Do you smell fear...

So I have a lot of things that are depressing me right now. Pregnancy, the never ending money crunch, the credit crunch not lightening in time to buy a house, the over all economy, serious lack of sufficient retirement savings, lack of sleep, lack of good food, interest rates rising, the government in general, etc...you get the idea...
These are all stressful but what do I really dread the most (besides pregnancy)? What has hung a little black rain cloud over all of my spring and summer? It's the BYU vs. OU game.

How can anyone be happy knowing that in two months we could be watching a horrific blue blood bath? I know that OU along with Bradford are way overrated but that still doesn't change the fact that they are a good team and us not so much. We have a good history of upsets against amazing teams but this year I haven't been able to summon any faith. I've tried to dream beautiful dreams of the future based on the amazing recruiting success of this year but the future is clouded with the present looming OU. I dislike OU, ever since the 80's and their stupid sooner wagon. Dislike, dislike, dislike them (John says I can't say hate) which is why I make such an excellent Texas fan.
What if Texas loses to OU also? This could be the worst football season ever... That game could send me into early labor. What if that little dork Bradford gets the Heisman again? This could be SOOOOOOOOOO bad!
People, don't let your happiness depend on college football!! Escape while there is still time.

Can I Get a Hallelujah!!

Weight is not a fun topic for me. It never has been and it never will be. They say that an ideal BMI is 22. For the last few years I have always been a 24 or 25. This is not considered super overweight but still I want to be a size 6 and not 8 or 10 (or the annoying right after pregnancy size 12). But now people...let us rejoice together and eat that last french fry...

http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/06/29/1751257/Being-Slightly-Overweight-May-Lead-To-Longer-Life

"Findings of a new study show that underweight people and those who are extremely obese die earlier than people of normal weight — but those who are only a little overweight actually live longer than people of normal weight. 'It's not surprising that extreme underweight and extreme obesity increase the risk of dying, but it is surprising that carrying a little extra weight may give people a longevity advantage,' said one of the coauthors of the study. 'It may be that a few extra pounds actually protect older people as their health declines, but that doesn't mean that people in the normal weight range should try to put on a few pounds.' The study examined the relationship between body mass index and death among 11,326 adults in Canada over a 12-year period. The study showed that underweight people were 70 percent more likely than people of normal weight to die, and extremely obese people were 36 percent more likely to die. But overweight individuals defined as a body mass index of 25 to 29.9 were 17 percent less likely to die than people of a normal weight defined as a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9. The relative risk for obese people was nearly the same as for people of normal weight. The authors controlled for factors such as age, sex, physical activity, and smoking. 'Overweight may not be the problem we thought it was,' said Dr. David H. Feeny, a senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research. 'Overweight was protective.'"

Well...it is fun to dream but I think I would still rather be a size 6 than live longer ;)

Scentsy quick look...

Lots of questions on what a scentsy is both online and in person! I thought most of us had all lived around Corrine long enough to know what they were. She had some. They call themselves the wickless candle but really they are like a candle warmer only much better because they melt little blocks of scented wax instead of a whole candle. I really like mine because they make the WHOLE place smell good. Also, their scents are AMAZING!! My sister-in-law's sister-in-law (no, not a mistake) sells them so I am hooked up ;) Little expensive but watch for their closeouts and clearances. www.scentsy.com

Pleasantries..

Some of you have been wondering why I haven't been updating too much but I really don't have many pleasant things to say these days ;) However, yesterday the boys were smelling up the house so I turned on my scentsy in my room. The air here in Boulder is AMAZING. It smells like pine and lilac, a very sweet delightful smell. My scentsy had pomegranate smell in it. It was almost out so the smell was very subtle. With the windows open and the scentsy going the room was so refreshing. Spring is beautiful!
Also, I have been feeling the baby move every once in awhile. It is enjoyable when they are so little and don't actually kick ;)

Texas

*Warning - too many pictures to follow

We have been on vacation to steamy Texas. I have literally been on vacation. I only checked email twice and didn't do any other computer. We started our vacation in Austin. As we drove down the boys asked what happened to all the mountains and I told them they melted. I think they may actually believe me after our trip even though it wasn't that hot for Texas. In Austin we got to see Dan and Melissa, John's parents, Paula and Stephanie with baby Sophie. We also went to the Austin ward and saw all our friends. We spent a morning with the Smith's and it was heartbreaking to leave them again. We took a trip with all the cousins to Inner Space Caverns which was really interesting.

On the way down to the caverns...

After Austin we went up to Arlington and spent a few days at Patti and Scott's house. We got to see Eldon and Stephanie and Sara and Scott's family again also. Um, to say that the cousins were happy to be together would be a large understatement. Patti has 3 boys and 1 girl all around the same ages as our boys. It was cousin heaven. When the Zoggs got there for a day the delight could not have been higher. Sara was thinking of leaving without staying the night. She asked her kids to rank a scale of how important it was to them to stay the night. They all considered it their highest level of importance to stay ;) Our first day we went and fed the most disgusting fish. It ended with a Texas size storm complete with a tornado...


Allison and Seth helping with dinner...


The storm...


Due to the storm we had indoor time...John read to everyone.

The storm ruined the next day outdoor picnic and rock climbing plans with the Zoggs. John and Scott G. built a skim board (inspired by Edd in his youth) to use in the field with the puddles of water. Here are a few of the best wipe outs.



We still had our hotdogs and later that night we did Zoey's and Allison's hair. Allison has curly hair so she got hers straightened and Zoey picked this design off the internet.

The next day we went swimming and played at the park.

Making a whirlpool...


Patti and Seth

Needless to say there were a lot of mosquitoes and fire ants. Hyrum has the least amount of bites. I only counted 10 on one leg which was the lowest number any single leg had ;) The eating was very good and we had a blast. We miss our Austin.

Weekend Fun...

This weekend we had John's brother and his wife, John's sister and her husband and 3 kiddos come stay with us. It probably wasn't as fun for them because they had John and I to talk to but we had a blast. Sara and Brittany did most of the dishes which made John ultra happy. We had a pasta and bean filled weekend which is what you would expect if Sara and I are cooking ;) Everything was delicious. We played, walked on the creek path and hiked.

To say that the kids had a fun time would not completely describe their job. Little Seth spent the whole time playing with Zoey. When we asked the boys what their favorite part was Math said it was playing with Zoey. Seth his favorite part was Zoey and Hyrum and Josh said their favorite part was playing with Fields and Walter. Joe and Brittany left first. After they left we spent awhile talking about how great they are. After Scott and Sara left and everyone stopped crying we also spent a long time talking about how great they are.


One cute story...on Sunday morning I went in to check on all the kids who had slept together in Math and Seth's room. They had been up for awhile but they were all sitting on their sleeping bags and Josh was reading to everyone. I asked how they were doing, did they sleep well, etc. They answered fine. I asked if they were ready to come downstairs and eat and get ready for church. They said no, they wanted to stay upstairs and "talk" together for longer.

Stories for Boys

For some reason this song has been stuck in my head. No, this post really has nothing to do with the song and no, you probably haven't heard the song except Tiff. It's a very old, early U2 song. Anyway, this post might be long but I am doing that on purpose to test your true devotion ;)
I understand why people don't read blogs. It is like me and Twitter. I think twitter sounds cool but I already feel "plugged in" with facebook and the blog. I don't feel like adding any more computer to my life. So while I don't have anything but positive thoughts about Twitter I am just happier being less cool. I am sure many people feel this way about blogs (why I don't know but...still...). So I understand that people don't read them but I have to say that it is very annoying when they don't!!
Blogs are such a nice way to distribute information. They aren't for two way contact. They can't really provide that needed acceptance or assurance that you get from two way communication. I mean comments can make you feel like people care but you'll never be fully satisfied if you depend on comments to make sure people like you ;) Blogs, however, are great for keeping connected in a different way. They are like a weekly or monthly Christmas letter which is always fun and wonderful.
My youngest brother doesn't read the blog. This is sort of the point of my post but not the whole reason (stay tuned). This doesn't bother me but it is a little annoying when we get together and my sister and other brother and my sister-in-law are all caught up on pictures and stories and my brother spends the whole time going "What, I never saw that?" "What, when did you do that?" "Josh said what? Math can ride without training wheels...when did that happen?" Of course, with this particular brother it would still probably happen even if he did read our blog ;)
For this reason I have a secret that I think you should only be privileged to if you read the blog. It's like a reward for reading the blog...it's not really a great reward ;) I am sure chocolate would be a better reward but still...
This way when we go and visit in summer you can already feel like you are in the know when it will be a big surprise to others. (Are you feeling special yet?) Plus, there will probably be many who don't bother to read the whole thing (if I was in your shoes I probably wouldn't) so then they won't know either....
I went to my 12 week appointment today. Everything looks good so I figure it's time to spread the word. Obviously I am super sick and although we are happy I think it would be fair to say that Heavenly Father and I aren't on good terms right now. I am sure I will forgive him in December but right now all I have to say is "WHY???" At least it isn't twins. Was it worth all that reading? Probably not...
I am due the first week of December. Who thinks it will be a girl this time? The boys all want a girl so they don't have to "share" their toys. John and I don't really care but a secret part of me thinks I wouldn't know what to do if I got a girl...
I am trying to convince Josh to start changing diapers. Five children is a lot! I am glad we don't have to get a different vehicle but we may need to get therapy if I live through this pregnancy ;)
Happy Thursday...this is my longest post ever!!

Texas Bound...

We are going to be in Austin from about the 5th to the 8th of June. If anyone has time I would love to do a lunch/dinner/dessert, etc some night because I still miss you dearly. I know it is a busy week with school ending but let me know if you want to get together. If not, I will see a lot of you at church hopefully ;)

I'm not crying...

Every Sat the boys have a list of jobs to do along with one job on weekdays. Hyrum probably struggles the most. He always ends up doing his jobs because he doesn't get any screen time until they are done but there is a LOT of complaining and stomping and crying. "It's tooooo boring." "My heart is too tired." "My brain says it can't do it." It goes on and on but lately Hy has been doing better. On Sat morning John told the boys to start their jobs. Hyrum walked upstairs and started his jobs. About a minute later Hyrum asked John, "I am not crying...why?" John didn't really understand so he said "what?" Hyrum answered, "I am doing work and I am not crying...why dad?" John went into a long discussion about how is he growing up and how he's starting to understand that work is good for us. Hy didn't seemed convinced but just said "okay" and finished his work happily.

I need a king with lightning (said by Hy today)

I substituted as Hyrum's primary teacher today. I started to worry a little bit when...

They asked the question, what do mothers do? The first boy answered "nurture" The next couple of kids, "cook" and "clean". I think people expect my boys to give good answers. The singing leader walked up to Hyrum. What do mothers do, Hyrum? His somber reply, "die". Which, if you think about it, they all pretty much do "die" at one point or another anyway. [Hyrum's been sort of thinking about death and the resurrection lately so I sort of understood where he's coming from]. So, then I notice that in the rest of sharing time he's working on a couple of pictures in a notebook of his. Picture #1 entitled "Dark Fighter". Picture #2 entitled "Dark King". Well, if you put two and two together you might get a little worried about our little Hyrum. After primary was over there was one drawing left on the ground. It was a footprint talking about following Jesus and it had about 30 hearts meticulously drawn all around the footprint. I was asking all the little girls who left their picture but no one would fess up and I sort of forgot about it. Later in the car I noticed that Hyrum was holding the picture. "Hyrum, is that your picture?" "Yep" See, don't worry about Hyrum.

Traumatic...

I know some won't think this is a big deal but it is very hard for me to accept...Josh is big. We decided to get the van fixed. The boys have today off from school. John took the van in but I had to go pick him up in the car. The car only fits 5. I had to leave Josh home ALONE for the first time ever. Sigh...could it be possible that Josh is able to stay at home alone now? I know he is nine and he was excited about getting to stay home but I am not sure I am ready for him to be so big. I think many of you can understand. You have little ones and you think it will be like that for so long and you can't believe there will be a day that they can stay home alone. It is so far off you can't even imagine. That was me yesterday but today I woke up and realized my family is no longer shifting, it has shifted to an older, young family. In all honesty I think Hyrum probably could have handled staying home too (but I am not ready to let go of Hy yet).
This is a picture of Josh from his presentation on the Wright brothers...he looked so much older dressed up. (tear)