Balancing Bliss

see y'all next week........

 i am headin to texas.........yes.....texas.

why would a hippie (almost made a typo and called myself a hippo hehehheee)

lets start that over.....why would a hippie like me be going to bush country?? we have a family reunion from the sade family side waaaaayyyyy back when.  you know you never know when the last opportunity to see the old people will be so i accepted the invitation.

i am also taking this lil cowboy because when else am i going to texas! it's probably as magical as disneyland is for other kids.   i am just guessing from previous trips that there will be lots like ALOT of pictures when i come back. now i just need to go pack and stop getting all weepy over leaving my other kiddos. i just get worried when i don't have all my little ducks in a row.

 k y'all.....................peace out.............just had to throw a little oregonian out there! pray for me that i don't come home wearing wranglers and askin ya over for sweeeeeeeeeet tea

blessed.....

 there is this blog that i read frequently because i just love the author. i love that she is funny in a cynical way, an artist, a mother, a spouse and honestly my weekly if not daily entertainment. so when i found another blog on her list of blogs that she reads i was stoked to check it out.

 at first she too seemed to be an artist who was humorous in the same way sharing stories of everyday life. there was a link to a radio show she did about blogging and minutes into it she openly talked about how she was raised "mormon" and how she cut ties with the church. she further went on to bash the religion and her family upbringing.she then added that they were sending missionaries to her door at that very moment which i did find humorous.

 it just struck something in me. one can compare extremes of any church and of anything for that matter. it's not what it is but how you choose to live it. i was saddened by the image she portrayed. those were her opinions, which she is entitled to, her upbringing and her issues. she was raised in the bible belt of america in a strict religious home. that is an extreme and not the truth of the Gospel.

 there are so many radiant uplifting things & experiences that are rarely mentioned about our religion and any other religion that is questioned because they aren't up to the times of this world and seem to be "uncool". i find myself to be a pretty liberal "mormon". i prefer to use the term christian or latter day saint. after reading this i am ashamed for ever portraying the Gospel in that light. the church or any other church is not perfect but one must remember that it is in mans hands but the Gospel itself is perfect.

 let me set something straight for those who have not been told and do not understand the "word of wisdom" that our church practices. it was given to us to help keep balance in our life, in the world we live in that seems to throw many temptations to us. much is said about the no drugs, alcohol, or strong drinks. BUT it also states positive things about our diet such as to eat what comes from the earth, grains, vegetables, and to eat meat sparingly. i don't know what is so wrong with that. don't you think that is quite a problem for many people in todays society? i think it could have helped many of spirits upon this earth if they would have had this guidance. so do i think i am going to hell for drinking a cup of coffee? uummmm NO! nor does Christ, he loves me and knows me.those are others judgments that might just be the extremists. he knows my love for him and an occasional dutch brothers iced blended almond joy cup of love is not going to change that.

 there is balance in everything. been there got the t-shirt or in my case the tattoo. but as long as i can turn to Christ to comfort and guide me, my relationship with him will grow as will my testimony of him.

 i tend to find humor in church cultures and misconceptions but i KNOW that He walked this beautiful earth that he created with His Father and may i always Glorify Him.

 hope this wasn't too "churchy" for anyone but i really felt that icky feeling after reading her blog and thought wow i hope i never pass that along to anyone.

just call me grace....

 brian came home as did my friend meg's husband who is an army sgt. and home about as much as my significant other. so we made the best of it. we partied hard in stay at home mom fashion. we headed to target in a mini van with loud tunes. we got goofy walkin around looking at stuff and pointing out things we thought the other should wear. you know like the hideous  80's fashions that are back. ugh. that is one of the things i will miss the most when i move. anyhoo........we closed the place down and  took our  mini van driving butts home. we have to  laugh because i met meg about 10yrs ago (a year  or so prior to becoming a mother)  in our wilder days. the days  when we grabbed only our keys and smokes (yes i know eeewwww  it was a 2yr trend) not like today when we load 5 kids into a full mini van with extra clothes, p&j sandwiches, and sunscreen. it's not that we want to go back there but it is fun to laugh about the "good ol' days".
 she drops me off at home but we continue to play some violent femmes song when brian turns off the light and heads upstairs for bed. this sends us into delirious laughter like our father has beckoned us to quit making out and come in. i get out, run by her headlights, wave good bye, and PROCEED to the door. however i did not make it there because my right ankle turned in on the first step, my left leg took the fall hitting it on the shin, then the knee (by the way i am wearing a summer dress), then my elbow, forearm, my entire hand, finishing off with my head hitting my jasmine pot. FABULOUS. brian is in bed. meg is driving away. i am sprawled out on the porch in the dark not quite sure to laugh or cry. luckily meg pulled back up and jumped out. she said "i saw you walking up the stairs and then you were like gone" ehehehe. we laughed, i cried because i was laughing so hard and we laughed some more. she said "you better get in there because brian is going to think i got you drunk!" then we laughed about that. it was a good night.

 today i am just nursing some feverish kids back to health with water bottles and crackers. i'm sorry luci informed me she does not have a fever, she must be right, she is just whiny, cold, tired and very hot. :)

busy lovin summer....

 i have created an album just for this years summer because i can't update all of the things we are doing. we have been to:

 water fountains                                                          

we have refused to be cute for the camera before church

we have went on walks through the park and thrown rocks into water

helped dad with his bbq he got for fathers day hence the grease on forehead

more parks, rivers, frog ponds,berries, popsicles, nature and sunshine

and a funny story behind this one...

okay i haul all 3 kids out over 15 rows of berry rows with buckets in hand, we weren't even picking 5 minutes when luci was holding her crotch. "luci! damnt i told you there would be no bathrooms!"  so over 15 rows of berries we  go again  over to a field of tall grass. funny thing....boys just kinda do there thing...girls have to be taught how to pee out in the wild and i guess i am not that great of teacher! so she now has pee on the back of her jeans where she did not hinge from the hips and she refuses to put on "boys" shorts. i say "fine wear pee but i am not putting you on my hip to jump 15 more rows of berries" life goes on, we pick buckets of berries and venture out to the river. i kept catching her diggin at her butt and pullin at her undies. she would say..."i'm scratchy" um ya you peed on your pants and refused to change them!  soooo....here it goes.........worst mother award goes toooooooooo...................kate sade.
 we got home and i put her in the bath only to find that she had grass seeds (husks and all) in her undies all day. poor girl. she has SCRATCHES to prove it. whoopsies.

i have missed my bits of *goodness*

a welcomed breeze flowing through open windows, kids camped out on the floor having sleep overs, pointing out plants and butterflies, homemade popsicles, bbq's, watering plants in the evening, dreams of having a backyard (not backed up to 40mph traffic) with patio furniture for morning coffee, aloe vera, pig tails, bare feet in cold rivers, fish hatcheries, swing sets, smores, earth worms, the fact that my kids were entirely impressed by the heritage mall which if anyone from here knows.....it is not a mall but more like an indoor plaza, cameras, late nights, early mornings, the list could go on and on because LIFE IS JUST GOOD RIGHT NOW

these.....

 don't you love child labor?? jk. they ate as many as they picked.

what goes best with....

 well ya know it's followed with coffee but check back later today and i will have solved this breakfast mystery.

where...

 have all my friends gone??? i have not heard from anyone lately, comments, emails or otherwise.

 what's up with that man??!

a trip down memory lane....

this was a picture of my grandmother as a young woman. you can't see the details because i have yet to learn how to scan (by the way i did learn how to rotate pics, why didn't someone tell me it was sooo easy?) anyhoo...so this is a pic of a pic. the real ones will be coming soon.

 i am in awe of my visual of the love and wisdom that i see in the world at this moment. my grandmother and i went through old black and whites last night. i was a witness of lives, trials, families, styles, and times. it makes you stop and absorb the stage of life you are living currently. it was such a blessing and i look forward to more trips down memory lane with gram.

here is a pic of my grandparents on their wedding day. look at the class. smoking was thought of  distinguished not trashy like today. he was so very handsome. look at his white and brown leather shoes. my grandma told me that her suit was green and her blouse was pink. just take that in. i am so happy that i have taken the time to hear the details so they will live on.

i would like to think that i live my life pretty passionately but taking record of peoples lives is an euphoric opportunity that i cherish. it fills my soul like nothing else.

there will be more to come as i start another family tree (i have already researched my dad into the late 1500's)  but today is thursday...........ART DAY. i woke up to every art suppy we have already out and waiting. do you think they are excited? here was the first masterpiece of the morning and i wish i would have got a pic after he added the flowers made out of pom poms.

just a freakin regular cinderella.....

 okay here is my confession. i recently started feeding the bird and it has gotten a little out of hand. i go out everyday with bird food or various left over bread and such. note to self; no more movie popcorn...causes little birdie heart attacks. seriously found one dead the next day. whoopsies. okay....moving on....well while feeding my birds whose #'s have grown by the dozens i may have attracted another little friend.

and yes i do feed it in a tonka truck now. it sits on the back step and eats on it's private little stash. what is so funny about this is that on the other side of the sliding glass door is my three cats watching it. it used to be intimidated but it has gotten wise to them and couldn't care less. i think it needs a name but then my husband will think i have gone too far. it is such entertainment for the kids and the cats.....okay and maybe me too. so i officially have birds and mice as friends just like cinderella but i do NOT have them in my house nor do i make them wear cute little outfits.

back to the cats and then another animal will not be mentioned...remember the naughty one who was eating my plants? well i bought it some wheat grass and grew it on the porch. i gave her a taste today and this is what happened...                                                

it got all three of them going. look on the back step and you can see how close the little mousy friend of theirs is. hehehehe

summer is in full swing here. eli blu has swim lessons every morning of the week for 2wks. i just can't get a good pic in that building.the lighting is just weird and then you have the kindergarten graduate who can't hold still. now put him in a pool. wow. he never stops moving for 30min. literally. while it's someone elses turn he just hops from one foot to the other. funny kid. he is lovin it though.

so if anyone has any tips on shooting in this light and movement..........do tell.

today was the first "tuesday outing". we have put a little schedule to our summer to prevent us from falling victim to t.v and gameboys.
mondays-housework, bedrooms, and then play

tuesday- an outing to a park, beach, bowling, etc.

wednesday- pj day and play and laze all you want to while mommy blogs, drinks coffee, and scraps

thursday- creativity day NO ELECTRONICS of any kind. art with hands be it paint or music

friday- i don't really care because you have to have a day without anything planned right? maybe spontaneous friday??

anyhooo today was our first attempt for outing tuesday and it was apparent that plan b was going to be called into action. our plans were to go to corvallis after swim lessons with a picnic to the water fountains. i was stoked with camera ready. ummm ya. the sun didn't even peek until after 2pm and it was still 65 at 4pm. so i had to come up with a plan b. it worked out well actually. no complaints. i loaded up 3kids and 3bikes into the van (never EVER thought i would hear myself saying that one!) and took them to a local park with paths and bridges. frisbee golf. we took the mitts and ball. we played and played. i forgot to take one picture. i know weird. so it seems to be a success. now here is to pj day being the same for us tomorrow.

before i go..............CELTICS ARE THE NBA CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!! YA BABY.
nice to see lakers go out. they have taken the blazers out soo many times i can't imagine watching them win it. and celtics won BIG. like 40pts. when it was apparent that there was no chance of winning...the guys on both teams just started playing ball to have fun. slammin backwards and being silly. it may have been mocking them hmmmm. i got all teary seeing the whole thing through. it was my first NBA playoff and i will be doing it again next year. it brought my family together to look forward to it each week. even little luci would say "lets go celtics lets go" and poor eli blu would say...."mom i think your blazer game is on" months after they were out. they didn't even make it to the playoffs but he just didn't seem to get it. one morning when i woke up he brought me an encyclopedia bookmarked and circled on the basketball page. sweet boy. and gavie has watched almost every game with me. he is into it too. nice to have another bond with him, i don't want to have that 13 yr old boy who doesn't talk to you because you have nothing in common. looking forward to next years games.........does anyone know when that starts?? hehehe told you it was my first year. damn rookie.

i noticed on my past few entries that i failed to add my bits of *goodness* so here they are;

little kids jumping over sprinklers, lavender candles burning, my camera, luci and i painting our toenails, library books by the stack, my ritual of watering my plants each morning and evening, knowing you married a wonderful man to be the father of your babies, breeze through open windows, shorts and scraped knees, smell of a chlorine and the sound of pitter pattering wet feet on cement, a book you can't wait to get back to each evening, light meals, sharing music legends (bob marley) with the next generation, picking berries, painting on a canvas, and... fresh berry smoothies with your kids on a summer evening.

special moments

 this weekend was full of memorable moments.

saturday would have been my granddad sades 99th birthday. he passed away 8wks before his 95th. such an awsome guy, he got married in his 70's, worked an orchard until he was 80 and drove into his 90's. when they told him he had a brain tumor but they could fix it he replied " why?? i'm 94 years old...what do i have left to do but stare at the t.v". he lived a full life, he was always happy. my dad, brian,the kids and myself all went out to the cemetery and released balloons as each kiddo yelled out "happy birthday".

 

when i look back at my life, this will be one that i cherish the most.

why?? because when i was 4 years old just as my baby girl is now....i wore that same sweater. there aren't many pictures of me left except for the ones that my grandma had kept in albums. i LOVED that sweater. i wore it ALOT. so today...i took this moment in, and then i took like 50 pics of her! so freakin cute with her little smocked dress just short enough she had to wear bloomers, bobby socks, paten leather shoes, and a ribbon in her hair. can't get much more girly than that.                                                      

or maybe you can!

 we went over to my grandpa johnsons house to celebrate fathers day with him. he is a month shy of 80. you have to make the most of these days since you don't know how many more there will be.        

 i couldn't leave this post without saying what an amazing father brian is. i have the best pic of he and gav on their first fathers day together. as brian was driving up to the house, gav ran down the walk way, ate cement and got a black eye. brian then held him up to the sky. it is so precious. it was also years before digital so until i learn how to scan......it will be tucked away in a box but always in my heart.

 brian has always helped out with the kids without complaints, he feeds them, changed them, goes on school field trips, gets them dressed and takes them to church even when i don't go, takes the boys on special camp outs, plays endless hours of legos, puts alice in wonderland on his ipod for his baby girl on long drives, hold them upside down in the air so they can run on the ceiling, glues everything they break, cleans up vomit out of the carpets,tickles, wrestles, draws and colors with them, fixes computer games, then the computer after they mess it up, and has worked his butt off since he became a father, going to school and working nights for 5yrs. he does everything and anything that we would ask. we are blessed and i hope we never take that for granted. i love you brian. (just in case you read my blog...hehehehe)

hope each one of you had a special day too, if not it will be here again next year.