Happy Birthday Dad!

On his mission--giving himself a discussion!

72 and still looks great!

Some famous quotes by my dad:

Before driving to a concert with my 2 older brothers and one older sister his words of wisdom, "Now, no talking! And I'm serious!" Well, we thought that was so funny, that we broke out in laughter, and haven't stopped laughing yet.
Talking about people that are difficult: "People will be people."
When he was a Branch President: "People who are willing to walk to Missouri tomorrow aren't willing to be scoutmaster today."
During my wedding ceremony, my dad's back had gone out, and sitting was very painful for him, so he stood in the sealing room until the actual ceremony began. When the sealer asked him if he wanted to sit, he replied, "No I'll just stand."
After pushing my son on the swing for an hour, "That was wonderful, just wonderful!"
When my oldest son was about a year old, "He's just a regular boy, just a regular boy."

Top 10 list

1. Honest
2. Loving
3. Sure and Steady
   
4. Proud of his kids and grandkids
5. Greatest Pole Vaulter (In his days it was with metal poles and saw dust pits)
6. A man without guile
7. Hard Worker
8. Positive
9. Great Researcher
10. Willing to serve others, always!

Some of my favorite memories:

1. When I was in half day kindergarten, my dad stayed home with me in the mornings. We watched price is right together, everyday! We planted the garden, raspberries, and did all sorts of things together. It was heaven!
2. The Merrie-Miss Daddy daughter date. We danced the night away! What fun!
   
3. We worked at the same University, even the same department, and for a short time shared an office together. It was fun walking around campus with him--he would always introduce me to his colleagues with so much pride. Thanks dad!
4. After I had my oldest son, we would do a quick babysitting exchange. He would watch Luke during my first class, and office hour. Then I would pick up Luke from the house, and bring him to his office so he could watch him while I taught my second class. Isn't that amazing!
5. Watching him play the Editor while he was on his mission in Nauvoo. I never thought of him as an actor because he always is just himself--never hides who he is, but he was wonderful in the play.
6. One time on the phone, I said, "I love you dad." No response, he later called me up to tell me that he loved me. I broke down in tears!
7. Going to all the church history sites along the Susquehanna River. It was really neat to walk down to the river to see where the Priesthood was restored. A great day, one of the best!

It's really hard to describe my dad to people unless you have met him. He is such a mixture of honesty without finesse, that you just love him. Thank you Mom for making him a better dad. I do know that you bought the beautiful corsage for the daddy daughter dance, had him call me back to say, "I love you!", and the most important--I wouldn't have ever had the opportunity to work with my dad if you hadn't gotten dad to talk to Leo about my teaching position.

The only flaw my dad has, is you can't buy gifts for him. One year I really tried to buy him the perfect gift, and he had always bought himself the present before I gave it to him. For his birthday, I bought him an electric toothbrush, and then I walk into the bathroom to find a brand new one plugged in. Christmas that same year--I wanted to buy him some "extras" for his new canoe, and I went in the local canoe store. At the store, the owner proceeded to tell me that he had already bought everything. The final straw, I had gathered money from all my brothers and sisters to buy him a laser printer for his retirement. (This was only six months after the electric toothbrush incident.) I had just bought the printer, and was about to deliver it to him, and I walked into his garage, and there was the exact, yes exact printer we had bought for him. Frustrated---yes! I should have known he would beat me to the punch because as a child he would often say, "Have you bought me a present yet?" My answer would be no. Then he would hand me a new pair of winter gloves he had bought for himself, and say, "Why don't you wrap these up for me."

Anyways, since I can't buy you any gifts---Thanks for being my Dad, & Happy Birthday!

By the way, it's also my half birthday. I always thought that was so cool, to have my half birthday on my dad's birthday!

Anakin's day: started out rough, but ended up sweet

I really need how to use photo shop and all add cool backgrounds because then you would never see the mess in the background--now on to the real post.

Yesterday, was a tough day for Anakin. Everyone got loaded up in the car and on the way to school. When we got to school, we realized that I had forgotten his backpack. Anakin would not get out of the car, he was heartbroken. I had to carry him into school, letting him know that he was not going to get in trouble, people forget their backpacks all the time, and it was going to be OK. Luckily, Luke and the playground workers backed me up. My plan was to go his classroom and tell teacher that we had forgotten his backpack, but when we got to the main door of the school, there she was. He was still really sad, but was reassured that they would give him a bag to take home with him. He made it, and when I picked him up, he had his grocery bag with all his papers in it. Hopefully, we will never forget his backpack again. (I mean I will never forget the backpack again!)

Mike was home last night, so he read to the boys, then I came in and gave the boys a big hug. I said, "Oh Anakin, you are so special!" Then he replies, "You're special too!" Now I was feeling really wonderful, especially after the backpack incident, until he goes, "Everyone is special!" It's true that everyone is special, but just for a moment it was just me. It was a sweet nanosecond of time, and it made up for the failings of the morning. So maybe the post should read: Mommy's day --started out rough, but ended up sweet.

Can you spell?

Because I can't, I have to memorize each individual word in order to spell it correctly. I finally figured out how to spell calendar correctly because its vowels have an a/b pattern associated with it. I have to write a ten page paper on spelling. The paper is interesting: we interview elementary age kids, give kids tests, read interesting articles on invented spelling (if only we could still use invented spelling). I personally think either you can spell, or you can't, kind of like math. But as a soon to be teacher, that's probably not the best approach, but with the right methods it can be learned. Maybe I could spell in Japanese, Chinese, or easier languages like Spanish, but really I've learned foreign languages, and I couldn't even spell in those. Thankfully, we have spell check everywhere, and I can just blame my spelling on my poor typing ability. I guess I better get back to my paper!

Stay Awake, Stay Awake, Stay Awaaaaaaaake

Yesterday, we went to the Library before school, then it's lunch, and drop off at the school. I didn't want Gypsy Girl to fall asleep in the car between the library and school--so the boys and I worked really hard at keeping her awake. We came up with this song, "Stay awake, stay awake, stay awake, then a loud with our hands in the air----stay awaaaaaake." (My hands were on the wheel, I promise!" It kept Gypsy Girl wide awake, and she took a nap for me that afternoon.

Now after a late night (dinner at my sister's and a school concert), I told the boys that it would be OK if Gypsy Girl fell asleep. They then wanted to sing her the lullaby: "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleeeeeeeeeeep!" They didn't like any of my ideas of singing any normal lullabies. Needless to say everyone was still awake when we arrived in the driveway.

The Good, The Bad, and Hopefully not the Ugly

We will start of with the good: Anakin and Gypsy Girl snuggled together while watching Backyardigans. I have proof that they really do love each other. Part 2: I took the three kids and voted. When I voted in the past, Mike was home, so I just went alone. I could have also gone when the boys were at school, so it would be just one child instead of three, but I wanted the boys to see the whole process. We walked in, GG in the backpack, and the two boys in tow. I showed Anakin and Luke the voting sheet, and showed them all the names: McCain, Obama, and the other candidates. (I feel a little uninformed because the only other name I recognized was Ralph Nader). I also showed them where you could write in a candidate. We filled out all the circles, and fed the voting sheet into the machine, got our stickers and walked out. I love those teaching moments. They had already voted at school: Luke for McCain, and Anakin for Obama. (He always calls him President Obama, isn't that so cute!) Whereas Luke liked McCain because he was a good man and a fighter pilot.) So it was nice to take them to an actual voting station. When I was a kid the voting took place at my elementary school, so we saw the lines, the booth, but here we vote in churches, fire stations, ect. I'm glad the voting was a good experience becasue it could have been a nightmare, and maybe even ugly.

The Bad: Last night we had Family Home Evening, that isn't bad, it is just what happened. I was actually pretty excited because I had a fun game planned! I loved it when I was a kid, and I guess that I still love it, therefore the excitement! So here is the game, in case you want to try. You have a die, a hershy's minature chocolate, mittens, scarf, hat and knife. The winner gets to eat the chocolate, and here is how you win: you have to put on the mittens, scarf, and hat on, open the chocolate, cut the chocolate in half and eat the chocolate before anyone rolls a six. (You can choose any number that you want). If someone rolls a six, you have to take off all the winter aparatus, and hopefully roll a six before someone gets to eat the chocolate. Well Luke went into hysterics as he was just about to reach for the chocolate bar to open it when Anakin rolled a six. That was the bad--I just can't stand temper tantrums. It was off to time out, and there was hitting (Luke's not mine) all the way. He finally calmed down (after about 30 minutes), and the game was put away (much to my disappointment).

Hopefully not the ugly: later on that night after Luke had calmed down, I asked him if he just didn't understand the rules of the game. He did understand the rules, but said that the game is "boring." Next time he wants to play Payday, which of course is boring to me! Hopefully in a few years we can play the chocolate game without the hysterics, but until then......Payday it is!

Conversation before Church

Me, "Luke, remember last time that we went to Stake Conference, and we learned that Jesus was real."

Luke responds, "Mom, I already knew that."

Me: "Well, sometimes we forget."

Luke, "Mom, I always remember Jesus."

Well I want you to listen to see if you learn anything else.

Stake Conference (two hours of sitting quietly with three small children) is no easy task, and it went reasonably well. Mike had just left on a trip, but we made it through. The boys played on the Etch and Sketches, colored, ate Halloween candy, and fishies. GG, just wandered up and down the rows of the gym (we were all the way in the back), stealing toys from other kids. I would clue the boys into the talks if there was something that they might understand. Last time we had Elder Snow visit us, and the boys wanted to meet him because he had such a cool last name. So this time we had to go all the way up to the front to shake the Stake President's hand. My boys are so shy, that they don't talk to anyone. They just smile, or growl. But we made it.

My First Tag, and Hopefully My Last

A- Attached or Single?

Attached.

B- Best Friend?
My husband and my three sisters.

C- Cake or Pie?

Pie. I love pie--all kinds!

D- Day of Choice?

Any day that my husband's home. He travels for a living, so it constantly changes.

E- Essential Items?

Computer, books, and modern day plumbing. I would have hated latrines!

F- Favorite Color? Red

G- Gummy Bears or Worms?

I don't like either, too squishy and chewy.

H- Hometown?

Oneonta, New York. It was a great place to grow up! We walked and biked everywhere, and my mom never had to be a taxi driver.

I- Favorite Indulgence?

Well, this week it is Nutella Chocolate Spread.

J- January or July?

July, it's too cold in January, but on the other hand it's too hot in July. They should have done this for the letter M--I love May!

K- Kids?

Two boys and a girl. Yes, I finally got my girl.

L- Life isn't complete without?

My family.

M- Marriage date?

August 15, 1996

N- Number of brothers and sisters?

3 of each -- I'm was the baby for six glorious years, and then I got to be the big sister to a younger brother and a younger sister.

O- Oranges or Apples?

I like both of them.

P- Phobias and Fears?

I am afraid of heights.

Q - Quiet time, what do you like to do?

Work on the computer.

R- Reason to smile?

I have a great smile!

S- Season of choice?

Actually, I love fall. It is an amazing season. I grew up in the north east, so it was especially amazing. You would turn a corner, and it would be breathtaking.

T- Ticklish?

Yes, Very! My older brothers and sisters tickled me relentlessly, until I cried.

U- Unknown fact about me?

I'm my dad's favorite, well that's not actually unknown. You can ask him if I was his favorite, and he'll say, "Yeah, she is pretty special." Other unknowns: I'm a Democrat, born and bred! I even went to a couple of Young Democrat meetings at BYU. There were at most 10 people at the meetings.

V- Vegetable?

Does corn on the cob count as a vegetable? I really like this aspargus/carrot dish with a lemon, pepper, butter sauce. Yummy!

W- Worst Habit?

Not putting things away after I've done them.

X-ray or Ultrasound?

I love Ultrasounds, but that's only because I've had them when I was pregnant. It was so amazing to see the life inside of you. It was my favorite part about being pregnant, probably the only thing I like about being pregnant.

Y- Your favorite food?

I love food, good food, great food. Some of my favorites: chicken pot pie, homemade chimmichaugas, belgian chocolate. I went on my mission to Belgium where I loved eating Frites (Fries, they were invented in Belgium, not France), the chocolate, waffles, and many other amazing things. I can't believe I didn't gain weight while in Belgium. It must have been all the biking!

Z- Zodiac Sign?

Taurus

I really won't be offended if no one ever tags me again! Because I don't like being tagged, I won't tag anyone. (If you really want to be tagged, let me know and I can tag you.) Next time someone tags me, I'm going to be like my boys and go into stealth mode, so you can see me to tag me).