one brick shy (ish)

ovary exercizes

2012-03-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

Featuring my awesome brother's awesome offspring. We make highlarious humans in this family. My favorite part is the hand-wringing. And the freakin' adorableness.

365 days 53-64

2012-03-19T17:53:00.000-07:00

*chirp chirp* Hellooooooo. You still there? Me too! I'm about to spam you with 12 days o' pictures, but they will at least explain in part why I've been so out of it. Honestly, after finding out husband had a job and we knew where our lives were going to end up at least for a little while, I'm trying to catch up on life. I've been in this sick holding pattern and landing has been a relief. Although I landed exactly where I'd hoped to NOT land, but stability rocks.

3-8-12
I was slightly impressed with all the color I had going on, so I decided to take a picture, and the Dude decided I was too indispensable to allow me 4 minutes of alone time. I think the Mormon fashion bloggers are safe.

3-9-12
WonderGirl pulled out my wedding album and insisted I take her through the entire tale of how Daddy and I met and married. It's a lovely thing to look at our story through her eyes.

3-10-12
I went outside. In March. I swear, this winter has been the best winter that a winter could be. Because it wasn't really a winter at all.

3-11-12
Can you see me? We had some friends over for dinner and I snapped this. Incognito frito.

3-12-12
Not only am I outside, watching the kids, but I am NOT WEARING SOCKS. I love no-sock weather!!!

3-13-12
Sometimes I'm the smart. I recorded WonderGirl at the beginning of her lesson and then at the end, which resulted in wayyyyy fewer squeaks. That's what I call a victory.

3-14-12
Got some dental work done = boo. Got the knockout gas = yay. I don't think I ever really relax. Drugs can be the awesome.

3-15-12
SHORT SLEEVES!!! It just keeps getting better!!

3-16-12
Um, how about MY needs?? My parents are going to China for 10 months and my mother in law is going to have chemo therapy for the next year. I have to try and keep a sense of humor about this, but I do NOT feel ready for the adults in my life to have a life of their own, nuh uh.

3-17-12
I was dressed and going about my day when I remembered that it was St. Paddy's and I was wearing orange pants. And then when I posted this wee picture on FB, most of the people didn't get the significance of the color orange. I'm pretty sure if I wore these pants to a gig in NYC, I'd have a bevy of bottles thrown at my head.

3-18-12
I decided to reread Just David. A fabulous little read, although the Pollyanna sappiness can be slightly overpowering at the end. The author DID write Pollyanna though, so it's excusable. ish.

3-19-12
Spring cleaning - it's official, the weather rocks. So I started moving snow gear into the downstairs, YES.

AAAAAAAAND scene. Well, not really, I'm sure there is plenty that has been going on, but mostly the weather rocks, and I am overjoyed that the Collies got to play St. Paddys gigs despite Michael being run over by a car and in a coma just a few months ago, but also heartsick about the fact that I missed playing St. Paddys gigs with the Collies and with the husband's new job, I'm not likely to be catching any in the future either. Cue the sappy violin music, played conveniently by myself.

I'll be back. Remind me to tell you about the time I sent the husband an invite to Pinterest and the mayhem that ensued.

have an epic weekend

2012-03-09T14:02:00.000-08:00

Holy snap, look what youtube gave me!! The music video for the Neverending Story!!

And then it gave me this gem, and 2011 performance - with backup dancers and a plushie Falkor the Luckdragon!!!!! YESSSS!!!!!

I just realized every sentence in this post has multiple exclamation points, but I also think they are entirely justified!!!!!

365 day 52

2012-03-07T12:05:00.000-08:00

3-7-12
Jump for joy!!

All the insanity I've been alluding to has resolved a bit today. The husband resigned from his job and accepted an offer from another company. It has been a long, scary slog of us not knowing where we should end up or what we should do, and this decision did NOT come easily. There were offers and opportunities outside of Wisconsin that we would have looooooved to have taken, but nothing felt right. Even this decision didn't feel right for a long time. Stay in Wisconsin, PLUS add another half hour to the commute and cut our family time at night? Ugh. It's been tough. I'm not going to lie - staying here was not our first choice. Nothing personal, Wisconsin, but you don't make life all that easy. I live 2 hours from a major airport, Walmart is virtually our only shopping option in town, and to get my 2 year old (who routinely licks shopping carts) to the doctor, I have to drive an hour just to get there. And let's not get into being so far from my band mates (in Georgia... *sob*) and my musical life. Ugh, I say. Also, I don't drink alcohol so I have very little in common with the locals.

BUT. We are supposed to be here for some reason. So we are. And at least knowing that has made me feel lighter than I have in a long time. So when the Dude pulled all the covers off my bed and started jumping, I decided I should join him.

And now that I know we're staying put for a little while longer, I can think about decorating our bedroom a bit. Any suggestions?

365 days 47-51

2012-03-06T12:42:00.000-08:00

3-2-12
Do YOU have glow-in-the-dark nail polish? This isn't the best picture of it, but it's at least my first attempt. It WORKS. Seriously, sometimes I'm totally freaked out at night by my glowing fingernails.

3-3-12
Iowa bound. We sure know how to par-tay. Really, we needed a weekend away, and Iowa always works.

3-4-12
I needs me a ukulele. F'reals.

3-5-12
Aaaaand home again home again jiggety jig. Still need new shoes, obviously.

3-6-12
The insanity of the decision we are trying to make is almost suffocating. In need of some distraction and inspiration, Pinterest. I LOVE ME SOME PINTEREST. I'm considering becoming a Pinterest missionary, since I've pretty much converted every woman in my age group at church and more.

Let's just go through my usual checklist.

Current major life decisions: still completely unresolved.
WonderGirl: still freakishly bright and fab. This morning she announced that strawberries are like spiders because spiders have exoskeletons on their outsides, and strawberries have their seeds on their outsides as well. Hrm.
the Dude: speaking like a fiend. Still climbs on top of me regularly, puts his face right into my face and asks "Are you happy??" I respond yes, he responds "Good." Then climbs down again. Also, he's been waking up with a dry diaper - any ideas on how to start potty training a boy? I used to put WG on the potty in front of her morning PBS and she'd go within 30 minutes or so. Tried that with the Dude and he was willing to sit there for maybe 10 minutes. Also he didn't pee. Poo is another thing altogether and we're on that, but boys pee slightly differently and I am not a boy. Thoughts?

Also, I would just like to say thank you to the wonderful souls who developed DVD players for cars. You get all the awards.

365 days 42-46

2012-03-02T07:53:00.000-08:00

2-26-12

Shadows.

2-27-12

Charlie and Chocolate Factory with WonderGirl was more wonderful than I could have imagined. When we got to the part where he FINALLY got his ticket, I was in tears and she was in hysterics. (see below video for proof)

2-28-12

If only my own road was so well marked.

2-29-12

Leaping lizards! Spent Leap Day like every other day. Fabulous.

3-1-12

Step 1. Buy fabulous shoes. Step 2. Sew a skirt to go with it (it's an old red shirt I cut up and sewed some black stretch lace on top. Can you even see the red?) Step 3. Eventually go buy a red top to go with the rest of the ensemble.

I really can't believe I don't own a red shirt to go with this.

So, on the life front, there is still nothing I can report. I feel like we've been put in a blender and I have no idea what the result will be. No clue. Last night the poor Dude was up with a coughing fit at 2am, so I went in and tried to help. I gave him some cough and cold medicine and a cup of water and snuggled with him until he'd pass out. He didn't, so then I tried some homeopathic cough stuff. Nothin'. So then I just tried a spoonful of honey. But the coughing wouldn't stop. I just held the poor boy and prayed. In between sips and coughs I heard him smile in the darkness and then exclaim "Mmmmm, yummy water!" A few minutes later when I pulled the blanket up tighter over us, he mumbled "Good job!"

For a year I prayed to hear him speak, to find out what was going on in his head. Now that it's finally here, it's more fantastic than I could have imagined. He's just as kind and hilarious as I thought he'd be.

And seriously, when we read about Grandpa Joe leaping out of his bed dancing for the first time in 20 years and screaming "YIPPEEEE!!!!" (while spilling cabbage soup all over Grandma Josephine) it was spectacular. WonderGirl was so excited she could hardly stand it. And since I had the camera handy, I documented it for posterity.

breaking wind

2012-02-27T07:16:00.000-08:00

The husband is psychic.

The other day I was dancing around the interwebs and saw this funny picture:

And I thought to myself, "hey, I never did see the last Twilight movie." Since it's a part 1, I wasn't in a hurry, and I honestly have no idea when it came out. Life has been... scattered... for the last while. I've actually seen the last 3 with the husband in the theater - I think because he secretly adores Twilight. Or doesn't trust me. When I read the books I tried biting him and he would have none of it. Pssshhhh.

So I've been thinking to myself that when he goes out of town again, I'll rent it. So he doesn't have suffer through it. Because I'm thoughtful like that. And then Saturday night he comes home from the grocery store with a redbox copy of Breaking Dawn. OOOOOOoooooo, he IS psychic.

Anywho, we survived it although he did say any, many snarky things. That were entirely deserved. When it was over, he had two very good observations:

1. The Cullens are filthy rich, right? So if they were trapped in their house because the werewolves were all around and couldn't get out to hunt, why didn't they have a cow delivered?

2. Or an armored tank?

He's a problem solver. Also, my observation is incredibly pathetic, but I'll be honest. I've had 2 kids and I hate exercising, so watching cute actresses prance around in bikinis makes me feel a little insecure. It's my own fault, I could do a sit-up, but I'm too exhausted from following the Dude around all day. Which does not tone my midsection as much as it should. Anywho, it helped that she started out cute and then spent the rest of the movie looking like a crack addict. Very considerate of her.

And now I'm off. I'm going to have 7 kids over here for a bit while some friends attend and help out at a funeral. In theory it sounds like a lovely idea. If they yell, I'm going to stuff cookies in their mouths to stop the noise.

365 days 37-41 and a half. also, some bread.

2012-02-25T13:15:00.001-08:00

2-21-12
I put on the timer to show what I'd done all day, and WG photobombed me. That about covers the day too.

2-22-12
Why, is that a super awesome activity behind me that I masterminded?? And was my day SO hectic that this picture was the best I could do?? Why yes. (also, aside to Atomic Mom - the dress code is up to the discretion of the leaders. And since the girls were in charge and wanted to dress up like candy-themed whatevers, we went with casual. I was within an inch of wearing my red and white striped tights before I realized I had absolutely nothing to go with them.)

2-23-12
Holy snap. How did that happen?

2-24-12
Domestic leanings are strong today. I'm going all Dr. Frankenstein on an old red shirt and a bunch of stretch lace fabric I found at the local thrift store. It's now a skirt. That may or may not make my butt look enormous. We'll see if I ever actually wear it in public.

2-25-12
Toddler asleep, everyone else at Home Depot.. nothing to do but snuggle up on the only patch of sunlight in the house. AAAAHHHHHH.

2-25-12
Hey, you get a two-fer today! I own at least 40 shoes, but only wear these. Where does a girl find a new pair of shoes these fabulous?

Seriously. I almost exclusively wear these. It's cold and I have to wear socks, so cute flats are out. And since I never wear matching socks (today is a verrryyyy rare exception) I HAVE to wear tennies that cover my fashion faux-pas. And though I have 2 other pairs of Converse wanna-bes, they aren't slip-on like these, or as fabulously nonchalant. Ugh. I love them so.

Do you have an idea where I could get totally comfy, slippy-on-y shoes like these?? I've researched and I thought Simple shoes might be the ticket, but seeing as I spent like $5 on these, the $40+ price tag just seems unjustifiable. Oh, and they're going out of business. BLARG.

Also, I have a few thank yous. Oh, thank you for complimenting my bread! I feel like a dough-y rock star. The recipe I have is one the hubs gave me and I'm pretty sure it's the recipe for Papa John's pizza dough. In fact, we use it for pizza dough weekly, we just omit the second rise and roll it into a pizza pan. I usually roll it out french-y bread-y style, but this time I tried the loaf pan and it worked. So cool. Anywho, since Jenna asked me to e.mail it to her and somehow blogging is actually easier than e.mail, here it is:

The Dough Recipe Husband Told Me to Use.

1 cup warm water

1 Tablespoon Yeast

2 Tablespoons Sugar

let sit 5 mins

1 teaspoon Salt

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Turn on the mixer and slowly add enough flour to keep from sticking to the bowl. When it gets to the right consistency, put the dough hook on the mixer at let it go for a few minutes.

slather with oil so dough doesn't dry out.

cover and let rise for 2 hrs in a warm-ish place

punch down and roll out.

roll into loaf shape, slather with a touch of oil so it doesn't dry out.

Let raise an hour or so

bake at 400 until brown. (if putting in a loaf pan, go with 375)

So no, Jane, it's not a grain mix of whatever, although the husband has managed to modify this by adding oatmeal and stuff. And I learned the hard way to not add sugar AND honey. Together they make the yeast go bonkers. This is just plain french-y bread. Oh, and as we speak, he's got a loaf rising that he made - but before he added the flour, he threw in some sliced up sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil. Because he loves me. I'll totally get a picture for you guys, it's incredible.

Now, I'm no cook. We know this. But bread is working for me. Around 1pm I throw stuff in the mixer, around 3pm I roll it out and at 4pm I throw it in the oven before dinner. You HAVE to know this is easy if I'm able to do it.

Oh, and Gabby says if you put some melted butter on the top when it comes out of the oven, it makes the crust nice and soft. Totally trying that. Anywho, have a loverly day!

surprises

2012-02-23T19:54:00.000-08:00

So this Young Women's prez gig is starting to make me realize I kind of overdo things. Some things. Cleanliness, not so much. But party decor, yes. I actually find that very surprising about myself. But I survived our New Beginnings last night! I blogged it over here. Because if you don't blog it, it didn't happen.

You know what else is surprising to me? The things I'm starting to get good at just to avoid extra trips to the store. Because I'd rather get really decent at making bread that have to stop into the Viking Mart with my adorable but VERY 2 year old Dude.

Who would have ever predicted that?? Not moi.

365 days 33-36

2012-02-21T11:39:00.000-08:00

2-17-21
Now what?

2-18-12
Nothing could be finer than this snuggling on you on a Saturday afternoon.

2-19-12
I've had a gift card to Ta-jay for a long time, but I'd never been able to find something that was Gift Card Worthy. Something wild and fabulous and not practical and not something I'd be able to justify from my own funds. But these puppies? Totally GCW.

2-20-12
On the way out of his bath he paused to read the a Dr. Seuss book on the floor. Who could have resisted snapping this picture??

behold the power of baked goods

2012-02-20T18:06:00.001-08:00

The Dude has entered that dreaded phase where he doesn't go down for naps easily, but still very very very much needs them. One side effect of this is the process of getting him sleepy gets me super sleepy too. When WonderGirl hit this point, I had the option of napping too (on non-teaching days of course), but now nap time is violin time and piano time and quick-let's-read-every-book-and-do-every-project-that-the-Dude-would-probably-destroy time.
So when I crawled into bed and WG climbed on top of me today, I had to start thinking solutions. Cookies. "Please, I'm so tired," I moaned. "Maybe cookies would wake me up."
She hopped down and right back with a plate of cookies and carrots to revive us.
It totally worked. Is there anything cookies cannot do?

maybe a salad

2012-02-17T11:01:00.000-08:00

When mom came, she insisted on getting Subway for lunch almost every day. For someone who loves food someone ELSE made/compiled, it was a treat. It wasn't until near the end of the trip that she admitted it was all a plot to get vegetables into me. She says we don't eat enough good stuff, which is true. I hate getting food the kids might not eat and then I don't eat it fast enough and then it goes bad... blarg. But we also don't eat junk either. It's a weird mix. On her last day here, she actually took me to Costco (not a short drive from here in the boonies) and spent an unearthly amount on food. Industrial sized bags of flax seed AND bacon, among others.

So my lunch today: sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, sweet peppers, bacon and Catalina dressing.

I love my mommy!!

mom-less

2012-02-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

...chirp chirp....

You still here?? Awesome!! Honestly, I was so wrapped up in my mom this past week I barely touched the intrawebs. Being happy is far too over-rated if it interferes with my cool online persona.

But alas.... she is gone. ARG. Life is still all skewumpas but what a marvelous thing it was to have my mom here to dote on the kids and love on me. The Dude is all kinds of lost without her. I have no idea where she gets her energy, but she managed to keep up with him and tickle, squeeze and rough house with him to his heart's content. She knew exactly what he needed and boy howdy was he a happy camper.

And she read to WonderGirl, told her secrets and danced with her, helped me think straight and go on adventures... we were all in heaven.

I'm going to be a bit rusty with this interwebs thing, so bear with me, but for now I'll post all of my 365 pics from the last week. Try to contain yourselves.

2-7-12
I'm squishing your head!

2-8-12

On my way to pick mom up from the airport!!!! Totally worth the 4 hour round trip.

2-9-12

Happy homemaker, aerial edition.

2-10-12
Date night! It was a spontaneous decision, spurred by the generous offer from my mom to watch the kids. This was the first time I actually got dolled up in weeks and it HAD to be documented. I snapped this on the way out of the house, not realizing my backdrop included a laundry basket and shampoo bottle. So I spiffied em up in Picnik with mustaches!

2-11-12
Temple bound!

2-12-12
Holding on.

2-13-12
Last minute shot in the entryway mirror. Wazzup.

2-14-12
Playing footsie with mom while reading Dinotopia. I declare it a mahvelous way to spend Valentine's Day.

2-15-12
On the way back from the Milwaukee airport, this time sans mom. Those are not happy tears.

attention.

2012-02-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

OMIGOODNESSMYMOMISONHERWAYTOWISCONSINRIGHTNOW. I can't express how MUCH I need my mom right now. I need her to help me organize, love my children and tell me everything will be okay. I need her to remind me what I've lived through before and how my current crisis is nothing new. I need her to ruin my pictures as evidenced by the above photo. I need her to play with the kids and give me insight and inspiration. I need her energy and excitement. I need to see my kids go berserk for her attention. I even need her inappropriate jokes.

I'm sure your mom is nothing short of fabulous as well. So you get what I mean.

Also, in an attempt to remind myself that motherhood for me has been and always will be a chaotic mess, I looked up some evidence in old blog entries of the insanity WonderGirl wrought. This one from September 2008 makes me feel slightly better.

Why on EARTH does WonderToddler run away from me in public? Like today at the pool - running away from me constantly, when all the other kids were content to play in one place. She kept getting out of the pool, tried to jump in the deep end and smashed her face on the concrete a few times. It wasn’t until she got covered in some ants and nasty bites that she stayed with me and listened. The other kids didn’t do that… are they better kids than my kid, or are their parents just better parents than I am? I must’ve looked like a horrific mom, shrieking and yelling like that.When she went down for a nap a few minutes ago, I held on a little longer before putting her in bed and hugged her close, apologizing for not being the best of mommies today and snapping every time I had to chase her down. She squeezed my neck tight and said “I love you Mommy.”I may be a crummy mom, but at least she makes me want to try harder.

Ahhhhhhh. I can't wait to run away from MY mom in public!! T-minus 4-ish hours!! The 5 hour round trip to the Milwaukee airport doesn't even phase me. MOMMY TIME!!!!!!

why he rocks

2012-02-07T11:59:00.000-08:00

I just got done putting the Dude down for a nap and thought to myself that after my long rant about parenting that boy, I should focus on all his positives today. Because he is really quite fabulous.

He sleeps. He really does nap like a champ, and for that I know I'm incredibly blessed. He gathers his "yellow" (paci) and all the burp cloths he can find and waddles with them to his room, climbs up on my lap and begs me to read to him. At night, he turns the light off and requests song after song before he asks me to recite "Goodnight Moon" and finishes with "all done! Night night! Love you too!" No matter how rough our day was, he always closes with that. *melt*
We used to call WG a gratifying child because she is so fun-loving, she appreciates any effort made to love on her. The Dude is if anything an even more gratifying child because if you smile at him, touch his ear or hop with him, he collapses in a fit of giggles and pure joy. As tiring as he is, he does try hard to make it worth my while.
If there's a cookie he can smell somewhere we're all screwed, but for the most part if I can get excited enough about something else it's not too hard to get him on board. Especially if tickling is involved.
He does have the smarts, and for that I'm thankful. I'm really a dunce and my kiddos have to be given an extra measure of brains to compensate. So he's not as verbal as WG was at this age, but boy howdy can this kid count. So we're good.
Oh, and he's a musician. I've never met a child that was more moved by music - he feels it, he anticipates cadences, recalls modulations (and their accompanying choreography) and dances like a pro. It's inside him. Once he gets started on violin and piano, I'm going to let him have a go at the drums. It's gonna be epic!
When he was born, husband made the observation that it seemed the Dude was genuinely just excited to be here on Earth. This simple statement describes the Dude perfectly. He is SO excited by life. He is so thrilled at every new thing he gets to encounter. He lives his life in exclamation points and italics.

To me, the Dude is living proof that there is a higher being, and that He loves me. Despite all my flaws and failures, I get to live with this won't-sit-still-for-storytime-or almost-anything-else kid every day. And that deserves alllllll the exclamation points. !!!!!!!!!

365 days 19-23

2012-02-06T17:38:00.000-08:00

2-2-12

I like this shirt, but I am slightly worried it makes me look like Jon Gosselin.

2-3-12

This joint is jumping. Just a typical Friday afternoon Goat Rodeo dance party.

2-4-12

Self explanatory.

2-5-12

Sunday is over. How is the day of rest also the busiest and most stressful?

2-6-12

Time to rock!

Okay, so this 365 thing was all about getting better at photography and documenting my year and all that, but I'm quickly running out of ideas and my pictures are actually getting worse. It's also tricky that the one stipulation of the 365 thing is that I have to be in every shot, and I generally have only one day a week that I don't look homeless. Hardly photo-ready. It's a challenge. Any bright ideas?

may i please have a clue?

2012-02-06T08:09:00.000-08:00

The Dude. I just don't know what to do about him. It REALLY doesn't help that my previous experience with a toddler was WonderGirl who had the verbal level of a 10 year old by this point. I go back in my brain - desperately trying to remember what I did with her to get that - but I'm coming up with nothing. It's so frustrating to have this brainy kid that I had almost nothing to do with her rocket speed development, and then a wonderful sweet boy who ambles along at comfortable speed and learns things whenever it happens to be convenient. WHAT DO I DO WITH THAT??

Really, and then there's the sensory component - which is so slight it's almost even more frustrating. He thrives on activity and play - he's not hyper sensitive about anything so he just lives life as a joyful linebacker. So when he throws a 2 year old tantrum, it really makes him feel better to destroy everything around him. But when you try to explain it to others, it sounds like I'm talking voodoo, trying to make up a reason for why my son is just a naughty, rough boy. Which honestly, it feels like it sometimes. Because the opposite side of the spectrum is that he is so cuddly and playful the rest of the time, it seems like I just have a wild child I can't control - since of course, I can't because HELLO, have you tried to live with a 2 year old? Not those cute shy ones who sit on their parent's laps at story time, but the psychotic ones who are desperately trying to get OUT of your vice grip so they can steal the book from the librarian. And for the record, WG was just as bad, except then she'd try to either read the book to the group (at 2, people) OR escape with the book and flush it down the toilet. Yeah, that happened.

By the way, do YOU have one of those cute shy 2 year olds that sits in your lap for library story time?? Enjoy it, please. You have it good. GOOD, I tell you.

I tell myself it's okay, because WG was nuts and now she's this overachieving sweetheart. Mostly. Who absorbs information like a crack addict absorbs crack. Or whatever crack addicts do. Did you know a group of jellyfish is called a smack? I do, now. Also, she can name a country of the world for every letter in the alphabet, except for W and X since there aren't any. Husband and I couldn't find one for O and she did - Oman, of course. Silly parents.

But he's so different, I don't know how things will turn out. His entire purpose in life is to acquire cookies. All day every day, "MayIpleasehavecookie?" And if you give him one - even a healthy one - he has to have more. And more. And MORE. He's so obsessive about things that if he actually gets something good - like juice, I have to detox him because for the next 2 weeks he'll be running around the house like a junkie begging for juice overandoverandoverandover. It's kind of scary, except when I'm laughing because it's nicer than crying. He's going to be addicted to something - I don't know what. Maybe I should just give in with the cookies and later he'll just ignore the marijuanas and cranks and such.

It'll be okay, right? I have more to say, but right now he's sitting on my head giggling and yelling, "MAYIPLEASEHAVETICKLE?!?!?!" So I gotta do that.

brothers

2012-02-02T15:51:00.000-08:00

Mom sends me lots of interesting e.mails, but most of the time I check them on my phone and can't see all the pictures or video. I'm glad I opened this one up though - it's from Ken Burns' Civil War, footage shot in 1913 of Civil War veterans reuniting at Gettysburg. The sight of these old men laughing and hugging their former enemies makes me misty. That war was so brutal, so terrible, and yet they meet each other as brothers.

It makes me think of the reunion we'll have when we each return home to our Father in Heaven. The battles - emotional, political, physical - will all seem meaningless, I think, when we see that we have been siblings all along, playing an elaborate dress-up experiment on Earth. I do wish we could all have that kind of clarity a bit sooner, though. Especially teenagers who flirt with passive aggressiveness as a means to establish their dominance over their peers. Don't you wish you could go back and hug teenage you and tell them that boy-howdy life is going to get so much more complicated - but so, so much better?

I'm so very glad to be a thirty-something.

365 days 17-18

2012-02-01T20:27:00.000-08:00

1-31-12

If he's going to be sick and crabtastic, at least he makes it worth it by also being adorable.

2-1-12

Overwhelmed, terrified, exhausted, slightly relieved and completely livid. I'm trying to convey all that, but I think it's safe to say I didn't miss my calling as a model.

This 365 thing is saving my blogging and sanity so far this year. If there are aspects of my life I cannot discuss right now, at least I can say SOMEthing. Tonight I'm in knots about working with the youth at church. When I was a teen, I had my own troubles in that sector. I know I handled things back then - and it was awful. I have no idea how to handle things from the opposite side of things, especially because I'm so emotional about it. And let's be honest - everything. I can't have a calm rational conversation about most things, and I predict that if I do try to address things, it will be a disaster. blalarhrhhhhghggggg.

In other news, I have been trying to change my hair - like cute braids, buns, whatever, and they all looked wrong. I thought the wrong was all my hair, but I realized it was my face. So now I need a new face. Dagnabit.

Now, so as to not be a total downer, I got sleep last night! Except for at 11pm when I was awakened by WonderGirl sobbing loudly. When I got to her bed and asked her what was wrong, she told me it was because she missed me. I kissed her and tucked her back in. Crawling back into my own bed I didn't feel as exhausted as I could have been. I mean, I mean the world to one of the coolest little girls there is. That's kind of cool :)

365 days 14-16

2012-01-30T11:56:00.000-08:00

1-28-12

I took this just before bed. My skin hates cold and flu season.

1-29-12

Searching. The Dude took a necklace of mine and hid it somewhere in my room. I think. The necklace that has all the charms my bridesmaids hid on my wedding dress. GAH.

1-30-12

Surprise! Our recent bouts of the plague made our Monday morning look bleak. Until I threw the kids into the bath with shaving cream and water guns.

Honestly, I cannot remember the last time I slept past 4am. The sicknesses, the finicky Dude have all conditioned my body to wake up and stay up. This morning it was 3am. I lay there, wheezing and cursing my brain as I try to count backwards from 100 but get lost around 70 every ^%$^%$# time because I start singing really dumb songs over and over and over in my head until the Dude starts yelling. This is not a good use of 2 hours. Or any hours.

You know those anniversary videos I do every year? Each time when I sit down and start reviewing the pictures from the last year, I find barely any from January to April, and then each month has more and more until December explodes all over the place. February? Meh. This is like the armpit of the year. Cold, sick, BAH.

There's a silver lining though - last fall my mom was planning a trip here and we decided instead of in the fall when we are all happy and snap-happy, we should save the visit for when I am desperate and miserable. That's next week, woohoo! I'm going to dress up all fancy for church and wear my new skirt. That skirt deserves heels and I just can't wrangle both kids through church by myself in anything that looks remotely cute.

In conclusion, I found out the Dude is not the only toddler who uses his hair as a napkin. And that made me feel better as a mother and human.

365 lucky 13

2012-01-27T14:34:00.000-08:00

1-27-12

New skirt. I took a chance on a $9 skirt that I didn't have time to try on yesterday, and I scored! I also forgot to take this earlier and discovered the only decent lighting at 4:30pm is my bathroom. That does not have a full-length mirror, so you'll have to imagine it ending just bellow my knees.

space filler

2012-01-26T19:57:00.000-08:00

Ug, this blog needs some kind of words. The fact is, I have very few to give. Things are all skewumpas and as soon as I have any clue about what is going on, I'll let you know.

What I CAN say is that WonderGirl is kind of freaking me out. Where on earth did she get these brains??? She figured out that one of her new violin songs is just a variation of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Something I was unaware of. Although I've played Suzuki violin my entire life. And am certified in the book those songs are in. And have been teaching those 2 songs for over 10 years. And no other violin teachers I've asked had noticed this before. So I HAD to record it to show the world. It's just OBVIOUS when think about it - how did I miss it for all those years?? Anywho, of course when I started recording she got a bit ham-like. No more than usual.

Have I mentioned I adore her? Cuz I do.

365 days 9-12

2012-01-26T18:59:00.000-08:00

1-23-12

We represent the Lollipop Guild. Lots more ankle biters around these parts than usual.

1-24-12

Hello Sally. I found my glasses from high school *shudder*. I'm so glad I'm not a teenager.

1-25-12

Maypleasehavecookie????

1-26-12

The tens of thousands of hours spent hanging off these pegs... totally worth it for today alone. Today, my 5 year old daughter improvised on the 12 bar blues.

365 days 4 - 8

2012-01-22T13:01:00.000-08:00

1-18-12

Change is on the horizon. All I can do is close my eyes and wait for impact.

1-19-12

Life is slowly but surely slipping out of my control. I tried to take a picture with a slow exposure with my daughter running around me to show the blur I'm feeling, but as she did that my son walked up and poked the lens. He's the ghost in the left corner. I was going try again, but I knew it would be impossible. This fits.

1-20-12

What in the world...? Today brought an unexpected blessing. Not a solution, but a blessing nonetheless.

1-21-12

Threadbare. My corduroys from college are within one wearing of being retired. Somehow that works on too many levels.

1-22-12

I tried to take a picture of my fabulous knee-high fuzzy socks, but WonderGirl got in the frame. She desperately needed to snuggle them, apparently.

yo

2012-01-20T10:54:00.000-08:00

*pant pant* I'm alive. Life has been so uncertain and out-of-control that I've been having trouble breathing. Also, all of us had the stomach bug, and then yesterday the Dude and I got sore throats. But then some good news came into day. Not the good kind that lets me know where life is heading, but good enough that I got a second wind. I'm still wearing my pajamas and my hair looks like a bird's nest, but I did a load of laundry and the dishes. HOLLA.

As I was doing said dishes, I put on one of my favorite Turtle Island String Quartet CDs on and WonderGirl sat on a stool to keep me company while the Dude tried to crawl up the pantry. After a bit, she asked thoughtfully "Mommy, is this Muvaldi's Four Seasons?"

Me... shock...listening...yes, this was a JAZZ arrangement of Vivaldi's Winter. Goodness gracious. How on earth did she know that?? So I'm feeling slightly better, when the Dude crashes to the ground. I could tell by the sound it was probably just a flesh wound, so didn't turn around. "Mommy," the Dude moaned. "Owwwie elbow." He put it in my face and asked "may please have kiss?"

My daughter recognizes Vivaldi works. My son knows where his elbow is. And what an elbow is. I'm feeling so blessed with tender mercies right now I could just cry. Wait, already did that. Now I'm smiling.

It's your turn to smile. I ran across a set of photos of men taking pictures in poses women typically do.

I love this for multiple reasons, not the least of which shows how ridiculous the idea of what attracts some males. Sheesh.

Also,check out this pic of a closet that some awesome parents turned into a pirate ship:

I plan on being that awesome someday.

365 thingy

2012-01-17T17:39:00.000-08:00

So I'm doing this 365 thing. I'd been considering doing one, and then Elizabeth posted a thingy on FB - her friend is a photographer hosting a 365 thing and there are prizes. I like prizes. There are also prizes just for participating. I like prizes for just participating.

I'm a little on the fence about it because it's a 365 self-portrait thing, and the rule is we have to be IN every picture in some way. It's kind of a challenge though, so I'm with it for now. Plus he said if we did it we'd get better at this photography thing and I like being better at stuff. I don't know if I'll post them all here, but you can see them on my Flickr page.

I'll be nice though and show you what I've done so far.

1-15-12

Today is my 7th wedding anniversary. 7 crazy years, and the sheer amount of trying to hang on shows in my hands. When I look at my ring, though - it makes me feel like he just gave it to me yesterday.

1-16-12

Up all night with sick kids plus being sick yourself earns a pass on the day.

1-17-12

I live in Lilliput.

sauce

2012-01-16T12:46:00.000-08:00

For our anniversary, I gave husband a letter. The Dude threw up on him. I think he liked my present better.

This was after WonderGirl was down for the last few days with the puking, so we were prepared. Extra sheets on the bed for easier middle-of-the-night changing, an extra set of pajamas and blankets by the door, and we decided to take shifts sleeping on the futon in his room to catch the puking before he became a hopeless mess.

Husband took a successful shift until 3am (bless him!!) and then I tried. But I was lucky enough to have gotten the bug too, so I laid there wound up like a cat ready to pounce every time I heard a sneeze or an "uuuunnngghhh," trying to ignore the fact that my stomach actually sounded like someone was boiling a pot of water in my abdomen.

Around 4 something he got up and said he was done and was ready to wake up. Nuh-uh. So he tried another approach, a snuggle? Well, that at least would keep him quiet so the other household members sleep so I gave in, but it wasn't long before he was asking for water. And when I tried to leave him there and just get him some, he cried, so I got to heave his enormous carcass to the kitchen. THEN we got back in his room and he moaned sadly "I no want water, I want sauce." Applesauce. Really. At 4 in the morning?

Me: No sweetie, just drink some water.

Dude: NO WATER.

Me: SSSHHHHHHHHHH!! Just have a drink of water!

Dude: No, *crying* water yucky I want sauce may I please sauce??

Me: No, have water.

Dude: NOOOO.

Me: SHHHHH water!

Dude: NOOOOO!

Me: SSSHHHHHwater!

Dude: NOOOOOOO!!

Me: SHHHHHHHHH WATER!

*Poor husband woke up to the yelling but I sent him back to bed. This conversation continues for another few minutes and then...*

Me: Just have some water.

Dude: *suddenly insanely cheerful* Alright! Okay! Water! sipsipsip yay water! Are you happy?

Me: ...uuunngggg... yes...

Dude: Sing Elmo's Song! May I please have cookie?

Me: HBJSWLHUEFUY&H$E

Somehow I managed to get up and get WG to school. Late, but that's no different than normal. We got home and I turned Sesame Street on, poured myself a bowl of cereal, and headed back to bed. But the Dude heard the sound of food packaging and came running, so I took pity on him and poured him a bowl, expecting him to take it back to the TV, but he carefully carried it to the table, crawled into his chair and said "May I please milk?" Ug, and those eyes. You've never seen a sweeter sight. I sat down at the table, poured his milk and he said "May I please have prayer?" and folded his arms. OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. I wanted to hate him for stealing all my sleep, but instead I sat there charmed to pieces and had breakfast with him while he yammered on about Elmo and cookies.

It was so blasted sweet, I HAD to get my camera, and at first sight of the camera he fled the scene. The expression you see on his face is the this-is-my-cue-to-skeedadle face.

I honestly don't know how I'm going to make it through the next few weeks. It would sure be nice to get a full night's sleep seeing as the rest of life is a big blurry mess, but given how everything else is going, I'm doubtful.

I'm going to go eat a cookie.

trooo wuv

2012-01-12T11:57:00.000-08:00

I hope I don't make anyone sick with these graphic images. But I feel this is a real issue that MUST be addressed.

THIS:

IS NOT LOVE. **shudder**

And call me a grinch, but I don't look up to this either:

I do appreciate the dress, though. YUM.

Really, love isn't camera-ready most of the time. It isn't well-orchestrated, it's a stumbling, climbing and tripping hike without a GPS.

It's being up at 2am with a sick child so the other parent can get some sleep.

It's not putting green peppers into your cooking because you are the only one who likes them.

It's actually cooking. Sometimes even doing laundry.

It's waking up at 6am to shovel the driveway.

It's baking some chocolate chip cookies once the kids go down so you can have a moment together. And then not eating the last cookie because you know the other one ~~wants~~ needs it more.

It's spending hours at church serving others, then coming home and making Sunday dinner for your family (and one or two others too).

It's spending 8 hours at a job that pushes your health and sanity to the limit, not because you want to be rich or get ahead, but because you take your responsibility to care for your family seriously.

It's not having everything you want, but getting everything you need.

It may not be as glamorous as this:

But it is beautiful in its unique way:

And it goes uphill from the wedding day, not downhill.

It's trying to get a nice picture together, and having him start giggling for some unknown reason about soy sauce.

It's being thankful, really thankful for what you have. It's seven years for husband and I this Sunday. I can hardly believe it. I can also hardly believe how much we have both changed in the last seven years. Yeah, real love means change. And saying you're sorry. Compromise. Screwing the medicine bottle lids on all the way so when the next person grabs the children's Benadryl it doesn't spill all over their hands, the counter and the floor. I'm working on that one.

I'm grateful for all the examples of true love I have in my life and blog stalking. We may not be Hollywood, but we're all stars in my book!

lucky number seven

2012-01-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

Year 7 from Reva Paget on Vimeo.

I think we'll call this year the Year Reva Got The Fancy Camera And Tried Hard To Take Nice Pictures And Posted Them ALL On Her Blog So This Is Just A Bunch Of Same 'Ol Same 'Ol To The Dedicated Blog Stalker Or My Mom. But I do like it. I was stumped for some kind of fabulous ending, when I thought about maybe having WonderGirl and I write a big number 7 with a sparkler in the dark basement. Because it was dark, and also not 20 degrees down there.

Those of you who follow me on FB already know that this brilliant idea helped me learn a valuable lesson about where the smoke detector is in the basement. And how to turn it off. And also scared the snot out of me.

The best part was I was trying to talk WG into it, and she responded with- "Do you know how many matches it takes to burn a house down, Mom??" Hmmm.. how many?

"ONE." Firefighter Tom taught her a little too well at school this year.

Anywho, the resulting mess was just the touch I needed. Our year ended with a sucker punch and 2012 promises to be one of the roller coaster ones, so I wasn't in the most festive of moods when I picked out the music. A little arson was just what I needed. Enjoy!

PS Our anniversary is actually next Sunday. I'll be sufficiently mushy then. I have to jump when the creative spirit decides to strike and this year it came early, so the video did too.

still blllaahhhhhh

2012-01-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

I love Pinterest. Also, I started a board of things I actually did. It's called Stuff I Actually Did.

also, this one

2012-01-04T12:53:00.000-08:00

via

nothings

2012-01-04T11:26:00.000-08:00

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnUGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I hate keeping things to myself. I'm busy trying to get the our annual anniversary video together and I like to keep it a big secret from the husband until it's done, but it's two weeeeeeeeks. I really dislike keeping things to myself. A LOT.

So instead of talking about things I'm not supposed to talk about, I'm just going to talk. Like, did you know you can freeze bubbles?

via

You can.

Also, this is awesome:

via

Also, I dig the caption for this:

“Ok John, George, Paul, I want you guys to smile. Ringo, pretend you’re about to catch some food in your mouth.”

HA! Now it's your turn. I dare you to cheer me up.

new

2012-01-02T14:04:00.000-08:00

Last year, Jane gave our family a luau party kit for Christmas.

Inspired.

Last New Years, I decided to use our present and have our new family tradition be a tropical bash for New Year's Eve. We aren't much for late night parties, so it added just enough par-tayyyy to the situation. This year, our holiday season had been... less than jolly. Complicated. Hard. We tried our darndest to be upbeat but by the time NYE came along, we'd used up ever ounce of cheer we could muster. (yes I'm being vague. life is kind of vague at the moment.) I didn't have to try - I just blew up the inflatable pal tree, hung up the paper fish and put on a grass skirt. Husband wouldn't wear the coconut bra though, I should probably just send it back to you Jane. Tarzan could totally rock it.

I can't say thank you enough. Really. THANK YOU.

Honestly, I'm terrified of 2012 already. I've got a hunch it's going to be a bumpy ride.

tribute

2011-12-28T12:03:00.000-08:00

Every now and then, I really need some Tenacious D Tribute. Today is one of those days.

Oh, and that's totally Dave Grohl as the devil.

48 hours of Christmas

2011-12-27T17:28:00.000-08:00

Why hello there. How was your holiday? Things were an interesting shade of indigo over here. I can't describe why it felt indigo, but that was just how it was. It was bad, but we have had an interesting go of things lately, and it threatened to make the holiday a shade of black, but I managed a way out. I decided to document our modest festivities fro Christmas Eve to Christmas Day to see if it really was a disaster, and it turns out it was just lovely.

I shared the pics on the longest post in the history of posts over on the family blog, but I thought I'd share it here too. Not because I'm lazy but really generous and giving. Now you don't have to click over to another site, ug. Too taxing. Anywho, here are the 48 hours of my Christmas.

************************************

I'm not gonna lie, I woke up Saturday morning and wondered if I should just call this Christmas a wash. We hadn't had the cheeriest week and I didn't know if all four of us home together all weekend would just end in disaster, holiday or not. So out of curiosity, I decided to document all 48 hours just to see in the end if our Christmas this year was a fail or not. I started bright and early on Christmas Eve morning (and yes, this WILL be the longest, largest post in the history of blog posts):

Husband was off helping some poor Brasilian motorists so breakfast was up to me - and the kids. Red and green chocolate chip waffles, anyone??

The kids ate while watching Thomas the Tank Engine and sitting at the kitchen table like Irish Setters.

For me, hot chocolate. Breakfast of champions.

Then I decided to take some pictures of our tree ornaments to remind me of the some of our great Christmases past.

Wedding ornament. Less than a month until year seven!

A Brasilian keychain a bunch of random kids gave to me after meeting me in a park.

My leprechaun from Mr. Howard Williams of the Border Collies.

Our first married Christmas, we made hubs's family make us ornaments for our nekid tree. Most of them have survived! These are Danny and Anna's contributions.

The kiddos then decided to go play in the half inch of snow in our front yard (a Christmas miracle - there aren't 18 feet of snow out there!!).

The fact that we can get the Dude in all that gear - heck, even a HAT is a miracle. And the result of massive amounts of therapy (for him) and prayers (from us). I teared up while slipping on his mittens - while I knew he didn't like it or feel comfortable, he was determined to do whatever it took to "GO OU-SIDE!!"

We managed to get a picture of them in all their gear, which I was super proud of. And then I realized you can SEE how we managed to get the picture. Hi there!

Husband came out about halfway and took some pictures. I'd been playing with the camera settings to get good lighting indoors and had forgotten to switch it out of manual, so the pictures came out super artsy.

See what the Dude is doing there? He spent almost the entire time eating the snow off his gloves. I think he ate half the yard.

Then, lunchtime! We'd done all this last Saturday too, so as we were going in the Dude kept yelling "HOT DOG!" He knew it was pigs-in-a-blanket and picnic time!

Oh, and also time to go for a wee jaunt in Daddy's snow boots.

Then without any prompting from me, WonderGirl got out her violin and decided to do some fiddling around. With only minimal amounts of me begging her to use smoother bows.

Then there was an incident involving playing a game on Daddy's new tablet and WG's hatred of losing anything.

Was I going to let this be the final thing to derail our happy holiday? NO! You know what solves almost all ills?

Nail salon! And also, playing with the camera timer!

There was a snack of popcorn...

... covered in industrial strength cheese powder. There was also some pie bakin':

And we bundled up to head for Christmas Eve dinner with some friends.

We had to hurry home for my favorite part of all Christmas - Christmas Eve and the retelling of the nativity story.

Of course after the part about the Wise Men, it's WG's favorite part... one present each.

Does WG know her brother or what??

Curly Temple! Thanks, Gamma!

At this point, everyone was wiped so we prayed, snuggled, called it a night and vacated the premises to give Santa the space he needed.

The Dude woke us up repeatedly all night, not because of anticipation. So when I finally got up at 5:30am or so with him, I made him snuggle with me so Daddy could get a few more zzzzzzzs. And when WG woke up, she was sweet and didn't race downstairs, she just snuggled up to us on the Dude's couch until Daddy came out and checked downstairs to see if Santa had stopped by. It was a wonderful way to start Christmas, at least for me!

And then the mayhem began...

.... except there was no mayhem. They were so excited to play with their first presents that there was no frenzy to get to the next one.

Oh, and one cool thing - the Dude saw the unwrapped presents and said "open!" and actually ripped the paper off! He's getting this present thing down!

We had to kind of rush them though - we had to get breakfast and all dolled up for church.

Blueberry muffins - breakfast of champions!

There was time for a good snuggle before church, though. The Dude was a little tired what with yelling at us all night.

Church was lovely. The loveliest part was no 7:30am ward council and no other meetings besides sacrament! Husband narrated the program and I played violin and wrangled the kids in between. Then it was time to head home and continue the madness.

First up, throw on pajama pants I MADE!! And then try to get a picture of the kids wearing them....

And when that fails, try at least to get one of each.

Husband played on his new toy...

...and then taught WG about chemical reactions with yeast...

... and her nifty new science kit. I'm glad no one asked me to try and explain anything to her.

That's where I took a power nap. It was awesome. Also awesome? This was/is the front yard.

That's December in Wisconsin. YESSSSSS!!!!!!!

So the rest of the day was pretty uneventful. There was MoTab on the telly:

... science that involved a magic wand and patient Daddy....

... the Dude playing with his car track and cars ALL DAY LONG..

... super yummy home made pizza from Daddy...

... Skyping with people we super like....

.. getting help from Daddy but mostly making potholder all by herself!...

... still more playing with the cars (he's doing it right now, actually!)...

... feeling incredibly blessed to get to spend the holiday with the people we love most....

.... and feeling relieved and wonderful that we survived another Christmas season. Together.

And now we're going to have some family here in a matter of minutes to play for a few days!! We'll leave you with the video we made of husband's mom's artwork with WG and my recording of For Unto Us A Child Is Born. Thanks to our wee Christmas album we recorded as a family, it was easy and thrilling to keep the reason for the season close to our hearts. And hearing your 5 year-old belt out Handel - and then your 2 year old start up - is reason enough to celebrate. Merriest of Christmases to you!!

merry .

2011-12-23T19:52:00.000-08:00

"I don't feel like I'm gave the kids Christmas today," I told husband just before bed. "I'm trying to stay positive, but I don't think I'm giving that magic feeling to them. They deserve magic."

"Let's sing carols for our scripture study," he said simply. And a few moments later I heard him upstairs, tuning the guitar. Just as we gathered the kids into the family room, he got a call from our Brasilian friend who had just bought a car today, and had then just wrecked it. He immediately put on his coat and rushed out to help translate with the police.

I pulled out our nativity - these small ornaments we put on a small tree, as WonderGirl told the Dude the Christmas story. I grabbed the guitar and we sang Silent Night, Joy to the World, We Three Kings and For Unto Us A Child Is Born. The Dude sang all the words he recognized with gusto.

Even though the husband had to leave, as always his answer was just the thing we needed. I smiled at WG and the Dude and saw the magic in their eyes. I felt Christmas.

she has my nose, though

2011-12-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

So you know how I'm always blown away by WonderGirl's brains? And how sometimes I'm all "Yeah, I'm so smart and now my kids are smart and I'm just awesome, yum diddley dum dum?"

Yes, I'm aware it's totally annoying. I heartily appreciate you coming back here, anyway.

Anywho, the other day her teacher called in a reading specialist to find out where her comprehension level was so she could give her the right materials to work on. And it turns out she's a level J, which didn't mean much until I googled it and found it meant she was at a 2nd grade reading level. Which wasn't actually a surprise since the book I used to teach her how to read said that at the end they'd likely be at a 2nd grade reading level. So well done, fancy book.

But the amusing thing was that when the teacher requested the right materials from the Kindergarten Center (it's a school of only kindergarteners - she's possibly going there next year) - she was told none of the kids there are near a level J and she's going to need to request them from an elementary school somewhere else in the district. Her teacher got a kick out of that, as did I.

I came home doing my "woohoooo, check out who made a smarty-pants kid, MEEEE that's whooo" dance that I do far too often, and decided to celebrate by cleaning up. Yay. And in the process of cleaning, I found a packet of every single report card I ever got. My mom saved them all and gave them to me at Thanksgiving. I checked in there and found my report card from when I was the exact same age as WG -our birthdays are 5 days apart.

I looked in to find the glowing reports of how brilliant I was...and found this:

Reva's work on the letter sounds has been somewhat inconsistent. She has a basic understanding of beginning sounds but recently has been making errors on her independent work.

In math Reva is able to recognize numerals to 10 except for 6 and 9. By the end of the year I was working on counting to 20. Seriously.

and my favorite, from the gym teacher: Reva is a very talented student. At times Reva is too sensitive and it affects her ability to perform in class.

So...... it's official. She got her brains from daddy. At least I'm still pretty sure she got her looks from me!

word of the day

2011-12-21T14:04:00.000-08:00

noun

a technique of depicting volumes and spatial relationships on a flat surface.
a visible scene, especially one extending to a distance;vista.
the state of existing in space before the eye.
the state of one's ideas, the facts known to one, etc.
the clarity gained after sweating small things and then having a truck-sized thing fall into your lap.

noun

the act of distracting.
the state of being distracted.
mental distress or derangement.
that which distracts, divides the attention, or prevents concentration.
that which amuses, entertains, or diverts; amusement;entertainment.
doing anything but thinking of your actual problems;includes messing around with camera settings and twinkle lights in your basement.

Merry freakin' Christmas

2011-12-19T08:16:00.000-08:00

I just made a Christmas present for WonderGirl. I'm not going to write what it is or post a picture, because she can and will read this. I'm not writing about that though. I'm writing about how excited I was while I made it, and in my excitement it dawned on me that this is the kind of thing just about any of you could make in their sleep. But I'm a newbie to the sewing and domestic thing.

I thought about how awesome everyone else is compared to me. Because I do that, especially right when I get a little uppity. I'm all "I'm the best crafter-mom-thing EVERRRR" and then a little voice comes in is all "Dude, calm down. You're 32. This is the kind of thing a 10 year old can make. And that seam just came undone, genius."

It's good to have a built-in filter, except for days following yesterday and my big fail at just about everything I should be doing at church and home. Gahhhhhhhh. Heck, the Dude peed though his diaper and all over both of our church clothes during Sacrament meeting, and that wasn't even the low point of the day.

So I'm sitting here at the kitchen table, contemplating whether or not I should attend my own pity party, when I hear the Dude in the next room, screaming "WON-FUL!!! COUN-LOR!!! DE MIGHTY GAHHHHHH, 'E EVERWAAA FA-ER, DA PINCE O PEAS!!!" along with WonderGirl's and my recording of For Unto Us a Child Is Born playing on the stereo. That's not too shabby.

10 year old me could have been learning to sew, but I'm not a multi-tasker, and never was. So first, I learned the music thing, now this. And I was a terrible violinist for a really long time before I got any good, so I guess it's okay if 9 out of 10 of every sewing project I try ends up in complete disaster. Let's not even get into the edibility of my cooking...

Anywho, instead of crying (which I honestly did just about enough of yesterday) I turned the music up. Did I mention we made a Christmas album, my little family and I? Just a few tunes, you can hear them plus some of the rest of my family's Christmas awesomeness HERE.

Or, if you are in a hurry, listen to WG screaming Joy to the World at you. I particularly like the husband's guitar work on this one.

And I made a video of For Unto Us along with my ma-in-law's artwork, if you're interested.

For now, the pity party has been shut down. But good golly, it would sure be nice to feel like I have any kind of grasp on all I'm supposed to be doing as YW prez. For Christmas, I think I would like to have the gift of suddenly being organized and on the ball. Anyone have any extras of that??

2011-12-16T14:37:00.001-08:00

She was up before me this morning. Instead of waking me up and asking for cartoons, I found her contentedly laying on a couch, reading a Calvin and Hobbes book. We'll put this one in the parenting win column.

fluent in crazy

2011-12-13T07:42:00.000-08:00

We had some guests over for dinner last night. Some lovely Brasilian girls who are up here for their "summer vacation" working at a hotel in the resort town next door. There are a few things wrong with this situation. One, they are here for 3 of the worst months Wisconsin has. While back home, it's hot and hot and NOT snowing. The poor girls were freezing and thought the frost they'd seen on the grass was snow. Um... no... it's the 13th of December and in the last 2 winters I've spent here, we had a massive snow storm by the 1st of December that didn't melt until March at the earliest. They don't have a car - and no snow gear. DUDE. YOU SHOULD GOOGLE SOMEPLACE BEFORE YOU MOVE THERE. Just a thought.

And then there's the little issue of not speaking English. What with them being super shy, I had to guide and carry the entire conversation in Portuguese. Now, when I'm around people who can't speak English my Portuguese gets slightly better, but only sliiiiightly. Let me give you an example of how bad the conversation was, translated into English:

You can to eat. I making it, but I bad cook. Sorry! I hate snow. You hate snow? Where you walk in Dells? Ah, library. We have library. You like to cook? I hate to cook because I very bad. Um... LIAR!!!!

(I only add "liar"into every conversation because I know the word and I'm proud of it. It's never in context.)

Anywho, the new year is almost upon us and I'm wondering if I should add studying Portuguese to my resolutions. I kind of do every year, but then I realize I don't live in Brasil and therefore there is no need for it. Except I keep running into Brasilians who can't speak English - even here in the frozen tundra of the Midwest.

Now, how does a person learn another language? I know I live in a house with a fluent Portuguese speaker, but if he was going to teach or even speak it around here, I think he'd have done it by now. At LEAST by the time he moved me 7 months pregnant TO Brasil. So great bloggy world, enlighten me, remembering that I am also very lazy - how do I do some Portuguese learning?

But if I don't get around to it again this year, if I run into another Brasilian, I can still at least ask them where the bathroom is and call them a liar.

out with the old

2011-12-08T07:36:00.000-08:00

Husband and I both broke my phone last Friday night at the dance we were chaperoning. We were in the kitchen, washing up the dishes we'd used to eat the sososososososo yummy pho he'd gotten when we discovered there was a Vietnamese restaurant right by the stake center. As we wiped up the dishes, one of the stake presidency came in and asked us to come have a chat. I knew what it was about (the bishopric thing) and I suddenly got all kinds of jittery. It was at that moment the hubs saw my phone on the counter and handed it to me - and my hand didn't react quite quickly enough. SMASH.

As much as I despised that phone - which would not actually allow me to answer or make calls on a regular basis - it was one of my connections to the outside world. BAH. But less than 24 hours later the husband went to pick up a random phone we'd found on Cragslist that turned out to be SO SUPER AWESOME. I can update FB at will as well as answer AND make calls. AMAZING!!! You'd almost think I'd broken the other one on purpose. Which I didn't. Seriously.

In other news, Evening of Excellence went off swimmingly last night, despite my kids being up all Monday night with the stomach flu and then poor Jenna's kids getting it the next night. I. am. wiped.

And, now I can get back to other duties, such rectifying the issue that there are ZERO clean bowls in this house. To the dishwasher I go!!

oh, and also...

2011-12-04T19:40:00.000-08:00

And as an addendum to this post, the rest of church went as follows: running around during Sunday School trying to nail down people and things for the activity Wednesday, teaching the YW lesson with the stake YW president there (blallaahahhhh), then trying to be there when husband got set apart for his calling in the bishop's office. I say trying because the second we got in there my hungry and cranky kids went for the candy jar on the bishop's desk like wolves. When they finally got ready to do the actual setting apart, they were done with their lollipops and NEEDED MORE. So WG started crying and the Dude yelled so much I just let him go in the hopes he'd quietly meander around the teeny tiny office. But he went around the men and went straight to the glass candy jar and lifted it off the desk over his head. I know I was supposed to reverently close my eyes and listen, but I had to rush over and stop the crazy, so I slipped around the nice playing men to the Dude who was saying "I want pink!" over and over (a pink lollipop) and tried to shush him and silently (unsuccessfully though) unwrap another freakin' lollipop. So now he was happily licking away, but instead of silence and the blessing, WG was in the other corner of the room loudly sobbing, possibly because SHE wanted another lollipop, though she swore it was because she thought daddy would never come home again. Which may or may not be true, as it is 9:30pm and he is currently off doing more churchly duties.

And then I went home while 5 kids tore up the house for the afternoon and then hosted a insane dinner for like 12 people. I feel like I've been through a washing machine. All in favor of sneaking away to South America???

out of proportion

2011-12-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

I'm tired. So tired and wiped and tired. Today has been... ug. This post is going to be LDS-centric so if you don't understand the terms, go find a Mormon and they'll esplain 'em to you.

I'm the Young Women's president. I'm still feeling like I'm floundering, and playing catch up. This week is Evening of Excellence and when I look on the interwebs for ideas, I see these huge elaborate shin-digs lovely ladies in Utah throw that look more put together than the average wedding. I am not that kind of person. My own wedding didn't look like as staged as some of these events. I want to do something nice, and I think it will be, but I also think it will feel discombobulated and patched together. In parts.

It's really the anticipation that gets me. The unknown of what will happen. I've never done anything like this before. Once it's over I know I'll be all "what was I afraid of?? psshhhhh." But not yet.

The husband got officially called into the bishopric this morning. And logically, it shouldn't be a big deal. It's what, one more meeting a week? We already do ward council together and he already had meetings after church. But sitting by myself during sacrament meeting has had me in knots. Why? It's just one hour a week. So simple.

I've been sick about it for weeks. And since it's not something you are supposed to gab about, it's been sitting on me, blowing itself out of proportion. This morning as sacrament meeting started, he held the Dude while I tried not to hyperventilate. Then when he was called up to the stand, I grabbed the Dude and tried not to openly cry, especially because I didn't want people to think I wasn't being supportive, I was just scared about this small change in my schedule.

I looked straight ahead with my hair in my face and prayed no one could see me, but the lady in front of me turned around, smiled and asked me if I wanted her to sit with me. Now normally, I'm all "nuh-uh, I got this." But since I was trying my hardest not to openly start sobbing like a big illogical boob, I just nodded my head and she slipped into our row.

Was the Dude perfect? No. Was WonderGirl perfect? No. Did the Dude crawl all over me and pull my skirt up repeatedly exposing me to everyone sitting around me? Oh yeah he did. But all of the build up, the sick stomach and worry lasted about 5 seconds between the husband left and my lovely friend/tender mercy sat next to me.

We won't go into the poor job of babysitting and hosting I did the rest of the day...but today is over. The unknown is less unknown for the moment.

Oh, and there's the little matter of me shattering my phone Friday night. But that's another story. Happy Sabbath!

GPOYW

2011-11-30T14:17:00.000-08:00

GPOYW - SUSHI!!! edition. I know, I've failed the end of this November. But I gave it a pretty good run for a few weeks! I'm currently back home freaking out about all the things I have to freak out about. I'm a terrible YW president, an awful mother and a crummy cook. At least I feel like it today (okay, the cook part I feel all the time). I'll be back... well, I don't know when, as my week is hitting a crazy pace right now, culminating in having to chaperone a youth dance Friday (NOOOOOOOOOOO). Happy November, everybody!

eastward, ho

2011-11-27T19:55:00.001-08:00

Sleeping kids in the back seat, awesome hubs in the driver's seat and most of my loved ones back in the last time zone. We won't be home until tomorrow, but we're already in the Midwest - and as much as I miss my mountains, I do like seeing the stars so clearly.

muppet mania

2011-11-27T19:48:00.001-08:00

Seriously, how awesome was the new Muppet movie????? I should have packed a hankie. Mom treated the whole family, and we even survived bringing a toddler! When in doubt, pack lollipops. True 'em every time.

so sue me

2011-11-24T20:04:00.000-08:00

Yes, NaBloPoMo fail. But I'm being an awesome wife, daughter, guest, mother and Reva. Tomorrow is sushi day, too! So who knows if I'll have time to post then, but isn't it better that I don't have time to blog because I'm having a life? Novel idea!

sweet home colorada'

2011-11-20T15:00:00.001-08:00

I'm home!! I'm in Mom's living room!! We survived 15 hours in a car with the kiddos!! I don't think I will run out of exclaimation points any time soon!!

westward bound

2011-11-19T10:57:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving, ho!! We're headed to my home in the Rockies. If we can survive 15 hours in the car with the kids... thanks be to DVD players and fruit snacks!!

2011-11-19T04:26:00.001-08:00

WG got shots. Everybody got ice cream.

glitter! but in the good way, not that awful movie way

2011-11-17T11:50:00.000-08:00

As I tell Heidi repeatedly, if you didn't blog it, it DIDN'T HAPPEN. So I had a bad day, glued glitter onto my shoes using among others, this easy tutorial, and then not only do I get nifty shoes, I get a whole post out of it! Plus, it actually worked. I rubbed them on the floor, on my clothes and hands, no glitter residue anywhere. I did not expect to be actually successful!

AND I get to play with Picnik and make all serious-type picture-y things:

Pair of almost-dead shoes, 49 cents worth of glitter and a dollop of Elmer's glue and water (fake Mod Podge) - super cheap, and the satisfaction of blogging about it?? It's the gift that keeps on giving, people.

Although when the husband got home last night and I excitedly showed him what I'd done to an old pair of shoes, his actual response was: "...and that's an improvement?" It's a good thing he's cute.

On the non-cutesy front, I had to go back to the doctor today for a more industrial strength antibiotic. This headache needs to be evicted, people. Then, in a fit of "I can DO this!!" I attempted grocery shopping with the Dude in tow for the first time in at least a week. Oh goodness. Thankfully I'd just picked WonderGirl up from school and she tried reasoning with him and singing him songs. It didn't work, but it amused me and distracted from all the screaming until I found a pack of fruit snacks in my coat pocket from last winter.

Don't judge.

And fruit snacks are a dangerous thing - they only buy you like a minute until the snacks are all gone and then they are railing against the injustice of only 6 small pieces of fruit snack-y things in a pack while you are back to searching for something, ANYthing to plug up their noise hole. And in my headache-hazed state I am just not in a place to be thinking that hard right now.

Alright, enough with the bloggeting. The Dude is asleep and it's violin and piano lesson time, woohoo!!

GPOYW - fashion blogger pose edition

2011-11-16T18:02:00.000-08:00

I love a good Mormon fashion blogger but the pictures make me giggle. Except for Heidiluxe, who keeps it real - and all of us in stitches. This is my homage to the Mormon fashion blogger - hand in my hair, pouty lips, looking intently at something on the ground. But it's a self portrait because there is no way I'd get the husband to agree to follow me walking around with crossed legs and take pictures of it.

I'm currently boring the heck out of myself, and especially on this blog. I am hitting that NaBloPoMo slump where I realize there's a good reason that I don't post every day. I'm dull. And then I spent the morning as the worst mom in the ClownTown library, because my Dude was throwing massive fits up one side of the building and the other.

I went home and bawled my face off to my mom and then put the Dude down for a nap. Once he was asleep, I decided today would not be a bad day. No, I was taking control of my destiny! I hopped onto Pinterest and decided to do at least one thing I've pinned. I did two - some yummy healthy cookies for the Dude, and I glittered a pair of old flats (thanks, Natalie!).

Before:

After-ish:

Teeny bit of glitter, and some Elmer's glue and water. I heard that was a good Mod Podge substitute, I'll tell you if it worked or not.

I was feeling better. I created, dagnabit. I was about to make some knock-offs of those delicious mall pretzel bites when I realized it was violin lesson time. At the end of the lesson, I decided I'd play her the song I was going to teach her in January. I told her the name, and before I could play it - she PLAYED IT FOR ME. My jaw was all over the floor. "Where did you learn that??!?!" I asked. She giggled. "I heard you teach it once." People, she overheard a lesson I taught at least 4 months ago and then PLAYED IT FOR ME.

She did NOT get those brains from me. I am so glad I procreated with a genius.

this post is all over the place, proceed with cookies

2011-11-15T11:59:00.000-08:00

I took a walk with the Dude today. He's been a little trying the last two days and it was nice to have some fresh air with him and hear what he has to say - like "Oh, a airplane!" or "I see a car!' or "I see green!" From the moment he was born, we knew he was so, so, so excited to have this turn to come to earth. He's ravenous to discover everything it has to offer. And equal to that is the excitement he has over this body he has been given. Every new step he takes is accompanied by hysterical fits of laughter and joy. Walking, running, sliding, spinning, he's a junkie for this earth existence. He just can't get enough of it.

Of course, the same also goes for sweets. I have to detox him after he's had any amount of juice or treat - he wants more more more and life is simply not worth living if there he cannot have it this very instant. Now, I wouldn't have a problem with this if he would eat vegetables or sandwiches or... well, just about all of the food I give him. And then he's a hungry cranky mess and I'm a stubborn cranky mess that refuses to give in, even if it means living with an angry Tasmanian devil of a son half the time.

In his defense, WonderGirl was the exact same way about eating - worse, actually. I'm wondering what I am doing wrong... but then I have to remind myself that WG came out of the womb the pickiest eater ever. Ug.

Now, before I get angry I have to remember that this is the same little boy who climbed up in my lap this morning and sang me The Itsy Bitsy Spider with the hand motions and Head Shoulders Knees and Toes while pointing to the correct parts of my body. He loves to sing, but usually he prefers to have someone sing to him so he can listen and stare in awe, so this morning was a very special treat. And then he hugged me and told me he loved his sister.

I'm thinking about all this so I don't have to think about my grown-up life and how much I want to punch health insurance in the face. You can argue all you want, but making employers the provider of insurance is just a terrible idea. It's not fair to the companies and it's not fair to the workers. And if you want to argue this point, just call me and I'll give you an earful of my personal reasons. A big punch-you-in-the-ear full.

It doesn't help that I still have this awful headache. But I do have a bit of happy news today - Michael is totally off the respirator and winking at nurses. It's still a looooooong road, but it was just what I needed to hear. Big fat happy tears all over this joint.

fzzzzzzzzzzz

2011-11-14T18:49:00.000-08:00

I got medicated today. I realized I could not win this fight, and even though my snot levels are low, there is a sinus monster that could not be tamed by mere will and neti pot alone.

The nice nurse lady came in and said - "Oh my, you look different! Are you feeling okay??"

I blanked. "It's Monday... I'm in a doctor's office..." when I was really thinking that yes, I am well aware that I look like death warmed over but I've had a headache for a week now and ever since that blasted daylight savings I've been waking up at 5am or earlier. Oh, the kids transitioned fine, I'm the one who is an insomniac, although I don't actually get up at 5am. I just lay there for an hour or so, simmering in self-hatred because I know I'm exhausted and need more sleep, but I also know I can't fall back asleep because my brain is just mean and won't turn off.

I'm not very pleasant by 6am.

So anywho, while I was in the doctor's office I figured I'd ask some other questions I've been wondering - like how do you keep a 2 year old's finger out of his nose (her official answer - you can't. And don't try the Vaseline thing because he'll eat it. He totally will, too) and some hypothetical questions about my medical history and medications if I do decide to get pregnant. After hearing my questions, she got all huffy and asked my why on earth I would consider having another child if I had these concerns - and told me to just adopt. I love how more than one doctor/medical professional has told me this. *sarcasm*

On the plus side, the amoxicillin is doing its trick! I'm now slightly less woozy and crabtastic!

phoning it in kinda

2011-11-13T14:33:00.000-08:00

We were just discussing how Sunday seems very far from a day of rest. My poor head... I can't blame it on my calling. I'm a Young Women's president with 4 girls. It's not that stressful, unless I make it stressful, but I didn't do that this week. It's just tiring to keep the kids in check, make the smiles for everyone, all with reduced oxygen to the brain.

I may have a sinus infection. But it's actually just awful sinus headaches without the crazy congestion and all that. I've been using the neti pot like a fiend and I know I'd be seriously miserable, but I'm only moderately miserable because there is some evil creature living deep within my brain squishing my skull. So the likelihood of any coherent speech here today is small.

Current brainings: the cousins came to visit and we survived 5 kids under one roof. Whoa. Although I managed to handle things pretty well and I'm currently feeling slightly capable. There is very little to no chance we'd ever have 5 of our own kids, but it was nice to know I can deal with it for extended period of time.

And now, because I'm terribly boring, here are some adorable pictures I snagged from my nephew's birthday that I did not attend. No, I do not consider this blogging cheating.

First off - my brother's lovely family.

Mara, you are SUPER for sure!!

Next, my little brother Dallin, his gorgeous wife and his KID. DALLIN HAS A KID.

IS ANYTHING MORE ADORABLE?? LIKELY NOT.

Next, my mom. I love her more than ice cream.

And my dad. I think this picture is fabulous.

Happy Sabbath!

happy saturday!

2011-11-12T18:13:00.000-08:00

I do still have house guests, so this is the best we're gonna get today. But don't you think this chart is far more useful than anything else I could say? Me too.

friday is a wrap

2011-11-11T17:25:00.000-08:00

If I was a really good blogger, I would have taken a ton of fancy pictures of the cheese fondue I made for dinner tonight. But, I'll be a nice yet lazy blogger and instead post a link to said super easy, super kid friendly recipe. You're welcome!

I'll continue this lazy trend my telling you that I have house guests and this blog will be very short and dull. The Iowa cousins are there and the kids are in hog heaven. The adults are in ENTERTAIN THEM SO THEY DON'T START BREAKING THINGS OR EACH OTHER mode. I'm currently entertaining them with Bill Nye the Science Guy so the husband and his sister can record a song for our super awesome Christmas album. Did I tell you we're recording one this year? Yeah, we're that cool. I'll let you know when it's available and blowing up the charts and all that.

I'll leave us all this this truism. WonderGirl discovered our Calvin and Hobbes books and is devouring them like mad. It's funny the things a 5 year old does and doesn't get.

blogging about blogging... how original.

2011-11-10T12:01:00.000-08:00

Let's talk about me for a minute.

I know it's my blog, but I've been stuck in the house for a few days and the posts are kid-heavy. Although I do have to share this tidbit - the speech therapist came today and told me that if she were assessing the Dude now (he was assessed about 8 months ago) that she would not accept him into the program. Because he is totally caught up verbally. And then she said it was because I was such an amazing mom and doing everything right. YEAH. THAT'S RIGHT. And then she left and he looked at me and said "I want a nap" and ran upstairs to his room.

So I got that going for me.

It snowed yesterday and today - which would typically have me furious, but it wasn't a ton and it's all melty now. THAT kind of snow I can handle. But the last 2 years living here, it snowed around December 1st, dumped a TON of snow and then it just got higher and higher. I won't even tell you how many times I've fallen into a snow drift that was taller than I am.

So good show, Wisconsin. Keep it up.

Has anyone noticed that there aren't as many bloggers as there used to be? I mean, there's the crafty ones,the foody ones, the ones pushing their photography and other coolness and I totally dig them, but the average nobodies chronicling their lives in blog form is not as common as it was. I've been doing this for over ten years and I've seen some amazingly normal but fascinating people just stop altogether. And the family blogs - so many of those are virtual abandoned lots. I miss those. I think it's Facebook. I mean, when we blog the person has to come directly to the blog, then push the comment button and sign in and all that jazz (not mine though, I love e.mail and I'll take it even if it's spam!). But on FB we put a picture or a thought up and suddenly EVERYONE "likes" it and comments!! How gratifying is that?? I know I personally put some things up on FB instead of the ol' blog because I loves me some validation.

But there's something just wonderful about the blogging process, I think. I create the look of the page, the placement of words and images, and I get a kick out of what I make. My hum-drum life, documented just the way I choose. And then as an added bonus, sometimes people comment! Other people read and know and kind of care?? How cool is that?!

Oh, and then sometimes you post a picture of your kids and everybody is all AWWWWWWWWWWW.

Gets 'em every time.

In short, I love blogging. I love all of you. Even the lurkers. It may not be as en vogue as it was, but I'm still here, plugging away at my NaBloPoMo for the 5th year in a row. And I'm really grateful for those of you who have stuck with it - I really love knowing that people reading this know me as Reva the Aspiring Rock Star Who Whines About Life And The Lame-oids She Dates and not just Reva the Mom Who Blogs About Mom Stuff.

We will now return back to gratuitous pictures of my children and how they are destroying all my earthly possessions.

if i'm going to be stuck in this house for the next 6 months, at least i will be amused

2011-11-09T14:03:00.000-08:00

And so - my confinement has begun.

&^%^&%$*^$^%^^%$ Wisconsin winter.

A package came today, so there was a box. I'm usually against boxes, the kids take them and claim them for Spain or something else insane like that, then fight over them and in the process destroy them and cry because they broke the boxes. And I have no pity. None at all.

Today, since I've been walking around in a ihatewintersososomuchimgoingtokilleverythingeveryonemustsuffer kind of way I failed to notice that WonderGirl not only claimed the box but somehow produced a twin so both kids could pal around destroying and crying. Oh yay. Except this moment - I even had the camera close by - made it kind of worth it.

Yes, the composition and lighting is terrible. But it was so blasted cute, and the Dude was yelling "all aboard! Choo choo!" I tried another one but the moment was gone as usual, and this was what I got:

I love it.

So, you all were like "He asked for cookies! Get the man some cookies!" and so I did. First thing this morning WG and I made a batch of oatmeal cookies and only ruined half. That might be some kind of record for me. In the process of the morning the Dude ate about 8 cookies and half of an apple. I don't know if that's a good thing.

Did he ask politely? See for yourself:

YEAH. I KNOW. Did your ovaries just go all "eeee!!!!!!!" ? I totally get that. My kids have that effect on people.

Um. So WG just begged to go outside and play in the snow and I was all nuuuuuuuhhhhh. Because we all know there is no way I'm going out there. Then she said "I can go myself!" and got dressed in all that snow stuff HERSELF. So now she's gleefully throwing snowballs at the front door and I'm sitting in the chair by the front window snapping pictures thinking that this 5 year old gig is kind of awesome.

Also, I just noticed it was GPOYW. So here it is. Blurry, but that's how things are going today.

Holy snap, WG is throwing snowballs at the Dude in the window and he is laughing hysterically. It does not get cuter than these wonderful, neurotic, borderline bipolar children.

ho hum

2011-11-08T18:33:00.000-08:00

If I blog every day after music lessons with WonderGirl, this here blog will get boring. So I will resist the urge to gush about how fabulous she sounded today on Jingle Bells, singing for a project of mine and how nicely she is sitting at the piano, practicing by herself.

This makes up for earlier when the Dude hopefully came up to me and said "May... I.... please... have... cookie!" - and when I sweetly told him how proud I was for using his words but the house has no cookies in it right now, he flopped on the floor and screamed for a good 5 minutes. Don't you just love when they finally communicate but can't understand you? Le sigh.

That's all I've got for today, folks. Let's keep those prayers for Michael coming!!!

la de dah day

2011-11-07T14:19:00.000-08:00

So you know my perfect little bro? He and his perfect wife had a perfect baby and then he made this perfect video that is just so adorable I can hardly see straight.

Michael has been kept unconscious the last week and his lovely wife has requested pictures and cards to cheer him in the long, long, long, oh-so-long recovery process when he wakes up. I've been thinking about what I could do, and along with some physical things, I really want to write a song. Something epic, something Michael-worthy. I have a bridge thingy, some ideas, but they aren't awesome yet. It's great to be sitting around fiddling with a purpose.

While I was trying to find my muse, WonderGirl came downstairs and wanted to jam with me. She got her violin out and we did jam - and then, she asked me to teach her a fiddle song. Which she learned quickly, and then she asked to learn Jingle Bells and can play it all too. She's only been playing a few months! I should have expected it, given her track record. Oh, and then we had a piano lesson and she killed on that too. She figured out Silent Night - even with that pesky B flat. I kind of feel like a superstar. I HAVE MADE A MUSICIAN.

happy talk talk talkin'

2011-11-06T13:39:00.000-08:00

Sunday. Fast Sunday. So hungry. Not much in my brain right now.

OH - except I haven't mentioned it yet, but we had a coolness happen last week. The Dude's occupational therapist told me they wanted to cut his visits down to a monthly check-in because he's just fine and dandy. His verbal skills are literally exploding all over the place. She may have even used the word "advanced" and I may have totally freaked out and called my mom gloating all over the place. He came up to me today with a bright pink lollipop someone had given him at church (a pox on people who give other people's kids candy just before nap time) and said "Oh! I have pink!" Cool, huh??

One good and bad thing is that he can ask for what he wants most of the time. The problem is, he actually says "I want ________" - which is great communicating, right? But one thing I really detest is kids saying "I want" anything. I banned that from WG's vocabulary years ago - and just sticking a PLEASE on it doesn't cut it. "May I please ______" gets me every time. Poor Dude can stick 3 words together now and every time he asks for something I try and get him to draw it out with at least 5 words with "May I please have." He's nice about it but it's still just out of his grasp. He's only 26 months old, for crying out loud!

Mean mommy. I really am jumping up and down from his fabulous vocabulary, but I am laying the smack down with the "I want" thing. All those nights I knelt down and begged heaven to let my child talk, and now I'm all "oooo, but not THOSE words." I recognize what a nutcase I am, I do.

It's like once, years ago, I had a stand partner in orchestra with really terrible body odor. I went to the stage manager and asked him to say something to him about it - mostly because the stage manager was obsessed with asking all the women to not wear too much perfume on concert night so we wouldn't all choke each other out, and I knew he'd understand. The dear stage manager did it, and that night at our first convert I swear the boy was wearing an entire bottle of cologne. I almost threw up. When I saw the stage manager later and he excitedly told me he'd had a successful conversation with the lad (on a very sensitive subject, for sure) and instead of thanking him first, I went on a tirade of how now it wasn't body odor but cologne that was crazy intense. I've felt bad about it for years, and wished I'd recognized what a nice thing he'd done for me before going off on the cologne thing.

So poor Dude, if you are reading this someday, I'm sorry I keep pushing and shaping your words, and I will try harder to show you how thrilled I am that you can and do talk to me with every single word you know. I do know I am the luckiest mommy ever... well, second to my own dear mother who had the joy of raising moi. You're welcome, mom!!

this entry is mostly for my own brain, try to understand at your own risk

2011-11-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

On the way home from grocery shopping with WonderGirl, I switched over to the classical music station and had that annoying experience that all us ex-performance majors have when we listen to NPR during the daytime - "I KNOW I've played this symphony - what the heck is it??" Most orchestral pieces have generic names followed by numbers and I can't remember which is Mozart's 34th symphony or Haydn's 116th until I hear the name and it takes me back to the specific hours I sat rehearsing it and I say "DUH!"

Raise your hand if that happens every flipping day.

The frustrating thing is, I have a short list of orchestra pieces I actually enjoyed playing and as I listened to it, I knew it was on that list. But for the life of me I could not remember the name. By the time I got home, I couldn't leave the car until I knew what it was. I sent WG inside and sat in the dark garage, seeing Maestro Brusilow shape the sound before me in my lowly seat in the 2nds and let the sound wash over me. It just kept getting better and better and I drifted back into my latest brain ramblings.

Michael's recovery will be slow and painful, but he is with us, and I have to be thankful for that. I remember kneeling by my bed after I heard about Megan's accident, begging God to let her stay here with her family, even though she was already gone. None of us get out of this alive, no matter how hard we pray. What's the point of praying then, if sometimes it's just inevitable, sometimes it's just time?

I'm not going to say I know. The point I've been shaping in my head is that my job at least is that I'm supposed to recognize all the blessings and tender mercies that come from either situation, knowing I'll have to experience both more in this life, and live for the next life. Michael was run over by a car, but news trickles in about how his injuries could have been far worse. I'm supposed to hope for the best - ask for the best - even when I don't know what that is, and look for the light in what actually happens. It is easier at 32 than it was at 16. I'm so thankful for the knowledge and comfort my faith gives me.

I just rewrote that paragraph about 14 times. I don't know if it makes sense, but sitting in my dark car, it made a little sense to me. By the end of the song, my eyes were wet and I was SO impatient to hear what the name was of the song had comforted me just right - Strauss' Death and Transfiguration. Of course.

mommy brain

2011-11-04T13:08:00.000-07:00

I'm a mess. Case in point:

Yesterday at my mother's group thing, the activity was yoga. I didn't think I'd be joining since they usually need me to help with childcare, but lo and behold I was unneeded and able to join in. Woohoo! Except I didn't dress for it or have a yoga mat. I live just up the hill from the meeting, so I jumped in my car to get my mat. After I grabbed it, I went to my kitchen and ate a cookie. It wasn't until I was back in the parking lot of the meeting thing that I realized the mat was still in my kitchen by the cookies.

Gah.

I went ahead and did it without one. I swear I can't think straight lately. I even took a nap yesterday, and I do NOT nap. It gives me a headache, but my body was all STOP so I did. And NO I'm not pregnant. Ug, it's such a cliche, people. I'd totally tell you if I was. Blarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrg. Really, I feel like my brains are falling out of my head. Last weekend I accidentally took the husband's heart medicine which made me all dizzy and tired, and I'm feeling like that again. Except I KNOW I didn't take his medicine again, I've checked over and over. I think I need a nurse to dispense my vitamins and whatnot.

Lessee... um... hey, guess what I did today? Took WG to school, had a playdate/taught violin to some friends, picked up WG, had a lunch playdate where the Dude screamed bloody murder the entire time, asking for "eggs" which turned out to be a pacifier. I have no idea where that one came from. Came home, gave him a nap, gave WG a violin lesson, a piano lesson, ate another cookie (and a half) and then wrote this.

Yeah, I'm just as bored as you are. Maybe I can save this entry with a picture of me with a cupcake?

I didn't think so. Now WG wants to do some WiiFit yoga. Wish me luck!

cheating

2011-11-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

It's only November 3rd and I'm already posting up an awkward picture of myself to cover up the fact that there isn't a real entry here today. In my defense, I threw a bridal shower last night, have been super loopy today and am trying to get the house less crazy for dinner guests in a few minutes. These two lovely ladies helped out last night by being fabulous celebri-chefs while I just ran around freaking out.

Micheal (only the greatest guitarist ever) is still in the ICU and things continue to be uphill. Please keep those prayers coming!!!!

GPOYW

2011-11-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

It's totally gloomy outside so WonderGirl is snuggled up reading - nay, DEVOURING Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends and other library finds from this morning.

It's not a picture of me, but it IS me. So it totally counts as my GPOYW. Speaking of, WG asked me the other night what G-P-O-Y-W meant. Then when I explained, she asked what "gratuitous" meant. Sheesh, I have to go look that up now. But the real question is how did she know about GPOYW?? Is she reading my blog? SUNSHINE?? ARE YOU THERE?!?!

NaBloPoMo 2011

2011-11-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

We all know about NaNoWriMo - where all those smarty pants go and write a novel during the month of November. Good for them. A few years back - 5, to be exact, I heard about the alternative, where we all commit to blogging once a month for 31 *ahem* 30 days in November. At the time, I was in the mess of having a 3 week old daughter while living in a foreign country, trying to cope with a medical condition none of us knew about that was making life even more difficult. Every day was a struggle. I spoke very little Portuguese and I was feeling so alone. Blogging was one of my only connections with the outside world, and with the support and help of my husband, I joined NaBloPoMo and blogged through it. In that process, I found friends who listened, e.mailed me to show support, mailed me presents - heck, Elizabeth actually got a passport just so she could mail me a care package!! (don't ask us why she had to, it was a whole crazy thing but she got one anyway JUST FOR ME!) Anywho, it was a huge blessing and I credit it as one of the few things that kept me alive during that time.

So NaBloPoMo is kind of special to me. Even if my content is crummy, I do it because it gets me out of my self-imposed exile - especially during this almost-winter that makes in insane. So welcome to my personal 31 days of brain-spewage, and on travel and busy days, whatever pictures I snap with my phone to show what is up.

I'm approaching November a bit most somberly than usual this year. The guitarist from my two bands was in a motorcycle accident Sunday and he's in the ICU.

He's not doing well right now, but nothing was broken beyond repair they think so far, so that's good news? But you still don't have a car run over you without doing some serious damage. It means - for me, anyway - there's a healthy dose of patience and time needed... who has any extra of that lying around?? As Collie, it just hits hard. We must all be invincible, there's still music to be made! And as a friend - I want to be there so badly. His wife is the vocalist for the Border Collies and the sweetest woman you're ever likely to meet. She's the ultimate caregiver - she gives until she's dizzy. I wish so much I had some clue, something to do to help besides pray my brains out. Then there's my heavy heart from Dani's family losing Natalie so suddenly, and aching as a friend and as a mom. I feel so useless. Unable to think of anything to give to the people who have given me so much... I mean, there's love but psshhh. I've got boatloads of that.

So have a listen to some of Michael's awesomeness and send some prayers and good thoughts his way, please. (I recommend #5)

See you tomorrow!

a short list

2011-10-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

... of things that are currently awesome. That I may or may not have gone all nutty on with some Picnik action.

I finally finished the chairs! Just in time, too because it's too cold outside to spray paint until May. GEHDHEHEERRRRRRR. Over 30 people liked it on facebook. I AM SO VALIDATED RIGHT NOW.

My loverly fam at the church Trunk or Treat. The Dude doesn't have the presence of mind to leave any kind of costume on, so I had to go with this shirt, and the husband kindly obliged me by going all twinners with him. Why yes, that is white electrical tape all over his sweater.

After working so hard on those garbage bag wings, I actually went ahead and made some out of material that worked super great. I had some silky fabulous black jersey knit that I made into a maxi skirt for moi, and there was enough left over for 2 pairs of bat wings. Woohoo!

That's the Dude. If that face doesn't make you happier than anything, you probably need a cookie.

Oh, and those two are mine. I totally dig them.

Last but not least, the husband e.mailed this to me and dared me to watch it and maintain any sort of bad mood. He won. It's the trailer to the new movie, The Lorax. It also has one of my top 2 songs in it, so there was very little chance I wasn't going to adore it. I dare YOU to not adore it. I win!!!

GPOYW

2011-10-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

We're bats! - edition. I get the weirdest ideas sometimes. She wanted to be a bat for Halloween, I had some garbage bags and... voila! We're bats! With tall ears that help us find where things are through echo-location. I'm vaguely aware of what that is, but she won't stop yammering on about it. I think either the Wild Kratts or the Cat in the Hat that taught her that one.

Old Mac

2011-10-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

Old McDonald Tune by user9552426

This is what the husband and WonderGirl do when mommy is out for the night.

hahahaha!

2011-10-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

Some yucks for your day:

That's from the random interwebs, but I approve it. This next pic was an outfit WonderGirl came up with the other morning:

Um.... so I suggested she go and modify the outfit somewhat, and she came back a few minutes later telling me it was all fixed now:

I gave up. It gave the teachers a laugh, at least.

I adore my family.

like blogs through an hourglass

2011-10-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

So for some reason, I've been reading through the archives of my original blog - the one I started way back in 2000 when I was a fresh-faced 20 year old. I actually stumbled on the first year of marriage year and reread that whole year. Can I just say I'm so thankful for all of those who still followed me after that year of mush? I don't think there's a single entry where I didn't gush on about how the husband was the most amazing human on the planet for me and blarrrgggg. I mean, I don't mind reminding myself, but if must have been nauseating. For example, what about this excerpt from February 2005:

Today, we've been married a month. Best month of my life. I'm so darn lucky. He is so perfect (for me). And now I'll stop so y'all don't get sick...;)
But if you look at what happened last year, to this year..... it's amazing what a year I've had. And it's all been worth it I guess, to bring me this joy, and the best husband a girl could ask for.

And that's not even close to the mushiest stuff. (it's all true though - I really do try to be nice and censor a little of my life.)

It has been funny, reading up to our first anniversary, knowing when I got pregnant with WonderGirl and giggling at unsuspecting 25 year old me. Reading about the trainwreck that was my pregnancy and Brasil... I'm so glad I kept a blog. It's far more entertaining than my actual journal. Heck, there are things that I blogged that I had totally forgotten about - did you know I have 2 spleens?? Yeah, they noticed that during one of my ultrasounds. One is normal size, the other is teeny weeny but it's there. How random is that?? And how does a person forget that sort of thing?? Wait - I know - we have kids and our brains fall out.

There have been a lot of other bloggers from back then who have left the bloggering world and only update their lives on Facebook. That's fine and dandy, but I miss y'all. Without blogging, I would never have remembered this gem from June 2005:

So we're sitting there in church yesterday, singing a hymn about Christ with lyrics that say "he came with no apparent beauty that man should him desire" and Jared whispers to me that he thinks that's wrong - that Christ was probably a good looking person - and I whisper no he wasn't and I was pretty sure there was some scripure about that and had to go find it it prove him wroooong.

Found it in Isaiah 52:3 I think, where it says he was not a physically beautiful man, which makes sense, because he appeals to our spiritual sides, to our faith, not to our physical and such so I show him the scripture and say "see? now that makes me what???" (Okay, I was fishing for ths one)"right."

Now, Jared's really smart so when we have a dispute about something, especially gospel-related, I'm usually wrong. So having him say I was right was a cheap thrill, but I wanted to dig a little deeper..."and that makes you...what?"(insert - the correct answer here would be "wrong" but his answer was infinitely funnier)

"Um... it makes me strangely attracted to a man no one else finds attractive?"

I tried not to laugh too loud. I like him:)

Heh.

ahhhhhhhhhh

2011-10-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

Having dealt with another person's poo far more than seems a decent level today, the husband decided to give me a break from my housewife duties and took us out to dinner.

Eating out is a wonderful and awful experience as a parent of young children. On on hand, you aren't making the food and you aren't serving it or cleaning up. On the other hand, you are trying to keep your louder-than-a-fog-horn toddler who does NOT want to be strapped into a high chair from ruining the dining experience of all the other patrons. It's relaxing and stressful all at the same time.

The Dude was in rare form when we walked into the restaurant and was sobbing actual tears of righteous indignation, The prospect of a peaceful dinner wasn't looking so bright. That's when I remembered the DVD player, along with the kid's DVDs - were all the van. I ran to the parking lot and grabbed them, got back to the table and put Dora's Pirate Adventure on at a barely registered volume.

He munched and sang along with Dora, WonderGirl ate and shared her fries with him, and the husband and I breathed a sigh and actually enjoyed a dinner out. I'm so glad I had kids in the digital age.

just in case you were in need of some perspective

2011-10-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

Notes from a Dragon Mom.

Being thankful for the muddle-ish life I have today.

these boots were made for gawkin'

2011-10-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

I was a chaperone for WonderGirl's class trip to the pumpkin patch today, and the forecast called for mud, followed by showers. So I had to wear the only shoes I had that were appropriate for the outdoors.

Really. These were the only ones that weren't ballet flats, heels or flip flops.

As we were leaving, I caught a glimpse of my feet and thought of how ridiculous they looked, so I tried to be a fashion blogger and made Heidi take some pictures of me by the car. Right in front of the other parents and the bus full of confused children.

I think we can all safely say that I should NOT be a fashion blogger. Or a model. Isn't the pigeon-toed look supposed to be hot this fall?

ONE MILLIONpunchesintheface!!!!!!

2011-10-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

Punches in the Face Sweepstakes

Does anyone check out Homestar Runner anymore? And if you ever did, do you remember the clip where Strong Bad calls Marzipan's answering machine and pretends she's won a big prize? If you don't please listen to the clip I have kindly provided for you, as I reference this about 14 times a day and no one gets why I think it is so blasted funny to say I'll punch someone in the face.

one year older and wiser too....?

2011-10-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

People, I just realized I've been making this year-in-review thing for 10 years today. Seriously. Was your mind just blown? ME TOO.

I compiled this list for my mom, but you can go digging too if you want. Especially because I'm pretty sure those lists are going to be waaayyyy more interesting than this year.
22nd birthday
23rd birthday
24th birthday
25th birthday
26th birthday
27 th birthday
28 th birthday
29th birthday
30th birthday
31st birthday

And now, without further ado, my 31st year in review:

Took a loverly and super awesome vacay with the family to Atlanta for no reason other than cheap tickets.
Taught WonderGirl to read, play violin and piano.
Got some blue hairs.
Saw both of the Harry Potters. Bawled and cheered both times.
Hubs went to China for the first time and I survived.
Spent Christmas in Wisconsin.
Got a sewing machine and a new ~~obsession~~ hobby!!
My dad beat the cancers. (that technically wasn't me, but I did some pretty motivating cheers for the doctors)
Celebrated 6 years of matrimony with some incredible sushi in Iowa.
Got a flat tire on the way back from Iowa, but all was well.
Got a fancy schmancy DSLR camera!!!
Did a weekend of shows with the BorderCollies in Atlanta.
Found out why the Dude chews on things to show happy, sad, tired, gassy, etc - and therefore was uninterested in speaking since his mouth was otherwise occupied. Lotsa therapy and prayers, and our boy is a talkin' machine!!!
Hopped in the car with 2 hours notice and drive overnight to Denver to see Lola's amazing baby and hang out with my family for a WHOLE MONTH while the husband galavanted around China.
Got called as the president of the Young Women's organization in our ward (church thang).
Went to Atlanta to play 2 weekends of gigs and vacationed in between. HEAVENLY!!
Went to Nauvoo, IL with family for a week.
Hosted a sleepover for the teen girls at my house.
Celebrated the Dude's 2nd birthday!!
Sent off my firstborn to 4 year old kindergarten. Bawled my face off.
Went to New York City with the husband!! No kids!! Just us!! Vacationed!! Saw someone make a world record - the most cannolis eaten in 6 minutes!! Ate seriously awesome food and took a picture of it all!! AWESOMESAUCE!!!
Threw a successful birthday partay for WonderGirl. 5 YEARS OLD. SERIOUSLY.

Thanks for being awesome 31. Much has changed in the last 10 years. I don't think 22 year old Reva could have ever guessed what 32 would look like, but I think she'd be jealous of me. Being me is kind of fabulous.

OH!!!'d to Jane

2011-10-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

My bro Tarzan and his lovely wife Jane, being photobombed by Quinn and Mara - did they do that on purpose?? Because they always look that excited :)

She's the expert at these ode-things, but she deserves one (she's... OWE'd?? HAHAHA!!) because it's Jane's birthday!!!

(actually, her birthday was technically yesterday and I DID start this post yesterday because then my

back started hurting so bad that I had to roll around on the floor and moan for half an hour. So I'm finishing it now like a big cheater)

To those who might possibly have been living under a rock and NOT know Jane, she's my oldest brother's fantabulous wife of almost 11 years now. Seriously, I can hardly believe she's been my sis for 11 years, but she has! And she is, as we all know, fantabulous. So, I will now attempt to sing Jane's praises through the use of poetry:

Of all the fair damsels that e're had a brain,

there has never been quite such a lady as Jane.

She cooks in the kitchen and on the dance floor,

and spreads the bloggy-webs with witticisms galore.

Her heart is as big as an ocean - they say,

for she gives it - and her heart all away -

to her family, her friends, and her fluffy/lucky cats,

(not to mention at church, she runs most of that)

And not to be selfish, but her greatest benefaction

has been joining my family and springing into action

with fabulous parties, surprises and let's not forget -

everyone EVERYONE gets a fantabulous Christmas present!!

So to our dearest Jane - I hope I can convey

that we all adore you on your birthing-est day

And thank you for being so fab and putting up with this fuss,

we're just so thankful you are ours and put up with all of us!!

I just read that to the hubs and WG and they both agree that it is VERY Seuss-ian. But only the best for our beloved Jane!! LOVE YOU!!!!!!

birthday party 2011

2011-10-15T05:20:00.000-07:00

It's an art party, right? So I taped a bunch of WG's creations all over the walls.

The calm before the storm

The ingredients of a Reva party. The fabric glue actually melted the bottom of the plastic cups!!

Who knew little girls loved olives?? I sure didn't!

Sidenote to Jane - I went with white berets so they could draw on them. And for some crazy reason, they loved it!

I'm totally borrowing that.

NAILED IT.

Only 364 days until the next one... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

beret. beret. beret.

2011-10-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

WonderGirl's birthday party is tonight. I'm only freaking out a lot. It'll be fine, right?? It's super easy - an art theme, so the kids are wearing smocks, creating their own pizzas (picky eaters? Food allergies? no problem!), painting sugar cookies with food coloring instead of having a cake, and it's only an hour and a half. Easy, right??

Except it's ME throwing it, so I had to complicate matters and add this to the mix:

Remember the "everyone should wear a beret to look all authentic!!" idea? This is the result. I (of course) took it a few steps further and decided to have them decorate the berets for an activity. This is the prototype.

No one tell the girls what a shower cap is, okay? Let's keep the magic alive.

I'm trying to convince myself this isn't a total fail idea. So I took a ton of pictures.

If I add a paintbrush to the mix, does it start to even resemble a beret?

Sigh...

My own personal birthday is on Sunday. This is what I've become at 31. Poor 32, it doesn't even have a chance.

she's 5....?!?!

2011-10-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

To everyone who has only known me as a mom - I'm sure you think, wow, that's dandy. But to those who were there at the beginning and before, I think we can all safely say this is INSANE. But she's every bit the same spirit as this baby burrito I held in my arms five years ago:

I, however, am not the same person in that picture. I'm busy decorating and wrapping today so it hasn't fully hit me that I have been a mother for 5 whole years, and all that has changed. Regardless of what has happened or has not happened in the last 5 years, the fact that this child has sprouted into the larger-than-life girl we see now - is nothing short of a miracle.

Happiest of birthdays, Sunshine dear. Thank you for letting me test out this motherhood thing on you. I love you all the way to moon and back, times infinity. dangit. now she's going to ask me what infinity means. any suggestions?

till we meet again

2011-10-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

I have a touch of the weepies tonight. Partly because I just kissed my 4 year old goodnight for the last time. Tomorrow I'll have a 5 year old. Being overly dramatic? Duh, it's ME, people.

Also because my dearest Danielle's little sister unexpectedly passed away last week. And being so far from her when I desperately need to hug on her has upped my usual daily weeping levels by 11. But I want to share what she posted on the facebooks about Natalie, and what we believe.

Natalie is not gone. She has simply left this mortal realm. “In mortality, we are like one who enters a theater just as the curtain goes up on the second act. We have missed Act 1. … ‘And they all lived happily ever after’ is never written into the second act. That line belongs in the third act when the mysteries are solved and everything is put right.”

We know “have a Father in Heaven, who knows and loves us personally and understands our suffering perfectly... His Son, Jesus Christ, is our Savior and Redeemer, whose Atonement not only provides for salvation and exaltation but also will compensate for all the unfairness of life...
The Father’s plan of happiness for His children includes not only a premortal and mortal life but also an eternal life as well, including a great and glorious reunion with those we have lost. All wrongs will be righted, and we will see with perfect clarity and faultless perspective and understanding.”

one of these girls is NOT a Kjar. Try to guess who.

Good golly I love being a Mormon. And those gorgeous Kjar girls. Go love on someone, m'dears.

how to look slightly less grubby on a grubby day

2011-10-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

You know those days where all you want to do is wear the biggest tee you have and sacrifice looking cute for absolute comfort? I saw this tutorial on Pintrest:

and tried it on an XL shirt. I also did the sleeves too... I think I saw that somewhere on the webs but I don't know where.

Result: comfortable and feeling slightly less frumpy than I am in reality.

oh so twinny

2011-10-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

A few facts:

I took 2 white tees,went all Frankenstein on 'em and made them into dresses.
I found the material at a thrift store.
I don't know how to read patterns. I just winged it.
We're wearing cool red shoes and red flowers. We were rushing to church so we didn't have time for too many poses.
This angle isn't terribly flattering for me... and perhaps the dress isn't either, but soooo comfortable.
Also, I made WonderGirl.

Sweet, huh? I'm a fan.

thursday!

2011-10-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

I had a fanTAStic day! I didn't think it would be when I woke up, and then it was! Let's back up a few steps.

When we moved to Wisconsin, I joined a mother's group to get to know other moms in the community, not just my church-bubble. It's been nice - once a month the moms have a meeting with a speaker and activity and stuff, while the kids hang out in a nursery-thing headed by some volunteers. Nice.

So at the end of last year, they announced the need for people to join the head commitee and take care of stuffs. I normally recognize my limitations and therefore do NOT volunteer for anything (I don't even cook meals for the sick and needy... they've suffered enough). I think it is safe to say we are all fully aware that I am an irresponsible yet lovable space case. But I had this strong impression that I should sign up to help organize the childcare part. I couldn't shake it, even when the husband - rightfully so - told me that it was a terrible idea.

I signed up. And then reality hit. We had lost a few volunteers and trying to get new ones has been ... awful. I am on the phone all the bleeping time bothering people. It makes me cry (it's not hard to do, I know. But I cry nonetheless). I would NEVER last as a missionary. I'm ruining the nice mother's group with my scatterbrained inadequacies. Oh... I had the best of intentions...

Ug, and then the first meeting was a complete disaster. So many kids, all of them crying and/or kicking, I never even made it out of the kid area to meet any of the moms or hear the speakers. I came home and cried for a few days. The next meeting I was in New York for, but by all accounts it was still really rough. We had a meeting today and in the last few months now I had been praying for an out so I wouldn't have to go. A meteor, the end of the world, anything to get me out of this insane decision and stop the daily panic attacks.

But last week, I paused for a moment, and thought - I can't change this. But I can change ME.

(also, I thought -"what would Rebecca do?" The world would be such a better place if we all did as Rebecca does...)

- so prayed for something else. This organization aims to help moms and give them a support system. It's not about me and my pithy problems, so I prayed to help me forget myself in this and love the people I'm serving.

Now, onto today. I got there (panicking but determined to martyr through it) and a volunteer lady who wasn't exactly excited about being there but was there nonetheless - came in with me into the toughest room of babies, plus the president of the organization stayed in there too. There was crying, there was screaming, but after a few minutes, they calmed down. I usually can't stand babies, but I actually felt love for these little ones whose moms just needed a break like me. The 2 hours flew by!

I left floating. It felt so good to serve and help. And then the sweet prez sent out an email suggesting the members of the leadership committee take turns in the baby room so we can all go to the meetings and mingle with the other moms. Win!

It's a small victory, but I'll take it. Yay for serving! And Thursdays!

GPOYW (a day late)

2011-10-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

GPOYW - Polished parent? edition. I took this while I was heading out the door yesterday to WonderGirl's first parent/teacher conference. I wanted to look as responsible as I could. I even wore mom capris:

I don't know if it worked. Of course now I'm freaking out because she's too far ahead of the other kid and spends too much time making art and writing letters to people instead of playing in the dramatic play area with the other girls. So of course the world has just come to a complete and utter stop while I panic and run around the house screaming.

Not really, but I'm still a little nervous. This IS her third year of being in a class where they're learning the alphabet.... again... it's only a matter of time before they call me in because she's trying to hotwire the teacher's car.

toot

2011-10-04T12:13:00.000-07:00

I can't help but share one of those sad moment where I consider myself seriously awesome for very small reasons. We're all used to this. I'm planning WonderGirl's birthday shindig for next week (which is a much smaller gathering than last year) and the theme is ARTIST! There will be painting of food and paper alike. I was contemplating things and it occurred to me that it would be sooo coool if the girls could wear berets like real French artsy stereotypes. So after 2 seconds of looking for cheap berets online, I found some tutorials and realized this was seriously up my alley. Check this out!!

I took a 20 inch circle of some cheap practice material and sewed a casing around the outside and slipped some elastic inside and tied it to fit her head. A total of 4 minutes.

Artsy and fartsy, right???

I know no one comes here for crafty stuff since this is soooo not that kind of blog, but we do come here for my blatant self promotion. Which is kind of redundant, seeing as it IS a blog. ANYwho, how cool is this??? I really dig my sewing machine, AND my inspiration.