Today my friend Melissa and I took our collective boys to the gym to go swimming. When I step out into the Lifetime Fitness swimming area all I have to do is close my eyes and decide where I want to be in the world. It is THAT awesome. It's clean, huge, beautiful, and relaxing. Josh spent his time hanging out in the pool (and could touch the bottom) so I mostly talked to Melissa and worked on eliminating my gardener's tan.
We came home and I spent a few hours cleaning Clara's bedroom since she was out of the house. And by clean I mean I threw a garbage bag worth of crap away. Love it. My goal is to alternate cleaning Josh's room and Clara's room every Thursday and hopefully the cleaning will be deep enough that things will stay more or less clean. I also went through her way too abundant wardrobe and bagged up the too small stuff to give away.
Tomorrow we are gearing up for a fabulous day. Dave took the day off because his bestie Jim is in town with the fam. We are going to meet in Salt Lake and play the day away in the hot hot sun (which means our kids will sleep well). I promise lots of cute pictures tomorrow, since I haven't had any for a couple of days now. Posts without pictures are boring.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
June 23, 2010: Mama Bear
Today had its high points and low points. High points - going to see Toy Story 3 with Clara's bestie and favorite preschool teacher. Hanging out with Ben and eating Cafe Rio. Kate's Birthday. Low points - I have a very sad, frustrated, angry, and scared little boy. He had a rough day, and every bone in me wants to jump up and defend him, but, the circumstances are such that I need to be very careful. Let's put it this way - kids can be very mean.
Argh.
Argh.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, June 21, 2010
June 21, 2010: Nice Lessons
This morning I got an email from Clara's preschool teacher letting me know that Clara had hit and kicked one of the other kids, and said that Josh does it to her all of the time. Grrrrr. So, after grounding both of them until they turn 18, we decided that the best way to combat this is to have a Family Home Evening "Nice Lesson".
First we read scriptures, and then Dave had us all take turns standing up while the rest of us tried to make that person laugh. Josh cracked immediately, Clara took a little while, and I maintained a semi-straight face. Then Dave went on to talk about how there are many different emotions, happy, sad, angry, mad, etc., and that one reason we are here on the earth is to learn to control them. It's ok to feel them, but we have to learn to not act on them. We talked about how important it is to not hit or kick your siblings or friends, and discussed alternatives. They both seemed to "get it", but now we have to put it into practice.
I must preface this and say that kids cannot control their emotions when they aren't getting enough sleep, and our kids have not been getting enough lately. We have had them out way past bedtime and I think it was catching up. I insisted that they take naps today (with violent protests that they weren't remotely tired) and both of them fell asleep within about 30 seconds and slept for 3 hours.
We decided that we are going to alternate activity FHE nights with "Nice Lesson" FHE nights for the rest of this year. We'll see how that goes.
First we read scriptures, and then Dave had us all take turns standing up while the rest of us tried to make that person laugh. Josh cracked immediately, Clara took a little while, and I maintained a semi-straight face. Then Dave went on to talk about how there are many different emotions, happy, sad, angry, mad, etc., and that one reason we are here on the earth is to learn to control them. It's ok to feel them, but we have to learn to not act on them. We talked about how important it is to not hit or kick your siblings or friends, and discussed alternatives. They both seemed to "get it", but now we have to put it into practice.
I must preface this and say that kids cannot control their emotions when they aren't getting enough sleep, and our kids have not been getting enough lately. We have had them out way past bedtime and I think it was catching up. I insisted that they take naps today (with violent protests that they weren't remotely tired) and both of them fell asleep within about 30 seconds and slept for 3 hours.
We decided that we are going to alternate activity FHE nights with "Nice Lesson" FHE nights for the rest of this year. We'll see how that goes.
June 21, 2010: A Story About Cake Icing
On Friday our friend Ben arrived for a series of weddings that he will be attending over the next week. My only request of him was that he bring me back a piece of wedding cake from the reception. And in response he told me the following story.
Grandma made all of the wedding cakes in their family for 100 years (or something like that) and always used the same recipe. That recipe was handed down to Ben's aunt, who has made the cakes since then and always made the same recipe. A couple of years ago, it started tasting differently.
"What have you done? Why is it different?" The whole family wanted to know.
"Nothing!" The Aunt said.
And then, it was discovered, that crisco stopped putting in trans fats. THAT made the icing taste different. What to do?!
Order crisco from China.
Ahhhh, peace and the right flavor restored to the family.
I tasted a piece of it last week, and Ben was right. It's the best darn wedding cake icing I have ever had. Ben will get the recipe when he gets married. Hurry up, Ben! And then share!
Grandma made all of the wedding cakes in their family for 100 years (or something like that) and always used the same recipe. That recipe was handed down to Ben's aunt, who has made the cakes since then and always made the same recipe. A couple of years ago, it started tasting differently.
"What have you done? Why is it different?" The whole family wanted to know.
"Nothing!" The Aunt said.
And then, it was discovered, that crisco stopped putting in trans fats. THAT made the icing taste different. What to do?!
Order crisco from China.
Ahhhh, peace and the right flavor restored to the family.
I tasted a piece of it last week, and Ben was right. It's the best darn wedding cake icing I have ever had. Ben will get the recipe when he gets married. Hurry up, Ben! And then share!
June 20, 2010: Father's Day
We had a nice lazy morning yesterday before heading off to Church. I said to Dave on Saturday night, "I have every intention of getting up early tomorrow morning to make you breakfast."
But, you see, getting up early to make Dave breakfast, means getting up at around 5:30 am. He smiled and said, "I'll take care of it."
As it so happened, he slept in a bit and we ended up waking up around the same time. But, he still wanted to make his own breakfast because he likes to cook. So he whipped up his famous ATK pancakes and I went out and picked strawberries from the garden and voila! Breakfast.
At Church he got a page from work and missed most of Sacrament Meeting, including the Primary Children singing the one Primary song that I absolutely hate and think should be banned forever - aka "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home". I remember being probably a 4-5 year old in Primary (the one instance of Church that I remember at that age) and the bishop came in and his daughter sat on his lap and sang the song and did the movements. All I could think of was, "My daddy doesn't come home." By then my parents were divorced and my dad lived in another state. So, I really hate that song. All I ever think of when I hear it are the kids up there singing it who don't have dads that come home. That's my soapbox on that.
After Church we headed out to Tooele for dinner. My mother-in-law made fantastic short ribs that literally fell off the bone, cornbread, salad, and beans. With so many men in the family, it's always a good idea to make a lot of meat! Then we headed out to go to the park for a little while and enjoy the evening outside. My father-in-law got a new bike so he and Josh rode to the park while the rest of us drove and met them there. It wasn't far, but it was too far to walk for Clara.
Papa and Josh take off on their bikes
Curt and Rob swing with Clara - our kids are lucky that they have fun uncles!
Dave and his Mama
Papa and Josh arrive at the park - then Josh raced off up over some hills in the distance and we had a frantic 10 minutes searching for him. The little punk.
The college graduate - so proud! :)
Clara loved the bumpy slide the best
A little too small of a bike, even for Rob
Clara was in heaven - she loves parks just about more than any other place
Josh taught her that you can go head first
Then he showed us his plumber while she took the plunge (ha)
But, you see, getting up early to make Dave breakfast, means getting up at around 5:30 am. He smiled and said, "I'll take care of it."
As it so happened, he slept in a bit and we ended up waking up around the same time. But, he still wanted to make his own breakfast because he likes to cook. So he whipped up his famous ATK pancakes and I went out and picked strawberries from the garden and voila! Breakfast.
At Church he got a page from work and missed most of Sacrament Meeting, including the Primary Children singing the one Primary song that I absolutely hate and think should be banned forever - aka "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home". I remember being probably a 4-5 year old in Primary (the one instance of Church that I remember at that age) and the bishop came in and his daughter sat on his lap and sang the song and did the movements. All I could think of was, "My daddy doesn't come home." By then my parents were divorced and my dad lived in another state. So, I really hate that song. All I ever think of when I hear it are the kids up there singing it who don't have dads that come home. That's my soapbox on that.
After Church we headed out to Tooele for dinner. My mother-in-law made fantastic short ribs that literally fell off the bone, cornbread, salad, and beans. With so many men in the family, it's always a good idea to make a lot of meat! Then we headed out to go to the park for a little while and enjoy the evening outside. My father-in-law got a new bike so he and Josh rode to the park while the rest of us drove and met them there. It wasn't far, but it was too far to walk for Clara.
Papa and Josh take off on their bikes
Curt and Rob swing with Clara - our kids are lucky that they have fun uncles!
Dave and his Mama
Papa and Josh arrive at the park - then Josh raced off up over some hills in the distance and we had a frantic 10 minutes searching for him. The little punk.
The college graduate - so proud! :)
Clara loved the bumpy slide the best
A little too small of a bike, even for Rob
Clara was in heaven - she loves parks just about more than any other place
Josh taught her that you can go head first
Then he showed us his plumber while she took the plunge (ha)After the park, we headed back to the house and played a speed round of Phase 10. Playing Phase 10 on Sunday evenings after dinner is a non-negotiable tradition! It was a fun and relaxing Father's Day and hopefully Dave enjoyed it.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
June 19, 2010: Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This
Around 8:30am I IM'd Dave (I was in the office, he was in the bedroom, I could have yelled, but sometimes it is easier to type since I am at around 90wpm and I don't think I could talk 90 wpm) and said, "Go wake up Ben. We talked about going to Kneaders for breakfast." Then I heard Dave laugh from the other room (so maybe I wouldn't have actually had to yell) and then I heard the shower running and I just knew it was going to be a great day.
So we went to Kneaders because they had free french toast for dads. Score! Ben got his free, too, because he is of "the age of fathers". Score! Then we came home and Clara and Josh climbed all over poor Ben until I said, "So, here's the thing. You set the boundaries with my kids. They will get away with what you let them." That empowered him to peel them off like monkeys. Then they hauled him downstairs to watch a movie.
Clara taking over Ben's iPhone.
Ben looks calm and relaxed, but really he was thinking, "Why did I agree to stay here?!"
Doesn't he look so sad? That urine specimen bottle actually held taffy that they give to kids when they come in. I guess to distract them. Josh dozed on and off while Dave played solitaire on his phone and I played brickbreaker on mine.
These are the honey buckets. It was awesome that they were so close to the information station. We even got to enjoy watching the sanitation guys cleaning them out. Again, so awesome.
This was our home base. Lots of activity going on here. The First Aid station up and abandoned their post. Those cots sure looked comfy.
I love my running friends. They rock. But the above sign doesn't make this relay sound like fun.
This was where the runners came in. Their team number was shouted out over a bullhorn so that the rest of their team could cheer. I went over and checked to see when the Monarch Maniacs had come into the exchange. 8:30am this morning. So they were probably back home in their pjs icing their knees and eating bon bons.
And this is a house across the street that I thought was just adorable. What character! In the middle of my boredom I wondered just how inappropriate it would have been to wander over and ask to go inside and see the floorplan. Probably too inappropriate.
So we went to Kneaders because they had free french toast for dads. Score! Ben got his free, too, because he is of "the age of fathers". Score! Then we came home and Clara and Josh climbed all over poor Ben until I said, "So, here's the thing. You set the boundaries with my kids. They will get away with what you let them." That empowered him to peel them off like monkeys. Then they hauled him downstairs to watch a movie.
Clara taking over Ben's iPhone.
Ben looks calm and relaxed, but really he was thinking, "Why did I agree to stay here?!"And then, the inevitable happened. Josh decided to jump off of the coffee table downstairs onto the bean bag and missed and landed on top of his head. Where was I? Oh, ya know. Just touring model homes. Blissful. Happy. Then I got home and was told that Josh probably had a concussion. Dave looked up head injuries on the internet and freaked out (I did the same thing last year when Clara hit her head so no pointing fingers) and so I called Ragnar Bob and said, "We'll be a bit late." Ragnar Bob was totally zen about it, so I guess it is good that he is an aging hippie who drives a VW Bus with peace signs painted on it.
Doesn't he look so sad? That urine specimen bottle actually held taffy that they give to kids when they come in. I guess to distract them. Josh dozed on and off while Dave played solitaire on his phone and I played brickbreaker on mine.Finally Josh said, "I have to pee."
Since the urine specimen cup was full of taffy, we took that as a sign that he was going to be fine and got him up and took him to the bathroom. Then he was released with a slew of notes for us.
Wait a second? Who is Ragnar Bob? What?! Well, you see, months ago Dave and I signed up to be volunteers at a particular spot in Heber for the Ragnar Relay. Our dear friends the Monarch Maniacs needed volunteers and since we love Heber, and more specifically Don Pedros, we signed up. Ama agreed to babysit. We got out of the hospital just about the time we were supposed to start our shift.
Ragnar Bob said, "No worries - things are wrapping up. You don't need to come."
I said, "Will that get our team in trouble?" Because, really, I still wanted Don Pedros.
"Yeah....you better come up. At least get checked in, but you won't have to stay long."
Score!
So we dropped off Josh and Clara at my mom's with the list of instructions on what to look for in a head injury, and headed to Heber. Upon arrival we were given awesome glow in the dark vests to wear, and big black garbage bags so that we could go around and pick up the excessive amount of trash that the runners left behind. FUN, HUH? I'm not sure why we had to be electric while picking up trash. Supposedly it was so that runners would know that we were volunteers. After wandering around several fields picking up little bits of stuff, we went back to the tent and sat. And sat. And sat. For what seemed like hours, but it was really about 90 minutes. We couldn't find Ragnar Bob anywhere and the last runner had come in, so we decided it was time for Don Pedros and headed out. Hopefully we will be forgiven. The fajitas were excellent and worth the weird day.
Ragnar Bob said, "No worries - things are wrapping up. You don't need to come."
I said, "Will that get our team in trouble?" Because, really, I still wanted Don Pedros.
"Yeah....you better come up. At least get checked in, but you won't have to stay long."
Score!
So we dropped off Josh and Clara at my mom's with the list of instructions on what to look for in a head injury, and headed to Heber. Upon arrival we were given awesome glow in the dark vests to wear, and big black garbage bags so that we could go around and pick up the excessive amount of trash that the runners left behind. FUN, HUH? I'm not sure why we had to be electric while picking up trash. Supposedly it was so that runners would know that we were volunteers. After wandering around several fields picking up little bits of stuff, we went back to the tent and sat. And sat. And sat. For what seemed like hours, but it was really about 90 minutes. We couldn't find Ragnar Bob anywhere and the last runner had come in, so we decided it was time for Don Pedros and headed out. Hopefully we will be forgiven. The fajitas were excellent and worth the weird day.
These are the honey buckets. It was awesome that they were so close to the information station. We even got to enjoy watching the sanitation guys cleaning them out. Again, so awesome.
This was our home base. Lots of activity going on here. The First Aid station up and abandoned their post. Those cots sure looked comfy.
I love my running friends. They rock. But the above sign doesn't make this relay sound like fun.
This was where the runners came in. Their team number was shouted out over a bullhorn so that the rest of their team could cheer. I went over and checked to see when the Monarch Maniacs had come into the exchange. 8:30am this morning. So they were probably back home in their pjs icing their knees and eating bon bons.
And this is a house across the street that I thought was just adorable. What character! In the middle of my boredom I wondered just how inappropriate it would have been to wander over and ask to go inside and see the floorplan. Probably too inappropriate. We picked up the kids who had been just fine and had colored and eaten hot dogs and green beans for dinner and made cupcakes for dessert. We got home too soon and interrupted their tent in the living room building activity. Maybe next time.
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