Car Pool Conversations

Just wanted to preface this post by saying... the matching outfits were NOT my idea. Mason and Jackson haven't worn matching clothes since they were about 4. Shane bought them and the boys were plotting some grand scheme to switch places on the first day of school. I told them that it was a very bad idea... but secretly I would love to hear what happened if the rascals could pull it off. I was always too much of a goody two shoes to do anything like that, and I think I missed out a little ;)

The first day of school is always eventful... back at it with the car pool where there are always interesting conversations to be heard between Isaac and our little neighbor boy who both truly say the DARNDEST things.


Neighbor Boy: " My hands smell like cinnamon"

Isaac: "My hands smell like rosemary. My dad cut some rosemary and put it on the car, so now the garage smells like rosemary."

Neighbor Boy: "Well MY dad's car stinks REEEAL bad."

Got a good hearty laugh over that one.

So we make it to the school and I wanted to make sure Isaac made it to the right place safely, being his first day in Kindergarten... and being the neurotic mother I am, wanted to tuck him into his desk and maybe organize his pencil box. I think I probably asked him, "are you excited to go to school Isaac?" until he was ready to slap me. I told him I would park and walk him in to his class. "NO MOM " he says, "I don't want you to come in, I want the BOYS to walk me in." Knowing Isaac, this reaction didn't surprise me much, but, I was a little sad, knowing he didn't need me to be looking after his every move anymore. I was thankful though, that he was so obviously ready to go with confidence. It was far better than dropping off a crying, and anxious kid, so I guess I should be grateful for that.

So here I am blogging about the little stinker and missing him. All of this peace and quiet is giving me a headache.

Happy Back to School Day!!

Summer 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Tour de Utah 2009 Part I

I don't know if I have the strength to hammer out a blog post after the crazy couple of weeks we have had. It has been full of adventure and fun and I am so thankful for our families who have made it so wonderful, can't say as much for the airlines...

Our Tour de Utah 2009 started very much like last year... in a travel nightmare, only this year it didn't involve a 6 person/ 8 bag pile up on the escalator.We were about to board the plane to Denver when Shane realized the ticket agent hadn't given us our boarding passes for our flight from Denver to Salt Lake. He ran all the way back through security to get the problem solved... we barely made the flight, whew, disaster averted. The flight was going well until the pilot got on the overhead and informed us that we were in a holding pattern for bad weather, okay, the lightening bolts were a little scarey but so far we were okay. Meanwhile Isaac says, "I think one of those lightenings isgoing to hit our airplane"--thank you Isaac for your comforting words. I reassure him... " It's okay Isaac our plane has a force field and no lighting can strike it."

An hour and a half into a very turbulent holding pattern, the pilot says

we no longer have enough fuel so we need to land in Larame.... 20 minutes later we start turning around in the opposite direction. What? "When it rains it pours" the pilot says. Larame doesn't have fuel for us so we are going to Cheyenne. Hearing the words, "we don't have enough fuel, and we're going to have to go on a wild goose chase to get some" was very unsettling. "At least we'll be together as we go down in flames " I thought, trying to look at the glass half-full.

We landed safely in Cheyenne and I saw the woman next to me do the sign of the cross. We then sat on the runway for 4 hours... that's right, 4 hours waiting for our turn to be fuled. Our poor kids were exhausted and crabby, they ran out of water on the plane so we couldn't get a drink or wash our hands, and though people were trying to make the best of things packed in like sardines, I think we were all about to charge the door, sick and tired of being held captive...Its sad when the prisoners at GITMO get treated better than law-abiding citizens on airlines... at least the prisoners have fresh water, fresh air and a place to lay their heads. Here are a few photos from the 2 hour flight, turned 7 hour ordeal.

Finally we took off again, heading for Denver and arrived there at 2:30 a.m. The kids were completely fried so we decided to get a hotel and sleep for 2 hours before we had to catch our SLC flight at 6:30. I have to say it was the greatest 2 hours of sleep I have ever had the priveledge of knowing; took a lovely shower, which according to Shane, is worth an hour of sleep, and were once again on our way to SLC. Knowing that Mason and Jackson were to be baptized at 1:00, I realized we were in for a terribly long day. We were exhausted, and probably looked meaner than scorpions when we arrived, but were glad to be there and were even able to take a short nap.

The baptism was beautiful. We were so thankful for everyone who came to support the boys. Although we felt a little hurried, tired and frantic, there are no words to describe the feeling that was there, at least for me ...It was a wonderful day that I had looked forward to for so many years :)

"The Hair Raising Joys of Raising Boys"

Jackson and Mason have decided to be baptized. We are so excited for them and are looking forward to being with our family in Utah, for the special day. As I was putting together books for them, I found some great pictures that reminded me how far we have all come. Being a first time mom with twins, and moving away from my family was one of the most challenging and rewarding times in my life. It's hard to believe that now, those two little rascally boys are now my biggest helpers and keep me such great company. They are great kids and I would do it all over again in a heart beat... okay, well maybe not the pregnancy, labor and delivery part :)

In that spirit, I look back with complete fondness on the "hair-raising joys of raising boys."

(BTW I can't figure out why this is underlining all of my words!!!) Sorry!!

Putting two fussy babies to sleep by myself... always a hair raising experience, literally. I think the expression on my face pretty much says it all.

The infamous, baby powder party, which rivals the even more infamous blue paint incident, over which I was so distraught that I couldn't possibly take a picture.

One of several incidents involving markers

Q-tip cutie--a very benign incident but cute none the less.

How to tell that today isn't the best day to have surgery

Shane took this picture at one of his morning meetings... his friend, and fellow resident who is a fantastic person, and excellent surgeon, but who shall remain nameless, showed up wearing two very different pairs of shoes. Another sign of what chronic sleep deprivation can do to you!

Those of us who know him... will recognize him as the winner of this years, "Most dangerous post-call" award. =)

Hotter than....

It's hot... hotter than the devils frying pan (sorry, I just love Texanisms) over 105 degrees nearly all last week. On Saturday I ran a few errands with the kids and you would have thought we ran a marathon by our sweat soaked shirts and heads. The car thermostat said 111 at one point. The grass is dying, the plants are dying, and we weren't allowed to water all weekend being in stage 5 water conservation, meaning absolutely no unnecessary use of water, period.

Rain is a beautiful thing and I am darn near ready to do a rain dance if we don't get some soon. I love the way it sounds, the way it smells and the way it makes your lawn look and your plants grow. I'm sure I'd be singing a different tune if I lived in the Northwest, but I guess you have to learn to take the good with the bad wherever you live.

Anyway, before the water conservation started, my boys and the neighbors found a fun way to beat the heat. I think their water fight may have caused the city wide water shortage... but it was fun to watch. I love boys, not only do they have a water fight... they have to get the rubbermaid box lids to use as shields, and make it into a full-fledged war.

Here are the pics... please pray for rain for Texas. =)