Dinner Rotation

We came up with this little thing about 3 weeks ago (after Corey returned from his 10 day work trip to Brazil, I had to start cooking meals again (a lot of YOYO dinners while he was gone (You're On Your Own))). And after failing on a busy Wednesday night, I resolved to do better. Joseph also made dinner one night which was great, and yay, that was really helpful! I should have them help out more often. Thus was born our family dinner rotation display thingy~ We have our little display board (going to get a cuter chalkboard maybe...) on a metal easel...

And a little clothes pin with magnets that holds the papers saying what day we're on and who is helping:

I keep the papers in a little bowl and just magnet them to the clothes pin - the "Who's making dinner" magnet connects to the other magnet holding the papers on.

So there is our little dinner rotation thingy, The kids really like drawing on the black board. It's the little things in life... Hyrum wrote "Orange Chicken" then drew a chicken and colored him orange, eventhough it looks more yellow than orange. I'll experiment with better markers, these ones are dry erase crayons which I liked cause they won't dry out. (I figured the kids would like drawing on it and they are pretty good at losing the lids, leaving me flustered as I throw too many markers in the trash. We'll see if this saves me a little bit of headache). They don't just like drawing, they really like helping cook too and they look forward to their day to help. And win-win: I feel like a good mom knowing I'm teaching the a little bit about how to cook (like how to turn on the oven!). I don't have any memories of cooking with my parents growing up. Probably cause I was in my own world playing soccer. I want to teach my kids some basic skills and not have them have to learn everything from Home Ec in Jr. High (a CTE course now...) I want to do this, I just need to slow down and make the time to let them help, this is a step in the right direction. :)

Goodbye Kiran

Yesterday morning we said goodbye to Kiran. He spent two weeks here. We hope he had a nice time and that our house wasn't too crazy or loud for him. Owen was very wary of Kiran the first day or two and let us all know with a few bursts of tears if Kiran got too close, but Kiran slowly made a few more gentle attempts they soon became best friends.

Kiran said he is really going to miss Owen.

Owen is going to miss him too! Kiran also had some magical gift or baby-whisperer touch and he could get Owen to sleep so quickly, I was amazed. 

The kids all said goodbye to Kiran before they left for school. Wes was the first one out the door, he leaves early on Tues and Thursdays for a Technieer Troup thingy before school. But he gave Kiran a hug. Then Lily and Abi left at 8:30 and we took a quick picture of them.

The older kids were on their last day of spring break, but I woke them up at 8:30 (so early!!) so they could say farewell, so there are the boys with their bed heads. Mel was already awake

Corey and Kiran. Kiran has been a miracle worker for Corey for many years. There have been many a night when I'd come see Corey at the computer skyping with Kiran. With the 12 hour time difference, Kiran would just be starting his day as Corey was finishing. So if there was a bug or problem to fix, he'd tell Kiran who would start working his magic (he's a computer whisperer too!) and in the morning Corey would often return to his computer to find Kiran had solved the issue. We are both very grateful for all the great work he's done for Movie Mouth over the years.

It was great to have him here. After his 30 hour trip, Corey's reported that he's arrived safely back home, we're glad you traveled safely Kiran! We'll miss you!

Whole30 & Easter Treats

Today is my second day of Whole30. I'm doing it with my sister Beka and a neighbor Aubrey. A couple of other friends in my neighborhood have done it already and are doing it again too. I'm excited to try and fix my relationship with food, which I believe has serious issues. Evidenced by the fact that last night around 7, I thought I'd give myself a little farewell to food and ate a mini peanut butter cup, which promptly woke up my Sugar Dragon, who quickly consumed a lot more than one little pb cup. After about 20 minutes I was able to get the dragon back in his lair. Yikes. Give it one little taste and things go crazy.

So I'll be keeping all my boring Whole30 stats for myself on my exercise blog for anyone interested, might mention a thing or two here every now and then, but will mostly try to keep this one about the kids and our family. The peanut butter cup that I ate that led to a fast "Food without brakes" free fall was taken from Sophi's easter egg basket, from the Hibbert Easter Egg Hunt we hosted her on Saturday afternoon. Sophi was gone with Corey in St. George, but got to go to a little easter egg hunt there. But my mom gave me a stash of eggs for her (which I gave into as my Whole30 eve binge, but I promise I didn't eat all of it and she had plenty of sugar to meet the demands of Easter Candy justice.)  Corey and crew (Joe, Mel, Eth, Sophi and Kiran) were still on their drive home from Southern Utah after enjoying the nice 70 degree weather for a day. Luckily the northern Utah weather cooperated - gave us a bit of snow overnight, but it melted enough by the time the hunt started that we were able to do it outside. While we waited for the last of the uncles and cousins to arrive, the kids watched "The Good Dinosaur" while the adults were entertained as they watched Natalie draw on her Boogie Board. There's a system to it that they were able to observe. Each time, she first drew a line around the boarder. Then a circle... fill it in.

Then another circle, fill it in. Repeat until the board is full. Reset and repeat.

She was pretty cute to watch, she's such a serious student.

Then we headed outside - grab your blanket Owen, it's chilly!

Hyrum had gone on a scout overnighter (said it was freezing!) but was home in time for the hunt. He had the most inconvenietly hidden egg - in air pipe on the side of the house. It was such a tight fit that any attempt he made to retrieve it just pushed it further in. I went inside to get something sticky, and was thus able to get the egg out with some tape at the end of a stick.

Wes is there on the left wearing one of Corey's jackets. He had one last egg that took him a while to find.

Abi, enjoying the hunt. It was a bit cold though!

Cute Lily

It was good to have an Easter Egg hunt here so that no one felt like they were stuck home with nothing fun while the older kids were gone on their road trip.

Natalie, I just loved watching her go around. She had gotten the hang of the game at our neighborhood hunt a week earlier, and didn't know that the rules had changed here. You can't just get any egg when Grandma puts on the hunt. The Eggs are labeled with names, each kid had 10 eggs, two other treats, and one small egg. So 13 things. Natalie was grabbing any egg off of the ground with anyone's name on it. I tried to take any non-Natalie labeled eggs out and re-hide them. Then she'd take all of her eggs and re-hide them too. Maybe next time, 2 year olds should have some symbol instead of their names? Or just a big N, cause she knows her letters and might understand if I told her to get an egg with an N. But it was cute to watch her, love her little sweet face.

Uncle Grant coming in to warm up and get a bite of chocolate - note the mega box of chocolates - Saturday I was prepping myself for my Whole30 and didn't have one bite, but then did have a bit of jelly beans and such on Sunday night. Grant earned his treats, he had done a mini triatholon that morning.

Grandpa giving Owen some love back inside.

Then we went over to the tree farm for an egg toss - raw eggs.

The sand was helpful in prolonging the life of a few of the eggs, until they met their inevitable demise.

Then some of the fam headed home and some of us stayed after and talked about eating healthy. My little brother's wife is expecting and is following a book called "Intuitive Eating" which I'll probably get for my health/fitness/diet book library collection. That was when I tried to recruit Beka to do Whole30 with me. I'm glad she accepted, it's nice to know I have someone to cheer on (and to complain to if needed!)

Sleepovers

For some reason Sophi likes sleeping in Ethan's bed. She is usually snuggled at his feet. But Ethan was tired at sleeping at an angle in his attempts to not put his feet in her face, so he's now made a little bed for her. On Saturday night Lily joined her in the big boys room on Joseph's side. Here they are Sunday morning. Pretty cute.

When I asked Sophi why she likes to sleep with Ethan rather than in her own bed, she replied "Because he's nice." I'm glad these little girls have big brothers to be their heroes and protectors. Corey said Joe, Mel and Eth were all so sweet and attentive to Sophi on their little overnighter to St. George. They are good kids, I love them all

St. George

The older kids have their spring break right now. The term ended Wednesday and then they had yesterday and today off, they also have Monday and Tuesday off next week. So, Corey decided he should treat them to a little road trip. Plus with his friend Kiran here for a few more days, he thought it would be good to show him a little bit more of the US than just Salt Lake and Provo. So, down to Southern Utah they go! They left around noon and are going to spend the night in St. George. The older kids might stay and swim at the timeshare resort and Corey is probably going to take Kiran to Las Vegas.

I'll update with pictures from them once they send me some.

Another Announcement

SO. we're expecting again. I found out the day we came home from Hawaii in January. I didn't tell Corey, didn't think he was ready for the news. When he did find out a week or so later, he wasn't ready for the news, but what can you do. So, being the compassionate person I am, I asked "So when should we tell the kids!?!" Yeah, not ready for that. So we didn't tell them, but I did mention that I thought a good and appropriate time would be at our February Valentines Day Anniversary dinner. He wasn't ready but we hadn't talked about it at all and I accidentally got the ball rolling thinking he was on board, but then he hesitated... which the kids were able to quickly guess. "Hm, there is something mom wants to tell us that dad doesn't... Are you pregnant?" Doh. So the kids found out on Feb 14th and that was that and I once again failed Corey's request. Funny after 10 kids that we're still having issues with how to handle the whole announcing part. Anyway, they all wanted to tell everyone they know and I told them okay. And once again I had failed at letting Corey take him time and "own" the news. Sorry sweetie.

I tried to honor it in the last way possible, by letting him tell his family. But our anniversary was that Friday, five days after we told the kids, and it was still fresh on their brains when they were all going to be sleeping over at his parent's house. Hmm, that presented a risky situation. I told the little girls several times "Don't you tell!" "What about Alix?" "No, don't tell your cousins either. Dad will tell them when he's ready. Don't tell!" I didn't know if they would be able to keep it secret, but they all said that none of them told. When I called and told Corey's family today, they said they didn't know, so good job kids! You've earned more of my trust! I was so impressed that they hadn't let anything slip during all their comings and goings over there.

So, I texted Corey last night "I think you should tell your parents soon cause they might already know and be wondering when we're going to officially tell them. Plus I'd like to begin to blog and document this pregnancy a little but am trying to honor your request..." Every now and then for the past two months I'll ask him if he's told them. "No..." Before he left for Brazil I asked again, "No... you can just tell them." I still didn't though, and then today when I was telling him he should probably tell them soon, he said "I was hoping you'd tell them when I was in Brazil..." Oh, I knew you said I could, but I didn't know that you wanted me to... cause those are two different things, but okay, I'll do it. So I called his mother, then called his sister and brother to let them know that we're officially in over our heads, (if we weren't before!)

Announcing the 11th isn't the same as the 1st or second... I kinda feel weird and hear Jim Gaffigan responses in my brain... "Well that's one way to live your life..." People are nice about it, but I do feel a bit nuts, so that's one part that we both struggle a little bit with. But in an attempt to shirk some responsibility, I'd like to say it's not my idea. I would have be fine with 7 (there were 7 kids in my family, and I felt like I needed to give each of my siblings a chance to be born). I probably would have been fine with 3, I definitely would have been fine with 10, but I didn't want to be the one to choose the number. And I'm sure after this angel is born I won't be able to imagine life without him/her. Still, I've never felt like I know what God wants and unfortunately I think we'll just have to find out as we go along. I'm also a little scared cause 14 was always my jersey number for soccer and has been my lucky number. Is that what we're in for? 14 kids? Oh boy. It creates some uncertainty and stress, but I just don't know! I've never gotten a number of how many kids we should have except for 14 - came when we watched 17 Miracles a year or so ago and I was tired and pregnant and wondering if this was my last and "I don't know if I can do this again" and was thinking about how many kids we should have, it was telling at the end of the movie there that the little girl that was frozen and then came back to life? ...she became mother to 14! So we might be in for a few more years, just warning anyone who thinks we're crazy now, we might get crazier. Also, as I've talked to friends and mothers, I often hear them say "You'll know when you're done..." and I haven't felt like I know I'm done, so I guess we're not? I just trying to leave it up to Him and lose my life in this wonderful blessing.

Also, I remember Hermana Raquel Garcia from my mission, one of my favorite people ever (Natalie's middle name is after her) she struggled so much getting pregnant, and I do remember thinking at that time that here was a sister that would be such a wonderful mother and give anything for more children... if God wants to bless me with children, I'm not going to get in the way.

Anyway, so there is our 11th announcement. I'm almost 14 weeks along and just set up my dr. appointment today. I've been debating in my mind for several weeks about what to do, thinking I'd be nice to go with a new doctor, just to give myself some variety from this groundhog day I'm stuck in but ended up just playing it safe and going with the usual. I know he'll induce me at 39 weeks, which is great for me, so that means this baby will hopefully be arriving on September 19th. Another month and we'll see if we have a boy or a girl and I'll try to figure out a fun way to announce that to the kids. What do you think Owen, do you want a little sister or a little brother?

Hm, I think there's a little troublesome brotherly duo here just waiting to keep me on my toes. I think Owen made a pact with him to make sure he got here on earth soon "I'll be really colicky and fussy and will stop nursing so her body can try to handle it." Of course, he doesn't sleep through the night very much, so I'm still pretty tired all the time and haven't been able to have the energy to work the baby weight off on my own. We better hurry and get family photos taken before I put on too many pounds, and so Owen can be documented as having been the baby! They're just going to be 14 months apart, but two years apart in school, those darn September birthdays. :) Also, I've been tinkering with Whole 30 for two weeks and have got my plan in place now and am thus officially starting on Monday, hopefully that will be able to help me out a little.

O José

Ethan told us this funny story that happened to him yesterday (silly birthday boy). He prefaced it by saying "You know when you find out something that you thought you knew but then you find out you've been wrong the whole time? (like Joseph's "How do you spell Lincoln" moment) Well, that happened to me today..." Then he shared this story.

He was in his history class, and they were given a piece of paper of the Star Spangled Banner. They had to fill in all the blanks that were scattered all over the paper. The first 5 students to fill it out got a starburst candy so pressure was on, Ethan really wanted a starburst. He knew the song very well and sang it in his head as he filled in all the blanks. He filled out the paper very quickly, yes! He was the first one to go up and give it to Mr. Arnell for his approval. He had to look it over before he could give the candy. Mr. Arnell looked at the first line and just started laughing, shook his head, still smiling, and gave it back, he couldn't even bring himself to explain why it was wrong... "No, I can't..." and he just laughed. Ethan didn't quite understand his reaction and went back to his desk to look it over. Ethan thought that since he filled it out very quickly, his handwriting probably wasn't very legible. He corrected a few words that he thought might be hard to read, gave it a look over again, and went up to turn it in again. 2 people had gotten starbursts. Mr. Arnell took one glance, laughed, and gave it back, not saying anything this time, just laughing. Ethan went back to his desk quite perplexed. A few kids had gotten starbursts and Ethan was running out of time. Ethan couldn't understand what the problem was. He had known this song all his life. He read his paper quietly to himself..."O' Jose can you see, by the dawns early light, what so proudly we hailed..." He shook his head, dumbfounded. How in the world was this wrong? He went up again and asked Mr. Arnell, determined to know his flaw. "Is my handwriting still bad?" Ethan asked. Mr. Arnell looked at the paper, then looked at Ethan. "Jose?!" He laughed again. "What?" Ethan said. Mr. Arnell laughed some more. "It's just funny" he said. Ethan looked at him confused and thought for a second. He sat down and turned to his friend to ask him for help. "What?!" His friend said, very surprised. "Come on Ethan, I thought you were smart?!" Ethan was now very confused. He looked at the Jose on his paper, and then it hit him. "Is it spelled with an "H"?" Ethan asked. His friend was laughing hard now, but seemed concerned that Ethan was still confused. He thought of all the possible things that could go in the place of Jose. All he came up with, was Hose. It took him a minute more, but he got it. He felt so stupid, and even though the race for candy was over, he needed Mr. Arnell to understand that he had solved the mystery. He shouted, "Mr. Arnell, its not Jose, its O' Say! I figured it out!" He felt stupid.

Mr. Arnell pulled up the Star Spangled Banner on the overhead. He pulled out his pointer stick and went to the overhead where the words of the Star Spangled banner were now displayed for all to see. He pointed to the first two words and started to laugh again, paused to compose himself, and then began to review with the class... "Now the first two words are NOT some Hispanic person..it is O' say." and he laughed again. Ethan's friend who knew it was him said "Ethan..." a little loudly yet under his breath. Mr. Arnell continued on and Ethan felt quite silly for the rest of the day. When he got to the other O' say part he said, "...now there's that hispanic person again..." So I thought that was about the funniest thing I've heard all week. When I asked Ethan why he thought Jose made sense, he explained "...thats just how i've known it all my life, i've never questioned it..." And I bet for all of Mr. Arnell's years of teaching that that might have been a first! "O Jose, can you see..." Mr. Francis Scott Key was talking to his brother, Jose, about the flag, right? Hey, it's possible!

Ethan's a funny kid.

Ethan is 14

Happy Birthday Ethan! And I remembered to take a birthday photo, a new tradition we started this year. 2 for 2, go me.

Happy Birthday Ethan. He's a good kid. He's had a busy day, but we did have angel food cake per his request and some chocolate cake that Grandma Hibbert brought over too. Sugar sugar sugar.

He got cash and lots of clothes, cause he's a teenager. Plus a pair of Stance socks from Grandma Wride that he's excited about. He told us a funny story tonight, I'll share it tomorrow. Love you Ethan!

Naps

Here is Natalie today around 4. I thought she looked pretty cute and tuckered out - and I liked her feet pointed in. This is the big fuzzy carpet in our room, aka her bed. She sleeps on the floor in our room everynight just like Sophi used to when she was 2nd to last and Natalie was the baby.

So now Owen is the baby in our room and Natalie is the toddler on the floor. I know I'll miss this little thing when they are grown. Here's more napping ~ Mel and Owen after school, they're pretty cute too. The teenagers are always willing to hold Owen, especially when he's tired, cause then can nap with a cute warm teddy bear.

Super Heroes!

The little girls were Natalie and Sophi were superheroes last night. Lily made little insignias for them our of paper. Then they taped them on their shirt fronts. Didn't stay on too well... They've requested that I sew some. I think they would be easy enough for me to do, so I will do it. (...as soon as I get the laundry room desk cleaned off. That is the new favorite place for the little girls to do their crafting and it drives me a little crazy. I tell them not to get into any of that stuff without permission, but I'll still go in there to find Lily, (the 6 year old mind you) has been using the hot glue and left it plugged in. There is paper scraps and shreds everywhere, buttons and crystal beads, they just make a mess. I think I should just get rid of all of it.)

Ok, back on subject, so the little girls have been superheroes. Corey got a video of Natalie saying "I'm a SUPER HERO!!" and it was adorable. Their superhero outfits are their pajamas with a blanket tied around their necks.

Sometimes Natalie also puts on gloves. She makes me smile.

Good Sidisens

I've been cleaning off my pile of papers from the office desk this morning. I've got lots of papers here that capture a moment in time. Little scribbles of Natalie and Sophi or cute pictures of Lily and Abi. Most of the papers I save are of the toddler years. When the elementary and school years come along, it's mostly programs and certificates I save. I love these toddler/young child moments though. Abi and Lily are always making "clubs" and rearranging books and blankets to make their hide outs or forts. A recent club Abi organized is the "Good sidisens club" (Citizens if you couldn't tell). Here is her list of club rules:

1. do a good sidisen thing.
2. get food for a meding (meeting)
3. Do the meding.
4. took (talk) abowt good things we did.
5. do more good things.
6. Do sume activitys
7. Do suprises for people
8. give the activitys away
9. come back to the meding and tok abowt wat we gave away.

Sounds like a pretty awesome club. I think all my kids could be good sidisens. Another cute little girl moment this week was Natalie drawing on the Boogie Board. She was tapping her foot as she drew.

When she draws on that she just fills in the whole space so it's the opposite of it being dark. I think I need to get a few more of these, cause it would definitely save on the amount of papers that these girls fly through. On white sheets of paper they'll draw a scribble and not like it and then grab another new sheet of paper and draw another scribble, not like it, throw it on the floor, repeat until they've gone through all the white paper they find in the printer (I try to get to the pile of paper before them and put it up high away). If they each had Boogie Boards, they could just push the button when they don't like their scribble. Yeah, I think I should get a few more of these, it will save a few trees from these little blooming artist and then they would be better sidisens too! (You're cute "Natanie"!)

Bear

The kids have a game that they like to play called "Bear". The game bear began at the Crosswood house. Joseph was inspired to teach this game to our family when he was in 2nd grade and played it at a friends house. Joseph came home and taught it to our family. The game involved everyone staying on the main floor while someone went and hid in the basement, then everyone coming down the stairs into the basement and trying to find the bear without being eaten by him. Corey was usually the bear, and he's a pretty good one too. So we played "bear" many times at that house and have played it at this house before the carpet was taken out of the basement. But since the carpet has been out for the past 3 years, they haven't played it that much. On Sunday, the kids knowing that the carpet would be returning to the basement on the morrow, excitedly told each other "now we can play bear!!" But why wait, let's do it now! We still have stairs we can descend, so yay, everyone upstairs!

Hurry, turn off all the lights! ...and Corey quietly slept in his lair... They played a few rounds, and then Corey was fully in the game zone and upped the intensity. He went into the kitchen and put ketchup on his face. (..cause he was a man that had been mauled by the bear?) Joseph wasn't really playing. He didn't want to go up and down the stairs, so he just hid hoping that he could scare them as they looked for dad. But they never came. So he went to the bathroom. Then he was just chillin' in the dark as Corey scared his siblings. He had an inkling that Corey was about to take it up a notch, and was soon proved to be right in sinc with Corey's thinking, because on his own initiative, Joseph got some music ready to scare  them with - a song from school that he's been playing for wind ensemble: Symphony 1 'The Lord of the Rings; by Johan de Meij, movement 3. It was on his phone, already hooked up to the bluetooth... So the kids were beginning to brave the dark and sneak around looking for the bear, when all of a sudden Corey comes out all bloodied up and right then Gollum's theme is blasted on the Bose~ (cue 14:40). Corey gave Joseph a fist bump after, it was awesome. He said Mel's face was priceless.

The only picture of that I captured was this one above that was about 5 minutes later, but with the shock still lingering on their faces as they wondering "What is this man capable of?" (Next Corey got the duct tape...)

...But that's about the time that party pooper mom came out and said it's late, time for bed, early is gonna seem really early tomorrow cause the daylight saving time adjustment takes about a week to recover from. So scriptures and then off to bed, and they're already looking forward to playing Bear again soon.

New Basement and Guest

Today's been an exciting day. We got new carpet in the basement. The basement that got flooded on Christmas eve 2012. So over 3 years later, yeah, it's about time. It looks really good now. Sophi and Natalie loved playing in a big open empty room. They played "Throw a ball" Sophi said so cutely "We're playing throw the ball, that is what we are playing" and she and Natalie squealed and giggled as they threw the ball against the walls over and over.

Right after we signed off the papers for the carpet installation, Corey left for the airport to pick up Kiran. Kiran has been Corey's best programmer for many years of Movie Mouth software coding. Kiran is from India. While Corey went to the airport, I hurried and set up a bed and small living space in the new basement area for our guest. The kids are sad they don't get to set up their new lego space yet, but it's good to practice patience. It will be really nice to have the rest of the basement finished someday. Patience is good for me to practice too.

It was great to meet Kiran. The kids were home when they arrived and they all came to say hello. Now that Owen is almost 8 month old, he has fully developed stranger danger awareness. Kiran said hello to Owen, and Owen just started at him in concern, with an occasional glance at us for an "are we safe?" assuring smile. Kiran reached over to gently touch Owen's little cheek and he wimpered and recoiled into Ethan's arms. We thought it was pretty funny. Later Kiran said hello more closely as he leaned in to tap his forehead with Owens, to which Owen totally freaked which again made everyone laugh, since this is a newly developed part of his personality that has just emerged. Natalie was a little hesitant. Sophi was good.

She likes Kiran. She sat on his lap tonight and jibber jabbered all the things she knows, including "Donald Trump is a bad guy." (I guess Corey and I are getting a little passionately political this election season again if Sophi's picking up on it?) Kiran had 30 hours of travel to recover from so he went to bed pretty early, a 12 hour time difference will do that to ya. We look forward to seeing him tomorrow. He's going to be here for two weeks. :)

Election Talk

Another Friday, another date night, another exchange between Corey and I on why we both greatly fear Donald Trump being leader of the free world. We started off with a few Colbert videos that Corey hadn't seen yet - both hit the spot:

"If we just give him what he wants, maybe he'll go away!!"

I know the general election in November is still a ways off, but the "trump-train" lunacy that has seemed to taken over "the people" of the Republican party makes me think our country is on the brink of disaster. Corey read one of Trump's books on his trip to Brazil last week ~ "Never Enough: Donald J. Trump and the Pursuit of Success" ~ and, well, let's just say it gives an accurate portrait of the Republican frontrunner. I appears very unlikely that there will ever be enough to satisfy Donald Trump, and that should be a problem for US voters.

So, with the help of Jonah Goldberg's recent "news" letter (read that article) here are just a few of the reasons why no sane person should or would support Donald Trump. (and take note that in the list below "Drumph" = Trump, and a big thank you John Oliver for my "Make Donald Drumpf again" chrome extension, we give it an A+):

• Drumpf said it doesn’t matter what the media writes about you “as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of a**.” 
• Drumpf boasted that his ordeal of avoiding the clap while sleeping around so much amounted to his own “personal Vietnam.” 
• He said that John McCain’s ordeal avoiding dying at the hands of his torturers wasn’t heroic. 
• As for everyone else’s Vietnam, Drumpf got out of that by claiming to have a medical condition that instantly healed when hostilities ended. 
• He bragged — in print! — about bedding married women and has admitted to cheating on at least two of his wives. 
• He boasted that he “whines until I win.” 
• He’s condemned Charles Krauthammer, George Will, and many other friends of [conservatism] with far, far more vitriol than he condemns Vladimir Putin, the butchers of Tiananmen, and David Duke. 
• The man is so lacking in moral clarity that he dismissed Vladimir Putin’s murdering of journalists by saying, “I think our country does plenty of killing also.” 
• This is a man who expresses a passionate desire to change the First Amendment so he can punish journalists who don’t kowtow to him. 
• This is a man who praised the mass murder at Tiananmen and criticized Gorbachev for not being as tough-minded. 
• This is a man who says he “reads the Bible more than anybody” but can’t — after months of opportunities — speak intelligently about it for 30 seconds. 
• This is a man who, by any objective measure, lies nearly as much as Bill Clinton but with a tenth of the skill. 
• He lacks the patriotic seriousness to do minimal homework, even when his ignorance has been pointed out time and again. (Bill’s colleague Hugh Hewitt asked Drumpf about the nuclear triad in August. Several months later, when the question came up again Drumpf was, if anything, more ignorant.) 
• This is a man whose business dealings have been shot through with shady practices, mob ties, and fraudulent claims (also known as “lies”). 
• This is a man with a totally thumbless grasp of what the Constitution is about or what conservatism is (“Conservatism means,” according to Drumpf, “to conserve our money”). 
• This is a man who boasted for months that he will torture our enemies and indiscriminately murder their children as a matter of policy. 
• This is a man who says that the last Republican president deliberately lied us into war and plays coy about whether 9/11 was an inside job. 

So, that's that. Praying for our country, and hoping the lack of morals of the current Republican frontrunner candidate isn't wholly reflective of the rotting state of morals in our country. 

Life in the Bubble

Somedays I wish I don't want to know what's going on in the world. Cause when I go there, it's pretty easy to let my natural man give in to worry. It usually takes some mental effort and discipline to suppress it. Then I look at Owen. I think he knew what would be going on here on this planet when he signed up for mortality. Well, Owen, what do you say?

Aren't you worried?! Do you realize there is a possibility that Trump might be the Republican nominee? That he could become president?!?! You don't worry about stuff like that? You just like the red flashing light on my camera? Is happiness in life really that simple?

Hmm. there's a lot I could probably learn from this little person. It's not too hard to be happy if I am really and truly in the now and enjoy the present moment. (Shannon's life lesson #3) I've learned this all before from Screwtape. But it seems to be something I need to re-learn and remind myself of everyday. Just be present! Maybe I just need to cut myself off from all of it until November. Well, except when I participate in Utah's caucus' on the 22nd. But other than that, there's not much I can really do or control about this whole situation until November when I cast my vote. Although Corey and I do enjoy all the material it gives us to share with each other. Part of me wishes that I could/would just let it all disappear from my mental radar until Nov. I wonder if I could. My life is pretty easy and happy here in my bubble if I let myself truly be here and present. I liked this little comic a friend shared on facebook recently:

Yeah, maybe I should just work on focusing on today for me, here and now. It's pretty easy when we just play with this adorable baby! Owen, you really are just the cutest thing in the world!

Without or with the flash? It gives a different look, but either way we get those big beautiful eyes! You can almost see Owen's hair with the flash on! Hey Charlie Brown, you've got hair!

Life is good with this Lil' Man around. These kids help me keep perspective on what is truly important. The worry tries to creep in every day in different ways, so I have to constantly remind and discipline myself to remember God is in charge and I should trust in Him and his plan. Ok Owen, I'll do it.

Doodle Game

The kids made up a game a few years ago. The game is you take turns drawing random scribbles and doodles, then the other person has to make a picture out of it. Hyrum, Mel, and I were playing it after school today - since the Boogie Board was out and we were all having a little snack. The default doodle is to draw a weird looking man. I drew a ghost for one, Mel saw a bird in another, Hyrum saw a few weird guys and drew those. But this one of Mel's had us laughing the hardest - I drew some hard lines and angles, and Mel turned it into a big mean pig chastising the poor little mustached man.

That mean pig hurt his feelings so bad. We thought it was pretty funny. I'll try to take more doodle game pictures again. Sometimes the kids play it on paper, they'll draw like 16 squares on a grid and do each square. Pretty funny, simple game that is almost guaranteed to make you laugh!

Little Leg

I peeked over at Owen this morning ~

That little leg dangling out through the side of the side of the crib, made my day. Here's another picture of him, He fell asleep eating as I folded laundry on the bed yesterday.

Love this little man and his ascot. Corey teases that Owen is always wearing an ascot. It's actually his drool cloth. Made out of a sliced receiving blanket, not silk. I cut myself more of them this past weekend. Cause the little guy just always seems stinky even with baths and clearing out his neck roll and changing his cowboy bandanna. I was sniffing him out yesterday and finally figured it out: it is his binki cord! He sucks on that and that catches a lot of formula too. So I threw those in the wash yesterday and now Mr. Slobber man isn't quite so stinky. :) I've been waiting for him to cut a tooth for 3 months, trying to find some reason why all this drool is justified. I have the bibs on him when he goes to bed too. Mel asked me tonight "Does Owen drool when he sleeps?" No, but he's still pretty messy with his bottle so there's always formula dripping down his cheeks and to his neck when he wakes up to eat. So yeah, we just keep it on him pretty much 24/7.

Owen also apparently found my camera this afternoon and took some selfies...

There were 10 or so. Ethan did a good job at hiding himself, he was only seen in the corner of one of the pictures. Also, I was kinda tipped off that someone else was involved by the fact that Owen doesn't know how to use the camera.  Last news of the day: Hyrum finally got his braces.

He's been looking forward to this day for a long time, cause it's just so exciting to have something new going on in your life when you're a young teenager (I guess a splint and boot aren't enough for Hyrum, he's die hard!) So he was excited about the braces, but has also been wondering what he was so excited about, cause his teeth are killing him. He's going to have applesauce and smoothies all day tomorrow. Tonight he was able to endure finely cut up chicken, but all his friends warn the second day is worse than the first. So, have fun with that buddy!