A Long Awaited Long Weekend

Having been living in the great arctic valley of Salt Lake for weeks of inversion and cold and snow, we have been placing all our hopes and dreams of warmth and happiness on this, Presidents Day Weekend.  Pretty much the day we returned from our last trip to St. George we started planning our next visit, seeing as how we spent all of the last one feeling like total crap and letting Peter and Sheri watch our children while we slept. For weeks we have been sitting on our couch, encased completely in blankets and watching the bleak weather forecast.  With each sub-freezing temperature we see we look at each other and say, St. George....we're coming....we're coming....

I'm happy to report that the weather did us right.  And this trip couldn't have come at a more perfect time.  Presidents Day fell at the end of Teacher Appreciation Week, of which I was in charge and which was great but quite stressful and super super busy.  And filled with many many things.  Many. Getting in the car on Friday afternoon and heading off on a long drive has never felt so wonderful.  Thank you, Peter and Sheri, for being happy to have us, and thank you, St. George, for giving us the best possible weather you could in February.  I forgot what sunshine even felt like.  And short sleeve shirts. 

Do I complain this much every winter?  Don't answer that.

Anyway....all the Preslars feel better and feel like we can head back to Salt Lake in good spirits, ready to face a week of snow storms.  Well, almost ready.

Behold her Hulk-like strength as she bends the bar of steel....

How to disarm a Nuclear Mother

I am going to try to capture this with words but I’m not
sure that I’ll be able to.

Picture this.  I’m in
the kitchen doing dishes while Bundle is playing in the living room with a
friend.  I have given them a bowl of
popcorn as per their request and I am listening to them munching happily away
on it.  I poke my head into the living
room for a quick peek, and see that the munching sounds are not coming from
where I thought they were.  Instead,
Bundle is systematically removing the popcorn from the bowl one kernel at a
time, placing it on the carpet, and soundly squashing it with her water bottle.  I yelp, call out her name and demand she stop
instantly.  I go to fetch the vacuum
cleaner and when I return I find that she has indeed stopped with the popcorn.  Instead she has up-ended her water bottle
which is actually full of milk.  She is
dousing each squashed kernel very carefully, one by one.  I fall to my knees, hollering at her to
stop.  She looks startled for exactly one
second before she puts her hands on her hips and bends towards my furious
face.  She smiles, points her finger at me,
and says with a deliberate cadence, sweetly tapping my nose with each beat, “Well, I won't...do it...a-gain.”

How was I supposed to keep a straight face?  There was no way.  Too funny. 
She knows how to get out of a pinch, I’ll tell ya. And I still really didn't capture it at all, but I tried.

The CLLLAAAAAWWWWWW.....

(You know, from Toy Story? The Claaawww?)

Stomper has been attending this martial arts class once a week at a local community center.  We started up a few weeks ago, having come to the realization that we are probably done with soccer.  He’s been playing on the same team since 1^st grade and just doesn’t love it. He loves his team, he just doesn’t care that much about soccer.  We really want him involved in an activity he cares about and is excited to do – I’ve always known it would be something like this.  It’s going great and you should see him practice at home.   I guess that’s a post for another day.

Someone at the community center thought they had a brilliant idea and installed, right in there with the vending machines, one of those 50 cents-a-shot machines with the dangling silver claw which hovers over a tempting bed of stuffed animals just begging to be won and taken home to a happy family.  My girls spend the entire hour of martial arts running back and forth between me and the machine, asking every 3-4 minutes if they could please please PLEASE try to get an animal because they are just sure sure SURE they can do it and they know exactly which one they want and please please PLEASE!!!  Finally a couple of weeks ago Bitty actually brought her wallet with her in absolute determination.  Well, I thought, I guess it’s time for Bitty to have one of those really tough learning experiences.

I was there with a friend and we both had a serious conversation with her about those tricky machines that are made to look easy but really are trying to trick you into giving them all their money.  She was not to be deterred.  So my friend and the girls and I walk over to the machine.  My friend looks at me and asks me if Bitty is going to cry when she doesn’t get the toy.  I told her of course and said, “Watch this. “ I turned to Bitty and asked, “Hey honey?  Are you going to be okay if you don’t get an animal?”  Bitty instantly began to tear up and very shakily said, “Well, I’m going to try to be okay but I’ll probably be really really sad.” And a tear slid down her cheek.  Great.  She’s crying before we even do this.  Oh well, I’ll be a good mom and let her go for it!

You already know what happened, I know you do.  It was just like the time I was a kid and our family was on vacation, driving through Vegas on our way someplace.  We stopped at a diner for breakfast, and each table had a little mini slot machine sitting on the tabletop.  My dad goes, “Kids, I want you to see how gambling never pays.”  He drops two quarters into the machine, pushes the pulsing little button and….wins ten bucks.  That was funny enough, but the fact that he instantly put another 50 cents in and won another ten bucks did nothing to teach his kids not to try it ourselves.  Yes, Bitty plopped in her two quarters and on the very first try landed herself a little toy.  I could not believe it.  The second that round little plush pig dropped through the hole, my friend and I looked at each other and after one moment of shocked silence started laughing so hard we made a bit of a scene.  We laughed and laughed, and Bitty was absolutely beside herself with joy.  How funny.

Funny, that is, until every kid in the joint heard about it and came running with their own quarters.  Whoever installed that thing really is a genius because kids were plunking their money in faster than I eat popcorn and I saw no other victories.  By this time Stomper was out of his class and was in the hole a dollar and a half to his sister trying to get his own toy.  Bundle was sobbing because I tried to get her a toy too and totally failed – she had spotted a little purple turtle at the very bottom of the pit and had her heart set on in.  In fact, she still does, 10 days later.  She even woke up sobbing in the middle of the night 3 days ago and when I asked her what was wrong she only said that she just really needed the purple turtle. There were crying kids everywhere.  It was mayhem.

So does anyone know what I WAS supposed to do?  What would have been the correct answer in this situation?  Because I don’t.  Someone forgot to give me my parenting manual on this one. 

The pig is actually pretty cute, by the way.  His name is Wilbur.

One for the History Books

Despite the fact that our sweet doggie Alex departed our family when Bundle was only a year old, not even quite that, he is a huge presence in her life.  I guess we still talk about him quite a lot (as every dog owner we come across will testify) and we have pictures of him around the house.  Bundle is very aware of Alex and the hole he left behind which we may not fill any time soon due to Stomper's allergies.  Bundle desperately wants him back, and makes comments along these lines pretty constantly.  In fact, in every prayer she utters she asks to bless Alex to come back soon. (It only made us cry for the first 50 or 60 prayers.)

So the other day Bundle approaches me in a very matter-of-fact manner.  "Mom," she says, "I have to tell you something.  We are going to go to Heaven.  We are going to get Alex.  We are going to bring him back, and then we are going to pretend that none of this ever happened."

No idea where she picked up on that one.  But it had me laughing.  And kind of crying too!

This was actually little Bitty long long ago, but since Bundle is now wearing that snowsuit it looks a little like her.

Alex was not very keen to hang out near a baby.  He liked grown ups.

Oh yes, and one more little note I need to record - Today as we were driving around Bundle politely requested that we stop by the baby store on the way home to pick up a new baby.  "Blond hair, like mine," she requested. Oh yes, and purple eyes.  I have some explaining to do...but I don't wanna.  Not only is it challenging to explain the absence of a baby store to a three year old, but also the fact that even if there was one, we will not be going baby shopping, so to speak.

Could Have Been Worse

So what would you do if your sweet little three year old daughter was at a friend's house and while you were taking a few quiet minutes to sit and read a book you got a phone call from your friend that began with a long pause and then the comment, "Well....., no one's hurt but.....we have had a little incident."  Ack!  I'm sure my friend was terrified to tell me that my girl had located a pair of scissors in an artkit and done what most kids do at some point in their lives. She gave herself a haircut.  Now, my very first reaction was horror and shame because I was sure that she had done something wretched like tinkle on her carpet or curse or something, so it WAS a little scary.  But as soon as I heard that it was her hair, I started to laugh.  And laugh.  And feel SO glad that it didn't happen at my house.

Yes, little Bundle has a new hair-do.  But it could have been so much worse.  I mean, when Bitty did it, she skipped the scissors and went right for a razor which she dragged up the back of her head leaving a nice smooth bald patch but miraculously no blood.  It looked pretty weird for while.  Bundle could have done the thing where she hacked her bangs off to mere stubble but instead she just took a nice big hunk off by each side of her face.  A bob it is then!  Okay, there is one little spot where she got pretty darn close to her head and thus is currently sporting one sideburn-looking thing, but thanks to her curly fluffy hair you can't really tell.

The real stroke of luck was that after school today I just happened to be babysitting the son of my dear friend who does hair.  I called her up and requested that she bring her fancy scissors with her when she came to get her boy and she gave us the best 10 minute kitchen hair cut I have ever seen.  Admittedly, part of me has been a little sad all day long knowing that Bundle's long curls were going to go away for a while.  But as soon as Jeannie was done....I fell in LOVE with Bundle in a bob.  It is SO cute and she wasn't sad at all!  Well, I guess she shed a few tears at my friend's house just as her adventure was discovered, but since then she has been thrilled with the results, both her own and Jeannie's! We have had a talk about letting Jeannie do all the cutting from now on, and I certainly hope that sinks in because as much as I love her new little 'do, I sure don't want to see it get any shorter.

I have to post this one little picture off of my phone - it was just three days ago that Bundle had dance class and had her hair all up in a little ballet bun.  As we were leaving to go to pick up kids from school she requested the use of a scarf to go with her new little teal pea coat. (Bundle thinks the name pea coat is hilarious, by the way.  Wonder if you can guess why.) So I wrapped my smallest scarf around her neck and tucked it into her coat and...well, the result was....oh, I am going to miss her ballet bun.

I Couldn't PAY Him to Do This at Home

But then again, I don't pay in gelato. Just lousy dollar bills.

Our good friends recently purchased a gelato shop in the avenues - Go Dolcetti Avenues!  It's the best!  You MUST try the waffles! - and last Saturday night I sent Troy and Stomper up there for a little time away from home.  It was one of those long cold freezing days where we were doing nothing but hunkered down all day and by the time it got dark I could sense my husband going into his cave of darkness.  Since I knew that there would be a little jazz duo and really good soup and gelato and friends up at Dolcetti's I pretty much kicked them out the door and I think it did them some good.

Of course it did - how can you go wrong with a bowl of seriously awesome chile verde soup and gelato on the side?  But more than that, I think Troy was just uplifted watching his son.  See, our friends who own the place were there and their cute boys were back in the kitchen helping wash dishes and they invited Stomper to join them. Stomper got SO into it.  Troy said he was back there for the duration of their visit, at least 90 minutes.  Of course, he was being payed every half hour with a fresh little cup of gelato, and I can see how that would be worth doing a few dishes, but I have to say that for several days afterwards he has told me how much fun he had and has asked multiple times if he could return.  Not for more gelato, but for more dishwashing.  Awesome.  I guess all I need around here to get him to cheerfully was a few dishes is a cooler full of gelato!  Not such a bad idea, now that I think about it....

While I Was Sleeping....

So I was loading a few things from our camera onto a computer yesterday and I came across a bunch of pictures from our New Year's trip to St. George. I didn't even know they had been taken. It totally made me laugh - you may remember that I spent most of that trip either unconscious or wishing to become so due to the worst bout of the flu ever.  (Yes, I realize that this is like the 4th entry in a row in which I have mentioned the flu, but really, it was bad.  Very bad.)  (Sooooo bad.)  Anyway, I had to laugh because I was not aware than anything at all had happened but apparently something had!

Things that happened:
* Lots of time outside jumping on the tramp in the mild sunny weather:

* Lots of time with the girls playing Just Dance on the wii and heartily enjoying it:

Can you believe I slept through that? Apparently the kids also got out some musical instruments and had a whistle-blowing parade and even that did not rouse me from my slumber.

 * Okay, I was actually conscious for this part - this was New Year's Eve and I woke up for the first time in two days and was giving Troy a turn in the land of drug-me-to-sleep.  Pete and Sheri and I took our kids to a very well-done bounce house place that was crowded but very fun, despite a few traumatic moments for the kids.  Poor Siena thought she had a made a best friend but this friend played with her only briefly before letting her know that she was all done being her friend.  Stomper got whacked by an elastic rope thing that shut him down for a little while and...I think there were a few other things but I don't really remember what else happened. I was still on a Nyquil hangover.  I'm not going to tell you whether or not I was driving my kids around that day because I don't want to scare you.

So yes, it turns out that stuff happened on our trip. The kids are begging to go back and I think we will very soon partly so that we can get out of this cold and partly so that I can actually spend time with our St. George cousins!

Okay, I promise, I am done mentioning the flu or any other story relating to the great illness of Christmas 2012 - Half of January 2013.

Shutting up.

Something Happened!

So, like I mentioned previously, we have spent the first half of January trying to recuperate from the flu and also trying to just survive the cold and inversion.  And...doing pretty poorly at both.

We're doing better now!  At least for a few days.  Troy and I seem to finally be over the flu all the way. And also I have something to blog about - something happened!  Something outside of the ordinary daily grind, which January has felt like it has been nothing but.  On Thursday our inversion finally blew away followed shortly by the most massive storm we have had in these parts since, I don't know, maybe 2004?  Or so?  It started suddenly on Thursday afternoon and was pretty much a blizzard within 15 minutes.  It didn't stop snowing for two days.  We got pummelled!  It was actually really fun, though I imagine I can say that because we weren't involved in any of the 500 reported car accidents during the storm.  We just pulled our minivan up the driveway and if we needed to go anywhere we took the Jeep or we walked.

Best parts of the storm:

The power didn't go out.  (It did do a week or so ago for several hours and I was very grateful for our wood burning stove that day.)

Speaking of wood burning stoves, we finally got to use ours again. Legally.  We actually weren't supposed to use it during the blackout due to red-burn conditions but we were freezing so we did.  Our wood burning stove is as good for me as one of those fancy mood-lifting light boxes people use to fight off seasonal depression.  It is so cheery and cozy and warm and bright - it doesn't matter how cold and awful a day is, once the sun goes down and we light a fire, my spirits lift immeasurably.

Also, the kids WENT OUTSIDE.  During the inversion we just hunker down inside.  And bicker.  On Friday night Troy went out with the kids in the foot and a half of snow (I know, Bountiful people, that's like HALF of what you got, but still!) and romped and made a fort. The kids still bickered but at least they were outside and I couldn't hear them.  Troy made this big ring-shaped fort for Bitty and she dubbed it Helm's Deep.  Aww.  That's my girl.

We all got a little exercise.  That storm required some serious shovelling!  Of course Troy did the lion's share here - he took good care of us.  But I did some too!  A little.

We didn't get in a car accident.  Or even stuck.  Phew.

So yay, that was a fun storm and a fun weekend.  The inversion will be back this week, so I'll try to not revert back to my depressed and hibernating self but I'm not sure I can help it.  Time for another trip to St. George?

Hmmm. January.

Soooo....it's January......  not much to blog about.

Troy and I spent the rest of our Christmas break trying to get over the flu, and actually, we still kind of are.  I'm doing better than he is at this point but we're both still sniffling and congested and headachey two whole weeks later.  The kids spent the rest of their break....basically watching t.v.  It was very exciting.  Add those lovely circumstances to the dark, cold and completely polluted January...and....yeah.  Can you say seasonal depression?  (By the way, anyone unfamiliar with the Salt Lake Valley might not know that most Januaries bring us a month of inversion in which frigid air is trapped under a haze of smog that you can taste when you bring yourself to venture outside.)

So!  What SHALL I blog about?  Let me think about it and get back to you.