You Have Two Choices....

Heard last night:

Garrett: "Parker, are you going to Mutual or Hell?"

Parker: "Hmmmm.........I think I'll go to Mutual."

And he ran up the stairs and changed from sport shorts to jeans.

Well THAT was easy!

Garrett and Parker have been preconditioning for Lacrosse. Conditioning is two hours on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and includes weight lifting and stick skills and the Navy Seals workout.

By far, everyone's favorite part is running the halls of the school with your helmet, stick and gloves on. They run so long that many people have to "pause" at the trash can to lose their dinner.

Doesn't that sound fun? That is why the workout is called Hell in the Hallway.

Because of a Mandatory Team Meeting on Tuesday, Hell in the Hallway was moved to Wednesday. Mutual is on Wednesday. I've never seen two boys so excited to go to Mutual.

Thoughtful Tuesday

I'm deep in thought today. And you can help.

Answer this burning question:
Is it mean to call people stupid?

What if it's not a judgement call? What if they really are stupid? Kind of like saying, "Gee you have brown eyes." It's a fact. "Gee you're stupid."

What if 9 out of 10 people think the person is stupid? Is it then valid...like 9 out of 10 dentists and Crest? And how many stupid things does the person have to do to qualify for the label? 3 in one day? 3 in one year? Or is it the degree of stupidness that procures the label? Like "Stupid is as stupid does." Oops...that's "Pretty is...."

What if someone else says it first?

What if the person who grants the title is someone you respect?

For example, one time someone I know went to their bishop to confess a minor but stupid sin. They knew better and committed this error for "fun."

After listening compassionately to the person's heartfelt confession, the bishop pronounced, "You, my son, are a dumb ass." Funny thing - the bishop confirmed something the rest of us already knew. And even the "dumb ass" agreed with the bishop. In fact, this was actually a testimony builder. When I heard that the bishop had said that, I thought to myself, "Wow...and he's known you such a short time. Now, I KNOW bishops are inspired."

So does that make it okay?

Just wondering!

Help! I'm Partying and I Can't Stop!

Remember my Non New Year's Resolutions to entertain? And remember how I took it all back? Now, I double take it back!!!!

The Resolution was to entertain people in our ward who I DON'T know yet in an attempt to get to know them. There's a billion new couples and families that moved in while Brian was Singles' Ward Bishop and even though they've been in the ward a long time, we haven't been able to "meet" them.

Well forget that resolution. I mean, I did recant it in January because we were having 11 hundred other parties. But I'm shelving it for February too.

Friday night - the Priest Quorum came over for a group dinner date. Yep, all the priests had a mutual activity on dating etiquette and planning a date. Then they planned a group date - making pizzas and playing games at......OUR HOUSE. Then they all accepted the challenge to ask someone out. It was way fun! The kids were really cute and I think everybody had a great time. Great kids! So that was an intimate dinner party for 22.

Sunday night - We did have some people we ALREADY KNOW over for dinner. It was fun, but they aren't new people.........so it doesn't count.

Monday night (tonight) - The missionaries are coming over and Parker has invited a friend over to hear the first discussion.

So I'm not rescinding my New Year's Resolution because I'm anti-social. I'm rescinding because I can't stop partying!!!!!

Parenting 101- Building Self Esteem

You already know that I am into building self esteem. You saw the cupcakes I made! I try to do the same thing with my kids. I try to praise them when they do something worthwhile. And I try to look for things that are praiseworthy.


The other night while I was making the cupcakes, I reflected on a conversation Parker and I had about school and grades a couple of weeks ago. I think it reflects my superior methods of building self esteem.

Parker: I am soooooo mad!
Me: Why?
Parker: Well I got three A+s and three A's and then one stupid B+ in Honors Geometry.

Me: Did you talk to your Geo teacher?
Parker: Yeah, I had an 89 in the class and he said that if I did well on the final, he would see what he could do. There were three parts to the final. I got a 93 on one, a 94 on another and then a stupid 82 on the third part. I went and talked to him and he wouldn't budge. I asked if I could do extra credit or test corrections or anything to bump the 89 to a 90. He's such a jerk.

Me: You can't say that! You hand picked him. You went into your counselor and specifically requested him. So........... Well you did what you could. You tried to talk to him......Anyway, you did really well. What did you get your A+'s in?

Parker: Hmmm.........Leadership, Science and in Social Studies I had a 118%.

Me: Duh! Leadership is an easy A. Science...... Social Studies......You got A+'s? What are these classes? Your school is stupid. I know you. I mean you're smart, but you aren't that smart. What are you doing? Going to a school for ants? (Reference to Zoolander) What kind of school do you go to?

Parker: Snorts

I think he feels good about his efforts for his first semester in high school. And I'm obviously proud! I'm ticked about that B+ and I'm not happy that he just got a 118% in Social Studies. It was a 135% and every time he got 100% on a quiz or something, it just kept bringing his grade down. I told him he should just start making extra credit questions up and adding them to the test. But he isn't that driven. He settled. He took the lousy 118%.




I think I'm going to buy him some motivational posters for this next semester so he'll do better.

Left to My Own Devices

Brian is out of town. The boys left for lacrosse practice. I headed to my room to settle in for an evening of reading.

I suddenly remembered: I WANT CUPCAKES! I forgot that I have been craving cupcakes.

So I set aside the book and made chocolate cupcakes with what else? BUTTERCREAM Frosting!

I love cupcakes. I baked them. I frosted them.

And then...........I decorated them.

That's when my creativity got the best of me.

Aren't they so cute? Look closely! No closer!

I like the subtlety. And it sends the kids a good message. Never let a "teaching" moment pass you by!

Trambodia Tidbits

Trammell's first mission companion in Cambodia was a RoCK STaR! We've never met him, but we love him. We love his family too! We especially love them because they sent us pics. So, today I will share. And I'll even share some random info on the Church in Cambodia. The first missionaries arrived in Cambodia in 1998. There were 16 of them and they were able to convert 800 members in the next year or so. Now there are around 80 and they are trying to build up to about 125. This photo shows a group of the missionaries with the mission president. The president has been serving for 2 1/2 years. He's the one in the center of the front row with the suit coat on. his wife is on the left. Trammell, at 6 feet, is one of the shorter missionaries. He is on the third row, second from the left. There are several senior missionary couples and the Church utilizes leadership from Hong Kong to come help people train on Family History, the Young Men/Young Women's program and other Church programs. Trammell's first assignment was in Siem Reap. This town is a 6 hour bus ride north of Phnom Penh. His first companion/trainer was one of the zone leaders. Here is a pic of the Siem Reap zone near Angkor Wat. Ankgor Wat is one of the most famous(if not the most famous) temples in Cambodia and it dates back to the 12th century.Trammell and Elder Godfrey are not just being goofy by wading into a mud puddle. This is the road! Many of the roads are flooded during monsoon season (from May to October) and are nearly impassable until December. After spending three months with his first companion in Siem Reap. He was very disappointed to leave Siem Reap and Elder Godfrey. He transferred on a Wednesday. They had a big baptism scheduled for 2 families the following Saturday and he was bummed he couldn't be there. Here is a picture of the families at their baptism. There are currently about 8,000 members of the Church. Although about 40% are less active. A large part of the missionary efforts are seeking the less active out and reactivating them. There are 22 congregations throughout the country. There are no wards, just branches, and not all the branches have branch presidents. The entire country is included in one district and the mission president also functions as the District President. Trammell is currently serving in the capitol of Cambodia: Phnom Penh. There are several branches in Phnom Penh including a Vietnamese branch. The Cambodian mission encompasses Vietnam. When elders/sisters receive their mission call, they are told whether they will speak Cambodian or Vietnamese. The Vietnamese speaking missionaries serve in Vietnam or in the city of Phnom Penh because there is a large population of Vietnamese there. So, just one year ago, I knew NOTHING about Cambodia. If you had given us 100 guesses as to where Trammell would go on his mission, we would never have guessed Cambodia. We didn't even know the Church existed in Cambodia. And now we love this country, we love these people and our ears perk up at the mere mention of Cambodia!

25 Random Things

I keep getting tagged on Facebook to write down 25 random things.

First of all, it says to copy and paste into my notes. I don't do notes. I don't know how. I barely do facebook.

Secondly, facebook is merely a spying tool. Not to spy on my friends or old schoolmates....well not really. But it's a tool to spy on my own children.

But after the 38th person tagged me, I did type up 25 random things.

Maybe, just maybe, I will post it to my facebook. But I am NOT tagging 25 more poor fools.

1. I can see the Lord’s hand in my life every single day and am grateful for small miracles and tender mercies that help me get through life.
2. I love, love, love teaching seminary and wish that after teaching five years, I could remember just 1/10 of what I have studied. My brain is a sieve.
3. I love to travel….especially with my family.
4. My four food groups are Fats, Salt, Sugar and Carbohydrates.
5. I love butter. I would never just eat butter, but I will put it on just about anything and I admit to hoarding butter in the freezer.
6. We rarely watch TV except for the news. So no, I don’t follow Lost, Heroes, American Idol, Survivor, the Office or 30 Rock.
7. I love to read and particularly enjoy historical fiction. I read every book for our church book club but never attend the meetings.
8. I love teenagers. They entertain me.
9. My spices are alphabetized and my clothes are organized by type and color, but I have several cupboards that if opened, stuff will fall out all over the place.
10. I hate to be late.
11. Food makes me happy. There is nothing better than eating and reading at the same time!!!!! And if the reading is a cooking magazine, it’s even better!
12. I love to play board games, word games and card games but my family doesn’t.
13. I hate party games – shower games.
14. Before I had children, I wanted all boys. Luckily, I got what I wanted.
15. I love lacrosse and could watch 10 games a week, which is good since all three boys play lacrosse and there have been weeks where we’ve had 7-8 games. I like the violence.
16. I HATE to ski but I went up every Saturday for three or four years and skied just so I could watch my kids ski/board. It was worth it.
17. I HATE to sweat. I don’t like to exercise or work in the yard because then you get sweaty and dirty……..and I don’t like dirt either.
18. I really enjoy living in Colorado because we have all four seasons and I like them all.
19. Even though I don’t like sweat or dirt, I love blood and gore. My fantasy job would to be a coroner or medical examiner.
20. I freak out over lost keys, missing items and insignificant things, but if there is a big emergency like a car accident, body parts getting cut off or a tornado bearing down on the school, I am really calm. THAT’S when you want me around.
21. I don’t like pets……..of any kind. Garrett had a goldfish that wouldn’t die. After three years, I flushed him.
22. I like to watch movies but we hardly ever do.
23. I am good at keeping secrets or confidences.
24. I don’t like surprises.
25. I like facebook but not for stuff like this. Oh, but I like to read everyone elses' responses! I'm a stalker!