One Man's Rocks are Another Man's Treasure

How many rocks does a seven year old boy need for his rock collection?

Last week was a very busy week. It was filled with cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning in preparation for my in-laws to come and stay at my house. They were not just going to come for a quick visit in the living room but they were going to stay in our house while Mike and I went to DC for Jenny (my sister) and David's sealing. Emily has always thought I am weird because every six months (each April and October or General Conference time) I scrub my walls and trim and repaint everything. So the time had come for the biannual cleaning of the walls and trim. I could not have Dave and Dea into my home looking like it did, so I spent all of last week scrubbing my house from top to bottom (literally). Among my awesome cleaning adventures was decluttering Ben's bookcase. He had at least six rocks, ten paper clips, five pennies, and on and on and on.

Well, all my tireless scrubbing was for not since Dave and Dea were not able to catch a flight with Jet Blue using their new family standby passes. I must say that so far I am not too impressed with Jet Blue. Free flying should be much more convenient. I hope they will be able to make it for Ben's baptism in November.

Mike and I did have a nice get away with the help of a dear friend who filled in at the last minute. Thank you so much Lisa - we owe you one!

While Emma was staying with Lisa she gave her an earful. During one of the their conversations, Lisa told her that she and Emma had a lot in common. They were both the youngest in their families and they both had an older brother and sister. They both went on for a while about the similarities and then Emma said, "Are you spoiled? I am spoiled! I bet you are spoiled too. My mommy says I am spoiled." Out of the mouths of babes!

We had a great time this weekend. Congratulations David and Jenny! I am so grateful I live close to a beautiful temple!

I Am Grateful For.....What Did You Mean By That?

Why is it sometimes that the best intentions seem to be construed as offensive?

Abby came up with the idea last night to say five things we are grateful for every morning at breakfast. I thought it was a great idea since some mornings the children are not too happy with each other!

This morning Abby started the tradition. She listed four things and the last one she said, "...and I am most grateful for my family." Ben heard, "I am mostly grateful for some of my family." "Well, who are you NOT grateful for? Is it me? Are you not grateful for ME?" I had to quickly explain what she said before I had WW III on my hands.

Little Emma decided she was next and I could not help but smile when she said restaurants and stores were two of her items she was grateful for. I had created a monster last year. She would come home from 1/2 day kindergarten at 11am and we would go out to run errands and while we were out we would have lunch. It got to the point where she was telling me which of my friends I should call to see if they wanted to have lunch with us.

Afterwards I thought about how some adults are quick to find offense when none was intended. I was one of those last week when Mike tried to offer me some parenting advice. I instantly got offended that how could he offer me advice when I spend way more hours parenting than he does. I know he meant it to try to help and I took it the wrong way. So the lesson for the day for me is to not take offense when none is intended.

Hatteras

Thanks to our friends the Ross family we got to do a last little bit of fun before school started this year. We got to go to their beach house in Hatteras, NC. We had a blast during Labor Day weekend.

Thank you so much Ross family!

My First Triathlon

I just wanted to pass on this link. Emily sent it to me and I laughed so hard.

It did remind me of my first triathlon. That is me somewhere in that mess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3S0wu4Zbfk

Emma Asleep - why we should check our children before we go to sleep

I am learning how to put pictures on my blog. Here is Emma asleep where you can comment.

Over Three Hours For Less Than 200 Cubic Feet

Should I be concerned when it takes a grown man over three hours to clean an area less than 200 cubic feet?

Since April (read here "since a lot longer") I have been telling the children when you guys go to school in the fall I am going to get this car detailed. Since I have never had "the privilege" of getting my car detailed before, I called around to a few places. I got some estimates and asked them how long it would take. They all told me it would take about 3-4 hours. I thought there is no way I am going to sit somewhere (who knows what kind of bathrooms these places have) and wait for my car. Drum roll please....I found a mobile guy that would come to me.

He showed up at my house at 1:00pm and did not leave until 4:30. Should I have prefaced this with, I have three children and we live in the car on weeknights and weekends (sports and ballet)? As you can guess my car was GROSS. He even used a power washer for my floor mats! I should have taken before and after pictures.

I have now come to the conclusion that I will make this an annual tradition. After they have trashed my car during the summer and they go back to school in the fall I will get my car cleaned.

Yeah for annual traditions!

Everybody Else Is Doing It!

Well, like the title says I am feeling a little left out, so I have joined the blogging phenomenon. I called my good friend Emily who has been blogging for years to help me with my title. The first thing she said was that it has to have something with type A in it. I don't know what she was trying to imply.

Here is a definition of "Type A" I found: Type A personality, also known as the Type A Behavior Pattern, is a set of characteristics that includes being impatient, excessively time-conscious, insecure about one's status, highly competitive, hostile and aggressive, and incapable of relaxation. Type A individuals are often highly achieving workaholics who multi-task, drive themselves with deadlines, and are unhappy about the smallest of delays. Although they may exhibit some or all of these characteristics, it does not mean that people with the type A personality are incapable of showing love, affection or other types non-pessimistic behavior. Many are also capable of "couching" some of these behavior attributes with proper treatment and medication.

O.K. O.K. this definition fits me perfectly, but I am now wondering if "proper treatment" could be construed as shopping and "medication" as Diet Coke.