Les Miserable

I have a fetish with this play.

I owned the sound track when I was a teenager and played it over and over until my whole family was sick of it.

I always dreamed of playing Eponine on Broadway.

Although I acted, I am not a singer. This play made me want to be one though.

I got to see it live for the first time in Pittsburgh.

I took Sierra. She was three.

I still giggle about it.

It was one of those "living your dreams through your children" moments that I will never be proud of.

The moment Gaveroche was shot Sierra looked up to me with tear stained eyes and said,
"Why did the little boy die?"

Then she fell asleep.

Sad.

Anyway. I saw this trailer today and I can't stop watching it. I think I have watched it at least five times. I didn't know Anne Hathoway could sing. Wow.
They are doing the actual musical like Phantom, Emma get excited. This may be your new favorite.

I can't wait to see this in December.
Anyone want to go with me? I will leave Sierra at home this time.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

 On occasion, I and these ladies will have lunch and we laugh and talk and enjoy each other's company.

Do you notice the little face in the middle-center lower part of the picture? She comes along too.

Today was the last day for a while, because school is out and we will be with our kids now. 

Here is a picture of Mrs. Bechtel and Sierra. She was her 1st grade teacher through the last half of the year. She really liked her.
 I can't begin to tell you how happy I am that school is over.

I am so happy.

Now, what fun things can we cook up for the summer?

EMERGENCY ROOM VISIT

Sierra went to her first birthday party on Saturday.

It was her best friend, from school, Amanda's party.

I have never let her go to a party unless I have known the parents well.

I didn't.... but it was her bestest friend.

It was really hard for me.

I lectured her before she left.

"If anyone does anything that makes you really uncomfortable in anyway, what do you do?

You scream at the top of your lungs."

She said, "Mom, they will think I am crazy and I will ruin the party."

I said, "I don't care. What is the rule?"

She repeated it, even though she thought I was crazy.

Then I said, "If anyone does anything to make you kind of uncomfortable, what do you do?

You ask for a phone and you call me."

She said, "Okay. I even know our phone number." Then she repeated the our phone number.

I still prayed every second she was gone from me.

She is still my baby and it is hard to let her grow up.

This wasn't the most dramatic part of the day..... by far.

EMERGENCY ROOM DRAMA

Nate blew out his knee fishing.

He went fishing in the Black Canyon by himself.

He loves it down there. He has taken us there before and we have camped there.

It really is so beautiful.

Brother Bob told him about the SOB trail, which leads into the Black Canyon, several weeks ago.

He had to go and check it out .

He went. It was intense. He told me it is the grade of hiking right below rock climbing virtually straight down for one and a half miles. He said the last half a mile is just covered in poison ivy and giant boulders, which are hard to navigate because they are embedded in the side of the mountain. The easiest way is straight through the poison ivy.

He has asked me to go with him.... tempting.

The last time he went it took him a full week to recover it was so strenuous on his body.

Then last weekend rolled around and he said, "I am off to the SOB trail again."

I just rolled my eyes and said, "Okay."

He left first thing in the morning. He got into the canyon and set up camp.

The next morning he was on the river and saw some amazing fish.

He attempted to cross the river without the appropriate shoes.

Something happened. He heard a pop.

He fell into the river and floated down aways before he was able to pull himself out of the river.

He got back to camp and gathered his gear. He knew he didn't have long before the swelling in his knee would become so bad he wouldn't be able to get out of the canyon.

He pulled his body up the trail, straight through the poison ivy, on his hands and knees.

He got to the top and had to drive 4 Runner in far enough to get cellular reception.

To bad his wife didn't answer the phone.

He drove all the way home. He said he drove the standard with one leg.

He didn't want to go to the emergency room unless Sister Kay said he had to.

She has worked as a nurse for years.

I ran to her house and got her. She took two seconds with it and told him to get to the ER.

She took the girls back to the house while I took Nate to the ER.

Thank heaven for Kay.

I got a phone call from her while we were waiting. "The girls say that it would be alright if I took them to Wendy's and got them a kid's meal for dinner and that it would be fine with you if they got ice cream too."

My girls.

Then I got a phone call saying, "I don't know how the girls got so filthy but I am taking them back to your house and bathing them and getting them in their pj's."

Then I got a text saying, "Sierra locked me out of the bathroom."

I giggled because Sierra is so private of course she wouldn't let Sister Kay see her naked.

Sister Kay was worried about Madison drowning. 

Then I got another text, "Madison pooped in the bathtub."

Thank you girls.

Nate thought it was cool that the nurse on duty knew exactly where he had been that morning.

They took an x-ray. He tore his MCL really bad. There was too much swelling and bruising they couldn't see whether or not he would need surgery. They recommended he see a specialist Wednesday. Then they wrapped his leg in a massive brace that went from mid-thigh to his ankle gave his some pain-meds and sent us home.

The doctor who attended him was a fly-fisherman too. He said, "At least you were there." Nate kept repeating the phrase over and over again all the way home. It really made him happy. It really made me annoyed.

When we walked up to the house their was a ton of giggling coming from inside. Sister Kay introduced the girls to the farting ap on her phone.

You can dictate how long and loud and what pitch you want and then push the fart button.

The girls were all giggles.

Thank heaven for Kay, not because she was teaching my kids about the farting ap, but because Sierra was really upset about her daddy hurting himself and it was nice that she was giggling and not thinking about it.

Nate went to the specialist yesterday. They took off his massive brace and just put an ace bandage on his knee. They did an MRI but won't have results until this afternoon. We pray we don't have to go through surgery. Life.

We are grateful that...

Nate was able by some miracle to get himself out of that canyon. The man is a rock.

Nate didn't drowned.

Kay was available when we needed her so much and was so willing to help us.

Nate is so onery he went back to work yesterday. I am annoyed.... and very, very, proud.

I wish he would take a week off and just rest his bad knee.

However, he doesn't have sick leave where he works.

He really feels a massive responsibility to take care of his family at any sacrifice.

He loves us and it is his way of showing it.

Rainbow Connection

Love this song! Love the Muppets.

SWALLOW TAIL BUTTERFLY

She caught two.

I think they were mating. Yeah, pretty sure.

At least she captured them together.

She was so happy.

She put them in her butterfly net, cage, thing that Nate bought her a few months back.

She carried them around in the house all evening.

She would put her hand in the cage and feel their wings flutter.

She would have Madison do it to. Madison would giggle like crazy.

She accidently let one out. It flew up to the ceiling.

It is still there.

The other one is in the cage, with a few pieces of broken wings.

Sometimes I feel sorry for these little creatures she is constantly loving to death, but I am so glad she loves exploring nature. Touching it. Feeling it. Holding it. Watching it.

And each time a little creature dies she learns to be a little more gentle, maybe that's more important.

And maybe, a Swallow Tail butterfly fufills the measure of it's creation in being loved by a child and making another giggle like crazy.   

GARDENING

If we have the farm, why would we plant something in our backyard? I am not sure. The girls have been begging me to and I kind of want to just grow something on my own. Chuck brought over a pile of compost for us, or as we call it Cow Poo. Madison was singing, "I am shoveling the cow poo. I am shoveling the cow pooh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah." She had to help and it was slow but fun. She loved it.

 You can see our little garden in the back corner. (I know we are good. No, we bought plants at the store. We will see how they look in a couple of weeks.) I am still asking myself, why? I have this paranoia about gardening, every time I plant something I move before harvest. I hate it. Sierra and Madison were playing in the hose. It was hot.

It seems that lately my kitchen is always littered with wet, little, footprints. Well, at least it gives me a reason to pull out the mop once a day.

HAPPY MOTHER's DAY

Today was a beautiful day. I am so grateful to be a mother.

I am glad these two little girls chose to be mine and somehow trusted that I would teach them and help them navigate this mortal journey, especially in a time when the world tries to blur right and wrong.

I love them both so much.

There is nothing I would rather do with my time than be with my girls.

They are my everything. 

There is nothing like watching your infant go from your arms to 1st grade to make you realize every moment is fleeting and each is so precious.

I have learned in six, almost seven years, of motherhood that the most boring mundane tasks of mothering can be fun if your kids are doing it with you..... like laundry. Teaching Sierra and Madison how to fold a shirt. To say, "Okay, make it give itself a big hug. Then fold the arms of the shirt to the middle and then in half and then in half again." Then listening to Madison say, "Make it give itself a big hug!" It makes my day every time.  

Having Sierra in the kitchen with me chopping vegetables as I cook makes making dinner fun.

These tasks take longer but are more fun to do with my children.

These girls make me laugh every day.

Last night after a long day Sierra turned off the movie she was glued to, so she could take a walk with me. It was around 8:30pm.

She was enjoying her movie but walking with me was more important to her.

She skipped, raced, and jumped with me.
We laughed together until the sunset.

She held my hand on the way home and told me this story.

"Mom, I had the craziest dream the other night. My teacher Mrs. B said, "Sierra I need you to run some errands for me. She sent me to the computer lab. I had an arm full of stuff I had to get for her. When I walked into the computer lab. There stood my best friend Amanda. She was all dressed up in laboratory clothes. She said, "Come here." Then she pushed me into a machine. It was so quick I didn't even know what was happening. The machine took off the kids' clothes in my class and then put on just plain, white, underwear. There I was just in my white underwear. Then I grabbed my clothes quick and took off running. The other kids tried to do the same thing but the machine started ripping up their clothes. I was the only one that got my clothes. I ran to this farmer's house down the road and put my clothes on there. Then I woke up. I can't believe my best friend would invent a machine like that."

"She didn't Sierra it was a dream."

"Yeah, it was just a dream! Amanda would never do that in real life!"

And so my prayer today is for mothers who are mothers but are overwhelmed with the task, that they will take the time to enjoy every moment, and not feel guilty about things that don't matter. I hope they will sit on the floor and fold laundry with their little ones or make dinner with them even if it takes longer and is a little bit messier in the end.

But my greatest prayer is for those who want to be mother's but aren't. Those whose hearts ache to hold a little one of their own but hold my children instead. Those who read about moments with my childern but unselfishly wish for moments of their own. Today, that is where my heart is and where my prayers are that they too will have your own little miracles to hold and to walk with hand in hand, when they are grown, on clear summer nights. I love my Father-in-Heaven and know he is a God of miracles. Tonight, I pray for miracles for you.

(www.djadopt.com)

IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG

Just my Madison being Madison!

ALMOST SUMMER

 They begged to run in the sprinklers today.

I let them.

It really is hot. I should go and join them.

Sierra, FIRST GRADER

Love this girl and all her first grade stories.

I feel trapped inside a Junie B. Jones book often.

She makes me giggle.


 

Today was her un-birthday at school she brought cupcakes for everyone.

In the morning, while I was putting the final touches on the cupcakes she said, "Mom, last night I had the bestest dream of my life!"

(I love this girl's dreams.)

She said, "I was in the chicken house and I was being attacked by this killer scorpion.

I was so scared. Then Treasure (Another one of her chickens.).

He runs in and does a belly flop on the scorpion.

Then the scorpion burst into a million pieces. I love that dream. It was the bestest dream of my life."

I thought it was pretty good myself.

 

 

There is a group of kids at school who like to play Kitties on the playground.

Paige (Let's call her, which isn't her real name because... you know.) and the boy (I can't remember his name.) are in charge.

After playing Kitties for half the year and hating it, Sierra made up her own play and created Fairy World.

Her and her friends built fairy house under a pine tree with pine needles.

Then more kids wanted to play Fairy World.

Her little group started to grow and then the "worstest day" of her life came.

 Paige and the boy took over fairy world and the pine tree.

They said it was now their kitty world. The pine tree is where all the kitties are going to live.

They messed up Fairy World.

(I know sad. I just smile for two reasons and it is because Sierra gets to learn and grow and traverse all these hard situations that will help her become the beautiful young lady that I know she will be. Two, this is a little spitful be warned... and Sierra doesn't know this and she shouldn't... but I have read with poor little Paige. She has gorgeous hair down to her bum that is always curled perfectly. She has perfect outfits and perfect shoes. Her mother takes her to the salon and has her nails professionally done. Seriously. Professionally done. French tipped. SADLY, it seems her parents put there attention in the wrong place because the poor girl can't.... READ!

(So, don't worry little one... Fairy World maybe wrecked but that is okay you will build a million more worlds.)

 

 

At the dinner table she said, "Amanda (her best friend) came to career day dressed like a mom. I wanted to be a mom too but I forgot about career day. Well, she brought her doll. We sat her doll by the tree and played on the playground. We looked over and she moved, for real."

Then she left the dinner table and did a great impression of a marionette against the dining room wall. 

"Just like that!"

(Dinning room is a loose term. We don't really have one of those, it is just the place where we eat.)

(Anyway this impression was creppy to say the least. If I was Amanda, I would burn that doll.)

Sierra said, "It creeped me out really bad. We decided not to tell an one but then two of our other friends came over to us and we told them about it, but we made them promise not to tell anyone.

(I am sure the didn't tell anyone.) 

Then they ran off."
(Sadly, I think there maybe a parent or two dealing with kids having nightmares about creepy dolls.)

 

 

Isn't a first grader's life so amazing? I love my little Sierra M. first grader and all her wonderful stories. You are the best thing to ever happen to me kid, including your Daddy and Sister. I love your little guts. I love all your little 1st grader experiences, which are sadly almost over. Two and a half more weeks and you are done. Sniff. Sniff.

DIY HEAD BOARD DRESSER

I found this headboard on Craigslist for $30.00. I fell in love. I had to have it. I want to paint it and the dresser bearly in picture on the left. It has a beautiful matching mirror. I love this dresser. I found it at garage sale last summer for $30.00. I want to paint them both. I can't decide what to paint them. Suggetions? I want them to match. I am thinking a safe cream. I will leave the amazing original brassy blacky handles on the dresser. You can't see them but I love them too.

SHE IS MY FAVORITE THING

She made me a salad tonight. She decided what to put in it. She makes the best salads. It was yummy. She is my hero. Love her guts.

DOWN on the FARM

  We were racing leaves down the irrigation ditch.

You can see the distress in MJ's face, because I stopped to take a picture.

She is screaming, "Come on mom!"

 If you look at the dirt beds to the left.

This is what we have been working on this weekend.

We are trying to make planting beds for squash between the apple trees.

 Sierra and Madison stole M&M's from Chuck's M&M stash.

Madison thinks because they have M's on them and her name starts with an M that they are her candies.

After a few hours of hard work Crush soda and Otter Pops are the order of the day.

THESE GIRLS ARE MY EVERYTHING

I and the girls were piled into their bed the other night.

We were reading Junie B. Jones. We love her. She makes us laugh.

Before we began Sierra got upset because her room was a mess. Madison and her friends may have messed it up earlier in the day while she was at school. 

She said, "Mom why do you let Madison's friends come over to play? They could choke my stuffed animals to death and I wouldn't even be there to stop them. Then what? Do you want my stuffed animals to be dead?"

I giggled. (I too believed my dolls and stuffed animals were real at her age. However. I don't think I ever thought about someone choking them to death while I was away.)

She gave me the stink eye.

I said, "Why don't you ask them if they are dead."

She said, "Okay."

Then she took her Unicorn Pillowpet and looked at it right in the eyes and asked, "Did they choke you to death."

I was curled up with Madison and our heads were together and I puppeted, "No, I'm Alive."

Madison and I giggled.

Sierra got serious and said, "Mooooooom!"

I got serious.

She asked the unicorn again.

I puppeted, "I'm Dead." I giggled at how cleaver I was because if the stuffed animal was dead it couldn't speak. Madison giggled at my attempts at three year old humor.

Sierra left the room. Her and unicorn went off for a private conversation.

She came back to say, "Uni said when the kids tried to choke him, he pulled a spider out of his fur and put it on them. Then they let him go. He gave spiders to all the other stuffed animals, so they wouldn't get choked either.

I was still thinking about my cleaver puppeting.

I said, "Sierra, after I get old and die and you try to bury me in the ground I am just going to sit up and scream, "I am alive."

She started giggle and said, "Then I am going to say, "Go put this old lady back in her house!"

Then all three of us burst out laughing.

She got me back for my teasing this morning.

She asked me what a step-mother was.

I explained.

She said, "If I had a step-mother I think I would like her better than you." Then she looked over at me with her sly little grin.

I looked at her.

She said, "I could never love anyone more than you."

(Least I forget my Sweet Heart Madison.)

The other day she took my keys into her bedroom.

I asked her to go get them for me.

Then in a hushed whisphering voice she said, "The faries dis(d)appeared 'em."

She also told me this morning, "Mom you are my bestest friend and Sierra, but not Dad because he is a dude."

KIM ROCKS

Taleah

This girl has some serious skill. You have to check her out and you have to enter her contest. My friend Jess won last time. She is my friend. Did I just say that?

I have a lot of good luck vibes.

I will spread them your way if you go sign up.

(Don't worry she isn't goin to use your information for anything.)

She just wants to get her name out there. And she should because she rocks.

Click here.

THIS is CHILDHOOD

My sweet friend Lily needed poop for her garden.

My sweet friend K has a lot of poop on her farm.

In the spirit of neighborly love they delivered the poop and put it in her garden.

Sierra was so excited. She got to ride the tractor down the main road from the farm to Lily's house. She also got to remove the bailing twine from the poop piles. (There may or may not be a farmer who K gets poop from who leaves the bailing twine on the hay for the cow to ingest and poop out. I know. It had to be removed because when they till the garden it will get caught in the tilling blades.)

My daughter who is always eager to get dirty, dug in the poop for the bailing twine.

She loved it.

This was my favorite part of the day.

Watching these little ones playing.
Seeing them in the irragation collecting skeeters in paper cups and put them in buckets.

Running.

Digging in poop until their little nails were black.

Messing up their hair until it was unruly and knotted.

Splashing in every puddle or creek they saw.

Talking about plants and bugs.

Working hard but not feeling it because it was so much fun.

Coming home so filthy I had to tell them to strip down in the washroom and run to bathroom for a nice cool bath.
Where they were splashing so hard there was an inch of water on the floor.

Listening as their little imaginations run wild as they talked on and on about how it was the bestest day of their life.

(Madison and I drove the tractor back to the farm. You know that person crusine on a tractor at about five miles an hour infront of  you on a country road. Yep, that was me.  Madison and I were singing and giggling the whole time.)

I know.... what would we do without Sister K and her farm?

FISHING as a FAMILY

 Once upon a time,

we went fishing as a family.

The end.

 Oh, if life was that easy.

Nate wanted to go fishing with the girls.

The pictures on this post of genuine excitement and fishing family fun lasted about five minutes.

The girls lost interested.

They wanted to go play on the playground.

Nate was disappointed and stretched it out but finally called it quits.

We played on the playground.

There was a purple monster thing in the middle of the playground.

Madison kept climbing it and holding out her hands and exclaiming I did it.

She wanted us to cheer and we did.

Then she slide down and did it again.

This lasted ten minutes.

It was past both the girl's bedtimes and it was a school day.

We were ready to go. Madison wasn't.

She screamed all the way to the car, "I want to climb the purple monster."

We didn't like it. Nothing would end it.

Sierra started teasing her. She screamed louder.

We made it home 20 minutes later.

Both girls went to their rooms.

The end.