Surviving and Celebrating

I love the 4th of July. The parades, the red white and blue, and fireworks! And since we came here. . . the carnival! Well we really don't go on the rides much but it's still exciting to walk around and see others doing so. We always tell the kids we are saving our money for better rides and they go along with our cheapo ways.

Kennon and Savannah though, were at a sleepover at the Cardon's so I had to do something really fun for the younger two so they wouldn't be too sad. So I said, one ride each. Two rides cost $7! Camille chose wisely and had a great time on the swings.

Caroline, on the other hand decided to be bold and brave the exact same ride that scared her to death at age four. This time she had no plans of screaming at the top of her lungs to stop until they did. Here she is bursting with excitement and courage. No idea what terror she is about to face.And 10 seconds later. (You HAVE to blow it up. Click on it and check out the complete turn of events)

She was way more direct than the "I don't like it!"she screamed at the Carney at age four. This time she never let up screaming looking him straight on, "Stop the ride! I hate it! I hate it!" She knew from past experience that they would stop for her if she screamed loud enough. The guy was more than happy to get the possessed child off his ride. Especially when she started trying to climb out while in motion. He said she gave him a heart attack and muttered about her the whole rest of the ride. We better stick to the carousel with this girl.

And Marcus better find another sport. He took fourth place winner in the Riverside beautiful baby contest, which means he LOST. Another 16 month old baby boy with HAIR, wife beater tank top, necklace, and a big ridiculous looking red, white and blue bow taped to his bottom won first prize. Should've considered the neighborhood and dressed him right. They don't think too much of the farmer brown types around these parts.

Heading down to the park for an afternoon walking around the carnival on Friday. We were babysitting a friend. She didn't like the no ride policy. I had to tell her NO at least a dozen times. My favorite line was, "Awe, Come on! That's what a carnival is for!" Give her a break, though. She's pretty much an only child and doesn't understand how big families work. There are always worms for sale a block away since we live right by the river.

July 4th was Marcus's 16 month birthday.

Brent will be home soon. Not telling when just in case you are a bad guy. It may be even be tonight.

I miss him but love how self reliant I have become in his absence. The day after he left I decided to take the couch apart at the seams. I was missing a library DVD, had searched the entire house and only had one place left. I paused for a second trying to decide how Brent would feel about me pulling out the staples under the couch but ultimately began tearing into it. I can't fork out 31.99 for the DVD until I know that I'm not sitting on it. So I pulled out a bunch of staples and found all kinds of stuff down there -my favorite shoe of Marcus's gone missing last December, our VCR remote that had left us with no abilty to rewind, books, socks, way too much food. . . but NO stinkin' 31.99 DVD. Camille and Caroline's jobs were to feel for objects and tell mom where to pull out staples. Savannah held the flashlight up the crack and showed me where to reach in. She won't let us post any of those pictures because they are all close ups of her behind up in the air. Kennon was the photographer. Marcus grabbed my screwdriver any time it was free and worked his head off too.

Making lots of adjustments and did not like it when his mother disturbed him from some serious tinkering.

Sure is nice to still have a man around the house since Dad's out of town.

Last night we invited guests over for dinner and I BBQ'd for the first time ever. No fires, and the chicken kabobs were perfect. It was totally easy! For now on I may start manning the grill and letting him multi-task the rest of the stuff in the kitchen.

I also blew the breaker the day after he left. The microwave, oven, computer, TV, fridge - everything was off. Usually that means -wait for Brent to get home and flip switches somewhere in the basement- so I initially panicked. But in less than 5 minutes I had us up and running again. If only I could get the lawn mower up and running I would be feeling fabulous.

We even survived the July 4th holiday on our own, although barely. We brought an older lady I visiting teach to our ward party Saturday evening. She called earlier to tell me that she had something for the kids. After dinner she pulled out some "sparklers" for them to set off. She had just got the lighter out of her purse and was holding it out so I could light them up when Taylor Hawes happened by and said, "Those are not sparklers! They are bottle rockets and you're gonna blow your hand off!"

Brent usually lights the sparklers and hands them out. They obviously weren't sparklers once I took a second look but I just took her word for it. Thank you so much Taylor for saving us. Donna wouldn't believe they weren't sparklers though. She called me the next day to see if we had lit them up yet. I told her once again that they weren't what she thought they were, but she insisted that she and her neighbors had used sparklers just like that.

Donna lives downtown and by the time we got her back to her place after the party it was after 10 p.m. and there were fireworks going on all around us. The kids were upset about the downtown detour since now we were sure to miss our firework show in the tree house. I decided to go straight up Niagara Street so we wouldn't miss anything on the way. Two miles from the park/our house traffic slowed to a crawl. When we realized that we weren't going anywhere anytime soon they were all complaining at me for ruining everything. Then we suddenly noticed that we were right in the middle of the show. People packed both sides of the road. We opened the sunroof, hung out the top and blasted the stereo, for our first drive through firework show. They were coming down all around us and we made it home and up in the tree house just in time for the finale. It was a very exciting fireworks show after all.

I am really loving summer! I know it has a lot to do with being in the city rather than on a farm. No canning, weeding, or slaving away in the hot sun around here. You just run out of chores so much sooner and have a lot more time for fun. I don't know if that is a bad thing or not. I like fun. But I don't want to raise good for nothing kids.

Just a couple things then we are racing off to the park to see the tigers and enter Marcus in the beautiful baby contest - All going on at the Friendship Festival. I am not hopeful about his chances but the kids dressed him up and insisted. We are going to watch the fireworks tonight and tomorrow up in the tree house. Can't wait! Come on over if you want to join us.

Also, we were featured in a news story about the holiday weekend on Channel 4 news at 12 noon today. I was out running with my my three youngest when they caught me so I am looking not too fabulous. We will be on the 5 p.m. news also if you want to see us. Caroline does a great fireworks impersonation for the news lady. Camille was a little too shy to make the cut.

And then also just for clarification. My kids swim in an UNUSED garbage can. It is one that I keep in the basement and store winter blankets in. It's not like they are really swimming in the trash. Come on! What kind of parent did you think I was? They beg me to let them wash out the bigger one that we actually store garbage in but I absolutely refuse.

When school is out it usually means the schedule is out too. But I have tried hard this first week out of school to still start the day with family scripture study. We were reading about Zarahemna this week. For those of you who aren't Book of Mormon buffs- He's the Lamanite captian who is scalped by the soldier of Moroni.

Camille wanted to know what scalped meant and while explaining that I reminded them about the time I was pretty much scalped as a baby under the tire of our car. I hadn't told this story for a while and they were all pretty interested to hear about their mother being scalped. (For those that don't believe me I will show you the 6 inch scar as proof). As soon as I got done with the story Savannah scowled and said,

"Mom, you have way more stories! Nothing ever happens to us."

She was complaining. ???

Many times as I drag them off the computer I remind them that someday their children are going to ask them to tell them stories about themselves and it is gonna be sad if the best thing they can come up with is, "Well, I found some awesome sites online." I really do worry about this.

Kids these days!

No wonder nothing exciting ever happens to them. They have constant supervision. . unlike when I was a kid. And they have a computer and TV. . .unlike when I was a kid.


While on the topic of exciting adventures. . . The Sailboat will not be providing this family with anymore. As the new owner drove off trailing it, my neighbor asked me if I was sad to see it go. I was completely honest and said, "No way!" Right now I am trying to break all ties with this place and get ready for the move. Getting rid of a 25 foot sailboat was one big step.

Plus, for the last month while it's been on the market, I have to run over there every time it rains to bail it out. Just in case someone comes to look at it and changes their mind when they find it full of murky water.

But I couldn't keep Caroline quiet as the buyer sat at our kitchen table signing the papers. He was from out of town, had yet to even see the boat parked in the next block at our neighbors, and here Caroline was already tainting it.

She made friends with him right away, telling him this and that -all random stuff when suddenly she comes out with,

"Well . . I think Stacey peed in the boat." (Stacey is the nice neighbor who stores our boat in her yard, free of charge.)

So I hurried and told Caroline that Stacey wasn't peeing in our boat. There was just a little water that leaks in from the windows. But she wouldn't drop it at that. "But Mom, why is it yellow? There's always yellow water in the boat!"

Rainwater or Stacey's Pee, either way Caroline was very sad to see it go. After I finished cleaning it the final time, we were walking off and she suddenly said, "Wait! I just have to do something!" She ran back and wrapped her arms around the bow of the boat and gave it a great big kiss. . . or two. Then said "Goodbye, Sailboat!" with a sniffle.

Even, Daddy didn't get such a big sendoff.

And while on the subject of pee, I have to tell one more story about Caroline and hopefully it's the last one forever about her and and the P word. Several months ago I decided that she was going to be pull up free at night. I knew that the only way to get her to stop wetting was to take away the pull ups. We had a rough patch for a while but finally she made it to the two week mark of no wet beds and she got to pick out a prize at the store.

But during that rough patch, the following happened.

One night, I woke up with the growing awareness that something wet was in my hand. Then I felt something wet on my arm. I opened my eyes and made Caroline out in the dark shadows of my room, just standing there like a ghost not saying a thing but stark naked. "What are you doing? And what is in my hand . . . and on my arm?

She didn't say anything then.

After I came out of the room I found her wet nightgown had been draped over my arm and her balled up pair of wet panties were in my hand.

And why did she do this ?

She shrugged and explained, "I just thought it would be a good way of telling you."

Someday I am going to be in big trouble when Caroline learns how to read, aren't I?

Although she knows barely over half her abc's, I would argue she is a very intelligent 5 year old. Last Sunday Kennon told the story about Heber J. Grant during her primary class presentation. The children listened to how he had once given away a brand new coat that his mother worked many hours to buy for him. His mother saw him come in without the new coat the day after she had given it to him. When his mother found out that he had given it away to a child in the street who had none she was at first dismayed and asked why he couldn't have given away his old ragged coat instead. But then, remembering what kind of boy she had said to him, "Of course, you couldn't Heber."

At this point the teacher asked the children to tell them if Heber had made a choice to follow Jesus. All the kids resounded with a unanimous "Yes!"

Then Caroline, talking out of turn once again in primary, hollered out,

"But his mother made the devil's choice!"

She loves to talk about Jesus choices and devil choices and it was pretty clear to her without any extra explanation that his mother was doing the latter by suggesting he shouldn't have been kind.

Marcus is a little confused about what happened to his daddio. For a few days he went around the house calling for him. I wanted him to understand why he hasn't seen him for so long so I told him a story with hand motions that he could imitate about where he had gone. First, Dad got on a plane (airplane hand zooming across the sky) and then went to work on the Indians (Indian dance while slapping mouth) teeth (point to teeth).

He caught on right away laughing and doing the actions with us, but eventually just shortened it to the "ZOOOM" and waving his little hand across the sky. If anyone said, "Daddy" he was ready to go with his airplane. Well, out of nowhere, Sunday night he changes the zooming airplane to a spinning plane that swivels all over the sky and then usually crashes in his lap. We all looked at each other in disbelief and asked him, "Where's Daddy?" again. Now the plane always crashes. And as the girls laugh harder and harder the crashes have gotten worse and worse.

I didn't like this turn of events at all. Especially since Daddy was getting on another plane Monday morning to head off to a remote fishing village for the week. And as usual he didn't call and let me know he made it. But he did tell me before he left Sunday night that I probably wouldn't hear from him much because he won't have Internet reception while there.
I finally got confirmation on his status by way of an email this afternoon. Apparently they do have Internet in the far reaches of Alaska, but I guess he is confined to 10 words or less. After 2 days with no word, it read, "Made it. Clinic number is __________. Love ya, ttyl" Maybe it's morse code and that's all he could afford.

I am assuming the clinic number is an emergency number, not a "Hi, i just called to shoot the breeze" line.

Oh, well we are doing fine anyway. The only snag has been the lawn mower. First I, then Bill next door, tried to start it. Neither of us had any luck. Bill gave up and let me borrow his. I told Brent about it and he said he was the last one to use it and it was working fine then.

"There can only be one thing wrong with that perfectly good lawn mower," he said.

"OPERATOR ERROR"

The girls called all their neighborhood friends over for a "POOL PARTY" to start off the summer. We have a little pool but the real hit was, of course . . . the dip in the trash can.

There was a big line all afternoon.

Sunday night is garbage night on our street. That's the night to take a walk and see what you can find that your neighbors have sat out on the curb. Just as it began raining late that night Savannah and Kennon noticed a couple boxes across the street. They ran over and rescued some stuff just in time. Sunglasses, stickers, books and craft supplies were hauled home. I was on the phone with Brent and they kept rushing back and forth until they finally decided it was pouring too hard to go out again. They organized all the loot and had a suprise for their younger sisters when they woke up in the morning. A sticker chart that reads,

"You will win a prize when you fill it up! Do not put a sticker on without asking! Follow the rules. . . and BE GOOD! "

They've had two little slaves ever since. The stickers are filling up but Kennon reminded Camille when she got frusterated that she still has yet to pick a prize after two full days working for Kennon, that "You only get to pick a prize about once a week. You have to work really hard first."

So maybe in a few days Camille might get rewarded with some neighbor's garbage for a whole week of hard work. And if she only knew that she only had to be up a little later Sunday night and they would've been her's for free.

Ballet Recital

I had 4 girls performing and only 1 video camera. I kept it swinging trying to give them each equal time when they were all onstage at once. And I also had to keep in mind that Dad was missing it and would be complaining about the swinging around.

Caroline wasn't out there much but she tried her best to steal the show. Even though most of the performance she sat on the back bench awaiting her turn, she was constantly smiling and cheesing for the crowd. When her turn finally came, she did great till she missed her curtsy as they exited the stage. She kept stopping as they left, turning around and informing the audience in her loud voice, "But I forgot to bow!" She shouted this about 5 times before the rest of the girls pulled her off. She wasn't mad. She was just making an apology to the crowd.
She came out once more and danced around a bit. This time she kept her mouth shut on exit. . . but created a scene again when she decided to adjust her ballet slipper while on stage. When she leaned over without warning the next 4 dancers ran into each other. Unaware of the pileup behind her she fixed the slipper and skipped off.

I love having 4 ballerinas. Unfortunately though, besides Caroline, they are bored to death with it and I have been dragging them to lessons for the last few months. I guess this is our last Casper recital.

Schools Out!

It's finally Summer!

Brent's in Alaska . . . Finally had last day of school yesterday for girls. . . and it's at least 85 degrees and stinkin' hot!

Here are the end of the year highlights:

Flag Day
Camille won the 1st grade Flag Day essay contest and she read it for a school assembly.

We sang patriotic songs in the auditorium, marched in a parade with the school band around the neighborhood, and everyone wore the cool hat they made in class.


Or had been ordered from Oriental Trading, I guess.
I kept thinking, "This is so fun. Why didn't my school ever celebrate flag day?"

Till it dawned on me that I was never still in school in the middle of June.

Camille's teacher noticed Caroline dressed up too and coaxed her to join the parade.

Caroline loved marching along with the big kids but was nervous that it wasn't okay for nonstudents. She stopped several times to announce to whomever was passing, "But I am not in school!"

And while Brent was either in clinic in Buffalo (finishing up the spring term) or in clinic in Alaska (starting his externship), I soloed it through three separate award celebrations juggling a video camera, still camera, a 15 month old wild man, and a feverish Caroline. Luckily it was a 24 hour bug and not the swine flu that is making the rounds here in Western NY. A fifteen year old in the buffalo schools died from it last week.

Okay I hate to do this and Kennon told me not to because "It doesn't matter, Mom! " . . .

But here are the many awards heaped on the Casper children at the end of the year assemblies.
(Because -This is my only journal and winning awards is noteworthy!)

We love our kid's school because we stand out. We are different. My husband doesn't wear a wife beater tank top to every assembly. I don't have any tattoos. Nor do I bring every aunt, uncle, godmother, and cousin to hoot and holler when my 11 year walks across the stage with her 5th grade diploma. We have five kids all from the same father. . . .

And we know how to win awards.

I am proud of my little winners. But it's also a little embarrassing to be the Casper mom and know the other parents are sick of hearing "______ Casper" over and over.

Camille took home the 1st grade awards for
Citizenship, Music, and Physical Education
This is her second year in a row that her teacher picked her for top citizen. She is a sweetie. I told her it's my favorite award of all.

Savannah as always was the top dog. And she deserves it. She loves school and works hard.
Her awards were the Academic, Music, and Art awards.
She also was recognized for getting a 4 (top score ) on all the state tests. And a special mention for getting a perfect score on the science state test. Unlike Kennon, she didn't mind blog bragging a bit and told me that she had 9 awards total.

Kennon is done with grade school forever. She had a great last year winning the top class awards for Academic, Chorus, and Violin.
Kennon and Miss Clunie got along great. She's young and fashionable and best of all. . . loves to share. Kennon has some of her old purses and even her makeup.

Kennon soloed at her last orchestra concert. It is always pretty interesting to go from hearing her playing nicely at home and then hear the difference when the other 4 violinists join in for the concert and I hardly can make out a song anymore.

I know I am bragging again, Kennon. Then at her chorus concert she accompanied the choir on piano. This is pretty cool in grade school.

People at this school tell me my kids are so multi-talented. I just say,"Yeah, but you've never seen them play basketball." We don't play a lot of basketball around here. Actually none at all. We do play 4 square in the driveway, though.

But my favorite acknowledgement of Kennon was something I happened upon in the hallway.
I used to hate it that Kennon could beat me in a lap around the trailer. I've gotten over it. I am super amazed that out of slow Kashann could come fast Kennon. Well, at least compared to some anyway. Go Kennon!

I tell the girls to enjoy it while they can. We are moving in a year and they are likely to face stiffer competition in the future. On the last day Savannah poses with her summer instrument.

Savannah didn't get the oboe award. She actually should get the award for "Most Instruments in One School Year". She started out with oboe but we got sick of buying reeds every two weeks at $9 a pop. Then one day she got off the bus with a flute instead. She was ecstatic because this was the instrument she had wanted all along. But then after a couple weeks she started complaining that when she played she felt faint. Her teacher told her if she ever felt faint she should stop playing. So she did.

The next week she came home with this violin. This was in May. By then she was way too late to join the orchestra but they let her keep her violin free of charge over the summer so she can catch up. We shall see.

Another thing I like about this school is the staff. They make me want to work in a grade school should I ever get the chance to finish school and have a career. They seem to think that they work at the best school ever and all hang out like good old friends. Every year when I pick the kids up on the last day the teachers are running around with super soakers having their annual end of the year water fight.

I am looking forward to another Buffalo Summer. Perfect summers, if you ask me. Around here we start complaining if it get's above 85. It rarely does.

It seems like I just get one thing over and done with and I get hit with another one. Last Saturday I was in charge of a booth for a stake emergency preparedness expo held at a nearby mall. So I lugged 10 days worth of my family food storage and my homemade posters and talked beans and wheat for a few hours. . . and hopefully didn't just waste my time on the general public. I am a big believer in storing and cooking with the basics. My wheat grinder is one of my most prized possessions.

I had a hard time deciding that morning on a good booth outfit. Finally I put this on and asked Brent if I looked official enough to be running a booth. He said I was the perfect Molly Mormon. I told him I was comfortable in my Molly Mormon skin. But then I almost ran back upstairs to change.

After cleaning up from my booth I had 24 hours of relaxation before I got hit with my new assignment. My family is in charge of all the talks during sacrament meeting this coming Father's day Sunday. Brent is out of town for the weekend conveniently and so I am left to write the 5 talks. It is a little overwhelming . . . but at the same time I usually have a hard time narrowing myself down to one topic when I speak in church. I brainstorm too many ideas and then tend to ramble all over the place trying to link them all together.

So I am assigning out my ideas to the kids this time. That should help my thoughts to be more concise. Unfortunately some of these kids are convinced that they need to write their own talks. Can you believe it? Savannah for instance refuses to use any of my ideas. Because if I write it down and then she writes it also into her talk it's plagiarism and "you can get arrested for that".

Still trying to decide if I am going to let Caroline have her two minutes or not. You never know what might happen if Caroline gets the mike.

Being a Mormon is busy. One new challenge after another. And I am always way under qualified.

Being the primary pianist continues to take an enormous amount of preparation time. I play each song at least 100 times throughout the week. I think I am making very slow progress learning to play piano. Everyone loves to tell me how well I am coming along. It usually goes like this. "You are doing a lot better. I actually am just about as bad as you when it comes to piano."

And I am branching out. Starting this Saturday I also accompany for baptisms. There are three songs they asked me to play. Two of them if I work hard enough I may be able to stumble through. The third one is "Baptism" and in my opinion is one of the hardest primary songs to play. I finally had an idea. Kennon and I will duet. She plays the right hand, I'll practice the left. Have you ever seen that done before for a simple primary song? I think it's brilliant. I might start using her more often.

I have a few pictures to post of the kids at their end of the year activities. They still have a few more days of school left and unfortunately I have been too busy to enjoy the peace and quiet.

And Marcus is sick. He has been fevering for the last 24 hours and wants me to sit on the couch and hold him while he eats otter pops. I hold the scissors and he takes a few sucks then says, "Zizza's" and "Cut it!" It's a full time job when you have a sick 15 month old and he is ordering you around. Not much working on the 5 talks today.

Caroline got the last of her kindergarten shots this morning. She was so excited! She sat on the couch chanting while I did last minute stuff before we left.

"I can do it! I can do it!"

She would've been fine too if we had been lucky enough to have a nurse with a brain. She came in with the tray and pointed out the two pretty bandaids she had for Caroline.

Caroline said, "But what's the other stuff?"

"Those are your shots! Which one do you want to do first? You choose"

"Well, . . .which one hurts the baddest? Which one is the better one?"

At this point she had my daughter so worked up she almost fainted in fear. She made it through though, said the shot tickled, and earned her happy meal for being brave.

Sailing past Buffalo

Getting ready to sail is so much work. From leaving our house to getting in the water (right by our house) is usually 2 hours. I have a hard time maintaining the vision of why we are doing this. The kids are running around the marina, the sail is heavy for me to stand there and hold while Brent builds his boat, and I keep asking myself, "Is this fun?" And then when we finally get in the water our 11 year old starts in screaming.

Kennon decided on the first day out that she HATES sailing!

But we coerced her to come along this time, because we wanted to take a family picture sailing past downtown Buffalo. We hoped to pass our camera off to a passing sail boat but hardly any boats came within passing distance and they wouldn't have been able to hear our request over Kennon's screams, anyway.

Seriously. Brent was ready to throw her out, just like she wanted.

"Get me out of this boat right now!"

Yes, it was a perfect afternoon for a family sail. Almost all of us loved it. Kennon and her sisters had been playing dress up that morning. So with the tears came the mascara running down her cheeks. She hid behind the towel and finally went to the bottom of the boat and tried in vain to relax. She seriously will never be forced to sail with us again. The boat is listed and has already had five different interested parties. This was the very last sail.I brought Marcus's car seat along but he was happier roaming the boat while Kennon chased after him screaming that we were being unfit parents and needed to watch him.

Speaking of cheeks, the other thing that infuriates Kennon is that we ever allowed Caroline to take her favorite position at the front of the boat. This girl was born to sail the high seas.

But she also retreated to the cabin when Savannah pointed out a pirate ship (a large sail boat with three sails) on the horizon. After that she stayed below frozen in a little corner and refused to come out till we got back to safety of the marina. Even though the rest of us tried to convince her that they probably weren't pirates after all and besides that they had sailed away.

How come this is turning into somewhat of a child abuse post instead of a record of our great family outing?

I did most of the actual sailing. I finally figured out if I am steering I don't get seasick.
We didn't get back until after 7 and it was really chilly by that time. The kids didn't seem to notice the temperature and went swimming in the marina while we took down the sails.
We are sad to end the chapter on our sailboat days. Though they have been rocky at times, we will look back with fond memories I am sure.

Last family sail

Before the boat is gone forever, we took a final sale into the buffalo harbor. Some of us had fun. One of us screamed and screamed to sail her back to shore.
Savannah took the first video, btw. Brent took the second one as we sailed by buffalo.

When I tried to withdraw money at the bank drive-thru yesterday they informed me that my WA state driver's license expired last February. It was a little embarrassing since I happened to be chatting across cars with the girls ballet teacher, and she also heard the teller make the announcement.

Caroline had spotted her first. She had her back to us talking to her husband in their car, but Caroline could almost recognize her. She kept saying, "Mom, I think it's Miss Claire, but I need to see her lips!" Then she turned and sure enough, it was her and as always she had bright red lips. Even after dancing for hours, her lips never change. Always red lipstick. It's her signature.

Am I supposed to check my own expiration date? Isn't the state's job to let you know when your time's up? Maybe they don't send the renewal letter to out of staters like myself. Then I turned the license over and noticed something else for the first time. Please notify us within 10 days of moving out of state.

I figured I was going to be fined, have to pay extra, or at the very least be required to take a test since I had let it expire.

Nope. Very same rate -$45. Too bad that I'll only be in the state another year. And you know since I invested in the card it has to last another 4 years no matter where we go. Worked with my for the last 3 years with my Washington card.

I waited for 1 1/2 hours at the DMV with my two youngest running in every direction. Everyone kept smiling at their energy and telling me they had one or two at home just like 'em. At home. What a good idea. Too bad for me.

It's official, though. I am a New Yorker.

I'm starting to think that it is safer to write about trips after the fact rather than before or during . . . just in case.

So now I can mention that Brent left us home alone all last weekend. He took a quick drive down to Tennessee with Richard and Dave, other dental students, to offer his services at a free dental clinic. Does that make any sense that they would drive 22 hours in three days just to stand all day for two of those days with their hands in the mouths of some miserable Tennesseans? All this so they could, "pull a TON OF TEETH!" Whoo hoo! They have huge bragging fests whenever they come back from these and the question always seems to be, "How many did you pull?"

Well, Brent absolutely enjoyed the drive, the pulling of the teeth, and especially the company. He came home at 2 am. Monday morning and fell into bed for about 5 hours of sleep before he had to be back at clinic at 9 a.m.

While he was gone we had us a girl's weekend and participated in all the forbidden activities like YARD SALES! . . . thrift center browsing . . . and a pizza buffet. When it comes to yard sales and thrift centers Brent is extremely contradictory. He can't understand why I go to them, because we "Don't need anything!" But just as many times as I have heard him say not to go browsing, I could count equally the times I have bought something new and he can be counted on to say, "Isn't that something you could've picked up at a yard sale for dirt cheap?"

So I go.

When he is out of town.

Or I just don't mention when I do since I know the thought of me browsing makes him so nervous.

When we all got back together last night our monday night family consisted of a
KFC Feast - all the way from Tennesee. Brent made it home with 6 pieces (from the lunch provided before they left) to share with his girls and they were APPRECIATED! I was a little nervous about the 11 hour drive, but I was vetoed and they were all eaten. . after I cooked them for another 30 min to kill the bacteria growth.

I forgot to mention

The Puch is gone! Stolen right off the dental school bike rack in broad daylight while Brent was working in the clinic just inside. After all the miles, all the hours tinkering making repairs, and inventing ways to make it faster . . some brazen thief cut the chain and rode off. Two weeks later Brent's still in shock and his girl Caroline is just starting to get over her tears. She liked to ride it too.

On the bright side. . . No puch. . . No Pooch. :) Brent is biking the 12 mile round trip to school now and sweating both ways.

And, I also forgot to update my sciatica status. It is a MIRACLE. Thanks to a podiatrist who told me to wear SNEAKERS and $30 arch support orthotic inserts. Within a week of being an obedient patient the sciatica DISAPPEARED! Remember I have had some pretty intense pain since last August whenever I was driving or at rest.

Some days I am lazy and put on my cushiest flip flops for a few hours. It's summer, I really can't help it. But, by that night it's coming back. So I repent and put my sneakers on the next morning. And my back, leg and foot are perfect again. I am just so happy! I thought I would have this the rest of my life. I still drive with my left leg. It's becoming natural and I'm too scared to go back to the right leg.

On the downside, I have to wear these totally mom shoes all the time. I make an exception for church and the beach and maybe eventually I can wear pretty shoes a little more often. I find I am really into shoes lately and noticing all the feminine feet around me. I am so envious of women in pretty little flats and strappy sandals.

Ooooh. . . . well. . . At least I won't be shoe shopping. Luckily Kennon is almost to my size and I can give her my pretty shoes.

Anyway, you might want to consider your feet if you are having aches and pains. As my podiatrist told me- You have to take care of the roots of your tree.
Speaking of trees. . . here's a picture of Kennon in our's. She read on our blog a few posts back that I couldn't find a recent picture of her. Ever since then she and Savannah have stayed busy at backyard photo shoots. Now we have ton's of Kennon's cluttering up my desktop. They are getting to be quite the photographers and enhancers. So I guess I am off the hook and we'll hand it over to them. I always forget to take pictures.

30 minutes from home and across the border

big beach boy

freezing Lake Erie water

A perfect day at the beach at 14 months

Laying and kickin' it up
sand showers with your two little hands

In eyes, nose and mouth. . . I think I am in love!
All afternoon till momma scoops you up and drags you from the beach. I hope these freckles last

Memorial Day we split up. I took four of them to Crystal Beach. Savannah and her Dad went sailing with our neighbor Staci and sons. It was Brent's way of saying thanks for storing our boat in their tiny backyard the last 8 months. They sailed the same lake we beached at but on the Buffalo side and nowhere near us. Nevertheless, every boat that passed by, Caroline hollered out, "There's Dad!"

May 23rd finally arrives for Sweet Caroline

(Thanks Kristen for this photo and great editing job!)

After months of "How much longer till my birthday?" question every morning, the big day finally arrived and Caroline is now 5! We partied pretty hard and probably wore her Grandma C. out.
Ella, Alison and Caroline all had a birthday within three days of each other so we celebrated with some friends from primary at Alison's house. Teresa and I made a balloon bouquet of cupcakes to bring.


Ella is 3, Alison is 4, and Caroline is 5.

In Junior primary in our ward there are only 5 girls. All 4 of them are in the sunbeam class, and Caroline sits behind them with all the boys in her class. And another row of 7 boys behind her. She was so happy to have a princess crown and be with girlfriends for the day.
The next day was May 23rd and Camille made her a new birthday crown. Caroline has been repeating that date over and over again ever since Kindergarten orientation when she met her principal. She only asked her one question, "When is your birthday, Caroline?" After failing the test I taught it to her and she won't ever forget it now. We were all quite sick of May 23rd before it even arrived.
She spent the day opening a present from all her sisters. And running around showing off the $5 dollars her Great Grandma Pieper sent to her in a letter. Grandma C. sat her down to have a discussion about savings and tithing. When she found out that 2 whole quarters of the money needed to be given to the bishop she was very upset and cried out, "Why didn't Grandma send me more money then?"

A couple years ago for Christmas we gave the kids this three wheeler we found at our favorite As Is Salvation army store for 2 bucks because it didn't work. That is until Brent charged it with his drill battery and it now runs for about an hour at fast walking speed. We haven't had it out since last summer and it was the perfect birthday toy to pull out of the basement. I ran all over the neighborhood trying to keep up with her and Marcus even got a ride.

She wanted a crown cake that we saw on Familyfun.com. She talked about her "prown cake" all week. Yes, she is the same old Caroline with a very unique lisp. After making cupcakes I was weary and dreaded more decorating.
I sent Brent to the store to get me sugar cookie dough to save me some time. He came home with chocolate chip cookies instead of dough for sugar cookies? ? ?
I did my best improvising and threw this one together in 5 minutes, minus the princess crown. I was sure she was going to be so dissapointed. I guess I forgot she is 5. She came in, took a look and was thrilled! She ran and got the crown she got from Alison's mom, plopped it on top, and the "prown cake" was complete.

I am sure that Caroline is the happiest, sweetest little 5 year old ever "I ever saw". Just ask anyone who sits in front of her in church, if they are so lucky. Whoever they are, about 5 minutes into the meeting they find a soft hand on their back giving them the best back rub you ever saw. Turn around to find out who's hand is on your back and you will get the biggest smile you ever saw.
This "I ever saw" stuff is true blue Caroline language. A couple days with Grandma C. and she declared. "Grandma, you are the best Grandma I ever saw!" I told Grandma she was lucky. There are only 2 other people that have made it to the "best I ever saw" category. Dad and I.

She overheard me and said, "No, mom. You are not the best I ever saw. Grandma is."