I’m Backkk!!!

 It’s only been about 15 YEARSSSS since I posted last. I can’t tell you how happy I am that I kept a blog for a bit while my kids were little. 

We used to use pseudonyms for our kids so creepers out there wouldn’t have them.

Pikachu, now 31, is Nik. He’s an incredibly talented tattoo artist & works in a shop (Varnished Anatomy) here in Ogden. People love going to him as he is one of the more gentle artists. It’s so nice to have him close & I love when I get to see him!

Nonigirl is 25 & married Drew on August 24, 2024. Maddie said the 8/24/24 would help him remember their anniversary 😅 She graduated with her Master Esthetician license last week & is starting her own little business here in our home (in Charley’s beautiful room since she’s moved. 😢 More on her in a minute). She has been teaching horseback riding lessons & Drew is now building her an arena to start teaching at his parents. Her husband is a jeweler & even made her wedding ring (more on “oooh the ever elusive circle later” 😏) His boss loves Drew & is going to sell his 40 year old company to him in the next year or so. 

Our Charley, age 23, AKA Chookie, up & moved to Texas with her boyfriend, Karston. She got her nail tech license in August & has been getting some good little clients down there. The art she can put on a tiny nail is beyond amazing! Kars has wanted to be a fighter jet pilot for the Air Force since he was little & that’s exactly what he’s working on down in the Lone Star State. They’re so happy together & Chris & I are so happy how much they seem to really like each other.

Then there’s Treatums (not to be confused with Tweetums, which we sometimes call Char 😉). Gordy is now 20, studying construction management at good old Weber State, & playing on their rugby 🏉 club team. He’s such a good kid! He has been dating Kate for 3 1/2 years & we love her. She’s very outgoing & quite ambitious. She will graduate from the U of U next May then she will be moving to Arkansas for a year to work for Nucor, the big steel company here in the US. She & Maddie love to geek out on horses together.

Chris is still the county attorney, or “DA”, as we like to call him. He is a lunatic for pickleball. Like for realsies. He turned 58, which is appropriate because a lot of old people love pickleball & I imagine we will have to move down to St. George (the pickleball capital of the world) when he retires. We would never leave our future grandkids though. 

I’m working for our nephew, Adam’s, pest control company as a call center manager. I’ve been there since the end of March 2019. It’s been a real blessing as we were able to buy our dream home up & around the corner from our Navajo Drive home. We were thee first about 18 years! We are now on Apache Way. 

Last October Maddie tried to bring a puppy home & Drew said, “Too much too soon!” Sooo, Chris & I kept her so Maddie & the puppy wouldn’t be sad. Smidgen has my heart.

Yes, I LIKE my other kids.

So, Ashley pointed out that I have neglected my other kids in my posts. True true, the last 4 posts have been about Gordy, and yet how can I help but write about him all the time-he's pretty awesome.

Kids, in general, say pretty cool stuff. Their little minds just work differently, thus giving them a whole other perspective on things.

It's not hard to take note of your little people's personalities by what they say; their responses to their world.

Sometimes, you'll notice a general sort of sweetness that emanates from them:

Gordy: "Mom, you're so beautiful!"

Sometimes it's hard not to notice the snappy attitude that might come from another:

Maddie: "Well! There's NOTHING I like in this house! You NEED to go shopping!"

Or sometimes you get this:

Me: "Your room is seriously a mess!"
Nik: "Your mom's FACE is a mess."

Or this:

Me: (Exasperated) "Please stay over here, you're being a distraction."
Charley: "Your Face is a distraction."

Hmm....I think I'm starting to figure these people out. I won't straight-up label them, but I know what's going on here.

Gordy and Bike

Just real quick I gotta say how proud I am of our little dude who learned to ride his bike earlier this week on the 3rd. He's such a little stud man! Love that little guy! Sweets took him to the church parking lot after explaining to Gordy that riding a bike is a lot like riding his scooter (which he's awesome at)...you just balance on 2 wheels. It was no big deal to him and Chris helped a little bit and he was off laughing and saying how proud he was of himself...so fun!

Gordy

Here's a cool dialogue between my Gordy and Chris:

Sweets: Cool CTR ring! Where did you get that!?
Gordy: Um, at the Jesus store.

Sweet.

Our Future Little General Authority

Here is the conversation from the other morning when Gordy woke up and Sweets and I asked him how he slept:

Sweets: Good morning little dude!
Me: How did you sleep?
Gordy: Good. I dreamed about heaven.
Sweets: silence
Me: Wow! What was it like?
Gordy: I can't tell you.
Me: Oh? Why not?
Gordy: It was too beautiful.

Even little dudes know sexy when they see it

So, little dude just came to me holding my black patent leather pumps above his head and let me know that "these are the shoes I want you to wear to grandma's."
Classic.
Even four-year old little dudes know what sexy looks like!

The Little Performers

It has been amazing to watch this little person develop her musical talents. She is the tiniest person in her performing group and it is so fun to watch her! It never ceases to amaze me how she's been able to memorize all this music (SEVEN pages!) and play through her concerts with a nice little pleasant smile the whole time too! Their teacher, Peggy Wheelwright, is completely awesome and I am a big fan! Those two cute kids on the left are great too, they all started violin in the summer together and Charley has beome good little friends with them; especially the little girl. Here is a song from their first performance...they are scheduled to do at least 8 concerts! Tomorrow she will be playing at The (Get This!) Nutcracker pre-show! Yeah, my own little violinist! I am SO proud! Good job Charley!

Then there's THIS little natural performer....she is a great little singer and I am in love with her raspy little nightclub singing voice! I am so grateful for her wonderfully talented teacher as well, Monica Crabb, she is truly amazing! I am so proud of Maddie and for all of her hard work. She has been sinigng ever since I can remember. I recall some time ago when she used to sing cool little songs about how mean I was while she sat on her bed in time-out! I guess, all that time in time-out paid off though.

Here she is singing one of my favorite songs "Fireflies" at her voice recital: