Celebrating Jim

Earlier this week while driving in the car I was sharing memories of my brother Jim with the kids. I was telling them the things he liked to do and some of the memories I have of him. Even though I've told the kids how Jim died on numerous occasions, they still were asking me "how" and "why" he drowned. Kids are so inquisitive. After awhile Drew said to me,"Mom?"

"Ya Drew?"

"I wish that your brother didn't have to die. I wish I could have met him."

"I know bud. You are the only one who got to meet him. You were tiny tiny. He thought you were awesome! He would have really loved you guys!"

And he would have.

Yesterday would have been my brother Jim's 40th birthday. When you lose someone so close it is hard sometimes even to let yourself think about them. I know that for a long time I would get mad at Lamon for even bringing up his name. I didn't want to think about him. It was too hard.

But I have since realized that letting myself remember him and talk about him is actually healing and brings me comfort. I have decided that I want my kids to know about their uncle Jim, and the only way they will know about him is if I share him with them. I need to tell stories and show pictures and talk about him.

So anyway, we spent this last week celebrating Uncle Jim. We did some activities that Jim loved to do.

1. We fished on Wednesday night.

Jim loved to fish. My brothers spent a lot of time in the mountains up the Provo, near Deer Creek, and at Strawberry Reservoir fishing. They usually just caught and released, but I remember Jim bringing plenty of fish home to cook up. And he knew what he was doing too. Or so I hear. I personally never tasted his fish. I hate fish. And I think I am still traumatized by seeing him cut the heads off and gut his fish in our kitchen sink. :)

2. We went to an Owls game on Thursday.
Jim loved baseball. I remember that he especially loved to watch the pitchers. He spent a lot of hours throwing the baseball with my brother Dave in the back yard. He even got me out there multiple times to play catch with him. And by the way he complimented me and encouraged me you would think I could go and play professional softball (and we all know how hilarious that is). Jim just had a way of making me feel like I was great. He knew what to say to me to really build me up.

3. We visited his grave on Saturday with Mom, Dad and John.
John bought some red, yellow and green balloons (reggae colors) and they were weighed down by a cushy baseball. It was perfect. We put them at his grave site and sang the Barksdale's version of the Happy Birthday song, which if anyone was in earshot I really do truly apologize. But I'm sure that Jim enjoyed it. :)

4. We went on a hike up Cascade (one of his favorite hikes).

We didn't make it all the way up. It is quite the hike.  But we did go up a ways until it started downpouring rain on us. I'm sure if Jim had been there he wouldn't have minded the rain. He liked a good storm. I will always remember how physically strong Jim was. It was quite amazing that with his smoker lungs he could outrun, outhike, outbox, out snowboard . . . anyone in the family. (I don't know if that sounds as impressive as it should or not . . . )

5. We finished things off with a barbeque and some Woofle Ball on Saturday night.
Mom, Dad, John, Dave, Ariel, Liz, Chris and their kids all came over. We ate some grilled chicken, RAMEN salad and some cake. I made the Ramen salad in honor of Jim because Jim ate Ramen noodles all of the time. It was one of his staples. Or was it his only staple? Anyway, it was a nice week. The kids got to hear about and do a lot of things to remember their awesome Uncle. I love and miss your guts Jim!  :)

Some things you just have to learn the hard way . . .

My children probably don't believe me, but I was once a kid myself. and I have done a few dumb things in my life. Hard to believe I know. But it's true. I totally know what it's like to make a not so smart choice and have something unfortunate happen as a result.

In fact, let's rewind a couple of decades . . . 

I was a typical eleven year old girl. I spent my summers swimming in our swimming pool and jumping on the trampoline. We did all sorts of things that probably were not recommended in the trampoline owners manual. I mean mostly we did standard things like put the sprinklers under the trampoline and jump (my sister sprained her neck once doing that one) and moving the trampoline close to and doing all sorts of acrobatics into the pool (which was only three and a half feet tall.) It's really a miracle that we didn't get more hurt than we did. Especially seeing as we didn't have enclosures for trampolines back then and didn't even have a pad covering the springs. I don't know how many times I was bounced off the trampoline or landed in the middle of the springs and  the bar. Ouch!

Anyways, one day we decided that we would practice our amazing tricks on the tramp. Only this time we had the bright idea to put the trampoline close to our concrete fence and jump from the fence onto the trampoline. And we did.

When it was my turn I decided I would do a knee flip. So I got up on the fence and jumped from the fence onto the tramp. I landed on my knees and did my flip . . . only I got so much bounce that as I was finishing the flip I couldn't really control the landing and I landed head first mouth open right onto the bar. My teeth hit first. I was bleeding pretty good, but the worst part was that when I went inside to ascertain the damage I saw that my front tooth had chipped in half. It wasn't too attractive.

Sad eh? Well even sadder is the fact that I had to wait for more than a year to fix it. Ya, I learned to smile showing only half of my top front teeth. It was awful. You could say I learned my lesson on that one. No more fence to trampoline jumping for me.

I'd like to say that I am completely through with these kind of misjudgments . . . But . . . 

I mean there is still a kid in me. Should a 30 year old Mom do the slip-n-slide? It could be argued! I for one don't see why not. Seems pretty safe to me. It might not be safe for the slip-n-slide . . . ( I may have broken the last one . . .) But anyway . . . 

This time I asked Drew, "Are you sure you want to let me do it Drew? What if it breaks . . . Are you going to be mad at me?" 

"NO."

"Okay. Thanks!" So off I went. It was so fun. I was doing all sort of cool slip-n-slides . . . knees . . . belly . . . knees to belly . . . belly to back . . . I was amazing. I even introduced the throw the ball first and see if you can slip and reach it move. It was all going fine and dandy until Hayden's friend decided to throw a soccer ball at my face as I was sliding down. 

Not so good. Wasn't planning on that one!

 He felt so bad. He kept saying, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"That's okay bud."

But I didn't even need to look in the mirror to know what happened. All I needed to do was feel the bottom of my front tooth with my tongue. 

"Oh Fart!" (pardon my french)

I called the Dentist, but he is out of town. I hope it doesn't take a year this time . . . but in the meantime if I don't give you the full smile you deserve . . . you'll know why.

I'd say that I've learned my lesson and that my slip'n slide days are over . . . but . . .  I doubt it.  :o) And I admit . . . It's probably a good thing that Lamon won't allow us to have a trampoline! . . . 

Bring It!

So I decided that since Lamon is training for an Ironman and it is a bit hard for me to find time to run outside or go to the gym . . .  I would try P90X. It's been a few weeks now and I am posting this clip that I found on Youtube because it pretty much sums up my first couple of weeks perfectly. I am Natalie.

Perhaps I like to "modify" the moves a bit too much. Like when I do pull-ups? . . .  I basically get a chair and go from hanging (supported with my feet on the chair) to a standing position then stick my chin over the bar. I don't think it's exactly what Tony Horton had in mind.

Anyway, Drew came in one day while I was doing some "modified" pull-ups and he said, "Mom! Why are you cheating?"


"Uh . . . Because I need to cheat?!" 


He just sat and giggled while watching me. 

The first time I tried the Ab Ripper X workout I basically laid on my back and laughed the entire time while thinking, "You want me to do what?" But I'm happy to report that now I just lay on my back and laugh during like a third of the moves, and the rest of the time I am actually trying to do it. And let me just tell you that watching me try to do it would bring a smile to anyone's face. Either that or it would inspire people to want to come and rescue me . . . like Hayden and Drew did one morning.

I happened to be doing the move where while lying on your side you simultaneously lift up your legs and your shoulders off the ground towards each other. Only . . . I can't get my shoulders off the ground. And my legs don't come up too far either.

So the kids came in and were comparing my moves to Tony's and Hayden said, "Mom, you are doing it wrong!"

 Then suddenly Hayden scooted up next to me, grabbed my feet, and started to lift them off the ground. Drew followed and got on the other end of me and both of them together started lifting each of my ends off the ground (as they watched Tony Horton) trying to keep me in sync. It was so funny.


I mean . . .  that is what I call a "modified" move! Why lift your own legs if you can get someone else to do it for you?

I don't know . . . I'm still sort of in the "If you can't do something . . . don't tell yourself you can't. Just tell your self that you presently "stink" at this thing" stage. But hey, I am trying to "BRING IT" . . . modified-ish. Pretty soon I will even be able to lift up my own legs and torso off the ground all by myself . . . without kids. :)
Although the kids have proven to be excellent personal trainers. Drew comes in and does the workouts with me if he is awake sometimes.

One day when he was at Jeanine's house playing, he scraped his ankle. While helping him with the bandaid Jeanine said, "You are pretty tough aren't you Drew?"

To which he responded, "Ya I'm pretty tough. . . I do P90X with my Mom."

Oh ya! BRING IT!

The Tooth Fairy is so Flaky!

So the morning of Drew's baptism he lost his first two teeth ever. Actually rather than "lost" . . .  his teeth were more like "PRIED" from his mouth by Lamon. Drew was sooo excited about it though. And to be honest . . . so was I! Because for the last two years I have been secretly worried that Drew might never lose his teeth; and I was a little nervous at the prospect of him forever looking like an old toothless man when he smiles. (He grinds his teeth and his baby teeth are all ground to nearly nothing.) So we were both delighted.

But let me tell you something . . . That Tooth Fairy is one flaky lady!

You would think that being the high profile figure that she is she would try to have things a little more put together. But I tell ya . . . She is a flake.

I mean we spent the whole day reminding Drew to put his teeth under his pillow and even went as far as to keep checking to make sure that he hadn't lost his teeth etc.

Well, the next morning Lamon went running, and Drew woke me up all out of sorts. He was really sad and upset and he said, "Mom. Dad lied!"

"What?"

"Dad lied! He said that there would be money under my pillow, but there's not."

Oh, I was so upset at the tooth fairy at that moment! You would think she had brain problems or something! Anyway, I felt awful and I turned to Drew and said, "What? Are you sure about that?"

"Ya Mom, I'm sure."

I then said, "Wait a second . . . I want to come check." So on my way to his room I managed to grab a couple dollars from our nightstand without him seeing, and headed for his room. I started looking under his pillow and as I looked under his pillow I slipped my cash filled hand under his blanket.

I turned to him with a puzzled face. "You are right Drew, it's not under your pillow. Did you check all around and under your bed?"

"No."

"Well, it's worth a try eh?"

So he looked under his blanket and found the money and was pretty excited. Well kind of excited. He said, "I thought she would bring 15 dollars."

"What? When I was a kid I only got like 50 cents a tooth! A dollar a tooth? You are lucky man! And you even got to keep your teeth. No fair!"
He spent the rest of the day telling everyone how lucky he was because the tooth fairy let him keep his teeth.

Uh huh. That is the last time I am bailing you out Miss Flaky Tooth Fairy!! Honestly!

Wow. I am so on the ball! Pathetic I know. I'm sure everyone is crying for Drew after reading that. Maybe I had better use Drew's idea of how not to forget things by writing it on a piece of paper and taping it to my face while I'm sleeping . . .  The Tooth Fairy isn't going to miss any more teeth in this house! . . . I hope.

My "not so little" Drew got baptized . . .

I have to sincerely apologize to all two of my blog readers who have been enduring this last month and a half without one single blog post from me. Oh how you must have been suffering . . .

But do not dismay! I am going to try my best to catch both of you up with a few extremely boring "get you up to date posts" and then hopefully I can get back to my long winded posts about absolutely nothing.

My first "get you up to date" post is all about my little baby Drew. Oh wait . . . aah! He is eight! How did that happen? My little boy is growing up! It's really quite mind boggling. I've been a mother for EIGHT years?! Isn't that long enough to get a Doctorate degree? So technically . . .  I should be a mother expert by now right:? . . . Ha ha!

Anyhow, Drew turned the big Ocho in May. He is really growing up. Can someone tell me how to stop that from happening please?  Just kidding. It is so fun to watch these kids grow.

Drew was baptized on June 2nd, and it was such a sweet experience. I cried. Shocking I know. But it truly was a special day. I am so proud of him and I hope he remembers it forever.

Crafts you won't find on Pinterest

Believe it or not, I have a Pinterest account. It's true. Shocking I know.

I thought that it would be a pretty cool way for an uncrafty person like myself to learn how to be crafty. So . . . after I set up my account I decided to explore the site and get the crafty process started . . . but after exploring for awhile I learned two things.

One: What in the world was I thinking? I can't even pick out toothpaste at the store without taking way longer than I should. How on Earth could I ever do anything but waste a lot of time "looking" for the perfect craft on Pinterest and end up giving up before actually doing it?

Two: They expect you to actually Pin? I thought I was going to just be able to look and steal other peoples ideas . . . But suddenly I was getting all of these emails saying, "So and So is following you on Pinterest!"

Really? Man . . . these people are sure going to be disappointed! There are no pins on my account. The chance of me actually "Pinning" to Pinterest is about as high as me crocheting cute booties for all the new babies in the ward and then competing in the next Quilt off . . . Not going to happen.

But I'll tell you what. Maybe I SHOULD "Pin" on Pinterest . . .  because I am pretty sure that there is not a great selection out there of crafts made solely from Construction paper and Duck Tape. There are probably millions of people out there in the world who are searching on Pinterest for, "Duck Tape crafts to do with Children" and are just not finding a good selection.

And I could help. I have worked with Duck Tape for quite some time. It doesn't even need to just be construction paper and Duck Tape. I have also done Card board boxes and Duck Tape with the same great  results. http://lamonandmarymack.blogspot.com/2010/04/improving-and-fortifying-our-armor.html

Well, a couple days ago I was on the phone and Drew came up to the kitchen on a mission. He was frantically searching our cupboards full of craft materials and saying, "Mom! I need some tape! Do we have any tape?"

I was in the middle of a conversation and wasn't really listening to him much. But then finally he was like, "Mom. This is important! I need to make a 'Fun Hat'! Can you get off your phone?"

And realizing that making a 'Fun Hat' was much more important than the conversation I was having . . . I got off the phone and started to help that boy find some tape! It was urgent. And if I haven't mentioned lately how fun my kids are . . . I love their little imaginations! They had a vision of what they wanted to do . . . and I just helped them do it. A night full of fun and all it took was construction paper, duck tape and three crazy kids!

I better hold off on "Pinning" though. I just don't know if the world is ready for our Duck Tape craft talents . . .

Our 9th Anniversary . . . and Lamon is still Hot!

So I don't know if this has been proven. Maybe there have been some studies conducted that can back me up here. But I'm pretty sure that Men in general tend to be hottest while performing certain activities. I have come up with a few (in descending order of importance):
6.Crying: Guys that cry while bearing their testimonies or while talking about their wives are . . . hot.

Lamon isn't much of a crier, but he did cry once on our wedding day while singing a song that he had composed. I remember the chorus. It went, "Mary . . . you are so wonderful. You are so good to me. Your smile and you . . . will be with me for all Eternity."
He got so choked up while singing it his voiced cracked and he was audibly crying. I don't even need to tell you it was . . . Hot!

5.Singing: If a man can sing, and does . . . hot.
And yes Lamon can sing. He is very versatile. He is a base, but can sing higher than me. You should hear him belt out the Soprano in the Hallelujah Chorus!
4Exercising: All I'm going to say about this is "wetsuits" and "biking shorts" . . . need I say more?
3.Cooking: Do I even need to give an explanation on this one? Lamon is definitely the best cook in our family. He is the master griller. I personally don't even know how to fire up the grill . . .
2.Working: a man working in any form is hot, but it's true that a man doing the dishes or yard work tends to be the hottest. And anyone who knows Lamon knows how hard he works! . . . Which means that everyone must know how Hot he is . . . :)
1.Interacting (positively) with Children: Nothing in the world will make a woman more attracted to a man than seeing him play with children! . . . Fact.

And based on this criteria Lamon has to be the hottest man on the planet. Lamon is so good with kids, it is amazing to watch. And I get to see it everyday.

 Today we spent our anniversary watching my twin sisters kids. This week there are 7 kids in our house under the age of eight  including two babies. Most people would think we are crazy to spend our anniversary this way. In fact, most husbands during a week like this would be MIA unless their stressed out wives gave them an ultimatum to come help or else. But Lamon willingly has been helping change diapers, dress, bathe, feed, entertain, and discipline all of these children along with me. He loves kids!  He is so patient and loving, and can I just say . . . Hot!!

I love you Lamon. You are honestly the hottest guy I know.
Happy Anniversary!
And since this write up was not the greatest (keep in mind we do have seven children in the house) I will have to write a real one later. But since talking about how much I love Lamon is pretty much my favorite past time . . .don't worry! More will surely come. But here are a few of my favorite past blog posts describing just what kind of man I have! Enjoy.


http://lamonandmarymack.blogspot.com/2011/05/treated-like-queen.html

http://lamonandmarymack.blogspot.com/2011/06/superman-dad.html

http://lamonandmarymack.blogspot.com/2010/05/glimpse-of-my-man.html