Dan says.... Mom says ..... Jake says...

Dan: People at school say I'm mean.

Me: You're not mean, are you?

Dan:  No.  I always say I'm sorry.

Later in the day....

Dan: I repented today.

me: Oh?

Dan:  I said I didn't like a toy a boy had and he punched me in the face, and so I punched him back in the arm.

Last week Dan was crying in the bathroom and Jake went to investigate.

Jake:  Dan, what's wrong?

Dan:  I'm tired of blowing my nose.

Jake:  Well, everyone has to blow their nose sometimes,  (pause)  well almost everyone.  Do you know who doesn't have to blow their nose?

Dan:  no

Jake:  Chickens!

Championship Game

The soccer team that Hamburger puppet attended was the championship game.  For the third year in a row Connor was on the winning team!  The last two years they gave him a trophy.  This time they got to wear their trophy.  This is the last year that Connor can play city league soccer.  Our town only has teams through the 8th grade.  This year he not only played with Mason (his friend who has also been on the winning team all three years), but also with his friends Kevin and Clayton.  He was coached by his scout master and the scout master's son-in-law.  They had a really good time.  Connor is a great soccer player and especially likes playing as a defender.  He is very good at keeping the ball away from the goal he is protecting.  Congratulations to Connor!

Surprise!

Tina (my sister) wrote me a note telling me that she was making me a present for my birthday but she wasn't done yet.  I had no idea when she would be done or what she was making and so it was a surprise that today I got a package.  Here is the fun present that my creative sister made for me.

It's a cheeseburger puppet!  I just took five pictures of it and these are my favorites.  I took him to Connor's soccer game to show to all of my friends.   My hamburger was a big hit, though he did remind several people that they hadn't had dinner yet:).  

Generally Spoiled

I often say that I have the best family and friends around, and my birthday seems to prove me right every year.  As usual, I was generally spoiled.  I got cards, gifts, facebook messages, e-mail, phone calls, visits, and even a text message.  My sister-in-law Laura wrote a very nice blog about me.  Kayli cleaned, made cakes, and was in charge of dinner.  Tia and Kayli decorated cakes and Tia made a part of the dinner.  I only have pictures of a few of my gifts -- but I appreciated every one that I got.

Pretty flowers from Derek

The cake Tia decorated.  The cake was crumbly and the frosting soft and so Tia was frustrated -- but I could read it and it was yummy!

Who knows what this look is for but Kayli loves this picture and so I added it.

This is the cake Kayli decorated.

 I got the idea of coloring canvas shoes from my sister-in-law Tonya.  So, with some birthday money from Derek's parents, I got some canvas shoes and Tonya helped me color them with pictures of my puppets and my kids' puppets.  Her drawings are the ones that look skilled.  I tried hard but that princess looks a little evil if you look at her eyes closely.  I blame it on the markers:)

Connor drew Oscar the Grouch

Tia drew the musical notes, I drew the vine.  Tonya drew Dan's "dragon" and I drew Jake's velociraptor (with the partially red head).

I like Tonya's Magnus the Magnificent (the lion), my pirate is funny close up -- It doesn't look much like Connor's Arrrghus (Argus) but it looks more like a pirate than my tiger looks like a tiger on a different side of one of these shoes!

One friend who knows I like instruments brought me an Ocarina.  It sounds a bit like a piccolo.

Another friend sent me these cheerful daisies.

One brave friend even bought me some clothes, and another brought me a whole bag of things to help me relax.  It arrived just in time, at the end of the day when I was exhausted.  So, you can see that I am not exaggerating, I really am generally spoiled, especially on my birthday.

The Three Fates

Tia's cosmetology school had a Disney program.  The students had to get models and dress them up like Disney characters.  There were some fabulously well done characters.  Tia did the Three Fates from Hercules.  They are the only ones I got pictures of.

Kayli is the Fate on the right -- carrying the eyeball.

Generous Little Jenny

Jenny with her husband Jeff and their five children.
Photo by Mitzi Torgersen



Last week, two days before my own birthday, my little sister turned forty.  I am four years older than her which maybe explains why my brain keeps turning off when I want to remember something and then helpfully remembers that thing in the middle of the night days later.   This time it remembered 8 days late.  Better late than never is becoming my new motto.  Here are some of the things I admire about Jenny.

Jenny is very good at organizing events, and being in charge.  In a family where we sometimes have a tendency to not be very decisive about some things, it is helpful to have a Jenny around.  When Ray (the oldest) and Jenny and I have traveled together before, Jenny was in charge.   

Jenny and Jeff are unfailingly generous at sharing their home and their resources.  Their house is almost always the family reunion / Harvest Dinner (early Thanksgiving) location.  Once they were able to take a lot of us to Lake Powell to stay on a house boat and it is still something that many of my kids love to remember.

Jenny loves to help.  If she knows something is wrong she wants to jump right in and help solve the problem.  She even called one of my doctors once to make sure he was doing all he could to help me.  How could I not love a sister who would do that?  She is also good at helping my Mom, and since I love my Mom, this makes me happy too.

Jenny has a good sense of humor.  I wish I had a video of her during one of our family reunion skits a few years ago.  Jenny loves yoga, and climbing, and is very strong.  Still, she is also very little and does not have your usual body builder physique.  So, during a part of one skit Jenny was making muscles in a dramatic fashion that had us all laughing and laughing.  Hopefully I would still laugh and not just sit there and covet the strength that she works hard to maintain.

Jeff calls Jenny "Little Jenny".  When he goes to find her I expect that he often finds her outside in the yard -- at least if the weather is good.  Little Jenny sometimes drives a backhoe to move rocks or dirt around.  Jenny's yard is beautiful.  She does lots of things like laying stone patios, or working in her beautiful flower or vegetable gardens.

Jenny is talented, generous, strong, fun, and kind.  She is also loyal, helpful, and friendly (like a good scout).  I love her and hope that her 40th birthday was a happy one, and that she'll enjoy many more happy birthdays.