While watching a US men's figure skater, Jaxon exclaims, "Mom, he was so beautiful that my eyes glazed. I was almost about to cry."

--
-Jessica Steed

So You Say . . .

Before I forget them entirely, here are some funny things my kids have been saying.

Finn told me how he thinks I got pregnant (when I had my boys, not that I am now).

"Daddy buys a seed and puts it in your mouth and it goes to your tummy and grows into a tree and the babies grow on the tree."


Asher thought our Indian doctor spoke French. I told him he was had an accent like King Julian from Madagascar. Then Asher starts quoting the movie, "I'm a woman, are you attracted to me?"

Jaxon writes every day for me as part of our summer school.  Today I asked him to write a sentence about everyone in the family. 

Here's his paragraph.

"There is Dad he is our favorite. There is mom she makes us do chores. There is me I'm the oldest of 2 brothers. There is Finnly who is cute."

Finn's Girlfriends

So Finn has always had a thing for girls. When he was two, he had a crush on Mina, the girl down the street. One day we were visiting and he was smiling at her, unusually shyly, and I smelled something strange. "Finley! You can't come visit your girlfriend and poop in your diaper!" 

Yes, he's five now and still quite the little charmer. Tonight he met a little girl named April at the park and insisted I get her mom's phone number so we could have a playdate. On the way home he started telling me about his teenager girlfriend in New York named April (surprise) who was 12, but on her next birthday she was going to be 14. She was a scorpion make-betterer (doctor) who took care of people when they were stung by scorpions. That's because Finn was stung by a scorpion at the pool last week. 

He went on and on about April then told me he had another girlfriend in California. This one didn't like to talk so she didn't have a mouth. She was a hamster doctor and her name was also April. (He says all of his girlfriends are named April.)

I'm not sure quite what to make of this, but April looked a lot like Mina, blonde with bangs and glasses. I think he has a type. 

How are my boys able to make better sound effects than I am from day one?

No Wonder

No wonder Jaxon loves to do his homework on Grandma's desk. I just caught him in there on her electronic Yahtzee game. 

Jaxon in Love

Jaxon says to me, "Mom, go to the grocery store and buy me a black leather jacket so I can look smooth for Heather*."

Yesterday, Jaxon picks up an Arizona Parenting magazine. As he opens it, he tells me, "This is so I can figure out how to parent my kids after Heather* and I get married and have kids."

A few weeks ago, Jaxon found wedding ring and another ring Mark gave me when we were first married on the night table next to my bed. He brings them to me in the morning with one in each hand and offers this deal, "Mom, you choose one and I'm going to give the other one to Heather*."

Most adorably, Jaxon is trying to figure out how to get Heather to notice him when he won't talk to her, won't tell her that he likes her and is so secretive about his crush that he won't even mention it around his brothers (ages 5 and 7 who don't care at all!).


*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Lighting the menorah with the boys.

Labor Day 2012 Flagstaff

Click on photo for webalbum.


We went to a ranch with some friends this weekend and had a wonderful time.
The kids played on a zip line, rode horses, and slid down the stairs on pillows.

Thanks to our friends, Jen and Nate Babbitt for inviting us along!

(There should be a picasa webalbum with this post. fingers crossed)

We are alive

I can't believe it's been since September that I posted. I'm not promising that I'll post regularly now, but I wanted you to all know that we're all alive, kicking and screaming (well some of us).

Update-

Mark is doing great at work (still investing for AZ fund) and has started more seriously pursuing his second love, no not another woman, music.
He's in voice lessons and a big choir EVMCO (I can't remember what it stands for, but they're giving the Mo Tab a run for their money).
Mark has been studying voice with Jordan Bluth and is having a recital next month. He doesn't want a lot of people to know about it, so pretend you don't know when you talk to him.
Together with a friend of ours, Nate Curtis, Mark is starting an investment/economics group. I'm not really sure what they do yet, but their first publication is an overview of the US economy (think Econ 110).

I'm in school for the first time in, ahem, ten years exactly. (I graduated BYU in Dec 2001 and started a community college in Jan 2012). I'm taking anatomy/physiology and fundamental chemistry and I really LOVE both classes. It's like going home. School is something I've always been good at (not to mention I'm practically in grade 13 of high school at MCC). But really, it's so much easier than real life. You learn material, test on it, and move on. There's no pesky relationships to manage that require skill and patience, there's no complications that require nuance. It's just school. And I love it. I've got 2 more semesters before I'll have the prereqs met to apply to the Physician Assistant program at A.T. Still which is down the street. We've had some friends go there, so I'm excited to apply and I hope to be accepted.
I'm also still writing for The Exponent and working with LDS WAVE. I'm in my 9th and final year as a board member of the AZ Hemophilia Association and we are making great progress with the organization. We are ramping up for this year's Salsa Challenge, so if you're around Tempe on Sat April 28th, please join us! Lastly, I'm still teaching Zumba 3x a week and I picked up a Yoga class Tuesday nights in Lehi.

Jaxon, our 3rd grader, has found is new love since he outgrew trains. BEYBLADES. There is a TV show, and a bunch of toys that we have acquired. They are spinning tops with interchangable parts and I just hope that this means he will be fabulous at physics when he grows up :) Jaxon also has a new love for America's Funniest Home videos. He will watch this until the cows come home. He laughs hysterically at almost every video. During the school year, Jaxon read the entire Series of Unfortunate Events, 13 volumes! He loves to read and is working on the Chronicles of Narnia now.

Asher is our energetic kindergartener who actually kissed his little girl friend on the playground the other day. I asked him about it, he said, "Her face was just right there, so I kissed it! I kissed her nose!" He is just sweet and adorable with his little round cheeks and his beaming smile. He's so proud of all of his projects and the teacher calls him the class cheerleader because he encourages the other kids. Our friend teaches art in the class and she said that Asher has a very creative art mind and was the only boy to draw muscles on his life-sized self-portrait. He's learning to read and is persistent and devoted. I don't even have to remind him, he just gets out his book and works on it. Amazing.

Little Finn still stays at home with me most days, but goes to preschool 3 days a week. He's tons of fun and we call him, "Funny Finny." This morning Asher was arguing with me about saving a colored hard-cooked egg that he made. I said, "Asher, Easter is over. We are eating the eggs now. This is not a food museum (h/t Nate Steed)." Finn laughed while the others didn't even get it. Finn's favorite friends are girls. He loves to play pretend and yesterday pretended he was pregnant with a stuffed animal under his shirt. When Lucy told him he couldn't pretend to be a girl, he told her, "Yes I can!" That's my boy! Er, girl. I guess he's always known I wanted him to be a girl ;)

We have had a lot of fun as a family this year and have plans to see Disney on Ice this weekend (we got 3 free tix, otherwise we wouldn't go). Hopefully we'll make it out to Michigan for a few weeks this summer. We really enjoyed it last year.

So, in addition to not posting, I've not been reading blogs either, so if you make a comment I will go back to your blog and read it! (How's that for an incentive to maintain friendships?)

Blogger Swap at Exponent and Doves and Serpents

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.

Check out the Exponent post here, too.

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

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!

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!

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

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. . .

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!

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

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

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

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

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.