Random bits of life...

School is back in session today. It was really hard to get up so early this morning since we got the luxury of sleeping in yesterday since conference doesn't begin here until noon. OK, so I slept in nearly every morning this past week. It was heaven. Really. The only one who was bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6:45 AM was Josh who was thrilled about going back. He was pushing ME out of bed and hopped in the shower before my mind was fully functioning. He also reminded me 50 times that they were now going to be left turn walkers now. Love that I don't have to wait in carpool line forever. Now I can just swing by and grab them at the bottom of the hill. Easier set up for me. One thing I am not loving is all the homework we have spent the last hour doing. I'll be happy when summer comes and I am not stressing about reading charts and spelling tests every night.

We had a great spring break (pictures to follow). While our days were filled with little trips, we loved getting to see Rich most nights. I only felt bad that he couldn't join in more of our fun. I had a blast thinking about places to visit and enjoyed going to them as much as the kids did. Even though we saw and did a lot it was not exhausting. You see, I am not a morning girl, so we had slow sleepy mornings, let the girls have their nap and then we would have fun in the afternoon. This made the girls were very pleasant which made everyone happy. And lets face it isn't that what it's all about anyway... seeing their happy faces. Priceless.

After all the go, go, go I was a bit relived when it came to an end. I was seriously out of ideas. But when I took the kids to school and heard Matt telling a friend while walking in that he had a GREAT spring break. Just that one little phrase made the 10 plus hours we spent in the car together worth all the effort. Good days.

I loved having the kids home and while it does make the house cleaning a bit more difficult, we all pitched in on Saturday and the place was better than it had been in awhile. I love cleaning while I listen to conference. I can think about the talks while I scrub the bathrooms, kitchen table and floor. Two good things at once.

General Conference was such an uplift. I really needed it. I remember when I was young and I thought sitting through 4 sessions would kill me. Usually on Saturday I would try to clean my room or put photos in albums to help pass the time. Now it just doesn't seem long enough. To participate in the Solemn Assembly with Rich and the kids on Saturday morning was touching. It was powerful to stand with millions of members and pledge my love and faith. At the same time I missed President Hinckley. I missed seeing him on the stand, hearing his calm and reassuring voice. It made me just a tiny bit sad. But then to hear President Monson with his quick wit, gentle story telling and testimony soon filled that void. When he asked for member to pray for him, it made me realize even more the magnitude of his calling. For him and all of the general authorities it's a lifetime of selfless service. A lifetime spent sharing God's message of hope and love. What a blessing they are to us all.

Oh and I LOVED Elder Ballard's talk. So perfect for me right now. I told my dad last night that I loved that talk and he told me that I was doing exactly what he said, enjoying each stage. I nearly started crying right then. It's a tough road at times, with constant detours, construction zones and speed bumps, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Ever. And how nice to hear it from someone else too. Made my day. Thanks Dad!

Everything that spring brings is back- for good or bad. The temperature outside is currently reading 80 degrees. I am actually hot right now for the first time in ages. I talked to my grandma and mom on the phone today and they told me it rained, then hailed and then snow 3 inches in Utah. What strange weather patterns. Watch, we'll be back in the 30's in less that 4 days. Promise.

When I swung by the hill after school today to get the boys only then did I remember that Trey had to stay until 3:05 PM for chorus. The girls and Rich were home sleeping so Josh and Matt and I did a quick food run to kill the extra 10 minutes. I got a good laugh when I spotted a Chick-Fil-A hummer behind us in the Burger King drive thru. Good for business? Probably not.

Matt has a new catch phrase lately. He is constantly shouting, "Check it out." You would like he and Randy from American Idol were brothers, which makes me laugh since I only watch random bits from AI on youtube. Not really sure where he picked it up. Also, a few days ago he told me that when he can't think of what he was going to say he is just going to say "I love you Mom." Talk about a sweetheart!

Josh is such a good kid. Saturday afternoon I took him and the girls over to baseball practice. Matt wasn't feel to hot so he stayed home. When we pulled up to the designated spot, it was quite obvious that we weren't in the correct place. After a few unanswered phone calls to the coach, Josh headed with the girls and me to the Super Wal-mart to stock up for the week. Brynn was a demon shopper. And that's putting it nicely. She thrashed and screamed most of the time if she wasn't either walking alone or eating a "popsie" as she calls them. Josh just pushed the cart with Kaitlyn in the seat, helped me check out, load the van and then even agreed to head over to the mall so I could get a new watch battery. He was a lifesaver. I think I'll have to talk him into coming shopping with me more often!

Brynn's new obsession with PJ's is killing me. Seriously. I need to hide them away in some top closet with hope she can't push a chair over to it and climb up to retrieve them. The second her feet touch the floor after her bath she's rummaging through drawers finding the perfect look. I give in for a bit, but then put proper clothes on her before long. Soon I find her back in her PJ's! Crazy girl. I hate it. They both did make me laugh when I told them the other day the were nuts while driving in the car. I heard this cute echo of two small voices repeating the word "NUTS, NUTS" over and over again. Seems that they were in agreement!And from Kaitlyn recent bouts with her own fashion follies, you can see they really are nutty girls!

I pulled in our little kid picnic table yesterday for the kids eat on during conference. Soon after, Brynn decided it was the perfect size to jump from. Without any hesitation, she would just leap off the table onto the floor. I was talking to my dad on the phone while she soared through the air and laughing as she did it. She is so fearless. (A bit like me it seems.. TTA tomorrow...) My dad told me not to let her jump so just as I went to grab her she hurled herself into the air and crash. She went down in tears. Poor thing injured her foot and has been limping on it all day. I don't think it's anything serious, but with each tiny painful step I have a total guilt trip for not intervening. Here I was laughing. Good lesson for mom. Stop them while they are ahead.

So my brackets are dead. Actually they are in the trash can. Literally. After weeks of hanging proudly on the fridge, highlighted games of victory and recently showing my perfect final 4 picks I threw them out last night. UNC and UCLA had to go and mess them up. I mean come on. It wasn't even close. It was a joke. This for trip to the national championship game for heavens sakes fellas. It was within your grasp and you didn't even hang on for a few minutes. Painful. Very painful. I don't even know if I'll watch the game tonight. (Of course I will, but still). Memphis and Kansas. Not what I'd hoped for.

Even worse, Rich's old Stanford coach Mike Montgomery became the PAC-10 Sith Lord. He went AWOL and joined the Dark Side. Really. He was named as the new head coach for Cal a few days ago. Talk about fraternizing with the enemy. I guess his soul was for sale for $10 million over 6 years. Sad. Rich was in denial at first. Now he's just depressed. How can you throw away 18, yes 18, years with a college and then go and coach their mortal enemy? Truth is stranger than fiction folks. Stranger than fiction.

Trey is thrilled to be headed down to Kentucky Down Under with his class on Friday. I wish I was going with him. He'll explore some caves, see animals and have a very long day returning to the school at 5 PM. What fun.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Grandma Nance today. She is a beautiful person inside and out who has blessed my life with her friendship and love. I hope it's a lovely day, just like you!