1st Day of 1st Grade

First things first. Today is the first day of my six year old's life where he will NOT be getting a snack at school. Hence, he has officially graduated to an ADULT bowl of cereal. We cannot take any chances with the kid bowl size. No Way. He is now an adult...going through the day with no snack. Good Luck Bugaboo.

With one kid gone, I thought I would have a better handle on my other two. Surprise, Surprise.

Let's be HONEST. cry cry cry. blah blah blah. YEAH! I was in heaven. These kids are driving me CRAZY. We have taken beating each other up to a whole new level. YEAH for 1st grade.

O.K. So I was pretty excited for school to start. As we were driving up to the schol drop off, William assured me that we could just "drop him off." "I don't need you to come in, mom."

I bit my lip. I'll let him do this I told myself. I knew he could do it, but I was more worried about all of the other parents thinking I was neglectful becausee it seemed as if the whole nation was crowding through the doors with video cameras and teary eyes. I swallowed my pride.

William got out of the car, By himself. I watched him. He stood there by himself for what seemed like forever. He became hesitant. The anxiety hit him.

He walked through the doors without us.

I couldn't do it. I pulled around to park and ripped the other two from their carseats.

I walked swiftly to his class to make sure he was O.K.

I got there just in time to see another mom helping my poor, sad, and almost teary eyed little boy. NOW I almost cried.

I announced as if I was the mother bear growling at an intruder that he was my son and that I could help him. I felt bad. He was my baby. I am ALWAYS suppossed to be the one who helps him. Who calms him. The first to see that little, scared face that I know within my heart. We helped him find his seat. We got him organized. We kissed him. And we walked out the door.

Yes, I am excited for school to start. But as I lay in bed that night I remember thinking that one day down the road, I am going to wish this day back again. So badly, that I will cry, and I will read this, and I will cry some more. Oh, how I love my babies.

With that said,

September 8th could not come fast enough. YEAH for Jake going to pre-K. I might cry.

We'll see.

Cookies, Brownies and Drink Sale

The boys are trying to raise money for "big boy" legos. (code=the small legos). Currently, the boys wake up in the morning and go straight to the computer to check out lego.com. They have to wait until Christmas to get some. They decided (well, William) decided to have a sale to raise money so he doesn't have to wait so long. Great idea.

Today was the day.

I spent the morning making chocolate chip cookies and brownies. We threw some of our Coke and Sprite in the cooler and headed to the front yard.

2 hours. Great neighbors. And some fun family bonding.

Our profit: $8

William was hoping for $99.99

That's how much most of the sets cost.

When asked if he wanted to earn $100, he responded:

"No, I just need $99.99. I don't need to make any more than that."

Quote of the Day:

We were setting up for the sale and William says,

"I wonder if the people driving down the street are going to stop. They might just think, I am not going to waste my time with those childish products and drive right past us."

Oh, yeah. And Jake thought that if he wore his Skelaton shirt more people might stop. It totally worked.

Memories of the Week

This is what we have been doing ALL week long. We have two huge boxes of dress-ups.
William is posing as an intimidating pirate, and Jake as an unruly king.


Scout is posing as, well...SCOUT.

1. When asked what state the kids want us to end up "forever" William replied, "Well, not Iowa." (where we attended medical school). "We would have to go back and live in our old house that was so small it was like a little hut. Our house now is a mansion!"

Daddy replies, "you're right. It's OUR mansion."

2. So I am on this old lady soccer team here is Akron. I laugh every week because my team is so stinkin competitive and we hardly ever actually win. I think of the co-ed over-the-hill league I played on in Des Moines. In Des Moines, I was more of a "person taking up space" because let's be honest, men just don't have faith in the opposite sex when it comes to athletics. They had to have three women on the field and I happened to make a pretty good warm body.

Now I play with all women. Completely opposite. I get the ball all the time and actually feel like I contribute. Here lies the rub. I have realized that with competitive older women, who aren't playing for anything other than for fun, at least that's what I thought I was doing, you are going to get your feelings hurt. Yesterday I felt like yelling, "look, I have never played defense before and I actually think I am doing a lot better job than you are so just keep your mouth shut." So I make a choice. Would I rather play with men and never touch the ball, or with women and get yelled at.

I choose women. I might get my feelings hurt...but oh, to touch the ball again just feels sooooooo good!

3. Jake: "mommy, mommy. I peed all over the seat but I cleaned it up. Are you proud of me?"

Jake has this thing where he loves to pee all over the wall, seat, floor, anywhere. It's just not very fun to actually do what you are suppossed to.

My Parents

You are looking at a picture of my dad with the kids, in a tree house built with his very own hands...2x4's, nails, hammers, cement mixer, post digger, a measuring tape and lots and lots of Coca- Cola Classic. He donated nearly his whole week here building this masterpiece. No Tree House instructions needed. He just built it. The boys could hardly stay out of his hair long enough to wait for it. William just kept saying, "I am so grateful, I am so grateful, I am so grateful." Jake kept trying to get up there before it was safe for tiny toes. A lot of patience, a lot of love, and a heck of a lot of hard work. We present to you the newest member of the Ford Family: The Ford Family Tree house!

We did find some time to head down to Kirtland. Always a good spot for visitors.

So...my parents. I was talking to one of my friends in Salt Lake and she mentioned how much she admired my parents for not being materialistic in a materialistic world. I guess she was saying that she appreciated how my parents could probably afford more materialistic possessions but have chosen not to. This got me thinking about my parents and their example to me. Here are my Top Ten:

10. O.K. First of all. My dad could have probably bought us a swing set for less money than it cost to build our new addition in the backyard. But there is a problem with that. Buying a swing set does not make you work for it. Nothing is life comes without hard work. As a result of a million 2X4's and nails, that tree house is NEVER coming down.

9. When we were younger we NEVER got name brand anything. I didn't even know what Girbaud's were (those really expensive M.C. Hammer jeans) until I realized I was the only one in the school without them.

8. My parent's do not own a Big Screen T.V. They have owned their two medium sized T.V's for about 15 years now. No need to upgrade. They still work. Kindof.

7. I don't know if my parent's have ever "sold" a car. It is hilarious. The only place their cars have gone is to the junkyard. Why buy a new car if your old one still works? My dad's old car you could hear coming up the road.

6. My mom never bought us anything "full price." Except my soccer cleats. Once they bought me red Adidas ones. They were sweet.

5. We were blessed to have remains of old cars when we were driving age. We shared. They were not "sweet rides" but they worked. Except my brother Sam drove the car with his knees instead of his hands, and that was pretty sweet. We were also expected to take care of these remains. I remember going in to the gas station and asking them for oil when I was sixteen. The guy kindof looked at me and said, "what kind?" "I don't know, I just need something so my car doesn't blow up...my brother told me I had to. It has an oil leak." He sold me some 10W30 and I was off. Once I was married, I had to teach my husband how to check his oil level. He wasn't amused.

4. The Ping Pong Table. My dad built this Ping Pong Table for us to play. Of course, he could have bought one...but why? This table probably cost more and weighed more than our house. It took my dad and all three brothers to move it. Furthermore, we left it out in the rain and as a result, it was horribly warped. Deemed...unplayable. But it still remains a family legend. I think it became the most expensive firewood ever.

3. I was "dating" kindof this guy in college. We went over to his house for lunch. Apparently I

made a bad impression. He mentioned to his friends how he couldn't believe that I would sit on the arm of the couch. I laughed. I guess it wasn't going to work out. Damn. He sure missed out on a catch. My parents house was the "the place" in high school. It wasn't because of the "things" they had. The ping pong table was great and all...but it was the way they made us feel. They talked to us freely about boys, making out, sex and anything else. We would always be sitting on the arms of the couches...anywhere to find a place to sit. As long as we dished the high- school dirt to my mom.

2. O.K. When we were young, my dad did it. He splurged. Well, not really. He decided it would be good for us to have a horse. Learn to ride it, train it, take care of such a large and beautiful animal. One thing. He didn't want to buy a really expensive, trained, horse. Oh, no. Let's train it ourselves. Remember: Nothing is worth it if it doesn't require a lot of hard work. Well, we couldn't catch the dang thing. I don't know if we ever rode it. Eventually he gave up. We sold it to the meat market.

1. The World's Best grandparents. Legos strewn across the house. Upstairs and down. Killing flowers. Catching fish...and letting them die. Dirt bombs being thrown in their face. Sand tracked all throughout their house...including the newly re-finished hardwood floors. Clogged toilets. Clogged bathtubs. A dozen eggs smashed on their kitchen floor. A movie library full of Backyardigans and Super Heroes. Marker Murals on their walls. A grand-kid room with video games and a trundle bed. A fridge full of hot dogs, whole milk and Popsicles. A soda table with drinks that make even the youngest child drool. Real live bunnies that eat lettuce from your hand. A Bird tree with a million birds that make obnoxious sounds when you push their belly.

I'm not sure if they are "living the dream" but they sure make our kids feel like they are.

Catch-Up

In May, Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Clyde came out to visit us. I just got the pictures and I am so excited to finally post them to our family memories.


Grandma brought new swimsuits and swim shirts for the boys. THey LOVE them.



Getting down and dirty in the backyard with Grnadma and Grandpa. Naomi is running for her life.

Grandma got to go with me to Jake's pre-school Mother's Day program. The "performance" which consisted of one very short song was worth the whole trip. Right, Grandma?

My Mother's Day present from Smooch. I LOVE it.

They got to watch William play in a soccer game. Not a huge hit with our 6 year old, but I am praying that one of my kids will share the love with me someday.

Grandma Cheryl and Naomi worked EXTREMELY hard in the yard. Grandma stocked up our flower supply, taught me a few tricks, and now our garden is doing Great! Thanks Grandma Cheryl.

We also got to see William's Mother's Day program. This "performance" was an hour full of year-long practiced song and dance, intermitted with each child having a speaking part, and a puppet show. WoW! Now THAT was worth it!

My Six year old loves me. Can't you tell?

Well, at least he loves Grandma.

4th of July, 2009

Taking a break from the rigorous parade route down our neighborhood streets.
What a fun neighborhood to have a parade where we are all invited to actually be in it! And thanks to all of the "older" people that so kindly placed their lawn chairs on the side of the road so that someone waved to us as we patriotically rode by.


In the garage with our decorated bikes and stroller getting ready to ride down to the parade.

William spent many good minutes hand-drawing this beautiful American Flag that he hung on the front of his bike. Jake opted for a Spiderman figurine instead of a flag. Afterall, "Spiderman is American Flag colors."

Ended the day at "our" beach in the company of good friends. Beach and BBQ. A Perfect 4th.

Pick Your Battles

"It's not an eternal consequence." One of my moms greatest one-liners ever. From not being asked to a high school dance, to making mistakes to burning the dinner. If it's not an eternal consequence, it shouldn't matter.

So goes my battles.

Any mother knows that battles need to be picked. With great care.

I don't know how it started, but I remember making a VERY conscious decision when William was young. I realized that if I picked every battle with my young toddler, all he would ever hear was the word, "NO." And so it has gone with each of our children. Wanting to limit the "limits" in our house, I had to decide. My battles were going to be the battles of eternal consequences.

Here are some things my kids get away with everyday becasue I have chosen not to pick these battles. For better or for worse.

1. Not wear shoes. I am tired of being a broken record. If they don't want to wear shoes...so be

it. All week they have been running through the swimming pool parking lot shoeless. Whatever!

2. Water fights and mud pies. I decided many years ago that mud and dirty footprints in the house are not an eternal consequence. Last week James came home to find the kids and I in a water fight with the hose. He shared his opinion that it was going to be a mess. I sweetly reminded him that this fight would not effect him in the least. Afterall, who cleans the house and does the dirty laundry everyday? Check and Mate.

3. Coke. How can I drink it and not let my addicted 4 year old. Fine. Take it. He can still get a temple reccomend someday.

4. Wearing jammies during the day. They will have to wear suits the rest of thier grown-up lives anyway. As long as they put on clothes to go out in public...fine! Jammies at 3:00? Great.

5. Begging for a drink right before bed. I always give in. What if they really are thirsty? I know I will be washing the soiled jammies and sheets in the morning but what the heck. I do dirty laundry every second of my life anyway. Why not make one more load?

6. My baby is starting to get attitude. Surprise, surprise. She reapetedly took out feminine products all day yesterday from the bathroom counter. I took them away several times and finally gave in. "Fine," I told her. "Just take them!" They are all over the house. I just step over them. I hope no one stops by.

7. Jumping on the couch. In our old apartment, they had little room to run around. The couch added an extra 10 feet of wild, wiggle room. Fine with me. James, not so much. Now in our new house, I made sure they had a couch just for them to jump on in the family room. James and I are both happy.

8. Concocting experiments with products from the fridge. Not to say that I am overwhelmed with joy to walk into a kitchen to find a gigantic mess, but it's not a battle I am willing to fight. They are using their creativity.

9. Ice cream snack before bed. What the heck. We suggest something healthy, but ice cream is fine, too. Just get to bed.

10. See picture: Staying up in the story chair reading stories to each other after reapeatedly being told to "get in bed and STAY IN BED!" I'm not going to fight this one. In fact, can this moment never end?