Ronald Reagan was a Yellow!

Tonight for our young women activity we had great discussion about communication where we had our Laurels take the Color Code test and then had a sister from our ward who is a social worker talk to them about how they could use the knowledge to help them with friends/parents/family. It was a great activity and the girls LOVED it and hopefully went away with some helpful info.
I took this Color Code test back about 20 years ago. I have always loved psychological tests like these and enjoyed helping th girls learn about themselves. If you haven't taken it or heard of it go here to take it.

Here is a brief overview to remind those of you who took it 20 years ago!


My Dad was a Red. I have 2 brothers and one brother-in-law that are Red. Guess which ones? I have a sister-in-law who is a Red. Guess who? Hint: She married the only Rencher male who is not a RED! Reds make me laugh. My son is a Red. I did not laugh when I saw his test results. I cried.

My Mom is a Blue. I think Tricia, Sara, Haley and Brittney are all Blues. I have quite a bit of Blue but only the strengths. None of the limitations. (I didn't post those because I didn't want to insult the RED (they get mad) or the BLUES (they get sad). Dave is a White. Andrew is a white. Most of my brother-in-laws are white. I do love Whites.

I am a yellow. I think I am the only person in my family who is one. Being a yellow being alone like that should make me sad but I'm ok with it for now.

Actually I am officially a Yellow-Blue. This means that I may play all day but I will feel guilty about it later.

Alli is a really heavy combination of Red-Blue where she will do whatever it takes to get the project done. She will claw her way through and move anyone who gets in her way and then she will feel guilty about it. The counselor who spoke to us called Red/Blues schizophrenics! Ha-ha Alli! Who is crazy now?

Mitch I do believe is a Red-Yellow. I don't know that combination as well but I will guess that he won't let anyone get in the way... of his playing! Or maybe he is really great at planning...parties! I crack myself up.

So what about you? What color are you? Your parents? What about your spouse? Anyone have any good advice about dealing with a Red kid. I swear I am in a power struggle with that kid on an hourly basis!

Next personality test.... The 5 Love Languages....

A distant memory...

Having an evening free is a distant and very pleasant memory. Remember those winter days where everythings was completed early enough that I could relax in a hot tub with bubbles and a good book? Yeah, I can't remember that either.

These days at 4:00 sharp, life becomes a scene of barely controlled chaos. The door opens, backpacks flying, homework and school papers are spread all over my clean floor, my clean counters and my straightened couches. Piano songs are practiced quickly and suprisingly without tears these days. The kids take turns reading to me or I quiz them on spelling words while they fix themselves a light snack which basically adds a 4th meal to their day. Seriously. Sandwiches, apples, carrots, grapes, fruit snacks, pretzels, crackers, cheese sticks... the walk home must make them ravenous.

While these things are going on around me I am busily figuring out who goes where and how I will fit it all in. I am starting to wonder how much longer until Dave gets home because I realize 1 driver can not possibly do this evening.

Sometimes, believe it or not, I will actually look at the color coded calendar in advance and realize that 2 drivers are not enough to take 5 kids plus the 3 in the La Crosse car pool to 4 different locations at exactly the same time! Call for reinforcements. "MOM!!! I need you! And your vehicle. Both of your vehicles actually."

Ok, Mom here is the plan. I will take #5 to #1's track meet. #5 just got up from his nap so he will be happy for a while!

Josh is the short guy in the red. Here not in front. Here in front. Go Josh!

Than I need you to wait for #2,#3, and #4 to get home from school and then immediately take #2 to gymnastics while #3 and #4 start their homework. when you get back take #4 to his soccer game. Dave will go there to watch. Go Yellow Rockets! Then take #3 to his baseball game. YAY Nationals! (never heard of them by the way!)This picture was taken right after he hit his first ever Grand Slam! I missed it.

After #4's soccer game I will have Dave pick up #2 after gymnastics and take #4 to his baseball game. Go Red Sox! You will then take #3 to his soccer game. Run Gold Eagles! (one of these pictures was snapped as he kicked a goal but I don't know which one)I will keep number #5 who by this point can't stand to watch any more games! I will take #1 to La Crosse practice and then Dave can pick him up after #4's soccer game. After #3's game you can take him to the church and I will pick up #2 from Dave where he has been very helpful in entertaining #5 and we will meet you there for #2's Arrow of Light Ceremony and #3's pack meeting. Congrats Aaron on getting your Arrow of Light! Lighting your kerchief on fire was awesome! Do I have #5 or do you? oh I have #5! Eventually we will all meet up at the house and finish homework and practicing and get a bit of peace before bed. Wait. What? The boys want dinner?

Good grief.

Dinner.

Sigh.

Snobbery

I am a snob. A snob is defined as "a person who believes himself or herself an expert or connoisseur in a given field and is condescending toward or disdainful of those who hold other opinions or have different tastes regarding this field"

I am a snob in a field, literally a field. A baseball field.

I didn't realize I was a snob until lately. The fact is that some of the player are so petrified they won't swing. Ever. That isn't the bad part. I have had all my boys be that boy at some time or another. The bad part is the fans. You can't really say "Good eye" to a player who never even saw the ball coming! You could say "Way to stand there and not swing!" That would be more honest!

I was talking to Haley about her mom and it turns out her mom is a Sudoku snob. She will only do Office Max Sudoku books. Anything else is beneath her considerable Sudoku skills. So it got me wondering. Does everyone have a field of snobbery? Do you? I really want to know!

The Wisdom of Mom

Here is the summation of Mom's Rules to Live By:
1. Pray
2. Read your scriptures.
3. Go to the Temple.
4. Listen to the Spirit.
5. Eat healthy.
6. Exercise.
7. Serve others.
8. Love your children.
9. Read to your children.
10. Be humble.
11. Only say it if it passes all the gates ... Is True, Is Kind and Is Necessary.
12. You have a choice.

13. You have the spirit you can decide.

14. Remember.

15. You would do a great job at (fill in the blank)... If you were only trained.

16. Eat dinner together.

17. What did you learn at church today?

18. Don't run faster than you have strength.

19. Yellow and Orange will someday make a come back...

20. Heavenly Father loves you.

21. Jesus loves you.

22. I love you.

I wasn't blessed with a lot of wealth or a lot of things. I was given a wonderful mother. I have indeed been richly blessed. I love you Mom!

NSAH V My first job.

It is time for another edition of This Was My Life.When I was 16 I got my first job or rather my dad got me my first job. You see spring and early summer were spent at the Centerville Ballpark. Dad coached, the boys played, Mom cheered and the rest of us were along for the ride. So it came about naturally that Tricia and I would work at the snack shack where we ate most of our dinners anyway. We worked with 2 other girls JoAnn and Amy. Our boss was named Horton and he was a gruff man with a softer side and a strange sense of humor. I remember he always paid us under the table so he wouldn't have to pay taxes. I won't mention his last name because I am pretty sure the IRS reads this blog often and I would hate to get him in trouble. We worked 2 girls per evening and had 2 shifts on Saturday so we all worked that day. We were kept very busy selling licorice ropes, candy bars, and about a million other sugar filled snacks. We were also known to invent strange flavors of sno-cones to sell. Bubble-gum with a sprite kicker was a popular one I invented. I am pretty sure they named it "The Kelli Special" after I retired. We had the usual ball-park fare of hotdogs, popcorn and nachos. None of which makes a very healthy meal but those were your choices. One of the best meal variations that I loved was popcorn with nacho cheese on it! Cheese corn! Loved it.

We had a back door where the teams would line up after their games and the coaches would buy them a treat. Usually it was just a sno-cone but every night there was at least 1 coach who bought the whole team a meal! I sometime yearn for those days when I am the treat mom at baseball because I always seem to forget and have to run to the store at the last minute.

The park also had a standing policy that for every returned foul ball that went over the fences the kid who returned it would get a sno-cone. I loved to watch the junior spectators jump off the bleachers at a dead run whenever a foul ball was hit! To this day when we are at a game and a foul ball is hit I will tell my kids "Run, go get it!" Only to realize when they just look at me incredulously that our park doesn't reward them so why would that be considered fun!

The umpires also got free drinks after their games. I remember some of them were a little bit demanding and would yell from the diamond for us to bring them their drinks.

The worst part of the job was the clean up every night. Cleaning that nacho pan was nothing less than nasty and slimy. We did keep the place really clean which as a mother now I really appreciate. On the flip side the best part of the job was the cute baseball players that we got to watch and flirt with while we worked. Really it was the perfect job for this 16 year old girl

If only I had known!

I have some advice for all you single gals out there. Before you marry some man you should really get to know him. Now I know you think that you will get to know him by spending more time with him but in reality you should spend time with... his brothers. Then you will be exposed not to the "I-am-really-trying-hard-to-woo-you" boyfriend but also to the harsh reality of the men of the family!

Case in point (and in this case the only case because I only have one husband).

My brother-in-laws. I have a whole slew of them. If I had only taken a break from hanging out in la-la land with Dave and spent more time with them I would have known more before I was married. (Don't get me wrong. I would have married him no matter what because he is actually a champion among men!) But. I just would have known a few things for certain.

"Things I Would Have Known About Dave by Hanging With His Brothers"

• Rollins Boys are PICKY eaters (Nate only ate Cheerios, Pizza and rolls before his mission)

• Rollins Boys are shy (None of them would speak to me until I was actually in the family, except Mark)
• Rollins Boys are opinionated (Mark tried to convince me that the landing on the moon was a hoax)
• Rollins Boys are STUBBORN (Bryan refused to hold Aaron when he was a baby. I haven't tried with the following 3)
• Rollins Boys like to play games (This would have really been a disappointment because Dave is the only one not to get this gene!)
• Rollins Boys have great singing voices (Except Dave. He just needs some training, right Mom?)
• Rollins Boys are extremely loyal (They will always have my back. Although I would prefer not to know what they are doing behind it!)
• Rollins Boys are extremely stubborn. (Paul and I talked about relationships for 2 hours without him saying 1 helpful comment)
• Rollins Boys like the Simpsons (I hate it)
• Rollins Boys like science fiction/fantasy books/stuff. (I read Enders Game because it was a goal that I had to read 1 book from all the areas in the store while at Deseret Book and that was the one that Blake thought I would be ok with reading.)
• Rollins boys consider shorts in winter normal.
• Rollins boys are overly stubborn. (Mark will argue any point even if he figures out he was wrong just because he will never admit he was wrong)
• Rollins boys can be sensitive although they would rather die than admit it and will mock each other relentlessly for it.


• Rollins boys are big teases.
• Rollins boys wink in the cutest way. (Although Bryan has never winked as far as I know!)
• Rollins boys have great memories. (Nate is actually the only one with a fantastic memory now that I know them better, Mark forgot his anniversary. really.)
• Rollins boys are all flirts. (You would never guess it but it is true!)
• Rollins boys are very generous with those they love. Or so I hear from those they love.
• Rollins boys are funny. Or so they think.
• Did I mention they are stubborn? Here is Paul when I asked him to hold Joe-Joe. He said no way. So I just put the baby on him and he still refused to hold him and told me he would not be responsible if Joe rolled off.

Stubborn. It is the Rollins boy theme.

And I should know. I am now living with 6 of them.

They have learned from the best. And I love them all!