FACTS

The real story behind the "FACTS" of life....

FACT: The school called last Wednesday. It was Matt's teacher. She kindly asked me if there was something going on with Matt. Puzzled I answered "No." She continued, " Has anything been going on at home?" Holding in my panic I said, "What do you mean?" "Well, Matt fell asleep in class this morning. Is he on any medicine or does he have any health related issues?" Oh my goodness. I felt relief and embarrassment at the same time. "Nope. He just stayed up a bit too late last night. His grandparents are flying in today. And we had a crazy weekend with Trey breaking his arm," was my reply. "I promise to get him to be EARLY tonight."

BAD: Never in my life has the school called to tell me my child had drifted off to sleep leaving the teacher worried and confused. Yes, I remember little Tyler Orton falling asleep during singing time in 1st grade and kind Mrs. Hales told the rest of us to let him be. He had been up early taking care of the animals. Sadly I had no such excuse. Wake up call to me and our bad sleeping habits.

GOOD: Kids have been in bed as early as 8 PM since last week. A true miracle for us. And it's great. I have to admit, I'd happily take a phone call like that if it helps transform me into a new, bedtime driven woman.


FACT: Last week my little brother Jeff called and asked me if I would like to use their extra Oprah ticket. He and his wife called for FIVE consecutive hours the day the tickets for the 2008-2009 season were released, finally got through and their intense diligence was rewarded with 4 tickets to her show. The taping would be on October 1, 2008. And I would need to be Chicago at the Harpo Studios no later that 7:15 AM that morning.

BAD: I have 5 littles, a hubby who works insane hours, has no control of his schedule and a plane ticket to Chicago with only one week advance would be FAR out of my budget. This would be a no go, but I truly appreciated the generous and thoughtful offer. Hopefully it will work out down the road one day.

GOOD: The day after the phone call from Jeff, I called my mom. She happily told me she would be the one using the Oprah ticket. I was beyond thrilled. It was perfect. She would be flying out to Milwaukee on Monday, September 29, which happens to be my brother Brad's birthday and he lives in Milwaukee too. She would be going to Celine Dion with Jeff and Sarah on Monday night, celebrating Brad's birthday, and would drive to Chicago with Sarah and the two other ladies. I would have thought it was fun to see Oprah. She's ecstatic. She even googled "What to wear on the Oprah show." Not white or cream. I loved it. So glad the ticket found its way to its rightful owner. PARTY ON MY FAMILY IN WISCONSIN!!

FACT: Trey broke his arm, making it impossible for him to throw a birthday party at the Kid's Place since all you do is climb up rope jungle gyms like at Sea World and run wild with your friends.

BAD: He was sad not to have a party. He told me he would rather not have one at the house (we are on a every other year party plan), but wait until next year and have it at the Kid's Place.

GOOD: Since there was no party to host or plan, we came up with an alternative celebration: A Day in Louisville. Far better than spending $100 at a place swarming with kids and chaos. The kids were not in school, we we headed west around 1 PM, spent a few hours crashing at the Underwoods (A MUST on Trey's birthday wish list) and had a magical night at the Bluegrass Balloon Festival. Amazing, beautiful and must be repeated every year until we move. Perfect and a special birthday Trey will never forget.

FACT: Trey turned 9 on September 26, 2008.

BAD: I only have 10 more years until I send this boy out on his own to serve an LDS mission. I have been married for 11 1/2 years. Time goes by TOO FAST! I freaked out the other day realizing he'll be dating girls in 7 years. Josh and Matt turned 7 in June. Where is my life going?

GOOD: I get 10 more years of having Trey home with us. I get a decade longer to teach him the ropes of life, build his testimony, instill values and help aid him in making his dreams come true. Even when he grows up, I'll ALWAYS, ALWAYS be his mother. And everyone needs their mom no matter how old you get.

FACT: Brynn is potting training herself. None of my other children did this. Ever.

BAD: This means she is constantly stripping down to nothing, hoping on and off the potty and rarely goes. Kaitlyn often decides she wants to join in the fun, gets naked too and then the two of them battle out in the bathroom about who gets to sit on the toilet. And we are still going through at least 10 diapers a day. Minimum.

GOOD: None of my other children had in inkling of using the toilet until well over 3 years of age. Brynn is so thrilled when she goes, she glows and talks about it for a full five minutes (that's like a eternity for a 2 year old.). Every time she goes, she insists on calling someone. Thanks to all who kindly listen to her near undecipherable conversation. "Poop potty. I big girl." Yes, you are. And Kaitlyn's sweet rebuttal "Me poop. Nope. All gone." Makes me laugh every time.

FACT: The girls love to tidy up. They love to help. They love to clean with Mom's cleaning supplies. They used the last inch of liquid Joy to clean my leather couches in the living room last week.

BAD: They used an INCH OF LIQUID JOY to clean my COUCH!

GOOD: I have the cleanest couches around. Promise.

FACT: My computer's C drive is beyond full. Often when I try to open 2 Internet links it will shut down my connection- too much information for it to handle. I am unable to correctly download photos from my cameras.

BAD: I am unable to download much needed pictures from my camera. Freaking out here! There are so many pictures I want to post (Jackson's visit, Trey's birthday, balloon glow) and my computer is not allowing me too. Not good. Not at all.

GOOD: Searched Amazon.com for a great little external hard drive and hopefully by tomorrow my cool new gadget that holds TWO MILLION photos should be arriving via free shipping (I love that!). I can't wait. But I have to admit, the reason my hard drive is full is a good one. I mean, when is having too many photos a bad thing? And I know the real culprit that caused my current situation- my new fabulous camera. The night I downloaded the software, my computer was sunk. Oh well. Sometimes you've gotta pay the price for the good stuff. And I'm willing to pay the price. Until tomorrow. Then I'm praying I can fix my problem. Wish me luck.

FACT: Rich's call schedule one week off, one week on for an entire month. This adds up to one horrible month, but then some extra downtime after since he has no call the next (about) 6 weeks after.

BAD: His weeks on call are long for him. Late nights at the hospital, early mornings with the boys. He was unable to come to the Balloon Glow with us. He won't be able to come to Perryville Battlefield with us on October 10th. He'll be on call for the Sunday session of LDS General Conference. He will be on call on his birthday on October 9th. Being on call really stinks. Over worked, under paid and a very stressful job.

GOOD: After reading every film, every scan, he gains more knowledge and become better at his job. He is not on over night call until January. He is NOT on call when Trey broke his arm. He was NOT on call when his parents came in town. He was NOT on call in the morning of Trey's birthday. He will be off on Saturday- a soccer game, baseball game, conference and priesthood meeting. Oh yeah, and when he's on call I don't cook. Drive thru here we come. Not bad for us. Or my kitchen. It finally stays clean.

FACT: Rich will spend all of February 2009 living in Washington DC for medical training.

BAD: One month alone in dark, cold February with my kiddos here in Lexington, KY.

GOOD: He gets the weekends off, so hopefully he'll visit us. It gets dark early, which means neighborhood kids won't be ringing my door bell at 8 PM. I might just get my kids to bed EARLY every night. And one full month of not cooking, playing games for FHE and being mom and dad to my kids. Bonding experience for sure.

FACT: The first day of fall was September 21, 2008. It was 90 degrees outside. Really. And we haven't had real rain in 2 months.

BAD: It would seem inappropriate to pull out my darling Frankenstein and set him up on the porch when I would be sweating and getting possible heat stroke from the work it would require. My lovely flowers are still blooming bright, but the poor grass is nearly dead from drought. And I miss my lovely mountains showing the early changes of the leaves. After 8 years of living away, it is still something I long for.

GOOD: Last Friday there was finally a bit of chill in the air. While it certainly isn't sweater weather, I think I'll be happy to pull out the Halloween decor on Wednesday, October 1- the first official day of Halloween. I'm smiling all ready. With the coolness in the air, I'm ready to bake pumpkin bread, make soup, pull out the Jack-o-Lantern soap and burn the 'Leaves' candle. Man, I do LOVE fall. Love it completely. Even if the leaves have just barely begun to change an my girls are running around in shorts and flip flops. That's OK. It's coming and that is enough.

FACT: Good times. Good Memories. GREAT FAMILY. One very happy, blessed girl.