Okayyy, just kidding. Harvard Law School it is!

My daughter, Trisha, had what she called a "quarter year crisis" and decided she really wanted to go to Harvard Law School after all this fall instead of NYU. So she checked see if she could have her spot back (she had already officially withdrawn) and she can so she'll be off to Harvard in August instead! They start a little later than NYU so she may be able to come on our family vacation for a little while (in addition to the Hawaii trip she and her husband had already planned and now they'll need a house hunting trip back to Cambridge!). Anyway, the whole thing seems so surreal, but apparently Lloyd and Vanessa had wanted her to accept to Harvard all along so there you go! I'll just be happy with whatever she does and wherever she goes from here -- so long as she uses her God-given gifts well!

How to Be a Bone Marrow Donor

First of all, right now, it's FREE to be tested and listed to be a bone marrow donor. I recently did this and paid $52, I think it was, so it's not much, but if cost is your stumbling block, it's been removed for about the next week.

From June 8-22, it's free to sign up to be a donor (while funding still remains to cover it).

If not knowing how to do it is your stumbling block, it's really very easy.

1. Confirm you meet basic registry guidelines.
2. Complete the online form and order your registration kit. This step will take about 30 minutes.
3. Follow the instructions in your kit to collect a swab of cheek cells and return the kit in the postage prepaid envelope.

That's it!

Click here to get started.

Hitting the Open Highway

Tonight I finally got a chance to go out with DH on his baby. The kids have gone out with DH with my gear on, but I didn't want to go out for a spin even just around the neighborhood and leave the kids home alone so tonight for date night, we planned a ride. We headed out to Boulder City, picked up Capriotti's for dinner, and headed out to Lake Mead. We rode along the shoreline road and scoped out a different launch for the boat next time, stopped at a scenic overlook, scoped out secluded beaches to park the boat at some time, then continued on around to the entrance near Lake Las Vegas. The weather was beautiful and we were riding before and during the sunset which was awesome because we had an unobstructed view. The sun was hiding behind an odd-shaped cloud, illuminating behind it at one point. I wish I had my camera. Well, other than on my Blackberry like these pics Sheridan took of us before we left! We hung out at Lake Las Vegas for a while, watched a concert on the green there. It was a Johnny Cash tribute. Not a fan, but it was relaxing and enjoyable, especially when they put on normal music when the band went on break. :-) We stopped for a Target registry scope out, ran into friends with their 9mo twin babies, then headed home. It was great fun!

With Saturdays being so busy and Sunday set aside for church and Sabbath day, it doesn't leave a lot of time to ride as a couple, but Lloyd's been driving his baby every day to work so I'm good. It was fun, I had little or no nerves about the ride, and most of all DH was very happy I went with him and that made me happy. I have to admit it is really fun and I noticed that strangers spoke to us that I don't think otherwise would have so that was nice!Before Our Maiden Voyage Together

Vanessa's Piano Recital

Vanessa had her piano recital last night. I took this on my Blackberry so the sound quality isn't the best since we were a distance away so the volume has to be way up and there are still spots it's hard to hear. She's very good. I can brag because she's not my DIRECT daughter. ;) We enjoy her playing so much. It's so nice to have her music in our home. She got an "Honors" designation at the recent Junior Festival which is a very high honor.

Too long since an update

We have had so much going on that I haven't had time to update! While others are winding down their school year, we're stuck on Track 1 (sore subject!) so while we're glad the pressures of sports seasons are taking a break for a little bit, we're still hanging in there with the whole school thing, though SUMMER!!!! is very much on our minds!

We recently bought a new-to-us boat.
It's several feet longer and wider than our previous boat and that apparently makes all the difference. We were able to launch in Lake Mead instead of going to Lake Mojave on the Arizona side and we were able to take it out Saturday after TWO soccer tournament games of Philip's since it's much closer to launch from Boulder city. The kids brought 3 friends and I had the biggest blast towing the kids behind the boat. I laughed so hard the back of my head hurt so much. I loved that all the kids were daredevils and a lot of fun. Now I can't wait even more to go on our vacation this summer because we can bring this along.

The twins also had their first piano recital ever on Friday. They just started lessons a few months ago after a 6-week session through the rec center last year. They both played much faster than they normally would and made a few mistakes in there. Neither thought they were playing fast, though, you know how that goes.



Here's an update on Lloyd's baby. This was taken once it came home, but before he restored the original Yamaha V-STAR "decals" on it. And, this was taken on my Blackberry so doesn't do the beauty justice. :-) The twins have gotten rides on it now that I got my helmet since that fits them, too. I made them wear my jacket, too, just in case.
Vanessa's almost done with middle school. This is the last week of school. She went to her first ever middle school dance a few weeks ago and these are from the pics I took of her. I'm not a photographer AT ALL and Lloyd had to be a in class that night so I was glad they turned out halfway decent.
Going back a little bit to April, we went to Universal Studios over Spring Break. The kids really loved this vampire. We have a family picture on Vanessa's camera I still need to get, but here's a peak at him as well as "Wisteria Lane" (Desperate Housewives).

His girlfriend looks mad, huh? :-)
Philip wasn't very cooperative letting me take his pics as you can see ...
But, he was probably too preoccupied here to dodge the camera: Vanessa did so much of this ... ... that she got special mention from the TRAM DRIVER! (she's got a little device in her hands in case you are wondering what she's doing ..... -- teens!).

We visited the Griffith Park Observatory and saw the planetarium show. It was very relaxing and nice, but maybe a little too animation-ish for my tastes. I still remember the planetarium in Golden Gate park, but maybe they've changed over to this high tech fancy way of doing planetarium shows, too.
We were also able to have breakfast with my daughter and her husband and then walk over to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and have the privilege of seeing the various freaks out there like this one. :::shudder:::

Now for the best part of the trip ... We got to have Togo's! The kids and Lloyd had it for the first time and now they're hooked. So whenever we go to California, we have to look them up!

My husband's new child

My husband, Lloyd, is expecting a new child. I will help raise and guide it, but this one is my husband's.

This is not the actual child, it hasn't been born yet, we expect that in the next day or two. For now, we'll show a picture of someone else's child (Lloyd's child isn't as studded up), but the coloring is right.

New great nephew was born

Well, he may be great in more than one way, but this is my nephew's son, making it my great nephew. He was due on 5/13, but decided to arrive on 4/18 -- the same birthday as his Daddy and Grandma (Dad's mom). Pretty amazing -- 3 generations in a row! This is my nephew that was trouble for a while. I used to want to smack him for pulling dumb, I mean REALLY dumb stuff. Then he turned his life around and met his truly better half. They have a DD that's 2 and now a new son. I'm pretty proud of them all!

Baby Nolan is in the NICU, born with fluid deep in his lungs, but is apparently doing very well so we will keep him in our thoughts.

Ooh, a giveaway!

I found this blog on a blog on a blog a while back and just love the way this person writes -- The Meanest Mom. She's doing a Mother's Day giveaway on her blog with interesting things that are interesting even if they are NOT being given away! Click here to read about it.

Piano is for Girls!

That's what Philip says. He really resisted taking lessons and about a year ago, we said piano lessons are as required as going to school is and if he didn't do them, he couldn't play sports (Philip? NOT play sports? IMPOSSIBLE!). I'll skip the part where I pulled over on the road on the way to Little League sign ups to make him decide. :-) He got a reprieve after the rec center piano lessons I signed him up for for lack of knowing a private teacher fell through after one session because of scheduling. But, we found a new private teacher this year that they love and lo and behold, he's doing very well with his piano lessons and every time his teacher gives him something new to play, he just picks up on it right away. Granted, he's still a beginning student so maybe it's always easy to pick things up, but his teacher made a point of commenting to me how he is very good and seems to have a natural talent. He's so funny. I actually taped his twin sister playing "Love at Home" and him sitting on the bench next to her singing. Hehe! He would have NEVER done it if he knew I was taping .... I love that little boy. Sheridan goes first for her lesson because then I pick her up and get her home for our soccer carpool pick up and Philip was playing with neighbors during Sheridan's lesson so before he went back into the piano teacher's house, he had to come all away around the car to give his Mama a kiss. I think often of the things I need to teach this very boy boy so he'll be a good husband and father some day and am mindful daily of his good heart at least with regard to his Mom. The way he and his sister fight, if I didn't know this side of him, I would seriously wonder! After having mouthy girls (shhh), it's nice to have the more even keel relationship with my son. He's feisty and stubborn, but just isn't given to mouthing off to me for the sake of drama, having the last word, etc. He was my tough one when he was younger, the bigger cryer, etc. so it's nice to have this payoff and I'm really enjoying seeing him accomplish things he's involved in.

And, he thinks things like this are hysterically funny. We saw this person on the freeway just ahead of this before we got off at our exit. They did, too. The kids insisted I take a picture so I caught up and snapped this picture. And, yes, I was driving.Female Motorcyclist Rides with Winnie the Pooh Backpack

NYU It is!

Well, NYU it is! Trisha ended up with the AnBryce scholarship and is thrilled about that and I think it is actually the best choice. The AnBryce scholarship not only covers her tuition for 3 years, but it's a program of mentoring. It's given to students who "have overcome significant economic hardship."

Anyway, I'm very thrilled for her and while I didn't see this coming, she hasn't talked much about NYU previously (she applied to many schools and was accepted to many so we'd talked about other ones, but this one only maybe briefly), she shared with me so thoughts she'd held close to the vest so I know this was the right fit for her and am so happy for her.

It's a long ways from "home", but Trisha has also always had a yearning for NYC. She went to a summer program once while in high school and tried to go to NY for her undergrad and I just couldn't see her being that far from home (we lived in No Cal at the time). So this really does feel like the right place for her. The AnBryce scholarship is so awesome, too, it almost seems like the BEST part of going to NYU!

Bone Marrow Donation

I did it.

Thanks to the connection in the blogosphere, something that's been on my mind many times in the past finally became a reality.

I've always had thoughts of being a bone marrow donor, but having had chronic pain (c-spine and various random arthritis spots), I couldn't bear the thought of doing something that would mess with my hip area, but the random spots of pain have lessened in frequency. I tried to look into being a donor a few years ago, I can't recall what site I went to for info, but there wasn't a center that serviced the Las Vegas area so that was that.

But, in reading blogs recently, there was one with a link to the National Marrow Donor Program and you don't have to be near a center, they send a kit to you to return back with a mouth swab. So, I did it. The cost is $52 if you're not part of a screening drive that has a sponsor like you often see in communities. I didn't want to wait for that.

Eagle of the Month

On Friday, Philip (4th grade) received the Eagle of the Month award at school. The theme for this month was "courage" and each teacher can nominate a child. The P.E. teacher nominated Philip for being "always respectful" to his classmates and for giving 100% all the time. I think the fact Philip's a tenacious athlete and is one of only apparently a few kids that the PE teacher gives A's to had something to do with it, but we'll take it! Sheridan got Eagle of the Month from her 4th grade teacher the first month of school, but I wasn't blogging then so giving her equal time now. :-)

Happy Birthday, Trisha!

Make your own Glitter Graphics

Today is Trisha's birthday. Happy birthday, Trisha! Should be a GREAT year!

Frozen Yogurt Bar -- YUM!

So there's a frozen yogurt bar right down the hill from us and I had no idea it was there! DH and I went on a date tonight to Johnny Mac's then off to do some shopping, then went to go to Coldstone on the way home and it was CLOSED! That's what we get for never frequenting the place in the 2 years we've lived in this home! So we went to head down to a smoothie place and ran into this frozen yogurt bar. This isn't it (pic below), but similar set up. ~12 flavors of yogurt, serve yourself, pay by the ounce. I got banana, raspberry, cake batter, and pistachio. Oh.my.gosh -- that place is going to get hit up often by this family!

Harvard Student Speaks on Mormonism

This was interesting to me both because I'm a Mormon (who knew?!) and my daughter is most likely going to be attending Harvard Law school in the fall. This Harvard junior and Mormon did a great job answering questions at a "day of faith" event with journalist Sally Quin.

Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

Silent Majority Gets Chance to Speak Out

If you feel like part of the silent majority or even just part of the silent, here's your chance to let your opinions be known about your disagreement with the size of our government and the burden it's placed on individuals.

Information on Tea Party revolts in Nevada can be found here.

Information on Tea Party revolts in other states can be found here.

And, information on the Tea Party movement can be found here and here.

Did I do that??

Not really a laughing matter at all, but this made me giggle anyway. I knew Obama reminded me of someone and now I realize who. (and this part I'm quite serious about!)

Lloyd is Going to be a Grandpa

So Lloyd's already been a wonderful kind and patient grandfather, but really he's been a "step" grandfather (ugh, labels). So now he's going to be a, hmm, "real" grandfather? "Biological" grandfather? His daughter stopped by last night at the end of his teenager daughter's weekend time with us to let him know. Lloyd already knew. He just knew. He's had issues with post traumatic post-post-post-divorce conflicts making the kids choose sides and that sort of thing (those that know us know the sordid details, won't rehash here), so it was a little awkward for him and his ex looked on from steps away (no privacy!), but he was glad his daughter came out to tell him and he was very happy for her. He's been dreading this day a little because he figures it'll be the source for more conflicts and tug of war, but that all went out of his head while he was talking to his daughter (then resurfaced later, of course -- LOL). So please keep fingers and toes crossed that all turns out well on all fronts. His daughter looked very good, though, hasn't had a day of sickness (is already a few months along) so lucky her!

Lloyd was born to be a grandpa. He tells the corniest jokes and stories and has no end of them to tell. He still believes in the value of hard work, sweat equity, and knowing how to be handy, fix things, and do the things men used to do before they got all wimpy. Just what the young generation needs to be grounded in the "olden" days!

Planning Spring Break

I am the vacation planner. And, I like to go places. So, I am frequently planning or planning to plan a trip. The twins (almost 10) are the roadblocks. They like to :::cough cough::: express their opinions -- in such a way it's gotten to the point we don't even like to tell them where we're going or what we're doing because that just prolongs the torture. Isn't that really dumb? LOL. Here we are building family memories and taking them places to fun (!) things and it's become a dreaded chore. So the bright idea came to me to give the kids (the almost 10 year old twins and almost 14yo) several options for a spring break vacation. Now, a point they can't appreciate, but I sure do is that originally I thought we'd be doing our backyard putting in during that time, but we seem to be on track to get that done so we don't need to work the whole week. But, why should they care about that? Putting the back yard in isn't their problem in the first place. ;-)

So I had the options, nothing exotic, we're driving, and I passed sheets with options out during dinner after the masses were mostly fed and the discussion started. Luckily, there was something each one liked so it was just a matter of picking the one that was best. I was a little crafty in how I did the options, but miracle of miracles ... I think it may have worked. So now I get to focus in the coming weeks on picking out the hotel, something I often have to wait to do because I'm not sure if there's going to be a mutiny and the plans will have to be cancelled.

Gee, I wonder if our stake will be holding another parenting class series any time soon. :::wink:::

Done and Done!

Taxes. Check.

Submissions for Trisha's law school scholarship even-though-"child"-is-now-a-full-grown-adult-and-MARRIED. Check.

YAY! What a relief to have these monkeys off my back and it's still February!

And amazingly, I'm not sure how it happened, but we are getting a refund. A good-sized one. I had some unexpected things last yaer and thought I was really in for it, but I was wrong. WHEW!!! Big sigh of relief there.

Oh, we are also getting the backyard done. Finally. Have only had a patio and dirt and a pool during the summer. So the race is on to get everything in before the hot weather hits. Had trees/plants put in this month. Part of yard pictured here with our human sprinkler.


And, in a totally unrelated note, we had our Cub Scout Blue & Gold dinner last night (Lloyd and I are Cubmasters -- try not to laugh). The Cub Scouts were each supposed to make a cake celebrating Scouts with their parents. Now, I don't know how much the boy actually did on this cake, *I* couldn't even come close to something so nice, but it was awesome and won! (Don't know if you can see this, but those are sleeping bags with pillows with a campfire in the middle and pine trees and "rocks".)