School starts this week.
Tonight I took Mr. Fantastic to his school to attend the "open house" and got all the papers that I needed - yada yada yada.  We all know how open houses go.  You all get shuffled like cattle into the gym so the principal can give her shpeel and then you get herded to the classrooms (like cattle again) just to fill out the necessary paperwork.  And then you have to get herded through the lines of "don't for get to buy this" and "booster club" and "lunch money account" etc...

Can I just say, "MOOOOO".

Gee whiz.

So we came home, and I threw all the kids into the van (thanks New Friend for holding down the fort so I wouldn't have to MOOO with 5 kids in tow) and headed out to the Cowgirl's place for a campfire w/ others from our ward.

It was a fine night.  Good food.  Plenty of conversation.  Lots of room for the kids to run.  (I had no idea where mine were half the time - I'm just glad no one was hurt.)  Mr. Fantastic had it rough.  I'm still trying to figure him out.  I'd love to be a fly on the wall while he interacts with his friends so that I can see where the problem really lies.  See, Mr. Fantastic seems, to me, to be able to interact with his friends just fine.  He laughs and plays and runs, etc...  But then he comes to me later saying his friends were ignoring him and saying mean things.
Hmmm.  While some of it may be true - a lot of the time he leaves out the part where he has done something to instigate such behavior. For example: Mr. Fantastic tells me that his sister is saying mean things.  He forgets to tell me that he told her she isn't as cute as Grand Duchess (he's right, by the way) and has hurt her feelings.  So I'm wondering if tonight's scenario isn't just a little bit different than what he has eluded to.
He asked me to call the mothers and talk with them about it.
I'm more than willing to do it, too, I want to help him be a better friend and individual.  But something inside of me is a little anxious.
Perhaps because this is all too familiar ground for me.  My subconscious is telling me that whatever those mothers say to me about him, it is reflecting on me.  Am I ready for that kind of criticism?  I'm not sure.
So I'll have to sleep on it.
However, on the way home we had a nice little chat about our actions and attitudes and how sometimes we say things in jest but others see it as snottiness.  He and I are both going to be working on that.

Anyhow.  So all in all, Mr. Fantastic struggles.

Popeye is in WA for the week.  We miss him terribly.
Open House for Optimus Prime and Thor tomorrow night.
Wednesday starts school for the 2 older and Princess Monkey Eyes starts her kindergarten assessment on Thursday.
Friday she gets to meet her teacher - she is so excited!
Wednesday afternoon some girlies and I are heading south to take the little ones swimming while the older ones are in school.  It's an indoor swimming pool with an outdoor mini waterpark.  Tres Fun!
And Friday night I'll head back to my parents' house because Popeye flies in Saturday morning.
Which also happens to be Optimus Prime's 8th birthday!!!
Sunday brings family to our little town for his baptism.

Oy vay.  What a busy week.

Oh yeah.  And there's a for sale sign in our yard.  Wanna buy a house? 

I'm really tired and missing Popeye.  This single parent thing sucks.  New Friend, I don't know how you do it!

Peace Out!

mm-mmm good

Grand Duchess has always been vocal.
But now the fun is REALLY starting with her actually trying to pronounce words.
Some of my (understandable) favorites are:
"Eeer Gow" = Here you go.
"Eee A Poo" - Peek a boo.
"Uppppp" = Up.  (That multiple 'P' is pronouced as a spitting thing.)
"Peese" = Please.
"A too" = Thank you.
and my favorite
"Mm-mmm" = used to say no.  "Do you love daddy?" "Mm-mmm."  "Ready for bed?" "Mm-mmm."

Obviously in order to understand her one has to be looking at her and trying to figure out her circumstances.
Still.
I love it!

Conversation between HRH and Thor just after his dead toenail fell off.

Thor: Owieeee. Owieeee.
HRH: (In an attempt to lighten the mood) Thor, it's looking good now, nice and clean.  Almost good enough to eat.
Thor: I don't want to eat my toenail.

Okay.

Heavenly Father has a sense of Humor too

What do David Burnett, Arie Van De Graff, and Jeremy Lamb have in common? They are all Mormon Authors or better yet, cartoonists. Some of you may have even read their stuff. I know I have. All 3 authors (cartoonists) write and illustrate the silly side of being mormon. Yes, they make fun of and laugh at the silly things that go on in wards and stakes throught the world. For we are "Peculiar people". Has anybody read any of the works by these authors? David Burnett is best known for his work , " And it came to Laughs" and "Laughter day Saints". Arie Van De Graff is best known for his work "Mormon Life" and Jeremy Lamb is best known for his work, "The Missionary Chronicles". What is your reactions when you have read one of these books? "ha ha ha, Hoo hoo hoo, hee hee hee, that is so true". "I knew a bishop like that" "I had a home teacher like that once". We are engaged in these books because we can relate. We have all been in a ward where something was just plain and simply funny! I believe a modern day Prophet once said, "life should be enjoyed, not endured" . Aww, such fine words of counsel. Why do we laugh at cartoons or movies that make fun of or better yet identify the funny things that go on in the church? Why are we not offended by these movies or books? Because they are Fiction? or are they? Most of what a cartoonist or writer writes, they have often experienced at one point in their life.  Do these movies or books degrade the Priesthood or the Church etc? No. They simply illustrate that God has a sense of humor too. Then why would he allow such books to be published and sold in Desseret Book? We, after all, have all been created in his image. That doesnt mean just physically that means the whole 9 yards. Looks, spirit, and sense of humor.  It was by the power of the Priesthood that the world was created and everything on and in it. Ah ha ! Proof Heavenly Father has a sense of Humor. If it was by the power of the Priesthood that all things were created, then that proves Heavenly Father has a sense of humor. You can not help look at a Platypus and wonder "what in the world was going on there" Left over animal parts? All things on earth were created for our enjoyment. The platypus was obviously created for us to laugh at. So that proves that Heavenly Father has a sense of humor as well as everything we are taught that He is.

My point to this post is, why do we take everything so serious? A loving God wants us to enjoy life and laugh. I can't help but think that during the grand council in Heaven that there wasn't a little bit of joking and laughing etc. I just can't see my Heavenly Father as having a dry sense of humor or no humor at all. All that being said. Why can't we find humor in the events of our own ward? Why does it offend others when we want to share those silly moments with others? Are the Authors of the books I have mentioned earlier shunned from their ward or stake because they have drawn a cartoon illustrating a funny event that most likely had taken place in their ward, stake, or mission? Why does a funny event that happened in a local ward draw so much contention?  The Author of the original post " The Mormon Campaign trail" was going through a trial where her faith and testimony was shaken and found humor in a certain event for which she nor I have ever been apart of. We never knew how a future bishop was called or selected. Being a trained observer (police officer) I have observed a situation or incident that seemed out of the ordinary and brought that to the attention of my companion to cheer her up. She thought the situation was humorous and decided to post that incident on her Blog (this one) yet it has caused so much greif and rumors and tempers to flair. We, by no way, were "Mocking God" . We were trying to get through a difficult time where our testimony was shaken due to what we saw at the time was unanswered prayers or blessings. We were by no way meaning to make fun of or belittle the brethren who we thought were acting out of their normal characteristics. From a trained observer's point of view, it looked like a Campaign for a presidential race.  The original post was not meant to bring anybody down , but was suppose to lift other up with a little sense of humor to illustrate that Church is a fun place to be. There is so much excitement and humor. In a world full of evil, violence, pornography,where else are we going to find joy and humor? In our own Ward. We have all done something funny or embarassing. I know I have. Why cant we laugh at those things?  Heavenly Father has a sense of Humor Too. Nobody was being put down or mocked. It was the situation that was funny and by no means were we looking to make fun of or belittle or offend. Elder Bednar in a talk has said, We can only offend ourselves. I love and value the priesthood. I will sustain any of the brethren in the ward who might be called to bishop or any other calling for that matter. Again as Gordon B Hinkley has said, Life should be enjoyed not just endured. I feel sorry for those that found offense in the "Mormon Campaign trail" . We should all look for the funny things in life. Some of God's greatest blessings come from the silly things that we do. So why is it ok for producers or writers to make a movie or books poking fun of being an RM or a Singles Ward, but so offensive when we look for the same silliness in our own wards. We need to lighten up.

This Post was written by Popeye.

I have 4 drafts in my "edit posts" section of my blog. (after deleting 5 other ones.)

FOUR.

And no, I won't publish them.

I just thought you should know.

And by the way.  I LOVED my trip out west and can't wait to move! 
It was a long drive made even longer by the lovely construction between Cheyenne and Laramie (which took over an hour longer than usual to get from one city to the other).  But my sister's house is lovely.  Well done, Sis!  They built it themselves - it took a long time.  Sister even told me that her husband got chewed up one side and down the other by their neighbor for allowing Sister to get on the roof to help with roofing.  She was 9 months pregnant.  Anyhow.  I'm impressed and it was a wonderful time with her and her cute little family.
We visited a ward out that way.  We drove around and saw the prettiness of the area.  We found some land.  Lots of land, in fact, and are keeping our eyes on it.  We talked a lot - Popeye and I.  Something that doesn't happen a lot with 5 kids running around.  But there were a few times on the trip when kids actually fell asleep or were just so bored off their rockers that they had nothing else to say.  I like talking with Popeye.  He's a smart man.
He taught me something over the weekend.  I posed a question to him - it was pretty serious.  And while I was afraid of what the answer might be, he was pretty gentle with what he had to say.  I love him for that.  He knew what needed to be said but also knew that I'm at a very fragile state in my life right now.  he handled it beautifully.
And now we're home.
The hardwood floors are finished.  And the realtors get called tomorrow.  I'm anxious.

And I want to give a HUGE shout out to my New Friend!  Without her, my house would not have gotten finished.  I would be in an insane asylum, for sure!  Thank you New Friend.  If you haven't met her yet, you should!  She's an amazingly insightful young lady with lots of love and friendship to give!  Oh how I will miss her when I'm gone.  (You know, you're always welcome to visit any time!)

Anyway.  That's it.  That's all I'm writing.  Here's the last of the pics of the floors.  Before they were  a raw, light colored wood.  Now they're not.  :)

Note**

The previous post wasn't intended to belittle anyone.  I didn't even think they were being cocky.  Popeye and I just found it amusing, that's all.  Sheer amusement.  So those of you who may think I'm being judgemental - that wasn't my intent at all.

On to better things.

The Royal Family went to Cheyenne Frontier Days today.  We watched the Thunderbirds fly.  Always Awesome. Always.
Then, because it was military day, we got into the fair for free.  Unfortunately, the tickets for the rides weren't.  So we didn't ride any - much to the Royal Childrens' dismay.  But we ate overpriced pizza and shared overpriced lemonade.  We did a lot of walking and then, as we were leaving, Thor kept telling me he couldn't walk.  So I would remind him that if he couldn't walk, he couldn't have an ice cream cone from Little America.  "I can walk, Mom!" was his cheery reply.  What a guy - anything for sweets.

Now we're home and I REALLY wanted to go see the bull riding at our own little county fair, alas - we are out of money.  Bummer.

Darn overpriced fair food.

Tomorrow I go back to work for one client.  Just one.  And then I go visiting teaching in the afternoon.

Busy days ahead with school closing in and a few long distance trips planned in between now and then.

Until then...

The Mormon Campaign Trail

Have you ever been in a ward where the bishopric is about to change - drastically?  Not just one or two counselors, but the whole clan?
Well, I am in such a ward right now.  Popeye & I couldn't help but chuckle (and laugh hysterically after church was over) watching some of the "presidential candidates" on Sunday.  Shaking hands, going down each aisle - one candidate on one side, the other going down the other side.  Popeye almost lifted up Grand Duchess for a kiss, but he refrained.  He even saw one of them wink and shoot the gun at someone in the back of the chapel.
As I was walking out of the bathroom, One was standing there, almost as if he was waiting for me to exit so he could greet me.  I'm sure it was just a coincidence and bad timing on both our parts, but still.
Whoever the next bishop will be, I'm sure he'll do a fine job.  It's just a funny scenario to watch right now.
And I'm not even going to be around for the outcome!  Popeye will be leaving for a week that day, so I'll be at the airport dropping him off (and picking up a much loved friend). 
Dagnabbit, I was hoping to watch the confetti fall and partake of the celebratory lunch afterward.