Memorial Weekend 2010

Best. Weekend. Ever.

Ensign Ranch, Cle Elum, Wa.

Ropes Course. Canoeing. Rope Swing. Kick Ball. Bunkhouse. S'mores. Park/playground. Homestead Bbque.

Enough Said.

Last Saturday we had some dear friends over for dinner. As tends to be the case, the girls ended up around the table chatting away, tending to babies, eating dessert. The men-folk headed to the living room so that our friend Joe could re-string Jeff's guitar for him.

After putting on the new strings, Joe started playing and filling our house with the sounds of his quite awesome guitar skills.

As I got up to fetch something I glanced into the other room and saw this:






See the little dreamy smile Jeff is wearing? It seemed that Joe was serenading Jeff, and Jeff couldn't have been happier. It was a perfect example of man love if I've ever seen one.

And of course, I have thoroughly enjoyed making fun of them for it, too.

Because I simply cannot compete with mad guitar skills.

I just can't.

Genetics

I am fascinated by genetics. By the way traits are passed on throughout generations.

I study my children and try to see who's eyes and lips and mouth they have. But I also search out where they get their stubborness, or sense of humour or propensity for throwing fits.

For instance, if you can ignore Nora's crusty nose and the fact that I am showing you her teeth like she is a show dog, you will see that she has pointy vampire canines. Just like her mamma.



Nora and I have been blessed with 4 sharp, pointy teeth like that. No one else in the family has them. I want to file mine down, but Jeff likes the fact that they make me look like a vampire. I don't even want to go into why that is. Anyway.........

So my children all have these fantastic dimples like their father, and at least one child has my crazy vampire teeth. That seems easy to explain in terms of DNA and inherited traits.

But what if I told you that I have a child that seems to have inherited my DNA for getting himself into very nearly the exact same trouble I got into as a child?

I'm talking about Henry. Sweet, adorable, round, chubby faced Henry.

You know about his escape from Target. But did you know that when I was even younger then Henry, I walked right out my front door in Roslyn, Wa with key in hand, and I headed down the hill toward the post office. My parents frantically searched for me and were reunited with me because some nice old man found me and headed back with me in the direction I came from. Did I mention I was 15 months old?

Then there was the time when I was about 3 or 4, and I decided to pour an entire bottle of Mrs. Butterworths all over my sister's head.

Well....



Lets just say that the bottle was full until Henry got a hold of it. And as much as I would like to show you the picture of Nora with syrup running down her head, I can't. Because there isn't one. instead of taking her picture with syrup in her eyes and down her jammies, I whipped her upstairs fast as lightening so that I could get her syrup soaked little body into the tub. And then I put Henry in his room for a major time out with the tingling of a swat on his bottom.

Then after cleaning Nora up, I spent the next half an hour cleaning the rest of the contents of that bottle of syrup off my kitchen floor.

Now, if he is really intent on repeating my own behaviors as a young child, then I should prepare myself for him to write all over himself and his sister with my lipstick, and for him to try and shave with his daddy's razor. Or to sneak in the crawl space under the house to play, or to cover himself in dirt so that it looks like he was weeding the garden when in fact he was playing all day.

And yes, I really did all those things. Plus more, but I think I was too young to remember all of it, and my mom has her-memories-of-her-children-as-perfect-itis.

So if you need any advice on how to handle your own bundle of trouble, I can't help you. It seems in our family, it's genetic.

A good cause

What would cause someone to take something as lovely as this head of hair.......

let our neighbor/friend/hairdresser cut it all off............

and put it in ponytails ready to ship?

Kate cut her hair so that she can donate it. In her words "If I lost all my hair, I would want a wig that looked like my own red hair." And the result?

Beautiful, and way too grown up if you ask me.

(I absolutely love our neighbor/friend/hairdresser's little girl in the background with her Ariel wig on. Hilarious)

I am so proud of you Kate. And you look amazing.

The Princess and her chocolate dip

Once upon a time, on the way home from our Financial Freedom class, Jeff and I decided to surprise the kids with Dilly Bars from the local DQ.

Pretty nice of us, huh? Well, this particular evening, I decided I wanted a Blizzard, a Blizzard that I would have to eat before we got home so that the kids wouldn't know I got a Blizzard when they just got Dilly Bars.

Well, selfishness aside, on this splendidly rainy evening, I could not decide what kind of Blizzard I wanted.

They have like a million flavors, you know.

I was feeling like something fruity/chocolatey, but had not tried the Chocolate Covered strawberry before and I wanted to know what was in it.

So dearest Jeff asked the guy at the drive thru what was in it, and I sat there wishing "please let it have chocoate dip, please let it have chocolate dip".(chocolate dip is what they dip their chocolate dip cones in. If you put it in a blizzard it gets cold and breaks apart, kind of like magic shell. Yummy.)

It didn't have it.

So then I wanted Jeff to ask what was in the Chocolate Covered Cherrie Blizzard. "please let it have chocolate dip, please let it have chocolate dip".

It didn't have it either.

By this time, there is a line forming behind us and I am still staring at the menu. I wanted the Chocolate Covered strawberry, but only if it had chocolate dip in it. So I was stumped.

Jeff is starting to get embarassed by me and all my questions and time taking. So he told me to hurry up and decide.

Well, secretly, I wanted to ask them to put chocolate dip in my Blizzard, but I was afraid to ask Jeff to ask them. So I just ordered the Chocolate Covered Strawberry Blizzard.

As we sat waiting in the huge line, I said to him "I really want them to put chocolate dip in it, but I didn't want you to be annoyed at me for asking you to ask them. "

So ensued a conversation about how Jeff should treat me like a Princess, and if the Princess wants chocolate dip in her Blizzard, then the kindly husband should willingly, eagerly try and meet her request and not make her feel silly for wanting it.

Is that so much to ask?

Jeff looked at me for about half a second and burst out laughing. I think simply because I referred to myself as a Princess and the words "her majesty" might have escaped my lips.

However, he was convinced, and when we got to the window he asked them if they could add chocolate dip to my Blizzard.

And you know what? My wish was granted. And it was the best Blizzard I have ever had.

Every girl needs a Knight in Shining Armour to battle for her chocolate dip.

But more importantly, you have to let the Knight know what you want, otherwise you're just a sad, disappointed Princess with a regular 'ol Blizzard and no chocolate dip.

The End.

When it rains it.......

Pours? Some days.


This is how my day started yesterday. Not just weather-wise but events as well.



On the way to work Jeff's front left tire fell off. Luckily he had noticed something was weird and he had stopped and discovered the loose tire. Without the proper tools he tried to drive home slowly, but as he pulled onto Highway 169 his tire fell off and promptly rolled into oncoming traffic.

He was able to put the spare on and make it home. But in his own words "he needed to come home and mope for a little while."

Then yesterday afternoon, as I sat waiting to pick Julia up from an afterschool activity, smoke started billowing out from under the hood of my minivan.

I just started laughing. Really? Both in the same day? Jeff was in Bellevue, so my brother came and helped me. It ends up a hose sprung a leak and was spraying coolant all over. So he filled it up with water and sent me on my way. Oh, after he jump started my car since I forgot to turn off my lights as I sat there and waited.

But, in case you think this is just a whine fest on my part, it's really not.

I realized, with clarity, that yesterday was not a bad day. It was an amazing day. It was the most fantastic day ever.
Why?

Because Jeff's tire fell off when he was only going 5 miles an hour. And not later when he would have been going 65 on the freeway. I don't even want to think about that.

And the hose in my van sprung a leak while I was parked, only 3 miles from my brother's house instead of while I was out grocery shopping, or on the freeway somewhere. And I have an awesome brother and nephew who were there in 5 minutes.

So usually when it rains it pours. But not yesterday. Yesterday, when it rained it shined.

And I am so grateful.

Sunday Afternoon

We have 1 o'clock church, so we don't get home until around 4:30. Which basically means Nora doesn't go down for her nap at the regular time.

Yesterday I thought that I would just have her skip the nap and go to bed early.

Well as I was making dinner, I looked over at the table and saw that she had crawled up onto a chair with her blankie and her fingers in her mouth. She could barely keep her eyes open, and she looked sort of dazed and definitely in need of her mamma.

So I left the mixer going, whipping up the potatoes,and went and scooped her up into my arms. It took her exactly 30 seconds to fall asleep.

As I sat there, smelling her head and kissing her chubby cheeks, I had time to really listen to my house. To hear the sounds and feel the atmosphere of our home.

I could hear Kate playing the piano (she graciously took a moment to take this picture for me).

I could hear Anne Marie and Henry giggling upstairs. Which they did all day without fighting.

From where I sat I could be audience to Julia in
the living room, practicing her clarinet.

And out the window of the family room I could both see and hear Jeff and Charlie kicking the soccer ball around.

At this moment, I really felt how blessed I am.

I took a deep, satisfying breath and I could feel my heart swell in my chest. I hugged Nora tighter and decided I couldn't care less that the potatoes were being whipped to a very weird creamy texture.

All that mattered was this moment of bliss that I was being given. All that mattered was my little family, happily living life in our home.

And that's what matters, is recognizing these moments when they are given to us, and being grateful for them.

And in case you're wondering, the potatoes were fine. Weird, but fine.
And the trade off was totally worth it.

Nervous

Yesterday was spent in a whirlwind of sorts.

Baths were taken, haircuts given, the art of makeup observed, planning, cleaning and a certain level of anxiety experienced.

All in preparation for tomorrow.

Yes, tomorrow May 15th I will have a camera crew at my house.

Our family has applied for a home reality-type show. Nothing trashy or stupid.

Just TLC and some good organization help from the good folks at Home Made Simple. If we're chosen that is.

So tomorrow will be the on camera interview. The-are-you-good-enough-and-interesting enough-to-be-on tv-interview.

I'm a tad nervous. Not about being on camera. That actually does not bother me at all.

But all the prep is killing me.

Making sure the bathrooms are clean in case someone needs to use one. Making sure the house is not super tidy but not cluttered in a Hoarders way either.

Picking out outfits for all 8 of us (I'm supposed to dress like I'm going to a nice lunch), learning how to put on enough makeup so that it will actually show up on camera since my make up usually consists of just mascara and red lipstick.

All these things have me feeling crazy. And of course I want them to choose us. But I won't be devastated if they don't. I'll just be devastated if someone picks their nose on camera or my hair looks stupid.

So yeah, I won't be sleeping much tonight. Which may be good, cuz then I'll look like the scatter brained mother of six I really am. And they'll KNOW that I need their help. Which I do. Of course.

Wish us luck!

If I just had as much talent as this kid has in his little finger

Ok. So I sat and watched this video 3 or 4 times. With my mouth hanging open the whole time.

This kid is seriously unbelievable and he is only 12. So if you haven't seen the video, follow the link and watch. You honestly won't believe it. If you have youtube blocked in your house, unblock it for this. Seriously. Amazing talent.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bxDlC7YV5is

Flooded

Yesterday morning, I had to quickly say goodbye to a friend I was talking on the phone to.

Why? Because I heard water running. Which is never good.

When I rounded the corner, this is what I found.




Most of the kitchen floor, the island and the counters around the sink were covered in about half an inch of water.

It was not awesome.

So who could have done such a thing?

Was it...

Or could it have been.....

It was neither of these. Although I think Thing One and Thing Two may be related to the culprits.

Any guesses?

If you guessed Henry and Nora, you would be right.
You obviously know them well by now.

You'd think I would know them well enough by now to realize they should never be left alone. Or be allowed to eat after midnight.

Wait, now I'm getting them confused with Gremlins. Which, I guess is understandable.

But definitely, they should not be left alone. Or be given sharp things or things with ink in them, or things connected to water.

Boy, do I know how to suck the joy out of childhood or what?

It's a gift.

What I gave myself

As I sat thinking about the upcoming Mother's Day weekend (my brother in law, Scott was curious as to when Mother's Day became a whole weekend), I realized what I really wanted. Aside from the awesome day I was going to spend with my sister, I really wanted to be outside, to feel my blood pumping and my body working to accomplish something.


So I emailed everyone who was local and that was going to be around to see if anyone wanted to join me on my first annual Mother's Day hike.


I ended up with 3 takers, and at 5:30 in the morning (yeah, I'm hardcore. ok, not really, it just worked out better with everything going on that day) on Saturday we drove to the base of Little Si in North Bend Wa. It is a 5 mile round trip hike, pretty steady incline, but nothing too difficult or treacherous.


picture from www.wta.org (my camera weighs like a hundred pounds, so it didn't make it on the hike .)

It was pretty exciting to be on the trail that early. We saw only a couple of people and it was so quiet and peaceful and the day was perfect.


We worked our way up and reached the summit, which is only about 1200 feet, and sat on the rock overlooking the valley and ate our breakfast.

We sat in the cool of the early morning, the sky blue and clear, as we chatted and reveled in our accomplishment.

As we headed back down, I felt elated in a way I haven't felt for a while. I did something for myself that cost no money, that got me away from being inside all day, from the computer, from the hustle and bustle of my life, and I got to chat with dear friends.

It was a fantastic gift to myself, well that and the Thai food I gorged myself on with my sister later in the day.

But hey, I did go on a hike, I had to use those calories somewhere, you know?

Oh, and there might have been a yummy cupcake or two from Hello Cupcake as well.

Don't you burn like a million calories when you hike? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Reflecting on Mother's Day

12 years ago I experienced my first Mother's Day as a mom myself.

Strangely enough, I don't remember specifics about it. I just remember feeling like I had arrived. That I had somehow earned, through the process of carrying a baby and giving birth, a day of recognition, a day of breakfast in bed and a lovely homemade card.

And I was right.

If you've been pregnant you know already that there is nothing simple about the whole process. The morning sickness, weird food cravings and aversions as well as the random bawling your eyes out throw you for a loop.

Your body feels like it belongs to someone else. And really, it does.

You have completely given it over to the child you are growing. They take most everything from you during that 9 months and amazingly, you gratefully give it to them.

Then, just when you think you've sacrificed everything humanly possible for this little person, they are born, and then you know, you've never, ever, given anyone what you are giving this child.

Sleep deprivation, sore-ness from nursing, ache from pushing that child out. Your body has continued to be the main source of nutrition, warmth and nurturing for this baby. And while you fall asleep at 9 o'clock on the couch from exhaustion, and while you wear your maternity clothes for another 6 weeks as your stomach begins to resemble something human again, you realize, that you would do it all over again.

And some, continue to do it over and over and over and over and over and over again. (Is that six overs?)

Are we crazy? Are we missing some key element of our brains that houses self preservation and selfishness? No.

We are mothers. And we continue to give everything we have inside of us to our children on a daily basis. Not just as toddlers, not just when it's their physical needs that are the most demanding, but as their emotional and social needs develop.

One day they come home and they have a crush on someone and they want to tell you about it. Or someone was mean to them for the first time and you are the only one capable of soothing their hurt feelings. Or they have a difficult teacher at school and you have to guide them through dealing with all sorts of different personalities in the world.

It's more than just changing diapers and bandaging scraped knees. It is an all consuming, almost crazy love for your offspring that would truly cause you to jump in front of a train if it meant it would save them. It's going without new clothes or your hair done or vacations or nice cars because your child wants to play an instrument or play little league.

It's occasionally forgetting what your own bed feels like with just you and your husband in it.
It's finding your lipstick smeared all over the wall next to a stick drawing in permanent marker.

But it is also hearing them say mommy for the first time, or their first "I wub you" or the way they will smack daddy in the face because they just want their mommy.

It is all of these things, and it is the most worthwhile, important work you will ever do in your lifetime. Nothing else compares. And nothing else is as important. Nothing.

So yes, we deserve this one day a year to put our feet up, to be pampered and loved, to sleep in and have breakfast in bed. And I for one am going to enjoy it. Cuz the day after? It's back to work, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you.

Reviews needed. Please help!!

Ok, so with a bum ankle, my running career is put on hold. But I still need to exercise and my ankle has improved enough to where I think I may be able to start power walking.

But I have a question about a product available for walkers.

Have you seen those funky shoes with the crazy curved soles?

MBT, Skechers and some others make them. They're supposed to be the end all be all in walking apparel and they claim to tone your hind end, thighs and calves faster than wearing regular ol' walking shoes.

So I want to know if it's true. Do they really do what they claim to do? Have you noticed faster weight loss or toning up as opposed to walking without them?

If they really work, then I wouldn't balk at spending the 100 + bucks for them. But if they're just a trend with no real science behind them, well then I can spend my money more wisely for sure.

So if you own them, or know of anyone who does, will you leave a comment and tell me what you/they think?

This is for posterity so please, try to be completely honest. (Any Princess Bride fans out there? )
*!Virtual high five !*

It's started all over

I thought we were passed this~

What are you supposed to do when you are surrounded by sisters, I ask you? Well, if you're Henry, if you can't beat em, join em.

Jeff thinks he's just missing a ribbon stick.

I agree, maybe we have a men's Olympic Gymnastic's champion on our hands.

Or a cross-dresser. I'm not sure which.

I don't hate you, I just wish bad things for you

Dear Stupid Head who crawled through our kitchen window Friday night and stole $240 from my purse-

I am mad at you. You made my life much more difficult than it had to be.

You are a punk. And not in the endearing fun way that my children are.

You are a poopy-eyeball juice-throw up head and I hope somebody's dog chews your leg off at the next house you break into.

I should probably pray for you that you change your ways, that your life improves so that you don't need to steal from others.

But I probably won't, cuz I'm afraid that I might end up praying that a brick falls on your head, or your fingers become paralyzed from all that thievery. Or that everyone you love forgets your birthday or that the brakes go out in your car and you crash into a big pile of manure.

And seriously, I don't want to say a prayer like that.

So I'll just pray that you get caught so that no other family has to feel violated or have their grocery money taken.

And while I'm at it I will say a prayer of thanks that you didn't come up the stairs. Thanks that you just took my cash while we all slept in our beds instead of taking or hurting anything that is priceless to us.

And I will pray that we will never forget to lock our downstairs windows again. Oh, and that you trip and knock your two front teeth out so that when I see you I will know it's you by your lisp, you butthead.

Sincerely,

The woman who will kick your hiney if you ever show your dummy face around here again.

A little before and a lot after

I really started getting serious about making our bedroom a soothing, comfortable place to be when I realized that I had painted or redone every room in the house but ours. And really, I need to recharge at night, to feel happy in my bedroom, and I just didn't.

So here is the before of my bedroom. It's the only picture I could find of right in the beginning stages of the redo.
I'm in this picture because it was a photo for something else, sorry but it's the only before photo I have. If you haven't noticed by now, I'm horrible at taking before photos. I jump into the project too fast and then forget to document it. Sad really.

We bought the iron-like bedframe at Ikea when we moved to Washington 3 years ago.

And while I liked it, I didn't like sitting up against it to read and it just didn't feel cozy the way I wanted my bedroom to feel.

We had some lamps that also just felt too modern for what I wanted and so I moved those to a different part of the house and then I perused Goodwill until I found a matching pair that I liked. I then painted over the brass with an heirloom white spraypaint and bought some new shades.

I really wanted a fabric headboard, but I couldn't afford to just buy one. So after seeing my neighbor make one, and then finding a really great tutorial on Centsational Girl, I made my own, with a little help from my friends next door.


I'm still working on getting the wrinkles out, I ironed it beforehand and pulled it really tight and even sprayed it with some wrinkle remover, but to no avail. So now I just tell myself it gives it character.

The fabric is actually just a curtain panel from Walmart. It was 15 dollars. I bought 4 more for my bedroom window so that there would be some uniformity throughout, and because I couldn't make them for less then 15 dollars and I really liked the color.

So then came the search for the right paint. Living where it is gray a lot, you would think I would shy away from that color. But I was seriously drawn to it. I don't know why. It's soothing somehow, and with walls as high as mine, I really didn't think it would darken or depress the room at all.

And it didn't. I went with Chinchilla gray by Martha Stewart. I only had to use 1 and a quarter gallon for this entire room. Probably the best price for paint I have found considering how well it covered


I'm still figuring out what to do over the bed. I'm thinking a large tree sillouhette, but I don't know yet. And I think my friend is right and I need bigger side tables. The headboard dwarfs them now.

I love the bedding, though. It's from the shabby chic collection at target. And I got it for 50 bucks on clearance. It was the only one on clearance and I still don't know why, but I was pretty excited.

I really wanted to decorate my room differently then the rest of my house. Not so bright and retro. And I wanted to find something inexpensive for my huge amount of wall space. So taking from The Nester, I found plates I loved at Good will and hung them. The blue lamp is also from good will just with a new shade. I never did find it's partner. :(

What I love about this picture is that it represents generations in my family. The little yellow chicken feeder was my great-grandmothers. The pitcher and basin was my grandmothers, and the rocking chair was my great-great grandmothers which my mother had reupholstered.


So after moving the furniture around so that everything was on a different wall, we somehow ended up with an empty space. So we shopped the house and brought up our leather chair and ottoman to fill the corner. I spray painted a bookshelf that Jeff's sister gave us in that Slate Blue from the frames and I think it will come together nicely eventually.


I'm not loving the arrangement of the pictures and mirror, but I can live with it for a little while until I figure out what else I want there. I'm also thinking the bookshelf is too small. But again, I can live with it for now until I find another cheap piece to take it's place. I'm also thinking a gold pillow, paint the frames a lighter color. Stuff like that is really easy and adds the right drama to the room, it's just finding the right pieces at a low price.

All tolled, I spent about 200 dollars including the paint to makeover this room. But I spent it slowly over about 6 months. Cuz 200 at one time is just not in the budget. But I was patient and it's almost there. A few more tweaks, a few more good finds or even shopping my own house and I will have a bedroom that I can really relax in.

I'm really happy with it and the late, late nights and sore shoulders were all worth it. Truly.

Oh, and the heart with our initials in it? It is staying. I did it kind of as a love note to my husband when I missed him, thinking I could paint over it later. But he really likes it, and he asks for so little. So it's for keeps.

Just like him.

A little more time

So, my bedroom is kind of a mess. And I really want to have it completely together before I show you all the after pictures. So I guess that's a little spoiler. But I promise, tomorrow. I'm super excited and anxious to show you. But I'm just having one of those days.

Between waking up late, visiting teaching (cuz I can't seem to stop talking) and general lack of order around here, I just can't seem to catch up.

So please forgive me, and stay tuned tomorrow. Really, I promise, for sure this time.

While he was out

So what, you may ask, could have caused my utter exhaustion and quite possibly a case of shoulder impingement syndrome? (That and I think my right arm may be bigger than my left.) It's subtle changes, things that have always bugged me but that fell below the line as far as decorating importance. But now that I have done it, I am so happy and wish I had done it sooner. I do hope, however, that the build up wasn't too big so that now you are waiting to see my kitchen remodel I tackled all by myself in one weekend. Cuz that ain't it.

So here we go.

This is the "art niche" on the landing as you go up my stairs. We have no certified fine art. But I felt that my children's art still qualified and I didn't need an art appraiser to come out.






I originally bought Ikea frames so that at least they would be uniform and cheap (that was my SIL Amy's idea, thanks Amy) and then my oh so clever husband arranged them.

But it just never stood out the way I wanted to. Then last week I saw on Centsational Girl a post about frames and implementing color. So I took paint I already had, painted the square behind the artwork, then I spray painted all the frames a flat black, added a few more pieces that had been waiting to go up, and voila!!




Like I said, subtle, but makes a world of difference as you walk up the stairs, and really highlights my children's art. So I'm pleased. Ouch. Shoulder Cramp.

Next. I have a pretty good sized wall in the hallway upstairs by all the bedrooms. For forever I have wanted a wall full of family pictures after seeing a special on Stephen Covey. They showed his beautiful home in Provo, Ut and in their downstairs his wife had this huge wall completely covered in framed pictures of her children and grandchildren. Then and there I knew that one day I wanted the same thing.

So I've slowly been working on it. This is kind of what it looked like before, I had taken a few frames down to paint them, but you get the idea.



So after trying to envision what I wanted, I did something crazy. Super crazy for me, the girl who loves color on every wall in the house. Are you ready for this? You won't believe it.

I painted the wall....WHITE!


That is something I haven't done, maybe ever. It was pretty exciting.


So with the wall painted white, I wanted the frames to stand out but not clash with the art niche frames, since you can see both at the same time when you are standing in the upstairs hallway.


So I went with Rustoleum Painter's Touch spray paint in Slate blue.


And truly, for this one, the difference is AMAZING. To me anyway.


Ta-da!!!




So yeah, I kept busy. And that's not all I did. But I will save the BIG project for tomorrow. Less you get bored with all of these before and afters.

But just for fun, here's a sneak peak.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go ice my shoulder.

He's back

My superman.

He's baaack, he's baaack, he's baAaAaAck!!! (sung in a terrible opera voice.)

Yes, my friends. Jeff is home. I am happy.

But very tired. I worked myself to death in order to accomplish some projects before he got home.

I accomplished them, but I think I now need a weekend to recover from my weekend.

But did I mention, he's back?

Funny how 3 days can feel so long.

Anyhoo, I will have pictures to post tomorrow of what I did. I'm pretty excited about it.

I would post them today, but I left the camera on overnight and the battery now has to charge.

Sorry.

Like I said, so tired, worked to death, that kind of thing excuses me from remembering to turn electronics off. Right?

Sure.

Ever so briefly

Jeff-as wolverine. Hot, I know.

I am looking at a long weekend ahead of me. The one who makes me laugh is gone on a trip with his parents. And I miss him.

Last night it was cold in the house, and as I curled up I couldn't help but miss the way Jeff always snuggles up behind me as we fall asleep. He's always running a little warmer than me anyway, so I am never cold.

Of course, the knife, mag flashlight and telephone I sleep with when he's gone keep me comfortable as well (yes, I am THAT paranoid). But it's just not the same.

I have some projects in the works to surprise him, cuz I like to do that, and I don't sleep very well when he's gone so I stay up late a lot anyway. And if I'm on top of stuff next week, I'll post about it all.

But for now, I just miss him. As he was driving away last night I was already missing him. I would never be a good wife for someone who travelled a lot. I know people say they get used to it, but I don't think I would.

So have a lovely weekend with the ones you love. Half of my heart is in California. So I'll be whole again on Monday.

Til then.

A letter to my once beloved

Dear Darling Waste Management,

Oh, with great dismay I write to you, my once beloved. Ere the sun had set yesterday eve, I looked upon my front drive, only to discover that my garbage was still there. Lying about, forgotten, strewn and picked by the passing crows that haunt this once garbage free dwelling.

I had to ask myself, what could I have done to have deserved such depraved behavior. Had I offended thee? Had I, in a moment of wanton forgetfulness not given you that which you desired most? Full payment?
No, upon review, I was comforted in the knowledge that I in fact owed thee nothing. So what could have brought about such behavior on your part?

It was then that my dear friend informed me of the wage dispute amongst those in your employ, and how you remained firm, completely immovable to their demands. And thus, it is now to be, that there is none to take their place in the removal of all that is unwanted.

How could such a thing be? Art thou so convinced of the rightness of thine own position, that you cannot see that these brave souls spend their days in the removal of other’s garbage? And that perhaps, an increase in their wages is much deserved? That it is their rightful place to ask for more?

So now, I am left alone with heaps of discarded trash. The remains of a thorough cleaning of the place where we house our vehicles, the leftovers from a great party given in behalf of our child who was baptized now towering over us.

And whilst my neighbors have remained mute on the subject, I can assure you, they share my sentiments.

Yours is a regrettable position my dear. For it seemeth impossible to not alienate those who work in your behalf, without also alienating those who require your services.

I imagine yours to be quite the quandary. Yet, I hope that ours may continue to be a mutually beneficial relationship in the weeks to come. I would exhort thee to settle this quickly and generously so that all involved may move on and benefit from the future removal of our garbage.

Yours truly,

Mrs. Donald Allen

Translation: My garage stinks and I really want all the trash gone. Thank you.

Office Assistant

Anyone looking for good office help?

I have someone with good organization skills. She's especially good at rearranging closets and drawers full of toys.



She has exceptional computer skills. She will have your computer running like it never has before in no time.



But, be warned. She can be very tempermental if you don't share your food with her. And she has a tendency to wear her pajamas to work.


Other than that, she would be the perfect addition to any work environment.

If you can afford her 1.3 trillion dollar salary, that is. She's pretty pricey. Although she may consider trading her highly sought after skills for a lifetime supply of fruit snacks and granola bars. She's a pretty tough negotiator, though, she may get you to include hugs and kisses as well.

Take it from me though, totally worth it.

Beautiful Day

Yesterday was a very special day for our family.

Charlie was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint by his father, my dear Jeffy.

In our church, children are baptized when they are 8 years old. We call it the age of accountability. The age when they truly begin to understand right and wrong and to make their choices based on that knowledge.

And our children look forward to this. Anne Marie mentioned this week how she couldn't wait to turn 8 and be baptized.

And yesterday, Henry kept asking me if he got to get baptized too. I assured him that when he turned 8 he would get to as well. Then he proceeded to tell Jeff, after looking up Jeff's nose "You have spider webs in your nose!!". His mind switches topics really fast, obviously.

One of Charlie's best friends was baptized as well, so between all of the beloved family and friends, there was quite a crowd. And we appreciate everyone's support of our son.

Charlie also received a special gift yesterday. A gift he will have with him the rest of his life. A gift that will be more valuable to him than anything else he will ever receive. You can read about this gift HERE.

So now will Charlie run around in a little bubble of perfection, making no mistakes, doing no wrong? Nah. He is still Charlie. And just like the rest of us, perfection will not come in this life.

But we are so proud of him. He is a wonderful young man full of promise, shining with the light of the gospel. And we love him. So much.

Congratulations Charlie boy!

You can never be sure with birds

In keeping with my semi-bird theme this week, I would like to share a little story with you.

Last week I went to the zoo with my sister and her children. It was a pretty decent day for being outside and we had not been to the zoo in a while.

So we made the usual rounds-lion, sharks, monkeys, all the favorites.
But we got a little more than we bargained for when we went to see the elephants.

We enjoyed listening to the zoo keeper explain to us about elephants, what they eat, where they sleep and the difference between Asian and African. Did you know that elephants can weigh about 5 tons and female elephants are pregnant for 2 years and nurse for 3? They are my heroes! Seriously, a year and a half and I'm done with the whole process. Can you imagine being an elephant? Well, I feel like an elephant when I'm pregnant, but I digress.

As we stood there, this lovely peacock found it's way into the area with the elephants. The zoo lady explained that there are 9 peacocks at the zoo and they all have their own territory and this was the territory of this particular bird.

But moments later we see not one, but two peacocks throttling toward the fence where all of the onlookers were.

The zoo keeper said "Well, I guess this wasn't his territory and now he's getting chased out. Give him some room to get out, everyone. "

Right about this moment the peacock flys across the fence at full speed, obviously trying to keep his tail feathered hind-end from getting thrashed.

The majority of us, including the people only 2 feet from this bird, took a little step back to give the bird some room.

But one guy, one lone man with an obvious terror of birds couldn't take the pressure.

Even though he was a good 20 feet away from the bird, he had to make his get away. Cuz you never know, that bird could have made eye contact with him and decided upon a new enemy.

So this young man, probably in his late teens, early twenties, literally scrambles as fast as he can to get away from the bird that is nowhere near him. But in the process, he forgets that his girlfriend and baby are right behind him.

So instead of making a quick getaway, he tripped over his baby in the stroller and had to do the "arms flailing, short quick steps" maneuver in order to not land on his face.

Of course, by the time he looked up to see where the demon bird was, it was long gone and he was left only with the disgusted look on his girlfriend's face, and my sister trying to unsuccessfully keep from laughing her head off.

Can you imagine what his girlfriend must have thought of him at that moment?

I can guess she wondered what he would do if a REAL danger approached them. Would he push her and the baby out of the way to get away from the vicious chicken? Or the attacking pigeon?
Would he grab the baby as a human shield in the event that a seagull got too close?

Believe me, there have been some great jokes made around here at the expense of this poor guy.

I don't think I would let it slide if I was his significant other. I might randomly scream as we walked down the street "oh no, not a sparrow!!"

Or, I might surprise him awake by making loud clucking noises in his ear, and squeal with delight when he jumped out of bed only to hide under it.

But the best, the absolute funniest?

On our way out of the zoo we saw one of the peacocks in the parking lot, Maile's sister in law Kim
saw it and said, not in a hushed voice "It's a peacock, everybody dive!!!"

To which my reply was "Um, that guy is right over there."

And he was. He was loading his baby and his girlfriend into their car not fifty feet away and heard it all.

But it was hard to feel sorry for someone who placed his own safety above that of his baby's and girlfriend's lives.

Even if it was over something as fierce and scary as a peacock.

So I was nominated (or spammed, I really can't tell) to do a blog interview for Blog Interviewer.com .

You can see it here. If you want. You don't have to. Oh, but if you do, and you vote for my blog, I could possibly, remotely win 900 bucks.

Why they chose 900 dollars as the give away amount, I'm not sure. But I would gladly take their weird prize money amount off their hands.

Just saying.

Oh, and that bird I told you about yesterday? She is STILL attacking my window. All day yesterday, and she has started today already. Sheesh.


P.S. I guess I was wrong. It's 1000 dollars TOTAL worth of prizes, not the weird, random 900 I came up with. Oh well.

Crazy...like a bird?

Yesterday afternoon, I kept hearing this noise. Kind of like a *thwack* thwack*. Upon investigating, all I found at first, was this:



Just a nice little birdie sitting on the fence outside my kitchen window.

Until suddenly......



The little creature literally flew itself into my window, over and over again.

At first I thought that maybe it was just trying to fly away and got confused by the clearness and cleanliness of my windows.

Wait, give me a second to catch my breath from laughing at the probability of that.

Ok, I'm better now.

So since it obviously couldn't have been the crystal clear condition of my windows, I had to wondered what this bird was doing.

Was it mentally challenged? Hit itself against one too many windows?
Did it hear the crying and screaming of the little ones inside and was coming to their rescue?

I just couldn't figure it out. And the silly thing continued doing this for 3 hours.

So I decided to sneak outside and see if maybe this bird was protecting something, a little nervous it would fly at me and attempt to peck me to death.

I was scared for my life, I tell ya.

But it didn't try pecking me, it just scooted down the fence a safe distance and watched me.

Upon further search I found this:


Now, you may be asking yourself what that is. I'm still not sure. But it kind of looks like feathers sticking out, doesn't it?

So what I decided, through some impressive deductive reasoning, is that this little birdie has built a nest on the overhang above the kitchen window. And while sitting on the fence keeping a watch out, little mamma bird saw another bird encroaching on her territory.

So she opened a can of crazy on that other bird and attacked with all her might.

So yeah, she may not be the smartest little thing around, what with attacking her own reflection and all, but she is mighty brave.

I've heard of how mamma Bears will attack any creature, even bigger creatures, to protect their cubs. So I've always hoped I would be like a mamma bear.

But I may have switched. I think I'd like to be crazy like a mamma bird.

It just feels closer to home somehow.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go help Nora. She just dumped a bowl of peaches on her head.

Back to life

My glasses look awesome on her. Too bad the sun didn't come out enough to need them.

Spring break is over.

The kids went back to school today.

The house is too quiet, even with Henry and Nora and Elle running around.

Last week went by way too fast.

We took two trips to the zoo.

Went visiting to Grandparents and cousins in Ellensburg.

We watched an awesome little movie called How to Train your Dragon. Highly recommend.

We went to Issaquah and ate lunch with Jeff.

We enjoyed the very tiny amount of sunshine. We even ventured out to the busiest McDonald's ever so that little people could play in the play land. Not sure I will ever do that again during a school holiday.

I got to enjoy a little girls night out, which Henry let me know he was unhappy about by wailing as I left, "I want you to come baaaack!"

The next morning he crawled into bed with me, all excited "You came back!"

"Dat make my heart happy"

Mine too, Henry.

Now, back to reality. Unfortunately.

I listened to a suggestion that my friend gave me to have a button on this blog that leads to my other blog.

Now, don't judge too harshly on how silly the quality of it is- I don't have photoshop, and I just wanted to get a quick button on here.

So voila. My very own button for Keeping the Monster in the Cave.

It will change as resources become available. (Anyone out there know how to design a blog button?)

But for now, it works. And fitting that it shows me horking down an awesome cheeseburger from Dicks. I'm just saying. Best. Burgers. Ever.

Stuff of Nobel Prizes?

Last weekend I spent an hour or two making bread and doing general household type things.

I assumed, incorrectly, that Henry was somewhere playing with Anne Marie.

When my bread was finally in the oven, I thought I should go check on everyone and see what they were doing.

Jeff was on the computer, check.

Kate and Julia were reading, check.

Nora was napping, check.

Charlie was looking at his Pokemon cards, check.

And Anne Marie was on the trampoline. No check.

Because where was Henry?

Oh, just doing something he is sooo good at. With a permanent marker, of course.


But it didn't end there.

And in addition to the closet door, he also found time to mark up a couple of bedroom doors, the counter in the bathroom, kate's bed, the walls in his own bedroom and the wall leading into the playroom.

It. Was. Not. Awesome.

So we looked through our arsenal of color removing tools and pulled out our one and only hope.

The Mr. Clean magic eraser. If you don't own a box of these and you have small children, then I'm just not sure what to say to you.

It got all the marker off the doors, the counter top and the wall. The doors don't even look like there was ever a smudge on them. It will pull some of the paint off the walls if you have flat paint (thank you SO MUCh harbor homes for the flat paint everywhere, didn't we mention we had a lot of kids?), but otherwise it is a miracle worker.

I kept saying, over and over to Jeff that I couldn't believe this product hadn't received a Nobel Prize for Science, or something. A Nobel Prize for making my life easier? Do they have those? They should.

And it saved Henry from additional wrath on my part. And that is certainly worth the money spent on a box of Magic Erasers.

The end.

Surprised

On Sunday, as we sat around talking after General Conference, I heard Henry screaming outside.

My first thought was "Who is making him scream?!"

Because, you know, more often then not, someone has done something he doesn't like.

So I went to open the window to find out who was hurting/bothering/teasing Henry.

But this is what I saw.




Henry got hurt somehow while jumping, and Charlie and Anne Marie were comforting him.

Instead of the tongue lashing I was about to give somebody, it was so nice to just be able to close the door and go back inside, happy.

I love when children surprise you.

Being Brave

Today, I would like to announce a new blog I am starting.

It is called Keeping the Monster in the Cave.

It's the beginning of a journey for myself and whoever else wants to come along.

If you're curious then pop on over here. I will be glad to have you.

The Pepsi Challenge

So as most of you know, I am highly addicted to Diet Pepsi.

I love the way it burns as it goes down and makes my eyes water.

I prefer it poured into a glass with no ice. Plastic makes it lose it's fizz somehow, you know.

I crave it almost hourly and prefer it to pretty much any drink (although milk is pretty much neck and neck, but it has calories for cryin out loud)

But I have a huge problem. Well, besides the fact that I'm addicted to a beverage.

It's Nora. The girl is as obsessed as I am.

She will scream at me if she sees soda anywhere in the vicinity. She will scream and scream until she gets it.

She will choose it over any other drink. Which I'm sure is not good for a 20 month old's growth.

She will cry, wail and throw herself on the floor if she doesn't get it.

It's pretty pathetic. Almost as pathetic as an adult woman who can't seem to overcome her need for pop.

But the dilemma is that in order to keep Nora from having it (cuz, yes, I am a good enough mother to realize that she really shouldn't drink it), I probably need to stop drinking it as well.

At least at the house.

I guess I could be a closet Diet Pepsi drinker, or drink it in the van late at night.

But as I thought of all the places I could hide to drink my DP, I realized, hey, maybe I shouldn't drink it either.

But I shudder at the thought, I literally scream inside at the idea of losing the bitter, biting, burpable love of my life.

But I do love Nora more, I do.

So I'm extending a Pepsi challenge to myself.

I have 3 bottles left at home. I will finish those, and then after that I will not bring it home anymore.

I will only drink when going out to eat.

Can I do it?

I'm honestly not hopeful, but I'm going to make an attempt for 1 month. Until May 2, I will only drink soda pop when I go out to eat.

Wish me luck. I will need it more than I know.

P.S.

And please, please, please, if you love me at all DO NOT give me a lecture about how bad this is for me. I already know that. And I pretty much don't care.

Thank you very much.