Tracy's Totally Awesome Web Conversation Skills

My friend Taryn commented on my exciting web conversation prowess, and in an effort to make her really feel my knowledge, I am sharing it with her, and won't she know it all now? LOL

ROTFL=rolling on the floor laughing
LOL=laugh out loud
BRB=be right back
NP=no problem
CUL8R=see you later

Because I am so extremely talented, I will also reveal that I know a variety of cute little faces, and ok, I actually know some other completely inappropriate expressions (because of my friends, ok??? really!). But I didn't figure I should share those. *I* am an exceptionally good influence, of course.

Ok, I'm done now. Now you know.

Now, people, all I ask of you is to educate me (and Taryn) further by sharing with us all of your web prowess in the comment section (and Tiffany, I really promise not to pick on any comments this time). Hugs to all!

Christmas

I don't know how many of you know this, but I detest Christmas pictures. Why take pictures of us all being greedy guts? And even worse, the pictures are always really ... scary. Nobody ever has a nice expression on their face--natural, perhaps, but not nice! Of course, we took a lot of Christmas pics this year. I don't know why, by we did. I've picked my favorites of the kids.

Camo Kid

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cutie

Licorice Lady

Pirate Guy--Aaaarrr, Matey!

and...
the Ever Elusive Anti-Photo Woman
(who had just figured out she was getting the best present ever)

Overheard

In the car, on the way home from Dallas (please remember that we were all tired and worn out):

• Rex: I have a crush on all the girls in my class.
• Elisabeth: You can't have a crush on anyone until you're 16, Rex!
• Hannah: No! That's dating. No dating until you're 16.
• Daddy: No, I didn't say no crushes until you're 16. I said no crushes until after your missions.
• Hannah: Dad, what's the difference between a crush and dating?
• Elisabeth: There is no difference.
• Caleb: Right, no difference.
• Mom: Yes, there's a difference.
• Elisabeth: A crush is where you like someone a really really lot, and they don't like you back.
• Daddy: Weeeelll, whether they like you back or not doesn't really matter.
• Caleb: When do you get crushes?
• Daddy: Not until after your missions!
• Mom: When did you get your first crush, Dad?
• Daddy: I've never had crushes.
• Rex: But Dad, that's not true!! You have a crush. You're in crush with Mommy!

We can always rely on Rex to keep everything straight around here!

Resolutions, Part 2

So, I have read all of your input thus far, and my resolutions so far include: putting my husband in his place (and his anonymous friend, too), logging on to Crackbook ... er, Facebook only once a day (ROTFL), and setting a specific goal for blogging (it'll take me 6 months to come up with a realistic expectation). Thanks, you guys really are the best! (wink!)

New Year's Resolutions

So, it's 3 days before the New Year, and I've decided to contemplate my resolutions now--instead of on New Year's Day, when I inevitably decide I should have been thinking about this sooner, so I just give up all together. Yeah, me and resolutions don't typically go too well together. I can never keep them perfectly, so why bother at all? Yes, I am a closet perfectionist.

Anyhow, Mom asked me where my blog has been recently, and I had to admit my addiction to Facebook. Why make daily posts on your blog when you can make hourly or minute-ly posts on Facebook? Okay, okay, that's not an entirely valid argument, and I really do believe that a blog has more lasting significance than Facebook.

So, here I am. My first New Year's resolution will be to blog ... how often? I would say "daily," but that's like committing myself to the worst Blog Obstacle Course on Earth, so how 'bout more frequently, right?

What other New Year's resolutions should I make for 2009?

Reverse Crisis Management

So, last night, Hannah told me about her day at school. She was calm, cool, and collected--which is more than I wanted to be after I heard her out. Her recess yesterday included being bitten, so hard that there is a nice purple, mouth-shaped outline on her upper arm. What is this, like 1st grade? She's in middle school, people!

I talked to her principal this morning at length, in a very reasonable and satisfactory manner. I didn't want to either under- or overreact. The young man will be punished, and was quite remorseful, having not realized how hard he had bitten her (or apparently, as the principal pointed out, that he shouldn't have been biting anyone at all).

So, how did I stay cool enough to not overreact? Well, call it a ... presentiment. Of course, I didn't think whatever it was would come to pass before lunch, but alas, it did! All morning, I kept thinking that I needed to stay cool about the whole incident, because someday, just someday, I could be that poor young man's mother getting that phone call, knowing a certain little boy (or even two certain little boys).

And then the email came. Fighting at school. Playing at recess when not supposed to. Can't keep his hands to himself. Had to be separated and spend time in the office.

Whew! I'm glad I didn't get all worked up, as much as I wanted to for Hannah's sake. But really, did I really, really need to know both sides of the story?

Ho Ho Ho!

Or, as Hannah would say, "Duck, duck, duck!"

Sariah wasn't too sure about Santa this year.
Even if he was handing out candy canes.
But eventually, Cheyenne and Elisabeth convinced her it was ok to sit on his lap. But the girls have already taught her a key point about doing something you don't want to do: try not to look happy about it. Even after 6 or 7 candy canes.
And, remember: you're never too old for Santa.

Soldiering On

The 2nd grade recently put on "Marty the Moosical." As you can see, Caleb was a toy soldier, and he did a fabulous job. The music teachers at Washington do such an amazing job with all of the children; I am always impressed with their productions, and this time was no exception.

Teach Your Children Well

You know you've taught your children well when they try to teach another the lessons you have tried to instill in them, right?

So this morning at prayer time, Sariah helped her baby to fold her arms reverently for the entire prayer.

Good thing baby isn't real as her arms would now be disjointed and broken in more than one place.

But it's the thought that counts. :)

Thanksgiving '08, Part 3

And last, but not least, our family picture. It'll probably go in the Christmas cards this year.

But it was really hard not to choose the more ... realistic family photo....

Thanksgiving '08, Part 2

And now for the kiddos.

This is the only good picture I got of Caleb. He's up in the tree looking for that silly whiffle ball.
You'll notice in most of these pictures that Sariah was kind of all over the place. This was one of her few sitting-down moments. Go figure!
There are no pictures of Hannah by herself. She runs from the camera. Shocking, I know.
But here's my happy, willing model, Mr. Rex. He'll pose anyway I tell him to.
Elisabeth was too busy running around with Kenadie to pose for any pics, hence, the in-motion picture.
But wait, there are more pics to come. You have to see our family pics. Getting a family of 7 in a beautiful picture is ... possible ... but not probable. :)

Thanksgiving '08, Part 1

This year, we spent Thanksgiving with my family at my brother's house down in Plano. We had a lot of fun, and Grandma got her heart's desire in family pictures. Here we all are, lookin' fine!

This is me and my sister-in-law, Tricia. She makes really good cornbread stuffing, and she even cleaned her house for us all (wink!). She doesn't have zits, either, unlike me--I thought you were supposed to outgrow that in college, darn it.

This is my favorite Thanksgiving picture. It's my two favorite people!

And my fabulous parents. Aren't they gracious? The didn't want to have their pictures taken (after subjecting all of us to it), but they posed anyway. Ok, well, they didn't have a choice because Chad and I just started snapping away.

And this is what we spent a good portion of the afternoon doing. Caleb was playing baseball with a whiffle ball, and hit a pop fly up into Uncle Chad's Bradford pear tree. It apparently caught on a branch, and despite our best efforts (see below), it didn't come down until a cold front came through the next week, bringing with it 40 mph winds. Personally, I think my dad was the smartest of us, and probably got the most entertainment value out of the whole affair--don't you see him there, sitting on the porch, watching everyone else work away?

For Your Viewing Entertainment

Presenting my lil trampoline girls. The older, more mature model:

And the younger one:

Shoe Files

Wow! The shoes on the left lasted 4 whole months!!!! They had holes in the soles and the shoe laces were broken, but he was still wearing them. Now for this new pair....

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

Hey, thanks to Allison over at mama dialogues for providing my entertainment for the day. She took the Belief-O-Matic Quiz at beliefnet.com, so I took it, too. And SURPRISE ... wait ... wait ... I know you all are going to be so flabbergasted ... I'm 100% Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints/Mormon. I know. I know you all are amazed. But, just in case you're wondering, I'll post my results following. If you want to know more about my religion, you can go to mormon.org, to get straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak, or you can leave me a comment (but only if you're going to be nice, because I'm such an incredible wimp). I love the list--I think it shows that, though we don't have everything in common, we all have more in common than we like to believe.

1. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (100%)
2. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (99%)
3. Orthodox Quaker (97%)
4. Baha'i Faith (95%)
5. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (91%)
6. Jehovah's Witness (78%)
7. Eastern Orthodox (77%)
8. Orthodox Judaism (77%)
9. Roman Catholic (77%)
10. Liberal Quakers (75%)
11. Seventh Day Adventist (74%)
12. Sikhism (71%)
13. Reform Judaism (67%)
14. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (65%)
15. Islam (63%)
16. Unitarian Universalism (63%)
17. Jainism (59%)
18. Hinduism (57%)
19. Mahayana Buddhism (55%)
20. Neo-Pagan (54%)
21. Theravada Buddhism (50%)
22. New Thought (45%)
23. New Age (40%)
24. Taoism (38%)
25. Scientology (35%)
26. Secular Humanism (32%)
27. Nontheist (24%)

BOOMER SOONER!

Book Meme

I've been slacking, really slacking. So in an effort to get back up and ride that horse again, I will start out easy. Melessa (sort of) tagged me for a book meme. And because it's books, well I just can't turn that down, right?

Here are the rules for this one:

Just select 4 books:


1. Fiction

2. Autobiography

3. Non-fiction

4. A fourth book of your choice from any genre


Explain why the books are essential reads in no more than 30 words per book (this part might not be so easy).


1. Fiction: The Tale of Desperaux, by Kate DiCamillo. A good, humorous children's fairy tale, satisfyingly concluded without the "fairy tale ending," about getting along with all the other people in your world, good, bad or in-between.

2. Autobiography: I'm bad about this category. No autobiography is essential. I'm not sure that I've completed an autobiography since high school. Is that bad? Maybe I should set a goal? Suggestions?

3. Non-fiction: A Framework for Understanding Poverty, by Ruth Payne. Wow! This taught me compassion and understanding, as well as why "fixing" poverty is so ... complex.

4. My Choice: Persuasion, by Jane Austen. (How could I not have a J.A.?) Simple, but emotionally mature, humorous, and ends with realistic redemption. My favorite Jane Austen.

Whew, that was hard. Narrowing my book choices down to so few. I changed my mind about 900 times. As Melessa said, I'm not going to actually tag anybody. But I'd really love to hear from you either in my comments or on your blogs. It'll give me future reading material (like my 3-foot-high to-be-read-pile needs any help). Yeah, I'm talking to you Allison, and you Karen, and you Taryn, and you Staci, and you Jenn.

AAAARRRGGHHH!

Sick again with a cold, which started first, and a stomach virus. Sorry if I don't facebook or respond to emails or post anything. I think we need some prayers, please, because this is getting really old.

Grateful

14 things I'm grateful for:

1. Stake Conference was very uplifting for me. I felt like I got a lot of ideas of what I need to work on, the encouragement to do so, and not a big guilt trip about being a slacker. Just enough guilt to make it better. :)
2. There are so many good people out there in the world, like I saw earlier this week: a woman's car stalled out on a right turn onto a busy street. Two male passengers in different cars jumped out and helped her. It was good to see.
3. My husband let me take a Sunday afternoon nap, even though he probably needed it worse than I did.
4. My Christmas shopping for my kids is decided and done. What a relief that is. Maybe now we can have a blessed season, instead of a really stressful one.
5. I got to talk to some friends I don't usually see at Conference today; I always really enjoy that. And I got to visit another old friend over the weekend.
6. My kids and I are having a blast reading The Tale of Desperaux... and the chapters aren't so long that I dread doing it (bonus!!).
7. My favorite jeans fit again!!!! (You knew I couldn't leave that one off.)
8. Rex's Kindermusik homework is actually done, and has been done for most of the week. This is as opposed to our regular routine, which is to do it in the car on our way to his class.
9. The election is over. After 2 years of campaigning. I can't be grateful enough for that. It was a long 2 years.
10. Several of my children voluntarily and independently read their scriptures tonight. I love it when they come up with these things on their own. Their hearts are pure and good (in spite of me).
11. Our tap water tastes ... normal ... again. Instead of like you're drinking pure mud.
12. I'm tired enough to sleep well tonight. Probably just jinxed myself there, but that's ok.
13. The food at choir practice pot luck tonight was yummy and I didn't have to cook all of it. (Nope, I don't sing in the choir. But there are perks that go with taking your two daughters and running an impromptu nursery while they're there!)
14. I am grateful that we have so many wonderful blessings. I almost hesitate to say that for a variety of reasons. But we are very blessed in very many different ways. I haven't done a lot to deserve it, and sometimes I don't recognize my blessings for being blessings, but I am grateful that we have been so blessed.

TMI

It was decided that my last post was incautious, so I have removed it. If you have known me personally, you can shoot me an email, and I will be happy to send a copy of it to you. Tracky751 AT gmail DOT com.

And for the record (for those of you who actually saw the post), Bob knew we wanted more kids, too. I offended him by writing the story the way I did, and I apologize for that.