Dress Up

Last night before bed the Double B, Liv, and I were having a good time chatting. We got talking about our past and Dad was telling Liv about growing up and his Mom dressing up in homemade costumes for different events, or making him dress up in costumes (I'm sure this will shock you, but he didn't like it). Liv can kind of remember her grandparents dressing up as scripture characters for a camping reunion. We were just having a fun chat and laughing. I said "If Dad gets dementia, maybe he'll start dressing up as Old Testament prophets." The Double B took a pause to consider and then answered "Just shoot me. The sane me wouldn't want that."

L.O.L. 

This guy just cracks me up so much. He just amuses me. 

Today was his day off and so we went on our lunch date and then Liv was back from school when we got home. Benson and Katelyn are still testing away, and so is KJ, for that matter. 

We had a great time at young women's tonight. Kate's group had a Cake Pop and K-Pop night. How fun is that! The older girls had a scavenger hunt at Target. I really love being with them. 

Angel Food Cake

This morning while Benson and I were walking to school, we saw a man on a motorcycle that must spend a significant amount of time on that bike -- it had lots of stuff strapped to it. Benson made a noise of surprise and observed "Looks like that cyclist has been eating Chipotle -- and Taco Bell! ...So he's farting!!" Oh my goodness. I got such a laugh. Benson is a classic boy. It's so fun to hear his little boy mind at work.

When the Double B got home from work he whipped up some whipped cream and sliced some strawberries and served us all the angel food cake treat he intended for us to enjoy on Sunday! It was very, very delicious. I thought that was very nice of him to do that for us after a long day at work. Plus, he looked so cute.

Benson and I sang along to tunes while I watched Dad and Benny built Lego guys. It was fun. Spotify was playing some really confidence building numbers for us, lots of encouragement.

Here is my pretty angel food cake, as served by my boyfriend. Pretty nice, I gotta say.

While waiting, Benson decided to give his teeth a good brushing and asked me to send a text to KJ about it. He likes to keep his brother informed.

Made my second run to Costco in two days, but did make it home with the antibiotic I needed for Katelyn's ears. So that was a win. I also found some jeans the Double B liked yesterday and so I got a couple more pairs today. So that was a win, too. Let's walk on the sunny side of the street here.

 

Prom, GARTH!!!, And Other Adventures

Olivia had prom on Saturday! She had such a great time and looked like a princess while doing it.

Prom was by the airport, so she totally slayed navigating downtown, too. (Which is no small feat.) Her friends came over to get ready together, and it was so fun to listen to them having a blast together. I love the sound of happy teenagers. They are adorable and all looked amazing. 

It's been a really good year for Liv. I think she is happy that she gave herself the opportunity to go have an adventure at a new school and has made some great friends there. 

After the girls headed out for their adventures I went with the young women leaders to the temple. We went to dinner afterwards and had a doll of a time.

Honestly, I am impressed that I made it to the temple twice in one week. I may have peaked! Both were good experiences and with people that I am very fond of, so a win for our little Marie. We'd all like to think that things like this may lead to me becoming a better person over time. (That is yet to be determined. A real TBD.) 

When I got home Benson had the greatest artwork to show me! Two self portraits that I am absolutely in love with. His art is so darn fun and I am always amazed at the detail that he puts into it. 

Pretty darned cute.

Poor Kate has been sick the last few days. When she gets sick she really gets it. My heart just goes out to her, I wish she didn't have to deal with that. She is a trooper and I tried to take care of her the best that I could. I think she might be part of the migraine sufferer brigade. I really hope not. WTH, genetics!! I love that little bean. Tonight she was letting me hug on her in the kitchen before heading off to bed. I told her that she's my tiny baby bean even if she tries to turn 14. I reminded her that you can't even do those things without permission, anyway, and I haven't heard her give any requests! Liv was working on her art at the table and said "Kate, sometimes you've just got to rebel." Lol. That gave her sister a laugh and is probably good advice.

Yesterday was stake conference. It was a good meeting, but two hours is a lot for a bum. At least we aren't the Double B, he had to sit through four hours with his meeting beforehand! He said he felt his ADHD in a really intense way by the end, ha ha. Then last night he was off to the hospital to give a blessing and minister to a ward member again. He is really an amazing human being. We stan a king, as the kids say.

Olivia and I had a very unexpected opportunity to see GARTH(!!!!) this weekend!! We certainly weren't expecting such an awesome experience to come our way, but we got to go at the last minute with my cousin Paul and his awesome wife Ari, and it was a total ball. Garth is one of the great showman's, and we adore Paul and Ari. It was really fun to get to share that experience with Liv, and she had a really great time. We do realize that between seeing BTS and GARTH(!!!!) as her concert experiences, she might have unrealistic expectations for when she gets to see just your regular type of artist. She's gotten to see some of the greats at a young age. That's super awesome. And I'm basically an infant in middle age, so my young age, too! What a blast. He's so amazing. He never disappoints. We love GARTH!!!!

Kate is on the mend, thank heavens, and everybody got to school just fine today. Poor Dad got called into work at two in the morning, so he got home earlier than usual and then basically collapsed into sleep for four hours. Much needed. He was a little bummed when he woke up to have slept away the day, but I'm thankful. He does know that he really needed it. When he gets too worn down he gets a cold, and with his asthma that cough just sets into his lungs and then we're chasing it for a few months. So I'm really thankful that he learned some wisdom in his youth and got some rest (Alma would be proud).

Kate and Benny had the misfortune of having to get their teeth cleaned and checked today. Nobody likes that. But they do have the cleanest teeth ever tonight, so that's a benefit. Liv had a girls camp meeting tonight and is now working away on her art final. It's coming right along. 

Kaje is trying to survive the last week of classes and then finals next week. A stressful time, as all college students know! We're cheering for him!

I talked with my Mom on the phone this morning and then just Mom'd. My favorite kind of busy work. Alright. Here is where we finish our record for tonight. I love you and I like you. Let's talk again soon.

 

Brownies

Tonight the girls and I went for a little jaunt to drop off a birthday treat. They wrote cute notes, I packaged it mediocre, and off we went. Hopefully we spread a little cheer. 

The recipient loves brownies. I've made brownies roughly nine million times, but I'm not kidding, I can't do it now. It doesn't work. So I think my Mom put some kind of cosmic copyright on her recipe and I'm just out in the brownie cold? Nevertheless, I still made them and they still didn't really work and I still delivered them. The effort will have to be enough here. 

Love my girls. 

Creativity

Today was my boyfriend's day off. He caught up on some much needed sleep and then we went and grabbed some lunch. I told him all about what is going on with the House of Representatives and how some of those rules work, whether he wanted to hear it or not (he did not. But I told him that he does have to sometimes listen to things just because they interest me. Just like it's my job to listen about all sports and sports teams. Fantasy novels. Deranged people at work. Presidency meeting planning. I listen because I love him. So every great once in awhile, I throw out some interesting to me government fact, in the name of equality.)

This afternoon Benson came in to me. "Mom, do you remember how I used to like to sneak out of my crib when I was little? I made baby me in my crib in Lego!"

He sure did. Super cute.

Mutual was combined with the young men today at the park. It was fun to visit and Kate got this awesome picture of the moon peaking out from behind the tree.

Love my Katee girl.

Liv has been working really hard on a piece for her art class. I really, really love to see her create. It honestly amazes me and it just thrills my soul to see what she can accomplish now. It's because of so much hard work that she has put in for years, but it is certainly a thrill to witness.

I asked her if she ever impresses herself. She said that she gets so tired of looking at the same thing that she wants to blow it up, but sometimes she comes back to it a few days later and is a little impressed with what she has accomplished. I'm always impressed, honestly.

Benson loves to sit there and watch her work while building whatever Lego creation he has his mind on. This one is a Brick Seperator Kit. His sales pitch: "I got my trusty Brick Seperator Kit here! If I ever lose my brick separator, I can just grab a new one from my kit!" He made a sales video to send to KJ and everything. Pretty silly.

Lego KJ

Benson made KJ as a Lego guy. Pretty accurate, really.

Obviously Benny needed to text KJ so that he could see himself in Lego form.

It's pretty cute how much Benny loves to text or Marco Polo his big brother. And it really warms my heart how good KJ is to always reply to Benny. They're a good pair.

Great news, I got the bathrooms cleaned today! It might have happened later in the day, but it happened, by golly. They got a thorough cleaning and now I'm pretty sure they're feeling pretty happy about things. 

I went to the temple this morning with my wonderful friend Jen. It was a really nice session. I love the changes they are making. I love that they keep adjusting it to try to get it closer and closer all the time. I really like that part of believing in continuing revelation -- in the belief that there is an ongoing restoration. I also love to be with Jen. We grabbed lunch afterwards and always talk talk talk. We are a classic case of opposites attract. We are extremely different and experience the world very differently -- and we also love each other very much. It reminds me of a quote I saw recently from a "who won church" post I saw on the Insta. It said "Unity does not require sameness, but it requires harmony." That really resonated with me. I think that's true. 

I loved being in the temple and I loved my time with my friend.

I was very happy to see Liv when I got home and get her updates from school. She worked with charcoal today and it wasn't on her face at all, which was very disappointing! The first time her college art class worked with charcoal a few weeks ago she came in looking like a chimney sweep. It was one of the single cutest things in the whole world. She didn't think it was cute, but it certainly was! I am very sad that I wasn't able to sneak a picture. Today she was coal dust free. She would want that in the record.

Katelyn and Benson both have end of the year testing going on at school and that's tiring for anybody!

KJ got to work at the state park for a few hours and that was very good for his spirit and his pocket book.

My Benny has kept me company this evening while watching his farming videos on YouTube. He has kindly paused it to listen to my thoughts about how the Catholics have groups that are basically schools of thought within the faith, and why can't we do that? I love my Jesuit and Franciscan priest writers! It's not a bad idea. If the church ever calls me, I'll be sure to let them know what I'm thinking. He also watched a little video I found of a very funny drunk guy dancing with a police officer before being arrested. Good fun.

I need to load the dishwasher and I'm basically falling asleep, so there's that. I gotta go.

I love you, though. Never doubt it!

 

There And Back Again

I had a really wonderful, packed full, tiring, fun weekend.

I dropped the kids off at school and then headed up to Ephraim to meet KJ when he got out of class.

I stopped in Southern Utah to see my parents and had a really nice time eating lunch and catching up on things, then hit the road again.

The reason for my adventure:

We had lunch at the local dive and then he headed out to get ready for his songwriting concert. I went and picked up Addie and we went cokin' and then headed out to Spring City for the concert!

Besties:

The concert was awesome. It was really cool, KJ has composed many pieces for symphonies and instrumental groups that I've loved to listen to, but this is the first time I've gotten to hear a pop style song with lyrics from him. And in front of an audience! And he sang! Wow. It was awesome.

We went to get a Frosty after the show and shared all the tea with each other. These two are hilarious and adorable and I love being with them.

I arrived late to my Uncle Craig and Aunt Mary Lou's, who so kindly let me stay with them. We spent a couple of hours catching up and laughing. It was super great.

The next morning I got ready and then stopped at the cemetery to say hello to my grandparents and my Uncle Dennis. Then headed back to Ephraim. KJ and I ate lunch and then drove all the back roads, solving all the problems in the whole world. Honestly, he is really stretching and growing, and I appreciated hearing the thoughts of his heart and counseling together. I adore this boy. We picked up Addie and then after KJ had to head to the music building she and I went to dinner. It was really fun to get to catch up with her one on one. Love that girl. The concert was amazing, as usual. Their music program is really so impressive. I wish I could explain what it does to my heart to see him up there doing his thing. It's a very big and happy feeling.

One last late night Frosty run! What a blast with these wonderful humans. Headed to Nephi late again and totally crashed. Sigh. I'm aging here.

Saturday morning I headed up early to meet my brother Matt for breakfast. It was way fun to be with him. Matt is really going through a lot in his life right now and it is good for us to be together and gain strength from each other. Love that funny brother of mine.

I then headed to our almost-niece Melissa's bridal shower. It was so fun to be there to celebrate her and to be with these ladies that I love so much. It was a great party.

At 2:30 I headed home. I was really blessed, because even though it was a long drive, I wasn't overly tired and it passed surprisingly quickly. I was so happy to be back with my babies and my red hot lover! It was so fun to go and so fun to come home. You know how that goes.

Yesterday we went to church and got some rest, with the obligatory nap where you just kind of fall over asleep. Then I made meat loaf and mashed potatoes, only for Liv to have to go to a meeting and Kate to be asleep! So the two Double B's and I sat at the table just the three of us and happily ate and chatted. A little quieter than normal, but the food and the company was still good. The girls ate when they were back and awake, respectively. 

Today I was busy trying to get things in the house back in order. Not that it had been destroyed or anything, it's just that there were things that were a few days behind! The bathrooms will have to wait for tomorrow, I wasn't able to fit them in. I decided to use wisdom in my youth and remember that they'll still be there tomorrow, and I can do them then! Better then overdoing it when I'm a little run down from an adventure. I like being a homemaker very much. But I will say, and I always feel compelled to say, I'm really lucky that I get to have the job of homemaker because it's the one I really like and want, but there are lots of ways to be a kick butt ninja and I know that well! My Mom and all my aunts all had full time jobs and still somehow did it all and totally slayed. I also have a much easier time making our home very comfortable now than when I had little kids promptly undoing everything I did! (Although I seriously adored those little kids!) It is also much easier to be able to do what I want to do because I'm healthy enough to do it -- when my health was struggling, I couldn't do any of it, and that was really hard. So I just want to really acknowledge my blessings, and also say that however you choose to slay at life, I support you. And wherever you are in your life, I hope you will be gentle and encouraging with yourself.

Kate had choir festival today and had to spend the day in a tight dress and high heels, which is unfortunate, but they did great and I absolutely adore that she is my Choir Queen. All hail the queen. Benson has been dealing with a cold or allergies and his voice is a little craggy and he needs many a tissue. Bless this child. Liv very kindly came with me to Costco, which always makes things so much more exciting. I am really hoping Katelyn and Benson decide they want to go on more adventures in the next few years, or I will be a very lonesome grocery shopper when Liv leaves the nest! She's always up for a good errand run with Mom, and I sure love that. Made dinner, loitered, walked on my walking pad while listening to my book, happily jumped on my tiny trampoline (made sure to use the ladies room first, pro tip).  

It was a good day. I'll rinse and repeat tomorrow. It was a great weekend trip and I was so proud of KJ and loved that concentrated time with him. And I'm glad to be home and back to my regularly scheduled programming!