Sneezing, itching, watery eyes...

Shouldn't beautiful weather = fun in the sun???

70 degree weather = visit to the doc

for new allergy meds.

ACHOO!!!

Peanut, Peanut Butter....and jelly...

What an awesome weekend!

We started it all off with a basketball tournament!

Tyler played three great games - they came in fourth!

Go Doerre Warriors!

Rydge thoroughly enjoyed running around the court barefoot...

DISGUSTING TOOTSIES!

Spencer and I worked a shift at the cannery making PEANUT BUTTER

from shelled peanut to the finished product.

The Houston cannery makes all of the peanut butter for the entire church~

over 33o,ooo jars!

The cannery runs 24 hours a day in four hour shifts for over a week -

all of the wards in the surrounding stakes take part. Our ward was assigned the

9:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. shift (1/2 hour training).

It was AWESOME! We dumped peanuts into the roaster,

sifted through for burned peanuts, added other ingredients into mixer,

put empty jars on conveyor, watched the butter go into the jars,

screwed on lids, checked lids for sealing, put through labeling machine, loaded in boxes, taped up boxes, and loaded on pallets.

It was SO cool to be a part of this service.

After getting about 3 hours of sleep we got Tyler off to his next tournament game,

and I took Maddie to her Stake Activity Days activity. They made over 300 bears

for orphans and hospital bound children in Peru.

What a WONDERFUL service! And Maddie was thrilled to learn how to sew!

Here she is with the stack of finished bears behind her.

In deep concentration!
It was such a wonderful busy weekend~

If I only had a brain...

Because I stayed up too late last night watching

my DVR'd LOST (sweet joy!!)...

I went to sleep without turning

on the alarm clock. (Proud to say it's the first time

that's happened this school year!)

I woke up at 7:30.

Kyle needed to be out the door by 7:45. Maddie by 8:00...

We just skipped the HAIR BRUSHING

and CLOTHES MATCHING.

Tyler had asked me the night before to wake him up

early because he had homework...sorry, dude.

Rushed him out by 8:30.

NOBODY was tardy! I was feeling so very proud of myself.

Proud until 5 minutes ago...there it was sitting on my counter.

The 'reminder' flier I'd

STRATEGICALLY left out so I'd REMEMBER!

SCHOOL PICTURES TODAY

CLASS PICTURES, TOO!

Are you kidding me??? You should see what my kids

look like...what they're wearing! And Maddie's rats nest. OY!

IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN!

(I know you've all had one of these BRAIN FART moments...DO SHARE!)

The Honeymooners

A huge SHOUT OUT to Leah, Shea, & Gigi for keeping the crew this weekend!

Spencer and I escaped to California this past weekend for a 'business trip'. SOOOO wonderful! Saturday morning was spent in Oceanside with sand between my toes...HEAVEN! Then we hopped over to the outlets in Lake Elsinore...It's such a fortunate thing that I don't live near them...Pottery Barn outlet...Didn't know there was such a thing. I was DROOLING.

This guy was so cool!!

I loved watching the pelicans kamakazi (spelling error) into the ocean to catch fish.

Whoever said Disneyland is the happiest place on earth hasn't eaten at

IN-N-OUT!!!

Again, I'm DROOLING!

Best of all was honey-time. It's been eons since Spencer and I have just hung out.

So AWESOME! I like this guy!

Runny nose...

This is what you get

when you ask Rydge

to bring you a tissue...

T.R.S.

Rydge got his first CTR ring in primary on Sunday.

Ever since he's been going around the house reminding us...

"T-R-S! Choose the Right!"

Please stop growing up, my little friend...:)

Baby Steps...

So it's the beginning of a new year - Happy 2009 -

and as always GOALS are on my mind.

I have a gazillion 'goals'. All of which will not be reached if I follow my normal course of goal attaining which is reach high and then feel completely overwhelmed and accomplish nothing.

So I'm determined this year to go about things differently.

It's all about baby steps.

Goals:

1. Lose 20 pounds.

Old Rani: Blast off with exercise and diet and then quit within a week.

Baby Step Rani: Think skinny. Maybe drink a bit more water...I don't want to go too crazy.



2. Read my church lessons and be prepared for class each Sunday.

Old Rani: Wait till 11pm Saturday night- decide it's all too much and watch "Friends" re-runs instead.

Baby Step Rani: Read the TITLE of the lesson...progress slowly...



3. Stop yelling at my kids

Old Rani: Off the wagon by 7am when someone says
" I don't have any clean socks."
Baby Step Rani: Don't yell before 6 am (okay, no one is awake yet, but I have to start somewhere.)

These are only three of my gazillion goals, but once again, baby steps....

Wish me luck.

A Day at the Beach

Who needs Hawaii when you have a

white sand bayou only 10 minutes away???

Personally, I could do without the floating garbage,

trees in the water, and possibility of water snakes...

But the kids felt transported to a far away land!

Good times!

Hot and Cold...

I woke up this morning with a br-r-r-illiant (roll the 'r') idea. At least it seemed brilliant in those moments between asleep and awake. Instead of having the kids open their Christmas jams on Christmas Eve (per the norm), we played a game tonight so they get to enjoy them a few days before Christmas.

Each kid took a turn being "it" and we hid their wrapped pj's. Then we sang "Jingle Bells" louder as "it" got closer to the hidden pj's and softer if they moved farther away. By the time "it" found the treasure, we were screaming!

It was HILARIOUS!

Loved it - finally a new little tradition that won't require a lot of planning or prep.

Hooray for my brilliance!

Missing You...

This past week my heart has been aching for my Granny and Mutti. This will be our first Christmas without them both- they passed away less than six months apart. I guess I didn't realize how they ARE the holiday's to me. It doesn't seem right or normal to not be looking for cozy slippers, a warm lap quilt, and making photo gifts that I KNOW will be treasured.

I miss every other day emails from my Mutti. We spent hours playing Backgammon, Yahtzee, and Scrabble. We shared a love of good books and music. I miss her quiet, straight faced humor and her genteel, ladylike demeanor.

I miss Granny's "candy corner". I miss jiggling her wrinkly arms. I miss her voice on the other end of the phone. I miss how she adored my kids. I miss snuggling in bed with her at night and listening to her tell stories of the 'good ole days'.
Christmas won't be the same without you.

Missing you...

The Investigation...

There has been a crime.
It is still under investigation.

You may wonder what a Capri Sun...

And a toilet (a nasty 10 year old toilet at that)

have in common.


Well, this man is trying to find out!
After calling the plumber about my downstairs half bathroom constantly over-flowing, he came, he saw, and he pulled out a scrunched up Capri Sun pouch.
That mystery has been solved.
However, there is still the mystery of who the dingle-berry is that put it in the toilet in the first place.
Do you think anyone has fessed up to the crime?
Of course not!
Rydge, also known as "policeman" is conducting an investigation by going around flashing a notebook at the occupants of our home that says 'Capri Sun' and asking
"Did you do this??"
No admissions yet.
I have my suspicions.

It's the hap-happiest time...

Few things bring me more joy than COLD weather!!

It actually snowed here in Houston yesterday...

(It didn't stick but...)

Yes, it SNOWED!

This morning when we got up this is what I saw!

AWESOME!

(And yes- my house was a nice cool 60 this morning...yummy!)

This little piggy...

Rydge has devised a most ingenious strategy for riding his Razor...

(by the way, excuse the left out in the weather, rusty, nasty scooter. I should probably make sure his tetanus booster is up to date :)

One toe out, three toes in, one toe out.

He REFUSES to wear shoes to ride - no matter how cold it is.

His toes must fit JUST SO.

I can see why...he wouldn't look nearly as cute.

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving with the Elmers was so fantabulous! There are no words for how much I enjoy living near my parents, brothers and family. Families are eternal and I love strengthening our bonds in the here and now. I just included a few shots of the day. Leah took some family pics for us. What would we do without Aunt Leah!?!

Smile, Kyle!

Hayley, Shea, & Leah taking a ride in Deb's kayak.

PS - it works better if it's in the water :)
Love ya, Aunt Debi! Thanks for the good times! Can't wait till Christmas!

Rydge got hit in the face more than once on his kayak ride.

Picture taken after the capsize. Thank goodness it was 80 degrees on t-day.

The paddle boat!

I don't know how I got through the day without getting a pic of Gigi and Bubs...I'll be working on that.

Hey - A.D.D. Girl!

Okay, so I am officially the Enrichment Leader in my new ward.

Before now "Rani" and "Enrichment" were never even spoken

in the same sentence. Nonetheless, I serve.

But alas, my quandary:

WHAT THE CRAP AM I DOING??

I spent HOURS making 140 of these RIDICULOUS invitations that people will use to jot the date on their calendar and then casually toss into the garbage.

I know this: I too am an invitation tosser.

What are we supposed to do - frame them?

Yeah, they were cute (thanks to Maddie, Gigi, and Debi for your adhesive assistance!). But they are a sign of a much deeper ill. I am consistently wasting time on FLUFF!

There are so many WORTHY & NOBLE things I should be investing myself in.

I feel CHAOTIC and UNFOCUSED.

So, I plead with you, my faithful blog readers (all 2 of you) - I need some feedback on how to prioritize the important things----I'm losing it! :)