Brylee's laugh

So the bad news is, our camcorder broke. But at least we can get some video with our digital camera. So here is a little bit of Brylee laughing. It all started with Alissa falling off her chair at dinner. Brylee thought that was pretty funny, so the girls started doing more things to encourage her. None of them were as good as the fall, but she still found them entertaining. The quality isn't as good as with the video camera, and the size is small; but at least you can get the idea. I couldn't decide which one I liked best, so I posted all 3 of them. They are only about 40 sec. each, so you can enjoy them all in no time! At least I hope you enjoy...we did!

Remembering Grandma

You know that feeling you get when the phone rings late at night after you're already asleep in bed? That 'oh no, it must be bad' thought. Your fears become justified when you answer and hear, "I got some sad news" on the other end. This fear became reality on Sunday night. "Grandma has left", is what followed. My first thought was, "Where did she go?" I was still waking up. But then I realized it meant she had passed away. It was a peaceful goodbye, the way we all want it to be. In her sleep. One minute shes here, and the next shes not. It can happen so fast, even when you know its coming.
But this isn't a sad goodbye. Yes we will miss her...but we are assured she is in a much happier place now. The place she has been waiting to be for about 10 years since the love of her life left her here. She was never the same after Grandpa went. She'd cry every time you'd mention his name. They had the kind of relationship any married couple would want. I will always remember that kiss they would share after every prayer, like it was the amen. As a kid it would gross you out...seeing your grandparents kiss like that. But after you mature, you realize what a sweet gesture of love they shared with one another. And I assume it gave them a good excuse to remember to pray! I can only imagine the happy reunion they are having together right now.

Young Grandma and Grandpa

Other than her great relationship with Grandpa, a few things about her stand out in my mind. Here are the top ten:

1. Rummy. She loved to play. It was the game of choice whenever my niece (only 3 years younger than me) and I would visit. Most memorable while sitting at the small table in their comfortable motor home.


2. Avon, Avon, and more Avon. She was the Avon queen! She had a whole room dedicated to it in her house, full of boxes, smelling like perfume. Awards decorating the walls. We would go on deliveries with her. We would get some Avon branded gift for birthdays, and holidays. And you must never go outside without first putting on your 'Avon Skin-so-Soft' bug repellent plus sunscreen! I will always associate that smell with Grandma.


3. John Wayne Movies. I think a John Wayne film was always put on whenever we would sleep over.


4. Canned grape juice. Oh the homemade goodness!


5. Perfect Hair, and clothes. Dont mess with Grandma's Saturday Morning hair appointment! Just the thing to go with her suit jackets or sweaters ornate with sequins or flowers. Just thing you would expect a successful Avon woman and Grandmother to wear.


6. "Did you wash your hands?!" Especially after petting ol' Scooter; the dog!


7. The pink bathtub. Of course equipped with the latest Avon soaps.


8. Her wink.


9. That Joke. The one that she loved to tell, with the punch line of "...if you hear something or smell something, its me!" (Had to do with a watch and some perfume.)


10. Good eats. Do you expect any less when you go to Grandmas house? There were always cookies to be had, and great breakfast cereal!

Thanks for the memories Grandma! We will miss you!

My niece (left), Grandma, and me (right)

New Do's

Alissa and Katelin finally agreed to get their hair cut. When they say its okay...you gotta jump at the chance, before they change their minds! Two down, one to go...plus me. Hopefully Madi and I will get done before too long! Anyway, here are their before and afters...

Alissa

before after

Katelin

before after

Mom's Day Fun

Obviously, Im not about to discuss my own parenting abilities...but theres nothing wrong with bragging about how great the kids and husband are that made me a Mom. I would say this mothers Day was on the top of my list of Mothers Days. Ryan put forth every effort to not allow me to do any of my normal mothering duties. He tried really hard all weekend to keep the house clean, take care of the kids, and make the meals. And he did a great job. We had a yummy breakfast on Saturday morning with stuffed french toast with strawberries, bacon, eggs and hot chocolate. Then I got to relax the rest of the afternoon and enjoy my gifts. Ryan got me a Wii fit (is that a hint?), which is really cool. If it doesnt help me lose weight, at least it will help me get more balanced, and learn yoga. But the best thing about it is the virtual snow skiing! Its the next best thing to real mountains! Then the kids got me my very own WEBKINZ! Yeah! Actually I really did want one...have you played them games on there!? Awesome! It is a ground hog, and I named him Diggs. I just cant wait to design his house! That night we had a bbq with our friends, and Ryan cooked up some great chicken and pineapple kabobs. Then we played games together the rest the night, cuz I just love games (if you couldnt tell).
Sunday morning, Ryan skipped out on his early church meetings (he actually thought they were cancelled, but oops...they weren't), and I got to have left over french toast again, and I got all these great cards the kids made. Its amazing how much easier it was to get ready for 8:30 am church, when Ryan was around to help. We made it to church with 10 min. to spare! Here are some picts from Sunday morning...

checking out the cards at breakfast

The book the kids made for me that made me smile The Ode from Madi Katelin made this card with pull out flowers that had jobs on them. After church I got in a nap, and then we had dinner and the kids gave me a "massage", and took turns fixing my hair for me. Here is Alissa's style. The finished product
Katelins turn Madi's "Jasmine" Dew.

Then the toenail painting started. Ryan should really learn to never joke around with getting his done too, because the girls will all jump at the chance. He cant wait to see the looks he gets during his shower after his workout tomorrow at work. They made sure he even had sparkles! So pretty!Zack wanted in on the fun too! He loves to put the girls head bands on. I think he is ready for an 80's workout video. And we also learned that he likes to have his toenails painted too. Judge if you must, but when you have 4 sisters...its bound to happen a few times. At least I made him get the green and blue colors, but he insisted on pink like the girls, so I just did one toe. He wanted us to use every color in the box, but we drew the line after 2 coats.

Brylee wondering why everyone has gone mad! Also notice the beautiful necklace Alissa made for me in primary.

So that was it in a nutshell. Im grateful I have such great kids who put forth all that hard work to make my day special. They are so thoughtful and sweet and the best kids around (No, Im not biased!) And also for a really great husband who supports me and knows how much work it is to be a Mom, and who was so willing to give me a much needed couple days off! Thanks guys! I love you!

Breathe

Its all over, the waiting is done. Ryan is still employed. We want to thank everyone for their prayers and fasting on our behalf, and the others who work with Ryan. We felt a peace that no matter what happened, we would be okay. We know that was the answer we needed. Not so much to keep his job, so that another would lose his instead, but just that we would be strong enough to get through it; whatever the outcome. Ryan was amazingly calm throughout this whole process, and we knew whatever happened, it would be Gods will for us and we would be able to handle it. Many friends also got to keep their jobs, but not all. We will continue to pray for them, and that they will find peace in Gods will for them also. Lets hope we dont have to go through this again any time soon!

Its not easy being green!

Mandatory recycling.

I now hate those words! We have lived here for almost 2 years, and never had a problem getting our garbage and mandatory recycling picked up. We knew when we moved in, that the garbage had to be in certain bags, and the recycle in special blue bags...the garbage can had to be a certain size. No garbage will be picked up that contains recycle, and no recycle will be picked up that contains garbage. Okay, we can deal. But then 3 weeks ago happened.

When we got back from Nauvoo, we came home to our lovely full blue recycling bags still sitting on the lawn, with a little yellow note attached. The note stated that it was not picked up because it contained garbage. After thourally inspecting it, we came to the conclusion that the recycle man was insane, and there was no garbage in our special blue bags. So the next 2 weeks pass, and its time for recycling to be picked up again. We replace our same blue bags on the curb, in addition to the 3 new ones we acquired over the last 2 weeks.

Its of course pouring rain, and I wait in the house to watch for our less than mentally sound recycle guy to come by. Here he comes...out comes the yellow slip. I open the front door (in my PJ's, and looking lovely) and yell to the guy through the pouring rain,

"HEY! What is in my recycle that cant be recycled!?"

he yells back, "You've got grocery bags in here!"

I say" I cant recycle grocery bags?!"

" No."

"They always picked them up before!"

"I cant help what someone else did!"

" Well, not all my bags have "garbage" in them. Take the rest."

" All of these bags contain something I cant take!"

With a quizzical look..."WHAT?"

The kids were going by on the bus at this point, as Im yelling out my front door, and arguing with the recycle guy.

he replies" You cant recycle any bags that contained food. You have to take the grocery bags back to the store to be recycled. Check online, or I can have someone come out."

Whatever. I close the door furious, and call Ryan to explain. His solution was just to bag all the recycle into black bags and have the garbage man take them. Its so not worth it!

But, Im trying to save the planet here! So after it stops raining, I pull all six soaking wet bags into the garage (also noticing some of the neighbors had the same problem with theirs being picked up), and proceed to sort through all the soggy papers, and throw away all the plastic bags. I reduced it to 4 bags. Its done. Were good. Right?

Not. I was reading a friends blog and she was talking about her recycle delima, much like ours. So I call her up, and she says that she called the City and the lady there told her that everything had to be separated. Her husband had the same solution as Ryan. The crazy recycle guy didnt say anything about separating it all! So I call the city to get some more answers, because I cant risk another week of it piling up in my garage. She proceeds to explain that yes, not only do they not accept plastic bags (which by the way do contain the "accepted" coded number 2), but you do have to have the paper separated from the plastic, in different bags. The boxes have to be stacked and tied into bundles no larger than a 3X3 square. The plastic containers cannot contain lids.

Great. Now I have to go through it all again and separate it. Good thing I bought the green reusable grocery bags last week, since I got sick of the grocery store putting my groceries into the paper bags that rip. The bagger said people hate the plastic bags. I didnt understand why. Now I do...you cant recycle them! So cross your fingers that it gets picked up this week, because if it doesnt, were going with Ryans plan, and throwing it all away into concealed black bags! You have now had your training on recycling in a crazy city 101. I hope this clears up any confusion with my fellow city residents! Happy Recycling!

Can it be?!

Is it really so? Is it ...dare I say...SPRING?! It seems that everything just woke up from a far too long hibernation today, including all the neighbors! My tulips bloomed, my trees had leaves and the beginnings of pink flower buds, and the grass was perfectly green. Everyone was out working, playing or just enjoying the miraculous 60 degree weather. Hey, dont knock it...its a far cry from 40 below! And it felt wonderful! I think we may have reached 63 degrees. It was the perfect weather, and just enough sun to earn Ryan his first sunburn of the year. So what did we do?

We pulled weeds...

Ryan and Zack mowed the lawn...

ate Popsicle's...

jumped and played soccer...

and finally got to enjoy the swing set. (that Heather put together mostly on her own. Ryan helped when he was available...he just wanst available much. Yes... the WOMAN did it! I know I promised some of you pictures, so here it is!) Notice it wasnt completely functional due to the small flood surrounding the bottom. We're hoping to get the wood chips put in this year. The kids put together a little bridge to cross the mud.

On top of that, we also cleaned out the garage, Ryan cleaned his car, and we finally fixed our leaky kitchen sink (we hope). We also enjoyed some bbq out on the grill for dinner. It was a busy day that we happily embraced. Lets hope Mother Nature doesnt use this as another joke to introduce us back into 40 degree weather this week! She does that around here.