Buster had field day today. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. Boss and Crate went with me to watch. Boss was hungry the entire time and complained that I didn't bring any snacks. Seriously, it's amazing that kid isn't obese, he can eat all the time.

Took Crate on a walk tonight. Again perfect weather.

Tomorrow is camp pre-certification day. I think the girls should learn a lot.

The house is clean. Again. All bathrooms are clean. All bedrooms are clean. All floors are clean. All laundry is washed and Pops and I will be folding it tonight. Kitchen is clean. Sheets are clean. This is a great feeling. I worked hard today to get it all done. Hopefully it'll last longer than 24 hours. Lets just say Boss and a very enjoyable time watching whatever movie he wanted today. And I didn't even care. I was on a mission that needed to be accomplished today.

Amongst the cleaning I made a dessert for enrichment tonight. Here's the recipe if you're interested.

Bake a cake according to directions. (Today I used a red velvet cake mix. I've also used a yellow cake mix and a strawberry one)
Once the cake is cooled completely break it up in pieces and put it in a big mixing bowl. Then continue to crumble it up with you hands. Make sure it's totally crumbled. Once this is done add 1 block of softened cream cheese. With your hands mix the cream cheese with the crumbled cake and form into one big ball. Place the big cake ball in the fridge for about an hour. (This can stay in the fridge for a day or two)
Remove cake ball from the fridge. Break off chunks and form into smaller (golf ball size) balls. Place balls on wax paper or on a plate.
Melt chocolate (your favorite kind and brand) on stove top or in microwave and dip the golf ball size balls in the chocolate and let harden on wax paper or plate. They turn out best when placed in the fridge for several hours to harden. To make them prettier I melted white chocolate after they were hardened and drizzled the white chocolate on the top of the balls.
This is something different and the best part is the steps can be done ahead of time or they can last in the fridge for several days.
I wish I had a picture to show.
I got the recipe from my sister, the same one who gave me the pizza dough recipe. She always makes good stuff.

Every time I look at Crate's thighs I can't believe they can be so chunky just from milk. I have to stop myself from digging in. Mmmmm, I could eat the kid. He's scrumptious.

Buster did so well on his spelling words tonight. I pray he gets 100% on his test tomorrow. I'm so glad he's the oldest. He's a great kid and very responsible. I really enjoy and feel privileged to be his mother.

Boss is so much fun. We always have the funniest conversations while he sitting on the toilet. For some reason he likes me to be in there and he always asks me the same questions. It goes like this:

Mom...what's your favorite color?
What's your favorite food?
Where's your favorite place to go?
What's your favorite thing to do?
What's your favorite hair color?
What's your favorite eye color?
What do you want to be when you grow up?

Then I have to ask him the same questions back.
After I ask the questions I always say, "Boss, I love you" and he always replies in an irritated voice as he's rolling his eyes, "you always say that."
I hope each boy always knows how much I love them.

First swim day of the year. Burr, it was cold. Why is it that kids seem to be immune to how cold the pool really is? Crate loved it and didn't even cry when the cold water hit is skin. It was nice being out in the sun. I still love my new swim suit from Mod bod.

Personal Progress for YW's tonight. I think I learned more than the girls. It's amazing how when you really ponder and search the scriptures the spirit speaks to you. You get so much more out of it. It's like dieting...when you exercise and eat right you get much greater results. This is not a new concept. Just a good reminder that the scriptures are to be more than just read.

Pops and I had a good talk about support tonight after basketball. I'm more than grateful to my counselors that their husbands are supportive while their wives serve. I hope to always be supportive to Pops in his callings.

I'm getting a back massage from Spouse as we speak. Hello...this feels great. Maybe this can become a nightly ritual.

ahhh. The dreaded spelling words. I'm counting down the days until summer. It was an afternoon full of spelling words and tears.

In the book of Moroni there are some amazing scriptures. Oh, to have faith like Moroni.

Today I'm grateful for people that are "real."

Sometimes life bites. I'm not afraid to admit that.

Sometimes kids are tiring and wearing.

Sometimes men don't think.

Sometimes...OK all the time people can't read your mind. Never mind, that's probably a good thing.

Sometimes I just want a nap...and a rich uncle.

OK really what I want is a quick vacation...a getaway with the fam. I'm directing my positive thoughts for that to happen this summer. I'm already making plans and of course they must include the beach.

Really I wouldn't trade any of my problems for any other person's problems. I did laugh a lot today. Pops always has a joke and most of the time they are funny. :)

If my memory serves me right I think my spelling words in first grade consisted of words like go, to, my, see...I'm amazed at Busters weekly spelling words. This week I had to write them down so I would remember. They are:

explosion
vision
amnesia
mission
session
visions
facial
special
gracious
official
social
commercial

Hello...I think those are a little much for first grade. I have to give the kid credit though he gets 100% about 98% for the time. Either he gets it when it comes to spelling or he has a great memory. Did I mention I'm looking forward to summer?

I made homemade pizza again tonight. Yum. I made a pesto sauce for one of the pizza's and topped it with fresh tomatoes and deli mozzarella cheese. I think that is my new favorite pizza. I should have taken a picture. I also think I must workout double tomorrow for how much I enjoyed it tonight.

Here's the recipe for the homemade pizza dough.
2 cups warm water
2 over filled teaspoons of yeast
1/2 cup sugar
Let the above ingredients sit for 1/2 hour.
Then add:
5-6 cups flour
1/2 cup oil
and a pinch of salt
Mix altogether for 10-15 minutes
Cover and let it rise in the mixing bowl for 1 hour.
Split dough in 1/2 (I always get about 4 pans worth of dough so I split it in 4ths)
Roll out to desired thickness (I've found the thinner the better)
Put rolled dough on pan and let rise on pan for at least 1 hour.
Top with desired sauce and toppings and bake at 350 for 20-25 mins for a silver pan or 25-30 for a pizza stone.

This is a fun thing to make with kids. My boys like to add their own toppings by themselves.

Crate actually ate about 8 bites of rice cereal tonight and didn't gag it up. We're making progress. I tried a bottle again of formula but he wouldn't have anything to do with that.

It cracks me up when Pops puts on a bright orange suns shirt to watch the suns game here at home. He must feel some major Suns spirit!

Late night last night. Early morning meetings. Family over for Marmie's birthday. Husband gone for 5 hours tonight for various church stuff. Tired kids. Tired mother. Going to bed hopefully by 8pm.

Wow...today I woke up feeling like a new woman. It's amazing what sleep can do for you. I went to bed at 10pm last night. Crate woke up at midnight, I fed him and the next thing I know it's 9am. Somewhere in the 7am hour the boys woke me up asking for breakfast and I told them to give me 5 more minutes and I would get out of bed. Then all of the sudden I hear Pops leaving to meet a client. He said when he got home from basketball Crate was just talking in his crib and I was sawing logs right next to him. I didn't hear a thing. Pops took Crate out and I continued to sleep on. I missed my morning workout but getting extra sleep was well worth it.

Pops left, I got out of bed and took the boys outside to start some yard work. Whine, whine, whine is all I heard. But I kept on top of them and finally after three long hours most of it was done. I was so tempted to throw in the towel and just find somebody this next week to come do it for us. It was tempting to write a check and have that be the extent of my effort. But alas it got done and the boys finally kicked themselves into gear and helped out happily. I've got to train them young since they have many years of yard work ahead of them. Pops came home just in time to get the lawnmower started for me. I had tried with all my might and couldn't do it. He messed around with it for a few minutes and finally it started up. I mowed while he edged. It's so nice to look out the back window and see green grass and trimmed bushes. I even threw on a tank top and shorts to do the yard work in...maybe not the most appropriate thing but I wanted to get some sun and boy did I. My shoulders are burnt. I can't wait for pool weather.

The rest of the day was just a hangout day. Pops needed to do some more work in the office, I let the boys watch a movie and I did laundry and picked up around here. The one nice thing about being away on the weekends is that the house stays clean since no one is here to mess it up. This was the first Saturday in several weeks maybe even months that nothing was going on and we just were here at home. It was nice.

This afternoon I tried on the swimsuit I got from Costco. OK I was completely happy, so happy in fact I ran up to Costco before they closed and bought another one. They are the Mod Bod brand suits and I know their display at Costco was ending tomorrow so I had to go today. I don't know if I've ever been so happy with a swimsuit purchase. Once my legs get tan it'll be even better.

I did the unthinkable tonight and made dinner. That's two weekend nights in a row of a regular dinner. Complete cooking was involved. Homemade mashed potatoes and grilled chicken with a salad. It was quite tasty. I still don't like cooking on the weekends but it was nice to be here together and just hang out.

Hopefully Crate will just wake up once again tonight. If this becomes a habit my life could take on a whole new meaning!

Tonight after dinner and once Pops was done with his busy day we headed to Costco for a few groceries. Afterward we headed to DQ to help them celebrate their 25th anniversary and receive $.25 blizzards. We waited in line 15 minutes, Boss fell asleep, Buster didn't want a blizzard and I wasn't really that hungry so basically we didn't get a smokin' deal but it was fun being together nonetheless. I fell asleep in the car on the way home, I was really tired and now I'm happy to be headed to bed for a few hours before Crate wakes up for his midnight feeding. I bought a swimsuit at Costco...I'm not looking forward to trying it on. Even after two rounds of P90X I don't want to be caught in a swimsuit. I wonder if I ever won't mind wearing one. I could weigh 110lbs and probably still not be satisfied. Why are we the hardest judges on ourselves? I hope I build confidence in my children to know they are sons of God and only need to worry about pleasing him.

Crying babies, whining children, sleep deprived mother, hardworking father, homework, preschool work, laundry, church meeting, baths, exercise, picking up, dinner, spelling words practice, more laundry, more picking up, extra children, basketball outside, vacuuming the kitchen floor twice today pretty much sums up the day. I'm reminding myself of the reasons why I chose this life and really, I wouldn't change it for anything.

I'm thankful mutual is at my house on Wednesday nights. It keeps me on top of the household chores, It's a good motivator to keep things picked up around here.

Pops won't be around for dinner, I'm tying to decided how much of an effort I should go to or if I should just have left overs.

Crate's been the sweetest baby lately. He's happy, smiles a lot and seems to have a really easy going personality. His brothers still hang all over him. He defiantly can't feel unloved.

It's kind of a gloomy day and I feel it's making me feel like blah. I just want to hang out and watch a movie. I'm thinking about doing that tonight after mutual.

I put all the pictures from Easter on the computer and want to find the time to try and edit/enhance them. They turned out really, really cute. I'm thankful for a nice camera to capture these fun years.

Almost midnight. Busy Tuesday. Really tired.

Tonight the boys got back from camping. I was more than happy to see them and they were more than happy to see Crate. They sure do love that baby.

I spent the morning babysitting then this afternoon I headed off to the mall with Trisha and Abby. It was really enjoyable only having Crate who was contained in the stroller the entire time. Much easier than having all three of them there with me. I got a few items, including a desperately needed church dress. Once I got home I realized I can't nurse in it so I won't be able to wear it for awhile. It was really nice and we were there for almost five hours. I think that's a record for me.

I feel much more protected when Pops in around at night. I'll sleep much better tonight knowing he's right next to me.

You know your life is good when your big decision for the day is whether to take a nap or read a book. Crate was napping and I couldn't decided what to do...so I did both. I finished a book then fell asleep on the couch. Not to shabby for a peaceful Sunday afternoon.

The boys are gone and while I admit it's been a nice break...no one to fix dinner for but myself, only Crates schedule to be on, no messes to clean up... I wouldn't change my life. I enjoy the business and chaos from the people I love.

Today I watched Crate sleep. I marveled at the miracle he and every other baby is. There is a God above. Nothing of "chance" could create this human phenomenon. He is a beautiful baby, sweet and scrumptious. He always wears a smile on his face.

This afternoon as I was watering the plants, I first went outside to the flowers on the back patio. They are shaded during most of the day, and really protected during the hot afternoon sun. The weather felt enjoyable and the plants are thriving. Then I went out front. Different story. The same sun that gives the plants out back life, gives life to these plants out front but they are being burned alive. They have no shade to protect them from the harshness of the suns rays during these hot days. I couldn't help but to think of the Holy Ghost. The world is harsh all around us, our trials are harsh, the media is harsh, there are so many things that can drive us away from the spirit of Jesus Christ. But the Holy Ghost can act like the "shade" on the back patio and if we place ourselves under the spirit we will be protected and even thrive while the heat of the world is all around us. The Holy Ghost can always be with us and speak to us as long as our choices are ones that will always keep us shaded from the attacks of the Adversary.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for our enjoyment on this Earth. Like Sis. Beck said in General Conference from the words of Winston Churchill (I think) "Never, never, never give up."

I think it's safe to say the fundraiser was a success! I even got a little sun while doing it so that made it all that much better. I swear I have the best presidency, I've been so blessed. Crate and I had some quality time together this afternoon. We even took a nap. He slept for an entire 90 minutes and I slept a solid 45 mins. It was awesome.

Tonight I watched a show documenting teenage pregnancies. I'm soooo glad I'm married and have a support system while bearing children. God's plan is the right plan. Marriage to the right person first then a baby. It's so funny how so many of them said it wouldn't change their life and it would be easy. Then once the baby was here and after a few weeks when life was back to normal they ALL said if they could do it over again they would wait. I feel sorry for them. They all just wanted a happy life and in most cases the boyfriend bailed once the baby came. Again, another blessing to count in my life.

I was so thankful to Pops for staying around and helping with the computer stuff during the fundraiser. He kept things moving. Now I'm thankful to go to bed.

So I looked at the date from yesterdays post but realized I must have clicked "publish post" right as the clock struck midnight. It was a late night. I was hanging out with friends, just talking. Doing nothing but talking. It was nice. What was even nicer was the conversations that took place. They were more than shallow stuff. Stuff about the spirit, experiences shared at the Temple, inspiration shared, good stuff like that.

This has been a very lllllllllooooooooonnnnnnnnnngggggggggggg week. I will be very happy for this YW fundraiser to be over. The prep work really didn't take a lot of time, it's the emotional part that has been wearing. Sadly it's rolled over to all areas of my life. I hope families like their pictures, I pray the weather will work in our behalf, I pray children will be cooperative and happy, I pray the YW will show up on time with their many cookies for the families, I pray we'll earn enough money for girls camp and to have meaningful activities throughout the year. Most of all I pray families will walk away happy. Our fundraiser is this:
We have two photographers from the ward who are being more than gracious donating their time and talents to us by taking family pictures for each family in the ward that wanted to participate. A sweet member in the neighboring ward offered her beautiful 2 acre property for the pictures. A perfect set up, the good 'ol country in the background. It's like this kind of set up:


Each family will walk away with a CD full of many pictures of them and can take the CD home and edit the pictures or print as many as they would like. They will get all the shots from the photographer, all we're asking for is a $25 donation to help out with girls camp and other upcoming activities. I'm excited for it and I'll be excited when it's over. I'm hoping we can get a few good pics ourselves.

This week I was again reminded to be patient. If I allow it, this will be a trial I will deal with my entire life. If I learn now I can let go of it, embrace it and allow this "weak thing to become strong." I really hope I can learn soon. It's an emotional roller coaster that creeps up every so often and I don't enjoy it. I must learn to love as Christ loves and allow Him to humble and heal my heart. I must learn to embrace the ________ and love _________. I'm only hurting myself and making myself miserable. I was on my knees last night about this exact situation and the spirit testified boldly the answer I needed to hear. Oddly enough the answer came from something I repeat each week with the YW. It now has taken on a whole new meaning. I'm not a mushy type of person and he's not perfect, but I can't be more thankful for Pops in times like these. He truly understands and respects my feelings and offers encouragement. He knows what to say and how to help and more importantly kindly reminds me what I need to be doing to help this trial become a strength.

Wow...that was hard...putting my feelings out there for everyone to see. But we're all human right? We all have things we deal with in life or need to work on regularly.

Today I took Crate for a walk. I listened to General Conference again. The same talks I listened to last week. Pops told me his feelings about Elder Bednar's talk. So I listened to that one again today. Then tonight we briefly talked about it. I'm glad we're on the same page...most of the time. Raising children is a major responsibility and we must do our part. NOTHING else can get in the way. I hope I remember this talk when I'm really tired and just want to get the boys in bed. Or when I just want a quick 3 min FHE on a Monday night. I must not leave the raising of my children up to anybody but me. Especially on spiritual matters. Most importantly I must be in tune myself to receive direction and inspiration for them.

Glad tomorrow is a new day.

The conversation Boss and I had today went something like this...

Me: "Boss, Who are you going to marry?"
Him: Doing his "embarrassed" smile and pulling his shirt over his head replies, "If I get married do I have to kiss on the lips."
Me: "Ummm, yes, I think your wife would like that."
Him: "But I'm gonna be a train driver"
Me: "You can be married and be a train driver"
Him: "I can?"
Me: "Yup"
Him: Pulling his shirt back over his head and saying in an embarrassed voice "OK, I'll marry you since your pretty."
Me: "Ahhhh Boss, I love you"
Him: "Don't say that, that disgusting."

This quote reminded me of the saying:
"This first woman a little boy falls in love with is his mom."

Grocery shopping with two little boys is always fun. Especially when it's major grocery shopping...like 70 items in the cart. Boys are outside playing, Crate is sleeping and I must stop eating the pizza dough that is for the YW tonight. Oh, but it tastes soooo good. Now I must go back to picking up the house so the YW won't think a tornado hit. I keep reminding myself that I'm thankful I have toys throughout the house because that means I have money to buy toys and children to play with them. It's worth the mess.

So I ended up getting whatever it was that Pops had. Not fun. I think I've spent more time in bed today than I have in years. Luckily I think Crate got it also, so we just slept the day away. It was like a day in heaven for Boss, he got to watch as many movies as he wanted. It took everything I had to pull dinner together, then Pops got home and after working a another hour was able to help out. He got the boys to bed and picked up the house while I just sat on the couch and held Crate.

I've got to be better by tomorrow, all the YW are coming over for dinner while we finish up a few things for the fundraiser. And it's been weeks since I been to the grocery store so I've got to get there tomorrow.

Today would be one of those "nothing to write about" days.

Trip to the library with Boss, Crate and James

Pick up

Lunch

Pick up

Laundry

Pick up

Went for a walk

Helped with homework

Pick up

Now I'm feeling like I'm getting what Pops had. Lovely.

Making dinner now

Family Home Evening tonight

I'm sure we'll pick up again

And if I can stay awake and out of the bathroom I'll be watching my hero, Jack, save the world again.

Today I am thankful for friends that can sit with my boys during sacrament while I feed Crate. And for more friends that can take Crate to class while I teach young women's. And for a husband that still attended his meetings at the other ward after he puked his guts out in the morning. He did say he felt better once he puked but he was pretty weak. Today also started the 2nd go around of him teaching the Stake missionary prep class. Single on Sunday evenings the next 12 weeks. On the bright side...pancakes for dinner on Sunday nights!!!! I fixed a roast tonight but it's not as enjoyable eating it with just the boys...they make to many comments on the look of it and I basically have to force it down them. At least Pops appreciates my cooking, most the time. I know he's not excited when he says, "hmmm, this looks interesting." Or "looks like chefs choice tonight." That's when I gently remind him he has two working hands and the ability to read a recipe if his heart desires. He then smiles and says..."thanks Love, this looks G.R.E.A.T. I'll eat it right up."

Is is bad that it's only 8:30pm but I can barely keep my eyes open?

Will there ever be a Saturday that comes around that I announce it's "clean up the yard as a family" day and I get smiles instead of whining? Weeds to pull, lawn to mow, patio to clean, it felt good being in the sun.

Took the boys to the mall as a reward so they could play at the play place. Pops went with us and ended up in the Apple store again, looking at the ipad, again. He took the boys with him and by the time they came out they too were convinced one was needed in our family. Yet, we walked out of the mall empty handed, thankfully.

Oh, to be four and six years old again and be carried in from the car and placed in bed for a good nights slumber with not a care in the world.

Tonight the family headed up to Marmies house to visit with Uncle Larry and Aunt Linda while they are in town for a few days. The memories I have of them are nothing but good. Staying at their house each summer in Alpine, Utah...thinking it was a castle and loving playing in the back yard, jumping on the trampoline, seeing the deer on the back lawn in the mornings, playing in the creek that ran in front of the house, listening to piano lessons being taught at the crack of dawn, playing in the pasture in the front, feeding carrots to the horses and thinking Tiffany and Debbie were so lucky because they had their own sinks and mirrors inside their bedrooms, the peach carpet in the piano room...I always thought that's what a room in the Temple must look like and being terrified to walk on that perfect carpet. Most of all I remember many birthdays spent eating dinner and cake and ice cream on the deck outside because my birthday always seemed to come while we were in Utah. Never as a kid did I understand what it was like to have tons of people stay at your house, but now that I have a home of my own I will always be grateful to Aunt Linda for sharing her home with so many people for long periods of time and for so many years. It's not easy having someone stay with you for a few days or few weeks or even in their case for a few years. They seemed to always have not just one person but an entire family. They were saints for sharing the blessing of an accommodating home with so many people. I hope their home in heaven is just as nice as the one in Alpine.

Pops and I left the boys at Marmies house for a couple of hours and headed to the mall. I told him it was the ideal date for both of us because we were going to a place I like, to look at something he liked. We went to check out the new Apple ipad. Electronics in the mall...a perfect combo. I can only seem to drag him to the mall once a year, if I'm lucky, the Apple store might have just changed my life. Then to top it off I took a pair of pants to return so to make it an even more prefect date I told him we made money on the date...I got cash back from returning the pants and we didn't buy anything so we walked out of there with more money than we came with. He said "sure, you can look at it like that if you want. Although it's kind of a twisted way of thinking." I thought it was a smart way of thinking. Whatever. I don't think I'm sold on the ipad just yet, I guess because it wouldn't make my life anymore convenient at this time. I'm waiting for Pops to tell me all the reasons why he should get one...then he'll pull the line..."it's for the business and the business will pay for it." That's when I say to him, "Keep dreaming and pray those dreams come true."

It's great being married and hanging out together and feeling comfortable with each other and best of all laughing and joking around together. Not that it happens every day but I'm thankful to be married.

Started off the day with a walk/run by myself. It was bliss. The weather was a little warmer than I would have liked but I was outside and feeling the warm sun on my arms and face. Pops downloaded general conference on my phone and I had head phones lying around that fit perfectly into my phone. I listened to several talks and felt inspired by the time my exercising was over. I could do that everyday.

I'm reading in Ether about the faith of the brother of Jared. Incredible. I learned about praying with real intent and real faith. Miracles happen. While listening to general conference I heard Elder Hollands talk and a line that repeats in my mind is "ask the angles for help." Then my visiting teachers came over and the lesson was on personal revelation. A good reminder to always listen and more importantly act upon the promptings. I think that takes faith, acting upon a prompting when you don't know why or maybe the prompting even sounds silly. I pray the Holy Ghost is ALWAYS at my side, directing me, especially in my calling as a mother.

Some pictures from last nights game...



The boys enjoyed all the play stuff they had there for kids. We might have spent more time away from our seats than actually in them but it was fun being together no matter what we were doing. Should I admit I didn't even know who we were playing against until the 5th inning? I'm not usually that out of the loop...I think I was very distracted keeping the boys happy and keeping Crate from crying and being traumatized from Baxter.






I think it's safe to assume he's the reason of my back problems.


Buster has some killer power swings. If he can swing like this as a lefty at 21 I think he'll have a professional career.


Boss just loves to be out there doing whatever his big brother is doing.


Today I cleaned. Really cleaned. Three bathrooms, four bedrooms, living room, kitchen, family room, garbage's, floors, wiped down doors, type of cleaning. Then it was time for a shower, PTA meeting and mutual. I'll be happy to wake up to a clean house tomorrow. Although I'm betting by 11am I will have picked up four times already.

Ashlee...to answer you question on what I would splurge on. Hmmmm... I could think of a lot of things. Jewelry, hair accessories, purses, home decor just to name a few. Also, I seem to always find something at Costco I would like to have.

Something happened today that hasn't happened since 8 days before Crate was born...I went to the temple.

I'm not trying to makes excuses but when you have a nursing baby who doesn't take a bottle or a pacifier it hard to get away for longer than two hours. Thanks to Marmie for watching Boss and Crate outside the Temple and all the other grand kids while Jeaniece, Jennifer, Pops and I enjoyed a very busy session. I think two hours is the tops I can be away. I fed Crate right before I went in and fed him again right when I came out.

That is a special place to be and I look forward to attending on a regular basis again.

Tonight Pops scored us Diamondback tickets from his awesome mortgage loan officer. We went as a family. 11 rows from the bottom, the seats were amazing. It was a grand time...all 1.5 innings of what I saw. I sure got my exercise walking around with Crate during the remaining innings. While walking around the stadium Crate was getting a little fussy so I found a perfect seat to nurse in. It was in the handicapped area were no one was sitting. I sat down, got situated and things were going great until I feel somebody rubbing my shoulders. My initial thought was, "how did Pops find me?" I look at the hands on my shoulders and realize that they were not my husbands hands but rather grayish, harry hands. Turning my head to look up Mr.Baxter himself was standing there looking over my shoulder. Of course, just then Crate tugs on the blanket and I think that's when Baxter realized what was going on. Yikes. Our eyes caught and he took off. I'm not sure who should be more embarrassed, him or I? I was just sitting there minding my own business. Every one's gotta eat sooner or later, right? I'm glad to be home now.