Memories...

My friend has this on her blog and I thought it would be kinda fun to do...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Guitar Hero

Reece got Guitar Hero for his birthday, guess what we have all been doing a lot of! Reece wanted me to take a picture of his 243 note streak. Michael, I swear, I haven't even played once today!!! Michael is worried that I'm going to get way better than him because I'm home all day, as if I actually have time to play it while he is gone!

I do admit that as soon as the kids get in bed, I practice a few times before he gets home, just so I can be warmed up when he gets home!

Happy Days

Monsoon Season?

We had the craziest rainstorm yesterday. All of a sudden the wind picked up, and enormous rain drops fell from the sky. Reece and Maya begged me to let them play in it. I was hesitant because that just meant more dirty laundry, postponing my errands, and there is always that part of me that remembers the old wives tale about getting a cold if you play in the rain.

Then I remembered the amazing rain storms we would get in Texas, it would rain so much that the gutters couldn't keep up and it would flood our street. Those were such good memories, I couldn't deprive my kids the same opportunity, especially since we rarely see a great rainstorm like this one was. The kids made one lap around the driveway.

Then came running up the stairs.

And yelled, "Aghhhh, I'm getting bruised out there!"

Not only was it raining humongous raindrops, it was also hailing.

In the end they did get to play in the rain for about 17.5 seconds, I get to do extra laundry, and it postponed my errands. Was it worth it? hmmmm...

Mish Mosh Monday

I saw on someone's blog that they put their kids lunch in a muffin tin tray every once in a while, so I decided to give it a try. You should have seen the excitement on their faces! Peas had never been so fun to eat, wild rice has never looked so yummy, and I've never been through a meal with out one of my kids saying, "I don't like.....", until today.

This is the beginning of a Mish Mosh Monday lunch.

Gardening

This mornings harvest included 3 zucchini, 3 crook neck squash, and some basil

I threw around some wild flower seeds this spring, it has been so fun to see what pops up. I'm loving these yellow flowers.

This is the front of my house, I'm in love with my flower bed this year. I can't wait for next year, I have some ideas on how to make it even better.

Now, this is great fun! Not at all a waste of time.

Big Red Dot....click here!

skirts, ADD, and Lists

Have you ever had one of those days where you have so much to do, that you get overwhelmed and just can't do any of it? A normal person (what is a normal person after all?) would make a nice little list, put them in order of priority, work through them diligently one by one, patting themselves on the back as they go. Not me, I made a skirt. Was it on my list of things to do? Nope. Do I need a new skirt? Nope. But I made one, so I put it on my list of things to do for the day, and then crossed it right off. What did I get done yesterday? I made a skirt.

Today, same situation. Too many things to get done, so I won't get any of them done. I will, however, add to my list, 'blog about your pointless skirt', just so I can cross off an accomplishment for the day.

Do I need a prescription for Aderall?

Trek continued

(My camera broke halfway through the Trek, so I only have pictures from the first half of the trip.)

Trek was absolutely wonderful. I knew that it would be a very spiritual experience, but I didn't realize that it would also be a lot of fun. There were so many miracles and acts of service and the spirit there was overwhelming.

Michael and I were a ma and pa. Each family had a 'big brother' or a 'big sister', someone older than the youth, to help out the ma's and pa's. We had 8 kids including our big sis. At first Michael and I were scared to death of the kids, and they just gave us blank stares and dirty looks. The first day we pulled 6 miles and the wheel of our cart fell off a bridge and our cart was suspended sideways. Our family had to pull it out, the top of the tarp got wet, but nothing fell out, which is a miracle in itself. Since it was our first time loading the handcart, we didn't really have a system, we just threw everything on the cart, put the tarp on and tied it up. Our water coolers, pillows and sleeping bags were constantly falling out of the cart. I felt that it was a miracle that nothing fell out when our cart fell off the bridge. The great thing was, that after the mishap, our family really united, we changed our last name to the MOJO's and everyone warmed up to each other. By the end all of our kids didn't run off with their friends, all their friends were coming to hang out with our family.

We were able to visit Martin's Cove, where the Martin Company was rescued, it has been dedicated by Pres. Hinckley and it is regarded as sacred ground. We had a devotional just outside of Martins Cove, where we heard stories of those who suffered there, and our Stake Pres. blessed each of us as we knelt in prayer. I could barely hear the end of the prayer there were so many sobs and sniffles. In the prayer, he blessed us that each of us would feel the spirit of those that died there and that resided over the area. They spread us out as we walked the cove and it is just one long winding path. I assumed it was all Martins Cove, I remember feeling at one point a heavy weight overcome me, I felt as if I was going to cry, and the spirit was very strong. Just at that moment, Michael leaned over to me and said, "Did you see the sign, it says we just entered Martin's Cove"

One other great experience was when we did a Women's Pull. They had a man dressed in a battle uniform come up and called us all over. They told us that the US army needed 400 men and that all our men would be leaving us. The men left simulating the Mormon Battalion. They went and lined up on a large hill, took their hats off, and could not speak to us or help us. We had to pull our carts up a steep large hill that was deep with sand. One of the girls in our family didn't think she could walk that far, so we had to pull her up the hill. As we were waiting for our turn to go up the hill, none of us girls could look at the men without crying, the spirit was so strong. It was our turn to go up the hill and we started out OK, but about half way up, the sand was so deep and it was rocky, we were barely inching along. One of the medics ran down the hill to help us. It reminded me of stories we heard about people that didn't feel they could push any longer, then all of a sudden they felt as if someone was helping pushing the cart. They would look back and nobody would be there. We had to keep moving, and the men had to stay where they were. Michael said they couldn't help but inch forward they had such a desire to help us. After a while, they told the men they could leave. Those men old and young sprinted to catch up with us, we were a good half mile ahead of them, some of the handcarts were at least a mile ahead, and they sprinted the entire way. As I was talking to Michael afterwards, he said that almost every one of the men and boys were crying, even the big tough guys.

We had a testimony meeting the last night with our families, each of our kids bore their testimonies of what they felt, most expressed the desire to stay there, they didn't want to loose the feelings they felt. I was so surprised, I had no idea that they were really feeling something. They also understood that they were only getting a small fraction of what it was like for the pioneers.

I had a dagger in my hand from the handcart, luckily there was a medic nearby to take it out.

The Sweetwater River, you wouldn't believe how great this felt on our feet!

We opened up our very own Sweetwater spa, mud-masks were the only service we offered.

Trek

We made it, we survived it and it was an amazing experience. When I have a bit more time and a bit more sleep, I will write all about it!

Ma and Pa

Well, tomorrow is the big day! At 4:30 AM we become a Ma and Pa for the Pioneer Trek. Yipee!

We will be back Saturday night.

Summer Chores

If you want to find out how my backyard farm is doing, don't forget to check my backyard farming blog!

BRANDI- Look what I found in your chicken coop!!!

I'm chicken sitting for my friend Brandi and I don't think she has had any eggs yet. I was so excited to find an egg that I had to run home and grab my camera to document the experience!

Independence Day

Our neighborhood has an annual 4th of July parade and breakfast afterwards. All the kids decorate their bikes, scooters and in our case motorcycles, and parade through the neighborhood, escorted by a police officer blaring his siren. Here are my kids, and there are more pictures to come.

Insensitive Little Boys

I was doing a load of laundry, yes Michael, I did a load of laundry! If the mound of steaming stinky clothes get high enough that I can't even see the washer, I occasionally throw them in the washer. As I was emptying Reece's pockets, I found 5 suckers, a popsicle stick, a pencil, and this picture: Oooohhh, a picture of 'D' from his class! It was obvious from the wrinkles in it that he just shoved it in his pocket along with all the other crap that ends up in little boys pockets. I went to ask him about the picture of 'D'. He got embarrassed and pretended like he didn't know what I was talking about, "what picture???" I respond, "Uh, the cute little picture of 'D' that I found in your pockets. It is cute, what did she say when she gave it to you?" Reece exclaims, "I don't even know why she gave it to me! She told me not to tell anyone that she gave it to me." Ahhh, so sweet, but my insensitive little boy probably didn't even say thank you, he probably mumbled something and walked away, shoving it in his pocket, crushing her tender little heart.

I think I have some unresolved issues from elementary school, I'll be calling my therapist, then I will be teaching that kid some manners!

blah, boys!

~marisa

First Day of Summer

Yes, I realize that it is not technically the first day of summer. I know it was sometime last month, but for our house hold it is the first day of summer. Yesterday was Reece's last day of school! Hallelujah! Doesn't it just seem odd that they had school up until July 1st?

To celebrate we spent the afternoon at the pool, and it was a perfect day for it, warm weather, light breeze, and the sun was blazing. On the way home I warned the kids that if they ever wanted to go back to the pool, they were required to have a 1 hour "rest time". This means, LEAVE MOM ALONE FOR ONE HOUR. I set the kitchen timer and let them know when they heard the buzz, they could come out, and there was going to be trouble if they came out before the buzzer.

The kids shuffled their feet, grumbled under their breath and hastily went to their rooms. I did a little reading, snacked on a few bite size candy bars, (and I wonder why those stubborn 5 lbs. won't melt off!) and made a few phone calls. The buzzer went off, and I didn't hear any stirring. I made the rounds to each bedroom, and this is what I found.

All of them asleep.

Great! Now they are going to be up until midnight. What the crap am I doing on the computer? I should be napping too.

I better just wake them up or Michael will be mad, because you know what Wednesday is....It's business time. Conditions are perfect.

Happy Birthday Maya