Complete Slacker

Since it's common knowledge that I have got some fears, it should also be noted that I hate change! I don't deal with it well at all. So 6 months ago we moved. It's been the hardest thing for me! We moved one mile away. I realize this is pathetic but I've had every emotion hit me about moving. However, it's not just that we packed up our house and moved our belongings, I have a theory as to why it's been so hard:

• We changed Wards-we went from a very small, close knit ward, to a huge ward where I hardly know anyone! Making new friends if very hard for me!


• Two of my greatest friends moved away, I miss them terribly!


• I started learning who my true friends are and who was just "friends" with me because we were in the same ward.

I've had some great help though in dealing with the change and some recent realizations:

• My three year old was having a hard time adjusting and stopped sleeping through the night, she went from sharing a room with her brothers to having her own room. A great friend brought her family over for dinner and it normalized everything for my girl and she started enjoying her own room and started sleeping all night again. Thank you!


• I came to the realization that having not moved wouldn't make me feel better. I didn't miss our ward as much as I missed our ward of a few years ago when my great friends were still there.


• I have still got some great friends that will always be my friends and that after a really bad day I can call at 9:30 at night to meet me for a movie and they let me complain and they make me laugh and we enjoy our movie.

So my conclusion is I've been neglecting blogging because people don't want to hear me complain about how difficult things have been lately, but now that I'm on the other side I can say I love my new house, the space is amazing, and I'm so glad we switched wards, all the kids have made so many new great friends that it was completely worth it! And I've got great friends that haven't moved and I really do enjoy them. And I made a new friend! So I am back and I did do something completely for the sake of the blog this summer. Stay tuned.....................

Many, Many Unrelated Pictures, A.K.A. At Least It's a Post

Some fearlessness for your viewing pleasure:









Obviously not me, but I'm raising them. Does that count?


Just one of my favorite pictures ever:




Another school year. Thirty-six second-grade spelling tests to study for. It's a full-time job. So when O got 100% on her spelling test, I let her pick a candy out of the forbidden Halloween candy jars. Right away, Little J (5) asked for one, and I told him he had to do something spectacular.

"What's spickspackular?" he asked.

"Something amazing!" I told him.

"Like cleaning my room?"

"No, even more amazing."

About half an hour later, he came out from his bedroom with his magnadoodle and asked, "Mom, is this spickspackular?"

Why, yes indeed! (Has he got my number, or what?)

Speaking of written correspondence with the kids, here are a few of my recent favorites:

(Did you know if your child gets high fevers around age 1, it can damage their still-forming permanent teeth? I didn't. Now I do.)

Home school for college? My child thinks I'm a genius! (She may brst with teers when she finds out the truth.)

When I got home from a dinner last weekend, I discovered the following:

A three-bedroom, one bath (you think I'm kidding) fort! (Our 12yo's specialty.) Allow me to take you on a tour:

The hallway:

The living room:

Three bedrooms:

I didn't get to see the bathroom on my tour, but the kids tell me it was just off the master bedroom. The babysitter was worth every penny I WOULD have paid her if I wasn't saving to send her to college someday.