C-l-o-s-e-t singer......

I recently posted that I am a c-l-o-s-e-t singer. Well, some random person must have googled that phrase (or whatever technological term it is when you search for people who use your phrases) and he left a comment, stating that he too, is a clo*** singer and leaving me a link to his website. I got a pretty good laugh as curiosity got the best of me and this is what I found:







Wait for it.........

Hahahaha! It was a little unexpected, but funny to say the least!

p.s. I didn't mean it literally.....I almost never sing in my clos*t!

The big 2-5 (read: 30.)

To honor my many moons here on Earth, I present a list of 25 (un)interesting facts about me:

1. If I was 25, I would’ve graduated at the ripe old age of 14.
2. I was genius enough to have graduated at 14, but I didn’t want to make my peers feel inadequate.
3. I still listen to The Cure.
4. I love Elvis’ voice.
5. I don’t want to get old…..really it’s not the getting old; it’s the looking old part I don’t want.
6. I love Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs…….good thing they’re only available once a year!
7. I have hypothesized that mini bite-size snickers are the perfect proportion of chocolate to filling, yyyuuumm (as are the RPBEggs mentioned above.)
8. I used to wear size 40 pants, but I wasn’t fat.
9. I am a closet B-girl.
10. I love my husband – 8 years down, 80 more to go.
11. I actually hope I don’t live past 80….or whenever my teeth start to fall out.
12. I am a car singer…..in my head I can sing with the best of them!
13. I used to wear pigtails…..as a teenager
14. I thought I was so punk cool….or is that cool punk??
15. Now I know I was just a punk.
16. I love to use the word punk….it’s so versatile.
17. I also love to use “air quotes” and ……. to try and give myself an electronic voice.
18. I am listening to “Sweet Caroline”……everybody sing with me: Hand…..touching hand…..reaching out……touching me……touching you…………
19. I will probably delete that song off my playlist by tomorrow.
20. I love to read books.
21. I love to eat birthday cake.
22. I miss my Mom.
23. I have three sons whom I love more than anything else in this world, including number 6.
24. I think men who shave (or buzz real short) their heads are much more respectable than men with comb-overs……or the “skirt look” (cough, cough, George Constanza, cough, cough.)
25. Did you know that if I had filled this out from my 1st birthday and continue until I am 80, you would have to read a total of 3240 extremely boring facts?? (read: I LOVE math.)

Well, happy 25th Birthday to me!

p.s. Don’t worry if you didn’t get a chance to tell me Happy Birthday……I will be 25 again next year, hehe!

p.p.s. I totally copied this idea from first, my sister-in-law Emily, second, Alida. Thanks for the idea girls!

Seriously Dude.

I have a middle child (which is often comparable to being a second child.) Think for a moment of all the cliche's and quasi-facts out there about middle children (neglected, "birth order book", just to name a few.) Well, it would appear my child pretty much fits all those things. While I wouldn't say he is neglected, or even lacking in attention, he certainly has had to share his (and our) time with first, his older brother, and now, his baby brother (are you even allowed to use that many parentheses and commas in once sentence??) A short summation of the birth order book is that the second child will be the complete opposite of the firstborn child. Check. I could go on and on about the birth order thing, but I doubt you want to read it.

The reason I bring this up: we have been having Maxwell go through a series of "assessments". Crazy thing is, none of these assessors seem to want to tell me whats going on! Until today. Number Two is currently in a "trial" preschool. He will go for two weeks and at the end we will have a "meeting", in which we decide what it is that Number Two needs (poor Number Two, we all know what Number Two really means to little kids; in which case Number One isn't that much better off, but Number Three has missed that boat entirely!) Today, his second day, Mrs. W stopped to talk to me a little bit about what she has been seeing as they try to figure Number Two out. She would ask me a question, and after I answered, would say, "Yes, that is exactly what we saw." Why? Does she think I am blind? What would it mean if we weren't seeing the same thing?? Regardless, she gave me a few good ideas, and as she talked, a few things clicked in my head (yes, my brain does work sometimes.) I realized that this is all stuff that we did with Number One. Next, the guilt started to set in as I realized that Number Two was probably experiencing these difficulties because............well, I have no idea, really, except that by golly, I feel guilty. Maybe I'm lazy. Maybe I forgot I needed to do these things. Maybe I thought he would just learn from Number One.....or on his own. Then, I realized that I had made a "middle child" victim out of my son. Poor kid. He didn't stand a chance. I decided right then and there that I was going to make sure this same thing didn't happen to my Third (and last) Child. Of course, this then means that I would further victimize my Number Two child. Everyone knows that Number One gets everything, and that Number Three (if he's also the baby) gets away with everything. Or all the attention. And that is exactly what I would be doing! To keep Number Two from falling prey to the middle-child syndrome, should I fail Number Three as well?

I just love these guys....

It was fun to have my brothers back together (well, minus Ben - but he has kids so he just doesn't count anymore.....)

BYU vs. OU.......

photo courtesy of Scott Tietjen

Ok, so it's old news, I know. I just felt compelled to rub it in a bit more! Here is my version of that great night:

Brent and I had a wedding reception to attend (we got there so late, they weren't even serving food anymore, the cake had already been cut and the bride and groom were about to leave.) Brent watched the game beforehand at a member's home on a "15' wide HD projected screen" (or something like that) and then I whisked him off to the reception. I asked Dad to babysit - first question: Can I get the BYU game at your house? Of course he could, and he did. I called him at about 9:36pm to let him know we were on our way home, and as I was about to say goodbye, he blurted, "BYU IS WINNING!" I politely asked him the score (14-13 obviously, with 1 minute 20 seconds to go, BYU's possession.) About five minutes later, I got a text alert with the final score. We pulled into the driveway, got out of the car, opened the door from the garage, and there was Dad.......with the biggest little-boy-grin on his face! Sometimes I just love my Dad. He is like a little boy - uncomplicated. Anyway, I woke up this morning wishing that I had a candid camera with me for times like that - so that I could've captured that memory on film (because lets face it - BYU probably won't do this often.) Unfortunately, all I have is the memory planted firmly in my brain. And I will have to live with that. Which I am getting used to slowly and surely. Only because several weeks ago my heart was broken when all of our home videos were erased from our computer. You should've seen me cry. I know it was stupid to be so upset over such temporal things, but still......the thought of all those videos of my little babies, that I always thought I would be able to watch whenever I wanted to be all sentimental - they aren't there anymore. Anyway, I'm getting over it, slowly but surely, but it makes me realize I should take more pictures and make more movies. Mostly because I want to always remember the little things - my children's first smiles, my Dad's goofy grin, Blake saying lellow instead of yellow........

I've been spending some time with my Grandmother and she has all sorts of stories to tell. Stories of a time when the world was different. It fascinates me (and saddens me a bit) to realize that my parents (and my grandparents) have real personalities and real stories that don't include the only way I have ever viewed them - as parents and grandparents. So it was fun to see my Dad be so proud and excited for his Alma Mater......because sometimes I just forget that he was once a college kid, attending the games, feeling pride for his school. So, in lieu of getting to know my Dad as a college kid: GO COUGARS!

p.s. I was tempted to post that on Facebook, but I thought that in my wide array of friendships, the term "cougar" could be misconstrued........I do NOT root for older women preying on young men!

A trip down memory lane.

The boys have enjoyed watching me put this together!

Brent, I love you.

A special thanks to Rebecca Peters at Rebecca Peters Photography for bringing this song to my attention.

A special thanks also to my Aunt Katy. Your pictures are worth a thousand words. Love you.