Too Much Veggie Tales?!

We were driving home from church today and Tyson was telling me about how some of his friends were having a rock throwing fight. I start to tell him about how important it is to never throw rocks at people even if you think they won't get hurt, when Ryan interrupted us and asks, "Mom, what if it is a giant walking talking pickle, then can I use a sling shot and throw a rock at it?" I had to laugh. I told him if he ever came upon a giant walking talking pickle he could throw a rock at it.

I find it interesting that even though we have told him the story of David and Goliath numerous times, the thing that comes to his mind is the DVD of Dave and the Giant Pickle. It makes me wonder how many other things my television is embedding into my children's minds.

I'll Take a "Whippin"

The other day for dinner I had made a new soup recipe to use up some of our excess Zucchini from our garden. I had gotten the recipe from my sisters blog, it was called vegetable chowder. When we sat down to eat the tears started flowing followed by questions about how much they had to eat, and why do I always make such disgusting food that I know they won't like. Jeff reminded the kids that dinner was nothing to cry about, and I reminded them they wouldn't get Family Home Evening treat if they didn't eat. Tyson quickly volunteered not to have the FHE treat if he didn't have to eat it. I told them they had to eat it even if they didn't want treat. Everyone had finished eating their assigned amount except Tyson who was trying to gag it down, but was having difficulty doing it. As I was doing the dishes Tyson asked, "Can you whip me with a belt instead of me having to eat this?" I told him I wouldn't have the heart to do that, but if Jeff would than he could take a whippin instead. He quickly went and got a belt and told Jeff to whip him with it so he didn't have to eat dinner. Jeff told him he couldn't do that to him either; Ryan quickly volunteered to do the duty. He took the belt from Tyson and gave him a good pop on the behind. Tyson was shocked at how hard he hit him, as was I when I heard the snap. It got Tyson out of eating his last two bites, so he was OK with it. I wonder sometimes what kind of food issues my children will have when they get older! They already tell me when they become parents they will never make their kids eat yucky dinners.

Has It Really Been 12 Years?!

It is hard to believe that it has been 12 years since we had Emily. When I look back over the past 12 years, I wonder where the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday that we brought Emily home from the hospital. You always hear people say, "enjoy your kids while they are young because they grow up fast." I remember thinking about that when my first two children where little and I thought it doesn't really seem to go by that fast, but now I know more of what they mean. Emily has been such a blessing in our lives. I can't imagine this family without her. She is mature beyond her years, and sometimes seems to be more of an adult than me. If I were able to pick exactly what I would want my first child to be, I am possitive I would pick her. I am priviledged to be Emily's mom, and I look forward to the next chapter in her life.

I sometimes wish time could stand still. I enjoy having my children young. I always worry about the unknown, and unfortunately for Emily she is the one who has to do the unknown first in our family most of the time. I am looking forward to watching her grow as a Young Women. I am thankful for the church and for the organizations that it has to help guide our children through their teenage years!

We Love Summer

Many people dred their kids getting out of school for the summer, but not me. I love to have the kids home all day with not a whole lot of running around. We did have a busy start to the summer since we left for Utah the day school got out. We spent a little over two weeks there. Tyson and Justin did soccer camp up in Provo the first week. They had a lot of fun, and we found a great motel to stay in. We had two separate bedrooms, living room and kitchenette. There was also a sports court in the back so the kids and I enjoyed a little bit of volleyball at night. The Hardy's came to the camp with us, and it was fun to have friends to play with. We also got to go see the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It is a beautiful temple, and it was fun to take the kids now that they are older. Emily was only five when the Lubbock temple was dedicated. We also got to spend some enjoyable time in Beaver and Syracuse. The kids always love playing with cousins, and I enjoy visiting with everyone. Our only regret was not getting to see a lot of family that we would have liked to see. The other big thing that happened while we were there is I got Lasik done on my eyes; I can now see with no contacts or glasses. It is a wonderful. Anyone who has thought about doing it should go for it. I know I will enjoy it even more next spring when all the dirt in Lubbock starts blowing around. Here are a few pictures from our trip. I wish I would have taken more pictures during our trip, but we were so busy, I kind of forgot about taking pictures.




Now that we are home we have spent our days playing and swimming. Much to the kids dismay they do have to do chores and school papers in the morning, but then they can play and swim the rest of the day. They have really enjoyed having the Hardy's living next door. I love not having to drive them all over to play with friends. I hope everyone else is enjoying their summer!

Awards and Accomplishments

School is out in two days and we are very excited it is almost over! The past two weeks have been crazy to say the least. I only have three of my children in school, I don't know what we will do when they are all in school! We finished our last awards assembly/ Kindergarten Graduation today. Abigail is very glad to have everything over with. She used to do pretty well at sitting through all of these things, but the past two weeks have been over kill and she has been a nightmare! When I tell her to be quiet she yells no and starts screaming. Unfortunately this has also carried over to church, so I was not able to sit in the chapel for church either. Anyways, Justin finished the year as the top reader of Kindergarten. He was very excited. He had 64 AR points, 30 of which he earned the last four weeks. He was given a STAR test and is reading at a third grade fourth month level. We are proud of him and all of his hard work.



Tyson was able to do Battle of the Books and the Talent show this year. He really wanted to do both last year, so was very excited to finally be old enough to. His Battle of the Books team won the school level and got second at the district level. It was a tough loss because they only lost by 1 point. You can tell by the expression on his face just how tough it was.



Tyson decided to do a comedy act for the talent show. He dressed up like a "Purple People Eater" and did a dance. It really was funny to watch. When he told us he wanted to do it I wasn't sure if it would work or not, but I am glad I didn't stop him from trying. Everyone thought it was funny and a lot of the teachers couldn't believe he had it in him. Jeff and I don't know where that part of his personality came from because neither of us could have ever done such a thing! He completed the year with straight A's and a 100% on both of his TAKS tests. We are proud of all of his accomplishments.


Tyson also had to do the living museum. This is where kids pick someone to write a 2 minute oral report on and give. Tyson chose Ty Detmer.


Emily started last week off with a performance in the musical Beauty and the Beast for choir. She was a server, and didn't have a big part, but did well with what she was suppose to do. I thought everyone did a great job with their parts.

Last Thursday she had her district competition for Battle of the Books. They won the school level and went to Amarillo for the district competition. They won by about 20 points. The second place team was also from FMS. She was very excited about the win, and we were very proud of her. Jeff was able to come and I was thankful that he did because Abigail didn't want to be quiet and I was kicked out of the first round. It was nice to have someone to trade off with so I didn't have to sit outside for the whole competition.


Emily had her first FMS awards assembly last night. I finally got smart and had a babysitter for Abigail so I didn't have to take her. Thank goodness I did because there were over 300 kids getting awards. They went in alphabetical order so I was very thankful our last name is Cluff. Emily got 9 awards at the awards assembly. We were very proud of her and all that she has accomplished. She works so hard at everything she does.

Spring has Arrived

Spring is finally here in Lubbock! Usually when spring comes we think of beautiful flowers and green grass, but in Lubbock you know it is spring because the wind blows all of the time and there is a nice fine layer of dust everywhere. The grass is not green yet unless you are fortunate enough to have fescue, but the weeds are green and growing quite well. It was a beautiful day yesterday, other than the wind, so we decided to plant some flowers. I was amazed at all of the people at the nursery. I guess I don't usually go on Saturday to buy my flowers. We got a lot of the flowers planted, but I still need to plant the tomatoes and peppers we bought. Emily and her friend Landon knew Spring had come because they caught their first horny toads of the season. They were very excited because it had been a few years since they had caught ones that were so big. They only keep them long enough to show to everyone and take their picture, then they release them again.

Abigail's Temper Tantrum

Abigail's new thing is to throw herself on the ground and kick and scream when she gets mad over something. All of my children have done this, and I have learned just to let them do it. I am amazed at the looks other people give me when they see me not doing anything to help her while she is on the floor crying, I wonder, do other kids not do this?
Last Sunday Abigail didn't get a good nap because she fell asleep on the way home from church and did not stay asleep. Some kids function OK without a nap, but Abigail is not one of those kids. She got upset about something and did her normal temper tantrum on the floor. She cried for longer than normal, but then quickly stopped. When Jeff went in to pick her up this is what he found.


The funniest part is when I picked her up to put her in her crib, she woke up and picked up on the crying right where she had stopped.