Saturday Synopsis: Tuesday Edition

It's been ages since I've done a family update. If you plan on reading this, you might want to use the bathroom and get a snack first because it's a long one.

Alice having some SODA in her sippy cup with her candy lunch.

On the Valentine's lunch menu: shredded cheese mixed with Nerds. Her own creation.

Regressing with Grandma Gail when new baby Zoraya was visiting.

Alice with her best friend, the Old Navy dog. Don't judge me.

Alice, age 3, is currently obsessed with puzzles and the game Hullabaloo. She loves to play both things with whatever sucker she can find. We are in desperate need of a new, age appropriate game. If I have to play Hullabaloo one more time I might burst my Cranium. Any ideas?

Being the youngest of four, Alice has picked up some great tricks. She can set the table by herself, sort the silverware, pump by herself on the swing, load and shoot a Nerf gun, etc. Unfortunately, she has also picked up on some negative traits. She has acquired all kinds of insulting words like idiot and genius, said sarcastically. I haven't heard any swear words yet, so I guess I should be grateful. She got a "choose the right" stop-and-go sign at Primary that we use to remind her to say nice words. She said the Holy Ghost could help her say nice words and then she could sleep with Jesus. Sounds scary to me.

Henry looks a little naughty in this picture.

Playing king of the tower with cousins Charlotte, Sol, and Fiona.

Cousins visiting the new baby.

Henry's Bear Cub markings.

Henry, age 8, is growing up. I group him with Alice as a little kid, but he's almost nine. Henry and Alice still share a room, and it's the cutest thing. I keep thinking Henry will get exasperated with her, but they like to hang out and read books at night. Neither one of them can sleep if the other person isn't there.

There was a big push for Henry to finish his Bear award this month. He concentrated and worked on it with Carl the Scout Dad and he accomplished his goal. He was very proud.

Henry has finally become a reader. He's working his way through Harry Potter but he took a break to read Lightening Thief. We saw the movie together the other day and he liked it but it gave him bad dreams. I love that the author uses Greek mythology in the series. One of my favorite books as a kid was D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths, and I've purchased it for each one of my kids at one time. It gets worn out because they read it so much. It's expensive but worth every penny. Greek mythology is so prevalent in literature that to have a working knowledge of it is invaluable. Soap box finished.

Claire and Sol and her fingerless gloves so she can dial her phone.

Please note the super shiny hair. Claire has discovered hair brushes and she has been taking good care of her mane. She also invested in some make up the other day. I have no problem with that.

Claire, age 12, has some super duper self-esteem. She decorates her room and our refrigerator with her stellar algebra tests. She has some excellent friends that she competes with for grades, and it makes a difference. She might also be in competition with her older brother, but I'm pretending not to notice.

My relatively uncoordinated daughter recently discovered she has a knack for volleyball after playing with the church team. She has been practicing with me and it is fun. It makes me want to join a volleyball team, but not enough to actually do it. Volleyball would be a good sport for Claire. She has extra-long monkey arms.

I took Claire and Henry skiing last weekend and they are both improving. We took a difficult run at the end of the day and she recited prayers the whole way down, but she made it and the positive affirmations seemed to work. It's hard to ski when your body grows so quickly. The balance gets thrown off.

Max demonstrating his super power of stuffing mass quantities of food in his face.

More regression. Picture taken right before Max strong-armed Henry to the ground.

Max's happy place at Alcatraz.

Max, age 15, would prefer that I never take his picture or write anything about him. He'll never read this. Max just started swimming on the HS swim team under much duress. He misses his old routine of napping after school and then staying up all night. I must say, he's in an awfully good mood when he comes home from practice. Exertion agrees with him.


A milestone was achieved last week when Max voluntarily did unasked chores before he requested permission to hang out with friends. Nothing softens parents like a boy doing house work.

I was complaining to my sister Paige the other day about some issues I'm having with Max, and she said, "Does he go to school? Yes. Does he go to seminary? Yes. Then what is your problem?" I am trying to focus on the basics and truthfully, if I had to go to seminary, then school, then swimming, I would be exhausted, so I've got to cut him some slack. I just wish there wasn't homework to worry about.

Extreme close up.

Carl on an outing with my family to Fenton's ice cream parlor. The waiters brought Carl's banana split before any of ours and he had to do some serious protecting. He Does Not Share Food.

On Carl's 44th birthday in December.

Carl is finishing his work for Bank of America this week because he will be starting a new job with Cisco Systems next week. He is very excited to get back into manufacturing in the Silicon Valley, which is where his career began. Carl worked for B of A for eight years, a quarter of which was spent in Charlotte, North Carolina. He had to travel there frequently. I've never been and it feels weird to know nothing about that part of his life. I joke that he's going to have to say goodbye to his other wife and family. Ha. He could never handle another one of me.

Carl is proud of his citrus trees that have been producing delicious fruit, and he's discovered a new way to run that prevents injury. He learned it from the book "Born to Run." He ran thirteen miles on his birthday, just to see if he could. People see him running all over town and they want to talk about it. He doesn't jog, he runs. In short-shorts. Then he comes home and weighs himself to see if he's sweated off any weight. Manorexic. Carl finds it remarkable that he weighs less in the morning than in the evening. Too bad he's a guy, because charting his weight and hormone fluctuations could be a new hobby for him.

At Carl's birthday dinner the night before New Year's. We pretended the balloons were for him.

I lost my mojo last month but I'm trying to rediscover my will to live. Sometimes the groundhog day aspect of my life is so tedious. I wonder what makes me love the repetitive details sometimes and despise them at others? Don't answer that.

Last week when I was feeling glum I decided to take advantage of the sixty-five degree weather and go for a hike by myself in the hills. It got me out of my funk, so I'll have to remember that remedy. The most amusing part of my hike was being chased by a momma cow that was blocking the path. Cows hate me, but I got back at it by throwing rocks to make it move.

I had the privilege of giving my new niece Zoraya her first bath a couple of days ago. I love seeing little naked newborn sweetness and snuggling a clean baby. I'm lucky to have so many babies in my life that I don't have to bear. Speaking of birthing babies, my best cousin Anna is pregnant with numbers six and seven. Twins. That's what happens when you are pregnant and elderly. Anna and I have shared war stories about our similar kids through the years, but this is all new territory now. Maybe she'll give the boy baby to me.