Surprise

Oh my heck....I must have done something good at Nationals!  I received a check from the Women's Championships.  It was for our team bowling....Debbie and I must have been okay.  I surely didn't ever expect to get anything back. So I think it's cool!

Shirley's Birthday

Our excuse for going out tonight was to celebrate Shirley's Birthday.  It's always a good excuse and for some reason it helps make the night happen.  Shirley's birthday is on Sunday but since Kathy and I have been wanting to get together with Shirley and it took us a few weeks to get a date....it worked out great!

We saw the Adairs there too celebrating Ashley's 21st birthday.  Birthdays are so great and should be celebrated and fun.

I just have to say that I laughed so hard tonight.....all the laughing had to be good for my tummy muscles...Holy Moly.....Good Times!

I am very blessed to have such wonderful neighbors. My whole street has only good and wonderful people living on it and we are all friends.  It's been fun growing up with these ladies and raising parts of our families together.

I always thank Heavenly Father for putting such great people in my life.  I am "needy" in that way and I feel His love and recognize His blessings!

Grand Son's

I had fun with my grandson's today.  Holy Crud they are so stinkin cute and fun.  These two littles love each other so much and play so good together.  Since I was going to watch Zaden and Parker was going to come later I decided to pick them both up so they had more together time.

Being a gramma is like ...... the best calling ever!  The little ones love seeing you and even get excited when they get to come play at your house.  They run and jump into my arms for hugs and squeezes. (I like that a lot)  They call me "Princess" and "Beautiful" and "Fun".  They truly do something different to my heart....it's such a great feeling!

I enjoyed having the boys over for some boy time while their sisters and cousin were involved with "school stuff".  I hope they always enjoy each other as much as they do now.  They are go great!  I'm so glad it's me they call Gramma!  I'm the lucky one!

Just 4 more of these ;)

I can't believe that school has started again.  What in the heck happened to summer....where did it go?

The nice thing about school starting again is that it means another school year will be behind us again soon.  My kids enjoy going to school for which I am glad but for us all it is added stress that I would rather not have.  It's part of life though so I just need to buck up and be happy that they are getting so smart.  I'm glad for all the learning....that's the part I like.  It's all the "I don't get it's" that frustrates me.  Truthfully it's all the homework.....hopefully this year there won't be as much.

I hope these two do enjoy this time in their lives.  I hope they love getting smarter and gaining more knowledge. I hope they make new friends that they will enjoy for a long time.  I hope that they will believe in themselves.  I hope that they will work hard, do their best and have fun.  I hope they will make good memories to share with their kids.  I hope they realize how wonderful and smart they really are!  I hope they know that this mommy loves them and believes in them!

Fudge Chewies........

Oh my heck....I love these yummy bars of goodness.....so much in fact I am sharing the recipe....we should share good things right?

Melt: 2 cubes of butter or margarine (don't worry about calories...you'll miss out"
add:  1 cup brown sugar, and 1 cup sugar (no prejudice here)
stir in: 2 tsp vanilla, 2 beaten eggs (I beat them as I stir them in)
add:  2 tsp baking soda....stir then add, 2 cups flour and 3 cups oatmeal. (I believe that qualifies these as healthy)
keep this bowl close by but get out another one that will be ok in the microwave.

In the other bowl....melt in the microwave for about 3 minutes
1 cube of butter or margarine (quit counting), 1 can sweet & condensed milk, 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (sometimes I just use the whole bag) and 1 TBL vanilla.  Stir until creamy.  (I call licking this spoon)

Pat 1/2 of the oatmeal mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Pour the fudge on top and then drop the rest of the oatmeal mixture on top of that.  (I clean my hands and pat it and lay it on top).

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes (when the top is "lightly" browned)  ENJOY!!!

(My recipe card has 3 dancing skeletons on it....haha☻ I guess so we think skinny and not worry about the calories)

Mud....the kids & hubs love it......me~not so much!

For Young Men/Young Women's tonight they played in the mud.  Jaydan also loves the mud and since it was in our field he asked if he could join.  My kids were so excited to play in the mud.

They "geared" up with clothes that they didn't mind saying good bye to.  Jared borrowed his clothes from Jaydan...so I guess Jaydan was ok with saying good bye to a few things.  Actually....I am pretty good at laundry and so I go everything pretty clean except the white shirt.

The kids had so much fun Kimi invited more kids to come over the next night and do it again.  Jared had such a blast that he declined the invite to play water volleyball with Julie and Kevin.  

 There is a reason I don't play in the mud.  It's because I am the one that has to clean it up...so I just say "NO".  I guess even if my family cleaned their own clothes they would still play in the mud because they wouldn't care if they had to wash things a few times which happened by the way.

I just avoid more work for me if possible.  I could have played in the mud with everyone since I had clean up duties anyway but I still prefer to just stay clean.

When I was younger I didn't like messing up my make-up or hair once it was done.....I still tend to be that way just not to the extreme that I use to be.

I am probably missing out....or so some say.  I don't necessarily agree.  I don't feel like I have to experience  everything in my life to know if I would like it or not.  Heck....there are some things I am pretty sure I would like but know better than to try....mud has nothing to do with those things.

My family had fun and for that I am glad.  I love hearing them express themselves with enthusiasm and I really enjoy the muddy pictures that some of the leaders took.  That alone without me being in the mud makes me smile.

Who knows maybe when I turn 60 I will invite my friends for a game of mud football....or duck, duck, goose in the mud.  Makes me laugh just thinking about it....so maybe just maybe that will be how I celebrate turning 60.....I just might even include a few cans of "shaving cream"! (I reacted badly to shaving cream once....not a bad reaction....acted bad)

Registered and Ready for School

Yesterday Kimi registered for School but I didn't get a picture of her. (I was in SLC) Today Jared registered for School and since I went with him I did get a picture.  Actually he was in and out of registering so fast that we went to breakfast and that's were I got a picture.  We needed to pass a little time before we headed down to SLC for testing.  Jared and I have been going to SLC the last few days and spending about 3 hours while he is tested.  I have always felt that Jared has ADD or ADHD. Jared's mind is always so busy and I remember saying when he was just a toddler that I didn't believe it stopped until he fell asleep at night....who knows about then.

I talked to the school about it when Jared was in 2nd grade but his teacher was sure that since Jared is well behaved and her son who is very different from Jared had ADD that Jared didn't.   I filled out a bunch of papers but I guess his teacher didn't.  So....we just dealt with him struggling a little more than I think he should have in school.  I believe Jared just gets distracted and has a harder time concentrating than the average kid.  He's a smart boy but has struggled off and on.  Junior High has been a real struggle....the teachers no longer have the time for individual care and attention.  Jared's grades proved that and it was affecting him in a negative way.  The good thing about his struggles though is it forced me to get help.  I didn't know where to go for the help.  I thought the school did those kind of testing....they do but to really get the individual help Jared needed his school required professional testing.  YeeHaw....that kind of testing is expensive....really expensive and our wonderful insurance pays for none of it. (I'm no fond of insurance)  But....we were blessed and through many steps and tender mercies we were led to the U of U were students do the testing for a small price of $175.  Jared was even bumped up the list so his testing was done about 6 months earlier than it should have been.  

I know this is happening for a reason....I hope it will help Jared to feel better about himself.  Just saying that makes me think of the saying: "If only others could see themselves as we do...or better yet as Jesus does".  Grades are important but not nearly as important as Jared's self worth.  I wish society didn't put so much pressure on these things.  We are all so different and very smart kids and people sometimes just learn different than the stereo type.  

The good thing is that Jared went to testing each day with a great attitude and he left with a great attitude too.  I am very pleased with him for toughing this out.  I hope that there will be help for him when the tests results come back....if not at least he will know he is capable of doing whatever it is he is expected to do.    

Cheers!  I'm hoping for and expecting a better school year than last.  I learned from all that we experienced but I do not want to experience any of it again.  I wish it on no one!