Just to be fair...

And, because I am a fair person, I will post some cute photos of Juliana.

HAHA!! I LOVE this photo. She was done...totally done.

Jake again...

We had a small arguement one morning. In frusteration, he wrote this note and posted it on the door. See if you can dicifer! (Found at the end of the message.)

I always dreamed of having a cute little boy - the kind you see in Gap, Children's Place and Gymboree ads. As cute as Jake is, he has his own style. One that makes me want to post a sign, "DISCLAIMER. MOTHER DOES NOT APPROVE. "
I bought him SIX pairs of pants in October. I thought that six pairs would give him one to wear every day of the week without me having to wash any. Well, it is now February. FOUR months later. And he doesn't have a single, nice pair left. Notice the left knee. EVERY SINGLE PAIR IS RIPPED!! WHAT does this child do at school? It is always the left knee, not the right. And always a gash. I will not, refuse, to purchase any more pants. So I sewed them up. And they look terrible.

Notice the lovely boots? A nice hand-me-down from a neighbor. Great boots, fit fine and are nice. He, however, WILL NOT wear anything but those lovely boots. Wears them everywhere. This week the weather is quite nice - but we simply CAN'T live without the coat (that he constantly chews on) and those hidious gloves left over from when my brother's were little. My brother's call him Napolian. Not too far from the truth.

Ahhh... something nice to look at. Dig those teeth? Try nursing, it's wonderful. ;-)

Now the message:
Nobody come in! If you come in, I will kick you out.
Soooo funny. Made me laugh! NoBTE.

Jake's Photo Shoot

My Baby. Six years old. I just realized that this will probably be the last photo with all his darling pearly whites. We will soon loose that cute little boy look as he changes into an alien. :-)

Here are few Jake moments this past week:

Monday, Jake went to a friends house to go on a "hike" with other kids in the neighborhood. I dropped him off at three with his backpack, water bottle and snacks. I assumed he was under parental supervision since the boys' mother called to ask if Jake wanted to come. I was apparently wrong.

At 5:40, however, I received a call from 13-year-old Spencer. "Sister W.? Are you missing Jake?"
Me: "No. He's hiking with Dustin."
Spencer: "No. He is walking up and down the street. He's pretty freaked out."
Me: (Oh brother.) "Ok, can you sit with him? I will be up in a minute."

We live at the bottom of hills..after hills...after hills. I hopped in the car to go rescue my child. As I am driving up the hill, I come across the "hiking group." In a panic (that hit when they saw me, not before) "WE CAN'T FIND JAKE!"
Me: "Yes, I know. What happened?"
Them: "We don't know!!!"
Me: (You brats... you lost my baby.) "Well, I know where he is. Thanks for looking." (Said sarcastically, of course.)

So I continue to drive up the hill. As I crested the hill (about 20 feet from the search/resuce party) I found Jake sitting on a neighbor's lawn. SOBBING. It was a tragic mothering moment. Thankfully Spencer and Braxton were sitting with Jake trying to comfort him.

Come to find out, the hikers went in search of bears. Jake got pretty freaked out (largly in part by our "almost" bear encounter in Montana..see July blog) and left (first scouting mistake) the hiking group. He walked back down the street to Dustin's house. The mom told Jake the bear hunt wasn't real. So, he left civilization, heading into the "wilderness" to find the hikers. He couldn't, however, locate the group (thank the hills. If there was no hill, they would have easily found each other.) because they were down on the hill and he was up on the hill. Thankfully he had his backpack in case he got stuck in the "wilderness."

Aparently, we have a few scouting techniques to cover before our next adventure on the streets of PG.

We were talking about boyfriends/girlfriends. Jake informed us that he WILL NOT be getting a girlfriend for a long, long time. Not until he is seven. Great. Can't wait.

We had Parent/Teacher Conferences a few weeks ago. The second I sat down, Mrs. G handed me his packet of papers he has finished. I thanked her and noticed a yellow sticky note.

"Pushes in Line."

"What's this?" I ask.
"Oh, Jake has a problem with that."
And you needed a sticky note to tell me???
So now we have another problem to address. I guess it could be worse, "Swears in class", Wets his pants..."

I am a Failure...

The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out.
— Baron Thomas Babington Macauley, English historian and statesman (1800-1859)

I have a confession...I apparently don't have any character. I heard a quote back in high school that has determined my definition of character:
"Character is when you complete the motion long after the emotion has past." Or something like that. So basically, that means when you resolve to do (or not to do) something in the heat of the moment - you will carry out (if you have character) your resolve long after your emotion has past.

I didn't do that...


About a month ago I visited Walmart at about 3 pm. I list of things went wrong: They didn't have cilantro (I needed cilantro for dinner...who doesn't have cilantro???) Then, I went to purchase some fray check. Guess what? They didn't have that either. They were out of my favorite wipes. They didn't have black nylons. AND their lettuce was wilted. Getting irritated....and then I saw THE LINE!!!!
"Nice Jen" disappeared into mean, angry, irritated Jen. Not a Jen I am proud of. I started my timer....click, click, click. 17...17 long minutes past until I was able to put my groceries on the belt. Baby is crying and toddler NEEDS candy. I got the groceries loaded and then it hit me - I FORGOT MY WALLET IN THE CAR!!


Granted - that part my was fault. I told the checker my problem and he assured me that I could write a check. Great. Phew.

Except that wasn't the case. They called a supervisor who informed me that I could not write a check without identification. So, I had to lug my girls out to the car (it was snowing) and come back in. Wait in line again and pay. A few mean swear words raced through my brain.

So I was done - done with Walmart FOREVER...

Or so I thought. This is where the character part comes in.
I had withdrawals. As much as I hate that place - I needed it! I can't buy diapers, cleaners, laundry soap, Famous Dave's BBQ Sauce (3.45 compared to 2.09...) at any grocery store without paying far more then necessary.

Last night was the crowning test of character. I went to dinner with some friends. Jeff called me to ask if I would stop by an buy a humidifier. (He is DYING of a cold - not sure he will make it, but that's another blog.) I thought of stopping at all the places I was passing - Kohls, Target, Sears...and Walmart. No one would know that I went there...

So I did. And I got a few extra things, including my favorite BBQ sauce.

So, I don't have any character. But I saved a buck. So sue me.

Ya Vol!

Saturday was the Lifferth Family German Dinner - an anual event that groups all Lifferth's together into one room. It might spell disaster for some families - but not ours! It is so fun to see relatives that you otherwise don't see all the time. The food was fabulous - in fact it brought out those German roots in my brothers. They amazingly started speaking German - and they have NEVER learned a word of it! Amazing.
Any member of the Lifferth clan - non-Lifferth's included, could purchase this momentous t-shirt as a souviner. Of course, you won't look as hot in it as Daren does... or thinks his is anyway.

My cousins - I have the best. Really - they are awesome. Oh, and that little girl I am posing with is a cousin's daughter. Don't know why I am holding her...looks like she doesn't know either!

Juliana going back to her roots. Jeff got her dressed. That's why there is no bow...not that she ever leaves it in.

Almost all of the 13 siblings were at the dinner. What a fun group! It was a HUGE sucess. Shout out to cousin Sharee, Mishy, Austin and Uncle Ernie and Aunt Judy. They were in charge of the dinner. It was amazing. They did a great job. I just hope next time they can come and enjoy it like we were able to do (rather than working the whole time.) Gracias!!! (I know, that's Spanish...close enough?)

Valentine's Day

What a fabulous day! I actually enjoy Valentine's Day. Sure, it's a little commercial, but you get to spend the whole day doing sweet things for those you love.
I wanted to surpise Jeff by giving him a cookie bouquet - so I worked all afternoon the day before V-day. I got it all finished and set it by his toolchest KNOWING he won't see it - he had nothing to fix. To my surprise, SOMETHING broke. He booked it outside for a screwdriver before I could yell at him to stop. He totally saw his cute cookie bouquet. And what's worse is he commented on it...

So, I wait until the kids are in bed, I run it out to his truck so he can be "surprised" in the morning. AND GUESS WHAT I FOUND!!! 1 dozen beautiful red roses. Guess we are even... :-)

Jeff and I have a little tradition for V-day. He makes me dinner and I make the dessert. His choice this year was chili-rubbed steaks. They were incredible. I don't know if they were incredible because of the ingredients or because I didn't have to cook dinner...

For dessert - Chocolate Rasberry Cream Brulee. WOW!!! I totally outdid myself! :-) No really - they were good. I am too lazy to post the recipe. Call me if you want it. Oh, I had to garnish them with a strawberry. Rasberries were no longer on sale. I'm a little cheap..

We had a little visitor toward the end of the meal - Juliana knows good food when she see it!

President Hinckley

I know he has been gone a few days. But I haven't stopped thinking about what a wonderful man he is. I love and adore President Hinckley. It is hard to imagine the Church without him. I am, however, so very happy he is finally with his wife - what a reunion that was, I bet!

I can remember being a child and watching President Kimball's funeral. It affected (or is it effected) me greatly. Now I am watching Jake go through those same emotions.

During the funeral, Jeff and Jake were painting a closet while listening to the radio's broadcast. Jake was quietly working throughout the funeral. At one break he said, "You know Mom, President Hinckley is like Optimus Prime. And we are his Transformers!!"

President Hinckely has been called a lot of things - but I doubt Optimus Prime was one of them!

Another day I had a bad moment and was a little mad about something. Jeff asked, "what's wrong?" Jake quickly replied, "Oh, she's sad President Hinckley died."

I am sad. He will be missed.