Kelley Daze

1 down, 59 more to go!

2012-01-31T13:08:00.002-05:00

first haircut, CUTE, First Tooth, ADORABLE! First step, Super EXCITING!

First time behind the wheel.....NONE of the above!

I love my little guy, but I DO NOT love that I have 59 more hours left of teaching him how to drive..

.hats off to my mother in law, and to Wanda for dealing with this for Dale and I. I can remember driving on my 16th birthday to the restaurant for dinner. My foster dad sat in the back of the van, what I thought was him pretending to freak out and pretending to throw up...I! realize only now that those were very real feelings. What a nightmare this is, and Shawn is my most careful and responsible child, I definately do not look forward to any of the others learning to drive..

I do not like this, I say

I did not like this today

I do not like it in a parking lot

I do not like him missing the spot,

I do not like it in a car

I do not like it, going far

I do not like this at all

and I can't wait till it's over, in the fall!

O Canada....

2012-01-23T12:58:00.011-05:00

most people head south for the winter...not us..we headed NORTH! with a kid playing a competative level of Hockey, we had to head north to Hockey Heaven, Canada. We could have brought our whole family, but all the kids had games and social events that they didnt want to miss, so dale went on one trip, and I went on the other.

Trip 1: Vermont, Quebec ( no photos, some happy Canadian somewhere is the proud owner of a man's razor, an electric toothbrush, and a camera! )...

Dale went with David on this trip. The itinerary was something like this: travel, play a game, watch a game, play a game, travel, play a game, watch a game, play a game, play a game, watch a game, travel, play a game travel.

The Highlights were: winning every game, playing outdoor pond hockey in zero degrees against a Canadian team, watching college games and attending an NHL game in montreal.

The Lowlights: a bus with NO heat! temperatures hovered at Zero degrees the whole trip...in addition, the door on the bus stayed open the whole trip. (at one point, in his 50th time shutting the door, the head coach almost fell out of the open door while the bus was going 55 miles per hour! he explained watching the pavement zoom by and feeling like this was it for him...)

Dale and David came home last monday, went to a Caps game on tuesday. and with all that hockey, David was still angling for more.

Two days later, time for David to leave again...

Trip 2: Sarnia,Ontario. Trip 1 was a fun trip put together by David's coach at the beginning of the season. When you except his invitation to be on the team, you know about trip one. Trip 2 was thanks to David's team pulling off a win in an international tournament, known as the Silver Sticks.(international being Canada and the U.S!) both trips happen to fall on back to back weeks.

Traveling to Sarnia, Ontario was to play the other winners of the regional silver sticks. We expected to be slaughtered. We are a young team, and were down 3 good players. we played three games and their record was 0-2-1. (W-L-T)...one of the teams we played is ranked 6th in the U.S for A, AA teams...that was a very respectable loss and the boys were in the game for 2 1/2 periods. We were down 3 players for these games, so we were happy with that loss. The other two teams are in the top 15 rankings for Ontario's A, AA leagues. we really should have won both, but a tie and a loss were good enough.

before game 3..

Attending the Sarnia Sting game...

2012-01-06T11:15:00.018-05:00

Day after thanksgiving,The Tree goes Up!

Capitol Christmas Tree

U.S. Botanical Gardens Holiday Train Display

Part of the train display included Homes of the US Presidents, made completely of plants and organic material!

Christmas eve at Grandma Kelley's (I did not get pictures this year !) :( ----we had a terrific meal! Tex Mex! It has to be one of my favorite meals of the year! The kids LOVE opening their Christmas Eve gifts from Grandma...pajamas...to them it signifies the start of the vacation...they put their 'jamas on and stay in them for a week straight! (changing to go in public, but coming home and putting them right back on.) The pajamas mean christmas, hot chocolate, family time, relaxing and just plain fun for a week straight... they LOVE them!

Christmas Day was so great...(no pictures again !) :( -----waking up with our kids, going to church, spending time together after church and then going to Steve and Wendy's first ever Christmas dinner. Wendy did an amazing job hosting! She is a real pro and the traditional turkey dinner could not have tasted better! It was a great ending to a great day...

a few days later.....

4 days of Christmas with a few of my family members...(yes, all of us sleeping and eating in the same house!)

Lots of card games...where I pulled out a Win!...I say I am the 2011 knucklehead champion because I won the last game of the year...(none of my family can argue with me because they don't read my blog!!)

Lots of fun, food and family family family!

The inevitable family photo in front of the tree...."Tammy, Dale, get in front of the tree for a family picture..!" no warning. no hair, no makeup,no changing clothes, no staging, but I love it anyway! ! (I could stand to photoshop it, but who has time for that??)

And what would the break be without Hockey?!? Greg played a tournament at the Kettler ice rink (exciting because thats the home of the Washington Capitals)....Greg did a great job! This is him with his snowman buddy before the break...

David had a tournament during the break. fighting hard to get a win over a team from North Carolina that had previously beaten them...

the excitement after eeking out the win...coming in first place for the tournament!

of course we have to jump the goalie

and the banner...

It's January now, so down goes the tree.....

and up comes our routine again.Kids back to school, Percy, smokey and I back at home, alone. The house feels empty after being so full of people so often over the Holidays.

Percy is back to his routine, including my favorite.. every afternoon at 2 he sits and waits for the kids to return...he sits for 45 minutes just waiting, and waiting...

"They're here, they're here! My buddies are home again!!" -percy

Where have I gone?

2011-11-14T08:38:00.003-05:00

I know I hardly blog these days...I miss it...I love sharing little tid bits of life...

So many things in this world make me laugh, cry, mad, glad, grateful, angry, etc etc, I wish I could share them all with you..

I am so so blessed to have amazing friends and family to share so many moments with, but I definitely miss being able to blog them.

So Where have I gone, and WHY don't I blog much???

In September I started teaching Early morning Seminary...for those who don't know, seminary is a class that begins at 6:00 am EVERY school day. This year we are studying the Old Testament.

I LOVE teaching...but it definately cuts into my downtime and my blogging time!

a little bragging, if I must ;)

2011-10-31T14:24:00.003-04:00

ok, so I know it's super rude to be braggy, so here is a warning, I am about to be very rude!

Sports. Greg. He is very athletic, and doesn't know it. He has an even temperament. (aka, isn't focused and is usually in space half the time during any sports practice)

Last year, his hockey team was playing in a division that was above their skill level...in other words, they were clobbered every single game! Greg was the goalie. At first it didn't seem to matter to him, getting crushed every game. but towards the end of the season, after facing 30, 40, 50 and yes sometimes over 60 shots a game, he began to grow weary and his confidence wavered. His numbers seemed good to me, hitting between a 60(at his worst) and 85 save percentage per game.( Meaning he saved that percentage of total goals that were shot at him) His coaches were always complimentary. I thought he was awesome, but I did realize that I was his mother, biased by nature. I realized I might not know the reality of his ability.

Seeing how his confidence was taking a turn for the worst, and not being completely sure of his "true" ability, we made the decision to pull him from hockey. (unlike other sports, the commitment for a child to play hockey can quickly become a burden if #1 they are not loving it, and confidence in themselves is going down and #2 if they are not progressing in the sport) The decision to pull him was hard.

He seemed content with not playing, until the season started. He really, really wanted to play. I explained that it would most likely be another tough season in Goal for him, and he still wanted to play.

Fast forward to Saturday. Greg represented his team in a "shootout competition" in Northern Virginia. In hockey this is a big deal. The goalie who lets in the least wins, and the shooter who gets the most shots in, wins. Eight other goalies his age participated. Dale estimated about 100 shooters participated.

The goalies who he went up against are from our league, teams who are from all over Maryland, DC and Virginia were represented.

Greg WON! He called to tell me the good news! I think he was excited, but true to Greg's personality, his voice sounded even keeled about the whole thing. He was most excited about the prize...a really nice, very expensive, hockey stick. He can't wait to get on the ice and play with his new stick.

I am still in shock over the whole thing. His coaches said they were not surprised by his win. As soon as they heard about the competition they signed Greg up. They knew it was Greg's competition. At this point, his confidence in himself is sky high. Unlike his mom, he is not a braggy kid. He never lets his head get too big, but I couldn't be more proud!

(This picture is from last March)

Outdoor Ed= out-the-door-ed for me!

2011-10-10T09:54:00.012-04:00

Melissa is in 6th grade and had asked me to attend outdoor ed with her several months ago. 3 days of camping with her, and 200 other 6th graders. tie dying, canoeing, fishing,"The Amazing Race",team-building, poetry, science, hiking, yoga are some of activities we participated in...we had a great time!

I was told that when kids enter middle school they "find" themselves, and in the process, distance themselves from their parents. This never happened with Shawn and Alex..In 10th and 8th grade, they still ask me to chaperon field trips, attend their activities, and like to have me on hand just in case. To my surprise, this week marked a new era in mommyhood for me, I finally have a middle schooler who followed the pattern that I have heard other parents talk about.

I was the last adult to get there, so I got stuck with the "crappy bunk" that was in the room with Melissa and 7 other girls. as I was putting my stuff away, Melissa tried to kick me out! I told her that this was the last bed left in our cabin and I had to sleep on it. She insisted that I couldn't sleep in the room with her and her friends! really?!?! you want me to sleep on the floor? I wasn't alone, the other moms had tried to sleep in there with their daughters and they had all been kicked out as well...we compromised, they kept the door shut and I stayed out unless it was sleeping time...

Every activity Melissa politely asked me to step back and leave her and her friends to themselves...

At mealtime I took the hint and I was going to go sit at a table with my friends. Melissa informed me that ONE adult had to sit at each table, and that "it might as well" be me to sit with her and her friends because they HAD to have an adult with them...I was also elected to be the token adult who walked the girls to wherever they needed to go...fishing, to the showers, wherever...I was their "minute to win it" coach and was "on hand" if they absolutely needed an adult...

It was bitter sweet, my baby girl really doesn't need me, but she has come into her own, socially, physically and emotionally. She is becoming an incredible young woman

My young woman in her waders getting ready to go fishing in the bay,
The two of us

Her canoe buddies
The other mom and I, canoeing with two little boys whose mom's weren't there. These two boys begged to go with us. Our two daughters wanted nothing to do with us, so we "adopted" these two little guys for a few activities...
Melissa, canoeing with her buddies...

Melissa learning yoga...

It's great to be 8!

2011-10-04T09:26:00.003-04:00

In our family, a very special birthday party happens at 4, 8, 12 and 16 years old. With each of my children, 8 has been extra special. They were all baptized and then celebrated the day with as many friends and family as possible.

The day Greg was baptized was bitter sweet. I couldn't have been more proud of his decision to be baptized, but sad that my youngest is already 8! Time has gone much to quickly with these sweet kids. It feels like we were just celebrating Shawn's 8th birthday and baptism!

I am so proud of each of my children and Greg is no exception. He is so sweet, loving, kind, animated, bright, active and pure pleasure to be around!

Our local baptismal font is not working, and in an effort to keep his baptism close, he was baptized in our pool. It was cold, rainy and cloudy, but I didn't hear a word of complaint from him (or Dale!) They patiently waited in the chilly water for everyone to make their way down to the pool.

A few hours after the ordinance was performed, and services concluded, Greg celebrated his 8th birthday. Many family and friends joined in the fun.

tricking Greg with trick candles (he loves a good joke)...my experience has taught me that blowing trick candles out requires a "personal" cake to avoid contaminating the "community" cake.

I feel like a chapter in my life has concluded. I am humbled when I think not only of each of my children choosing to be baptized, but of the incredible support they each received from family and friends on their special days. Thank you all so much for giving them so much support and helping them to know that they are part of something far greater than themselves. I cannot express enough how grateful I am to all the support we received for each one of them!

saying goodbye to Gram....

2011-09-19T11:04:00.029-04:00

This post is overdue, and dedicated to one of the most amazing woman I have had the privilege of knowing...
A pioneer on every level,

A mother,

a loyal, committed wife,

A mother-in-law,

a talented, and devoted teacher of elementary students,

A genealogist,

An environmentalist, LONG before it was "cool",

A lifetime learner ,

A reader of good books

A follower of Christ,

a humble servant of Heavenly Father,

one of the most amazing grandmothers/great-grandmothers that the world has ever known...

Her example is one that will last for generations...

It was very tough to say good bye, but we know, without a doubt that she was ready to go...

Dale's Grandma worked at Old Faithful Inn, in Yellowstone National Park for 6 seasons during the 30's...She and Grandpa Kelley were dating while there together...she remembers many things from there including getting to go to the roof of the Inn to help Grandpa raise the flag...Grandpa feventually got over his cold feet after, I believe, 7 years of dating, and asked her to marry him...now that is a patient woman!

Her love of National Parks stayed with her...she passed it on to her children, who passed it on to their children...and now her grandchildren, including Dale, are passing it on to their children...Yellowstone and Zion's National park will always be her parks to me...While living in Saint George she told us she had been to Zion's "over 100 times...probably a lot more..." (she couldn't keep track because it had been such a regular thing)

My first visit to the Grand Canyon had been with her and Grandpa...I went to visit them in St. George over 14 years ago...Grandma and Grandpa Drove me the 8 hours to Grand Canyon. Grandma stayed in the car with Grandpa and Shawn so I could run down the path to see the Canyon...I spent 15 minutes in complete awe of the canyon....I ran back to the car, and we drove 8 hours back to St. George...

Who would drive 8 hours only to turn right back around just so I could see the Grand Canyon!??!! Dale's Grandma would, that's who!

Saint George will always remind me of her...What a beautiful final resting place for her...

She loved her grand kids,

Dale, me and the kids were staying in her garage while at her house 2 years ago. Dale and the kids were fast asleep. I got out of the shower and found her standing among them in the garage, just looking at them.

She called me over, put her arm around me and said "These are my treasures, these are my treasures."... She had happy tears in her eyes. It was a precious moment I will treasure. She dearly loved her grandchildren and her great grandchildren.

Dale's Grandma had often told us not to touch things in National Parks..."Leave it the way you found it"...After Greg touched a cactus, she thought it a good opportunity to remind him that we don't touch anything in National parks. Grandma never missed a teaching opportunity!
Grandma knew every interesting, odd and downright weird thing on the way to Zion's National Park. Including these funny ostriches with bad attitudes...(and the singing donkey, the house that had a boulder in it...etc)
Grandma taking us to visit Grandpa

Grandma and her "treasure"

Saying our Final Goodbyes...she touched each one of her great grandchildren so personally. I think they all believed that they were her only great grandchild. She knew about each one of their lives...I will never know how she did it, but she always sent birthday cards to each and everyone of them.

She sent David's to him in August. His birthday is in November, she knew she were going home and didn't want to miss sending out birthday cards....

Her two sons...she must have done a good job because these two aren't complete menaces to society.... they are good people...Sons that she was proud of....
I know first hand how much she loved and cherished her grandkids...One day I had the nerve to laugh at Dale about something...I couldn't stop laughing. Not being one to miss a teaching opportunity, Grandma taught me that laughing at her grandson in front of her was not OK.

When I get frustrated with Dale, or when I start wanting to tease him, her face still flashes through my mind..what a good example of family loyalty she was.

David, alone with his thoughts after saying his final goodbyes...

These are her treasures, her legacy and her life. She will be forever in all our hearts.
I have had her address memorized for years and years...I cannot imagine that she will no longer reside here...

Having a picnic in snow canyon is a perfect memorial to grandma, and you can tell who her great grandchildren are...

"Tammy, not to scare you, but look where your children are"...says her oldest Grandchild, Dale. Not alerting me to the children climbing this crazy steep mountain until they are well out of range for me to stop them. Like her, he believes the kids should be able to explore and have adventures....

That's them, cant see them, but they are really there....Definately related to Gram..a woman always exploring and willing to have an adventure...
I hope that part of her next great adventure will be to help me watch over these crazy treasures of hers....

Gram I love and Miss you!

Tammy

Irene damage 120 miles from the eye?

2011-08-28T22:00:00.018-04:00

Yes. Not only did she cancel the first day of school, she left our yard in shambles!

Branches like this are EVERYWHERE...

I went out during the storm and watched the trees dancing back and forth..it was so beautiful to see, but then I woke up to this... :(

Also, Debris, EVERYEWHERE...

Our trusty tree house suffered no damage...we are terrific architects!

Here is a BEFORE picture of the front yard...
An after picture of the same trees...two of which are gone... :(

And MORE Debris...yuck...

Yes. yes, she was not nice to us, look what she did to the kitchen.......oh wait, that was just the kids....

The overwhelming amount of work, in addition to getting ready to teach my first day of seminary just felt like to much...I decided to take Percy and go for a run...

not even Percy was cooperating with my plan today....although he did decide to push me on the swing...

...

a late summer, early morning walk......

2011-08-23T08:24:00.010-04:00

the weather is cooler, the berries are gone and mornings will soon be filled with craziness, so lets go for a stroll!

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,

-Robert Frost

Mr. Ed, Ted and Ned still in bed...(that's what I call these guys anyway)

just keep walking..........
and walking................

almost home........

This is my favorite view 365 days a year...the view changes every season, every day, every hour...

uh, do deer hiss? he hissed at me...a lot........"Tammy got run over by a reindeer" played over and over in my head...all the way home..

Family, THEN, NOW and ALWAYS

2011-08-16T09:16:00.022-04:00

1988

(Matt and I should have traded hair ;)

1989

Back row: Dad, Mom, Tammy, Tracey,Theresa, Matt

Front Row: Dana, Katy, Brandon and Sherry
2001 GROWING........
Standing: Tammy,Brandon, Dana, Katy, (Mr. Katy), Will, Matt, Tracey

Seated: Mom and Dad

(I love the pregnant bookends in this photo!! )

GROWING........
GROWN..............!
Most of us! (Minus those who have moved on from this life, and a few who couldn't make the trip to the beach)

For the time being my siblings and I have finished reproducing...(that I am aware of anyway!!)

our own kids are getting older, and we are really enjoying them as teenagers..it's like being a teenager again, multiplied! they are all so great!!

Tammy, Tammy, Matt, Theresa, Matt, Tammy, Tracey

Sisters are FOREVER!!! (Even the ones who may not be with us :)

My Family is THEN, NOW and ALWAYS!

(How blessed am I?, this doesn't even include Dale's family or the Holder family)

The best things in life are "free"....

2011-08-07T15:48:00.002-04:00

I do not believe anything in life is truely "free"...If I am enjoying something free, I know that someone, somewhere sacrificed for me to enjoy that free gift. This week, my heart is full of gratitude for the incredible generosity that I have experienced due to other people's sacrifices..

First, there was a giant tree that fell across our driveway on sunday. One neighbor called and alerted us to the problem. We were blocked in, with no way out. Our neighbors very graciously allowed us to drive on their grass to get out.

A second neighbor, who we had never met, and who I had assumed was a complete hellion, offered to cut the tree up into burnable sizes for a very very fair price. The boys were starting the very long, laborious process of bringing the logs down the driveway, when the neighbor decided he would help them out and loaded his pickup truck full of the logs and helped the boys unload it on our wood pile. When I went out and thanked him, he said "don't worry about it, this is my workout for today"...

My two older boys and my nephew enjoyed a free basketball clinic Monday-Friday of this week. A man who serves not only on our stake high council, but also runs his own business and serves as commissioner for the county, set up the whole camp for every child 12-18 in our stake. They had over 50 kids attending each day. He had volunteers who took off work to help out. It was an incredible sacrifice for all of them to make. Not to mention that many, many adult leaders sacrificed so much already by taking our kids to scout camp and youth conference. I am humbled by the amount of sacrifices people make on behalf of my children. Thank you!

On Friday Dale and I had decided to go to the Oriole's game for a date. As we were walking in, a guy overheard us mention we needed to buy tickets, he offered us two. Dale asked "how much can I give you for them?" and he replied "Cheers!" ...turns out, the tickets were club level and much better than we would have purchased for ourselves. It was a free gift that he really didn't have to give...after the game we were treated to fireworks.
What a beautiful display!!!

On Saturday we enjoyed an incredible view from Sugarloaf mountain. Due to someones great sacrifice in making trail improvements, getting to the top was fairly easy. I was in awe of the view, and also of the time and energy someone, somewhere had put into sharing this view, for free.

Shawn and Alex participated in a project to build an outdoor classroom for a school. The children in that school will be greatly blessed by the person organizing that project.

I dropped the boys off to play basketball on saturday morning, as I was pondering the week and all the generosity that had been surrounding me, when a father handed me an invitation to a fair for disabled children that he and his wife were throwing. He wanted me to extend the invitation to all members of our community. The fair is free, and all are invited. Did I mention that this father's wife is expecting their fifth child in a few months, and that they just lost their oldest son in May to a disability?

I know I have left some other simple gifts that were given to our family this week...It has all been appreciated greatly!

I am humbled, extremely humbled, at the generosity all around me. Everyone has different gifts, and different talents, and each person has given in their own way to enrich my life, and to bless my family in ways that I didn't even see were necessary.

Thank you to everyone who sacrifices so that somebody, somewhere will get something free. The best things in life truely are free.

my blog is alive again!

2011-07-28T22:30:00.011-04:00

I haven't been toting my camera around, so I've missed all the summertime fun...

Pool parties galore, BBQ's, visits from family and friends, vacations, various camps and achievements at said camps, like My "Iron Man" winner Shawn at scout camp, and my "team Mickelson" winner Alex at golf camp. Shawn's excellent adventures at youth conference and his high adventures at Camp Helaman.

I am most bummed about not getting beach pictures! My camera battery died and no, I didn't think to bring the charger. (I thought to bring 3 different kinds of razors, but no camera charger!)

Also didn't document my baby boy riding an airplane all by himself for the first time EVER! (He had an airplane ride with me when he was 2)I got a special pass to escort him to the gate and make sure he got through security without a hitch. Even though he appeared to be the only person flying out of Norfolk that night, I felt like he still needed his mommy! (He didn't think so, but after failing my "ok, try to find your way" test, he didn't have a choice. He was embarrassed, I was satisfied.

So here is the sad, sad documentation of my super summer so far...

Hanging with my man! (Yes, we do still have lunch once a week, leave the kids all to themselves and everything! We keep it short, and the house is still standing when we get back)

Lots and Lots of pool time!! Thanks to my incredible husband for cutting down 7 trees that blocked the sun from the pool, and also thanks to a new amazing pool pump given to me as a birthday gift,installed by yours truly (pat on the back) , I have spent more time in the water than ever before! I spend a LOT less time maintaining the pool now. I would say, it's actually been a joy having a pool!

And a brand new addition. This little guy has stolen my heart!! AND he cleans floors to! What more could I ask for?!?! Percy joined us 10 days ago. he is 3 1/2 months old and is my baby. (don't tell Greg). He is Melissa's dog, but he and I have a bond (Don't tell Melissa, or Dale, for that matter :) What a terrific addition to our family he has been!

Cousin Time!!

" What's up, Yo?"

useless info..

2011-06-07T16:06:00.004-04:00

Alex is a curious kid. He gets that from his mother. I have always been curious about everything. I love knowing a little bit about a lot of things. I am full of useless information that I have collected over my life. I continue to learn useless information hoping that someday, after enough years, I will be able to connect all the useless data into something useful. I get it from my dad. He was a police officer and then a career fireman. He didn't stand out as particularly intelligent, until you sat down with him and played boggle, or yahtzee, or scrabble. And most impressive was his dominating any and everyone at Jeopardy. He watched it religiously, and it was very annoying...how did he KNOW all that STUFF??? He was always in some sort of school or another, up until the day he died. We grew up with a set of encyclopedias in our home. We moved so often that books didn't often make it with us, but those encyclopedias went everywhere with us. I loved reading, and from the time I started to read, those were the best option available. I read them cover to cover a few times. We had national geographics, and I discovered the world. I have always read the newspaper, and enjoyed non fiction over fiction. For a few years my mother in law got me reading non fiction, but I went back to my tried and true roots, facts about whatever.

All this leads me to Alex. Often he will just ask a question out of curiousity. We search the answer out together. He is a thinker. We all have discussions about various topics regularly, but Alex is usually the start of it. Today's topic, How many hot dogs do Americans eat in a month? apparently someone discovered the answer to be "enough to go around the earth 5 times"....so he started with the Earth's circumference and then calculated that number. The answer in real numbers is that Americans eat over One billion, five hundred seventy seven million, seven hundred sixty two thousand,two hundred and eight hots dogs each month. that number looks like 1,577,762,208....

Someday that little piece of information will be connected to some other piece of information and might make you answer a question right while watching Jeopardy with your dad ....

Which one would you choose?

2011-05-09T09:52:00.004-04:00

I had a great Mother's Day..Breakfast in Bed, Homemade Cards, A clean house, and dinner at a park with family! I have the greatest kids and the most thoughtful husband and terrific in laws! What could top that??

Naturally, I want to share a picture of my great day with you all. Which one best captures the day...

This one without Dale and with grumpy kids,?

OR, this one with Dale, Happy Kids and one misplaced hand??

Passion and Sportsmanship

2011-04-26T12:12:00.015-04:00

After a rough,

Tough,

And rewarding hockey season,

The boys attended the Awards Banquet. The club consists of over 20 teams, team awards are not given out during the banquet, instead given out separately with your team. After awards were given out, David said to me, "My coach did a good job picking the team awards, he picked really good people for each award.", even though he himself did not recieve anything.

David's passion for the sport shows through. He loves being part of a hockey team, and his teammates are an extension of himself. He was as happy for his teammates awards as he would be for himself. I, however, saw David's hard work, good attitude and passion for the sport never waiver over the 6 month long season. I will admit, I was a little bummed that he didn't get a team award. David helped me to appreciate the choices his coach made for awards and we went on with our evening.

Knowing that David and Greg were not getting one of the 4 club awards, I felt safe to leave the banquet and rush to Shawn's basketball game. I was letting the boys finish dessert as someone tapped me on the shoulder....I looked up and there is David's photo, one of four nominees in his age group up for the "Robert L. Falk" sportsmanship award,

David's picture is the far right....Then David was named the winner of the award! He went up to receive the award...completely surprised by it.

The other nominees are from other teams and I don't really know them, but I am sure they were well deserving of the award, but I can say that David was a great choice. (His mother on the other hand, probably has some work to do before she would win a sportsmanship award).

David has a great attitude about hockey, and his teammates on and off the ice. I will spare you the nomination letter from his coach, but David really has been a great sportsman throughout the long, difficult and exciting hockey season.
Hockey is not the sport I would choose for my kids. Like football, I love to watch hockey, but didn't really wants kids who played it. When it comes to David, I do not have a choice in the matter. It is his first love, he eats, sleeps and breathes the sport and would never stop playing if he could. The season starts in august and ends in March, he and Greg are still on the ice two times a week even now. They will take off 2 months and be back to it in August. For David, even that is not enough. He is passionate about it. His passion makes him work hard, think of his team first, never complain about the long, grueling practices and his passion for hockey helps him accept the ups and the downs. Thats what makes him a good sport.

For me, my passion is my family. Watching little successes in their lives is amazing. As much as I hate the cold, I feel it a blessing to sit in an ice rink when it is 80 degrees outside and watch my children get so much pleasure from playing hockey. My passion for my family helps me to accept the ups and the downs, it helps me to work hard, and think of them first. For me, everyday is not enough, I never want to stop being a mom, a wife, a cleaning lady, a taxi driver and all the other various things. I love it passionately.

With a TROPHY on top!

2011-04-09T13:02:00.016-04:00

Once again, ignore the time stamp!

This week had many ups and downs. It ended with a big "up"! This photo was taken by Shawn. It is of me fixing one of the main water supply lines to our house. I had to shut the water off after he was pitching in the basement and busted the pipe. No water for 2 days can humble anyone!

Gretchen came for a visit, We have done our part to repopulate the world!

Les Mis was great! Even the third time! Glad we are getting the DVD....

BATTLE of the BOOKS!

15 books, 48 teams (5 kids each) from all the schools in Howard County , 4 rounds of questions....(Melissas's team is bottom Right. They were dressed as the Wizard of OZ characters)

After each answer was revealed, and little celebration occurred.

Intermission Dancing with her teammates

Beggin' for Blogs...

2011-04-07T08:25:00.004-04:00

I changed my blog (I know you noticed). But while I was playing around with different formats, I deleted every "gadget" that I had. (including everyone's blog that I check in on, listed and unlisted) I did my best to find blog addresses, but I couldn't find them all.

Can you add yourself to mine, or leave your address in the comment section?

untitled

2011-04-04T07:38:00.026-04:00

“I would have beauty to charm and to fire him,

Thoughts, white as feathers, to calm and inspire him,

Music enough to fill four little walls,

Visions to struggle for, love over all,

Hands not too white for the day’s stern request.

Let me know toiling and triumph and rest,

Blessed contentment in small things and poor,

Lifting my eyes from the world’s golden lure.

Make me forgiving of small, driftless wounds.

Give me his heart to read, O keep mine attuned.

Let not the years pass and leave us alone,

Grant us thy miracle, all for our own.

Let me be brave in the anguish of giving,

Smiling and proud for the glory of living,

Give me a song when the morning is cold,

Give me a smile when toiling is old,

Warmth in my handclasp for dusk, chill and gray,

Prayers and a dream at the close of the day.”
(-Author Unknown)

Photo Phlashback

2011-04-02T14:05:00.018-04:00

Ignore the time stamp, these were taken April 1, 2011...Greg is such a character, ALWAYS laughing with David and ALex. We went out for pizza before Alex's concert last night, and they could not stop laughing...I snapped some quick shots just as a memory of the "triplets" constant laughter...

(Dancing back and forth singing the Six Flags song...never been but he likes the tune I guess)
"I'm craaaaaazzzzzzzzyyyyy GREG!"

"This IS restaurant behavior, MOM!"

Today I was looking for a photo of Greg from 5 years ago...I came across the file of our Disney World Trip in 2006...I was a bit surprised to see the montage of Greg pictures that I took to documen,t what was apparently, a much darker time in Greg's life... check out the contrast from THEN to NOW....

"I'm so stressed, and your making me go to DISNEY WORLD!?! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

(Greg refused to be in this, and several other pictures with the Disney characters)

"A chipmunk?.....Can I run away from home and go to school to be a chipmunk?"

"If I could just be a chipmunk, everything would be OK!!"

"Life suxs!"

current events

2011-04-01T08:46:00.002-04:00

Last night we went to Shawn's High School performance of Les Miserables. For anyone familiar with the show, Shawn is part of the "ensemble". He has a few odds and ends parts. I think I missed him a few times. He did have to be background for a the wedding scene where he is wearing a tux and dancing with a girl in a ball gown. It is a beautifully choreographed scene and it was really fun to see him in it. Funny thing though...thats the one scene he didn't really tell me a whole lot about and it surprised me a bit.

Melissa has a bit part on stage for about 1 minute. Despite the small part, she was very excited to be a part of a high school production, so all the rehearsals, all the practices and the time commitment didn't bother her one bit. She and I think she is really lucky to have had the opportunity for this to be her first experience with any type of theater!

It was a top notch performance. I saw Les Miserables on Broadway, and thought it might be difficult to watch high schoolers butcher it, how wrong I was! I preferred this version! If you happen to live in our area I would tell you it's the best $10 you will spend for entertainment this year. 3 more showings, tonight, tomorrow night 7 pm, and Sunday 2 pm. (Glenelg high school) And yes, the orchestra did play live for the play! I am ordering the dvd, and will try and upload some clips at a later time.

In addition to the play, we will be attending a chorus concert for Alex tonight. I didn't know he was a singer, and apparently he didn't either. I asked why he chose to be in chorus if he didn't want to sing. He simply said, "When I was picking which class I wanted, I just checked the box that said "ANY". Guess he has learned not to do that again! I am going to enjoy his first and most likely LAST chorus concert!

And Baseball is here!! Shawn, Alex, David and Greg are all playing baseball. Opening day is April 9th. I am sure there will be one or two posts in the season about that. (for all you sports fans) I feel so bad that I neglected hockey so much, we have some terrific photos from this year.

Update: So I decided to go in and have a "lifeline" screening. (this is a risk assessment for different types of heart disease, not covered by ins., performed by a private company.) everything looks good. I decided that screenings every few years is the best way to monitor my cholesterol and heart function. so happy to be off meds

My book about recent health issues

2011-03-18T14:46:00.008-04:00

(Thank you to Petra for sharing her experiences first here )

Through all my pregnancies I struggled a little bit with weight loss here and there, but not to much. I would gain a ton of weight while I was pregnant, to the point of being put on a strict diet when I was 6 months pregnant, but then it all fell off. I thought I was just really lucky. It wasn't until my third pregnancy that the truth came out after a freaked out sister of mine called 911 when I passed out in the grocery store, thank you freaked out sister. My weight gain was mostly water weight from a very active heart. So active in fact that I passed out regularly because my heart rate would go up and up and up and not come down. (thought all pregnant women did that, apparently not everyday, and most certainly not from simple tasks like picking up toys or vacuuming, as my doctor explained to me later)

Long story short, I had a slight heart defect that isn't really that uncommon. an extra "control center". What was a little more unique about me was that both of my "control centers" thought they were top dog and were battling out who was in charge of pacing my heart beat. From what I understand, this caused my heart to race abnormally in regular intervals. It also made it interesting for me once my heart rate went up....it wouldn't come down. ( all those times I thought I was out of shape, its because my heart rate would go up, quicker than it should, and not come down very easily, but because it was my "normal" I didn't realize it was a problem)...I have always been a person in constant motion, but it was always a steady motion.

Anyway, I had that problem fixed for the most part. They were able to burn one of the control centers part way off about 11 years ago. I was also put on cholesterol medicine at that time. I have always been a pretty healthy eater, but with cholesterol in the 300's since I was 20 (first time it was ever checked) they convinced me to go ahead and take it. Heres where my rebellion kicked in. I hated it. I quit taking it within a week or two. I was put on it about 3 years after that. I took it for a longer period of time and even through my 5th pregnancy. After that pregnancy I noticed a lot of weird physical symptoms with my body. I couldn't lose weight,despite running 26 miles a week and continuing to eat well. I had weird muscle spasms and I was having issues with my heart again. I stopped the medicine after a few years. I didn't know if it was to blame, I couldn't see my symptoms in the side effects but I didn't feel right and just quit because I am rebellious. I lost about 30 pounds and felt normal again.

Last year my heart was giving me trouble again. I went to the cardiologist to have my workup done. My heart rate goes up fast, and high, but it comes down appropriately. On occasion it does stay up, and I get dizzy, but I am fully aware of when it feels "different" and manage pretty well. I think the doctor worried more than I did about it and I pretty much decided we could revisit his suggestions in a few years. Except for that dang cholesterol medicine. He insisted that I should be on it and that my numbers are still way to high for the bad cholesterol. I reluctantly went on that stuff again. The scale has been steadily climbing, and I cannot get it back down. I decided to quit taking it again along with the vitamins I had been taking. For about 10 days now I have had major headaches, severe cramping (to the point that I wondered if I had miraculously gotten pregnant and was miscarrying) , all kinds of digestive issues and exhaustion. Not to mention dizziness, lightheaded and weird tingling all over my body. like little shocks. This has been going for about a week and a half, and it really got to me, mentally, on Wednesday. After attempting to play basketball, all the physical stuff came to a head and I was really depressed, I tried to crawl into bed so I could sulk in my depression. My sweet husband talked me into going out to lunch at Baltimore's Inner Harbor with him. He kept saying "you know you really want Ta pas" ..he was right, I did and it was so good to walk around Inner Harbor and feel the sun with him by my side. I did come home and pretty much sleep until the next day.

Thursday was better, the tingling was starting to subside and I had more energy. I hung out with some girlfriends who assured me that part of getting older is unknown physical symptoms. Today was even better. Cramping and digestive issues and headache are still around, but the tingling "shocks" are gone, and energy is back. I feel like this is just way too much of a physical reaction to the medicine or vitamins that I was on. I know my cholesterol is ridiculous, and I am fully aware of my family history of heart issues, but if it is this bad getting off of stuff, should I really be on it to begin with? My girlfriends thought it had more to do with "woman" issues as I am getting older...I am not sure what it is, but I am really rebelling against all things medicine...including vitamins. I don't know what half the stuff in them is anyway! Not to mention that I am down 3 pounds since last week with no changes in diet or exercise, after a continuous upward climb for months I think that is a little weird.

I usually crawl into a cave when I am going through anything like this. It was great to talk to people and it was really great to read about Petra's experiences. I am not a good "sick" person. I don't like being down and out physically. And I think it depresses me quickly. Thanks if you took the time to read all of this, and sorry for never writing on my blog anymore. It isn't for lack of things to write about, more just lack of time to write it all!

sibling ESP

2011-03-03T07:32:00.005-05:00

The drawing on the left was done by David.

Me: Did the art teacher show you how to do that?
David: No
Me: did someone else in your class do that to their picture?
David: No, I just thought of it
Me: Thats really cool, I love it

The drawing on the right was done by Melissa.

Me: Did the art teacher show you guys this pattern?
Melissa: No
Me: are you sure?
Melissa: she didn't
Me: Is this a new thing that all the other kids are doing on their pictures?
Melissa: No, I thought of it myself

Melissa doesn't think it's weird that she and David thought of the same pattern for their pictures on the same day...without seeing the other's work...

Shortly after I was married, I worked with my sister, Theresa, everyday...at least 2 times a week we would wear similar outfits...i.e. blue shirt, white skirt, pink shirt, same jeans, etc etc..I used to think "wow, thats a coincidence", but after a year of working together I believe it was more than coincidence.

Theresa passed away 13 years ago...but over the years Tracey and I have shown up at different events wearing similar outfits...(this is less ESP and more that I still get my older sisters hand-me-downs!) but I still think its Sibling ESP...

In December we showed up at my cousins wedding, when she stepped out of the car, her outfit was head to toe the same as mine....right down to the black boots and the black overcoat...

Question of the day...

2011-02-03T09:25:00.003-05:00

Your driveway, which was covered in snow, is now super slushy. You think you should give your kids a ride to the bus stop...Your options are your husbands beloved suv, or your front wheel drive minivan...so the question is,

When you get your husband's beloved SUV stuck, and after 10 minutes of spinning his tires out on his beloved slush covered lawn (somewhere along the line the car fell off the driveway :)...do you A. walk back to the house to get him to help get the car unstuck, or do you B. keep trying until the suv slams into a tree?

just wonderin...

"Coolest Mom..EVER" award...

2011-01-10T10:51:00.002-05:00

As a mom, sometimes I just want to step away from being the heavy, "Did you brush your teeth? clean underwear? ...No? back upstairs and change into a shirt that fits...WHAT HAPPENED to your hair? Clean your room, is your homework done? blah blah blah!" ....I KNOW my kids love me, but I know that sometimes dads are just more fun...when they are with dad, he could care less about all that little stuff, and they just relax.

I realized this when I was schlepping David to his hockey game...Dale and I split the sports duties 50-50..so I attend equal number of games for David that Dale does.

On the way to his game he was talking about his practices from the day before. (Yes, 2 in one day)..Dale and I attended both together. I told him I thought he did a great job...he was puzzled and asked very seriously.."You were at my practice? which one?" ..I said "Both"...He didn't remember that I was there...he had remembered everything his dad had said, but just kinda forgot about me even being there...

...I REALLY wanted the chance, for just a day, to win the "Coolest Mom..EVER" award from David.

Fast forward to his game...I bought him a pregame donut and cheese itz! yes, cheese itz, I am winning the award today!...or at least have him remember that I ATTENDED his game. I helped with the score sheet and when he was in the Penalty Box I smiled and said "I know, it wasn't a penalty, the ref was WRONG!" ...("Coolest MOM...EVER" coming right up!)...

opportunity to seal the deal...Bruce Boudreau, coach of the Washington Capitals Hockey team, was watching the 3rd period of David's game while waiting for his son's game to begin. I asked someone to take over the scoresheet while I went and chatted with him for a second. I asked if he would Congratulate our boys on their win. With a few minutes left on a 2-1 game, Coach Boudreau thought I was being a little quick to call it a win. I pointed out David on Defense and said "thats my guy out there, and I know him well enough to know he isn't letting anyone near the net.."..with 45 seconds left, the other team pulled the goalie and David went off the ice..other team took advantage of our guys and pressure was on our goalie. I hesitantly said, "ok, with my guy off the ice, maybe they will need a "job well done speech" if the other team manages to tie it" ...Coach Boudreau couldn't have been nicer or more down to earth...Game over...our guys held on and won it 2-1....I walked him to the locker room where he suprised our guys! He made several comments about the game to the boys (including the great job defense did!)...He really boosted their confidence in themselves and their playing ability...I know David will never forget it...

and I was sure *I* had won the "Coolest MOM..EVER" award from David!

Fast forward an hour...I ACCIDENTLY called David, Greg. and when he said, "MOM! you don't even know my name??" , laughing so hard and unable to finish my sentence I said, "no, no....."...he said "NO?? you really DON'T know my name!?!?!" (me---still laughing, unable to speak)...

heart broken he went to go find his dad, who does know his name. Coolest MOM EVER award.....GONE!

Coach Boudreau talking to the boys..

(David is all the way to the left with the water bottle in his mouth)

My life is complete!

2010-12-06T15:58:00.002-05:00

When we bought our house almost four years ago, everything was perfect, except for two major sacrifices. One: Dale's commute went from 20-25 minutes to 40-45 minutes. He compromised by working from home one day a week. He still thinks it's worth it, and so do I.

For me, I was worried about moving to a more rural area and losing all the conviences of living near everything. So I checked on how close my favorite stores were, how close the church building was, and how close the schools were. Happy suprise, EVERYTHING was actually more convienient out here. Costco was a quick 20 minutes compared to a traffic filled 25, Walmart was 7 minutes compared to 20, and instead of 3 good grocery store choices within 10 minutes I was getting 5 great grocery store choices within 1o minutes, and 1 is three minutes away! Very VERY convienient. Everythingn else is less than 10 minutes,church, schools, hair places, pharmacies,TJ Maxx, Home Goods, pool store, and lots of little Boutiques and consignment shops! All less than ten minutes away. Our doctor is a 2 minute drive. I was also THRILLED with the number of restaurant choices. We did have to compromise on one big thing, no one delivers to our house. Despite several places being 5 minutes away, no one delivers. (Although the pizza hut manager has delivered orders to us, thats a statement on how much pizza we order from them) ANY type of food I desire is within a ten minute drive, with one major exception, that was a very vary sad sacrifice for me! There was not a Chipotle within 25 minutes!!! One had just opened at our other house, and I have to admit, that was the saddest part of moving for me! (Other than family, friends and community, blah blah blah!) I was so excited to enjoy Chipotle lunches after hours out and about doing errands...I have actually planned some friday shopping trips in other places where there is a Chipotle!!

California Tortilla opened a few years ago...not the same!

So how INCREDIBLY COMPLETE my life became when TODAY, yes TODAY I saw it!! A CHIPOTLE sign hanging on a strip mall?!?!?! I pulled a quick right turn to go and investigate. They are not open yet, but the door was open. I went in and the woman excitedly had a job application ready for me...! I said "oh no, I am not looking for a job, I just NEED to know when you are opening!?!" she said, "Dec. 17th" ....Oh my gosh!! I can shop less than 10 minutes away AND get my small indulgence of CHIPOTLE!! This IS MY ABSOLUTE dream house now! I NEVER want to leave this wonderful place!!!! I can even order without LOOKING at the calories posted, I have their menu memorized!!! Oh life is so so good!!!!

My Dinner is spoiled, how about yours?

2010-12-04T14:24:00.004-05:00

Dale and I went to Panera bread the other day for a quick lunch. I noticed all these funny little numbers on the menu that weren't prices. After staring, I finally realized that they were calorie totals. Thats right, posted right near the food is it's calorie content. I thought, "man, thats interesting. If I were Panera I might not have chosen to post calorie counts," ...After reviewing it carefully, I scanned for the smallest number and ordered the chicken soup.

Today we had a very busy day. 3 games before noon. I was picking up the last kid from a birthday party at 1:00 pm and decided to take the three kids into Burger King for a quick lunch before we went home. (I eat cheeseburgers about once every 2 months..Today was the day, I was dying for a nice big juicy cheeseburger!)

OH MY GOSH! Calories posted HERE also!?!? I knew something was up. There is no way that a restauraunt known for it's high calorie menu would CHOOSE to post those numbers. I asked the cashier...she informed me that they were required to. She wasn't sure who was requiring them to, but they had recently rushed to get them posted.

I scanned the menu looking for the smallest number once again so I could eat without feeling awful. Would you know that the smallest number is NOT the whopper jr? or the fries, or the chicken sandwich...it was the salad..no thank you. I ordered 3 kid's meals and a diet coke.

I came home and looked it up. It is legislation signed into law in March and taking effect for 2011. Every big chain is required to post calories. I want to cry. No more guilt free, completely satisfying, greasy burgers for us. My occassional indulgence into junk food is gone, and I am not sure how I feel about it.

On one hand, I am happy, I can see that it has already saved me over 1000 calories this week...on the other hand, I feel like a child, being told "thats not healthy, tsk tsk tsk"....I KNOW it's not healthy, thats why I don't eat it everyday!

Not to mention that I am seriously concerned for these businesses. Many of them are franchises operated by a local owner. I am sure business will suffer from this. I feel bad for owners who spent their life savings on buying those franchises. I guess it levels the playing field for small mom and pop restaraunts and Deli's everywhere.

I am also not entirely comfortable with the long arm of government extending ever closer to my personal choices. Definately not a fan of that, even when it's packaged as "good for everyone"

Anyway, my dinner has been spoiled, whats your opinion?

sweet moments...

2010-11-19T14:47:00.003-05:00

There are moments that just melt your heart...these are 3 recent moments that did just that for me...

The other morning I was half asleep. I felt something lightly touching my wrist. I lulled back into a deep sleep. When I woke up I noticed a pink and yellow friendship bracelet on my wrist...I was pretty sure it was David. I asked, and indeed it was David.

I mentioned it to Dale...He made the guess that David picked yellow because it's my favorite color, and pink because it is a pretty girl color. When thanked David for my sweet gift, I asked what made him choose yellow and pink..he smiled at me and said "Yellow is your favorite color, and pink is a good girl color for you"..How sweet is it that my son made me a bracelet and tied it on my wrist while I was asleep?...and how sweet is it that my husband knows the mind of his son that well? ...What a blessing these boys are!

This morning I encouraged Shawn not to get up for early morning seminary. He had a very rough week. he has been so exhausted that I just wanted him to get a few hours more sleep. He is on time every morning at 6:00 am and he hasn't missed a day yet. Every child in his class misses at least once, maybe 2 times a week. So I really encouraged him to just go ahead and sleep in.

I got a text from one of the moms that not ONE kid went to seminary this morning. I immediately thought of the poor teacher who prepares every morning and is waiting bright and early for the kids to arrive. At times Shawn has been the only kid there for the first 20 minutes, but never the only kid. I mentioned to Shawn that not ONE kid went this morning. He immediately wanted to tell his teacher sorry. He called her and appologized for not being there. She said, "it's ok Shawn, you deserved a break". I am so proud of him to be the mother of such a sweet boy. Who has ever appreciated the efforts of their early morning seminary teacher?!?

Last sweet moment: (*names have been changed to protect the not so innocent)

I encourage my kids not to pick their noses and especially if they do pick them, not to eat it! One child has rebelled. He loves to see me squirm and has learned to shove two fingers up his nose when I ask him to stop "touching" his nose. And then he will shout, "hey, look what I found!" as he shoves his finger in his mouth. Sometimes he is faking me, sometimes not. In the car one night, I was having an especially sweet moment with Johnny*. We had been discussing so many things. My heart was tender. He very sweetly finished one conversation with "mom, you are such a lucky mom." I said, "yes I am. I know why I am lucky, but what makes you think I am a lucky mom?" ...Johnny proceeds to explain, "You are lucky because I lost a tooth. Now when I try to eat my boogers it falls off my finger and I can't eat it."

sweet moments.....

Halloween,Homecoming, Highschool and Hockey!!

2010-11-08T11:10:00.016-05:00

Greg as "Snake Eyes"...From G.I. Joe...note the Duct tape accessories...I am getting very lazy in my old age!

David as a.....Monster. (A monster who survives on Hockey alone..)

Melissa as a "Colonial Williamsburg girl". I realized how lazy I have gotten with Halloween costumes when I was halfway done buying the stuff for Melissa's costume. I spotted a COMPLETED hannah montana costume for 9.99, I went to purchase it when the checkout woman started chit chatting with me. I actually said.."My daughter wants to be a colonial girl, but I am going to force her to be Hannah Montana instead"...as soon as I said it I realized what I was doing and handed the woman the costume back and said, "uh, actually, any idea how I can make a bonnet from the 1800's"...Melissa is such a sweet girl

Alex was "dad"...thats right, he has it in his head that this is what his dad looked like as a teenager...Don't say it, I know...that is so NOT Dale...next year we will make sure Alex has the flat top and the gold watch for true authenticity.

HOMECOMING

Shawn and his buddies before attending the homecoming dance (and after scarfing 80 dollars worth of pizza, 15 dollars worth of chips and several 2 liters of soda, they are growing boys) Shawn is the shorty, 2nd from right.

Shawn and his buddy worked on the Freshman float...they freehanded a Gladiator head...very impressive for a last minute throw together.

Here is the completed Gladiator...Roarrr, scary!

And the completed float...with a tornado tearing through the Competion..(Shawn is the kid to the left of the "man" sign)

And an impromptu reunion for me and a friend from High School at an event to thank some schools for participating in a program to help oyster habitats in the cheasapeake. Ironically Melissa participated in the program with her Grandma Kelley, after our elementary school had to back out at the last minute due to insurance reasons.

My friend actually told Melissa, "Your mom is the reason I made it through Algebra.." Even with that kind of a witness, Melissa and her brothers prefer their dad for Math homework.

HOCKEY

Two exciting Hockey events. (exciting to us because we are Caps fans). First, Shawn and David participated in the flag holding at the beginning of a Caps game. Shawn does not play hockey, but was excited to participate. Here are a few pictures from that event..

The players about to come on the ice

As the Caps came shooting out on the ice

This is the second exciting event...Greg participated in the intermission game during the a Capitals game...He is the goalie in white...the good news: Greg's team won, the bad news: Greg didn't face one shot! (at the end of the video slapshot the mascot comes ovcer to keep a bored Greg busy)

Greg celebrated in the locker room after scoring two goals in his game saturday night...(He is a goalie, but occassionally he skates out so that he can improve his skating)

New Post

2010-10-04T10:24:00.009-04:00

A new post? I know, it's amazing!

I love this time of year! kids are back in school, Some days the house is clean, and most importantly SPORTS! I Love LOVE Sunday afternoon football! and the Skins are giving me something to cheer about this year, FINALLY!

My kids are getting into the swing of things also...The three older ones will start basketball in the winter. Until then, they are involved in other things. Melissa is in art classes. She and I had some special time at Hershey Park this weekend. (Yes, we did go to chocolate world, and can you believe it, I wasn't in the mood for chocolate!! What a waste..it's ok, it's less than 2 hours away..I WILL go back!) In one of the park photos, Melissa and I were screaming as we were going down the log flume,(The same photo that I opted out of purchasing for 20 million dollars)we had the exact same facial expression.. we looked like twins! (it was from a distance...you couldn't see my facial flaws)She is such a sweetheart, and I love getting time with her...I love my boys to pieces, but I am so happy to have my baby girl...

Shawn is in the school play, SGA and basketball conditioning. (Not to mention Seminary and his new found thrill, texting on his first cell phone!) Shawn is really doing well in his first year of high school...I still am in shock that I have a ninth grader!! I always tell Shawn, be careful how you treat the ladies, you never know which one could become your wife one day! (considering I knew Dale when he was in ninth grade, that is not such a far fetched idea!) (And if I had I known I might marry Dale, I might have acted a bit differently when I was younger!)

Alex is in love with golf, and goes with Dale every chance he can get! ...Until basketball starts he will keep busy with scouts and church activities. (not to mention the occassional paper sculpture)
The two younger ones are in full swing with hockey. They have been practicing and are about to finish up preseason games. David's team is starting out rough, but we are hopeful they will come together for the start of the season games. I have no complaints in David's performance. He is a hard worker and has been very coachable. He did not want to play defense this year, but his team desperately needs him back there. He has realized that playing defense means he is on the ice longer, so he has decided it's not so bad.

Greg is in a unique situation...He has never actually played Hockey on a team. He really needs a year of low stress recreation hockey. Recreation Hockey is more instructional, without assigned goalies for games. Greg practices two nights a week with the recreational program and one night a week with the travel team in his goalie pads. He will continue to develop his goal tending skills. The travel team needed a backup goalie, so they asked if Greg could be ready for a "call up" during the season. Ready or not, Greg was asked to play his first game on Saturday for the travel team. The coach knew that they were playing an easier team so Greg wouldn't have a stressful game. Greg was more ready than we gave him credit for, he made 9 saves out of 11 shots on goal. Experienced or not, that was a great game! I didn't get any good video of this, my camera froze !! anyway..here is Greg's first official game as Goalie!

'Crazy World'

2010-09-16T10:15:00.002-04:00

Ya know how kids have a way of teaching you life lessons on accident....well, here is a poem written by Melissa. I stumbled across it the other day....she said she just thought of it quickly and wrote it down....

The Crazy World

Birds in the Sky, that do not Fly
Fish in the Ocean, that make a Commotion
The World is Crazy, Don't be Lazy
Don't Mumble when people tell you to be Humble
All parts of a Crazy World, Don't Snarl
Be humble, Don't mumble

What a cutie....

funny little things...

2010-09-13T10:45:00.003-04:00

my poor poor neglected blog...thanks for always being there when I have something I want to share...(and for being there when I actually get around to sharing it!!)

I am amused by life, I am usually laughing in my head if not out loud. here are some things that have made me laugh and I just want to save them...

Shawn: (This morning on the way to seminary after realizing that I had arranged the carpool): "Mom, your like...your kinda like the um....the Chief..."

Shawn: (Telling me about theater arts class) "I was paired up with a girl the whole period so we would get to know each other...... Me: "What did you tell her about you?"..."Nothing, she didn't give me a chance to talk".....

Alex (who is in 7th grade): "Mom, don't get Shawn a phone, he is only in ninth grade" Me: "whenever shawn gets one is when you most likely will"...Alex:..."oh..well get him one in 7th grade then"

And something from my sweet, thoughtful, and perfect daughter!

Melissa: "Mom, can I have snack money?" Me: "Is there enough change in the drawer for all of you?" Melissa: No, I am getting it for my brothers...

David: "I wish my dad could be my hockey coach...he would be the best hockey coach...except he can't skate...not even at all.." (David immitates Dale skating by throwing his arms around, like a guy loosing his balance..)

Greg: (who is a goalie for ice hockey, overhearing Melissa and I talking about Craigslist): "There is a Greg's list?? whats on it? Goalie pads and helmets?" Me: "No buddy, we are talking about buying a Doll for Melissa on CRAIGSLIST" Greg: "Mom, What are YOU talking about, NOT MY list, CRAIG's LIST..., Craig is the goalie for the 1980 Olympic team?...why would he have doll's on his list!?"

Emileah and Kenna update!!

2010-08-15T21:03:00.003-04:00

Emileah and Kenna are recovering really well! Thank you for your prayers..

Emileah is home, Kenna is going home early!! They have a great start on their road to recovery...I have pictures on my phone, but can't get them to the blog...here is Kenna's aunt's blog with a post from the day after surgery....

http://klhiatt.blogspot.com/2010/08/liver-transplant.html

Emileah and Kenna

2010-08-06T08:53:00.003-04:00

(pronounced Emily)

There have been times in my life when I have called on the Lord for mercy, love, forgiveness and grace, I have been so humbled by His willingness to offer it and by how much he has offered me. Every once in a while, there is something so important that I feel the need to enlist everyone I know. I am asking you to call upon all the love, mercy and grace that the Lord would normally offer you, and ask him to give it to someone who is in desperate need.

Emileah is Wanda's 24 year old daughter. I have known her since she was 6 months old. She is my foster sister. She has always been the sweetest person. Even as a teenager she was so sweet that watching her get into trouble was more amusing than worrisome. She fell in love and married her husband at 20. She supported him finishing school, and became pregnant. After her incredibly cute high maintenance son was born she became a mom full time. She became pregnant shortly after with baby #2. Last year her sweet baby Kenna was born. Emileah was thrilled and ecstatic at how low maintenance baby number two was. A month after Kenna was born, a serious medical issue became apparent. Kenna's liver was not functioning, at all. Kenna was very jaundice and terminally ill. She needed a liver transplant.

They were told that a liver transplant could not happen until Kenna was 'more sick' (close to death)...so Emileah and her husband have actually waited for their sweet baby to become more and more sick since she was born. Emileah and her family were here in April, and Kenna was happy, but very jaundice, with a swollen belly. Since their visit, Kenna has gotten more and more fussy as the pain became greater and she became sicker. The past few months have been incredibly tough for Emileah with a sick baby and a high maintenance 2 year old and a husband finishing school while working full time.

Kenna had finally progressed to the point where a liver transplant was possible. Not wanting to take their chances and wait for a donor, Emileah was tested and found to be a suitable live donor for Kenna. (In liver transplants, they only need a small portion of the liver)

On Wednesday, their incredibly dedicated doctor worked for five hours carefully removing a portion of Emileah's liver, and then transported the liver personally to another hospital where Kenna was waiting to recieve it. The same dedicated Doctor worked 8 hours to transplant the liver into Kenna, finishing at 1:30 in the morning.

The surgeries were successful. Emileah is a small person and her liver was perfect size for Kenna.
If this transplant takes, Kenna's chance of survival went from 0% to 60% for the next 3 years. The next two weeks are critical for Kenna.

We have come so far with this, I am asking for your prayers and your faith to help them get through recovery and to help Kenna's body accept this transplant.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you for your prayers.

2010-07-22T23:03:00.007-04:00

Painting, painting and more painting! I could do this all the time!

Getting painted...

A Peter DeVeber original for me, cooked up in under thirty minutes!

Whales!! (My camera batteries died part way through the trip, so the most action happened after these videos...seeing the whales was incredible!!)

Seals!!

what better way to end the day...http://www.monicaschocolates.com/

and a little jazz at a little tavern by the water..!

Postcard style

2010-07-21T22:20:00.003-04:00

*note to readers* This post is intended for Dale, you can feel free to read it also, but please understand that my sweet, wonderful husband who is holding down the fort in Maryland has a short attention span and so a post for him has to be much different than one for my regular readers..he is special...if you think I am rude for writing this where he might read it, you are correct, I am rude, but I know him well enough to know that this long winded paragraph lost him at "this post..." so if you all keep our secret, he will never know I was speaking poorly of him...good thing he is hot

Dear Dale,
Having fun, Love Maine

Today we painted

took boat ride

to Eastport, Maine

there were starfish

And Boats! water cold!

Found sea glass!

Invited to Dinner at nice people's house

Went to Jazz concert ...this is Lubec from boat

love you!

More from Maine

2010-07-20T22:28:00.005-04:00

Today we painted a lighthouse....This is the West Quoddy Lighthouse...

I painted this view, while Melissa took a much bolder approach and sat right down next the lighthouse and painted...

Melissa getting into her zone...

After painting we spent several hours working with a glass artist..she is married to a sculptor and sculpts figures, but her true speciality is sculpting children...she is amazing...she had Melissa and I work with glass...we are hooked! We both loved it!

After all of our projects we had dinner at our host's friends house. We spent all evening sharing stories. She is a painter and he is a brilliant writer and painter. Both had fantastic jobs in their real life and decided to come here for retirement...now their life is full of events, concerts, gallery showings and occassionally entertaining a stray visitor who stumbles upon their town by one lucky circumstance or another...

Notes from Maine...

2010-07-19T21:52:00.003-04:00

We just got back from the beach, then Melissa and I headed to Maine the next day...the drive was nice, and more beautiful then I imagined. You see, this is my first time in Maine, ever! Despite my New England roots, I have somehow avoided Maine for my entire life! My loss, it is stunning!

The town we are in is Lubec Maine. The easternmost town in the United States. I can see Eastport, but it is directly North, with Lubec sticking out just a hair further East, it wins the title for Easternmost town in the U.S...

Melissa and I are here for a week long painting workshop with one of the most talented art teachers I know...we paint in the morning, and site see in the afternoon....The town of Lubec is like Mr. Roger's neighborhood..I have been here for 24 hours and am already waving to people I have met...which is most of the town...This morning I went on a walk with two ladies I met, we all felt like old friends. we saw sights and talked for two miles...Everyone in this town is by their own merits, an artist. Each person goes above and beyond standard neighborliness, committed not only to each others needs, but commited to the art and the artist in every individual...glass artists, writers, sculpters, painters, musicians...so much talent in one place is overwhelming, and would intimmidate most people if it were not for the down home friendliness and comfort you feel radiating from every person.

Not to mention the stunning beauty of Lubec. I will post pictures later, but here is a link I found...the house I am staying in cannot be seen in the link, but is just beyond it...I have walked this loop twice since getting here last night...

http://unclekippys.com/image/obj164geo135pg1p22.jpg

Melissa painting this afternoon...

After painting, we drove onto Campobello Island. It is in New Brunswick Canada, and is home to the summer cottage of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Family. We toured the Park and the home today. FDR began going there with his parents as a baby and eventually built his own cottage there for his family. This is where he was stricken with polio and lost his ability to walk.

MMM...thats good!

2010-06-28T12:49:00.003-04:00

Alison and gang came to stay for a few days...Her kids play so well with mine that we hardly notice they are here!! My kids smother little Matt with so much attention that I think he is happy when it's time to leave...Since he was really little he has always enjoyed eating...he always makes the "mmmmmm" sound while he eats..I have been meaning to video him doing it forever, but kept forgetting...it is getting less noticeable, so we decided to get it on camera before he completely stops doing it....here are some videos of little Matt really enjoying his meals! And just for fun we threw the one of him rocking out with the guitar...he gets his guitar skills from his grandpa Kelley...

Mother of the year nominations...

2010-06-23T21:47:00.004-04:00

My friend Denise wrote about her desire to be nominated for mother of the year on her blog, http://denisesdiscourse.blogspot.com/ , So I thought I would throw my hat in the rink for a nomination...! Here's why I shoud win...

My children know the value of discipline:

I found out that one of my children (not naming anyone, but you can probably guess) Duct Taped Greg to the wall...while I was home...and I didn't even know, they did it all by themselves...

My children know the value of exercise:

The other day Alex decided to work out...he took my ankle weights and put them on his ankles... he then decided to wear the weights while he jumped into the deep end of the pool...I stopped him, re-educated him on some aspects of water safety, confiscated the weights, and sent him on his merry way, did I mention I was a lifeguard..you would think my kids would be well versed in water safety.....

mother of the year, can Denise and I share the crown?

Nice is as nice does..

2010-06-22T10:14:00.003-04:00

Greg: "mom, are we going swimming today?"
Me: yes we are...
Greg: "wow mom, you are the second nicest woman I have ever known!"
Me: "Thank you Greg that is super sweet!"
Greg: "You are not the nicest woman I have ever known, thats Great Grandma Kelley! I liked when we went to her house and got wet in this little river thing...She is my favorite"

too many friends...

2010-05-28T08:34:00.003-04:00

Alex to Dale: "Dad, I want to punch someone in the face, but everyone is my friend so I can't"

The weekly Grind

2010-05-25T12:00:00.009-04:00

In response to Petra's post about her weekly grind http://donuts2crumpets.blogspot.com/ and because I haven't posted anything for weeks, I thought I would go ahead and give a little peek into my weekly grind. Starting with last wednesday...

WED.-Cut down 6 trees and drag branches into woods (dale and friend did the cutting down, I did the dragging)
-Volunteer in Melissa's studio art class
-Take David and Greg to their game and Alex to baseball practice, arrange ride for Shawn to get to mutual while Dale teaches Webelos at church
THUR-
-Clean house, starting with outside..(Decks from sawdust, pool and deck from debris from trees, etc etc) Begin cleaning inside of house in preparation for graduation party for Forreste on Friday,also grocery shop and work on gift for Dale's B-Day (A portrait of him)
-get signature from principal on Grant application
-Make storage room into play room upstairs and then clean kids bedrooms..
-Go to Alex's baseball game
FRI-
-errands (post office, drugstore, pool store, etc)
-pick up son from school after long chat with principal because after 8 years in school my son finally decided to punch a kid in the face who was starting trouble with him....take said son to Pizza Hut for finally standing up for himself (If I sound like a crappy parent, you have to know my child..this is a kid who actually will ASK me BEFORE he hits his brothers, and I promised him pizza hut when a kid slammed his head into the window in 2nd grade..he is in 8th grade! His pizza hut lunch has been a long time coming)
-Clean house and decorate in preparation for party
-be completely proud of Forreste's accomplishments and tear up during slide show of her life...remembering specifically what I was doing the day I got the call that she was born...at that point Kevin didn't know if she would be Alair Forreste or Forreste Alair...Forreste Alair sounded right to me then and still does...also noticing the irony that my daughter looks more like Forreste than any other member of any of our families..and they aren't even blood related..something to that I think...
SAT-
-ball game in the morning
-take shawn to his ball game while dale takes the little boys and teammate to game..keep score at shawns game and beem with pride as he hits the ball so hard that the people next to me say "wow, what a hit!" and they didn't even know I was his mom! he is coming into his own...He hits every at bat...I call him old reliable...
-have cookout for Dale's birthday with his family..including having crazy kids ignore debris in the pool and the cloudy cold day to swim!.getting beat at scrabble by Wendy (DARN IT!)
-clean, clean and more clean
SUNDAY-
Church and sleep, sleep sleep, watch uplifting movie with Dale.."the ultimate gift"
play pictionary with Dale and kids
-Monday
Clean, run (ready for a 5k again!) clean and clean, lots of phone calls to arrange schedule
-Dale take little boys to hockey
-Take Melissa to Enrichment fair at school
-Tues-
strength training, laundry, pool cleaning, update blog (just to avoid doing errands)
On tap for Wednesday-
Shawn- game and scouts
Alex-practice and scouts
Melissa- activity day girls and her b-day
David Game and scouts
Greg- game
Dale- pitching coach for ALex's team, webelos leader
Tammy -camp clinic and Funeral, help with art extravaganza
(not to mention me declining Shawn's help for a service project for this night also)

yes, we have finally met our match..we have shuffled schedules extremely well, but I think tomorrow marks the first time we will have to bail out of more responsibilities than we attend to...
I have nixed all scouting activities for the night...I have arranged rides for Shawn..Dale will handle the other three boys things (with help from some good friends), Melissa will have a super fun birthday by spending the day with her best friend in the whole world, going to movies and hanging out(thank goodness for good friends!) and I am desperately trying to do something about the planned camp clinic because I will be attending the funeral and bailing on the art extravaganza...whew...I am really looking forward to THURDAY!!

picture of new play room...I am way excited to have one room in the house that will always be messy..this is a perfect compromise for kids that really need to be messy, and a mom who really wants things clean..!

trees are down, let there be light!!! Sunlight that is! This is also a perfect compromise...we left one tree, so the pool always has a shady spot, but it will always have sun also! And the trees we got rid of were responsible for about 70% of the leaves in the pool.. another bonus to cutting the trees down..we put the cover on the pool and with 2 sunny days the temperature went up 6 degrees..I LOVE free heat!!! At that rate..with two more sunny days on tap, we will be ready for this weekend!

so thats the weekly grind...!

lessons from insecticides

2010-05-10T09:25:00.008-04:00

1. they smell good
2. they feel soft on your skin
3. because of fact 1 and 2 you might not worry when it is splashing all over your face and arms
4. a few hours later, when your skin is on fire, you will begin to worry
5. after a freezing shower and washing your body in milk and your skin is still 'on fire', you will begin to panic
6.when poison control asks you your age, don't tell them 36...they will laugh at you, out loud.
7. a pool freshly 'shocked' with chlorine does not help the situation...have someone else clean the skimmers...
8. not wearing protective clothing to cover your 'on fire' skin, while sitting in the sun for 5 hours of baseball is not smart.
9. mothers day is more enjoyable if you aren't recovering from self poisoning...
10. seeing all the dead bugs everywhere tells me that insecticides work well, for a reason....

got time?

2010-04-21T19:08:00.006-04:00

then check out what happens in my house while the girls are away..I think Alex has a future in movie production (or as an explosive specialist),Greg as an actor and Dale as support while our kids are in therapy(thanks to his cameo in video #2)....

Warning: the following videos made by children, contain violence not suitable for children

Bargain Bee Hunt

2010-04-19T14:40:00.004-04:00

Ok, so we have had a MAJOR bee problem, and every spring it gets worse! We have bees, wasps, hornets and carpenter bees...Last year Alex was stung four times in a row, and so I decided this was the year to get rid of the bees!

The carpenter Bees were easy to spot, but would take some serious work to get rid of. They would make their nests in the peaks of the roof, so it would require some dangerous tall ladder work.(And Dale's grandma made it clear that she didn't want him on the ladder) The wasps and hornets were a different story. Easy to kill, but I couldn't locate their nests! For those two reason, I called in a professional pest control company.

The estimates they gave were several thousand dollars (yes I said several THOUSAND dollars) and he seemed to know very little about pests, in particular, the bees. Once again I decided it would be much better, not to mention a WHOLE lot cheaper for Dale and I to do it ourselves, so thats what we have been doing for several days now.

After working on the carpenter bees, Dale on the 20 foot ladder (Don't tell grandma) and me doing nothing at all except entertaining him, I saw a hornet fly under the railing...I looked under the railing and didn't see anything, so I was perplexed why they kept flying under there. Dale had told me last year that they lived under the railing, but I could never see them! The sky was such a bright backdrop that they were hard to spot. I went and got an old compact, used it to look under the railing, and then it came into focus, a nest! With the compact I saw a BUNCH of them...I made a little video so you could see the crazy number of bees that have been living here!! The best thing is, now I know where the hornets are, I can kill them myself! for under a 100 dollars we are doing what the professionals were going to charge us THOUSANDS to do!

2010-04-13T20:45:00.002-04:00

The kids were off for spring break last week...Dale's 94 year old grandmother came to stay with us..we had a great time with her and her little tid bits of knowledge from her many years of experience....

We spent several days shuttling Alex back and forth to doctors after a previously assumed finger jam was actually a broken bone that required surgery. Since his bones have been pinned back together I have spent a great deal of time chasing him off the trampoline, or out of the kickball game and believe it or not even off of his rollerblades! Doctors orders of 'no running around for a week so the bones have some time to set in place' have been recited so many times that I just say "Allllllllllleee...' and he hangs his head and walks right to the family room to play the Wii...thats right, he has been forced to play video games all week and he hates it! He is going nuts and wants to run around again....

We ended the week by celebrating Shawn's birthday...Family and friends made for quite a party! The boys played basketball, capture the flag and ate! (and ate and ate!) Shawn has been eating and growing nonstop since his last birthday. Check out the picture of us Spring Break 2009...Shawn is several inches shorter than I am...

Check out Shawn now...! 5-6 inches taller than I am! I am really glad the weather is warmer and I don't have to try and keep him in pants that fit anymore...He sure is a cutie!

Speaking of Shawn, While I was at the mall the other day hanging some artwork from the Elementary School, a friend and I were admiring art work from Shawn's middle school...especially 4 sports themed paintings...two of a football player, one of a snowboarder and one of a hockey player. I immediately turned and commented to my friend how much David would love the painting of the Hockey Player and I wish I could talk the young artist into selling it to me...I glanced at the Artist's name only to notice that it was Shawn! I was so excited! He later told me that the painting was of David the night that he played hockey during an intermission at the Capital's game. I didn't snap a picture of it that day, but I will post it when I get a picture...

spring fever!!

2010-04-01T10:52:00.009-04:00

You know it's spring when you start cleaning and making things look nice! The kids start spring break tomorrow, so I wanted to get one major project done this week while they were still in school...I have been putting off cleaning my office and organizing all of my paperwork,it really really needed to be done...so I decided that could be my next major project AFTER I painted the foyer and hallway! Here are the before and afters...

Before: Beautiful green stencil from the previous owner..(circa 1992)

Before: More Lovely green stencil..it was everywhere!

After...a much warmer color...ahhhh
After: of course now I want a new rug, a new bench and a nice big painting to go in the new foyer! in time in time!

I also spent the morning fixing the kids up for "twin crazy hair day" Melissa and her buddy did 3 long spikes...David and Greg decided to "rock the Red" with crazy wild red Washington Capitals hair

Blame Santa

2010-03-26T11:26:00.004-04:00

here is what I was handed this morning:

"Tooth Fairy, Bring me my money for the four teeth below P.S. I want to keep the teeth" -Alex

Here is the response from the tooth fairy:

Alex,

At the yearly Conference of "Allegorical Childhood Characters" we were informed of a budget crisis. We have all been forced to streamline our visits "just like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny...". If you have a problem with not getting your money, blame them! I will visit you with money when all your teeth fall out. -The Tooth Fairy (aka 'The Teeth Fairy')

Mom's footnote- when we had years of economic growth the tooth fairy was always on vacation, and a lot nicer. She was always late, but would write a nice appology letter...whats up with her rotten attitude?

Where have I been??

2010-03-22T11:46:00.006-04:00

I have been here! Not sure why I haven't blogged, I have no excuses! We have been enjoying the weather, playing baseball, basketball and in-hockey ...I am going to stop playing with them soon...they make me look silly...!

We just added a new neice to our family and getting to hold her was so wonderful! There is nothing like holding a newborn baby! She is beautiful!

The critters are all coming out in droves! Squirrels and baby bats and birds, birds and birds! The birds are beautiful, but I wish they would figure out that flying into the window hurts, but they keep doing it, over and over and over! I love all the little critters and love the spring when they all come back and scury to and fro!

speaking of scurring to and fro, thats what we always seem to be doing!

Greg and David are continuing to play hockey...David has one more tournament this weekend and then their season will be done. They will continue to play pick up hockey until the rink closes in the summer.

Here is Greg during his 'Jamboree' on Saturday...For some reason a player on the other team kept skating up to Greg and taunting him...luckily Greg has 4 older siblings and knew exactly what to do...I was laughing to much to get the camera out quickly, but here is the tail end of it..., the kid didn't do it anymore after this...

Here is Greg in action...

Melissa is continuing Art classes with our very talented art teacher. Right now she is studying Cezanne..yesterday we went to the Baltimore Museum of Art to see the Cezanne exhibit, on friday we went to Walter's art Gallery in Baltimore with her 4th grade. It was really good for Melissa and her buddies to see all these different artists and to see how their painting styles are similar. She also got to see a very impressive sculpture made of 'found objects' which is what she just finished studying. I feel fortunate to have the art program that we have and for her to be able to indulge in her passion. We met up with my foster sister who lives in Baltimore. She is finishing her degree in Art and she has been terrific with supporting and encouraging Melissa and Melissa's passion.

Here is an example of a Cezanne inspired artist From the Baltimore Museuam of Art Cezanne exhibit...lots of colors and chunky brush strokes...

Here is Melissa's Cezanne inspired 'Apples'...

Shawn, Alex , David and Greg will all be playing baseball this season. We all went to the ballfields to practice one day and I was impressed with each of them. Greg was struggling a bit...he is used to being in a goalie helmet and wasn't as carefull as he should have been catching the baseball...after a fat lip and a bruised head we had him sit it out for a few minutes. I think he will get it figured out, but for a little while we are going to have to play catch with a tennis ball....

So thats where I have been...nothing spectacular, just not blogging! I will try to do better

Kelley Olympics

2010-03-01T14:07:00.006-05:00

Before I start ranting on my new post I just want you all to know that I am not posting pics of the kitchen..the damage isn't that noticeable unless you know to look for it(which you all do now!), but it definately will not be fixed unless we get a complete kitchen overhaul...thats not happening anytime soon...so busted drawers and cracked walls are here to stay...

Ok, so I am trying desperately to catch up with housework...is it just me or do you guys ever feel like you are the only one whose kids don't have clean clothes, or a healthy breakfast, or well brushed teeth? I got sick last week and my house got crazy messy, and I haven't had time to catch up...the kind of messy that you never see at anyone else's house...feet sticking to the floor, no clean clothes for anyone, can't find anything...just messy...

On top of being down for a day and kid's treating the house as their own personal garbage can, we were super busy, in a very fun way. I have been organizing an artist-in-residence for our school, she came and worked with all the kids and we put together a "gallery night" where every child's art work was on display...500+ kids with art that needed to be hung and displayed...it took some time, With the help of some terrific volunteers, we got it ready with a whole day to spare! Then, the art teacher got sick on friday ..I had to go in to the school and get all the last minute details together...! housework was neglected for one more day.

David had a hockey game friday night, so I didn't go to the actual art show, but over 300 people showed...it went terrific and I showed up to help clean up...I will work this week on getting some of the kid's work to the local library for display...but I am glad it's done..the residency and gallery night went terrific!

David won friday night, and Greg got to play goalie for the first time ever on saturday for a the rec hockey team! He did well (Dale video taped it for me) letting in only 3 goals in over an hour and a half of playing. Melissa had a basketball playoff game that went into double overtime, and she scored the winning shot with seconds left on the clock! They played the next game and were eliminated from the tournament, but could be proud of their 3rd place considering they were seeded last when the tournament started! David's team also won on saturday pushing them into the playoffs for his hockey league, the CBHL . Only 4 out of the 16 teams make the playoffs and David's team was not expected to do this well, so we are way excited!

Alex played his best basketball game ever on saturday , he is the smallest kid on his team, but was a defensive powerhouse shutting down their fastest players and getting 5 assists and 2 points in the process. Alex came out the 4th quarter and the other team went on an 8-0 run, beating Alex's team by 1. He was happy with his playing and so were we! ....Shawn also played a great game on saturday, he played 36 of 40 minutes total, helping his team to win easily and as always Shawn could be counted on for great defense and making his lay ups. Both of the boys are amoung the shortest on their teams, but as they grow they have the skills already in place to be very well rounded players...

so this weekend we had 10 different sporting events of our own, not including watching Canada VS USA...no wonder my house is a mess!

Full disclosure

2010-02-26T07:34:00.005-05:00

I seriously don't want to do this, but it feels like the honest thing. I have a confession. A few post's ago I wrote about my driving skills, you can refresh your memory here

http://kelleydaze.blogspot.com/2010/01/if-criminal-records-are-like-driving.html

I am going to just type this quick and get it over with, I somehow, still not sure how, drove into the garage wall. On the other side of the wall is my kitchen...not good, not good at all....so I am amending my driving post right here and now...My name is Tammy, and I am a bad driver. I don't know why, I just am. Now, everytime I get a spoon from the busted drawer in the kitchen I am reminded of just how bad a driver I am.

seriously, what do you do when you drive into your own kitchen? I have issues...

Bad parenting, but hilarious!

2010-02-19T21:07:00.004-05:00

Philly and the Big Dig...

2010-02-15T16:37:00.012-05:00

We spent the weekend at a hockey tournament in Pennsylvannia. Based on the phone calls I got when we arrived home, I should have let everyone know EXACTLY where in PA we were. A roof at in ice rink collasped during a hockey tournament for 7 year olds in PA over the weekend, and I think a few people had heart attacks not knowing if that was us or not. it was not. That one was outside of Pittsburgh, we were outside of Philadelphia. I had noticed a lot of snow on the roof of the rink we were at, and I have to be honest, it was on my mind while we were inside. It was also on my mind because one of the rinks in our league had a roof collapse as well.

Travelling with an entire Hockey organization is an interesting and fun experience. The hotel was really nice, everyone had two room suites. The huge atrium in the center of the hotel almost made you forget about the 2 feet of snow on the ground outside! The hotel made a great deal of accomadations for our organization, including feeding us a huge buffet breakfast everyday..it was great!

They also let us take over their ballroom as 'knee hockey central' for the kids. They had a hude TV and a wii hooked up..there was action in that room 24-7 for the teams...they would go from playing hockey to the pool to playing wii and back again...

Here is Greg playing goalie as Alex's watches...Greg, another 6 year old and a 9 year old hockey player won this little knee hockey tournament which included three other teams and other hockey players as old as 14...Way to go Greg!!

In the real tournament, David's team made it all the way to the championship game...beating out 6 of the 7 teams...his team fought hard and lost in the third period of the championship game to a very good team from Richmond Virginia., a team they had previously tied..final score was 4-2..(I like to think of it as 3-2 because they scored an empty netter with a few second left)

Here is his team with the 2nd place trophy

David getting his trophy

Good morning, Shawn!! (This isn't even the morning that we had to get up at 5:30 for a 6:45 game!)

When we got home, it was back to reality, and figuring out how to get our driveway cleared..we no longer have the backhoe, and the plow could only get 2/3 of the way down the driveway...I went gracery shopping and backed down as far as I could today...Dale and the kids got together to shovel the remaining distance to the garage...

And success! Car in the garage and groceries did not have to be carted the extra distance...Dale was also successful in getting my car out...we are a two car family again!

Greg decided he wanted to dig the van out...in case you were wondering how this turned out, he was not successful in digging the van out. It probably will not be driven until spring.

Good or Bad?

2010-02-11T14:57:00.002-05:00

What do you think, good or bad?

*When I asked my kids to bring down their dirty laundry, 5 days worth of dirty laundry for 5 kids amounted to 1 load. (They have been bathing, just re using their clothes)

*we went from 3 cars down to one until the snow melts.

*I have done nothing but eat, sleep and play for 6 days straight

*the 'animal' taking up residence in the bathroom heat vent turned out to be candy wrappers stuffed in the vent that would move when air was coming through...

*kids getting happy to have a homework assignment sent via email

*My youngest now considers firewood to be "Brown Gold"...

*I haven't worn make up in 6 days

*discovering that hard work really is a blessing

*All 5 of my kids can beat me at Mario Kart now

*not spending a dime for 6 whole days, not even to pay bills

*after being snowed in for 6 days, packing for a 4 day vacation that has been scheduled since November

*realizing that I could do this for 6 more days and still love every minute of it

aren't these cool?

2010-02-08T11:38:00.003-05:00

I am LOVING the snow storms we keep getting. We have not been able to plow our driveway, (Long story about a backhoe, a flat tire and not wanting Dale to be seriously injured), I am loving all of the family time! Lots of playing, eating, and hanging out! There is something so peaceful and quiet about being outside in the snow! I LOVE IT! I am not the least bit sad that we are expecting MORE snow in a few days.

This blog brought to you by the makers of 'procrastination'

2010-02-01T10:35:00.015-05:00

I am in one of those moods...a gazillion things to do, and not an ounce of motivation...I am not even sure where to begin. Here is my list: housework (LOTS of it!), grocery shopping, bills to pay, office to clean, I have several meetings that I need to attend to wrap up our Poetry Residency, and we currently have our Art Residency happening, and I have put a lot of hours in, but I need to be there again, I have a lot of paper work to fill out for all of that as well as random other packets, for Shawn's GT placement and Greg's potential IEP, I have an assembly coming on Thursday to celebrate Black History Month, and I need to get that ready, and I need to start writing Grants for 2010-2011 school year ! This is the short list, I don't know where to begin so I am going to waste time on my blog!

January has been somewhat productive for our home projects...Dale has worked hard putting a much needed surface on our driveway. He also arranged for a shed that will be great for storing EVERYTHING. I am so excited to put the kids bikes in there so they can ride up and down the driveway!

Shawn, Melissa and Alex are all playing Basketball and David is still in Hockey. Shawn had his first game in January. He and Alex also played a 3 on 3 tournament and did very well. Shawn has grown about 7 inches since last basketball season, and that has come in handy this season. He is about 5'7 now...still the smallest on his team, but he has inherited his dad's 'impressive wing span', so he will continue to get better as he grows bigger. This picture is Shawn last year...the short kid in the white jersey at the top of the key...

Here is Shawn this year, center of photograph...

This month David competed in his first pinewood derby...taking third..so he has an invitation to the super derby! Good job David and greast job Dale with the assist!

Dale and Shawn spent a lot of time this month on designing a complicated game. We started playing it last night, it was really fun! Dale was the mastermind behind it, but as of right now, we are are 'beating him at his own game'...(love you sweetie!)

I can't talk about January without mentioning the amazing memorial we held for my mom. It was a terrific tribute to all things good about my mom. Trying to post my thoughts on her memorial and her life would not do my feelings justice, but I felt it needed to be mentioned. Here is everyone starting to gather before the service began...

One BIG accomplishment in January was unloading 'THE Lamp'...this ugly thing gets passed around from family member to family member at random...One frosty morning after Thanksgiving I went to my car and this is what I found....!!

DOHHH!! Lamped AGAIN! The family Heirloom that just won't go away! I drew Dara's name for Christmas, so guess what was in the beautifully wrapped box that Brandon drove all the way back to Pennsylavania for her to open? Thats right, "THE Lamp" !! Merry Christmas, Dara!

How sad was I when this stupid thing showed up in my garage again in January?!?!?(Courtesy of Tracey and Ronnie I hear)I was VERY SAD! so I decided to not only brighten Scarlett's day with this thing, but also her Spa with this beautiful accessory...What do you think..? Looks Great huh??

A productive January indeed!

If Criminal records are like Driving records, we're all in trouble!

2010-01-14T12:07:00.008-05:00

Am I a good driver? I say I am average...several fender benders when I was a new driver, and a couple when I was a new mommy, other than that, no accidents. (see footnote)

How many speeding tickets on my record? Over 19 years of driving, 3 -4 official speeding tickets. My first when I was 16 driving through Connecticut to New Hampshire. 80 in a 55. $10 for every mile an hour over the speed limit. plus additional fines for not having my license on me. $350 total. (OUCH!)

How many times have I been pulled over for speeding? A lot. at least 12 - 15. At least 4 times with my first pregnancy, at one point an officer asked if I was driving fast because I was in labor. My respone? "No sir, I am only 5 months pregnant" I guess he felt bad because once again I was let go with a warning. This time period resulted in one ticket. 65 in a 55 on Christmas Day 1995.

Once I was driving a minivan, the speeding stops were more reasonably spaced, until about 6 years ago. I was pulled over 3 - 4 times. I attributed this time period of stops to loud kids and me not paying attention. Eventually I got a ticket. 55 in a 45.

The past year I have been pulled over 3 - 4 more times, I am attributing this time period of speeding stops to driving a little fast car. (Because I am not a fast driver, right?) A couple of months ago I was pulled over in the Minivan! (I am finally acknowledging my propensity for fast driving!) I had an hour long drive ahead of me, so I pulled behind a line of cars in the SLOW lane to help me keep pace (no cruise control in the van). I was lulled by the radio and the monotany of the drive. All of a sudden I saw the lights blaring behind me. I was clocked 83 in a 55!! (no kids in the car for an excuse)

Today I went to court for my ticket, hoping to get my points reduced, fully aware that my poor driving had caught up with me. When court was over, what did I end up with? A clean driving record. I actually felt guilty. I still have to pay the fine, but a clean driving record? I definately do not deserve that. I drove in the slow lane the whole way home.

I got to thinking after this...how many times does someone commit a crime before they actually get it on their records? If criminal records reflect my driving record, we are all in trouble!

*Footnote; accident is involving two cars. One look at my Minivan and you would see I have issues with 'hitting stuff'. In my other house I ran into the garage a million times. I have hit various posts, poles and free standing things over the years. My minivan has numerous 'patch' jobs from me trying to hide my 'incidents' with factory paint. Two years ago Dale and I were going to the same place but taking two separate cars so he could go somewhere afterwards. as I was pulling out of my driveway, I backed into a tree. I was laughing so hard I was crying! The two kids in my car were chiding me about what a bad driver I was. I definately did not want Dale in on the ridicule session, so I asked them not to tell him. They were way to excited to get daddy in on the action because no matter how many times I asked, they were insistant that they were going to HAVE to tell dad how mom backed into the tree! I bribed them with cookies, that worked. We continued on our way with Dale following behind us. When we got to out friends house 10 minutes later, the first thing out of Dale's mouth was , "What did you Do?!?!" , I turned to the kids and let them know that they were not getting cookies. Dale said, "They didn't tell me anything, I was dodging peices of my own car the whole drive over here!" I could not stop laughing, until I went around the back of the van and saw peices of the bumper missing, and the tail light dangling. So 'average driver' maybe not, maybe I should be classified as 'poor' driver.

Life is good

2010-01-08T12:31:00.009-05:00

Having four Christmases. starting on the 14th with the Holders, Getting snowed in!,Visiting our Nation's Capital, The kids getting to see Rudolph on Christmas Eve right after getting new Pajamas from Grandma Kelley,laughing a lot, Watching our favorite Holiday movies, including my favorite of all time, It's a Wonderful life, being Santa's helper, Seeing the kids on Christmas morning, spending time with Dale's family on Christmas day, spending time with my family, loosing at Knucklehead Rummy to Sherry, (who hasn't played in years!),laughing, 2nd place in a Hockey tournament, exciting Basketball games, cousins spending the night, good friends spending the night,laughing, seeing friends from out of town, getting better from some crazy infection that made my face swell up until I looked like the 'Avatars' from the movie that is out, sticking to my Christmas budget, having a quiet New Year's Eve at home, getting a phone call from the school saying that our child is doing so well that he no longer needs his IEP!,getting to #4 on my 1 -10 cleaning to do list, and most of all, sharing all these moments with my kids and the love of my life!

Downtown on Christmas Eve

Walking on the frozen pool (It's only two feet deep)

sisters: Tracey, (me), Dana, Katy, and Sherry

Dale, my brothers, Matt and Brandon, Brother in laws, Dan,Josh, Edwin, Shawn, and Ronnie

Sister in Law, Teresa, Sister Tracey, Me, Sister in law, Scarlett, Sister Dana, Katy, Sherry, and neice Desiree (standing in for sister in law Dara, who had to work)

Starting to gather for presents

Let it snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.....

2009-12-20T16:14:00.008-05:00

I have not seen the news in a few weeks, but Dale called friday morning to let me know a HUGE storm was coming. I got everything we needed for a family weekend. We have been cooking and playing and watching Christmas movies by the tree with a fire, it has been a blast! I wish it would have lasted longer than two days! I feel like we have been on vacation and I don't want to start real life again! Here are some pics, and videos of us in the snow...

Yesterday the snow kept coming and coming...
Today the sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky!

David's exciting week

2009-12-14T07:22:00.012-05:00

David turned 8 on Nov. 19th. He was baptized on Dec. 5. (Thank you to everyone who braved the snowy conditions!)

At his birthday party we had pizza, cake and crafts ready for everyone. Also added to the birthday fun was playing in the snow and basement hockey. (Of course)

On friday, David's hockey team and families went to a Caps game. His team were the 'Mites on Ice" after the first period. (David's hockey age group are called mites) Here they all are, amped up and ready to play.

David ready to go... (Photo by Shawn)

Here is a short clip of them skating...(sorry for my loudness)

the kid shooting from his knee at the end of the clip is David...(video also by Shawn)

airing my dirty laundry...

2009-12-10T10:14:00.008-05:00

In 13 years, when I will most likely be an empty nester, and I will be crying because all my babies are gone, I will need something to cheer me up, and this post should do the trick..

Dear self,

Back in the winter of 2009, your washing machine was broken, here is the accumulated laundry for 6 days (not including throw rugs, linens and the occassional comforter!)

Sincerely,

Me

2009-12-02T18:09:00.010-05:00

Circa 1979

circa 1979

April 1994

July 2004

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I have not lived -Henry David Thoreau

November 2004

“I am convinced that it is not the fear of death, of our lives ending that haunts our sleep so much as the fear... that as far as the world is concerned, we might as well never have lived.”-Harold Kushner

Dedicated to my mom, the world will never forget she existed. 10 Children, 25 grandchildren, and several step granchildren will never let her be forgotten.

She is survived and also remembered by her mother, her 9 siblings, countless in laws, countless neices and nephews and many other family members.

Thanksgiving (part 1)

2009-11-27T19:05:00.009-05:00

Ok, so this picture has nothing to do with thanksgiving. I was uploading my pics, and I saw this and just wanted to post it. Dale and David were walking out the door on their way to a Caps game for David's birthday, and I just had to snap a picture of the two of the them! I love my guys!

On to Thanksgiving. We start our Thanksgiving celebration on Thanksgiving Day with Dale's family. Everyone arrived, ready to cook and eat!

The kids lining up to get their food,

The table getting set....

Dale and I with Kaeli, Dale's cousin, who joined us forThanksgiving. (I am impressed she was smiling in this photo, considering the beat down I just put on her in scrabble!) (a girl's gotta brag!)

(I didn't take many pics, more can be viewed on my mother in law's blog) http://cckelley51.blogspot.com/

And here we are, all set up for Thanksgiving, part 2 with my family! We will start out with a thanksgiving pancake lunch on Saturday, and just keep on eating til sunday night!

Dear person who took my wallet,

2009-11-23T08:55:00.004-05:00

I am slightly put out by your actions. I have to spend a few extra hours this week going to the bank,getting new debit cards, license and various other cards.

What did you do with my debit cards? they were blocked so you didn't use them. What did you do with my photo I.D.? sell it to someone who looks like me for a fake I.D.? What did you do with the stamps I was collecting from food lion for a new pan? through them out? How about the card from the consignment store I love that I had been getting stamped and was about to earn 25% off my next order, and my costco card? did they get trashed?

How about my checkbook? is the person who looks like me going to try and use my ID to write fake checks...? my bank is aware of the situation, it won't work. How about my family projected budget that I worked on for hours and hours that has been my family's bible for paying bills and spending money during this tough time? did that get trashed?

And what about my temple recommend? You are welcome to try and use it, but I am pretty sure you won't like being there and will just leave.

When you try and steal someone else's life, what do you get for it? $20 for my I.D.? and a $5 wallet with a broken snap?

I'll tell you what else you get...you get one more little pebble of guilt put on your back to carry around. I am sure that doesn't matter to you now, but it will at some point. You see, we all wrong people in our lives. Everyone of us, yes, even those you steal from. That doesn't make you justified in what you are doing. The idea is that as we go through this journey of life we learn to feel bad for the things we have done, and hopefully one day we get to a point where we can do more to lift human spirits than to bring them down. Right now, you don't care what you are doing to disrupt people's lives. But one day you will, so I want you to know, that when that day comes, and you feel bad for disrupting so many people's lives, that I forgive you and view this as nothing more than a bit of an annoyance. You have also reminded me that as much as I love people, I still need to use caution when dealing with them.

signed

You know my name, my birthdate and my checking account number.

P.S. did you really need to take the separate wallet that contained health insurance cards for 6 people, library cards for myself and 3 kids, community center cards for myself and 3 kids, and all 4 of my grocery store savings cards.

What did you do with all that except make my life that much more complicated?

One of my favorite things...

2009-11-20T07:12:00.006-05:00

I love when the kids randomly put their works of art all over the house....

Hockey Bear

Some Bendaroo's art!

Two weeks ago a pumpkin patch lived where the trains are. I guess the pumpkins were all harvested and are now being shipped?

End of an era??

2009-11-17T10:57:00.003-05:00

We wrapped up the soccer season with a pizza party on Saturday. I really enjoy working with the kids and relish each of their milestones. Of my 5 kids, only Greg elected to play soccer this year. They each get to choose two sports a year, Shawn, Alex and Melissa elected to play basketball as sport one and baseball as sport two (softball for Melissa)and David elected hockey again(which counts as his two, unless he is conviently on whatever team Greg picks, then he can play a second sport) ANYWAY...Greg elected baseball and soccer. After being one of the best kids on the team, and showing real talent in soccer he informed me that he likes everything else better. Starting with football (which he has never played). Really? Football? 'Yeah mom, tackle football!" you are six, how about flag football. "no mom, I want to TACKLE, can you sign me up?"

I thought it was a phase, but he has been talking about playing football for longer than a year now, and he tackles EVERYONE all the time! .I LOVE watching football, but it's one thing to watch another women's babies beating the snot out of each other, it's another thing to ask me to watch MY baby be a part of it! Having a child play football was never a wish of mine, but if he wants to do it, he gets to do it. So next year, looks like we will be tackle football fans. Baseball is his second favorite, so he will play that, and his third favorite is basketball. I asked if soccer was his 4th favorite and he responded by saying "is there another sport I might like to be my fourth, then soccer can be my 5th favorite"

I guess I am done being a soccer mom! it's alright, I hate that stereotype anyway. I could see myself coaching basketball for my daughter, but other than that, I might be out of the coaching gigs as well!

you know it's halloween when....

2009-11-02T09:53:00.016-05:00

You find candy wrappers in the everyone's bedroom...

and upstairs...

and amoung the toys...

and in the laundry room...

and on the bathroom floor....

and under the couch

and behind the piano, (along with Greg's toy parrot's feet)

and in my office

speaking of halloween...we had lots of fun at all the different festivities! Here is Melissa (Hermione Granger) in the school parade.

And David the Mummy...

And 'Bones" (aka Greg)

We went to the ward halloween party, Alex invited his friend. I heard Alex tell his friend, "it's at our church, so no masks and no weapons and no blood or gore"...We forgot to tell him "no nudity"...

After several minutes of laughing so hard I cried followed by fixing makeup in the bathroom I was composed enough to get this shot. (After Alex's buddy made his grand entry into the party Dale was MIA for awhile...I guess he needed to compose himself also)

Thats Alex hiding himself under his hoody and Shawn is Sherlock Holmes...Alex's buddy is the plus size naked hula girl ...

sadly there was not a costume contest this year..he totally would have brought home the gold!

fall.....aaaahhhhh....

2009-10-28T20:43:00.006-04:00

I have four very favorite places to go in the fall, Shenandoah National Park, Brookside Gardens (Mountgomery County Maryland Park), Harper's Ferry West Virginia and my house.

Last Wednesday Dale and I went to Brookside Garden's for a picnic lunch and to enjoy the beautiful fall colors, which were at their peak. (no camera, so no pictures :(

Saturday the sun showed it's afternoon face and I went outside to enjoy the beautiful colors (I brought my camera with me this time:)

Today we drove out to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia to enjoy the fall colors. They were truely beautiful! (Again I forgot my camera, so so sorry:(

I have to admit, I am the biggest whiner when summer is over! and Every year about this time, when summer is a distant memory, and my routine is in full swing, and the beautiful fall colors are here, I feel calm and peaceful and can't remember ever being anxious about saying bye to summer!

Below are some of the shots I took around the house....

how fitting...

2009-10-27T08:23:00.004-04:00

(Dear Daniel Snyder and Barack Obama)

D: When it stops being about Daniel Snyder, and starts being about the Redskins, we will get somewhere.

B: When it stops being about Barack Obama, and starts being about Americans, we will get somewhere.

D: Doesn't matter how much money you spend if you can't execute the play.

B: Doesn't matter how much money you spend if you can't execute the play.

D: In the end, a big think tank is just that, a THINK tank! If you don't have the right positions filled by the right people all your THINKING doesn't turn into DOING.

B: In the end, a big think tank is just that, a THINK tank! If you don't have the right positions filled by the right people all your THINKING doesn't turn into DOING.

D: Having your head in FANTASY football keeps your decisions in fantasy world.

B: Having your head in FANTASY world, keeps your decisions in fantasy world.

D: Doesn't matter how many play callers you bring in if the PLAYER isn't able to do his job!!!(Maybe we ought to assess WHY the players can't do their individual jobs, help them to work together and then worry about what plays need to be called!!)

B: Doesn't matter how many play callers you bring in if you are calling the wrong plays! (Maybe we ought to assess what TODAY"S issues are before we make the plays for tomorrow!)

How fitting that the Redskins are in Washington.

comedy, tragedy and renewed vows (kind of)

2009-10-23T14:35:00.005-04:00

ok, so the title is a bit dramatic, but I do have to share this with you all...about 7 years ago, we rented a house with some friends on the outer banks of N.C. I will change the names of our friends to keep the story anonymous, we will just call them, "Mat" and "Karen".

One afternoon, "Karen", "Mat", Dale and I got in the hot tub. We smelled lots of chemicals, so I tested the water with the chemical tester thingy. Everything showed white, which is supposed to mean there were no chemicals in the water, but the smell was almost unbearable, we were sure the thingy wasn't working. We continued to sit in the hot tub for a while before "Karen" couldn't take the smell of chemicals anymore. She and I got out and went into the bathroom to rinse the chemicals off ourselves.

After a few minutes, "Mat" came in with a towel on. He said, "Look what happened!!" he opened his towel and we both looked. To this day I cannot speak about what I saw, but I will say that it was similar to a wet t-shirt contest, except he was wearing shorts. His previously solid colored, non see through, swim trunks were now skin colored and transparent! (yes, I said transparent! ) Then came Dale, and his swim trunks had also changed color from green to brown, not transparent, but a few minutes more and they would have been!...

It was then that "Karen" and I realized what happened, the hot tub had way TO MANY chemicals in it, the tub was so loaded with chemicals it was bleaching the tester thingy white! both Dale and "Mat's" bathing suits had been completely bleached, almost right off their bodies! (Thats the 'comedy' in my story) (I am laughing thinking about it!)

We ended up crying we were laughing so hard!

After noticing "Karen's" broken prong, we decided to take our jewelry that we wore in the hot tub to be looked at. The prong on "Karen's" ring had been completely eaten by chemicals and she had to have it fixed. The jeweler took a look at my wedding ring and said the gold in it had been seriously compromised and I would need to get a new setting or chance loosing the diamond one day. (there's the tragedy!)

Fast forward 7 years: I noticed my diamond was loose and shifting in it's setting several months ago. I stopped wearing my wedding ring. I have to admit, I missed my wedding ring when I couldn't wear it! I thought about my poor ring every single day! I needed to get it fixed, but school was letting out, and my days got busier and busier! Dale and I finally took my ring in a few weeks ago to be fixed, and I got it back today!! On the drive home I looked at my ring a hundred times! My poor ring had been through so much over the years. It had looked pretty sad, and had lost almost all it's sparkle. The prongs were always snagging on everything, it was scratched up and very dirty. When I saw the ring today I barely recognized it. It looked brand new. They buffed all the scratches, put the diamond in a brand new, sturdy setting and polished the whole thing! It feels like a brand new ring!

The most important thing my ring has done for me today was to remind me of why I am wearing it. I have thought of Dale each and everytime I have looked at it. My ring is such a beautiful reminder to me of my sweet husband and all the precious times we have had together. It has seen everything throughout our relationship, and I promise to take it off whenever I get into a hot tub so it will make the journey another 15 years! (then I will fix it again and help it go another 15 years!) (my "renewed vows" )

When will it be over?

2009-10-19T10:57:00.007-04:00

Reader's digest polled it's readers with the following question: "When will you feel like the recession will be over?"

Various responses came in, and I wanted to blog my own answer and get yours....

I will feel the recession is over when paying bills on time becomes the norm and not the exception for everyone I talk to.

I will feel it is over when all the stay at home moms I know aren't scurrying to find jobs.

I will feel it is over when the small business owners I know can afford to hire people again. (you would not believe the number of jobs I have seen become extinct just from the people I know!)

I will feel it is over when stores, gas stations, and other businesses dare to raise prices again.

I will feel it is over when the number of divorces I am personally seeing begins to decline.

I will feel it is over when people once again feel comfortable enough to complain about their boss.

And what I feel is a true indicator of a recovering economy:

anyone that knows me well, knows that I am a recovering "housing market addict" ...for the sake of my housework getting done I stopped following housing market data closely a few years ago, but definately like to keep my eye on it from a distance..especially now.

If you look at National average of home prices since 1930, you can see some important info:

1930: $7145.00
1940: $3920.00
1950: $8450.00
1960: $12,700.00
1970: $$23,000.00
1980: $68,714.00
1990: $123,000.00
2000: $200,300.00
2007: $299,100.00
2009: $258,000.00 (2nd Q)

you see the depression from the 30's to 40's, then you see substantial growth all the way to the early 90's.(slow from 90-94, picks up from 95-2000)..then more growth all the way through 2007...then you see the decline. I am sure 3rd and 4th quarter data for 2009 will continue the decline in average home prices. My prediction: we will begin the next decade with limited growth, possibly the most limited growth since the 1930's 46% decline, but growth nonetheless. This is national data, and shows the pattern for the country as a whole. If you look at data from specific regions (I will spare you)you can see some areas experienced too much growth from 1995-2007 and will compensate (Florida, Las Vegas to name a few), and some areas experienced too little growth and will not be hit as hard, (some small towns in the midwest and places in the south to name a few) ....I am not an expert by any means, I have no education or background in macro economics, and I tend to see the financial world through real estate (in conjunction with the market index) because it is the most common form of investment in our society. I believe it to be a window to whats going on with common folk, and so my opinion on when the recession will be over is based on what I see in the real estate world.

I believe the recession will be over when we stop showing a national decline in average home prices.....meaning most regions of the country show growth, not just some areas.

All that being said, I do believe that our economy did need this adjustment period, but what we do not need is a full blown depression. I am praying that we can see some jobs created in the private sector. (thank you Mr. Pres. for the 30,000 you created)

Also, look at the recovery period between 1940 and 1950... we can take comfort in the fact that as bad as it gets, our nation recovered handsomely the following decade, and I know we will do that again....

So what are your feelings, when do you think the recession will be over??

Name that tune...

2009-10-12T13:11:00.006-04:00

One friday night on our vacation we were serenaded by a cover band who happened to be performing a concert on the lake that we were staying on. This band was incredible and covered EVERYTHING! Country to Hard Rock, Oldies to modern. I recognized every song they did and was really enjoying the concert. Dale had fallen asleep and I was starting to fall asleep to the music, and THEN... a song came on that I had never heard before, and I LOVED it! The next morning the tune was rattling around in my head! Was that the band's original, and if not, where could I find the name to that song?!?!?! The tune played over and over in my head. I couldn't hear the words to it clearly that night, so all I had to go on was a tune. Since I can't carry a tune, trying to hum it for someone was out of the question!

I frantically searched the internet for the band's name, but to no avail. The tune continued in my head, at LEAST once a day! It had been driving me nuts!! Then one morning my alarm went off to a SPANISH version of the song! Thats right, my song was playing on a spanish station! I couldn't understand one word of it! and I also couldn't understand the DJ when he announced what the name of it was!! I was giving up on ever finding out the name of MY song!! THEN, a MIRACLE beyond MIRACLES!....

Dale took me out friday night on a dinner cruise to celebrate our 15 year anniversary (Believe it or not, we were the veteran married couple on the cruise!) Anyway, back to my miracle...The performance began, first a birthday song and then a few oldies, THEN, the music started for the next performance. I completely cut Dale off in mid sentence (sorry sweetie) and said "Thats it!! thats my song!!!" He looked at me very puzzled, "THIS is THE song!?!?!" (Over the years I have been the music officianado for our relationship) ..he was completely confused...He then told me not only the ARTIST, but the TITLE of the song! (He RARELY can pull that kind of knowledge out of thin air for any old song) He was baffled by the fact that I had never heard this song, and I was baffled by not only the fact that he knew it, but that such a GREAT song had gone unheard of by ME! so here it is..give it a listen and then let me know if you knew the song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B6OVkLlyuA

I can say that this has NEVER happened to me before, a song that has been covered by everyone from Elvis, to the Jonas brothers to David Archuletta yet *I* didn't know it! I have to be honest, when I first heard the song, I was baffled that such a great song wasn't famous! I thought I had just heard the next greatest hit!

Thoughts

2009-10-06T09:41:00.003-04:00

"...We share a desire to be better...."

"Love is the motivating principle by which the Lord leads us, along the way towards becoming like him."

"The greatest Joys and the greatest Sorrows we experience are in family relationships. The Joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own, that is what love is. And the sorrows come primarily from selfishness, which is the absence of love."

-Henry B. Eyring

"Suffer the little children to come unto me, for such is the kingdom of God"-The Savior, Jesus Christ

With my knee healthy enough to exercise, I have continued my daily routine of 30 minutes on the treadmill to think, ponder, meditate and try to sort through all the information coming at me from the previous day. Coming out of conference weekend means that my brain is reeling with information that I am processing. (and I haven't even watched saturday's talks yet!)

Today my thoughts centered around Henry B. Eyring's thoughts. He started by expressing that all gathered had a "shared desire to be better". I love to remind myself of that, that most of the people we come into contact with are trying to be better. Some people try different methods of bettering themselves, but in the end we all share that goal of trying to better ourselves.

"Love is the motivating principle by which the Lord leads us toward becoming like the Savior" When I was a kid, love seemed constant and unshakeable. It didn't matter what happened to me, I loved unceasingly, sometimes at my own peril. I loved everyone and everyone was "good". Dale's grandma shared a story about her kids: "A primary teacher commented to my son that his little brother had pretty blue eyes, the boy replied "I still have to hit him" ...as I have matured in love I have come to realize that the beauty of people is still inside them and I still love them no matter what, but that doesn't change the fact that I still have to protect myself and keep a safe distance.
I also love this quote by President Eyring because so often life always come back to love for me. I am too young to be a hippy, but I always think a little love is the answer to any ill. A pretty standard response in our house to a fight is that the offenders have to hug...after a long enough hug the anger subsides and we try to resolve their issues....

"The greatest Joys and the greatest Sorrows we experience are in family relationships. The Joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own, that is what love is. And the sorrows come primarily from selfishness, which is the absence of love."
What more can I add to this quote?

"Suffer the little children to come unto me, for such is the kingdom of God"-The Savior, Jesus Christ

Can you imagine being in a place where we all feel love freely as a child does? A place where we do not have to protect ourselves from hurt and pain and torment? Yesterday we were weeding with the kids and I kept trying to imagine how beautiful a garden would be without weeds or thorns.(or in this case, the weeds that had thorns!) I cannot imagine that garden and I surely cannot imagine the kingdom of God. I do know that glimpses of the Kingdom of God are found around little children, and in our teenagers.

Star Gazing...

2009-09-30T18:15:00.011-04:00

In College I was able to score front row seats for a Bryan Adams Concert. I LOVE LOVE LOVED Bryan Adams! My tall friend put me on his shoulders and I found myself face to face with my idol! I started feeling weird being face to face with him, and then Bryan Adams stuck a pick in my hand and had me strum his guitar mid performance! EVERYONE at the concert could see me! I FREAKED out and started slapping my friends head saying "put me down! put me down!!" I am by no means shy, but I guess when the spotlight is big enough, I get very uncomfortable! So much so that I have learned to keep a safe distance from anyone who might have a big spotlight near them, and I tend to actually feel sorry for them versus being star struck.

Turns out, my kids are not easily star struck either, but for an entirely different reason. They seem to have a healthy understanding that famous people are just like them, only more well known. I have tried to take my kids to meet people who they enjoy. I took Melissa to meet the Jonas Brothers, and when I started taking her close to the stage, her response was.. "Mom, it's their music I like, not them." All my kids seem to share that sentiment towards famous people, 'it's their talent that I enjoy, not them'

I was so excited for David this weekend when a friend of his invited him to go to the Washington Capital's Convention. I knew David would get to meet some of his hockey idols! The summary I got from the mom about the event was about who was there and what the boys said and did with them! She got several photos of the boys with different players doing different things. David's summary was quite a bit different, He mentioned that he got to be goalie, that he got to take some slap shots, that he played hockey with his buddy, that he even got to buy a puck and a stick with his lunch money, but no where in his summary did David mention the fact that he had played 'hockey' with some of the *Caps* players! I was more excited about that than he was!

David and his teammate, Tommy, getting a picture with Alexander Semin.

Yesterday we took the boys to the caps practice rink. I think it is so cool that we can get David up so close and personal with his favorite sports stars.

Here Greg is eyeing the players...

Outside David got to meet several of the players, including the great 8, Alex Ovechkin!

David continued getting signatures of all the players on his caps sweatshirt. You can see that the players had to find space because some crazy kid had already signed his own name so big! (We also met the Caps owner, Ted Lionsis, as he was walking in. David responded to him by walking away saying "he isn't a player, I don't want his signature." Then later he commented that he at least should have met Ted Lionsis because he could have asked for a position on the Cap's roster! Oh the confidence of kids should be bottled up and sold!)

Since David love love loves the Capitals, (and HATE HATE HATES the Pittsburgh Penguins!) he gave Greg a special job yesterday...Greg had to wear the "Ovechkin" jersey and get it signed by Ovechkin. Greg was successful ! David was so pleased with his success that Greg celebrated by going up to fellow Capital Chris Borque and had him sign the Ovechkin jersey as well! David was no longer pleased with his little brother and in front of Chris Bourque he said, "Greg, I only wanted Ovechkin's name on that jersey!!" **In other News: Chris Bourque was just picked up by the Penguins. (Thats right, the only two signatures on David's beloved Ovechkin jersey are Ovechkin's, and now the much hated Pittsburgh Penguin's Chris Bourque!)(I think Greg is now on the "my little brother sucks" list)

winding down....

2009-09-24T09:31:00.027-04:00

After leaving Salt Lake, we headed north to Idaho. We stopped for lunch in Downtown Idaho Falls, right on the river walk.

Dale and the kids getting a front row seat on the river.

Next : Rexburg, Idaho. Home of BYU Idaho (or to us Alumni, home of Rick's College)

Neither Dale or I had been back to Rexburg since we left over 15 years ago. It was fun to see the campus again!

Even though Dale and I had known each other long before attending Rick's, some of my fondest memories are tied to the time we spent together at school. We spent every day together, just talking, walking and doing mundane things. The foundation of our friendship already layed, all we had to do was fall completely in love, and we did. Each day filled with hope, faith, love, and excitement for what may lay ahead for us.

Despite the great feelings between us, I was well aware of the risks involved in loving Dale, and he was fully aware of the risks that came with me. Heartbreak was a stones through away for both of us, and we gambled that risk everyday just to be together. This awareness made the day Dale proposed to me one of the most shocking, sweet, incredible days of my life! I will never forget the details of that day, and am still in shock 15 years later! (yes, we passed the 15 year mark while on our trip in August!)

The day he proposed in Rexburg: After a long, (possibly up to 2 miles long!) scavenger hunt all over the campus,(which included going to many different buildings and finding the next prewritten note, one note even had me get a choco taco from Taco Time!) After getting the last note at his apartment which instructed me to follow the railroad tracks to a bridge, my mind raced with "what a neat way to ask me to a dance!" to "he is about to ask me to marry him!?!?!" ...as he came out from under the bridge my mind continued.."he is about to ask me to marry him!" then he didn't get on bended knee.."what a romantic way to ask me to a dance!"..."Tammy, (finally! the question!)I want to know if you will be my eternal companion?" ........I think I said yes, all I remember is embracing him so he wouldn't see the tears and mistake them for sadness! As we shared in what is clearly the most romantic, sweet, private moment of our lives, we kissed.....only to be interrupted by the loud cheers of Patrick and Shawn who were perched on top of a box car watching the whole thing unfold..(they had followed me once I was on the train tracks)...

One of the most memorable parts of our western trip for me was visiting the bridge 15 years later with all my children in tow....

Next: Yellowstone National Park

The first time I went to Yellowstone was with Dale a few months before we were married. I believe it was the first time I had ever been to a national park! I was in awe the entire time! Not only was life bringing about some exciting changes, but I was seeing some of the most exciting things that I had ever seen! As the years went by, Dale's grandmother talked often about her time working at Yellowstone during her courtship with Dale's Grandfather. They both worked at Old Faithful Inn during the 1920's....Yellowstone is not just uniquely beautiful, but it has sentimental value for our family and my children as well.

"old Faithful" geyser

The Old Faithful Inn

Inside the Old Faithful Inn

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Many Bison roamed Yellowstone. Each National Park had a unique way of warning visitors of dangerous animals...Yellowstone decided to draw a cartoon depicting a bison 'goring' a person. The person was in mid air, camera around his neck and underneath was a caption warning you to stay 25 yards away from bison. After the bear incident in Sequoia, I took their warning very seriously...this picture was snapped from the safety of the car....

Next: Theodore Roosevelt State Park, North Dakota

You read that right...we went to North Dakota! Dale had been to 47 of the lower 48 states, North Dakota was all he had left, so he added it to our trip. It was unexpectedly beautiful! The park is located in the "badlands" and had some very pretty views. In addition to more bison and some wild horses, the park had prairie dogs everywhere! They were fun to see popping in and out of their holes....

as we were approaching North Dakota, we could see a rainbow for quite some time. It seemed to be following us. It was way to big for me to fit it in one shot, so here is the rainbow in part.

Next Stop: Little Falls, Minnesota

Little Falls was randomly selected because of a state park there. We actually had a nice time there. They had a small river walk that had some interesting information about the town's history. We walked on the river walk, played on a very nice school playground and went to a little movie theater on main street.

Next Stop: Mall of America

I just had to see this place! We didn't tell the kids until we got there what we were doing. I can't say the boys were very excited, but Melissa and I were pretty happy to stop and check it out! After visiting the Lego store, we rode some of the rides. You can't see it, but in the picture above Alex and Greg are riding the roller coaster.

Next Stop: Chicago!

On the agenda, 1. go up the Sear's tower, 2. have chicago pizza...check and check!

The view from the tower

Aren't these hanging clear boxes a fun idea?? Dale and Melissa were a bit squeemish about standing mid air, but everyone else seemed just fine. You do lose your stomach a little bit when you first stand on the glass looking down....

Next Stop: HOMEEEEEE!!!!! after over 3 weeks of travelling, we were so ready to be home ! On our way, the city of Pittsburg helped us end our trip with a bang, literally! We were able to watch this fireworks display for quite a while as we drove!!

We experienced some amazing things on our trip, so many things I will never ever forget. The other day I saw an American Flag and tears filled my eyes. All those places we went, All the houses, farms, buildings, rivers etc etc that we saw, that one red white and blue Flag represents all of it! I feel humbled to live in this amazing country at this incredible time.

America the Beautiful...pt. 4

2009-09-17T09:22:00.023-04:00

For those who are sick of this series, only one more post after this one! For everyone else, Here is some more really cool stuff!

Next Stop: Hoover Dam

After our van was singled out and checked by the security detail for the dam, we were cleared and allowed to proceed. (Unlike my security check to get onto Liberty Island, this time I did not have contraband such as scissors, spoons and a suspicious container with a "suspicious substance" (wadded up gum from 10 kids)... this security check was quick and easy)

They are building a new bridge to divert traffic off of Hoover Dam. Here is the progress on the bridge...

Next Stop: Las Vegas

With hotel rooms the same price as campsites, we stayed one night in Las Vegas. (Who could turn down seven showers, air conditioning, comfortable beds, and a 28th floor view for 35 bucks?!)

We saw lots of things (and tried not to see lots more), In addition to all the interesting hotels, we took the kids to Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden at the Mirage...It was so neat to get so up close and personal with the animals...except this guy, I didn't like the way he looked at me

The dolphin trainers happen to be out playing with the Dolphins! It was so neat to see them so closely

Next Stop: Sequoia National Park

They warned us to keep all food and beverages locked in our bear locker at our campsite, not wanting to temp fate, I unloaded EVERYTHING and put it in the locker. Our neighbors were not so vigilant and a bear came right up and began eating their food! Dale was a super hero, while I grabbed my fajita pan and began banging on it to chase the bear away, Dale was standing guard in the meadow near our kids tent to keep it away. (The kids smelling of candy, chips and fajitas freaked me out a bit) Not taking comfort in the fact that my kid's tent was on the perimeter of a meadow, the point of entry for the bears, and that they smelled so tasty, we opted to put them in the Van for the night. I opted for the safety of the van as well...Dale's choice: a bad nights sleep cramped in the van, or a good nights sleep chancing a bear encounter...guess which he chose? (He is a Kelley, a good night's sleep trumps about everything else in life)

Sequoia Dale and Shawn checking out a "tree"...They said that a 6 foot tall man standing at the base of that tree is equivalent to a mouse standing at the base of a six foot tall man...made me think, "Why the heck am I so scared of the dumb things?!?" Warning to all mice, Winter is coming, stay out of my house, or it is ON

All things are huge in Sequoia, check out this pine cone! It is the cone of a Sugar Pine tree, the largest species of pine.

Trees big enough that my whole family can fit!!

"Huge"

Next Stop: Yosemite National Park

Look closely, this picture has three of Yosemite's sites, El Capitan (the flat faced rock), Half Dome and Bridalveil Falls.

Next Stop: San Francisco

I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do in San Francisco: Park on Hyde St., get an all day pass for the trolley, get off at fisherman's wharf, China Town and Nob Hill, have lunch somewhere and then drive over the Golden Gate Bridge on our way out. But I could see from the very beginning that this would be bad Karma day. Having an oversized vehicle left us with three parking options, A. leave it in a lot and give the guy our keys: no way, we had computers and extra wallets and all kinds of goodies to get into, B. pay 48 dollars a day parking: NOT EVER could I do this or C. park our "commercial" vehicle next to a commercial meter with a one hour time limit...we chose C. I ran back and fed the meter, so we got 2 hours out of it. We walked up several streets, saw Trolleys, walked past China Town and got a little taste of San Francisco.

Next Stop: Pacific Ocean

Coming from the East, when we say ocean our kids envision boogy boards, hot sun and soft cool breezes....When we said Pacific Ocean they, and I, envisioned all the same things. Despite Dale trying to warn me, I was still suprised by the freezing water, the whipping, cold breezes and no swimmers. I guess it's similar to beaches in New England. Still inspiring, but not exactly recreational.

Next Stop: Salt Lake City

We were so blessed to stay with Dale's cousin for three days in West Jordan, Utah. We had a list of things to see,including the Kennecott Copper mine, 'This is the Place' Heritage Park, the Conference Center, Temple Square, and Snowbird. The kids were excited to see it all, but I think they would have been completely satisfied to play with their second cousins the whole weekend. Greg asked all day long "when is it time to go back to their house and play?",Despite not really knowing each other, they hit it off right away. It was so great!

Alex looking at a painting in the Conference Center

We climbed to the top of Snowbird...with the help of a tram.

Our kids with their second cousins

In and around St. George...

2009-09-09T21:20:00.020-04:00

Next Stop:
St. George, Utah

We couldn't travel West without making sure to see the other woman in Dale's life, his 94 year old Grandma. A lucky coincidence for us was that Dale's mom and Dad would be staying at Grandma's with us. Grandma Kelley has lived in St. George, Utah for over 16 years. She has had a very interesting life and despite being 94, can remember things in her life with a clarity that this 35 year old doesn't have. For as long as I have known Dale, I have known that his grandma is his 'girl' (Melissa has become his other 'girl'). He adores his Grandma, and she him. I have benefitted not only from Grandma's life experiences, but I have benefitted from Grandma's affection for her grandson. To say she is very important to me would understate my feelings. You can see her great influence in my children as well. We stayed three days with her, and my kids didn't want to leave. They looked forward to seeing her more than anything, and they were the most upset to leave her. We were so blessed to be able to take her with us when we visited several places around St. George, including two National Parks. Her love and knowledge of National Parks goes back to the 1920's when she worked 6 summers at Yellowstone. I cannot say how many times she has been to National Parks. She mentioned to me that she had been to Zion National Park over 100 times.

My love of National Parks has been influenced by many things, but Grandma is a big part of that. When Shawn was a baby, I stayed with her and now deceased Grandpa. Dale's Grandpa was ill, and could not get about very easily, but Grandma wanted me to see the Grand Canyon, so she drove me over 8 hours round trip to see it. She didn't even get out of the car! She felt it was so important that I should get to see it, even if only for 15 minutes, while she waited in the car.

Dale and his other woman...

St. George sunset....

Snow Canyon

On our way to Gunlock Resevoir, Grandma had been showing us damage from the 2005 Virgin/ Santa Clara River floods, so I was very suprised to see how low the water level was. We were walking in sludge to get to the water, and then trying to get out of the sludge once in the water!

The kids playing chicken with Grandpa

Alex is sculpting "Man in the Mountain" monument, and Greg is "putting sunblock on the rock so it doesn't get a sunburn"

At the Cemetary:

Zion National Park

Looking up at "weeping rock"

Learning that Cacti are NOT fun to touch:

Bryce Canyon:

Grandma with what she calls her "treasures"

America the Beautiful...2

2009-08-31T09:06:00.026-04:00

Next stop on our cross country adventure:

Fort Lancaster, Texas

Fort Lancaster is "half way to everywhere" (in the middle of nowhere!!) The Fort was established in 1855 to protect the El Paso-San Antonio road. It was abandoned in 1861 by the Frederal troops when Texas seceeded from the union. The museum about the Fort was well done. The kids learned about early travel, weapons, life on the Fort, punishments given to misbehaving soldiers, etc, etc(I told the kids I was getting great ideas..wearing a barrel? that will adjust a bad attitude in a jiffy!)

Here are the kids on a stage coach. We learned that it would cost about $200 for a person and their luggage to get passage from California to the East. They would travel by protected stagecoach all the way to New Orleans, then from there they were given different options. A series of Stage Coaches, or the more preffered way, by boat. Either way, the same company would provide safe passage for you and your luggage throughout the entire trip. (Even promising to protect you through Indian territory)

Next Stop:

Balmorhea State Park, Texas

Dale has told me about the trips he took with his family as a kid. He had mentioned a place in the middle of nowhere that was a swimming pool with natural spring water. So we put Balmorhea State Park on our list of places to go for our Western trip.

It is in West Texas, in a remote spot about 10 minutes off of the Highway. You can see that the lanscape around the park is very dry and with little vegetation.

The natural spring is literally an oasis in the desert. The water is crystal blue and clear. There are fish and even some very large turtles swimming around with you.

The pool at its deepest is 26 feet. The kids were going off the high dive, over and over again. It was an unseasonbly chilly day, so I managed to jump off the dive 2 times before I huddled under my towel.

The spring empties from the pool into a very fast moving canal. Dale and and his sister Karen remember swimming in the canal when they were kids. Here are our kids debating whether they can swim in it, the verdict was no.

On our trip we saw lots of neat sunset colors, I loved this purple color. I could not quite capture the beauty of the sunset colors, so you will have to take my word. For added effect, try to imagine the coyotes howling as well!

Next Stop:

Ropper Lake State Park, Arizona

At this point in the trip I kept forgetting to take pictures, so I appologize for the lack of pictures. Ropper Lake was a place that Dale remembered going as a kid, so we added this to our stops as well. It was 100+ degrees, and the lake water was warm, but suprisingly refreshing to swim in. I loved it. The kids swam and swam and swam. After dinner the boys wanted to go to the hot springs, so we did.

Despite being in Arizona, the park had trees and very soft, green grass. If I had to pick a low light of our trip, I would say the night in Ropper Lake would be it. The cold front followed us from Texas (Yes, it moved west!) and was producing high winds, and thunder storms in the distance. The tents were not standing up against the wind, so in the middle of the night we took the tents down and got situated in the van. Despite the wind, it was very very hot in the van. All night long we tossed and turned in the opressive heat. I opened the windows to try and get air circulating until we realized that an army of mosquitos were organized and ready as soon as we opened the windows. We quickly had to shut the windows and just deal with the heat. I stayed awake, turning the car on for ac, and off again. When we could see light, Dale, David and I walked over to watch the sunrise over the lake. It was amazing to me how quickly I forgot the misery of the night as the beauty of the sun appeared. We got an early start and were excited to head to Dale's sister Karen's house.

Next Stop:

Strong's house, Phoenix, AZ

Despite Karen living in Phoenix for over 15 years, I am ashamed to say that I have never been there! I love the heat and hotness, so I was happy to be in Arizona. I am so sad to say that I still was not good at remembering to take photos at this point in the trip, so I have NONE of the kids that day. What I posted below are ones I took from Karen's post about us being there.!

Shayne had already started school, so Karen took him out for a half -day to spend with us. We got there around noon. Karen and Rick got pizza for lunch and The kids played and played. Maya was so excited to see us on her turf for once. After the terrible night we had the night before, and running on no sleep, being able to stay in Karen's house was such a luxury! (Thanks Karen!) After the kids played for a while, and grown ups talked, we went to see Monsters vs Aliens. After that we went swimming. I must admit, 113 degrees is not bad at all after 4 pm. It was really nice. The other thing we noticed, is that without humidity, 113 in the shade is also quite comfortable. Rick grilled some burgers for us and after dinner the kids all played on the playground together. Despite being together all day, I don't think the kids got wnough of each other. Dale and I were exhausted and really looking forward to sleeping in an air conditioned room without mosquitos! The younger kids had a sleepover with Shayne and Maya.

Shawn, David, Shayne and Maya eating ice cream. (Karen's picture)

Maya sleeping with Melissa in the night (Also Karen's pic!) We had a great time and despite all the cool things the kids saw over the three weeks, when you ask them what they remember most, they always answer that seeing family members was the best part. I agree.

Next Stop:

Montezuma's Castle National Monument, AZ

North of Phoenix near Camp Verde sits an ancient structure known as Montezuma's castle. The castle gets it's name from the archelogist who discovered it. He thought it looked like a structure influenced by the Aztec Emporer, Montezuma.

Around 700-1400 AD the sinagua people inhabited this region. They built "apartment" dwellings in the sides of cliffs. Montezumas castle is one of the oldest and best preserved cliff dwellings in the country. One interesting fact, the Cliff dwelling is situated in such a way that it cannot be seen from any of the high points in the surrounding area. , keeping it safe and sound for centuries of inhabitants.

Next Stop:

Sedona, AZ

Again, I wasn't so great at taking photos at this point. But Sedona was amazing! My camera doesn't capture the brilliance of color. The reds, the greens and the black lava contrast each other so strikingly. It was so beautiful! We spent some time strolling around in and out of shops and just enjoying the beauty that is Sedona.

We had a picnic just about everyday of the trip. What was so fun was stopping at a different location each day. We would chose it from the map, or sometimes we would just stumble across a great spot. I didn't usually have my camera at the ready, but this spot outside of Sedona was to much and I had to take a snap shot.

A little hike next to a canyon outside of Sedona.

Next Stop:

South Rim of the Grand Canyon, AZ

I have lots and lots of shots from our time at the Grand Canyon, but I will just pull some of the highlights...

Dale and I When we arrived

After seeing the Canyon for hours, we were treated to the sunset.

As the sun was going down, I saw the moon up in the sky, I snapped this just for fun

You see the Canyon in a whole new light, literally, when the sun rises.

We took turns hiking a little bit into the Canyon, Thats Dale, Shawn and Alex on the tip of Melissa's finger

Toolbelt Tammy

2009-08-26T18:30:00.012-04:00

There is one thing wrong in each of the photos below...try and guess what it is , then scroll down for the answer.

Clearly the "wrong" is that I am fixing a pipe while Dale is doing the laundry! Sometimes he and I don't follow along domestic lines.

Ever since we have been married, our homes have provided us plenty of oppurtunity to learn how to repair things. Especially the first home we bought, it was a complete mess, and we had to repair/renovate just about every square inch of it!

Nowadays, if there is a problem, most of the time I can fix it. (calling in the muscle when I need him). I have a tool box, and purchase new tools if I think I need it. I have been known to don a toolbelt on occassion, helping Dale to dub me "Toolbelt Diva" ...

When we bought this home, we inherited a pool. I think my previous experience as a life guard, and being 'the mom' put the pool maintenance responsibilities in my hands.

In the three summers we have been here, I have talked with other pool owners, utilized the experts at the pool store, read everything about my pool that I possibly could. Despite all that I have done to try and keep it up and running, I have had many different issues to tackle, and have been so proud when I successfully fixed each one. One problem kept eluding me. I could not get my #1 skimmer working properly, ever! It was bad when we moved in. I snaked it endlessly, I pulled pipes apart from the pump end to snake it from there, I used an air compressor, I cycled the pump on and off and had two people look at it for me. And then waited a summer and did all that again! I have never failed so miserably on a problem. Out of frustration, unnsurity of the real problem and nervous of the expense of calling someone to fix it (one guy said he would charge 8ooo to fix it because of the concrete and pool siding work involved) , I opted to leave the problem alone. The pool function was about 60 percent, and with a lot of effort, I was able to make that work.

The #2 skimmer clogged right before we left for vacation, rendering the pool unusable. After a wonderful vacation, I finally decided enough was enough and we had to get the #1 skimmer working. I started digging. The soil is packed clay filled with rocks. I struggled big time with digging, so I asked the muscle to step in . He worked very hard, digging, and digging and digging! He called me in once he got the pipe exposed.

if you can't see it clearly, it is a huge boulder sitting on top of the pipe, completely crushing it!

Our best guess...when the company hired to replace the liner a few years ago put the dirt back in, they inadvertenly put a boulder on top of the pipe. I guess the previous owner just dealt with it until he sold the house....to us.

Dale was too big to continue in the hole, so I took over. Digging a little bit more, cutting the pipe and putting the new pipe in place. We tested the line, and the good news is, it works! the bad news is that the #2 skimmer is still clogged, so after all that work, the pool is still at 60% function. Getting a pipe unclogged is easier than digging the hole to replace it...so we should be at 100% pool function for the first time soon enoough!

To be honest, this repair almost sent me over the edge. After all these years, I am finally sick of all the repairs. I am ready to hang up the toolbelt and pick up my knockoff designer purse and go to the mall, wearing makeup with no mud in my hair or grease under my nails!

(I say that, but two minutes after the tree expert gave me his estimate this afternoon I looked at Dale and said, "can't we just do it ourselves, I mean , how hard is it to cut a few trees down?, I can figure out how to do it." based on his response, Dale apparently doesn't believe that I am handy enough to climb a tree and cut it down without causing harm to myself or more importantly, our house.) Time will tell how much I really hate doing repairs, I have a feeling that my dislike for writting the check to someone to fix something will override my dislike of doing the repair myself!

next project: get rid of bats....

America the Beautiful!

2009-08-24T13:02:00.012-04:00

Over the past three weeks I have been unable to shake the song "America the Beautiful" from my head. The author who penned the original poem was a fellow New Englander. Kathryn Lee Bates was inspired to write the poem after being awed during her western travels in the late 1800's. Being a native of New England, she felt the pride of pilgrim's journeys along with the vision of early Americans, while simultaneously being overwhelmed by the natural beauty of America. Each region so different, yet so beautiful. The words to her poem, (now a well known Anthem/Hymn) were the only words I could think of each and everyday as my family and I explored our Amazing country.

We first set foot in Smoky Mountain National Park... The rivers and streams were swollen with rushing brown water. The park was experiencing a bad flood while we were there. It was eerily beautiful to us as we witnessed the power of mother nature first hand.

We hiked to a wonderful waterfall, and enjoyed the beauty of the fog surrounding the mountains, seeing exactly why it was named "Smoky Mountains"

We saw a bear on the way out of the park. He was little and heading right towards the campground, I was glad to be leaving and safe in my car. Little did I know that I would soon have the oppurnity to have a bear in my campground as well! (More on that later!)

A woman said a few words to Dale in the parking lot, and the kids got their first introduction to a deep southern accent. asking "what language was that" and once we explained accents, Alex entertained us with impersonations of southern accents. I was really struggling not to let mine out...

Next Stop: mississippi. the kids went swimming in probably the warmest lake they had ever been in. They were swimming with some local kids and again encountered the deep southern accents. Shawn didn't understand them, and they didn't understand Shawn. Very amusing.

Next stop: New Orleans

Driving into New Orleans was interesting..you can still see so many signs of the devastation, but also so many signs that New Orleans is recovering strongly. We saw the beautiful French Quarter and the downtain Market. We walked along the waterfront. The streets were crowded with people eating and shopping. It was overwhelming to think of how much the city has gone through and how far they have come in such a short amount of time.

It is a truely beautiful city!

Next Stop: Nature Hike in a Louisiana swamp.

We looked for Aligators, but never found one...

Next Stop: Gulf of Mexico

Looking at the map, I noticed that we were 20 minutes from the gulf of Mexico...I saw a "picnic" icon right on the beach and thought it would be fun to take the kids swimming in the gulf. When we got to the picnic area, we were a little suprised to see that it was indeed right on the beach, but not exactly a place we would want to picnic.

Every place in America is unique and different in it's own way..we had found complete solitude on a beach that does not often see human visitors...

Next Stop: San Antonio

It was very hot in texas, so I was amazed at how refreshing swimming in the Guadalupe River was! It not only felt nice, it was very stunning, and even the river rocks were an interesting color green!

San Antonio was a great suprise to me! The landscape around San Antonio was dry, and brown. I marveled at the amount of work Texans go through to beautify their surroundings! From maintaining the Alamo, to the downtown Riverwalk, San Antonio was stunning and Beautiful!

Believe it or not, that takes us to day 5! I will post more of "America the beautiful" later!

fireflies

2009-07-30T10:30:00.003-04:00

With most of our trip preparations finished, the boys took some time last night to catch some fire flies.

As soon as they spotted a 'flash', they would take off after it, you could hear their little feet running back and forth on the deck running from 'flash' to 'flash'! It reminded me of the trazillion fire flies I caught when I was a kid!

It was all so cute, except for the part where we accidentally let a fire fly go in our bedroom and he went so high that even Dale couldn't catch him!

getting ready...

2009-07-27T17:10:00.002-04:00

so how do you prepare for a three week camping trip with a family of 7? with a family to-d0 list and a grocery shopping list and a items needed for camping list and a things to do around the house list, etc etc etc! I have about ten lists and then I have a master list of all the lists...

I lost my 'list of all the lists' today and felt as if I had just suffered complete memory lost, I was wandering in circles and blabbering about who knows what..luckily I found the master list of lists, and I was back in business, full preparation mode for, oh yeah! a three week camping trip with 5 kids!

I was able to mark things off my 'Target' list and off the 'kid's need..' list, and then I started marking stuff off the family to-do list, only to find another list that I forgot to put on the master list of lists! (at least I knew where it was!)

so, my point for posting this now is this, I will try to update occassionally with gorgeous pictures of the beautiful places we will see, but, I am not sure what type, if any, internet service we will have a long the way, and I am pretty sure that my photography skills are less than stellar so even if you get the occassional picture, it most likely will not be beautiful..but I will
put in the effort!

reflections of the beach....

2009-07-21T22:40:00.012-04:00

What's my favorite part of our annual beach vacation? ALL of it!

The Waves...boogy boarding and swimming whenever I felt like it

The Naps.......sleeping whenever and however we wanted........

The sand.......burying the kids, burying myself, digging, getting involved in archealogical digs, and sand construction projects

Watching my kids play with cousins and have non stop fun!

goodtimes every night with family

Taking the kids to the Cape Hatteras Light house for a picnic, and climbing the lighthouse

jogging and walking to the lighthouse

There were so many more things that I love about the beach but didn't get photos of...eating dinner on the deck, the AMAZING desserts, walking to the turtle pond, exploring Blackbeard the Pirate's old stomping ground in Ocracoke, seeing the lighthouse in Ocracoke, taking the Ferry to get to Ocracoke, seeing the amazing stars every night, walking back from grandpa's ghost crab hunting expedition and seeing a far away storm light up the sky, playing games all night long, sitting in the hot tub, sitting on the beach for hours, seeing a water moccasin in his natural environment, helping a turtle cross the road, just being away from the stresses of life with my family and getting to enjoy such good times with extended family is what makes the beach memories so incredible!

Waiting for pizza...

2009-07-10T18:49:00.010-04:00

With Dale and Shawn away at scout camp, we decided to have a pizza night! The kids have been cleaning and packing and acting like perfect angels for HOURS in anticipation of the BIG pizza dinner!

After getting maximum effort from the kids ALL day, I FINALLY took them to get pizza....

We opted to get carry out,...in what seemed like an ETERNITY to the kids, we waited for the pizza...

Melissa waiting.....

Greg Waiting.....

Alex and David waiting......

It's ready!! We bring it home and open it...

and it's gone! that was FAST!!

I almost feel guilty that they worked SO hard for such a fleeting reward... to quote a Montgomery Gentry song, "working maximun hours for minimum wage", it's character building, right??