Ciara's Version of the First Thansgiving

"The first Thanksgiving was great! They had lots of storms on the boat. There were no toilets there. The Indians taught the Pilgrims to hunt for food. They celebrated for three days. The End"

The view through my window

In the past when I was out in the work force, women have commented to me, that they couldn't understand why I would want to be a stay at home mom. "I would go nuts!" I would often hear.
My response always was: "I like my children, I like to spend time with them!"

When I look out my window, I can see the field and playground of the school that two of my children attend. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of them playing at recess or I see them doing PE. My heart always seems to beat a little faster with excitement even though I have seen them that very morning. It may seem strange, but I miss them during the day and I am excited when they return home. They do drive me nuts sometimes, but they also bring so much joy.

Someone once described having children as giving your heart legs and setting it free in the world. When your child is in pain, it couldn't hurt worse if the pain was actually yours. In fact I think it hurts worse. Sometimes when I look out that window, I wonder if they have a playmate on the playground, I wonder what they are thinking about and how they feel. I wonder if I am doing enough to make them independent while still being there for them as much as I can.

I am so grateful for all three of them. I'm grateful for my husband and soul mate who helps share in the burdens but mostly in the joy!

Young Cousins Reunion '08

This past Wednesday, Chris' sister Kym came to St Louis with her boys Bailey and Riley B. Obviously they came to visit us :-) but also to enter their two dogs Gwen and Grace in the Border Collie Trials at Purina Farms.

We had previously visited the Williams family in their home in Michigan and our boys were instant friends, so they were really excited to have this opportunity to hang out again.

On Friday night we had a party at Jen's house (Chris' other sister) It had been a while since all four siblings had been in the same room so that was fun. (Of course with two camera queens in the room we didn't manage to get a picture of the occasion) We had four october birthday's to celebrate: Mari, Erica, Melissa and Kym. Mari and Erica couldn't make it leaving a lot more cake for the rest of us. We had a fun celebration especially watching Bailey knocking out Tolga's record on the Wii Fit Hula Hoop challenge.

On Saturday the boys attended the Obama Rally. Yep Riley Jordan, Riley and Bailey Williams, the oldest being nine attended their first political rally and were actually not bored to tears. They are amazing kids.

At bedtime the boys would camp out in the living room and design cars of the future or watch Clone Wars until someone kicked them off the TV. Poor Ciara was slightly dissapointed that she was the only girl but got in the frey every chance she got.

The Williams returned home Sunday morning to many protests from the boys who were begging for them to stay "Just one more day!" They have made plans for a summer swap - where they will visit each other this summer. Young Cousins reunion '09!!!

Mom, you are making me nervous!

In an effort to support our children, and to show them that everything they do is important to us, Chris and I try to attend every single school related activity there is.

Riley is a little bit of a math whiz. Always has been. My dad is awesome at math, I'm not so bad, both of Chris's grandpas were engineers. He rarely gets anything less than a hundred on a test and is way ahead of his class on his multiplication and division. He brings home lots of Mathematics Achievement Awards.

One day when Riley was in 1st grade his teacher called me to let me know he had made it into the Math Facts Contest. Basically they hold up flash cards with math problems on it and you have to be the first to answer. So to make it into the contest you have to be one of the best five in your class. Then you compete with the other five per class in your grade. Riley always makes it into Math Facts. So I went to see him a couple of times and he would always be in the top two or three but didn't win. Well, one day I couldn't make it and he won!! He confessed that when I was there watching it made him extra nervous. So we decided together that I wouldn't go watch him anymore. (I have to admit I was tempted to sneak in the back or peak through the window or something.)

I won't say that he has won every single time I wasn't there, but he has on occasion. Today was one of those days. He beat out 9 other fourth graders and won the contest!

So yes, I am bragging but I don't care - it's my right as a mom!!

Dogs, dogs and more dogs

The company I work for Dog Academy, attended two events this past weekend. I have never seen so many dogs in my life!

Although I had seen a few events like these in the past, having no vested interest at the time, I had never payed much attention to them. These events were basically Dog Academy's debut to the public so it was a little nerve racking. In the end we pulled it all together and I think it turned out really well and we managed to not look like amateurs.

There were dogs of every size and variety. Dogs dressed up, dogs in strollers, dog with little bows in their hair, dogs with sunglasses, the biggest dogs I have ever seen alongside the most itty bitty teacup breed.

I have to admit, I had a lot of fun. We chatted with a lot of people and their furry companions. A psychologist could have had a field day. It was so interesting to see the personality of the human compared to their dog. Mostly we saw wonderful owners with a genuine love for their pets.

So we have another show coming up this weekend - feel free to stop by and see us at Purina Farms!

To see pics of the event go to www.dogacademy.com and click on recent events.

Why are we so resistant to change?

As some of you may know, I am President of the Primary at my church. I am responsible for approximately 35 children between the ages of 3 and 11 and 20 children in our nursery. I of course have teachers to help. I also have two couselors and I am supposed to have a secretary.

My journey thus far in Primary has not been without bumps in the road. I have had to juggle people around, deal with issues, rearrange teachers and manage a lot of different personalities.

What really helped me get through all this was the assistance of my two wonderful counselors. And just when I thought everything was running smoothly and we were getting in to our groove - I get a call saying one of my counselors was getting released!

"WHAT?!" I say. I am flabbergasted. We haven't been together as a presidency for long and we are doing a sacrament meeting presentation with only two sunday's left to practice. Lynzee, my counselor that they released, was in charge of music and those of you that know me, know that I am not musically inclined at all.

But I find out that they are making her President of the Young Women's organization. Although I am said to lose my trusted friend as my counselor (Yes, I am selfish!) I know that they couldn't have picked a better person. The Young Women are lucky to have her.

As I am reeling from this news and wallowing in self pity (I don't feel well while all this is happening and feel like the universe is picking on me) we get a call from the Stake Presidency. They would like to speak to Chris and would like me to come along. Oh - Oh. Now what?

Well I am going to have to leave you in suspense as far as Chris goes because the callings is not official yet. It has not been announced at our church. I'll update on that as soon as I can.

It's funny because we often complain that we are in a rut, but it seems like when change comes we often don't like it. It's like when you go to your favorite restaurant and you order the same meal every time. Every once in a while you order something different and most of the time you wish you had ordered your usual. But sometimes you are surprised and find out that you like something new!

I'm Sensitive!

I'm pretty sure Riley doesn't read this blog and I in no way intend to embarass him with this letter but I couldn't resist sharing it.

They have been fighting a lot lately. Ciara loves to push his buttons and the more he reacts the more she pushes. He has not yet learned to just ignore her.

So here's a letter he wrote to her today:

"Dear Ciara,
I"M DONE WITH YOU. FROM NOW ON, WE LIVE SEPERATE LIVES. Got it bub?!

The person you think is stupid,
Riley Jordan

P.S.: You've got another choice. Please treat me nice. I'm sensitive.

Unions, Camping and a Scooter Injury........

Was trying to run a quick errand to the post office today. I had multiple packages and Ella was tired. I put the packages into this big bag from Sam's so that I could manage the packages and Ella. A lady stopped me and commented on how nice and big this bag was. (It's one of those Eco friendly reusable deals) She asks me what "Sam's" is and I explain to her, that it's like Costco. She loves Costco and asks me where Sam's is. I explain to her that they are usually next to Walmart's since they are owned by the same people.

"Oh, I can't shop there" she says to me. "You know they are not union right? I have been union all my life" She even whipped out a pamphlet about unions. (Why do crazy old people always come up to me at the post office?) So I explain to her that with three kids to feed I don't have the luxury of shopping just anywhere - I shop where I get the best deal. She looks at me like I am the most unscrupulous, unprincipled person she has ever met. I sense a lecture coming so I am grateful when Ella decides to try and do a runner and I am "forced" to chase after her.

So I come home, put Ella down for a nap, clean the basement which is a wreck as usual and Chris arrives home for his little overnight camping trip. He claims that he and his friend Eric are going "boyscout" style but they have camp beds, steaks, fruit salad and baked potatoes. Boyscouts must be really living it up these days.

Anyway, just when the kids and I are settling down for the evening after a dinner of leftovers, some friends of theirs from school show up. They play baseball in the field for a while and then they want to ride their bikes. "Sure" I say, "As long as you follow the rules" After catching Ciara without a helmet, I return inside only to have to rush right back out to the sound of Ciara crying. She has borrowed the friends scooter and sliced her foot open. A battle of wills insues where I insist she takes a bath and cleans the darn cut out real well while she screams that the water will practically cripple her with the pain. I win the bath fight but have to listen to the complaints of what agony she is in and how I am not doing enough to ease her pain. (Neosporin and a band-aid just didn't cut it I guess)

So this is a life of a mother. Even though Ciara didn't have permission to ride the scooter, didn't wear tennis shoes like I asked her - it's all my fault because I never specifically said "If you ride your friends scooter, you might accidently cut your foot open"

13 Years!!

Some of you may now this story, some of you may have just learned it. Chris and I got married on September 23rd, 1995. We lived in Vegas at the time, and it had become time for me to move out of my mother's house so Chris and I found an apartment together. We were already engaged to be married and had wanted to get married sooner but my dad didn't think he could make it to the states until February.

Now this may sound old fashioned to some, but Chris and I didn't want to be "living in sin" so we decided to elope. Literally, we decided on Wednesday and got married on Friday night. (Ah Vegas, the home of the quickie wedding!) We went away to Zion National Park for the weekend and were back home in time to go to work Monday morning.

It was kind of fun, having this little secret that we were married but I was afraid that my parents would be disappointed. Haven't told my dad yet, and my mom and mother in law just found out. And yes, even 13 years later, my mom was disappointed!

I guess my point in telling all this is, it's not the wedding that's important. It's the marriage. Chris and I have been together for 13 wonderful years. It's not always a walk in the park, but he is still my best friend and I can't imagine my life without him.

September 13th, 2008 - Six Flags 08

Our dear friend is one of 13 children. Every year without fail they have sisters reunion and cousins reunion. We have always thought this was soo neat. Last year Chris decided that perhaps his family should start a similiar tradition. Even though all the cousins thought it was a good idea, the plan just didn't get off the ground in 2007.

One day, out of the clear blue sky, the idea of Cousins Reunion was reserructed by Chris's sister Jen. We decided on going to Six Flags. The weather was supposed to be bad and we weren't sure if we would make it there but we decided to brave the elements and off we went.

We ended up having a perfect day, perfect weather and no lines for the rides. All the cousins were there (except for Kym, the drive from Michigan would have been a little long!) So the cousins club as we have been nicknamed will be meeting about once a quarter but Six Flags will definitely be our annual tradition.

Might be time for a change................

So I have always used our trusty fivejordans.com site to keep everyone up to date. Unfortunately it is running soo slow right now, that it takes up too much of my time to get pretty much nothing done.

So I am going to try this and hopefully it will be a little faster.