American Idol

Well, here it is American Idol time again. That means that every Tues night my family gets together. We eat dinner (just like we have for the past few years) and watch AI. Last night I fixed homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. The grandkids decided that american cheese tastes like plastic and they don't like tomato soup so as you can see it was a disaster. It was a good thing Miss Natalie brought doughnuts because that is what saved the kids. Well, as time goes on we will post our favoirtes and well compare them to yours and see how we do. we don't have a great track record. Maybe you do.

I'm sure I have mentioned that each Friday around my house we have something we call "Grammy's Daycare". I invite each mother (my daughters and daughters in law)to bring her children by and drop them off and I will tend then while the mother goes off to remember who she is independent of motherhood. Years ago when I was raising my children it became so overwhelming at times that I almost forgot who I was as a person I wanted something different for my children when they became parents. Yesterday was so much fun because all the grandchildren were here. That doesn't happen all the time but when it does it is fun, chaos, laughter and fighting all the way around. My food budget goes sky high because little ones are always hungry . I want to make a new banner for the park so I took some pictures of the grandchildren. Justice is the youngest at only 3 weeks. The only one missing from the picture is our perfect little Lizzie. So here are all 13 of the grandchildren.

Easter and the wii

Many weeks ago, Liam asked if he could borrow our wii. We loaned it to him and he asked how long he could keep it. I told him he had until Easter and then it needed to be returned. Well, Easter came and went and the wii was still sitting at his house as he was learning to master Guitar Hero (he's 6). Each time he has come to the house since then I ask him where the wii is and amazingly it is still at his house because he forgot it. Well, last night at our weekly AI party he returned the wii. Along with the game came a Happy Easter card. I thought how funny that they thought if they gave me an Easter card at the same time I wouldn't know they were returning the wii late. How clever are kids.

Today I finally entered the 21st century, I joined facebook. I still have no idea why except when you hangout with the youth of the world you had better know what is going on in their lives. I was amazed to find out that it seems everyone is on facebook. My own children are there. Soon it will be my grandchildren. Won't that be a blast? It is nice getting older. I like the gray hair and wrinkles that make one look like they have lots of wisdom.

Haiku for mothers

Yesterday while I was getting ready to post my blog I was reading the "the meanest mom" blog and she had written some Haiku poetry. I haven't even thought of Haiku since I was in high school and had to do it for a project. I didn't have anything to say at the ripe old age of 16 and if I had there was no way it would fit into the haiku formula. Funny thing happened this morning when I couldn't sleep I decided to try my hand at it.





For Lizzie 1/29/2007-2/14/2007





The dress hangs ready
Lovingly sewn by old hands
All for the new one.



Untouched baby clothes
an empyt, heirloom crib, but
eternally ours














Ode to the Laundry
In heaps on the floor
Waiting for someone to wash
shirts, socks, pants and towels

Still it piles up
a never ending supply
keeping the floor warm.

Someone should wash it
Their responsibility
not mine! not yours? whose?

Here is just a short one

Husbands

Man, looking for food

there in plain sight in the fridge

can't seem to see it.

Lately my family has been giving me guff because I never update my blog. I read other people's blogs and realize I have nothing funny to say.

American Idol has started up again. We always look forward to Jan and the return of American Idol. It's not that the show is so great but we use it as an excuse to get together as a family. It is like a family home evening for the less active Mormons. Last night we ate taco salad and laughed at the antics of those that somehow think they can sing and get upset when someone tells them they can't. Where are these kids MOTHERS? Isn't it a mothers job to tell her children they can do anything in the world they want to do but if they want to sing on national TV they had better be good enough not to embarrass the whole family? (not to mention the people watching) Apparently some mothers missed the memo. When I was young I sang with the church choir and my mother was the choir director. My mother would always ask others to sing the solos in the programs never me. When I asked her why, she told me I didn't have a solo voice, mine was more for a whole choir where I could blend in. I listened and when I was asked (on several occasions) to sing a solo I was so terrified I did badly. So I ask again where are these kids mother????? If everyone had a mother like mine only the kids that really knew how to sing would be on tv and they would be nothing funny about the show at all, so I guess it might be ok that their mothers were different than mine.

Even more of the same Summer

Sijing and her mother left and we packed our bags and headed for Moab. Courtland planned a family reunion for our family in July in Moab!? What was he thinking? Yes it was hot but it was so much fun that I think in the long run no one cared. All but Beckett and his family had access

to a jeep and they have their 4X4 truck so we all went on the trails. If you read my blog you know that we bought a new Jeep on Memorial Day and by the end of the family reunion we had the necessary "Rocky Mountain Pin stripping" to prove that this Jeep isn't just a pretty face. It is tough to know that our new Jeep is all scratched but such is life.

We went to Gemini Bridges on Friday and on Sat we took the LaSal Mountain Pass. Friday we cooked and Sat by the time we got to the top it was 61 degrees and the kids were all freezing. We had them wrapped in blankets and sweatshirts and finally put them in the car with the windows rolled up. The adults were cold as well. I even went places I never imagined I would go. I drove up Baby Lions Back. I had Courtland with me and he was a wonderful co-pilot. My husband wouldn't drive it so I felt obligated to do it to show I am a "real" woman. It worked. Joseph said he could now brag that he sat and watched his wife drive it.

Thank you Courtland for all the time and effort you put into making this family reunion one that we will remember forever. Don't ever think that your family didn't invest in the activity.