Photo Tag

I got this tag from Karen. The rules are to take pictures of the items listed below to help us get to know you better. Here we go!

A current project you are working on:


This is a couch pillow I've been "working on" for a few months now. I put that in quotations because I haven't actually been crocheting on it regularly. It's almost done, I just need to sit down and finish those last few rows, and put it all together.


The oldest thing you own:


This is the organ from Grandma and Grandpa. I don't recall exactly how old it is, but it's definitely older than anything else I've got. And I love it!


Your worst pair of shoes:


This is a big old ugly pair of military surplus boots that I bought way back in high school. I needed some sturdy shoes for working at Popeye's so that if I dropped anything, or splashed scalding oil, or dropped boiling water, or anything like that, on my feet, I wouldn't be too badly hurt. These boots are steel-toed, and very sturdy and clunky. They're scuffed and probably still have grease stuck in the creases. I never wear them anymore, but don't feel like getting rid of them, just in case I ever need a really sturdy pair of boots.


Something from your childhood:


This is my teddy bear, Bluebell. I've had her since I was just a little girl. Michelle and Janelle and I all received matching bears one Christmas - Michelle's was pink and Janelle's was yellow. Bluebell is missing an eye, but I don't remember why.


Your 3 favorite movies:


I love Nacho Libre because it's just so wacky and random - it's one of those movies that's so stupid it makes you feel a little dumber after you watch it. But it's hilarious!

Galaxy Quest is another favorite. The first time Jeff watched it, he actually fell off the couch laughing at one part.

And The Emperor's New Groove is a favorite of our entire family. Zaylee could watch it over and over, and even quote certain lines.

I have lots of other favorites, but we don't own them and I couldn't take pictures. These are my favorites of the movies we actually own.


Your key chain:


I described my key chain in another tag, the purse tag, but I'll do it again. The big metal thing is my force multiplier - a self-defense weapon thing I got in high school. It's a legal-to-carry weapon because there are no sharp points, no sharp edges, and nothing shoots out of it. But use it correctly, and it can be deadly. Centuries ago, women in Japan would carry these (made of wood) to defend themselves against Samurai warriors who otherwise would take advantage of them. Cool!

I also have my Albertson's Preferred Savings card, and a little rod that says "Hold to the Rod." And my keys. Kinda funny - the black-handled key is to the little Toyota we used to own, but sold. I forgot to give them my copy of the key, and have been too lazy to take it off my chain. Oh well.


Your favorite edible treat in the house right now:


So sad - the only treats in the house are these slightly old peanut butter cookies. They've been in the fridge, so they aren't stale, but they are definitely not fresh. I think I desperately need to get some baking done today!


Something in your home you are proud of:


This is Thomas' blankie that I crocheted for him while I was pregnant. I think that of everything I've ever crocheted, this is my favorite. It's full of cute little teddy bears with bows and faces. So cute! It took a lot of work to make this one.


Your favorite wall hanging:


I love how this wall hanging turned out. We didn't have any pictures of Christ to hang in our home, but are very poor and didn't have funds available to buy a nice one. So when our Ensign came one month, and I found a picture of Christ inside the back cover, I cut the picture out and framed it in a frame we already had. I try to keep in in a prominent place because it's so beautiful. This picture doesn't really do it justice, because of all the reflection, and it was hard to get it to focus properly.


Something in your yard that makes you smile:


This is our squash plant. Of all our vegetables we planted, this one is doing the best. You can't really see it in this picture, but we already have lots of squash blossoms, and some are turning into tiny little squash (squashes?). I'm excited for when we get to harvest and enjoy our squash!

I tag Michelle, Rachel, Esther, and Kathy. Have fun!

Pic of the Day 55

Zaylee and I "painted" our nails today. I call it Pedicure a la Crayola. It was Zaylee's idea.

Zaylee's New Dress

I noticed this past Sunday that the dress Zaylee was wearing was way too short. I realized that it was about the same size as all her dresses, meaning that they're all too short. So I set about to come up with at least one new dress for her this week, so she can go to church without flashing her cute little undies at everyone.

Fast forward to yesterday at the library. While we were leaving, we passed a table with free magazines. Jeff happened to notice that one of them was a crochet magazine and he grabbed it for me. In that magazine I found a pattern for an adorable little sun dress and decided to make it. So I've been crocheting all last night and today, and I finally finished it this evening. And it's adorable! I took some pictures; here they are:




And here is the dress on my sweet little model.




She was so excited about getting a pretty new dress. Doesn't it just look so cute on her?

My first time at the Library

Okay, so despite the fact that I've lived here for over 10 months, I haven't been to the library before today. Sad, I know.

Jeff stayed home from his internship today because he was up sick all last night. But later this morning he felt better. Apparently better enough to suggest that we go to the library. It was going to be a quick trip, just to pick out a few cute videos for Zaylee. But when we got there, a lady asked if I wanted to sign the kids up for the summer reading program. So I did that while Jeff looked at the videos. Then while I was getting them signed up, a lady came on over the intercom and announced that story time was about to begin. So when I was done with getting the kids signed up for the reading program, we went into the multipurpose room and sat in on story time.

Zaylee had never been to anything like story time. There were lots of little kids, and after each story all the kids stood up and had a song. Everyone was participating, and having a great time. Zaylee couldn't stop smiling and giggling, she was so excited to be there. After story time, we went back in to the kids section and read several stories together (counting toward their reading for the summer reading program). And Zaylee did the little activity of the week and got to choose a special prize out of the treasure box. She chose one of those little plastic frogs, the kind that hops when you press on their backside. It's purple. She loves it.

So I've decided that every Tuesday will be Library Day, so we can go to story time and Zaylee can get a prize for doing the activity of the week, and we can read new books each week, and have a great time together!

Much better!

I did it - I washed all the dishes this morning. Before lunch! And I cleaned the living room. With Zaylee's help I got all the toys put away in the toy bins, all the random papers thrown away, and all the books on the shelf. I didn't put away the laundry from last Thursday, but hey - I'll take what I can get!

And not only did I get all that stuff done this morning, but I've managed to keep it decent all day. I've kept up with the dishes through lunch and dinner, and I have kept the living room cleared. Nice! So, except for while I was actually cleaning, I've been in a pretty good mood all day.

Since I was feeling productive, I extended my productivity to food prep. We recently bought a big bag of chicken leg quarters because they were cheap. Jeff separated them into baggies and stuck them in the freezer. I got the brilliant idea (and I'm not even being sarcastic - it really is brilliant!) to mix up a couple marinades and freeze them in the bag with the chicken. I did two marinades - a teriyaki marinade and a fruit ginger marinade. Each one I poured into a bag with two leg quarters and stuck back in the freezer. When I want to make them, all I have to do is cut away the bag, dump the whole frozen block of goodness into the crock pot, and cook it all day. Then I'll just serve the chicken and the sauce over rice, pasta, or mashed potatoes - voila! The easiest meal ever! Told you it was brilliant.

Here are my two bags of frozen marinating chicken. I'll probably do more as I find great marinade recipes.

Here we go again.

Well, it was nice while it lasted. I've let the dishes build up again. The kitchen is overrun with dirty dishes, and it's miserable in there!

Tomorrow morning I'm going to make a big effort to get them all done, so I can have my kitchen back. And then maybe "I'll clean the living room. It really is true that your home reflects your mood, or vice versa. When my home is cluttered and dirty, it really makes me feel on edge and uncomfortable. I'm more irritable and get angry easier. That's not to say that I'm always all sunshine and roses just because the apartment happens to be clean, but it's easier to be cheerful when you can walk from one end of the living room to the other without stepping on at least five toys. It's easier to make a nice meal when you don't have to search through the cupboards for an alternative to the dishes you planned on using, because they're all sitting in the sink covered with other dirty dishes.

Wish me luck. Tomorrow I'll be cleaning.

Our Saturday

I got to sleep in a bit today. Jeff was home, and was able to get up with the kids and let me stay in bed. It actually works out pretty well this way. He gets up so early every day that getting up at 7 or 8 with the kids feels like sleeping in. Meanwhile I get to stay in bed and get up leisurely and slowly. Jeff made banana pancakes for breakfast (just mix banana slices in with the pancake batter - turns out pretty yummy!).

We went out shopping early this afternoon. My new WIC checks became valid today, which was good because we really needed milk! Plus, I needed to buy some peaches so I could make some sort of peaches n' cream dessert to celebrate National Peaches N' Cream Day. I love all these random national food holidays! It's so much fun! Anyway, we got through the store okay, spending the least amount of money possible. We did pretty good - one WIC check, two cans of peaches, and four cans of pork and beans. The latter were for food storage. That's how we justify stuff like that - when something is a really good price, but it wasn't on our shopping list, we stock up anyway and add it to our food storage.

This afternoon and evening was the performance of our tri-stake musical - Joseph Smith: The Musical. Jeff and I dropped off the kids with my mom, and went to see the dress rehearsal this afternoon. It ended up not being quite what we expected. We were thinking of a play, where the characters act and break out into song and stuff. This was actually a choir and orchestra, with soloists and a narrator, telling the story of Joseph Smith. It was really good, with beautiful and powerful music, and a beautiful message. I cried more than once during the performance, and as luck would have it, this was one of the only occasions I can think of when Jeff did not have a tissue somewhere on his person! That man always has a tissue, but he didn't this afternoon. So I had to just sit there and cry without a tissue. Phooey.

After the performance we picked up the kids and came back home to a lovely chicken and potatoes dinner. Jeff had put it all in the crock pot this morning, and by the time we got home, it was done and delicious! I haven't posted the recipe yet, but I'm about to. So anyway, we ate, then I made the peach dessert, then we put the kids to bed, and then we ate the dessert. And that was our day.

Another cute Zaylee moment

Okay, so her last moment that I blogged about wasn't all that cute (pooping in the potty) but it was definitely a good thing. But this moment really is cute.

Before putting Zaylee to bed every night, we sing a song and say a prayer. We have a different song each week. This week we've been singing "I Love to See the Temple." And tonight, out of nowhere, Zaylee started singing along! She was about half a measure behind us the whole time, but she got almost all the words, and it was so adorable!

I love how big she is getting, and how much she is learning. She so often surprises me with how much she knows and can do. Her favorite phrase lately has been "I will do it," a phrase she uses with everything from getting herself dressed to cutting up her own food. She's growing so fast.

This is a bittersweet thing for me. It's great that she's growing and learning - that's what she's supposed to do! But there are moments when I remember what it was like when she was younger, and I realize that she's no longer so dependent on me for everything. I'm going to miss being so much that part in her life.

This afternoon we shared a moment. I had just watched a touching movie, and felt cuddly. So I picked up Zaylee and held her and cuddled her the way I used to when she was littler. She snuggled right up and hugged me close, squeezing my neck affectionately. It was so wonderful. And I held onto that moment for as long as she would let me, because I realized that these moments are going to get fewer and farther between as she grows older. She'll always be my daughter, but she won't always be my baby.

And all I can do is stay near her, and let her grow, and eventually let her go.

A Success!

I am very very very excited right now!!!

Zaylee was sitting on the toilet and I was flipping through a recipe book trying to decide what to make for dinner. Suddenly I heard a little 'plop.'

I wasn't sure whether to feel hope or dread as I checked on Zaylee to find out what had been dropped in the toilet.

I looked...

...and there was a little bowel movement in the potty!

HOORAY!!

I don't know if this was a fluke, because she just happened to need to go right when she was sitting on the toilet; or if this incident will finally make it click for her and be the start of her always pooping in the potty.

But frankly, right now I don't care. I just care that she did it! I went crazy - smiling and laughing and hugging her and telling her I was so proud - basically just making a big deal of the fact that she had pooped in the potty. I put a couple stickers on her potty chart and gave her a piece of fudge. I want her to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is a very good thing to poop in the potty.

May this be the start of poop-free pants for years to come!


Also, in unrelated but still exciting news; UPS just delivered Zaylee's new booster seat. Thomas is outgrowing his infant carrier, and we will be moving him into Zaylee's older upright seat. A few days ago we ordered a bigger, more grown-up seat for Zaylee, and it came today. I put it together, and Zaylee has been playing in it all afternoon!

Me and My Zaylee

Zaylee and I took some fun pictures together. I was trying to get some good shots of myself when she climbed up on my lap to join in the fun. Here's the results:

Look, Mommy - a camera!

Here Zaylee looks like a little angel - so sweet!

I love her expression in this one. She looks so surprised, though I'm not sure why.

Of course, since my original intent was to get pictures of myself, here's one of me - one of the few of just me that actually turned out okay, even though it ended up being a touch blurry.

Next time I decide to take pictures of myself, remind me to put on a bit of foundation or something - gotta cover up that blotchy complexion! Is it just me, or does my hair look a tiny bit red in these pictures? Especially the last one. Weird.

Pictures at the Park

Here are a few pictures I took while we were at the park. I didn't end up taking many, I chose instead to just watch Zaylee play.

Thomas demonstrated once again the sleep-inducing powers of the stroller.


Zaylee, in a series of pictures, about to go down her favorite slide - the biggest one! I love her hair in the last picture.

A Day Full of Mishaps

Mishap #1: When I wake up this morning, Thomas is screaming. I check on him - once again, Zaylee has climbed up into his crib and is sitting on him, forcing his head into the mattress. This seems to be a favorite activity of hers. I lose my temper and we start the day poorly.

Mishap #2: I take the kids on a walk to the park. Zaylee sits on the swing and enjoys herself for a while. Then she falls off.

Mishap #3: Taking such a long walk (1 mile each way) gives me a migraine.

Mishap #4: After Thomas is finished eating lunch, he squirms out of his seat. And falls about two and a half feet to the floor. Headfirst. He is definitely not pleased with this.

Mishap #5: Zaylee is opening the fridge and slamming it shut over and over. I tell her to stop. She doesn't. I shut the door firmly - right on her hand, which she chose to stick in the fridge at just the right moment. She is definitely not pleased with this.

Mishap #6: I am checking blogs on the computer when I notice the kids are being a little too quiet. I walk into the kitchen and find them playing in a huge pile of flour, all over the floor. They are having a blast. I have a conniption.

I can't wait to find out what mishap #7 will be.

Our Father's Day

It's been a pretty nice Sunday. Zaylee had the sniffles pretty bad. We didn't want her to infect all the other little nursery kids with a cold, so we considered having her stay home. But if we did that, Jeff would have to stay with her. I couldn't because I was playing the organ for Sacrament Meeting and the piano for Primary. And Thomas would have to stay home with them too, because of my obligations. And I didn't want Jeff to have to stay home from Church on Father's Day - that's no fun! Then Jeff had the idea of going to Sacrament Meeting, then him taking the kids home. That way he could still take the Sacrament and feel of the Spirit, listen to the talks, and hear all the Primary kids singing "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home." So that's what we ended up doing.

I was only needed in Primary for the first hour or so, then the actual pianist was able to come in and take over. The kids in Junior Primary were so hyper today! It was like a zoo! It was all the sisters in Primary could do to keep them from running around and climbing on the walls. When the Jr. Primary was excused to go to their classes and the Senior Primary came in, it was a total breath of fresh air - the older kids were much quieter and more reverent. It was a huge difference! I think this experience, helping in Primary, is helping me. I know that when my kids are old enough to go to Primary, there are certain things I need to make sure to teach them - things like being reverent even if other kids are being noisy, listening to the teacher, raising their hand when they have something to say, etc. I know I won't be able to control how they behave in Primary when I'm not there, but I can do my best to make sure they know how they should behave.

When the pianist came in to take over, there was about half an hour of Church left. So I headed up to catch the last half of Relief Society. It was nice to be able to sit with the other women and feel the Spirit that was there.

After Church Jeff and the kids came to pick me up. I had wanted to walk back home, but decided that would be a bit too far in my Church shoes. They're not uncomfortable or extremely high-heeled or anything, but they certainly wouldn't be all that great for walking the half-hour to get home.

We fired up Jeff's new grill this evening and made turkey burgers.


I'm happy to report that the grill worked great! Jeff had a good time cooking up the patties. We fit six patties on the grill, and it looks like it will easily accommodate at least three more. It's a pretty neat little grill. I think we're going to have so much fun with this grill this summer. Can you tell I'm excited about this grill? Teehee!

No More Naps!!

For several weeks I haven't been putting Zaylee down for naps. She would just sit in her room and play for two hours, so I stopped trying. When I did that, I suddenly noticed that she would fall asleep right away when we put her down for the night. This worked wonderfully - after putting Zaylee to bed, I would wait a little while, nurse Thomas, and by the time I put him down, she was out like a light.

But on Friday Zaylee ended up falling asleep in the late afternoon. It was just so cute, her laying there on the couch snoozing, so we let her sleep. Big mistake. She took two hours to fall asleep that night. Thomas was getting so fussy, he really wanted to go to bed. But when I put him down, she would get him all riled up too, and neither was sleeping, so I had to take him out again and hope that she would sleep. She eventually fell asleep around 10:00. Yuck!

Yesterday she also took a nap. This time we only let her sleep for a little while before trying to wake her up. Notice the use of the word "trying." She wouldn't wake up when we employed gentle techniques such as soft shaking, or calling her name sweetly. Again, she was just too cute and we eventually left her alone.

And once again, she stayed awake, this time until 9:30. I waited until it was nearly 10:00 before putting Thomas down again just to make sure.

Today, Zaylee did not take any naps. We put her down at 8:00 like usual, and I nursed Thomas and put him down at 8:30. Zaylee was already asleep.

From now on, I don't care how tired she is. I don't care how cute her little toddler snoring is. I don't care how sweet she looks curled up on the floor or the couch. I will splash cold water on her if I have to - Zaylee will no longer be allowed to take naps! Period!

*Disclaimer*
Okay, so I probably won't splash her with water. But I won't let her nap. It's just not worth the ridiculously lengthened bedtime!

Jeff's Father's Day Gift

I got impatient and excited and gave Jeff his Father's Day gift early. I made him work for it though. I devised a sort of treasure hunt, hiding clues around the house in various places that he had to follow around until he found his gift - a charcoal grill and bag of charcoal!




I was so excited to give this to him, giggling like crazy as I followed him following clues from the book shelf to my yarn box, to the game closet, to Thomas' clothes box, to my dresser, to the stereo, to the boxes next to the organ (where the charcoal was hidden as a sort of teaser gift along with another clue), to my cookbook collection, and finally to the linen closet. He had to dig around under boxes and blankets before finally finding the box that held his brand new little grill. Jeff assembled it right away, he was so excited!

We look forward to making lots of happy memories with this little baby - grilling many delicious foods this summer, and many summers to come. Tomorrow we're going to do onion turkey burgers on either focaccia or homemade buns.

Way Cute Video

Like Father, Like Son


I had just finished posting the pictures in the previous post when I noticed this adorable scene going on behind me. I had to grab the camera and capture the cuteness.

Jeff insists that Thomas started it.

Pic(s) of the Day #54

While I was making dinner tonight, I happened to glance at the kids. Apparently they thought that the floor needed some attention.

Mommy's Little Helpers

Feeling better

I woke up today feeling much better than I felt at any time yesterday. Zaylee and Thomas are still a bit sick - both has a stuffy runny nose, Zaylee had a pretty bad cough last night, and Thomas still has a bit of diarrhea. But since I feel so much better, it's been easier to take care of them today.

Today is National Kitchen Klutzes of America Day - one of those random holidays that no one knows about, but is really fun to celebrate in random ways. You can see how I celebrated on my food blog here. Let's just say I had a lot of fun with it!

Other than spending time in the kitchen (a welcome thing after yesterday!), I have pretty much been taking it easy. I cleaned up a bit around the house, because things got a little messy, as they often do when Mommy isn't feeling well. We went shopping this evening because we were severely in need of diapers and wipes (by the time we left the house we were down to 3 wet wipes).

What I should be when (if) I grow up

You Should Be a Social Worker

You are deeply caring and empathetic. You are able to take on other people's problems as if they were your own. Sensitive and intuitive, you understand human emotions well. Helping others gives you the most joy in life. You feel like it's your purpose in life. You do best when you: - Have a lot of responsibility - Greatly impact someone's life with your work You would also be a good philanthropist or stay at home parent.

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

I made it!

I was finally able to pry myself away from the couch today and get on to the computer. My day has been terribly difficult. It started when I woke up at around 3 this morning. My stomach was tying itself in knots and then stretching the knots really tight and then something in there was fighting with something else - like a bar fight with lots of punching and chair throwing. I felt pretty awful.

I ended up in the bathroom for a little while, while whatever was fighting fought its way out. Then I felt better and went back to bed. For a little while. I was back in a little while, refereeing that fight again. No fun!

Then Jeff left for work and things went from bad to worse. At around 6 Thomas woke up. When I went in to get him so I could feed him, I found a blow-out diarrhea diaper and a pile of vomit in the crib.Apparently he got the same thing as me. Since I wasn't feeling well, I just left the pile, changed the diaper, and fed him. Then I just put him back down after covering the little pile with a blanket. Gross, I know, but it's all I could handle at the time.

Not long after that Zaylee was awake and keeping Thomas awake (she climbs into the crib with him if I don't let her out of her room as soon as she wakes up). She wasn't sick, only had a lot of sniffles. But I was feeling worse than ever. I managed to get her on the potty and dressed, put a movie on for her, then headed back to the bathroom. I was stuck there for a couple hours. Thomas had another poopy diaper, but as soon as I got up to get a clean diaper and wipes, I was forced to crawl back to the toilet. And that's where I stayed.

I had Zaylee bring me the phone, and I called Mom. I am so thankful that I live so close to my family. Mom came over, gave the kids breakfast, pulled Thomas' messy sheet out of the crib and cleaned it up, and basically took care of everything for a while, while I continued to guard my territory in front of the toilet.

Them Mom had to leave, because they had piano lessons today. She helped me to the couch and handed me a bowl, and left with the promise to bring Marie after lessons and take my laundry. So I had two hours to myself - just me, the kids, and my trusty bowl. I put Thomas down for a nap and took one myself while Zaylee was watching the movie. When I woke up, after I threw up a bit, I finally had the energy to put on a shirt and some deodorant.

After than I have slowly been feeling better and better. I still feel awful, but much less so than before. Mom brought Marie over around 11, and she's stayed and helped with the kids. Jeff got home a little while ago too. And Mom took my laundry and it washing it. When it's done she'll bring it back and pick up Marie. Once again, I am so thankful that I live near my family and they are so willing to help when I need it. I honestly do not know what I would have done today without Mom and Marie.

I hope I get to feeling better soon. The only things I've had to eat today are a handful of Cheerios and a banana. That's less than 150 calories. So I need to get better so I can eat. The good news is that I've lost three pounds since yesterday - but the bad news is that I will probably gain them back because the three pounds is basically food and water weight - there's really nothing in my system anymore! Once I get to eating again, I'll gain it back.

Anyway, I should probably get off the computer and get back onto the couch where I can rest. This whole blogging thing has really worn me out!

Phooey

Zaylee has been in bed since 8:00. Jeff has been in bed since 8:30. Thomas has been in bed since 8:45. But silly me, I went and took a 2-hour nap this afternoon. And now here it is, almost 11:00, and I'm still wide awake. I've been looking at blogs. I cleaned the living room. I did the dishes. I looked at more blogs. I keep just puttering around trying to pass the time until I'm tired enough. But I'm just not ready to go to bed yet.

Well, maybe I'm more tired than I think. If I just lay down and try to sleep, I'll probably go to sleep sooner than I think. Worth a try, I guess.

Pic of the Day #53

I took the kids on a walk yesterday. We're considering walking to church from now on, at least when the weather cooperates, and I wanted to see how long it takes to get there while pushing the stroller. Anyway, it was a really nice walk, good exercise, refreshing and invigorating. The wind was blowing really cold, so we were all wearing jackets. Maybe that's why it was so refreshing and invigorating. Anyway. I brought the camera, but only ended up taking one picture. Thomas fell asleep and, typical of a little child, did so in a very uncomfortable-looking position. I'm sure that the people who drove past us were giving me some weird looks for letting him just sit like that, but I wasn't going to risk waking him up!

Still Alive

Just to let you all know that, yes, we're still alive, we're still here. I just haven't felt like posting anything lately. I haven't taken any pictures worth blogging about, nothing much has happened. And I've been in a real downer mood for a few days, and didn't want to infect my blog with negativism. But I'm doing better now.

Mom called me a couple evenings ago to let us know that she and Dad are going to the Twin Falls Temple open house in August, and wanted to know if Jeff and I were interested in going too. So I went ahead and reserved us a tour spot at the same time as Mom and Dad's. We'll go down together. It'll be pretty neat - I've never been to a Temple open house before, and I'm looking forward to it.

Pictures from Saturday

Zaylee enjoyed playing outside. She was especially drawn to the pony. Look at that smile!

The cake, with fondant and chocolate palm trees, green sprayed grass, piping gel water, graham cracker sand, and a candle treasure chest.

Michelle had me wrap up Oren's present. I traced the treasure chest from a napkin. Turned out pretty cute, didn't it?

Zaylee in her new sunglasses. She thought they were neat.

Thomas pretty much just hung out the whole time, playing calmly.

Michelle helping Zaylee to hit that "bad bird!"

Eventually the parrot fell down, but hadn't smashed yet. They kept hitting it anyway.-

This was pretty funny. After the candy spilled out, all the kids were running around grabbing as much as they could. Zaylee, on the other hand, picked up one piece and immediately started unwrapping it, ignoring all the rest.

Dad, giving Thomas a gummy shark from the cake. Thanks for instilling in my children a love of junk food early on, Dad! :)

Zaylee in her eye patch. By this time she was getting pretty grumpy, and you can see it in her face.

Here is the video I took of Zaylee playing Pin the X on the Treasure Map. This was her first time doing anything like this, and I think she did pretty well.


All in all, we had a very enjoyable day!

Oren's Birthday

First off, there are many pictures to go with today, but I don't feel like loading them onto the computer and fixing them up right now, so I'll just post them later.

Our day started bright and early at 7:00. Jeff felt refreshed as he was sleeping in; I was ready to crawl back in bed as it was much too early for me. That's what happens when hubby gets up at 4:30 every morning while I crawl out at 8 or 9. Oh well. After getting everything ready for a day at Michelle's house (extra diapers, undies, snacks for the trip, etc) we jumped into the car, met my parents at their house, then caravan-ed over to the base for Oren's birthday party.

Marie and I (and Jeff, a bit) helped Michelle get lunch ready. I did lots of chopping of veggies and fruits, Marie did deviled eggs, Jeff helped to cut up grapes. For lunch we ended up with: a huge pot of all-beef bun-length hot dogs with buns and all the fixin's; a delicious potato salad that Mom made and I added some flavor to (she had made it with light mayo and complained it was too bland); a veggie salad with cucumber, tomato, yellow pepper, and green onion (Michelle will be putting the recipe up on her food blog); fruit salad with all sorts of fresh fruits, cool whip, cottage cheese, and Jello mix; deviled eggs; and pink lemonade. I of course ate too much, and thoroughly enjoyed every bite!

The cake Michelle made was absolutely fantastic! The party was pirate-themed, so the cake was an island with a stream and palm trees, and a treasure chest candle. The border around the bottom was made of gummy sharks. So cute! I learned a lot about fondant and edible spray paint and piping gel and fun decorating stuff like that.

A little after 2, the guests arrived (Michelle's friend and her daughters; the other party guests were Mom's kids and mine). They had a treasure hunt, looking for pieces to treasure map puzzles; and there was a pin-the-X-on-the-treasure-map game, even Zaylee got to play-it was adorable!; and there was a parrot pinata. Zaylee was beyond adorable when she got to hit at the parrot. Michelle told her to hit the bird, so she was swinging at it with a bat, saying, "Bad bird! Yucky bird!" over and over. It was too funny!

Oren was dressed up like a pirate, courtesy Marie, a roll of crepe paper, and some tape. Marie is pretty creative, I was impressed with the results. After the games we had cake and ice cream. When it was time to cut the cake, Michelle didn't really want to cut into it, because it looked so nice. But she reminded herself that when her clients are like that, she's like, "It's a cake! Just cut it!" So she did, and we were all glad, because it was great!

Zaylee was having a lot of fun all day; and a lot of meltdowns! She really isn't used to having so much going on, and she was having a hard time dealing with it. When I would bring her in to use the bathroom, she would yell and scream at me and throw a big tantrum. At one point she had some candy from the pinata in her mouth, and another piece in her hands. I didn't want her eating too much candy, so we took the piece in her hands, and she threw an royal fit! So I took the lollipop out of her mouth too. Boy, she didn't like that. It took quite a while for her to calm down after that insult.

I think that Jeff's inability to turn down any of Zaylee's demands (she's a Daddy's girl, and he gladly obliges) is turning me into the bad guy. I don't want her to have candy, he offers her candy, I tell them no candy, he gives her candy while I'm not watching, I take it away. I mean, honestly, she's throwing a fit - the last thing she needs is candy! But he says that it will make her stop throwing a fit, so it's totally alright for him to give it to her. My thought is that giving in will teach her that throwing a fit is an acceptable method of getting what she wants, and that is not what I want to teach her. He gives it to her anyway. Hence - Daddy is the good guy and Mommy is the bad guy. Grr. >:-/

Sorry, just a little vent there. I'm better!

Anyway, we finally got around to leaving at around 5. Michelle gave us their old entertainment center (lovingly referred to by Michelle as "that monstrosity"). We're just glad to get the TV, VCR, and DVD player up off the coffee table. Now Thomas can't sit there and bang on the DVD player and make the movie skip over and over again while we're watching something. And Zaylee can't repeatedly open and close the DVD player and put stuff in that should not be going in. And we can now use our coffee table as a coffee table (minus the coffee, of course). Happy stuff.

The kids slept on the way home, which was nice, and now they're both snug in bed, sleeping away. Which is where I want to be right now. So I'll end this post with the promise to put up some pictures in the near future. Good night.

Another pie, and other news

When I was at Mom's house today, I described to her the pie I had made, with its creamy custard and glazed peaches. Apparently it sounded so good she wanted me to make another one! So I did. Janelle made a rolled pie crust (I liked that much better than the cookie tart pastry crust from last time), and I did everything else. Mom didn't have any peaches, but she did have a can of fruit cocktail, so I used that instead; I just drained the fruit really well so it wouldn't soak the crust. And it turned out great! Everyone loved it. It lasted all of half an hour after it was done chilling. Mom and I pretty much decided that just about any fruit would be good over that custard, glazed with just about any jam or jelly. Yum! No pictures, though. It looked just like the other one I made, except with different fruit on top.

In other news, my kitchen is still clean. Yay!

And in other other news, Zaylee kept her pants clean and dry ALL day today. I'm very proud of her and how well she is doing. She has decided that she prefers sitting on the big toilet instead of her little potty chair. I think the potty chair was hurting her bottom, because it was getting sores. But they're healing now that she's been sitting on the "big grown up potty" for a couple days. And sitting there makes her feel like a big girl. Now if I can just get her to stop playing in the toilet water when she's done...

Feeling great!

So, my kitchen has been sorely in need of some loving attention for...well...for a very long time. We'll just leave it at that.

Today it got that loving attention. I did ALL the dishes. Finally. For days, I've been trying to get ambitious and do them all, but I would get one or two loads done, then get tired of it, and more dishes would get dirtied, and the day would end with at least as many dirty dishes as it started with.

But today I put my foot down. Well, both feet actually, because it's hard to do dishes with only one foot on the ground. Um...well anyway, I put my feet down and did ALL of the dishes. I knew that in order to get my kitchen to where I want it to be, I have to do all the cleaning. All the dishes washed, the counters and stove thoroughly cleaned, everything put away or thrown away as the situation demanded. Then I need to force myself into the habit of washing all the dishes after every meal. That sometimes seems to me a bit extreme, since with such a small family once a day should be sufficient. But I have to crack down on myself and set extreme rules so that I'll be sure to follow them. I did this once before (doing all the dishes and all the cleaning after every meal), and it worked for a really long time. I know I go through dish-washing phases, and I am just shoving myself into a clean phase.

So my new rule is that the dishes have to be done after every meal. No exceptions or excuses (unless we're late for Church, then I have to do the breakfast dishes after lunch along with the lunch dishes. Or other times when we may have to leave, and I'll do all the dishes after the next meal. But that's the only exception). So far: the dishes are all washed, and have been since lunchtime, and the kitchen looks great!

So that's how I spent the first half of my day - it took me until after lunch to get all the dishes done. I really wish I had a dishwasher!

When Jeff came home, he told me that the hospital decided not to give him a job as phlebotomist. But he will be hired as a Medical Technician! That's a good thing. It's more doing what he wants to be doing, all that stuff in the lab, instead of just drawing blood. This is different from Medical Technologist, which is what he'll be after his internship and certification. Technician is like the next step under technologist. Anyway he'll be PRN, which stands for pro re nata (I'm really not sure that's how it's spelled, oh well), which means that he won't have set hours or anything. He'll basically just be on call whenever they need him. It won't be a full-time position, because he'll still be doing 40 hours a week with his internship, so they'll probably only have him working 8-10 hour a week. That's fine, it will just be really nice to be getting some money coming in again.

So I got the kitchen cleaned, Jeff got a job, I worked out this evening, and the kids are sleeping soundly. I'm feeling pretty good!

Shopping and Pictures

I stayed up reading again last night, this time not finishing my book until 2:30. The culprit this time was the third Fablehaven book - and I just couldn't find a good time to put it down, so I didn't. So I've been pretty tired today.

I made a really great pie with some peaches Michelle brought me. I call it the Peaches 'n Cream Pie. Here's the recipe, and here's a picture:Yummy!

We went to Wal-Mart this evening to get some basic groceries, but then I didn't want to leave right away. It felt so great to be out of the house that I insisted we walk around a bit. It was fun. We took turns deciding what to look at. I chose first, and we walked around the yarn section so I could get some free crochet patterns. Then it was Jeff's turn, and he chose to take us to the bikes. He found a little Disney Princess bike just Zaylee's size, and pushed her around on it for a while. On my next turn, we looked at bakeware. Then Jeff chose small kitchen appliances (he'd love to have an ice cream maker and a rotisserie someday). Then I led us over to the clearance aisle, where they had several pairs of shoes for $1-5 each. But they were all ugly or didn't fit. Then Jeff chose exercise equipment, and we looked at stuff for our future home gym that we'll own some day. Then we let Zaylee have a turn, and she wanted to look at the fishies. After that we looked at TVs (I kind of got skipped there, the TVs were Jeff's idea), then on to the checkout lane.

While I was purchasing the groceries, Zaylee started making a little fuss, and I realized she was straining to get out of the cart so she could head to the bathrooms near the checkout. I had Jeff rush her in to the men's room, as I was bursting with pride that she had let us know she needed to go, instead of just peeing her pants. Moments later, Jeff and Zaylee came back, and she was still pulling his hand toward the bathroom. Apparently there was a line and she hadn't been able to go. Thankfully, I had just finished paying and loading the groceries, so I grabbed her up and ran her to the women's room. We made it in time and she got to pee in the toilet. I was so proud of her!

I didn't realize how long we had been at the store (I was just enjoying the game of deciding where to go next) until we got out to the car and the clock said it was almost 9! So we hurried home and put the kids to bed. Both were tired enough that I haven't heard a peep from them.

I think I'm turning into a night owl. With the kids and Jeff going to bed so early, and me being the only one left up, the temptation is really strong to just stay up for hours to enjoy the solitude. And lately I've been giving in. In fact, tonight I'm planning on having one more piece of pie (it's already figured into my calories for the day, so I might as well!) and watching a movie. It really is just relaxing to know I'm the only one awake, and I'm not "on call" to meet anyone's needs for as long as I want, until I go to bed.

Anyway, I just remembered that I had some fun pictures I wanted to post, because I've been taking pictures, but not posting them, for several days.

Here's a couple of Thomas all dressed up for Church on Sunday.

Who, me?

Isn't he just so good lookin'?

The kids had their instruments out on Saturday while we were there, and I decided to try to play Taps on the tuba and the trumpet. It's not as easy as people who know how to do it make it seem!

My face was getting red from the effort.
But I just kept trying!
Thomas decided to give it a try as well. He did worse than me.
And I took this yesterday. I just thought it was really cute - my two guys watching a movie together, totally chillin'.
Anyway, that's about it for tonight.

All Alone...

...and that's a good thing! Zaylee went to bed at 8, then Jeff went to bed a little later (he goes to bed real early lately because he gets up at 4:30 in the morning for work). Now I just put Thomas down. And now I have the apartment to myself. I'm going to watch a movie. I'm going to clean up the living room and do some dishes. I'll probably eat some low-calorie dessert. And I'll enjoy having some time to myself, all alone. Ahhhh.

How it Went

Well, my Sunday is over and I survived with sanity no less intact than it was before.

We got to Church a half hour early so I could practice and ease into comfort behind the organ console. The skirt I was wearing was too long and billowy, and it made it hard to see the organ pedals. I think that next week I'll wear the shorter skirt I wore last week. When I was at the top of my game being ward organist at BYU-I, I was so good at the pedals I didn't need to see them, and the skirt I wore today was no problem. But this morning it made it hard to play the songs as well as I could have. Plus the fact that I really wasn't able to practice the pedal part until this morning also made it hard. I have Grandma's organ, and can practice the hands (a big help!) but the pedals are very different from a real console. Anyway, I did okay, not as well as I would have liked, but I think next week I'll do better. The songs this week were just a bit difficult, is all.

On to Primary. I actually didn't have a hard time at all. Most of my stress dealing with this was about preparation - I didn't know what to expect. Once I was there in front of all the kids leading the music, I was able to do pretty well. I think the junior primary singing time was the funnest. All I had to do was stand there and sing with a big smile on my face, and a cheerful voice and demeanor. We played a fishing game which I borrowed from Mom to choose the songs: I had a little fishing pole with a magnet attached, and little paper fish with paper clips. Each fish had a song on it. I'd choose a child to come up, and they would "go fishing" and use the little pole to "catch" a fish. Then we'd sing the song that was written on the fish. The kids loved it! For senior primary, I was planning on doing the same thing, but I had much less time, so we just sang the songs they're working on for Father's Day, and then I had them choose their favorite songs to sing until we were out of time.

Anyway, it was fun, but I'm pretty glad I don't have to do that every week. I was called as Primary pianist (but I won't start that calling for a few weeks; until then I've been asked to stand in for whatever primary music duties they need me for - hence primary chorister today). I'm much more comfortable sitting behind the piano as opposed to standing in front of the kids keeping their attention and making it fun but keeping them reverent all at the same time.

Fast forward to this evening at choir practice. I was asked to sub as the pianist. So I got there a few minutes early to run through the songs we were practicing. They're not too difficult, but a bit more practice would have been nice. As people filed in and time passed, it became obvious that we would have no sopranos this week. Except me. And I wasn't singing because I can't sing and play the piano at the same time unless I'm very familiar with the piano part. Which I wasn't. Our choir is really small. I feel bad for the choir director every week, because he had to pay to get permission to copy the songs in order to not step on any copyright issues, and most of the copies he made just sit there, unsung. I felt especially bad this week, with no one to sing the melody part! But we all muddled through anyway.

After the practice I went and played on the organ for a few minutes. One of the choir songs was meant to be accompanied on the organ. It sounds okay with the piano, but kind of empty. Inevitably the low notes get skipped because they're supposed to be played on the pedal, and they're not written so that the left hand can reach them all. But I played through it on the organ and it sounded just beautiful! I wonder if the director would let me accompany that song on the organ when we perform it, because it really did make a big difference.

Anyway, I feel like I'm just babbling right now. It's late and I'm tired, but I keep writing because I want to get in everything, report on all the stuff I was kind of stressing about yesterday (and pretty much all week). The day turned out nice. It was busy, and I hope that most of my Sundays don't end up being quite this full of responsibility, but it was nice to feel needed.