2011 So Far

2011 has been rather busy so far.  So busy that I forgot to finish blogging the rest of 2010.  I'll make a mental note to get back to that.  In January Josh fell asleep while reading and Clara lost her fashion sense.

 

In February I went with my cousins to Las Vegas and we ate a lot of chips and Italian food and saw Ka and Phantom.  Baby Ellen got her acceptance letter to college and we all celebrated and cried that she is so old now.

 There was a chocolate fountain that dripped from the ceiling.  That is pure genius.

 And some really cool cakes.

 And a really cool waterfall.

 And statues.

 And then some of my Webelos got a bunch of awards and abandoned me to BOY Scouts.

If it was even possible, my kids got cuter and started liking each other on and off for a few minutes on Thursdays.

Then my baby turned 5 and I turned 39 (gasp).  Clara got a horse and a pteranodon which is every five year old girl's dream...apparently.

She also got a sign that says, "Princess of Quite alot" from Amabuela.  The fact that "alot" is totally and utterly wrong and people who make signs like this should have to have a proofreader just adds to the perverse humor that my family enjoys.

To support my claim of "Meanest Mom in the Whole World", my mom bought me this sign for my office.  Josh read it and laughed.  Apparently it didn't instill the fear in him that we were hoping for. 

So that is life in a nutshell.  There are other things like Dave getting a new job, a pending trip back to God's Country for a visit, we still haven't finished painting the stairwell in one spot because I'm lazy and it requires a ladder, and a visit last week with my Bestie that was awesome. 

September 10, 2010: Josh had a Birthday

We decided to have Josh's birthday party on a Friday night - pizza and a movie. He was allowed to invite a few neighborhood and ward friends. We started off with homemade pizza, which Dave made and the kids devoured. Then we opened presents, and we followed up with Natalie's cookies and ice cream before watching Ice Age. It was a looooong night (for me) but fun for Josh and that is what matters.

Josh and C - Battleship (we played the next day - so fun!)

Josh with the G-Boys - Big fire truck that makes lots of noise!

Josh with the "Gabers" and "Katers" - Zhu Zhu Pet

Uncle Curt - TRANSFORMER

Josh and J-Man - Another Zhu Zhu Pet (sensing the theme?)

Josh and Clara - Pajamas and jeans (zzzzzzz)

Josh and J - Superhero Squad t-shirt!

Josh and his girlfriend, Ms. Mert - $7

The Party Animals

Natalie's cookies! The theme was "Under the Sea" and these were so good and so cute. She also did Josh's invites and I would highly recommend using her for your kids' parties!

June 22, 2010: Sweets and a Birthday Bash

As part of our Summer Tuesday Tour 2010 (now THAT is alliteration) we decided to go to Sweet Candy Company in Salt Lake. We arrived at 10:30am and had a 40 minute tour where we saw all of the kitchens and rooms where they make candy such as cinnamon bears, gummy worms, and most importantly, taffy. The kids loved it, and they got to sample some candy along the way. We hit the Sweet Shop in the lobby and then headed immediately down to Orem for an afternoon birthday bash for Belle (I tell ya - I'm on a roll).

Pool Party

My Sweet Niece - I am going to have a whole series of pictures of her. I can't stand how cute she is!

On the menu: pizza, cake, otter pops, fruit snacks, ring pops, and sugary drinks. Perfect!

The Birthday Girl

Josh put together a box of pictures, rocks, money, and gummy treats that looked like rocks. It was a weird present, but he insisted.

The cake had an ice cream layer....mmmmm

The triple threat - cute girls!

Megs looked so cute and sparkly that I couldn't resist taking pictures.

We have now hit that phase in the age of Josh (6 almost 7) where the girls his age are mean to him. They don't WANT boys around and boy is he hearing about it. Every time he hangs out with girls lately he ends up sad. I know that it is a right of passage, and that someday that will change, but it sure is hard to see. He also thinks that girls are just a big bunch of bossy right now and is "sick and tired of it".

Ahhhh - to be young again.

June 14, 2010: Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. I would say that she is 29, but that would be ridiculous since I am 29. So we'll say she is, uh, 49. Yeah.

My mom has never been a traditional mom in the traditional sense. I always had birthday parties. She came to all of my soccer games. She watched all of the games that I was a cheerleader at and brought cookies to the guys that got double figures during the games (which is the reason we took State so many years). That seems traditional, however, she also would take me to movies spontaneously on a Wednesday night...a SCHOOL night...just because we could. She took me to Ed Debevics whenever Brian Gilliam broke up with me in high school. (I think it was something like 8 times) She let friends stay over as late as they wanted, but my curfew was 11pm. She took me on a leaf peeping tour when I graduated from BYU, where the closest person in age to me on the tour WAS my mom. We don't do traditional around here.

I was raised an only child, but she had the benefit of getting rid of me during the summer when I would go and stay with my dad. It just occurred to me a few years ago what a GREAT deal she had in that. She won't tell me what she did during the summers, but I can imagine she looked forward to it. I don't have a favorite meal that my mom makes, but she was ok with that, and instead just took me to Carlos O'Brien's for my welcome home meal when I was in college. She taught me to make my own breakfast when I was five years old. I could do my own laundry at an early age. She made a dish called "Mommy Special" that consisted of rice, stir fried veggies, and...tuna. It was probably supposed to be healthy.

My mom was the mom to everyone that I went to high school with. Everyone called her mom. She knew everyone and loved everyone. When I would come home from work, she would often be talking on the phone to one of my friends, giving advice. She has been a die hard Phoenix Suns fan since about 1976. Sometimes growing up she would be watching tv, and all of a sudden jump up and slam a shoe down on the floor, killing a cockroach. There was always a shoe in the family room for cockroach killing. When I was about 7, she left me home alone for a few minutes to run an errand. I was watching tv and a cockroach climbed up my foot. Imagine the screams and terror of a 7 year old. It was a scarred for life sort of thing, but I have kind of gotten over it. Being a mother of an almost 7 year old, I'm sure I have passed along some things that will scar him for life as well.

My mom and I like to do a lot of things together, but, we have the most fun when we go house hunting and critique really huge houses. We pretend to be snobby (with no room to be) about what we like and don't like and wonder at the choices of previous owners. We also like movies and popcorn and diet coke. And Mexican food. She is not a fan of pasta. She once had a competition with my grandfather over who could eat the most cookies in a year. Or something like that.

I could say that I have had her all to myself, but she is universally the favorite aunt of all of my cousins. She took all of my Phoenix cousins on dates for their birthdays every year, thus winning them over for eternity.

I love you, Mom. Maybe you are more traditional than we thought. :)

March 3, 2010: The Birthdays

Celebrating a birthday with your daughter is a mixed bag. On the one hand - fun! Lots of fun things that we will be able to do down the road together. On the other hand, it takes planning for her when all I want to do is lie around. Yesterday was the perfect day, however, because I spent minimal time planning and maximum time playing.

First off - a word or two about Clara.

Clara loves horses. She loves princesses. She loves to sing, dance, talk to herself, pick on her brother, snuggle, act like a puppy, and is a sugar-aholic like her mom. She loves cheese, loves to snack, and picks at her dinner. She'll take cookies over just about anything.

Clara loves school. She asks every day if she gets to go to school. She seems to be a pretty smart kid, and her sentence structure when she talks is advanced for her age. I have to remember that she is younger than she is sometimes. She is stubborn. Much more stubborn than Josh, although memory may have just faded. She will dig in her heels and there is no changing her mind. It's all in the approach with this baby.

Clara's best friends are Caitlin, Jacey, and Burke (from preschool), but she really does love her Joshy. She names all of her stuffed animals either Gabi or Kate, after our neighbors. She can sometimes be shy, but usually warms up quickly. She tends to be more reserved than Josh in social situations.

Clara is a mini-me. She really looks a lot like me, although she is cuter than I was. She's very funny and silly and likes to make people laugh. She doesn't like to share unless it is other people's stuff. She loves movies, especially the barbie movies.

I feel like I have known Clara a lot longer than her four years in our family. I love her so much that it overwhelms me sometimes, and I am so grateful that she is my little girl. She is exactly what I ordered.

For her birthday, we had her preschool friends come over for pizza and cupcakes. They ran around the house chasing each other and then watched a movie. It was very unplanned. No games, no structure - they loved it. I didn't feel any pressure to follow a schedule. Awesome. Fortunately for me, I am great friends with all of Clara's friends moms, who came over and joined in so they could hang out with ME on my birthday. Handy, no? We talked and talked and ate and talked. I also had the blessing of having my mom and mother-in-law there for the party.

After everyone left, Dave brought home chipotle. We were going to go downtown to the Red Iguana, but that just seemed like too much effort, and I was all sugared out by then anyway. Then after the kids were in bed, Melissa came and picked me up and we went to a movie. So really - it was just the perfect, low-key day. And now I get to go to NYC.

Caitlin, Burke, and Jacey enjoying pizza
Clara blowing out her candles
Clara digging into the cupcake
The birthday girls!

February 22, 2010: Start Spreading the News

First up: Happy Birthday to my lovely niece, Maggie, who is 10 today. TEN! That depresses me.

I got the following email from Sara today:

I have no idea what the weather will have in store for us. It’s not going to be warm, either way. It could be in the 40’s and sunny or it could be snowing. Best to check a couple days before your flight. Bring casual clothes, WALKING shoes (we will be on foot when we are not taking mass transit), maybe something nice to wear to dinner one or two nights, do you want to take yoga, spin (or other gym activities)? If so, you need workout clothes and sneakers.

As for food, wasn’t sure if you follow any celebrity chefs. When Sam visited, we went to a Top Chef restaurant she was dying to try. I’ll just use you as an excuse to try something new.

As for shows, totally up for Wicked but look at the link below to theater (pronounced “thea-tah”) reviews just to make sure. Think about whether you want to see a play or a musical? If you are up for a musical, my in-laws said that Fela is one of the best they have seen – ever. And they see a lot of shows. I think it’s produced by JZ and Will Smith.

If you are up for drama, I read that this new Arthur Miller play starring Scarlett Johansen and Liev Schrieber is really good. Forget what it’s called.

Suddenly I am realizing that in 12 days I will be in New York. I cannot wait to be on the East Coast again, because I love the East Coast, and let's face it, it's New York. What's not to love? Besides the dirt and grime and crazy people. But I love that, too. I really cannot wait to see Sara, who I haven't spent any significant time with since high school. That's 20 years.