My friend, Lance

Last night I got a phone call from my little friend, Lance. He is 7. He said he needed to tell me "some stuff". First, though, he wanted to know if I like the DS or the WII better. I have never played with either one, so I wasn't much help. He told me how to turn them on and play with them, just in case I ever got a chance. I asked him why he wanted to know. He said that his big brother Ben had to do a survey for school and so he wanted to do a survey of his own.

He said he got in trouble at school and "lost" his friends. He was not looking forward to today. He also fell and got a big hole in his knee. He was not having a good week, I guess.

We talked for about ten minutes and he told me he got to talk to Ann Ann. He is patiently waiting for her to get back to his house!

A funny thing about Lance. When he was a baby, he and his parents and big brother, Ben, lived with us for a few months. They lived downstairs. He would crawl up the stairs every chance he got and just play quietly with me or whoever was home. I say quietly because when his mom realized he was gone, she would always come get him and take him back home! One day Ben got some fruit snacks and somehow Lance got them and started running away with the little bag held high above his head. I guess he thought that if they were up high, Ben couldn't get them! Funny boy! (Ben was a lot taller than Lance! But Lance was pretty fast!)

Thanks for calling me, Lancey-boy. I hope we get to talk again.

Maddie is 17!

So, Maddie is 17 as of two days ago. She is having a birthday party and I am hiding in the bedroom. I am very proud of her. She has a lot of good friends and loves to be with them. She is a happy girl most of the time and has a great sense of humor.

For the last few months she will get into bed and then call, "Mom." "Mo-om." "Moooo-oooom."
Then I am supposed to say "WHAT?"
Her: "I can't go to sleep until I get tucked in."
Me: I'm not tucking you in."
Her: "I promise I will go right to sleep if I get tucked in."
Me: (I tuck her into her blankets and she lays there and grins with her arms sticking out of her blankets--when I reach over her to tuck in the other side she tickles me and says "TICKLE FIGHT! TICKLE FIGHT!") (we both laugh but I am not supposed to)
Me: (flustered)"Good night."
Her: "I love you."
Me: "OK" and then I walk away

Maddie: "Meg." "Me-eg." "Meeee-eeeeg." and so on.

EVERY NIGHT! Of course we all laugh and roll our eyes. What a funny tradition! (It's from the movie "ELF" if you think it sound familiar)

Happy Birthday, Maddie! Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. She got on the high honor roll at school this last quarter! Way to go.

That took longer than I thought!

I made three costumes for Maddie and just need to do touch up on a couple more. They look great on Maddie and I am very happy to be finished. I will post pictures soon.

This month and a half has been quite eventful (and not all fun). Meg wrecked her little Ford Escort. She hit the back of a school bus (no one was hurt) and crunched the front of her car. It folded like a taco. The bus has a little skid red skid mark and that's it. She and Jeff went to the junk yard and got parts to fix her car back up. Meganne actually LIKED that!

Maddie got a date to Valentine's Dance at LHS. She found her dress at a consignment shop for 1/2 the marked price of $80. What a bargain shopper. It brings tears to my eyes! She looks great in this dress. It is dark brown and is very modest, too. I didn't need to do anything to fix it for her to wear it! BONUS!!!

Jeff has two more classes to go until he is DONE with school and then he will have his teaching degree. I am so excited for him and look forward to him being a member of faculty somewhere and having health insurance!

Hunter has been working very hard on his Merit Badges for Scouts. He loves checking stuff off and accomplishing new things. He has done a Family Home Evening lesson on the Word of Wisdom and even drew his own pictures for an activity. He made his Valentine box for his school class and won first place! It is a bank safe and looks good! He even started TWO of his own companies called: S.J.B.Co. & M.E.S.S. SJBCo stands for Sisters Job Break Company and his ad says: "Ever have parents nagging you to actually DO you JOB??? Don't worry, we understand. Just give us a call and we will help! Contact us for prices." He actually made $5 off Meg one day!

MESS stands for Meganne's Emergency Straightener Service "Ever have a friend coming over last minute? We can help! With quick and effective service, we get the job done." (fine print at the bottom says "Prices will vary with shorter notices")

Oh, yeah. Jeff and I were in a car crash on Monday. It was snowing and a young guy ran a stop sign. We spun in the snow and ice and ended up facing the way we had just come. We tore up a few layers of sod in the median. We were shaken up and bumped around some but we are ok. Our Outback is in the body shop getting the left back door fixed, the rear axle straightened and I don't know what else. Damages were around $4300. Glad the other guy had insurance. We are in a rental for the next few weeks. Also glad the kids were not with us. One of them would have been in that seat by the back door.

Happy Valentine's Day!