Five Brown Kids

Jaxon has three sweaters and a jacket that he wears to school on chilly mornings. At any given moment two are in the lost and found at school. Jaxon is super bright and has more energy than four young colts but he would forget his head if it wasn't attached. I can deal with it - he's entitled to one small fault.

Last week Tyrone was carting a pile of leaves out to the trees in the back and he bumped his head on this gourd! Dozens of times a week we are on the path - biking, running, playing and working and not one of us had noticed it until it hit Tyrone on the head.  Impossible! I bet it was a cub scout seedling that was planted out there and grew up the tree to get some more sun!  It must have reached a point of heaviness that it leaned over low enough that we could notice.  Crazy!

My mom came to visit us!  She ended up being delayed a few days because of superstorm Sandy but we still had plenty of time once she got here. There was no end of busy-ness: We watched Taye at a swim meet one night.  Three hours of sitting in the stands for 27.99 seconds of racing -  but he qualified for his second event at the state championships in the spring so that was exciting. We enjoyed working out at the Y and leaving freshly showered and ready for a little shopping. Watched Jaxon start his new basketball team.  We are playing serious basketball this year folks! We enjoyed killer pink ladies from the farmers market.  No other apple has ever brought me so much happiness! We attended the craft day for my ward and made cute totes, yummy chocolates, t-shirt scarves and enjoyed the visiting and delicious food.  My mom just fits right in. We rode bikes down the greenway, popped in on a few beautiful open houses and waltzed through a favor...

I saw post election how frustrated some of you are that your hard work and tax dollars must pay for people who need medicaid and food stamps and other government assistance (phones!).   So just now I added up in my head how many thousands I expect to pay in taxes each year - property tax, sales tax, federal and state income tax.  And then I thought about the policeman up the street, and the services at the end of 911 that are at my beck and call, and the paved streets I enjoy that take me to work and play and all the way to the mountains of Pennsylvania with perfect exit signs at each turn.  I have greenways and a clean river in my backyard and breathe fresh air that was protected by a government agency that regulated the toxins a local factory could spew in the air.  I sleep peacefully knowing that the military has my back.   Tyrone’s parents both work for a federal agency that protects the land and water in Utah and surrounding region so that the...

Thank goodness!

In between the big exam and the first day of work, while the certification was certifying and the license was licensing and all manner of paperwork was processing to make Tyrone a legal CRNA we had a few free work days. First on the agenda was tackling our master bedroom closet and Tyrone's school papers/books/binders/files.  We dragged everything out, painted the closet a fresh coat of white and then only put back the stuff that belongs.  It took us two days from start to finish and in the process we realized that maybe we aren't cut out for serious renovations. After that we headed to our attic for the great clean out.  It would have made for a good episode of hoarders.  In the end I was good friends with the local good will and acquainted myself with the friendly folks at the town dump.  There is room to party in our attic now and it feels great! We also tidied up our shed and cleaned the fridge from top to bottom.  I have 9 varieties of cheese on...