Not a stalker, just quirky!

My friend Shonda tagged me with the "Quirky Things About Me Meme"
I'm not usually into tags, but since I already shared some of my quirkiness in my stalker mom post, I might as well continue the trend. Here are 6 of my unspectacular quirks.

1. I love books and I love getting them for the absolute lowest price possible. I always check several sources (ebay, amazon etc), but paperbackswap is my favorite because I can get books for FREE! I've mailed 211 free books and received 219 free books in the past 2 1/2 years. And remember, that doesn't count any of the the books I actually paid for!

2. My family laughs at me because I often ask "Did we have the prayer?" just a few minutes after we had one. They accuse me of short term memory loss, but I think it's because my kids like to speed through 15 second prayers and it just doesn't stick with me. Of course no one ever forgets my prayers--the kids say they're too long.

3. I often replay conversations in my mind. Unfortunately the facial expressions and hand gestures are not in my mind so I look a little crazy. This is something else my family laughs at.

4. I like to compose emails & pray (not at the same time) while I'm in the shower. And my husband wonders why I take so long in there.

5. I love words and definitions. My 1828 Webster's Dictionary is one of my favorite books. In case you don't have one, here's an online version. As long as we're on the subject: I have no idea why this is called a meme. I'm not even sure how it's pronounced. Is it "meem" (rhymes with dream) or "me me" (like I'm raising my hand)? (Yes, I know I can google it, and I actually did. But I would really like to hear your definition & how you pronounce it. So please leave me a comment!)

6. I like to get my point across and so I end up doing things like using too many exclamation points or repeating myself for emphasis. Then I wish I hadn't because it sounds dumb. In the same vein, I often ask people to repeat things because I'm so focused on something else that I missed what they said.

Bonus quirk:
7. I really like to follow the rules. I don't like to jaywalk and I once refused to watch my brothers' pet bird for the weekend because our apartment didn't allow pets.

So here are the meme rules:
Link back to the person who tagged you.
Shonda listed some great quirks that I think are much more interesting than mine!

List the rules on your blog. Done!

Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of your own. Done!

Tag 6 bloggers to complete the meme.
That seems like a lot! Do you usually have to tag that many people? I guess I'd better follow the rules! I will make this a family tag. I tag Jenny, Heather, LaRae , Dawnae, Janae & Kristin

Just Call Me Stalker Mom

The other day I was checking out the BYUI website and I happened to find some really cool stuff like: details about Ryan's ward and the syllabi for several of his classes.

I thought he'd be excited to learn how talented his mom is online. Our conversation via text message went something like this:


Me: I know what your Bishop looks like
Ryan: That's kinda scary
Me: Just call me stalker mom

Road Trip

After 34 hours in the car over 4 days, we're finally home from our road trip.

The weird part is: Ryan didn't come home with us.
It is a strange thing to take your son a thousand miles away from home and leave him there!
I know it is the right place for him to be, but now it seems like everything is in the past tense.
When Ryan lived at home
He was my first baby
He was homeschooled
We finished raising our son

Thankfully there is so much in the future to look forward to.
When Ryan comes home to visit
He will get his mission call
Life long learning
Temple marriage
Grandchildren
Family Reunions

Boy do I feel old!!

Here we are in front of the Taylor building where Ryan has religion class and attends church.
The BYU Idaho campus is really beautiful. We especially loved the flower gardens.
The buildings are lovely and they are filled with paintings, sculpture and artwork.
We checked out Ryan's classrooms and most of them are very small with state of the art set-ups. There is a lot going on with a remodel on the the student center and a new auditorium under construction.

The Rexburg temple is on the hill above campus and just a couple of blocks from Ryan's apartment. Click HERE to see some gorgeous photos of the temple.

Here's Ryan in his apartment. They even have two refrigerators--a necessity with 6 hungry men. They have two bathrooms plus an extra sink. They were a little scary by Mom standards, but Ryan thought they were great.

It is a very nice complex with a big laundry room, a pool and a hot tub. There are huge "No Girls Allowed" signs around the hot tub. I didn't like those signs when they were on his 10 year old club house, but I really like them now!

One of Ryan's roommates took this picture of us out in front of the apartment. It is only a couple blocks from campus--probably closer than my dorm was to BYU. As a bonus, all the residents get frees haircuts, manicures and pedicures. I'm guessing this is actually a bonus for the beauty school students. They have built-in guinea pigs!

We didn't have too much time to stop and play. We'll have to save the trip to Bear World for another time. Evan still managed to have a great time in the few hours he had with his cousin Josh. They made a bunch of "blubber buddies" which are latex glove water balloons. Then they piled them on top of the car and convinced my brother-in-law to take them for a drive. They were thrilled at the resulting watery mess!

Thanks to John's sister for letting us stay on the way up and back. We weren't very good guests, just stopping long enough to eat and sleep, but at least we didn't overstay our welcome.

With so many hours in the car, we did get some reading done. Evan read all of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and John & I listened to Mornings on Horseback. It is a great biography of Theodore Roosevelt by David McCullough.

The Roosevelts chose to educate their children at home and when Teddy Roosevelt went to Harvard at 17, it was his first time in school. His father gave him some great advice that I'd like to share with Ryan. He counseled his son to focus on and take care of:
First, his morals
Second, his health
Third, his studies

Have a great time at BYU-I Ryan! Your Mom loves you!

Another Birthday

Happy Birthday to my little brother Jason!

Jason has always kept life interesting in our family. He's done unique things like painting our little brother from head to toe with house paint. (To this day my Mom wonders about the long term effects of a turpentine bath.)

Now that he's grown up he's done lots of responsible things like serve a mission, get married, graduate from college and become a dad. But he still manages to keep things interesting. Jason is still fun to be around and as an added bonus, we get to adore his beautiful baby and his sweet wife.

Hope you had a great birthday J!

Just don't come near me with a paint brush.

I Love My Life!

"Have you started school yet?"

This time of year I am asked this question quite often, and I'm never sure how to answer.
Our homeschool life just doesn't fit into that big "First Day of School" mode.

Aaron's math class has continued all summer
Seminary started this week
Our Scholar Projects start next week
Math, Art and History Club start on Sept 8th
Our Young Statesman Club & Young Stateswoman Society start mid September
I traveled throughout the summer teaching and attending trainings.
Our reading, learning & discussions are just part of life and we don't stop or start by the calendar.

Was today a "school day"?
I'm not sure, but we learned a lot and had a great time!

Thanks to free passes from our friends, Marianne, Evan & I went to the San Diego Zoo. I was worried it would be packed for the start of Labor Day weekend. Amazingly, it wasn't crowded and we were able to enjoy some of our favorite spots.

We love this peaceful little garden with the pond and waterfall. Evan loved watching the turtles and the colorful koi and Marianne took this great picture of one of the locals.

The Polar Bears were the more active and playful than I've ever seen them. They were jumping, diving & playing with their food. It is amazing how graceful those huge animals look in the water.

I love seeing all the plants and gardens at the zoo. This plant is a great combination of delicate blossoms and big thorns. Evan wondered if this could be a safety issue for zoo guests. If you look closely you'll even see a spider in the picture.

The Reptile House is another favorite place at the zoo. It's always nice and cool inside! Isn't this Burmese Python beautiful? It is incredible to be so close to such powerful and/or venomous creatures and yet know that they are safely behind glass. (Well, as long as Harry Potter isn't around)

I love the Sky Ride, but I hate waiting in line. Usually we ride it once across the zoo and then walk back, but today we rode it 6 times in a row. The views of the zoo and Balboa Park are gorgeous and the fresh breeze is wonderful.

Here we are on top of the world!

It only takes one day like this to remind me why I LOVE homeschooling!

Catching Up

I've finally updated my blog with some of our summer activities.

To read about John & Aaron's scouting adventures, click HERE.

For 4th of July photos, take a look HERE.

To see pictures of our trip to Wyoming , click HERE.

To read about Marianne & her 12th Birthday, take a look HERE.

To hear about Evan's adventure, go HERE.

Cardz4u

My sweet Marianne has started her own blog featuring her handmade cards.

Check out the cute cards she has for sale HERE

She will be adding some fun Halloween cards soon.