My Dad

I wanted to share a little about my wonderful dad. First, some awesome pictures.

My mom and dad in 1965. Aren't they hot stuff?! My mom has had some seriously wicked hairstyles in her lifetime, but that is another post entirely.

Holding my older brother Jeff. Good looking much?

In a kiss sandwich with me and Suz

Being silly with Sam. He has to be the funnest grandpa out there.

My dad has showed Jake support many, many times by coming to school concerts, church talks, and by helping him build the winning Rain Gutter Regatta boat and an unbelievably sleek Pinewood Derby car for Scouts. (Where are those pictures?) I can't honestly be more grateful for how he has been there for him.

Always doing fun things with the family. He LOVES those grandkids.

It is such a privilege to have my dad as my father. He has a beautiful testimony of our Savior and shares it. He is brilliant. He has such a generous heart and he has blessed so many in so many ways. He loves his family and is committed to his family. He always wanted to give his family the very best and has. He has taught me about integrity and that living a righteous life is what brings the greatest joy possible. He has loved my son like he was his father and was a constant companion for him for so many years. He bonded with him in a way that even his own father didn't. He gave him so many hours of his time, of his life. He taught him about science, math, life, being a strong person, and being there for those you love.

I am so thankful for a dad who blessed me with so many amazing opportunities in my life that have broadened me so much, and that he saw the importance of family vacations. We have made some amazing memories that way. A dad like this is priceless and precious beyond words. A dad like this is loved beyond words to describe. Thank you Dad, for everything.

It is hard to post about this, but if you would say a prayer for my dad, I would really appreciate it. He starts two medications tomorrow for the multiple myeloma he was diagnosed with this fall. One of the drugs he will be taking is a chemo drug, and one is a very high dose steroid. We are very worried about how the side effects will affect him. I am grateful for the advancements in medicine that will hopefully help him fight this thing hard and have many good years left.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I told Jake I needed him to make me a valentine this year, and he sat right down and made me this. What a cutie. He printed the real heart out from the internet and cut it out. The Feliz Cumpleanos is because he is silly and learned it the other day in Spanish class. :)

I have been working on these two skirts for a while and am excited to share them! I love the colors of this fabric line all together like this. This is Sarah's outfit:

And here is Elise's outfit:

And here is the sweetest little punkin' ever in her outfit:It ended up a bit too big, but I guess that means it will still fit her in the fall!

Jake is 14

He has been for a couple weeks! I guess I am finally somewhat resigned to the fact that he is just going to keep growing up on me. He looks like a 16 year old, so I guess I can be grateful he is still only 14! I love the person he is becoming. He is so much fun.

Here he is opening his presents.

This is the cool little finger drum set my parents gave him, which looks like his big drum set that he got for Christmas. Yep. He really did. I can't believe I did it. I found a great set on ksl classifieds and got some mute pads. He loves them, and sounds good (and loud.) My camera broke on Christmas Eve(!) so I haven't shared pictures of Jake and his drums yet, but I will.

And here he is....

driving! I let him drive around the church parking lot for a bit. I was worried this would lead to a lot of asking if he could drive all the time, but even though he loved the opportunity and did well, he said it scared him a little and he got his fill for a while.

And here's a silly picture of my brother Curt just for fun.

I'll be sharing some sewing pictures soon so tune in!

The Old and the New

Here is Jake before one big day this month:

Falling backwards fast so that he is blurry.

Mug shot
Laughing because he thinks he's so funny

And NOW:

He got braces!!!Being silly again
And again. (My camera was on the red eye position so it took longer to take the picture after I'd push the button. So Jake thought it was very funny to smile and look like he was taking a nice, normal picture and then to jump up real close, or lean back real fast, or do a serious face!) He keeps me smiling. I guess they never stop being silly.

This cute kid has been sick in bed for a week! The doctor thought it might be swine flu. Whatever it was, it was something else I tell ya. He could barely move. And all this happened right at the end of the term when everything is due and he missed tons of tests, etc. Crazy! I am just glad he is on the upswing now.

Also, I love this blog post.

I'm Not Ready

for Jake to go back to school. It just doesn't seem like it is time. It has been so fun to just relax with him and watch a show together or play games. Summer went by too fast and now he has to sit through 7 hours of school and come home and we have to deal with 1-3 hours of agonizing homework. It just doesn't sound fun to me. Jake gets stressed ->which slows him way down at getting anything done -> which makes me stressed because I want him to get to bed at a decent hour -> which makes him more stressed -> see the pattern? He is a smart kid and does really well in school. There is just this big obstacle for him when it comes to doing his homework, and I think it happens at school too. He freaks out inside and it slows him down. Way down. It is weird to me with him because he is such a wonderfully capable person, and this doesn't show up with anything but schoolwork.

A half hour of homework can take up to 2 hours. No joke. I end up going upstairs to cool off just because the whole process is so dang frustrating.

SO... do I just take myself out of it? Just say calmly and reasonably that it is homework time and to start. Try not to be bothered when he is not doing it for 3/4 of the time or when he is sitting there staring off for 30 minutes between each math problem. Just let it go? Would that help him to take charge of it? He does care how well he does. But also gives up and just wouldn't turn something in if he thinks it is too much. And once that happens, he starts to feel behind and buried and the stress gets bigger. And there are also times where he legitimately needs my help. And then drama and trauma ensues. Why is it so hard? Do I just keep at it, trying to stay balanced between being patient and keeping him on task? What do I do when I am just not up to dealing with it all?? I guess just let him figure it out for himself. Or call Gram, or Anne.

If that doesn't work, can he come live with you during the school year?

It is funny - when he does homework with Anne (who does tutoring), he gets a ton done in a short time. AAAAAAAAAGGH what am I doing wrong?? Is it just a mom/son thing? If you have any ideas, please let me know. On the other hand, he thoroughly loves and needs the friends and social aspect of school and this gets even stronger as he gets older. He is a people person and it drives part of him a little crazy to be stuck home alone with just the two of us all the time. (Although he needs his down time too.) He thrives on being with people. I just need to somehow pull my head out of it and not stress when he is stressed so homework can go a little more smoothly for us.

Sorry this is so dang long. I even cut some out! And this format makes it seem even longer. Thanks for sticking with me, if you did.

Music Camp

We had such a fun night Tuesday night. My mom, dad, JoAnna, Sam, Sarah and I all went to see Jake play the drums and cymbals at East Canyon Resort (a campground with a general store, restaurant, pool, etc.- my kind of campground!) He got to go to a music camp up there for 2 days and it ended with a concert. Jake did a fantastic job and it was gorgeous up there in the mountains. What a fun place!

Playing the congo drums

and the cymbals

the band in the pretty pavillion

On another musical note (ha ha get it?) you must watch this video from America's Got Talent. I probably would not watch this show myself, but Jake likes to watch it and it is great to have something to watch together. It is these stories that make me glad that I do. I love this guy. His tears at the end just topped it off for me.

Happy Easter Peeps!

I love Easter and the new life it represents. Spring is by far my favorite season. I just love watching the world come to life again after the deadness of Fall and Winter. I love the story of the resurrection and that we have the knowledge that we get to live with Heavenly Father and Christ again because our Savior died for us, and then rose again. I am so grateful that none of us have to die spiritually, but need simply to repent of our sins and we are reunited with the Spirit in this life, and if we choose, with our loving Savior and Father in the next. It truly is a plan of happiness.

And on the lighter side, Jake and I dyed Easter eggs last week. We got kind of silly and had fun. Jake thought I was a goofus for thinking it was so funny that I was making a Humpty Dumpty. What can I say, sometimes I get slap happy. The paint was all gloopy but what do you do? Jake made an awesome storm trooper!

Weekend

We had a nice weekend. How about you?

Jake got to go to Moab.


























I got a nice break and finished this:

























And watched conference. My favorite talk was Jeffrey R. Holland's talk about our Savior. I wish those who think we are not Christians could just watch maybe an hour of conference. Or better yet - THAT talk. It fed me and filled me. I also loved Elder Scott's tender words. What was your favorite?

Update in Pictures

So, apparently I don't do real well without this:

My gamma globulin shot. It has become very hard to get at the moment. For the last few weeks, I have been feeling very much like this:

Humpty Dumpty after the fall.

Thanks for bearing with me. I did get some gamma globulin now but don't know when I will be able to get it again so I'm trying to take it sparingly.

Last week, I did get to enjoy this:

Jake's percussion concert. They got to play on garbage cans, which was pretty dang cool. And those are his best buds on either side. Mitch and Forest.

Jake is having so much fun learning drums in his percussion class. He is doing fantastic, even though he has only been in there since January and all the other kids have been in there since the beginning of the school year. He picked it up so fast.

Forgive me while I take a moment here to ponder Jake's cuteness.

Thank you for coming Grams, Pa and Suz!! And thank you Grams for matching that sign (that is pointing to Jake's head) so well.

Hmm... who's butt is higher? Let's just call him Jakey-longlegs.

I also got to enjoy this:

Jake's General Music Choral Concert. I hate to say it but I was not looking forward to this one. (Part of that was that Jake wasn't excited about it or the least bit proud of it. He thought they all could have sung much louder and better, which I think is kind of funny for some reason.) I ended up enjoying it thoroughly though! It was fun to see all the kids that age and their interactions, what they wore, etc. I am ending up really liking this age that Jake is right now. I completely dreaded it, but he is doing well and I really like watching him go through his junior high experience so far.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jake is my valentine this year and that's ok with me. He is at an age where it is hard to know what to give him for things like this though. I didn't want to spend a lot and I knew there wasn't much he'd get too excited about. And he certainly doesn't need anything new. So, I found this cute idea and decided he would at least like the novelty of it. I know we've all made Rice Krispy Treats a million times, but here are pictures of the process anyway, just for fun.

Mmm... butter and marshmallows melting together.

Adding the Rice Krispies



Then I formed it into a "kiss" shape




I taped these together to make the little paper that comes out the top.



A kiss for my valentine!

















I might take him to do something later too, if he's not too tired after his overnight scout camp last night.

Retro Day

While I am waiting for my sister to get her package so I can post the pictures of the things she hasn't seen yet, I just had to post this picture. It's All for All or "spirit week" at Jake's school this week and there is a different theme for every day. They usually have a strict dress code/uniform so this is really fun for them to be able to wear different things.
I L-O-V-E 70's dress up. I don't know why, I just do.

Does it get more stylin' than this?

p.s. - I want to say thank you so much for all the positive comments on the outfit. Every one of them made my day. I wish there was a magic wand that could make me stop second-guessing myself so much!!

THIRTEEN!

Hi. I've been under a rock for a while. Or kind of like 6 feet under. With a breathing tube. At least that is what I have felt like.... so I have been missing from blogsville, but I am alive again and that is a beautiful thing.

My question is -

How does this:

Turn into this?

Seriously?? Where did the time go? Jake turned 13 last Sunday! He is such a ray of sunshine and I am so grateful he is my boy. (I am still calling him my "boy" even though he is 2 1/2 inches taller than I am!) He is a kind and caring kid who loves hanging out with friends, doesn't like much of the food I make, loves his little baby brothers (his dad's), doesn't like homework, has a propensity for noise, likes his percussion class at school, is fun to hang out with, and who lights up my life.

13 Things about Jake

1. He's an extrovert and he loves to be around people and where the action is.
2. He's funny and he LOVES funny things.
3. He loves gadgets and everything at Think Geek and Extreme Geek.
4. He is smart.
5. He has lost all but one baby tooth.
6. He is 5' 6 1/2"
7. He craves down time and freedom to do whatever he wants.
8. He loves music (and is an expert on the drums on PS3 Rock Band.)
9. He is great at figuring out technology.
10. He is a ray of light.
11. He is not judgmental of others.
12. His favorite TV shows are Mythbusters on Discovery, and Ace of Cakes and Challenge on Food Network.
13. He has strong family values and loves family.