Things I love about being a mom:

My kids say the cutest things, especially when they are little. Sam has a little freckle on his neck and when he first noticed it, he thought it was a drop of syrup he had spilled on himself and it just wasn't coming off. He was convinced it was syrup for at least a year. We let him think it because it was so cute.

My kids do such cute things. One of Mya's favorite games is to put her dolls to sleep. She wraps them all up and tucks them in with a blanket. I find sleeping dolls all over the house. The other day, I found Mya making this lovely mess in the family room.

Here is the funny part.

This is a barbie that the dog has made her own. Petunia loves to grab this doll by the hair and shake it around. As a result, there is not much hair left and the head has been ripped almost in half. Although ugly and chewed up, Mya still took the time to put her to sleep. How cute.

I love watching my kids become friends.

I love watching my kids become good people.

Things I don't love about being a mom:

Germs. I am so tired of being sick all the time. My home is like some kind of petri dish with each kid bringing home a strange variety of germs each time we leave the house. And then they get sick and then I get sick. I am currently on my 2nd cold in as many weeks. I suppose the upside is that someday I will have an inpenetrable immunity system, but for now I just don't like it.

Messes. Do they ever end? It seems like they don't. Now I admit I am not the world's most diligent housekeeper, but even if I were, there would be no rest from trying to keep up with the messes my kids make. One prime example is toothpaste. I s it just me, or do other moms find toothpaste all over the house? Giant globs on the wall of the bathroom, small globs in the carpet of a bedroom, smears on the mirror. It's everywhere! And it's not easy to clean either.

It looks like the goods outnumber the bads. I guess I won't sell my kids to the gypsies just yet, but the teenage years are looming in the not too distant future and the balance might shift. For now though, I sure am glad that Heavenly Father chose me to be the mom of these 4 amazing kids.

Logan's Recital

Sweet little Logan had her last dance recital of the year last night. She has really enjoyed her dance class and has learned a lot. The dancers learned interpretive dance for this recital. Her recital was up Big Cottonwood canyon in the storm mountain ampitheater. It was an interesting place to have a dance recital and it took FOREVER to get up there for a 6:30 start time what with all the traffic and the accident on the freeway, but it was nice and cool after the long day. We took a picnic dinner and had a grand old time. Grandma and grandpa were great to drive up from Salem to watch. Logan was so cute and did an awesome job. We are so proud of her.

An Homage

Not much has been going on around here lately. That is mostly my fault because I have been totally wrapped up in reading. I have always been a fan of the fantasy genre and there are times when a good Juvenile Fiction read is just up my alley. So this week I have been captivated by this book:

It is akin to Harry Potter (though in my opinion nothing will ever match HP) with the magic and magical creatures and bad guys and such. I am currently reading the 2nd book in the series and loving it.

I was also thinking today about 80s Hair Band Music. During the 80s, I was not a big fan, but as time went by, I came to appreciate it. Lately, the appearance of several hair band alumni on the reality TV scene has just amped up my regard for hair bands. (I mean who can help but get sucked in to Tommy Lee trying to make it at college, or Brett Michaels trying to find true love with 1 of 20 random skanky women?)

Everything about the whole 80s hair band scene was just wonderful: the glamour, the makeup, the heroin-chic thinness, the videos with the buxom women, and of course the hair. But what gets me, what really just cements these amazing bands in my mind is the beautiful, thought-provoking, timeless lyrics they came up with.

Just listen to this:

An' here I go again on my own

Goin' down the only road I've ever known,

Like a hobo I was born to walk alone

An' I've made up my mind

I ain't wasting no more time

Can't you just see that Hobo walking down the road, all by himself. Brings tears to my eyes.

Here's another one:

So you say I've got a funny face, I got no worries

And I don't know why

I don't know why

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all have such a great attitude about our physical limitations?

How about these words?

Love is like a bomb, baby, c'mon get it on

Livin' like a lover with a radar phone

Lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp

Demolition woman, can I be your man?

Now, I don't necessarily know what those words mean, but are they powerful or what? I wish I had a radar phone!

As an homage to the great song writers of the 80s hair band era, I have changed my playlist this month to be exclusively theirs. Next month, I might try something new because music is awesome and until we really explore it, it can't touch our lives.

Amen.

(Prizes to the first people to identify the hair bands in these pictures. Immediate family members not eligible.)

Girls will be girls

What am I going to do with these two girls? They are such, well, girls. They both love dress ups and makeup and princesses.

They are very serious about their makeup application.

They are just so cute, I guess I will keep them and hope they get over this girly phase before they are teenagers.

Boys will be boys

Last week was Sam's scout troop's Pinewood Derby. Sam and Rollin had a great time envisioning the car and working on it together (although Sam would have liked to finish it, or at least start it, months before they did.) Sam (with perhaps a little fatherly nudging) chose an Oregon State U. theme for his car so it was black with an orange OSU logo. It looked very cool.

There were 19 cars in contention this year. We saw some very interesting and unique creations from our scouts (and/or their parents.)

Sam's car ended up placing 9th. I think he might have been a little disappointed not to win, but he handled it very well. He is such a good boy.