Ketchup!

Coy went to State in Debate…and won 3 of 5 rounds! He has his Driver’s License! I told him he can’t get burned out of running kids, overdue library books, picking up milk, artichokes and baby wipes, and taking the fast offering boys to church. We adore our Coy. He is enrolled in college this summer…a communications class. He did a big power point presentation on talented comedians and used clips from Cosby, Abbott and Costello, Marx brothers, and Brian Regan. He is being introduced to the idea that there are major differences in the way men and women communicate.  Apparently men communicate for content and women for intent.  Women can go on for hours and hours around under and through an issue, and what they’re looking for is connection and understanding, where men are delivering content to prove they are the alpha-male.  Maybe someday this information will help him actually talk to a girl, and actually go on a date!  Just teasing, he has spoken to a girl, and we think the prognosis is good that he will go on at least one date before age thirty. 

Mook holds the heavyweight family title of “First Broken Bone!”  We are so excited for him to have such an honor. He’s thrilled. He broke it at football camp, at the growth plate, so if we didn’t get it set and fixed he would have had three fingers the same size.  He is loving football camp, and the broken finger isn’t slowing him down at all. He’s been at weight-lifting camp and he’s getting some gorgeous guns. He’s getting large. He’s a big teenage lump of humanity with great hair and an even better sense of humor.  It’s weird to think that he and Spen will be in middle school together. 

Spen is the Cleanaholic, and is on fire earning money to play tackle football. He earned $75 in the last few days, weeding, cleaning, babysitting, everything and anything.  He taught his Deacon’s quorum lesson today.  If you need something done, call Spen and he’ll do it.  He’s a great babysitter, and he even cleans the house!  He babysat for Angie and Evan, and went back over the next morning to finish vacuuming up the popcorn that he couldn’t get because the kids were asleep. 

Joseph and Eli have started a neighborhood book club.  It is $3.50 to join, then .50 cents a meeting. They spent half of the first meeting trying to decide where everyone would sit.  Joseph calls Saran Wrap “surround wrap”.  Whenever I tell any of my sons they are cute, they roll their eyes and tell me they’re not going for cute, they are going for “cool”.  Joseph decided the worst disease a boy could have is the “cuties”. 

Annie finished first grade, got her back tuck and earned $2.25 from the Tooth Monkey.  She already has a dark tan, she and Joseph are outside all the time.  They only come in when they have to. She was so darling at Lake Powell. The Hunts had an easy ski, and she popped up and skied all over the lake. She loves babies. She is so sweet with Lovey, she begs to hold her and plays wit her for a long long time. She loves baby Isaac, too, and asks to hold him every time she sees him.  She is the old queen Cinderella, narrating the story with Brigham in the little Cinderella play we are doing in the neighborhood.

Seth loves to say “are you crazy?  Are you kidding me?”   He asked to bear his testimony, but we didn’t let him.  Who knows what family secrets would come out of that little mouth.  When he gets offended he says “You hurt my dream!”    It’s usually Mom that hurts his dream when she doesn’t let him get his way. I guess we’ve been doing some youtube lately because Seth looked at his bathwater and said “It’s loading!” He says “look at me”, and we HAVE TO look right at him for every word he says, or he repeats it.Seth said he’s a song and a maker.  He was making a PBJ at the time.  He was trying to say that he has two talents, he can sing and make things.  I asked him what his song was and he said “Hello sister!” He is obsessed with the Derby Car he will have someday and prays for it all the time. As a potty trainee, he has more access to body parts than he did before. I stripped him down after he soaked himself with milk and turned around to see his little bottom cheeks talking with the help of his hands…”Mommy, will you hold you me?” Seth was throwing a royal tantrum in the store, and as I was reprimanding him he said … “Relax, I’m a baby.” At Lake Powell Drew said “Nice Moon” and Seth said “Thanks!”.  He also said “Give me that stick for fighting because I am a child of God!”

As for Jeff and I, we’re out of diapers after 16 and a half years (that sounds like WE are out of diapers, that’s funny), and anyway,  I just want a set of twins.  Is that too much to ask?   What is life without babies?  Speaking of babies, the business is birthed and breathing, now we’re just trying to nourish it until it grows big enough to support us and our dreams, and our flotilla of offspring, and things are exciting and looking good. I’m proud of Jeff, he has worked hard, despite some major health challenges. He’s a regular superhero, we just need to install a phone booth in the backyard and get him some blue underoos with a big yellow and red S. Aunt Cherelle and Crys paid for me to go to a writer’s conference, and it was SO INSPIRING  and fun.  I’m still babysitting, teaching more piano students, may sing some with Nate’s jazz band, teaching some gardening and I’m trying to write a book (I have nothing to lose), aside from the 6-10 children that fill our home with so much joy, laughter and insanity.  We go through a roll of TP a day. I love them so much.  Lolly and Rob and kids have been here, and it has been SO SO FUN!   We have birds that come eat the cat food on the back porch, and we’ve been using our firepit in the back, it’s so fun.  Games we love… Qwelf, Revolution and Power Grid.  Shows…Bill Cosby 49 and Himself on youtube, Brian Regan and Dr. Who from the library.  Books…Screwtape Letters.P.G. Wodehouse,

We are blessed.