The Watson Five

These are the people I love most in the world. Each one of them adds something different and fun to my life. I am so blessed to call them mine.

I am the WORST!!!!

So, I just checked this blog thinking that it might have been about a year since I last posted anything. WRONG! Try 3 years. Man, I cannot believe how quickly time flies.  Then, it had been so long that I forgot how to log in, forgot what account and password I had used to create this blog, and it has taken me a couple of hours to figure out how to reset everything.  I am SO AWFUL AT COMPUTERS!!!
Maybe That is what I can do when the kids start school next week - take a computer class. I'm sure Shanna will be relieved that I don't call her every week asking for help.

Anyway, I have decided to pick back up and blog again. I just printed a book from Facebook that has all my pics and posts from the entire year. I so love it.  It is like my journal. And reading back on all these posts makes me realize that I should keep documenting my life. I don't keep a regular journal. Never have. But I love having these records and photos to look back on. So here it is. My journal.

Where are we right now in our lives? Here's the brief update.
Lucy is a senior this year, and my heart is already breaking at the thought of her leaving me.
Hannah is a Freshman this year. About to start driving. Help.
Sam is in 5th grade. Plays the Saxophone and wants to be famous so bad he can hardly stand it.
Kelly is still with his job - Ethicon Surgical Care. He loves it and loves the freedom of working at home.
As for me, here's a list of what my life consists of at this moment.
Primary President
Show choir mom and co chair of our first ever Mid Iowa Show Choir Competition.
Wanna be Mialisia wonderwoman.  Turns out I am not so good at Direct Sales:(
Missing the many, many friends who have moved since my last post.  Seriously, I can count on 2 hands the number of people that I love who have moved away. But it is fun to go visit them and have girls trips every now and then!
Still being mom and trying to enjoy them all while I still have them. Thinking about Lucy leaving makes me so sad I don't know what I will do when the time comes.

How Time Flies

Have I really gone since JULY since I posted anything?

Friends, my life has been busy.  You know the drill.  Kids, 3 church callings, lots of home improvement and redecorating projects, babysitting, girls trips, endless errands, the list goes on and on.

I have a list of all the things I need to catch up on, and things to tell you about.  But it will all have to wait just a little longer.  It is 11:00 on Saturday night, and tomorrow is a LOOOOONG church day which includes 2 choir practices, one of which is in Ames.  So for now, I will leave you with a picture that I love from my recent 38th birthday party.

My sweet Hannah organized a surprise party for me (guest list was 4 people long!) and attempted to bake a 2 layer cake for the first time ever!  As you can see, the cake was not a smashing success.  Unless you look at it through the eyes of a mother, and then it is the most beautiful cake ever made!

Photos I Love

Today's installment of "Photos I Love" comes to you from Salt Lake City, Utah.  Home of one of the most amazing women in the world, June Fuller, my grandmother.

This photo was taken at her 90th birthday party.  This was the first time in a long time that so many family members were together in one place, and the room was filled with so many people who came to show their love for this lady.  M Russell Ballard from the quorum of the 12 even came.  He used to be her bishop.  I said to her, "Look how important you are!  An apostle even came to your birthday party!"  Her reply was "Oh, you mean little Russ?  He is a sweet boy."

When we visited her house during summer vacations, she woke us each morning to exercise with her.  We would walk through her Mt. Olympus neighborhood at a brisk pace - no slacking!  Then we'd return home to do whatever aerobics show was on the tv. 

How many grandmothers do YOU know that play golf and bowl on a league on a regular basis?
Well MINE did!  She was incredible.  I think she even bragged about bowling a perfect score once.  It was fun to watch her in action.  She had more energy than anyone I know (including myself!)

When I was in 2nd grade, my sister and I had to go live with her for a semester of school.  She enrolled us in the school where she worked as a lunch lady, and some of my favorite memories ever came from that time.  Even though it was a very troubling time for us, I never felt scared or worried when I was with her.  She took very good care of me and I will always love her for that.

Grandma was very careful not to waste anything.  We have a running joke in our family that we shouldn't throw away our straws, baggies or wax paper because until they melt away we could still be using them!  She taught me how to cook and save for a rainy day.  Her grocery shopping/coupon system was so exact that even though I would like to, I will never be able to replicate it!

When I went to school at the U of U, I stayed many weekends with her.  Several of my friends became regulars at her house and she loved them all as much as she loved me.  She chastised me when I needed it, often with a few minor swear words thrown in for good measure.  Like her favorite "you're such a dumb little s*@#! Why did you spend all of your money on that?  How are you going to buy groceries?"  Then leave me to figure it out, not knowing that my grandpa was slipping me $20s under the table!!

For all these reasons, and more, I cherish this photo of me and my grandmother.  She is such an important part of my life and I know that I am who I am today because of some of the lessons I learned from her.

Once Upon A Time.....

This is where it all started.  A tall skinny boy named Kelly Watson moved to Albuquerque when I was 15.  Was it love at first sight?  Um.....NO!  He had on white skinny jeans and a pink plaid shirt the first night we met at a church dance, and he made no real effort to be friendly to me.  (In his defense, I think I was wearing a vest and a BOW TIE that night.  Gotta love the 80's!!)

We did not hit it off for quite a while.  The boys and the girls were constantly feuding about a woman's place in the world, and the only words I used to describe him at that time were names of various animals of the 4 legged variety.  This lasted nearly 2 years.  Not exactly a fairy tale beginning.  But then one day, the tide turned.

It was Sunday.  I had gone to prom the night before and according to tradition, was wearing my prom dress to church.  I had to speak that day, and when I looked out on the congregation, Kelly winked at me.  I thought he was messing with me - trying to get me to mess up or something.  But later on when he passed me in the hallway, he said "You look pretty today".  WHAT?????  I had no idea what was going on.  Up until this, we hadn't really had a civilized conversation.  I was flustered, but intrigued!

The next Friday, the phone rang.  It was for me.  It was Kelly Watson.  He asked me to dinner. I was totally shocked.  I said yes.  Here is where I should probably mention that I had a boyfriend, but when suddenly faced with the option of a date with Kelly, I had to go.  I mean, what was happening?  Did he take some magic potion that had turned him from an ogre into a prince??? I had to find out.  So I accepted and off we went.   Now I will switch to the short version of the evening's events.  It could take hours to give a full account!

*We had dinner at a 50's style diner called Yesterdave's.
*We then rented Lethal Weapon at Blockbuster and went back to my house to watch it.
*When we got there, my BOYFRIEND had called and threatened to come over and beat Kelly up if   he didn't leave.
*Kelly, unaware of said boyfriend, was not pleased and left immediately.
*I got on the phone and into a 3 hour phone conversation where boyfriend was threatening suicide if I broke up with him.  I broke up with him.  He survived.
*Next day, I went to see Kelly to apologize and see if he would forgive me.  It went a little something like this:
     K:  Why didn't you tell me you already had a boyfriend?
     J:  Because I liked you and wanted to go out with you.  But I broke up with him right after you left.
     K: So you're not going out with him anymore?
     J:  No.
     K: So you can go out with me now?
     J:  YES!

And the rest, as they say, is history!  The next day, Sunday, we were sitting by each other holding hands at church, and people who had witnessed the hostility between us for the past 2 years were in shock!  There are still friends of my family who can't believe that we are married.  I can.  I have loved him from that very day until now.  We had lots of on-again-off-again moments, and we survived being separated for 2 years during a mission and college.  There are many funny, happy, not so happy (Senior Prom!!),  sweet and memorable stories that have made up our history.  Now that we are 30 somethings, we have been together more than half of our lives.  We have spent more years together than we ever spent without each other.  I have the life I always wanted thanks to the boy in the white skinny jeans.

I love you Kelly!  Happy Anniversary.

What a Difference......

This was the scene on February 20 of this year.  Just 7 short weeks ago:

 

The final, unwelcomed winter storm that made our spirits sink.  The unrelenting, grim, and merciless icy cold grip of winter to which it seemed there would be no end, went out with over a foot of snow and the roar of our shiny new snowblower!

When the snow finally melted and the sun came out to play, so did we!!!

Hooray for spring!  Hooray for outside play time!  Hooray for green grass and tshirts and sidewalk chalk!  Hooray for sunshine!  I'd almost forgotten how beautiful you were.

Ode to the Sun

Sunshine, sunshine, where have you gone?

I've forgotten how it felt

to play outside, instead I hide

inside - wishing the snow would melt.

Oh, how I long for bright blue skies

and temps above the TEENS!

I need your rays, and warmer days,

Instead of WHITE we need some GREEN!
 

My mood has been sour, my house a mess

my energy at an all time low.

My boots and my sweats really need a rest.

I JUST CANNOT TAKE MORE SNOW!!!

Sunshine, sunshine, PLEASE come back!

Drive all the gloomies away.

We're bored and we're cold - This is getting so old!

We all need to get out to play!

More Hannah....

There needs to be a couple of things said about Hannah.  As Kelly and I were talking about her last night, I realized that I omitted some very key personality traits.  So here is an amendment to the previous post.

Hannah is an EXTREME rule follower.  When she is told to do something, or is given a task, there is NO room for interpretation or negotiation!  It is totally black and white in her mind.  This will be a great quality as she grows up.  Although, we have tried to explain that some things are general guidelines and not iron clad laws....still working on that concept!  This also ties in to her TOTAL inability to grasp sarcasm.  She sees things so literally that even most kids jokes go over her head.  She very crisply explained to her teacher this year that she did not appreciate sarcasm, and didn't like it when she was talked to in a certain way.  Her teacher said that she has taken that into consideration every time she talks to Hannah, and is sure to get right to the point with no messing around!

Lastly, Hannah is our Time Manager.  She will shout out the time minute by minute as we are getting ready to go somewhere so that we will NOT be late.  This starts the minute we begin to get ready, and continues in the car and all the way to our destination.  (Unfortunately for her, her mother got the late gene from her dad, so despite Hannah's best efforts we are sometimes late anyway.)  When she wants to know the time and someone estimates or rounds up to the nearest even number, that is not acceptable.  You cannot say it is 4:30 if it is only 4:27.  No no.  Exactness is required at all times.

 I think that everyone needs a Hannah.  She runs a tight ship!

My Hannah

 

 So earlier this year (I got a little behind!!), Hannah turned 10.  Double digits for my middle child.  She has been such a special little girl right from the beginning, and now I would like to share her with all of you!

 

 She loves her daddy!  Ever since she was small, the way we got her to try anything new was for Kelly to say that it was his favorite thing, and it them became her favorite thing.  She would choke down food that she didn't like just to please him,  all the while sticking to her guns that she loved it.  They have had a special relationship from the start.  Here is a photo of them at last year's Daddy Daughter Valentines Dinner and Dance.

Another thing about Hannah is that she is very sensitive.  Her heart breaks very easily when she has to move away from a friend, or when she has a fight with a classmate, or when she thinks someone is being mistreated.  She is very aware of those who are lonely or in need of a friend and tries her best to reach out to them.  When we moved away from NM and from Ohio, she had some very good little friends that she had to leave, she cried and cried.  The most heartbreaking thing to see was Hannah and her very best friend, my sister Emilie,  saying goodbye at the airport as we were moving for the first time.  They couldn't let go of each other and were both crying - and ever since that day they have run up hours and hours of long distance calls to each other!

She loves to dress up and use her imagination.  Here is her favorite getup from when she was 2 years old.  She wore this to the grocery store many times, her tap shoes clacking away as she followed me through the isles.  Here are a few more recent costume choices.  She comes up with some very interesting ideas!

 

Another thing I love about Hannah is that she is so trusting.   If you tell her that the sky is orange, she will look at it and say, "Really?  OK."  I thought that she would be devastated to find out that there was no Tooth Fairy.  When she found my drawer full of her teeth and letters, I told her that it was me.  I was the Tooth Fairy.  She looked at me with wide eyes, and with all the innocence and wonder in her heart said, "So, are you the Tooth Fairy for the whole world, or just for our neighborhood?"

 She has always been eager to please.  She will do whatever she can to make her parents, teachers, siblings or friends happy.  When she was younger, if one of her friends said they liked one of her toys, she would say "You can have it." 

She loves to clean - well, everything but her room!!  When we are deciding who gets certain chores in our house, Hannah wants them all.  She loves to to the kitchen the most, even moving all the chairs out to sweep and mop the floors.  She often surprises us by cleaning our room or bathroom while we are out.  I'm sure that this trait came from my sister and NOT from me!

She is also sensitive to spiritual things.  She feels the spirit and expresses those feelings to us.  On more than one occasion, she has written her thoughts about things she has read in the scriptures and let us read them.  She reminds us to read together  as a family a lot, and loves to do things with her family.

She loves to play in the snow.  It can be so cold that nobody else wants to go out, but she will be outside in all her snow gear just laying in the snow.  She is always the first to volunteer to go out with Sam when he wants to play.   She's happy to be outside any time of the year.  Here she is competing in her Triathalon that she has done for the last 2 years.

She really likes this competition.  She trains all summer and takes it pretty seriously.   We love to watch the determination in her face during the race.  She is amazing!

She looks up to Lucy more than anyone can know.  She writes her letters and makes her things all the time to tell her how much she loves her.  If Lucy gets mad at her she is crushed!  Although there is no shortage of sibling bickering between the two of them, I know that there is no one that she loves as much as her sister.

So that is our Hannah.  Sweet, sensitive, spiritual, loving, imaginative, eager and dedicated.  She is an example to our entire family and we all love her very much!

Poor little blog.  Poor faithful blog readers.
I have neglected you all for far too long.
My life got a little crazy for a while, but
I promise that I will be back very soon
with a new post about my sweet Hannah
who just had a birthday - well, she had it
almost 2 months ago.  OOPS!  Until then,
I will share a cute story about Sam.

Yesterday he and Kelly left for a boys birthday
trip to Disneyland.  When it came time for
them to leave, Sam hugged the girls with all
his might and for a very, very long time.
On the way to the airport, we were talking
about what fun things he would be able to
do there, and I looked back at him and he was
sitting with his head down and a sad look on
his face. 
"What's the matter, Sam?  Aren't you excited
about your trip with Dad?"  I asked.
He started to nod his head yes, but then
paused, and said "Not really."
"Why not?"
And then, with a little tremble in his voice,
his reply,
"I'm just really going to miss the girls."

I am so glad to have kids that love each other like that!

Photos I Love

Meet my dad.  Little Eddy Fuller.  He was the same age in this photo as Sam is right now.  I cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, picture my dad acting like my son does!   It's fun to think about, though.

Was he mischievous?   Did he make his parents roll on the ground with laughter?  Was he sweet to his mother?  Was he independent?  What toys did he like to play with?  Was he good in school?  Did he charm all the little girls in the neighborhood?  I do not know all the answers, but I am certain that when his mother looked at that sweet little face she could not have ever been too angry with him, and that his smile melted her heart.  Whatever kind of little boy he was, I know one thing for sure.  He grew up to become a perfect father and the greatest example of Christ-like kindness, patience and love that I have ever known.  He is the rock of our family and I am proud to call him Dad.

p.s.  Notice the suspenders?  Even today they are a staple in my dad's wardrobe.  I guess if you find something that works for you, you don't mess with it!!

Photos I Love

I love this photo.  No further explanation is needed.  Just look at it.  Isn't she precious?  She was the tiniest little thing, and although she was only 2, the dance teacher at Lucy's ballet studio let her into the 3 year old class because she couldn't resist this cute little thing in her tights and ballet slippers.  She practically lived in this outfit....dancing all day long, spinning in circles and singing, leaving me with a perfectly perfect memory of my perfectly perfect little Hannah.

Follow Up...

So inquiring minds want to know what on my list from yesterday got done.
I wish I could say everything, but I am having trouble finding my motivation.
Kelly is out of town all week, so in my mind that means a week off for me too!
I did clean the kitchen first thing.  It is spic and span this morning!  I also got
all the laundry done and put away, but the closet still needs to be swept out. 
Garage sale stuff is on the list for today, and bathrooms can wait until right
before Kelly comes home on Friday.  That's when I'll make my mad dash around
the house trying to make it look as if I've been busy all week!!

(Don't tell me you don't all know what I'm talking about!)

It's a Dirty Job......

What I NEED to do today:



Clean my kitchen!! I haven't even put away
my groceries.



Organize the laundry room closet



Sort and price these items for a garage sale this weekend



Scrub this shower - it is gross!!




What I WANT to do today:


Make some more of these cute haunted bird houses. We
have been making them all week. I LOVE them!




Use these cute witches that I made...



And these fun things to make a Halloween garland for
my front door.




So I have gone to get my morning pick- me- up and I'm off to
get started.

Photos I Love

For the second installment of "Photos I Love", I present to you one that I don't so much love. This was me. A face only a mother could love, as she will readily admit. I think the story goes that after I was born I was so fat and had such a huge birthmark on my forehead that my mother was not eager for others to see me. She covered me with a blanket at the grocery store and when a lady asked if she could lift the blanket to see her baby she said, "Not right now. She's sleeping."
This is the way my life started out. At least, that's what my mother says. The good news: I think I turned out alright. Let this be a lesson to you all. If things aren't always what you'd like them to be, wait a few years. They will improve!

Not A Baby Anymore

So last month Lucy turned 12. My baby is nearly a teenager. As I reflected on this event, I pulled some of my favorite photos of her through the years and decided to tell the world all the reasons I am happy to have Lucy for my daughter.

1. LOOK AT THAT FACE! Could there BE a cuter baby anywhere? From the start she has had so much expression and personality written all over her.



2. She was the perfect baby from the start. No, really. She never cried or had tantrums, even when she was hungry. She would go to anyone and she was always happy.




3. She has always been independent. She takes great pride in being able to do things on her own. Although there were times I wish she needed me a little more, I know that this is a trait that will serve her well throughout her life.



4. She is good conversation! Her teachers always commented that she was fun to talk to and very friendly. One of her teachers (2nd grade I think!) said that she enjoyed talking to her so much that she had to move Lucy's desk to the other side of the room so that Lucy could get her work done. They spent so much time talking during the day that her work wasn't always getting finished!



5. She has always had respect for her parents. She has never talked back to me or said hateful things to me, and as a mother of little girls, I know that doesn't always happen! I am very grateful for this!!



6. She is helpful. From an early age she has has been helping me do things that sometines made me have to stop and remember just how young she was. I depend on her for a lot and she always rises to the challenge.




7. She knows exactly what she wants. She has always had lots of input for exactly how she wants her birthday parties to be run, just what she wants to wear, just who she wants to play with, and just what she wants to do (or not to do!) Another word for this is STUBBORNNESS! At times this makes me crazy, but at least she has a mind of her own. I don't have to worry about her caving in to peer pressure!




8. She is the first grandchild on both sides of the family. This has given her a special and unique relationship with her grandparents. She has a great sense of family and who she is.




9. She is confident in who she is. She is an individual and doesn't feel like she needs to follow the crowd. This gives me great comfort and also is a good example for her siblings.



9. She is very talented. She has musical ability, athletic ability, artistic ability and academic ability. I know this sounds like I'm boasting, but I am genuinely proud of all the things she can do. She is good at just about everything she tries.



10. She is my friend. We have fun together and I truly enjoy her company. I am so proud of the young lady she has become and I appreciate being able to talk to her about silly things or things that matter. I know that she will be a good mother someday, and that she can be anything she wants to be.




I don't know what I did to deserve such a good daughter. I hope she always wants to talk to me and confide in me. I am proud to be her mother.