McDonald Family: 2008

Well, since it's been a few days...okay, MONTHS since anyone did anything on this blog, and at the prompting of a few friends, familiy members, neighbors, the family dog, and someone from our local Kawanis Club..I am blogging today. If you need resuscitation, please call 911 or anyone who is adept at restarting hearts and minds that have been blown! HA!

So we are still remodeling our house, just in time to put in on the market and let it sit for months. HAHA! Kidding. We won't put it up until May at which time we hope to move our little family closer to Rob's office. Currently, he faces a 35-60 minute commute. In the words of a few of my Beehives, it bites. We didn't think it would be too bad, but life ticks away every second and even listening to Glen Beck, Satellite Sports, and any gospel CD he can get his hands on isn't enough to make it worth missing out on kids' homework, basketball practice, and helping out with dinner!

The rundown of the kids is as follows:

Aubrey (13) had to drop out of dance completely as a back condition she has had a couple of years forced her to take up Pilates. We are doing it together starting next week. That should conjure up a comical picture in anyone's mind. I did use to be able to put both feet behind my head at once, but now I'm just lucky if I can bend over and stand back up without assitance (my back as well.) I am still running, which is hard on every part of my body I know. I can't help it though, and I imagine one day I will be found along a creek somewhere lying face down saying, "Help me. Help me..."

That reminds me of a little incident the other day. I was at the gym running on the treadmill. A friend came up behind me and tapped me on the back. I turned around and she very discreetly said, "Uh...are those yours?" pointing to something white on the floor. Yup. You guessed it. My underwear. I had pulled my exercise pants out of the laundry basket which had a bit of static cling. I'm not sure where they were clinging as I walked into the gym, but I'm glad someone had the guts to tell me my underwear was lying innocently on the floor. Nice. I'm sure the people on the machines got a great kick out of it's short ride from my pants to the floor.

Anyway, back to the kids.

Despite having to quit dance for a while, Aubrey remains optimistic about just about everything. She is a great example to us all. Almost always happy and willing to pitch in. A little scatterbrained..a quality I reluctantly concede comes from me. But she's a happy scatterbained girl! She blesses all of our lives.

Rachel continues to stun us with her ability to talk faster than an auctioneer and our subsequent ability to understand her. My brain hurts sometimes after she tells me about a book she's read. I think she gives it to me in it's entirety, I'm not sure. It's like speed reading I think. I've tried talking that fast but I can't do it. I think she ought to be in those commercials for medicines which have miracle cures and at the end a laundry list of side-effects are added as fast as possible.

"You may experience paralysis, blindness, hiccuping for 13.5 days straight, your hair might turn pink, or you may start talking in another launguage. If you experience any of these things, contact your doctor." At which time, the doctor who is being paid by the pharmaeuitical company tells you to take it anyway and to take advantage of being paralyzed or hiccuping to get out of your regular chores and duties.

Back to Rachel. She does amaze us in other things. She is picking up the violin fast and is our most responsible child. She just got contacts which she will tell you about in 2.5 seconds. Be sure to tell her how beautiful she is...I think she is. She looks like her dad.

We are trying to convince Jordan that he is the next famous basketball player in the NBA. He isn't buying. He gets "hot". He'll just sit down in the middle of a game when he's decided he's done. It's too hot. He is very coordinated though, so Rob and I have now added "basketball practice" to his chore list. I also have to grit my teeth with the ball in the house as he likes to bounce it inside. It's good dribble practice.

Parker is as tall as a 5th grader and as skinny as a two year old. Okay. So that's a bit of an exaggeration. But he definitely takes after his Grandpa Larson. Tall and skinny. He has a great array of food he likes to eat: cheese, milk, and yogurt. Oh, and let's not forget candy. Halloween was heavenly for him. But he makes us laugh and we are realizing he is taking after his sister in the talking department. He is always asking for "someping, I don't know what."

All in all, cute kids. We think we'll keep them.

In a final note, I should tell you that I cannot hide it anymore. I have a love/hate relationship with Halloween. On the one hand, THANK YOU all for handing out ooey gooey candy that stick to the kids' teeth and suckers that provide a continual stream of sugar. Our budget thanks you. We need a new family car, and you all are helping us afford it.

On the other hand, what happened to a few candy bars, some Smarties and bubble gum? Gone in a couple of days. Now you have "Trunk or Treat" which was supposed to replace Trick or Treating, right? So you know the people handing out the candy and know there are no subtely placed razor blades (isn't that what we were afraid of when we were little?), etc. No. We can't just stop at Trunk or Treat. We must also go Trick or Treating and add to the gargantuan pile of sugar. Add to that the peer pressure to give out the "good" treats and have a costume which looks like it has appeared on Broadway and Halloween is now my least favorite holiday.

Well...so much for informative blog entries. Life at the McDonald's house is never a dull moment. And we'll tell it like it is, you can always count on that!

During our summer 07 trip to Utah we stopped and visited Bob and Lori. We love to visit them. After 7 1/2 hours riding in the car you'd think the LAST thing kids would want to do is get in another vehicle.......but if its Bob's new ATV......well that's different!

Parker "driving" the ATV.

Bob takes him for a ride!

They went really early in the morning. Cold and a little muddy but very pretty in the mountains above Bob and Lori's house. Hmmm.....maybe the next time I need to wake the kids up early on a cold morning all I have to do is yell-------------- ATV!!!!!!!!