Waiting.....

I came to Boise to be here for the birth of Tammy's baby. We have been going day by day since her due date last Monday. She is ready and willing.....but this little one will come when it is ready. Patience.....
Whose belly is bigger?
My baby is having a baby!
These guys will be the best parents! Come on baby!

Who Put Me in Charge?

I love these kids!

I am so glad to be a Mom x 5. Every once in a while it surprises me that I am the one in charge. Maybe because I was the last girl, I always looked up to my older sisters and my mom as the care givers, decision makers, the grown ups. Maybe because I had Tammy young and kinda grew up with her. Sometimes, I am not very grown up. I enjoy being friends with my kids and sometimes it is inconvenient to be the mom! Oh, I have learned -I am a great screamer and threaten-er and taker away of cell phones and priviledges. I am a travel agent for guilt trips. I just prefer the playing games, laying on the tramp watching stars, eating cookie dough instead of baking cookies, sleeping in type of Mothering... Do we really have to get up for school?

My kids made me feel loved on Mother's Day. Mike was in VA with Marine Corps training. (They didn't see a schedule conflict.) I got tulips and dinner out before he left so he made me feel loved too. I received many love notes and special gifts from my kids to let me know that they love me and appreciate me!






Now my baby is "growing up and savin' China." In 5 days she is due to become a mother herself. I am so excited to welcome another little baby into my life. Mother and Grandmother! Now I am really going to have to grow up! Lucky me to have such great kids call me MOM!

Mother's Day with Mother!

How lucky am I to have my mother here for Mother's Day! Her patience and wisdom and faith have helped me to become "me" - along with 7 other lucky Clark children. Mom - thanks for all your mothering, mentoring, teaching, showing, listening, cheering, waiting, hoping, praying, believing, and loving. I love you!

Happy Mother's Day!

5th child and another girl. I wonder how you did it. 13 months later, along came number 6. You had 6 under 10 years! 4 girls and 2 boys! I wasn't even walking when you brought Kerry home. The older I get the smarter you get!

You are AMAZING!

You made us all matching white dresses and got us to the temple. We didn't always act like angels - but you made us look like angels. Our hair was always curled (or in curlers) for most of our family photos. Thanks for making us an eternal family and making our home a heaven (most of the time) on earth...


Mom - you are a beautiful woman of the 60's. At a time of women's liberation, you chose to stay home and make us your priority. Look at you all dressed up and taking 6 kids to temple square.

Thanks for your support of everything I do!

I love you Mom!

Spring Tulips

I love tulips. I watch for them to poke up through the ground, knowing that when I see them, winter is over for sure. (This year I wasn't so sure because winter's hold seemed so strong!) The little sprouts seem so brave, making their way up through the still frozen ground - but they know that they will win over the cold and bloom with a splash of color and spring will return once again. Thank goodness!

I learned from a fellow blogger that San Diego has no tulips. It doesn't get cold enough there for the bulbs to do what they do all winter long in preparation for their beautiful season of blooming. WOW - learning this brought all kinds of life lessons to my mind. I wonder how my seasons of cold and dark have helped to prepare me to become something beautiful. (Here I was wishing for an easy life of "San Diego weather.") I wonder what about me is capable of changing from a cold landscape to a beautiful flowerbed of color. I wonder what good thing is around the corner if I'm just patient and trusting. I wonder how my hard work of "planting bulbs" will eventually pay off in beautiful blooms....


Tulips make me think of faith and endurance and change. Even though it seems that Winter's hold is so strong, I know that my tulips are under that cold ground and are just waiting to bloom. Every year the beauty of it takes me by surprise - I am thrilled that it has happened again! Welcome my pretty tulips!

Creative Family Home Evening

Being an ordinary, faithful LDS family - we gathered on Monday night to wash the car, the van and the dog for family home evening. I wish we could say that we started with the scripture "cleanliness is next to Godliness" but I didn't think of that until right now. I did sing a few lines from "this is the night we've waited for, we're going to wash the van and car." The kids started moaning. We ended with listening to Pres. Monson's talk from conference and a family prayer but....

Katie was thrilled because Dad let her back the Nissan out of the driveway and park it in the street. She is 13 going on 25 and ready for any responsibility we throw at her. She has had a lot of practice driving a golf cart (which she has included on her Christmas list since 1st grade but has not yet talked Santa into bringing one.)

Andrew was thrilled just to be participating in this family event. I think his face says it all.

Washing the dog part was my personal favorite. Annie traded her "have been playing outside" dog smell for "just been washed and still wet" dog smell. It was a working family night and I'm loving my clean van. (It rained today... :(

Tag from Lindsay

My first tag - from my friend Lindsay!

(She's everybody's friend really - lucky us.)

4 things you may not know about me.

1. I always listen to the radio in the car but rarely at home. I like the silence.

2. I can't keep house plants alive - I'm trying really hard with my basil plant.

3. I love birds. Love to watch them, hear them, feed them (backyard bird feeder) I used to call the cardinals in our yard in Pennsylvania - and they would answer. When we lived on Whidbey Island, we used to watch the eagles and feed the leftovers from our fridge to the seagulls.

4. I love to sleep in. Love to BE up but hate to GET up.

4 places I go over and over.

1. Downstairs to get something but then I can't remember what I came for.

2. Walmart - Costco - Albertsons - I have a family to feed...

3. Palenques - love to eat there. It's cheaper than Azteca and closer to home.

4. Hawaii - okay, I've only gone twice but I can go there mentally anytime I want.

4 people who e-mail me.

1. Tammy

2. Lindsay

3. Carol

4. Dad

4 of my favorite foods.

1. Popcorn - could eat this every day as a snack

2. Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips - alone, in cookies, on ice cream, in pancakes, with almonds, melted over strawberries....

3. Wedding Cake - white cake, white frosting (the real stuff, not whipped)

4. Onion Rings

4 places I'd rather be right now.

1. On the beach

2. The library

3. Sitting up late laughing at a Clark family reunion :)

4. No where really - I love to be home

4 people I think will repost this.

1. Tammy

2. Lindsey Walker

3. Jessica Smith

4. Bensey - Lindsey

5. I would put Ashley Jaten -but she just moved and probably doesn't have her computer up. When you do.....

4 movies I watch over and over again

1. Pirates of the Caribbean

2. The Princess Bride

3. Seems Like Old Times - the cleaned up version that my family uses for dialogue

4. Christmas Vacation - irreverant but Mike and Tammy force me every year...

The special book tag

1. Find page 123 of the book you're currently reading

2. Find the fifth sentence

3. Post the sentence

4. Tag five other people

"Action proceeds from character." Authentic Happiness, Maurice Seligman

Okay - I tag Tammy, Toby, Jessica, Lindsey Walker, and Bensey.

Crazy Hair Day

Best day of the school year!

CRAZY HAIR DAY!

Every other day we must blend in and conform and heaven forbid we do anything that is different. But once a year we pull out all the stops and try to be the most different and most strange and non-conforming of all the kids at school. What a great day to be a kid!

The girls all helped each other and came up with some wacky, crazy, unconventional hair styles. But try as they might to be crazy, they are still so dang cute.

Katie actually put a plastic cup under Jenny's bun to make a cone head. Meagn used her Christmas hair dye to color her bangs blue. I'm thinking Mrs. Simpson - but that's just me.


Jayna left rags in to be crazy. Melissa took hers out thinking the curls were the crazy part.


Megan colored everyone's hair. She is a hair sylist at heart. She LOVES to design hairsyles and play with hair. (Aunt Linda - please come - you have the BEST hair for styling!) We braided wire into Megan's braids and had fun making them stick up and out.


I get up every morning and experience Crazy Hair Day..... I like to call it bed-head!

Go Ryan!

We have to cheer quietly - according to tennis etiquette so I'm learning... This afternoon we went to see Ryan play tennis. He is on the Varsity Tennis Team for Freeman High School. Andrew and I picked up the girls from Summit, went to Albertson's and bought junk food - just a little snack - and went to enjoy our cousins. We had a great afternoon with Carol, learning about tennis and taking pictures. Chelsea was off playing softball. We're going to her game next Tuesday after school.

Hey Toby - our resident tennis champion - what do you think?

Andrew likes Ryan's new car. Oops! John's new car....


The blessing of cousins cheering for you!


Happy day to spend with Carol. We need to do this more often. Next time I'll think to drag Diane along... Oh and according to Megan, Jenny and Melissa - Freeman school has an awesome playground! Who knew?

Goodbye Brooke!

Okay, I am the worst mom but I let my kids watch American Idol. Okay - I watch it with them. This is our first season and of course we love Brooke White and David Archuletta. Melissa keeps track of the numbers and we vote like 50 times! Even Dad helps us. There is a bit of a split in the family because Andrew likes David Cook. So may the best "David" win.



We are sad to say goodbye to Brooke. (How could she go - we voted for her 50 times!) She is such a great example. My girls watched her closely to see if she would stay nice and stay modest. Thank you Brooke for your genuiness and for being a great ambassador for the gospel! I googled her today and was excited to learn she already has an album out. I found this article from the LA times. Now I like her even more and I'm so glad that everything worked out for her! Check out her album at the bottom of this page! I love her voice and I already bought it.