Oh, You Better Watch Out!

Don’t let her out of your sight.

Before you realize she’s even gone, you’ll have this.

It’s turning into a white Christmas around here!

Did you know?

 

Sweet 16

We celebrated Alyssa's 16th birthday last weekend. I know--I can't believe it either! She wanted a party, and she wanted it to be fun and creative. So I called in the reinforcements and hired some top-notch party planners, known to most as Mitchell and Erin, my brother and his lovely wife. (And by hired, I mean I asked them if they'd come and help and they agreed.) But instead of Mitchell and Erin, we got Chaz and Bambi. Oh, well. I’m not picky.

They went above and beyond--bringing fabulous decorations and centerpiece, dessert, cute and wacky menus, and numerous costume changes. But most of all they brought their sense of humor and willingness to embarrass themselves (although I don't think Mitchell was embarrassed one bit) for the sake of a fun party. I laughed so hard in the kitchen as Mitchell practiced his multiple personalities on us before serving each course of our “mystery dinner” at the party table. Take a look:

Ninja—Besides the cool martial arts poses, he has a great accent: “You order… rasagna!"

Bambi—When she served the girls their second course, she cracked me up as she strutted around. To those who received bread during that round, she haughtily put their plates down, saying, “Here are your…CARBS. Seriously, girls, we’re totally going to have an aerobics session after dinner. This is going straight to your hips.”

‘Arry Pottah in a blue Snuggie--complete with the British lilt.

Surfer dude--He told us his name was Humuhumunukunukuapua'a and kept adding more syllables each time he said it. I wish I'd caught his hula dancing on video!

GI Joe

And my favorite—Billy Bob. “Why’d ‘ja order yur salad fur dessert??”

It was a great party—one I’m sure Alyssa and her friends won’t forget any time soon. Happy 16th birthday, Alyssa!

And Chaz and Bambi—a million thanks! You two are amazing!

No more fruit guilt!

First it was the peaches—we have two trees. We ate and ate, made jam, desserts, smoothies, and then froze the rest.

Then came the roma tomatoes. We were given a huge box full of them and they needed to be used immediately. They sat on the counter for a couple of days before I found instructions online about making oven-roasted tomatoes. That was the easiest and best thing I’ve ever done with garden tomatoes! I made a few batches of those and then froze them in bags. We’ve been eating them with pasta, pizza, frittatas, and roasted cauliflower—anything you’d do with sun-dried tomatoes. I’m loving them! Next year I think I’ll plant some romas just for roasting.

Finally, the plums on our tree were ripe. We love these for snacking and for sack lunches, but there were too many to eat, so we gave some away, froze a couple of bags, made a couple batches of jam and a few plum desserts, like the galette above. This has become my new favorite—a little easier than regular pie. I tried it with peaches and apples, too, and they all turned out great. For a couple of weeks we had huge bowls of plums on the counter, and now we are down to about a dozen left in the refrigerator.

Most recently we had apples. Buckets and buckets of them—given to us by a neighbor. She came over and we canned apple pie filling for hours. How many apple pies can a family eat in a year? I guess we’ll find out. After we filled the last of our jars, I sighed in relief. Done! All was safely gathered in. Until I walked into the garage and saw that my friend had left behind two more boxes of apples. These are not easy apples to deal with. The trees hadn’t been sprayed, so the apples were a bit wormy. You can’t just eat them, you have to cut the bad spots out first. I’m throwing them away, I thought. I can’t deal with anymore fruit! But I just couldn’t do it—I was raised not to waste food. Sigh . So I made applesauce. I finally finished yesterday. For the first time in weeks, we have no more bowls, boxes, or buckets of fruit in the kitchen. Hooray! But tell that to the fruit flies. They seemed to have taken up permanent residence. That’s okay—it gives Brian something to do.

His latest hobby is sucking the flies in mid-air with the vacuum hose. It cracks me up. And just when he thinks he got every last one, a couple hours later there are a few more. He’s been at it for days—I hope he wins soon!

It's been a year already???

She's starting to walk and talk. She's got teeth (fangs--her top eyeteeth came in first!). She knows how to make us laugh. She loves to dance and move to music. She refuses to smile at strangers. She packs away more food than Corinne does. She weighs in at 19.5 lbs and the doctor was so impressed that she jumped from the 3rd percentile to the 25th. (That's huge by our standards.) It's been a big year and I can't believe how fast it's gone. I feel as if I should be a little sad that her babyhood is gone but I'm not even a little teary. She has been such a sweet baby and I'm looking forward to her next milestones. A year ago I wasn't sure how I would survive the sleepless nights, the round-the-clock feedings, and schlepping the carseat and gear all over town trying to keep up with all the other kids. I am happy to report that I made it and that we can't imagine life without Hayley.

And When Someone Needs a Makeover

I simply couldn't take over, because I didn't know exactly what she needs. So I took her to Cookie Cutters. (Forgive the Wicked reference--Jillian just sang this song for her Annie audition--and yes, she got a part in the play.)

Jillian wanted to donate her hair to Locks of Love, so they cut off her ponytail and mailed it in.

Corinne got her hair trimmed while we were there, and now they have twin haircuts. Can you tell who's who?

Corinne is still upset about being the only blonde in the family. She hopes it turns brown when she gets older. She really wants to be a "brown girl" (her words) like Alyssa--she wants to change her eye color, too! When Corinne got mad at Jillian a few months ago, this was her angry insult: "You're a little sister and you have blonde hair!" Can you imagine anything more horrible! But things are looking up for Corinne--Hayley has blue eyes, too, and we think she's going to be another blondie.

When the Family Gets Together…

Tonight’s Family Home Evening was taken care of by the kids.  Corinne volunteered to conduct as she does almost every week.  She loves being in control, and she does a great job moving things along, much to the frustration of the person giving the lesson.  Jillian was relating a story from the August Friend when Corinne interjected:

“Thank you, Jillian.  That was a great lesson.  Now we’ll turn the time over to…”

“Corinne!  I wasn’t finished!”

“I know, but that’s enough talking.  It’s time for the game.”

We asked Jillian to finish her lesson on repentance and she did a great job.  Afterwards she thanked Corinne for being reverent.  Corinne admitted:

“I wasn’t really listening.  I was just waiting for you to be done.  Let’s play the game now.”

Evan asked:  “Great.  Are we playing bubble/fairy/farmer tag?” (a mixture of the types of games we play when the little girls are in charge.)  No, not this time.

Jillian almost lost us as she explained the rules of the game she made up to go with the lesson, but we agreed to try it.  She had put a lot of thought into it and even made a “tangerine” prop.  We found ourselves running around the basement trying to avoid being tagged by the tangerine tree.  If the tangerine touched us, we were frozen in place and waited for Mrs. Baker to hug us before we melted into the floor or we’d be the next tangerine tree.  Have you ever played that game before?  Probably so, but it was our first time and we actually enjoyed it.  I should have taken a picture but I was too busy trying to dodge the tangerine. 

The fun ended too soon for Corinne and she begged for another game.  When we wouldn’t accommodate her, she collapsed on the floor and refused to conduct the rest of the meeting.  We continued without her.  When it was time for the closing prayer she raised her head and asked:

“Dad, what was I sad about again?”

“We wouldn’t let you play another game.”

“Oh, yeah.” 

She puts head down and starts crying again while we all try to control our laughter so we can pray.  And then we adjourned to the kitchen for some Snickerdoodle Casserole.  Just ask Evan for the recipe—it was really tasty!

How to Save Money on Groceries

Another child in braces?  How are we going to pay for that?  I needn’t have worried.  For days after the metal was installed in Evan’s mouth, he was unable to eat much of anything.  What a savings!  If this keeps up, we may actually come out ahead. 

PS—Don’t worry, I got permission to post this picture.  It wasn’t easy.  Every time I snap a shot, my older kids demand:  “You better not blog that!”  Oh, the  wonderful pictures you’ve been missing.

google.mom

Corinne thinks I know everything. Here is a sampling of the questions she asked me one morning, all within a couple of hours. And these were just the ones I remember.

“Why does the sign say trucks can’t drive on this road?”

“Why is there an American Flag? We don’t live in America.” (It took Evan and I awhile to convince her that we do live in America. “But you said we live in Utah? We can’t live in two places.”)

“Why are peppers spicy?”

“Why don’t we want the weeds to grow?”

“Can I play with Aidan?”

“Why do cousins live so far away?”

“Why do people lock their doors when they aren’t home?”

“What does ‘vorce’ mean?” Vorce? “Yeah, like when someone gets a divorce?”

“Why can’t Hayley eat peanut butter?”

“What is facial hair?”

“Why does Heavenly Father create hurricanes and tornadoes? I think it’s a bad idea.”

“Why do we need baptism to wash away our sins? Can’t we just go in a pool or bathtub?”

“Why are Ashley and Morgan getting married? They seem like they are already married because they’re together all the time.”

“Can I watch the Harry Potter movie with skeletons?”

“How does a baby get out of your tummy?”

“When I turn eight or ten can I have my own laptop?”

“Why isn’t lying OK with Heavenly Father?”

“Is tricking or kidding OK?”

She obviously has the cross-examination skills, and she’s also working on her reasoning and negotiating. After church today she wanted to jump on the trampoline but I told her she should find something better to do on Sunday. “Mom, jumping high on the tramp makes me closer to Heaven, and that makes me think about Heavenly Father and Jesus. So it’s actually a great thing to do on Sunday.”

Is it too early to apply to law school?

Here We Go Again!

Yes, it's back-to-school time at our house! Grant and Jillian are just finishing up their first week of 6th and 3rd grades. Sometimes I think it's harder for me than for them that they have to start school in July. You'd think I'd be used to it by now after six years in Utah (!!!) but every summer it just feels wrong to start a new grade when it's 100+ degrees outside and stays light until almost 10pm. I just love trying to get them to bed on time, especially when they are the only ones in school so far. Evan and Alyssa won't start for 4 more weeks, and soon after that G and J will be out for the whole month of September! Crazy.

It's Great to Be Eight!

Jillian celebrated her 8th birthday with a Backyard Camp-out (that ended at 10pm so they didn't really camp overnight). Seven girls (plus Jillian and Corinne) played games, went on a treasure hunt, sang around the campfire, told scary stories in the tent, ate campfire cake, and lit sparklers. It was a great party, and now we're looking forward to Jillian's baptism on Saturday! (Oh, I almost forgot to thank Mitchell and Erin for their suggestion about making a log cake. It was a big hit!)

She's Off the Charts!

But the wrong way off. As in, not even on the shaded portion of the growth curve chart--in the 2nd percentile. At least she's consistent. Hayley's 9 month dr. visit was last week and she weighed exactly 15 lbs. However, her head circumference puts her in the 89th percentile. Good thing her head is big enough to support such enormous bows.

She is so much fun these days! You can look in her eyes and tell that she is soaking up new information daily. She claps and squeals when excited, and tries to imitate the sounds she hears. Hayley is a great eater even though she usually makes a face at the first bite of something new. She spends more and more time playing contentedly, as long as Jillian and Corinne are close by, and doesn't constantly need to be held. She's almost crawling, and loves to stand and walk with help. She usually sleeps through the night, which is wonderful when it happens, and still takes a couple of good naps each day, as long as we're home during nap time. Corinne is sitting by me and wants me to write that Hayley knows how to say "dada" and "mom", which is true, but at this point those are just experimental sounds--I don't think she knows what she's saying. This little girl gets so much attention from her whole family--we love her!

Give her FIVE!!!

I hope Alyssa isn't embarrassed that I'm posting this. Yesterday in the mail we received the results of her first AP test. She scored a FIVE (the highest possible) on her AP Human Geography test--as a freshman! I always knew she was smarter than me.

I’m failing second grade

The teacher gives too much homework. To me. I’ve been valiantly trying all year long to keep up but my motivation is gone. Each week Jillian has spelling words to practice (hard ones!), vocabulary words to learn, a poem to memorize, two math timed tests to take, reading minutes to record, a math story problem to write and illustrate, a story to read three times (one of those must be aloud to a parent) and then write and answer questions about, as well as extra projects like book reports, dioramas, and other extension activities. Each of these things are due on specific days. (secret word: rant) Her organized teacher sends home planner pages each week with spaces for parents to sign indicating that our child completed each item each day. If ever I forget to sign, the next day I find the blank signature lines circled in red with a question mark next to them. The teacher is very clever. This way I am the bad guy--the homework police--instead of her. Grant had this same teacher three years ago and I thought she was tough then, but she expects even more this time around.

Jillian spends 1-2 hours on homework each night, even on Fridays. (Although it seems like much longer because of the extra time spent complaining about all that she has to do and whining that her friends, and her 5th grade brother, barely have any homework.) A few weeks ago I decided I was tired of having Jillian correct all of her mistakes from every language and math assignment (only two or three per page but those add up in a week!) so I just started throwing them away. I felt a twinge of guilt, but shrugged and thought, “so what’s going to happen? She probably won’t even notice.” A couple of weeks later I read this paragraph in the teacher’s weekly online newsletter. “Some children have not been turning in their corrected papers. Please remember that correcting assignments is part of our weekly homework. Help them understand their mistakes and make sure they fix them accurately.” Arrggghhh! In my defense, let me point out that in order to correct the homework it is necessary to log on to the class website and view the photographs of the white board to see the math and language assignment for that day.

Last week I forgot to write the secret word (from the newsletter posted on the teacher’s website—her way of making sure that parents are checking the site each week) on Jillian’s reading/math log. And I turned in the log a day late! I just finished reading the newsletter from the past two weeks and was reprimanded, “I expect to see the secret word on every reading log!” Without the secret word on their paper, the kids are not eligible for the prize drawing that week. Sorry, Jillian. And I discovered that the teacher still needs more parent volunteers in the next two weeks to help with Water Day, Dinosaur Fair, a field trip, and T-shirt painting. Sign me up. Again.

Two more weeks. Will I make it? Will I pass second grade? At least Jillian will, and that’s all that matters! I, on the other hand, am expected to complete second grade two more times.

PS—Please remember to include the secret word in your blog comments if you wish to be eligible for the weekly prize.

Don’t Judge a Mom by her Book Covers

My current library stack:

Simply Living Smart: Everyday Solutions for a More Organized You

Play Together, Stay Together

The New Strong-Willed Child—Birth Through Adolescence

Walking into a Hug: 52 weeks to a home that’s more embracing

Contentment : inspiring insights for LDS mothers

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

The Fiber35 Diet : Nature's Weight Loss Secret

Worldwide Ward Cookbook : More than 440 recipes from LDS cooks around the globe

Losing it! (that’s weight, not your mind or your patience, though I probably need books about those, too)

The ultimate career : the art of homemaking for today

Phenomenal Family: Treats, Traditions, and Activities

Family Preparedness Plan

The Thirteenth Tale (this month’s bookclub book which I haven’t started because it’s a bit long and I’m not sure I want to commit to attend next week)

Judging by these titles, you might assume:

• That I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed and overweight.
• That I love to cook and eat.
• That my house is not as clean and organized as I’d like.
• That I need to have more fun with my kids.
• That we’re not as prepared for emergencies as we should be.
• That I hardly ever indulge in fiction these days.
• That I don’t always know how to handle the parenting challenges that come my way.
• That my nightstand (actually my kitchen counter) is way too cluttered with books I’m trying to skim simultaneously.
• That I’m too cheap to purchase books.
• That I pay more overdue fines than I should.
• That I’m constantly “seeking out of the best (??) books words of wisdom.”

You might assume all of those things. And you’d be right. I guess you can judge me by my book covers. Now if only I could stay awake long enough to read them I might actually learn something!

Why Are They Smiling?

I started writing this post almost two months ago, the day after my little nephew, Dexter, died. I never published it because I had trouble expressing my feelings in words. Today, because it's Memorial Day, I'm trying again.

I've been thinking about a question that Corinne asked recently. She was looking over my shoulder as I read my sister's blog, anxious for news about little Dexter and his progress. Corinne was aware of his medical condition and had been praying for him daily. She saw a picture of Monette and Aaron with their three children. "Mom, why are they smiling?" "What do you mean, Corinne?" "Why are Monette and Aaron smiling when baby Dexter is so sick? It's really sad, but they look happy." I told her, "They are happy because they love Dexter and they're so glad that Heavenly Father sent him to their family. They're happy because they know that Dexter will be their son forever, even if he doesn't get to live on the earth for very long." How thankful I am for the restored gospel that helps us answer hard questions.

After learning that Dexter had died, I had many more opportunities for sweet conversations with my children about the plan of salvation and trust in our Father in Heaven and the eternal nature of families. I will always be grateful that we traveled to Denver for the funeral. I have many poignant memories from that special day.

• I remember the grief that overcame me as I looked inside the little casket at this beautiful baby, and ached for his parents who could no longer hold him.
  
• I remember the tangible peace and comfort that enveloped all of us as Monette and Aaron stood at the pulpit and spoke with conviction and composure of faith, prayer, and hope.

• I remember the words of their bishop who felt inspired to say that one of Dexter's missions on this earth was to remind us of what is truly important in life and to help us recommit to living in a way that will allow us to be reunited with him someday.
  
• I remember the beautiful prayer at the cemetery and watching in awe as the little Dahle family sat serenely beside the casket. I can still hear Elodie's sweet voice: "Goodbye, Dexter. We love you!"

• I remember the tears that poured down our faces as we watched Monette and Aaron cling to each other, crying softly, as Dexter's casket was lowered into the ground.

• I remember the love and the laughter and the hugs and the tears as we spent the day together.
• I remember hugging my children a little tighter and vowing to "teach (them) all that (they) must do to live with Him someday".
• I remember the example of my little sister and her faithful husband who showed us that the Lord will never leave us comfortless and that He will sustain us through the challenges of earthly life as we put our faith and trust in Him. Our Heavenly Father loves us and has a beautiful plan for us. Corinne, that is why we smile.
  

If You Chance to Meet a Frown

Evan, Grant, and Jillian spent the evening creating this little surprise video for Corinne. I love how it turned out. And I'm getting ideas...like putting Evan in charge of digitizing our old home movies and editing them to music. He'll have lots of free time this summer. Is there a Family Movie merit badge he can earn??

I Blame Her

How can I blog (or do much of anything) while holding this little mama's girl? It's a good thing she's cute! She is a little angel as long as I'm carrying her around, but put her down or hand her to someone else and she lets me know she's not happy about it. Lately all I can manage are the basics--meals, laundry, and a partially-clean house, not to mention chauffeuring and helping with homework, so the rest will have to wait for awhile. Except for the 4 dresses I decided to sew for Mitchell's wedding on Thursday. What was I thinking???

Generation Gap

Corinne: My grandmas are a lot more fun than you!

Me: Maybe I’ll be fun when I’m a grandma.

Corinne: Probably for my kids, but not to me.

A Story Problem

Grant:  Mom, can you give me a story problem to solve?

Mom:  Let me think for a minute…

Corinne interrupts:  I know the story problem, Grant.  I want Mom to read me lots of stories but she always says she can only read one.

Mom:  Go ahead, Grant.  Let’s see you solve that one.

March Madness

Around our house, anyway.  Three of our children are currently rehearsing for three different plays.  For those of you who are local and would like to attend (this is for Grandma and Grandpa Church, but all of you are welcome) I’m including the dates of the shows.

Alyssa is a daughter of the modern Major General in her school production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance.  This play is one of my personal favorites because I played a Keystone Cop when my high school performed it.  After reading over the score with Alyssa I have discovered that all of those songs have been buried in my brain for over 20 years and I still remember all of the words!  But now they won’t leave—they are running through my head over and over, just so I can annoy impress my children with my musical talents. 

April 23rd and 24th at Midvale Middle School

Grant landed a part in the 5th/6th grade production of Dear Edwina Jr.  He plays Lars Vanderploonk (sp?) and loves his part because he breaks his ankle in the first scene and gets to use crutches for the remainder of the play.  He was very relieved to discover that his character does not have to kiss any girls, but he is a little disgusted with one particular hugging scene. 

March 19th, 20th, and 21st at Jordan Ridge Elementary

Jillian told me months ago that one of her life goals was to star in a play.  At seven years old she is well on her way to that dream because she landed a leading role in a community theater production of Disney’s Aristocats.  She is “Marie”, the cute little white kitten.  When people find out about this they ask, “Jillian?”  Most think of her as quiet and soft-spoken but she comes alive on stage.  She memorized all of her lines in the first week and she’s been singing and dancing her songs from the show every chance she gets.  We can’t wait for her debut in two weeks.

March 13, 14, 16, 20, 21, 23 at South Jordan Community Center.  Tickets are $6 and go on sale Monday March 2nd--they are expected to sell quickly.

And now you can imagine that the madness of January and February is spilling over into March.  Some days it seems like everyone needs to be picked up at the same time but they’re all in different places.   Evan adds to this mix with his own “plays.”  You probably won’t find him on a stage—he’s more comfortable on the court.  His basketball team registered for two super leagues and he’s now in the final tournaments.  We love to watch him play, and he puts up with us attending if we promise not to embarrass him too much.  Brian almost crossed that line yesterday morning.  When he walked out the door to drive Evan to his game,  Evan took one look at his dad wearing a suit and tie (on a Saturday morning) and said, “Dad, don’t wear that!  And don’t sit there reading your scriptures!”  Objection overruled—Brian was speaking in a baptism immediately after the game. 

Would you like to join us for March Madness?  We can get you some great seats.  It’s all about who you know.