Hello?…Hello?…Is this thing on?

Oh boy. I almost forgot how to even get in here to this blog. It's irritating how time passes and my kids continue to grow and do amazing things and be funny and cute and I want to capture and keep record of all of it, but really I'm simply managing to keep up with all of it.

How dare they? 

Here we are almost 3 years later…*sigh*…Before I get all regretty and shoulda woulda…I'm just going to pick my good intentions up off the floor and dust off my keyboard and start again. 

That's really what it's about anyway I guess. 

Just keep swimming…just keep swimming. It works for Dory.

I've let Facebook and Instagram take over but I feel like this is a little more permanent. 

So, we will try again here on the old Dibble Scribbles.

We'll tell funny stories, share happy days and also the total bummer days. 

We'll be serious and spiritual and silly and simple.

Hopefully the kids won't be too embarrassed to read this in 20 years.

Hopefully, they'll be glad that mom tried to keep up. 

Just keep swimming…just keep swimming…

Zzzzzzzzz.....

The kids love to fall asleep in our bed while watching movies.

It doesn't look comfortable to me at all. Too many monkeys sleeping in the bed.

I think their secret plan is to get Daddy to carry them to their beds.

Who didn't love that when they were a kid?

I remember falling asleep in the car and having my dad carry me in to my bed.

Until we got too big I guess, because I remember a few times waking up the next morning

in the car with a sibling's foot in my face and a sore neck.

Before I had kids I slept like a log. I would hit the pillow and be out in about 4 minutes. I was a deep sleeper...like wake up in the morning in the same spot with drool on the pillow deep sleeper.

Now, I sleep like a baby.

I always roll my eyes when people say this like it's a good thing. Really? you think it's fun to wake up every two or three hours during the night? Why do you think babies take 4 naps during the day? I can't take four naps during the day.

I hate interrupted sleep.

With the girls we had a queen bed and so we could feel them getting into bed with us during the night. I was one of those mean moms that told them to get a blanket and pillow and camp out on the floor. Interrupted sleep.

Now that we have the King bed the boys have perfected their Ninja skills and can sneak in without us even noticing. Usually around 3:30 a.m. I start having dreams about drowning and not being able to breath or kick my legs to get to the surface. That's when I wake up to the 3 year old laying across my chest with his hand over my mouth and the 6 year old laying across both legs. I swear there is some gravitational pull between mother's and children because it's always me they insist on lying right next to...never Greg.

Sometimes I get up and take them back into their beds but mostly I just push them off and turn over. Interrupted sleep.

Now I'm trying to drag my tired carcass out of bed even earlier to exercise with Greg in the morning. So yeah, that's workin' out well. Basically, I turn into 'Momzilla' by about 3:00.

I used to make fun of my dad because he could fall asleep anywhere, anytime. We thought it was the weirdest thing. I mean, how can you fall asleep sitting up?.....uhm...I woke up to a honk the other day. Yeah, I fell asleep waiting at the red light. Didn't even remember closing my eyes. I fell asleep in church today, (sorry Bishop) sitting up, holding Tyson in my lap.

I am fully aware and KNOW that I will miss this time with little ones sneaking into my bed to be near to me. I know waking up to a foot in my face is much easier than waiting up for a teenage daughter to come home from a date. I promise, I fully appreciate the fact that they are growing and changing before my eyes and every day is precious with them.

I would just love a nap! A really good, long, uninterrupted nap...or four. Hey! If I sleep like a baby I should be able to nap like one.

Happy Daylight Savings...whatever. Makes as much sense to me as Justin Beiber's baggy pants.

My mom could beat up your mom!

So a few days ago I witnessed some fierce mama love and protection.

Every Spring we spot some ducks roaming our neighborhood.

They waddle up and down the street like some sort of springtime street gang.

This year it's a mama duck and her twelve (yeah, 12) ducklings.

A few yards down from our house is a storm drain.

You can probably guess what happened next.

I came out to see a very anxious mama duck squaking her little feathers off.

She was standing over the storm drain with one little duckling right by her side.

As we looked down into the drain, we counted the other eleven very dazed babies.

Mama duck was beside herself. Although she didn't know how to help her little ones,

she never left them.

and she never stopped quacking to those ducklings.

Even as more people gathered around, she stayed unusually close to the drain.

My strong neighbors, Rich, Shane and Paul were able to use a crobar and a metal hook to get the storm drain raised and open.

Rich jumped down into the drain and gathered the ducklings up in a net.

All eleven babies were safely returned to a mama ready to get her little brood outa there.

Now I know she's a duck but I couldn't help thinking that she must have been relieved. Ducks have feelings right? I mean, she didn't just say, "hey, I've still got one more, I'll just leave these other one's here in this hole in the ground." She stuck around until they were all safe.

And she was also willing to accept help from others.

She waddled off with all of her twelve waddling behind her.

They were out of danger.
Until she rounded the corner and saw HIM staring at her.

No sooner had she managed to get the littles out of danger than an

even bigger threat shows up.
She had barely had time to recover before she was back in defense mode.

But again, she didn't run away. Instead, she turned to that cat and started giving it the what for. She wasn't about to let those ducklings become a feline feast.

She quacked and quacked until the cat finally turned tail and skedaddled.

Made me realize how important it is to be vigilant as a mother.

It's a 24/7 job that we never take a break from.

We would never leave our children defenseless or alone.

There will always be something lurking around the corner and

our kids are gonna get in some sticky situations.

But they must know that we won't leave them.

They must know that we will ask for help in order to care for them.

They must know that we will fight to protect them.

Not just sometimes, not just in some situations..always.

My children must know that they can call to me and that I will come to them.

They must know that they are the reason I breath.

And I've got a pretty fierce quack so....

Uhm....seriously?

Man sells pot to pay for police academy
August 24th, 2010 @ 10:40am
By Randall Jeppesen
OREM -- A man who says he was just trying to save up the money for the police academy is now looking at the other side of the justice system because of what he's accused of doing to get the cash.
According to the Daily Herald, police got a search warrant to check up on the activities of Marcos Antonio Ramirez of Orem after reports surfaced he had been selling drugs. Officers found he had marijuana, a scale, a stolen gun and drug paraphernalia.
Ramirez admitted to knowing the gun was stolen and that he was selling the drugs, but the reason he gave was a little unique.
The Daily Herald reports Ramirez told officers he had been selling pot for five months to pay for the police academy.
Police arrested Ramirez on suspicion of possession with intent to distribute, possession of a stolen firearm, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance.
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com

This makes perfect sense right?
You know, like the woman who became a prostitute to pay for her wedding
or the guy that sold child pornography to pay for his elementary education degree.

Satan makes it so easy for us humans to rationalize decisions.
I don't think anyone wakes up in the morning and says, "I think I'll make a really bad life choice today that will effect not only me but those around me."
Satan is much more subtle than that.
He's crafty. (and not in the glue-gun, decoupage kind of way)
He makes things that are bad look not so bad (that movie was great except for a couple of parts)
He makes things that are good look nerdy or old fashioned.
He's a stinker.
We all make small everyday decisions that effect our entire lives.
My parents used to be voluntary clergy out at the prison. I remember the stories they would tell of the men and women they worked with.
Most of them would not be experiencing those heartbreaks if they had only made a few small choices a little differently. "If I hadn't listened to that friend", "if I hadn't gotten into his car", "if only I had not gone to that place"...
little choices.

One of my greatest worries is that my children will make one or two bad choices that will lead to a future heartbreak. That they will be influenced and let other people make choices for them. That I will have failed as a mother.
This is fear. This is Satan. This is trickery.
One of my greatest expectactions is that my children will remember what they have been taught. That they will have the confindence to stand up for what they know is right. That they will be leaders and will influence others to make good choices.
This is faith. This is a loving God. This is hope.

I know that my children will make mistakes and bad choices. We all do. It's part of the learning process. I only hope that they will learn from those mistakes, that they will recognize the tricks of Satan and that they will embrace the power of Jesus Christ.
And above all, that they will never think that it's okay to sell drugs to become a cop.

Here's to faith, hope and some really good rules.

(I do love them so)