Internet Rant/Soapbox (you may want to skip this one :)

I've been taking stock and making goals and trying to make the changes that will make me a happier and more productive person. Anyway I've come to the conclusion that, in a lot of ways, the internet is bad for me. It's a black hole, sucking up all my time, energy, and motivation. I have a facebook account and in a lot of ways it's a great tool. I've been able to communicate when all other methods aren't working. I find out about births, marriages, deaths and other big events that otherwise I wouldn't know about. I'm able to know when someone needs help and give them a little lift sometimes. In those ways it is great, but on the other hand it is so distracting! You pop in to see what's happening, to post about this or that, to see if someone got your message, and before you know it you've been on for an hour and your kids have gotten into trouble in the mean time. It's like I'm wading through a bunch of dull, repetitive house work and my friends are in the next room having a conversation. Of course I'm going to come in and see what it happening! I also feel that it sort of a cheap imitation of real communication. "Happy Birthday" or "Congratulations" on facebook isn't as real as a phone call or a hand written card or letter, and much less real than speaking face to face. There is some sort of weird disconnect that happens too. People who you knew, but never really talk to you in real life want to be your "friend".  It's just weird! The same thing goes for blogs. One time I happened on a high school "friend's" (used loosely) blog and found out all about her. The next time I saw her I had no ammunition for small talk. I knew where she lived, who she married, what he does, her kid's names and ages. I didn't know what to do! Do I play dumb and ask anyway? Do I confess that I've been stalking her blog? Again, weird! I think this whole medium of communication is taking away real interaction. ANYWAY, my point is I want to cut way back on the internet time and work on real, here and now relationships. I want to connect with people that I really care about in a non electronic way. I want to use my time working for the things that I want MOST, rather than the things I want NOW. End of Rant.

Christmas Catch Up

                                                 So excited to see Santa!

                                                     Not so sure about this...

                                               So cute!

                                    There better be something good in that bag or it's over.

   Tenney nativity scene. Don't mind the lion and bumble bee. They were well behaved most of the time.

We had a white new year if not a white Christmas. We had fun sledding with Ben and Amy and their kids. It was so cold that the camera shut down shortly after this. Christmas was so fun and we got a few pictures and some videos, but none really worth posting. Again we were so wrapped up in what was happening that we didn't get a lot of great pictures. I'm okay with that too. It's no fun being stuck behind a camera and not really participating. We spent Christmas eve and much of Christmas day with the Tenneys this year. There was lots of fun and food and gifts, and sadly, illness. I think all the kids on both sides had a cold a best and pneumonia at worst. That didn't stop us from having fun though. There were lots of game nights, as usual when Ben is here. Mathan had a week off work and we got to enjoy his birthday at home and on a date. Then the snow hit and the temperature hasn't been above freezing for days now. The snow hasn't melted off the telephone poles and fence posts yet, which is very unusual. We normally get a light dusting that melts the next day! All in all, good times.

Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories...

These warm memories make me want to sing and run and jump and yell and laugh for joy, because it is literally freezing right now. As in: my hot water has been frozen for three days and we have to heat it on the stove. So here goes.

Waking up one day when winter is just turning to spring and hearing a bird outside my window.

Going for a walk on a spring morning a few weeks later and hearing thousands of birds chirping, whooping, cooing and singing like crazy. I love living near the river in the springtime because there are so many different birds. It makes me absolutely giddy when all the birds congregate and make a ruckus for the first time each spring!

Watching the trees bud and bloom and the the tulips and daffodils come up.

The last week of school, when all the tests are done and there is really nothing to do but party and wait for the last day to come.

Lying on my back and looking up at pine needles and oak leaves swaying in the warm breeze. I also love waking up in a tent and watching the shadows that they cast dance around on the fabric.

Coming inside on a hot day and eating a banana twin popsicle. I would always break it down the middle and eat it as slowly as possible.

Eating blueberry pancakes on the forth of July early in the morning.

A lot of these are in the morning huh?

Sitting on the curb of the road watching the 24th parade. I love that whole day! The fireworks, the rodeo, the craft fair, the barbecue. I think it's my favorite holiday.

Playing the ocean all day and then eating. Swimming makes me so hungry! We used to go the swimming pool all the time in the summer and after we got home and got cleaned up we would eat a burrito. It had to be done. Swimming always gave me a craving for a burrito. Weird, but true.

Family reunions! I love 'em, even when the family has grown so much that you only know one in twenty people. I love catching up with people I haven't seen, and hearing life sketches, and watching silly skits. Not to mention the yummy food that I didn't have to cook most of the time!

I'm nowhere near finished but I will stop for now. I do want to tag anyone who read this whole post to post their warm memories. It made me happy!

 

Monday Memories

Every Christmas Eve, for many years, Ben and I would sit down and make a plan. The object being to spend the night camped out in the family room waiting for Christmas morning. I don't think we were ever trying to catch Santa Claus. I think we always knew that mom and dad were the real givers.  Anyway the first obstacle to get over was getting past ANNA. DUH DUH DUH! Anna and I shared a room and a bed and Ben and David shared a room. David always went out like a light so it was easy for Ben to sneak out of bed and army crawl his way into my room, around the bed, and slide between the doll bed (a very uncomfortable folding bed used for dolls) and our bed and tap me on the shoulder. If Anna heard so much as a cracked knuckle she would be wide awake and scolding Ben to get out of our room. Sometimes we would go through this many time before Anna was sound asleep and we could proceed with our plans, and sometimes Anna's heart would be softened and she would let us do our thing. The hall light was usually left on and we lay on the floor peeking through the door that was left open a crack and we would wait until Mom and Dad had gone to bed. One time we snuck upstairs and hid in the laundry room, looking under the door, and waiting for our parents to go up to their room.. Then we would sneak down the hall, barley breathing, and ooo and ahh at the presents under the tree and feel our full stockings. I don't know how we could stand it, but we never took our stockings down, or ate the candy until everyone was up. It was somehow against the unwritten rule. This plan was the most successful one, but often we tried more daring variations. We would try to make mom and dad believe that we were going to bed early (yeah right!) and we would hide behind the Christmas tree so we could actually witness the filling of the stockings. This never worked because it was impossible to stay quiet and still with all those pine needles poking you. Plus Ben would always have to sneeze and then the jig was up. Once we tried hiding behind the couch. Again it was impossible to be quiet and still long enough to actually see what our parents were up to. I thing we even tried hiding behind the piano once. No good. We were always caught and sent to bed. So we went back to the trusty "wait till they're in bed" plan. It was so hard to wait until a decent hour to wake everyone up! We would chop kindling and bring in a lot of wood the day before.so we could build a silent fire and wait until at least five and then sound the alarm! It's funny how exciting and magical Christmas felt, even when the presents were wrapped and under the tree days before hand. Even when we knew that Santa was really just Mom and Dad. 

May's Chrismas Concert

 Here's a great shot of May and LoraBelle at the Christmas concert. They are best friends/cousins.

Then, whoever was in charge made a great choice and put May front and center. Do you see how everyone around her is just awed by her presence? The boy on the left is singing "Ah sweet mystery of life at last I've found thee!" and the boy on the right is shyly fingering the seam in the stage trying desperately to think of something clever to say... Okay, maybe I'm just seeing things, but isn't she just the cutest kindergartner ever?

Whether you agree or not, she did a great job and we are proud of our little May. 

Thanksgiving

We traveled to Provo and really enjoyed Thanksgiving with Ben and Amy. We had so much fun and food that we really didn't take too many pictures, but we got some really cute videos of the kids.

      

Here are some highlights:

Playing Bang with the fam

Seeing Lynnette and Kelly

LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Temple Square lights

"The Savior of the World"

All the kids being so funny and sweet

Swimming

My very first Black Friday shopping trip. It wasn't as bad as I thought is would be.

Thomas staying up all night. Sorry!

We had such a great time and all the food was sooo yummy! Thanks Ben and Amy!

 

Do you remember?

Do you remember when you were a kid and you would sit staring out the window groaning about being bored and your mom would give you a bunch of fun ideas and you would have an excuse why you didn't want to do any of them and then she would give you a bunch of chores that needed to be done and your boredom was magically cured? Yeah. I wish that still worked. The chores must be done, and most of the fun is geared toward or involves towing three kids along. I wanna be a kid again! Oh yeah... today is supposed to be my thankful day. Today I'm thankful for, and missing, my carefree childhood, and I'm glad I can give a carefree childhood to my kids. The End.