My Well-Mannered Girl

My Claire is chock-full of great one-liners.  Over the years we've had several good giggles over some of the things that's she has said.  Last week she added another one to the list....

 

She was sitting at the bar/island in the kitchen on Tuesday afternoon doing her homework.  I was cooking or doing something as she worked away.  Without apology or an "excuse me" afterwards, she very audibly passed gas.

 

Me: What was THAT?!

 

Claire: That was just for you.

 

I had the hardest time stifling the laughter that was building up inside.  I gently scolded her for her lack of manners and then hurried to the backyard to turn on the grill and giggle in privacy.

Halloween 2013

It's almost been a month since Halloween (better than several months since, right?) so I figured I should knock out a post with pictures before Thanksgiving hits us this week...

 

The Saturday before Halloween, the kiddies and I went to the home of my oldest brother and his family for their annual Halloween party.  Hudson was a banana, Claire was Belle (from Disney's Beauty & The Beast), and not having any kind of costume on hand, I threw together my best attempt at a goth-inspired look in the 24 hours before the party.  We had a great time at the shindig and I'm already excited for next year.  I just need to put my thinking cap on now for a better costume next time around (though I did get comments from a few people that they didn't recognize me...not too shabby!).

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know why Picasa has chosen to hate some of my iPhone pictures from the night of the party and not others. I would have made a collage but most of the pics weren't showing up in folders like they should have.  Whatever, Picasa.  Above you can see my Belle and Banana, me with brothers and with my sisters-in-law, my pirate nephew with Claire, my cute pirate niece with my oldest brother, my baby bro with his wife and their darling baby elephant, and a selfie of me as the kids and I were leaving home for the party.  I was SO not meant to have bangs.  My favorite costume of the night was my 6'7" brother in lederhosen...those shorts were extra special.  I'm not including the best pic of the night (which may or may not have shown him pulling up on the leg of his shorts) for the sake of his keeping some sort of dignity.

As for the big candy-begging night the next week, I didn't get as many pictures as I did in past years but I got a couple of good ones of my kids in their costumes so I'll just offer the best pre-trick-or-treating shot I got on our front porch:

 

Claire obviously opted out of being a princess again and was a super hero.  Hudson LOVES his banana costume and stuck with it for the big night.  We had a great time zipping around our neighborhood and the kids came home with WAY too much candy.  After allowing them to slowly consume it over the past few weeks, I allowed them to select a few final pieces last night and confiscated the rest.  We'll have plenty of goodies this week with Thanksgiving and in the next several weeks with the Christmas holiday.  Oh, the sugar comas!

 

Her Mother's Daughter

We had SEP (parent/teacher/student) conferences at the kids' school this week.  Both kids are getting along just fine in terms of grades and making progress in their education.  At the same time, both kids had a couple of things to work on when it comes to behavior.

 

Now, neither of my kids misbehaves at school.  We seriously scored in that department with our kids...no child is perfect but ours are pretty dang good.  That being said, Hudson needs to work on focusing on and retaining what the teacher says, remembering to buckle down and complete tasks, etc. These are things that don't come as a surprise to us.  Having a very active mind, he and his thoughts are often off someplace else while the world (and therefore his class and teacher) continues to go on around him.  We'll keep him, though...

 

Then there's Claire.  The kids in her class each did a self-evaluation about how they're doing in different areas of behavior.  Her paper was marked with "always" as the answer on just about everything.  This included things like:

 

I keep my desk clean so I can find things.

I start my work right away and I use my time to get my work done.

I try hard to get along with others in class and at recess.

 

There were a few others but you get the gist of it.  Claire's little self-evaluation looked marvelous with all of the word "always" circled.  We were discussing this when Mrs. W asked her to think about this one:

 

I try not to visit too much during work time.

 

Pause...flashback 30 years.

 

I may or may not have had a slight problem with being a chatterbox as a child (and as a teenager...and now).  In kindergarten, my buddies Scott, Brian, and I would talk too much.  Mrs. Murphy would punish us by sending us to different corners of the room.  I can very clearly remember sitting up in my corner and smiling at, waving to, and whispering (read: audibly saying) a "hello" to Scott and Brian in their respective corners. Corners were not an effective tool.  What my teacher should have done is adorned me with earplugs in my ears, a blindfold over my eyes, and duct tape over my mouth.  Once properly stripped of my ability to see, hear, and talk, she could have spun me around several times in order to disorient me and then seated me in an empty room or closet far from our classroom. That might have solved the problem.

 

After kindergarten, I totally shaped up.  I no longer got sent to the corner for talking.  Instead, moving desks pretty much became a hobby of mine and it lasted all throughout my schooling years.  I didn't necessarily have a lot of friends in any given class but everyone that I sat next to in school had EARS and I wanted to be sure that they were put to good use.  My teachers were very smart individuals and would always move me next to someone who they knew either a) wasn't a friend of mine or b) wasn't a talker.  I'm sure you can guess how much good those moves did.  If someone wasn't my friend, I did my darndest to make them one, even if it was just for that period of time each day when we were seated next to each other.  When I was parked next to a non-talker, I made up for their lack of communication and did enough talking for the both of us.

 

As an adult, I'm not too much better but lucky for me, there aren't teachers following me around and chastising me for my verbal prowess.

 

Okay, now....back to Claire.

 

Claire was very quick to admit that this isn't her strong point.  She picked up a pen, changed her answer to "most of the time", and promised to work on keeping quiet during work time.  I couldn't help but smile.

 

Poor girl is in for a lifetime of this.

Finishing Up Summer: Claire's Birthday & 1st Day of School

After our long break from reality, we took it easy the last few weeks of summer.  I did put the kids back in swimming lessons for one last session and let them have plenty of free time and time playing with friends while they could.

To top off the months of freedom, Claire helped us celebrate getting back to school and real life by having her 6th birthday....Happy Birthday, Claire! She opted for a party with a nice group of girls who were all going into 1st grade together (different classes but all the same year in school).  She chose a palette of teal, lavender, and pink for her decorations and I loved how the back patio turned out until the wind kicked up...it took a few balloons for a ride up into the sky and kept tossing some of the decorations that I had hung up onto the roof (and over to the other side of the yard).  The girls enjoyed eating a pizza lunch, making necklaces, having their faces painted, going on a "scavenger/treasure hunt" wherein they were required to do different physical (aka tiring) activities before moving on to the next step (end reward: party favor/goody bags), and of course, cake, ice cream, and the opening of presents.  Claire had a very happy day indeed!

Just a few short days after Claire's birthday was the 1st day of school for 2013-2014. Both kids were so happy to get back into the swing of things.  No, I'm not kidding...back at the end of June, Hudson expressed that he missed school and wished that they were already going back. It's so nice having kiddies who love learning! As mentioned above, Claire is in 1st grade this year and Hudson is in 4th.  I absolutely love their teachers this year.  Claire has the same teacher that Hudson did in 1st grade (she's our favorite!) and Hudson's teacher is fantastic...no complaints coming from our house!

I wish I had better pictures from that morning but we were rushed getting out the door (somebody has a chronically hard time getting going in the a.m...ahem) and I didn't have the time to coax and force the kids to endure a longer photo session.  Maybe I'll be up and going and do better on the last day of school next May...

Summer 2013: A Nutshell of Photo Collages

Alrighty, folks...trying to keep it simple as I promised.  Here's the rundown of our summer months:

 

1. Spent a week at Marriott's Newport Coast Villas in Southern California.  Minutes away from what I still consider my 2nd home: Balboa Island (spent 2 weeks there every other summer growing up). We spent time walking around the island (as much as I could on my poorly-timed broken toe), eating Balboa Bars, enjoying the sights on and around the island, relaxing and swimming at the villas, playing on our favorite beach: Corona del Mar, going for a cruise around the harbor on Duffy boats, spending a day at LEGOLAND (1st and last time) and more than anything, we enjoyed spending time with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Walks around the island with family, time with cousins, and most importantly, Balboa Bars from Dad's.

 

 Amazing gardens and sights on Balboa Island.

Cruising in the Duffy boats.

Corona del Mar: my little brother found a seaweed super hero mask, my oldest brother showed the sand who's boss, Hudson and Grandpa had fun in the waves, and I discovered that buddy taped toes and sand don't jive...at least my nail polish rocked. The wide pic at the top is of my dad, two brothers, my bro-in-law, and a niece all a ways out from the beach waiting to catch waves (body surfing and body boarding).

LEGOLAND with my little brother and his family, my kids and I, and my niece, Becca.

2. After Newport Coast, we headed to Northern California for some quality time in my hometown of Los Gatos. We took my niece with us for some extra time with my kids (didn't hear one complaint from any of them).  We stopped at Harris Ranch and Casa de Fruta on the way up.  I was an amazingly awesome mom/aunt and paid for the kids to ride the double-decker carousel a the latter.  My childhood self wishes she could have ridden it.  While staying at my parents' place for over a week, we enjoyed going to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium, spending time with friends and extended family, going to the park, doing a little bit of shopping, and more than anything, we had a great time being at Grandpa & Grandma's house.

The three cousins together: at The Boardwalk, Casa de Fruta, Harris Ranch, and G&G's backyard sandbox.

 

Happy 4th of July: The kids spent a good chunk of the day riding scooters in the backyard. They were having fun hamming it up for the camera and Grandpa had fun photo-bombing a totally unsuspecting Hudson.

 

Day trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium: Hudson got to pet a Bat Ray, we all pet sea creatures in the tide pool exhibits, a saw Bottlenosed Dolphins swimming a ways off the main observation deck (a real treat...they're rarely in the Monterey Bay). The jelly fish exhibit is always a favorite...the one picture shows Hudson's hand with a teensy jelly swimming on the other side of the glass.

Swimming with friends and playing with 2nd cousins.

3. Next up was a trip to my sister's in El Dorado Hills, CA, where we spent the last few days of our trip.  I was thrilled to have the opportunity see two of my dear lifelong friends who live in the area.  One made the long-ish drive with her cute daughter to see me at my sister's and my kids and I went to visit the other friend and her family at her parents' home near EDH (extra special treat as I hadn't seen her parents in over 20 years!).  Aside from visits with friends, my sister and I made sure to fit in some sister time, complete with a yummy lunch at one of our favorite digs, Jack's Urban Eats.  The kids spent their time playing with their cousins and swimming in the neighbor's pool.

 

When we drove home to Utah, my sister and her kids came with us to spend almost 2 weeks out here.  One of the highlights of their visit here was our day spent up in Park City where we took the kids on the Alpine Slides (my 1st time ever!) and Alpine Coaster.  I didn't get many pictures of our other activities here but I'm pretty sure that only my sister and I would truly appreciate looking at photos of every eating establishment we went to and the foods we consumed at each place.

A glimpse of our days in EDH and at the Park City Mountain Resort.

Now, that was better than my usual wordy self, wasn't it?  It was wordier than it could have been but far less wordy than I'm capable of.  You're welcome.

Back In The Saddle...AGAIN

I hope you were sitting down when you opened my blog and saw that I had written for the first time in over 4 months.  I can only imagine the state of shock that I've put some of you into.

 

Not that I have a ton of readers, but amazingly enough, people have been checking my blog on a fairly regular basis during my hiatus.  I think that roughly 85% of those visits have been my own sister and parents (who know better than to think that this professional procrastinator would have gotten her act together) but still, I'm always surprised to see my ticker/counter keep going up. I've even checked my blog during these past months.  Never to write anything, mind you. It's always been to click over to blogs that I frequent, but that being said, sometimes even I've been surprised that nothing new has popped up on my feed.  So strange how that works.

 

I've decided that rather than writing four million "rewind" posts, I'm just going to do a few (ha ha ha...you thought you were safe, didn't you?!). They're primarily going to be filled with a whole lot of picture collages and not a whole lot of writing...at least that's my intention.  I've never been very good at keeping things a) short and sweet or b) my words to a minimum.  We'll see how this goes...

 

First up, we have the end of the 2012-2013 school year.  I was able to manage going on both kids' end-of-year field trips during the last month of school.

 

Hudson's class went to the Ogden Nature Center.  I volunteered to drive up with a couple of other parents and the lunches for all three classes in my car order to avoid riding on the school bus (don't get me started on how buses made for children don't have ample leg room for tall adults). It was rainy.  We got wet.  One kid slipped and fell in the mud.  All the kids "got to" skim the water in one of the ponds in search of nasty little bugs and organisms.  It was kind of cool and kind of gross.

 

Claire's class went to Wheeler Farm in SLC.  We all had to ride on the bus.  I dealt with it and it helped build my amazing character.  It was not rainy or wet that day.  The weather was beautiful.  I teamed up with another mom and we managed our little groups of girls together. We all walked and/or ran around seeing and petting the various animals. The barnyard stunk.  I didn't mind the stink, though, as the animals are fun/cute/awesome and I wish I could take a fair number of them home with me.  My backyard would be very crowded and messy if I did.

 

Finally, we had the last day of school.  I always take 1st day of school pictures and last day pictures.  We were running behind this particular morning (this had never happened before...) so I only managed to get a last day of school picture.  At least I remembered.

 

That's it for tonight, my people.  More to come in the next few days...

Rewind: My Boy Turned 9

Back towards the beginning of May, Hudson up and turned 9 on me.  How can he be this old?  And going into 4th grade next year?  Those of you who have older kids are probably thinking, "Just wait..." and I realize he's going to keep getting older, but still.  It's hard to believe that I have a nine year old and that he's growing up so fast.

 

On his birthday, Hudson saved us money and requested his favorite home-cooked meal: grilled burgers, fresh watermelon, oven fries, and a green salad.  With root beer.  He's really not hard to please.  Dessert was ice cream from Cold Stone where he chose blue cotton candy ice cream with rainbow sprinkles mixed in.  After that came the traditional opening of presents.  Here he is opening one of two favorites that night (the other was a circuit board kit):

He kind of has a thing for Minecraft and Legos.  Putting out a product that entails both of these things is one of the most brilliant ideas in the history of toys.  Ever.

 

A few days later we had a little birthday gathering with extended family (hubby's parents, one of hubby's brothers and his boys, and my two brothers who live locally and their families).  Since smiling nicely for a picture is totally overrated when you're 9 years old, this is what Hudson treated my camera to when he had the chance:

Love my boy so much...  I now have about 11 months to come to terms with the fact that he's going to be 10 next year.

Rewind: Our Little Dancer

Claire wanted to give dancing a shot so back in the fall we put her in a contemporary dance class at a local studio.  Three of her friends were in the class with her and she positively LOVED it.  She had class once a week and finally, after months of preparation, she had her big recital at the end of April.  Her class did a darling little number to the tune of "Touch The Sky" from Disney's Brave.

Love this pic so I just had to work it in...

Claire and a few friends watching some of the older girls at their dress rehearsal.

 

 All dolled up for the big day.

 

Being a finicky almost-6-year-old, Claire thinks she wants to forgo dance this fall and give gymnastics a shot.  We'll see...

Rewind: Disney Princesses on Ice

Yes, you read the title right.  I took my girl to Disney Princesses on Ice.  This was a first for both of us as I had never been to any "on ice" performance in my life (I assume hockey games don't count but the fights are fun so that has to count for something, right?).

 

I bought our tickets several weeks in advance and lucked out when I snagged two seats at the aisle just one row up from the most expensive sections in the arena.  I didn't tell Claire but I wrote on our calendar that it was going to be a night out for the two of us.  She was excited as could be and leading up to the big day, she would refer to the calendar often.

 

Our evening started with dinner in SLC.  Once we arrived at City Creek, I gave Claire a few dinner options and she chose Blue Lemon.  We hadn't eaten there before and we both loved it.  I'm starting to salivate just thinking about the butternut squash soup I had. Mmmmmmm. This post isn't about food, though, so I'll move on...   After dinner we walked to the nearest Trax station and took the train over to The Delta Center (it has been renamed Energy Solutions Arena but it'll always be The Delta Center to me).  On the wait to the train and once we were there, Claire noticed other little girls dressed up as princesses.  She questioned me about it and I was very vague in my responses.

 

When we finally arrived at the arena, I sat her down in front of a tree and told her my evil plan.  She was beyond excited and happily held on tight as we made our way through the crowds inside.  We stopped at Cinderella's carriage which was made entirely out of Lego Duplo blocks and Claire did her best princess wave for a picture.  Then, being a total sucker (and having cash from the hubby), I gave in like any good pushover parent would and got her a light-up sparkly wand (it even makes pretty sounds) and a foam "crown" before we headed in to find our seats.  I also allowed myself to be talked into kettle corn, cotton candy (which she decided she didn't care for - strange child - we saved it for the boys at home), and a bottled water that cost me more than it should have. Oh well...it was a special mommy-daughter date and my girl is worth every penny!

 

 

The show itself was a ton of fun.  Claire was completely enthralled and loved every second of it.  I think her favorite part was the WHOLE thing.  My favorite scenes were when Rapunzel and Flynn held onto long, flowy bands of fabric and rose up into the air and when they lit the lanterns at the end.  Such good stuff!  I honestly enjoyed the entire show and would love to take both of our kids sometime when they put on a more gender-neutral show.

 

Now, I've saved the best for last.  I took a video or two of Claire during the show, just hoping to catch one of "those" moments.  At one point, I could tell based on the storyline and such that a something big was coming up so I quietly turned on my phone's video camera and waited...

This was hands-down my favorite moment of the night!

Ouch Part II: Broken

WARNING for those of you who have issues with even mild injuries/x-rays, bruising (I think bruises are awesome, by the way) and/or feet (I'm thinking of you, HTP): There are pictures of my x-rays and my beautiful bruised toe and foot below.  You may want to shield your eyes.

 

Moving on....

 

My hunch/instinct about my toe was right.  I broke my poor little 5th metatarsal right at the base of the toe.  Lame!!!  After an uncomfortable night and humming and hawing about getting things checked out, I finally went to the doctor late Tuesday morning.  When the tech was reviewing the first two of three films, I heard her say, "Ouch!" quite loudly from the back room.  I asked her if she was okay and she responded that she was fine, she was just looking at the pictures of my toe.  Awesome.

 

The nice doctor came in and saw me once he'd seen my films and we chatted for a few minutes.  He really was a nice, good, honest guy and whispered that he could buddy-tape the toe for me but that the clinic would charge something like $120 for it and suggested that if I was comfortable doing it myself, that I should do so.  No question there!!  Before I left, a medical assistant came in and gave me a lovely black shoe with a sturdy sole and Velcro straps...just like the one that has been collecting dust on the top shelf of my closet for a few years.  Compared to the flip-flops I had on when I walked in (even my loosest, comfiest shoes hurt like crazy), it actually felt quite nice to cruise around in.

X-rays of the toe along with bruising that night.  The bruising got way worse but I didn't get a good pic before it started to go down again. Also - I have since painted my toenails so my foot looks a tiny bit normal.

 

On the wise advice of my hubby, I went to see my podiatrist on Wednesday.  I asked all kinds of questions about activity level/usage of the foot, when I can try normal shoes, etc.  I wasn't too happy to hear that the first two weeks are the most crucial for healing and that I need to take it easy.  Ha, ha, ha!!  I know it's logical but it still bugs).  I have to go back in about a month to have new x-rays taken and hopefully at that point, I can stop wearing my crazy wicked-awesome strappy shoe...if it doesn't hurt.

 

Since my doctor's appointment, I've tried to take it easy and since the doc okayed it, I've kind of let pain be my guide.  I've definitely overdone it a couple of times in the past few days (like when I cleaned bathrooms, did laundry, and went out to a movie and dinner yesterday) but I've really tried to make sure that I sit back and put the foot up for longer than 10 minutes at least a few times a day.  And I'm counting sitting here at the computer and not moving it as rest time as well.  I have to because otherwise I'd go nuts.  I can't just sit around, read, and eat chocolate all day.  Well, I'm sure I could manage somehow - especially if it was dark chocolate marzipan from Mrs. Cavanaugh's - but I'm not wired that way.

 

In the meantime, my mom was apparently insanely jealous of all the attention that I've gotten with my broken toe so on Friday morning, she up and rolled her ankle and broke her 5th metatarsal.  Her break is on one of the longer bones up closer to the ankle so it's considered a broken foot.  Lucky lady gets to wear a back Velcro boot that goes up to her knee.  And she has a cane.  I am not envious.  We're going to see each other later this week and you can bet we'll be taking some pictures of our darling footwear and spending lots of time sitting around.  At least we both did this to our left feet so we can still drive.  I think between the two of us, we might be able to function as 1, maybe 1 1/2 adults.

More posts coming throughout this week.  And I'm not bluffing (for once)...I've already knocked out 3 posts and scheduled them!

Ouch

This afternoon Hudson and I worked on rearranging his room.  We sorted, cleaned, put away, threw-out, moved, and generally took care of business with everything in there.  When the bulk of the work was done, I sent him off to play and started to take care of a few bigger tasks that I decided to do on my own (i.e. making up his bunk bed which happens to be my all-time least favorite household chore. I'd rather scrub the toilets or mop the kitchen...I curse whoever invented bunk beds with railings).

 

I can't recall exactly what I was doing, but after running something to the kitchen, I walked back into the room and while apparently not paying attention to where I was stepping, I jammed my left pinky toe into Hudson's big, sturdy book basket.  I heard a crack but I don't know if it was the basket or my toe.  Either way, it felt less than marvelous and I quickly grabbed the railing on the bunk bed and stood there trying to decide whether I felt like swearing or crying.  I did neither and instead took my sweet time soaking up the pain and rather un-fondly remembering when I broke that same toe about 3 1/2 years ago...  Just before Christmas.  Spiral fracture. Huge black boot. 10 weeks before normal shoes didn't hurt.  Ugh.

 

Dinner had just arrived when this happened (pizza night...too hot to turn on the ovens or stove and too hot to make hubby grill out back) so I took it easy with my foot resting on a pillow while we ate and watched MIB 3 with the kiddies downstairs. Will Smith, by the way, is positively hilarious...I can't stop laughing when he's doing his thing. Anywho - hubby did his best to keep me from being on my foot too much and was kind enough to bring me pain killers and get me another slice of pizza.  I have a hard time being waited on but it sure felt better to be off it than hobbling around like a total gimp.

 

Tonight the toe has definitely swelled up a bit and it's starting to turn a lovely shade of light purple at the base and around the side.  The pain isn't nearly as bad as it was when I first love-tapped the book basket but I don't know if that is because I've stayed off it much of the night, if the painkillers are doing their job, or if it's because it's not broken and is already getting better.  I'm hoping and crossing my fingers that this is nothing more than a bad jam or sprain.  We'll see how the pain is tomorrow.  I really don't want a broken toe and I really don't want to wear that super stylish boot for several weeks again.  It'd make everyone jealous and I hate making others feel less beautiful just because I look so incredibly awesome with my bulky Velcro-strapped footwear.

 

Please don't be broken.

Rewind: Easter 2013

We had a very nice Easter this year and it was a pretty low key day all around.  The kids found their baskets from the Easter Bunny in the morning and then the bunny came back and hid the hard boiled eggs that we had dyed the day or two before.

 

I had the kids wear new duds to church that day (of course).  Hudson is getting a little old to be forced into cute little outfits with multiple pieces so he just got a cool new tie.  Claire, on the other hand, is all over getting new outfits so she got a dress with a cardigan shrug and new shoes.  Between her willingness and desire to have new clothes and the fact that I'm a sucker for them, she definitely makes out better than her brother on holidays.

 

 

We were joined by my little brother and his family along with his mother-in-law for dinner that evening.  We had a delicious spread of ham (recipe from my hubby's mom...BEST ever), sour cream scalloped potatoes, fresh fruit, green salad, and sugared orange rolls for dinner and fresh lemon cake for dessert.  I just love holiday dinners.  I'm glad they don't occur more often than they do because if I ate like that every day, you'd have to get a forklift to get me out of the house.

Rewind: Rain Gutter Regatta

I'm ever so slowly getting closer to being current on here...we're talking February now, people! 

 

Hudson goes to Boy Scouts twice a month (plus a monthly "pack meeting") and in February, he participated in the Rain Gutter Regatta.  We made his boat at home over the couple of days before the event...sanding, painting, etc.  Hudson knew EXACTLY how he wanted his boat to look and did a great job on the little details.

 

On the big night, Hudson's little boat (and his lungs) fared pretty well.  He won a few heats and made it to the semi-finals before losing to a boy who ended up going to the finals.  He didn't really care about whether or not he won and was happy just to participate and race.  Not that winning a bit didn't help - I'm quite sure it did.

On a random side note, the guy with the shaved head on the left lives in our area and used to play basketball with Max on Saturday mornings.  He's an anesthesiologist and as luck would have it (and I'm glad it did), the morning of my brain surgery back in 2008, he walked into my pre-op room as he'd been assigned to my surgery that day.  I remember being so glad to see him...it's the little things that make the hard things a bit easier.

Rewind: Snow Fun

This winter...HA, HA, HA!  No, I'm serious.  We got a boatload of snow (actually even more than that) this winter.  We had a very lame, brown, ugly, and un-wintry winter in 2011/2012 so the 2012/2013 moisture was a welcome change.  During one particular storm system in January, we got a solid 3 feet of snow up here in just a couple of days.  After the biggest portion of it came down, we went out and had some good, freezing fun playing.  Actually, Max and the kids played...I stood on the sidelines and took pictures.

After playing around in the snow out back for a good, long time, we headed out front where Max and Hudson were going to start working on a snow fort in the massive snow bank/drift between us and our neighbor's place.  They made some progress but their work was interrupted by an unexpected discovery: when our driveway is slightly covered in snow or iced over, it makes a fantastic - albeit short - sledding hill.  We usually keep the walkways and drive pretty clear but the cold temperatures that day made it almost impossible to everything clear of ice.  The kids took turns going down the drive and loved that the sled would uncontrollably twist and spin around.  I don't know how often we'll have those perfect conditions but you can bet that when we do, our kids will be out front sliding down the driveway!
 

Speaking of winter storms, we had a crazy one back in January or February.  It was the perfect mix of freezing temperatures, snow, and rain and it was a real doozy to say the least.  We had freezing rain and the roads (and sidewalks and driveways and...) were all slick with a thin sheet of ice.  Driving was pretty scary and downright treacherous in some places.  I was worried about having my kids take the bus that morning and drove them to school.  My drive started with sliding backwards down the driveway into a snow bank and ended with my car sliding down into our circle with pretty much zero control of steering or stopping.  Yikes!  I'm glad it only lasted a day.

More to come this month, I swear.  I'm knocking out a few posts and getting them scheduled for every few days.

Rewind: New Years Eve 2012

Most years we stay home on New Years Eve and party like nothing you've ever seen.  Some years we have maybe one other family over and enjoy a bit of food, bed before midnight for the kids, maybe some games or a movie, and a quiet, "Woo-hoo...Happy New Years." when the clock strikes twelve (because the kids are asleep).  Very thrilling indeed.

This year we headed to my the home of my oldest brother and his family to join them and my wee baby brother and his family for the big night.  It was fairly low key overall and we had a great time.

Food is key to my family's gatherings and I must say that the food was awesome.  We all provided snackies and appetizers for the spread...baked brie, shrimp with cocktail sauce, fruit, cream cheese with jalapeno red pepper jelly, veggies and dip, hot artichoke dip, candy/cookies/dessert, etc.  If anyone left hungry then either a) there was something seriously wrong with them or b) they didn't get to the kitchen before the rest of us inhaled all the tasty vittles.  I think I gained 10 pounds that night.

The kids spent much of the night downstairs playing and watching a movie (or movies) while we adults were upstairs watching a movie, chatting, and playing poker (using Horse-opoly money).  My one sister-in-law was pregnant at the time and that got the three men talking about the babies that they carry in their tummies.  We all had a good laugh as they stood and compared the abdomens that they obviously so tenderly care for and nurture (Matt's stance and face are my favorite...I laugh every time I see the picture).

I am so glad that we all got together that night...nothing like family and laughter to make one's heart happy.

Rewind: Christmas 2012

Here I go...time to play catch up.

 

While hubby was recovering from his hip surgery in December (which he did quite nicely...much faster and better recovery than when he had the other hip done almost five years ago), I tried to keep the holiday season as normal as possible for the kiddies.

 

I took them to Temple Square to see the lights one evening.  We enjoyed walking around and seeing the lights, watching/listening to the nativity display, and seeing the Christus statue.

As long as we were downtown, we went to Macy's and saw the holiday window displays - all made out of CANDY.  Each giant ornament was different and it was amazing to see all the fine detail.  I can't imagine putting one of those things together!  After seeing the candy windows, we went and waited forever for a table at The Olive Garden.  Dinner was tasty, though, and we all went home tired, full, and happy.

On two other nights, there were Christmas parties to attend.  One was at church (which Hudson opted out of as he was concerned about leaving Max at home alone) and the other was our annual neighborhood progressive/rotating dinner party.  Both kids came along on the latter and as always, we had a great time.  Santa Claus made an appearance at both and Claire was a little apprehensive before the first party so we decided to clue her in that the Santa Claus that comes to the parties is a helper to the REAL Santa Claus and....she knows said helper.  We told her who the special helper is and she was thrilled to be in on the big secret.  She was in awe that this man that we know is actually a real Santa's helper.  Holy smokes.  No more Santa visit nerves for our girl.  Hudson is a very good older brother and encourages his sister in her excitement and happily sits on Santa's lap, too.  I think he still has fun with it (too smart for us...figured EVERYTHING about EVERYONE on his own out when he was 6 years old).

Christmas day itself was pretty quiet and very nice to spend together as a family.  We had a yummy breakfast (homemade Danish Almond Puff, blueberry muffins, fruit, etc.) before heading into the living room to open presents.  We've got two amazingly patient kids who are always good about waiting until it's officially time to go in.  This year we tried to cut back on the gifts (we even stuck a couple of things out in the garage to save for another time).  It wasn't that they didn't get plenty but the kids didn't notice the difference and were thrilled with what they received.  I also love seeing how excited they are to give to others...it's one of those reward moments as a parent (at least for me).  It felt great to tone it down and enjoy the holiday without such a huge emphasis on presents.

 

That evening it was just us again as we enjoyed a massive spread of prime rib roast and all the fixin's for Christmas dinner.  My brother's family was going to join us but his wife became sick on Christmas Eve so they cancelled the morning of.  We were sad that they couldn't join us but appreciated the gift they gave us by not bringing her "bug" to our house.

 

I always love the holidays and this year was no different.  I'm just looking forward to this year when Max will join us for some of our outings!

 

Now watch out...another post coming tomorrow morning (not joking!).

Think Deeply

So much for my grand intentions of knocking a few posts out this week.  I'm down to the wire now (assuming that we're counting on a Sunday to Saturday calendar here, I've still got over 30 minutes until the week is over) so here I am sneaking in the post I promised earlier this week.

 

We've had a rather large amount of snow this year and my kids regularly tromped through it at school, at home, and in Hudson's case, on the way home from the bus stop.  One day at the end of January he walked in the door after his trek down the hill in the snow pretty much drenched from head to toe.  I asked him what happened and he proceeded to tell me a story about how he fell in a big snow bank right after getting off the bus.  Then, rather than walk on the plowed street or on shoveled sidewalks, he did the logical thing and made his way home primarily by way of other snow banks, snow-covered front yards, and piles of snow.

 

Before stripping off the wet & freezing layers of clothing, Hudson handed me his backpack (which was open) and his math workbook.  The book was every bit as wet as he was.  I asked him if the book fell out of his backpack and he replied that it hadn't - he had simply held onto it on the bus ride and all through his escapade on the way home.  When he realized what had happened he said, "I guess I should have thought first."  Yeah.

 

Being an awesome mom (it happens on occasion), I took his math workbook and cover to cover and page by page, I wiped out the water and snow that were throughout it.  Yes, there was actual snow in between some of the pages.  After getting rid of any excess moisture by blotting each page with paper towels, I then pulled out the ironing board, turned my iron on steam-free, and set to work. Never, in all my imagining of what my life as a mom would be like did I ever think I'd have to iron a math workbook.  It was glorious fun. All 100 or so pages of it.  I called my sister and we had a good laugh as I relayed the story to her and then laughed even harder when I saw what was printed at the top of almost every page:

THINK DEEPLY

Indeed.

I'm Back (Again)...No, Really!

Considering the length of my unintentional hiatus from blogging, I think it's a gross understatement to say that I've got some catching up to do (just like I did 2 months ago...strange).  But as of tonight, I'm back.  I even wrote an e-mail to may family tonight (which I hadn't done since November 11th) and changed the background on this here blog.  Doesn't it look swell?  You can check it out again and again in the coming days because I'm going to be posting both this week and next.  I promise.

Obsession: Downton Abbey

I've got a lot of catching up to do but let's just get started with these two words:

 

DOWNTON ABBEY

 

When Max and I got into watching Downton Abbey back in the fall, we thought that we were the last ones to jump on the bandwagon.  I've been surprised as of late to find out that there are still a lot of people out there who haven't started watching it, let alone heard of it.  What very melancholy and hopeless lives they must lead.

 

Anywhatzerdoodle, we were immediately hooked and there was no going back.  We finished season 1 in a few days and within a week's time, we were done with season 2 (I think we stayed up until 2 or 3 o'clock some nights...just had to watch one more episode) and cursing the fact that season 3 wouldn't start until January 6th of this year.  It was September.  October, November, and December crawled by at a snail's pace as we waited for the first Sunday of this year to brighten our bleak existence.

 

Each Sunday night of this year has been filled with excitement and anticipation as we counted down the minutes until Downton Abbey would be on.  Granted we TiVo it and watch it after it records...but still.  Twice the glorious amounts of snow we get at this elevation (approx. 5,000 ft) has blanketed our satellite dish and left us in a state of sheer panic on Sunday evening.  Twice I stayed inside and tried not to have a nervous breakdown while my husband - remember he had major hip surgery in November - dragged out the ladder and climbed up on our snow-blanketed roof to clean the dish off so that we'd get reception in time.  It worked both times and he came back down to less-slippery ground safely both times.  Hallelujah!...because we couldn't have waited 1-2 days for PBS to make the episodes available online.

 

Last night was one of those nights.  We missed the first couple of minutes of it because our box was re-booting but no big deal.  We saw every other minute and they were the ones that mattered.  I discussed last night's gripping episode (seriously...how crazy was it?!) with no less than 4 people today.  During the conversation with my sister, she provided me with life changing news: Season 3 (the current season) of Downton Abbey is being released on DVD and BluRay tomorrow.  The season isn't even finished airing here in the states yet and they're making it available to all of us addicts.  Oh, my good glory...I almost passed out.  What a brilliant marketing plan on the part of those sneaky Brits.  After very little discussion between Max and I, it was decided that we would need to order it on BluRay tonight.

 

The deed has been done.  Our beloved copy of Downton Abbey Season 3 on BluRay will ship out via Amazon Prime tomorrow and it will be on our doorstep on Thursday.  I may or may not sit in one of our front bay windows and wait for it to arrive...I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight (or tomorrow night for that matter).

 

If you can't guess what our Friday night plans are, then something is seriously wrong with your deductive reasoning skills.  Please no phone calls, visits, etc. after 9:00...'cause we're not taking a break in watching the rest of the season for anything!

 

P.S.  I just told my spell checker to accept the word "Downton"...because it's totally legit.