Come What May...

The Reason They Come Cute

2012-02-07T16:28:00.000-08:00

This was my darling daughter a few days ago, with an outfit she kind of put together herself.

Cute, huh?

I have to keep reminding myself of that over and over and over again.

We are in the throes of potty-training and for some reason she only seems to go number 2 when I put her down for a nap. So then I don't put her down for a nap and she ends up holding it for more that 24 hours. She did number 2 this morning. I thought I was in the clear, because she didn't take a nap yesterday, and hence, didn't go number 2.

Logically, I concluded I was in the clear.

Au contraire.

Big huge, poopy mess.

I totally lost it, I admit it.

But how can I murder a face like this?

They come cute for a reason.

When You Fail To Check

2012-02-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

As a general rule, it is always good to check and see what your kids are wearing to church...

Or you walk into the lobby and finally look and discover this.

This is just a good parenting tip I thought I would pass on to everyone. You're welcome!

When Panic Sets In

2012-02-04T00:25:00.000-08:00

It occasionally happens to me. I get this panicky, I can't breathe feeling. It usually comes on in the afternoon. It doesn't happen too much, maybe 3 or 4 times a month, but it is a hard feeling to overcome. Today was one of those days.

I had decided this morning that I wanted to get my house cleaned. No matter what. But there was a failure to launch. It might have been the incessant whining, the never-ending demands for my attention, the recalcitrant 2 year-old bladder, the "art project" in the bathroom, or the put-away toys that kept coming back for an encore.

I just became absolutely overwhelmed and the panic started to rise from deep within me. I couldn't handle it, and I couldn't find my Norwex rag anywhere to get the urine off the carpet. I just couldn't get it going. No matter how much I walked around putting things away or wiping something down, it just didn't seem to be getting any better.

Oh, the agony!

Somehow or another, I was able to turn things around and the house looked tolerably well when Rinar walked through the door. But sheesh...it was an angst-filled afternoon.

All I can say is, I was able to go on a date with my husband, my kids are asleep, and I can hear my own thoughts. In other words...

I'M ALIVE!!!

Our Favorite Book

2012-02-03T09:48:00.000-08:00

We love to read books. These three are big fans. Can you guess what one of their favorites books is these days?

Of course, he just couldn't resist a few bites, even for a photo shoot.

Warrior

2012-02-01T22:35:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would share this picture. Raef and Zach dressed Eli up as a warrior. Ooh...scary! He has a Lego box on his head, a homemade cardboard shield, and a fun styrofoam jousting weapon.

My Salon Girl

2012-01-28T22:17:00.000-08:00

It was time for Miss Julia to get a haircut. She seems to end up with the same hairdo everyday because I have to keep the hair out of her face. I was ready for something new.

Here she is right before her big appointment, holding a pink princess book.

She was an old pro. Julia got up on the chair and sat so still and quiet. She was soaking it all in. When the hairdresser told her to put her head down, she did and didn't move. When she needed to look right, she did, etc. I was amazed. My little girl is growing up.

There you go. She got a trim and some new bangs. It frames her face so nicely.

We did a little bit of shopping at the grocery store and she pushed the mini cart around and was so stinkin' adorable.

It was a good day for her. She got a haircut and did really well with her potty training. Life is good.

I'm "Coughing"

2012-01-27T19:57:00.000-08:00

Poor Eli. He had a rotten "cough". He kept telling us he had a cough and that he needed a cough drop.

"You're coughing?"

{cue cough}

"I need a cough drop."

{cue cough}

I think it is hilarious. Enjoy!

Orange You Cute!

2012-01-26T23:17:00.000-08:00

When I was young, I had an obsession with oranges. I would eat them incessantly. Apparently, my dietary obsession was so extreme that my face would be stained orange. My mom would scrub and scrub my face before church on Sunday, but to no avail.

I was reminded of this when I saw my Harry Bob sitting on the ground in the kitchen opening a fairly large orange all by himself. No one, including Rinar, will eat an orange unless I peel it for them.

What can I say? I am just so proud of my boy. Finally! Someone who likes oranges as much as me...I mean, likes them enough that not even an orange rind will keep him away.

Good job, Harry!

Give Your Kids a Hug

2012-01-25T23:31:00.000-08:00

I was trolling around the internet last night and came across this blog, Pack of Fixations. I cried buckets... buckets. My friend Lindsay posted something on her Facebook account about Kelly and Ryan Pack the day after the accident happened. I think they were friends in high school.

The Packs were driving home from a family thing on Christmas Eve when they were hit head-on by a huge suburban! Kelly was injured the most severely, but there precious 18 month-old, Colum, didn't make it.

Finn and Colum Pack

I think about my five children and how they can drive me insane, how I sometimes want to just float away to some tropical island, where the only sounds are seagulls and waves crashing on the sand. Oh, how I need to be so grateful that I have all of my kids. They are safe. They are sleeping peacefully right now and in the morning they will drive me crazy once again. I know I am very blessed for all of that craziness.

I thought I would share this with you all. The Pack's are really struggling right now. You have got to read her story. All I can say is...whoa. But the worst part is that the driver who brought all this misery into the Pack's lives is uninsured, so not only did they lose their little boy, they are going to be in financial ruin. Please, click on the link and make a donation to this family. I am sure that any donation would be greatly appreciated. Pass their story on to your friends and families. Share it where ever you can. Hopefully, by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

And while you are at it, give your kids a big hug. I know I will.

You Got To Get Small

2012-01-23T08:48:00.000-08:00

Eli told Rinar to come sit down. They had to talk. Eli told him that he needs to grow small. How small? He needs to be 3! Then Daddy can wear Eli's clothes and go to his birthday party. Then once he grows small Daddy can grow big again.

Just one of those really sweet moments.

If you want, you can watch it here.

Ever since Eli attended Raef and Zach's birthday party, he is anxiously looking forward to his own. He will get presents and puzzles and cake. Eli is very excited for his party. Oh, how I love the machinations of a 3 year-old.

For Real Snow

2012-01-23T08:16:00.000-08:00

Finally, our first real snowfall. We got a few inches on Saturday morning and this is the second layer. Rinar, Raef, and Zach woke up early this morning to clear our double switchback driveway. Unfortunately, we don't have any salt, so I guess I am stuck at home today.

Make a Bath Eli

2012-01-21T21:50:00.001-08:00

Rinar let Eli make his own bath tonight. Whoops!

Raef is shocked, SHOCKED I tell you.

Party Like a 10 Year Old

2012-01-21T21:43:00.000-08:00

Raef and Zach turned 10 last week. Wow! I have been a parent for like, a decade. So, of course we threw a party for them. It was a big success. I had the boys clean up the house. They were surprisingly motivated because they had good motivation. Then they decorated. All you need is a bag of balloons and some scotch tape and eager boys and voila!

I wasn't sure when to schedule this shindig because of kids' schedules so I asked around at Cub Scouts on Tuesday and it seemed that Friday night would be the best time. Kids are way too busy on Saturday. I made some calls, sent out an evite, and we were on the way. No sense in dillydallying. I like waiting until the very last minute. I even remembered Wednesday night to ask my friend Wendy to make cupcakes.

Aren't they awesome? She did Mario for Zach and Legos for Raef. Wendy is uber-talented. If you need a special cake or cupcakes in the Reno area, she is the one to call.

One less thing I had to worry about.

I set up some activities for the boys. I had made a scavenger hunt for outside, but the weather changed quickly and I decided to keep it all indoors. Instead, I whipped up a word search and told them that when they finished, they would get a prize. It was full-sized Skittles candy bag and stuff like that. They loved it and pretty much everyone did the word search.

Then I had lots of office supplies and instructions on how to build weapons. It was a huge hit. The book is called Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction and my boys totally love it. They are at the age where they love to construct things. The other boys did too. It made it even more fun because once they built their pen bow and arrow set and catapult they had a war and were running all over the house having lots of fun.

Back row (left-right): Aleks, Adam R., Porter, Ryker, Adam D.
Middle: Raef, Trevor, Ethan, Anders, Gus, Brenan
Front: McLean, Ryan, Jaden, Zach, Tucker

I also had stuff for them to make their own pizzas. I kept them coming in batches so kids were constantly eating. Plus, with the Doritos, licorice and cookies, the kids seemed pretty well fed. What can I say? I am a stickler for healthy food. And surprisingly enough, they ate all the cookies!

These are the boys my kids wanted to invite. I reminded them of a few they forgot, but I didn't really make suggestions beyond that. There were a few boys that couldn't come, but it was neat that so many boys were able to celebrate with us, even with the wild fire evacuations the day before.

Trevor and Raef

Ethan and Julia

Happy birthday Raef and Zach. You are on your way!

Washoe Drive Fire

2012-01-20T09:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a bit exciting for our family. After lunch, I got a call from my neighbor. She told me there was a fire at the bottom of the hill, about two miles from our house. Reno has not gotten any moisture all winter, so it is very dry outside. And then the winds were completely nuts, with 80 mph gusts. A fire was not good news.

But I just kind of blew it off and kept doing my stuff. About 30 minutes later, I looked out the window and I was astounded. Right at our tree line I could see tons of dark smoke billowing menacingly close. I was like, oh crap. So, I started packing a bag and calling people to warn them. Then people started calling me. It got a bit hectic. I was able to get us all out of the house in about 30 minutes.

Here is the beginning of the fire. The road to the left goes straight to my house, and I actually was running on that road Wednesday. All of the wind was constantly blowing northwest, towards Reno.

This is the intersection at Rinar's work. They had to close the freeway because that is where the fire was.

There was just nothing to stop the path of destruction because of the winds. Luckily, our house was to the west of the fire, at the beginning, so we were just out of harms way.

I had a whole bunch of people from church calling to check on me and offer their houses as a place of refuge. The only problem was that their houses were in a lot more danger than mine and they didn't know it. I ended up going to the McDonald's for a few hours because it had a playground. There were actually quite a few refugees there. This was the view from the parking lot.

The houses at the bottom of the hill are all houses in our ward. I started calling all the people who checked on me and told them they needed to pack their bags and get out of there. They couldn't see what I could see because of all the smoke.

Gratefully, the winds died down and no houses were lost in that neighborhood.

We were able to go home at night. I was really happy about that.

Sledding

2012-01-19T23:38:00.000-08:00

We actually got a little bit of snow on Monday and the kids made the best of it.

And then she was done.

Tough Mudder Phoenix

2012-01-19T23:23:00.000-08:00

Warning: This blog may contain several rants. You have been warned.

Rinar decided to do the Tough Mudder in Phoenix this last weekend. His brother Nordel joined him, in addition to other Fidelity guys from the west that Rinar has worked with over the years. We decided to make it a weekend getaway.

We flew in on Friday and went to the Mesa Temple in the morning. Then we met up with Nordel and Brooke, and my sister Heather, who lives in Scottsdale. We ate dinner across the street from the Suns stadium and then went to the NBA game. The Phoenix Suns were playing the New Jersey Nets.

My animosity of the NBA has been cemented after this game. First of all, the game was totally lame. It was like NBA D League. Our tickets were ridiculously expensive, and probably some of the worst in the entire stadium. There were people constantly in front of the court, so that 30-40% of our view was obscured. This included the usher and this cameraman.

I mean, look at this view. The cameraman and producer stood there for about 5 minutes of the game. Yes, this was my view. Awesome, right? But don't worry. It was, like, totally worth it. Our section won t-shirts, as long as we stood up and danced around like a bunch of buffoons. I didn't, but I still got a t-shirt somehow. Do you know what it said? "We Want Tacos"

I thought it would be a Phoenix Suns shirt.

Then I decided to model it for our section just like the cameraman would.

Cool, huh? And the usher actually told me to move. It is good to see he is so concerned about it. Do you think he said anything to the cameraman?

The next day was race day. It was on the outskirts of the Phoenix area in Mesa, at some desolate proving grounds. Nothing was out there, including roads to actually get you to the event. Rinar's wave went at 9:20. We got to the freeway exit at about the same time and sat there for, like, EVER! I also found out that parking cost $10. Yes, you had to pay to park in an abandoned, gravel mosh pit, in which you still had to walk a considerable distance to the entrance. We didn't even make it to the parking lot. We parked outside and then walked in. (At least I didn't pay for parking.)

Then we had to pick up our tickets. Tickets? What? You need tickets?

Yes, correct. In order to be a spectator, prepaid tickets cost $20 (plus fees). If you pay the day of, it is only $40. Luckily, we prepaid, so we would be able to pick up our tickets, no problem.

Oh wait...yes...wait, and wait, and wait. We waited and extra 20 minutes to pick up those prepaid tickets.

Finally! We were at the race. But Rinar and Nordel had been out there for one and a half hours. The course s only 12 miles long. So Brooke, Heather, and I walked and walked and walked.

Could not find them anywhere. Heather had to leave to go back to work.

I watched these people go over this wall. I thought I should get a picture of something. You know...$20 (plus fees) and all.

After Heather left, Brooke and I walked to the end of the course and watched these people go over this wall. We sat on a comfortable piece of dirt and gravel for about 10-15 minutes.

Then my phone rang. "Hi, I am calling for Rinar. He is at the finish line. They just finished the race."

Hmmm....how did I feel about this; totally and completely pissed, angry, sad, disappointed and absolutely furious at Tough Mudder, the biggest rip off on planet earth. It may be fun for the participants but it sucks if you want to watch. I actually cried at the finish line, I was so upset.

Worse. Race. On. The. Planet. Do not go as a spectator unless you want to be totally ripped off by avaricious, money-grubbing scoundrels.

But at least the dirt tasted good.

There you go...Rinar is a Tough Mudder. Congratulations.

There was actually a tattoo parlor at the finish line. I should have gotten a tattoo saying, "You thought the Tough Mudder was tough, try trying to watch it."

An Almost Perfect Day

2012-01-11T15:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was such a good day. I decided to try potty-training Julia and I had quite a lot of success. She tinkled 5 times and even had a good bowel movement to end the day. I was jumping and squealing for her success. All of the kids joined in to celebrate with her. And every time she went, I gave everyone a piece of chocolate. This really helped everyone get on board with her. Julia loves praise, so it really seemed to work well.

Then, after dinner I gave all of the little ones a bath and put them in their pajamas. We had to go to Cub Scouts and it started at 7:00pm, which is when they usually go to bed. The boys did the dishes and got ready. We had lost Zach's Cub Scout shirt for the past several months and I was bummed that I was going to have to buy another one. As I was walking out of Eli's room, Zach presented himself to me in his newly found shirt. He was wearing it, he was ready, and he found the shirt himself. I was so elated.

Raef and Zach have finished their Bear requirements for Cub Scouts and then after carefully going through all of their requirements for the Religious Knot award doing Faith in God, Rinar and I realized that they had both achieved all the requirements for this reward. Yippee! Something else I could check off of their list.

It would seem that the whole night was going to get derailed when Julia started crying non-stop after we put her to bed. She was in misery and kept pointing at her ear. I gave her the white onion treatment and some Tylenol. She was up pretty late and cried a bit, but finally settled down and fell asleep around 11:00pm. When she woke up this morning, she was her old self again.

It was almost the perfect day. It is amazing how excited us parents get when the kiddos put their poopies in the potty. It is better than Disneyland.

Get Ready

2012-01-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

Don't you love the stripes?

Rinar stayed home with all the kids today, except Raef. Everyone was coughing and spewing germs. We didn't want to share that with the rest of our ward members.

We start school again tomorrow. Raef and Zach are going to notice a sizeable increase in their work load. They are going to have more writing and reading and just time to study. They need it. They will be 10 soon and have really matured academically. I think that they are ready for new challenges. I look forward to seeing what this year will bring. I have spent several days cleaning out the school room and rearranging things. It is a fresh new look for a fresh new year.

A Plethora of Books

2012-01-06T09:33:00.000-08:00

Our bedtime routine for Eli is quite simple. One of us goes in there, lays on the bed with him, and reads him a few books. Then we might sing a song or two, turn off the lights and lay with him for a few minutes, then say goodnight and he goes to bed.

Well, a few nights ago he went in his room first, picked out a "few" books, and then told Daddy he was ready.

"Daddy, come read some books to me!"

It is a good thing it was only 8:30. Rinar had plenty of time to get it done before midnight.

Julia, Don't Forget Who You Are

2012-01-04T20:07:00.001-08:00

Julia likes to put lipstick on her "mips". I just put the clear stuff on, but she really likes her mips.

And that brings me to the point of the blog. What is going on here? Marie Osmond was on a talk show the other week and I was floored at what I saw. It was Marie, but it really wasn't. Why? Why, Marie, have you succumbed to the most horrific plastic mutilation you can do to yourself?

There is only one lady I know who has those kind of lips.

But they seem to work with her face because those are the lips that God gave her.

I just cannot understand why women think that if they plump up their lips to C Battery size, it will look attractive. It is horrible and I abhor it.

Do you remember her? She used to be beautiful and now she looks absolutely frightening.

And here is someone who I always thought was gorgeous.

But look at what she has turned into...

These women don't seem to know who they are.

I can't help but think of my little Julia. I have a big job ahead of me. I have to teach her the most important things in this life. One day she will read this blog, so I am going to address this to her.

Julia...you are a child of God. He created you in His image. He made you just the way you should be. You are incredibly beautiful, smart, and just plain lovely. Don't ever forget this. Don't forget who you are. Your beauty will emanate from the inside out because of the love of God you carry in your heart. A prophet of God has taught...

In our world, moral character ofttimes seems secondary to beauty or charm. But from long ago the Lord's counsel to Samuel the prophet echoes: "The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

Know with every bit of your soul that you are created in the image of God and that you are His child. Thomas Monson continues, "We cannot sincerely hold this conviction without experiencing a profound new sense of strength and power."

Julia, you don't need puffed up lips, a tighter tummy, fancier clothes, bluer eyes, or blonder hair to be beautiful. The world will tell you this, but it is a big, fat lie.

Just remember who you are and you will be the most beautiful woman in the world.

They Are Not Rabbits

2012-01-02T12:36:00.000-08:00

This was a sweet moment. Eli laid down with Rinar on the couch for bedtime and then he fell asleep. This doesn't happen very often with our kids, so we cherish the moments.

And in other news...Rinar caught something out of the corner of his eye when he was eating breakfast with the kids. He saw some coyotes near our front door. He grabbed the camera and caught a couple of them on film heading out of the back of the house into the wilderness. There were actually three of them.

I guess I need to keep a good eye on my little ones when they go outside. I don't want them to get mistaken for very large rabbits.

My Word For 2012

2011-12-31T21:01:00.000-08:00

As I think about this last year, I can sum it up in one word....survival! Needless to say, I am very glad it is over. Hallelujah.

With that said, I am trying to get myself excited about 2012. Unlike this past year, I have made some specific goals.

I plan on running at least one marathon. Training officially starts on Monday. This is going to be very difficult, but not insurmountable. Luckily, I have a training program that requires only 4 days of running. I know I can do that. With training, I want to run a half marathon in March as well. Rinar did a whole bunch of races last year, but I am not going to let that stop me from doing my thing.

I also want to be more dedicated to my kids and their education. I have ideas of things I want to do, so this year I am going to implement them. I think it will be easier because Harry, Julia, and Eli are older and able to do a lot more things. This is only going to get better as the year progresses. I look forward to that.

Rinar and I plan on taking Raef and Zach to Europe in the late spring. This is something to look forward to as well. We have wanted to go for a long time and it will be wonderful to take them with us.

Here are just a few things going through my head right now. I just read a blog about choosing one word for the year. And now that I have written some of my thoughts out, I realize what my word is. Implementation.

I have a lot of ideas and now I need to implement them.

Sacramento Zoo

2011-12-26T18:45:00.000-08:00

I live in a zoo, so why not go to the zoo? Rinar did not work today so we did a mini road trip to Sacramento. It was a beautiful day and the little ones really enjoyed looking at the animals.

Except that Julia just couldn't walk another step. I had to hold her.

And this little guy wanted to go home after about 10 minutes. "Can we go now?" Oh, the agony!!!

Harry had a blast. He was running around everywhere with a big grin plastered on his face. He loved being able climb up on the railings at each exhibit. Good times.

I think someone stepped on her hand as she was descending the cement slide.

We were also able to eat at Chick-fil-a. Yay! A beautiful day and a beautiful drive.

Reflections On My Christmas Day

2011-12-25T21:58:00.000-08:00

Another Christmas has come and gone this year. I am kind of glad it is done. This is what it looked like for us this year.

I really love Christmas with my kids. They are all so special and I am very grateful that Rinar and I can give them so much, though we probably gave them too much. Surprise toy favorites: $1 laser pointer from Radio Shack. They had fun for an hour playing with that thing. I also found mini plastic animals at Goodwill for 59 cents and Harry would have been happy with just that. When will I ever learn?

But Christmas kind of made me a little sad this year. I made sure to send or give something to every member of my family...parents, brothers and sisters. Yet, didn't even get a phone call or text from anyone. I wanted to see if anyone would remember me and call. But, alas... Thank goodness I have my Heather. She is a very special sister. I have been so blessed to have her in my life.

Maybe I am being too hard on all of them or too prideful. I heard this quote today in church by Howard W. Hunter...

“This year, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and the speak it again.”

Examine my demands on others. This has really stuck in my head. Maybe I expect too much in my relationships with family members. I should have just called, but I was too stubborn. I just feel kind of sad right now. I hope tomorrow will be better.

But no matter what, I do rejoice in the Christmas spirit, because the Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit. How grateful I am for His gift of eternal life. I rejoice in that.

Project Linus

2011-12-22T19:58:00.000-08:00

Our friend Tracy hosted a Christmas service project party at her house this afternoon. There were a million kids running around while us moms were busy cutting fleece to make blankets that will be taken to some charity. It was a fun afternoon chatting and cutting.

Denice busy with the fleece.

Harry found the toys. Unfortunately, two of these cars are currently in my minivan. My little clepto. Such a proud mama. The toys stay in the van until they find their rightful home, which definitely is NOT our house. Grrrr.

I caught Haley by surprise in this picture.

Kelli had her hands full with her boys.

And They Both Looked So Innocent

2011-12-21T21:24:00.000-08:00

The little ones have been quite a handful these past few nights. Every room in our house has its own bathroom. Unfortunately, that includes the babies' room. There is a lock on the door, but it does not work.

And guess what they have become interested in, all of a sudden? Yes, the faucet. Rinar found them yesterday after a long day at the office. When he had disappeared for a while, I went to investigate. He was in their room cleaning up the gallons of water that were on the floor.

It was the last straw. I made a late night run to Walmart to get two more round doorknobs, so that we could prevent further bathroom incidents. I installed them today and then put a child safety lock on the door. Problem solved, right?

NOPE!

I was reading to Eli across the hallway when I heard frantic crying from my little "angel" girl. I went to see what the problem was. The bathroom door was open. WHAT!?!?!?! The faucet was running. Julia was pretty wet, while Harry sat "innocently" in his bed. She was covered in body wash. It was in her eyes. It was in her hair.

I started dousing her with water and then had to do a full-on soak of her hair in the faucet. I put it in a ponytail and changed her pajamas. All the while, I was reminding her how naughty she was and thinking to myself that all the coal is going to this one!

How did the bathroom get opened? The child safety cover had been pulled off. I got some duct tape and stuck it back together thoroughly.

But when I put her in bed, it smelled very soapy on Harry's bed. Very soapy. Harry had just a little bit of body wash in his hair. Don't worry. Most of it was on the sheets, and his blanket, and a book, and a puzzle piece, and toy.

I didn't have to douse him.

So, who really gets the coal around here? I am not so sure now.

Santa Is Dumb

2011-12-19T17:20:00.000-08:00

I have officially decided that Santa Claus is just plain stupid. The older I get and the more kids I have, the more I hate that fat, overly-jolly, sneaky old guy. I mean, I feel like it is my obligation as a "good" parent to take my little kids to the over-crowded, depressing mall to stand in a ridiculously long line, so that I can be guilted into spending way too much for a stupid picture that I will probably lose anyways.

At least that is what was going through my head as I waited in line with three rambunctious toddlers. I really didn't last very long. I got out of line, took a picture from afar of Santa and headed to the mall playground.

Look, here is a blonde kid on Santa's knee. My kids are blonde. Close enough!

The line goes all the way around the back of that Christmas tree. I am standing at the halfway point. It is a Monday afternoon, for crying out loud. Shouldn't these kids be in daycare or something, or home taking a nap? What is going on here?

But the playground sure was fun. We hadn't been in a while. The kids had a blast.

Way better than Santa.

Violin/Viola Recital

2011-12-17T22:00:00.000-08:00

Well, it's that time of year again when I share my kids amazing, spectacular, awe-inspiring talent with the whole world, or at least with the 15 or 20 people who will actually watch the video I am putting up for you. See...and you don't even have to buy a ticket or anything!

But before I get to that, the recital went really well. Zach actually showed up mentally and did pretty well once he got into his groove. The beginning was a bit rough, but I was very pleased with what he did. Plus, he didn't swing his body back and forth violently. It was a pretty darn successful day for him.

This is Raef and Zach's music teacher, Dustin Budish. He has about 20 students in his studio and we go to his place downtown every week for lessons.

Here are a few of the other students. This is probably about half of the students who performed today.

After the official recital and some refreshments, most of the kids played a bunch of Christmas songs with Dustin. It was a lot of fun. They were just sight-reading it. Well, except for my kids. They play out of this book all the time. In fact, they will be playing some of the same songs next week as prelude music in church.

Zach kept making really silly faces for a little boy that was sitting right in front of him. I probably should have given him the evil eye and all, but it was just cracking me up. He is a riot, I tell you.

I really could only see the top of Raef's head, but I peeked to the side to get this shot of him.

Zach's rendition of Gavotte, by J. S. Bach

Raef's rendition of Concerto in D Minor by A. Vivaldi

Concerto in G Major by Telemann, Raef and Dustin duet

Zach and group perform Concerto for Two Violins by J. S. Bach

And finally, Zach's first piano recital number, Fiesta Espana by N. Faber

Ichiban Christmas

2011-12-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

We had our Christmas work party last night. I haven't been to one of these in many years. Rinar's boss in Vegas was Jewish, so she would keep rescheduling it sothat everyone could come. It would usually end up being at the end of January, or just not at all. I guess there really wasn't a pressing need to have one in December, from a Jewish point of view, I suppose.

But we actually had a Christmas party in December, before Christmas. It was at Ichiban Steakhouse in downtown Reno. It is like a Benihana's.

Kelli, Kevin, Kim, Ryan, Mara, Aron, Rinar, Me, Ben, Natalie, Brenda, Karen, and Jim

Our cook was Manuel and he was very funny. Almost as amusing as me, really. I actually had a lot of funny jokes last night that nobody laughed at. My best one was when Manuel put the minced garlic on the meat and told us it was good for our hearts. I piped up and said love is also good for our hearts! No one laughed! Come on...that was hilarious.

The food was delicious and it was great to be able to get out of the house for a date with my husband.

Rinar took a bunch of pictures, but for some reason he didn't take one of Ryan and Kim. Ryan is the new guy to the team. This is a small branch, but they had a really great year. They ended up #7 in the country. Way to go, team!

Don't you just love my double chin!

Peanutcracker and Cookies

2011-12-15T16:26:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday we went to the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Reno to watch the "Peanutcracker". It is a very shortened version of "The Nutcracker". It was a very nice production, but not quite short enough for two two year-olds.

Just not short enough.

So, while the production was concluding for the last 15 minutes, we took a tour of the lobby.

They really liked the water fountain.

Before the show, they were really excited...running around, jumping on stuff and driving the ushers insane. But they were so filled with the Christmas spirit, they gave each other lots of hugs.

And on a separate note, I got a surprise package in the mail today. Thank you Aunty Heather for our Christmas surprise. Harry and Julia decided to try them out, and they say the cookies are delicious.

We love you!

What Sets Me Off

2011-12-12T19:07:00.000-08:00

Some things never change. Today, I had a bit of temper tantrum. Me...not my kids. I was being such a good mom. I was actually cleaning things up before things spiraled out of control. Eli's room was looking especially sorry, so I made his bed, picked up the dirty clothes, and spent at least 20 minutes putting the books back on his bookshelf. I organized them and made the room look quite nice.

Then Eli got in trouble. I don't even remember why. Naturally, I banished him to his room. I tried to be loving and understanding of his feelings, but when I saw the other side of the bed, I lost it. Every bookshelf was empty, except the top one. He just couldn't reach that one. I gave him one good spank on the bottom and left.

Then I started jumping up and down, screaming, because I was so frustrated. I can get no traction in this house! I was screaming, hopping mad.

I sat down and fumed. Eli came out defiantly, stark naked. I just rolled my eyes. Whatever. Be naked. See if I care.

I was stewing over this whole episode in the back of my head and I came to a realization. I remember being about 5 or 6 years old, when we lived in a trailer in Provo, Utah. My mom was sleeping and we were supposed to do the dishes and not wake her up, above all else. Well, after I had washed almost every stinkin' dish in the house, my little sister Heather wanted a drink. I was like, NO WAY! You are not getting a cup dirty. This was too much work. She started crying, I got mad. We had a spat. Then, guess what? My mom woke up. She shooed us out of the trailer, and I sulked around waiting with terror for my dad to come home. Sure enough, he drove by and then a few minutes later he came marching fiercely toward me.

Yep, I got in big trouble.

I can see the similarities here. I had got it just the way I wanted it and then someone comes along and wrecks it. I guess it is a test I haven't passed yet. It is kind of on the same lines as not ever taking a u-turn. I hate taking u-turns. It stresses me out. U-turns and re-cleaning things just cleaned...now you know what will set me off.

A Lunar Morning

2011-12-10T15:12:00.000-08:00

Do you know what we did this morning? Rinar, Raef, Zach and I woke up in the 5 o'clock hour to watch a lunar eclipse. Raef is always willing to get up at some absurd hour to be able to do astronomy stuff. I love that about him. I probably would have just slept through it, but thanks to Rinar, and Raef's enthusiasm, they made it all happen.

As we laid on the floor in the living room watching the earth cast a shadow on the moon, which took about one hour to completely cover, Zach regaled us with lots of facts about the moon.

"Dad, the moon is not a few miles away, it is thousands of mile away."

"Did you know it goes from 300 degrees F, to minus 80?"

"The moon looks as big as the sun because it is a lot closer." Etcetera, etcetera.

I felt very educated at 5:30 am.

The eclipse was beautiful. I am grateful I could watch it from the comfort of a warm house. It was just above the mountain ridge, nestled in between pitch pine trees. When it was done, I went back to bed.

Desperation

2011-12-09T16:06:00.001-08:00

The Wii has reemerged from its storage unit in outer Mongolia.

I was planning on bringing it back out after Christmas. It was sent on a long, desolate journey because of the horrific fighting it was always instigating.

It was a motherly act of desperation. After frantically calling many women in my ward to see if my kids could come and play, I really had no other choice. I just couldn't watch any more tears fall from my son's face as he and his brother continue to mourn the loss of all of their friends from Las Vegas. They have no one here to play with, and it is just so sad. I generally do not have any luck finding kids for them to play with. Everyone is just so busy with their own lives, we really don't have a place here.

It is just heartbreaking. Just when I think things are getting better, they really aren't.

A Moment In Time

2011-12-07T22:28:00.001-08:00

I thought I would get a few snapshots of the little ones. When I put Julia up there, she took the ribbon that Harry was not interested in. All of a sudden, he HAD to have it! Notice her coy little smile as she uses her body to box him out. This girl knows just what to do.

Then they started sharing the ribbon...how cute.

Right after this, Julia got really mad at Harry because she wanted the ribbon back, naturally. What's a girl to do? Give him a big shove, of course. I caught him just in time, before he did a face-plant on the ground.

Afterwards, Eli wanted to join in our little photo shoot. They are quite the trio.

Timing

2011-12-05T21:59:00.001-08:00

My children have the most amazing timing...like, ever.

We sit down to eat dinner and I ask them, "So, how was your day? What is going on? Tell me something?"

Answers are usually monosyllabic.

But when the phone rings and I am talking to someone, then it becomes the perfect time to tell me about some amazing thing they have done. Or when I am taking a shower, it is just when I need to give a kid permission to play the computer or get a phone number for someone they want to call. And when I am trying to do a difficult yoga balance move that requires all of my concentration, that is exactly when they need to tell me what dastardly thing one of their siblings has done the day before. Or it is when they need a drink of water, or a puzzle from the top shelf, or cheese, or a cookie, or a pickle...oh you get the idea.

Like I said, their timing is always impeccable. Maybe that is why they are all going to be professional musicians someday....it is the perfect timing, of course.

Children's Choir Performance

2011-12-04T20:57:00.001-08:00

I have been able to keep a Christmas tradition going one more year. Today we did a musical program at a retirement community. It went really well. This year I took my children's choir from the Galena Ward to The Fountains. It is a little retirement home near the airport. It really worked out perfectly and I am grateful for the experience.

My choir member include Mateo, Porter, Soffia, Tessa, Summer, Aubrey, Bryce, Evva, Ella, Annika, Brady, Ryker, Anna, Derrick, Ruthie, Lena, Kaleigh, Olivia, Lily, Aryelle, Kennadee, Zach, and Raef. My pianist is a young woman, Anna K., who has been such a blessing for the choir. Her family moved in a couple of months ago.

For the program, the kids sang "See the Joy", "Christmas Bells", "Teach Me To Walk/Love is Spoken Here", "That First Nowell", "Away In a Manger", and "Peaceful, Silent Night". I also had some individual performances. Raef and Zach played three songs from Christmas Kaleidoscope. Tessa and Summer B. did a beautiful rendition of "A Special Night". I sang "Star of Bethlehem" and Anna L. did an adorable version of "Mary's Lullaby".

The last song was "Peaceful, Silent Night" and Kennadee C. sang "Silent Night", with the choir singing a different part. Then the two parts were put together and it was just lovely.

Rinar was able to participate because he accompanied on the solo parts, so it really was a family affair.

Someday we will be able to share this tradition with all of our kids when they are old enough. I look forward to it. The residents enjoyed the show and all of the kids visited with them afterwards.

Music is the perfect way to get the Christmas spirit.

Me and Molly

2011-12-04T08:02:00.001-08:00

Someone came over to our house last night! Surprise! Our cute neighbors needed some sugar for a dessert they were making. It was about 8pm and I was so excited. Someone came to our house. Grant it, it was only 3 minutes, but still.

I thought about it this morning, and I can't help but remember one of my favorite musicals as a kid, "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". Did you ever see that movie?

Molly and her husband are a couple of country folk that discover gold and strike it rich. They move to Denver and buy this massively large house. The only problem is that the neighbors are snobs and no one ever comes to visit them, so they are so lonely. They ended up crashing the neighbors party next door.

"Howdy!" "Hi, there!" "Evening to y'all."

Oh, you get the picture.

I can't help but think of the Browns when I look at our situation. We live in this huge house and we never get any visitors. It is news worthy when we do. We just live so far away. I feel like my relationship with Molly Brown has gone to such a deeper level now.

Maybe I will go with her to France and learn some French.

Picking a Career

2011-12-03T17:47:00.001-08:00

Rinar took the boys to a baptism today. As they were driving there, an interesting conversation ensued...

Zach: Dad, how many jobs can someone have and still make it home for dinner everyday?

Rinar: One

Zach: Darn, because I want to be an astronaut, inventor, doctor, and a chef.

Raef: Zach, you definitely won't be home for dinner if you are an astronaut. You'll be in space for months!

I Miss My Ward Family

2011-12-02T23:05:00.001-08:00

Some days are tougher than others. This was just one of those days. We had our ward Christmas party tonight. It was at the Stake Center, which is only about 20 miles away from our house. I was rushing to get out and all of my kids were being unresponsive, uncooperative, and incessantly whiny. By the time I got in the car, my blood pressure was really high, my heart was racing and I just had to inhale and exhale.

When we pulled up to the church, Eli had fallen asleep. He completely zonked out. I took the twins inside and Rinar held Eli. They had a creche display in one of the rooms. Both Harry and Julia insisted on touching the displays. I kept telling them no, but to no avail. They would not listen. So I pretty much lost it. I grabbed them both and dragged them out of the room. I pretty much threw Harry on the ground. I just couldn't deal with it anymore.

Rinar took them away, and I ended up holding Eli on the couch in the lobby while he slumbered away. While I was sitting there, I started to watch the ward members walking by, talking, visiting. I felt so isolated and utterly alone. Here are all of these people. I have been in the ward for over 8 months, and I know no one. Then I laid Eli on the couch and stood at the door to keep my eye on him and to watch the festivities. Lots of people chatting and talking and it is always the same people paired up with each other. I can just tell you who will be sitting with who talking and visiting. I started to get very depressed.

Can I be honest here? I really miss my Sunset Ward family. They were always so sensitive to new people. You always made sure to sit with the new people, talk to them, really get to know them.

This ward is "friendly". Lots of smiles, and "Hi, how are yous?" That is pretty much it. No one knows me. Okay, I can't say no one, but the list is incredibly small. People in this ward are just very comfortable where they are and there is no effort to really reach out to new people in a heart-felt way. It was just so different in my last ward. It truly was a family. This is very hard for me. It is almost unbearable.

But then I sit here and think to myself...it must be me. What kind of vibes am I sending out? Why do people talk to me the way that they do? It kind of reminds me of my high school experience all over again. I mean that in the sense that I had lots and lots of acquaintances, even a few fairly good friends, but I was so lonely. I had no real friends, where someone knew who I really was. It was hard, very hard. I was so alone. But I am guilty. I have not really made as much of an effort as I did in Las Vegas. I think that after many interactions, I have just become discouraged. We did invite a slew of people over for dinner to try to find our place in this ward, but it just hasn't gone how I hoped it would. Some people reciprocated an invite, but it felt like an obligation.

These are my feelings. I am probably being overly dramatic here, but at this moment, it is where my head is. This feels like a burden even more so, because we live so far away, on the fringe of the ward boundary. It is a huge inconvenience for anyone to come here. Whenever I tell people where I live, they give an audible sigh or groan. Let's just say, we have had very few visitors for our entire stay in Reno. I think that in the 6 months we have lived in this house, we have had the same amount of visitors as we did in a two week time span in Las Vegas.

I actually started to feel nauseous at the Christmas party, so we left early. I just couldn't keep my feelings in check without making a spectacle of myself.

What I Didn't Eat

2011-12-01T22:21:00.000-08:00

It was a small victory today, but I am going to celebrate. I went to a ladies night dessert thing at Mandy's house. I drank bottled water, I carefully selected one small desert, ate a lot of fruit and dipped only a handful into some healthy dark chocolate.

I am usually the girl that has one of each dessert. But I decided I didn't want to be that way, and I wasn't. Will it always be so? Probably not, but at least I have something I can build on. Each time I am successful, I get a little bit stronger. Plus, I have been trying to reprogram my thinking a bit. I mean, I have eaten all of the goodies before. I know what they taste like. I know how I feel after I indulge too much. I can remember the good tastes, and avoid the yuckiness that follows.

I really want to get rid of the baby gut I have been carrying around as a result of two consecutive pregnancies. I know I am never going to have washboard abs, but I know that I can do better. I am just hoping I can make it through this holiday season relatively unscathed.

I am just going to do my very best, and I will be happy with it. The small things really do add up.

A Family Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T08:58:00.001-08:00

We decided at the last minute to go to St. George for Thanksgiving. We had to drive on Thanksgiving day because my children's choir had a performance at an Interfaith meeting in the city. Therefore, we woke up super early and hit the road by 5:20am. It actually worked out really well. The kids were fairly docile for most of the trip, so we didn't have to stop very much.

On Friday, Jamie, Leah, Catye, and Mike drove down together from the Salt Lake area to spend the weekend with us. It was a lot of fun. We ate at Frostop, played games, did a little bit of shopping, and then they all went bowling before our big Thanksgiving feast on Saturday at Grandma Wilma's house. I stayed home with the babies for a couple of reasons. First, the babies were taking a nap and second, because I can't stand bowling. I also started cooking dinner while they were bowling. It worked out really well.

But the kids has a ton of fun. Especially Eli...take a look at his delivery...

I think it is called the upside down delivery special. Nordel and Tru also joined them for an afternoon of fun. Eli was able to spend some time with Tru on his own on Friday while Rinar played some golf and he had a lot of fun over there. Tru and Eli are buddies.

It was a lot of fun. All of the kids really enjoyed my siblings and their spouses.

Maybe we will be able to do it again next year!

My Cookie Monster

2011-11-28T17:20:00.001-08:00

I started making cookies a few days ago. Eli became very interested. He pulled up a chair and stood there and watched me every step of the way. Then he started helping me, by turning the mixer on and off.

When the dough was ready to be baked, he eagerly jumped from the chair and went to the utensil drawer. Eli pulled out the ice cream scooper and was ready to prep the dough for the oven. He would scoop in deep to get the right amount of dough, then practically turn upside down trying to get it onto the tray. He could not be deterred. I kept asking him if he wanted help, but he respectfully declined. He did four trays of cookies.

Now, that is one productive cookie monster.

Look At What My Kids Can Do

2011-11-22T22:54:00.001-08:00

Art!

Cooking!

Zach woke up early to surprise everyone with his gourmet, scrambled egg breakfast.

Racing!

Snow sampling!

Posing!

What can I say? Talented, talented kiddos.

After Five Years...Dr. Kim

2011-11-15T16:56:00.001-08:00

You know when you have to do something and you keep putting it off until next week? Before you know it, next week is five years later.

And so it was with me and the dentist...

Finally, I made myself go to the dentist. I really didn't want to, but I did it. I was bracing myself for the worst. The last dentist I went to said I needed two crowns and he seemed kind of disgusted with my teeth. I was surprised at the diagnosis, because I never had any pain there, just ugly metal fillings.

That wa$ probably one of the rea$on$ why I kept putting it off. You know what I mean?

But I was ready today...whatever Dr. Kim said, I was just going to get it scheduled and get it done.

Guess what?

NO CAVITIES! NO CROWNS!

No wonder that dentist in Vegas went out of business.

***

Just as a recommendation, if you are looking for a dentist in Reno, I would highly recommend Dr. Yeong Kim of Best Dental. The office is small and simple and he is very nice. And just because he said my metal fillings are fine, I know he is the dentist for me.

Seriously Perfect Pitch

2011-11-13T21:25:00.001-08:00

I am so utterly amazed at Zach tonight. I cannot believe this kid.

I decided to test his musical ear, and it was absolutely astounding. He stood with his back to the piano. I would play a random note and then he would guess what it was. I could not stump him, except when the note was over two octaves above middle c. It was amazing. Then he told me to play two notes at a time. If it was a pretty common chord, he could easily tell me the notes. If the chord was disonant, he could get at least one of the notes.

Where did this child come from?

Since Rinar's mom is a piano teacher and wonderful musician, I thought we had to play the game with her. We called her and put the phone on speaker. She played her piano and he guessed the notes. He only missed one! Each time she would play a note, I would watch his face. Before he would answer, his face would light up so you just know he is totally going to get it right. And he did.

I don't know what this kid will do with his musical talents, but I am just blown away by what he can do.

This Is Exacto-ly What Happened

2011-11-12T23:30:00.001-08:00

It is a good thing my friend Bonnie is staying here tonight. She came from Vegas for a flute competition and even brought her son Nikolas, so that he could play with his friends, including Raef and Zach. They have always been good buddies.

Anyways, we are hanging out, talking, catching up. You know, the whole bit. They are playing. We have settled down to watch a Hayley Mills movie (Moonspinners), when I hear a horrible, blood-curdling, well-amplified scream from Zach. The sad thing is, I didn't even bother to get up out of my chair. He does have a flair for the dramatics. But then when Raef came running for me in a panic, I knew something was wrong.

Blood everywhere!

I got the boys a book called Mini-Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is an awesome book, but it may have projects that include the use of an Exact-o knife. So now my awesome book, that uses very inexpensive household items, all of a sudden, in one swift movement, became a very expensive book. Zach tried to make a zombie target by himself. It did not go so well. He now knows that when he has to use an Exact-o knife, it would probably be better to do it with a parent.

So, Exacto-ly 3 hours, 5 stitches, and $150 later, I am home.

My Little Ones This Week

2011-11-10T21:54:00.001-08:00

Boy, this week has really flown by. I can't believe it is Thursday already. It has been a good week. I really can't even remember what I have done this week, but I have felt busy and productive. The little ones have been really good for me, and I really think that is probably the reason that the week has gone by so fast.

They have a couple of new things they really enjoy doing. It all revolves around the dinner table. Sometimes it can be difficult to get them to cooperate and eat their dinner. So we have devised a new strategy. I really cannot take any credit for it. I give this all to Raef and Zach. Whenever someone takes a bite, we all clap for them. Eli will take a bite and we make a big fuss. He face beams with pride. Then Julia's vanity kicks in and she has to take a big bite too. "Clap for me! Clap for me!" Harry usually wants in on the action as well, even though sometimes he is not as willing to participate. But overall, a lot more food has made it into their bellies.

They also love to help clear the table. Harry especially loves it and is very diligent at getting it done. However, he really only likes to put the big stuff away. This is the stuff that goes in the fridge, like milk, butter tub, salsa, salad dressing. He knows just what to do. Then he wants to put things on the counter, like heavy glass dishes. You know, things every mom wants to give to a just-barely two year-old boy. Once all of the cool items have been put away, he will then settle on putting utensils, cups, and plates into the sink. But not until then!

And my sweet moment spotlight of the week...I overheard Eli say to Julia, "There you go, my lovely girl," as he was giving her a drink of water and helping her to her booster seat. Oh my heck. So stinkin' cute! Eli is just so precious these days. He has such a sweet disposition and everyone loves him.

Finally, here is the obsession that is trending these days...Julia and pink. If it is pink, it is hers. Period. End of subject. How do they know at such a young age? Now that you know the rules, guess what is her favorite plastic animal? Brothers beware...oink, oink.

My "Gus" the Mouse

2011-11-05T23:50:00.000-07:00

Do you remember this little character? It is Gus. He is the funny mouse on the Disney movie, "Cinderella". In one scene, Cinderella puts a bunch of chicken feed on the ground for her mice friends. All the mice wisely take one or two kernels and get out of there. They have no desire to get eaten by Lucifer the Cat. But not Gus. Nope. He tried to carry as many as he could. He kept stacking them until he was overloaded with kernels and they kept slipping from his grasp and falling to the floor. Over and over again he tried to take 20 instead of just one or two. As a result, he almost got eaten by Lucifer.

Harry had his Gus moment tonight. It was bedtime. I took Julia to her room and called for Harry to come on. After a minute, I heard a heart-wrenching scream from Harry. He was so frustrated, he was laying prostrate on the ground. Then he regrouped and tried again only to scream out in agony once more. What in the world was the problem with him? I went to investigate.

He wanted to take every new animal toy I just bought him to bed. There were about twenty of them in all different sizes and shapes. Harry kept picking them up and dropping them because there were just too many. He is my little hoarder, the worst one I have had out of all of my children. And here, his hoarding problem was painfully exposed.

Rinar and I just stood and watched him try to solve his problem. Rinar recommended that I give him a bucket or something, but why spoil the fun?

(There were more toys than this. He was just pointing at one of the piles.)

And just like Gus, instead of getting one or two toys for his bed, he got none.

Just call me Lucifer, I guess.

Eli Cleans His Room

2011-11-03T23:24:00.000-07:00

When we got home from co-op this afternoon, Eli got really busy doing something. I was in the throes of preparing dinner so I didn't pay much attention. He kept coming over to me to tell me that he was cleaning his room. He seemed very excited. I thought it was great. Way to go Eli! Keep it up! Then a few minutes later he told me that he cleaned his bathroom as well. Wow, this kid is an over-achiever. But I never had a chance to inspect his work.

Then after dinner, Eli exuberantly helped me clear the table AND load the dishwasher. He was really into it. It was great. It was a fun time together.

Then it was time for bed. I was reading to Raef and Zach and Rinar was in charge of Eli. Rinar came over to me and said that I had to come and see Eli's "clean" room.

Ta-da!!!

He took all of the soap bottles from the bathroom and stacked them on top of his little piano. He also propped a book up on the end of the bed, with a VHS tape and three remote controls, stacked like a pyramid.

I had cleaned his room earlier this week. It looked really good.

Eli just made a few improvements.

My Little Ones Are Smart

2011-10-31T22:42:00.000-07:00

I am going to be honest here. My heart just really wasn't into Halloween this year. This is what you get.

Julia's outfit was just a hodgepodge of orange and black stuff I have picked up along the way. She liked it.

Eli's costume was game time decision. I thought he would do the blue and green 5-eyed monster outfit I put him in a few years ago. But he went all crazy with the dogs this year.

Yep, that is a costume that Zach wore two years ago. And he did his own makeup.

Raef really wanted to be a vampire. He did his own makeup as well.

We did have a lot of fun trick-or-treating. We drove down to Rolling Hills, the neighborhood that surrounds the church building. It was the perfect location. The houses are close together. Lots of people did get into Halloween, so there were neat decorations everywhere. It didn't take Julia, Harry, and Eli long to catch onto the whole candy thing. They had a ball. Harry would even walk right into people's houses when he saw the reserve candy. Even though we were a motley crew, they got lots of comments from people saying how cute they were.

It was a lot of fun. We made the rounds for about an hour and then headed home with our haul. Thank you Harry, Julia, and Eli for collecting my candy.

Then when we got home I was shocked to hear the doorbell ring. Have you seen our driveway??? Sure enough, one family of trick-or-treaters. Luckily I had some candy leftover from a homeschool party we did on Friday. If not, I would have had to sacrifice our candy. After all, they did walk all the way up the driveway, you know.

Formula For Dry Eyes

2011-10-29T23:57:00.000-07:00

This week has gone by fairly quickly. I have been busy doing stuff and therefore haven't had much time to think of a witty blog post. But I am going to write something right now.

After much struggling over the past few weeks, I really needed a boost. I definitely got it from my neighbor and homeschooling friend Jennifer. We were able to go out last week and I talked to her about my struggles with homeschooling. She has been doing it a lot longer than me and her kids are a bit older. She gave me some good advice. It has helped me to rethink everything in my educational journey. So I have realigned my strategy and it has definitely paid off this last week.

I have been focusing all of my attention on Raef and Zach. Therefore, the little ones have had a really hard time. And so then we have all suffered. I decided to take a hands-off approach to their education. I put all of the work that I wanted them to complete in a box. They did it all on their own. I only helped them with a couple of things. They actually did a lot of work. I was able to put all of my attention on Eli, Harry, and Julia. I focused on organizing and cleaning my house, playing with the little ones, and showering them with lots of attention. I stayed out of the schoolroom for the most part, because wherever I go, the babes follow.

The results were stark. There was very little crying this week. Julia and Harry took a nap almost every single day. The house stayed mostly clean. Eli played lots of games and did many activities with me. I cooked dinner every night. Things went well. I don't even think I cried one time.

I learned that Raef and Zach can do a lot on their own. The less I do, the better it is for everyone.

Are You an Ornithologist?

2011-10-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

The house we live in has a whole lot of windows. It is nice because you don't have to do much decorating. Heavenly Father has taken care of it for us. However, it is not nice for the birds. We have had many casualties from birds that don't notice the windows and fly right into them.

This one was the latest victim. He took a rest right outside the schoolroom door. It was so perfect because my kids were actually working on a bird book project. And here was a bird they could actually touch and observe. They were very gentle with the bird.

I was especially excited. I got out our Peterson's field guide and tried to figure out what kind of bird it was. Apparently, I am no ornithologist. Anyone know what kind of bird this is?

I have no clue.

My "Helpless" Princess

2011-10-19T23:51:00.000-07:00

On Monday, I took all of the little ones to Raef's baseball game. Rinar was out of town, so we made the best of it. At the back of the field there is a little hill that rolls down to the fence. Harry, Eli, and Julia had a lot of fun rolling down the grassy hill. Then I started to notice something that intrigued me and bothered me all at the same time.

Julia played the helpless victim and had to be "rescued" by her brothers...over and over and over again. "Help! Help!" She would lie there like a little princess as her brothers would come storming towards her. I was baffled. Where in the world did she learn to do that? I thought of media she has absorbed that would have taught her to role play in that manner. But really, nothing came to mind.

I remember watching another little girl at some park doing the exact same thing when she was playing with my little boys. I was a bit judgemental, thinking of what kind of crap was she watching or being to taught to act so helplessly. Little did I know.

This brings me to Tuesday. We were at the church waiting for Cub Scouts to end and they were playing in the gym. Once again, Julia would purposely put herself in a position where she had to be "rescued". What is going on with my little girl? Where is this coming from?

Or could it be one of those innate girl things? They just know to do it, just like they want to wear pink and put on lipstick? (She does those things too.)

I then had a startling realization. I do the same thing! When I have a hard day with the kids, who do I call to rescue me? Yep. Rinar. When I can't find something or don't want to deal with some task, who rescues me? You got it. Rinar!

Hmmm...now who could have taught her to be a helpless princess?

Here Is Something Else I Really Need

2011-10-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

A lot of funny stuff goes around the Facebook circuit. But this little saying really struck a nerve...

"Therapy is expensive. Poppin' bubble wrap is cheap. You choose."

My non-Mormon homeschooling friend Jennifer always gives me a hard time because I have so much wheat and general food storage items in my home. She thinks that us Mormons are crazy-paranoid. I think she may have a point. We actually have an entire Sunday lesson about ~~crazy-paranoid~~ food storage/emergency preparedness. Anyways, I am realizing that my food storage is missing one very important component.

I am going to order a year's supply of bubble wrap. You just never know when it will come in handy. Hey, maybe I will be able to find it at Goodwill!

Never Again, William Faulkner

2011-10-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

I have now had my Kindle for over 6 months now. It has been a blessing with all of the interminably long road trips I have had to endure over the same period of time. The kids watch DVD's and I listen to audio books. I have really listened to some good ones. I have been the ultimate multi-tasker.

However, my selections have not always been top-notch. For example, I have really been pushing my comfort level, trying to tackle the classics of our time. I listened to I, Claudius by Robert Graves and I loved it. But this has not always been the case.

Today, after plodding through one particular author, I have had to throw in the towel. It was just a horrific book. I couldn't take it anymore. The worst part is that I invested 9.5 hours into it and only had 3 more to go. But I think I would rather eat a plate full of lima beans while watching a bowling tournament, than listen to another minute of that book.

The book was Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner. It was the same small plot repeated over and over and over again with a whole lot of pronouns, so I was never sure who was talking or who they were talking about. It was written in 1938, and so I guess that makes it a classic. Here is another interesting fact from Wikipedia: The 1983 Guinness Book of World Records claims the "Longest Sentence in Literature" is a sentence from Absalom, Absalom! containing 1,300 words. Yep, I think that sentence was the first 9 hours of my audio book, actually.

So here is my question...because a book is written by a well-respected, classic author, does that mean I am required to love and revere the book? I didn't care for The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I mean, it was just okay. I totally don't get Ernest Hemingway and Anna Karenina was the longest. Book. Ever.

I keep a Goodreads list of all the books I have read. I love that website. I won't credit myself with reading a book unless I finished it. However, since I invested so much time in this book and because I read the cliff notes to see how it ended, I am putting it down and checking it off. I mean, since I had to endure the 'n' word 300 hundred times, I think it is only fair.

Good For Me, But Bad For Them

2011-10-15T00:28:00.000-07:00

It was quite a day today. After our playgroup, we headed downtown for Raef and Zach's violin/viola lessons. They have been taking lessons from Dustin Budish since we moved here and they seem to be doing well. There have been many rocky lessons where I can tell that Dustin is completely frazzled and wishes he could cuddle up to a cabernet, but he still keeps letting us come back.

Today, they fortunately had good lessons. I am so grateful. Dustin tells me they are very talented and could really go far in music if they wanted to. That is nice to hear. I mean, of course I think they are fabulous musicians, but it could just be the rose-colored Mommy glasses, you know? So, we will just keep plugging away at practicing and even if it is only a few minutes everyday, hopefully they will continue to enjoy playing their instruments.

Then we got home from lessons and the boys asked to play the Wii. I let them, and after an hour or so, I hear this horrific, shrill, screaming episode coming out of Zach's mouth. Ugh. I tell them to turn it off. Not to get into all the gory details, but the outcome should paint a pretty clear picture. They both lost their allowances, the Wii is in a box at the top of my closet, and my kitchen is very clean.

Lucky for me, I had already arranged a night out with my homeschool friends, Jennifer, LeeAnn, and Julianna. We went to BJ's and ate and talked and talked and talked. It was really nice and I enjoyed that time to myself. Plus, it is great to be around women who have been there before and can give you insight into your struggles. They helped me to rethink some things I have been doing that have not been working so well for me or my kids. I am grateful that I could just laugh and have fun and recharge my batteries.

I am really going to need it, because tomorrow I have to take all of my kiddos to Raef and Zach's soccer game. I will take deep cleansing breaths and bring a lot of lollipops.

My Baller

2011-10-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

Raef and Zach each got to choose the sport they wanted to play this season. Raef chose baseball. During the first few weeks, he was the most enthusiastic cheerer out there. But that has kind of waned. Finally, a little while ago Raef made a confession on the way home from his game. He doesn't like baseball. He thinks it is boring.

I am really shocked. I mean, he gets to stand in the outfield as pitch after pitch goes past the hitter, with an occasional connection that never comes his way. Why would he think it is boring?

I was talking to one of the moms yesterday and she told me he is her favorite player. Apparently, at one of the games he had his glove on his head and the ball actually did come his way. He caught it with his bare hand.

I think we are going to try basketball next.

A New Fun Game

2011-10-12T22:17:00.000-07:00

On our epic drive back from Tucson, we had to get creative with recreational activities for the kids when we would stop to take a break. From Tucson to Las Vegas, there are only a couple of places to stop. And it is even more barren from Vegas to Reno. There are literally three towns on the way, with facilities. And the road is almost endless.

In Wikieup, Arizona, Rinar started a new game with the kids. They went to the side of the road in front of the gas station and would wave at the trucks to get them to honk. They had a lot of fun. We must have been quite a sight out there in the middle of nowhere. Five little blonde children waving and cheering at the cars.

This picture was taken in Hawthorne, Nevada, which is about two hours south of Reno. The kids had a blast. The first car that drove by was the sheriff. Sure enough...five very enthusiastic kids waving at him vigorously. He was a good sport and turned his siren on briefly. It was like Christmas when a semi would honk at them.

After a few days of decompressing, I decided we really needed to get out of the house. The weather has been so beautiful. So of course, I took the kids on a little drive. We went down to Genoa, Nevada. It is such a cute, little town. They have one tourist attraction there...the Mormon Station. It was a fort and supply station for emigrants on the California Trail. There is a museum and it costs $1, and I didn't even have $1. So we just played out on the grass. That is fine, because museums are not really compatible with my family at the moment.

Look, these two love each other! And speaking of Harry, he was the most clingy thing today. He must have given over a hundred kisses and at least as many hugs. There was a huge smile plastered on his face. And when he wasn't smiling, he was crying buckets. There was no in between.

I turned my back for a second and when I looked around, this is what I found my kids doing. The street was not busy at all, so it was pretty safe. But, that car waving game sure has resonated with all of my kids. They knew just what to do and got most of the cars to honk at them. I think I might have a traveling act. I could put them on a busy city intersection and in about 1 year, I could retire. Hmmm...the possibilities are endless.

Eli was so proud of himself. He climbed up there all on his own.

It was a fun and simple day.

Mike and Catye's Wedding

2011-10-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

Friday, October 7 was the big day for Mike and Catye. I prayed really hard that everything would go smoothly, and the Lord truly blessed us. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, but didn't. The marriage was at the Mesa Temple. It is one of the oldest temples the church has built. The inside was beautiful and the ceremony was so wonderful. It was sacred, simple, peaceful, and full of joy. I am so glad that I could be a part of it.

It took about one hour and Catye and Mike emerged as a new married couple around 12pm. Look at those two. So stinkin' happy.

This is the official wedding party. Don't they look beautiful? I made the bouquet on the drive up from Tucson. It took me less than five minutes. But I thought it turned out great. It was so perfect for the pictures.

Catye wore turquoise loafers. I bet she bought those at Walmart or somewhere chic like that.

Catye found her dress on Craigslist in Provo. It cost a whopping $90! It fit her perfectly.

These are the parents, my Mom and Dad on the left and Mike's parents David and Dawn.

After pictures, Rinar and I had to get to Tucson quickly. I calculated that if I got to Tucson without any delays I would have just enough time to go to Costco and buy all of the food for the reception. And boy, was I right. We got on the road at about 1:30 after getting some drive thru at Arby's. I dropped everyone off at the hotel by 3:30, was shopping at Costco by 3:50, checked out by 4:30 and then made it to the church at exactly 5:00, the scheduled time.

The menu included Chick-fil-a chicken strips (Rinar picked them up later), bacon, scrambled eggs, fruit salad, and a waffle bar with various homemade syrups made by my talented and intrepid sister Christi. Everyone loved the syrups. They were a highlight of the reception.

Things got a little bit crazy leading up to our 6:30 go time. We had set up the church the night before with a whole bunch of wonderful volunteers from my parents' ward. I cannot begin to show the gratitude I have for all of them and the help they were to pull this all off. Amazing people. No matter where I go, I always have sisters in Zion and we speak heart to heart. Anyway, everyone helped out and we were mostly ready. It was a lot of fun. There were not a ton of people, but the ones who came stayed for the duration of the reception. I must have done a good job if they felt comfortable enough to stay for 2 hours.

Heather helped me with my kids and took some pictures. Love this girl!

I made a bunch of aprons and ended up wearing one myself because I didn't have a chance to change back into my church clothes.

They had a first dance with each other and with their parents. It was really sweet.

One of Catye's bridesmaid's, Amber, took charge of decorating the car. It was sticky noted to death. My brother contributed to the graffiti. Apparently on the driver's side it said, "Don't be a fool, wrap your tool." Really, Jamie? Sheesh.

We cleaned up super fast and were on the road to the hotel by 10pm. Christi's kids looked zonked, huh? This was their silly picture, with Chance, Mya, and Lije. She has such good kids...4 gems. It was a lot of fun to hang out with them for the week and to make fun memories together.

But I am glad that it is over and I am back in Reno.

Harry and Julia Turned 2

2011-10-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

I drove with the kids down to Arizona for the week. My youngest sister Catye was getting married. It was a very long drive. I broke it up into two days, where we stayed one night in Las Vegas. I stayed with my older sister Christi at her house and the kids were able to play with their cousins. They had a lot of fun. While they played, Christi and I worked on getting things together for Catye's wedding reception.

On Wednesday, I went up to visit my younger sister Heather at her house in Scottsdale. She was housing Catye and my brother Jamie and Mike, in preparation for the wedding. So we went up to visit. Christi couldn't come, but we still had to do some kind of celebration for Harry and Julia. They turned 2! I can't believe it.

Heather bought them a little birthday cake and we sang to them and enjoyed the treat togehter. It was a lot of fun and it was such a joy to be able to see all of my siblings, and new brother, Mike.

Zach Cooks

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

Zach is taking a cooking class at our homeschool co-op. He absolutely loves it. A few weeks ago they made dips and salads. They give him the recipes for his own little recipe folder. He carries the folder around everywhere and studies it.

Therefore, a few weeks ago he wanted to go shopping with me so that he could buy ingredients to make us all "walk-amole". I think he meant guacamole. Sure enough, he did this all by himself.

He followed it up with a pear salad the next night for Sunday dinner. I love his exuberance and dogged determination. Such a wonderful little boy.

You Are Not Sleepy...As You Seem

2011-09-28T22:54:00.000-07:00

Eli has a new declaration every night. "I never go to sleep!" I kept trying to tell him that he has to go to sleep. Everyone goes to sleep. But no. The little guy seems to do very well in an argument. He has the repetition strategy. No matter what facts or reason are thrown at him, he just keeps making the same declaration at least 100 times.

"I never go to sleep."

Finally, I just picked him up to take him to his room. It was after 9pm, after all. As we were heading down the hall, I firmly commanded him that he was not allowed to go to sleep.

"Eli, do not go to sleep."

He seemed to like my edict. He heartily agreed. I laid him on his bed. He placidly complied. The covers went on and I tucked him in. I kept reminding him that he was not allowed to go to sleep.

He then asked me if it was okay to lay down. I told him he could, but no sleeping!

Then I had to sing "Stay Awake", from Mary Poppins. Do you remember that song?

Stay awake, don't rest your head.
Don't lie down upon your bed.
You're not sleepy, as you seem.
Stay awake, don't nod and dream...

He was just a naughty little noodle. Not five minutes later, he was asleep.

Galena Children's Choir

2011-09-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I decided to start a children's choir at church. Our ward is really lacking in the musical talent department. I figured if I started working from the ground up, it may inspire the older folks to actually open their hymn books on Sunday.

We have been practicing for the last few months with the song, "An Angel Came To Joseph Smith". It is in the Children's Songbook, but I found a two part choral arrangement that had a little bit of difficulty. It was wonderful. The kids did their best performance in sacrament meeting. I think there were about 25 kids. I was so proud of them.

Music is a powerful tool that can really draw us close to the Spirit. I can think of many times as a youth, the times that I remember poignantly, and it always revolved around a song. It could have been one that I sang in Primary, or in the Primary Program. I also sang in my ward choir when I was pretty young, and it was one of those things that helped me to solidify my testimony.

You never forget the songs.

For one of the practices, I talked to the kids about this very idea. It can be hard being a kid, and especially when you want to stay faithful to the church and the things you know are true. I told them that this song can help to strengthen them. They can remember Joseph Smith and the hard things that he did, and that he always stayed faithful, even under incredible scrutiny and mockery. Just like Joseph Smith, they can follow his example and stay faithful.

A song has a way of doing that to us. It penetrates to our core and can be seared on our hearts. I hope that as I continue on with my little choir, they will gain greater musical knowledge and skills. But more importantly, they will come to know who they are and feel the love of God in the music they get to perform.

Forget-Me-Not

2011-09-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the Relief Society's annual broadcast. It always comes the week before fall General Conference. What a blessing it was for me to go tonight. The first three talks by the Relief Society Presidency were really good: Do it as if He were here, have more charity, make and keep sacred covenants. I appreciated their messages.

But then Pres. Uchtdorf spoke, and he must have written his talk specifically for me. He talked about the Forget-Me-Not flower and used it as a metaphor for life.

The first 'forget not' was to be patient with myself. {{sigh}} What I am doing is just good enough and I am still loved no matter what.

Make good sacrifices, be happy now, remember the 'why' of the gospel, and don't forget that the Lord loves me.

Sisters, wherever you are, whatever the circumstances may be, you are not forgotten. No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you, with an infinite love.
—President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Thank you President Uchtdorf. I don't feel 100% yet, but I feel a lot better.

Eagle Co-op

2011-09-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

We went to Eagle Co-op today. The kids have a lot of fun going to classes...different classes. Raef takes U.S. Geography, Self Defense, and Lego Builders. Zach is in Self Defense, Cooking Around the World, and Watercolor. They specifically told me they wanted to be in different classes. It seems to be working out well for both of them.

While they are in their classes, Eli is in a little preschool. They actually do preschool stuff. Today he learned about the letter 'B'. Last week it was 'A'. He takes his activities very seriously and works hard coloring and stuff.

I team teach a biology class. Today I did a lecture on taxonomy. I even did a pathetic rap to help them remember the classification levels (kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus species). I don't think I have much of a future in rap.

Zach was very proud of his watercolor. I took them to soccer practice tonight and he made sure to take his watercolor to show everyone. I had no idea he took it out of the car. When we got home, he asked if he could put it on his blog. Can you give the kid some love and leave a comment? I know he will be asking to see if anyone did.

But here is his masterpiece...

I didn't tell him what to type on his blog. This is what he wrote...

I made this picture all by myself.My favorite part is the clouds. It just looks so real. Don't you think?

The Mirror

2011-09-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

Motherhood shoved a big mirror in my face and has made me take a hard look at myself. Sometimes, I really do not like what I see. It exposes all of my weaknesses. I can't hide from them and it can be overwhelming trying to overcome them. The ruts can cut pretty deep. I have been having a hard time trying to put two solid thoughts together...so much screaming, whining, crying, incessant chatter. My brain is on overload.

Then I realize how uninteresting my own personal life is. I am not one who is going to measure my success based on the accomplishments of my children. Therefore, I can only look at what I have done. I am not impressed.

Victorious

2011-09-17T16:38:00.000-07:00

The boys had their second soccer game this season. And guess what? They won!!! We did a little bit of recruiting and our friend Trevor decided to join the team. His dad works with Rinar and they are in our ward. Trevor is really a baseball player. He has never actually played soccer. I am not sure why not. The kid is a natural. I was so impressed. He got right in there. Trevor has a killer instinct and it didn't take long for him to get the rhythm of the game and then score our first goal. It was sweet.

It was a come-from-behind win. The final score: 3-2. Raef scored the go-ahead goal. He seemed a lot more evenly paced for the game, not so frantic. The team was starting to realize that you can't follow the ball around everywhere. They seemed to reserve their energy much better.

Raef got a breakaway ball and took it all the way down the field, past about 3 defenders and put it in the goal. After that, his step was a little lighter. I must say that it is definitely much more fun when you win, or even when you score goals and are competitive with the other team.

Zach is still trying to figure out where he is when he is out there. But he is tough and has no fear at going head-to-head with anyone. He even had a really good shot on goal at the very end. I think that made him happy.

Do you know what made me happy? Eli, Harry, and Julia stayed with the babysitter.

Birdhouses

2011-09-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

Cub Scouts..the push is on. I came to the stark realization that the boys are getting close to turning 10. And there is a whole book of Cub Scout stuff that has to be completed before their birthdays. I got the book out this last week and we have been working on stuff. One thing in the book was to make a birdhouse. This had "Dad" written all over it.

Rinar did a great job. Here is the finished product.

They were finishing up their projects at night out in the garage. Of course, Eli wanted to be in the middle of it. It got pretty late before they finished. Eli's latest thing is to tell us that he is not tired. "I never go to sleep!"

It worked out pretty well for him....well, almost.

Nuclear Tricycles

2011-09-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

Harry has a tricycle. He likes to terrorize his siblings with it. He is relentless. And he does it with a big smile on his face. He cannot be stopped when his mind is set on something. The other day, he kept harassing Eli. It did not matter where the kid went. Harry was right there ramming his tricycle into Eli's legs, making a good sport of it. Needless to say, Eli was more than a little bit annoyed. I really cannot blame the kid. I would be annoyed too.

Instead of taking the tricycle away from Harry, I came up with a more effective solution. I put Eli on a tricycle as well. They were on equal footing. They raced around everywhere and had a blast. No more crying, no more pesky brother.

This got me to thinking about nuclear weapons, naturally. Well, nuclear weapons, guns, bombs, whatever. How do you get adults to "play" nicely? Make sure everyone is on equal footing. Or just make sure you have more footing than everyone else.

Pray When You Lose Something

2011-09-13T15:20:00.000-07:00

Harry had a rough night yesterday. He just didn't want to go to bed. I had to keep putting him back in his room. Finally, I heard no more crying and assumed all was right with the world. Rinar had left on a business trip, so it was just me. Before I went to bed, I went to tuck everyone in. When I got to the babies room, Harry was not in his bed.

Okay, no worries... he was probably just on the floor. Nope, not there either. I could feel a tiny bit of panic creeping up my insides. I went to my room and looked around. Still nothing. I knelt down and said a prayer and then I continued my search. I looked in every room in the house, every corner, nook, crevice I could think of, but I still could not find him.

I was about to call Rinar because I was really starting to get worried. The unimaginable started creeping into my thoughts. What if he somehow got outside? I mean, we live in the wilderness. I am not exaggerating when I say that there are bears and coyotes out there. What if?

Just breathe, just breathe.

I went back into his room. I stood still and started to listen. I heard Julia breathing, but then I heard another cadence of breaths. He was in the room. Where?

Wedged between the bunk bed and the wall, I found Harry sound asleep. I extricated him from his little hiding place, held him for a few minutes and then put him to bed.

I came to realize something even more profoundly after my little hunting expedition. I am not doing this alone. My Father in Heaven is right there with me every step of the way helping me take care of my kids. I know that He protects them and guides them. I know that He loves them even more than I do. For all those years when Rinar worked in Albuquerque and would be gone for days, I was never alone. Sometimes I would be scared and overwhelmed, but nothing bad ever happened. I pray for their safety every day and by His grace, He gives it so freely.

I am very grateful.

I Keep It In the Trunk

2011-09-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

This works even better than a mute button.

Great Basin Soccer

2011-09-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the first soccer game of the season. Zach chose soccer this year. He has been on a team for a few weeks today and the league has not given our team enough players. We are supposed to have 8 to field a team, and they only gave us six. Therefore, we put Raef in a uniform to play with the team. He wanted to play baseball instead. The other team had 11 kids! We only had 7. Needless to say, the kids got tired quickly. It doesn't help that they still run everywhere the ball is like a big clump.

The good news is that they started to spread out as they got more weary.

Our fearless coach Andy. He is a parent who so kindly volunteered to coach the team.

We pretty much got annihilated, 5-0. The important thing is that Zach had fun. I have decided that we may be the worst team, but we are going to have the best snacks. At least there is something I can do.

The Cogs of Homeschooling

2011-09-09T00:10:00.000-07:00

It has been a pretty good week so far. We have been able to do quite a bit of schoolwork. The older the kids get, the more things we can study. The possibilities are endless. I am looking forward to our educational adventure this year.

This afternoon we headed over to Chuck E. Cheese's because it was homeschool day there. Well, sort of. The kids will be participating in a co-op starting next week. It is called Eagle and it has been around for quite some time. They really have their acts together. I paid the bill for the classes the kids will be taking. Raef is doing US Geography, Self-Defense, and Lego Builders. Zach will be in Self-Defense, Cooking Around the World, and Watercolor. They really did not want to take the same classes at all. So, there you go. And on a similar note, I am teaching a biology class sans my kids. It will be nice, I must say.

I was able to meet many homeschooling families and it was really good. I was grateful for the opportunity to get in there. My kids seemed to make new friends quickly. This is going to be a positive thing for all of us.

And on a related strain, yesterday we were reading the Book of Mormon like we always do to start our day. I like to talk about definitions so the kids will increase their vocabulary and gain a greater understanding of the things we are reading. We came to the word 'repugnant'. I asked them what it means. At first they didn't know, but then a light bulb went off for Zach. Since we have been studying Latin for the past year, he said that he saw fight in the word. Of course, pugno means "I fight" in Latin. It was just really cool to see the cogs turning.

At The Big House

2011-09-04T15:45:00.000-07:00

Eli calls our rental "The Big House". It is pretty big. This is a quick look at the outside of the big house. The house is set atop a fairly large hill, so it is hard to get a good picture of it. Rinar got a ladder out to get some shots.

This is a view of the backyard. Okay, it is not really a "view". But she sure is cute blowing milk bubbles, right?

When you stand at the top of the driveway, this is our incredible view. Our driveway has two switchbacks.

The backyard is the best. Look at all of the trees and grass and nature. Let's marvel together.

This is from the master bedroom side of the house looking the other way.

This concludes our quick look at the big house. Julia says goodbye.

If you want a closer look, I guess you will just have to come and visit, Ken.

San Francisco? Why Not!

2011-09-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

When I was at the park Friday, I just thought that we should go to San Francisco. I texted Rinar with my proposition. He texted me back and asked why. I replied, "Why not?"

So we went. We stayed in a hotel in Vacaville and the oldest 3 went swimming for a while as I put the little ones to bed. Eli especially had a blast. He just loved swimming with his Daddy.

Then we were off to San Fran in the morning. Shockingly, it was quite foggy, so we didn't get the good views of the bridge, but we sure did try. There were a lot of Asians at the lookout point. I guess we were quite a spectacle for them because of the blonde hair, especially Julia and Harry in the red wagon. They were taking pictures of them and were touching their hair and stuff. We really drew a crowd when we took this picture.

The Golden Gate Bridge really is behind us, I promise.

Then we went to get a bite at Mel's Diner. It was pretty good. Rinar got a Monte Cristo, although it was not quite as good as The Gable House monte cristo.

We headed over to Fisherman's Wharf and stayed for about 45 minutes. It was just way too crowded for our little brood. It is not much fun when you are stressing out about losing little children in a large crowd, on top of the fact that you can't go very fast and you really can't go in any of the cute shops. But it was a beautiful day and the weather was quite nice.

I think we stopped at least 5 times for Eli to go to the bathroom on the way home. This was at the McDonald's in Carson City. He had an epic poopy, so the kids all waited in the car. Julia had just finished up lollipop #3.

I Pick a Favorite Today

2011-08-31T21:36:00.000-07:00

Is it illegal for me, as a mom, to say that today this was by far and away my favorite kid?

Sure, he had his moments. But they were fleeting. My ears are still ringing from the din of my four other little "dears". Today was hard.

Thank goodness for my sweet little Eli.

My Little Model

2011-08-30T21:47:00.000-07:00

I just found this photo. My friend Shelly took these of Julia a while back. She need a model for some stuff her sister had knitted. This may be her only modeling job, but I think she did great.

To a Real Bed

2011-08-30T21:30:00.000-07:00

Well, the time has come. I knew it would be soon enough, and here it is. I put Harry and Julia in beds tonight. They were really tired and did not get a nap today because we spent all day at Lake Tahoe. Therefore, I did not get much militant bedtime resistance. I haven't heard anything so far, so I am assuming sleep has won out tonight.

I decided to take the leap for one simple reason, they both can and do climb out of their cribs. Julia started doing it last week and for the past few days, especially Sunday morning at 6:50am, she has come into our room to wake us up....{{grrrrr}} I think that Harry has worked up the courage to do it from watching his sister repeatedly escape from her crib. As of today, he has solidly gained this ascending/descending skill.

Frankly, I am glad we are entering this phase of life. I am tired of those stinkin', rotten cribs. Right now there are cribs and the bunk beds in their room. Those are getting 86'd tomorrow. I will be able to put the train table in there and arrange things nicely.

I had ordered some door locks from Amazon.com, but they didn't fit. But I do have a plan. The door has a lock that will be difficult for them to undo (I hope), so I will just lock them in when it comes to that.

The next week is probably going to be a little nutty until we get them trained, but since I don't have much going on, I am ready for the challenge.

Simply the Best Time of Year

2011-08-28T23:58:00.000-07:00

I adore autumn. It is the best time of year, and now it is knocking on the door. Summer is fiercely holding on, with its last gasp of heat...but it just can't stay much longer.

Soon, the air will get crisp. The leaves will explode in an array of beautifully magnificent colors. There will be a crunch at my feet and something special in the air. It is the time of bouquets of sharpened pencils, brand new sneakers, fall sports, and college football.

I love the coziness of the hearth when it starts to get colder. I feel like baking and sewing. I turn on the baseball games to watch the playoffs and all of the wackiness that happens. Sometimes, we even go to a game and it is a blast. I remember when we first moved into our house in Las Vegas and I was busy baking something while I watched the Red Sox make their miraculous comeback against the Yankees in the 9th inning and then winning the entire series. Good times.

But this doesn't even compare to college football. Since Rinar and I are both graduates of the University of Utah, we just love watching their games. We are not fanatics or anything, but we still enjoy going to a few and watching what we can on television. It is just one of those awesome American experiences, that you can only really truly experience in autumn.

So tomorrow school officially starts for the public school world. Even though I won't be putting my kids on a bus or have them wearing a new backpack, I am still excited for this new time of year.

Welcome autumn. Have a seat. Rock a while.

The New Mrs. Stops By

2011-08-24T22:08:00.000-07:00

Remember how my brother got married back in March? Well, they ended up staying in Oregon through the summer. They have now emerged from marriage hibernation and headed back to Utah to get on with life this past weekend. Yep, the irony...they have no kids, but no time. I have no time because I have kids. You know what I am saying here?

Anyways, I digress.

Reno is actually on the way to Utah from Oregon. So they stopped by for the weekend. They put on their Uncle and Aunt hats and really did a bang up job being cool Uncle Jamie and charming Aunt Leah. The kids had a lot of fun with them.

I actually got a babysitter for Friday night and we went out to a nice dinner together at the Lodge and then followed it up with a mean game of miniature golf. On the first hole, Leah got a hole-in-one. I am sorry to say that it kind of fell apart after that, but she did have moments of brilliance. I suck at miniature golf, but I did my best. Of course, Rinar won {yawn!}.

On Saturday, after some fun girl shopping in the morning, we took everyone to King's Beach on Lake Tahoe.

The kids really had a fun time. It was a bit crowded, but not horribly so. Leah took this picture of Julia chill-axing on a raft. We stayed for a few hours and then headed home. It was quite a lot of fun.

Stop by again sometime, you two lovebirds.

I Love To See the Temple

2011-08-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

The kids have violin lessons downtown and I had an hour and half to kill. So I thought, hey, my little ones look so cute and are all dressed-up, why not go take pictures at the temple?

Plus, they were really happy...