Crazy Crawford Adventures

Things I want to remember*:

2011-08-19T15:07:00.007-06:00

Dallin's favorite snack - for now.

Everyday he requests a "Dr. Pepper"for a mid-morning snack.

If it's served on a Tigger plate, even better.

*I want to record this now so that when he turns his nose up at a host of foods in a few years, I can show him he used to eat food that was good for him - and like it.

First Day of School

2011-08-10T09:08:00.006-06:00

Summer has ended all too soon and everyone is off to school.

Kaiti is now in High School, 9th grade

Caious started 7th grade

Andew is in his last year of elementary in 5th grade.

Ellie is in 3rd grade

Brianna is now a Kindergartener in the half-day class.

And Dallin needs to be closely monitored.

[Note: the bandages are a decoration. He got into the box when no one was looking]

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T10:21:00.006-07:00

May the joy of the season be with you all year long . . .

A Toddler's Photo Essay

2009-09-09T10:16:00.005-06:00

Technically, Brianna is still a toddler because she is 3 years old. However anyone who has ever met her knows she has never been a baby. I think of her as 3 going on 30.
She loves to take photos. One day she found my camera and took a bunch of pictures of our house. Instead of deleting them, I thought I'd publish what the world looks like to someone who is 3 1/2 feet tall.

The entry way. (Artwork by Caious and Andrew)

Living room bookcase. (Made by Bill)

Her treasured hand-me-down backpack from our neighbors. For some reason, she put it in the master bedroom.

Roomba sweeping the hallway.

Wow. Roomba looks much bigger than usual.

Her little brother is a favorite subject. (This was actually taken in late October. That's why he looks so much more alert.)

And so it Begins . . .

2009-08-07T17:05:00.001-06:00

For some reason, the powers that be have decided to bring us back to reality in the heat of summer. They decreed that school will begin August - yes AUGUST - 7th.

Kaiti is now in 7th grade.

Caious is in 5th grade.

Andrew is in 3rd grade.

Ellie is now in 1st grade.

Even though it is hot, the children are all anxious to start a new school year. They are excited to see their friends again, and they look forward to getting out of the house and away from chores for a few hours a day.

The Ellie-bration

2009-07-06T17:46:00.008-06:00

Ellie's birthday was the day after Dallin's blessing. Grandma and Grandpa were anxious to get back to Utah and left with Kaiti at 3 a.m. (Buddy obviously does not like to be away from home for long. That is a subject for another post.)

We wanted everyone to be part of her birthday celebration, so we had birthday cake with everyone who came to the blessing.

She wanted a white cake with red and blue fireworks on top of a white background.

Our honored guests could select Dryer's "red, white and no more blues," Safeway Select rocky road ice cream or - much to Bill''s chagrin - FDD (frozen dairy desert) to go with the vanilla cake and vanilla frosting.

. . . and There's More!

On her actual birthday, we had a small family dinner. Ellie chose tater tot casserole, green beans and jello for dinner. Can she have a birthday without a cake? Of course not.

This time she asked for yellow cake with vanilla frosting (and the same fireworks decorating scheme).

. . . But Wait! There's More!

Her party didn't take place until a few days after her birthday.

She invited the five friends who were in town for a slip 'n slide extravaganza.

. . . and a lunch of hot dogs, watermelon, grapes and carrots.

As we already know, birthdays must include cake. This time, she decorated chocolate cup cakes with M&Ms and marshmallows.

After all of the celebrations, I needed a rest . . .

Happy Birthday Elbow!

A Blessed Occasion

2009-07-05T22:52:00.006-06:00

Grandma Kathleen and Grandpa Buddy drove from Utah (with the boys) to attend Dallin's baby blessing. They even supplied the adorable blessing outfit.

Dallin was very good during the blessing. He was wide awake, but didn't make a sound. The rest of the children were also very quiet and I was able to hear what Bill said.

We were very blessed to have friends and family members celebrate this occasion with us.

The Parry family came with baby Jill who is only 5 weeks older than Dallin.

The proud fathers with the napping newborns.

A Spectacular 4th of July

2009-07-04T22:26:00.002-06:00

Independence Day in Tucson can be an interesting experience.
Some years it is unbearably hot.
Some years it rains.
This year, we had both the heat and the rain - in the same day.
The unusual weather produced this:

This was taken in our cul-de-sac while we were on our way to the ward party. This ward has an awesome party at our Relief Society President's home. They have a fantastic back yard that includes a pool, a guest house, a basketball court, a trampoline and enough grass for 150 people to dine in comfort.

Kaiti and Ellie participated in the entertainment. Ellie sang "You're a Grand Old Flag" with gusto. Kaiti sang "Proud To Be an American" with the rest of the young women (we missed the photo opportunity because the baby needed a diaper change). They sounded fantastic.

Independence day would not be complete without our traditional 'fireworks' cookies. (spritz colored red white and blue). Bill loves spritz cookies. So I make these every year for him. Unfortunately for him, it takes about 360 days for me to forget how much I hate making these cookies. So I only makes these once a year.

We rounded out our celebration at a barbecue with friends and family and watching the local fireworks . . . from a comfortable distance.

Numerologists Take Note

2009-06-23T11:41:00.000-06:00

As you may (or may not) have noticed, my two youngest children both have birthdays in June. Even though Dallin was due much earlier, he was born just three days before Brianna's 3rd birthday.
The most remarkable thing is the numerical expression of the dates.
Brianna: 6-19-06
Dallin: 6-16-09
I'm sure it means something . . . I just hope it's something good.

Happy, Happy Birthday Brianna Dear . . .

2009-06-19T11:05:00.007-06:00

Brianna is now 3 years old.

For her birthday dinner she chose grilled salmon, rice and broccoli because: "Oh. I love broccoli."

Grandma Kathleen baked and decorated a Winne the Pooh cake for her.
A word to the wise: if you are making a Winne the Pooh cake, it's worth the effort to get the Wilton brand official Winne the Pooh food coloring. We had a slight food-coloring mishap and the "Pooh" cake turned into what the boys called a "poop" cake. It was still very tasty.

Our good friends, the Mitchell's came over to celebrate with us.

and showered her with gifts. Like Hannah Montanna lip gloss and candy.

Her brothers gave her a pink ball and her parents gave her a brand new bike (not pictured). She was delighted with everything.

The celebration continued the next day when Grandma and Grandpa Drake came to visit.

They gave her an adorable outfit, two great books . . .

and a toy that makes bath time so much fun.

Introducing . . .

2009-06-16T10:41:00.004-06:00

Dallin Jay Crawford

Born June 16, 2009

at 2:23 a.m.

Weighing 8 lb. 5 oz.

Measuring 20.5 inches

He is a good sleeper

and a good eater.

Our entire family is delighted he has arrived.

At Least They Are Dressed

2009-05-01T13:42:00.002-06:00

My cousin used to scoff at the children who would accompany their mothers in public dressed strangely. She hated to see a little boy with shorts cowboy boots and a cape trailing his mother through the store. Then she had a few boys of her own. Now she is just happy they are dressed.

With five children to care for, that is exactly how I feel.

One of Brianna's best creations: A lovely tie-dyed t-shirt and her "rainbow" pants under two (yes, two) swimming suits. The look is completed by her lovely fluffy hair style. Note: I didn't take her out in public dressed like that. I made her put the swimming suits away and I convinced her to let me tame her hair . . . a little bit.

The rest of the children were lucky enough to get colored hairspray at the end-of-year school carnival.

Kaiti wanted blue.

Caious went a more patriotic with red and blue to compliment his white hair.

Ellie picked green with blue highlights. (The official school colors of Wilson K-8, a school she doesn't attend, even though she loves wearing her brother's hand-me-down shirt.)

Brianna went with pink. What else?

He's Usually More of a Monkey . . . but . . .

2009-04-28T13:15:00.003-06:00

Generally, Andrew can be found climbing something or swinging from branches. Which is why we tell him he came into our family when we went to the zoo, and a monkey followed us home so we removed his tail and named him Andrew.

For his school play "Rumpus in the Rain forest" he was selected to play the part of an ant, even though parts for monkeys were clearly available. (If you look behind him, a whole bunch of children were dressed as monkeys.) But I digress. He made a wonderful ant and sang his songs admirably.

I wish I had brought the video camera to record the production. But I had a bad seat so I would have recorded the backs of people's heads. Plus, I still don't know how to upload video. Even though the still shots don't really do it justice, it's all I have.

If you notice, Andrew only has one feeler attached to his visor. I'm not sure why , but it seems fitting.

The Big Easter Party

2009-04-11T12:21:00.003-06:00

This year, we had to travel a bit longer (i.e. 12 hours each way as opposed to 20 min. when we lived in Utah) to attend the annual Easter-party-hot dog-roast-try-not-to-freeze-to-death-pinata-breaking extravaganza at the Hardway Ranch. But it was totally worth it. Just ask the smiling children we brought with us.

Andrew was able to refrain form making torches in the fire pit. I think I had something to do with a threat made by Grandpa Buddy. I wasn't there, but hear that maybe Andrew would end up in the fire it he played with it. Hmm . . . effective. I'll have to remember that for later. I wonder if a similar threat would motivate him to clean his room?

The pinata was a great success. Those children whacked the cute little bunny that Lynda brought until it had not ears, feet or face. Luckily, Jon was able to get it to release the candy. I was feeling bad for the poor thing.

The egg hunt also produced many smiles (and at least as many sugar rushes). Even though the placed was scoured by dozens of egg seekers, I suspect Bud will be finding eggs well into September. Nobody hides eggs quite like Patti.

Even though our trip was short, we had a great time. Bill said that it was nice to get away from all the sun and pleasant temperatures for a while.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for putting up with us for the weekend!

Is It Genetic?

2009-03-28T12:12:00.005-06:00

Our little entrepreneur decided to gather some of the free lemons so abundant in the area now, make "fresh squeezed" lemonade and sell it at the farmer's market.

She convinced her friend Marisa to help her. Together, they made $85 in about 3 hours selling lemonade for $2 (full glass) or $1 (half glass). Not bad for a day's work.

Erin Go . . . Roar?!?

2009-03-17T15:23:00.005-06:00

It's St. Patrick's Day and also the middle of Spring Break here.

What should we do? We could:

A) Stay home making corned beef and cabbage

B) Build a leprechaun trap

C) Drive for several hours to visit the Phoenix Zoo in 90 degree weather.

Of course, we opted to visit the Phoenix Zoo along with 2 million other people. (I found out while we were waiting for our over-priced fast food that 47 school districts in Arizona are on Spring Break this week. Apparently, they were all required to visit the Phoenix Zoo.)

So I packed up the children and met my friend, Trina and her sister at the zoo for a fun-filled day of sweating and animal gazing. Three adults, 9 children, what could be better?

For some reason, my children had other plans.

The children were most excited about our visit to the Farm Country section of the zoo. I'm not sure why the horses, sheep and goats were suddenly exciting. But that was surely the highlight.

Jaqy and Andrew petting a goat. Notice Andrew's outfit. It was 90 degrees that day, but I couldn't convince him to wear something more appropriate. Luckily, is like Grandpa Buddy and rarely gets to hot. I don't think he broke a sweat all day.

They did agree to eat lunch - an overpriced hot dog and chips.

Dillon and Brianna enjoying refreshment in one of the few shady spots.

And who can pass up a chance to sit in a giant clam?

Most - but not all of - the crew

Mostly, they played on the plethora of playground equipment. Maybe next time we won't bother with the exotic animals. We'll go straight to the big swing or the giant-rope spider web.

I wonder . . . would the same swing be as popular in our backyard? Nah.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy, Happy Birthday Kaiti Dear . . .

2009-02-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, February 5, Kaiti turned 12 years old! This was a big deal because she gets to enter the Young Women Program leaving Primary and other childish things behind.
She celebrated by making her own birthday dinner.

Oven Broiled Salmon

Fresh broccoli steamed with cilantro, corn and cheesy mashed potatoes.

Delicious.
She did a great job with the meal. Unfortunately, it was a school night and she had home work, so that was the end of the celebration for the day.

The next night, she had eight friends come over for a giant (24") Mama's Pizza and Chocolate Praline Trifle. Then they all went to see Coraline Only a few girls had nightmares that night.

But Wait! That's Not All . . .

Just like an infomercial that won't end, Kaiti's birthday celebration continued the next week when some of our Phoenix relatives drove down for a visit. Grandma Judy paid to get Kaiti's ears pierced.

Ouch.

She has been great about taking care of her ears three times daily. And now that she is 12. She is old enough to do her own laundry. See? The celebration never ends.

We're Baa-ack . . .

2009-01-14T18:16:00.002-07:00

We have arrived in Sunny Arizona.
This is our 11th dwelling in our 13 years of marriage and the first time we have ever live din the same town twice. It has been fantastic to have good friends come over and bring us dinner and take the kids so we can unpack. Even though we are working diligently, things are still in boxes and I have concluded that we have to much stuff.
Photos to come . . .

Movin' Right Along

2009-01-09T21:23:00.002-07:00

We've Moved!
Well . . . we are in the middle of moving. Our house in Utah is now empty and we will move to a place in Arizona Monday.
I suppose I will spend the next month unpacking, registering the children in school, unpacking, signing the kids up for lessons, unpacking, getting together with our desert-dwelling friends and unpacking some more.
I will update more when I can.
For those of you who want more details, e-mail me. I will respond when I have an Internet connection.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T06:57:00.002-07:00

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas

We are definitely having a white Christmas.

A Random act of . . . pastry?!?

2008-12-08T12:21:00.006-07:00

Because of an improperly completed oil change, I was forced to park on the street this weekend. I am not a fan of parking on the street in general and on narrow streets - where people drive to fast and rarely pay attention to where they are going - in particular. I went to bed fearing, a little, for the safety of my beloved minivan.

Sunday morning I woke up to a rather ambiguous warning.

Someone had thrown glazed donuts at my car. Bill cleaned it up before I was able to see (or document) it. When I came out to survey the damage, I found two glazed spots on my windows and a bunch of donut pieces on the ground.

So to you who left me the warning: lesson learned. I have gotten the problem taken care of and will park in my driveway or garage from now on. Please, don't waste any more pastry on me. However, if you'd like suggestions for those who truly deserve a wake up call . . . a have a list.

One Day We Will All Look Back On This and Laugh, Right?

2008-12-03T10:09:00.002-07:00

RIGHT?

Bill has training in Tucson this week. I don't know if it's because he's gone that things fall apart, or that little things pile up until everything seem like a big deal. Most likely a little of both.

Brianna (2 1/2 yrs.) has decided she is through with diapers and now wants to wear her "big girl princess undies" all of the time. Because it is her idea, things are going well.

Until Tuesday night she decided she could take herself potty all alone. She told me to leave because she "needed a little privacy". I did. All went well until she thought she needed to use toilet paper . . . a lot of toilet paper . . . half a roll of Charmin toilet paper. Lucky for us Grandpa came over for another reason and was kind enough to take care of the clog that I just couldn't.

Then at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday I was woken by a phrase every parent wants to hear in the middle of the night: "Mom, I puked . . . on my bedroom floor." Nice. By 2:30 a.m. I was done and attempted to go back to sleep. Then at 4:30 a.m. the neighbors decided to let their yappy little dogs outside. Apparently some great threat was befalling the neighborhood because those dogs didn't stop barking (a sound reminiscent of a sick rubber ducky) for 30 minutes.

The next day, I decided to help Ellie with her homework. She was assigned to illustrate the lines "With a little old driver so lively and quick. I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick." from the poem The Night Before Christmas. In my sleep-deprived state I suggested that we make a collage. Two hours and one frazzled mom later this is what we had:

And also this:

Well at least it's done. And the week is nearly over. I decided to record this week for history because one day this will be funny. Just not today.

Things my children are allergic to:

2008-11-21T13:09:00.003-07:00

They must be. Otherwise they would not have such trouble with the following items:

Turning off lights in an unoccupied room. "Hey! I'm paying for that. Do you think I'm made of money?"
Closing the outside doors. Were you born in a barn? Would you like some hay?
Putting dirty clothes in the laundry basket. Although they are frequently found 2 inches away from said basket.
Putting clean clothes in the appropriate drawer. Somehow, they end up in a pile in front of the dresser.
Locating backpacks and other necessary school items. But only when it is time for us to leave . . . 10 minutes ago!
Flushing. Always a fun surprise.
Getting both shoes put away in the same location. For some reason, one shoe seems to walk itself into the middle of the room. Backpacks also must be ambulatory.
Looking under beds for any misplaced item. The beds in our home seem to be black holes that the children are afraid to go near, lest they get sucked into the bottomless vacuum.

I have been told that children can outgrow allergies and I hope this is the case with my children. If not, I am crossing my fingers for a vaccine.

Andrew the Brave

2008-11-14T11:58:00.003-07:00

Andrew has been getting a lot of extra attention lately. To make a long story short, he was given a "stim" test to determine if his pituitary glad is working correctly, releasing enough Human Growth Hormone.
He wasn't allowed to eat anything after midnight the day of the test or during the five hours it took to administer the test. He was given an i.v. where a very kind nurse drew blood samples every 30 to 60 minutes.
Not fun.

The patient, with an i.v. stuck in his right arm

Well . . . the insertion of the i.v. wasn't fun. Neither was the glucose shot he had 2 hours into the test.

Engaged in his favorite kind of multi-tasking, playing game boy and watching t.v.

But for the most of the day, he was able to play game boy and watch t.v. Once it was all over, he said it wasn't that bad. He didn't want to do it again, but he was happy that both his Mom and Dad could be there with him.

His Mom and Dad are very proud of how brave he was and how well he handled himself.

As for the results: his HGH levels are good. But his body is deficient in a hormone called IGF1. The treatment is two injections a day until he reaches puberty. When given the choice between two shots a day for 6 years or being shorter than his mom, he picked "short". Once he had time to consider it, he thinks the shots won't be so bad. Of course, he may change his mind when we come at him with a needle.

Obligitory Halloween Post

2008-10-31T12:50:00.001-06:00

I would be a (more) sorry blogger if I didn't include Halloween photos.

Waiting to hand out candy to fellow moochers. . . er . . . trick-or-treaters

Andrew was Superman with muscles. Ellie was a bumblebee. Brianna went as a ladybug (or in her words laid-a-bug). Caious (look closely, he's hard to see) was a pilot. Kaiti dressed as Ivy from "My Sister the Vampire" but by the end of the night, she told people she was "goth".

The school had a costume parade for the younger grades. Only two of the children participated. One more willingly than the other. Can you guess who?

In the evening, we went house to house - in the pouring rain - asking friends, family, acquaintances and total strangers for goodies. They obliged and we ended the night with enough junk food to fill a warehouse. Luckily, a local dentist buys Halloween candy ($1 per pound) to send to troops overseas. Even if we had to pay him to take it off our hands, I think it would be worth it.

A Love Story

2008-10-24T15:52:00.004-06:00

by Favorite Aunt Cheryl

The happy couple
Once Upon A Time . . . there was a beautiful young lady who worked for a large home improvement store. While toiling away in the light fixtures and plumbing supplies, she met a handsome young man who shared her passion for home improvement products - or just thought she was cute and fun to be with.

The chose an absolutely beautiful day to get married. Everyone enjoyed the sunny weather.
A friendship developed. A few months later the handsome young man gave the lovely young lady a ruby red engagement ring.

One of the lovely flower girls preparing the way for the beautiful bride.
A few months after that . . . they gathered together with family and friends from far (Tennessee) and near (Lehi) to celebrate the start of their new life together.

The very cool wedding cake. It was tasty too.
They had a wonderful party to celebrate the beginning of their life together. And they lived happily ever after . . . (or most likely had ups and downs, good times and bad times, but weathered it all with grace and humility.)

Congratulations Callie and Richard!

The Abby Fest

2008-10-22T07:17:00.003-06:00

The birthday girl.

Because of my nice Callie's wedding, my brother (Crazy Uncle Tony) and his family came to town. His delightful daughter, Abby celebrated her 10th birthday with the whole family.

The doll cake. (The little cake in the foreground says 'Happy Birthday Abby'. It was just the right height for Brody - the cake lover - to reach.)

Grandma Kathleen put together an incredible party. She made a complete meal for 50, a doll cake and homemade root beer.

Crazy Uncle Tony dolling out advice to his young and impressionable nephews.

Everyone was encouraged to wear costumes. All of the children did. Crazy Uncle Tony, his wife Aunt Kiwi and Grandpa Buddy were the only adults who dressed up.

Karlee the witch and Emmy the monkey.

We even got to have the party in the new garage. It was the perfect place to break the pinata and have a great time. Abby said is was a great party.

Tyler as Zac Efron. Hey, get a haircut and I will stop saying you look like him . . .

. . . and you won't have to deal with the paparazzi.

. . . And more about Andrew

2008-10-22T07:13:00.000-06:00

Andrew attended his first pack meeting as a cub scout. He was awarded the rank of bobcat. In this ward, the tradition is to turn the scout upside down and place the pin on the scout right side up. Once he has done a good turn, he can spin the pin around.

I'm not sure if the pin has been turned around yet. He better work on his helpfulness.

Why I Love UEA

2008-10-18T09:43:00.000-06:00

When I was little we had a a break from school in mid-October. School would get out at noon on Friday and return for classes on Wednesday. It happened to co-inside with the beginning of the deer hunt in Utah. Hmm . . . Luckily for me my family was pretty much finished deer hunting by the time I came along so we only had to suffer through one or two really awful hunting trips with me along. (After the "Vienna sausage incident" I was never involuntarily taken hunting again.)

Go Broncos! Ellie helped me paint the sign. Can you tell?

Now the state teacher's union (Utah Education Association) conveniently plans their annual convention for the opening weekend of the deer hunt. The children had no school Thursday through Monday. Our original plan was to accompany Bill on his sales calls in Montana. For a lot of reasons - including a flag football game we had to coach - that didn't work out. Friday morning we packed up our bags and hit the road. To where? We hadn't decided.

The children with Abner and Elliot at the zoo.

After making few stops along the way (Hill Air Force Base Museum, dinner . . .) we ended up at the Hilton Garden Inn in Boise Idaho. Thanks to Bill frequent stays with the Hilton family of Hotels, we had enough points to pay for two adjoining rooms. Yes, our family is big enough that we need two rooms.

Children with some cousins playing in the Boise river. They caught a few crayfish by hand!

It was a good choice. Our good friends Rob and Karissa moved from Boston to Idaho two weeks after we moved from Boston to Arizona. They are much less nomadic then us and are still in Idaho. They were gracious enough to let us stay with them for two nights.

This isn't really from our time in Idaho. But I like it and I don't anticipate creating another fly fishing entry anytime soon. This seems like an appropriate illustration.

Bill went fly fishing with his cousin Brian, Caious and Rob. The rest of us went to the Boise Zoo, played outside, ordered pizza, watched a German cartoon (the kids) and took a nap (me).

Kaiti hitching a ride. She was spun, pulled, reversed . . . and kept her balance through it all.

We also got to see Bills' Cousin Brian and his family. It was a beautiful day so we had a nice picnic at a park by the river. Kaiti spent a lot of time being "towed" by Taylor. The jury is still out on whether those heely shoes are a good idea. So far, she has only had one major fall. It resulted in ripping a hole in the knee of her favorite jeans, a nasty scrape and lots of tears. But she was undeterred, she got right back on them and has been rolling around the neighborhood.

By the river. Brianna hugs are few and far between some days. She was especially affectionate this day.

After this weekend, I am more grateful then ever for the wonder friends and family we have. I a so happy that Rob and Karissa put up with us for two whole days. We hope they will be able to visit us in November.

This was to precious to leave out.

What?!?

2008-10-12T14:41:00.003-06:00

We woke up this morning to this. It's only October! This is a far cry from the 80 degree temperatures Tuscon enjoys in October.

Luckily, we were warned well in advance of that a "cold spell" was headed our way so Bill and I (mostly Bill) covered the tomato plants in an effort to get a few more of the 1000 green ones to ripen on the vine.

Only two days earlier, it was a beautiful 75 degree day. Now we have snow, snow! It melted quickly, which is a good thing because we can't find our snow scrapers. A must-have item if we are going to survive a winter here. The warm weather is scheduled to return for a while. I am glad because I am not ready for winter yet.

The children's Halloween costumes will definitely include thermal underwear this year.

Conferences and Me

2008-10-04T08:29:00.004-06:00

Living in several different states through the years, I have never been able to attend a church meeting in the Conference Center. This year, I was doubly blessed.
A little background: I have been lucky enough to have a group of really wonderful friends. We go waaaaaay back to junior high and even elementary school. So every year, all of the members of the group are invited to go to dinner and watch the broadcast from some one's stake center. I have always been invited (at least, that's what I choose to believe) but I have never been able to come.

Marianne, Donna, Heather, Me and Laurie. We missed the people who couldn't be there with us.

All those years I sat alone in watching the broadcast I felt a little less lonely knowing that these women were listening to the same messages I was. This year, we were lucky enough to get tickets to attend the broadcast live. So after a great dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, we headed off to Salt Lake to watch the broadcast. We had fantastic seats and sitting with such wonderful people made it even more fun.

Andrew was thrilled to be at such an important event with his dad.

My very smart husband also got us tickets to attend the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference. Because Andrew was baptized one week earlier, he was old enough to attend. The tickets came in packages of six, so we let Andrew invite a friend. He chose our neighbor Isaac.
I brought everyone a notepad and pen. They were given instructions to take notes, draw . . . whatever they wanted as long as they were quiet.

All of us before the session began. We arrived an hour early and got great seats. Unfortunately, the children were ready to leave an hour into the broadcast. Oops. I guess two hours is their limit for a sit-and-be-quiet church meeting.

My plan worked well. The children all said they were glad they went. We had good seats. The children thought it was really cool to be so close to the prophet.

The rain seemed to keep people away. Seats were available for both Saturday sessions.

While we were in Salt Lake City, Ellie and Brianna were at grandma's house, eating lots of good food, coloring, watching t.v. and playing games. We all had a wonderful time. Living in Utah has lot of advantages.

But That's Not All!

2008-09-27T19:02:00.002-06:00

Andrew's exciting adventures continued with his very first Cub Scout meeting on Wednesday. He is now a Wolf Scout. We have until Oct. 15th to earn his Bobcat so he can get recognized at his first pack meeting.

The final event on the Week 'O Drew was his baptism and confirmation. Bill preformed the baptism (with running commentary by Brianna) and Grandpa Buddy confirmed him. We will have to see how he adjusts to being a regular kid next week.

Patti's Punkin' Pickin' Party

2008-09-26T19:13:00.002-06:00

Brianna and Ali swinging in the back yard

In the midst of the week-long Andrew festivities, we were invited to Aunt Patti's to pick the pumpkins from her pumpkin patch. It was a great day. Not to hot, not to cold. We ate lots of really good food and played in her back yard. Getting good and dirty in the pumpkin patch.

Ali, doing her best racoon impression

We picked the entire patch clean. Patti waned to make sure we got everything so uprooted every plant and left the patch with no plants in it at all.

Erin, Brianna and Ellie gourd washing in the fountain

The children were very fastidious, washing the produce clean in the newly-installed fountain. (Located over the spot where Grandma and Grandpa Lott had their well.)

Brody, riding on one of many wheelbarrow loads of gourds Lee hauled home for Megan.

Everyone left with more than enough pumpkins and gourds to make this the most festive fall we have ever had.

Bud holding Emmy. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

The Celebration Continues . . .

2008-09-22T12:09:00.001-06:00

The Drew-fest continued on his actual birthday. He went to the doctor for a check-up and two shots (not his favorite part of the day). Next, he got to go with Grandma and Grandpa on a special date to buy his birthday present. He got to open the rest of his gifts.

THEN he got to get dressed up and go out to a special dinner with just his mom and dad. He picked Thai food. My favorite. After he ate all he possibly could, he wiggled a little and mode room for icecream. It was fun for him to pick everything out and have them freeze it right before his eyes.

All in all a pretty good day.

The Drew-fest

2008-09-20T15:51:00.000-06:00

We included this in the party invitations. It could have been the whole invitation, if I had the skill and creativity of certain members of my family, it would have been. But I'm not, so it wasn't.

For a week, our house was all Andrew all the time. He turned 8 years old. Monday, Sept. 22. We began the celebration with a birthday party at the Hardway Ranch the Saturday before his birthday. Grandpa Buddy saddled up the horses and built a bonfire. So a few of Andrew's friends and their parents could have some good old-fashioned fun.

Most of the boys around the fire pit. Andrew is wielding his "fire stick". Notice the other boys are keeping a safe distance. Andrew makes smart friends.

Andrew was delighted to feed his inner pyromaniac. He spent more time in the fire pit than riding horses. Luckily, we had cake and a pinata to distract him . . . for a while.

Caious attacking what was left of the very cool horse pinata I found. It held more candy than I expected. Oops. I sent those boys home full of sugar.

Also the presents kept him busy. I know he loved the gifts, but he was also very happy they were wrapped in flammable materials.

Showing off some of the goods with his friend Ethan.

It was a great time and we are very thankful for Buddy and Grandma for hosting the best party ev-er. I don't think we will be able to top this adventure.

Where's Tanner? On the horse. I'm not sure he ever got off. He could still be there today. In fact, if Grandpa would let him, I sure he would.

Everyone got stinky (smoky) and dirty. We even got rained on a little bit. It was a very memorable day.

It's hard to tell in the photo, but as my dad put it: I did a "crappy" job on the cake. An inside family joke that stems from a cake my brother (Crazy-Uncle-Tony) had when he was little. He was grossed out by it. My boys think it's hilarious. No horse cake is complete without a few droppings.

One Year Older . . .

2008-09-15T08:53:00.000-06:00

and wiser too?!? Well . . . probably just older.
Happy Birthday to me!

Bill arranged a surprise party for me at our house. It was great. I got lots of wonderful stuff (including, - but not limited to - a t-shirt from my favorite t.v. show)

Bill made pizza like a man possessed. He says he made 10, they were all gone.

I wish I had taken better photos of the evening. It was a beautiful night and a good time was had by all ( I think.)
Thanks to everyone who came and those who sent well wishes from other parts of the country. I am very lucky to know you and be your friend.

Quirks

2008-09-08T09:45:00.001-06:00

I have been tagged for the first time ever so I thought I'd respond.

Here are the rules:

1. Link the person who tagged you...Callie
2. Post these rules.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers

1. Condiments.
Yuck. I can't stand them. They make my stomach turn. In fact, when I am pregnant ketchup and mustard must be kept far away from me. Heaven help the person who leaves a ketchup-covered plate in the sink.

2. Salad Dressing.
Closely related to condiments. Also grosses me out. I will eat it when I have no other alternative (Olive Garden), but I really don't like it. If I can have a nice lemon wedge to squirt on my croutons . . . yum.

3. Bananas.
Also an offensive food. In 6th grade I had an unfortunate incident that cemented my dislike for the fruit. I am not the only one that was traumatized by the incident. My good friend Mish also hates bananas and was involved in the same banana-related experience in 6th grade. Maybe I am justified in my revulsion.

4. Feet.
Not a big fan. Once my children start walking, those cute little piggies are not very appealing to me. I don't kiss injured feet. That is Bill's domain.

5. Color Conformity.
I like to arrange things in rainbow order (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple . . .) Things seem more pleasant to me when rainbows are involved.

6. Rules.
I never break them. If it's a rule, I feel compelled to comply. I don't bring more than 10 items in the express line, I obey traffic signals and I always, always do what the teacher says. I'll never be a rebel.

As a rule follower, I must tag six people. So I choose JoEllen, Lauren, Cecily, Meta, Maren and Hilary

It's all fun and games until . . .

2008-08-30T15:08:00.003-06:00

Bill has taken up fly fishing (strictly catch-and-release). He wanted to share his love of the sport with the rest of us so we drove up to the Provo River to learn how to fly fish.

Walking to the perfect location. These tracks are no longer used . . . I think
The day was great for fishing. A little warm, perfect for standing in the river.

Most of the group in the river, getting ready to cast
The children loved casting and learning how to fish. Even if they had to stand in the water. Then . . . just as we were leaving, Brianna picked up the can of bug spray and squirted it right in her eye. Fun over.

I don't have any photos of the rest of the evening, we were too busy holding her down, flushing her eye with water. It was horrible. She kept saying "It burns!"
Luckily, we have a friend who is an optometrist. We called him and got sage advice (thanks, Rob). After about 30 min. of screaming, we decided to go home. She was happy for the 40 drive and the next day, her eyes showed no sign of trauma.

Just before the unfortunate incident
Next time we go fishing (and there will be a next time), we will spray for bugs as soon as we arrive and leave the bug spray safely locked in the car.

Trinkle, trinkle little star

2008-08-27T10:07:00.004-06:00

Potty training is not my favorite thing to do. In fact, Ellie potty trained herself. Brianna is familiar with what a potty is and has even used it on occasion. But at 2 years old, I'm not going to rush her. I have learned through sad experience that there are worse things than changing diapers.

The other day Brianna was sitting on her daddy's lap and decided to take her diaper off. We asked if she wanted to go potty. She looked at Bill and said "I trinkled on you."

It's true. She had left a little wet spot on her daddy's leg.

I guess potty training will wait a while longer . . .

With a face like this, who can stay angry?

First Day of School - Part Two

2008-08-25T16:36:00.005-06:00

Ellie started Kindergarten today. Now four-fifths of my children are in school. Lucky for me they all go the the same school and all start the day at the same time. Kindergarten is only 1/2 day here. That makes Brianna happy because she really misses her buddy when she is gone.

I was able to talk her into a pink shirt to go with the camo pants and backpack

Ellie adores her teacher. She was very excited her homework today was to eat a samll bag of Skittles. I hope that is a one-time occurrence and not a daily activity.

The older children are getting into the routine (more or less). Actual homework is beginning this week for 2nd and 6th grades. Caious (in 4th grade) has been promised one more easy week before the real work begins.

Wish us all luck.

Lamest Birthday Ev-er

2008-08-20T14:13:00.008-06:00

Caious turned 10 years old today. He celebrated by . . . going to school, doing his chores, playing with his friends . . . basically having a normal day.
Bill was out of state so we had a very low-key day.
Caious did get to have the dinner of his choice:

Cheeseburgers (with processed american cheese - yuck!),
Oven baked french fries (made from home-grown purple potatoes out of my garden) and
Corn on the cob (from Grandpa Buddy - yum)
The children made their burgers into faces.

They were very proud to display their creations.

After birthday cake (also supplied by Buddy - thanks), Caious opened his gifts. A handsome shirt and the Lego set he had been hoping for from Grandma and Grandpa in Phoenix.

And then he opened the cards full of cash. Lots of cash. He is very excited to have so much money. I think he should save it. He plans to buy video games and a Nintendo DS. Good thing I have veto power over his purchases.

When Bill gets back to town, he and Caious will pick out a new bike. Caious already had his celebration: he and his dad took a few friends to see Wall-E. All in all it was a good birthday.

Happy Birthday Caious!

First Day of School

2008-08-18T15:15:00.008-06:00

School began today.

Kaiti is now in 6th grade, Caious is in 4th grade and Andrew is in 2nd grade.

They have great teachers and came home excited about the great school year ahead.

Here they are modeling their new clothes. I actually remembered to take photos of the first day of school.

Ellie doesn't start school for another week. Brianna and I are glad to have her home for another week, but she is very anxious to get her formal education underway.

Bill was home (hooray) so for Family Home Evening we got shaved ice for a treat and played at the park. It was such a beautiful night. We had a great time.

Family Fun and Fish Lake

2008-08-08T20:45:00.001-06:00

I grew up in a family steeped in traditions. Visits to Grandparents every Sunday, monthly get-togethers with extended family, big meals with lots of relatives at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hmm . . . well, the traditions mainly consisted of family and food. A good combination.

Cousins sharing a snack. That's what we do best, eat and sit.

This year, 4/5 of my mother's siblings and some of their offspring went to Fish Lake for a three-day, two-night reunion. The accommodations came in three forms. "Motel rooms", with beds, a "kitchenette," bathrooms with hot and cold running water and cable t.v. "Cabins" with beds, but bathrooms or hot water and no cable (they did include a token for a shower in a larger facility). "Camp sites" basically, a level place to put your tent.

The motel room we stayed in. Our room was on the far right.

My Uncle Max said it best when he stated "My idea of roughing it is opening the window in the Hilton." I know what roughing it is and I was glad to have a motel room. Not for the cable, but for the daily hot shower. Yep. Much to his dismay, Bill married a city girl.

I included this because of the view of the lake in the background. But the kids did get filthy. Thank goodness for bathrooms with nice hot water.

The activities were varied and plentiful. Boating, hiking, cooking, eating, face painting, water balloon fights, fishing (it is Fish Lake), laying on the bed watching t.v. (a favorite of my dad and my children), reading (I brought Breaking Dawn) or sitting still staring at the beautiful lake.

Cooper said his whole life he has wanted to go out on a boat and catch a fish. He caught this whopper on his first try. Not bad to fulfill your life's ambition before your turn five. (Later on, he tried to return the fish to the lake. It was hard to get him to understand that the fish wouldn't be able to swim away anymore.)

We ate most meals together. Each of the four siblings took turns cooking the food. Everyone helped set up and clean up. Eating communally was very cheep and much more convenient than trying to find a place to feed 98 people three meals a day.

Three sisters on their trusty steeds. They did a lot of complicated equestrian stunts, then sang us a song about friendship.

We had a planned scavenger hunt, an outdoor movie (in the rain) and a talent show. I am related to a large number of talented people. Two of the dogs that came to the reunion preformed tricks. We even had an equestrian show. Several people sang. My dad recited one of the many cowboy poems he knows, we even had a sword-fighting demonstration.
It was a great vacation. We are looking forward to next year.

Another moment from the talent show. A nicely choreographed sword fight.

I'm Busy, Busy Terribly Busy. . .

2008-07-20T22:25:00.004-06:00

I am stuck in a vicious cycle.
When I have time to post, I don't have anything to write about. When we are doing interesting things, I don't have time to create a post that will do the event justice. Once I have the time to make a decent post, I feel like to much time has elapsed and it will be old news.
Well . . . no more. I am going to create many wonderful, funny, insightful and elaborate posts about all the wonderful things we have been doing this summer. Then I will cleverly change the date stamp so they appear to be timely. Be warned . . . the post from three months ago, may have been written yesterday.

The Happiest Place on Earth

2008-07-16T22:19:00.008-06:00

For the first time since we all lived in Arizona, nearly 11(!) years ago, Bill's family got together to celebrate his mother's birthday. Thanks to her generosity, we all met at Disneyland for two days and three nights of fun.

The children had a wonderful time. The fist ride we all rode together was Pirates of the Caribbean. Brianna and Ellie were covering their eyes most of the time. Once we came to a stop Ellie said "I did not like that ride."

Luckily, everyone had a chance to experience plenty of rides they did like. Everyone loved the Carousel the teacups, the Tiki Room and Finding Nemo. . .

Uncle Steve and Aunt Mary were generous enough to let all of the parents of children to short to ride 'Indiana Jones' use their fast passes while they watched all of the children. Thanks to the fast passes, we weren't gone very long, just long enough for Uncle Steve to become a jungle gym.

We also ran into one of Andrew's preschool friends from our Boston days. Cole and Callie live in California, they just happened to be at Disneyland that day. We were very excited to see them and see how much they have grown.

During lunch, Kaiti was part of the entertainment.

On July 16, all 22 of us went to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Judy's birthday. We were quite a sight.

We had a great time. Happy birthday Grandma Judy!

Happy Birthday Ellie Bean!

2008-07-06T10:41:00.007-06:00

Five years ago we welcomed a delicate little girl into our family.

A little pixie full of curiosity.

A darling little child always ready with a smile and hug

A very thoughtful girl who adores her Daddy

She is often to observant for my own good!

When I asked what she wanted me to write about her she said: "I'm nice."
Yes she is and we are delighted she is in our family.
Happy birthday Elbow!

Favorite Story of the Week . . . so far

2008-06-27T14:11:00.002-06:00

When I have time to blog, I don't have anything to write about. When I am doing all sorts of fun things with the children, I don't have the time to blog. Such is my dilemma.
This week is the Lehi Round-Up. My home town's week-long community pride celebration. It's my favorite week of the year and I do intend to write about it . . . later. My brother Crazy-Uncle-Tony has been in town and related the following tale:
Crazy-Uncle-Tony and his daughter Abby went for a walk and Crazy-Uncle-Tony ran into a spider web. As he brushed the spider off he said "I hope that wasn't a radioactive spider, if it was I might turn into Spiderman."
Abby responded: "Yeah, Spider Old Man." Then she began to sing "Spider Old Man, Spider Old Man Does whatever a Spider Old Man can. Can he swing on a web? Probably. But he'd hurt his back . . ."
I'm so proud of my niece.

Happy Birthday Bri Bri!

2008-06-19T09:12:00.019-06:00

Two years ago, we went to the hospital expecting a 7 pound baby boy. We left with a 9 pound baby girl. She has been surprising us ever since. Luckily, most of the surprises are pleasant.

Things I want to remember about Brianna at this age:

1. She speaks in full sentences. When she has something to say, she composes a complete thought.

2. The way she says "Get out of my chili!" when someone bothers her.

3. She loves babies. All of her dolls are named after babies she knows. (Emmy, Kate, Brionna . . .)

4. Her comfort items are her 'binki', her 'blue one blanklet', her right index finger and a strand of hair.

5. She likes me best. For now, I am her favorite person. (That will change, but I intend enjoy it while it lasts.)

6. The way she asks for 'chlocolate".

7. No matter where we are going, just like Grandma Kathleen, she wants to go too. "Wanna come, wanna come wish you."

8. She loves baths so much she has been know to climb into the tub fully clothed. Making 'bubble beards' is a favorite bath-time activity.

9. She can be trouble. If there is a mess, she is generally in the middle of it.

10. She can (and does) sleep anywhere. She has been know to fall asleep pretty much everywhere. The easy chair, the laundry room floor, the car, the kitchen counter. She has even been know to climb into her own crib and go to sleep when she is tired.

11. Crazy-Uncle-Tony calls her feral. I prefer to think of her as self-sufficient. Her favorite thing to do is eat off of her siblings' plates. As soon as they get up from the table, she gets a mischievous grin and a twinkle in her eye, climbs down from her chair, climbs into the recently unoccupied one, and eats whats left on the plate.

12. The nicknames she has for her siblings Own Kay-Kay, Crisis, On-Dune and Elbow.

13. The way she says "My Daddy home!" when he walks through he door. Whether he has been gone one minute or one week, she is delighted to see him.

Field Trips and Field Day fun?!?

2008-06-16T15:27:00.000-06:00

I have so much to catch up on. With summer vacation hitting me square in the head, I have spent less time on the computer so I can spend more time with my children exploring "The Motherland". Which means that I have more to blog about, but no time to actually write.

Just before summer began, I was able to accompany three of my children on adventures with their classmates. I intended longer, more detailed (i.e. whiny) posts about each trip. But lucky for you, I want to get this posted. You will have to make due with the Reader's Digest version.
In late April, Ellie's preschool planned to end their farm animals unit with a trip to Thanksgiving point. The day started out cool but sunny. As soon as we got out of the car, the ever-present wind at the point of the mountain hit us with full force. As you can see, we were miserable. The children sought shelter under the blankets Miss Lisa brought for our picnic. My girls took shelter with 'Duncan's Mom'. She did her best to protect the children from the elements and ended up looking like Mother Ginger from the Nutcracker ballet.

Miss Lisa, being a sensible teacher, rescheduled the trip. (We went back the next week - April 28 - on a lovely day. and had a wonderful time. )

The day after we opted not to have a field trip to Thanksgiving Point(April 24), the entire 3rd and 4th grade planned a trip to This Is The Place State Park Even though the day was colder than the day before (with snow in the forecast), we couldn't reschedule this adventure. Originally, Bill was supposed to go, but he had to be out of town on business. (Un)lucky for me, Grandma agreed to watch the girls so I could go with Caious.

It was cold. Very cold. My charges and I huddled together as we learned about native animals and native people (I think that is what they talked about. My teeth were chattering so loud, it couldn't hear very well). The children ground corn, examined animal skins, assembled a tee pee and looked at various animals. The entire time we experienced 30 degree weather, wind, rain and snow. One of the girls in my group said "This day can't get any worse." She was wrong. It started yo hail. (Caious is catching it in his hands in the photo.) I found myself thinking about the pioneers who settled this state. It reminded me that one of my friends from Boston commented that had she been a pioneer, she would have been a headstone. With the nasty weather and limited shelter, I have a deep respect for those who survived and thrived in the harsh climate. When the trip was over, I was convinced I would never be warm again.

Even though the weather was miserable, I am glad I got to go with Caious and meet a few of his classmates. I had a great time seeing how much This Is The Place has changed since I was in elementary school.

Continuing the trip down memory lane, I accompanied Ellie's preschool to Hogle Zoo. It has really changed in the past 25 years. It was very nice and oh so crowded. I counted no less than 17 school groups there. Our biggest challenge was keeping everyone together. The children loved looking at the animals. Sometimes too much ("Has anyone seen Luke?!?") they often wandered off to get a closer look.

But with animals like this, just feet away can you blame them?

The final adventure was the 1st grade mini field day with Andrew's class. The weather was beautiful (73 degrees, no wind) and my job was to escort the class from one event to the next and hand out popsicles. It was a great day. And so cute to see the children hula-hooping, tricycle racing, going through an obstacle course and playing with a parachute. They were so adoreable. I also got to give popsicles to several children in my Priamry class. I got a kick out of how they were very surprised to see me outside of church.

Tea Party

2008-06-05T16:22:00.003-06:00

Last year, when Kaiti spent a week during the summer at Grandma's house, they got to have a tea party. This year, she wanted to do it again. Kaiti and Grandma made all sorts of wonderful delicacies . . . finger sandwiches . . . . chocolate dipped fruit . . . bon bons . . . lemonade and tea -herbal - of course.

Our good friends Rebekah and Elizabeth from Tucson were visiting so they were also invited to the party.

They got all dressed up in fancy clothes. Grandma even let them wear Great-Grandma's hats, furs and jewelry. They looked lovely. All of the girl cousins got to come.

Kaiti is quite an accomplished hostess.

All about Caious

2008-05-26T13:14:00.010-06:00

This is from Caious's autobiography:

I was born in New Mexico. When I turned one I still lived in New Mexico. This is when I learned to walk and talk. My first words were “dog” and “jet”. My favorite thing to do in New Mexico was sit in my backyard with my family eating coconut igloos ice cream (coconut ice cream with chocolate covered coconut mounds in it and a ribbon of fudge - yum).
The next state I lived in was Texas. I lived near San Antonio for three months. That is where I met my friend Alex C. I’m still in touch with him today.
I next lived in Missouri. My brother was born in this state. His name is Andrew. My sister Ellie was also born in this state.
I went to Little Explorers Preschool. I was taught by Mrs. Carroll and her assistant Miss Elyshia. I loved going there. Everyone was kind there.

Going to play at a park was fun. My favorite park was called Grover Park. When I moved away, my friends had a surprise going away party for me and my family.

The first elementary school I went to was called Lincoln-Eliot in Newton, Massachusetts. My best friend in kindergarten was Grayson W. He moved to Georgia after the school year. My best friend in first grade was Jeremy P. I met him the summer before first grade. He also moved to Arizona in 2006 when I did.

In Oro Valley, Arizona, I went to Richard B. Wilson Jr. K-8 School. My best friend was named Cros C. He was my best friend in both second and third grade.

My dad’s name is William. He has brown hair, green eyes, and is 39. He was a pilot in the Air Force. He flew F-16 fighter jets and B-2 Stealth bombers.
My mom’s name is Cheryl. She has blond hair, blue eyes.
My only older sister, Kaiti has green eyes, blond hair, and is 11. She used to have two fish.
My little brother Andrew looks like my sister, but he has blue eyes instead of green.
My four year old sister Ellie looks like my mom.
My youngest sibling is named Brianna. She looks like my brother too. She is almost 2 years old.
My family likes to play outside. Hiking, camping, canoeing, biking and going to parks are some of our favorite activities.

I’m athletic, cheerful, gentle, intelligent, and attractive.
I am athletic because I’ve played lots of sports. My favorite sport is soccer.
I am cheerful because I am happy when I do chores even if I don’t like them.
When I have to baby sit my little sisters I am always gentle with them.
I am intelligent because I do well in school. My favorite subject is math.
I am attractive because I look like my dad. Whenever I get a haircut I get one to match my dad’s.
Jim, my Dad’s favorite barber, cuts my hair so I look attractive like my dad.

My favorite things to do are reading, because you learn; doing math, because it makes you smart; and playing sports because it gives you exercise. My favorite sports are football, soccer, basketball, tennis, and baseball.

My favorite foods are pizza because it is hot, meatballs and steak because I like meat.
I do not like lasagna, mushrooms, and onions.
I do not like doing homework, writing, and doing chores.

For the rest of elementary school my goal is to pass all grades.
For middle school I want to pass all grades and play sports.
For high school I want to get good grades.
When I grow up I would like to be a fighter pilot because I like to fly.

St. George

2008-05-21T13:55:00.000-06:00

I intended to post this earlier, but life (and a 630 page book) seems to get in the way of blogging.

The first half of Spring break week was spent in cleaning, packing and babysitting (see earlier post). The second half was really something worth recording for posterity. Grandma and Grandpa arranged for us to stay in my Aunt's condo in St. George for a few days. It was great to leave the wind and cold temperatures for a few days.

While on vacation we also conducted a psychological experiment to see if Caious would starve to death surrounded by food. I am aware he is a picky eater, but he will usually at least try the food we offer him . . . before he makes himself a big bowl of oatmeal. So we made sure to pack oatmeal. but apparently it was the had the wrong kind - quick oats are somehow offensive to him. To add insult to injury, we also brought the wrong kind of sugar. Who knew he only eats old fashioned oats with brown sugar and milk? We all do . . . now. Grandma got so exasperated at one point, she had him eat cookies for breakfast. Her famous homemade oatmeal raisin cookies. She reasoned that they had oats, raisins, eggs, flour . . . some of it was bound to be nutritious, right?

I took a different approach. I challenged him and everyone else to an eating contest at an all-you-can-eat Chinese Buffet. I was in the running for champion, but my dad beat me handily. I tried. I ate so much that I wasn't hungry again for three days.

Other than the food drama we had a great time. We toured a few LDS Church history sites. The children were surprisingly good. Except the baby who didn't get the concept of "be quiet, listen to the tour guide and don't touch anything" but she thinks the world revolves around her and rules of polite society only apply to her when it is convenient.

We also toured Zion National park. Some of my best childhood memories are of climbing the sandstone in Southern Utah. Sadly, climbing is now discouraged most places. The children still got to run and climb (in approved areas - I swear), plus Grandma was there with Skittles to keep them extra happy and energetic. Interesting enough, Caious had no objections to the candy she offered him. Andrew squirreled his away in his pockets. The next day he entertained us by stuffing 21 skittles into his mouth at once. Luckily he has room in there because he still has no teeth.

Kaiti loved the swimming pool at the condo complex. She swam for hours on end. Thanks to Aunt Susan and Cousin Meggie who were willing to hang out in the water with her. Caious played tennis as often as he could get a partner. Ellie and Andrew swam and played tennis, but only when we wouldn't let them watch any more t.v.

Bill took a day off and explored Zion National Park with us. It was a great vacation. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

The Power of Marketing . . .

2008-05-11T14:46:00.002-06:00

As I mentioned before, I considered the book signing tickets and 630 page book my Mother's Day gift. (Bill had other ideas, but more on that later.)
While I was driving home Ellie and I had the following conversation:
E: "Is that book your Mother's Day present?"
Me: "Yes. I am very excited about it."
E: "I don't think it's a very good present. You should go to Jared's."
Me: "What? What's Jared's?"
E: "I don't know. But they have the best diamonds."
Me: "What makes you say that?"
E: "A commercial said it. And you don't have very much jewelry. People who wear jewelry look beautiful and you look . . . not so beautiful. You need to go to Jared's."

I didn't go to Jared's. I am okay with not being so beautiful. But I did get an additional mother's day gift: a Roomba - it's a robotic vacuum. I have wanted one for years. This one even cleans hard floors. I am very excited to give my mop a rest.

P.S. I am almost finished reading "The Host". A very good book. I can't wait to hear Stephenie Meyers talk about why she wrote it.

Victory!

2008-05-06T14:44:00.006-06:00

I am a fan of Stephenie Meyer. There. I said it. I have read all of the books in the Twilight series and found them entertaining. So when I discovered she would be at a book discussion/signing right near my home, I thought I'd like to go. All I had to do was buy a ticket to the event along with a book at the Borders bookstore in Provo. Easy enough.

Or so I thought until I called the store and learned that:
1. Tickets and books were going on sale at 8 a.m. May 6 (today).
2. The store had 500 tickets to sale. No more no less.
3. The store would not limit the number of tickets purchased by an individual . . . as long it accompanied a book.
4. People were coming from all over to buy tickets.
5. Borders Bookstore employees expected long lines outside the door long before 8 a.m. May 6.

Even though the odds were against me, I decided to try to buy a ticket. What is the worst that could happen? I spend a few minutes in line only to be turned away. I could still buy a book and have a good read. I decided it was worth a try. If I was sucessful, I would call it my Mother's Day gift. Bill thought that was a great idea.

So I dropped the older children off at school and headed to Provo. Ellie Brianna and I arrived at approximately 8:10 a.m. and stood at the end line behind about 200 people. Some of whom were putting away tents and rolling up sleeping bags.

We waited patiently for about an hour (aiming dirty looks at people who came out with more than two books - especially the 11-year-old girl who drove by sticking out of the sun roof holding her book high, yelling in triumph. Show off. I hope the book gives her nightmares) when the news came down the line "only 100 tickets left".

I considered packing my freezing little girls back in to the car and giving up. Listening to Stephenie Meyers would surely be a great way to spend an evening, but she will surely write more books and I can try again during the next book tour. I am not as die hard a fan as the woman who's license plate read "TWILIGHT". But since I had waited that long, I thought I would at least get a book if I couldn't get a ticket.

As the title of this blog suggests, I got both a book and ticket. In fact I got tickets #480 and #481 out of the 500 tickets available. (I don't want to go alone. My friend Marianne said she would go with me and she wanted a book wether or not I got event tickets.) I am very happy about my luck today. Happy Mother's Day to me!

I have just started to read the book, I know a great deal of it takes place in the Sonoran Desert (a.k.a Tucson) reading it may asuage my Arizona "homesickness". It is her first novel targeted for adults. The premise is very intriguing to me. I will most likely post my opinion of it. Anyone want to read it and discuss it with me?

Seven Children for the Day

2008-04-29T13:01:00.012-06:00

I intended to create one post per child before beginning any other topics. But that clearly didn't happen. Caious is writing an autobiography for school. When it is finished, I will post the best parts.
Until then I thought I recount the events of Spring Break.

I was lucky enough to be asked to watch my two nieces for the day. They are technically my grandnieces because their dad is my nephew, but I am only 4 years older than he is, so it just easier to refer to them as nieces.

The Princess is 5 years old and loves, dancing, drama and everything pink. Almost exactly the opposite of Ellie. The Baby is 4 moths old and the happiest, most content little sweetheart I have ever met. She only cried when she was hungry (or when Brianna kicked her . . . sorry about that). I learned quite a few things that day.

Number one: caring for an infant is much easier after a good night's sleep.

Number Two: More children means more playmates. All of the children had a great time playing games together.

Katiti was a pro at feeding and cuddling The Baby.

Suddenly, I was not bombarded with complaints of "I'm bored" or "Can I play on the computer" or " Can we watch t.v?" or "MOM!" I didn't need to referee, entertain or administer punishment (aside from the aforementioned head-kicking incident). My main responsibility was keeping tummies full and diapers clean. I was more than happy to comply.

Number three:
This

Equals This:

As unbelievable as it may seem, once the little ones went to sleep the rest of us cleaned the basement and (for the first time ever) organized the toys. With that huge project out of the way and bananas rotting on the counter, The Princess and I made yummy banana bread for a snack. She is quite the baker.

It was a good day. I know it was a pain for my nephew to drive all the way to our home to drop his little girls off, but we hope we get to play with them again.

Happy Earth Day

2008-04-22T14:00:00.003-06:00

So . . . on earth day I thought I'd find out if baking soda and 1/2 lime could clean as well as the cleaner I usually use. Also, I wondered if it would be easier on my hands than the harsh chemicals.
The answer is yes . . . and no. But at least I tried something different. The bathroom seems about as clean. I must say the lime was a refreshing scent and the baking soda was very easy to rinse. But sadly my hands are still a rough, cracked mess.
At least I tried . . .

The Great Andrewski

2008-04-10T18:10:00.011-06:00

Andrew was star of the week in his class. Here is what he told the class about himself:

My name is Andrew. I also go by Drew, DrewBob, DrewBert, Drewbie and The Great Andrewski.

I was born in Missouri.

My family moved from Missouri to Boston when I was 3½ years old.

I attended preschool at Harvard.

I loved to canoe the Charles River in Boston.

My family has five children in it. I am right in the middle. I have one brother, Caious (9) and three sisters Kaiti (11), Ellie (4) and Brianna (1½).

When I was 5½ we moved to Tucson, Arizona.
We hiked in the mountains and visited the Arizona, Sonoran Desert museum a lot.

I used to have a sweet tooth, but it fell out. Even though I have had lots of trips to the dentist, I still love to eat sweets.

We moved to Utah in February when I was 7½.
I love living in Utah because I get to see my Grandpa and Grandma a lot. My grandpa let’s me help him with his horses and cows. Sometimes he pulls me on a sled behind his tractor. It is so much fun.

I am very athletic. I like to play soccer and t-ball. I like to ride my bike. I like to play in the snow, which is lucky because we have a lot of snow in Utah.

When I grow up, I want to be a missionary
and then a pilot. When I am done doing those
things, I’ll be an otolaryngologist – a specialist
on the ears, nose and throat!

Marching to the Beat of Her Own Drum

2008-04-03T13:10:00.007-06:00

For such a petite little pixie, E does not like "cute things" (frilly dresses, princesses . . .) only "cool stuff" (Superman, Spiderman, Cars, trucks . . .). It is a rare day when I get her to agree to have her hair styled in anything other than the required pony-tail-to-keep-the-hair-out-of-your-face. She has her own ideas of what looks good and what doesn't. She is a big fan of shorts, shades and snow boots (Grandma asks how I can let her go to preschool like that. I am just happy she is dressed.)

Here are a few examples of outfits she has put together herself.

She loves her cowboy boots and overalls. Both hand-me-downs. She would wear them everyday if I didn't insist that she put clean clothes on for preschool. One day I was lucky, and she let me do her hair a "cool" way we saw on a little girl in Wal-Mart.

notice the overalls

Her willingness to have her hair done inspired "That Baby" to ask for her hair to be styled also. I could only get a little ponytail holder in the top, we think she is a cute fountainhead.

You have to look closely, but the hair is there.

WOW!

2008-03-31T18:58:00.002-06:00

This blog is totally AWESOME! I love the concept and look forward to viewing it again and again.
Love you!
B

"Bri Bri Did It!"

2008-03-31T18:03:00.006-06:00

That Baby, as she is affectionately known, is very cute and prone to trouble.

Whether she is dumping out all of the minute rice or scattering peanuts across the kitchen, she is constantly searching for a new adventure.

One of her favorite places to "play" is the dryer. Much to her mother's horror. She hasn't attempted to climb into it lately. Possibly because she has been occupied with other activities including but not limited to:

drawing on the walls
dumping nail polish on the carpet (OxyClean works!),
pouring an entire bottle of bubbles on her brother's floor
decorating Aunt Patti's folding chairs with marker
eating all of the "tasty" cough drops (to be fair, her sister helped with that one)
applying lipstick to her face, shirt and Dad's office.

Whenever a mess is been made and we ask for the responsible party to confess we often hear "Bri, Bri did it." She usually did.

We are hoping this is a phase she will soon out grow.

Pre-Easter Par-tay

2008-03-22T17:23:00.001-06:00

One of the best things about Easter in Utah is the pre-Easter party at the Hardway Ranch (motto: "to big for a shovel, to small for a plow, so you have to do it that hard way"). Grandpa Buddy builds a big bonfire, to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Everyone brings something to share . . . Jell-O beans are always a big hit, so are chips and cookies. Crazy-Cousin-Shawn made some sort of pickled eggs that had onions, peppers and baby corncobs in it. People who tried it really liked it, I wasn't brave enough to try.

Activities include:

Dying more than five dozen eggs

A pinata

A massive Easter egg hunt involving more than 300 plastic eggs (legend has it that eggs have been found well into the summer -- thank you Aunt Patti)

And the highlight of the day . . .

horse-back riding

This year a record 72 people came. Grandma informs me that 17 of the attendees were my family or guests of my family. I'm not sure if that was a compliment or criticism. But we appreciate our friends coming to spend the afternoon with us.

Playground Fun

2008-03-21T19:10:00.002-06:00

Our good friends from Arizona came to see us for an afternoon. We went to the Purple Turtle (a legendary fast food establishment a few miles away) for ice cream and bigger-than-one-person-should-consume shakes. Then we took the children to a fabulous park to expend all of that energy.

They had a great time and we are very glad they came to see us. The only downside is that we realized how much we missed playing with them! I hope to have more visitors soon.

Greetings!

2008-03-20T11:32:00.008-06:00

I am attempting to enter the ranks of the cool people I know who all seem to have blogs. (They know who they are. )
Aside from trying to appear cool, I have an ulterior motive in creating this: I don’t scrapbook.
I have the fancy paper, the special pens, acid-free stickers, plus boxes and boxes of photos just waiting to be displayed attractively. I can’t make myself actually create a scrapbook. My hope (wish) is that one day blog pages will easily convert to scrapbook pages. So, until that day, I will use this as a place to put my photos that otherwise would be stuck in a box or on a hard drive. At least putting them here will give them a chance to see the light of day.
I have a lot of catching up to do. The first few posts will most likely be of past events. Those of you who know us will get to relive those magical moments all over again.

2008-03-17T22:20:00.003-06:00