ahhh ... Sunday ...

church at 9 isn't easy ... we're late often ... and we choose to sit in the very front row for a few reasons: first, to possibly embarrass/encourage my children to be reverent ... because "the bishop can see you!"; second, it's usually open, even when we're late; third, i like to hear what's being said; fourth, my people are easily distracted and with no one in front of us ... less distraction; and fifth, it's where my family sat when i was a kid ... i'm accustom to it, and when we sit in the back people wonder where we are! tradition!!

today was not different, slightly late, walking in after the opening prayer to land in the front ... Elyssa wants to sit by mom and easton is the baby and is supposed to sit by mom ... mom and dad sit next to each other and so elyssa got sat on ... and then talked to thru clenched teeth a little harshly in her ear ... reprimanded for making a scene again (she's our one ... cuz every family needs one).  i have to wonder what people are thinking sometimes ... but oh well ... we have all been there!

sacrament meeting was great - fabulous youth speakers (love the story about the room with all the drawers ... i've heard it before but i've gotta remember to get that from whitney and post it ... so good!), excellent adult speakers (sometimes i wish sacrament meeting was longer ... i know keri could have gone on longer and i love to listen to her!  brian's talk was great too ... he had some great personal stories that make me smile to myself and think 'ah yes ... been there!' and say to myself 'i'm having growth spurts more often than i'd like ... so often sometimes that the growing pains are quite unpleasant ... but i'm learning - i hope!")

sunday school - even though i was late arriving - was great.  the influence of good leaders is super important ... but the personal/conscience choice to do what is right is paramount to getting you where you want to be in the end ... and for me - that's with my Heavenly Father!

relief society is always wonderful!  amy's lesson could have gone on and on and i would not have minded at all!  we just got to discussing how we can, as mothers/daughters/sisters/wives/teachers, sustain and encourage the priesthood in our homes, ward, and community.  it was a great lesson!

we came home to a slightly messy house and had our home teachers coming at 2 so we had lunch and did a little bit of a panic pick up to be ready for them and granny to come for dinner. 

our home teachers talked to us about being good friends.  we want to be great friends like Jesus was ... we want to be like Jesus.

granny and papa came to dinner and brought tilapia foil dinners for grilling outside!  surprise!!  it was yummy! ammon was the only kid that tried it - not a surprise.  elyssa had froot loops, abi had grilled chicken, easton had a reheated cheeseburger and ammon had a grilled cheese sandwich, several bites of tilapia, half of easton's cheeseburger and ceasar salad (he's a growing boy).  andy and i had tilapia and ceasar salad - yum!

after dinner we watched the pioneer commemoration concert from SLC ... (i dvr'd it if anyone missed it) love motab!

now i'm frantically getting packed and ready for girls camp in the morning ... i don't have to be to the church until 9am but i don't what to be sweating in the morning.  man, it's a good thing i'm bringing my own car!  loading up now ... got my checklist ... wish me luck!

our day in pictures ...

Easton's team played against Haley Kenyon's team!

Shaw Family picnic up at Lake Riley

Ammon's ball game (he can't be normal ...)

then everyone got a much needed bath!!

what a way to end the week ... phew ...

on to Sunday and then i'm off to Girls Camp for the week!!

(bet you can't wait to hear all about that!!)

a date with my 3 favorite boys

Andy and I took the boys with us on our date tonight ... the girls were with Andy's parents for the night!  We went to one of our favorite restaurants (and the same place we took Ammon last time we took him along) La Palmera ... MMM!! They are both pretty good eaters and Ammon even asked for more beans!!  He is my son!! We ran some errands and got them each a shirt at Fred Meyers for being good kids (and because FM is having a HUGE sale!!) and got home about 8:45 ... just enough time for fudgesicles and a little foot rub for mom and 'can i brush your hair?' then prayers and bed!  

I sure love these boys!

pet, pet, wash, wash, giddyup!

we took a lunch to the park and then walked down to the petting farm ...

then waited in line for a turn to ride the horse ...

my kids are animal lovers ... all of them (all my kids ... not necessarily all animals ... although ... now that i think about it ... i don't know what animals they don't like ... ) so when we were invited by our neighbor to go to the nearby petting farm we were totally game!  we saw bunnies, geese, ducks, sheep, goats, chickens and 2 calves ... so cute.  when it was time for horse rides they jumped at the chance ... Abi asked if they could trot (since she is an experienced rider ... ) no dice :o(  she'll just have to wait until we make our way to ID again to ride with Garth!  Overall a really fun field trip!!

"shhhh ... this is the library."

i tell my kids that as we head into the building. and i'm always surprised at the noise that greets us there. is it not the rule anymore? do people not follow the rule? are people losing their hearing and can't tell they are being loud? are people really that inconsiderate? answers aside, i do my best to keep my people hushed.

in our family kids are allowed 3 items per ... 3 books; 2 books and a movie; 1 book, 1 movie, and a game; 2 movies and a book ... there must be a book in the bunch but they are allowed 3. we have been going on wednesdays ... not for any particular reason, just seems to be the day that we're ready.

my favorite part about our library trip happens less than 3 minutes after we get there ... Easton comes back to me with 3 books that he has grabbed from the shelf or table. he has not looked at what the books are about, nor has he put any thought into what he wants to learn about or have read to him at quiet time ... he has simply 'come and conquered' ... carried out the task of finding 3 books. so funny to me ... i will then look at his books and ask him "are these the books you want me to read to you?" "uh huh." "this one is about barbie's dream castle ... you want to hear that story?" "NO!" "well then you're going to have to look for something else ... maybe look at the front of the book and see if it looks like something you like?"

it's all about judging the book by the cover ...

Ammon is all about finding chapter books with pictures on the fronts that look cool. monsters, aliens, mice on motorcycles, scooby-doo, baseball players, and your occasional army cat ... all books that he can't read and doesn't necessarily want read to him ... he just likes to thumb through the pages and look at the pictures and pretend that he has read 46 pages in 17 minutes. he's always the one that borrows movies too ... random movies that i have never heard of ... or old ones like Herby goes bananas!

Elyssa and Abi are pretty independant and pick out books that they will actually read, Elyssa sometimes brings home books that are WAY below her reading level ... just so that she has more books to add to her list in a short amount of time. Abi is way into educational books ... she just picked up a book about training horses ... and breeds of dogs ... she wants to be prepared for when she gets those things ... because you never know ... we might just move to texas and have a farm ...

what's my least favorite part, you ask?? check out.
it's a fight ... i wanna go first ... i can do it ... get out of my way ... i want to get the receipt ...

i have to lay the smack down almost everytime ... or do them separately ... and this last time Elyssa wanted to get her own card ... bah.

but we made it out alive ... no one had to die ... and now we have some books for quiet time!

hooray for the library!

FHE: Toy Story 3

i thought that the first 2 were great ... they are imaginative and clever ... funny even for adults and so cute for the kids. they in all actuality brought toys to life and inspired kids to start playing with toys again ...
on the down side they ruined all my chances of 'getting rid of' any of our toys ... they all had feelings all of a sudden ... they all would be sad if they were left at the side of the road or sold in a garage sale.
but #3 has saved me ... i no longer have to fight the battle of depressed and hurt toy's feelings. there is a better place for them ... other kids need them ... they need to be loved by someone else ... because they are just being sad, lonely, unplayed with toys here in our house.

i have to admit ... i was teary at the end ... but it was a happy cry. and if you wondered how they could ever end a series of movies such as Toy Story ... go see 3 ... it was done beautifully.

we spend Family Night at the movies for a little under $50 ouch. but it was fun ... i'm glad we did it!

i'm going forward with my posts ...

even though i skipped quite a few days ...

i will fill in as i have time ...

because i have things to say about those days ...

just a little behind ...

if you were to ask me ...

what my favorite pass time is ... i might humm and hahh and tap my finger on my head trying to decide between a few of the things that i really like to do ... such as read, walk around walmart in the middle of the night talking to my sister in texas, watch reality tv, sit on the beach in hawaii, go away anywhere with my handsome husband, visit the blogoshere, step aerobics, yoga ... i could go on ... but you get the idea.  there are a lot of things i really like to do.  but if you were to ask me what my favorite thing to do is ... i'd have to say this:

sitting with girlfriends, for hours on end, talking about everything under the sun, solving the world's problems, sharing funny stories, birth stories, adventures, talking about our crazy mommy lives and the eventual poop/barf/oh no! story, helping each other be better mommies, feel better about our mothering skills, feel better about our own lives in general because we are in the same boat, some of us a little farther along than others and full of wisdom to share (ha!), some of us more 'street smart' with better wisdom to share ... but all the same ...

all while our collective 20 children play and visit and run around.  ahh ... what could be better??

here's 14 of the 20
 - it was all we could do
to get these ones to cooperate!

it was extra fun to have the Conlin Chaos in on all the fun!!

friends are the best!