Tweeting Birds!

You know...

I am quite

hilarious!

I know it's true.

You may know it's true.

But some people just don't get it, like my oldest Bird!

The following was a tweet from him today.

So in my own witty way, I got on snapchat.

My snap simply said,

"HEY! I'm still around!"

I was laughing at my own wittiness.

This snap was

HILARIOUS!!

Am I right??

Well like I said, the Bird doesn't get it!

This was the reply I got ...

No smile ...

  Nothin' ...

Just this ...

Come on Son!

Give a girl a smile!!

I mean you'd think

I'M ALWAYS LURKING AROUND

or something

but it's not true!

I mean, sure ... I get "a few" alerts on my phone

but only when

the Bird posts something

on Facebook

or Twitter

or Instagram

or Snapchat

Okay and SOMETIMES I screenshot it.

OH ALRIGHT ... ALRIGHT ...

I ALWAYS screenshot it!

But it's because the Bird is hilarious!

(I think he gets it from me!)

So I stand before you today to make the case that I am, in fact a

HILARIOUS PERSON!!

The Primary kids think so!

They laugh their heads off at me!

Their laughter is good for my soul ... although I think some of the teachers may think I'm a bit on the crazy side, but I'm not.  It's just the hilariousness of it all that resembles crazy!

My friends find me quite hilarious!

Some days I entertain them with endless selfies.  If these ever got into the wrong hands I could be considered a "DOG-gone" FREAK!

See ... HILARIOUS!

I have a nephew who thinks I'm the funniest person ever ... and I mean E.V.E.R.  Someone was being mean to him one day so I cast a spell on them.  The spell was probably something I can't repeat but trust me, IT WAS HILARIOUS!!!

I make my mother and father-in-law laugh sometimes.

Given, it's usually late at night ... when everything is funny!  But still, we're all HILARIOUS even if it is late at night!

The Lifeguard gets a kick out me!

Like that one night I fell out of bed.  Yeah, just fell right out.  I couldn't get up because I was laughing so hard and the Lifeguard couldn't help me because he was laughing too.  We're quite hilarious together!

My daughter-in-law laughs with me a lot.

We kinda have the same train of thought.  Sometimes when we laugh no one else laughs with us ... but rest assured ... we are HILARIOUS!

Sometimes when Lauren and I laugh, that one Bird says, "You two think you're really funny, don't you?!" ... YEAH, Oldest Bird, we do ... because we are ... we are super 

HILARIOUS!

Well, that's my "CASE" from this Empty Nest.

I think the Bird will have to admit that his mother is indeed

HILARIOUS!

Afterall Tyson, we are BEST FRIENDS!

I have proof you said so!

(Because I took a screen shot of it!)

Have you laughed today Friends?

Oh please do!

(Don't go to bed with a headache!)

Summer is for The Birds!

Well it's been one of those days!

One of those days when

I HATE THE NEST!

Seriously, I've fallen quite in love with the Empty Nest but once in awhile ... out of the blue ... when I'm not expecting it ... all the walls fall in ... and it is just very, very SAD ... and I'm suddenly very, very pathetic ... and the Lifeguard worries over me ... so yeah,

it's one of those days!

Today is the "First day of Summer" in our little village.  You can feel freedom in the air.  There will be no more early mornings, no more schedules and days full of endless possibilities.

This day used to be one of my

favorites!

Summer would begin with sleeping as long as you wanted.

I know this is not healthy but it's a small luxury I offered my kids.  Mostly I did it because it was a luxury I didn't get (Sorry Mom!).

We were up early in the house I grew up in.  I realize it was needed, as there were a boat-load of us and living with a boat-load required the help of everyone but since this nest only housed two kiddos ... we slept.

It was heavenly!

I suppose it still could be heavenly but it's not as fun to do alone.

After the late sleeping we would hold a "beginning of summer" meeting.  

This wasn't a favorite for the boys.  One year Tyson declared that this meeting was a terrible way to start the summer.  In all honesty, I could see where he was coming from.  So after that we postponed the meeting to the second week of summer.  However, this didn't make it anymore popular.

The meeting consisted of the expectations for summer...

1- Keep your stuff picked up.

2- Keep your stuff picked up.

3- Keep your stuff picked up.

4- Be in by 10:00 PM on weeknights.

Those first 3 rules were not popular and it about killed my two birds to live by them!  Not to mention, the enforcing of them about killed ME!

Let's chat about the 10:00 PM rule.

That was a JOKE!!

Especially in Tyson's younger days.  Tyson and "the boys" would gather here, while Jessie and "the girls" would gather next door and somehow they'd all end up on my trampoline.  10:00 PM would roll around and how could I split up the fun??  After all they were under superb supervision (mine).  Little did I know, quite a few "first kisses" took place during those summer evenings.  I still can't figure out how that slipped past me!

Oh!!!  It's super fun to recall those days!

Our next order of summer business would be to try on everything in our closets and purge the things that no longer fit.  It's an easy request ... right?

To quote Hummer,

"MOMMMMM! 

Are you trying to kill me??!!"  

This is the same boy who made it so miserable to take him school shopping that I resorted to buying him things, bringing them home, where he would try them on ... at which point I would return most of them ... just to walk back into the house with a new armful for him to approve or disapprove of.

Yes, this did cause me to be put in "JAIL" a few times!

Are you familiar with the place?  The place where they won't let you make anymore returns for 6 months because you've made too many?!

Oh it's real place people!!!!

Because of the JAIL ... he was forced to finally join me shopping.  I was then required to shop in places that also sold comfy chairs, where he would park himself with Harry Potter ... and I would bring clothes to display for him.  From his chair he would accept or shoo away my offerings.

You know, now that I think about it,

WHAT WAS I DOING?

WHAT WAS I THINKING?  

To be honest, his face was just super hard to resist so I just went with it!

Isn't it funny how one mother can raise two opposites?

While the baby bird was reclining in a chair somewhere, the oldest bird was frantically filling his cart ... the one he pushed around himself ... with everything and anything he thought he couldn't live without.

HE LOVED TO SHOP!!

Still does by the way.  

I think Tyson knew how exhausting Dillon was to shop for, hence how thrilled I would be that he picked out his own clothes ... thus allowing him to check out with nearly everything he couldn't live without.

I remember the year he fell in love with these

 ORANGE PANTS!! 

He recently asked me what I was thinking.  I gently I had to remind him I wasn't thinking anything ... HE convinced me how necessary they were.  

Again, I seemed to be a softy for the faces of my birds.  Hence the orange pants came home with us.

ANYWAY ...

Those two little birds were a handful for me but oh the

JOY!!

So yeah,

I'm missing them today.

There was no sleeping late.

No dreaded meeting.

No killer closet cleaning.

No messes.

And tomorrow there will be

NO shopping spree for summer snacks.

NO swimming lessons.

NO baseball games.

NO heaps of laundry.

NO messes.

So yeah, it was

a WEIRD day! 

I'm seriously wondering how I am going to turn this into an inspirational post.

Hmmmm.

You know what?

I'm not.

I just needed a friend.

Thanks for being one!

Tomorrow I'll feel awesome in my empty nest!

I've already decided I'll get out of my PJ's before 4:00 PM, unlike today.

Yeah ... don't judge ... not today.

Seems summer at the cemetery was even a good time!

Drinks, kisses, the whole 9 yards!

HA! HA! HA!

Everything is AWESOME in hindsight!

Enjoy your summer!

Kickin' & Screamin' to the ARK!

It's been about 7 months now, since the day I fell into utter SHOCK while standing by the toy chest in the nursery of our church!

I will never forget the conversation!

I'll never forget the Primary President telling me the feeling she'd had, the feeling I was suppose to be doing something different in our LDS Primary.

I will never forget our phone conversation a few days later as I CRIED while explaining to her that I didn't know HOW to do the thing she'd felt inspired about.

I'll never forget her saying she knew I could do it and the Lord would show me the way.

I hung up that day and continued, for weeks, to SOB!

When I was finally able to dry my eyes, I found a pen, and put this quote on my mirror.  I read it over and over for the next month (and still do every day), always focusing on the words,

"Whom the Lord calls the Lord qualifies!"

I absolutely needed him to qualify me to be the

Primary Chorister! 

You see, I'm the girl who doesn't know how to lead music, doesn't read music, can't hold a tune and certainly can't teach a song!!

You think I'm joking but I'm not!!

I confidentially shared with a couple close friends what was coming next for me in my service to the Lord and you know what happened?

They laughed. out. loud.

And then continued to laugh for a long, long time.

They know me well.

I could blog about the month leading up to me starting my new endeavor, both funny and miraculous things happened, but that's not why I am here today.

I'm here because yesterday a catchy little tune

changed my heart!

You see, 7 months ago I made A PACT with myself!  The pact went something like this... the children in the Grantsville 5th Ward would indeed learn the song

"In The Leafy Treetops"

Remember that gem you sang as a little tyke in your Sunday best?

"In the leafy tree tops the birds sing good morning ... they're first to see the sun, they must tell everyone ... "

Oh good times ... back there in the 70's!!

On January 3, 2016

the chaos began, with "Sis. Hutchins" standing before 40 sets of tiny eyes, as they anxiously wondered what she would do ... and as she anxiously wondered what she would do too!!

It was then I excitedly asked,

"Do you think Sis. Hutchins can sing well?"

Their eager eyes stared at me as they shook their head vigorously, meaning their answer was... 

"YES!!"

OH!! You should have seen those same eyes when I then announced...

"NO!!!"

"Sis. Hutchins is a really, really bad singer!!"

Such confusion!!

Those friendly little eyes didn't quite know what to do with that honest information. 

The next question out of my mouth was ...

"Do you think it would be a good idea for you to sing super well so you can't hear Sis. Hutchins sing?"

Oh!!  They liked that idea and so it began, as did my habit of talking in 3rd person ... odd but I can't seem to stop!

For 5 months "Sis. Hutchins" has had those tiny kids singing about "being kind to everyone ... for that is right you see!"

We've sung about Sunbeams, wind blowing and popcorn!!

I've been happy to see that "POPCORN" is still a crowd favorite!!

Of course we've sung about the most important thing ... JESUS.

I painstakingly went through the song book, ear-marking those old favorites from my childhood and making another pact with myself that we would learn those old gems!!

We've tried, but I won't lie ... it's been hard to make time to learn those, with all the "new stuff" we must learn for the program.  

Hence why I am here today...

For some reason, the idea of "new stuff" has caused me to build a big, huge, enormous, gigantic

WALL.

It's come brick by brick as these new songs have been received by the masses with such excitement ... excitement, NOT had by ME!

Don't get me wrong, some songs I've thoroughly fallen in love with but still, each time I would see another new song, I would grab another brick and say to myself, 

"I WILL NOT TEACH THIS !!"

(Well, unless it's on the list for the year.)

Then yesterday happened.

Oh!! I love yesterday.

There is this one song that sits in the front of the "new song book", the book I was forced to make ... the book with all the "new songs"  ... the songs that aren't in the original song book ... the song book printed only a mere ... 27 years ago. 

In the front of my "new song book", staring at me every week is a song called ...

"Build An Ark"

WHAT??  WHY?

I don't want to "Build An Ark"!

Seeing that very title provided me with several hundred bricks for my wall every Sunday, although I'd never really listened to the song.

Well, yesterday the still small voice had me typing "Build An Ark" into Google.  Within a matter of seconds I had tears leaking out of my eyes as I heard the words ... 

"I will build my Ark before it starts to rain ... so when the rain falls on me, I'll be ready for that day."

Then that same still small voice whispered in my ear ...

 "Leafy Treetops aren't singing 'good morning' to those little eyes that stare at you every Sunday."

That still small voice reminded me how those 40 sets of tiny eyes live in a different world than I did.

That still small voice kind of SCREAMED at me, like a message speaking right to my soul, as only a still small voice can ... 

"Those tiny eyes you are teaching, need to build an ARK!!"

Did I mention the tears rolling down my cheeks?

For the next 24 hours that song played over and over and over in my home.  As it did, the wall I had so carefully built came 

crashing down

CRASHING!!

Another song we sing says,

"Rain is falling all around ... on the rooftops on the ground.  Rain is falling on my nose, on my head and hands and toes"

That's a favorite during "wiggle time."  We usually only sing it after a rainy week but you know what?  We could sing it every week because "Rain" 

is falling all around these children in 2016!

"Rain"

is falling all the time as they navigate a world that is very different from the one "little girl Sis. Hutchins" grew up in.

But do you want to know the best part ... the AWESOME PART?

Those little eyes, that stare at me...

they can withstand the water!!

Their

"ARK'S"

WERE MADE

FOR IT!!

They have been prepared for today's

RAIN...

They've been prepared for today's

SHARKS...

They've been prepared for whatever comes their way!!

They hold

umbrella's...

baseball bats...

and POWER...

my generation didn't have and because of that,

they are READY FOR THIS DAY!

Will Sis. Hutchins remind them to 

"Build An Ark before it starts to rain"?

You bet you lucky stars I will

and I'll also teach them whatever else is in my "new song book" ... I will because I know those songs have been inspired for the world today.  That book is no longer my enemy.

Shattered walls aren't always a bad thing!

The bishop of my LDS ward (a.k.a. the Lifeguard), he knew about the wall I had been building.  He heard me play that song, "Build an Ark", as he got ready for the day this morning.  After he tied shoes he said,

"You didn't like that song?"

My humble reply was,

"I do now ... now that my wall fell down."

He said, 

"You know, it's message is true!"

Listen to Build An Ark.

What is the LDS church? Click HERE!