I am not going to say that I am going to post more often, because that would put too much pressure on me :) .  What I will say is that I have set a goal to use my time on the computer more productively, and I set another "complementary" goal of journaling more.  So between those two goals we will see what happens.  I need more records of what goes on in this family of ours.  The hours are flying by and weeks turn into years too quickly!

Burying out from under the rubble

Even though my house looks like a landfill, it is so good to be home! We flew in from Providence yesterday morning. We flew US Airways for the first time and they were on time for every leg of our trip, which these days is almost unheard of. Their flight attendants were so kind, bringing my kids extra snacks, blankets, etc...it was just a great trip all around. We got home at 11, ate lunch and decided to try to make a 1:30 sacrament meeting. Which meant a lot of digging through suitcases to find Sunday clothes. Unfortunately those suitcases were still in the hallway! So now it is an obstacle course until I get it all cleaned up today. My trip was a little nutty but still good. We drove to Palmyra with my parents, and my sister and her two kids. Mike's parents flew in to be with us for the pageant as well and it was great to see them. At one point Hunter, my three year old, looked at me and said 'Oh, I get it, I have TWO grandmas and TWO grandpas." Finally seeing them together I guess put it all together for him. During the scene where Christ descends Hunter also randomly yelled " I didn't know Jesus could come here!" It was very cute. After the pageant we got a hotel in New York and the next day we took the kids up to Niagara Falls. I walked the older kids over to Canada and Mike took the younger ones on a boat ride to see the falls up close. I figured while we were close (it took about an hour and a half from Palmyra) we might as well let the kids see this amazing feat of nature! We got back to RI on Thursday and even after driving all night, my mom threw quite an event with her "Camp Grandma". With all the grandkids decked out in matching shirts (embroidered by my friend Melanie), she leads them like a seasoned camp director through activities like crafts, water games, sock wars, grave rubbings at the cemetery, a trip to the candy store and making homemade soft pretzels in the shape of their initials. It's enough to make a mom feel guilty. I told Emily (age 9) that someday I was going to do camp grandma for her kids someday and she said "Well, are you going to be nicer than you are now? Because you make me go to bed and Grandma asks me if I want ice cream at 10 o'clock at night!" So apparently I have some work to do at becoming NICER before I become a grandmother. The good news is that I invited a family over for a barbecue tonight, so I have no choice but to get everything unpacked, clean the house and get the grocery shopping done so we have food to eat when they get here! Sometimes having a deadline is a good thing. Heather

Funny

Funny

Apparently I'm chatty today. Mike has been gone this week so I have to share my funny story with you. I was helping the kids pack tonight, and putting snacks in their backpacks. We made banana bread to use them up before we leave tomorrow, and I made some mini muffins for them. Kyle asked if I could make some blueberry muffins too. I said "Sure, I'll make some mini ones tonight" He said, " I would rather have the bigger ones" I told him no, that they would be too messy on the plane and we would get crumbs everywhere. He looked at me funny and said "Mom, have you forgotten that all six of us THREW UP on a plane?- I'm sure they are not going to care about a few crumbs!" For some reason, this has had me giggling for the past ten minutes. Maybe it is a nervous giggle- surely, lightning (food poisoning) can not strike twice right? Anyways, off to make full size blueberry muffins! I can't argue with that boys logic! Heather

Haircuts

In my opinion, there is something empowering about a haircut. I can't quite put my finger on why I feel so different when I make a drastic change in something as simple as the length of my hair; however, it clearly makes a difference in how I feel about myself.

Today I had about 4 inches cut off my hair. Four inches! In any other medium, four inches does not seem like a lot. But in hair terms, it makes a big difference. I feel lighter, like the four inches of hair weighed 15 pounds. I feel free-er, like the hair was somehow chaining me down. I feel stronger- quite the opposite of poor Samson. It is like I have somehow tamed the wild beast living atop my head. It is now submissive, and controlled. If only I could get the rest of my body to start conforming as easily to my demands. :)

Heather

Well, it's been a while.....

Here I am, making my second post seven months later, wondering where all the time has gone! If only I'd kept a blog, I would know huh?

This weekend has been a great one. We spent Friday July 4th at parades, community events, in the pool and at a fireworks show. Saturday I went out to lunch with a few friends to celebrate a birthday, and then had a family in our ward over for a barbecue and swimming. Today was a wonderful day. We spent the day going to church, fasting as a family for my nephew who will be leaving on a mission to New York City in the fall, and watching old family videos. It was very relaxing.

Tomorrow the work begins again, with quite a bit of housework to catch up on from the weekend, babysitting 3 kids in the afternoon for a friend who just had a baby, and starting to get ready for our trip on Saturday to Rhode Island and New York. The kids are having a TV free week, which I am excited about. I plan on combing a few old family fun magazines early tomorrow morning before they get up so I have a few ideas on hand when they come to me with "Mom, I'm bored!" which I know is inevitable. It usually takes them about two days without TV to forget about it, and stop falling back on it as something to do instead of thinking something BETTER to do. We are talking a lot about good, better, best and I'm hoping this week we will focus a lot more on the better and best summer has to offer!

Heather