This is so me!!

OMG I have had this exact meltdown. More than once.

Happy Solstice!

Yay! It's solstice! Hooray for longer days, and let the countdown to summer begin.

I can't believe there are only a few more days until Christmas. I went out shopping for like four hours today and then came home and declared my shopping done. I just can't do any more. By the time I got to Wal-Mart I was just throwing groceries in the cart hoping I got what was on my list. I needed pineapple, but it was 4 aisles away so I said forget it, that's like a mile away, we'll do without. I told my kids if they end up with weird stuff on Christmas morning, sorry, I saved the receipts, I'm not going back out. My neighbors have started bringing over gifts, and it's all been treats. I am going to gain 25 pounds between now and New Year's Day. Ugh. I put everyone on fair warning that if I intercept the treats, I'm throwing it all straight in the trash. Cuz if it's in my house, I'll eat it. Even if I don't really like it that much, I'll still have a few bites. Like, my neighbor makes this peanut brittle with chocolate swirls and all kinds of nuts. I hate peanut brittle. Did I still eat some? Yes indeedy I did.

On a semi-related note, it's not just food that I do that with. The other day Brittney and I went to the library and I grabbed a couple books by Sophie Kinsella that writes the Shopaholic series. Brittney looked at them and said, "I thought you hated those books," and I was like, "Yep. I do." I don't know what it is. I guess I just like to annoy myself? I'm so weird.

We've been busy with just the same old stuff. Nothing too exciting, but pleasantly busy, so that's the way I like it. We've gone to Christmas light displays and been busy with work and school, car repairs, and everything else that makes life interesting.

I started potty training Lexi today. Pretty much the worst parenting job there is. It's gone about like you might expect. Tomorrow is a new day. She's going through that horrible phase, egged on by her older brother, where she likes to say "stupid" and "poop" and stuff like that. She sang this "Happy poop day to poop" type song the other day and I had to really try hard not to laugh. She's pretty dang cute even if she's a little turkey. My favorite thing lately is that she pronounces her full name as Lexiandra.

Here are some pictures from Hardware Ranch last weekend.

Josh's Birthday & Thanksgiving

It's a quiet Saturday afternoon. It's been a very nice, relaxing Thanksgiving break. Today Courtney and Brittney went on FrontRunner out to the Gateway with a few of Courtney's friends. Josh and Sean went to watch the BYU/Utah game with Dennis. Lexi is sleeping. I'm listening to Christmas music and trying to fix the Christmas tree ornaments after the kiddos decorated it last night. One day I'll have a really pretty tree, but for now I like having a tree full of elementary school created ornaments, who-cares-if-they-break-it ornaments, all placed in clusters and clumps. Trying to keep that perspective that the kids will be grown and not want to decorate the tree anymore pretty soon. My collection of Christmas decorations really needs an overhaul. It's pretty sorry. Someday.

So Josh's birthday was last weekend. He had a pretty good day. I can't believe my baby boy is six!







I bought this stuff for $1 and seriously we've all played with it. I don't know exactly why it's so funny, but it really is. Especially when you hear from the other room, "Josh, it's bedtime." "Not yet, I've got to do a really good fart."


I guess Brittney was excited about the Transformer Josh got.


Two weekends ago Courtney went to the Sadie's dance with her boyfriend and a group of friends. She didn't take any pictures. Bummer. I should have thought to do it for her. They took over my house for lunch, dinner, and then came over after the dance to watch a movie. It was a lot of work for her, but she had fun so it was good.

Thanksgiving was a great feast. There was so much good food! It was fun to hang out with everyone. We had some good, deep conversation. Courtney's friend Skyler came with us. They've been friends since junior high. I love this picture of the two of them from a few summers ago. It's fun to watch these kids grow up.



Now, it's on to Christmas. The lights are up, the decorations are up, the shopping has commenced. I don't do Black Friday, but I'm all ready for Cyber Monday. Sean's mom and sisters bought us some Black Friday deals, so that was super nice of them. I don't even know what we had them buy. Sean saw some stuff he wanted and asked his mom to get it. We went and saw a Christmas light display last night. I'm ready for some snow. I'm in the spirit this year. Bring it on.

Yay! Also... Is it summer yet?

Yay! I got my phone connection working! Most of what's on there isn't worth posting, but here are two.

The girls in Las Vegas


Lexi after daycare trick-or-treating.

Lest I seem like a (more) horrible mother, she didn't actually eat all three of those. She opened them all, licked them all, set them all down, and I threw them away when she wasn't looking.

So, I think it's going to be a really long winter. Really. Long. I'm already wishing for summer. That's a bad sign. Apparently I'm not the only one. The other night Lexi said to me, "When us going boating, mom? Thursday? Us going boating Thursday." OK baby. Sounds good to me.

Sean's been pheasant hunting Saturday mornings and in the evenings in the field down the street from our house. Luckily, I don't think any pheasants really actually live there. If he gets one he's going to expect me to eat it, and I really, really hate gagging. So we'll hope that the season ends quietly and without dead birds at my house.

So Lexi is in this "pink" phase where she requests everything to be pink. She doesn't get upset if it isn't, thankfully, but it's, "I want my pink pumpkin." "I go to my pink school." "I want my pink pancake." "I'm riding in my pink boat, mom." If I say, "Let's get a redbox tonight," she'll say, "I want my pink box." I love the way they say things at this age. Yesterday she told me, "Mom, I love you best I can."

Josh is learning to read so well! I was worried because he got a really slow start. He had no interest in letters or numbers up until now. If I tried to talk to him about that kind of thing he would just change the subject. He really struggled at the beginning of Kindergarten, so I was thinking we were in for a real battle. But he's getting it down all of a sudden, thank goodness.

And so it goes...

Hotties, Halloween, and Britt's Birthday

Sean and I went to the Joan Jett concert a few weekends ago, and it was loads of fun. The data connection for my phone is messed up, so I can't pull the pics off, or I would torture you with them. I decided that I'm going on the Joan Jett diet, though. I have to do a little research here to find out what her secret is... maybe all she eats is fruit and large quantities of Jack Daniels. Who knows. All I know is she is 51 years old and looks like this.



Halloween was a week-long extravaganza at our house this year. The daycare went trick-or-treating on Tuesday, so Josh and Lexi came home with a bunch of candy. I have a picture of Lexi with 3 suckers in her mouth, but again, on the phone. Then we had a party at my mom's house while Heather and Peter were here. We had loads of awesomely creepy food made by Heather and Peter. Severed fingers, spiders, eyeballs, you name it. And fabulous soup and bread. It was great fun to visit with everyone. Then we had actual Halloween.

Pumpkin carving




Josh the Karate Kid


Brittney the zombie vampire prom queen of the undead


Lexi the ladybug




Brittney's birthday was yesterday. 14 big ones. Love this girl. She is funny, smart, a great writer, cute, and has pretty good taste in music and movies.




On a final note... Good-bye to my World Series boyfriend Jayson Werth. I'm sorry that it had to end this way. But you were oh-so-lovely to look at for the past 6 games.

Deer Camp

Sean and Josh got back from deer hunting, and it sounds like they had a good time. I always judge how much fun they had by how much mud is on the truck. It was pretty covered. They had some mechanical problems-- it wouldn't be hunting without stuff breaking down. But Sean loved spending the time with his dad and brothers. Everyone was safe and the deer are all still on the mountain where they belong. Yay!


Curt catching a fish


Curt and Luke


camp


kids playing

Las Vegas, Zombies, and deer hunting

The last few weeks have flown by so quickly. I try really hard not to wish for the weekends and just enjoy each day, but it still speeds by.



A couple of weekends ago, Josh and Lexi went to stay with grandma Saundra for a few days while we took the older girls for a short getaway.



It was really fun to be able to have that time just with Courtney and Brittney. I'm so glad my mom did that for us.




I think the kids were getting loopy from being in the car too long. Brittney watched 21 on the way down and became an expert in counting cards.




There were so many fun things to see, and we had a great time. And, amazingly, Sean came out $30 ahead in the casino, which is really good for us. Woohoo! High rollers!

Last weekend Sean and I went for our traditional October drive-in movie date. We saw Zombieland (which I loved loved loved) and Inglorious Basterds (which I hated hated hated).

Sean and Josh took off deer hunting last night and will be gone all weekend. His brothers and dad met him up there today. This is the first time in probably 15 years that they've all gone together. I hope they have a great time. I hope they are safe, and that the deer are safe from them. I told Josh before he left that the deer really like it when you sing really loudly as you walk along, and you should make as much noise as you can. He looked at me like he was considering that, but then Sean set him straight, and he believed his dad over me! Can you believe that? It's getting weird now when they go, though, because the older girls have plans, so it's just Lexi and me.

Scott and Wendy had their baby this week. So far I've only seen pics, but he's super cute! Can't wait to hold him.

Other than that, just normal life. Trying to take it all one day at a time and enjoy it. It goes by so fast. And the things that I think are such challenges turn into things that I will at some point miss, so I'm trying to keep perspective. Like, all these years struggling to get my kids from the car into the school with all of our paraphernalia... people would tell me, "Oh I saw you this morning and I just have such a hard time getting myself here, I don't know how you get 2 kids here" and I also was dropping Courtney off at her high school, and I would think... Oh man, won't it be nice when I don't have to do this anymore? NO! It won't be nice. I love having those kids there at school with me. What am I going to do when I don't get to bring them anymore? I'm trying to keep that perspective, and it's hard sometimes, but I'm trying. One of my friends has grown kids, and when she would talk about going home from work and reading a book and watching TV or whatever, I would always think, "Wow, how nice would that be." Not anymore. That time will come so much sooner than I want it to.

Ten Things I Love/Hate

Lauralee posted a list of 10 things she loves, and then asked if her readers could think of 10 things they love right now. My immediate answer was "no". So I figured that when you're feeling that way, it's a good time to think of things that make you happy. So here is a list of 10 things I love right now. To be followed by a list of 10 things that are bugging me right now. Hey, it can't all be sunshine and flowers.

1.Summer. Love it. Summers feel so short here and winters feel so long. I do love having 4 seasons, but I just wish summer could be a few months longer.



2. Autumn. Does it count if it's something I normally love right now? Usually I love this time of year. This year, I'm forcing myself to try to get into it. I love football, Halloween, fall decorations, the way the air smells, the leaves changing, making jack-o-lanterns, and gearing up for the holidays. We had such a fun summer this year that I'm just really mourning the end of it, but I'm hoping I'll get my head in the right place here pretty quickly. Fall TV is pretty good... I'm hoping Survivor will get better and loving Glee.

3. That chubby, white-skinned toddler look that Lexi still has. I just want to squish her up. And the way she repeats everything you say, but cuter. The way she says "Only water only a dollar" over and over at random times. Inside family joke. The way she dances and the way she jumps in that awkward toddler way.

4. Having a husband that can fix things. Don't tell him I said that, though. He can't know. I give him way too much crap about it, and I probably won't stop anytime soon. But I do love that he fixed my dishwasher when it broke, because I wasn't about to spend money on something that boring when there are fun things to be bought. And that he fixed the air conditioner in the truck, which the mechanic wanted $1200 to fix, for under $200.

5. Students who call me "mom" on accident. Students who write "We love you Mrs. Chamberlain" on my white board to put a smile on my face when I'm tired. The stories students tell and the way they tell them. Students from last year who come visit me. Students who struggle so hard but come back the next day to try all over again.

6. The way Josh will tell me he loves me at random times. The way that Josh loves anything his dad loves.

7. Having teenagers. I love watching movies with Brittney and shopping with Courtney. I love their stories and their senses of humor. I love hanging out with them. I hope when they grow up they'll move next door to me.

8. Going on long drives with Sean. One of my favorite pastimes. When I'm in the car, it's like anything is possible. I could, theoretically, go anywhere. I don't have to cook or clean or look at messy bedrooms. I am free to daydream, plan, think of the possibilities.

9. Garage sales. We've had some good garage sale days and some very bad ones this summer. Sean found a $150 part he needed for his argon tank (welding) for $10. I got Lexi a Barbie life jacket that she loves for $4. A baseball bat for Josh ($1), a little outdoor chair for Lexi ($1), a Dooney and Bourke purse ($4), some light sabers ($1 each).

10. Diet Pepsi and cupcakes.

OK... 10 Things I don't like.

1. Flu shots.

2. Sick kids.

3. Going to the doctor. Spent 2 hours at the ENT with Courtney so that he could tell us there is absolutely nothing wrong with her ears. I do, however, like going to the dentist. Which is weird, because I've always hated the dentist, until I started going to this guy. He's super nice, his hygenists have always been good.... So now I don't mind. I even like it, because I schedule my appointments at 4:00, and then I get to lay in a chair and watch Judge Judy uninterrupted. I'd go every month if I could.

4. Parenting as a competitive sport. The judgmental declarations of what makes someone a "good mom" or a "bad mom". I've found myself doing it far too often, especially as a teacher where you see so many different kids and parents, so I've tried really hard over the last about 6 months to step out of that mindset. Know what makes you a bad mom? Not feeding your kids. Not giving a damn about your kids. Beating them up. Abusing them. Know what doesn't make you a bad mom? Everything else. Anyone who loves their kids and sets out to do their best by them is a good mom. We are all weak, we are all imperfect, and we all go about things in a different way. But as long as we're trying and we have our kids' best interests at heart, that's all that matters. We try and we fail, but that doesn't make us a bad parent.

5. People who think/imply that working moms don't raise their own kids. Or that moms who enjoy working outside the home love their kids less. Or are less favored by God. Or don't have their kids' best interests at heart. Or are selfish. The unwritten expectation that if you're a working mom you are supposed to pretend you hate every minute of it and would much rather be at home. If you think people don't say this stuff, I'm here to tell you that they do. I've heard it all. I've had other moms ask me why I work. I've had other moms tell me that Heavenly Father wants moms to stay at home with their kids.

6. When you get to the end of the month and are pleasantly suprised at the amount of money left in your checking account. And start mentally tallying up where you saved money this month and congratulating yourself on a job well done. And then you realize that you screwed up your checking account and have nothing left over. Doh. Oh well, at least I'm not in the red.

7. Students who come to me and tell me that if they get all C's and above their mom will let them get a tattoo/piercing/whatever, so they desparately need me to help them get their midterm grade up. But they've done nothing all year and have a 43% and now I'm supposed to pull a rabbit out of a hat so they can get some ill-advised tatoo/piercing/whatever.

8. Messes.

9. My lack of patience with my little kids.

10. Car repairs.

Sean's 40th Birthday and Homecoming

Sean's 40th birthday was a little while ago. Thank goodness he has cool siblings, because his wife is lame. They came over and decorated our yard in the middle of the night. It was spectacular.





Courtney had to drive that truck to school, which made me laugh. Sean's car was also decorated, and he and his friend had to ride to work that way. There were black balloons all over the grass, along with water bottles (inside joke with Sean and his siblings). Sean's mission picture, which he hates with a fiery passion, was posted all over the garage, along with his high school football picture and a picture of him dressed up as Mr. T.




Courtney's Homecoming pics from last night:

My Life

This is my life. No, seriously. Courtney loves this episode, and she does this to me. Not to mention Josh and Lexi....

Lava Hot Springs

We took our annual Labor Day trip to Lava Hot Springs. I think a good time was had by all. I know I had fun. My camara died when we got there, so I got virtually no pictures. I tried to use my camara phone, but it's too hard to get action shots on it. By the time I got them in the viewfinder coming down the speed slide or jumping off a tower they were zooming past. Bummer.


Josh coming down the tube slide


The girls and Sean on the highest tower

We were swimming at the hotel pool later in the evening, and this guy and his kids were there swimming. His girlfriend and some older woman joined them at one point, and they were weird and loud, but whatever. Then he got in a fight with his girlfriend, she stomped out, and there was much F'ing this and F'ing that. I don't think my kids were hearing it, so I was like... whatever, trashy people. Then his little 5 year old girl came over to whine to him about something, and he went off on the most offensive tirade. I really, really wish now that I'd said something to him, but at the time I was apalled and just thinking that you don't want to make eye contact with the crazy person. He told his 5 year old to stop tattling, told her that she's not a Mexican or a Jew (I know, right???) so she shouldn't act that way, that she needed to grow up and act like an adult (I am not making this up), and was she going to be independent like daddy and not rely on other people to take care of her. I think he was influenced by whatever had just happened with his girlfriend (and probably by a lot of alcohol as well). I hate situations like this. I'm a very live-and-let-live person, and when I'm stunned I don't think fast on my feet... but I wish I had said something about the Jew and Mexican comment. It probably wouldn't have done any good, and I wouldn't really want my little kids (the older kids would probably just laugh) seeing some man yelling the F word at me. But it would have made me feel happy.

School is going pretty well for everyone. I have such cute students this year. Love my classes. Teaching high school is a blast. It's like... you know when your teenagers do really funny things with their friends and say funny things and just make you laugh? That's my job every day. It's also like... you know when your teenagers are sassy and moody and don't want to do their chores? That's my job every day, too. But it's more fun than not. It seriously keeps me sane, and for that I'm grateful.

My Record Setting Fish Catch

We went up to Pineview last Thursday and I caught a record setting fish! Wanna see?



Can you see it? You might have to squint. Look real close. I think it must be a record for smallest fish ever caught. I kept feeling something nibble my line, so I reeled it in to see if I still had my bait. I didn't even pull it all the way out of the water, just kinda checked that I could still see my lure... and Sean says, "No, pull it out, you've got something on there." I'm like, "Nah, there's nothing there." Sure enough, I reel it up out of the water and there's this little guppy stuck on the end. They were all laughing at me and making fun.

Patrick Swayze

I was sad when I heard about Patrick Swayze. From everything I ever read about him, he was a classy guy. This is the best part of the movie, but this clip cuts off before the end. Now I'm going to have to go watch the whole thing.

No More Big Blue

Well, Sean sold his truck. It's strange... I hated that thing. I always threatened to leave it somewhere with the keys in it, hoping someone would steal it. I threatened to push it over a cliff. I threatened to give it away to anyone who would come drive it off. I told him it would take forever to sell that piece of crap. He put it up for sale and it was gone the next day. What do I know about trucks? Nothing. We had a couple guys calling from out of state wanting to buy it, for heaven's sake. The buyers came down from Logan. Crazy! I'm not so sure how I feel about this. We had it for so long, and the memory of it is so tied up in Sean. Sean without his old, beat up truck just doesn't feel right. From now on, anything he tears apart and rebuilds has to be some sort of classic sports car. Or a motorcycle. That would be cool.

Dropping Out of High School

Well, Josh had that one bad day, and now he loves kindergarten. He goes willingly and happily off to school. So that's a big relief. Now it's me who wants to drop out. Ugh. I have never had this hard a time going back to work. I mean, it's always a disappointment that summer is over, but usually I'm a little excited to get back into the routine. I start thinking about things I want to do with my students and making mental lists, I get excited to see if my older girls will like their classes, I gear up and get happy about it. This year I just can't muster up the energy. I went in today for a few hours to get my disclosures done and start to straighten up. Walking into the school was so familiar. Usually that's a good, comforting thing. Today it was an I've Spent Way Too Much Of My Life Here FREAKOUT kind of thing. The custodians moved everything out to clean the carpets over the summer, so all my stuff is stacked all over and I've got filing cabinets in the wrong place, and I just looked at it all and started to cry. Seriously, I've never done that before! I mean, not big sobbing tears, but just little poor-me tears. I love my job and I'm sure I'll get myself all sorted out really soon, but right now I'm having a hard time of it.

We've done some fun things the last week or so, trying to get it all in while we can, but it still feels like I need a few more weeks. We went camping up at Rockport, and it was this freakishly cold day, so we all froze. It was crazy. Lexi wouldn't sleep that night. She got overly tired, so she did that thing where they cry uncontrollably over nothing, and then she was happy, but she was singing Macho, Macho Man over and over again while we all cursed silently in our beds and vowed never to go camping again. I think we may still give it another go in September, but we haven't sufficiently recovered from the last one, so we'll see. We also went boating with one of Sean's friends, went to a Bee's game, went to the county fair, and went to the drive-in with Cami, Steve, Mindi, and Marilyn. Brittney and I have been staying up late every night watching movies. It's been a good summer. I'm going to try to hold on to it a little longer.

Dropping Out of Kindergarten

Josh decided that two days of kindergarten was enough for him. I had to pretty much drag him back today. Literally. It wasn't pretty. The main reason he hates it, he informs me, is that they made him play Duck, Duck, Goose yesterday. And he didn't want to. He didn't want to chase anybody. And they might make him play again if he goes back. He wouldn't get his shoes on, wouldn't get in the car, tried to climb back in the car when we got there, and wouldn't let go of my leg. His teacher came and took him from me, so he did go in, crying. We'll see how he is feeling when I pick him up, but I'm envisioning the next 13 years of fighting this kid on going to school. Heaven help me, I need a margarita.



I've been going through pictures and albums and trying to organize a giant hacking mess (as Britt would say) and came across that sweet pic. I love it. Also love this one.



Took the boat out tubing yesterday. We let Courtney's boyfriend come with us. Sean likes him OK, as much as he can like any teenage boy that wants to date his daughter. Sean got out there on the tube with him while I drove. I flipped Sean off (of the tube, not sign language) and tried to flip her boyfriend off, but he held on too tight. So Sean pushed him off. LOL Maybe that was a sign. He won't clean his shotgun when you show up to pick up his daughter, but he may shove you off a tube in the middle of Pineview.

The latest events

It's been a fun summer so far. I've got some massive projects that it's time to tackle, so I've been spending lots of time staring off into space and visualizing myself doing them. Thinking about them. Planning stages, that's what I'll call it. I've been keeping really busy the last week or so playing Coffee Buzz on the internet. It's been really time consuming, but it's really paying off. I'm getting pretty good. If I ever need a second job, I could be a slamming barista.

On a related note, I saw a book at the D.I. called something like The Joy of Laziness or The Myth of Laziness. I don't know... either way I thought it looked interesting, but I was too lazy to pick it up and see how much it was he he he. Books at the D.I. are too expensive. They should be like a quarter.

So here are the latest events.

We went down to Wendover for a quick trip to see a concert and play around. I got some pics, but they're lame, so bleep bloop. Deleted.

Third (Fourth?) Annual Chamberlain Pineview Extravaganza:


That water looks a crazy nasty color in the pic. It didn't look like that irl... did it?




Sean came back in after giving Lexi a ride, and she was fast asleep. He said she loved it and wanted to go faster, but then fell asleep before it was over. She used to fall asleep on the boat last year, and she slept through most assemblies at school, as well as through trick-or-treating, both at home and with the daycare. She's my little napper.

Pioneer Day parade in Bountiful:






Josh, Sean, and Grandpa D. fishing:





Josh's first day of kindergarten. When any of us asked him how it went, he said, "We had recess. That's all I know." Fair enough.