To our Jewish friends....

I make no excuses about my love of Adam Sandler movies. This is not one of his movies, but one of my favorite holiday songs. I hope you appreciate it as much as I do.

So much...

There has been so much going on lately. We had Rob's strings concert (2 hours of pre middle school and middle schoolers playing really squeaky instruments, secret santa, ward christmas parties, Rob's christmas program, PTO and finally school christmas parties. I have this inherited disease called "can't say no syndrome" which makes me a very busy little elf this time of year. Throw in the fact that I try and get all my shopping done before the kids get out of school for the holiday (have you ever tried to christmas shop for them when they are with you?...doesn't work after about age 3.) and Bah Humbug becomes my favorite word.
Today was the greatest day so far of the holiday season, everything is done. Well...I still need to wrap but after wrapping for my parents for I don't know how many years, I am a master. The only things I have left to do is treats for FHE (which after the week from down under, should be a breeze) and caroling with the family on Monday night. Aaah. There is peace on earth. At least at our house.

Mary Did You Know

This video says everything beautiful about this season.


Have a Merry Christmas!!

He's almost 12!!!!

Tonight was Priesthood Preview for the 11 year olds. I know I started having my kids later in life and many of my friends have already been through this, but for me it was so strange. I don't feel like I am old enough to have a child who has graduated from Primary. Granted, Robbie is a late October birthday, so really we have a long time until it officially happens. The way this year has flown by it will be here before we know it. He is really excited and loved the attention that he got from the bishop and the primary presidency at the preview. The bishop talked to them about being future missionaries and preparing every day. Hopefully, this will help with his chores!!!

Backin'Up

We recently had a major computer crash at our house and are trying to recover. Luckily, we have the greatest home teacher ever (Thanks Bill!!) so he saved us. Originally we were just trying to add some memory and fix a broken disk drive, but somewhere in that process the whole hard drive crashed. Needless to say, I was not prepared and had very little in the way of files backed up on disks (partially because of the broken drive). Bill swooped in and saved us as best he could, but he is trying really hard to find another working version of our old hard drive so he can save most of my pictures and documents.
I've learned the hard way that off-site storage and a removable hard drive is the best way to go. Guess what I get for Christmas!! The good to come from all this is that I am now operating Windows 7 (love it) and my computer is light speed compared to what I used to have. I will be very diligent about backup from now on!

Halloween

Halloween was great this year. By great I mean it wasn't raining and it was only slightly cold. The kids wanted to go as characters from NCIS, but after much cajoling and explaining that no one would know who they were, they decided they all wanted to be doctors and nurses. I get the brilliant idea that I can make scrubs for everyone cheaper than I can buy them...yeah right. After making myself completely nuts sewing like a maniac for 4 days, Preston decided he didn't want to be a Dr. but wore his top as a baseball uniform. I told Todd that if I ever decided to sew costumes again to go ahead and punch me. I was insane!! Thank heaven my mom helped by cutting out all the patterns. I didn't get Cassie done so Shawna came through in a pinch and delivered one adorable (and warm) horse costume.

We went Trick or Treating at Evergreen Point again with Jane and Manda and then met up with John and Shawna a little later. Todd stayed home with the bubba (Will) and gave out our candy. The kids were running up and down the streets. I think the east half of the Stake was over there. We got to see tons of people from the other wards and the kids got great full-size candy and pop as treats. All in all I think it was a great time had by all and it took us over 2 hours to get it all done.

First Day of School

Ok. I will now be playing catch-up on all my posts so you will probably see a lot that are long passed. Oh well, better late than never.

This is the first year that 3 kids are in school full-time. Robbie is in 5th grade with Mrs. Hubbard, Preston is in 2nd grade with Mrs. Godfrey and Riley is in 1st grade with Mrs. Winkler.

They were very excited to go back to school and mom was very excited also!! Cassie was very sad because the kids were going to "cool" and she didn't get to go. It was good that she doesn't know how to unbuckle her carseat, or she would have been out the car door when I dropped them off.

This is Riley's first year for school lunch and she promptly came home the first day and informed me that she was not eating school lunch anymore, only sack lunches. Only Riley. The boys would eat school lunch every single day without a complaint, but not the princess!! The kids are getting settled in now and are enjoying school life again, although I forgot how much busier life really is once school is in session again.

Wee little Willy

I know it's been a long time since I posted and I really don't have too much time so I will just post a few quick pictures of Will. He's almost 3 months old and getting very big. He's a very happy baby and a joy in our home.

The Top 10 Things Ally does right!!!!

You know how sometimes you just have a tendency to get down on yourself? My lovely wife explained to me yesterday that she "can't seem to do anything right!" I tried to explain to her everything in life that she does right, but you know how guys are!!! All I could think of were jokes to try and make her smile. I decided that while at work tonight, I would write her a nice letter and list all of the things that I think she does right, and all of the things that I love about her. Then I decided to try and do one better and list publicly the things I think she does right. I want the world to know just how much I love Ally. Here we go.....

10.....Egg Sandwiches!!!!

Yes I said it. Like that surprises anybody. "Wow, Todd likes food!!!!" I grew up loving Egg Sandwiches. What a nice breakfast to start your day with. Then a couple of years ago Ally decided to make me some for breakfast. What did I find out?? She makes them differently than I do....and much, much better!!! Maybe it's just that they are made with LOVE now, who knows, but I very rarely make my own anymore, I ask Ally to make them.

9......What a Looker!!!

One thing that Ally always does right is prepare herself for the day. Whether it be clothes or make-up, she always knows how to look good. She is constantly getting on me or the boys with "You're not going to wear that are you!!" but she always co-ordinates her clothes right and does her make up right and always looks great. We are in the 13th year of our marriage and every single day she is more beautiful to me.

8......Always looks to improve herself.

This is probably part of the reason why she is currently having this feeling. Always the perfectionist. I have always been impressed and inspired by my wifes work ethic. Whether it be at the jobs she has had, her church callings or just life in itself, she always wants to do her best. Every job she has had, she never fails to quickly move up the ranks. Every church calling she constantly strives to do her best and truly magnify her calling. I look up to her so much, she is truly an example to me.

7......Brown Chicken, Brown Cow!!!!!

Enough said!!

6......Takes a stand.

For any of you that have crossed ways with my wife, you know she will always stand her ground with her opinions, and she has no problem letting you know what those opinions are!! We can just use her last blog entry as an example. Her family always teases that "Ally knows it all", okay, I usually join in on the teasing, but the fact is, she does know quite a bit. She is definitely the smarter of the two of us and her opinions are always well grounded and more often than not.....correct. I love to watch her assert herself and stand for what she believes in.

5......Five beautiful children

If there is anything in this world that you can definitely say that Ally has done right, it's the five beautiful faces that I see each day. They all definitely look like Ally and her family. She does such a good job with raising and teaching them. I mean c'mon, it's not like I do a lot. Really, I don't. In 3 1/2 more hours, I will have worked 76 hrs in the last 5 days. Normal jobs do 40 hrs in that time and I've almost doubled it. If you add in sleep time, that means I'm not around much at home. She has made our kids very loving and caring, smart and resourceful. She is an awesome mother.

4......All I have to say is MUSIC

I guess this goes along with "Ally knows it all!!", but really, don't challenge her. Ally loves to play this game while listening to the radio. "Todd, who sings this song?", really, I never know!!! Nor do I really care, but still, she knows it all!!! I swear one of these days I'm going to sign her up for the "Singing Bee" or something like that. Almost any song we hear, she knows who sings it and she's usually pretty close to the year it came out. "Todd, who sings this?", "Todd, what movie is this song in?" Don't try her, she knows!!! and I love that about her.

3......Cooking

Yes, I went back to food. Are you really that surprised??? I tease Ally quite often about some of the things she cooks and how she always likes to experiment, but she really is a good cook. She has found some recipes that are so good. The things that she does well, she really does well. I still think I'm the better cook though!!

2......She's a great friend

All of you know this better than I do. She is loyal to the end and will truly do anything for a friend. She is the only one I know of that can sit and talk to her best friend for 3 hrs in church and then go home and talk for another 2 hrs on the phone, with the same person. It doesn't matter how close or how far away the friend is, Ally will always be there for them. She has a way of making you feel good and special. She is truly a great friend.

1......The Number One thing Ally has done right??? ME

13 years ago I was going nowhere fast. I had no direction in my life. Then Ally invited me to go to Germany with her to pick up Quinn. My life has never been the same. Standing on the Eiffel Tower and telling Ally that I thought that I loved her was the best thing I've ever done in my life. She inspires me to be better. She makes me want to improve myself, so that I can be as good a husband for her as she is a wife to me. I'm proud of who I am today and I owe all of that to her. I have a good job, I have a beautiful family and I owe all that I have to her. She is truly the love of my life and I will forever be grateful to her.


So, those are just a few of the many things that I know Ally has done right and continues to do right. I'm sure each of you have your own ideas of something that she has done right in your life. Please let her know. Sometimes you need the encouragement from your friends!!!!

Thank you.....

Censored....

OK. I have a tendency (especially when I have an infant and am getting very little sleep) to go off about things. I really have to censor myself often, but sometimes the little switch doesn't work. My last post was one of those times. My best hubby very gently explained that I am ranting in a very, very, very public forum and I probably should limit my use of names and such just to avoid any possibility that said names may read my blog (doubt it) and choose to take their dislike of my opinion out on my children. Enough said. I get it, and probably should have gotten it sooner but hey, I am sleep deprived. Rather than rewrite the whole post, I chose to just delete it. It's much better this way. I am not going to apologize for my opinion, but will be a little more careful about how I express it. I hate it when he is right!!

I am way to old for this!!

I have finally rejoined the land of the living and have found some time in my sleepless, busy schedule to post some pictures of the new little one. I've forgotten what a joy it is to have a precious little one in the house, but that also includes very little sleep. When your 2 yr old has been sleeping through the night since 3 mos. you get used to that...go figure. I have to say though I wouldn't trade him for the world. I think he's adorable and totally forget about the misery I went through to get him (It really wasn't misery, 5 hrs start to finish) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed Todd and his posts, I know...they make me laugh too. Here are some pictures, I will post more later.

Take #2......

Okay, call it the drugs wearing off, or just the given right a person has to change their mind...but let me re-introduce you to our new baby. William Frederick Devenish was born on Tuesday July 21st. After 30 hours we just weren't comfortable calling him Shea, he just isn't a Shea. So we went back to calling him Will which seems to fit just right. We changed the middle name to Frederick as it is a family name and an homage to my 2nd favorite country Denmark. The papers are all filled out now and turned in, so changing it again may be a little more difficult. Mother and child are still doing wonderful and will be coming home today. They will actually probably spend most of the day at Ally's parents house as I work all day, but we should be home all day on Friday and Saturday, so if anybody wants to stop by and meet the new member of the family, feel free. Entrance fee is a plate of cookies and "holding the baby" rights come with a fresh pizza!! Just kidding. But do feel free to stop by if you would like to. Thanks goes to Dr. Brown and the wonderful hospital staff that made this LAST visit to labor and delivery a fun experience for us. If it's not our last Dr. Brown, I do know where to find you!!! We should have some pictures posted possibly today but most likely tomorrow. Take care y'all!

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...WE HAVE A BABY!!!

Okay, give me a break...I can't be as clever as Ally with titles to blogs. But the truth is here to be known, we have a baby. William Shea Devenish (Will or Shea) came into the world yesterday just after noon. Baby measured in at 6 lbs 15 ounces and 18.5 inches long. We were all happy to see him. He has a little bruising around his nose and mouth, but other than that, all is good. He has a little hair, kind of looks like a cool marine buzz cut. The quote of the day has definitely got to go to Preston. Preston had the good fortune of checking the new baby out with our Pediatrician Dr. Woolf. After checking the baby over completely, Preston was proud to report that the baby's "weiner is as big as a worm!!". That's my boy!! So, here is the tally....

10......The number of days in a row that Riley asked if we were going to get the baby out today!!

9........The number of minutes I think it actually took us to push to get the baby out.

8........The number of different names Ally called me during those 9 minutes!!

7........The number of people now in our family!

6........lbs 15 ounces......that's right, nice and small makes an easier delivery.

5........The ungodly hour we were supposed to be at the hospital.

4........The number of veins that the nurses blew out before we finally got an IV in.

3........The number of toes on his left foot.......................................................just kidding.

2........The number of hours of sleep Ally got the night before.

1.........The number of times in the middle of pushing that Ally exclaimed "I NEED A COKE!!!"

That's my little caffeine addict!! Here's your medicine, you just go to sleep now.......

Anyway, thank you all for caring and sharing in our lives. We miss you and hope to talk to you all soon. We will post some pictures of the new one in the next couple of days or so.

Are We There Yet?

It's a little after midnight, I'm having contractions, I have to go to the potty for the 100th time since 9pm and I have insomnia, even though I am exhausted. Isn't late pregnancy fun? I feel like I am Riley on our last car trip asking every 5 minutes..."Are we there yet?". My mom says to be careful what you wish for!!!

The King of Pop

I just heard, and yes I am mourning. Michael Jackson died of a heart attack. I am incredibly sad because I think he makes great music. Eccentric and Weird yes, but musically brilliant. We are in Logan and my in-laws are making fun. My sister called me from SLC as soon as she heard and asked if she needed to drive up here really fast to be by my side. I liked his music and all but it's not like it's Bono!!! All I can say is, Long live the King of Pop on my Ipod. I'm sad there will be no more music from him.

Our life is so...

I know it's been forever since I have posted and there has been so much happening at our house. We're counting down the days until school gets out (2 days, 2 hrs) and getting ready to go on vacation. We're going to visit the Devenishs' in Logan for a week. We also get to see Manda, Rob, Michelle and Finn. Actually, Michelle and Finn are going to be in TX so we get to hang with Manda and Rob. We haven't really been on a vacation with this many people before so I'm trying to get used to the logistics of packing for everybody.
My energy level is noticeably reduced especially during the really hot days and so I feel like I am running at 1/4 speed. It really is making me nuts. The Dr. is concerned about the Diabetes and my history of early deliveries and so I am forced to have a non-stress test at the hospital and ultrasounds at the office once a week from now until I deliver. The one benefit to this is that I get at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted Ally time at the hospital each week.
Robbies' baseball season ended about a week ago, but since then both Preston and Riley have started theirs. Prestons' season is actually over at the end of June and Rileys' games start on Tuesday. Softball with 5 and 6 year old girls is amusing...to say the least. Let's just hope they can stay on the field long enough to complete an inning.
I will try and post some fun (and interesting) things in the coming weeks, including softball and more baseball pics. I hope everyone is having a fun and interesting summer!!

Happy Birthday To Me!!

OK, so I am a year older...and I really was alright with it. I wasn't going to bring it up but I need to brag about the great gift my husband got me. I was fortunate to be born in the same week as mothers day and usually I don't get much of a gift for that reason. This year, Todd was totally sneaky and bought me something I really wanted but figured I'd never get. I have the smaller, more economical model and figured that would have to do me until I had to buy me a new one.
Todd had to work on my birthday so I went to hang out with mom. He called and told me to get home right away, he had a suprise. I figured he gotten the rest of the afternoon off and I was really excited to see him (yeah right, I wanted him to take care of the kids so I could nap!!) but when I got home he wasn't there, but there was a giant box on the porch from UPS. I went inside and opened it up...what was there??? A Cricut Expression. This is like the Holy Grail of Cricut machines and I just about peed my pants. Even better...there were 4 cartridges in it, the markers (color and black) and various other tools. I know I sound like a geek, but I think I was screaming while I was talking to him on the phone.
I can't wait to get started with my vinyl cutting, but I haven't really have a chance to play with it. I promise Quinn, when I get some stuff done, I will take pictures and post. I think I have the best hubby ever!! Anyway, if you don't see a post from me in awhile it is because I am playing with my new toy!!

A little early for Mother's Day

OK. I love these guys and it doesn't hurt that they go to school at Gonzaga and live in Spokane. They are hilarious. My brother-in-law Orrin sent this to me last year and we kept it because it totally reminds me of my brothers and my sons. Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Baseball is here...

I love the pacific northwest and really wouldn't want to live anywhere else. There are some drawbacks though, one of which we have avoided until now. Springtime Sports. I know it sounds funny but spring in Spokavega can be a crapshoot. You never know what you're going to get and this year has been no exception to that rule. Robbie wanted to play baseball this year, and my brother John and his kids have been playing for years, so I asked them which league was the best. He said they were all great but he thought the Pony season was the best because it starts in April and ends in June. Most of the other leagues start in June and go through August, which means spending many summer nights at baseball games. That sounded great to me...especially since I will be giving birth sometime this summer, so we signed him up for Pony. I forgot. I didn't really forget, I just had a momentary lapse in judgement until the game that was 40 degrees and snowing/raining. Remember, this is Robs' first year playing organized baseball and he is on a team with other guys in the same boat. Translation? They need work. Mostly it's a lot of sitting around in really cold, icky weather watching the bad news bears (or muddogs, in their case.) He loves it and we know it's a great experience, but ya gotta love Spokane for spring sports. Off we schlep with parkas, gloves, hats and heavy blankets, sitting in our camp chairs with umbrellas by our sides just in case. The things we do for our kids. Prestons' age group starts in May and Riley doesn't start softball until June. At least by then we will be used to it. Right?

Happy 7th Birthday Preston!!!

REALLY LATE!!! April 14th was Preston's birthday. I am late posting but we actually celebrated for about 2 weeks to accommodate everyone and our crazy schedules. We are so thankful to have Preston in our family. We sat down as a family and wrote things that describe him and correspond to his name. Here are our answers:

P is for pizza because that's his favorite food

R is for rambunctous because he loves to wrestle

E is for energetic he has so much we can't keep up

S is for smile it will light up a room

T is for taller than a lot of his friends

O is for obedient...most of the time!!

N is for no one could ever take his place in our hearts

We think he is the greatest. His laugh is contagious and his smile is the brightest. We love you and are thankful for you. Hope you had a great day.

Riley's turn for Mobius Kids

My favorite place to take my kids. I can't brag enough about it...but this time it was all about Riley and her Kindergarten class and their first "real" field trip. We got to take the bus downtown and walk a short distance to Riverpark Square (the mall that houses Mobius). It was time for lunch so we went up to the gallery in the food court (yes, an art gallery just off the food court at the mall) and let the kids eat their food. This was almost as much fun Mobius, because most Kindergarteners still eat lunch at home. Here are the girls enjoying their lunches.

When we got to Mobius, the kids all lined up so they could give them a really quick briefing about the museum rules and being respectful. It was very hard for them to listen because they were so excited about what they were going to do. Riley is an old pro...we have a membership so it's not new, but there were lots of kids who had never been there and were chomping at the bit to get to the exhibits. I don't blame them, it's hours of entertainment and they were having a hard time deciding where to go first.

After close to two hours of non-stop playing( I couldn't get any pictures because I was running around trying to keep track of kids) we hopped back on the bus...which was another first for quite a few of the kids....and came back to the school. Riley said it was the best field trip she'd ever been on, of course it's only the first one!!!

It's Been So Long...

I know, I have been very lax in my blogging lately. I feel like there is nothing to talk about and then I go through my pictures and I realize that there really has been a lot, I'm just a slacker. So here is my attempt at a few things that happened recently. I'll try to keep it short. Keep reading!!!

It's a Boy!!

Todd Wins!! The bet was on and Todd is the big winner. Baby #5 is a boy. No we do not have a name and we probably won't until right before he is born. I voted for a girl, only because I have girl clothes. I haven't had a boy in 7 years, so there are no clothes at our house that work for baby boys. It's really kind of funny, but we are looking forward to doing some shopping!!! Everyone is really excited, even Riley, although she is convinced that she will be naming him.

Cassie cuteness

My family has continuously teased me that my kids are really good. I always said that they just put on a good show when they are not at home. Cassie and I went over to visit Grammy the other day and what happened? Cass plopped herself down and went to sleep on the floor next to Abby. There she slept, with at least 10 people and 2 dogs stepping over her. We did push her out of the way, but I was worried if I picked her up she would wake up. She slept this way for over an hour. OK, maybe she is really good.

Cass has also decided that she is old enough to play the "tendo" (Nintendo DS). Obviously she can't really play it, but she really enjoys telling her siblings to give her the Tendo and "tendo on". She is really funny. Here is her typical stance while playing. Notice she is even trying to use the stylus...

She loves to play with her brothers and sisters things...especially shoes and hats. She cracks us up that she loves to put these things on and parade around the house showing us what a big girl she is. Most of the time she encourages her brothers to play along.

Grammy got a new dog

Grammy Nowels got a new dog, her name is Ava and she is a Visla (pronounced Veeshla). She is quite skittish, but she is really pretty and she loves the kids. She is also a couch potato. If you are sitting on the couch in "her spot" she will come and sit right on your lap...until you move.

Hoagie Night

Monday nights at our house are Hoagie Night...We buy all the fixins' for Sandwiches and the kids get to build their own on these great french bread buns. These are the pictures of what our kids built we had our first Hoagie night. Rob's was so big he couldn't even get it into his mouth, but we were impressed so we took a picture, and then everyone else wanted in on the action.

I haven't posted in so long...

but I really don't have anything exciting to report. Life is busy around here and sometimes I worry how I am going to get it all done, but I enjoy it. I'm still here and will post more pictures and possibly some funny antidotes soon.

The greatest band and album ever!!

Today I am professing my love for the greatest band of all time. I would even dare to say they are better than the Beatles. Who is this marvelous musical menagerie? It is only Bono, The Edge, Adam and Larry otherwise known as U2. Yes, I am a child of the 80's, so it is slightly possible that my view is skewed, but they are even popular today. Isn't one of the legacies of a great band the fact that they are loved and appreciated by generations? Think back to some of their songs:

With or Without You

Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

Mysterious Ways

One

Elevation

Beautiful Day

Pride..(In The Name Of Love)

Sunday Bloody Sunday

I could go on and on. They do a haunting rendition of Unchained Melody, that makes me want to cry whenever I hear it. One of their B sides contains a song called All I Want Is You. I played it at my wedding and it's another one that makes me cry. Is this an obsession? Probably. If you asked Todd he would swear that I love Bono more than him. It's not true, I just would like Bono to sing to me forever!!! You can tell when I am in a mood, because the iTunes is blasting U2. I am just curious...Am I the only one with this crazy obsession for a band or are there others of you out there? Leave me a comment and let me know if I should seek therapy now.

Baby #5

Well, we've finally let everyone know, we're expecting baby #5. Yes, I know to many of you it is a suprise because we were supposed to have taken care of this. The Lord works in mysterious ways and apparently thought the Billy T family was not quite complete. The kids are ecstatic and mom and dad are looking forward to adding another personality (Not so much the wrestling in Sacrament Meeting, but we got awhile!!). Again, Ally is due about the same time the Nowels family goes to the lake, but what a better way to recover than to sit on my rear in a chair on the dock while the baby sleeps. We're growing out of our cars and our house but it's all good. We're looking forward to August.

It's Official

"The" Stake conference is finally come and gone. They said there would be suprises, and by goodness, there were. With all the speculating and supposed "info leaks" out there, our neighborhood thought we were safe. They would be adding to our ward and cutting off a small part to put in another. Boy were we wrong. I think there was an audible gasp when they read that our neighborhood, as well as a big chunk of our ward, would be in two different wards. We were shocked when we were told that we were now members of the Belle Terre ward and others were members of the Painted Hills ward. I have to say I didn't see it coming. I was looking forward to having my sisters' family and my parents in the Pines ward with us and thought it would be a great experience. The stake presidency had different ideas.
With that said, we are very excited to be in our new ward. We are looking forward to meeting new people and serving with them. For the time being we are calling-less, but we expect that to change as the ward settles in. We are also excited that we will still be able to see some of our friends at school activities and stake activities. Change is good, although for some can be extremely scary, but we're trying to go in with no preconceived notions of what to expect. It will be odd to attend church at the Stake Center, I've gone to the Evergreen Building the whole time I've lived in Spokane (including my childhood) but hey, a building is a building right? So, the suspense is over and it is not the "End of the World", and we still feel fine.

Back to School, Back to School.

They're finally going back!! Thursday is my favorite day this week. After being out of school for 3 weeks...1 whole week of snow closures...they are going back. The amount of snow melt in this city is truly amazing. I will post pictures tomorrow. If you compare the pics taken on Mon to the landscape right now...you'd think we haven't had any snow all year (If you don't look at the giant snow berms everywhere.) I suppose I should be thankful we didn't have any roofs fall in on our children but I had seriously had it. Summer vacation where they can go out and play, no problem. Winter when they are stuck inside? Sucks!! By the way Reni, thanks for offering to send me the homeschooling stuff, but you lived with me for years. Let's just say I have no patience and am not a teacher. I don't know how you do it :). It's now 8pm here and time for them to go to bed so they can go to school tomorrow!!! Yeeeehaaaaw!!!!

The saga continues

Day #15 without any school. They are now saying that a huge warm front is expected at the end of the week and we are going to get poured on. This in turn makes the 2 feet of snow on every roof very heavy, which has already caused numerous cave-ins. The school district wants to be safe and is clearing off all of the roofs before they send the kids back to school. It is estimated this will take until Thursday. I'm half tempted to call the school district and volunteer to remove snow just to get away for awhile. Although the sleeping in is nice, it's probably time for them to go back. They are supposed to be learning, right? I'm not sure how much more Spongebob I can handle!!

Al Gore can suck it!!

The mailboxes across the street

Global warming my butt. I want that man to move here, so he can be on the storm track that every 2-3 days brings us 4-8 inches of new snow. They are worried about the polar ice caps and the polar bears going extinct. Move the polar bears to Spokane. There is plenty of snow for them here. My kids have not been to school in 14 days (This does not include weekends but does include the break which is only 10 days) The Sheriff is now saying that it is not safe for my kids to go to school because the sidewalks are not shoveled and they will have to stand in the middle of the street to wait for the bus. Didn't they know this 2 weeks ago? It didn't just start snowing today. Whatever. I told John that since the Sheriff cancelled school, he could swing by and pick the kids up on his way to work. They would be happy to keep him company in his patrol car tomorrow, because they are driving me nuts. He wasn't so keen on the idea, said it was Ozzie not him. I'd be happy if Sheriff Ozzie would take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese. They would like that. It's hard to play in snow that's over your head. Thank heaven for Nintendo DS.

Shannen this is for you. You got Democrat connections. Get Al Gore over here so we can give him a nice "warm" Spokane welcome and tell him what we think of global warming. I'll get off my soap box now and go watch the gigantic flakes fall from the sky, again. At least it's pretty. This was the trampoline!!

A reference to R.E.M.

Ok, flashback to old 80's songs... I've decided that this song is so appropriate these days. It fits for everything... the beginning goes like this....
That's great it starts with Earthquakes, birds, snakes and airplanes,
Lenny Bruce is not afraid....
Fred Durst royally screwed it up trying to sing it during MTV's Y2K celebration at Times Square. The chorus goes something like this...
It's the end of the world as we know it,
It's the end of the world as we know it,
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel FINE!!

Before you decide that I have completely lost it, think about the amount of change that occurs everyday. To many of us, it may seem like the end of the world, but although often hard to stomach, it's just change. It happens all the time and you can't really escape it. The Stake Presidency just announced that they are adding a new ward and many of the old ones will be re-arranged. For us, no big deal... the church is true no matter what ward I am in. For others, it is a crisis of Biblical proportions. It will be interesting when it all comes down next week. If I truly got in to astrology and my horoscope, I would be losing my mind. I am a Taurus. I am a bull, very stubborn and resistant to change. Maybe I grew up. I don't feel like I am so resistant. Change is exciting and makes life fun. It breaks up the routine. All I can say is long live R.E.M. and great 80's music, because I feel FINE!!!