Sleepless Night

I couldn't sleep last night. In all reality, that doesn't happen very often for me. I am lucky. I am usually so tired I sleep pretty soundly. Thankfully. But last night I was plagued with all kinds of worries. I couldn't help myself. I was drowning in my worries. On Saturday, I had a Mom point blank ask me what I would do if prop 8 doesn't pass. What would I do about school? I thought all about how Abby was complaining it hurt to go to the bathroom. I couldn't help wondering if I am doing something wrong as a Mom if I have yet another child with a UTI. How can that be? And I thought about how we were told we can't refinance our house because the market is so down that we might actually owe more on it than it is worth. Even though we put a consider down payment on it. How can that be? We have a year and a half to figure that one out. It is amazing how your mind goes wild in the darkness of the night. But the thing that worried me the most was my interview with the bishop yesterday when he asked me if I would be the Young Women's president. HOW CAN THAT BE? Now that WORRIED me. YIKES! Overwhelmed is hardly the words to describe my feelings at this moment. I loved being the secretary. I was behind the scenes of sort. Now I am responsible for all of these sweet beautiful young women. I am excited to work with them. They are fabulous girls. I know that I will certainly learn more from them then they will from me. I do wonder how a bishop or a stake president or even an apostle get over feelings of inadequacy? I should know. They rely on the Lord. There are times when I feel like am not even standing on my own, I am leaning so much. Now is one of those times.

My Birthday Boy

Darin, my love, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

To this day, I can still see your face at my apartment door with egg in hand. Maybe I should explain for all those who don't know. Our great grandchildren need to hear this story. I had seen you around our BYU ward, in fact, we had sort of met on the sidewalk while Christmas caroling. We were walking as a group and you and your roommate were trying to catch up, so we waited for you so you would know where to go. It was a little scary, since it was dark and your wacky roommate was wearing a black trench coat, but we waited none the less. It was a little hard to talk since we were caroling. It wasn't until a late night in January that it really all began. It was probably 9pm at night. I had pulled in from grocery shopping and you walked up offering to help me carry groceries. Since I lived on the third floor, I gladly accepted. You took several bags and then dropped them! I wasn't too impressed. I probably thought you were a klutz. Ha ha. Really, I don't remember. I DO remember that one bag happened to have my eggs. Luckily only one broke. Well actually I am so glad at LEAST one broke, because it wasn't too much longer, that you rang the doorbell and I answered to find you with the cutest grin on your face and an egg in hand. You were so CUTE! You had the biggest smile and the curliest brown hair. And the biggest brown eyes. We talked and flirted. Then that night, I said to my roommate, " I would love to go out with Darin." A few days later you called. My roommate answered and said it's Darin! I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!!!! I am telling you, wishes like this never came true for me! We went to the Wok Right In in Pleasant Grove and then to the Hale Centre Theatre. We saw Beau Jest, a romantic comedy. We talked to so easily, laughed, flirted, it was heaven. I even told my roommie Allison, when I got home that it was the best first date I had ever been on. You even dragged yourself out of bed the next morning to play basketball with my at 6:30am. I should have known then that it was love eternal. :) Despite all this, it took me awhile to decide to get married. (I had that DARN missionary, what his name again? Oh yea, David.) :) LOL LOL LOL! And well I was 19 on our first date. I had always said I would be 21 when I got married. How dum was I? I had no clue what I was doing. But anyhow, you stuck with me, had faith in us and now 11 years later, I find myself still flirting, still wishing you were home from work earlier (4 kids helps that too), still loosing myself in your big brown eyes, and more in love with you than ever. You are 37 today. And smarter, more kind, more understanding, more faithful and more loving. You are a father- a fantastic one. You are more than I could even invision for you. You are beyond my wildest imagination. YOU. Man, I love you! I hope you never doubt that you are my everything. My whole life revolves around you. Here's sending you the biggest, loudest Happy Birthday ever.

PS You are still rollin' towards 40 baby!

PPS To Darin's Mom. How could I celebrate Darin's birthday without celebrating you a little today too? After having given birth, only a Mom knows how much of oneself you give to bring a child into the world. Thank you Mom. For giving birth, for giving life, for teaching, loving and making Darin who he is today. I cannot thank you and Dad enough. I love you!

I need my kids

During scripture study, I was going to tell a story about Peter and Christ. I had just Sarah and Abby since Kate was sick and already fast asleep.

Mom: Sarah and Abby, do you know who Peter was?

Abby: Yes, He's the pumpkin eater!

During dinner we were discussing what is healthy and what is not.

Abby: Fish is healthy

Dad: Yes it is. (those of you who know Darin, know he would DEFINITELY promote fish!)

Sarah: Fish is very healthy for our bodies. BUT not the skin, or the head, or the tail, or the Eyeballs or the bones. Just the chicken off the bones.

Mom and Dad: rolling with laughter

I need my kids, so I can LAUGH.

Prayers for Katie girl who can't seem to kick this stomach bug she has. She seems to have a UTI to boot.

And as always, prayers for CA voters. And AZ voters as well.

I am off to be a Mom. I am a blog junkie. Time for a Little withdrawal. :) Love ya all.

Kate is in Love

Kate is home from school sick and we are on the computer looking for pictures for a timeline she has to turn in. Man, second year in a row she has had to do a timeline. When she saw this picture, she started laughing. Ooo la la! This is Kate smackin' it with her cousin Grant. She said ah no big deal he's my cousin. Oh oh. How do I take that? Are you in love Kate??? Maybe it is Jonah instead. Oh oh she is laughing even harder. Or Garrett. Oh oh even harder now. She is on the floor now. Giggle Giggle. She's says I'm weird. Fun fun. Hee hee. Now I hope these boys don't read this. . . . or their mothers. LOL! I know you don't love boys Kater. Back to the picture. This is in honor of Kate and Grant. Now both baptized! Congratulations Grant! We love you! She is still giggling. . . .

Lessons Learned

1. Do not allow your children to help you shred papers. It seemed oh so safe for the most part. Have had kids do it many times. Great way to have them help. Eeks. Not good. I think I about pulled Ellie's finger out of the socket yanking it out. Don't know how she got it stuck in the paper. It didn't go anywhere close to cutting, but it was being sucked down. Luckily I was sitting right with her. Grandma's just erase the image out of your head and forget I mentioned it. You love me still. Right?!?

2. Sarah and Abby make me laugh. The other day, Sarah came home with a paper. On the bottom was a graph that was not finished. At the top it read, "Incomplete. She ate the Fruit Loops before she finished the graph." I got mad at her and told her how she had to finish her work, follow directions etc etc. Then I open Abby's folder and wa la. SAME THING. ABBY!!!! SARAH!!!! Don't eat them! I made them sit down and I opened our own box of Fruit Loops. The second they were done. "MOM, NOW can we eat them?????" Man you'd think I don't feed them. LOL!

3. Last night, Darin and I called on Prop 8. We commented that we can't believe we are even having to call about this issue. How, in our lifetime, did we get to this point? How did it ever become an issue? It used to be a dah thing. Who else gets married besides a man and a woman? Satan is having a hay day with this. I wrote many of you an email about this. But I know I missed many of you. Here is a link that will knock the socks off of you. It is becoming a true knock out drag out fight to teach our children, right and wrong. I pray for the strength to do it and do it well. And California voters, please don't make it so I feel I have to pull my children from public school! http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/11/MNFG13F1VG.DTL

Ooooodles of Fun

This blogging thing so awesome. I have reconnected with friends from my youth, neighbors, friends from college, friends in other wards, women in my ward, new sisters, women I have met along the way and lost, and family. The list could go on and on. I am SO glad. You are all so special to me. It seriously WARMS my heart. I just love it. Although, I do think I am getting to be addicted. I am constantly pulled to your blogs. I can't even keep up. What a great thing! Mostly. Hee hee. Ask my kids. Ooopps. I just have to exercise moderation and control. It is hard to do when there are all of you incredible women out there! Thanks for writing, reading and being a part of my life. Love you all!

PS Becky, welcome! So glad to have you back! I don't know if the Morrow's have a blog, but I have an email address if you want it. And Janessa, welcome too! I cried through your blog! What an adventure you have been on. I am looking forward to getting to know you even better. Heidi, thanks for the call, I WILL call you back!.

Tagged, Times Two

Okay, so I guess if I want to become a true blogger, then I have to follow through. Tagging. We should call it something else. :) It makes graffitti come to mind. Or is it called something else by kids these days? I might be old school. We should come up with a new blog term. Something funky. Come on creative ladies, let's change the blog world. Any suggestions? Anyhow, on to what I am supposed to answer. I got off track. Again.

I am supposed to upload the picture from my 6th folder and the 6th picture. Did I say that right? :) So here it is:It is a fun one! This is my sister Shelley and her hubby Darren, on top of a little cliff right on the Pacific Ocean in Lincoln Beach, OR. And with the victory sign no less! Wahooo!

My second um er tag is:

8 TV shows I watch:

Disclaimer: These are show I sometimes watch, but mostly they are ones I WOULD watch if I had more time.

1. CSI: Miami

2. American Idol

3. Bones

4. House (back when it was decent)

5. The Office

6. CSI

7. CSI: New York

8. Numbers (is it even on anymore?)

8 Favorite Restaraunts

So hard to decide. I LOVE FOOD!

1. The Gateway (over looking the river!)

2. Black Angus (somebody please build one here!)

3. Tahoe Joe's

4. Red Lobster

5. Orange Blossom Junction

6. Macayo's (oh how I miss thee)

7. Baja Fresh

8. Red Robin, In and Out, Islands, BT Burger (places with good shakes and to die for hamburgers-my favorite food)

8 Things That Happened Yesterday

1. Called for Prop 8 VOTE YES!

2. Picked up a sick Kate at school, poor girl. I spoke too soon.

3. Helped kiddos with homework

4. Drove kids to school

5. Took a shower, must make mention, it doesn't always happen

6. Laundry

7. Talked with my Mom

8. Watched a 17 month old set of twins and had a friend over with her kids. Love ya Laura, thanks for listening!

8 Things I am Looking Forward to:

1. Darin's birthday. I love to celebrate the love of my life

2. Voting on Prop 8. YES ON 8!

3. Halloween and carving the pumpkins. Who doesn't like fall?

4. Thanksgiving, the Rhees family is coming! We're excited!! My first hosting of a Thanksgiving Dinner. It's about time!

5. Christmas. I swear I am leaving the lights on all over the house until Valentines Day this year. I hate the darkness of winter.

6. The weekend. BYU football, and watching my girls play soccer

7. The day when TV goes digital. We don't have cable or satellite. Maybe we'll just go dark and turn it into a fish tank. :O) LOL!

8. The rest of my family getting blogs. SO I can see my nieces and nephews that I miss so MUCH!

8 Things on my Wishlist

1. A pair of tennis shoes

2. Some skinny jeans. Ok so I need to do more than buy the skinny jeans

3. Get on a regular exercise program

4. More trees for the backyard, and plants, and flowers, did I say I like anything growing? Er, take that back. NOT WEEDS.

5. A new dress

6. Potty trained children

7. Sick free house

8. Prop 8 passing

8 Friends I am Tagging:

1. Heidi - what comes around goes around

2. Mississippi Melissa

3. Sarah

4. California Melissa

5. Janessa- my new friend and fellow twin Mom

6. Carla :)

7. Lorile (you haven't written in ages, miss hearing from you!)

8. My Madre (you just have to start a blog too) :)

The week of weeks

Last week is difficult to sum up in words. It started out on Monday, (that is not unusual, I know)with it being picture day for Kate. I forgot to send Kate with the money for picture day and forgot to send the note for Sarah telling her teacher she was having her little operation the next day. I ran to the school, dropped off the note, dropped off the money, reported Sarah's absence for the next day and ran to Walgreens to pick up a prescription. The pharmacy was closed. 45 minutes after it was supposed to open, it was still closed. I was in the drive thru and there was no note or anything. I drove around, ran in and was told the pharmacist called in sick. Ugh! They had no idea when they would get one in. So while I was out, I decided to run to WinCo. I ran around figuring meals in my head, great planning I know, and wheeled Ellie and all the food out. I was piled so high that I had to put stuff on the bottom. I hit those darn yellow bump thingys out front and my bags on bottom began tumbling. Only I didn't realize it until I could not move and realized I was trying to run over my food. Yippee. My popcorn kernels were ripped open by the wheels of the cart and spilling all over. I just found out why they have those yellow bumpy things outside of the new stores, it only softened me a little towards them. My Dad says they are for the disabled. I feel guilty, but I really honestly have to say: I HATE THEM. Mostly, because I am always overloaded and it rattles the cart so bad, I almost always have something fall out! I ran home unloaded, tried to put away, made a sack lunch, ran to the bus stop, picked up kids, tried to explain to Sarah why she had to go to the dr. and ran to the dr office and had lunch in the van, in the parking lot. Meanwhile, Sarah is screaming in the back that she has to have her blood drawn. I prayed with her, pleaded, begged, hugged, kissed and every other means I could think of to calm her. She went in nervous, but still willing. That is until she had to sit in the chair and do it. The nurse and I tried to no avail to convince her that if she held still and stopped crying we could get it over with. I finally wrapped my arms aournd her middle, both legs around Sarah's legs, looked at the nurse and said, "Just do it!" I did say it nicely really I did. I had to use super human strength to hold her down. I had prayed we would make it and eventually we did. Gratefully, the Lord was mericful and Abby didn't scream, which they usually do when one or the other is under distress! We headed to the dr and made it through that too. Upon getting home, we started in on homework. I laid Miss E down for a nap. She had been crying off and on all weekend, so I was beginning to worry about her too. She woke up during her nap, crying every time she swallowed. I said alright something IS wrong. I called the dr. (yes a different one) and they said be here in 15. Ha! No problem. Kate walked in the door and I started yelling, everyone find your shoes, grab your homework, out the door. GO GO GO! After Ellie screamed her way through the appt. and once again I found myself restraining a child so he could look at her, it turned out she had an ear infection. Man all my girls have lungs on them! So off to Walgreens AGAIN. This time we actually got meds after waiting for 30 minutes in the parking lot again! By this time it was 4:30 in the afternoon. By the time dinner was done I was BEAT! Darin, thankfully, whipped out FHE and the day was done. How naive I was, when I thought that would be the last of the bad days. Tuesday was a bright and early day with Sarah's procedure at 7:30 am. I felt HORRIBLE leaving her. She was devastated. I had to carry her to the OR doors and then the nurse had to pry her away. Poor thing. I felt like I had abandoned her! But they found her bladder to be in pretty good shape, so we are now on constant antibiotics to see if the UTIs will quit. By evening, she was laid out complaining of a horrible headache and Ellie was running a fever! Then by midnight she was barfing (Miss E). It continued until 4am. Yep. Me and Ellie on the recliner for hours. After just 2 hours of sleep, I ran her to the dr and he said possible UTI (urinary tract infection), keep her on the antibiotics and it should clear both the ear and UTI. The week just kept going like that. With me in charge of YWs on Wednesday night, Stake Leadership on Thursday, and then my cousins wedding in Sacramento on Friday night. Which I got home from at 2am, but am so glad that I was able to go. Lane married such a cute girl! Welcome to the family Jillian! Thanks Kelli for making it possible by watching my kids!!!!!! And thanks Darin- my lifesaver! (you know I mean literally :)) It was good to see family! Saturday was soccer, more soccer, baking cupcakes, and the ward Halloween party. Somehow we managed to throw together a fairy, Raggedy Ann, a lady bug and a cheerleader. Phew! Luckily, Darin let me have an hour long nap or I never would have made it. I AM TIRED! Three doctor visits, one operation, one barfing and ear infected child, and all else thrown in was enough to send me loony. But as my friend Laura and I have decided: We'll be tired until the last child leaves for college. And even then, who knows?!? Thank heavens for health now for my kiddos, some sleep, and the joy of family. The job of parent is never easy, but definitely worth it.



SarahEllieAbbyKate
All my gals

Sarah Sayings

Sarah: "Mom, you have the treadmill down!"
Mom: "Yes, I was exercising."
Sarah: "That means you are going to have a baby!"
Mom: "What?? Why do you say that?"
Sarah: "Because if you exercise then you have a baby."

Dr.: "Do you want to listen to your heart with my stethescope?"
Sarah: "No."
Dr. "Don't you want to be a dr when you grow up?"
Sarah: "No."
Dr. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Sarah: "A big kid."
Dr. : (While laughing) "That sounds like fun."

During Kate's baptism:
Sarah: she started to cry, "Mom I am going to miss Kate."
Mom: "Why, Sarah?"
Sarah: "She's getting married and I will miss her!"
Mom: "Sarah, Kate is getting baptized, not married."
Sarah: "She's not leaving our family? She gets to stay?"
Mom: "Oh, yes Sarah. Don't worry she gets to stay with us."
Sarah: "Oh good!"

Funny Sarah. You make me laugh. :) I love it. And I love you!

GREAT Grandparents

How do I find the right words to say thank you to these four wonderful people? I hate all those cards in the store that say, I know I don't say it often enough, but I really do love you. They are lame. I really do feel I try to say I love you as often as I can. But how do you ever thank your parents enough? I need to especially thank them for coming to see Kate baptized, for coming for birthdays, and for helping me SOOOOooooo much to be organized and ready for the weekend. How do I tell them thank you enough for the wonderful gifts of the Gafina doll, the dress, the beautiful set of scriptures and for writing cherished testimonies in Kate's memory book? Their love and example are some of our most cherished gifts. Thank you so much Mom and Dad and Mom and Dad. :) You are GREAT!

My Three White Dresses

My sister Sarah gave me this idea. It has Kate's blessing picture, her baptism picture and a picture of the temple, where we hope her last white dress will be worn. I love it! And so does Kate. Seated next to the frame, is a Gafina doll. It is from the Dominican Republic. They are handcrafted and this is the Baptism figure. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Mac.

The First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel are

First, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

Second, Repentance

Third, Baptism by Immersion

Fourth, Laying on of Hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

September 27th was a great day in Kate's life and in the life of her family. She has already shown such great faith, a desire to repent and be clean and now she has been baptized, confirmed, and given the Gift of the Holy Ghost. This proud Mom is crying even as I write this.

The day dawned beautiful and hot. We couldn't pass up going to the girls' early soccer games in the morning. Kate even showed off and scored in front of both grandparents. Then Sarah kept up the traditon and scored one too. And Abby got on the field and played!! We had all three be winners that day!! It was fun and I think we all enjoyed it. We hurried home and amazingly enough we were at the Church 45 mintues early. It was a record. I have to mention that so I remember that I really can be on time for an event. :) My aunt Vicki and her husband Jim came all the way from Sacremento and the Toomers came all the way from Bakersfield to join us. We love them all so much and are grateful for the extra effort they both made to attend. Heidi was gracious enough to be the official photographer as well as play the piano. Sister Ware and Sister Howard had made the programs and they turned out so nice! The inside cover had Kate's testimony written in it.Many of our good friends came and supported us. We so appreciate the love we feel from our ward family. You are our family away from home. It meant a lot to us to have you be a part of such an important event. THANK YOU!! Brother Wittwer conducted and did such a nice job. Both Grandpa's said the prayers and Grandma Phippen spoke on baptism while Grandma Macdonald spoke on the Holy Ghost. All four of the Grandparents did a wonderful job. The talks were so sweet and personal, just for Kate. They were amazing. It was supposed to be the stake baptisms and we were so lucky that no one else decided to be baptized on that day. I secrectly wanted it to be just for Kate, and how blessed we were to get our wish. There is something about having grandparents participate and such. Darin and Kate even sang a musical number. It was touching to watch the two of them, just before the baptism. Darin was incredibly calm and did such a nice job baptizing her and confirming her. I had some fun moments with Kate. I realize that as a Mom of all girls, I get to be with each of them after they get baptized and are changing into dry clothes. What a little extra special time to be with them, just me and them. It was so fun to be with Kate as she changed into the jumpsuit before the baptism. She got so excited and said, "It really is happening! I'm getting baptized!" Her smile could not have been bigger. I will never forget it! And then after the baptism, I got my skirt all wet because I didn't want to let go of her and she didn't seem to want to let go either. We kept hugging!!! We were both so excited. Kate was as beautiful as I anticipated. She wore a dress my Mother made for her. The Macdonald tradition has been for all the girls to wear this dress my Mom made in 1978 for my oldest sister's baptism. Each of my 4 sisters and I wore the dress, and now the granddaughters are wearing the dress. It turned out beautiful. Kate also wore a locket that we all wore too. Her eyes sparkled and she shone. Her little spirit was radiant. Several of the people in attendance, bore their testimonies the next day and mentioned the spirit that was there. It was one of those perfect days, with perfect moments scattered all along the way.

Ellie Baby

Ellie Baby! I can't believe you are two!!! As your Mom, it is hard to believe my baby is no longer a baby. I know, I know, I have said it a million times. I just might have to say it a few more times before I'll actually realize it is true. I was so scared when I found out you were coming to our family. We had Sarah and Abby, TWINS, that were only 2. And we had never been able to get pregnant without surgery to fix me up. (that is for a WHOLE other post). I follow in the footsteps of Grandma Macdonald in that we get very sick while pregnant. I didn't know how I was going to make it through. I think our Father in Heaven wanted to challenge us to our absolute most, because it was even worse than we ever could have imagined. I was so sick with you Ellie! Someday I'll tell you all about it. Ellie, I want you to know that Heavenly Father blessed us with the most amazing friends and wards members and the most caring and sacrificing family. It was a time when we our faith grew and our reliance on Jesus was the only way we made it. When you were finally born, it was nothing short of a miracle. And you still are our miracle. You have brought such happiness and light into our family. Being so sick with you, made you all the more special and the sacrifices everyone made to get you here, means you have a very important and special reason to be here on this earth and in our family. Your mission MUST be great. I am excited to see all that you will become!

Tidbits about you

As you turn 2

1. You always say hi. Even when I come back in from taking out the garbage or after going down the hall and coming back. It is so SWEET and it makes me feel like a million bucks.

2. You give the sweetest hugs and kisses.

3. You can count to 10. Holy cow, girl, slow down and don't grow up too fast! :)

4. Ellie, the way you say I wove vou , is something I don't ever want to forget.

5. You say "opps a daisy" too. Except it is "oopy a daise". It is DARLING.

6. You love to sing. Songs from nursery, songs from primary, songs from high school musical, songs from Ellie's dream world. It is so cute. Your nursery leader says she has the kids sing head shoulders knees and toes every week, because she wants to watch you!

7. You can't stand to be talked over. You get especially chatty during scripture time and the lesson in FHE. I am sure someday I'll miss it.

8. You love the tramp, your sisters, going for bike rides, your grandparents, birdy fly with Dad, and soccer. You have a good kick sweetie! Watch out in three years!

It was so cute. Ellie, you were afraid of the candles. You said, "hot, hot, hot!!" I had to sit with you in your chair before you would blow them out. Her new red robe from Papa and Granda Mac. I had to put this on. She says, "Its COZY!"Happy Birthday Ellie girl!!! We love you MUCHO MUCHO!

Kate's 8th Birthday

We had a fun day celebrating Kate's birthday. She was lucky to have Grandpa and Grandma Mac here with her when she got home from school. Papa, Sarah and Abby made her a sign for the garage wishing her a happy birthday. I think she was surprised. Then we enjoyed a candlelight birthday dinner of her favorite dishes: barbecued chicken, angel hair pasta, green bean casserole and last but not least white cake and white frosting. She got all kinds of fun things, including some EARRINGS. Ahhhh! It is true we have consented and once soccer is over she gets to have her ears pierced. Now that will really make her Mother feel old. :) But in honor of her birthday, I have to share my top 8 reasons why Kate is such an incredible daughter and amazing young lady.

1. She is an excellent student. She listens and follows rules. I love that she loves school.

2. Kate exercises her faith all the time. She never hesitates to pray in any situation. One time she dropped a heavy #10 can on her big toe. She cried like CRAZY and then said, "I'll be fine if I just say a prayer." Off it school she went and never complained again.

3. Soccer is a passion of hers. Darin and I LOVE to watch Kate play. She has so much determination and works hard at it. And she is FAST! She never lets up. It is the BEST!

4. She loves her sisters. I am so glad that she has no problem telling her sisters when she has had enough of them. But thankfully, that is hardly ever the case. They are great buds.

5. She still lets me hold her hand. I thought this year, she might be too old and too cool to hold my hand. But she is sweet and gladly will walk with me hand in hand. I SAVOR that.

6. We had so much fun taking her baptism pictures. She is so photogenic and it was great to have one on one time with her.

7. She has a great understanding of the gospel. We had to explain to her what Prop 8 is. She wisely said, "Mom, if men marry each other and women marry each other, then there will be no more children and the world will end." Ah, the wisdom of a child.

8. Kater is a reader. I mean a devourer of books. I think reading is one of the best things you can do and it is great to see her curled up with Little House on the Prairie books.

Kate, We love you so much and hope you had a spectacular birthday! love you! Mommy and Daddy

Time slips by

Man, I can't believe that time slipped by me so fast. I have so much to say. It is going to take me days to catch up and many posts. I am in fact, supposed to be on the tread mill. With two birthdays and a baptism, there was a little bit of cake hanging around this house. It taunted me at every turn and I caved in and indulged myself on a daily basis. In fact, it was sometimes after lunch and dinner, that I had some of my Mom's amazing Texas Sheet Cake. Ah, the cake of all cakes. But when you can't button your pants, then it is time to have smaller scoops of ice cream, since you can't cut that out all together, and to maybe get eating more veggies and fruit. And get on the bike or treadmill. And since the treadmill was so dusty, I thought I would actually get on it. What a waste of money it has been! So since I WANT to blog and I NEED to exercise, I figure I had better do that task first and pleasure second. It will motivate me! So now you know I am not dead, but have been eating cake and livin' it up. Soon you will find out all the other juicy details of the last two weeks. :) Hee hee