Happpy Birthday Laurie

Happy Birthday Laurie. You are the big 36 today. So, to take a queue from my other blogging friends, I give you 36 things I love about Laurie (my little sis)

1. She can always make me laugh.
2. She continues to fight against her genetic makeup to be addicted to Diet Coke (the one she is holding was for me)
3. She is a great mom.
4. Her house is always clean (even when she claims it isn't)
5. She has patience like I can only dream of having.
6. She has great hair.
7. She is a good listener and does not judge.
8. She gets her Christmas shopping done early.
9. She has a great pair of cheetah high heels and fish net stockings!
10. She made a great vomit waterfall from the top bunk when we were kids.
11. She would always go and do what I asked (only when we were little - now not so much).
12. She is a great dancer.
13. She has a great smile.
14. She is very creative, even if she won't try scrapbooking.
15. She always obeys the rules.
16. She opens to home to ANY family member who happens to find themselves in Sacramento.
17. I love her kids - Hannah, Jacob, Jonah and Becca.
18. She does not hate me when I refer to her daughter as Becca even though she is Rebekah!
19. She lets Becca walk around in nothing but a bow and necklace.
20. She is a great soccer mom and loves to do things with her kids.
21. She loves to decorate and do things to her home.
22. She will hang paint color chips on the wall for weeks on end to decide if she likes the color.
23. She has a strong testimony.
24. She is always giving to those around her.
25. She is skinny (OK so maybe that is what I hate about her).
26. Her ability to love her family is boundless.
27. She is smart.
28. She will always answer my tax questions.
29. She was always up for a rousing game of dollhouse.
30. She has always been there to help me with my kids - even coming to help with newborn twins while she was pregnant.
31. She has great brown eyes.
32. She is not afraid to jump in and help anyone who needs it.
33. She will surprise me with a card or package whenever I need it.
34. She still loves Disneyland, and takes her kids there regularly.
35. She can shop with the best of us.
36. She is an amazing sister, friend and example.

I love you Laurie!

Go and Hug Your Kids

I got a phone call yesterday that has stayed with me. My sister called to tell me that some friends we had from Colleyville had been in a car accident and their daughter, who is Kelsey's age died. I found out their only other child, a son, is in critical condition in a coma. Both were thrown from the car because they took off their seatbelts for a second to get something. How do you recover from that?

My kids at different times on long car trips will sometimes get unbuckled for a second. Or, they will stretch it out so they can be comfortable and I am sure no help at all if an accident occurs. I harp for a while and then I just pretend it does not exist (picture the ostrich). Then I hear something like and it almost takes my breath away. I will now double my efforts to be mean and ruin my kids life while traveling in the car.

So, go hug your kids, remember life can be short and the most important things we have in our lives are the people around us who can make us crazy, but ultimately give us the most joy.

The Christmas Tree

Many many years ago, before the craze of pre-lit trees, I did my own pre-lit tree. I took about 12 packages of lights and strung them on my christmas tree. It took forever. My mom wrangled me into this, so she helped. I love the look, but each and every year there are at least two strings that need to be restrung.

So, in some ways I have come to dread getting the tree out. The kids are always bouncing off the walls in excitement to get the tree up - the twins can't wait to put the "instruments" on the tree (they can't remember if it is instruments or ornaments and most often choose wrong). But, there is a sense of dread. This year was not too bad - I only had to redo three strands. And in each one, only 1/2 the strand was dead. Since they were old lights, I had to redo them all. I now buy the always lit kind and eventually I have a dream of putting up the tree without redoing all the lights.

The kids do love it and it does help to put us in the Christmas mood. We put the collection of ornaments on the tree. I would still like to have two trees - one fancy and one with all the kids stuff. Since I can barely get myself to do the one, that might be wishful thinking. So, Christmas prep is off and running at the Pearson house. Ellen, our housekeeper, comes on Wednesday and then I will get out all the rest of the stuff. It is much better to start decorating in a clean house.

Happy Holidays!

White Trash Thanksgiving



Well, it is done. We did it up like the best of the white trash and had ourselves one mighty fine Thanksgiving. All kidding aside, I do think that our outdoor dinner was one of the best Thanksgiving dinners I have had. It was not stressful for anyone, and we all had a good time. There was not even too many spousal arguments which is a first for all.

Some funny things to note:

I bought this huge thing of cheese balls, from the Costco, because my kids ALWAYS ask for them, and I never get them. But, in keeping with the theme I thought these will add to the trashiness of the event. I opened them when we hit camp and were setting up camp (a prime spousal argument time which went off without a hitch). By the time we had dinner a few hours later they were gone. It was pretty gross to see all the grimy hands which had partaken. When I told Sarah I was brining cheese balls from the Costco, she thought I was bringing a large cheese ball as in cheese and crackers cheese. Clearly, she has not spent enough time with white trash.

The kids had their football game. The Pearsons, or the Tomball Trash as they named themselves, came complete with shirts. The Joneses and the Kenningtons each had a BYU shirt so it looked like they came prepared. Alas, the trash took it 3 TD's to 0. It was over at half time because the girls did not want to play with Ryan anymore he took it too seriously. For his part Ryan did not understand how you could NOT take a football game seriously.

The first night was so cold you had to put your head UNDER your sleeping bag to stay warm. The tent was not warm enough. It was even cold just sitting around the campfire. It was a long night. By night two, it had warmed up and we were able to play games - The Great Dalmuti. It was a great game since I was never dethroned as the Great Dalmuti, and continue in my reign (where is my lesser peon when I need him?)

There was a "yellow mountain" which the kids loved - especially the babies. It was just their speed. It was really just a reddish dirt which is now in everything and even after I washed the babies shoes it is still with us. Sarah took some photos of the kids on the mountain. I will have to post some later.

Eric and I were in charge of the Turkey Frying. You can see the pics of the three men working hard on the turkeys. I am not sure how it is that "Eric" claims he did the turkeys when I washed and prepped them and he just dumped them in the vat of oil (once the vat of oil was setup...) He did risk life and limb to dump the bird in the oil, so I guess that is fair. It was tasty and we even had one whole turkey left - note to self do not need three turkeys.

In true Clampett style we showed up with two vehicles - the truck packed to the gills (we even lost something along the way) and the Yukon. Maybe one of these days we can get a trailer or something to haul our "stuff" but for now we just divide and conquor. I had to take all the girls who required not one but two bathroom stops on the way home!

It was a great camping experience. The weather was great, the company was great and it made for a no stress Thanksgiving meal. There are some who are pushing for a Destin beach house next camping trip - I am game. I will always go to the beach. We will have to see what spring break will bring.

I Don't Have NoWhere To Sleep



This is what woke me up this morning at 2:00 amish. It was Allie and she was crying. She, obviously, needed to come and sleep with us since she had nowhere to sleep. This from the girl who will sleep anywhere. Hence the picture taken when she was about 3. She was tired, and of course could not let go of her cookies. It was classic Allie.

I guess she had fallen asleep in Kelsey's bed, and when Kelsey went to bed she put her on the floor. Not so great on a night it was 32 degrees on a pergo floor. Of course, her bed was open. But that was not good because Sophie was spending the night with Rachel and she would have to be alone. We can't have that.

So, she ended up in my bed and that was fine until Eric had to get up and go to work, at 3:30 am I might add (poor guy and it was cold!). Then, for whatever the reason, she felt the need to be right on top of me - or kicking me - until I got up at 6:30 am. Now she is still asleep and I am facing my day.

It always makes me eat my words when my kids sleep all over the house. In my home growing up, there were people everywhere but in their beds at night. One night I came home from a date and Patrick was sleeping on the stairs! Yes, the stairs! Who could let their kids get that out of control that they would sleep on the stairs? Now, that would be me.

So now I am off to WalMart, since I did not make it yesterday. I have a webinar with a prospect this afternoon, on my day off, and I have to get us ready to camp. The weather report now looks pretty dang good, and I expect a fun time will be had by all. Just another day in crazyville.

Still No Title

There is still no title box on my template, so I am just going to have to do it the old fashioned way. It is Monday morning and it is cold. (The picture is from last year when the HOA brought some snow into Lakewood grove - it is much colder today than it was then, but this is for effect)

I didn't have to get up with the kids, so I did not get up until 7:00 am - LAZY, LAZY. It was great. I need to get out and run, get home and shower before my Monday morning conference call for work.

This is the down side - the kids are here and I am going to work part of today and part of tomorrow. It is not so easy to keep 5 kids occupied while working. I have become accustomed to having the house to myself during the day. I need to finish up the shopping for camping and getting stuff ready for our nice cold camping trip.

So, hang in there and enjoy Monday.

Another Saturday

It was a day spent doing the regular stuff. Ryan has decided that he is going to head up a football game against the Kenningtons and the Joneses when we go camping. He has had the girls out there today learning plays and putting them through conditioning.

I am afraid that the bad Linford genes are coming out in him. Each year we have a family football game. It should be a nice, fun time correct? Well, when you have 10 type A personalities, plus spouses and some children, it is a blood match complete with team shirts (Go Semi-Precious Metals). Last year the game ended when Matt really messed up his ankle - I think he was just whimping out since we were beating him. But, that is just my opinion.

So, since there will be no Linford Game for us, they may still play since it is a Boys Only Linford Thanksgiving, Ryan is organizing the White Trash Turkey Bowl. The biggest problem is none of the other players are aware of his plans. It will be a sneak attack.

It just was nice to see him out there today with his sisters being nice and working with them. He is a great brother when he decides to be. Here is hoping that happens more often.

So, the new banner is a celebration of football and other Saturday sports.

The Banner, The Banner

You need to say this with the voice of Tatoo from Fantasty Island. For those who don't know who this is, you are way too young, or maybe I am way too old. I am having problems with blogger, so there is no title to this post. The box where you put the title is missing...Um I guess that is what you get for free.

I am still having problems with the banner thing - I can't find the HTML code which tells you to show the title of the blog to go away. I have put it in my banner, and don't want it to display under my banner. Oh well. It is a start, now I just need to try and get fancy.

I waited too long to go for my run and it was HOT. I did my 60 minutes and now I am tired. I still have a full day of soccer game, soccer party and Costco in front of me! I know you are jealous.

Hopefully it will get the kinks worked out so I don't spend soo much time working on the blog layout. I need to clean the house and work on some other stuff. Oh well, I am pretending I am learning something which is a good thing, right???

It is Friday and I have nothing to say

How does that title grab you? I am doing the regular Friday things - work, kids, house, get ready for the weekend, etc. But, this is the start of the Thanksgving holiday. My kids have no school for ONE WEEK. That means no early mornings. You would think I started early since I could not get out of bed this morning. Eric was on Seminary duty and he even stopped and let Ryan bring doughnuts for everyone, so I think that was covered.

I need to get cracking on the plans for the White Trash Thanksgiving. I think it is going to be fun, and I hope there is no burn ban for Bastrop. It will be very cold if we can't have a fire, and it is just not as fun. Since we have joined the ranks of the professional campers, many of our meals will be in the dutch oven. Of course, we the Pearson's don't have a dutch oven, but our camping partners the Kenningtons and the Joneses do. As a matter of fact I think Robert and Sterling are in a race to see who can be in possesion of the greatest number of dutch ovens at one time. They each have like 5-10 now. Crazy for them, good for us.

We are in possesion, however, of the most important part of the White Trash Thanksgiving - the deep fryer for the turkey. It is not trashy if it is not deep fried! We perfected the art last Thanksgiving and now Eric will get to show his deep fried expertise in Bastrop. It will be a different Thanksgiving, no football, but I am going to enjoy it.

BUT - I will miss the Black Friday craziness. Many times I am not looking for anything in particular. It is just fun to go with the million other crazy people who invade WalMart at 5:00 AM and try and grab up some little thing they can't live without. I still don't know what to get everyone for Christmas, so I guess it is best not to just buy on Black Friday without a plan.

So go and enjoy your day. I am going over to Becky's today and I am bound and determined that I will get a banner posted if it is the last thing I do. I have put something quick together in Photoshop - it is not fancy or great but it is a start. Now I just need to get in on the blog. Now if I only understood HTML. Here is the total of my HTML expertise < >. Should be fun.

A Crazy Wednesday, and a slow Thursday

I had a long Wednesday due to bad weather in Dallas and Houston, it made for a crazy travel day. I was meeting two colleagues in town who were coming from two different parts of the country. With delays into Dallas of three to four hours, it was good that I am good at a plan B. Everyone made it eventually and I was glad for the backup when the network manager was talking about DMZ's and forests (not the kind Bambi traverses). Thank goodness for technical guys (and gals). We had a great meeting with my prospect, and I hope that will translate into business next year. We will see.

I came home, after my 17 hour day, and was dog tired. I dragged myself into bed and was awakened sometime after midnight to the sound of throwup. Now, I don't do vomit well. Eric, the hero, got up and cleaned up the lionshare of the mess. In the light of day, I had a small bit left, but I heard him mopping and cleaning last night. I pulled the "pull the covers over my ears and pretend it is not going on" thing. It was Caroline, so today we are going to stay home, and I hope she will feel better. She has some kind of bug complete with fever. Here is to hoping it stays with just her - I don't think I can handle five children with the stomach flu!

I did come home to a clean house thanks to Ellen. I love Ellen. To have the whole house clean at the same time is nothing short of a miracle!

Picture has nothing to do with post, but I liked it. This is my first attempt to link to an image in my photobucket account, not load from my pc. It was much faster. I think that is the way to go.

Here is to hoping I don't spend the day cleaning up vomit! Aren't you jealous of my life?

But I Don't Want to Clean My Room

This is the refrain which I hear each and every day from Allie. It is getting on my last nerve. I think the baby of the family thing is going just a little too far. Even Caroline is easier to get moving than Allie. I guess we will just have to keep having her clean until she gets the clue that this is not negotiable. Do I look like a pushover?? Why does this child push me so?

Busy day today. Work, book club here for lunch and then the normal running around this afternoon. Such is my life!

Have a great Tuesday.

Weekend in Review

Oh that I had my camera with me so I could have snapped a few pics this weekend. But alas, no pictures - just a random picture of Patrick playing with the twins from this summer. They do love playing iwth him.

I did get my Photoshop Elements in the mail, thanks to my Costco coupon, so pics should be forthcoming. I am bound and detmined to get a banner by the end of the week.

We had Sophie's last soccer game on Saturday, and her soccer party. The Geckos won their last game! She had a pretty good game. Eric had to miss the last game because he was at a meeting for Stake Conference. We both missed the party, due to Stake conf, but she had a ball. She still loves soccer so we are going to have to figure out what to do with her!

Allie has one more game. I don't like how Klein does soccer for this age, so I will admit, I am not that into her stuff. She is having fun and that is all that matters, but we will NOT put her back into soccer at Klein.

We went to the Jones home for dessert after the adult sesion of conference to plan our White Trash Thanksgiving with the Joneses and the Kennintons. I am looking forward to it. Just imgagine the possiblities with a theme like that. Sarah made an execellet dessert trifle. It looked fancy and it was tasty. You can't beat that.

On Sunday we went to the earlier session of conference to watch Rachel give her talk. I think that is just cruel and unusual punishment to have a nine year old speak at Stake Conference. She did an amazing job, probably better than I would have done. The session was great, and I am glad we went.

After conference we went to the park to play soccer/baseball and then we had our family pics taken by photographer extraodinaire Sarah Jones. I am hoping there is at least one that will be good for our Christmas card. If we can find a good one I would like to get a bigger one for the house. We will have to see.

I am off to do play drill sergeant to three sleepy girls and get them out the door. Then its a run before my 9:30 am conference call. I am going to Dallas tomorrow evening and back on Wednesday. It should make for a fun week.

Laziness

I could not get up this morning. I don't know what the deal was. I am so tired. I should not be - I fell asleep last night at 8:30! I guess the daily grind is just getting to me. I even broke the rules of common decency and went to the bus stop in my PJ's. I am sure everyone is thinking "that is what five kids will do to you." Oh well, tomorrow is another day, and it is Friday.

I snapped this picture of Allie on her way out the door to school the other day. I just love the look on her face and her smile. She is such a happy kid, for the most part. She also has some drama in her, so she can turn on the water works when she thinks it will further her cause. Especially where her "daddy" is concerned. So, I have another drama queen. Can we survive??

Laundry

How can so few people create so much laundry? And the bigger question is how come I cannot keep on top of it? This is just a few loads from yesterday. It would be great if I could say that I would be caught up when this is folded, but no. Not even close. And Ryan does his own.

I have a friend whose husband is very particular about the laundry. When the clean laundry sits in baskets, similar to this, he makes a snide and not so politically correct statement about how this is not an acceptable way to live. I guess I am lucky Eric does not care. As long as something is clean it works for him. When you have to tell the kids to go digging in the basket to look for clean socks it is an indication to get folding. So, its off to fold I go.

Its' That Time of Year

I have a confession to make. I have a calendar obsession. Yes it is true. I love to buy and use calendars. I am always searching for just the right calendar/system for myself and for the house. This time of year I am on the hunt.

Many years ago I used the Franklin Planner system and I liked it. It was compact, allowed me to carry all I needed to carry and have what I need in one place.

Then, a year or so before I quit my job, they bought all of us Palm Pilot PDA's and told us we needed to use them. It was just a basic system, but I was not embracing the technology easily. I liked to write things down! Fast forward six or eight months and I had embraced it. I liked it and I was using it.

When I became pregnant with the twins and quit, this cheap place made me give it back. Typical. So, I was left without it again. Since I was not working, I thought I could go back to paper, and since I did not need to plan out each day, I thought I would look for the perfect monthly/weekly calendar. It took three years, but I found it.

Now, I am stuck. I need more than weekly. Should I go back to a PDA? Should I just buy the daily version of what I have now? Should I get a full Franklin? I don't want too bulky, but I want easy to use.

I am not one who "fasts and prays" over decisions - that is my sister. When I decide to paint a room I walk in and buy the paint (I will have looked at different basic colors, but then I buy). Laurie hangs the paint chips on the wall for an extended period of time to see if she will really like it. We are very opposite in our decision making. So, why am I paralyzed about making this decision?

If you have made it all the way through this rant on calendars, you should win a prize. The bottom line, I just need to make a decision and do it. I need to get something because I am needing to plan into next year, and I have no calendar! Oh what will I do?

Fumble Recovery by Number 84

So I am a little behind, but on Thursday night Ryan had a game against Klein Collins. He has been sick this week, so I was a little worried about how he might play - there is nothing fun about running around in freezing weather (OK 55 degrees) when you don't feel well.

On the last kickoff of the game, he came up with a fumble recovery. I must say I enjoyed hearing "fumble recovery by number 84 Ryan Pearson" over the loudspeaker. What can I say I really am one of THOSE moms. I hope he continues with football, because I sure like to watch.

We went to the HS game on Friday night with all the kids. Both of the babies feel asleep in the 3rd quarter. It was FREEZING (OK 50 degrees) 50 is cold here. So we were bundled up and trying to stay warm. The Cougars won with seconds to go despite the REALLY bad coaching and play calling by our fabulous head coach.

You might notice some changes to the blog. I am trying to step up my game and keep up with the Joneses. So, if all goes well I will continue to make some changes over the next week or so. We will see how far I get.

Off to go and make dinner, get everyone ready, and go to church for a restful(?) Sunday.

SCARY

When I was a younger mother, and very sure of what was right and wrong, I would have NEVER let my children dress as deathly or scary things. Ryan and I went rounds and round over the fact that he wanted to be the Grimm Reaper, dead things etc. I was just against this. I think he was 14 before I let him be something gross.

Fast forward to Halloween 2006. What do we have? Two children who were something nice, and two kids who were something gross. What has happened to my conviction? What has happened to my sense of right and wrong? I am just tired. It was easier to give in than fight. That does not bode well for the two coming up does it? I am sure that Ryan will turn to me when he returns from college and tell me that I am too lax with the twins, similar to what I have done to my parents through the years. Let's see, I'm tired with five - imagine ten!

So, what have we learned today? It is easier to give in than fight - at least in terms of spooky halloween costumes!

Halloween 2006

Well, we survived Halloween. This was the first year that Kelsey and Sophie went off by themselves the whole time - no family time for them. It is also the first year Ryan did not go out at all! He has been sick, so he opted to stay home. At 16 he is probably too old anyway.

Allie and Caroline are still in a great place - they wanted to go around the block, then their candy was too heavy and they were done. It was great. Everyone had fun, and no one got hurt, that is until we needed to brush out Thing One and Thing Two's hair. It was not pretty. Next holiday Thanksgiving.