Saturday is a Special Day

Diamond is a HUGE BYU football fan. He tells me that Saturdays in the fall are all but sacred. Even when we can't get the BYU games, he watches Washington, Utah, Michigan, Colorado, etc. He maintains that since he doesn't care too much for the Sunday pro games, he should have free reign for the college games on Saturday. With such a passion, he has worked hard at turning our three boys into college football fans. Here's a little taste of how it's working out for him: (In case you can't understand, he's saying "tackle!")

Yeah, I don't stand a chance.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful!

Every Sunday we have dinner at Nanna and Grandpa's house. It's one of my favorite parts of the week; great food, lively conversation, etc. However, tonight, just as we were about to sit down and eat, my sister bursts through the door yelling "THERE'S A TORNADO OUTSIDE!!! GET IN THE BASEMENT!!!" So naturally, I grab my camera and head outside to see this:

Anxious to figure out what was going on, we turned on the news and found out that while the tornado posed no threat to my parents home, it was circling dangerously close to OUR home! (This the part where I have to talk Diamond out of jumping in the car to go check on our house.)
The house in this picture is only about 10 doors down from our house. I guess Diamond was right to be a bit nervous! (We found this picture posted on a local news site.)

We were able to make some calls to find out that our home was still standing and finally started to eat dinner. That's when we started hearing hail pelting the roof.

So we all jumped up to go see the latest bizarre weather. All of us except my Dad. I did mention that my mom is a great cook right? At least Dad got to eat it warm!!!

It was only a matter of time before "weird weather" became a category for my posts! I do live in Colorado after all!

So It Continues

A couple months ago I found the blog of one of my old boyfriends (aka: the Missionary). I had a ton of fun learning about him and his family, until I noticed a site monitor had been added. I called my friend Vern worried that he might know that I had been on his blog. (Not that it really mattered, but I would feel kinda stupid.) After talking to some technical people, I became comfortable that I was in the clear. However, my curiosity had been satiated, and I didn't want to get caught lurking, so I haven't been back since. All's well and good.

Until Tuesday. I got an email from the Missionary. Apparently, he had seen that I had visited his blog and was wondering how I was doing. So BUSTED! So I again called my friend Vern and took her feedback in composing a response. It was all very light, very friendly, and Diamond knew all about it. Then I got his reply:

Well, I haven't quite adopted the enthusiasm of blogging as much as my wife has, but I’ve managed to catch up with a few friends. So, your husband sounds pretty important and successful. Is that why you chose him over me? I was pretty devastated when it didn’t work out between us. My wife is great and everything, but to speak candidly she’s only second best.

Your kids look cuter than mine, too. I know that my wife paints a pretty happy picture on our family blog, but it’s pretty much a façade. On my darkest days I get out old pictures of you and I in college and imagine what might have been, but I know that’s not very healthy. I had a little bit of counseling which helped for a while, and then I saw your picture in the BYU alumni magazine and saw that you hadn’t changed a bit and it brought back old feelings. At least I don’t put that picture under my pillow anymore.

Even though I don’t contribute much to the family blog, I have a secret blog that no one else knows about that’s dedicated to you. I guess it’s okay to tell you about it since you’re the only who will know! The web address is: http://www.iloveganelle.blogspot.com/

If you left a comment it would absolutely make my day!!!

Still Love you,
The Missionary

See, and I thought the practical joke war had faded... Hmmm. What shall I do next???

Why I Haven't Blogged

Every spare minute that I've had over the last five days has been spent reading Breaking Dawn. I was reading while I putting on my makeup in the morning, (if I've looked particularly scary, now you know why) reading while cooking dinner, and even reading while half watching Michael Phelps win his eighth gold medal. So here's my review:

I liked it. I've never really considered the Twilight series to be great literature, and Breaking Dawn is certainly no exception. However, Meyers seems to pull you into her storyline and keep you interested. It was a bit slower than the first and third in the series, with the climax of the story not forcing me to sit upright and yell at the book (yes, I've done that in the past.) I have to say that I like Bella a lot more in this book than in all of the others. She is normally so foolish and sappy. The sappy parts in Breaking Dawn were too much for my liking, but she was a lot less annoying.

The good news about the book is that all of my questions were answered: Edward or Jacob? Why can't Edward hear her thoughts? Will she turn into a vampire? etc. After reading four books, I was going to be really irritated if Meyer's left those questions unanswered. I'm happy to say I won't have to write some nasty note to her publisher.

I've heard Stephanie Meyer is going to be rewriting Twilight from Edward's point of view. But until that book comes out, does anyone have a recommendation on what I should read next?

Google: Answers to All of Life's Questions

Feeling particularly discouraged the other night, I googled "Why do I suck as a parent?"

There were 13,600 results.

Thanks. Thanks a lot. Like I wasn't feeling bad enough already.

Cousins

We have been lucky enough to have Diamond's brother, and his two kids visit us this last week. We've kept really busy...

At a Rockies Game

Denver Nature and Science Museum

Elitch's

This is a picture of the roller coaster that had Big Boy #1 crying "I'll NEVER ride another roller coaster for the REST of my life!" (He was on another roller coaster within the hour - albeit, one that didn't leave his feet dangling or spin him upside down.) At least he gave it a try!

Miniature Golfing

At the nearby parks:

And playing a game (or two) of 'Ticket to Ride" each night.

A week of summer vacation spent NOT bored = SUCCESS!

My Favorite Things

My boys all get the craziest curly hair when they are about two years old.

Big Boy #1's curls lasted until he was about 2 1/2. He had his first "real" haircut, and they never came back. I cried all afternoon.


Big Boy #2's curls lasted much longer. I had learned my lesson and carefully avoided any type of short haircut. To this day he wears his hair a bit more "shaggy" (hey it's the style now!) That bought me several more years of curls.

His curls lasted until he was almost five. As his hair began to straighten, I took up hope that #3 would have that same hair. When the Caboose came around, we were just waiting for the Smith curls to kick in. And sure enough...


Through the years, many people have commented that those curls had been wasted on a boy. My friend Vern agreed, and decided to see how cute those curls would be on a girl. I left my darling BB2 at her house for a couple hours, and come back to this...

DANG CUTE! (Although, one of the downsides to those blond locks is that people seem to assume hair like that MUST belong to a little girl. The boys were always getting confused for girls - regardless of what they were wearing. Maybe it has something to do with the length of their hair as well?)

I LOVE their curls. I love those locks in the way I love chocolate chip cookies on a cold wintery day; completely and without apology. It seems that everywhere we go strangers will approach me, touching the boys' hair, asking where such amazing hair comes from. (It's on both sides. Diamond had curls as a toddler, and half of my family - although not me- have very curly hair.)

There are a ton of things I love about being a mom. But their curls? Well, they are one of favorite things.

Baseball

We've just finished another season of baseball. I have to say that baseball is probably my favorite of all their sports. There is something to be said for sitting outside on a warm summer evening, chatting with friends and watching the boys get all excited when they make a play.

The other night when I was tucking the boys in, Big Boy #2 seemed to be spending an awfully long time saying his personal, bedtime prayer.

Me: "That was a quite a long prayer!"
BB2: "Yeah, well, it was mostly about baseball."

Well now, that explains it, doesn't it?