The Makeup Bag

Take a look at my makeup bag. I think that it is really ugly. I have looked for replacement bags, but I just can't get rid of it. There is one big reason I can't get rid of it, and I'd like to share that reason with you.

When I was about 14 years old, my mom asked me to go shopping with her to pick up a few more things before Christmas. It was close to Christmas eve, maybe the day before. Anyhow, my sister, Kim, and I were not getting along. I think that she was home from college, so we had to share our room. I'm sure that I was being good at being a 14 year old brat. In fact I know that I was a good brat, because of what happened while I was shopping with my mom.

Mom and I went to the makeup department of a store and she found the isle with all of the the different makeup bags. She said that she wanted me to help her pick out a new bag for Kim. (cue the evil laugh sound track) I found the ugliest bag that was there and said that Kim would love this one. Mom questioned me, but we bought it. I thought that I was pretty clever. But the joke was on me.

See, Mom wasn't buying a makeup bag for Kim, she was buying one for me. She was trying to figure out what kind I wanted and used Kim as the decoy. She did a great job of making me believe that it was for Kim.

Can you imagine my surprise on Christmas morning when I discovered the bag in my stuff? I was humiliated, but couldn't let on to it. I was excited that Mom was letting me wear makeup.

Almost every time I see my makeup bag, I smile. It is one of those smiles that is accompanied with a shake of my head and a little laugh. I smile at the memory. I shake my head at my younger self, relieved that I don't act like a 14 year old brat anymore. I laugh at the situation.

So, apologies to Kim are in order. I'm sorry that I was being rude. I'm glad that you weren't stuck with an ugly little makeup bag. I wish that we had been better friends growing up, but I am glad that we are good friends now. Thank you for being a good big sister to me. I love you!

I guess that I could extrapolate a life lesson out of this situation. Always pick out something that you would want to receive? Never believe your mom when she has you pick out a gift for someone else? No, the life lesson is simple. It is: Always be kind to others, even when you don't want to be.

I still think that my makeup bag is ugly, but do you understand why I can't get rid of it?

I love my ugly makeup bag, I really do.

Pray for Cooper

My little nephew, Cooper, has been in the ICU for two weeks now. His appendix burst and his body went septic. Thankfully he is recovering, but it is a SLOW recovery. The poor kid is in a lot of pain. Cooper isn't expected to be able to return to his 'normal life' until after Christmas. It is going to be a long recovery. He is Mark's age (9). My heart goes out to his parents, Randy and Wendy. They are doing their best to take care of Cooper and hold the fort down at home.

This is the cousin who invited Paul to stay with him when we were camping. The boys have been quite worried about Cooper. They ask how he is doing when they get home from school. The hospital has a website that allows Randy and Wendy to update how things are going. It is such a wonderful resource.

I have had little Tanner (Seth's age) come over to play a few times. It has been a lot of fun to see the little boys play together. I have another nephew who is Seth's age, so we had all three of them together last week. It has been fun, but I can't lie that I miss having Wendy there to chat with while the boys play!

The reason I am sharing this is two fold. First, please pray for Cooper and his family. Second, love life and show love to those around you. Life is so precious.

Mom, I Don't Feel Too Good

That is what I heard last night as we were traveling home from having dinner with our dear friends, Madeleine and Ed Giles. Mark was feeling sick and started to puke. Luckily, I was prepared this time and I handed him a bag and got the wipes ready.

It turns out that the nifty DVD feature in our van is not friendly to Mark. They were watching a movie and he got carsick. I can totally sympathize with him as I get the same way. I cannot even read a map while in the car because it makes me sick. If I turn around to look at the boys, I get woozy.

The little MP3 players that we have are going to be Mark's best friend for entertainment while traveling.

The Ultimate Complement

The other day I decided to wear makeup and style my hair. I haven't done both for a long time. I wore a new shirt and I felt cute. I haven't felt cute for a long time.

I met two of my sisters (Debbie and Kim- and Kim's kids) at Thanksgiving Point for their $2 Tuesday admission. The line to get into the Dinosaur Museum was long. The entrance to the building is on the east side and the line wrapped around to the west side, nearly making it to the south. We decided to bag the planned event for the day and went to Cabela's and to Debbie's house for lunch.

Seth and I got home just before the boys got home from school. I was walking down the hallway when Mark came into the house. He looked at me and said,"Wow Mom! You look great!"

It felt good that he noticed. Daniel noticed too, but that didn't surprise me. Coming from a 9 year old I feel that it was the ultimate complement!

I'm a Boy

Today during lunch, Seth and Daniel were sitting next to each other at the counter. Seth held his hand out toward Daniel, so Daniel took it and kissed the top of Seth's hand.

Seth gave Daniel a weird look, glanced back and forth and then said, "Dad, I'm a boy, not a girl!"

Daniel was laughing so hard that it took a while for him to tell me what was going on. Seth was perplexed that Daniel found his statement to be so funny. Mark and Paul wanted to know what was going on, and Seth told them that Dad kissed a boy's hand. Mark and Paul went wild with "Yuck, Ewwww, and Gross".

What funny little boys!

It Dosn't Matter

"It dosn't matter what age you are, how tall you are, or how smart you are. All it matters about is how kind you are. Written by: Paul Taylor"

I found this quote on our message board the other day. Mark was going to comment about how Paul didn't put the 'e' in doesn't, but I asked him if he was telling him to be helpful or to be mean (i.e. showing off his smarts). Pointing it out wouldn't be the kind thing to do. I explained that it would go against the very message that Paul was trying to illustrate.

Paul is such a sweetheart!

Eight is Great!

Paul and his birthday cake. Please note that he is wearing a St. Patrick's Day shirt that says "Do Not Pinch". He likes the graphic but can't see it when he wears the shirt the right way, so he insists on wearing the shirt backwards!



Paul turned 8 on Tuesday. He requested a cinnamon cake, so after dinner we were waiting for it to come out of the oven (it tastes best warm). He got a Mad Lib book for a gift, so we decided to take turns filling in the blanks. Here is the story we entertained ourselves with. Doing Mad Libs takes me back to elementary school! I love them!

"When some GOLDEN school students were asked what nursery rhymes popped DISTURBINGLY into their EYES or were on the tip of their TOES, these were their INDIGO answers:
1. Jack and Jill went up the COMPUTER to DYE a pail of BATTERY ACID. Jack fell down and broke his HAIR and Jill came DIEING after.
2. Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your ASTRONAUT grow? With MICROSCOPIC bells and UGLY shells and DOGS all in a row.
3. Three blind MIDGETS, see how they run. They all went after the BOOK'S wife, who STROLLED off their EARLOBES with a SMELLY knife. Did you ever ENERGIZE such a GUY in your life as three TALL mice?"

Paul was our scribe, so he read the story. He was laughing so hard that we couldn't understand what he was saying! It was so cute listening to him laugh. He gets that way when he is telling a joke. He laughs so much while telling the punch line, that we can't understand him! He is a lot of fun.

Today we are going to the Living Planet Aquarium as a family and with two of Paul's friends. We are going to go out for dinner at The Pie Pizzeria (I'll be ordering a salad). Paul has wanted to do this for months now. I figured that since his plans hadn't changed, he was serious about it! It will be a low-key kind of birthday party which is about all I can handle right now!

Camping

This weekend we went camping with my family. My parents, and all but 1 of 7 kids were there. I use to enjoy camping, but since I have become a mom, I don't enjoy it nearly as much. I get so exhausted preparing everything, that I don't have energy for hiking and exploring. My energy level has been terrible lately, so that didn't help.

This weekend was not a great weekend to go camping because it was cold in the mountains. The high was 70 and the overnight lows around 50. I wasn't worried about bug bites, I was worried about frost bite. I was freezing day and night. We were planning to come home on Sunday afternoon, but we came home on Saturday night so that I could thaw out.

The problem I had with being so cold is that I didn't want to drink anything. Hot chocolate has milk in it and I really don't like spiced apple cider. Any beverage I had was really cold, therefore I didn't drink as much as I should. I was cold, but I was getting dehydrated. I spent most of Saturday night and Sunday morning fighting off a headache.

I know that in the spring, I will be outside in 70 degree weather with short sleeved shirts, praising the warm weather. It is all a matter of perspective. I wore my hooded sweatshirt and my winter coat all day yesterday.

Another thing I don't like about camping is unpacking. We are home from camping, but I still have another 5 loads of stinky laundry to do and I need to wash out the coolers, etc.

I really enjoy spending time in the mountains. I guess that I don't enjoy the work required to sleeping there. My plan for next year is to spend the day in the mountains and come home to sleep. It only takes about 40 minutes to get to the mountains from our house. I think that I will be more relaxed and be able to enjoy time in the great out doors.

The highlights from our camping trip:

We were about 10 minutes away from the campground and Mark puked. He was in the back and the throw up was all over the seat, the ground and Mark. Need I remind you that this is a new van? All of the paper towels, bags and change of clothes were packed in the van on the very bottom of the pile. We had to dig out a rag, clean off Mark and the van as best we could and get to camp.

Right after we got the canopy set up, and as we were getting the fire started, it started to rain, and then it hailed for a while. Daniel was working on the fire and my dad was holding one umbrella over the fire pit and another umbrella over his head. It was a funny sight.

As we were setting up camp, a moose and two calves came near our camp. They were about 30 feet away. A large group of us were standing on a table watching them. Someone asked if it was very safe to be standing this close. Mark said that we would be safe if someone had a weapon. Then he asked if anyone had a musket. A musket, seriously? Not a hand gun, or a rifle, or a billy club, but a musket. Good grief!

The pump for the air mattresses quit working. My sister, Debbie, was going to use it too, so we had to blow up the mattresses by mouth. Daniel was quite the trouper!

Paul was the accident prone child again this year. He fell off of his scooter and tried to make a dent in the asphalt with his forehead. He has a beautiful bruise on his forehead, scrapes on his belly and elbow.

Seth told my brother-in-law, Blake, that now we can have some serious fun in our new van. He is really excited about the DVD players!

Mark and Paul spend the night in my parent's camper and Seth was in the tent with me and Daniel. As we were talking before going to bed, Seth said something to the effect that Daniel would die when he was 80. Daniel said that he could live to be older than 80 and Seth was adamant that the oldest age is 80 and 80 is when everyone dies. We couldn't figure out where he got that idea. I had a bizarre thought, but decided to go with it. I asked Daniel what the highest level is on World of Warcraft. It is 80. Yep, Seth gets his ideas of mortality from a computer game. Daniel told Seth that people can buy expansions and live past 80. Whatever.

Paul stayed with his cousin, Cooper (Randy and Wendy's son) on Saturday night. They went on a hike to 'Donut Falls' Sunday morning. Paul really enjoyed seeing the waterfall that goes through the rock. Big thank you to Wendy and Randy for taking care of Paul. He had a lot of fun.

On the way home Saturday night, Daniel asked Mark if he was feeling okay. Yep. He asked Seth if he was feeling okay. Seth said no. We asked what was wrong. He said "I am just exhausted". He was asleep about 5 minutes later.

Amidst all of the cold weather, I got a sunburn on my face.

So I'm thinking of submitting a scent idea for the Little Tree Air Fresheners. How about a triple threat combination of New Car, Vomit and Campfire Smoke scent? Nah, I don't like it much either.

New

Things that are new for me:

Van. We traded in our 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan for a new 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan. We went from green to dark crimson. The upgrades on this baby leave me speechless. Daniel went by himself to buy the van. I told him that my only requirement was the Stow-and-Go seating (standard as of 2004). This van has two DVD players, wireless headphones, automatic starter, automatic doors, satellite radio and more. I am taken back at all of the automatic features that we have.

Car Payment. Since we owned the old van, we now have a car payment again.

Diet. Last November I eliminated wheat and dairy from my diet. I ate quite a bit of dairy this last week and I have been miserable. I know that this is a new, permanent way of life, not just a trial period.

Decorations. I have been busy decorating my living room. The sofa table is done. I hope to get the curtains made this week. I'll be posting pictures when I finish with the room. I love before and afters!

Neighbors. The house next door sold! The new owners have been spending their weekends fixing the house so that they can move in. I still haven't meet them. I've been a bad neighbor already.

Love. This isn't truly new, just a renewal of love. Lately I have realized more and more how much I love Daniel. I feel so grateful that I have him to confide in and to spend time with. He truly understands me. I'm so glad that I married him!

Mrs. Hulbert

Seth and Mrs. Hulbert

Yesterday Seth and I went to the boy's old school in West Jordan to deliver the clipboard to Mrs. Hulbert. In the last post I referred to her as a 'teacher friend'. She was Mark and Paul's 1st grade teacher and but she and I are friends. From the moment that we met, we just clicked. I absolutely enjoyed the time I spent in her class helping out. She trusted me immediately to get things out of her desk, to watch over the class when she had to step out, and to help take care of things.

Mark's year was her first year of teaching. She decided to go back to school after her kids all moved out of the house. She graduated in December and luckily for us, she was able to get the position that opened up at our school. Mrs. Johnson decided to retire early so that she could take care of her sick father. We were sad to see Mrs. Johnson go, but I feel so grateful to have had Mrs. Hulbert introduced into our lives. She was exactly what Mark, Paul and I needed. A wonderful person and teacher.