adventures in the ville

Warm & Spooky

2011-10-29T23:45:00.000-07:00

Hi - I joined a quilt festival! Check out this link

to see lots of other fun quilts: http://amyscreativeside.com/

I had a little extra time this summer - OK, LOTS of extra down time in bed waiting for my foot to heal. So what did I do? I learned to embroider. I actually finished this quilt a few months ago but I was lazy, um, no I was just waiting for the right time to post it.

So, by popular demand (by one friend - but hey, she's popular), here's the skeleton quilt!

This is the first time I've ever made up my own pattern. The blocks were easy, but the skeleton faces were not. I based them on a pair of pajama pants I got at Target a few years ago. Really! See if you can find them in this post.

I ironed on the white skulls first and then all other fabrics before I got busy embroidering. The ironing is not permanent - sad - so everything had to be stitched on. Sure I could have used the sewing machine but apparently I was feeling up for a challenge. It took a long, long time, but hey, I had plenty of that. My mom taught me a few stitches when I was a kid but I didn't really remember them so I found some good tutorials online, none of which I can remember right now. If you want them, let me know. I can search again.

And here's a lovely close up of some of my favorites. I gave all the skeletons names, by the way. Can you guess which one I called Bret Michaels?

And because I still had more healing time I did a crazy back. I love this one too. Isn't there a book about an elephant that looks something like this?

I just googled "patchwork elephant" and look what I found. Who knew I took inspiration from colorful jungle animals as well as pajamas?

Finally, here's the binding. This might be one of my favorite parts of the quilt. A good orange polka dot might be my new signature fabric.

So that's the quilt. I hope you enjoyed it. I'd love to make you one but then I've have to break my foot again and considering the fact that it's still not all the way healed from the first break I'll have to pass.

One more time!

2011-08-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

And now it's the first day of school for the big sisters!

Happy 3rd grade to Emily and happy 1st to Molly.

I think Molly made it out the door without eating breakfast and I know I didn't remind them to pack their snacks. Oh well. It's a learning process for the mom too.

Now I'm all alone. I think I'll take a nap.

First day of schoolS

2011-08-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

That's right - school plural. Today Heidi went to two different schools!

She started the day at Ms. Cathy's school and was so happy to see her preschool friends again. After we picked her up we took her to Ms. Ronnie's school for some more fun.

I swear, you have never seen a kid more excited for the first day of school. It was like Christmas over here! I hope she's still as excited when she comes home in a few hours.

3 months of fun in 1 week

2011-08-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

I had big plans for the summer. Not everything worked out just how I'd hoped so when the whole group got to sneak away for the week we had to jam all the fun in at once. Oh, it was fun, that's for sure!

Heidi has to take her job as the driver more seriously if she wants to medal. I hope Molly has been working on her quad strength.

We found an art festival with face painters. Emily was not in the mood for butterfly eyes so Scott took her place. Oh la la.

The girls' favorite part of the week was the dance camp. My cousin has a dance studio and the girls have participated for the last two years. There wasn't even a thought that we wouldn't go back because - and I am not kidding - the girls asked if it was time to sign up at least two times a week for an entire year.

We went catch-and-release fishing in my aunt and uncle's backyard pond. This was a BIG hit. None of the girls had been fishing before and since the pond was stocked they each caught something within 30 seconds.

Here's Heidi "gently patting" her fish just the way I asked her to.

When it was time to release, Molly wasn't even grossed out! She just scooped up the fish and tossed it back in the pond.

Emily's Mega-Koi was a little trickier to pick up. We hope this one is still alive after the very exciting toss back into its home that Emily gave it.

We also hit the Hogle Zoo. There's a lot of construction going on right now so they brought in dinosaurs to keep the visitors entertained. As you can see, we were completely entertained.

On the last day we took the Snowbird tram to the top of the mountains. The ville is a pretty nice place, but I could handle having this scenery around me every day.

Catch Up

2011-07-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

A wise woman once told me the reason she sleeps with a water bottle is so she can rehydrate all night long. "Otherwise," she said, "you're just playing catch-up all day long." This would just make me need to use the bathroom all night long, but whatever. Also, I think it's hilarious and every time I think that I need to catch up on something I always think of that story and giggle.

Anyway, here's three months worth of fun in one spectacular post!

Last time we left off I was in the ER. It turns out I chipped bones, messed up my joints and my ligaments. NEVER jump off a 6-foot fence onto concrete while wearing Converse. I think part of my problem was that I'd just listened to a really interesting podcast about Parkour and thought I could do it. Sure, I landed like a cat . . . a cat with osteoporosis.

And here's what happened immediately after I hurt my foot - Molly's birthday party! Gees, I couldn't very well skip the party and go to the ER. Molly, please forgive me for putting your cake on a cutting board and not making it very fancy. I was kind of in pain. I don't think the kids really cared. They had fun and that's the goal, right?

10 days later is was Scott's birthday! We celebrated with breakfast foods and an ice cream cake on Justin Bieber plates. That was Heidi's choice. He didn't want to let on, but I could really tell that Scott was excited about those plates.

A few days later Molly was "Big Bertha Lee" in her Kindergarten play. BBL is supposed to be the loud boss of the goat group. Good casting, Mrs. DiBlasio.

Then it was time for a makeover. Here's the before photo. Say adios to the hair which was actually long enough to donate. Say goodbye to the un-pierced ears too. Ooh, it was an exciting day.

Ta-dah! Here's the after photo. Looking good, Emily. Oh, and happy birthday to you!

Next Heidi graduated from preschool. Since it was only the first year she has another year to go before Kindergarten. She has decided it's time to start Kindergarten anyway. School starts for her in 18 days (yes, I'm counting) so I guess she'll figure it out soon enough.

Being 8 means baptism in our family. Congratulations Emily!

Ah yes, by now I'd had my first of two foot surgeries. That's right, I signed my own cast - anesthesia makes me a little loopy and I didn't want to forget my name. We've been trying to have an exciting summer around here. Things just take a little (OK, a lot) longer.

All the girls did well in swimming lessons this summer! Molly discovered that goggles make swimming fun. Emily discovered that she's a great swimmer and Heidi discovered that I wasn't kidding when I said that the teacher would help her go underwater and it wouldn't be scary. Whew! Great job, girls!

Suddenly it was time for dance recitals again. Heidi loved, loved her costume and if it hadn't been itchy she would still be wearing it.

Scott calls this the Toddlers and Tiaras photo.

I'm a little freaked out by this one. I swear she's only 8. I guess it's good to be tall. I looked like I was 8 until I was 15.

Tomorrow is my next foot surgery, so we've been packing in the fun. Yesterday we went to our favorite cupcake bakery. The girls all picked the root beer float cupcake. It looked cute but was kind of gross. Oh well. By the way, yes, Molly is wearing a dance costume to the bakery and yes, she was wearing a swimsuit at her birthday party. Fashion is her passion.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

This is the last time I say all I want to do for Mother's Day is lie in bed and relax all day.

Luckily Emily saved the day for Flat Jenny who still wanted to race this morning.

Spring break - wooooo!

2011-04-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

Now that's a lot of grandkids.

Can you put the right siblings together?

Here's a hint. Mine are all girls

Here's another hint. The other two families have 3 boys each.

Who's ready?

2011-04-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

Ready for what? Are you kidding me?

The Royal Wedding, of course.

My kids don't really have a choice whether or not to be ready. I got up in the middle of the night (at least it seemed that way) 30 years ago to watch the last big wedding and I'm not missing this one either. I live for this kind of stuff. I can't help it. It's my heritage and without major orthodontic work (Twice! Fun!) and some serious hair products I'd still fit right in.

Tonight the girls and I started planning our wedding day breakfast. Thanks to the magic of the DVR we're starting at 6 instead of 4 although I have a feeling that Emily wouldn't mind 4 so much. She wakes up so early! I wanted to plan some tasty treats, of which there are many, by the way, but the girls just wanted to plan their outfits.

So here's Emily in my wedding dress, Heidi in Molly's old Easter dress and Molly in Emily's old Easter dress. We are all about recycling in this family. Can you guess where the girls are? (Hint, it's not really my front hall.)

Molly wanted in on the wedding dress action too. It's a good thing her legs are 4 feet long. It seems to fit perfectly. I also tried on the dress. That was a fun exercise in shallow breathing. I think my rib cage has expanded greatly in the last 15 years.

To cap off the planning, we hit Baskin Robbins. Tonight was 31 cent scoop night and who can say no to that? We even got to take a tour of a fire truck that was parked outside. Notice that two girls are still in their wedding finery. Look carefully. Molly went all out and even wore nylons! Now that's fancy.

Yep, still alive

2011-04-09T18:59:00.001-07:00

Hi. It's been a while. You may think we went back into time to 1996 and have dial-up and the updates are still loading. Thankfully, no. We've just been buuuuusy.

Here's a quick update.

Heidi and Charlotte (her sister who doesn't live with us) had their first sleepover. They actually went to sleep and STAYED asleep all night long.

We caught a Girl Scout cookie-eating gnome in one of our leprechaun traps. How did that happen?

We had our annual St. Patty's Day fingernail painting party before bed on the 16th. That way incase something horrible happened to our green jammies and they turned pink we would still be safe from leprechaun pinching.

Also, Emily seems to have grown about six inches. When Scott folds the laundry he is having trouble figuring out if pants belong to Emily or to me. The length is getting pretty similar (the rest is a different story).

Molly lost all of her teeth at once. She looks a little like a vampire, which is OK since they are so hot right now. She also started Karate. Maybe there's a correlation here?

And here we all at Molly's karate belt test last night. Congratulations to the orange & white belt!

PS - For all of you runners and walkers, check out The Adventures of Flat Jenny. Feel free to join in on the fun! Take Jenny around your neighborhood and post your own adventures.

Save your money!

2011-03-10T07:20:00.001-08:00

I was hoping this would be the miracle cure to my curly hair.

I saved up my coupons, bought it and rushed home to try John Frieda's 3-day straight. I used the product exactly as directed and had straight hair. Well, I usually have straight hair during the day anyway since I know how to use a blow dryer. Now that's a handy life skill!

I expected these results.

Unfortunately, I woke up to this. Again.

At least I am not vain.

Inaction '11

2011-01-21T09:01:00.000-08:00

3 for 3 have the flu around here.

This is what we'll be doing today in case you want to come over.

Good Hair

2011-01-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago Heidi got a hair cut. Her "before" hair was shoulder length but kind of ratty looking. It didn't help that she liked to put it in her mouth all the time. The "after" hair looks much healthier - and it isn't long enough for her to suck.

Heidi was TICKED after she got this new haircut. We'd just seen Tangled and apparently Heidi was hoping to have the stylist give her Rapunzel hair. Luckily I convinced her that she did have Rapunzel hair. (SPOILER ALERT) Her hair now looks just Rapunzel's does at the end of the movie. That helped a lot, but she was still disappointed that it wasn't long enough to toss out the second story of the house.

Cut to a few weeks later. Heidi wants to wear her Mexican dress to school. Everything was great until she told me she wanted braids. I tried. Really, I did. But the little braid nubs did not pass the test. She was so sad and told me she wished I could put long braids on her head.

Ah hah!

I knew just what to do! I gave Heidi extensions! I took out my trusty orange yarn that has popped up in other blog posts and did a quick little fix right before we had to run out the door.

It didn't seem to bother Heidi that she had orange braids. She thought they were great and kept them in all day. This was a big deal. She never keeps hair accessories in all day! I guess I'll have to find some tan yarn to make some fancier braids. I have a feeling she's going to need them for a few more months.

UPDATE

I found just the right yarn for slightly more realistic braids.

Look for them on a four-year old near you.

Sleep in heavenly peace (and in new jammies too)

2010-12-25T15:24:00.000-08:00

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Christmas dancers

2010-12-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

We've been busy dancing up a storm around here! (Is that why it has been raining so much?) Get ready for a shower of cuteness!

Heidi was an ornament on the Who's tree. Some of the kids were candies, some were stars, some were bells and some were little trees. Heidi's favorite was the tree costume - it turns out that all the girls love the tree costume and had to take turns practicing in it. How lucky that it turned out that she got to be a tree! A few minutes later when she came out for the curtain call she ended up in a candy costume. I guess someone else got their turn to be a tree.

Molly was a stocking. At first she was NOT happy about this. The stockings were plain red and white, which, I'm told, was "BOOOOORING!" Luckily there was a little embellishment before the big show and the costumes were a lot more exciting for Molly. (They were a lot more itchy too. One boy in another performance who was not a big fan made sure every one knew he didn't like the fur around his head.)

Have you ever seen a cuter bunch of fake-Japanese girls? Emily and her dance group did such a great job at their show too! Unfortunately the song was so catchy we still can't get it out of our heads. Cha cha cha!

Party on!

2010-12-18T15:41:00.000-08:00

Guess who's four?

I'll give you a hint:

She's nicer already than when she was three.
She willingly shares her toys with her sisters.
She loves to play with friends.
She's great dancer, name speller and seatbelt buckler

Did you give up?

It's Heidi!

Happy birthday to you!

Don't you love the cupcakes? I watched the princesses frost them and I decided I wasn't so hungry for one after all. I really do love the melting look though.

The BEST park in San Francisco

2010-11-24T18:00:00.000-08:00

We went to San Francisco the other day. We drove around a bit, saw some fun things, drank fancy hot chocolate, etc. You know, the usual.

As we were getting ready to leave, Emily got really sad. "You mean we aren't going to that fun park?" We weren't quite sure what she meant. Luckily she reminded us that one time when we visited SF we went to a really, really fun park by the water. Then Scott remembered what it was . . .

the warm-up court in the Marina District.

The kids were so jazzed to play on this "playground" you would have thought we'd driven to Disneyland. We were there for at least an hour. Really!

Heidi was happy.

She even smiled for the camera. (Unfortunately she would NOT do that for the Christmas card photo shoot earlier - grrrr. Look for a card with a girl doing gang signs and making crazy faces. Yep, she's mine.)

Molly was happy.

I love this coat. It makes her look like the most fashion-forward Jawa in Tatooine.

Emily was thrilled!

Mollahontas

2010-11-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

Last week the Kindergartners had their annual Thanksgiving Feast. The food was, um, good but the kids were great! I loved listening to all their fun songs and seeing their costumes!

Getting ready for the feast was a lot of hard work for the kids and their teachers. Molly was exhausted from all the preparation. Apparently she was so tired she made everyone else who came to our house tired too.

The babysitter was exhausted just hearing about it.

Note to self:

2010-11-22T22:15:00.001-08:00

Here's a tip for dressing your daughter for church. If the crotch of the tights come BELOW the bottom of the dress, she is not wearing a dress. She is wearing a shirt.

Next time be sure to notice this BEFORE the second hour of church.

In my defense, it used to be a dress.

Running away from the girls

2010-11-13T15:55:00.000-08:00

Scott and I escaped to Santa Barbara last weekend, not for a little R & R, but for pretty much the opposite reason. Scott ran his 3rd marathon! Amazingly enough, he beat his best time by 18 minutes and qualified for the Boston Marathon in the women's division. I raced too - but Scott is more fun to brag about.

While we were gone the girls went to stay with their cousins. I'm not sure what it looked like at their house but I have a pretty good idea anyway. Two weeks ago the cousins came to our house to sleepover.

These three played Sardines . . .

while these two made a fort and camped out underneath.

Why do we even buy separate beds?

So much for pets

2010-11-12T15:42:00.001-08:00

Merliah, the hippy (who grew out of her costume since we bought it) and Belle went to the church Halloween party.

They won some fish and named them Nemo, Sparkles and Goldie. I've heard stories of goldfish that live for two years. Yeah, good one. Luckily I warned the girls that goldfish only live for a few weeks. I gave them this extra short time span so they wouldn't be disappointed when they died.

Here they are in action.

The next day two of them Goldie and Nemo were not very active any more. By that night Sparkles joined the party in the toilet bowl. Oh well. At least we still have plenty of candy.

Exhausting the children

2010-10-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

First, take them to a family reunion in Southern California. Oh yes, that's pretty fun. Plus, hanging out with the cousins all day for a week will ensure deep sleep for everyone.

But to really wear them out,

take them to Disneyland!

You can try Splash Mountain, but don't sit in the front. You will get really wet. Trust me. I have "a friend" who found out the hard way.

Then look for the Kindergarten class mascot in the gift shops.

Even if your three-year old is tall enough to go on Big Thunder Mountain and begs to go, don't take her. She will not like it. (Not all grandmothers like Tower of Terror either - weird.)

If the seven and eight-year old cousins want to go on their first upside-down roller coaster together, let them. It gives their moms in the car right in front of them an extra bit of adrenaline.

Skip Playhouse Disney if you are over 4.

(Do those guys look like brothers or what?)

At the end of the day, be sure to have a strong dad.

If he is a superstar that will help.

When you finish your days at Disney, do your homework.

Now that's what I call a great trip. Thanks for the fun, everyone!

Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters!

2010-10-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

Before we go to bed we always check on the girls and re-tuck them in their beds. Lately we've had to search for them because they move - a lot - like, into different rooms.

The first time we found them all snuggled up they were in Emily's room. She has a double bed but they were all on one side! They actually slept like this all night long.

It was pretty cute, but not as cute as . . .

the night when they Charlie and the Chocolate Factoried themselves. Can you even find three girls in there? Three girls in a twin bunkbed is pretty impressive. They are really good at playing Sardines, by the way.

8 is great!

2010-10-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

No, no one in the family turned eight. It was our eighth annual pumpkin patch trip with the Workmans. To be perfectly honest, this is not the easiest way to buy pumpkins. The prices have gone up (WAY up), it's not close, and it's usually super hot when we go. That's OK. We usually get some cute photos along with some pumpkins and it is never, ever boring with C&G+5 around.

There must have been a strong wind when I took this one.

This was the best photo we got of all 38 of our kids. How many of you are lucky enough to get to wear shorts and flip flops to your pumpkin distribution centers? Please, come visit when you get tired of the snow.

We were so roasting hot after picking our pumpkins that we decided to cool off with a nice ice cream cone at Rite Aid. Yes, Rite Aid. They are extra cheap and really, really big there - and that's just what we were looking for.

This is the best photo of our family I've seen in a year - and it's of us sitting against the wall at Rite Aid after sweating to death at the pumpkin patch. We need to take more family photos.

Superstar!

2010-10-26T19:56:00.000-07:00

We've already established that Scott is a superstar. How super is he now? He's so super he's half-way made of iron!

After a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile run he was still smiling. Wow! He says he might be done with that race but I've heard that before. In just over a week he'll be running his third marathon.

Who knew I'd married such an athlete? I didn't. Scott didn't know it either. My husband is a superstar and I love him. You know what - he loves me too, even if I pose like I'm in the Mrs. South Placer County pageant in his finish photos. That's love.

Oh, so festive!

2010-09-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

We took the girls to the Scottish Festival again this year.

We saw some of this.

This kind of weirds me out, by the way. I did like the Roman section though but I'm not sure why the Romans were there in the first place. Hello, remember Hadrian's Wall - they built it to keep the Scots out of Roman Britain. How soon they forget . . . anyway. I got to throw a spear in their camp and I was really good at it.

We also watched the strong man festival. They were not so impressive. They were mostly just, how to do you say it politely, round. The strong women were awesome - not round, just buff - and fun to watch! Emily is planning to compete next year.

Heidi and Molly agreed that the shave ice was the best part of the festival. Dying the tongue is always a fun and festive event. Also, shave ice stops the whining.

I love how this kid is looking at these guys like they're nuts and the nuts are giving the kid on a leash the same look.

Next year we're getting Scott a kilt.

We tried to exhaust her

2010-09-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

Ayuka came to our house last weekend. Her school did a week-long tour of California. OK, not all of California. She got to see San Francisco and Universal Studios in LA. Just the staples I guess. Luckily for us, there was also a homestay program so the students could live with American families. She was only at our house for 36 hours and we did our best to give her a homestay to remember - or at least to help her be thankful she's Japanese.

As soon as we picked her up we took her right out to get a hamburger. In her questions about America she wrote, "Will Americans eat hamburgers all the time?" Yes, dear Japanese student. We do. We especially like them with bacon because bacon is like a little hug from God.

We've got spirit, how about you?!

Next we took her to see American teenagers in action - the local HS football game! I had some friends who brought their Japanese students too so we all sat together. I wish, wish I could speak Japanese because I would have loved to hear their true reactions. All of the students were very polite and I really couldn't tell if they were having fun or not. They just smiled and nodded a lot when I asked them questions. I'm going to take that as a yes, it was fun.

This photo was taken on the first cold day of the year. I'm starting to think it was also the last cold day of the year. Whew! I'm roasting here! Also, can you see that Heidi was profoundly influenced by Mugatu's final collection?

The next morning we took Ayuka to go see some California produce. Every time I go to Denios I kick myself for having been away for so long. I LOVE the produce section. You can find all kinds of things you pay double for at the grocery store AND then lots of freaky looking Mexican and Asian fruits and vegetables you can't find anywhere else. Come over. I'll take you. It's been too long already.

The rest of the day we wore poor Ayuka out by taking her to the mall, going miniature golfing and best of all, we sent her with some friends to go to a Stake Dance! I think she had fun. Again, there was lots of smiling and nodding, so who knows. I know she liked the Sonic drink she came back with.

Sayonara, Japanese kids! We'll see you next August!

So I guess it's fall . . .

2010-08-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

I have a hard time with the first day of school in CA. When I was a kid it FELT like fall. The leaves were changing color and the long pants and the sweater your mom bought you were actually weather appropriate. Today was 107 and I don't think the traditional Minnesotan back-to-school outfit was on anyone's body.

My kids are Californians. Yeah for new traditions!

Since I made Heidi a new school dress the other girls decided they wanted one too. Molly's is a cupcake dress and Emily's has Japanese dolls on them. She's all about Japan these days. Really. This week a Japanese exchange student is coming over and she can't wait. Notice that Heidi is still wearing her school dress (but the reverse side of the last time it appeared on the blog). She has been to school three days and has worn that dress three times. I wonder when she'll want to wear something else. (Also, that reminds me, I have to go change the washing so I can get the dress out for tomorrow. Done. Isn't it fun to do chores together?)

Check this kid out! She looks so grown up to me! She's in second grade and I cannot believe it. We are so excited about her teacher and her classmates. I asked Emily what she wants to learn this year and she told me "cursive and multiplication". OK then, here's to a year filled with cursive and multiplication!

Cute little Molls started Kindergarten today. She has the same teacher Emily had and we couldn't be happier about that. When Molly went into the classroom she sat right down on the rug. Apparently she didn't want to waste time coloring or playing little games. She was ready to get down to business. She has lots of cute friends in her class and gets excited to talk with them. I hope that she will learn to NOT talk for at least part of the day.

Happy fall!

Cubs in the Woods

2010-08-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

Scott and I, along with Uncle Whit, Uncle Mike & the famous Savannah went camping last weekend. At first I was really hesitant to leave Heidi but Scott convinced me that backpacking is different than car camping. Aside from Girls Camp, I haven't had a lot of camping experience, but you know, he was right - there is a difference! Heidi had more fun with the cousins and grandparents anyway. They went to McDonald's for breakfast.

Scott, Emily, P, Molly and Q getting ready for the 2 mile hike.

Here's Molly pretending to be a turtle.

Emily decided to get up with the sun so instead of waking up the other kids, she and I went on an adventure. We ate our breakfast (not McDonald's) by the river. Do you recognize the jammies?

Have you ever seen kids happier to be in a tent? We might have to do this again soon.

3 of 3

2010-08-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, Emily started preschool at Cathy's house.

She LOVED it.

So did Molly.

Heidi couldn't wait to start too . . .

and today was the BIG day!

Happy first day of big kid preschool to cute little Heidi!

76 days to go

2010-08-16T17:59:00.000-07:00

We went to Costco today.

Costco tends to have seasonal things ready to go waaay before the season actually begins. I didn't see Christmas trees today but we did see Halloween costumes!

Belle, a groovy girl (who kind of dresses like Blossom) and Merliah are ready for Fall. Good news girls - Halloween is only 76 days away.

Oh, so salty!

2010-08-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

Haven't you always wanted to go to the Bonneville Salt Flats Rest Area on I-80? OK, maybe you haven't, but I have. It looks like another planet!

Unfortunately, it was so bright the girls thought it was like being on the sun. Oh well. We got back into the car and ate salty pretzels instead of standing on the salt.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

The Reward

2010-08-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

Any kid who climbs to Timpanogos Caves as quickly as Emily did deserves a treat.

Thank goodness there was a shave ice stand near the bottom.

Dear owner of this Hawaiian Ice stand. You were the best, and trust me, I sampled a lot during the trip. Please come to the ville. I will have all my friends addicted immediately.

Quilt on a Mountain

2010-08-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

Let's be honest, the scenery in the ville is not always so gorgeous. I have a super talented friend who is displays her quilts on her fence. She can't help that the background is lush and mountainy but I was a little jealous. I decided that I was tired of displaying my handiwork on the living room floor.

So this time when I finished my latest quilt, I brought it on vacation with me so it could have the mountains it deserves. After all, my ancestors moved from the UK to Utah. Shouldn't I move a little UK to UT?

Before I get to the quilt, how cute are these girls?

And now here's the latest summer obsession! I'd like to thank le tour de France for giving me hours of TV watching during July. I'd also like to thank my favorite youngest sister, Kristen, for standing on a chair as I yelled, "3 inches to the left, now up a bit more, etc," while taking these photos.

And because I am either a show-off or a glutton for punishment - or maybe both? - here's the back of the quilt. Hey, I had some left-overs. If you look carefully you can see my favorite part of the photo - Heidi sneaking into my aunt's storage barn through the window.

PC, UT

2010-08-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

I love Park City. On Valentine's Day, 1992 I was on a date with Scott. On the last run of the day (Isn't it always like that?) I hit a bump, crashed and broke my collarbone. Luckily I didn't scare Scott off. In fact, a little under five years later we were back at Park City on our honeymoon.

Before last week I'd never been on an alpine slide and for heavens sake, I thought it was time to do something about it. Everyone had a great time, including Aunt Kristen and Grandpa Ted. Heidi especially LOVED the ride on the chair lift. I did not love sitting next to her because she was so wiggly. It's too bad she has no fear - too bad for me.

Kristen and I loved the alpine coaster so much we went back the next day and did it again. While we were there it was sunny and beautiful and just how you'd imagine heaven.

We made it home just in time for a giant rainstorm.

Emily didn't mind running around - or even spinning - in her clothes.

Molly was a little more appropriately dressed. She didn't want to accidently get her eyes wet. Do you see what she's holding? HAIL! (Everyone now, pretend you're 9 again and say, "OH HAIL!" Does that bring back memories of being slightly naughty?) I was a little worried that they wanted to play in it but I figured they'd probably get out as soon as the hail started hurting. How often do we get to play in hail in the ville? Never, so I thought we should live it up.

This was actually a different day but I thought it was appropriate to show another kind of downpour here. At the Gateway Center there's a great fountain kids can play in. Every half hour some music comes on and kids go bananas because that means the fountains go bananas. I think Heidi liked it.

The Funny Farm

2010-08-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

The ville was way too hot, the girls were getting restless and we just needed a change of scenery for a while. My mom escapes AZ every summer and I thought I'd join her escape to UT. Another CA sister came too!

I went to UT nearly every summer as a kid and even went to BYU, but I never really appreciated how gorgeous everything is in the summer until this year. Why? I'm not sure, but I think it had something to do with having older kids (older is relative at our house) who can skip naps and do fun stuff. I loved hanging out with the girls and having great adventures.

Our first adventure was to Wheeler Farm. We grabbed Lola (the aunt dog) and Bear (the cousin dog) and went out to look at some animals.

Emily was a walking Wikipedia. She had a notebook that she had with her the whole trip. Every time she saw a different animal she wrote it down. By the end of the week we even added rattlesnake to the list. EEEKS!

Molly and Heidi decided to do a dog and pony show, but without the ponies. Those little dogs slept well every night, that's for sure.

My husband is a superhero

2010-08-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

Seriously.

A year ago Scott decided he might as well start running. It turns out he is a really good runner. Since he finished a few marathons pretty easily he thought ht might as well start training for something else. Next month he'll be in a HALF IRONMAN. Superhero.

A few weeks ago Scott and Emily went on a training ride together. He attached our trailing bike to his road bike and rode to his parent's house. It was not close. Apparently my daughter is also a superhero.

On Saturday, as I was driving back from Utah, Scott was in a triathlon. As if that wasn't exhausting enough, later that afternoon he decided to go with a friend on a 50 mile bike ride - the temple was "on the way" (not really) so they decided to get a photo op.

I am married to a very handsome superhero.

Poly Sci at McD

2010-07-13T23:35:00.000-07:00

Molly ordered a hamburger with pickles, apple dippers and chocolate milk for her Happy Meal today. From the signs in the restaurant I thought she was getting a Last Airbender toy.

She opened up the bag and got really excited.

"It's a Prime Minister of Malaysia Happy Meal!"

That's right. She thought her toy was a teeny-tiny replica of the Prime Minister of Malaysia . . .

as seen on Zoolander.

Maybe she picked up on more of that movie than I thought. Look for her to start busting out the Blue Steel in her Kindergarten photo this year.

WARNING - slightly scary looking photos!

2010-07-08T07:01:00.000-07:00

The other day Molly told me her tooth was loose. "Loose" was an understatement. That thing was about to fall out! I love pulling teeth. Check out the joy on my face in this post. Unfortunately Molly remembered my tooth-pulling skills and would not let me near her mouth. Smart girl.

Molly with a mouth full of teeth and one mean bug bite.

The next night for dinner we were having rice. Molly was worried that her tooth might fall out and get lost in the rice. Smart girl. There was a very good possibility of that happening. For the next hour or so she told me she'd have me pull her tooth before diner.

Just before dinner Molly wanted me to pull the tooth (!!!) and so I did. I was more excited about the possibility of a Tooth Fairy visit than a clean face in the photo. Molly had been eating some cherries pre-pulling. Apparently they exploded all over her face.

So when you admire the new hole in her mouth, please remember that cherries are in season and that no one needed a transfusion after losing her tooth.

The happiest kids on Earth

2010-07-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

Remember this? Well, Molly starts Kindergarten in the fall and last week was her turn for the great cousin adventure!

It started really, really well - or really, really poorly if you're anti eating ginormous shakes in the car and watching ipods for seven hours straight. Molly wanted "a big strawberry shake" so that's what I ordered her. When I was a kid large shakes were just enough to make you feel sick. I didn't realize McD had upgraded their sizes and the large was enough to feed the plus 8. Molly was thrilled!

Soon enough we met up with Colin, who in his one more month of life than Molly has absorbed everything you'll ever need to know about Bakugan. It was a great match, since Molly happens to be a Club Penguin master.

My mom was so excited to finally get to see her not-so-secret-anymore admirer in the flesh. Check out the name on his neck! (We tried so hard to get this photo. It took us several times around the Dumbo line to have him in front of us and take a not-too-obvious photo.)

Molly was tall enough for Space Mountain (YEAH - she loved it) but too small for California Screaming (YEAH - she was a little freaked out by the up-sidownness of the ride). Luckily I got to go. Can you guess how I feel about that ride?

Cousins love sharing.

(sometimes)

We finished off the trip with one of my favorite activities - jumping on the bed! It was lots of fun and a great success since M&C used up all their energy during the summer and will be able to sit quietly in class. (Right?)

We're the DANCERS

2010-07-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

It's summer, which means it's finally time for the dance recitals!

Get ready for cute.

Since the recitals are two weeks after school gets out, some of the kids opt out of dancing in them. Emily had only one other girl in her class in the recital and they did a DUET in front of everyone! I was so impressed and they both did a fantastic job. Emily loves dancing and is really talented. She may not like to go outside in the sun (vampire?) but she doesn't mind dancing under the hot lights.

Molly's class danced to Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head. It was a weird song with kind of (OK, not just kind of) weird choreography. Luckily Molly was cute and she points her toes really well.

Speaking of cute, look at Heidi in her old-fashioned swimming suit! She is doing "happy hands" in this photo. She practiced "happy hands" and lots of posing in preparation for the recital. We also know all the words to her song by heart. I think it paid off. Heidi was a superstar!

And one more for good measure. Emily's ballet class was cute but kind of small - and by small I mean tiny - and by tiny I mean everyone but Emily. By a fluke of scheduling Emily was the only blonde and was a head taller than everyone else. This turned out to be a good thing because she was really easy to find and she was so good that she stood out even more. Look for her on SYTYCD Season 18.

Stranded no more!

2010-06-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

Remember last year when we were stranded at the drive-in?

Heidi is showing of the Nutcracker face again.

It pays to have skills if you're stranded somewhere.

Apparently we have very persuasive friends, because we tried again. This time we were in line on a Thursday night ONE HOUR before the show was scheduled to start and hallelujah, we made it in!

Our very persuasive friends were happy to have made it inside also.

I would be willing to give a few suggestions to the owners to make the experience more enjoyable and, well, less scary and even a bit more hygienic. I don't think the owners care though, and really, isn't fear of diseases part of the experience of a drive-in theater anyway?

It was more exciting to be watching a movie in your car while wearing jammies than the actual movie was, but oh well. We can now cross that off the to-do list, and just in time! There's a sign on the screen facing the freeway that says, "STILL OPEN!" Last chance, everyone, before you have to wear real clothes to the movies.

The talented sisters of the ville

2010-06-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how she figured out how to do it on her own, but Molly can do cartwheels. Emily can't - yet, but really wants to now that the younger sister can do it. Heidi doesn't care about cartwheels but instead enjoys doing "nutcracker face" (see photo below).

Yesterday the girls were doing cartwheels in the living room.

Emily was upset.

Emily: Mom! Molly is only five and I am seven and I can't do cartwheels and Molly can!! Also, Molly said that Heidi's cartwheel was the worst one ever.

Me: Oh Molly, did you say that?

Molly: Yep.

Me: Why did you say that? That will hurt your sister's feelings.

Molly sighed, shrugged her shoulders and said: Hey Mom, everyone's got different talents.

I tried to keep a straight face.

At least they are all cute, even if they do have different talents.

Here Comes a Brownie

2010-06-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

When I was a Brownie I had a very cool shirt. On the front it said HERE COMES A BROWNIE and on the back it said THERE GOES A BROWNIE

I liked to wear it rollerskating.

Sadly, they don't make this particular shirt anymore, but if they did, I would give it to Emily

because today she became a Brownie!

Look out, here she comes!

Swim Lessons '10

2010-06-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

Who's excited for swim lessons?

Oh, not you Heidi?

Let's see if we can change your mind . . .

after the lollipops are passed out.

Congratulations!

2010-05-31T07:04:00.001-07:00

It's been a busy week here in the ville.

The first congratulations go to Emily, who celebrated her birthday at school on Monday by wearing a crown from her teacher and a jacket not-so willingly given by her mother, who also wanted to wear the same jacket. I gave in since it was her birthday, but I'm not caving next time.

Congratulations to Heidi, who graduated from pre-preschool! Heidi missed the school cut off by 10 days and this was the perfect option for her. We loved her school and her sweet teachers.

Then on to Molls . . .

who finished with Miss Cathy! Poor Molly was sick on Monday and was very, very nervous she wouldn't be able to be in the preschool program. She had me call her teacher and let her know that she was still planning to "graduate" on Wednesday. Whew! She made it. In August she'll be a true Kindergartner!

7 is magic!

2010-05-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to the first girl to occupy the bike seat.

Whether she's in the seat or riding a bike of her own,

she's our very favorite Emily.

Here's to another year of bikes, books, fashion frenzies, new teeth, longer legs, Target, dance, dance, dance, roller skating, ice skating, Brownies, sushi, exploring, adventures, etc, etc. We love you!

Cinco!

2010-05-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Y feliz cumpleanos to the tamale,

who today turns cinco!

Tonight we will be having black beans in her honor.

Crazy Day 2010

2010-05-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

About once a year (some might suggest much more frequently) I decide to do something totally crazy. Sometimes the things are harmless, like making an advanced-ability quilt with no prior quilting experience. Other times my decisions are just dumb. Take last July when I decided to "magnify my calling" by attending a church leadership meeting when I had clearly overdosed on pain medicine for my back. (Who thinks it's a coincidence that I had a new church job soon after that? Not me.)

This year's crazy thing started the day after the half-marathon. I decided to do another one - only 13 days after the first. Can I blame this on peer pressure because a bunch of my friends were running in this one? Since the hot weather is just around the corner I decided I NEEDED to do this next one and not only did I need to do it, but I thought it would be a great idea if the whole family got involved.

So we all joined in and had a great time! Scott ran a half (and bettered his last half by 12 minutes!), Emily did a mile and Molly and Heidi did a quarter-mile run. My walk was not so shabby either. Now, hold on to your hats and get ready for this - I WON. Out of all the walkers (600 of us who said we wouldn't even run one step) I came in 12th overall - men and women combined - and WON my age group!! Is that crazy? It's crazy.

By the way, is that not the cutest photo you've ever seen?

Don't think the craziness stops with the whole family running around all morning. It gets crazier. Instead of getting a large pizza and passing out on the bed (which I am still not admitting that I did) I got home from the race and a hour later I had a birthday party at the house!

It wasn't an ordinary party - it was a Hawaiian Princess Luau party and here is the hula-girl cake. Note to others who want to make a Barbie cake - you have to take Barbie's legs off first. I was kind of tired and tried to stick her in the cake without amputation and it didn't quite work. Her legs are taller than the entire cake. Luckily Barbie washed easily.

The only disappointment was that the frosting decided to slide off the cake! I kind of freaked out when I went to put it on the cake platter and realized what had happened. Sadly, I could not salvage the grass skirt look. I ended up frosting the whole thing and scoring it with a knife so it kind of looked like a grass skirt still. I don't think the kids even noticed the difference. I did, but remember, I'm crazy.

The party itself was a big success! I just wish I had remembered to take photos of the FRONT of the kids' heads. Oh well. Maybe I wasn't thinking clearly when it came to the photos, but at least I can honestly say I have not had any of that pain medication since last July.

Lo hicimos!

2010-04-20T18:52:00.001-07:00

This is the "before" photo.

It was taken in really good lighting (as you can tell by our yellow skin) at 5:30 am, just before Scott left for his race. Yes, another marathon. Who knew he was such a superstar? I had another hour to kill before leaving for my half-marathon. Yes, that's right. I joined in on the fun this time.

Last year I had a bunch of back/joint problems. While figuring out what was wrong with me, the doctors also found out I have osteoporosis. Really. What a fun bonus problem! So they gave be a big list of things I can't do anymore. Among other things, I can't ski, I can't play football and I can't run anymore. One doctor said, "For now you should just walk." I was ticked off for a few days - mostly about the skiing, but then thought, "Fine, dumb old-lady bones, I'll show you! I'll be the best walker there is."

I started training a few months ago and without looking like those crazy people you only see every four years on a 30-second Olympic speed walking clip I was able to do 13.1 miles in 2:37. It's a great average mile time and I beat my goal time by 2 minutes! I also beat people who RAN the whole way. (I'll bet they were frustrated.)

There is no "after" picture.

I don't know how Scott did it. I was completely spent and I only did half what he did. If there had been an after photo, it might have involved lying in bed and chowing down on a large a pizza we picked up on the way home from the race. I'm not saying that's what happened, but there's a very good chance of that. It might have been from Round Table and it might have been delicious and topped with calcium-rich cheese.

Arizona Countdown - 2010

2010-04-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

8 cousins

(Our family brings the GIRL POWER!)

7 flying leaps over the fountains

(Probably more, but you know, I had to make the number pattern work.)

6 colors in the rainbow cupcakes

(Which, I realize, are not accurately represented in this photo.)

5 really messy dyed fingers

(Actually, 50 - 10 for each kid who dyed eggs.)

4 cousins on a volcano

(It was really a tree stump but Heidi was sure it was a volcano.)

3 girls in jammies ready for an egg hunt

(Yes, Heidi wore a ballet outfit and Molly wore a t-shirt and jorts to bed.)

2 circus performers

(Emily had the best view of all the hidden eggs.)

1 frosting thief

(Do I need to say anything else?)

Miss Granger, I presume

2010-03-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

Our school doesn't have a dress-up Halloween. In fact it's not even called Halloween. They call it Black and Orange Day. I'm not complaining. I'm just stating facts. So when Emily heard today was Book Character Day she was very, very excited.

Here she is looking like a Rasta girl.

And now here she is looking CRAZY!

And now here she is heading to Hogwarts.

Hermione wishes she were this cute.

Meatballs

2010-03-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

It was early October. The girls really wanted to go see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in 3D at the theater. Um, yeah. That's a lot of money. I wanted them to earn it so we made a meatball chart.

Here's how to earn a meatball:

1. You can't wake up the mom all night long. No screaming, no yelling, no deciding in the night that you just need to tell me something. It can wait.

2. If you have to use the bathroom in the night, that's fine. Please do. Just be sure to use your own bathroom and don't feel like you need to tell me that you did it. I'd love to hear about it tomorrow.

3. No coming into my room until "seven dot-dot". (The dots are the colon after the seven.) If it is not seven, and especially if it is not six, please play in your room or the playroom quietly. I love to have you jump in bed with me but I will be a much nicer mom if I don't see a six on the clock.

TODAY the girls earned all their meatballs.

I think we might have to see another movie instead since the first choice has now been out on DVD for several months.

(Yes, it took them SIX months for all three girls to sleep through the night the same time 20 times. I am tiiiiiired.)

LEPRECHAUNS!

2010-03-17T11:15:00.000-07:00

I am not Irish. Scott is not Irish. It doesn't matter. I LOVE St. Patrick's Day!

The first St. Patrick's Day I remember was when I was about four. My family was in Utah visiting family and we wanted to go to ZCMI. (When do you not want to go to ZCMI?) I didn't know about leprechauns yet but I knew all about the pinching. If you aren't wearing green, you get pinched - it's a universal St. Patrick's Day truth, right?

Well, the lady ringing us up was NOT wearing green! I couldn't wait to pinch her! Luckily my mom realized what I was about to do and stopped me. It was discouraging, yes, but also so empowering! There were people who didn't know the St. Patrick's Day rules and it has been my mission every since to make sure St. Patrick's Day is celebrated the right way.

Of course my kids know all about St. Patrick's Day. OK, not the real stuff like Christianity in Ireland, etc, etc. They know all the about the wearing of the green and best of all - THE LEPRECHAUNS!

The leprechauns are so tricky. They've been at our house all month dying the milk green, dying the mashed potatoes green, buying Lucky Charms for us and sneaking around the house making sure the girls turned off the lights and made their beds. I'm not quite sure how they did that last part except that if someone forgot to do a job I'd just yell, "LEPRECHAUNS!" and suddenly the kid would remember to do their job. It's bee nice.

For the last two weeks they've been making leprechaun traps on the dining room table. Last night they moved the traps into the living room to try to catch our leprechaun Lucky or his assistant Molly. (Can you believe we have a leprechaun with the same name as one of our kids? I know, craaaazy!)

The girls also thought they'd lure the leprechauns to the taps with green bananas, markers, shiny shoes and t-shirts in the leprechauns' favorite colors. Did you know leprechauns love pink and white Paul Frank shirts?

Emily's trap. I like that she made it so welcoming.

Heidi's trap was very fancy.

Molly's trap was connected together by green toilet paper rolls. Perhaps she thought they might be Zhu Zhu leprechauns.

In the morning the girls came down and saw something nuts! (Do you like their jammies? Green underwear too, by the way. No one was getting pinched at our house!) The leprechauns, who escaped from the traps because they can get through tape - rats - left some gold in the traps and then stacked them. Next they let the garden gnome inside who cleaned up everything and even vacuumed.

The girls and the gnome then had a little tasty gold as part of a very complete breakfast. They can't wait until next year because Molly has moved up to be a head leprechaun now since Lucky has decided to retire and move to Hawaii.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Starvin' Marvin

2010-03-11T20:29:00.000-08:00

*For the record, this is not a bullying episode. It's just a case of too much sharing.*

Emily has been coming home from school lately STARVING. I figured she was just growing again and didn't think much of it until this morning.

Today she asked me if I could please pack more things in her lunch. Was she extra hungry today? No. She wanted it so the other kids who EAT HER LUNCH FOR HER to have some extras. While it's very thoughtful to make sure your friends have enough to eat, (I know all these kids. Their parents thoughtfully pack lunches for their children each day.) it's also important to make sure you're eating lunch yourself!

I asked Emily what she thought she could do. I suggested she just ask them to stop eating her lunch but she said that doesn't work. Apparently this has been going on for a while.

She decided to write a note. I helped.

Emily also wanted illustrations.

Do you recognize the one with the bangs?

First, a little complaining

2010-03-07T15:46:00.000-08:00

They look cute, don't they?

Um, yeah.

We thought it would be fun to go on a little vacation with the whole family. The day part was fun. The night, not so much. Let me give you a little timeline.

10 pm - Molly falls out of bed. Crazy. She hardly ever does that.

I put some pillows next to her so it wouldn't happen again.

12 am - Heidi falls out of bed. Crazy. She's never done that - ever!

I put some pillows next to her so it wouldn't happen again.

1 am - Heidi falls out of bed. Huh?

I put an ottoman with pillows next to her so she wouldn't fall out.

3 am - Heidi falls out of bed AGAIN!

Seriously? How did she roll OVER her pillows, onto the

ottoman and OVER the ottoman pillows too? Eeeks.

5 am - Time to take Scott to the start line. Ooooh.

Now onto the good news.

After we took scott to the start we had breakfast, went back to the room and jumped on the beds, packed up and then had a second breakfast. I love having two breakfasts. Lucky us!

More good news. My sister Amy is no longer my least favorite person to share a bed with. It's Heidi, who I put in my bed after she fell out of hers three times. I took this an action shot of her "sharing" with me after getting kicked in the head one too many times.

And now here's even more good news!

Scott ran his first marathon this weekend!

He was hoping to make it under 4 hours and he did - by 1 minute and 14 seconds. He's amazing. Did I mention I ate two breakfasts in one day?

Here's the after effects of the run. Ouuuuuch.

Surprisingly, he's not reconsidering the second one in April.

Apolo has some serious competition

2010-02-22T15:19:00.001-08:00

I grew up with a pond in my back yard, don't ya know. All winter long we'd get home from school, put on the skates and wear ourselves out. I'd like to skate in my backyard here, but I live in CA, not MN. I'm not willing to move just for ice.

I settled for driving a few miles to the ice rink.

None of the girls had ever been on ice before our skating trip. Scott's second time skating was our first date. I thought he was lying when he said he'd only been once. You'd have sworn he was a Gopher Stater too. I was hoping the girls had been genetically blessed with his balance.

The girls did surprisingly well.

Not only that but they ALL loved skating!

By the end of the afternoon Emily was zipping around the rink and already making plans for the next trip.

Heidi wasn't exactly zipping, but she sure wasn't screaming, so it was a major success.

Who wants to come next time?

Rock ON!

2010-02-21T17:22:00.001-08:00

Two weeks ago, at our church's give-and-get activity, I gave a bunch of clothes I didn't want and got a guitar that someone else didn't want. I brought it home and Emily went NUTS! She was so excited and wanted to start taking guitar lessons that day.

I know nothing about guitars, except that this one might be too big for her, but I know people. Luckily the lovely and talented Lizzie was able to show her how to hold it and how to play a few chords.

She's been practicing E minor ever since. Look out Swift.

Merry Christmas!

2010-02-19T18:05:00.000-08:00

If we didn't have children FOR SURE this would be our Christmas card. For those of you who only know us with children, this is the kind of card you would have seen seven years ago. I am grateful we have children for many reasons. My mom, I'm sure is glad that we have children for many reasons also, but especially that this is not our Christmas card.

Kimbo Slice meets the two whitest people on the planet.

Scott and I were at a conference in Las Vegas earlier this week. One of the exhibitors had a area to meet some MMA fighters. We walked by the booth and both said, "Is that Kimbo?" Scott loves me even more now for that.

Is this guy not the scariest looking dude you'd ever not want to meet in a Pizza Hut parking lot? He is completely solid. I checked, of course, when I put my arm around him. He is also genuinely nice, which was kind of a surprise to anyone who'd seen his old fights on YouTube.

Scott has already sent this photo to everyone he knows. I might photoshop the girls into the photo. You'll know in December.

I'm driving the kids up the walls

2010-02-05T14:32:00.000-08:00

Molly can't wait to become a Jedi.

The duathlete

2010-01-24T15:29:00.001-08:00

Emily has been training for the last few weeks for her first big race - a duathlon! What's a duathlon? Well it's like a triathlon but without the swimming. Why is it not called a biathlon? Easy, that's skiing and shooting. See the biathlon for yourself on NBC starting next month. See Emily's duathlon photos below.

Here are Emily and Scott pausing from their warm-up for one of many photos taken by the mom. (How could I resist?)

About 40 kids, including about ten from our church, showed up for the big day. The event was free so a lot of the fair weather kids stayed home. It's been raining for a week straight here so it was no big deal to have a little raindrop on the head.

Find the following things in this photo:

1. Emily

2. The race winner

Here's a hint. Emily is the cutest and I had the winner picked out before they even hit the starting line. He smoked everyone! This may not have been his first event.

And they're off! Thanks to Alyssa for being Emily's pacing buddy.

Donavon and Kristen also came to support the cutest duathlete in the ville. The sisters were there too, although they were not as enthusiastic about the sprinkles.

Yeah Emily!

(PS - 1 mile run, 1.5 mile bike ride!)

Coming Summer 2010

2010-01-12T14:17:00.000-08:00

I saw this quilt's photo on a friend's blog.

37 seconds later I had ordered the pattern.

Cute, right?

But I already did one with similar colors so I'm doing . . .

THIS!!!

I can't wait for the Tour de France to start so I can get started.

Step By Step

2010-01-09T20:40:00.000-08:00

AKA how to paint a table in one Saturday morning

Step one! We can have lots of fun.

Once we bought a cool looking table. The color was a little off though. I actually like the color of the table in this photo but it never looked like this since the photo used a flash and the room is always dark. I thought it needed to be brighter.

Step two! There's so much we can do.

I saw a blog post about someone who silver leafed their dresser. I loved it. I didn't love how much money it was going to cost me and so I tried to think of another way to get the same look on one-tenth the price. Two words - spray paint. Here's the base coat. Adios verde.

Step three! It's just you for meeeee.

Taaaa daaaaah! It's lighter now!

Step four! I can give you more.

It looks even cooler in person. Just don't look at the top where I put the globe because it wasn't quiiite dry and now there's a lovely globe base-shaped circle. Oh well.

Step five! Don't you know that the time has arrived!

(Pause) Huuuuuh!

That "Huuuuh" noise is me hurling. Why are those guys dressed like the United Nations of sports teams? Also, um, gross, why were they popular? And the best question of all is WHY do I know the lyrics to their songs? My awesome sister (her words) swears she does not remember this song. She is 26. She needs to be schooled in bad music.

Punch #4

2010-01-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

Remember The Brave Little Tailor? Remember how Mickey squished seven flies at once but the other villagers thought he toppled a giant instead?

Mickey did not squish these girls.

These girls are raising their hands because the ALL had strep throat this week. I did too. Fun! I joke that it was Old Testament justice. Our family gave the cousins the flu. By the time it got to their family it was much, much worse. In return they gave us strep. We are now done giving each other diseases. We hope.

Anyway, back to the original analogy. Well, now Heidi can yell, "THREE! THREE IN ONE BLOW!" but it will be for real, and in her case it won't be flies or giants, but a plethora of ENT-treated surgeries.

Here's cute little Heidi, ready for what the surgery center calls a T and A and removal of a foreign body. Yikes. I know! It sounds like something a Bachelor contestant would get.

Luckily this was a tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy and the foreign body that needed to be removed was actually just an old ear tube that was locked in wax. Once they got the wax cleaned of her ears they realized that, hey, this kid needs tubes in her ears again. Luckily she was already in surgery and it only took an extra few minutes.

Sadly it will now be more difficult to get the 5th punch on my ENT surgery punch card. Then again, maybe not. The need-for-an-ENT genes are strong in this family.

Punch #1 Punch #2 Punch #3

The recovery room was not fun at first. Heidi was more than a little freaked out and she hurt a lot. Poor kid! A minute later she was O-U-T and the next time she woke up she was feeling much better.

And now we're home! She is either a super-speedy healer or is still so drugged she doesn't realize how much this hurts. So far she's been watching Dora and happily eating Rice Krispies. As I write this I sadly realize I may not get the break I was hoping for. Yeah Heidi!

Prospero año y felicidad!

2010-01-01T21:30:00.001-08:00

We were kind of tired 3 years ago today. Molly and Emily were kind of uncooperative too. At least Heidi was being quiet - for the moment.

And here we are today,

styled by Emily, who also created the set decoration.

Happy New Year!

Here's to a happy and extra peaceful 2010.

Feliz Navidad

2010-01-01T20:33:00.000-08:00

Check it out! We had a white Christmas!

To celebrate my parents' 40th anniversary, all four of my siblings, plus their kids, dogs, etc. made a trek to Utah. Since Christmas was only a few days after that, three of us, plus kids, dogs, etc. stayed for the big day. As John Denver said about visiting his Grandma, "We didn't get much sleep but we had a lot of fun." Right on, JD.

The first big present was for Martha. Santa brought her what she'd always wanted as a kid - an accordion. At first she wasn't so sure she still wanted it, um, 29 years later. But Santa knows. She's now back in Arizona and having a jolly old time playing her favorite polkas.

(Grandpa's in the right corner. I think he knew what Santa was bringing.)

The girls are showing me that their pajamas glow in the dark!

I accidently used the flash. Heidi was surprised.

On Christmas Eve we opened the traditional (yet completely untraditional) Christmas Eve jammies. I found these glow-in-the dark pajamas in September. Were they Christmassy? No. Did I know the girls would love them? Yes! Heidi didn't take them off for over 24 hours. I love Christmas jams!

Heidi was NOT sure about the snow at first. She didn't want to touch it, stand on it or even look at it. California wimp! After a few days she got used to it and even asked to play in it. Mostly, she liked to pose in it though. Really. This is the ending pose of the clown dance for her December dance recital and we have about 12 of this exact photo.

Did you know Alta is free after 3 pm? Scott and Molly took advantage of free skiing since we don't get it much where we come from. Molly loved it! I love her elf hat.

OK boys. We still have not chosen a suitor for her. Look what Emily wanted for Christmas. How many girls do you know that want a YODA for Christmas? We're raising her right. You're welcome.

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

2009-12-23T07:11:00.000-08:00

No, that's not the stress of Christmas Eve-Eve getting to me. It's the stress that I hit "delete" when I didn't really mean to hit delete. I have deleted everyone's blog from my blog list.

For a heart-warming Christmas gift from you to me, would you please let send me your blog name again so I can fill up another list? You can post it as message, send it to me by email, snail mail or even send me a Facebook message. It's pretty hard to not reach me these days. Gees, you could even call of my phone numbers or come visit me!

Merry Christmas everyone! May you be healthy, happy and not delete your blog lists in the coming year (but if you do I'll remind you of my blog address).

Happy birthday Heids

2009-12-15T18:41:00.000-08:00

The baby is three - and she's still the baby! (Whew!)

When Heidi came into my room in the morning I asked her how old she was. Surprisingly, she said, "Tuna haf." Heidi's been counting down for her birthday and was very excited that today was the day. Maybe she didn't get it after all. I said, "No Heidi. You're three today!" To which she responded, "No. First my party, THEN I be three." (She is apparently fluent in Ebonics.)

I kept asking her all day how old she was and she just wouldn't say three. Maybe, I thought, she was like those ladies who are perpetually 29, except Heidi's lie would be a little more obvious.

Then we had the party - with chicken pinata included. As soon as she blew out the candles she said, "Now I three!" and then she tried to eat the candles. I guess three isn't all that grown up after all. But come on, look at her. That's a big girl!

Happy birthday Heids. We love you!

So the flu shot DIDN'T make us sick?

2009-12-14T08:22:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday morning Heidi and Molly had their H1N1 doses. Molly got a shot. Heidi got the mist. On Tuesday afternoon Molly started throwing up like crazy. I'd always thought that the people who said the flu shots made them sick were full of beans. I changed my mind after this. She was FINE before the shot. Darn flu shot. I thought Heidi was just lucky to have had the mist.

On Friday night Emily and Molly had their dance recital. It was fantastic! They were both so cute and really excited to be in the performance.

On Saturday morning Emily had another performance, this time with Heidi. We were so excited to go that we got there an HOUR early by mistake. I think that should make up for the times I've been 5 minutes late. I was planning to take a cute photo of the Heidi and Emily like the one of Em and Molly above but SOMETHING happened.

News flash!

The flu shot did not make Molly sick. She had the flu.

Everything was fine during the first performance. Just before the second performance of the morning started I was called from my seat because, as they put it, "We have some tears." Well, of course it was Heidi. She'd been freaked out about the clown outfit she was supposed to wear. I thought we'd worked through that, but I guess not.

I was so surprised to see it was Emily crying. When I got backstage they told me she was so sad because she didn't make it to the garbage can in time. WHAT?! After everything was cleaned up and Emily calmed down she said she still wanted to dance. She was first and Heidi was third so we said we'd just sneak out and get the girls after Heidi's dance.

Emily danced. I could tell she wasn't feeling well and decided maybe seeing her dance would have been more fun at our house when she was feeling much, much, much better. At least we'd get to see cute Heidi. Oh wait. She never came out. She was now sick in the back too!

Poor girls! Poor teachers who had to clean things up!

Emily's Saturday performance photo

Heidi's Saturday performance photo.

And here's Heidi's Dora cake. Saturday afternoon was supposed to be her birthday party but we had to postpone it. She was so sad but still insisted in wearing her "party dress" that you can see in the previous photo.

So to recap, the flu shot did not make us sick. Molly made us sick, and by us I mean EVERYONE in our family. Scott and I got it Saturday night. Fun.

Wishing you a happy, healthy mid-December!

I looked out the window and what did I see?

2009-12-07T07:38:00.001-08:00

SNOW!

In the 7 1/2 years we've lived here, this is the first time we've had snow in our yard!

When Emily told me there was frost all over the roof my first thought was, nuts. I forgot to cover up the plants. Then I looked outside and saw heavy, thick frost. WAIT A MINUTE! I remember that stuff from 17 years in Minnesota!

We had to commemorate this special event with an early-morning photo of the girls in flip flops and shorts. They were not jazzed about going outside in it but I said I needed the photo because they might not see snow in their backyard again until they're married. To which, Heidi immediately replied, "I'M NOT GETTING MARRIED!" (I don't see the 3-year-old boys knocking down the door, so I guess she's right - for now.)

Here's another photo of the yard without the girls. Yep - that last photo wasn't photoshop trickery. It snowed!

And everyone knows that no snowfall is complete until a snowman is created. Can you see ours? Look carefully - this is California.

Ho ho yourself!

2009-12-05T18:05:00.001-08:00

Can you find someone who was not having fun at the ward wear-your jammies-to-breakfast breakfast this morning?

Here's a hint. It's not Molly or Scott.

Hey, I just realized Molly is wearing the same jammies as last year's breakfast party. Luckily this year she's wearing a fancy bow on her forehead so we can tell the photos apart. Gees, I think I'm wearing the same thing too. 2008 breakfast party attire is soooo in this year.

It's also not Laurie or Heidi.

Poor Emily. Perhaps she just didn't like the Sunny D and was hoping for freshly squeezed OJ instead. I know I'm always hoping for that.

Luckily things quickly turned around when the big man come to town (after the fourth Wise Man who was a real disappointment for anyone looking for a portly guy in red).

If I send this one to Ellen will I win a prize?

Heidi! I think the elves are going to give her a black mark for that one.

Happy December!

Turkies

2009-11-27T12:03:00.001-08:00

Happy post-Thanksgiving hangover (the turkey-induced kind, not the alcohol variety, of course)! It's only noon and I've already finished off most of the leftovers.

To get the day kick-started, we ran around the ville for a good cause. Scott ran the 10K, I walked the 5K while pushing the pre-schooler and the pre-pre-schooler and Emily RAN the 5K! Really! My fast walking is as fast as her running so we were a perfect team.

We had a great time and are going to make it an annual tradition. Next year I think Emily's going to go for an age-group win. Look out Dawson!

I think Scott is dreaming of the turkey. It was goooood.

Now onto Christmas!

We just can't stop our(s)elves!

2009-11-25T10:03:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Two days early, but who's counting?

2009-11-25T09:53:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Santa's Little Helper

2009-11-22T21:05:00.000-08:00

Emily took it upon herself to help Santa with the naughty list.

It looks like the younger sisters aren't getting presents this year.

Not to brag, but . . .

2009-11-10T07:30:00.001-08:00

I know some girls who ALL wore underpants to bed last night.

I guess having giant tonsils that make you wake up three times a night are good for something. You get the chance to use the bathroom a few extra times. (13 days until we see the ENT. I'm making a chain.)

As Buddy the Elf once said, um, slightly differently,

"You did it. Congratulations! World's best underpants wearer. Great job, Heidi! It's great to be here."

Heidi's first day of preschool!

2009-11-05T12:57:00.001-08:00

Heidi missed the preschool cutoff by a just over a week. I didn't mind. She was still in diapers and wasn't ready for school anyway.

Three months later that all changed! Suddenly she was excited about her fancy underpants and was really tired of hanging out with me all the time while her sisters got to go to school. I was also tired of having her be tired of hanging out with me.

On Monday I happened to find a once-a-week preschool for kids Heidi's age. Today was her first day. HOORAY FOR US ALL!

For my far away friends - come visit. We have oranges and wear short sleeves.

Molly and I dropped her off, checking out the classroom and, most importantly, the bathroom. Apparently, they're always fascinating. Her school stores some their hula hoops in on a hook in the bathroom. Molly got really excited and deemed it THE BEST BATHROOM IN THE WORLD. Wow. Beat that, Vegas.

Heidi loved school! Her class made what she called "gobblers" and what I call the cutest handprint turkey crafts I've ever seen. She wants to go back tomorrow. I want her to also.

Just when you thought Scott couldn't get more manly . . .

2009-10-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Scott's New Year's resolution was to run. He didn't say how far or how often, but just to do it - at least once. We're big fans of very attainable goals in this family.

It was August when Scott decided it was time to cross that goal off his list. A few months ago, after jogging twice he decided to sign up for a race. Not a normal race, like a kids fun run or a 5K , but a half-marathon!

So he's been training in the heat of Hawaii and the freezing cold that is suddenly Northern California. He even bought shoes that he hasn't already owned for several years and that he hasn't already used to mow the lawn.

Last weekend Scott and a friend even drove THREE HOURS to a race. Scott entered the eight mile trail run and his friend James ran the 50K. That's right, 5-0-K. These two may run different races, but they have the same ideas about how to save money. The night before the race they CAMPED in the race parking lot. James slept in his awesome van and Scott slept on the Aerobed on the grass.

I think we need a van so Scott can start training for the Ironman.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-28T17:25:00.001-07:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Spoooooky recycling!

2009-10-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

OK, so we're not really spooky at our house. I like cute Halloween, which, thanks to cute girls, is pretty easy to have. It's also easy when you have a dress-up box full of old costumes that the girls go through to pick their costumes!

Here's spooky Molls in her witch costume - the scariest of the bunch - about to get hit with a spider cookie. (Witch was recycled from Emily's 2005 costume.)

Disney wishes their princesses were this cute!

Heidi had been planning to be a dog for MONTHS before Halloween (Dog costume was also Emily's, recycled from 2004) , so imagine my surprise when the morning of trunk-or-treat she decided she wanted to be Cinderella.

Last year Molly and Heidi both wanted to be Cinderella. Amazingly enough, we HAD two Cinderella costumes already! Molly's was purchased as a dress-up outfit and Heidi's was a dress-up outfit for Emily's 4th birthday. Funny story - it was supposed to be a 4T. Um, no. Heidi was not jazzed about wearing the one Molly wore last year because, as she explained, "Molly's Cinderella, not mine." So she wore the faux-4T. She looks like she's ready for the DCC. Good thing she's wearing that undershirt.

Last March, Emily and her favorite friend Emma decided they wanted to be princess M&Ms for Halloween. Thanks to JoAnn and her fabulous 50% off all felt sale, their wish came true! I have a feeling I can't pass this costume to any sisters. Maybe Em & Em want to recycle this one next year? It's pretty cute.

I'm sorry to say I actually spent money on this one, well only for the hair so I'm not too sorry. Maybe if I had shelled out a little extra people might have guessed who we were. Here's a hint - TV.

Can you guess? Do you give up?

ALOOOOOOO-HA!

2009-10-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

Luaus

and sand angels

and volcanoes

and triathletes

(That's Chrissie Wellington, 2009's Ironman World Champion!)

and kayaks

and hula girls, OH MY!

DCC!

2009-10-25T20:48:00.001-07:00

Maybe this was a mistake.

I was folding clothes yesterday and watching a very entertaining show on CMT - Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team 4. Emily wanted to watch too so she sat down and started asking questions.

Why aren't they wearing ponytails?

Are they moms?

Why are they dancing like that?

Do their moms know they want to be cheerleaders?

Why is that one crying?

Finally, after watching the girls trying out in their skimpy skimpies, she looked at me and said,

"Mom, you wouldn't be very good at this job.

Your underwear is lots longer."

My dreams have been crushed by my giant underpants!

Don't be surprised

2009-09-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

When you have six kids at your house for the weekend

(#6 is behind Heidi's golf club/sword)

and you take all of them miniature golfing

in 100 degree weather,

don't be surprised if this is the best photo you can get.

Oh, and don't be surprised when at least one kid gets stuck in a hole.

Up!

2009-09-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

We spent Friday and Saturday in the biggest little city in the world, not to be show-offs or to try to double our yearly income but for . . .

the annual hot air balloon race!

It was amazing and even though we got up at 4:30 (yes, am, and yes, on a vacation) We could stand in the balloon area and watch the balloons fill up and launch.

I was so surprised the organizers let us just walk around. I hate to say this, but this is a lawsuit waiting to happen. I'm just glad we were there before the lawsuits started.

Oh, also, the girls are wearing the pajamas on purpose. The local Reno paper sponsored something they called the world's largest pajama party. Um, not really. To attend you sign up and they give you a bag filled with low-grade swag and advertisements. Oh well. It's always fun to wear jams in public with your mom's permission.

Haven't you always wanted to see inside a hot air balloon?

This one was called "Heated Passion."

The girls were pretty tired on the drive home.

Just like they were the weekend before when we hit the Scottish festival.

Any ideas for next weekend's car nap?

Problem Solved

2009-09-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

Two girls earned a movie after school today.

Two girls were excited to watch Barbie Nutcracker.

One girl wanted to jump on and pull the hair of the girls who had earned a movie today and who were excited to watch Barbie Nutcracker.

One girl is now watching Barbie Nutcracker from her car seat.

Problem solved.

When is Oprah giving me my own talk show?

Great Scott!

2009-09-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

We always knew that Scott's family was Scottish. I was surprised to discover that we had relatives living in the same county in Scotland in the 1600s. I hadn't even realized I had Scottish relatives, so I was very excited. I also wondered if this was why we look so much alike.

I guess it's OK if you marry a relative if there's a 400 year gap.

This weekend we decided to show our girls (well, and us) our heritage at one of the biggest Scottish festivals in the US. (FYI, and yes, I am showing off here, we didn't bring a diaper bag or even a stroller! YEEEES!)

We weren't quite sure to expect.

Would we see people all dress up like this?

Not quite. They were mostly like this.

Notice the guys on the right and left in their Utilikilts. They're "modern" kilts with cargo pockets. I tried to talk Scott into one but he denied his heritage. Don't you think they'd be pretty handy for church? Pens in one pocket, scriptures in another, coloring books and crayons on the front . . .

Unfortunately we did see some of this.

Again, notice the Utilikilt. All the cool guys have them.

Big mistake Scott.

The girls thought the boys in skirts were funny and enjoyed walking around looking for the most interesting outfits.

When not looking for the men's "purses",

Heidi enjoyed tossing the haggis into the pot.

Molly exacted some revenge and even boasted about it.

Emily found this really cool hideout under the soccer bleachers.

When Scott does decide to start wearing his kilt to church, we found some tartan options for him.

This one is his family's tartan. It's a little Christmassy for my taste.

And this one's mine! I'll let him borrow this one.

First day for a first grader

2009-08-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

Oh, yes. She looked confident.

(and cute too, if you ask me)

Feeling confident was another story. All-day school seemed pretty scary. Emily has been kind of nervous all week, but she knew there was no getting out of it.

Luckily this morning she felt a little better and was even a tiny bit excited, but that was mostly about buying milk in the cafeteria.

"Should I get chocolate or white?

If I get chocolate today can I also get chocolate tomorrow or not?

What happens if I get chocolate every day?

Can I do that?"

I poked my head into the classroom to make sure she was OK. Look! She's OK! She smiled without even being asked to smile!

She is probably thinking about that chocolate milk.

UPDATE:

Emily had chocolate milk for lunch today.

49ers, here she comes!

2009-08-14T00:38:00.001-07:00

These photos make me laugh every time I see them!

They're the girls' passport photos and were taken right the announcement that everyone would need passports to fly into Mexico. Our trip wasn't for 8 months but I was worried that there'd be a horrible delay (um, relax, not even the passport office is that slow) and we wouldn't get our passports in time.

Maybe I could have waited a little longer.

Emily looks like she's wearing makeup (she not)

Molly needs some makeup.

That black eye from Christmas Day is still around a month later

Heidi looks like she's heading to a Division I school.

The only time Heidi ever looked like that was the split second when the photo was taken. She couldn't hold up her neck, so I was propping her head up which caused the dreaded no-neck syndrome. I worried about her because she was so skinny. I used to nurse her and then have to feed her a bottle too because she was still hungry! Poor Heidi. Great photo though!

I didn't worry about this one (Guess who!) being too skinny.

Strangely though, she was actually only in the 30th percentile for weight when this photo was taken. The doctor looked at her and said, "I don't really think you need to worry. She looks like she's getting plenty of food."

Ding Dong! Ding Dong!

2009-08-14T00:23:00.000-07:00

That's the school bell ringing, by the way.

My school actually had a bell, so it was obviously built in the olden days, back before fun was invented.

Molly started her second year of preschool this week!

Hooray Molls!

Here she is, smiling happily with her sisters.

And here she is happily showing off her RIBBON she wanted to wear in her PONYTAIL! (Well, almost a ponytail. The hair isn't quite long enough.)

Except for the occasional headband, Molly is really, really anti-bows, clips, ribbons, etc. Seeing this was almost as exciting as the big day itself.

Here's to another great year!

Can the Duggers build us some extra bedrooms?

2009-08-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, after six years of hard use, we retired the crib.

HOORAY!

Heidi at one. Even then she knew the importance of dental hygiene.

Heidi was only using the for naps anyway because at night she slept in what we call, "the sister room" with her sisters. At first all three girls thought it was tons of fun. Emily was in charge of making sure no one left the room. Molly was in charge of trying to read books in the dark. Heidi was in charge of listening to her sisters, which she did surprisingly well.

Once we took down the crib things changed. We put in a cute double bed in the newly spare room. Heidi was still taking naps there but Emily and Molly decided to start taking turns in what Emily named "the hotel room" - named because hotel rooms are the only times the girls sleep in double beds - and so they're tres exotic.

Molly and Hedgie posing in the hotel room.

Last night was Emily's night in the hotel. Lately the sisters have been waking her up in the morning and Emily, who is really into privacy, was not jazzed about this development. So what did she do? She posted a notice, of course.

Don't mess with Emily.

I love that the sisters in her sign are 1. smiling and 2. crossed out TWICE. I have a sneaking suspicion that the he sisters can't read, but the sign did the trick - at least for last night. We'll see about tonight.

Don't Cha Know

2009-08-08T14:19:00.001-07:00

Oh gaash. My kids may be Californians but they sure play golf like good old Minasoodan haaky players.

Here's Molly celebrating her first hole in one.

Heidi and Emily took a nice trip to Japan.

Luckily this was a pretend trip. I don't think I could have made the plane ride. I had my second epidural steroid injection this week. I still don't feel better and can't sit down yet. Grrr.

The golfing girls were pretty calm at first but after they got the hang of it they really wanted to give the ball a good hit. I wanted to yell, "NO SLAP SHOTS!" but sadly, we come from different cultures so instead I yelled other things that took longer to explain.

Stranded at the drive-in,

2009-08-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

Branded a fool.

What will they say, Monday at school?

Whew. Luckily my kids don't start school on Monday and I swear I won't quote anymore Grease lyrics. Maybe.

OK, on to the reason for the post:

our drive-in adventure!

Or, actually, our drive-in non adventure.

When we left the house the girls were all pretty excited. They had lots of energy, they knew I had a GIANT pot of popcorn and they were really, really excited to watch a movie OUTSIDE and in their "nests" in the back of the Jeep.

Unfortunately, the drive-in was not exactly down the street and some of the girls got tired.

Here is an action shot of Heidi doing a little texting while Emily slept.

Here's more texting alongside Molly's sleepy head.

I think Heidi's going to want her own phone soon.

And this is why we ended up making a quick exit.

We waited in the line for about 30 minutes with only one kid (the one we'd hoped would fall asleep) awake. We'd already missed the start of the movie and we'd made a serious dent in the popcorn.

We hate to be party poopers and we hated to not see the movie with our friends but we totally decided to be party poopers and take the kids home to bed.

Emily was OK with that decision when she woke up on the drive home.

She was too tired to complain.

Heidi didn't really get what was going on, so she was fine.

Molly didn't wake up until the next morning.

She was a little disappointed that she didn't get to watch the movie with her friends but thought it was kind of exciting that she slept through the whole experience! I have a feeling it will happen more often. Now that she's learned to sleep, I guess she will do it well. It's in her genes.

Bibbidy, Bobbidy, Boo!

2009-07-30T10:29:00.001-07:00

Thanks to the magic of experience and the entire Tour de France (and possibly this darling little Cinderella - but probably not) I finished the quilt!

Can you find my Alberto Contador square? It's a good thing he won. I made him his own square before he was even in the lead.

I liked it so much I told the original recipient that I was going to keep it. Now I'm making her another one. Sorry Mom! At least it will be ready for the next Fourth of July.

Why we may not be at church today

2009-07-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

Since we go to church in the afternoon, Scott and the girls had a few hours to kill this morning. Emily came up with the great idea to have a pirate party!

What's a pirate party? Just ask Emily! She came up with the list.

1. Hide pirate treasure

(the boxes they made at Lowe's yesterday)

2. Make treasure maps

3. Dress in pirate costumes

4. Make pirate eyepatches and beards

I wondered how they'd make the eyepatches and beards, but luckily Scott is creative. Making an eyepatch couldn't be that hard (I think he earned that merit badge in Scouts) and I figured he'd tape some paper on their faces for beards.

Nope.

When I was a little kid I decided to make myself some lovely purple tights right before we had to be somewhere fancy. I used markers, of course. I remember my mom freaking out, sticking me in the tub and then using something smelly to try to remove the marker. This was in the olden days, remember, before washable markers were invented.

I only buy washable markers.

I hope they come off faces easily, otherwise we're not going to church, as we would not be promoting reverence.

Here's Emily, Le Pirate Moustache.

Heidi's Uncle Leo eyebrows make me laugh so hard.

She is very proud of them and likes to look at them in the mirror.

Molly looks strangely like Vince Neil with her biker mustache.

Don't you agree?

At least I am not bored - ever.

Father's Day weekend (part 2)

2009-07-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

We spent Father's Day weekend part 1 doing fun things as a whole family with Scott. Part 2 happened somewhat unintentionally.

I had a super fun procedure done on my back yesterday. My back was shot up with cortisone so that I could finally move normally 3 1/2 months after herniating a disc. The doc said I should rest all day Friday, which I gladly did, since it the recovery has been a whole lot more painful that I'd anticipated. I was supposed to be up and moving almost normally today. Um, no. Instead I am stuck in bed because I still cannot move. Aren't these shots supposed to make me feel better instead of worse? Grr.

OK, enough complaining.

(It's my blog though, it's supposed to be all about me, right?)

Since I'm out commission for the weekend, Scott has been doing all kinds of fun things with the girls. They've been to the park, they've played games, they've dressed up as cows to get free food at Chick-Fil-A and this morning they did a workshop at Lowe's. Scott kept me updated with photos from his phone.

Here's the before shot. Heidi looks pretty confident with that hammer. Maybe it's because we let them play with real tools. I never have to hide the tools unless boys come over to play.

And here's the after shot with their treasure boxes. They're planning to paint them tonight after they visit 7-11 for free Slurpees. Thank goodness for a free food weekend. At least I can be assured the kids are eating something!

Thank you Scott - you're the best dad and a great nurse too!

Curse you, Martha Stewart!

2009-07-07T13:29:00.001-07:00

There I was, minding my own business (actually drying my hair while flipping through Martha's July issue - I am an expert multi-tasker) when I had an attack.

I saw this photo

and knew I had to recreate it.

This is not a big deal. A lot of people probably saw this photo and thought it was a fun 4th of July craft. (Here's where the attack part comes in.) I, of course, felt the urgent need to recreate it on a gigantic scale in FABRIC.

Not again! The last time the fabric attack hit I ended up with this. I love, love this quilt, by the way. It's on Heidi's bed now and every time I look at it I think about how glad I am that I spent all that time last summer making it. Looking at it also helped me remember all that work and that I was not in the mood to ever make another.

I tried to stop thinking about it but I guess my brain wouldn't let me. I wore a navy skirt with turquoise and red polka dots to a boring meeting. At the meeting I imagined cutting it into strips and pairing it with other outfits in the room. That's when knew I was licked and I gave into my pioneer heritage.

The next morning, armed with a stack of coupons, I hit the fabric store and ended up with this.

And now my closet is being taken over by red, white, blue and turquoise squares in every size. I am using the exact same pattern as last summer and instead of wondering what I was thinking, I'm feeling giddy.

Curse you and your napkin crafts, Martha Stewart!

You've turned me into an accidental quilter!

(PS to LH and AF - Is this precious or what?)

Tweet! Tweet!

2009-06-26T17:17:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not Twittering . . .

except with excitement over Emily's dance show!

Ta dah!

She did a tap routine to Rockin' Robin and Emily was READY for the show. She'd been practicing a lot during the last few weeks, so much, in fact, that the whole family knows the routine by now. The hard work paid off, because she was fantastic! (I might even say that if I weren't her mom.) This kid has rhythm!

Look what I found in the kitchen.

I'll bet C-3PO was glad Master Luke wasn't a little girl.

My daughter, future trial lawyer

2009-06-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

If Molly stays in her room all night she gets to play video games the next day while Heidi takes a nap. Molly loves to play the Nick Jr. games and the threat of no games helps a lot at night time.

A few days ago Molly earned game time but Heidi took a late nap and we were about to have friends come over. I tried to tell her she'd have to play later, since it's not nice to play video games by yourself when friends are visiting.

this photo fits her personality just about perfectly

Molly: "But last time these guys came over I got to play video games."

(This is true, I just didn't realize she was playing games while the friends played in the playroom.)

Laurie: "Sorry Molls, that's the rule. No video games right now. You can do it later."

M: "Awww!" (She stomped her feet and walked out of room realizing she'd been foiled.)

A few minutes later Molly came back to talk to me.

M: "OK Mom, here's the deal: (She really uses that phrase, which cracks me up!) Last time I did play video games when they were here. I don't play games when they are here today but I do next time they are here. Then (holding up her hand and counting on her fingers) I don't the time after that but I do the time after that! See Mom, it's a pattern."

L: (Smart kid, I thought, but I'm not giving in.) "Hummm. Try this pattern." ( Now holding up my hand and counting on my fingers.) "Last time was a yes, this time is a no, then another no, no, and no."

M: (Rolls her eyes) "You don't know how patterns work."

She just turned FOUR. I am in for a fun ride.

SF Fashion

2009-06-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

Amy wins! As soon as I get around to making your present, I'll bring it over. Think late July.

All I could think of when he was wearing my jacket (besides, eew - I hope he doesn't make it smell!) was "Fat guy in a little coat," over and over. Josie, you were a close second. VG. Actually, I think you deserve a present too. Send me your address through Facebook.

Now, on to the story of why I was cross-dressing with someone so completely inebriated. I saw a bunch of people walking around with cameras and sheets of paper. They were doing a photo scavenger hunt! I thought it looked fun and asked if I could see the paper so I could get ideas for my own game.

At first they thought I was part of another team (Um, thanks for thinking I was 19!) but after I assured them I was just with my mom and sister and probably when they smelled my minty breath they realized that I was not their competition. They said I could look at the paper if I changed clothes with someone on their team.

Did you know that H&M kicks you out of the store at exactly 9 pm if you are not in line to buy something? Luckily it was after we'd been kicked out of H&M and I knew there wasn't a way we could go in a store and change clothes. I found out later that as I said yes my mom was yelling "No! Don't do it!" I have a smart mom.

He whipped off his sweatshirt and t-shirt and gees, since he was changing I thought I might as well too. Luckily I am smart and dress in layers. I thought the top layer was good enough. I had a feeling he's not an XS on top so the open jacket would have to do. His friends took his photo (as did my mom - again, smart - it might have been good for blackmail if I hadn't already posted it myself), I took a peek at their scavenger hunt sheet and we switched back.

This post was brought to you by the letters P and U

Captions Needed

2009-06-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

My mom, my sister Kristen and I had a great time in SF this weekend.

I also met a new friend.

Whoever submits the best caption or story for this photo will win a prize! Entries will be accepted until I post again. Be creative. I'm always up for a good laugh - apparently.

(I think this shirt looks pretty sweet. I should wear it to YW)

The Graduate

2009-06-11T13:37:00.001-07:00

Emily asked me, "When you graduate, do you get to wear one of those outfits and throw your hat in the air?"

Why yes, Emily. At our house, yes you do.

A big thank you to GWU for making me buy the robe

Now for a little retrospective:

First day of Kindergarten

Last day of Kindergarten