My Spice in Life

Christmas Choir

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:57:00 +0000

I love listening to chamber choirs sing Christmas music. My idea of a perfect day in the month of December is spending it at home crafting, baking, playing, reading, etc. with my family while Christmas music plays softly in the background. I don't have near enough of my own Christmas music so I turned to the internet and Youtube to find some favorites. I came across video of the Children's Choir I used to sing with singing some of my favorite, lesser-known songs. Every year the choir performs in the huge Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City. If I lived in Utah this would be a yearly tradition and I would probably coerce my kids into auditioning for the choir because it was one of the best experiences of my young life. Enjoy!

P.S. My Utah family- if you can get your hands on one of their Christmas CD's for me I will reimburse you plus postage and finder's fees! ;)

Half-full kinda gal

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:02:00 +0000

I have little excuse to be unhappy. My family is healthy and doing well. The Mister has a great business that he loves and supports us with. I love my church, and God, and all that he has blessed me with. I get to be a stay-at-home Mom which I LOVE no matter how much I complain about dumb, mundane stuff like the 2 year-old flooding the kitchen drawers numerous times. Despite all the good in my life, I feel my focus lately has been too negative. Endless to-do lists for my other job and tedious tasks that have taken my focus off the idea of giving thanks kinda ruined my attitude this month. I felt that I was always in a state of catching up which made for a grumpy Mom too often. The glass felt half empty for weeks because there were so many distractions the month of November that stressed me out and took me away from what I really wanted to do. I'm going to turn that around pronto! I'm now focusing on my glass as half full. Heck! My glass is over-flowing! The good news is my work load is getting lighter and I am really making a conscious effort to slow down and enjoy life with my family the way they are right now.

It took a short family vacation with no to-do list for me to realize how frazzled I really was. We spent Thanksgiving with my Uncle and Aunt up in farm country near Sacramento. They were such gracious hosts and opened up their gorgeous home to us for a couple days. Thankyou!! We combined traditions, enjoyed delicious food and good conversation, played all day outside on a warm fall day, and came home with more than we left with. The only bummer for me was that my cat allergy really acted up during our stay, but it was nothing a daily allergy pill couldn't fix.

I asked the fam what their favorite part of our adventure was and this is what followed;

TJ: playing air hockey (really?! that's the best you can do?)

J: eating the Thanksgiving feast, playing football, and doing scavenger hunts with Brennah
Coop: NOT eating the feast, and playing football, air hockey and the pool table
Toby: AND playing "ferz-bee" (frisbee)
J: and playing with Simon (Dan & Lauren's dog)
Toby: yeah, and playing with Simon
Coop: and playing with pictures (?)
Dad: Ummm, bacon (as in bacon-wrapped turkey, his pet project, which was fabulous!)

I love this picture because there is so much going on; Lauren passing the football to Toby, Mr. Cooper and Daddy doing their own practice, Tom walking on his hands in between passes, Syd watching it all from the middle, and Simon wandering around the huge lawn waiting for someone to play fetch with him. Thanksgiving morning we did our own mini-Turkey bowl which ended abruptly after Uncle Dan accidentally steamrolled little cousin Brennah. Toby was on my team and he took this new game of football so seriously. He's never been interested before, but our little TJ might just be a running back in training.

I loved it up there. One of my favorite parts was jogging Friday morning through the mist on quiet country roads through orchards and farms while the smell of burning leaves and firewood filled my lungs. I'm pretty sure I could get used to the scenery and pace up there. It was so quiet at night that a car driving on the nearby road sounded like a helicopter, and the stars were beautiful and bright at night.

Syd did not sleep the best while we were away. There was always so much going on that she refused to settle down for a nap. I resorted to taking her on a walk in the stroller down the bumpy road to put her to sleep. I ran inside to get something and came back out to see both uncles turning their sandman magic on. *tangent* Check out that driveway! It's perfect for sending the kids out on bikes, scooters, and crazy-wiggle-board-thingys. She did fall asleep, but woke up as soon as I wheeled her in the back of the house. Instead of sleep Syd played with the puppies and her uncles; two things she talks about often.

Under Uncle Tom's tutelage, Jessie learned to ride the aforementioned crazy-wiggle-board-thingy. She got really good at it and now wants to ride every one she sees. I tried the thing and it is an entirely different beast than a skateboard. Fun though.

We ate a fabulous Thanksgiving meal! The meal itself was so delicious, but it was the company and activities that we did before and after dinner that made it so special. Here is the Mister's long-anticipated bacon-wrapped turkey. We've nicknamed it Hellraiser. It really did have the most delicious flavor and Chef Dave figured out one more modification he will make next time so it will come out perfect. The other turkey (yes, we cooked two!) Aunt Heather and Mom stuffed full of persimmons, sprinkled on some salt and butter and slow cooked it all night. Oh, the meat was melt in your mouth tender. Besides the standard stuffing, mashed spuds, and gravy we ate fresh cranberry/apple/orange relish(my personal fav), Heather's awesome rolls, shrimp cocktail (J's all-time favorite) asparagus, broccoli, corn, etc........ lots of food. I am also pleased to say I did NOT stuff myself and only went back for a second spoonful of stuffing. Of course, I had to save room for Marie Calendar's pies later.

At Ben & Heather's house they have a tradition of playing Bingo complete with dollar-store prizes after Thanksgiving dinner. I was shocked when they laid out a couple boxes full of prizes on the counter, and the excitement level from the kids instantly went up a couple notches. I learned a couple different ways to play Bingo and everyone got multiple turns at the prize counter to pick a treasure. I was amazed at the happiness it brought to my boys to win, pick a prize of bubblegum or gummy candy and share it with everyone. They had as much fun sharing and trying people's treats as playing the game. The Mister wants to incorporate Bingo into our family traditions because we all had so much fun.

We watched Miracle on 34th Street and ate pie while the Mister taught the big kids how to play Munchkin. I took Syd up to bed about 9 o'clock and snuggled her in the bed so she would sleep, but I fell asleep with her. I was totally bummed that I missed out on adult game and fun time. It was all the Mister's fault because he came to check on me and didn't wake me up! ;)

We came home Friday afternoon after more fun games outside and a delicious Thai lunch. Our visit was short, but we had an unforgettable time. Thank you so much Ben and Heather for sharing your home and Thanksgiving traditions with us!

Road trip

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:03:00 +0000

Seriously, how do I slow down time? I am almost out of November with another 2 weeks of work that I wanted done during this month. If I didn't need sleep things would progress much faster. I noticed the calendar has been relatively empty this month, but we have been plenty busy.

Two Sundays ago we took an impromptu trip up north to be with my Uncle Ben and Aunt Heather and their family for the day. Uncle Ben was called to be the Stake President the day before, so we left at 6:30 that morning to make the drive up for the 10 AM meeting. Just FYI

for some, being Stake President in our church is a volunteer calling where that person and his two counselors preside over many smaller congregations, or wards. It was fun to hear about Ben and Heather's experiences over the past whirlwind 24 hours. We even learned that one of Ben's counselors is the brother of a long-time friend of Dave's family here in the Bay Area. It truly is a small world and we are all connected to each other. We were happy to see Great-

Grandma Payne again too. She flew out super last minute from Utah to be there for the Sunday

fun. She is an amazing traveler at over 80 years old, and it's always wonderful to catch up with all she is doing and how the family is too. I am so glad we went. Sadly, I have felt that we don't

get together with Ben and Heather as often as we should. They are the closest family on my Mom's side, and I haven't seen them in ages. Thanks for letting us drop in on your big day Ben!

My kids are awesome, too. They sat in the car the three hour drive up and we literally parked the car and went straight into church to sit for a two hour meeting. I was so impressed with their good behavior. The Teddy Grahams and Smarties had something to do with the Littles being good. ;) They certainly earned some fun time and needed to run around afterward, so we headed to Ben and Heather's house for lunch and down time.

They have a beautiful home complete with a pomegranate orchard in the front yard.

It was all I could do to keep the boys out of the orchard because they had their nice Sunday clothes on.

I wouldn't mind having enough land to need a tractor in the back yard one day.

It is so beautiful and peaceful up there.

I couldn't resist taking some family pictures near the trees even though the sun was already down. We will get the chance again because we are going there for Thanksgiving which the kids are really excited about. Jessie was pleased as punch to see her 2nd cousin Brennah again. Sweet Brennah was a gracious hostess to all the kids. She showed them where the fun stuff was and played with Syd for awhile outside when Jessie was unavailable.

We ate a delicious meal, played the piano, tested the air hockey and pool table, kids played while a movie ran in the background, we visited and then it was back in the car to head home. I was supposed to drive home, but it didn't take my tired eyes long to feel like I was floating instead of driving on the road. Dave got a cat nap before lunch so he didn't mind too much that he had to drive home. Next time we do that drive in one day it would be best if both of us didn't get to bed at 2 AM the night before.

Thanks for having us B & H! We will see you for Thanksgiving. :)

What's in a pile?

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:31:00 +0000

We are buried in piles around here of late.

Piles of Goodwill stuff.
Piles of clothes too small for kids that need to be sorted and packed away.
Piles of Halloween decorations to be boxed up.
Piles of paperwork to be filed.
Piles of bedding, toys and misc. stuff to be sorted into various bedrooms.
The ever-present piles of laundry and dishes.
Piles of beautiful craft stuff that I don't get time to use.
Piles of mending and sewing projects next to the sewing machine.

*long sigh* Yesterday I looked around at all the piles and became paralyzed. I didn't know which pile to tackle first. Most of these piles came to be because we virtually tore the house apart. You see, we are going through a wonderful change here, and that change includes doubling our living space. We still manage the same apartment complex, but we now have 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (which is so wonderful), and a play room complete with couches that the kids can jump all over instead of ruining my nice one. It was getting to the point that our mood at home was frenzied because everyone was on top of each other all the time. Now we can all escape to a quiet part of the house when needed, and have a little more space to spread out. I know God is mindful of us because he put this opportunity in front of us as a way to have more living space and save a little money too. My main complaint about living in the Bay Area is the cost of living. Just renting a house around here will set you back almost 2-grand. It's absurd. We are saving about $500 a month by staying on here as managers and renting part of our place instead of renting a home. As much as I would love to, there is no way we can buy a house here right now. I'm not sure I want to buy a house here anyway. The manager job is getting old, but we are willing to do so for a little longer.

This is what I call the dresser dance. As soon as we knew we were gaining more space we had dear family and friends offer dressers, desks, and I even scored a free couch and loveseat. All of the sudden we had dressers galore, and so I spent a day (who am I kidding, it took me several sporadic days) switching kids clothes around and moving dressers all over the house. That's where the pile of kids clothes that are too small came from. I separated clothes from all four kids drawers that are way too small, yet they seemed to fit them a short time ago. I told the kids they did NOT have my permission to grow anymore. Logan looked up at me and said, "but Heavenly Father said I could grow!" Bah, foiled again. Why do kids have to grow up so fast?

Squid has taken advantage of Mom being more spread out by getting her tentacles into everything. She recently flooded the top two kitchen drawers where all the silverware and kitchen tools live with the water jug that sits above them on the counter. These markers were tame after that. She is moving so fast these days that I can't keep up with her exploratory messes.

Here's those free couches that the kids love to rip apart, jump on, climb over and beat to he&!. So far the cushions make great slides and walls for a mini-fort. I almost have my padded room where I can send the boys to get crazy during those difficult hours between 3 and 6 PM.

My goal is to have all these piles conquered before Christmas so we can enjoy the season without clutter in the way.

Back to work!

Right now

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:04:00 +0000

We had a great lesson in Sunday school yesterday about Family History. I took from the lesson that I need to be more diligent in preserving our young family's life as well as my own thoughts and feelings. Some of them I share here because it's stuff that I want our family that lives far away to know. Things that are more personal I find don't get written down because I don't have another place to jot them down. So after dusting off an empty journal on the bookshelf and updating here I am renewed in purpose. There are many things I have been remembering throughout each day that I feel need to be written down. You know the little things that tell a story of right now. Today. So over the next couple days I am going to add to this list of my life right now.

The Mister came home from the men's priesthood meeting at church a month ago inspired to have our family focus on being strong; strong in mind, body and spirit. We talk each night about what one thing we did that day to strengthen our minds, bodies and spirits. One night last week I was heading the discussion at the dinner table since the Mister had a late night at the office. It came time to talk to Mr. Cooper about what he did that day.

Mom: "Did you do anything for your spirit yet today?
Logan: " Mmmm, when I go to church my spirit hears the talking even when I plug my ears."

I had an awful, vivid dream about Toby dying last Thursday night and woke up in tears. I didn't settle down for awhile and finally drifted back to sleep 30 minutes before it was time to wake up. You better believe I kept Toby close to me all day. We played and he was happy to snuggle me in bed that morning. I love lazy mornings.

We are working with Mr. Cooper on staying out of people's personal space when he wants attention. "Stay out of his/her bubble!," is something Mom and Dad say a lot. Mr. Cooper loves his little sister so much that he has a hard time keeping his hands off of her, too. She is starting to get so sassy when he won't leave her alone. When she has had enough of him touching her face she blows up. "(s)Top it, Lo-gan! Go 'way!," she snaps in her adorable, almost 2 year-old voice. It's pretty cute.

Speaking of almost 2- I can't believe my baby is going to be 2 in a couple months. She is sure acting like a 2 year old though. I can't leave her alone for 2 minutes without marker showing up on her body, someone's water they left on the table being spilled all over the floor, or finding a chair she dragged anywhere in the house to explore and make a mess. She is quick these days.

I was greeted by this little gem on my way home last Thursday morning. One of our tenants managed this feat before going to work. Please explain how one's car can go from parked next to a concrete parking barrier, on a generous incline no less, to up and through the fence. I didn't even get an explanation. It's almost better that way. The owners of the two cars he hit with the fence didn't call the cops to file a report for the body damage, so I'm assuming the guys Chinese is really good. Between stuff like this and the owner's other properties, we are keeping Tom and his new contractor's license busy.

Jessie likes to stay after church with me to sing in the choir. Yesterday when we got in the car to come home she asked what we were going to have for lunch. I told her Dad was home getting lunch started. J said, "We're probably going to have chicken strips again then. Why do we always have chicken after church on Sundays?" Because it's fast and easy and everyone likes them, I told her. Then she hits me with this goodie.... "We always have chicken on Sunday. Is it like a sexual Sunday?" Wha-huh?!! "You know, something you do all the time." Oh, a ritual? Nice Freudian, eh?

I don't remember the leaves changing colors so late in the season last year. It's going on mid-November (which I also can't believe) and most the trees here in the bay area are just getting their fall colors. They are beautiful! I love this stretch of road up the street by the Mister's parent's house. Every year I look forward to driving down this road because the entire street is lined with trees that show amazing colors.

Sydney just walked up to me with her hands FULL of 7 pacifiers and squeeled "Binky!" like she hit the jackpot. She somehow found the stash of binkies that Dave had tucked away in one of the little drawers in the roll top desk. I don't even know how she knew they were there, but she pulled a little chair up to the desk to get onto the big chair and up to the drawers. See what I mean about 2 year-old trouble??? We are so close to getting rid of the binks all together (she is only allowed to have them in bed) and she is going to fight it every step of the way. Syd is sitting on my lap with her lap full of binks and taking turns sucking each one as she counts them , "oonne, twooo, fweee." Time to find a new spot for the binks, and Yes! I totally put them back in the drawer and waited for her to go for them again so I could sneak some pics.

Logan likes to call Syd "Gwinny" instead of Squiddy like the rest of us call her. She answers to him too. Pretty cute.

Jessie is a sweet big sister, usually. She loves to step into the Mom role and does so even when Mom is home. When she is happy and willing to show some patience with her siblings they have a really good time together. She shares her Littlest Pet Shop toys with mostly Mr. Cooper and Squid, who love to play with them.

My Jessie is growing too fast. She is very moody and short-tempered lately, a sign that her preteen years are too close. Apparently, I'm getting my payback from when I was a girl. Yesterday Jessie suddenly announced to me that she wished her name was just Jessie because she hated the name Jessica. I didn't tell her that very rarely I wished we had named her something else too. Her name is too common for her age. I didn't realize that when she was born.

The Mister looks mighty fine with his new facial hair. He is growing a moustache this month of Movember to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer. The scratchy smooches are something to get used to, but I like the change. By Saturday morning his face was looking pretty shaggy as he had been growing out a full beard all week. Toby said, "Dad, you really need to shave your face. You look fuzzy."

Toby seems to fly under the radar most the time at home. He is a sweet, tender-hearted, lovable boy who loves to spend time with his Dad. All the kids have been taking turns having a date with Dad late Friday night after the other kids go to bed. Toby and Dad had their turn last Friday when they went to the store to get milkshake supplies, actually milk-less shakes since they are both allergic to milk, and played games together all night. Toby is becoming more interested in big boy things like shoot-em-up video games, Legos and army games and fighting. We are working on improving his reading and spelling which he does not have a long attention span for. He is doing well though and has great handwriting when he concentrates on it.

I am constantly trying to find balance between keeping up with housework, doing fun activities with the kids and fulfilling my need to create stuff on my own. I have started to ban myself from the computer because I inevitably suck up too much time browsing after writing emails. Now that I mention it, I gotta go. There is much organizing and moving to do in Jessie's new room. More on that later......

My Mom list

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:18:00 +0000

While I was sewing last night I watched a rebroadcast of Oprah, which never happens because I can't stand the lady. Who has time to watch TV in the afternoon anyway? It was 1 AM and the only thing on to keep me company. The part I watched was about one of Oprah's designer guys, we'll call him Blue Eyes, switching places with his Stay-at-Home-Mom sister. Did that make sense? They profiled Blue Eyes doing his sister's daily routine with 2 school-aged kids and a 2 year-old while Mom went off for a day of shopping and pampering. At the end of the segment, Oprah read off the list of all the things Blue Eyes did the entire day. My first thought was, "Welcome to every day in us SAHMoms lives." It's such a tiring yet fulfilling job!

So in the spirit of that segment about the hardest job in the world I thought it would be fun to write down a list of one of my days. If only I was as productive every day as I was today. I've been kicking stuff off my to-do list all morning. I'm just sitting down at 2:30 to eat a late lunch during nap time, and so far today I have accomplished the following;

Got up with the kids at 7:15 am (I know, woo hoo! but I was sewing until 2 AM so I'm proud of that one).
Made oatmeal for everyone and started lunches for school kids.
Got Syd out of bed and changed that foul-smelling first of the morning diaper (ya'll know that one).
Phone call from the electrician. Their coming at 8:30 to replace outlets/switches in the kitchen. Dang!, earlier than I thought.
Unlock 2 other units for the electrician before I forget.
Smooch J, Toby and the Mister bye for the day.
Sit Squid and Mr. Cooper up for breakfast.
'Hmmm, need to eat breakfast myself.'
Finish dinner dishes from last night instead.
Clean up clutter and move everything away from outlets for electricians to work.
Clean Syd up, sing songs and get her dressed.
'I should go eat breakfast.'
Get dressed myself instead.
Five minute contacts and make-up routine.
Do Syd's hair.
Ask Mr. Cooper to get dressed then play Goldilocks and the 3 Bears at the table so he'll sit and finish his oatmeal.
Log on to Gmail to get list from Dave when he tells me he forgot to drop off J's lunch at school that she forgot this morning.
Make another lunch and take it to J's school.
Make snack and clean off the rocking chair that Syd just drew on with a hidden Sharpie.
Pull out fridge so electrician can replace the outlet and clean the floor and wall behind it. Found some missing toys and lots of Cheerios underneath.
Take a break and lie down on the floor (my back still gives me bad days) where I get piled on by the Littles.
Throw in a load of laundry.
Make lunch and then put Squidy down for a nap.
Decide to finally install the end cap on our new countertop that's been sitting there for months.
Teach Logan to help with the hammer and metal files. An hour later, finished!
'Oh, I never ate breakfast. Maybe I should eat lunch before Syd wakes up.'
Fix a quick PB&J and make Dave's phone calls while Logan and Sam play Lego Batman.
So here I sit typing as fast as I can and Syd just woke up. Later.

It's now tomorrow, but my day yesterday continued with just as much productivity as it started. I'm tempted to chill out today and snuggle my chillies. In fact, I have. It's lunch time and I'm still in jammies. ;) I should get to work.

I am not envious of Oprah or anyone else who lives 'the good life' with a big job and pricey stuff. I love to set my own schedule, slow down if I need to and enjoy my little ones before they don't want to be around me anymore. My job as an at home Mom is the best in the world, even if I do get peed, pooped or puked on every once in awhile.

Wicked cool

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:55:00 +0000

I forgot to mention my awesome birthday date with the Mister a couple weeks ago. I found tickets to Wicked for $30 off, so Dave finally agreed to take me the day after my birthday. It's really all I wanted for my b-day; a date with my Man at Wicked. It's been here in San Francisco since January, so I was super excited to finally go. We got stuck in traffic on the bridge (of course), parked and walked over to the Orpheum in time to stop at Burger King for some quality junk food. We had too much time for fast food and not enough time for a sit down dinner, which was a bummer. I joked with Dave that we had never seen so many people dressed up nicely in a BK before. That place probably does well with all the late-comers to events at the Orpheum because they are right across the street.

Wicked was entertainerated and enchantifying! I liked all the funny Oz speak which has since rubbed off at home. My kids think I'm confusifying. Thankfully, the tall girl right in front of me in the theater took off her hat in the first 10 minutes. Otherwise, things might have gotten a little tense. Dave liked Wicked too. We both agreed that Jess, our singer-in-training, would have loved it. After talking to my Mom the next day, we decided to pay for Jess to go see it with her Grandma. I thought Mom had already experienced Wicked, which she hadn't, so she jumped at the chance to take Jess. They had their own Wicked date night the next Tuesday and enjoyed it just as much as we did.

Mom didn't have to fight the weekend traffic so they got into the city with plenty of time to spare. They stopped by the Brannan condos that Dad superintended when they were built in 2000 and took some fun pictures. I got curious and looked up what these condos are going for these days. Huh! You too can own a condo at the Brannan in the city for a mere $1.25 million bucks. The HOA fees alone are $835. Are you kidding me? That's a house payment in parts of the country. Ridiculous.

It's great to live near San Francisco to have access to great events like Wicked. Thanks to Grandma's and Grandpa's for having kids overnight (oh yes! sleeping in and waking up to quiet was so relaxing), and thank you babe for the wicked cool birthday!

Corn Husking X Games

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:37:00 +0000

Taken by Mr. Cooper

It's now one of our family traditions to take the kids to the Harvest Festival every year at Ardenwood Farm. I love the fall harvest season and the kids really get into picking corn which is one of the highlights of the day. This year the Festival fell on our wedding anniversary, so I took every opportunity to snuggle and smooch on the Mister during the day.

We took our corn harvesting seriously this year. The farm opens up their popping corn and indian corn fields to the public for the Festival weekend. You can pick all you want as long as you leave half of your harvest in the farm's sheds which feed the animals all year. We got our burlap sack and headed to the back of the field with the wagon ready to fill up. Dave disappeared into the popping corn field with all the kids and returned with his sack filled to the brim. I took Syd with me into the Indian corn field to pick some beautiful multi-colored ears. I love husking the Indian corn to discover what neat colors lie underneath. Toby was the last one out of the field with his collection bag dangling around his waist. It was so full he couldn't get it off. :)

I know the kids are having a good time somewhere when they say, "This is the best day ever!" We heard that phrase from the boys several times throughout the day. After picking corn, we ate our picnic lunch on the lawn with Grandpa Dave and Sam where everyone got a little crazy with and without food. I don't know what it is about cucumbers that makes them such a fun food to play with. It happens almost every time we eat them.

Sydney loved the horse, chickens, turkey and other birds, and she played and snuggled with Dave on the lawn so cute while we waited for the magic show to start. Toby and Logan loved exploring around the tractors and trees, and they ran around until they couldn't run anymore. That's always an added bonus with boys with seemingly endless energy. Boo Yeah This is the secret entry from Dave. I don't think she will find this. So the secret word to Camille is Boo Yeah till she finds this. Jessie liked playing hide-and-seek with all the trees and bushes around, and she got to participate in the magic show as one of the magicians helpers.

11 years strong

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:29:00 +0000

Sorry little blog.

I've neglected you of late.

My precious little 'Me time' has been spent reading this book.

But I'm almost done with it, 50 pages to go.

Plus today is a special day so I had to check in.

Happy Anniversary to Me and the Mister!!!

Picnic at the Harvest Festival

I love you, Bones!

It doesn't feel like 11 years since we started this crazy journey.

Then again, sometimes it does.

Thanks for being so good to me.

You treat me like a queen.

I appreciate all your hard work to buy me a castle some day.

Our sweet princes and princesses think you are the best.

We all agree the best time of every day is when you walk in the door of our little cottage after work.

The other day I called the Mister at work to see if he was up for helping me with dinner when he got home. I was sick and lost all motivation and energy to forge ahead alone. He said, "Yes, I will help you make dinner. Baby, I will make dinner any night you want me to." *sigh* My heart skipped a beat right then. I was twitterpated all over again. He scored major points with that one.

I married a good man!

Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:51:00 +0000

Today I am one year older, yet I don't feel a day over twenty.............eight. I hit that age too long ago but we'll just say I'm mentally stuck there for many more years.

I've been good about taking a picture every day for Project 365, but I've noticed that that's about it. I take out the camera for one picture then plop it back on the shelf. Today I decided to take my camera with me most the day and play around with it. Here's my day in pictures.

books, big plans and busted government

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:07:00 +0000

Please forgive the randomness that follows. Just stuff that's been rolling around in my head lately and current events which I thought I might want to remember one day. :)

There seems to be a mass exodus from our apartments this summer. I have been filling vacant units for months now, and just when one is filled another tenant moves out. It's getting to the point that part of me wants to move out with the next one. I see the moving vans fill up for tenants moving up in square footage (which we use every square inch of right now) or on to another adventure and wish that we were ready to do the same. It sure will be sweet when it is our time, but I remind myself almost daily that it's worth it so I wouldn't have to work. The ever-shrinking debt ball helps a lot too.

When was the last time, if ever, that a sitting U.S. president actively toured the primetime and late night TV shows? Never? I think so, for good reason. Doesn't Obama have anything better to do with his time than sit on the couch next to Dave Letterman? Obama won the presidency awhile ago and he's still out there campaigning, trying to sell his awful policies to a country that's sick of the government asking for more money. Excuse me, they're not asking. They're taking and trying to talk us into that being okay. He's like that annoying guy in high school that never stopped pandering to all the different cliques so they would accept him. I hated that guy. He's probably a politician now.Speaking of politicians, I didn't know that there was a big Taxpayers' March planned at the Capitol in D.C. on 9-12 until an email came my way after the fact (thanks Grandma!). Following are some of my favorite pictures and signs from the event. I don't watch the nightly news and have been too busy to check in at my favorite news site lately so this whole thing slipped by me. The crowd that showed up is awesome and I definitely agree with the sentiment that government is too big and greedy.
If you were to take a peek into my room and notice the books stacked by my nightstand right now you would think I was a 10-12 year old. Seriously. All I have been reading lately is young adult fiction and I like it. There is one problem with all this reading though. It tends to call me away from Mom things, like fixing meals on time and playing cars, Littlest Pet Shop and army guys with the offspring. I recently finished the Fablehaven Series in time for Sam, my little bro-in-law, to devour them. He would borrow one of the four and bring it back 2 days later to move on to the next. Sam and I agree it's a pretty good series, and he's 11 so you can take our word for it. ;)

Right now I'm reading the 2nd book in the Inkheart trilogy which is very different from the recent movie that came out by the same name. We watched it awhile ago for a family movie night, but reading the book is an entirely different adventure. I shouldn't be surprised though. Books are usually different and better than the movies they are made into. The author put short quotations from various books at the beginning of each chapter as a preview of what's to come. It's added some good books to my reading list as I get further into the series. A short break from reading is probably necessary so I can get some things done.

There's so much I want to do lately. I wish I could clone myself and make the clone do all the mundane stuff like laundry and cleaning. Then I would have time to do all the crafty things on my list for the kids and I, and my list of books to read would move a lot quicker. I find myself walking through a room and seeing at least 3 things I want or need to do right now. Here's how that sounds in my head;

* * *

walking into my room to change the baby's diaper: "I need to copy that lease paperwork I set on the table for #14. Oh yeah, there's my book. I really want to plop down on the bed and find out if Mo dies. Nope, gotta fix dinner. First change the diaper. Whoops, I was cleaning out my closet this morning and didn't get back in here. Gotta finish that up. Where's Syd? Need to change that diaper."

* * *

I may be a little ADD now that I read this in black and white. Or it's just proof that my brain moves way too fast for my body. I think it's the upcoming change in season that has got me all fired up. I LOVE fall and I feel it in the air, especially with the cooler nights this past week. October is probably my favorite month and I want to have all my ducks in a row so our family can enjoy the entire month. I feel blessed to be able to do and enjoy so many things.

And once again, I got snookered into being room parent for one of the kids classes. Actually, the only other Mom who would think about it asked me to do it and we decided to compromise and be co-room parents. Why is it that NO ONE else is willing to plan and put on a few parties, yet they all want to clog up the class room to watch on the day of? I am thankful for being raised and active in a church organization that works through volunteers and teaches service. It's taught me that giving of my time whenever possible is important.

My husband is darn cute. We talk through Gmail chat often throughout the day sometimes. The other day he starts one of our chats with, "God loves me." He proceeded to tel me that he was only a couple cars in front of a big accident on the freeway on his way to work that morning. He saw the accident in his rear view mirror. I think it's cute that he says that phrase often and I'm thankful he is always mindful of the blessing we receive from God. We are truly blessed, especially when the Mister is protected from an ugly accident on the freeway.

Cheese grater of peace

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 06:51:00 +0000

Today was Munchkin Day, otherwise known as Aunt Denise's Birthday.

Happy Birthday 'Nise!

So we got hooked on a funny card game while camping this year called Munchkin. Denise wanted to play tonight for her birthday, so we gathered some friends, drank rootbeer and played some boots of butt-kicking madness for a few hours tonight. The game is like a Dungeons and Dragons parody (I'm told) and provides many laughs while opening doors to find monsters and win with 10 hard-fought points. You defeat monsters, defend and dole out curses, collect weapons and trade items like those featured on our tribute cake.

This is a collaboration between me and the Mister. We picked several of the funny weapons from the game and molded them out of fondant. Feast your eyes on rat-on-a-stick, the Gentlemen's club, boots of butt-kicking, the sneaky "B" sword, the cheese grater of peace, the horny helmet, and the chainsaw of bloody dismemberment. Denise loved it and the kids are drooling over the fun figures made out of "sugar playdough." Logan really wants to eat them.

A little Bananagrams fun at Grams house for Denise's family party. It's another fun game for all ages. Great for the kids to practice spelling and learn more words.

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:09:00 +0000

Logan and I were eating a snack at the table when a fly landed on his head. He said, "Mom, there's a fly on my head. Smack it!" The fly was too quick and I missed. Logan giggled to himself like the fly was playing tag or something. Had to be there.

Shortly after dinner, Dad asked several times: "Logan! Pick up your clothes!"
Logan: " I can't! I'm digesting!"

The kids were playing in the hose while I watered the grass on a hot day. After a raucous game of "London Bridge," Jessie exclaims, "Mom, this is how you play with your kids!"

Sand, surf and sun

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:46:00 +0000

Sydney slept in, Toby added to his collection of freckles and has pink cheeks, Logan has wind burn on his face, Jessie is back asleep at 11 AM and my back is so sore and hurting. All this adds up to a successful day at the beach yesterday. I'm not sure how the Mister is today. Hopefully, he is not as drained as I am. I know we both had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. A day in the sun really sucks out your energy.

Sadly, yesterday was our first and last beach trip of the summer. Where did those 2 1/2 months go? Too fast, I know that much is true. I'm not ready for school to start. All our kids love spending time at the beach. We met friends from church there and my family came later for dinner. There were plenty of other kids there to play with, and our kids are all old enough that we weren't constantly taking care of them. That was a nice change. We played frisbee & Kubb, flew kites, dug holes, and watched the pelicans fish right in front of us.

We all stayed busy and the afternoon went by very quickly. There was one point when Syd got a little overwhelmed with the loud waves and cold water, but she walked up out of the surf and had a great time in the sand. The boys would dabble in the waves, but stuck mostly to playing and digging in the sand. Toby particularly liked flying the kite. Jess didn't get out of the ocean much all afternoon. I think she's crazy because it was c-c-cold. At one point a large seal popped up right next to her group out in the water. He watched them for a second and then disappeared. I'm glad it was a seal and not a shark. I hadn't forgotten that this beach was closed weeks ago because of shark sightings. I'm partially glad the Mister forgot his wetsuit so he couldn't swim in the ocean for that reason. He wouldn't go in otherwise, again, the water was cold enough to freeze man parts off.

We celebrated my brother Dan's birthday with a delicious roast (thanks Mom!), mashed potatoes, veggies and cupcakes around the fire. Not your usual beach campfire fare, but it was a special occasion. I hope my family had a good time even though they couldn't stay until late. The rest of us ate smores and played mafia until 10 o'clock. We thought the rangers would come kick us off the beach as they usually do when curfew hits, but there was no sign of them at 10:30 when we finally pulled out of the parking lot. Part of me wanted to let the kids sleep in the car (really close to our fire for all you strangers who love to tell me how to parent) and chill around the fire with the Mister for awhile. We still had a 45 minute drive home and walking in the sand was killing my not-completely-healed back, so we said goodbye to the ocean until next time. I think next time will be soon, before it gets too cold at night.

J-bird turns 9!

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 05:48:00 +0000

Our dear Jessie.

I know I'm prejudice, being this girls' Mom and all, but she is beautiful. It's a good thing she's so cute because her spunk and attitude give me fits sometimes. Grandpa Bennett nicknamed this look she gives "the black widow" because it's a look that could kill.

See what I mean? At-ti-tude. That's not even straight to the camera or we'd all be dead. To her credit, Jessie knows what she wants and she rarely backs down until she gets is. She is a wonderful, fun and mostly patient big sister to her two crazy brothers and sweet baby sister. I hope Jessie and Sydney will be great friends and close sisters. I didn't have a sister growing up and I look forward to watching my girls' relationship blossom. Sydney thinks Jess is the best because she sings songs with her, plays with her outside, and loves to be her walking buddy when we are out in public.

Toby missed playing big kid games with Jessie while she was away this week. Their favorite game this summer, which Jess always suggested first, was dodge tag out front. Jessie is so competitive that I know it was hard for her to let her younger brothers hit her. J realized, after some coaching from Mom, that is was more enjoyable when everyone was having fun, not when she won every time. Logan especially loves dodge tag when J holds his hand to run "super fast" past Toby. He really knows how to push J's buttons in an attempt to get her attention. J is learning to ignore the pestering and play nicely with Logan, and then they are best buds.

When I think how Jessie has changed and grown in the past year I realize that she is very independent. Independence comes with the territory, as the oldest child, but she really can handle herself and her siblings when I ask her to. She has learned to cook more in the kitchen, I can count on her to do her schoolwork without nagging, and she loves to be put in charge so she can boss the boys around. I've learned that I need to hold my temper and always try to speak with a nice tone even when I'm at the end of my rope, because when Jessie switches on little Mommy mode, she parrots me pretty accurately.

Jessie is a very determined little girl. I can tell she really thinks things through in her head and if they don't turn out the way she planned, or more likely, if her plans contradict MY plans then she gets upset quickly. We are so much alike in ways.

I love that my pretty little girl is brave and tough underneath her girly side. She yanks out loose teeth like it's no big deal, she loves wrestling with all the boys in the house, and she is not afraid to get pummeled by a softball, which happened many times this past season. The girly side of Jess loves to play with ponies, Polly Pockets and her stuffed animals, and they are often playing house or doing battle with the boys' robots and action figures. She started taking piano lessons almost a year ago and finds that she loves it. My wish for her is to be proficient on the piano and then find another instrument that she loves just as much. That's my goal for all the kids, actually. Finally, Jessie has found a spot in her heart for reading. We have been trying to teach her to enjoy a good story, and it finally clicked this summer. She devoured a book a day for a couple weeks which tapered down a bit as we got busy.

Ssshhhhh, it's a secret that J still likes to sleep with her "softy" (blanket) that I made her at age 2. I hope she still loves it when she moves out of our home. She's gonna kill me if and when she reads this, but it reminds me that she is still a child. I rely on her help so much, yet I am constantly reminding myself to cut her some slack to be a kid.

We had a birthday celebration that included a movie of J's choice (at home), bowling, window shopping at the pet store, and dinner at Fresh Choice with Grandma's and Grandpa Dave. We came home for cake and presents which Jessie was pleasantly surprised with. "When did you buy presents?" she asked in surprise. When you were sleeping over at Brennah's house, my dear. We tried to get a trip to the beach planned for the day, but none of J's friends could go and after over-doing it the day before, I was not able to get everything ready without the Mister (at work). We opted to stay home and do the beach another day. The only thing that would have made the day perfect for J would have been some time in the pool. We will make up for that tomorrow.

I thought I could whip up J's cake in the morning while the kids lazed around and watched a movie, at Jessie's request. The cake dragged into the afternoon and threatened to self destruct before I even finished because of the heat. I didn't realize it was 99 flippin' degrees here yesterday, and our little room air conditioner couldn't keep up once I turned it on late. Thankfully, the cake didn't melt, but the frosting was on the brink. J requested a star cake and was happy with the result. I'm still going strong with my goal to make everyone's birthday cake in our family, and attempt to put something special into it. It feels good to just do something I've always wanted to try. Sounds like a Nike commercial eh? Just do it.

Chocolate and french vanilla cake with almond buttercream frosting. It turned out all right. The Mister didn't like the frosting, but he's a hard one to please when it comes to cake. He's not a frosting guy either. If anyone has an awesome recipe for frosting I would love a copy. I gotta get it right for the Mister's birthday soon.

Summer is slipping away

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:24:00 +0000

Things are looking up at our house. Everyone has recovered from a nasty bout of the puke bug. The entire family got it but me. It ruined our weekend plans, but I'm trying to get over that. After all, I have to figure out how to slow down time since this is the last week before school starts up again. Where did the slow summer months go? I feel like a flop of a Mom because so much time was sucked up with me being immovable with this back injury and family sickness. I don't remember the family being sick during the summer so much. It really shouldn't be allowed.

Jessie was the first to get sick last Wednesday, so she was feeling great by Sunday morning when we planned on visiting family. Since Dave and the boys were still dehydrated zombies recovering from the pukes and I couldn't drive by myself, we sent Jess with my parents to hear my cousin's mission report. Lucky J got an early birthday present because she got to stay and play with my young cousin Brennah for 3 days. Dear Brennah is the sweetest girl. She's a champion for donating blood and is in the August 2009 issue of the Friend if you want to read her story. I just talked to Jess this morning and she is having so much fun that she doesn't want to come home today. But birthday celebrations call her home.

We are gearing up for a big weekend and trying to fit in the last things on our summer to do list. Really, I need another month of summer and I'm a fall girl at heart. That tells me how behind we got on summer plans. More to come........

Brain Dump

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:25:00 +0000

It's been a pretty pathetic week- one of those where I won't remember much because all the days are blurring together. I actually looked at the date on the computer today and couldn't believe it is the 21st already. My last day of clear thought where I felt with it was the 14th. Yikes.

The kids all got sick yesterday within several hours of each other and threw up every possible ounce of liquid and food in their stomachs. It was pretty gross. We were literally moving from one kid to the next and didn't get much sleep as the boys started to pop about 10 last night. Toby was Mt. Vesuvius, exploding while half asleep in bed. It's a good thing he had a waterproof liner on his mattress because it's the only thing that saved it. I'm just thankful the Mister was home to take the lead on this one. I am a lot more mobile than when I injured my back last Saturday, but I still can't lift, twist, bend down and sit or stand for too long. It's gonna be longer than I am willing to admit until I am 100% again. I guess "the puke bug" has been a blessing in disguise because all the chillies just want to veg out today. Since that's more my speed right now, we are having a lazy day reading, sleeping and watching movies, and I don't feel bad that I can't do more with them. Content for now.

Thanks to family and friends who have helped me this week with meals and taking the kids out for some fun. Thanks Mom for coming over to help me with meals and kids even though that's all you did for the 4 previous days. The chills got to play with their Thompson friends and J and Tob went bowling with Gram and Sam yesterday. Thanks again.

I realized last night when I went to the laundry room with Dave that it was the first time I'd been outside since we came home on Monday. It was Thursday night. Pathetic.

I haven't done my hair, worn makeup or real pants in a week and the Mister still thinks I'm hot. :) I'm a blessed woman.

Logan said to me this week, "Mom, why are you so boring?!" The kids see me up more and think I'm better all of the sudden. So frustrating.

I can't bend over or lift my legs up in the shower to wash my feet or do my toes. They're really starting to bug and look scary. Sad.

My mind races a mile a minute with things I want to do right now, yet when I could do those things they were the last thing on my mind. Ironic.

Looking back, it seems our home gets struck with illness or injury once or twice a year and I am more and more thankful for an otherwise healthy family. Truly blessed.

And lastly, it's amazing how much those little muscles that you don't feel until a killer workout or injury affect your life when they don't work properly. I need to take better care of myself. The Mister is doing his "I told you so" dance on that one.

I'm thankful the Mister has been so understanding and patient with me during all this craziness. He's awesome!

That's all the randomness I got for now.

Tri for Fun until somebody gets hurt

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:26:00 +0000

It was a beautiful morning yesterday when Dave completed the Tri for Fun triathlon. My Man is awesome! As is usually the case, he didn't get enough time to train this summer with the demands of his business and family. I thought he did a wonderful job though! One of the main reasons I hesitate to do a triathlon is the swim. I'm just not a good lap swimmer and haven't had the desire to improve. That is not the case with the Mister though. He had an awesome swim, coming out of the water in the top 10-15 of his age bracket. Whenever he has time at work, he heads to the YMCA to swim, which has improved his speed and endurance in the pool. It showed yesterday. The bike leg went well and Dave said he felt great going into the last leg of the race. We timed when Dave would finish and waited anxiously at the finish line less than 10 minutes when he came around the corner. The kids gave him high fives and he looked great- not too tired. He finished in just over an hour and a half, I think. My mind wasn't very clear at that point.

So that's the overview. What happened in between all that swimming, biking and running laid me up indefinitely. The three older kids and I left at 6:15 AM to make it in time to see Dave start at 7 AM. We had just parked and walked into the venue when I noticed a lot of swimmers were still waiting on the beach. It turned out they started the race late because there was so much traffic getting into the park, which is what made us late as well. I did a quick lap around the beach area and found Dave just as the announcer explained the racing heats. The kids were playing on another part of the beach, so I raced back to get them to take a quick picture and give smooches before Dave started. I leaned sideways and bent down to help Logan up from his sand castle when something in my lower back froze up and cracked. The light got dim, my legs felt like Jello, all my muscles around my abdomen seized up and I could barely breath. It was pretty darn scary. All I could think was, 'just get back to Dave.' Really though, what was he going to be able to do for me? He was in his wetsuit minutes before the race and I just did major damage to my back. He couldn't just adjust me, do some ART and fix everything quick like usual. I wanted to hobble straight back to the car, drive home, lay down and ice my back immediately. How could we leave before the race had even begun?! We had got up and out the door at the crack of dawn to get there on time, and I knew Dave would be disappointed if we missed seeing him race. I put my game face on for the next 2 hours while we waited for Dave to complete each leg of the race. Thankfully, the kids were content to play in the water while we waited, and I didn't care much that they got their only clothes and shoes soaked and sandy. I tried to sit (it really hurt!) with a friend whose hubby also completed the race, and was lucky to catch Dave during both transitions and the finish to cheer my hardest with camera in hand.

I know I made things worse by moving around and walking so much because the pain was increasing. After Dave collected his things we headed to the cars to see if I could drive home. I shuffled back to the car using Dave's bike as a crutch and slid gingerly into the drivers seat. My back was burning, aching and sending shots of pain down the nerves in my legs and I couldn't help but burst into tears. I think I freaked everyone out a little. It was the only thing I could do to show my frustration, disbelief, and disappointment with my situation. Dave came over to make sure I wanted to drive home and, after I assured him I could do it, he shut the door. The kids were silent until Toby said, "Mom, I think you're getting pregnant." Where do they come up with these things?!!

What the kids didn't realize was that I sprained my back pretty badly while we were camping 3 weeks ago by falling down a hill with a heavy box in my hands. Dave got mad at me for not resting it properly which led to this final straw injury. I don't think he realizes just how much I have to lift and carry to keep up with the kids and housework. Well, now I'm forced to lay in bed and take it easy until my back is better because I can't even walk. I guess I should have taken a day or two in bed 3 weeks ago when I first injured it.

Life right now consists of ice packs every two hours, left over Vicodin from Logan's birth (still works just fine even after the 'expiration date'), lots of visits from the kids while I'm in bed and wishing I could just get up and help out. Thankfully, I am writing this from my parents house who have helped us so much while I am laid up. We had already arranged to stay at their house this weekend because our place is being fumigated. Dave and my parents have been so gracious and understanding while the kids tear up the house and run crazy while I'm stuck in bed. Mom even did my laundry for me (Thanks so much!) and took care of countless meals, diapers, chores, etc. with Dave. I'm trying to make the most of my forced vacation. The kids think it's hilarious that I walk like an old lady with a makeshift cane- I'll never look at a Swiffer mop the same again. The only time I do walk is to get to the bathroom and that takes about 15 minutes round trip. All the kids have been so understanding and great helpers to bring me food, books, the laptop charger and anything I need to pass the time while they bug Grammy and Grampy. ;)

I can't wait to be mobile again.

Pinecrest: A novel

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 06:45:00 +0000

Aaahhhhh, a shower, clean clothes and a clean bed- the basics feel so good after a week of camping. Part of me didn't want to leave the mountains so soon. We camped at Pinecrest Lake for a week and it went by so fast that I could have stayed a few more days. The kids and the Mister felt the same way. We borrowed keys to Lauren's parent's cabin (thank you!) to shower and stay there at night, and planned to hang out at the lake and family campsite during the day. We only slept in the cabin the first night and went back several times during the week for showers. Sleeping in a tent and hanging out in the dirt with the chillies went surprisingly better than the Mister and I thought. I guess my most vivid memory of tent camping before this year was with a 4, 2 and 4 month-old without a husband to help me. That was not an enjoyable vacation, so I didn't want to repeat the experience. Dave hated our last adventure in a tent with a crappy air mattress that went flat in the middle of the night. This year went so much better. Our kids have such great memories of camping every year with the family and this year didn't dissappoint. Here's some of this years funnies.

Logan playing with Aunt Denise said, "When are you going to have some children for me to play with?"

Toby looking at the bright stars with Dad pointed to one and said, "I think that big bright one is Grandpa's star." (Great-Grandpa Bennett)

Toby, Logan, Aunt Tori and I walked to the Lake with Tori's dog, Sasha. While on our way Logan asked, "Why does Sasha have a curly tail?" I said, "because that's the tail God gave her." Logan paused for a second and asked, "because he ran out of straight ones?"

Dave taught us a new campfire game called Mafia and the kids love it. Toby while hanging out with Tori said, "If you're the mafia (tonight) kill me, okay?!"

Sydney couldn't stay away from the puppies (Tori's and Uncle Sam's dogs). One of her favorite things to do was walk up to Sasha and stick out her tongue. Sasha would give her huge puppy kisses and lick her face. Syd then giggled, wiggled her tongue and did a little happy dance every time. It was disgustingly funny.

Sydney learned to talk while we were camping. She said quite a few words before we left, but her language exploded last week. The language light went on in her brain and she tried almost every word we asked her to say. Top two memorable ones were 1). she woke me up at the crack of dawn (literally) by shoving a box of licorice in my face that she had found in the diaper bag. I was too tired to care, so I gave her a piece and asked her to lie back down next to me in her bed (in the tent). She promptly said, "ank ooo, Mama." It was the first time she put words together. So cute. 2). Since Syd was almost always the first one up with the birds and squirrels, she would go around to everyone in their sleeping bags and say "wake up!" She also learned to say Aaa Lita (Aunt Lita), uh Mark (Uncle Mark), pa-pah (Grandpa), cracker, cookie, tried all of the kids names, and many more along with her regular vocabulary. I use past tense because now that we are home she won't talk at all. Something about that mountain air had her chattering all day, yet now she is quiet. Just adjusting, I guess.

Logan has really come into his own the past couple months. His own being a loud, jabbering, sound-making, always talking or singing in Loganese, chattering, crazy boy. We always knew where Logan was and he really didn't stop making noise all week. He loved playing games around the campfire, eating chocolate instead of smores, swimming at the log and playing in the sand, swinging in the hammocks, fishing and going fast on Uncle Mark's boat and playing in the dirt. The last day we were in camp, I found this caterpillar in the tent and gave it to Logan to watch. He latched on to that critter instantly. He named him Friendly, took him all over the camp and played house with him on his finger. I overheard the following while Friendly was on Logan's finger- "Okay, now it's time for you to go to work. Let's play a game first. Tag, you're it, Friendly!" *wicked giggle* The giggle at the end was the best part.

Toby has grown up a lot since his toddler days of wandering out of the campsite every 2 minutes. He was content this year to listen to Aunt 'Nisey's iPod in the hammock for some chill time. His favorites of the week were swimming at the log, playing Mafia around the campfire, bike rides and climbing rocks around the campground with Dad, and fishing. Toby could often be found hanging out with the puppies and liked to give them tummy rubs. He was a great helper all week and took care of gathering all the woodchips and dry pines needles we needed to start our campfires. Toby, along with all the kids, relished the one-on-one time with their Aunties. Toby even cried when Aunt Tori and Denise left a little earlier than we did on our last day there.

Jessie would have lived at the Lake all day, every day if we let her. She wanted to swim at the logs every day and was always the last one out of the water. Dave and I got pretty sick of the water the last 2 days but the kids were relentless. Jessie made a new friend, Danielle, while playing on the logs and they got together numerous times the rest of the week. Danielle has family that live in town, so the girls have arranged some Friday playdates in the future. Besides swimming and playing at the lake, Jessie loved campfire games, riding around the campgrounds by herself, arts and crafts with Mom, Aunt Tori, and Aunt 'Nisey, and tubing at Don Pedro. J

was also a star Kubb player this year because of her practice pitching a softball. She could take on any adult so be warned if you come play Kubb at our house.

Meet Mr. Fuzz (Toby's), Poof (Logan's), Bugsy (Jessie's), and Creep (Mom's)- our camp mascots.

Aunt Tori did yoga every morning in a clearing of the campsite. She taught Jessie some poses one morning and J asked to do yoga every day after that.

I am so thankful that Dave was able and willing to take the entire week off of work. We are still trying to catch up after buying a new car, and I know that week with no money coming in was a stress for the Mister. Our young family really needed that time together, and we had a wonderful time.

Dave and I made it a goal to have an individual "date" with each child during the week. They are my most memorable moments from the trip and I know the kids will remember them too. Both Toby and Logan wanted to go play at the log with me for their dates. We took an afternoon while Dave and Jessie were tubing with the big kids and I spent alone time there with the boys. (Thanks Aunt Lita for staying with sleeping Syd while we played) Toby and I worked on his swimming, and Logan got attacked by the Mommy Lake Monster. Jessie and I painted and got crafty then walked to the snack shack for an ice cream cone for our date. Sydney loved swinging in the hammock and singing songs for her alone time. Some of my favorites from the trip were watching Toby and Mr. Cooper freak out in the best way when Uncle Mark turned up the speed in his boat. Both boys laughed and leaned way out to feel the spray from the big wakes. Here I thought they would have been too scared to go tubing because of the speed and big bumps, but it turns out they LOVED it! I was so bummed I couldn't go tubing this year, but it just didn't work with the littles. Next year we are all going tubing! I also loved watching Up at the outdoor theater. Dave and I both had sleeping littles on our laps to keep us warm. What a cool atmosphere it was to watch a new movie under the stars. Chillin' in the hammocks, reading bedtime stories by flashlight and smores around the campfire are also top on my list this year. The only thing we didn't get to do that I really wanted to was rent kayaks and go around the lake. It is top of the list for next year for sure!

Here is a picture of the logs. There are a series of huge logs chained together that float out into the lake. Kids big and little try to walk all the way to the end without falling in, which can get tricky because the more people on a log the faster it sinks. Dave would swim next to the kids while they walked to the end and back. Sometimes, J would get in the water and swim back with Daddy.

Last but not least are Dave's favs. In no particular order, Dave liked swimming at the lake, sleeping in the tent (with an awesome air mattress this time!), playing Mafia, dirt and rocks, bikes, smores, and tubing with Jessie. He was pretty sore and tired the day after tubing, as were all those who went, but Dave still took kids to the lake and went to an awesome animal show the next day. We saw a spider monkey, a huge iguana, a beaver, a crocodile, and a kangaroo to name a few. One lazy afternoon Dave took the boys on a bike ride around the campgrounds to find big rocks to climb on, and it is one of the boys favorite activities. And NO, Syd did not actually ride on the bars like that. \/

Most people know my Man is a game guy. He loves to play games and is naturally good at them. It frustrates me to no end that he is pretty much the luckiest guy when it comes to games of chance and is an excellent strategist for other games. Sure, he loses, but not often. So he didn't disappoint this year by bringing up some pretty cool game. Everyone got hooked on a new game called Munchkin. I would say it's for young adults and above, but even our young kids liked teaming up with an adult to play.

We ate at Sonic on the way up the first day and the kids insisted we stop there on the way home. That was fine with me, their cherry limeade is awesome! I suggested the kids go outside the car to stretch while we waited for our food, and Jessie promptly took it upon herself to teach the boys her new found yoga skills. I think she's hooked.

Now it's back to life at home. I'm already missing the fact that the boys could go pee in the plants anytime instead of having to clean up a dirty toilet, or that I didn't have to sweep and mop the floor after mealtime all week. It is nice to sleep in my own bed and not worry about Syd being too cold at night after kicking off all her blankets. She kept me up a lot because of that. It didn't take the kids long to realize our camping adentures were coming to an end the last day. Of course, they all asked, "when are we going to go camping next?" And so the long wait begins..........

Photo Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:00:00 +0000

I've been feeling very 'Blah' in several aspects of my life lately. One of them is this here blog, my photo taking habits and the fact that those photos never make it out of cyberspace and into print. I happened upon an email in my inbox a couple weeks ago advertising a free photo-editing class by Jessica Sprague, a scrapbooker whose work I admire, on her website. The class started this week and it has been a needed boost to my creative brain that gathers cobwebs too often from lack of time. I highly recommend any classes on her website. She is a great teacher and makes Photoshop much less intimidating. I am a self taught, putterer on Photoshop, so it's nice to take a quick lesson from someone who knows what they are doing.

Here is my first try. Took 10 minutes with watching the lesson. So easy.*Before*

*After*

I needed to crop this photo to 4x6 horizontal and my Jessie helped me add the frames and layers. The best part about the classes on Ms. Sprague's site is that once you sign up and/or pay for the classes you always have access to them. Lots of fun!

Vicious play

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:47:00 +0000

I was ironing shirts today and overheard the following between TJ and Coop as they were playing with their jungle.

Toby: "Here baby, I saved you the eyeballs and the intestines. I took off the feet cause there's yucky toenails on there."

Coop: "Mmmm, thanks I LOVE the eyeballs! *slurp* Yum, yum this is so delicious."A little later.......

Coop: "We're going to throw you out and get a new Dad from California. He's going to come on an airplane."

Toby: "No, we're not going to get a new Dad, we're going to eat him 'cause he was trying to eat Tails and the bad human."

From what I could glean from the rest, I think they were playing spiders in the jungle.
At least, I hope so.

Suspicion confirmed......
Toby: "Okay baby, say brother. Bruh-th-er." (Can you tell we are learning to read?)

Coop: "bruh-ther." (in best baby voice)

Toby: "Mom! (me) killer spider learned how to say brother!............Room service!"

Not sure what happened next. Hopefully brother didn't get eaten. They crack me up.

Happy Birthday America!

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:10:00 +0000

That's what the kids said all Saturday after we reviewed what the 4th of July is all about. We had a busy, wonderful day celebrating our country's independence. I found myself setting the alarm, which shouldn't be allowed on a holiday, to have enough time for a special breakfast before we headed out to the parade. We planned on relaxing afterward at the parent's house to swim and BBQ. I really wanted to find a decent firework show close by, but we opted to stay home because everyone was pretty beat by then. It was still a great day!

One of my fond memories of 4th of July as a kid is Grandma Payne's Old Glory Pancakes. Basically, they are buttered pancakes sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, rolled and lined up on a platter, then lined on top with a row of cherry pie filling, sour cream, and blueberry pie filling. We had a few variations like whipped cream instead of sour cream or different fruit, but that is how I remember them most. I realized that my kids had no idea what Old Glory pancakes were, so this year I had to change that. We got up early to make our version and everyone loved them. Since we are a mostly non-dairy home, we used non-dairy whipped cream in place of sour cream. I decided the kids would like fresh fruit instead of pie filling (it's not my favorite either), so we had strawberries and blueberries. Toby took one bite and said, "Mmmmmmm! These taste like Snickerdoodles!" He's right, they kinda did. It is positively a tradition that must be carried on! Naturally, all calories consumed on a holiday are free anyway.

Silly Logan is usually moving so fast and trying so hard to keep up with his older siblings that he rarely has a quiet moment. While he sat down to eat his pancakes he looked at me and said, "Mom, this is the best day ever! I am having so much fun!" He kept saying that all morning. I think he felt the excitement and sweet spirit in our home that morning that I felt as well. Toby and Jessie expressed it in their own way too, by playing God Bless the USA 10+ times in a row and singing at the top of their lungs. I'm sure we woke up a few neighbors.

So we had some drama and set-backs trying to get Jessie to the staging area for the parade on time while still making it there with the rest of the kids. Jessie got to ride on the Little League "float," a big truck/trailer, so we needed to get her there by 9 AM. When I say set-backs, I mean Dave didn't think to go the back way and got stuck in mega traffic ON the parade route right before they closed it. He planned on dropping J and coming back home to ride bikes with the boys. He didn't make it, so it was up to me to hurry out to the parade route with the rest of the kids. We live up the street from the route this year, which switches districts in the city every year. I had the wagon packed with snacks, camera and Sydney already, so I threw our chairs on the pile, tied them on so they wouldn't squish Syd, and gave the boys the go ahead to start riding their bikes quickly while I pulled the wagon. Our ward was going to meet at one intersection to watch the parade together. That intersection was 5+ blocks away, and we had 20 minutes to get there on back roads. We totally made it right before the parade started, and I burned off all those calories from breakfast that didn't count anyway. ;)This boy was not sure about the whole parade thing this year. The only one he has seen in the past was the superhero parade at Six Flags last 4th of July and it was wimpy. He finally warmed up until the ghoulish pirates scared the pants off him at the very end. Sydney, too, was a little unsure about the parade. It took her 15 minutes to feel comfortable with all the strange things passing by, especially the bands. By the end she was sitting down and waving flags at everyone, except the pirates. We covered her eyes for those creepy people.

The parade was longer, and I little better than I expected. I have high expectations for what a good 4th of July parade should be after attending many Freedom Festivals in Utah. While our "Spirit of the Springs" themed parade (Warm Springs hosted the parade this year) was a fun event to start the day, it certainly didn't compare to the grand scale of parade I remember. We had a few marching bands, balloons, floats, cars and service vehicles, but the rest was eh, so-so. It is funded by sponsors and volunteers now, because the city it too broke to fund it anymore, so I can understand the small scale. Jess was happy to be in the parade, but later realized that she kinda missed out seeing all the other entrants. I missed having her there with us, too. The highlights for us were;
the Mister- the old F100 trucks
Me- the bagpipes, the veterans, and the old cars
Jess- riding up on the float with her friend Katelyn and getting treats/bubbles after
Toby- the Vikings and the Pirates of Emerson (local Haunted House) ship
Logan- eating watermelon and high-fives from Sharky (San Jose Sharks Hockey) and SpongeBob
Sydney- the dogs being walked by the 4H group (she got up and started following them down the street)
I was kind of on celebration autopilot that day until, towards the beginning of the parade, a big extended-cab truck decorated to the nines rolled by in the parade. It was the family of a local serviceman that was recently killed in Iraq. The truck was followed by members of other families walking with pictures in memorial of sons, husbands, and friends also killed in action during our current war with Iraq/Afghanistan. A huge wave of gratitude and thankfulness hit me at that moment as I remembered why we were all gathered that morning. So many have given the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedoms in America, and we are forever indebted to their bravery and service. A few vintage trucks and military vehicles carrying older veterans from various wars rolled by soon after and we made sure to cheer and clap for those men just as loud. I want my kids to know and remember how important our freedoms set forth by our God-fearing Founding Fathers are, and that these brave men and women who serve in the military should be respected for their part in upholding those freedoms. I know God watches over us and blesses us when we are faithful to His commandments. We cheered extra loud for all those in uniform that day.We all helped decorate the kids bikes and the wagon for maximum patriotic-ness as we rode to and from the parade. It's amazing how many people comment to me about how cute my twin boys are. They are 26 months apart. I must admit watching them ride their spiffed-up bikes to the parade with matching red shirts and buzz cuts I almost thought they were twins. They certainly got everyone's attention as we made our way to meet friends.

After the parade, we spent the day at Dave's P's house to swim, talk and eat fabulous food with family and friends. A huge thanks to my in-laws for opening their home to us and a bunch of friends. We always have a wonderful time swimming and hanging out on the back deck when we are there. The food was fabulous as well. I have been craving kabobs and Dave Sr. was happy to oblige on the grill. We ate beef and chicken kabobs, coleslaw, fresh corn, beans and rice, and lots of watermelon and cherries. Great-Gram made some scrumptious dessert and the kids ate double helpings after swimming so long all day. We even splurged and bought all different kinds of soda, a very rare occurrence at our house. Hey, if the calories were free all day, we were going to go all out.

Happy Birthday America! We hope everyone had a wonderful, safe day!

Softballs and hockey pucks

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:26:00 +0000

I love this sweet girl. She got up and tried to make chocolate chip pancakes this morning all by herself, well with Logan's help. That boy will find his way into making anything sweet in the kitchen. Jessie got as far as flipping the first pancake when she called me in to help. The saying "flat as a pancake" comes to mind when I saw what was cooking in the skillet. It was a hockey puck with chocolate chip lumps. Really bad. We determined the recipe she tried was awful and chalked it up to experience. I'm so glad J is getting more adventurous in the kitchen though!Jess had a great day despite our pancake debacle. She got the game ball tonight at her softball game which made her week! She was so excited. Every other game she comes home complaining that only the home team gets to give out the game ball (in little league both teams do) because she has had some great games as the visiting team. Last week, Jessie got 3 outs and hit really well, but since they were the visiting team there was no chance of a game ball at the end of the night. This girl is very competitive. Her game ball tonight is vindication to her perceived injustice during those other games.

And a random thought- there is another Jessie on her team and she had a Jessica on her baseball team this season as well. If I would have known how freakin' popular her name was when she was born we would have named her something else. I know, there's no use cryin' about it. It just bugs me that there is a Jessie her age around every corner.

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:31:00 +0000

Summer kicked it in high gear here in the Bay Area last Saturday. We went from a pleasant mid-80's kind of weather to a scorching 97+ degrees in one day. It sucked the life out of me. Saturday was a wash with respect to the things I had planned. The kids and I were too hot to move by about 1 PM, and we got a late start on the day. I am proud to say that I did not turn on the AC even though it was blazing hot, just a small thing I am trying to do to keep costs down. Sunday was a different story. ;) We were sick of the heat and rested very comfortably under the AC in our room. Modern conveniences are such a blessing!We had it easy last weekend compared to my Man though. He walked the Trek, which is a reenactment of the Mormon Pioneer Handcart Companies, with our church youth down in Gilroy for 3 days. They had 2 beautiful days of mild weather, but got scorched on Saturday with 107+ degree heat. Can you imagine pulling a handcart 6 miles in the middle of the day up and down steep terrain in that heat? It doesn't sound particularly fun or easy. It was character building, according to the youth who spoke about their experience last night at the Fireside, and the rest of the 3-day Trek was amazing.

*Dave and Eric the prairie medicine men.*

*Have you ever seen anyone so excited about a flesh wound?*

Dave went as part of the medical staff to treat the anticipated blisters, heat exhaustion/stroke, sprains, muscle pulls, headaches, and everything else that could happen to a group of people hiking, pulling handcarts and sleeping on the ground for three days and two nights. He was a little worried about whether he had enough of the right supplies, and if he would be able to eat the food (he's pretty much Vegan still). When Dave surprised us at the door all dusty, scruffy-faced, and as handsome as ever on Saturday night he reported to us that he had a fabulous time, the food was good, and he was able to help everyone who sat on his table. By the end of the Trek, Dave had helped out lots of people in trouble, converted some to chiropractic/ART, and made many great friends. *So we hike for 6 miles and we have to sit on the ground and sleep on the ground and now you want us to dance?*

*This was were I slept...yeah...its the ground!*

I heard from numerous people over the last couple days how much 'Doc Dave' helped them and what a fantastic service it was for him to be there on the Trek. What a blessing it is to have a husband and provider that loves what he does and is really good at it. Hey babe, I'm sure I speak for both of us when I say I'm glad you changed direction from the electrician thing. Love you Bones!

Fathers are so important!

noreply@blogger.com (Camille) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:56:00 +0000

Here's to the most important Father in my life (next to the big man upstairs and my own Dad), my baby's daddy, the Father of my children, my partner in child-rearing, the sperm to my egg, you get the idea.....

I love watching my Man play with his kids. There is a sweet, playful, different side of Dave that came out when babies came to our family. There are always tickle wars, wrestling matches or games on the agenda when Daddy has free time in our home. He loves his kids so much and thinks about their happiness and well-being just as much as I do. For me, the best part of the day is when Dave comes home from work, opens the front door, and all the kids yell, "Daddy, you're home!" Sweet little Syd points to her Dad with a huge grin on her face and runs to give his legs a big hug with pat-pats. Toby then calls for a "commercial hug" which means all the kids surround Dad and squeeze him so tight he falls over. Logan still gets whiny and sad when Dad leaves for work in the morning, so when Daddy gets home Logan is over-the-moon excited. The kids and I are so thankful for how hard Dave works for our family, AND especially that he loves what he does. Here's to many more smackers-on-the-beezers, special dates with each kid, Family Nights, commercial hugs, superhero wars, playing catch out front, bike rides, sword fights, game and movie nights, crazy hair days, beach trips, camping and hikes, the "spine game," and baseball seasons in the future! J-Bird, the Tob, Mr. Cooper and Squidy love you Dad!!*Sportin' a new tie from the girls*

We loved celebrating Father's Day with all our Dad's here. I was thankful everyone was healthy and the weather was beautiful so we could enjoy the day. Dave was greeted with breakfast and presents in bed first thing in the morning. The kids all woke up early to help me make chocolate chip waffles, berries and OJ for breakfast. Yes, it's the same thing I had for Mother's Day breakfast in bed, but why mess with a good thing. Daddy loved his gifts from the kids and we wolfed those waffles down and flung on our clothes to get to church early. J and I had to be there early to practice our choir number and I was playing the organ for sacrament meeting. It was not one of my finest hours for sure. I certainly kept the congregation on their toes with all the mistakes I made on the organ. I'm filling in for our regular organist and I really need to sit down to figure that thing out so I'm not trying to mess with all the presets and buttons while playing the hymns in church. I'll put it on the list. Sorry, enough about me.

Dave was pleasantly surprised with all we did for Father's Day and admitted he needs to step things up next year for Mother's Day. Darn tootin'! We spoiled him, but he deserves it. Toby made Dad a cute picture frame at school, and he and Mr. Cooper got Daddy these which he loves;
The girls gave him a belt buckle (as requested) and a couple ties that were on killer sale at Kohl's. I rarely go to Kohl's, yet every time I do I find wonderful sales and clearance items. Score! Jessie also made Dave a precious photo book with pictures of them and the fam doing favorite things. I selfishly gave the Mister some movie passes so he can take someone (I wonder who he'll choose) to one of the cool movies coming out soon. We need a date night badly and Transformers and Harry Potter are calling to both of us.

The chillies made Dave ties at church with 'All About my Dad' papers on the back. All three painted very different pictures of the same wonderful Daddy. It's funny what the kids say and remember most.

According to Jessie: (in her own hand)
Dad's name- Dave
Favorite food- soop
Favorite color- green & blue
Favorite thing to do- swim & sleep
When he plays with me, we- restle & bike ride
I love my Dad because- he's very, very, very, very, very fun!

According to Toby:
Dad's name- Dave
Favorite food- rice milk
Favorite color- brown
Favorite thing to do- play with me
When he plays with me, we- fly a kite
I love my Dad because- he's awesome!

According to Logan:
Dad's name- David (full name)
Favorite food- anything!
Favorite color-black & blue
Favorite thing to do- play video games with me
When he plays with me, we- play Super Mario
I love my Dad because- he unlocked all the villages (in Super Mario)

It was a great day. Daddy got his Sunday afternoon nap (nothing new there ;)), played with the kids, we enjoyed dinner at Grams with our Dads, and ended the day with a hike (Dave and I) up Mission Peak with Arnold and Denise. The goal was to show Dave how much we love him and appreciate all he does as Dad in our home, and he definitely got the message today!

And I can't forget my Dad who is an amazing man. When I think of my Dad the first thing that pops in my head is 'hard worker.' He has taught me and all his kids that an honest days work is both fulfilling and teaches valuable skills and knowledge. Growing up, I suffered many a Saturday chore marathon under Dad's iron fist. I can still hear myself complaining, "You mean you want me to vacuum all around the edges of the room too?!" or "I have to clean behind the toilet?!" Dad was meticulous and thorough and taught us to be the same. Do the job right the first time. Dad taught me to take pride in my work and the satisfaction at the end would be worth it. Now that I'm a Mom, I still chuckle inside when I say the same things to my kids on Saturday during chores. I am so thankful for all that my Dad has taught me.

I remember learning things about my Dad as a young girl that surprised me, like the fact that he has multiple college degrees, one of them in psychology. He has taught me by example to look at problems logically, with a level head, and make decisions based on principle. He is honest, fair, and not afraid to stand up for himself when wronged, especially against the crazy neighbor lady who calls the cops on him just because she's bored, and really crazy.

Most of all, I'm so thankful Dad is around to teach and get to know my kids. The chillies love to use Grandpa's power tools and putter around the garage and yard with him. When we go over on Monday nights for Family Night the kids know that Grandpa has all the treats and that he will almost never say 'No' to them. He teaches them funny sayings and spoils like a Grandpa should. I credit Dad's example as the standard by which I chose a husband and father for my children. Keep taking care of yourself Dad, so my kids can learn as much as possible from you. You need to stick around to pass on all your nuggets of wisdom to your grandkids!No, I haven't forgotten Dave's Dad in my little tribute. The kids love to spend Sunday afternoons with Grandpa (& Grandma), and sleep over as much as possible. They get excited when Grandpa comes to their baseball/softball games and know that Grandpa Dave will spoil them too. They love the movies and CD's, like Bunnicula, that Grandpa lets us borrow or keep. He is very generous with his time and resources to keep our electronic and computer needs met. We enjoy camping (or 'cabining' lately) with Grandpa, and Toby especially, loves going fishing with Grandpa on Uncle Mark's boat. We are so thankful that Grandpa doesn't mind us crashing at his house to swim or drop kids off for awhile for a date. We especially enjoy summer BBQ's from Master Dave and eat whatever comes off his grill. WE LOVE OUR DADS!