Tess Scrapbook Page

Tess's preschool class has a class book that each student gets to take home during the school year.  It has "All About Me" pages and scrapbook pages of each child.  Of course both of these things have to be filled out and completed by the parents.  I decided to knock out the scrapbook page this afternoon so I wouldn't have to deal with it next week. (Or worse, be harassed gently reminded by the teachers each day to bring it in!)

Not to shabby for 40 minutes on the computer, right?  (It would have taken less time, but lots of the pictures of just Tess this summer are her pouting or scowling.  Life with a three year old, right?)

What's My Name?

Preschool is starting next week.  I went to the parent orientation last night and came home with a boatload of paperwork to fill out.  One sheet was a page all about Tess; I was to ask her questions and then write down her answers.

Me: What's your name?

Tess: Tess.

Me: Tess Madsen.

Tess: Miss Tess.

Me: Okaaay.  Next.  What's my name?

Tess: Maren Madsen. (Which she said in the most darling way possible.)

Me: Good!  What's Daddy's name?

Tess: Dad Madsen.

Me: Um, no, his first name is Lance.

Tess: Daddy.

Me: Lance.

Tess: DAAAADDDDDYYYY.

Me: Okay then.

Apparently Lance and Tess aren't quite on a first-name basis yet.

Summer School Project

I have to admit that when Mrs. Rambo sent the letter about the summer project Spencer had to do I might have said something along the lines of "Mrs. Rambo, you're totally killin' me!"

It had to be a 3D artistic representation of something Spencer did this summer.  Spencer does not like homework or art, so I just knew this would be a really fun thing to do with him.

But it turns out that the project wasn't that bad.  In fact, we finished it in about 20 minutes the week before school started.

Who knew Old Faithful could be so accurately depicted with some modeling clay and pipe cleaners?

Good job, Spence!  (I love how excited he is...)

Have You Ever Been So Tired...

... that when your parents tell you go to bed you actually do what they say.

Even though you're not quite done with dinner.

Hormonal Rumpus

I'm still dealing with my thyroid levels.  I'm in this cycle where my doctor changes my medication levels and for a while I start to feel normal, but then things get out of whack, I have to have my TSH levels checked again, and then my medication amount changes again.  As of this week I am now taking 3 times the amount of Synthroid that I was when this whole business started.

On my end, I'm getting more and regular sleep and exercise.  If I stay up late one I night, I totally feel it for the next few days!  I've looked into diets that are supposed to help, but they basically want you to eliminate EVERYTHING and just live on carrots. No thanks. I don't buy into weird things like that, so I just try to eat a balanced, healthy diet, with a cookie thrown in now and again.  Because what's life without cookies?  Not worth much, in my opinion.

My symptoms vary.  While on our road trip my thighs ached and ached unless I got out and really exercised that day. (So Yellowstone was great.  The drive out there? Not so much.) They ached to the point that it would keep me awake at night. (On the way home I got up early to use the treadmill at the hotel, and that really helped.)  I get really tired sometimes, but then again I'm a mom to 4 kids, so who can say if that's the hormones or the kids?  (I suspect both - Tess woke me up at 2:30 this morning, and then it took me a good 90 minutes to get back to sleep.)

The main symptom I notice when things get out of whack is that I just can't seem to think as sharply as I normally do.  My brain seems foggy and I feel like I've lost a lot of the creativity I used to have.  This has been hard because all growing up I was The Smart Kid.  I mean, no genius or anything, but I got good grades and was no dummy.  I forget what I'm saying mid-sentence and it's sometimes hard for me to follow conversations or tv shows; it's like "mommy brain" when you're pregnant, only fuzzier. Which makes me kinda not want to do anything; I've lost a lot of motivation for doing creative things like I used to. (Part of the reason I haven't been blogging as much lately.) ((Also part of the reason I need to travel more.  Traveling always makes me want to blog! Travel + blogging = mentally happy Maren.))

I also get cranky and lose my patience more easily.  This drives me nuts because it's like on the inside I know I shouldn't be so grouchy or that I should just ignore things - but I just can't.  It's like I'm trapped in this body; I wonder if that's what crazy people sometimes feel like?  They know what they're doing is crazy, but they just can't help it.

Life's not horrible by any stretch of the imagination. I just felt like venting for a little bit.  I'm feeling good right now and confident that we're getting closer to getting my dosage correct.  But if you ever find me acting a bit fuzzy in the brain, now you'll know why.

SUMMER ROADTRIP 2014: The Roper Family Reunion

Okay, so I'm FINALLY getting around to blogging about the last big part of our trip: the Roper Family Reunion!

This year we the reunion was at the Camelot Resort by the Strawberry Pinnacles, out by Duschene. (Read: Middle of Nowhere.)

Such the middle of nowhere that when we were driving there we kinda went the wrong way and ended up on Indian land with some threatening looking signs telling us in no uncertain terms that we were not welcome.  It should also be pointed out that it was a two hour drive from Provo to Camelot, and that by this point this type of drive was a breeze with our kids.  They were travel pros and there was nary a peep the entire two hours!  (I think they were exhausted from all the fun of the previous few days, and the rain that showered down helped lull them to sleep.)

We got there and helped set up the tent that Kevin, Kyle, Spencer & Tess were going to sleep in. (Weren't they the lucky ones?!)

Tess helped by sitting on a log with sap on it.

Were were surrounded on nearly all sides by these sheer cliffs.  It really was a beautiful location.

Easily my favorite reunion location so far.

Here's the little cabin our family got to stay in.  Lance and I in the bed.

Cole and Josh up there.

Tess and Spencer out in the tent because Tess was too scared to climb the ladder to the loft and Spencer wanted to sleep in a tent.

The majority of the reunion was spent sitting around and chatting.  I LOVED this.

Some of us also played ball.  (We're Hoosiers - of course we had shoot some hoops!)

We also spent a lot of time trying (unsuccessfully) to keep the kids out of the mud.  It had rained quite a bit before we got there and kept raining most of the first day.

The first night involved the annual baking contest.  This year's theme was brownies.

I made dark chocolate coconut, and they were GOOD.  Despite the fact that I am currently sleeping with one of the judges, I only came in third.  Or was it second? I really can't remember.  Doesn't matter, because the brownies were all so good, who cares who won?  (I think my aunt Janee did... there was some dispute because Grandma won (with my recipe), but she claimed she couldn't win...)

As you can see, our Yellowstone jackets were used again.  Hurrah!

That night we played games and even put on little skits.  I will never forget my brother Kyle pretending to be Miley Cyrus...

The joke the next morning was that Tess told Kyle to get off the phone because she wanted to go to sleep. (Remember, they were sharing a tent.) That's my girl!

The next morning we took some kids on a quick jaunt around the place to burn off some energy before the day's activities.  There's one of the pinnacles.

The were really quite impressive.)

As were the cliffs. They looked like something out of Minecraft.

There's the big lodge where most of the adults slept. (The families with small kids - like us - got the cabins.)  True story: because there was a problem with the spring where all the water came from, the water was turned off from 8:30pm to 7am each night.  Which meant lovely trips to the port-a-potties after dark.  It wasn't really all THAT bad, but it wasn't that fun, either.  So even though we were in cabins, it still felt kinda like camping.

Bryce and Janee were in charge of the reunion this year, and they did a GREAT job!  On the second day there we split up into teams and did "The Amazing Race", Roper reunion style. It was so fun!  As you can see, Cole was really into his Gold Team bandanna.

Tess was on my team.  Team Ghingam had the best cheer around, just ask anybody.

Spencer was also on my team.  As was my Dad.  And Kevin.  These teams were randomly assigned, but I seemed to be with a lot of my family!

That's my dad - he was carrying Spencer piggy-back style for one of the challenges.

Kevin is carrying my new(ish) cousin-in-law, Lindsey, and my cousin Chris (our fearless team captain) is carrying my cousin Allison's oldest daughter, Madeline. (My second cousin?  Yes, I think so.)

The games were topped with freshly made snow cones.  As you can tell, Cole approved.

That afternoon some of us went rafting down the little stream that rand by the resort.  It was a little shallow for rafting, and pretty cold water, but it was still fun.  The adults all enjoyed some awesome bruises on our arms and legs from all the rock we ran into.  I also enjoyed only having to go down once with Miss Tess, who screamed at the top of her lungs for 80% of the trip.

Okay, next are a few pictures I stole from family who sent them around in our weekly family emails. (Yes, we're just that cool.) (No, really, not being sarcastic.)

My aunt Janee, her oldest daughter, Kate-the-Awesome, and cousin-in-law Lindsey (married to my cousin Alan).

From L-R: Madeline Serr (Allison's oldest), Spencer, Benson Serr (Allison's second), Cole, Josh, and Ben (my cousin) in the front.

Kyle (my younger brother), Susie, and Kevin (the baby of the family).

Susie and my dad.

Me, Lance (the very patient - seriously, he's great about these reunions), Tess, and Uncle Kyle, who happens to be WONDERFUL with my children. Seriously, Kyle, consider moving out here so you can become their most favorite uncle ever.

My aunt Valerie (yes, she's wearing an Orem Tigers t-shirt, because she's awesome like that), Uncle Jared (of MOTAB fame), and their daughter Laura, who just moved to Grenada.

Kevin, with is annual ode to shark week paper rocket.

Soon it was time for our big family picture.  This year the ED (ElRay Dynasty) got green shirts.  For the next reunion I'm going to really push for something on the shirts, like our family name or the states we're from or something like that. If I'm gonna get a shirt I want something on it!

Trying to get all of those kids to put on their shirts, hold still for the picture, and actually smile?  Pretty big task.  Tess and Cole had freak outs before the pictures, but were surprisingly good during.  Can't ask for more than that, right?

Some of us were too lazy to take off our other shirts.

The previously mentioned freak out.

Tess is still not happy.

Everyone kinda getting into place...

My little brothers.

Getting a little happier!!

The finished pictures! Light blue: Valerie & Jared's family, Yellow: Teryl & Tammy's family, Purple: Grandma Roper, Darker blue: Delwyn & Becky's family, Red: Janee & Bryce's family, and Green: ElRay and Susie's family.

Afterwards we tried to take a few of just our family.  They actually turned out pretty well - too bad we're all in weird green shirts or I would hang one of these on my wall!  (Yes, I am a family picture snob.)

I really like this one! (It's especially funny because Susie looks great and the rest of us all look like dorks.)

Three gentlemen shooting the breeze. (The one in the middle is my dad's older brother, Delwyn.)

Miss Tess next to her great-grandma Reva Roper.

My uncle Bryce brought this awesome air cannon that they used to shoot balls into the air.  We totally need one of those around here, because Cole fetched and shot balls for hours!  At one point the air cannon became a CANDY CANNON, which blew my kids' minds.  Tess was particularly happy about getting a sucker.

This one's going on her wedding invite some day.

Chatting by the fire - it got chilly!

That night we played Roper Reunion Minute-To-Win-It.  Here's Kevin rockin' the Vaseline on Nose to get Cotton Balls in a Bowl game.

Dad had this game where he had to get his hands down some nylons to get quarters - it took quite a while. (Who knew Teryl had such a talent for that sort of thing?)

Here's Lance with the catching pencil game. He did alright with it, but he totally rocked the Shooting Empty Soda Cans With A Rubber Band game.

Josh did the Fishing For Pretzels With A Gummy Worm Game.  Good job, Josh!

And then there was Cole.  Cole volunteered to do the Shake The Balls Out of the Box On Your Bum game for the ED.

He. Rocked. It.

I'm kicking myself for not getting better video of it.  That boy shook what his momma gave him, and then he shook it some more.  Seriously, he was the fastest time ever.  If he had had a microphone he could have dropped it and walked off stage, he did such a good job!  It was awesome.

Poor Miss Tess was sad she didn't get a turn.  Or she was exhausted, one of the two.

Uncle Bryce and my dad.

Kevin and cousin Cameron (who just left for a mission in Chile).

That night we had the traditional glow stick frenzy, courtesy of Dad and Susie.  The kids LOVED it.

The next morning was clean up and packing.  We were out by around 10am.  Kevin and Kyle were kind enough to keep Tess out of the way.

I wish I had blogged about the reunion sooner because I know I've already forgotten a lot of details I had wanted to remember.  It was a great reunion, and I'm always so glad to get to spend time with my extended family!  I feel so blessed to be part of such a great family - we all really do love each other.  More than that - we even like each other!  This reunion is such a great tradition and I'm grateful for all the time, money, and work put into it every two years!