Teenage attitude

So far all is going OK with the Dog.. he's getting use to going potty outside and is having fewer and fewer "accidents".. Ben wasn't feeling well today and stayed home and actually said he was sorry he felt I was complaining and that being home with the puppy "IS WORK" DUH!!! but at least he gets now that when he walks through the door HE is asked to take the dog out feed him etc. etc.. same for the kids..

for the Teenage attitude.. everyone says teenage girls are AWFUL but let me tell you the teenage boy i'm living with at the moment is about getting ON MY NERVES!!! He's either SO angry he's going to pinch someones head off (usually MINE!) or so upset he's in tears and these conditions can be MI LI-seconds from each other... Tonight's attitude was sparked by the dishwasher breaking down and he being asked to wash the dishes by hand (OH THE HORROR) I didn't even tell him that we had no dishwasher growing up and there were TWICE the children and we didn't use paper plates REGULARLY (wasn't that nice of me?) he so happily (NOT) reminded me that it was SUNDAY when we break out the REAL plates which is why we hate him!!!.. which he knows that statement ("you hate me!!") sets me off (which, duh, is why he says it!) He is a great kid.. gets good grades (when he tries.. don't get me started on the d+ he got on the progress report that he's raised to a B in 2 weeks.. only the slightest of efforts)... He's quiet and shy but He is the first to help at church and fulfill his priesthood and quarm duties at church.. He's very motivated at the moment to get his scouting stuff done so he can eventually get his Eagle.. BUT it's days like today that I want to lock him in his closet and throw away the key until he's 20.. OK rant over.. there will be no closet locking today (besides the fact that the boys don't even have a proper closet) all I have to say is if girls are harder (I'M in REAL Trouble here!!!)

On a totally unrelated note
He wants to get contacts, someone out there help me.. I didn't wear glasses until I was married so when I got contacts last year it was swell but I'm totally not sure at what age it would good.. I'm worried he won't "take care" of them or he'll put them in or out of his eye with dirty fingers etc.. I kind of thought when he hit High School but now I'm thinking 8th grade??? maybe this is a question for the Dr... if anyone has any thoughts PLEASE comment!!!
Thanks for listening!!
Ta Ta

Meet the newest member of the Fox Clan

a Face only a Mom could love.. I don't think these pictures do any justice.. he really is VERY CUTE!!!

Meet Rowdy, he is a 9 week old Pug... after our last dog DISASTER we promised the kids a puppy in the spring and Ben has been itching pretty much since well since the last one had to "go away" we have been looking for a while and I fell in love with a Golden Retriever, we actually found a place that would be getting some in "two weeks" which was like 4 weeks ago and every time we called they would say "two more weeks" so we knew it might not happen, AND like our life usually goes Ben needs some work done on his truck that was pretty much what we had budgeted for the Golden... Ben found this pug breeder from a guy from work and it just so happened that the cost for this dog was ALLOT less than the Golden, I was skeptical about the compatibility of our family.. so I did some research online and felt good IF the breeder had any left (we hadn't really considered a pug when we first heard about the breeder)... this morning Ben called and they had ONE left.. so it seems it was all ment to be...

He's so far only had one little "excited accident" and as soon as I got out a puppy pad he went on that so I think that's a good sign!!! (I may be eating my words tomorrow, I'm well aware!) also he's a whiner!!! so I'm a little worried about anyone getting any sleep tonight!

wish us luck

ta ta

My Kind of Snow Storm

So the last week or so we have had lots of Melting.. which means LOTS of Mud!!! we've all known though that we aren't completely through with snow.. oh no, anyone who's "seasoned" knows New Hampshire likes to fool you with warm days and with words flinging around like "SPRING" we all get to thinking that maybe we are DONE with snow.. today Ben even put the snow blower in the basement.. (which just for the record I told Ben was the KISS OF DEATH!) well we knew it would come and TODAY on the way home from church HUGE snow flakes falling from the ski, at first it was just a flurry or two then all of the sudden the ski opened up and it was REALLY snowing.. I thought for sure we'd have to go get out the blower again but Ben reminded us it was 40 something degrees and as soon as it stopped it would melt.. he was right but the best part.. all of the yucky, dirty, muddy snow is now all white again..

it's the simple things that make me smile!
ta ta

Full Circle

So I was one of those girls who LOVED camp... I really looked forward to it every year and OH the DRAMA when Girls Camp was scheduled the WEEK before my 12th birthday (had to be 12 to go) and I had to wait a WHOLE year before I could experience the joy!!!

Some of my most fondest memories were at Camp.. My first year we lived in Oregon and I was SOOOO clumsy I fell, slipped or tripped nearly 50 times on what I can only assume was a VERY short 1-2 mile hike, on that hike one of our leaders befriended me and I will NEVER forget her. her name was Gay, too bad I can't remember her last name... My 2nd year we lived in California, good Ole' camp Radford.. We had just moved in a month or 2 before camp and I knew NO ONE... it's where I met and got to know the 2 girls I was great friends with through out High school, Angie and Cynthia.. that's also the year Cynthia had just come home from EFY and taught us all the EFY Dance to an ERASURE song... (later I realized the "efy dance" was actually the "Electric Slide!") Oh the Memories.. my 3rd year was in Arizona My family had moved and again I didn't know anyone but Camp seemed to bridge the gap.. My 4th year we were back in CA and I got to be a Counselor in Training or a "Kit" (don't ask me where they got the K no one knew!) I got to be with my good friend Gina who I learned TONS from!!! and that was even the year they COMPLETELY under- estimated the amount of food they would need and we nearly starved until a leader saved the day with tons of peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches.. I've never seen that many girls devour that many sandwiches in my life!!! the next year I was a counselor the and to tell you how small the world is.. I was counselor to my now Sister-in -law (Trish; Ben's sis) and my Sister's sister-in-law (Lisa, Steph's sister in law)... the next year I was chosen from all of the counselors to be one of 4 girls who planned camp.. it is probably one of the greatest experiences I had as a Teenager/ young adult (I think I was almost 18)... We had a New Camp Coordinator/organizer and so She basically let us do as much as we wanted and wouldn't you know we were a little crazy I think and really planned it from soup to nuts!!! it was also the year of horrible Earthquakes that damaged our beloved Camp Radford beyond repair and we had to go on the hunt for a new camp at the last minute.. I learned so much about conflict resolution, thinking on your feet, about answer to prayers, and about how strong I could be in the face of adversity... the picture above is of us 4 crazy girls... I actually keep in touch with 2 out of the group...

So the point of all this... I was just asked to be our ward's Camp Coordinator... I haven't been to camp since that last year I helped plan (1992)... I was thinking I might be on some "camp black list" see that year way back then.. there were some pretty awful things that happened which really had little to do with any of us girls or the planning we did.. I won't go into detail but it very near de-railed my love for camp but pretty quickly I could see the lessons learned and all is well...

I am excited for the opportunity to go to Camp.. I'm fairly certain I will fell my age VERY quickly but I'm excited!!!

wish me luck

tata

its happened!!

Brad is now taller than me.. it happened over night apparently.. We stood back to back around Christmas time and he was still a good inch shorter... not now, he's a good half inch TALLER than me.. he also got a new retainer for his top teeth with in months he'll be just another blond TALL good looking boy with a great smile, somehow getting him hooked up with an orthodontist doesn't seem like the right thing to do if we want to keep the girls away!



He's still tight lipped when it comes to anything related to girls BUT I got to take him and a friend home from an activity night a week or so ago and it was FUN to hear them laugh about the cute girls!!!



I'm hanging on for dear life I'm not sure my heart can take all of this!

ta ta

Purging mood

So we had a glorious weekend it got up to the 50's and ALL the boys wore shorts, I felt like spring cleaning and purged half my closet (remember the motto, if you havn't worn it in 6 months you can live with out it).. I got rid of jeans and dresses that i've been keeping because i felt like i spent too much money to just get rid of them BUT the dress I wore to my brother's wedding (Jack's eeek!) i know i'll never ever wear again and actually the skirt and jacket I wore to other brother's wedding (jody's) is so completely out of style (and probably was when I wore it too) that I just filled up a garbage bag and it's sitting in the back of my car awaiting a drop off to good will or planet clothes (a local clothing donation thingie)... unfortunately my purging mood is NOT contagious.. I cleaned outKayLea's room and wanted desperately to get rid of some of her old, worn out, written on with marker, FILTHY dolls that she never plays with (she's merging into Barbie's and AM girl doll's)and she just about had a fit... I actually sneeked 2 dolls in the trash but wasn't quick enough bringing down the trash bag and she rescued 1 of them darn!!! I moved my way down stairs an wanted to purge the dvd collection that has gotten WAY out of hand... and could only pry 30 or so from the grip of the girl the boys seem far more eager to get rid of the movie's Ben wasn't home but insists he'll watch all 300 movies he has in his bin... yea right!!!
But the false spring weekend came to a crashing end yesterday when we got about 5-6 more inches and another snow day.. I think the school district is afraid to even speculate when the last day of school is right now.. we might just have no summer at all (that can't happen but really it's getting close!)
anyway i'm going to put up a post I wrote a few weeks ago about how Brad is taller than me now.. I didn't post it at the time because my intent was to put a picture of he and I back to back but alas I havn't been able to get it together enough to get that pic taken.. guess i'm too busy purging...
on a VERY happy note by the end of the day today I will be completely done with laundry and it will ALL be put away!!! you may not think thats much to brag about BUT let me tell you I think the kids are wearing clothes they havn't seen in weeks!!! yes it was that bad..
ta ta

God has a since of Humor; and it's a DARK one!!!

So I have my grocery list done we've been scraping the last couple of days because I in NO WAY wanted to take 3 kids to ANY store let alone grocery shopping it practically doubles my bill and my patience.. and of coarse last week was a week long school break so my usual shopping that would normally have taken us long past a week was eaten up by the ravenous beats by Friday... so Today was going to be first day back I could breathe some silence AND get some well needed groceries.. My usual routine is get ready when the boys get up and be in the car ready to pull out when Hunter gets on the bus, if I do this I still get the benefit of Business hours at Sam's club (reduced for quick sale meat) AND I can get KayLea to school on time (have i mentioned half day Kinder SUCKS!!!) anyway how do I know God has a since of humor..

WE GOT A MASSIVE NOR-EASTER STORM LATE LAST NIGHT AND THERE IS A SNOW DAY TODAY!!!

we've got about 5-7 inches so far and we are expected to get several more inches by late afternoon... I see subway in our future (if I can see the road).. I can go shopping tomorrow of coarse But i was SOOOO looking forward to the kids being in school.. does that make me a bad mother.. I know lots of women who LIVE for snow days who love the hunker down with their kids etc. etc. don't get me wrong if we hadn't just had a week off I do enjoy the occasional snow day BUT this snow and the snow days only remind me we'll have to pay for these days when it's awfully hot and nothing is air conditioned and now I'm ranting.. sorry...

if you need me I'll be in the Arctic north east buried in snow!
tata