La la la laaaahhhh!

Day 2 of the Family Advent Activities. Everyone got either their toenails or fingernails done up in Christmas colors! Even the boys! :)

Apparently enquiring minds want to see my baby bump! This is me at 27 weeks. Looks kind of pointy... my stomach that is. Btw - the reason you don't see my face is that I just showered and Hero was taking my picture in the midst of Boo saying, "Don't catch the breasts! Don't catch the breasts!" When she looked at the picture in the camera, she said in a deflated manner, "You caught the breasts." I think she took it literal when I said that I wanted a baby bump picture.

Um. Yeah.

The colors are off on this picture... sorry about that. Her face is NOT dirty nor is she turning purple. And that glow on my face? Seriously not related to pregnancy. Anyway. See how happy we are here? See the joy on each of our faces from spending time together? See it? You've got it stuck in your mind yet? Okay, now take this picture and just crumble it up and that's how things have been lately. Really. She is going through such a tough time which translates into a tough time for the whole family. For all the child-rearing books in the world, authors have yet to come up with one that deals specifically with my family. I sorely need help with her.

She's struggling with making good choices. Being rude, disrespectful, stubborn over the silliest (to me) things, following the wrong crowd (really? how can 7yo kids be the "wrong" crowd already?), not listening, just being cranky-pants in general and to the extreme. My heart aches for her as I see her struggling and is confused about a lot of things. I wish I could erase all those negative feelings and behaviors she's dealing with. Yet, I know that she also has to learn how to overcome these challenges...

My friend made the comment that she wonders if Heavenly Father feels like that with us. He must. We deliberately make poor choices when we KNOW better. Yet, we're stubborn little creatures. He gives us the tools to choose wisely and when we don't use those tools, feels frustrated & sad. Yet, and I'll emphasize the YET here... He doesn't give up His hope nor does He give up loving us. The supreme example of the perfect parent. Something that I'm striving for but man! It's hard! It makes me want to scream, cry, and pull my hair out!

Being a parent is one of the most humbling experiences that one could experience, in my opinion. I GET why we need to learn how to be a parent. I get why she needs to learn how to let the good person she is, shine through. What I don't get is how it hurts so much and hurts so many. All part of the learning and I... think I now get it. While I don't like it, no! not one bit, I do get that those scars somehow enables us to love even more.

I'm seriously hating on FB right now... why? Because I have spent close to an hour trying to get the chat to work. I restarted my computer; deactivated/reactivated my account; refreshed; opened different window... ARGH!

Sorry friend, that I couldn't chat with you tonight. I was really looking forward to it. :(

Oh my! My heart literally fluttered with excitement when I saw this cake... Godiva is now selling BAKED GOODS with GODIVA CHOCOLATE!

Description:

"This calls for a celebration! Our fabulous new cake is a triple-layer triumph of melted Belgian milk chocolate swirled with deep, dark chocolate cocoa for intense flavor, astounding lightness, and all-out deliciousness. Each moist, rich layer floats on a cloud of our heavenly chocolate ganache and is finished to perfection with chocolate cream frosting."

Of course, I won't be getting this cake (which is probably good) because it is pricey. However, if you'd like more information on it - click on GODIVA. And if you order it? Please invite me over...

Ahhh... here it is, November. I looked through my posts from October and thought I did pretty well. Not necessarily interesting subjects but I posted almost every day the first half of the month. You see, I was trying to participate in the "Blogtoberfest" - where one blogs every. single. day. I didn't call attention to it because I didn't want to set myself up to fail. And I didn't want to call attention to it because then I would feel like I was letting my readers down by not posting something every day. While I obviously did not succeed per the rules of the blogfest, I did manage to blog a lot and I'm proud of that.

SO - it's November! Isn't it grand? I just LOVE the fall colors and the crisp air and apple-cider donuts. I also LOVE that Halloween is over. I've got two big bags of candy that I'm still sorting through. NO - not to pick out the yummies for myself. Rather, I like to go through and pick out all the candy that would work for gingerbread houses. Yep - we're going to be doing them this year and I'm so excited! What candies do I pilfer? Jolly ranchers or any hard candy that can be smashed up & cooked into cookies for the "stained-glass" windows. Lollipops for festive trees or even lamp-posts. Nerds for a pebbled pathway. Let's see... what else is there? Um........ I can't think of anything else at the moment. You'll see our work in progress after Thanksgiving.

Like the bats? My 7yo daughter cut these out and I strung them up. This was the extent of our Halloween decorations. Sigh. At least it was something!

My thoughts are all disjointed, so I'll stop for now.

Hope you're having a lovely day!

Ahh... my poor sweet Boo. She is NOT happy with the news that we are expecting a baby boy. Upon telling her the news, these are some of the statements she made throughout the evening.

"But that means I won't get a bunkbed!" and she burst into tears.

"I'm NOT going to tell ANYBODY." as she stomped upstairs.

"Mom? I'm going to write pages and pages of reasons of why I don't like boys." Said with a scowl on her face & arms folded.

"I've been waiting like, since I was FOUR to have a baby sister!" With a look of desperation.

"See? (After her brother gets one of her toys) THAT'S why I don't like brothers..." Glaring at her little brother.

"Why are all the girls so happy about it?" Referring to all of the aunts, girlfriends, grandmas. She was only slightly mollified when it was explained to her that all these women are MOMS and they just get excited for ANY baby to come.

We told her, "You don't have to get used to the idea right now..." as Hero & I looked at each other with a mixture of humor, concern and apprehension.

Good times!

A random meme that I found somewhere... play along if you like! Remember, just one word!

1. Where is your mobile phone? here

2. Your hair? dumb

3. Your mother? beautiful

4. Your father? missed

5. Favorite food? fudge

6. Your dream last night? weird

7. Your favorite drink? water

8. Your dream/goal? finishing

9. What room are you in? downstairs

10. Your hobby? crocheting

11. Your fear? loss

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Edmonds

13. Where were you last night? home

14. Something you aren't? secure

15. Muffins? cinnamon

16. Wish list item? scissors

17. Where did you grow up? Kirkland

18. Last thing you did? walked

19. What are you wearing? sweater

20. Your TV? on

21. Your pet? banished

22. Friends? lifeline

23. Your life? calm

24. Your mood? content

25. Missing someone? sisters

26. Vehicle? silver

27. Something you're not wearing? hoodie

28. Your favorite store? etsy

29. Your favorite color? blue

30. When was the last time you laughed? today

31. Last time you cried? today

32. Your best friend? Hero

33. One place that I go to over and over? future

35. Favorite place to eat? home

There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.


-Washington Irving

What does this quote make you think of? How do you think it applies to you as a woman, a wife, or a mother? Can you think of certain instances in your life where that "heavenly fire" blazed up?

Love finally being pregnant.
Hate sneezing, coughing or laughing that make me pee. (Keeping it real, folks! And I swear I'm doing my Kegals!)
Love losing weight due to being pregnant.
Hate that now I'm starting to show, people can't quite tell if I'm just getting fat again or if I'm pregnant.
Love having a husband who will get me anything that I'm craving.
Hate that if I don't eat, I start to cry.
Love how my hair doesn't fall out.
Hate that it's frizzy, frizzy, frizzy.
Love knowing that there's a sweet baby inside me.
Hate the heartburn from the squished up insides.
Love thinking of names.
Hate realizing there are 10 new babies with the same name, making us go back to the drawing board.
Love talking with other moms who are excited for me and share their experiences.
Hate that I have yet to meet another 39yo woman who is experiencing pregnancy for the first time. I feel a little alone in this.
Love it all... regardless. :)

That's How A Pumkin Grows from Alberto Cerriteño on Vimeo.

I meant to have this video up the first day of October to celebrate Autumn. Oops! Anyway, enjoy!

READ: komo "FTC: Bloggers must disclose payments for reviews."

Not that I get freebies or things to review for other companies but a lot of my friends do. Just HOW are they going to enforce this? Also, a lot of the blogs I read are fellow mommy bloggers so to pay a fine of upwards to $11,000 is going to hit HARD.

Ugh.

That expression really sums up today. Apart from having a lovely sleep-in this morning and smelling delicious smells waft up from the kitchen, it's been a cranky day. We set the expectations with our kids that it's SUNDAY and it's GENERAL CONFERENCE. Therefore, they are still expected to be reverent, quiet & respectful. Did that happen? Even for a millisecond? NO. We didn't even make it through the opening prayer before we were getting after the kids. They would quiet down and then immediately just burst like 4th of July fireworks. BOOOM! KABOOM! CRASH!

Ugh.

Needless to say, I didn't get any spiritual edification. Nor did my family.

We'll try again next time.

And as a side-note here... Hero just came down and said, "I wished we had known what my cousin did! She put out a cup of marshmallows and m&m's. The kids could only get one every time they heard the words: church, pray, and prayer. So they were quiet and listened!"

Sigh. I wish I had thought of that.

...

...

...

Will somebody please remind me of that tip before next GC? Thanks.

Conference! Did you watch it? (Or listen?)

I didn't think to jot down notes until half-way through the 1st session. But this is what stood out to me...

Russel T. Osguthorpe:
*With faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, anything is possible.
*Can those I teach feel the love that I have for them?
*Learning & Teaching are not optional in the gospel of Christ.

David A. Bednar:
*Express love & show it.
*Not enough to know more, we need to do more.
*We'll never regret the kind words expressed (incomplete quote from Pres. Monson).
*Such love is the source of strength.
*When was the last time you've shared your testimony to your spouse, children, others?
*Being consistent (family prayer, scripture study, FHE)
*We may not see instant results (as in spiritual edification/growth) but it will come in long term. The sum of it all will produce a masterpiece...
*Be not weary in doing small things... you are laying of foundation of a great work.
*Children are most sensitive to recognizing hypocrisy.
*Thou shalt not bear false witness - lead by example!

What did you learn? Or re-learn (as such is the case with me... over and over!)

Yesterday my sister Stephanie & I spent the day doing happy things. :) Oh and we also went to Red Robin's for lunch with my 3yo Little Man. You know, I really love all my sisters and I really love that we all have a warped & quirky sense of humor. Thanks Stephie for coming out! :)

Which brings me to my sister Barbara. She's my oldest sister. She was 17 when I was born, hence, she became my 2nd mom. Not surprising really as I was the most beautiful baby in the world. Ok, ok... I was number 9 so my mom needed a little help! lol!

I got a call in June from my sister Julie (now you've met 3!) who had the terrible burden of telling me that Barbie had passed away. She was 56. She left behind her husband and three children. My world came crashing down yet again. In 2001, my dad passed away. In 2006, my mom passed away. Now this year, my sister passed away. You know, I'm really quite done with people dying in my family! YOU HEAR THAT FAMILY? STOP IT!

I don't really have memories of her when I was young. She went off to college and then got married and moved away. What I do remember is her visiting our family. My mom would go to extra lengths to make things comfortable for her and bake her favorite cookies. (Jam-filled cookies) While I had to go to school and didn't get to visit much, I remember the feelings of being so loved by her. She always had a bright smile, tight hug just for me. I'm sure she did for the other sibs but I just remember how special I felt with her.

It wasn't until she and her family moved to WA that we were able to see each other more. I babysat for her. A LOT. I also got to be involved with her dancing group at her daughter's elementary school. Not an exciting job but I was able to be with her. Then as I got older, I got to work on the make-up crew for the plays & musicals she put on for our church. Later becoming the make-up artist in charge of the crew. I loved watching her direct, coach and otherwise really bring people's talents out. I loved how she tried to involve everyone in things even if they didn't get the part they wanted. She made them feel important and essential. I loved that I got to teach her daughter piano. I loved having family barbeques out at her house. I mean, EVERYONE came. That's 11 siblings PLUS all the families!

And I miss her. I miss her not being there for me to call and tell her how the pregnancy is going. I miss not being able to send her emails with the latest adventures of my kids. I miss not hearing about the books she's been reading and about the dolls she's been collecting. I miss her laugh. I miss her incredibly blue eyes. I miss her telling me she loves me. While I know that life is short and she's just beyond the veil and she still loves me.... I miss her. And need her.

Last night, I attended the Relief Society meeting in which the topic was, "tips." I think there were 1,001 ways to clean your microwave given... I dunno. I just have a hard time figuring out how one would let their microwave get so dirty that you need special treatment. That's just me. Guess I'm a clean-microwave snob. Although, I really am not so anal that I do a deep-clean on it every time it's used!

Anyway, I was sitting there listening to everyone share their tried & true tips from cooking to flowers to identity theft. It got me thinking about my little things that I do and how I never really considered it being referred to as "tips."

SO! Wanna hear some of mine? Here goes!

FOOD:
*When baking a chocolate cake, instead of dusting the pan with flour. Use cocoa powder instead. It blends right in.
*When making up a batch of chocolate-chip cookies, you can just bake a few and then using a cookie-scoop, scoop the rest of the dough and freeze them individually (not touching) on a plate. After about 30 min. you can just put them all in a ziplock bag and toss them in the freezer. That way if you want a homemade cookie, you can just take it out of the bag and bake! *Temp. is 25 degrees lower & bake 5-8 min. longer than you would have normally.*
*Freeze pumpkin puree in 1 cup increments in baggies if you have leftovers from a recipe.
*Want an orange for a snack? Zest it with a microplane zester BEFORE peeling. Save the zest in small ziplock bag & throw it in the freezer. Same goes for lemons & limes.
*Baking sugar cookies but no time to frost? 2 options - 1) Dip them in cinnamon & sugar, bake as normal. 2) Melt chocolate-chips and put it in a baggie with corner snipped off. Drizzle over cookies.

MISCELLANEOUS:
*Stuck zipper? Rub the lead over the teeth.
*Hair conditioner - you can get the same result of it watered down by 1/3 as you would full-strength.
*Silver jewelry keeps tarnishing? Keep them in the smallest container possible to reduce air exposure. Put in a bit of a broken chalk to help absorb moisture. (Do not pulverize the chalk! Just break it and put a chunk in the container.)
*Crocheting a scarf? Hotpad? Something small? Keep the yarn & pattern in small ziplock bag. Write on the outside the size hook used in case it's currently being used on another project. Keeps the yarn clean if you chuck it in your bag to crochet while out & about.
*Itchy wool sweater? Wash in water with a small capful of glycerin. Air dry as normal.
*Need a silly Christmas gift? Something for White Elephant? Put earring hooks through a pair of matching ornaments.
*Dirty cd? Squirt a shot of rubbing alcohol & rub from center out. (Think spokes of a wheel.)

This was on my sister's facebook page... it made me laugh so here you go!

Yesterday was CRAZY busy! And I didn't want to be part of it all... but am so thankful I was.

2pm Baby Shower - HAD to attend. The mother-to-be is my Visiting Teachee and this is her first child. And my friend Rosanna begged a ride.
5pm RS Broadcast - REALLY did not want to go but my friend Rosanna begged for me to go.
7:30pm-ish GNO - NEEDED to come but was ohhh so tired. And Rosanna begged for me to go... again.

Typically, on weekends I just stay hunkered in my home. I literally will not leave the house from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning when we leave for church. Why? I don't know... as it really does not work in my favor. More specifically, does not work in favor of having good mental/emotional health. Why do I keep doing it if it's not good for me? I don't know. Guess it's just a vicious cycle really.

Saturday came along and I started fishing for ways out of the last two activities. I was tired. I didn't want to be away from my family. I didn't want Hero to have to deal with the kids all day. I was tired. Blah, blah, blah. Thankfully, Hero was in such a positive, helpful mood. (Not that that's a rare thing! lol) He was encouraging and reassured me over and over and over that I needed to go and it would be good for me and the kids would be fine.

THEN there was my friend Rosanna. I can't remember at the moment how we came to be friends, but we did meet in Relief Society... Oh yes, I remember. I was the substitute RS pianist and she was the chorister. Anyway. She called me up and we agreed to carpool to the baby shower. I always like being with her. She's funny and if you really get her going, she'll cry while laughing. Truly the best way to laugh. :) She asked if I was going to the broadcast. "Um, we'll see." She kept on it but nicely. Then started in on asking if I was going to Lisa's GNO. "Um, we'll see."

In the end, I went to everything. All because of Rosanna. I had the nicest time being with the other sisters and just relaxing. And even though I was thoroughly exhausted by the end of it all, I'm glad I stuck it all out.

Thanks Rosanna. You rock.

You know, that helped.

Things I've learned thus far in my pregnancy...

1. Either people tell you crazy horror stories with LOTS of details or they keep completely mum about it and pretend that it's all a walk in the park and it's all about immaculate conception.

2. My sister-in-law Heidikins wasn't lying when she said that no matter how early you stop drinking water, you'll still be up all night going potty.

3. There's no such thing as keeping things "in the family." 7 year old kids just do not get that concept.

4. Women have herculean muscles (mental & physical) to deal with all the changes of being pregnant!

5. It's hard convincing people that one does NOT have a cold. Just nasal congestion from
being pregnant. There's almost no relief from it. (The congestion that is... although, the people sometimes too! lol)

6. Crying over the smallest thing is just a fact of life right now and all the people in my life need to get that.

7. Coming up with baby names is hard when one's partner would rather just wait until they find out the sex of the baby.

8. If something sounds good - that will be pretty much the only thing I'll eat for a few days. After which I'll be so grossed out by it that we can't have that particular food item in the house ever again. (Case in point, when I was in Yellowstone for a family reunion, the only thing I could eat was my SIL's Chicken Enchiladas. We got home from vacation, Hero went out and bought the ingredients and I promptly told him that we'll never eat that dish again. So, it's in our food storage. Oh dear... it's making me gag thinking about it. OKAY!)

9. Leftover food on dishes left in the sink is the worst thing EVER.

10. But... all in all, it's really quite lovely being pregnant.

Now for a little funny story. My family and I were at stake conference this past Sunday. At one point, Hero mouths to me a name for a baby. You all know that I'm hard-of-hearing so I lipread. This is what I saw... "Player. P-L-A-Y-E-R" I looked at him in horror and whispered back, "For a boy? For a girl? Are you NUTS?!" He looked at me with such confusion that he repeated it. I was getting mad - "NO!" and gave him a very mean look. "You want our kid to be called PLAYER? Are you KIDDING ME?" He looked stunned and quickly dropped the conversation.... and then I literally saw it dawn on him - he turned to me and said, "Player? NO! Blair!!!"

"Oh."

"Blair."

"Huh. Maybe..." said in a nonchalant air.

And, we can't have Blair because it makes me think of that old 80's show with Trixie, Natalie, Jo & Blair. What's the name of it?


:) Enjoy the day!

This is the photo that Hero took. I like all the blues in it...

This is a picture I took in Idaho. Well, an attempt to photograph some trout per Hero's request. As you can see... I wasn't successful BUT you have to admit, it's a darn interesting photo!

ACK! I feel like I've been totally dumbed down by the lack of no internet over the past several months! I'm sick of my blog layout and am trying to jazz it up. As any reasonable person, I turned to the net to look for templates, pictures, etc and I'm just confusing myself! HELP!

Playing with the template... be patient. Pretty please?

YAY! We have the internet again! YAY!

Hello, hello, hello! I'm back! for tonight anyway.... My husband scheduled me a time on the library's computer for TWO HOURS! YAHOO!!! My order of business will be - this sad, neglected blog. Then it will be off to browse the net. WHEE!!!

SO! It's been an eventful summer. We have 2 weeks left of it and I'm happy about that. Time for a regular routine. This momma needs it. Not to say my summer has been completely chaotic. Shall I recap for you?

We took the first ever LONG roadtrip with our kids. We drove to Boise, ID to visit my brother and his family. We had such a nice weekend with them. My kids loved visiting their cousins & aunt & uncle. Good, good times. We then sallied forth to Island Park.... and excuse me, I don't know if that was in Idaho or Wyoming or Timbuktu. The hours spent in the car was just a wee bit too much. Anyway, we stayed out there for a week for Hero's family reunion. All of Hero's siblings live out of state so it was about time we got together! There were a zillion kids and 10 adults. The cousins had a BLAST as most of them had not seen each other in years. The adults too, had a blast. Well... except for me. Kinda.

You see, I was beginning to not feel quite myself. Actually, that started when I got to Boise. You know, smells were beginning to bother me. Certain foods were beginning to be repulsive. It was just not a good time. Then when we were all in the cabin together (which was huge) - it just was too much. I couldn't eat, I had to keep running to the bathroom to have the gags. I was in serious denial. Serious denial that I was... pregnant. AM pregnant.

I had been told years ago that I would never be able to get pregnant. Soooo... after several years, Hero & I adopted our 2 kids. (Albeit 4 years apart.) La la la, life goes on and um. I'm pregnant. Eep! I won't go into the whole long story of how I asked my sister what she thought about it (I suspected before going out on the roadtrip.) I won't tell you in detail about the many, many conversations I had with Hero about, "What if I am? What if it's something wrong with me? What if I'm dying?" I also won't bother with making the decision with Hero to drive 2 hours into town to pick up pregnancy tests and then decide upon getting back to the cabin NOT to do the tests because what if was negative? Nah. Although, I will tell you that when I woke up at 4am with a FULL bladder, I promptly decided to do the test and it popped up right away as being POSITIVE. I went to Hero and whispered in his ear, "I'm pregnant." He jolted and said, "What? HUH?!?" I repeated my statement and he said, "Huh." And fell promptly back to sleep. (I'm totally fine with that - he hadn't been sleeping well for a long time.) I laid myself back down on the couch where I had been sleeping and just had a smile on my face for the next 3 hours. I got up again and did the 2nd test - and WHEE!!! I'm PREGNANT!

It still doesn't feel real. I know it IS because of the 24-hour nausea and the tiredness and the other "symptoms" of pregnancy. (How come nobody told me that your girls get mighty SORE?! It's like the longest PMS EVER!) I told the midwife that it didn't feel real and she held up the test-stick and said, "Um, YEAH! You are!!!" She then pulled in the portable ultrasound and did a quick test. I saw my BABY! This teensy, little thing. Even now - tears are welling up. Since there was a question about my cycles, they scheduled me in for an ultrasound shortly thereafter which gave them the due date of MARCH 1ST! I was then at 10 weeks! The baby was waving it's arm as if to say, "Yo!" Then last week was my 12-week appointment and that one scared me. The midwife used the doppler to listen to the heartbeat but for some reason, couldn't get it. ACK! My stress levels just shot through the roof! So she pulled in a senior midwife and the portable ultrasound and I got to see the baby again! This time, the baby was doing flips. :)

Baby #3. Can you believe it? I can't and I can. It's surreal, really. But I'm loving the pregnancy deal. Loving that Hero and I actually made a baby. What's going to be interesting is what this baby looks like. Boo looks just like me and Little Man looks just like Hero. Yet - they were both adopted. Ah... my heart is just so filled with love for my kids! & BABY!

A lady said to me upon hearing the happy news, "It just goes to show you, it's all on the Lord's timetable." It has to be. And I am so grateful. It's been an eye-opening experience thus far for myself and my family.

This entry is long enough and doesn't even cover the other things that happened over the summer. Hopefully soon I will be able to get back on here and talk about those things too.

Ta for now!

I seriously hate that I have a farmer-tan. SERIOUSLY hate it. Ah well, no getting around that. Well there is... either use a self-tanner to um, even it all out. OR go do the fake & bake deal. Neither of which I'm inclined to do. N - E - WAY!

Random thought.

Still no computer and that's okay.

While I'm on my Hero's computer (supposedly working on my talk for church this Sunday...), I thought I'd just pop in and writes a bunch of blurbs of things that have been percolating in my mind.

I have had some thoughts about writing more about my beliefs. I hardly ever mention them. P'raps because I don't want to be judged for them. Or p'raps it'll be a turn-off to my readers (never mind how few now!) In any case, my beliefs are what make up a good part of me. Hence, I'm going to write about them more often. When I get a computer. (ha!)

Have you heard of the "Wit & Whimsy" puzzles? No, not online puzzles. The REAL, cardboard ones. I bought one because I fell in love with the picture. While I had anticipated just doing the puzzle by myself as a way of de-stressing, it's turned into a family project with Hero & Boo participating. And you know what? I really liked it! It's quiet, people are concentrating and using soft voices... very nice! Now that we have completed the puzzle, I'm going to mod-podge the back. I'm afraid to do it on the front of the puzzle because of my disastrous attempt when I was 16. But perhaps it was just the puzzle itself. Shouldn't have been mod-podged because of the lame picture. It was the full-white mask with tear-drops in the corner of the eyes and ribbons surrounding it. VERY 80's I'm embarrassed to say! Yikes! SO - I'm going to figure out how to do it right and then we'll hang it in Boo's bedroom. She's pretty darn excited and so am I!

I am sick to death of of my living room. Er... well, it's all brown. Brown couch, brown piano, brown picture, beech-colored (IKEA fakes) book-cases w/doors. Same color for entertainment center. BROWN BROWN BROWN! While I love brown like Boo & Little Man's eyes, chocolate, rich dirt (hey - I'm a gardener!), puppies and the sort, I just do not like how everything is a flat BROWN color! Bleh! Need to punch it up! I'm hoping to get out to Jo Ann's craft store tomorrow and pick up some COLORS to do up my pillows, paint my rocking chair, re-cover the seats of my dining chairs (which are beech & burgundy) and PUNCH IT UP! I'm excited... and I like it!

I'm really hoping that HRH is going to come up here for a visit. REALLY hoping because it would give me the opportunity to do all the neat touristy things that are to be done here in Seattle. And what better than to do it all with a good friend?

I have drilled it into my kids' heads that we are going to have some semblance of a schedule this summer. Starting with, making their beds first thing in the morning. I grew up that way and I wonder - how the heck did I not pass that on to my kids? I'm not going to be anal about sticking to it all the time. I do love spontaneity. But I also love having the chores done first thing in the morning so we have the whole rest of the day to PLAY! Wish me luck....

I really need to get working on my talk. It's on "Fathers" - totally apropos for Father's Day, oui? I've been thinking of my own Dad and the experiences I've had with him. I loved how he was a patient teacher with me. We weren't really chummy as in talking about "life" but rather, he was really good at teaching me appreciation of nature on a deeper level. I LOVED it when I told him that I had signed up for a photography class in 7th grade. His eyes just lit up and he gave me two cameras. A Pentax... something (sorry - I'm horrible at remembering stuff like that) and a small box camera. He then started taking me out on weekends and showing me, teaching me composition, lighting, staging, etc. I really treasure those moments I was able to do that with him. You know what's funny though? He took the most magnificent, beautiful pictures of nature - specifically flowers - even more specifically roses. He could never take good pictures of people. He tried though! And? I can take good pictures of people.... but I don't think I would've been able to unless I had the lessons from him. And the good genes. I miss him. A lot.

Now that I'm in the proper mind frame of writing a talk about Fathers - I'll get to it.

Ta!

In anticipation of having a computer soon (YAYAY!) I've been thinking about re-vamping my blog. What is going to be the focus of it, what do I want to accomplish, etc. Etc. AND ECETERA. Then I came across this one gal's blog... when I can get the link to it, I'll let you know who it was. Anyway, she was saying that she is just going to blog whatever she feels like blogging. It's not a competition with having the "coolest" blog, or about having a high number of readership, or anything of that sort. And you know? She's right. Darn tootin!

I'm going to carry on with whatever's on my mind.

And with that, my mind goes blank.

Nice.

Here's an update on my husband's nieces.....

>CLICK<

It has been a week since I've come back home from SLC. What was I doing there? I was meeting fellow administrators from an LDS Moms forum! Yep - I met women from online! lol! And you know what else? I had a good time!

But let me give you the highlights!

*Everything is FLAT. I don't know why I forget this as it's not the first time I've flown out east. Probably just block it out of my mind as I live in the most beautiful, green place in the world! You know, the suburbs of Seattle! lol!

*Met HRH and she just totally rocks. We connected and had the greatest time signing with each other, watching Food Network, chatting. I think my most memorable moments with her are when she tried teaching me how to crochet a hat... it ended up with how NOT to do it. We were both so tired that it was kind of a lost cause. Also, when I told her the story of a broken windshield wiper motor. (HRH? Smiling yet?) She almost drove off the road with laughing hysterically at my story. ALSO - she has the most ah-dorable baby girl ever! I'm now her adopted aunt. Her favorite Aunt Sara. :)

*ALLERGIES. Whoa. Sorry HRH for that. I should have popped benadryl the 1st night, eh? See, another reason for you to come visit. You won't have to suffer listening to me wheeze, sniffle & cough all night due to hayfever.

*Saw a "Mama-Certified" sign. For what, I have no clue but I just really liked "Mama-Certified." I think I will put that on a label of all the baby blankets I crochet.

*We saw a drug deal go down. The grandma of the group we were with, ran into the lobby of the hotel. The concierge just told her it was probably a resident? Uh... no. Anyway - - I have two pictures of the dude on my camera and don't know what to do with them. I may just keep them because it kind of gave me a little rush doing "undercover" work. Silly.

*We visited the Conference Center and I felt totally irreverent in my flip-flops. Ah well. Anyway, regardless of wearing flip-flops, I managed to have a pretty spiritual experience there.

*The flight home was weird. I was by the window and the guy in the middle seat took off his shoes, pulled his socks off his toes, jutted his elbows out, banged on the armrest between us, banged his seat back and finally chilled out. Then he ordered a bloody mary. Neat. I hate the smell of alcohol, tomato juice and that was just the icing on the cake after noticing his feet didn't smell so.... fresh. ICK.

Have you ever met somebody that you met online?

Some thoughts...

Why do criminals (and I'm talking about comic book criminals) always steal stuff, like gold... to pay for this elaborate death/shrink/whatever ray-machine-thingy? I don't get it. Why not just steal the equipment you need instead?

Quilting class is fun. It only meets once a month so I'm kind of bummed about that. Anyway - never having quilted before, I decided to do this class and what do you know? It's all about applique! Yikes! Ah well. It's fun and I can't decide if it's being with other ladies and just gabbing or if learning a new skill is more fun. It's pretty close I would have to say. MEANWHILE... I have been checking out quilting books from the library and MAN they weigh a ton! But I so love looking at all the quilts! So beautiful! After reading and studying different patterns, I settled on one. And promptly changed the design. LOL! We'll see how it works out. So far, I've got 6 blocks and have discovered that I need to add additional pieces to make it come out even. I'm having fun with it and that's the most important thing.

There have been wayyy too many health crises in the family lately. From seizures, hemorrhaging, giving birth, surgery, to anxiety attacks. GOOD GRIEF! I'm happy to say that everything has calmed down for the most part. Everyone is safe. Everyone is on the road to better health. I am a firm believer in prayer & the exercising of one's faith that things will TURN OUT ALRIGHT.

If you should ever make me a smoothie, please don't put banana in it. Don't get me wrong, I like bananas. Just not in drinks. Ew.

I love Dean Martin. Play me some of his tunes and I'm in heaven.

NEXT week, I'm going to meet some cool chicks that I met in a web-forum. They have become some of my best friends and I'm just thrilled that we're meeting and having a Girl's Weekend! But, I'm kind of nervous. What if they think I'm a complete dithering idiot? Seriously, I'm scared.

I hate that I can't download photos or do a search for images to supplement my posts. Buying a new computer just isn't in the picture... so if anyone knows of a giveaway? It would be lovely.

I am done with this post. A bit boring, eh? If I had a new computer where I could spend hours... ;-)

Hello there... here's another bit of randomness. You don't mind, do you?



Today I was told by some people that I looked GREAT and was asked my secret for losing weight. Well, you all know about my bit of having a properly fitted bra. The other part? You know, besides ACTUALLY LOSING WEIGHT? It's straightening your hair. You laugh but I think there's something to it really. I typically wear my hair curly - not by choice. It's a hit-or-miss thing with that, it's either really cute or it's really frizzy. And more the latter than the former. Anyway - - - I straightened my hair this morning. Hm. Does having straightened hair really help lose those few pounds? Perhaps I'm being silly... but I can't help think....



Anyhoo, moving on. I was not the best example tonight... We were gathered together to hear the kids' prayers and also to have family prayer. Well, Little Man decided to be goofy and Boo isn't helping with making funny faces & talking silly. We had Little Man start his prayer but he said it in SUCH an irreverent way... think Popeye on helium and you'll get the picture. I scolded him and told him that we need to use quiet voices and be respectful and all that. He sobered up for a moment and then catching his sister's eye, he giggles his way through his prayer. *sigh* then it's time for Boo's prayer. What happens? I GET THE GIGGLES! ME. MOM. MOM WHO TOLD OFF LITTLE MAN FOR BEING IRREVERENT! Oh my goodness. I couldn't stop! We all started giggling and I'm quite sure there were a few snorts throw in for good measure. Every time we'd get ourselves quieted down and Boo starts her prayer - I BUST UP AGAIN! WHAT?! It got so bad that my tummy-muscles were hurting and I was having a hard time getting enough breath in, ohhhh man. We finally managed to quiet down by Hero having Little Man turned around so he wouldn't see his sister and me.... by plugging my ear so I wouldn't hear anything. Silly, huh? Of course, then I was asked to say family prayers and got all weepy in it. What's that song? "What goes up... must come down. Spinning wheels... lalallal - whatever." Yikes. (My mood swings the past two days have been sky-high or chasm-deep. And guess why? Because I ate fast-food. Why is it so easy to forget? It not only makes me feel bleh, it also wreaks havoc with my emotions. Stupid fast-food. Anyways, prayers tonight were good. :)

One last thing. You know what I'm looking forward to in the month of May? MEETING some of my blogging buddies! Yep, we've arranged a meeting spot (out of state! lol!) and are hooking up for the weekend. I am SO EXCITED! We're going to have a blast, I just know it!

Alright then, that's all for now. Do enjoy your week!

Ta!

An update on my "For Just One Week" goals....



I spent more time with Little Man. I have really come to appreciate even more the times spent with him reading books. I've a great love for books and he does too, but now it's coming out more and more the types of books he prefers. Really quite cute!



I didn't spend much time with Boo, she spent a lot of her time in the sunny outdoors. That's okay. I'm going to take this particular goal over into next week. Except, I'm going to do creative things with her.

I didn't make a menu for dinners, but I managed to come up with something every night... until tonight. Whoops. Ah well, can't expect perfection just yet! ;-)

As for being artsy every day... not too good with this one. The time I have to do anything is at night and there are two things that work against me on this. ONE - being tired. TWO - that's the time I spend with Hero and I would much rather be with him so I can get that adult interaction that is sorely lacking during the day. SO hm.

MY NEW GOALS for just this week: (Okay, the first two aren't "NEW.")

Spend 1-on-1 time with Boo and incorporate some of the artsy stuff I would like to do. And let go of my selfishness with my supplies. They're not getting used by me, so why not share with her?

Continue reading time with Little Man. This is something I really enjoy as it's a little bit of a "down-time" with him. :)

To clean out one box a day. That means, I either consolidate, throw away or donate. (I'm telling you, it's really handy having a "donate" box!)

Re-do remaining skirts that I had picked up for Boo. Can't beat spending a buck for a skirt as opposed to $20+. Plus, I find that (did I already tell you this?) if I buy the 1-2 size in Women's, that they fall longer on the leg which I then hem up to the appropriate length. MUCH better than the minis they have in the kid section. Try as I might, I just can't find girl skirts that come down to the knee.

That's it for now. But you know... as I've been playing along with this one-week goal thing, I've found that I'm much more productive because I've set up other goals that aren't insurmountable. Huh!

For Just One Week...

*I'm going to read to Little Man every day. He goes to our cabinet and pulls out books and sits there and stares at the pictures for a long time. He also will bring one up and ask me to read to him. When I'm pressed for time (or quite frankly, don't want to) I'll say, "You can read it!" To which he replies, "Nooo! I can't read!" SO - I need to change my attitude because you know what? I'm always going to be tired so I just need to be happy-tired. Or you know - deliriously happy tired.

*I'm going to work on being artsy every day. Whether it's painting, quilting, sewing, photography - just something that produces beauty.

*Plan a dinner menu for the next week and only go to the store ONCE this week. I hate it when I do dinner on the fly. It ends up with the same, "What do you want for dinner?" "I dunno, what do you want?" UGH! I used to be really good with planning and only grocery shopping 2 times a month. But lately, it seems like I'm going every day!!! NOT good.

*Spend 1-on-1 time with Boo. She's having a hard time lately and could use some fun & also quiet times with Mom. I forget to do that because we always have something to do, someplace to go and you know - life is just too short to always be rushing around.

That's it for me! :) What will YOU be working on for JUST ONE WEEK?

We had the women's conference... I only stayed for one class (icecreamdiary's) and left because having little sleep, not eating breakfast soon enough made for a nasty headache. Fortunately it did not turn into a migraine! WOOT! Anyway - I thought I'd tell you what happened that morning. Remember how I told you I was supposed to go out on Friday night to help set up? That's nothing. I get there bright & early Saturday morning with my lovely orange rolls and see some of the ladies there in the kitchen. The head of the food committee wasn't there which was a little odd but hey. We all run late.... (no comment about my fiasco the night before please.) We skewered fruit on kebab, um, sticks. Still no lady-in-charge... We're supposed to start the conference/brunch at 9am and guess what? She didn't get there until 8:45!!! And you know why? A lady in some random ward *coughs* said she would make an egg casserole and in fact, she would make them ALL for the stake. But guess what happened? She called the lady-in-charge on FRIDAY morning and told her she couldn't do it. FRIDAY MORNING PEOPLE! No wonder the lady-in-charge was frazzled & in tears! I was totally aghast when I heard this. I'm still shaking my head.

Just thought I'd share. You know I'm good like that - totally nonsensical things.

BTW - ICD's class was funny, interesting, and I'm using bits of it for my FHE lesson tomorrow. Quite looking forward to it! Thanks Liz!

Another random thought post... c'mon, you love them. Right? Please say yes...

You know, I want to host another giveaway... host another swap. In fact, I thought of a fabulous swap & my baby sis agrees it would be fabulous! But I realize that it's probably not a good time and not just because we're in a recession. Rather, my postings have been far too random and widely spaced apart. Probably to the point that I don't have the readership I used to have... (I checked my sitemeter - it's true. *sigh*) Which means, I wouldn't get to the level of participation as I have with previous giveaways/swaps. Please help. How you may ask? I don't know exactly. You could refer others to this blog but I need to jazz it up some, don't you think? Or you could tell me what you think I should blog about. Hm. I don't know....

I'm supposed to be making orange rolls (think - cinnamon rolls but orange instead.) I'm supposed to be making them for the stake women's conference tomorrow morning. I'm supposed to be doing that because they asked my ward to do so. So what am I doing? BLOGGING! But guess what? Hero is making them for me. RIGHT NOW he's in the kitchen rolling lovely crescent rolls of orangey-goodness in them. YUM. Why is he doing it instead of me? I don't know... other than I suspect he loves me madly and wanted me to enjoy an evening of FB-ing, CM-ing and blogging as I haven't been able to do so in quite some time. I suspect... and so I shall ask.

"Hero? Why are you making the rolls for me?"
"Because I know it would relieve the stress from you... and... are you interviewing me?"
"Yes."
"Oh. It's because I thought it would be a nice thing to do for you."
"Uh - could you tell me that last part you just said?"
"Um... because it would be a nice thing to do for you. And because I've got skillz." (emphasis on the z.)

Yep. Hero loves sariqd.

I had a stressful evening. No, nothing happened per se. I found a lovely girl's desk on craigslist that I wanted to buy for Boo's birthday that's coming up. We made arrangements and Hero had to drive off to Mulkiteo to pay & pick. WELL. I didn't think it would take him so long. He came home early from work... but then he had a chiropractor appointment. Hm. Well, it still gives us an hour before I have to head to the next town to help set up tables for the aforesaid conference. PLUS, it was our date night. We planned on dropping the kids off at the sitter's and then heading out, set up tables and then enjoy an hour or so on a date... or at least enjoying just being together without kids. WELL. It got to be 5:30pm. Where was he? He was still out there. 6pm comes and where was he? He was just getting to his parents' house dropping off the desk to store at their place. 6:30 - he's still not home and I'm stressed to the max. I do NOT like to be late for anything. Even the dentist. It stresses me out to no end and I start getting really snippy to those around me. I was supposed to be at the stake center at 6pm!!! The lady in charge calls me at 6:40 and asked where I was. I told her I was stuck and had been calling her but for some odd reason, the line kept going dead on me. Just then Hero drives up. I tell her we're hopping in the car and heading out if she still needed us. YES - she said.... we get on the freeway (not 5 minutes!) and she calls me back and tells me in a really long-winded way that we weren't needed after all. Other people had shown up and it's okay. NICE. Grrr. I'm not out of sorts with her... but, couldn't she have told me that 5 minutes ago when she was talking to me originally? Good grief.

I need to change topics here because I've got a LOT of gripes about this conference too - with it being on Easter weekend.... (you too Rosanna?) ANYWAY - I'll stop.

My neighbor is having her 2nd baby in about 3 weeks... give or take. Her 1st child is the same age as Boo - which is 6-7ish. I feel badly for her as she doesn't have many friends... and she's doing all the preparation (i.e. buying crib, bedding, bassinette) by herself. I'm making her a couple of flannel receiving blankets and am on the hunt for onesies on sale (you can never have too many onesies!) I just keep being reminded how blessed I am to have an instant "sisterhood" in my church. Dinners being brought in, laundry done, kids tended too - we've really got something good going on here! Yet for her, she doesn't understand that kind of thing. It makes me sad. Wish we could all somehow just *poof!* gather together and form a gentle posse around her. I know she would love having "sisters" gathering her in and supporting her and - why not, giving her sweet little things for her new soon-to-be-born daughter.

I see the batteries are about to run out on this computer so I'll end this. Please keep coming back. I miss reading your comments.

The Birthday Fairy is coming!!! Have I told you about the "Birthday Fairy" yet? It started a few years ago with Boo. I impulsively decorated the house the night before her birthday. I'll never forget the look in her eyes the next morning when she saw the beginnings of the decorations (crepe paper was strung & twirled in the stairwell by her bedroom.) She tip-toed down the stairs and looked into the living room and her eyes were HUGE! With a hushed voice, she said, "Mom! Who did this?!?" I told her that the "Birthday Fairy must've stopped by!" She fell hook, line & sinker for it. Hence, a new tradition was born!

Mind you, sometimes I just want to forget about doing it because I'm so DANG TIRED. But I don't. And so it comes to this... it's only 9:20ish and I am ready to go to bed! I'm all zapped out of energy & "mother-ness" and need to SLEEP! I do not want to stay up anymore to ensure the kids are soundly asleep for me to decorate. But I need to. Boo wouldn't understand why the birthday fairy didn't come for her little brother and be upset all day long.

Do you ever find yourself running on empty? I do. I try really hard to not let it affect my relationships with my kids & Hero but... it's really hard! More often than not, you'll find me deep into a book and totally oblivious to everything going on around me. I get mad if someone dares interrupt my reading time. Even if it's to say, "Mom! (insert something important)!" GRRR! So when I'm really just running on fumes, I get angry at myself for creating a tradition such as this or even a standard of living because it's ME that has to do the work and I resent myself for such a stupid thing. (It's not a stupid tradition and having a high standard of living is not necessarily a bad thing - I'm venting here.) Then I get angry at myself for escaping into books....

I do believe that it's all compounded by the fact that I have difficulty of shutting my brain off at night. I get so worked up that I am wide awake and ready for some serious karate-chopping. It's just dumb. I try the whole deep-breathing-count-backward-from-a-thousand-relaxing-my-body-starting-with-toes thing but nothing helps. Any suggestions?

Meanwhile, it's now 9:50ish pm and I think I might just relegate this Birthday Fairy to bed and ask Hero to decorate.... but I believe... no, I need to do it. I'll do it happily because I love Little Man and am so excited for him to turn THREE! :)

Holey schmoley... have I MISSED blogging! Even having been without a computer for a hundred years, I still find myself thinking, "Ooh! I should blog about that! Ooh! THAT is blog-worthy!" etc. AND etc. And as always is the case, I can't think of anything to blog about once I'm here. SO - let's just jump into my brain and see what random thoughts pop out...........

Something I think would be REALLY cool, like... hep to the jive? Huh? Anyway, as I was saying - what would be super cool is having an exercise video that had dance scenes from various musicals. C'mon - think about it! you could do the doo-wop-be-bop scene at the end of Grease! Or you know... um. Other... dance... scenes from other musicals that I'm too tired to think of at the moment. (Lame.) I would totally have a blast with that! Especially with Charlotte. It's totally okay if you happen to pee from laughing so hard. She's cool like that.

I lost my contact in the library. You know, my CONTACT that I need to see out of? Yeah. I was picking up my books on hold and happened to rub my eye and poof! GONE! ARGH! I had to walk around the library with one eye squinched (like my new word?) because I was DETERMINED to stay away from home for at least 15 minutes, WITHOUT KIDS. It was REAL fun to drive home.... At least my glasses aren't too bad - looking, that is. (ha.) Hopefully I'll get an appointment next week to order new contacts.

What else is in my brain? I'm helping the stake Relief Society put on a brunch for the Women's Conference in April. I'm nervous about it as the food committee keeps emailing me and calling me and asking me for advice. Granted, I know how to cater and throw parties, but I feel like a fraud. Like I really don't have a clue about what I'm doing and they're going to find it out and that will be the end of it all. Yeah - that's a insecurity factor I need to work on.

MEANWHILE, I do get to do something FUN and that is to cater my niece's wedding reception! YEAH! Woot! Woot! I'm excited about that - and it's just all going to be lovely. The wedding, the reception - all of it! And my niece was so cute, she came over to specifically ask Boo to be her flower-girl. Boo is super-excited and she is going to be wearing the cutest dress! I only hope it still fits her... she's at such an awkward size now. Tall enough for 7/8 but thin enough that they fall off her shoulders & hips. Eek! I better cross my fingers!

I took my camera to Ocean Shores, WA last summer and I don't think my camera recovered. That place has the finest sand I have ever felt in my life. I was so careful with my camera but somehow, I think sand got into the mechanism that moves the lens as it goes, "brrrrrrrrr" really slow. Santa? Are you reading this? I could really use a lovely Pentax or Nikon camera....

Peeps - I need to sign off for now. Do enjoy the week!