Again

It has started again. Actually it never has really stopped. Soccer. Emma loves soccer and her team officially kicked off the fall season tonight and won 3-2 :) They have been holding practice all summer and it looks like it really paid off.

I am going to brag a moment about my child...yep, she scored all three of the goals. They were beauties. And Greg, Tara and I were cheering and making fools of ourselves...haha...that is what you get to do when you get to be our age ;) It was great.

Her team has bumped to into a harder league and I was a bit concerned that they would get creamed, but now I have hope. These gals can certainly hang with the big boys.

You will notice that her jersey has yet to have a number and name printed on it. After the game tonight her coach took them to get done before their next game. Emma informed me that she told her coach that she wanted the name "Bieber" on the back. Oh Emma...what are we going to do about your obsession?

Conquering Her Fears

Monday was a great day for Emma.
It wasn't too shabby for me either ;)

She was VERY nervous at the thought of going to junior high.
Freaked out actually.
If you happen to know Emma, you realize that
very little in this world freaks that child out.

Sunday night came and we had planned on
having Greg give her a blessing to help
her calm her nerves.

But since Greg was sick with a bucket close by,
we decided that this was not a good idea. He will give her one when he gets better :)

So...Emma and I said a little prayer together before she headed out the door.

When she came home later in the afternoon, the first thing she said to me was
"I LOVE 7TH GRADE!!!"
Haha...that girl. I knew she would be fine :)

Unfortunately, in all the drama of her fears that first morning of school,
I forgot to take a picture of her.

So...here is Emma on her SECOND day of school. Second days are good too--right?

Funny Fact: Emma and her best friend, Casey, have different bus stops. I pass Casey's stop every morning on my walk, so Emma now walks with me to Casey's stop where I drop her off so they can spend a few minutes together before school begins. (They don't have any classes together and wanted to visit with each other each day)
This picture was taken on the way to that bus stop this morning. I remembered that I still had not taken her picture while we were walking, so I pulled out my cell phone and took a quick picture of her.

Go conquer the world Em! Love ya :)

Another Beginning

Monday Emma starts junior high.
That's right, we are done with elementary school.
Weird.

A Funny Memory

I spent this past weekend moving Dayna and Peter into their new home. Or as my mom put it, it is actually "a shop that happens to have a house" hahaha. That seems about right.

I admit, I was a little sad saying goodbye to their old home...and it is not even mine. Dayna and Peter have lived her for the past 9 years and I have had some fun times inside these walls.

As I was moving I recalled a memory that I had tucked away a long time ago. When I mentioned it to Dayna and mom they confessed that they had forgotten about it too. It is just too funny not to share, so here goes.

When Dayna and Peter moved into this home years ago, they did some major renovations. One trip to Boise I spent helping Dayna put some of the finishing touches into her home. There is a bathroom downstairs next to the guest room (that I used all the time when I visited) that Dayna had redone. New paint everywhere. She wanted to put a cute wallpaper boarder around the top of the walls to finish it all off. So...she asked me to help.

We had that gooey paper wrapped around almost completely in place when all at once we both noticed (at the same time) the corner begin to peel back from the point of origin. It was like were watching a slow motion movie. We couldn't get to it in time to stop it and both of us were so shocked that we didn't even say a word. All we could do was watch it peel away from the wall in a clock wise motion like a tidal wave coming straight for us. When it reached the point directly above the sink, the paper drooped down and landed on top of the vanity lights (all six of them). As it did so, each light exploded with a loud BANG and shattered pieces of glass where flying EVERYWHERE. Haha...it was hilarious. Both of us looked at each other at the same time and burst out laughing. We were laughing so hard that we began to cry.

My mom had been sitting out in the family room close by and because the door to the bathroom had been closed, she did not see what had transpired. All she heard was our uncontrollable laughter and a six loud BANGS! Maybe this is one of those things where you had to be there...I don't know. I do know that I have not laughed that hard ever again.

I hope her new home will hold some great laughs as well...time will tell.

His Big Day -- Late

We finally were able to have a family celebration of Josh's 18th birthday last night. Finally.

I can't believe how hard it has become to get everyone gathered. I finally just picked a date and said come if you can, and if you can't, sorry.

Fortunately, everyone was able to drop by throughout the night...not all at the same time, but hey, we take what we can get.

Josh has been whining to me lately telling me how he was the only child who did not get a decorated birthday cake each year. So not true. Why do children seem to have selective memories? I decorated cakes for all of them, EVERY YEAR. Anyway, because he was feeling so picked on, I decided to make him a kiddy cake to make up for all those lost memories he can't seem to find. I went with a jungle theme because when he was small he was OBSESSED with
The Lion King. Notice the pond for the gator and the cave for some other critters...
I got a little carried away ;) I even placed "Simba" on top of pride rock hahahaha...good stuff.

Not my best work, but we all got a good laugh :) Tara also made a gluten-free cake for her and Greg to chow on. I had some of that one and I have to say it was actually quite tasty. Thanks Tara :)

Happy Birthday Joshers!!! Love ya :)

Not Myself

Today I had a bad day. Not sure why, but I was really not feeling like my usual self. I was in charge of Sharing Time and I woke up a stress case. Once again, not sure why. I had it planned and ready to go...all I had to do was show up and talk. If only it had been that easy...

Junior Primary Sharing Time was not so great, but I finally managed to pull it together by the time Senior Primary rolled around. Even with all my preparation, I found myself having some problems. My heart was flopping around like it used to a few years ago. Not the nervous kind of flopping, but rather the something is wrong with my heart kind of flopping. I have had these problems in the past, but today is the first time in a long time that I felt that strange feeling coming on. Thankfully, I was able to manage it and keep it all under control. Now I am just wiped out and don't want to move from my bed. Ever.

Here is how my day in Primary started:

As I was setting up the Primary room I suddenly realized that I had forgotten over 1/2 of my Sharing Time at home...not like me, at all. I had to go home and get it. Then I went into what I thought was the ladies room and found myself in the men's room....seriously, what is my problem? NEVER had done that before. I then took my list of things to do into the library with me and forgot things, THREE TIMES and had to keep going back--even with a list to remind me. And when it came time to start Primary, I actually felt faint. I thought for sure I was going to topple over at any moment. I even found myself having trouble putting sentences together. My thoughts were all over the place and I had a really hard time focusing on anything. Weird stuff. I am not sure what is going on, but I really don't like it.

I have not been feeling like myself for the past week. I am beginning to wonder if something is wrong with me physically. I just feel out of whack and can't seem to put my finger on it. I don't feel sick like the flu, just not right. Thursday I woke up, went for my usual walk, came home and did some chores and found myself completely exhausted by 10 am. What in the world??? Friday and Saturday were fine, and today is another bad day.

Here's to tomorrow and hoping that I can get back on track and feel normal for more than two days in a row....After all, I have a trip to Boise to take on Friday morning and a house to help Dayna move. I hope I can pull myself together by then...

Joshua's Jots

I was reading Josh's blog today and this is what he wrote:

"Day 4: the old folks.

What's to say? They're tired, and I am the oldest kid currently living at home. So we just joke around and get through each day. My dad works at 1 800 Contacts, and I get free stuff aplenty and cheap eye stuff. Free soda, movie tickets, eye exams, and discounts on glasses and contacts. *jazz hands* Mom stays at home and reads.... at least that's what it seems like ;)"

REALLY???? "Stays at home and reads.." That's it??? I think he just declared war. Let the games begin...


(You can read about his little world for yourself at joshuajots.blogspot.com ....Have to say, it does make you smile)

Service Eggs

Last Sunday we had all the Primary children gather in the cultural hall so that we could take a picture of them to put on the front of a book that we are sending President Monson for his birthday. Sadly, a lot of children were missing, but we had to go with it. It was hard for me to accept the fact that we would never have a Sunday with all the children present so that we could include all of them in a picture. Oh well...

Anyway, back to the book. Last Easter our ward had their annual Easter Egg Hunt that the Primary was in charge of. Bishop Wirtz asked that as we planned it this time that we really try to give it more of a purpose. We spent a long time thinking, praying, revising and thinking again about what we could do. One day it just came to me...we needed to do service for the people in our ward. I talked to Kim (one of my counselor who was over this event) and we came up with the idea of having "Service Eggs" for the kids to take home. Each family was given the name of a individual/family in the ward boundaries that might appreciate a small act of service. It could be something as small as a smile and note, or as large as providing dinner. Whatever...it was up to the child and their family to decide. These acts of service were to be their birthday gift to President Monson.

We gave them a couple of weeks to complete this service and then one Sunday during Sharing Time we talked about service and had each of the children draw a picture of the service they provided and we wrote a caption on the picture telling about the service. When we gathered them, it was so fun to read all the different types of service. Some were funny ("I helped my dad brush his teeth" --would LOVED to have seen that), and others were sweet ("We baked brownies and took them to our bishop").

I have since gathered them all and am taking them to Kinko's tonight to have them bound together with one of these pictures on the front and a note telling President Monson what these sweet children did for his birthday. I am now trying to decided which picture to use. I took two...one of them just smiling and another of them waving to him. I think I like the waving one...

Josh's Big Day(s)

Yesterday was Josh's 18th birthday. Holy cow, where did the time go?

This past week he FINALLY completed his Eagle project. This project was all he had left to do for quite some time and he just never did it. Merit badges were done, advancements complete and the project had been approved. All he needed was motivation. I guess he finally found that a couple of
weeks ago.

For his project, he made a desk that was handicapped-accessible for a teacher that had fallen off a roof a couple of years ago.

For some strange reason, the school district had not accommodated him and he could not even get his wheelchair under the desk. Josh made one that he can easily use now. This project took almost 120 hours to complete---WOW. Many people stepped in and helped a great deal. I am happy to have this crossed off our to-do list and now I have a Court of Honor to prepare. I can handle that :)

With Josh turning 18 I have been thinking a lot lately how quiet our home will be one year from now when he leaves on his mission. I think one of the things I will miss most will be listening to him play the piano. He really has a gift and a beautiful touch.

Happy (late) Birthday Josh! I hope that this year is your best one ever :)