Things For Which I am Grateful Tonight

*My new Happy Mix of various euphoria-inducing songs
*a daughter who taught herself how to ride a two-wheeler, and a neighbor boy who was kind enough to remove her training wheels since her mother is retarded with tools of any kind
*the Franson's dog, Preya, who hovers over our kids while they are outside playing and barks a warning if strangers come near our yard
*dead bolts on all our doors to keep us safe at night
*Fun new reads (Fablehaven, Lincoln by Gore Vidal)
*Phone calls from dear, far-away friends
*Visits and calls from my kids' AMAZING grandparents
*blackberries (as in the kind you eat, not the kind you carry around with you)
*sunny days (and rain to break it up this weekend... I like variety)
*Miss California, who stood up for families and opposed same-sex marriage in her interview question during the Miss USA pageant last Sunday night, thereby losing the crown. I only saw the recap, but I had Maggie watch it with me to show her an example of a brave person who stood up for her beliefs.

Spring Break in Rexburg

Yeah, um, so this is what our Spring Break looked like here in Rexburg. Actually, when we woke up on Friday and saw the snow, the kids whooped and hollered and ran for their snow pants. Luckily it doesn't take much to entertain three smallish kids - a pile of dirt, a foot of snow, and the neighbors' dog, chicks and miniature goat did the trick. The dirt pile became a raging volcano, fort, or nest as needed; the snow provided hours of snowman making fun; and we call the animals "Chick TV" because we all spend so many hours entertained by them (in spite of the fact that the goat, who is just as tall as Spencer, head butted him the first day). Maggie's cousing Katelyn sent us "Flat Stanley" all the way from California to sample life in the great Gem State; he sure got a change of scenery!

The Pull-Up Rebellion

Just the Larsens being silly. Nobody wanted to go to bed so we played dress up instead...

A 2.6 Trillion Dollar Budget

... socialized medicine (that we didn't even get to debate about) and the Health Czar
... nationalized banks and Timothy Geitner
... bailouts, illegal taxation, AIG witch hunts, GM meddling
... Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank
... Mr. Porn Protector in the DA office
... more spending and earmarks than EVER before
... major tax hikes for EVERYONE after 2011
... the GIVE act (hello Hitler Youth - you wanna indoctrinate my kids you gotta get through me first. I will teach my children how to live and serve, not the government. You try to break down my family, and I will fight. HARD.)
... Big Government on unprecedented scale, entrenchment of the Welfare state
... Economics 101: taxing the rich has NEVER grown the economy. They're the ones creating jobs, until you take away their capital! Can we not learn from history?
... The energy czar ("If you use too much we'll shut you down." um, scary.)
... "punished with a baby", funding abortion clinics in Europe with our tax money, my tax $ for stem cell research and fetus farms
... ACORN!!!
... a lemming-filled media who beg at the back door of the White House for their daily information and fail to report any side of the issue but BHO's.
... the Fairness Act? Are you kidding me?????????? at least it failed to pass...
... so many other lies, deceptions, failures, corruption and it's only been 100 Days!

STOP THE INSANITY!!! I've got to do something. Joined a local Tea Party and the 9/12 Project. Am desperate to do more before the socialist in the White House (who IS that man???) and this insane Congress completely changes the face of this great nation. MY nation. The nation our children are going to inherit!

A few thoughts, take them as you will:

Brigham Young: “Will the Constitution be destroyed? No: it will be held inviolate by this people; and, as Joseph Smith said, ‘The time will come when the destiny of this nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction.’ It will be so.” (Journal of Discourses, 7:15.)

John Taylor: “When the people shall have torn to shreds the Constitution of the United States, the elders of Israel will be found holding it up to the nations of the earth, and proclaiming liberty and equal rights to all men, and extending the hand of fellowship to the oppressed of all nations.” (The Gospel Kingdom, Deseret Book Co., 1943, p. 219.)

George Q. Cannon: “the day will come when the Constitution and free government under it will be sustained and preserved by this people.” (JD, 23:104.)

A Banner Day for the Larsens

Well, it's been one of those days. In a 12-hour span, I've cleaned up dog pooh, Sophie pee and Maggie throwup. (and Spencer's cereal which sprayed all over the floor, but that's just a daily occurence.)

Charlotte (Sophie's BFF) came over to show us their new dog, Priya, who wagged her tail, played real cute, then barfed on my front room rug. Then as we were running out the door to teach my classes in St. Anthony, Sophie missed the toilet by a foot (her first accident in months) and left a huge puddle on the bathroom floor. She got extra credit for timing it perfectly. Then Maggie came home from school green as a frog and has been camping out on the bathroom floor ever since. (Don't worry, it got sanitized after Sophie's mess. Plus this was an entirely different bathroom.) She's usually good to hit the toilet when she vomits, but not today. Lucky me. Moms out there, I know you share my joy.

But Spencer just climbed onto my lap, wrapped his sticky, skinny little arms around my neck, and gave me a completely unsolicited kiss. I didn't even have to bribe him to do it. Aw. Even when covered in gravy, slime or ooze, they're still pretty cute...

I will say that when my kids get sick, the extreme motherhood adrenaline kicks in and I go into supermom mode. I do my best parenting if fevers, sick tummies, or sore throats threaten my brood. Sleep? Who needs it? personal time? what for? my offspring NEED me. Here come the smoothies and the chicken soup, the bedside manner and the Children's Motrin. I awake ten times a night on autopilot to check for cold feet or sweaty brows. Armed with icy ginger ale, soothing fingers and antibacterial wipes, I battle like a true soldier.

Then they get better and life goes back to normal. Oh well. At least for that shining moment they can tell I love them. Nothing says "I love you" like cleaning up someone's puke, right?

Notes from the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch that I Don't Want to Forget

“When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you any more, that means they’ve given up on you.”

“The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

Send thin mints with an assignment and the assignment will get done.

Send hand-written thank you cards.

People are more important than things (dumping the can of soda down the seat of the new Volkswagen rabbit).

“Complaining doesn’t work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won’t make us any happier.”
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. – Seneca, Roman Philosopher

“It’s not how hard you hit. It’s how hard you get hit… and keep moving forward.”

To say to a friend who’s dying: “Tell your friend that in his death, a part of you dies and goes with him. Wherever he goes, you go also. He will not be alone.”

The First (and Last) Competition of the Year

We have survived another one of our big events of the spring - the Idaho State Championships clogging competition in Pocatello was last weekend. I am not a fan of competitions AT ALL (you should dance because you love to do it, not because you get a trophy, for crying out loud!) - the chaos and the crowds and the noise and the stress... give me a regular old performance any day. But the kids and the parents seem to LOVE competitions. So we compromised and let all the kids dance at one competition a year. I was not looking forward to it, but it was fairly painless and rather successful. Our kids did really well; Maggie took first on her freestyle (which consists of her moving her feet as fast as she can and smiling hard), and we took home a slew of first places and some shiny trophies (which Spencer will I'm sure destroy later) so that should make our parents feel as though their hard earned money is well invested. Oh well. Anyway, here's some pics of the kids in their costumes; I'll try to load some video on to youtube later but that's a technical frontier I have yet to conquer. Someday.

Since Sophie's tots class was the only one which did not compete, I'm downloading pics from the rest home performance we did two weeks ago too so you can see her in her little red tu tu. She is just so munchy!