If You Give a Mom a Moment

Transition

2012-01-28T07:01:00.001-07:00

Right now I am in a hotel in eastern Nebraska. I am about to leave, to take my children to see their new house, which they have never seen before. Life has been very stressful the last few days. I am looking forward to getting to our new place (only five or six more hours in the car), unpacking the truck, beginning to unpack boxes, and starting to settle down. I don't know how long until I will have internet at the new house. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Talk to you later!

Saying Goodbye

2012-01-23T13:42:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went to church for the last time in our Utah ward. I expected it to be a Sunday as usual, knowing that I am going to make it a point to see my good friends one last time before we leave if at all possible. I wasn't really seeing the last Sunday at church as a goodbye.Sacrament meeting was nice (the bishopric spoke). Sunday school was nice (the lesson was on the Tree of Life). Relief Society was nice (one of the women I visit teach taught the lesson). I still didn't have any sad feelings. It was just a lovely Sunday. I went to pick Kaitlyn up from the nursery after church ended and I saw a woman I have been friends with, mostly casually, since I first moved into the ward (I will call her Mommo because I believe that is her blog handle). Mommo started to say goodbye to me and I just burst into tears. I literally turned around and fell into Christian's arms. You see, Mommo and I have had some kind of connection ever since I moved into the ward. We worked in the Primary together. We went to eat at In-N-Out Burger together after a temple session. We have had much contact via email through the years, and one of my dear friends' husbands even works with her. But seeing her, and realizing that I was saying goodbye to her for the last time, woke up a realization in me - my biggest regret from leaving here.I realized that I live my life like I'm in my own little world. I virtually never invite friends over to my home. I almost never go out of my way to let someone know that I care. I don't do much to branch outside of myself and be a good friend to others. And, in this case with Mommo, I realize that I could have and should have made more of an effort to let her know that I care and to be a better friend. I vow to do better in my new neighborhood and at church.Mommo, and all of my other friends that I'm leaving, I'm going to miss you!!(P.S. My only other regret is that I never went to see the Grand Canyon in the entire 3 1/2 years I have lived here, and we only live three hours away! D'oh!)

Packing and Cleaning

2012-01-17T09:08:00.001-07:00

Once we found out we were moving, I decided I wasn't going to purchase anything else - we were just going to use what we had in our house. What a genius idea! We will have less to move, and we will save tons of money!

So weeks ago, when I ran out of my shampoo and conditioner, I started pulling travel-sized shampoos and conditioners out of my linen closet (HAH! Normal people call it a linen closet. In my case it is the junk closet.). I haven't purchased any freezer food so we can clean out our freezer.

But, now that we have eight days left, I am realizing a few things. First of all, I don't have much conditioner left. I keep using less and less out of the travel-sized container I have. Why am I making myself feel deprived just because we are moving? (And in an oddly satisfactory way, I feel really good using all this stuff that has been cluttering up my junk closet.) And, the only things left in our freezer are Uncrustables (for the boys' lunches through the end of this week) and 1/2 package of Eggos. My plan is to clean the stove/oven tomorrow, and then we are not allowed to use them after they are clean. So - what are we going to eat for the next week? I have pretty much depleted my food storage too, which is nice for moving purposes, but horrible for having choices for dinners this week.

And, the most important thing that hit me - I'm not saving us money. I'm just prolonging the inevitable. The day we move to Iowa I will be going to the store and purchasing probably close to $500 worth of food and toiletries.

Christian says we are 80% packed and we could leave in two days instead of a week and two days. Sometimes my tendency to overplan drives me (and everyone around me) crazy.

But hey, at least this week should be less stressful than the last couple of weeks, right? (Since most of the work is already done.) Anyone want to come help me clean? I'll pay you in Uncrustables and Eggos.

Dinner

2012-01-10T09:02:00.001-07:00

A few months ago, I had a friend who was having a difficult time with a difficult situation. Of course, I didn't know this at the time - she hadn't shared anything with me. But I felt a nagging feeling that I needed to do something. So, in the true stereotypical Mormon fashion, I brought her dinner. I even said to her when I dropped it off, "I know this [bringing you dinner] is so cliché, but I really felt like I wanted to do something for you." She thanked me, and then we had a good talk.

A couple of weeks later, she said to me, "You know when you said that bringing me dinner was cliché? It was actually the nicest thing you could do for me. I was really feeling like I wanted someone to take care of me, and in that very moment, you did. It was much more than a dinner for me."

Fast forward to this last weekend: We had some friends invite us over for a goodbye dinner on Saturday night. I was so looking forward to visiting with them. But late Friday night, Kaitlyn started throwing up. A couple of hours later, I followed suit, followed by Ethan shortly after. It was a miserable night for all of us (Christian too - he took care of throwing up kids all night while I was sick). I texted Melissa that morning and told her we would not be able to come to dinner after all. She texted back and asked if she could bring the food over anyway. That evening, her husband and daughter (who is Aidan's best friend) brought over homemade egg rolls, rice, and cheesecake, and a chicken pot pie "so you can have dinner for another night taken care of."

After a day of throwing up and recovering, I swear those egg rolls were the best thing I have ever eaten.

Then Sunday night, Aidan started throwing up. Soon after, Christian followed suit (it didn't matter that I was disinfecting as we went along. It was pretty much inevitable that everyone in the house would catch this dumb sickness). So yesterday was a blur of sickness, cleaning, laundry, and high anxiety. (Wouldn't you be anxious if two weeks before you are moving across the country, you are waist high in laundry and vomit?) So, last night for dinner I made the chicken pot pie. I pulled the aluminum foil off of it to put it in the oven, and carved into the crust were the words, "We'll Miss You!" I started crying right then and there. It was exactly what I needed at that time.

You see, it was much more than a dinner to me.

(I'll miss you too, Melissa!)

My Thoughts on the New Year

2012-01-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

I am not generally a maker of New Year resolutions. I feel like mentally I am constantly checking myself to see where I need to make changes, and (an excuse?) I don't need the extra pressure. Choosing a "word" for the year doesn't work for me either. I forget about it after a couple of days.

And, of course, since I'm moving halfway across the country in three weeks, I feel like I have enough stress in my life to run the course of the year anyway. Thankfully, our current house is about 1/3 packed up, and we are well on our way to being the owners of two homes. (Now I just have about a kajillion phone calls to make for utilities in both cities, changing schools for the boys, address changes on EVERYTHING, etc, etc.)

However, one thing I am really looking forward to in the new year is reading more. I have always loved to read. Always always. And I noticed that I have read less and less in the last couple of years. At first, I figured it was because I had another baby, and life with three children is really stressful. And, I'm sure, that is a part of it. But then I remembered how I felt when I moved to my current small town - I cried when I went to the library. It depressed me because there were so few options. I had never realized until the last few days that one of the big reasons I have practically stopped reading (well, besides my Entertainment Weekly magazine) is because I dislike our library. So, I have to admit, when I found out that my husband was interviewing in the same town we spent a year in (the same town where I had a love affair with the library), I started a list of books I want to check out from the new town's library that our current library doesn't have.

There is something about a good library that is so... healing to me. Browsing the bookshelves, finding a good read that I never would have known about before, basking in the light of all of the windows. I can't believe how excited I am to go back to the library in my new town. (And Target. And Fareway, the amazing grocery store. And restaurants I have missed terribly. And on and on.)

I would love to add to my current list of 23 books I want to read. Have there been any books in the last 3 1/2 years that have really affected you? Or that have absorbed your mind completely? Or that you even think I'll like?

Oh, and also - do you have any questions for me about my upcoming move? I realized that I have written virtually nothing on either my blog or Facebook, and some people may have unanswered questions that I'm not even realizing I haven't answered. (I'm a bit absentminded these days.) If you do, I would love to answer them in a future post.

Moving Forward

2011-12-23T21:21:00.002-07:00

In the last 5 1/2 days, we logged 38 hours driving time. With a 19 month old. Christian and I deserve a medal. (Although, so does Kaitlyn, because she did pretty well most of the time.) The good news is, we purchased a house in Iowa! Well, we put an offer down and now we are doing all of the prerequisites before the financing goes through. It is a beautiful home - I'll show pictures once we move there. The only "problem" is that the family who owns the house designed it in a "country" style - aka NOT my style AT ALL. Once we arrive, there will be much ripping off of wallpaper and much painting of walls. And you better believe that I will be posting and asking/begging for ideas and color schemes. (I don't have a decorating bone in my body.)

For LDS friends - I will be in a branch (instead of a ward). Yikes! Does this mean I will have three or more callings? I have never been in a branch before. What are your experiences with a branch?

Merry Christmas everyone! I know I will; I got a house for Christmas. Hee hee!

Christmas Treat

2011-12-16T14:36:00.002-07:00

Last night was my final piano recital in Utah (sniffle, sniffle) and my students did a fantastic job! Today is a flurry of laundry and packing for a 42 hour round trip drive/family vacation. I went back in my blog to try to find a nice Christmas post to re-post and I realized something - I was a huge dork when I first started this blog. (Not saying I'm not a huge dork now, but still, I couldn't find a nice Christmas post.) So, I'll re-post a recipe for my favorite Christmas treat that I first posted three years ago. I LOVE these cherry chocolate squares, and I'm sad I don't have time to make them this year. Try them; you'll love them.

Chocolate Cherry Candy Squares
Bottom layer -
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cups crushed blanched salted peanuts (or be lazy like me and buy a container of Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts, forget about the blanching and just chop them up in your mini chopper)

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave. Stir in peanut butter and chopped nuts. Pour on a large cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Place in fridge to set up.

Middle layer -
16 large marshmallows, softened in microwave
stir in 16 oz cherry frosting (slightly difficult to find - try Kroger stores. I've never found it at Wal-Mart) and spread on bottom layer
Put in fridge to set.

Top layer -
Repeat the same as bottom layer (so you need 2 more cups choc chips, 1/4 cup p.b., and 1 1/4 cup peanuts). Place in fridge to set up.

When set, cut into 1 inch squares and store in covered container in fridge. They really do need to stay in the fridge to taste the best (there is a crunchy factor involved that you won't find by keeping them on the counter). Enjoy!

The Investigative Process

2011-12-12T09:16:00.000-07:00

You know when you were in sixth grade (or maybe earlier; my memory isn't that great) your teachers taught you the six questions to ask in order to receive the most information? That's what I'm doing here...

What: Moving

Where: to Iowa

Who: my family

When: the last week of January

How: packing up the entire house, renting a giant van, and driving twenty hours. (Plus, a little forty hour jaunt next week to Iowa and back to hopefully find and purchase a house.)

Why: Why. Now that's the million dollar question.

The easy answer? Because it is time.

The much longer, but I don't have the energy to explain every little bit, answer: We have always felt that we would either retire in our small southern Utah town, or move back Iowa, where my husband did his internship for his Ph.D. We have been excited to put down roots, to watch our children grow, and to give them stability. Last year, the opportunity to apply for a job in Iowa arose, and Christian and I spent hours (and hours and hours) weighing the pros and cons, even making a list and taping it to the fridge, praying about it, and agonizing over it. We finally decided (the day before applications were due) that the timing just wasn't right. The pros of living in our current town and the pros of living in our future town* were virtually equal (as were the cons). So we let it go. But we said that the next time the opportunity came around, we would take it. The place he will be working does not have job openings very often. Rarely, in fact. And the job is very competitive, with many fabulous applicants. So when an opening was announced this time, we decided to apply. And yada, yada, yada, long story short, Christian got the job.

We feel very blessed with the way everything has worked out. (And I feel very stressed out. But I believe that comes with the territory of moving halfway across the country.)

*Can you tell that I'm trying to protect the actual names of these towns as well as I can? I don't need stalkers in my life.

Rocks and Changes

2011-12-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

When we first moved to southern Utah from central Iowa 3 1/2 years ago, our family started rock hounding as a hobby. I have always been in love with rocks, even when I was really little. I have a collection of rocks that I take with me wherever I live, and it has grown over the years.

On one of our first rock hounding trips in southern Utah, we came upon a hill of agate, where you could take a step and find at least ten pieces of agate underneath your feet. I found a piece that day that I immediately fell in love with, because its edges are oddly and amazingly shaped like Iowa.

I brought that piece home, and ever since it has held a place of honor on the windowsill over my kitchen sink, where I stand when I wash pots and pans, where I watch the children play outside while I am cooking dinner, and where I could see it every day (along with my Christmas cactus and my other favorite pieces of rock).

I loved living in Iowa. The year we spent there was a year of growingfor our family, a year filled with great food (you know how I feel about food),a great library, wonderful friends, and happy memories. That little rockreminded me of those special times.

And now, in a little way my life has come full circle- and that rock oddly plays a small part. My family and I are moving backto Iowa next month. My life is so blessed!

(Yay for surface-level pleasantries being over, for the most part! Now you can look forward to stress-filled discussions and posts filled with the bittersweet aspect of moving away from a place I love and to another place I love.)

I'm Fine. How are You?

2011-12-01T10:36:00.001-07:00

I don't know what to write about.

I think I'm supposed to blog once a week since I am a member of BlogHer. I think. That's why I am writing this post.

My life is all-consumed with something right now, but it is not blog-approved. Therefore, I have nothing I can write about right now. Hopefully soon.

I can write about surface-level pleasantries. Like the weather. We have gotten about eight inches of snow since last night. I live in southern Utah. But I have been watching the news, and northern Utah has had up to 102 mph wind gusts, with 50,000 people without power and lots of trees, fences, etc toppled over. We only have about 10 mph winds here, which is completely normal for us. I'm thankful I don't have to go anywhere today, because I hate driving in first-of-the-year snow, when people have forgotten how to drive in the snow.

We put up our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving day. We don't usually do it that early, but we did this year. We purchased a $10 permit, and Christian and the boys went up the canyon to chop down a tree. It's beautiful, it smells nice, and last night I spent over an hour wrapping presents and putting them under the tree. I love Christmas time.

So much I want to say. Can't say any of it. I hate surface-level pleasantries. Sorry for the boring blog post. Hopefully soon.

Pictures

2011-11-22T18:44:00.001-07:00

I found some great sweaters on sale at The Children's Place online, and figured they would be the perfect accoutrements for my kids to wear for pictures. (See how I sneaked a French word into the previous sentence? I even say it with a French accent in my head. Accoutrement. Sigh.)

Anyway, we have never had professional pictures taken of Kaitlyn, and I wanted to try to get a picture with all three of my children looking at the camera AND smiling. I quickly realized that taking them to a studio would be a nightmare - Kaitlyn is bashful and/or leery of anyone she doesn't know. But Christian has a great knack for photographing people, so I borrowed a camera from my friend Melissa and got my kids all dressed up and ready for pictures. I figured we would just start with all three kids and graduate to each one individually, and we were bound to get some great photos. Right?

Well, it depends on your definition of "great." We didn't get a photo where all three children were looking at the camera and smiling. It quickly became battle of the wills, and Kaitlyn was determined to win that "game."

We call this one "spiritual experience" because they are all looking in three different directions. This one makes us laugh every time.

This is the best one we got.

I have cute kids. I just have to remember to lower my expectations when it comes to taking their pictures!

Living with a Toddler

2011-11-16T08:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I found two washcloths in the bathroom wastebasket. Now, I don't know about your house, but at our house, washcloths are a hot commodity and I don't want to be losing any. This was, of course, courtesy of Kaitlyn. Other things that may have made it into the garbage can lately thanks to her (because I can't find them):

her purple sippy cup
one of her shoes
an assortment of Tupperware containers

We are pretty sure we lost an expensive Mont Blanc pen this way when Ethan was a toddler, so I definitely need to start watching what goes in the trash more carefully.

Last Friday, I was playing with toys with her in her bedroom. She was happily enthralled with a shoe that plays music, so I sneaked out, turned on Christmas music in the living room (Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan albums, if you were wondering), and put a load of laundry in the washing machine. Then I went back in to check on Kaitlyn. She was sitting on a chair in her room, coloring her wall with red colored pencil. All over. Clearly, five minutes was too long to leave her alone.

She keeps pulling the scissors out of the drawer I keep them in. (Which is just at her level, right next to the computer.) So yesterday, I moved them to the drawer in the kitchen where I keep the kitchen scissors and the sandwich baggies (it's high enough that she can't actually see into the drawer. Also, she has never EVER opened this drawer before). Within an hour, I was sitting on the couch in the living room and she walked in, opening and closing the scissors with a triumphant WHACK. And onto the top of the fridge they go.

Do you know how many times we have had spilled milk at our house in the last four days? Six. Six times. Of course, once was a result of my own clumsiness. But each time I kept thinking, oops, it must have been an accident. Then this morning, I gave her a bowl of Kix with a teeny bit of milk (like, just enough to cover the bottom of the bowl). One minute later, I looked over at her and watched her slooowly pick up her bowl and turn it upside down. I tried to get there as quickly as I could, but it was already all down her front, all over the counter, and spilled down onto the floor. I decided right then that from now on she is getting a sippy cup of milk and a bowl of dry Kix.

She is inexplicably scared of her winter coat. If I hold it out and suggest she put it on, she runs away crying. So then, when I say, "Okay, forget about your coat. Let's put your jacket on," she happily comes over and puts her arm through the armhole. We also have a seahorse toy whose tummy lights up and he plays sweet music. (It's my nephew's favorite toy and he uses it to lull himself to sleep.) However, it makes Kaitlyn do this:

And, she could probably use a daily bath. Or sometimes, a bath after every meal. Because when she decides she is finished eating, she does this with her food:

Yes, living with a toddler is always exciting. And, when she runs to me, wraps her arms around me, gives me a giant slobbery kiss (complete with a MWAH sound) and snuggles her head into my neck, I feel more love for her than ever!

All Over the Place

2011-11-10T09:30:00.001-07:00

I don't have too much to write about today. I just wanted to have another reason to look at my sweet blog background. Happy sigh.

I just read about a Book Bomb, which I have never heard of before, but I love the idea, and I purchased the book myself, and I'm trying to make this sentence as long and run-onish as possible, so I'm adding numerous commas between phrases. But really, I have heard great things about this book and I hope it does really well.

I feel anxious today. Feeling this way has made me realize that I usually don't feel this way, but in the past I nearly always felt this way. I'm so glad things have changed in my life and I have mellowed out a little in my old age.

Tonight is my Relief Society night, and we are making three different kinds of cards. We usually have a dozen people, if we're lucky, but we had 30 people sign up for this one. It's going to be craaaazy.

My birthday celebrations continue. I keep ordering things online, spending money freely, and eating out. I wish money spent didn't count on your birthday week.

That's all. I've become a boring blogger in my old age. After this week though, I will most likely go back to my once-a-week-if-you're-lucky posting schedule.

What a Great Present!

2011-11-09T09:35:00.000-07:00

Today you need to come over to my blog, if you are reading this from a reader, so you can see what my ultra-sweet (and light years cooler than me) sister-in-law Maye gave me for my birthday - a new blog look! It's so cute and happy. I love the colors. And she knows me so well, incorporating the Eiffel Tower and a piano keyboard. It's funny that she knows me so well, even though we have never met - she lives in warm, wonderful Hawaii and I live in cold, snowy Utah. We will meet, hopefully, one day. You know, since we're sisters and all.

There is only one "problem," and if you are slightly computer illiterate like me, you may not know how to fix it. I use Firefox, and I don't know how to delete my temporary files, cache, and cookies. So when I look at it on my computer, I see the cute header and blue background, but I don't see the new font on the titles, and I'm not sure if there is a favicon or not. But when I look at my blog on my beloved iPad, I see all of that great stuff. Stupid computer. (I'm sure it's not me that is stupid.)

So, today is November 9. This reminded me of a time years ago, way back when I was in high school. (Yes, I'm old. My kids remind me of this regularly. Aidan was singing a song last night that talked about "way back in 1983." I was seven. To him, that is ancient history.) Anyway, my best friend from high school's birthday was November 9. Even though we were in the same grade, she was one year and four days older than me. So our sophomore year, she turned 16 four days before I turned 15. (I skipped kindergarten.) That was an awesome year, since she could drive us around wherever we wanted to go, but it was also a horrible year because I was the youngest out of all of our friends and couldn't drive or date (well, ahem, technically, cough cough) until November of my junior year. In fact, I had to take driver's ed with a whole bunch of sophomores when I was a junior. What a tragedy! (It really felt like the end of the world at the time.)

So, to my friend Becca, Happy Birthday to you!

More Stuff

2011-11-08T11:13:00.003-07:00

If you enjoy documentaries at all, PBS has a four part series called America in Primetime that is absolutely fascinating. (Two episodes have already aired; the other two will be the next two Sundays at 7:00 PM MST on PBS. They also have the first two episodes on the PBS app, which I loooove.) The show discusses how characters have developed from the beginning of television with Father Knows Best and the Mary Tyler Moore show (which broke boundaries in its time), all the way to today's shows. I sit riveted the entire hour.

This time change thing is driving me bonkers. My kids aren't going to bed any earlier, but the boys are waking up at 6:15, closing their door (they think quietly, but really, it wakes us up), and playing "quietly," but gradually getting louder and louder until everyone in the house is awake at 7:00. Ethan keeps saying, "But Moooom, it's 7:15 regular time." I say, "No, it's 6:15. We need our sleep." Who thought Daylight Savings Time was a good idea?

My family is spoiling me for Birthday Weekapalooza. They have been giving me little gifts every day. Which, of course, is the most important stuff: Mint Oreos, a big bag of Kit Kats, Symphony bar, Red Velvet Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Sobe drinks. Today I'm hitting Costa Vida for lunch. Woo hoo for feeling special!

I never used to be this way, you know. When we got married, Christian talked about how important Birthday Week was, and I totally didn't get it. Now I realize - your birthday only comes around once a year, and it is an opportunity to feel really special. So now I take advantage!

That's all I can think of for today's post. Stay tuned tomorrow for yet another boring post!

(If I feel like posting, that is. But hey, it's my birthday week. I can do what I want.)

A Bit of Everything

2011-11-07T10:37:00.001-07:00

Hmmm, so much for posting as much as I want for my birthday month. But hey, starting today it's my birthday week! I resolve to post more often! (Says the person who didn't keep any New Year resolutions this year.)

I figured I would free write (aka vomit the contents of my head) today. But then I started realizing there are so many things I can't really write about. For example:

I have a friend I'm really worried about. Like, couldn't sleep last night worried. But I can't write about that.

Something Big is happening this week. Something with a capital S. But I can't write about that either.

Someone I know is ill, but I can't write about that either.

So basically, I have a lot going on in my life and none of it is bloggable. Oh, the frustration.

I wish I could have attended the Circling the Wagons conference in Salt Lake City last weekend. Sometimes it's difficult living so close, yet so far away.

I worry about Kaitlyn being warm enough at night. She won't keep a blanket on because she moves around so much in her crib. Her room is also the coldest room in the house. And we keep our heater at 63 at night (and 65 during the day - what do you keep yours on?). Should I just not worry about her if she is sleeping at night (and when she wakes up her toes are cold)?

I have made a really good friend, thanks to blogging. But ironically, I have also slowed down on blogging because I bounce so much off of her now.

It's snowing. This is the first time EVER that I have dreaded the snow. Like, really not looked forward to winter AT ALL.

I made soup-in-a-bun over the weekend from scratch. I couldn't believe how easy the bread bowls were to make (I used this recipe). So easy (using my bread maker for the dough) that I will be making soup very often this winter.

I just downloaded the She and Him Christmas album off of amazon because it was only $5.00 and Zooey Deschanel is so cute! I have a very unhealthy obsession with Christmas music.

That's all for today's mind dump. I might post tomorrow; I might not. I am taking myself out to lunch every day this week. It's my birthday week - I can do what I want.

Happy sigh.

It's My Birthday Month, So I'm Going to Try Really Hard to be as Annoying as Possible

2011-11-01T08:53:00.000-06:00

Today is November first. Do you know what that means?

It's my birthday month!

That means I can write about whatever frivolous thing(s) I want.

(Yes, I realize I can already write about whatever I want since it's my blog. But maybe I will actually write more often this month...)

I could write about how our fire alarm went off early this morning for no reason at all and freaked everyone out. But I won't.

Or I could write about how Aidan took the bowl of candy to the door last night for our first set of trick-or-treaters, two older boys, who grabbed every single piece of candy in the bowl and Aidan didn't know how to tell them only one, and he cried because he thought we would be mad at him. But I won't. (Even though we were livid at the mean older boys who took advantage of a little boy.)

I could write about how I have become obsessed (once again) with on-line ordering. It's so easy to click the little "finalize your order" button and have things shipped straight to my house! On a related note, did you know that Old Navy's tall pants come in a 36 inch inseam? That means they are long enough for me! Their velour pajama pants have become my new best friend. But oops, I wasn't going to write about that.

Nope, what I'm going to write about today is milk. I want to know:

If you could only choose between drinking skim milk or whole milk for the rest of forever, which would you choose?

I would definitely choose whole milk. Kaitlyn drinks it, and sometimes I sneak a sip or two of it, and it tastes so good! Who could drink that disgusting blue water??? Not me.

Life

2011-10-26T09:35:00.000-06:00

You know when you have lots of things going on in your life, really important, potentially life-changing type things, but you can't talk about them publicly, so instead your blog just stays really quiet? Yeah, that's where I'm at right now. Hopefully I'll get back into the blogging spirit one day soon. But for now, I'll just post a couple of cute pictures.

Holiday Linkage

2011-10-17T09:13:00.001-06:00

The time of year has come when my boys start asking me, "Can we see that one thing on the computer that does the thing with the pie? You know, that thing?"

And thankfully, because I am their mother, I know exactly what they are talking about.

I have a few links I want to direct you to because ~~you~~ your children will love to play with them.

These first few are actually interactive e-cards, and my kids are obsessed.

This one is a Halloween one. (There is a part that might be a little scary for smaller children, and a tiny part that some people might think a bit irreverent. Watch it yourself first, and if you groan with annoyance, know that your children are gonna LOVE it.)

This is the Thanksgiving one. (The one with the pie that Aidan asks for on a regular basis.)

There are two Christmas ones, here and here. (The first one is more religious. The second one is more snowman-y secular.)

Want to play hangman with a skeleton who talks back? Click here.

And do you want something that is actually useful, educational, enjoyable (Ethan asks if he can "play" this), and has nothing to do with holidays? This website is really cool.

If you have any links that you know my kids will love (whether I will hate them or not is irrelevant), leave a comment.

Enjoy!

Breakfast Ritual

2011-10-07T13:32:00.000-06:00

Kaitlyn has a new way of eating her cereal every morning.

She starts by pulling every single piece of cereal out of the milk and putting it on the counter.

Then she drinks the milk.

Next, she eats the cereal.

Smiling at Daddy.

Stop Assuming!

2011-09-30T13:00:00.003-06:00

I have been trying really hard lately to mentally step back and observe myself in situations to see how I react/respond, and thoughtfully decide if I am acting the way I want to act. I have noticed that something I do more often than I would care to admit is make assumptions. About things, about people, about situations, you name it. This was clearly brought to my attention earlier this week.

My friend Jennifer texted me and asked if I would be interested in going to a classical music concert with her at the nearby Episcopal Church. Being as how I teach her son piano, she correctly assumed that I would enjoy attending a concert like this.

The church was beautiful. I loved the vaulted ceiling and the brightness of the room. The giant cross on the front wall was simple but beautifully carved. We sat down on a comfortable pew, and we laughed about how there was WAY more leg room than the pews at the churches we attend.

When I looked at the program, I noticed that the first piece was a piano prelude in c sharp minor by Rachmaninoff. I couldn't wait to hear this piece, because I love Rachmaninoff's music and he is known for his technical, difficult pieces. (I'm including a YouTube video of this piece played by someone else - if you ever saw the movie Shine, this piece was in the movie.)

So, imagine my surprise when a little boy walked up to the grand piano. I mean little. I was sure he was no older than five years old (he is, in fact, a first grader in my town). I immediately thought, "Oh, how cute. He must be playing an easy version of the Rachmaninoff piece. I guess this is a different kind of concert than I thought it would be." (Making assumptions...) Then, this little boy sat down to play.

Oh, yes. It was the real Rachmaninoff prelude. With four sharps. Memorized. Played with emotion. Played better than I could have played it. By a six year old.

Jennifer and I spent the rest of the evening enthralled by the talent of the numerous musicians we heard after that, and I reminded myself to be careful about making assumptions in the future.

(Getting out with Jennifer also reminded me that it is fun to look for cultural things going on in town. And also that hanging out with girlfriends is good for the soul.)

Great Teachers are THE BEST

2011-09-22T13:27:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm finally getting around to writing about the thank you note I sent to Ethan's teacher I alluded to in my last post.

Ethan's current teacher was actually his first grade teacher two years ago. I was very impressed with her even then, assigning Ethan extra homework such as oral reports on subjects of his choosing. She could see how smart he is, and wanted to challenge him above and beyond what was the first grade repertoire. (By the end of first grade, he was reading at an eighth grade reading level.)

So when Mrs. R. was moved up to the third grade, I was excited to request that she be his teacher for this school year. (I love that this school district allows requests like this.)

After about a week and a half of school, Ethan started bringing home extra math homework. His "regular" stuff is adding and subtracting numbers up to 10. The things she is having him do include having him add three numbers together that are all between 100 and 1000. (So, for example, 639 + 244 + 115.) Every day he has this extra homework, and I was noticing that she was printing it off of the internet toward the end of the school day or after school gets out. The fact that she is taking extra time out of her schedule to find math that is more challenging to my son is astounding to me!

(I asked Ethan if anyone else gets extra math homework, and he grumbled, "No. Just me. And I think I'm going to tell her that I don't want to do extra homework anymore." I can certainly understand why an eight year old would feel that way, but I said to him, "Do you know what this means?? It means that Mrs. R. cares for you so much and KNOWS how intelligent you are that she wants to help you become even smarter. I think it is wonderful that she is doing this just for you!" He smiled and has never complained since.)

So then, last week, I got an email from Mrs. R. saying that she had been talking to Ethan about giving him more difficult spelling words, because the current words are so easy and boring for him. So she had come up with ten challenging words for him, per week, through the end of October. She was concerned that they might be a bit too difficult for him, but she wasn't sure, because as she put it, "he is so stinkin' smart!"

He told me after the pretest he took on Monday that he had only missed two of the words: dexterously and adjacent. But he got words such as cajoled, delinquent and continuous correct. I love that Mrs. R. took time out of her schedule to come up with numerous spelling words specifically for Ethan!

And that's why I had to write her a thank you note, telling her how impressed I am with her and how much I enjoy having her as Ethan's teacher. (And I also asked her if she would please move up to fourth and fifth grade with him too. Smiley face.)

Great teachers are the best! And seeing her in action also makes me want to be a better parent too - to not just do the minimum amount required, you know? But to do what it takes to be a great parent, and to challenge my children to live to their fullest potential.

Not My Type

2011-09-19T09:34:00.001-06:00

I finished reading Melanie Jacobson's new book, Not My Type, last week, and it inspired me to write a thank you note to my 3rd grader's school teacher. I'll tell you why in tomorrow's blog post (that is, if I get around to writing the blog post), but right now I want to talk about the book.

There is a scene in the tv show Friends where we find out that Rachel tells people her favorite movie is Dangerous Liaisons, but in reality her favorite show is Weekend at Bernie's. I feel like that sometimes. If people ask me for book recommendations, I will try to come up with "serious" literature to recommend. But really, most of the time, I prefer happy, fluffy chick lit. (Not to be confused with romance novels. They aren't happy or fluffy in my opinion.) Melanie Jacobson's books are my favorite genre in reality. But if you ask me, I'll swear I prefer the serious stuff. (P.S. In no way am I saying the genre is "bad." I am totally jealous of Melanie's talent, and wish I could write like she does.)

In the book Not My Type, the main character's name is Pepper Spicer. Okay, first of all, I love how other characters in the book tease Pepper and her other family members about their names. I won't tell you what their names are, but judging by the last name, you could probably figure out a couple of them. So anyway, Pepper has something happen in her life (I won't ruin it by telling you what it is, but rest assured it has to do with a boy) and she becomes a Grumpy McGrumperson. Her therapist dad suggests (okay, he kind of bribes her) that she writes one thank you note per week for one year to someone in her life for whatever reason she can come up with. The story unfolds from here, including but not limited to: back-handed compliments within said thank you notes, making a fool of herself, a good friend, a job, crazy dates with weird boys, music concerts, discussions of yummy food, and descriptions of funky/cool clothing that I will never be cool enough to wear.

More than once I thought while reading this book, "Ooh, that was a good plot twist that I never saw coming!" I really enjoyed reading Not My Type.

P.S. If you will remember, I wrote a review about her book The List. Melanie Jacobson may just be becoming one of my favorite fluffy chick lit authors. Keep 'em coming, Melanie!

Fourteen

2011-09-16T09:42:00.000-06:00

Pre-dating (sorry, R., for cutting your body off in this picture) (I was casually dating R, and Christian was his best friend)

During mission (ahem)

Mission homecoming

4th of July engagement day (approximate time between last picture and this one: eight days)

Wedding photo (Laie, Hawaii) (to see different wedding pics, click here, here and here)

Ten years (in Iowa)

Proud moment - Christian earned his Ph.D.

I'm looking forward to our future. Happy anniversary, my love!

Impress Young People! (And Maybe Some Old People Too)

2011-09-14T12:21:00.003-06:00

My eight year old got this at school a couple of weeks ago, and I thought it was so clever I wanted to pass it on to you.

A - 1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17,19,21,23,25,27,29,31
B - 2,3,6,7,10,11,14,15,18,19,22,23,26,27,30,31
C - 4,5,6,7,12,13,14,15,20,21,22,23,28,29,30,31
D - 8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31
E - 16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31

Now, you have someone either pick a number between and including 1 and 31 (if it is someone you know), or, if it is someone you don't know, have them choose the day they were born. Then have them tell you all of the letter(s) their number occur(s) in. For example, since my birthday is on the 13th (of November - mark your calendars), I would say that my number is in letters A, C, and D. Then, you can magically tell them what their number is, just like that! Amaze and astound everyone.

The trick is that no matter what number they choose, the very first number in each of those letters added up equals their number. So, A's line begins with 1, C's begins with 4, and D's begins with 8. 1+4+8=13.

Cool, huh? Try it. It works every time. And be prepared to impress your kids when they get home from school. Or your colleagues at work. Or the maître d' at the restaurant you frequent. It's like magic.

(After reading my instructions, they kind of didn't make sense to me. I hope it makes sense to you. If you get it, but my instructions are garbled, help me rewrite them and I will edit them.)

(Sometimes, I just need to write a completely useless, fun post.)

The Post in Which I Cause a Stir

2011-09-13T10:32:00.000-06:00

So, you know how I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about how it's not okay to be cruel to people who are gay? Everyone needs compassion, love and respect, regardless of race, religion, gender, or sexual identity. It's easy to look at the gay issue with an "us versus them" mentality when you don't actually know anyone who is gay (or, in actuality, you just don't know who is gay because they haven't told you, but most likely you actually do know someone who identifies as gay). I used to have more of an "us vs them" mentality, but my viewpoint has changed with time, age, and knowing and loving my brother-in-law, who is gay. (My viewpoint has also changed with prayer, following promptings of the Spirit, open communication with people who have more understanding than me, and truly learning empathy regarding the subject.)

I also wrote about my friend who came out to me years ago, and our relationship changed after that. Well, I reached out to her on Facebook, asked her to read the post, and told her that I love her and that I truly do wish her the best. We have since had a great conversation via Facebook, and I found out yesterday that she and her girlfriend are getting married next month in Iowa.

I am so happy for her. SO happy. I desperately wish I still lived in Iowa so I could attend the wedding. What a great celebration it will be between two people who love each other, and have loved each other for years.

I know there are many of you who will not agree with me. That is okay. We can agree to respectfully and kindly disagree.

A Little More Kindness

2011-09-06T12:59:00.001-06:00

For the last two weeks, I have been going on a walk every morning. As soon as the boys get on the bus, I put Kaitlyn in her stroller, turn up the "workout" playlist on my iPod, and cruise around the neighborhood. I love listening to music while I walk - sometimes I find myself singing along, not caring about who might be able to hear me. Kaitlyn is quiet the entire time. She loves being outside. (Of course, maybe the fact that my music is turned up and I can't hear whether she is talking or not may also have something to do with it.)

I noticed the first week I was walking that if I crossed paths with people, I would do like I usually do: nod my head or kind of half-smile. But toward the end of the first week, something happened that changed my outlook. I was walking down the left side of the street, since we don't have sidewalks in our neighborhood, and I had my music turned up. Suddenly, a short bus came up behind me and passed me. I looked up, and there was a young man sitting on the bus, looking right at me with a huge smile on his face and waving to me with his entire arm. I waved back to him, my smile matching his.

Doing this made me think back to one person I knew who always had a smile on her face, and was always kind and friendly to everyone she crossed paths with, whether she knew them or not. Jill R. was my friend when I lived in Orem and she is the friendliest person I have ever known. I decided right then, as I was smiling and waving to the young man on the bus, that I want to be more like him. I want to be more like my friend Jill.

So ever since this experience, I have been smiling, waving, and saying hi to people, whether it's the man who mows our lawn (HOA), or the couple who was fighting on the sidewalk as I walked between them on another of my walks, or random people while I am walking to the library from the parking lot.

I think the world needs a little more kindness, a little more happiness, a little more love. Thanks, to the young man and to my friend Jill, for your great examples.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-31T08:00:00.000-06:00

Aidan hates anything mint flavored. I wondered whether Kaitlyn would be the same.

What do you think?

Mailbox Moments

2011-08-29T09:19:00.004-06:00

There is a cute new blog that a mother and daughter started because Kendra (the daughter) moved with her husband and child to Hawaii, while Lesa (the mother) remains in Utah. They always have fun ideas and thoughts that they blog about, plus the pictures Kendra takes in Hawaii make me completely and utterly jealous. Today (well, all month actually, but I'm late to the party as usual) they are hosting a Mailbox Moment Monday, and the prompt is about staying in touch with your family. I thought, I can write about that! Especially since my mom's birthday was on Saturday, and my kids made cards for her!

Now, the only problem is that my mom hasn't received her birthday cards yet. Again, because I'm late to the party. (Or a procrastinator, or a mom of young children. You choose.) So Mom, if you don't want to see the cards until you receive them in person, click away now. (But also know, Mom, that there is a special present from the boys inside the card that you can't see in this picture.)

Since my parents live five hours away, we don't see them as often as we would like. But the boys are good about sending cards to wish Nana a happy birthday. Ethan has been working really hard on his penmanship (especially when earning Pokemon cards as a reward). And I love Aidan's blue horizontal scribble sky and green vertical scribble grass.

My kids are so cute. But I'm not biased or anything.

I'm Working on Being an H

2011-08-22T12:34:00.004-06:00

Imagine that you and your spouse (or significant other, or anyone else with whom you have a close relationship) are the long sides of a letter A (facing each other). Your heads are touching, and your feet are semi-far apart from each other. You rely on each other because if one of you moves, the other one will fall. Everything you do relies upon the other person doing it too. And if the short crossbar, or whatever it is that is creating the horizontal line to complete the A, falls out from between you, what do you have? A completely unstable system that is sure to fall.

Now, imagine that the two of you are the vertical lines in the letter H. You can stand on your own, choosing how long or short the horizontal line is between you. You can even choose to connect hands to create the line. You can choose to be close together, or you can choose to step away but still be within eye contact. And, best of all, if the short crossbar falls out from between you, what do you have? You still have two people, able to stand on their own, who can choose how to create a new crossbar.

(These ideas are inspired in part by the book Passionate Marriage.)

It's Time for Me to Say Something

2011-08-16T08:00:00.003-06:00

In the last week or two I have seen a lot of posts, comments, and articles around the internet about people who are gay and lesbian. Some of the stories I have read have been at best, disheartening, and at worst, downright awful.

I came across a blog post last week of a woman who had moved into a new ward and was looking forward to meeting new people. However, after living there for only a couple of months, a teacher in Relief Society told a story of how she had a friend confide in her that she was gay, and the teacher decided to end the friendship because she didn't want her children to associate with someone who could be a bad influence. No one in that room knew that there was a woman in the same room who identified as gay, was committed to remaining celibate and staying in the church, who went home that day absolutely crushed, and convinced herself that she could never tell anyone her secret.

Then yesterday, I read a post where a 20 year old woman had come out to her parents, and the parents were having a difficult time with it. (Completely understandable.) They wrote a letter to Ask Mormon Girl (aka Joanna Brooks - a woman I hugely admire, who wrote an op ed for the Washington Post about the Five Myths of Mormonism), asking her whether not allowing their daughter to bring her girlfriend into their home would further alienate their daughter from them. I realize this is a very touchy situation, and I believe Joanna's advice was sound. However, there was a commenter who copied and pasted a bunch of scriptures from The Bible, and then followed that with his own thoughts, which I quote:

The scriptural answer is clear. Not only should you not allow your child to bring home the “partner,” but you might have to consider not allowing them to come home either. They are spiritually dead and as such it might be necessary to act accordingly, mourning their choices...

This
makes
me
sick.

Sick to my stomach. I realize this is one person's extreme view, but I have seen WAY too much of this type of opinion to keep quiet anymore. I will not keep quiet anymore.

I don't believe we have to choose between the church or our children. I don't believe that being gay is a sin. Christian and I have discussed what we would do if one of our children told us they were gay. We would absolutely love them and accept them for who they are. We would welcome their partner into our family with open arms.

We have also discussed with our children what being gay means. (In an age-appropriate manner, of course.) We have taught them to stand up to others if they make disparaging remarks toward people who are gay. They know that their uncle Aaron is a totally cool guy who loves them so much, and who happens to be gay.

My heart breaks for gay people whose families have shunned them. My heart breaks for gay people who feel that suicide is a viable option (or worse, the only option). My heart breaks for gay people who are scared to tell ANYONE, for fear of being excluded, looked down upon, bullied, or worse.

I have not always felt this strongly. Pre- life bomb, I didn't know how I felt. I had a friend come out to me a few years ago and I didn't know how to respond. I told her I loved her, and I wished her the best in her life, and then, sadly, our friendship changed a little bit. I regret this SO much. I wish I knew then what I know now.

It was easier to stay neutral then. I am not neutral anymore.

This is what I would like to say to my friend now: You are welcome in my home. You are welcome to talk to my children. I love you. I love your partner too. I will always be your friend.

Mmm Mmm Good

2011-08-09T10:00:00.000-06:00

There are a few food items that I WANT to like, but I just don't - no matter how many times I try them. Tomatoes are one of them. I will go to a restaurant, order a BLT sandwich, take one bite, and pick the tomatoes off of the sandwich. What is it about tomatoes that make me feel this way? I think the smell of a fresh tomato is wonderful, but there is something about the texture and taste that makes me gag.

Another thing I have always wanted to like, but just can't make myself, is potato salad. I have tried to eat it so many times, only to throw away the left over heap on my plate.

However, my dad introduced me to a potato salad recipe that he made up (can you say GENIUS in a sing-songy voice?), and I liked it SO much that I have made it twice in two weeks (in addition to eating it at his house while we were in Logan). Yippee! Finally - a potato salad that I like! Now, will someone please help me find a fresh tomato recipe that I will actually like?

Roger's Yummy Potato Salad
posted by Erin of If You Give a Mom a Moment

5-6 medium red potatoes, not peeled - cooked and diced
6 pieces of bacon (1/4 pound), cooked and crumbled
2 1/2 - 3 oz feta cheese, crumbled (I used 4 oz garlic and herb feta, and it was DEELISH)
2 green onions, sliced thin
3 crushed cloves of garlic, cooked in a little of the bacon grease
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup Lighthouse ranch dressing
optional: 2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

Chill potatoes. Then mix everything together, and toss in approx 1 cup Lighthouse ranch dressing. Let set in the fridge for 6-8 hours.

Confessions, TV & Movie Style

2011-08-02T16:00:00.000-06:00

I still have the series finale of The Oprah Show recorded on my TiVo. I learned a lot from it and I don't want to forget it!
I recorded The Bachelorette season finale and The Men Tell All even though I didn't watch most of the season. I had to see whether Bentley would show up. (I had read about him on one of my favorite blogs, Mormon Child Bride.) (He didn't show up.)
I just found RuPaul's Drag Race on Netflix Instant. I've never seen it before, but I'm looking forward to watching it.
I just watched Touching the Void on Netflix Instant. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I can't believe the perseverance of one of the main characters. Yes, it's rated R. No, I don't care. (If you fell 150 feet off the edge of a cliff into a crevasse and still lived, you might say the F word 10 or 20 times yourself.)
Breaking Bad is the most well-made show on television. Period. That's not a confession, that's just fact.
I got to see Harry Potter 7.2 on opening weekend with my awesome friend, Melissa. It was the first time I had been in a movie theater in so long that I can't actually remember what movie I had last seen in the theater.
I don't get out much.
The tv show MasterChef makes me want to be an amazing, fantastic chef. But only as long as I wouldn't have to clean any of the dishes.
So You Think You Can Dance is great this summer, but not as great as it has been in the past.
I'm looking forward to the fall lineup of shows. I've got my TiVo cleared out (well, except for Oprah) and I'm ready to start recording.

I'm off to make pizza. (Not) Just like a MasterChef.

Parable of the Leaf

2011-07-29T07:00:00.005-06:00

I have a plant/tree/greenery of some kind in the room where I teach piano. For the most part, it is really healthy and happy there.

See the small leaves growing out of the very top of the tree? It loves being near this window. (And I'm sure the hours of piano music it hears every week helps too. :) )It is, however, kind of stuck in the corner, as you can see. I have the bookshelf bolted into the wall for stability, so it can't be moved. Nevertheless, I am happy with the rate of growth of this tree. (Especially considering the fact that I forget to water it, hence the yellow leaves.)

I noticed something a few days ago. It is regarding this particular branch of leaves.
I think this branch of leaves should be really happy where it is located: right next to my church manuals and French books. However, when you look more closely, you will see that one of the leaves is a LOT smaller than the rest of the leaves on the branch.
The direction the branch is growing is toward the bookshelf, and this small leaf happens to be pushing up against the edge of the bookshelf in its natural position. However, being in this location has caused the leaf to be stunted in its growth. All of the leaves on this branch are healthy; however, this particular leaf is smaller than the rest of the leaves on the branch.

The bookshelf is immovable. The branch itself is pliable. Had the branch moved, even just a little bit, this leaf would have had the chance to grow into the leaf it was meant to be. But the leaf just stopped growing. Its progression has stopped in its current location.

Am I like the leaf? Am I going to let a "bookshelf" get in my way of progression? Or am I going to find an alternate solution so I can grow into the person I want to be and am meant to be?

(P.S. I myself moved the branch after taking this picture so that the leaf can now have a chance to grow.)

(Do you see any other parallels in this parable?)

2011-07-24T14:18:00.001-06:00

On Thursday, my family drove five hours to northern Utah to visit family. Then yesterday, my mom, sister and I, and our six kids, drove an additional 2+ hours to Idaho Falls to visit aunts, uncles, and cousins that I haven't seen or visited with in years. There were 42 people in my aunt's house for dinner yesterday evening. We had a nice meal, enjoyed the conversation, and, as always, I learned a lot.

- I learned that if you accidentally leave a meatloaf in the oven for nearly three hours, but you purchased the casserole dish at the D.I. (like the Goodwill) for a dollar, it might just be easier to throw the entire dish away than to try to clean it.

- I learned that my aunt's children massage her feet, and have for years and years. Now that they are older, they are GOOD feet massagers. They have even learned about reflexology. My cousin did amazing work on my feet (my back has been killing me for a couple of weeks now, and after he massaged my feet, my back felt better). I realized my aunt is a GENIUS. I am going to start having my boys massage my feet now - by the time they get married, their wives will thank me :)

- I learned that when there are 42 people in one house for a few short hours, you don't get a chance to speak to everyone for as much time as you would like.

- I learned that it was kind of weird (and really cool) to see my cousins all grown up with kids of their own. They are still young'uns in my mind!

- I learned that my "favorite" cousin (the only cousin my age) really loves me. She had an emergency appendectomy at midnight Friday night/Saturday morning, and begged her doctor to release her from the hospital in time to make it to the dinner on Saturday at 5:00.

- I learned that it takes more than 45 minutes to get my children to bed/sleep in an unfamiliar house. It takes less than 10 minutes at our own house.

- I learned that it is really fun seeing family I haven't seen in ages.

- I learned that I don't miss the internet when I'm too busy having fun.

And now I'm off to have more fun!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

T.H.N.G.V.B.S.F.

2011-07-14T06:00:00.001-06:00

Well, my family officially survived the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Stomach Flu of 2011. I threw up, in one night, as many times as I did while pregnant with all three of my children combined (which was only two; however, both times were WAY worse than while I was pregnant. I won't give you details. You're welcome.). However, Ethan lost his cookies 36 times. Somehow, Kaitlyn was blessedly skipped by this virus. Because, you know, babies who can't tell you they are going to hurl before hurling right into your lap (or in your hair, or on the carpet, or whatever) are the worst.

Because we were all suffering for days and days, Kaitlyn watched a lot of Baby Einstein. Specifically, Baby Mozart and Baby Beethoven. We purchased 12 of the dvds back when Ethan was a baby, and thankfully, they still work wonders. I know as my boys got a little older than Kaitlyn is right now, their favorites morphed from Baby Mozart and Beethoven to Baby Neptune (discovering water) and Baby MacDonald (a day on the farm). For any of you who just LOVE Baby Einstein dvds (like, I'm sure you watch them yourselves after the kids go to bed. Ha.), what are your favorites? What are your kids' favorites? (P.S. Don't purchase Baby Bach. It's a complete waste of money.)

P.S. You know, one of these days I'm going to get my blogging groove back, and then I'll be interesting again. Frankly, I'm surprised anyone still reads my blog. Thanks for sticking around though. I sense good posts trickling into the back of my mind, and I just have to let them percolate for a little while longer until I can say what I want to say.

It's Perfect! But... Something is Wrong

2011-07-07T07:00:00.003-06:00

I am so stoked.

Over the long weekend, I got a great deal on king-sized sheets from JC Penney. We also found a fantastic deal on craigslist for a complete bedroom set, including a king sized headboard and footboard (and frame), matching dresser drawers with mirror, and a nightstand. After nearly 14 years of marriage, we are so excited to finally have a bedroom set that matches and looks nice!

However, there is just one minor issue...

Oh, isn't that a lovely bedroom set? I love the mirror - we have never had a mirror in our bedroom. Ever. And now my beautiful lamp has a beautiful place to rest.
A picture of the bed and nightstand. So preeeety. But hmmm - something doesn't seem right. Is something a little off?
Um, oh yeah. That's what is wrong.
We are now the proud owners of a king-sized bed frame, but we only own a queen-sized bed. We have been talking about purchasing a king-sized bed for a while now, but when we found the deal on craigslist, we couldn't pass it up. So, we currently have a Huggies diaper box shoved into the space so our bed won't slide around on the frame, and we wait. Wait for a good deal on a bed, wait while we do research to decide what kind of bed we want, wait to see if I win the one that Stephanie from Adventures in Babywearing is giving away right now. (Don't click on the link. I don't want you to win it straight out of my hot little hands.)

My bedroom is so close to being just right. And yet, so far away.

(P.S. Don't you looove my quilt? My mom is a master quilt piecer, and my aunt is a master longarm quilter. I measured the quilt, and after we get a king-sized bed, the quilt will fall about three inches over either side of the bed. That's enough for a quilt, right? Queen-sized quilts are made to fit king-sized beds, right? Sigh.)

On Judging

2011-07-01T13:30:00.001-06:00

Story #1:

My sister lives in a very small town. Everyone knows everyone else. That can definitely be a good thing and a bad thing, as I'm sure you can imagine. Everyone knows who to call when they need help (which is, very often, my sister) and everyone knows who to avoid...

Enter Marie (not her real name). Marie is a self-professed jack-Mormon. (Jack-Mormon is a nickname some people use to describe someone of my faith who doesn't usually go to church and doesn't necessarily abide by the rules of the church.) Marie drinks, she used to smoke but finally kicked the habit, she loves to cuss, and because of some of these reasons, some members of the community avoid her.

And my sister said she is one of the kindest, most selfless, giving people she has ever met. My sister's husband recently had an accident at work that required surgery. Some friends and family called to see how he was doing, and would end the phone calls with, "Well, if there's anything I can do..." (These platitudes felt hollow to my sister.) Marie, however, said, "I will take your kids while your husband is in surgery and I will be making you dinner too." She gave my sister the true support and friendship she needed at a difficult time.

Marie always does things like this. She is currently doing a fundraiser, hoping to raise a thousand dollars to donate to a local organization that gives monetary and medical aid to local residents in need.

I want to be more like Marie. It's really sad that people are unwilling to get to know her because of their discomfort since she is different from them.

Story #2

We have a lovely family who lives in our neighborhood. The husband has a series of ailments which render him severely disabled. He is a great man. On good days, he can walk down the street and back. On bad days, he can't leave his bed. He comes to church when he can. He spends as much time with his children as he can. He can't do much else.

The wife runs the household. She does virtually everything, from raising their five children, to running the in-home business, to cooking and cleaning and chauffering everyone around. She is also going to school to earn her degree so she can get a job doing something she loves. She and her husband never complain, even when things are really rough. I have nothing but praise and love for this family. They are doing the very best they can with the circumstances they have been given.

Two days ago, this dear, sweet family received a two page letter in the mail. This anonymous letter told told them that their yard is a disgrace to the neighborhood. It said that they shouldn't have built a house there if they weren't going to keep the yard up. It said that lots of people have health problems, and they are still able to have nice yards. Then it got personal, calling them "users" (because some members of the church did some yard work last year and they didn't "keep it up") and that they are lazy and bad examples to their children. It ended by calling them "the worm in the apple that needs to be cut out" of the neighborhood.

My heart bleeds for this family. Someone just added insult to injury. What happened to "love thy neighbor"? Why do people feel the need to judge, and to spew forth ugliness in the world? What makes any one of us any better than anyone else?

Nothing. We are all equal in God's eyes.

Please, please don't judge others. We never know their circumstances. Even if we think we do, we don't.

(P.S. Their yard is just fine. I would move next door to them in a heartbeat, and I see nothing wrong with their yard at all.)

Vacation

2011-06-28T15:13:00.001-06:00

We have spent the last five days in Moab, Utah visiting family. We visited tons of cool places: Fremont Indian State Park, Canyonlands National Park (both Island in the Sky and the Needles district), and Arches National Park. We also stayed at the Red Cliffs Lodge for a night, and my husband and boys went mountain biking and fishing (while my mother-in-law and I went shopping to one of my favorite stores, Wild Roses).

My in-laws have a Great Dane named Duke, who is much taller than Kaitlyn. When we first arrived, she was terrified of the giant animal. But after a day of warming up, she fell in love. She seeks him out, patting her leg (the baby sign for dog), and laughs when she finds him. Like, hysterically laughs. It is so cute. I really wish my camera hadn't stopped working after the first two days, because I missed out on a lot of cute photo opportunities.

As we were driving up the river road, we passed by an area called Sandy Beach. Aidan looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "Of course it's sandy. Beaches ARE sandy." Duh.

Last night, we were all sitting around the table and the boys were asking questions, like they frequently do. (Aidan's question last night was, "How does our brain hold memories?") Ethan's question was hilarious. "Why do old people, like adults, like national parks so much?"

We have had a fabulous vacation. (I had completely forgotten that I had set the history blog post to autopost. Without proofreading. Kind of like I'm going to do with this post.) It will also be nice to go home.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

History Stinks

2011-06-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

My senior year of high school, ~~I was so stupid~~ I decided to take two AP classes - AP Calculus and AP History. In theory, taking AP classes is great because you can end up with a lot of elective credits that will go toward your college education, and these credits cost a lot less than actually taking classes at the university. However, it didn't work out quite so well for me. I dropped out of AP Calculus the last semester, because everything I was learning was so over my head and I knew I wouldn't pass the test. (I cried every night when I attempted my homework.) That was pretty much the smartest decision I made that year.

However, I would have been smart to also drop out of AP History. But, stupidly enough, I didn't.

I have to admit, I have never liked history. I'm totally bored by it. The information goes in one ear and out the other. However, since my friends were taking the class, I decided to jump on the peer pressure bandwagon and take the class too.

I didn't like the teacher. I didn't like taking notes. I didn't like reading the textbook. I didn't like writing papers. Basically, I hated every single thing about that class.

One day, our teacher asked us to write a 3-5 page paper on the oppression some group forced upon some other group (if I liked history, I would have actually remembered which groups of people I am actually referring to. However, I am being intentionally vague because I didn't care then, and I don't remember now.).

As always, I procrastinated writing the paper, and then agonized over it the night before it was due. The next morning, I handed it in, relieved that one more paper was finished.

A few days later, our teacher told us he had duped us. The one group hadn't actually been oppressed by the other group. He said out of all of the papers we wrote, only one person said they weren't oppressed, and one other person suggested that the oppression wasn't as, well, oppressive as we might think.

So, in other words, we all spent time agonizing over a completely b.s. paper.

At the end of the school year, I got a 1 (out of 5) on the AP final, completely failing the exam, and getting no AP credit toward my college education.

Does anybody out there hate history more than me? Is there anybody out there I could challenge to make me like it?

Friendship

2011-06-20T06:00:00.001-06:00

Our Relief Society lesson in church yesterday was about developing our talents. Our teacher spent a lot of time discussing both outward talents (those that people can easily see) and talents of the heart, which are less noticeable. She gave us time to think about the talents we have and the talents we want to develop. And I realized something.

I love making friends. I don't know if that is considered a talent or not, but I love it.

I love breaking down barriers, losing the surface-level pleasantries, and really learning more about people. I love learning what makes a person tick. I love opening myself up, and getting vulnerable, and having a friend do the same with me.

I made a new friend recently, all because she took a chance. And in the last few weeks, I have learned a lot about myself through this friendship.

I think "taking a chance" is where I kind of get held up - because often, I am afraid to take a chance. So that's the next "talent" I intend to develop.

So - thank you, all of you, for being my friend. And thank you for taking a chance on me.

Make Sure You're Dressed Before Standing in Front of a Window.

2011-06-10T13:11:00.004-06:00

Last night was my Relief Society night. We had a potluck of summer salads, and sat in our R.S. president's backyard and ate and visited. Thirty people came! Success! Next month's activity is already planned, which means I don't have to fret and worry until August...

Anyway, the group I was visiting with started talking about our most embarrassing moments. I have had a fair share, and I have written about a few of them here. I have one more story, which I shared last night, that I have never posted about. It was truly mortifying for me.

Christian and I had been married for a couple of years. We lived in my grandma's basement, and you had to go around to the back of the house to the sliding glass door to access our apartment. It was really quiet, and we had no neighbors adjacent to our back yard.

Our computer was set up in our living room, which was easily viewed from the sliding glass door. One day, Christian was at school and it was my day off. I was just about ready to jump in the shower, and I decided to check my email really quickly before I got in. I was standing in front of the computer desk, in my undergarments, when Christian's best friend walked around the corner, up to the sliding glass door and knocked.

I looked at him (with a deer-in-the-headlights stare, I'm sure). He looked at me. And I bolted. I ran to the bedroom as quickly as I could. And I swear, the rest is a blur. I don't know if I got dressed and went out and talked to him, or if I hid in my room until he left.

I embarrassingly told my husband what happened that night. The next day, when he talked to his friend, his friend said, "All I saw was a flash of white." (If there is a silver lining in all of this, it is this: at least he saw a flash of white, and not a flash of flesh!)

My husband and Jeremy are still best friends. And Jeremy still likes to tease me about it. (It has been 12 years.)

And that, my friends, is my most embarrassing story. (I'm sure some of you have worse stories. You are welcome to share, if you would like!)

Life Bomb

2011-06-02T10:00:00.001-06:00

A year ago last February, I had a life bomb occur. Yes, I just made that term up. A life bomb is when something occurs that completely blows up your life as you knew it, and you are left with a mess of teeny tiny pieces to try to put back together in some semi-recognizable form.

(Additionally, a life bomb is something that you don't want to/can't write about on your blog when it is happening, and then when you write about it in a really cryptic manner, your blog friends are alternately dying to know what happened and ticked off that you even said anything in the first place without going into more detail.)

(Some of you may now want to search my archives for posts from that time. You won't find much - just one vague post.)

Since then, I have grown into myself more. I have changed A LOT (however, most of this change is mental, and you may not see it if you are only on casual terms with me. Have you noticed a change on my blog?). I have had many aha moments (I have written about one or two of them, but I can't seem to find them in my archives). I am becoming more honest with myself, and my relationships with people who are close to me are better than ever as a result.

You know how, when you are in the middle of a really hard trial, you just wish it would end? You want to crawl into a cave and sleep the time away until the trial is over. But then, when you look back at all that you have learned from that trial, you realize that it was for the best. And you wouldn't change any of it, because of what you have learned.

Yeah, that's where I am right now. And I'm really happy.

Big Flirter

2011-06-01T10:48:00.003-06:00

I take Kaitlyn with me to Wally World at least weekly (usually twice a week - what can I say? When it's the only option in town, you tend to go all of the time.). However, when I took her yesterday, I had more people than ever stop me to tell me what a cutie I have. Or they would stop to coo at her. One woman asked me what his name is (I wasn't the least bit offended. Babies don't look like a particular gender until they get older.).

When I was in the baking aisle (I spend most of my time, and therefore money, in the baking aisle. I purchase chocolate chips, flour and brown sugar by the barrel.), Kaitlyn was having the best time grabbing the shopping list out of my hand, throwing it on the ground, and laughing hysterically as I picked it up. Over and over and over she did this. Finally, a Wal-Mart worker came up to me and said, "She is the cutest thing I have ever seen in a Wal-Mart store. You don't see many cuties like her in here." (Maybe this woman saw the People of Wal-Mart YouTube video?)

Thirty minutes later, when I was finally in the (never-ending) checkout line, the same Wal-Mart worker came and found me. She had another worker with her, and she said, "I just had to show my friend how cute your baby is." They started cooing at her, and she promptly started crying. I told them it was WAY past her naptime, and that is why she was crying. And then I left. At least 10 people flirted with Kaitlyn at Wal-Mart yesterday.

Part of it, I'm sure, is because Christian and I make such cute kids. But maybe part of it was because she was wearing these footy pajamas:

The F Word

2011-05-31T13:41:00.003-06:00

Aidan loves to tease Ethan, and of course, as an older brother, Ethan sees it as pestering. This morning, Aidan was ~~pestering~~ teasing Ethan, like usual, when I heard Ethan mumble the words, "Oh go away, f*gg*t."

WHAT?!? WHAT IN THE WORLD DID YOU JUST SAY?!

(In fact, he didn't say that, but I didn't take the time to find out. I'll tell you what he really said in a minute.)

I didn't even stop and ask him to repeat himself, which would have avoided a huge misunderstanding, but it also wouldn't have made for a good teaching moment either.

I admonished him to never use that word, EVER. I explained what it meant. I told him that if he ever heard anyone use that word, EVER, he should strongly tell them to stop and to tell them that it is NOT OKAY to use that word.

(Then I calmed down a little, and told him I wasn't mad at him, but that I wanted him to understand how awful that word is, and did he understand? He did.)

Then I told him about a news article I heard about six boys beating up another boy for 30 minutes while video taping it, and then uploading it to YouTube. (Okay, okay, in full disclosure I learned about the news article from The Talk.) I asked him how he would feel if he was the boy being beaten up. I taught him what he could do if he saw someone being bullied (strongly tell the bully to stop; find an adult to help). I explained to him that it is so important to NOT be a follower, and that it is so important to love others and to help those in need.

This conversation went on for at least 10 minutes. Then, Ethan whispered, "What word is it that you don't want me to say?" (I really do have a very sweet boy who never swears and still thinks the word "stupid" is a bad word.)

I asked him, "What word did you say?"

He said, "I called Aidan a fat kid."

Oh.

(I felt really bad for a moment.)

Then I apologized profusely for the misunderstanding, and told him that while it isn't nice to call his brother a fat kid, that's not really a "bad word." (P.S. Aidan's not fat. And he knows it. And we talked about not name calling too.)

We hugged, and now he knows not to use the F- word. Ever.

An Ending. And a Beginning.

2011-05-27T10:32:00.004-06:00

Today is the last day of school. The boys are meeting their new teachers for next year, cleaning their classrooms, and saying their goodbyes for the summer.

Aidan dressed himself this morning. Note the semi-dressy shirt, buttoned all the way to the top; the work-out shorts, in a different shade of turquoise than the shirt (it looks worse in real life than it does in the pictures), and the mismatched dark blue socks. (I made him switch to white socks, but let him wear the shirt and shorts.)
(Yes, that is Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss on the cover of EW. I'm excited to see The Hunger Games movie.)

I have loved watching my kids grow thoughout the year - physically, socially, mentally. And I am really looking forward to spending time with them this summer. Some of our goals: regular piano lessons and practice; going boating, biking, camping and hiking together; doing science experiments; playing, relaxing, and playing some more.

Let the fun times begin!

Busy, in a Good Way

2011-05-23T08:24:00.005-06:00

In addition to the "normal" stuff, this is what has happened this week:

Kaitlyn's first birthday
She had another tooth come through (this makes five)
She started walking (I would post a video here, but there is too much underwear laundry in the background of the video. Go to the private blog if you want to see it.)
She had her one year inoculations
She didn't sleep for two days as a result of the shots
One of my friends asked me where my followers button was on this blog. I put it back up without any moment of angst, hesitation, or worry. (Wow, I have come a long way since I started this blog!)
Grandma Ruth came to town for four days
Christian and I went on a shopping spree to St. George for an entire day (without children! It was woooonderful.)
I didn't get to go golfing because Aidan threw up
We went to Red Cliffs (beautiful!)
Christian and I went to an Equality Celebration dinner in St. George Saturday night. (Equality Utah is an organization designed to promote LGBT rights.) We had a wonderful time and met some really great people. (Plus, the ricotta and herb bruschetta was to die for.)

And this morning, I have oodles of errands to run, Mt. Washmore to launder, and a house to clean. Fun fun!

What Survivor Taught me About God

2011-05-16T10:30:00.002-06:00

I just finished watching the finale of Survivor. (For the record, I am very happy about the person who won. To keep it gender neutral, in case you TiVoed it, he/she definitely deserved it.)

This season, they introduced a thing called Redemption Island, where when a person was voted out of the game, they got to go to Redemption Island for a chance to re-enter the game at some unknown point. Matt was on Redemption Island for most of the game, winning duel after duel and continuing on in the hopes of becoming America's Next Top Model. (Uh, sorry, wrong show. That finale is this coming Wednesday.) Unfortunately, he lost the very last duel that would have put him back in the game.

If you have been watching Survivor, Matt is very close to God and has a lot of faith. He kept saying he would do God's will, and he gives all glory to God. Can you imagine being either alone or mostly alone 24 hours a day for 29 days on an island with nothing but a bit of rice to eat? At one point, he was broken. He was a completely broken man. And yet, even while he was crying because of his frustration, loneliness, and despair, he continued to praise God.

Matt is a man full of faith. He has more faith than I do. Religion is secondary. Matt has a relationship with God.

My epiphany (or rather, reminder) was that God is personal for each of us. Or, at least He can be, if we will let Him. You don't have to be a certain religion for God to love you. He just does. Love you, that is. No matter your religion, no matter your gender, no matter your race, no matter your sexual orientation.

So I guess the real questions are - how do we love Him back? How do we let Him in? How do we allow Him to become personal to us?

(Thanks Survivor, and thanks Matt, for giving me this epiphany this morning.)

(And now, back to my ironing.)

The Birds and the Bees

2011-05-13T12:47:00.000-06:00

As part of Aidan's bedtime routine, he likes to ask Christian questions. Stuff like, "Where does electricity come from?", "How do stars disappear?" and "How does food get made?"

Last week, he had already asked Christian a couple of questions, and at this point, was just stalling his bedtime as much as possible. Christian finally said, "Okay, let's do one more quick question."

Aidan said, "Hmmm... Okay! How are babies made?"

Christian said, "Well... that question takes a while to answer, so I'll just say that when a mommy and daddy love each other, they make a baby. We'll talk more later."

~~~~~~~~~~

Last night, Aidan said, "I know how people get married."

Christian said, "Oh, yeah? How do they get married?"

(I was sitting there thinking, oh boy.)

Aidan said, "You get a piece of spaghetti, and each person sucks on one end. When you get to the middle, you are married!"

~~~~~~~~~~

Today, at lunch:

Christian: "Can you marry your sister?"

Aidan: "No! She's way too young. She's not 20 yet."

Me: "But can you marry her when she is 20 or 25?"

Aidan: "Yes."

Christian: "No, you can't. You can't marry your family at all."

Aidan: "Really? Why not?"

I love the innocence of children!

Incongruence

2011-05-09T10:24:00.001-06:00

Over the weekend, Christian and I were talking about how we can be more authentic to ourselves (when your husband is a psychologist, you tend to have many serious discussions like this). He pointed out that I never play the piano for fun anymore, and that I never speak French to anyone or even watch French movies anymore.

(Of course, if I don't want to do these things, it is okay, but if I identify myself as a piano player and/or a lover of all things French, then why don't I actually pursue these interests? Why do I seem to have such an incongruence between who I say or think I am, and who I act like I am?)

(That last sentence may not make sense to you, but it does to me, so I'm not changing it.)

So, I thought about it for a while. I know I've got issues, and they came up while we were talking, but I also realized that I watch a lot of TV, and that cuts into what little free time I have. So I deleted three subscriptions to shows I watch off of my TiVo. Then I sat down at the piano and played a beautiful piece arranged by Sherrie Shepherd. It was relaxing and lovely. And it showed me how rusty I have become from lack of playing.

I will continue pondering over how I can make my life more congruent with my feelings. Next, I think I will watch one of the French movies that are in my Netflix queue. (Does anyone have any suggestions of good French movies they have seen?)

(Does anyone else find incongruence in their lives, or is it just me?)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad (my computer has a virus. Typing a blog post on an iPad is harder than it seems.)

Special Day

2011-05-02T10:10:00.005-06:00

Ethan turned eight years old last Monday. (He got a bike! He ate lemon cake and Snickers ice cream! He was spoiled all around and felt very loved!)

In our religion, we baptize children by immersion at the age of eight. We believe that by age eight, children begin to have an understanding between right and wrong, and as a result, they begin to have accountability for their actions.

Also for this reason, Christian and I did not go into it with the assumption that Ethan would be baptized. At all. (We wanted him to choose for himself whether he wanted to be baptized.)

What happened was, about two or three months ago, we started having FHE (family night) lessons about baptism. One time we talked about Jesus being baptized even though he was perfect, and why He was baptized (to set an example for all of us). We talked about immersion, and why we do it that way (following Jesus' example). We talked about what it means to be baptized, and the promises we are making by being baptized, and the blessings we receive from being baptized. We talked about our experiences of being baptized. We shared why we believed it was important to be baptized. We let him know that we didn't expect him to do it, but we would feel happy and proud if he chose to be baptized.

Ethan said he was very excited, and he wanted to be baptized. Christian baptized him on Saturday.We are so proud of him and the choice he made to be baptized!

Happy for Apps

2011-04-29T08:00:00.001-06:00

I am a little bit - okay, a lot - in love with my iPad. I wanted to write a post listing my favorite apps that I have found so far. I'm only listing the apps I love, and not the ones I have downloaded and only kind of like.

EW's Must List - I subscribe to Entertainment Weekly magazine. I love their weekly Must List, because it introduces me to books, music and shows that I would never hear of otherwise. And I love the app because it has links for each Must List item (like linking it to iTunes or Amazon, or the author's website, and other cool links).

PBS - The only time I watch PBS is when I watch Dinosaur Train with Aidan. But I downloaded this app just to check it out and I am obsessed! They have entire episodes of tons of cool shows like NOVA, Austin City Limits, and my new favorite, Frontline. I can't get enough.

TED - I had never even heard of TED before I downloaded the app, but there are really neat talks/discussions by people on it, teaching me really cool stuff (their tagline is Ideas Worth Spreading). The first one I ever saw is called The Linguistic Genius of Babies. Linguistics was my minor in college, and I was fascinated watching it. (It's only 10 minutes long, so click over when you get a chance to watch it.)

SoundHound - This one is awesome. If you hear a song that you don't know the title of, you can sing or hum it into your speaker and this app will tell you what it is. I had a song by Pink in my head, but all I knew was the "na na na na na naaa naaa, na na na naaa na naaa" part. So I sang that into my app and it automatically told me that the song is called So What. Then, I heard a song on a commercial and it kind of sounded like Sarah McLachlan but I knew it wasn't, so I put my iPad up to my speaker and played the song, and it said it is Darling I Do from the Shrek Forever After soundtrack. So cool!

Smule Magic Piano - You haven't lived until you have seen an adorable baby girl tap her fingers on the black screen of the iPad and watched the yellow circles light up and piano notes sound with each finger touch. Totally worth the cost of the iPad right there.

Kindle app - it's WAY too easy to spend lots of money downloading awesome books to my iPad to read wherever I want, whenever I want.

Twitter - I joined Twitter a couple of years ago, but pretty much let my account become dormant. Then I downloaded this app and now I get on Twitter all the time. I love reading the tweets in my feed. Now, if only I could actually figure out how to use Twitter... (P.S. I am my snarky self on Twitter. Come find me: @eringirl)

Chicktionary - it's kind of like Scrabble, only with chickens. I'm a dork.

Netflix - I can watch Netflix Instant shows on my iPad! With headphones! Anywhere I want!

I loved the LDS Gospel Library, until it freaked out and would freeze every time I opened it.

And that's my list! Do you have any apps you love that I need to try out?

The Plight of the Rosemary Plant

2011-04-27T08:39:00.004-06:00

(Before I begin this post, I wanted to let you know that I have had five people email or facebook me and tell me that they made the spinach quiche I ranted and raved about and that they loved it too. If you didn't print the recipe the first time, click right here, print the recipe, and make it for dinner tonight. You won't regret it.)

Yesterday, I went to the nursery.

Now, if you know me, you would be thinking, "What nursery? Like, a baby nursery? Because surely Erin wouldn't be going to a plant nursery."

But if you really know me, you would know that as Enrichment leader, I am in charge of putting together Relief Society night. And they asked me to put together a night on herb gardening.

So, I found myself at a nursery yesterday to find out if there would be anyone willing to come and talk to our church group (no such luck, yet).

However, while I was there I decided to purchase rosemary because I have this knock-off recipe for Macaroni Grill's rosemary bread that is to die for (it is kind of this recipe with a few tweaks), and I wanted fresh rosemary for it.

I walked into the nursery and the first thing I saw was seeds. Perfect! I found a packet of rosemary seeds. Next, I needed a pot. I found a cute pot that I thought might be the right size, but I wanted to ask someone who worked there if it was big enough.

I found a nice woman who fastens her watch around the neck of her apron.

"Hi," I asked. "Do you think this pot would be big enough for a rosemary plant? And do you have a little bag of dirt I can purchase, just big enough to fill this pot?"

She very kindly smiled and asked, "Do you just want one rosemary plant?"

I said, "Yes."

She said, "Well, you could purchase an actual rosemary plant, instead of buying seeds."

I asked, "Oh, you sell those here?"

*Crickets chirping*

You see, it's a nursery. They pretty much sell everything there.

I pretty much started laughing hysterically, because I was so embarrassed.

She led me to the rosemary plant area, where they had at least one hundred starter plants. She chose a beautiful one for me (since I clearly don't have the mindpower to choose one myself), and said, "I will just go fill your pot with dirt for free. No worries."

(When I was telling Christian my story last night, he asked, "Did the woman ask you if you knew how to water the plant?" I laughed and said, "No, but I'm surprised she didn't.")

She filled the pot with dirt, rang up my $5.00 purchase, and cheerfully said, "Come again!"

Oh, she knows I will be back. Probably when I kill this rosemary plant.

(Mayyyybe I'm not the most qualified person to be teaching this Relief Society night activity? If I can't find someone, I'm in charge. Someone, please help me? Please?)

Exercise is... Fun?

2011-04-25T08:00:00.001-06:00

Over the weekend, Christian and the boys took their bikes and I took the jogging stroller to a trail behind the Wal-Mart to go for a little ride.

Yes, this news is blogworthy. Christian does things outside with the boys all of the time, but this was the first time in at least two years that I exercised. I don't even know how long the trail is (maybe between two and three miles round trip?), but I walked the entire thing, and even ran a couple of times, while pushing Kaitlyn in the jogger.

My shoelaces kept coming untied (until I double-knotted them - I felt like a kid), and every time I felt really tired I would stop and feed Kaitlyn Kix cereal (what a great excuse, huh? Yeah, Kaitlyn really needs a snack so I had better stop.) I listened to music, breathed in the fresh air, and watched my boys ride the dirt trail next to the paved one I was on (Christian is a great teacher - he was helping them do little jumps on hills).

My legs felt like jello directly afterward, and felt stiff and sore yesterday, but guess what?

I felt good.

I felt like I may be able to do it again. And maybe even enjoy it.

I might actually get in shape this summer. Go me!

P.S. Happy 8th birthday to my oldest, Ethan!

Somebody Didn't Want Her Picture Taken...

2011-04-22T08:45:00.002-06:00

I was trying to get some cute pictures of the kids this morning, but one of them wanted none of it.

Update in Pictures

2011-04-19T11:13:00.004-06:00

I am in the middle of our completely crazy month of April. No time to read blogs, no time to write posts. Here are a few pictures we have taken:

The temperature yesterday when this picture was taken? 60 degrees. Instead of putting sunblock on his face, because he hates it so much, he opted to wear this hat. (It covers his ears and velcroes at the chin.)
Yesterday Ethan had an unfortunate incident while playing at recess. I'm pretty sure he will have a huge black eye in the next day or two. (His right cheekbone is hugely swollen, if you can't tell.) (Ignore the dirty kitchen in the background.)
Yesterday for family night we went to Desert Mound to go rockhounding. There is a lot of mining done here (mostly for iron, since we live in Iron county). This is one area where they dug that is HUGE. The water is a bright blue/green, kind of like when you put one of those tablet things in your toilet bowl. I think the nickname of this hole in the ground is something like 2000 Flushes. Coincidence? I think not. We searched through the piles of rock left behind from all of the digging, and found some cool treasures.This is a cute picture taken of Kaitlyn and Christian yesterday while searching for rocks. She is 11 months old now. (She is getting SO big. And SO cute.)
This is the most recent picture of me, taken on Aidan's birthday. Note the dirty diaper resting next to me on the ground. And the giant Lego Hero Factory guy next to the diaper. Yep, that's my life!

Food Revolution

2011-04-12T14:00:00.001-06:00

Did you know that vanilla ice cream may have beaver anal gland in it?

Watch this David Letterman clip:

(Stupid commercial before the clip. Push play and then ignore the commercial while you finish reading the rest of the post. By the time you finish the rest, the real clip should be ready to go.)

I have decided I am in love with Jamie Oliver. And I am jumping on the Food Revolution bandwagon. He is committed to helping people in the United States of America fight obesity. I happened upon an episode of his tv show last week, and was amazed with everything he is trying to do to help us be healthier. He begins by cooking fresh food for school lunch in an elementary school. The kids are so used to processed food that they don't want the "yucky" fresh food. The six year olds couldn't even identify ANY vegetables in their natural state. Seriously, I am just glued to the screen in awe and disgust.

I am committed to doing what I can to help my family eat healthier. Jamie Oliver is my hero.

I just purchased his cookbook on Amazon.

TED gave him an award for his work. Watch this video and be blown away.

The second season of his show starts tonight on ABC.

Click here to sign his petition to support this revolution. (And to find out how many people in each state have signed the petition.)

Yay for eating healthier!! (Of course, I'm writing this the week of Aidan's birthday, which as you remember, includes chocolate cake. But I'm pretty sure calories don't count on family members' birthdays.)

(This post sounds like an advertisement. Sorry about that. In reality, I feel strongly about this subject, and wanted to share it with you.)

(P.S. I've got a blog post brewing. It's called something like "This Blog Sucks." We'll see if I get it written some time soon.)

Anyone?

2011-04-07T14:39:00.003-06:00

Aidan was playing with a friend yesterday. We have a chair that sits in a little nook in our kitchen, and the friend asked if it was the time-out chair. Aidan said, "No, time-out is in our bedroom." Then he continued, "There are three rules in time-out. Number one, no playing with toys or reading books. Number two, sit on your bed the whole time. And number three, cry the whole time you are in time-out."

I laughed and laughed. (And laughed.)
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My blog has been "under construction" for over two months now. Which means, in reality, that it isn't actually under construction. It just means I don't know how to do cute stuff with it. And I want a change, but don't know what to do or how to do it. Help, anyone?
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My husband is in Hawaii right now, attending his brother's graduation from BYU-H. Jealous, anyone? (I know I am.)
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Christian's birthday was yesterday. I forgot to add raisins to his carrot cake. I cried real tears when I realized it. Hormonal, anyone?
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I spent almost $200 yesterday at the case-lot sales of Smiths (Kroger) and Lins (Associated Foods). Our year supply is looking great. But the rest of our month may look meager as we wait for the grocery budget to replenish. Good thing we don't have anything special this month... oh wait. Two more birthdays, Easter and a baptism. Hmmm.
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Speaking of birthdays, I asked Aidan what he wants for his birthday dinner and dessert. Dinner - spaghetti and meatballs. Easy. Dessert - he was very excited and emphatic: "I want a chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles, and chocolate ice cream."

That's my boy.
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My piano students will be here in five minutes. I didn't re-read what I wrote, so here's hoping there aren't too many errors. Although, I never edit what I write (on my blog) anyway, so I probably often have errors. Okay, I'm totally ending this blog post stupidly. Who cares. My mind is in the clouds because of April. Bye now.

A Very Civil Letter (or is it Barely Civil?)

2011-04-01T08:42:00.005-06:00

Here is a copy of the letter I gave the principal today in regards to the spelling bee:

Dear Mr. __________,

I want to start by saying how excited I was to hear that ______ Elementary would be holding a spelling bee this year. I appreciate the work that it took to make it come to fruition. My son was really excited to participate. I realize this is a great way to get the children more involved in extra-curricular activities, in addition to learning that spelling can be fun. However, I want to express my displeasure in the manner in which the spelling bee for the lower grades was handled yesterday.

When one boy spelled “vacation” with two c’s, I smiled and mentally forgave it because I assumed they were being lenient for the lower grades. But when my son, Ethan, didn’t spell “America” with a capital A, and there was no forgiveness (or explanation, or apology, or anything), I was livid.

I realize that technically, proper nouns require a capital letter at the beginning of the word. However, there was nothing stated anywhere in the rules saying that this must be vocalized. I read both of the lists of instructions that were sent home, and while things such as time, misunderstood words, and homonyms were clearly stated, there was nothing discussing proper nouns.

If Ethan had made the mistake of not specifically spelling America with a capital A, and then the following two children had followed by properly capitalizing the word Easter, that may have been okay. However, both of the other children improperly spelled Easter, showing us that none of the children were told, and therefore taught, that they should vocally capitalize proper nouns while spelling words out loud during the spelling bee. However, since Ethan was the first one given a proper noun, he was out, while the other two were forgiven since they were the final two students (even though Easter was the very next word). At first, I was shocked, certain that they would realize the confusion and allow Ethan another chance. Then, when it became clear that no allowances would be made (especially after remembering the boy who spelled vacation with two c’s), I was furious.

I was told afterward that the judges had already decided beforehand that they would consider a word spelled incorrectly if a child did not specifically state it had a capital letter. However, how can we expect the children to know intrinsically in second grade that they should say the word “capital,” when saying one wrong letter anywhere within the word (even by accident – no retracting) would be considered incorrect?

There were numerous parents around me who came up to me and told me I should fight this; that it wasn’t fair. I decided that because it is “just” a lower-grade spelling bee, I wasn’t going to cause a scene. However, I feel sad that my child has been disenchanted because he studied and studied, and learned that regardless of whether he spelled a word correctly or “incorrectly,” he reaps the consequences of not being properly taught what was expected of him. I hope he is not so disenchanted that he refuses to participate next year. I have definitely been left with a bitter taste in my mouth.

If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact me: __-___. And in the future, please make the rules more explicit so we never have anything like this happen again.

Sincerely,

(P.S. As Melanie J. stated on Twitter yesterday, I realize I am becoming "that mom," and I really don't give a flying fig. Oh, and Melanie said she would be "that mom" too.)
(P.P.S. I gave the letter to the principal and then we had a nice talk afterward. He admitted that it was a mistake, that he wished he had a rewind button for yesterday afternoon, and that he felt terrible about the entire situation. I feel a little bit better, knowing that my frustration is justified, but I hate the fact that it is all at my son's expense.)

Blech. Consider Yourself Warned.

2011-03-31T21:41:00.005-06:00

Erin, you ask, how has your week been?

The lie:
Fine. And yours?

The truth:

I ruined my son's favorite pullover sweater. Like, I splattered an entire bottle of Fray Chek all over it. (And the bottle's suggestion of using rubbing alcohol didn't work.) He cried. I felt like crap.
One of my sons was pretty much accused of bullying another boy. When I asked him about it, he genuinely didn't know what I was talking about. I want to say more about this, but I won't.
Two of my piano students (siblings) quit this week to start up with another teacher. While it is completely legit (as in, they are not leaving me because they think I am inferior), because she lives just around the corner from them and is willing to teach at 7:00 AM so piano doesn't interfere with afternoon sports, this has never happened to me before. I felt (still feel?) rejected, dejected, frustrated and upset.
To make a very long story short, Ethan came in third place at the spelling bee. While we are VERY proud of him, and it wouldn't have mattered where he placed, the judges screwed up royally. I don't even want to get into it, because it will take too long and it makes my blood boil just thinking about it. But all of the parents around me thought it was completely unfair and said I should fight it. Ugh. Double ugh. Ethan cried and cried. I am furious.
Soccer began tonight. That means starting today, 3 days a week for the next 6 weeks we have soccer. Add in for the month of April: 3 birthdays, a trip to Hawaii (not for me), spring break, weekend visitors, Ethan's baptism, and planning Enrichment night, and I'm a complete nutcase.
Don't even ask me about the six loads of laundry I need to do, or the dishes that have been residing by my kitchen sink for over a week now, or the fact that I have made dinner only once this week (every other night has been Fend For Yourself).

That's how I'm doing. And how has your week been?

Serenity now. Serenity now.

Spelling Bee

2011-03-29T08:00:00.001-06:00

Ethan participated in a class spelling bee on Friday, and was one of the top two in the class. That means he gets to be in the school spelling bee this Thursday. We have been going over the list of words they gave us, and only a few of them trip him up. It has been fun figuring out little tricks to help him remember difficult words: you do "business" on a bus (b-u-s are the first 3 letters) (he was spelling it buisness); he was spelling odor o-d-e-r until Christian raised both arms above his head and drew giant o's in each armpit.

I was in my school's spelling bees in fourth and fifth grade. In fourth grade, I came in sixth place, and in fifth grade, I came in third place. I can still remember which words I got out on (rest assured, I will never forget how to spell them). In fourth grade, the word was "parfait." (A bit ironic, considering I then went on to get my degree in French.) And in fifth grade, the word was "auspicious."

Yes, I am a spelling nerd. And proud of it. And, I am raising a spelling nerd. Good luck to Ethan on Thursday!

Proof That I'm Doing My Job Well

2011-03-22T10:11:00.005-06:00

Every night, we sit down together as a family to eat dinner and talk about our day (our kids are young enough that we are still able to do this). Here is a conversation between Ethan (2nd grade) and Aidan (kindergarten) (printed with permission from the sensitive almost-8-year-old):

Ethan: You know what has really been driving me crazy at school lately?

Aidan: All the beautiful girls? (!!!!!!! Christian and I busted up laughing. We couldn't help it.)

Ethan (after the laughing calmed down): No, Justin Bieber.

Aidan: Justin Bieber? Why?

Ethan: Because all of the girls are wearing Justin Bieber shirts. They talk about him all the time. And Lady Gaga too. They wear her shirts too.

Aidan: Oh, yeah. Lady Gaga too.

Ethan: Yep, they just drive me crazy.

I love getting snippets into my kids' lives at school. This conversation happened Saturday night at dinner. Then Sunday, I was at church with the kids (Christian was still miserable because of the strep throat). Kaitlyn was antsy, so I gave her a mini notebook to flip through. It flipped open to a page, I saw what was on the page, and burst out laughing. Out loud. During the opening hymn.

This is what was on the page:I have officially succeeded as a mother.

Two Things I am in Love With Right Now

2011-03-17T11:24:00.006-06:00

#1 This recipe. I looked it up because I had a huge container of spinach we purchased at Costco (which, of course, when steamed turned into a teeny, tiny amount). I read the reviews and made a couple of changes, the biggest of which was turning it into two quiches instead of one (because there is enough stuff to make two, without even adding any more ingredients). So the best part is that we finished off one quiche last night for dinner, and voilà! I already have another quiche in the fridge for dinner tonight. Even both boys gobbled it down last night. No wonder over 1100 people have rated it 4 1/2 stars on allrecipes. Go print the recipe off right now.

Did you print it off?

Glad to see you back.

# 2 This book.

I happened to see it at the library a couple of days ago, and I knew nothing about Edith Wharton, or her writings. I am now excited to read some of her work. She was an intellectual and a bit of a feminist in the late 1800s, when being so was frowned upon. I love love love it.

Things I Don't Love So Much Right Now:
-strep throat. Particularly, a husband who has strep throat. I'm hoping it bypasses the rest of the family.
-a baby who slept little, and cried much, until 3:00 in the morning. (I love the baby, I just don't love the lack of sleep.) This morning, however, she is her bright and cheery self. I, on the other hand, am tired and irritable.
-a filthy kitchen, which I am ignoring because I want to read the above mentioned book and because of the above mentioned sickness. Oh brother, let me tell the truth - it's because I am lazy.

At my kids' school, they aren't allowed to pinch, only poke. In my opinion, that takes away from the excitement of St. Patrick's Day. Although I can see why the school would make that decision. My boys are decked out in numerous shades of green today.

I'm not wearing green. You are welcome to come over to my house and pinch me. (Or poke me. Whatever.)

What's on Your List?

2011-03-15T07:30:00.000-06:00

You know when you kind of want to hate somebody, because they are so talented, pretty, and friendly, and have a whole bunch of traits that you wish you had? But you just can't hate them because you like them so much?

I don't know how she did it, but Melanie Jacobson managed to make me feel that way about herself AND the main character in her first novel, The List.

I have been blog friends with Melanie for at least two years, and I love every single blog post she writes. And I'm not just saying that because I know she's reading this - I promise.

So when I got the opportunity to read her book, I jumped at the chance. I mean, if her book had a similar voice to her blog posts, I knew I was going to love it.

And I did.

First of all, look at how fun the cover is:
Don't you just want to slip on those flip-flops, put the pretty little flowers behind your ear and stroll along the waterline?

Next, (like I mentioned before) ~~I hate~~, ~~I'm jealous of~~, I love the main character. Her name is Ashley, she wears tons of cute shoes and clothing, she has ambition and drive (she creates a list of 25 things she wants to do before she gets married and she is determined to complete it), and she makes amazing sandwiches. (I love sandwiches.) What's not to like?

One thing I was really impressed with was the way Melanie seamlessly added aspects from her own life into the book. For example, one of the characters in the book is deaf. Melanie's parents were deaf. Also, Ashley meets a guy on a fictional dating website, and Melanie met her husband on a real dating website. (And he's not even psycho!) (She also used her husband's name for one of the characters. I guess that is one of the fun parts of writing a book - you can choose names of people from your past or present as names of characters. I'll never write a book myself, but I love imagining what I would name my characters if I did.)

I really enjoyed reading this book. It's a light-hearted, friendly read. It's the sort of book you could take on vacation with you, sit in the warm sand and let your worries melt away while you jump into Ashley's world for a while. (My hands are ice-cold as I type this. I wish I could be sitting on the sand reading this book right now.)

How to learn more about this book:
1. Go to Melanie's website.
2. Click here to read the first chapter, as further proof that you will then have to read the entire book.
3. Purchase the book online here.
4. Purchase it to download to your Kindle (or iPhone, or Android, or Blackberry, or iPad, or computer...) here

P.S. Melanie didn't pay me (or bribe me) to say any of these things. I truly did love the book. And I'm not just being nice. I even took my kids to the new indoor swimming pool in town when I was about 2/3 of the way through the book, and I spent a good portion of the 3 (!) hours we were there wondering what was going to happen with Ashley.

P.P.S. If you would like to leave a comment, you can tell me one thing that you really want to do before you die. My one thing was a deal maker/breaker before Christian and I got married - I told him I had to go to France five times in my life before I die. I had been twice before we got married, and he sent me to Paris again two years ago, so I have to visit two more times before I die. Hopefully I will actually go with him one of these years...

Everybody Needs a Good Laugh

2011-03-09T08:52:00.005-07:00

I am really stressed out right now.

Is it blasphemous to say I hate my church calling?

I was recently called to be the formerly-known-as-Enrichment leader, and tomorrow is the Relief Society birthday dinner. I am not a natural born leader, and I have a very difficult time delegating and asking people for help. So I am sitting here amidst a pigsty of a house (too busy to clean, and yet I'm blogging. Hmmm...), fretting and worrying and planning and making phone calls and freaking out. And I will continue to be this way until it is over tomorrow night. And then to know there is another activity to plan the month after that, and the month after that, and the month after that? It's just shy of torture for me.

So last night something impromptu happened that really helped, if only for a moment. Our whole family was sitting on the living room floor, talking, when somehow the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes came up. I started gushing about how much I loved reading Calvin and Hobbes when I was younger, and I got so excited I brought Ethan and Aidan in to the computer to look up some snowman C&H comics. (Click here to see the comic strips I showed the boys.) Most of them were over my boys' heads, but they still thought they were cute.

Me, however? I laughed and laughed. Like the laugh-so-hard-you're-snorting, your whole body is shaking kind of laugh. I don't laugh like that often enough. (The airplane scene from Tommy Boy will also make me laugh like this. Click here to watch the scene I'm talking about.) It felt really good to laugh.

Then, I dreamed unsettling dreams all night and now a psychologically-induced stomachache has settled itself inside of me, and I'm pretty sure it won't leave until the dinner is over.

Someone, quick - pass me a Calvin and Hobbes comic book!

Fruit Salad

2011-03-03T08:38:00.003-07:00

(Good) parenting requires patience the size of a watermelon. Much of the time, I do have watermelon-sized patience. But sometimes, I swear the kids like to test me. And sometimes, my patience shrinks to the size of a cantaloupe. I can feel my patience shrinking, and I try to hold on to it. When, for example, a boy sneaks into his bedroom to get a Kung Zhu pet while his other brother is still sleeping, and the Kung Zhu pet starts shrieking, "Woo-woo-WOOOOOO!!!", I tried not to lose my watermelon-sized patience, but it shrunk to a cantaloupe anyway. Then, when both boys wanted to sit by Kaitlyn for breakfast, but neither one wanted to sit by the wall, bickering ensued. They started tattling on each other, and they started pushing each other off of the stool they both wanted. And my patience shrunk to the size of a grape. I raised my voice. I became a dictator. "Aidan, you go sit by the wall. Stop being mean to your brother. I have had ENOUGH!"

He started crying.

I felt bad.

I took a few deep breaths, and allowed my patience to grow - back to a lemon, then an orange, then a cantaloupe again.

I hugged and kissed the boys, sent them off to school, and now I vow to be at a watermelon again by the time they get home.

I just caught Kaitlyn trying to play in the toilet while I was typing this post.

Think watermelon thoughts. Think watermelon thoughts.

Now I'm hungry.

I Don't Know What to Title This Blog Post

2011-02-25T08:17:00.004-07:00

We worked on our taxes for 2 1/2 hours last night. We are probably 3/4 of the way through. It's such a time-consuming process! But Christian joked that we spent more time talking about whether to take our taxes somewhere or do them ourselves than it actually took to do them. (It's true - sometimes I can be SO indecisive.) Also, we love TurboTax. We have used other online software, and TurboTax is WAY more user friendly. I was hardly frustrated at all last night.
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Ahhh, Lucky Charms. How much we love thee at our house. You are a special treat we don't receive very often. But - no matter how much I shake the box upside down before opening it, your marshmallow-to-boring-old-oat-pieces ratio at the top of the box is practically one to one, and then at the bottom of the box there is only an occasional rogue marshmallow amongst millions of boring-old-oat-pieces. Harumph.
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This may not apply to anybody who reads my blog, but it does apply to us, and I wish we would have heard about it sooner. Did you know that if you are paying off student loans, and you work in a public service job (working at a state-funded university counts; even according to the rules I believe BYU would count too), your loans can possibly be forgiven after 10 years of payments? Click here to read about it.
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We're having eggs benedict for dinner tonight. Eggs benedict makes me happy.
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I was trying to think of what to call these blog posts that I write, where I have numerous topics that I discuss, and I'm at a loss. I don't want to waste time trying to think of a title. Any thoughts? Anything campy, cheeky, ridiculous, or normal is welcomed. (Thoughts that have gone through my head - Verbal Vomit, Friday Catch Up, I Can't Put a Coherent Thought Together But Please Come Read This Anyway, etc, etc.)
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I should ask this on Facebook and Twitter, but I'll ask on my blog too: If I follow you on Facebook and Twitter, and you have a program where everything you write gets sent to both Facebook and Twitter, and I get tired of seeing your same update in both places every time, would you rather I delete you on Twitter or on Facebook? Or something different?
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That's all for now. Happy weekend, everyone!
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P.S. Pam, yes I really do read all of my comments. I used to be better about responding to people. And then I had Kaitlyn, and life got more difficult (and more wonderful too). I just wanted to say thank you for your comment on my last post. (And thank you to everyone else who commented too. I love the connections I have made in blog world.)

It's Getting Drafty in Here

2011-02-24T11:31:00.003-07:00

I have had quite a few epiphanies lately. It is so interesting to see how, amid the craziness of life, I can have moments of quiet where Truth sneaks in. (It even happened in the shower for me a couple of days ago, and I never think while I'm in the shower.) I wish I could share all of my epiphanies here, but I can't. Many of them are too private. However, there are a few I can share, and I will be over the next few weeks. (Including one of them right now. Aren't you so lucky?) (The previous sentence could be taken wrong by someone who doesn't truly know me. I wish tone could be properly conveyed through writing. Maybe that is why the following thing occurred.)

I have some pretty crappy drafts in my draft folder of this blog. I wrote about some of them a couple of weeks ago, and those aren't the ones that I'm talking about. But as I recently read through some of my old drafts, I realized that there was a theme.

You see, a couple of years ago I had someone I thought was a blog friend who took something I said on my blog, twisted it, and spit it back at me. She basically said I wasn't authentic on my blog, and that I was doing this for some kind of money, recognition, or fame or something. I was hurt. I was hurt because it wasn't true at all. But after I stepped back a bit (after being angry and pouty for a couple of weeks) I tried to see what she was seeing. I have to admit, I never did figure out what she was seeing. And I was able to let it go.

Or so I thought. While I haven't dwelled on the situation in my conscious mind, I realized just this morning that I have been dwelling on it in my subconscious. Numerous crappy drafts in my draft folder are just trying to prove that I am real, I am genuine, and I don't have any ulterior motive on my blog. And I decided I am done trying to prove that point to you, to my draft folder, and to myself.

So, in summary, I will be me on my blog, you can take it or leave it, and if you choose to take it, then I would love to be your friend!

P.S. After reading this over, it seems to have a bit of a negative tone. I don't feel negative at all. I am tempted to relegate this post into my crappy draft folder, but I want to let go of the numerous other crappy drafts that don't actually need to be posted. I think of numerous posts every single week, but I only post once or twice a week because I'm trying to figure out how safe or how open to be on this very public blog. How do you find a balance?

Okay, I'm done verbally (or typingly) vomiting on you.

The end.

A Cool Discovery While Cleaning

2011-02-21T11:41:00.004-07:00

So, I'm doing spring cleaning today. When we woke up this morning, Ethan said, "It's a holiday! We shouldn't be cleaning." I say, that's all the more reason TO clean, because it's like the gift of time. Let's clean our house!

Anyway, I'm getting a huge pile of stuff ready to take to the D.I. (like the Goodwill), and I decided to go through some old books that have been in a box in the closet for years and years. (Yes, I'm tackling that closet today. The one that is piled sky high full of stuff you don't know what to do with, so you stash it in there. Every time I open the closet, something threatens to fall on my head.) So I was flipping through the books, seeing if there happened to be any money in any of them - er, I mean, writing in the front signifying it was a gift to me or someone in my family, when I found something interesting.

I found a book, entitled "One for Life," and I have no idea where it came from. It has a copyright of 1902. Apparently it is a book given to a husband and wife when they were first married. One paragraph in the book says, "And will the wife forget her former conduct? She was always at her best when she greeted him. And, when he must depart, it was with loving looks that she followed him to the door and in sweetest accent bade him farewell. In those days it was always 'please, sir,' and 'I thank you, sir.' But how will it be now? Shall poorer manners be put to use? Heaven forbids! May all your conversations and greetings, your conduct towards one another, at home and abroad, be so gentle that angels might envy." It's so interesting to read through the advice of a getting-married book from 1902.

But the most interesting part was in the back - there is a handwritten list of the people who attended their wedding, and a list of the gifts that people brought them. And on the very back page is a wedding certificate dated June 8, 1927. The groom is named Henry A. Tatzke, and the bride is Mildred Creamer, and they were married in Saint Joseph, Missouri. There is no way I could give this book to the D.I.! I want to find their descendants so they can have this awesome piece of history from their family! (I don't think I'm related to them... am I? Any relatives of mine know these people?)

Does anyone know where I can begin to look for descendants?

(Just as soon as I finish cleaning that closet.)

Things I Love

2011-02-14T08:00:00.002-07:00

My blog friend Jessee is doing a linky party today called "14 things I love." I haven't done one of these in ages, but I decided I wanted to play, because I love ruminating over things I love. Happy sigh.

1. My iPad
I got my iPad for Christmas, and I love it even more than I thought I would. I have found apps (free apps - I have only paid for two) that are fun, that teach me stuff, and that make me smile. I love being able to check my email at 3:00 in the morning when I am rocking a sick baby. I'm not a technophile by any means, but I am becoming one because of this majestic work of wonder.

2. Philosophy brand shower gel
Right now I'm using Orange Sunrise, and the smell alone makes me feel a little bit happier in the morning. I want to bathe in this stuff. No water, only gallons of shower gel. When Orange Sunrise runs out, I will be using Mimosa. I don't drink alcohol, so I don't know what mimosas taste like. But I know what they smell like thanks to this shower gel!

3. Lemon meringue pie
I don't actually love lemon meringue pie, but it is my husband's favorite dessert. And because I love him, I made him one for Valentine's Day. Awww.

4. Costa Vida/Cafe Rio
I thought when I wasn't pregnant anymore that I wouldn't crave their food as much anymore. I was wrong. Almost all of my fun money every single month goes to these restaurants. I love to eat. Love love love it. (Costa Vida is listed first because I like it a little bit more. Don't shoot me! I know Cafe Rio just won a national award. But I like the sweetness of Costa Vida's pork better.)

5. All things French or about France
I'm addicted. Obsessed. Whenever I hear the word "France" while flipping channels I have to stop. If I see Le Tricolor (the French flag) I get giddy. I'm just a little bit crazy. But in a good way.

6. One day sales at The Children's Place where everything online is 30% off.
I can find things in the sales or clearance sections that are so cute. Then with the additional 30% off, each article of clothing cost me $3.74. However, it might make me go crazy and purchase 11 items. All for Kaitlyn. Yep, I never knew how fun it would be to buy clothes for a girl. (This whole outfit cost $7.48. Yippee!)

7. Good libraries
I miss Orem's library. I miss the Ames Library. When I moved here, I literally cried because when compared to the libraries in Ames and Orem, this one is pathetic. It's almost worth moving back to Orem or Ames just for the library. Promise.

8. Time alone with my husband
It will happen. One of these years.

9. My Bosch
I make bread all of the time. I couldn't live without my Bosch. If I make you loaves of bread, will you make my family dinner?

10. Watching Kaitlyn explore and learn about the world around her
I could watch her all day. I love watching her. Even when she pulls the diapers out of the caddy over and over and over and over....

11. Watching my boys' imaginations bloom
I love watching them play together, and see them get so excited about stuff they make up. I remember being like that as a child and I know how quickly I grew out of it. I will encourage them for as long as they will do it.

12. Music
Maroon 5, Jon Schmidt, Carla Bruni, many of the Glee songs, Pandora. I could go on, but I'll just say again how much I love my iPad because not only does it have an iPod built into it, but there is a Pandora app so I can listen to music whenever I am doing anything, anywhere.

13. TiVo
I love that for ten bucks a month, we can record two shows at a time. We don't even have cable or satellite - just free digital antenna. I love the fact that we never have to watch another commercial (except for during the Superbowl - the Darth Vader Volkwagen one was adorable!). We even call the little TiVo guy Steve-o the TiVo (à la Friends - "Let's see what Steve-o the TiVo has recorded on Stevie the TV.").

14. Making a difference in kids' lives
It was hard choosing a last item that I love, because I realized I love so many things and I wanted to share all of them. But I love being a role model in children's lives around me. I teach piano, and I am a reading helper in both Ethan and Aidan's classes. I like feeling like I am bettering their lives in some way.

That's my list! If you want to link up, go to Jessee's blog. Or, you can leave a comment and tell me something you love.

I'm Old

2011-02-11T10:46:00.002-07:00

Yesterday while I was teaching piano, I was talking to my student about what kind of music she likes to listen to (she has hit The Wall, which means she doesn't want to practice anymore. I'm trying to help her smash through The Wall). She said her favorite song right now is "Just the Way You Are." I immediately thought of Billy Joel, whom I adore. Then she said it's a song by Bruno Mars. I have heard of Bruno Mars, and I think I have actually heard the song once. But I can't think of the tune off the top of my head.

Then today, I went to Ethan's class to be a reading helper. Every Friday, four students and I read novels or non-fiction books together. Today we were reading about inventions, and we learned about the telephone and the camera, among others. But I had them turn to the front page of the book and learn that it was copyrighted in 1999, which means the book is 12 years old. I told them how much phones and cameras have changed even in just the last 12 years (since this book was written). One girl looked at me very seriously and said, "My mom was born in the nineteens."

I was born in the nineteens too. 1976, to be exact.

I'm Old. Old with a capital O.

MoneymoneymoneyMONEY

2011-02-08T08:58:00.004-07:00

For FHE last night (family night) we discussed finances. We taught our boys about debt: when it is okay to go into debt (to purchase a house or for schooling) and when it isn't okay (to purchase more and more Bakugans). We asked them if it is okay to spend more than you make (NOOOOO! they both said). We talked about budgeting, and how we keep track of everything we spend so we can stay within our budget.

Then we talked about saving. We told them that we have a checking account that we use to pay our bills, and we have a savings account that we put any extra money into for the future. We asked them what we might be saving for (Aidan had some classic answers - toys? A tv?). Then I pulled out a savings account booklet for each of them. Last week, I opened a savings account for each of them and put $10.00 in it. They were SO excited to hear that they each had $10.00 in an account in their name. They're RICH! (At ages 7 and 5, $10.00 does sound pretty rich.)

Then we told them that any money they choose to save will be doubled by us. This immediately got their brains going. Aidan said, "I have two dollars. If I put that in my savings, it will be... four dollars!" They were both giddy. Each boy had two dollars that they wanted to put into their account, so they each gave me their two dollars, and then we got online and I transferred four dollars for each from my checking account to their savings account. When they saw $14.00 in their accounts, they were doing the happy dance.

Then Christian pulled out the big guns. He said, "If your grandparents give you $5.00 for your birthday, and you choose to save it..." Ethan said, "It will become $10.00!!" Then Ethan said, "If they give us $25.00, it will become $50.00! And if they give us a million dollars..."

I said, "If your grandparents give you a million dollars, then YOU will be giving US money."

(Come on, grandparents, pony up. Where's the million dollars you have been hiding??)

After FHE, I took the boys to Wal-Mart to purchase Valentines. After choosing the perfect Valentines, we headed to the toy section. They each salivated over the Bakugans, and in fact Ethan was chomping at the bit because the Battle Gear were on clearance. But I didn't hear any gimmes, or I needs, or whining because they didn't have money to purchase them.

Yesterday pretty much rocked.

Present

2011-02-06T13:48:00.001-07:00

I tend to live my life in a bit of a fog. Not really focused, not really here, not really present. I know this because I have seen more revelatory glimpses and more moments of clarity since Kaitlyn was born than I have ever seen before. I don't know whether it is my age or Kaitlyn that has brought on this change, but I welcome it. Life is so much more colorful. I'm not just living to survive until the next day, or to just "make it through." I have done that for many years. I'm ready to move on. I'm ready to make changes. Life is worth savoring.

I'm going to go crawl on the floor with Kaitlyn right now so I can see things from her perspective. What are you going to do today to savor life?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Mod Podge

2011-01-31T08:37:00.004-07:00

Welcome to another mod podge post today. I have written a few other posts that are sitting in draft, but I'm not ready to click "publish" yet. Why is it so hard for me to feel like I can be myself on my blog? Edited to add: I know exactly why. Because writing about serious things opens yourself up to being judged. And in this online world where trolls roam free and spew their judgment and hate on any unsuspecting person, I am just not ready to open myself up to that. Maybe one day. Maybe sooner than later.
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One of Ethan's friends had a "media fast" last week. Their entire family refrained from tv, video games, iPods, internet, and other sources of electronic entertainment for an entire week. When Ethan's friend came over to play and told my boys about it, Aidan looked at me in alarm and said, "But what do they do for fun? Just play with toys?" Hmmm. This definitely got my mental wheels rolling. When Christian and I suggested the possibility last night of doing a week without electronics, Aidan said in a distressed voice, "Would I even be able to watch Peep?" This pretty much cements the fact that we need to do this. I'll keep you posted as to when we start. (Maybe some of you could be involved too, and we could all do it the same week, and then post about the results the following week...)
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On the menu for tonight? Chili and cinnamon rolls. Happy sigh. (P.S. I have been making things from my pile of recipes. There just hasn't been anything worth blogging about.)
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Last week, Kaitlyn started crawling and her first tooth came through. I am loving every single milestone she hits. Well, except for the first big bruise she got on her head last night as a result of trying to pull herself up onto the piano bench while I was teaching Ethan. I don't love the "I look like I'm being abused" phase.
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I have a few French novels (written in French, mostly classics(ish) written by French authors) that I have decided I am ready to let go of. If anyone is interested, let me know in the comments. And if more than one person is actually interested, I'll let random.org do the picking and I'll mail them to you. (If no one is interested, that's okay. They are in my DI pile.)
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My mother-in-law got me an Aerogarden for Christmas, which is a little hydroponic garden that sits on my counter. Yesterday for breakfast, I put fresh dill in our scrambled eggs and they were divine. I plan on making margherita pizza very soon with the basil. Now someone tell me - what do I do with fresh sage??

Random Tidbits

2011-01-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn started crawling officially two days ago. We learned very quickly that she can open and close the dvd player at will. It's time to babyproof. I'm not looking forward to saying "No" more often, but it sure is fun watching her explore this new world that she can move around in.
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I started watching the AMC show Breaking Bad with my husband a few weeks ago. (Thank you Netflix.) We are now halfway through season three. It's really a horrible show. In a good way. After every episode, I sigh or say, "Ugh," or scrunch up my nose with disgust, and then I say, "Well, let's watch another one." I'm definitely invested in the characters, and Christian and I have some good discussions afterward about what is right and what is wrong (is it okay to do wrong things for the right reasons?).
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I have to admit, I don't understand the Young Adult genre of books at all. I mean, are they written for young adults or about young adults? Does the term "young adult" mean teenager, or 18-25? I've seen books at the library in the Young Adult section that I would not consider appropriate for teenagers. And I've been noticing many of the books that have been recommended to me are YA books (the latest is The Book Thief). I'm not a young adult, at least not in the technical sense, I think. Does anyone know how the YA genre works? I will be reading The Help next, based on two high recommendations. Do you have any other recommendations for me?
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Yesterday at church, I was a substitute in the 11 year old boys' Primary class. There were thirteen boys. Then, I noticed a ruckus in the next room over (yes, I just used the word "ruckus"). I peeked in and noticed that the 10 year old class didn't have a teacher. So I invited them over. All five of them. So I taught 18 ten and eleven year olds in church yesterday. By myself. And I think I would rather do that every week than be the Enrichment leader, which I was just called to be. The thought of coming up with ideas that 60 women, ages 18-90, can relate to every month is WAY more intimidating than teaching 18 youth.
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I pinched a nerve in my upper back/neck yesterday. I can't turn my neck without crying. Just sitting here is painful. I used to work for a chiropractor. I wish I could get free adjustments again.
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Time to go clean the kitchen. I may not emerge for weeks, based on the look of it. Wish me luck!

A Review - Seven Months Late

2011-01-20T08:20:00.002-07:00

Way back when Kaitlyn was a newborn, I expressed interest in reviewing Braden Bell's new novel, The Roadshow. He graciously sent me a PDF file of the book. I immediately read the first chapter.

And then, life happened. As you all know, a newborn + two other children = insanity (for me, anyway).

It was too hard to sit at my computer to read for any period of time.

But then, because of the wonders of Christmas in the form of an iPad, I had a revelation last week. I could download the book onto my iPad and read it on my couch! And voilà, I finished it in two evenings.

It's an LDS (Mormon) book written by an LDS author, but what I loved about it is that it featured normal people with real problems. And I loved how all of the problems weren't miraculously solved by the end of the book. The book showed a snippet of these people's lives during the creation and production of a roadshow (a roadshow is like a play. I've never actually seen a roadshow performance.). I could really relate to the feelings of most of the main characters, even if I have never directly experienced their difficulties. And, I swear to you, I almost never cry while reading books, but I had tears running down my face at the very end during the scene with Sister MacDougal. (You'll have to read it to find out why.)

This was a quick read, and a great book. Thanks, Braden, for giving me the opportunity to review it. Sorry it took so long!

Avoidance

2011-01-18T11:05:00.002-07:00

I have five different serious-toned blog posts mulling around in my head right now. I want them to be written, but I don't actually feel like writing them right now. So, I will link you to a few of my favorite funny blogs instead.

We Know Awesome - This is my new favorite. It's definitely PG-13, so don't click over if you are hoping to feel spiritually enlightened. I do have to admit that I don't get LOLcats at all (do you have to be a cat lover to get it?), and occasionally they post something from LOLcats. But the pregnancy pictures they posted today - wow.

The Lawsons did Dallas! - Amy makes me laugh out loud with almost every post I read. And today's is even considered a serious post. I still laughed. (Click here to read about the glitter raisin.)

My Name is Brayden and My Dad's a Mexican - this is an anonymous school teacher who writes down the funny things her students say. Don't you all wonder what your kids are telling their teachers?

Our Transatlantic Love - this one is not a funny one, but I just found this blog and I love it. It's a French woman who recently married a Canadian man and they live in Paris.

That's all. For now.

Man v. Food

2011-01-12T09:35:00.003-07:00

We don't have cable or satellite at our house. We just have a digital antenna that accesses the free channels (NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, PBS, etc.). Then we also have a TiVo box, that costs $10 a month, to record our favorite shows (which are all on the network channels anyway), and we also subscribe to Netflix, which for $10 a month, gets us pretty much any movie or show we want from any other channel anyway.

Last month I was looking through the Netflix instant lists, and came across a show I had never heard of - Man v. Food. It's a show created by the Travel Channel. Travel plus food plus man? I love all three of those things! It's like this show was written for me! I started with season one, and pretty quickly blew through all three seasons. About halfway through season two, my husband sat down and watched a couple with me. During one of the shows, he turned to me and said, "You have a crush on Adam [Richman, the host], don't you?" I'm pretty sure I blushed. I mean, he's so friendly with people! And he has been to all these cool cities across the country, and eaten at all these cool places. Did I mention he's friendly?

One day I want to be at a restaurant when he is taking on their challenge (the premise of the show is whether he can beat the challenge at particular restaurants, whether it is eating the 5 lb burrito, or the hottest buffalo wings ever made - stuff like that). At the end of level three, he was at a restaurant in Ames, Iowa, and I got SO excited because we lived in Ames three years ago. Then when I looked the restaurant up online, I learned that it is located DIRECTLY in our old back yard, but the restaurant opened after we moved. I was SO bummed.

One day I will be paid to fly places to eat food. One day.

Mmm Mmm Good

2011-01-08T08:00:00.001-07:00

Well, I accomplished one of my "goals" this week of making something I have never made before from one of my cookbooks. Yay me! I got The Pioneer Woman cookbook for Christmas, and after salivating over every page, I decided to make Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich. It tasted great. There was a learning curve for picking it up though - the first time I picked mine up to take a bite all the meat and onions fell out of the bun. But Ethan and Aidan even asked for seconds, so I guess it was a hit for the entire family!

I'm crossing my fingers that I will continue making recipes from my piles, since this first experience was a good one. (It's so easy to get lazy and make the same old standbys!) Maybe I'll do a dessert next...any suggestions? (Or maybe I could actually look through my piles and choose one of the 1000 desserts I have already printed, ha ha.)

A Snowy Zion National Park

2011-01-06T11:29:00.005-07:00

We live an hour away from Zion National Park (well, depending on who is doing the driving. But that's another blog post.). Since Zion is in southern Utah, it usually has very mild temperatures in the winter, and it rarely snows (and sticks). But we had a huge storm blow through the week after Christmas, and so we took the opportunity to visit Zion N.P. on New Year's Eve. It was so fascinating seeing the snow-covered splendor and beauty of the area.

Approaching the park

The clouds were SO amazing.

Notice how this picture is focused? That's because Christian took it.
I'm still a crappy picture taker.

Awww, look at that little tongue.

I love this picture, even though I'm shooting straight into the sun.
Snow at Zion N.P. is rare. (Annette, I typed "very rare," and then deleted the "very" just for you. Hee hee.)

Ever seen a cactus with snow on it?

See that "little" hole in the mountain? We will be driving through it in just a minute.

Looking out of the hole while in the tunnel. It was built in the 1920s and is 1.1 mile long. How did they blast through the mountain in the 20s? Amazing.

What you see when you exit the tunnel.

We love living here because of all of the amazing outdoor wonders. Does anyone want to come and visit us now?

Resolutions Schmezolutions

2011-01-03T13:29:00.004-07:00

I have two New Year's resolutions:

1. Write even less frequently on this blog, and
2. Try to make every post even more boring than the last.

Just kidding.

I'm not making any New Year's resolutions this year. But I do have three goals:
1. Continue working on who I want to become (authenticity)
2. Read and comment on friends' blogs more often than once a month
3. Cook/bake/make something once a week from my pile of cookbooks/food blogs/recipes I've printed throughout the last 10 years and never made.

I would like for life to stop feeling like it is spinning out of control, but I have a feeling that is the "new normal" for me. So my other goal is to get used to this feeling.

I'll be seeing you around the blogosphere!

Mom Jeans

2010-12-28T13:01:00.006-07:00

Please don't hate me for this next sentence.

I now weigh six pounds less than I did before I got pregnant.
(I love breastfeeding for this exact reason!)

In fact, I weigh the same number that I weighed on my 21-year old driver's license.

A few weeks ago I bought two new pairs of jeans. What I didn't realize was that both pairs of jeans have some stretch to them, and by the end of the day they fall off of my waist. So, I did what any normal person would do - I pulled out my only belt. I haven't worn a belt in years (maybe since before I even had children?). And, to my dismay, I realized something terribly disturbing.Apparently the jeans I used to wear with this belt were Mom Jeans. I put this belt on my new low-waisted jeans and I couldn't even get the ends to touch. If you look carefully, you can see that I used to do the belt up on the second hole, which means my jeans used to run about 6 inches higher than these ones do.

(P.S. Don't forget that the camera adds about 10 lbs to your stomach/hip area.)

(P.P.S. My husband likes to tease me when I tell him my undergarments "fall up." It's because their waistline really does lay above my bellybutton. Does anyone else have this problem?)

Hallelujah!

2010-12-22T10:14:00.007-07:00

I love flash mobs. I want to be a part of one some day.

And I love this flash mob because it reminds me of the true meaning of Christmas.

(I also love it because it takes me back to my concert choir days...)

(I also also love it because it makes me cry every time I watch it {which has been six times now}, and I don't cry over stuff like this very often. This proves to me that I am not dead inside.)

Merry Christmas to you!

Read This. Watch This.

2010-12-15T08:32:00.002-07:00

Read This:

My mom told me about a young adult series that she enjoyed reading, so I checked the first book out at the library. It's called Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld. You're sucked in with the first two sentences: "The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit. Of course, Tally thought, you'd have to feed your cat only salmon-flavored cat food for a while, to get the pinks right." I don't think I've ever read a book where I enjoyed the opening sentence more than this one.

The story is about a world where everyone is Ugly, and when they turn 16 they have an operation to turn Pretty. The Pretties live in a party world, and everyone (well, almost everyone) who is Ugly can't wait to be Pretty. And there is inevitable conflict because a few people don't want the operation. I loved this book and can't wait for the second book to become available at the library.

Watch This:

Christian and I watched the movie "Temple Grandin" last night. It's about a woman who has autism who goes to college to study animal science. In trying to figure out how to write a review for this movie, I am realizing that I can't do it justice. Let's just say that between the two of us, one or both of us may have been crying tears of happiness at the end. Claire Danes plays Temple, and she was amazing. (I may have had a crush on Claire in My So-Called Life, but her performance here blows me away.) Definitely put Temple Grandin in your Netflix queue if you haven't already seen it.

Teaching Me a Lesson

2010-12-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

Ethan and Aidan have been bickering a lot lately. I'm sure it comes with the age - I remember picking fights with my sister pretty much constantly starting around age seven or eight.

On Saturday, they were each coloring a Christmas picture I had printed off of the internet, and each boy kept threatening to draw/color/mark up the other boy's picture. I told them to knock it off, they each said okay, and less than a minute later Ethan was trying to mark Aidan's paper.

I got really frustrated and went on a tirade: "Why did you completely ignore what I just said to you? Why do you not listen to me? Do you LIKE getting in trouble? Do you like it when Aidan marks up your paper? What kind of consequence do you need for ignoring me and being mean to your brother? (He shrugged.) I can't think of a good consequence. How about if I take back the 50 cents you earned for sweeping out the entire garage?" (I was feeling exasperated and at my wit's end by then.)

He leaned in and whispered into my ear, "I put the 50 cents in Aidan's present [that I made from scratch, wrapped all by myself and put under the tree]."

Stab my heart, why don't you!!

He can be so frustrating one moment, and so loving the next.

And, as always, my kids teach me more than I teach them.

The Birth Certificate Saga

2010-12-10T12:22:00.004-07:00

I still don't have Kaitlyn's birth certificate. And she's almost 7 months old. It's not that I haven't tried, or that I just haven't cared - I have actually tried four different times to acquire it, with no luck. Let me tell you how that can happen to someone like me.

Remember how I told you that I have no sense of direction? It's pretty frustrating when you can get lost in the town you grew up in, only because it's nighttime. Well, this is one reason why I love most Utah towns. For those of you who don't know, most Utah towns have a grid system, with Main and Center Streets being the center of town, and then the streets are named 100, 200, 300 North (or South or East or West) depending on how far you are from Main and Center. If an address is 450 S. 300 E., I can find it without problems (usually).

However, the health department in our town doesn't have a number address like this. To make myself a tiny bit less Googleable, I will say that the street name is Private Drive (not its real name). How in the world can someone like me find Private Drive? You'd probably say read a map, but maps don't work for me. I can't see it in my head. "North" to me is whichever direction I am facing, and "south" is the direction behind me. It is a tiny bit easier when I'm outside because I know the mountains are east. But we have been living in our house for 2 1/2 years, and Christian will occasionally ask me out of the blue (I'm sure for his own personal enjoyment), "Which direction is north?" After 2 1/2 years, I STILL don't know which way is north when I am inside my own house.

End tangent. Okay, so when Kaitlyn was one month old, I thought I would be able to find the health department just by driving around. Big mistake. I was on the south end of town, and when I came home frustrated I looked it up and realized that it is on the north end of town. So a month later I drove up Main street looking for Private Drive. I was SURE I had found it when I spotted the Driver's License Division. Nope, no such luck. That was a waste of a day of searching for the health department.

So a couple of months ago, I tried looking for it on a map. I found the street, but there was no identifying information surrounding the street for me to be able to know where the street was actually located. If it would have been, for example, across the street from the cemetery, I would have figured it out. But there was nothing like that nearby (on the map). I got frustrated and gave up. Strike three.

So this morning, for the fourth time, I decided I was on a manhunt to find the health department. I slowly drove north on Main Street, watching for Private Drive. I turned when I thought I was getting close - oops, that's the golf course. U-turn. I turned again, only to realize I was on the road leading up the canyon. Got back on Main Street, and kept driving. Finally I saw a teeny sign that said "Health Department" with an arrow. I was so excited! I turned, drove up, parked, and realized...it's Friday.

For those of you who live in Utah, you know that recently all federal places like the health department have adopted a four-tens schedule, meaning they work Monday-Thursday, and take Fridays off. So, on the day I actually found the right place, they were closed.

Here's hoping fifth time's a charm!

Baby Signing

2010-12-06T06:30:00.001-07:00

When Ethan and Aidan were little, I learned about baby signs, and how you can bridge the gap between when babies can understand you and when they can talk. (Worst run-on sentence ever, but I don't care. I'm too tired to change it.) Studies show that if you use baby signs, it can decrease tantrums, and possibly increase IQ levels, in addition to boosting your child's confidence and making them feel proud of themselves. I bought this book when Ethan was a baby, and it sits on my special bookshelf where all of my favorite books sit. Except for right now, of course, because I am using it with Kaitlyn. This book explains the findings behind the research, how to do the basic signs, and has lots of pictures and stories about babies doing signs and communicating with their parents.

(For your information: only some of the signs are ASL. Some are just simplified signs to help a baby learn to communicate. And Melanie J., I don't know how the deaf community feels about this. But I loved the fact that Ethan knew (and could communicate with us) 40 signs before he could even talk.) (Oh, and P.S. I'm not being paid for this post or anything.)

We also purchased the first two Baby Signing Time dvds when Ethan was little. He loved them, I loved them, and I dare you to watch the first dvd and NOT find yourself singing, "Mom has a mom and she's my grandma" over and over in your head as you try to go to sleep.

As soon as Kaitlyn turned 6 months old, I started doing a few signs with her: eat, all done, nurse, Mom and Dad. Every time I say the word "nurse," I do the sign. It's been about three weeks, and now when I say the word and do the sign, she starts flapping her arms with excitement. And she has started doing the sign for "all done" constantly. She doesn't know what it means yet, but she smiles the biggest smile every time she does it. And I love how she looks back and forth from Christian to me when we do the signs for Mom and Dad.

I love the fact that Kaitlyn will be able to communicate with us much sooner than she will be able to talk to us. I love this book and these dvds, and highly recommend them if you have babies, or even for baby shower gifts for new moms.

I only have one thing I'm slightly worried about - what will happen when I wean her at one year old, and she signs "nurse" over and over, and I have to tell her no? Sigh. We'll just cross that bridge when we come to it.

Time Flies When You're Going Crazy

2010-11-29T22:31:00.002-07:00

I feel like my life is running in fast forward, but I am sludging through molasses. I have a million things to do, and not nearly enough time to do even half of them. (I'm not complaining; it's just an observation.) There are times throughout the day that I think about little snippets I would like to blog about, but I don't have (or make) the time to get online and write. I imagine it will get even crazier as Christmas approaches. Thank goodness I have most of my Christmas shopping finished.

I'll just remind you that iTunes has two Christmas songs for free to download every week between now and Christmas. And the last two years in a row, Amazon has has one free Christmas download every day of December. So that is a great way to build up your Christmas music arsenal.

Oh, and I'm already craving what I am going to make for breakfast Christmas morning. I purchased the ingredients today. This is what I'm making. Yummm.

2010-11-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

Wishing you a happy, squishy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving Box

2010-11-22T06:00:00.001-07:00

When my sister and I were young (before our brother was born), we used to make a yearly "Thanksgiving Box." We would decorate a box, usually a kleenex box, with drawings and colored paper, and then we would cut small strips of paper and each day in November we would write one thing we were thankful for on them. Then at dinnertime on Thanksgiving day, we would read all of the things we had written. I remember how excited we would get about it, and we would come up with some very interesting things to be thankful for (I wonder how often my parents laughed about the things we put on our pieces of paper).

I had kind of forgotten about this tradition until my mom reminded me of it over the weekend. So I suggested making one, and my boys got SO excited they started right away, just like I did when I was young.

They decorated the box themselves. I suggested using paper, but they just wanted to draw straight on the box.
Then Ethan cut the strips of paper out and set them next to the box. Since Saturday, each boy has filled out at least 10 strips of paper with things they are thankful for. (Christian and I have each done a couple too.) (The pictures, if you are wondering, are two turkeys, a blue fire, a Christmas tree, and of course I♥U.)And here is what our table looks like right now. It will definitely need to be cleaned off before we eat Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.Even though Thanksgiving is only three days away, if you have children, make a Thanksgiving box today. Your kids will be so excited. But, if they're like Aidan, you may have to remind them eight or nine times that you are not writing these thankful notes to Santa Claus. Sigh.

Six Months

2010-11-18T07:00:00.001-07:00

Today is Kaitlyn's half-birthday.Baby cankles and cute fat rolls

Where in the world did the last six months go?

Why I Feel Special

2010-11-13T10:36:00.002-07:00

I love the day of my birth. I love it because the day itself, November 13, always made me feel special growing up. I felt cool, important, set apart from others. Let me explain why.

Having a birthday on the 13th is awesome. When it lands on Friday the 13th it feels like the luckiest day of my life. It's like I'm bucking the superstition trend, because it's going to be the best day ever.

And growing up, I knew that I was a Scorpio. Whenever I would read the descriptions of the zodiac signs, the sign of the scorpion was always the most mysterious and magnetic. People wanted to be with Scorpios (according to what I read). Even though I never felt like I fully fit into the Scorpio mold, I felt like one day I just might. And that's what made me special.

So, combine the Scorpio with the 13th and I feel like greatness.

Combine it with a family who loves and pampers me, and I feel like the luckiest person in the entire world.

P.S. Last year I wrote about what your "root number" says about you. If you're interested to find out what it is, click here.

One Day at a Time

2010-11-12T08:30:00.004-07:00

This is what my kitchen sink and counter looks like right now.

If my kitchen is clean, the rest of my house feels manageable. No matter how dirty it actually is. As long as my kitchen is clean.

The problem is, my kitchen hasn't been clean since Kaitlyn was born. Oh sure, sometimes the dishes are all in the dishwasher, but there are pans piling sky high on the countertop (I hate washing pans). Or someone spilled something sticky on the floor and I wasn't quite thorough enough while cleaning it up (this time it was Kaitlyn's foot who spilled the sticky juice, and I don't have the energy to wash my floor in its entirety). I'm noticing the pile of clean laundry sitting on the couch, and the piles amassing on my hope chest - are they clean? are they dirty? - kind of sitting in laundry limbo.

I need to make a decision about which day I will do group piano lessons during Thanksgiving week. I need to plan group piano lessons. My shower is growing things; where is the Lysol cleaner? I have a book I want to read sitting on the shelf. People keep e-mailing me, asking if I would like to review things. I don't even take the time to e-mail friends back when they e-mail me (sorry about that everyone), let alone decide whether I would like to review anything and get back with them.

Some moments, life feels completely overwhelming as the to-do list gets longer and longer, even when I try to chip away at it one chore at a time.

I talked to Christian about it, and he reminded me that I felt this way with both Ethan and Aidan until they stopped nursing (aka when they turn one and are a teeny bit more independent).

Sometimes, when I'm in the thick of it, I feel like I'm drowning and will never get out.

But then I realize that time really is fleeting, and Kaitlyn will be toddling before long. And my house will be clean(er) once again.

I'm going to go give Kaitlyn some loves and kisses now.

And maybe start the dishwasher.

Be Still My Beating Heart

2010-11-11T10:00:00.001-07:00

In addition to collecting French cookbooks that I never use, I also have a huge passion for beautiful coffee table books. But, because I don't have a coffee table, my beautiful books sit in the front entryway closet. It's a travesty, really, but I do get them out from time to time and flip through the pages lovingly.

This isn't even all of my coffee table books, believe it or not. These are only my favorites.

My love for coffee table books began with the one in the bottom right corner, Splendeurs de la France. When we had French foreign exchange students stay with us in high school, one of them brought us that book. It's completely in French and I lovelovelove it. You'll notice the one above it is actually a cookbook. But the pictures are so beautiful, who would actually dare mar the pages with grease by using it to cook meals? (Hey, I don't think I counted this one when I discussed my cookbooks. I have ten French cookbooks!)

Christian and I were married in Hawaii, thus the Hawaii coffee table book. And the Scanlan art gallery in Park City, Utah is so breathtaking that I HAD to have the coffee table book (it was a birthday gift a few years back. Thanks, Ruth). The Celine Dion/Anne Geddes book was also a birthday gift (Kristina, sleeping babies posing in giant cups don't scare you, right?) The Great World Atlas was my grandma's, and she gave it to me before she died. And the Ansel Adams book was actually Christian's (see what great taste I have in husbands?).

We had a coffee table for years, but after bruising our shins one too many times, we got rid of it. I'll figure out how to display my beautiful books one of these years. In the meantime, I'm still searching for the coffee table book that turns into a coffee table that Kramer made.

Question(s) For the Day

2010-11-10T08:55:00.003-07:00

I want to purchase some shampoo and conditioner for myself for my birthday (extravagant, I know). I would love to try something that I've never tried before, so tell me:

What brand shampoo/conditioner do you generally use? Do you purchase it based on price? scent? eco-friendly? it's all you've ever known? If price didn't matter, would you choose something different?

Winter May Officially Begin

2010-11-09T08:40:00.003-07:00

I posted on Facebook yesterday that I made a vat of my grandma's hot cocoa mix just in time for the snow to arrive. (When I say vat, I mean it fills one of those large white buckets about 3/4 full.) I had a lot of people ask for the recipe, and since this cocoa is amazingly delicious, I asked my grandma permission to post it, and here it is!

Grandma's Cocoa Mix
recipe taken from Erin's blog

20 quart package powdered milk (the big box)
32 oz coffee creamer
3-4 lbs powdered sugar (I used 3 - it depends on how sweet you like it)
2 Tbsp salt
1 container cocoa/chocolate milk mix (Nesquik, Hersheys - the bigger size container, I think 21 oz)
1 - 5.9 oz package chocolate or vanilla instant Jello pudding (the bigger size box - I use chocolate)

To make cocoa: mix 8 oz hot water with 3-4 heaping spoonfuls of cocoa mix. Make it every night after the kids go to bed along with a piece of toast. Swoon.

This huge container probably costs around $23.00 to make (powdered milk is SO expensive), but it lasts all winter, so it's totally worth it. Also, as my cousin Elisa mentioned on facebook, you can give it out as neighbor gifts for Christmas, and it makes AT LEAST 23 gifts worth, which means you would only spend $1.00 per family. When I did it as neighbor gifts, I used pint sized mason jars, or you could use disposable Rubbermaid containers. I purchased cute cheap snowman fabric, cut a square of it out and screwed it into the top of the mason jar, and attached a note from our family. It was a huge success. Of course, I did this before I had kids, and ever since I had kids, I have just gotten lazy and not done anything for neighbors. But hey, come over to my house and I'd be glad to make you some cocoa!

Big Changes

2010-11-08T08:00:00.001-07:00

Have you ever had a conversation that was so eye-opening, so knock-your-socks-off-revealing-about-things-you-had-never-seen-in-yourself-before that you know you will never be the same again? I have had only a handful of these kinds of conversations in my lifetime, and Christian and I had one Saturday night. I realized a lot of things about myself, and I will share just a few of them with you. Up until Saturday night:

many - or perhaps most - decisions I make/made in my life are/were based in fear
I have walls surrounding myself/heart/mind that only very few people are allowed to penetrate, and even if they are allowed in, it is only momentarily and not permanently
I tend to view things as a victim
I now understand why I have a difficult time with spontaneity
I thought I had worked through any and all issues pertaining to abuses and things in the past, but I realized there are still residual issues I was completely unaware of
I have always been hard on myself and had negative self-talk, but now I understand better why

Wow, what a conversation! I believe recognizing all of these things is the first step toward making my life, and as a direct correlation, our marriage, better.

This conversation was a turning point and a beginning of a new me. Watch out world, here I come!

Why Do You Read Blogs?

2010-11-04T08:37:00.003-06:00

I have to admit that I have been having difficulties writing blog posts lately. I realize that I am my own harshest critic, but every time I think about something to write, I think to myself, "Who would care about that subject? Why would someone want to read that drivel? Am I really that snobbish, that I think people would care about what I write about?"

It seems to me that blogging is not only selfish, as in I write for personal motives (and you, as the unwitting reader, get pulled into that selfishness), but it seems to be even more than that. Blogging is also narcissistic. People want to read what I want to write about, so I must be special. (This is what I am thinking in general terms for the mainstream blogging public. Please point it out if you think I'm wrong. {See, even that sentence is asking for validation. Narcissism.}).

However, I have been feeling like I don't want to just be a drivelly, writey person. I want to make a difference somehow. But since I don't know how, and I don't want to be perceived as selfish and narcissistic, I just don't write on my blog. Period.

(This post kind of reminds me of when Phoebe on Friends wants to find a truly selfless act that doesn't make her feel good inside, so she lets a bee sting her. But then someone points out that the bee probably died after stinging her, so she failed her mission.)

I know I have talked before about why I write my blog, and I have asked you why you write yours, but now I'm asking you why you read blogs. And does it differ from why you write blogs?

P.S. I have a terrible cold right now and my brain is functioning on not enough sleep and Nyquil. If this post doesn't make sense, now you know why.

P.P.S. It's kind of silly that I wrote this post about not wanting to be narcissistic on my own blog, but since next week is my birthday week, I'm planning on writing a post every day about whatever I want (i.e. being narcissistic). No, the irony is not lost on me.

1000 Sheep for Ewe

2010-10-30T12:21:00.004-06:00

I needed to run to Wal-Mart this morning to purchase Halloween candy, so I took the back road like I always do. I didn't realize I would be stopped by sheep on the drive. (This isn't a usual occurrence, believe me. My town has close to 30,000 people. This is a picture taken with my cheap cell phone.)
Then I remembered that this weekend is the Livestock and Heritage Festival. Our town uses any excuse to hold a parade (we are nicknamed Festival City, USA), and this weekend is no exception. The flier says, "This event is an exciting celebration of the agricultural industry's contribution to our community. Watch one of the most unique parades in the county, where approximately 1,000 sheep are herded down Main Street along with horses, wagons, antique tractors, and historic sheep wagons." It was definitely a must-see event.

However, when I told the pharmacist at Walgreens that I was so excited to drive through a herd of sheep, he told me he grew up farming sheep and they were just an annoyance for him. I thought it was cool. I even had to call Christian when my car was completely surrounded and tell him I wish the entire family was in the car.

Want to see a thousand sheep be herded down Main Street?

Monitor Sweet Monitor

2010-10-27T16:31:00.002-06:00

I'm finally home from my trip up north, and I finally have my computer monitor back. Yippee! My google reader threatens to drown me, however. I'm going to have to pare down my number of subscriptions, because this is getting ridiculous.
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I went to Texas Roadhouse for the first time while I was up in Logan. I had the ribs (I ordered a full rack so I could have leftovers. Yeah, baby.) and they were delicious. However, I had something happen for the first time ever. My dad offered to let me try his meal, which was filet medallions with a portobello mushroom gravy, and for the first time ever, I regretted what I ordered, and wished I had ordered what he was having. I definitely have to go back to that restaurant soon just to order that meal. (Plus, of course, the rolls were heavenly. I'm pretty sure I had five. And the mashed potatoes. And the vegetables. Be still my beating heart.)
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Since when did I become a "ma'am"? I have been ma'amed three times this week. Have I really grown that many wrinkles overnight? Maybe I should actually start doing my hair and putting makeup on. Do you mind being called ma'am? It kind of bugs me. (P.S. I just looked up the definition of ma'am, and it says in Britain it's a term used in addressing the queen or a royal princess. Maybe I should change my mind about ma'am...)
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I finished reading Mockingjay (book three of The Hunger Games series) yesterday (it's amazing what you can get done when you don't have a computer!) I liked the ending and I'm really glad I read it. (Some people said they didn't like the ending, and a few people even told my mom to stop reading at book one because the last two books weren't worth it.)
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I am in a serious dessert mood. Tell me - if calories, price, and effort didn't matter, what dessert would you eat right now? I'm wavering between an Oreo cheesecake, a banana rum cheesecake (to.die.for.), and these brownies. Please, give me links if you have a dessert recipe that you can't live without.