Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own.....

Time you enjoyed wasting,

was not wasted.

--John Lennon

Hostage Situation......

I am currently involved in a hostage situation. I have been sent the ransom note. The demands have been made. But I don't do well with hostage type demands. So I don't think I'll be playing their game. There will be no pay-off. Here is what is being held hostage:

These are Peter and Sam's senior pictures. There are several other poses as well, and in all of them my boys are handsome, adorable, cute and charming. I would love to have them all!!

The hostage demands are as follows:

The 'If-you-really-love-your-child-and-want-enough-pictures-to-share-with-everyone-they've-ever-met-including-the-mailman' package is $575.00.

The Senior Special: 'yes-your-kid-is-cute-but-we'll-only-give-you-enough-decent-sized-pics-for-close-family-members-and-enough-wallet-pics-to-choke-a-horse' is only $395. It includes 80 wallet sized pics and a 'wallet box' to keep the 70 or so that will never be given out.

The 'you-must-not-like-your-child-very-much-we-have-people-spend-more-money-than-this-on-pictures-of-their-dogs' is a mere $150. This includes 2-5x7's, 4-4x5's and 24 wallets, all of one pose.

If you choose not to buy a package, you can always choose to buy the pictures 'ala carte' where you pay $38 for 8 wallets or $54 for an 8x10.

There are several other packages to choose from, but the cheapest one is $150. Do you know how many groceries I can buy for $150???!!

So......I will not be buying senior pictures. Sorry, boys, but I love you SO MUCH that I'd rather feed you than bend to the mafia-like demands of Lifetouch Photography. (And who did THEY pay off for this monopoly they have on school pictures?? We really need another player in this game!)

And for those who were hoping to get senior pictures of my boys.....take a good look at the pics I've posted, because that's as close as you're gonna get!

Sorry, Mr. Postman, I hope you'll still bring me my mail!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom....My Own!!

"The first day of school......

where children breathe a sigh of regret

and parents breathe a sigh of relief."
--Liz Armbruster

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own....

Grown-ups never

understand anything

by themselves,

and it is exhausting

for children

to have to

provide explanations

over and over again.

--The Little Prince

Call Your Mother!!!

Stop whatever you're doing right now and call your mother!

Early morning. Blog surfing.

I was catching up on some blogs that I'd missed while on vacation. In one of them, this young mom was talking about friendship. Specifically, women and the bond of friendship. It was when she said that she chatted with her mom about the topic that I unexpectedly lost it.

My mother died when I was 19. That means she's been gone more than 30 years. You'd think that I'd be over it by now, but no, when I read that line about my friend chatting with her mom about something I started bawling. Sitting at the computer, early Sunday morning, crying my eyes out because of all the missed 'mom' conversations.

I hate that I don't have a mom to talk to about things.

I hate that I can't call my mother when something important.......exciting.........tragic.........scary........mundane
happens in my life.

I hate it when other people take their mothers for granted. Mothers should NEVER be taken for granted. They are a privilege, a blessing, a gift. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, but your mother WILL NOT always be there.

Your mom may not be perfect (guess what....you're not either!) But she is your mom. And she did the best she could. So, take a minute. Call your mom. Tell her your sorry for any heartache you've caused over the years. For all the gray hairs you put on her head. And tell her you love her. She deserves that much.

Vacation!!

Since everyone is so interested in what we did and where we went on vacation, I thought I'd share some pictures..... (click to enlarge them!)

Day 1 was travel...........

Day two was BUSY!!

Zion's Overlook:

Navajo Lake:

Cedar Breaks:

Brian Head Peak:

Parawan Gap Petroglyphs:

And then...............

We went to the Harry Potter movie.

More to come!! (I'll bet you can't wait!)

When Boys Get Bored......

Peter was feeling restless yesterday.

Jacob was gone.

Sam was working on some school stuff (he starts school on Monday).

His friends were all either busy or out of town.

How did he solve this dilemma?

Let's just say I can't wait for school to start!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own.....

"The chief cause of failure and unhappiness

is trading what we want most

for what we want at the moment."

--Zig Ziglar

A Captive Audience........

Even though we flew out to Utah for our trip, we spent innumerable hours in a car together. On our first day, after a 2 hour flight to Houston and a 3 hour flight to Salt Lake, we rented a car, stuffed in 14 bags and 7 people and drove 4 hours to Cedar City. Beyond that, we had to drive almost everywhere we went. Up Cedar Canyon, down to Zion's National Park, over to Parawon Gap. We put 1400 miles on the rental car in a week's time.

All that time in the car makes for some interesting conversations. Here are some of the topics that were batted around as we racked up the miles:

Freckles. Mesa vs. Plateau. Hairy legs. Spiderman vs. Batman. Tumbleweeds. Mountains. President Obama. Smelly feet. Harry Potter. Dust devils. Climbing ability. Cloud shapes (elephants, sharks, etc.) Wild horses. Music. Personal taste in music (or the lack thereof.) Cemetaries. Motorcycles. Smelly feet. Miley Cyrus. Crypt burial vs. in-ground burial. Rock slides. Ironman. And my personal favorite: What is succotash? And why is it 'sufferin'?

There were also the inevitable 'sing-alongs'. Joe and I were serenaded by everything from the 'Full House' theme song, to Whitney Houston, Enrique Iglesias, Michael Jackson (and the Jackson 5), Goo Goo Dolls, Train, James Taylor, Beach Boys, and Toni Braxton. I have video, but am under oath not to post it. (You can thank me later.)

All things considered, I think I came out of this experience fairly sane. Truth be told, we had a blast. I think the kids will remember this trip for a long time.

Now if only I could get that song out of my head.

Eagle Scout Court of Honor.....

I know that I've already posted about Sam and Peter becoming Eagle Scouts, but they just had their Eagle Court of Honor on July 18th (right before our vacation) so I thought I'd better write about that, too.

It was an awesome program. Our new scoutmaster, Russ Jones, conducted. The 11 year old Scouts did the flag ceremony. Reuben Aiton and Bishop Terry both spoke. We had an Eagle's nest that had about a dozen men/young men in it. Scott Smith gave the Eagle Charge, and Tapie Rohm shared a story. It was a night full of memories for Sam and Peter. Memories of campouts past, adventures shared, and friendships formed. I am so proud of my boys and know that this accomplishment will stay with them throughout their lives.

Congratulations, boys!! I love you!