BREEZY FIELDS

So Sawyer didn't end up in our bed last night. Great move little brother. -- Post From My iPhone

Mike is watching a Calculus video tutorial while sitting next to me. I'm pretty sure my brain is going to explode. X to the enth power, zero factorials blah, blah, blah. I really try to avoid ANYTHING having to do with math. I balance my checkbook, I can even quadruple a recipe. That does it for me. I am striving for the Celestial Kingdom because I have a sneaking suspicion that my own personal Hell will be a never ending math class. All of my high school math teachers will be there (because I am pretty sure in high school that I damned them there on a regular basis). Mr Winston will still by trying to look like Harrison Ford, Mr. Thompson will have his obnoxious mustache, and Mr. Simpson, well he might not be there. He was nice to me actually, he just spoke in a language I did not understand and bored me to tears. Wow, total sidetrack. Not at all what I was going to write. Really, I have been brimming with things I've wanted to put on my blog. I think about it muc...

Sawyer is trying to help me type. Is it helping? Not so much. Jane leaves again first thing tomorrow. This time for Girls' Camp. Oh how I love Girls' Camp. So many, many great memories. I hope it means as much to her as it did to me. I am so excited for my Jane. Sadie is dreading her sister leaving again. This summer sans Jane has been a real eye opener to Sades. She is finally appreciating how much fun Jane makes their lives. Funny story. About a week after Jane left for Washington I had Sadie and Ellyn and Sawyer with me at Rite Aid dropping off Ellyn's prescription . I told Sadie that she could pick out a Wet'n'Wild nail polish and we could paint her nails that night after dinner. After we dropped off the prescription we ambled our way over to the front right corner of the store where they sell scoops of ice cream for a buck 16. I bought an ice cream cone for Sadie and got a double scoop to share with Ellyn and Sawyer. As we were walking toward the d...

I had so much fun in Washington, thanks to Meagan, Pa, and Dana, Cory,Ellyn, the kids, etc... I am so happy to see my wonderful family. Sawyer is talking like crazy. I have had so much fun playing with Sadie and Ellyn and fun talking and playing with my mom and dad. I miss Washington and everybody there so much and I hope I get to see you soon. We have had a busy day of horseback riding, strawberry buying, and unpacking, cleaning, playing. Well, I'm watching Hannah Montana with Sadie so I better go.

It's happening. The boy is trying to say EVERYTHING. It is amazing. One day it is mom and dad and do(g). Then a few short weeks and it's- cheese jump drink baby boom bear bird book En (Ellyn) Dane (Sadie) Jane truck You can pretty much get him to try to say anything. Now not all of these words come out as clear as a bell. But... they are there and it is exciting. Now if he just wouldn't come into my room at 6:55 (it's summer Sawyer) and say "Eat" with the cutest little expression on his face and take my hand and start dragging me to the kitchen. Really, Sawyer and Ellyn did not get the memo regarding summer behavior. "Sleep in, sleep in, sleep in." I try sending those thoughts to them every morning as they start to stir but the call for Cheerios and cheese is just too great for these two. Crazies.

I want to ride through the wide open country that I love Don't Fence Me In....yada, yada, yada. I'm emotional. I'll admit it. I am living in a an absolutely gorgeous place and I love it here. I do. BUT I WANT TO GO HOME!!! Just a week, okay two. But I can't. I'm an ingrate. I have worked forever to get Ellyn's programs in place and now I have to be responsible and I resent it. Yesterday I told Mike how much I was missing Washington and my mom and my sisters and my dad and he told me I should go home. He said he had so much homework he was not going to be able to be much company and I should just go. I told him my problem. Jane doesn't get home till Tuesday then Monday she leaves for Girls' Camp and then the week after I have to be in charge of the Young Women's activity and the lesson while our Pres. has family in town, our counselor is out of town, and another is due on Aug. 2nd. Then school starts. Suddenly it came to me. I could lea...

A couple of bananas A few scoops of pineapple chunks or crushed pineapple or whatever...maybe left over pineapple rings. It is really up to you. A few spoonfuls of plain yogurt Ice A little milk As much spinach as you can possibly stuff in your blender. Blend a bit, add more. These are delish and the kids think they are such a treat.

A sunny morning in our play nook. Scooter rides for some lucky toys. Alligator shakes. Still working on my manual setting on my camera. Obviously I need to focus on...focus.

"... others try to persuade us that our decisions must be socially acceptable and politically correct. Some pondering of that approach will reveal how wrong it is. Since social and political structures differ widely over the world and can dramatically change with time, the folly of using that method to make choices is apparent." Loved it. Had to write it, save it. A knowledge of truth is of little value unless we apply it in making correct decisions .

*Inability for full grown adults to decide on the temperature and having the nightly debate about the A/C and generator- ALWAYS ending with waking up dad. *“Escape from Alcatraz”- The heroic efforts of Treven to release the houseboat from the grasp of the mountain and then escape by attempting to swim to the houseboat with the hammer and stake. Good riddance hammer and stake. *The “Talent” Show”: Yes, those are quotes. However, some of the magic tricks still have me stumped. Turns out the Stinchfield males share the skill of fast water drinking- just open the hatch! But Tom is still the reining champ! *The Casualties: Ellyn’s foot, Morgan’s head, Brent’s eardrum, infinite sunburns and the mystery bruises in places that we didn’t know we could bruise. *“I Think I Can, I Think I Can”- The willingness for everyone to give it “one more try” on the wakeboard. There was a lot of success! *Kiss My Face: Fabulous community showers on the back of the boat and in the lake. *Barefoot for nearly a...

Yesterday I spent a few hours bringing various household goods out from the garage and into the house. I was in search of several particular items. 1. Keely - Keely is Sadie's stuffed mountain lion. Keely is bedraggled, floppy, missing a nose. Actually, she was originally Jane's. Her Uncle Brent bought Keely for her when she was three or four and we had gone to the San Diego Zoo. I can't remember who all went or how old Jane was or if Mike was deployed or not BUT... I can remember a Black Rhino spraying urine clear out into the middle of the walking path. It was impressive. Any way, I really digress. Keely was loved by Jane but when Sadie was three she became incredibly attached to Keely. Keely was actually originally named Wilbur by Sadie Jean. We loved that name and we were sad when she changed it. We love the name Keely now too. Keely has been a major part of our life ever since. We have had to talk Sadie out of taking it on a few trips,-overseas, camping,...

"Show me a woman who doesn't feel guilty and I'll show you a man." --Erica Jong I found this quote on another blog a few days ago and I loved it. You want to know guilt? Watch your poor, sweet 5 year old that already has difficulties with walking limp across the floor. Why is she limping? BECAUSE YOU BROKE HER FOOT!!!

nostalgia |näˈstaljə; nə-| noun a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations : I was overcome with acute nostalgia for my days in college. • the evocation of these feelings or tendencies, esp. in commercialized form : an evening of TV nostalgia. List of things making me nostalgic my new house - it reminds me of Granny and Papa Les' house. I love it. There is a smell (a good one) that takes me right back to Bountiful. plums - again Granny's house. Maybe because I was eating a plum in the kitchen that has that scent. In a flash I was climbing the plum trees in the backyard, eating all the plums with my cousins. car ride up to Stanford - Summer road trips. The reflection on all the cars driving in the opposite direction, winding through farm land, the sun warm through the windshield. I realized that I have driven cross country every summer for the past several years- Cali to Wyoming, Utah to Washi...

Yesterday we got some really great news. Ellyn's neurologist says that we can start weaning her off her seizure medication. He doesn't think we are going to need it any more, based on the fact that she has had no seizures since that first incident and that the dosage has never needed to be increased since she was barely three. We are so excited. It will be gradual over the next month but then, barring any seizures, we will be done. Our week at Shasta was absolutely wonderful. It was in the 90s or 100s the entire time. We swam, we ate, we played. I wish I would have slept more, but my two youngest would have none of that. Revelation- water sports can wear you out and give you lots of bruises and make your muscles really sore. Jane, Mike, and I were able to get up on the Wakeboard. I discovered that I obviously don't use the muscles in my sides like I should. Also, I'm pretty sure that I know what it feels like to get your arms yanked out of their sockets. I th...