#1: Mommy the bulldozer on my backpack is supposed to light up! For the record- it isn't Me: Oh yeah #1? Who told you that? #1: My brain.
Nism:
NO! Wonder where she picked that up...
This is one of her favorite books. At the end there are two birds with egg flaps- one says "yes" and one says "no" to answer whether you want to read the book again. Apparently she wanted one to permanently say her new favorite word.
So nice. We combined dinner with our friends the Petersons and their parents. I don't think I ever want to have to cook Thanksgiving dinner all by myself- the dishes, the stress, and the workload just aren't worth it. Anyways, we did two turkeys this year- two different brines and two different cooking methods. In retrospect, I've decided that the type of brine you use doesn't really matter. The brine recipes we used were vastly different, but we ended up not really being able to tell which was which. If you are interested in brining a turkey, I suggest you use the cheapest recipe- fancy herbs and spices need not apply. Also I think next year we'll try to brine for longer than 24 hours to see if that influences the taste even more. Don't get me wrong, the turkeys tasted divine and I will never not brine again. I'm just curious to see if there would be a change with a 48 hour marinade. I've also decided that rotisserie turkey is the way to go- no more roasting turkeys in the oven. One day I'll try deep-fried turkey and see if that's any better, but by using the rotisserie you get such an even brown and it was a little more juicy in my opinion.
Quinn's mom made the most wonderful rolls, side dishes, and pies- lemon cream and pear- in addition to my pumpkin and french silk. It reminded me of food that you can only get from someone who has had a lot of experience cooking. I hope by the time I'm a grandma, I can cook that well. Also I learned that Boston Market has the best sweet potato casserole. I shouldn't write about this right before dinner because now our meal is going to feel substandard. Anyways, good food and good company made for a wonderful holiday. The rotisserie turkey is on the left, roasted on the right.
Running Update
A few weeks ago I went running with a friend. My knee began hurting as soon as I started running, but I didn't want to be a wuss and back out on my friend, so I stubbornly kept running. After a little while the pain went away and I got close to a 2 mile stretch. After I went home and complained about my knee to S, I figured it would go away by morning. I was so wrong. It took several weeks, a knee brace, a doctor's visit and some meds for my knee to finally get to the point where I didn't have immediate pain when I started to run. I've since started running again, but my mileage has gone down quite a bit and my knee still feels less than 100% sometimes. Hopefully it'll work itself out- I'd love to do a 5K this summer if possible.
Christmas Celebrations
A week ago we went with some friends to an event called "Lunch with Santa". We got to ride on a historic train and eat lunch while Santa conversed with the kids. This is the first time the kids and I have ridden a train- S did so on his mission in Russia. It was a very happy, fun event made better by good friends to share it with. #1 was excited to be on the train and a little less so about Santa. Perhaps part of the reason has to do with the fact that he doesn't know what he wants for Christmas besides a puppy.
After the train ride there was a small town parade with LOADS of free candy given away. I think #1 spent most of his time picking up candy instead of looking at the procession. I think we got more candy from this parade than we did at Halloween. When the parade was done there was a little indoor activity nearby where we decorated cookies and warmed up with hot chocolate and apple cider. He's just not so sure about this. N wasn't as cautious...never is. #1's favorite part was when an elf took to hiding behind the seats and popping up to scare you.
Waiting for the parade- don't they look happy? Yes, this is the same Halloween basket I made him use for the Easter egg hunt. I'm a lazy mom. Baby N chowing down on a candy cane. Eating cookies after the parade. I wish we could have entered a contest for worst hat hair. It seriously looked liked a bird's nest.
Hunting for reindeer
As if our Saturday wasn't busy enough, I decided to take #1 out to a local reindeer farm to pick up some extra Christmas presents. It was very quaint and #1 had a lot of fun. I tried to keep up with him by jumping on the hay bales, but my knee brace didn't help much. It was bitterly cold, but a definite stop for next year.
It's also a Christmas tree farm.
Oh yeah, and there were a bunch of these guys too. :)
S Update
S is doing great as far as school goes. We hit a little hiccup this past week with a possible delay in getting the prelim done. There were some stats class requirements that S apparently needed to fulfill to proceed onto his prelim and it almost looked for a while like S might have an extra year tagged onto his program. Luckily he's demonstrated his competence when it comes to stats by publishing some articles already and just being the brainiac that he is. We're pretty sure that he'll score an exemption, and if he doesn't then we'll be here longer than we thought. Here's hoping there's a master plan to all of this and we'll hit the job market at just the right time.
Whew! I'm tired! Well, that's our life in a nutshell. We've been enjoying our pre-Christmas celebrations and look forward to leaving town in a week! Merry Christmas everyone!
Qualities: Has diligence and motivation to learn and grow. Can get along with most anyone and has a happy, easygoing countenance. Is happiest when remodeling her surrounding.
Accomplishments: Can say "mama", "dada", and "uh oh". Loves to walk, dance, clap, wave, and causes trouble wherever she goes. Has moved on to regular foods and even eats enchiladas. Has grown hair long enough to be put into pineapple ponytails.
Personal Interests: People, baths, pulling books off the shelves, eating Christmas ornaments, toilet paper, stairs, being chased, and just being on the move. Life is not complete without emptying the nearest baby wipe container. Hates being left out and is consistently trying to keep up with her brother's latest escapades.
Apologies if you are offended by the hand positioning. She seems to favor her middle finger like her oldest brother. We're still working on how to correct that.
The other day I thought it would be fun to do a Christmas wish list with #1. This is what it resulted in.
A fire engine A cat A dog
He has about 5 fire engines ranging in size from enormous to matchbox size. He is allergic to cats. We aren't dog people. Poor kid.
Our list was a lot more practical:
Raincoats- the other day I realized that neither S nor I had raincoats. We have great winter coats, but it doesn't snow here- it rains. Nonstop. It's getting old.
On our date last night we went shopping at some stores we wouldn't normally go in unless we were kidless. It was so nice!! I'd forgotten how much S loves hats. We tried on a bunch of various hats and S found one he liked for camping. I wish they would of had some in kid sizes to match. Anyways S's head is a size 7.5 for those of you who wish to add to S's hat collection.
S loves survival gear. Something else I was reminded of as we were on our date.
Happy kids- seriously. Can anyone help me out with this one? Santa??
This post is going to be full of unrelated tidbits. Just an update on the latest craziness.
Last weekend I decided to go up and visit my friend Jessica for a belated birthday celebration. I was supposed to go up with a friend and her kids on Saturday, but they got sick. I was intent on not going since the thought of being with my kids by myself in a car for 5 hours in one day did not entice me. But then I had a stroke of genius on Friday. I could go up after our babysitting group, which ended at 7:30pm, and then I'd only have to drive one way per day- definitely more doable. So #1 and I threw together our bags at the last minute and rushed out the door so that we wouldn't arrive too late. I wanted to surprise Jessica, so I kept everything on the down low. It was very exciting and spontaneous- not something I get to do very often. S stayed home with baby N which made things even more doable. #1 was so excited he couldn't even watch his Scooby Doo movie. Each time we passed a sign he would ask "Is that the sign that says we are close to Preston's house?" When we passed a town he would ask "Are those the lights to Preston's house?" He was thrilled to say the least. I was amazed that he eventually fell asleep on the way- my kids never sleep in the car. Jessica was surprised when we got there and we had a nice girl talk late into the night. The next day we ran around outside for a bit while Parker had a checkup and then proceeded to go to the Science and Industry Museum. So fun! After we left we played in the massive mounds of leaves in a nearby park- Chicago is really a beautiful city.
Is it weird that I want one of these for Christmas? What a cool way to learn biology- like a puzzle. One of my favorite toys we saw.
The boys loved these fun house mirrors.
Crazy water features- I'm surprised we stayed as dry as we did.
It was next to impossible to get a good picture of them playing in the leaves. They didn't stop for a second!
This week has been crazy busy. Must have something to do with the pre-holiday season. I went to New Moon with a bunch of girlfriends and had a lot of fun. There were a lot of points where people were laughing when they shouldn't have been- such as Jacob's methods for first aid and a scene that looked like a Gap commercial-, but it was quite entertaining. We had a class primary party at my place the next day, which was a lot of fun. I'll miss these kids when the end of the year rolls around- they really are a great group.
We've been continuing to run as the weather has cooperated with us. My record for this past week was 1.25 miles. Hopefully this week I'll get up to 1.5. I'm a little scared to continue to take the kids with us though. On Saturday we were making our way home when the front wheel of our jogging stroller fell off. The stroller completely flipped over and S flew right over it. My heart was in my throat. The children were completely terrified, but aside from some bit lips they were unscathed. I was so sure they would have road rash on their faces. We discovered the problem to be a loose wheel that was not sufficiently tightened and were able to correct the problem. I still feel uneasy about taking them out again though.
S and I also went out on a date this weekend. Yay!! We kept saying how much we felt like newlyweds- able to walk around without trying to meet someone else's needs. It was truly blissful. The only downside is Chevy's new recipe for jalapeno jelly- it tasted like apple cider vinegar. Seeing as how that used to be the only thing that really had standout appeal on their menu, I doubt we'll be back.
And now we enter into another busy week. Hair appointments, dentist appointments, visiting teaching, hosting a ladies night out, Thanksgiving, flu shots, getting a prelim done and the list goes on. Is this really going to be a vacation?
Disclaimer: Don't let the title mislead you. I could spend the rest of my life divulging my various character flaws, but I'll spare you the barrage of issues I have.
I have a voice in my head. It talks to me all day about the things I need to do. Currently, the voice tells me I need to get some packages off to the mail, clean the dominoes off the floor, take back the disgusting generic root beer I bought in bulk, finish up some alligator clips for gifts, vacuum upstairs before the baby has to go to bed, and the list goes on. The voice is never completely satisfied enough to be quiet, but its insistence is dulled by how many of these tasks have check marks next to them. Once I get something in my head that I think needs to be addressed, it's as if my inner monologue is on replay. I can't go on until the situation is resolved and then I can move on to my next obsessive problem. Sometimes the voice is useful in helping me remember what I need to do and get it done, but other times it can get a little grating.
Loyal followers of this blog will recall that I lost my wedding ring a while ago, about three months to be exact. The voice in my head decided to focus on this particular issue until I became crazed with finding my ring. No stone went unturned in my house and I have essentially completed my deep cleaning for the year in the hopes that my ring would be found in some neglected corner. Sometimes when I was awakened by one of my children, the voice wouldn't let me go back to sleep because it had thought of some new location where my ring might possibly be. I would drift off to sleep with the drone of "look in the medicine cabinet, look in the medicine cabinet, look in..." Some of you may come to the conclusion that I suffer from an obsessive-compulsive disorder. I would whole-heartedly agree with you. Sometimes I believe this voice is inherited. My mother mentioned to me several times that she also had a taskmaster in her head and the only way she got it to be quiet was by visualizing the voice as a ugly alien, which she would then proceed to annihilate through some means of violence. In case you were wondering, I consider a violent temper to also be among one of my inherited character flaws.
When the ring could not be found, this voice took on a new montage. Suddenly I found myself scouring craigslist and eBay in the hopes of finding an affordable replacement. If I could not resolve the situation by finding my old ring, then I had to resolve it by buying a new one. Eventually, I came across a ring I loved at a price that didn't completely drain our bank account. I talked it over with my sweet husband and we agreed to buy it as my Christmas/wedding anniversary/birthday present. That is the beauty of having all three holidays within one month of each other- a single extravagant gift can be rationalized. I also think my husband was a little relieved to not have to think of three gifts for me within such a short period of time. Upon buying the ring, lights flashed in my mind "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!" and I looked forward to a restful night's sleep. The voice took on it's usual rounds of "wash the dishes, go buy diapers" which are a lot easier to accomplish or tune out if need be. My only regret was this new ring had no story. It wasn't given to me by the Provo temple when S asked me to marry him. It wasn't exchanged over the altar at the Boise temple where we were sealed for eternity. It was just "the replacement ring" that I bought off some lady in the mall.
Last night, the voice reminded me I needed to get some hair accessories done for one of my nieces because I was sending a package off to them soon. I decided to use some beads I had salvaged from an antique lamp's fringe trims. As I reached inside my heart stopped at the sight of my old wedding ring, nestled among several hundred beads. For once, the voice was silent while I berated it for not waking me up in the middle of the night to go check my random bead collection.
I have to say, this situation did not turn out as bad as it sounds. I have a beautiful new ring- a definite upgrade to symbolize our 7 years of marriage. Some may wonder what my husband said after I meekly approached him about my discovery. First he laughed, then he told me he only wished he could buy me more rings like that. Not a single reprimand or harsh word was spoken, only the words of a loving husband. His reaction gave my replacement ring a new story. It is now a witness that I made the best decision of my life seven years ago. The voice agrees with me.
I ran a mile today. Booyah! Now maybe I'll start working towards a 5K. Here's a picture of the kids in some pajamas that Grandma D send yesterday. They glow in the dark, which in #1's opinion, makes them awesome. It's fun to have the kids matching too. You can't buy matching outfits for them since their size in clothes are in different departments.
#1 loves getting mail, he asks everytime we go to the mailbox if there's anything for him. Sometimes I lie and tell him a credit card offer is for him, but it's not as cool as fun cards from grandparents. He's lucky to get them as often as he does. N even got her first card the other day for Halloween from Grandpa and Grandma L. She didn't get the concept as well as #1, but it was fun to chew on!
It was a good weekend. I've been trying to get my cleaning done before Saturday so that we can spend that day doing things other than the general upkeep of our home. Last month in Primary we focused on the Proclamation to the Family and how following the principles therein can strengthen our family. I realized that my family hasn't been united in work and "wholesome family recreation" as much as we could be. As we have attempted to change that, our Saturdays have been much more enjoyable and productive as a result. Last Saturday we focused on our 72 hour kit and getting it updated. The Saturday before that we went bowling and carved jack-o-lanterns. This Saturday we installed cabinet locks and went running at one of our favorite parks. I'm getting closer to my goal of running a mile- I just hope the good weather holds on long enough for me to get there. I love running with S as it turns out. I don't think I could do this with anyone else. I would feel too vulnerable and embarrassed. The beauty of running with S is that he has already seen me at my worst and I completely trust him. He is encouraging and we are in it together- it really has united us.
The kids have done some cute things together this week. I've found myself analyzing baby N more than usual this week to try and understand her temperament and personality a little better. I've come to the sad realization that she is not a snuggler. The only time I can hold her longer than 10 seconds is when I feed her her bottle or when she is really sick. Otherwise she has no patience for being held and wants to be on the move. Considering the fact that she started walking before she was even 10 months, I shouldn't be that surprised. I feel like I don't even have a baby anymore. The desire to move, act, and explore influences her in everything she does. Reading books is not fun unless she is in charge of turning the pages and she enjoys that aspect more than looking at the contents of the pages. She loves to dance to music and may be the musical one in the family- she sings to herself a lot. Despite the fact that she has to experience things firsthand, she still exhibits a bit of the cautious nature we've come to appreciate in #1. She will make sure you notice her before she makes a break for the stairs. But she has no stranger anxiety and stays where the action is. She is like the most adorable kitten that you want to hold and kiss all day, but who had no patience and too much energy to stay still. I'm hoping she'll grow out of it, like most cats do. I'm completely in love with her.
She's learned that my phone can play music and she'll often grab it and start dancing, I think to imply that she wants me to turn the music on.
#1 has been doing great at preschool and has really tapped into his creative side lately. His latest thing is to create things using paper, scissors, tape, and anything else he can find. A lot of times these creations are labelled as robots. It reminds me a lot of me when I was a kid. Having a crafty mom, I was always trying to imitate that- in particular I remember making toilet roll dolls and sewing clothes for my Barbies. My mom wasn't typically thrilled about the latter because I would usually take several yards of fabric and cut what I needed out of the center of the cloth. Sometimes I would use the sewing machine, but I do remember several outfits were pieced together with elastic bands. Anyways it's been fun to watch this side of #1 come out.
Behold the Paddleship- not to be confused with the Battleship
This weekend in particular I have felt such immense love and gratitude for my husband and my children. I don't know why I have been so blessed to find a partner who is everything I need and more. I take it as a testament that my Heavenly Father loves me and knows that I needed him more than I've ever needed anything else. Life is beautiful.
I haven't seen my wedding ring in over two months. This has kept me up at night, made me sick to my stomach, and been the motivating factor behind cleaning every little nook and cranny in our home. The other day I even pulled out our appliances and cleaned behind them. I wonder if this is payback for losing my own mother's wedding ring on the school bus when I tried to take it to kindergarten for show and tell. Regardless, I have declared it a lost cause and decided to pool my efforts into finding an affordable replacement. #1 must have picked up on my concern because on several occasions he has tried to help with this endeavor. One time he gave me his spider ring he got from trick or treating and then my personal favorite was when he made me one. Affordable and sentimental- too bad comfortable and durable can't be added onto that list. I'm grateful for my son's desire to help anyways- he truly is a sweet boy.
Check out my new bling.
After he was done outfitting me, he proceeded to make one for everyone in our family.
Baby N is now a pro cupboard opener and is learning the ropes of taking steps. She does it on occasion, but not consistently enough to capture it on film. She is currently overcoming an ear infection- we actually have all been under the weather this week. It seems like we will get sick once a month this fall/winter season. No swine flu yet- the kids got the vaccine which should be in effect by now.
I guess we've been watching a little too much television while we're been feeling crummy. The other day I found baby N like this- the couch was torn apart because I was once again looking for my wedding ring.
I probably shouldn't write this post while I'm still recuperating from my Halloween hangover. Halloween was great, but this year I think we celebrated a little too much. #1 got to trick or treat at preschool, church, and in the neighborhood which essentially turned into a week long celebration. It was a good thing we avoided the mall and library festivities. On the way to church this morning, #1 was disgruntled that Halloween was finally over. I tried to get his mind off of it by telling him what holidays we have to look forward to, but somehow the idea of eating a 20 pound turkey and thinking of the things we are grateful for didn't soothe him too much.
So here are the kids in various cute poses. Baby N dressed up as a butterfly and #1 went as a ninja. This was the first year #1 got to pick out his costume and the first year he didn't go as an animal- perhaps there's a correlation. We went to three different Halloween stores and #1 was dead set on getting a costume with a sword. We weren't able to take the weapons to preschool or the church function though. I also had to make a little alteration to his costume by cutting out the mask since that wasn't allowed either. Who knew Halloween was so restrictive?
Baby Doll
She's been standing for a while. Last week she took her first steps!
I told him to do a fierce pose. Apparently we haven't exposed him to enough martial arts films.
The ninja and the butterfly- sounds like a Japanese story
Before we went out trick or treating, we stopped to get our traditional free Sonic corn dog. They gave one to N too, but she was more interested in the free straw. We ate in the car because it was too cold outside.
#1 and I ended up trick or treating for about 30 minutes before he got too cold and wanted to go back home. If he only knew that his mom used to go with snow up to her hip. That'll be a good "when I was your age" story. Baby N and S stayed home and handed out treats and #1 was thrilled to help with that task once we got home. Despite his generous handfuls, we still have a ton of candy left over which will probably end up being incentives/rewards for being obedient.
