Tag

Sure. I'll play.

1. Where did you meet? At a mutual friend's wedding reception in the Joseph Smith memorial building in Salt Lake City.
2. How long did you date before you got married? only 9 months. gulp
3. How long have you been married? 9 1/2 years
4. What is your favorite feature of his? His laugh. (Is that a feature?) I just love to hear Rich laugh out loud.
5. What is your favorite quality of his? His constant kindness.
6. Does he have a nickname for you? nope
7. What is his favorite color? Green
8. What is his favorite food? Food's just food. He loves Mountain Dew, but it's not food.
9. What is his favorite sport? Is computer gaming a sport?
10. When and where was your first kiss? At Rich's King Henry apartment
11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Movies, trips, dinner, play games with friends & family.
12. Do you have any children? Yes, three girls
13. Does he have a hidden talent? He must, but he's hidden it from me
14. How old is he? 35
15. How tall is he? 5’7”
16. Who said "I love you" first? I can't remember. He says he did
17. What is his favorite type of music? Variety
18. What do you admire most about him? He is the most non-critical person in the whole world. This world would be perfect place if we were all as kind as Rich.

I tag Michelle, Kaerlig, & Kaylynn

Our Bat Ballerina Kitty turned 7

Amber turned 7 today. She had a great day. Kate had a frustrating day; the normal, "sibling gets awesome new toys for her birthday and doesn't want me to break them in" reaction. Poor kid. Amber wanted bat wings to go with her Halloween costume. I refused to buy them earlier, because we're going to San Diego for Halloween and I'm not lugging wings through an airport or around the San Diego Zoo. Amber's getting smart. The wings were at the top of her birthday wish list. Amber wears her kitty-ballerina costume at least two times a week, so she got her wish. Kate made a really cute picture treasure hunt for Amber's new bat wings and spent the whole day wishing it was time for her to come home from school. I was impressed with Kate's critial thinking skills. She hid all her clues in all the right places. (I always seem to get one clue in the wrong place).

I'm exhausted. I feel like birthday preparations have consumed my week. Finding all the right gifts, making and delivering party invitations, planning party games and finding party favorts, making goodie bags to share with her dance class, wrapping gifts, etc. I still almost ruined her birthday! Last night I remembered she was supposed to have an "all about me" poster for school and I'd forgotten about treats for her class. It was a late night. I worried today that after all I'd done she'd be disappointed with something. She wasn't. It was a great day. (Minus my brief lapse in sanity after today's piano lessons. My baby-sitter no-showed).

My moral of todays story: Spend more time & energy in enjoying the moments than in trying to make the moments. But really, how much can you simplify a birthday before you're just the lamo-o mom?

Withdrawls

I miss our vacation already. Today was back to normal. Wake up, rush to get Amber ready for school. Teach morning piano lessons. Put the baby down for a nap. Try to plan my errands around the baby's non-existant nap schedule. Try to manipulate her naps & feedings so she'll sleep through afternoon piano lessons, and not get hungry during them. Endure Kate's continual "Mom, can I watch a movie?, Mom can I play a computer game? Mom, can I get out more toys?" Make phonecalls to reschedule 12 piano lessons for a family vacation (they're all rescheduled. Yea!). Make paper air-planes with Kate. Make phonecalls to locate the very special present Amber has requested for her birthday. Go walking with my wonderful neighbor friend. Eat lunch. Kate got her standard bread & jam, carrotes, & chocolate milk. I added a boiled egg this time to make me feel good. (She ate 3 bites). Then, clean up the after-math of the toys, markers, & crayons Kate got out earlier. Do preschool activities with Kate to give her some positive attention, all the while trying to remember her 4-year old antics are cute, not annoying. Make cookies for the piano kids who are coming for group lessons. Greet Amber at 2:35 and try to spend a positive moment with her, get Kate ready for dance class, and feed the baby before students arrive for group lessons at 3:00. Teach a fun group lesson to 3 goofy 7 year olds and then 8 "trying-to-discover my identity" 9-14 yr olds. (The group with 8 older kids was far easier than the trio of 7 year olds). 5:30, wait for Amber to confess where she hid the babysitter's bouncy ball, so I can take said babysitter home. Sigh. Load up three kids, including one hungry baby to take babysitter home. Return home and feed the baby then frantically make dinner. Briefly pause to greet my wonderful spouse, who takes the time to make more paper airplanes and fly them with the girls. That was my happy moment. Eat dinner as a family (no one complained about what I made-- another happy moment). Family scripture study, bedtime stories, family prayer, feed the baby. Make repeated requests for kids to get ready for bed, them grump at them when they don't. "Mom, why are you acting like this?" Apologize to kids. Spend a calm moment talking to Amber (another happy moment). "Mom, I can't find my blankie. Mom, I need a drink. Mom, Amber won't let me sleep. Mom, can I have a story in my bed?" Did we get to homework? Are you kidding? Ah, all is quiet, but I'm too wound up to go to bed myself. Write a long blog entry. Laugh outloud. Yes, this is the life I choose and love. Minus the 22 piano students. I love them all, but 12 would fit into family life more smoothly.

Potato Harvest Ends

Today was the last day of Potato Harvest. It has been wonderful! 10 days of freedom. Amber & Kate have played wonderfully. I didn't teach piano lessons. I'm thrilled to recognize that we stayed home & enjoyed it. We went to the library, the Teton flood museum, swimming, walked around the highschool track, had friends over, and played at parks. We had a great time.

Yesterday we went swimming at the Pinnacle building. It's the only pool in town, besides the University pool, and is owned by a sucessful alarm system company called Pinnacle. Luckily, the managers live in our ward. We went with my neighbor Tyanna, and three of her kids.

I have to add a funny from today. We were running errands & Amber started calling Kate "Kathryn", her real name. I wish I could regurgitate the converstion word for word, but in a nutshell, Kate repeatedly told Amber "I am not Kafryn! I am a princess and that's not a princess name. I already told you." Then, Amber would try to convince her it really is her name and we'd hear Kate's reply all over again.

A successful day

I made a mega-shopping trip to Idaho Falls today. It's 40 minutes away. To make it fair for my girls I took them to play at the new playground at Tautphous Park. It's the coolest playground in the world! The recreation therapist in me got so excited about it. They had to ADA assessible swings, half a dozen weather resistant musical toys, a great big wiggly platform that you could roll a wheel chair onto and still have room for other kids to join the fun. It was fun for everyone. Run, jump, climb, spin, hang, slide, touch, feel, listen, imagine. My kids loved it! I enjoyed it too and didn't want to leave, but it was only 37 degrees. Brrrr, so we were all ready to leave too soon. Next time I'll take my camera. I had to call my occupational therapist sister, Rebecca, and tell her all about it.

We went Target, Walmart, & Winco. $200 later I was exhausted, but thrilled that my kids were so good. And, I don't have to go grocery shopping again until mid-November. Winco is a big grocery wholesale kind of store where prices are literally 2/3 of anywhere else.

OCD

I have a new obsessive compulsive behavior. Acutally, I did. Last weeknd I made hairbows compulsively. I made two dozen hair bows! Really. I did. Now I'm over it. I had a ton of fun and now my girls have cute hair bows to wear, and I have something I can make for baby gifts.

How did it all start you ask? I bought some hair bows for my girls before school started. Four bows for $18!!! Then, when Kate did a scientific experiment on one, disassembling it to figure out how it was put together, I just about lost it. Then, oh, can I admit? It's blogging peer pressure. Kaylynn posted some cute flower clips she'd made, then my friend Marilou posted links to cute hair sites on her blog. Those sites had links to websites that had free instructions on how to make hair bows. I've added the links to those sites on my blog.

Now I can't wait to have girls night at my house and make hair bows with my friends.

Death of a classmate

A 6 year old little girl passed away this week in Rexburg. She was sick, so her mom put her down for a nap. She threw up and aspirated. Today I found out that the little girl is in Amber's school class. I've been thinking about it all day. My thoughts: Do I appreciate every day with my kids enough? How would I react if I were the parent? I'd be devestated. Is there anything I can do for the family? I don't even know them. What do I say to Amber?

We haven't told Amber yet, but we did ask her if the little girl was in her class. Tonight, we were talking about what we'd like for dinner the next couple of weeks, which diverted into what Amber wants for her birthday dinner. After dinner Amber asked me to mark her birthday on the calandar. I did. Then she asked me to mark Madison's birthday (the little girl who passed away), it's the day before Amber's. Oh, I didn't know what to say.

Creamy White Chili

Creamy White Chili
1 lb chicken, cut into ½ in. cubes
1 med. Onion, chopped
1 ½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oil
2 (15 oz cans) great northern beans, rinsed & drained (or 1 1/3 cups dry beans soaked & cooked)
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth
2 (4 oz) cans green chilies
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper (I omit this)
1 c sour cream
½ c. whipping cream or canned evaporated milk

Saute chicken, onion, & garlic powder in oil. Add beans, broth, chilies & seasonings. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 min. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream & cream. Serve immediately. This recipe can me cooked in a crock pot and also freezes well, even after the sour cream & cream have been added).

Home

Ever since we moved from our Springville house three years ago Amber has been talking about moving. Recently she's been trying to convince me that when we move we can live in our car. (I love 6 year old minds). The initial argument that she wouldn't have room for her toys was no big deal. "We could just get rid of most of them and keep our favorite things," she told me. (I guess it's time to clean out some toys; apparently she's not too attached). Logic won out. We finally convinced her that if we lived in a car there would be no place to cook, bathe, or go to the bathroom. We also told her that "they" just won't allow people to live in cars.

Now she wants to live in either a trailer or a motorhome. Kate's on Amber's side too. She'd say "Mom, you can choose a trailer or a motorhome." (Now you know how I parent). Today I assured them it's just not going to happen. I'm sure the novelty of living in a motorhome would wear off as soon as they couldn't get away from eachother.

The moral of the story: Less is often more. I often have an urge to show my love to my kids through stuff and events. I want to give them the world. Right now school is out for 10 days for potato harvest. I thought I'd be so great at doing fun things with them over the break, but they keep getting frustrated when I interrupt their play time to go do something that I think is fun. They just want to play. I also have this guilt complex that I don't spend enough time interating with them. There is room to improve still, but this quote from the 2008 Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting helped me gain a more realisitic perspective. "I love my children with all my heart, but I can't love them with all my time." That's by Pearl Buck. I can't remember who quoted her.

4:08 am

Kate: "Mommy, I can't sleep."
Mom: "What's wrong?"
Kate: "I just need a hug."
Hug, silence
Kate: "My whole body hurts. I think it's trying to grow."
Silence
Kate: "Good-night Mommy. I love you."

San Diego

I just bought airline tickets from Salt Lake to San Diego for $100 round trip per person on Jet Blue. Wanna come? We're going to the San Diego Zoo on Halloween and Sea World the next day. Hopefully we can fit the beach in there sometime too. I'm sooo excited! There really is an open invitation for friends and family to join us.