Learn to Laugh

Enough already!

2012-02-12T16:11:00.000-08:00

We are going on three weeks of sickness over here. THREE WEEKS PEOPLE. My sanity (what little of it I actually possessed) is shot. A's been to the doctor twice because I got concerned about strep or pneumonia. She had a sore throat and fever for nearly two and a half weeks. It seemed to get better then worse again. She is fine now except for a cough. This cough mostly only comes at night. She has developed this fun habit of coughing after she falls asleep until she throws up. Every night. It doesn't matter what measures we take to avoid this (Vick's rub, humidifier, propping her up with pillows, setting her up in a chair) she is a guaranteed spew. Of course, once she does this she is fine. Sleeps through the night with barely a cough. I know things could be worse but I'm getting awfully sick of cleaning up the mess every night!
K lost her voice for a while in there. She didn't let a pesky little thing like that stop her though. No way, not K. She just powered on through, talking all the while. She did find some scissors while I was ~~ignoring her~~ busy earlier this week. I discovered the pile of hair carefully hid under the train table in the toy room. It was a good opportunity to talk about truth vs lie because she insisted that D did it. Then later when we were cleaning the toys up she told me how she did it. The thing about K is, she doesn't actually lie. I think she honestly believes the story she is telling at the time.
D finished his report this week. We handed it in on Thursday. Now we need to get through the 5 minute oral presentation on Friday this week. We need to figure out what props he's going to make and get them made. I'm thinking of posting his report on here. I'm pretty proud of him!
Did I mention we've been sick for three weeks? Three weeks of fevers, sore throats, coughs, phlem and fun! Okay, maybe not the fun part. But now it is mine turn I guess. Apparently you can only hang around germ balls for so long before you get sick too. I think it is time for a vacation. Or a summer. I'd take either one.

Innocent looking germ hosts

Worth 1,000 Words

2012-02-09T15:56:00.000-08:00

The Magic School Bus

2012-02-02T15:42:00.000-08:00

K and I met D's class for a play today. I got a sitter for A (harder than anticipated!) so it was just K and I. D rode on the school bus since it was a field trip with parents invited. I think this is the kids first play. They didn't quite know what to expect.

It was a pretty short play. K sat on my lap. Near the end she was ready to go. She even turned sideways on my lap and curled up in it. Turns out she was getting a fever and didn't feel too well.

The play was pretty good. Rather a political message.... One of the teachers and I were chatting after it was over. She joked that she was half expecting Al Gore to walk out on stage and give a speech when the curtain fell! Still, a good message -- reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink!

It was fun. I'm glad I had the chance to be there for their first play and spend that time with my kids.

This Week...

2012-01-29T22:10:00.000-08:00

I took A to the doctor. Turns out she has an ear infection and throat infection that is probably not strep but is actually viral. She's on antibiotics for her ear and nothing for her throat. Tylenol and IBU I guess. Also, the doc did her 2 year well-check. A is a big girl. She's in or near the 90th percentile for head, height and weight. The doc isn't worried though because she is proportioned well. Poor K doesn't have any clothes to herself anymore because A wears them all too.
I only went to the gym once (see sick child above). Now I remember part of why I have a hard time going. It seems like every time I get serious about working out someone gets sick. I'm not giving up though. I'm back at it again this week!
K and A are usually good friends. They've started sharing the top bunk. They talk and giggle and read stories in the top bunk after we put them to bed. I know I should put a stop to this late night (8:30) behavior but I am so happy for them to get along that I just can't bring myself to be too harsh about it! This is what Roy and I found Saturday night when we checked on the girls:

I am stressed about D's research project. ELECTRICITY?! Why oh WHY?! We picked out some books from the library. I've also been thinking about taking him to one of the dams on the river to see how hydropower is generated. I think we may be building an atom in the next few weeks.
Saturday D had a birthday party at PSU. We braved the wilds of Portland to bowl with friends. It was fun. We went last year too and it is always a good time. I really like his friend and the family. They are good friends and neighbors.
I hosted book club at my house Tuesday night. We discussed Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Anna Chua. I never would have read it on my own but it was good to read and discuss. I am glad for the opportunity to expand my horizons. I also need to be more like a tiger mother but not to the crazy side like Ms. Chua.

Roy and I went out TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW! Did you hear that? TWO! We went to ward temple night on Friday night. We hadn't even thought about it until one of the young women I work with on Wednesdays asked if she could babysit for free while we went. Um, yes. So we did. Then, Saturday morning at 6:45 AM I got 3 texts from the bishop. (Who does that? A busy man in Florida does that.) He was supposed to attend a Yule Ball being put on by the stake for 16-18 year-olds. Since he was in Florida he wouldn't be able to attend and neither one of his counselors could make it either. The youth love us could we go? Sure. So we did. It was so much fun! We had a nice dinner, chatted with the youth, listened to a great talk about dating (DO IT!) and danced our little hearts out. I gave Roy a hard time because he couldn't dance but the clincher came when he was supposed to lead the youth from our ward in the YMCA. He doesn't know the YMCA. That's right. HE DOES NOT KNOW THE YMCA. I did not know it was possible that there was a single person in the US at least who doesn't know the YMCA but apparently there is one and I married him. The youth got a great kick out of it though. Good times. I love going out with that man. It is always a good time.

Seeking Input

2012-01-23T21:45:00.000-08:00

I love this wall hanging from I Am Momma, Hear Me Roar. I have been wanting to do it for some time but I don't want the quote she used. It is a good quote and if I didn't have a different favorite I would totally use it. However, I love the following quote from Marianne Williamson. So I spent some time and made my own file to print. I'm looking for input from you to tell me what I should change or leave the same. I've been looking at it for so long I think I've become desensitized to it. Also, I'm not very good at imagining what it will look like on a 2x3 foot print.

So there you have it. What should I do?

The circus came to our house!

2012-01-21T22:27:00.000-08:00

K the Strongman with D the Ringmaster

2012-01-21T22:25:00.000-08:00

The lion tamer and disobedient lion:

Snow Day

2012-01-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

Here in the land of zero snowplows when it snows enough to stick to the road, school shuts down. Wednesday was just such a day. I got the flashalert text at 4 am letting me know there would be no school. K has been asking for snow for months. She heard it was winter and has a firm belief that winter = snow. Her first words when she got out of bed were, "Daddy! I'm ready to go play in the snow!" These were all taken before breakfast!

It was actually raining a bit while they were playing in the snow. Honestly, how many places can you play in the snow and rain at the same time? Luckily it wasn't a freezing rain. Been there, done that and it is a mess. The snow was pretty much gone by nightfall and school was back on today.

Another letter update

2012-01-15T21:20:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't been the best about writing right now. I guess I should have made a resolution to blog more regularly. Somehow I think I would have broken that one!

I wrote a letter to my brother tonight and realized that much of what I told him is what I wanted blog about. I know it is not the usual HILARIOUS writing you are accustomed to getting here. I do have some projects I've been wanting to show off so I'll try to get right on that....

He's the one on the right.

Dear Elder Rick,

Things are going well here. The kids are all healthy. A has taken to calling herself “Mokey the Bear” after Smokey the Bear. Grandpa Pyatt taught the kids a little songabout Smokey the Bear while he was here over Thanksgiving. While mom and dad were here after Christmas,A was singing, “Mokey the Bear! Mokey the Bear! Mokey the Bear!” Since then, she has taken to calling herselfMokey. It is hilarious and sweet. She has also really started singing. A few of her favorite songs are “Church (I Belongto the Church of Jesus Christ), Sunbeam and LaLa (Elmo’s World song)”. I’ve thought about you as a little boy latelytoo because A has recently discovered Barney. She loves Barney! I remember Barney came out when you werelittle like her and you used to love Barney too. There’s a lot of music in it and I think that’spart of what attracts A.

K is doing well. She is still loving preschool. She is actually learning quite a bit too! We got a Wii for Christmas and she has takento it quite well. Her favorite games areboxing and dancing. She’s not too shabbyat boxing. It is something to watch herpunching a guy out on the TV. She’s bravetoo. I took her in for a doctor’sappointment right before Christmas. Sheneeded 4 shots but didn’t necessarily have to have them that day. It would be convenient because we were therebut she just had to have them before she starts Kindergarten. I talked things over with her and gave herthe choice. She decided to just doit. So I held her on my lap and shebravely took her 4 shots with nothing more than a whimper until the lastone. It was MMR (measles, mumps andrubella) and that one is a sore one. Even then she only cried a bit. Iwas so proud of her! She was scared anddidn’t really want to do it but did because it had to be done. That’s very grown up of her.

D is also doing well. He has a project coming up in school called ‘Be an Expert’ where hepicks a topic to be an expert about. He hasnarrowed it down to three topics: “How to make a thermometer”, “how to drive atrain”, and “Electrical Circuits”. Tomorrow we will do some preliminary research on each of those topics todetermine which one has enough information and interests him the most to do areport and 5 minute presentation. I lovethat he is doing this in first grade but also kind of hate writing reports. This is worse though because I am not writingthe report. I am trying to let him writethe report without putting too much of myself in it! We went to a “Great to be 8” fireside for himthis year. It is a bit difficult tobelieve that he will be 8 this year. Ikind of cringe inwardly at the thought of Cub Scouts but I smile outwardlybecause it is a good program. : )

Roy just got a new calling. He is the new Elder’s Quorum president now. It is a big job that will require a lot oftime and effort but I know he is up to the challenge. I’m grateful the Lord trusts both of us withthis responsibility.

You asked about goals in one of your last emails. I didn’t forget because I wanted to tell youabout my goals. I don’t know if you arefamiliar with Emily Freeman. She is anLDS author that I have heard speak a couple of times at Time Out for Women withmom. She has a website andchallenge/journey to read the entire standard works in a year. I decided to take the journey so I’ve beenreading 7 pages a day. So far I’ve readMoses, Abraham and part of Genesis. Itis good for me to have a goal to read for. I like to read my scriptures but doing it consistently has always been astruggle for me. I’m an on again/offagain reader. When I have a set goal ofwhat I want to read I do better. Plus,it will be easier to get through some of the more difficult parts of the Old Testamentby committing to read 7 pages a day. Atleast that’s what I’m hoping for.

My other resolution is to go to bed at 10:30 regularly. I am a night person. I’d rather stay up late to do somethingrather than get up early. This was okayin college but now I’m almost 30 and have kids. It is harder to get up and work and be the kind of mother I want tobe. So I’m imposing a bedtime onmyself. I’ve already broken it severaltimes. However, just like other parts oflife, I am not letting my follies bring me down. I’m just recommitting myself to do better.

I should have a bunchof more goals but I figure if I set too many resolutions then I’m just settingmyself up to fail at them all. It isbetter to work on a few at a time. Royand I did have a chat this weekend and rededicated ourselves to working out andbeing healthier. I’ve set a pretty rigorousexercise schedule for myself. We’ll seehow it goes this week. I’m trying tochange my mindset from “I’m going to lose X pounds” to “I’m going do this for aweek. Then I’ll do it next week. I can do it for a month.” Yeah know, just taking things a week at atime.

Well, that pretty much brings you up to speed on thingshere. We love you. The kids love you and are so proud of you. K was looking at “pictures of Chile” onthe mission blog tonight. They all liketo talk about you and your mission. Keepworking hard and praying harder.

Love,

Sheena

Resolutions, goals, whatever

2012-01-04T22:28:00.000-08:00

It is the beginning of the new year and I do like to set goals/make resolutions at the beginning of the year. I like to start fresh. And even if I don't make it I get closer than if I never started. This year I picked 2 things that I know I need to work on. Yes, only 2 because I'm hoping that these 2 things will make it easier to change/control other aspects of myself.
#1. I love the night. I love the darkness, the quiet, the kids sleeping, being alone, vegging, blogging, surfing etc. This would be fine if I didn't have a family and need to be chipper in the morning. (Which, let's face it, I'm not and may never be.) However, I need a bedtime. So this year, I am giving myself a bedtime of 10:30 p.m. (it's coming up fast right now....) I resolve to go to bed at 10:30 p.m. That being said, I will make allowances for special occasions, ie date nights and GNO (because what self respecting GNO ends before midnight?). Other than those, 10:30 and I'm in bed. So far, so good.
#2. I happened to see this FB post from Hilary Weeks on January 1 and I'm doing it. I'm taking the challenge to read the entire Standard Works (Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon*, Doctrine and Covenants* and Pearl of Great Price*) in 2012. That's only 7 pages of scripture a day! Now I figure if I average that then on days when I have more time or ability, I can read more than 7 so that on those days I can't quite make 7 I'll be okay. So far, I'm almost through the first book in the P of GP. I forgot how much I enjoy it! This is good for me. I do better reading the scriptures when I have a goal I'm trying to reach. Otherwise I lose track of reading and let it lapse.
There you have it. My 2 goals for 2012. By working on these 2 things I'm hoping to be more energetic and happy in other aspects of my life. Feel free to join me in either or both of these challenges if you want...

*LDS specific scriptures

December Wrap Up

2011-12-31T09:57:00.000-08:00

I realize that I haven't been keeping up this holiday season. My blog reading list tells me that I'm not the only one. I like to have things blogged for my kids to read about later but sometimes I'm too busy living now. And that's okay.
D had 2 weeks off of school for the holiday break. It was UH-MAZING to be able to sleep in to 8:00 again. Ah bed, how I love thee in the morning and yet avoid thee at night....
I was a little worried about what we would do to keep busy but we managed all right. We went to the library and checked out a bunch of book so he could read. He's read some but not too much. Mostly, he disappeared into his room and built things with his Legos. He did learn to tie his shoes and earned the $5 from his dad.
K and A have been playing pretty well together lately. They go downstairs and color and play with the toys. It makes my mama heart swell with pride until the crying begins.
Christmas was good. We had a pretty low key Christmas Eve. We spent much of the day cleaning to be ready for Christmas. In the evening we did a little family Nativity re-enactment. That's always fun. We sang some songs and read a Christmas story before going to bed.
Christmas morning the kids got up early enough to open their stockings before we went to church. That left presents to do after church. I kind of liked having Christmas on a Sunday. It was cool to go to church and sing and listen.
My parents came the day after Christmas to spend the week with us. It is always so fun to have grandparents here. We feel very lucky to have had both sets of grandparents visit this holiday season (between Thanksgiving and Christmas).
It was fun to be at home (the kids loved playing with the Wii Santa brought for Christmas). But we did some fun outside things too. We headed out to visit the local celebrity volcano (Mount St. Helen's) and do some sledding. It was a good time other than the carsick 2 year old. We have got to remember she does that before she throws up in the car. The two big kids had fun sledding and D and K liked it okay too. My mom and I were a little concerned about having to splint and carry Roy and my dad off the mountain when they broke their legs on the sleds but fortunately we didn't have to try.
There were a million little events and funny things said but as I said before, I was too busy living it to blog it. Happy Holidays everyone!

How an Attorney's son learns to tie his shoes:

2011-12-16T23:40:00.000-08:00

SHOE TYING CONTRACT

The Parties

Roy D. Pyatt, the Dad (“Dad”); and

D------- Pyatt, a seven year old boy (“D”)

Recitals

Whereas Dad desires D to learn to tie his own shoes, independently, and without the assistance of Dad or any other adult;

Whereas D desires to earn money to pay tithing, save, and have fun; and

Whereas D desires the aid of “Red Lace, Yellow Lace”;

The parties hereby agree to be bound as follows:

Agreement

The Recitals are intended to be part of this Agreement and are incorporated herein. The parties agree that if D learns to tie his own shoes, as described above, on or before Christmas Day, December 25, 2011, Dad will pay D the sum of FIVE and no/100s dollars ($5.00). The parties agree that said amount constitutes full and fair consideration.

D desires an extension beyond Christmas Day in order to fulfill his obligations under this Agreement. D is concerned that the book “Red Lace, Yellow Lace”—which teaches children how to tie their own shoes, and upon which he has placed a hold with the Library—will not be available from the library in sufficient time as to allow him to both check out the book and learn how to tie his shoes. The parties agree to extend the timeframe in which D must learn to tie his owns shoes to January 1, 2012. In return for this additional consideration, D agrees to make Dad and Mom’s bed for seven days in a row, beginning Saturday, December 17, 2011, and ending Friday, December 23, 2011.

If, for any reason, D fails to make Dad and Mom’s bed for the seven days described above, the original date of December 25, 2011 will be the time in which D must fully perform his obligation under this Agreement.

Dad agrees to issue payment to D within twenty-four (24) hours after D proves, to the satisfaction of an objectively reasonable person, that he has fulfilled his obligation under this Agreement. For purposes of this Agreement, the parties appoint Sheena A. Pyatt to serve as the objectively reasonable person for evaluating D’s performance. Should Sheena A. Pyatt refuse to serve as requested, the parties agree to appoint Jenn Harbertson or Ryan Harbertson to said position, in that order of preference.

DATED this 16th day of December, 2011 by the parties’ respective signatures.

______________________ ____________________
ROY D. PYATT D------- PYATT

Family Craft Night and Boogie Down

2011-12-15T23:13:00.000-08:00

Tonight was Family Craft Night at D's school and we HAD to go. It was pretty fun. There were different crafts in each of the different grade areas. The kids had a good time making reindeer and the like. The best part by far was in the lunch room. There were cookies and hot cocoa but there was also some music. The dance teacher (D goes to dance once a week in addition to PE!) was leading dances that the kids have been learning. It was great to watch D out there shaking his bootie to the chicken dance. Not gonna lie, it was pretty great to see Roy out there too. He's such a good dad to get out there and chicken dance and Macarena with the kids. He later confessed to me that he had to watch D to figure out how to do the Macarena. WHAT?! Did you or did you not go to high school in the 1990's. I was unaware that anyone who went to public school and attended at least one school dance could not know the Macarena. Sometimes I'm surprised by just how opaque his bubble was.

Macarena conga line

Best shot of the flapping dragon formerly known as K.

Shake it chicken boys!

What a crappy day

2011-12-14T22:59:00.000-08:00

I mean that quite literally. It started with the splishy splash sound of urine dripping off my kitchen cupboard to the floor below; moved into a warm bath laxative for a slightly plugged up baby (I hate "fishing" in the bathtub"); and finished strong with a liquid suppository in one very plugged up 4 year old. Bet you wish you were here today, huh?!

Anniversary dinner at Benihana

2011-12-14T13:41:00.000-08:00

Roy and I have been married for 9 years. Can you believe it? We had a gift certificate for Benihana that we bought at a charity auction many months ago. We decided to save it for our anniversary, so last night we got a sitter and went to dinner.
It was so much fun! I've never been to a Benihana restaurant but I've been to similar styled places. For anyone who doesn't know, Benihana is a Japanese style grill where they cook your food at the table. I've gotten to where I like to try foods I don't normally like when I go out. So when Roy asked if we should share a sushi appetizer I said, "Sure!"
I first tried sushi in college when I had a Japanese roommate make some for us. I did not like it. But it seems like every few years I try it just to make sure I really don't like it. So Roy ordered a nice safe Philly roll sushi. When it came, I put a little dallop of ~~avocado~~ wasabi on it a popped the whole thing in my mouth. After the initial desire to promptly spit it out and down my water, I began chewing. I was doing everything I could to not gag, hurl or otherwise disgrace the table. I was trying to enjoy it while pondering ways to not swallow it. Curse you cloth napkins! I finally managed to swallow most of it except the seaweed wrapper. That is the worst part in taste and texture. By this time I'd reached the conclusion that I would have to excuse myself and go to the bathroom; however I did not want to look like I had a mouth full of sushi. I hid it in my cheek, politely excused myself, and pretended like I didn't know I looked like a lopsided chipmunk until I reached the privacy of the bathroom stall where I could safely dispose of the remainder of my sushi. I think I still don't like sushi.
On a side note, Roy really does like sushi but was unaware that the green stuff was wasabi and the white stuff was pickled ginger. He piled both onto his first sushi. He cut the ginger in half for his second because he thought it was horseradish. He later confessed that he thought he was going to cry after his second bite. Somehow he pushed on through and managed to eat 7 of the 8 sushi. Now he knows better.
Our chef came to our table. It seems a bit odd to go to a Japanese restaurant to eat food made by a Hispanic chef. He was very good though. He made jokes about the juxtaposition of his ethnicity to the restaurant and food style. He did a great job providing dinner and a show. Roy and I ordered the noodles to go with our dinners but he let me try some of the chicken fried rice. Definitely ordering the rice next time!
Every meal came with shrimp. In the spirit of trying things I tried my shrimp. I told Roy not to tell anyone but I actually kind of liked it. Of course, I was really hungry and it tasted mostly like chicken - not much fishiness to it. Good thing too because I still only had a cloth napkin and I'd already used my bathroom break!
At the end of the meal a few of the Japanese waitresses came to our table to sing a Japanese happy song and light a candle on a Buddha for good luck. Our waitress comped us some ice cream and we headed out.

It was a great night. I had so much fun with Roy. I'm lucky to be married to him and to be celebrating 9 happy years. Here's to an eternity more!

Visit with Santa

2011-12-09T20:32:00.000-08:00

Our dentist's office had a rockin' Christmas party tonight. We have the coolest dentist office in the entire world. My kids actually get excited to go to the dentist... even D. So they were double excited to have a PARTY at the DENTIST! It was great.
There was a big tent in the parking lot with a DJ, cookies and milk and some kiddie games (beanbag toss, sand pit etc.). Behind the tent was a small array of animals to pet. K held a ferret and A pet it. D declined. I held a large ball of fur they told me was a rabbit. There was also a calf, a pony and a llama that the kids got to feed.
After playing the games, eating cookies and milk for dinner, and petting the animals we headed in the office to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. The kids were very excited! They all went right up to Santa - even A. In fact, I think she was the first one up there. She let Mrs. Claus pick her up (Mrs. Claus, "Ooof" Me: "Hehe, she's more than she appears...") Hopefully, one of the doctors (who also happens to be our bishop) will be sending me the picture on email. It is cute.
We walked through the rest of the office. They had a bin of fake snow the kids could play with, Christmas tattoos, a raffle and at the very end a karaoke area. D and K sang "Jingle Bells" and it was awesome!

We had a really good time! And we got to see Santa Claus. I think this will be a new tradition for our family.

Randominity: Catch-up Edition

2011-12-04T15:48:00.001-08:00

I was going to write a nice braggy post about how awesome my Thanksgiving dinner turned out. I mean seriously, I spent 2 days in the kitchen and created some amazing food. That ought to be worth a few lines of bragging right. It seems a little anti-climatic now that it is December.... Still, thinking about the food makes my stomach growl.... Okay, I talked myself into a post. If you want to see it, click here.

We went to get our Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The kids had a great time scattering through the trees and shouting about "perfect trees" and the like. We got it set up with significantly less trouble than last year. Here's hoping things go better this year!

Roy and I finally got new cell phones. One small step for the technologically impaired, one large step for us. Roy's phone is so new fangled it even connects to the internet!

I got a flu shot on Friday. Friday night I had body aches so badly I was waking myself up moaning. I also had a nightmare that I was being stung repeatedly by hornets. When I woke up I had stabbing nerve spasms running up my shot arm. What's up with that?

Last night was the ward Christmas party. The kids did a little program after dinner. D was a wise man and K was an angel. K came out on stage when it was her turn the first time but opted to lay on the floor behind the curtain during the finale when everyone was supposed to be out. D did a great job of wandering with his fellow wise men and giving his gift to the baby Jesus.

Sorry about the pictures. My camera is not treating me well, plus it was a dim church gym.

These = crack. So.Good. Especially the ones with Kosher salt on them. Salted Chocolate-dipped Caramels, my new favorite addiction.

I found this recipe for homemade fingerpaints. They are not edible but they are safe to eat. We used it in preschool this week to the great joy of all. Another perk, since it is mostly water and cornstarch it is easy to wash up!

Design Flaw update

2011-11-29T15:42:00.000-08:00

Anyone remember this place?
I've been taking a different route for the last while. I thought I'd lost the house when I finally drove down that street again.

Turns out some things actually can be salvaged!

Thanksgiving Feast

2011-11-25T20:51:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving was great. I totally went all out. We had my in-laws coming so it was fun to plan and make some of the traditional things I kind of skip because we don't really eat them.

First off, appetizers. I got the idea from a picture on pinterest. After making them I realized waffle cones would have been a much better 'cornucopia'. That's Caramel Toffee Fruit Dip in the middle.

I saw Alton Brown's turkey recipe last year but didn't do it. I knew I wanted to try brineing a turkey this year so it was very fortuitous that my favorite food blog simplified Alton's recipe. It was AWESOME.

And here is the whole feast. We used a mixture of red potatoes and russets for the mashed potatoes and Stove-Top provided our dressing. I made my favorite cabbage and ramen noodle salad, Roy's favorite green jello/cottage cheese salad and our family's favorite crescent roll recipe. I also tried some new recipes: candied coconut sweet potatoes, bacon-wrapped green bean bundles and cranberry sauce.

How did it turn out you ask? Well, the sweet potatoes were loved by all. Even my FIL who doesn't generally like sweet potatoes had seconds and enjoyed the leftovers. The cranberry sauce was better than canned but there was way too much of it. I don't think I'll do the green bean bundles again. I like my bacon really crispy and you can't do that when it is wrapped around green beans. The salads and rolls were good. The rolls were a little dark on the bottom because they were on the bottom rack. That's where a double oven would come in handy.

I think everyone was well satisfied. Dessert was good too, layered pumpkin pie toffee cheesecake and Grandma 'Net's Dutch apple pie.

It was a great meal with great company. I love Thanksgiving!

12 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 12

2011-11-23T22:08:00.001-08:00

I'm am grateful for Jesus Christ and the Restored Gospel. I'm grateful for my opportunity to be a part of the Savior's church that has been restored to the Earth again. I'm grateful for the Atonement which makes it possible for me to reconcile to my Heavenly Father even though I'm not perfect.
I'm grateful for the restoration of living prophets and apostles. I love to listen to their words and feel the Holy Ghost teach me during General Conference.
I'm grateful to have a direction and purpose to my life. I'm so happy to not wander in darkness, wondering what to believe, who is right or why it matters.
I'm grateful for scriptures that teach the words of ancient prophets and recount the history of God's work on the Earth.
I'm grateful to be a Mormon and have a testimony of the love of my Heaven Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.
To learn more about anything I said, check out mormon.org

12 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 11

2011-11-22T22:30:00.000-08:00

I'm grateful for family. I know I've blogged individually about each member of my family, but I'm grateful for more. I'm grateful to have a family and to have the sweet kids I have. I'm also thankful for the extended family I have. I was raised by great parents who taught be high moral standards as well as useful skills, like how to ~~iron~~ cook. I'm grateful I was raised in a loving home with a mom and a dad who loved each other. I'm grateful for the sacrifices I didn't recognize at the time but now realize were there.
I'm grateful for all three of my brothers. They are handsome, intelligent, hard working men. I'm proud of each of them and the choices they are making with their lives.
I'm grateful for my brother's wives. I'm glad they make my brothers happy.
I'm grateful for the family I married into. I always wanted to have a sister growing up. I was fortunate to marry into a family with 9 sisters for me to get to know and love. I'm grateful for my brother in laws as well. I'm grateful for my mother and father-in-law and for the effort, time and sacrifice they put into raising such a wonderful man. I'm am so lucky to have such a large and fun crowd of in-laws.
I'm grateful for my nieces and nephews. It is so much fun to see them growing up and be a part of their lives.
I'm so glad I was able to grow up near my grandparents. I am so thankful for the time I had with my paternal grandparents before they passed away. It was a huge blessing to live in their home town. I'm grateful for the memories I have of visiting my maternal grandparents. I'm grateful I can take my kids to visit them and build a relationship with them.
I'm grateful for all the wonderful aunts, uncles and cousins I have. Family is truly a blessing and has been an important part of my life. Thank you to all of you I'm lucky enough to call family!

12 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 10

2011-11-21T22:53:00.001-08:00

I'm grateful for friends.
I'm grateful for the friends who have made me who I am today. The ones who shaped and molded me. The ones who have know me all my life and still like me.
I'm grateful for the friends I've left behind. I'm grateful for the ones who make an effort to stay in touch even if it is infrequent at best because life is busy enough.
I'm grateful for my 'new' friends. I'm grateful to have friends who call to check on me, invite me to play games, bring me treats, wave and smile when they see me from afar.
I'm grateful to have friends near and far who all contribute something to the person I am right now.

12 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 9

2011-11-20T20:46:00.001-08:00

I'm grateful for D. He is my first born and my only son. He is my baby and will always be my baby. He is the one who made me a mother. He is the one who is teaching how to be a mother one new stage at a time.
D has always been intelligent. He was differentiating between cars, vans, SUV's, buses and trucks before most kids can are out of the "vroom, vroom" stage. We used to spell his name and he would tell us what we were spelling when he was 18 months. He knew his letters and sounds by 2, was reading beginning words at 3 and was a fluent reader at 4.
Now, he is discovering how much fun numbers can be. He is constantly asking Roy and I math questions and working multi-step abstract problems in his head. He loves to learn and I am grateful that he wants to know things.
I'm glad he loves school. I'm grateful we live in an area where he can attend a 'challenge' program and move at a faster pace than a regular classroom. I'm grateful he wants to go to school.
D is a handsome boy. I'm grateful for his big beautiful eyes that women envy and girls will swoon over (but not yet!). I'm glad he has such great hair and someday he will be too. I'm grateful for his strong body and coordination that allows him to play and ride bikes and swim.
I'm grateful to have a great big brother for my girls. I'm grateful he likes to read stories to his sisters. I'm grateful that he is protective of them and is learning how to take care of girls.

I'm grateful that D is so big and able. I love that he can take a shower by himself and come out at least 80% clean. I love that he can get his own snack and pour his own drinks. I'm grateful that he wants to help and be a good boy.
I'm grateful for D's sense of humor. He loves jokes. He makes up his own jokes most of which are creative.... I'm grateful that he does have pretty good comedic timing (must get that from me...right?).
I'm grateful that D likes to play games. His favorite game right now is U-Build Monopoly. I'm grateful to have a kid who can play card games that involve more than fish.
I'm grateful to have a son who loves Heavenly Father and has faith in Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for his desire to do what is right. I'm grateful for his spirit which recognizes truth and responds with joy. I'm grateful that D wants to get up early to read his scriptures in the morning before school.
I'm grateful to have such a beautiful, caring, sensitive, intelligent, fun boy.

12 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 8

2011-11-19T20:57:00.001-08:00

Tonight, I want to express my gratitude for A. She is my little chubster. She my girl who can literally eat ALL day! I can always count on A to be happy with dinner when the other two offspring are not. In fact, A is the person in the house who usually expresses the most gratitude -- even for clean clothes! I am grateful to hear her say, "Tank-oo mommy!"
I'm grateful for A's little voice. She has been stringing phrases and sentences together and it is just precious to listen to. She is regularly telling us, "no touch" when we get too close to her toys or "out my room" when she needs some space. She always tells me she's the "beebee" and I'm the "mommy". I'm grateful that I can understand her when others cannot.
I love to hear her sing. She especially likes "too, fwee" which is a preschool song that starts out "1, 2, 3 come learn with me..." She also sings and does the movements for the Wheels on the Bus. And she is always singing "lala lala, emmo woo". (Elmo's World)
I love to watch her dance. She really likes to move her body to the music. She bounces and sways. It is adorable! I'm grateful that her little body works like it's supposed to.
A is my quiet, watchful one. I'm grateful for her softer approach to life. I'm grateful for the peacefulness that she has even as a 2 year old.
A is also my exhibitionist. She gets dressed at least 5 times a day and is still naked by the time Roy gets home from work. On Sundays, she usually has her boots and sweater off before the opening hymn starts. I'm grateful she knows how to put her own clothes on and not just take them off. I'm grateful to watch her chubby little legs pump as she runs away from me. I'm grateful to see her chubby baby belly sag over her diaper after she's eaten all day.

I'm grateful to watch her develop and see her intellect growing as she watches and mimics her siblings. I'm grateful for her hugs and "muh's". I'm grateful this little Angel is part of our family.

Dryer Balls

2011-11-19T13:02:00.001-08:00

I learned a new tip/trick that I'm trying out... Anti-static aluminum foil balls. I got the idea from my friend Mel at Testosterone Overload. I sort of forgot about it for a bit but today is the day! I just put a load of wet clothes into the dryer without any dryer sheets. I didn't use liquid fabric softener either. I wadded up a tight wad of tinfoil about the size of a baseball/softball-ish and tossed it in the dryer with the wet clothes. I'll let you know how it goes!
(About the noise, it sounds like you would expect a ball in a dryer to sound like... occasional thumps but not anything that would discourage me from using it if it works.)

12 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 7

2011-11-18T22:31:00.001-08:00

This is a religious post. Please be respectful if you chose to disagree with any or all of my religious views.

Yesterday, I had some friends over for a visit. One woman was sharing a story about an associate to whom she looked up to in high school. This associate has married and has 3 sons ages 2, 4, 6. Recently, her 2 year old died tragically. This story has stuck with me over the last couple of days. I have always feared losing one of my children --even before I had children. However, I am so grateful for the eternal perspective and promise of an eternal family.

Roy and I were sealed on December 13, 2002 in a sacred temple by a man ordained with eternal keys. Our family was promised that we could be together forever if we would live up to the covenants we made with God that day. I am so grateful for temples and the priesthood ordinances performed in them. I am so grateful to know that my kids will be my kids forever. I'm grateful to know that I will be sealed to my parents forever. I'm grateful that Roy and I are husband and wife for eternity, not just until we die.

I'm also grateful that temples dot the earth so that all may receive the blessings of the temple.

For those curious about LDS temples, I would encourage you to check out this site's FAQs.

12 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 6

2011-11-17T20:38:00.001-08:00

Today I'm thankful for K. She is such a crazy, funny, loving girl I almost can't stand it! Sometimes I just want to squeeze the stuffing out of her! I do refrain and settle for a hug and possibly a little tickling.
I was driving her home from Preschool today and the 80's Christmas song, Do They Know It's Christmas, was on. It ended and another song came on but K wasn't done listening to the "feevah song". So I turned the radio down and listened to her sing, "feevah whoah duh duh duh duh duh, feevah whoah duh duh duh duh duh, feevah whoah duh duh duh duh duh" until she was "done with the feevah song". I just loved it! I was soaking it up and was sad when she was done. (Side note, Roy sings, "Free the world" now we know where she gets her lyrical understanding from...)
I love ticking her little body. She is so scrawny, I can almost put my hands around her waist and touch fingers. I love to hear her laugh and squirm away. I love that I can tell her to put both hands on top of her head and even though she knows what's coming she still does it. (I tickle her armpits.)
She still fits on my lap. I love that her little buns fit in the hole of my legs when I sit cross legged.
I love her hair. Honestly, she has GREAT hair!
I love her voice and smile. She is so loving and smart. Strangers love K. She is outgoing enough to befriend almost anyone. She will talk to grown-ups like she is one of them. Of course, I have to watch what I say because if anyone is going to repeat a story I tell it will be her. That's a good reminder for me to always watch what I say anyway.
One of the mom's from our preschool was talking to me about K. It seems one of the little boys in the preschool has a bit of a preschool crush on K and talks about her all the time. This mom was describing K as beautiful with just enough of aloofness to be mysterious. She's only 4 so you can imagine what the next 20 years will be like for her daddy!

I am so grateful to be her mom. I love you K!

12 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 5

2011-11-16T21:17:00.001-08:00

Tonight I want to tell you all how grateful I am for my Husband.
He's amazing.
He stays home with the kids every Wednesday night so I can go to Young Women's activities. He is a great father. The kids all adore him. He plays games with them, dances and sings with them, rides bikes with them. He has special nicknames for all the kids and laughs when thinks about them.
He is a good provider who is looking for ways to improve his business and earning potential to better care for our family.
He is a handyman. I mean, sure, he sometimes thinks he can do more than he can (remember the car? still spray painted.) But he almost single-handedly did the entire remodel on the interior of our house. He also painted the exterior and maintains the yard (except the garden because he somehow things that's my job... why is that?).
He's a safe driver. Never caused an accident. That's more than some of us can say....
He is a faithful holder and exerciser of the Priesthood of God. He leads our family in family prayer and scripture study. He teaches the Gospel in simple and profound ways. He is an example to me in spiritual matters.
He is a good companion. He sometimes even laughs at my jokes. He tells great stories and remembers events to tell stories about.
Did I mention that he's smokin' hot? Cuz he is.

I'm grateful to be married to such a great guy who loves me and treats me with the love and respect I deserve and sometimes that I don't deserve.

12 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 4

2011-11-15T23:29:00.001-08:00

I am grateful for our house. There is so much to be grateful for here. We live in an amazing neighborhood that I love. We have fabulous neighbors. We have a fenced yard with green grass and a sandbox. We have bedrooms for the kids and a spare room for ~~junk~~ crafting in and guests to stay. It has indoor plumbing, a big plus in my book! It has forced air heating. I love that I can set the temperature and it is automatically maintained. We have a toy room for the kids to play. We have the space for a nice sitting room. Someday, we may even have furniture in that nice sitting room area. I have a private master bathroom and walk in closet. The main level has hard wood floors that Roy installed himself.
We have put a lot of time, effort and money into making this a comfortable home where we want to be. I am so grateful to have this house and to make it our home. I'm grateful to be warm and dry when it is cold and rainy outside. I am grateful to listen to my kids playing in their rooms. I'm even grateful, in a way, to clean it because it is mine and that's something to be grateful for!

12 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 3

2011-11-14T20:39:00.001-08:00

I've been planning our upcoming Thanksgiving dinner and it has caused me to be grateful for the internet. Seriously, how did people cook before Allrecipes, Google and my favorite food blog. Ooo, and now Pinterest. I mean, my mom had to actually purchase and read cookbooks.
Wow.
All I have to do is google (I love how that is a noun and a verb!) "what's for dinner" and I get tons of ideas.
And if I'm ever stumped for a substitution or measurement equivalent? Google!
I've tried more recipes than not from OurBestBites.com and their cookbook.
I am so grateful for the ease and convenience of the internet. It makes my life easier in a lot of ways. However, it is important to remember not to spend too much time on the internet. It is so easy to get sucked in to pinterest or blog surfing. So, while I'm grateful, I'm also trying to be cautious.

12 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 2

2011-11-13T14:32:00.001-08:00

I've been thinking off and on all day about what to post for day 2. I was just cleaning up and tossed D-man's picture from primary. The front was about walking in someone's shoes. The back was a graphically detailed illustration of Fart Man: he has lots of gas. All of a sudden I realized what I wanted to express gratitude for today -- Primary Teachers! And other teachers. Basically anyone who helps teach my children but especially primary teachers.

You can see him dreaming up Fart Man now!

D has had the same teacher for the last year and a half. She is a great woman who takes time to make lessons and awesome handouts. I don't know much about what actually goes on in the classroom because getting information from a 7 year old boy is difficult at best but I see cool things when I go pick him up so I know cool things are happening. I am so grateful for the time and thought she gives to my child. I know she thinks about him individually as well as her class collectively. I'm so grateful she puts that time and effort in even though it may seem like it is unappreciated. And actually, to a great extent it is unappreciated by D because he has no idea what preparation it takes. All he knows is what's happening in class.
The same can be said of K's primary teachers. K is a sunbeam. She is part of a class of like ten 3-4 year olds. I'm grateful for the 2 women who have agreed to sacrifice 2 hours a week to be in that room as well as who-knows-how-many hours to prepare. They always have a lesson and hand outs. They are always smiling when I come to pick up K. Come to think of it that could be because the kids are leaving.... I like to think it is because they are happy to be there....
A is in nursery for another year still. I am so grateful for nursery leaders. I had to teach a lesson in young women's a few weeks ago and A was brought to me because she had fallen and hit her head. I had to teach with A in the room. She was on and off and on and off my lap, into my bag, banging around and a general distraction. I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR NURSERY LEADERS!
I am really really just so very grateful for the teachers who prepare and teach my children for no pay and minimal visible results. I know there are results and I am grateful these people care enough to make the effort.

Funny things from the game

2011-11-12T18:27:00.001-08:00

Roy's watching a football game tonight. Sports are fertile ground for funny comments.

Roy: "Awww, NO! Fumble!"
D: "NO! Not a FUMBLE!! .... what's a fumble?"

D: "Come on Oregon! Get a homerun!" (it's football)

12 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 1

2011-11-12T18:19:00.001-08:00

Today I'm grateful for my health and the health of my family. We've been dealing with really minor and yet still inconvenient health issues for a week now. Four out of five of us have contracted the illness D brought home from school last week. As I was laying on the couch two nights ago, too miserable to sleep, watch tv or anything else, I felt gratitude for the knowledge that this was a short illness. I have at many times thought about how blessed we have been health wise. We get the occasional cold and flu. We've had a few broken arms and many scraps, cuts, bruises etc. But we've never dealt with long term or terminal illness. I am grateful to feel good and be strong.

Sick Kid

2011-11-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night I walked in the door from Young Women's (youth group activity) just in time to see D toss his cookies on my rug. He was downstairs standing in front of the couch -- about four steps away from the hardwood floor. FOUR STEPS! *sigh*
I got my neighbor out of bed to borrow her carpet shampooer. Thanks Jenn. Seriously. And spent the next hour and a half going over and over my rug trying to get the red (he'd had medicine before he threw up) stain and puke smell out of the rug.
It is now Friday and my rug is still trying to dry out. The back still smells like puke. It may never be the same. I'm still holding out hope that the rug will someday lay flat but that's looking less and less likely with each passing hour.
I kept D home from school on Thursday. Then this morning when I called to tell the school he wouldn't be there today either, the secretary told me there were only 8 students in his class yesterday. 8! And the 3rd grade challenge class that is basically in the same room only had 13 students. Wow. I guess the season of sickness is alive and well this year!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day! D wanted to wear his spider costume to school but I hadn't fixed the arms from trunk 'r treating yet. I forgot. So I frantically applied velcro to each arm and a strip of black fabric. I wanted the arms connected so that when he moves his arms the spider arms move to. Otherwise, they just hand limply there and it is hard to even tell what he is. After all that work, it turns out that NO ONE wears costumes to school anymore. He was fine but changed into his other shirt for PE and decided not to change back. Eh, okay.

After we got D off, the girls and I got ready to head to storytime at D's school. They do storytime for preschoolers the last Monday of every month. K decided she didn't want to be Wonder Red anymore. She wanted to be a dragon/dinosaur. She put that costume on for storytime and visiting Roy's work. I didn't get a picture! I didn't think about it but it is the same costume that D wore three years in a row. It's just in the toy room so they wear it periodically. A didn't want to dress up at all.

We went to storytime then headed downtown for the Library. Our books were due 3 days ago. I seriously LOVE that our library doesn't have fines. Since the library is right across the street from Roy's work, we went over to say hi. The secretaries like to see the kids, especially K as a "scary dragon". We played at the library for a while. One of these days I'll have to take some pictures at the library because it is crazy awesome!!

We headed home for lunch and naps. Then I got started on dinner. I asked K if she would like "puking pumpkins and bones" for dinner. She didn't think she would like that too much. I thought she would and it turns out I was right:

One of the peppers had a bad spot (not bad considering I bought them at Costco on October 5!) so instead of just "puking", it also had its brains spilling over. The kids ate them up. Literally! I didn't take any pictures of the bones, but they are breadsticks. I took the idea from here (scroll down 3 pictures). They look pretty much like mine do.

After dinner, it was time to toss on our costumes. K made a switch again. She decided to be a ladybug. It's great to have options! I borrowed that costume from a friend 2 years ago. This is the 3rd year K has worn it.

10/2009

10/2010

10/2011

Trick-or-treating was fun. It was really fun. I loved watching the kids running from house to house, feeling the crisp air of fall, chatting with neighbors. I was grateful for the generousity of our neighbors. People had good candy, even full sized candy bars. A real delicacy for my children who have never experienced such finery! We just did a small jaunt around our closest neighbors. The we loaded in the van and headed to Linda's house. She is one of the secretaries at Roy's work. She invites us over every Halloween to get special trick-or-treat bags from her house. She is always so good to the kids and this year was no different. Last year A threw up while we were at her house so when we knocked on the door, Linda and Pat jokingly got a tarp out to put down. Fortunately, no one got sick this year!

After Linda's house the kids trick-or-treated a few more houses before we headed home for bed. It was a great Halloween!

More about the dead cat and other stuff

2011-10-30T22:55:00.000-07:00

This week has been a pretty busy week about more than a dead cat. But that has tainted my week to an extent that I don't like to admit. Even still I'm filled with a bit of saddness. Over a cat. I never would have guessed it. I like cats but I've lost family pets before but never been as effect by it as this. I think there are two reasons for this.
First, I'm mourning more than just the loss of Friday. I'm mouring the loss of the future and of having a family pet. This is our second attempt at a cat, our last one having disowned us within the first 6 months of owning her. We are done for now. The kids have started the lobbying for a dog but that's not happening either.
The other thing is that I WATCHED HER DIE and IT WAS MY FAULT. These have been proving difficult images to get over.
I'm getting better but it strikes me every now and then in ways I don't expect.

Okay. But like I said, there' more to this week than a dead cat. I had carpool and preschool this week. Monday morning, I was driving the kids to school. They were talking about cartoons. The 5th grade boy started a description of one of his favorite cartoons with this phrase, "You know way back in the 1900's...."

O.o
Oh my.....

Tuesday and Thursday were preschool days. It is so fun and exhausting at the same time. Those kids are energetic. We started a unit about the Ocean this rotation. We made a "sea cave" and "dived" for triangles, we learned the letter "O", we made ocean dioramas. Have I mentioned http://www.mothergoosetime.com/ on here? If not, I'm mentioning it now because it is the preschool curriculum we are using and it is great. It cost us $110 for each child (it is a sliding pay -- more kids, less cost per kid) and provides all the materials for each kid to do all the projects as well as all the lesson plans. If you are thinking about doing your own preschool, I defintely recommend checking it out!

Friday evening was our ward's Trunk 'r Treat. Since we live in a rainy part of the world, it was more of a church-classroom 'r treat. Still fun.

Here's the family lined up for the costume parade. D is a spider this year (hard to tell in this picture but he's swinging one of his extra legs around. That's what the black blur is). A is a bumble bee baby and K is Wonder Red/Red Riding Hood. (Although she announced tonight that she wants to be something else for actual trick-or-treating.... kids.)

A wasn't too sure about the whole thing. All the costumes kind of freaked her out. She wasn't too sure about the trick-or-treating but was okay with the candy. She mostly walked around the church with a bit of bewildered look on her face.

K took right to trick-or-treating, making it around the church twice before the rest of us got all the way around once. This surprises no one.

D is an old pro. He was "Trunk 'r Treat" ing all over that church! He was great to stay with the family though and help A out as needed. She is luck to have such a great big brother to take her under his wing and teach her the ways of candy gathering.

Today D was invited to a birthday party. We talked a little about the Sabbath day and how Heavenly Father has commanded us to keep it holy. I asked him if going to a birthday party seemed like a good way to do that. This conversation happened after I knee-jerk announced he wouldn't be going because it is on Sunday. Hummmm, better to have held that back so he could make his own choice. Maybe next time...

I was feeling bad about him not going though. His friend lives in the neighborhood and D doesn't see him much anymore because of the different school bit. Plus his friend dropped by about an hour before the party to remind D that the party started in an hour. He looked truly dejected when D told him he wouldn't be there. So, D and I walked over a few minutes after the party started to drop off a gift and explain why he wouldn't be staying. His little friend was having so much fun playing with balloons and a couple of other friends that I felt much better. I'm really glad we went over. Now I've met his friend's mom which is always nice too.

Our Cat Friday

2011-10-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

Wathcing TV like any reasonable PsychoCat.

Okay, given my last post about Friday you may think we don't actually like our cat. You would be wrong. We do like Friday. She has so much personality. That is what makes her Psycho the Wonder Cat. One of her favorite pasttimes is riding in cars. Or it would be if we would let her ride as much as she wanted. She jumped into cars any chance she got. It finally got to the point that if I was in a hurry I would let her ride along because trying to get a cat out of a minivan takes time. Lots of time. And sometimes a big stick. Okay, maybe not the stick part.

The other day when we went to the zoo, my friend drove so there had to be some carseat manuvering and stroller stowing and such. Friday was so underfoot the ENTIRE time. In fact, she jumped in the underbasket of the folded up stroller and I had to shake her loose. Frustrating -- in a funny cat kind of way.

This weekend, Friday went for a ride with my neighbor's mom because she jumped in the car and sat on the dashboard. My neighbor's mom decided, "Sure, why not." Friday stayed on that dashboard for the whole ride until the end. She loved the movement and watching out the window.

There was the time when I took her in the car to Target. She stood on the passenger seat with her hind legs and had her front legs on the door so she could watch out the window. She was intensly curious all. the. time.

Alright, this post keeps switching from present to past tense. I just don't want to say it but Friday died today. She was only about 5 months old. Her love of vehicles trumped her fear of moving wheels and she got ran over. By me. In the garage. Ugh. I feel terrible. It was less than an hour ago that Friday was alive and I wish so much that I could go back and re-do that horrible minute when I pulled into the garage. The thing is, I didn't even see her. I don't know if she was laying on the garage floor and just didn't move or if she ran out in front of me. I am sick. Ugh.

She loved us totally. She trusted us completely. She was even learning not to jump people or climb on the table. I remember one morning when I was leaving and Friday was on the porch. She watched the van pull out of the driveway through the front slats of the porch and moved to the side to watch us drive up the road. She seemed so forlorn to be left behind. That was a cat who wanted to experience life to the fullest. And now she's gone. URGH. WHY DIDN'T SHE RUN AWAY FROM THE WHEELS?! Why didn't I drive in slower or park on the driveway?! Stupid cat!!

I'm really going to miss her.

Primary Program

2011-10-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today was the primary program. The kids did AWESOME!! Especially D. This was his first 'normal' year. He really is growing up. We've been praying for him and talking to him about not being nervous. I'm so proud of how well he did. He sat with is class on the stand the entire time. He sang every song. When it was time for his part he spoke directly into the microphone clearly and perfectly. It was GREAT! The only thing was his state of undress.... He was completely dressed when he got on the stand but when he got up to give his part his zip-up tie had mysteriously fallen to his navel and the top button on his shirt had dislodged itself from its hole. He fiddled with his tie - zipping it up and straightening it - until it was his turn.
K was a little less awesome but no less adorable. K is not my shy one but she was in some sort of mood. Have I mentioned that K is stubborn. She decides she is going to be sad and, by George, she's going to be sad. So she was sad. She stayed with her class but sat on a teacher's lap. She got up with her class for every song but did not sing one word. She would stand on the stand with her arms outstretched toward us like, "Please come get me... I need you!!" When it was time for her part, she whispered it into the microphone effectively making it incomprehensible. Like I said, a little less awesome but absolutely adorable.
Since the program, K has been singing Scripture Power which is her favorite song. Kids.

A little housework

2011-10-21T21:43:00.000-07:00

Sometimes blogging is like housework. Every time I get caught up I think to myself, "Whew. I'm caught up. Now it will be so much easier to maintain rather than trying to play catch up again." Then the next thing you know I have so many things to do it seems like it's better to not bother. Hint: It is never better to not bother.
Another problem with not blogging in the moment is that I'm never as funny when I've thought about it for too long. You miss the pleasure of my stream-of-conscious dialog with myself because I'm too busy trying to record our family's history.
I think I'd like to make a goal to blog everyday about the day before. But then I think I won't do it and it seems a very public failure.
So, if you notice some regular posts, that's just me trying to follow through. If you don't, that's just me being me. Either way I hope we can still be friends.

Fall Field Trip!

2011-10-21T19:37:00.000-07:00

Today, we went on a field trip with K's preschool group. We had talked about going to a pumpkin patch but decided to go to this great little farm stand for a mini-pumpkin patch experience. It turned out to be a great time. The Red Barn has a large front lawn that was covered in pumpkins layed out in a maze for the kids to run around in. They have a few animals: piglets, a couple of big pigs, two goats and some chickens.

K really liked watching the chickens scratch around.

The man who was working at the farm stand was AMAZING with the kids. He brought them each a small pumpkin, gave them granola bars and honey sticks and played with them. One of the kids knocked his hat off and they ran around the maze chasing and laughing. He talked to them and they all loved him. K kept wanting to show him how she could climb on the huge pumpkin they had. I always appreciate great people who make my kids feel special.

Picture taken by Heather

Wonder Red

2011-10-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

K wants to be Wonder Red from Super Why for Halloween. Today she had a Halloween party after preschool that she was supposed to wear her costume to. What do you think?

I guess the only pictures I got were when she was climbing the fence.

Alright. I realize that this looks nothing like Wonder Red. Still, when I brought the dress home from Goodwill and showed K her only response was, "WONDER RED!!" Good enough for me. However, she wants roller skates because that's what Wonder Red wears. Umm, no.

The Halloween party seemed to be fun. I went back to pick her up and have a costume parade around the block. The kids were all dressed really cute and enthusiastic about everything. The had put together some foam kits like you see in the craft stores. One was a ghost on a stick. K made hers super spooky by only using one googly eye. Now it is a one eyed ghost. This apparently started a trend because one of the others copied her. That's my K. A regular little trend setter. Actually, she started the climbing on the fence bit as well. I don't know if she's a trend setter or instigator.

PTC

2011-10-20T18:57:00.000-07:00

Today was the first parent teacher conference of the year. I really like D's teacher. She is so nice. She has been teaching for 30 years. She does a marvelous job teaching the Challenge 1st/2nd grade split. D wanted to come with me so I called a neighbor to stay with the girls.
She had one word to describe D, enthusiastic. "He is a very enthusiastic learner." This was said without any sarcasm or fateful pauses. And if you know D you know that he is an enthusiastic learner. He gets really excited to learn new things.
D needs to work on keeping his work neat. He starts out writing neatly and keeping his paper clean. As his work progresses it gets sloppier and messier as he doodles more and "decorates" his paper. uh...I have no idea where he gets that from....
I had a few questions for D's teacher. Roy and I have been discussing D's educational placement. We are very happy with the challenge program so far and feel like this is the best place for D right now. However, we have been wondering if he should be in 2nd grade rather than first. I was able to talk to her about that. She assured us that D is doing well in 1st grade and that she would not recommend changing him. He is a good size for a first grader but would be a small second grade. Although D is at the top of his age, he would be a year younger than some of the second graders. He also fits maturity wise with the first graders more than the second graders. Most of these are things I've felt but it is good to have his teacher reaffirm it.
The second question I've wondered about is how he fits in with his peers while they are playing. She confirmed that he is fine. He plays well with his peers. She has raised two daughters who also went through the Challenge program. She has observed a lot of play time with a variety of kids and expressed her opinion that often times the kids in the Challenge program "play differently". This makes sense when I watch D interact with his peers. He has more fun with the kids who are interested in things he is interested in. Huh. Now that I type it sounds really obvious. We all have more fun with people who share our interests.
All in all, it was a great PTC. I'm excited for D to be in this class.

Mommy's taking us to the zoo...

2011-10-17T22:12:00.000-07:00

The kids have a CD with this song,
"Daddy's taking us to the zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow
Daddy's taking us to the zoo tomorrow. We can stay all day.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo. How about you, you, you?

You can come too, too, too. We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo."

It is a very catchy tune. Sort of like Lambchop singing The Song That Never Ends. I start singing it in my head nearly everytime I hear the word zoo.

All this is a long way of introducing the fact that I took the girls to the zoo. We got a Groupon deal that we split with a friend. It got us all into the zoo for $23. That is a really GREAT deal in case you haven't been to a zoo or any other family entertainment place for the last 50 years.

Today happened to be one of two fair weather days for the next 6-8 months so off we went. Before we left Roy asked K what animals she wanted to see. There was the regular list: lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes. At the end of the list, K added Bats. She decided those were her favorite animal of the day and we had to see the bats. Disguisting little flying rats but that's just my opinion.

The Groupon came with 4 popcorns and 4 sodas. The girls polished their popcorns off. In fact it seemed like everytime I turned around they were eating or asking to be fed. Good thing I packed a few snacks.

A was so cute. She wanted to see everything. She was loving it all. There is something amazing about watching a little face discover new things. She walked much of the time and was totally fried by the time we left.

A growled when we saw the lions. LOVE IT!!

K got a huge kick out of petting the goats.

She kept getting down on their level and talking to them; asking about their house and what they were going to do.

We managed to see almost all the animals before the kids started pooping out. It was fine though because I had to be back to run carpool for D and my friend had to get her son from the school bus.

Good news! After a brief youtube search I have located the zoo song for anyone not familiar with it. Or for anyone who clicked on the Lambchop link and would like a diversion song.

Mexican Dinner

2011-10-15T09:52:00.000-07:00

Roy and I have been seeking for adult friends. Okay, me more than Roy but that's to be expected since he goes out with business people regularly and I eat PBJ with preschoolers. We arranged with a youngish (like us) couple in the ward to go out on a double date. So fun. Except that I accidentally paid our bills before we were supposed to go out so I found out we didn't have any money to pay a babysitter and go out.
When I was young I used to look forward to Mexican Dinners with the Campbells. At the time I didn't realize it was probably more because our parents wanted to get together than because they knew their kids would like it. Now I know better.
I called our friends and invited them for a Mexican dinner. The plan was to have dinner and play games while the kids played and watched movies downstairs. We actually had dinner and talked until it was too late to play games and our kids were bouncing off the wall from exhaustion downstairs.
It was a lot of fun. I think it is good to expose the next generation to these timeless traditions.

Daddy's boy

2011-10-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

D has been a daddy's boy from the time he was born. Roy likes to tell a story about one time when D was a baby and got sick. (Mom, you remember the time -- it was when D threw up on you at the hospital in SLC....) I had to work the next day so Roy inflated our air mattress and went to sleep in the front room with D. They snuggled together. Roy rubbed his back and fed him some smashed carrots. D threw up, went to sleep and awoke later in the night. Roy gave him some juice. The boy went back to sleep and felt better in the morning. Roy likes to take credit for healing D.
Of course, the man also claims to have raised D for the first year of his life. Therefore his word can't always be taken seriously.

Today Roy went to have lunch at D's school. They've been talking about this for YEARS. Literally. They have been planning for the day when D would be in full time school and Roy could come for lunch. They also plan to make it a monthly thing. They have both been so excited.
I thought about calling Roy around the time I knew lunch would be finishing up. Imagine my pleasure when Roy called me. I wanted to hear all about their wonderful lunch. Instead Roy announced he'd checked D out of school and was bringing him home. Apparently the poor boy wasn't feeling well. He didn't even want his ice cream from lunch. Obviously something was wrong!
So D came home early today while Roy went back to work. D lounged on the couch, ate some cookie dough, had some lunch and felt better after a couple of hours. I like to think I cured him this time.

Crafty Bath Mat

2011-10-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this for longer than I want to admit. Not because it is hard but first because I was intimidated by using silicone and then because my craft room became too messy to use and had to be cleaned. Now it is finally done and placed in front of my shower. So what is it? It is a "Stone Bath Mat" via Lowe's Creative Ideas. I think it turned out nice. I am excited to try it out. I do have a few concerns about the pracitcality of it due to water and moisture issues. It may be that I have to get a regular bath mat for outside the shower and put this in front of the bathtub to be used for theraputic rather than practical uses. As you can see, I used three large seashells to begin with. I really liked the look of the shells. However, when I tentatively stepped on the mat to try it out one of the shells cracked. I was worried about them not being able to support standing on. Turns out I was right. Fortunately, it was a quick fix to pull the shells off and glue stones in their place.

I will let you know how things turn out but I'm hopeful right now. In fact, I can't wait to take a shower to so I can step out onto my new mat!

Guess who's wearing the cone of shame...

2011-10-05T22:50:00.000-07:00

Friday the psycho cat.

What? You didn't know we had a cat? I don't remember if I mentioned her or not and I'm too lazy to go back and check. So here's a quick low down on Friday. While the kids and I were in Utah, someone in Roy's office brough some kittens to work. Linda (friend and ex-secretary, twice. long story.) knowing the story about Zibby (previous cat that disowned our family and found new owners down the street) messaged Roy to go get one of the cats. This is how on a Friday, Roy came home with a free kitten. Yes, that is why the kids named the cat Friday. I lobbied against it but lost. Anyway, this 'free' kitten was only 6 weeks old. She has/is (paymentplan) costing us $300 in medical bills for all her shots, tests and the big fix. Well, the big fix was today.

A little blurb about Friday's personality. CRAZY.

Even the vet and nurses delicately informed us that she is "more active than most cats, even for a kitten." Somehow we got stuck with an ADHD cat with emphasis on H. The vet strongly encouraged an Elizabethan collar for Friday because she was licking and biting her insicion before she even left the office. When she wasn't running madly around the room looking for food that is. So we borrowed one and she has been in the cone of shame all evening and will be all night. And may be for many days to come because she can't bite with the cone on!

I was reading the post op sheet and it mentioned the cat may be lethargic and want to sleep. I WISH! She is running in mad circles and knocking stuff down. It's like Benadryl and children. Most children get sleepy when you give them Benadryl but a few get more wired. I think that is what psycho the wonder kitty is doing. Somehow those sedatives have made her brain race faster.

I keep hoping she will calm down into a regular, lazy, sleepy cat but my hope is dwindling. At least we won't be getting an unexpected batch of wonder kitty babies now!

This cat would NOT hold still for a picture. She was all over the place and jumping and attacking anything that came into view around the cone.

Pictures I didn't take

2011-10-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I upload pictures from my camera only to find there are more than I realized! Here's a sampling from the latest batch.

These ROCK!!

2011-10-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

I love love love what Marissa did with our family pictures.

Her website is http://www.marissagiffordphotography.com/ If you want, she is running a 50% off special through the end of the year!

Letter to Uncle Rick

2011-10-02T20:40:00.000-07:00

My baby brother is in the MTC preparing to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Chile for 2 years. I wrote this letter to him. It's a pretty good summary of our week.

Dear Elder Rick,

It is good to hear from you. We sure love to read your letters and talk about Uncle Rick on his mission.

This week was a good week. It is always a good week when we have General Conference!

Thursday, Roy and I went to the temple with a family in our ward. They were going through for the first time. It is so amazing to go through the temple with someone who has never been through before. Plus, Roy and I were invited to be the witness couple so we got to sit next to our friends for their first time. Then we were blessed to be in the room as they were sealed together as a family. I’ve never been in a live family sealing. I’ve done sealings for the dead where children were sealed to parents, but it is different live. Small children do NOT like their hands being held down so the one year old cried through the ceremony but it was still so sweet.

On the way home, Roy wanted to stop at Video Only (a store that only sells video stuff ie TVs, DVD/Bluray players, camcorders etc.) just to see. An hour later we left with a new TV in our backseat. He’s been researching and wishing for some time now. We got a smoking deal so I guess now’s the time to upgrade. Having a new TV did have a perk for conference. We were able to attach our TV to the computer and watch conference on the TV screen. After years of huddling around a laptop it was super nice to have conference of 47” of viewable screen!

We spent a lot of time together as a family this weekend and fortunately the kids mostly got along. That’s always nice. We had cinnamon rolls and some crazy brownies that may have involved Oreo cookies and a chocolate cookie crust. On not. I plead the fifth. We built block towers and knocked them down and played about a hundred games. K can play Go Fish now so that’s pretty fun. And then, of course, we watched and listened to conference. Some of those talks to were so AMAZING. I love conference weekends!

K started preschool this week, as she mentioned in her letter. I should say that she typed part of it by herself. I’ll let you deduce which part that was. I have put together a co-op style preschool were each mom takes turns teaching. This week was my turn to teach. It was really fun to use my teaching skills – sort of. There is a bit of a difference between middle school and preschool, probably not as much as you would hope but some difference nonetheless. It is very gratifying that K now recognizes the letter P and knows its sound. (P was our letter this week.) D was so easy, you know. He learned his letters, sounds and how to read mostly on his own because he wanted to. K is rather indifferent to learning the letters and their sounds. She is happy to learn but is just as happy to do other stuff.

A’s language is really taking off. She is speaking a lot now and in full sentences. Usually, it is very difficult to understand her because he words are still in her own language but they are getting closer to the actual English words we use. This weekend, she walked around the house telling everyone, “No, no – no touch. No, no – no touch.” She heard this a lot as we were building towers as you can imagine. A 2 year old around a block tower is literally like a bull in a china shop. Anyway, she is getting to be quite the mimicker. I love it!

Roy did finally get the deck sanded and one coat of stain put on. It has also started to rain. This was a problem he was afraid of running into. He’ll have to try to squeeze in staining anytime there’s a sunny day.

Our garden has finally stopped producing. I for one am glad and may have allegedly pulled the zucchini plants out by the roots before their time. No one can prove it was me though. I’ve shredded and frozen more than 20 cups of zucchini, made zucchini bread, cookies, soup, salads, grilled/stuffed, given away and still have 4 in the fridge. It was their time to go. I am also really glad the tomatoes are done. I’m done with the tomatoes anyway. I bottled 59 pints for the winter. That’s a whole lot of tomato peeling! I’ve also worked in peaches and pears. I need to do applesauce this week and then we should be good for the winter. It is rewarding to have it done but it sure is a lot of work to do!

I know you are on the Lord’s errand and I am so proud of you. We all love you!

Love,

Sheena

First Week of Preschool

2011-09-30T21:56:00.000-07:00

I've been working to set up a coop preschool with some other moms so that K could have a preschool experience without me having to take out a loan or stop buying groceries. This week was the first week. I taught this week. There are 6 kids in our group but when it is at my house there are 7 because I have A who is involved in everything. Tuesday we learned about the letter "P", our bodies, circles and pink. We had a "P" treasure hunt, made "ME" paper bag puppets, ate peaches and pears for snack, named a pink bird and other preschooly things. By the time the kids left 2.5 hours later I was wiped out. Good thing I got to do it again on Thursday!

Thursday we were still working on the same concepts. The best activity was our Build a Body snack. Here's K working on her body.

And here's her body. It's pretty much genius and I expect Harvard to be calling soon.

Guess who's happy to have his cast off?

2011-09-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

He hasn't been able to do this for 6 weeks, so even though it is barely 70 degrees outside he is soaked and loving it!

Tales from a domestic diva

2011-09-22T19:30:00.000-07:00

Today for the first time in, oh... 18 years, I mowed the lawn. I had three younger brothers. One of whom is only 2 years younger than me. So mowing the lawn was not one of my chores. Good thing I've had lots of vacuuming experience so I knew just what to do -- back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Just kidding. Okay, maybe I started out like that before it came to me that no one mows their lawn that way. Actually I was rather proud of myself for getting the mower started. Roy makes it look so easy. I think I may need to ice my sholder tonight. Also, my hands may never stop vibrating. I think I have discovered the cure for Parkinsons... stop mowing the lawn.

All this is just a long story to illustrate the great lengths some people will go through to procrastinate canning.

Another great procrastination mechanism: blog about procrastination.

*just so you know, I did 13 quarts of pears yesterday people. by.my.self. except for the kids. who did not help. unless you call eating the pears so I didn't have to peel them helping which was helpful. sort of.

Making Progress

2011-09-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

Today we went from this:

To this:

That's right folks. He is not officially out of a cast and into a splint. He can now shower on his own (YEA!!) I just have to say that after wearing that last cast for 3 weeks his arm smelled something like a crypt. Ewww....

Family Photos

2011-09-11T17:13:00.000-07:00

We had our family photos taken Friday night. A friend from our ward, Marissa Gifford, is starting a business and wanted more experience taking family portraits. When she asked to use our family my response was "YES PLEASE!!!"
I am so excited to get them back but she just sent me the link to this sneak peak. Check it out!
marissagiffordphotography.blogspot.com

First day of 1st Grade

2011-09-07T23:35:00.000-07:00

Don't be fooled by the mug shot. He was really excited this morning! I drove him to school along with one of the other little boys in our new carpool. Roy followed in his car. He was really excited for D to go to 1st grade. I dropped the boys off and Roy walked them to where their class waits for the teacher to come get them and walk them to class. The girls and I stayed for a PTA breakfast before heading home to our first day of D being is school.
Tonight we had a special "Back to School" dinner inspired from this cool blog.

I had the pencil tags and large poster printed at Office Depot. I ordered an 8x10 of the poster. I have an empty frame I was going to put it in. When I got their the woman had printed it off in the 16x20 size the picture was created to be. I tried to explain but she wasn't paying attention so I just took my poster home to figure out what to do with it. It think it turned out all right.

The candy crayons in the left corner are from Our Best Bites. Yum. Chocolate dipped pretzels that look like crayons!

D loved his first day. He said it felt like he was only in school from 8:30 to 10:30. It didn't feel like all day. He has a few friends already and has a great teacher. It's been a good day.

It's been so busy

2011-09-06T23:32:00.000-07:00

I feel like I haven't had time to do the regular house stuff. I feel like I'm constantly running around playing catch up. So, here's the low down:

Monday I bottled tomatoes. I bought a pressure canner from my neighbor's garage sale but had never used one before. There was a bit of a learning curve but I think I've got it down. We ate some of the tomatoes tonight in the dinner I made and so far we are all still botulism free. That's a good sign. I got 22 pints done. My tomatoes are still producing and it is a hot week so hopefully I'll be able to do some more early next week.

Monday was also D's birthday so we had a little family party. He got to pick dinner. We had bbq chicken legs. He likes the novelty of eathing the meat off the bone. Then we opened presents. Finally!

As you can see, K was with him every step of the way! She was pretty excited for him to open the gifts but was a little sad that none of them were for her. Poor little a was sent off to bed without joining the festivities. She was too tired.

One of D's gifts was an ice cream ball from Grandpa and Grandma Bishop. Roy was really excited for this gift. Of course we had to try it out that night. I had bought the stuff we would need (rock salt and cream). We filled it with ice in the bottom and cream in the top. We sat in the living room and rolled it around for 15 minutes before checking it. I was really happy to see it was working. The kids and I ran next door to collect more ice since we'd used ours all up on the first 15 minutes. After another 15 minutes of rolling around we had ice cream!

D requested a train cake. After planning on an eel cake all.year.long he changed at the last minute. I've done train cakes twice. This year I cheated and used a cupcake mold thingy I bought a few years ago. Viola! Train cupcake cake!

Monday was also the last night for the kids to sleep out. D and K have been camping out in the backyard since we got home from vacation. With school starting this week, Monday was the final campout.

Tuesday was another busy day fraught with last minute school shopping, grocery shopping, a late meeting for Roy and a play date for the kids. I dropped D off at his friend's house and picked up another little girl to go play at this awesome fountain in the park downtown. They had a great time.

I love A's face in this picture. She is sitting right in the middle of the waterfall. All the water is now going up her back and around her little bum!

Yea! School starts tomorrow. I CAN'T WAIT!!

My boy is 7!!

2011-09-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

It took him 7 years to go from this:

To this:

My D-man. He is such a great kid. He is super smart, handsome, happy (most of the time), helpful, loving and compassionate. He loves trains, Legos, Monopoly, outer space, reading, imagining and learning. He is a picky eater with a very small list of acceptable foods. In fact, he will probably be eating a PB&H every day in his school lunch. Fortunately there are a lot of fruits and vegetables on his short list!

I'm very proud of the little man child he is becoming and look forward to the man he will be.

This is what I call "Fun in a Box"

2011-09-04T18:56:00.000-07:00

This box has been making frequent appearances lately. It has served as a couch, bulldozer, hiding place, lazy-boy recliner, cargo carrier and whoknowwhatelse.

It's killing him!

2011-09-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow it D's birthday. This is what greeted him when he came down for breakfast:

Did I mention his birthday is TOMORROW?!

Daredevils

2011-08-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

We went to an amusement park this weekend for Roy's work party. I wasn't totally sure how the kids would do but was looking forward to it still the same. We started with a catered lunch at the picnic area before heading off to ride the rides! First was the ferris wheel. D,K and Roy were able to fit in one cart while A and I took another cart. I was reminded shortly into the ride that I really don't like ferris wheels. A on the other hand loved it -- especially when the seat rocked. I tried not to feel like the world's biggest sissy for telling my 2 year old to stop rocking the cart!

After the ferris wheel we headed to the carousel. We were trying to ease the kids into the rides. I think it worked because D wouldn't ride on anything that moved on the carousel but you'll see that we got braver as the day went on!

We soon headed over to the kiddie rides. This is a bad picture of everyone riding the kiddie coaster except me (someone had to take the pictures... really, I like roller coasters! I rode the big white one that went upside down before we left.) You can see Roy. Right next to him is A who you can't see. A few seats back you can see K and next to her with a fraction of his head showing is D. There was no good angle to get a picture.

Right next to the kiddie coaster was the Frog Hopper. This turned out to be everyone's favorite ride. Especially A's! We rode this ride so many times I lost count. It is the kid's version of the Tower of Terror. Not quite as high and instead of a straight drop it bounce-drops.

K and A's First Ride

K and A's Last Ride

We rode the rocking tug boat, all the little kiddie rides that go around in a circle ie cars, motorcycles, airplanes. We also rode the hot air balloon ride that takes you in a circle and rises in the air. It has it own controls for spinning your "balloon" and D took great pleasure in seeing how fast he could spin it! All 3 kids rode the Tilt-A-Whirl. Even A who got carsick going for a ride in Grandpa's truck enjoyed the Tilt-A-Whirl.

We headed over to the big-person side of the park to check out some of those rides. Roy and D went on the Disc-O which is basically a flat disc that rocks back and forth on a track while spinning fast. They both felt a bit motion sick after that.
After spending several hours riding all the rides they were eligible to ride we headed home. This is what happened about 10 feet outside the gate on the way to the van. She just couldn't take it anymore! The other two crashed in the van on the way home. It was such a great and fun day!

Liquid Laundry Soap Recipe

2011-08-26T13:08:00.000-07:00

Due to the high demand from all 3 of you I am posting my top secret and highly confidential soap recipe. (Actually, it's a handout from a RS meeting.)

Liquid Laundry Soap

4 cups hot water

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar

1 cup Washing Soda

1/2 cup Borax

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap melts and is dissolved.

Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and leave over night.

Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap then fill to top with water. Shake before each use.

Optional: add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons.

Yield: 10 gallons diluted, 5 gallons undiluted

Use: Top load machine: about 2/3 cup (180 loads) Front load machine: 1/4 cup (640 loads)

Tips from the master

You can find Fels-Naptha soap in the cleaning/laundry section of your store. It is not carried everywhere so check a few places. One of my Walmarts has it, one does not. I couldn't find it in Target but WinCo has it. I've never paid more than $1 for it. I'm sure it will vary by location.

Don't boil the soap when you are melting it. I don't remember why. I just remember you aren't supposed to. Probably because you don't want to cook the soap, just melt it!

When you are mixing it up, it looks like lemonade. Do not drink it. It is not lemonade.

I stop following the directions after #2. Like I said, I don't dilute anymore and I've never bothered to add essential oils. Neither of those steps are necessary.

If you do add essential oils, only add it to small (1-2 gallons) amounts of soap at a time. If you put the oil in the whole thing, they will dissapate before you get around to using it. Thus wasting your essential oils.

I use the measuring scoop from my last store bought package of laundry soap. Filled to the top it is about 2/3 cup.

Also, like I said in the last post, this stuff does separate with the top gelling. I've found that shaking the bucket a bit mixes it around enough. Otherwise you can keep a stick or something handy to stir it before you use it. I think it is the Borax that makes it gel like that.

Laundry Soap Update

2011-08-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

Long long ago (ya know, 8 months ago) I made laundry soap and said I'd let you know how it goes. So now I'm letting you know.
This week I ran out of the laundry soap I made in December. That's right. I do laundry ALL. THE. TIME. No really. At least it seems like it. And yet, the soap lasted 8 months! I started out diluting it 50/50 with water like the recipe recommends but found that Roy was putting 2 scoops in whenever he did laundry. He felt like it wasn't strong enough. Why then would I bother diluting it?! So about halfway through the 5 gallon bucket of soap I stopped mixing it with water and just used it straight. I feel like the clothes come out just as clean as when I was using other detergents. When I remember, I just use the soap straight from the bucket as a pretreater for stains.
In short, I plan to continue making my own soap. It costs less than $2 to make a 5 gallon bucket. It is super easy to make, hypoallergenic, extremely low suds (like non-existant), clean scent. The only draw back is that it does separate a bit while it sits. I usually just give the bucket a shake to mix the gel with the liquid - problem solved!

MIA

2011-08-21T17:58:00.001-07:00

I've been offline lately. I have only even checked my email a couple of times in the last two weeks. I'm not going to say I'm back but here's a post anyway.

Monday, D went in to the fracture clinic to have his arm checked out by a pediatric orthopedist. They took some xrays and decided they would indeed change his cast. In order to make sure he didn't move his arm while the cast was off they put him in chinese fingercuffs dangling from a pole. It looked a bit like a torture device but didn't seem to hurt him. This cast is much smaller and less heavy but actually covers more of his arm. Hopefully he'll be able to move into a shorter cast soon and free up his elbow.

Old Cast:

Chinese Finger Torture:

New Cast:

We mostly haven't done much this week. We went to the new library in town. The kids' section is the entire 3rd floor. It is much like an indoor playground with large play areas and interactive learning toys.

I got a new pool for the kids (girls since D can't swim right now). I picked it up at 4 pm on Saturday evening and K has pretty much been in her swimsuit ever since. She did wear pj's to bed and a dress to church but other than that...

We've spent a lot of time picking the trim colors for the house. Roy painted it blue while I was in Utah. We've finally decided on two shades of white for the trim. One is a sandy cream color that looks good on the rain gutters and around the top of the roof. Around the windows we are putting a white-tinted-blue shade that looks really crisp and nice. Finally we want to make our shutters, windowboxes and door pop with a red wine color. Hopefully things don't look too much like a kaleidoscope. I don't think they will. Of course, if I thought they would I wouldn't do it ;)

We had a ward BBQ on Wednesday that Roy was in charge of. What possessed Roy to volunteer to head up a party I'll never know. I usually have to drag him to these things against his will. It was a very basic event that everyone enjoyed a great deal. I'm proud of him. This is a good start. Maybe I'll put him in charge of D's birthday party this year.

D's Arm

2011-08-14T15:20:00.000-07:00

I got about 4 hours of work in before sending the kids on a bike ride to get some energy out. Truthfully, D was bouncing around like kangaroo and driving me a bit batty. I sat down at the kitchen table to finish my lunch. I had about 5 minutes to enjoy before looking up to see a neighbor I don't know walking D's bike while he walked beside her. He had apparently wrecked on his bike and was coming home. I rushed out to thank the neighbor. I was looking for blood and didn't notice his arm at first. As soon as I looked at his arm I could tell it was broken. I sent him in to sit down while I grabbed some diapers and wipes and both girls to take next door. Luckily my neighbor was home and could take the girls while I took care of D. I called Roy and told him I thought D had a broken arm. He agreed to meet us at the ER.

Our ER has free valet parking. What a BRILLIANT idea! I hope other ER's are following suit. D requested a wheelchair to go in. It was just was well, he was starting to shock a bit. As soon as we walked in the doors the receptionist said, "Oh, we have a nasty broken arm here." Yeah....

We got right back to a room and got his arm stablized. D was awesome. He wanted to know everything that was going on. The nurse explained about the IV and D managed to hold his arm still with minimal freaking out. I had grabbed D's teddy bear for a companion for him. The nurse taped an IV onto bear as well.

The Osteo-surgeon had just gone into a surgery and would not be available for about 2 hours. We watched some movies while we waited. D was being very brave. He also had narcotics.

When the surgeon came she explained she was going to give D large amounts of narcotics and sedatives to help put him in a relaxed and alternate state of consciensness. He would not be asleep but he would also not remember the procedure. After large amounts meds, even more than the DRs usually give kids his age they asked us to leave the room. Roy and I waited outside the door. D yelled his little lungs out. He cried and screamed and I felt awful. The ER nurses kept assuring us that he would not remember a thing. Funny then that one of the first things he asked me when he was awake was if I heard him yelling.

They put a cast on him and told us to make an appointment with a pediatric orthopedist for Monday. They gave us more narcatics and sent us home. He is doing really well. Aside from not being able to ride any rides at the fair on Saturday, he is perfectly happy with everything.

The rest of our trip

2011-08-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

The kids had an amazing time with their G&G Pyatt and various cousins. They played, swam and 4-wheeled their little hearts out. I went up the mountain where G&G P are manning a girl's camp for the summer to spend the day with family and pick up the kiddos. It was a lot of fun and I got to meet Angela - my sil who I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting until then.

D was having so much fun, he asked if he could stay until August 31. If I could have gotten him home without having to go back to get him I may have considered it!

Thursday and Friday were spent in the final preparations for Justin's wedding on Saturday as well as playing with cousins from West Virginia. Friday we had a little birthday party for Bean who turned 5. This means that for one month, my mom's grandchildren are ages 6,5,4,3,2,1. Next month D turns 7 and Geets turns 2.

Saturday was a long and exhausting day of wedding stuff. It is good to have it over but it was a pleasant day of family and friends. It was great to see relatives that I don't usually get to see on my trips.

Sunday and Monday were more good days of playing with cousins. Tuesday we headed to Brigham City to visit my bil and sil. Wednesday we made the long trek home. It was a long and virtually uneventful trip. Most remarkable was the death of the DVD player about 7 hours from home. And still we made it.

A's first braids!

2011-08-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

Still In Utah

2011-07-31T19:41:00.001-07:00

Saturday was a great day. I took the kids and headed to Cedar City. I had plans to meet up with my in-laws so they could take D and K for a few days. We met up with Grandma and Grandpa in Walmart where K wasted no time sweet talking Grandpa into letting her ride the mechanical rides in the kiddie area. He hooked all 3 kids up with rides and they loved it! We did a little shopping - getting lunch, sunscreen and the like before going out to move the car seats and suitcase into G&G's Jeep. A was disappointed that I didn't move her seat. She whimpered, grunted and pointed but didn't put up too much of a fight. I kissed the other two goodbye and warned them to be good, obedient and not fight. I hope it takes!
A and I then went to meet up with a great friend from college. Sarah and I went to SUU and walked around the campus with her two youngest and A. A had a great time checking everything out. Sarah and I had a great time talking and talking. We moved it over to a frozen yogurt shop next where we enjoyed watching her 4 boys eat their yogurt. Then we went to her house and talked some more. It is always so much fun spend time with old friends.

Sending the big 2 off with G&G Pyatt has one fatal flaw. I'm stuck with the littlest who has no big siblings to entertain her. She was great on Saturday because we played with Sarah's boys all afternoon. Today she has been wandering around the house looking for "Diwwie" (what she calls D and K) and Daddy. It is very pathetic. We just got to Skype with them and A loved it. I'm so glad they're having fun at their Grandma's house but man I miss those little guys!

Like a slumber party!

2011-07-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

Last night I put A to bed in the Pack 'n Play mom has. She lasted about 4 minutes before she climbed out. It seems she wants to sleep on the big bed like she has become accustom to. I relented (did I have a choice?!) and put her at one end of the bed and K at the other end. When I checked on the girls in the middle of the night, this is what I found:

How precious! So, after taking a million pictures trying to get a good shot I weighed my options, put some pillows on the floor and went back to bed.

Visiting and Playing

2011-07-27T22:37:00.000-07:00

While Roy and I were at Trek, my mom was at my house taking care of my kids. Then I drove her home to Utah so I could be here to help get ready for my brother's wedding and reception that will be in the backyard. The kids are having a GREAT time! They love to play here.

They have jumped on the trampoline all day.

We went to Quality where there is this great mechanical horse that is approaching 100 years old. Seriously. It still have about a 5 minute ride for a dime. A DIME! Naturally D and K both took a turn. A rode in front of K for a minute but I didn't get a picture because I was too busy making sure no one fell off.

K climbed this tree by herself.

Mom bought Just Dance Summer Party and Just Dance for Kids for the Wii. We have been playing that this evening. K is a dancing maniac! I totally took video but not pictures. And D is having fun with it too. He only has about 2 songs he likes to dance to because D only likes to do something if he is good at it and he scored well on those 2 songs. Even A was getting her grove on, holding a TV remote and modeling what her big brother and big sister were doing. It is going to be a fun 2 weeks!

Trek

2011-07-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

Roy and I spent 3 days walking in circles in the desert supervising a bunch of kids dressed in pioneer clothes and pushing handcarts.

Before you question my sanity, let me just say it was totally worth it and I would love to do it again.

Now, you may question....

Big kid beds

2011-07-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

Last night marked a great milestone in Pyatt family history. The crib is folded and stored with no projected date of being restored to its functional state. This has not happened since we got it. D moved out of the crib to a toddler bed about 7 months before K was born. K moved out of the crib into the bottom bunk on our bunk bed about 2 months before A was born. Now A is out of the crib and there is no one coming to take her place.

A has been wanting to move into a regular bed for a few weeks. Imagine our delight when some friends asked if we wanted a bed because they were getting rid of one. Now we could stack the bunkbeds up and put K on top, A on bottom and have a bed for D.

Thursday, my friend, Tyce, came over to drop off the pieces for the bed and stayed to help me set it up. Since then D has only come out of his room for serious needs.

It is a cool bed.

Then Friday I spent the morning and my energy rearranging the furniture in the girls' room and stacking the bunkbeds. By nap time, everything was ready for A to try out her new bed. I put her on her bed, turned on her music, left the room and waited. This is what I saw when I went back 30 minutes later:

I learned two things.

#1 - A is ready for a big girl bed.

#2 - A should always have pants on before going down for a nap.

Friday evening, we went to Costco to pick out a mattress for the new bed. And wha-la! All three kids in their very own big kid beds. Everyone went to bed okay. The only interesting thing happened about 2:30 a.m. when I woke up to A sitting by my bedside reading stories in the dark. Luckily she went back to bed easy enough!

Hiking

2011-07-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

We have this place we like to go hiking. It is a well groomed trail, more like a road without cars along one fork of the Lewis River. There are 5 little bridges and one big bridge, beautiful trees and easy access to parking and bathrooms. All the elements of a perfect trail. We headed out there for a great Saturday activity. Plus, I needed one more 5 mile hike as part of my preparation for the pioneer trek Roy and I will be doing soon. Things started out great with K falling asleep about 5 minutes before we parked. We headed to the potty for a little break before we got serious then headed out on the trail. A big part of hiking with Roy and the kids is the food. We weren't 1/10th of a mile in before D is asking if he can have something to eat out of his backpack. Roy always tries to get him to wait and the food always gets consumed in the first 15 minutes of walking. It is practically tradition.

We hiked along for almost a mile and a half before Roy and the girls turned back. D and I continued on for a total of 2.5 miles before turning around so I could get my 5 miles in. D is such a good little trooper. He hiked along with me and only complained about his feet getting sweaty. We had to explore any possible trails leading off the main trail and touch the water and railroad tracks that run parallel to the trail any chance we got. It was awesome. We talked about nature. We talked about Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ. I loved being able to have that time with just D and I. We don't get much time without the girls.

Unfortunately things weren't quite as serene for Roy. K was dragging behind and whining a lot more than usual right from the get go. I figured it was just because she was tired and wanted to continue her nap. She fell asleep on a bench when Roy and the girls stopped for a little break. She slept in Roy's arms for a bit while he hiked. A was great but she is s...l.....o........w. 'Course, she's only 2 and her legs are shorter than my arms....

Roy finally made it back to the river where people can play in the water to wait for us. D and I made it back after an hour and a half or so. K was ready and wanting to go. I went ahead and started back to the van with her and A while D played in the river for a few minutes. The parking lot is less than 1/5 of a mile from where we were. Yeah, K totally fell asleep in my arms on the way back. Turns out she actually developed a fever later. Oops. Sometimes it is so hard to tell.

Proper hiking attire:

jeans -- check

comfortable shoes -- check

too big woman's straw hat -- check

backpack full of snacks -- check

K and A's birthdays

2011-07-07T21:14:00.000-07:00

For the record, it isn't as easy to make a rainbow out of M&M's on a pan of rice crispie treats as one might think. And K didn't think that green thing was a "K". She recognizes the letter "K" now and that one didn't meet with her approval. Until she ate it. Then it was good.

For A's birthday we had spaghetti for dinner because it is probably A's favorite food. You can see she enjoyed it!

I whipped out some cupcakes with sprinkles. A LOVED trying to "foof" out the candle. She finally had K help since the only thing A was capable of was "foofing" and laughing. She found the whole idea of a candle and blowing it out hilarious!

So, here they are. My brave, adventurous 4 year old and my sweet, even keeled 2 year old. They are so sweet it makes my teeth hurt!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

Bike Parade

2011-07-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

The kids rode in a kids parade this year. They decorated their bikes with crete paper streamers and such. A was UNBELIEVABLY sad that she couldn't ride her bike. She kept going to the back of the van and crying for daddy to get her bike out. Problem was, her bike wasn't in there to get out. She finally settled for the stroller.

It was super hot while we were waiting. There were tons of kids there but I apparently didn't get a shot of the crowd.
When the parade started, the kids started out kind of slow. That only lasted for about 10 feet. Then D took off. K tried to keep up with him for a block or so before she was too far behind. I had to jog to keep up.

The parade ended in the park with popcicles. It was so fun and something I think we should incorporate into all our Independence Day celebrations.

A good day!

2011-06-30T22:20:00.001-07:00

You'd better believe the kids crashed after a day full of swimming, jumping, playing, sunshine and fun!

Just doing my civic duty

2011-06-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

I took the kids to a rally today. The power company will be building new power lines and we want to let them know we don't want the lines to go behind our house. We already have large power lines running behind our house but they are proposing 15 story towers in addition to what we already have. So I took the kids to protest -- sort of. We walked up and down the sidewalk a few times holding signs and even chanting a bit. D got quite into it and made a few of his own chants.

It was a really good learning experience for D. We sat on the grass and discussed our Constitutional right to be doing this. We talked about why we were doing this. There was a kid walking around with a scale model of what these towers would look like by a home. D was fascinated by it. He especially like it when he found out the family are model railroaders and that was how they built the tower.

The girls mostly sat in the stroller. K held a sign and walked barefoot by the stroller for a while. Several people got a kick out of that. You can see we amassed quite a collection of balloons by the end!

The End

2011-06-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is it. The end of D's Kindergarten career. Monday was Kindergarten Graduation. A fun little event where we got to see D perform and receive a certificate of completion. I know there are some out there who feel that graduation ceremonies for kindergarten are silly and superfulous. I can't say they are wrong, but I love a good excuse to cheer for my kid. He was so fun up there singing songs in Spanish. I really miss that he won't be learning Spanish in school next year. Maybe Uncle Rick will send him letters in Spanish from CHILE!! (Wahoo!! My baby brother is going to serve a 2 year mission in Chile!!)

Roy came from work to attend the ceremony. It was a really great thing too because K decided to act up while I was trying to video. That's right, it is all on video! After the ceremony, we all went back to D's classroom. The kindergartners went out for recess while the parents prepared snacks for the kids. K helped me load plates and set them out for the kids. There were some extra plates and hats. Check out the big graduate with his adorable little sisters!

Tuesday was summer birthday celebration day. D decided he wanted to take birthday goodie bags in to his class. That's right -- even with a September birthday he has a summer birthday. Only some years.

Wednesday was the last day of school. They had a school barbeque. D got to eat a hotdog. Wahoo. He gave his teacher and his bus driver each a card he made himself and a bookmark we got from the Disney Family Fun Website.

After he got home from school, I made him tell me on video what he learned and his favorite parts about Kindergarten. It was fun. He managed to fill several minutes. He finished by saying he would miss Mrs. Childers. I know he is excited to try the Challenge program but he will miss the friends he is leaving behind at SJA. He will also miss riding the bus. I think it will be worth it.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated dads. I called my dad. I'm good like that. I'm not good like sending cards. I never think about such things until it is too late. For Roy, the kids and I made this awesome dish of delightfulness:

We also got Roy a gift certificate for a massage from a friend of ours who does that stuff. He was surprised. Bonus -- the guy works in the same building as Roy's office.

Happy Father's Day Roy! We love you! Happy Father's Day Grandpa! We love you too!

Why A is in bed early

2011-06-18T19:40:00.001-07:00

She

barfed in the car

pooped in the bathtub

bopped the 'family jewels' *a-hem*

ripped a gameboard

put a hole in the wall

whined, cried, spilled, threw things and other general bedlamite behaviors.

On a field trip

2011-06-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to go with D's class on their field trip. We went to the Children's Museum. If anyone has a chance to take kids to a children museum, I totally recommend it. We've been in Spokane, Seattle and Portland. They are so much fun.

I dropped the girls off at a friend's house bright and early. It was good practice for next year when we will have to drive D to school down by her house. Everyday. Ugh.

Then I headed to the school. After going to the Zoo with G&G I was worried about having too many kids to keep track of. The zoo was teeming with over-excited kids and over-extended/frazzled chaperones. I was very relieved to find that there was a 2:1 ratio of kids to chaperones. I was teamed with another parent and we had four boys. It was perfect!

The bus ride:

Lovin' the water room:

Rockin' the Dental Hygiene:

Lookin' like a squirrel:

Amazing clay creation:

Practicing his plumbing skills:

Giant Lincoln Logs:
Afterwards, I took him to Wendy's. He ordered a Frosty for his drink. He tried to drink it like a drink and ended up with a face covered in Frosty. I couldn't stop laughing! He was so shocked that it happened.

It was nice to have a day just to spend with D. Sometimes things get rocky -- what with my demands for the fake farting to stop and all. It was really good to spend some time together laughing and playing.

Twins!

2011-06-06T23:05:00.000-07:00

While Grandma was here she got some new little dresses for the girls. A is catching up to K. Even though they are 2 years apart they are only about 1 size apart. Here they are looking so cute in their matchy dresses. Too bad I couldn't get them to stand up and pose by each other!

Grandpa and Grandma Visit!

2011-06-05T22:36:00.000-07:00

My parents came to visit this week. We had a lot of fun with them. The first couple of days were cloudy and damp so we played inside and went shopping and to the dentist.

Thursday we headed down to the Zoo. As soon as I told the kids G&G were coming, they started talking about the Zoo. Apparently these two things are connected in their little brains. I tried to talk to D about maybe doing something we haven't done before. His idea? "Have G&G ever rode the Zoo Train?" Me: "I don't think so." D:"So that would be new!"

Here we are on our way to the Zoo. G&G drove the whole time they were here. The kids love to ride in "Grandma's Big Blue Blazer"!

Tigers are Grandma's favorite animals at the zoo. They put on a good display of napping but at least we could see them!
And here are the kids on the infamous Zoo Train. I don't know why Roy looks so grumpy here. Maybe because we didn't pack a lunch so he had to buy lunch at the zoo.... That's against Pyatt priciples! Amiright Macey?
Really we all had a good time at the zoo. We are glad Roy took the day off to come with us. And once all the kids on field trips left it was actually a really great day to be at the zoo!

Friday we took G&G down to the same park on the river we went to last week. Good fun times.

On the way to the park, D crashed on his bike and skinned his knee up. He didn't feel like going in the water after that. I was just proud of him for getting back on his bike and riding the rest of the way without crying. He's getting so big and tough.

Since he wasn't playing in the water he drew this picture in the sand. It is a heart that says, "I love you." He drew it for me. Aww...

G&G were able to stay through Saturday so they got to see D's t-ball game. It is so funny watching those little guys play ball out there. I'm really proud of D and the skills he's learning. He may not be the most athletic player on the team but he gives it his best and has fun. That's important.

We were all sad to see G&G go on Sunday. Well, actually, we were all sad to wake up and have G&G gone since they snuck out before we were up! K wanted to call and have them come back to give her a "big, huge hug".

Going to the Dentist

2011-06-01T23:09:00.000-07:00

Today was a trip to the dentist for all three kids. D's been several times before but only had his teeth cleaned once due to the amount of freaking out he did. It was a first time visit for both girls.
When the hygienist came out for D he headed back like an old pro. After a bit I went back to check on him only to find out he was just finishing up! That was fast! So I went to get K who had been so excited to go visit Dr. Todd. She changed her mind by the time she got back to the cleaning station. The hygienist was great with K. She showed K the equipment and tried to relax K a bit. This was important to get K to remove her hand from in front of her mouth. Finally the work paid off and K laid down in my lap to have her teeth cleaned.
A wasn't so easy to be entreated and pretty much cried the whole time she was being cleaned.
When it was time for the dentist to check the kids' teeth, D went first to show his sisters how it was done. On her turn, K hopped up in the chair and pushed the button to lay the chair back. On her turn, A cried.
Two out of three tear free... I'll take it!

Today is also my birthday. 29. For real.

Finally Spring!

2011-05-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

We have been waiting (and waiting and waiting and waiting and.... you get the idea) for spring and it seems to finally be here. We took the kids to the river today. We like to park about a mile or so down the trail from the park and ride our bikes up. A rides in the bike trailer but everyone else rides their bikes...including K! (Who also happens to be the only one I took a picture of. doh.)

The kids played in the river but they had strict rules about how far out they could go. The water is really high and running fast.

Notice the picnic table in the top of this picture:

Usually you have to talk a long way past that table to get the water. The river is officially 3 feet over flood stage right now.

A was pretty content to sit on a park bench and enjoy some snacks. She did some playground playing and swinging but didn't have much interest in the river. I'm glad. She's too little.

D and I rode over to a nearby lake. It is flooded too. There is usually a nice sandy beach. In fact, you can see some white poles that are the beach volleyball pit. Not much volleyball going on there right now!

We passed this 'possum on the way. He was really excited. "My first 'possum!" I told D we'd better take a picture because I know K's going to want to see it. D's response was, "Yea! Take a picture of MY. DEAD. 'POSSUM." Like he's so proud of this dead animal he found.

Actual Conversation with K and computer stuff

2011-05-26T21:46:00.000-07:00

Me: Who told you you could be so cute?

K: Jesus told me to be nice. and. cute. (strong empasis on nice and cute)

I've been working on a 30 day challenge for our YW to do before girl's camp. It is great and I'm really enjoying it but I'm about 10 hours in and only half done. It is saved on my computer so imagine my sinking horror about 20 minutes ago when my power button was unresponsive. I couldn't get my computer to turn on! After praying (for my computer, yes), telling Roy and feeling general hopelessness, I used Roy's laptop to google "power button on laptop not working". I clicked on the first site and read a recommendation to remove the battery and unplug the power cord. Then hold the power button for 30 seconds. Replace the battery and power cord and push the power button. IT TOTALLY WORKED. What?? It is like computer voodoo. I only tried it because I figured I had nothing to lose. You can bet that my first order of business was to email my documents to myself!

Fashonista

2011-05-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

Takin' on the road!

Last week in a glance

2011-05-22T22:19:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted because there hasn't been much to post. I do have some news today though! D is officially training wheel free! He has been riding with them on his bike but they haven't been touching the ground much for a while. So yesterday, Roy took them off and D did it. No parental running required. I cannot figure out how to make my video work on here so you just have to take my word for it.

K gave her first talk in Primary today. It was short and very sweet. She was totally NOT shy. She hopped right up and said what I told her to say. K is definitely outgoing and social. She loves people and being with people.

A says, "Pweese?" All the time now. Whenever she wants something she says, "Pweese?" and it usually works. The other day though we had to drag her away from a playground all the while she was crying, "Pweese? Pweese? Pweese?! Pweese?" Honestly, she is so stinking sweet sometimes I could just squeeze her and eat her up!

A also has a serious toothpaste addiction. I think we're going to have to put her on a 12 step program. Every time I turn around she's got another toothbrush and is begging for toothpaste. Sometimes she manages to get the toothpaste at walks around eating it. I can now feel validated when I forget to give her fluoride vitamin to her. Obviously, she's finding her own.

Roy and I went out Friday night. I'll give you a minute to recover from the shock and get up off the floor. We actually had a real live DATE. We went to dinner with some friends from church. They are so much fun. We sat at the restaurant for 3 hours! Mostly we left because it was closing time. Mongolian Grill, yum!

Thursday evening D's school had a little Fiesta! His class sang a song and HE PARTICIPATED!! Here is actual visual proof of the participation:

He's sandwiched in there between his friend from down the street and his future bride.

One of the kids' favorite activity lately is to go for walks. K rides her bike and D pushes A on the tricycle. He takes her down the street and around the block. It takes D about 15 minutes to walk his little route with the baby. A just sits on her bike happy as a bee that someone is talking her for a walk. It is really very precious!

K's an animal

2011-05-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

She just announced that she is a blue flying cat. She has a blue tail. "See, it's wiggling!"
Yesterday she turned her little tushie to me and asked if I could see her "fluffy bunny tail".

UPDATE 5/21/2011: Tonight in the bathtub K informed me that she needed to wash her tail. She then waved the scrubber in the air behind her behind as if there were an actual tail there that she was scrubbing!

She crawls into our room in the morning and curls up on our bed like a kitty.

She flaps her arms and roars like a dragon.

She hops like a bunny.

She waddles like a duck.

And of course makes every animal noise in character.

On the whole, we may never have to visit a zoo again.

Why I hate flying

2011-05-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

Whether you agree with it or not is not really the issue here. It is why I hate flying. TSA and the extraordinary security measures taken in the name of "safety". The last time I flew was Christmas 2008. I was tri-1 pregnant with A. Between the pregnancy hormones and pre-flight anxiety I threw up more that morning than THE WHOLE REST OF MY PREGNANCY COMBINED.

I arrived at the airport with 2 kids, a stroller (so I wouldn't have to carry an 18 month old), a carry on full of stuff to entertain 2 kids, car seats so the kids would be safe, my purse and my laptop. Imagine my joy when I had to remove the laptop from the bag, the child from the stroller, shoes from every one's feet and try to coerce both children to walk through the scary metal detector without touching the sides or me. Then on the other side I had to put shoes back on and pack everything back up ('cuz you can't hang anything on the stroller when it is folded up to go through security). This is why I spent the morning rushing for the toilet. The pregnancy was just fuel on an axiety fire.

I hate it. I think if someone gave me a pat down or tried to pat down my kid I would probably go postal and get arrested anyway. Or at least start crying and puking everywhere which would make me miss my flight anyway. So I guess I'll stick to the car.

Monday Madness

2011-05-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

Today my neighbor's 5th wheel trailer blew up. It generated some excitement to understate the adrenaline rush I had when I looked out the window and thought my neighbor's house was on fire. Crazy what a little flame and smoke will do to your heart rate. Luckily everyone is fine. The trailer is no more and the house sustained some damage but no one was injured and the house is still there.

Tonight for Family Home Evening we had a special activity at the local Winco. It is called "Grocery Shopping". It was an activity designed out of necessity for food. Since I went with Roy I came out with 2 bags of chips, 2 tins of sardines, 5 gallons of ice cream and cones that were not on my list. I feel rather accomplished at keeping his so reigned in!

There's a story that goes with the sardines. D has been asking to try them for a while. We bought a tin a few months ago but Roy ate them one night when the kids were already in bed. D was pretty upset when he found out. So tonight, he wasn't taking any chances. As soon as we got home he was whipping out a tin of sardines to try. All three kids tried them. K popped her half a sardine in her mouth and never looked back. A asked for a second helping. D ate 2 whole sardines. He did okay but was pretty weirded out when the fact came out that the bones are still in the sardines!! I managed to stay in the kitchen preparing dinner without having run to the bathroom once. It was a trick though when I saw D holding a full sized sardine and biting into it. If I was pregnant there is NO WAY I could have stayed in the HOUSE!!

And so there you go. Madness.

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T21:51:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day. In a lot of ways it was just like any other Sunday, but there were some special differences. During Sacrament meeting, they invited the primary kids up to sing on the stand. I was scrambling around helping K get on her boots (because they never stay on through the meeting!) when the kids started walking by our bench. This was all the invitation A needed. She took off with the crowd and headed up to the stand. She made it to the middle of the podium before I managed to snatch her up and head back to our seats. K went up and stood next to her friends from her class. D opted to stay in his seat next to Roy and not go up. It was really fun to see K up there. She didn't sing, but she stood very nicely and only waved once. So sweet!

During the third hour of church the Priesthood brethren had made special arrangements to cover all the primary classes and young women so that all the women could attend Relief Society where the Bishop taught a fantastic lesson about mothers and women. They also handed out Haagen-Daz ice cream bars. It was great!

After church, D gave me the gifts he made at school. He's been very secretive about them, telling me to not look in his backpack and such. He gave me a nice card (not handmade) and a bracelet that we've decided I can use for a necklace. He strung beads together on an elastic. It was a lot of fun for him to point out his favorite beads. I wore it for a few hours this afternoon. Best of all was the book he made about his mom. It was illustrated with great care and detail. It says:
"My mom is as sweet as me."
"My mom is as strong as my dad."
"My mom is as smart as me."
"My mom is (as) sweeter (as) than anyone." (He crossed out the two 'as')
My favorite illustration is the smart one. He drew a picture of himself as well as a picture of me and wrote the word "Ding" over each of our heads.
"You know, like we both got an idea!"

Roy cooked dinner and cleaned up the kitchen after. He made lasagna in his dutch oven. He also made 2 loaves of bread. D and K took one to our next door neighbor for Mother's Day. They love to do that stuff!

We also had some good friends visit. They moved to Colorado a little over a year ago but were back in town visiting family. They came by for a few hours. It was great to pick up like no time had passed. We have kids in the same age range and all the adults get along really well. It is so fun to have good friends.

I feel very blessed to be the mother of three wonderful children. I'm grateful that the Lord has trusted me to take care of His children. What a blessing to be a mother!

Something on our minds

2011-04-26T21:28:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been thinking about D's educational future. See, D is smart. I hesitate everytime I say that because it sound so much like I'm bragging about my child. And I am proud of him, but really it is a statement of fact. It doesn't mean that other kids aren't smart or that there aren't kids out there smarter than D. It just means he is smart.
We are fortunate to life in a school district that has a lot of options for kids. Currently D is attending our home school which offers a Spanish/English Dual Language program. He is been learning some subjects in Eng and some in Span. This has been cool. He can now read in 2 languages.
However, a few months ago I applied to have D tested for the "Challenge Program" that our district offers. Honestly, I did it more for my curiousity than anything else. He's doing okay where he's at and I don't feel a great desire to drive him to another school everyday when he can ride the bus with his friends. It wasn't until I got the results back from his day of testing that I began to think maybe he would go into CP.
See, in order to qualify a child has to have a 90 or better on any one of 3 tests. D's lowest score was 92. Keep in mind, these aren't percent scores, these are percentile scores. So I started to think maybe CP might be a better place for him. I am worried about his love for school to diminish. It naturally does in most children anyway, but when everything is "easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy" he might start to wonder "what is the point?".
Roy and I went to a parent meeting at the school D would be attending. We met his teacher and learned more about this particular school's arrangement. It is an old school built in an open classroom style. After the meeting, I was feeling more and more like this is the place for D. I've also been asking parents of kids who are in the program and parents who opted not to put their kids in. I've been really trying to figure this out.
During this time, D has been going back and forth about what he wants to do. He is really sad to not go to school with his neighborhood friends. He told me the other day, "Mom, if I go to the CP I'll never see Fedya, Austin or Riley again!" Uh.... since they all live within a block of us I don't think that will really be a problem.
Today, the school had a meet and greet of sorts for potential students to come visit the classroom and meet some of the current students. We went. After we got back to the car -- an hour later -- D was literally bouncing. "I can't wait to go to the CP!!" So, yeah. I think that's our final decision. for now.

Easter in Pictures

2011-04-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

We have a special arrangement for the Easter Bunny to come visit our house on Saturday. Everyone came into our room Saturday morning. I don't know why, we didn't have it pre-arranged. They just did. Here they are waiting for me to get the video camera.Since it is on video, I don't really have any pictures of the kids checking out their baskets or hunting for the 33 Butterfinger eggs hidden around the family room. It was fun. Just trust me on that. Here's K enjoying her sidewalk chalk. I won some free digital pictures from CatchaCharacter.com around Christmas time but of course, I forgot to get a good picture to use. So here's the EasterBunny, caught in the act!
D loves this picture. He opens nearly every time he gets on the computer. I think it is because it helps him capture the magic a little more. He is too logical to honestly believe in the Easter Bunny, Toothfairy, Santa Claus and such but he really wants to believe.
Of course, we HAD to dye eggs. We actually did this on Easter. Yeah, procrastination..... I made K take off her sweater. Good idea, no?
I found this egg painting kit at an after Easter sale last year and tucked it away. Of course, I forgot I had it until after I had bought some other dying kits. Still, we pulled it out. It was K's main method. She loved using the little rollers. A was asleep during the egg dyeing adventure -- not an accident! Still, it wouldn't be right to not include her in the picture frenzy so here is a shot of her enjoying a green bean from our Easter dinner.

We actually celebrate Easter week and talk about the last week of the Savior's life. There is so much to learn and teach. And every day the kids drew a picture of that day in the Savior's life. (ie, Palm Sunday: Triumphal Entry, Monday: Cleansing the temple, etc) Here is D's picture from Easter Sunday. He did it all on his own in the toy room. I was so pleased when he brought it up to show me. It is very well done.

For Science

2011-04-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I caught K "dyeing eggs". She had filled some cups with food coloring and water. She would put an egg in the cup for a few minutes and then crack it over the garbage can. There was one fundamental flaw with this plan. The eggs were not cooked.

I quickly put a stop to this behavior. But apparently not before K had thought up a plan to make the eggs hard. I opened the freezer today and found an egg. In case you've ever wondered what a frozen egg looks like, here is a blurry closeup:

Pictures I took while talking to my parents

2011-04-17T22:13:00.001-07:00

The kids were looking so cute while I was talking to my parents on the phone. I tried to describe them but you know, a picture is worth a thousand words....

Uhh, I thought I got pictures of K riding her bike, but apparently not. Next time.

Your Honor, the evidence is overwhelming

2011-04-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Crime:

The Accused:

The Unwilling Accomplice:

The confession:

"Mommy, I'm making snow!"

But wait, this looks very familiar.... where have I seen this before??? Oh, right.

D age 2. He was changing the bear's diaper.

It's finally here!

2011-04-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting for months MONTHS I TELL YOU!!! for this shelf to be in stock at my IKEA. I have been saving my Christmas money (it has taken GREAT restraint to do so) so I could afford this shelf. Now it is here. It is set up. And now and I'm ready for another one. Seriously, I would love to two of these side by side down here. I have tons more books I would like to put on these shelves. I also want more boxes and/or baskets to put in the cubes. *sigh* I guess I'll have to start saving my pennies.

Yard Work

2011-04-08T14:15:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, my friend came over and helped me get the lattice up around the porch. It took most of the day, but I feel really good about how it turned out. Then I planted my peas that I started inside two weeks ago. You can't see them really but they are in front of the lattice. I have 6 planters on the porch. (3 hanging and 3 big pots)

Today I hung some planters in the back.

All of my planters have strawberry plants in them. I got them from D's school fundraiser. The bag of 10 (I actually only got 9...) was $6. I hope they grow and produce strawberries!

I've also been weeding. This is one section where you can clearly see where I stopped weeding. My creepy-crawly quota had been filled there so I stopped before I actually touched a bug!! Worms I can handle -- literally. Slugs and beetles not so much.