Do You Zumba Yet??

You know you like something
when
you always remember it, right?

So even with my memory loss "stuff"
I'm dealing with,
I remember to go to
ZUMBA at our YMCA
on Monday and Wednesday nights--
even if I'm tired,
have a headache,
a body ache
or whatever...

Because
Because
Because

It is so stinking FUN!
I'm slowly learning the steps,
and yeah,
I have to take water breaks
and modify some of the steps
cuz I'm lame like that,
but
I feel so much better since I started!!!

All of the girls have gone with me too--
Dani
Nana
Daisie
and even
the Caboose!
Such a kick watching the Caboose
move-it
move-it!!

It's been so good for Dani too--
the results are reflecting in the mirror
and that makes her feel great!
Nana and Daisie move their
bahooeys
like nobody's bizness--
and we all laugh while we do it!

So, are you Zumba-ing yet??
If not,
what are you waiting for???

I find myself moving to the beat
while I'm cleaning or cooking--
or even (gasp!)
grocery shopping--
I do that to embarrass the yahoos tho. shhhhh.


Seriously, it feels good to find my hips again,
and Zumba is fun, fast, and a little sensual too--
all that good stuff!

The Caboose thinks "it's cool"--
so there ya have it!

Grab a friend, a sister, a daughter and GO!
Whattaya Waitin' For??



This is the Zumba instructor, Elody (the one I referred to as "Zumba-on-crack"--you can tell she loves what she's doing.
My favorite instructor Wendy, is behind her on the R,in the pinkish colored shorts with blonde hair.
**Go to the bottom of the page to turn OFF the music player, so you can hear the video!

The Journey to the Temple--Keeping Your Word

In the midst of a heated discussion
with the fifteen year old,
I was feeling exasperated.
Just then,
the nineteen year old came home from work.

I called to her to come upstairs to the loft--
to save me from spontaneously combusting
all over her sibling,
who'd just stomped downstairs
without a resolution.


I relayed the situation
from my point of view,
and just about that time,
the fifteen year old stompin', steamer
came upstairs.

With a forced-calm voice,
I challenged her,
"Tell her what's going on here
from your point of view. I won't say a word."

The fifteen year old, with her hands on her hips,
bristled at my challenge,
lips pursed so tight,
as though she is reining in a team of wild horses
with her tongue--
she opened her mouth to let loose the reins,
and then

nothing.

The horses were stalled--
she couldn't put a spin on the situation
that would cast an innocent light on her side.

My nineteen year old,
as I've said before,
has taken up residence in Wonka Land--
unpredictable,
indecisive--
has had a different countenance since the weekend.

Last week,
I would've never asked for her counsel
in this situation with the fifteen year old,
because she wasn't in a place where
she could've offered much of anything.
It might be compared to asking
someone who is lost on a path,
which way to go.

She and I had a heart-to-heart on Friday,
and since then,
I saw her regain her focus.
Seeing that change in her,
I knew she was exactly the person
to bring into this situation.

She began with relating her own feelings,
about being a fifteen year old,
and the struggles she too faced--
what helped and what did not help.
Then she could convey the way only
one sibling to another could convey--
"why Mom is upset with you.":

"Mom loves you. She wants to have a relationship with you now,
when your problems are little, so that when you are older and your problems
are bigger, you can go to her for help.  But you have to be honest. David Scott told me
I have to be transparent with Mom to keep her trust--cuz when you mess up--and you will,
she can still be there for you.
And you have to keep your word.  If you say you're gonna do something, you gotta do it.
Otherwise, she's never gonna believe you about anything."
She continued: "You need to be reading your scriptures every day, twice a day,
and saying your morning and bedtime prayers. That's the only way you're going to be happy.
You need that protection from Satan, who likes to get into our backpockets n' mess with us.
I know it sounds cliche, and all that, but it's the truth. It's the only way."

She continues to teach her sister in such a way that I am speechless.
 I'm listening to this nineteen oracle with awe.
She gets it. 
She has the Spirit with her so strong,
I say outloud,
"Do you feel that? That's the Holy Ghost.
Here's the deal, Sis.  Learning to keep your word is important.  Not just to me
or to other people, but when you go to the Temple, you're going to make promises
there, between you and Heavenly Father.
Important promises.  Eternal covenants.
You have to be able to give your word and keep it, before you're ready to make those covenants in the
Temple.
Does that make sense?
Can you see why I'm concerned when you blow me off or act like you
have forgotten to do what you said you would?
Because how well you keep your word says alot about
your maturity and integrity."

When all was said and done,
well were calm.
"I love yous" shared...
another level reached today.

Something one daughter said about a situation from last week,
stuck in my heart--
"I knew [she] was mad at me because I wasn't living up to her expectations.
But when she stopped being mad at me,
and showed she loved me,
then I knew I could trust her again and try to be better.
We can change when we know people love us."

Another day in Momza's house--
the road to an eternal family is long
and demanding.
It can be exhausting to keep the channels of communication open,
when you'd rather just shut down,
plop into bed and cover your head
waiting for the kids to grow up and learn their lessons,
but this is the thing:

It's not wasted efforts.
Those tears are not wasted.
The prayers are not in vain.
The three hour talks at the dinner table
or
the long talks in the wee hours of the night
are worth what they cost.
It's my family I'm pouring my heart into--
there's nothing nothing nothing
more important than them.
Us.
Lessons come daily--
by example,
by discipline,
by love --repeated over and over again, even when they least deserve it,
or when I least deserve it too--
by service,
by spending time...much much time
with these people I call
My Family.

The Mountains Are Calling...

"The Mountains are calling and I must go."

~John Muir

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings,

Nature's peace will flow unto you 

as sunshine flows unto trees.

The winds will blow their own freshness 

unto you,

And the storms their energy;

While cares will drop off like autumn leaves.

In every walk with nature 

one receives far more than he seeks. 

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, 

places to play in and pray in, 

where nature may heal 

and give strength to body and soul. 

 "I never saw a discontented tree.  

They grip the ground as though they liked it, 

and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do."

                                               ~J. Muir

"Above all else, children need to know and feel they are loved, wanted, and appreciated. They need to be assured of that often. 

Obviously, this is a role parents should fill, 

and most often the mother can do it best."  ~E.T. Benson

 "Families unite when they do meaningful things together. ..."Some may say, 'But we have no time for that.' As for time to do what is truly worthwhile, I suggest that many parents will find that they can turn their family on if they will turn their television off. . . .

 Nothing can take the place of home in rearing and teaching children, and no other success can compensate for failure in the home."  ~D.O. McKay

"Life is to be enjoyed, not endured" 

— Gordon B. Hinckley

"The only things you will take with you, when all is said and done, are your family relationships. . . . God bless us to be good fathers, . . . good parents, and good husbands to our good wives."

"If we are worried about the future, then we must look today at the upbringing of children." 

— G. B. Hinckley

There are only two ways to live your life. 

One is as though nothing is a miracle. 

The other is as though everything is a miracle.   

- Albert Einstein

Colorado Springs Farmer's Market--Memorial Park

Farmer's Markets are abundant here in the Springs.

The yahoos piled into the Suburban

and we headed out the for the day

to Memorial Park:

 Homegrown Tomatoes and Cherries...

my mouth is watering just lookin at 'em.

 Snap peas and red potatoes...mmmmmmmm

Ahhhh 
radishes and zucchini...double yummm.

Fresh jams and preserves--

I learned how to make Strawberry freezer jam last year,

and it is my guilty pleasure this year--

a big ol spoonful on some wholegrain bread

cures my sweet tooth cravings.

Dani bought a 
huge foccacia bread 
to share...she didn't really take a bite,
you knew that, right?


We sat in the grass

broke bread

and 

savored the deliciousness 

in the shade.

The baker is Austrian...oh yeah, totally yumminess.

Fresh jalapeno peppers

Of course, this is the perfect place
for a picnic...
a park with a lake
and the beautiful Rockies
in the background.
Have I ever told you
how much I love Colorado?

Baby G's first summer...
he's soakin' it up!

p.s. found my camera, can ya tell?

Trampoline plus Water plus Yahoos = equals Cool Fun

Did ya notice that the hose is tied to the banister with a YO-YO?

Don't you just love the ingenuity of kids?

I know I do!!

Swimsuits??

We don't need no stinkin' swimsuits!

Does it look like a free-for-all?

Look Ma!
It's Superman...

It Takes a Family to Take Care of a Family and other Important Things

****

I don't dedicate my blogs usually,
but this one can be credited to my
Mr. Wonderful
because
if it weren't for his snoring
at three a.m. this morning,
I'd still be asleep.

So this one's for you, Foghorn, er, I mean,
Mr. Wonderful.


The house is finally quieted down today
after having Dani and the Golden Child/Baby G. here
for the past three weeks--
Mr. Idaho is down in the Lone Star State
doing an internship for his Chemical Engineering degree
this whole summer.
So we had Dani bring down her little yahoo
and that's added a whole 'nother element to our house.
We haven't had a baby around here full-time for many years,
so there has been some
re-learning around here...
and some new learning for some of us--
both the Boofus and the Caboose
can make bottles of formula now,
and
each have gotten over their fears of handling wet diapers,
aka "potty bombs"
enough to take them to the trash outside.
Although, the Boofus has held his stance
in the
"I-don't-touch-green-diapers" mode.
The Caboose has to have a scented baby wipe
to hold over her nose
while the potty bomb is in transport to the trash.
She no longer dry-heaves or gags
to the same extent as three weeks ago.
It's celebrated progress, and we'll take it!

Dani and Baby G. returned home today,
as did Mr. Idaho from Texas
because they're all headed to
a beautiful slice of heaven on earth,
Coeur D'Alene, Idaho
for his family's reunion next week.

Dani was a little nervous...
Mr. Idaho hails from a Hu-mong-ous Mormon family
tons of relatives that Dani has yet to meet.
And in our family,
it is just
US...
me, Mr. W, and the Yahoos plus the two In-laws.
Our extended families may as well live in other countries,
or on other planets
because we never see them....
maybe twice in a decade,
if that.

I daydream about  having our own Reunions...
the special places
designated colored T-shirts,
potluck dinners
bonfires
picture-taking
memory-making....
all of it.

For now,
we all go camping together,
in un-matched clothing,
huddle around the campfire
in the Rocky Mountains,
and making silly faces at the camera
for all of the posterity to follow...

We're just getting warmed-up
for the Family Reunions to come,
hunh?

News of the Teenagers:

Well, the good news this week is
Daisie got her door back today.
Oh, yeah--ha!--
I didn't even blog when we took it off.
Had to.
Not because she slammed it.
Nope.
But, because since summer vacation,
she pretended to be an outlaw
like
the Sundance Kid,
Jesse James and his brother, Frank,
Tiger Woods even--
by hiding out in her bedroom
for hours on end
watching the entire 6 seasons of
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
which she borrowed from her friend, C.

After many many many
too-many-freakin'-yells
down the stairwell to the basement,
"Daisie!"
"Come here!"
"Daisie! Come help!"
"Where's Daisie?"--
Oh, this Momza had had
E-stinkin-Nuff!

I went down one morning last week,
tricked her bum outta bed and into the
shower,
and while she was in there,
I removed her door and the TV.

Was she mad?
uh, yeah--
hoppin'.

Did I bend?
Uh, nope.

But she got the door back today
and I think
she 's getting the idea that she can't hide
from her responsibilities
and get away with it,
much like other outlaws and politicians
these days.
(coughObamacoughBPcough)

I sat at the table with her
for
3 and a half hours today--
we never have that much down time
around here,
and it wasn't planned,
but whoa,
was it good!
She's fifteen now,
with alot on her mind--
and truthfully, I've been sayin' to myself
alot lately,
that I needed more time with her.
So the planets aligned
and we got three whole hours
at the dinner table this afternoon.
She talked at the speed of light,
about herself,
her relationships,
her developing philosophy on Life
and choices she is making now
for the results she wants later.
I got to put my two cents in
whenever she took a breath
which was nice. haha.

She got conflicting messages
from her birth father
when she visited him last Spring--
she needed to vent the residual feelings
from that and the conclusions she's drawn
on her own--
sifting the chaff from the wheat
as it were.
He's not LDS anymore
and does not adhere to any of the philosophies
or doctrines of his childhood faith,
so he is accountable to noone.
We talked alot about what it means
to define your own morals and ethics
without a standard with which to be
guided
and where you might end up
at the sunset of your life.
It's not likely that you'll be happy
with the results.
It's good to know where you want to end up,
so you chart your course with clarity and purpose...
in Daisie's case,
she has her heart set on an eternal marriage in
a temple to her "own personal Prince Charming--
who is gorgeous like Taylor Lautner, but with the Priesthood."

She is fifteen, remember.
If Taylor were LDS and could croon like Donny Osmond
well, I'd be safe to say that he'd be a
trifecta.

Anywho,
Daisie is learning and growing
and we both had a few tender moments
and good laughs
today at the dinner table.



As for Nana:

Her world looks like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory--
so much to choose from,
so many choices between
Good, Better, and Best
she can't decide if she wants the

Everlasting Gobstopper
or a

Wonka Bar.
She makes Big Plans to do this or that,
and I grin a little.
She sorta cringes and smiles when I'm right.
It's a coming-of-age thing,
I get that and don't take it personal.
I'm hoping she holds out for the
Golden ticket,
and she's aware of that--
but my impetuous child wonders

if a Wonka Bar would be just as good.

She is going as a leader for Girls' Camp
next month, working FT, and is only home to sleep.
She was home Thursday night because it was Mr. W's
birthday,
so she laid on our bed (as all of our yahoos like to do occassionally)
and we all watched NCIS together--
Me, Mr. W, her, --
altho Boofus and the Caboose
came in every 15 minutes or so
to tattle on each other or
make excuses as to why they weren't
in bed already.
It was time well-spent for us.

Lessons I shared this week with la familia:
When you are madder than a hornet,
disappointed as heck,
frustrated beyond reason
at a family member--
that is when you purposefully
serve them.
It may not make the difference you want to see,
but it will make you
feel better about them
and about yourself.

For instance:
I took Daisie breakfast in bed one day last week.
Yeah, it was before I took the door off.
But, she knows I love her still.

I made Nana a fruit smoothie on a day
that I was particularly worried about her choices.

One of my daughters (who shall remain anonymous)
was very very upset with one of her sisters--
to the point where she didn't want to spend any time with her
at all...
I talked her into spending time with the offensive sister,
encouraged them to go to a movie and grab a bite to eat
just the two of them.
At first, my suggestions were bristled at--
but heeded, and the results were healing.

ME?
Been having some short and long term memory issues lately,
so that affects my mood and energy.
Everyday I feel like I'm forgetting something important
and that stinks.
I try not to think about it too much and just live in the moment.
5 Funny things about memory loss:
I don't hold grudges anymore.
I don't have a favorite food anymore.
I forget that I like chocolate when I don't have any.
I can't remember if I'm mad at someone or if they've hurt my feelings,
unless it's really really significant.

See? I can still put a positive spin on it, so I must be doing okay, right?

Well the sun is up.  I have Mr. Wonderful to thank for being awake to see it rise.
I'm going to make him breakfast in bed.

** This is our family motto btw

Fresh Mango Salsa Qdoba-Style

Now write this down!

It's just FOUR ingredients!

And 

And 

And

It's Delicious!!!

4 ripe mangos

2 cucumbers

1 sm. (1/2 c) red onion

1/2 c fresh cilantro

Dice mangos, cucumbers, and finely chop onion and cilantro.

Mix together.

Now roll your "r's" and say:

"RIVA! RIVA! YA YA YA YA!!!"

It makes it taste better when you do that.

seriously.

Refridgerate until serving--the longer it sets, the better it tastes!

Serving Ideas: 

 *Spoon over grilled chicken on a bed of greens, 

top with a bit of raspberry vinaigrette.

*Great over cheese tortillas/quesadillas

*tortilla chips

*thanks to Nana (former employee of Qdobas) for the recipe!

Oh, What do you DO in the Summertime?

Over the weekend,
we hiked the Crags...
which is an awesome trail
on the West side of Pikes Peak.
We got alot of sun on the hike,
but noone burned because we
slathered on the sunblock.
I have pics to post of it,
but not right now
cuz I'm too lazy to go find the camera
in one of the backpacks...

but that's another story.

On Monday,
I headed up to Park Meadows Mall
in south Denver
to meet up with a blog friend,
Marilyn who was up here
from her hometown in Arizona.
While I was at the mall,
I dropped my yahoos off
at a friends' house up there
so they could go swimming and
hang out.
They were told to put on
sunblock--
which they swear they did
BEFORE
swimming for four hours.
Four
hours 
of swimming.
Yeah,
when I picked them up,
their faces were already sunburned
and bright red as strawberries
and they were complaining.

It's now two days later
and
they're still in pain.
We put them in cool showers
and
cool tubs of water
to help heal their skin.
We've aloe-vera'd
lidacained
solarcained
and
ice-cubed.

Their skin is red hot like chili peppers
and these yahoos are feelin' miserable,
and miserable yahoos
are
no
stinkin'
fun--

this morning I went to get my haircut
and my cell phone rings--
it's the Caboose on the other end
and she is
Up.
Set.
"Mommy, Joseph's crying. He hit my sunburn,
so I hit his sunburn and now he's crying."

I can hear his pain thru the phone.

"Did you love on him?"

"I said 'sorry' but he won't accept it! He won't accept it, Mom!
Will you talk to him?" she asked.

"Sure, put him on."
A second or two passes and she's back on the phone:
"He won't talk."

I can hear his sobs of pain and a twinge grabs my stomach
in sympathy.
"Okay, I'm almost done. Give him a drink of water and love on him
till I get home, k?"

She replies sadly, "Okay."

I close my phone and think about what just happened:

I'm gone for,
let's see...thirty minutes and
my youngest two yahoos are slapping
each other's sunburned bodies,
like they were raised
by the Three Stooges!

"What am I doing wrong?", I wonder.
And once I'm past the shock,
I smile at it all...
My kids are home slappin' each others' sunburn!
Who does that???

By the time I get back home,
I walk in and the two of them
are sitting silently on the sofa
watching
i-Carly
as though absolutely
nothing happened.

I just love summer.