A peachy place to be...

Our trip started out quite smoothly with getting all our family and luggage into the Bangor airport in one trip. We got to the check-in counter, gave our last name, and the lady read off my name and the girls..."and Matthew", I said...a moment of panic when she didn't reply back as she looked at the screen, but then she found him under his own name, separate from the rest of us. We got our luggage checked in with no problems and we headed upstairs to wait for our flight to be announced to board. The kids had a great time playing in the children's area, excitement was in the air. Things are going great...and then our boarding gets delayed. We wait another hour and then we get to board the plane. While waiting in line to board, Eleanor asks in surprise, "Are all of these people going to Grandma & Grandpa's too?!" The kids watched movies during the flight, Zach took a nap and then wandered from Matt to me, me to Matt (we were in different rows), we ate snacks, and had a good flight.


We get to Atlanta (hoping our next flight was delayed as well), show the connection information lady our ticket and she sends us to gate A10, so we go from concourse C to concourse A on a train, after going down an escalator, only to see that this gate was boarding to Tampa...not what we want. Matt talks to the guy at the counter, who gives us encouraging news...it is going to be nearly impossible to get a flight to Salt Lake City...and he sends us to a gate in concourse B. Escalator, train, concourse B, get on standby list, wait, plane leaves full of passengers without us, we head to concourse A...escalator, train, I'm carrying Eleanor at this point and losing my energy, and we plop ourselves down to wait again. We put in movies for the kids and wait...

...the plane leaves full without us again and we mentally prepare ourselves to spend the night in the Atlanta airport. Matt goes to see if we can get on a different flight the next day and the kids and I wait. It is about 10pm now and we are all hungry at this point and tired of course. The girls and I are snacking on disgusting fries and imitation burgers. Matt comes back with good news...we are booked on a flight...but not until Sunday, Christmas Eve. We find an empty gate to get comfortable in (Zach and Eleanor are already asleep at this point), Zoe and Emily watch a movie. At midnight, all the kids are asleep, either on the floor or on a chair.


I lay down on the chairs around 12:30 and sleep on and off until 3:30. Zach wakes up at this point, so we put a movie in for him. We watch people work and walk by, listen to the announcements over the loudspeaker over and over again. The first flight to leave for Salt Lake in the morning was leaving at 7:00, so when the time finally came to go watch the standby list, we did. It didn't look hopeful. When the plane was mostly boarded, the guy at the counter started calling out standby names, but the majority of the standby people weren't there, so we heard him say, "Erickon". We are ready to split up if we need to, so Zach and I are ready to board the plane. We wait to see if any other seats will be available and there is one. So Eleanor, Zach, and I say goodbye to Matt, Zoe and Emily and we board the plane. Eleanor sits in 30A, near the window next to a couple who have a little boy, probably a little younger than Zach and I sit in 39B, hoping that Eleanor is going to be alright by herself. Zach falls asleep during take-off, so I wait for him to wake up before I go check on Eleanor. It is a long flight, but I am happy to be on it. Eleanor does great. The mom next to Eleanor said she entertained them and was very good. I was relieved. I have never been so happy on a trip to Utah to land in Utah! Matt's dad, brother, and niece were at the airport to meet us. I didn't expect to see our luggage for at least a few days, but thanks to Matt's brother's flying expertise, he managed to get all of our bags. Yay! When I boarded the plane in Atlanta, Matt and I were very hopeful that he and the girls would be able to catch the next flight out to Salt Lake, but it didn't happen. They didn't get on any of the flights that day, so they stayed in a hotel and waited for their Christmas Eve flight to San Diego and then to Salt Lake. We would see them around 4:30pm on Christmas Eve. I was an emotional wreck on Christmas Eve! I talked with Matt in the morning and I couldn't stop crying after that. It wasn't until after Matt and the girls arrived and Matt and I talked that I was able to stop crying. We went over to Matt's brother's home (a different brother) to have Christmas Eve dinner. It was nice to be together as a family, eat a delicious meal, be surrounded by extended family, and be in a home that was beautifully decorated for Christmas. It felt good. Zoe, Emily, and Eleanor LOVE playing with their cousins. They play like they see each other all the time.

It was really a miracle that Eleanor, Zach, and I were able to get to Salt Lake on Saturday. I was able to do our last minute Christmas shopping and wrap the gifts that evening, which was part of the original plan.

We had a very nice Christmas with Matt's parents. It was fun to watch the girls open their gifts. Zach was never interested in opening his gifts, but he liked playing with them after someone else opened them.

The stockings were hung with care...

Zoe and Emily received the American Girl dolls they wanted from Santa, and Santa brought Eleanor a doll named Amanda, but Eleanor calls her Sarah...

Zach loves his magnetic toy that Santa brought, and everyone else likes to play with it, too!...

Zoe and Emily each received their favorite toy from the magazine they looked at over and over again...


Matt's brothers and sister and their families came over to visit throughout the day, which was fun. The girls played with their cousins, and the older cousins were all happy to play American Girl dolls together.

Matt, Zoe, and Emily gave me this magnet for Christmas...

Maybe someday our family will have the same opinion.

Utah, here we come!

We're leaving for the airport in 45 minutes. We're doing last minute packing, dishes, clean-up, Matt is out picking up extra binkies for Zach...we are ready for this adventure...it's all about attitude, right?!

Packing day

No time to talk really, but wanted to say "Hi!". I'm off to give my dad his birthday present...Happy Birthday, Dad! I have a doctor's appointment, then I'm coming home to pack.
Have a great day!

Christmas getting to know me

Welcome to the 2006 Holiday Edition of Getting to Know Your Friends!
I copied this from Cindy.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrap

3. Colored lights or white lights on the tree/house? We put colored lights around the inside of our house and on the tree (no tree this year), and white lights outside (but our outlet outside isn't working so no outside lights this year).

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No ( I have nothing against mistletoe, I just never think about it when we're decorating)

5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually I wait until December 1st, but since we are leaving before Christmas for Utah, I started decorating the day after Thanksgiving.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Sausage Egg Casserole...I love having a big breakfast on Christmas morning.

7. What is your favorite Holiday memory as a child? Taking a loooong time to open presents. My sister and I would take turns opening a gift, so everyone could see what the other got. We have our kids each open a gift at the same time and then they have to wait until they are all ready to open another one.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What...There's no santa?!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I did as a kid, but we don't usually let our kids. I did buy Zoe and Emily pajamas one year and we let them open those to wear to bed Christmas Eve.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Colored lights, lots of ornaments (mostly homemade), and a paper star on top.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it for Christmas.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes, and Zoe and Emily are very anxious to go skating!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? There was a favorite gift every year...I remember the cabbage patch kid...a must have!

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Remembering Jesus, the true meaning of Christmas, spending time with family

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Sugar cookies

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Going to the Creche exhibit and parade of lights the first Saturday of December.

17. What tops your tree? A yellow paper star

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving, I'm excited to watch the kids open their gifts!

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? What Child is this

20. Candy Canes! It wouldn't be Christmas without candy canes!!!...I think there originally was a question here...I do like candy canes, but the kids don't eat them, so I haven't bought any.

Zoe and Emily each made a Christmas card and then I photocopied them so they can give a card to each of their classmates and teacher. We bought tootsie pops to put on the front of the envelopes. Zoe's card is on the left, and Emily's card (intentionally upside down because that is how she made it) is on the right.



Our family picture.

She did it!

Zoe picked out cute turtle earrings for her first pair. When we first got to the store, there was only one lady there working so we thought she would have to have one ear done at a time, but by the time all the paper work was signed and we paid the bill (Matt asked if we were getting Zoe's ears pierced or buying a car!) another lady came in so they did both ears at the same time. Zoe was surprised at how quick it took. She had a look of awe on her face when it was done. She thought they would make the holes and then put the earrings in. She said it hurt more than she expected, but she's glad she did it. Now she has another excuse to spend time in front of the mirror!

The kids enjoyed shopping for each other and it was a very productive evening.

Early Christmas

We had an early Christmas with my parents yesterday. The highlights were the baby dolls my grandmother bought for the girls and the blankets she made to go with the dolls, the Diego field journal which my mom bought for Zach, and a friend of ours bought the same thing for Zach, so now there is one for Zach and one for the girls (which they ALL want to play with), Eleanor's Dora cash register, a gift card for Zoe to get her ears pierced (which we're planning on using this evening), and our 2 portable DVD players with 14 hours of playing time for each one, and the girls each got a CD player with headphones...entertainment for our long journey on Friday :-) Matt's eager to watch his new "Talladaga Nights" movie.
It was nice to have a Christmas before Christmas with my parents. We ate a yummy dinner, the kids enjoyed their new toys, and we enjoyed being together.

This is our first year having the kids buy for each other. They each picked a name in secret and we're going to the dollar store this evening to shop for Family Home Evening. It will be fun to see what they pick out for each other. Zach picked his own name, so he'll get to keep something that he likes, which I think will work out perfect for him.

Zoe's class made gingerbread houses last week for their families. I think Zoe did a great job!

There are a bunch of green and red m&ms on the back.

Emily update

Emily is feeling a lot better today. She HATES to take her medicine and insists that she's better and doesn't need it. We know better.
Any suggestions on how to get her medicine to Utah...no liquids can be a carry-on and it needs to be refrigerated. Hmmm...

Positive

Yes, Emily has Strep throat.

Strep?

The big headline on The DrudgeReport this morning is "Americans use TV, other Media 10 hours a day." That will be us today since Emily is home sick with a bad sore throat, which I am suspecting is Strep Throat. One of her classmates just got over strep, so I am hoping to get her into the doctor today. I called my mom earlier this morning to see if she could bring over some movies, so now we are well stocked for the day.
Zoe has a short play at school this afternoon and if all goes well, Matt is going to come home with the car that he took this morning and watch Emily, Eleanor and Zach while I go to the play, and then if I get Emily an appointment this afternoon at the doctor, I'll take the kids to the appointment in the car and Matt can take his truck back to work. We shall see.

We leave for Utah in 1 week to spend Christmas with Matt's family:-) How many of our kids will be on antibiotics is the question.

Back to pink!

Madison's first gift...a blanket made by a young woman in our branch.
Isn't it beautiful?!

Giving thanks

I got a call from the school nurse yesterday morning saying that Zoe's ear was hurting. The nurse gave Zoe some Tylenol and it helped Zoe get through most of the day, but the nurse called again around 1pm when Zoe returned to the clinic. I picked Zoe up and brought her to the doctor an hour later. She has a double ear infection. It seems to be a viral infection, so we are sticking with the Tylenol at this point. She is back at school today since she was bouncing off the walls last night with the rest of the kids! My neighbor, Jenn was here when I got the second call from the nurse yesterday and she volunteered to stay with Zach and Eleanor and to be here when Emily got home from school. It was a big help, thanks Jenn!

Before that all happened, I was able to make cookies and brownies to give to friends and members of our church, so Matt and I left around 6:15pm and started making our rounds. We got home around 10pm. It took longer than we expected, but it was fun visiting with friends and families and delivering goodies to them. My mom watched our wild kids for us, thanks mom!

Zoe's snowman

These are a few of my favorite things...

Matt and I have been married 10 years as of yesterday. The last 10 years have been GREAT and I look forward to many, many, many more years together with Matt :-)

About Me:
What are your favorite colors? I love navy blue, cranberry red, and Ivory together.
What are your favorite flowers? Roses
What are your favorite foods? I like a lot of food...my favorite homecooked meal is fried haddock with a sour cream and basil sauce with mashed potatoes, squash, and asparagus, when I eat out at a restaurant some of the foods I like are fried shrimp with rolls, cheeseburger and fries, and a chicken caesar salad. For my birthday I like to eat lobster, and for treats I love chocolate desserts, strawberry cheesecake, and peanut M&Ms.
What are your favorite activities and hobbies? I love to read. It is very relaxing to sit in my chair at the end of the day when the kids are in bed and read a good book. I scrapbook, which mainly these days is a journal with pictures. I like to do aerobics...when I'm not pregnant; I like to take my kids to different activities in the community and to do fun things with them; I love datenight with Matt; I like to putter around my house decluttering and organizing; I like to listen to talks on Sundays that are on the BYU-TV website; I like to play card games and board games; I enjoy shopping at Goodwill for our family and dropping off bags of simplified stuff; and I enjoy changing diapers (just seeing if you're paying attention!).

Thanks for enduring my pregnancy venting the other day. It did make me feel better to write about it. Happy Monday!

Is my due date right?

I've been trying to blog the past few days, but blogger has had some issues.

It is snowing. I have a doctor's appointment today for the baby. I hate driving in the snow, but I will attempt to leave early and drive slow. I am 33 weeks pregnant today, but from the questions and reactions I get from strangers I meet these days, I look 40 weeks pregnant. I've decided to keep track of comments I receive now and blog about it because I think that's the only thing that will keep me sane. It would really be sad for myself and my family if I go mental on the next cashier that sees me and says, "You look like you're due any day now" and then I say, "No, I'm not due until the end of January" and they ask, "Are you having twins?" and I say, "No" and they just smile. Blogging could save my life here!
When I went on Zoe's field trip, there was another woman who was pregnant there as well. I saw her the next day at the service counter of our grocery store and we talked briefly about the field trip and then I asked her when she was due to have her baby. She said the middle of January. When I told her I was due at the end of January, she laughed and said, "You're kidding?!"...I thought you were due any day now...are you having twins?"...Maybe I should just start telling everyone yes, I am having twins or I'm due tomorrow...no, that would be going against the honesty lesson we just had in Family Home Evening. (sigh)
Not only do I look huge, but people are convinced that the baby has dropped, even after I explain that I always carry low. I look like I'm going to pop any minute...so they say.

I just had a short coversation with Eleanor about going to the doctor to hear the baby that's in my tummy. She asked about the baby in her tummy...no baby in her tummy...She wondered if Zoe or Emily came out of her tummy...no, Zoe was in mommy's tummy, Emily was in mommy's tummy, Eleanor was in mommy's tummy, Zach was in mommy's tummy, and now Madison is in mommy's tummy...Eleanor ~ "But I don't want to be a baby in mommy's tummy...it's dark in there!"

My Dad

About Me:
Tell about your father...
I spend a lot of time with my mom now, but as a child I spent more time with my dad. He would get out of work in the afternoon before my mom would get home, so he's the one I remember getting dinner ready and being at home the most. My dad would be there at my sporting events and he coached one of my baseball teams. In high school, I remember pretending to be embarrassed when one of my friends announced that my dad was coming, but I was happy that he was there and always showed interest in what I was doing. He always tried to teach me new skills such as cooking, gardening, and car maintenance, but I never took much interest in learning these things, which I regret. I have learned how to cook and I enjoy cooking, but a gardener and car repairer I am not.
My dad has the ability to talk to anyone, an ability I did not inherit. This social trait of his makes him a great missionary because he easily talks about the gospel in a conversation (at least he makes it seem easy). I did inherit his healthy habits such as eating good foods and exercising. We enjoy our treats and desserts, but that is balanced with healthy food. My dad is not a spender of money and I think I get my good sense about money from him.
I look more like my dad with dark hair, skin that tans easily, brown eyes, and some native american features.
My dad is not a patient man, but he is very kind, compassionate, helpful, and loving. He loves to read and learn new things. He loves to be with his grandkids and to teach them new things. He gets involved in their activities just as much as he did with me and my sister. He is willing to watch my kids when I need him to and I appreciate that.
I love you, Dad.

Tradition

I finally found Emily's library book at the bottom of the stuffed animal box. I brought it in to school for her and she was very happy to be able to get a new book. It's one of her favorite things about Friday. I was very happy that I found it and didn't have to pay for a lost book!

We have a first Saturday of December tradition and we participated in it this past Saturday. We go to a Creche exhibit at our stake center in the afternoon. The theme this year was "city sidewalks" and the cultural hall and other areas of the building were made to look like store windows. It felt like we were window shopping as we looked at the different nativities. A lot of work went into the exhibit and it looked great! They have a children's area in the primary room that the kids love to go to. They have a reading area, a dress-up area where you can pretend to be part of the nativity, they decorate sugar cookies and make crafts. It always takes awhile to get our kids out of there when it's time to leave. This year they had the primary children draw pictures of what they thought the nativity looked like, and the pictures were displayed along the wall in the hallway leading to the children's area.

Zoe's picture...


Emily's picture...


When I get my kids out of the children's room, we get in the car and head to the parade of lights, which isn't far from the creche exhibit. Matt went home with Zach this year and my mom and I went to the parade with the girls. It is always cold, so we bundle up~snowpants, boots, winter coat, hat, scarf, mittens, and we always leave the parade frozen, but it is my favorite parade and the girls enjoy it too. It's fun to see the floats, trucks, Harleys, tractors, and dancers decorated with Christmas lights. It's always a long parade because the dancers and floats stop in the middle of town to be judged. The people dance and sing, which is fun to watch, but we get to a point where we're cold and tired and we want the parade to end, but we just can't leave until we see Santa go by.
We wanted to go to a restaurant to eat after the parade, but the few places we stopped at were very busy, so we ended up at Burger King (which is where Zoe wanted to go in the first place so she was very happy). It was nice to sit down and relax, get warm, and eat. We survived and enjoyed another year of our tradition :-)

Healing

My mom is doing a lot better. She was up and around when I went over on Wednesday, so we played a game of phase 10 and visited. I think it's safe to say the worst of it is over.

I went on a field trip with Zoe yesterday to the Hudson Museum where we learned about Native Americans in different regions of the United States. The kids got to make a mask resembling an animal, and they watched a movie based on the book "Raven" that was made by local students who live on Indian Island. Zoe said the best part of the trip was the movie.
Being on a bus full of 2nd graders made me appreciate the quiet of just two children at home :-) It took about an hour each way to travel to the museum and back to the school. I keep thinking of the Grinch and the noise, Noise, NOISE! It didn't help that I had been awake since 4am when Eleanor woke up and then woke up Zach. They were playing and having a great time. Eleanor finally went back to sleep at some point, but I don't think Zach did and I didn't either.

My little girl who always needed me to play with her is growing up...

Yesterday afternoon while Zach and Eleanor were busy, busy, busy, I looked over to see Zoe quietly listening to music while looking at a toy magazine. I caught myself wondering why all my children couldn't be that good and quiet! But it wasn't always that way with Zoe, and before I know it Eleanor and Zach will grow up too. (sigh)

Here is a picture that Eleanor drew and the letters she wrote the other day.


It's time for me to go hunt for Emily's library book. Today is her library day and we could not find her book anywhere this morning before she left. It's a board book that Eleanor and Zach like to look at it, so it could be anywhere!

Kids...too funny!

Eleanor is starting to write her letters. I think she looks at Zoe and Emily's schoolwork on the kitchen wall and copies them. Yesterday she reminded me of Zoe at her age. Zoe used to pretend to be a waitress and take our food order and then write it down on her notebook. Eleanor was doing the same thing yesterday, only instead of taking my food order, she was asking me what I was thankful for.

Zoe made Matt and I laugh this morning when I told her to take care of her pencil box, which she got out to look for my pens that have disappeared from the fridge, and she said something like, "Well, uh I need to finish getting ready for school, not be the maid!!!"
After Matt, Zoe, and Emily left, I went into the kids' room to look for a pen, which I found in Emily's box under her bed, and I also found a paper with a drawing of a girl that says, "Mom come back"...which I'm sure Zoe made one night when I left after the kids were in bed to run some errands. On the back of the paper, it says "Mom~good, Elenor~good, Zack~good, Grampy~good, Dad~Bad...only Dad. I had to laugh.

Zach is now sleeping with the girls. He goes to bed with them and sleeps in the crib. Eleanor sleeps on a mattress on the floor and Zoe & Emily sleep on the bunk beds. We decided it was time to get Eleanor out of the crib after she fell getting out of it and she hurt her foot. Zach adjusted to his new bedtime and bed really well. He cried on and off the first night, but not as much as Matt and I expected. Now he says bye to us and waves after we put him in bed.
Now Matt and I have a few months to enjoy quiet, restful, alone time in the evening before the baby comes :-)

My mom pinched something in her back relating to a disk last Friday and she has been hurting since Sunday. She is in a lot of pain and can hardly move, so the kids and I are going to go over to my parents' home today and help. She went to the chiropractor on Monday and I'm sure she will get to see him consistently for awhile until she is better. She has missed a lot of work with the Thanksgiving break and now her back, so I know she is stressed about all the work that is piling up there. I hope I can eliminate some stress at her home and help her to be as comfortable as possible. My dad stayed home with her yesterday, but as far as I know, he's planning on going to work today. I haven't talked to her yet today, but so far she has felt worse every day that I talk to her. Hopefully today she is feeling a bit better.

Mission Accomplished

We survived a family picture last night at Walmart. Before we even started, Zach was showing signs of not being cooperative. The photographer focused on getting Zach to smile, which worked, but then the girls would have funny faces or wouldn't be looking at the camera. After a few tries, Zach got tired of being entertained and he wanted to get down. So I ended up holding him and we switched our focus to the girls. The lady would count to 3 and then Matt would take Zach's binky out and we'd smile. The first time we did that, the picture was good, but you could see the binky in the picture, so we tried again. The second time was a keeper. Everyone is smiling except Zach, but he's not crying, he doesn't have a binky in his mouth, and he's looking at the camera. The standard of what you want the picture to look like gets lower and lower the longer you are in the studio!
We went to McDonalds for dinner, in our white shirts, which weren't so white when we left there. But our bellies were full and it was time to go home and end the eventful evening.

About Me:
Describe a typical school day as a child in Elementary school...I rode the bus to school, played outside until the bell rang with my friends, went to my homeroom, learned, played outside for recess some more, learned, ate lunch, learned some more, and rode the bus home. Or something like that. I liked recess and lunch just as much as my kids do :-) I started playing the saxophone in there somewhere, so I had lessons and band, probably from 5th grade on. Zoe is showing interest in playing the flute, which will start when she's in 5th grade. I can't say that I miss school, but I'm glad that I went and my parents wanted me to get a good education. My school experience was very positive.

November 9, 1989

About Me:
Where were you and what were you doing the day the wall came down in East Germany?
I don't know, but I had just turned 15 and I'm sure I was too involved with my teenage self to give this big news story a second thought. It's interesting that one day can change the life of a person in a big way, but be an ordinary day for someone else. It happens all the time.
Where were you and what were you doing that day?

Doctor results

I took Eleanor to the doctor on Wednesday and once again the x-rays showed nothing broken and she is fine. Not long after we went to the doctor, Eleanor was walking on her foot instead of just on her heel. I'm sure she bruised her foot a week ago and was afraid to walk on it again because it hurt to do so the last time she had tried. She is becoming an expensive child!

We had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday. We went out to eat with my parents at a nearby truck stop/restaurant called Dysarts. There was a long wait, but the food was delicious and worth the wait.

Zoe had the traditional turkey dinner and cleaned her plate.


Emily had a cheese sandwich with smiley face fries and applesauce. She cleaned her plate, too.


Eleanor wanted bread and butter. She enjoyed buttering her rolls by herself, and eating chunks of butter.


Zach drank his chocolate milk and then played with his straw and cup. He was quite a mess by the time we left the restaurant.




I've had the desire to listen to Christmas music the past few weeks, but I held off until today. The Christmas season has begun! The kids were excited when I put up some Christmas lights in our living room this afternoon.

Time for the doctor

Zoe and Emily are on their Thanksgiving break, so they are home today. It's nice to have a more relaxing morning. Our day is still up in the air of exactly what we're going to do. We'll most likely go to storytime.

I'm going to call the doctor's office today and see when I can get Eleanor in to see someone. It has been a week now with a hurt foot, and she'll only walk on the heel of it. She never forgets about her foot and has not accidentally walked on it. A friend of mine who is a nurse looked at Eleanor's foot last night at pie night (which by the way went well and the pies were delicious!). She said there is a bone where Eleanor is pointing to when asked where it hurts that could be fractured, or it may just be sprained. We just won't know until it's x-rayed and I'm feeling it's time to have that done. So, if the doctor's office can get Eleanor in today we'll go, but it probably won't be until next week.

I'm going to make another pumpkin and chocolate pie today, so we'll have more delicious pie to eat tomorrow :-)

About Me:
Write a want ad that describes your mother.
WANTED:
A generous, kind, loving, supportive mother. One who is a good listener and enjoys talking with me. She has to enjoy watching "Reba", playing phase 10, and eating out at restaurants with me. She has to enjoy watching my children on Friday nights and even claim to look forward to it. She will enjoy having our family over for Sunday dinner and provide snacks for our children to eat on the way home from church. She needs to have a big heart and be willing to give out her great hugs at a moment's notice.

Busy

Yesterday morning I went to Zoe's school for a few hours to help out with the math fair. The kids spend all day going to different rooms in the school to play math games. I took Zoe's group around to different rooms in the morning. Emily's school did the math fair as well. When I left the school, I picked up Eleanor and Zach from home (my dad was watching them) and we headed for my doctor's appointment. Matt met me there, which was a big help because Zach fell asleep and Eleanor still isn't walking very well. She'll walk on the heel of her hurt foot, but she's very slow. I am 30 weeks along in my pregnancy and everything is going well. I stopped at the grocery store on my way home and then settled into home, ready to make some pies for pie night at our church, which is tonight. I made a pumpkin pie and two graham cracker crusts before Matt got home. We ate dinner and had Family Home Evening. I gave Zoe and Emily both a shower, got the kids ready for bed with Matt's help and in bed, and then made a cheesecake and a chocolate pie. (the visualization of eating these yummy desserts tonight prompted this craziness!) By 9pm, everything on my to-do list was completed.

Today, I have laundry to do (and I am thankful to have a washer at home that works!), I'm taking Eleanor and Zach with me to Zoe's school later on in the morning to see a short Thanksgiving play that Zoe's class is performing for the parents, and I will finish preparing for the Family Home Evening part of pie night this evening. Usually pie night is very low-key, set up some tables and chairs, everyone brings a pie, and we eat and talk until we feel like we're going to burst. We're doing that tonight, but before we eat our pie, we're going to separate into two classes, one with adults with children at home and the other class with adults without children at home, for about 20 minutes to learn more about FHE. Our family is going to do a sample FHE for the adults with children at home, and the adult only group will have a discussion and hopefully will gain new ideas and perspective on having FHE alone, with a group, or with a spouse. I was thinking about Family Home Evening a few weeks ago on a Monday, when the desire came to present a lesson on FHE to the branch. I e-mailed Matt and our Relief Society President about it and the R.S. President thought it was a great idea and suggested we do it during pie night. So we are, and I will finish preparing for it today.

I haven't forgotten about the About Me series, I'm just taking a little break from it on these days I have overloaded my schedule :-)

My handyman

I started to do some laundry Saturday morning since today was going to be too busy of a day to do laundry like I usually do on Monday. I had the first load of clothes in the washer when our washer stopped working. I was ready to go buy a new washer/dryer combo, but Matt convinced me that he should look at it first to see if he could figure out the problem and fix it. We went to a baptism and then I went to my parents' house with the kids to do some laundry there so Matt could work on the washer without anyone getting in the way. I am glad Matt looked at the washer because by some miracle, he was able to find the wire that wasn't working properly and he fixed it! Here is the evidence of his hard work...when the kids and I got back home, the kitchen looked the same as we had left it, and Matt had dinner on the table, so without these pictures I would have wondered if he had done anything major at all.

It's Friday!

Zoe brought home this beautiful turkey yesterday.

Today at school, Zoe's class will be making apple turkeys, so I'm going to go in and help. They're also making a Thanksgiving feast to eat at lunchtime. They have made costumes to wear today. They're supposed to walk to the middle school in the afternoon to watch the high school play, "Bye Bye Birdie", but it's raining so I'm not sure if that's going to happen or not. It is going to be a fun-filled day for Zoe today!

Friday is always a fun day for Emily with all her "specials", gym class, art, music, library, and a special activity to end the day. She always enjoys bringing her library book to school on Friday, so she can bring home a different one.

They also enjoy knowing that their grammie will be babysitting in the evening, which means movie time! Matt and I enjoy getting out, usually to eat at Pizzeria Uno. It's a nice break for all of us :-) Speaking of datenight, my About Me topic is about a special date I have had. Every date I have with Matt is fun and enjoyable. For our first date, we went to see "Emma" at the movie theater. It was a great movie, and I enjoyed the company. Matt has been my date ever since, and I like it that way.

What to do?

I was talking with Eleanor the other day about going to "grandma's" house for Christmas. So now whenever we talk about plans for the day she'll say, "and then we're going to grandma's house!" I'm afraid it's going to be a long December for her waiting to go to grandma's house.
Eleanor's still not walking. We think she sprained or bruised her ankle like she did her other ankle, so we're still waiting it out. I hope we're making the right decision.

I've been meaning to write the fact that Emily wrote her first sentence all by herself last week without copying it. It said, "Iseethecat". (I see the cat) She said she learned it at school.

About Me:
What games did you play in your house or neighborhood?
I played a lot outside with my friends. Playing tag, hide and go seek, playing catch, riding bikes. I loved playing board games and card games, too and I still do. I remember playing PayDay, Life, Monopoly, Connect 4, Stratego, and Uno. I know there are many more. I would play solitaire by myself with cards.
I would much rather play a board game or card game now with my children than pretend play like Barbies. Matt doesn't like to play games much, but my mom does, so we get together and play Phase 10 every so often. We'll let Zoe play with us if we have a couple of hours to spare. Maybe I'll dig out our go fish cards and play that with Eleanor today. She's sitting on my chair right now looking at books. I hope her ankle feels better soon.

Need to relax

My body is exhausted. I spent Monday doing laundry and then yesterday I vacuumed and organized the girls' room. Today, my mind is focused on more cleaning that needs to be done, but my body is refusing to do anything...except get up every few minutes to wipe Zach's nose and get Eleanor out of her chair when she's done snacking or playing, and take her potty when she needs to go (she hurt her ankle last night and refuses to walk on it...does this sound familiar??? If she's not walking on her own in a week, we'll take her to the doctor.) I'm debating whether or not to take Zach and Eleanor to storytime this morning. I'm leaning towards going since we need to go out for milk anyway, but the thought of dealing with Eleanor not walking doesn't sound fun. I do know that a nice, long nap is in store for all of us this afternoon.

About Me:
Describe your wedding dress, bridesmaids dresses.
I got married exactly one year after I graduated from high school. Fancy wedding gown, bridesmaids, the whole works...and walked into a bad marriage.
Several years later, I had a very simple wedding and walked into a great marriage.
Here is a picture of Matt and I on our wedding day.

It was a small wedding on a Tuesday evening with family at our church...2 months and a day after our first date. Having Matt's family there was special since they lived so far away and were given short notice about the wedding. Do I dare ask Matt's parents what was going through their minds as they got on a plane to attend their son's wedding to someone they had never met? It just might come up next month during our Christmas visit...I'm curious now.

Odds and ends

Emily decided to downsize her blanket. Every once in awhile she'll try to go to sleep without it, but she'll end up with it by morning. She has claimed that she's not taking her blanket to Utah. Matt and I both had the thought that we would pack the blanket in our suitcase just in case she decides after we get there that she really needs it afterall.


My birthday feast...yummy!


More birthday money :-)


A no nap day is starting to show...


Goodnight Zach.


About Me:
Describe a "sound" from childhood. What was it? When did you hear it? What does it bring to mind? The sound of the pouring rain here is distracting me...okay, the sound of the Ground Round was a lot different when I was a child then it is now. When I walked into the restaurant as a child, I heard the show playing on the big screen in the children's area, I heard children playing and laughing, I heard people stepping on peanut shells. It was a very inviting place for kids and I enjoyed going there. They still have a kids' night, the excitement being a balloon animal or object to bring home. The penny a pound deal is great for parents. But now the atmosphere is for adults, which is okay with me, but I'm sure my kids would enjoy it more the way it used to be.

It's Monday

I can't think of much to write this morning, and my About Me topic is one I have little to say about so I'm at a loss here. My energy level is dwindling with each passing week of pregnancy. I get done what I need to, but that's about all I have the desire to do. I do manage to get up every few minutes to wipe Zach's nose. We have another round of colds going around here. I determined early on when we had our first colds that this is going to be a winter of sickness for us. We were quite healthy last winter, so I suppose it's only fair that we catch everything going around this season.
Zoe and Emily are getting along great with each other, playing in their room together, but they have also developed an attitude toward the rest of the family. I feel bad for Eleanor who enjoys being with them, but they don't want to be with her. It's sad to see her playing by herself when everyone is around. She doesn't seem to mind as much as I do though. Zoe and Emily are back to school today after a long weekend, which means that Eleanor gets to be the big sister for awhile and have access to whatever she wants to play with. Yesterday, Eleanor asked if Zoe and Emily were going to school after we got up...I think part of her was hoping they were.
The washer just stopped. If I want to get done the laundry before bedtime, I better go switch the loads.

About Me:
Talk about your ancestors...Remember those binders full of geneology under our bed? Well, I have intentions of going through them once I dig them out. Matt tried putting up our shelves on Saturday, but the glue he bought didn't work, so the books remain hidden. I do know that a lot of my ancestors came from Canada and England. Maybe that's why the only country I've had any interest in visiting is England. I remember doing a speech in speech class in college about some ancestors on my mom's side (through her dad) that owned a castle in England. But the details have left my memory. Whenever Matt mentions Canada, he includes in the same breath that it is my native land. I would like to visit Prince Edward Island someday...mainly because of the Anne of Green Gables books. Family History/Geneology is not one of my strong points, but whenever I come back from the temple I do have a stronger desire to get into it.

My mother

Matt had work to do in Canada this morning, so he spent the night in a hotel there last night. I decided it would be fun to stay at my parents' home with the kids since the kids are off from school today and my parents are off from work. It was fun...until bedtime. Around 8pm, Zoe and Emily were wound right up, playing tag and hide and go seek. I ignored them for as long as I could, and then we got their beds made and told them it was time for lights out...if they gave us any problems, then we were going home. They went to bed very good, Zach fell asleep as my mom rocked him, so we put him in his bed, and then I layed down with Eleanor so she would settle down and go to sleep. Eleanor decided she'd rather settle down with her grammie, so my mom ended up laying down with her until she fell asleep. All the kids are asleep, yay!...until Zach wakes up crying around midnight I believe (the early morning is a blur by now). I put him in bed with me and Eleanor, but he's still not happy. My mom comes in to get him, thinking he is still in his bed. She finds him crying next to me and takes him downstairs to rock him. He falls asleep again and my mom puts him in bed with her and my dad. He wakes up again a little while later around 3am. I decided it was time to take Zach home so at least some people in our family could get some sleep. By then, Zoe was the only one sleeping! I found it interesting on my way home with Zach that a lot of people are either awake in their homes at 3am or a lot of people sleep with lights on in their homes. I personally do not like any lights to be on when I am sleeping. So far, none of my children have needed night lights on to sleep. It is as dark as it can be at our house throughout the night.
I don't know if Zach missed home or his pillow, but he slept great the rest of the night (I mean morning). Zach and I went back to my parents home when we woke up and stayed until around 12:30pm when Zach was miserably tired and needed a nap. My mom is going to bring the girls to McDonalds for dinner and then bring them home to babysit while Matt and I go out for datenight. So, I am enjoying more quiet time right now :-)

About Me:
Tell about your mother...As you can probably tell from this post, my mother enjoys being around her family, even at 3am with a crying grandchild. She is the only mother I know who looks forward to spending every Friday night watching her grandchildren. She is the type of grandmother any child would love to have, we call her the marshmallow. She can't say no to beautiful eyes and pouty faces. I have accused my mother in the past of being too nice (my teenager days). My mother would go out on a limb for anyone...maybe not a tall limb since she is afraid of heights. She thinks about everyone else before herself, which is sweet, but maybe not always in her best interest. Which is why I told her we're not going over to her house on Sunday after church like we usually do because she is going to need time to herself by then.
I take after my mother in personality, but my mother has light skin and hair, and blue eyes, whereas I have darker skin, brown eyes, and dark brown hair.
My mother has a talent for jigsaw puzzles. She puts together puzzle, after puzzle, after puzzle. She finds it relaxing and enjoyable. She loves to watch movies. Her favorite month is January when she can relax on a cold, snowy Saturday and put a movie in, and eat chocolate of course!
I've always seen my mother as one who has a strong testimony of the gospel. She is faithful and obedient. I have never doubted my mother's testimony or commitment to the gospel.
I love my mother very much and I am very glad she is who she is. I love spending time with her. I'm glad she is close by...what would I do without our girls' night out when I really need it?!

Back to reality

I had a very nice birthday. I didn't spend as much time at home as I thought I would, but I was able to do a little bit of everything I wanted to, which was nice. We had a nice family celebration in the evening. It included whiney children, bickering children, tired children, and crying, but after my day by myself, it didn't seem to bother me as much. Being alone was nice, but by the end of the day, I was missing the commotion of the children. I did enjoy having the house stay clean all day after I cleaned it up in the morning after Zach and Eleanor left. I could get used to that happening more often.

About Me:
Tell about your favorite aunt. I have 3 aunts, all my mother's sisters. One lives in Pennsylvania, the oldest of the 6 kids. I don't get to see her very often, but when I do see her, I enjoy her company and learn more about her. Another aunt lives somewhere here in Maine. She lives a very different lifestyle than myself, so I basically only see her at funerals. The aunt I see the most and know the most about lives in Maine as well. She and her family are members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints. She stays home to raise her children (8 at home, 2 grown and live out of state). She is very good at making her home welcoming and comfortable. She is very handy around her house and I admire that. I think she is the quietest of all her siblings, but she always comes up with funny things to say when she gets talking. She just became a Pampered Chef consultant to earn some extra money and to get out of the house more (can you blame her???). My mom is having a party for her on Saturday. I'm looking forward to seeing her and hearing all about what's going on in her wonderful family.

Happy Birthday to me

32 years ago, my parents welcomed my arrival :-) I am looking forward to my birthday today. My very thoughtful mother took the day off from work to take care of Zach and Eleanor, so I can have a day to myself. I'm going out for breakfast this morning with my parents, Zach and Eleanor, and then I get to say goodbye to them until we gather again for dinner. Zoe and Emily will take the bus to my parents' house after school. What to do with myself? I'm thinking that eating, relaxing, and shopping are part of my plans. I snuck into my package from Matt's parents this morning to see if there was money, and I wasn't disappointed. Thanks Janet and Steve! Matt is taking me to Pizzeria Uno for lunch and then I'm going to enjoy some shopping. It will be nice not having to worry about cranky children, children needing to use the bathroom, or children wanting everything they see. And, I get to shop for something more exciting than diapers. I had a dream last night that I bought a new skirt...maybe it was a vision. The evening will end surrounded by my family...and empty lobster shells :-)

About Me:
What instrument do you play or wish you could play? I played the saxophone when I was in school, and I enjoyed playing in the band, but I haven't played it since the end of my junior year in high school. I took piano lessons for 3 years as a child, but I hated to practice and I wasn't too fond of my teacher, so the most useful I am with the piano is playing with one finger during Primary when needed. I would like to be able to play the piano, and I have tried practicing at home on my keyboard, but the keyboard keys are more narrow than the piano keys, so I can master something on the keyboard, but then I have trouble playing it on the piano. Eventually, I would like to master 4 hymns that I could play during Sacrament meeting. Maybe when all the kids are in school, I will make the time to travel to a piano and practice.

Get out and vote

It's Election Day. Here in Maine, it's a beautiful day to get out to the polls. How blessed we are to live in a free country!

The girls have been taking longer than usual at night to settle down and go to sleep after they are put in bed. After about the 5th time of telling Zoe to get in bed and go to sleep last night, I hear Eleanor say, "Mom, you're grumpy!" Boy was she right!

About Me:
Describe your conversion to the gospel. I actually did this two days ago, so check out my Sunday post if you haven't already.

Famous

Zoe and Emily are in our local paper this week.


About Me:
What were prices like when you were young? The thing that comes to mind is walking to a local store as a child to buy penny candy. I can picture myself sitting in my room, enjoying delicious swedish fish and grape flavored swedish fish after a walk to the store. You could buy pre-made bags of candy or fill up your own bag. I would often buy the .50 or 1.00 bags of swedish fish.
There was going to be a candy store opening up in our town, featuring "penny" candy, which rumor had it that the candy would actually cost 5 cents a piece, but the store either never opened or wasn't open for long. Our children have the experience of spending one of their precious dollars on ONE candy bar, which doesn't happen very often. They have more fun going to Target and spending their money at the $1 spot.

My Testimony

I was raised as a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, and I am still an active member. I developed a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout my childhood, but as I grew into a young woman, I regretfully kept one foot planted in the church and the other foot planted in the world. Because of this, I made many choices that led me away from my Heavenly Father instead of toward Him. It wasn't until I was 21 going on 22 (when I met Matt) that I made the choice to have both feet planted in the church, the start of my true conversion. This choice included repenting for the sins I was committing, praying and reading my scriptures daily, attending church weekly, having Family Home Evening each week starting when Matt and I got married, and being ready and willing to serve in the church. Doing these things has strengthened my testimony of the Savior and His gospel, and has increased my desire to follow Him and to keep His commandments. I know that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints is the only church upon the earth with the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as he was praying in the sacred grove. I know that Joseph Smith restored the gospel to the earth and became the first prophet in the latter days. I know the priesthood has been restored to the earth. I know that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that reading the Book of Mormon will bring us closer to our Heavenly Father and to our Savior, Jesus Christ. This will bring many blessings and much happiness into our lives. I know that Heavenly Father loves us and He cares for us. I know our burdens can become light if we seek our Heavenly Father's help. Daily prayer will keep us in tune with the Holy Ghost. I know we are eternal beings. I know our families can be together forever if we participate in marriage or sealings in the temple. I know our families will be blessed as we pray together, read scriptures together, and have Family Home Evening together each week. I know that as we pay our tithing, we will receive both temporal and spiritual blessings. I know our Heavenly Father doesn't ask more of us than we can handle. I know we can receive many blessings, including personal growth and happiness as we serve in callings. I know we will have peace as we choose what is right. I know that I have a Savior and I know He lives. I know that through the atonement of Jesus Christ, I can repent of my mistakes and return to live with my Heavenly Father again. I am truly grateful for this sacrifice. I know that Gordon B. Hinckley is our prophet today. I know that if I follow his counsel, I will be led on the strait and narrow path leading back to my Heavenly Father.

Random pictures

The duck that didn't get away...


Matt took Zoe and Emily canoeing this morning. The girls were very cold when they got home!






Mr. Buckethead

Roar!

About Me:
If you could be an animal, which one would you choose and why? I'm very content being human, but for the sake of the question, I would be a lion (lioness). I would be muscular with beautiful fur. I would spend 2-3 hours hunting for food and then spend the remainder of my day lounging around and sleeping. I can handle that. I would have 2-3 cubs every 2 years and only be pregnant for 110 days or so :-)...but would deliver with no epidural, not so great. I would be surrounded by family and friends, which would be great, however I would only be with my sons for about 3 1/2 years before they go off on their own. I would be able to run fast and leap far. I would take pride in supporting my family by getting food and taking care of my cubs.

Lion joke:
Where do lions live?

About Me

I'm starting a new series using my journal jar. I hesitate doing this because a lot of what I'll be writing about is my childhood and since I have the worst long-term memory in history, there just won't be a lot of detail. I think this is one reason why I am so good at keeping up with photo albums and scrapbooking (although the more children I have, the more behind I keep getting!) Pictures and keeping a record of what's going on in our family helps me to remember better. Sometimes Matt will be amazed at how well I can remember something we did several years ago, but it's usually because I had just read about it in my journal. So, we'll see how this goes...the first strip of paper asks: Did you have a bicycle? Yes (that was easy) What was it like?...well, it had a frame, two wheels, a seat, handle bars, and peddles! The older I got, the more speeds my bike would have. I can picture in my mind the photographs of me learning how to ride my bike. I remember falling as many children do as they learn to ride without training wheels. But I was persistent and became a successful bike rider, I even mastered the peddling with no hands...which we as parents of course discourage our children from doing! I loved riding my bike with two of my closest friends that lived on our road. I can picture the houses we would pass and the people who lived in them. Riding my bike in the summer was a favorite activity. I would ride my bike to the town next to ours to play baseball with one of my friends. I remember riding my bike down our road on Labor Day one year, sad that summer was ending and nervous about the first day of school coming the next morning. I'm glad I had a bike to ride and a place to ride it. I wish our children could do the same, but we have to pile their bikes in the car and go into town to ride, which means they don't get to ride them as often as they'd like to. But, we like where we live, so we'll just have to deal with it.

Zach is sitting on the table, turning the kitchen light on and off...my cue to get off the computer and get on with the day.

Good news

No broken bones for Eleanor :-) She actually started walking fairly normal, and was jumping around the room when we were waiting for the nurse to come in. Matt was ready to leave without having her checked, but I figured since we were there and she consistently pointed to the back of her ankle today when asked where she hurt, we were having her checked out. She probably has a bruised or sprained ankle. The nurse put an ace bandage around her ankle to help Eleanor feel better. Eleanor proudly showed her bandage to Zoe and Emily when we got home.
My mom, after reading my blog this morning, left work to watch Zach for me. That was a huge help. She also came over to our house when it was time for Zoe and Emily to get home from school. It was nice not having to worry about getting home at a certain time. Thank you again, mom!

The witch, butterfly, cat, and teddy bear

Wondering why Eleanor is being pushed around in a stroller? She hurt herself when I sent the girls out to the car while I finished getting Zach dressed. I heard her crying and found her climbing back up the steps. She had lost the toy ring she was wearing and was saying she wanted to find it. I walked past her to get Zach in the car and she started to follow me, but she was limping and complaining that her toe hurt. When we were at the mall she seemed fine being pushed around in the stroller. Zach was tired and cranky, so we asked Eleanor if Zach could sit in the stroller. She said yes and got out, but after trying to walk, she cried and said she couldn't walk. After several attempts to get information out of Zoe and Emily, they finally told us that Eleanor fell when she was trying to get in the car (the word pushed was used, but I'll leave the guilty unnamed. We checked Eleanor's legs before leaving the mall (we weren't sure which leg or area of the leg to check). Nothing looked swollen or bruised so we headed home. Unfortunately, our experience with children not wanting to walk on a leg has resulted in that leg being put in a cast. Since Eleanor still won't walk this morning, I'm going into the emergency room with her and Zach today...after I have my own lab work done that I'm scheduled for, which will take an hour just for that. I'm still not sure what hurts on Eleanor. First she said her toe hurt, but when I asked her to point to where it hurt, she pointed to the back of her heel. When I pulled her pant leg up to check her knee, she freaked out. I'm mentally preparing myself to be at the hospital all.day.long today. I'll keep you posted.

Happy Halloween

Zoe has a Halloween party at her school this morning, so I'm going to go help out. I'm not sure if they're doing anything other than eating goodies, but that's a good enough reason for me to join them :-)

This evening, we'll take the kids to our local mall to trick or treat. I like going to the mall because it's warm, there's plenty of candy, and the kids don't have to wear a coat over their costumes. It's fun to see the other costumes that kids are wearing as well. The girls are very excited that it's Halloween!

What's under the bed?...
This is the last post for this series, yay! Under the bed is looking nice and empty :-)
My cross-country ski boots...I haven't been skiing for a long time because I'm either pregnant or taking care of an infant in the winter.
My baseball glove
Scrap posterboard
Purple and gray cardstock, unwrapped
A 2003 Kittens calendar that I used when I was Young Women's President, so it has all the activities that we did that year. Eleanor is looking at it and wants to buy all the kittens!

Happy Birthday, Leif!

Could it get any more eventful?

One of my fears almost came true last night. I hate to think of the tooth fairy forgetting to leave money for a lost tooth. So, I was grateful when Eleanor needed to go potty around 5:20 this morning. The tooth fairy still had time to put money under Emily's pillow before Emily had to wake up at 6am. Whew!

We've had a very windy weekend here. It was rainy Saturday, but yesterday was dry. We lost our power right after I updated my blog on Saturday, around 1:30pm. I left soon after that with Zoe and Emily to decorate at the church for our Halloween party that evening. At 4pm, we had a pizza party for the primary children and then we had our final rehearsal for our primary program, which we did yesterday. The power went off at church Saturday evening soon after we started rehearsing. But it didn't stay off for long, and we had power for the rest of the rehearsal and for our Halloween party. When we left for home, we didn't know if our power would be back on or not, but thankfully it was.
When the kids and I arrived at church yesterday morning, the power was off again. I pictured us doing the primary program in the dark, nobody being able to hear the children give their talks and scriptures without the microphone working. The power came back on, but then I received a phone call from the primary president saying she couldn't get off Bar Harbor because a power line pole was hovering over the rode and traffic was not allowed under it. Okay...now I am without the primary president and the primary pianist. Can I go home now??? We have a very talented young woman who was willing to play the piano during the program, Great!...but then I start thinking about a song that we're singing that we've done some changes to as far as singing a few verses at a time before the chorus, and we weren't singing the last verse until later on in the program and how am I going to explain all this to her as she's playing the prelude music on the organ, and sacrament meeting is about to start...I hand the task over to our music leader and hope for the best. Sacrament meeting starts, the primary president arrives (yay!), we do the program after the sacrament portion of the meeting, the lights are on, the microphone is working, we're only missing one child, the young woman is doing a great job playing the piano, the children are singing and doing their parts wonderfully, and we survive our 2006 primary presentation. It went exactly the way we wanted it to...once it got started :-)

What's under the bed?...
3-ring binders filled with geneology that my sister completed (bless her heart!)...these will go on the shelves that have been sitting in our hallway for about the last 2 years that are supposed to be up in our bedroom. The time is NOW to put them up (hint hint, Matt :-)

Halloween fun

The kids and I walked in our town's costume parade this morning...in the rain. Usually we just watch the parade, but this year Zoe wanted to be in it, so we all participated. I just have some advice for the clown passing out candy to the children...don't wear a scary clown mask with fake blood dripping down your face and expect the children to be happy to see you and take candy from you.

Full House

My house is full of kids today since Zoe and Emily don't have school today, so the teachers can have an inservice day, and I'm watching a 3 year old boy for a friend. He stayed overnight last night and so far things are going well. It looks like it's going to be nice outside today, so later I'll encourage them to go outside to play. I'm thinking it might be a good day to go on a nature walk to collect different leaves, cones, and other items to make something with. I'll save this activity for when they've had enough of playing with each other or when they ask me for an idea of what they can do.

What's under the bed?...
An empty Easter egg
A Christmas stocking
My baseball hat that I've been wondering where it disappeared to
More old photos and negatives

Innocent curiosity

I went to Emily's school this morning to help out during their special snack time they were having today. A little girl from a different class was in the hall and she asked me who I was. I told her I was Emily's mom and then she asked, "Why is your belly fat?"

Disappointment

Zoe and Emily had a fundraiser that we participated in (we meaning my mom and I!) and the items were available to pick up yesterday at Zoe's school. Zoe was VERY anxious to go get the items because she wanted her prize...for all the hard work my mom and I did for her. The lady had no problem finding Emily's box, but Zoe's box was nowhere to be found, so I had a very sad Zoe with no prize to take back home. She did very well though when Emily got her prize and was playing with it. I told Zoe that by the time she gets her prize, Emily's prize will be old and Emily will probably be crying for a new prize when Zoe's gets hers. I think that helped cheer her up a bit...plus the fact that I let her eat some chocolate. I hope her box is found soon!

What's under the bed?...
Christmas wrapping paper!...I'm glad I found it since I will be needing it soon :-)

Late

The chain of late events started last night when my Arbonne consultant was an hour late to my party. I had the party at my mom's house, and the consultant had a hard time finding it. She had the right road, but the wrong town. We finally got in touch with each other and arrived at the house an hour late. The few guests I had at the party didn't mind the wait since we were snacking and chatting and having a good time without the party part of the evening. Starting the party late meant that we ended the party late and I got home late. I got to bed late, so when the alarm went off this morning, I shut it off like I normally do, rested before getting up like I normally do, but instead of resting for 3 minutes, I rested for 19 minutes, which resulted in the girls and Matt getting up late. They did manage to catch the bus on time and here I sit updating my blog on time, so hopefully the late pattern has ended.

What's under the bed?...
Leftover portrait pictures of Zoe from 8 months to 3 years old, and of Emily from 4 months to a year old...I'll put with my other leftover portrait pictures.
A shoe box filled with computer CD's and disks, which I will have Matt go through.