Happy, Happy Birthday April Dear!

Today is Matt's sister April's 34th Birthday. So to celebrate the big day we decided to hook up with Matt's other sister Sarah and family for dinner and a playdate. Sorry April, you live too far away. We hope you had a wonderful day.

I am thankful for . . . .

Today while going thru the dreaded stack of papers I came across a paper that Ethan had filled out for Sharing Time during November. The top of the page read:
I am thankful for . . . . and here are Ethan's responses:

Holly Goste, Jesus, toys, famley, friends, body, house, alive, stufed anamal's, xbox and play stashon.

Luckily his spelling has improved. He gets 14/14 on his spelling test each week!

I'm a Fan of Facebook!

Okay, so I know people have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. I personally LOVE IT. I will tell you why.

So it started a few months ago when my AWESOME Visiting Teacher (we'll call her Chelsea) stopped by my house for a quick visit. While chatting she asked if I'd ever "googled" my name. She said her husband had "googled" her name and found some pictures of her from way back. After she left, I immediately "googled" my name. Nothing came up. Then I started googling different people - one being a "former" business partner you may or may not have heard of. I found this "mystery" person and they had a profile on www.facebook.com. Of course I had to check this out. However, much to my surprise, I had to REGISTER (gasp!) to take a peek. I also had to invite this person or be invited to view their profile (another gasp!). So I registered and just decided it was best to just block this "friend" from ever finding me! My facebook time didn't end there. I decided to search for some long lost friends. I was pleasantly surprised by finding SEVERAL of my friends that I had no clue where they ended up. So for the past few months I have had the luxury of catching up with many old friends. Most of these friends I went to high school with but the best ones I have found were the kids I went to church with in Minnesota.

Anyway, one day a couple weeks ago I was on facebook and I had a "friend invite". It was from a Carla Hansen (not her real name). I thought, hmmmm who is this? I don't know a Carla Hansen. Then I noticed a message attached to the invite. It said "Hi Amy! This is Carla Marie Benson." I was so excited. She was one of the gals I couldn't locate. She doesn't have her maiden name attached to her profile - that is why I couldn't find her. This girl moved into our ward our senior year of high school. She didn't go to the same school as me, but we were in the same class at church. We even ventured off to Ricks College together following high school. We were the best of friends. Unfortunately, after my 1 year at Ricks I jumped ship and stayed in St. Louis instead of returning for year #2. I lost all contact with my beloved friends from Minnesota (there were a few of us there together).

So after chatting with Carla on facebook I discovered she lives in the Cincinnati area. This is only 1 hour from me. I asked her where in Cincinnati since my SIL lives there. To make a long story not as long, she is IN MY SIL'S WARD AND THEY DO ACTIVITY DAYS TOGETHER!!!!! When I called my SIL to tell her that I know Carla she acted a little skeptical. I told her I have tons of pictures of us together. Her reply was, "what? you have pictures?" Well sweet SIL . . . here are some of the pictures to prove it. Bummer though, the very next Sunday their ward split and they are in different wards. Oh well.

So again, I say "I LOVE FACEBOOK!" Carla is just 1 of many friends that I have been able to reconnect with thanks to this website.

Stay tuned to post #2 regarding facebook. It involves a connection with a High School Musical actor!!



My going away party - June 1989
Front row: Kris, Audra, "Carla"
Back row: Erica, Me and Amy Naa



Carla and Me!



Carla in her prom dress 1989



Audra, Carla and me at General Conference October 1989




Boundary Waters 1988 (Carla in yellow jacket front row)

It's Been a Long Day!

Ethan & Ashton's Trip to the Dentist

Today I had the PLEASURE of taking the big boys to the dentist! Ethan has no cavaties and Ashton has 2 little teeny tiny cavaties. They were very good patients and Ethan said he can't wait until next year when he gets to go back.

Ryan's First Trip to the Dentist!

Today Ryan went to the dentist for the first time in his life. He was not very excited, but talking about going to the dentist in preschool earlier this month helped a lot. He was a perfect patient and . . . NO CAVATIES! Yeah!

Happy Birthday Sondra!!

The results please . . .

When Ryan got off the school bus today he was crying. The bus monitor told me he "wanted his mommy". I knew something was wrong. He had a rash on his face and he could barely galk. I make a phone call to the Doctor office and they said I could bring him (and me) in tomorrow morning. After a little while I decided to take him over to the Urgent Treatment Center to see how long the wait was. There was no one there. I was pleasantly surprised. I took him in and they took his temp. It read 101.7. They did a strep culture and yep . . . he has STREP.

Since I woke up with a sore throat yesterday I think . . . hmmmmm . . . do I have it too? Earlier today I was thinking I just had a cold, but now I think I may be wrong. We'll see tomorrow when I go to the doctor.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Suggestions for a smooth Valentine's Day (taken from Bluegrassmoms.com)

Here are 7 sure-fire ways to a successful Valentines Day:

-1 Stop crossing your fingers and hoping your sweetie will read your mind. Clearly and directly communicate what you really want.

-2 Keep your Valentines Day expectations realistic and do-able. Otherwise, it’s a set-up for disappointment.

-3 Don't let the fear of buying the wrong present ruin the occasion. Some folks avoid celebrating Valentines Day. They 're afraid they'll pick out the wrong card or gift.

-4 Remind yourself that you both grew up in different families with different styles of gift giving. Can you respect your partner’s ‘ways?’

–5 Don’t mistake 'not thinking' for "not caring." Your partner’s way of approaching this day may be different from yours. Try not to feel slighted if it’s 'not the way you’d do it.' This goes for gift-giving as well.

–6 Don’t try too hard to be 'creative' in YOUR gift giving. Just be you expressing your appreciation of your partner. On the other hand, a little planning is a great idea so Valentines Day doesn't appear to be an 'afterthought.'

–7 AND don’t take it personally. Dwelling takes up way too much energy. Leave space for connection and intimacy.

© Dr. Elayne Savage, The Rejection Expert

Relationship coach Elayne Savage, PhD is a professional speaker and author. She’s the leading expert on rejection and taking things personally.

Just a Friendly Reminder! It's Wednesday . . . aka "Business Time"

Disclaimer: I found out about this from a member of our bishopric! FYI!

Handwriting Helps!

I know that some of my blog readers have young children. Here is a website that has a wonderful worksheet that can help your child learn how to write his/her name.

http://handwritingworksheets.com

I just click on the upper left hand corner (Dot Trace) then I click on the green line (traceable letters on each line) then you type in the letters of your child's name (or whatever word you want) and it prints a worksheet for you!

Enjoy!

He Rebounds!

Here is a little video footage from Ethan's last basketball game. He is #13 in green.

Ashton the Great!

Today was Ashton's last basketball game. He scored 3 baskets. He is #5 in white. He had a ton of rebounds. He had a great season and learned a lot!

My Dream Car

On this day, 12 years ago, my dad bought me this car. He bought it from one of his co-workers who had moved to Kansas City. Matt and I flew to Kansas City and Melissa (car owner) picked us up. We dropped her off at her home and back to St. Louis we went. It was an awesome car. We owned it for 11+ years and logged over 140,000 miles. It was truly my dream car. As I talked with my mom about the car today, reminding her that today was the day we bought it, I told her that many people don't have an opportunity to own their dream car. I was a fortunate one. It was the best car ever. Hopefully the mechanic that bought it and towed it to Nashville enjoys it as much as we did! We miss you, red car!!!

"Piece of Advice" Friday!

I don't offer advice too often, especially in the fashion department . . . but my darling hubby told me to blog about this. If you are wearing a WHITE shirt, do not wear a WHITE bra. Wear a tan one! Otherwise it is like you are not wearing a shirt at all. There you go, your advice for the day. Pass it on!!

Dog Sittin' Clayburn Style!

Yesterday after school (yes, 2 of my kids managed to get a little education) the boys went next door to their friends house to play. When they came home they brought a "friend" with them. They said that "the mom" said they could watch Biscuit overnight. The kids were thrilled. I was too. We were watching an animal that didn't require being fed, walked, cleaned, cleaned up after, or anything. So thank you Carmen (the mom/blog reader) for letting the kids watch Biscuit!

Yum!

So today after I found out there will be no school again tomorrow, I decided to think about all the positives in this situation. First positive is I get to sleep in. Hooray! Second positive (this might be the first) is when it snows here DQ offers Buy One Get One Free Blizzards. So it isn't so bad after all when the snow falls. I just have to keep telling myself that!

News Flash

No school tomorrow. Hmmm . . . not looking good for summer vacation!

I looked out the window and what did I see?

More Snow! Ashton and Ethan went to school today (yah!) but they started out with a 1 hour delay. No biggie. More sleep - yipee! Then while waiting at the bus stop to pick up Ashton I got a message saying that Ryan's preschool had been cancelled. Darn! Then I got a phone call from the Elementary School saying that the bus can not bring Ashton home since the roads were so bad. Instead I got to venture out and pick Ashton up. Since I was already there I signed Ethan out for the day. No more perfect Attendance for him. Oh well. Now we are sitting at home (again!) and watching the snow fall. Just like last week the flakes are huge. All I know is winter can't get over soon enough!!!

Creative Shoveling

Today after church I had to make a delivery of goods to a member in our ward. After leaving her house I drove by a house where there was a lady shoveling her driveway with a COOKIE SHEET. Okay, she wins the award of most creative way to remove snow from driveway.

P.S. School is again cancelled for tomorrow. Rats!

Sweetheart? or Worst Enemy?

Okay - so yesterday as we were driving around Lexington doing some shopping I noticed a very funny sign at White Castle. It said . . . Make your Valentine's reservations Today! It included the phone number and the EXTENSION. Are you serious? Ugh! I may have to venture back there to take a picture.