saturday night's all right

saturday night was our stake conference adult session. i felt really strongly that thomas and i needed to go. we don't always make it to the saturday night adult session of conference, even thought it's always the best session. it's often the session that gets ignored because it's on saturday night and it's hard to get a babysitter, and there are lots of other things scheduled for saturday night. we had a babysitter secured and then she canceled and we procured another one. oh the drama. but we persevered. 

our stake was lucky enough to elder edward dube of the seventy and his wife join us and it was great. there were no secrets revealed and no earth shattering personal moments, but the Spirit was very strong and i knew we were in the right place. i was able to make a list of new goals for myself and for the family. i'm glad that thomas and i always have the gospel to discuss with each other. we don't see eye to eye on many things(sports, interior design, exterior design, thermostat temperature, fast food restaurants, how to sit down on a seat with items already on it, tooth brush cup placement, best tom cruise movie, cup holders on sofas) but we always enjoy discussing the gospel with one another. i have felt an increase of the Spirit in our home in recent days. 

after the session, we got ice cream at a little ice cream parlor downtown. i certainly never turn down ice cream though i probably should. we both agree that cookies and cream is one of the best flavors. 

then we came home to this dream:

we close on our new house on wednesday!

this is fine

we close on our new house on may 25th. school ends on the 25th. our house i partially packed. i have to help do crafts for the end of the year party for scarlett's class on the 24th and that kind of what is killing me the most. it's unnecessary and i'm terrible at crafts. 

two weeks ago, scarlett fell of the rock climbing wall during field day and sprained her ankle pretty bad. my first thought was, rock climbing wall at field day? what happened to the fill the bucket with water relay and bean bag toss and other low cost field day activities from my childhood? and then i felt extra bad because they had to wheel her around in a wheelchair for the rest of the day. everything they say about me not being a very sympathetic parent is true. 

last thursday, athena blythe, had her preschool program. for the first time in her life, she requested to wear a hair ribbon. i don't know what this all means. she often proclaims her love for her "crazy hair" so someone she likes more than her crazy hair must wear ribbons. i do not know who this person is. maybe minnie mouse.

all who watch preschool programs know that they can be hilarious or tediously long. athena blythe's school does it right. funny songs, short songs, and snacks. that's how i'd like my funeral to go. 

that open cavity in my chest where my heart should be absolutely ached when i saw what athena blythe proclaimed to desire to be as a future occupation:

this is athena blythe's kindness hand. she must always keep it at school because we normally only enjoy the presence of athena blythe's stankyface behavior hand. 

athena blythe was thrilled to play tour guide to her artwork. self confidence comes naturally with this one. 

the fun continues! last friday night, we went to relay for life at the gwinnett county fairgrounds. reagan's tutor, mrs. griffin, who was also his teacher from last year is one of the organizers for gwinnett county's relay for life, the largest relay for life gathering in the world. it took mrs. griffin and me a couple of week of conversation, online pictures and calendar planning to convince reagan that he should change his normal friday fun plans from pizza and a movie to pizza and relay for life. someday all these autism tactics will make me a great hostage negotiator. autism! great for scheduling if you NEVER plan on changing anything ever again. terrible if you're trying to be flexible and have fun occasionally. 

relay for life was typical reagan- "i don't want to goooooooo!" and then two hours later- "i don't want to leeeeeeave!" thomas and i had to tell him that it was closing. he hates the thought of being somewhere after it has closed. we use it to our advantage though. shady parenting 101. 

last saturday morning, scarlett ran in her first 3k. she had been practicing all semester with running club and with me and then she spent the last two weeks trying to rehab her sprained ankle enough that she could run for most of race without too much pain. 

after her 3k, scarlett wanted to have a cookies and brownies stand. entrepreneurship is in her blood. you know how i love buying and selling things. i can't resist any type of MLM party. they call me "mary kay lularoe jamberry heidi" in some circles. not really. this entire paragraph is fantastical sarcasm. i don't buy anything. anywhoo, cookies and brownies stand was a success. made 5 whole dollars. i need to up my prices. scarlett needs to up her prices.

reagan also wanted to sell something. he still thinks that the max and ruby "ants and acorn pancakes" episode is the best. max and ruby aren't the worst, but they're no longer welcome to our house. he didn't have any takers.

athena blythe really wants a real dog but i'm anti anything else to take care of so she's stuck dragging this robot dog up and down the street. 

another ribbon request.

hersch has had a rough time last couple of weeks. last month he had an eardrum burst. then he had another ear infection. then a fever when he was supposed to get immunized last week and then today we went back in to get his shots, he was sick again with a bulging ear infection. 

he's the hulk hogan of snotty noses.



so, not much going on in the low key time of the year. more sarcasm.

dia de los madres

i just had the best mother's day. i'm normally the queen of low expectations. i just want a little bit of quietude and phil collins on repeat. since that's impossible, i want pictures of the kids and me, thomas and me, and a clean(ish) house. plus, minimal talks about perfect, never complaining mothers and more talks about the divine role of motherhood, whether you have kids or not and getting stuff done, no matter how you get it done. if the Lord is with you, you're doing it right. 

athena blythe with her preferred mother, mrs. heidi.

and then athena blythe with her real mother. 



i received a few gifts from my admirers.

a special dessert from scarlett: honey, grape jelly, and a 100 calorie pack of cookies. a delicacy.

reagan made me a sweet card. i'll probably keep it forever. his use of scissors has come a looooooooong way. 

thomas is a champion gift giver. he got me my favorite flowers in a pot so i can replant them at the new house and somehow, before Prince died, he got him to buy me a gift card to the container store. that man knows the way to my heart, Prince and organization. the piece de resistance was the tub of queso dip, because i really love queso dip. happy mother's day to me and my thighs. my favorite part of this mother's day was how low stress it was. thomas didn't have to work, i had recorded the remake of the parent trap and the girls watched it while i slept on the couch, pretending to watch it with them. then i ate more and more queso dip and some cake. what more could a girl want on a sunday afternoon?

real life mom moments

right before church, includes her arms and her legs. 

right after church, en masse photography.

hersch really likes peanut butter sammiches. we were completely out of food and once i tossed the loaf in the cart, he was on it like white on rice on a paper plate in a snowstorm. he also bites through banana peels.

athena blythe routinely unmakes my bed at inopportune times. 

may the fourth be with you

the end

april showers brings lots of activities

 additional april activities numero uno

athena blythe had a fun run fundraiser at her preschool. they had a pep rally and she talked about it for WEEKS. it was the funniest, most heart meltingly adorable thing to watch her run in it. she's all arms and legs when she runs. she smiled non-stop. this is how she gets away with all the stuff she does, she smiles that goofy smile and you laugh while you're trying to punish her.

now whenever she runs anywhere, she shouts over her shoulder, "I'm having a fun run!"

one of my biggest goals is to get my kids involved in athletics or physical fitness as young as possible. i'm pretty sure based on my genes, they'll never be Olympian superstars, but i don't want them to be afraid to try. i'm still afraid to try. it took me weeks to work up the courage to TRY the hex bar for dead lifts. and guess what, i love dead lifts with the hex bar. imagine if i instilled in my kids at a young age to at least TRY things? we could all be hex bar deadlifting for family home evening soon!

i had just come from the gym, which is a common look for me. sweaty bohemian? three times that week when i showed up to places completely groomed, i had people stop me and say, "there's something different about you, what is it?" "ahhhhh, you're all put together! look at you!"

i'm more known for being harried and gross than polished and presentable. and i actually shower at the gym on a regular basis. 

because i love the 70s:

 and sweatbands:

activity numero dos

reagan and scouts is an enigma wrapped in a conundrum. he loves being there but actually participating is difficult and like most things will probably most likely struggle with understanding what is involved in fully participating for the rest of his life. but, he loves being there. and he loves obliterating personal space boundaries. thankfully, his leaders are very loving and patient.

he earned something here. i'm not sure what because i'm a terrible scout parent. 

no personal space here.

activity numero tres

scarlett was in a theatrical production of peter pan through her drama class. it was the bomb dot com. she's been practicing for weeks and months to immerse herself in the role of "fighting bear". at first, she was a bit disappointed at first with being cast as a boy. we talked about her versatility as an actress and her willingness to take any role during her class rehearsals has allowed her to stretch herself as an actress. i hated being cast as a boy too. i'll never forget having to be Count Basie in the 4th grade famous missourians production. i was sad because it was clear as day that the class favorite girls got to be girls and the less fortunate looking girls with large red plastic glasses and terrible perms got cast as men. not that i still have issues with that. 

scarlett was sooo good. animated! knew her blocking! good use of physical humor! i was itching to join her. 

instead i just embarrassed her behind the scenes. 

the show was produced at riverside military academy, former home of former school president, general sandy beaver. a funny name. but i wouldn't say that to his face. there's probably a good reason they call him general. 

riverside military acamdemy is located in picturesque gainesville, ga at the foot of the north georgia mountains. we ate at honeybaked ham! it's one of my favorites! i milked that birthday week for all i could!

my wonderful mom. her goodness knows no bounds. her dedication to her family is unrivaled. she's got some really dopey kids but she did her best.

for a mere $32,000 a year, you too can send your son here for school!

activity numbero quatro
after scarlett's hit production, we all went to our ward picnic. no one mowed the back lawn so it was practically a jungle and the kids played in the georgia clay. it only took THREE baths to take care of all this! 

priceless