Mommy Had a TIME OUT

Me with the girls on Friday night before Time Out for Women began in Sacramento.
Lisa and I got a picture with the singing group Mercy River. They are AMAZING!! I love their harmonies. They were so inspiring and funny, too!
Here is our group after the conference on Saturday afternoon. Some of the girls stayed over night at a hotel. I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the conference. I feel so enriched and uplifted by the speakers, the music, and the bonds of friendship. I feel like my own spiritual cup has been filled and I have a renewed outlook. We were able to hear from: Ardeth Kapp, John Bytheway, Emily Watts, Amanda Dickson, Jill Manning and Emily Freeman. The beautiful music was by the singing group Mercy River, and by Jenny Oaks Baker. She is a very, very accomplished violinist. She blew us away. I am so thankful for the opportunity to go. I am thankful for a very supportive husband who holds down the fort while I'm gone. I cannot wait until I can go to the next one. We are already trying to make plans!

Yes, More Water!

Notice the smoky, gray sky? We haven't seen a blue sky in days!
"Rett" and T -- Best buddies!!

By 9 am yesterday morning, I realized that I didn't want to be stuck in the house all day. So, I called one of my dearest friends, Raimi, and asked if she was up for an outing at this great little water park ... and she was! Her hubby came, too. We spent about an hour and a half there and just let the boys run wild. T had a hard time with this concept: if I pour water on you, then you'll pour water on me. Nope, he liked pouring water on someone else, but would scream and cry if someone poured water on him. Yes, it was a little annoying, but he's also got to learn, right? Also, it was almost as if we didn't feed our boys before we came (which we DID) because they all just seemed to be starving! They just wanted to snack the entire time. Well ... anyway, the boys got to play with their friends AND water at the same time, I got to visit with Raimi & John, and we got out of the house for part of the day. The park was not crowded, thankfully. I think the smoky skies are still keeping a lot of people indoors. I felt really stir-crazy yesterday morning and knew I wouldn't last the day with my sanity intact if I didn't venture out for a bit.
Then the bonus of the afternoon: T fell asleep after we read some books, so I took a nice afternoon nap, too. The other two boys were very content to have a little alone time, too. B working on a Lego creation, and J played the Wii by himself.

We topped the evening off with our weekly movie night. We watched the first episode of Star Wars, and had no-bake cookies. This is absolutely one of our favorite desserts and it's so easy to make. I love how I don't have to turn on my oven to make these. I'll share the recipe, even though I think most of my friends already have it. I got this recipe from a college roommate back @ BYU.

No Bake Cookies

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar
½ cup milk

½ cup margarine

Bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add:

3/4 cup chocolate chips

½ cup peanut butter
2 ½ cups oatmeal

1 tsp vanilla

Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Let cool.
(I use one of my large melon-scoops to do this. It works great!)


Okay: one more thing! N comes home from Scout Camp this afternoon. Yeah!! We've really missed him. T has continually asked, "Where's Fanul?" That's what he calls N. I'm sure he's going to be exhausted and dirty when he comes home. I've got the washing machine ready!!

More Swimming and More Playdates

B really worked on stroke development in his class. He did really well. He got the flip-turns down really quick. I was impressed.
T is working on his "kickers" here. He loved his class and continually wanted to bring stuff each day to show his teachers. He even wanted to show her his pajamas. Go figure!
J also worked a lot of stroke development. They also went over water safety, which I think is awesome.
The boys all got suckers after their last class today along with a certificate with some feedback about how they did in class. I find these to be very helpful. I only signed them up for 1 session of swim lessons this year.

After swim lessons today, J & B both had a friend over for a play date. B and his friend spent a lot of time building Legos before they jumped into the pool. J & his friend had lunch and spent time coloring before they swam. I tossed coins into the pool for them to find. They really liked the challenge.

T joining in the fun. He's a fish!! He loves to swim and would swim all day if he could.

J and his friend had a blast together today. The time really did fly by. We had popcorn, juice boxes and cookies. No complaints there!

B & his friend filled up a bunch of water balloons to play around with. They had almost as much fun filling them up as they did playing with them. The balloons are fun to put into the pool because they just float around under the surface of the water. You can toss them around the pool and the don't pop. But, yes, they did have fun tossing them at each other. Isn't summer great??!

Racetracks, crayons, & wrestling ....

"Rett" and T ready to launch matchbox cars down the track

The best view in the house of the track

T had one of his best friends over for a play date this morning. We set up the race track where we shoot cars down the track from our landing. We add pillows under the track towards the bottom so that the track slants back up and the cars 'take-air' near the finish line. It's fun to see the cars fly at the end! When my friends came over, we couldn't open the front door because of the pile of cars. I have to admit that I like to do this almost as much as the boys do. Two other friends were over today, too, for B & J. Legos were scattered upstairs, there were wrestling matches, and we dusted off the crayons to draw different kinds of bugs. Yes, I even let B & his friend play the Wii for a bit. I hesitate with the video games sometimes if someone is being excluded or they are not interacting with each other. Otherwise, what's the point of a play date?! We didn't really play outside today and it's not because of it being too hot. Actually, the temperatures have been pleasant, but the air is still choked with smoke from all of the wildfires out here in CA. It's awful. They did play on the swing-set for about 15 - 20 minutes, but that was it. Then, by the time that my friend came to pick up her son, I told her to "climb in"! I guess after roughly 3 hours of manic playing that's what happens. The boys had a great time, but do you know what J asked me the second their friends left? "Can my friend 'so-n-so' come over?"

Brothers and Friends

Yesterday, B had a tough day at school, and it had nothing to do with academics. It had to do with friends. One of his best friends is in a grade below him, so he doesn't get to see him at school. Another friend transferred to another school. One friend he usually plays with has been kind of acting different towards B, and it has been bothering B for some time now. Well, yesterday, when B came home, his eyes were brimming with tears. He and this friend had a fight (not physical) and B felt that he needed to stand up for himself. I was proud of him, but my heart broke, too. As he was telling me this, J came over and put his arm around B. B said that he was so thankful to have his brothers. What a blessing this is for our boys ... to have each other.

I got to thinking how important friendships are. I'm so thankful for my friends. Last night, I went to a RS night at a friend's house where we watched the movie "Hands from Heaven". It showcased 4 friends and how they helped each other through tough times and were, in essence, hands from heaven for each other. I saw clips of this movie when I went to "Time Out for Women" last year. The gal who made the movie (which was about her and her 3 friends) was there talking about her experiences. She made several points during her "talk". I wrote most of them down:

*Laughter is unifying (Amen to that!!)

*Women NEED women

*It is very important to have good friends

*God heals broken hearts through each other

Then she issued a challenge: Think of 1 person that you can reach out to, and open your heart. There is ALWAYS someone who needs a friend. It's not always easy to "put yourself out there," or to take that first step. But it may mean everything to the recipient.

This brings me back to my B, whose heart was broken yesterday. I am thankful he has his brothers, who adore him, and the friends he has in his life. I think that B and this friend will get past this and eventually will be friends again. I can be hopeful, right?