Just a MOM?!

I received this by email and thought it was worthy enough to post about.

A woman, renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk 's office was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation.

She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.
"What I mean is," explained the recorder, "do you have a job or are you just a......?"
"Of course I have a job," snapped the woman. "I'm a Mom!"
"We don't list 'Mom' as an occupation, 'housewife' covers it," said the recorder emphatically.
I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall.
The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient and possessed of a high sounding title like, "Official Interrogator" or "Town Registrar."
"What is your occupation?" she probed.
What made me say it? I do not know. The words simply popped out.
"I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations."
The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in midair and looked up as though she had not heard right.
I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant words. Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written, in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.
"Might I ask," said the clerk with new interest, "just what you do in your field?"
Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, "I have a continuing program of research, (what mother doesn't) in the laboratory and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and out). I'm working for my Masters, (first the Lord and then the whole family) and already have four credits (all daughters). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities, (any mother care to disagree?) and I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money."
There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she completed the form, stood up and personally ushered me to the door.
As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 13, 7, and 3. Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model, (a 6 month old baby) in the child development program, testing out a new vocal pattern.
I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy! And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than "just another Mom."

Motherhood! What a glorious career!
Does this make grandmothers "Senior Research associates in the field of Child Development and Human Relations" and great grandmothers "Executive Senior Research Associates"?
I think so!!!
I also think it makes Aunts "Associate Research Assistants".

I want to thank my partner in research, Gordon for allowing me to take "breaks" every once in a while. I also want to say how much I appreciate my 3 lab assistants, David, Matthew and Hailey for their ongoing "testing" they provide for me to become a better Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations!

Thanksgiving

For my side of the family, I took the kids up to Granny's. Just to warn you, there are a lot of pictures but I'll explain as I go. First, I will start out with a hammock picture.













There were some casualties again! (If you don't know what I'm talking about go here.) My kids were not "privileged" this time. I was pushing the hammock pretty hard thinking, "Sweet, I'm totally going to tip them!" When all of a sudden, the chain just broke and they all fell! It was awesome! (It's a family thing to think it's funny when other people get hurt. Strange, I know.) Just to get started here is a picture of the Tire Swing.













A lot of the cousins were there and the youngest 5 (which includes my sister, Jill and I and Rae Ann, Joey and Jesse Anderson) were reminiscing about our Helicopter Swing. While I was eating I mentioned something about it again to my nieces and they looked at me like I was weird! I looked at them with the same weird look and said, "You've never heard about the Helicopter Swing?" With excitement in my voice I said, "I'll show you when I'm done eating!!" So apparently, the 5 youngest grandkids/cousins have never actually talked about this, let alone passed on the fun! Why were we so selfish in keeping this to ourselves when we had so much fun doing it in the first place? I have no idea! "What the heck is a Helicopter swing," you say? Well, let me explain. When "we" (the 5 youngest grandkids/cousins) were little we spent a lot of time at Granny's for the summer! Granny lives in a super small town called Gisela. It's on your way to Payson. Anyway, there's not a whole lot of things to do there so we got very creative! More so when Granny tended too be busy or gone! heehee! So many great memories! I'll have to share more stories later! In an attempt to fit all 5 of us on the Tire Swing at the same time we came up with this CLEVER idea to put Granny's straight ladder in the middle of the handles. Not so much fun swinging back and forth on a stinkin ladder. Then, came the excitement of twisting the ladder to spin around on it! We learned a lot about Physics that day with many casualties! Sometimes we squished poor little Jesse in the middle, but it wasn't any different then spinning in the swing itself without the ladder, except more squished! It was mostly 2 people at one time. So more brainstorming came and we finally understood the Physics part of it all and finally found the right balance for all 5 of us to spin at the same time! Now the problem was to spin the swing as high as we could go and then get on and ride it down! Another problem! How can you jump on a ladder that was so tightly wound up so high without actually enjoying it? More creativity, of course! Granny had a step ladder that we would use for the last person to climb on while holding onto the other 4. The last person would get on and KICK the step ladder out of the way so as not to fall on it as we were coming down! (We actually hit it a couple of times before figuring out that we needed to kick it out of the way.) While showing this to all who was fortunate enough to see it, my sister, Jennifer named this our Hillbilly Helicopter! One last warning, the safest way to get off is to let the people on the Helicopter fall or completely ride it out! If you tried to stop it mid-flight, you got hurt yourself! Okay enough suspense! I'll show you what I'm talking about.


I think this is hilarious!













Adjusting for balance!













Spinning for speed!

There was also a little pellet shooting going on also. We would stack up empty soda cans and then shoot them down. It was pretty fun.













My nephew, Nathan was nice and patient enough to show David how to shoot.

















David and Matthew playing with toy guns.













Notice anything different about Matthew? His pants are on backwards. When I told him this he emphatically said, "NO! They're not!"

Preschool Thanksgiving Program

I know it's a little late for this, but better late than never right? Anyway, I still need to get pictures from my side of the family to be able to post a little more about what we did over the Thankgiving Holiday! I think Cynthia did a really great program for her preschool! Thanks Cynthia! (Just a warning, it's a bit long.)

Time Out for Women & Girls

I had the opportunity to go to Time Out for Women & Girls on Saturday. It was awesome! There were some singers and a couple of speakers. One of the things they did was had a girl and her mother come up and stand on the stage and the MC told a little story about celebrating others. She said that in a second we were all going to give her the best standing ovation we had ever given for this girl! The girl immediately started to cry. I felt the spirit so strong I almost couldn't cheer! I know I needed to give this girl my all, so I stood up with everyone else and yelled my little heart out for this girl to know that she was important and loved by everyone who was there and most of all, by our Heavenly Father! I was so moved at being able to watch the mother also. You could feel the love she had for her daughter! After we all sat down (which took some coaxing) the MC said we were going to do the same thing for the mother. I gave my all for her also knowing how hard it is to be appreciated as a mother also! She had a very hard time standing still! She looked like she didn't feel like she deserved it! She told the MC that was enough but we just kept going. Then, after we were urged to sit down again, the MC said that this is something we should do for ourselves on a regular basis! We need to have the encouragement that we so deserve, even if it's for the little things! So to all the women and girls in my life, I give another much needed, best ever, standing ovation!

Fire Station Field Trip

On Wed. Matthew's preschool class was able to take a field trip to a fire station! This is Matthew on the front of the ladder truck!













Here is the morning and afternoon class together with a couple of family extras.













Here is both classes with the "firepeople" with them.

This is a video of the truck pulling around back.

Matthew had a turn spraying the hose to knock down the cones!

I'm not the only one!

I was looking for a picture for Family Home Evening in the new Nursery Manual and came across this picture! (Click for closer inspection if needed.)












I thought it would work very well for the lesson I was going to use along with the other picture on that page. My kids like to color on anything they can get their hands on, so I thought maybe there was a little scribble in my book! On closer inspection and looking at the manual online, I realized I am not the only person who has "kid artwork" on my wall! HAHA! Don't see it? Look right above the father's head next to the curtain. It's very faint, but I noticed! They have kid artwork on their wall like me! This makes me feel so much better knowing the church publishes REAL family pictures in their homes and not some propped family! I love it!

Fall Sports

I love the Fall! The 4th was the 1st day of Fall Youth Sports for Peoria. Matthew is playing Kickball and David is playing Soccer. At one of the practices, Matthew accidentally got hit in the head with the ball. Since then he has not wanted to play. :( This bums me out because I know how much he likes to play ball! He's not one for the rules though! Too restricting. Maybe next year he'll do better at soccer, when he can run all over the place! I hope as the season pushes on that he will warm up to the idea of playing again. Anyway, this is a picture of him on game day.

















He refused to put his shirt on until I told him I wanted to take a picture of him. He immediately took it off after the picture! Stinker wouldn't even smile for me! David on the other hand, LOVED soccer! He was having so much fun! I didn't know if he would like it because of how much running they do. Boy, was I wrong! He did so great! He has a natural knack for soccer like his mommy did! :) I love being a soccer mom! I actually get permission to yell at my kids! In a positive way, of course! I love being able to cheer them on and for them to have fun doing it! I have come to realize that I have turned out exactly like my mother when it comes to cheering on for sports! But now I totally understand where she was coming from! I think this picture shows exactly how much fun he was having!

















Here is a little clip of his team playing also. David is #7!

Future Michelangelo?

6 days ago I left my house to go to Young Women's. I needed to do a little grocery shopping before I came home so it would be easier and faster without the kids! To my surprise and being extremely livid, I found this on my wall above my bed! (I'll give you 3 guesses who the artist is.)













I immediately blamed Gordon for not watching the kids and threatened to quit going to YW! He said that was fine and that I shouldn't be mad at him for trying to get some sleep before going into work. Hmmm. Umm, I'm still mad just not at you anymore? I was still very upset and decided that I was just gonna have to live with my new artwork! I gradually got over it the next couple of days. Then, on either Friday or Saturday morning I was reading my scriptures. I came to 2Nephi chapter 2 and was reading about opposition in all things. I get to one of the verses and I literally laugh out loud! Lehi is speaking to his son Jacob about the fall of Adam and how it was needed for us to feel misery in order to feel joy. In verse 23 it says, "And they would have no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery... THE SCRIPTURES CLEARLY STATE THAT CHILDREN BRING MISERY! HAHA! Of course the most important lesson is to know that they bring you joy also! This is a lot harder for me to remember. I really do enjoy my kids when they are not making me miserable!

Girl's Got Some Moves!

I would have to say that Jenny Jordan Frogley is my favorite church artist! She knows how to jam it with a good beat! Here is Hailey dancing to the music! Please disregard the cackle at the end of the first one. :)

Fabulous 4th!

The kids had lots of fun getting each other wet before we busted open the poppers!

David was able to bring his friend Cody with us.

This is my favorite picture!

This is what happened to some of the streamers after they came out!

It was very windy so the sound is bad on this video. But the end is worth it!

These are all the people we had fun with this year! The kids were all over the place having a blast! Beware of the "ending"! HAHA!

In order if you can follow them are: Matthew, Jeffrey, David, Samuel and Cody. Careful this will make you sick!

Since Hailey was asleep, some of us were brave enough to climb up on the patio roof to watch the fireworks! 2 years ago we were able to see 5 different locations worth of fireworks! This year because of the wind factor, Peoria Sports Complex were the only ones brave enough to give us a show! God Bless America!

Best Fort EVER!!

It has always been a very fun past-time to build a fort and play in it! My kids sometimes build one in the corner, but today I decided to help them out a little! I used almost every chair I had (except 2) and used hairties to keep the blankets on the chairs for the roof! Then draped sheets and blankets on the sides and propped the cushions for the walls! The kids got their pillows and played in there for awhile. I even put the Spider-man couch in front for the door! As you can tell they had a blast!

Escape from the Heat!

At the beginning of this month, I went up to Payson with the kids to visit my parents and sister. When we were there we went to a creek with the kayaks they had! There are a lot of pictures so brace yourself!













Summer Boys!













My boys wanted a turn to paddle also!













As soon as we were pushed offshore, this is where we ended up! (Under a tree!)













Enjoying the ride!













Looks like a Gondolier!













Matthew was done with the paddle. Good thing I was able to still reach it!













Eating lunch.















One of the other days we were up there we went bowling! This is the first time my kids have ever been bowling. They loved it!





Ole!











Just can't stand still!

Booty shake!

Kindergarten Graduation?

Even though I've heard of Kindergarten Graduation this is the 1st one for my kids. I must say, I was a little emotional at first until I thought, "Duh! This is just the beginning of his school experience, not the last!" So I thought I would share a couple of pictures. Sorry my camera doesn't do well with pictures far away.













This is David's teacher Mrs. Sorensen who will be moving up to the 1st Grade with him!













This is what happens when he has a hole in his shirt!













This is him asleep on little kid chairs in our bedroom!













This is my favorite picture that was taken last night in my bed! I thought it was cute how Matthew had his hands on David's arm! Hopefully he will look up to his older brother when they get older too!

Womens Conference

(from left to right: Terri, Tracie, me, Danette, Peggy and Shirley)

On Wed. the 30th of April some friends and I started our journey up to Provo, Utah for BYU's Annual Womens Conference! When we got there we checked into our dorms and headed for dinner at The Brick Oven. It's a pizza and salad bar restaurant and very good! Usually there is a senior brethren member who is the closing speaker on Friday. Last year we had Jeffrey R. Holland who spoke with his wife and at the end was inspired to give us an Apostolic blessing! So on Thurs. morning we grabbed a "program update" booklet to see what in the program they changed for different classes and things like that. On the first page it said the closing speaker for Friday was Pres. Thomas S. Monson! I about peed my pants and pretty much cried the whole morning session anticipating hearing the prophet speak to us! (Sorry, probably not a good analogy when talking about the prophet.) On Thursday night they put on a concert given by LDS artists. I loved it! They had Hilary Weeks hosting again this year, Kenneth Cope(I'm related through marriage), new artists Mercy River, Eclipse, a new kid group called LOL(Live Out Loud), Michael McLean, a special musical number given by the brethren of Mo-Tab(Mormon Tabernacle Choir) and Jenny Jordan Frogley! Afterward, they let you meet the artists outside in the cold for autographs, but it was totally worth it. Here are a few pictures from that!













Me and Hilary Weeks!













Me, Kenneth Cope and Danette!













Me and Jenny Jordan Frogley!

On Friday morning, in preparation for Pres. Monson, they told us that we should refrain from taking flash photography unless we owned a $15,000 camera! Needless to say there are people who just don't think the rules apply to them! Some of the things that I saw appalled me! The way they were leaning over the tunnel where he was to enter with camera's in hand! Did they think he was a celebrity or something? Give me a break people, he's a prophet of the Lord! I thought it was very disrespectful! Luckily, to my satisfaction, or probably for Pres. Monson's protection, they brought him out of a different tunnel! I was very good when I took my picture. I turned the flash off! Unfortunately, my picture was blurry from unsteady hands and being far away.













Yep, that guy at the podium is the prophet! He spoke on a couple of stories that were familiar to me so it was easy to pay attention. Didn't take a lot of notes though. Here a re the Monsonisms that I did write down. 1) Don't let the important things pass you by! 2) Find joy in the journey now! 3) (my favorite) When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on! All in all, the experience was fantastic! I can't wait until I am able to go again next year! I did have an issue with my roommate though. That might have to come later. It could take awhile to explain.

Catch Up!

Just to catch you up a little from the last post. I went to Womens Conference in Utah. After that, I ended up in the ER because of some pain I have been having off and on for about 2 years now. The pain gets so bad it makes me sick to my stomach and sometimes I vomit. Anyway, sometimes it has been because of a Kidney Infection and others I'm assuming are from the rib pain. Some things that set it off are: laying on the side of the tub to bathe the kids, laying on the floor on my stomach, laying or sitting in an awkward position and sometimes having my bra too tight! Strange, I know. Anything that seems to put too much pressure on my ribcage. So that's what's been keeping me from posting sooner. Now, on with the posts!

Hailey's Birthday Party

So I'm a little on the slow side, but for good reason, which will come later. I have to tell you about the phone. Every time Gordon comes through the front door Hailey runs to him and says, "Phone, please daddy!" Of course Gordon gives in. He always tells her that she cannot open it or he will take it away. So she has gotten so clever that she will open it, say, "Hello, goodbye, c-ya later," then promptly closes it! She has gotten so fast at it that Gordon can't say anything fast enough until it has already been closed! So she is totally getting away with it! I think it's hilarious! So for her birthday I got her a cute little pink razor that obviously flips open. She did the same thing with her phone thinking she was going to get it taken away! Now she will talk on it for a little bit longer but not much. Anyway, here are some pictures.