GARAGE SALE

Last weekend we had a garage sale. Here are my thoughts for whatever they are worth...

Countless number of miscellaneous items: $50

Bag of girls clothing: $20

Pair of used skiies: $15

Pile of miscellaneous stuff: $10

DaVinci art book: $5

Blender: $3

Number of hours setting up, manning and taking down: 10

Number of hours spent going through the house: Unknown

Getting rid of all that STUFF: PRICELESS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHY!

It seemed fitting for me to wish my sister, Kathy, a happy Birthday on my blog.

Many of my family, including my parents, husband and daughter, love that I have a blog because it means that they get to read Kathy's comical and entertaining comments. I swear this is true. They are more interested in the forthcoming comment than the actual post. I have to admit that I love reading the comments as well. Kathy always makes me laugh and brings a smile to my face. Thanks for being such a great friend, example, support, etc. You are amazing! Keep those comments coming. I hope you have a great day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! LOVE YA!

YES, We are still here!

My how time flies when you are having fun.

I can't believe how quickly the weeks fly by. We are so busy right now that I fall into bed and then wake up the next morning and start crossing more things of the list. Here is a very condensed glimpse of what we have been up to for the past six weeks.

Mollie started softball and loves it. She has enjoyed moving up a level and having live pitching instead of coach pitch. She is working on being a pitcher and does a great job playing catcher. I am one of the coaches for her team. I love being outdoors with the girls but sometimes she may wish her mom wasn't the coach. For the most part we enjoy our time together and she loves it when there happens to be a game on a night when Dad can come. Other than softball she tolerates having to go to school and is very much looking forward to summer.

Megan is playing high school softball and enjoying it. Their team has gone undefeated. She mostly plays second base but occassionally gets a chance to try out a different spot. A few weeks ago she hit a home run. It is definitely the highlight of the season so far. Aside from softball she is super busy with school and of course her social life. She gave a great talk in stake conference this past week and is practicing her clarinet in preparation for her tryouts for wind ensemble.

Sam tore his ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow about a month ago at his last wrestling match. He is doing better and it appears that he does not need surgery but I am trying to figure out how to fit all of the physical therapy appointments into our schedule. It is healing and now he has to work on getting his range of motion back and rebuilding his strength. It doesn't seem to bother him too much when he is picking on (teasing) Mollie. Sam registered for high school a few weeks ago. It didn't phase him at all but it sure sent me into a frenzy. I can't believe he is that grown up.

Lets see, I have been busy at work as usual. This spring I ordered, received, prepared, packaged, and delivered over 15,000 living "things" to more than 150 teachers across the district. I am very tired of coming home feeling slimy and gross. Work will be busy this spring but at least the "alive" part is slowing down. Other than that I kept plenty busy this last month making sure everyone got to were they needed to be. I played the piano for a musical number in stake conference. It was great to practice and spend more time on the piano. It had been a long time since I had played. Thanks to a lot of prayers, and preparation, the number went great.

Mike continues to go to school and do homework. He has started umpiring "professionally" and enjoys it. He is doing high school softball and NSA tournaments. Occassionally he sneaks in a game of Mollie's (see picture above). A few weeks ago we had a real treat. We were able to go to a concert of Rhonda Vincent. Mike loves blue grass music. It was a fun evening.

The kids and I headed to Montana for spring break and had a great time. It was fun to see all of the family and get away from the chaos for a few days. It was unfortunate that Sam was hurt. He was not able to enjoy some of the activities, like skiing, but we still had a great time. We are hoping the next vacation dad can come with us.

Lets see here, what else. We had a fun easter. Jorelle, Andrew and the kids came up to color eggs and hang out. It was a great day. On Sunday after church we headed over to Mike's parents house for dinner.

I have had many opportunities over the last month to be thankful for the many family members and friends who do so many wonderful things to support us. We love you all.

She's Amazing

After focusing on Sam the last post I decided to jot a few things down about Megan. She is pretty amazing and does so many great things. I love the fact that Megan willingly gets up on her own and goes to seminary when the rest of the house is still dark and quiet. She then puts in a full day at school, followed by practice, homework, church activities, friends etc. It is not uncommon to hear her on the phone planning or organizing an event or helping a friend with their homework. She always seems to fit everything in and keeps on top of everything despite her busy schedule (now, if I could only get her to clean her room.)

Anyhow, last week she officially made the JV team at Jackson High School. Jackson has an extremely competitive group of girls and we are very happy for her. She loves the game and I have always loved watching her play. Her years of hardwork have definitely paid off. I'm sure I'll be sharing pictures later on in the season.

For the past several months Megan has volunteered to help out twice a week with the 5th grade community band. She loved it and I loved the great attitude she had about serving. A few nights ago we dropped her off at the spring performance. We then left to run to the library and then were planning on picking her back up. A few minutes later the phone rang and she said she was ready to be picked up. It turns out the band played 12 songs that were approximately 30 seconds each.

Thanks Megan for all you do and for your great example. WE LOVE YOU!

PS: It appears that Megan is no longer the same height as Sam!

On My Honor

Those of you that know me well know that Sam holds a special little spot in my heart, reserved just for him. However, I must admit that his teenage obnoxiousness has replaced some of his childish charm making it just a tad more difficult for him to win me over.

The other day I picked him up from wrestling and as we entered the house we had the usual exchange. He tells me about his day and his homework, I ask a few questions, then he asks what's for dinner and if he has time to shower first. I said, yes you have time to shower and then as he took off for the stairs he stopped and said "hey Mom, is Mollie home?" I replied "yea, she is upstairs." Then I heard him proclaim in a voice of complete joy as he headed up the stairs talking only to himself, "good, I'll bug her for a few minutes first."

On the flip side I was very proud of him tonight at the court of honor. He received his "On My Honor" award. I didn't even know the award existed. By the time I figure out the whole scouting thing he will be done with the program. Anyhow, he earned a few more merit badges tonight and has begun working on his Eagle Project. Way to go Sam, I love you.

What's Going On

Once again Megan has informed me that it is quite lame that I have not posted anything for so long. I guess I just don't know what to blog about. So anyhow you'll just get a run down of our happenings.

Mollie is very excited about softball starting. She was so cute last week when she got nervous about trying out. I assured her it would be fine and to just do her best. She looked at me and said "you will give me a high score, right mom." It looks like I will be one of her coaches again this year. Mollie has also been fighting what I would call a chronic cold. It might be harder on me than her. Other than that she tolerates school and always is looking for somebody to hang out with.

In Sam's words, "I am a mess, can you bring me a get better pill." Last friday Sam came home injured from wrestling practice and was not feeling well. He spent four days with a blanket and pillow on the couch. Today he is feeling better and made it to school. He is not excited about all the make up work and was even more disappointed at wrestling practice today when it became obvious that the injury to his tailbone is definitely not better.

Megan was the last to succomb to the "bug" and finally had to give into the fact that she was sick. She fought it for two days and made a valiant effort but had to stay home today. She is now on the couch with a blanket. High school softball tryouts begin monday and she is worried about having her energy back. Band is still Megan's favorite class and she has spent hours after school volunteering with the 5th grade community band.

What else? Mike continues to go to school and study with a few other things mixed in. I am busy at work with all of the spring orders. I am getting a little tired of bugs, snails, cockroaches, crayfish, worms, etc. etc. etc. Oh, did I forget to mention caring for sickies, doing laundry, cooking, dishes, and so on. We did manage to to sneak away to the temple and a quick dinner last Saturday, it was wonderful.

To sum it up we are just up to regular everyday things. Maybe something new and exciting next week. We love reading all of your blogs so keep on blogging.

How tall are they?

This week for a homework assignment Mollie had to measure the height of everyone in the family. We lined up against the wall one at a time and she took our measurements. A few minutes later as she was writing them down she said "Look, Megan and Sam are the same." That started a discussion about who is taller and guess what they are exactly the same. It was so close that we went out and got the level from the garage to see if one of them had a slight edge. Take a look at the air bubble. Its about as level as you can get. I am sure that Sam will pass Megan very quickly. His feet are two sizes bigger and is arms are about two inches longer. Can't believe how quick they are growing up.