Writing My Chaos

The Right Thing

2012-01-06T21:15:00.000-07:00

I sat down this morning after taking my kids to school to watch the morning news. A couple and their kids were being interviewed about how they did the right thing. I'd tuned in a few seconds after the segment started and waited to hear what they had done. My jaw dropped as the news reporter went on about their story.

This couple had purchased a home in Salt Lake City, Utah. The day they closed, the husband went back to the home to soak in the realization of their purchase. He said the home was an older but very large home that had been empty for some time. He walked back to the study he planned to turn into a man cave and noticed a hidden door. Puzzled of how they and the Realtor had missed this. He pushed it open and found a secret hide away room. The room had no lights, so he left the door open to see and entered excited about the possibilities his kids could have playing in this room when he tripped over a box. When he opened it, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was full of money! Rolls of money, each containing $100. He looked around again and found seven more boxes chuck full of the same thing. The total ended up being over $50,000.

He called his wife and her instant reaction was they had to return the money to it's owners. They did! Gave every last dollar back! Yes, this was the right thing to do too, but my knee jerk reaction was, "What?! Do you know how nice that money would have been?" But, then I thought, what if it was me that had been saving the money and forgotten about it? I know I'd would've wanted it back. I wonder though, who would have forgotten they had the much money stashed away in a secret room? Maybe an elderly couple that over the years lost their memory little by little and ended up in a home then had someone else clean out their home. Who know, but whom ever it was got their life saving back.

They did do the right thing. They also set an example and proof that their are good, honest people still out there.

When Does it Matter?

2011-12-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

I need to warn you this story is going to bounce around all over the place, but it needs to so you get my point. As the end of another year comes to a close, I look back at what has occurred this past twelve months. This year was full of events from the best of times to the worst with the highlight of 2011 being the birth of my fourth child, Riot, to then the crashing devastation and sorrow of my friends’ loss of their baby girl, Karlie Ann. I’d hoped to end the year on a good note.

I look forward to the Holidays every year. It is a blast to watch my kids get excited while putting up the tree and watch their faces light up when they see what Santa brought them Christmas morning. Right after the jolly holiday is my birthday and I have an extreme amount of mixed emotions about my birthday. My mom always made sure to make my day special growing up. She’d make sure to wrap my presents in birthday paper and keep it separate from Christmas. But, I’d always over hear the pillow talk of my parents through my bedroom wall at night, worrying if they’d have money to buy me something after they’d spent so much on Christmas. My mom would never tell me they worried though, but kids hear. She’d some how pull through and I’d have a great present.

So, because of this I’ve always made sure my kids have an awesome birthday. From the moment they wake up to the second they close their eyes for bed that night, their day was full of fun. Each year they are served a breakfast of their choice, we plan it out a few nights before so I’m prepared. They get to be “the king” or “princess” for the day and are vetoed from any chores. It’s a day all about them. My husband even gets this treatment. Well, he still had to go to work if it’s a week day. I really try to give him a “day off” to the point he doesn’t have to lift a finger when he gets home.

This year as my birthday approached, it was kinda a big deal to me because it’s my last one in my 20’s. Next year I’ll be hitting the big 30. I hoped it’d be special. My husband asked what I wanted. I gave him a list and even showed him in the stores. Like, walked him right up to it and handed it to him so he wouldn’t have any mixed signals. The only thing I was iffy on was what to do on the actual day. We’d talked a lot about how I’ve never had a group get together or party since my thirteenth birthday. Finally, the night before arrived and with no party happening I decided to have my family (my kids and darling husband) make root beer floats and watch a movie. The day came and as I woke to screaming kids I knew it wasn’t going to be any different of a day than usual. My sweet mom did remembered me though and got me a present to open. My kids wanted to go to my sisters instead so I could out to dinner with my husband, so the root beer floats were out. (And my sister is awesome because she kept my two middle kids over night so I could get some “alone” time with the husband)

As we came home and my husband fell asleep on the couch (the “alone” time isn’t going to happen) while my oldest played a video game, I realize it’s just another day. Moms don’t get special treatment and that’s okay for me. It’s my job to spoil everyone. Are birthdays supposed to be a big deal because they never are for me? Maybe they are just for kids and all they need to be for me now is a day to grow older. While I sighed and walked upstairs to put my baby down for the night, I am grateful to be able to have that. Knowing there are parents who have empty arms. I’d trade any birthday so they could do this one more time. I know I’m lucky and kissed my baby’s chubby cheek and went to bed.

From One Trip to Another!

2011-12-05T09:01:00.002-07:00

My husband and I were able to go Christmas shopping together for the first time in years. I know what you are thinking; I leave the husband home with the children and go blow our paycheck on everything in the store. WRONG! The honest truth, my husband is the shopper in our household. Crazy I know.

Every year the Black Friday ads come out and my husband plans out the gifts down to the very last item. Between the kids circling their wish lists and Jess' dog eared pages, I can't understand who wants what. He gets so excited to shop for the kids, he will go fight the crowds alone, without me, in the unspeakable early sales. I stay home in my warm bed. You know, safe from the lady who pulls out the pepper spray.

I sometimes have a friend or two that want their hair done after work and I'll color it or what not. But this means it's also after work hours for my husband and if the calender says it's December and we haven't finished Christmas shopping, he will leave me and get it done. I get so upset when he does this because I would like to help pick out their Christmas too, just not the early morning sales. He won't wait just one more day so I can go. Nope. He has to get it done when the itch needs scratched. Then to top it off, Jess will call and ask, "What color would they like? This shade of red or the maybe the darker shade?" WHAT?! Like I can tell what shade is what over the freaking phone. (Yes, he does this because he knows how ticked I get.)

Anyway, this year we went on a weekend together and put a serious dent in the list. The day had gone perfectly. We'd brought our 8 month old baby with us. He is still in a carrier carseat and we snap the seat on the basket. When we put the seat on the cart, we heard it snap on and even checked to make sure it was sturdy before we pushed it. Everything was fine until we checked out and were leaving the store. Just as I pushed the cart where the cement meets the black top of the parking lot, there was a lip just enough to catch the front wheels. The next thing we heard is a loud SNAP and saw the carseat falling to the ground.The seat flipped mid air and landed on it's side. The momentum causeed it to roll over and stop right side up. I'm freaked out, chasing it as it tumbled. Jess is shocked and responded like any distraught father would and yelled, "Holy shit!"

We got to our baby (who'd been asleep right before the fall) and found him wide eyed looking around like "What the heck just happened?" Not a scratch on him.The handle had been in the upright position and acted like a roll cage. Thank goodness I'd made sure early in the week his straps were the right tightness over his shoulders.

Two things were learned from this; ONE: the carseat did protect him but how the latch unhooked from the cart scared us. If we had been in a wreck, would it have come undone and thrown the seat around the car? Who knows? TWO: When I called the seat's company to tell them what had happened, they told me carseats are NOT made to latch onto shopping carts and the safe way to transport the baby in the store if he is still in the carseat is to set the carseat it's self in the basket of the cart. This is how we now do the seat/cart shopping.

Woo, what a trip right? Start off with a nice enjoyable shopping trip then end it with a scary accident. I'm glad he is alright and nothing happened to him, but it freaked the shiz out of me. So, on that note, I hope you all have a safe Christmas shopping season.

Happy Holidays!

Pots 'N Pens

2011-11-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

I'm blogging over at Pots 'N Pens today. Check out the tasty post.

Holy Crap! I Am My Mother.

2011-11-02T08:35:00.001-06:00

Growing up my mother taught me how to clean through a series of index cards. These cards were the devil to me and my older sister. She listed house hold chores on them. Sure, you may think whoopedy ta, a list of chores. Let me explain these cards. One card was labeled "Daily Chores" and had the things you do everyday like make your bed, pick up clutter, and wash the dishes. She also had cards for every day of the week with additional chores to do along with the daily card. Saturday was the list from HELL Let me also add that there was also a card to do "Monthly" chores like scrub walls, shampoo carpets, etc. that were done on the first Saturday of the month, again also with the daily and original Saturday chores as well. It got to the point we knew what chores were on what day. I'd even do those chores at the homes of people I babysat for. (Yes, I got asked to tend A LOT because they knew they'd come home to a clean house) I hated those freaking cards, but they did teach me how to properly clean.

Now that I am a mother myself, I've come to find my life seems to get away from me and my list of chores gets so backed up I don't know where to begin. With my children that have Fragile X Syndrome or Autism I've found schedules and lists are a life saver. Really, they are something we can not live without. We have to plan out our whole week in advance, then the night before we have to chart out the next day down to the hours some times. My life is full of lists! I don't think I'd function if I didn't have a list or chart to go off of.

Disorganization in MY home ( I don't give two hoots what yours is like. Really I don't because I don't want anyone judging me so I won't judge you.) drives me insane. Literally, up the flipping wall. Guess what my mom and I made tonight? CHORE CARDS! Yep, I am going to use the very thing I hated on myself to get my house in order.

As a child they seem mean and boarder line mental, but looking at them now it's genius. You only have to do certain things on certain days. Well, you still have the pesky daily things and it is not set in gold. You can miss, add, decide you don't feel like doing that one that day. But it only gives me five chores to do a day and not fifty. For me, it will work. Plus, maybe I can get my kids in on the chores too. Wait, who am I kidding?

My Life As A Movie Scene

2011-10-24T10:03:00.002-06:00

We had an moment right out of the movies last night here at our house. Who knew my favorite Holiday flick would come even closer to my heart. Only this particular scene isn't one you'd really like to relive. I've always loved A Christmas Story and it felt like the writer had hid out at my house while growing up and took notes for the film. Amazingly my life still plays out like the show only this time my role is the mother instead of Ralphy.

I made a delicious roast yesterday. Mouth watering, moist, flavorful roast perfect for french dip sandwiches today. After I took the meat out of the roaster, I packed it away in the fridge to soak up the Ague sauce all night. Bedtime rolled around and I came down stairs to gather the kidlings up to bed. What did I find on the counter? The Tupperware container, EMPTY! The patio door was open and I heard Seth laughing. I ran to find my dog and cat chowing down on the roast. Yes, I cried, but it probably sounded more like a scream of horror. My husband followed my wail and it happened. He said it. That famous line from the movie. "Sons a *****'s!"

SO, tonight's dinner was fed to the dog. We won't be going to the Chinese restaurant like the movie characters did though. We will most likely be feasting on something more like I don't know, cold cereal.

"PAMPAS'S!"

***don't worry, we didn't yell any "bad words" at my child nor called him any. We love him and now laugh at this whole thing.***

A Good Day

2011-10-20T08:45:00.001-06:00

I love the good days with my son. Lately we’ve had so many I forget how the bad days are. This past weekend there was a bad day. My husband went hunting and Seth absolutely loves hunting. Well, Seth didn’t get to go because my husband wanted a chance on his own to try and bag a deer. Understandable, when hunting with kids, all you are really doing is pushing the animals in a hundred yard radius away.

That morning Seth watched his dad load up the truck and leave. He waited at the living room window all day, watching for the truck to return. In between the visual wait, he would take his toy gun and pretend the front room was the forest crouching behind the couch and taking his careful aim at his deer/ my coffee table. By noon, Seth couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted his dad and he wanted to go hunting. An outburst beyond outburst accrued. Thankfully my mother-in-law was here and able to help. After a while, he settled down and life went back to normal.

Seth had surgery the other day and all went well. Though he did get pretty loopy after. He’s been good ever since, but it’s only been two days. This morning while getting ready for school, he got ready and put his shoes on without ANY help. He gave me a big hug before he went to school and whispered in my ear, “Mom.” He does this little thing that might look like nothing special to anyone else, but has a huge meaning to those who know. He holds his fingers like he’s pinching sand and will act like he is putting it in your palm. Seth has seen this on a move. (Its part of his “spirit” that he is leaving with you while he is gone. He picked this up on his own, don’t know why it stuck with him, but it did. I love it.) And today, he did it to me as he walked away from me.

I love you buddy.

Pots 'N Pens

2011-09-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

I'm blogging over on Pots 'N Pens Today. Come on over and check it out!

I Get It

2011-09-13T13:58:00.000-06:00

I'm no longer the cool, fun mom. This morning I handed Seth his clothes for school. He got dressed and came in the bathroom to brush his teeth. His shirt had the Boise State Bronco on the front of it. He's been watching Spirit lately so I pointed to the logo and said, "Cool Seth! It's Spirit." Then proceeded to whinny like a horse. Well, that did it.

"No!" said Seth while simultaneously taking off the shirt and flinging it on the bed. He stomped back to his room and reemerged wearing a Tony Hawk tee. I opened my mouth to say it was a nice shirt he'd picked, but Seth held up his hand to stop me before the first word could exit my mouth. He said, "Stop."

Well, okay. I get the idea. Even though his vocabulary is small. He gets his point of view across. And today it was Mom-if-you-like-it-I-don't. Even though he has Fragile X and Autism, Seth still acts like a preteen.

Music Awards?

2011-08-31T18:11:00.000-06:00

I watched this years MTV Music Award Show and was sadly disappointed. What the heck happened to Rock music? Really? I guess I need to rephrase that. What has happened to MTV? When I was growing up it was pretty much none stop music videos. I loved watching them, I could sit for hours waiting to see the latest songs. Now it's all reality t.v. and mini series. I mean, those are fine and all, but I want MORE MUSIC!!!

At the award show they had only one category for rock video and truly only one nominees (Foo Fighters) that were technically rock worthy of the award. Luckily, they won. I'm not saying only rock should be on MTV, I'm saying they need to actually play rock. There are a lot of other styles of music that are great too and were honored for it as well.

I was talking to my sister about the show and we both thought maybe "they" are calling what we think is rock, is now considered metal? Growing up, rock were bands like Nirvana, Metallica, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Ozzy. Even into my twenties, bands like Breaking Benjamin, Theory of a Deadman, Nickelback, Three Days Grace, and Godsmack were big and making new videos. But, now to watch the new videos you have to go on YouTube and be lucky you can stumble onto the new hits. Even radio stations that play the new rock releases are being bought out by hip hop and pop radio.

I hope I'm not the only one who is suffering and MTV will at least play some more "rock" bands. We need another Kurt Cobain type to come revive the industry once again. What are your thoughts? Any?

Week As A Single Mother: Day 5

2011-08-25T22:02:00.000-06:00

Crazy, crazy morning. Seth did NOT want to go to school today. The newness had wore completely off with that child already. Thank goodness for the janitors at the elementary school, they help me out way more than I could every explain. Jay (one of the janitors) waits for me to pull up in front of the school and runs out to meet me. He helps Seth into the school with me. See, when I say help I mean he lifts the upper body while I carry the kicking legs on the days when Seth won't get out of the car with out persuasion. There are some days when he gets out and walks next to Jay like they are old buddies. (I like those days).

Thankfully, Seth calmed down after a bit and was great the rest of the day. I'm glad because I'm getting pretty depressed being the only parent here. My mother-in-law has come to help out before and right after school and that has been great. She helps the kids unload after school while I make dinner. Plus gives me some adult talk. I never knew how amazing of a lady she is. She is awesome. I'm glad I have good in-laws. I'm very lucky.

Tomorrow there is no school because of the four day weeks we do and I'm hoping to sleep in. Yeah, right, but I can dream at least. Well, until tomorrow readers.

Choa.

Week As A Single Mother: Day 4

2011-08-24T22:05:00.000-06:00

Holy Moly! Today went perfect. The kids all got up, ate, brushed their teeth, and were dressed a half hour before the need to be at school. Seth even walked to his class with out any trouble. I was shocked.

Paisley was so cute and took a n apple for her teacher. I had the harder time when it came to leave, she looked at me out of the corner of her eye and waved. Broke my heart. Not even a tiny tear. But I guess that's alright. It's good she can handle being on her own for school...

Dom loved his first day too. He was really happy that mom walked him into his class. Yeah, my little boy has grown up and hit the stage where mom just isn't very cool anymore. We'll see if that changes when he wants a car in a few years.

I have to explain about the school clothes Seth wore. As some of you know he is very picky about the way clothes feel against his skin. If it's not right, he rips them off like Hulk Hogan. So, yes, he wore a t-shirt and basketball shorts. But, he made it all day with no outburst. So I guess its a battle I'm not fighting.

We are really missing the daddy today. Every year he would ask them about their days when he got home, but this year he couldn't. The kids even noticed. Well, it's only a few more days and he'll be back.

Week As A Single Mother: Day 3

2011-08-23T22:00:00.002-06:00

We had a tragic loss at our house today. Our beloved fish took a ride on the porcelain express. What made it so tragic is that they died right before my daughter's eyes. Pais won a fish at the fair the other day and the people gave her 3 instead. (They wanted to get rid of them) She loved the idea of being in charge of a pet of her very own. She fed them and helped clean the tank. But, I need to back up a little bit.

Yesterday, Dom came down stairs and asked what would happen if the fish lived in a bowl of Pepsi instead of water. I told him they'd die. Then he asked what about Kool-aid. Same thing, death. He replied with a simple,"Oh". That was that. A few minutes later I come into the kitchen to find the fish bowl a really murky brown.

"How the heck could the fish get the water so dirty already?"

Paisley piped up and tattled on her brother, "Dom poured his soda in the tank."

CRAP! I quickly cleaned the poor fishes habitat and prayed for the best. Lesson learned here: when Dom is asking "what if" questions, worry. Fast forward to today. Pais was watching the three fish swim around when she cried, "Somethings wrong with Darwin and Dori."

Yup, they were literally puttering out as she watched. They both stopped and one floated to the top, the other to the bottom. She cried and we flushed them. A few hours later THE SAME THING. She saw the last little guy, Nemo, give his final fin flip and croak.

Everything settled down after a while and the door bell rang, but when I answered the door where a person would be standing were four over stuffed garbage bags of clothes. Two for the boys and two for Paisley. The Clothing Fairy struck again this year. These aren't just any clothes either, they are all name brand hardly ever worn (half still have the tags on them).

Today was eventful to day the least, but tomorrow is going to be an adventure. First day of school. Bring it on!

Week As A Single Mother: Day 2

2011-08-22T22:01:00.001-06:00

Today was back to school night for my kids. We walked over to the school and the kids unloaded their supplies into their desks, so excited to see what friends were in their classes. My eight year old got pretty impatient when the kindergartners turn came and kept tapping my arm saying, "Mom. Mom. Mom." So I did what any mother would and blocked him out while I helped my little girl.

The teacher was kind to Paisley and walked her through what will be the morning routine. Pais fell in love with the teacher and I signed my life away with volunteer times for parties and snacks through out the year. Finally, it was time to go. I looked up to gather the troop and one was missing. Dom. Of course. I knew he'd probably walked home since we live a few houses away, but there is still a fear of "what if?".

I called my mother-in-law who'd stayed behind to keep Seth company. Yep, the little rascal was home on the computer. I could breathe easy now.

When we got home I made dinner and laid the guilt (we call it super-guilt in this situation) on thick. I know I'm going to damage the boy, I need to stop, but hey, it's what gets the message through. Oh, and I made my first ever zucchini bread. AND BIG SURPRISE it turned out yummy. Raise the roof. (oops, I just showed my age). Anyway, I'm beat so I'm off to bed before the baby wakes up. See you all later.

Week As A Single Mother: Day 1

2011-08-21T22:07:00.000-06:00

My husband had a great opportunity given to him through work this week. They shipped him off to take a course and become a CWI (certified welding inspector). Anyway, he is gone for the next week staying a few hours away busing himself all day with classes and studying. I told him it will be like a vacation because he's being put up in a posh hotel and gets a big break from the four tornadoes we call children.

This will also be the longest we have been apart in our eleven years of marriage. We've spent a few nights away from each other every hunting season, but there were still a few tears as we said goodbye this morning. When I watched his car drive out of our subdivision, anxiety crept it's evil way up my throat and I started freaking out. (But kept a smile on my face so the husband wouldn't know any better). THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'LL BE ALONE WITH ALL FOUR KIDS! No help. No, "Honey, I'm changing the baby can you break up the fight before one of the boys start bleeding?" Zilch. Oh, and did I mention school starts this week? No? Well, yeah it does. So it should be interesting to see how Seth acts when he realizes freedom of television and unlimited fridge raids end. Anyway...

By noon nothing had happened. Dinner time, still all quiet. Then it was bedtime. Everyone was tucked in and all quiet when the chime to the alarm chirped, "SHOP DOOR". Lights flipped on and the kids ran down the stairs screaming, "Daddy's back! Daddy's back!" But no. It was the wind. My kids had gone out earlier and didn't shut the door tight as they came back in. I explained the situation but my little girl cried and cried. She wanted her daddy. Thank goodness for cell phones. We called him up and one by one, told him good night.

Phew, that was it; only one melt down. But then again it was only day one. Let us pray the rest of the week is this uneventful.

Pots N Pens

2011-07-28T00:53:00.000-06:00

Hey come on over and take a look. I'm blogging on Pots N Pens today. Just click HERE.

A Bad Morning

2011-07-13T08:37:00.000-06:00

It was an interesting morning when I dropped off Seth for Summer school. He had been great all morning and couldn't wait to go on their field trip to the dog groomers. As we were pulling up to the curb, a few teenagers rode up on their bikes for drivers ed. and it set Seth off. See, the day before the class had gone bike ridding with Common Ground. Seth loves to ride his bike. Well, long story short, he wanted to get on the bikes and a fit settled in.

Some of you know his fits aren't the typical child tantrum. His are the equivalent of a fight with a raging tiger. I got him settled down enough to get him up the stairs when one of the helpers from his class noticed our scuffle. She came over and grabbed Seth. I warned her not to put any of her body, especially her arms or hands in front of him or he would bite. What she do? Wrapped her arm around his mouth. Yep, CLAMP! Teeth sunk in.

I managed to release Seth's mouth from the ladies flesh but not before she screamed at me. I apologised and we got him into the class room. Guess what? She did it again. The teacher brought over a toy to distract Seth and calm him down. But, it also brought all the other kids over to the toy too. Before I could get the toy pulled further away out of Seth's bubble. He grabbed a kid and dug him. The teacher made me feel like crap by showing me what Seth had done to the kid and aid. I know what he did and I do feel bad for them and I was trying to prevent it but nobody would listen to me.

Thankfully, the aids that are familiar with Seth and knows how to work with him came in. He settled down and hopefully will stay that way. Can I just tell you all Autism sucks. It's a mean disability that really pisses me off. It takes over my son and hides him behind this violent meanness, because on the good days Seth is the best of kids and I know that's what he's really like. A good kid.

So on that note; you hear me Autism?!?! You suck!

Say What?

2011-07-11T23:57:00.002-06:00

My 8-year-old-son, Dom, and I were watching television the other night and he turned to me, with a serious face, and wanted to know answers to some mind boggling questions that were burning in his young, yet innocent mind. This is how it went down:

Dom: "Mom, you wax eyebrows right?"
Me: "Yes. Why do you want to know that?"
Dom clasps his hands together: "Never mind."
Me: "No, really why do you want to know?"
Dom takes a deep breath and clears his throat: "Why do girls' eyebrows look like they're angry?"
Me: *Blinks and tries not to laugh* "What?"
Dom :"Really? Why do you purposely wax them to look like you're mad?"
Me: "We think it looks pretty. It's like putting a frame around our eyes. We're not mad. It's to make us look nice."
Dom: "Well you are doing it all wrong because the frame is like a warning sign telling people to leave you alone."
Me: *Speechless*

Heaven save me now. He's only eight years old. What's it going to be like when he's a teenager?

Oh, My, REALLY?

2011-07-06T07:21:00.000-06:00

There are things in my life I've come to accept. Example; I still get zits and I'm almost 30, stretch marks will never go away completely, with four children my house will not be spotless, and there will always be laundry to be done. But, I can not, WILL not accept being shocked to consciousness by the theme song to Harry Potter played at full volume on the surround sound at 6AM! It's just not that good of a feeling.

FOR THE LOVE MAKE IT STOP!

Me and Parking Lots

2011-07-05T18:25:00.000-06:00

Holy Smokes! What is up with me and parking lots lately? A while back our car was victim to a hit and run, this past weekend I was honked at by a very angry driver for crossing the "crosswalk" slowly because I had all four of my kids with me, and today I, my body, got backed into. Yup, BACKED INTO!

Actually it was my baby the van hit first. Thank goodness he was in the car seat carrier, or I would have really flipped.

We got out of our car and the kids were walking next to me. Just as we passed a van, the reverse lights kicked on and backed into me. Yeah, I swore. A LOT! (My seven-year-old told me I need to wash out my mouth and I can't kiss Riot the rest of the day.) Well, the car stopped and nothing was hurt, just scared us both.

I think for now on I'm sending my husband to do all the shopping.

What Would You Do?

2011-06-16T14:42:00.001-06:00

This summer has finally come (weather wise anyway), and I thought I would be a good mom and let my 7-year-old-son invite a friend over. He rarely is able to have friends over because of my oldest son and his autism. I know that sounds bad, but hear me out. He is my height and 100 pounds. He wants to play with his brother and friend. But, brother and friend want to run the neighborhood like little boys do. My 10-year old (Seth) RUNS!! and runs very fast. I can't catch him. Plus, I just had a baby and feedings are still taking place every two hours.

Anyways, back to the story. The friend came over and as usual they were coming in and out to play. When they would go out, Seth would hang on the door and cry, he wanted to go with them. So, after the fourth time I loaded the baby in the stroller and off we went on the bikes. Yeah, I ran. A LOT! Boy, I'm so out of shape. Seth actually did really well and stayed with the boys on the freaking MILE bike ride. He even came home like he was suppose to without a fight.

It was later that broke my heart. The boys wanted to play with just them, no Seth. So, outside they went and locked the door. The look on Seth face made my heart weep. I felt so bad because I couldn't go out to keep him where he was suppose to be and I couldn't tell the boys "Sorry, you have to be bored and stay in the back yard". (Well I could but didn't.) Seth sat by me while I was feeding the baby and whimpered "play" over and over.

What do I do? This is why we don't have my younger son have friends over. I feel bad that he always has to go over to everyone else's houses but it's just not fair to leave Seth out. Really? Am I doing the right thing?

House Hold Memo's

2011-05-25T08:57:00.000-06:00

Dear Laundry,

Our relationship has been getting, let's say, a little unacceptable. We use to coexist in harmony. You never seemed to overwhelm me. I miss the days when I could fold you and enjoy the fresh sent of fabric softener. Where have you gone?

As of late, you're out of control. I mean you're leaving piles everywhere. In the bathroom, in the corners of my bedroom, you've gotten so lazy in the kids' rooms I can't see the floor. And we are not even going to talk about the laundry room floor. NO! This is enough.

This is your final notice, get it together, or you will be replaced by new clothing and never washed again.

Sincerely yours,
Laci

The Canal

2011-05-18T13:36:00.003-06:00

I dipped my feet into the cool water of the kiddy pool. The ripples rolled across the surface as I lifted my toes up and down. My older sister and her boyfriend sat behind me on the front porch, smooching. Gag.

Not only was the heat from the July sun making me sick, but the sound of lips smacking together wasn’t something a twelve year old wanted to hear. My six year old little brother, Bubba, ran out of the front door with the neighbor kids. Silently tagging along behind him was my two year old sister, Bailey.

“Hey Lace,” asked Bubba. “Is it okay if we go over to the Talbot’s?”

“Sure, just don’t be too long. Mom and Dad should be home soon.”

Our parents were at a funeral, my dad’s friend, who had been killed in a car accident. They had told us that we could go out for a burger when they got back, and to us kids’ fast food was awesome!

Bubba and his friends took off across the canal to the Talbot’s place. I leaned forward and hugged my knees with one arm to keep my balance while I drug my fingers across the water. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the sun’s heat on my face. It felt nice to be back from girls camp. A weekend of passing off knots, C.P.R., and crafts were enough to do me in for the rest of the summer.

A few moments later, the Talbot kids, Kolby and Chantel, were on the bridge of the canal with Bubba. Chantel came up to me. “Did Bailey come back over here?”

“No. Why isn’t she with you?” I stood up and looked around. “Did you check over at your place? She followed you over.”

Bubba yelled to me, “Hey, someone’s in the canal.”

“It looks like a Sixth Grader,” added Kolby.

I’d just been in Sixth Grade and thought I’d probably know who was swimming next to my house; hoping deep down it was'nt a cute boy. (My hair wasn't done). With Chantel by my side, I made my way with an ever so cool sway to my walk up to the bridge.

“Look,” said Bubba, pointing to a blue object floating in the water. “Right there, see them floating?”

A few yards down the bank, a little arm rose out of the water and sunk back under. My heart jumped into my throat. “It’s Bailey!” I yelled and readied myself to jump in.

A quiet voice spoke in my ear, “Don’t jump in yet. Run to get her.” My bare feet flew over the weeded ditch bank until I reached to spot I’d seen my baby sister. I heard a large slash behind me and looked back to see my older sister’s boyfriend had jumped in to get her, but he was clear back at the bridge. I turned my attention back to the water in front of me. A few feet a head, Bailey’s tiny face bobbed up to the surface and went back down. I jumped in the water and grabbed her, lifting her up in front of me.

Bailey’s body was cold, limp, and lifeless. I looked into her eyes and nothing was there. Her happy glow of life was gone. I shook her and screamed, “No! Bailey, no! You can’t do this! You can’t die. NO!”

A tiny drop of water rolled out of her mouth and something clicked in my head. I can save her. I know this.

I listened for her breathe, nothing. Placed my ear to her chest. A faint flutter, if that. I laid her on the bank and began chest compressions. Each time I pressed down, water flowed out of her mouth. This couldn’t be happening.

After a few seconds, Bailey coughed. I turned her to her side. At this point, my parents had arrived home and heard hysterical screaming. Some strange voice yelled, “Where’s Bailey? Where is she?” It was my dad. His voice unfamiliar in that tone. He never sounded paniced.

“I’ve got her. Over here. She’s breathing now.” I shouted back. I looked up as my dad hurdled the four foot fence and run toward me. He scooped Bailey up and took off toward the van. He and my mom zoomed off to the hospital.

Still in the waist high water, everything went silent. The only sounds were the sobs of my brother and his friends. Shock of what had taken place settled in. I covered my hands over my face and wept. Slowly, a hand was placed on my shoulder.

“You did good, Laci.” I looked up to see my sister’s boyfriend. He helped me out of the water and into the house. My sister wrapped me in a blanket and cried along with me.

We waited by the phone what seemed for hours. Finally, my dad called letting us know Bailey was alright and they would be home later.

This really happened and I still have nightmares. With summer on its way, everyone be aware of water safety. Nobody needs to go though this.

News clippings of the event.

Below is Bubba, Me holding Bailey, Chantel, and Kolby.

This is Bailey now. 16 years later, I'm still glad she made it.

A Note From My Son.

2011-05-11T22:00:00.000-06:00

My seven-year-old son made a list of things about me for Mother's Day and gave it to me late. He said he was embarrassed, but not anymore. After I read it, I gave him a big hug, folded it up and put it in my journal. He gave me permission to post this though. I think it's great, and kinda funny of what reminds him of me. The caps words are what he wrote. It's these types of little things that make me happy to be a mom.

1.   If my mom were a flower, she would be a ROSE, because THEY SMELL GOOD.

2.   If my mom were a song, she would be RUDOLF THE RED NOSED REINDEER, because IT REMINDS ME OF CHRISTMAS AND HER BIRTHDAY IS RIGHT AFTER THAT.

3.   If my mom were a super hero, she would be MEGA-MOM, because IT SOUNDS COOL.

4.   If my mom were a candy, she would be GUM, because IT'S SWEET.

5.   If my mom were a car, she would be a TAXI, because SHE DRIVES ME AROUND AND IT'S YELLOW.

6.   If my mom were a color, she would be WHITE, because, IT'S BRIGHT.

7.   If my mom were an animal, she would be a BUNNY, because THEY ARE FLUFFY.

8.   If my mom were a TV show, she would be REGULAR SHOW, because IT'S FUNNY LIKE HER.

I'm glad none of them were too bad, like saying I was a monster of some kind. But, a bunny huh? At first I was worried he might say because I used to watch GIRLS NEXT DOOR. Phew. Hum, but fluffy?

I love this kid!

A Hit and A Miss

2011-05-10T12:22:00.004-06:00

Yesterday started out amazingly with a phone call from Aprilynne Pike. She was coming through the area and asked if I wanted meet up for some grub. (Not her words exactly). We met up for lunch at a yummy restaurant and ate out little hearts out. She brought her mother along for this part of her book tour to help with her new little (adorable I might add) baby girl.

We laughed and caught up on what's been happening lately. Crazy enough, since we'd both just had babies, our lives are similar at the moment. Only mine isn't as glamorous. Hopefully someday though. Aprilynne had to hit the road and I had to get back to being a busy busy mom.

Around four o'clock that night, my husband and I took off to get our Whooping Cough booster. *OUCH* (Not really, didn't even feel it). Then stopped off at ol' Walmart to do some birthday shopping. On our way out we noticed our SUV had been hit. I mean, who could miss the big white paint scratched along the side of the rear-end? My husband was fuming mad and had the store call the police.

This is what's pretty amazing. The cop and Walmart employee viewed the security cameras and saw the whole thing. A white car attempted to pull into the stall next to us, but hit our vehicle instead. Then they backed out (at this time the lady got out of her car, looked at the damage, and got back into the drivers seat.) She then, pulled her car into a stall two cars to the right of ours and got out and entered the store. The cop and employee then followed her (via camera angles) through the store all the way to her checking out. If she were to pay with credit or debit card or check they could trace her and find out her name, address, ect. But, this is the kick in the pants. She paid in CASH! No trail. The only thing they have is her car make and model and her face.

The camera followed her to her car, and here comes another kick, passes us inspecting the damage she had done. She gets into her car and drives away. GONE! OFF SCOTT FREE while we are stuck with the $500 repair bill. But we have a copy of the DVD of you (stupid lady) hitting and running. I hope it eats at you knowing you are dishonest.

Now it's cool and all that Walmart is able to do this, but really? BIG BROTHER! How much other stuff do they catch on camera? And why do people hit and run? I mean come on! What happened to people doing the right thing? Well, anyway at least I had fun with Aprilynne.

I'm out!

Oh Where, Oh Where Have ALL My Clothes Gone?

2011-05-05T09:53:00.003-06:00

Some of you may know the issue we've been having with son #1. He's in training to become the next Hulk Hogan or a Chip and Dale dancer, one of the two, who knows but hopefully the first. He is getting really good at ripping the clothes off too. Faster than I can stop him. I'll be doing something and I'll hear that first *rip* and start charging toward him in hopes to saving the article of clothing. We found that Shopko has the KID TOUGH guarantee and are taking full advantage of it.

Well, lately I've been noticing my clothes have been disappearing. I recently had a baby and yes the laundry does seem to stay in piles for a few days but I catch up on the weekends. Anyway, I seriously couldn't find a lot of my clothes. Well, last night I found what has been happening to them.

My laundry pile for my husband and myself is in our bathroom, next to the toilet. Are you following me? If you've read this blog before you might know what is coming next. Just put two and two together. Yep! I found him ripping my clothes and FLUSHING them! GOOD HEAVENS, YES! Down the tube they've been going.

So, that's my life this week. I'll be getting a shopping trip soon.

Illusions by Aprilynne Pike

2011-04-28T09:19:00.002-06:00

This book comes out in a few days, but Aprilynne is an awesome friend of mine and sent it to me early! Really, this is my favorite book in the series so far. I won’t go into to detail and spoil anything since you all should read it, but I will tell you it’s amazing. The story is fast pasted from the first word and there are a lot of intense scenes. I couldn’t put it down. So, mark this book down on your to read list!

IT'S A BOY! Riot Smith

2011-03-30T09:23:00.000-06:00

I know, I know. It’s about time. You’ve all been wondering and waiting to see my new baby. Well, what do you expect? I mean just look at his little face. I can’t get enough of him. So without further hesitation, I present to you my new baby boy, Riot. He was born March 11th and came in weighing a modest size of 8lbs 14 ounces! He was a strong healthy boy too. Now me, I gave everyone a scare. Didn’t mean to but it happened. There were lets say some complications during the c-section. Nothing was where it was suppose to be.
The following day I woke up with the worst pain in my belly I’ve EVER experienced and my heart pounding. When I looked down, it was red, and swollen. I called for a nurse and at one look she grabbed my doctor. I had red streaks running up and down my stomach. At first I thought it was new stretch marks. Not so much, it was something worse. The doctor touched my stomach and I about passed out from the pain. He performed some more tests and grabbed another doctor. By this time, I couldn’t handle life anymore and was slipping in and out.

The next thing I knew it was a few hours later and my room was full of family. My bladder had been paralyzed, kidneys shut down among other things. To top it all off, I had to get two blood transfusions. Yeah, that isn’t very fun either. But, hey I was on morphine (which I found out I HATE! I can’t stand the way it made me feel.)

So a week later, I got to come home with my baby and got an amazing surprise! Someone, ONE OF YOU READERS, contacted a photographer (Jen Smith) of RJS Photography and purchased a session for my baby! (But they wanted to keep themselves anonymous) So here is my HUGE THANK YOU! I thought it would be nice to share a few of my favorites so whoever you are (amazing friend) can see how cute of a gift you got our family.
THANK YOU AGAIN!

Paisley said.....

2011-02-24T22:56:00.000-07:00

The other night while putting our son to bed we couldn't find his little dog. He loves this pet, it's his therapy. Me, not so much of a fan of something that will piddle on my carpet. But anyway, you do anything for your kids to be happy and calm.

Well, Seth would not go to bed with out this dog to sleep next to him. He wondered around the house whimpering, "Chester, here boy." After ten minutes, no response my husband and I call out for him.

The little voice of my 4 year old daughter yells out, "He's in my room. He was tired."

We walk into her room and find her snuggled in her bed smiling. My husband asked, "Where in your room is he? I can't see him."

Paisley's beautiful blue eyes brighten up as she smiles. "He's in my closet."

Why she locked the dog in her closet is still a mystery. What made me a little nervous for the future, this was the same smile and giggle she made when we opened the door and found the dog in the dolly bed.

Baby Shower, Ring, Scarf, OH MY!

2011-02-07T12:49:00.001-07:00

Wow, a lot has happened. So, this post is going to jump all over and talk a lot about me, sorry in advance. First off I owe you all photos of my ring my husband got me for my birthday (back in December). We have been married going on eleven years and he surprised me with this amazing gift on my birthday. I guess he'd gotten it a while back and couldn't decide when to give it to me. I had no clue, but I think he did AMAZING at picking it out all by himself. He even got the size right. Don't mind the blury fat fingers.

I also got a gift from my friend Gretchen Stelter who lives in Portland. She is also an amazing editor if anyone is in need of some editorial work. My camera is not wanting to load my photos so The scarf looks a lot like the one Gretchen is wearing( click on the link to see photos.), but mine has a peace sign and the words love on it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it and wear it all the time.. Here is a link to her site. Double R Design.

This past weekend my friends gave me a baby shower. I'm having my fourth baby in a few weeks and have never had a baby shower. I had no idea what I was missing! We did an open house style shower because I'm not a fan of shower games and really I just wanted to sit and chat with my friends. We had a good turn out and I really want to tell each of my friends Shannon, Ashli, and Andrea for giving me a shower, and all of the rest of you who came THANK YOU very much. I appreciate everything you did and gave me. My friend Shannon posted some photos on her blog of the decorations (which were over the top and the treats amazing!) Here is the link to see the baby shower pictures. Shannon made me a plate for my baby's room with his name on it. Love it. You'll see it in the photos.

Who wants to be a Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner?

2011-01-18T15:45:00.002-07:00

I love pictures of babies. That being said, my friend, Jen Smith of RJS Photography is giving away a photo shoot worth $175. Believe me it's so worth entering in this contest. All you have to do is comment on her web site and here is a link. (click HERE)

Now, if you still don't believe me, here are some samples of her work. Plus there are a lot more on her site. Good Luck to any and all who enter.

A Clog in the Kitchen Sink From HELL!

2011-01-10T23:41:00.003-07:00

I’ve had the perfect start for this year. Wait, really I haven’t and this is why. On Saturday morning, my husband noticed the water backing up from the dishwasher into the kitchen sink. He put on his Man Belt and got to work with a plunger. The water instantly shot out of the other side and landed right on his back. Don’t laugh yet, it gets better. He’s ticked, I mean really mad. He moved on to the plumbers snake and twisted that sucker to its breaking point. NOTHING. We went and bought an acid that’s supposed to eat through anything. Really, the bottle said it would eat through rags. What the bottle didn’t say is the fumes could kill an army. Still the clog stayed put.

My husband spued out a few choice words and I told him to call a plumber. He yells back, “Screw that. I got this! I can fix it myself and cheaper than hiring a plumber.” I knew that was the kiss of death. Nothing ever good comes after that saying.

He cinched up his Man Belt a little tighter and bought a new, longer plumbers snake. After shoving the 50 foot metal hose down the pipe, WE FOUND THE CLOG. Bad news, it was something so tight it bent the snake accordion style.

The next thing I heard was banging of power tools getting pulled out of the garage. “Heaven help me now!” Sure enough the saw fired up and a pipe was being cut. I prayed for a miracle. Or at least for my husband to not chop off any of his body parts.

All of a sudden I hear, “Oh. My. Gosh.” I could have crapped my heart through an eye of a needle right then, but luckily it stayed in place. I took off down stairs, waiting to find my husband covered in blood. What I met was an invisible wall of the most horrible smelling order ever and my husband looking up at the severed pipe in disgust. It looked like what you see inside of a raw sausage link. What seemed to have happened, when we were building our house the plumber made too many bends in the pipe from the garbage disposal to the main drain of the house causing six years of discarded food particles to build up little by little until it became packed—solid.

We ended up replacing that entire length of pipe, about ten feet. It was too packed to even start to unclog. It’s a dang good thing we didn’t have the basement finished or we would've had to replace the ceiling too. But, my husband rubbed it in my face. He did save us money. The total cost of the repair, $40. My husband’s pride—priceless.

Oh, P.S. When I get the time, I have to show you what I got for my birthday from my husband. Plus an awesome gift from my friend, Gretchen Stelter.

Lottery Winner!

2010-12-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

A few days ago three ladies won a million dollars on a Power Ball ticket. My husband and I (who were extremely jealous) got talking about what we would do with the money if we had won. Thankfully we both had the similar ideas, but then it came down to the question; would we share it with family or friends? This is where we found out we are true soul mates. We had almost exactly the same answer. Although this was only a dream for us, it did get me thinking. What if? Would I really share or not share? Well, I'm asking you. What would you do?

Sex and Sexy Scenes In YA Books

2010-12-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

Hey all you writers out there, I found a great post from a blog I follow The YA-5 called "Sex and Sexy Scenes In YA :Let's Look At It A Different Way" I think you might want to read. It's about sex in young adult books. It's always a big topic at conferences I go to.

This article has some good points and explanations. I agree that when you write a scene it needs to fit. Also, it needs to have meaning to the plot. It's always hard to decide if you are going to add sexual content to your story. For me, it's a hard choice because I write young adult, but young adult (to me) isn't children. Young adult is, in my eyes, 15 and older. Now 15 is still young, but we do need to face and understand that 50% of teenagers (sometimes more) are sexually active in some way. Now I'm not saying "yeah, go ahead and let your teens read steamy romance novels." What I am saying is if sex is put into literature that teens will read it needs to be done properly and tastefully. Now that's enough of my soap box. Enjoy reading the post.

Tooth Fairy! Where are you?

2010-11-11T08:38:00.001-07:00

The Tooth Fairy seems to miss our house-a lot. My son lost a tooth two days ago and that stinking fairy skipped him over. This tragedy seems to happen almost every time someone in our house looses a tooth. But, come on now, give this fairy a break. She just can’t get herself up in time lately.

I got tired of hearing the kid’s disappointment in the mornings when the tooth would still be under the pillow and no money in its place. We made a designated spot that we now put the teeth in waiting, on the kitchen counter. No missing it now.

This Tooth Fairy failed again. This morning I woke up to my 4-year-old-daughter wailing that the Tooth Fairy (she has named her Tinker Bell-go figure) didn’t come. After consoling the upset child, she just knew that our cat had scared the Tooth Fairy away and that’s why she didn’t come. She also came up with a plan and made a sign of a cat locked in the garage and a map of where the tooth will be waiting. Wow, I’d hate to think what she is going to do when it's her tooth.

Now please lets all pray that this Tooth Fairy can wake her very exhausted behind up and get this job done. TONIGHT!

Moved To Tears

2010-11-09T12:36:00.001-07:00

The other day my husband and I were walking through a store that was displaying art. I know, what a date. An art gallery, but hey it’s free and gave us time to talk. Now I need to back up a tiny bit. As some of you may know, lately I’ve been going through some tough times emotionally with this pregnancy and my oldest son. Although I’ve shed a lot of tears, I’ve grown too. (Not only in my waist but spiritually as well.)

My husband and I had moved passed the paintings and came to the still art section. This tiny 4x5 picture caught my attention. I pointed at it and cried. My husband clueless to what I was doing, put his arm around me and asked what was wrong.

“That picture. It’s so personal to me. I’ve felt that so many times.”

By this time, my husband saw the picture I was referring to and understood. It was of a woman weeping against a rock and Jesus comforting her. Not like a full on bear hug, but a gentle touch, letting her know He understands and is hurting along with her.

I wiped my eyes and got the heck out of that section. I didn’t want anyone to see me crying. But the image left a permanent mark with me. As someone who works in the art genera, I hope my work has an impact on someone like this picture did. Even if it’s just one single person.

Here's the picture that moved me to tears.

I need some help?

2010-10-28T10:07:00.001-06:00

I posted this essay a while back, but now have changed it. The reason being, I might enter it into a contest. This contest is for woman of my religious background and life style. Why I'm posting it again, I want feed back. Like; does it need to be longer, more in depth, more personal, you aren't relating, connecting, or caring who this is about. Or if I totally went the wrong way with it and need to start over. Any who, take a read and leave a comment on the link above this post.

I Still See You

A tall brown haired boy flips on the kitchen light. I follow him to the counter and pour him a bowl of cereal. I give my son his breakfast and kiss the top of his head. It’s five o’clock in the morning and I can’t help but smirk at how even the sun gets to sleep in. Yet, I’m up and starting my day.

My little boy snarffs down his Fruit Loops, bounces across the room, humming a deep monotone, and flapping his hands together with out a care in the world. His name is Seth and he has two disabilities; Autism and Fragile X Syndrome. You never know when the symptoms of either trial he lives with will strike. Some days are good and he seems happy and calm. With the good comes the bad and on those days it can be challenging to see his real sweet spirit inside.

Seth puts in his favorite DVD of Harry Potter. While waiting for the player to load, our family dog enters the room and licks Seth’s face. I love the sound of the giggle Seth lets out because it’s a contagious chuckle that grows into belly jumping laugh.

Suddenly, Seth remembers the movie but something is wrong. The DVD isn’t playing. He tries restarting it, but it just won’t work. Seth’s face wrinkles and big tears roll down his cheeks. He turns to me and utters one word from his very small vocabulary.

“Help.”

I open the tray and out slides the disc. I pick it up and find it covered in sticky finger prints. After cleaning it off, my heart sinks. A crack ran all the way across the center of the DVD. Clean or sticky, it will never play. I return to Seth to break the bad news.

“Seth, I’m sorry but this can’t play anymore.” I hold up the disc. “Look at this right here. See, it’s broke.”

He doesn’t understand and cries again, this time flopping down on the couch. I turn around to go back into the kitchen. Seth see his shoes on the floor next to him and grabs them.

The next thing I know something hits the back of my head. I snatch the shoe from Seth’s hand. After a few minutes, my arms are bloody from trying to calm him down. I say a silent prayer and ask for some help. Not for myself, but help for my son to give him some kind of comfort and the ability to calm down. I open my eyes and something shinny catches my attention from under the couch. Reaching with my fingertips, I pull out another copy of the movie.

Puzzled how it got there and where it come from, I put it into the player. The movie starts with out any problems.

Seth immediately calms down and realizes what he has done to his mother. His eyes fill with sorrowful tears. Seth tenderly blows on the scratches, digs, and bite marks that cover my arms.

The movie’s theme music plays in the background as his big green eyes, still filled with tears, look back at me. Kissing my cheek, he says, “Sorry,” and wraps his arms around me.

“Seth, I love you too.”

As his mother, I know that even on the hard days when the Autism takes over, my little boy is still behind those green eyes struggling to understand his frustrations. So in these moments when he looks at me, I let him know I can still see him.

How else would I mean?

2010-10-23T10:25:00.000-06:00

This morning I found my son playing with play dough in his bedroom. This is a no-no at my house. The kids know (well should know by how many times I've told them) that play dough is meant for the kitchen ONLY. This is how the conversation went.

Me: "Get this play dough in it's container and down stairs now. Or, I'm going to kick your butt!"

7 year old: Looks up at me with a blank stare.

Me: "Hurry up! I'm not kidding!"

7 year old: "You mean literally?"

Really?!?! How else would I mean. Well, I guess they've caught on to my empty threats.

Listen

2010-09-30T16:07:00.001-06:00

Our SUV turned the corner by my father-in-law's shop a few blocks away from our house. I spotted his camper, aka Minnie Winnie, parked out front. An overwhelming feeling deep in my chest told me to slow down. I hesitated on doing so because I knew my autistic son has an obsession with the camper. Seth feels like he’s driving a bus. When we go camping he spends hours upon hours playing in the front seat.

This feeling grew stronger as we passed the front of the shop. I wasn’t speeding but the intensity of the prompting was overwhelming. Seth freaked out and pointed at the Minnie Winnie screaming, “Stop! Stop!”

I slowed our speed to a crawl knowing it would only irate Seth. Leaving him to think I might stop and when I didn’t things could turn very ugly. With our wheels moving only 10 MPH the unthinkable happened. Seth threw open his door and jumped out.

Did you know at 10 miles an hour you can skid your tires when you slam on the brakes? I found out you can. I bailed out after him and found him running back to the shop, headed right for the Minnie Winnie.

A cuss word slipped out of my innocent mouth as I slide back behind the wheel, flipped a u-turn, and pulled into the shop. Seth on the other hand was in total bliss. He had his camper and not a scratch on him.

My father-in law witnessed the show and was shaking at about the same tempo as myself. I swear, this kid is going to put me into pre-term labor. It makes me sick to think about what would have happened if I hadn’t listened to that feeling and slowed down.

Kids School Projects?

2010-09-10T10:00:00.001-06:00

Ever notice when your kids have school projects you end up doing them? Yep, we just had one of those. My autistic son didn’t really have to do it, but he wanted to. I‘m a sucker for letting him do whatever the other kids his age are doing, (meaning; scouts, sports, and school stuff. I’m not that cool of a mom).
This project was his fourth grade Idaho History point project. Out of a list of like 100 things to do, he wanted to make a log cabin out of pretzel sticks. YAY, just what I wanted to do. *insert sarcasm* But, we did it! I cut out the frame with cardboard and Seth glued the sticks on like siding. After 2 hours we were finished, well all but the roof.

I’m kinda a perfectionist when it comes to crafty things, hence why there are an absence of them in my home. I wanted to have a roof look “realistic”. So a bright idea popped in my head. BEEF JERKY! The big wide sheets of it. It worked and looked awesome.

With the roof on, we got to looking at it. There was a big gap all the way around where the ceiling meets the walls. Seth (this is the part where he takes after me) grabbed some cotton balls and put over it, like snow. So we put the cotton around the cabins bottom too. Seth even made a pretzel deer to stand out side the cabin. See, he’s my son.

All in all, it was a good project, but I’m so glad the school system likes to make the parents work too. That said, the next project he wants to do is make a real wooden pioneer bench. YE-AH…. Dad, you get to help with that one.

New Parent Freakouts

2010-08-27T11:06:00.001-06:00

Today I got really baord and watched the TLC network and laughed. On the show “Bringing Home Baby” a couple of new parents entered the journey of having their first child. The new parents seemed eager to be a good mommy and daddy and said they were “looking forward to sitting around the house and just looking at the baby." Well, the baby had other plans. She cried every waking minute. She pooped all the time and this is where it got interesting. The mother changed a diaper and freaked out. “It is runny and black! Oh my gosh, she is sick!” I need to tell you right here, the mother is a physician. A PHYSICIAN! You’d think she might know that a newborns poo is tar like. A few more hours go by and she is still freaking out. Her husband is trying his best to consul her that their new baby isn’t sick. The dad gets an idea and calls a Dula to come help them. Turns out the baby was fine. The reason for all the crying, Mom wasn’t feeding the baby long enough and the messy diaper was normal.

I laughed because the mom was a physician. That probably won’t help her get a lot of business. I understand that everything is new when you have a baby, but I agree that when you have your first baby you should have some kind of parenting class behind you. I did on my first and it saved me so much stress.
But I admit I was still in the dark on a lot of things. I still am. What are some of your first time baby freak outs?

Leave Your Stamp.

2010-08-16T11:54:00.000-06:00

Holy Moly! I've been getting A LOT of blog visits from out of my area. It's fun to see all the little red dots grow into bigger blobs as more visit, but it got me thinking. You all know where I'm at, but where are you visiting from? On the comment link above leave just what state or country you are viewing the blog from. If you want to add how you found this blog that would be fun too. Thanks all for playing along.

XOXO,
Laci

WriteOnCon

2010-08-11T22:53:00.000-06:00

Hello all you writers out there. The last two days have been full of knowledge and the best part is there is still one more day! What is it you ask? Well, you inquisitive reader you. There is a huge writers conference going on NOW and it's FREE! WriteOnCon has been full of "workshops" and live chats from big and important people in the publishing biz. There is still one more day to attend so click over now. Oh, and don't feel bad about missing anything. The lovely promoters have done a great job at archiving everything so it's a simple click away and your brain can be filled with knowledge you won't want to miss.

Here is the link. WriteOnCon

I worked out this week!

2010-07-25T11:26:00.000-06:00

Okay, it’s been a week and I have done some kind of workout everyday. Shocking, I know. I do feel better and suprisingly the scale is saying I am lighter, although my goal of not being out of breath isn’t met yet. But lucky for me neither is the thirty days I gave myself to complete this goal.

I want to add, I’m drinking enough water to fill a swimming pool everyday. Which in turn now I have to scout out bathrooms like never before.

Thanks to a comment from Amber that I took into consideration, whenever I crave sweets, I eat watermelon or grapes. IT WORKS! I don’t like the taste of chocolate that much anymore.

So there is my update on the getting healthy goal. Can’t you just wait to find out what I have planned for this coming week? My body is going to be in shock from soda withdrawals. Yes, I’m going to cut out ALL soda. This should be interesting.

HELP! I hate looking at myself.

2010-07-18T23:04:00.003-06:00

I have a confession to make. I loath my self image. It’s horrible and wrong.

This post is going to be hard for me to do because I’m putting it all out on the line to be commented on. Growing up I was always in perfect shape. I should have loved my body then, but did I, NO. Why was this? Honestly, there were a lot of factors to weigh in on the reasons, but we aren’t going to get into it because this isn’t a pity party for Laci. This post is to make a point and set a goal for myself.

My self image has gotten to the point that I’m unhealthy; physically and mentally. Physically because I’m over weight. Mentally because when I see myself I want to break the mirror. Yes, I’ll admit up front I’m bigger now then EVER—even after giving birth. That is huge for me, a 5 foot 1 inch gal.

How did this happen, well I'm an emotional eater. I eat when happy, sad, tired and depressed. Now I know none of you ever do such a thing and I'm the only one. But food is darn good, but I must be strong in this battle. Wow did that sound cheesy or what?

So here is my goal. I WILL get into shape. I’m not talking about a weight goal. I just want to be able to run down my block and not feel like I'm going to keel over two houses down. So the answer, I’ll do some kind of work out everyday for 30 days and see if I feel any better. Seriously, I don’t like feeling this crappy about myself. I want to do this all naturally with no diet pills, drinks, protein bars, or some kind of magical fat dissolving shots. I don’t think that would be healthy, especially for me. It would only masks the problem and wouldn’t teach the life style needed.

I will update my blog at least once a week to tell you how it’s going. If anyone has some tips I’d love them. Comments are on the top of this post.

Wish me luck. I’ll need it.

Way to go DADDY!

2010-07-09T10:28:00.001-06:00

I knelt down and rummaged through the leaves, hunting for our daily treats. The deep red fruit begged to be picked. Paisley’s tiny hand reached for the ripened strawberry.

“Howee Hell! The stupid bird ate it.” She stomped her heal and placed hands on hips.

I froze half way in my attempt to grab a handful of strawberries.
“What did you say?”

With her nose crunched, she pointed at the half eaten berry. “The birds ate my strawberry!”

“I see it did, but what did you say before that?”

“I don’t want to say it again.”

“Where did you hear that word from?” I held back a smile because I already knew her answer.

“Daddy. He says ‘Howee Hell' all de time.”

“Well, I think we need to talk to Daddy when he gets home.”

“Yeah, and he’s gunna get his a** kicked huh?”

SAY WHAT???!!!!
Here we go again……

In a Tough Spot?

2010-06-30T22:54:00.001-06:00

I can honestly say I look at the glass half full. In a tough situation, I will find a positive. It drives my husband crazy sometimes, (He's a half empty glass person) but I don't want to live my life worrying about stress. I hate that feeling. I love to be happy. I admit sometimes I'll release my claws and have melt downs, but "it cleanses the soul" as my grandma would say. This video clip is a perfect example of how I make a tight situation into something positive. So in other words, if I was a mouse this would be me.

Fathers Day

2010-06-20T22:44:00.000-06:00

I physically had to pull my eyelids down to close them. The glow of my cell phone showed one o’clock in the morning. I didn’t know it was possible to feel your eyelids scratch against the cornea when you were sleep deprived.

The campers next to us carried on with their party. The bass from the music shook our trailer windows. My little four-year-old pulled a pillow over her ears to block out the sound.

“I can’t take it anymore!” I sat up in my sleeping bag. “Earplugs don’t even block out the noise.”

“I know,” said my husband and rubbed my back. “Last night they didn’t shut off the music until four am.”

I flopped myself back down and whimpered.

“Mommy,” cried my little girl. “I can’t sleep.”

“That’s it!” My dad threw his covers off and stomped down the stairs from the fifth wheel’s bedroom. There was no light in the trailer but I swear I saw flames coming from his nostrils. He swung open the door, stuck out his head and all Hell broke loose.

“TURN THAT *Cussing* MUSIC DOWN!” My dad’s voice echoed across Glendale Lake and back.

I held my breath, waiting for the retaliation of the neighboring campers. The old school rap music quieted down.

“What?” confused voices asked back.

“TURN YOUR *cussing* MUSIC DOWN. WE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP.”

“If you don’t like it and don’t want to listen to it go to bed,” a man said back.

I knew that was the wrong thing to say and waited for my dad’s response.

“WE CAN’T. YOUR MUSIC IS KEEPING EVERYONE AWAKE. TURN IT DOWN.”

“It’s not my problem you don’t want to party old man.”

The music’s volume returned to deafening levels.

“I GAVE YOU YOUR CHANCE YOU *cuss* *cussing* *cussers* THE COPS ARE ON THE WAY!”

My dad slammed our door and flipped on the light. I’d never heard a grown man growl before until that moment. He found his cell phone and dialed a number.

“Hello, who is this?” asked me dad. “Warren, this is Lee Lewis………”

The conversation lasted a whole few seconds. My dad works with the county and I guess he knew what to say, how to say it, and who to say it to because twenty minutes later Dad’s cell phone rang.

“Who was that?” I asked.

“The police. They wanted to let me know they have the force together and are on their way here right now.”

He wasn’t lying. All of a sudden bright lights from a dozen cop cars flashed on and surrounded the neighboring camp.

Long story short. We got some sleep. Moral of the story—don’t piss off my dad. Happy Fathers Day everybody.

Cogitate Author Contest

2010-06-08T07:54:00.005-06:00

Attention writers! I'm so excited to announce this. The fine people at Cogitate Studios (a major awesome editing company) have asked (and let me) be a part of a writing contest they are holding. Below is all the information you need to know.

Henry, the former managing editor of Beyond Words (the publisher behind The Secret, The Truth About Beauty, and Elemental Love Styles) and current ghost writer and editor, will be providing feedback and review on a NONFICTION proposal or first 50 pages of a manuscript.

Gretchen, former agent/editorial director for Baker’s Mark Literary Agency (the literary agency behind Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel, Never After, and Comics 101) and current ghost writer and editor, will be providing feedback and review on the first 50 pages or first 5 chapters of a FICTION manuscript project.

By “feedback and review,” we mean that if you win, we will copyedit your proposal or the first 50 pages/5 chapters of your manuscript and give developmental notes and feedback on the work absolutely free. We’ll also give you tips on the overall approach you will want to take when pitching to agents and publishers.

Why are we asking you to fill out a weird questionnaire to win? Because compatibility between a writer and editor is imperative. (Take a look at our blog post on creativity with punctuation and our post on loving the people you work with.) The same principle extends to pitching your work to agents and publishers. Not only that, but you’ll also have to answer questions about your book that every author should know the answer to and you’ll also get to answer some fun and ridiculous questions about yourself—because everyone should know what weapon they would chose in a zombie attack.

Besides, there are perks. In addition to a free copyedit and comments from a pro, just by entering your completed survey:

• You have the chance to win 3 free books from our title list. (One winner will have his/her choice of two from our fiction and nonfiction title lists [as long as it’s already out, of course] and will also receive a collectible issue of The Grove Review that we worked on.)

• You may be pimped on our site even if you don’t win. Awesome answers from the review will be posted and credited on CogitateStudios.com, Cogitate on Facebook, and our respective Twitter feeds, @editorStet and @cogitweeter. We’ll post your twitter or your blog. Heck, we’ll post both if you want.

• You can come back and visit the Cogitate Studios website to see some stats, responses, and analyses of other authors’ entries (i.e., how many people submitted in what genres, average length of manuscript, what commonalities showed up, what stuck out, who would most likely survive a zombie raid, and so on).

What have you got to lose? You will not be entered on any email lists, annoyingly spammed, or sold out for cash. It’s a few minutes out of your day with a lot you may win. Who knows, it might kick-start that book idea that’s been collecting dust in the corner of your brain. Go ahead and try it. We dare you.

The specifics:

• ONE entry per person

• Deadline is this SUNDAY, June 13th, 11:59 pm PDT.

• We’ll choose TWO winners, based on our interests in reading the work, as well as how well your survey answers show compatibility with our editorial style.

• Winners will be announced the following Monday, June 21th on CogitateStudios.com.

• One winner will be picked out of FIRST 50 SURVEYS for the free book prize, and the winner can then chose which titles they want—winning the free books is random and does not affect your chances of winning the manuscript review.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.
THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ENTERED.

Here is another link to Cogitate Studios web page:

Cogitate Studios

Ink: In All Forms Kick-off contest-giveaway!

2010-06-03T16:31:00.001-06:00

Seriously guys there is a really cool contest Ink In All Forms is holding. I mean an amazing giveaway! One lucky winner will win 12 (did you catch that? TWELVE) books! All you have to do is click on the link HERE and enter. EASY. SIMPLE as THAT! Now, what are you waiting for?

I'll give you the stars

2010-05-31T22:00:00.000-06:00

The sun lowered behind the mountain. A little four year old girl and her dad sat by a camp fire. She pointed her tiny finger up at the night sky.

4 year old: "Daddy what’s that?"

Her dad glanced up then back at his daughter.

Dad: It’s a star.

4 yr. old: Can I have it?

Dad: Yes. It can be your star.

The little girl grinned and looked up at the twinkling star.

Dad: You need to give it a name.

4 yr. old: Paisley’s star!

Why can't I?

2010-05-22T00:30:00.001-06:00

Children’s laughter carried in the warm breeze. It wrapped around a young woman who sat on a park bench. A stray piece of hair drifted across her face and she brushed it away so she could continue watching her daughter play on the slide. Two women sat down on the edge of her bench and began to talk.
“I have a surprise I want to tell you,” said one of the women.

“What?” asked the other while she took her baby out of the stroller.

“I’m going to have another baby!”

Both women squealed and hugged each other. They went on about how happy they were for each other and how they both were now going to have an even number of children.

This wasn’t a conversation the young mother enjoyed hearing. She herself had been trying to get pregnant with another child. She stood up and walked over to help her daughter into the swing. As she pushed her child, she pondered why thinking about (let alone talking about) having another child was taboo for her. Two obvious reasons why instantly stood out. She already had three children and she carried a genetic mutation that could pass to her child.

The young mother took a deep breath and blinked back tears. Even if she was blessed with another child, she’d never get the warm congratulations like the other woman. She never had. Each time she had announced she was expecting she’d gotten, “Why did you do that for,” or “Are you crazy? You already have two.”

Even though each pregnancy was a great blessing to her, nobody else felt the same way. Why? Why does it matter to everyone else? It’s not their life, their family.

The pain in her heart grew too large to bear and she let a few tears roll down her check. She asked herself why people can’t be happy for her baby too. It’s not like her and her husband just say, “Okay, let’s do it, lets have a baby.” They really think it out. They plan, weigh their options, the good and the bad. They know what chance they are taking, but it’s their chance to take. Let them be happy with it too. Don’t make them feel guilty for taking their love and creating a life together.

The young mother took a deep breath and hugged her child. She looked back at the celebrating friends and thought..... "If they can be happy about it, why can’t I?"

A Page A Day

2010-05-16T17:44:00.001-06:00

From May 15th to June 15th, I've joined a challenge to write AT LEAST a page a day.

This is a great way for me to keep a realistic goal of writing this new manuscript. I do hope to write more than one page a day, but if I don't that's going to be okay. I'll at least wrote one page.

My work in progress at the moment will hopefully have 250 to 300 pages. I will keep you posted every few days on my progress in hopes to have a cheering section. If I do slack I really want you guys to give me motivation to keep going.

If any of you are interested in joining in this amazing challenge, click HERE to read about all the rules and information.

CHEERS
-Laci

GUESS WHAT

2010-05-11T15:26:00.001-06:00

Do you remember me posting about a contest awhile back? Which one? I know I post about many. This was a contest to win a book called The Long Way Home. If you're drawing a blank click here and for the original post. Well, I Won! I finally got around to having enough time to read it and it's good. This goes to show you it never hurts to enter contests.

Do you know what other book is good, well AMAZING!?!?!

SPELLS by Aprilynne Pike. It's book number 2 of the Wings seres. Do you want to know something else that's totally amazing?

I can't contain myself!

She is coming to Preston on Thursday May 13th! Yes, New York Best Selling Author, Aprilynne Pike, is coming to talk at the high school. Aprilynne's doing this just because I asked her to. And well, because she was passing through too. So go and see her, 8:45 at the good old Preston high. (-oh and shameless plug- bring one of her books and she'll sign it.)

Woohoo for contests! Woohooo for Aprilynne Pike!

An Awesome Neighbor

2010-05-06T09:45:00.000-06:00

When we were looking at neighborhoods to build our house, we narrowed it down to three. Country Club Estates had the luxury of living on the back green of the only golf coarse in town and the name just sounded high class. Creamy Hollow Estates had a lot of new families and the location had a great view of the East mountains and valley, and last but not least was Oakwood Estates. It was located directly behind the school, close to town and the neighborhood was populated with growing families. The only draw back, the lots were close together.
With that in mind we sat down and sorted out our options. Each had their pros and cons but something kept pulling us back to Oakwood. Something about it felt right. We made our choice and broke ground on our new home. 5 years later, I couldn’t be happier with our decision.

Yesterday proved yet another reason why we made the right choice. Seth snuck out of the back door and ran off. I didn’t even hear him get out. He figured out the one door that doesn’t have an alarm on it and slowly unlocked, opened, and then closed it without making a sound.

How did I find out he was running wild down the middle of the road? By an awesome neighbor (Nicole Martin)*cough cough* who understands and knows if Seth is alone outside, it’s not alright. This awesome neighbor got in her van and drove down to notify this scatter brained mother (Me) that her son was on the loose. (I was curling my daughter’s hair for her dance recital and like mentioned before, Houdini snuck out.)

While awesome neighbor was telling me about Seth, another amazing neighbor came to let me know he had been caught, tagged and on route back home.

I will be installing an alarm to that door A.S.A. P.!

Yes, I felt very stupid and neglectful as my role of a parent. But awesome neighbor was sincerer and understanding. Thank you Nicole and I’m glad to have you around.

A New Do!

2010-05-04T16:46:00.001-06:00

Have you ever felt frumpy, out of style or just plain yuck? Well the last few months that's what I've thought every time I looked in the mirror. Today I solved the problem. I got my hair done!

It's amazing how a new style (little or big) can make you feel refreshed. Mine isn't a huge change. I kept the colors the same but cut it WAY short. Why, because the blonde ends were FRIED. The only way to fix it was to simply whack it off or color it dark and go through an intense conditioning protein rebuild. I don't have the time these days to spend twenty minutes twice a day, every day, applying goop to my hair then rewash it right after. One washing per day is enough for me. So long story short, I chopped them buggers off. (I know great grammar)

Here is a picture of my lifeless hair before:

Front and side view.

Can you see the frizzy ends and how there is breakage all over causing fly aways?

I CAN!

Wait for it. WAIT FOR IT!

And here is my new style.

My favorite part is the little pieces of BLING I added.

They are so sweet! They look like tinsel but can be curled washed and won't melt! It's called Hair Bling or String Bling.

Now I just need to wait and see what my husband will think when he gets home from work. Wish me luck.!

What Would You Say To Your High School Self?

2010-04-30T11:10:00.001-06:00

I read this post today on my friends blog, Shooting Stars, who first read about this on Dystel and Goderich Literaray Managment's blog.

Author Sarah Mlynowski came up with a brilliant marketing plan for her new YA novel, Gimme A Call. She asked YA novelists what they would say to their high school selves if they could. Here are some of my favorites:

Dear HS self: There are two reasons you have no girlfriend: 1. no confidence. 2. poor hygiene. #startwithnumbertwo – John Green

Dear HS self: You are NOT FAT. You will be, but you're not now, so enjoy it. – Sara Zarr

Dear HS self: Facebook will be invented. Are you sure you want your friend to take that picture? – Julia DeVillers

As for what I would say to myself:

Dear HS self: You know that so yummy dark gorgeous guy you’re dating? Keep a hold of him! He only gets better with age! (And he will love you after you're covered in stretch marks.)

Now, all of you reading this, what would you say to your high school self?

-Cheers
*Laci*

It's Something Special

2010-04-19T11:43:00.001-06:00

I get asked how I can stay so happy and so positive while having two children with disablilites. My first answer is, "Why wouldn't I be happy?"

I know it's not proper to answer a question with a question. Well, don't you want your child to grow up as happy as they could? No matter what kind of personalities they have you plan to make the best life for them. Yes, I admit. It is hard sometimes but isn't being a parent, period, hard?

The best way I can explaine what it's like to be a parent in my situation is with one of my favorite poems.

"Welcome to Holland"

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Funny moments at Disneyland

2010-04-06T23:26:00.003-06:00

Today two moments from our trip kept sticking out in my mind. First was about my little girl. She wanted cotten candy so bad, but I kind of freak out about getting stiky fingers that constantly go into the mouth when the kids are still going on rides (it's like licking the germs from bunches of other hands...shiver....gag). So after two days of asking we finally baught her some on our way back to our hotel.

This was her reaction!

Yes, I feel the same way about the pink sweet goodness.

The second memory makes me laugh a little more. My family informed me that I have too much energy and they have a hard time keeping up with me. I mean I could have kept going all day at the park, but had to stop because the rest of the group were falling down dead on spot.

Here's the proof.

Really, he was fine. I only let him stay like this for the photo then moved him. But it's no lie. We stopped to get ice cream and less than 10 seconds later, he dropped, was out, zonked!

He wasn't the only one. Paisley couldn't keep up either. Luckily, she waited until we were going back to the hotel.

See, I know how to get my kids to bed on time!

Slideshow of Disneyland Trip 2010

2010-04-03T18:34:00.004-06:00

Make a free slideshow

Disney Trip

2010-04-03T13:05:00.004-06:00

We are back and the Smiths had a blast! Why is it that life is never the same after Disney? This year we took my little 17-year-old sister with us (it was nice to have one adult per child). The park was almost empty on Sunday makingit possible to get through 90% of Disneyland. Which was a good thing too, because we finished Disney and California Adventure Monday leaving Tuseday and Wednesday for our favorite rides. I mentioned before that it was a good thing almost finishing the whole park Sunday, well it seemed like on Tuesday and Wednesday everyone in America came to Disneyland. It was so full we could barely walk around. (Thank you Disney for giving us those special needs passes so we could go right up the exits and board the rides)

Seth got wiped out halfway through the first day and fell alseep when we took a break for ice cream and fell asleep on the cement steps. NO JOKE there are photos for proof. I got attacked by Goofy, he ran up out of no where and kissed me. Seth huged every Princess and female character (yes, he will grow up to be a ladies man). Dom wouldn't have anything to do with the girls nor characters that could be remotely prissy- AT ALL- notice he is absent from a lot of photos.

Did I mention the lovely weather? Well, it was G-R-E-A-T! Yes, very warm, very nice. Except for Tuesday morning, started out a bit chilly but warmed up later in the day. We all fell so in love with the sun that we forgot it's still winter back here at home in winter-topia Idaho. When we drove through Sardeen Canyon and hit a snow storm, the Smith family cried.

California and Las Vegas really reminded me how much I LOVE summer. And how much I miss it when it's gone.

Oh, and we had a bit of fun with the California Adventure letters to spell out my name.

How I spent my St. Patricks Day

2010-03-17T22:22:00.004-06:00

A day of luck? Um, no! St. Patrick’s Day was always a day I looked forward to. Usually I would be showered with luck. All I had to do was wear green. But this year, that stinking leprechaun decided to take a crap on my four leaf clover.

The day started out very well, the kids all were in happy moods and excited to pinch their classmate who forgotten to wear the festive color. Then four o’clock rolled around and my pot of gold turned into a pot of—well you could only guess.

The DVD/CD drive on the computer tower broke. Did I mention I just got out of the shop literally hours before? Well, it had. The fan on our fire place broke, and we found our little treasure at the end of our rainbow in the basement. The main water line to the outside faucet blew! Really, BLEW APPART and shot water, insulation, and sheet rock EVERYWHERE!

Thank you, may I have another Sir-St Patty? (You Lil’ Green Prick!)

Umm, stay tuned for pictures of the waterfall from the basement ceiling. I’ll post them later tomorrow.
Looking on the bright side of this. At least these things happened before our trip we have planned in eight days. It could have been worse and the water line could have broken while we were on vacation and flooded the whole house. So there is my silver lining.

HAPPY FREAKING ST. PATRICKS DAY!

HELLO WRITERS!

2010-03-08T17:24:00.001-07:00

Over on my friend's blog Shooting Stars is a GREAT giveaway!

Office Box Giveaway

2010-03-05T14:17:00.003-07:00

An amazing give away is going on over at Cami Checketts blog. Click HERE to check it out!

My way Home

2010-03-02T13:58:00.004-07:00

The television didn’t stay on a channel longer than four seconds as my husband surfed through the 400 stations of satellite entertainment. Out of frustration, he stopped on a show I was particularly fond of.

“There’s nothing on,” he said and tossed me the remote. I tucked the remote under my leg and finished folding laundry into piles.

A few towels later, a phrase that always made me laugh, played from the movie; “….smashing in the face of a piñata that resembles Summer Wheatley, is a disgrace to the whole Gem State…..” (I snorted, because sadly, I’ve actually heard a teacher say this before).

Our nine year old ran down the stairs and joined in on the final scenes of our hometown movie. (I think he is a bigger fan than me.) The final scene played and Seth popped up off the couch and pointed at the screen.
“Home! My home,” he said.

My husband and I laughed, because yes, in the background of the movie was our house. And, the scene was filmed at the elementary school next to us. I thought it was pretty cool that an autistic boy recognized his way home even from a silly movie.

Click here to see the scene Seth recognized his home.

To All You Writers!

2010-02-28T18:28:00.003-07:00

All you writers out there. The blog Guide to Literary Agants is having another contest. Click on over for a chance to win and good luck to all who enter!

I Can Still See You

2010-02-24T12:17:00.007-07:00

A tall brown haired boy flipped on the kitchen light. His mother followed him to the counter and poured him a bowl of cereal. She gave her son his breakfast and kissed the top of his head. It’s five o’clock in the morning and she couldn’t help smirk at how even the sun got to sleep in. Yet, she's up and starting her day.
The little boy snarffed down his Fruit Loops, bounced across the room, humming, and flapping his hands together with out a care in the world. His name is Seth and he has two disabilities; Autism and Fragile X Syndrome.

Seth put in his favorite DVD of Harry Potter. While waiting for the player to load, the family dog entered the room and licked Seth’s face. His mother loved the sound of the giggle Seth let out because it wasn't any giggle, but a contagious belly jumping laugh.

Suddenly, he remembered the movie but something is wrong. The DVD wasn’t playing. He tried restarting it, but it just wouldn’t work. Seth’s face wrinkled up and big tears rolled down his cheeks. He turned to his mom and uttered one word from his very small vocabulary.

“Help.”

His mom opened the tray and out slid the disc. She picked it up and found it covered in sticky finger prints. After cleaning it off, her heart sank. A crack ran all the way across the center of the DVD. Clean or sticky, it would never play. Mom returned to Seth to break the bad news.

“Seth, I’m sorry but this can’t play anymore.” His mom held up the disc. “Look at this right here. See, it’s broke.”

He didn’t understand and cried again, this time flopping down on the couch. Mom turned around to go back into the kitchen. Seth saw his shoes on the floor next to him and grabbed them.

The next thing his mom knew, something hit the back of her head. She grabbed the shoe from Seth’s hand. After a few minutes, her arms are bloody from trying to calm him down. Something shinny caught the mom’s attention from under the couch. She pulled out another copy of the movie.

Puzzled of how it even got there and where it had come from, she put it into the player. The movie started with out any problems.

Seth immediately calmed down and realized what he had done to his mother. His eyes filled with tears. Seth tenderly blew on the scratches, dig marks, and bites that covered his mom’s arms.

The movie’s theme music started to play as his big green eyes, still filled with tears, looked back at his mom. Kissing her cheek, he said, “Sorry,” and wrapped his arms around her.

“Seth, I love you too.”

This mother knows that even on the hard days when the Autism takes over, her little boy is still behind those green eyes struggling to understand his frustrations. So in those moments when he looks at her, she lets him know she can still see him.

I'm so sneaky!

2010-02-21T17:45:00.002-07:00

My life just got a tiny bit ~~nicer~~ easier. I'm all about making things fair. My husband baught a new truck, well, it's not NEW NEW but new to us. To pay it off we sold his old Chevy, and that was a sad day for Seth. He cried as the guy backed out of our driveway after purchasing The Big Green Hulk (that's the name Dom gave it awhile ago). Meanwhile, I've been saving up for a laptop but the stash never seems to gain a high dollar amount. Plus, we have a nice desktop that already does everything pretty much perfectly and did iI mention fast? But having to share the computer with everyone gets kinda old, fast.

So, I am pretty good at a few things. One being, giving someone a guilt trip in such a sneaky way, you don't know what hit you until your giving in and commiting to something you would have never thought possible. Don't worry, this can only be pulled off about 3 times a year, and it's always on my husband.

That being said, guess who got a new laptop!?!

HAPPY DANCE!

So prepare yourself, you might get to see this mug talking to you via vlog post. Unless you think it might cause nightmares. If that's case I'll hold off on the webcam.

Win the book The Long Way Home

2010-02-16T15:22:00.002-07:00

Winning something is always good. In these cold winter months, I love to read a novel a week. When these said novels are new and pre-released, I get really excitted to start them. This book (The Long Way Home) isn't a pre-release but it's new. So, if you want a chance to win a copy click here to enter the contest.

Lucky Agent Contest on Guide to Literary Agents

2010-02-08T16:48:00.003-07:00

Click here to join in a writing contest.

How I Got My Kids To Take a Nap

2010-02-05T17:54:00.003-07:00

"Give that back, "screamed my 6 year old, Dominic. "It's my turn for the Playstation."

"Mom, Seth's be mean," added Paisley. "He gunna scratch Dom, I know it."

"Seth, please share," I said, after getting pulled out of a great ZEN with my writing. I mean I was on a roll.

A scream of bloody murder pulled me down stairs to find out the paddle had magically bounced out of Seth's hands and landed on Dominic's head.

After calming down Dom and talking to Seth about not hitting for the 10,000 time, I came up with an plan.

"Why don't you guys go outside and play in the snow. You haven't made me a snowman this year anyway and our yard is looking pretty lonely."

You'd thought I gave them a whole new life to look forward to. Snowsuites, boots, hats, and gloves flew on faster than the clothes of a teenage boy who was about to be caught with his girlfriend.

Out the door they went and rolled snow quicker than I'd ever seen before. Two hours flew by like they were only minutes and the kids came back in wiped out. They lumbered to the sofa and I picked up the trail of clothing that would have put Hanzel and Gretal to shame. I can't believe how much moister a snowsuite can hold.

These are the days I'm thankful for living in an area that will provide weather that will wear out my children. Now, enjoy the snowman my kids made. Paisley thought up the hat.

All you writers out there!

2010-02-02T11:29:00.001-07:00

There is a fun contest going on over at literary agent Kathleen Ortiz blog (Never a Page Turner) this week. Go check it out. Whats up for grabs? A very deep query critique! Click on her name to shoot on over.

Teen Pregancy

2010-01-23T21:45:00.001-07:00

Tonight I watched the T.V. special The Pregnancy Pack. The idea of wanting to have a baby as a teenager is puzzling. Why would you want to do that? I have the right to ask that question, because I had a baby at the young age of 17. So, when all my friends were getting ready for their senior year Homecoming Week of high school, I was delivering a baby. Now my pregnancy wasn’t planned by all means, and I weighed all my choices after finding out there was a baby on the way. (After the rounds of tears). But do teenagers really have an idea of what raising a child means? I had an idea, but the real answer is, NO. It is SO HARD! It’s not like playing house with your dollies.

Now, I wouldn’t ever change the choice I made. I kept my baby, but I also had a guy that loved me and wanted to start our lives together right then. Sadly that isn’t the case in all situations and most of these girls think it is. My situation had an extra strain though. After I had my baby, he was diagnosed with a genetic mutation and therefore would be disabled for life. Now, isn’t that a blow to the heart? I’m so grateful I had the support of my husband to get through that.

That same year I got pregnant, there were 5 other girls along with me. (No, none of us made a pack. It was all coincidence… I PROMISE!) Not all of them ended with this fairytale out come of happily ever after and that’s the reality of teen pregnancy. I really hope the teenagers are seriously thinking about what comes with a baby. Let me mention a just few things; crying all night, nasty diapers, pucking….A LOT of pew-ook-ing, ear infections, more crying, always needing more money to get things, and lets not forget about the sleepless nights. So if you’re not ready for that then wait. Although I’m happy with the choice I made, it’s not for everyone. Like I said before, I would NEVER change my choice. My son has made me a better person and of course I kinda love the lil’ bugger.

XOXOXO,

Laci

2010-01-18T16:03:00.001-07:00

My new favorite movie!

I saw this in 3-D, so if you have the choice--SEE IT! I can't begin to tell you how amazing this show is! Wonderfully done.

Everything about it felt REAL I would forget I was watching a movie, There were times that my heart was pounding so hard I couldn't swallow. My husband got us drinks and popcorn to munch on and when the lights came back on, we looked down and noticed we hadn't touched them. We were that into the show. I was happy to find out there is going to be a part two! So, now I can't wait.

NEW BOOKS

2010-01-18T15:15:00.002-07:00

I've got some really good reads for you all! My husband made a mistake and took me to a book store.

Book description: FALLENThere's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.
Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce--and goes out of his way to make that very clear--she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a page turning thriller and the ultimate love story.

Book description: HUSH, HUSH
For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch came along.

With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

Book description: BEAUTIFUL CREATURES
There were no surprises in Gatlin County.

We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything

There were so many more I wanted and am going back to get next week! Yes, I'm going to go broke on books.

PLUM, PLUM, PLUM STRUCK!

2010-01-12T22:36:00.003-07:00

A client introduced me to my new obsession on Saturday. Stephanie Plum. As you can see there are 13 books, plus one for ever holiday that aren’t shown here. I’m half way done with the series. I spend half the time laughing out loud at some of the situations Stephanie gets herself into. So, if you don’t hear from me for a while, this is why. Sorry, but if you read them you’ll understand and be able to forgive me.

Happy reading!

2010-01-05T12:58:00.001-07:00

My little 3 year old had her first dance performance. The teacher asked that the girls wear Christmas colors and left it at that. I'm so lucky, because I have a "princess" for a daughter. She wanted to wear a tutu. Well, Princess doesn't own a Christmas color tutu. I asked the other mothers what they were going to dress their daughters in, most said sweats.

*Now, I have to admit when I was little my mother put me in dance pants for my Christmas dance program, but I remember seeing the pretty skirts on the girls performing a scene from the Nutcracker. I longed to look like one of them and wanted to hide in my white t-shirt and pants.*
So, the resourceful (and prideful) motherly traits in me thought up an idea and quick.

“I’ll make her a tutu!”

Later that night I told (bragged really) my boss at how cute my daughter was going to look. Her client had two granddaughters in the same class and asked if I’d make one for each of them too.

“Sure why not.”

(That way my daughter wouldn’t look out of place being the only one)

The next morning, I took the tutu’s to dance practice and gave them to the two girls. NOT A GOOD IDEA! Groups of mothers loved them. Some how I agreed to make more. How many more you ask?

12 more….. In two days.

*Yes I have a stamp on my forehead that reads,”SUCKER. DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO SAY NO”.

I thought about what had happened and realized only 4 girls wouldn’t have a tutu. (I’m tender hearted) I made them some too, all the way until 3 AM!

The day of the performance arrived and I brought the tutus, passed them out and met a big surprise. Each mother had donated $5 toward the tutus. Cha-ching!

Worth every second of sleeplessness, because the tiny pre-school dancers looked like little peppermint patties out there.

So cute.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

2009-12-16T12:19:00.001-07:00

I've lived in this current home for 5 plus years and guess what? I still have some boxes that haven't been unpacked yet. I'm proud to say, I tackled one today--YAY for me--. I know, I know, hold your applause. I'm glad I picked this one to go through because it was PICTURES!!!!!!!! Not just any photo's but high school activities. *EVIL LAUGH* I know some of you have fainted off your chair, terrified you might be in some. Be worried if you were on the PHI-DEL team

or a cheerleader with me because you are.

Take a gander and see if you can recognize anyone, let alone yourself.

Rodeo parade, when we martched BEHIND the band. Freshman year.

Do you remember those outfits? And the gloves?

We are about to turn a corner. It really sucked being the outside-end person. WIDE STEPS to stay in line.

The next are my Sophomore year.

Novelty routine to Dr. Bones.

Military routine, I don't remember the song's title but I know it came off of the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack.

Ending postion of the routine.

Now, about those other unpacked boxes......maybe I should throw 'em out with out looking. Nah. I'll leave them for another day.

Is that your natural color?

2009-12-15T21:24:00.005-07:00

A lot of my clients say to me, “Laci, I can’t believe I’m going grey at my age! Please don’t tell anyone.”

Rest assured your secrets are safe with me. ALL OF THEM. And, believe me I know way too much about people. Being a cosmetologist, my license should include; marriage therapist, person guidance counselor, and one that I really do like being, a person that someone can come to when they just need a shoulder to cry on. But, sometimes people unwilling give you information you don’t want to hear. I mean they literally rape my ear. I will, however, not repeat what you told me. Consider it my professional courtesy.

Sorry, that went a little off track. Any-who. Hair color. Don’t fret too much if you dye your hair. 85% of women –and men—are NOT their natural hair color, and it’s not that big of a deal. Personally, a man with a few dusty greys on their head tells me they are experienced, distinguished, and possibly more mature. A woman with silver or white hair implies they have been there, done that, and loved it. BUT, on the other hand, some feel it ages them. It’s okay to cover it up. I will when my hair looses it’s pigment. What am I talking about? I already do. I don’t think I can remember my REAL hair color. I know in my childhood my hair was a bright golden blonde, and then turned to a light brown in my teens. Later, after each child it darkened what felt like 4 shades.

I like to color people’s hair because when I’m done they feel better about themselves. The same when I get my own hair colored. So be proud of what ever your hair color is, natural or adjusted to your perfection of style and taste.

For your enjoyment, here are some snap shots of my past hair colors. What one is your favorite color on me?

This is my color now.

Skinny Jeans

2009-12-11T14:18:00.002-07:00

Today I had the experience of being in the grocery store during high school lunch hour. I know some of you are probably thinking so what? Well, where I live the high school is pretty much next door to the ONE grocery store in town and the majority of the students eat there at the deli.

Now, I’m one who tries to keep up with trends, but not for sure I can handle this one. I’m sorry, so sorry to you teenage boys. You teenage boys, who are wearing super, SUPER tight skinny jeans.

Have you taken a second and noticed your reflection in the mirror? Turn to the side; do you know what you look like? A capital “L”.

Plus, how do you bend over? Can you breathe? ‘Cause I know when I wear jeans that are too tight, it’s close to impossible for me to do either. I over heard a boy bragging he had to lay down to zip up his pants with pliers. Um, what happens if you have to pee at school?

This fad sent me into a bad flash back of the pant style of my high school days, those extremely baggy pants. Where their behinds were only covered by a thin layer of boxer shorts and the pants were held up around their upper thigh by a belt.

My husband was guilty of this fashion movement and I remember his pockets being so big he could carry a 2 liter bottle of soda, and was proud of it!

Now take a look at these twin boys, yes BOYS, from the group Tokio Hotel. An example of one extreme to the next.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

This next example is my personal preference of pant styles for guys, and yes, one is a skinny jean.

Can we please have a happy medium and loosen up the calf area just a hair? Skinny jeans aren’t horrible, but it’s when they are so tight you almost waddle is the problem.

Am I alone in this?

December 2, 1991

2009-12-02T14:56:00.002-07:00

18 years ago today, my life changened forever. I came home from my 3rd grade class, eager to go watch my sister dance with her performance group in Logan. She had to arrive early and caught a ride with my uncle and cousins while the rest of the family waited for my dad to come home. Something had broke on our truck and the family was down to one car for the rest of the week.
   Around 6:00 pm my dad, mom, little 3 year old brother, and myself loaded up in our two door 1985 Oldmobile. My dad had to take a test for his referee re-certification and had my mom drop him off, but as she pulled into the parking lot she got the feeling to leave my little brother with him. I remember very well, dad strongly opposed to that idea saying, "Diane, how am I suppose to take a test with him running around?" Well, Mom persuaded Dad into taking Tyler with him in only a matter of seconds with out a big argument. ( Tyler told us that he remembers this too and Dad told us Tyler sat still on the floor next to the table and didn't make a sound).
   Happy to be going on a girls night out, I climbed into the front seat and fastened my seat belt. The two of us were on our way and it began to snow. Being winter the sun had set and it was dark, but our car (we called her Kate) had what my dad called "meaty tread on the tires"and we'd be okay. As soon as we were on Highway 91, just past the Preston sewer plant, the car fish tailed. Mom gripped the wheel and gasped, but straightened us out each time. She said to me, "I'd better slow down to 45 MPH. I don't want to wreck." I rolled my eyes and said,"But MOM, I want to get there in time to watch LeAnn dance." She shrugged and slowed down while I glared out the side window.
   We rounded the corner by Little Mountain in Whitney and my mom gasped again. I looked over at her as she said,"Laci, we're going to wreck!" I didn't believe her, cause she always seemed to freak out over any slip of the tires, but I realized very soon this time it was different. The car spun and slid sideways down the road. I looked out the window and saw the headlights of on coming traffic headed right for me. The last thing I remember was the bumper of a car coming through the door and hitting the right side of my body.
   My mom told me when she woke up, I was still buckeled in my seat but hanging upside down, eyes open and not breathing, Can you imagine the pain my mom felt thinking her daughter was dead?
   At the hospital, my parents were told the entire right side of my body was crushed, thankfully it wasn't. Only my feet, the right one taking most damage. The tiny 8 year old foot had been smashed so bad that the doctors couldn't find some of the bones. Because of this, I had to re-learn to use and control my feet to walk again. My two outside toes should have been amputated, but weren't. So now they look funny. They haven't grown since that day and the little toe was so deformed that it is placed on the top of my foot. Yeah, everyone laughs at it, but I don't care. It's a constant reminder that I lived through that for some bigger reason.
   Looking at the photo's of our car, if my brother wouldn't have gone with my dad or if I would have stayed in the backseat, we would be dead. I couldn't find the photo to post, but I'm betting it's at my mom's. I will go look and post it if I find it. Thanks for sitting this long to read this very long story.

xoxo,
Laci

Body Memo's

2009-11-17T13:02:00.001-07:00

Dear Belly,
Why have you betrayed me so? You use to be so tight and skinny, but now all you do is hang there loose and lumpy. Why is that? In the past, I could proudly show off your toned muscles in a tiny two piece. Now I have to hide you underneath a baggy t-shirt. I know, I know, it's not all your fault. What's that? You're hungry and want more carbs.....Well if you insist.
Hungering for you,
Laci

Dear Chin,
I was just wondering when you thought it was okay to start growing a hair? This morning as I was applying make up, I felt it! You couldn't have been nicer and grown a soft, light hair, NO! You had to choose a thick, bristly, black thing! Well, I have something coming for you, it's called HOT WAX! Take that....
Concurringly yours,
Laci

Blog Book Review! Boys and a maze...

2009-11-04T00:26:00.005-07:00

The Maze Runner

by James Dashner

A little bit about this great book:

Thomas wakes up and finds himself in a world he doesn't recognize, and he can't remember anything about his past. The heart of this story is the mystery of the maze. Boys live in this maze made up of stone walls that protect them from horrible creatures and the boys are faced with the endless challenge of solving a maze that changes every day and seems to have no exit. Just as I thought I knew what was going to happen next, I was wrong. I loved that it kept me guessing right up to the last page. I will definitely be waiting anxiously for the sequel.

Now it's books like this that makes me want mine published, because of the thought that's gone into the plots and characters. GO read this book!

Blog Book Review!

2009-11-02T14:45:00.005-07:00

The Hollow

By Jessica Verday

Couldn't you just lick this cover? It's beautiful! This book is very good.

Abbey's best friend, Kristen, disappears from the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery bridge and while everyone thinks is was suicide. Abbey refuses to believe such a thing, but when she finds out about a secret life Kristen was keeping from her, she doesn't know what to think. At the funeral, Abbey meets a hot guy named Caspian and come to find out. He has a few secrets of his own. When Abby starts to find out the truth about her friends she also uncovers the truth behind the legend of Sleepy Hollow and doesn't know how much more her sanity can take.

I loved this book. It's also the first book of a three part series, each one coming out every September. If you want a good follow up to Twilight This book, The Hollow of the previous one Wings are both excellent picks!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T21:52:00.003-07:00

We had so much fun!

This is the only deer Jess got this year.
The lil' Trick or Treaters heading out to get some candy...

Dom is so scary!

Paisley is such a cute Minnie Mouse

Seth is a tough KING KONG, my friend Connie Yearsley made this outfit for him last minute. She did a great job!

At the end of the night the kids had filled their buckets full of candy and were done. Although, when we had ran out of candy, I turned out the porch lights but it didn't stop the trick or treaters. They kept on coming... I thought that having you light on meant you are welcome to knock but if it's off that the house is no longer playing? Am I wrong. But, anyway. The kids had so much fun. Jess was shocked when I put on my costume. I got it just a few hours before we left. We had a good laugh.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!

PUMPKIN WALK

2009-10-28T10:27:00.003-06:00

Our family at the pumpkin walk. We had a great time, the kids loved the rice crispy display. They enjoyed looking for all the M&M's in every scene making sure they found every one. And as usual they had to stick their heads in every hole of the pictures. Although Paisley didn't want her picture taken, BIG SURPRISE!

Paisley hiding behind Ariel.

Dominic...The force is strong with this one....

And Seth, he was so excited to be Harry Potter.

After we went to my little sisters birthday party, she turned the 17. She asked Jess and I to double with her and a friend. We ended up going to PARANORMAL ACTIVITY...scared the day lights out of me. I screamed many times OUT LOUD! Things you do for family.

2009-10-19T22:43:00.001-06:00

A FUNNEL CLOUD IN PRESTON?!

2009-10-19T15:19:00.004-06:00

Driving down Oneida, I about freaked when I looked up. The clouds swirled and out dropped a funnel cloud. In a time of panic, what did I do? I pulled over and took a picture! Good old cell phones. (by the time I got the photo snapped, it was going back up inside the clouds. You can see it above the big white building) The storm only lasted about 10 minutes in town and it surprised me how fast it stopped. CRAZY, I thought living in a valley surrounded by mountains, funnel clouds wouldn't happen. *roller her eyes* Tis life, deal with it. So, my question is. Do I have my 72 hour kit ready?

A NEW TWIST TO THE BLOG!

2009-10-16T15:00:00.005-06:00

A new twist to my blog! I'm going to start giving a review for the books I read. You have probably seen on my side panels pictures of some books I currently love, but never really said much about them. So, that's about to change. I love books! They take me away to new worlds or they can open my eyes to the world around me. Where ever they take you is special because it's just you and the characters in the story, and most importantly, you are reading. In my house books are a must and we read as a family almost everyday.

With out further delay, book number one.

WINGS by Aprilynne Pike. This author is very dear to me because she is my friend (that I had dinner with last night). She is also an amazing writer. Her book WINGS is about a teenage girl named Laural, who finds out she is a faerie. Oh, but not like the fairy tales portray. Throw in some historical background and new mythos and you have this amazing rendition. This is a three part seres and the second book will be released in May 2010.

Random Summer Photos

2009-10-08T15:59:00.006-06:00

Since summer is over, and I'm having major withdrawals. I wanted to post some summer pictures hoping it would help warm me up. It didn't work. I'm still wrapped up in my blanket, freezing. But, they did make me smile.

The sound of sweet music

2009-09-25T12:16:00.005-06:00

We went to Royal Bliss again!

Some friends from Idaho Falls (and some from Preston) met up with me and we had a blast!

After the show the band came up to US and gave me an ALL ACCESS PASS. So later Neal (the lead singer) gave Jess a shirt because he is a really cool friend. It was a great time and I can't wait to meet up with them again.

Prom..at my AGE?

2009-09-16T11:38:00.009-06:00

A little while back, we had our Elders Q. Party. This year, instead of having a BBQ out at the lake and boating all night long. They had a prom. Luckily, Jess let me drag him along to the party and surprisingly, it was a blast!

Here you can see Jess holding down the table with the other husbands while their wife's cut up the dance floor to the fast songs.

Two of us doing a line dance, well trying anyway. Notice my shoes. This dress was so long, I had to wear my highest pair so it wouldn't drag on the ground.

Jess admitting he has no clue when it comes to fast dancing. But rest assured, he danced every slow song with me.

Here I am, trying to break dance in a PROM DRESS! By the looks on the surrounding peoples face's they enjoyed it!

During one of the fast songs, I tried to get Jess out on the dance floor with me. When he wouldn't I started doing inpromt-do moves to embarrass him. This one is the sprinkler. Until I got this photo back, I had no idea the EVERYONE else was watching too.

Our trip to Bear Lake

2009-08-26T16:05:00.003-06:00

We made a personal wading pool. It got so warm, Dominic called it Bear Lake Hot Tub

Seth chased the seagulls again

Paisley took a break and had a drink. She put on her Sun Dress every time she got out of the water

My dad had way too much fun! See what happened after he swam for a few hours

Seth felt the same way. All three of the kids slept all the way home.

First round of treatments at Primary Children's

2009-08-18T09:20:00.007-06:00

We took Seth down to Primary Children's hospital to do treatment with his Autism. As we got there he found a very special someone waiting for him. He ran up to him and squealed,

"SPIR-MAN!"
He was pretty excited to have seen him, but we wont tell him it was only a statue.
After the treatments and counseling with the doctor, we let Seth play in the water fountain. It had been a long day and Seth had cooperated very nicely with everything the doctor had asked him to do.

These fountains are way neat. We are putting in a pond and some fountains in our back yard for Seth and we are thinking something along this design might be what we will do.

At this point in time, rush hour traffic was emerging and we didn't want to hit it so we needed to kill some time. Seth was very calm and behaving so well, we stopped at Temple square and walked around for an hour. Seth loved this statue and kept starting in awe at him and at the walls around him pointing out the earth, clouds, and moon.

By this time, we all were getting a bit hungry and stopped off for a bite to eat. Seth was amazing at the restaurant, eating all his food and not once running around. Now we only have to repeat this trip once a month for a while, only I think we are going to have to find some other sites to check out. We loved temple square, but Seth can only handle so much of a good thing. Any idea's, please comment to let us know of any.

2009-08-04T00:16:00.003-06:00

I can't wait to read this book! The author is a very sweet person too, she has helped me out in the writing department. Cami has a way of letting you enter the world of her book that makes you want the story to keep on going. Go check out this book, buy it at the store even so you can read it over and over. She will be at the Preston Citizen on August 5th 4-6 pm. I will be there for sure with my copy to be signed!

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy!

2009-07-21T08:50:00.004-06:00

Dominic caught his first fish, all by himself!

We went camping up to Chesterfield and during breakfast the boys went fishing. In the middle of flipping french toast, I hear yelling, "Laci, get the camera! HURRY!" My heart jumped only a little, but I knew nobody was going to die because someone doesn't yell for a photo-op when dying. My younger sister and I run up to the bridge to find Dom reeling in (pole bending almost in half) a fish. He had got the sucker on the first cast almost instantly as the hook hit the water. It weighed 5 pounds! That's pretty big for a 6 year old's first catch. He asked if we could stuff it and hang it on his wall.

My Very Own House

2009-07-17T10:53:00.003-06:00

Welcome to my playhouse
We will have a tea party

But, NO brothers allowed!

Paisley got her own playhouse from a friend of ours. I'm trading hair for it, I love it when you have skill to bargain with. We made her a sign and she wanted to paint some flowers with me. She ended up painting her hand and smashing it on the board. So, I left it. I thought it looked cute.

She loves her playhouse, she is always outside in it. Now she is asking for new carpet to cover the grass, Oh-, what am I in for when we hit her teen years. HAHAHA! *evil laugh*

One year older and wiser too

2009-07-17T10:38:00.005-06:00

He had a birthday, shout HURRAY!

Dominic turned an other year older. As a family we went to the pool all day long, then came howe for some cake and ice cream, yummy! He got a load a presents including his own tent and had his cousin sleep over in it. The next few nights everyone in the family took turns going backyard camping with him.

Viva Salt Lake

2009-07-07T12:40:00.005-06:00

A few weeks back I went to a concert called Viva Salt Lake with my hubby, sister and B-I-L. It was a blast. We were on the bridge for the most part of the show listening and rocking out to "The Veer Union", "Pop Evil", and "Ten Years". Many times those bands noticed my sister and I (because we knew most of the songs, screamed after each one, and because of our hair being so bright against everyone else's) We decided to make our way down to the crowd and get up to the stage for Royal Bliss, my favorite band. Well, Salt Lake grows their people tall. I stood at every ones arm pits and the guy next to me didn't know what deodorant was. 2 songs into Royal Bliss, the crowd went wild and started to serge forward. "Um, hello! there is no where for us to go so stop pushing. I'm not like a zit and am going to pop up into the air to make room for you." Needless to say, being short and under the heat of every ones body temperature trapt beneath a human tent of arms throwing up rocker horn. The oxygen ran out and I hit the dirt. LITERALLY! My husband and B-I-L (John) lifted me up to be crowd surfed out because when I fell, 6 people saw an open spot and ran to it stomping on me in the process. So here I am being crowd surfed out to the front of the stage- unconscious! I woke up being dropped into the EMT and bodyguards arms. I was ticked because once you are crowd surfed out, your spot is lost and I wanted to listen to Royal Bliss. Thankfully, the band R.B. knows me and noticed what had happened. After the show we were invited to an after party at a club. it was great. Neal introduced me and my husband to Pop Evil, Veer Union, and 10 Year's band members, (as his goody goody Mormon friend that was the only one in the entire concert who passed out sober! I'll get him back for that someday) The band members to all those groups are really awesome. But, all in all it was a very memorable night. In the photos you can see me on the bridge with Jess, LeAnn, and John. The white hair is mine and red is LeAnn's. The one with 10 Years' lead singer and guitar player pointing to us, they actually were talking to US, my sis and me!

Seth's First Drive

2009-06-15T08:49:00.005-06:00

We went camping a few weeks ago (in May before all the rain came) and let Seth drive the mini-wheeler by himself. He LOVED it! Look at his face and listen to his laugh. Sorry you have to hear my lame voice too, I videoed it with my phone. It's all I had camping. Plus, check out Jess running along the side of him, just in case he tried to do something daring, like drive away. He really got a work out, poor guy. He's such a good dad!