Happy Birthday, Frick & Frack!

You have both heard the story of your birth at least a thousand times. You both know that it is a miracle you are here.. happy, healthy and bringing so much joy to those around you. As your mom, I delight in watching you grow up, but I have to admit there is a tiny bit of sadness when I fondly recall those kissable chubby toddler cheeks, the tiny hands that would grasp mine so tightly, and how I was the only one you wanted when you were hurt or sad.  

(Although I never want you to hurt, I always want to be the one you turn to when you need a shoulder to cry on!) 


I never get tired of watching the way you interact with each other. From the way you twine your feet together and swing them back and forth, to playfully chasing each other around the house with the Swiffer. "I'm going to Swiffer youuuuuurrrrr faaaaaaaace!" You girls are everything that sisters should be! It makes me happy to imagine you continuing to be best friends for the rest of your lives. 


Abby Julia, you have your great-grandma's looks and what a wonderful legacy that is! (I know you and Linz are identical twins, but everyone agrees that it is you that looks like Grandma Robinson.. I don't know why that is!) Grandma R. loved to tell people that you carry on the name of our ancestor, Julia Abby. I didn't name you that way on purpose, but I think it is really cool! I hope that you will continue to build on your family's legacy by continuing with your music. You play the viola beautifully and it makes me so proud! I absolutely love your laughter and the way that you are such a great helper.

Linzie Savanna, we often joke that you are the other mom because you take such excellent care of everyone around you! I love the way you are so task oriented and your hard work shows in everything you do!  Your humor and antics make me laugh every day. (You are seriously one of the funniest people I know!) I love the way you are so kind and loving toward everyone around you, especially your identical twin.  Your heart is mighty!

It's hard to imagine that two years from now you will both be driving, four years from now you will be off to college, and eventually you will have families of your own. I can't wait to see the wonderful things you will each accomplish in your lives. No matter what, never forget that I will always be here to celebrate your triumphs, wipe your tears, hug you tightly every chance I get, and support you in every way possible.

We had a rough year, but we weathered it together. I am certain that the year ahead will be much better and next year we will look back with nothing but fond memories! 

I love you my littlest chickens!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Last of the Thirteen from Carley Yelrac on Vimeo.

 

Peanut Butter Can Bite Me!

If Marvel Comics was looking for a new villain, I'd suggest Peanut Butter Man.  What a unique comic that would be! Peanut Butter Man could go around causing havoc and destruction everywhere he went. Even a whiff of him could topple a building and his touch alone would be certain death.

Right now you must be thinking I've left the planet.  Sometimes I wish I had. My sweet girl is hurting  today and it is because of peanut butter.  Oh how I hate that sticky stuff that I used to love!

Emily is amazing!  She is beautiful and has more talent than I ever will. Em is a born entertainer who thrives on being around people and spreading happiness everywhere she goes.

But damn the luck, she was also born with a life-threatening peanut allergy. There were many close calls before we figured out what was going on and ever since the diagnosis we have been trying to protect her from America's favorite snack.

Last night my sweet girl spent hours making cookies for her advisory class today. Emily loves to bake and her creations are always fun and unique! Unfortunately, she didn't get to share her treats today because someone else brought peanut butter bars and Em had to leave immediately. I am so sad at the thought of my sweet girl having to swallow that huge disappointment.

It's not fair.  I wish I could take this stupid allergy from her. I'd gladly shoulder the burden so she could live her life truly carefree... for once.

You may have won this round, Peanut Butter Man, but you'll never defeat my girl. She's stronger than you!

Having DVR Screwed Me Up!

Do you have DVR?  If so then you will probably relate to what I can only describe as a permanent life tweak. Don't get me wrong, I love having DVR. In fact, we have DVR hooked up to two televisions on two different floors of our house. Gone are the days of missing interesting programming because we simply set the timers and walk away. Oh the freedom! One of the DVR boxes can even record two different programs at once! That means the kids can record their garbage iCarly and the Hubster can record Deadliest Catch. Meanwhile, I am recording Top Chef and Parenthood upstairs. In our house everybody wins.

(The truth is that I don't have time to even watch a fraction of what gets recorded, but it's comforting to know that I could if I wanted to.)

DVR has also made it incredibly joyful to skip commercials, rewind when the kidlets talk over important dialogue, and pause for potty breaks. (Did I just say potty break on my blog?) I have even been guilty of pausing and moving forward frame by frame so we can laugh at the unfortunate gymnast who fell off the parallel bars and landed face down while kicking himself in the back of the head. Don't judge! If he didn't want me to laugh at him kicking himself in slow-mo then he shouldn't have submitted the tape to AFV in the first place. The guy was no Chuck Norris, or Mary Lou Retton, but he was hilarious for at least five minutes.

I do enjoy the convenience that having DVR has brought into my family's entertainment experience. The problem is that now I find myself wanting to rewind, pause and skip over things that don't have that feature available. I can't tell you how many times I have been spacing out in traffic listening to the radio in my SUV  when I hear something and immediately wonder, "Wait a minute.. what did he just say?" I actually catch myself reaching for the nonexistent rewind button on my radio console before I realize (for the 10th time that week) that I do not have the capability to rewind the radio!

Frustrating!

But it's more than just zoning out and missing radio commentary. What about all of the real life situations that would benefit from DVR capabilities? Here are just a few situations that I think would improve drastically with a little DVR help.

• Telephone is ringing and you are sitting in the recliner, with a laptop and several other electronics perched around you. (hypothetically, of course) You know you only get four rings before it goes to voicemail and you can't get to it soon enough! DVR functions that would work here?  Pause! 
• Salesman, girl scout, and annoying neighbor kid that can't read ignore the NO SOLICITING sign in bold letters attached to the front door and interrupt what is otherwise a nice evening. Function = Skip!
• Enjoying a wonderful summer family bbq on the deck with lots of side splitting laughter and the squeals of happy cousins playing in the yard.  Function = Record and protect! (This one would have endless playback enjoyment)
• Daughter says something incredibly funny, such as, "I have two favorite candies.. only I don't know what the second one is." Function= Record and replay later for the hubby who loves these "isms" that appear from time to time. 
• Entire family gets food poisoning while on vacation in Hawaii.  Function = DELETE! 
• Suffering through the work week just to get to the too short weekend..  Function= Fast forward! 

I joke about the things above, but the truth is that I really do catch myself trying to rewind the radio and tonight at the movies with my girls, I wanted to rewind the movie when I happened to look away from the screen at the wrong time and missed something important. Drat!

I know, I know! I can't help it that I'm spoiled and completely ruined now because of my life with DVR... how the heck did we ever function without it?

Life Lesson Number Four

"People tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will descend like fine weather if you're fortunate. But happiness is the result of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly."
- Elizabeth Gilbert

Happiness

We are each responsible for our own happiness, whether we want to admit it or not. It is so easy to blame others for feeling miserable, but the trick to this journey we call LIFE is to be in charge of our own reactions and to be darn sure that our happiness does not get lost along the way.

On the inside of my left ankle there is a hidden tattoo. (Sorry, Mom!) I am not one of those people who is addicted to ink... (it hurt like hell and I'd never do it again!) But this tattoo reminds me to keep my foundation strong by making sure I have three basic things at all times. These Kanji characters are stacked and I designed it myself, with no knowledge of how this language actually works. I sincerely hope I didn't change the meaning to something offensive or stupid in the process! 

(If you are a Kanji expert and you know that by stacking these characters my tattoo now means "Dimpled butts are sexy!", please do not tell me. Sometimes being oblivious is best.)

This means Love

This means Strength

This means Happiness

There was a day, years ago, when I was feeling lower than I had ever felt in my life. I was going through something very difficult and I had some huge decisions to make. I remember thinking that I wished someone would just tell me what to do so that everything would be better. I wanted to feel better, but I wasn't ready to take charge of my own happiness. Without sounding like a complete nutcase (I hope), I will tell you that these three words just came to me.. in that order. Love, Strength, Happiness.  I knew that if I worked hard to restore these things then everything would sort itself out.

The more I thought about it, I felt that none of these three things could exist without the other two.  In the words of my favorite writer,  Mr. King, they were Ka-tet.  (One from many) It was my job to restore the balance and bring them back into my life. It wasn't easy, but it was so worth it!



I took responsibility for my own happiness and did so by being strong and relying on the love of my husband and my daughters. I won't tell you that everyone was happy with my decision.. and years later some still struggle with it, but it was the right thing for me and I completely stand by my choices. I actively sought out happiness and made the necessary course corrections... and I have never regretted it.

Happiness doesn't mean go out and get a tattoo. (Unless you're into that and if so then more power to  you!) Happiness is the result of hard work and deep breathing when times are tough. Know what it is that helps you find your happy place when things are difficult and strive to attain it. Seek out the healthy choices that lead to happiness and well-being. Understand that you aren't responsible for the happiness of others. Hopefully our actions are the kind that will generate happiness for people around us, but be prepared to stand behind your choices when others may not agree with you.

Last, but not least, if you find yourself parenting teens..  remind yourself that they will appreciate your advice, even if the happiness isn't visible on their faces immediately. Sometimes it takes 25 years or more for them to fully comprehend what we are trying to teach them. By then, they could have teens of their own and they will finally understand.

‎

Happy 100th!

 

 In honor of this being blog post 100, I thought I would put together a rockin' awesome list of 100 things that make me happy. After writing this list, I quickly discovered that I could list way more than 100 things!

Here they are in no particular order (After number one, that is!):

1. My Family - of course they have to be number one. What kind of crappy list would I make if my peeps were below the pinnacle?
2. Being married to my best friend
3. Damp, brightly colored fall leaves
4. Pumpkin Patches
5. Canning Tomatoes
6. Jammies
7. Chick Flicks
8. Hot Chocolate  
9. My older brother, Roger (Seriously the smartest dude I have ever met!)
10. My little sister, Missy
11. My little brother, Tyler
12. Antiques
13. BBQ evenings with family
14. Fourwheeling
15. Boating
16. Photography
17. Curling up on the couch and having great conversations with Besties.
18. Glee
19. Having a hubby who can fix anything!
20. Good books
21. Watching giant flakes of snow fall while being all snug and cozy in the house. 
22. Playing Christmas music on the day after Thanksgiving.
23. Rain
24. Apple trees
25. Old movies
26. Pumpkin Spice lotion
27. Norman Rockwell towns
28. Making a meal out of finger foods on New Year's Eve
29. Puzzles
30. Stephen King
31. Singing loudly in the car
32. Parents
33. Talented children
34. Spontaneous lunch dates
35. Gardening
36. Snow capped mountains
37. Thunder that cracks so loudly that it shakes the windows. 
38. Dragonflies
39. Traveling
40. Sunflowers
41. Salon fresh hair
42. Holding hands
43. Making fudge
44. Yummy scented candles
45. Car washes with rainbow, almond scented soap. 
46. Leaves swirling on the pavement, caught up in unseen vortexes. 
47. Sea Turtles
48. Getting lost in new cities. 
49. Walking barefoot across lush, green grass. 
50. Snorkeling
51. Rental cars
52. Sisters that understand 
53. Old bottles
54. Guardian Angels
55. Honeysuckle
56. Made up words
57. New Socks
58. International dinner nights
59. Sobbing over a movie
60. Tender kisses
61. Hummingbirds
62. Big, fat bumblebees
63. J&J Nursery
64. Gardener Village
65. Wonderful Aunties
66. Crackling fires on cold evenings (Still can't believe I bought a house without a fireplace!)
67. Sprinklers
68. My sweetheart's hands 
69. Anniversaries
70. Motorboat kisses on the back of my neck (Thanks sweetie!) 
71. Love
72. Big, fluffy towels
73. Swimming
74. Text messages that make me smile
75. Snorts of laughter
76. Yuffas
77. Gel Pens
78. Amazon.com
79. Coming home
80. Blogs
81. Christmas Eve
82. Finding $20 in a jacket pocket the first time I wear it in the fall.
83. The Pottery Barn magazines
84. RC Willeys
85. Recalling something funny and laughing about it hours later
86. Strength
87. Pearl Harbor
88. Boston and memories of Grandma
89. Cherry  pipe tobacco smoke (memories of Grandpa)
90. Silver dollars
91. Happiness
92. Giving the perfect gift
93. Baby pictures
94. Book stores
95. Chocolate licorice
96. Pillows and blankets arranged just right
97. Quilts
98. Visiting
99. Getting packages in the mail
100. Daughters

Laryngitis Can Suck It!

I am SICK of being sick! Four weeks now and any time I feel the slightest bit better, this virus grows new tentacles and continues to squeeze the life out of me. I haven't had a voice at all now for over a week. I really feel sorry for the people who call me to get information. I know they are thinking that my boss should have hired someone who doesn't sound like a pathetic, wheezy mouse trapped in a bell jar.  I'm sorry, I really am.  

Strange Encounters

People are strange. Having said that, there are varying degrees of strange but everyone is on the scale somewhere. I like to think that I fall somewhere in the "normal strange" area with the millions of others who love to make their kids laugh (whatever it takes!), sing in the car, eat pickles out of the jar, think everything is better with Hugh Jackman, and don't cringe over cold pizza for breakfast.  You too? Welcome to the Normal Strange club!

Any strange person who makes me laugh is in the "safe" zone of strange. There are a lot of these people in the world and I, for one, am grateful for them. These people are the ones who are constantly pushing the boundaries of what most people consider normal and some of us secretly wish we had the guts to live on that side of life. They may end up on the AP for the strange things they do, but no one said being an entertainer was easy!

Then there are the strange people who are on the scary side of strange. You know, the ones who hang out under the darkest tree branches and not only talk to themselves but have screaming solo arguments as they wander the streets? I work in the city so I get to see a lot of these kind of people every day. I happen to think they are fascinating, but you won't catch me offering to drive them around or take them out to dinner. This kind of strange requires a safe distance at all times.

At the post office this morning, I encountered a man who was somewhere in between safe-strange and scary-strange and by that I mean that Dude made me laugh for a minute, but only because there was a SLC police officer nearby and I could see his department-issued gun holstered to his side.


Do I have your attention?

Imagine me minding my own business at the post office. I was there to pick up the mail but because it is the beginning of the school year, there was too much mail to fit in our box so I had to go to the counter. I hate going to the post office counter! The lines are long, the clerks are slow, and I never think to bring my phone in with me so I am completely disconnected as I stand in The Line That Time Forgot for what feels like AGES! As soon as I opened the post office box and saw the yellow slip of paper (the equivalent of being sent to the principal's office) I knew I was done for. I hung my head and trudged to the counter, with the dread of it following me like an unwanted shadow.

As I joined the ranks in line, I smiled at the fully outfitted SLC officer who was there to mail his wedding invitations. He was making the usual comments a man in his situation might say, "Yep, finally my turn to take the plunge, I guess. Yeah, we should probably get the L O V E stamps, I just know she'll ask me about that later."  I was grinning to myself over the cuteness of it all when suddenly things got interesting.

There was a man in front of me in line that looked a lot like Spike Lee and that alone had my attention. But even after a year of working in the city and seeing some very strange things, I was completely unprepared for what happened next. 

Not Spike turned to me and exclaimed loudly, "OH MY GOODNESS! You smell GOOD! Whatchoo wearin, Jump On Me? I'm fron New Yawk and buh-leeve me when I tell you that I KNOW a fine scent when I'm near it!"

At this point I was looking around nervously, but laughing at the enthusiasm Not Spike was showing over my Tommy Girl perfume. I smiled and thanked him, thinking it was a nice compliment and that I would go back to wondering how many phone calls I was missing as I stood there in the Line Of The Lost, but Not Spike had other plans as he continued to make a spectacle of me.

"You need to tell your husband to quit letting you outta da house smellin' like that or you gonna get kidnapped and taken to lunch! You'll be wined and dined and stolen from him completely! Hoo-ee!"

Seriously? Did this Spike Lee doppelganger just throw down the kidnapped word?  I start putting all of my energy into making eye contact with Mr. Policeman Groom-to-Be and tune out Not Spike as the blood starts to rush behind my ears. I start noting all of the surveillance cameras in the room and make sure I am visible on as many of them as possible as Not Spike continued his odd flattery.

"You have a really nice laugh!"

Uh.. yeah.  I've been sick for three weeks and my voice sounds like a bad imitation of a Chevy Nova in need of a tune up.  Not Spike's loud voice has caught the attention of Police Groom who glanced my way as he took his L O V E stamps to the counter to mail his satin-white envelopes.

"Have you been to New Yawk?" I nervously shake my head and wonder if my Durango keys would make a good weapon. After all, the policeman can't stand there putting L O V E stamps on envelopes all day.

Finally it is Not Spike's turn  at the counter and he informs the clerk that he needs to check his box. The clerk asks for ID and the name on the box. Not Spike actually takes the ID back to read the name on it before answering what name is on the box?  Holy weird!  The clerk even wondered about that strange behavior as he teased the man about not knowing his own name. Not Spike explained that sometimes they put the box under different names. Care to join me in a WTH?

I was totally convinced at this point that Not Spike was an actual kidnapper and I was in danger.

I was studying details about Not Spike in case I needed to give a statement later when the clerk came back and said there was no mail in that box. At this point the normal thing for Not Spike to do would be to leave the post office. Apparently normal wasn't on the agenda though because he actually looked around and walked the OPPOSITE direction of the exit which put him directly behind me as he browsed greeting cards.

I told you it was strange!

When the clerk waved me over to the counter, I quickly handed him the yellow slip that started the whole nightmare and cursed silently as he walked to the back at a turtle's pace. Knowing that Not Spike was still in the lobby (apparently very interested in greeting cards), I found myself irritated that Policeman Groom-to-Be was having a small wedding because he had said he only had 42 invitations. 42!  My protection would be long gone by the time I picked up my mail and made it to the safety of my Durango! I could hear the greeting cards being shuffled around behind me as if they were amplified and broadcast on a loudspeaker.

Finally the clerk slid the bin of mail across the counter to me. He must have thought I was the strange one as I hastily grabbed the bin and made a dash for the door. I caught the Policeman jerking his head my way as if I had just robbed the place.. but I didn't slow my pace.  If Mr. Policeman wanted to follow me just then, I would have welcomed the escort to my vehicle!

I didn't look back as I rushed to the safety of my SUV with automatic-locking doors. Whew! As for Not Spike? While I appreciate the compliments on my Tommy Girl perfume, I don't know what to think of the scary-strange demonstration. I think he should get a creeper award!

Maybe I should mail him a greeting card instead.

Fall Is In The Air!

This morning the air was crisp and the sky was on fire as the sun lit up the threatening storm clouds. I rubbed my sleepy eyes and sat mesmerized by the bright pink and red glow outside my window. An hour later, I found myself laughing as I heard the nearby squeals of teenagers standing at the school bus stop when it began to rain unexpectedly. It was a perfect fall morning!  

All week I have been working hard on my fall tradition - canning tomatoes. We pick them ourselves at a local farm and then I happily peel them and stuff them into quart jars. Each fall I put up about 60 quarts and by the end of each summer, we are lucky if we have one or two quarts remaining. Sweet Hubby thinks I am crazy for loving this task, but I find the work extremely satisfying and I look forward to it every fall!

This pic is actually of last year's tomatoes. These babies are long gone!

The cooler air also means that the time for pumpkins is approaching and I am excited about that too! 

 

Fall is my drug and I'm helplessly addicted!

  

The Joy of Parenting Teens

Mark Twain once said,  "When a child turns 12 you should put him in a barrel, nail the lid down and feed him through a knot hole. When he turns 16, plug the hole!" Interesting choice of words considering the untimely deaths of three of Mr. Twain's four children. Yes, I checked on the validity of Mr. Twain's parenting advice.

(Now, now.. I'm sure he was a great parent.. just bad luck with his childrens' health!)

I have six girls to shepherd into adulthood.  Six! Two of the six will be 18 in December. In fact, they will turn 18 on the 18th - I am thinking a theme party might be in order but that's another post for another day. Today I am pondering the stress of raising teenage girls to be happy, healthy and wise. Wise!  Did you just hear my snorts of mirth? Sorry, I will contain my laughter by imagining the ticked off girls who read this post later and inevitably shoot me furtive looks of irritated disgust. All I can say is that I am damn lucky my mom didn't have a blog when I was a teen!

Even though I joke about having teenagers, I will be the first to tell you that raising my girls has been relatively smooth sailing. They are compassionate and kind, tell me every day that they love me, never skimp on the goodnight/goodmorning hugs, and they are awesome helpers around the house! (Only some nagging required!) Up until now, this parenting thing has been cake and I've occasionally wondered what the big deal is. How can there be so many books written on a subject that seems to steer itself?

Ha!

Enter the variable. One of my teenagers has entered the love phase. You know, the undying-can't live without you or I'll stop breathing, kind of love? Believe me, Romeo and Juliette have been in the front of my mind a lot lately and it's all I can do to control the gag reflex on some days. However, I do remember what teenage love feels like and I also remember that there is actual pain involved. You mean I have to hang up the phone after only 2 hours of conversation? Ouch, what is that pain in my stomach? I can't be with Mr. Adorable today? Ohmigosh, there's a burning sensation in my heart.. my actual heart! Oh yes, I remember it well. So I'm trying to be understanding without putting my toe over that razor's edge of being a parent and being a parent who acts more like a friend (a friend who doesn't have parents).  Most days I collapse into bed emotionally exhausted. Oh the drama!

It turns out that this parenting of teens isn't exactly as easy as I thought!

The other day an issue of cell phone use came up (I'll spare you the long backstory) and I had to go online to check cell phone usage for one of my girls. I had to use both hands to pick my jaw up off of the floor. No joke! In two weeks, my darling little girl had racked up nearly 2400 text messages! How is this even possible? As I looked at the texting details, I discovered that this daughter of mine had been texting through the nights, texting at school, pretty much texting every single minute of every day. I wondered outloud if she had calluses on her fingertips. (Just a bit of advice on that... teens don't like that kind of humor. It didn't go over well for me and it probably wouldn't for you either, so I suggest you avoid that temptation.) As shocking as the texting frequency was, it wasn't what got my daughter's phone taken away, no matter what she tells her friends about it now.

I have one very big rule in my house. Don't lie! I have always taught my girls that it is better to tell the truth, even if they think it is going to get them in trouble. To emphasize this lesson, I have always gone easier on any required discipline if they tell me the truth up front, and I lay down the grounding hammer of doom and gloom if they tell me a lie. You think they would learn that when mom asks a question, she sometimes already knows the answer so be sure to tell the truth! Even with more than a dozen years of training, I quickly found out that this lesson needed to be taught again and as a result the cell phone gets to take a nice, quiet vacation for the next two weeks.

Helpful hint of the day: If you don't want to tip someone off to anything amiss, do try to hide your panic when your cell phone gets confiscated. Otherwise, your text messages might be checked when alarm bells start going off along with the red flags being carelessly tossed in every direction.


Again, I'll spare you the details because quite frankly, I wish I could erase it from my own mind. But a word to the wise: If you're going to read your teen's text messages, be prepared! (I have been reassured that it was all completely innocent but it just looks bad when taken out of context. I've chosen to believe this in order to deal with it.)

As parents, we know that we have to teach our kids how to be respectable, successful adults. We spend every waking minute carefully crafting their behavior and manners in a way that we can be proud of. I don't want a bunch of mini me minions... (Triple M Mafia?) I want them to be individuals and be happy with their choices in life. To me that is the hallmark of a successful parent.  What I did not take into account was the boyfriend factor. Now there is another person, with different thoughts and upbringing, impacting our daily lives and I am completely unprepared for it!

I actually caught myself sounding like my mother and that made me cringe like I was chewing tinfoil!

"I don't care what everyone else is doing, this is my house and these are my rules." Great one. I think the edges of reality blurred when I said this and I actually time traveled to my childhood home.

"You may think of yourself as grown up, but you're still just a child. It is not OK to cross that line." I hated it when my mom said that to me. I am certain it was just as cheesy when I said it to my daughter, but I don't know how else to convey the principle behind it.

So the discussion my Dear Hubby and I had with Daughter was awkward for us and beyond tearful for her. She was mad, offended, defensive and fixated on a spot of the ceiling that held her icy glare, thereby protecting me from the deep freeze radiating off of her. I was thinking how I wished we could go back to the days when our biggest issue was avoiding the temptation of sticking poptarts in the VCR.  Now that's a lecture I can really get behind and deliver with style!

But wait, there's more!

We could have had the discussion with Daughter and called it good, but I felt that I needed to speak to Boyfriend as well. Who knows what he is hearing from her... she may be telling him that our family believes in midnight texting sessions and that the moon is really one great big Cookie Crisp cereal bite and we own real estate there.  You get the idea.  Boyfriend was already planning on coming over to hang out on Labor Day so I figured my opportunity was about to arrive. I told Daughter that Boyfriend could expect to have a sit down with Hubby and me.

Just try to imagine the terror a 15 year old boy would feel upon hearing such news! I have never before seen a kid shake in fear as I walked into a room. (My own kids have never feared me, and that's a good thing!)  I imagine this is how world leaders must feel when they walk into a Peace Summit.  Oh the power!

I talked to both of them by myself. (Hubby chickened out at the last second.. he was afraid he would throttle the poor boy!) They were both extremely quiet and would nod their heads or mumble "OK" from time to time, but other than that there was not much conversation happening. All of the earlier drama was completely missing. I am still trying to figure that one out. Does it mean that Daughter finally saw the point I was trying to make or does it mean that she just doesn't want Boyfriend to see her dramatic side?  The only thing I know for certain is that neither of them, at this point in their lives, can comprehend how difficult it was for me to have that conversation with them. However, I do hope that 20ish years from now, Daughter will call me up one day and say, "Mom, I finally get it! How did you cope with the drama when I was a teen?"  I hope the Universe doesn't disappoint me on that one. My mom earned it and now so have I!

So, Mr. Twain, while I don't necessarily believe we should barrel our children for four years before giving up on them entirely, I do have days when I wish there was a barrel in my size. Not anything permanent, mind you, just someplace to hide until the teenage storm has passed and then I can sit in my too quiet house and get teary eyed as I reminisce and miss the wonderful days of parenting teenage girls.

Labor (Day) of Love

After months of working 18 hour days, I gave myself permission to take a breather. Although "breather" may be a stretch considering I'm still sick! In spite of sounding like my voice box has been removed Mortal Combat style, I spent some quality time with the people I love the most and that is all that truly matters.

I had the best intentions to go pick tomatoes on Friday, immediately following work, but by the time my work day ended I didn't feel up to getting down and dirty at Day Farms. I came home to the sha-weet surprise of baked potatoes and pit-grilled steak. Nice! I love it when the hubby cooks on his days off! Now I really didn't want to go pick tomatoes so I twisted the arms of my family members and then dragged them to a movie with me. Dinner and a movie with the whole family... does it get any better?

Up bright and early on Saturday, I went for my manicure and then decided to get down and dirty by picking tomatoes for my annual Labor Day Weekend canning-fest. Of course I dragged any willing body with me to the picking fields. After an hour of picking and destroying my freshly manicured nails, we had about 60lbs of tomatoes just begging to be peeled and stuffed into jars! We even discovered that chicks grow in tomato patches! 

Too bad Bill forgot he had put the chick on his truck seat for safekeeping...he sat on it! 

Later that day we finally replaced the busted dishwasher that refused to run it's rinse cycle anymore and while we were at RC Willey's we had Abby and Linz test drive the beds they are getting for their birthday on September 27th. It seems like they were still sharing a single crib just yesterday! My babies are growing up! We wrapped up Saturday with a sunset drive and Frank Caliendo. We were still laughing when we finally went to bed!

My girls have been great about letting me dust off my photography skills to take pictures of them in various locations. I haven't been a professional photographer for years, but I still have a passion for it. On Sunday we headed out to Antelope Island for some Buffalo sightseeing and some creative portraits. Our feet are hating us for the torturous trip down the rocky sand dune, but I think the pictures were totally worth the pain... don't you agree?

 

 

Carley was having an off day and was not prepared to have her picture taken, so I don't have any singles of her but she promises to be at our next photo shoot at the Ogden Train Station. Thank you for letting me take your pictures, girls!

My tomatoes are still waiting for me so it is time to walk away from the computer, but it has been a fantastic weekend and more adventures are coming soon!

Life Lesson Number Three

(A lesson of very few words, for obvious reasons.)