Just Cram It All In

There are a few highlights from the past couple of weeks that I need to mention before I give up on the backlog of blog posts and just move on with current events.

First off - Happy Birthday ME!.....I'm now 39....yay....  I've begun the last year of my 30's which in some ways is sort of daunting and freaky but I have to admit that there is also a feeling of empowerment and freedom.  I'm ending a season of life that seemed to focus almost entirely on nap times, diapers, feeding schedules, sleeping through the night, ear aches, teething....you get the idea.  I feel like in some ways I'm coming out of a deep fog and my brain is kind of waking up again.  Oh hello - maybe I can think about stuff again! I could maybe stir my creative juices and get excited to set some goals to accomplish before I'm 40 and ...woah.  I think I just returned to freaking out a little just looking at that number-that-starts-with-a-four.  

I had to post this shot of Bitty during the solar eclipse whenever that was.  Sure, lots of people went out and bought fancy glasses but we happen to have a pretty cool welding helmet in the garage that comes in handy for staring at the sun.  This photo just makes me laugh a little.  Take me to your leader.....

We enjoyed a lovely evening with a dear friend from Troy's college years one Sunday evening.  I love how you can have a friend you see only once every five years but when you do get together things are just as warm and open as they always were.  Lee has a darling 5 year old daughter whom Bitty took under her wing.  The two girls started out the evening as strangers and by the end of the night were inseparable. I love watching Bitty make friends.

We spent Memorial Day up at Jordanelle Reservoir with Troy's boss who really did turn 40.  She hosted a little BBQ/paddleboard outing which sounded fun for our family to attend.  Once we got there I was a little unsure that the kids would have a good time since the area of lake where we were didn't have much of a beach or safe access to the water but the kids ended up having a ball anyway.  All you need is water and rocks to throw into it and kids are happy, plus there was this great little horseshoe-esque game they played with once they were too cold to stay in the water.  Love the way Bitty squints as she's taking aim at the target.

 We have had a TON of stuff going on at school as the year winds down.  How did that happen so fast?  Spring takes me by surprise every year.  All through February and March I'm dying for the weather to get warm and when it finally does and suddenly - uh, hi, I guess school is over.  Stomper had one more music show and tell during which he displayed some impressive recorder skills:

Bitty had a play, what our school calls a "Town Meeting," though I don't actually know why, and it was very cute.  I actually understood the plot and most of the dialogue this time which is a vast improvement over last year's kindergarten play.

Plus we held our school's annual Arts Showcase - the big fundraising shin dig we have at the end of every year partly to give the kids a chance to show off some of their art from the year.  In the past I was just one of the nameless hoard of overwhelmed parents being dragged by their offspring through the crowds.  However, since I was coerced several months ago into being part of the PTA board I was behind the scenes this year and I have a huge new appreciation for what goes into that Art Showcase as well as all the other events at our school.  Secret's out - I kind love being on the PTA even though it can be quite stressful at times. And I do love seeing the art the kids produce every year.

Let's see...what else....

Nope, I think that's good for now.  Basically the last few weeks have been FULL and makes us all go like THIS:

The Height of the Girlyness

Ohhhhhhhh my gosh.  I am going to die.  Too many things to blog and not enough energy to stay awake to write any of it and it just keeps piling up more and more and more....but that's a good thing because it means that there are lots of fun things happening in our lives these days....right?

Deep Breath.  I can do this.

Bitty had a spectacularly girly weekend...two weeks ago.  (It's okay, I'm going to catch up.)  For starters, she has been in a ballet class all year and I know I've written blog posts about each little performance at the end of every semester.  But this time was a little different.  Our wonderful teacher Miss Kim decided to up the ante and have the girls dress in uniform costumes and have real ballet hair and make up and stuff.  This all sounded fun except for one little thing - I had never been able to figure out how to produce one of those perfect little ballet buns.  I tried and tried and generally ended up with a big old door knob perched on the top of Bitty's head.  But when I heard about Miss Kim's request for a perfect ballet bun with no wispies I knew I had to take action.  Want some good advice?  If there is ever anything you can't figure out how to do go look on youtube.  I learned how to do a perfect ballet bun!!  It shouldn't be that big of a deal but it really is for me. And Bitty was so super excited to have make up and ballerina hair and just the right costume.  She looked lovely.

Her Auntie Margaret came which was a real treat.

Also going on that weekend was the birthday party of a dear friend of hers who happens to have a super mom.  I love her super mom - I say that with love and respect, not in the snide way I usually use that phrase.  This mom friend of mine only throws a real birthday bash for her children on their 5th, 8th and 12th birthdays. And when she throws those birthdays she does it RIGHT.  For her little daughter she put together a vintage tea party and you have to understand that this was no ordinary party.  In fact, she blogged about it HERE. It's pretty awesome.  I'll even go so far as to call it pinterest-worthy.  Bitty had an absolute ball and was completely darling.  I'm going to shut up now and just post some pictures of her girly-girl weekend extraordinaire.  

We're Suckers. We Can't Help Ourselves.

Well....I think I can safely say that one little side-effect of stemming the flow of diet coke into my system is that I can no longer stay awake past 9:30 p.m. and thus my blogging hour has been taken over.  By sleep.  You'd think I'd be happy but I'm not.  I'm annoyed.  Clearly, Gollum is alive and well.

Sooo.....back to what I started blogging about 10 days ago....

I remember when Stomper was but a wee child and would ask me silly things like, "Mommy, could you please knit me a violyn?" or "Can you make me a t-rex suit right now?"  It was so easy back then to just say no because I really couldn't do those things.  But it seems he's made some advancements in the past few years besides learning multiplication and reading chapter books.  He has figured out how to adjust his request to something that is actually feasible and thus....we do it.  For example a couple of weeks ago, after Stomper went to see The Avengers not once but twice; both of his parents got to see it with him and I can safely speak for both of said parents that they totally enjoyed the movie as well as the date with their son.  Stomper came home from his first viewing absolutely jittering with excitement and spent the next week reenacting most of the movie for me as well as portraying his favorite character, Captain America. (Down, Becky.) Pretty soon Stomper just didn't feel complete in his portrayal due to the fact that he didn't have a sheild and immediately began his campaign. "Mom....could you make me a sheild?"  I tried to deflect his pesterings as long as I could but as in most cases of child-pestering I gave in.  Pretty soon I found myself sawing away at a cardboard box and trying to make it into a shield.  It didn't take long for Troy got involved and as usual took it to a whole new level using fancy silver tape and rock-climbing webbing to improve its appearance and functionality.

Sometimes when we do stuff like this Stomper loses interest in the new object in a depressingly speedy way.  For example, one day he was trying to make a guitar out of a box and it just wasn't working.  Before we knew it, Troy spent approximately three hours in the garage making a guitar out of plywood. It was completely awesome.  And Stomper played with it for about one hour.  Not quite the effort/reward quotient we were looking for.  I am happy to say that the same is not true of the silver shield.  Not only does he continue to play with it almost every day, but whenever his buddies come over they form a little pack of Avengers in the back yard, one of whom is always wielding a somewhat odd-looking but definitely awesome Captain America Shield.

Mommies Day

I didn't do a lot of the usual kinda stuff most moms do for Mother's Day - no brunch at a restaurant, no afternoon naps, but I have to say, it was one of the best Mother's Days ever.

I already had a hint I was going to love it when, on Saturday evening,  I saw Troy and Bitty whispering in the corner just as we were tucking her in. After their energetic and hushed conversation, Bitty tippy-toed over to me and said, with stars sparkling in her eyes, "Mommy, just sleep in in the morning, OKAY?" So I figured I could look forward to a little breakfast in bed to start the day.  Bitty loves doing that.  Of course, I woke up about a hour and a half before she did, but I killed time by reading and working on the lesson I was giving in church later that day.  Finally Troy had to go wake her up so she could help out with breakfast - she would have been heartbroken if she had been left out of it.  He tried to include Stomper as well, but he seems to be making an early entrance into the teenage habit of moaning into his pillow a low and definite, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" when you ask him if he wants to get out of bed on a Sunday morning.  Bundle wanted to take part in the breakfast as well, albeit on the receiving end.  She woke up just as Troy and Bitty were finishing my perfectly poached eggs on toast (yum!) and when she learned what was going on she crawled right into bed next to me, sat up leaning on a pillow, and smiled expectantly at Troy and Bitty as they came up the stairs with my tray.  Troy went back down and quickly made eggs for Bitty and Bundle too so they could join me in our bedroom feast.  A great start to the day.

I don't know if most mothers feel the way I do about the funny little homemade gifts the kids make for me every year.  Their teachers at school and church both seem to help them come up with a cute little craft and I just love the art and creations I'm showered with each year.  This year it was a hand-decorated shopping bag from Stomper and a self-portrait from Bitty as well as some cards and treats.  Treasures, every one.

After a nice church day we came home to get a few things ready for family to come over.  So no, I didn't nap luxuriously all afternoon or read in the bathtub or something like that, I did some cleaning and a lot of cooking.  And I'm so glad I did.  It was the most glorious spring afternoon - the temperature couldn't have been more perfect.  While I cooked and cleaned, Troy came home and played with the kids (read: kept them out of my way.) They had a rollicking good time with the sprinkler and we ended up with lots of funny pictures of Stomper as he sat on the sprinkler as it was going full blast.

We invited my parents and Troy's parents over for dinner, and it turned out that my dad's younger sister Roseanne was in town for the weekend as well and she joined us too.  I made a Cafe Rio type salad bar so that everyone could have plenty of things to pick and choose from.  Everyone got here at about the same time and we just sat on the back porch enjoying good food, good company and good conversation.  We each shared  memories of our mothers which led to a lot of funny stories and tender ones too. I especially enjoyed hearing my mom relate a story about Grandma Cannon that started out quite picturesque but ended with Grandma chopping off a chicken's head.  Troy's dad also had some great tales about digging ditches with dynamite as well as throwing firecrackers down his mother's chimney.  I guess I know more about my husband and his brothers' love of all things explosive.  Inherited trait.  I really enjoyed hearing all those memories and stories.  Later my sister and two of her beautiful girls stopped by as well and we all topped off our dinner with brownie and strawberry sundaes.

I just felt completely FULL.  Not from food, although that too.  I felt FULFILLED.  Happy Mother's Day to all - (a few days late) - and I send that wish out to any friend or family member who has shown me kindness and nurtured me along my wavering little way.  There are many of you and I love you.

Confession Time. I Have Turned Into Gollum.

This has been a challenging week. I don't even know how to say this without possibly bursting in to tears.

I have stopped drinking Diet Coke.

Waaaahhhhh!!!  I don't even WANT to stop drinking it, seeing how it's my favorite thing on the planet pretty much.  It's taken me months and months since the first moment I heard a little voice in my head telling me that I drink too much to actually admit that it's true.  I'm telling you, I love the stuff, and rely on it heavily as my own personal anti-depressant, energy booster, delicious guilt-free treat, tension tamer, mood lifter, ....basically, it's the precious. And I'm Gollum. And now I don't have it any more.  This is how I feel about it:



It's true.  I'm just that awful.  Today I took my toddler to the library to attend Books and Babies, a wonderful outing during which we enjoy songs and stories told by our favorite librarian.  We were sitting there happily, singing and clapping and being generally happy and calm when I saw a mom lean over and pick up a clear plastic cup with a lid and a red straw, bubbles filling the brown liquid like tiny jewels, dew beading up on the cup....I had to fight the urge to wrest it from her grasp and start sucking like a vampire.  Believe me, if she's anything like me she would have fought back.  We would have caused a scene.

Do I sound like I may have had a problem? No...addicted? Not me!

I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself.  I've been very strong and have even walked into both a Maverick and 7-11 this week and did not lose all control and start drinking directly from the Diet Coke spout.   Funny, I don't feel any physical effects from cutting myself off - no headaches, nothing like that.  I'm just sad.  Diet Coke made me happy.  But it was getting apparent that I had a problem seeing as how I poured myself a tall one by 10 a.m. pretty much every day and just kept it flowing until the late afternoon.  That can't be good, right?

So, there you go. I have confessed.  And if Frodo ever goes walking by with a big gulp in his hand he'd better look out because he's going to lose a lot more than a finger.

A Long Time Coming...I Mean Going.

Bitty just has not been on the same tooth-losing schedule that Stomper was.  I swear that boy spit them out like watermelon seeds one year until he had the most mangled-looking mouth around.  Bitty has chosen an apparently more ladylike schedule of occasionally  losing a tooth and then politely growing the new one in before moving on to the next.  Her two front teeth have been wiggly for more than a year without making much progress but finally finally one of them was on the verge of falling out after she kneed herself in the face and knocked it loose. More loose, that is.  I was a little sad to see it get so wiggly because I knew the days were numbered for her sweet and perfect little baby teeth - not one cavity yet!  (I AM a good mother! Oh no, wait, Stomper had like four, so I guess I take that back.)  Kids' faces just seem to change after those little pearls are gone and these big jagged permanent monsters take their place.  It takes a long time for their cute faces to grow into those big teeth!  I changed my mind about my sorrow however after she wiggled it so hard it started hanging at an angle, slightly protruding from the rest of her teeth.  She looked a little too buck-toothed yokel-ish.  Is that a word?  I don't think so.

Tuesday night it was so loose she couldn't even sleep.  Finally, as I was drifting off to sleep I heard a very un-sleepy holler from downstairs and instantly knew that the tooth had finally been wiggled free.  Hurrah.  Of course, Bitty was all set to sit down and write a lengthy epistle to the tooth fairy right then, but I talked her out of it, thank heavens.  I probably would have been okay with a quick note except that the tooth fairy always leaves a gold $1 coin in place of the tooth and I happened to know that the tooth fairy was out of them last night and would need to stop by the credit union sometime before bedtime the next day.  So I sent her off to bed after she showed off her gap to her daddy.  It's pretty cute.  She already has a lisp and now with her mithing tooth ith even worthe.

Okay. Cute, but still possibly a little yokely.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Matthew

How it's possible that five whole years have gone by since Matthew is beyond me.  But somehow it's true.  Five years.

It's a little tough when Matthew's birthday falls on a Saturday.  It's not like life slows down or gives us a peaceful quiet day for us to celebrate and remember, so we have to kind of make room for it ourselves, which we did in the beautiful, cool and sunny afternoon. The kids and I made a cake -  so cute - we asked them what kind of cake they thought Matthew would like.  Stomper started out by stating that it had to have whipped cream and strawberries, Bitty quickly followed up with deciding that it had to be chocolate AND vanilla cake, then Bundle topped it off by saying, "with SPRINKLES!"  And so it was.  We made it together and decorated it together.  The kids and I went and picked out balloons like we always do and took them to the back porch to write our notes to Matthew.

Bundle, despite obviously not having an abstract understanding of our spirits and of heaven, didn't stop jabbering about "my other brother Matthew in heaven" for the entire day.  And each of the kids wrote a note of their very own.  Stomper never seems to forget Alex or his brother and wrote a sweet note to both of them, though it was brief. Bitty wrote a lengthy note expressing longing and tenderness.  Bundle drew a picture and continued talking talking talking about Matthew.  Then we let our balloons go and for the first time in five tries every single balloon made it on its heavenly flight.

After an evening out celebrating Cinquo de Mayo with good friends, we came home and tucked some very tired kids in bed.  They were kind of manic all day as they are every year.  They seem to enjoy celebrating and talking about Matthew, but are always beyond energetic as well. I've mentioned other years that Troy and I have a hard time finding time to do our own remembering because so much of the day is spent in the crazy energy of the kids.  So of course Troy and I snuggled up on the couch after the kids were sleeping.  We pulled out our Matthew box and tenderly remembered our May 5, 2007 by reading the letters and notes we received and looking at his one photograph.

Though the day is always a little painful it is also a day to really celebrate our wonderful little family, and we had a great time together.  We bought a few extra balloons in case one got popped before we sent it with a note attached.  We enjoyed doing helium-intake demonstrations for the kids with the extra balloons and making them giggle like crazy.  We thoroughly enjoyed eating more cake than was good for us and licking all the bowls, whisks and spreaders involved.  We just tried to enjoy each other all day long, and we thank Matthew for bringing that extra depth of gratitude to our family.  We love you, sweet boy Matthew, and we want you to know that you are a blessing in our family.

The Salad Days

Raising Arizona. One of my all time favorite movies. I guess I do have to confess that I lean towards thinking about it and quoting it more than actually watching it because some of the stuff in there is just too yucky for me to enjoy watching over and over - mostly those two guys who break out of jail.  Wait, they didn't break out - they released themselves upon their own recognisance, of course.  Anyway, it's a great movie and I truly do love it.  I think it has one of the best opening sequences of all time - partly because it lasts 15 minutes or so before they even show the title of the movie and partly because there's that guy yodeling Beethoven's 9th the whole time.  It is during that wonderful sequence when H.I. McDunnough is happily married to his sweetheart Edwina and they're sitting there enjoying the sunset as they sit in their crappy lawn chairs outside of their crappy trailer, H.I. makes the comment, "Those were the salad days."

The Salad Days. Is that a common phrase?  I think so, but I am not entirely certain.  We sure use it a lot around here -  Troy uses it especially to describe the wonderful college years after his mission when he was spending time with this awesome group of friends including people we know and love to this day, like Rex.  I get a little jealous hearing him talk about those salad days. I wish I had been there.  Of course, I was way too mental in the year 1992 to have been cool enough to hang out with the likes of Troy and his gang.  So I just reap the benefits of being married to a guy who had salad days like those.

I bring this up because I think we might be in the middle of a salad-days time of our lives at this very moment.  Our youngest child is very nearly potty trained and very nearly sleeps through the night very nearly every night.  She has friends and play dates and is definitely no longer a baby.  Don't get me wrong - babies are great and many are the days that I wish I could have just one more day with each of my babies.  But let's not kid ourselves that the baby years are some very physically demanding and completely exhausting years!  And I've made it!  At the same time, our oldest child is no where near his teens yet.  He's still young enough to be a little kid - he still plays pretend and builds forts and needs hugs and a few weeks ago even asked me to sing him to sleep.  These are just some very good years. Here are a couple of things I've enjoyed since my last post:

We bought some dry ice. (Troy did his own wart removal; it was fascinating and alarmingly effective).  We had quite a lot of left over ice and had a few fun ingredients in the fridge so we whipped up some dry ice-ice cream.  The kids had fun stirring the smoking pot of cream and sugar and the result was so yummy.  I mean, it's hard to go wrong with that stuff anyway, but the dry ice made it sort of carbonated as well. You had to eat it up quickly before it melted, but that's never been a big problem around here.  Troy and I topped ours with berries and almonds, but the kids went heavy on the sprinkles and light on the fruit instead.  It was a great spur-of-the-moment family treat.

The other thing we seem to not get enough of is riding our bikes at the park.  Bundle has recently learned how to pedal around on our tiny little bike with training wheels.  We head up the street and around the corner at least once or twice a week let the kids zoom around (or wobble around as the case may be.)  Bitty especially loves her bike time and gets a look of absolute glee whenever she rides, as noted by her photos.

I'm hoping the summer ahead will be one full of many salad days.