Last Monday in March, but my goodness there is some FUNNY stuff here!

Plastic Bottles: today, Zachary's backpack and sports duffel was like a clown car for plastic bottles! He brought home 10 - TEN plastic bottles for recycling. I gave him his .50 for his trouble and he very well may buy himself a cookie at school tomorrow. Very worth it!

Softball: Kylie won her softball game today - 11 to 10. A couple of girls on the opposing team were in tears. I always feel sorry for those crying children - you just don't need to cry.

Fence climbing: Kylie plays tennis at a field with tennis courts right off to the side. The outside fence is VERY tall, I can't even estimate it's height. I was working the snack shack today, but was outside getting some fresh air when I looked over at the high fence and saw a little boy, around 6 or 7 years old, straddling the top of the fence. His eyes were like saucers. Obviously, he had not thought through his whole idea of getting onto those courts. I encouraged him to hold on tight and keep climbing down and cram his toes in the holes. Happily, he got down nice and safe. It made me sick! Later, Griffin told me that he also got his head stuck in a fence whole. He got it out eventually.

Call Me Doctor!: Zak's biology teacher, in High School, is from a foreign country. Zak is not sure of the accent. She does have her doctorate, so expects the students to call her doctor. One day she taught a hard lesson. Some kids got it and some kids did not. Even Zak did not understand. Finally after a lot of questions, she said no more questions right now, just keep taking notes. I realize it is a hard lesson. Some of you are getting it and some of you are don't. (That is NOT my grammar mistake.)

Chase's Birthday: I sent Chase off his birthday package today! I sent his favorite cookies. I hope they are good by the time he gets them. I also made him a fabulous card with fortunes on the candles. You know I can make some pretty good fortunes! You may all send him a card too:

Elder Chase Barton Cole

Houston South Mission

4627 Austin Parkway

Sugar Land, TX 77479

He will be 20 on April 5th!

I also found Kylie some great books at the library today. I will continue to encourage her to make a post on the book blog about the new series of books she is reading. She LOVES them!

I got Griffin: Hop on Pop, he was VERY pleased.

EEK! 24 has started without me!!

Sunday

Did:
Went to church.
Made good hamburgers for lunch.
Took a nap.
Wrote to Chase.....(his birthday is next Sunday!)

Still need to:
make dinner
empty & fill the dishwasher
watch Celebrity Apprentice

Continue to do:
encourage Zak to do his English homework!

Retribution!

Remember how I got my first "B" grade last semester since I was a sophomore in high school? Well I got an email from the dean of the accounting department today, and he changed my grade!!! Its taken about 4 months, and I pretty much quit caring about it, but today that dirty little B+ got changed into an A-.

Its too bad that since I thought I blew my flawless record already that I haven't put in quite the same amount of effort and will probably get a real B+ this semester...

Mish Mash

1. You may now add COBBLER to my list of talents!

This morning one of the straps on Griffin's shoe came all the way off! I tried to sew it back on with my sewing machine, but I could not get the shoe in the right slot. So, I sewed it back on by hand with a hard needle, upholstery thread and pliers. It worked great.

2. Kylie had a great softball game yesterday (no pictures, so quit looking). She is a great slider! I think she slides home most every time. I always hear the other crowd members comments on her great sliding ability. Be proud you know her!

3. Motorcycle cops: their main purpose is to find those who are making a driving infraction and give them a ticket, so watch out! No, I did not get a ticket, but I did question 2 nice police officers.

4. I encourage you all to go out and buy this month's copy (April) of Family Circle magazine. It has many really great sounding recipes!
Here are a few dishes:

• sausage, broccoli & noodles
• bowties with tuna
• spaghetti with spinach
• cellentani with ham & greens
• gnocchi with creamy tomato sauce
• egg drop soup with chicken & noodles

There are many more fabulous dessert recipes too!

Tonight for dinner we are trying the spaghetti with spinach! Yum.

The Dermatologist from Harvard

I took Quinn to the Dermatologist today. It was an interesting visit. I'll start from the beginning.

I was hoping we were going to the same Dermo that I took Chase and the other boys to. The name on my authorization was not familiar, but the address was. We got to the office, I supposed that I had just forgotten the name of the doctor. We walked into the foyer and looked at the list of doctors trying to see what suite we had to go to. We did not see Dr. C's name on the board. A nice woman walked passed us and asked if she could help. She explained that the doctor we had been seeing, Dr. Schwartz, had died about 2 months ago!! Apparently, he had a heart attack on the day of his daughter's wedding! He was not an old man. Very sad. She said this other doctor bought his practice, but that they had moved to another office; the address would be on the door of the old office. Wow!

We finally got to the right office, filled out the forms, was shown into a room. I took this video:

We waited in the swanky office and could HEAR everything going on in the other room. We decided that when it was our turn we would try and talk quietly.

The doctor finally arrived, we only got a few sentences in. The Doctor C really likes to talk and talk. Here was one exchange:

Doctor: Do you see this tie? Do you know where I went to school?

me: I am thinking, I see your tie, no, I don't know where you went to school. My face was obviously filled with unknowing because he quickly went on:

Doctor: I went to Harvard!

me: oh, apparently the tie had some Harvard symbol on it. I don't know the Harvard symbol. Now, if the tie had the BYU logo, I would know that.

Doctor: I do things right.

I don't think he was too impressed with the old Dr. Schwartz's practices. Anyway, when he seemed to say all that he had to, he quickly hopped up and was out the door. Our turn was over.

Whatever. I think we will get what we want. All will turn out great.

Mother Busy

These days are filled with:
getting children up and ready for school
volunteering at school - we glazed clay pots today I should have taken a picture of that, but there was no time!
what's for dinner??
prepare dinner
drive children around town
collect and recycle plastic bottles and aluminum cans

So, I don't feel like there is much to blog about. I did take a few pictures in the last 48 hours, so I will share those.

I did do (read: color, wash, color, wash, cut) Candice's hair. It turned out beautiful. It also seems that I only took pictures of what I cut off her head, not what was left. Just remember all the hair I cut off of Z & Q - now see what I cut off of Candice:


Kylie is in her elementary school talent show. She is performing a dance with other friends. That is Anna in the far left, then Lydia, then Kylie. Sadly, my photography skills were not up to par, here is the best:

This was just the dress rehearsal. The show goes on on Friday.

In between now and then there is track, softball, tennis, lots more cooking, cleaning and driving.

I'll see you round the bend!

Sunday - Different

Today we had church at 1:00.

The ward that we share our building with, (Pasadena Ward), wanted to have their Stake conference in our building at 10:00. So, that left us to have church at 1:00.

It was rather nice! Everyone got to sleep in to their heart's content. There was no hurry, hurry, get to church in time. It was nice to spend a morning with ease. I did have to do a ward conference at 11:00, Dad had a bishopric meeting at 11:30. I came home at 12:15, told Kylie and Griffin to hurry and get ready. I fixed Z & Q's hair - it looked SO nice, then we went to church.

It was our Seminary's turn to be in charge of sacrament meeting, so all the seminary kids spoke. They did VERY well! It was a nice meeting.

Brandon Bodkin started us off by telling the overview of seminary. He was quite entertaining and with a dry humor. I did enjoy his thoughts and the things he told. He seems to enjoy seminary, even though he comes 15 - 20 minutes late every day. He was very complementary to the Cards (our seminary teachers).

Zak spoke about the use of parables. He gave a good talk, said that life was not meant to be easy, but that we had to work for our knowledge....well, in a manner of speaking. He talked a bit about the "Good Samaritan".

Haram Park also spoke. He talked about Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. He told things that he didn't know, I enjoyed what he said. I cannot repeat them because I can't really remember, but I did ask Zak to get a copy of his talk, which he did. He did tell about writing an "in class essay", then forgetting and putting it in his backpack so he didn't turn it in and he is very worried it will hurt his grades. He also told that he has the worst English Teacher. Afterward, I asked Sis. Swift if she was glad that she was NOT Haram's teacher. She laughed and said yes, but that she was going to find out who his teacher was.

The seminary also sang....well, I think they sang even though I could hardly hear them! I KNOW those kids (boys) can sing, but they would hardly let any sound out! I wanted to stand up and say, "Now let's start again, and let me REALLY hear you". I didn't. I told Zak later that that could have been his pre-chantuer's try-out. He should have really belted it out! People would have loved it.

During the time of primary, for about 40 minutes I have nothing to do, all the kids are in their classes. I came home, emptied and filled the dishwasher, cleaned a couple of pans so that when we came home from church we could quickly and efficiently eat our dinner of spaghetti. It was very good. I was pleased with my use of time.

Well, that was just today. I know the upcoming week will be a busy one. I am not willing to look at the calendar to see what is in store for me yet. I will later.

I am doing Candice's hair tomorrow. We'll take pictures.

Sorry, no pictures for this post. We aren't allowed to do that in church.

It's that time of year

Today I felt like I was having allergies, so I drove myself to church. I got there a little late (during the sacrament hymn). Right as the sacrament started, I began sneezing. The loud, powerful kind of sneeze. After maybe my 3rd time, I realized my roommate next to me had this flower pollen cologne on (why do you wear cologne to church??) He switched seats, but it was too late. The damage was done.

I had to leave right after the sacrament was finished being passed out, it wouldn't stop. My poor roommate also left to change his shirt. He said it was the first time he ever used that cologne, and he'll never use it again.

Teeny, Tiny Zak

I was able to go to a bit of Zak's Track meet today. I didn't think I would get so lucky as to actually see him jump, so I brought no photo equipment with me. When I arrived, he was JUMPING! I got out my trusty cell phone and took these teeny, tiny videos. I really thought they would be 100% bigger than they are. Just enjoy what you see.

THESE ARE 2 DIFFERENT HEIGHTS.

For You Loyal Viewers....

Ok, I know I have been missing in action here at the blog, but real life as been a bit hectic. I have tried to catch up here, so keep reading! I believe there are 5 humorous, informative and enjoyable posts to follow. If you want to know, keep reading.

And a big "THANKS" to those who have kept up the posting...Z, Q, S

And HAPPY St. Patrick's Day!

It Was More in Real Life

This pile was HUGE, the picture does NOT do it justice. This is Zak and Quinn's hair. Their hair was SO long, I practically had to wind it around their heads on Sunday to get it in some order. I cut it later that day. The ox was in the mire.

Garage Sale/Ping Pong

So, we had a garage sale on Saturday....afternoon. I guess the real, hard core garage sale-rs like the morning time better. We didn't get too much business. But, as Zak likes to say, I sold a poop-shack, a bathroom sink and cupboard and when the sale was over and packed back up in the garage, I sold that old shed way back in the corner by the trash! Don't worry, we'll do it again, maybe this Saturday. Zak and Quinn....EVERYBODY was a big help. Zak and Quinn also played ping pong.

Kylie Plays Softball

Kylie is on the Pink Panthers.
Girls know how to dress up a softball uniform! She plays third base a lot. She is very good at it. She also knows how to be ready for a ball.

Griffin Plays T-Ball!

Here he is....number 11

His team is the Braves
Standing in the outfield. THIS is his "I'm ready" stance.

Ok, a ball came his way....he is running after it!

(Look, you can see the ball!)

He got the ball and he threw it! That's powerful!

Running to first base

At first base, waiting on the game

Is this a "scratch and spit"?

See, his "I'm ready" stance is real.

He did so well, he got the GAME BALL!
It was a very exciting 1st game.

He got hit by a hard bumping grounder on his second game.

Let's hope he'll play his third game.

Who Could Be a Bigger Baby?

Jay Cutler is the Biggest Baby ever, This was one of the headlines for NFL.com:

Cutler a no-show to McDaniels' first team meeting

it also said in the article that he demanded to be traded away, and this all started because the head coach (McDaniels) thought about trading him away

Yesterday the two also met in a face to face meeting and nothing was resolved

Friday the 13th

I never believed in the curse of Friday the 13th before today.. a few days ago Orlando Pace was dropped by the Rams, leaving Torry Holt the last player from "The Greatest Show On Turf", today Holt got released. Now the Rams have 3 receivers left with any game experience at all, and the oldest one has only played for 2 years, and his first year was on the practice squad.
Then, to top it off we got destroyed by Temple City in our ward basketball game today, it was our first loss.

Track for Zak

Here is Zak's track warm-ups:
Now, his track uniform (?):

His shorts are size XL as there were no more smaller sizes by the time his turn came up to get his uniform.

Zak got his PR of 9' at his first track meet last Thursday.

T.O. Released

Terrell Owens has been released. Apparently the Cowboys just couldn't handle him anymore. What team do you think would take him now?

M A S H

Kylie did a M A S H for (about) me after dinner tonight. Apparently I will:
marry Marshawn Lynch
have 2 children
live in a house
and drive a lawnmower

In Other News:

• Kylie's softball game was cancelled because of rain
• Zak could NOT finish his plateful of spaghetti tonight!
• Zak has a track meet tomorrow - I am sure he will be quite dashing in those shorts

Recycle $$

Remember I told you about my exploits in collecting water bottles at Kylie's softball game?

Griffin and I turned them in today. We got $6.15.

Kylie has another game tonight, then another on Wednesday.

Pants

Griffin is growing, and I can't seem to find pants that fit him well. So, this morning I went out "shopping" in our own boxes. I found many pants, some of which I HOPE fit him. Most of them had initials on the tag....cj and stc.

What a saver I am.

(for those of you a little lost on this....that is 20 years of saving. It has paid off.)

The graphic is NOT a real photo, but a drawing. I did it myself. I did it with Paint.net....just so you know. You many use the likeness. You have my permission.

ETSY Shop

I opened that ETSY shop today.
We'll see if anything comes of it!

If you'd like to check it out....go here:
bagsandsuch.etsy.com

Update

I figured it was about time for an update. The last two weeks have been REALLY busy, but I've gotten through all my midterms so now things are much better. Last Wednesday, my friend Heather was able to get free passes to Sundance through her brother-in-law, so I went to an earlier section of my Systems Audit class to be able to have the afternoon off. I had a great time, but I had a pretty hard face-plant. I was looking for a certain run off to the side and my board plowed into a little mound of snow. If it was powdery snow it would have been just fine, but it was wet, heavy snow that stopped me immediately. I basically did a front hand spring with my face instead of my hands. I was dazed, but I felt just fine. Heather came up and said I had a cut on my face, but I thought it must have just been something tiny, no big deal. When we got back to the car I had a big bloody gash between my eyes and by my nose.

The next day I went to this fancy etiquette dinner with my friend Liz, she had to write a paper about it or something. She had bought a new suit and was really excited so we took some pictures that night also. Liz's roomate Julie photoshopped my face very well, but since I know mom loves pictures of her children's injuries, I had her send me an unedited one. (you'll need to zoom in. It looked a lot worse on wednesday before it scabbed over)

Edited:Elizabeth also thought it would be really funny to take a fake engagement picture and then change her relationship status on facebook so everyone would think she was engaged. I told her that is just something girls do to try and get attention, but she really wanted to, so here was the result.

Weapon Vollyball

This evening, they made up a game...Weapon Volleyball.
They played with much glee.
Notice each face.
Played between the living room and the dining room. That 1/2 wall was their net.

Two States

Shockingly, this post is NOT about Zak's hair, or it's height.

Zak has 2 states: Just before he gets sweaty
and
Sweaty
and it is constantly changing throughout the day.

Here he is in the morning...just before he is sweaty:
(as a side note, I NEVER noticed his hair before I looked at these pictures to put them in the blog. Hmm, I guess, to me, this is just usual.)This is Sweaty...he has just come home from playing basketball. They won: 54 to 24
Zak pwnd

I was really trying to get the sweaty shirt here.

Here is Quinn before the game:

Quinn after the game:


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Here is our family crest:

Griffin quite enjoyed the shirt stickers. He said he really likes shirts.