Photo Story Friday: Spun Gold

I have to admit that there is one thing that I absolutely love about my daughter that I think nears perfection, her long, luscious hair.

Her hair streams like fine strands of gold, and shimmers in a bit of sunlight.  I love to braid it and pull it into various hairstyles that can only be achieved with a large amount of hair.  She has sworn that she would keep her long princess hair forever.

Last week Kira came home from school and announced that she wanted to cut off 12" of her hair to donate to someone who had cancer.  I didn't quite know what to say at first.  I had that momentary thought that I could never let her hair go.  But after some quick thinking I excitedly told her that we would find someone that could cut her hair and donate it to locks of love.  How could I ever really have said no to such a request.

There was one condition that I insisted on before she had her hair cut, that she let me take a few pictures of her in her baptism dress with her long hair still intact.  It was too short notice to hire a professional photographer so my meager pictures will have to sufice.  I took the pictures on Saturday.

When she got up Tuesday morning we did her hair the way she liked best, in a braid.  Her hair appointment was scheduled for after school and she was nervous and excited all at the same time.  When she got into the chair at the hairdressers the lady asked Kira if she was ready and she answered with an excited nod.  Then she snipped twelve inches off Kira's braid.

The remaining hair fell like a waterfall around her face and down her back.  There was more left than I had expected.

After a bit of cutting and styling Kira had a brand new look. 

I am so proud of Kira's decision to give something that was precious to her to someone in need.  Thank you Kira for being such a good example for me.

Photo Story Friday: Empty

An empty desk stares across the aisle at my nephew.  It's emptiness weighing heavily on his heart.  There has been a hushed silence that has followed him in the halls through the past week.  A few brave students approach and say hello and to say how sorry they are.  The teachers and staff have all been careful to give a kind word or squeeze to his shoulder when they see him.
On the Thursday before Easter Tiger and his best friend Zachie laughed and joked and played.  They teased the girls in their 5th grade class and planned what they would do for their long break from school.
On the Friday after Easter, Tiger dressed in his Sunday best and walked into a chapel where he received a carnation boutonniere and sat as an honorary pall bearer for a boy that was his best friend. 
It has been a hard week as I've watched my 10 year old nephew try to understand and accept that he will never see his friend again.

I have watched Tiger as he came to a new school struggle with shyness and making new lasting friendships.  I have seen what a good kid he is, how caring and loving and giving he ALWAYS is.

I have watched him as he has cared for everyone around him.  He is so sweet when I drop him and my girls off at school in the morning, he waits and walks Izzy to her class everyday, making sure that she gets to where she needs to be.

I remember one morning I dropped them off late and as they were hurrying to the doors that would lead them to the school the national anthem started playing over the loudspeaker.  I watched as he stopped the girls and had them turn and face the flag.  With their hands held over their hearts I felt such pride in him.
I have truly learned to love my nephew, I hate to see him so hurt and sad, I wish that there was something that could be said or done that would take the pain away. 
I am grateful for my religion and the comfort that it has brought in this very sad and difficult time.  I know that one day Tiger will see Zach again and that they will once again be able to run and laugh and play.  Until then I will pray that Tiger will find peace.

Photo Story Friday: Fun for the Whole Family

In the process of completing my Photo Hunt for this month I had to scramble and take lots of pictures in a few afternoons.  One of these afternoon's was spent in downtown historic Helper.  This is a tiny little town that is just north of where I live.  It has a very charming, ghost town feel to it.  Which provides a perfect opportunity to shoot pictures that you normally wouldn't see in this century.  I love going there!
As we pulled onto Main Street my husband, who was driving, took on a dry monotone voice suited to a tour guide as he started pointing out buildings and explaining their history.

Like the old grocery store turned cabinet maker shop that was owned by a friend's grandparents.

On the other side of the road was Echo Bridge.  The tradition is to honk whenever you go under it.  I'm sure that the people that live at the bottom and top of the road LOVE this tradition

Then there is St. Anthony's, the most quaint little chapel you've ever seen.

Of course, Helper wouldn't be Helper without it's Library/Auditorium/City Hall.  Who has Big John keeping watch just outside it's doors.  This also used to be the elementary school, but obviously those 20 kids couldn't be crammed in along with the books and political members.

Soon after passing City Hall you have the Fire Station, abandoned bars, the band stand, a few restaurants, several business and empty buildings.

The railroad station is close to the end of the road, but it holds some wonderful vintage photography opportunities, so we of course had to stop there.

And last but not least, as we drove down the road with my husband still giving us historical tidbits we approached the last building in the row.

"And here," my husband said.  "We have the Hotel La Salle, the last legally operating Cat House in the state of Utah." 
What?!  (Double Take)

The shape of that sign just took on a whole new meaning with that little tidbit of information.

And the kicker-

Photo Story Friday: Motherhood

Tuesday evening came, the kids were finally asleep and the hubby and I popped in a movie that we had rented.  Motherhood with Uma Thurman.

I have been so excited to watch this movie, I just knew that I was going to find a movie that I could really connect with.  A woman who could show the world the joys and sorrows that come with this ever shrinking occupation, the SAHM.  And to top it all off she was a blogger.  Yes I admit that I was excited when we pushed the play button.
That enthusiasm lasted about five minutes.  This was not the stay at home mom that I thought would be a crusader for our cause, but an angry, resentful woman that didn't seem to enjoy anything about her life.
One part of the movie was that she wanted to write for a parenting blog, she had to send in 500 words about what motherhood meant to her.  When she finally finished it and it was read at the end of the movie all I could think was hypocrite.
And so today I would like to give my thoughts about being a mom.  And I can sum it up into one word:

I picked this word, because even though it consists of only three letters, it is a powerful word.  Joy consists of much more than just happiness.  Joy is a deep feeling that causes you to be moved.  Joy cannot exist without feeling sorrow, deep sorrow.  Joy is something that is earned.  It takes commitment, hard work, and LOVE.
And this to me is what motherhood is. 
NO, it's not always easy, there are times when I would like to go back to work and leave the daily chore of raising children to a babysitter.  I mean who really wants to clean up after a toddler learning to go potty?  Who really wants to do dishes, laundry and clean for everyone that lives in the house?  Who really wants to watch Spongebob?  Who really wants to read The Big Hungry Bear 11 times in one hour?  Who really wants to have their two year old throw their binky at the waitress?  Who really wants to have to apologize to someone because their daughter has just whispered "that lady's fat"?  Who didn't sit down and cry the day that they realized that the fairy tale ending was never going to happen?
I feel confident that I am not alone in these feelings.  But I hope that I am not alone in wanting this life despite the dark side of it.

When we have the opportunity of becoming a mother we are given a chance to work hand in hand with God in creating a wonderful little body for one of his precious children. 

I LOVE being a mom. 

I love being the one who my kids want when they are sick. 
I love that I am their comfort when they are scared or hurt. 
I love reading "The Big Hungry Bear" to them 11 times in one hour. 
I love to watch them learn, I love to help them discover the world from a gentle perspective.

I love fixing them dinner and having each one of them tell me they love my cooking (granted this one doesn't happen very often, so that's why I love it when it does).  I love to read them bedtime stories. 

I love to see them play.

I love when they pile on their dad 
I love the adventures that we find ourselves in. 
I love to see them laugh. 
I love the way that they make me laugh. 
I love the things they say. 
I love their unique personalities.

I also love the sorrows that we have had with our kids.  I feel that these obstacles, even though they cause sadness for a time, bind us together as a family unit.  Making us stronger than we are by ourselves.

Motherhood is my life, and it's a life that I love.


What does motherhood mean to you?



Hosted by Cecily

Photo Story Friday: Last But Not Least

This is the last addition in my introductory series.  Aren't you glad I only have three kids.

This is Emma.

Emma was born with red hair, and she has the fiery personality to go with it.  She inherited the spirited Irish blood that flows in my families veins, it's also been known to cause stubbornness.

She shows great potential as a leader.  She runs our house with an iron fist, she gets what ever wants when she wants it.  She can get anything out of anyone.  And if pure persuasion doesn't work, she simply smiles.

She loves to be the center of attention.  She is a performer, she loves to dance and sing for a crowd.  She also loves to have her picture taken.  She runs every time I have my camera out, whether I want her in the frame or not.

Emma's favorite thing to do is sit on your lap and intertwine her fingers in yours.  She calls it "holdy handy".  It's how she goes to sleep at night and the first thing she wants when she wakes up.  It's her security, and her affection all wrapped up into one.  She also hates to be alone, she loves to be in a room full of people and chaos.

Emma has an inquisitive mind.  She watches everything and misses nothing.  She can solve any problem that faces her.  She stands back and looks at a problem, thinks for a short moment then barrels in head first until she gets the result that she wants. 

Emma loves kisses and hugs.  She loves her dad and grandpa.  She makes me laugh.  She is sweet and loving, and very physical in her expression of these emotions.

Emma is independent, smart, and a tease.  And what a joy she is to have in our family, it wouldn't be complete without her.





Hosted by Cecily and Michelle

Photo Story Friday: Our Second Introduction

Last week I had decided that I was tired of trying to keep up with my kids' code names.  So today is a continuation of the family introductions:

This is Isabelle, but she gets mad when you call her that.  So we just call her Izzy.

Izzy is tenderhearted, helpful, imaginative, creative and very sweet.  She is my easiest child, demanding less than should.

She has a very tender heart, she hates to hurt those around her, preferring instead to make them as happy as she can.  (of course this doesn't always apply to her sisters)  She is constantly drawing little pictures and cards to send to everyone she knows.  She is becoming quite the little artist. 

She loves animals of every kind (except dogs that jump on her).  She has had a passion for horses since she was VERY little.  She would like nothing better than to have a horse she could call her very own.  When she was little she asked if she could have a real horse for her birthday.  I told her that we had no place to put one so we couldn't get her a horse.  Her suggestion, it could stay in her bed. 
She has no fear of horses at all, I will catch her running under the belly of a horse without a care at all.  She just glows when she is near them.  She could just sit and stare at them for hours. 

When she grows up she wants to be a cowgirl and a doctor for animals.

She loves rocks, puzzles, little toys, food, books, stories, pencils, writing, notebooks, and pictures.

Izzy has a very unique sense of style that fits her unique personality perfectly.

Izzy is sweet and kind and caring, and I don't know what I would do without her.




Hosted by Cecily

Photostory Friday: An Introduction

When I started blogging back in August I had this paranoid thought that if I was to expose to much personal information about my family that someone would become obsessive and find out where we live and hunt us down.  I now realize that I was probably over reacting to a situation that will never happen.  I suppose that if it does we can always take Kevin's approach to solving the problem.

Anyway.  In hopes of deterring any of you from finding out who we truly are I decided to give my kid's code names.  But I'm finding it harder and harder to remember to use their silly names when I am writing about them.  And when I use just their ages even I get confused about who I'm talking about.
So I am going to throw caution to the wind (mostly because I'm lazy) and use the next few Photostory Fridays to introduce you to my three girls.

This is Kira.

She wishes that she were 16, a vampire, and knew Edward Cullen personally.

She loves to make herself pretty, what started out as dressing up like a princess has turned to dressing up like a teenager.  (sometimes It really makes me sad)

She's a sucker for a love story.  And she cries when movies and books have sad parts.

She loves animals.  Especially cats, horses and dogs.  She wishes that we had all three. 

Her laugh is contagious and is the most wonderful sound in the world.

She loves sewing, crafting, cooking and making crazy concoctions of all kinds.

When she grows up she wants to be a model, an actress, a clothes designer and a hairdresser.  She wants to be busy, which is something that she always is.

Over all she is a joy to be around, she is happy and helpful and beautiful.  And I'm glad that she's mine.

Photo Story Friday: I Swore I'd Never Say That

What do you do in the exact moment that you catch yourself acting just like your parents?  I know when we are all in our teenage years we swear very strongly that "I will never be like my dad!" (or mom depending on the moment) We all said it, and as we have grown older, married and had children of our own we swear we will still not be like our parents.
So what do you do when you catch yourself midstream in a sentence that you know you've heard come straight out of you father's mouth?

 

Last night after dinner it was homework time.  But my girls felt like it was still time to play and that they were being picked on.  Well they probably were, I know I felt that way when I was a kid too.
But the parent prevailed and everyone was seated around the freshly 409'd table and started their individual homework packets.
After about 10 seconds they were tired of it.  And started horsing around.  I tried and tried to get them back on track.
For the next half hour an intense battle of wills ensued.  I won over the 5 year old and she finished her 6 pages of homework.  But that 7 year old has developed an attitude and her ONE page of homework was still uncompleted at the end of the 30 minutes.
I was furious and frazzled by the end of the 20 minute mark becuase I just couldn't get her to bend to MY will!  So I gave into the anger that was bubbling like lava in my brain and slammed my fist down on the table a few times to make sure that my point was getting across "If you don't stop horsing around and finish that homework I'm going to..." 
And that's when the moment hit.  I very vividly remember sitting around an old sign board set up on saw horses in my dad's paint room in the basement of my childhood home.  There I was with my 4 other siblings with our homework laid out around us while my dad stood and painted a sign at one end of the room. 
I remember horsing around instead of doing homework.  And I remember my dad taking as much as he could and then when the last straw broke, he would turn around, face beet red and he would pound his fist on that old board (which would send all of our homework and pencils flying-much more impressive than just a boring old table).  And shout, "If you don't stop horsing around and finish that homework I'm going to paddle your butts!"
And well, we would get to our homework.  And I would swear that I would never be so mean when I was a mom.  My kids wouldn't have to do homework unless they wanted to.  And I swore, I would never be like my dad!
So last night I found myself eating crow as those exact same words were flying from my unthinking mouth.
What did I do?  At the time, nothing.  I couldn't show my kids that they had gained the upperhand, right.  So I did what any parent would do.  I laughed hysterically when the kids weren't around!
And then I realized how grateful I am to my dad.  I am grateful that my dad taught me a good work ethic.  And how important it is to do something well and to do it right the first time.  My dad is a very quiet man (unless we had pushed that last nerve over the edge).  He doesn't have a lot to say most of the time.  But whenever we needed help with anything he was there for us showing us the most rational way through the problem.
I could say so much about all that he has taught me and all that he has done for me.  But mostly I am so grateful for the example that he has alway shown me.
And I would love to be just like him.
Thanks dad, for everything.  (Even though I know you don't read my blog, so I will have to tell you one day.)





Hosted by Cecily and Sue

Photo Story Friday: What Goes Around Comes Around

I have made a very important discovery about blogging.  Whatever you put out there in cyberspace has a way of coming back to you.  On some occasions I have really enjoyed the outcome of this particular principle.  But I find myself this week wanting to take this little gem of advice and smashing it with a backhoe.
Let me explain. 
Do any of you remember this little picture that I posted a while ago, so cleverly titled (or so I thought) "Evidence of State Budget Cuts"?

Well, I recently discovered this little picture floating around in someone else's postings.  I don't remember where it was and I don't really care that someone snagged this particular picture.  I got a kick out of it and I hoped that it would bring a smile to someone else's face. 
I have decided that someone at my city's Construction and Fix It Department somehow stumbled on my little picture and didn't think it was very funny.
And neither did God, apparently.
These two have gotten together and conspired against me.  Leaving me helpless and in a mess.
Wednesday night I went to a training meeting around 6:30, had a very wonderful time, and then came home in a wonderful mood only to discover this:

Now for those of you that can't tell what that is, its A LOT of water spraying like old faithful up out of the ground in front of my driveway.  This little discovery had me running like a mad woman into the house to get my husband. 
We live in a marshy area of town and we frequently have MAJOR flooding issues when the ground gets too wet.
Well we called all the appropriate people to try and get our new geyser taken care of.
After 2 hours of waiting, a few city trucks finally showed up, this was about midnight.  They told us they'd have the whole thing fixed before my husband had to leave for work at 6:00 the next morning.
Yeah!  I thought, how efficient they are!
Well, this is what we found in the morning, it took them 4 hours to do this:

Yes, it took four hours to locate my power line and insert 4 blue flags that showed where the water was shooting up from.  Oh, yeah, and it took 5 workers to get that far.

I was a little irritated.  That's all I'm going to say.

I came home from running kids to school with the knowledge that I was going to have to clear everything out of my basement that I wanted to salvage after the flooding began.  But to my surprise 2 City workers had shown up with a backhoe and had started tearing into the ground.

I set to work on my basement and they continued to dig, and dig, and dig.  12 feet under the surface of the earth they discovered the problem.  A shattered main water line.  They assured us that all would be taken care of within a matter of hours.

Two days later, I'm still clearing out my basement and my driveway promptly drops off into a 12 foot deep hole.  I have contaminated water and haven't done my dishes in three days.  That same water has to be turned off during the afternoon while they "work" at the problem and then turned back on when their shift ends.  Which because of budget cuts isn't very long.

Who's laughing now?  Not me.  Or my dishes.  Or my living room stacked to the ceiling with everything that we own.  Or my poorly bathed children. (please don't turn me into social services!)

So in the end I have decided that if I can't post anything nice I won't post anything at all.
(See God I apologized, now can I please, please, please get my water fixed?)


Hosted by Cecily and JENNIFER

Photo Story Friday: Twelve Hours Of Halloween

So to celebrate Halloween coming to an end I decided to do a post dedicated to the Carnival from last Friday.  I promise this will be almost the last one.
So to start off I decided to do a little quiz, now its not hard so don't freak out and get sweaty palms just because I said the word quiz.  This one is a no brainer, I'll even make it multiple choice.

Question:
What exactly was Heidi for Halloween?

A. A mom that has gone far too long with no sleep.

B. Elvira

C. Was supposed to be a Vampire but EM the three year old dropped her fangs on the bathroom floor and there was NO WAY she was going to put them in her mouth after they touched that!

D. A wife who accidentally walked in on her husband using the bathroom going #2 after eating the night before a plate of Mongolian Beef with extra garlic noodles, a twelve pack of Mountain Dew, and chased later that night with a glass of milk and a bran muffin, or two, or four, he may have lost count.
(Can you guess who came up with this suggestion?)

Ok now think about it really hard and leave your answer in your comment.

Now for all of you that are just dying to know how the Carnival turned out I have composed a terrible wonderful song to help you get the whole picture.
Now just hum the tune to the Twelve Days of Christmas for a moment and then you'll be ready to begin.

The Twelve Hours Of Halloween

In the twelve hours of Halloween

When Chaos reigns supreme, I had

12 pounds of pumpkin

11 kids puking

10 Auction baskets

9 11 was called

8 Michael Jackson's

7 kinds of sweets

6 games of Bingo

5 hours of Cleanup

4 cow parts in jars

3 daughters with swine flu

2 fire alarms buzzing

And 1 lost preschooler!

There, I hope you got a feel for how the day went.  Other than the fire alarm going off and having to clear all the kids out of the school twice in 20 minutes the day went pretty well.  And I have to say the Fire Marshall was very understanding, and so was the wonderful young man that answered the 911 call.
Did I mention that I took a Xanax when I got home?


Hosted by Cecily and Emily