A Day in the Life...

We already decorated for Halloween 😁 so I guess it's not too early to make Christmas wishes.  They're pretty funny. Copper is actually taking hers seriously and hasn't written it down yet. Micah LOVES baby back ribs, and it made it to her list... I read The Road  in two nights because it's pretty captivating. Superficially, I think it's the worst book I've ever read. Underneath, I can see layers and layers of life, which is why I liked it. I'm also reading When Stars are Scattered  because my girls are reading it. It's much more hopeful than the other book... I'm happy to be reading more again. I needed something that didn't make me fall asleep... Last night I took Copper to our stake's Standard's Night. I'm so happy she met up with friends- they're such a good group and bring out the best in each other. I took a picture because I want to remember, full of gratitude, that our church provides such opportunities for youth- leadersh...

I missed 3 calls from the school and then this text. I started to panic and called them right back. Here's what I learned: Micah: hey mom are you busy? Me: I just left a home and I'm ony way to our home. I'm by Costco. Is everything ok? Micah: We called because Dakota's bike was making a really terrible noise. Me: looks like you made it home though, did it ride or did you have to walk it? Micah: she wrote it home. Me: is there anything else that's urgent? Micah: no. *10 minutes later, at home* Me: You guys, I'm sorry I'm not home after school very often. Do you know how I'm spending my time and what I'm doing? Dakota: well I just tell people you're a social worker and that means that you're helping humans. Me: okay cool. But do you feel like I help you enough? Are you getting all the attention that you need? Like when your bike is pretty urgent and you're not sure what to do? Dakota: oh sure it's fine. But it's too hot so we'r...

 This apple doesn't fall far from her father's tree: Zoey (carpool friend): Yesterday during the mile test in PE I had an asthma attack and had to stop; I couldn't breathe so I put my head down and started crying. A girl in my class came up and said she'd walk the whole way with me if I wanted. I told her she didn't have to but she said she'd rather take a bad grade than leave me. Me: Oh wow, how kind of her! Are you okay? Copper: So I wonder if that dead squirrel is still in the middle of the road on the way down the hill from the school... Zoey: Ummm... *later on* Me: So, Tim, listen to this story from carpool this morning... (tells him) Me: How do we teach her to be empathic, how do we model that? Tim: What? It's fine. Zoey's fine, it worked out, no big deal... Me: But how do we teach her to be responsive? Tim: What? *so there's that. My brain doesn't think like that. They are two peas in a pod, and I'm not even in the same garden..*  😁 *...

*cheerfully* cleaning the church at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning...  :) Shandee and I planned a night out to celebrate Amber getting a second job and we took the husbands along with us.  We tried out VIA313 and nobody could tell our pizza was both gluten and dairy free. It's a pretty okay place if you want to spend money on food.  This sign seemed fitting when I saw Tim standing next to it. He's felt pretty crummy this past week and has been in pretty awful back and neck pain. He took the week off to literally do nothing but heal. We'll see what happens- likely he's either going to have to change professions or change what he does within excavation, or work minimally with a lot of breaks. He's a trooper. Our faucet has been broken for awhile. It was annoying, but not enough to do something about it for several months- I just took a hex key several times every day to screw the handle back on every time it fell off.  Then I burned my hand when the temp switched and th...

Hanging at Thanksgiving Point We checked out the Butterfly Biosphere... Kota was creeped out when one landed on her, hahaha We dog-sat Hoke, who is Red's brother from the same liter. Red is about 75 pounds and I'm pretty sure Hoke is probably 100+. He's massive and when he comes charging, he looks like a bear.  These two LOVE each other. And, they actually aren't allowed on my bed, but I posed them for a picture... Swimming with cousins at Oma's pool... Kota looks like she's drowning, which she's not.  :)  

I saw a post online and it resonated with me so much I decided to write about it here. It talked about being an imperfectionist. Finally- a label I can sit okay with. The year my twins went to kindergarten, I paid our caretaker Abby money to clean our home until they got home so I didn't lose her. What she didn't know was that the night before, I spent hours picking up and cleaning so she didn't think we were absolute slobs. [Abby, I don't know if you read this, but if you do, we love you and sorry I was crazy]. I did lots of things sort of nuts like that. Now, I recognize and embrace that I am definitely not a perfectionist like I used to be. Here are some examples of my imperfection: I lose my keys most days of the week. I have a "key place" where all keys go and I still lose them. Once I lost them inside the van for an entire month and had to use the replacement. Then I would frequently lose the replacement and would have to rely on the heavens opening ...

Married this guy 15 years ago and it was the easiest decision I ever made.  We celebrated by dumping our four children (you know, counting Red) off to Amber's (we're taking their kids and dogs for their anniversary in a month, so fair trade).  It's a new tradition to head to Bryce because it's close-by, freaking beautiful, and you can hike near everything you want in a weekend. It was a bit rainy and in the 70s, so pretty perfect. We also stopped by Red Canyon National Forest for a couple of easy hikes and out of this world scenery... I can't decide what I like better- hiking around the very top of the canyon and taking pictures looking down, or hiking all the way to the bottom and taking pictures looking up. Either way, all I see no matter where I look is a God who had vision of beauty. My daughter, the aspiring scientist, wisely states that God made science, and God made everything that makes the world beautiful. I agree! Marriage, for us, has gotten better every ...