Gone with the Wind

The story of life in Colorado Springs. Wind, Wind, and more Wind. We went to the Wolf Ranch pool 2 Thursday and Friday. Both days were so windy we lasted about an hour each time. Yesterday one of Zoey's crocs blew away. Yes. Literally, Gone with the wind. Ugg.

On a totally unrelated note, I have been riding almost every day this week with the kids in the bike trailer. It paid off. I rode the Air Force Academy this morning and passed six people. Four of them were men. The two that I totally smoked going up the hill after the soccer fields said after I passed them,"Dude, that was a chick." To which the other replied, "No way." That felt GGGOOOOODDD!! I went home and admired my superior glutes.

Assume the Best, Look for the Good.

I keep saying this to myself while I do yoga breathing in my bathroom with the door locked avoiding my children. Yesterday was not my finest day as a mother. Zoey is a perpetual whiner. I can't hack it. At times, I am down right mean. After watching Zoey whine through and entire hour of gymnastics, I about had a melt down right there in the viewing area. I think Michelle and Melanie were a little freaked out. Sorry guys. I calmed down a little when I got home and talked to Zoey. I was feeling a little less frustrated when Miss Kathy (her gymnastics teacher) called me and said that she thinks Zoey should wait to move to the advanced class until she gets her whining under control. After that I felt like I had failed as a mother. I was so frustrated, and disappointed. I didn't know what to do. Then I thought of my Grandma Flake. The most Christ-like person I know. What would she do. Every time I went to her house when I was little, I loved this little 3x5 green card that had written on it, Assume the Good, Look for the Best. And then it came to me. To break her of this habit, every time she whines, she goes to her room. Then I think of all the things that are good about Zoey. She spent 4 hours in her room yesterday, so I had a lot of time to think. I love my little Zoey. She is so sweet and don't know what I would do without her. There are times that I feel like I just can't do it anymore. This is when you find me locked in the bathroom, breathing deeply, repeating over and over my amazing Grandmother's mantra, "Assume the best, look for the good." Sometimes, its all I can do. I can't tell you how much this has helped me. I was so focused on the negative things about my daughter, I couldn't see the good. She is really an amazing girl. This made her so much easier to deal with. When she whines, she goes to her room, and I think of things that I love about her. Today she has only whined once, and she went to her room with out me telling her to. She is smart, beautiful, brown eyed, spunky, loving, and I love that she at least tries everything. I need to be more like my mother and grandmother. Assuming the best and looking for the good in people, situations, and life. No wonder they are so happy. My Grandmother had 11 kids. 4 girls, 7 boys. All of her boys went on missions. All of her children are married in the temple. All of her children and spouses are active in the church. My Mother is a wonderful woman. I love that she is such a rock in the gospel, and has raised me and my siblings so well. I really believe that comes from seeing the in your children, and looking for the good in them. Even when they whine constantly and literally drive you nuts. Assume the Best, and Look for the Good. Try it. It works.

Pay Day.

Every Monday after the crazy weekend, my house looks like a bomb went off inside. Being a three day weekend, it was like a nuclear warhead exploded. To reward myself for cleaning the house I go to Sonic during happy hour and get a 1/2 priced drink with all the change that I find while cleaning. Usually I find about 75 cents. Today I found the mother load. $1.49. Cha Ching! Thats enough for two drinks! Anyone interested? My treat!

One word.

I got this off cousin Brooke's Blog and thought it was cute! It's not as easy as you might think. Now copy or forward, change the answers to suit you and pass it on.

1. Where is your cell phone? ..........purse

2. Your significant other?................ultimate Frisbee

3. Your hair............................ everywhere

4. Your mother? ........amazing

5. Your father?...........................genius

6. Your favorite thing?...................Damon

7. Your dream last night?...................weird

8. Your favorite drink? ................... diet coke (opps)

9. Your dream/goal?........................... security

10. The room you're in?......................living room

11. Your ex?............................short

12. Your fear?...........................injury

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?................ Arizona

14. Where were you last night?............. Home

15. What you're not?.......................consistent

16. Muffins?..............................blueberry

17. One of your wish list items?..............Chanel bag (opps)

18. Where you grew up?........................Arizona

19. The last thing you did?.......................Woke up

20. What are you wearing?......................sweats

21. Your TV?............................On

22. Your pets?............................none

23. Your computer? ...................laptop

24. Your life?.............................crazy!

25. Your mood?............................procrastinate-y

26. Missing someone?...................Max

27. Your car/truck?..................... garage

28. Something you're not wearing?...............cute underwear

29. Favorite Store?..........................Sephora

30. Your summer?................................beginning

31. Like someone?....................Love

32. Your favorite color?......................RED

33. Last time you laughed?....................... today

34. Last time you cried?...................... Friday

35. Who will re-post this?............Jenn

Zoey's Final Soccer Game

It was a lot of this. Making sure pigtails were in tact. Running and waving to me to make sure I was watching. At one point she even said,"Mom! Look how cute I am!" The only time she got close to the ball was during practice during the game. Pics turned out good!

Pigtails, check.

Cute pose, Check.

Metal, Check.

Well its over. Lets just say we are sticking to gymnastics...

The Zoo

Zoey's final day at pre-school was a field trip to the zoo. We LOVE the zoo. They have the new bear exhibit that is AWESOME!!! The bears were swimming with trout in their little pond literally 5 feet from us, with 1 foot thick Plexiglas... but still, WOW! Zoey loved to play with her friend Callie, and successfully walked the entire zoo by herself. With out complaining too! Yes folks, the days of the double stroller are over my friends. Hallelujah. To celebrate I bought a cool new lightweight stroller for the summer. I am selling my jogger (why I have one, I'm not sure, I can't even run....) the snap and go, the car seat, and donating the other lightweight stroller I have because I don't want to feel wasteful, but I am pretty sure no one else would want that thing... so they can throw it away of they want. I digress... Zoey again loved the hippos, the monkeys, the giraffes, and the gorillas. Liam saw the orangutans up close and growled at it. It was so cute and funny. He did great we got to the zoo at 9 AM and left at 1:30. He never cried or complained once! What a good baby. He fell in love with Paula. Every time she would smile at him, he would turn inside out with delight. Liam also has an obsession with this feet. He loves to grab them and stuff them in his mouth, even with shoes on. Right now he is sitting at the table with one foot on the table while he eats his snack. Weirdo... The weather was perfect. Overcast in the morning and the sun came out after lunch. What a perfect day for a zoo trip.

Feeding the baby giraffe was the highlight though. I could not believe how brave this little thing was! She let Zoey pet her, feed her, she even licked her face! Zoey then said, "Ew! I need a wipe!" Still cool!

Sometimes the grass really is greener!

All in all, a very fun day at the Zoo. Zoey will miss her teacher Mrs. Amy, but hopefully we will be here in the fall for her to continue pre-k. We are so lucky to have her in our ward! She truly loves every one of her students, and on top of that is a great teacher. Maybe thats why she is Primary President? Hmmm. Zoey's first year of pre-school is over. She is growing up so fast.

Liam's Sabotage

Liam sabotaged Stake Conference for us. Elder Holland came to put in a new Stake Presidency. I was really looking froward to hearing him speak, but Liam had other plans. Saturday night was the adult session in which Elder Holland and Elder Gaday (sp?), he is the new 70 from Brazil, spoke. I got a babysitter, everything was good to go, and Liam starts puking Saturday morning. By Saturday night it wasn't as bad, but still didn't want a babysitter to deal with that. So we didn't go. By Sunday, Liam was acting normal. No puking, happy again. So we decided to try to go. At 1:30 we were at the church and it was packed. We got to hear Elder Holland put in the new Stake Presidency, and I was pleasantly surprised that he has a great sense of humor! I don't know the new Stake President, Bro. Woodward, but I do know Bro. Ashby, and Bro. Powell. What great and caring men. I know we are in good hands. Anyways, about 2:45, I was playing with Liam and trying to listen, and then it happened. The puke and turned into Diarrhea. It was everywhere. From the bottom of his leg to the top of his neck. All over my skirt, which I hope can be saved. Liam had had enough, and decided it was time to go. I never got to hear Elder Holland's talk. Sabotage.

Zoeyisms

So I thought I'd post some Zoey-ism's.

Lately She has been calling Damon Damon, not Daddy. Every day, "Damon! I'm hungry, make me a cheese sandwich." "Damon, snuggle me!" The best one was when we were picking her up from Nicole's house, and they were out waiting for us on the porch, and Zoey exclaims,"Mommy and Damon! Mommy and Damon!!" Kim thought that was a riot. It really bugs Damon. Now he will tell her, "No Zoey, I'm Daddy!" to which she replies, "No, you're Damon." That's what he gets for teaching her our real names if she ever gets lost.

On the way to Lake Havasu, we stopped in a Wendy's to eat and take a bathroom break. I took Zoey in there and as I was using the bathroom she patted my shoulder gently and looked at me with those beautiful big brown eyes and said so sweetly, "Mom, I love your big bum." Thanks??

I told her she was so pretty a few days ago, to which she replied, "Thanks, I know." And walked away.

I asked her to do something while she was playing, and she poked her head out of her fort and pointed at me and said,"Yes Mom, just a minute! I'm playing!" OK Then...

We have been teaching her about stranger danger. Damon taught her to yell stranger if anyone comes near her that she doesn't know. Now when she is playing on patio in the sandbox and someone across the street is getting their mail or walking there dog, she yells,"STRANGER! STRANGER!!" And runs inside! Way to be thorough, Dad!

My Crazy Life

The past two weeks have been like a roller coaster. Well, I guess the first 9 days were relaxing, and the last 4 were INSANE! We started off going to Durango. About 1/2 way to Havasu. We played at the park, and found it is just as windy there as it is here. Blech. Then we drove. New Mexico has to be, bar none, the ugliest state in the union. I swear if I have to drive that again, I will go insane.

We went to Lake Havasu City of Damon's Dad 60th birthday. We had all planned a surprise party for him and we actually pulled it off. Just to give you and idea of how much planning went into making sure it was a surprise, let me tell you how through we had to be to actually surprise him. Damon's dad Mark turns off the water whenever they leave on a trip. Nancy (Damon's mom) took Mark to San Diego for his birthday. When they arrived home on his birthday, we (the whole family minus one) were already there waiting for him. Right before they pulled in the driveway Damon says," Oh Crap! I need to go turn the water off!" Before Dad comes in the house, he goes to turn the water on! That would have tipped him off for sure. So he comes in the house and the grandkids cover him in silly string, it was awesome. The smell of the silly string, was not...
Zoey loved the party, and even made Grandpa a birthday cake, which I think he enjoyed more than the carrot cake cheese cake that we got from cheesecake factory. He likes white cake.

Who knew?The next 5 days were spent outside on the new 27 foot tri-toon boat that Papa and Grammy have recently acquired (TOTALLY AWESOME!!), or playing outside, or playing wii, or shopping, or anything else that caught our fancy. We loved being there with Rylee and the girls, Chelsey and especially Mom and Dad. What amazing people. I feel so blessed to have 'in-laws' that I can call Mom and Dad. They are so good to me and especially to my children. Every time I am with them I am moved by their unconditional, and at times, uncontrollable, love for their children and grandchildren. They only want the best for us, and it is truly evident. Zoey and Liam love their Grandparents, and Zoey was so sad to leave grandpa McQueen. She loves them, and loves having all thier attention.
I have to post some of the tubing pics, because they are just too funny. My amazingly cute niece Ashlee, who is 14, had a hard time on the tube, but it made for some great laughs when we got home and saw the pics! Liam and Zoey even went out on the tube. Zoey was our little dare devil. GO ZOEY!!
After the LOOONNNGGG drive home Wednesday. I wanted to roll over and die. It was the worst. Never drive that in one day. We left Lake Havasu at 10 AM and arrived home at 2 AM Thursday morning. Never Again. But what I found interesting as I was driving through Pueblo at 1 AM was the radio stations. They are playing soft porn. I listened to 3 top 40 type radio stations and I heard Mariah Carey telling you how she likes her fore play, Lil' something or other wants to visit his girl at work while she slides down a pole with no clothes ( because apparently all women work in strip clubs?), told to bend over and show some Hispanic rapper what I'm workin' with, and got in depth instructions on how to "Lick it like a LolliPop." This was all in a 4 minute time frame channel surfing. What makes me sick is that this is what our youth are listening to. This is what they play at school dances! Anyone else as disgusted by this as I am? I know "freedom of speech" and all that, but come on, this is just wrong. They have really fun beats, and young kids get hooked and like them without realizing what they are teaching, and what they are teaching is not OK. It makes me scared to even turn on the radio in the car with my kids.
Thursday the wedding festivities began. Cody flew in with Joel, the best man. It got really crazy, really fast. The bachelorette party was at our house. B had her friends over for one last hurahh. It was funny to see her with all her friends. They are a riot.

Friday the rest of my fam flew in. By the time they got to our house, they dropped off Joey and Cinny and then we took off to the temple in Denver for Breaelle's endowments. It was great to be there with her, my brother, and other friends and family members. Afterward we went to Claim Jumpers for dinner. A 10Th ward tradition. There were a bunch of us! I think about 25 people were there. I am in love with their 6 layer chocolate cake. YUM! Dad was once again disappointed with their fish and chips. He is such a fish and chips snob. Unless it was made fresh in England, you can forget it. I told him next time I come down I'm going to make it for him and see if I can do it better...(See what I do for parental approval!?!? I have issues.)

Saturday Morning was the sealing. (For those not familiar, in the temple, when we are married, we are also sealed to our spouse for time and all eternity.) Breaelle looked beautiful and calm, and Cody looked handsome through all his tears. Cody was crying or teary eyed through the whole thing. My Dad was teary eyed before they even came in the room. It was so sweet to see them, I love them both so much. I am so glad I listened to that little voice 2 1/2 years ago that said "You need to set Breaelle up with Cody." They are beautiful, as you can see by the pictures. (these were taken with the worst possible lighting imaginable, but I still made it work.) The luncheon was great, and I managed to get through my toast with out breaking down. The reception was so cool. Laura Talbot and the gang did an amazing job with the decorating and the flowers. We ate, danced, visited, and I took a bazzilion pics. Between her dad and I, and Joyanna at the reception (Thanks again J!!) We had over 1000 frames of the day. Now they are off in an mansion in Cabo San Lucas, livin it up.

Mothers day I spent making brunch for my family. Hazelnut Cinnamon rolls and mini frittatas. YUM! After they left, I spent the rest of the day on the couch. I was exhausted. Damon made me dinner. Zoey gave me a card. It was a good day. I went to bed early. AHHH, My crazy life...