The Crazee Chick's View of Life

everywhere you go... Even at our house! The trees are up; the lights are on and there are even a couple of presents under the tree! Yeah Christmas! Bring it on!!!

My life is flying by at hyper -speed these days. I used to function on a week to week basis, then revised it to a day by day basis but now it's a quarter hour by quarter hour basis! I can't believe that every second of my day is scheduled so tightly! I have to admit that it's kind of fun though! I'm planning my first PAC social activity and it is a Family Movie Night. I'm very excited about it and hope the families like the Christmas sing a long, the door prizes, the refreshments and the movie (Elf--my fave). My planning time was cut in half when we realized that the date the principal had given me turned out to be the same one as the school staff Christmas party. Sheesh, you think he'd have known about that eh?! Anyway, that warped the whole event into hyper speed! Then there's the Walk to Bethlehem costumes for the kids in the angel choir. The kids perform tomorrow night...just got the costumes finished now (10:00pm). That's a little close for...

Today I sneaked into the dance studio and watched the girls' lyrical numbers. They were so beautiful I cried. Not once, Not twice, But three times. Kiki's group is dancing to "The Prayer" by Celine Dion and Mo's group is dancing to "One Voice" by Billy Gilman. Two beautiful, very moving, songs. The dance truly is....a dance...an interweaving of beautiful music, beautiful movements, haunting symbolism and imagery. Truly moving... of both body and mind.

Well, I'm a little bit excited and a whole lot of scared! I attended a PAC meeting for the first time today and ended up volunteering for the Social Co-ordinator position! What the heck was I thinking? You have to understand...I have never been to a PAC meeting in my life and I've only attended one PAC event (and that wasn't even for my own school) and we used to homeschool, so I have absolutely no experience to draw upon for this job! I repeat. What the heck was I thinking? Well, the truth is I've been waiting for someone to step up and it's now the middle of November and no one has so I figured the least I could do is better than the best that no one would do. So...I will try to aim for a couple of social activities and it will be a couple more than the school would have had otherwise. Understand my logic? If so ,that's kind of scary!! So, the first thing on the bill will be a Christmas movie night. I think we're going to watch Elf! I love, love, LO...

On this day of Remembrance when I take the freedoms I've been granted by those brave young men who fought for their generation and future generations, I also found a way to give. I wanted to do something to honor the gift our soldiers gave to Canadians all those years ago, so the kids and I passed that love on in the form of Operation Christmas Child boxes. We filled three boxes (2 girls and 1 boy) with gifts that portray the love we have in our hearts for those who do not enjoy the same freedoms that we do. We have the freedom of speech, thought, and the right to worship as we may, but we also enjoy the freedom of clean water, food, shelter and medical care. So many others in the world do not enjoy these basic freedoms...they do not have an inkling or a glimpse of the luxury of an abundant food supply and clean water to drink and bathe in. We packed our little shoe boxes with soap, toothbrushes, hair clips, pens, crayons, notepads, coloring books, bandanas (which we thought would...

...to ruin things for me. I was feeling so good about my new look; the hair, the clothes, the nails... ...until ONE person said they liked my hair longer better. Poof!! Just like that, my self confidence went down the crapper. Now I'm second guessing my hair. Suddenly it seems too short. Suddenly it all seems wrong! I loved this hair... ...until that one comment. This person didn't mean any harm; and certainly didn't know what a crappy sense of self-confidence I have so I can't blame her. I can only blame myself for allowing ONE comment to affect me; to question myself; to re-assess my 'newness.' It's pretty pathetic! My parents raised a strong woman...why am I allowing this to affect me? Ugh...it's so dumb! Remember...words can be weapons....even if you don't intend them to be. Maybe we shouldn't offer our opinion if it's not asked of us. Maybe we shouldn't say anything if we don't have anything nice to say. "Do unto others...

is amazing! My parents are in Arizona and because of a VoIP program called Skype and a web cam, we can not only talk to each other over the computer (for free) but we can actually see one another too! It's so wonderful to be able to visit with each other as if we were physically together. I love this! I don't have to feel like they're so far away now... ...they're as close as my computer!

We 'boo-ed' our neighbors last night! We had so much fun hiding in the bushes and waiting for them to open the door. Unfortunately Mo got caught on the last house. She rang the doorbell and waited almost 3 minutes but no one came. She knew someone was home because the van was in the driveway and the dog was barking inside the house. Just as she approached the door to ring the bell again, the lady switched on her light and opened the door. Mo attempted, in her words, to "book it" from the entrance way but to no avail. The lady opened the door and said, "Hi Mo!" Mo was a bit bummed but still had a smile on her face. So now we have three more Boo's in the windows of our cul de sac...two from us and one from our other neighbor who was paying the Boo forward. This has been a really, really fun activity!! We got a lot of laughs from beginning to end. For our goodie bags we bought a talking door bell that says a number of spooky phrases, and a box of Cadbury Fi...

..started out with a little visiting teaching: lots of visiting but not so much teaching! :) ...afterwards I took a moment to appreciate the fall colors: they are amazing this year. Normally we aren't privy to such a vivid display of foliage because the rain always knocks the leaves off the trees before they can turn. This year it's been dry so we've had a real visual treat! I love how God blesses this world with beauty: in the fall we have reds, oranges and yellows; in the winter we have the white, crisp snow that blankets the landscape and makes us feel cozy; in the spring we have a rebirth when the new flowers begin to emerge and the trees caress our senses with their beautiful blossoms; and of course, there's summer where the blue sky and the purples, reds, yellows and pinks of all the flowers in their splendid glory bathe us in beauty. Yep...the Lord gives us sooo much... ...we went to visit the temple site. The steeple has arrived and, now that the foundation is ...

Y'know...blogging is hard! It's not like having a conversation where your thoughts are stimulated by a certain subject, or you find something funny and giggle about it for an hour. It's all you. Alone. Trying to think of something to write to keep your blog 'current.' Well, people....I got nothing for ya. Nothin' new. Just the same old, same old. I'm still packing lunches, ironing clothes (yep...can you believe it!), shopping for food, making supper and sleeping. Oh...and shopping! Got some dang good deals too! Like a pair of $565.00 Louis Vuitton shoes for $9.00! Yes! Seriously! A leather Mexx purse for $8.00 and a pair of Adrienne Vittadini shoes (leopard print) for $8.00. All in pristine condition; never been used! I guess I can hold a one sided conversation... as long as it's about shopping! I'm off to the store...toodles.

My heart is so sad tonight....a wonderful family has been broken apart. A foster family has lost three of their children; children they nutured and loved as they did their own biological children. To see this foster mother with these children was to see true love. I never saw her scold, say an unkind word or even glance disapprovingly at any of these children. She is a beautiful woman both inside and out. A true role model. Because it is their mandate, the Ministry aims to re-unite children with their biological parents. That all sounds really great but are the children's best interests taken into consideration? Consider these three little ones; they lived in a home filled with love, they were taken to a choice school and they participated in extra curricular activities that included dance. These kids were CARED for; they are now back with their biological mother who might be capable of loving them (but how is that possible when she's been apart from them for their ...

New Look! New Name! Same blogger. Have you ever found something you didn't know you'd lost? I have. Guess what I found? I found ME! Strangely enough, I didn't realize I was lost until I started to find myself. Amidst the mothering, the cooking, the cleaning and the homeschooling, somewhere I got misplaced. Lisa got covered up by all the 'stuff' in her life. I didn't miss her...I didn't even know she needed to be looked for...but when I decided to send the kids to school and I went to put "Lisa" on all of a sudden she was not there. There in front of my mirror stood a tired looking, tired sounding, slightly chubby woman wearing old yoga pants, a t-shirt and worn out runners. This wasn't the woman I knew 12 years ago. Where did the young, vibrant, well-dressed one go? I began to look for her... I found her. She's a little older and a lot out of shape but she's also a little smarter and a little wiser. I lovingly took her out, dusted ...

...then watch this video. That's all I have to say. ZAP! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-NOZU2iPA8

I took Mackenzie shopping yesterday because her birthday money was burning a hole in her pocket and what do you think I saw? Leg Warmers. Lace fingerless gloves. Faux glasses. Halllooo....welcome to MY teenage years! The whole Madonna Wannabe look? I owned it! I had the ratty hair with the oversized headband/rag thing; the lace gloves (even wore black ones to my graduation) ; the leg warmers with the high heeled shoes! Holy fashion batman, I never thought THAT stuff would ever come back in style. I mean NEVER! Now, don't get me wrong...I'm not about to run out and buy any of it for myself (although I must admit I really wanted to buy the glasses: they made me look really stylin' and SMART!) , but my kids are scooping this stuff up! Mackenzie and Morgan both have leg warmers and the cutsie dance socks...I know it's just a matter of time before the fingerless, lace gloves enter our home! My girls better be careful...pretty soon I'll be stealing their accessories! Can ...

Well...ye olde toothe fairie might have overdone it. She left $10.00 and by all the reactions we've had today over that amount I'm preeeeety sure it was too much! Why was I so far off base? It's not like I haven't had other children who recently have lost their teeth. Mackenzie even reminded me today (although I'm sure she's terribly mistaken) that not only did the tooth fairy not give her any big amount of money for her first tooth, that apparently the hag did not leave her ANY MONEY for the first 8 teeth!!! I totally beg to differ but she's adamant about it. And she's hardly ever wrong. So anyway, I feel like a grandma or something that's totally out of touch. Weird, 'cause my babes are still losing teeth...all of them!! I (oops, I mean ye olde toothe fairie) should be a little more used to the game, you know...with the tour; along for the journey; seen that bag of tricks etc. But apparently...I've (I mean 'she's' ) for...

Today was such a neat day. It started when Kiki came home from school and told me that she got 10 out of 10 on a writing assignment. That was great enough but when she told me the teacher read it out in class and used it as an example of 'how to do it right', I was feeling...do I admit it?.... PROUD!!! When you've homeschooled for two years and suddenly put your kids back into school there's a little trepidation about how they're going to do. Questions go through your mind such as...Did we do enough writing/math/reading/socials? Did I miss teaching something crucial that will rear it's ugly head once school gets going? Did I do okay? So today after this happened in Kenzie's class it helped to dispell those fears! I DID do something right! I did teach them stuff! Yay!! The next exciting thing was that Zee lost his first tooth. He seems a little young, at only 4 (almost 5)years old, to lose that first tooth but it was definitely time as the tooth has been ...

Happy Birthday Kiki!! My little girl is nine years old now! How and WHEN did that happen? I remember watching her skip down the sidewalk the day she turned five and thanking my Heavenly Father for the gift that she is to our lives. Now she's nine! Four more years have passed. In another four years she'll be 13!!! I'm not ready for time to go this fast. My kids will turn into teenagers and adults before I'm ready for them to. Sigh. I can't stop time but I can live every moment to it's fullest and love every second of it. Tick...tick...tick... Slow down time ....don't make my babies grow so fast !

Okay so today I'm 'standing for something' not terribly philanthropic, alturistic or even environmental, but it sure is something fun! I've fallen back in love with CLOTHES! And...believe it or not...ironing! Now if you know me, you will know that I am NOT, I repeat NOT, an ironer. In the 12 years since my kids have been born I have maybe picked up an iron 5 times. In the past if it's been wrinkled, I wear it, or I buy a new one. Yep...that's me. So anyway...turned over a new leaf. Now that the kids are back in school I discovered that I am living in a mini Hollywood. The moms are gorgeous, skinny and dress like they are movie stars. I gotta fit in...don't want to stand out in my Costco yoga pants (that are worn out and getting fuzzy) and my 5 dollar t-shirts...so I started shopping. Wow...did that unleash the beast!!! I am having sooooo much fun buying new pants, sweaters, leather jackets, boots etc. that I find I haven't needed nearly as mu...

Yeah. Okay. I admit it. I've fallen prey. I wanna be a vampire! I just finished reading the final book in the Bella/Edward saga and I LOVED IT! This is not your typical vampire series; these vampires are good, wholesome, have values and a strong sense of family ties. There's just the right amount of emotion, passion and longing in the novels but nothing steamy, overtly sexual or immoral. I'm so proud of the author, Stephenie Meyer, for writing a great series that both young adult (around 13 or 14 years of age) and old adults can enjoy. She's a great example of Standing for Something...her passion for writing combined with her values as an LDS woman make for a great role model for young and old alike. The books (in order) are: Twilight New Moon Eclipse Breaking Dawn Read them. You'll love them. I promise!!! You'll want to be a vampire too!

One of my friends emailed this to me today and I loved it and wanted to share it with whomever happens to stumble upon my blog. Enjoy.... HOW TO REALLY LIVE 1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant. 2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to. 3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today.' 4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants. 5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli , almonds & walnuts. 6. Try to make at least three people smile each day. 7. Don't waste your precious energy on energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment. 8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out ...

Back to school... Something I never thought we'd do again. But we did it.... And we liked it. So far...so good. Great teachers, great kids....great first week. I'm a mommy again....just a mommy, not a teacher....and I feel....freer. I've had the opportunity to miss my kids; to be excited to see them; to have a conversation with them about their day; to share; to laugh; to read together. To be 'with' them as I haven't been for a very long while. As a homeschooler I was always with them but rarely 'with' them....quality vs. quantity. Morgan said she liked the fact that she gets to miss me during the day. Weird eh? So far...so good...we are all finding new emotions; new strengths;new refuges and we are all enthusiastic about it! Woo hoo! (for lack of a better word!)

All summer as I tried to plan our 3rd homeschool year I just kept coming up against roadblock after roadblock. Nothing was coming together despite hours and hours of planning. As September loomed closer and closer I began to panic. Rewind to June 2008 as I entered the local elementary school for my son's kindergarten orientation. As a homeschooling mom, I was dead set against my son going to public school but wanted to honor my husband's wishes (it was just going to be for kindergarten; we were going to keep him home afterwards) so I went to the orientation. What I saw there took me by surprise; I saw an amazing jazz band; wonderful art work on the walls; happy children; a wonderful atmosphere and a really outstanding staff of teachers and a very caring principal. I did not intend to see anything positive so it's not as if I were conscientiously looking for something that would change my mind. But change my mind it did.... Fast forward to August: as I relaxed one even...

Let's play a game. What do the following have in common? Photoshop iPod touch Scripture reading Tap dance class Eating nanaimo bars and chocolate chip cookies Going out on a date with my husband Swimming with the kids Watching movies Reading Can you guess? They are all things that I've enjoyed doing or playing with over the last couple of weeks. I love the summer...so much time to just be mellow, soak up the sun (which we've had *alot* of this year! ) and hang out with the family. I don't want it to end. Already I see the days getting shorter and I realize that it's time to start school again really soon. I'm not ready! Don't let the summer end! Here are some of my latest photoshop creations:

We finished the K'nex Big Ball Factory today! It took a little over a month of working on it in bits and spurts, but in the last couple of days Zack has put the 'heat' on and we've been building, working, pushing little plastic sticks together until our fingers were raw (okay...not really), and collapsing into exhausted heaps of humanity at the end of the day (again...not really) until we got it done! What a great product this is! The K'nex designers (obviously engineers who love to both build and play) have done a wonderful job. The patterns for the most part are easy to follow and you (the builder) get a wonderful perspective on planning ahead and following instructions. If you are looking for a great toy for your kids this Christmas (and feel like spending $300.00) consider the K'nex Simple Machines Kit! Not only do you get to build the Big Ball Factory, but you also get patterns, materials and educator's guides for bridges, gears, levers, pulleys, and ot...

What do you do when your 11 year old is at a day camp across the river, and when you go to pick her up you discover the highway and the bridge is closed in both directions? Panic!!! That's the situation my friend and I were faced with this afternoon. Two cranes blocking traffic: one toppled; the other helping to right it's fallen comrade. Highway CLOSED! Two kids on the other side of the river unaware of the traffic situation. No cell phone to contact them. Panic!!! After taking a few moments to breathe I realized we had a solution. Hubby! He works on the 'other side' of the river! Thankfully he was able to go get the girls, feed them some supper and take them to work with him for the remainder of the day. I'm sure they had fun playing pool and drawing on the white boards. For the first time EVER I was thankful that he was on the other side of the bridge. Normally I am not. Earthquakes are a very real threat in this part of the world and with earthquakes come fall...

That's how I would describe our household today. There were good things happening everywhere...all day long. Firstly, Hubby and Zee painted the chair that they built together last week. I caught hubby 'touching it up.' Good thing he doesn't do the homeschooling or else all the assignments would either be 'doctored' or would have to be perfect before they were handed in. Aaaaaah, life with a perfectionist! Secondly, Mo and Kiki made chocolate chip cookies (my favorite) and brownies (Mel's secret recipe!). Also, they worked all morning on the Webkinz house they are building. After Mo finished drawing the 'blueprints' they got right to work on the construction. They've made several rooms including the kitchen (with stove) and bathroom (with toilet and a sink with 'water' in it). Thirdly, Zee and I completed about 5 pages of our K'nex Big Ball Factory. Kenzi and Mo eventually joined in too (while Daddy made dinner). The structure is just...

or anywhere in France. We've been walking to the market the last couple of days in an effort to get outdoors, soak up the sunshine, reduce greenhouse emissions and pretend we are on vacation in Paris. It's been wonderful. We've had some great talks, we've taken the bikes to the skateboard park, Zee's learning how to ride a scooter and we've been to both the 'market' and the library. My kids are getting exercise, learning to love their community, exercising good food choices and finding the thrill in reading. I've not seen them so excited about 'staying home' before. I guess we should go on 'vacation' more often. The benefits are priceless...

The book I am reading called The Socrates Way encourages the writing of haiku to encourage self knowledge, enlightenment and to promote deep thinking, so periodically I will be sprinkling my haiku talents ( talents? ahem, cough, cough) amongst my blog. Today my son is talking non-stop (and I mean NON STOP!) and there is a considerable amount of tension and kids hollering at one another in my home. Now that you know the basis for my haiku....here it is: Words like rivers, tumble, rage, and flow from mouth to mouth. Critique: Not sure if I am anymore enlightened as a result of my haiku journey. Maybe a nice hot rock massage at the spa with some pan flute zen musique would have been more successful. Or maybe some chocolate... I'm just sayin'...

I've got the rhythm. I've got the moves. I've got it goin' on! Okay, not really...but I am having a good time shaking what my momma gave me! Last night I signed up for an adult *tap* workshop and I had a complete blast. Never mind that I've got the biggest thighs in the place, Never mind that my groove thang is hangin', Never mind that my girls are a floppin', I HAD FUN! ...and I plan on havin' more!

Or in this case, it's the screws that bind. Hubby and Zee built a chair together this weekend as they shared some special father/son time. Such precious moments. I took the girls out to Starbucks for a Strawberries 'n cream smoothie-type drink and a gigantic ginger snap cookie. If you've never tried these cookies be sure to put it on your 'To Do' list this summer. They are heavenly! We enjoyed our special time together and had some meaningful discussions. Yesterday we ventured to G- Island. It's so beautiful there! We need to go more often. I swear these birds were dancing! The music and their flight were in perfect sych...it was magical! Even Zee recognized the beauty of it. Daddy Update: My dad is doing better physically (his fingers are horribly mangled and he is now considered an amputee as he lost up to the first knuckle of his ring finger on his left hand) but emotionally he is stuggling...very upset and angry with himself. He is a brilliant artist (his me...

Had to delete today's post....too negative. I'm angry...saying things I might regret. Not mad at my hubby or kids.... Striving to forgive the ones who angered me. I will do so....it's a commandment that I do.

I'm feeling so sad today because my dear daddy got hurt while using the table saw. He essentially mangled three of his fingers and had to have surgery. It's possible that he could lose a portion of his ring finger. I feel sick because I'm helpless over here. I can't do anything to help my mom to help him. I can't take away any pain. I can't give my daddy a big hug (which would make me feel better). I hate this. Daddy, if you get the chance to read this over the next couple of days (because I know you're not going to be in the shop!), I hope you are feeling better and that the pain is under control. We are praying for your finger and hoping that it will be allowed to remain with the rest of it's finger friends. I love you.

Is it okay to ignore my children while I create scrapbook pages about them? Today I learned how to do my very first layout using Photoshop. I am so excited! The papers and elements are from Shabby Princess...they are free..free.. free...I tell you! I must run now and stop being a bad mommy...Zee is begging to do K'nex, the girls have learned how to make fudge on their own (made 3 batches!), and all of them have learned the fine art of conflict resolution (ie. they had one heck of a fight and managed to solve it with only a minute amount of mediation by moi) and I haven't even thought about dinner yet (it's 6:25pm) but...*giggle*...I got some creative time today! Hee...hee...

Today's Relief Society lesson was so inspirational. It was about gaining power through reading the scriptures: power to overcome temptations; power to strengthen our commitment to the Gospel; power to become better. I am guilty of not reading my scriptures and therefore am out of power (just like a battery...which is exactly how I feel most days ) Everyday I immerse myself in reading: I read novels; history; self help books, and the classics all in an attempt to become a learned individual. I am really an idiot because I am not reading the books that are the most influential, the ones that are the manual of life....the scriptures. I have taken on a challenge, and will also be involving my children, to read the scriptures everyday without fail for 100 days. After 21 days it will be a habit and I hope that once I (and my family) surpass the 100 day mark that we will come to feel as if we are undressed if we have not put on the armor of God on a daily basis. Looking forward to ...

"Friends are God's way of taking care of us." Thank you to all of my friends who blessed my life today. You know who you are. Thank you for: ~Your offer of a retreat for my tired mind: a chance to renew and refresh. ~Your Random Act of Kindness (yum, yum....best apple crisp EVER!!) Must. have. recipe! ~Spending the day with me after too long of an absence...you are the sister in life that I never had. I am so blessed. The Lord took excellent care of me today.

Aaaaaah(BIG exhale)....everything's done: Swimming Dancing Piano Achievers Preschool Done. Time to breathe. But wait...what's that? Entertain the children you say? Find ways for them to fill every waking moment? Make each day fantastical? What?! Okay...let's... Swim Play in the creek Learn how to sew on the sewing machine Do a summer craft Start a new needlepoint project Build a Big Ball Factory out of K'nex Start our science curriculum--Powerhouse by Thames and Kosmos ( http://http://www.thamesandkosmos.com/products/ph/ph2.html ) Help hubby dig trenches in the back yard for our in ground sprinkler Plan next year's school schedule Hug Kiss Love ... my kids. Breathe. Relish the moments; be happy that we are all healthy; learn to find the beauty in everything; love them while they are little because it won't be long until they are asking for the keys to the car or telling me that they've found 'the one.' These moments are precious.... Love them.... Che...

In lieu of butterfly updates, I am posting some pictures of some impromptu fabric painting and crafting that we did last week. Kiki has wanted to make a bolster pillow to store her pajamas in for about a month but we just haven't been able to get it completed, so last week I sat down and serged the ends of an old pair of jeans that she had cut off and then suggested that she put some fabric paint on it to 'spruce it up.' That lead to all kinds of wonderful things as Zee got out an old shirt and painted a face on his and Mo took a jean jacket that she'd been making for her Webkinz (Sammy) and decided to decorate it with some flames. I loved that this whole thing was unplanned and that everyone was able to participate. Also included is a picture of Mo's latest fashion creation for Kiki's Webkinz. It's an adorable little sundress. !