the reward for acts of service

is usually the good feeling you have in your heart ... a warm plate of cookies ... a heartfelt "thank you" or "we couldn't have done it without you!"

this time, though, i offered my dad's trailer - complete with explorer to tow it and my dad to drive it - and my handsome (and burly) husband's muscles and helpful hands in exchange for this ...

for 45-ish minutes of service and 2 moved pianos, i was awarded with a real, working, able to be played, sounds-great-in-my-home - except-when-it's-mass-chaos, i'm-thinking-about-learning-how-to-actually-play, and won't-my-christmas-village-look-great-on-it?? PIANO!!

thank you Angie! 

i'm/we're loving it!

how do you spell that??

some of my favorite words are e-n-c-y-c-l-o-p-e-d-i-a, superlative, onomatopoeia, friend, Christmas, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,
... i could go on ...

onomatopoeia: "the formation of a word, as cuckoo or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent."

boink, zing, splat, clipclop ...

i love words that are a sound!!

pssst, bleh, hmm, ew, phew... all words that to be fully appreciated need to be said aloud - try it!

occasionally i run across a sound that isn't commonly 'written', forcing me to make it up if i want to share it in writing.

say for instance, i get a text from my sister that begs for a barfing sound reply ... BARF just doesn't quite get the true feeling across ... so this is what i sent:

Hhuumbf

sound it out ... put your fingers to your lips as you say it ... funny, huh.

feel free to use it!

FHE Preview: the second great commandment

Matt. 22: 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?


37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt alove the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

what does that mean? "hang all the law and the prophets" ... that everything hinges on it, that it's the foundation, that every commandment can be referenced back to these 2 commandments ...

the first commandment is Love Heavenly Father ... he tells us that because we show Him love in our actions, in our thoughts and in our words ...

the second is like it: Love our Neighbors
who is our neighbor?  the people that live by us, the people that we know down the street, the people in our ward, the people we go to school with, the people we see at the store, the people at the library, ...

is our family our neighbor?  our rooms are close to each other, do you have to live by someone to have them be your neighbor? 

our neighbors are everyone else.

and when Heavenly Father says to love them ... it's not just a nice idea, not a suggestion, not good advice - it's a commandment.  it's the rule.  being nice and loving each other is a commandment. 

so - i wanna see it.  i am tired of the fighting, the arguing, the back-talking, the snide and back-handed remarks.  now is the time to be friends with the people you live with - namely your sisters and brothers and mom and dad.  here is the place that it should begin ... trickle out from.

Heavenly Father loves us, let's show Him how much we love Him!

Firsts: even after 11 years together!

today is our 11th anniversary!

our 10 year was fabulous ... this anniversary we decided to go low key ... our original plan was to 'Do the Puyallup!' ... but with record breaking rain this past month (especially these last 10 days) we decided against it.

instead we ate at one of our old standbys, Red Robin, and did 2 things we've never done before:

btw: that starbucks cup was left behind by whoever sat there last
we haven't been breaking the Word of Wisdom ...

and there was a huge sale at wet seal, a place i have never been into ... but from the outside of the store i saw some darling stuff and then i saw the 70% sign and i had to go in!!  i got myself a 2 darling jackets, 2 necklaces and 2 rings!!  so fun!

after my shopping spree, we went out to go see "The Other Guys" with our AMC coupons out of our entertainment book.  We looked at the theater and it said Loews not AMC!!  so we scrambled to find the movie at another theater and headed up the freeway ... imagine my embarrassment when i looked online and saw this:

so we hustled back to alderwood and arrived just as the previews were starting ...

movie review: super dumb funny ... we do NOT recommend seeing this movie - even as a rental ... but if you are set on seeing it make it a LATE night movie ... and be ready for some crude humor!

all in all it was a lovely anniversary!

i sure am a lucky girl to have this guy for eternity!

break out your countdown calendars!

i have a list of people that i call every year on september 17th, the call goes something like this:
"hey (insert name)!  i'm just making my reminder calls that we now have 99 days until Christmas!  break out your countdown calendar!  we're in double digit territory already!!"

"oh my gosh are you serious?  i was thinking about that just a few days ago ... time flies!  you're so funny!"

this year though i have new tech savvy friends on facebook and texting that i can remind!  so fun!  and funny all the comments from people who think i'm a little crazy!

my favorite exchange was from some of my friends from when i lived at home ... "Phil Noll- What are you, Mrs Claus giving a pep talk to the elves?"

"Stewart Galbraith- Phil, Mrs. Claus is her mom!"

"Barbara Paulson Waibel- And Santa is her Pa"

these people have known me for a LONG time ... when i was younger {in jr. high and highschool} i would wear my elf costume to school the last friday before christmas break and hand out candy canes!!

Christmas is the best!

 

yes ... my mom's christmas tree is upside down

- there's more room for decorations and gifts

with the bigger part at the top!

on days like today ... i'm reminded of Toy Story



Happy Birthday Beautiful!



You've got a friend in me

You've got a friend in me

When the road looks rough ahead

And you're miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
Just remember what your old pal said
[Girl], you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got troubles, well I've got 'em too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together and we see it through
You've got a friend in me

You've got a friend in me

Some other folks might be

A little bit smarter than I am

Bigger and stronger too

Maybe

But none of them will ever love you the way I do

It's me and you

And as the years go by

Our friendship will never die

You're gonna see

It's our destiny

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me

You've got a friend in me

we're getting too big for our britches!

Now you see it:

Now you don't!

what will we do with our HUGE backyard?! 

all 313.5 sqft ... how will we ever figure out what to do with all this space!?

{read with extreme sarcasm}

routines

we're trying to get back into the habit of a few things around here ... so i made this

 and put it up on the wall outside the bathroom ... i stand there with my white board pen in hand,
"Abi have you made your bed? are you dressed? did you change your underwear? put your PJs away? brush your teeth? brush your hair? is your back pack ready?
Elyssa have you made your bed? are you dressed? did you change your underwear? put your PJs away? brush your teeth? brush your hair? is your back pack ready?" and so on ...
then at night, "Abi, do you have your PJs on? are your dirty clothes in the hamper? did you brush your teeth? go to the potty? get a drink of water? brush your hair? [we read scriptures this morning] have you said your personal prayers?
Elyssa ... "

i'm hoping after about 21 days {that's how long it takes to make a habit right??} of this they will not have to be told to go to the potty and get a drink of water and breathe in and breathe out ...

and though we slacked off most of the summer, we are back on track with our reading together each morning ... albeit one verse each and there's still some chatter about wanting their's to be on bottom or top when we stack them back up to put them away (the fighting over colored pencils has been alleviated by the baggies) ... but we at least read, talk alittle about what we read, say morning prayer together and when i remember i sing to them, "There's a right way to live and be happy ... "

our routine is getting there ... we'll have all the kinks ironed out just about the time for Christmas Break ... when it all falls apart again!!

embarrassing ...

******warning: TMI ahead******

i'm going to talk about that 'elephant in the room' if you don't mind ...

what is that?  yeah ... that's a hickey

my husband broke the cardinal rule: inconspicuous ...

his defense?  "i didn't think i was that low" - meaning he was aiming for right behind my ear ... but 'missed'

lovely.

so now you know ... married people make out ... in the past PDA has not been something we shy away from - albeit this was not created in public (thank heaven!) but the resulting 'display of affection' is hard to miss ... 

and slightly embarrassing!!

don't even worry that i noticed it on Sunday morning

and because i work with the youth now i tried to conceal it ...

all the time worrying that my cute little beehives would notice!!

not that they would ever say anything!

National Day of Service

Yesterday, as a ward family and community, we weeded the grounds, added fresh bark and generally spruced up Silver Firs Elementary.

we have a vested interest since this is our school so we felt a sense of pride in this service project!

all of the shaws worked for 2 hours - some of us harder than others ... but each one of us did a great job!

the kids had ditched us for lunch so i only got a pic of the 2 of us ...

weeding brings back memories from my childhood ... not good ones ...

i hoping for extra blessings from this kind service - the kind that you really hate but just the act of doing it makes you feel good. 

today in church we heard that over 350 hours of service were logged on 9/11/2010 ...

makes my heart happy!

get a load of this ... literally!

i have a few friends that have been telling me about this for a few months and i'm sorry that i didn't act on it sooner!

bountifulbaskets.org

this picture is missing the 5lb bag of potatoes that was included ...

the idea is that we all contribute to buy produce in bulk and then we divide up what is purchased and come away with an awesome deal!!
i paid $15 for all this!!

i did not fully understand until i saw it for myself.

this is not the dregs of the supermarket ... it's not gleaned ... it's produce from charlie's produce and it's all great stuff.

granted i didn't get to pick and choose what i got and i now have an egg plant (that i'm going to use ... not sure how - but i'll learn!) and cauliflower and 6 kiwis ... but these are all wonderful foods that my people will eat or at least try!!

check it out!

bountifulbaskets.org

the wheels on the bus ...

stopped here for him!

Ammon was so excited to hear that he could ride the bus to kindergarten!

today was his first ride ...

what a big boy ... sniff.

i had a teary-eyed walk back home with Easton saying, "are you happy crying mom?"

which made me laugh ... because really - who sad-cries about their kids riding the bus to school?

sniff ... me.

i think i can, i think i can ...

organization.

a word and a way of life that escapes me ... i talk a big show about what i want to do to organize my life and how i am working toward it ... that i am 'going to' get there and that 'one day' the planets will align in such a way that my house magically cleans and organizes itself.

i read blogs and see pictures of 'before and after' the blogger gutted and organized ... people painting their walls ... repurposing old furniture ... building in shelves ... labeling bins ...

i want that so bad ... i want order ... i long for it ... i pine for it ... i dream about it.

i need to start praying for it ... "and bless me that i can get off my duff and get this house in order so that when the Savior knocks i won't have to say, 'one minute please ... ' then turn and shuffle papers, toys and junk out of the way so that He can get in!!"

and while i'm at it (since i know that He really does care that i'm stressed out about my home and He loves me enough to help me figure this out) maybe i'll just eat this elephant one bite at a time ... cut it up into bite size pieces and gnaw away at it.

Heaven Help Me - i want to follow the instuctions given in Doctrine and Covenants 88:119

i even stitched this myself to remind me ... don't worry that it's been on my wall for 2+ years now and i'm still not there ... and don't even worry that i have been talking about this forever and harping on my kids to keep their rooms clean and mine is the biggest disaster area ever!

with all my new found free time (while ammon's at school and easton sleeps) maybe - just maybe - i'll be able to bite off a chunk here and there ...

say a little prayer for me.

"bye mom!"

it was almost like the heavens knew just how i was feeling today ... a little weepy, misty eyed, and drippy.

we were up at 7:30 - easton came out of his room just as i was headed in to wake him ... "i was going to lay by you ..." he said.
"i need to wake up the girls, you go crawl in my bed and i'll come lay by you for a minute."

so he did and i did and we laid there for a minute and then i said, "are you excited to go to school??"
"do i get to wear my new clothes and shoes?"
"yes, let's go get you dressed and ready!"
so we did.

everybody but ammon was dressed and eating breakfast by 7:50 ...

he doesn't have school until the afternoon ... so he slept in and stumbled downstairs just in time for scriptures at 8:10 ... then it was "brush teeth, brush hair, grab your backpack - ammon get dressed ... no not in your school clothes yet ... "

and suddenly we were a flurry of action to get out the door!

we arrived at the girl's school at 8:50, i parked ... left the boys watching the Cosby Show and walked the girls to the covered area to wait, stood with them for about 5 minutes, gave them hugs, took a few pics (we decided to get the ones with teachers after school) and then they were all "bye mom!" not a tear to be seen from them ... no biggy mom ... see ya! (sniff ... sigh)

then we were off to deliver the newest preschooler!

miss maryanne was there for a pic and then he was in - backpack hung, shoes off, sitting on the blue polka dot - "bye mom!" no clinging to mom, no tears, no "stay with me for a minute" ... (sniff)

ammon and i hustled off to the Y for zumba and then home for a quick shower and then to a 30 minute meeting and then pick up easton, eat lunch, and get ammon in his school clothes and shoes, "grab your backpack and get in the van!"

we parked and walked to the kindergarten corral where they were all lined up ... girls in one line boys in the other (the boys significantly outnumber the girls) and wait for mrs. cummins - she greets each kindergartener and then they head into class and again, "bye mom!" no clinging, not a tear, he turned and waved as he headed off to school ... (sniff, sniff)

easton and i head home ... just the 2 of us again ... lo and behold it's quiet time ... we read 2 stories and then settle in for a good nap ... ahhh ... this is the life!

i did the dishes, mostly cleared off the kitchen counter, emptied the dishwasher, sorted the kids inboxes to make room for the onslaught of papers i'm anticipating (and it's a good thing since i got 3 of everything!!) and then had to wake easton to go and get the kids.

it was a lovely first day of school and like the weather - i dried up by the time school was out ...

first day of school eve

is also the last day of summer vacation and the day we get to meet our teachers and deliver our school supplies ... the day we pick out our outfits from the new school clothes - down to the shoes, we know what we're wearing tomorrow ... and the day after that ... and even the day after that!

this summer has been fairly uneventful ... lazy, laid back, slightly boring - but the good kind.

as i look back at the last 11 weeks (yes, that's all we got ... so short!!) we have had some schedule free days, followed by some lethargic days, followed by sluggish days ... the kind where we barely get out of bed before it's time to get back in ... when we flop from the bed to the couch ... when showers are few and far between and going outside isn't an option due to the weather ...

we had some hectic days, followed by some action-packed days, interspersed with some tiring days, when we traveled to UT thru ID and back and rode our bikes everyday, went to the gym for exercise and swam until we were beat but we stay up until way too late just because we can...

and even now as i listen to the rain fall outside and remember that elyssa's soccer practice was rained out this evening... i can't imagine that summer is really over, that we are back to scheduled days and routines and bed times.  we have to abide by rules, we're required to do homework, we're obliged to attend functions and we make plans to follow through.  structure.  calendar.  agenda.  organized.

that's what i look forward to the most in the coming months.  getting in the groove.  finding my niche.  making a plan - albeit flexible to an extent ... but having a scaffolding to guide my slightly scattered brain.

i have printed an enormous calendar for september and october ... i'm working on color coding, menu tweaking, and schedule planning and when it's all filled out and a thing of beauty i will take a picture and share. 

so as the book of summer vacay 2010 closes, the equally exciting sequel is only beginning.  cross your fingers that we can make it happen - start tomorrow on the right foot ... get out of bed on time, eat a healthy breakfast, brush teeth and hair (preferably separately), get backpacks and lunches ready, smile for a few pictures and head off for another first day! 

look out world - here we come!!

Our Rainy {Labor} Day

we brought out our own blue sky for a picnic at grandma and papa's lot

and then spent a couple hours at the
Skater Appreciation Day at the Skate Deck
(we can't pass up $2 admission days)

and then headed home for some spaghetti and watermelon dinner then our dad gave us father's blessings in preparation for the upcoming school year.  can it really be that time again?!

carnies at heart!!

 

who knew a foam nose and some funny glasses could be so entertaining!?

bedtime ...

these 3 boys got haircuts tonight
don't they look handsome!?

this boy likes to have both of us lay by him
we have designated 'sides'
and dad has to have his whole body on the bed

he likes us to lay close to him
closer ...

this one doesn't always want his mom to love on him so much
but he always says "i love you too" when i tell him i love him!

he allows me to lay by him every once in a while ...

but he always has to have dad lay by him.
they talk about the day, football and motorcycles ...
it's his favorite time of day, i think,
no fighting for time with dad!

one last warm day?!

we took our summer's last dip in the pool up at Grandma and Papa's lot!

(maybe ... i'm still crossing my fingers we get a few scorchers in September) 

The Evergreen State Fair!!

we took advantage of the free kids day at the fair and used our bogo adult admission coupon in our entertainment book and got everybody into the fair for ten bucks!!  we watched the lumber jack show and then saw a man on a flying carpet doing magic tricks and got an upclose look/tour of the first aid trailer (cuz abi cut herself helping the magician cut some magic rope with some really sharp scissors...)  the boys rode the carousel and the girls rode the ferris wheel, we ate some cotton candy, saw some animals (darling baby piglets!!), and ended our fun (short) day at the fair with ammon shooting 100 bbs at a target, easton riding the carousel (again) and the girls on the big swing ride!  we didn't get any smiling rocks or buy a hot tub but we had a great time!!

Our state fair is a great state fair,

Don't miss it, don't even be late.

It's dollars to donuts

That our state fair

Is the best state fair in our state.

and so it begins ...

today is the beginning of the 'bers and i'm not ready for the summer to be over ...

how did this happen?  where did summer go? 

there is so much we didn't get to do! 

there is so much i still want to try to cram into the last few days before school starts ...

last sleep overs at grandmas, last splashes in the pool, last campouts, last late nights 'just because', last walks on the beach, last bits of all that summer is ...

it's always funny to me though ... summer will come again - right? - and there will be sunshine every once in a while thru the 'bers ... and then it will be a whole new year and we'll make resolutions and goals and try to 'start all over again'.  and then i'll be posting that christmas has come and gone all to quickly and that i didn't get all the things done in the 'bers that i wanted to ... it really is a never ending cycle.

i need to be more in the moment.  live. in. the. moment.  stop looking back and forward, regretting and wishing, bemoaning and counting down.  gotta remember ... the wise words of Oogway "You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the "present."

so here i sit ... at andy's computer thinking about all the things i have to do today ... but for this moment - i'm living in the moment ... where's my book?  (i'm reading the Hunger Games and The DaVinci Code - seriously ... who does that?  this is my first time ... but i'm totally engrossed in both!)

skadoosh!

wait just a minute ...

when did all those get there??

although i have to admit i think i have earned every last one of them! 

somebody hijacked my camera ... again!

i did not take this upclose picture of my library book ...

but i think i know who did ...

we went to the ward campout!

we did it ... we had a nice sleep in our nice warm beds and after the rains came down and there wasn't a flood we decided to pack up the tent, sleeping bags, our huge air mattress, some sweatshirts, s'more stuff, our bikes and a few snacks and hit the road ...

we made a stop at the bowling alley - bowled a few games with our 'extended family', the quigleys (minus their dad)...

and then made our way to cascade park!

we decided not to bring all our gear so after setting up camp and taking a quick polar dip in the river, we drove up the road to granite falls for dinner at mcdonalds and then came back to cascade for a program put on by the activities commitee and the bishop. then the quigley's showed up and we had ourselves some s'mores!!

in the morning, i made a fire, we had chocolate chip pancakes provided by our fantastic ward people, helped them clean up and pack up, pumped up our raft, 'mostly' packed up, donned our swimsuits and life jackets and headed down to the river - it was still freezing (btw) - after we were numb from the neck down (or the neck up as the case may be... ) we decided our camping trip was over and loaded in the rest of our stuff, changed back into our dirty clothes and came home!

it was so fun! for real.

i'd like to make a call ...

instead of camping thursday night we took the kids to alderwood mall and had dinner in the food court ... we had some coupons from our entertainment book to use and so we made a night of it!

we also had a history lesson ...

this is something my kids have never seen before ... they have never watched me use one ... and have not had the opportunity to use ever in their young lives. 

15 yrs ago who knew the pay phone would be a relic/obsolete/archaic!? 

you mean people used to have to pull over at a gas station or 7-11 to use the phone on the road?
you mean you didn't have a phone in your car? or in your pocket?  or in your purse?
you mean you had to put coins in the phone?
a quarter?! (it's 2 quarters now!)

it was a fun little field trip!

making up new words ...

but let's face it ... these 2 campers
would have a hard time
without these 2 campers

o what do you do in the summer time

when all the world is gray?

do you sit on your bum

and watch shows that are dumb

while the summer days all fly away??

is that what you do? 

unforturnately so do we!

o what do you do in the summer time

when all the ground is wet?

do you get ready for camp

wish things weren't so damp

and pray the clouds would dry up and go away??

is that what you do?

SO DO WE!!

come back and do ShawWright Labor Day Campout with us!!

it was our plan to go camping today ...

but now it's raining ...

rain, rain go away ...

come again when autumn is here

summer's supposed to be sunny and warm

so we can go camping with all our gear

rain, rain go away!!