What?! Quit it!

The title to this post is what I understand from Mason when I get one of these ---> looks. He's awesome. I wish I had a good one of these looks to give anyone that wanted my icecream. I love this family stuff.

Beach Party!

Here is a picture from the good times being had in Florida.

SCRAM! Your fired!

As some of you have heard that is the new phrase going around at our house after a hilarous take on the apprentice appeared on sesame Street. If you haven't heard it, its worth calling to hear it from Mason. He latched right on to the phrase, and after several 'firings', and trying to reason with him that no one can make his daily cheese sandwiches like I can, I have decided to give up, and turn all the mothering over to Isaiah. Matbe Ruby will appreciate me. Other than that life goes on as normal at the Guymon household. I had that blessing of meeting two girls at church yesterday who easily volunteered their help to watch the kids when the baby does come. Huge relief for me, and a speedy answer to a prayer. I have another Dr. apt. tomorrow, and soon I will be on the weekly visits, how fast if comes! Mason has finally been going to nursery, but we end up staying, not so much because he needs us to, but because the other children whose parents has dared to ditch need us. Ig is working on perfecting writing his S and Z's, which has been a bit of a trial of patience for me. Clint had a breakthrough at work the other day after learning a new programing language, and using it to tap the system for info. (I really have no idea what he does for work). Ok, well 'the boss' apparently forgot he fired me, because he is in need of my services. We love you all. guymons

Happy Jim Eve

The entries are so high quality that I've started to feel guilty for adding my "entrees de mundane". Just a quick check in on the night before Jim. He'll be in Florida tonight, but will be driving up to Tallahassee tomorrow afternoon. It will be a road weary trip for him - we will leave for Atlanta tomorrow night. Dan McCabe and I have a meeting with the president of Oglethorpe University, who is interested in becoming the new host for the Break Away national office. We'll have that day in Atlanta, and then drive back Friday night so that we can be home for a special event on Saturday morning and a celebration that that night with the Florida State alternative break students. A banquet with about 80 fine students. Sunday I have to give the lesson to the Young Women and I'm a speaker in Sacrament. Monday will be the day of rest, but I think I have to have Dad back to Tampa by Tuesday.

Isaiah's First Talk

Isaiah gave his first talk today. It's the first of many I hope. He spoke about President Gordon B. Hinckley. He drew a picture of him, shown at the right. I'll write here what he said. It is good enough to include here.

This is President Hinckley.
He is our prophet.
God talks to him, and President Hinckley talks to us.
President Hinckley helps the poor and needy.
He teaches us to do our best.
He teaches us to be nice to our teacher and our friends.
He wants us to go to church to worship Jesus.
He helps us obey the commandments and not kill, cheat, or lie.
I want to follow the prophet.
Follow the prophet.
In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

There is a large chunk of heaven in every primary room around the world. No wonder Jesus loves little children. It feels so great to be in the primary because of their willingness to believe and be taught. No-it's not that. It's hard to put into words. Listening to a child repeat that we're children of God, that God loves us, and that by obeying God we can be happy causes deep reverberations in ones heart. It's powerful, to me anyway.

Here's a quote from C.S. Lewis in The Magicians Nephew: "Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. Uncle Andrew did. He soon did hear nothing but roaring in Aslan's song. Soon he couldn't have heard anything else even if he had wanted to." May we recognize the little truths and works of God and not reason them away.

Morning musings from Baltimore

First, thanks Brad for adding the Pace entry, I'm glad to see a post from S.F. I'm home this morning- a unexpected day off from work. No complaints I'll take it. While having breakfast, I had a chance to see the national news. I found that there was a big snow storm along the Wasatch Front. Alot of motor vehicle collisions with people on their way to work etc. Sorry for you all, esp Mom, here in Baltimore the forcast is for "clear skies and a high of 72F", a forcast that the FL and AZ parts of the family can live with.
I also saw that a woman in Florida, whose husband is fighting in Iraq, had put up a yard sign reading "Support our troops" as part of a promise to him until he returns. Poor lady was being oppressed by her gated community homeowners association for having the sign up- it is agianst the rules to display signs of such a nature. Where is this drama unfolding? West Chase- Tampa, Florida. Know anybody that lives there? With the West Chase homeowners association being so restrictive with its residents in this one area, is it possible that they also have rules restricting the Tampa Piacitelli's from posting and participating in the family blog? I don't know but I'm calling that pretty blonde woman on "Fox and Friends in the Morning" to see if she'll send a news crew over to investigate. Maybe I'll get an interview out of it too ;)...
And don't be too upset with me for having this nice Friday off. I'll have to pay for it by working this weekend- Sat. and Sunday. Enjoy your weekend.

Is some Pace is better than standing still?

Well I think this is the first posting by an "in-law" and I hope you will forgive me. But I have been reading the blog and encouraging Rebecca to create a post. It came down to shouting, broken dishes and an incident involving a shotgun but still no posting. So here I am.

Xakoi is now signed up for fast pitch girl’s softball. She is a bit nervous but is still convinced she is the female version of Hercules. “Strongest girl in the world” (She threw down Jairus several times the other day to prove her point.) I am in the process of brainwashing her into knowing she will be the greatest softball pitcher of all time. Call it a hunch or call it patriarchal revelation from above, but she will pitch for BYU someday and use her muscles for good instead of evil. Xakoi also just finished up her last basketball game on Saturday. She scored a great basket and is really getting the hang of the game. We just needs to change her girly celebration of jumping up and down to a more powerful Michael Jordan type fist in the air.

Jairus also just finished up the basketball season two weeks ago with a resounding 14-42 loss. It was my coaching I am sure. But he is excited to get our basketball court done so he can get more practice time in. He chose not to play baseball this year to pursue his ultimate dream of riches by selling snow cones on the corner. He already wants to build a full-blown enclosed wooden booth. He is excited to turn 11 next month and become a Boy Scout. He has already participated in many camps and merit badges and now he can actually earn the awards.

Jairus also competed in the district science fair last week. His project was producing personal power using a bicycle generator. We used a car alternator and a DC motor to produce the power to charge a car battery. The DC motor worked best. It was a great project but did not get selected to go to the BYU competition. The project was too complex for the elementary teacher “judges” to understand and did not include mold, bouncing balls or the measurement of feet (don’t ask).

Ezrie is doing well and is very excited to start her sports career. I am always surprised by her interest but she always wants to play catch and is out shooting baskets during any timeout. When it comes to sports she is laser focused and very serious. Of all the kids, she is the one with a killer instinct built into that tiny body of hers. Her biggest news is she got a new pair of glasses last week. They are a bit more stylish with smaller lenses and gold rims.

Zander is starting to come out of his “shell” and is blossoming into a social butterfly. He always wants to call his friends to play and will gladly tell you of his girlfriend. We are a bit nervous because he is becoming very outspoken and louder than any of the other kids. He is very excited to see Iggy and is already making plans.

Will it rain in Arizona?

I knew that gripping tag line would rope you all right in. It is overcast here in Arizona today, though I think we still only have a 10% chance of rain. Its enough for my to avoid a walk to the park with the boys today. A 10% chance of having to get those kids home in the rain, means there is a 90+% chance I will not take the risk. We are excited to announce that Clint will be flying home at then end of April for graduation. No gifts please, except from you dad. Isaiah will already be there, staying with the Paces for a couple of weeks. He needs to get in some playing time to make up for the lack he has had here. I hope that Zander is ready to wrestle. We are coming to accept that this is our house and we may be here awhile, so we have started the home improvements. I painted our bedroom last week, the boys room will be next. Clint started digging a trench for the sprinklers on saturday. He is using a pix axe (I thinkt that is what it's called), he says the ditch witch takes all the fun out of it. I know he just wants to get bigger muscles. We have also started a couple of projects for Rubys room, I guess there is some excitement that comes from having a girl after a couple of boys, and having a place to put the baby when they come too.
On Friday night our family got roped into attending some vitiamin shake seminar/ pyramid scheme. It was crazy, and a bit disturbing. I think the thing that set me over the edge was the claim that the founder set this whole thing up to make a difference in the world. I had to balk a bit at that statment. And the lack of cookies or some other sort of refreshement didn't help their case either. Well we survived, leaving with a complete bank account and vitamin free bodies.
That is about it from this (still dry) neck of the woods. We are out to prove to you who have yet to participate in creating a blog, that it doesn't have to be fancy. I hope that this blog did that, rather than proved your point. We love you all. Stay tuned for some publishing of Isaiahs art. I am a big fan, and think that some of you will be too.
Love, Nanci (and the rest of us)

Iggy in Baltimore...

Sandwiches, Yummmmm. Enjoy:

Late Night Musings, on the Clock

Well, it's a late night at work here at Break Away. For the sake of habit, I need to weigh in with an entry before this week just passes me by. I had a good weekend this last week. On Friday, I broke the invisible barrier between the Tampa Piacitelli's and the 'Hassee (that's me, in Tallahassee. Get it?) Piacitelli. I drove down after a 1/2 day of work and arrived just before the babysitter that Andrea had hired to watch me watch the kids. It was good that she was there - the first thing that I heard when I came into the house (after a sweet hug from Erin and a welcoming wave from Damon) was Lauren crying to her mom in the shower that "she didn't want Aunt Jill". How quickly they forget! Lauren and I have shared at least a week of her life together! Anyway, the babysitter held Lauren as she breathed in the magic smoke of the pnemonia medicene, which I think had an uplifting effect on me too. The rest of the night was kind of a blur: Andrea leaving looking ready to dazzle, Matt calling from Boston, Damon on the game boy, Lauren joining with me to rally for a Monopoly win, Erin and I practicing the "basket drop" cheer move, and finally bed at 9:15. Good times.

Unfortunately, I had to cut the trip a little bit short and leave the next morning around 11. You are saying to yourselves, or maybe your spouses, "Jill, there's no way you can bond with family before 11 am on a Saturday morning, let alone teach a child a made up language!" Well my friend, you'd be wrong. Erin, who had been primed for speed learning the night before when I taught her the ancient arts of thumb and leg wars (ah leg wars! all day on that!) began clicking her tounge at some point. I, having lived in Vermont where there is an incredibly high African to Rural Farmer ratio - let her know that she had just said "Mother, I enjoyed breakfast" in a tribal language. She continued to speak, and I continued to translate. It was a powerful moment. So powerful that Andrea called me this week to let me know that Erin has taught all of her classmates the language, and also convinced her teacher that she's now bilingual. All in a morning's work. I also rediscovered starch, which I think I'm a fan of.

I left early so that I could attend the funeral of Tracey Sparks (old Sister Wilkinson) grandma. I haven't seen her in years, so that was a good reunion. That was up in Jacksonville, and I left late so ended up getting home pretty late and pretty tired. I just can't do what I used to when I was young.

So, I'm off tomorrow to a conference in Nashville. Should be fun. Break Away was asked to present on "Social Responsibility" for a 3 hour block with two other agencies, and then to sit on a panel on student service reactions to Hurricane Relief. Should be interesting. The focus on students doing alternative breaks to help out in the gulf (over 5,000 will be there over spring breaks) has garnered a lot of press. It's been fun talking to them. A New York Times reporter asked for my cell phone this week, and I hesitated because I don't quite have it memorized yet. But the pause made it akward because he jumped in to make sure I knew it was just in case he needed to clarify anything. I said, "Okay. But I want you to know I would never do this for the Wall Street Journal." Pah dum pum. Comedy gold! I love you people. Join us in our weekly posting! That's only 52 posts in a year - and less than that at this point. Piacitelli Family Blog