating to me. Not that I claim to have been awesome in highschool, because I wasn't....but I was and AM super competitive. So, tonight I conceded, to my husband's great amusement! Seriously....I had to HUNT for a sports bra! I played two games, which was about an hour....my chest aches still, and I'm sure I'll be super super sore tomorrow...but it was SO FUN! I want to do it again! I saw a few glimpses of the old me....and was decently pleased with my chubby, out-of-shape self....right until I pump faked, and went to swing the ball over top to step through for a lay-up....and TOTalLy clobbered my good friend Tami with an elbow to the nose. No blood...but, dang it!!!! Nate said, "I wouldn't have necessarily have led with my elbow in pick-up ball...."......like, someone who hasn't played in 13 years has CONTROL over what they were doing! But 46 apologies later...her nose is swollen and I still feel bad...but I am SUPER excited to play again. I would even consider making it 'date night!'

Evidence!

This post is specifically in honor of my best friend Holly. This is a woman who goes NON-STOP...and is the kindest, most loyal friend I could have ever asked for. Anyways...Holly is WAY too hard on her self for her housecleaning...and for some crazy reason she thinks my house is ALWAYS in perfect shape.....

So, all tacky cliche' s apply here....'a picture's worth a thousand words'...'eat your heart out'....but seriously, this has been my lot in life lately. I do a good job of keeping up on toilets and the upstairs is always clean. But, whew....the laundry! NOt so much!!! I wash it, but HATE folding it, so this is what it looks like, often, at my house. I made Avery sit in the pic so you could just get a realistic idea of how big this awful pile was. It took me a bit to get it folded and if we're being totally honest, I still have one basket left to put away today. And what do you know.....there's another dirty load calling my name in the bathroom!!!!

Now, let me just record an ACTUAL conversation I had with Kenna this week.

Kenna: MOm, do you know where my favorite jeans are? I can't find them in my room.

Me: Kenna, you know the answer to that question!

Kenna: MOM!!!! Do you think you'll ever DO the laundry?

AGGhhhhhhh.....good times!

"SPARKLING DIAMONDS"

So, as a coach, you also ref. Which means you get to be right ON the floor. So, I frequently grabbed my girls and 'guided' them to where they should have been playing defense or something. I think they did an amazing job with defense....our thing was 'keep your bum to the basket', which they thought was hilarious!

And it was good for two!!!! Not that scoring is all-important, but it is at this stage!

And again! She made four baskets last night, but the most impressive thing was her defense. You can tell her to 'get em' and she's a machine! YEAHHHHH!

I love my sweet Kenna. She has the heart of gold...always taking care of others, and worrying(seriously, she gets this from me, my mom, grandma....a long list of crazies!) for everyone else...and she's very competitive, wanting to do the best at everything. I don't know what she is supposed to accomplish in life, but she came powerpacked with talent and ability!

"Sparkling Diamonds'!!! Doesn't that just sound athletic? That was Kenna's team name for basketball. Last night was the final game for Kenna's little heisey b-ball team. And it was so much fun! I coached her little team this year, which was a hoot! I am so stinking competitive still, and it ws fun to watch it come out in Kenna. Last week we played a team that had this little girl that was AMAZING! So, Kenna asked me yesterday what she could do to play more like Payton. I said, 'if someone shoots it, YOU be the one to get the ball. When you get it, dribble as fast as you can TO the hoop, and only stop if someone stops you.' She was an animal last night!!! It was so fun. And she loved it too...I'm sad its over. Right when you notice progress....anyways, here's some pics of her playing.

Next Monday is Kolbe's last game(for this league, another one starts next week). I'll post a brag on him then!

I'm a slacker....but....

I've got an excuse!!! Its tax season, and I'm a week behind in everything important, so blogging is WAY backed up! But I have had a fabulous Saturday with the kids, and am hugely grateful that I was able to accomlish so much this morning. I pulled out my steamer and sanitized the bathrooms(seriously seriously overdue), did all the floors, the kitchen fridge, and shined the girls white runners just for good measure! I folded 8, yes 8, loads of laundry and put them away. My house looks like someone actually loves it, and it brings me the hugest sense of peace. Kenna sort of annoyingly asked me when we'd do something fun....to which I started singing the primary song "Saturday"....and then she echoed me singing 'its the day we do something fun with YOUR children!" Aghghghghghhhh.....I love this girl! So, I fed them lunch, and we headed to the mall for some no-real-plan fun. We scored some cute earrings for Kenna...got pretzels and cheese, and a orange julius to share while we walked. Talk about complete bliss!

I worked Thursday morning in the office, and I actually did my hair and makeup, wore a nice shirt...even some jewelry. My personal fashion consultant was very complimentary! I got home in time to do my workout...but slicked my hair back into my inch-long pony, put on a hoodie and sweats, and headed to Kenna's basketball game. On the way there...Kenna said, "mom I sure wish you'd try to look your best!" I laughed and asked what the problem was, if she didn't like my current outfit and she said, 'not so much!'

She has begged and begged me to re-pierce my ears so I could wear some jewelry...so last night I pushed the earring through the hole that hasn't been used since Kolbe was a baby. It burned!!! Nate stood in the doorway and watched confused, as I punished myself. I laughed the whole time...and we placed bets on when she'd notice. The only earrings I could find were little black sparkly ones of hers...which looked ridiculous. She noticed....she said, 'ewwwww, mom your ears must be oozing something black. it looks gross!' So much for my big effect! But, she was way excited to take me shopping for some simple hoops today!

Kolbe has been playing in a little b-ball league and his cousin Ethan is on his team. I was taking them to their game last week and listening to them talk in the back seat. Kolbe was telling Ethan that he never gets to start first...he always sits out first. And, I obviously couldn't resist the moment to tease him, so I said, 'that's cus you stink!' I watched him in the mirror and he got that funny half-faced smirk and said...'oh moth-her....you're encouragement is always SOOOOO helpful!' I almost wrecked I was laughing so hard.

Avery and Eli headed to mom/dad's Thursday night for a sleepover. Mom didn't have to teach Friday so this allowed me some work time Friday morning. Mom said that Avery is the most delightful child...so perfectly agreeable. I would have to agree! She is for the most part, such a happy, contented child. Easy to please....eager to smile....and I melt into her chocolate eyes every time!

And then there is Eli....I have learned that Heavenly Father sent us this child to remind us that life is supposed to be fun...that everything, if done right, can be fun. Here are just a few of my favorite events of THE LAST 2 DAYS!!! 1) Eli would be most happy naked. Most days its a real struggle to keep clothes on his little manly physique! We were water painting at the table, and he was only in his big-boy undies...and he pooched out his lips and starting sort of pli-ete(ballet:sp?)ing and a little pelvic thrust in there too...and I asked him what he was doing...He squinched up his eyes and pooched his lips again and said, 'dis is my weiny dance!' uh huh! Same day: 2) still in only his big-boys....he kept putting his hands down his britches. I was getting grossed out and I reminded him several times to stop...I got a little more annoyed with it...and so he stuck his hand in the little pocket part of his underwear. I said, 'dang it Eli, get your hands out of your underwear, its gross!" He said, 'mom....my hands not in my underwear, they in my weiny pocket!" Point taken, you win! I laughed so hard. 3) Again...same day, this time he HAD clothes on. We had parent teacher conferences. I sent the boys outside a few minutes before us, and came outside to see him in the middle of the school lawn with his pants around his ankles...going potty on the lawn! Whatever will I do with this child? He makes us giggle, and cry every day!

I can't figure out how to put the pictures in with the text....maybe a GOOD blogger would share their secret????