Writing Exercise

This morning as Benson and I were walking to school he was telling me about one time when he crashed on his bike and KJ came running to help him. He said that any time he had a scratched up knee or any problem, really, KJ was always there to help him. Then he made a little loving sound and said "I just remember him as the kindest brother." That put a tear in my eye. What an amazing thing, to have a brother you can love and trust so absolutely. I'm proud of KJ and thankful to him for creating that for his little brother. Benson will grow up and be the best friend that he can count on, too. Too lovely.

The wind was blowing and it was a little cool and I thought it was delightful weather. Benson didn't agree. He thought it was too cold. I tried to make him feel better about things by enthusiastically calling it "a spring zephyr!" That didn't seem to change his mind. Weird.

I finally caught up on the things I was falling a little behind on today. Those bathrooms got a good scrubbing. I hadn't wiped them down in just a couple of days and that's all it took for them to get weird. Why do bathrooms have that superpower? It's like a point of pride for them or something.

Last year I had a time period where I was leaving the kids bathroom to their own devices, hoping it would teach them to be a little more responsible and help them want things to be a little tidier (spoiler alert: it didn't). Then one day a repair man came and needed to use the restroom and it was... a call to repentance for Marie, let's call it that. They might not have learned their lesson, but I sure did! Anyhow, if I give the bathrooms a good wipe down every day, no problem. Then I just do a deep clean on Mondays since I don't wipe them down on Sundays, and we're good! Except this week, I just wasn't feeling it, and I didn't wipe them down twice in a row. So they got a bonus deep cleaning. No clorox wipes were going to win in that battle. 

Do any of us really care to listen to Marie pontificate about bathroom cleanings? Not really. No. Collectively, we don't. I'm here to acknowledge that. But I'm trying to write a little more. I keep getting the prompting lately that this is what I should be doing, writing, so I'm going to write all of my current thoughts about bathroom upkeep and we'll all just nod politely. (To be clear -- you don't have to nod politely. You're not my prisoner. If this is not doing it for you, feel free to come back later. But personally, I'm having a nice time.)

I finished listening to the cutest book while I was cleaning, etc. It's one of my Dad's very favorites, it's called The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man. I've been relistening to loved books lately, and this one is such a delight. It's cute and funny and colorful in the best way. I kind of want to start it back over, but I have a lot of books on my library app bookshelf I need to get through. I'm like 30-50% through several books that are making me a little smarter, potentially, but I needed a nice story as a break. I think I'll be rereading a lot this year. It's just such a nice feeling for me. My bestie, T-Bomb, does not like to reread books. I like that about her. But for me, it's so comforting and nice. So it's a little form of self care that I'm now giving myself out of the clear blue sky. For those of you that read my book club reports on the Insta, you'll see lots of repeats this year, I suspect. This month I've read 6 books so far and 4 are repeats. So looks like I'm leaning in.

Liv wanted to do some shopping on her way home from school and kindly went and picked up the kids for me on the way home from her errands. That was nice! 'Cause I was, in fact, in my bathroom scrubbing at that time, so I really appreciated that. She has had her eye on this adorable outfit at Target and decided to go and get it. It is simply too cute! She looks cute as can be. Her fashion show was really making me smile.

Adorable, adorable.

Benson called me on Liv's phone on the way home from school to ask me to take him to the park for an emergency meeting he had with his friends. They had found a bone at school that they suspected was a dinosaur bone. The emergency meeting was to find a way to make some money off of this finding, apparently, but sadly no one was able to make it to the emergency meeting. I still had a nice time taking him. Anything for an emergency meeting!

Liv came with me on this chauffering adventure, and we were talking about her wrapping up her finals for school. She just casually mentioned her grades and I about fell out of the vehicle! At this point she is heading towards her associate degree with some seriously impressive grades. I said in total amazement that if she graduates with her associates with those grades, she could pretty much go to any university she wanted to for her bachelor's degree. She just cheerfully said "that's what my college counselor said!" My gosh. My heart went boom boom. I am so proud of this girl. Wow.

I sent her a text tonight to see if I could post her pic and she had me cracking up.

Being a Mom is fun.

Tomorrow is our last vacation day for this school year and that is wild. This year has absolutely zoomed by. After that, only three weeks left of school. One week for KJ. That's crazy.

Kate the Great is feeling pretty good about that fact. She and her friends are planning on getting together at the park for a picnic, doesn't that sound like such a great plan? Sounds just right to me.

KJ is feeling pretty good about that fact, too. If we can just get him to survive through finals, we'll be happy! He finished his piano final this morning and when he sent me a Marco Polo about it, it just really hit me that he has almost completed two years of college -- because he had to get through two years of piano. And he's done it. Wow. What an amazing human. He was telling me all about Vivaldi tonight and I informed him that Vivaldi was his favorite Baby Einstein video when he was a baby. The Double B asked me how I possibly remembered that, but of course I do! It was just me and my little buddha baby, watching Baby Einstein. Of course I knew his favorite! Those were happy days. The happiest little guy and our happy little home and building a happy little life together. I'm thankful for those memories.

I should probably send a testimonial to the makers of Baby Einstein and tell them that their business plan worked, because that kid is, in fact, a musician. And he is, in fact, crazy about classical music. Their diabolical plan worked!

Dad brought home Frank's barbecue for dinner tonight. None of us were sad about that! Yum yum yum.

I am teaching young women's on Sunday so I've been thinking a lot about the first three chapters of The Book of Mosiah. Mosiah is one of my all time fave books of scripture. I love The Book of Mormon. I've just really been thinking that this afternoon, after reading through those chapters again and listening to a podcast about them. The scriptures have been a really important resource in my life. Certainly the beginning of wisdom for me, so often a comfort, and utilized so often by the Holy Ghost to communicate with me and help answer my most important prayers. I really have a testimony that the Lord has given us sacred records as such a gift and a tender mercy.

Tonight BTS was keeping me company while I was walking on my little walking pad and bouncing on my little trampoline. Great fun. The time passed quickly and honestly my aging back felt a little better afterwards, so what a happy surprise. Then as I went into the kitchen to load the dishwasher I was reciting the presidents backwards in my mind, because I am determined to know all the presidents now. Because of course I would become obsessed with that. I got stuck on Calvin Coolidge, even though I totally know where he goes, so I had to go in to the Double B to ask him to give me a clue. Then I got stuck again for a minute on Chester Arthur! But I can now get to the truly wonderful (and I mean that) James Garfield. The Double B just shook his head at my antics. I couldn't be too confident, because of the whole Coolidge incident, but I told him "Once I get this down, we'll have it available at parties. If we're at a party and things get a little awkward, you can say 'wanna see a weird party thing that my wife can do?' That'll be handy!" He nodded along, humoring me. Then quipped "We just have to figure out how to get to a party first." Oh my goodness. I laughed and laughed and laughed. Truer words have never been spoken. Two introverts united in holy matrimony!! Not a lot of parties being attended around these parts.

Okay, do you feel like I really gave it a good old college try in the writing department? I feel like I did pretty well. I've written for an hour and 15 minutes! That's gotta count for something.

I love you, bye.

Dress Up

Last night before bed the Double B, Liv, and I were having a good time chatting. We got talking about our past and Dad was telling Liv about growing up and his Mom dressing up in homemade costumes for different events, or making him dress up in costumes (I'm sure this will shock you, but he didn't like it). Liv can kind of remember her grandparents dressing up as scripture characters for a camping reunion. We were just having a fun chat and laughing. I said "If Dad gets dementia, maybe he'll start dressing up as Old Testament prophets." The Double B took a pause to consider and then answered "Just shoot me. The sane me wouldn't want that."

L.O.L. 

This guy just cracks me up so much. He just amuses me. 

Today was his day off and so we went on our lunch date and then Liv was back from school when we got home. Benson and Katelyn are still testing away, and so is KJ, for that matter. 

We had a great time at young women's tonight. Kate's group had a Cake Pop and K-Pop night. How fun is that! The older girls had a scavenger hunt at Target. I really love being with them. 

Angel Food Cake

This morning while Benson and I were walking to school, we saw a man on a motorcycle that must spend a significant amount of time on that bike -- it had lots of stuff strapped to it. Benson made a noise of surprise and observed "Looks like that cyclist has been eating Chipotle -- and Taco Bell! ...So he's farting!!" Oh my goodness. I got such a laugh. Benson is a classic boy. It's so fun to hear his little boy mind at work.

When the Double B got home from work he whipped up some whipped cream and sliced some strawberries and served us all the angel food cake treat he intended for us to enjoy on Sunday! It was very, very delicious. I thought that was very nice of him to do that for us after a long day at work. Plus, he looked so cute.

Benson and I sang along to tunes while I watched Dad and Benny built Lego guys. It was fun. Spotify was playing some really confidence building numbers for us, lots of encouragement.

Here is my pretty angel food cake, as served by my boyfriend. Pretty nice, I gotta say.

While waiting, Benson decided to give his teeth a good brushing and asked me to send a text to KJ about it. He likes to keep his brother informed.

Made my second run to Costco in two days, but did make it home with the antibiotic I needed for Katelyn's ears. So that was a win. I also found some jeans the Double B liked yesterday and so I got a couple more pairs today. So that was a win, too. Let's walk on the sunny side of the street here.

 

Prom, GARTH!!!, And Other Adventures

Olivia had prom on Saturday! She had such a great time and looked like a princess while doing it.

Prom was by the airport, so she totally slayed navigating downtown, too. (Which is no small feat.) Her friends came over to get ready together, and it was so fun to listen to them having a blast together. I love the sound of happy teenagers. They are adorable and all looked amazing. 

It's been a really good year for Liv. I think she is happy that she gave herself the opportunity to go have an adventure at a new school and has made some great friends there. 

After the girls headed out for their adventures I went with the young women leaders to the temple. We went to dinner afterwards and had a doll of a time.

Honestly, I am impressed that I made it to the temple twice in one week. I may have peaked! Both were good experiences and with people that I am very fond of, so a win for our little Marie. We'd all like to think that things like this may lead to me becoming a better person over time. (That is yet to be determined. A real TBD.) 

When I got home Benson had the greatest artwork to show me! Two self portraits that I am absolutely in love with. His art is so darn fun and I am always amazed at the detail that he puts into it. 

Pretty darned cute.

Poor Kate has been sick the last few days. When she gets sick she really gets it. My heart just goes out to her, I wish she didn't have to deal with that. She is a trooper and I tried to take care of her the best that I could. I think she might be part of the migraine sufferer brigade. I really hope not. WTH, genetics!! I love that little bean. Tonight she was letting me hug on her in the kitchen before heading off to bed. I told her that she's my tiny baby bean even if she tries to turn 14. I reminded her that you can't even do those things without permission, anyway, and I haven't heard her give any requests! Liv was working on her art at the table and said "Kate, sometimes you've just got to rebel." Lol. That gave her sister a laugh and is probably good advice.

Yesterday was stake conference. It was a good meeting, but two hours is a lot for a bum. At least we aren't the Double B, he had to sit through four hours with his meeting beforehand! He said he felt his ADHD in a really intense way by the end, ha ha. Then last night he was off to the hospital to give a blessing and minister to a ward member again. He is really an amazing human being. We stan a king, as the kids say.

Olivia and I had a very unexpected opportunity to see GARTH(!!!!) this weekend!! We certainly weren't expecting such an awesome experience to come our way, but we got to go at the last minute with my cousin Paul and his awesome wife Ari, and it was a total ball. Garth is one of the great showman's, and we adore Paul and Ari. It was really fun to get to share that experience with Liv, and she had a really great time. We do realize that between seeing BTS and GARTH(!!!!) as her concert experiences, she might have unrealistic expectations for when she gets to see just your regular type of artist. She's gotten to see some of the greats at a young age. That's super awesome. And I'm basically an infant in middle age, so my young age, too! What a blast. He's so amazing. He never disappoints. We love GARTH!!!!

Kate is on the mend, thank heavens, and everybody got to school just fine today. Poor Dad got called into work at two in the morning, so he got home earlier than usual and then basically collapsed into sleep for four hours. Much needed. He was a little bummed when he woke up to have slept away the day, but I'm thankful. He does know that he really needed it. When he gets too worn down he gets a cold, and with his asthma that cough just sets into his lungs and then we're chasing it for a few months. So I'm really thankful that he learned some wisdom in his youth and got some rest (Alma would be proud).

Kate and Benny had the misfortune of having to get their teeth cleaned and checked today. Nobody likes that. But they do have the cleanest teeth ever tonight, so that's a benefit. Liv had a girls camp meeting tonight and is now working away on her art final. It's coming right along. 

Kaje is trying to survive the last week of classes and then finals next week. A stressful time, as all college students know! We're cheering for him!

I talked with my Mom on the phone this morning and then just Mom'd. My favorite kind of busy work. Alright. Here is where we finish our record for tonight. I love you and I like you. Let's talk again soon.

 

Brownies

Tonight the girls and I went for a little jaunt to drop off a birthday treat. They wrote cute notes, I packaged it mediocre, and off we went. Hopefully we spread a little cheer. 

The recipient loves brownies. I've made brownies roughly nine million times, but I'm not kidding, I can't do it now. It doesn't work. So I think my Mom put some kind of cosmic copyright on her recipe and I'm just out in the brownie cold? Nevertheless, I still made them and they still didn't really work and I still delivered them. The effort will have to be enough here. 

Love my girls. 

Creativity

Today was my boyfriend's day off. He caught up on some much needed sleep and then we went and grabbed some lunch. I told him all about what is going on with the House of Representatives and how some of those rules work, whether he wanted to hear it or not (he did not. But I told him that he does have to sometimes listen to things just because they interest me. Just like it's my job to listen about all sports and sports teams. Fantasy novels. Deranged people at work. Presidency meeting planning. I listen because I love him. So every great once in awhile, I throw out some interesting to me government fact, in the name of equality.)

This afternoon Benson came in to me. "Mom, do you remember how I used to like to sneak out of my crib when I was little? I made baby me in my crib in Lego!"

He sure did. Super cute.

Mutual was combined with the young men today at the park. It was fun to visit and Kate got this awesome picture of the moon peaking out from behind the tree.

Love my Katee girl.

Liv has been working really hard on a piece for her art class. I really, really love to see her create. It honestly amazes me and it just thrills my soul to see what she can accomplish now. It's because of so much hard work that she has put in for years, but it is certainly a thrill to witness.

I asked her if she ever impresses herself. She said that she gets so tired of looking at the same thing that she wants to blow it up, but sometimes she comes back to it a few days later and is a little impressed with what she has accomplished. I'm always impressed, honestly.

Benson loves to sit there and watch her work while building whatever Lego creation he has his mind on. This one is a Brick Seperator Kit. His sales pitch: "I got my trusty Brick Seperator Kit here! If I ever lose my brick separator, I can just grab a new one from my kit!" He made a sales video to send to KJ and everything. Pretty silly.

Lego KJ

Benson made KJ as a Lego guy. Pretty accurate, really.

Obviously Benny needed to text KJ so that he could see himself in Lego form.

It's pretty cute how much Benny loves to text or Marco Polo his big brother. And it really warms my heart how good KJ is to always reply to Benny. They're a good pair.

Great news, I got the bathrooms cleaned today! It might have happened later in the day, but it happened, by golly. They got a thorough cleaning and now I'm pretty sure they're feeling pretty happy about things. 

I went to the temple this morning with my wonderful friend Jen. It was a really nice session. I love the changes they are making. I love that they keep adjusting it to try to get it closer and closer all the time. I really like that part of believing in continuing revelation -- in the belief that there is an ongoing restoration. I also love to be with Jen. We grabbed lunch afterwards and always talk talk talk. We are a classic case of opposites attract. We are extremely different and experience the world very differently -- and we also love each other very much. It reminds me of a quote I saw recently from a "who won church" post I saw on the Insta. It said "Unity does not require sameness, but it requires harmony." That really resonated with me. I think that's true. 

I loved being in the temple and I loved my time with my friend.

I was very happy to see Liv when I got home and get her updates from school. She worked with charcoal today and it wasn't on her face at all, which was very disappointing! The first time her college art class worked with charcoal a few weeks ago she came in looking like a chimney sweep. It was one of the single cutest things in the whole world. She didn't think it was cute, but it certainly was! I am very sad that I wasn't able to sneak a picture. Today she was coal dust free. She would want that in the record.

Katelyn and Benson both have end of the year testing going on at school and that's tiring for anybody!

KJ got to work at the state park for a few hours and that was very good for his spirit and his pocket book.

My Benny has kept me company this evening while watching his farming videos on YouTube. He has kindly paused it to listen to my thoughts about how the Catholics have groups that are basically schools of thought within the faith, and why can't we do that? I love my Jesuit and Franciscan priest writers! It's not a bad idea. If the church ever calls me, I'll be sure to let them know what I'm thinking. He also watched a little video I found of a very funny drunk guy dancing with a police officer before being arrested. Good fun.

I need to load the dishwasher and I'm basically falling asleep, so there's that. I gotta go.

I love you, though. Never doubt it!