A Little Surprise

Brent was pulling weeds in the front of our house and found a strange looking weed.

Upon further inspection he realized it was a pumpkin!!

It sprouted from a seed from the jack o lantern guts we scooped out last fall and was disguarded among the rocks.

I am amazed because it had to break threw the black plastic, get no water, and thrive among the rocks in the direct sunlight, and still managed to live!!

The girls were so excited.

I moved the pitiful thing into a plastic tupperware bowl and relocated it to the rest of the flowers.

It's roots were thin and barely clinging on, so I hope it can make it!!

If not, I'll go down to home hardware and get a pumpkin plant and switch it out,

because there is nothing wrong with letting my children hold on to some hope!!

Friendly Neighborhood Spider

My husband and daughters are a little sick.

They found a spider who had spun a web from our porch pole to our fence.

Now an average person would squash it or break the web.

No. Not my family.

They have been catching ants and feeding the nasty thing.

So it is thriving, getting fatter and fatter.

The black dots are old prey.

I guess he's a hoarder.

The fat thing in the middle with the legs is the spider.

That's just lovely.

What We've Been Up To

We have been busy!!

The end of the school year comes with rushing and planning and trying to get everything wrapped up.

We put in an offer on a house and it has been accepted, we're now trying to get through the mess of closing.

In the mean time, we've been keeping busy!!

 Every Sunday my girls fight over who gets to sit by Grandpa.

Or more accurately, on him.

Scarlet won this articular Sunday.

 One of my New Year's Goals was to read scriptures as a family.

So far we've been doing well!!

We're currently finishing the last chapter of Jacob.

I love to snuggle all together and the girls are holding still and I get to hold them for a moment.

Even Kato joins the fun.

I will admit, he prefers Scarlet.

But Molly prefers Ella. Vastly prefers her!!

 Ella has been busy with homework and dance practice.

She has enjoyed dance, but it has been a little intense since the new year.

We've talked about it, and next year she wants to do a music class.

Violin or piano.

I fully support this!!

 Sacrament meeting can be one of my favorite hours of the week.

My girls sit quietly and draw or color or snack on goldfish.

One or both of them might graciously grant me with snuggling.

Scarlet had got up ridiculously early this particular morning, and decided my full skirt was perfect to roll up in and cuddle.

Spring brings many emotions for me.

I'm excited for my new flowers and roses.

The fresh, moist air and the longer days are glorious.

But I can feel the hot, terrible breath of summer on my neck and I shiver.

The temperature taunts me with beautiful, breezy days,

grey rainy days,

and hot, stale days.

And I wait.

Wait for the heat to win and settle in.

But oh I love my plants......sigh....

Fair: Day 2

Fair day 2 was MUCH better!!

The weather was beautiful.

It had rained earlier in the day, and the air was fresh and cool.

No direct sunlight!!

 The girls went on pony rides!!

They also went in the bubbles.

The teenage boy in charge was so sweet and cute with them.

He earned the tip I stuffed in his jar!!

 They got Mardi Gras face paint.

Brent was trying tp convince them to get the Mike Tyson tattoo!!

I quickly put an end to that!!

We found the NDOW cut out!!

 Ella is short and very resourceful when she realizes she isn't tall enough.

She dragged a chair over to take her picture,

but the cut out kind of leaned forward and she was about to pitch forward,

hence my arm!!

Scarlet was so excited because she thought this was literally Brent after he stood behind it.

She thought it was Daddy's uniform!!

It is kind of close!!

We took this pic fast cuz I was trying to hold her up and hide at the same time!!

This night was so pretty and we weren't tired or cranky.

It was much better and I'm glad we were able to go up!!

So much is coming up soon!!

School only has 7 1/2 weeks left.....

Holy crap!!

I am so excited to have the girls home and we are buying some water toys!!

I'm not so excited for the heat.

Hence the water toys.

If you me on a slip n slide,

don't judge!!

Rant and Rave

I try to promote mental health awareness.

I feel like knowledge is understanding.

The more we understand each other, the more we can show kindness and compassion.

Unfortunately, there are still narrow minded, ignorant people.

There is a very low chance that any of those people will ever change their mind,

and they truly are entitled to their opinion,

but if I can convince someone to at least hold their tongue,

or hold back a flippant remark,

then I have done something.

Mental health sucks.

I'm sure there is a more eloquent way to phrase that,

but I am choosing to not sugar coat it.

It sucks.

Plain as that.

Depression

Anxiety

BOTH

Bipolar

Chronic Fatigue

Fybromyalgia

PCOS

These are chronic illnesses.

They are diseases.

They are real.

And they are hard.

 A day out could be a lot of fun.

Or it could be cripplingly exhausting.

Somehow it's socially unacceptable to just feel tired and act tired.

We always have to pretend it's ok and put on a happy face.

 And while we have to pretend to be happy,

and not talk about our illness,

we have to have compassion on those who don't have a clue what's going on in our heads or bodies.

I acknowledge your problems and I understand that they are important to you,

and I will show you sympathy and compassion,

just reciprocate those emotions.

Even if you 'don't get it'.

 It's exhausting and overwhelming.

I am not seeking attention.

As a matter of fact,

I am trying my hardest to stay away from attention!!

Most of the time I am just thinking too damn much.

 NEVER. EVER.

Tell someone this.

NEVER. EVER.

Tell them to get over it.

Or 'choose to be happy'.

Yes. I CHOOSE to feel like this.

 The ever lurking paranoia that some sinister health problem lurks below.

Sometimes it's funny and I laugh.

Sometimes I'm trying to bury the fear that is real to me.

 Now I do not categorize myself as sick.

I feel like I am currently in recovery,

with good and bad days.

But I do have flare days, and no I can not just snap out of it.

Or 'just get up and do something and then you'll feel better'.

If you do not have this, you DO NOT understand it.

It's ok!!

You don't have to try.

Just be nice.

And don't judge.

Now I will agree that some will let their condition define them,

or take no actions to cope with it.

But where have they been?

What brought them to that point?

If it is truly just beyond your capability to find compassion,

or too hard to not pass judgement,

then at least keep it to your self.

And to all those out there who feel the kind of tired sleep can't fix,

keep fighting.

That's all we can do.

Keep fighting.

Find someone who doesn't judge.

Find someone who loves you.

Reach out to those who are starting down the dark and confusing road.

Tell your story.

And at the end of the day, at least you tried.

Clark County Fair

It's fair time again!!

 Brent was a good sport and chaperoned Ella's class this year.

 Ella was really excited to find a lady bug!!

 Scarlet and I came up later.

She loved all the chickens.

My mom decorates with A LOT of chickens.

Like we had some concern for awhile.

Scarlet kept telling me she wanted to show Grandma all the chickens!!

 We decided to go to the Carnival early in the day so we could beat the crowds,

(and get it over with....)

 We. Roasted.

The girls had so much fun tho!!

Ella's getting a little big for the kiddie rides, but has NO interest in the big rides.

Even after the kiddie rides she complained of being dizzy and sick to her stomach.

I have never liked rides so I understand!!

 She did love the slide tho!!!

.

 SO did Scarlet!!!

She wasn't tall enough to go on her own, so we had to buy some tokens for Brent to go with her.

 I feel bad because we went threw the rides once and then all of us were done.

The girls were hot, tired, hungry, and thirsty.

And so were me and Brent!!

We were roasted.

Well, the white people were roasted!!

Ella and I were fine!!

Scarlet gets bright red in the heat but doesn't burn.

Once she cools off, her cheeks go from rosy to tan.

Brent, however, is white, or red.

His body doesn't know how to tan!!

I usually enjoy the fair.

I don't LIVE for the fair like some of my friends.

It's fun and something to do,

but I don't go up every day, all day.

Nor do I want to!!

This year was a little unsatisfying.

It was hot.

We are going back up this evening to watch Ella dance,

I'm going to do all I can to guide our evening toward fun!!

Easter!!!

First look at the egg dotted yard.

Our yard isn't small,

but neither is it large.

So there was an egg every few feet!!

 Eyes to the ground!!

The green ones were sneaky and blended in!!

 Basket discovery!!

This year the girls were brought Easter bags.

Maybe our baskets were too small for the things they got!!

 Ella complained, "I'm getting too tall!! I'm too far away from the ground!!"

Ummmm....sweetie, you're in the 15% for height.

But I appreciate your confidence!!

Ella was so excited to see cheeze its.

Even if we have a Costco size box in the pantry.

She doesn't like sweets.

She like some chocolate and baked stuff.

But she'd rather die than eat a jelly bean!!

 We had a lovely morning together.

Brent was able to be home and we all got to go to church together.

We didn't get an Easter Sunday clothes picture,

so we might have to next week!!