Oh Honestly!

LegoLand

2012-02-26T16:05:00.002-07:00

Our trip to San Diego wasn't just the four of us. We traveled with Ross' family - his parents and his brothers family. This was the first time we'd ever traveled together as such a large group - 6 adults and 5 kids five and under and I think we were all prepared for any sort of adventure that fell upon us.

Luckily - all the adventures were of the good variety.

The first all day family outing was to Lego Land. This was largely to humor my Lego obsessed children and those boys of mine could have, much to the boredom of their parents, spent the entire vacation at Lego Land. People had told me that the park is really geared towards little boys around 7 years old and those people couldn't have been more right. I'll extend the age group from 3-9 year old boys, but it's pretty much the same thing.

All we needed was a burp and fart station, and the entree into boy land would have been complete.

We rode kid rides, played kid games, made kid driver's licences, built race cars in a building with the biggest collection of Lego's I've ever seen, and saw little boys living out their wildest fantasies. I thought that maybe my kids dreamed about Lego's before our visit to the park but I'm pretty certain that after our visit, they do for sure.

It was a grand adventure.

The warmest day of our trip was the day we spent in Carlsbad. It was delightful. I got a sunburn. We really had so much fun. We played, we rode rides, we made Wyatt go on a little roller coaster that scared the crap out of him. Not literally of course - that took a little help from the Walgreen's and dad that night in the hotel room.

As we were leaving the park, I only had one thing on my mind. Gassing up the mini van. We'd coasted into San Diego the night before on fumes. We drove to Lego Land on the fumes of fumes and never in my life have I been in a car that was so low on gas. 34 miles in the tank before my husband quit messing with my head and filled up the tank.

We all met up for dinner at this place called Tip Top meats. It didn't make the food post because I didn't remember to take a picture. I got a French dip. It was excellent! We ended the night as we always seem to do when we travel. Ross found an outlet mall with a Banana Republic outlet. The second BR outlet run of the trip.

And then, Ice cream. Who doesn't want to eat ice cream in California when the sun goes down in February and it's only 42 degrees outside.

Booger picking spaz

2012-02-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

While traveling....forget that, nearly every minute of the day, my technology is not my own. We have the "pink phone" and the "purple phone" and there is always a monster fight to decide who gets which phone, the pink one being deemed lesser and mom being deemed unworthy of either.

When we travel in the car for a long trip, this is how it goes.

My husband shoves ear buds into his ears, finds his favorite pod cast and drives, laughing like Beavis and Butt head (and burping a lot, though I'm not sure why) for hours on end. When I try to talk to him, he cannot hear me. When I ask him a question, he is unaware. In order to get him to stop so I can use the bathroom, I pretty much have do go crazy in the car to get his attention.

My children sit in the back seat doing one of two things. Staring at little DVD screens watching Cars 2 or they each have a phone and they are staring at the screen, a few steps away from going blind.

For the most part, I'm cool and the gang with this situation. However, after about 6 hours of it...the males in my life doing their own thing and ignoring me, leaving me to sit and stare out the window in absolute silence I start to lose it.

Losing it usually results in me moaning, whining, and occasionally, swearing and yelling at them.

Guess what they do in response. Unplug, listen to the rant, laugh at me, and plug back in.

But for at least Elliott, who lucked out with good old purple most of the drive home, he did a great job (as seen in the video) entertaining himself.

Road Trippin'

2012-02-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

As with all grand adventures we Griswold's take, our adventure to San Diego got off to a roaring start.

A few days before we were to leave, Elliott seemed a little off. Sort of sick, bad cough, the usual for him. Because of the trip, Ross took both boys to the doctor on the Saturday before we left. Both got a clean bill of health - Elliott it seems was reacting to having his 6 year old molars coming in and Wyatt was fine.

By Sunday night, even though it had only been 24 hours since going to the doctor, we realized Wyatt was not fine. On Monday afternoon we were back at the doctor with moderately tragic results for the little chickadee....two ear infections and a mild case of croup.

Awesome.

Why does this kid get sick every single time we want to go anywhere?

The next three days were completely miserable. My sweet lovable little boy forgot all about that stuff and became a screaming meanie - the three worst days of my parenting experience with him. He literally followed me around the house screaming. Forgot all the words he knows, couldn't ask or tell. Just blood curdling screams.

And of course, we were leaving on vacation.

Wednesday was a trying day. We got the rental van, picked up Elliott from school, ate lunch, loaded up and hit the road. Much to the chagrin of the screaming banshee in the back seat. Of our 6 hour drive to Las Vegas on the first day of our vacation, that child of mine easily screamed for 3 hours. We hit major weather (white out snow, and torrential rain) and road delays in Southern Utah and were pretty stressed out. But, by the time we got to Vegas and loaded up on chicken fingers though, Captain Crazy had calmed down enough to fall right to sleep. In a queen bed with his dad.

The other kid was in a queen with me.

I don't recommend it. Head butts to the gut all night long.

The next day we got up, listened to children whining about the inadequate offerings at the hotel breakfast, and were on our way (a bit fearfully mind you) to San Diego.

a taste of san diego

2012-02-22T11:06:00.001-07:00

We arrived home last night after traveling 13 hours through 4 states. My children were excellent in the car on the long drive home except for the last hour or so and who can blame them. My bum is still numb from sitting in a rented mini van all day long.

We went to San Diego on a grand familial adventure which will get it's own post soon enough. After I have some clean clothes and underwear. Which at the moment, I do not have.

I would however, like to share with you some of our food adventures. When we travel, our children collect stuffed animals as souvenirs. My husband and I collect full bellies of tasty food. Here is a small sampling.

Raising Cane's. THE BEST CHICKEN FINGERS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! If we had the money, we'd open a franchise locally because it totally sucks that we only get these things in Las Vegas once a year or less. Delicious melt in your mouth chicken, crinkle fries and a giant slice of Texas toast buttered and grilled. And crushed ice. They have crushed ice.

Lee's Sandwiches in SO CAL (pretty much just orange county though) is, for my husband, worth any detour necessary. It's a Vietnamese (or is it Korean?) sandwich joint that has primarily pork based sandwiches on french baguettes that they make in house all day long. I get the BBQ pork and it comes drenched in soy sauce with jalapenos, carrots, cilantro and a bunch of other stuff I cannot recognize but tastes yummy.

A few others worth mentioning - best cheap eats of San Diego for the last couple of years was Devine Pastabilities. A pasta and pizza place that serves it's pasta stuffed in a hoagie roll. The whole concept grossed me out so I got a salad. Ross however proclaimed it was one of the best things he's ever eaten.

El Indio was pretty awesome Mexican food that had been featured on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives. The food was good and their chips were awesome. So good that we actually brought the extras home.

Let's see, what else? Filippi's pizza and pasta in little Italy. Not my favorite but one of those huge serving, authentic-ish Italian places where Ross can eat all his lasagna and pasta and the left over pizza and salad and garlic bread and then we have to roll him out of the restaurant.

Also, we ate at Ruby's diner, one of my favorites to take the place of Johnny Rockets for great greasy food and giant malts and shakes that they bring you BEFORE your food. Awesome.

We got doughnuts a couple of times early in the morning and they were good.

We provided a quick meal for some sea lions at sea world but did not partake ourselves.

We bought four dollar cupcakes that were beautiful but not as tasty as they should have been.

And unfortunately, our worst meal, in my opinion came from the Asian flavor spot at the San Diego Zoo (Shock). The only thing we ate the whole trip that had leftovers headed for the trash.

And that my friends, not including about a dozen churros and diet cokes, made up a pretty tasty trip.

Ouch!

2012-02-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I went with a friend to get a pedicure. Two years ago on my birthday, my husband gave me a gift certificate for a pedicure. A few months ago I gave it to my friend because I thought she would be more likely to use it.

She invited me to go.

I picked yellow. My boys said the flowers on my toes look like spiders.

By the end of Saturday I'd already scuffed the polish up pretty bad and got a little wierded out by the yellow so I applied a thin layer of gold glitter to all 10 toes. It's better now.

When I got home from the pedicure it was time to get to business. First, I stopped at the gas station and got a coke. Then my husband and boys got home from the doctor and they brought me a coke. Score! One had lime and the other lemon so I was pretty happy. Second, it was time to make potatoes. A young girl with cerebral palsy passed away in my neighborhood/ward and I volunteered to fix some scalloped potatoes for the family luncheon.

To keep the potato slices uniform, I decided to use the mandolin slicer. On my second potato, I quite literally sliced off more than I was prepared for and took a huge chunk of my thumb off.

I swore.

It hurt.

Under the cold water, the blood was gushing. This kind of think normally doesn't phase me, but on this day, with this thumb, I was starting to lose it. The thumb got wrapped in a cold towel and elevated. It was throbbing and I was woozy.

I marched myself to the bathroom and sat on the toilet with my thumb under some more cold water. Seriously thought those delicious diet cokes were going to come back up for a visit.

Such a wimp.

In the end, my kind husband bandaged my thumb's missing parts (and a big chunk of finger nail, too), helped me off the floor to the couch and got me an ice pack. I settled into the couch in all my spastic glory and watched more house hunters than should be allowed.

Ross finished my potatoes. By the time they were done and needed to be to the church I had cowboyed up.

But only for the next 30 minutes or so. Thank heavens I was home alone and no one was looking.

I was only brave until Sunday morning when I had to take the bandaid off. Part of the adhesive was stuck to my wound. It was time for wimp round two....eventually, after about 15 minutes I was man enough to pull the bandaid off.

That made me a bit dizzy, too.

Cliche

2012-02-14T21:06:00.002-07:00

We don't officially celebrate Valentine's Day. We call it "VD" because that is somehow funny.

Even though we don't officially celebrate, there always seems to be a card floating around, some chocolate covered strawberries (the size of my fist and absolutely divine) to be consumed and a small gift, usually including pez, for the boys.

And, this year, I bought myself a new jacket (two actually at 50% off the lowest ticketed price which gave me two for less the price of one...steal) and a box of cherry cordials. Yum!

Oh, and the boys painted ceramic magnet frogs because how else am I going to get them to stop whining at the craft store except with a walk down the dollar aisle?

Cloak of invisibility

2012-02-10T08:29:00.005-07:00

I'm sleepy. We've been busy but no real interest in documenting any of it...at least through the written word. Here are a few photos though to take you through your weekend.

Our super bowl party menu from last week. We hosted 20 people and had yummy food. For the record, I did not watch one second of the game or the half-time show. I am awesome. I did however set my smoke detector off in the house three times.

On February 25 I'm presenting at my mom's stake women's conference on living an abundant life and finding joy in the little things. Part of my presentation will be to talk about Louis Zemperini because he is awesome.

This is the junkiest most cluttered place in my house right now and it is all mine. I kind of like it. Not really. I think it will get an overhaul this weekend.

Both boys were grumpy and desperate for a change of scene (and a nap) the other day so we went on our usual knock out drive. It makes both boys sleep and I get to see beautiful scenery. Win, win for everyone.

Tough loss for the Wolverines on Tuesday night. The boys and I left early because I was too sad to watch them lose the region championship. But, second place for a team that last year only won 4 games is pretty awesome.

The grocery store had an over abundance of strawberries the other day two packs for $5. We love strawberries and haven't bought them for months because they are out of season and too expensive. The boys and I have nearly snarfed them all but this one took the cake, or the heart, so to speak. What an amazing strawberry - just in time for valentines day.

More freezer paper

2012-02-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

I have a confession. I am totally addicted to freezer paper stenciling.

It was absolutely necessary to make 8 skull and crossbones pirate shirts for the five year olds birthday party last week.

It was also absolutely necessary to make orca whale shirts for our trip to Sea World in a few weeks.

And, it was also absolutely necessary to make a shirt for my brother. Because he asked me. Through a tweet.

HOME project

2012-02-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

On a small wall in my home hung a giant clock. A giant clock that had been hanging and not telling time since June, when we moved in. Though I found it to be embarrassing, displaying a broken clock in its full glory, and stressful for the occasional guest who got confused at the time, the husband insisted that it stay up. That he would fix it.

Well, when that husband was gone for two weeks I took it upon myself to find something new to hang in the spot where the broken clock loomed over head.

First, I went to the local craft store and found some giant letters - on sale, for about $4 a piece. Next, I borrowed some old National Geographic and Sierra Club maps from my dad. He gave me one for the Korea's. I chose to not use that one. Then, I set about with the modge podge and went to town gluing the maps to the letters.

Now, when I looked at those letters up on the wall, the project felt incomplete. Like something was missing. I decided that the wall needed a little bit of "art" along with the letters so I hopped onto my computer to make something. I found a map of Utah online that I liked, pulled it into photoshop and filled it in with gray. Then, I had some free digital scrapbook papers that I'd downloaded ages ago that served as a perfect background to the gray Utah.

A quick print, frame (frames I already had from IKEA), and hang and I had myself another homemade installation. I have to say that I like this much better than the broken clock.

Quite an honor!

2012-01-29T09:04:00.001-07:00

Story time.

Bear with me.

I am a faithful reader of the blog Design Mom.

I find the information on Gabrielle Blair's blog to be well written, beautiful and inspiring. She finds things on the Internet that are lovely and worth sharing. She has children who she writes so eloquently and honestly about, and she just seems to be all around cool.

A few months ago when reading her blog through my blog reader she issues a call for DIYers. She said she was interested in responses from crafty types who have done some interesting projects and are good at photographing their projects. I stewed on that for a few days. I occasionally do interesting projects. I take good photographs of my projects. I am proud of most of the stuff I end up making so on a whim I decided to send her an e-mail. I told her a little bit about myself, shared a link to my blog, and provided a short list of 3 projects I'd done since moving to the new house that I thought were sort of cool.

Right before Christmas a form e-mail was received in my inbox, one she probably sent to the thousands of men and women who submitted e-mails to her (I can only imagine how long it takes to go through so many e-mails!) informing me (and all the others) that she was going through all the submissions and would get back to us.

Cool, I thought. And then thought nothing else of it.

Fast forward to Friday. Every Friday on the Design Mom website is a short list of links to carry readers into the weekend. Things that Gabrielle has found to be clever, interesting, beautiful...you get the idea. On Friday, just like every other Friday I read the post and clicked on a few links and then went about my business of the day.

Then last night, after a busy crazy day of birthday parties for the five year old, Ross told me he'd written a blog post about his work trip to Chile and Argentina. I opened the blog to read the post and noticed that my "top 5" post feature had a new top two. My cousin Jodi's wedding had been bumped to third place - it had been in first since May. But, I didn't think much of it at the time.

I logged in to the blog and saw that I had three comments awaiting moderation. I turned to Ross and said, "Wow! You have three comments on your blog post already and you just barely wrote it!" He was rather proud until I opened the comments and read them.

It was confusing. The comments were legitimate comments from profiles I did not know for a crafty post I had written at the end of August about the wall art installation that I made and hung in my bedroom. Huh! Curious. Still every the dunce I asked my husband how he thought people found this post and made comments - one even putting a link on HER blog.

I was totally dumbfounded.

Then I went into my stats.

Duh!

There were 3,800 hits on this one blog post in less than 24 hours. For my little goofy blog that's intense. 3,800 people looked at and read this particular post. How did they get to my goofy little post? Well, the numero uno referring link was the Design Mom website.

Still being ever dumb, I clicked on the link and it took me back to the Friday post that I'd already read. I stared at that post unable to figure out how that post was leading to my blog. Finally because like I said, I'm a bit dense sometimes, I just decided to click on every single link.

The fourth link down on the post, I hit the jackpot. The "clever idea for displaying a quote" on the Design Mom post is a link to me. TO ME!

I grinned from ear to ear. I was so excited. After telling Ross the whole story he of course told me I needed to figure out a way to monetize my fame. What fame I asked. Then, I called my mom.

To make a very long story short. This is a very cool thing for me. My silly little project recognized on such a big blog by such a neat woman. I am truly honored and very, very surprised. This totally made my weekend.

Obviously, right? I just wrote one of the longest blog posts every about it.

Buenos Dias

2012-01-28T17:03:00.003-07:00

So this is Ross. I got back last Saturday from my two week trip to Santiago Chile / Mendoza Argentina.

I spent most of my time working at the office, but it was fun to speak Spanish all day and take a trip down memory lane. Fortunately everything has not been overrun yet by TGI Fridays, Dunkin Donuts, Subway, Starbucks, etc...(despite all of these restaurants being within walking distance from my hotel in Santiago).

I have tried to summarize my experiences via the following lists...I have also attached some pictures.

5 best things:

1 - Asado

2 - Milanesa a la Napolitana

3 - Dulce de Leche

4 - Warmth / sunshine

5 - Hearing Spanish all day

5 weirdest things (about Chile):

1 - EARTHQUAKES - I was in a 5.1

2 - They eat hamburgers w/ knife and forks

3 - Avocados on EVERYTHING

4 - Pizza (so weird)

5 - Plants growing on the side of buildings

and finally, 5 thoughts and observations about Argentina:

1 - It looks EXACTLY the same (so much for progress - just dustier and more graffiti)
2 - I saw the one eyed dragon less than 1 hour after touching down at the airport...I never saw it in Chile
3 - Instead of speed bumps they had speed dips
4 - The inflation is out of control (4.30 ARS to 1.00 USD)
5 - It is depressing to see such a smart / good people struggling because of TERRIBLE governments

The best part of being gone for two weeks is coming back home (and try to rescue Annie).

so, so, so, so, funny

2012-01-26T03:34:00.002-07:00

Yesterday morning I was sick. All day yesterday I felt like crapola. Halfway through our school morning routine I got hit by one of the metformin induced stomach aches that renders me totally helpless for a good two hours or more.

I called our dad. I was in a panic but luckily he had the time and was able to rush home and get the five year old off to school. That just left me and the Chick to fend for ourselves.

He had a snack, not including the plastic cannon he was thinking about eating, and he had the Mickey Mouse Club House on the boob tube. He kept checking on me to make sure I was okay.

One of the best thing this kid does these days is tell stories. They always start with, "Mom, it was so, so, so, so, so funny....." and end with something about the baby elephant "blasting a turd" at the zoo, Perry the Platypus thwarting the evil doctor, or something that he made his pirates do.

After I had recovered a bit and sat down on the couch with him and a cherry coke, I sent the above picture to his dad. I am so grateful that this kid is so chill. He always has been, always will be and I so, so, so, so love him for it.

60 months, Happy Birthday

2012-01-23T07:21:00.000-07:00

At 7:21 am you turn FIVE YEARS OLD.

Five freakin' years old.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined having a five year old. Seriously, it's blowing my mind. Long gone are the days where you need help with things. You get dressed by yourself, play computer games by yourself, get your own snacks, read some of your own books, and philosophize the day away like a 12 year old.

You my boy are something special.

I love that when you are tired - first thing in the morning and last thing in the day, you will sit on my lap and let me rub your head. You give me great hugs. You are an excellent dancer. For the most part, you are genuinely nice to your brother. You know how unfair it is to have to share all your stuff but you do it anyway.

You have a genuine loving heart. You want to be friends with everyone and you try to take care of people. You are crazy and emotional and loud and bold - traits that will at some point in your life serve you well. You have a photographic memory and regularly start sentences with, "Mom, remember that time when I was three...." and tell me exactly about something that happened and be dead on.

In the last year you have had so many wonderful things happen and become so much more grown up. You've played soccer, you've got years of preschool under your belt, you've given talks in primary in church, you have created art and learned the lyrics to countless songs. You still however say "heliclopter" instead of helicopter and insist that it is correct.

Lucky for me, your crazy grumpy fat mama, you still let me lay down with you at bedtime every night. Before you quickly fall asleep, you tell me the three best things of your day and one of the not so best things of your day and then I sing you songs and you drift to sleep. The funny thing is, the best things of your day always involve other people. You are a pretty selfless little boy - as much as a 5 year old can be, and I am regularly impressed by your kindness and generosity.

You love animals, the more obscure the better. You love dinosaurs. I don't know many little boys who will choose a nature show or a documentary about pterosaurs over a cartoon but you will. It is funny to see what will make you laugh, what will make you cry, what will make you angry or silly or what will make you jump into my arms and give me a giant squeeze.

You eat like a horse all day long. You are healthy and energetic and unlike your brother who chooses the cookies and goldfish crackers, you'd rather eat a banana or a whole bowl of watermelon for a snack.

Oh yes my boy, I could go on and on forever and ever. I love you more today than the day you were born and am so excited that you are so excited to be five years old.

Oh, the places you'll go and the adventures that await.

Happy Birthday Elliott Smelliot!

a notch on the belt of life experience

2012-01-18T07:46:00.000-07:00

After my husband and I had been dating many months, he called me on day, right before summer vacation, to tell me that he had been offered a job working the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England for the entire summer. I could hear the excitement in his voice as he told me and when he asked what I thought, I told him to do it.

The next weeks were frantic as he got ready to go - paperwork and work visas and passports, oh my. One night right before he left, we sat together on a swing in my mom's backyard. He told me that he was excited to go and that he would miss me. I told him that I was excited for him and that I would miss him, too.

His plan was to drive to Phoenix to see his family before he left and then fly to England from Arizona. The day he left Utah he came to my house in the morning. He'd asked for a picture of me and it was a scramble to take one and I didn't have it ready for him until the last minute. I gave him a picture of me, a card proclaiming some things of a personal nature and a really cheesy mix CD that I made to "remind him of me". He took my offerings, gave me a hug, told me he'd see me at the end of the summer and was off.

I cried.

When I came back in the house my mom saw me and I remember her saying, "Well, it must be twoo wuv if he's got you crying like that!"

That was a long summer. Technology wasn't quite what it is now in 2002. No video chat. No skype. No phone calls. I would wake up and read the e-mail he sent to me at the end of his day, in the office. I would then reply and know that I wouldn't hear from him again until the next day. Not until his last week in England, when he was finally a tourist and no longer an employee, did he rent a cell phone and make one or two expensive calls my direction.

I kept myself busy that summer, as I am prone to do. I attended for a while and then got myself kicked out of a summer long teaching seminar. I redesigned my entire teaching curriculum. I got an amazing suntan and practically lived in my grandma's backyard. It was hard to have the person that I had decided was "IT" to be gone from me and have almost no contact with him.

I easily survived.

He came home. I flew to Arizona to spend the week with him before he came home to start school.

We both came home. We got engaged. We got married. We lived in student housing while he earned his MBA. We started a good life. The rest is history I suppose.

Fast forward nine plus years.

My husband is a terribly hard worker. He is industrious, dedicated, and a perfectionist in his job. He seems to have made himself indispensable amongst those he works with and is proud of the hard work he does.

I am proud of him, too.

He comes home from South America on Saturday morning. The boys and I are so excited to have him home. He will have been away from us for two weeks and we can hardly wait until that trip to the airport to pick him up comes.

It's been hard having him away. He misses out on so much. We miss out on our dad. But, everyone survives. Everyone stays busy. Everyone keeps going. We have plenty to do, plenty of people to keep us entertained and plenty of basketball to watch.

We get to talk to our dad every day, several times on most days. We see him via video. We hear his voice. We hear him laugh while we pull faces at him through the camera. It isn't as good as him sitting at the table with us, but it helps to fill the void.

I suppose I could be one of those people who wallows when their husband is away. I however, know too many women and too many kids who spend too little time with their husbands and fathers because of work, the military, divided families and the struggles of life getting in the way. Our little family is lucky that our dad works hard for us. I am lucky that I get to stay home with my boys and make messes, play with cars, and learn all the words to the theme songs of every single cartoon we watch. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

The times he is gone make us stronger. Make us tougher. Make us love each other more. Having someone be gone is a good reminder of how fleeting life and time are and how sweet it is to be surrounded by the people that you love.

But, life happens and you have to go with the flow.

If I had the choice to make a trade - to have taken months out of our lives before we had kids and have Ross gone then, just the two of us, or have him gone now, leaving three of us behind, I'd have easily made the prior choice.

I've been thinking a lot lately of my favorite poem from Henry David Thoreau. I recite parts of it to myself often, "And not when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived." It is important to me to be a person who sucks out the marrow of life and live mine to the fullest because when I come to die, I want to know that I lived an abundant and full and joyful life. That I made a difference in the lives of my children and others. That I have no regrets.

That's what is really important.

If you've got it....

2012-01-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

After our lunch of slurpees and donuts for the boys, a DC and croissant for me it was time for a dance party.

I was issued a challenge, "Mom, be our DJ," and the songs started to play.

After the last request had been played I said, "Okay, what do you want to listen to now?"

In unison, without any coordination of their efforts, my boys both looked at me and shouted, "Mom, we want to bust a move!"

Yes my boys. If you want it, you got it.

In a nutshell....

2012-01-16T16:39:00.001-07:00

Once again, our days in instagram.

Haircuts and gang signs

A couple of trips to the toy aisle at Target

New photos on the photo wall

Croissants for dinner with grandpa

Starting but not yet finishing a crafty project. Maybe tomorrow?

Friday night basketball - he started varsity and played an excellent defensive game.

Field trip to look at stuffed animals with Grandma Connie

Practicing blowing out candles for his birthday next week.

Notes to self:

2012-01-13T12:01:00.002-07:00

Note to Self 1: Nutella, when kept in the garage during the winter gets cold. It gets so cold that when you bring it in the house to prepare breakfast for little munchkins it is frozen solid. From now on, keep Nutella in the house at 74 degrees.

Note to Self 2: When deciding to microwave nutella because it is frozen, make sure to take all the foil seal off of the top of the plastic container. ALL THE FOIL SEAL. Otherwise, you'll miss a little smidgy widgy edge and your microwave will send off sparks! And those sparks are not because it's happy to see you.

Note to Self 3: A chicken mcnugget kids meal including apple slices is only 29 grams of carbs. That is perfectly acceptable in your renewed carb conscious counting diabetic "diet". When you are allowed 60 carbs per meal, 29 fits in quite nicely and gets you a decent french fry fix.

Also, nugget (or is it nuggett? or nugett?) is hard to spell.

Note to Self 4: When you have a hard time sleeping at night, a quick nap during the day seems like a really good idea. But, that 45 minute indulgence will delay your ability to sleep at night by over two hours. 2 hours of tossing and turning when you are already getting to bed an hour or so later than normal is not worth the nap.

Note to self 5: Candy thermometers lie!

In a nutshell

2012-01-09T10:55:00.003-07:00

It's so nice to be able to use Instagram to sum up my life in such a pretty package.

1. Family night at Kohl's

2. Valentine themed art projects that promptly got thrown away.

3. Back to singing and dancing class.

4. Digging for dinosaur bones in the January sun.

5. Trip to the zoo where we heard an elephant trumpet (first time ever in person), watched the tigers pace and the giraffes eat Christmas trees.

6. New craft crap for the front door.

7. Grew borax crystals! Awesome and we'll be doing it again and again.

8. Saw some slushy snow downtown

17 years ago....

2012-01-05T07:57:00.001-07:00

Editors Note:
My sister left a snarky comment telling me that all my facts in this blog post are wrong. So what! My brother is 17 and regardless of what grade I was in, or thought I was in, the story was just something that my mom and I were reminiscing about at the ball game. I will leave it as is.

*****

I was a senior in high school, halfway through my senior year.

Basketball season was in full swing.

We had just celebrated Christmas and the arrival of my new baby brother.

The shock of a little, cuddly, crying person had probably worn off a bit and we were in full swing stare mode. You know the sort - when you lay the new baby on mom and dad's water bed (oh, that water bed!) and kneel around the edge of the bed and just stare at him and his soft peach fuzzy body in awe and wonderment.

And so it was, that there was a new baby boy and a daughter who was a senior in high school (and a really nice sister who was a sophomore and on the basketball team, too). and it was probably the first basketball game after the Christmas break.

That baby brother was barely a few weeks old, if that.

Because my mother is devoted to her children and because she loves basketball and because at that time in her life (like all others) she was a bit of a work-a-holic and unstoppable she of course came to the basketball games....with that tiny baby.

That evening of basketball was the very first basketball my brother ever watched. Well, ever screamed through because I don't really remember him being at my games as a wee one, except that I have a vision in my memory of my mom standing in the nooks and crannies of bleachers bouncing a screaming baby.

Back then he didn't like basketball.

Oh what a difference 17 years will make.

Last night I watched him play basketball (rough JV game but perfect Varsity game) in the first gym he ever went into in his life.

And I was there with my kiddos to watch him.

HaPpY nEw YeAr!

2011-12-31T09:44:00.002-07:00

It's the end of another year. I'll tell ya folks, this one went by super fast. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is 2012 because it really seems like it could just as easily be the January that was twelve months ago, not a new one starting tomorrow.

Such is life, right? I heard someone say once that for kids, time moves slowly. A kid is never tall enough, big enough, smart enough, or old enough to get what he/she wants. Then, once that kid is finally an adult, time starts slipping away so quickly that you can't catch up.

I guess I'm an official adult now because that's just how I feel.

As part of our family Christmas card this year, I did a photo collage of 2011. Rather than count down the months and all that happened, it's easier to just post the card.

Seventeen!!!!

2011-12-30T01:59:00.001-07:00

Today is HIS birthday. He is 17. He is awfully close to being an adult. I don't know how I really feel about that.

The other day at my moms, sitting around the table, eating our home made mini pizzas for lunch, we reminisced about the giant boy before us.

It was just the mom, the kiddos, and the grand kids - one of my favorite combinations of people

We asked him what some of his earliest memories of us are.

He just sort of stared and said he didn't know.

We asked if he remembered sluffing church to look at animals with Haley. If he remembered standing with his fists in the air shouting, "Ole! Ole! Ole!" when watching his favorite Day at Disneyland VHS tape. Or if he remembered how I'd always let him ride in the front seat with only the seat belt and my hand to protect him. Or if he remembered one day being very stomach sick and squishing it all over Haley's lap on the ride home.

I asked him if he remembered what he'd do on days when I picked him up from daycare/babysitting.

He said he didn't.

Know what we'd do? We'd come home to an empty house, get a drink and head to the basement. He wasn't that little, maybe three, and I'd find us a show (probably Arthur or Kratt's Creatures), and I'd lay down on the worlds best, ugliest, softest, ideal for sleeping brown couch and he'd climb up on top of me, stomach to stomach and would lay and watch the show with me. We'd usually fall asleep.

Even if he doesn't remember, I do.

And I'll never let him do it again because now he's a giant. And he'll squish me to death.

Happy Birthday Willie!

We love you!

Past Birthday Wishes.....

Christmas Day!

2011-12-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

Christmas Day was really nice.

Really!

Early morning, great church meeting, LOTS of food, and family, and fun. It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood, and one where we werent' too rushed and still had the time to enjoy our family, wallow in wrapping paper, and watch the little kiddos get so excited and overwhelmed and begging for more, but gladly going to bed at the end of the night (and volunteering to take naps the next day!)

Thanks to all our family who made this day so special for us and our kids.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-27T07:48:00.001-07:00

We started the day off with the very last activity of the boys advent calendar. Dad was home to help the boys with their TREASURE HUNT! It was a smashing success. My grumpy almost 5 year old, when basking in the joy of his treasures told me, "Mom - that was a really great activity. It was really nice of you to do that for us. Do you think you can do it again for my birthday?"

Yes my boy. I think I can.

We had a pretty lazy day, too. The boys ran some errands and came home crazy. I ran some errands to run away from all the crazy and grumpy boys. Our house smelled delicious because we were in the teens on hours for our Christmas Eve roast (a 10 pound piece of meat that took 21 hours to cook on very low heat.).

Eventually, we got dressed and headed out to my grandpas house for our traditional Christmas Eve feast and program. We weren't able to attend last year, but this year we did and it was great fun.

As my sister, my mom, and my aunt have already mentioned, Christmas just wasn't the same this year without my grandma. I missed her terribly all weekend. More than I ever imagined. But, I didn't have a meltdown (saved all of those for her birthday in September and the entire week before Thanksgiving) - I only started crying (but pulled it together) three times on Christmas Day and driving away from her house after dropping off a few things on Christmas Eve.

My sister said it best - Christmas has always meant Grandma. I was never as helpful as my sister, but for as long as I can remember, I've blocked out the week before Christmas to sit at her house, drink diet cokes, and wrap hundreds of presents.

Oh, the presents.

In fact, without realizing exactly what I was doing, I had all my presents wrapped as usual, with an entire week to keep my hands idle. I got ready for her even though there wasn't anything to get ready for. That, my friends, broke my heart. My grandma loved Christmas so much and not having her there was hard.

But, we all survived. We did it without her and we did it in a way that I hope still made her proud from heaven, watching us

Sorry for the tangent, back to Christmas Eve! The food was yummy. The company was good. The program was great. Our family should start a traveling choir - we sound great all crammed into my grandpa's living room singing Christmas songs - as long as you don't mind the fact that we're all a bunch of punks when singing.

Christmas Eve, Eve

2011-12-27T07:32:00.000-07:00

Or should we call it Christmas Adam? ( I read that in a comment on Instagram and after I figured out the joke, I thought it was pretty funny)!

So, Christmas is over and....when I got on the scale this morning I weighted 1 pound less than I did a few days ago. My scale must be broken.

Our Christmas Festivities this year lasted us three full days. We started on the Friday before Christmas with Ross' parents. Before dinner, it was full on lego city building time. Then we had a decadent prime rib, potatoes, carrots and made candy cane cookies for dessert. The boys got a head start in opening presents and we came home tired.

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

2011-12-23T08:01:00.000-07:00

It's time to disappear for a few days to celebrate the holidays. Lots of family and food and overwhelmed kiddos and tired mamas and papas.

"Monday, Monday, la la, la la la la" may take on a whole new meaning this year. I cannot really remember the last time Christmas and all it's beautiful chaos was celebrated on a Sunday but I'm pretty sure the hangover we're all going to feel on Monday morning will keep us in bed as long as possible.

To celebrate the end of the week, the impending end of the year I thought it would be fun to share some videos with all of you out there in the land of Internet. Okay, yes, there are only like 5 of you out there but these are definitely for you.

A quick description of each.
1 - There is a boy on my brother's basketball team. He hardly plays in the games but he is a good team leader and dancer. The team has worked out a new routine before each game.

2 - We have no snow! No snow on the ground and even though there have been a few little flurries, there's been nothing to play in. The weather has totally screwed up a couple days on our advent calendar. Luckily as one of the boys prizes I gave them some snow to grow.

3 - Yesterday, we gathered with some of our favorite older cousins to build gingerbread houses. It was a fun morning and early afternoon filled with laughter, fun and lots and lots of frosting. Wyatt's contribution to his house was about what I thought it would be.....he consumed a lot of frosting and candy.

Enjoy!

and Merry Christmas to all!

One of the busiest weeks of the year!

2011-12-19T15:48:00.001-07:00

Twas the Monday before Christmas and all through the house,
little boys were crazy, bouncing off the walls of the house....

Okay, I am not a poet but last week was really busy. One of those weeks where your days are filled with errands and wrapping, and shopping and your nights are full of basketball and parties, and festive activities.

Here's a quick glimpse into our last week.

Dinner and seeing the lights piled into Grandma Judy's family truckster.

Eating out every single night of the week somewhere because there just was no time to cook at home.

Zoo lights with Grandma and Grandpa.

Lots of Christmas crafting and baking (and basketball watching)

Preschool Christmas program participating and watching.

Exchanging gifts with very good friends.

Christmas program watching (and painted finger nails, fancy clothes, and out to dinner without the kids!)

On Saturday, we attended the funeral of Ross' 89 year old great uncle. He was a cool guy. It was a neat service. After the funeral he received a traditional military farewell with a 21 gun salute, flag folding ceremony, and a whole lot of cool. He was a WW II veteran and received the silver star for his service during the war - I was told that he helped liberate Vatican city when Italy was invaded by the allies.

Lots of parties and food and family and friends. More sugar than I every should have consumed, but consume it I did.

And that was just Monday through Sunday. This week we've already had crafts with friends (we painted ornaments which I've decided is the absolute coolest thing ever!). We've got more parties and family, festivities and food ahead of us. Believe it or not, I can hardly wait.

Yummy, yummy, yummy!

2011-12-15T19:58:00.002-07:00

Oreo cookies.

I only like them two ways.

Dunked in milk or covered in chocolate.

I ate dinner with the family a couple weeks ago at Zupas and they were selling a box of 8 chocolate covered oreo cookies for $10. That's more than a dollar an oreo. Now, I'm sure they used more expensive chocolate than me but come on - $10?

I made these the other day for a couple of neighbor and teacher treats. They are super yummy. Half dipped in red vanilla flavored candy melts and the other half in milk chocolate.

Maybe if I decided to sell them, I could make a pretty penny. I decided to eat them instead.

(p to the s.....I've updated my little food blog. If you haven't looked for a while, there are a few new food ideas up.)

Stupid is as stupid does...

2011-12-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

In my home, there is no land line. Yes, we do not have a house phone. We each have a cell phone and that suits all of our needs just fine. In nine years of marriage we've never had a land line and haven't needed one. We thought about it when Elliott was born but quickly realized that everyone who would ever watch our child would also have a cell phone so there really wasn't a need.

Having a cell phone only household has helped a lot. We are on all the "do not call" lists and almost never get solicitations. The occasional political leaving a message, the reminder call for a doctor's appointment or a pharmacy pick up but that's about it. At least for Ross.

Me? I get all kinds of crazy stuff.

At least one day a month, I get 5 to 7 calls from "unknown". Who is unknown? Lucky for me, he leaves a message. Unknown is a fax machine and some person in an office somewhere faxes my cell phone on a pretty regular basis.

I always seem to get calls from random weirdos. My number must be very similar to the number of some drug dealer or something. Now, If I don't know the number, I don't answer the phone. It's a pretty easy rule to follow and one I am very good at. I'll gladly listen to a message and return a phone call, if it is for me, but if the number and the message don't apply, I'll definitely ignore.

So, this week I've received three calls and voice messages that sort of take the cake. Each call has been from a gentleman named Mitchell from the Hospital Help Desk. He is calling regarding a message from Julie Smith about her e-mail account being suspended and not working.

I am not Julie Smith. I did not call the Hospital Help Desk. I do not have a suspended e-mail account.

It's fine that my number gets mistaken for someone else's number once. Maybe even twice. But, for a person needing to leave a message for Julie Smith, when he hears, "This is Ann...leave a message..." wouldn't you think he'd get the hint that he's using the WRONG number?

Not only that, but the third message left this morning (yes, when I saw the number and knew it was Mitchell I almost answered) was rather belligerent. In a little too gruff of a tone, Mitchell informed me that he's called three times and since Ms. Smith hasn't responded he'll be forced to take care of the account issue by eliminating the account!!! And, if Ms. Smith has a problem with that, she can use her ticket number to start the help desk issue over again! And have a nice day!

Should I feel bad? Probably a little bit. Do I? Not at all.

I'm not sure who is more stupid - Mitchell for calling the wrong number and leaving a message in the obviously wrong voice mail account three times or the person who left the wrong phone number in the first place.

In a nutshell...

2011-12-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

Basketball...

And a little more basketball.

The boys and I delivered our family sub-for-santa project and had a really awesome experience at the Christmas Box House.

Eating all the home made whipped cream while waiting for the home made hot chocolate to be stirred with the home made chocolate spoons made by the mom with too much time on her hands.

Visiting Temple Square to see the nativities when there are no people and some sunshine instead of the lights when it's freezing and too crowded.

Receiving beautiful gift boxes of delectable treats from my super hip and cool Uncle Paul. I've never been gifted from Harry and David before and you have no idea how excited I was to break into those truffles and Elliott into the pears.

We also were able to listen to my Grandpa speak in church, as well as my dad. I wrapped presents to put under the tree. The husband and I even had a "date" whatever that is and though our intentions were good - to shop for a final few Christmas items for our kids and family members, we spent most of our time at the new Banana Republic outlet by our house. Who can pass up the BR when the whole store is 70% off?

Not the boy that I married, that's for sure! And, though it was nothing special, there is definitely something sweet, and sincere, and reminiscent of the "good old days" in hanging out just with him, sitting at the hidden back table at a barbacoa.

Time for a second opinion

2011-12-08T07:40:00.001-07:00

During the last few weeks, it's been hard to have the bedes. The medication that I take doesn't seem to be working, and some of it makes me very sick. I've been struggling to manage my numbers, stay at an even keel, and feel "healthy" every day. Because things just feel a bit out of control I did something I never do and last week called the doctor for an extra appointment to get some help, some guidance, some instruction on what I should do.

I got to my appointment yesterday, checked in with reception, and sat down in the waiting room. Not five minutes later the nurse took me back, put me on the evil scale, and ushered me into a room where I would wait. Apparently I'm too good looking to sit in a waiting room (or too ugly!) so I had to sit and wait for 35 minutes in an unused exam room.

After the appropriate time of waiting was over - I could hear everyone who was supposed to be helping me, the nurse and my PA in the hall chatting about what pharm. rep was bringing them lunch today - I was taken into another room to have my blood pressure checked, answer a few questions, and yes, sit and wait some more.

Finally my health care professional came into the room. He's sort of a frantic Kramer-esque guy and though I don't particularly like him much, he's consistent. In 5 years of visiting the same office I've been through 5 such professionals and this guy has stuck with me for over a year so I keep going back.

I tell him my issues:

1) The insulin Lantus that I am taking is no longer working properly or effectively. If I do more than 45 units at night, I bottom out in a few hours (talking 30's people, that's real bad) and then have very high numbers in the morning (150 or higher, also bad). If I do less than 45 I sleep through the night, but awake to numbers around 170.

2) The oral drug I take, metformin, makes me sick. He wants me to take 4 tablets a night but 4 is beyond my threshold and I wake up with stomach problems you wouldn't wish on an enemy. It's pretty awful stuff and I cannot stand up straight, live in the bathroom all day, and say prayers that I can make it to preschool drop-off and pick-up without dying. Seriously, I cannot explain to you what that medication does to me. I can tolerate 3 tablets with a terrible episode every 4-6 weeks but if I take 4, I'm miserable within about 12 hours.

3) I've lost weight. Not a lot of weight, but enough that I am seeing changes. I actually went shopping for a size smaller pair of jeans on Saturday because mine are all falling off of me. I haven't lost a ton of weight, only 10 pounds, but my jiggle is less jiggle and I have new muscles where I haven't had them for years. This weight loss however has stalled. It's like my body is a hoarder of poundage and won't let anymore go. Some days I practically starve and sweat myself just to see a loss of some ounces and I'm not getting anywhere.

These three things are making me nervous. I am too much of a kooky rule follower micro manager to let my diabetes be out of control and I need help. So, I presented my PA with this information, and a list of morning numbers since October. He looked over my documentation, and prescribed the following.

A - Take the Lantus in the morning, then I won't bottom out.

B- Take this cholesterol medication. Even though I don't have high cholesterol, this medication should help my stomach so that I can go back to taking 4 of the evil metformin.

C - Oh, you've lost weight? That's nice. Oh, you haven't lost as much as you think you should be? Well, you must be building muscle mass.

And with that I was given some paperwork for new labs to be drawn, scheduled a new appointment and was out the door.

None of my issues were addressed - in fact they were ignored. I was very upset and called my husband to tell him it was time to find a new diabetes doctor STAT! I need a second opinion, a new medication plan, and someone who will listen to me. I'm not a dummy. I know about my condition. I do what I need to do to take care of myself.

So, my good husband listened to me on the phone, did some searching on the website of our insurance provider and found me someone new. He made me an appointment for next week. This time I'll try a woman. A nice, grandmotherly woman who specializes only in diabetes.

I just hope that this is a start in the right direction.

In a nutshell....

2011-12-05T07:17:00.000-07:00

Tis the season....

To be busy. This weekend marked the start of a whirlwind for us in the next 6 weeks or so. Once we get through the holidays our Dad ditches us for the high life in Chile and Argentina for a couple of weeks while we freeze our butts of at home.

Ole!

We played Lego's with friends, who are almost like our long lost identical twin brother.

We attended Ross' work party where Elliott got picked up by a mildly creepy Santa Claus and I made a foolish attempt at a family photo in the elevator. Just once I'd like to have a picture of the four of us where we don't all look like dorks!

We spent our Saturday all going in different directions. Elliott went to a ball game with Grandma Connie. Ross and the Chick spent the day napping, dog sitting, eating pizza, playing video games, reading books, and playing ring around the rosies with stuffed dogs. I spent most of my day alone, standing in long lines, trying on size smaller jeans, and eating at In-and-Out alone. I did not have to share my fries.

Uncle Willie came to eat dinner with us and to play. He loves his nephews and his nephews love him lots. We watched videos of goats and hedgehogs and all things fart related on YouTube and wrote letters to Santa Claus. It was a perfect night.

Too bad Santa and I haven't communicated clearly up to this point because everything the boy wrote on his letter to Mr. Claus WAS NOT something that the big guy has already had the elves whip up in the shop. Maybe the Santa letters need to be written in November next year.

Squeaky Shoes!

2011-12-04T14:24:00.001-07:00

Someone: "Hey, Annie, what's one of your most favorite sounds in all the land?"

Me: "Oh person, that's easy. It's the sound of basketball shoes squeaking on a gym floor!"

Someone: "Really?"

Me: "YES!"

I love basketball. I love to play and I love to watch. I love to yell and cheer and scream until I'm hoarse. I love the teamwork and the energy on a court. I love that in a few short seconds momentum and leads can change.

As a general rule of the universe these last few years however, it seems that the basketball gods have been against me because all the teams I cheer for are terrible. Lose by 30 terrible. Win one game a season terrible. It's been a bit devastating to see my Runnin' Utes, who at the time of my youth and when I was a Ute dominated (well, they were good), turned to the rubble of the basketball world. It's been hard to watch my brother give so much of himself on a court for a losing, head case team.

This year though....

This year is different.

At least for the Wolverines! The Utes? The suck worse than ever and I just cannot bring myself to talk about it. But the Mighty Wolverines started their season this week and (knock on wood) are 2-0 and there is a spark on the court that gives my basketball gene a brain freeze.

Last Wednesday's game against East High School was truly one of the most fun high school basketball games I've been to in my life. We came back from behind and were the WINNING TEAM. Something that never would have happened for last year's bad news bears. Yes, the fans taunted my brother, calling him Albino - which he is not by the way. He's just very pale! Yes, we came from behind and no, East high fans we don't "still suck".

Fast forward to Friday night. The opponent was Logan high school a team that got the opportunity to beat our guys twice last year while taunting with racial slurs and bigotry. I think all of us watching, and maybe some of the boys were a bit nervous and going down by 20 in the first quarter definitely didn't bode well for a victory.

But, these boys rallied. They jumped out of the gym and rebounded and ran plays and boxed out. They cheered each other on. They locked arms on the sideline. They smiled, they laughed. They were excited. They loved basketball.

And they won!

They rallied and they won.

There are a lot of things that I find fun in life but there are few that compare to the energy in a gym when your team is winning. It's easy to always find fault with youth sports and as my brother has been through so many programs I'm often one of the first to jump on the complain train. But....BUt....BUT....seeing these boys who I know, seeing my brother and his team win? There isn't really anything else more fun than that.

Well, there is one thing more fun. Reading my brother's tweets after the games. That is pretty fun.

The first day of advent

2011-11-30T13:28:00.001-07:00

In years past, we've always done the cardboard chocolate a day advent calendar. I love cheap and waxy chocolate as much as the next person but this year I wanted to do something else, something experiential for me and the boys (and our dad and other family members when applicable.).

It's embarrassing to admit, but I started looking for cute advent calendar themes and templates in the middle of October. I was totally inspired when I got a new Garnet Hill catalog and this gorgeous advent was prominently displayed in it's pages. But, I wasn't going to pay $100 and I needed something "bigger".

After weeks and weeks of searching for little stockings and socks and gloves and all that sort of thing I walked past the dollar bin at Target and found super cute little felt bags that were perfect for stuffing with treasure, hanging on my stairs railing, and using year after year.

Once the packaging was in place, it was time to figure out our advent experiences. I used the Internet and my boys interests to guide me, of course, but I think that we are going to have 24 days of awesome fun. And, for each of the days, I've got a small trinket, toy, or candy to keep the boys interested.

New Phineus and Ferb Christmas CD
Make paper snowflakes to hang on the windows
Make Christmas cards for great grandparents
Build part of the nativity and read scriptures
Shop for Sub-for-Santa
New Christmas book to read
Make a Christmas ornament
Make hot chocolate (deliver sub-for-Santa)
Watch a Christmas movie and eat popcorn
Christmas activity downtown (movie?)
Build part of the nativity and read scriptures
Activity with Petersen's and Binggeli's
Make a treat for primary teachers and Mrs. Stratford
Zoo lights with Grandma and Grandpa Howden
Make felt Christmas trees
Make a snowman or have a snowball fight
Get a Christmas cookie from Schmidts bakery
Build part of the nativity and read scriptures
Buy food for the food bank (buy and leave at smiths)
Play in the snow (paint and blow bubbles)
Go for a drive to look at Christmas lights
Gingerbread houses with Haley, Molly, Willie, Parker and Meranda
Early Christmas w/ Howdens' (make cookies)
Christmas Eve treasure hunt

The bags were hung on the railing with care last night after the boys were asleep.

The boys got to open the day one activity/gift this morning before their dad left for work. Elliott definitely "gets it" and is excited. Wyatt got mad that he didn't get to open whatever one he wanted. Oh well, I'm sure he will figure it out as we go through the days of the month.And today, the only way to pry them away from Phineus and Ferb on the TV was because I knew I had an equally awesome platypus gift for them to share this morning.

My "beef" with Thanksgiving

2011-11-29T09:15:00.001-07:00

The evening before Thanksgiving last week, my wonderful mother knocked on my door and with the help of some devoted cousins, whisked my children away for the evening. They wanted some time with their grandma and their grandma wanted them without me, their mother. (On the latter, I cannot blame her, Sam I am! I'd want those boys away from me, too.)

The tired monkeys returned home many hours later with brand new twinner lighting mcqueen pajamas, smiles on their faces, stories to tell, and the remnants of their Slurpee's still in their cups.

My husband arrived home a little bit early that evening from work, walked in the door and asked me what we should do. He suggested we clean bathrooms. I said "No! You are taking me out to dinner!" After much discussion, we settled on a trip to Target for some Christmas shopping and a dinner at 5 guys for some burgers and Cajun fries. I did drink water and only ate the fries that fell out of the cup in the bag so that made it healthy.

Driving home that night, to curl up on the couch and watch a documentary about the Helvetica Font (his choice) we had a discussion about Thanksgiving Day, holidays in general, and food.

I posed the question:

"Why isn't there a beef holiday? I mean, why don't we have a holiday where we eat prime rib?"

My husband turned to me, laughed, and immediately pulled out his phone to mock me on face book with a status update, "My wife wants to know why there isn't a beef holiday."

Ignoring the mocking, I was posing a serious and to me, baffling question. Why isn't there a holiday where a big hunk of beef is the main course? I know we eat burgers all summer long, and I like ham for Easter, but why not a giant roast for Thanksgiving?

Forgetting a bit about my lamentations we moved on to the turkey day itself. When it was my turn to dish up a plate of food I stared rather longingly at the spread thinking, "There isn't a traditional Thanksgiving Day food that I like to eat." (Poor me, right?)

Yams gross me out. Green beans when cooked with bacon and shallots and brown sugar are delish, but not baked in a pan with some cream of mushroom soup and crumbled onions. I've seen stuffing be made from scratch before and cannot stomach the thought of eating soggy bread and other junk that's been thrown in. The actual turkey itself, if I consume too much (more than a few small slices) gives me a stomach ache - several turkey days in a row in fact.

My dinner consisted of carrots (that Ross prepared in an orange balsamic glaze with fresh chives that were delish), mashed potatoes, and a teeny tiny bit of turkey and gravy.

I also ate dessert, but just the stuff that I brought because I don't particularly care for pie, though all the pies looked lovely with golden brown crusts and I should have taken a picture of them all but I forgot. (Yes, I know we could engage in a whole pie vs. cake debate, but we can save that for a different blog.)

I am so grateful for the holiday of Thanksgiving. I love being able to spend time with all my family and this past Thanksgiving I had a tremendously wonderful time - the best I've had in years! It is always fun to squish in my grandpa's house and then dash to the basement when the meal is over to find the cool air. This year, to keep and the big and little kids occupied, I even brought crafts. We did stickers, and made bracelets and pins and did thumb print art and had drawing contests. It was so much fun.

I'm just not a fan of the food. It's funny how traditions are created and stuck with for years and years and years. I guess for most folks, its the one time of year to break out the jellied cranberry sauce and that's really important. I'm just one of those people who, if I were in charge of Thanksgiving, this would be my #1 menu of choice:

*A cross-rib roast coated in olive oil and lemon pepper cooked for 24 hours on very low heat.
*Carrots and potatoes roasted in the oven until they are so soft they melt like butter in your mouth.
*Grilled asparagus with a dash of lemon and sea salt.
*Home made croissants to make Julia Child proud.
*Chocolate molten cake or some sort of chocolate truffle torte for dessert.

Or, if it was going to be a small group, we'd go French:

*Beef Bourguignon (with lots of onions, carrots, and delicious goodness)
*Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
*Green beans in melted brown sugar with crispy bacon and fried shallots on top
*Croissants (yes, please!)
*Something Frency for dessert, like eclairs (for my guests), or Napoleon's or mini raspberry and strawberry tarts.

Now those are some meals that would make me very, very thankful. And full. And fat!

A typical Sunday night

2011-11-28T14:25:00.001-07:00

Every Sunday we join the family for dinner at my mom's house. We eat at 5:00 pm, but everyone gets there a little bit early and then after dinner we hang out all night. It seems that each and every Sunday though, we fall into the same routines. Everyone sits in the same spots, does the same stuff, and we talk and laugh, and some of us (dad!) snore a bit.

Last night I decided to do a quick run through the house to photograph everyone in their designated spots.

Last night we ate dessert first. Cherry dump cake, a family favorite.

That handsome brother of mine, who will never tweet me back because he says twitter isn't for conversations even though he twits back all the other people he tweets with, doing his hard math problems for his math teacher who, whenever anyone asks her a question says, "My husband is nearly blind!"

The super smart math teacher sister helping the handsome brother with his hard math problems.

All the little chillin's with grandma ma. Usually, they are in the basement playing air hockey, pirate dinosaurs, or watching bull riding. Last night they were all playing Elmo in Grouch land on the computer.

The over 30 men's crowd watching football, reading tweets about football, sleeping through football, and making work appointments for the next day while watching football. Once football ends, they'll find something else to watch, usually ESPN classic or some "fat guy eating greasy food" show.

And then, there's me. Last night, like most Sunday nights, I don't really have a crowd. I float. I'm too dumb to do math. I'm too lazy to entertain the kids (though Molly wog did sit on my lap for like 15 minutes, a record, to watch Elmo movies on my phone). I'm too disinterested to watch football. I'm too unemployed to talk about taxes. Sometimes I'll color a picture.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2011-11-26T20:33:00.001-07:00

Today was a first in our little family. There are still 4 days left in November and all the Christmas decorations are out. There are a few more little things I plan to do to make the spirit bright, but it feels festive in our house. The tree is up and decorated. The stockings are hung by the chimney. The pine candle has been lit. Tonight after dinner we watched "The Grinch", had a roaring fire, and drank home made hot chocolate.

All but two of the Christmas presents are purchased and I'm working on setting up a sub-for-Santa project for us to participate in.

I received my Christmas cards in the mail on Wednesday and I already have all the envelopes addressed. I won't be sending them out yet, still some work to do.

I'm almost finished with the awesome "activity a day" advent calendar I'm working on for the boys (and me). We just need some snow so we can build a snowman, blow bubbles that will freeze, catch snowflakes on frozen black paper, and paint a rainbow.

I have a fabulous top secret present in the works for my husband. He has no idea and he might cry. Power tools are so emotional. He isn't planning to get me anything (we have a deal every year - no presents, but I cheat every year) so I already bought myself a new dress (from him of course because I have no income) to wear to church on Christmas Sunday - I just need a navy blue cardigan.

Ah yes, the spirit of the holidays has hit early this year - and the boys were absolutely crazy today to prove it. We've got two trees this year, one for me and one for the boys and that enabled me to decorate my tree all by myself and if I do say so myself, it turned out lovely.

Familius Activitus

2011-11-25T17:29:00.001-07:00

This morning we were going to do a family activity. The boys rushed our room at 7:35 am and we asked them, "Do you guys want to go to the zoo today?"

"Yes! The zoo! I love the zoo," exclaimed the almost five year old.

"The rhino has a butt!" shouted the wee Chickadee.

It was decided. After cinnamon rolls and the struggle to get showered and dressed we would head to the tippy top of the mountain for the zoo.

Only problem, on the drive up, on the foothills of the mountain, it started to rain. A very light rain mind you, but rain nonetheless.

Mom and Dad did not want to get wet. Seeing the light drizzle on the windshield inspired the Dad of the family to change our course. "What if we go to the new natural history museum instead of the zoo, " he asked?

One boy was psyched. "Sweet!" he declared, "I love dinosaurs."
The other boy was disappointed because you see, the rhino has a butt.

We called in the car to make sure that said museum was open and once it was confirmed, we headed up. Luckily, the new natural history museum is just three minutes away from the zoo. We got a space to park, admired the view and headed in.

Let me tell you, the museum is awesome. It is the perfect mix of hands-on kid stuff and grown up fact stuff. It is bright and colorful and dark and dinosaur-y. The exhibits are laid out well, the museum flows exceptionally and before you know it, you are at the very top, on the 5th floor, looking at the most amazing, spectacular, breath taking view.

Take a look for yourself.

Anyway, I was impressed and we had fun. In the end, we signed up for a season pass, applying our admission for the day to the final cost for our family to return as often as we'd like. It was a pretty cool day.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T07:56:00.001-07:00

I know a lot of people who do Thanksgiving Trees with their families during the month of November. I loved the idea but wanted to do something a little bit different that could really involve my kids. Before the end of October, Elliott helped me make 24 little envelopes, staple them to ribbon, and hang them across the window. Then, starting November 1st we set out every single night after dinner to write down the things that we are thankful for.

Us mom and dad? Our stuff has been pretty standard. Elliott has really tried hard to be thoughtful. Wyatt? Well, lets just say he's really thankful for his butt.

Anyway, I love the kids thoughts so much I thought I'd share a few here.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Elliott is thankful for:
* having a good day
* a new month of November
* playing in the snow
* have a good day
* ears
* learning a new letter at school
* taco night for dinner
* for mom
* Grandpa Huber
* I got to play with Cy
* Dad could come home kind of early
* fun days at school
* humidifier helped me sleep
* grandma and grandpa
* food to eat
* humidifier is helping my cough
* lights on the Christmas Tree
* toys to play with
* things to eat
* participate in the primary program
* Santa brings presents
* school

The Chick Monster is thankful for:
* I'm thankful for I'm tired
* I like to pick songs (at singing class)
* Old McDonald on moms pink phone
* snow and boogers
* my nose and my eyeball
* how about my butt!
* thankful for my bum
* Doritos
* the big hamster at the pet store
* ice cream
* naps ("I'm just so sleepy")
* moms pink phone
* fruit loops
* my nose
* Mac the truck
* ears
* pasta for dinner
* super bouncy sky ball
* the zoo and the baby elephant and the rhino can poop
* grandma's pasta
* shoots balls
* toe, bed, my friend spot the dog

Dance Dance Revolution

2011-11-22T08:45:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since my boys and their amazing dance moves have graced the blog.

You wouldn't know it by looking at the dazzling moves and high spirits in the video that shortly after, literally within minutes, both boys were screaming slobbering messes and went to bed early.

It's a holiday week.

Go figure.

Oh, there is music in the background even though you cannot hear it. I have no idea what the group was but when I asked Ross he said, "two white guys who think they are black."

You can try and figure out who that is.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (before Thanksgiving)!

2011-11-20T07:36:00.001-07:00

Okay. It's the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I've had insomnia for the last 5 nights and my brain hurts, my eyes are puffy, and I have a weird sore on my lip. My boys started waking up at 5:30 this morning but didn't start fighting until 6:30. Nothing I love more than getting up before the daylight savings sun on a Sunday morning.

Cue sarcasm........NOW!

The boys are shooting baskets in the kitchen and dad is in the shower. There is a good inch of snow on the ground and it just started snowing sort of a whippy, swirly mess of tiny flakes.

This morning is the perfect time to show you the goofy Christmas art project I worked on last week.

I bought two blank canvas a while ago and have been trying to figure out what to do with them. Once I decided Christmas art was in order I painted them my new favorite shade of red (Martha Stewart Maine Lobster) and got to work.

Because I am not very talented, I had to make a stencil(out of freezer paper) for my little painted sign but the stencil worked out great and once I did the touch up work (in red and white) the finished product turned out pretty cute and I've got the perfect place to hang it in my house for the holidays.

And, because I still had another canvas, I went with an idea I had seen online (nothing original here these days) and used the boys to help me with the art project. Want to get your kids all giggly and goofy? Paint their feet!

Grateful

2011-11-17T07:41:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, it's hard for me to remember how lucky I am in this life. That there is greatness surrounding me and it is a blessing in my life. That the decisions made by myself and together with my husband have truly enriched our lives and the lives of our children more than I ever really pay attention to.

Life has been a blur lately. I wake up in the morning, take a deep breath, and get ready for the day. The day is spent doing mom and kid things, housewife and maid things, Martha Stewart and Paula Dean things.

As patiently as I am capable of, I wait for 10:00 pm to roll around. At 10:00, the boys have been in bed for a while, I've done some reading, he's sent his work e-mails, and we finally get the chance to talk to each other.

For the first time all the day long!

He tells me about work and what makes him nervous. I tell him about the day the boys and I had, share my worries and stresses, and sometimes cry like a baby.

He tells me to relax. I tell him that I can't so much, but that I'll try.

We reminisce about the "good old days" before crazy monkeys and revel in the joy our lives feel because those monkeys chase each other around the house with boogers on their fingers and play the atomic fart game on our phones.

Lately, I live for 10:00 pm.

Painting with bubbles!

2011-11-15T07:59:00.001-07:00

In order to keep things sane in our house, I try every single day to have a project for the boys. A craft, a mission, a fort - something to keep them busy for a while. My boys really like to do artsy crafty stuff, which is right up my alley so it usually works out that our projects involve paint and paper and stickers and lots and lots of glue.

And a major mess.

And a stressed out mom because boys do not follow instructions.

Last Friday I had the idea to play with some bubbles inside. I'd seen something similar online and figured we could do something fun at the kitchen table. And, considering both boys were a smidge sick and we were not going out into the butt cold day, indoor bubble painting was born.

There were a few glitches in the craft - straws didn't work and we needed more food coloring in our bubble mix but....BUT.....BUT - these crazy boys of mine kept themselves busy for almost an hour blowing bubbles onto paper and being clever and awesome.

We tried a couple different types of paper and the watercolor paper worked the best. I think that we might do this again with some big sheets of nice white paper. It would be a great homemade gift wrap, stationary, or even a good art project to frame.

Are you an athlete or an athletic supporter?

2011-11-12T12:37:00.001-07:00

When I first moved into the Truman Show seven years ago, I was invited to come and play church volleyball. It had been years since I'd played, and I was actually thinking about making some friends so I agreed and showed up to play. I was placed on a team, was stupidly asked what position I play (um, I'm 6 foot 3...I'm totally the team setter and don't know how to block at all!) and stood on the court ready to play.

I can dig if I have to. I can set if I need to. I can "spike" if that's what you want to call it. I am generally good for a couple of blocks a game.

I stood on that court ready to receive service. The ball came soaring over the net and a woman on my team, whom I later decided was the graveyard shift conductor of the crazy train, kicked the ball instead of trying to use her hands. The volleyball purist in me was outraged and as soon as I rotated out I picked up my stuff and I left the gym, never to return.

Fast forward 7 years. I live in a new house, new neighborhood, new ward. I volunteered to play on the women's volleyball team because I really don't know anyone and was doing a little bit of reaching out - I stepped out of my comfort zone to be social and thought it would be good for me. It was a frustrating experience, but I still had fun.

I realized that I am like my dad. I am too competitive when I have something personally at stake. If I am on a team, or cheering for a particular family member on a team, my blood will boil, I'll yell and rant and rave and I'll give it my all. A vested interest gets me going and ready for action. Now, if I have no vested interest, I could care less who wins or loses, but put me on the court and....

Fast forward to last Sunday at church. I was asked to fill-in on the co-ed volleyball team in a region round robin tournament that was held last night. At 7:00 pm I showed up at the church ready to play. So did the five other people on my team - three men and three women in total. We walked into the gym into a literal herd of people. There were 40 men and women milling about, none of whom really seemed sure as to what was going on.

It was soon discovered however that the organizer of the round robin tournament wasn't as thorough as he should have been. He had 4 teams show up when he thought there were only enough people for two teams. After a lot of buffoonery and "um...um..um.." it was decided by this guy that one, it was our mistake in showing up, not his mistake in lack of planning; and two, that the teams could just easily combine because you know, it's really easy to work 15 people into a 6 person game.

So I played. The opposing team had two very tall, very cocky young men, probably 19 who by the looks of them, thought that they should have been playing on a nationally ranked NCAA men's team, not standing in a church gym playing with their moms. I am proud to say that on the first play of the game for me, one of these young men went up to spike the ball into my face and was hit by the shock of his church volleyball career when the tall, 30 pound overweight diabetic mother of two blocked his hit and returned the ball into his face.

Take that, church volleyball!

Throughout the next two matches, I blocked those two boys or dumped it right past their attempted block of me three more times.

Not bad!

Once the game was over I was asked to be a line judge for the next match. I agreed. While standing in position, I saw some scuttlebutt between some members of the team I came with and the team we had just played with. A few minutes later I was told that the old men on the team, who went by the nicknames "Merlin" and "ponch" (because who doesn't want a cool nick name for CHURCH volleyball) had asked that the men on our team not play. They would keep our women (me, the tall girl and our setter because we were better than the ladies they showed up with), but that they didn't think it was fair for our men (who were taller, younger, stronger and better looking) to play on their team because "they hadn't been to any practices".

So, in grand church ball fashion, people got offended and because I didn't want to stay anyway, I left in a huff with the lot. Well, I wasn't in a huff, I just felt that I got jipped out of some exercise so I came home and did my Jillian Michaels video. I do not recommend doing an aerobic exercise video at 8:30 at night. I didn't sleep. All night long. And I messed up my blood sugar and at 2:30 this morning my number was 22 - that's like diabetic coma low and I thought i was going to DIE! Seriously. It was terrible.

Anyway - the whole point of all of this?
It's CHURCH BALL. If you think you are so awesome at church ball that you cannot share the court with someone else then you are just dumb.

What you wish for

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

Today is quite the day, yes?

11/11/11

it's 11:11 am.

What did you wish for?

I'm not telling you what I wished for.

My boys?

They got ice cream sundaes for breakfast.

It's also Veterans Day.

Thank you Veterans.

I'm not sure what to say about it, except that I've been thinking about this song all morning. It really has nothing to do with Veterans Day, isn't patriotic at all, but for some reason, it sort of makes me think of America and the beautiful country that I live in.

The song is, "Nature of the Beast" by the Samples (written by Sean Kelly)

It reminds me of road trips and mountains and being a high school history teacher. I actually made my students listen to this song a couple of times to see what they thought of it.

They didn't care.

Shock.

Have a great day of elevens.

I should have been more obvious

2011-11-10T07:56:00.001-07:00

I am often reminded that when it comes to letting my husband know that I love him, I am not outwardly affectionate enough. Which, is true. That's why I get reminded. I don't really hug, I'm not too touchy and I keep a lot of my feelings to myself. I do however, love my husband very much - why else would I do his laundry and fix him dinner every night?

Ross is currently camped out at a local hotel from now until Thanksgiving doing some international training for the last phase of his two year project at work. He is speaking Spanish every day and hanging out with people from all over the world (Chile, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Switzerland, Russia and Kazakhstan to be specific).

On Monday afternoon, the boys and I happened to be heading out to run some errands that would drive us right past Ross' hotel. I thought that it would be funny to leave a little note on his windshield so I quickly grabbed a piece of paper, jotted a few words and jumped in the car. While stopped at a red light I put on as much gloss as my lips could hold and laid a smooch right on the paper.

I thought, "He has to know this is me! I laugh in the face of not being a "romantic'!"

The note was then folded in half and placed on the windshield and the boys and I went about our business. About 45 minutes later he called to say that he was on his way home from work.

The rest of the conversation went something like this:

Him: So, when I got out to my car there was this note on my windshield.

Me: Really? What did it say?

Him: Yeah, it said call me and has a big kiss on it. It doesn't say who it's from. Is it from you?

Me: Um...no! Why would I leave a note on your car (trying to contain my laughter).

Him: Really? Well then someone got confused and put a note for someone else on my truck.

When we hung up I couldn't stop smiling.

Apparently I am so far off the "affection" meter that a note left on my husband's car, obviously from me, doesn't even register in his brain as being from me - he thinks someone made a mistake and left the note on the wrong car.

Once he got home from work, Elliott clarified the note situation at dinner ("Dad, when we went to the Utah store, mom left a note on your car at the hotel!") and there were some blushing cheeks on the adults in the room.

Looks like I've got my work cut out for me in the future.

Happy Birthday to my dad!

2011-11-08T08:11:00.001-07:00

My Dad.

Today, he is one year older.

Today, he has to go to work and go to school and then after work and school, he'll get bombarded by crazy grandson's at his house who will jump around and war-hoop and probably break or spill something. He won't mind though - he'll just clean up the mess when those crazy boys leave.

He'll call one of them Elliott-smelliott. He'll carry the other one to the car because the Chick always has to have grandpa carry him to the car, as if somehow his legs are broken and cannot carry his 32 pounds.

My dad is such a good dad and grandpa. He takes care of us, tolerates all of our collective strangeness, and is a hard worker. I'm so thankful to my dad for making us do stuff with him when we were kids - yard work, home teaching to a bunch of old ladies, and teaching us how to be part of a team....among hundreds of other things.

Happy Birthday Dad!

We love you.

Weighing In

2011-11-07T12:07:00.003-07:00

Every three months I go to the endocrinologists office. The appointment is pretty routine. I show up a few minutes early, check in with the super skinny and cute receptionist, Anastasia, and then I wait. I wait to get called back and hoisted up onto the scale. The scale at that office is evil. I weigh myself before I leave the house every three months for this appointment. I wear the lightest clothing I own. I prep for three days before by drinking a lot of water and thinking happy thoughts. And, it's always the same....I weigh 5-8 pounds MORE at the doctor's office than I do at home. I'm sure that's the way it works for most people but for me, someone who is already overweight, it just adds insult to injury.

At the beginning of the summer I had one such appointment and hit an all time low - rather high - on the scale. It was a number I'd been toying with for a while, one that of course I hadn't hit at home, but it was depressing to say the least. I made a deal with myself and my doctor that I'd really start to do something about it this time - I knew that this summer would give me some opportunity to try and make some changes, but with a move, and life getting int he way, I got a late start.

I did start in July, when Ross got home from Australia and was working hours that made him accessible to me as a babysitter in the morning. I started to exercise, at least 4 days a week, in the most consistent manner I'd done for years. I would walk and jog the track in my neighborhood or I'd go on a power walk around the world. It was invigorating to be sweating and moving and listening to the music I wanted to listen to - being alone and doing something just for myself was pretty rewarding.

Then, Ross went back to work and for a couple of weeks I got up super early in the morning, got dressed and hit the pavement. It was chilly, but those early mornings out walking were amazing. I loved it a lot more than I thought and really enjoyed watching the sunrise every morning. But, the weather got cold and by mid September I needed something else.

But not until my 3 months were up and I had to go back to the doctor.

Ug! The doctor.

I had made some changes in my lifestyle, seen some minor results on MY scale, and then headed back.

To be told that I was obese.

To be told by a doctor's office scale that I'd made no progress all summer and weighed a smidge more than I had three months before.

I wanted to cry!

I wanted to scream!

I wanted to grab my doctors spare tire gut and say, "who are you calling fat!!!!!"

But I didn't.

I looked him in the eye and said, "I cannot lose weight and I need help!"

He said, "okay."

We looked through my file and my weight history. I've been going to the same office for 5 years and in 5 years I've gained 46 pounds. Granted I've had two babies in that time period and became a work from home/stay at home mom, but that's a lot of weight to add to my frame. Thank heavens I'm six foot three. One more reason to be grateful for my height.

So, the doc? He gave me a two month prescription for a commonly prescribed appetite suppressant and told me to take half a pill every morning. He told me that I had to modify my diet even more and that I had to increase the exercise...just walking, though healthy, wasn't going to cut it. He even gave me the name of another doctor who specializes in helping people like me (fat from insulin just as much as fat from life) in case I wanted someone else to contact.

I came hope depressed. I cried a bit in the car!

"Why is this so hard?" I thought to myself.

The weekend before this appointment I was at my moms, looking through photo albums and I found a picture. A picture of me in a bathing suit so tanned and skinny that I almost threw up. That picture was taken in an era when I thought I was fat (silly girl!). That picture is now on my fridge, where I stare at it about 50 times a day. I analyze that girl. There is no way on the planet I'll ever look like her again - there really isn't much desire in me to be her again. But! BUT! That girl provides me with some motivation that I was lacking before.

All of this happened in September. On September 19th I started the quest to stop my own personal insanity. I started working out with a video (Jillian Michael's busting my butt to be exact!) at least 4 days a week. Minus the occasional failure like I had this weekend, I've almost entirely stopped eating chips, excessive sugar, bread, pasta, potatoes, rice...all the stuff I know that doesn't work with my diabetic body. There isn't anything I've cut out completely, but I'm really making an effort. My portions are smaller. I'm picking fruit and yogurt for a snack instead of Cheetos. I'm not fixing as much food for dinner so there is less to sit and pick at. I'm trying to listen to myself when I go out to eat and not finish everything in front of me just because it's there - sometimes knowing when you are full is a good thing.

And guess what - It took me 7 weeks to do a 30 day video but I did it 30 times.

And guess what else - I lost 11 pounds doing it.

I know that doesn't seem like much but for me, the girl who has given a half hearted effort to lose weight for over two years, it's a huge deal.

I'm a little bit proud of myself.

And today - I'm starting all over (except that because of a medication I take, metformin, I get super sick all the time and today is one of those days where I cannot venture too far from the bathroom or stand up straight so I might have to start tomorrow.). Another 30 days of exercise and diet (thrown into another 6-7 week period because life gets in the way of all goals).

By the end of the year, with increased effort, I'm hoping to dump another 10 lbs in the garbage can. And then maybe another 10 after that.

Phew!

I can hardly believe it, but there really is a little tiny light at the end of my dark tunnel right now. It's a tiny glimmer, but hopefully, as I get closer, it can get a little bit brighter!

In a nutshell

2011-11-06T14:56:00.000-07:00

Weekends seem to take ages to arrive and then they disappear in the blink of an eye. Totally unfair. Things in our lives seem to be pretty boring lately, but we're doing our best to try to keep things interesting. Even if the only interesting we can muster is watching "Shaun the sheep" through the Xbox on netflix on demand.

We've transformed into pilgrims and talk every day about the things we are thankful for.

We've begun our yearly pilgrimage to the University to watch our beloved Runnin' Utes stink it up for yet another season. They may be crappy, and we may only be going to the Saturday games, but we get to do it as a family and take up a whole section of seats. There really isn't anything more fun than that.

We got snow twice in the last week but the stuff on Friday night stuck. The boys woke with cheers and roars and desperation to get outside, even in their pajamas to throw some snowballs. That may have been the best thing to happen, this silent ushering in of winter, that they boys have seen in a long time.

NaBlo......NO MORE!

2011-11-02T10:03:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was November first. The start of national blog posting month. I've spent the last couple weeks debating about whether or not I was going to participate this year and on Sunday night (I think it was Sunday) I decided not to do it.

You have no idea how much undo stress I've brought upon myself over the years to do 30 posts in 30 days. It's dumb, but I've truly worried about it every year for the last five and I just decided not to do it.

Oh well.

Are you sad?

If you're interested, you can check out the previous years and even though it's too late to sign up officially, you can still do it with a couple day late start.

November 2010

November 2009

November 2008

November 2007

November 2006

Halloween is over!

2011-11-01T12:46:00.000-06:00

Can I just tell you all that, without a whole lot of prodding on my part, my children also think Halloween is dumb. They do. They would rather pass out candy (I mean stickers - we didn't do candy this year) to random kids than go out in the freezing cold to beg for treats on their own. I guess when you live in a house where you are not starved for sugar or empty carbs, there really isn't a need to find an outside, neighborhood source to fuel your addictions.

Regardless, I'm pretty sure that the boys had a good day yesterday. There was a parade at school, a visit to grandma's house, and wandering around the neighborhood as a monkey and a penguin. And, we suffered the same fate that I'm sure most households with kids under the age of seven suffered last night - the 8:30 pm sugar induced meltdown that could probably defeat Godzilla.

Yeah - it was awesome.

And because I have nothing left to say except that before I went to bed last night I turned the calendar to November, just to move things along....and because it SNOWED this morning while we were watching Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving I'll just share with you a bunch of pictures of my goofy kids.

Waiting for the parade to start

Wandering through a narrow hallway surrounded by strange adults with cameras.

All our pumpkins. Nothing got carved because we didn't have time on Monday and Elliott spent all of Sunday throwing up.

Gratuitous porch picture.

Let the crazy begin!

Wandering the neighborhood

There are more pictures on flickr if you are interested in cross-eyed monkeys, passing out treats, or pumpkins in jars. Just click on any of the photos in the post to see the rest.

Boys will be boys!

2011-10-26T18:50:00.000-06:00

My mom has always told me, jokingly, that if she knew how "easy" raising a boy would have been versus a girl, she would have traded my sister and me in a long time ago. Maybe one boy is a whole different ball game but these days, raising two little boys is hard. It's fun and entertaining, but it's hard. However, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I live a life of burp and fart jokes. I live a life where the words booger and bum are used as often as the word and. I life a life of wrestling and running and dancing and screaming. A life of scrapes and bruised heads - a life of wild animals and too many documentaries about predators (of the sea, the sky, the savannah and ancient times.)

I also live a life of gigantic hugs, the kind that knock you over. I live a life of joy and humor at crazy knock-knock jokes. I live a life where the mundane is exciting. I life a life where, when I ask my two year old what planet he lives on, he tells me planet belly button.

Last night, after dinner it felt like I had a glimpse of what is to come and let me tell you, it was awesome. I was at the kitchen table working on a project. The boys were taking turns dancing in the living room and helping me - requesting songs for their dad, the DJ to play. How many four year olds ask for "bust a move?" Mine does. At some point the dancing stopped and Elliott joined me at the table, building things with my scraps of paper and Wyatt was sitting on the counter playing DJ with his dad. We were laughing and talking about nothing. It was like I had a 17 year old and a 15 year old in my house telling me about school and working on their history homework - not two little squirts waiting to dance to beyonce's "single ladies" sung by the chipmunks because hey, that's funny.

Sometimes I am so anxious to get on with things, to move ahead, to forge on. I'm ready for school and homework, organized sports and science fairs. Then I stop and realize woah - that's too fast. Life is too fast. I like the cuddly wuddly monsters and want them to sit on my lap forever.

Until they fart on me. Then, they can find their own seats.

In a different room.

And bring me a can of air freshener because yes, it is that bad.

On Being Married....

2011-10-23T19:24:00.002-06:00

I have book club this week. The book that was selected for the month by Angela, our resident editor, was a true break from the norm. Rather than a novel, she picked a book about marriage. A self-help book maybe, I'm really not sure. The book is titled, Passionate Marriage (by David Snarch) and as the title implies, the book was a bit of an "exotic" book to read. Especially for a girl like me, who when it comes right down to it, is a bit of a prude - uncomfortable watching movie kissing (even by cartoons) and doesn't necessarily use the word passionate to describe much of anything.

Anyway, the gist of the book is to talk about something called, "differentiation," or how good you are at being an individual in a relationship with your spouse. The more differentiated you are, according to Dr. Snarch, the better relationship you'll have in all aspects of your married life, if you get my drift (it is called passionate for a reason).

Are you a partner who does things his/her best interest (stand up for your values, be true to yourself and your beliefs, etc.) to make you a good person in return motivating your partner to be a good person and to both treat each other with love and kindness and respect? Or, are you "emotionally fused" to each other and so dependent upon the other's acceptance, permission, opinions that you lose yourself in your relationship and end up just being angry at everything (and everyone)? Or, are you somewhere in the middle, just getting by but not really creating a long lasting friendship and relationship with the person you've chosen to spend the rest of your life with?

It's of course, a lot more complicated than I've laid out in a paragraph - and getting along with your spouse is much more complicated than a book could ever detail. But the basic ideas of 1) how you were raised directly impacts how you treat your spouse and 2) the strengths and weaknesses you bring into your relationship need to be constantly evaluated and evolve over time and 3) it takes A LOT OF WORK to be happily married and have a fulfilled and lasting relationship are things that any couple could benefit from a little time exploring.

So, I read the book. It was a bit too graphic for me in the passion department, but the ideas put forward about marriage and responsibility really opened my eyes. I decided to make Ross read the book and in the last week or so as he's been reading it, we've had some really great discussions about life, love, our marriage, and how we treat each other on a daily basis. More importantly however, what we can do to make our marriage better. It's been eye opening and inspiring.

I love my husband. I love that he listens to me (when he's not watching football) and that he treats me with respect. I love that he takes the full responsibility of providing for us financially and that he appreciates me and what I do at home with the little monsters. I love that he's a good dad and that he spends so much time with his boys. I know that there are times, more frequent than they should be, when we take each other for granted. But, it make me happy to know that we really do have each others' best interests at heart and that we know that we need to be constantly working on our relationship and continue to become better friends and partners in our lives. We are after all, in this for eternity, so the more time we spend figuring all this marriage stuff out now can only benefit us down the road.

Happy Birthday

2011-10-18T12:52:00.002-06:00

Today is my mom's birthday. She's spending her birthday at the doctor's with my brother. He's really sick and getting an iv. She could have either spent her birthday at work or with my sick brother. I'd pick the sick kid, too.

Probably because I have too much time on my hands and because I don't want to clean up all the toy food that has been strewn about my family room floor for the sake of playing "restaurant-paleontologist-Phineas and Ferb truck stop on a trailer-spy" I was looking through my photo archives for a good picture of my mom and realized that there isn't a picture of just my mom. There are only pictures of my mom with other people, particularly her kids and grand kids and most of the time, someone is sitting on her lap. That got me to thinking about my grandma because in nearly every single picture I have of my grandma someone is sitting on her lap, too (Like I said, too much time on my hands). So then I started looking at all the pictures I've got on my computer of my mom and my grandma and started to cry - because I'm pretty much a moron that way. And then, the more I looked, the more I noticed that my mom and her mom hold little squirts in the same way: sitting up, facing forward, fingers clasped around tiny little bellies.

I don't have any idea at this point what any of this rambling has to do with my moms birthday. Nothing really because that's just how my brain functions.

I guess it means I love my mom and I miss my grandma.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

AWOL

2011-10-17T10:26:00.001-06:00

Every once in a while life moves faster than the blog. And the fact that I've been doing this for 6 years doesn't help much...sometimes there just really isn't a "story" and the thought of creating one just makes me tired. And, life makes me tired, too. There's been a lot of action the last week or so - physical activity, mental and emotional trauma and joy, arguments about bigots and morons, little kid magic shows, book reading about relationships, pumpkin patch picking, crafting, football game watching, and the list goes on and on and on.

Anyway - here are some pictures - just so the few of you who read this know that we're alive and kicking.

The Sewing Summit

2011-10-08T08:04:00.001-06:00

My good friend Erin is an amazing "sewist". She makes capes and quilts and mug rugs (oh my!) She is also part of a very creative blogging/sewing circle of women around the country (and in Canada) and with that as inspiration she and her friend Amy decided to create a conference - they called it "The Sewing Summit" and it started last night downtown at the Little America Hotel.

I've worked on the back-end of many conferences in my life and know how much work goes into the planning, organizing, and coordinating of such an event. It's a ton of work. I'd been bugging Erin to let me volunteer to help out for weeks and weeks and she finally gave in to my nagging and decided that I could run their registration table on opening night.

I spent most of my day yesterday meeting other very talented and creative women who came in from all over the country to be inspired and meet each other. Most of these women are bloggers, having never met each other in person, but spending a lot of time being friends with each other and chatting online so it was pretty funny to see some of them just downright giddy to finally meet each other.

It was truly a lot of fun and I was so happy to be able to help. Thanks Erin, for the experience.

I love where I live

2011-10-03T17:10:00.001-06:00

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a homebody. I love to travel and experience new aspects of life but these days, I prefer those travels to be closer to home, and done via road trip instead of in a plane across the ocean. I'm sure there will be a day, particularly when the boys are older, that the four of us will hop on a plane and go on some grand adventures. But for now, I'm content to drive through the canyons quite literally in my backyard, and soak in the beauty that is fall in Utah.

On Sunday we headed out for a quick drive. As soon as the Chick fell asleep we turned around and headed back because a long nap in the car doesn't really count as a nap in his book. Even still, the colors and the beauty of the mountains overwhelmed me, as it does every year. Is there really anything more splendid than a mountain on fire with the colors of fall?

I think not.

Because I'm lazy, the only camera with me was on my phone, but I still managed to capture a few shots of the gorgeous mountainside.

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!!!!!

2011-10-01T09:48:00.003-06:00

Phew!

They did it!

The Wolverines won a game.

IT was a nail biter but such an important victory. If there was one team to beat, it was the team we defeated last night. The boys played great. The team was healthy. Everyone was back in their original positions. The stands were full to the brim with cheering fans and I haven't yelled and screamed at a football game so much for quite a long time.

The end, as with all the games we watch, was so stressful that I just couldn't watch. I held the chick tight in my lap and buried my head in his hair because I just couldn't watch them lose again. I just kept repeating into my boys head, "We have to win. These boys have to win. They deserve to win. These are good boys. We have to win...." As the opposing quarterback threw what we were all sure was to be a catch and run into the end zone for a touchdown and another loss, one of our teams defensive linemen caught the ball and ran it back for a touchdown.

We all jumped and screamed and carried on like fools.

I was so nervous and then so excited that thought I might throw up. I didn't have to worry about that though, because my little Chickadee puked for me. All over the two of us.

Good thing the game was over....we had to leave!

My mom texted me that the end of game celebration was grand and the boys were so excited they were just beside themselves. And in true, excited boy fashion, the sang on the bus the whole way home.

Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!

Being Crafty, day four

2011-09-30T09:15:00.003-06:00

My boys love crafts. I love crafts. Together, we are crafty machines. Most of the time, doing crafts with my kids really stresses me out because it's messy and once they are "done" things get a little out of control. That being said however, they are both turning a corner and really starting to concentrate and do a better job with their projects.

Case in point - after putting it off more than a week, yesterday we painted ceramic pumpkins to decorate the house. They turned out great and the boys did a fantastic job.

I got the pumpkins from Orientation Trading (Oh, how I love this website) and we had a great time painting the afternoon away.

Being Crafty, day three

2011-09-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

There are a lot of blank walls in my new house. They are begging for decoration. They are also begging for a new wall color because the brown just grosses me out, but that's another blog post.

Anyway, there is a lot of blank space. I have a basement full of frames and artwork that just doesn't work in the new house - wrong sizes, wrong colors, etc. so I've taken it upon myself to try and liven things up a bit, decorating wise, and tackle a few different projects on my own.

I spied via pinterest weeks ago a beautiful painting that can be purchased from an etsy shop. ( On etsy, I saw this.) I loved the colors and the simplicity of the artwork and thought that it would be great to have something like this in my home....but, it would need to be on a grander scale because I have so much blank wall space.

One day last week when the boys were coloring I decided to color too. With the painting as my inspiration, I thought, "gosh, wouldn't it be fun to have something similar to that painting but done like the seasons?" "Why yes, yes it would I answered myself" and came up with this idea.

So, with a map in hand and some colors thought out the boys and I headed to the hobby lobby for some blank canvas' and paints. We ended up buying 6 paint colors and 4 canvas, the total cost coming to about $30. Not bad considering the painting that was my inspiration was $60 and I was planning on doing four paintings.

On Saturday, while my three boys were playing trains and watching football I set to work on my art at the kitchen table. I'd spray painted each canvas white before I got started and sketched a few swirly circles to get me started. If I do say so myself, I thought that the end result turned out pretty cool. A very simple and inexpensive series of art to cover some of my naked walls.

Now, I just need to figure out where to hang them...which wall is begging to be covered.

Being Crafty, day two

2011-09-28T07:30:00.000-06:00

There are a lot of blogs out there with fabulous and inexpensive craft projects. It seems that every week I find something that I really like and am willing to try. The last few years I've made the boys t-shirts to cheer on their Uncle Willie in his various sporting adventures. Last year we added Miss Molly as a recipient of my goofy projects so now I get to make three shirts instead of just two.

I've seen a lot of these crafty blogs use freezer paper to make stencils for t-shirts, canvas bags, hats, scarves, you get the idea. It's been a bit intimidating to me because the tutorials are always more complicated than my brain can handle. I found one a little while ago that made perfect sense so off the boys and I were to the grocery store for freezer paper and the craft store for paint. The project I had in mind was to make the three kiddos shirts to wear to our weekly Friday night football game.

Here is how it went down.

First, I needed a design. I just found some free clip art footballs and jumped into photoshop to map something out that was very easy and very basic when it came to positive and negative space. For my first try I needed to go as simple as possible.

The next step was to trace my stencil image onto the freezer paper, shiny side down. After that, very carefully I had to cut the stencil out. It's a bit of a pain because each stencil cannot be reused so I had to make three, one for each shirt.

Now, you want to know what's cool about this process? The freezer paper is sticky. Once the stencil is cut out, you can iron it (shiny side down) onto the shirt your going to add the image to. Awesome. So, I cut out three stencils and ironed them on to three different little shirts.Then, with a decent paint brush (just one of my kids watercolor brushes...we have a lot to choose from) I started painting doing my best to stay in the lines and not apply the paint to quickly or to thick. I should have been patient and let each layer drive before applying the next but patience isn't one of my virtues and the final product shows that I was in a bit of a hurry.

To speed up the drying process, I got out my blow dryer to help the paint along. Once it was dry enough, the fun part was peeling off the freezer paper to see how the whole thing turned out. Because I was dealing with some pretty fine line details on some of the lettering and the football, things bled a bit. I'll be more patient in the future, but the little shirts really did turn out pretty cute.

I was a good mom and let Elliott do his own and, well, it looks like I let him do his own, but he was very proud to wear it to last Friday's game and tell everyone that he made his Hunter shirt all by

himself.

The kiddos sure looked cute though, all decked out, ready for the game and cheering on their favorite uncle.

The project was pretty inexpensive, too. All the t-shirts were the $5 special at target, the freezer paper cost $5 and the two gray paints I bought were $2 each. So, we ended up with some cute, custom t-shirts for less than $25 dollars. I've got a few more ideas for this project in the future. After all, I have a whole roll of freezer paper in my pantry.

Being Crafty, day one

2011-09-27T07:30:00.000-06:00

(This week, because I'm feeling crafty, I thought I'd write a couple posts about some of the nerdy craft things I've been working on. Enjoy. Or mock. Whichever you'd like.)

A week or so ago, while trolling Pinterest I came across a picture that I just had to pin. It was a collection of fall wreaths. They were cute and inspiring. I looked at the pin nearly every day for the last week and thought, I can do that.Mine didn't turn out nearly as cute as the one that I pinned, but it still turned out just fine.

Considering that I have no holiday decorations at all because I've spent the last many years being a scrooge, having something cutesy in the house is a nice touch.

I bought a straw wreath, some gray yard and a piece each of black and yellow felt. The entire project cost me $8 and some change. It took me about two hours to wrap the straw wreath in the yarn (I should have gone smaller in size and styrofoam in material...next time.) and about two minutes to make the bats, the moon, and hot glue them on.

Something cute and festive for the new house.

I guess I'll keep it.

Crossing Zone

2011-09-25T20:51:00.000-06:00

My boys are goofballs. They think its funny when, lets say they are supposed to be eating their lunch and instead they start farting and burping at the table and laughing so hard they fall to the floor. They think it's funny to use "bathroom" words in their every day conversations. They think it's funny to play veterinarian to the giant stuffed elephant and not be able to figure out why he's throwing up even though he just has a sinus infection.

My mom took them to the circus yesterday and what did they love? Everything. What did they love the most? The guy who lit himself on fire and the pooping elephants who rolled a giant piece of lumber around with poop on it.

Hi-larious!

They could also be on David Letterman doing stupid human tricks. They think that if they distract me with these tricks they don't have to eat lunch - like I won't notice a plate of food sitting un-touched.

I notice.

I laugh at the tricks, but their powers of deception are no match for the evil mother lord.

That's me.

Anyway - the trick of the day, the other day was eye crossing. It was funny. Elliott is good at it.

Watch this.

And, not to be out done, the little brother is also good at "crossing his eyes"....if you can call it that.

Junior Bird man

2011-09-21T21:25:00.001-06:00

So, we have a tradition in our family of doing the "Mr. bird man", or "the owl" (hoot!). Whatever you want to call it, it's a process of flipping our hands upside down, putting them over our eyes and yelling "caw, caw!" after it. My mom taught us chillins' how to do it, I've never seen my dad do it, my husband can do it, his mother cannot.

I've been trying for 2.5 years to get my kid to do it. We practice and practice and practice. Really, we do. It's important. It's one of those right of passage things like curling your tongue and crossing your eyes.Yesterday, we were eating lunch and that boy of mine turned to me, flipped his hands and voila!

HE DID IT!

I immediately made him do it again, took his picture, and sent it off to grandma, uncle willie, auntie haley and dad. It was a milestone worth documenting.

Then what did we do?We spent the rest of the day being junior bird men of course. And, trying to get the Chick to do it.

That my friends, is going to take another 2 and a half years.

the week in pictures

2011-09-16T13:44:00.001-06:00

It's Friday. Friday is good. Ross just called me to tell me that the Internet is out in his office which means, for an international finance guy like him, nothing can be accomplished without the Internet. I asked him if he gets to employ the college rule - you know the one, if the professor doesn't show up in 20 minutes you get to leave. He told me no, but if the IT guy doesn't return his phone call soon, he may bail for the day. I then dared him to come home early, on a Friday (pretty unprecedented in these parts) and defined early as by 3:00 pm. Not sure what our wager is, but we're probably going to Costco tonight and it could be the difference between a real dinner in a real restaurant or a churro from their snack area.

I vote real dinner.

I'm not one to generally say that time moves quickly or slowly, but this week has flown by. Can you believe were already in the middle of September? Holy cow! It's important to note as well that our satellite TV has been on the fritz and the boys and I, minus a movie the other afternoon, have survived without the boob tube all week. Know what that means? A whole helluva lot of craft projects and errand running and neighborhood walks and yard work and trips to the mailbox and soccer ball kicking....you get the idea. The Chick even decided to not have a nap yesterday (gasp!) and we survived. Barely, but we survived a napless two year old, which by the way, isn't really something I'd wish on anyone.

And another tangent....I've performed some sort of exercise every day this week, including playing volleyball last night. Church volleyball is totally lame because it's just a rally scoring serve fest, but it was fun to play for an hour and block a couple of really bad attempts by the other team to hit the ball over the net. I was only told that I was tall twice, and only told that i was good once. I'm not good, by the way. I am however tall.

When I got home last night from volleyball, the boys were watching a show (one TV does work, just not the one we usually watch) with their dad about caimans - they're like crocodiles. We have the national geographic channel and that four year old of mine had his mind blown. To his dad he said, "you mean to tell me that there is a channel that just has shows about animals? Whole shows about animals?" Yes, that's what he really said. He's a total nerd, just like his parents.

This week I also started officially using Instagram on my phone. I'm doing it for nothing else than the fact that there are cool edits AND it will automatically upload to twitter and flickr - the places I dump pictures most frequently. It's a very symbiotic relationship. I am the rhinoceros and Instagram is my ox pecker (the bird that eats bugs off my neck....or uploads pictures from my phone automatically). Anyway - the whole point of this post was to share some pictures. Here they are.

Enjoy your weekend.

Tuesday was my grandma's birthday and the boys and I took her flowers.

Watching a movie and just chillin' cause we can.

I've eaten corn nearly every day this week, savoring it before it's all gone until the end of next summer. It's been so tasty, too.

My nightstand is currently home to 14 books. I've almost read them all, but have run out of bookshelves to house them when I'm finished.

One of our many crafty adventures for the week - we made crowns...even one for our dad (his isn't pictured though, but it's cool!)

The closest I've ever come to being a vegetarian was last night. Everything I ate for dinner was from the local farm stand. I did eat a little steak, but just a little...the carnivores in my house devoured it first.

In a nutshell....

2011-09-12T07:33:00.000-06:00

Since we never go on vacation, we decided to turn this weekend into a cheesy "mini" vacation. My brother had a football game on the campus of Weber State University at 8:00 pm on Friday night. That's a late game and the thought of driving two groggy kiddos home at 10:30 pm for a two hour drive where inevitably upon arriving home they would wake up and be mean, we decided to stay the night in Ogden and have some fun.

So, the weekend was set. We slept in a hotel by the freeway. We ate breakfast, wandered the Ogden farmers market, got two mint limeades and figured out the recipe to try at home, went to the tree house museum so the kids could play, drove through the canyon, played at a park in Huntsville and ate some good BBQ at Texas Pride. On the way home, the chillins crashed hard and it was a peaceful drive home.

Unfortunately, we arrived home to FOOTBALL ON TV so for those of you who know my husband, you know how the rest of our night went.

On Thursday, before our "vacation" the boys and I went to the zoo...because that's how we roll.

9.11.11

2011-09-11T22:00:00.000-06:00

10 years.

10 years ago I was a high school history teacher. School started at 7:10 am and I started our class period with a quiz and current events. As the lesson of the day was just getting started, the principal of my school entered my classroom and said, "Stop teaching. Turn on your television. New York City is under attack!"

What? Huh?

I did as I was told. Just as I got the television on, my students and I watched the first tower crumble to the ground. Not too much after that the second tower was down and my students were in a panic. Most of them didn't even know what the World Trade Center was.

I left my classroom. The first thing I did was head to the gym. I was the JV cheer advisor at the time and the cheerleaders were practicing with the head advisor and I knew they didn't have a clue what was going on. I quickly told the kids what had happened and ushered them all into my classroom. 30 cheerleaders, nearly 40 students and a couple adults were glued to a teeny tiny television in the corner of my classroom.

Next, I ran out to my car. Haley and I had just been to New York City a few weeks before and for whatever reason, my photo album was in the back seat. I grabbed it, brought it into the school, and proceeded to show my students the pictures. Thank heavens I was so knowledgeable back then and that I had so much background in political science. I was able to talk to my students about New York City; draw maps on the board; answer their questions about terrorism and extremists and osama bin laden - he was a guy who I'd learned about at the "U" and I knew who he was as his name was uttered across the airwaves.

The rest of the school day was a blur. I think I shined as a teacher and a leader for my students that day. I know during the week, hundreds of people rifled through my photo album. I had my students bring flags of all shapes and sizes to school and we pinned them all to the back wall of my classroom. There was nothing on the wall to see but red, white and blue. I watched countless hours of horrific video and tragic stories on TV so that I could be prepared for the next days round of questions by all my students. It was exhausting.

My parents remember exactly where they were when President Kennedy was assassinated. I remember exactly where I was the day two airplanes crashed into two tall buildings, and the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania.

But we moved on. I was as far removed from the "terror" that day as I could be. Across the country, completely safe. My life wasn't threatened, my family protected. I'll never be able to imagine what it was like for those people and families directly affected. I'm sure that the last 10 years have been full of trials and heartache, tears and memories.

For me? I don't know. I don't feel any less safe or any more protected. I don't agree with the way the "war on terror" has been handled, the role our government has played, but I have a deep respect and admiration for the troops who have sacrificed their time, lives, and safety to protect me and the citizens of the world.

My life didn't skip a beat and it still doesn't. It's hard to relate. I haven't watched a video, looked at a picture, or read a story. In fact, I've avoided all remembrance, all memorial. I've flipped the channel, closed the browser and skipped the tweet. I'm not sure that it's apathy, or if it's just exhaustion. The historian in me wants to move forward and forge ahead. The voyeur in me isn't interested in treading through the tragedy from so long ago. The citizen in me wants to sing more patriotic songs in church, have people sing the National Anthem correctly at sporting events, and turn the Fourth of July into something more than fireworks and barbeque's.

But, I suppose in the land of freedom and opportunity, I'm allowed to think whatever I want and you're allowed to disagree. And I guess I'm pretty lucky that the country I live in still thinks that's a right worth protecting.

a typical day

2011-09-08T07:49:00.000-06:00

6:25 am - wake up, get dressed, eat granola bar, go for a sweaty walk and watch the sunrise.
6:56 am - return home, get big drink of water, tell husband goodbye, hurry and shower before the boys wake up
7:25 am - get the chick out of bed and start to wake up the older one. Do much singing and tickling. Finally realize that fart sounds are the way to go - make a sound get a real one back! Anything to get that kid awake.
7:45 - head downstairs for breakfast with two hungry boys. Fix them little pancakes to dip in syrup and a smoothie for breakfast. They each eat four pancakes and wyatt drinks all my smoothie.
8:15 am - upstairs to get dressed, brush teeth, go to the bathroom and do shoes and socks, find school bag. Drop giant globs of toothpaste onto the floor, smear with a towel, put new shirts on the Chick because he soaked himself while brushing teeth.
8:30 am - sit on couch - watch dinosaur train for 15 minutes.
8:45 am - open garage, load car, do buckles, check back driver side tire for air (it has a nail), drive to school.
8:55 am - arrive at school, no teacher. Be the only parent to hang out while all the kids come. Sit all the kids down to start their seat work....still no teacher. Secretary at school comes in and says she'll take over, teacher will be late. duh!
9:05 am - Wyatt and mom head home.
9:15 am - make mint frosting, frost chocolate cake. Make chocolate ganache, coat chocolate cake with mind frosting. go to the bathroom, get cleaned up, watch more dinosaur train.
10:00 am - leave with chick. head to walgreens and singing and dancing class (first time).
10:30 am - arrive at singing and dancing class. spend 30 minutes not singing and not dancing (for the kid, not for me, I sang and danced!)
11:15 am - pick up big brother from school, little brother cries as usual. go to McDonald's because mom needs a coke and boys need french fries.
11:40 am - eat lunch. talk about our morning and our plan for the day.
Noon - watch Phineas and Ferb. Hold perfectly still for one whole hour...so still that mom doesn't even know that the boys are home. Mom clean kitchen, work on christmas gift list (yes I'm a total loser), sort old mail, enjoy the silence.
1:00 pm - put chick to sleep. Elliott quiet time in room while mom prints some pictures on the computer.
1:30 pm - do freezer paper craft stencil project with a too eager four year old helper.
2:30 pm - clean up project
3:15 pm - get the chick - he's awake. snuggle in the rocking chair. watch wild kratts
4:00 pm - try to leave the house. have platypus wars and run around and scream like crazy fools (the boys, not me)
4:30 pm - leave the house, encounter lots of traffic. Drive past aunt haley's new house and try to break in (no luck)
5:00 pm - grandma judy's house - water flowers, play outside, prepare garlic bread, throw basketballs into the road.
5:40 pm - head to great grandpa's house for dinner. fix dinner, eat dinner, clean up dinner, hang out, eat dessert, sit on back porch and eat ice cream. be sad that it's too cold to swim.
8:30 pm - head for home. boys w/ dad, mom alone. Stop at aunt Karen's house.
9:30 pm - leave Aunt Karen's house, head for home.
10:00 pm -arrive home, get ready for bed, read book, forget to take diabetes meds and get out of comfy bed. Try to go to sleep.
11:30 pm - still awake, listening to snoring and crying baby. Husband gets up, takes care of crying baby. Go to the bathroom.
Midnight - still awake. Crying baby again.
1:30 am - still awake, haven't fallen asleep yet. Husband snoring. Baby cries again. check on him, crying in his sleep. finally go to bed and fall asleep.

Phew! And that was just a typical wednesday.

We Glory in Tribulations

2011-09-04T20:51:00.001-06:00

Preface point 1: We had a great lesson in Relief Society at church today about how we can find beauty and faith in our trials. It was an excellent lesson and really clarified several things I'd been thinking in my head the last few weeks.

Preface point 2: I am by nature a whiner and complainer. I think that most of us are, to a certain degree. I whine a lot and I need to stop....or at least back off from the whining a bit and spend some of my time doing other things.

That being said - here is a moderately non-whiny but insightful (maybe?) blog post.

I read a lot of blogs. Some from people I know and some that I find fascinating and just spend my time lurking in the shadows. Lately though it seems that a lot of the things I read fall into one of two categories.

1) Giant balls of whiney whiner heads who complain about how hard or unfair their lives are.
2) Sad and inspirational stories of people who lose the fight of their lives but go down swinging. People who overcome life's obstacles and tribulations with grace and their heads held high.

It's really opened my eyes these last couple of weeks about how lucky I am and how good my life is and how much I love my family. And it makes me want to write comments on the blogs of the whiney whiner heads to tell them to cut the crap because life is really good for them because they are alive and loved and well taken care of and have people to take care of.

On Thursday night, after the University of Utah football game the young wife of a former student of mine (and member of the Utah football team) was killed in a brutal car accident by a man evading he police in a highspeed chase. This beautiful young woman had just celebrated her first wedding anniversay and had her entire life ahead of her and in an instant, everything was lost. I cannot even imagine what her family and her husband are going through. This kind of loss is so gut wrenching that all it does is make me want to hug my kids a little tighter and smoosh them with a few more kisses. It makes me want to be nicer to my husband and make sure that I do things for him that are nice, that he appreciates, because you never know when something tragic could happen.

A couple weeks ago, a blog I read called Pacing the Panic Room introduced me to Tim LaFollette and his wife. Tim had passed away the day I found his story of a nearly two year battle with ALS, Lou Gherrig's disease. He and his wife, and friends made an award winning internet documentary about his battle with this evil and horrific disease. Oh, to be so brave in the site of death - to keep perspective and loved ones near. To fight the battle of your life knowing that you cannot win. If you have some time, and even if you don't watch this series. Look into the amazing work that the Often Awesome Army is trying to do for a disease that is under researched in the United States.

This series brought me to tears many times while watching the videos. I was in awe of Tim and his wife. I know it made me be nicer to my husband in the days I was learning of their story and I hope that the family and friends of Tim know how powerful their voice is.

This week I finished reading a book called, "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. This book is about Louis Zamperini who fought during World War II. Zamperini was an American Olympian before the war and joined the Air Force after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This book was amazing. It was gut wrenchingly sad and frustrating and breathtaking at the same time. Zamperini survived a plane crash into the middle of the ocean, 48 days lost at sea, shark attacks, strafing by Japanese pilots and no food or water except for the occasional rain storm or bird that would land on his shriveled and sun baked body. Once he was finally "rescued" (see: captured) by the Japanese he survived torture at the hand of a Japanese Prison Camp official for nearly two and a half years. He came back from the war a wreck, turning to alcohol to drown his nightmares. (You MUST read this book! I don't want to tell you all the details, but this man, who is still alive at 94, survived more than any human should ever have had to suffer!)

A few years after the war, his wife drug him to a Los Angeles tent revival where a very young Billy Graham was preaching. During one of Grahams messages Louis Zamperini had a flash back to one of the days he had been lost at sea. It was a day he said in the book was beautiful - the sea was calm, the sky was clear and while lost in a little plastic raft with no hopes of being found all he could think about was the grace of God....that God created this world full of extreme heartache and intense beauty. He remembered that on this perfect day, he promised God that if he were saved, he would dedicate his life to serving and helping others.

There are so many things in this world that are hard. So terribly hard. But, we can find beauty in tragedy, strength in adversity, and glory in the biggest challenges we face. Yes, my kids may be crazy sometimes and my husband may work long hours. Yes, we may not have situations that are ideal and circumstances in our lives we cannot control. But - we must move on. We (I) must stop complaining about the small and trivial because I've realized that those small and trivial things really are blessings...we are lucky to have them because we are alive.

Projectile

2011-09-02T17:58:00.002-06:00

This little blog isn't complete without a bi-monthly report on a visit to the doctor now is it?

The boys have been coughing for a week. It's bad in the morning, disappears in the afternoon and returns with a vengeance around 5:00 pm. As the "duh" parents that we are, we've been waffling on whether or not to take the boys to the pediatrician because we just assumed that it's allergies. Last night though, Elliott's coughing was pretty bad and we had a super crap morning full of coughs, snot, tears, bloody boogers and a little bit of the throw-up burps so as soon as I got the kid to preschool, some doctor's appointments were made.

Yes, I sent him to school.

It's only allergies!

Um...no it isn't.

We saw our pediatrician, whom I really really like.

She looked in ears and eyes and mouths, listened to breathing and heart beats and declared......

wait for it.....

Both boys have beginning stages of bronchitis and ear infections in their right ears.

What nice boys to get sick at the same time with exactly the same thing.

We left the doc's office with Lighting McQueen stickers and three prescriptions each.

And, a new sickness wouldn't be complete without the chick puking all over someone...this afternoon it was himself and me.

I pinned him down and shot the antibiotic down his throat. I sat him up and just as the gagging hit it's epic peak, I grabbed a blanket and caught the spew.

It was everywhere.

His shirts, his face, his hair, maybe a little up his nose. My arms, my shirt, on my leg. All over the floor.

He is the most sensitive boy in the whole world. I won't be giving him anymore of the nasty stuff.

I was told today that bronchitis can be transferred and to not let my boys kiss me. Okay doc, will do. But what do I do about the fact that they've been coughing and snotting in my face for the entire week?

Ug....parenthood.

35 Years

2011-09-01T07:57:00.002-06:00

Today is my parents 35th Wedding Anniversary.

Happy Anniversary!

While trying to come up with a 35th Anniversary present, I looked up the symbol online. Traditional: coral; modern: jade.

Yep - struck out there!

My dad got my mom flowers with a nice message that said he loved her and that he hoped they'd have another 35 years together.

My mom read the note and said "NO Way! I don't want to live another 35 years!"

Silly Mom, you'll be together for the eternities and another 35 years only has you in your 80's...that's not so bad.

I love my parents. I love that they've been married this long. I love that they've known each other since high school. I love that they still like (sort of) to do stuff together and that on Saturday they (along with Willie) are making their almost annual trip to Yellowstone on their anniversary weekend.

I love my parents for the values and hard work, and positive attitude (most the time) and kindness to others, and generosity of mind, spirit, and wallet when necessary that they've taught me. I am proud that they are my parents and I hope that they are proud to have me as a daughter.

Happy Anniversary!

Back to School

2011-08-24T13:11:00.001-06:00

Today was his first day back to pre-school. Today was the first day of his third year of pre-school. He was excited and so ready to go, even if we lost his bag and had to get a new one. The morning went as smoothly as possible and when we got to school, he was gone. He let go of my hand and left us in the dust. He hung up his bag, found his name, made a friend, found his seat, sat down and got to work. The little brother and I were left there standing and staring, sort of begging for some recognition and a good bye.

Instead we got a quick, "Bye" a reluctant High 5 and the look. The look that screamed, in a nice brave 4.5 year old sort of way, "Leave me be. I am with my people. We are going to learn,"

I love school. I love that he loves school.

The Chick is struggling. He's a little distraught. He was upset and depressed for a good 15 minutes after our goodbye, just sitting in his seat staring out the window of the car. He didn't even crack a smile until I took him to the gas station to get a drink of his choosing. And I let him eat chocolate chips out of a measuring cup when we got home. He was so sad, he didn't even want to go to Target.

It's hard to have your best friend leave you behind to learn.

On being boys

2011-08-23T06:30:00.000-06:00

Summer is officially over. All our cousins are back in school, we've attended Elliott's preschool orientation and we've gone to the store to buy some new kicks. There is no need for "back-to-school" clothes when school starts and the days are still in the 90's (and your kid is in preschool and there is no concept of fashion amongst the 4 year old boy set). There is however a need for new shoes when the kicks of summer have holes in the sides and 4.5 year olds are way to cool for Velcro.

Our summer went by in a blur. Summer sometimes feels like a sprint. We wait all year longing for the lazy days to come. We wait for the adventures, the warm, the swimming, the dirt, the sprinklers, the friends and then as soon as summer hits, it's like we're making a mad dash to win the race to fall and before we know it, those longed for three months have vanished. We do our best to look into the stands and wave to our families as we cross the finish line, but summer is so fleeting. It's never enough. There is more to do than time to do it.

Especially I think, when you are a little boy. We've been on so many adventures this summer. The first week of June I typed up a list and posted it to the fridge of everything we could do this summer. I'd say we did 75% of our list at least once, some stuff more than once. These boys of mine cannot get enough grass and dirt and wind and animals and water fights.

In the last few weeks I've been reading a book titled, "Boys should be boys: 7 secrets to raising healthy sons" by Dr. Meg Meeker. It's been a fascinating read for me, the mother of two such creatures. Doctor Meeker says that boys need three things to grow into good men.

1. a healthy relationship with mom and dad

2. faith in God.

3. solid family life.

I've been thinking about these things in relation to my kids a lot as I reflect over the summer. Dr. Meeker says boys need to be outside, without too many rules and play and imagine and adventure. That they need time away from gadgets and gizmo's that alienate them from their families. They need moms who dig in the dirt and dads who do laundry. They need to spend more time with both parents than daughters do.

There is a whole chapter devoted to how moms can mess up their sons and the pitfalls to avoid. There is another chapter dedicated to helping dads understand how to let their sons know that they are proud of them, and give their blessings to their boys as children so that they grow up to be good adults. I learned a lot from reading this book about my kids, their brains, and how to relax and let them be boys.

Dr. Meeker repeats over and over again that boys need time with their parents (both one on one and together) and with their families as much as possible. As I reflect on this past summer, I have to admit that it's maybe going to go down on the records as one of the best. We didn't go on any trips, do anything fancy or crazy, but we spent the summer as a family.

June was crazy with the move, an overworked dad and a stressed to the max mom. When our dad left us for two weeks to go to Australia in July, saying that our lives were bordering on disaster is an understatement. There was just too much! You all know what I'm talking about right?

Well, the two weeks ended and for the next five, we had our dad. We had our family. Every single day felt like a Saturday because we were sleeping in, spending time together and having fun. Our dad went on our weekly outings with the gang. We worked on projects with the boys. We went to the park, to shavy jones, swimming at great grandpas and so many other things together. We spent more time together this summer as a family - in a five week period, than, honestly, we did in the previous 3 months.

Oh summer! This year, you truly blessed our family.

Blessed us with sun, and play, and family time. Blessed us with cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents. Blessed us with hamburgers and parties, and swimming in the dark. Blessed us with bug hunts, train adventures, weekly excursions, lazy mornings, learning to cross our eyes and lots of laughter.

I know my boys are little and that memories for them are pretty fleeting. Things blur together and they probably won't remember the summer their dad was home too much once they get bigger. But for me, being the goofy mom walking a few steps behind with her camera, this will go down as one of the best summers we'll ever have.

Borrowing the idea

2011-08-22T14:23:00.001-06:00

First, I love Pinterest. If you don't have a pinterest account, sign-up for one. It is the most lovely, refreshing way to get lost on the internet. It is full of pretty and powerful and crafty and clever. I have yet to find anything icky on Pinterest.

Second, I created my pinterest account when we moved into the new house. This house was (and is) a blank slate with more wall space than I know what to do with. I've spent most of my summer, when I get a few minutes to browse online when the boys are commatose in front of Phinneus and Ferb, looking at beautiful things I can do to decorate my home.

The problem with a site like pinterest is that a lot of what I see and think is lovely isn't something I have the time, know how, money or tools to do. That however hasn't stopped me and I've taken matters into my own hands for a couple of projects.

A few weeks ago I found on pinterest a beautiful piece of art. It was a blank canvas, with a quote on it in raised wooden letters, all painted white. I followed the pins through the links and found that it was a custom art shop in the UK that would make such art for you for about $250 dollars. I don't have that kind of money, but I have a hobby lobby close by so the boys and I ventured out.

I bought some blank canvas' (they were 2 in a pack for five bucks), and some wooden letters and set out to create my project. I knew that this project would go in my room, that I wanted some song lyrics to be my text and I wanted it moderately mushy. I settled on a section of the chorus to a Death Cab for Cutie song, "I will follow you into the dark." This is one of my favorite songs, and back when I was pregnant with Wyatt and a hormonal mess, it brought me to tears driving in my car on several ocassions when I'd hear it on the radio.

Enough said. My text took three canvas' and I had one left over. I also had some gold metallic craft paint left over from painting treasure boxes the week before so I settled on a really bad ombre effect on the final canvas to even out the installation. (I call it that, like it's real art, not a craft project in my garage.)

Anyway, the final product was hung today and I must say that I think it looks really great up on my wall.

Here's to decorating the blank slate house (and to my continuing love affair with pinterest.)

Stage One: Glue wooden letters onto canvas.

Stage Two: Spray paint each canvas/letter combination white.

Stage Three: Let dry, paint fourth canvas gold.

Stage Four: Hang on wall.

Stage Five: Admire handiwork.

In a nutshell...

2011-08-16T08:46:00.000-06:00

We've been up to our eyeballs in cousins for the last week.

Boy cousins. Lots of them in various shapes and sizes. We've had trips to the farm, family pictures, crafty days, water fights and lots of playing with cars and trucks and wrestling and vrooming around the house. We've also seen our fair share of bumps, bruises, the chick has a black eye...that sweet squirt always gets the bum end of the deal. And, I've had two baby heads to sniff until my heart is content. Oh, the sweet smell of a squishy baby boy. There isn't anything better.

We've had so much fun that the boys are all sleeping in, slowing down, and having some good chill time on the couch in the afternoons.

There is more to come, but right now dear Internet, I'm just too tired to tell you.

Night Swimming...

2011-08-11T08:41:00.004-06:00

On Wednesday nights, the boys and I (and Ross if he isn't working) head out to my Grandpa's house to eat dinner with him, and my parents, and sometimes my sister. We're trying to make it a regular part of our lives because spending time with my Grandpa is important. I'm taking the opportunity to get to know him better and am loving it. My Grandma always dominated conversations - it was her nature and I love her for it. But now that he's alone, Grandpa has to talk and listening to the things he has to say is super cool.

I've always thought he was the smartest person in the world. Now, I'm learning that it's really true. He knows everything!

The other great part about Wednesday night dinners is, at least for a little bit longer, the night swimming. As a child one of my most favorite things was to head to the backyard pool, turn on the flood lights, and swim in the dark. There is something magical about swimming at night - the air is cooler, the games more fun and exciting, and the ice cream treat at the end sweeter. Seeing "stars" (satellites) in the sky, in a darkened backyard is always pretty cool.

It's also very cool to be able to pass this tradition down to my kids - at first "Captain Analytical" didn't understand, "You mean we're swimming in the dark? How will we see what we're doing? What if we drown?" Only from my 4 year old, right? Well, after one night swim, the kid is hooked. He gets braver and braver every week (and his brother more and more chicken) and is turning into the little fish I always wanted him to be.

And, the other great part about night swimming? Hero worship. Not only do Auntie Haley and Miss Molly participate, but Parkie and MK and Will the Thrill (when not at football) do to. There is nothing more wonderful as seeing your little squirts fall in love with their older cousins and family members. My boys love these kids and the big kids love them back.Even if all the big kids are constantly on the lookout for Sasquatch....because you know, my Grandpa's back yard is the perfect place for him to make an appearance and go for a swim.

new toy

2011-08-10T11:41:00.000-06:00

The other day I downloaded an 8 mm camera app to the old iphone.

It's fun. The videos are cool.

Watching these reminds me of when I was a little girl and my parents got me and my sister dancing and strutting our stuff on video - only to embarrass us with it later at small family gatherings.

while "reading" the IKEA catalog

2011-08-08T13:01:00.001-06:00

Me: I'm trying to not eat any sugar today. You know, like chocolate.

Him: Good. I don't eat any.

Me: So. I like chocolate. You have a ham addiction.

Him: Yes, a life threatening ham addiction!

Five Hundred Dollars

2011-08-08T07:24:00.000-06:00

About a week before Ross left for Australia, I started making a list of things that I wanted to do while he was out of town. You know the list - one of those massive and overly ambitious "Ill show you how capable I am doing everything on my own" sort of lists. Well, after about 4 days the list got whittled down to the manageable stuff, but I still got quite a few things down.

I decided to pull some money out of my savings account for the "home improvement" project fund. And, with the help of my sister, my dad, and some babysitting from my mom, here's the short list of everything that I got done in two short weeks.

Hang blinds in all the house (10 windows to be exact). The blinds were of course, all the wrong size so my dad and I had to hacksaw our way through this project, and I had to return a couple that just weren't going to work.
Paint and create a map wall.
Print and display cute cell phone pictures on cork boards.
Make and hang a head board for my bed.
Dig a distinct flower bed all around the house, pull out the grass, plant flowers and tall grasses - i.e. make the house look a little more civilized.
Hem living room curtains.

These were the 5 major projects and I came in $6 under budget. There were lots of other little things I had to do like yard work, and house work, and laundry, and shavy jones work, and taking care of the kids, but finishing these projects on my own (with my family's help) felt like a major accomplishment.

Reinvention on the fringes

2011-08-06T14:19:00.000-06:00

As an American history teacher, I always felt it was my job to teach my kids the history that they wouldn't get the chance to learn elsewhere. I never used a text book (except a few times as punishment or an example of bad historical story telling) and my classroom revolved around primary sources, music, video, discussion and thinking. Oh, to teach a 16 year old to think for him/herself. That was the goal and history was my medium.

As a person who likes history, I've always been drawn to the fringe characters. The cooky and eccentric presidents (Andrew Jackson and Teddy Roosevelt). The historical figures who changed history with their stubborn will (Joan of Arc, Ann Boleyn). Those that shook society at it's roots and scared people like Malcolm X.

I've read the "Autobiography of Malcolm X" several times. The first when I was in high school, probably a sophomore. I borrowed it from the library, had to renew it several times to finish it and then lost the tome only to buy it - then find it later in my room. I've read that library copy at least half a dozen times and it proudly sits on my bookshelf, library identification in tact.

Even though I'm no longer in a classroom setting, I still love history - maybe even more than I used to. My retention isn't what it used to be (it's true...if you don't use it you lose it!) but lately it seems, the books I read are full of essays and biographies (founding fathers, Malcolm, Tina Fey....). Knowing that I'm a sucker for a book about a radical, my sister gave me the newest biography of Malcolm X for my birthday. "Malcolm X:A life of reinvention" by Manning Marable. I just finished it about a week ago and it was excellent. I found out that Mr. Marable, a well known African American Scholar spent 20 years of his life researching the 500+ pages and unfortunately died of pneumonia the week before the book was released. After reading the text, it definitely was the life work and passion of a dedicated scholar, and a Malcolm hero-worshipper. It was an eye-opening read.

In my classroom when we studied Civil Rights I would always have a "Malcolm vs. Martin" day. It was one of my favorite days to teach, especially the year I had a students whose father was a white racist from North Carolina - I made sure to send his kid home everyday whith all kinds of information. I had a giant poster of each civil rights leader and next to the poster wrote down basic facts about their lives and philosophies. We talked about the men and their upbringings. Then we read speech excerpts and watch videos of the men speaking. Oh, if only I'd had YouTube back then - I would have totally rocked my students historical world.

People are drawn to Malcolm X, in general, because he was radical and militant and often considered a hatemonger and a racist and because "black power" was scary in the 1950's and 1960's for one group of people and absolutely engaging for another. The Nation of Islam was (and is) an "interesting" organization. There aren't many groups in the world who can take criminals from prison, convert them to a strict religion and turn them into upstanding men. When Malcolm X decided however to split from the Nation and it's hate speech (and infidelities of Elijah Muhammad and interior violence) they hounded him until they were able to eradicate him - infront of his wife, children, and supporters.

The thing is - in my opinion of course - Malcolm X was turning into one of the most powerful forces in America - he was a voice to be heard, to be reckoned with, and it would have been amazing if he wouldn't have been killed, to see where he was headed. In the two years before he died, as heavily detailed in the Marable book, he took a hajj to Mecca and converted completely ot Orthodoz Islam, thus seeing the world through a different light. He was still (and rightfully so) an angry African American, but he came back from that pilgrimage and subsequent months long tours of Africa and Europe ready to radicalize politics and get people moving towards equality and human rights.

I cannot say that I agree with much of what Minister Malcolm said in his life (I can't, really. How could I - a middle class new century white girl really understand "ballots for bullets" for example or how could I relate to having my home fire bombed with my wife and children sleeping inside?) - his speeches as a spokesperson and #2 for the Nation of Islam were scary - he was powerful and intimidating and no wonder the FBI wiretapped every phone he ever used. But I wold loved to have heard him speak in person. To see his charisma and humor. I can watch videos online, but that doesn't do him justice.

After reading this book (Thanks, Haley!) and spending countless hours over the last few weeks looking at pictures and listening to speeches, and learning more on my own about Betty Shabazz and their 6 daughters, and the modern interpretations of Malcolm's advancing political and social ideas - I can saw that I have a new respect for Malcolm X and all that he was trying to do.

And THAT is your history lesson for the day.

Salting snails, just a typical Sunday, really

2011-08-01T17:04:00.001-06:00

After a delicious dinner at my mom's house on Sunday night we headed out to my grandpa's for a quick visit bearing sugary treats. When we go there my Grandpa informed us that there was a snail hunt going on in the backyard.

Side note: My grandparents yard is full of snails. You have no idea how many snails. In the summer time, especially after a rain storm (like we had yesterday), it's like a plague of snails only it's not like crickets, and there aren't any seagulls to come and eat them all up.

Side note deux: My grandmother was fearless. She would capture snakes, pull legs off off of spiders, pick up dead mice and birds, and she killed snails.

Okay, so we headed outside to see how the snail hunt was going. Once in the backyard we saw one of my Aunties bent over a flowerbed with the container of salt. You see in our family, there is nothing humane about a snail therefore it must be dealt with in an inhumane way.

Sorry, PETA. Do you protect snails?

My son declared, "This is a snail invasion!"

My brother grabbed the salt and took it upon himself to annihilate the small snail army gathering in the backyard.

Once all the little suckers seemed to be taken care of we headed to the front. There were dozens more: on the porch, in the flower beds, on the sidewalk and sliming their way through the grass. My brave brother stepped on a couple and the crunch echoed back into the house. They also found a herd of babies who, unfortunately were defeated before they had a chance to eat the garden. Or whatever snails eat.

I once knew a girl from my grandma's neighborhood who lived in France. When visiting her family for the summer, she'd come over to swim. She and my grandma collected snails and she took them home, presumably for dinner. In our family, we don't eat snails. We destory them.

And sometimes, after a good snail hunt, you need a little bit of yoga, just to get centered again.

Things are good

2011-07-30T13:46:00.000-06:00

You know how sometimes, you feel like life is overwhelming? Like it's just sucking your will to live and even though you're giving it all you've got you just cannot keep your head above water and you might drown in air because your just a ball of panic?

Today is not one of those days.

In fact, the last week or so has been pretty good.

Maybe it's because our dad is home with us all day long and even when he goes to work at 3:00 pm he's still home, just locked away in the office. We've spent more time with our dad in the last two weeks than we did in the previous two months. It's pretty cool.

Maybe it's because every day feels like a Saturday because we don't get up until 8:00 or 8:30 in the morning and like yesterday, all four of us don't even get dressed until, like 11:00. Lunchtime, can you believe it?

Maybe it's because my long list of projects and errands has been divided and conquered because there are two grown-ups in the house to do the yard work and the laundry and take care of the monkeys.

Maybe it's because we can wake up in the morning and decide to go to a 10:25 movie, just the four of us, and be the only people in the movie theater.

Maybe I'm being sentimental because summer is almost over.

Maybe I just really like to barbecue dinner because there is virtually no clean-up.

Maybe it's because my two year old thinks he's a soccer player and got totally dressed up and ready for the mornings game and when he woke up from his nap this afternoon he let me hold him like a sweet little baby and we had a staring contest until he told me that I'm silly.

Maybe it's because my four year old has been nice and sweet and not so growly. He all of a sudden wants to kiss me on the cheek, rubs the back of my neck (like he sees his dad do) right before he asks me to help him with a craft project, and tells me that he loves me. That's kind of nice.

Maybe it's because that husband of mine, the one I never see, spent most of the day with me yesterday and took me to dinner last night to one of our favorite restaurants.

I'm not sure what it is...but things today are good and that makes me really happy.

The New House: Part 2

2011-07-28T08:50:00.000-06:00

As of August 3, we'll have been in the new house for two months. Can I tell you Internet friends and family that I'm really liking the new house. We so totally fit in this house and can so totally live here forever ("Unless we move to Switzerland" says the bubble bursting husband.)

My favorite part of the new house is the kitchen and family room space. I love that this house has a formal family room that, when we have guests, is situated as such that the guests cannot see the mess that the kitchen and family room may be in. That, my friends, is a lovely thing to have - hiding spaces.

I love the open feel, the flow, and all the space. Oh, this cooking and baking girl loves the space. Our second weekend in the house I made over 100 cupcakes for my brother's Eagle Scout Court of Honor and wasn't crowded for one single second. I love the island, and the dark cabinets. The house is way to brown for my tastes, but I'll remedy that soon enough.

As I said, the kitchen leads right int the family room. I can be cooking or at the kitchen table and still keep a view on the boys and all their furniture climbing and wrestling. Which of course, they now have the space to do. Something in the old house they could not.

All the rooms in the house are still a work in progress of course, but this one is starting to take shape.

Mandatory: Water fight

2011-07-27T14:34:00.000-06:00

There is just something about a party on a hot summer day that requires a good old fashioned water fight. To celebrate Pioneer Day, Ross and I volunteered to host my dad's family's annual BBQ. This was the first party at our new house and not only was I happy to have everyone come and spend the afternoon, it was the perfect motivation to truly clean the new house. We've been here almost two months, so it's not like the house is dirty, but this was a great jump start to straighten things up and clear out the last of the unwanted clutter.

Now, I didn't warn anyone that there would be water balloons and squirt guns and hoses and the option for a splash pool. I just let it all gradually take shape and the kids, and a few adults, got soaked.

What better way to spend the afternoon with your family, right?

We had great food (Korean BBQ beef sandwiches, and salads, and chips, and salsa, and veggies, and fruit and shaved ice for dessert), and I think that everyone had a good time. For those that were willing to stick it out to the end, the little farts of the family even put on the worlds longest, confusing puppet show complete with electric keyboard sound effects.

Yes, a great day was had by all. Hey, everyone....want to do it again next year?

I love a parade...when it's housed in a large open air conditioned building

2011-07-22T09:03:00.004-06:00

So, here it is. July is noted as one of my least favorite months of the year. It's really hot, there are monsoonal rains, and it's the 4th of July. Enough said. This particular day in my life, every year without fail, blows up in my face.

Enough said.

As a kid, our routine on the 4th was overwhelming. Get up, sweat it out at the local parade, go to one aunts' house, go to one grandma's house, go to the other grandma's house, go home and shower/put pajamas on, start to feel sick from heat stroke, drive somewhere to watch fireworks, go home to light fireworks, light someones pajamas on fire with a sparkler.

See? Full day of torture.

Well, as those of us in the UT know, the 4th of July doesn't hold a candle to the 24th of July - Pioneer Day - The "Day's of '47", celebrating when the Mormon Pioneers entered the Utah Valley to set up Zion.

This day in my childhood was considerably more relaxed. We'd go for a drive through East Canyon with my parents pioneer book reading about certain spots where a pioneer had an epiphany. We'd go swimming, maybe to a movie...much more chill.

Except, my parents would make us get up in the morning of the 24th, head down town, and stand on the hot, hot road and watch the 25th of July parade with its churchy floats, high school and post office bands, and Santa Claus at the end.

Not sure what it was like when I was very little, but from as early of an age as I can remember, I loathed the parade - all parades for that matter - and as soon as I was allowed to ditch (not sure what age that was), I ditched. I was willing to miss out on all the activities and cousins of the day to avoid that parade.

Flash forward 20 or so years to last night. My sister invited the boys and I to go with her family, my mom and my brother to view the floats for the 24th of July parade at the expo center.

Air conditioning.

Music.

Refreshments.

Clowns and balloons and face painting.

It was great. It was fun. The boys were in awe of some of the neat floats and it was very cool to be able to see them close up. To see all the hard work that went into putting such a creation together.

It was impressive.

While exciting the event back into the July hot hot heat my sister turned to my mom and said something to the effect of,

"Please tell me that this didn't exist when we were kids and that's why you made us go to the dumb parade every year?"

Her reply, "This was the best way to see the parade!"

I wholeheartedly agree.

Apparently I need to schedule an appointment

2011-07-19T21:54:00.002-06:00

It's 9:56 pm.

Both boys are asleep.

I just finished eating a mini "Jerry Garcia" ice cream with a little plastic spoon while watching some movie trailers online. I am so out of touch by the way - can't tell you the last time I saw a movie, in a theater.

Just heard the garage door open and close which means that the Shavy Jones shift for the evening is over. I need to get the stuff, count the money and load the dishwasher. Then, my boogery and stuffy nose and I are going to bed.

My husband has been home all day today. He ran errands with the boys, did some work in the yard and spent most of the late afternoon locked in the office working "Australia hours" (4pm to midnight) taking breaks to go and water the deadish spots in the lawn.

Right now he's out on the back deck on a work call. I appreciate that it's summer and that he can talk loud on his phone outside and not wake up the boys.

In the whole day today, minus a few text messages (even when we were in the house together...how else was I supposed to let him know that dinner was ready?) and a few passing glances (He did tell me that he loves me in the hall as he was walking downstairs) we have not had a "real" face-to-face conversation today. Or yesterday. Or the day before that. Or in the last two weeks.

Phew! Pretty pathetic, isn't it?

I have some things I need to talk to him about. He's apparently very busy.

I need to be a little more proactive, and figure out how to demand a little smidge of his time.

Or maybe I'll just send him an e-mail.

In a nutshell...

2011-07-18T08:20:00.002-06:00

Saturday morning at 3:00 am I woke up with a head cold to beat all head colds. Gasping for air, pounding headache, sick stomach.

That was about the time my husband got on an airplane to fly home from Australia.

Go figure.

It's so good to have him home. We missed him a lot.

But....

He's very sleepy.

A dingo ate their daddy!

2011-07-15T13:16:00.000-06:00

One more day.

24 hours.

Then, our dad comes home from Australia.

He's been gone for two weeks.

During the last two weeks we've had lots of activities, and grandparent time, and projects around the house. We've kept ourselves as busy as we can stand in order to make us as tired as possible at night and to keep us from thinking too much about the big hole in our little family.

I've given up cooking completely and last night we settled on Chinese food. Pulling into the garage with our orange chicken treasure (China Chefs if your interested and local...it's so yummy!). As soon as we got back home, Elliott started to cry. At first he said it was because he wanted to finish his book so he stayed in the car and Wyatt and I came in the house. Then he came in the house crying, saying that he was "so tired" so he just plopped on the couch. I finally coaxed him to sit at the table and eat a little chicken and that's when he really lost it. Gobs and gobs of tears and boogers and gags and snot and in between gasping for breaths and me rushing him to the bathroom because I thought he was going to puke he finally spit it out, "I really miss my dad!"

Elliott then went to his room and I left him alone for a bit - it was just barely 7 pm. When Wyatt and I got upstairs he was starting to fall asleep but was still crying. We woke him up, catered to his every whim and finally got him to get out of his bed and onto mine. The three of us read books for about half and hour - that's how long it took him to calm down and then we decided to go to Shavy Jones.

Because, what else helps two sad boys, especially one very sad four year old, feel better than a wild cherry/blue raspberry shaved ice, buried treasure style.

The Squirt: 26 months

2011-07-13T08:17:00.001-06:00

Chicky Boom, it's that time. Time for the monthly updates to slow down and stop because guess what my boy! You are a big two year old and to be fair, this is the time I stopped writing about your brother every month, too.

Since you turned two, you've been full of it to say the least. Everyone who meets you thinks your cute and funny and a special little guy, which you are. Your destructive nature has given way to a desire to wrestle everyone and everything in your path. And, you get so excited about playing and life that ultimately, you puke. I cannot believe that puke hardly grosses me out anymore. I guess that's what happens when in the last 5 weeks or so I've caught more of it in my hands, as a present from you, than I ever thought was possible for a human.

To commemorate your advancement to semi regular blogging I thought that it was apropos to share some of your favorite phrases. Your Great Grandma Bea and Great Grandpa Ted were here last week to visit and I think they each said a thousand times, "Oh, he talks so good!" or "We can understand everything he says!"

Yes, Chicky, you are good.

"Mama" (With a hint of a little french accent thrown in. I'll try to get it on video, it's hilarious.)
"No!"
"No, mama!"
"No mama, my can do it!"
"Mama, let me show you something."
"That's delicious!" or "That's disgusting!"
"Mama, I just saw a brachiosaurus)" (He and his brother "see" dinosaurs every day and this one, and a spineosaurus are Wyatt's favorites.)
"My belly hurts!"
"Mama, my tired."
"My a sleepy hippo."
"Mama, can I peas have a coke?"
"No! You're coo-coo water!"
"No! You're stinky poo-poo water!"
"Elliott, give it back!!!"

Observations from Oz

2011-07-10T02:47:00.003-06:00

So after a week of being cooped up in an office, I finally had some free time to see a bit more of Adelaide and the surrounding hills.

It is a very pretty city and has quite the combinations of cultures. I am staying in a hotel downtown near the 'china town' district and there is every variant of Asian restaurant within walking distance. This includes Malay, Korean, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, etc. I have had some great meals here (Greek, German, Italian, Chinese, Portoguese, & Argentine).

I decided to make a listing of some things that I have noticed:

Lots of drive through liquor stores (think jiffy lube - the bays are open)

They call 'red pepper' (bell pepper) 'capsicum'

The indian guy at the shell gas station here was named 'Lovedeep'

A runaway truck ramp is called an 'arrester bed'

It is not carry out, it is 'take away'

Like the English, the Australians like their tea (even in the middle of a footy match)

It is not 'yield', it is 'give way'

I think that I am going to have a burrito tonight from a place called 'Burp' (burpburritos.com)

Kentucky Fried Chicken's popularity at home may be waning at home, but it is HUGE here - very strange

Burger King is called 'Hungry Jacks'

They have a $2 coin, but it is tiny.

TV is awful here....choices are news, bad sitcoms, bad sports (watching netball now), or bad racing

I have seen (in the 30 mins total that I have watched tv) snippets of the following three shows:

- Golden Girls

- The Dukes of Hazzard

- The Three Stooges

1986 is calling and wants is shows back.

Enjoy some shots from my trip to see Port Adelaide get smoked by St. Kilda.

October Fest!

2011-07-09T20:06:00.003-06:00

What better what to cap off a trip to a wildlife preserve than to go to the oldest German settlement in Germany?

Hello Hahndorf. Love the Kranski with sauerkraut and german potato salad.

Weiner! Winner!