Happenings

Last week, the van Ormer home was a little nutty. But I think that is just how life is going to be from now on. We have older kids. We have 4 kids. We have a "newish" baby. We are active members of the church. We run our own business. And that makes life exciting -- to say the least! 

I have never been one who believes in flaunting the, "I'm SO busy" line. But right now, life is, well -- SO BUSY! It seems like it happened overnight. Last year, I did not even have to drive the kids to school, they walked. This year those 6 trips -- each 15 + minutes one-way -- are really filling my day! 

That is life though. And, you know, I might as well love it, right?

 It is my life. Mine. My own. My precious . . . 

(Did I mention I can't wait for the Hobbit? Oh yeah!) 

When there is a non-busy crack in the day, I have been trying to squeeze in a little "light" reading . . . (don't let that Weight Watchers book fool you -- I am certainly NOT dieting). And so far, all the recipes from that book have been nasty -- the kids especially thought they were gross. I think the idea is to make food totally unappealing, and then you lose weight. Also, notice the black spot on Henry's back? That is a fly. I hate flies. They are nasty and they are EVERYWHERE! Ick! The flies were the only ones in our house who seemed to love the food last week. 

We have been trying lots of different recipes, and the kids have not been too thrilled about them. Our mistake was trying really random, weird, stuff (Charles picked most of the recipes last week.) This week we are going back to a more kid-friendly plan. 

We made stuffed peppers . . . they were OK, but not as good as they should have been. In my opinion the spices were all wrong -- that dang Weight Watchers book spoiled it again! They were pretty though. Like Christmas. 

 The stuffed pepper filling . . . it wants to be yummy, but it's just not. 

I am still helping Charles out at home with his business, daily. I do pretty much whatever he needs, whenever he needs it. 

Our house is always filled with "music". Sammi chose to play the saxophone this year, last year she played the clarinet. The Sax is WAY louder (and more expensive to rent! Yikes! Like DOUBLE the clarinet). But Sammi is doing super (thank goodness). I still could really use a sound-proof room. She was selected for some statewide honor band, but she had to decide between that, and basketball. Basketball won. (Basketball starts at 7:15 in the morning! Yea!) 

 Sammi is also working hard at the piano -- ALL the time! If she happens to pass by it, she plays it. She is addicted to it, it would seem. I love it when she plays . . . except for one song. "Masquerade" from The Phantom of the Opera. She likes to play that song really fast, while I am making dinner, as the boys are running around in circles, and the baby is crying -- yeah, it can make me crazy!  Whew! But she is doing great, and I am so happy for her. 

 Here is Sammi's commitment to not watch Phantom too much. (This was her doing, not mine.) It cracks me up. She was watching her favorite parts, daily. (The stage-play movie, not the Hollywood movie.) There is some pretty awesome music in the play, for sure. So far, she has not watched it for 2 weeks. Way to go Sam!

It has been SO SMOKEY around here. Nasty. It was so bad last week, they discouraged outdoor activities, like running. I did not run all last week, because I was feeling so gross from the smoke. (Man I felt nasty not running.) Luckily, it rained last night and cleared it out. (I ran today.) It has been smokey almost ALL summer. No fun. 

 SO gross. See those little lights in the distance? BSU vs. BYU. Oh yeah. 

Random cute picture of Henry. He was looking at me making goo-goo eyes. Love this baby! 

 Charles had a Scout campout and he took Daniel with him. 

William was the man of the house -- so everyone slept in my room. 

 Before we went to sleep that night, we watched Shrek 1 and 3 (we couldn't find 2 ). For some reason I love those movies. I didn't like them the first time I saw them, but they really grew on me. 

Daddy bought Settlers of Catan, and he has been educating the children. (Good thing, since I am not a fan of those kind of games.) Also, notice Sammi's hair, I found an awesome website for cute girl hair ideas -- I need all the help I can get, since I am horrible at anything fancy. 

 Henry still sucks his thumb, and he ONLY sleeps on his tummy. 

 I tried offering Henry a binky, but he did not love it. 

 I didn't cover the things that made last week crazy, but it just was. Crazy week + not running = loopy me. Let's hope this week is a little more smooth. (Not likely.) At the very least -- let's hope the food tastes better!