Spare me!

As a Back to School, End of Summer Celebration, I took the boys bowling after school this afternoon! All Star Lanes has had free bowling all summer long, so I just had to pay for their shoes, and the cheese fries, of course!

I remember as a kid, my dad would take us to Kodak Bowling Lanes frequently, and I really loved bowling, although I never got very good at it! It is fun for me to see my boys bowling, and doing really pretty well! McKay came in first with 103, Noah got 83, and Seth, my 4 year old, got 95 points...with bumpers of course!

So, if you ever are bored, take your kids bowling! It's a fun activity, and it doesn't take long before they learn the lingo of the game, and the best method of getting those pins down!

Thanks for a fun afternoon, All Stars!

Fifty-One

years ago yesterday, my parents married! Happy Anniversary to my wonderful mother and father. (I was too busy being annoyed with my own darling husband yesterday to post about the joy of marriage, so I'm a day late!)

Aren't my parents so cute?

They were so young, but they stuck!

In honor of my parents and their long marriage, I thought I would share some marriage quotes with you!

"The heart of marriage is memories."

~Bill Cosby

"Marriage should be a duet - when one sings, the other claps."

~Joe Murray

"Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, ah, now that's a real treat."

~Joanne Woodward

"A successful marriage is an edifice that must be rebuilt every day."

~Andre Maurois

"How sweet is the assurance, how comforting is the peace that come from the knowledge that if we marry right and live right, our relationship will continue, notwithstanding the certainty of death and the passage of time. Men may write love songs and sing them. They may yearn and hope and dream. But all of this will be only a romantic longing unless there is an exercise of authority that transcends the powers of time and death."

~Gordon B. Hinckley

Happy Anniversary Dad and Mom! May you have many more years of happiness together and with all of us! Love you lots!

Casual Friday

It's laid-back, relaxed, chill, lazy, indolent, and slothful here at the Skelly household. I finally have a day where I have very little "have-tos" to do! We cleaned a great deal yesterday so we didn't have to spend the day doing chores, so it has been laid-back to the max! I haven't even gotten dressed yet! And I love it that we're all just hanging here at home. The boys have been doing puzzles and playing games, occupying themselves. Seth is playing with his cars, and has pulled out his car mat here in the family room. I was able to take a morning nap, catch up with some friends on the phone, and catch up on some dvr'd shows.

There is a load of laundry to fold and a few dishes to throw in the dishwasher, and a few squabbles to break up. But still...

It's really a perfect day to just be...

Of course it will be ending soon as one has scouts, and then there is football practice at 4:30, and then Herriman High School has their inaugural football game tonight, which we may go to. We shall see if we get enough laziness this first part of the day to give us the energy to get up and go later on.

Gratitude

You know when you get a cold, with a stuffy nose, and you can't breathe at night, and your nose is red and raw from blowing it? You suddenly feel so much gratitude for when you don't have a cold, and you can breathe normally, and you take it for granted soon after the cold goes away, until the next time. But for that little bit of time,  you are reminded of what it is like to not be able to breathe normally, so you feel such gratitude for when you can?

Well, that is where I am right now. Twelve days ago, I went to the dentist. I was going in to have 4 old fillings replaced. I thought it was a simple thing...but soon found it wasn't. I was there for over 2 hours, and I actually had to go back later (I had to leave to go pick up M&N from summer camp) and spend another 40 minutes in the chair. My jaw hurt so much from keeping it propped open, and when the numbness wore off, I was in a world of hurt. Well, that pain has continued. It throbs at times. It switches sides at times. The pain comes in waves at times, and reduces me to tears. I thought it would get better, maybe the nerves were just sensitive. And it did get a little better, but still I had sensitivity to cold, and heat too sometimes. I love to drink ice cold water, but I've been drinking mainly lukewarm water the past week, which is not a preference! I ate some nuts tonight, and I felt a horrible pain. It last over an hour even with some ibuprofen, where I felt like I was going to black out from the pain, and I was sweating something awful. I was home with McKay and Seth, and kept reminding myself to be brave, and be "the mom".

I'm trying to be grateful, that for 40 years, I've had relatively little pain in my life. Even childbirth was not horribly painful for me (okay, Seth is 4 1/2 years old, so the memories are no longer painful for me!). I don't recall feeling tremendous pain when I broke my arm when I was 8. I went around for half the day at school with my arm broke, and even rode my bike home (where the pain did roar its head as I recall). So, now, I'm succumbing to the pain from my teeth. My teeth, which have given me relatively little trouble over the years. I really hope the pain will depart and they will just be "normal" again.

Okay, I get it...I need to work on being more grateful!

P.S. Through all of this, you would think I would have had a big weight loss this week, what with not really being able to eat anything enjoyably, but it is unfortunately not the case. I have been holding steady.

Summer Loving

I love my guy!

I am feeling a little melancholy as I realize that the summer is coming to a rapid close. I don't want it to be over...it has been too much fun to close the chapter on just yet. Here are some of the things we have done this summer: traveled to WY, NE, IA, MN, SD, and Moab. We did lots of bike riding, hiking, and working out. We played cards and dominoes and ate delicious corn on the cob, strawberries, and raspberries, enjoyed visits from friends and family, went river rafting, swimming, and hanging out at home. We jumped on the tramp as a family, walked the dogs, ate healthy food, went to the park, and spent time at Classic Skating, both inside and outside on their water slides. The Chief and I have also gone on some fun dates, and some quiet dates where we just enjoyed being together. We have had football try-outs, late dinners, quick dinners, and no dinner nights! We have seen a few movies (Toy Story 3 was our family fave!)and rented some redbox movies! We have had wii tournaments, and we have done yard work (not one of the best family projects, but the Chief and I enjoy the results!) and made countless trips to Lowe's. We have loved one another, and loved the sun. We have enjoyed school being out, and I for one don't want to say good-bye to such a wonderful summer, so forgive me if I continue to pretend that autumn isn't knocking on the door!

Thanks, Heavenly Father, for creating such a fabulous summer for my family!

Let's talk about Seth

I just realized that I've been blogging about McKay and Noah the past two days, so I figure I should shout praises about my baby too! Afterall, it was a big week for Setheroo at our place. He overcame his fear, and learned to ride his bike without training wheels. He has wanted to ride without them all summer long, but was too afraid to try. He finally did it (with lots of prompting and promises to not let go) last weekend, and he hasn't gotten off his bike since.

Unfortunately, I don't seem to have my camera with me outside so I haven't captured any pictures or movies of my buddy riding! So, I'll share the next best thing...pics of my cutey pie!

Seth, saying, "enough already, mom! Let me scoot!"

Seth laying on his big brother, Noah. I love this one!

Setheroo loves Mousse, our chocolate lab!

So, there you have it...My Setheroo! He's a hoot!

First and Ten

Herriman Mustangs

The inevitable has arrived. Football is coming to the Skelly household. My brothers were so much older (8 and 10 years) than me, so I don't recall them playing football. My whole family played soccer, so I imagine it is something similar to what our family will be adjusting to starting tomorrow!


My Noah is trying out for Football. He has been waiting for this day for the past 2 years. He has been working to "condition" himself. Tell me, where do 8 year olds learn these things from? From their daddies who love the game? Probably! Noah has already declared that he intends to play for my Cougars someday! I have to admit, I would love for that goal to be reached! I'll be right there on the sidelines cheering my heart out for the Skelly Man! In the meantime, I'll be right there on the sidelines watching the practices and games! And cheering my heart out!


   Hike that Ball!

Noah with his best friend, Cam, who is also playing football

What were YOU doing 11 years ago tonight?

I was pacing! A lot! I had gone to the doctor earlier in the afternoon, and was told that it was time to be induced as I had developed preeclampsia. My firstborn would make his debut the next day. Of course, I couldn't sleep. So I paced...up the stairs, down the stairs, checked the suitcase, sat on the couch, and then did the whole thing over again.

And here we are 11 years later...

McKay Harrison

My 5 lbs 13 oz baby boy is now my big boy! We celebrated with a little friend party today.

After cupcakes (that turned out marvelous if I do say so myself!) we headed to All Star Lanes for a little game of bowling!

It was really fun to be with these young men! They are quite the crew! I'm glad McKay has such nice friends!

Some things about McKay...

nicknames: Mr. McKay and McKayster

Hobbies: legos, television watching, and hopefully Karate soon! 

For his birthday, he received a Mountain Bike and he is really excited about it! He also got contacts, which he has been wearing for the past week. He is doing a fantastic job of being responsible with them! 

McKay is kind and helpful. He is thoughtful and looks for ways to help his brothers. He is the guy that will give up what he wants for you, and he will do his brother's chore to help his mom and dad. He likes to do things with the family. His favorite things to do are going bike riding, going to classic skating or seeing a movie!

We all love you McKay and are glad you are part of our family! 

Happy Birthday, Mr. McKay

p.s. I have to show off my cupcakes, as I made them all myself...down to the homemade frosting, and the filled cupcakes! I surprised myself. Usually the Chief is the cake decorator in our home but I think they turned out beautiful!

Odd woman out

I'm the only girl in the clan here. And so that means sometimes I get left out of typical "boy" stuff like pillow fights (don't hit mommy!) and adventure movies and silly jokes about body odor, and funny fart noises that arm pits can mimic.

I guess it's alright that I'm excluded. Some things this mommy doesn't mind sitting on the sidelines for!

Tonight at dinner, somehow the conversation got around to stomachs. Before I knew it, the two youngest were standing on their chairs with their shirts pulled up and "displaying" their bellies and chests! What the? I didn't know how we got to that point, but I sure enjoyed the good laugh I got!

I love having menfolk all around me!