Legends of the Fall: Part II Coming Soon

My sons have turned competitive.
And it ain't pretty.
I blame their teeth!
Let me tell you all about it...
So, B-Man let me know about three weeks ago that he had a couple of loose teeth.
I obliged with the appropriate amount of enthusiasm... happily telling him that if he worked on it, maybe he could lose both of his teeth before Christmas. I thought that it would be quite fun for him to sing "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth". How cute would that be?!
Little did I know that Bubba had a loose tooth as well.
He is not nearly the talker that B-Man is.

Well, two weeks ago, Bubba did the unthinkable.
He lost his first tooth.
Before B-Man.
Let the wailing and gnashing of teeth begin!
B-Man was so distraught that he did not lose a tooth before Bubba that I ultimately had to send him upstairs to his room for the evening to sulk. (Before you get all judgy on me, let me assure you that this was B-Man's choice following nearly thirty minutes of snuggles, support and attempts to stop the crying by me)

Our celebration with Bubba was somewhat subdued because of this.
We DID throw his tooth up on the roof- in honor of the Ethiopian tradition with teeth.
We DID have Bubba write a letter to the tooth fairy- letting her know where the tooth was.
The tooth fairy DID leave Bubba a couple of nice crisp dollar bills.
But, we did keep it subdued.

Well, two days later, B-Man lost HIS first tooth.
And being that he had no desire to be second best to his little brother, he went and lost his SECOND tooth two days later!
Obviously, B-Man decided that if he could not be first, he would be best!

We celebrated with more throwing of teeth on the roof... and more letters to the tooth fairy... and more dollar bills under pillows.
All of the while, this mommy is thinking.
What the hell am I going to do when my boys are teenagers?
And they like the same girl?
It's gonna be a blood bath in our home!

We ARE family!

I have just heard about a new show on ABC following in the vibe of Extreme Home Makeover. It is called "Find My Family" and apparently, it follows adoptive children on their quest to find their "Real" family.
UGH!
The premise of this show makes me so sad!
I am the mother to four of the most incredible human beings and the wife to an incredible man. We ARE a REAL family. I AM my children's REAL mother.
How will this show impact the impression of families who are contemplating adoption? Will they think that no matter how much of a bond their adoptive children create with them, they will never be a family? Will they wonder if adoption is a viable option now?
And how about adopted children? Are my children going to think that they are part of a PLAN B for a family? Is the world and their community going to assume that they are not whole because they are not part of their REAL family?
Let me tell you... I can NOT even begin to imagine the struggle and pain and frustration that B-Man and Belly-ome's parents must have faced in order to make the decision to relinquish their children to a state run orphanage in Ethiopia. I will NEVER belittle the importance of my children's first family. I am definitely not one of those people who goes around saying that God intended us to be a family and that their first family was just a way for my children to enter this world. I feel that statement takes my children's first family and their anguish out of the equation. My faith, rather, tells me that we will have the potential to ALL be a part of the same family in Heaven. Biological family... Adoptive Family... all part of the plan.
But, I will never belittle the blessing of all of us being a family, either. Nate and I are the proud parents to four beautiful children. Two by birth and two through adoption. All four are MINE. And my love is REAL.
Don't belittle that ABC!

Things I Have Learned About Myself This Weekend...

Nate took me to San Fransisco yesterday. It was an incredible trip packed with Fisherman's Wharf, The African Diaspora Museum, the musical Wicked, and great food. All in one day.
Why only one day, you might ask?
The answer is simple...
I don't know how to be away from my kids.
I think that I am addicted to them.

Is that so bad?

Inspiration

I can't get "Katie" out of my mind.

Who is Katie, you might ask?

She is a 21 year old young woman who has decided to LIVE a truly Christ-like life.
She is, at this point, a mother to 14 and caretaker to over 400 in a small village in Uganda.
And she makes me want to do SOOOOO much more with my life than I have up to now.

Her blog is full of inspiration... like this thoughtful quote...

"People say to me often, "You are so lucky that you found your calling, that you know your purpose in life." This statement boggles my mind. I AM so blessed to live the life that I do. But it isn't rocket science. God did NOT part the sky and shout out to me, "Katie! Serve my people." I read it in His word. You can too. We can all see as plain as day that Jesus says the number one commandment is to love the Lord and love your neighbor. I happened to move to Uganda and love those neighbors, but that is not the point. As believers, we should already KNOW our calling; it is to love the Lord and love our neighbors by caring for them in whatever broken state they are in."

I have never met this woman, but I feel changed by her.

I am so incredibly and indescribably lucky and fortunate to have the life that I have.
Katie reminds me that with all of these things comes a responsibility.
A responsibility to love. And serve. And teach. And give.

If you are feeling the need or desire to be inspired, too, check out her blog.
It is www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com
You are welcome!:-)

My how times have changed!!!

What to do?

I figure that I am a pretty decent mom most days.
Not perfect, but certainly not worthy of calling DCFS on.

But sometimes, I just think that I suck.

Sometimes, I can't handle it when the girls are whining over me fixing their hair.
Sometimes, I get annoyed when my boys tattle on each other.
Sometimes, I look at the food that I worked for an hour to prepare that the kids have "decided" they don't like and feel drained.
Sometimes, the bathroom toilets get a ring around them and I have no will power to clean them.
Sometimes, time-outs don't work on my kids and all I want is to be put in time-out myself.
Sometimes, I am brought to my knees... brought to tears... begging Heavenly Father to give me the patience and love that my children deserve.
Sometimes, I recognize painfully, that I don't have the answers.

So, mommies... what is the solution?
What do you to "be a good mom" when your children are working hard to bring out the devil in ya?


Sometimes, all I can think is "Good thing ya'll are cute! That may just be your saving grace!"

WOW... Time flies!

I am so sorry to the two of you who read my blog...
It is not like big things haven't been happening around here.
Since I last blogged, we have been camping and/ or boating in Lake Powell, Yuba Lake, Utah Lake, Jordanelle, Bear Lake, Willard, Sand Hollow and Deer Creek.
We have hiked, swam, played, laughed and had "adventures" of all kinds.

I don't quite know why I stopped blogging.
Maybe it is because I had to let go of a lot of adoptive connections that I had by changing my blog.
Maybe it is because I forgot how important it has been to me to keep a collection of my family's memories.
Or maybe it is just because I am the mother of four children and I am freakin' tired!!!:-)

So, since I am way behind and don't quite know how to start back up, I am just going to create a list of things my family and I have discovered this summer...

1. Campgrounds with visible snake tracks should not be camped in.(Yuba) Your boat may nearly capsize and definitely run aground and you may lose a tent or two. No fun.
2. Belly-ome's hair can maintain corn rows for up to 6 days before she looks like a homeless child.
3. I can fix Belly-ome's corn rows with just the right mixture of a cartoon on the television and liquid courage for myself (Crystal Light white grape is my intoxication of choice)
4. B-man can do just about anything physical when asked (ie. diving off the boat, wake boarding, tumbling, flipping on the trampoline, etc)
5. Bubba does not mind B-man being more physically adept, but B-man can NOT handle it if Bubba is better at anything.
6. Magoo can read.
7. My nose surgery last year did not do a damned thing to help me breath this year.
8. Nate's new job is a God send.
9. I love Utah 5 months out of the year. Those five months are now over.
10. I love DisneyLand/ World far more than my husband does.
11. Going to Florida for a few days without Nate works out beautifully.
12. Our house looks significantly better when there are no white walls in any of the rooms.
13. Our yard looks significantly worse when there are 8 different types of scooters, wagons, and bikes parked on the lawn.

To those two of you who are still reading... thanks for toughing this out with me.
Hopefully, I will have more to come

Grandma June

June Daniels England 1920 ~ 2009 June Daniels England, selfless to the end, passed away peacefully on June 6, 2009, just the way she would like it, surrounded by her family. June was born on June 1, 1920 to Rex and Daisy Daniels in Austin, Utah. Being the oldest of four children, she developed nurturing and domestic skills which she used throughout her life to bless her family. Family dinners were never complete without her famous "June Juice" (super strong Kool-Aid). She married Eugene K. England on December 30, 1940, later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple. Together they raised their six sons. June was always a devoted and extremely proud mother. Nothing brought her greater joy than spending time with her family. Gene and June have 35 grandchildren and 37 great-grand children. Every single one was special to June as evidenced by the hundreds of pictures that adorned her home. Service was a common theme in her life. She cherished her 27 years of serving in the Oncology Department at Primary Children's Medical Center. Not only did she love the children, she enjoyed a wonderful relationship with the doctors, nurses and other volunteers at the hospital. In 2006, June was recognized as one of the "Health Care Heroes" in the State of Utah. June was a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She lived a Christ-like life by loving and serving others. She used her leadership skills to serve faithfully as a Relief Society President under three different bishops. June not only loved to serve others, she loved to throw a party. She was the acknowledged "social director' by her many friends, organizing countless great events including the annual St. George trip. June had many talents. She loved music and especially enjoyed performing in choirs and with her dear friends in a singing group called "The 16th Notes". Her many hobbies included gardening, bowling and golfing. Her favorite pastime, however, was travelling across the country in a semi truck with her husband, Gene, at the wheel. Being a wonderfully devoted wife, if Gene was happy, then June was happy. She was an amazing example of love and support throughout their life together. June, as your loving family we thank you for your tremendous example. We will miss you terribly as the heart and soul of our family, but we have peace in knowing that we will be together again. She is survived by her husband, Eugene K. England, sons, Jeff (Pat), Dan (Jan), Dean (Kim), Todd (Jeannette), Corey (Carrie), daughter-in-law, Rowena England, siblings, Daisy Dean (Joseph) Hanks, Tina Lou Walton, Rex (Phyllis) Daniels. She was preceded in death by her parents, Rex and Daisy Daniels, son, Rodney, grandson, Riley England and brother-in-law, Robert Walton.

Grandma June was so much more than even this beautiful obituary can express. She was an incredible and kind woman who I feel lucky to have known.
I will particularly remember the special sweetness that Hunter had with her. We took her to lunch a couple of months ago and Hunter sat by her the whole time, holding her hand and talking her ear off. Of course we went to Mimi's Cafe (that was our designated place to eat together) and of course she got french onion soup.
She was one of the few people in Nate's life who enjoyed telling stories about Nate's father, Rod. She was Rod's caretaker for the vast majority of his life and knew him in a very special and unique way. I always loved her "Rod stories".
Grandma June was so , so lovely... and loving.
She was selfless and giving... and she will be missed.

My favorite time of the year...

T-minus 5 1/2 hours until my life gets just a little bit better...
Here is a little taste of the kind of performances I am excited for...

"Fidelity" Choreo - Funny blooper videos are here

Oh man, do I love So You Think You Can Dance

Hello, there...

Since I am starting a whole new blog with the sole purpose of protecting my family, I will no longer be using any names. My children's nicknames are going to have to suffice.
So, here is a crash course on the ridiculous things that we call our children...

My oldest will now be referred to as... B-Man

My second son will be... Bubba

This little diva will now be called... Magoo

and my youngest will now be... Belly-ome



It has been way too long since I have blogged.
I have missed it!
I have so much to catch up on, but I do have my priorities...
This blog is going to have to get a face lift in the next few days.
Hopefully, I can figure out how to put pictures in the side bar with all of the nicknames... maybe that will help.
Thanks for following me over here.
Love ya.