It's not a trick, it's an illusion

Busy December Day

2012-01-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

Eric's shirt...so true :)

Brandy and Sammuel eating marshmallows

What a fun, busy time we had this 2011 Holiday Season! We started off December with a bang. First off: the Youngsville Christmas Parade. Uncle Eric and his friend Aaron own a store called Patriot Shooting Sports and every year they let the nieces and nephews pile into Uncle Joshua's big huge Army truck, decorate it, and ride in the parade throwing candy. I always wait at the store to watch. I think this city's parade has the most fire and rescue trucks of all the parades in all the world. Not much to boast about in this town. We always freeze our keesters off on this day, so there's plenty of hot chocolate at the store to consume when the parade's over. Not so today. Kind of warm. But still fun!

Our girls representing Patriot Shooting Sports in the Youngsville Christmas Parade.

All Anya cared about was getting to ride in the front seat of the Deuce!

We each made a wish for the birthday girl and blew out the candle on our own cupcake. Weird?

After the parade was over we headed home to change and get ready for the day's next event: Vivien's birthday tea party at the Old English Tea Room. She was so excited to eat delicious Shepherd's Pie. Too bad they wouldn't let her order off the menu and made her eat tiny sandwiches.

My hat wouldn't stay on with my bun in my hair.

A visit to Sweetie's Candy Shop was next.

The Raleigh Stake had their annual Community Christmas Celebration where they display Nativity Scenes from around the world and have local music groups provide sacred Christmas music for our listening pleasure. Our favorite place was the children's room with the toy nativities that you could actually touch. We also enjoyed the "Life of Christ" room which had pictures and paintings from the life of Jesus Christ in chronological order.

I'm not Daniel-san! I'm a WISE MAN!!!

Veggie tales nativity

Matt and Anya are looking at one of the many pictures of Christ in the "Life of Christ" room.

And to top it off, it was Grandpa's Birthday!

Happy THANKSgivin' !

2011-12-01T13:13:00.000-08:00


Pilgrim Anya and a friend of hers. Isn't Kindergarten awesome!

Here in the South, and especially in the Coombs family, you have to pronounce the word with the emphasis on the first syllable instead of the second: THANKS-givin'...y'all.

Grand Master? Master of Ceremony? Parade Master? Guest of Honor? American Idol winner Scotty McCreary.

There are so many events this time of year, it's hard to keep track of everything. I decided that after 20 years of living here, it's high time we start participating in things. First on the list: The Raleigh Christmas Parade. This year's guest of honor was American Idol winner, and local resident Scotty McCreary. We know who he is, but who are all those other people on the float? Lackeys? Groupies? The one girl is texting. I wonder if she knows she is in a parade? Good thing Scotty brought along his Secret Service Agents with the ties and sunglasses.

Orange? I can't wear orange! Do they have this in blue?

Next on the list: Wake Forest Gobbler's Run 5K on Thanksgiving Day. I have run this race the last 3 years, and the last 2 with some of the girls. The rest of the family is always waiting for us at the end, freezing their keesters off and crying. This year, to save me from tears, I decided to have the family volunteer for the race. It gets us out of the house for a while, and let's face it, my kids are cute, thus motivating runners.

Add caption

They had us posted at the last turn of the race, just before the end. We waved pom-poms, rang cowbells and yelled "You're almost done!" to the runners. We saw a lot of people we knew. The first runner finished in about 15 minutes, the last in 1 hour 20 minutes. Since we had arrived at our posts an hour before the race even started, we ended up standing out there for 2 1/2 hours. My back was hurting, but the kids did really well.

Turkey in the brine...or straw...

When that was all done we went home to change and grab all the food I'd made the night before and head to Grandma's. I brined a turkey! It was heavy and I don't like to touch raw meat, but it was so worth it!

Matt: smokin' hot.

Matt did a brine on 2 pork shoulders and cooked them using different methods. He put one in the big green smoker and Eric put the other in a hole in the ground with hot coals. Both were amazing!

This is the end of the pictures for the day. I would have taken more, but I was covered in flour or else up to my ears in soap suds washing dishes. I did 5 pies, the rolls, the turkey and the gravy. We got to sleep in late the next day and that was heaven.

"Firecracker, Firecracker, Boom-boom-boom!"

2011-11-17T07:34:00.000-08:00

Firecracker, firecracker

boom, boom, boom!

Boys got the muscles, teachers got the brains, girls got the cuteness, so WE WON THE GAME!!!

Down the home stretch she comes!


Excited, sure, but surely you could have gotten a better picture? No? Yeah, the hair just screams "I'm sweaty".

We all took a trip to Charlotte last weekend and now our children want to live there. Ha! Last December I did my first Half Marathon, the Thunder Road Half Marathon in Charlotte. I did pretty well for a first effort, with a time of 2 hours 9 min. 59 seconds (so, 2 hours 10 minutes). I was so proud of myself for having completed this thing, but I was all alone in the big city. As it turned out, our little Girl Scout was marching in a Christmas parade that same day so the family stayed home to watch and support her in that-which I told them to do. So there I was, alone in the big city, nervous about the whole "13 miles...I'm nuts...I'm going to die..." kind of mentality. I finished the race and literally burst into tears because it was over and I was alive and unharmed. And because I was alone. Charlotte is a 3 1/2 hour drive from my house. I cried all the way home, alternating between tears of joy for my accomplishment and tears of sadness that no one cared.

The Pit Crew-squinting into the sun.

I signed up to do the race again eight months ahead of time and booked the hotel room for my family at the same time. No way was I doing this alone again! My sweet, sweet husband and children were there at the finish line to take sweaty pictures and give sweaty hugs.
Seeing them at the finish line was even better than beating my previous time by a whopping 10 minutes! My official time this year: 2 hours, 19 seconds! I had trained very hard for this and was able to run the entire time. Five years ago when I ran my first 5K (3.1 miles) race and cried when it was over, I never would have thought that I could do an entire 13.1 miles without stopping. It's never too late, people! "Never too late for now!"

"That's my Barney!!"

2011-11-16T15:24:00.000-08:00

Vivien had her first ever band concert! She has been playing the clarinet this year and has practiced so well. She was very prepared. The band played a song called "Dragonfly" and a song called "Monster Rock". They did well for first-year band students, but I did find myself chuckling because, even though it wasn't perfect, I was so proud! Tears of joy :)

I guess the girl on Viv's left wasn't pleased with anything.

She was so happy to have the support of her family that she even put up with giving Grandma Coombs some sugar in front of her friends.

Hallo-week!

2011-11-15T10:19:00.000-08:00


Anya, Evie, Vivi, friend Emily, Eliza, and Helena at the Trunk-or Treat at church. Anya was really excited about her green face.

Matt helps Evie with her make-up

Helena as Goldilocks. At school she had to dress up like her favorite book character.

Halloween was kind of strange for us this year. Matt had spent months dreaming about decorating our yard like a graveyard and dressing us all up like zombies. He had such big plans! He did zombie make-up research on You-Tube and read all kinds of things, tried all kinds of things, bought all kinds of things. He had his costume all ready to go and had even convinced a few of the kids to go along with his idea. Eliza had Halloween day off of school, and she spent the day helping her daddy make a graveyard in the front yard.
Then around 6:00 or so it started to rain....sad rain...sad, sad rain. Matt got on the computer and checked all the weather reports to see if the storm would blow over us quickly, but it didn't. I happened to need something out of the garage and when I went in there I saw my poor husband standing inside, with the big door open, just staring at the rain with a sad face. The rain wasn't letting up and the cousins had arrived for Trick-or-Treating, so we got out the umbrellas and took them out. The kids didn't last long. It was cold and very wet and most of them were wearing dress shoes without socks or tights and their feet were frozen.

All of our "kids in costume" pictures had to be taken inside the garage. Eliza handed out candy this year but she still really wanted to dress up as her favorite book character, Katniss from "The Hunger Games". I don't know why she needed the cape., but the bow and the machete were fun.

After Trick-or-Treating it was time to come inside for some nice hot gumbo! And, of course, trading the candy.

Coombs kids and Tant kids.

October Kindergarten Field Trip

2011-11-14T07:11:00.000-08:00

These are the things you need to do on a Kindergarten Field Trip:

Fun-run through the hay bale maze!...

go through the slide!..

help friends with pumpkins...

search for my own pumpkin...

play in the corn crib in your sock feet...

pose with friends!

This field trip was non-stop action! There was also a hay ride, lots of animals, a snack stop, lots of running, lots of playing, lots of energy! So adorable!

"Leg-and-a-leg-and-a-leg for you, wherever you go, whatever you do!"

2011-09-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

(That title reminds me of Allyn. I'm not sure why. It was an old SNL skit about 3-legged jeans that I could not find on youtube.)

Pumped and ready!

This weekend I had the opportunity to participate in a Ragnar Relay . It's a team of 12 runners who take turns, each running 3 legs, for a total of 198 miles. It began in Cumberland, MD and ended in Washington, D.C. Our team consisted of our awesome Captain Annie Howington, Ben Howington, Dan Weed, Tom and Shannon Beckstrand, Meredith Campbell, Will and Vivian Burgon, Megan and Ben Benedict, Michal Thompson and ME! Our team name was the Fashionable Ladie's Club.

Ben and Megan taking the team name seriously!

Our first runner, Megan, in the blue spandex!

Our team was divided into two groups, Van #1 and #2, six runners per van. While one van did their legs the other van tried to sleep. On average each runner did their leg every 12 hours. I was runner #6 so I was in van #1.

After running their first legs, Megan and Ben are really sweaty!

Vivian lookin' good!

Our van art. Sadly, the rain washed it all away.

Michal won't stop for anything! Ben helps her with a vest and headlamp in the thick fog.

Michal is the fastest runner! Her first leg of the race was titled "You've Got to Be Kidding Me!" because it was 7 miles uphill. She passed 5 people (kills!). As she passed this guy he called her a "freakin' rock star!"

Michal's Ragnar superhero belt buckle! Reward for completing that crazy leg of the race. She wore it to church today!!


When your leg is over you pass the orange bracelet to the next runner.

My team drove next to me and asked if I needed anything. This is me saying, "I just started!"

after a shower, wearing outfit #2

Since I was the 6th runner I always got to hand off the bracelet to the first runner in the second van, Annie. Once I finished my first leg our van was off to a high school in the middle of nowhere to use their locker room for a nice scalding hot shower and some r&r in their gym.
About 6 hours later we were off again for round 2!

Megan's only daylight run. Beautiful scenery! Horrible smell!

2 legs down!

Our next legs were all in the dark. Probably for the best. Vivian did a long section next to a really tall corn field. Will got out of the van and ran with her because he knew she would be scared of people jumping out at her. Very chivalrous :) Ben was always very conscious of making sure Megan had enough water. Very considerate :) Where was my husband when I needed him?! ...oh yeah...at home with our 5 children making sure they all got to where they needed to go...making food for them...rearranging my bedroom...
The second van exchange was at the South Mountain Creamery where we were offered milkshakes (declined) and cheeseburgers (one, please!). That was the best burger I have ever had in my life! I think they killed the cow an hour ago. Sadly, I only had the energy and saliva to eat half of it. Waiting in line for the burgers, we talked with other teams and discovered several other Mormon teams. They had fun team names like "Wrong Distance Runners", "Plural Wives", "51 Kids and Counting".
After the burgers we drove to the next van exchange point to sleep and wait for van #2 to finish. Looking forward to some sleep! We drove to the wrong exchange...twice. Too tired to think, I guess. Finally found the place and slept in the van for about 2 hours before it was our turn again. At 5:15 a.m. Megan began her 3rd and final leg of the race!

Michal is a blur...

Ready to tackle my final leg: 8.5 miles!!

Nervous dancing...Where the heck is Will?

funniest team name!

I'm DONE!!

Final exchange dip kiss for Will and Vivian.

Megan, Katy, Michal, Will

Feelin' like a Rock Star!!

feather boa. A great way to spot your vehicle in a vast sea of identical vans.

Part of my last leg was through Rock Creek Park in Bethesda, MD. There was a charity run 8K going on at the same time, going the same direction as me. A Ragnar volunteer yelled to me to try to just weave through those runners to cross their path. Jogging in place, looking this way and that, I turn around and what do I see?! The TEMPLE!!!!! There was Moroni, bigger than life, sun shining on him, bright as can be! It was so awesome. I wished I had a camera phone or something small. I even tried to sing "I Love to See the Temple" in my mind, but I couldn't run to that. It was a fleeting glance, but it was great!

Annie and Shannon

Our last runner!! Meredith quickly puts on her team shirt.

Run to the finish. All together, now!

One pooped team

20.8 miles! I totally earned this medal!

"Yeah!!! I only did this race for the car decal!!"

Fun facts I discovered during the long hours in the van: Will and I have the same birthday. Vivien was born in Hong Kong and raised in Toronto. Megan and I went to Seminary together (...what?!...) Michal was on her High School wrestling team!
I didn't get to see much of the people in van #2, but Van #1 sure Rocked!

Princess Leia

2011-09-22T08:01:00.000-07:00

My first time!!!

Our friend Cat ("HI, this is Cat...Olivia's mom!" Like I know anyone else named Cat :) ) took this picture of Evie when they all went to the symphony. It was one of the North Carolina Symphony 's children's concerts and before the show they allow the children to come and try out some of the instruments-with supervision, of course. Obviously it was close to Halloween. Olivia was dressed as Queen Amidala and Evie was Princess Leia.

2011-09-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

What could this be?

We came home from school today to find 2 huge boxes on our porch!

Mom's more excited than anyone!

Obviously not playing correctly, but couldn't wait to try!

Evie and Helena are taking an orchestra class at school and today was their first day of class! Good thing the instruments arrived 30 minutes before the class started. We were all so excited! The girls thought they would have to go to the first lesson without instruments. They kept saying, "I hope our instruments get here in time." and I would tell them not to count on it. When we saw the boxes on the porch Evie said, "It's because we had hope!!"

On to box #2

About a year ago Evie went to a North Carolina Symphony children's concert. After the concert the children were allowed to go try out various instruments. That is when our little girl fell in love with the cello. When this opportunity for them to have lessons after school-together!-came along, it was too good to pass up.

And what have we here?

So exciting!!

Helena has been begging me for years to let her play the violin. Finally her moment has arrived!

This was better than Christmas!!

Fit as a fiddle and ready for love!!

After the excitement of getting everything unpacked we got to load them into the car and head to class. Thank heavens the class was right then, or else we would have had some seriously antsy children!

Some tricky maneuvers are involved in getting the backpack case on her back without pulling her hair.

They learned 2 notes on the strings and they don't use the bow, they just pluck for now. They were given a few pages of songs to practice that only use those two notes. Guess how exciting that is for the rest of the family? Actually, it's pretty cool. They came home and were very eager to show their sisters what they had learned. It's so cool to see that they can play out of the same book and practice together at the same time. Helena is definitely the bossier of the two, so she's the boss and decides which one they practice next and does the counting, but Evie is more than happy to play along.

Vivi wasn't going to be left out of this action!

Vivien started clarinet at school a few months ago, so she knows more notes than the others, but she wanted to play along, then Eliza came in on the piano. Eventually they found a recorder for Anya.

A one and a two...!

Helena and Evie played those same songs over and over until after 10:00 last night. This is what I woke up to this morning...

Taken at 6:55 a.m. the next day.

Boney Baptism and Baby Blessing and the Blanket (5 of the 7 B's!)

2011-06-28T07:04:00.000-07:00

	We got to head out to the Boney's again to see their sweet new baby be blessed and to witness the baptism of Adam. The program was so sweet! They did the blessing first, allowed Aron time to change, then he performed the baptism. Grandpa Lee and Lilja did a lovely duet of "A Child's Prayer". Emma gave a sweet talk, as did Grandpa (Grandfather?) Boney.
The Baptism Boy with his parents

How cute is my sweet husband holding this little baby boy?!

Gorgeous Mommy and Baby

Making lanyard braided key chains with Grandma

After the program we all went to the Boney's for a lovely meal and some visiting with the family. Grandma Lee brought along a craft for the kids to do. She always brings something for them to do with her. One time it was decorating flip flops, and last year they made cute necklaces using metal washers, cute paper and resin. Sometimes the project is fast, other times it takes a while.

Visiting with Dad

Anya plays on the tire swing in her black dress and shiny silver shoes

Of course there was time to play in the backyard and visit with cousins, even though we were dressed in our Sunday best.

I wanted to make sure that Claire Lee received this blanket for her baby Ian before I posted pictures of it as my June crochet project. It might be a while before you see any of my handiwork. My current project is making me go blind and driving me nuts, so it won't be done any time soon.

2011-06-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

	Our girls had a lot of End-of School-Year activities this week. We started off with Eliza's award ceremony at the middle school where she was given an award for being on the A/B Honor Roll. She was later asked to stand with the members of a book club she is in, called the Newberry Club. She read 15 books for this club from September to December. That's in addition to all her regular school work.
On stage for "A/B Honor Roll"

being recognized for reading a whole lot of books for Newberry Club

Vivien on Field Day

Vivien's class had a whole day of fun with burgers, popcorn, snowcones, a huge inflatable water slide, bubbles, sidewalk chalk and movies. She even won a pie-eating contest! ( That was during Eliza's ceremony, so i don't have pictures of that. I hear it was super cute, though)

helena

That night we had the recital of my 18 piano students. Each one of them worked so hard to have their songs ready, got really nervous, but performed well.

Cousin "it" plays Old West Rodeo. I swear we own combs at our house!

This year I had several of the students play duets with each other, instead of with me. They are progressing to the point where the duets are actually difficult and fun to hear. Eliza, Addy and Jaye did a trio! Sometimes piano playing can feel like such a solitary activity. I hoped the duets and trio would help the kids feel like part of a team, where you really need to work hard and do your part because the others are counting on you. Also new this year: trophies! I don't know why I never did this before, but sheesh! Vivien played basketball for 2 months and got a trophy. My piano students come to lessons for 9 months straight and practice every day, so I felt they needed some incentive, or at least something to show their friends.


Beautiful and talented! Jaye, Addison and Eliza playing Rachmaninoff's Valse Trio

The next day Helena's class had a picnic with the parents. It was very short, since her teacher was not able to be there, but I got this fun shot of her.

Helena, chillin' at her class picnic

Evie's class also had a water day activity to celebrate the end of school. After I put the camera away she grabbed two of these squirt bottles and came at me with both "guns" blazing! I was soaked! She also got covered in mud. This outfit is forever ruined.
It's thanks to the efforts of the parents of these kids that they get to have fun days like this. My girls have wonderful teachers and we love our schools, but without all the parent involvement, it wouldn't be the same. Thank you, PTA!


vivien

For some reason I can't get this last picture to go up and be with the other recital pictures. My blogging skills are still germinating. I'm sad that there aren't any pictures of me from the recital because I really made an effort to look good that day........ hee hee hee...

Road Trip!

2011-06-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

The kids and I took a road trip to visit the Boney's and to see their new baby. We packed snacks, movies, water bottles, iPods, wet wipes and headed out. When a movie was over, they plugged in the iPod and danced in their seats to Eliza's song selections. Vivien declared it "the best road trip ever!" Four hours and 3 potty breaks later, we arrived! We followed the Boney clan to the baseball park where the kids played on the playground and the moms played with this adorable little guy.

Aron brought a picnic and the kids got creative with the chips.

Adam played ball while the rest of us ate food and held the baby.

I don't know how this game turned out since we had to leave before it was over. The kids played so hard with their cousins, they were all covered in powdery soft orange dirt for the ride home. We had to do our obligatory stop at Doumar's Drive-in Restaurant for a milk shake, which was worth it, as usual!
We can't wait to go back to see the cousins!

Play Ball!!

2011-05-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

Most of our evenings these days are filled with trips to the ball field for softball games. Anya, Evie and Eliza are all playing. We attend an average of 5 games per week. Thank heaven there is a playground close by, so Vivien and Helena can play or watch the game. I'm loving watching my girls!

Evie awaits her turn at bat with her friend Shannon

running into home plate

I was unprepared with the camera when Evie was up to bat. Secretly, I didn't expect her to hit the ball. She improves each time she plays.

Getting praise from Coach Brian

happy ball player!

messing around in the outfield

playing catcher

Evie's friend Shannon is on the team with her. They are also both in Girl Scouts together. Evie is a busy kid. If she's not playing in a ball game, or going to practice, she's at Girl Scouts, Achievement Days, or playing the piano. Hard to believe our laid-back, easy-going girl has so much to do!

Waiting on 3rd

running home!

These are pictures from Eliza's first game of the season. The sun was setting fast, so not a lot of photos that game. More to come...

Easter Part III: The Boney's

2011-05-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

The Boney Dugout

After our Easter get-together at the Coombs grandparent's house it was time to spend time with the Boney cousins! They had brought their baseball gear with them so we headed out to the ball field for a quick game.

Matt fixes Anya's "Regulation Miniskirt"

matt takes a swing

We didn't keep score, but it seems like the Boney's won that one. Re-match next year!

The kids dyed eggs until late into the evening. Sunday we attended our ward for church, which was very nice. After church the adults spent at least 4 1/2 hours cooking. We made ham, yellow potatoes, rolls, strawberry and coconut pies, Sarah's salad, watermelon...yum! The perfect meal! I was exhausted, so was Allyn. You should have seen Prego Allyn playing baseball! I was in the outfield without a camera when she was up to bat, so no pictures, but she could move really well for a pregnant lady.

As usual, we were very sad to say goodbye to our cousins. We are so glad they live close by!

Dinosaur eggs

Lilja and Noah tye dye the egg

Easter Part II: Coombs Grandparents

2011-05-18T11:21:00.000-07:00

Evie helps Zaccary find eggs.

Helena checks under the bushes.

Vivien, Shane, Heather, Raiden, Chloe and Payton

Grandma Coombs holds baby Sammuel. Herman Tant holds Kelly.

Grandma's Azaleas

As you can see, it was a lovely afternoon Easter Egg Hunt. No fighting, squabbling or other kinds of tension between the kids. We had a lovely meal after the egg hunt. I don't remember what we ate. I'm sure it was delicious.

Easter Part I : Miss Susan's House

2011-05-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

kids looking for eggs. parents taking pictures

Our Easter holidays always end up being marathon events lasting the whole day and including family and friends. Our awesome neighbor, Miss Susan, always organizes a great Easter Egg Hunt for the neighborhood kids. The number of kids grows exponentially every year, as does the excitement.

Vivien is so happy!

Anya shows some of her loot.

This year, for the older kids, Miss Susan organized an Egg Drop contest. There was a table set out with all kinds of materials such as egg cartons, empty strawberry boxes, cotton balls, socks, empty toilet paper rolls (or "hoo hoo"'s as we used to call them). Each contestant was given one raw egg and had to create a container for the egg to nestle in as it was dropped from various heights.

Eliza and Helena, mostly Eliza, creating their egg drop box. Too bad that big box is in the way and we don't know what they used. Dang it.

Meanwhile, all Anya wanted to do was dye eggs.

Katniss Everdeen awaits the outcome of the Egg Drop Contest.

Round 1: Dropped from the top step of a ladder.

Mr. Eric drops a container. Meghan looks on with mixed emotions.


Rena's egg didn't make it.

Mr. Eric tosses a carton for round3

	Round 2: Tossed in the Air off the top step of a ladder.	Round 3: Tossed like a football down the driveway.
The WINNER!!!!!

Most of the kids. Some of the littlest ones (Anya) refuse to be photographed. Also some of the bigger ones (Eliza) refuse to play along at picture time.

Anya refused, REFUSED, to participate.

Helena (in blue)

Evie's egg won the contest! It was the lone survivor of round three! She had used a big man-sized wool sock and stuffed it with cotton balls, then added her egg, then put that inside of an empty plastic strawberry box from the grocery store and added more cotton balls, then duck taped the whole thing shut. She won a $5 gift card to Target!
Miss Susan is a children's party genius, and the reason my children will have fond memories of holidays to look back on when they are adults.

Stay tuned for Easter Part II: Grandma Coombs' House!

Monthly Crochet

2011-05-09T05:49:00.000-07:00

Oyster shell buttons from Mom's very organized button collection.

I'm trying to do at least one crochet project a month, but these projects take a very long time to complete, so it might be more like every other month :)

This is the sweater I started and intended to wear for my Grandpa Furniss's funeral last January. I didn't finish it in time, choosing instead to spend my time with my family. I finished it a week later.

Photo by Noah Boney age 3

Allyn is so cute! She saw me working on the brown afghan for Nicole and found the pattern for this cute jumper and asked me if I could show her how to make it. I looked over the pattern and thought, "How am I going to explain this? It's pretty complex." I didn't want to crush her hopes and dreams, so I said, "It would be easier for me to just make it for you." She got that adorable sly look on her face and said, "Secretly that's what I was hoping for all along!"
After working on the brown blanket for 7 months, this dress only took about 3 weeks.

Parades and Games!

2011-04-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

The Town of Rolesville had their annual Recreation Day parade to kick off Softball season! Each of the teams in the league decorated a "float" for their team. Each team was well-represented and tossed out plenty of candy...which is why we have parades, right..for candy?

This team went all out to decorate their float!

Grandma Coombs and cousins Raiden, Chase and Akayla came to see the parade with us.
None of our kids were on this float, I just liked it.

A member of the Carolina Hurricanes Storm Squad hands out temporary tatoos, much to Chase's delight.

While most of the girls from the team were unable to come to the parade, Eliza, Matt and two sisters from the team had a great time in the Duce with Uncle Josh as a driver.

3/4 of Helena's loot

(unknown kid) Helena, Akayla and Raiden dive for candy

Anya throws candy to her family from the team's truck.

After the parade it was game time! Anya's team had their first game. Her team is the Nationals, so they are the same colors and same hat as the Washington Nationals. I don't know who the other team was. They don't keep score, and they don't do "outs". Each kid gets to bat in each inning. It's the cutest thing in the world!

I'm so gonna win this!

The fierce wind kept blowing her hat away.

Again...I got this...

Snapping away with the camera, I got the best shot...with the fence interfering.

Playing "Pitcher"...Awesome Sauce!

Love the pink bat, helmet and mitt. Eliza and Evie have games later in the month.

How I Spend My Spare Time

2011-04-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

One of the ways I like to spend my "spare" time is crocheting. My Grandma Shirley Lee taught me how to do a basic single crochet stitch when I was 8 years old. A Relief Society sister taught me how to read a crochet pattern. Since then I have been making mostly baby blankets, but also a few items of clothing.

Here are two blankets I made in 2010, both given to Nicole and Brian -one for Christmas and the other for their new twin boys.

Each row took me about 10 minutes to do. I figured that in the time it took me to make this blanket, I could have run 265 miles.

I also did this same pattern in a light blue for Melissa's baby in 2009. I loved it so much I had to do it at least one more time! The purple you see underneath is the blanket Grandma Shirley made me when I got married.

A huge salute and thank you to Nicole for "fixing" my blog to make it easier for me to post. I'm no longer the Angry Blogger!!

"Fun Day"

2011-04-12T19:14:00.001-07:00

The kids were Tracked-Out of school for the whole month of March. Sadly, I still had piano students and Anya still had preschool, so their vacation from school wasn't a real vacation. Each girl got to have her turn to spend a few days at Grandpa and Grandma's house, so it wasn't completely boring.
On the Sunday beginning the final week of their track-out, Vivien said to me, "Can this week be 'Fun Week'?" Poor thing! She thought Mom could just cancel all her plans and obligations for the whole week and we could go gallivanting all over town without a care in the world. I compromised and decided to have one day of "fun".
We began the day by going to the local Chick-fil-A restaurant where they were doing a special free breakfast that morning. Delicious chicken biscuits for free! Thanks, Chick-fil-A. You're a great member of our community!
Then we headed to the library and we each got several books. For free. Thanks, local library! You make learning fun!

After the library we headed across the county to the $1.50 movie theater to see "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". Since it was just me, Anya, Eliza and Vivien, this part of our adventure only cost $6! Thanks, Blue Ridge Cinema.

We had arrived at the theater way too early, so we stopped by the newly renovated Museum of Art and walked around their outdoor exhibits. Beautiful!...and free :) Our favorite was the stainless steel tree.

The movie "Tangled" was released on DVD on this particular day, so we stopped by the local K-Mart (I know! I didn't think they still existed!) and purchased a copy. We watched it in the car on our way back to our part of the county. Cute movie-I highly recommend it.
The girls were a little short on weather-appropriate clothing, so we stopped by Old Navy and hit the sale. We made out like bandits!

We made it home around 4:45. After bringing all our "loot" into the house, my sweet Vivien says to me, "Aren't we going swimming?"

Posting Already!

2011-03-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

I know I don't post things nearly as often as I should. And why is this part underlined? I have no idea and no desire to work out how to fix it. I decided to see what I could get done in just 15 minutes, as far as doing a blog post. It took longer than that just to upload the pictures and now we're going on 21 minutes.
So here's an update on one of our little cuties. This is Helena on her 7th birthday. She got a bike that she'd been asking for. Her daddy and I went to the store to pick one out several days before her birthday. He declined to have the store workers assemble it for him. Note to self: if they offer to put it together for you, take them up on it! The night before her birthday, a Sunday, he got the box out of it's hiding place and wouldn't you know, the frame was dented. He had to explain it all to her the next morning and then return it later in the day for one that was pre-assembled.
Helena is more of a perfectionist than any of our children. She wants to learn everything and excel at it all. I am her piano teacher. She is always excited to practice or to have her lesson and she is very hard on herself if she doesn't catch on instantly and play things perfectly the first time. There are tears, sometimes. But she always perseveres and works it out. She has never told me that she hates piano or that she wants to quit (like some other little girls that live at my house). She played "Money Can't Buy Everything" for the school talent show and I was so proud of her.
Basketball season just ended. This was Helena's first year playing. She had a great coach that was patient with a bunch of kids who didn't have a clue. They all had a great time. Helena seemed to love every minute of it. She had a huge smile on her face during every practice and, as you can see in the pictures, she put every ounce of energy that little soul could muster into every game she played.
I love how far back her head goes when she shoots! She's so short!
Eliza is our new cameraman. She took all the basketball shots because I was too busy yelling instructions during the game :)

Total time this post took: 35 minutes
Next time we'll see what I can do in just 15 minutes. Heck, if Nicole with twin baby boys can do this, so can I, right?

October, I guess

2010-12-29T08:13:00.000-08:00

This post is very late, but I still wanted to do things chronologically. In October, Eliza and Vivien ran in the Autism Society race in downtown Raleigh. They did great and it was definitely for a good cause, as most of these races we participate in are. I was very proud of them.

Halloween seemed to be never-ending this year. Anya goes to 2 different classes. She has Miss Jamie's preschool on Monday and Wednesday, then Miss Salena's Parent's Morning Out on Tuesday and Thursday, so she got to do a lot of dressing up this year. Anya was Supergirl at Miss Jamie's party. They still did all their calendar and alphabet routine with their costumes, then they had a blow-out bash for Halloween. Jamie is so clever and so well-prepared. She's awesome and Anya loves her!

On Halloween Night we did our neighborhood party at the Conroy's which is always a treat. Susan filled boxes with various gross things and had people put their hands in it to feel, telling them that what they were feeling were things like eyeballs and a heart and guts. The power of suggestion and people's imaginations filled in the rest and it was fun to see people react.
They also did the annual doughnut-eating race where the doughnut is hanging from a string and you have to eat it without touching it. Anya and her friend Quinn were struggling.

Evie was a super-cute Princess Leia. Evie wears glasses. Princess Leia does not. So Evie hooked her glasses to her PL belt to go trick-or-treating. Guess who came home without glasses? That's right. The glasses are somewhere in our neighborhood, lost forever. She had to get a new pair.

The Coombs cousins came to our neighborhood to Trick-Or-Treat since none of them have neighbors. That's always a fun time for them and pretty much the only time we get to have them over at our house, since we go to
Grandma and Grandpa's on Sundays throughout the year. After the walk around the neighborhood is over, the kids dump out all their candy and divide and trade while we watched "The Princess and the Frog" and ate gumbo and beignets. (spell check is having a hard time with that last word. I really don't know how to spell it, but I know it's not Beijing.)

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

2010-09-29T08:20:00.000-07:00

Hello from Hogwarts! Our family took a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, where they've recently opened The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It is amazing!! Just like being in the movie. Inside this castle is a crazy ride where you "fly" around the outside of Hogwarts, fly through the hallways, over and under the bridges, go through the Forbidden Forest, see dementors, and huge spiders. It's one of those rides that combines visual effects with real motion, so you really feel like you're flying, even though you're strapped into a seat. We all agreed it was the best ride in the whole theme park.
Here we are drinking Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice. The Butterbeer tasted like cream soda and had some kind of marshmallowy, carmelly topping. The Pumpkin Juice tasted like cider. Both very tasty.
Inside Honeydukes, where Helena is in "Every Flavor Bean" heaven.

This is the window of a fake wizarding sports store. This is a trunk with Quidditch balls in it. They wiggled like they are trying to get out of the trunk. There was an a capella choir singing "Double, Double Toil and Trouble" with the big toads. You could also get your picture taken with the beautiful ladies of Beaubaton and the men of Durmstrang. There are two roller coasters; the Duelin g Dragons and the Flight of the Hippogriff. Anya rode the Hippogriff 4 times! She would get off the ride, yelling, "That was so, so ,so, so awesome! Now it's time for Mommy to take me!" Then it was, "Now it's time for Liza to take me!" We were at the park at a great time of year-just after everyone else in the country has just started school! There were very short lines, and sometimes no lines at all for the rides (thank you, year-round school!).Of course every witch and wizard needs to have a wand! You can purchase your wand at Olivander's, or from the little stand outside.
They have done such a great job of recreating Harry Potter world for Muggles. They play music from the movies throughout the park, and in the bathrooms you hear Moaning Myrtle whining. We ate a great lunch at the Three Broomsticks, and the only "injury" of the day was when Helena was trying to pry a huge lollipop out of it's stand and whacked herself in the nose and got a nosebleed.

Noo York Is Where I'd Raathaa Stay!

2010-07-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I surprised Matt with a trip to New York City to celebrate his awesomeness. Well, that, and our 14th wedding anniversary. I started making these plans in February, so keeping this trip a secret for six months has been very hard.

Here we have the visual assault that is Times Square at night. Seriously, it's like after midnight in this photo. Why aren't these people in bed? Even the tour bus is still going!

Ahh, the World of Hershey's Chocolate! Actually that's an empty piggy bank.

That's right, folks! Giant M&M dispensers as far as the eye can see. They had me in mind when they created this place.
Wow! I'm in heaven!

We braved the NY Subway System and headed to the new Yankee Stadium to catch a game. A foul ball was hit right at us, but the kid in the seat in front of us caught the ball. That's ok, because I was holding my drink and my mind kind of went blank-"How am I going to catch the ball and not drop my drink in the process?"

She's not really thee Mrs. Jeter, just a crazy stalker. And she was pregnant.

The Yankees lost the game, but it was still the event of Matt's lifetime to be at the stadium. George Steinbrenner had died a few days earlier, as well as the man who was the "Voice of the Yankees" for several decades. They did tributes to both of them.
Now Matt is in heaven! He didn't leave his seat the entire game. Not even to use the bathroom.

We caught a show while we were in town! Mostly I bought the tickets to this show the day I found out about it, back in February, hoping against all hope that the same cast would still be here. Hooray, hooray! The whole original cast was still in the show. "Promises, Promises" starring the hilarious Sean Hayes (from tv's "Will & Grace") and the lovely Kristin Chenoweth (from tv's "Pushing Daisies", and a whole bunch of other stuff). The show was very '60's, all the music was by Burt Bacharach and it's based on the movie "The Apartment".
We laughed really hard, and I think I cried a little when she came on stage. (Don't mock me, I wasn't the only one). I promise i loved it, as this huge poster in Times Square promises you.

We opted to take the harbor cruise around lower Manhattan, rather than stand in 100-degree weather for 2 hours to get on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. The boat was very windy and the teenage boy taking the picture was impatient.

The cruise was fun because then we got to go under the Brooklyn Bridge. It reminded me of "Newsies". You know, "Never fear, Brooklyn is here!" You don't know?...oh...whatever...

We found Macy's-the world's largest store. And I totally believe it. That place is huge. Not just tall, it takes up a whole block. We had to go up every floor so Matt could say he'd been up to the top. The closer you get to the top, the older the escalators get. Older and scarier.

When I told Eliza we were going to New York she said, "Are you going to find '30 Rock'?" We did, and the Empire State Building, Lincoln Center, the LDS Temple, Radio City Music Hall, you name it, we saw it. Our hotel was in the Times Square/Broadway area. We walked up and down Broadway so many times! We saw some things we'd like to forget. But it was a great trip, a much-needed break from work and some much-needed time together having an adventure. The food was hit and miss, but the winner for the whole trip was HB Burger near Times Square. Great food! Home made sodas, not too loud, not to 'thematic'. And a big thank-you to Faye and James for watching the kids (and Virgil!) for the whole weekend!

Evie's Baptism

2010-06-15T20:28:00.000-07:00

Evie was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last weekend. It was such a sweet occasion for all of us. Grandpa and Grandma Lee came from Idaho and we were grateful to have them, as well as the Coombs grandparents there with us. Even the Boney's came from Virginia! How fun to have so many cousins around!

Evie shared her baptism day with her friend Rylee Fish er. The service was so sweet. Evie played the piano for us to sing the opening hymn, "Love One Another" and Grandpa Bob sang "Baptism". Bro. Buchanan gave a talk about baptism and Rylee's uncle Sky gave a talk on receiving the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful that my sweet husband has the priesthood and was able to baptize Evie. Rylee's father performed her baptism.
I get to attend a lot of baptisms, but this one was particularly sweet and emotional for me. I always loose it when a child is being confirmed a member of the church and receives the gift of the Holy Ghost, which happened this time. I admit, though, that I lost it when Evie was playing the opening hymn and did such a great job!

The cousins had a great time causing trouble at our house afterwards. "Princess Noah" was a big hit! That poor kid. I don't know if someone did this to him, or if it was self-inflicted, but he wore the dress the rest of the day.

2010-06-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

April and May were very busy months for us. Evie had a field trip to the NC Life and Science Museum in Durham. The main attraction was the butterfly house. Her class had studied the life cycles of Painted Lady butterflies, so this was a real treat for the kids to see many species of butterflies. They also got to see a small petting zoo, a black bear habitat, lemur habitats, dig for fossils, and learn how to "harness" the wind using sailboats. An educational time was had by all. It was very hot that day...

Our ward had a Primary activity where each family in the ward drove a good hour to the temple. The children sang "I Love to See the Temple" and drew pictures of the temple, walked around the grounds, and enjoyed the spirit of the temple together as a family.
Our sweet Evie had her birthday! She had her first sleep-over birthday party with several of her friends. Never underestimate the energy of seven 8-year-old girls. Holy Cow! They stayed up well past midnight, causing a little stress on her daddy. We are used to children going to bed when they are told. Some of these little girls just didn't want to settle down. You'd think that after Eliza or Vivien's sleep-over parties when they turned 8 that I would have learned my lesson and tried something different. Oh well...

Helena participated in the Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade talent show. Her trick is that she gets into a head stand and sings each verse of a song that has a count-down, such as "Five little monkeys sitting in a tree, teasing Mr. Alligator-can't catch me!" and then there are four monkeys, then three, etc. At the talent show she sang, "On Top of Spaghetti". She was totally the hit of the program! Her shirt stayed put the whole time, too! I wish that kid in the doorway wasn't in the picture, but I wanted to show the stage.

Vivien had a field trip to Carolina Beach. A nice, solitary drive for me. The class boarded this lovely vessel and during the 1/2 hour ride to Masonboro Island, they were taught all about crabs and crab habitats.

We got to try "Crabbing" in the little creek. We were unsuccessful.

It's a Boy!

2010-04-12T17:55:00.001-07:00

Back in January Matt and I had had enough of the girls begging us to get them a dog. They have been asking for years. My whole deal was, I had already had 5 babies and I didn't need to clean up after a dog. I didn't think they were responsible enough to take care of it themselves, therefore-no dogs. So, for a Family Home Evening in January, Matt made a list entitled, "We Want a Dog" that listed everything we would need to purchase in order to own a dog. Included on the list were the prices of all these things, adding up to a total of $750. Things like the adoption fee, electric fence, leash, dog food, dish, etc. The girls were told to start "saving their pennies" and we'd see where we were come spring time. They all ran up to their rooms and got all the money they had and started counting it. That night they already had almost $100.

They've been keeping the jar on the counter in the kitchen and anytime one of us has change or finds money we would add it to the jar. Matt started watching "Dog Whisperer" and doing research on different breeds. Shortly before we left on vacation Matt was told by a friend that there was a Basset Hound in need of a home and were we interested? We couldn't take the dog right then and it was placed elsewhere, but the seed was planted. Matt started doing all kinds of research on Bassets and found that they are a very docile, laid-back breed. Most are content to sit around all day. In general they don't jump on people-and they're cute as heck! When we got back from our vacation we went to the Cary Town Center Mall where there was a Meet and Greet with the Carolina Basset Hound Rescue people. The girls loved the dogs! When we got home we recounted the money we had all been saving for 3 months. We had $352 and some change. Not a whole lot, but pretty impressive. We filled out an adoption application online and within 20 minutes we got a phone call from the woman in charge. A few days later the CBHR came for a home visit and brought several Bassets with them. They recommended a few dogs that had been in foster care (all living with families, not in shelters) and after talking with all the foster families about each particular dog, we decided to adopt a sweet 6 year old doggy named Virgil. We picked him up on Saturday and we still haven't heard him make noise. Except for the noise of him shaking his head really hard so his ears flap, which is a pretty scary sound coming from outside your bedroom door at 3:00 in the morning. He doesn't jump on people or furniture, doesn't chew things up, doesn't bark loudly. He goes on a walk and then he wants to sleep for a while. AND he's trained! NO accidents! This is a breed I can live with! Then here's the best part: Virgil had been in foster care for so long that his adoption fee was waived. We got him for free!

2010-02-13T13:36:00.000-08:00

This is what 4 years old looks like.

This is what 6 years old looks like.

This is what 34 years old looks like.

This is what 60 looks like.

Christmas Stockings!

2009-12-28T14:24:00.000-08:00

I decided that we needed Christmas stockings that actually coordinated. We have been buying random stockings anytime we had a baby and none of them looked like a set. I spent a great deal of time in a wonderful store called Quilts like Crazy looking at fabric and found 7 fabrics with the same colors in them. Each child chose one for their stocking and we went to town. They each traced the pattern onto their fabric and Eliza did all the sewing. Then I spent about 2 hours ironing everything. Why is it that the most time-consuming part of sewing is really the ironing part? After all the hand-work was done I put them all up and stood back and almost cried at how cute they turned out. I was going to do a crochet edge on them, but I think they are super cute without it, so I'll leave them this way.

As usual, I bought too much fabric for my project and had a bunch left over. I cut most of it into strips and squares and triangles and Faye helped me arrange the scraps into something useful, like a table runner to match our stockings.

You are me? No, I am Hugh!

2009-12-28T13:30:00.001-08:00

Two Eliza's!
My dear sweet friend Eliza Moody came to visit us in November. We hadn't seen each other since I was pregnant with Helena (so, 6 1/2 years ago) and even that was a brief visit.
Eliza and I met in Pep Club at Woods Cross High School back in 19%%. I instantly wanted to be her friend. She was always smiling, very witty, knew what was what and we had a similar sense of humor. She was-and still is-a great example to me of someone who followed the doctrine of the church because it was the right thing to do, not just because it was the thing to do. I always loved her name and thank heavens my husband had an ancestor named Eliza, otherwise we may not have given our firstborn that name. Even though our visits are few and far between, I still love seeing her and I was so excited for her to meet my children.

Halloween Night

2009-11-15T11:36:00.000-08:00

This post may end up being a little out of order chronologically since I'm typing a d blogging with a bandaged wrist. I'm just happy that it's getting done at all! The whole Coombs family came to our house for Trick-or-treating. We tried to get a photo of all those who dressed up, but Anya and Zaccary refused. Aunt Heather offered Anya a dollar to get in the picture,but no dice. Isn't Kelly's cape so pretty! After they all went out trick-or-treating they came back for the annual candy swap. They all dump out all their candy and trade. We watched "Charlie Brown Halloween" and had delicious treats. Chocolate Spot Cookies, Apple Cider Doughnuts, Pumpkin Dip with Ginger Snap cookies and hot/lukewarm apple cider to drink. All recipes are on the Seven Bum Kitchen blog.

The kids started out the day really excited about carving pumpkins. By the next hour or so, they had all abandoned their Daddy who finished carving all 7 pumpkins.

Fall Fun!

2009-11-01T17:04:00.000-08:00

Helena's class had 'Scarecrow Day" at school last week. All the kids came dressed as scarecrows and the teachers attached the paper "stuffing". I was lucky enough to be able to help at the party. I love going to the girls' classes to help out. It gives me a whole new respect for their teachers! They got to eat pumpkin seeds, make a scarecrow puppet, decorate cookies to look like scarecrows, listen to scarecrow stories, and play scarecrow games (yes, games). Gotta love Kindergarten!

September Highlights

2009-10-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

In September
our family took a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. We only went to the actual beach for a few hours one evening and it was nice. The kids' favorite thing was the pool at our resort. I didn't take any pictures there because I didn't want the camera to get wet. Can anyone tell me how to get the computer to stop underlining everything I write!? Another highlight was Broadway at the Beach. It's a big lake surrounded by a boardwalk and shops, restaurants, amusement parks, golf, the aquarium and an Imax theater.

Anya and Helena dancing to 50's music at Broadway at the Beach.

Taking a break during a golf game.Vivien on the airplane ride; Evie and Anya on some weird car ride.

Also in September, our oldest child turned 12! Can you believe how tall she is. I took off my high heels for the pictures so you could see how tall she is. She had a rockin' party with her friends that was very...loud. Yeah, those were some loud kids. Who does she look more like: Me or her grandmother, Faye? toss up...

We bought apples at the farmer's market and Anya and I made apple pie filling to can. Anya was my helper with the core/peel/slice machine.

Ta-Da!

I do comb her hair once in a while.

A Trip We Took A Few Months Ago...

2009-10-23T15:50:00.001-07:00

My hard drive is completely full and I haven't been able to download pictures for a while. Matt was finally able to get some things cleaned out (over 1,000 saved emails? Really?) so I could get the pictures out of the camera to share with you. It's been quite a while, and the downloading is slow, so this post may end up being really short. We'll see!
Family Trip to Norfolk, VA. How fun to have Mom and Dad and Aaron here for a few days! We got in a temple trip and a nice lunch at a nice restaurant before we all headed up to VA to see the Boney's. Good Cousin-Time was had by all.

First Day of School

2009-07-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

The girls had less than one week off from school before the time came to head back for the new year. We now have a 7th Grader, 4th, 2nd, and Kindergartener. I didn't go to the trouble to walk my 7th grader to the bus stop and take a picture of her. I thought that would be a little embarrassing for her, so she's not pictured here. Poor Anya is home alone with Mom, now. When all the other girls were at school, she came to me after a while and said, "Where are the girls?" I told her they were at school. She said, "But where's Helena?" She's at school, sweets. It's just you and Mommy! The look on her face changed a little to suprize/sadness/horror. "But WHY!!!" And now that I've been able to get myself into a routine of working out in the morning before the kids wake up, Anya and I have nothing to do for a few hours. We're working on a schedule, but she's so bored. Any suggestions? I can't go to the park every day. Maybe the library?

Pasarlo Bomba!

2009-07-12T17:49:00.000-07:00

Our 4th of July was so much fun! We got to tour this amazing piece of work, the USS Carl Vinson, where Uncle Aron works. It is huge! The girls loved it. Of course their favorite part was lunch in the Officer's Club. How can you not like a lunch that comes with a never-ending tater-tot buffet? good times...

That evening we made smores around the fire pit while we danced around to Michael Jackson music. Anya's dance to "Beat It" was the best. She kind of stomped around and pointed her fingers and glared at people.

On the morning of the 4th we walked to the nearby high school and had a family fun run around their track. The kids were on scooters while the adults ran. Allyn did her speed walking, which is faster than a lot of people's running.

Then we headed to the beach. Check out Helena's head-stand! She stayed like that for a long time so we could get enough pictures. Girl's got some good abs!

2009-07-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

Our family participated in Race for the Cure again this summer. This year we were joined by our cousins, the Tant family. Kelly and I did the early race, then we all walked around visiting sponsors' booths. The favorite was the Skinny Cow booth. Free ice cream! Eliza, Payton, Vivien and Evie did the 1-mile race with Payton and Vivi having a fight-to-the-death finish. Evie and Eliza followed a few minutes later. Evie had tripped on her shoelace and Eliza had stopped to help her up ("Sisters, sisters; there were never such devoted sisters!"). You see the green shirts on Helena and Anya? See how they say "Outta My Way!" How cute is that! That was the shirt for the kids dash. The back says, "Eat my dust!" Sadly, by the time their race time came around they were both too tired and too hot to do the race. They were so "done" with race day. Akayla Tant did her kids dash heat while Anya and Helena cried under a tree in the shade. Thankfully this year the wait for the bus to go home wasn't nearly as long. We got home, changed and spent a few hours in the pool at the Y while Daddy slept at home on the couch.

Filling the Void

2009-05-30T19:43:00.001-07:00

So as many of you know, I have terrible varicose veins. I know, great way to begin a blog post, but bear with me. I do everything I'm supposed to in vain attempts to ease the pain. I eat right, I exercise 5-6 times a week, I wear the super-tight hosiery, I've even started taking supplements from the GNC store that are targeted for leg circulation-all to no avail. For the last few weeks I've had to spend about 20 minutes each day marinating in a very hot bath. Some may be thinking "Oh, how nice!" but seriously it's just very hot and boring. So, to fill the time with something other than the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine, I decided I needed a book to read in the bath. I had purchased a few books for Eliza from a school book order a while back, but since "Twilight" entered her life, she won't read anything else, so I grabbed one of the books I'd gotten her and took to the tub.

The book was called Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. By the third day of reading this book in the short tub-time, I was so hooked on it that I couldn't put it down! Who knew?! Fairies, witches, not exactly my first choice, but the conflict between good and evil combined with children as heroes really drew me in. Could be compared to Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter-or Star Wars, for that matter. I finished the book in a few days, then I was off to Barnes and Noble to buy the next two. Those were burned through within a week.
http://www.fablehaven.com/indexmain.html

I also decided to buy another book there at the BN. To my suprise, this book is so fun. It's called The Sweetness At the Bottom of the Pie. Again, a story about a child solving the problems. It's so well written. A lot of pop-culture references and British humor, but the heroine reminds me so much of my Evie in her frankness with adults. If only I planned on having another baby, if it were a girl I could name her Flavia-not really, but it's a fun name to say.

http://www.flaviadeluce.com/

So I've re-discovered reading. Sadly, my house is a wreck. Don't come visit me without 48 hours notice!

Oh, and PS-my legs still hurt. I'm going to the vascular surgeon to beg for surgery.

End of Year Activities

2009-05-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

May seems to be as busy as December when it comes to additional activities. You have graduations, school concerts, recitals, EOG's, etc. Our family is definitely no exception. Our Elementary school girls were tracked out for the beginning of the month, but Helena still had preschool and I still had piano students, so we didn't have any sort of family getaway time. We tried to make the most of it.

Evie had her birthday this month! Our sweet little angel turned 7, so here are 7 things I love about Evie:

1. The way she says "chicken". Seriously, it's like "chkn".

2. Her beautiful brown "root beer" eyes.

3. Her consideration for others.

4. Her understanding and use of grown-up words and phrases. Example: "Anya! Put your dress back on! You're being inappropriate!"

5. Her shiny black hair and sweet freckles.

6. Her artistic talents.
7. Her dimples.

Of course there's so much more to love about this sweet little doll. We're so happy she's in our family! We celebrated by going to Jumping Beans to play and Chinese food for dinner.

Helena had her Preschool graduation this month. At first I was a little unsure about sending my Latter-day Saint daughter to a Catholic school for preschool, but everyone associated with the school-teachers, administration, other parents-have been so wonderful! Mrs. Haga (the director of the school), Miss Susan and Miss Malissa are all angels plucked straight from heaven. Not only are they amazing teachers with tremendous patience with 4-year-olds, but they have been so kind to Helena and she loves them all so much. We hope they are all still there when it's time to send Anya to school. Helena can recite the entire Lord's Prayer. I think she was suprised that Mommy knew it too-thank you, Peace College.

Which brings us to yet another end of year activity: the piano recital. Dunt da-DUH!! This was the longest recital my students have ever had, running 45 minutes long. They all had their songs memorized for months now, and they all did a great job. I think the silence of the audience in the recital hall may have thrown them off, somewhat, seeing as how my house can be a tad noisy during lessons (we're working on it *sigh*). They've all made great progress this year and I'm sure we're all glad for a little break now that summer's here.

...the days of our lives

2009-04-25T09:45:00.001-07:00

I am such an infrequent blogger! Mostly, I guess, because life in general just takes up all of our time. Do you really want to see pictures of me doing loads of laundry, or cleaning my kitchen every day? What? You don't? Well, here are a few of the things I managed to take pictures of from the last two months.

First, we planted seeds for our garden. We put them in little starters for a Family Home Evening project-followed by a treat.

Soon they sprouted seeds. It was very exciting. A few weeks ago we were able to plant more seeds in our awesome garden boxes made by Daddy in our back yard. We also planted two apple trees, tree blueberry plants and a blackberry bush. If all goes well I will be a lean, mean canning machine in the fall!

The Elementary school had a talent show and it was better than you would think. Not a "No Talent" show. My sweet little Evie signed up to participate. Did she play a song on the piano? NO, she told a joke! Why did the elephant cross the road? It was the chiken's day off! I love the way she says "chikinz" really fast.

Here she is doing her comedy routine. My neighbor has the most beautiful lilac tree in her yard. When it is in full bloom I can walk out my front door and smell it! Spring is so beautiful around here! We are all feeling the allergies more than usual, though.

With spring comes Easter. We had our annual egg hunt with the neighbors that is always fun for the kids-and the adults. Then it's always a mad dash to get to Grandpa and Grandma's house for another egg hunt, egg dying, big lunch and new this year, cousin Shane's birthday celebration.We have to get creative when we hide the eggs.Today was the Day of Service stake 5K in Wake Forest. Our shirts say "Lengthen Your Stride". Our whole family participated and had a great time. Evie was our fastest child. Here she is beating everyone (those are strangers in the picture with her, not our family). Then she jumped over the finish line! I guess the guy next to her did a big race in a foreign country or something-check out that shirt.

Left to right: Payton, Eliza, Vivien.

The whole gang minus Matt and Katy.

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Last days of Pompey-aye

2009-03-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

We were able to spend a lot of time with my sisters Nicole, Melissa, Makenzie and their families. We were glad to spend time with Rob and Claire as well. The cousins had big fun together. Anya and Bridget are bosom friends. We played Wii games at Makenzie's house. We all played games at Melissa's house on New Year's Eve, but that was such a big day for us that I was too tired to take any pictures. Melissa's blog has some good pictures of that night. In all the pictures of the Coombs', we look very tired. We also had a great ice-skating trip to Midway, but you try carrying a big camera wearing ice skates and trying to help your husband skate :) Nicole's blog has fun pictures of that venture that you've probably seen already.

Makenzie lives pretty close to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.

The final days of our trip to Utah/Idaho were so fun-filled! We saw all the historical church sites in downtown Salt Lake City, including the Conference Center, the Museum of Church History and Art, the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, the Lion House, the Beehive House and the Temple. Lunch at the Lion House was awesome and I'm still trying to find time to make their coconut cream pie. At the top of the Joseph Smith building we looked out onto the temple and saw at least 5 different bridal parties having their portraits taken. Helena was fascinated. We couldn't get her to follow us on our way past the temple back to the car.

We did all of these activities on New Year's Eve. I'm so glad that the church still had missionaries on duty to guide us around all these places

After all this we went with Nicole and Brian to watch the Torch Run at the Alta Ski Resort. This consists of skiers skiing down the mountain holding flares-in the dark, with no poles. Sounds pretty? It was gorgeous. And freeeeeeezing. I'd never been to a ski resort before so I was fascinated with the whole culture. It's kind of like going to 5K races-you're just with a whole new group of people.

Brian actually participated in the torch run with Bridget on his back in a backpack. She was the bravest one of all.

A FIVE HOUR Tour

2009-03-08T18:31:00.000-07:00

So Grandma Shirly has a policy that she never throws anything away and children are not allowed in her house and adults get to go one time and get a tour of her life's work(except Dad, Uncle Larry, and Aunt Candace and their spouses who can come any time, but not stay). We live about 3,000 miles from her home in Pocatello, so Matt and I were granted a tour. I think she forgot that we went there about a week after we were married. I of course had been there many many times growing up, but hadn't seen the place in 13 1/2 years. Nothing is different, except that there's just more. More to love? More to loathe? More to be curious about...

We all met at the Golden Corral for breakfast. It was Helena's birthday, so she was really excited. Grandma went on and on about Evie. Evie eating grits. Grandma hates grits. Grandma can't imagine anyone liking grits. What did Evie put in her grits? What? Matt eats grits? OH, the grits! Kiss my grits!!!

Evie: "Uh, am I going home with you? ...What? She said she just wanted to take me home..."

anyhoo...

Grandpa and Grandma gave us the tour of their house, chatting and explaining all the way. That took an unexpected 2 hours. We took our pictures next to the plastic pink plant. Then we sat in the living room and listened to Grandma talk. For about 3 more hours. It was very warm in there and I was nodding off. I was dreaming about my Vanilla Coke that I'd left in our van, then I remembered that Grandpa drove us to their house ("Thank heavens we live in Pocatello and not Chubbuck! The roads are so much clearer here"-Shirly). I noticed Grandpa nodding off a few times and Matt. We didn't want to stop her, though. She was talking all about her life, her brother, her mother. When would we ever get another chance like this?

They eventually drove us home and we spent the rest of the day with our Birthday Girl!

Christmas in Idaho

2009-02-13T09:41:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Chubbuck/Pocatello, Idaho. What a beautiful sight. Christmas Eve was spent driving from Ogden up to Pocatello. Before we hit the road we were treated to some more of the Furniss's hospitality for breakfast. Aunt Julie made the most fabulous cinnamon rolls and it was nice to be able to talk with Koryn for a while. We also stopped by to visit with Grandpa Furniss at his place.

The snow was so beautiful on the mountains. I didn't realize how much I missed that sight. I think it's wonderful that people out west who live in the snow don't freak out about it the way North Carolinians do. Seriously, we get one inch here and school is closed and no one leaves their houses. Whatever.

The girls loved Grandpa and Grandma Lee's pool table. There were lots of arguments over whose turn it was to play. I think even Matt , Aaron and Grandpa Bob played a few times. We ate the first of several mashed-potato-and-gravy dinners on our trip (I'm not complaining! my favorite food, people). Mom's gravy was awesome as usual. We did a sweet little thing with Christmas tree ornaments that were a nativity set and as Grandpa read the scriptures, where characters were mentioned, they would be placed on the tree.

Christmas morning we sang "Happy Birthday" to Anya! I still can't believe that was 3 years ago! What an adventure her birth was. She was almost born in the car! I was home wrapping Christmas presents while I was in labor-thinking I could get it all done before it got to serious. Anya had other plans. My contractions were way too close to be ignored! We had decided that since this was to be our last baby we would wait to see him/her when they were born, not knowing beforehand if she was a girl or a boy. James and Faye came to our house in record time to watch the other girls. As we were waiting for the doctor to call me back (why do we wait for that? Do we need their approval to leave our house?) I was laying on the couch having major contractions. Since I hadn't finished wrapping all the presents, between contractions I would tell them which present was for which child. We decided not to wait on the doctor's return call and left our house. I layed in the front seat with my back to the door.

After quite a while of driving I opened my eyes and saw blue lights flashing inside the car. I thought my husband had been pulled over by the police! NO, worse! Since this was Christmas Eve (technically Christmas by this time, around 12:30 am) they were doing police check points. They had the road blocked off in a way that forced the cars into a parking lot where they would have the drivers get out and show ID, check the car, etc. Matt frantically rolled down his window and flagged down an officer. I was freaking out (but only in my mind). He explained that his wife was in labor. The officer then shined his flashlight right in my face, during a contraction, and said, "M'am, are you ok?" I yelled (contractions!), "No! I'm not!!" and he let us pass through. We sped to the hospital and parked in the driveway, me in the car about to burst, and Matt ran in to get some help. I couldn't move, but I felt safe at least being in the driveway. I knew my baby wouldn't be born on the 440 Beltline. The guards were a little confused. They were taking their sweet time, but Matt finally got through to them that this baby was coming NOW. One of them yelled, "Code Red! Code Red!" and everyone started running. I was still in the car, contracting. I thought the baby was coming, but thankfully it was just my water breaking-in the car! The next thing I knew, someone had opened my door (I couldn't see, my back was to the door) and said, "Let's go, honey!" I said "I can't move!" She very politely, yet sternly said to me, "Sweetie, you have to." Then came one of those moments when you think you have nothing left, and somehow you find that extra strength to do what's necessary. I moved as much as I could, but I still needed her help. She pulled me out of the car and sat me in a wheelchair and ran as fast as she could to the door. I didn't know who she was, I just knew she was helping me. We got to the elevator and as it opened I realized that Matt was nowhere around. The elevator opened to reveal about 6 nurses and another wheelchair. The nurse that was pushing me yelled, "I've got her! Get out of the way!" Up the elevator, through many doorways and through the halls, contractions, me moaning through the pain, not able to keep my eyes open, or keep my head up straight. I quietly asked, "Where's my husband?"

I was told "He'll be here." They asked, "Who's your doctor?" I named every doctor in the practice. They said, "None of them are here! Go wake someone up! We need a doctor to deliver a baby right now!" Into my delivery room. I could feel many arms holding me up, taking off my shoes, socks, etc. and helping me up on a bed. Matt finally found me. As he entered the room he had to duck, so as not to get hit in the head with my flying shoe. Nurses running around prepping me, prepping the table where the baby goes to get weighed, doing nurse-things. Those ladies had it together! They were a well-oiled machine. Then I heard a sweet woman's voice say, "Hello, I'm Dr. Anya. I'm going to deliver your baby!...push!" I pushed and out came the baby. I listened with closed eyes..."It's a beautiful baby girl!" For a split second I was disappointed that Matt didn't get his baby boy. But only for a split second. As with all of our babies, when we saw this little child we knew she was the most beautiful baby in the world. Not knowing her gender before-hand, we also hadn't picked out any names. To be honest, nothing sounded "right". I'm very particular about baby names and the only thing I had come up with that I liked was Corinne, but that sounded more like a middle name to me. One of the nurses asked what our baby's name was. We responded that we hadn't picked anything out. She said, "You could always name her after the doctor!" She was half-joking, but when I said, "Anya Corinne...I LOVE that!" I knew it was right.

Flash forward to 2008! Presents! Cousins! Grandparents! Snow! More mashed potatoes, gravy, turkey, rolls. A great day!

First Day in Utah

2009-02-04T18:14:00.000-08:00

Our first day in Utah we were staying with Nicole and Brian in their newly finished basement. Very cozy and very clean. Nicole got to experience my hair-fixing skills, or lack of them, after the girls each had their baths. With Anya it's always a fight to the death.

It had snowed the day before and the girls were excited to go outside and play in it. That didn't last very long.

We decided to head to Salt Lake City to Temple Square because this would be our only chance to see the lights. We did a tour of the Visitor's Center first. Those Sister Missionaries were so cute!

Then they took us to the Tabernacle. That place is tiny inside! I'd been inside a few times in my life, but I still marvel that General Conference was held there, small as it is.

I asked if we could go inside the Assembly Hall because I wanted the girls to see where their Grandpa Lee gave a concert back in '91. They were so nice to oblige.

By the time we were done with the Assembly Hall it was almost time for the lights to come on. We were standing right by the temple, minding our own bid'ness when the trees suddenly lit up! Everyone there drew in a big breath all at once. It was breath-taking.

After Temple Square we headed to Ogden to play with cousins...my cousins, and my kids' cousins, too. Uncle Mark and Aunt Julie were so nice to host the Furniss Christmas party and have so many people at their house. That's where we first met up with my parents and Melissa & Jeff, Makenzie & David, Rob & Claire and Aaron, and all their kids. Plus Koryn & Jeremy, Ashley & Justin, Allison & Noah, Megan, Collin, and all of their children. I'm so glad that my Grandpa Furniss was there, too. My children have heard so many stories about him and they may never have had the chance to meet him. The kids had fun decorating gingerbread cookies.

We're alive after all...

2009-02-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

Here is one of my favorite photos from our fabulous trip to Utah/Idaho for the holidays. My camera was loaded with over 250 photos from the trip and my computer's hard drive was already way too full, so it was hard to get these to download in the first place. Please be patient with me, dear family, while I go through all the photos and decide which ones are "blog worthy".

This one just makes me laugh. It was taken by the sister missionary who was giving us the tour of Temple Square.

We celebrated Christmas as well as Anya and Helena's birthdays and New Year's Eve while we were there, so I have lots of posts to do in the next few days.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2008-12-18T21:14:00.000-08:00

Last week we celebrated Vivi's birthday. She was my second baby, and her birth was so much faster that the first one-so much easier, too. I didn't have time for an epidural or any other drugs, she came too fast. I pushed twice and there she was! She was so beautiful and sweet. We couldn't get over how tiny she was.

Her birthday lasted several days this year. We knew we had a big weekend, so we did her birthday breakfast in bed and her presents the day before her actual b-day. That has become a fun tradition for the girls. The birthday girl (or Dad) gets to choose what we bring her and we sing "You've Had a Birthday, Shout HOO-RAY!" We're working on doing the song in a round. It's not coming along great.

Then she and Eliza were angels in the Live Nativity at the Creche Exhibit at the church in Raleigh. The froze their little keesters off, but they looked lovely. They had to be given strict instructions on how to behave up there. No hitting each other with your trumpets, or trying to push each other off, etc.Helena and Evie dressed up in costumes in the children's room and posed for a picture.

This was my favorite Nativity on display. I don't know who it belongs to but I love it. I love the simplicity and the abstract shaped figures.

We were so excited that the Boney's came to visit us that night. They came with us to the Ward Christmas breakfast the next morning. I got to attend a baptism that afternoon and we did Vivi's birthday cake at night. Thanks to Uncle Aron for the ice cream cake (I still owe you $) and for the cute bathrobe.

It was such a busy day that Helena feel asleep way before poppyseed chicken and ice cream cake. Delicious combo, by the way. We had to postpone the ice-skating outing and Vivien was very disappointed about that. This is always such a busy time of year, and add to that all my Primary responsibilites-too much at one time. I promised Vivi that next year I would clear my calendar for her.

Field Trips

2008-11-26T06:53:00.000-08:00

Field trips are a great way for the kids to get to know the world around them. Also a great time to see for real what they've been studying in the classroom. And of course it's a fun time for me to spend with my kids. Evie's class recently went to Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh. They have all kinds of stations where kids can pretend to be grown ups.

Helena's class also took a fun trip to Blue Jay Point park near Falls Lake. They got to learn about trees, bugs and water conservation, but mostly trees. They learned how to identify trees by their leaves.

Here is Helena and her new boyfriend, Recycled Larry.

2008-11-16T19:39:00.000-08:00

Halloween is the most fun ever! Our girls love to dress up every day of the year, but how often do you get to go door to door and have strangers give you loads of candy?

Our festivities always begin with the ward chili cook-off and trunk-or-treat.

Sleeping Beauty just loves her chili, while Snow White still isn't quite sure about all this.

Then, of course it's time for the annual Halloween party with the neighbors. Our wonderful next-door neighbor, Miss Susan, always has the party in her driveway. The party includes pizza, craft activities for the kids, a pinata and this hilarious game where powdered donuts are dangled from a wooden frame and the kids have to eat the whole donut without using their hands. It's harder than it sounds!

When the party is over it's off for trick-or-treating. Our neighborhood is not that huge, but to a 2-and 4-year-old, it is ginormous. It only takes about a half an hour before they're too tired and cranky to go any further and I end up carrying them home. That's fine, since they've already made a haul.

The girls carved all the pumkins this year. Their friend Paige Fisher carved the rats.

Matt really got into Halloween this year with a scary mask, fog machine, scary sounds on a CD and the fun porch lights. He said there were kids who would walk through the fog, get halfway up the porch steps, see him sitting there and say, "That's ok..." and turn around and go back. Anya was terrified of him, as were the little cousins who came to our neighborhood for some real trick-or-treating.

I think the candy was gone by morning.

Tag, you're "it"!

2008-11-02T18:23:00.000-08:00

Several people have tagged me with different "tags". I think I can combine them all in one tag.

A-attatched or single? Attatched, natch

B-Best Friend? His Royal Hotness, Matt Coombs

C-Cake or Pie? Yes, please

D-Day? Sunday, the day I plan out my week that never goes according to my plan, but is fun to anticipate anyway.

E-Essential Item? My gym membership card. I lost it for a week and you'd think someone died.

F-Favorite Color? Cobalt blue.

G-Gummi Bears or Gummi Worms? Gross

H-Home Town? Wake County, North Carolina.

I-Indulgences? Expensive hair cuts. (Amy Almoney @ L International Salon)

J-January or July? January, where I get to plan out my year and write down all the things I'm "really going to do!" this year and never end up doing.

K-Kids? 5 Beautiful girls.

L-Life is incomplete without...a purpose. I need to be productive.

M-Marriage Date? July 19, 1996

N-Number of siblings? 5 sisters, 2 brothers

O-Oranges or Apples? Apples, since I'm planting them tomorrow. Hope they work!

P-Phobias or Fears? Riding in buses. I always think it's going too fast and going to fall over when it goes around a corner.

Q-Quote: "That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing has changed, but our ability to do that thing has increased" -I don't remember who said it, but I memorized it and quote it to my piano students often.

R-Reason to smile? When my kids use grown-up words incorrectly. Evie to Helena: "I was being sarcatics." Or Anya: "I won't be scared of Daddy in his maks. I WON'T!" (Halloween mask trauma).

S-Season? Fall and Spring in NC are both gorgeous!

T-Tag? Everyone

U-Unknown fact about me? Before I open a new soda can I have to tap the top twice. In High School my friend Kuuiponani told me that tapping the can before you open it calms the bubbles so it won't explode on you. I still don't know if that's true or not, but it's become such a habit that I just always do it.

V-Vacation Destination? Anywhere away from home and the usual. A vacation from my problems!!!

W-Worsts Habit? I assume I know the ending of someone's sentence and cut them off and tell them why the thing they are about to say is forbidden and will not happen, only to find out that they were going to say something completely different.

X-X-ray or Ultrasound? Since Ultrasound usually implies that you are having a baby, I choose that one.

Y-Your Favorite Food. My mom's turkey gravy over mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving Day.

Z-Zodiac Sign? Aquarius.

So there you have it: me in a nut shell. Halloween post coming soon!

Off to the Races-Take 2

2008-10-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

Hooray for Racing Day! We had such a great time doing Race For the Cure in June that we decided to have another go at it as a family. We all participated in the Autism Ribbon Run held at City Market in Raleigh. I did the 5K, Eliza AND Vivien did the 1 mile and Evie, Helena and Anya each did a heat of the Tot Trot. Matt was the official photographer of the day and fabulous moral support. Sadly, there was no t-shirt for that event. Maybe we can make one?

The course for the 5K was my favorite so far. I love downtown Raleigh. I love it's Old South charm and big-city feel. We ran past museums, restaurants, government buildings, my alma mater Peace College, beautiful old mansions-including the Governor's Mansion, and the big motivator-Krispy Kreme. I had a huge cramp, and I kept telling myself that I could walk for 1 minute after I got to KK (no, I don't call it that in my head, just saving time, folks). It was located on the final stretch of the course and suddenly it was all down hill from there, so I could speed up without taking a break. I had my fastest time ever of 26 minutes 11 seconds! (ps, could someone out there please explain to me how to wear a cap without gettin those "wings" of hair that stick out the sides! I can't figure it out.)

We're so proud of Eliza and Vivien for participating in the 1 mile run. I honestly had visions of Vivien sitting on the sidewalk halfway through, declaring that she would not go on (flash backs to bygone days of trying to take the girls on a walk around the neighborhood). To our great suprise, they finished pretty quickly and did it with smiles!
As you can see, Anya wasn't thrilled about her race. Here I am dragging her along in her heat of the tot trot.

Finally I just picked her up. Can you believe they gave her a prize for that? A good one, too. A pack of 3 stuffed animals. She named them Anya, Mamma and Daddy.

Helena was so fast she is just a blur in the picture.

Evie did awesome in her heat. It's so cute to see these little kids doing the races and taking them so seriously. I didn't realize how much they wanted to win. For me it's a matter of just finishing and participating in a good cause (or a good gimick-Beat the New Year!).

We hit Krispy Kreme when the race was over. So did half of Raleigh. I think we were in the drive-through line for half an hour.

Next time we will definitely pre-register so we all get t-shirts that fit. Evie has a new nightgown.

Why We Love the Boney's

2008-10-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

We had the most fun going to visit my sister Allyn and her clan in Virginia. We're so happy to have them living closer to us since they moved from California. It was almost as if there had been no separation for the last 4 years. The kids picked up right where they left off and the newer members of the clans (Anya, Noah), sizing each other up. Their new house is adorable. Allyn and Aron have always had a knack for decorating. They have always been so industrious. Every time I visit them I see how they live (Allyn made all the cushions on her wicker furniture, dresses for her girls, re-covered the couch with a cute cow print,homemade pizzas, hanging the laundry out on the line to dry-she gets a lot done) and I think, "Why can't I get all that done?" And then I remember: I just have different priorities. I used to sew, I know how to do it: if there is no other way, or if Target suddenly gets expensive, I will still have that skill. But for now it just stresses me out. So I don't sew. And I have a dryer that works.

We had a great trip to the beach. Helena, as usual, was so content to play alone and build things. Anya is still fascinated by the waves. She took a little walk with me and caught the eye of a little boy her size who wanted to become friends. He would throw things at her-she stared. His dad urged him to talk to her and he just kept throwing frisbee's at her. Kid needs to learn some real moves.

Evie likes to play in the sand more than anything. She will draw cute pictures or just want to be burried. She and Lilja "found each other". No one had to say 'She's your age-go play with her'. They just found each other.

Vivien spent most of her time with the Boney's in their hammock. A hammock in the playroom-how much fun is that! See, Boney=fun.

The day we went to the beach was Eliza's 11th birthday. She got to wear the special birthday hat with light-up candles and we had Allyn's homemade (of course) chile.

We spent the evening watching "Hairspray"-close captioned so we wouldn't miss any of the witty comments. That really is the way to watch a movie. You don't have people yelling "Turn it up!" or "Rewind that, I didn't catch what he said."

Then back home to NC where we had a September birthday party with Matt's family. Eliza and Payton have the same birthday, one year apart. Addison's birthday is the very next day, and Jared's birthday is the day after that. Nice to have them all bunched together like that.

Where You At?

2008-09-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

It's been such a long time since I've posted about the goings-on of our family! We have spent most of our time this summer at the dentist's office. Let's see, there were seven appointments just for the check-ups. One evaluation to see if a tooth could just be filled, or if it needed a root canal. Four appointments to fill various cavities. Two for applying sealant. One evaluation from an Endodontist, followed by another trip to the endodontist for the root canal. One appointment at the dentist to apply a temporary crown. Still to come: Applying the permanent crown, root canal #2, and 2 appointments to apply the permanent crown on that tooth. So, 17 down, 3 to go! I must confess that most of that dental work was done on my own teeth. Both root canals and crowns and 3 of the fillings. I am convinced it's from vomiting so much while I was pregnant. I promise I have very good brushing habits! My children do, too. With all those trips to the dentist they are so excited about brushing their teeth every night. Check out our smiles!

We've had a few changes over the last few weeks. Helena started preschool at St. Catherine of Sienna Early Childhood Center. She is loving every minute of it! She comes home singing all the songs and telling me all about the kids in her class. With all her church friends going to Kindergarten this year, she really needed something to feed her active imagination. She has also started piano lessons and wants to practice all the time. She is so smart!

Aunt Makenzie and little Gabriel were visiting us that day so we decided to make a special trip to a new ice cream shop in Wake Forest called A La Mode. What a fun little place. The girls were so excited to have Gabriel and "Miss Kinzie" come to our house. It was nice to have them here for a few days. Come again any time.

With the 4 older girls in school now, Anya has been getting a lot of face time with mommy. We went to the bookstore at Peace College in search of the perfect school t-shirt (I got a shirt and a hoodie!). I've decided that I need t-shirts from all the colleges attended by members of my family. So far all I have is Peace College (Me and Melissa) and NC State (Allyn, Aron, Matt, David and Dad). I'm including the Universities where Dad taught Institute. So y'all need to remind me where you've gone! See, it's all part of my evil scheme to get the girls interested in college.

Evie decided she wanted her hair cut short. As if those dimples and "root beer eyes" weren't enough!

Eliza's birthday is next week and she decided she wanted a hamster or a gerbil. Um, no! Sorry, no pets at our house. We have enough people to feed and clean up after. So we let her get her ears pierced instead. She didn't wince or anything when they poked her ears. So, Grandma Lee, now it's your turn!

August Family Home Evening

2008-08-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

I will show my faith in Jesus Christ by being baptized and confirmed.

Supplies: cardstock, scissors, glue, scriptures

Advanced Preparation: make copies of the activity as needed

Opening Song: "When Jesus Christ Was Baptized: (CS 102)

Opening Prayer:

Scripture:
"And their children shall be baptized for the remission of their sins when eight years old, and receive the laying on of hands" (D&C 68:27).

Objective or Theme: to prepare children for baptism and remind family members who are already baptized of the covenants they have made.

Lesson/Story: (from Sydney S. Reynolds, "Sharing Time I Can Keep My Covenant" Friend, Aug 1999, 45)

What is a covenant? In the Church, a covenant is a mutual promise that we make with Heavenly Father. To covenant means to "come together", or to be bound together by promises. Sometimes it is a promise that we make in our hearts. Even when we make a covenant in our hearts with Heavenly Father, there are things we do to show that we have made those promises.

Baptism is the occasion for one of the first covenants we make with Him. Being baptized shows that we want to keep His commandments. Some of the promises we make when we are baptized are that we are willing to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ, that we will always remember Him, and that we will keep His commandments. The Lord promises us that He will give us His Spirit to always be with us.

Think about just the first part of our baptismal covenant. What do you think it means to take His name upon us? Most of us already have two names. We have a given name, like Elizabeth or Marco, or Mei-Li; and we have a family name, like Smith, or Garcia, or Chen. When we take the name of Jesus Christ upon ourselves, it means we are part of HIs family. We are ready to be known as Christians. We are willing to "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places: (Mosiah 18:9). We want to act like Christ and follow Him.

Jesus has given us guidelines to help us follow Him. He expects us to love each other, to bear one another's burdens, to mourn with those who are sad, and to comfort those who need comfort. That's what He did when He ws on teh earth. If we want to be called by His name, we will try to do thses things, too. Thwn you help your mother tend the baby so that she can fix dinner, you are bearing another's burdens. When you put your arm around your little brother and tell him that you're sorry that he hurt himslef, you are giving comfort. When your heart is sad because your friends's father is very ill, and you reach out to her in love, you are mourning along with her.

Each week when we take the sacrament, we renew the covenant we made at baptism. Each day as we choose the right and follow Jesus, we are keeping our covenant and growing in faith. As we keep the covenant we have made, the Lord's Spirit will be with us, and one day we will be worthy to go to the temple and make other very important covenants with Heavenly Father.

Activity/Game My Baptismal Covenant Diorama (Click on image to enlarge, print from there and follow instructions)

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=537e925cf971c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

Closing Song: "Baptism" (CS, 100).

Closing Prayer:

Refreshments: Never-Fail Divinity (from Gay Hintz, Crescent City, California, FamilyFun.com)

2 egg whites

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cups water

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1. It is best to use a free standing mixer. With mixer beat egg whites and salt until stiff; set aside.

2. In a 4-quart glass bowl, cook sugar, water and corn syrup 12 minutes and 15 seconds at 250 degrees. (The mixture should spin a fine thread.) Slowly pour syrup in thin stream into egg whites, beating constantly until mixture loses its shine and thickens. (This is the only tricky part: If you stop too soon, your candy will be runny; if you beat it too long, it will set up too hard to drop.)

3. Stir in vanilla and nuts. Drop by teaspoon at once on buttered wax paper. Bake 35-45 minutes. Makes about 30 pieces.

Or you could have popcorn, a healthy alternative to all that sugar-sheesh!

Link to a coloring page for kids. Click on image to enlarge and print from there.

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=5c98dd48c4a6b110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

Someone Chanted Evening...

2008-07-23T16:58:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday (the 19th) was our 12th wedding anniversary. Matt and I met across a crowded room at a single adult New Year's Eve dance on December 30th (the 31st was a Sunday, so naturally the dance was the night before). I had been sick over the Christmas holiday and this dance was my first opportunity to get out of the house. I took a really long time to fix my hair and wore my sister Allyn's nicest dress. I was going to look good no matter how bored I was. As the night wore on I noticed a very handsome guy on the other side of the room. He came walking in my general direction. So of course I started a meaningless conversation with the girl next to me that I didn't even know, hoping that this guy didn't think I was staring at him. To my suprise and relief, he was coming to ask me to dance. Cuter up close, super nice, sharply dressed-my first impressions of my future husband. He called me two days later to ask me out. The day of our date arrived and along with it, the "Blizzard of '96". He called and asked if I wanted to reschedule (over my dead body!). I said, "I've been out in worse than this!" Of couse I had-I had lived in Idaho and Utah my whole life. When he brought me home he asked if I wanted to go out again the following weekend. Absolutely I did!! When he asked if Friday or Saturday would be best, I came up with the boldest response I've ever had in my life: How about both. Ta-Da! Love! We were engaged 5 weeks later.

Happily Ever After...

Good Times!

2008-07-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

So on July 8th I flew out to Salt Lake City for a six-day visit with my family-the Lee family. The purpose for this visit was the wedding of my brother Rob to the lovely Claire. Since Nicole and Melissa and Makenzie have both posted about the wedding on their blogs, I guess I will report on my trip as a whole. Please check out their blogs, they are fantastic

Tuesday, the 8th, was the day I arrived. It also happened to be Harrison's birthday, as well as his final soccer game. The entire family met at the soccer game and had a big party for him when it was over. He scored 5 goals in that game! My favorite thing about the game, though, was the carefree attitude they all seemed to have. The ball would be in play near where the family was sitting and Harrison would just decide to come talk to his mom, give her a hug, talk to the cousins or whatever. Then he would be reminded that he should still be playing and just as nonchalantly go back into the game. It gave us all a good laugh. The party favors were temporary tatoos (sported by Mom and Ben) and Harrison got a lot of dinosaur presents. We realized that this was the first time in a very long time that all 6 of the sisters were together, so of course we had to strike a pose.

Wednesday was spent in Ogden at the Furniss house. I hadn't seen Furniss cousins in a very long time! Koryn's family is beautiful! The kids played around in the pool for a while, then we were treated to Aunt Julie and Uncle Mark's hospitality and food.

Thursday, the 10th, was the big day-the Wedding of the Century! Rob and Claire were both just adorable and looked so happy! It was a sweet ceremony performed by Claire's gradfather. We were all in tears, naturally. The boy is now a man...a married man! When he was a little boy with 6 older, sassy sisters, we used to ask Rob what he wanted to be when he grew up. His response was always the same: a gentleman. He is definitely living up to that childhood goal.

Melissa, Nicole, Jennie, Aaron, Allyn, Makenzie and Katy pause for a photo before the bride and groom appear.

Since Matt wasn't there I was escorted around the temple by my Grandpa Curtis. I was also excited to see my Grandpa Furniss. With the two of them there, we had 4 generations represented at the temple that day.

On Friday I went to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point with Nicole and her daughter Bridget. I was staying with them for the whole week and they are such a sweet little family. I painted Bridgie's nails so many times! I'm glad she liked me. She let me drive her around on her little bike. More than one person waived and said, "Hey, Nicole!" to me. In High School we were asked if we were twins.

On Saturday Nicole and I drove to Farmington for a 5K race where, naturally, we were mistaken for twins. It was so fun to race with her. We stayed together and didn't stop to walk. The t-shirts were cute, too.

That was the bulk of my trip. It was great to be with family and without humidity for a few days. I look forward to another trip that will include my husband and children! Until then, I hear that Rob and Claire are making out nicely!

July Family Home Evening Lesson

2008-07-06T17:37:00.001-07:00

Primary Theme for July: Because I know we are all children of God, I will share the gospel with others.

Supplies: poster board, markers
Advanced Prep: Copy the activity onto a large piece of paper or poster board so it can be done as a family.
Opening Song: "Called to Serve" (CS 174, Hymns no 249) This is one of this year's Primary Program songs.
Opening Prayer:
Scripture: "And if it so be that you should...bring save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy." (D&C 18:15)
Objective or Theme: To encourage family members to prepare for and seek out missionary opportunities.
Lesson/Story: (from Ehzabeth Ricks, "How Great Shall Be Your Joy," Friend , Oct 2007, 12-14)
Have you noticed that when you share something like a treat or a toy, you feel good? Of course you have. You can share things other than treats or toys, like knowledge. Shareing knowledge can bring great joy-not just to the receiver but also to the giver. The best kind of knowledge to share is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Nine-year-old Ashley felt the joy of sharing the gospel. After Ashley was challenged to share the copy of the Book of Mormon, Ashley's father drove her to her school principal's house, and Ashley gave a Book of Mormon to her. Ashley also gave the full-time missionaries her principal's name. What joy Ashley felt!
The most important thing you can share is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord called Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to preach the gospel. He explained the happiness they would receive:
"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one sould unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
"And now, if your joy will be great with one sould that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls untome!"(D&C 18:15-16)
We show our faith in Jesus Christ when we share the gospel with others. And what great joy we receive when we help others know of Jesus Christ and of our Heavenly Father's plan.

Activity/Game: Missionary Preparation by Ann Woodbury Moore (from "Funstuf" Friend, Sept 2002, 48)
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=0d6ce3bfad6bb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

Closing Song: "I Hope They Call Me ON A Mission" (CS 169)
Closing Prayer:
Refreshments: Missionary's Heavenly Trifle

1 large package (5.25 oz) vanilla instant pudding
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Angel food cake, cut into 1" cubes
1/2 cup pear juice
4 cups canned pears, drained (save juice) and cubed
2 bananas, sliced
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Prepare pudding mix as directed on the package; set aside
2. Whip whipping cream until it peaks, adding powedered sugar gradually; set aside.
3. Place half of cake cubes in large glass serving bowl, and sprinkle with 4 tablespoons pear juice.
4. Evenly spread half of pudding on top of cake.
5. Alternately layer half of pear cubes, banana slices, marshmallows, coconut, chips, and whipped cream.
6. Repeat layers, beginning with cake cubes.
7. cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Serves 12-16.

June Family Home Evening

2008-06-29T15:38:00.001-07:00

Sorry it's so late in the month for this one, but you could still do it together as a family tomorrow night.

The temple is a blessing for me and my family.

Supplies: crayons, scissors, string or yarn, cardstock

Advanced Preparation: make copies as needed of the activity

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=bdd355faa5cab010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

Opening Song: "I Love to See the Temple" (CS, 95)

Opening Prayer:

Scripture: "And verily I say unto you, let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people" (D&C 124:40).

Objective or Theme: To help each family member develop a reverence for teh House of the Lord and the ordinances performed there.

Lesson/Story: (from Judy Edwards, "Sharing Time; The Temple is a Place of Revelation" Friend, May 1993, 12).

If you had a serious question about something sacred, where would you want to go to think and pray about it? You'd probably want to go to a private, peaceful place. You might choose to be alone in your bedroom, or outside in a quiet spot.

When the President of the Church has a serious question about something sacred, he also wants to be in a peaceful place to ponder and to pray. Where do you think he might go?

If you thought of the temple, you are right! The temple is a holy, peaceful place where the Church President and other worthy people may go to receive special guidance from Heavenly Father. It is a place of revelation-a place where Heavenly Father reveals, or answers questions, about sacred matters.

President Ezra Taft Benson has said, "When I have been weighed down by a problem or a difficulty, I have gone to the house of the Lord with a prayer in my heart for answers. These answers have come in clear and unmistakable ways." (Ensign August 1985, page 8).

Because the president of the Church is a prophet and revelator, he receives revelation for all people and tells us what Heavenly Father wants us to know.

For many years, President Spencer W. Kimball had been praying to Heavenly Father to know if the time had come when all faithful men could receive the priesthood. The answer was revealed to him on June 1, 1978, in the Salt Lake Temple. Called Official Declaration-2 (OD 2), it is recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants. In part, it says: "(Heavenly Father) has heard our prayers, and by revelation has confirmed that the long-promised day has come when every faithful, worthy man in the Church may receive the holy priesthood, with power to exercise its divine authority, and enjoy with his loved ones every blessing that flows from there, including the blessings of the temple. Accrodingly, all worthy male members of the Church may be ordained to the priesthood without regard for race or color."

How grateful we are for revelations from Heavenly Father and for prophets who are worthy to receive these messages!

As you read these stories about persons who received revelations in the temple, look up the scripture references to learn what special messages they received, then fill in the blanks.

Samuel: When he heard his name spoken one evening in the temple, the child Samuel thought that he was being called by Eli, the High Priest. But Eli understood that it was the lord speaking to Samuel. Eli told Samuel that the next time he heard the voice, to say, "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth" (1Sam 3:9). Samuel did so, and the Lord had a sad message for Samuel: "I will perform_____ ____all things which I _____ ____ concernning his ____:...

"For I have _____ ____ that I will ___ ___ ___ for ever." (See 1 Sam 3:12-13)

Zacharias: One day as Zacharias, a righteous priest, was serving in the temple, and angel appeared to him. At first Zacharias was frightened, but the angel told him not to be afraid, that his prayers had been heard: "Thy ___ ___ shall ___ thee a ___, and thou shalt ___ ___ ___ ___." (See Luke 1:13).

Joseph Smith: ON January 21, 1836, while Joseph Smith was in the Kirtland Temple, he had a vision. He saw the celestial kingdom and recognized several people there. His brother Alvin, who had died before being baptized, was among them. Joseph asked how that could be. The voice of the lord said, "All who have ___ without a ___ of this___, who would have ___ it if they had been ___ ___ ___, shall be ___ of the ___ ___ ___ ___." (See D&C 137:7).

Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery: Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were in the Kirtland Temple on April 3, 1836, when the Lord appeared to them with this joyful message about the temple: "For behold, I have ___ this ___, and my name ___ ___ ___; and I will ___ myself to ___ ___ in mercy ___ ___ ___." (See D&C 110:7)

Activity/ Game: Temple Mobile

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=bdd355faa5cab010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

Click to enlarge the image and print from the new screen. Follow instructions for making the temple mobile.

Closing Song: "The Lord Gave Me a Temple" (CS 153) or other song of choice

Closing Prayer:

Refreshments: Mexican Wedding Cookies (from FamilyFun.com)

These cookies, chock-full of finely chopped nuts, are so delectable that many countries claim their own variation.

2 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup finely chopped nuts

1. In a medium-sized bowl, stir the flour and salt. In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix together the butter and 1/2 cup of the confectioner's sugar until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract and then the flour mixture until blended. Finally, stir in the nuts.

2. Cover and refrigerate the dough for about 2 hours or until it is firm enough to work with. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Shape the dough into balls that are about 1 inch in diameter.

3. Place the balls on ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between the cookies. ONe sheet at a time, bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes or until set, but not brown. Meanwhile, place the remaining 1 cup of confectioners' sugar in a shallow bowl or pie plate.

4. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and cool for 2-4 minutes. Carefully remove the cookies and roll each one in the sugar to coat. Cool the cookies completely on a wire rack. Sprinkle them with any remaining sugar.

5. When cool, store the cookies in an airtight container. These cookies freeze well. Makes about 40 cookies.

Racing Day!!

2008-06-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

What an eventful day! A few months ago Eliza and I decided to participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. This was Eliza's first running event ever and only my second event ever. My first event was about a month ago and I just wanted to try it to see how I would do. It was a 5K (3.1 miles) and I was there all by myself and didn't know what to expect. Thank heavens my sweet Dancing Queen friend Peggy and her gang showed up to keep me company and give support. My usual training regimen consists of running on a treadmill at zero incline, so the hills in this race were unexpected for my weak thighs. I did the best I could and finished with a respectable 30 min 30 seconds time. I was pretty proud of myself for just completing it in the first place.

Knowing the Race for the Cure was fast approaching, I decided to do a little more training-alone and with Eliza. We would run around our neighborhood in the mornings, or even sometimes in the evenings after the sun went down. Still we felt unprepared and nervous.

The day began with everyone getting up at 5:00 am to get ready to leave the house at 6:00. Then we drove 45 minutes or so to the RBC Center to park our car and catch a shuttle bus to Meredith College where the races were held. This was Helena and Anya's dream come true! A BUS!

We arrived at the campus with plenty of time to get settled. Good thing, because I was very paranoid about not getting there in time and missing all the events. My race was first. As with every racing event, participants are given a free t-shirt to wear at the race. At Race for the Cure there are white shirts for participants and pink shirts that say "Survivor" on them for those racers who are breast cancer suvivors. Each participant is also given a hot pink paper with the words "In Memory Of" on them and then you fill in the rest of the paper with names of those you wish to honor. As I walked to the starting point for my race there were pink shirted women all around me. Some with bald heads and the word "ME" written on their In-Memory-Of card. We were also in very close proximity to where they were holding a Survivor's Breakfast. I admit it was hard to hold back the tears at that point. But I ran good, ran hard and beat my previous time with a finish of 27:24. (and yes, i forgot to change the white balance on my camera, hence the bluish cast)

Eliza's race was next-the 1 mile fun-run. They don't keep a clock on that race, but she still did a lot better than I expected. She finished in about 12 1/2 minutes, by my watch :) Just look at that smile as she approaches the finish line! Her sisters were cheering her on. We are all proud of her.

Next it was Helena's turn. They hold a "Little Road Runners Race" for kids 3-5 years old. She got a t-shirt and a number and everything. She was so excited she ran it twice! Good thing, too, because Mommy missed the first one. I didn't know they were doing it in heats according to age group.

After browsing around at various vendors around the lawns, it was time to go home. The line to get back on the shuttle busses was huge. We only stood in line for an hour.

The girls were so happy to get back on the bus. It was like Christmas. "A BUS for US!!"

I must also point out how proud I am of Anya. Our sweet little potty trainee refused-REFUSED!-to use the porta-potties the whole time we were there. Bless her heart, she did not pee her pants at all. Go ANYA!

Many, many thanks to Matt, Vivien and Evie for their support and patience on this day. Having the whole family there was the best part of the whole day.

It's All About Accessorizing

2008-06-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a girl just needs to enhance her "look". When bracelets or a necklace just won't do, where do you turn? To the first aid kit, naturally.

Or, if you're so sick of your current hair style, you could always cut it yourself.

Helena cut her own hair a few months ago. We had to go to the hairdresser to fix her botched haircut. She almost cried when she saw herself in the mirror.

Family Home Evening For May

2008-05-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

Heavenly Father planned for me to come to a family. I can strengthen my family now.

Supplies: pencils

Advanced Preparation: be sure you have all necessary ingredients for refreshments.

Opening Song: "Home" (CS 192)

Opening Prayer

Scripture: "The family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children" (The Family" A Proclamation to the World).

Objective or Theme: To strengthen family relationships.

Lesson/Story: When President Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994) was a young boy, his father was called on a mission. Ezra, the oldest child in his family, had six younger brothers and a sister. He knew that his mother needed his help to make their home a cheerful and comfortable place. He woke up early each morning to milk the cows before he went to school. His younger brothers and sister laughed as he squirted milk into their mouths when they came into the barn to watch him. Ezra comforted them when they missed their father. He even dug vegetables from the storage pit under the snow so they would have enough to eat. Ezra tried in every way to make his home a happy one.

As prophet of the Church, President Benson taught us that "our Heavenly Father loves all of His children of all nations everywhere. Because He loves us so much, He has given us loving paarents who care for us and teach us. Our mothers and fathers are our first and best teachers, and what they teach us can help us to grow up to be good and useful men and women" (Friend, July 1975, 6).

Our Father in Heaven has given responsibilities to each person in the family. He gave parents the responsibility to teach and care for their children. As a member of a family, you also have important responsibilities. Heavenly Father has commanded us to obey our parents (see Eph. 6:1). He has asked us to love and serve one another. Each family member should be helpful, cheerful, and kind to other family members. When we help family members, we are showing our love for them and for Heavenly Father. You can do your part to help your parents make your home a happy place just as President Benson did.

For more information on family responsiblities see Chapter 37: Family Responsibilities, Gospel Principles.

Activity/Game: Helping My Family Hidden Picture

My family gets together

As night falls on the day;

Before I go to bed I think,

"What can I put away?"

Can you find the objects in this room that have been left out during the day?

Closing Song: "I'm Thankful to be Me" (CS, 11)

Closing Prayer:

Refreshments: Hand-Tossed Ice Cream

3/4 cup whole milk

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 (1 quart) sealable plastic bags

2 (1 gallon) sealable plastic bags

6-8 lbs crushed ice

2/3 cup rock salt

newspaper

heavy-duty tape

1. Place the first four ingredients into a 1-quart plastic bag. As you seal the bag, push out most of the air. Place the filled bag inside the other quart bag and push out most of the air as you seal it.

2. Covre the bottom of a 1-gallon plastic bag with ice. Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of salt over the ice. Place the double-bagged ice cream mixture on top of the ice. Layer more ice and salt around the ice-cream mixture until the large bag is full; seal. Place the sealed bag inside another 1-gallon bag; seal.

3. Form the filled bags into a ball shape by covering with several layers of newspaper. Secure by wrapping tape completely around the ball.

4. Take the "ice-cream ball" outside and toss it back and forth with family members or friends for about 15-20 minutes. Remove the wrappings and unseal the bags, then serve the ice cream! Makes about 2 cups.

Happy Birthday, Evie!!

2008-05-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

Evie, Day 1

Evie, Day 2,190 +/- a few days

Our sweet little Evie was born on Mother's Day of 2002. She has always been a mellow, laid back kind of kid. Maybe that's because of the blessing her daddy gave her shortly after she was born. With two very energetic older sisters ages 4 and 2, Evie was blessed that she would have a calming influence on our family. When she was a baby I used to hold her up to my face, cheek to cheek and just feel how soft her skin was. That sensation was so relaxing and sweet that it usually brought tears to my eyes. I started calling her my "Magic Baby". She is still just as sweet and wonderful as ever. Our dear little angel.

Wasn't That Elastigirl's Problem?

2008-05-13T18:58:00.000-07:00

In case you aren't able to read it, it says:

"Inside this envelope includes the following

#1 A Big fish to represent you

#2 Five little Fishie kids to represent us all

Please look at it and see us all Different shapes and sizes

Happy Mothers Day

Love Vivien"

This has to be the most original Mother's Day present I've ever seen. My sweet Vivien made this for me. Isn't it priceless! One of my great struggles as a mother is to know when to back off and let them do things on their own/make their own mistakes and therefore learn new things. Sometimes it's easier to just do it for them, whatever "it" may be. When do they get old enough to be trusted to do the things you need them to do? There have been times that I've told one of them not to do something, then another day I'll get upset at the same girl for not doing that very thing. I want them to grow up-on my terms! I don't know that I've ever voiced this concern to the girls, but Vivien really hit the nail on the head with the comment about seeing them all as different shapes and sizes. Sometimes when you're one of several children in a family it's hard to feel like you stand out (as each of my siblings knows first hand!). It will be interesting to see, in the years to come, how each of these five little fishies decides to let her personality shine through so that they can be seen as an individual and not just "a Coombs girl".

An Outing in the Park

2008-05-05T07:19:00.001-07:00

It was a beautiful day for a trip to Duke Gardens. We had made plans with Melissa and her family to meet them (I thought) at the Gardens. She understood that I would be meeting her at her house. The girls and I wanedered around the beautiful gardens looking at flowers, fish, and trying to figure out if the man we saw from far away was in fact Uncle Jeff (it never was). The flowers and trees were amazing! We had a nice time. We feel so badly that poor little Harrison spent two hours in a chair on his porch waiting for his cousins to arrive.

You've Had a Birthday, Shout Hoo-Ray!

2008-04-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

Today is Matt's birthday! He was born April 14, 1972 (do the math) in Raleigh, North Carolina. This picture was taken in 1977 when Matt was in Kindergarten. With a face like that, it's no wonder he was voted the Valentine King. Which one of our daughters looks the most like their daddy?

Here's a shot from our engagement photo. Ahh, the face I fell in love with across a crowded room.

Twelve years (almost) and 5 kids later, he's still my hero and just as handsome as ever.

Girl's Weekend 2008

2008-04-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh....it's so nice to have a weekend away from any sort of responsibilities once in a while.

This years' trip to the beach included the old:

Phase 10, Funk music, ABBA, lounging.

The new: watching General Conference to find out who our newest Apostle is, guacamole.

Lynette, Erin, Sonya, Katy and Peggy. The Dancing Queens...Minus Val.

But, as always, there were lots of smiles, laughter, sleeping in and relaxing. That is the whole point, after all.

Sonya, Lynette, Erin and Peggy. Choose your weapons.

And A Great Time Was Had By All...

Oh, Who Are The People In Your Neighborhod?

2008-04-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten field trips are a hoot! We got to walk around beautiful downtown Wake Forest and learn about the people in the neighborhood.
There's the nice lady who runs the 'Alphabet Soup' store...I don't know her name, but she reads a good story! There's also Maverick the police dog. Technically not a "people", but still in the neighborhood. Maverick can help find lost children, or drugs. Rylee says he's a vegetarian. Maverick LOVED Rylee! The nice officer let the children go in and out of the squad car. This image is only cute because they're 5. If they were teenagers...not so much.

Then it was off to the library! Marian the Librarian gave a nice dissertation on the difference between fiction and non-fiction.La Foresta is my new favorite restaurant. They make a great pizza.
A fireman is a person in your neighborhood. They wear lots of gear.

They breathe through tanks. They sound like Darth Vader.

I was in charge of Evie and Garrett. They were so responsible. There was no ickiness-eww! a girl! They held hands to cross the streets and kept track of each other at every stop on our journey.

Kindergarten Rocks!

2008-04-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

Evie's Kindergarten class put on the cutest little program. It was called "Ee-i-ee-i-Oops!" It was about a cow who refused to moo. The other animals decide to give her compliments in the hopes that she will gain confidence and start "moo-ing". Evie played a chick who gives the cow a compliment. Her line: "You have the warmest 'breaf' (breath) I know, and a most amazing udder! And should you speak, I'm sure your voice would melt us all like butter." They were well-rehearsed and knew their songs. It was such a cute little production! Sadly, the lighting in there was not conducive to great pictures. Here's Evie saying her line, and the cow who wouldn't "Moo".

Because the "Old You" Was SOOO Last Season!

2008-04-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

My poor children who have inherited their mother's myopia! Eliza and Vivien both got their first pair of glasses. Theirs are a whole lot cuter than the ones I got in 5th Grade. If Xavier DesForges had seen me then he would have given me the same comment he gave me when I was 25. In his French-accented English, he stared at me and said, "Your glasses are too big for your face." and walked off. Nice.