Harry's Birthday

We had an early Birthday Party today for Harry who is turning 19 on the 1st. He'll be in San Diego that day.

The weather has been so beautiful lately that we decided to have a summer time BBQ. We have them often in the summer and Harry will miss them and we will miss him this summer. And it was a great party.

Roko played in the water. Sandy accidentally knocked him in, but he was OK and climbed right out and kept playing.

Dave got a chance to ride his Harley that he's been rebuilding. It started out a very "un" Harley purple. Dave took it apart, repainted it, got new tires and a retro seat, and had the logo painted on it. And he even got it all put back together correctly.

It is very cool.

The kid's table.

When the grown up dinner was ready everyone was so starved they rushed to the table.

But getting these 3 men in my life to come to the table is really torturous. Mark was already eating.

We were too busy eating and sharing favorite stories about Harry to take pictures at the grown up's table.

We laughed about the time Sandi locked him and the keys in the car while it was still running.

Dave had a garage band when Harry was little. He was their groupy and so they named the band Harrald for him.

Harry always wanted to be part of Kelly's backyard slumber parties. So after all the girls were in the tent and it would be just a little dark, he would sneak out to the tent and the girls would be scared by the noise he made. And he would say, "It's just me, Haaarry". When he was little we called him Haaarry.

Nancee told us he was the first person to make her feel really welcome in our family when at dinner he sat by her and leaned against her, put his hand up her sleeve and leaned his head on her arm. She also liked the way he would give her birthday presents that were things he liked such as a Rescue Hero or a Hotwheel, secretly hoping she would give it back.

So that leaves mine and Rich's memories. I remember bringing him home from the hospital after he was born and tucking him in bed between me and rich and looking at his sweet face.

Rich remembers showing him how to play on the computer "How Many How Many How Many Bugs in the Box. He was two.

Oh Yeah, Harry's favorite memory? Dave locking him in his room with the light turned off.

From then until he was about 12 he slept with a light on.

Then it was time for presents. Kelly and Roko were in charge.

They presented and unwrapped.

A beautiful spinner CTR ring and an oil vial (it's a church thing).

Non "skinny" jeans.

A camera to take on his mission. Complete with funky bendy tri pod, and case.

And what could be cooler than a new white shirt and two new cool ties and 10 pairs of black socks with a different color stripe at the top so he could pair them easily.

We sang and Roko and Kelly helped him blow out the candles.

All of our parties are a little crazy and chaotic, but they

are also fun and entertaing and we are

all together tickling littles kids, kissing babies,

and trying to get the "tweens" to participate.

It's loud. And we love every moment!

Wet Velvet

I read this really great blog post recently and I just really agreed with the mom.

Don't Carpe Diem

www.huffingtonpost.com

Parenting is hard and yet we keep doing it. It is a difficult climb that you look back on with both frustration, failure, and humiliation and joy, pride, and hilarity. Even as a Grandma, I am still climbing that mountain. And because of that I feel I can share this story.

It's scary and messy, and after a couple weeks even a little funny. But like all the other spikey outcroppings you have to get over on your way up the mountain, you just keep going.

It's about my cute granddaughter, Kelly. I LOVE HER. She is absolutely adorable. And we are the best of friends. We like the same toys and scary movies. I love her sparkly shoes and her tutus and wish I could find them in my size.

She's quirky!

Dramatic!

Imaginative!

Helpful!

She's 3.

I left her alone in the living room, watching a movie on the iPad and playing

with her own toys. I didn't think I had left her there long when she came to me saying, "I have just gotten marker all over me." She had marker on her arms and ankles, feet, and toes.

I jumped up and ran into the living room. This is what I found:

I just stood there without a clue as to what to do. I called for help. Rich and Harry came running. I was crying a little. This sofa belonged to a great aunt of my father's and was given to my parents and then to me. I was really glad my mom was not here to see it. (I felt a little like the day my 2yr old daughter had peed in a velvet chair at my mom's.) Anyway...

I wished I'd just flipped the cushions and left it. But maybe out of fear of my mother, I felt I had to try to clean it up. Do you know what happens when velvet gets wet?

(By the way- do you see the little happy face in the corner?)

I wasn't as worried about my iPad. I'd had one of those expensive shields put on it- thank goodness! It took a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (what an amazing invention) but I got it clean.

Harry took Kelly upstairs to give her a bath. She went calmly and enjoyed splashing Harry as he scrubbed her clean. I congratulate myself for not screaming at her or spanking her- 2 things I'm sure I did often as a young mom. (See? Experience is a good thing.)

I spent a night really upset. And old wet velvet is SMELLY!

Kelly stayed with Sissy (Sandi) the next day. And you know what? I missed her. A lot.

The next day Kelly came running in with the cutest "I'm sorry" card (colored with markers of course).

And the best "I'm sorry" present.

I climbed over that spike on the mountain and kept going, hugging, tickling, and loving Baby Kelly all the way!

P.S. On Wednesday we went out and bought Color Wonder markers and paper.

Get Dressed!

New Year's resolutions. We make them every year. They usually consist of things like saving money, losing weight, exercise, and cleaning out the garage. Well, I have 2 this year.

1. No murmuring.

2. Get dressed at least 4 days a week. (not including Sunday-because you just can't go to church in your pajamas)

The murmuring isn't going too great. But I am trying. It kind of goes a long with being nicer to my husband. That was going really well until last night when he wouldn't turn off the TV and I was trying to sleep. O well. Today is going much better.

But really it's all about getting dressed. I don't have a real job. I don't have to look stylish to play with Baby Kelly or fold laundry or wash dishes. And because of that, it's really easy to fall into the "sweats" rut or even the "These aren't pajamas; they are lounge wear." rut.

So I decided that I would force (and I mean force) myself to get dressed almost every day.

This was Monday. The first day.

Tuesday.

Wednesday. Kelly came to visit. I loved Roko and Ollie all day. And I looked stylish the whole day.

Thursday. You can see the novelty is starting to wear off.

By Friday it was all getting old. And it was a lot colder. I really need a lime green sweater.

You may be wondering why there are no bags pictured with these stylish outfits. I have lots of cute, stylish handbags, but this is what Rich gave me for Christmas so it just has to go with everything.

There's another reason I wanted to post pictures of outfits. On Pinterest (You know what Pinterest is don't you? If not check it out here.) they have a whole category devoted to fashion and it's loaded with really cute skinny outfits. If you want to see Plus Size fashions you have to "search" for them. Well I just think that's completely wrong. Why can't the Plus Size outfits mix in with the skinny ones? Are Plus Size outfits not considered fashion? Anyway, I just wanted to show that round girls wear clothes too.

Please note that all the jewelry shown was made by my very sweet and talented daughter, Kelly. And both scarves were crocheted by... me.

So for a whole 5 days I got dressed. And I kinda liked it. But it involved a lot of ironing and created a huge pile of laundry.

This week? I don't even remember Monday. Yesterday I wore sweats because I walked in the morning and then never got a chance to change. Today I have on an old ratty peasant skirt and a t-shirt. Maybe tomorrow it'll go better.

Don't ya LOVE New Year's resolutions?

Harry's Mission Call

Harry finally got his Missionary Call Letter!

It arrived in the morning.

But he waited until 4:30pm to open it.

He wanted everyone to be there. So we all were.

Mark and Kelly had too join by phone.

Aaaaand... He's going to London!

This is me trying to catch his reaction. he was out of his chair so quickly I couldn't get him. He was/is thrilled to be going to an English speaking mission. And really England is just the perfect place for him. After all his name is Harry, his hair is red, his favorite brand of shoe is TUK, and his favorite clothing brand is Ben Sherman. Truly I believe the Prophet was inspired.

So, Harry will be serving a 2 year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We will miss him, but the people he meets in England will get to know this wonderfully smart, sweet, kind, and spiritual young man.