We did not forget

They do not remember the day. She wasn't born yet.

I will not teach them of fear and sadness. I will teach them of a day when evil was sure it could divide, but instead, goodness held together and strengthened beyond measure.

I will teach them the Pledge of Allegiance and what the words mean. What it means to be united. That is what today means to me.

Caldecott -Shmaldecott!

I must rant.

I can't stand not too this time. I am reading books to the princess today at the library and I grabbed this one.

It has a Caldecott award -so it MUST be good, right? WRONG!

Evidently they didn't read it before slapping the award on.

What a terrible children's story about a dead baby owl and lack of accountability. sheeesh.

Seriously what kind of lion king would let all of the jungle animals get away with not taking responsibility for their own actions?

Who are these Caldecott people and what are they thinking??? And why the weird "kirup, kirup" type words randomly placed that don't accurately describe the sounds that these animals make? Do things sound different in Africa? Is it me?

If you want a GOOD Caldecott book, stick with this one.

Oh, and I blame the snake.

Home's Cool!

I think I may actually have us back into a routine again and homeschool is finally starting to hum along smoothly -well for at least 1 day it has.

Although today I had the princess catch on to the always fun game of "find and point out contradictions to every phonics rule that you can".

Sawyer brought me his math, which showed "old coins" that someone is collecting and the math question required the dates on the coins.

Well needless to say, the reason that he was thrilled to show me was to prove that even his math book thinks I am old now.

I am UNFIT !

I have this new thing about starting a bathtub and letting it run until I see water in the hallway. I am not sure why.

I have always found the sound of running water to be calming. However, the mad dash down the stairs to put a container in "the spot" where the water drips through the floor to the basement hall -yeah NOT so calming.

One might be led to believe that I would somehow end up with clean floors out of the deal -not so much.

I have managed to do this twice so far this month. I am so proud.

ps -currently I am being scowled at by Sawyer who believes that I am not caring for him properly while his father is not here to pamper him in the way that he is accustomed too -I am telling you, UNFIT!

Jama day

I designated this Wednesday to be our lazy, do nothing, sit in our own filth "jama day"! I have needed one for ......well forever.

This meant we would stay in and have no friends over.

Then we got silly and decided to play hair -super-dee-duper FUN!

Savannah and I got on our favorite hair blog and I let her choose any style and we would do it. She chose the Barbie hair-do.

None of the photos have been edited because I am lazy today!

I told her that I wanted to take a picture of the back and this is what I got. Why would you not want her face???

silly me.

Needless to say when we suddenly realized that we did have to leave the house and run to her piano lesson (I grabbed my Jane Jetson face and pasted it on) she was impossible to teach because there is a mirror in the practice room and she couldn't stop admiring herself. :[

Sawyer and I spent the day planning Halloween costumes. I love planning ahead and the princess is all decided. He and I layed around looking at websites all morning.

AHHHH Jama Day's are the BEST!!!!

It just keeps getting better and better!

We came home from a ward picnic to find a neighbor walking into our ward saying he was going to "check for damage".

The storm had blown down a branch in the front yard and we just thought he was SO sweet to be so protective of us.

I did noticed that he looked like he had seen a ghost. I didn't know that he watched our 45ft tree sway back and forth until it finally went forth and never came back. He assumed that we already knew. I turned to look at the back yard trees and noticed that the biggest one in the backyard was GONE!?!

It still seems funny to us. It probably will until the hard work starts.

Thank you to everyone for all of the yummy meals that have been brought in.

We are taking good care of your dishes

and will return them.......soon.

Marshall Update

Sorry to be brief, but I have no time to sit still yet. Maybe I will be able to elaborate someday.
He went to get his foot rebuilt. Because of his very flat feet, the tendons, bones & heel were losing the ability to walk. It was 5 procedures in one. Surgery went 2 hrs longer than expected, they took a bone from his hip -surprise! After surgery, we had a series of very bad nurses and hospital experiences and Marshall was in agony. Then my Aunt came and whipped the staff into shape, my sis-in law called the hospital and complained. My aunt got his doc there to re-examine his foot and his was taken into late-night emergency surgery. He started to heal better but still took days to combat the extreme pain. One of the wounds was left open to allow for swelling and draining. So we have to go back to get it sewn shut. After the complaints, our staff was great. He is in a great deal of pain and can only get around hopping with a walker using a special arm attachment –due to weakness from the disc fusion in March. I assume the surgery was a success, at this point I am numb from no sleep and watching my husband struggle. I am sure time will tell. Thanks to all for the prayers, meals, help with kids, mean calls to hospitals, listening to me cry and understanding when I have failed you this past week.

I am sorry I haven't been able to answer many phone calls or questions. I have been in hospitals and running between emergencies.

The day before the surgery Sawyer fell and passed out.

As I was writing this update for everyone my daughter was bit on the face by a rottweiler -14 stitches.

I sent the boys to get her antibiotics the pharmacy gave them the run around,

so I went to chew them out

and Marshall fell as soon as I left.

sigh.

I think I may have a target on my family somewhere.

One of the perks

I was cleaning the princess chambers yesterday, (my favorite room in the world) and I just have to say that the doll house and the dress-ups are truly some of my favorite perks of having a princess!

The day that the leprechaun came....

The leprechaun left us lots of fun goodies, in his signature color, and this year a special treat! A Barney Stone!

-silly leprechaun, no kid of mine needs any help in that area!
Our mischievous leprechaun makes a terrible mess. He put things up-side-down, mixed up the chairs and stools and he leaves little tiny footprints.

He gets into our toilet paper and decorates our kid's rooms & this time the kitchen. Best of all he put one of Savannah's shoes in a different place all over the house!
See ya next year leprechaun!

My favorites

At a Time Out for Women conference, I fell in love with artist James Christensen.

Here are three of my favorites.

What are you holding onto...?

The Iron Rod

This little man has his eye on the rod, but like so many of us, he is burdened with his "stuff".
Stuff that makes us feel better, look better and feel safe. Whatever this "stuff" is to each of us, it can keep us from reaching up and grabbing hold, for fear of dropping something else. All we do is move our "stuff" (drama, clutter, pride, worries, anger) from moment to moment.
What is truly important is keeping sight of our true belief and faith, they alone will guide us through.

The Responsible Woman

This one I recently used in a YW lesson. I love the chin-up attitude on this lovely woman's face. She plays many roles in her daily life and soars above the unpleasantness (I will have to work on that one). Among her roles are:

- Mother- Pet caretaker- Chef- Housekeeper- Leader (Lighting the way with wisdom)- Scheduler

Of all of his paintings, this one has become my Favorite!

Sometimes the Spirit Touches Us Through Our Weaknesses

Here is the description that I found in the artists own words.

The hunchback is Everyman, and the hump is his burden. We all have burdens. The point is that as he sits there on that box,he may be concerned, but at the place where the angel spirit's finger touches the hump, there's a little light. It's my way of showing that most growth comes through coping with adversity. We grow by dealing with the tough stuff. If you pray for strength, God sends you a set of weights.
The hunchback is sitting on a box that says literally, in Latin,'after clouds, sun'. That's supposed to remind people to find the silver lining. My whole philosophy of life is that part of why we're here is to learn to be nice to each other, to grow and become better people. And how do we grow? We grow through adversity. We grow by triumphing over our weaknesses or using the vehicles of our weaknesses to get in touch with more important things.
For me, the, doorway was a backdrop, but it could represent the future or the unknown. The floor is the classic checkerboard, symbolizing the opposing aspects of life- the light and dark, the day and night, the yin and yang.. .'or it could be just a floor. There's also a certain opulence; it's an inlaid floor of some kind. It's all the little parts of life.

Three musketeers

Sawyer has two friends, Joey and Gage, that look just like him.

It is a little hard to tell in this photo because of.... whatever they were doing with straws in their mouths. There was a time when they all had the same haircut and at church they all wore the same blue shirt (all the moms shop at the same walmart I think) and I could never tell which kid was mine. Really the only way was to see how high they were bouncing down the halls. Some are more bouncy than others...but I will never tell which ones.

Sylvia Casteel Jackson

My Sweet Grandmother passed away today. She could not be separated from her dear love and eternal companion for long and my Grandpa had gone ahead of her last May. At his viewing, she stood there so tiny and yet so strong. Reminding us that it was alright and the Lord had taken him home.

I was so taken with her in that moment that I could not speak. I should have been comforting her and she was holding her grandchildren and seamed bigger and stronger than any of us. I believe she may have been the only sane one in the room.

She did not miss this opportunity to teach us of her testimony of The Plan of Salvation.

So much of my testimony has been gained through the teaching and loving examples of these two remarkable people. She was my escort when I received my endowment and introduced me to all of the temple workers that she worked with. My Grandpa performed our sealing 19 yrs ago. The first one of the grandkids.
My family was blessed to spend their 62nd anniversary with them in Fremont last year and Grandpa told us fun stories of their "good ol days". My heart feels full when I picture them together in paradise.

I will miss the Christmas eve talks, her super soft skin, her cute laugh and her high southern accent. She left us all with a love for the temple, a better understanding of the gospel, a huge loving family that stands together, and the "Jackson nose".

Feast or Famine

Since the beginning of the year I have felt overwhelmed as if the Holidays never stopped. It has been busy in one way or another. I keep saying it has been either feast or famine and what was the Lord thinking? Didn't He say "All things in moderation"? Well, we all know that I do nothing in moderation and wouldn't even recognize it.

Yesterday after taking our new perfect pooch to his free vet visit (they give you a coupon when you adopt- super cool huh?) I was thinking how well this fit into my theory. In the last month of broken daddy, multiple MULTIPLE colds, and more than three weeks of someone throwing up, then surgery, -it just figured that the only one healthy, at that moment, in the whole family was our new dog!

Then, as with most things, I realized I needed an attitude adjustment. shocker.

I started thinking of the Feast of blessings that have been poured down on us.

Our family, our ward, and our neighbors have been amazing.

We have seen service and generosity that is, well...Christlike.

The calls, meals, time, taxi service, babysitting, dog gifts, awesome ice-pack, appliance repair-replace-delivery service, and even the understanding of others as I "drop the ball" for a while.

At one point I told my mother-in-law that after this was over we would have to check and see what lesson was to be learned from all of it.

Last week Alec learned to replace and aim my headlights and a new outdoor light, both boys learned to uninstall and reinstall a washer/dryer. They have become my handymen.

I have learned how amazing YOU all are! I have also learned how great my kids are. As hard as it has been,

it has sure been a FEAST of blessings!

Saturday was a Special Day

So...on Friday, Angelic and I escaped and decided to run away for a "dead mommy night". We knew we wanted to see a movie, didn't really care which one, and we HAD to eat at Kneaders.

The first show we attempted to go to was sold out, so we ended up at the late showing of Marley and Me

Oh my heck, what a cute movie! I laughed and cried! At one point in this movie about "the world's worst dog", I turned to Angelic and teased her about how this would make us both NEVER want a dog. I came home told my (still broken) hubby that he can never see it, because he would want this dog!

Then I proceed to cry every time I think about the dog, talk about the family, the movie...you get the idea-I am pathetic. The next morning it is still all I can think about.

So I looked online and then we went to the shelter and HE was there waiting for us!

We named him AUGUST. He is a 5 yr old yellow Labrador. He is completely trained and so tame! Brace yourself while I gush-on about this miracle of ours.

He sits on command

He can shake (hands & all over the bathroom when bathed)

He knows "lie down" and "stay"

He can rollover -but prefers not too

He doesn't bark

He doesn't jump on anyone or anything

He doesn't lick you unless it has been a while and you just need one kiss

He doesn't crotch sniff -eww (sorry but that is SOOO important)

He has never attempted to get on any furniture

He will only play with dog toys -ignores the princess stuffed animals and Barbies

He does not beg for food

He is totally house broken

He is sooooo affectionate, loves to be touched

He keeps his eye on my kids

He will heel to even the 6 yr old -and he weighs 92 lbs, if he wanted to go he could just drag her like a fancy tassle

He is fine with distractions, ignores other dogs

He talks with his big brown eyes

He lets the kids lay on him

He winks -no seriously- he does!

He can fetch a ball, stick, & frisbee! He just kept it a secret until today. I wonder what he will tell/show us tomorrow.

The people at the shelter are amazing. They knew him so well. He had been in a foster home and that helped us get a lot of info about how he behaved in a home and family. They are so careful to make sure that his needs will be understood and even introduced him to some of their cats (because we have 2 cats outside) to help make sure it was a good match. They don't make impulsive decisions -even if I do, kinda like checking with mom first.

I have always been a bit afraid of big dogs but August is a gentle giant, perfect for us. He rough houses with the teens and then sleeps on my feet. My daughter on the other hand has always preferred big dogs to any other animal. She will see full grown rottweilers and want to pet the "puppies". Marshall and I had always wanted to someday get a dog for the family that would be like my cousin Judy's dog, Ozzy. He has been our family's favorite dog till now. I hope we can keep our new family member as happy as Ozzy is.

The difference in our home is amazing! Last month was not great with no end in sight. The wear and tear was starting to show on all of us. Now we are all so happy to sit and talk about the dog, and the kids are playing together with him. No one wants to be away from him. Dogs really do have healing power. August is great for spending quiet time with each kid. He loves the attention and they all want him to love them the most. I am hoping that with Marshall's surgery ahead he can help me get the family through it. He seems good at staying by the daddy who is hurting and keeping the little ones busy so he can rest. I believe we were led to him at just the right time. We needed him even more than he needed us.

I don't know what we ever did without him.

Nope you can't have him, he is ours!

The Meanest Mom

There is a contest going on in my ward to determine which mom is the meanest mom. I have always felt that I win, hands-down. My children have always agreed.

The real judges are the kids. The more the youth get to know me, the more they get to know how strict my rules are. I am pretty sure I am the meanest.

We have had a crappy couple of weeks and between the broken daddy and off-and-on pukeiness, I have tried my best to resume some semblance of order and normalcy.

Well, today was one of "those days" and I was rewarded for it by getting a long, loving description of my meanness and tyranny described to me by a few of my " darling, blessings from heaven".

Evidently, I am (out of pure meanness) ruining lives, EVEN AS I TYPE THIS! When they were small and I would here, "Your mean!" I instantly translated it into an imaginary gold star and imagined it on my "I must be doing something right" forehead. Now that they are older and somewhat more descriptive, they can deliver some real whoppers and they know exactly which buttons to push.

To any other moms of teens, my advice is to remember that the epidural was for labor and the lamaze breathing is for while we are raising them. DEEP cleansing breath, in through the nose out through the mouth....

I did google "Meanest mom" and found this great blog

and fabulous letter written by Bobbie Pingaro (1967)

"The Meanest Mother"

I had the meanest mother in the whole world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs or toast. When others had cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different than the other kids' also. But at least, I wasn't alone in my sufferings. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did. My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were on a chain gang. She had to know who our friends were and where we were going. She insisted if we said we'd be gone an hour, that we be gone one hour or less--not one hour and one minute. We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath. The other kids always wore their clothes for days. We reached the height of insults because she made our clothes herself, just to save money. Why, oh why, did we have to have a mother who made us feel different from our friends? The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the next morning. We couldn't sleep till noon like our friends. So while they slept-my mother actually had the nerve to break the child-labor law. She made us work. We had to wash dishes, make beds, learn to cook and all sorts of cruel things. I believe she laid awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us. She always insisted upon us telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, even if it killed us- and it nearly did. By the time we were teenagers, she was much wiser, and our life became even more unbearable. None of this tooting the horn of a car for us to come running. She embarrassed us to no end by making our dates and friends come to the door to get us. If I spent the night with a girlfriend, can you imagine she checked on me to see if I were really there. I never had the chance to elope to Mexico. That is if I'd had a boyfriend to elope with. I forgot to mention, while my friends were dating at the mature age of 12 and 13, my old fashioned mother refused to let me date until the age of 15 and 16. Fifteen, that is, if you dated only to go to a school function. And that was maybe twice a year. Through the years, things didn't improve a bit. We could not lie in bed, "sick" like our friends did, and miss school. If our friends had a toe ache, a hang nail or serious ailment, they could stay home from school. Our marks in school had to be up to par. Our friends' report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing. My mother being as different as she was, would settle for nothing less than ugly black marks. As the years rolled by, first one and then the other of us was put to shame. We were graduated from high school. With our mother behind us, demanding respect, none of us was allowed the pleasure of being a drop-out. My mother was a complete failure as a mother. Out of four children, a couple of us attained some higher education. None of us have ever been arrested, divorced or beaten his mate. Each of my brothers served his time in the service of this country. And whom do we have to blame for the terrible way we turned out? You're right, our mean mother. Look at the things we missed. We never got to march in a protest parade, nor to take part in a riot, burn draft cards, and a million and one other things that our friends did. She forced us to grow up into God-fearing, educated, honest adults. Using this as a background, I am trying to raise my three children. I stand a little taller and I am filled with pride when my children call me mean. Because, you see, I thank God, He gave me the meanest mother in the whole world.

written by Bobbie Pingaro (1967)

Attitude adjustment

Beginning Sunday morning, our week took an unexpected turn. After days of MRI's and EKG's and stress tests (his heart is fine, big sigh of relief) we now know that Marshall has a herniated disc in his neck. He has been in agony for 5 days now and already was in pain from an ankle awaiting surgery next week. I admit I have had more than a few low points in this LONG week. As the stomache flu chose this particular time to visit our family I began to feel like my family was cursed.

During one of my many LONG waits at one of the pharmacies, I saw how frustrated some of the people were getting and how that changed their behavior. I decided that I needed to change my attitude and start focusing on all of the MANY, MANY blessings all around me. I have been working on a list in my head, here are a few of them....

1. I am thankful for a doctor who is also a close friend, who shows concern and compassion.



2. I am thankful for family & neighbors who step right in when needed and most especially- listen.



3. I am thankful tostitos bags. They have proven themselves as excellent vomit bags and seem to always be handy in the car when vomiting while on the freeway.



4. I am thankful for health insurance.



5. I am thankful that my mother taught me to sew. In an emergency, in the middle of the night, a homemade heat pack can be accomplished.



6. I am thankful for children who can take care of each other. Who show love through service. Man, I am lucky!


7. I am thankful for GOOGLE. Without it, who would have any idea what the micro neurosurgeon was talking about!


8. I am thankful for Excedrin.

So many blessings. Too many to count.

Grouch

So Angelic tells me that the 16th is

"National Do a Grouch a Favor Day "

How fun is that!

I think of the grouches in my life and I am the biggest one!

YAY me I get to do me a favor on Monday!

Who will you do a favor for?

Oh, and this week is National Boy Scout week!

I love the Scouting program, they will never get me out of cub scouts.

Check out all of the fun stuff to celebrate here.

Sticky buns are definitely worth celebrating!!!

Divine

This evening while preparing my lesson for young women's tomorrow on -get this- our attitudes toward our divine roles as mothers and wives.
The Princess (who can't stand it that I am reading and not paying attention to her) says, "Mom, do I have a dimple?"
Me, "Yes, when you smile you have a little dimple."
Princess, "Mom, when you smile you have wrinkles."
sigh.
Oh I am feeling divine.

Pranksters

Explanation

Because Marshall is the youngest in his family and had no one to tease except his group of devoted friends, he really never got it out of his system.

So in our house there are always pranks and practical jokes being played.

They usually end in a tickle fight or a water fight, sometimes they are big enough to use the whole yard or even a good portion of the block! We DO know where all of our neighbors outdoor water faucets are AND the kids know how to turn off the water to our home inside and outside the house . Our Poor Neighbors!

This prank was aimed at Alec. It was placed outside his bedroom door to greet him in the dark. Surprise!

His daddy assembled it from the base of a kick boxing thingy, Savannah's coat held by a flag, a roll of paper towels for a head and a "Indiana" hat for the costume chest.

He was surprised.

The kids wanted to keep him, I wanted my paper towels back.

I just love living in a house full of boys!

It’s Great … except for the bad parts.

Can you spell HYPOCRITE?

I can.

This is what happens when you take a long hard look and and think to yourself...oh yeah, except for the bad parts.
Mind you I am talking pg-13 movies here but one side is all of the kids movies & church movies and the other is what is left of our movies.
So when your kids start asking if they can watch your shows and movies and the answer is always no because -you know, it have "those one parts", it really makes you stop and think two things.
#1 If they aren't good for them... why do we have them -are they good for me?
AND
#2 Who am I kidding, I have teenagers! If it is in the house, they are gonna watch it!

Catching Up

Santa Santa Santa!

The princess had a lot of visits from Santa's helpers this year.

This first Santa came knocking just after bedtime and she was fast asleep.

We yanked her out of bed and took pictures on the freezing doorstep. We almost forgot to take off her sleep mask that she sleeps with each night. The next day she thought that she dreamt the whole thing.

This Santa Came to visit after Christmas and just before we left for church on Sunday. He was heading back to the North Pole and wanted to say Hi and give the kids an quick treat. Thanks Santa! ~I did get a family photo but the teens have forbidden me from posting it.

This is Our favorite Santa and Savannah believes him to be

"The Real Guy"
He is also Grandpa.

Sawyer is his elf named "Maynard" he travels with him and helps him hand out gifts and also my dad finds that it helps kids approach Santa if he is working with a kid.

Just in case you haven't been PULLED into her room to see...

Savannah got a new princess bed for Christmas and she is so excited to show Everyone! (sometimes 2 or 3 times - brace yourself)

She and I had a slumber party already and it is quite nice.

New Year Party!!!!

Our New Year's eve is always spent with the whole Jackson clan at my parents home. We play games, eat junk food, and generally destroy our diets and the house.
This year at midnight the kids all set off Mentos and Diet Coke Rockets it was Awesome!
I love the frozen Coke snow.
On New Year's Day we all have a HUGE breakfast and the game start up again.
For lunch my brother, the rarely seen Shawn, made huge amounts of sushi for everyone.



Moment of silence for the sushi............
Ahhhh
Thank you.

We love Peter Mayer



We were able to attend our annual Peter Mayer concert this year.
Each year we take one of the older boys, both guitar players, to watch and meet Peter.
This was Joel's turn, he LOVED it!


Oh my heck, both of these pictures HAVE- the rarely seen SHAWN! weird!
One holding the adorable Henry and one wearing a top hat.

(Hats were a theme that night, it was a Jackson thing- few would understand)

The Snaggle Toothed Girl


She will let her teeth stay wiggly so long that they will practically change position entirely. I do not understand this at all!
I am used to boys who see a slightly wiggly tooth as a possible dollar sign and yank it way before it is ready-or-Joel who occasionally, through his "special rough playing ways" used to help his brothers along by knocking their loose teeth out for them. Ahh the joys of Joel- Anyway, back to snaggle-tooth girl. We tried and tried to get her to pull it out so she could sing the "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth" song. But mainly, I was sure she was going to choke on it AND the gums were beginning to smell bad. As a special bonus, she looked like Nanny Mcphee!
I think that she just soaked up all of the attention, arggggh!
So finally her big brothers bribed her- yup we use bribes in our house and lots of them too- and she finally let me yank it with dental floss (our favorite way).


She told me, "Mom I am crying tears of joy!" (drama)

She was so relieved.

~Eadie And Savannah~

Cousins with toothless smiles.