The Waves of Life

Blogger Swap at Exponent and Doves and Serpents

2011-09-25T21:21:00.002-07:00

Today begins our week-long swap between bloggers at The Exponent and Doves and Serpents.

I did a column called, "Ride to Church" featuring all of the churches I saw in my short 3 day trip to Europe.

I hope to be blogging more here as well, like maybe the kid's first day of school pics, you know since they've been in school for 6 weeks already.

Visiting Skopje, Macedonia

2011-09-13T14:44:00.007-07:00

My work with the hemophilia community too me to Skopje, Macedonia last week. I'm evaluating the local patient organization for a potential twinning program. As an established chapter, we would spend 4 years helping the Skopje association work towards better organization, fundraising, programs, and services for members of the bleeding disorders community. Although this is my first trip to Europe, I'm amazed at how comfortable I feel, not only in the hemophilia community, but in the city. One of the well-traveled staff mentioned that Americans sometimes say that America is the "best" country. I don't believe that because each country has it's greatness and it's problems.

I loved the people, the food, the city. We traveled out of the city up to a beautiful lake called Matka (First photo). We ate at a restaurant up there and visited a very old Orthodox church. I learned from a Macedonian I met at the airport that Matka means "womb." I found it very fitting considering how beautiful the area was and how difficult it was to access.

The people of Hemalog, the Macedonian hemophilia society, were very kind and generous. One man, Simon, gave us some of his homemade wine and brandy. They also treated us to meals and showed us around the city and surrounding areas.

We toured the medical treatment areas for hemophilia and I was impressed at how well it seems

to operate. Many patients are now on home care for their bleeding disorders which is a huge step toward a healthier population. In the future, we hope to help them as they continue to advocate for increased access to clotting factor.

Despite some drama on the return trip home (Tony, my traveling companion lost his passport and I was forced to leave him at the last minute), the visit was really amazing and I am so glad I had the opportunity to go.

But, the twinning program lasts four years, so it is likely that I will return in the future. I look forward to it.

Here's my webalbum.

Update!

2011-09-04T13:53:00.004-07:00

We had a such a great time in Michigan, I can hardly believe we've been back for over a month.

As we gear up for fall travel, I'm thinking about what else we can do with our family.

Here's the link to our webalbum.

Jaxon (age 9) just started 3rd grade and Asher (5) just started Kindergarten. Both of them like their teachers. Jaxon has a pet hamster in his class named Brownie. Asher has 28 children in his class, but they are hiring a new teacher so he should be in a smaller class soon!

Finn is ready to start preschool on Tuesday. He's been soooo bored at home without his brothers. He asks to play with friends EVERY DAY. If you live nearby, let's get together and play.

Mark is loving BYU football season and is beginning a business venture with a friend.

I'm volunteering more with the AZ Hemophilia Assoc, in fact I am going to Macedonia this week for an initial visit for a twinning program between our chapter and theirs. I still teach Zumba 4-5 times a week and am looking to build my private class with friends and family. I'm thrilled to have a small following of people who follow me around to different clubs where I teach.

Recently I blogged at Exponent about getting ready to start a career. I got great advice from friends (and strangers) about how to get back into the workforce, go back to school, etc.

We love having my mom here living with us. She is such a loving person and a resource for our family. She has great ideas on how to teach and feed my kids, clean the house, and organize my life.

This fall Mark's brother, David, gets home from his mission and I hope we get to fly out to say hello to him.

Mark has a business trip to NYC this fall and I want to go with him and see The Book of Mormon, the musical. But I just looked at tickets and they are more than $200 each! Sigh.

Maybe when it comes to Gammage in a few years :)

Also, our family has a team for the Hemophilia Walk on Nov 6, 2011. The Walk is at the Phoenix Zoo and we're inviting all of our friends and family to join us. (Here are photos of the Walk we did a few years ago)

If you are interested in joining us or donating to our team, please visit this website.

Goodbye to Grandma Michele and Grandpa Larry at the airport!

That's us at the minor league baseball game that was rained out (it only rained 3 days the whole month we were there!)

Asher is holding some of his fabulous pre-school art.

Jaxon helps his Uncle David fix the soap dish in the shower. David is such a great kid, he's nice and so helpful!

So there is a lot of randomness from us, and a little update of what's going on in our lives.

I Scream! You Scream! More Ice Cream!

2011-08-04T11:45:00.001-07:00

I just looked through our Michigan pictures and about half of them have us eating ice cream.

I guess that's a pretty good sign of a great vacation!

An Adult Mind in a Child's Body

2011-06-23T08:33:00.002-07:00

Jaxon's been his funny self lately.

We were organizing the house in preparation for my mother moving in with us for a few months. I got a big plastic tub for each of the kids and told them it was their memory box. I gave them each their baby books, small framed baby pictures, trophies, and other memories to put in it.

As Jaxon is loading his soccer trophies (that have previously been on the shelf) into the box he says to me, "Mom, why am I doing this? It's not like I'm packing for college."

Oh yes, Jaxon, it's not like that. But thanks for seeing through my plan to de-clutter your room!

2. Yesterday our A/C went out, again! I took the kids to Neilsen's for ice cream (and we shared a hamburger). Let me be clear, I didn't get my own ice cream because I'm realizing that it makes me feel sick and I don't want the calories, etc. So I was just sampling Jaxon's lemon custard and didn't realize how much I had eaten until he asks me very politely and innocently, "Mom, why didn't you order your own?"

Yes, you see through me again, Jaxon. :)

3. This morning Jaxon asked me if I thought "Jaxon" was a good name for an adult. He was worried that his name sounded too kid-like. I asked him what name he wanted when he was an adult.

"Nick," he replied.

And June Is Almost Over. . .

2011-06-17T05:05:00.003-07:00

I've thought about blogging maybe twice this month. I guess I'm out of practice :)

Here's an update of our lives.

Mark- Just moved offices at work. Now he's by himself, with a lot of room. Apparently the person before him was really messy and had a lot of furniture so people walk by the office and do a double take. He's enjoying the slightly shorter commutes of the summer.

Me- Teaching Zumba 5 times a week. Four at Fitness Works and once at home/ in a studio soon. Check out my Zumba blog for more info. I'm also considering going back to school to get my MBA. I still have a lot of other ideas on the table right now, but since Mark's program seemed so easy (because Mark makes everything look easy, even parenting) and it's a pretty diverse degree, I'm thinking about taking the GMAT and applying for next fall.

Jaxon(8) starts 3rd grade next year and we anticipate success. Second grade was a real turning point for him, as his behavior and reading improved a lot (thanks, Concerta). But honestly, we're really proud of him! He went to Hemophilia Camp for the first time, or as he would say, "Homophilia Camp" and LOVED it. On the way home he said to us, "I can't wait to go back. And when I say I can't wait, I mean I can't wait." Of all the things he did at Camp HONOR, learning to skip rocks was on the top of his list. Jaxon turns 9 next month.

Asher (5) starts kindergarten this fall and will ride the bus with Jaxon and stay all day! We're excited for him. I think he'll love it. He's busy being a little bear cub around the house. He's rough and wrestling, but still loving and sweet. He's my biggest helper around the house, helping me cook and volunteering to take out the garbages and vacuum. Both of his brother's play well with Asher and he's a very brave swimmer, jumping off the diving board at the public pools!

Finn (3) will go to preschool 3 days a week this fall (both of us can't wait!). He is our little social butterfly. He's always asking for friends to come over, or to go to a friends house. More mature than our others, Finn generally asks to play with girls who are older than him, including his long time crush, Mina (5). He's taking swimming lessons for the first time and loves it. He's so independent he doesn't want help and just swims as far as he can holding his breath. Finn is also our most responsible child. He comes into our room at 6:30 AM already dressed and continues to help me out throughout the day.

Our kids are all in swimming lessons for just 2 weeks. I also do a playschool (or I try) a few times a week to keep them interested in something other than the TV.

Big news for our family-

1. My mom is moving in with us for a few months. She and my dad recently divorced and she's going to stay with us for a while to figure out if she wants to go back to school, get a new job, etc. We're excited to have her and hope that we don't drive her crazy with our noise and mess.

2. We're headed to Michigan for July! I've been trying to make this trip happen for a few years, but this year I finally convinced Mark. And while I've been planning the roadtrip since January, I only yesterday decided it was better to buy plane tickets. I'm going to give the credit to my friend Danielle and also to Jaxon who says EVERY TIME we talk about the trip, "I don't want to drive to Michigan. I want to fly." And he has no idea how long 31 hours each way would be. So we dodged a bullet on that one.

Thanks in advance to Mark's family for hosting us while we're out there. We hope that we don't drive them crazy with our mess and noise (Is there a pattern here?).

3. We just returned from a trip to San Diego for Mark's grandfather's memorial service. Grandpa Barney was a wonderful man and we'll miss him deeply. You can see the photos from the funeral here and from our quick visit to the beach (it was 68 degrees!).

Mark's Family at the Gravesite

Grandkids and Greatgrandkids

Super-Dad Mark in Action!

Almost the whole family. . .

(Notice my necklace, it's a photo of Barney when he was young in the Navy) Thanks, Margo!

For Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T15:38:00.000-07:00

Just now I got this from Jaxon. It says, "Mom, we love you with all are heart's :)"

Pretty adorble.

I love my kids.

Kids Update

2011-04-06T17:21:00.002-07:00

Recently I took Jaxon fishing. It's been fun learning together. He really loves it.

Here's Asher fishing with his friend, Kode.

Here's Finn and his friend Ruby.

This is Jaxon at the Cub Scout Blue and Gold banquet. He loves scouts and has a great time working on crafts. Check out his amazing headress!

So here is Finn, 3 years old, thinking he's hillarious by trying on mom's bra. He just cracks me up.

He can be so sweet one minute, then the next minute he's a little demon.

But more than our other kids, he's mature. Yesterday he had a dentist appt and sat still and had x-rays. At 3! Jaxon was almost 7 and Asher as more than 5 when he was old enough for that.

The new bad word in our house is "poopy diaper." It's only a bad word because it really embarasses Jaxon. It's actually kinda funny.

Orange Marmalade Part Deux

2011-04-01T12:22:00.002-07:00

Did you know you can make marmalade out of any citrus? Yes! Grapefruit, lemon, tangerine, you name it! And it's really not too hard. It's cheaper than regular jam because you don't have to buy pectin because there is so much pectin in the fruit rind.

About a month ago, my friend Danielle and I made orange marmalade at her house. We use a difficult recipe (that says it's easy!) and it took us about 5 hrs to make 7 pints. There was the peeling, the slicing, the double batch, the boiling, the sugar, the boiling again (2 hrs!), then the attempt at canning with a pressure canner. So much work! So when my mom gave me 3 bags of oranges I decided to try a new, faster recipe.

So the faster recipe did have it's drawbacks. I had to stir a pot of volcanic marmalade for 20 in. Even reaching as far as I could and wearing an oven mitt, the hot jam splattered all over me. It was messy and dangerous. But, the results were delicious!

I've also found I like marmalade with brie on crackers. You should try it sometime!

Here's a picture of the first recipe vs the second recipe. The first recipe cooked a lot longer and has a darker color, plus more pieces of orange rind because I peeled and julienned all the rinds instead of using the blender.

It's hard to pour the marmalade after it's cooked, so I cut out part of an apple container and cut a hole in the top. It worked better than my funnel which was too narrow. Necessity is the mother of invention?

Here's the place I cut out to make the plastic funnel.

Leftover Magic

2011-04-01T12:08:00.003-07:00

I'm learning to use leftovers, which is something I'm starting to have now that I'm cooking again.

Thanks to the Food Nanny, Leslie's aunt, I've put more emphasis on planning, preparing, and cooking healthy food for my family.

And now we have leftovers!

So here are some of the meals we're having and how I'm using the leftovers (in addition to sending them with Mark for lunch). Note- this menu isn't complete because we'll have salad almost every night or add hummus and pita bread if the meal seems sparse, but you get the general picture. Also, I'm planning and shopping for 2 weeks at a time, which makes things a lot more manageable.

M- Pinto Beans and cornbread

T- Taco Salad (use some pinto beans and a can of chili)

W- Grilled veggies and pineapple

Th- Veggie Quesadillas (use some pinto beans and slice up leftover grilled veggies)

F- Pizza (use sliced grilled veggies, add feta)

S- Baked Potato Bar (wrap potatoes in foil and cook in the crockpot for 4 hrs on high. On the back porch if it's too hot inside)

S- Breakfast for Dinner- Eggs and Hash Browns (grate leftover baked potatoes and cook in coconut oil)

M-Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches (leftover grilled pineapple)

T- Spaghetti and Meatballs

W- Stir Fry with brown rice

Th- Enchiladas

F- Soup (if it's not too hot)

S- Tilapia and Lemon Rice

S- Chicken Bryan and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

These are just a few ideas. Do you have ideas for easy healthy meals and how to use leftovers?

CARE Conference 2011

2011-03-21T21:09:00.005-07:00

3-15-11 Washington Trip

(Click on the photo to see the album)

I got back from Washington last week to a happy family and warm weather.

Now that Spring Break is over, I have time to blog about our trip.

My good friend, Kay Gaisford, coordinated the trip with the CARE staff. They helped us financially by providing a hotel room and 2 free tickets. We managed to get five of us to the conference (Kay, Sue, Lilly, Holly, and Me). These wonderful women are part of a lunch/book group that I attend.

Along with 1200 other attendees, I celebrated International Women's Day at the CARE conference in Washington DC. It started with a celebration of Int'l Women's Day on March 8th. We had a lovely party with performers including India Arie and Michael Franti. I danced and sang along as we celebrated the lives of women across the world.

The next day we had speakers and panels explaining the needs of people in developing nations and what CARE has done to help them. Over the last 5 years, CARE has been involved in 70 countries, staffed by mostly local people. Since I read Half the Sky, I've been more in tune with the issues surrounding maternal mortality, child marriage, and microloans. These issues and many more were covered by experts from around the world.

One of the experts was our friend Sylvia Cabus whom I met at the Exponent retreat last fall. She's a Gender Analyst for the Food Security department of the USAID. We met her for dinner the night before the conference and learned about what the government and private organizations are doing to help families in impoverished nations. In fact, later in the conference I heard one Congressman say, "Poverty is a political condition. We have the means to feed the entire world. What we lack is the political will." I was stunned.

The fabulous lunch keynote was Melinda Gates. She was articulate and passionate about salient issues like immunizations, contraceptives, and health care in developing nations. I was also impressed by the Bush twins who sat on panels and introduced their mother for the evening keynote. Their passion for motivating us to reach out to help others was really uplifting.

But what moved me most was the presentation of the "I Am Powerful" award to Peninah Musyimi. She was presented this award by two women who own WNBA teams. They shared her story of impoverished life in Africa and how Peninah worked to get good grades in school so she could attend college. She was disappointed to learn that the only way she could get a scholarship was to play basketball. So she taught herself how to play basketball in one month! So she got the scholarship, went to college, then on to law school. After she established a career, she went back to her home town in Africa (I'm blanking on the country) and started a non profit called Safe Spaces to provide a place for youth to hang out and take classes to promote their interests and education.

Although the entire conference made me teary, this award was really powerful for me. I was so impressed with this woman's life and sacrifice. In her acceptance speech, she thanked many people in her life and then said, "I thank myself for working so hard." I cried for her and for so many women like her across the world. I wish they could all hear her story and gain strength to fight their everyday battles.

We gave Peninah a standing ovation when she accepted her signed basketball award.

Thursday on Capitol Hill started with a visit to Jeff Flake's office. We had only a few moments with him and he remembered us from a visit to his local office last fall regarding a child marriage bill in his committee. After we discussed our issues he responded, "I have never voted for any international development bill."

His comment quickly deflated our enthusiasm.

Luckily, our other appointments went better. For the most part, the staffers were supportive of our message, especially the Democrats. On the other hand, McCain's staffer didn't know that Cindy McCain was on the board of CARE for years. I hope that he'll support CARE's initiatives in the future.

I know that our voices on Capitol Hill are meaningful. But even more meaningful is our helping each other to support issues that really make the world a better place.

One staffer said it right, "We need you to tell your friends how devastating these cuts can be." The other legislators need to know that slashing the budget will hurt the most vulnerable people. Spread the word."

So that's what I'm doing, spreading the word. I'll keep you updated via Facebook and Twitter about what you can do to support CARE and it's work in developing nations.

In the meantime, right now you can buy chocolate. Here's the deal- From now until the end of this year Full Circle Exchange will match your purchase dollar for dollar (that's 100% of your purchase!) in donations to CARE. The chocolate is amazing (and I hear the coffee is, too!).

I'm so glad I went to the CARE conference this year and I hope to go back in the future.

Mark's Birthday

2011-03-21T21:02:00.001-07:00

For Mark's birthday, we went out to lunch. We had a room all to ourselves and the food was great. It was a fancy restaurant (the kind that has heavy silverware).

That night we had some friends over for snacks and games. I'll upload some of the videos when I get over to Mark's side of the computer.

Domestic is my Middle Name

2011-02-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

Before Christmas I took down my old plaid curtains and bought some greenish tweed and put them up for curtains. They looked terrible. I just folded and stapled them. The garland made them a little better but when that came down I went back to the fabric store.

Then I painted the kitchen and sewed these damask curtains yesterday. I actually bought a braid with tassels for the bottom but it didn't look as good on the bottom as I thought it would.

Here's our TV room before the paint.

Here's the same room today! (It's the same color as in the kitchen, but the lighting is different)
The kids are having school with their animals. It was a lot of fun. More fun than painting, even!

I realized I haven't put the photos of the floors up yet, or the other painted walls, so that's next.

And I made marmalade with my friend Danielle yesterday (it took 5 hrs for 7 pints. I recommend strawberry freezer jam instead).
Then I made orange rolls for breakfast.
The kids also just ate the banana pops we made last night.

Jaxon has a special day at school sometimes where they can bring in anything that has the word pop in it. For 'Pop Friday' Jaxon usually brings plain popcorn because the other alternatives are unhealthy. But this week we dipped a banana in chocolate and froze it. All the kids loved it!

Jaxon Says

2011-01-31T11:38:00.004-07:00

Jaxon and Lyda put on a magic show for us. After it was over Jaxon scolded Lyda, "Why did you only say 'Abracadabra'? You were supposed to say, 'Abracadabra, Alamazoo!'" Poor Lyda.

(Here are some other funny Jaxon quotes)
"Bakugans are not kissable-proof! (Finn was kissing his Bakugan toys). Kissable-proof means they are not kissable!"
One day I started to sing a lullaby Jaxon interrupts me and says, "That's going on my imbecile list."
I told Jaxon I liked one of his drawings and he says, "Thank you for appreciating it."
Jaxon says to his brother, "Can you get me a spoon, Asher? You are really handsome, Ash."
During lunch Jaxon says to me, "Mom I need a phone to call a great detective. Someone took a bite out of my cheese crisp." (It turned out to be him)
Jaxon says, "Picking up my stuff is part of our imbecile family!" (he used this word for a while)
We drove by an older LDS church with a satellite dish in the back. Jaxon pointed at it and said, "That's how we communicate with God. It's a spaceship."

My Birthday!

2011-01-16T23:17:00.000-07:00

Because it's already Asher's birthday (he's 5 today!) it's time for me to blog about mine!
We went to a great church party for New Year's Eve. Lots of good food, friends, games, dancing, kareoke, ping pong, etc. We had a great time. Thanks to my mom for watching the kids!

On the night of my birthday we went to The Melting Pot for the first time with some friends. It was a great experience. I loved that it was more than just a meal, it was a whole event. Delicious food and great friends!

I had to include this photo of the chocolate fondue en flambe!

How To Break Your Arm

2010-12-26T17:24:00.005-07:00

In case you didn't know, Jaxon broke his arm the day after Thanksgiving. It was the day that our friends Nate and Darryl came to help Mark install the flooring. I took the Curtis boys and my boys out so the men could work on the floor.

(It's been over a month and I'm finally at a place where I can blog about this.)

So this happened on Black Friday (perhaps that should have been my clue) at a dog park near Ray and Greenfield.

Here he is climbing on this deadly device. What he's doing now he can do in his sleep, backwards.

Such grace and confidence!

Here he's finishing up and his friend Asher wants to try, but changes his mind.

Here are all the boys on these 4 foot high concrete steps (there were a dozen of them).
Looking at the photos now, I'm surprised I didn't have to take them all to the hospital.

There was also a lake, with dangerous edges, which the kids were drawn to.

In this photo, you can see Finn in the back, trying to touch the water and Luke headed straight toward the edge.

Here's another photo of Jaxon climbing. He really loves it.

So when we got back to this part of the park, Jaxon decided to try this climbing structure again but on the INSIDE this time. He was on the other side (inclined) about exactly where he is in this photo when he fell. I don't think there are many adults that could climb at that angle. Why this is a children's play structure is beyond me.

He fell on his arm and fractured it in 3 places. I was hoping it was just bruised. Nope.

So Jaxon got a trip to the ER (instead of a movie with the Curtises) and X-rays and a cast.

He was pretty excited to get his friends to sign his cast.

The boys and their gingerbread train.

Christmas!

2010-12-26T10:34:00.004-07:00

We had a lovely Christmas holiday.

It started with Christmas Eve visiting the temple lights with the kids. We heard Jordan Bluth sing (he just moved in our ward). He has an amazing voice. Mark is thinking of taking voice lessons with him.

Here's us at the temple lights.

When we got in the car, Jaxon had the camera and snapped a photo of Mark and me.

When we got home and bathed the kids, we gave them one gift on Christmas Eve.

A nutcracker! It was because we saw the ballet this year (thanks to Asher's school!). Mark's family had the tradition of seeing Nutcracker every year as a family so we enjoyed doing it with our family. All of our kids loved the ballet and they were excited to get their own small nutcracker to sleep with on Christmas Eve.

After the kids were in bed we opened the "gift receptacle" and realized we had a lot of work ahead of us. We were up till midnight wrapping.

But the finished product was worth it! (You can also see our new floor in this photo.)

Here are the stockings. Santa brought the kids Pillow Pets because mom thinks they are a waste of money.

This year's best Christmas gifts:

Finn- helicopter, horse, transformer, and his brother's airplane (the one Finn picked for Asher at the store)

Asher- Thomas, Pillow Pet, Lightning McQueen, and the airplane his brother likes.

Jaxon- RC helicopter (but we can't get it to fly high), Pillow Pet, and art set.

Jess- PHOTOSHOP! (and cute pajamas)

Mark- NEW TV and blu-ray player (thank heaven's Walgreens was open so we could get the hdmi cord)

Milo (the cat)- Loved his ball in a round track.

Apparently I didn't get a family photo on Christmas, just a bunch of snapshots.

Here are a few.

We opened presents (including one for the cat). Then we had my family over for dinner. After dinner we played soccer in a little field near our house.

After a while, Asher fell in the mud and I walked him home. Poor guy. At least he got a bubble bath!

A few other Christmas pics.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas as well!

Eavesdropping on Playtime

2010-12-20T14:00:00.005-07:00

After reading some adorable things on my friend Annie's blog, I came out of the office to find all my boys without their pants on holding couch pillows threateningly.

Jaxon says it's part of the rules and I just move to the kitchen to get lunch.

I overhear him:

"Guys, let's go over the rules again. Number 1- No pants. Number 2- Only hitting with a pillow. Number 3- No falling down. Number 4- Fight only. Number 5- Don't hit bodies. Number 7- You grab the side of the pillow like this, then spin around like this (he explains some move for 30 seconds).

Okay, that's it! Those are the rules. Okay Asher, you get it? 10, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0! Go!

Wait! Stop! I forgot one.

Rule number 7, You can fall down if you trip.

Asher: Yeah!

Jaxon: Also, the oldest person in the kids column (that's me) gets to count down from 10.

Asher, you are not the oldest person in the kids column.

There's still a lot of screaming (and somebody just hollered from the bathroom to tell me what exactly he's doing in there).

Ah, good times.

Home Improvement Project

2010-12-20T07:31:00.002-07:00

The day after Thanksgiving we started a flooring project. It was my idea and prodding, I will totally admit. But Mark recognized that our tile and carpet were terrible. The carpet was not quite 5 years old but it was really light colored and had terrible stains from regular wear and tear and 2 babies that spit up a ton, constantly. Also, the tile was poorly installed by the previous owners. But what we didn't know was that they had installed it right on top of the vinyl! It was so yucky. We essentially had to remove two floors in the kitchen and the vinyl was the worst.

Here are photos from that day. Our bishop and his two sons came over to help. They were awesome. My dad came over as well (he's in the overalls).

Thanks everyone!

Here's us eating dinner on our concrete floor. It was take-out spaghetti on a white table cloth. What was I thinking?

Next post: installation!

No more seasons

2010-12-14T21:25:00.002-07:00

So, I can't keep updating my headers even TWICE year so now my header is just generic. But, it's fine.

My friend Leslie took some pics of us at Mesa Arts Center last Saturday. She was so humble, but I think she did a great job! (better than I did of her family and I have some practice)

Here's the link to some of the pics on my webalbum.

Also, the title of this post reminds me that we really don't have seasons here. Not fall or spring at least. Just hot or not hot.

I love that it's not hot right now!

Sorry to those of you who are freezing your arses off right now.

Wish you could join us in sunny Arizona!

Funny Things Heard Today

2010-11-18T17:48:00.003-07:00

Finn stares at the toilet with blue liquid in the bottom and screams for me to come to him.

"What's this?"

I tell him, "Mommy cleaned the toilet!" with a big smile.

He says, "No clean it! You naughty Mommy." as he scolds me by wagging his finger.

Asher's eating dinner and chatting with me. "You girl." I said, "Yep. And what are you?"

"I'm a boy." I ask him about Daddy and Jaxon, to which he says, "Boy."

Then I say, "What's Finn?"

Asher says, "A baby." (I asked twice, to give him a second chance. He answered the same both times.

Jaxon says that some kids have short term memory loss. That's why he can't remember the sentence he thought of when it's his turn to share.

iPhone and Christmas Advice Wanted

2010-11-17T11:57:00.002-07:00

iPhone

Christmas came early for me this year (well my old phone broke, too).

I got an iPhone that's unlocked so I can stay on T-Mobile. And so far, with wi-fi in our house, I haven't even had to upgrade the $15 a month for the data package, although I may in the future.

Advice Wanted

We're looking forward to Christmas but I'm leery of buying gifts for the kids. Here's the usual for us:

Me at Thanksgiving: "The kids have too many toys, they don't need any presents for Christmas!"

Me on Christmas Eve: "Holy Cow! How did we get so many presents for the kids? They have a dozen each! This is ridiculous!"

Solutions?

The Secret Garden

2010-11-08T20:14:00.005-07:00

A friend of mine is losing her garden this week and I'm very sad for her.

Thinking about gardens reminded me of my favorite Broadway musical, The Secret Garden. I've listened to the CD hundreds of times (I'm sure my college roommates still remember how much they hate it!)

I found a clip of the original cast doing sections of some of my favorite songs. Enjoy!

I've never seen the production, but always wanted to. In this clip, I loved watching the song with Mary and Dicken where they sing about plants being wick and having a will to grow. During this scene, Dicken stands behind Mary and gestures that she's the thing that needs a will to grow. It gave me goosebumps. I would love to see this show live. Ironically, they performed it at BYU the semester before I got the CD and fell in love with it.

I just found out that ASU is performing The Secret Garden for the next few weekends! If you want to come with us, send me an email.

Camp HUG

2010-11-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

Our second adventure at Camp HUG (Hemophilia Uniting Generations- AKA Family Camp) was awesome. Mark came up a little late but we had a great time. We did archery, hiking, climbing, a horseback riding, crafts, and even a skit night.

Our skit was awesome. Mark wore a yellow hat and asked Sheriffs Jaxon and Asher to help him find his little furry friend. First they brought out Finn in a skunk hat. "No, that's not him," Mark said. Then they brought out Finn in a bear costume and Finn attacked Mark (well he was supposed to if he hadn't been scared, then tripped and hurt himself). It was pretty funny. I had to take screaming Finn off stage and calm him down.

I went up this rock wall after Jaxon. It was actually pretty scary. I'm getting more anxious in my old age :)

Here's another attempt at a family photo. We cannot get a shot with all of us looking at the camera to save our lives. No chance for a Christmas card this year.

Update on My Wedding Ring

2010-10-22T08:33:00.003-07:00

Last year I lost the diamond in my wedding ring.

It was very sad. I've spent the last year trying to figure out how to replace it. (Actually I've spent two anniversaries without it, including our tenth)

For a while, I wore a CZ ring I bought from overstock, but it looked cheap, got scratched up, and didn't fit well.

My hope was to find a lab-grown diamond at a great discount. I don't want to buy a regular replacement diamond because of the ecological and human costs associated with mining diamonds. (Heard the term blood diamonds?)

Well this week I found out that lab-grown diamonds are only about 10% less than their mined counterparts (at least in colorless, colored diamonds are cheaper than their counterparts but that's because pink and yellow diamonds are so rare, they're $60k a carat). This was disappointing, but at least I figured it out before I bought a CZ (diamond simulant?) from Diamond Nexus thinking it was lab-grown diamond. It's not. The DN website doesn't say anything about CZs but I found it on another site. They do say that the "synthetic diamond" have to be cold set like a ruby because they're not made out of carbon. That should have been my first clue.

So, I don't want a CZ, I don't really want another gemstone (I had toyed with the idea of a pink sapphire) because the hardness level is much lower for other gemstones. The garnet in another ring I have is pretty scratched up.

I'm down to

1. Buy another new diamond, which I don't really want to do morally or cost-wise.

2. Buy a used diamond which is less expensive and gives my conscience a break.

3. Get a plain wedding band like Mark's and call it good.

What would you do?

Ups and Downs

2010-10-21T20:16:00.002-07:00

After waking up with some neck pain from my Zumba classes yesterday, I wanted to relax a little today so I went to my parents house with the boys and we hung out in their hot tub.

It was a beautiful, almost chilly morning (62 degrees), with a sunny clear sky. Perfect conditions for enjoying a jacuzzi. I floated around, with my legs hanging over the side of the tub and my head resting on floating ring. My boys were bored so they used cups to pour water over my belly, my knees, my arms, parts of me that were sticking out of the water. It felt soooo good. Almost like a spa treatment. I was basking in the sun, with perfect warm water and a cool breeze, relaxing and thinking, "I love my job." The boys were playing happily and then. . .

Finn dumps a cup of water on my face. Yep, he tried to drown me.

I sat up, sputtering thinking of all the bacteria in the hot tub water painfully invading my sinuses. "I'll get a sinus infection tomorrow, I just know it."

But seriously, I had to laugh.

"Back to reality!" I thought.

For some reason, it's the highs and lows that come back to back that remind me why mothering is so unpredictable and yet so worthwhile.

Life-Like Statue

2010-10-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

When I was in Boston a few weeks ago for the Exponent retreat, I walked around a beautiful park in the downtown area. I can't remember what it's called, but I snapped a photo of this slightly inappropriate statue because it reminded me of my boys.

Sure enough, as soon as I got home the boys were playing like they always do in their underwear (remember it's hot in Arizona) and I took a few shots that look pretty similar to this statue. Kind of ironic, isn't it?

Re-introducing: Dairy!

2010-10-16T22:38:00.002-07:00

Remember when I said this diet wasn't doing anything? Perhaps my tolerance level for my children was low because it was fall break, but today we made a big discovery.

We'd introduced bread on Friday and have had it a little here and there since then.

But today I gave the kids a LOT OF DAIRY at lunch time.

Remember they've been off it for 8 or 9 days.

Menu:

Breakfast: Oatmeal, Toast with sunflower butter and honey

Snack: Fruit

Lunch:

1-2 cups of milk

cottage cheese stuffed tomatoes (yogurt for Asher)

grilled cheese

Dinner;

Pinto beans

Corn on the cob

Peaches

In the book I've been reading, "Is This Your Child?" the description of reintroducing diary says that the child feels a stomachache and has a headache. Imagine my surprise when about 45 min after lunch Jaxon says, "I feel nauseous and I have a headache." THEN after I got back from teaching Zumba I told Jaxon to stop playing his Wii game because we were going to walk the babysitter home.

He just collapsed on the floor. I haven't seen THAT behavior for oh, about a week.

Jaxon also talked about not feeling as happy, and said he couldn't think of what to do to be more happy, as though his mood had taken a dive and he couldn't pull himself up.

Finn was also extra active, angry, aggressive, and loud. (The babysitter said she had to tackle him to get him to bed tonight)

Asher (the one who doesn't care that much for dairy to begin with) was surprisingly unchanged by the dairy.

Did I mention what Jaxon said when he saw the milk I brought home?

"Organic milk! I've missed you. I haven't seen you for so long."

Oh, and Finn asked for milk almost every day of our diet.

So, now we will have Finn and Jaxon on a dairy-free diet. How do I do that? Do I have to take the rest of the family off as well?

I'm curious about how the rest of the food reintroduction will go as well. I guess I reintroduced corn tonight since I served corn on the cob. I'll have to try it again tomorrow to see how it goes.

Allergy Diet Day 7 and Jaxon's Surgery

2010-10-14T20:18:00.002-07:00

Jaxon's surgery went fine today. Totally uneventful, even easy. In fact, we got some good lines out of him because of it.

When he woke up at 5:45 AM the first thing he said was, "Well, port, it's been nice knowin' ya."

After his surgery I told him he could have any food that he wanted (besides, how am I supposed to gauge his behavior based on his diet after he's had a body full of anesthesia?) He picked grilled cheese, so that's what we all had for lunch.

Breakfast: oatmeal for Finn and Asher, Jaxon nothing, Mark and I shared an omelet in a crepe with fresh fruit

Dinner: Pinto beans, applesauce, and cut up red bell peppers.

I'm going to reintroduce dairy tomorrow and see how the kids do (I know they had cheese today but it was very little).

Allergy Diet Day 6

2010-10-13T21:05:00.002-07:00

Jaxon heads into surgery tomorrow to get his port-a-cath removed. He's had it for 7 years to get medicine for hemophilia into his veins easily. Now that we can poke his veins in his arms and hands he doesn't need it anymore. Training wheels are officially off tomorrow.

But that means the diet is probably not going to stick, which is fine because I don't think I've seen any difference in behavior, which is disappointing, although I like the home-cooked healthy (for the most part) meals. I'm going to resolve to do more cooking and stick to my menu.

Menu-

Breakfast: Oatmeals and apples (again!)

Lunch: Chicken rolled in crushed potato chips and baked and served with toothpicks. Also green beans and fresh veggies with hummus

Dinner: Seasoned pan-grilled mahi-mahi, Spanish rice, and home-baked sweet potato fries. Also, sliced heirloom tomatoes on the side.

Dessert: ICE CREAM (for me and Mark. The stress broke me and I have now begun eating for emotional reasons)

Did I mention that I broke (or sprained) my pinkie toe yesterday? I'm limping a little and it was a blessing that there was a woman auditioning to teach Zumba in my class today so I only had to teach half. It's swollen and purple. Totally lame. Also lucky that the studio I teach at is closed for the October break so I didn't teach tonight.

Allergy Diet Day 5

2010-10-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

We're starting to get used to this diet. I'm focused more on what we can eat than what we can't. I guess my attitude has changed since I ate at the Hemophilia Association yesterday and had a baja taco from Baja Fresh (yeah, the tortillas were a no-no).

Menu:
Breakfast- Oatmeal with apples and cinnamon
Lunch- Leftovers
Dinner- Rice Pasta with spaghetti sauce
Snack- Brown Rice cakes with sunflower butter and honey, also lots of fruits and veggies

Behavior:
Kids- I don't see any change in their behavior or physical signs of allergies. Jaxon's reading on Monday was probably just to get away from the swarm of younger children at Leslie's house. I'm not seeing more focus, happier kids (well maybe Finn is a little less angry, I'll have to pay closer attention).
They are still getting up waaaay to early. Before 5:30 today, so now it's 11 AM and they're down for naps.

Me- I'm still finding myself more emotional than usual (which could be unrelated). I've also lost 3 lbs which is good or bad depending on whom you ask.
Mark- Has lost 2 lbs, but he hasn't commented on any other issues.

Side effects: I noticed that Finn had a rash on his chin after dinner. Then I remembered that he always gets that when he eats pasta sauce because he must have a slight allergy to tomatoes. How ironic.

Here are photos from Jaxon's first cub scout Pack Meeting. He's very excited to be in scouts and got initiated by bobbing for apples.

Here's the first time I've taken the kids for story time at the library. I had Ella that day and she did not like the idea of sitting down for 30 min. We were in the front on the side, so the kids found the most comfortable position. (Jaxon was in school) Keep in mind that all the other children are sitting up. . .
It's pretty funny.

The Daddy Mountain

2010-10-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

Our kids read the book, The Daddy Mountain and have started using their daddy as a mountain. It's their pre-bedtime calistenics. I'm not sure who gets more exercise, the boys or Mark.

Allergy Diet Days 3 and 4

2010-10-11T20:21:00.003-07:00

Sunday:

Breakfast: Oatmeal and Peaches

Lunch: Tilapia fillets with mango salsa and honey-roasted potatoes

Dinner: Chicken and Indian rice, with veggies and a fruit smoothie

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal (Asher asked for it!) or whole grain rice cereal with unsweetened almond milk

Lunch: DRIVE THRU! Wendy's baked potatoes (plain) with organic chili and Wendy's apple, chicken salad with homemade dressing (red wine vinegar, honey, and olive oil)

Dinner: Crock-pot cooked organic whole chicken with potatoes, carrots, and celery and salad with strawberries and pomegranate seeds.

Dessert: Stuffed Pears (Jaxon had two!)

Behavior:

Sunday was pretty bad. Finn was crazy at church, but he's been short on sleep because he's been getting up early. I was pretty emotional and fell asleep at church (which I don't remember doing since college). I think this was our roughest day so far.

Today was better for everyone. We had a playgroup with friends and Mark was off of work. I found Jaxon reading a book on his own twice today, which is really unusual for him. Finn was a back to his regular self, but still asking for milk. Jaxon's eye circles appeared better at lunch but by dinner they were darker again.

Side Effects:

Pleasant- We sit down and eat together as a family THREE TIMES A DAY! It is wonderful to have this time together. The diet isn't really that bad since we've found a lot of choices for eating (except breakfast which is my favorite meal).

Not-so-pleasant- Lots of cooking and TONS OF DISHES. We've run the dishwasher almost twice a day.

Allergy Diet Day 2

2010-10-09T23:02:00.002-07:00

We spent a few hours at Rail Fair at the train park today and the kids were relatively well behaved, if over-excited and not listening. At least we dressed them in matching clothes so we could spot them easily.

Breakfast: Oatmeal and peaches, Spinach smoothie

Snack: Tahini cookies, apple, nuts and raisins

Lunch: Chicken, white rice, green beans, organic refried black beans, fresh fruit

Dinner: Organic chicken nuggets (probably not on the diet, but Mark made dinner while I was teaching Zumba) and applesauce for the kids, Sushi for us.

Behavior:

After the train park the kids were crazy, fighting and whining. They ate pretty well for lunch and dinner but still ask for milk and aren't fond of the snacks they're offered.

I would say their behavior in general is sub-par. It could be a symptom of withdrawal from these foods, but it could also be that they're hungry most of the time since they don't like what I'm giving them.

I had a headache throughout the day, but since I cheated at dinner (some sushi had cream cheese and I had red bean ice cream for dessert). I wonder if the soy sauce could be part of my problem (soy and msg, I believe). We aren't on a no soy diet, but I avoid it mostly anyway because of research showing it's bad effects.

Mark seemed fine, he's not super into the diet and ordered Coke with dinner.

I bought quinoa noodles to serve with sauce but just read the label that they're corn and quinoa. :( Bummer, I'll have to buy some rice noodles instead because my kids won't go for the spaghetti squash substitution.

Allergy Diet: Day 1

2010-10-08T22:40:00.003-07:00

Today we started a Multiple Food Elimination Diet. It's day one of seven.

Here's what we're not eating, the top 8 allergy foods, I believe.
Wheat
Corn
Eggs
Dairy
Sugar
Food Coloring/ Preservatives
Chocolate
Citrus

The goal is to see if the children's behavior or allergy symptoms improve by day 7. IF there is improvement, then I will reintroduce one allergy food at a time and watch how they respond.

I have to say that dairy is by far the hardest for me to give up. Well all of us probably.

Menu:
Breakfast: Oatmeal with peaches and honey, also tea with honey

Lunch: Carrots and hummus, organic refried beans (in a bowl), fruit, and juice (I bought juice because I was taking away milk and everything else)

Snack: Tahini cookies

Dinner: Carribbean Brown Rice and Beans (thanks Em!) and Spinach Salad with Strawberries

I pulled out all the good stuff today. I can't wait to see how tomorrow goes. :( The kids didn't really eat dinner, but I did cook it in a crockpot, so it was a little mushy. . .

We were all pretty grouchy today but I wasn't sure if it was bedcause of the diet or because the Gods of Urine were angry at us and I spent all day cleaning out the kid's infusion cabinet b/c Jaxon peed on it in the middle of the night.

Jaxon: Half day, had a cookie and popcorn so no diet until afternoon. Typical behavior, went to bed with melatonin

Asher: Asked for milk and nutella and bread. Mostly ate fruit and juice, a few carrots. Lounged on the couch all day complaining of a small cut on his finger (hope it's not infected)

Finn: Extra grouchy today, lots of yelling and fighting. Good thing hot sauce is on the diet :)

Me: Grouchy (maybe it's me not the food?) and nervous about if the kids will eat anything in the next 7 days. Cravings for me aren't so bad, though.

Mark: Thrilled with a new computer to watch football and beef jerky. Easy to please.

I'm keeping track of this mostly for me, so don't feel the need to comment unless you want to or have a great recipe to share!

My goal for this experiment is to see if there are 1 or 2 items we could eliminate in our diet to see big results. If that is not the case, then this will have been an experiment in child torture and perhaps healthy eating.

2010-09-24T19:05:00.001-07:00

Rushed to the theater to see Wall Street. Empty so far. Good thing we're early.

Lessons Learned

2010-09-12T11:30:00.001-07:00

Mark: "You have a Heavenly Mother and a Heavenly Father."

Jaxon: "Uh, what do you mean? Nobody died in our family."

Steal, I mean Sale, at Deja Vu Boutique

2010-09-11T14:20:00.005-07:00

A while back I found this cute little boutique/ consignment store on Ray and Val Vista.

They sell trendy bags, Miss Me jeans, jewelry as well as gently used name-brand clothing.

Today they had a sale and I scored big time. This was probably the most stuff I've ever bought for the least amount of money.

Here's the tally. (Keep in mind that these are resale prices. The original prices are higher)

Green Tommy Hilfiger Shoes 15

Pink shoes 40

Gold Shoes 22

Green shoes 28

Denim skirt 14

Coral blouse 10

Floral skirt 15

Yellow skirt (new w/ tags $88) 20

green exercise top 7

White bermudas 18

Shirt with embroidery 12

Long sleeved shirt (not pictured) 12

Total: $213

So you want to know how much I paid?

Well, the deal was everything you can fit in a shopping bag (think plastic grocery bag) for

$5.

Not kidding.

I'm pretty much the star shopper of the universe today!

PS. I crafted this blog with this title in jest, but I just got an email from the store. Apparently they found full-priced merchandise tags in the dressing room showing that someone had cheated the system and stolen from the store. There will be no more $5 bag sales. :(

Changing Tastes

2010-09-10T20:26:00.004-07:00

At dinner tonight Jaxon was trying to get Asher to taste some of his taco salad. Recalling a line from one of their favorite books, Jaxon chided gently, "Remember Asher, dinosaur's try everything at least one small bite."

Asher responded, "We're not dinosaurs. We're boys."

Mark and I suppressed a chuckle and continued with dinner.

But that got me thinking about foods that I didn't like as a child that I do now and vice versa.

Here's my list:

Foods I Used to Like (but not now)

Big Macs (had one today to remind myself :(

Ned's Krazy Sub

Pepperoni on my pizza

M&M's and other cheap chocolate

Store-bought frosting (flavored trans-fat)

100 Grand candy bars

Foods I Now like (but didn't growing up)

Bell Peppers and Onions

Mustard (but just a little)

Potato Salad

Brie (if I ever had it growing up)

Coconut

Curry

Fish (still not my fave, but I appreciate it more)

Potato Soup

Spaghetti Squash (and lots of other veggies)

Bananas

Foods I Still Don't Like

Pot Pies

Mushrooms (I keep trying)

Tater Tots

Mom's Tuna casserole on English Muffins (I made it once for Mark and we threw it away. Sorry Mom, but some college recipes should have stayed in college)

Shellfish

How have your tastes changed since you've grown up?

Scenes from an Eight-Year Old: So that's what he does!

2010-09-07T09:05:00.002-07:00

Mark told me about his conversation with Jaxon on Sunday.

Jaxon: "Dad, I've been thinking today about what it's like to be a dad.

I think it's somewhere between easy and hard."

"And also, when I have to pee at night and it's too scary out there (he's on the top of a triple bunk), I just lean over my bed and pee in the trash can (next to his bed on the floor)."

Mark: "!!!!!!!"

end scene.

--

Singing of Her

2010-09-01T20:30:00.003-07:00

Tonight Finn wanted me to sing "Boo Sky."

I remembered that Mark sings "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" to Finn when he puts him to bed. Since Mark is out of town, I sang it to him instead.

So I started singing "Whenever I hear the song of a bird, or look at the blue, blue sky", but I felt impressed to substitute Heavenly Mother for Heavenly Father. The result was really powerful. We speak of Mother Earth and the powerful force for creation that women represent, but as I sang to Finn I got teary and thought of all the wonderful women in my life, who have profoundly influenced me for the better.

Here are the lyrics as I sang them to Finn tonight.

Whenever I hear the song of a bird, or look at the blue, blue sky,

Whenever I feel the rain on my face or the wind as it rushes by,

Whenever I touch the velvet rose or walk by the lilac tree,

I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world, Heavenly Mother created for me.

She gave me my eyes that I might see the color of butterfly wings.

She gave me my ears that I might hear the magical sound of things.

She gave me my mind, my life, my heart, I thank her reverently

For all her creations of which I'm a part.

Yes, I know Heavenly Mother loves me.

Scenes from an Eight Year Old: Cheeseburgers

2010-09-01T20:26:00.003-07:00

Just now I'm putting Jaxon to bed and we have this scene.

Jaxon: "Mom, my tummy hurts."

Me: "I'm sorry. Did you eat anything when Grandma took you to the restaurant tonight?"

Jaxon: "Yeah, I had a cheeseburger." (This after he already had dinner at home)

Me: "Ah, well, that's probably why your tummy hurts."

Jaxon: "No, my tummy's not feeling cheesy, it's feeling more french frie-y."

Scenes from an Eight-Year Old

2010-08-29T11:24:00.003-07:00

Just now, Jaxon handed me a rock. It was white with gold flecks. No wait, he didn't hand it to me, the tossed it to me.

He said, "Here, mom, take this rock as a memory of me when I go live with Marlene."

Marlene is my mother. He has always called her "Grandma."

What?

I said, "Why would you go live with Marlene?"

Jaxon, "Remember one time when you told me that someday you would send me to live with Marlene? You told me I would go when I was older."

Me: "When did I tell you this?"

Jaxon: "It was a while ago. Probably before I got these underwear." (gestures to the only item of clothing he is wearing.

End Scene

The Cutest Boy . . . I Ever Saw. . . Was Sipping Cider Through a Straw

2010-08-23T13:46:00.003-07:00

I finally downloaded all of our videos from our Flip. Most of them are one second of Jaxon's thumb (like 60 of these, I kid you not. I had no idea that Jaxon was a videographer).

Here's a cute one of Asher and Mary playing with two straws and one cup. We're so sad their family moved away. They were lots of fun and we pretty much stopped going swimming once the left. :(

But in this clip, Asher and Mary were playing and I thought I would catch them being adorable. (and it gives me a chance to see how easy it is to upload the Flip videos. It's not, this was my 6th try in 2 days, but maybe that's blogger's problem, dunno.)

Screaming and Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth

2010-08-13T21:00:00.002-07:00

Today was a rough day.

I don't know if it's the transition to school, but Jaxon had 3 meltdowns, complete with the limp "dead" body and non-responsiveness.

Finn had about a dozen full-on, neck-vein bulging, screaming his guts out, hitting, running, scratching tantrums.

Asher had 3 really bad anxiety-mixed with screaming, sweating, kicking, and crying attacks.

Despite this I managed to have a nice trip to Ikea with my best friend Leslie and a nice date to Charleston's with Mark. (Embarrassingly we only ordered $3.99 worth of food. But those croissants are to DIE for.)

So what I can't figure out is if my kids are the only ones who are totally LOSING it lately or if it's like a bug that other kids are catching.

Embarrassing Personal Confession #7

2010-08-12T13:41:00.002-07:00

When I signed up for summer childcare, I thought, "Four hours of childcare a day?My house will be sparkling and I will have everything on my to-do list done!"

Nope.

It appears that I am just an untidy person and that I procrastinate regardless of how much free time I have.

(This is not to say that I didn't get lots of stuff done this summer but I didn't do everything and I certainly didn't keep an immaculate house.)

When it comes to housekeeping, I find my performance shameful. There you have it.

Baby Songs: An Update

2010-08-02T19:46:00.003-07:00

When my children were babies I wrote them little songs to sing to them as I put them to bed.

Tonight I sang these songs to my children as I put them to bed and it made me realize how fast they're growing.

Next week Jaxon will be starting 2nd grade. He's already forgetting some of his favorite things from his time at the Montessori, like the banana pudding work (smash half a banana, add vanilla yogurt and applesauce and mix). We did that today, too. Also, Jaxon got his first library card today and he was thrilled!

Jaxon's behavior has been improving over the last few months. It's mostly because we have a therapist that helps me and Mark work on our parenting and keeps all of us accountable for the outcome. We've become stricter with our discipline and more consistent. We've also become less indulgent. For example, we all took it for granted that Jaxon would have a birthday party. But, Dr. Jones helped me realize that when Jaxon can't be obedient and follow directions, do his chores, he doesn't deserve a birthday party. Putting that on the line really encouraged Jaxon to be obedient and follow the rules.

Asher will be in half-day preschool this year. He's not very excited about taking the bus, but I think he will enjoy the program. He enjoyed the evaluation process, so that's a good sign.
Asher qualified for the special needs preschool at our public school. He has language delay and also some social behaviors like withdrawal and anxiety that he'll be working to overcome. He's our shy, timid, scared little guy. So, imagine my surprise when we're at a hemophilia event at a community pool this weekend and Mark tells me that Asher went off the high dive! I was (and still am) shocked. I guess this shows me to not put my child in a box. The sky's the limit, Asher.

Finn is in the middle of an attack of the terrible two's (or maybe it's me that's being attacked). He's very intense, sometimes violent and usually screaming. Perhaps it's the third child syndrome. I tend to believe he has over-active testosterone. He's my first child to have crushes on girls at this age (well Jaxon's just starting to notice girls and he's 8). He's also my most coordinated. For example, he can throw a frisbee and ride a trike like a kid twice his age. He's a dare-devil and told Mark while he was kissing him, "Leave me alone. That's yucky." He's finally mastering the potty, which is a huge breakthrough and about 6 months before his brothers did.
But Finn still has his sweet moments, and can be very charming and adorable. It's all or nothing with that kid.

Mark and I are doing well. We returned about a week ago from a trip to Victoria for our 10th anniversary. We went with our friends, Meghan and Brandon and had a great time. Unfortunately, my memory card was stolen as we were about to fly home. So, the 1100+ photos that I took are gone. Our friends took some as well, so we are not without any memories of the trip, but I'm still very disappointed about missing the pictures.
I'd be remiss if I did not mention our gratitude for Mark's sister, Katie, for watching our boys so we could get away. It was not an easy job, especially since she's not familiar with the ins and outs of caring for boys with hemophilia (not that there's much to it, but the stress or worrying can be pretty burdensome). She went above and beyond her duty by taking the kids hiking, bowling, to the bounce house, splash pad, and any number of other places. I know they had a great time and keep asking when we're going to go back.

Mark is enjoying his job working for the state. Venture capital and private equity keeps him very busy and always abreast of new innovations and technologies. I'm about to start teaching my second weekly class of Zumba at a local fitness club. I really enjoy it and it's a great workout.

All in all, our family is doing great. We're happy and healthy, and we've enjoyed our summer (especially my 4 hrs a day childcare, hooray!)

I'll try to get some photos of our trip up on the blog, as well as some of our kids.

Tales from Potty Training

2010-06-03T22:41:00.004-07:00

WARNING, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH OR ARE EATING.

I don't know why I thought Finn would be easier to potty train than my other boys. He is more aware, but still not any more compliant than the others. Although he pooped on the potty once in the last week, the rest of his BMs have been in inappropriate places. (Kitchen floor, diaper, carpet, underwear x 4, etc)

Tonight was the worst though. Finn has been running around naked the last few weeks for potty training purposes. Anyway, tonight he started yelling from my room about poop. So I ran at the speed of light to see where he had dropped his deuce and found him sitting in our bathroom sink! Sure enough, as I pick him up he starts to cough and gag (remember this is the kid who vomits when he smells his own poop) and lest we have a bigger mess on my JUST CLEANED PORCELAIN VANITY I plop him on the potty and go to recruit Mark to clean up the mess. In the meantime, Finn ignores my request to sit still on the potty and comes marching out with you-know-what hanging from his bum. When asked "Where does your poop go, Finn?" he replies, "In the potty" with the mischievous little smile of a child who knows better.

The ironic part is when Mark figures out what's going on, he starts laughing hysterically and the other kids can't figure out what's so funny.

The bathroom sink?

Seriously?

Where's the strangest place you or your kid has ever pooped?

2010-05-28T21:39:00.001-07:00

Scenes from a marriage. JESS- Does it bother you that i can read your mind? MARK- No. It's not that complicated.

California

2010-05-28T21:11:00.001-07:00

Today we spent a few hours at the beach. It was the first time for Asher and Finn, and Jaxon's first time since he was a baby.
We had a great time. They boys played in the water and sand and even though it was a little chilly, we hope to go back tomorrow.
Here's a great photo I snapped of Mark and his "Mini-Me."

Picturesque to Grotesque

2010-05-23T19:08:00.005-07:00

I love my life. It's been a really good day. We've been to the park twice, to the gym, made brownies, played and played some more.

There was just one little hiccup, well almost a hiccup. Here's the scene: we're at the park for dinner having a wonderful time. The weather is 75 and sunny with a gentle breeze. The park has a beautiful fountain and the kids are so cute running and playing with us. Then Finn starts coughing and can't stop (he's getting over a little bug). In fact, he coughs so hard that he starts gagging and throws up all over me (you may remember from a previous post that he has a very sensitive gag reflex). Ew, it's in my hair and shirt. I glance down and notice that I'm still wearing my sports bra underneath, so I take off my soiled shirt and try to ignore the damp strand of hair on my neck and back that I know smells like stomach acid.

The Awesomeness of a Mother's Life:

Going from picturesque to grotesque in the blink of an eye.

P.S. What's with Jaxon acting like a teenager at age 7? He just demanded $20 for a yearbook (In elementary school? Come on.) and when I said no, he ran to his room and slammed the door.

"Get back here with that brownie!" I hollered after him.

PPS. The photo of Finn is actually a shot from today at a different park, but doesn't it look just like the one from earlier this week? That photo was taken in the fall I think.

I totally forgot to mention that the first outing to the park involved Finn pooping in his underwear and trying to crawl away while I wiped him. I happened to be on a conference call for the Hemophilia Assoc at the time. Another awesome mothering moment. It must be meaningful that I still thought today was a good day.

2010-05-23T12:48:00.001-07:00

Playing at the park for the last time for 4 months.

Today's Laughs

2010-05-19T19:49:00.005-07:00

"Mom, on Friday we're having a Hallelujah at school!" I said, "You mean, luau?"

"Mom, my hands aren't that springy. That's why I can't do hand springs. See?" (He bounces on his bum on the couch and pushes himself off with his hands.)

Jaxon was sent straight to bed from dinner because of disobedience. Here are quotes from the rest of the evening.

"I'm going to move out. I'm going to live with Ethan Householder. If you boss me around one more time I'm moving out."

"I broke out tonight. Out of the house, I mean. I packed my suitcase and went half way down to Ethan's. But then I thought you'd be missing me, so I came back."

I checked Jaxon's "suitcase" (a tiny Thomas the Train roller backpack) and found a stuffed Winnie the Pooh, a shirt and two pairs of shorts. He probably thought he was set for a week.

Addendum added Thursday morning:
Mark reported that last night around 10, Jaxon stumbled out of his room looking half awake. He headed into the kitchen and pulled his pants down in front of the trash can. He paused as if thinking sleepily, "This doesn't seem right." Then Mark kindly escorted him to the bathroom.

Finn: AKA "The Pill"

2010-05-17T13:53:00.001-07:00

*Warning, this post involves a poop story. Read at your own risk.

We don't really call him The Pill, but I do refer to him as my birth control. In the last few weeks, Finn has become the most destructive force in our home.
1. He broke our TV (yes, it cost more than I care to admit, but we thought it would last for a year).
2. He toasted metal measuring spoons and broke the toaster. *(I know a 2 year old should not be near a toaster, it was actually the 4 year old who was toasting and Finn jumped in to help).
3. Today, while trying to be helpful with his potty training, he attempted to empty his poop from the potty bowl into the toilet, but his gag reflex is very sensitive, so he ended up barfing all over the bathroom floor. Thank heavens Mark cleaned it all up. By the way, no one was in the bathroom to see this, we just deduced it from the clues. Finn was just walking around (not wiped yet) the house cool as a cucumber. No big deal.

Mark has started calling Finn a raptor (think Jurassic Park) because he constantly adapts to get into things. He was standing on the counter trying to get candy on the fridge the other day. I can't remember all of the other things on my list but actually as I'm reading what I've written, it occurs to me that Finn isn't the problem, it's his parental supervision that is the problem. :(

I guess that's birth control enough.

New Look and Train Park Photos

2010-05-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are reading this in your RSS feed right now, feel free to check out our new look. I took the boys to Freestone today to ride the train and we had a great time. I haven't taken many photos this year so far, so I'm trying to make up for it. You may notice that the kids really need a haircut. I'm trying to grow Asher's out, because it curls up at the ends but the other boys' are stick straight. They may end up with mohawks again this year, I'm still not sure.

I'm also not sure if we have any more weekend mornings at the park. It was pretty hot by 11 when we left. I'm starting to get anxiety about the ridiculously hot summers here in AZ. Oh well, I've made it through more than 20 summers here. Another isn't going to kill me.

Back Again

2010-05-15T21:48:00.003-07:00

Having been inspired by Mraynes, I'm going to begin blogging again in earnest.

Part of my problem, besides being busy, is that I don't know who this blog belongs to. Is it mine? The kids'? Mark's? The family's? I don't know.

Then I realized that it's okay. I'm the same way. Sometimes I belong to me, sometimes to the kids, and sometimes to Mark. (well I won't be blogging about that exactly, so don't worry :)

But, I've decided to accept that I am pulled in many directions all the time and will blog about what I want to, when I want to. Period. (Are all those periods a little redundant? Perhaps.)

So the big news for today is that I signed my kids up for summer childcare. It's a very reasonable price, but my kids (all three of them) can go to a super-fun play place for up to 4 hrs a day, 6 days a week. It's pretty much drop in.

I'm really excited about it. I can get a lot of stuff done this summer, like teaching Zumba.
That's another thing that I haven't blogged about lately. I'm now a certified Zumba instructor. Zumba is a group fitness class that combines latin dance and hip-hop. Their slogan is, "Ditch the workout, join the party!" and it really does feel that way.

I'll let you know when I get a job! (I'll let Mark know first, actually. He's the one that's most excited for me to be a wage-earner).

April Laughs

2010-04-28T19:55:00.004-07:00

Jaxon says to me, "I need to be green, Mom." What? I continue to ask about what part of him needs to be green, his hair? His skin?
"Not the color of my skin, mom, I need to turn out the lights and not waste water." Oh, be GREEN. So smart.

I tell Jaxon that pink used to be his favorite color. He responds, "Well things change. I have different priorities now. (Priorities means jobs)."

"Mom, do we have any waterproof underwear?" Jaxon asks before his field day of watersports at school.

Finn grabs Milo's paws and claps them together while saying, "Clap, clap!" Then he pulls the cat close to his face and says, "Kitty kissed me!"

When my cousins Allina and Michelle were heading home after a weekend trip, Finn wanted to go with them. He asked, "I go with you?" I told him to ask if he could go in Allina's suitcase. He asked, "You suitcase?" She laughed and said, "You want to go with me to Seattle?" He asked with excitement and confusion, "Sea turtle?"

Speaking of turtles, when I mistakenly called Asher by his brother's nickname, he corrected me, "I not Twinkie, I Turtle."

March Laughs

2010-04-12T21:07:00.002-07:00

March and April are usually busy months for us, so it's no surprise that this installment of our "Laughs" series is late and pretty sparse. I hope you enjoy it anyway!

3-05 Finn struggles with very powerful emotions (especially when he's tired). If I do something that makes him mad, he cries, stomps, screams, hits me and yells at me, "GoWay!" In his next breath, he puts his thumb in his mouth, grabs his little baby bear and looks up through his tears, "Rockabye?"

3-10 Asher plays with Milo's ears, pulling them straight up. "Look!" he giggles, "He's a bunny!"

3-13 I ask Finn, "Twinkie (that's his nickname) have I told you how cute you are?" He looks at me and says, "No!"

3-15 Mark was telling Jaxon that he met an inventor who had learned how to make electricity out of garbage. Jaxon laments to Mark, "I haven't figured out how to make electricity go through wood."

3-17 During a movie trailer for Chipmunks, "The Squekuel" they sing, "Shake what your mama gave you." I ask Jaxon what that means and he says, "My clothes. My mom gives me my clothes."

3-18 Mark is singing to himself while cleaning up dinner and Jaxon interrupts with, "Dad, if you like singing so much, why don't you sing all your words?" Then he demonstrates (much like Dori singing to the whale on Finding Nemo). "Jaaaaxoooon, puuut yooour clooooooothes oooonnnnn."

3-20 Jaxon must have picked up on relationship language at school when he says to me, "Mom, I like you but I don't like like you." However, I realize he doesn't really understand the meaning when later that day he says about Milo, "I like like him."

Trip to DC

2010-04-07T22:40:00.002-07:00

At the end of February, I went to Washington DC as a representative of the Hemophilia community. The National Hemophilia Foundation has an annual event where it's members go to Capitol Hill and talk to our Congressmen and Senators about issues relating to the bleeding disorders community.

This year's Washington Day happened to be on the same day that President Obama did his Health Care Summit. Talking to the Legislative Assistants was really awesome since they were already in the mindset of healthcare. What had been a hard sell in years past (eliminating lifetime caps, getting rid of pre-existing condition clauses, etc) was a much easier discussion this year.

During the trip, I had some time to go touring. Here are my photos.

I got to see some old friends (Hi Kathleen! Hey Ben!) and make some new ones (Yeah Sus!) I even ran into a friend from our old BYU ward (Maddy, do you remember the Sandra and Justin?). Unfortunately, they didn't recognize me. I'm not sure if I'm just much better looking, or really old looking (or both?).

I had a great time in Baltimore visiting an old HS friend, Ben Brinton and his gorgeous and brilliant wife, Susan Christiansen. They have a beautiful brick home in Baltimore and were so gracious to put up with me for a day (including two drives to DC and back). It was such a wonderful trip all around.

I shouldn't be blogging this right now, I'm on my way to Cali tomorrow for a Mormon Feminist retreat (the second annual Sophia Gathering). I've planned it both years and I'm still not sure why I've taken on that responsibility. I don't need the extra stress. But, I'm really excited, it should be a lot of fun.

As far as March Laughs (for all of you followers out there) I will do them when I return. I'm so behind on the calendar, it's not funny. Jaxon has stopped asking me to change it. He's given up.

Babysitting: Best Deal in Town!

2010-03-31T15:36:00.003-07:00

I just found out that my gym, Mountainside Fitness does a Lunch Bunch childcare service.

On Mondays and Wednesdays (In SE Gilbert, by the San Tan mall) and on Wednesdays in Mesa, they offer childcare from 11-2. It's $10 for the first child and $5 for each additional child. The fee includes lunch!

I did it today for the first time (I even took my niece Ella), and it worked wonderfully. For any of you who are looking for childcare in the middle of the day, it's hard to find if you don't want to bug your friends too much.

Also, I asked the staff at Mountainside and they said Lunch Bunch is open to people who aren't members of the gym as well. The childcare is pretty cool, they have a computer/gaming area, a bouncer, a movie theater, and a general play area.

Let me know if you want to go shopping with me sometime!

Hiking in the Superstitions

2010-03-30T09:13:00.001-07:00

Two weekends ago, Mark and I took our little family hiking in the desert. We went to Usery Park which is about 20 min from our house. It was a cool spring day and we had a great time hiking up a little mountain then back down again. There was a playground at the end of the trail and we had a picnic lunch.

Here are some photos from our hike.

We'd love to do it again soon, so if you want to join us, let me know!

Easter Photos for a Friend

2010-03-28T21:03:00.003-07:00

I saw my friend Kate at church today. Her children were all matching and very adorable. I asked her if they had taken any photos and she said no.

So, after church we spent about 30 min taking some pics down at the grassy field in our neighborhood.

It was awesome because Kate's kids are SO well-behaved and pleasant. It helped that I brought a stuffed dragon that Kate pretended was eating my head. The kids liked that a lot.

Check out the photos here.

MOAHAHAHAHA!!

2010-03-23T21:48:00.002-07:00

It's me, Mark. I've figured how to access the family blog!! Exxxxcccellent! Now, for once, there will be a balanced account of what should be our private family life. Jessica's out with the "girls" tonight. Which, come to think of it, happens more often than not. On Friday she's going on a road trip with a friend of hers. A couple of months ago I took some time off while she flew to Utah to speak at an event and next month, I will be taking off another three days so that she can go to California again. Of course, this is on top of her week long trip to Hawaii she enjoyed last year while I tried to plan a weeks worth of activities for my three boys (in the Arizona summer mind you). Should I be worried? I don't know why I'm expecting a response. I suppose it's more rhetorical. Actually, I do notice who comments on this thing from time to time. Seems like the same people. I could just call you guys and vent.

I suppose its this uneasiness that prompted me to start my P90x program again. For the unintiated, P90x is a hard-core home workout program that, Jaxon says, "when you start you are fat, and after 90 days, you're skinny." So there I was, contemplating my wife's fast-paced lifestyle of rowdy road trips while I stared at myself in the mirror with my shirt off. Yep, fat and out of shape (unless you count "round" as a shape) there's no other way to describe it. I know Mom, you would tell me it's all muscle. Sure, I can move billions of dollars around (not my money, the state's money) but am I useful? What can I do? I don't look good in a tool belt with my shirt off. In fact, I don't know how to fix anything. I have to think that magnifies your unattractiveness in a tool belt by an order of magnitude. A couple of weeks ago I fixed a towel rack that had been broken for like two years. Took me about twenty minutes. I don't want to brag, I was like "Hey towel rack, go make me a sandwhich!" What else? At the least, I eat the leftovers. I'd like to think I add a certain pizazz. More Garfield and less Leno probably. How can I measure THAT? Hmmm, I have a lot of "intangibles". What are those anyway if not completely useless? The reason they are intangible is because there is no material benefit. You're not a contributor. On the other hand, you're not a societal detractor. That's something.

Do I like this position? No idea. Something tells me its good to ask the question. At least it motivated me to action. I completed my first workout tonight, which is part of a twelve-step program to (warning: standard business cliches coming) recalibrate and engage.

Look out Raul the pool boy, if that's even you're REAL name (apologies to anyone reading this whose name is actually Raul)! You're about to face some competition from a round man with a tool belt. Get ready for the future of America in yo' grill. I don't know why I said that last part.

February Laughs

2010-03-03T21:06:00.004-07:00

February is all about Jaxon. I don't have a single thing for Asher and Finn and I hardly have any photos. Apparently I've been focused elsewhere these days. But, hopefully this awareness will change my behavior and I will resume documenting childhood minutia like a mommy robot.
Here's last months.

Without further ado:

7th Jaxon to me: "Mom, you look just like my daughter. Like I'm a father and you're my daughter. You look so cute in that shirt!"

8th While on the phone with my friend, Leslie, I hear her explain to her 4 year old how to partake of Fun Dip, "lick the stick, dip in powder, repeat."

10th At the hematologist clinic visit the Social Worker was trying to determine Jaxon's level of excitement to attend Camp HONOR, a summer camp for hemophilia, next year. She asked him, "When you're 8, what special thing do you get to do?" Jaxon said, "When I'm 8, I get baptized. My mom and dad told me it's a choice." Michelle responds, "Ok, what about hemophilia camp?"

11th Jaxon and I were planning to make cookies for his class for Valentine's day. I suggested he invite a friend, "You can have Cali or Melinda over to bake cookies with us." Jaxon pauses and responds, "I'll take Taven." (As if he's placing an order for neighborhood girlfriends.)

17th Jaxon says, "I love Melinda. When I grow up, I'm going to marry her. She's beautiful."

18th Jaxon plays with Melinda and as he's heading home he has a thought he wants to share so her turns around and hollers to her, "Hey Melinda. When I'm ten and you're ten, we're going to go on a DATE!" She looks back and yells, "No!" and rides away.

19th After his bath Jaxon yells, "My feet are itching! Mom, can you get someone to bite this? (gestures to his feet)."

20th This is how Jaxon plays with his brothers. He says to Finn, "You are such a little cutie, Finn!" Then to Asher he teases, "Do you want my toes? Come and get them!"

25th Jaxon says to Mark while I'm out of town: "Dad, starting now, I don't want you telling any jokes. Sometimes they don't surprise me. You should tell them to your mom."

27th While I was in D.C. Mark told the boys his life story over dinner. During the conversation Jaxon was wide-eyed and eager. When Mark finished, Jaxon blurted out, "Dad, you should tell that story to Mom!"

The Moment I Was Dreading

2010-02-19T14:20:00.003-07:00

I knew this day would come, but I didn't know how well I would handle it. I did pretty well, I think, but you can judge for yourself.

I've been learning how to infuse Jaxon peripherally (through his hand and arm veins) over the last few weeks. It's pretty tricky, but Jaxon has been amazing, not complaining and even being exciting about practicing on fake plastic veins. (He wants to practice on me, too. I haven't let him yet, but maybe I should)

So today, Jaxon looks down at his arm in the tourniquet and is probably just beginning to understand that he has to do this three times a week for the rest of his life.

He looks up at me and says, "Mom, I wish I didn't have hemophilia."

In my heart, I cried. I know, Honey, so do I. In this moment, Jaxon articulated what I have been feeling for seven and a half years. Up until now, he's hardly been aware of his bleeding disorder or it's impact on his life. He's a very healthy boy and hemophilia only affects his life 5% of the time. But, here we are in the 5% and it's still something that holds him back, that makes him feel different, that could potentially kill him. I knew there would be a time when he said this to me, but it still broke my heart.

So in my most cheerful voice I said, "Yep. But you have it. That's how things are. I wish I didn't have these dark circles under my eyes. That's why I wear make-up. You have hemophilia and you get this medicine to fix it."

Okay, so it sounds pretty lame now that I've written it out. But, I don't want him to think it's okay to feel sorry for himself.

I can do that well enough for the both of us.

At church yesterday . . .

2010-02-15T21:39:00.003-07:00

I found Asher like this when church ended at 4 PM. His teacher said he slept through the entire class.

Want to know the best part? I ate his cookie. :)

2010-02-10T12:17:00.001-07:00

Why do I have a sudden craving for chocolate covered gummy bears?

Accidental Time Capsule

2010-02-08T21:28:00.002-07:00

As I was cleaning out the garage from our failed garage sale, I came upon this bag. It was from my time as a BYU Freshman Academy Peer Advisor. That was my first job at BYU and I loved it. I had about 120 freshman that I was in charge of: I called them, helped them figure out student life, had lunch with them (courtesy of BYU). It was awesome.

So I guess I never cleaned out this bag and here's what I found a bunch of stuff from my life almost 10 years ago.
Here's what was in my accidental time capsule:

1. Newspaper clipping with Mark holding some kind of Valentine's gift from an article in the Daily Universe. He doesn't remember anything about the clipping. It appears to be from February of 2001.

2. 3 tampons (unsurprising)

3. A pair of socks with kittens on them (I used to love socks with patterns. No solid colors for me)

4. Avon chapstick

5. AA battery (probably for my discman)

6. $0.77, a tissue, and a pair of earrings (so that's what happened to these!)

7. A letter from my cousin, Michelle, who was on a mission.

8. A few cards, including my meal card from Freshman Academy (I wonder if there was any money left?)

All in all, it was pretty amusing to see what I was carting around campus when I was barely 21, married, and a "leader" of college freshmen.

Good times :)

January Laughs

2010-01-31T20:56:00.003-07:00

Here's the most recent in this series. Other installments can be found Dec, Nov, Oct, Sept, and Aug.

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of Asher quotes in this edition. He mostly continued in his wacky ways by spending his days in only his underpants, in a wad of blankets on my bed that he calls his "nest." He loves being at home so much that sometimes when he's distressed, even at home, I hear him say, "I wanna go home." Yeah, honey, you're here already.

1-4 After not getting Cheezits and hot dogs at the grocery store, Jaxon came home very grumpy. He gives me his best I-wish-you-were-dead glare and says authoritatively, "Your behavior at the store was unacceptable."

1-5 While eating the last of his Christmas candy, Jaxon reads the strip of paper on his Hershey's Kiss, "Kissie, Kissie, Kissie . . . " Throughout the month, he refers to them as "Kissies." I know I should tell him the truth, but it's so cute.

1-10 Finn and Asher play "Keek-a-boo" under the covers in our bed. After that, Finn loves to "Gock-a-bye" in the rocking chair.

1-13 I picked Jaxon up from school early because he was in the nurse's office with a stomach ache. In the car on the way home he explains, "I'll tell ya when I'm gonna be feeling better. When school is over."

1-14 After what must have been a hard day, Jaxon remarks, "I don't like school. I don't like home. I like leftovers."

1-15 Jabbering about his string cheese, Finn gushes, "It's cute. It's cute, Mama."

1-18 After being offered some kind of meat for dinner that he found undesirable, Jaxon tells me he's a vegetarian. So, I offer him some vegetables. "No, I'm the kind of vegetarian that doesn't eat vegetables." Then when I offer him a bean burrito he asks suspiciously, "What's in the beans?"

1-20 Finn drinks his yogurt from a straw.

1-21 Jaxon is trying to use me as a model to demonstrate something. He says, "Mama, come here. I'm gonna pretend like I'm gonna choke ya, but not too hard."

1-22 We're admiring our darling kitty Milo, and Jaxon comments on the swirl in the kitty's side.
I say, "It kinda looks like a cinnamon roll. Maybe we should have named him Cinnakitty."
Jaxon turns to me with a frownsmile and responds, "No. I don't like that name."

1-25 During family home evening, we discuss how much Jesus loves the kids. Jaxon pipes up very knowingly, "Jesus pays for our clothes, bricks, everything (with sweeping gestures)." When I asked for more detail, Jaxon responds, "He uses Spirit money."

1-27 Two of Jaxon's favorite foods are Smash potatoes (mashed potatoes) and Girl cheese sandwiches. He can't figure out why they're called this even though boys can eat them, too.

1-28 Jaxon tells me, "Milo scratching me was not appropriate so he's on the top bunk in timeout. He can come down when he's ready to be nice again."

1-29 After I had buckled Asher and Finn in the car to go to the park, I started driving to find Jaxon 2 houses down in our neighborhood. I lectured him about not leaving the house without telling me, explaining that if I left him alone in the house, he would be scared. He responds, "No, I wouldn't be scared. I'd be fine. There'd be no one to boss me around."

1-30 While preparing dinner, I had music on and was dancing with the kids. Jaxon stops suddenly in the middle of the song and says, "Mom, I need a sister. I have three brothers and no sisters."

1-30 Jaxon hears his brother Asher growl or holler from the playroom and remarks calmly, "Mom, Asher's getting in a rough mood with Finn. You'd better go look."

2010-01-25T16:34:00.001-07:00

The kids are feeding Raisin Bran from 06 to the ducks and i'm kinda glad we won't see how it comes out tomorrow.

Asher's 4!

2010-01-20T14:54:00.003-07:00

For his fourth birthday, Mark and I got Asher an easel. It's pretty cool and Asher just used it this afternoon for the first time (I couldn't figure out how to put it together).

As I watched him paint, I remembered the book My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. Perhaps I was thinking of it when I bought the easel way back in November.

2010-01-13T17:07:00.001-07:00

Advice- always lift the scooter, trike, or bike in one arm and your child in the other because you will surely walk like this many times.

One More December Laugh

2010-01-08T22:55:00.000-07:00

I was going to say, "messy."

For Asher's 4th Birthday. . .

2010-01-06T19:57:00.002-07:00

Today I sent this email out to some family and friends. I've been delighted at the response we've received both in donations and words of encouragement. The love of our family and friends has brought me to tears. Thank you!

Our little Asher turns 4 on the 16th, the day before the P.F. Chang's half-marathon. Mark and I are running as a team, Stomping Steeds to raise money for the AZ Hemophilia Association.

Both Asher and his big brother Jaxon have severe hemophilia A, which means their blood does not clot at all. Thanks to wonderful health care advances, both boys live normal lives, but they are very much dependent on their expensive tri-weekly medication to be able to run, jump, and play like other boys. The AZ Hemophilia Association is a non-profit that helps families like ours as we navigate the difficulties of raising children with a chronic bleeding disorder. The Association helps us with health insurance reviews, family retreats, and summer camp for our children. As a board member for six years, I know that the AZ Hemophilia Association is dedicated to its mission of enhancing the quality of life of people with bleeding disorders.

So for Asher's 4th birthday, will you give the gift of supporting our team?

Please go to our team page to donate. Any amount will be appreciated. We are 25% to our goal (88% now!) and we know that our friends and family are so supportive that we can reach our goal with only 12 days to go.

Your donation will be rewarded with photos of the race, as Mark and I run/walk/crawl across the finish line.

Thanks and have a happy New Year!

Steed Calendar 2010

2010-01-04T22:01:00.005-07:00

You may have seen the cover of this calendar.

The third Steed calendar I've made is finally finished! I get pickier and more perfectionist every year.
That's why I've spent the last 3 weeks working on it. It doesn't look like much, but most of these collages I've redone about 3 times and then it takes me forever to get them uploaded to the Costco website. Then I have to find good photos of each individual family member to put on their birthday and couples for their anniversaries. Also, I use Picasa (Google's free photo editing software)- enough said.

The best part about it is that this is pretty much a good summary of our trip to Michigan in November and since I haven't blogged about that, here it is!
(Please note the months are not in order and one month was not a collage so it's missing.)

Big Boys: Jaxon and his cousins Josh and Cedric. Jaxon LOVES these guys and they have a lot of fun.
We found a rock with graffiti on our walk to the lighthouse. It said, "I love Jessica." Jaxon wanted a photo with it. (Oh, and today he told me he wants to bring me flowers every day. This, not too long after telling me he was very disappointed in my behavior at the store when I didn't buy him hot dogs and Cheezits.)

Day at the beach:
Lake Michigan, to be exact. Fun with football, s'mores, and jumping off dunes.

Walk to the Lighthouse:
Everyone had a good time. Well, almost. And Mark had the best time laughing at Jaxon relieving himself off the side of the platform.

The Zoo:
Grand Rapids has a great zoo for viewing (I just wouldn't want to be an animal there). All the creatures were out and about. Lovely visit and only $3! I must say Finn enjoyed himself the most, chasing turkeys.

Katie and Justin with their kids: Addie and Tysen.
We watched these kids for the week between Christmas and New Years (well, technically until the 2nd, but who's counting?) It was a lot of work, but well worth the time our kids had to play with their cousins.

The Steed Clan
Yes, everyone except Uncle Stan (not really, I just threw that in b/c it rhymed).

Nate and Sandrine with Josh, Cedric, and Taiva.
You'll see fancy dessert, bowling, Meijer Gardens, walks through the leaves, and crafts at the library. We did it all!

This is us!
Fun on the outdoor tramp, playing in the leaves, and Asher with the penguins at the zoo.

The Little Ones: Aren't they darling?

Mark's brother, David left on his mission at the end of our visit. He's in the Provo MTC, awaiting his visa so he can go to Brazil.
Here's the blog we're maintaining for him in the meantime. You'll notice in the most recent letter Dave thanks me for this calendar, which was about half finished when he sent it. Lol.

Here's one of the bloopers pages I made. I didn't use this one, though.

I used this page instead. I'm pretty sure Katie's going to hate me.

December Laughs

2009-12-31T13:54:00.001-07:00

Christmas photos to come, here are our kids' funny quotes this month. Check out November's here.

Here's the photo quote from last week:

Do you mean meditating?

12-1-09 For some unknown reason, Jaxon is trying to procure $100. He says he wants to go to Hollywood.
Me: "How are you going to get $100?"
Jaxon: "I don't know . . . maybe if I win something."
Me: "Like what?"
Jaxon: "A singing contest or something."

Upon further discussion, I also discover that Jaxon intends to buy a Junie B Jones book and pay tithing with his $100.

12-3-09 Jaxon is getting frustrated at our conversation. I've asked him to do too many things and he says, "Take it easy on your son, Mom. You're driving me crazy." (then with big gestures) " I can wreck this whole house up. I can take off the roof!"

12-5-09 Speaking about his pet fish Herman, Jaxon laments, "I just wish he could sleep in my bed! If he was my wife he could."

12-7-09 This is when our new kitty arrives. Perhaps God was worried that the fish would end up in Jaxon's bed.

12-9-09 Upon discovering our egg slicer in the kitchen drawer, Jaxon excitedly asks, "Mom, can we make egg sandwiches today?!?" After a split-second pause wherein he realizes he may be asked to eat the egg sandwiches, he says in a very quiet and fast voice, "None for me, thanks."
That's how Jaxon has a conversation with himself.

12-9-09 I talked to Jaxon's teacher today and she tells me about a band concert that the entire school attended. The first graders were in the front and after the band teacher introduces each section, "Woodwinds, brass, percussion, etc" Jaxon asks her loud enough for the whole school to hear, "What about the French Horn?" The entire school busts up laughing.

12-14-09 After his goodnight hug, Asher complains, "Your fur is tickling me."

12-17-09 Jaxon earned a RED at school today which means he broke the rules many times. We talked about it long and hard and at one point Jaxon says, "I got a red because of white flour!" He quotes from Professor Fizzy who explains that white flour doesn't have any vitamins or other good stuff, that your body uses it up too quickly, it makes you crazy, and then "Bam!" you're hungry again. White flour was the topic of many of this month's funny situations.

12-18-09 Jaxon decides today is Milo's (our new cat) birthday. After singing him a wonderful birthday song I say, "Jaxon you are such a sweet boy." He responds, "I know. I'm really kind to animals. I hope Milo doesn't die."

Me, too Sweetie. I have a bad track record.

12-20-09 Asher pretends to cut my hair, "Just belax, just belax."

After baths, Jaxon tells Mark and I that Asher has a red spot on his bum. He starts to guess its origins, "Maybe it's a mosquito bite or a vampire bite."

The funniest story this month was from December 3rd, the night of Asher's preschool program.
On our way to the show, Jaxon was telling me about his friend Austin's mom who volunteers in his classroom. He says casually, "Actually mom, she's kind of prettier than you. Her hair is blonde."

Then Jaxon tells Mark, "But you're the handsomest daddy of all the kids at my school. Actually, you're the handsomest daddy in the whole world."

To prove his point Jaxon keeps pointing to men who are not as good looking as Mark, indicating that indeed, Daddy is the most handsome man ever.

When we arrive at the church for Asher's program, one of our friends, Brett, is there with his kids and he holds the door open for Jaxon. At this point, Jaxon glances up and looks at Brett and says, "Actually, you're handsomer than my dad."

Ka-pow.

Christmas Letter 2009

2009-12-21T12:51:00.009-07:00

This year was a (thankfully) quiet one for our family. We spent the year enjoying time together with family and friends. Here's a little update.

Finn, who is the spitting image of Jaxon at his age, turned two in October. He loves his brothers and imitates them all day. Every morning while still in his pajamas, Finn puts his shoes on, walks Jaxon out to the bus stop, waves as the bus leaves and walks back in the house. But Finn is still our baby and will spend hours rocking in the lap of Mama or Daddy (names he uses interchangeably to describe both parents).

Biggest accomplishment this year: Moving into a big boy bed, the middle bunk of the triple bunks.

Though he's not quite four, Asher looks like a five year old. He's shy around everyone except our little family where he acts more like a lion cub, wrestling with and chasing his brothers. Taking after Jaxon, Asher has inherited his brother's love of trains. We are getting more than our money's worth out of the train table we bought a few years ago. In preschool, Asher is proud of the crafts he brings home and so is Jaxon. As for his lifestlye, Asher is on his way to becoming a Naturist. He spends every moment he's at home in his underwear, even when it's 64 degrees in our house.

Biggest accomplishment this year: Potty training (Our potty training stories will scare your pants off).

Seven year old Jaxon is growing into a responsible big brother. He adores his brothers and talks about "taking care of my boys." Jaxon has a big heart and loves all creatures. This year he had two pet fish and 9 pet mice (which I accidentally killed). December 7th we had a beautiful kitty adopt us. Named Milo, courtesy of Jaxon, he just moved in and the kids are thrilled. As he improves in first grade, Jaxon impresses his teacher by casually using big words most kids don't know. He's great at making friends and has an incredible memory for quoting things he's heard. At the dinner table tonight Jaxon says, "Use what you have to make what you need." Such sage advice from a 7 year old. Recently, Jaxon started karate where he learns discipline.

Biggest accomplishment this year: Learning to read and doing jump kicks in karate.

As for me, I stay busy with my blogs, my friends, and my family. While I love to create things by decorating or photographing, I hate to clean so keeping a tidy house is always a chore (pun intended). I'm still on the board of the AZ Hemophilia Association and love promoting our mission to enhance the quality of life for the bleeding disorder community. At church I was just released from teaching the 14 year old Sunday School class and called as the nursery leader, which I am excited about. The reality of growing older set in this year when I discovered a few gray hairs, and a newlywed couple moved into our ward and I recognized the husband because I used to BABYSIT HIM! I participate in two book groups, am training for a half-marathon in January (donate here!), and have become addicted to yoga.

Biggest accomplishment this year: Hanging Christmas lights on our house for the first time in our marriage (We've never had lights, so this was a first for our house and a first for me).

Mark spends his days working as the Private Equity specialist for the AZ state pension fund. He loves what he does, although he does not love the occasional travel. I love his job too, because he has lots of vacation and no overtime. When Mark gets home he's the primary parent and the kids just adore him. Mark loves to play tennis on the Wii. And though he teases me about blogging, Mark started another blog this year which celebrates his favorite hobby: Cougar football (need I say more?).

Biggest accomplishment this year: Enjoying a trip to Michigan to visit his family (It helps that no one was sick and all the kids sleep through the night).

We wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,
Jessica Steed and her boys: Mark, Jaxon, Asher, and Finn.

Our Blogs:
Marks: Adverse Selection
Mormon Women's Blog: The Exponent

PS, You can probably tell that Asher is very affectionate in our family, since he's hugging everyone in all the photos.

The Making Of . . .

2009-12-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

This is the cover.
What do you think?

So You Think You Can Jump?

2009-12-09T20:35:00.000-07:00

Check out Spidey here.

The Kitty Who Adopted Us

2009-12-08T13:08:00.005-07:00

Yesterday as we waved goodbye to Jaxon on the bus, a little kitty walked by and let us pet him.

Then as we walked back to the house, the kitty scampered in ahead of us and decided to call our house his home.

He loves me and follows me around. He tolerates Finn, with the occasional bite for warning. He likes the other kids and Mark just fine, but he loves sleeping under our Christmas tree and wandering around our house.

I'm not sure how long he'll stay, or if we'll find his owners, or if he was just a stray.

Since some people in the house are allergic to cats (Mark, but he grew up with them), this is a little experiment to see how everyone's allergies react to this creature.

Right now I'm telling the kids that the kitty is vacationing with us. And with my record with pets, that's probably a good thing to tell them.

Curtis Photo Shoot

2009-12-06T20:55:00.001-07:00

On Saturday I did a photo shoot with the Curtis family at Mesa Arts Center. It went pretty well. I'm getting better because this time I didn't have trouble with the photos being too dark. When I got home and looked at them on the computer, I realized some of them weren't completely in focus. It was so irritating. I'm going to have to take a class. Or maybe I just need to keep practicing. Anyone want to be my guinea pig?

November Laughs

2009-12-01T18:47:00.003-07:00

November just FLEW by, so I don't have a lot of document hilarities, although I know there were more than I wrote down.

Post Halloween amusement:
"Canny!" was the first, middle, and last word out of Finn's mouth all month long. We still have two pieces of Halloween candy and my kids know it. Every time it was too quiet, I knew they had found a way to get into the candy and were shoving in their faces (wrappers and all) before I found them.

11/12 As we drive by a cemetery in Michigan, Jaxon comments , "Cemeteries are where they plant dead people."

11/15 When his 4 year old cousin was throwing a fit about the music in the car Jaxon chastises her, "Taiva, the earth is for everybody, not just you."

11/18 After we got settled on our flight home from Michigan Jaxon recites a poem to me,
"We saw great sights, we made great friends. Now we're heading home to our journey's end."
Then he says, "Say it with me, Mom."

Throughout the month Asher continues to shed his clothes whenever we're home. When we come back from the gym, store, church, etc. I turn around and he's standing in his underwear. I help him get dressed ALL. DAY. LONG.

Asher has also begun a little ritual of creating a nest on my bed. He piles and fluffs our down comforter into a little circle and sits in the middle. When I ask him what he's doing he smiles and says, "This my nest!" Then he asks me to snuggle with him.

In the last few days Asher (nearly 4) has taken on the task of disciplining two year old Finn (I'm just glad somebody is). So when Finn hits him, Asher says, "Time Out!" and tries to pick him up and haul him over to the chair. Today the chair was misplaced, so when Asher tried this he looked very confused then gave up and said, "No chair."

Finn is mostly funny because he confuses Mommy and Daddy all day long. He doesn't seem to really care which one he uses, and since he's two I assume he really does understand who's who. Right now, as I type, Finn is hollering, "Daddy" when he knows I'm the only parent home. Sheesh.

Speaking of who's who, Jaxon decided recently that Dad is the boss because Dad is taller and bigger than Mommy. Said Jaxon, "When you stand next to Daddy, you can rest your head on his shoulder. That means he's in charge."
Only after some negotiations was I able to convince Mark to encourage Jaxon to see Mom and Dad as a team.

11-19 I'm trying to determine which shoes fit Jaxon so I can get him out the door to school. He is apparently impatient with me and apparently distracted by his cousin as he shouts, "It doesn't matter [how the shoes fit]. All I care about is Ella because she's so beautiful!"

11-22 Jaxon tells Mark, "You know why I have trouble saying words? Because my head is shaped like a cone!" (He is half right. He had a cone-shaped head as a baby and remembers that story well).

11-29 The whole family is snuggling/wrestling in our bed and I rest my head on Jaxon's knobby little shoulder.
Me: "Jaxon, your shoulder feels like a pool ball."
Jaxon: (huge smile) "Wow! Thanks, Mom!"

(added) 11-30 We're setting up the Christmas tree and Asher keeps using everything as a pretend phone. In his baby voice he's talking fast and repeating the same phrases. After a few times we can just make out this dialogue: "Hello? I just walked in the door. Look out your window." and some other garbled things. It sounds like a movie quote so I ask Jaxon if he can figure out what Asher is saying. Jaxon looks at me bored and says, "It's from Curious George, Mom." Whoa. Jaxon, are you the library of movie quotes, or what?

12-1 Jaxon comes home complaining that he got hurt when a kid kicked him at school.

"Mom, I've got a huge owie on my BLADE."

What?
Yep, his shoulder blade.

The funniest scene in November is our family traveling to Michigan for 11 days with only CARRY ON LUGGAGE (we were too cheap to pay $35 a bag when the flight was only $39 each way!)

We packed 5 carry-on suitcases and had 4 other bags/backpacks/purses. We also had a car seat, stroller, and three small children. I wish someone had videotaped it because we would be a hit on YouTube.

As we were deplaning in Mesa, I had a problem of having suitcases ahead of where I needed to be (to get more suitcases) and people right behind me. So, I sent Jaxon ahead.

He was carrying his backpack with my purse stuffed inside. He was pulling not one, but two full size carry-on suitcases strapped together. They kept bumping into the seats so he went very slow, and he had to go down a really steep external ramp (the kind that lands you on the tarmac). Through what must have been divine intervention, Jaxon does this all by himself until the very last few feet when a man helps him pull the suitcases.

And that is why I'm glad that as children grow up they become more useful!

Vote for your Fave

2009-11-29T16:44:00.002-07:00

Vote on the sidebar for your favorite pic of my kids. I'm trying to choose which one to put on my wall.
(In photo A, Jaxon's left eye is crooked. If that is the favorite, I will find someone to photoshop it.)
A: One Stooge

B: Huddle

C: Future of America

D: Monkeys in a Tree

Halloween 2009

2009-11-23T19:52:00.007-07:00

This year for Halloween, Jaxon wanted to be a mummy. But, for his school character parade, he was supposed to be something literary, not scary. So, I helped him dress as a pirate (in 5 min flat, it was awesome!). Here are a few shots of him during his class party playing roll the pumpkin relay, and finding spiders in slimy goo. (The ironic part of me not letting Jaxon go to school as a mummy was that there were many, many graphic, violent, and scary costumes in the parade. A kid in his first grade class dressed as the Halloween murderer Mike Myers).

When Halloween night came, I wrapped Jaxon as a mummy, using a stretchy holey fabric that I got to go around Asher's cast a long time ago. I put that stuff on his limbs and face then covered everything with strips of white fabric. It was tricky, considering I only had 2 saftey pins and it kept falling down all night. If I did it again, I would definitely do some research first. He looked really good though, even our friends didn't recognize him.

Asher wouldn't dress up for his preschool Halloween party, although we had many costumes to choose from (even a train engineer!). He's just a nervous little guy and seems afraid of costumes. So, it was no surprise that Halloween night came and he wouldn't wear a costume. Last year I had to give him a camera and a flowered lei and let him be a tourist. This year I wasn't so clever.

Thus, when Finn saw he could get out of wearing a costume, he opted out too. So, you'll see that only one of our children dressed up for Halloween. I'm not sure when that will change.

The funniest part of the evening was when this 9 ft skeleton walked by and Asher freaks out (check him out in the left corner of the photo. He was terrified, poor thing.

This is him after walking by the tall skeleton. He's sad but look at all that candy! The kids are still begging for it everyday (curses under breath).

Here are my kids and their cousin, Ella who was dressed as a caterpillar.

Asher and Jaxon at the ward Trunk or Treat party.

Mark wore this mask along with his regular clothes.

I was a gypsy, but since I was the photographer, there are no photos of my costume.

Last but not least, as I was chatting with friends at the ward party I was totally unaware that my 2 year old had wandered off to the other end of the parking lot to get his groove on. I got a clip of him dancing to the Monster Mash. In the clip, there's a little hand that crawls around on the ground that Finn starts to kick. I don't blame him, it creeps me out, too.

Sleepers

2009-11-22T09:18:00.001-07:00

My children love to sleep.
If I haven't put them to bed properly, they will fall asleep on the floor sometimes.

First is a photo of Asher asleep in the hall right next to the kitchen at Nate and Sandrines house (in MI, where we were just visiting). Next is Finn asleep on my bedroom floor at 9:30 AM, while I took a shower.

(I love how they're both wearing their shoes, silly kids).

I just found this third photo in my file of phone pics. It was taken in November of 07. It looks like Jaxon fell asleep on the kitchen floor, which means he wasn't the only one that was losing sleep when Finn was a newborn.

October Laughs

2009-11-04T20:08:00.003-07:00

The next in the series of funny things my kids said over the month of October. Not too many entries this month because we were in Disneyland, then Mark and I exchanged being out of town for a while.
You can find the previous entries here and here.

6th: While gesturing wildly with his hands Jaxon proclaims, "Did you know the more I learn, the more my brain grows? Right now it's as big as a house!"

That same night Jaxon grows despondent and laments, "There's never a superhero in Arizona." (sigh)

7th: Speaking about salt water taffy Jaxon explains, "That's another word for nuts. It's another word in French."

9th: I went to help in Jaxon's class and like last year, he was delighted that I came. The teacher introduced me as Mrs. Steed and Jaxon loudly finishes her sentence, "But you can call her Jessica." Then Jaxon and I walk to the library hand in hand and he says, "Bend down so I can kiss you." So I did and got a wet one right on the cheek.

Also that day, Finn broke a ceramic pumpkin made by Jaxon's little neighbor friend. Jaxon was heartbroken. To help him feel better, we suggested he write an apology note explaining what happened, I began to dictate the note. Jaxon interupts me, "Boring!" It was so not boring. That little greivance.

Throughout the month Asher repeatedly puts his thumb on my chin, pushes down then stares in my mouth. "Looks very strong," he says then shuts my mouth. He does this over and over again. (If this is from movie, please tell me. I have no idea where he got this from)

21st: Asher requests oatmeal at 2 PM. I say no because it's not mealtime. He protests by taking the lid off the container of oats and putting it down his pants.

22nd: I ask Jaxon to eat some salad. After one bite he yells, "The lettuce is horrible! I can't feel my tongue!"

26th: At dinner Jaxon says, "Boy, Asher was really hungry, he ate 3 loaves of corn. I hope he doesn't eat 5 or 6 because that would make him sick."

30th: Asher comes out of his room at bedtime and uses a new stalling tactic. He throws his arms in the air and proclaims, "I'm going to fly to Mexico!" The beginning is a bit garbled, but he was definitely talking about flying to Mexico.

Finn's Day

2009-10-29T12:45:00.004-07:00

Today is Finn's birthday and we did a little food craft for lunch, inspired by Jaxon's book in the photo. It's called Buggy Apples, and it's just apples with raisins (attached with peanut butter) and a grape for a head. The kids loved it.

I also got them to all smile at the same time (miracle!) by copying Jaxon. He puts his finger next to his head and says, "Dwoing!" The kids giggle hysterically.

This new secret is great news because we have a family photo session coming up.

Morning Trauma

2009-10-27T10:58:00.002-07:00

When we bought our Dodge Grand Caravan nearly 4 years ago it came equipped with automatic sliding side doors. I knew someday those doors would close on little hands, but I didn't imagine I'd have to wait so long for that to happen. (Not that the doors haven't caused severe trauma already, like when Asher split his forehead open on one).

Today while I was trying to convince Asher to attend preschool Finn shut his finger in the van door. I was in the office and could hear Ella fussing, but couldn't hear Finn until I was in the living room.

I have no idea how long he was standing there, with his finger pinched, but it was so sad. We both cried. His little pinkie was red and purple, and bleeding a little bit.

Then we couldn't find his bear.
Then Asher wouldn't go to preschool.
Then Ella had a HUGE blowout in her diaper and required a bath. (These were size 1 diapers and with her pudgy bottom I found that size 3 diapers fit her perfectly).

We're all settled down, but what a morning.

Cost Saving Measures Gone Too Far

2009-10-21T22:04:00.002-07:00

Today I drove 20 min to the Mesa Gateway Airport (aka the Williamsfield airport) to a terminal that's half the size of an elementary school with half a dozen cars outside and four people inside, including the one guy behind the ticket counter.

I did this in an effort to save money because buying tickets online or by phone incurs a $14 fee. The ticket buying went fine, although I had to pay $40 extra for 4 of the tickets because there was only one left at the $39 rate. This still was much cheaper than buying the tickets through a regular carrier, instead of Allegiant Air a regional carrier.

It looks as though the nice man at the ticket counter forgot to give me back my credit card, and I've tried to find out if I left it there without having to go back (I was babysitting my niece today).

But, apparently Allegiant Air is so good at cost cutting, that they don't actually have a phone at the ticket counter.
Below is the unedited response to the email I sent to the company requesting information about my lost card.

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us at Allegiant Air. Unfortunately we do not have a phone number for the ticket counter. I would recommend going back to the counter.

Thank you,

Jennifer M.

Is this not a sign that cost cutting has gone too far?

Must I really go down to the airport, wait in line for another 20 min and ask if they have my card?

And if they do, shouldn't they have called me?

The Pet Curse

2009-10-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

You may remember that not quite two months ago we got a new pet, Figaro, the fish. (Because I killed the pet mice, right?)

In case you'd forgotten, here are some photos, snapped the day we bought that cute little Betta fish.

That I killed.

Yes, I did it again, folks. I broke my little 7 year old's heart.

But I refuse to take all of the blame. Mark planned this surprise vacation and did not plan a place for Figaro. So, he asked me what to do with her, and I said she'd be fine for 4 days. I mean, I have a friend who tried for a MONTH to kill her Betta fish. Another friend didn't feed hers for a month and it finally died. So 4 days doesn't seem like such a big deal, right?

I was wrong.

When we came home, she was NOT swimming in her bowl. The water was murky and smelly.

Jaxon started crying and (this is the worst part) told me that maybe Figaro was like an iguana, it could change it's color to match it's background, so he was still there swimming around, but he just blended in with the shells and plants.

That's when I started crying. Then I told Jaxon we were going right now to buy a new fish. He perked up at that news.

Why am I the worst pet person in the world?

Or, perhaps the better question is why do I have a child that LOVES pets where I barely tolerate them? (This is where I tell you that Jaxon would sing lullabies to Figaro and kiss his bowl goodnight).

When Mark cleaned out the bowl and found half of Figaro in one of the shells at the bottom.

The new fish's name is Herman.

We'll see if he can last more than 2 months.

If not, maybe we need something a little more robust, like a cat or dog.

Disneyland Trip

2009-10-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

We had a bunch of fun at Disneyland and California Adventure.

Here's a link to our Facebook photo album (only 29 photos this time, and with captions!).
If that doesn't work, check out my profile.

We had a good time and stayed in a wonderful house (I'm not sure I can sleep in my own bed again).
Mark is the best for planning this for us. We love you!

Galactic Greetings!

2009-10-16T16:26:00.002-07:00

Galactic Greetings Space Ranger,

You have received an intergalactic transmission from a friend who has just completed a mission on the new Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster interactive experience at Disneyland® Park in California.

To Infinity and Beyond!

http://www.disneyland.com/Buzz

Unfortunately, the kids were too short to be in the photos. I'll post pics of them soon, but these were just emailed to us! Cool, eh?

We're having a great time and wish you (our friends and family) were here!

2009-10-15T10:31:00.001-07:00

The real surprise is that my mom and brother are coming too. Now the adults outnumber the kids. Sweet!

Disneyland, Here We Come!

2009-10-15T07:20:00.002-07:00

Yep, Jaxon marched into our room with a paper that said Disneyland and his name on it.

He asked if Daddy put it under his pillow to which Mark replied, "No, it must have been the Disneyland fairies."

Seriously? You don't want to take credit for this one?

We're excited! More on our trip after we return.

Baby Finn at Exponent

2009-10-13T22:32:00.001-07:00

This post is probably more suitable here at the family blog than it is at The Exponent, and yet I put it up there anyway for some diversity.

Enjoy!

Surprise Vacation!

2009-10-13T22:17:00.004-07:00

Thursday morning our family will leave for our first surprise vacation!

Yep, Mark's been planning this weekend getaway since April and only Finn knows where we're going (and he's not telling anyone).

I must admit that I'm having a harder time with the not knowing than I would have expected. Although I knew I was a control freak, I didn't realize I was that much of a control freak.

Except when I watch Mark cook. That's the worst. I can't not give suggestions, "Honey, why don't you use that knife? Also, a cutting board works better than a paper towel. Why didn't you add all the veggies? Etc, etc."

So, it is with mixed delight and worry that I anticipate our climbing in the car Thursday A.M. with our bags packed (with what? you may ask) and head off to who knows where.

But, I promise I will tell you when I find out because.

Drumroll please. . .

I CAN NOW BLOG FROM MY CELL PHONE.

(Yes, don't be surprised if the world comes to an end before Thursday, it is THAT amazing. And if not, I will blog the location of our surprise vacation from the road. Woohoo!)

Camping and Pumpkinfest

2009-10-06T21:21:00.002-07:00

Last weekend we got invited to go camping with some friends, the Curtises. They have two adorable boys, Asher (I know, another one!) and Luke. So we packed up our five boys ages 7, 4, 3, 2, 1 and drove up to Prescott at Lynx Lake and had a delightful time hiking, roasting hot dogs, making S'mores, and then hardly sleeping before packing up quickly in the rain. I recommend this campsite because it is seriously no more than 5 minutes from the main road in Prescott (4 minutes from Costco, I kid you not, I felt like I was home) oh, and it had flush toilets, BONUS!

Luckily, the AM rain cleared up and we spent the middle of the very windy day at Freeman Farms Pumpkin Festival. The kids loved the petting zoo, the hay ride, the corn maze, and the pumpkin patch, but mostly the train ride. We managed to take that train twice, actually.

Here's a little movie I put together of some of our pictures!
The song is James Taylor's October Road, which I thought quite fitting.

Also, if you're getting this off your reader, I just brought Autumn to the Waves of Life! Check out our new theme and masthead.

September Laughs

2009-09-30T22:28:00.009-07:00

Here's the second installment of the funny things our kids said this month (at least the ones we wrote down). The first is here.

6th: Mark poured milk into an upside down mug. Awesome.

15th: Jaxon's snacking on pretzels and Nutella after school and remarks, "I think when I become a dad, I'll teach my kids how to make this."

16th: When discussing something that is brown, Jaxon says, "French is another word for brown. Vegetarians know that."

17th: This is the first time I notice this language from Asher, but it became more prominent all month, showing up nearly every time he was disinclined to participate in anything.

Me: Asher, come eat your dinner!
Asher: NEVER!

19th: We're watching Coraline as a family (please do NOT show this to your children before you watch it first).
Jaxon is in the fetal position, scared and says, "I'm telling you, my knees are getting freaked out!"

19th: Asher interrupts Mark with, "Stop, I'm talking to Thomas (his train)."

25th: Jaxon and Mark go to the Diamondbacks game. When they come home Jaxon tells me, "You should have been there, they moved the roof like MAGIC, and we were on the BIG SCREEN!" (hooray for daddies, little boys, and baseball games)

27th: Jaxon responds politely at breakfast, "Tea would be lovely, Mom. Thanks." Then a few minutes later, "I love you more than life itself." (At this point he can't explain to me what it means, but he saw it on a movie.)

But the best line for this day was when I tried to discourage him from eating an apple. He had the stomach flu the night before and I told him that apples make me sick when I eat them on an upset stomach.

To this advice Jaxon responds, "Apples won't make me sick. That only happens in adults. God told me that before he made me."

28th: I made a new track on the train table (which I do nearly every day three times because Finn gets mad at Asher for something and promptly throws the track all over the room).
Jaxon sees the new track, runs into thank me with this, "Mom, your new track looks FAGNIFICENT!" (This word is now famous in our home, a stellar combination of fantastsic and magnificent. I invite you to use it as often as you like.)

29th: Asher and Finn have been coming out of their room again and again after I put them to bed. So, imagine my surprise to hear Asher tattling on his little brother by saying, "Uh, Honey, Finley's getting out of his bed."

Triple Bunks and Family Fun

2009-09-23T15:05:00.002-07:00

So here are the kids asleep in their triple bunks. Aren't they cute?

A few weeks ago we had a nice rainstorm that came in and cooled us down a little bit.

We went out and played in the nice (80+ degree) weather. It made us all giddy.

Finn gave me a kiss, isn't that sweet?./

Happy little Tadpole!

We gave Finn a headstart on our race. He's just a blur, isn't he?

Karate and Discipline

2009-09-22T20:47:00.002-07:00

Jaxon's just started karate. Yep, we gave in to the sales pitch and signed him up for a YEAR.

I know it's a long commitment, but he seemed to be doing really well with the teacher. Master Preston (first name Shannon), is a nice man who is good with kids. He focuses on discipline (obeying the first time) and doesn't let Jaxon get away with anything. Because Jaxon is really interested in succeeding, this has been a good approach. We've used this discipline focus at home to help Jaxon realize when he's obeying the first time, and working towards more of that.

Funny story, when Jaxon was a few months old we babysat for Mark's family friend, a professor at BYU. They had six kids and we watched them for the weekend. It was a little stressful for us, what with being new parents and everything (also, I think they paid us $50 or something).

But the craziest part was the militaristic style of parenting these kids were raised with. They would repeat as a group, like the Von Trapps, "WE OBEY THE FIRST TIME, EVERY TIME, ALL THE TIME." It was a little creepy and Mark and I decided that we didn't want our kids to be raised like that.

Well, here we are six years later. My kids are climbing the walls, getting written up at the gym (yep, it's the one-year-old), and pretty much NEVER listening to their parents.

What I wouldn't give for a little bit of the Von Trapp family now . . .