My Spice in Life

and I would walk 500 miles.....

2011-10-24T09:58:00.000-07:00

It felt like we did walk that many miles during our three day adventure in Disneyland and California Adventure. Aunt 'Nisey set her pedometer on her new iPhone and it said we walked over 6 miles on our slowest day from late afternoon on. I'm sure we doubled that easily on each of the other two days, and the chillies were troopers with all that walking. They didn't complain about sore feet or blisters like us wimpy adults. We learned that if you do three or more days at Disney it would be ideal to take a rest day in between two of those days. We were really dragging that second day after being in the park until midnight (date night!), and didn't get to explore California Adventure as much as we would have liked. The kids were also burning the candle at both ends with staying up late each night to see the cool shows and fireworks. We got our Disney feet wet with the kids first trip there and know how to do it better the next time.

Notice how fried we all look in this picture? This was our last night and everyone had just woken up from a nap that was way too short. Disneyland in October was amazing. Since fall is my favorite season and Halloween one of our family's best loved holidays, I really enjoyed all the harvest decorations and jack-o-lanterns all over the park. The rides they converted for Halloween were well done and a fun change for us Disney veterans.

It was almost a perfect first trip. I woke up our last day there to the realization that I hadn't seen our little camera come back with us the night before. It had all of the pictures from the first two days on it. I'm trying not to beat myself up too much about it, and I was almost sure someone would turn it in being that we were in Disneyland with so many other families who would realize the sadness of a lost camera. I struck out at Lost and Found and still do not know how I lost track of that blasted camera after it ran out of batteries and I put it back in it's case. It kinda stings that I don't have a folder full of pictures from the kids first trip to the Magic Kingdom. All the rational men around me keep putting things in perspective though. "Bah, it's just a camera! You all have the memories and it's the experience that's important," my Dad said when I told him. For me the photographs are part of the experience. :(

Each kid came home with their top favorites list, and for the sake of documentation here they are;

J-bird was a trooper with trying all the big kid rides that she'd never experienced before. She went on everything Mom and Dad did except California Screamin' (her junk food-filled tummy wasn't up for the loop at that point) and the Tower of Terror (same reason and too tired). She loved Star Tours, Jedi training, Space Mountain (Ghost Galaxy during October), Sourin' over CA, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Matterhorn, Indiana Jones, the Grizzly water ride, and making her own light saber. She spent the longest at this light saber station working and reworking the perfect double-edged light saber. Jessie is such the Tomboy....

Sweet Toby is a chicken when it comes to rides. Apparently that comes from his Dad when he was a little guy. He's too careful and tentative at amusement parks which I find odd considering his outgoing personality is completely opposite. We tried to break him in slowly, but going on Indiana Jones (kinda intense and very bumpy/jerky) ruined any chance we had of getting him or Logan on any other bigger kid rides. Toby's favs included Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Star Tours, making his own light saber, swimming at the hotel, and getting picked for Jedi Training to fight Darth Maul.

Logan did better than I expected with all the walking. His all-time favorites were Buzz's Astro Blasters and Star Tours. He also liked the rocket ride in Tomorrowland, all the delicious junk food he consumed all weekend, the Teacups, Sourin' over CA, seeing ducks everywhere, swimming at the hotel, and the Bugs Life ride. Logan was also a little apprehensive about trying rides after taking cues from his brother, but he loosened up and became a little more adventurous. I was surprised that he was adamantly opposed to seeing the characters. Most the kids got pictures with various movie characters that they liked, but there was not a one that could bring Logan out of his shell. My Man and I were in line to take pics with all the villians and had to laugh that none of our kids wanted to come anywhere near them. Logan was across the sidewalk hiding behind a garbage can while we waited to see Cruella, the Queen of Hearts and Jafar. He is still a shy little guy even though he was more willing to try new things.

Sydney had the best deal of the weekend with the stroller hook-up. It was a little hard to balance the big kid rides with the ridiculous long lines in Fantasyland that Sydney wanted to explore. Our early Magic Morning entrance saved the day in that regard. We headed straight for Star Tours and Fantasyland and walked onto every ride for one blessed hour. It really was magical. Aunt 'Nisey took all the Littles on their first ride on the Teacups, and I was shocked that Sydney loved that ride like it was the only thing she wanted to do in life. Little Maddie is not crying either, as she loved it as much as Syd. Since there was seriously NO line we walked back onto a different color teacup at least five times in a row. Syd would put her arms up on the top of the cup and silly scream with wide, excited eyes the entire ride. It was hilarious to watch her and I felt bad we didn't have time to go again later in the afternoon every time she asked to go back. She also liked the rocket ride, seeing Cinderella and all the princesses, and the Jungle Tour.

Did you notice the princess pose Syd is rockin' with Sleeping Beauty up there? Where did she learn that one? She loved every second of meeting the princesses. Now pretend you see the most adorable picture of Syd with her favorite princess, Cinderella, in the shade of a huge tree by Sleeping Beauty's castle. She has a beaming smile similar to this on her face. The next picture is Syd giving Cinderella a huge hug before saying goodbye. Those are the few pictures I am really sad are lost with our little Nikon. Over the three days Syd got to meet Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Snow White, Tinkerbell and another fairy, and Mary Poppins without too much effort on our part. She was in princess heaven.

The family favorites were Buzz Astro Blasters (except Syd), Star Tours, and the Teacups. Three year-old Syd even did great on Star Tours although she didn't want to go again. I'm sure the kids could have spent an entire morning riding those three rides over and over and over again and been perfectly content. I think Pirates of the Caribbean would have been a family fav too, but it was closed. One of the things on my to-do list was a dinner date with my Man at the Blue Bayou which was closed with Pirates. Next time...

Dave loved taking the kids on all the rides for their first time. We were so thankful that Denise and Arnold came with us so we could both take Jessie on the big kid rides together. Dave and I really liked spooky Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy, and Jessie put on a brave face to go with us. We were proud of her brave resolve to go even though she was worried about it, being her first big ride and all. My Man took his Sydney princess on the Ariel's Grotto ride in CA Adventure and it turned out to be a highlight for both of them. Logan was so excited every time Daddy said yes to his request to go on Buzz and Star Tours again and again. They both loved it! We made the mistake of taking the boys on Indiana Jones too early thinking that they would like the bumper car feel. I didn't know that another boy they met in the pool the night before told our boys that if you looked in the eyes of the temple guy at the beginning of the ride that you would have a BAD ride. That's all Logan could say after we got off that ride was that "Daddy looked into his eyes because that was a bad ride!" I'm guessing that even an adult would not have fun in that ride if they experienced the bumps, jerks and hills with eyes closed the entire time. Ironically, Toby couldn't stop whistling the Indiana Jones theme song the rest of the trip, and he actually listed the ride as one of his favorites. His eyes really were closed the entire ride, so I'm not sure what he liked about it. Dave was also instrumental in getting the kids to Jedi Training early enough that they would be front and center with the best chance to get picked to wield a light saber. Logan was picked to participate and fight Darth Vader the first day we were there, and we had to go back our last day so Toby and Jessie could have a chance. Thankfully, they were both picked first thing in the morning and had a great time fighting Darth Maul. Daddy loved watching each kid learn the moves and fight the dark side at the end. Dave was uber-disappointed in how they changed the Haunted Mansion for Halloween. Everything was Nightmare Before Christmas in the Haunted Mansion, which I loved, but it was a major downer for my Man as nothing was the same as the classic ride.

Dave's other favs included monster corn dogs, an adults-only ice cream cone every night (oh yes!), and meeting the Evil Queen. She came sauntering through Fantasyland early morning our last day there and Dave couldn't pass up that Kodak moment. The Evil Queen doesn't stop to sign autographs. She doesn't stand there and wait for everyone to line up for her. The Evil Queen keeps walking and bids you to follow her if you dare. Dave and I caught up to her and I asked "Her Highness" for a picture if she pleased. She said something like, "if I must, but hurry up. We wouldn't want to waste your time, or more importantly, mine." She was fun.

My favs were sharing the Fantasmic show with the kids, the yummy food (corn dogs and ice cream!), California Screamin' and Tower of Terror with my Man, and witnessing the kids experience such a fun weekend at Disney. While Dave and I were on our date Saturday night we walked by the Fantasmic show (I'd never seen it before), and my heart sank at the fact the our kiddos were missing such a cool show. I thought it was the last show of the weekend, so being able to share it with them the next night was awesome! I have a few vivid memories of Disney as a young kid, and I loved taking our chillies there to have the same unforgettable fun!

It was no-holds-barred as far as food was concerned for four entire days. At home, we only eat sweets one day a week with the exception of the kids getting something special for lunch every day (chocolate milk, granola bar, goldfish, etc.). Since it was much cheaper to take in a bunch of packaged food, (and some token bagged veggies) instead of buying all our food in the parks, that is what we did. My Man and Aunt 'Nisey did a Target run early our first morning there and we were set for the remainder of the trip. We all found it a treat to reach into the magic backpack of snack mania when hunger reminded us we were indeed still on Earth. There were PopTarts, special cereals, Gogurt, fruit snacks, trail mix, beef jerkey, granola bars, Fruit by the Foot, crackers, and cookies.

I hear what ya'll are thinking. How can one have enough nourishment to hike through Disneyland whilst eating so much processed junk food? Not to worry, we balanced it out with proper proteins; turkey legs, corn dogs and chicken strips, and fruits/veggies; lemonade, pineapple wedges, and those token carrots and snap peas that were packed back home. What about dairy you ask? Well we don't eat much dairy at home, but we didn't hold that against the food group in Disneyland. The dairy there was delicious! In fact, I blame the amazing single scoop in a chocolate-dipped waffle cone with whipped cream on top for my excited hurriedness that I think led to the disappearance of our camera. Boo.

Our family and Aunt 'Nisey (Maddie snoozing in the stroller) enjoyed a memorable meal in the Golden Horseshoe while we watched these characters play some tunes. Check out the size of those corn dogs! I would have had one every day they were so delicious. We all enjoyed being entertained by the songs, instruments and punny jokes of Billy Hill and the Hillbillies as we rested our tired feet. It was a great recharge for our last push to check off the must-do items our last day in the parks.

I thought three days in the parks would be plenty of time to get everything done that we wanted. It almost was. We were so tired the second day that our efficiency in checking off everyone's must-do list was pathetic. Next time we go we will take a rest day in the middle to recharge and sleep. That's what vacations are for anyway, right?

Even though this weekend was not what I originally planned, it turned out to be an unforgettable weekend with my family. At one point during the Fantasmic show Sunday night I glanced right to see my Man with Syd on his shoulders. Their faces lit up as fireworks went off behind the river boat that was floating by. The kids and I were soaking in every second of the amazing show. I smiiled at my Man as a huge wave of happiness and gratitude swept over me. I am a lucky girl to have a husband and father who provides so well for us, and who took the time, effort, and means necessary to surprise our family with a weekend at Disney to experience moments like we were having just then. It was, dare I say,....... magical.

Disney's the new San Diego

2011-10-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

The month of October is my favorite month (always jam-packed with fun) because my birthday, General Conference weekend, our wedding anniversary, Harvest time, and Halloween (a family favorite) are always celebrated within these short 31 days. I love leap-frogging through October from one celebration to the next. Usually the weather starts cooling a little bit with crisp fall air during the day and snuggling with my Man under a heavy blanket at night. I always break out the pumpkin spice candles and scents and enjoy seeing happy orange pumpkins everywhere. It's the best month of the year for me and never disappoints.

The past few years my Man and I have been blessed to take a long weekend away from the chillies in October to celebrate our anniversary. When the time came this year to decide if we would go away I just wasn't feeling up for it. We have been talking about taking the kids to Disneyland this fall and I felt like we should save the money for that. My Man kept asking, "you sure you don't want to go away for our anniversary?" Finally I gave him the go ahead to plan something since he kept asking. He was paying for it after all, and I wasn't going to refuse a vacation dangling in front of me. My Man said he would take care of all the arrangements, finding a baby-sitter and pet-sitter, and surprise me. I was SO okay with that.

For two weeks there were quiet arrangements made between my Man and his sister, Denise, for the chillies to stay with them and do all kinds of activities while we were gone. My excitement for a quiet weekend for two to sleep in late, eat relaxing meals together, and slow down to recharge was starting to build. One night my Man asked me if I was even curious as to where we were going. Of course I was, but surprisingly, the control freak and planner in me didn't really mind not having to worry about the details. He said we were heading to San Diego for the weekend, and would drop hints every once in awhile about relaxing in the tub with a good book, or window shopping in downtown San Diego.

Since I was doing all the packing for the family I was told to pack swimming gear for the kids, clothes for four days, and all the gear necessary for a day at Six Flags (hat, sunblock, good walking shoes/socks, etc.) I kept telling Aunt 'Nisey she deserved a saint hood for not only taking all four of our kids for the weekend, but also for planning such awesome activities. Aunt Lauren also deserves mega brownie points for being willing to have Ruby with her while Dan was away most the weekend. The dog is still very puppyish and is always so rowdy around their dog, Simon.

Dave really did take care of everything and we left last Friday from work after his last patient. While I was waiting for Dave to finish with patients I noticed his schedule for the next week was completely empty for Monday AND Tuesday. I was told we were coming home on Monday. I started to get suspicious and anticipated him surprising me once we were there with an extra day of playing. Then as we were driving out of town he said we were stopping off on the way to San Diego to meet with one of his patients to go to dinner. Fast forward six hours later and stuck in LA traffic and I really began to wonder what was going on. He had been texting someone all day like he was keeping tabs on them. As soon as we got off on one of the Disneyland exits in Anaheim I began giving him mind-prying eyes to figure out what he was up to. He said his patient was staying at a hotel near Disney and wanted to take us out for dinner on our way down to San Diego. Plausible. Still fishy. Was he taking me to Disneyland for that extra day first? I was looking forward to going to Disneyland with the kids not just for me. Six Flags and Disneyland were very similar in preparation. He would not dare plan a vacation to the Magic Kingdom without me! Would he?? We pulled into a hotel right across the street from the front entrance to Disney. Why are we walking back to his patients hotel room instead of them meeting us up front? We don't know these people that well. I just want to keep driving and get in that huge warm tub with my Man!

As soon as I saw this outside a room we were walking up to, I knew. I just packed one of those strollers in the van that morning and I knew the other one was cousin Maddie's. My sweet stinker of a husband DID plan our Disneyland vacation without me, and I knew Arnold and Denise would be in that room with our excited chillies. They all shouted SURPRISE when I opened the door and the secret was out. Instead of going to Six Flags today like I thought they were, they had driven down in our van and got there just before we did. Since I didn't really want to plan a weekend away just the two of us, and I'd been talking about taking the kids to Disney for awhile, my sneaky Man decided to combine the two to surprise us all! The kids were so excited after the drive that they had energy to burn and didn't want to go to sleep until after 10 PM.

I will admit it took me about 12 hours and a night of restless sleep to get over the fact that a) the two of us were not going to be sleeping and relaxing this weekend b) I wasn't going to be using the long book, candles, bath salts, and lacy things to wear that I packed and c) we both missed the kiddos reaction when they found out they were going to Disneyland. Dave wrote them a note about how they were going to drive a little longer to go to Disneyland instead of the 75 minutes it took to get to Six Flags. (Arnold and Denise recorded them reading the note, but it was accidentally erased from the camera before we could see it) :( I had to completely switch gears in my head and change my expectations about how our Disney adventure was going to start, and then it was all good.

We has a fabulous, exhausting, amazing three days at the Happiest Place on Earth. We could not have done it without Arnold and Denise and are thankful they were willing to brave Disney with our clan. Me and the kids kept giving huge thank-yous to Dave for providing such an awesome vacation for our family that they will never forget. The chillies had an unforgettable first trip to Disney.

Also, I've decided Dave owes me at least a night away for teasing me with the prospect of a romantic weekend in San Diego.

Also, I don't know if I can trust him to plan a trip again- or maybe I should ask him to surprise me more often........

It's not fair

2011-07-03T22:46:00.001-07:00

We didn't get very far into the fair before everyone was hot and thirsty. Two quick rides and a snow cone later the natives were pacified.

Jessie's favs at the fair were the "huge, creepy swings with Mom" where she felt like her swing was going to fall off. I'll give it to her, once those swings went up and got going fast it was a little disconcerting. I'm glad she wanted to go with me though. J also liked the huge slide.

Dang this girl is getting spunky! She has always had sass, but we see the tween years coming fast. I try to remember she is still a kid, needs Mom time just as much as the young chillies, and helps out so much that she deserves extra-special rewards now and then.

After mutton busting we saw lots of animals and conquered a couple monster corn dogs and giant lemonade. Logan's favorites of the day were "going on the huge slide two times, getting a silver medal, and eating junk food. The kids were really good about deciding on the few things they wanted to see or do, and we were able to hit them all. I knew our resident animal lover would be in heaven with all the animals available to touch and watch. Sydney touched every living thing possible, and I'm glad she didn't come home with any disease or sickness.

Check out the poor baby goat trying to grab a meal while Mom forages for food. The poor little one couldn't catch up with Momma darting in between all the people in the petting zoo. Syd thought it was the funniest thing, especially when baby accidentally got pooped on by Momma goat.

When Syd was happy she was a riot to watch. She would squeal and wave every time a ride took her around to see Daddy standing on the side. She was the last one of us out of the small animals area because she was so curious and excited to see all the different creatures. As soon as she learned there were "real alive ponies" at the fair she didn't stop asking to find them until she was on that saddle. Her other highlights were talking to the clowns and the animals. Bless her little dare-devil heart; she was so sad when she was too short to go on the roller coasters. She's going to be fun at Disneyland when she grows tall enough for Space Mountain.

Toby's highlight was the dragon roller coaster NOT the spinning roller coaster in the first picture. Our Toby is not the adventurous type when it comes to flying, spinning, or riding on crazy things. We made him go on those two roller coasters and he ended up loving the dragon one.

This sweet boy learned a hard lesson at the fair too. We were nearing the end of our day there and each kid had three tickets left to spend how they wished. We tried to warn the kids that if they chose to spend their tickets on one of the games they wouldn't have any left for rides they wanted to go on. Toby and Logan especially were sucked into the games from the beginning, but after explaining that they would get one game or three rides everyone made their choice. Toby was the only one that chose to play those worthless games. We tried to warm him that he could buy the dippy prize he would win for half the money, but he was determined. He walked away from his game with a dollar store stuffed rat after less than a minute of throwing darts at balloons. Off the other kids went to go down the big slide when Toby exclaimed, "I want to ride the slide too!"

It finally sunk in that he really did trade more rides for his lame game prize. Poor guy. I felt so bad for him, yet wondered why he didn't really listen to what we were trying to tell him. He had to find out on his own. Isn't that how we all learn hard lessons? At first he thought we were being unfair, until we explained that we tried numerous times to warn him. Toby sulked while the other kiddos finished using their tickets for rides.

Daddy loved his monster corn dog and lemonade, and had fun helping Logan get ready for his mutton busting. I loved the swing ride, splurging on corn dog yumminess and watching the kids have so much fun.

The only downers of the day were that Miss Squid picked the one day we were out to be grumpy, and we had to leave early. Squid was a pickle off and on all day, and really could have used an afternoon nap. I guess we are not quite out of a stroller for her, and I was sorry I didn't bring it. Four and a half hours went by too fast. When it was time to leave we all wanted to stay longer. My Man had a swim team meeting and we had family night planned to celebrate sis-in-law Kristy's birthday, so we had to cut our visit a little short. We still had a great time as a family seeing all the animals, crafts, rides and eating the junk food!! Although, I just realized we did not eat, or have the kids try, a funnel cake. I can't even remember the last time I ate a funnel cake. That might be a travesty we will remedy next time....

Mutton bustin'

2011-06-29T00:54:00.001-07:00

When family came home from the fair last week and told us about Mutton Bustin' we had to go check it out in person. One quick Google search later and I made tentative plans for a family trip to the county fair yesterday to take advantage of free admission. We helped the food bank with four canned goods per person for admission and scored 99 cent carnival rides. It turned out to be the only day we would have chosen to go, because rides alone would have drained our wallet twice over. It was a perfect way to enjoy the fair for cheap-er.

So what is Mutton Busting you ask? One child, one sheep, six seconds; that's what the official website says. It's bull-riding for kids. All our chillies wanted to ride the sheep so badly, but only Logan fit the age 3 to 6 and under 60 pounds requirement. Once we got into the fair and Logan got a little more comfortable in his surroundings, he was all for signing up for the next mutton busting event.

This kid was all business, and a bit nervous, before and quietly enjoyed his moment of glory afterward. I may just be biased, but his sheep (the second one) hauled mutton butt out of that gate faster than any of the other kids sheep. Logan ended up with a second place medal and couldn't be happier. When we asked him if he had fun Logan said, "yes and no." Yes, for riding the sheep and getting a silver medal, and no because he flew off. He did it with style though.

A little nervous before.

Psyched and ready to go. Notice the cowboy boots he wore to get in the zone.

Without further ado, may I present our resident cowboy;

Mission accomplished. He wore that medal proudly the rest of the day. People who knew what it was would stop him every once in awhile and give him high-fives or shoot thumbs-up his way. Surprisingly, he loved the attention.

More fair pictures coming next.....

Back, fly, breast and free

2011-06-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

I noticed today that we have a new set of words in our vocabulary at home now that we are a swim team family. Saturdays are proving to be exhausting lately with swim meets in the morning and misc. Saturday stuff the rest of the day. Our family is loving the swim season with the Gators though. This being our first year, we certainly jumped in head first (no pun intended). My Man is Co-Pres. of the team for the next two years, and we just might have all 4 kids swimming next year if little Squidy can make it across the pool by then. Each of the kids has an older buddy that helps them out during the meets, brings them treats, meets them with their towel at the end of each race, and allows them to hang out at the big kid side of the lawn. All our kids are loving the older attention and figuring out things to make or give to their buddies every Saturday. Even little Syd has made some good friends. She doesn't mind spending so much time at the pool if we have enough books and food to keep her busy. We love the happy, friendly vibe of our team, and it's SO nice that all the kids can participate in a sport at the same time and place. I'd much rather hang out at the pool for two hours a day for practice than shuttle kids to three different sports through out the week.

Our little fish have improved immensely since the beginning of practice. Mr. Cooper could barely make it across the pool while hanging onto the lane line for a couple rests. Now he has a basic grasp of all four strokes, and won THREE first in heat ribbons on Saturday. I'm bummed I didn't record his awesome freestyle race for which he earned a blue ribbon for the event. Toby loves the backstroke and is also improving quickly in all aspects. We just need to remind him how things work during a relay, so that he doesn't accidentally start the first leg of the relay as the #2 man from the opposite side of the pool. Yep, he got a little too excited and before we could stop him he was off at the starting beep. The kid who was supposed to start was either not ready or saw Toby starting and backed off. Check out his coach's reaction right above him in the pics below. Nnnnoooooooooo! He swam a great lap too. Figures right?

Notice the other coach on the left looking Toby's way and blocking her swimmer from making the same mistake. Also, take note of the awkward flop into the pool. What's that all about? The kid is capable of much nicer entries into the water. Here's proof;

The best part is Toby didn't even know he went early until I told him after the race. My sweet Toby; he really does march to his own beat sometimes......

Jessie has been the wild card in this whole swim team situation. She was the most nervous at the beginning of the year to be on the team. I am not ashamed to say we pretty much made her try it. J went from a beginning swimmer who wouldn't go under the water without plugging her nose to an awesome swimmer who learns quickly and improves more each week. She has found the swimming stroke that she loves, and it just happens to be butterfly which I think is the hardest. Since this girl can out swim me with this stroke, and the fact that she has improved so much since the first day of practice in April, I am so pleased that I caught this race on film.

The kids are having fun being at the pool every day, hanging out with their buddies, making new friends and learning all that goes into swimming back, fly, breast and free strokes. Now that I think about it, Mom and Dad are having a good time too.

Choice funnies of late

2011-05-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

Driving to Naylor's with the kids we started to have a conversation about who owns what. Logan said we owned the apartment complex where we live. After explaining that Jean owns the buildings and we just live in them, Toby jokingly said, "so she owns my toys and all our stuff?!!" "No, we own all our things," I assured the Littles.

After a brief silence, Logan said, "Guess who owns everything on the Earth?.....Heavenly Father!"

"I wouldn't say he owns everything on the Earth. It's more like he created the Earth and loves everything on the Earth," I said.
"Yeah, and even he loves skunks?!!" Logan exclaimed.
Amen.

After a big breakfast at Naylor's, Syd said, "Mom, (big sigh) my tummy hurts.......cause I'm going to have a baby." She then walked around sticking her tummy out and rubbing it. Maybe she's been watching Auntie Lauren's tummy getting bigger lately.

Syd loves the books Pinkalicious and Purplicious. We have read them enough together that she has them almost memorized and enjoys reading them to herself. In Purplicious, Pinkalicious gets teased because she loves pink and it's a baby color to all her classmates. The book says Pinkalicious writes in her pink diary that she loves pink. Syd reading the book to herself said, "And I wrote in my pink diarrhea that pink is perfect!"

More days like this

2011-04-12T13:09:00.001-07:00

Me and the Mister had a good day. I'd venture to say our entire young family had a great day! It was busy. There were some hectic, rushed times throughout the day, but when my Man and I sat down on the couch together at the end of the night we both felt a sense of accomplishment and happiness. If only every day could be as productive and fun.

The past three months of Saturdays have been spent slaving away at my Man's office doing his remodel. Painting, ripping out carpet, and laying new laminate floor have been complicated while working around patients and massages that were scheduled during the same time. We finally got tired of trying to be quiet, dragging all the kids with us, and asking family to watch the Littles for those long days while we chipped away at the work. We decided to skip the Saturday craziness and work on Monday while the kids were at school. It was awesome to get an entire room of laminate down with no kid distractions. It was just the two of us hammering, cutting, measuring, and laughing while we finished the room. We were done before 2 PM when we weren't getting home until 5 or 6 on Saturday nights. The office is going to look so good when we are done!

After a lunch break at Chipotle, a quick visit to the dog park with Ruby, and a pit stop at Sports Basement for swimming gear for the kiddos we called our working date a success. What a treat to spend the whole day with my Man. We had a lot of fun working together. We make a great team!

Thirty minutes goes by too fast when you are speeding home to get 3 kids dressed and ready for their first day of swimming practice and to the pool on time. Again, we tag-teamed the task, getting all kids there on time with their shiny new goggles and suits. ALL THREE KIDS were so nervous to go to swimming practice. Okay, so maybe Toby wasn't all that nervous, but he doesn't really show it if he is. Things roll off his back so easy that he was along for the adventure. I think he is most willing to try new things in the pool, too. After all the kids swam the width of the pool for their coach, and learned the other kids names we were on our way home.

Applebee's saved the night for dinner since they have a kids eat for $1 special on Monday nights, and I hadn't been home all day to get something together for dinner. It was Family Night after all. I really need to get on it now about prepping dinner before we go to swimming every day.

As much as I am thankful for all we got done today, I think I would be exhausted in under a week after so much productivity every day.

Birthday celebration for Dad

2011-03-11T16:20:00.000-08:00

What a happy day yesterday! Mom and Kristy went early yesterday morning to spring Dad from his prison. He was elated to walk out of the rehab facility to get on with life and healing. Kristy said she and Mom were busy collecting all the things from his room when they looked around and couldn't find Dad. He had walked himself down the hall to the elevator while his nurse ran after him to escort him out the front doors, as is protocol. It has been so hard for Mom to travel up to be with him every day, and Dad got terribly lonely when Mom wasn't there, like during the long nights. It's going to be great for them to be home. Dad will continue to have therapists come to the house and also travel for therapy in town, but the long drives and hours apart for Mom and Dad are done. I plan on spending the days that Mom works over at their house to help out and make sure Dad is okay. He can get around pretty well with a walker, but he lost most of his strength and stamina. He came home 20 pounds lighter and our family goal is to help him lose a lot more. He knows he has to now.

The Doctors and therapists that worked with Dad loved his ever-present whit and were so surprised at how fast he progressed in his recovery. He came home teasing that he could go to work and function with half his brain tied behind his back. His speech is much better, he can eat solid food now (a big wahoo!), his facial paralysis is almost unnoticeable, and he is doing all his mental exercises to fix the connections in his brain that were damaged. Dad speaks so highly of the skilled staff that helped him, and he knows he has a long road back to %100. We are here to get him there though. I pray that dear Mom's burdens will be lightened as she is worried about working enough to cover their expenses, and is Dad's main care-giver until he can function be on his own.

Despite all the hard work ahead, we had a happy celebration tonight with Dad at home. While in the hospital, he would look at the calendar every morning to see what day it was and count how many more days until the big starred date. His sister Mary, marked yesterday as Freedom Day and Birthday on the calendar in his room, so Dad would have something to look forward to. We had a great evening celebrating his freedom!

The quickest thing we thought of whipping up for our impromptu dinner was breakfast; sausage, bacon, eggs, waffles, and tons of fruit. I know, it wasn't the best meal for those of us trying to lose weight, but we were celebrating. Dad kept saying that this was the best meal he had had in weeks. Of course, anything beats pureed food stuck into molds to form it back into the shape it started in. Breakfast for dinner topped with a piece of chocolate birthday cake for dessert made Dad a happy man.

One of the things Dad has to practice is puckering his lips. Since his first week in the hospital he said he was going to watch the "Littlest Mermaid" when he got home because he remembered Sebastian puckering his lips in the movie. "You gotta bot your eyes like 'dis. You gotta pucker up your lips like 'dis," we all recited together in the family room as we watched the Little Mermaid while eating birthday cake. Dad wasn't kidding, he had Mom put on the movie and sat there with the kids until that part came. Then he practiced with all his might to pucker his lips. He still can't quite get there, but at least he is moving the left side of his face much better than several weeks ago.

We said a late good-bye and gave Dad a huge squeeze on behalf of everyone that has been praying for his return home. God is good! He answers prayers, and seeing Dad doing better and at home is a huge answer to many prayers!

Happy Birthday, dear Dad!

P.S. The chocolate cake looked and smelled delicious, but I was strong and didn't have any. Not even a sneak off Sydney's barely-eaten piece. I can do this. I think I can, I think I can , I think I can.......

Sunny Sunday

2011-02-27T22:21:00.000-08:00

Sunday afternoons have become go-visit-Grandpa day in Oaktown, so that we can catch up on our week and give Dad some much needed company. Dad was in good spirits and excited to share the goodies with us that his sister, Mary, brought with her when she visited this past week. It wasn't a coincidence that Aunt Mary called "just to say Hi and thinking of you" the night Dad had his stroke. They are close and it meant a lot to Dad that his sister came to visit. Thank you Ron and Mary for supporting Dad by coming here for a couple days. I know it helped him feel loved and lightened his spirits. Even though he has a rigorous therapy schedule during the day, he gets so lonely back in his room. I know having family visit is the highlight of his days. We talked and laughed together in a quiet room set aside for visits on Dad's floor at the rehab facility on this sunny Sunday afternoon. The kids munched away on treats, and provided ever-present entertainment while we heard about what Dad did the last week to wake up his brain after the stroke.

Showing off his hand exercises as we first arrived

Mom tells us the Doctors are encouraged by Dad's quick recovery so far. His left-sided paralysis is decreasing, and his smile is getting much better. Mom runs him through all the facial exercises he can do to retrain those muscles, and he practices swallowing, puckering his lips, raising his eyebrows, and smiling to wake up that part of his brain that moves those facial muscles. He is much more alert and aware of what's going on in the room, as opposed to the first week where he just kept talking about the same things over and over and slept a lot. We could tell he was stressed about getting back to work and life after a couple days in the hospital, yet he didn't realize it wouldn't be possible for awhile. Yeah, that first week was hard to see my always on-the-go Dad laid up with all the desire, but no possibility of getting out of that bed right then.

J showing Gramps her robot beetle built up from tiny pieces

My Man with his girls. This picture reminds me- almost everything I have read about thumb-sucking says you have to just ignore it until the kid is ready to give it up. I can't! It drives me nuts. What to do........???

I knew Dad was coming back to us when he sat us all down for a talk. He told us the target date the Docs set for him to come home was March 10th, his birthday. Then he made us all promise to help Mom as much as possible because she was working so hard already going to work and tending to Dad's needs. He joked with my boys that they could scrub the bathrooms at his house to help Grandma and call it a "Pee-pee party." He is still a little uninhibited and the boys think it's hilarious that he talks about that sort of stuff that they are not allowed to say in front of girls.

This whole situation has forced me to think of the possibility of losing my parents, the possibility of my kids losing their parents, lots of uncomfortable things that one doesn't choose to think of often. I've had the prompting lately to dot the i's and cross those t's with regard to our financial planning, life insurance, our will, etc. We want to change some things and it's time to do it. Yesterday.

Above all, I thank God for sparing Dad's life to be with us here on Earth longer. I'm selfish that way. I want my parents around to spend time with me and my kids for as long as possible. We are so blessed that Dad is still here, doing well and on the road to recovery!

Slowly but surely

2011-02-18T14:12:00.000-08:00

Dad is doing well and was transferred to a rehab facility yesterday, although it wasn't without a fight. Mom has been waging war over the phone with their insurance company that denied Dad's request for rehabilitation. I am just as concerned about Mom getting worn down and having health problems as I am about Dad getting better.

As much progress as Dad has made in 5 days, he is still not able to take care of himself, yet they were ready to send him home yesterday. Thankfully, Mom found an advocate at the rehab facility where he ended up who helped plead their case to the powers that be. They basically had to threaten a possible lawsuit if Dad wasn't given the care he needed to get back to his functional self because of the safety issues he deals with at work. I pray that he can get back to work quickly and have a job waiting for him because it is almost all he talks about. He's gotta get out of that hospital because he has too much work to do, and they really need him because no one else knows how to run the job. Those are the types of things he has said every day I have seen him. He's probably right. As long as it motivates him to get better quickly.

The Doctors and Mom are impressed with his progress, but Mom is still worried because they haven't found out what cause the stroke. Understandably, Mom wants to have as many questions answered so they can prevent Dad from having another stroke. I just pray that Dad won't find himself in the McDonalds drive-thru anymore and take this getting healthier thing seriously. We are so blessed that he is okay and that the stroke didn't effect his memory. The part of his brain that was effected controls his reflexes like swallowing & bladder control and organizational skills. Things look good for an almost full, if not full, recovery.

Thank you to all who have been praying for Dad and Mom during this time. As a family, we have seen many little miracles and amazing improvement in Dad's situation and circumstances. He has wonderful care-givers and Doctors, and many kuddos to Mom's long hours at his side. She has spent every day at the hospital with Dad, but needs to get back to work. Now that Dad is 45 minutes away from home Mom is going to have many long, tiring days traveling from home to work to the rehab facility and back home late at night. We count our blessings that Dad is still here, is healing and had the desire to get well.

Tender Mercies

2011-02-15T17:26:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of Valentine's Day yesterday, I've been thinking a lot about all the amazing people in my life that I love and am so thankful for. I am especially grateful for both sides of my family who have pulled together to support Mom and Dad as they recover from Dad's stroke Saturday night.

It's been really hard for me seeing Dad laid up in the hospital. Each time I talk to one of my brothers I realize that, a). we can't change what happened so there is no use pining over how Dad was before the stroke and b). things could have been much worse and we still have him here with us. My husband has the same realist, no-nonsense personality which balances out my tendency to worry and let negative thoughts fester. I'm thankful for all their voices of reason to help me suck it up and get to work on improving the situation instead of worrying about how bad it could be.

I had a wonderful talk with Mom last night about the numerous small miracles that have surrounded this entire situation with Dad's stroke. I am so thankful for many tender mercies that the Lord has seen fit to grant our family at this time.

These pictures are from yesterday when Dad started to fall asleep. He was transported across the street for an MRI and worked with the speech therapist that morning, so he was ready for a snooze. Even so, I didn't see much of his eyes as he kept them shut most of the time.

I am thankful for the great care Dad is getting at our local hospital. When Mom, who works at one of the best hospitals around, is impressed with the staff and care Dad is getting, I know he is in good hands.

I am thankful Dad wasn't driving or home alone for the day when he had his stroke.

I am thankful for the power of prayer. We have already seen the benefit of faithful family and friends prayers for Dad's health and recovery.

I am thankful that Tom and Mom were able to get him to the hospital as fast as they did.

I am thankful for such loving and selfless family. Thank you Ben and Heather for making the long drive down here to support and comfort my Mom and Dad. It has meant so much to us all.

I am thankful that Mom is also in good spirits. I worry about her just as much as Dad. I know that she is being comforted and strengthened by her faith in Heavenly Father's love for her and Dad.

I am thankful Dad still has his sense of humor. The part of his brain that was effected by the stroke effects personality which means it could have turned him into a cantankerous, belligerent, old grump. We are so grateful he is still Dad, if not a little more child-like version. He is willing to do what the nurses and Docs ask him to, and wants to work hard to get out of that bed for good. He keeps the staff entertained with his humor, sometimes proving that he doesn't have much inhibition by saying inappropriate things. ;)

I am thankful for the fast progress Dad is making in his recovery. He looks so much better than 24 hours after the stroke. My Man and I went to see him Sunday night, exactly 24 hours after, and it was all I could do to hold back tears. I wasn't even very good at that. He could barely open his right eye, he could talk but not very well, he couldn't swallow, and his entire left side was weak and droopy. It's hard to see a parent slow down, but when it happened so suddenly it really knocked the wind out of me.

I just got back from a quick visit to the hospital on Dad's 3rd day after the stroke and he looks so good. I walked in to find Dad sitting up and eating! His meals are blended up hospital food and thickened liquid, but he can swallow better and started his first day back on food. The best part about seeing Dad today was that he had both eyes wide open and was watching Fox News, his favorite. Mom said he walked down the hall with the help of a walker, and has been working hard on exercises to strengthen his facial muscles. He wants to get out of that hospital room SO badly. Every time I go see him he talks about how he needs to get back to work because they need him. His attitude is positive and the progress he is making is so encouraging. We are praying that he can make a quick recovery and keep the motivation to improve his health.

My chillies made Grandpa cute cards on Sunday that we took over that night. He could barely hold them and didn't open his eyes at all to look at them. Today we took another picture on Mom's camera where Dad is holding the pictures and trying his best to smile, eyes wide open. Thank heaven for small miracles. I know that our Heavenly Father is watching over Dad and our family. I have realized in these short 3 days that this is a learning and growing experience for all of us, not just Dad.

When we visited on Sunday, Dad said the Doc asked him if he got his wife anything for Valentine's Day. Dad said he planned on picking up a box of See's chocolates and maybe flowers on his way home from work on Monday. In his mind he was going to work the next day. Monday morning we went to my Man's office to put things back together after painting all Saturday. I had to stop at the See's right by his office to get Dad that box of soft centers he was going to buy Mom. When I took Mom lunch at the hospital that afternoon, I gave Dad the box of chocolates to give to Mom. He said, "that's okay, I'm going to get some tomorrow after work." I said, "Dad, it is tomorrow and I picked them up for you to save you a trip." The rest of my stay he kept asking to have a chocolate even though we told him over and over that he couldn't eat until he passed his swallow test. "Yeah, I will," he replied. Before I left I leaned over his bed to say goodbye when he asked, "you have that candy?" "You mean the chocolates, Dad?" "Yeah, crack open that box. Let's have some chocolate." As you can see, his brain is still recovering. ;)

Nightmare

2011-02-13T00:20:00.000-08:00

I have two reoccurring nightmares since being married twelve years ago. Actually, more like eleven years ago, right before our first born came to live with us. The first nightmare that I can't seem to escape is some sort of home invasion. A burly man attacks me while I'm alone at home and I can't get help, or someone barges in the house while I'm alone with the kids. It creeps me out just thinking about it mostly awake. My second nightmare, to which I have woken up crying a couple times, is being jolted with the news that my Dad has suffered a catastrophic health crisis like a heart attack and died. I dreamt these vivid, horrible dreams mostly when I was pregnant, but tonight one of them almost came true.

My Man called me as I was taking a breather at Walmart. My shopping cart held heart chocolates for the kids to attach to their Valentine's, and I was lazily browsing my way up to the cash register. He hastily asked if I'd talked to my brother, and that my Dad was at the hospital being checked over because he collapsed at home. I have believed my dearest Dad's health to be fragile for years, and we all beg him to take better care of himself. It looks as though he has suffered a stroke, but we don't know the extent yet. I hope and pray that all is as well as it can possibly be after such an occurrence.

I'm trying to direct all my positive thoughts and prayers to Dad's recovery, but there is part of my personality that won't shut off the negative thoughts. I've got 31 flavors of what happens next churning around in my head and not many of them are good. I just saw both my parents today, and mentioned to Mom that the new diet change my Man and I have done feels great and could really help Dad. I'm not ready to lose a parent. I'm sure no one really is, so I am praying with all my heart and mind (conscious and subconscious) that Dad recovers and finds the motivation to work his way back to health. I'm here to help with salad in hand!

Held accountable

2011-02-03T11:26:00.000-08:00

My Man is on the fast track to losing weight. He looks amazing. He's also got great willpower. I want to be thinner, but I am having a problem committing. Not sure why.

SO, I hereby promise to eat sugar only one day a week.

Baby steps.

Down with the Mouse King

2010-12-19T05:39:00.000-08:00

When Toby grows up he has one more of those interesting tid-bits of information to share during a get-to-know you game or during small talk with a pretty girl. ;) Hopefully, it won't embarrass him to say that he participated in a production of the Nutcracker when he was seven. We saw his performance as a family last night and Toby did such a great job.

The entire cast and crew of Rachel's Ballet has been up at Oakland late every night from Wednesday to Saturday (and many other nights) to rehearse and perform the Nutcracker on Temple Hill. Rachel is a friend from our ward at church and asked Toby back in January if he would be willing to participate because they were short on boys. He is a brave boy, a good sport, and loves to dance, so he said of course he would. My parents got roped into it too, because Rachel was desperate for couples to dance in the opening party scene. At least that's what my Dad says, because there is no other way he would be caught dancing on stage. That and my Mom committed them before telling Dad what exactly it entailed. He's never going to live down the fancy green handkerchief he waved around the stage during the dance. ;)

The parentals with dear Marilyn. She worked magic with the costumes and we had fun during rehearsals.

Even though he complained all the way, I think Dad really did have fun.

This production of the Nutcracker was a free two-night engagement that Rachel wanted to provide to the community so they could bring families to see one of her childhood loves. I also have a fond memory of seeing the Nutcracker when I was young and wanted to share that with my chillies. The problem was always that they wouldn't enjoy it at their current young ages for the $50+ a ticket we would have to pay at the San Francisco or San Jose ballet. I was so glad Rachel asked Toby to be in it and I was happy to help so that we could be a part of this production. What a wonderful Christmas present right?

Toby's performance this weekend was even more commendable because he has been so sick all week. As a parent, they asked us to volunteer backstage for one rehearsal and one performance night, so I was also up late with Toby at rehearsal making sure he didn't hack up a lung. Poor guy. We got into a routine of taking it easy during rehearsal, going straight to bed by 11:30 or so, sleeping in (him, not me), drinking tons of water, vitamins, eating right, afternoon nap, a dose of Tylenol to keep his lingering fever in check, then back up to Oakland to do it all over again. He tried hard not to cough onstage, and thankfully, didn't need to worry about any sort of speaking part. "The show must go on" was uttered a couple times when he just didn't want to do anything. Despite feeling all-around crappy on Thursday and Friday, he soldiered on and still had a fun weekend. Rachel told me numerous times how much her and the teachers enjoyed working with Toby because he just has a natural ability to act and good stage presence. He was a natural leader for the other little soldiers that participated with him. The battle scene was the cutest part More importantly, he had fun!

Toby's favorites:

Using the popguns during the party scene (to bug the girls).

Being a soldier and shooting the big canon at the naughty mice during the battle scene.

Watching the big girls dance.

A sweet lady from church asking for his autograph after the performance Saturday night (isn't that adorable?!).

Dislikes:
Having Mom put make-up on him. He could barely stand still long enough for some dark eye shadow and liner.
Being sick and not able to run around with the other boys.

So how did the ballet fair with the rest of the family? The Littles barely made it through the second act, but loved the first act with the party scene and the big battle between the soldiers and the Mouse King. Sydney's favorite part was the adorable little sheep and their costumes. After the performance she kept asking to go see our friend Maya as the sheep. She would have taken that costume home in a heart beat. When the gingerbread house and dancers came out I whispered to Sydney, "Look at that pretty gingerbread house!" She quickly replied, "I want to eat it!" Logan was a typical uninterested little boy who barely made it through with the help of a couple iTouch games.

We sat in front of friends from our ward, and we Moms joked about how we were going to expose our kids to cultured events even if it kills them. It almost killed off Logan tonight. He was shaking with frustration a couple times towards the end. At one point Daddy told Logan to watch the show. Logan replied back with genuine frustration, "What am I supposed to watch?!" Jessie liked it, but got a little frumpy because she couldn't see very well. I'm not sure if my Man enjoyed the night or tolerated it for Toby's sake, but he did like making fun of the prince's costume. At least he sat through the whole thing and didn't leave after the first act like some friends we know. Yeah, you know who you are, wimp!

Toby made fast friends with all the girls, as is his way, ;) Here he is with the beautiful Snow Queen.

I was excited to finally see the whole show from the audience instead of snippets from backstage. It didn't disappoint. Watching the big girls stuff lambs wool between their sore toes before lacing up those tortuous toe shoes, then move so gracefully onstage was amazing. The costumes, scenery, and Rachel's ballet students were all so impressive. A couple times during the performance I reminded myself that this really was a free event. All around I think it was an awesome experience for our whole family.

Toby met up with his best bud Milo after the first performance. He was sawing logs about 15 minutes after this picture was taken. The poor kid was so tired. Funny story. When Milo's big sisters found out Toby was in the Nutcracker they were both shocked that Toby's Dad let him participate in a ballet. Apparently, my Man is too butch to have any son of his dancing on stage. We both laugh that one son has promise as a dancer and the other wants to be a "cake maker" when he grows up. We'll see if they change their minds to more 'manly' professions as they grow up. I don't think we mind either way as long as they are good at what they like to do. If this weekends performance of the Nutcracker is any indication, Toby could have a future in the performing arts.

Chaos in the Park

2010-12-07T09:44:00.001-08:00

Today is a clean-up-an-over-flowing-toilet-and-spilled-cold-cereal-all-over-the-kitchen-floor-before-7:30 AM kind of day. Let's hope the rest of the day picks up. I'm escaping here for awhile in hopes of turning the day around.

I lamented to my Man before we went to bed last night that all school should be canceled the month of December in favor of celebration and service activities, and late nights having fun. ;) The whole family had a hard time waking up this morning after a fun and late evening at Christmas in the Park for Family Night last night. December flies by so fast as it is, and I don't get those slow days where we just BE together like I wish for. Every year I imagine making beautiful gift packages for friends, cookie baking nights with the chillies, and homemade gift nights that just never happen. I WILL figure out how to make some of those happen this year. Even my Man expressed frustration with the fact that we don't have one day where there is nothing to do. Not to be misunderstood, a lot of our busy schedule is filled with good traditional activities.

We missed Dan this year as he is serving with the Air Guard in Africa over the holidays.

Christmas in the Park was eventful this year. This is the fourth year (I think?) that we have gone with my side of the family to visit the big man in red and enjoy the Christmas decorations and atmosphere.

I should have known we were in for craziness when our resident two year-old refused to take a nap. I was so busy with work and house that I didn't slow down enough to realize I should just lay down and snuggle said two-year-old to assure she would sleep. Actually, I know why I didn't; I would have fallen asleep as well and wasted an hour or so of time that I really needed to use. Sad isn't it? Most days I think of a nap for myself as a waste of time. I would escort Miss Busy-body back to bed and rush off, ignoring the sounds of play I heard every other time I walked by her room. She fell asleep at 5:30 PM on the way to San Jose. Then her dear mother accidentally squished her fingers in the door as we were leaving Aunt Lauren's house after dinner. I was spent before we even got there and felt so bad about hurting Syd which made the night even worse. Thankfully, Syd perked up to see Santa and was so excited to tell him about the "little scooter" she really wanted for Christmas. She sat on his lap like a brave girl and wouldn't leave until she told Santa all about how her Mom smooshed "these two fingers" in the door. Great. She was an over-tired, melted pool of kid on the pavement the rest of the night.

While we were in line to see Santa we spied this guy across the street doing tricks on his bike. We had to go over to get a closer look at the cyclist jumping up onto these concrete pillars. My Man, being the crazy sort of guy that he is, wanted to ask him if he would jump over one of our kids. I talked him out of that one and we proceeded on our walk around the park. Hot chocolate was calling from the other side of the park, after all.

We saw many decorated trees that ran the gamut of quality from recycled water bottles and handprints to very professionally done. The kids paired off with an aunt, uncle or Grammy and Grandpa as we walked around, and we all had fun spending the evening together with nowhere else to be. Well, except for the fighting and tantrums sprinkled throughout the night it was enjoyable. Our kids love each other so much that they love to tease too. ;)

Christmas wouldn't be complete without lights plastered on everything which the kids also enjoyed.

The Little's sat on Santa's lap and talked to him about what they wanted this year. The Bigs wanted to talk his ear off, and after their conversation and family pictures, Santa insisted Grandma have a picture taken too. Isn't it adorable?

Santa asked the kids if they had been good this year, listened to their Mom and Dad and done all their chores. I took the opportunity to chime in and ask Santa to watch very carefully to make sure they did their chores without complaining just to hit that point home. :) Sydney wasn't afraid at all of Santa this year. Last year she tolerated his lap so she could get a candy cane when she was done. This year she told Santa that she wanted a "red scooter," and listened to everything he said. Jessie asked Santa for a robotics kit, and the jury is still out if she still believes in Santa or is playing along without saying anything. Santa commented on Toby's crazy fish hat before Toby told him he "really, really, REALLY wanted a robe" for Christmas. Logan was the most reserved as he quietly asked Santa for Bakugans. He was a really kind and good-looking Santa who looked like he was having a great night talking to all the kids.

The last stop of our evening was our traditional cup of hot chocolate fully loaded with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, a candy cane and cherry on top. Despite the road bumps through the night, we did have a good time. Logan even quickly forgot that his big brother threw away his cup o'cocoa before he was done. Gramma Evie offered the rest of her hot chocolate to Logan which he finished right before Daddy came to the rescue with a new cup of whipped cream-topped goodness. By then the little Man was full and didn't want it. Figures.

Guess who drank two cups of hot chocolate last night? The slight sugar headache this morning is a nagging reminder.....

Again, it was all worth it. We had a great time. I'm thinking about, looking into, possibly wanting to plan, decorating a tree for Christmas in the Park next year. Anyone game?

Dinnertime jokes

2010-12-02T18:56:00.001-08:00

I dread dinnertime lately. Five o'clock rolls around before I know it, and by that time there IS no time to plan and cook a decent meal. I end up throwing something quick in the oven or whipping something together when the kids tummies start growling at me from across the room. Not exactly Mother of the Year material.

Tonight over our green beans, Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets and meatless corn dogs (not a punishment, they're actually good) the kids and I started talking about abbreviations and weird spellings of words when Toby said AKA while telling a story.

Logan: "What does AKA mean?"

Mom: "It's the first letters of each word in also known as. Known is spelled funny, with a silent K."

Jessie: "I hear a lot of abbreviations like that at school; ASAP is as soon as possible, G2G is got to go, TTYL is talk to you later, and LOL is laugh out loud."

*long pause*

Sydney: "Mom, there's crap on my chicken nugget."

Mom: "You mean crumbs."

Toby: *giggle* "Syd said C-R-A-P, AKA P-O-O-P!"

Logan, our cute Kindergartner, for sure knows how to spell poop, so he totally got Toby's joke. He started in with his wicked little giggle and before long the whole table was in a fit of giggles.

Syd didn't get the joke, but she really wanted to get in on the fun. All the sudden she looked at me with a grin and said, "K-O-I-T, less rock, less talk!"

Totally unexpected and hilarious! By then I was laughing out loud. I couldn't believe she remembered the call sign and slogan of KOIT 96.5, the radio station we listen to in the car. Well, she almost had it right. It's ♫"light rock, less talk. 96.5 KOIT."♫ They play 24 hour Christmas music starting around Thanksgiving and we've spent a considerable amount of time in the car lately. Kids really do say the darndest things.

Tooth Fairy under fire!

2010-11-30T23:34:00.000-08:00

I'm just gonna get this one off my chest right now. I now hate it when the Tooth Fairy is due to visit one of my offspring. I have retired from stealthy tooth-snatching duties as of this minute. The tooth fairy is now definitely male in our house. You've probably seen him in that Santa Claus movie with Tim "the Tool Man" Allen, right? You know, the tooth-collector with notably broad shoulders, a deep voice and tiny little wings? Well, in our house he has speckled gray hair, a killer smile and a huge crush on little ol' me.

The older the kids get, the more it freaks me out to trade their newest pulled molar with a handful of coins. I try to sneak under their pillows to retrieve the family tooth box, but lately I either get caught or have to blurt out a good excuse to be fumbling around on the top bunk at midnight. Even if I get the box out without a child stirring, it is a miracle if I can quietly shove it back just far enough under the pillow so it won't fall off the top bunk. All this only happens if I actually remember that it's a night that the tooth box is full and waiting under a pillow. My poor kids are now used to the Tooth Fairy being "really busy" because it takes her a couple (the record is seven) nights to remember there's a tooth waiting to be cashed in.

I really was caught red-handed while trying to trade a tooth several months ago. Toby lost his 6th tooth and I was so impressed that I remembered on night one! Hold on, let me preface this with the fact that Toby is a DEEP sleeper. We can get him up at night to pee and he won't even remember walking to the bathroom, washing his hands or climbing back up into bed the next morning. The kid talks in his sleep sometimes, and I can't wake him up to get out of his dream without pulling him out of bed. So, on this fateful night of tooth-nabbing I felt confident I could whip in, switch his tooth, quickly be in bed, and wake to shouts and cheers that the Tooth Fairy came the first night!!! I slipped my hand under Toby's pillow to find the box when he scared me by bolting upright in bed and staring over the top bunk right at me! I should have stood there and made up some white lie, but I was so scared that he woke up so fast I just ducked and ran in hopes he wouldn't see me. LOL! So lame. He said, "I caught you, MOM. You're the Tooth Fairy!" I came back in and fed him something lame like I was just checking that he was okay and that he had remembered to put his tooth under his pillow. He still ribs me that I'm the Tooth Fairy while I continue to assure him that I am not for the Little's sake.

Poor Jessie has got to know by now that Mom and Dad carry on Tooth Fairy duties in our house. She lost a molar at a friends house last Tuesday which she brought home in a plastic bag. I forgot to get it that night and then we were out of town from Wednesday to Sunday. By then it was like the tooth had never come out until Jessie complained yesterday that the Tooth Fairy still hadn't come. *Sigh* I should just break down and tell her point blank that her lame Mom can't remember to switch her tooth. Even if she suspects there isn't a Tooth Fairy, I can't do that to her. Here it is a week later, and I still haven't switched that darn molar. I went to do so just now when two things foiled my plan; 1) I couldn't find the silly tooth box. Heck, I'm not even sure she put it in the tooth box! and 2) she totally woke up while I was trying to gently swipe under her pillow for the dang thing. It was easy to tell her I was looking for a rice bag to heat up because she currently has a bunch of stuff cluttering her bed. All that clutter means there is no flippin' way I'm going to locate a small tooth box in the dark while J is still semi-awake. I gave up until she's gone to school tomorrow to find the dumb tooth for tomorrow night. Heck, I almost left the quarters I had set aside with a note under her pillow that said, "Please give your tooth to your Mom because your bed was too messy for me to find it. Your Mom will turn it in to me tomorrow night."

Ugh. I'm such a bad Mom when it comes to the Tooth Fairy. That's why I've decided to put this one off on Dad. He can get caught with his hand in the fire once or twice for a change. We'll see how well he dances then. ;)

Did I mention that Logan has his first loose tooth as of last week...........

Maintenance Monday

2010-11-20T11:08:00.001-08:00

We run into some strange people and even stranger circumstances managing an apartment complex. There was that time when a tenant burned right through the kitchen linoleum and set his drapes on fire with a hot plate that tipped over. I didn't even witness that aftermath until he moved out months later. There was another incident when an old lady's pressure cooker exploded on the stove and shot the lid right through the stove hood and up to the ceiling. The hood and fan were ruined, and there was half-cooked rice on every inch of the kitchen. She tried to say it was the stove's fault. Seriously.

Sometimes, my (maintenance) Man and I crack up at the funny ways people try to tell us about things that need attention in their apartments. I thought it would be fun to share some of those here.

Here's a poor soul whose electrical outlet in the living room is shorting out and needs rewiring. He said it like this; "The electric line in the living room has problem. I open the light, but it turn off quickly every time. I can hear sound like Ka Ka Ka."

Here's one that we never quite figured out. "Moth built sand house inside one of the cabinet." I didn't know moths were such accomplished carpenters.

The overly dramatic, "my heater is just not working please hurry before we freeze to death." It was the end of November and I'm pretty sure the temperature wasn't below mid-40's that year.

"The toilet paper holder is unglued old got dried out." Besides some editing problems, this tenants complaint described a new TP holder being mysteriously ripped out despite the careful use of her 4 kids.

Property management has proved to not only be a huge learning experience, but very entertaining as well.

Kibble and Bits

2010-11-08T09:43:00.001-08:00

At the dinner table on Sunday night we were talking about dog food. Delicious, right? Daddy referred to dog food as kibble; Kibble & Bits.

Toby asked, "What is Kibble & Bits?"

Jessie pipes up, "I know, me and Toby are the Kibble and Logan and Syd are the Bits."

My Man and I busted up laughing, and J was a little embarrassed until we assured her she made a funny joke. The kids are used to us calling the younger ones Littles and the two older kids are the Bigs. So naturally, Jess thought it was a term of endearment for our kids.☺ Now we have another term of endearment to call our different aged kids. They are all still chillies, and we now have the Littles/Bits (5 and under) and the Bigs/Kibble (7 and up). Gotta make this crazy zoo fun and interesting, right? When we are running errands or deciding who takes kids to what event or family members house to stay, it's much easier to split up the Littles with an older kid. My Man and I communicate faster calling them by their nicknames.

Isn't it fun to get a glimpse into the mind of a child? I still laugh about Kibbles & Bits.......

Costumes and Candy Weekend

2010-11-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

With bringing home Ruby late Friday night, our Halloween weekend was set up to be a little chaotic. The Mister pretty much took charge of all things Ruby, so I had time to sew on last minute things to various costumes, whip together my Man's costume needs, and get cupcakes baked for the church Halloween party Saturday night.

Our ward activities committee puts on a sweet Halloween bash every year, and this year didn't disappoint. We got there a little late because Ruby needed to go potty before we could leave and painting everyone's face took a little longer than I expected. Once we arrived though the whole family had a great time. There were lots of carnival games, cotton candy and popcorn, Jessie and the other girls her age ran a face-painting booth, the ever-popular bounce house, and trick-or-treating upstairs rounded out the night. I was so impressed with the huge spread of cupcakes that members brought for the cupcake contest.

This huge table was full of such cool cupcake creations!

I ran out of time to really decorate my cupcakes like this for the party, but the ones I took won best tasting. Thank you Better Homes and Garden's sweet potato cupcake recipe for that one. They are so divine; fresh sweet potatoes, cream cheese frosting, and a little orange zest on top, the perfect autumn treat! Never mind the calorie count and number of fat grams per cupcake. I made the mistake of reading the nutritional info at the bottom of the recipe. You ready for this? 17 grams of fat in one cupcake! Today I ate the last three that were staring at me on the counter. I couldn't resist those chocolate eyes staring at me. I probably shouldn't eat until Wednesday to balance things out.

I went easier on myself this year with making less costumes than usual. Syd, Mr. Cooper, Jessie's, and my costume were mostly store and thrift store finds. My Man's voodoo man costume is a thrift store suit, a dress shirt altered into a vest, and some store bought accessories. Toby's costume was my main creation. Toby was not onboard with our skeleton theme this year (he insisted on being a "skeleton ninja"?), so the only way he agreed is if he could be Skeletor. His costume started with this women's light blue sweatshirt from the thrift store, dyed purple here.

After a couple baths in purple dye and lots of puzzle-piece altering, I transformed said sweatshirt into this.

It turned out well for 1 1/2 days work and Toby loves it. At first Tob didn't want to have his face painted yellow. After explaining that no one would know he was Skeletor without his signature yellow face he agreed to let me try it out. He left it on the entire day and didn't want to wash it off for bed. ;) Toby won scariest costume at the church party too.

After a non-spooky morning at church on Sunday, with sugared-up kids, we came home to spend the day with family. The kids carved pumpkins while Grammy Evie and I prepped pizza toppings. Home made pizza has become a weekly ritual that we missed out on while traveling to pick up Ruby on Friday, so a family Halloween dinner was the perfect excuse to make pizzas. Afterward, we threw costumes on the kids (no time for face paint) and met some good friends up at the in-laws for a quick visit. We caught up on life, the boys kept an eye on the baseball game, and we walked a few streets to trick-or-treat with them. Funny, we could tell right away what neighbors were watching the Giants play in the World Series because the game was blaring from the open door, or the resident would shout out the score to all the adults standing on the sidewalk. It was nice to touch base with friends that we don't see often enough, even though they live ten minutes away. I need to be better about extending myself that way.

Yes, those are pizza toppings hanging out right next to the pumpkin guts. We're daring like that.

The Great Pumpkin pulled off his annual visit despite not being prepared at all. He, she in this case, whipped up some change holders to give the kids in exchange for most of their candy. They got to pick a handful of their favorites to keep, and the rest went away. Now if only I could get rid of the Costco-sized bag of chocolate on my closet floor that we didn't give out we would be in great shape.......

Niece Maddie (5 months old) getting to know the new pup, Ruby (9 weeks old).

Software upgrade

2010-11-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

A few entries ago I mentioned how the Mister and I have been talking in code around the house to keep a certain surprise on the down low for weeks. It didn't take us long to code name said surprise as "software." We could almost freely discuss plans for a software upgrade, different kinds of software, extras that go with the software, etc. The kids had no clue what we were talking about and time marched on.

About the same time, the Mister decided to tell the kids that we were having a special visitor come to the house soon. We decluttered rooms, cleaned up the back yard junk, moved furniture around, and tried to train the kids to keep their toys put away and stuff off the floor, so that our visitor could be comfortable when they came. A couple weeks ago we told the kids that it was almost time to go pick up our visitor. They didn't mind too much that we would be gone on the Friday before Halloween for all their parties at school because the mystery visitor that the Mister was talking up for weeks would be coming home with us.

We decided to take the whole family on the road trip down to southern California to pick up our "visitor," so we could split up the 15 hour drive into two days. I thought it was a great excuse to sleep in a Marriott bed again, and I knew the kids would love another night in a hotel after our summer trip to Oregon. We left on Thursday night and got to the hotel in Bakersfield a little after midnight. After a disappointing nights sleep, ( I woke up at 5 AM and couldn't get back to sleep even on that wonderful Marriott bed!) we ate an early breakfast in the hotel and went for an hour swim before getting on the road again. The kids loved the nice pool and spa surprise which I was banking on.

Here's where the story of what really happened and what I wanted to happen differ. Sorry babe, we should have done it my way. ;)

You know those Disneyland commercials where Mom and Dad videotape their kids reaction to the news that they are soon going on a trip to the Magic Kingdom? The kids reactions are priceless as they scream, jump up and down, or just stand their with a mystified look of happiness on their face. That's kind of the scenario I wanted to set up with our chillies when we told them that our "visitor" was actually this little beauty that was staying with us for keeps.

They would have flipped out and been so surprised. The anticipation and excitement would have built to a tangible level on the 3 hour drive down to pick her up, so that by the time we rolled up to the breeder's house the kids would have jumped out of their seats. I was curious to hear all the things they would talk about that they wanted to do with their new puppy, what they wanted to name her, what she would look like, etc. It would have been awesome!

Instead, the whole situation went like my Man planned except, unfortunately, it backfired big time. The kids were thinking someone like Aunt Tori, or their cousins, or some other relative was coming to stay with us. We did say "visitor" remember? We still made that 3 hour drive, but the kids were totally in the dark and a little short-tempered by that time. When we finally rolled through the breeder's front gate in the middle of the barren desert ALL the kids were asleep. The Mister wanted to go in, get the puppy, and walk out, puppy in hand, to be met with shouts of surprise and cheers of delight.

Well, after waking up all the kids, laying out a blanket quick so we could sit, and being surprised myself with how quick my Man came out with her, we all just kinda stood there. The kids had no clue what to think. They didn't get it and were probably too out of it to understand Daddy was bringing out our new puppy, not just a visitor. Sadly, it was a very anticlimactic introduction. Mr. Cooper asked, even after we explained that she was ours, if we were going to bring her back to that place. We should have done it my way. ;)

Aren't those wrinkly puppy haunches and faces adorable? They have so much extra skin waiting to be filled out. And just in case you were wondering how big she will get, notice the considerable size of those 8 week-old paws.

Our house is now filled with chew toys, a big old crate, dog food (weird), and oh yes, poop bags. We named her Ruby and she is a Red/Rust Doberman. She's 8 1/2 weeks old in these pictures, but she's going to grow so fast. I'm kinda sad that she won't be tiny for long, but no peeing at a moments notice is a favorable trade-off!

Busy is good

2010-10-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

The last two days were so busy I think the most time I spent home during those days were a couple 90 minute stretches. For the amount of work I'm supposed to be doing in the next week that's not good odds. I really felt like the stereotypical Mom-taxi all Wednesday and Thursday. Actually it was more like a personal escort because I walked most of the time.

Wednesdays have turned into back and forth madness to school and such. Jess has running club early in the morning, then boys to school, then me to Logan's class and home with him, then back to get Jessie since it's an early day, then back to pick up Toby, and finally Jess to and from sewing.

Thursday was more of the same with Syd and I making two extra trips to the boys school to watch them run in the annual fundraiser. Add in some plumbing problems at the apartments, juggling that schedule with meeting the plumber, and it made for one hectic day.

Thank goodness for Fridays! The pressure is off and I can relax a little bit to concentrate on my list and relaxing with the kids. Wait, it's really Friday already? I suppose that's one good reason to be actively engaged. Time zooms right by.

I know this isn't a record for me, but check out how fast these pictures made it to cyber-space. This was yesterday folks. Talk about an update!

Below are all 3 school-aged kids running at the Fall Stampede. We don't really care about how much money we raise (if any), but how many laps were run. The kids like to try to outdo their laps ran from last year. Mr. Cooper ran 14, Toby ran 18, and Jess ran a much longer 20 laps. There's so much difference in personality between these three. Logan was just going along with the flow, and was ready to quit half way through. Toby was out there dancing, hopping and playing for the duration. I noticed he ran with the same cute girl the whole time, and would speed up every time he came our way. Jessie is a fierce competitor already, so she took this lap running stuff seriously. I've learned she just needs a lot of encouragement and support. There is usually no need to motivate her because she drives herself pretty hard as it is.

In other news, Halloween costumes are coming along slowly, and if I can reproduce what I imagine them to be it will be a great year! It IS proving harder to do a family theme every Halloween as the chillies get older. This year was definitely a compromise. One week left until the big church party. It's gonna be spooktacular!

First facial

2010-10-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

I experienced my first professional facial last night at Burke Williams spa. My wonderful sis-in-laws, Denise and Marci, surprised me with a spa night for my birthday. It was fabulous.

We marinated and talked for an hour in the spa while replenishing fluids with fruity, cucumber water. Then I was whisked away by Mimi the aesthetician for an hour-long facial. It didn't seem like an hour at all. The experience was great, but I've decided a full facial is the yin and yang of basic spa treatments all wrapped in one hour. The first half hour was blissful relaxation as a prelude to the pain of cleaning out my larger-than-I-wish-they-were pores. Mimi applied a variety of pleasant-scented cleansers, exfoliating scrubs, and an extra Vitamin C peel (since it was my birthday) to my face and neck. Adding the neck, arm and feet massage, with a parafin wax treatment on my hands just for fun, and I almost asked her to just leave me there for a nap.

I knew the next part was not going to be pleasant, but did she really have to relax me to the point of sleeping just to hurt me? Those who have experienced a facial know, the next step to a refreshed face was the extractions. Extractions. It's such a nice way to say squeezing the guts out of your pores until tears fall down your cheeks. Literally. I think one of the little folds in my ear filled with tears while I was lying there at Mimi's mercy. "Beauty hurts" is not a lie. My nose is still tender.

In the end, I really did feel fabulous and walked out of there committed to take better care of myself. I splurged on a few skin care products to help me out. I'm feeling the effects of the sun and getting older, and I don't think my under $10 products from the drugstore are going to cut it anymore. I have a reputation to uphold you know. My Mom and Grandma look amazing at their ages because of how well they have taken care of their skin. Hopefully there's some magic in the family genes that passed down to me too. It's my Mom-mode that puts my needs last which usually get forgotten or sacrificed because of lack of time and energy on my part.

That needs to change.

I'm trying.

This was a good baby step.

Thanks 'Nise and Marci!

Oh, the picture at the top? That's the best my cell phone would do of the pretty floating rose petals while we waited to eat at Amber after the spa. My Man doesn't like Indian food, so when Marci suggested this place I was all for it. I could ramble on about all the different curries, clove, cinnamon, cardamom, mint, lentils, and many strong flavors I love in Indian food.

The meal we shared was outstanding. We tried some delicious potato and goat cheese appetizers, a chicken kabob dish, and my favorite, a coconut-curry chicken with rice. We all wanted more Naan bread to soak up the left over sauce it was THAT good. So flippin' delicious! The flavors were incredible and we had a great time sharing good food. I could have taken a little more heat even. I thought of my Grandpa P who loved eating and sharing food with his family from all over the world. He passed on that love to me too.

The three of us have decided to make spa night a tri-annual (or quarterly) thing. Might I suggest we share an Indian meal every time too?! :)

Halloween rush

2010-10-18T23:14:00.000-07:00

So much is happening in the next 2 weeks that I almost feel paralyzed as to where to begin. Halloween costumes need to be finished and I haven't even sat down at the sewing machine yet. The house is in major need of a purging that has to be done by next Thursday. I can't say why yet. ;) The Mister's parents are moving in a few weeks too, and we have an entire shed full of kids clothes, dusty wedding presents (how bad do we need those), and misc. stuff in their side yard that has to go. I don't think I can make it all happen. Add in a Kindergarten field trip, school parties, some babysitting, kids activities, and the regular chores and I'm back to feeling paralyzed. Isn't life fun? I really am happy and trying to take deep breaths and enjoy the ride.

We have a special visitor coming next weekend. The Mister has been driving the kids crazy with his cryptic clues and hints that we all need to get the house and things in order for this special visit. If he keeps talking about it I think they will explode. It's gonna be great though. I'm still really freaking out!!

My husband rocks! He surprised me and bought this vintage skirt for me. It's going to be part of my Halloween costume and an awesome skirt to wear when I feel like dressing up a bit. Did I mention the flowers are lined with sequins? Beautiful. So not my style in my younger days, but I'm finding my taste in everything is starting to lean toward more daring, artsy and colorful things. Color makes life so much more fun.

Picture Size:

2010-10-12T15:08:00.000-07:00

Logan and his buddy Dallin played Batman today in his room while I put up some Halloween decorations. As I tuned in to what they were saying I heard the following;

D: "Logan let's play something because my Mom and Dad will be back soon, and I will be so sad if we don't play."

They started a battle with Batman toys.....

L: "Dallin, you be a 'psychiologist.' A psych-i-ologist (not a regular psychologist) is a person who rescues animals."

Hilarious.

Reality hits

2010-10-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

*Big Sigh* Back to the same old routine today. Reality actually hit last night, after the Mister and I got back from our weekend away, when it was time to feed the family dinner. What? You mean I couldn't just walk with my Man to a take-out place of our choosing for dinner? I had to provide a meal for more than the two of us? It was a wake up call that our lazy weekend was over. So I did what any recovering Mother that wasn't quite back into Mom-mode would do and laid out the cold cereal for dinner. Mr. Cooper actually asked for chicken soup instead. Figures.

I did miss our young-ins though. I don't know if they missed US much. They all had wonderful weekends at Grandparents/Aunts and Uncles houses. We heard about finding a snake in Grandpa Dave's backyard, Jessie's manicure with Grandma Grace, crafting with Grandpa Bob, a pizza party, watching cartoons, sleeping in Aunt Tori's old room, playing with Uncle Sam, pillow fights, movies, and yummy food. They had a great weekend too. Syd seems older and sassier after being away from her for two measly days. They change so fast it's really not fair.

Syd has a special place in her heart for Grandma Evie. She didn't look back when she drove away with Grandma Evie on Friday afternoon. When we got home yesterday Aunt 'Nisey told us just how much Syd likes Grammy Evie. Syd stayed with 'Nisey Saturday afternoon while Toby and Grandparents N were at Nutcracker rehearsal. Syd looked at 'Nisey while they were hanging out and exclaimed, "I'm going to call you Grammy Evie! Grammy Evie, will you get me a drink of water?" It was Gramma Evie this and that the rest of the afternoon until Syd fell asleep under baby Maddie's play gym.

Last night while I was tucking Syd into bed she looked at me sideways, paused, and said, "Mom, I'm going to call you Grammy Evie, okay?! G'night Gramma Evie.   Wait, can you get me a drink of water in a sicky (sippy) cup with a lid on it, please? Thanks Gramma Evie!" The girl is pure entertainment.

We had a short Family Home Evening lesson, caught up on what everyone did over the weekend and then split up to get ready for bed. My little chef, Logan, and I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies while everyone else showered and jammied, and then it was off to bed for the chillies.

You caught that right? Cold cereal and cookies for dinner. The kids want us to go away more often. ;)

They say it's your birthday

2010-10-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

Yep, the fam all wished me Happy Birthday this morning. It's a good thing I don't get too hyped up for my own birthday because it's not going to feel much like a special day. Don't get me wrong. It's gonna be a good day, but I'm fighting "why does this have to be done/have to happen ON my birthday" grumpiness. There are loads of laundry to put away, a dirty house yelling at me, and oh yeah, CRAMPS! Aaargghhh! Even Mother Nature, Tampax-style, couldn't pass up breaking her usual schedule so I have something else to worry about. Not to mention the extra kick in hormones that are making it really hard to be happy. I just want to punch something. It wouldn't be as big of a deal if the Mister and I hadn't planned a getaway for this weekend. Now I get to enjoy my time alone with my Man, cramps, headache and bloating. Blech. Blargh. Blah. I know it's a trivial detail in the big scheme of things, and I feel slightly lame for complaining about it. We've been looking forward to this little vacation for awhile, so the ideal weekend I had pictured in my head is now crowded by an unwelcome third party!

Okay, it feels better to have that off my chest. I'll stop whining now and get to work. Gotta go pack everyone's bags for our weekend adventures, get the birds ready to stay with Grandma E, and clean up the house with the time I have left. I really am excited to get away for awhile.

Making snickerdoodles into the wee hours of the morning for Logan to take to school. Look, I am exactly 30-something years old!

Speaking in code

2010-10-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

As parents, sometimes we find it necessary to speak in code so the offspring doesn't know what we are talking about. Pig latin worked great until Jessie figured it out at age 7 and taught the boys how to understand it. We don't know another legitimate language to speak freely, so we have started talking in code.

Since Christmas is coming and we have a few surprises up our sleeves for the family, we have been talking in code a lot lately. Sometimes we slip, but thankfully, it's either not heard or no one within ear shot catches our slip. The Mister and I sound like computer geeks (no offense Grandpa, we really appreciate your computer prowess and expertise) talking about "software, software registration, items to go with the software, those things with round shapes attached, etc." The older kids are smart enough to figure things out soon, so we can't speak openly around them too much. Fun stuff though.

Stay tuned for software updates to come.......

2010-09-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

A preview of lots of vacation pictures to come. Hopefully soon.

Anxious

2010-09-15T17:40:00.001-07:00

I am so excited! The next 2 1/2 weeks can not go by fast enough because this room is waiting for the Mister and I in Tahoe for an anniversary weekend. It's all booked for a great deal. Kids aren't even allowed at this hotel. Oh yeah, baby! We haven't had a decent date in a long time, so the prospect of spending an entire weekend just me and the Mister has got me very anxious. I'm looking forward to sleeping in with NO interruptions, hiking, eating out, marinating in that huge tub, reading for as long as I want, and spending lots of time in bed. ;) Happy anniversary to us!

42

2010-09-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

Forty two.

That's how many blog posts are sitting in draft mode here in my little speck of cyber-space.

It's pathetic, I know.

I got behind during a hard time for me last December and never recovered.

The perfectionist in me insisted on adding pictures and getting everything right before I posted all the backlog at once.

I realize that's never gonna happen, but I need to keep it up for me and my family's sake.

I'm trying my best to get caught up.

It will happen slowly but surely instead.

For now, I'm pleased to be posting again.

So is my Mister who hasn't let up!

This one's for you, Daddy.

2010-09-02T18:43:00.000-07:00

What's up with the heat wave the week school starts? It's a huge tease. We can't stay out late and hang out at the Grandparents pool because everyone is up early for school in the morning. Lame.

2009-12-29T20:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Bones!

I think he will be the first to admit he has an awkward birthday. It's four days after Christmas! Enough said. One of the great things though, is that my Man usually has most of the week off between Christmas and New Year's, so we have a lot of down time as a family. We are all home today with nothing pressing except celebrating our hubby's/daddy's birthday. Thanks for being born Bones! :)

Our chillies really get into giving Daddy surprises. Even Logan, whose younger age made it hard to keep secrets in the past, is getting better at not spoiling surprise presents. We found a Bocci ball set cheap at Target which the kids wrapped up and decorated for Daddy, our resident game-lover. This year I surprised my Man with a watch that he really wanted. I love the Man, but his watch collection is getting almost crazy. I don't know what possessed me to add to it other than that part about me loving him and wanting to make him happy. He was kinda surprised....

Sometimes I look at my Man and see the high school guy with bright eyes and that killer smile that I started to fall in love with. I can't believe we are now 30-somethings with four kids and grown-up responsibilities. He really is a catch and I'm glad we have another happy year under our belts.

Christmas Choir

2009-12-10T12:57:00.000-08:00

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! ;)

Anyone for a mini-album?

2009-12-07T10:02:00.001-08:00

PSA: If you are too lazy to pick up your dog's crap while out on a walk then you shouldn't be a dog owner!! Just a little pet peeve after my jog this morning.

One more PSA: Podrunner is the coolest thing to listen to while running if you are not a fan of running, like me. Go there, download and have fun. It's going to help me shed alllll the Christmas season pounds plus some.

I had high expectations of completing an album this December documenting our Christmas activities and traditions throughout the month. For me, December goes by so fast that just as I'm getting into the magic and wonderfulness of the season it is promptly over. Having a project just about December gave me an excuse to slow down, concentrate on our traditions and plan some fun activities to celebrate the Christmas season. There are different versions out there that give instructions to complete one such album. December Daily and Journal Your Christmas are a couple. I received all the instructions and journaling prompts to complete a different one, but I decided to do it too late. The point of the project is to do most of the work before December 1st hits so that writing info and taking photos are the only daily part left. The first week in December passed by with no progress. Since I am still taking a picture (at least) a day for my Project 365 album, I decided that was good enough. I will focus on Christmasy stuff as much as possible and call it good.

As soon as I let go of that expectation to create a separate book I am much less stressed and down on myself. Who needs that negative self talk everyday anyway? and especially over a small thing? Not this lady. It's on for next year though. If anyone wants to join me, it's a great excuse for a couple crafty girls nights in October and November. I have all the directions and journaling prompts. I feel like the magic of Christmas that comes with having little kids in the house is going by too fast, so I want to remember as much of these years as I can.

*Our family on December 1st*

Half-full kinda gal

2009-11-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-24T14:03:00.000-08:00

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?

2009-11-19T09:31:00.000-08:00

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.

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

2009-11-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-20T14:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-19T23:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-17T23:07:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-12T23:51:00.001-07:00

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.

2009-09-03T17:09:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-16T15:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-03T23:45:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-08T12:47:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-06T00:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-02T17:26:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-06-29T23:31:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-23T22:56:00.000-07:00

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!

Slow down and enjoy the ride

2009-06-20T23:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of those wonderful days where I felt like a successful parent, our family enjoyed each others company, had lots of fun, and we got a lot done- all in the same day. I got up early to get J out the door to her softball clinic, and then crawled back into bed with the Mister. He didn't have to be to work until 11ish, so we spent the morning together. I do have a love/hate relationship with his schedule. Yesterday it was all love.

We got up late and ate breakfast with the kids who were playing peacefully in various rooms. The rest of the day was mostly getting crazy with color on the kids hair. Now that I think about it, Dave is the one who starts all these insane ideas like putting temporary color in the kids hair, and then he leaves (for work) the actual doing part to me. We read, played games, and watched movies most the afternoon while I did this:I relented and did the Kool Aid color on Toby's hair. He thinks it's awesome!Mr. Cooper thinks it's cool that we can play checkers on his head. He could never sit still long enough though.

Jessie has purple highlights in her hair that she likes a lot, but she thinks they should be brighter. She didn't understand at first that to get her hair as bright as the purple-haired lady on the box we would have to bleach her hair first. That is one step further than I'm willing to go and told J she would have to wait until at least high school for that one.

I don't know why this happens, but every time I try to get out the door or have someplace to be there is something at home that draws my attention which I would rather stay home to do. It's time to go to J's softball game, but I really need to deep clean my room right now. Our friends are waiting at the park to play, but I have to get all this laundry done first. That sort of thing. It's like a cruel joke I play on myself that I'm motivated to do things when I should be leaving the house.

Last night was the same feeling of being pulled to stay home when there was somewhere to be, but the kids and I were having such a great time together. We had planned to go to an Elders Quorum BBQ at the park close by. It would be a fun outing where I could visit and kids could play, plus it would kill lots of time since Dave was working a soccer game on family movie night. Since the BBQ wasn't until 6:30 PM I planned on fixing an early dinner then going to hang out. The kids can't last until 7ish to eat, so we had a quick meal of Ling-Ling pot stickers from Costco (love those!!!) and fried rice at 5. When it was time to pack up and leave, the chillies and I were playing games without any fighting and I didn't want to ruin the fun. This was a refreshing change to the constant fighting we had all week. I can't really explain it, there was just a sweet, wonderful spirit with us as we played games, had tickle wars, wrestled on the lawn, snuggled and flew the kids on my feet (one of their favorites). There was no way I was going to break up our delightful evening. I took a U-turn with our plans and the kids didn't even notice. We jammied up and watched Bedtime Stories while I ran into the kitchen every 10 minutes to put in a fresh batch of Snickerdoodles. I enjoyed every moment.

Right before bedtime, I sat on the kitchen floor blowing bubbles for the littles and thought about what made this day so much better than others. I came to the conclusion that it was MY attitude that was different. Then the saying, 'when Mom is happy, the family is happy,' popped into my head. I completely agree. Sure, there are some days where no matter what I do there is contention or problems in our home. For the most part though, I know that I can turn around a cruddy day with my actions and attitude. I let the little annoyances go, got down on my kids level and simply enjoyed their company. It may sound lame and sappy, but it made for an awesome day.

Summer is HERE!!

2009-06-18T14:21:00.000-07:00

Thank the stars above, we are done with another year of school. My hopes of sleeping in came true this morning after I rolled out of bed at 8:22 AM. Beautiful. Jessie even snuck in and took Syd out of her crib when she woke up so she wouldn't get loud. Fabulous start to the summer.

Yesterday was our family's third annual Crazy Hair Day. The last day of school we bust out the clippers, hair elastics, and, if Dave had his way, Kool Aid hair dye to have some fun with the kids hair.I tried to do some corn row style braids in J's hair but they just weren't working so this was our plan B- the lattice. It looks pretty sweet for being really easy to do. We watched The Deadliest Catch (we were drooling over all that crab) after J's softball game on Tuesday night and did her hair. She loved staying up late- she always does. Toby was ready to sport a red, KoolAid-dyed mohawk, but a). we ran out of time to color it and b). I chickened out. I really didn't want red stains all over clothes, pillow cases and towels. I told him I'd get out the colored spray paint from the Halloween box instead. He was still happy to go to school with it spiked up and it stayed all day. As I dropped Tob off at school the first lady that saw him said, "Whoa! Cool mohawk dude!" Toby said, "Thanks! It's crazy hair day today." Apparently, one of the boys in his class told Toby he looked like a duck which bummed him out a little. After we talked about how it didn't really matter what that boy thought, he was cool and still happy to strut his mohawk around town.

Logan was overtired and fell asleep in the early afternoon on Tuesday, so we didn't get a chance to cut his mohawk. I think it will be a Dad/Mr. Cooper activity on Friday because Mr. Coop says he wants a checkboard design on his head and I have no idea how to do that one. Good luck babe. Mr. Cooper, however, is still just as crazy with his normal haircut.And not to be out done, Syd was a clueless participant in the near butchering of her own hair thanks to her big brother who thought he could give her a crazy hair cut this morning with the craft scissors. Maybe I shouldn't sleep in anymore....... :-( Thankfully, it's not too noticeable. She's just a little thin on her front right side.

This is the look I get lately when I catch Syd up on the table or flinging a roll of toilet paper to the ground, two things she loves to do all the time. Here she is reading a Human Anatomy book on the table after breakfast with that look like, "I'm busy! Don't you think about taking me off this table." That's what I felt like she was saying anyway.

Boys are weird

2009-06-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

I'm glad I'm not a boy. This is what I heard today that further confirmed that fact.

"DAD! I did it! (Tob was a little stopped up and finally relieved his bowels)

Dad walks into the bathroom, "Whoa! Dude, you gotta give that one a name! That thing is huge! That's a gut buster, etc"

Dad walks out to me and says, "There's your picture of the day in there."

Ew, gross. I think I'll pass.

In less graphic news, J and Tob finished baseball season last Saturday.

Jessie got the game ball for her solo out at 2nd in her closing day game. It's a good thing she had a great game because she was the only team member who hadn't been given a game ball yet. She keeps track of those sort of things and felt completely gypped in previous games because she was always one of a few people that had great games and didn't get the game ball. I prayed a few times that morning that she would have fun and get an out or two in the process, so she would have a shot at the game ball. Is that a silly thing to pray for? Nevermind. I don't think so because J's future in baseball/softball might very well be in jeopardy if she felt at all slighted her first year playing and she really enjoys it. She holds on to things as long as an elephant and they never forget, right? J is an awesome batter. I think she may have struck out less than 5 times the whole season. She liked playing short stop and looks forward to next year. Toby had a great year in T-ball and improved a lot. He likes playing catcher the most because he gets the ball every play. Tob was the master of monster hits and would often hit them way out on the grass while most other hits stayed infield. He went from a newbie dancing around on the field and playing in the dirt to actually watching the game and cheering on his team. Tob had a great last game too that ended with a solo out at 3rd the last inning.

I asked the kids to give me their best 'tough guy' face and J about knocked me over with hers. She shoots me that look when she wants to talk back and it kills me every time.

After the games the kids enjoyed the bounce house, massive amounts of sugar and watching J's coach get dunked in the booth as part of the closing day carnival. I wish they would have had that bounce house at every game. Mr. Cooper spent over an hour jumping in there while I watched games, and went to bed with no complaints that night. J's team had a last huddle around donuts, milk and juice so coach could give out trophies and a new Cubs hat. The trophy was a neat surprise for J and I wish I would have brought the camera. I left it home because it was raining when we left for the games and I didn't want to bother keeping it dry. I should have known it would clear up and be beautiful 3 hours later.

Antsy

2009-06-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

All this talk among friends and family whose kids are already out of school is making me anxious. I was ready for school to end back in April after spring break. We just crashed and burned on a non-fiction book report for Jessie because a). the last 2 weeks have flown by with lots on our schedule and b). neither Jess or I have been motivated to get it done. I've been trying to hold in my excitement for school to end, so it wouldn't rub off on the kids. I know they are excited too. Stay tuned for our annual crazy hair week next week. That one is all Dave- he started the tradition of doing the kids hair crazy for the last couple days of school. J and Tob are really excited.

I love the slower pace of summer. We are going to plan lots of day trips, set some goals for the next few months, and just have fun. Jessie wants to work on her cooking skills, reading, and go to a museum. Toby is going to keep practicing his reading so he can be the best reader in 1st grade. Mr. Cooper is going to work on lots of things like asking instead of sneaking and staying out of people's personal space. Dave and I are going to simplify, save and stock up. All the kids can't wait to go camping at the end of July. I dare say that one of the 3 oldest kids asks at least once a month, every month, when we are going to go camping again. They really love it!

Most of all, I am looking forward to taking the first week off and sleeping in! And by sleeping in I mean staying in bed until after 8 AM and letting the kids come snuggle in my bed, read books, play and just chill until our tummies grumble for food. It would be a simple miracle if the kids were actually quiet enough for me, and Dave, to really sleep in. Sometimes, they do love to sneak around and play quietly when they wake up too early so we'll see.

Toothless Grin

2009-06-03T23:38:00.000-07:00

When I picked up Mr. Toby from Kindergarten today he was shoving his tongue into his bottom lip to wiggle a loose tooth. I think the idea of a tooth falling out kinda freaked the Man out because it has been loose for weeks and he hasn't touched it. I commented that his tooth was getting really loose and would come out soon. He said, "Yeah! Maybe it will come out by the time I turn seven!" When I told him it would come out in the next couple days he didn't believe me.
After dinner and teeth brushing tonight Toby's tooth was literally hanging by a thread. Daddy got involved and it was all over. He told Toby his tooth would come out with one yank and asked him if he wanted him to do it. Toby surprised me with his answer. First off, he's pretty sensitive to the sight of blood and kinda freaks out when he gets hurt, so I thought he was going to chicken out and just go to bed. He said, "nope, I'll do it!" as we all crowded in the bathroom to watch. He grabbed that tooth and yanked it out on the first try. Then he just stood there looking at the hole in his mouth and the little bit of blood that followed. Tough boy.

It was cute to see Jessie and Logan just as excited as Toby that he pulled his tooth out. J "helped him" get his tooth under his pillow, and Tob did a few happy dance laps around the house before bed. The tooth fairy even remembered to visit already and sent him a note about being so brave and a crispy dollar. How's that for inflation? I remember getting a quarter, maybe two, from the tooth fairy. These days that would not even buy a postage stamp.

I love my little man and his toothless grin.

TGIF!!

2009-05-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

First off-

Happy Birthday Ashlynn!!

I remembered all day yesterday to call you as soon as the kids got home from school. After a fractic early dinner and 2 baseball games we were out of time, and it slipped my mind with all that was going on last night. We are thinking of you and hope you had a great day. Jessie wants to talk to you and catch up so we will call you asap. She has a busier schedule than I do at night because she is not home for the 4th night in a row. ;)

Like most people, Friday signals the start of our weekend, but we are so lucky to have a 3-day weekend most weeks. Dave is able to take Mondays off which leaves us a lot of time to chip away at the to-do list, go to baseball games, and play with the kiddos. At least once a month lately, Dave is gone for part of the weekend attending athletic events for work, so it's nice to have Mondays together to get stuff done.

On a typical Friday I try to get the house in order so we can have a relaxed weekend. We do chores as a family on Saturday morning, but never quite get everything done that I would like. I've learned to anticipate this and get a jump on things on Friday. I make a valiant effort to do all our laundry for the week which is easily 6-8 loads. If I include the laundry from Dave's practice that adds 2+ more. While laundry is going I work on things that the rest of the fam can't do, or maybe I don't trust them to do, like deep cleaning, sorting mail, and de-cluttering (I am a piler). By then it is time to take off for the park to meet our play group and wind down with my girls/fellow Moms. As a stay-at-home Mom, we all relish that time to just chill out and talk to each other about life, kids, our dear husbands, ;) etc. We are usually playing, talking and snacking at the park until after 5 when we realize all the kids are going to melt if they don't get dinner soon. I think about the time it will take to get home and fix dinner and I am so tempted to take a detour for take-out on the way home. We all know how much of a budget-buster eating out can be. I rarely give in to the temptation, but if I do we usually head to In & Out for some hamburgers "animal-style" and fries. Then it's PJ's, treats and family movie night to finish off a fabulous Friday.

So how did Friday go today? Um, I read a book all day, a book that Dave has bugged me to read for awhile. And no, we did NOT get take-out tonight. I made spaghetti, garlic bread and "fresh salad" as Toby calls it, it's a family favorite.

Here's some pictures from the week too. Dave and I were up at 5:30 AM on Memorial Day (crazy right?) to go to the temple with these awesome people. It was so worth it and we had a fabulous time. The yummy breakfast at Country Way afterward was a great finish to our early date. We didn't have to eat again until dinner which was a complete spread of Mom's potato salad, fruit, Kristy's awesome spinach dip, Dad Bennett's delicious BBQ and lots of good company. Both sides of our family got together before to play some kickball madness at the park. Thanks for bringing the ball and cones Lauren. It's great to have a 3rd grade teacher in the family. We got everyone playing that could and Sydney enjoyed being with the dogs while the game was going. She even shared her binky with Sasha. Mmmmmm.

Looking Up

2009-05-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

This past week was one that I look back on with many happy memories. It seems like a fog has lifted from our home and we are enjoying the sunshine. The littles, Syd and Coop, slept beautifully all week which means Mom was a happy lady. Syd, aka "Snail Trail," still has a faucet for a nose, but she is feeling better and back to emptying new rolls of toilet paper onto the bathroom floor and pulling cans & dishes out of the cupboards. Jess and Toby (& MOM) are starting to feel the excitement of summer coming soon. Dave is plugging along at work and we thank him daily for buying us a new van, which we are all enjoying. It's nice to open the doors and still smell that new car smell.

Sunday nights are the first of a couple times a week I've been walking with a few girls from the ward. It's great gabbing time with fellow Moms while we feel the burn up a couple close by hills. As long as I take my phone, Dave is cool with us walking after dark. He still hasn't got me that can of pepper spray he says I need to keep walking late at night. Lately, I've been so frustrated because every time I start exercising regularly I get sabotaged by sickness or silly injury. I got in 2 nights with the girls and some morning walks pushing the Squid in the stroller, so it was a good week all around.

Monday was our usual grocery shopping at Costco and Trader Joe's (love that Dave has Mondays off), chinese food with the Elders for dinner and a family game of Kubb before it got dark. It was our first game of the season and we will be playing many more at the beach and camping this year. Ever since Lina introduced us to this game last year at a BBQ we have been hooked. Jessie plays like an adult and Toby is improving his skills quickly. Logan doesn't have the patience to complete a game but he loves the idea. What kid wouldn't love a game where you can throw big sticks through the air and not get in trouble for it?

Toby and Milo are best buds. They pee on trees at the park together (No, I do not approve of this behavior), they play swords and superheroes, and sing at the top of their lungs in church next to each other. Toby was so excited that Milo wanted to come see one of his T-ball games before the season ended. Milo cheered for Toby when it was his turn to do a "monster hit," and was genuinely interested in the game despite Logan's attempt to lure him to the playground. The boys stopped at the snack shack together after the game and life was perfect as they sipped their bubblegum shaved ice on the playground. It's nice to know that Toby (and all the kids) have some good friends to hang out with. It's even better when we know those friends aren't going to drop the F-bomb or other vulgarities like so many other kids do that I hear in public. I hope and pray all our children continue to find and choose good friends their whole lives.

Speaking of bad language, here's a funny story. :) The kids were playing a video game together after they got their Saturday chores done.
Toby breaks the silence with, "What the hell?!!" Nice little piece of English eh?
I said, "Toby, where did you here that?"
He says, "Zubin (neighbor kid) says it all the time."
Tob was pretty embarrassed when I explained that that was one of those crude words/phrases we don't say. Sweet boy. He was on the verge of tears, but secretly I almost busted out laughing. His little outburst even woke Dave from his snooze.

We lucked out and got to have Dave at both kids baseball games this week. It's amazing how much easier it is to shuffle 2 little ones around and catch the games with another adult to help me. Dave even helped coach and things still seemed to go more smoothly. I couldn't do this parent thing without Dave that is for sure. I'm thankful he's such an involved Dad- you're the best Bones!

My snuggle bug. Even though it bugs the crap out of me sometimes, I'm sure going to miss when Miss Squid snuggles like this. She either reaches to be picked up or backs into my lap when I'm sitting on the floor. Then she promptly turns to shove her hand down my shirt and gives a big sigh like all is well. It's her comfort thing, and no matter how many times I gently take her hand out of my shirt she puts it right back. She still won't give up that binky either. I sympathize though, because she has gone from 4 teeth to 10 teeth (including some molars) in 2 months. Her poor mouth must be hurting her daily. Ughhh, she's growing up so fast.

I've been reading a lot of young adult fiction lately for 2 reasons. First, I don't have the brain power after the kids go to bed to digest anything deeper. Second, they are entertaining and I can retell the stories to the kids. I love this Fablehaven series. I picked up the first book on my niece's bookshelf when we were in Utah visiting and I've been hooked since then. This one was so good at the end I didn't wait until the kids were in bed to finish. We had a lot of playing on the floor with puzzles and books that day while I plowed through the end. :)
Finally, we had a Saturday almost free from baseball and other commitments to get the garden in order. My poor vegetable plants were not going to wait any longer for me to get them planted. I have been stuck in my plan for the garden because I needed Dave to lift and empty dead stuff out of some big pots for the tomatoes, zuccini, & cucumbers. Since we only have a small patio in the back, my original plan was to convert the sandbox Dave made into a garden box. We found the wood was too damaged so the plan changed to a container garden for this year. I didn't want to spend the extra time and money to build a new box this late in the season. Yah, I know there's not a vegetable in sight in that picture, but nevermind that we picked up some begonias and bouganvilla at Home Depot while we were getting more potting soil. I have noticed that even a tiny addition of color really brightens up the back, and my mood, when I look out there.

I hope we have more good weeks like the last. It's so wonderful to be healthy and achieve goals, no matter how small or large.

a letter of grievance

2009-05-17T23:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Honda Odyssey,

We have owned you for 4 1/2 years. You have been a wonderful, albeit a little small, van for our family. We've driven you to Utah, the beach, Monterey, camping and on countless day trips. We brought home 2 babies from the hospital in your back seat and had many happy conversations with the kids in there. The kids loved that you played fun music and movies for them to make car rides go by faster. We tried to treat you with care and give you all your scheduled service requirements. I understand the kids didn't keep you as clean as you would have liked, but you have been well-loved. When we bought you with 109K miles already driven, everyone said, "Oh, it's a Honda. They run forever. You'll be able to get 170-200K miles out of that car." We needed a bigger car to make room for baby #3 and you were the right price from friends, so we gave you a new home hoping those words would be true. So what the heck happened when you peetered out on us at 140K miles? I thought the weird sound I heard in your engine lately was just a little hiccup in our long relationship. We had financial goals, you know, and overhauling your transmission and/or engine was not part of those goals. I'm very sorry to say this, little Honda, but we must part ways now. When the mechanic says there are gremlins in your engine we are really hesitant to sink money into repairs to keep you happy and running. It is not worth it for us. You might have Pandora's Box under that hood. We are so sad to see you go, especially Toby, who cried most of one evening when he learned we would be selling you. Frankly, I'm ticked you did not fulfill your end of the bargain. You were supposed to run well and be our reliable little Honda until we paid off our school/practice loans. So with that I say, You're fired! Hopefully, we can sell you to someone who can fix your problems and you can find another home there.
Now that you have been let go, may I introduce your replacement. Just in case you are at all worried about how we are going to get around without you, here is our new van. We picked it up yesterday after a couple weeks of car hunting. Uncle Arnold found a deal on this van at the dealership he works at and we couldn't pass it up. We are excited that it has just over 50K miles for a great price and more room inside for people and stuff. The kids are ecstatic that it has a DVD player and the doors open and close by themselves. Admittedly, I like your color better, but it's not a big deal and I'll get over it. So even though you put a huge bump in our plans, we were able to buy your replacement without signing away our first born. Not having a car payment will allow us to save up the money you cost us when you DIED and we will be back on track in no time.

Sincerely,
D & C
Your disenchanted owners

P.S. Sorry Logan broke your rear-view mirror off yesterday. Then again, maybe you deserved it for breaking down on me.