The Aftermath

I ate too much. I know people say that after the holidays, but I really ate way too much. My stomach feels like a bowl full of jelly. My clothes are tight. I remember watching a Biggest Loser episode where they did blood tests on the contestants and they said that a layer of fat had separted from the blood in one of the vials. That could be my blood right now.

I first realized I might have a problem when the Almond Roca tasted a little bland--but of course, I ate it anyway. I actually got to the point where I wasn't craving sweets--but of course, I kept eating them, because I love them. We still have plates of cookies and candy sitting around. I'm feeling so fat that I'm not even getting mad when the kids eat some of "MY" treats. Yes, I know I have a problem.

I know it will take months to undue the damage that has been done to my poor growing muffin top. I should start right away and cleanse my house of all Sees candy and cookies...but I think I'll wait until after New Years. Afterall, isn't that what New Year's resolutions are for?

Merry Christmas

It's 2:00 Christmas afternoon. The house is completely quiet and no kids are to be seen. Chris and I have been playing a new Wii game for about an hour. Branden is in his room reading. Yes, reading a book on Christmas day. He has a new electric drum set sitting there, but he is reading a new book he got for Christmas. (Granted, he's still not feeling well, but--come on, a book on Christmas?) Kelsie, I'm assuming is taking a nap. Money and gift cards aren't very exciting to play with and she's very frustrated with the fact that stores aren't open on Christmas Day so she can go to the mall and spend her money. Trevor's in his room listening to music and playing with his new iPod touch. At least one Christmas present is being used today.

Merry Christmas from our ununusually quiet household to yours.

Beware of Treats

One of my dear kind neighbors sent over some treats yesterday. How thoughtful! When I thanked her she sounded horrible. I could tell she was totally sick! She said she was sick, but she did the baking before she got sick (which made me wonder how old the cookies were...). I really wasn't planning on eating any of her treats because it kinda grossed me out to see how sick she was...and the thought of her giving me food she had made... Unfortunately, I have no self control when it comes to food and once I opened up the nice little tin canister and looked at the cookies I couldn't help myself! I ate most of them and I think Branden ate the rest.

Well, last night (after eating the cookies) Branden starts complaining that his throat hurts (and I didn't even tell him about the sick neighbor). He even went to bed early last night and today he's just laying on the couch. I started developing this weird chesty cough last night and am still not 100% percent today. So, is it just coincidence we're both under the weather after eating my sick neighbor's cookies...or not.

Weird Dream

So I had this weird dream last night that is actually quite easy to psychoanalyze. I dreamt that it was Christmas Eve (not a far reach) and I heard one of the kids get up in the middle of the night. They like to get up at about 2 or 3 in the morning and see what Santa brought them and then they go back to bed. Well, in my dream, I heard someone get up and I realized they were going to see what Santa had left them and I realized that Santa forgot to come and I didn't even have any presents wrapped for when they woke up in the morning! I was totally stressed! What have I learned from this? Although my shopping is finally done, I'm going to spend the day wrapping presents so that even if Santa doesn't come (have they been good ALL year???) at least there can be something under the tree.

"ALL I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LIFE I LEARNED FROM A SNOWMAN... "

*It's okay if you're a little bottom heavy.
*Hold your ground, even when the heat is on.
*Wearing white is always appropriate.
*It takes a few extra rolls to make a good midsection.
*We're all made up of mostly water.
*You know you've made it when they write a song about
you.
*Avoid yellow snow.
*Don't get too much sun.
*It's embarrassing when you can't look down and see your
feet.
*It's fun to hang out in your front yard.
*Always put your best foot forward.
*There's no stopping you once you're on a roll.
*Live each day as if it were your last

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Tree

After my insanely crazy week of nine basketball games in five days in three different cities with three different children, I had a one hour block today (before basketball games) where I wanted to get our Christmas tree. We're expecting rain this week and I really hate looking for trees when they're wet, so I really wanted to go today. None of the kids wanted to go with us. Kelsie hates the smell of pine (she cannot wait to move out and have a fake tree!), so she wouldn't go with us. Trevor had basketball practice, so he couldn't go with us and Branden...I don't really remember why he didn't go with us--this morning seems so long ago!

So, Chris and I headed up to our local Home Depot to pick out a Christmas tree. We used to go and cut down a tree, but we've become too fond of the noble fir's at Home Depot...and we had a major time constraint. What a strange experience it was to look for a tree without the kids. We haven't done that for sixteen years! It was more stressful then I thought it would be, since I actually had to pick which one I wanted all by myself, and I really don't like to make decisions. But, we finally found one. We brought it home and stuck it in a bucket of water and left it on the front porch since we didn't have time to do anything with it. Hopefully we can bring it in the house and get it decorated tomorrow...or sometime soon.

I learned some very helpful hints today while Christmas tree shopping from this family that I followed around because I was so impressed with them.
Helpful hint #1: Gloves. They all had on a pair of gloves--just simple cheap latex gloves so that your hands aren't all sappy and sticky (and stinky) for the rest of the day. I was so impressed that the lady even offered me some gloves (of course, she's so prepared she brought extra gloves.)
Helpful hint #2: Scissors. Scissors? Yes, scissors. My philosphy with picking the perfect Christmas tree is if it's already been unwrapped and looked and not chosen, it must be a loser tree. So Chris keeps unwrapping Christmas tree after Christmas tree until we find one we like. Scissors would make that SO much faster!
Next year, I will be so prepared!

It's That Time of Year...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Celebrity Sighting

RIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers FAST BREAK—Royal High's Heather Tomaszewski, center, races the court for defensive position as Kelsie Oberender pushes the ball up the floor during Monday's practice session at RHS.

Kelsie was VERY excited this morning to see her picture in the newspaper. Yes, that means it is officially basketball season and with both Kelsie and Trevor playing high school basketball this year, my life is crazy. I have a basketball schedule on my fridge with practices and games highlighed in different colors for each child so I can remember who needs to be where and when. That doesn't even include Branden's basketball schedule. My favorite thing is when I cross out the date at the end of each day and realize I survived another day of basketball. Three weeks down...ten weeks to go.

Fa La La La La...

I have a confession to make. I know it's not even Thanksgiving, but I have started to listen to Christmas music. I LOVE Christmas music. I don' t know why, but I just do. There's this radio station (KOST 103.5 for you Christmas junkies) that started playing Christmas music a few days ago and will continue to play Christmas tunes all day long until December 25th. There's nothing like driving around in nice sunny 85 degree weather while listening to Christmas music. It seems to relax me. I'm a little nicer driver, just like at Christmas time. You know, like letting a car come into my lane, or not being impatient at pedestrians walking slowly in crosswalks. I just seem to have the Christmas spirit a little bit earlier, that way it lasts longer! My kids hate the constant Christmas music, but they know the rule--no changing the station or complaining or I will just sing the Christmas songs louder!

Ah...to be young again!

Kelsie's going with a friend to the midnight showing of Twilight! Yes, on a school night ( I know, it's totally against everything I believe in as a mother--but not as a Twilight fan!) So, here's the plan. They leave at 7pm to wait in line--they already have tickets but you have to stand in line for five hours to get a good seat and hang out with all the other people with Twilight obsessions. The movie will run from midnight to about 2:15 am, so she'll sleep from about 2:45-4:45 in the morning when she gets up for seminary. Two hours of sleep then a full day of school including seminary, a math test, and a two hour basketball practice. I wish I could do it...but when I think about it I just want to curl up in my bed.

Eagle Project

Trevor completed his eagle project last week!
Woo hoo! Hurray! Way to go!
His project consisted of working with a guy at the city named Richard, who didn't like to return his calls.

Trevor taught his "crew" how to put placards next to the city's storm drain.
First, the area had to be cleaned--scraped and brushed.

And some sort of epoxy was put on the back of the placard--the city even provided the plastic gloves.

Next, it had to be firmly placed against the curb--the black epoxy seeping through is good. It means it has a good seal against the curb.

Trevor learned some great leadership skills. He said it was stressful, but he did a great job!

Primary Sacrament Meeting

One of my very favorite Sacrament meetings of the year is when the primary children present their Sacrament Meeting Program. I love to see the little sunbeams waving to their parents, picking their nose, and singing the few words they know at the top of their lungs and then standing there waiting for the chorus so they can sing again. I also love it because it always ends early and since our Sacrament Meeting is last...we get to go home early..(yes, I get excited to get out even 5 minutes early)!

Sunday was Branden's last Primary Sacrament Program, since he will be turning 12 in March. It's never really sad for me when I know it's their last program because the 11 year olds are usually so ready to be out of primary and my kids tend to look kind of dorky up there because they're so much taller than all of the other kids. Branden's so tall he looked like he was held back a year. So, although I will no longer have any of my own children to watch during the Primary Program, it's OK, it will stlll be one of my favorite Sundays.

Silly Trevor

The phone rang this morning at 7:00 and it was Trevor calling me after seminary. He says "Tell Branden not to panic, I have his shoe." After prodding and prying I learn that Trevor was so tired this morning that he put on one of Branden's shoes and went to seminary. Now, I am not judging, becuase I have been known to be at the gym (on more than one occasion) and look down and realize that I am wearing two different tennis shoes, but at least my shoes are the same size. Trevor's shoes are three sizes bigger than Branden's! He put on a shoe that he couldn't even really squeeze his foot into, and he didn't even realize it was the wrong shoe until he got out of the car and started walking into seminary. Silly Trevor.

Halloween 2008

Halloween was a little different this year. We started out at our wonderful neighbor Cindy's house. Every year she fixes stew for all of the neighbors. MMM. After the stew, Kelsie and Trevor left to go to a Halloween party and Branden left to go trick or treating with some neighborhood friends. Chris and I were home alone. It was the first time in 16 years that we were both home for Halloween. Neither of us were going out trick or treating with the kids. Weird. After about five minutes Branden came home. He said he had a stomach ache and was not going trick or treating. Now, I know this is hard to believe, but Branden likes sugar even more than I do, so for him to not be out trick or treating meant he was really not feeling well. I was actually surprised he was not crawling on his hands and knees trick or treating if he had a stomachache--that's how bad his sugar addiction is. So now there were three of us at home. After about half an hour, Branden said his stomach felt better and we was ready to go trick or treating. Thank goodness--because if he didn't go I wouldn't have anyone's candy to steal. Chris said he'd take him out, but after about ten minutes they ran into the original friends Branden was going to go with. Once again, it was Chris and I home alone. Chris passed out candy while I painted the closet. What Fun!

Kelsie wanted to dress up as an 80's workout girl. What was funny was when SHE kept trying to explain to ME what people wore in the 80's!

Trevor dressed up as Barnacle Boy (from SpongeBob) with his friend Matthew who dressed up as Mermaid Man.

Branden used an old IPod costume I had made for Trevor a couple of years ago. Gotta love recycled costumes!

Prop. 8

I spent my first night "working the corner" for Prop. 8 tonight. I wasn't able to go last week to hold up signs in support of Prop. 8 because my allergies were SO bad and the wind was terrible and I had schedule conflicts each time (really, I'm not making excuses). So I finally made it up to the corner tonight and it wasn't too bad. We had about 60 people from our ward show up for "Family Home Evening at the Corner" and only 4 people with "No on Prop 8" signs were there. It was a little awkward when Kelsie recognized that one of the "no" people was one of her friends from school, but Kelsie handled it quite well. I was very impressed. Trevor LOVES holding signs at the corner--tonight was his fourth time. He tries to get all the cars to wave at him or honk their horns--OK, so he's a little needy for attention--middle child syndrome. He also likes to keep track of how many flip him off. Branden likes going to, but sometimes I wonder if it's for the pizza, cookies and soda.

It's been a good experience for our family participating in Prop. 8. We've had some really good family discussions about the whole issue and I've been impressed with the willingness that the whole family has shown in standing up for something that we believe in. It's also been inspiring to see how many people from the ward are willing to give so much of their time to the issue (and not just for free pizza at the corner:) That being said, I will be SO glad when Tuesday is finally here.

Very Sad News

I started feeling a little better today until I read my sister's blog and learned that Mother's Cookies filed for bankruptcy and closed their doors on Monday. Yes, Mother's cookies--the makers of one of my favorite cookies, the pink and white iced animal shaped cookies. That is one cookie that I could never eat just one of (well, most cookies I can never eat just one of)...MMM. They even made them in patriotic colors for the 4th of July. They made other cookies too, like the iced oatmeal cookies and I'm sure others, but my favorite were the pink and white iced animals.

The company cited the rising cost of fuel and supplies as the main reason for closing their doors. Many people have lost their jobs and the world has lost a very fine cookie company. I am so very sad. I'm heading off to the store right now and hopefully I can find some before they're all gone. Maybe I can buy a bunch and sell them on E-Bay :)! Just kidding, I will eat them in remembrance of MANY fond memories of Mother's Cookies.

My Life of Leisure

We're having some closet addition/remodeling work going on this week at our house. We actually are paying someone to do this since we don't know how to frame and I/we really don't like doing drywalling or electrical work. We usually do all our home improvement work ourself, so I am feeling so spoiled seeing people carry things in and carry things out while I just sit and do nothing.

I really am just sitting and doing nothing since I've been sick all week. I feel really stupid because the guy who's doing the work is a friend of ours and all I really do is sit. I sit at the table and read the newspaper. I sit at the computer and do computer stuff. I sit in front of the TV--I don't have bon bons, but I've been eating oreos and M&M's (my comfort foods). But, of course, I am still a mom, so I do have to get up and take kids to school, buy groceries, do laundry, etc. I really just need to take a nap, but there's people in three of our bedrooms at any given time.

I think our friend (who shall remain nameless) thinks I'm a total loser. I haven't showered. I haven't worn any makeup. On Monday I stayed in my pajamas and glasses all day (such a pretty sight.) His wife has always worked so I'm sure he's impressed at what a stay-at-home mom does. I try to cough loudly when the hammering stops or when I hear him coming down the hall so that he can hear that I am sick. I think he just thinks I'm lazy.

Love/Hate Relationship

I HATE Santa Ana winds. I just HATE them. I hate how they keep me up at night, or even wake me up from a sound sleep. I hate how they make my already flat hair flatter. I hate how they blow little dust particles in my eyes which stick to my contacts and make me cry until I can take my contacts out and clean them. I hate how they make my dog (and kids) hyper. I hate how they make my allergies worse.

But yesterday, I was quite appreciative of the Santa Ana winds. As another huge fire was burning near Porter Ranch, I couldn't figure out why it looked so pretty out my window, when they skies should be filled with smoke. I went outside to check out where all the smoke was when I realized that the Santa Ana winds that I hate so much were blowing the smoke directly away from me and leaving my house in a little blue sky bubble--I couldn't even smell smoke!

The kids were hoping for a "Fire Day" (kinda like a Snow Day), but the fire's not quite close enough to us, so they had to go to school. At least they cancelled outside practices for Kelsie and Trevor due to the poor air quality.

Mr. President

This year, Branden had the option to stay at his elementary school for sixth grade or to go to middle school. Our elementary school has a excellent sixth grade program, so I was hoping he would choose to stay without me having to negotiate with him. He really wanted to stay because all of his friends were staying, but also so that he could run for President and so he could be in Junior Olympics.

Last week was the student body elections. He (and I) had to make a poster, make stickers for people to wear and give a speech. His speech was all about name recognition as he said "Branden O." twenty-five times in his speech. (There are two other Brandon's, a Braden, and a Brenden in 6th grade with him.) I thought I would be such a good mom so I brought the video camera to tape him. I was SO nervous as he was giving his speech in front of 450 people that I couldn't hold the camera still. The footage is completely bouncing around and I even have one of those anti-bounce cameras. Oh, well. I tried.

His motto was "All you need to know is to vote for Branden O." Not as memorable as Trevor's "If you're clever, vote for Trevor. And even if you're not clever, you should still vote for Trevor," His worked anyway, and he won! Congratulations, Branden O.

Ouch!

Kelsie was so proud of her latest basketball injury she actually brought me my camera and asked me to take pictures of it to put on the blog (probably since I didn't post her black eye last month). As you can see, her lip is a little swollen. She was elbowed in the mouth which split her skin just below her lip. The doctor superglued it back together, so she was happy she didn't have to have stitches. The worst part is the inside of her mouth.

When she was elbowed, she somehow managed to bite the inside of her lip. It's like one gigantic canker sore. It hurts for her to move her mouth in any way, so she doesn't talk, eat, or smile much. She even had to have someone give her talk for her in church on Sunday. Poor Kelsie. I know it hurts, but I can't help from laughing at her when she's trying to not laugh or smile at something and only half her lip moves. But I'm being very nice and buying her lots of Jamba Juice--her current diet staple.

FREE ICE CREAM

On Thursday from 5-8 PM don't forget to go to Coldstone to get your FREE 3 oz sample of their special Make-a-Wish flavors.
You can pick either
Jack's Creation - Marshmallow ice cream with OREO® Cookies, Chocolate Chips and Fudge OR
Emily's Creation - Nutter Butter® ice cream with White Chocolate Chips, Kit Kat® and Yellow Cake
I think I'm going to go for Emily's creation....I'm not a real marshmallow fan...but feel free to choose for yourself.
Any donations they receive go to the Make-a-Wish Foundation, so it's all good.

Paint

Time to paint Trevor's room. He said he wanted one wall to be blue and the rest to be white. Fine. I don't care. It's paint. I kinda like to paint because it's cheap and it's easy and if you don't like it it's easy to fix. I wanted him to go to the paint store with me to get the little paint swatches to see what shade of blue he actually wanted. He said he didn't want to go with me and for me to get a blue "like this"--as he handed me a blue Blockbuster coupon that was in the car.

I bring home about 20 different shades of blue for him to pick one. We tape them up all over the one wall that he wants painted blue and he stares at the colors for a few days. Each day he takes down a few colors he doesn't like until he's narrowed it down to four. Peek-a-boo-blue, Suddenly Sapphire, Rainbow Bright and Teenie Bikini. No "Blockbuster Blue" at the store.

Who names paint? Teenie Bikini is the darkest blue of them all. It has nothing to do with a teenie bikini. I would at least think teenie bikini would be a tropical beach color, but it's not. And Peek-a-boo blue? What does that mean? Think what a fun job it would be to stare at a color and think of all the names you could call it. I really think that would be fun. But, I also think it would be fun to think of street names for new housing developments. You know, Lori Lane, Kelise Court, etc.

Anyway, he had decided on Peek-a-boo-blue so I went and bought the little half a pint sample that they sell. After looking at it for a day he decided he wanted to go a little darker, so Suddenly Sapphire it is! Now I have to decide between twenty different colors of white for the other walls.

September 11th

It doesn't seem like "September 11th" was really seven years ago. It seems like it was much more recent. I clearly remember the morning when the alarm went off and the people on the radio were talking about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. I was very confused and thought I had missed the beginning of a story or a joke. All of the sudden reality hit Chris and he jumped out of bed and turned the TV on and we stared at the TV in shock and horror for a while not really knowing what we were supposed to do. Chris realized he probably needed to get to work and I started getting Kelsie and Trevor ready for school. It was a very eerie feeling taking them to school. I didn't know if there was going to be school or if I should keep them home, but I decided to keep their usual routine for them.

My in-laws were on the way to LAX that morning when they heard the news. They were trying to head back to Washington Dulles (DC) after spending a week visiting us. Of course all the flights were cancelled and stayed cancelled for a few days. There was such a quietness around town for those few days without any flights overhead.

The tragedy really hit me when we visited New York three years ago. We were in NYC for a couple of days and toured around the city and saw all the sights and we decided to go to Ground Zero. There in the middle of all these skyscrapers and hustle and bustle of city life was a gigantic hole in the ground. It was fenced off, and there was still debris that wasn't completely cleared out. But there was a tribute to the people that had died on 9/11. I was most surprised by the size of the hole, by the immensity of the destruction. It was a memory and an emotion that I hope I never forget.

Weekend Warrior

I always get so jealous when I watch some of those home improvement shows on HGTV. You know, the ones where they build a whole room addition in one weekend. My weekend projects tend to average at least a month. I always blame it on only have one weekend day (Saturday) rather than two, or not getting up at the crack of dawn to start my weekend project, like they do on HGTV. But last weekend I actually started and finished (almost) my weekend project. Perhaps it was because it was a three day weekend so I actually had two days to finish my task.


The job was to tear out the closet shelving in Trevor's room (aka "the office") and put in a "real closet." My goal was to go Lowe's to buy the closet stuff, tear out the shelving, patch the holes, paint the closet, put in some wood flooring we happened to have left over from our kitchen, and then put in the new closet. Sounded like a feasible weekend project to me.

With Chris's help we were able to actually get it down over the weekend--and that even included an extra trip to Lowe's again to return the closet unit we had bought and buy a different one. It's not competely done--still needs some moulding, a few shelves, and closet doors--but it is soooo close to be done all in one weekend! I even was able to take a quick shower and make it to my fantasy football draft at 6:00 pm. I'm even thinking of keeping the closet doors off for a while, because I think the closet might stay cleaner that way.


We even got Trevor a bed over the weekend so he no longer has to sleep on an air mattress, although he is so tired from seminary he really doesn't care where he sleeps right now. The plan for Trevor's room this week is....painting the bedroom walls.

First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school. Seminary doesn't start until next week so it was a busy morning with everyone trying to get ready at the same time. Kelsie seems to like her classes and teachers. Trevor had a schedule change due to basketball and wasn't able to take his computer class. Instead he was giving a woodshop class. I am very excited about all of the projects I want him to make for me. He is a little wary of woodshop since he is one of two people in the whole class that doesn't have a moustache.

Branden did not want me to accompany him to school since he is in 6th grade now. I told him it was the last time I could ever walk one of my children to school on the first day, and so he let me come. I only took a few pictures before I left, so I don't think he was too embarrassed.

Last Day of Summer

Today was the last day of summer vacation. School starts tomorrow. I hate school. I hate all of the driving and schedules and homework and projects and tired and stressed children. School really gets in the way of my life.

Since it was the last day of summer we went to the beach. We have been having SO much fun this summer going to the beach every week with friends. It has been so relaxing this year with the kids being older. When we go to the beach Trevor and Branden (Kelsie's usually at work) take off to the water with boogie boards, skim boards, or just themselves, and I only see them when they are hungry or thirsty. Thank goodness there are lifeguards, because I just sit there and talk to my friends while eating and basking in the sun. What a great life! But it's over. I have to get back to real life and set my alarm to get kids to school tomorrow. I can't wait until next summer.

My Wicked Experience

Chris and I were planning on going to the temple this week with some friends. I found out on Sunday that the temple is closed for a couple of weeks and so all of the sudden we found ourselves with a completely free evening--something that rarely happens. One of the things I wanted to do this summer was to take Trevor and Branden to see Wicked. Chris and I had taken Kelsie before, but I wanted to take the boys before Wicked left LA. Since we had this free evening, we decided to go to the Pantages and see if we could win some lottery tickets. Before each performance a lottery is held and if you are picked, you can get two front row tickets for $25 each and receive my "I won the Wicked lottery" keepsake pin.

I have never tried to get lottery tickets to the Pantages before. It's almost like The Price is Right! You go there and at 5:30 you can put your name on a piece of paper for the drawing. So, Chris, Trevor, Branden and I each put our names down. At 6:00 they start drawing names. There were about 125 people there who had entered the drawing. They draw 13 names. I was feeling pretty optimistic about the lottery because Trevor was with us. Trevor is one of those lucky kids who wins everything. Everytime there is a raffle or drawing at school, he comes home a winner. They started drawing names and on the ninth name drawn I heard it, "Lori Oberender." It was as if I heard "Lori Oberender, come on down!" and just like the Price is Right I jumped up down and ran to the front to purchase my two front row tickets.

The performance was not sold out that night so they let anyone who had not won the lottery purchase tickets for $20 less than face value, which was pretty good since you didn't have to pay Ticketmaster fees or handling charges. We bought two more tickets so that we could all go. Branden and I started out in the front row and it was amazing! It was pretty close--like sitting in the front row of a movie theater, but they would actually look you in the eye and sing right to you. You could even see them spit and sweat. At intermission (Chris calls it half-time) we all switched seats so that Chris and Trevor could experience a better view.

It was another great performance of Wicked. Branden really liked it, and Trevor, who I actually had to take kicking and screaming, even said it was "OK." The lottery was pretty fun. It didn't take very long, and I would do it again even if I hadn't won. But I did. I was a Wicked Winner! And they were the best $25 Pantages seats I've ever had.

Diagnosis

You are all so smart! Trevor does have a ganglion cyst and one of the ways to get rid of it is to hit it hard with a heavy book. I would like to thank those of you who volunteed to help Trevor with that arduous task, but for the time being, since it is not bothering him, he is just going to keep it and see if it goes away on it's own. If it starts to bother him, he will be willing to entertain the idea of hitting it with a book, since the option of outpatient surgery requires him to wear a removeable splint for six weeks.

Kelsie's diagnosis was a strained flexor tendon. It may take up to 9 months to heal! Meanwhile, she just has to do some stretching exercises so that she can eventually straighten it out all the way and she has to tape it up when doing sports.

Once again, thanks for all your concern and helpful comments.

Medical Mystery

Trevor noticed this gross thing on his wrist a few weeks ago, and being the concerned mother that I am, I just ignored it and hoped it would go away. It obviously hasn't gone away yet, and Chris thinks it is actually bigger. It doesn't hurt or cause him any pain. It's hard if you touch it. It's gross.

I'm going to take him to the orthopedist on Wednesday with me when I bring Kelsie there for a finger she dislocated over three weeks ago playing basketball. She popped it back in during the game, but she still can't straighten it out. It's her pinky finger on her left hand and I don't think it's healed properly. I just hope it wont be deformed forever. I keep having visions of beautiful wedding photos and pictures of her wedding ring on her ring finger with a deformed pinky finger right next to her wedding ring. Any insight on what Trevor's deformity really is?

Summer Fun

OK, I know I haven't updated my blog lately, but this summer has been quite crazy. If you read Kelsie's tag she did for me, you will have read that one of my current obsessions is organizing closets. Who knew this could be so much fun? I have actually been forced to do this as I am still emptying the office and turning it into a bedroom for Trevor. I have had to maximize every square inch of storage we have in this house to put the things that have been stored so happily for so long in our office. It's been quite cleansing, though, to get rid of so much junk. Our trash and recycling bins have been completely overflowing each week as I have been in a "save" and "trash" binge. I do have to admit that I really am having fun buying all sorts and sizes of plastic storage containers to organize all of our treasures and filling them up and seeing such beautifully organized closets. I can only hope it stays organized!

I have taken several breaks from my organizing obsession to make frequent beach trips this summer. Last week Chris and I even went to the Ventura County Fair and went to the Beach Boys concert. My favorite thing about the fair was my dinner which consisted of one funnel cake. Mmmm. We brought a friend with us who had never been to the fair, and she had chili cheese fries for dinner. Chris had roasted corn. Yes, roasted corn for dinner at the fair. We had such a fun time watching the Beach Boys concert. I couldn't help but contemplate as I watched these "older" men rocking out on the stage if they had ever imagined as teenage cousins that there entire life would be molded by their decision to start a band. It's interesting how life sometimes takes us places that we were never really expecting to go.

Tagged

So, I have decided that since my mother has not updated our blog for two weeks that I would do it. This is Kelsie, and my mom has been tagged by her friend Kaye to post 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 current obsessions, and 3 surprising facts. I am going to show how much I know about my mother by doing this for her:) Here it goes:

3 joys:
Dessert
Kids and husband of course:)
More dessert

3 fears:
Snakes
Flying on an airplane alone
Trevor doing something stupid (not rare)

3 current obsessions:
Chocolate
Snowmen
Organizing closets

3 surprising facts:
Can only wink with one eye
Infatuated with the color yellow
Can't feel her stomach growl

-I tag:
Jenny
Shauna
Kim Hansen
Gayle
Emily

These are the rules:list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 surprising facts and then tag 5 other people. Leave a comment for the people you tag so they know they have been tagged.

Trevor's magic trick

This is how Trevor plans to pay for college. (Sorry the video's so poor--it was taken with a camera phone.)

Near Death Experience

Today I had my first near death experience--unless you count the one when I was 8 and fell two stories and landed on a concrete floor. I usually don't count that one because although I remember falling, I then only remember waking up in my bed a couple of days later. I don't remember thinking I was going to die. Today I thought I was going to die.

Chris, Branden, and I were heading down to San Diego for the baby blessing of my sister's baby. We were driving our more fuel efficient Honda Accord and we were in the carpool lane on I-5 south near the 10 freeway. There was a pickup truck in the lane next to us that was just a little bit ahead of us. It had several things in the back of the truck bed, including a mattress and box springs that were not tied down, just being held in place by other things in the truck bed. I remember looking at the truck and seeing the mattress kind of bouncing around when all of the sudden the mattress and box spring came flying out of the truck right towards us. It seemed like they were coming in slow motion, although I know they were coming extremely fast. I was watching them, wondering if they were both going to hit us or if one of them might veer a little to the left of us. There was nothing we could do to avoid the mattresses, they were too close to us. I braced myself for the impact and was imaging which way we were going to spin when they hit us and hoping that the car behind us could see what was happening and slow down so that it did not hit us when we spun out. (I was also thinking that we had left Kelsie and Trevor home, and that my kitchen was a complete mess and in case we didn't make it, other people would see my disgusting kitchen.)

One of the items (I don't know if it was the mattress or the box springs) hit the front of the car straight on, then flew under the car where we drove over it. The other one seemed to have hit the left front of the car and then flew over the top of us. Amazingly, we did not spin at all, and continued to drive straight in our lane. I don't know what happened to the mattresses after they hit us. I immediately grabbed a paper and pen and started writing down the truck's license plate number. We were able to drive up to the truck, signaled for him to roll down his window while we yelled at him, "Your mattress just hit us!" We were able to get him to pull over and we pulled over as well to assess the damage to our car. Miraculously, there was absolutely no damage at all to our car.

We finished our drive to San Diego, although we were running a little late by this time. We realized we probably were going to be late for church and miss the blessing, but we figured we'd give it our best shot. We walked into the church and heard music from the opening song, "The Spirit of God." We slid into a pew just in time to sing the last words of the last verse "Amen and Amen," after which there was the opening prayer, a few items of business, and then the baby blessing.

I know we were being watched over to make it through that experience without a scratch on either ourselves or the car. That kind of incident usually causes serious damage to both people and cars, but amazingly we were fine. I don't think I really like near death experiences.

Mexican Bath Day

(posted by Kelsie)
Today at work, I was approached by a little boy, of Hispanic descent, who informed me that today was Mexican Bath Day. I said, "oh, well, what is mexican bath day?" His response was, "My dad says that Mexican Bath Day is when all the Mexicans go to the park and take baths." I burst out laughing and he said, "But you're not Mexican." And I, still laughing, said, "No, I am not," lol. So, that was my conversation with this boy about Mexican Bath Day on our way to the park. I guess I'll just have to stick to showers:)

Family Reunion

We just enjoyed a family reunion at Trinity Lake.  Trinity Lake is located in northern California northwest of Redding where there are currently hundreds of fires burning.  Another fire was almost added to the number, but luckily Trevor knew how to use a fire extinguisher and put out a fire in a neighboring cabin.  Despite the smoke, we had a great time on the lake and had fun spending time with family.  I didn't take many pictures, but did manage to get a few to help remember the occasion.

Twenty Years!

Yesterday, June 25th, we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.  (Yes, I got married when I was 15--jk).  Actually, we didn't actually celebrate it yet since we had absolutely no time yesterday, although we tried to throw in a super quick lunch at Red's.  Chris got to the restaurant and ordered for me since I only had a 15 minute window.  When I got there I noticed it was Free Dessert Day (my favorite day at Red's) so we asked the waitress to bring our free dessert before we were done with our meal since we didn't have much time to wait for it after the meal.  Well, she brought it before we even got our lunch.  So for lunch I had one of those huge martini glass ice cream sundaes--a dream come true for me.  Chris only had a bite or two and so I had to eat the rest myself.  That was a great lunch, it's not everyday I get to eat a huge sundae for lunch.

Anyway, twenty years!  Chris and I met at a dance on September 11, 1987 at BYU at the apartment complex I had just moved into and Chris had just moved out of.  We were both dating other people but we went to the dance because they were having free pizza and any college student will eat free pizza.  As my journal says, "I met a cute boy.  He is just rad!"  (OK, it was the '80's.) We started dating, got rid of the other people we were dating, became engaged in March and  were married in June on an extremely windy day at the Jordan River Temple.

Chris always says we don't have anything in common...(music, motorcycles, camping)... but after twenty years at least we have twenty years and three kids in common.  We are both very different, but somehow I think we compliment each other.  We've both grown and changed a lot over the past twenty years--hopefully  for the better and I can't wait to see what the next 20 years bring.  I love you, Chris.  Happy anniversary.

Here Kitty Kitty

We were walking into church on Sunday and a little kitten came out of the bushes and sat right in front of the door.  We were waiting to see more little kittens come out of the bushes, but he/she (never checked) was the only one.   It was very friendly and came up to each of us and wanted us to pet it.  We felt sorry for it since it has been real hot all week (100+) and figured the kitty was pretty hungry and thirsty (especially since it was trying to eat Kelsie's fingers and tried to eat the dried up gum on the concrete.)  Chris went in the church and brought out some water for it and then went to try and find some food for the kitty.  The kitty was obviously used to people and didn't look too orphaned so we looked for "Lost Kitten" signs in the neighborhood, but didn't find any.  Chris put the kitty in with the YW (we have YW/YM first and sacrament meeting last) because the kitty would not move away from the church doors and Chris was afraid someone was going to open the door  and hit the kitten.  It was as if the kitty knew that if it came to the church someone would help it. :]  After YW, for some reason,  the Sunday School teacher didn't want the poor kitty in their class, so I went to take it back outside.  On my way out, our wonderful, compassionate primary president saw the kitten and actually volunteered to take care of it until it's true owners are found.  (Thanks, Julianna!) I'm pretty sure that it has real owners, it's a persian kitty, and although it was dirty it looked fairly healthy.  The funniest part was when she carried it into sacrament meeting and all of the kids in the chapel started yelling, "Look, a kitty!  A kitty!"  Hopefully, the owners will call her soon and she will not see this as a sign that she needs to move out of our ward into a house that lets her have pets.

A Day of Firsts

Yesterday was one of those days when each of the kids have something "big" happening.  Kelsie started her first job.  Her first real job where she actually gets a paycheck.  She has a part-time job working as a camp counselor for the summer for a Lutheran church in town.  She liked that the kids call her "Miss Kelsie," but does not like the fact that she needs to wear a polo shirt.  She, apparently, does not "do" polo shirts. The good news was the polo shirts have not come in yet so she didn't have to wear one.  As soon as they're in, I'll post a picture of her in her shirt.

Trevor had his first high school basketball game.  He had a lot of fun and played a great game, scoring 10 points.  He had a four hour basketball camp in the morning and then went to his game in the un-air-conditioned gym when it was 108 outside.  Needless to say, he was hot, tired and hungry when he came home.  I have never seen him eat so much in a three hour period.  It was actually rather scary.

And Branden got braces.

Last Days of School

Trevor successfully was "promoted" from 8th grade on Thursday and is now a high school freshman.   On  Saturday he had basketball tryouts, and on Thursday he has volleyball tryouts.  Nothing like giving  these poor kids (or moms) a summer vacation. 

Branden finished 5th grade on Friday, but he gets to stay at his elementary school next year and be the "big man on campus" (literally) as a 6th grader.  He had the option of going to middle school for 6th grade, but wanted to stay with friends, be in junior olympics, and run for president.

 

On Friday and Saturday we had an amazing stake youth conference that Kelsie and Trevor participated in.  It was so much fun for me to be there and see all the great youth in our stake, but I am still recovering from it.

 Today was the first day of summer vacation.  My favorite part so far was staying in bed while Chris got up to go to work.  That may sound really mean, but he rarely gets up before me during the school year, and it was so nice to stay in bed...until I had to drive Trevor to basketball, go grocery shopping and start some laundry. 

FREE FOOD

Since I had so many people who were interested in my Free Ben and Jerry's post, I decided to give plenty of notice for Free Hot Dog on  a Stick Night.  I know it's not as good as Ben and Jerry's, but it's the only time I take my kid's to Hot Dog on a Stick.  Anyway, Friday June 13th between 5:00-8:00 PM is when you can get your Free Hot Dog on a Stick!  

No Life

I had a voice message on my phone last week.  It was from my mom.  The message was something to the effect of  "Hi Lori, this is Mom.  I'm in my car and I saw something that made me think of you.  There's a  car in front of me with a license plate holder that says 'I have no life. My kids play ball.' Have a nice day."  OK.  So now my mom is calling to tell me I have no life.  Are you not reading my blog Mom?  So maybe it's not the most fascinating blog, but I haven't even blogged about sports yet. (Go Lakers!)  I've been too busy sewing, ironing, cleaning out the office and watching you tube.

Charlie Bit Me

I haven't blogged much about Kelsie because she's 16.  Enough said.  She is obsessed right now with this U-tube video and she actually said I could put it on my blog.  (The title might be a little too close to home for you, Kaye.)  She is often heard walking around the house talking in an English accent quoting soundbites from the video.  I don't see what she thinks is so entertaining about it, but check out "Charlie Bit Me."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

I prefer the "Buhlud" youtube video

www.youtube.comwatch?v=Q9yAkBSrMk0&feature=related

Pancakes

Branden LOVES pancakes.  He loves to eat pancakes and he loves to make pancakes.  I often find him making a batch of pancakes and eating the whole batch himself.  On Sunday he made pancakes, and I was very impressed with the presentation of this batch of pancakes.  Look out Wolfgang Puck!   

Ironing Movie Review

I HATE ironing.  It may be from some terrible childhood experience of having to iron my dad's shirts all the time. Or perhaps the time the iron fell on my foot and I couldn't walk for a week. Perhaps it could be the fact that you iron something and then sit down or even put on a seatbelt and it is wrinkled again.  Who knows, why, but I really don't like ironing.  I don't know why I iron all of Chris's shirts.  He is very capable of doing it himself, it's just one of the FEW things that I actually do for him.  But I don't like it.  I wait until he is almost completely out of clothes to wear to work until I realize I need to iron again.  I know there are easier ways to have non-wrinkly shirts--but I don't hang things up as soon as the dryer stops.  I iron.  To help me with this chore, I've developed movie ironing.  I will rent a chick flick that I haven't seen and will probably never get to see, and watch the movie while I am ironing.  It helps take my mind off of ironing, and usually when the movie is over I'm about done ironing. 

For your reading pleasure, I've decided to give movie reviews of what I've watched while ironing.  Today's movie was "Bella." I had never heard of it before but it was a #1 rated film by Yahoo!, The New York Times Readers Poll and Fandago.  CNN said it is "Powerful and moving.  A true inspiration."  Seemed like it would be a good ironing movie for the day.  The best part of watching this as an ironing movie was it was kind of slow.  You don't want too much adventure while ironing, because you do have to iron.  It was a little depressing, which is fine for a chick flick, sometimes you need that.  The actor, Eduardo Verastegui, was a pleasure to watch.

The worst thing about this ironing movie was it had some subtitles.  It's hard to read all the subtitles if  you're supposed to be ironing, because you have to stop ironing to follow along with the subtitles, so it wasn't the best movie to watch while ironing.  The movie was good, but fairly predictible.  I would give it **1/2 out of ****.  (those are supposed to be stars.

Merit Badges

Woo-hoo!  Branden earned his first two official Boy Scout Merit Badges.  We had a stake Merit Badge day, and being the experienced Boy Scout mother that I am, I signed Branden up for two Eagle merit badges.  No fun merit badges for him!  He was able to complete both Citizenship in the World and Citizenship in the Nation.   This brings me to one of my favorite new finds.  Translucent thread.  Merit badges are a PAIN to sew on.  They are so thick that if you sew them by hand you end up with huge indentations on your fingers from pushing the needle so hard (I know that's what thimbles are for, but come on, who has a thimble?)  I would rather sew them with my machine, but every merit badge and patch is a different color and I hated having to change my thread and bobbin with each badge--until I found translucent thread.  It's clear, so you can use it to sew on everything and it won't stand out.  I don't even have to sew neatly because you can't see the stitches.  I finally sewed Trevor's 20-something merit badges onto his sash and it only took me about 30 minutes.  So to all you readers with scouting boys my helpful hint of the day is translucent thread.