Now that's what I call hot!

My oh my how time flies!

This is me in 1960

This is me in 1964

Check out my hair in 1982!

Yes, even I had big hair in 1990

And yes, I used to be a blonde in 2000

Now check out Ryan!

This is Ryan in 1956


This is Ryan in 1970


Pretty rockin in 1976


Awesome in 1988


Here he is in 1990


And finally in 2000

What a pair we make!

Check out www.yearbookyourself.com for more fun.

My fluffy blog.

Here is a picture of some fluff to make this blog somewhat interesting. I believe the title of the picture is "silky fluff".

So for those who missed my brother-in-law Josh's cynical comment on my peaches blog I am going to write happy fluffy things in this blog so that my blog doesn't emanate too much stress. These are a few of my favorite things...

1. Ryan is one of my favorite things. He is awesome. And he has wonderful eyes, and loves me and my sarcasm (mostly :) ).

2. A baby's hand is one of my favorite things. There is something about this age when babies nurse and they play with their hand and your hand that I love.

3. Bottled peaches are very good. In fact, I have to hold back eating the ones I just canned because if I just put all that work into bottling them, why would I just pop open a jar and eat the peaches? Plus we go through 2 jars in one sitting if we eat them as a family.

4. I love rain. I love the smell, the way it cleanses my car, the air, all the toys left outside, and waters the grass.

5. I love to hear my kids laughing. I love it especially when they are laughing at each other. (unless it is at the expense of another).

6. I wish I could read more because getting caught up in a good book is one of my favorite things. Children's fiction have always been my favorite. I like to borrow a lot of books from my kids after they have read them so I can read them. They are easy reading, not too long, and the good ones have profound messages that hit any age group.

7. I love baking and cooking is definitely one of my favorite things. I wish I had time and money to bake all the time. I get to it less and less nowadays and seem to need a reason to make time for it. But when I do it, I love it!

8. Fall and spring are my favorite seasons. Fall because I love apples and pumpkin and crunching through leaves. We went to Ophir this last weekend and drove as far up the canyon as we could and looked at all the colorful leaves. I love spring because of the way things start to green up and flowers bloom and I can kick the kids out of the house without feeling guilty.

9. Friends are very important to me. I live for moments that I get emails from friends or talk to them on the phone or at church. I am a pretty needy social person.

10. And of course I love my kids. When they are good they are so so good! In the things that matter, they are wonderful! They try hard at school, they are nice to their friends, they are obedient in church (for the most part), they love reading church magazines and scriptures, and they try to do what is right.

11. Of course I have to mention that the church is also one of my favorite things. It fulfills so many of my needs - spiritual and emotional. It provides an opportunity to forget myself and serve others and develop relationships that sustain me through tough times.

So there you go. See - there are lots of non stressful things in my life. Writing when I am stressed helps me cope, and it is fun to be cynical about everyday stuff - like canning peaches. But not all of life is stressful. (just a good portion) :)

* hey, have you ever tried a fluffer butter sandwich? Kids love it! It is peanut butter with marshmallow cream or fluff. Pretty sugary, but isn't most jam pretty sugary too? :)

Peaches

So, home-bottled peaches are one of the things I grew up with. My parents always had fruit trees and so they bottled peaches, pears, cherries, and apricots. So, I guess that's where I get my desire to bottle fruit when I get the opportunity. My Mom brought me a box of peaches from their tree last week and I have been thinking about all the reasons I love bottling peaches.

• We only have a turtle and a dog, so the opportunity to raise fruit flies in our house is wonderful! I love how they come in and reproduce on my plants and bananas that are sitting out so that we can keep a healthy colony in our home for weeks afterwards.

• The practice multi-tasking as I am boiling peaches - skinning and pitting them and taking any bad parts out, making the syrup, cleaning the bottles, boiling lids, putting peaches in jars, sealing the jars and marking the bottles is wonderful. How often do I get to do.. lets see... 8 tasks all at once? Obviously not enough.

• Having all 4 burners going on my stove top for like 6 hours straight does wonders for my electric bill. Not to mention the heat and steam that is generated during that time. Nothing like sweating profusely for hour after hour to clean out those pores!
  

• I get to see a physics process in the works as I watch sugar molecules spread from the container, to the stove top, to the floor, and then multiply and spread profusely throughout the house. Usually it is mixed with water or steam from the other tasks OR even better, the peach juice from the peaches. It is so much fun cleaning up that sticky mess because it can't be cleaned up in one mopping, it takes like 3 or 4.
  

• The excitement of a small explosion in your kitchen is so much fun! To have a glass jar filled with peaches and hot syrup burst is a moment worth waiting for. If you are as lucky as me, it may even happen 4 times or more!
  

• I love how when peaches are ready to bottle, they are ready NOW. You can't ask them to wait until next Tuesday when you have less going on in your schedule. They demand attention and time that moment, and well, I just don't have enough demands on my time as it is. It teaches me time management and flexibility.
  

• Teaching my kids how to put up fruit is such a joy! It is great having them in my kitchen eating the peaches, asking me all sorts of questions, throwing peaches into the cold water sink before boiling them so that I get to find the peach that doesn't belong, moving jars around just for the fun of it, tracking the sugar and juice over more of the house, and my favorite... getting a drink of milk and then pouring the rest of the cup into the sink of clean peaches so I get to start again.

• My disposal needs to chew up peach pits occasionally anyway to keep its blades sharp and clean. Plus, it is fun to reach your hand into a disposal filled with peach skins, slimy peach parts, and who knows what else to find a pit or part of a pit.

• Running to the grocery store several times in a few hours is fun too. There is always something I don't have enough of... lids, jars, sugar, pectin, etc. I like the game of figuring out how much I need, buying it, and then realizing how off I was to start with and doing it all over again!

• I am happy when I am woken in the middle of the night a dozen times or so to the sound of the jars sealing and lids popping. Every time I hear it, I think - thank heavens it pops loud enough for me to wake up and hear it so we can celebrate together! I think the jars want me to jump up and congratulate them on their accomplishment.

• The last reason I love canning is that it makes me feel like a true LDS woman - especially since I don't scrapbook. I think to really be a true LDS woman, you have to bottle something in your lifetime. It's like I am one step closer to my mansion!

Yum Yum!

You're gonna miss this!

That's what they tell me anyway. They tell me that I will look back fondly on these days. But if you were to ask me now, I would say...

I DON'T THINK SO!!!

I have longer periods of time between blogs when things are hard. You know, sometimes you just think that it can't get harder. I remember thinking I couldn't be busier like 10 years ago. Boy was I wrong. I think I actually let those words leave my mouth a few times talking to people. So, maybe I am being cursed... I don't know.

I feel so behind all the time. The projects that need to be done, the kids that need to be attended to, the chores to figure out, the dishes to wash, the soccer games to go to, the books to read, the homework to check, the bike tires to pump, the clothes to mend, the carpet to vacuum, the dog to feed, the callings to magnify, the laundry to fold, the kids to bathe, the peaches to can, the scriptures to read, the garden to weed.

I pictured myself years ago, six or more kids in tow, smiling, in my minivan. I never expected an immaculate house, but I wanted it clean. I never expected to not get my laundry put away before it needed to be done again. I didn't expect kids to grow out of the clothes that needed to have buttons sewn back on them before I could get around to sewing them. I couldn't possibly have imagined the piles of papers that I go through trying to figure out what to keep and what to toss while new piles are forming. What did I expect? I am not sure. But it know it wasn't this.

I have never been so busy in my entire life. I have never thought I could be so busy and have so many rolls to play. I didn't think I would put myself in a situation where tasks could just not be completed day after day. To have a teething (his first tooth just broke through today... yeah!) crying baby that has just totally thrown up on you (like totally down your front and into those dark places where it can squish around and ferment) and is peeing through his diaper at the same time your 4 year old is crying wearing mostly underwear with his pants hanging around his ankles because he doesn't want to take his shoes off, at the same time your 12 year old wants you to take him to get a book at Walmart, at the same time that another kid is asking for chocolate soy milk (where did that come from?), while finding a huge spider (like bigger than the bottom of a quart jar huge) out in the garage to catch, and have rain falling inside the suburban because the windows are down. My husband has been gone for 14 hours so far today and I am still on my own, I am so overwhelmed. I think overwhelmed is what I have been feeling so much of this last week. I have day after day where my schedule is completely backed one thing after another from morning to night and I just get exhausted!

I keep wondering why Heavenly Father can't make things a little easier for us. I don't like talking about this very often, but it has now been over a year since Ryan started looking for a job. Last year at this time, I was pregnant and we knew the additional stress another kid would place on our already tight budget, especially when we found out that American Express was cutting back so much on its benefits. I prayed and prayed asking Heavenly Father to bless us in this way for so long now. We have struggled through the schooling, done all we could do to enable Ryan to make enough money for our needs and it just has not been Heavenly Father's will. So, we continue to struggle far beyond what I thought we would have to. And as I have questioned and wondered why we have had things so difficult, the thought came to me that it is for my experience.

DANG that experience!

So I wonder to myself... could it be that I will someday be in a place where some poor woman will be struggling with her six young kids that drive her crazy and she feels so so so overwhelmed and I will be able to say- "I understand", and I really will understand?

Could it be possible that the Lord will put me in a place where there are other struggling mothers trying to do everything they can and feel like it is just not enough and I will truly know how they feel?

Will I eventually be somewhere where someone will need additional compassion and understanding?

I guess maybe.

And maybe it is just all for my own experience and good.

It doesn't feel good. And it is hard to be patient and have faith that the Lord is taking care of you. Does he realize that 5 of my kids need long pants for the winter, and a few need new coats and shoes? Does he see that my car will need new tires before the first snow? Does he realize that as much as I try there never seems to be enough money for everything?

I know I have running water and a floor and that is more than most of the population of the world. I am so lucky I have a car that holds all 8 of us. Ryan has a truck to do his piano moves in. We have a house, we have good food, and of course, we have each other. I realize there are many many people way worse off than us. But it can still be hard sometimes. And I still feel like complaining occasionally. Then I get it out of my system take a deep breath and get ready to climb to the next mountain peak. I'm not supposed to get anything more than I can handle after all, right? I must be tougher than I realize.

They say I will miss all of this. They say it will all fly by and I will wish for it all over again.

I'm counting on it!

The last three.

I think it is past time for me to write what I love about the last three kids in my crew before I forget. So, here it goes.

Jacob
Jacob is an all around fun kid. He has a great laugh and a funny personality. He is a good mix of my socialness (a word I just made up) and Ryan's creativity. He can come up with stuff to do but needs someone to implement his ideas with him. Jacob has a lot of energy. One of the things I love the most about him is he has a very kind and sensitive heart. He will share without hesitating. He will cry because he is happy (he won't appreciate that so much in years to come - "mom, I am just so happy!" as he grins with tears coming from his eyes). He also will say things like how wonderful I am, or beautiful my hair looks, or how much he likes my earrings. He is the first kid to see a kid of the opposite sex (a girl in his case) and tell me that he thinks she is really pretty. He is quick to speak his mind. Once we were at McDonalds and this random kid came up to him and started talking and talking and bugging him. Jacob tolerated it for a good 2 -3 minutes and then, without hesitating or thinking twice, just said "man, you are annoying." I love this stage of kids - the 5-6 year olds. They still love you and are nice to you. They miss you when you are gone. They care about what you think. They are so proud of their accomplishments. It is so much fun! Jacob is a little emotional and gets pretty angry quick. He has a feisty temper once someone sets him off. But his personality is such that a lot rolls off him before it really gets to him. His best friend is Brandon, then Cameron his brother. He tries hard to please and has reconfirmed to me time and time again that boys are easier to raise than girls.


Cameron
Cameron is independent and goofy. He is sincerely funny. He is a lot like Ryan with his quieter personality, but finds his own ways to get attention. He plays practical jokes on me a lot - and they work. Like this last summer, I had the sprinkler on the front lawn. He went outside and moved and pointed it in a way that it was hitting the front door. Then he came in and got me and told me someone was at the door for me and then sat on the couch silently as I opened the door and got hosed down by the water. And he's only 4! He really thought he was funny. (I laughed too.) He is clever when it comes to me taking pictures too. Here are some pictures to show that.

I was taking pictures of Matthew and he wanted me to take a picture of him too. And then last second, he pulled Diego from behind his back and so when I took the picture, he laughed because I took a picture of Diego's bum.

Here is another one where he wanted me to take a picture of him and had a mirror hidden so when I counted to 3, he pulled out the mirror and said "ha ha! You just took a picture of yourself!"

So I could see that he is getting in the habit of when I say 3, to do something funny. I am usually too lame to realize it. So when I took a couple pictures of them out back last week, here is what happened.

picture 1I counted to 3, and on 3 he threw sand so that there is a big blur of sand being thrown through the air. I though to myself "ah ha! I will trick him this time" So I started to take another picture and on the count of 2 I clicked the camera. Here's the picture

picture 2Yeah, it was okay for him, but Jacob wasn't looking so I wanted to try one more time. I decided to use my count to 2 strategy again and here is what happened.

picture 3
Yes, on the count of 2, he jumped- so he is mid-air (his feet aren't touching) and made a face. And who knows what he is doing with his hands!

Yes, he fooled me. The problem is he shows signs of being a youngest child which drives me NUTS. He KNOWS he can get away with stuff because I just can't keep up and so he tries to get away with whatever he can. He is not very obedient and by the time I get around to realizing that he isn't obedient, its too late to teach him a lesson. He can be sneaky and smart about manipulating things his way. He has a lot of older siblings that he can get to help him with his plans. He LOVES Matthew and really enjoys sitting by him and holding his hand or making him laugh. He will get a devilish laugh sometimes that I can hear from the other room that signals that I better RUN because Matthew may be in mortal danger. He is my buddy during the days, and even though he can get super whiny, I am glad I have him around.


Matthew
Well what can I say about Matthew? He has been so wonderful. I had forgotten how unconditional a baby's love is for his Mom. It feels so great to be loved like that. He is patient much more than he should have to be at times, he is social and really enjoys being talked to and played with by ALL his siblings. He loves looking and staring at them. It is so much fun to see them make him laugh. One of the things I have loved most about having another baby is the interaction between him and the others. He can make someone go from grumpy to smile by looking and smiling at them. He can be a great distraction. They have loved him and welcomed him to our family. So even when I am crazy out of my mind with my 6 kids, I look at him and am grateful for his little spirit. He has brought a lot of happiness to me. He will still snuggle with me. I miss him being an infant which is my favorite stage. But these babies growing up and learning is fun too. He loves to be on his belly and he can get his knees underneath him. He can roll both from front to back and back to front. He loves standing. He can flip himself out of the swing or car seat if he isn't buckled in all the way. He is almost sitting up on his own for a good chunk of time. Looking at him, he seems to be developing fast physically - which is not so welcome. But hey, can't do anything about it! And I can understand that he will want to be able to keep up with the rest of the crew. He will need to get a head start!

Here is a progression from infant to now. (Oh how I miss the infant!)



So, there is the last of my kids. If you are reading this part and you made it to the end of this long blog... CONGRATS!!! You deserve a blue ribbon or something. :)

What I am.

This morning while eating French toast for breakfast, Jacob said with a big smile -

"Mom, you are an excellent mom, an excellent cook, and an excellent lover!"

Woah. Ryan about spit his orange juice across the room. My mouth dropped open and I started laughing. Ryan, thinking that he must have heard wrong started saying -

"Did you say excellent lava?, excellent cover?"

"No Dad, she is an excellent lover."

I tried to hide my laughing.

Ryan was panicking and still tried to 'clarify' it saying -

"I see, because she loves you so much."

"Yeah" Jacob said with a big smile.

Yep, that's my Jake!

(this is a picture he took of himself after figuring out on his own how to set the timer for the camera. He set the camera up on the table, set the timer, and ran to the other side to pose. I love this picture!)

Fire drill.

Fire Safety

In order to prevent the Passey household from burning into a pile of ashes, the following rules should always be followed.

1. It is important to pay attention to the task at hand, not allowing yourself to become distracted. (Cooking can be a dangerous activity!)

2. When turning on the stove top, check to make sure nothing is on the burner you are turning on. Things that may cause a problem include but are not limited to the following:

• Any type of dishrag/dishtowel - ESPECIALLY hot pads. (Despite the misleading name, they do burn quite easily (see picture).)
• Empty pots or lids
  
• Utensils (especially plastic or wooden!)
  
• Children
• Bread bags
• Plates, cups, or plastic bowls
  
• Small appliances

3. If you happen to not obey rule #2, put out the fire quickly in the kitchen sink as soon as you smell the putrid, nauseating, poisonous fumes.

4. Open all windows and doors to allow fumes to escape as quickly as possible.

5. Wonder why the smoke alarm isn't blaring although the smoke could possibly be thick enough to make your eyes water and nose burn.

6. Turn the swamp cooler onto high.

7. Leave the premises.

8. It is ESSENTIAL to make sure if you happened to just put a baby in the highchair, that you take the baby outside too instead of leaving the baby inside while saving yourself. That would be incredibly selfish. The highchair should be empty.
It should look like this...

9. When you can re-enter your home, light as many nice smelling candles as possible to hide and cover the terrible smell that may come from the burning objects.

10. Put the burning object into the outside garbage can (after taking a picture for your blog).

11. Change the menu from indoor cooking to outdoor cooking.

By following these easy steps, everyone can enjoy a dinner together
happy and healthy.
(Except the poor baby that may have possibly been left inside. Please don't tell him when he is older and shows odd symptoms, where they may have come from.)

What is the worst thing you have ever burned while cooking?
(besides yourself)

Great article on balance.

Hey, I know most of you don't have much time to read, but this article really was fantastic. I used part of it in my testimony today. I am learning more and more about the power of the Atonement. Anyway, here is a link to it. If you get a moment to go to it, print it out and take it with you somewhere, maybe you will get a chance to read it. Talk about a solution to not feeling guilty and inadequate! We can only do so much and that is probably a little more than our Heavenly Father expects us to do!


http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=a1737fae6f3eb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

Let me know what you guys think.

Redeeming myself.

Okay, I have to post this really quick before my conscience gets the better of me...

I really DO love Sundays. They are my very favorite day of the week. Ryan is home most of the day (has a few church duties on Sunday, but not bad), there is no TV, Computer games, Nintendo or PS2. We don't have to get up super early, the kids play games together, I get to make a nice dinner. I get to visit with friends at church.

I LOVE Sundays. They are great!

(Does that redeem me from my last post?) :)

- I was wondering what days are your favorite and least favorite of the week. Take the polls on the right side!

Saturday is a special day.

I hate Saturdays. I have grown from a slight dislike, to a mild fear, to strong detesting for Saturdays over the years. Saturday is Ryan's main piano moving day, so he is usually gone all day. In addition, it is a clean the house day which, regardless of whether Ryan is home or not, makes the day hard. But with more kids (especially Matthew) and responsibilities of my own and the kids getting older, I have to expect more from each child.

If we were Catholic and had to confess for the things we did wrong, a priest would have to live at our house on Saturdays. Kids dislike cleaning and try to cut corners whenever possible - which now means lying and hoping not to get caught. It is easier for them to get away with stuff now that Matthew is here because I just can't check EVERYTHING they do. I have to trust them more and just go by what they say if I can't check the chore at the moment. I can find out later what really hasn't been done within a day or two just by doing my normal stuff - but by then its too late to do anything about it.

So here is how this Saturday went. We took the kids to the drive in last night so they got to bed late and of course can't sleep in - since they might miss some monumental event in the cartoon world. So we started out grumpy and tired. This morning, Ryan's first move was at 9:00 in Draper so he had to leave around 8:00, and Brandon had a soccer game at 9:00 so we were trying to get ready early anyway. I took Matthew, Brandon, and Cameron to the soccer game, got home in time to take Brandon to an eye Dr. appointment, then came home to put some toaster pastries in the toaster (sale at Albertsons this last week - the only time we get them. :) ), feed Matthew, and get ready to go to the Aviary. The kids were 'resting' trying to get some energy to do their chores while I was gone, so no chores got done yet. But Ryan got to go to the Aviary for free today for an American Express promotion thing, and so we worked in meeting him in between his last two moves there. When we left, the house was still a mess, chores still left undone, the effects of a way-less-than healthy lunch catching up on us, and everyone still tired.

It was fun, but there was this wedding going on in a section of the Aviary. There was this couple, dressed up, everyone cheering for them, shaking ribbons, ringing bells, and I stood there feeling... I don't know - jealous I guess. This poem from the Ensign a few years back came into my mind. I looked it up on LDS. org

Martha P. Taysom, “The Wedding Reception,”
Ensign, Apr 2005, 25

I sit and watch her.
My pastel punch and thick-iced cake
(On delicate plate)
Balance awkwardly on my knee.

I think of me 12 years before.

Her smile beams
First on this reception guest,
Then that.
Sometimes blushing,
Sometimes laughing,
Always turning
Eyes of admiration to the handsome groom.

Should I tell her?
Tell her of face-down peanut-buttered bread
On new-mopped floor?
Of a two-year-old stretched out
and kicking angrily
In the grocery store
(And everybody watching)?

Can I tell her?
Tell her of the almost-can’t-cope days?
The lonely evenings
Waiting for bishopric meeting
To end?

Will I tell her?
Tell her of the terrifying cry
Of croup
Deep in night?
Or the quickened step
Of the home teacher
Summoned to help administer
To a feverish brow?

No.
But neither can I share with her
The thrill of a newborn’s nose
Bobbing in my neck;
The pride of seeing a six-year-old
Begin to read.

I cannot tell her
Of a husband’s gentle touch
On my hand
As we pass briefly
In the chapel foyer.

So,
Standing, I brush away the crumbs
From my not-so-new dress,
Smile,
And wave a little
To the bride
Across the room.

It sometimes feels like the joys of parenting are so few and far between. Today I wasn't seeing any of these joys, just the tough things (I actually pulled over on the ramp to I-80 westbound and told one of my kids to get out after they beat on their little brother. This was the 2nd time I had stopped after leaving the Aviary and the 3rd kid I had threatened to have to find their own way home.)

I am finding the joys of parenting are much easier overlooked. For some reason, the negative things overshadow the joys so often. The funny things kids say, their ability to forgive, the love they show for each other, and the way they strive to do what is right. The little good things are there - they just have to be found. I am going to have to try much harder to find them.

I need to find a way to make Saturdays better. The work load will still be there, the kids will still fight working, and I will spend most Saturdays as the only parent. Much of making them better will be to just stop trying to get my own agenda done. I will have to do my cleaning and mowing/yard work on another day so I can be around as much as possible to help my kids do their work. It will take me being a little less selfish to make this day better. And someday when Ryan won't have to work every Saturday to make our ends meet, I will just appreciate his help and presence even more! (And we need to go on an occasional date so I can get out. But that's another blog...)

Failure post

Okay Moms of this generation. Why do our kids say mean things to us? Why do they talk sassy and with attitude? It was a bad morning for Rachael and Jacob. I end up taking them to school feeling terrible and I am thinking about when I was younger. I didn't say as many mean things to my parents and I am analyzing why. I thought mean things. But what was it that kept most of the thoughts from coming out my mouth? (I wasn't perfect I'm sure!)

It was because I wanted to please them. My whole youth I may have disagreed with things my Mom said or did - and sometimes my Dad, but I wanted them to be proud of me and to please them and be a great kid so much that I didn't say stuff. And it really wasn't as much that I would be punished. I was a pleaser - which can be good and bad. But why does that not matter to ALL kids? I know Brandon is like me. I was an oldest child. Maybe it is an oldest child syndrome. I just wish the rest were more like that. The next closest would be Kristin. Cameron and Matthew are too young to tell.

I hate taking the kids to school and feeling like a failure. UGH!!! Parenting is so hard sometimes! I am going to go walk off my angry, frustrated, disappointed, and hurt feelings. I'll feel better later.

Give me your opinions - I know I am not the only one who struggles with this challenge with my kids! (At least I hope not. I will find out soon enough though if no one else says anything. ) Hope everyone else is having a great day!

And then there was one.

I was going to write this extremely clever and witty blog sometime this afternoon, but time has flown by with one drama after another. Have you heard how fruit and veggies in your garden are the best to pick in the morning before the heat of the day drains and wilts them? You can still pick them later, but they have the best taste and most vitamins early. Well, it's evening now, and that's pretty much how I feel. And so you get a second class blog... all the best parts of me are drained out, and here's what's left.

Yep. This is how I feel tonight. Just like this stalk of celery.

My biggest obstacle this morning was getting all kids ready by 8:25. Getting me ready would be nice, but not necessary. My elementary kids (girls and Jacob) have walked to school 3 mornings in a row now. The first morning I bribed and basically told them they had to. Something strange happened that morning, because Tuesday morning, they WANTED to walk. In fact, when Jacob found out the girls had gone (I was going to drive him because he wasn't ready yet), he was terribly upset. I ended up driving him to the girls to walk the rest of the way. It has been SUCH a relief for them to walk. I will have to see how long I can get them to do it!

So, Brandon was off before 7:00, the girls and Jacob off by 8:10, and just Cameron and Matthew left. I got Cameron ready in plenty of time for his school and went to pick up Matthew to get in the car and found he had totally pooped everywhere!!! It was one of those that I had no chance of cleaning up with just wipes. After getting him undressed, I quickly bathed and dressed him and we were off to his first day of pre-school. We were late, but made it!

ONE KID!!! What to do with my time... I have been debating this for several weeks now. Do I nap, clean the house, have a leisure shower, exercise, do an errand, blog, play a game, watch TV, read a book.... the options are endless! I know I should exercise and my Mom said if I am going to really exercise, I needed to make it an appointment and stick with it. I know she is right, so today I decided to exercise.

So, I got home (Cameron didn't want me to go to school with him. He wanted me to just drop him off and go), put on a slightly supportive undergarment and a new shirt, called some friends and headed out for a quick walk. I had to be back quick to get showered and ready to drop off Matthew, pick up Cameron, and head to the school to help out with music for the 3rd grade. I have to admit - it felt great to exercise. I really enjoyed it. Kim Robinson, Farrah Jessop, and our attachments went around the park track a couple of times.

I did something really stupid though... I took our dog with me.


Why would I not take advantage of just one kid and take the dog? Especially when the dog wanted to poop on someone's lawn - which I didn't let him do (beware the road by the stake center) or chase the other dogs barking. Not my smartest move. But I feel guilty leaving him home all the time when we go on walks. So, I took him. Probably won't do it again. (Sorry Brody).

Friday is my next one kid afternoon. Oh the peace and quiet - no arguing or asking for a fruit snack 42 times. Just me and Matthew. A small glimpse of the peace to come in just a few more years....