LATELY WITH THE LINKS

Monday, July 21, 2008

Yee Hah!! Horse Camp!!

What a great week my kids had at horse camp. Greyson, Caden, and Brynna are ready to turn in the DVD player and video games to live the simple life on the farm. They fell in love with the horses, the country landscape and getting dirty. A very kind woman in our ward, Gay Bingham, has horse camp every summer at her ranch. She is a fantastic lady and is a teacher during the school year. She and her husband live on and work a beautiful ranch. Byron and I weren't real sure that our kids would even get on a horse, but by the end of the first day, they had learned how to lead, saddle, brush and ride a horse. On the second day, they were already asking if they could come back next year. Day Three, they all wanted to move to the country and get a horse. The last day proved to be the moment of truth--THE TRAIL RIDE. We parked at the end of the trail waiting anxiously for their return, hoping that everyone came back in one piece and still on a horse. Then, there they all were--All still on horses and having the time of their lives. After all of the other kids and their families had left, Maggie got to ride (she wasn't scared at all), she thought that was pretty cool. Byron and I did a little riding of our own. (Thanks to Gay Bingham for helping me conquer one of my fears.) Greyson actually went back the next day at 6:15 a.m. to help Gay and her family cut cattle. Who knew?? My cute little family is a little bit country.

Friday, July 18, 2008

MOMISMS!!

I thank this crazy lady for so appropriately and poetically putting to song the chaotic every-day life of mom's around the world.

Just click play (the arrow).

Monday, June 23, 2008

"TAH DAH"!!

In THE BIZ, this is what they call THE MONEY SHOT!

Maggie struts into the room and exclaims, "Tah dah!" She was so very proud of herself. As a mom, you gasp and simultaneously think of the clothes, the carpet, the furniture that's on it's way to the garbage. But, you're a good mom, so you keep those thoughts to yourself. "OOH LAH LAH" and "Maggie, you look like a princess" you say. Making sure that you take this opportunity for what it is, and take lots of pictures. Then, you go investigate. While I was exercising, Maggie found her favorite LIP (that's what she calls lipgloss) and very sneaky-like, took it to her room. While looking in the mirror (believe it or not), she decorated her cute little face and thought to herself "I look so cute. I need to go show momma." She was so happy with herself. The only casualty was her flower rug. It's a little price to pay for such a happy, little memory. What a cutie our little Magdalene is!

Magdalene--Maggie Mae

Little Miss Sass is actually what we should call her. Lately, she's been "testing her limits" or should I say "her mom and dad's limits"--Just a little here and there. She's really decided that she has an opinion on every single thing and that it's her way or the highway. I guess we can just call her "Miss Independent". No more holding her hand while walking down the sidewalk, or helping her into her stroller. She'll do it "by self". "By self" is just one of the funny little things she says. "Or not" is big in her vocabulary, too. If you ask her if she wants a snack or not, if she doesn't, she'll say "Or not". She's just so funny. Conversations are never dull and always cute.

Brynna-Bel

My heaven's--getting older every second. She's no longer a little girl. She has turned into, simply, a girl. Not little, but not too big either. We are young enough to still love Barbie--but old enough to really care what Barbie is wearing. A good thing, right?
Bel is in the 1st grade now, and love's to read. She really loves school too. She loves her teachers and her friends. Can you say Social Butterfly? Talk-talk-talk-talk. She's never been considered shy. Everyone is her best-friend, you know, even if it's the first time you've ever talked to her. I love that quality about her. She is a friend to everyone. What a good and sweet girl she is.

Caden--C Dog

I just love my little Caden. He is THE sweetest and nicest kid around--and did I mention handsome. He's now in the 5th grade--the year when things get a bit more hectic. He has more work and he's expected to be organized enough to get it all in one day, do it over the next week and then turn it in. We're still workin' on that one. Organization is not a strong point for us. He changes classes too, which is new to him. I tell you what--he absolutley LOVES science. Almost every day he comes home telling me of the experiment that they did in science lab or goes on and on about protons and neutrons and electrons. I have a hard time following because he goes into every single little detail--and he remembers every-single-detail. What a smarty-pants. He's really discovering how funny his personality is lately, too. He now know's he's funny and that he's got the gift of gab. He takes after his dad.

Greyson--G Money

You'd think I was giving this kid steroids at the rate he's growing. He's only 15, but people ask if he's 17. He's very tall for his age. He might think he acts like he's 17--but we know better. Maturity-?-it's comin' along. We'll just say we're working on it. No, really-all kidding aside--he's a really good young man. He's at the age when typical teenage angst sets in. And..we have our fair share of it. But, all in all, I think he really tries to keep a cool head when he thinks we've asked him to take out the trash one too many times. He's just at an age when we can really count on his help. He is a great helper to me. He even folds laundry (don't tell his friends).
Greyson is doing really, really well in school so far this year. He's got and extra load-basically doing two years of school in only one. We thought he'd really have to bust it and be doing work constantly to keep up. But..he hardly has any homework and he's making all A's. He has a 100% in Geometry!? I asked him if he just has never missed any question ever on anything to get that average. He replied by saying, "No--I've missed stuff, but I got a 120% on a project". Whatever--wouldn't it be great to be that smart?