Guilt... nah!

Ok, so... I ranted and raved... then suffered with the should-I-haves. I ultimately decided WHY NOT!? I realize I fret too much... I am letting go. I realized this as I was pulling into the teeny tiny parking lot where I was going to get my haircut and was totally stressed out about where to park... WHY?!?! Why would I stress out about such a thing?!? I parked... and didn't even alter any one's destiny... yeah me!! I am going to stop wondering where Kailey gets it, too! I have often blamed it on Daddy and Grammy JoJo... but I am going to humble myself and admit... my daughter may have an ulcer in kindergarten... in part... because she takes after her MOMMY!

So here's the deal... Blake is AWESOME!!! He is doing absolutely amazing things with his life. He is running for a student counsel position at his school for 2008-09... yes 08-09, his senior year! I really am happy that he will be here! He is on a great path! He is getting almost strait A's (which is why he is even able to run)... he has great friends and is making great choices! Our little Blakey is growing up! (and before too long I'll have him shaving like a man!)

Noise

Disclaimer: The following was said in sarcasm... with maybe just a tid-bit of frustration... but not meant with anything but love!

Ok, so I just had to get this off my chest... and I'm going to try to not have another really long post... I know I've had a few of those!!

~~Advice ~~

Not from me... but to me!

So I probably stayed up too late last night updating my blog. I get that. But I also wanted to stay up for my dear hubby who was off getting yet another "investment", which took him clear to Roy at 9 PM. For those of you who aren't familiar with Utah, Roy would be like driving from C d'A to Medical Lake or Deer Park to Spangle. Anyway, at the last minute Blake decided he wanted to go with him (it seems the girls he has ended up totally infatuated with happen to be in Roy?!?... but at 9 PM... seriously!!!!). So my boys are off... again. I wanted to be a loving wife who showed her husband her gratitude for his sacrifice (blah, blah, blah), so I had intended to wait up. As I heard them pull up I decided to get ready for bed quickly and surprise him with the fact that I was still actually awake. As I was laying in bed I hear (at 12:30AM) Blake's antagonistic bellowing laugh in the front yard. (it is annoying to all who are privileged to hear it!). I roll my eyes. A few minutes later the chaos is in my house! I can't say this is an uncommon thing.

Blake has 2 things going against him in the noise department #1 - he is CJ's brother (loud by nature... or by influence) #2 - he is a high school BOY! One of the things he doesn't do loud is this little cat cough... kinda cute... don't want to point it out cuz then it will turn into a loud boy cough.

Moving on... bed time... blah, blah, blah... morning time! For some reason I woke up at about 5:45, and somehow I consciously think "Blake should be up soon". After 30 minutes or so I wake up again to a little Blake "mouse" in the kitchen, then a little Canyon "mouse" in my bed.... so innocent and sweet... and hasn't quite learned (although very close at times) that boys do all things loud. So the Blake mouse makes it into the bathroom. Do any of my women friends have husbands with the old fashioned kind if razors? Do any of my men friend (ok, family) have the old fashioned kind of razors? You know the water and shaving cream kind?

When I mentioned that Blake has CJ as a brother as a mark against him... here is my example...

I am sure that their Dad gave them some shaving pointers. I don't know this for sure... but I know my mom gave me some shaving pointers when the time came.... and I have been shaving for ... a couple years now. I, however, have never pounded the he-.... heck.... out of a razor!!!!!! At first I hear a little tap tap tap... then a TAP TAP TAP... then a TAP TAP TAP. This goes on for a good 5-10 minutes!! I was literally ready to jump out of my skin. I almost had Canyon go knock on the door and tell him to be quiet (but knowing, again, that CJ is his brother I knew that would totally throw off his time schedule). First of all, in an "efficient" moment (again, poor Blake is having to learn some things from CJ... I love you honey, but lets face it your not the most... efficient). They purchase pink daisies!!!!. Ladies, I know you know what pink daisies are... but men... I don't think you're even supposed to use them! Have you ever compared girls whiskers with boys whiskers?

On top of him trying to pound the... heck... out of the razor... in his efficient-ness he decided to do a load of laundry. GOOD JOB BLAKE! I commend Blake for deciding to do his own laundry. Most men... well, they will just wear dirty clothes. Anyway...6:30 in the morning... laundry... in an ancient machine... makes LOTS of noise... literally shaking the wall noise... and it does this all the time.. not just in the wee hours of the morning... this should be common knowledge (plus the bathroom he uses shares a wall with the girls room). OK, I'm going on mammoth for the size of this post... to sum it up... one more thing... "Why don't you just talk to him Stacey?" you ask. Well.... yesterday I tried to give advice... at least twice. Remember when you were in high school and got advice when you were trying to help (yesterday I tried to explain that it is not necessary to scrape every piece of egg that is stuck to your plate... with a fork.... before putting it in the dishwasher. Do you have any idea what kind of noise that makes? Then he was trying to help CJ and I counseled again, only to get giggles, and a big sympathetic smile from my husband.... at this point I know I've gone too far).

SO... I'm tired.... probably a little cranky... got some laundry to do today... a car that needs fixed... grocery shopping... and I have to get my hair-bell fixed (that a whollllle other story).... do I hide the razors.... do I teach him how to shave... or... ugh....

We made it!!!!

Christmas in finally over! That was just wayyyyy too much anticipation! We enjoyed a couple days of R&R!! Oh, wait... no we didn't! Between driving for 12 hours, making sure all the Grammy's and Grampy's and Uncle's, and the friends that are as close as family, we're visited, and driving another 12 hours... we ran out of time for that! But it was so fantastic to be home! I did get one good day "alone" (alone means 2 kids for part of the day, and 1 for the remainder of the day) with Mom... or at least a few hours. I find it a little odd though that I made it through a trip to Spokane, or at least a visit with Mom and Grandma, with less than $100 dollars being spent. I guess that's what happens with Christmas-time in February! CJ did get to spend some quality time walking through deer country. He found a path near my parents in which close to 70 (by his estimation) passed right by him. Then at night he watched them feed in my parents yard. He was also fascinated by the fact that ,because his parents neighbor feeds them, they passed through his parents property allll day long!
Overall our drive went well. The snow in the passes was unbelievable! It was about 3 times the height of the guardrails! Thankfully the days we travelled we're bright and sunny!

So, I'm sure you're all wondering what all the anticipation was about (ok, probably not, and if that's the case just go ahead and stop reading now... but I know your curiosity is going to get the best of you... so just keep going).....

Yes, this was just our portion. The rest of the family actually opened their stuff at Christmas.

I'm not actually sure what would have happened to my mother had this gone on any longer.

Christmas at the Loncon's Highlights

Yes, 2 different tractors!

Eat your heart out Spence! I'm sure they will still be in good enough condition to pass them down to your children... although your children will probably have the real miniature versions.

(We will pray for your sanity through it all Allison!)

MAKEUP!!

oh yes.... MORE MAKEUP!

And just what every 9 year old dreams of...

an MP3 player!!

Not too long ago I tried to convince Blake that once, a looong, loooong time ago, there were actually real doctors, and lawyers, and really cool people who made it clear through high school without a cell phone. Not only did I make myself feel really old, and somewhat nerdy, but now I find myself at a loss of words that my 9 year olds most desired gift of the year was an MP3 player because... quite honestly... I wasn't even really sure what they were a couple of months ago!!

"Thanks mom! This is my best Christmas ever!!!!"

(Yes, he actually said it!! Ok, so he didn't mean it... but he said it!).

If you look close enough you will see the number 20 on the side of the box. This gift was the most highly anticipated of the whole event. If you look back to one of my first posts you will see that CJ and my Mom have had an ongoing battle about this particular race car driver.... the battle lives on.

And since I was always holding the camera you can't see me with my fabulous new pressure cooker! I made my first meal in it tonight! A roast... in just under an hour and a half! Ohhhh yes.... just like a crock pot but.... an hour and a half... and I didn't even make it explode! Anna... I'm thinking dessert to go with those enchiladas!! (because I wouldn't actually be able to cook the enchiladas in the pressure cooker!)

And to top it all off...

need I say more?

And I just thought this was too cute not to share...

So that's it... in a nutshell. Ashlyn even got to go shopping with Gramma Shawn, who also brought Kailey some marshmallow princess cereal!! Way to go Gramma, you won more points with that one!

Although, somehow Mom, Dad and JoJo got jipped in the pictures with Grand kids area. I will make it up to you... I promise.