I was trying to avoid getting wet myself in this next one so I don't really have the best angle.

We're back

After a wonderful trip to California the Clement Clan is back. We look forward all year to our annual summer trip to Bakersfield. This year we had a fabulous time with our family and friends. Some of the high lights were:

A very fun blogger stlye reunion where we were able to meet up with many old and new friends

Jeremy enjoyed lots and lots of golfing

Mom and Dad treated everyone to a wonderful birthday dinner for Riley and Abby at California Pizza Kitchen

The Reed family spent the day in Santa Barbara enjoying the beach, the pier, and a short boat ride around the harbor

I was able to enjoy a wonderful kid free sister/mom lunch date

We all became a little addicted to Wii

Many pool side parties and bbqs

SWIMMING SWIMMING AND MORE SWIMMING

Jake was able to go fishing with his Papa Randy, dad and Uncle Shawn

Late night card games and ice cream runs (I think Jeremy and I counted a total of 5 different ice cream shops that we hit up)

Papa Harm treated everyone to a wonderful birthday dinner in honor of Amanda at Macaroni Grill

Eating at some of our favorite restaurants that we miss out on in TX (In and Out, El Sombrero, Jack in the Box, and Chipotle just to name a few) This truly was a vacation from any form of good food sense...

A wonderful impromptu trip to the Grand Canyon on the way home

And of course best of all was seeing everyone and enjoying each other's company

I can say that all the Clements came home tanner, well rested and in some cases fatter (diet starts today). I suppose all of these things are a sign of a good vacation. Now we are back to our real life if only I can get inspired to finish my laundry and do a big grocery shopping...


We love our family so much and hate that we live so far away however the miles apart and time spent away sure make our time together that much sweeter. Thank you all for the wonderful memories!!


Please enjoy the incomplete photo montage of the trip. Our camera went dead a few days into the trip so I had to rely on others to document everything. I should be getting everyone's pictures soon and I will add more then.


Abby and Riley celebrating their "luau" style birthday party on the patio of California Pizza Kitchen.

Abby, Brooke, and Riley posing for a picture on the Santa Barbara pier, it was slightly windy and overcast that day which was a nice break from the Bakersfield heat.

The whole gang takes a group shot while waiting for our little boat tour of the harbor, everyone was able to make it for the trip except for Sarah's husband Sean and Clare's husband Chris (they both had to work).

Morgan questions, "does this pail make my butt look big?"

Despite the cool temperatures and wind nothing was going to stop our kids from playing a little tag with the ocean.

We have all become big Wii fans, Jake is playing Wii baseball here but I think his favorite was either bowling or the Mercury Madness game.

a parenting bridge has been crossed

I can remember being in high school (maybe even Jr high school) having questions about my math homework. I would ask my mom for help and she would say, "wait for dad to come home I can't remember how to do that". At the time I thought it was strange because in my mind my mother knew everything (which is pretty much true). Now here I am a mother with my own four little babies and they are all so easily impressed. I can whistle a tune and they will ask in wonder, "how did you do that?" I can type something up on the computer and they are amazed with my speed. It seems to them that I can do everything. I can still run faster then all of them (I'm sure not for long), I can beat them every time in a game of tic tac toe, I can always find their missing shoe, and I am the family dictionary (thank goodness their vocabulary is still pretty immature). A couple of weeks ago things changed in the Clement household.

I have always been one of Jake's football buddies in the backyard, he likes when we throw the football back and forth to each other. I'm not very good but I would say in the beginning I was still better than my 5/6 year old and as he got better I was about as good as my 7/8 year old. Well sometime in the past couple of months Jake has definitely surpassed me in football throwing skills. He throws it harder, straighter, and with a much better spiral then I do. I also discovered that he is much better at yo-yoing than I am. These two realizations got me thinking, when did I become a mother of "older children"?

It so strange to have my kids get older and start "beating me" at different things. I mean believe me I want my son to be better at football than his mother, it just seems to have happened so quickly. One day they all were amazed at every silly thing I could do and now they seem to be slowly catching up to me. My Jake and Riley can both read their own bedtime stories now, all three of my older kids do their own tooth brushing and most of their hygiene stuff. As I write this I'm thinking to myself how silly this all sounds. I guess in our busy day to day lives I didn't realize how old they were getting. Then one day when I'm outside playing catch with my son it dawns on me (when he's trying to teach me a better way to hold the ball to make it spiral the way you want it to) that I am no longer able to impress him with my football skills. HE is the one that is impressing me. When did he get so old? So skilled? Other people have big kids... I have little kids. At least that's what I thought a couple of weeks ago. I guess I need to face the facts, I have graduated into being a mother of older kids. Any advice from you veterans out there?

treasures from my Saturday surf session

So I was doing a little web surfing and I stumbled onto this exciting news from the Twilight movie website:

I've been deep in the editing cave for the last two weeks and we were just polishing up the scene that will be on the MTV Awards Pre-Show this Sunday. They want it to be a surprise, so I can't tell you which scene it is, but wait till you see it!!!! ... Check it out this Sunday, June 1st on MTV...

FYI: I will be DVRing this show.

Here is a random picture I found while doing some surfing. I will be running a little contest to see who can offer the best caption.

pop quiz

Do you know what today is?

A) Friday

B) May 30th

C) The last day I have to work for almost three months!!!!!

D) One of my favorite days of the year

E) All of the above

Who's up for a little blog style Bakersfield reunion?

Who's invited?? YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES OF COURSE

Where?? Beale Water Spray Park Located on the corner of Palm Avenue & Oleander Avenue

When?? June 10th 11:00 A.M.-whenever

What?? BYO picnic, water fun, chit chatting, meeting kids and spouses (possibly sharing embarrassing memories and pictures)

Please come... it wouldn't be any fun without you (and you know who "you" are)

***side note*** If you are sitting there thinking, "I was always closer to ________ (fill in the blank with any of my sister's names) don't you worry they will be there too.

Happy Birthday Jacob!!

Our AMAZING, SMART, FUNNY, LOVING, TENDER, SENSITIVE, PHENOMENAL, and of course COOL son is nine today. He makes us proud everyday. He is why I wanted to be a mother. Thank you for being our son.

To read more about these pictures and what Jake did for his birthday check out his blog later he has lots to report on.

indecent proposal?

Tonight I interpreted for our schools wrestling banquet. We ate okay bbq and the coaches talked non-stop for two and a half hours. By far the most interesting part of it all was when a tough looking mother (two lip rings, a dozen ear rings, eye brow piercing, tattoos, LOTS of cleavage) came up to me with a proposition. She started off by complimenting me on how "sexy" and tall I was. She then asks me if I skate (at this point I'm terrified at where this conversation is going). "Like roller skating or ice skating?" I ask. She clarifies things up for me by saying roller skating. I told her it's been like 20 or 25 years why? She then says I would be perfect for roller derby.

ROLLER DERBY!! Who knew I had an inner athlete inside of me? I'm pretty sure each roller derby team seeks out someone about 6 ft tall and shaped like a tree trunk (I knew my large stature would come in handy one day). I'm thinking my size was the only requirement to make the team (I'd be the Shaq of roller derby) but still I'M wanted on a sports team, now how many of you have been recruited to join a full contact sports team lately? I was checking out some of the underwear I mean uniforms they wear for their sport and started thinking that I'm not sure how derbyish I would look only showing skin from my knees and elbows down. I might stand out in my modest derby attire. I just thought I would share my newest opportunity with you all. Do you think it was a compliment or an insult? I'm really struggling on how I should react to this.

For all you plus sized ladies out there here are some of the bonuses to a little bulge:

1. very minimal risk for developing osteoporosis (weight bearing exercises is the best way to prevent it... ie walking/moving with excess weight)

2. no need to iron your clothes when you fill them out nicely

3. invite to join your local roller derby team and from there who knows... javelin thrower, arm wrestling, heck why stop there full on WWF style wresting, I say dream big...

my naive 9 year old

Jacob will be nine on Friday and in many ways he is very mature for his age. He is super smart in fact he found out today he was commended on his math TAKS test (it's a big deal in Texas). However sometimes he can be very naive and I love it.

While driving home from school we were stopped at a red light next to a police car. The officer had his window down and with his arm hanging out holding a cigarette. Jacob looks at him and says to me:

Jake: With a shocked voice, "Mom that police man is smoking!!"

Me: "Yeah I know Jake."

Jake: "Isn't that illegal?!?!"

Me: "No it's not illegal just yucky, people can choose to smoke after they turn 18 but we know Heavenly Father doesn't want us to."

Jake: "Does Heavenly Father want HIM to smoke?"

Me: "He knows it isn't good for him but it's very hard to quite once you have started."

Jake shakes his head back and forth with obvious disapproval and lose of respect for this officer.

FYI: My kids will call you out if they catch you doing something that they know isn't right. Believe me I know first hand.

***side note*** I used an old picture of Jake because our camera is dead. I really need to take new pics of him though because his psoriasis is like 95% gone now. It's amazing!!!

12-12-08

Is it too early to start a count down???

i feel dizzy

I normally try to avoid lots of extra curricular activities with the kids I really don't enjoy the fast paced life. I think because I do work during the week that I just want to hang out with the kids on the the weekends. I know it's practically a sin in the great state of Texas not to have your son in a million different sports but Jake has actually never been on any organized sports team. The girls don't take gymnastics or cheer leading (another big no no in Texas) we just sort of hang out as a family on weekends and that's how I like it. After our last weekend I think I have an even stronger testimony of our relaxed weekend lifestyle. Here is what we were up to over the past couple of days (you may want a pen and paper to take notes on so you can try to keep up).

THURSDAY: Jeremy, Jake and Brooke leave Amarillo at about 1:00 p.m to drive to Dallas for Jake's Dermatologist appointment on Friday. Dallas is about 5 1/2 hours away so they thought they would get there about dinner time and then check into the hotel and get plenty of rest for their day of fun in Dallas. After work I rush home to pack a small suitcase for Riley and Morgan because our very dear friends Garth and Brooke were willing to watch the other girls for me this weekend while I went on an over night field trip. Garth picked up the girls at about 4:30 leaving me kid less for the night (early Mother's Day present... is that rude?)

FRIDAY: I have to wake up at 3:30 am so I can be at my school at 4:30 am to leave for our annual Imagination Celebration in Ft. Worth. Imagination Celebration (I.C.) is a two day event for all the deaf high school and middle school age students in Texas. The kids look forward to this big trip all year long. Our local deaf education program didn't have all the money needed to pay for the big trip so my students have been working hard for a year now to save enough to cover all the costs. The big trip includes workshops, meeting famous deaf people, socializing with other deaf students, a big dance, a nice dinner and of course all the fun one can have riding in a big yellow school bus for about 6 hours (we didn't earn enough money for the nicer bus this year so we used a school one). This year I.C. had a wild west theme to it. We were on the grounds of Ft. Worth's historic Stockyards where we went around visiting experts on many different topics such as; the Civil War, spinning wool into thread, Indian dancers, early photography, and the use of camels in the south. It was interesting but a little unorganized. Lots of students using bad maps and given too much time to look at little outdoor exhibits. We all got a little bored while waiting for dinner to start so Chelsea (another interpreter) and I decided to make up dances with cheap replicas of wild west souvenirs.

While I was melting in Dallas and sweating more than I do at the gym (I think I might be skinny if I lived in Dallas) Jake was being seen by Dr. Menter who was thrilled with his progress. He really looks so much better. The meds he is on are doing their jobs. Other than his scalp and hair line he really doesn't have ANY plaque on his body. Dr. Menter wants to keep everything as is for now and then when we go back in July he might reduce Jake's MTX down to just one pill a week instead of three. After the doctor's appointment Jeremy and his crew traveled from Dallas to Lubbock to meet up with the rest of the family. Mean while in Lubbock I was talking to Brooke (my friend not my daughter... I know it's really confusing) and she was saying the girls were doing really well. Morgan had a little cold but I felt like she was in great hands since Brooke (once again friend not daughter) is a pharmacist. Riley's report was very good, I was told that Riley was being such a help. It felt so good knowing that while Jeremy and I were busy our girls were being well taken care of. Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!!

That night we had a nice dinner catered by Outback steakhouse followed by a dance. You have never been to a loud dance until you have been to a deaf dance. I'm talking HUGE speakers everywhere and everyone is practically hanging on them.

The kids LOVE to dance and me and the other interpreters all got into the action. My favorite part is when one of my students would turn to me and ask me, "what kind of music is being played?" Was it Mexican, rap, slow, or country? Once I would let them know what they were dancing to they would do an amazing job I was so impressed!!

This poor kid (not my student) fell asleep right as the dance was starting and didn't move from this position until it was pretty much over. He must be deaf to sleep through all that noise. Matt came with us as a staff member to help out with the boys we brought. He graduated two years ago and is now attending West Texas A&M University. We decided to go ahead and take a picture with this kid, there was a lot of sillyness going on. After the three hour dance we all loaded up in the bus and headed to the hotel where we had pizza in our hotel rooms and crashed. I was beyond tired!!!

SATURDAY: After some much needed sleep I had to get my girls up nice and early for our 6:45 am breakfast time. We ate and then got ready for the another long day at the Stockyards. We had some more workshops including Indian bead making, an amazing and emotional speech from actors who were portraying a famous Indian chief from Texas named Quanah and his white mother Cynthia Ann Parker, and line dancing. I thought Saturday went a lot better. The workshops were more interesting and fun for my students. We had box lunches and then ended the day by attending the Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show. The show was really fun however I did notice a huge flaw in the planning of it. The biggest part of the show was a singing cowboy... the audience that was intended to be entertained was a deaf group.

Jeremy and Garth spent part of the morning golfing while my crazy friend Brooke decided to take all my kids and her son to a children's museum. I guess Jake was a little bored, tired and defiant because they weren't at the museum very long before Brooke came to her senses and left dropping Jake off at the golf course with his daddy. They all hung out in Lubbock until at about 4:00 then they packed up and headed back to Amarillo. We left from Dallas at about 3:30 and arrived in Amarillo at 10:30 at night. All in all I'm glad I went to Ft. Worth but I'm also glad that this event is only once a year.

SUNDAY: I had a very nice Mother's day but not exactly a work free day (isn't there some kind of rule that says you don't have to actually be a mother on Mother's day?) In Primary our presidency had decided to give the teachers a little break and allow them to go to their Relief Society or Preisthood meetings. The music people (me and Sarah, our pianist) and the presidency all stuck around and helped the kids make a lovely gift for their moms. Jeremy was on meal duty for the day and I rested up from my crazy weekend. You may ask, "What's on the agenda for next weekend???"

NOTHING which is just how I like it!

instupniac

Why am I blogging at 12:15 am??? Well I am suppose to bring a dessert to the kids school tomorrow for their big "teacher appreciation luncheon" and I wanted to make something special. I got this great idea from homegirl's blog and here I am waiting for some chocolate to to finish hardening so I can package the dang things and call it a night. Not as pretty as the demo picture but then again it's after midnight on a school night. YAWN...