Tubb's Hill

Tubb's Hill is one of my very favorite places. You hike for about 15 minutes along the lake and end up on a much more secluded and rugged little beach. It's one of my favorite spots to go swimming. Britton hiked the whole way, but I ended up carrying Haley for the majority of the hike, not because she didn't want to walk, but because she insisted on collecting one of each of all the different plants. I was trying to be patient with her as she'd squat down every few steps to pick a leaf or two, but when she started tasting each one, that's where I had to draw the line. So, she spent the rest of the hike on my shoulders. When we arrived at the beach to swim, there were two dogs (with their owners, of course). My kids were so excited. The dogs would fetch sticks thrown out into the lake. So, my kids started throwing out sticks for Mark to fetch for them. Mark was a good sport and played along and kept them quite entertained.

Coeur d'Alene Lake

The majority of our vacation was spent at the beach. Aunt Pat bought the kids a whole bunch of sand toys so they had lots of fun digging and building castles. They also loved swimming and splashing and got braver and braver each day. It was nice just to be able to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather (mostly in the 80's) and scenery.

Coeur d'Alene

We had such a fun time in Coeur d'Alene. We stayed with my Aunt Pat and my Uncle Vic. They hired Jason to do some work for them around their house, so it was a working trip for him and a regular vacation for me. We spent most of our days at the beach and most of our nights hanging out and playing cards. I got to sleep in everyday and just relax and enjoy being around relatives. It was great.

Traveling These Days

Traveling these days is just not the same as it used to be. As we were getting ready to embark on our 12 hour roadtrip with our two young kids, we spent most of the time downloading our playlists for ipods, gathering up DVDs, and finding all the car chargers for the various electronic equipment we'd be taking along. When I thought we were ready to start loading up the luggage and be on our way, Jason was just beginning to wire our car with all the needed gadgets. When he came out with a power strip with 5 different plugs, I knew we were in for trouble. It took him a good hour to get everything arranged and plugged in. We had the DVD player that is already in the car, our portable DVD player with two screens--one connected to the XBox and one connected to our DVR (we had to bring that so my brother Mark could catch up on the last season of Lost), then in the front we had two different mp3 players each with headphones and charger and the little thing that makes it so you can hear the music through the car radio, and lastly, the GPS. There were so many wires and gadgets all over the place it's a miracle we had room for the kids and our stuff. It's another miracle that I figured out how to use it all. There was one point that we were all doing something different. The kids watching a movie, Mark watching Lost, Jason listening to a book on his ipod, and me listening to my music. Although, I really appreciated being able to turn on a movie for my kids, or let Britton play Xbox when he got grumpy, or have my very own favorite music to listen to at 2 in the morning while I'm driving and everyone else was sleeping, there was still a part of me that misses those roadtrips when we were forced to talk in the car to entertain ourselves. I missed the good conversations, singing songs, and playing "Mary car games". I think when my kids get a bit older and more capable of handling 12 hours in the car, I'm going to ban all electronic devices and just rely on our personalities to keep us happy.

Don't Cry over Spilled Milk

I never really understood the saying, "Don't cry over spilled milk" until I was a mom. Before, it seemed so dumb that anyone would cry over spilled milk in the first place so I didn't see why there needed to be a saying to remind them not to. My neighbor said one day, "It's not spilled milk that makes you cry, it's spilled milk for the 10th time in one day that makes you cry". I can totally relate to that. I don't even like milk but both my kids LOVE it and drink it like it's going out of style. Luckily, they use sippy cups for the most part so there aren't a lot of spills. But then you have to deal with cleaning the sippy cups which is another whole story. Anyway, Haley has learned that if you shake the sippy cup upside down, milk will come out anyway. And she loves to do it. So, on numerous occasions I've entered a room to find it splattered with milk. This makes it even harder to clean up because it's not all in one nice little pile. It's quite a chore making sure you get it all. But, it's definitely worth it to do a good job because rotting milk is one of the worst smells on earth. The worst is when my kids spill milk without me knowing about it and then don't tell me. There was one incident (and I'm embarrassed to admit it) when Haley spilled some underneath her rocking chair and Jason and I didn't know about it. Within a few days we were searching our house for the smell. When we had located it, I of course was the one designated to clean it up due to Jason's "sensitive" nose and the fact that I also didn't want to clean up his vomit afterwards. When I was finally finished scrubbing the floor, I was about ready to ban milk from our house for good. Too bad it builds strong bones and teeth and all that other good stuff. Otherwise, I'd rid my house of it forever.

4th of July Festivites

This year we tried to take advantage of all the fun Freedom Festival activities for the fourth. Saturday night we did the traditional barbecue at Kiwanis Park with the Kemps then watched the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire. But, this year I actually planned ahead and made us some good food to take along. I made barbecued pulled pork in the crockpot. It cooked all day long and it was just perfect for sandwiches by evening. Then I made brownies with whipped cream on top and then blueberries and strawberries on top decorated to look like the flag--very festive. I was pretty impressed with myself. Britton and Haley loved the fireworks. I think this is the first year that Haley has actually paid attention to them. She was so cute. Everytime one went off she's say "there's a firework" then two seconds later "there's another firework" and she kept saying it each time throughout the night. It was hilarious. She just sat there staring, saying that, all throughout the whole firework show.
Monday morning we got up really early and went to the balloon festival. We got there just in time to see the majority of them fill up and then all of them take off. The kids loved it. I don't think they've ever seen hot air balloons before and especially not that close up. Jason kept talking to everyone trying to somehow get us a free ride, but with no luck. (Big surprise)
Tuesday we decided to brave the crowds and go to the parade. This year they had an aviation parade simultaneously. So, every few minutes a plane would fly along the parade route. That's really the only reason we went. They had a few impressive planes, but for the most part they were just the same kinds that Jason flies all the time. But, it was still fun and added some variety to the marching bands and politicians in fancy cars.
We ended our 4th of July festivities with cherry picking at my parents house. We had a whole assembly line going. There were some pickers, some washers/sorters, some pitters, and some baggers/driers. It was pretty amazing that we got the whole tree picked and most of them dried or bagged for freezing. We'll have to do the other pie cherry trees in a few weeks. Britton's favorite job was pitting the cherries. By the end of the day he was covered in splats of cherry juice. Luckily he took off his shirt before starting.

Fountain Fun

There is a fairly new park down the street a ways from my house that has a pretty fountain and a wading pool. We love it because there are always kids playing in the fountain so it's like free swimming for my kids. Today around noon, we went there for the first time this summer. When we first arrived we were the only ones at the fountain, but there was a blanket on the ground with a bag and some other stuff. Britton immediately jumped into the fountain and started running around, kicking his feet, and splashing like crazy. Haley and her friend, Sabrina, were a little more hesitant to get in, but they quickly warmed up to the whole idea. A little while later a lady (the owner of the aforementioned blanket) and her son came back. She sat on the blanket for a while watching and then decided to wade a bit with her son. Britton was still running around in circles, kicking and splashing. Each time he ran by her, I would try to get him to slow down, but he wasn't obeying too much. He'd slow down quite a bit but still manage to splash her just a little each time. At one point she grabbed him and said, "I don't want to get wet." That seemed to help a bit but he still managed to annoy her a few more times. I pulled him out and talked to him on several different occasions but that was mostly just to appease her. She would turn and glare at me whenever he got near her. I wasn't about to get mad at him or make him stop having fun on her account. He wasn't being mean or doing anything wrong, he was just playing. I just don't understand why she even got in the fountain in the first place. Isn't it pretty obvious that if you go into (or even near) a fountain full of 2, 3, and 4 year olds that you are most likely going to get wet? Some people. I was just really glad when lots of other kids arrived and they were all being 10x as wild as Britton.

Haley's Cereal-Eating Habits

Haley eats cereal in the strangest way. It's the exact opposite way that I eat cereal. She has the cereal in with the milk and then she spoon feeds herself the milk. Then she asks for more milk to go with her cereal. Then she eats the milk again and so on. After about 3 bowls-full of milk, she usually finishes the majority of the cereal, but sometimes she just leaves the cereal there in the bowl. So, basically I guess she just likes flavored milk. This is so strange to me because when I eat cereal, I eat the cereal part and discard the milk, not the other way around. It's too bad we can't just share, we'd make the perfect cereal eating team, but somehow the thought of eating her soggy cereal grosses me out.

National Backyard Campout Day

Saturday was National Backyard Campout Day! We have been talking and getting ready for this all week. Britton would ask everyday if it was the day we were going to sleep outside. When it finally came, he couldn't wait. He helped Jason put up the tent, then he and Haley filled it with all their pillows and blankets and went out there to play long before it was time. When we started the "campout", I showed Britton some stars/planets. (You are supposed to be able to see Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn right now, but I'm not so good at locating things other than the moon in the sky, so we just kind of faked it) At one point, Britton pointed at something and said it was a spaceship. So, we made up a story together about the spaceship coming down and Buzz Lightyear getting out and so on. He loved the story and was having so much fun. Later, when we were all settled in and Haley and I were about asleep, Britton started begging us to go inside. I was shocked since he had been so excited about the whole thing. He loves sleeping in the tent whenever we're camping. He wouldn't stop asking us to go in and finally he said he was scared of the spaceship. No matter what we said to explain that it wasn't really a spaceship and that we were safe, he wouldn't believe us. So, we packed up all our stuff and went inside. So much for our Backyard Campout. At least we tried. It was fun for the few hours it lasted.

Spider's Webs

One of Britton's favorite things to do is to build spider's webs in his room out of yarn. We were eating dinner over at a friend's house about 6 months ago and their kids taught Britton how to do it. The other night, we had some friends over for FHE and Britton got the help of the older kids to make a great spider's web in his room. Normally when Britton makes them, half the fun is cutting it down. But, this time he wanted to leave it up in his room. So for two days now, I've had to climb over and dunk under the web in order to put things away in his room. The plus side though is that it's harder for him to get out of bed at night and climb in bed with us. Too bad we didn't think of that years ago.

Pinky Dinky Doo

There's a fairly new kid's show called Pinky Dinky Doo. Although I've only seen it one or two times, I really like it. The writer used to always tell his kids stories at night about Pinky Dinky Doo and that's where the show came from. I think that makes me like it even more because it reminds me of the "Mr. Bear, Mr. Penguin" stories that Britton and I used to make up every night. Not that my stories are good enough to make into a TV show or anything, but we have fun with them.

A Pictureless World

My camera has been broken the past couple of weeks and I don't know how to fix it. So, this blog will just be writing for the next little while. Not quite as exciting or interesting.

Personal Trainer

What I really need to help me get in shape is a personal trainer. Someone who will just make me work out harder and longer (or at all). So, since I can't afford to hire one, I made Jason my new personal trainer. After I get home from my morning walk, I wake him up and he puts me to work. I rotate focusing and legs and arms every other day. I have been really sore since we started, but that's good. It's really been fun because normally I don't get to hang out with him much in the morning.

Adventure Days

Last week we had our first ever "Adventure Day". I decided that there is so much cool stuff around here to do outside that I need to plan an adventure once a week for my kids. So, I do a fun preschool lesson on whatever it is that we'll be doing and then we go on the adventure. Last week we went to Timpanogos Cave. Britton was so excited. We checked out books at the library on caves. And for preschool we learned all about caves. He learned how to spell cave and practiced writing C's. He learned all the cave vocabulary (stalactite, stalagmite, etc). We colored pictures of caves and drew in the stalactites and stalagmites. We learned about bears and hibernating and all about bats. We built a bear cave and put all our teddy bears inside and then pretended to hibernate for the winter. We went outside and hung upside down from the tramp like bats. Anyway, we had a great time and it just built up his excitement for go to a real cave.
We went to the cave on Friday. Jason carried Haley in a backpack carrier the whole way up. I ended up carrying Britton on my shoulders about half the time on the way up. The hike was a bit long for him, so he lost a bit of the enthusiasm by the time we actually go to the cave. But, once inside, he was fascinated again. He had a great time being able to see the things that we had been learning about. He and Haley both had a really hard time keeping themselves from touching things though. They would see a really cool rock formation and their first instinct is to feel it all over.
On the way down, Jason and I switched--I carried Haley and he ended up having Britton on his shoulders a lot of the way. We had a nice picnic lunch by the river across the street from the cave. For our first Adventure Day, I'd say it was quite a success.

Les Gourmands

I'm part of a French club that was started by my friend Desiree. The idea is to help us all use French more often so that we can retain it a little bit better. The plan is to meet about 4 times a year and either go to a French restaurant, watch a French movie, or have a French book club. Then most of the club will be writing emails in French to each other whenever we feel like it so that people in other states and countries can participate too and we can all work on our reading and writing skills. Saturday night, we all met a French bakery to have our first meeting. It was fun. I got to see people that I don't see very often and meet some new people as well.
When I was telling my neighbor about what I was going to be doing over the weekend and how I'd be going to this, she said, "you're sure in a lot of clubs". I hadn't really thought about it, but I guess I am. They aren't really clubs maybe, but my friends are always coming up with fun things to do together--play groups, dinner parties, book clubs, french clubs, investment clubs, etc. I'm lucky to have such cool friends that keep me learning new things and help me stay social.

Hey Go Team, Go, Go, Team!

Last Thursday I had the chance to go to a banquet honoring my former high school basketball coach. It was put together by a team mate of mine--Tish. We all had to think about and write about our favorite memories and she compiled them along with pictures into a nice book for him. He has coached for about 15 years now and just recently switched over to being the boy's head coach. So, this was to pay tribute to him for all he did for the girl's basketball program. He took a program that was basically non-existent where anyone who showed up to tryouts would make the team to one that was state champions and very well respected. I was on the team closer to the early years, unfortunately. But, I am still very grateful for those years and all that I learned. It was fun to go back and see everyone and hear about their families and kids. The amazing thing is that everyone is pretty much the same. Of course, I didn't know everyone because there were 15 years worth of people invited, but I was surprised by how many people I actually did know. Our coach always encouraged us to come back and support the teams after we left. So, I made it to a few games here and there right after I graduated. And then to the State Tournament games and the game when they won State Champs. And then when I did my student teaching back at my alma mater, I was able to teach almost the whole varsity team that year. So, of course, I went to most of their games. Our coach was always happy to see us no matter how long it had been and always invited us into the locker room with the team afterwards and would say things like, "this is what you helped build". I think that's pretty cool of him to include us all in the success of the team. A legacy isn't really made by two or three years and he was more than willing to share the glory with everyone involved.

Too Cute

This morning after getting Britton dressed, I said, "Britton, you're the cutest thing ever". He just looked at me a bit puzzled and said, "I'm a thing?" It was too funny. No wonder I think he's the cutest thing ever.

Roses!

We have two rose bushes at our house and both of them have so many blossoms this year. The flowers are so big and beautiful. Last night I went out and cut a whole bunch to have inside. I figure I should take advantage of having so many fresh flowers. So, I put a vase full in the kitchen, one in the bathroom, and one in the family room. Now I love going in just to look at them. They brighten up the rooms so much. I think tomorrow we're going to spend the morning doing yard work and planting our garden and some more flowers. A little bit late, but better late than never, right?

Bon Appetit!

Last Saturday (May 20), we had a French Dinner Party. Everyone brought something french they had made or purchased. We mostly had appetizers and desserts, but there ended up being lots of good food to try. We had quiche, crepes, breads, cheeses, pate, lots of different kinds of pastries, and bacon-wrapped prunes. Everything was really yummy, but most of all it made me miss France. I really do need to go back soon.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

This morning, Haley woke up about 6:45 and went straight for the kitchen. I followed her in and she said, "I wanna make brownies". I just started laughing. Hmmm, I wonder who she gets that from?

Preschool

Last week, I started doing a preschool with my kids. It's been a lot of fun. I do it for an hour twice a week and then if there's a field trip that goes along with the weekly theme, we do that too. Each time we sing a song, look at the calendar, have a weather watch, play a game, read a book, do a science-y thing, and do an art project. It's really fun. I think half the fun for me is planning it all. Britton really loves it. For Haley, an hour is really a stretch for her attention span, but I think she still enjoys it and is learning more than she lets on. I think she'll get more used to it as we do it regularly too.

My 30th Birthday

On April 15, I turned 30 years old. To celebrate, I had a girls-only cabin sleepover party. It was so much fun. I got to just hang out with some of my best friends. We talked, ate junk food, and played games. I can't think of a better way to celebrate. I got to sleep in and I didn't have any kids climbing into bed with me in the middle of the night. What a great gift to myself.

Chuck E. Cheese

One of our favorite things to do is to go to Chuck E. Cheese. I think my kids are far too spoiled because growing up, I think I went once or twice and that was for friend's birthday parties. My kids and I used to go every Tuesday, but now we're trying to cut back so we only go every other week or once a month or so.
The one down here does lots of things to attract stay-at-home moms with little kids. They're brilliant because it's almost always crowded. They have all the little kiddie rides turned on from 11-3 so you don't need tokens to ride them. Plus on Tuesdays, if your kids are members of the kids club, they get free drinks and free tokens. So, it turns out to be a great deal. We love free stuff.
Some days, when it's particularly crowded, the manager will come out and just randomly throw tokens and all the kids scramble to pick them up. Our he'll throw out strings of tickets and kids will come away with hundreds. (Those are my favorite days) Unfortunately, my kids aren't quite old enough to really appreciate it and go after all the free stuff. They get one or two tokens off the ground, and they're completely happy, even though there's hundreds scattered around them. I guess I have to teach them better.
Each time we go, we end up getting a little prize like a sticker or a pack of smarties or some other thing that you could get 10 for a dollar at the dollar store. So, I got the bright idea of making my kids save up for something big since we go there often enough. We have our eye on the Imaginext Pirate Ship for the bargain price of 4000 tickets. I think it's going to take us quite a while especially since Haley never grabs her tickets after she plays a game and Britton loves the low yielding ticket games like Ski Ball. But, it still gives us something to work for and now we don't waste our hard-earned tickets on stuff that gets lost or broken in the car on the way home.

Pictures of Haley

And Even More Camping Pictures

More Camping Pictures

Easter Pictures

Some Camping Pictures

Haley--The Chocolate Genius

To go along with the messy eater post, I decided to show a few recent pictures as examples. I was making brownies and Haley decided to help lick the bowl. I guess most kids would make a mess doing this, but if you look closely, you'll see she even managed to get it on her side and back. Now, that's true talent. And this was right after she got out of the bath. Why do I even bother with baths? No wonder she takes about 3 a day. Britton came in and saw her and said, "she's a chocolate genius!" because of the mustache. And then, of course, he joined in.

Conference Weekend

For Conference Weekend, we decided it would be fun to spend the weekend at the cabin. It was still pretty snowy, so we had to hike in the last little bit again, but once we were there, it was definitely worth it. We had a fun time sledding, watching conference, playing games, doing puzzles, and just relaxing. I'm so glad that we went. I thought it would be harder to watch conference up there, but actually we were able to watch more of it with fewer distractions because our kids are so content to just be there. We carved out a small sled run on the hill, but my kids are still too young to appreciate sledding, I think. They just don't like to be cold. It sounds fun to them, but once they've been out there about 5 minutes, they're done. So, Jason took them in and they all watched me out the window. They would open the window and cheer after each time I went down. It was nice to have some fans. I think we'll try to make it a tradition for every conference weekend.

YEAH!!!

They broke ground a couple of days ago for an IKEA in Draper. I can't wait!

Is there a "Messy Eater" Gene?

Okay, it's no big secret that I am a messy eater. In high school, I think I always had something spilled on my shirt. And I was banned from eating or drinking in numerous vehicles. I'm still banned from eating in certain parts of my own home (but that usually doesn't stop me). As I've gotten older, I've gotten much less messy as far as eating goes. I can generally get through a meal without spilling on myself. But, you can usually still tell which spot at the table was mine due to the amount of crumbs and drips, etc.
So, you'd think that I would be sympathetic when I see my kids struggle to stay clean while eating. But, instead, it drives me crazy. I can't even watch them eat most of the time. They pick things apart and hold it in their hands until it melts and do anything possible except normal, civilized eating.
Britton has always been a messy eater. Even as a baby, he was the master at spitting up. I don't think he had a feeding without spitting half of it up. I should've known I was in for trouble then. Even knowing that, he still manages to amaze me. He can take an ordinary food and make a complete mess out of it. Like a piece of cheese, for example. I wouldn't think of cheese as a messy food, but he managed to crumble it up into tiny pieces and get grease all over. Who even thinks of doing that with cheese?
I thought that there was hope for Haley. She has always been too interested in getting as much food as possible into her mouth that she generally didn't make a mess. But, now as she gets a bit older, I'm starting to see some of the signs of a messy eater. She's playing with her food more, picking it apart, finding unique ways to eat things. Why did both my kids have to take after me?

Boys are Weird

On March 6 was Haley's 2 year old birthday. We had a party at my parent's house the Saturday before. I gave Jason the camera so that I could officiate in the handing out of the presents and all. My mom has the habit of giving presents to all the grandkids when it's someone's birthday, so it gets a little crazy. As I was going through the pictures on our camera, I found many like the one posted, but not even one of Haley opening up her gifts. Jason was having so much fun with our brother-in-law Ryan staging pictures of two-headed dragons eating men that he completely missed all of the present opening. But, lucky for us, we have about 10 different angles and views of the human-eating monster.

Moab

This weekend we took a road trip to Moab. Jason and all his friends went down to play in a volleyball tournament together. Moab is one of my very favorite places, so I was more than excited to be able to have a little mini family vacation.
As we drove down, my mind wandered to all the many different times I have been to Moab. For some reason it has always been my favorite road trip destination and so I've been there many times with many different random groups of people. It didn't matter if the trip was well planned out or spur of the moment, they always turned out to be fun. I went there for high school spring break, my college end of freshman year trip, a trip just because Emily was house sitting and we had access to a car, a trip instead of preference to watch Jason in a volleyball tournament, and numerous other times. I never really needed a reason to go--just other people who were willing to go with me.
This trip, however, was a bit different than all the others because it snowed almost all weekend. Moab is 100% an outdoor recreation town. So, to be stuck inside was definitely a switch. I even searched the whole town for some kind of indoor playground like at Mcdonald's or something and there was nothing at all. Luckily, we had our XBox and movies and friends to hang out with. We did make it to arches during the small amount of time that it was decent weather. Which was really lucky since Britton had been talking about "climbing orange rocks and finding lizards". I really shouldn't tell him about something until we're actually doing it. At least he got to see some arches and climb up some big rocks. He was happy enough. All in all, it was a fun trip and will be added to the rest of my fun memories of Moab.

Trees

I love trees. When I was young, my grandparents had an orchard. We would go to help pick the fruit, but my favorite thing was to climb up high into the cherry trees--higher than any of the ladders could reach and just stay up there.
In high school, I tutored a little girl at the library. I couldn't ever get her to want to read, but if I checked out books and took them outside, climbed a tree with her, then we would sit up there and she would read to me for hours.
In college, I had a special tree at Kiwanis Park. It was my "thinking tree". I went there whenever I wanted to be alone to think. I would sit under it and write or draw or sleep or pray. It was as if the tree made me smarter--gave me insights I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. I guess just being with it inspired me.
Some of the coolest trees I've ever seen were in Parc Borely in Marseille (See pictures below). I loved them mostly because they were well suited for climbing clear to the top. Since missionaries don't typically spend time climbing trees, I was only able to admire them for their potential. Their branches were like perfect steps up to the top. But, I was able to climb a bit when I went back on vacation.
My favorite tree of all is the big Boxelder tree in my back yard. It is just majestic. I think it is beautiful. When we first looked at our house, there were a lot of things that we loved about it and that were well-suited for us, but when I saw the tree, that was the real deal maker for me. I HAD to have the house.
I love the tree in every season. In winter, it shows off its naked, bare bones frame. In spring, it gets new life with the blossoms and leaves. In summer, it shades my entire backyard. In fall (my very favorite), it covers my whole backyard in pretty colored leaves.
I love the bugs and the birds that it attracts. Last summer we had 4 owls perched in the tops of it. They would come and go, but I liked to think of our tree as their home.
My kids (and I) love to climb in it and swing in it and just be around it. I hope they will end up loving, appreciating, and being inspired by trees as well.

Fashion Expert

Haley has taken to picking out her own clothes. Which really means that I get her dressed in the morning then throughout the day she brings me things that she wants to add to or change about her outfit. She comes up with some pretty cute combinations. Her most common thing is to wear pants with a dress. She loves dresses but then hates her legs bare and hates tights (I don't blame her) so she puts pants on underneath. I think it's pretty cute. Today she is wearing a shirt, dress, pants, and a too small vest. Without the vest, it's not so bad. But she loves the vest because it has a zipper. Somedays there are two pairs of pants that she wants to wear. When I won't put one pair on over the other, she just puts on pair on her head and is so proud of her new hat. I keep thinking if I just let her dress herself now, then she'll outgrow the desire, but somehow I think I'm just giving her more confidence in her abilities and we'll have many years of crazy outfits ahead of us.

Today I did Something I've Never Done Before

I've noticed something about myself. Whenever Jason is sick, I am far from sympathetic. I do one of two things. First, and most often, I think he's faking it and just doesn't want to go to work. So, then I'm just mad at him and fight instead of doing what I should by taking care of him. How horrible is that?
Or, I acknowledge that he's sick but downplay how bad it is, being excited that he stayed home to play with me or with the kids. Then I demand his attention or make him help with the kids or whatever when really I should just let him rest and get better.
Anyway, today he is sick. Since I've realized how utterly bad I am at taking care of him, I've tried to do better. Tried not to be demanding or mean or make him do anything, etc. But, around lunch time, I couldn't help but take advantage of the fact that he is home. He and Britton were both in bed (Britton is sick too) and Haley was down for a nap, so I snuck away and did something I've never done before--I went out to eat by myself.
There's a little Chinese place that I love close to our house. They have a lunchtime buffet, but I rarely get to go to it because we hardly ever eat out and when we do, it isn't lunchtime. So, I took a book and went. It was so nice just to have some alone time to sit and think and read and eat and people watch. Although, I didn't do much people watching because I was pretty into my book and tucked back into the corner booth. But, I was forced to watch for a few minutes because there was a funny lady who seemed to know everyone and she would yell across the restaurant to talk to them. I think this particular place attracts a pretty steady crowd for lunch from the surrounding businesses.
I was having a great time, I could've stayed there all afternoon, but after about 40 minutes, it started to get more crowded and as a few people were waiting at the door I could just tell they were thinking, "Why is that girl hogging a whole table all to herself, just sitting there reading and taking her own sweet time?" So, I decided to be polite and pack it up and go home to take care of my sick ones. Luckily, they are all still sound asleep and it wasn't an inconvenience on Jason who is trying to recover.

Annoying Habits of My Mind

My brain has some annoying subconscious habits. I'm sure that everybody has something that their brain thinks about when they are not thinking. For me, it's numbers. And more specifically, counting. I catch myself doing it all the time. Just counting. By ones, twos, fours, in French, in English, it does matter, I just count things. I was reminded of it again this morning as I was unloading the dishwasher. I caught myself counting and categorizing the different types of dishes. I don't think it's quite normal (or very useful, for that matter). I also always analyze series of numbers. Whenever, I see numbers I try to figure out the pattern (even if there isn't one, I make one up)--with phone numbers, zip codes, account numbers, whatever. I can always figure out a way that the numbers "make sense" together.
I do the same thing with words, as well. I try to find patterns in them. Palindromes are my favorite. I have a fascination with them. Probably because there is a pattern--they're the same forwards and backwards. I always notice words that are palindromes and more particularly (and this is where it gets a little weird) words that are ALMOST palindromes. And I always feel sad for them that they are so close to being a such a cool word. Especially when it's names of things, I think it's a real tragedy that they didn't give it more thought and make the name a palindrome. Like Nissan, for example, could have easily been Nissin or Nassan. Or Toyota could have been Toyot or Atoyota. Okay, I admit that those sound a bit silly, but this is what my brain does when I'm not thinking about something. It sees a word and wants to change it to a palindrome. I just might be crazy.

Ready or Not, Here I Come

Playing games with kids is the funniest thing ever. Britton loves playing Hide and Seek, but he's really bad at it. He picks the same hiding spot every single time (his closet). Sometimes, he tells me that he's going to hide somewhere else, maybe to trick me, but then he ends up hiding in his closet anyway. Also, if I don't find him quick enough, he starts yelling, "I'm in here!" I don't think he really understands the rules so much.
When I'm hiding, it's even better. He can run right passed me and not see me. It's hilarious. He'll look in every room in the house and not think to look under something or behind something. It's funny. And then, if I pick a really good hiding spot, once he's found me, he'll use that same spot for his next hiding place. Pretty predictable. But, he laughs so much and has so much fun that I can't resist playing with him.
One time Jason and I were still in bed and he came in wanting to play. So, we told him to go count and we would hide. We were both too lazy to move so we just pulled the blankets up over our heads. I thought it was way too obvious, but it took him quite a while and several times coming into our room before he found us. And I think we were both laughing even before it occurred to him to lift up the blanket. So much fun.

Haley's Funky Hair

How Do You Like Your Eggs?

Yesterday afternoon, Jason and I were just hanging out in the Family Room watching the Olympics and doing stuff on the computer. The kids were off playing and we were happy they were entertaining each other.
After a little while, Jason got up to help Britton in the bathroom and I heard him say, "What were you thinking? Just stay right there." It was obvious that he was more than a little upset about something which usually means the kids have made a mess. So, I ran in to see what the damage was. Haley was standing there with an empty carton of eggs and all of them smashed all over the kitchen floor. I honestly had to keep myself from not laughing because Jason was so upset and I didn't want him to also be upset with me. He kept asking "what were you thinking?" which to me was a pretty silly question to be asking a one year old. Even if she would respond, I'm sure he wouldn't be happy with her answer. What is a good answer to that question anyway? I'm pretty sure I know exactly what she was thinking--that it's pretty cool that eggs can smash like that and she's sure lucky no one is in the room to stop her before she gets to test every single one.
I tried to calm Jason down a bit and I calmly added that I doubt she was the only one to do it at which point Britton yelled from the bathroom, "I did it too". I love that kids don't know how to lie at this age. While Jason was trying to "reason" with our kids and discipline them and get answers from them, I just started cleaning it up. It really wasn't that bad, and I'm sure they had a blast doing it. The night before we were at my mom's and Britton was helping her cook. He accidentally dropped an egg and he said, "It cracked down and spilled all over!" He was amazed by it. I don't think he had ever seen an egg crack before. So, I'm sure when he came across a whole carton of eggs he was more than thrilled to be able to experiment with his new found knowledge.
My only regret is that the batteries in my camera were dead and I didn't get a picture of the whole thing.

Romantic(?) Valentine Adventure

Around 5:00, Jason called from work to tell us to meet him in Springville to go up to the cabin. The day before, he had built a sled out of some plywood, some old skis, and a chair. He built it to be pulled by the snowmobile to carry extra people and stuff up to the cabin. So, he really wanted to test it out.
So, I bundled up our kids and we headed out to meet him. Once we met him, we still had 3 stops before we could head up the canyon--to get pizza, to fill up the gas cans for the generator, and to buy firewood. By the time we got up there, it was pretty dark and really cold.
We drove as far up as we could make it, then unloaded the snowmobile and sled. The four of us piled on the snowmobile. For some reason, Haley was really scared of it. She got all stifflegged and wouldn't sit down on my lap. She calmed down a bit, but I don't think she enjoyed the ride at all. Jason dropped us off at the top of the driveway while he rode ahead to check things out. As I started walking, my first step sunk into the snow and it went up to my thigh. So, I stood there stranded with two little kids in the cold and dark. Britton wanted to run up ahead, but I didn't want him to leave me in case he sunk in the snow or got lost in the dark. I pulled myself out and started walking, carrying Haley and holding Britton's hand, sinking with every step. When we finally got down the the cabin, the door was completely blocked with snow. So, we had to climb onto the deck and go through the back door. It hardly seemed worth all the work it took to get there. But, it was kind of cool looking out the windows and seeing the big snow piles all around us--being snowed in.
After we were all settled, I made a fire in the wood stove and we all huddled on the couch with blankets and pillows. As we stared at the fire, listening to Britton's stories and snuggling, I realized that this was probably the best Valentine's Day ever. Just being with the three people I love the most.

Back by Popular Demand...

Tonight at the BYU basketball game, they had my all-time favorite half time show. It was even better than the bikers and the jumpropers--both shows that are highly entertaining. And much, much, much better than the Cougarettes who bore me before they even get out onto the court.
Today, back by popular demand, was "Jane's Golden Girls". It's a group of about 75 women ages 50-89 that do dance routines. And they are a hoot. There's just something about old ladies that makes me smile--and old ladies that dance--that's a real treat. They did a number called, "Honky Tonk Attitude". They were all dressed in cowboy attire. Their routine was much like line dancing but also included many shimmyings and high kicks. They even started taking off the ropes around their necks and danced around kind of stripper style. That was definitely a show stopper.
But, the highlight of the whole number occurred after it was all over. The ladies started exiting and they announced, "And here's Jane, 89 years young". Jane took center stage and the music came on again and she got a few minutes for a solo. She kicked and shaked and danced about ending the whole thing with the splits. The crowd went wild! Cosmo ran out, danced with her a bit, then scooped her up and carried her off. What a fun lady!
I've never been much of a dancer, but I'll definitely be counting down the days until I turn 50 and can join Jane's Golden Girls.

Forgiveness and Love

I believe that the purest and truest act of love of all is forgiveness. Maybe this is obvious to everyone else, but it took me a very long time to realize. And I think that may be why forgiveness--true, real forgiveness--is so hard for us. Human nature is such that when we get hurt, the easiest response is to get angry. And when I've been hurt, I put up walls. And when walls are up, it's not too much longer until hatred follows and I want to hurt the person that is causing me the pain. I want them to feel a bit of what I am feeling. Even if this person is someone that I supposedly love. My pride and anger at being hurt keep me from being able to forgive. And the more I've been hurt, the longer I think I should wait to forgive. For some reason, it seems like there should be a certain forgiveness waiting period assigned to each offense. The worse the offense, the longer it should take to forgive. But, really, we know if we're eventually going to be able to forgive, so why not do it immediately? Does it really help at all to have that waiting time where anger and hatred lingers? Of course, I'm writing all of this because this is something that I struggle to do. It's not easy to "forgive and forget". And sometimes (most of the time) I don't even really want to. I think I try to hang onto anger and pain because it doesn't seem fair that someone could hurt me and then I would just forgive. But, maybe that's what love is--not being fair. Treating someone better than they deserve to be treated. I think that most people see people who get hurt and don't hurt back as "weak". But I think those who get hurt and are able to forgive are the strongest people in the world. Because forgiving and cultivating love is much harder than being angry and hurting back. And the more we answer with love, the more we're filled with love and the stronger we get.