blossoming smiles

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

We didn't sent out a Christmas letter with our cards, so I thought I'd do the update here on the blog.

2011 began with Mac accepting a job for Isagenix in Chandler, AZ. He wasn't done with his MBA yet, so he transferred to being a part-time student and was able to go to class at the UofA extension center in Scottsdale. The job was a great opportunity for our family, but the kids and I were still in Tucson, and our lease wasn't up till May. At first I thought we'd stick it out so Kate could finish school in Sahuarita and so we wouldn't lose any money on our contract. Mac had a couple of different places he could stay until we moved permanently - with his Uncle in Mesa and with my sister in Queen Creek. However, after less than two months where we only saw Mac on the weekends, if that, I changed my mind. So one weekend while I was visiting my sister, Mac and I decided to look at houses. We found a great house in SE Chandler and made an offer. We closed in about a month and then moved a few weeks later. It was a whirlwind of change, but we love our house and the area that it's in, and we feel very blessed to have everything work out so well so quickly.

Moving meant saying goodbye to our friends and neighbors in Sahuarita. Even though we hadn't known them long, they had been great friends and we were sad to leave. Kate had to change schools, but the transition was not as difficult as I had anticipated. She attends a nearby CTA school with an advanced curriculum and immediately loved her new teacher and class.

All our girls learned how to ride bikes at the beginning of this year, even Lilly who was still 2 when she could ride without training wheels. We have to give credit to the strider bikes, which helped our girls practically teach themselves how to ride a bike. Other highlights of the year include the following:

Kate learned how to swim and was part of the summer swim team.
Lilly was in a ballet dance class with her cousin.
Avery started Kindergarten and promptly got in trouble for kissing a boy!
The family vacationed in Ogden, Utah for a Larsen family reunion.
Julie & Mac went to San Diego for an Isagenix convention. It was work for Mac, but play for me!
I took a quilting class and made my first quilt!
Mac got two ipads from work - one for him and one for me. They are awesome! Our kids love them so much that they each want their own.
Mac finished his all of his courses and now has his MBA! YEAH!!!
Lillly turned 3, Avery turned 5, Joshua turned 1, and Kate turned 7.

Our baby, Joshua, is big 15 mos-old now who runs around hitting and throwing constantly. He doesn't seem to realize that he's smaller than his sisters, and he is willing to fight them if they have a toy he wants. He has been a challenge for me because he has been so different from his sisters, and because he is very moody and demanding. But we love him and think he's pretty funny, even when he's being disagreeable. He also doesn't like to go to anyone other than me or Mac, so it's hard to get a break. His first spoken words were, in this order, ball, car, cracker. He also knows several signs: milk, banana, please, thank you, cracker, dog, more, all done, and eat are all the ones I can think of. We are excited to see him grow and develop, and his sisters love to help take care of him when they can. I think Avery wishes she could be his mother instead of me!

We hope this new year is full of good things for each of you!

Much love and gratitude from,
Mac, Julie, Kate, Avery, Lilly, & Joshua

Photos of Joshua, because my mom asked

2011-03-13T10:16:00.001-07:00

Sensitive Kate

2011-01-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

This first story happend back in January, after Mac took a job two hours away, which means we only see him on the weekends, if that, because he also travels on weekends. It's been hard on all of us. I thought it was hardest on me, but our daughters are sensitive to the change too, especially Kate.

Kate: "Sometimes when daddy's gone for a month or two, and I look at the picture of him smiling, I cry." Upon saying this, she started sobbing, so I hugged her and asked her why she cried. "Because I miss him." I told her she didn't have to be sad right now because Daddy was coming home this very night. I hugged her tight some more and told her that Daddy sometimes looked at her and her sister's pictures and cried too because he misses them. She looked at me and said, "I would really miss him if he died." "I don't think he's going to die for a long long time," I said. "I know," she said, and then, "If he died, I would cry and cry until he wasn't dead anymore." More tears. I told her I would feel the same way. Avery and Lilly looked on a little puzzled, not being quite as sensitive or mature as their six-year-old sister.

This next story happened this week:
Kate was in Joshua's bedroom talking to him and playing with him when she suddenly started sobbing (yeah, this happnes a lot with her). Worried, I rushed in and asked what was the matter. "I never want to leave him!" she cried. I didn't quite understand what she meant until she continued, "He's so cute! And I love him so much!" More tears and uncontrollable sobbing.

A couple of days later, she again is playing with Joshua in his room for a long time while I do a few things around the house. Joshua starts fussing, so I finally go in to pick him up and tell her to get her pajammas on when I glance over at her and see that her eyes are full of tears. "What's the matter?" I ask her. "I'm feeling like I love him again," she says to me.

Kate's a pretty special kid. I don't know what I'd do without her!

Just chillin'

2011-01-04T20:34:00.000-08:00

Nap time for this little guy. If I wasn't so lazy, I would figure out how to upload the photos off our new camera so I could put a more recent picture of Joshua on here. This photo is from November, I think, and he is already a lot bigger than this. He's reverted back to newborn schedule sleeping and eating at night, so he has really really chubbed up over the last month. I can hardly believe how big he is. I told Mac tonight that I'm worried he's too big. He's about 4 months old and I think he's the size of a 12 month old!

Again, old picture - you're missing the rolls and rolls of chub that have grown on this guy!

Aha - this is a recent photo! Taken just last week. We got to spend the week after Christmas in La Jolla with my family, and one of the fun things we did was go see the Mormon Battalion Memorial site in Old Town San Diego. It is AWESOME, and if you've never been, you should definitely go there with your kids. Talking pictures and panning for gold are just some of the cool things you'll encounter there.

Happy New Year!

Kids say the darndest things!

2010-11-12T06:34:00.000-08:00

I overheard Avery talking with Kate the other day: "When I grow up, I'm going to have five children . . . and one child."

I also overheard Avery playing with her friend Emily outside our house, so I called over to her, "Avery, don't be bossy." She replied, "I'm not - I'm being the mom." Uh oh.

Kate said to me recently, "Mom, sometimes I tell you things and you don't listen to what I say because you'll say, 'Oh, that's good'. I asked her how she knew I wasn't listening. "Because sometimes what I tell you isn't something good, it's bad." As Mac said to me when I told him the story: Busted!

Baby Boy

2010-09-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

I traded my pregnant belly and consolidated sleep for this little 8 pound, 14 oz miracle:

Don't you just want to kiss him?

Tortoise Sighting

2010-08-31T13:28:00.000-07:00

It's not everyday that you see someone walking a giant tortoise at the park, so I just had to stop and take some pictures with my girls.

This lovely fellow is enjoying a snack at the park near our house, just around the corner actually. His owner lives nearby and was more than happy to let me snap some pictures and ask some questions, like - What's the difference between a tortoise and a turtle? Do you know?

Apparently, turtles live in water, and tortoises live on land. This handsome guy can live 300 years, so if you want one for a pet, you better make him part of your will!

Lemon Zucchini Bread w/ Glaze

2010-08-09T20:04:00.001-07:00

I finally found a zucchini bread recipe that I LOVE! I devoured half the loaf when I cooked this on Sunday. And because I'm such a generous person, I thought I'd pass it on to the few of you who read this! Ha! This is the original recipe. I doubled it and made a few changes to it, which I think made it just amazing. And here it is:

Lemon Zucchini Bread w/ Glaze.

2-1/2 c finely shredded zucchini (no need to peel the zucchini)

1-3/4 c sugar

2 eggs

1 c vegetable oil (I used Canola)

3-1/4 c flour (I used one cup of whole wheat flour, the rest all-purpose)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder (I use Rumford's - it's the best baking powder)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

4 tsp. lemon zest

2 tsp vanilla

4 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Yummy, Yummy Glaze! (which I found here, another recipe that sounds great and is really similar to this one).

1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/3 c. granulated sugar

1 c. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans.

In a bowl, stir together the zucchini, sugar, egg, oil, vanilla, and lemon juice. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir in the cinnamon and lemon zest. Stir the dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture just until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pans.

Bake 45-50 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (I baked mine for 47 minutes.) Remove from heat and cool about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. You can brush on the glaze while it's in the pan or after you take it out, while the bread it still warm. If you put the glaze on while the bread is still in the pans (like I did), it's a little tricky taking the bread out of the pans without making the glaze look messy. I think next time I'll brush the glaze on after I remove the bread from the pans.

If you try this, let me know what you think! The original recipe didn't call for a glaze, but I think the glaze is what really makes this bread so yummy.

San Xavier Mission

2010-07-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

Eight miles from our house in Sahuarita, AZ is the beautiful San Xavier Mission. It was originally built in the 1700s when Southern Arizona was part of New Spain. Our family had a lot of fun visiting the mission on Saturday. The girls call it "the castle". We can see it from the freeway, and they always call out when they see it. It truly was beautiful! Just another reason for you to visit us here in Arizona!

Freecycle Magic

2010-06-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

A while back, while I was still living in Idaho, I heard of an organization called freecycle. The concept of giving away your stuff for free so it can be recycled and stay out of landfills sounded amazing, not because I'm that environmentally conscious, but because I'm inherently cheap. I signed up right away, dreaming of getting awesome stuff, like dressers, toys, books, and clothes all for free. What I ended up getting instead, was about 20 emails every hour, notifying me of something being given away or being asked for. People in Idaho Falls have a lot of "needs" and even though you weren't supposed to ask for charity, people still did, along with a sob story to explain why the person is asking for a handout. When there was something being offered for free that did sound like something I could use, I would email back right away, only to find out that I was too late - someone else had already contacted the offerer. This happened 99% of the time. All those "needy" people signed up for freecycle must have had a blackberry attached to their hip with the fastest fingers in the West.

For all the months I was signed up for the local freecycle group in Idaho, the only things I acquired that weren't junk was a child's desk, a dozen paperback learn-to-read Spongebob Squarepants books, and fresh artichokes. The constant emails were annoying, and always being too late on getting the good stuff was frustrating. So when our family moved to the Tucson area, I very gladly cut my ties to the Idaho Falls freecycle group and, with a bit of hesitancy, signed up for the local Greenvalley freecycle group. At first I thought something was wrong. They must not have added me to the list, because my email inbox did not receive any emails from freecycle for weeks! Oh well, I thought. I'm not going to worry about whether they added me to the group or not. It's probably just as well that I don't get a ton of annoying emails. But then, a strange thing happened. One week, there was a freecycle posting. And then the next week, another posting. I couldn't believe the difference from Idaho Falls to Green Valley. Instead of 20 emails an hour, I was receiving one to three emails a week! It was great!

And then on Monday, I responded to a freecycle posting saying I wanted some of the things that were bring offered. I noticed the email was a couple of hours old, so I didn't hold out any hope of actually getting these items, because in Idaho Falls, to be successful you had to respond within minutes. Much to my surprise, I was contacted by the offerer and we arranged a time and place for me to pick up the items. I couldn't believe my luck! So what did I get from this fortuitous exchange?

Essentially some vintage (aka "junky") jewelry boxes and some Christmas tins (not pictured because they are stored in the garage with the future purpose of holding sweets that I can then give away). But as you can see from the photos above, what I really received was hours and hours of children using their imagination and self-entertaining, which for a mom, is priceless.

Here's to many more happy months on the GreenValley freecycle group!

Piano Recital

2010-06-28T17:14:00.001-07:00

I'm probably way too behind to catch up properly on the last couple months, but these photos were too cute not to post. So in a catching-up effort, here they are.

Back in May, Kate had her piano recital. Sort of. I got the date wrong, and we went to the Piano Gallery one date after her scheduled recital. So we were the only ones there, but the two people working at the store allowed us to hold a solo recital, and here are a few pictures from that night. Kate did great. She has been able to pick up on her lessons very well, and we are delighted with her progress. Now I just have to find a teacher in Arizona so she can continue her lessons.

Some Catching Up To Do

2010-06-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since my last post. Beside moving 1000 miles, we celebrated two birthdays and other milestones.

Avery turned four - here is the cake I made, using one of those giant cupcake pans. I didn't like how one side cooked faster than the other.
Here is he family enjoying one of Avery's new toys, the bubble machine!

Lilly turned two!

Not related to Lilly's birthday in anyway, but this dress Ave is wearing is something I made in sewing class!

The happy birthday girl, looking a little beat up with a cold sore and a cut on the cheek.

Lilly loves cats, so I made her a cat cake.

Our other milestones include me learning how to sew (yay!), Kate's piano recital (photos to come), Kate & Avery's dance recital (photos to come), Mac starting grad school, and registering Kate for Kindergarten (yikes!)

Thank you gift for Teachers

2010-04-30T21:04:00.001-07:00

My own kids aren't in school yet, but they do have dance and piano teachers. I found this idea at Meckmom.com and am thinking about using it to say thank you to these teachers. I figured the girls would enjoy making them with me, too. What things have you done in the past to say thank you to teachers?

What 3 and 5 year-olds think is funny

2010-04-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

Lately, when the girls are supposed to be getting their pajamas on at night, we hear a lot of giggling and noises that don't inspire a lot of confidence in their actions. This is what they had to show us after we sent them to get ready for bed one night:

And of course, they thought they were so hilarious, that these costumes were repeated night after night after night for a while. The one thing I do have confidence in my girls- their silliness!

When a 5-year old shoots the camera

2010-03-31T10:02:00.001-07:00

Our five-year old really likes to play photographer. Here are a few samples of her recent work:

Sister being silly . . .

A close-up of sister . . .And lastly, me with the trash!

I grabbed the trash and began to walk from the kitchen towards the front door to throw it away when I heard, "Smile Mom!" So I did. Is it sad to say that my pose with the garbage is one of my favorite photos of me this year?

Gourmet Cooking

2010-03-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Mac and I were inspired by all the yummy new recipes I collected, and we decided to try three new recipes. I'd like to share them with you here and let you know how they went over. For the most part, they turned out pretty good, although there are a couple of changes I would make for the next time we make these recipes.

The main dish was decadent and indulgent, like nothing we ever make! It's called Creamy Lemon Wine Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes from the Hungry Housewife blog. The flavors were like fireworks in your mouth! I loved it, but Mac thought it was a little overwhelming. The lemon in the recipe was a little too powerful. I used the juice from two small lemons. Next time, I think I'll only use one lemon. We served it over bow tie pasta.

I also made these scrumptious Buttermilke Refrigerator Rolls. They were light and fluffy and delicious. The nice thing is, the dough makes a lot, so I have at least two more batches in my fridge that I can use this week.

For dessert, I tried this Dr. Pepper Chocolate Cake recipe from The Pioneer Woman. The end result actually reminded me a lot of Texas Sheetcake. I would change a couple things about this recipe. First, I had to bake it longer than the recipe said, and I think I could have baked it even longer, although I did wait just until a toothpick inserted in the center came out clean. It's a very moist cake, so when you add the frosting to it, it became too moist, even mushy, because the frosting soaks into the cake. I would cut the frosting recipe in half, because it made way too much, and maybe then the cake wouldn't get too mushy.

Mac and I love trying new recipes, and this week we're planning on trying a few more. I'll pass on the successes to you so you can try them too, if you want.

Slumber Party

2010-03-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when Mac is traveling for work and is gone for several days at a time, the girls and I like to live it up and have a slumber party. We've done this a couple of times, and the girls absolutely love it. We pull out the couch bed, eat popcorn and some other treat, like cookies or fruit snacks, and watch a movie. Then we fall asleep together, all except Lilly, who gets to sleep in her own bed. I usually wake up in the night and move to my own bed for the night too. It's not a lot of work for me to put on this slumber party, but the kids think it's something great.

Christmas Memories

2010-01-19T15:42:00.001-08:00

So I'm not going to even mention my long break from blogging, or promise that it will never happen again. Suffice it to say, we moved to a new home, and that event really knocked me out of my routine. I still don't feel like I'm back to normal yet, but I had to get caught up sometime. The following is just a brief telling of my favorite Christmas memories and photos.

Here are my three girls in their Christmas Eve pajamas. Kate and Avery were especially excited for the next day. My favorite memory of Christmas 2009 is the morning of Christmas, we all kind of slept in (past 7:00 PM is sleeping in for us). Usually Lilly is the first to wake up, and then the other girls jump up once they hear her. Lilly was sick, though, and ended up sleeping in. So Kate work up first and crept quietly to our bedroom, where she stood in the doorway choking back sobs. I sleepily asked, "Kate, what are you doing?" She just sobbed louder, so I asked her what was wrong. She began to speak through her tears, but she was so upset that I couldn't understand her. Finally I interrupted and said, "Kate, you're not in trouble. Now calm down and tell me what's wrong." She finally was able to spit out her concern: "Did I miss Christmas?"

Between chuckles, Mac and I assured Kate that she hadn't slept too long and missed Christmas. She cheered up pretty quickly once she understood. Here is Kate wearing one of her Christmas presents: a hat, scarf, and mitten combo. This was the only present, she told me a couple of days after Christmas, that she didn't like.

All the girls acted really grateful on Christmas morning for all the gifs they received. This made me grateful, too. For some reason, I was worried that they would act like spoiled brats and complain about not getting the right stuff or saying they didn't like their presents. But they were really good and happy about everything, and that made me happy. And I will always love looking back and remembering this cute face. These are some great memories! What is your favorite memory from Christmas 2009?

Burgers, Barry, Bellagio, & BYU Football or What Happens in Vegas Gets Posted to my Blog

2009-10-28T21:17:00.001-07:00

I recently took a typical mormon Vegas Vacation with my hubby and his family. After dropping off our kids with my family (thank you thank you thank you, and sorry about Lilly's diapers!), we drove straight through and stopped at the quintessential In-N-Out Burgers. For the first time, I tried the protein-style burger (lettuce wrap instead of a bun). It wasn't bad. Not quite as satisfying as a bun burger, but still good. I'd like to say that I went protein-style because I'm health concious, but if you were there and saw me down the chocolate milkshake and animal-style french fries, you'd know better. Then, we went to the strip and headed straight for the Barry Manilow show, which was AWESOME! That man has written the most romantic songs ever created. Here is the man himself in yellow!
After the show, we left the casino without once pulling a slot machine (you'd be proud of me, Mom!) and headed straight for the Bellagio Fountain show. We hung out there for an hour, gawking at some of the passerbys in between shows and cheering when we saw other BYU fans. It was around midnight when we finally got to the car and headed for the hotel. I zonked out within minutes of the car ride. I don't quite have the stamina for late nights that I used to. (Who am I kidding? I've never had stamina for late nights.)

The next morning, we hung out at the luxurious resort hotel, playing a little pig and horse on the basketball court, swimming at the pool, and watching cheesy Adam Sandler movies on cable. We made it to the BYU vs. UNLV game with plenty of time to watch the pre-show. We cheered loud whenever BYU scored one of its dozen touchdowns and when one player ran a 92 yard kick-off return. (I hope I got that term right). Mac ran into his boss from work and a former mission companion. (Typical, right?)

Here am I with Mac, our cheesy grins and all. And Dad, Mom, Shea, and Kent. And here is Mac, Rhett, and Dad again, who is responsible for the great trip. Thanks Dad!

Our wild and crazy trip to Vegas for BYU football was, as always, a hit. We'll see you again, Vegas, in two more years.

Grosgrain: Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-10-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

Grosgrain: Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

Super cool giveaway, and perfect for two of my girls. I'm always amazed when I see what people can make with a needle and thread. Depsite the fact that anything beyond sewing a button on seems amazing to me, these costumes are truly amazing and beautiful!

Twinkle Toes

2009-09-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

After her nap today, I went into Lil's room to get her, and this is what I saw.

That's my 18 month old! Just old enough to start nursery, which I can't believe. She doesn't seem old enough, not even close. She's been a difficult baby, but a very cute one, and I've wanted to hold onto that cuteness for as long as I can, but it seems she's growing up despite my best efforts.

My favorite place in the house

2009-09-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

We bought a piano this summer, and I love having it in our house. No one can play it just yet, not unless you count dinking out the right hand melody as "playing", and I'm not even very good at doing that. Luckily, at least one of these three will turn into a budding musician.

Kate starts lessons in a week, and I am so excited for her. I always wanted to take lessons when I was young, but I never got the chance. Now I'm living vicariously through my daughter and getting so much joy from it. Hopefully, she'll like piano lessons and appreciate what we're doing by giving her this opportunity (yeah right). You want to know what she said when we bought the piano? She said, "I want to play a different instrument."

I furrowed my brow and asked her, "A different instrument? Like what?"

"The violin," she told me. (There's a girl down the street who plays the violin.)

"Well, you have to start on the piano," I told her. "And after two years, then you can start lessons on a different instrument if you want." (If we can afford it, I wanted to add, but she wouldn't have understood that at her young age.)

Seven Years & Three Kids Later . . .

2009-08-31T15:31:00.001-07:00

Seven years ago, my young husband and I got married and went on our honeymoon to the exotic place of . . . Jackson Hole, Wyoming! It really was kind of exotic to me because I had never been there. However, if I had known that just two years later we would be moving within 60 miles of this exotic destination, I might have suggested we go somewhere else. But, we didn't know that we would be moving to Idaho Falls at the time, so we went to Jackson and Yellowstone Park and had a great time.

Don't we look young? And carefree?

Here we are at the famous arch in Jackson. Again, don't we look young and carefree? Now look below.

Not so young anymore, and definitely not carefree.

We're smiling, but we're exhausted. Taking three kids under the age of five for an overnight trip anywhere is A LOT of work, as we found out.

I'd like to say that we hiked up this mountain, but when your two oldest girls cry that their legs hurt when they're only walking around the block, you know your limitations. We took the tram up above Teton Village to enjoy the view.

Lilly kept trying to escape from the carriage ride.

Kate tried to do it too. But we talked her out of it.

I told you we were exhausted!

If Only . . .

2009-07-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

If only I had a spare $1200.00, I would buy this.

Instead, I picked up some old student desks for free (thanks to freecycling), but they aren't pretty in the slightest. My kids don't care, though. They think the desks are the coolest thing in the world. They love to color, do worksheets, and other independent stuff at their desks (which I think is GREAT!). But I hate how they - the desks, not my kids - look, and I really want to refinish them. The only problem is, I think the tops are made out of formica, and I don't know where to begin, or if I can even do anything about them. I really want to make them pretty. Can I paint over them? Could I sand them down? I've never been into crafts, and I'm about as clueless as you can get when it comes to stuff like this. But I'm willing to work at it if I only knew what direction to head in. Here is a photo of one of the desks. The other one looks similar, only the top is a brown, wood-looking surface, but it feels like formica too.

I know the metal part I can spray paint, but it's the surface I need the most advice about. I really think it would be cool if I had crushed flowers or something really pretty on top, with a smooth varnished surface of course. Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, offers of help would be great. The blogger world can be pretty amazing, and maybe someone out there knows something that can help. Here's hoping!

Mistaken Identity

2009-07-16T21:53:00.001-07:00

July has been the month of mistaken identity for me and Mac. First, I get a facebook message from a woman, pleading with me "as a wife, mother, Christian . . . " to break it off with her husband and rethink my plans to run away with this man and break up the families involved. Part of me felt really bad for this woman and her situation, but another part of me thought who in the world would send a message like this and not know to whom they were sending it? So I blocked her. Then this week, Mac receives a letter from a local business offering condolences on the passing of his mother. They thought we may like a copy of the obituary, so it was included, and it was for a woman with our same last name, who happens to have a son with almost the same name as Mac's.

Wierd. And this video clip, kind of about mistaken identity, is even more bizarre.

How do you make that mistake?

Boomerang Diet

2009-07-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

I must be on the boomerang diet: Lose 5 pounds, and slowly gain it all back.

The boomerang diet sucks.

Whining isn't pretty

2009-06-30T13:16:00.001-07:00

I really should learn to stop whining. I wrote the last post on the morning of my birthday, and I didn't think I had a lot to look forward to. Except that I DID! Only the best birthday ever!!! Practically every year since I've been married, Mac manages to surprise me with something, and this year on my 30th birthday, Mac surprised me bigtime!

First of all, the day of my birthday wasn't half bad. My grandma surprised me with a birthday cake before I left town (and yes, my grandpa was able to fix the disposal). And on the drive home, all three of my girls were amazingly good. Even Lilly slept and didn't fuss once. What a great birthday gift!

So the surprises didn't start happening until Saturday, June 20th. Let me first explain that I asked Mac NOT to get me anything this year for my birthday because of a trip we decided to take to San Diego last minute, and Mac agreed. So imagine my surprise when, upon waking up, Mac told me that he was taking me (and the kids) to IHOP. I LOVE eating breakfast, so I was really happy to hear this. And IHOP was great. When we came home, Mac gave me a card. When I read it, there were some nice things said about me, and then another surprise - a manicure and pedicure had been scheduled for me at a local spa! So I quickly jumped in the shower, got dressed, and rushed off to my appointment. I didn't even have time to do my make-up. No big deal, I'll just do it when I get back, or so I thought. When I was finished at the spa (I'm still sporting lovely dark pink toes!), the lady at the check out handed me ANOTHER card! I opened it and read some more nice things and discovered that - SURPRISE! - I had an appointment to get my hair styled! Mac had conveniently programmed the address into our GPS, so I followed the directions (except when they told me to turn the wrong way down one-way streets) and found the place. It turns out Mac's assistant at work. Alese, does hair on the weekends, so it was fun to chat with her while she used a flat iron to make my hair look great, especially since I hadn't had time to get it looking good before I left in the morning anyway. And now I'm really wanting a flat iron of my own! They are magic!

You're probably thinking like I was at this time - what a great morning and what great presents, but that was it, right? Nope. There was more. Alese handed me another envelope, in it another funny card with directions to take myself to the mall where I would meet a "personal shopper" and have my own shopping spree! I'm not kidding - that's what it said. So I meet my personal shopper (who turned out to be my friend Andrea) at Barnes and Noble, and I got to buy some nice things. Andrea had an envelope of cash that I was not to see or know the amount that was in it, and anything I wanted, she paid for with cash from the envelope. I've never felt more pampered! It was a whole lot of fun, and I think it's proven now that I'm married to the most thoughtful guy in the world. Thanks Mac!

Here I am giving him a chaste kiss in front of the girls to express my thanks (don't worry, I thanked him a lot bit better once we were alone . . . .)

And here I am with my girls and the birthday cake my grandma made me. Thanks Gram!What could I possibly wish for after such a great day?

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-06-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

It's almost nine o'clock and I'm sitting at my parent's table in my pajamas while my kids watch PBS, dreading the chore of packing up all my stuff that is scattered throughout the house by now, not to mention the cleaning I have to do before I leave so that when my parents return home from Florida, they won't be greeted by a total mess. In our short time here this week, my girls and I have managed to break a precious piece of pottery my dad made and which is my mom's favorite, and the kitchen disposal. I'm working on that last one right now. I'm hoping my Grandpa Marquiss might be able to fix it for me, I mean, for my parents so I don't have to tell them about the destruction I've wreaked while staying unsupervised at their house. And then I have the four-hour drive home to look forward to, by MYSELF (minus the three kiddos) because Mac is in Arkansas. Did I mention that I am now 30?

It's my birthday, and I'll cry if I want to.

I'm throwing myself a party - a PITY party!

2009-06-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

I'm the kind of mom who, on days I do make myself do the girls' hair, it still looks like they slept in the hairdo made the day before. I also let them dress themselves a lot of the time, and you know this means mismatched socks and odd ensembles of shirts and pants. That's why this photo shoot with the girls is so wonderful to me - it shows them off at their best. I can look at these photos for hours! When I do study these pictures, I'm reminded of how lucky I am to have a house full of girls, which means (if I focus on the positive stuff) there is a lot of giggling, picture-drawing, and dressing up. Currently, every day, the girls draw me and Mac a picture, decorated with multiple stickers. The drawings for Mac usually end up by the front door, waiting for him to walk in and see the nice surprises the girls have left for him. Mine are often handed straight to me, and then I put them on the fridge after effusive thanks and praise. Sometimes, like when I've gone for a run in the morning, I'll come back and the girls will have drawn me a picture and put it by the door, like they do for dad. And other times, they'll draw pictures for their friends across the street or at church and save the precious drawings until they see this friend. These are good times, when our young daughters are so enthusiastic about sharing their love and talents with as many people as they can. I get a kick out of how Kate draws her pictures and how she loves to sign them "Love ?" so we have to wonder who drew us the beautiful picture. It's so fun to see Avery's drawing develop - just recently, her scribbles have turned into people with actual bodies and looooooong legs.

Yes, despite the whining and the occasional tantrums, mothering these three girls is pretty awesome. I'm really glad I have these beautiful pictures to remind me of that.

For Your Viewing Enjoyment

2009-06-03T21:07:00.001-07:00

With all the worry and work that goes with trying to sell your house in a slow house buying market, I'm finding it difficult to make time for blogging. But I can quickly pass on the tidbits of entertainment that help take my mind away from my stress. Mac and I thought this was hilarity perfected. Just copy and paste into your browser - you'll be glad you did.

http://www.nbc.com/Late_Night_with_Conan_O'Brien/video/clips/birdwatching-21709/1022961/

My Radio Prize

2009-05-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

I received my prize for being the eighth caller on KBYI a couple days ago: The new Mormon Tab CD, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. The songs are lovely. Some are lively and energetic, and others are soothing and peaceful. I love it.

My New Favorite Thing

2009-05-19T21:36:00.001-07:00

One of my new favorite things right now is the radio station KBYI (100.5 FM, I think). I discovered it by accident one day, but I paused long enough on the classical music it was playing to think, gee that's nice - the kind of music I can have on in the background even with the loud noise from little children and not feel like pulling out my hair or grinding my teeth. So the dial on the radio stayed put, and now it's been weeks and that dial still hasn't moved. The music is simply fantastic. I swear I can feel my blood pressure lowering immediately upon listening to it, and for some odd reason, I feel smarter when I listen to it too. And if that's not enough to convince you to give it a try, today they played the the entire soundtrack from Seven Brides For Seven Brothers!

So it's mostly classical music, but sometimes they'll play broadway hits and such. Today, I really enjoyed what they played, but on Saturday I tuned in to show Mac what a great station KBYI was, but unfortunately something kind of wierd was playing, and Mac declared it was over, saying he couldn't stay married to someone who liked listening to that kind of music. (It really was a bad selection of music at the time, but I think Mac was overreacting just a bit, wouldn't you say?) On Sunday, however, Mac gave KBYI props by saying it was way better than KLCE for Sabbath-appropriate music.

So, if you live in the vicinity of Rexburg and Idaho Falls, I urge you to give KBYI 100.5 FM a try. Let me know what you think! (As a side note, I was the 8th caller this morning and won something, but I didn't quite catch what it was I won, and I was too embarrassed to ask, so when it arrives in the mail, I'll be sure to update the blog and let everyone know what I won, since I'm sure you'll be just DYING to know. It was still exciting to win something, even if I don't know what it is yet.)

Mother's Day

2009-05-15T17:55:00.001-07:00

Mother's day was great. After breakfast in bed, the girls insisted I open my presents. So after much enthusiasm on their part, I opened them and thanked everyone profusely for spoiling me. At this point, Kate sighs, "I wish it was Children's day. When is it going to be Children's day, Mom?" I told her that everyday is children's day, but she didn't believe me. She will when she's a mom, though.

My Angel Babe Turns Three

2009-05-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

It's fun for me to reflect on the last few years I've known Avery. When I was pregnant with her, I got an inkling of the kind of person she'd be by how she was in my womb, and by that I mean that she never moved. Sure enough, when she was born, she never moved either! She slept all the time, rarely cried, and was a complete joy! She rolled when she was 9 months old, crawled when she was 12 months old, and walked just before she was 16 months old. Despite these late milestones, I think she's pretty smart. Plus, she was the easiest baby ever! A great sleeper, eater, smiler, sitter, and non-complainer - what more could a mom want! I could have nine kids if I knew they were all going to be like Avery as a baby. She was completely enjoyable. I can't say that about my other two babies, as much as I love them. As Avery's grown, she's gotten a lot more sassy and defiant, but I guess that happens with most kids. Maybe because she was so easy going for so long, and we never felt the need to discipline her, she grew to think she could do whatever she wanted. She's still a lot of fun, though. Some of my favorite things about her: No one is sillier and can make us laugh as easily as she can. She's a great little mother to her dolls. She loves Beyonce's All the Single Ladies and always asks for me to turn it on. As much as she loves her daddy, she still prefers me to sing to her at night. When she's excited, her whole body lights up. Her speech is still very much that "baby" talk, which makes it very cute but very difficult at times to understand. Happy birthday to my beautiful three-year-old!

To be small again . . .

2009-05-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wish I was small enough to crawl under my sink, shut the door, and hide there. If I were Kate and Avery, it would be the perfect place to break out my new flashlight, the all-time best ever toy, if you didn't already know. If I were Lilly, it would just be for trying out a new place and experience. But as mom, I might use it to shut the door on the constant house cleaning that faces me now that my house is for sale, or the constant nagging from three daughters who won't even let me shower or go to the bathroom alone. I remember being small enough to crawl in a place this size, but I don't remember when I grew too big for it, only that it was a LONG time ago.

Lilly Turns One

2009-04-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

My baby turned one on Monday. Here she is NOT enjoying her cake.

I love that little girl!

Traveling

2009-04-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

Mac and I are sitting in the SLC airport right now, waiting for our connection to Tucson. Mac is reading a People Magazine (we just traded so I could use the computer). I always like to buy a People Mag when I'm traveling. I picked up the habit from my sister Aimee. It's the only time I do buy the magazine, and it's fun to immerse myself in pop culture every once in a while. It's amazing what you can learn about people I will never personally know, yet somehow I still care. Like, for example, Mel Gibson, who is getting a divorce. That news made me so sad! And, did you know, that Tori Spelling is NOT aneorxic? Right after she had her latest baby, Dean (her husband) told her she was beautiful. So why would she be aneorexic?

The People Magazine is fun to read, but it's really a distraction from what could take over my mind at any moment and make my vacation less enjoyable, and that is the thought of my three babies with someone else taking care of them for FOUR WHOLE DAYS! Ironically, I really look forward to getting away from the kids at any chance I get. I think it's healthy, rejuvenating, and necessary for my individuality and my marriage to take these "breaks" - until I actually do take these breaks, and then I realize that there really aren't any true breaks from motherhood. That's right - once you become a mother, you can't ever go back. Here I am thinking about my kids, especially my baby, wondering if they'll be good for those watching them, if they'll miss me, if they'll get sad or get hurt feelings, when I should be thinking about where we're going to go out to eat, or if I'll be able to beat Mac in tennis, or something else fun that we'll get to do on this trip that we don't get to do at home.

I'm looking forward to this trip, but I miss my girls. I took this trip to "get away" and relax. I'm sure that this trip will accomplish that, but I'm also sure that it will have a second, unintended consequence: When I return, I'll smile and hold my kids a little longer. I'll be a little nicer, a little more patient, and a little more fun as a mom. At least for a little while. Life has a way of returning to normalcy pretty quickly, but I'll cherish this time away, and the time when I first get back and I am the kind of mom I wish I always could be.

Silly Girl

2009-04-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

There's something about being four years old that makes you think it is so funny to do thisand this and this

when mom tells you to smile pretty.

I love those big eyes on Lilly, though.

The Other Man

2009-04-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

I've never been much of a fan of Justin Timberlake. Not that I disliked him or anything, but I just couldn't name any of his songs, let alone sing the lyrics. No, it wasn't from his music, not even his NSYNC days, that I got to know JT; rather, it was his comedic stuff that got my attention: his SNL skit with Beyonce (hilarious) and his hosting of the ESPY awards (impressive). I've even seen the Punk'd episode where JT thinks the IRS is confiscating all of his possessions for back taxes (very funny). But other than that, I didn't really think a lot about him, so I was more than a little surprised when he became the leading man in a dream of mine the other night.

In this dream, JT saw some home movies of me as a kid and thought there was something promising about me. (The home movie just happened to be the one where our family is reenacting the Nativity scene. I think I was wearing an old bathrobe that was too big for me. Believe me, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried!) So he approached me and we hit it off. We went on a fun, casual date that lasted the whole day, and at the end of it, he kissed me. Now, it wasn't a french kiss or even a passionate embrace of any kind, but if I had to rate the kiss on a scale of 1 - 10, it would be an 11. It was a soft, slow, warm, kiss, the kind of kiss that makes you feel a little giddy and light headed and tingly all over. I woke up with my lips still tingling. Wow was all I could think as I lay there in bed next to Mac. And then, Oh yeah - MAC! The man I'm married to. What's he going to think if I tell him I had a dream about kissing JT and really liking it? So as I listened to Mac get out of bed and get ready for work, I decided I would just tell him when he got home from work. I didn't want to spoil his day or anything, especially because he had something really important going on that day, and I would hate to cause any kind of distraction for him. (It never crossed my mind not to tell him about the dream because that would make it seem secretive and wrong, and we all know dreams are freebies - you can do all sorts of naughty stuff in your dreams, but you don't have to repent later.)

So I waited until that night to tell him. And you know what? He just chuckled about it. He didn't even care. I guess we have one of those, you know, OPEN relationships, where we're okay with the other kissing another person, as long as it's in a dream of course, not real life. Although I have to say I'm pretty happy that the woman in Mac's dreams, when she isn't me of course, is faceless. At least that's what he tells me. I have to wonder sometimes if he just tells me that to keep me from feeling hurt or jealous. It kind of reminds me of the time Mac told me that he thought Nicole Kidman was attractive. Suddenly, I didn't like Nicole Kidman anymore, but I would always remind Mac, "Oh, but YOU think she's PRETTY." One day, Mac decided he didn't like Nicole Kidman anymore. She was too trashy, he'd decided. (Good man!) But it does make me wonder if that woman in his dreams ever does have a face. Although if she did, I think I'd be okay with it. After my fling with JT, I can be a little more forgiving.

A Shout Out For My Mom

2009-04-04T21:03:00.000-07:00

My dad finally started a blog! I don't know how much he'll update it, but he did post this really cool video that features my mom (she's the first person highlighted in the video). Watch it here.

Move over, Beyonce!

2009-04-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

With three little girls in the house, we do a lot of dancing and singing. Kate's dance moves have really evolved lately, and they are too funny not to share. I'm giving Mac credit for teaching her this stuff, because I'm too embarrassed to admit that she could learn this from me!

April in Idaho Falls

2009-04-02T11:56:00.001-07:00

These pictures were taken this morning.

Here's baby sister wondering why she can't have fun too.

I just LOVE Idaho Falls in the SPRING!

What Color Is Your Day?

2009-03-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

After reading about establishing early writing habits from this website, I felt inspired to get Kate and Avery their own journals. They love writing in their journals. It's much easier to get them dressed and ready for bed when they have their journals to look forward to. They usually draw pictures, but I try to encourage Kate to write a few words and Avery to write a few letters. It's fun for them, plus it's rewarding for me to see them enjoying something kind of academic.

More Fun With Butcher Paper: Body Tracing!

2009-03-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

So that paper I got from the Post Register for cheap, it's continuing to pay me back in countless ways. Inspired by my time as a high school teacher(body biographies), I traced the girls bodies and had them then draw and color their bodies. Later, I hung them up on our sliding doors so we could all marvel at their work and, more importantly, make sure "Dad" got to see them when he came home from work. This was a great activity that kept them occupied for, like, 20 minutes, and they were happy and nice about it too. It could also be used to teach parts of the body or discuss modesty.

Hint: The bodies look a lot less creepy if you draw necks, fingers, and toes.

Quotes I Love from Books I Love

2009-03-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

I'm currently reading The Guernsey Liteary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and it's already become one of my favorite books. I began writing down some quotes from the book that I really like, and I would put them on here except that I'm in Utah and the piece of paper I've been writing the quotes on is in Idaho. So I decided to look up one of my favorite passages from a book titled Eat Cake. Don't you just love a book entilted Eat Cake? You don't even have to read it to know that you will like it. The author is Jeanne Ray, and she crafted this fabulous quote in it:

"Cakes have gotten a bad rap. People equate virtue with turning down dessert. There is always one person at the table who holds up her hand when I serve the cake. No, really, I couldn’t she says, and then gives her flat stomach a conspiratorial little pat. Everyone who is pressing a fork into that first tender layer looks at the person who declined the plate, and they all think, That person is better than I am. That person has discipline. But that isn’t a person with discipline; that is a person who has completely lost touch with joy. A slice of cake never made anybody fat. You don’t eat the whole cake. You don’t eat a cake every day of your life. You take the cake when it is offered because the cake is delicious. You have a slice of cake and what it reminds you of is someplace that’s safe, uncomplicated, without stress. A cake is a party, a birthday, a wedding. A cake is what’s served on the happiest days of your life. This is a story of how my life was saved by cake, so, of course, if sides are to be taken, I will always take the side of cake."

She also wrote a great passage about kissing in Step Ball Change, but I haven't been able to find it on the world wide web so I could post about it tonight. But that's another fun novel by Jeanne Ray, who manages to write about the ordinary and somehow make it so entertaining.

Here's a lovely quote from the classic, The Great Gatsby:
"I wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the park through the soft twilight, but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild, strident argument which pulled me back, as if with ropes, into my chair. Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life."

And another thought-provoking quote from The Awakening:
"The mother-women seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle. It was easy to know them, fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their precious brood. They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels."

And this funny one from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:
"Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot."

What are some of your favorite quotes/books?

Drawing Your Dinners

2009-03-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I stopped by The Post Register's office (our local newspaper) and purchased a THICK ream of paper for $7. Seriously, the paper is going to last forever. And for $7, I think I got a gread deal. Before dinner, when I needed time to get things cooked and ready, I spread the paper over our table, gave the girls crayons and markers, and let them draw their dinners. They got as excited about this as they do when I tell them they can watch a movie. Kate was especially enthusiastic, asking me repeatedly, "What else do we have for dinner, Mom?" And then she went around to the other side of the table and drew toys and animals. Today she asked if they could do it again. It's never been so easy to prepare dinner. I read about this idea online, only now I can't remember which awesome website it was, so I apologize for not being able to cite the source. But to whomever it was, THANK YOU!

Another book by our in-house author

2009-03-11T13:20:00.000-07:00

Kate created another story the other day. I'm not posting pictures of it, but it looks a lot like this one, only now she's starting to understand the concept of spacing between words. While I'm not posting photos of this wonderful piece of literary accomplishment, I will copy the text for you to read, except that I'm taking the liberty of correcting misspellings and adding punctuation. And please know that I did not help her with this - it is fully her own creation - and it does NOT reveal anything too accurate about our family life. Not at all.

Title: The Boy Was Writing on the Table.

Once upon a time there was a boy.
A very special boy. He was writing on the table.
"Mom, can I go to bed?" the boy asked.
"Yes," said mom.
"No," said dad.
"Yes," said mom.
"Yes," said dad.

The End.

Playing Dressup

2009-03-06T07:44:00.000-08:00

Two Christmases ago, Mac and I got the girls a chest of pretty dress-up clothes - fancy dresses, crowns, necklaces, and dainty gloves. The girls loved it, and they used it all the time . . . for a while. Recently, the girls played dressup again, only this time they got creative. They forgot all about their special chest of princess dresses and accessories, and instead, came up with this:

Yes, those are panties on their heads. At least they're clean panties. I know because when I saw what they'd done, the first thing out of my mouth was to ask where they got the panties from - from their dresser drawer or from the dirty laundry basket? They assured me that they got them from the dresser, and I believed them, so then I grabbed the camera. I hope that I've raised sensible enough girls that they don't go putting dirty underwear on their heads, or anywhere on their bodies for that matter. Don't they look sensible to you?

I'm not the only one who does this!

2009-02-26T12:54:00.000-08:00

So, some of you probably know by now that I'm not the best housekeeper. I'll usually look for other things to do first before I clean my house, unless it really starts looking bad - then I get busy. (We don't live in filth - we just can tolerate a little mess.) I like to know when people are coming by so I can make sure it doesn't look like a disaster when they walk in. If I've procrastinated and realize I don't have enough time to really clean like I should before company arrives, I've done the mad dash to shove all the toys and clothes behind bedroom doors and shut them. That fools people, right? I've gotten pretty good at "fakin it", and I didn't know if I was the only one who did this, but then I read this article, and I had to smile in recognition. So if you do have a chance to spend some time at my house, and you even get past the closed bedroom doors, and things look pretty decent behind them, well you should feel pretty special, because not everyone gets the "every room clean" treatment, not even us most of the time.

Brian Regan

2009-02-25T10:11:00.000-08:00

Mac and I actually have a date tonight! And an expensive one, too. We'll be traveling to Blackfoot to go see Brian Regan, a stand-up comedian. For those of you unfamiliar with this comic genius, well, let me be so forthright to say that you're missing out on something special. I've included a couple of my favorite clips here for your enjoyment. If you go to youtube, you can find a ton of movies featuring him. Enjoy!

Does she look like a boy to you?

2009-02-19T20:26:00.000-08:00

I remember when my older sister Aimee had her first daughter, Emileigh. Emileigh was a cute little baby, and, like Lilly, didn't have much hair for a long time. She used to get mad when people mistook her baby for a boy. I laughed at her and said, "It's not a big deal - it's an innocent mistake." I thought she was being way too sensitive to get mad over something like that. Well, now I understand how she felt. I'm going through the same thing she went through with Emileigh, with Lilly, and I'm none too happy about it. Today, two different people at the grocery store thought Lilly was a boy. "Hey little guy" one of them said. It must have been my scowl that alerted the clerk to her mistake, because she then tried to correct herself with, "Or, er, little gal - which is it?" And this isn't the first time this has happened. A lot of people have mistaken Lilly for a boy, actually. And it's happened when she's been wearing pink, for goodness sakes! I don't understand people! Here are some recent favorite photos of Lilly. You be the judge - isn't that the prettiest girl baby you've ever seen, or does she look like a boy to you? There's only one right answer to this question.

Happy Birthday Mac!

2009-02-19T18:52:00.001-08:00

Mac turned 30 yesterday! He woke up on the morning of his birthday, turned to me with a dour expression, and said, "Where did my youth go?"

I'm just kidding. He didn't say that. He wasn't even here! Mac is traveling throughout the southwestern states for work, so we celebrated his birthday on Saturday. His parents were in town, and they treated us to a dinner at Red Robin. My brother Mike, his wife Brandi, and their cute baby Bailey also stopped by for a quick visit. Per Mac's request, I made the same thing I always make for his birthday: a yellow cake with rainbow chip frosting. Pair that with some brownie fudge icecream, and you have a happy man on his birthday. Can you say easy to please?

We love our Mac. He is sweet and funny and smart. Our girls get all their good looks from him. Happy Birthday Mac!

Snow Day

2009-02-04T20:19:00.001-08:00

I finally decided the girls needed to brave the cold and play in the snow. Actually, I needed to shovel the driveway-again. This is Lilly's first time really being outside for any length of time. This is how she looked the whole time. No smiles, no change of expression, nothing. It might have been a little too much for her, but I just love her little round face peeking out from the hood.

For those of you not familiar with Idaho Falls, you should know that this is a very typical picture of the winter season here. Snow, snow, and more snow everywhere you look. It's relentless. Some kids would love playing the snow, but my girls are not those kind of kids. If their mittens fall off, they cry. If snow falls in their coats, they cry. When Avery thinks she can't move her feet because they're in a couple inches of snow, she cries. When we finally went inside on this day, Kate was near tears as she told me, "When it get's cold, that means no fun!" We really don't enjoy the great outdoors of Idaho like we should.

Wittiness x 10

2009-01-30T17:22:00.000-08:00

In my imagination, I'm way wittier than I am in real life. Witty like Mary Roach, Heidi Hadley, and all of those other phenom bloggers out there that I stumble upon almost daily. However, since this is my real blog of my real life, I'm never really that witty, even when I try. I'm always wishing I could think of something really funny to blog about. Well today, I found a way to cheat the system. See, I found this Flight of the Conchords video on someone else's blog (yeah, even the idea to blog it isn't mine), so I decided to post it on my blog so you could all have a good laugh. Plus, just having the video on my blog makes me look way wittier than I really am. Don't believe me? Just watch the video.

Who's the Boss?

2009-01-29T10:39:00.000-08:00

The other day, Mac and I were getting Kate and Avery dressed for bed. The girls like to race to see who can get ready the fastest, but usually the loser throws a fit, so I've begun discouraging the racing. Mac, on the other hand, likes to encourage it, so here we were, Mac telling Avery to hurry and race and me telling them, "There will be NO racing!" We went back and forth for a while until Mac finally asked Avery, "Who's the boss, mommy or daddy?" Avery enthusiastically yelled, "MEEEEEEEEEEE!" With raised eyebrows, I told Mac, "She's got that right."

High School Musical Dancing!

2009-01-08T19:12:00.000-08:00

We're big High School Musical fans at our house. We just took the girls to see the third movie in the theaters. They are still a little young to have the stamina for a theater movie, but it was still fun. Kate and Avery do a good rendition of "Bop to the Top." I'll have to find the video and post it, but this video was readily accessible, so I hope you enjoy it. (And yes, sadly, my house is usually this messy.)

My friend Heidi

2008-12-22T13:18:00.000-08:00

I used to teach English at Pleasant Grove High School with my friend, Heidi. She was one of those teachers who, even now after several years of not teaching, former students contact to say that she was their FAVORITE teacher! Anyway, Heidi was a HUGE help to me as a flustered and nearly incompetent new teacher - I literally wouldn't haven't survived that first year without her. She has a really funny blog, and her latest post made me laugh. Here it is for you to enjoy! I hope it makes you smile.

Mystery Shopping: The Bane of My Existence

2008-12-19T21:22:00.000-08:00

I did two mystery shops today, both of them paying pretty well for what mystery shopping usually pays. I dragged my kids along with me. They didn't mind too much the Arby's shop, because they got to eat lunch, and they thought the Anywhere Fitness I "checked out" was pretty cool because Avery kept slipping on their floors with her wet shoes and making all of us, including herself, laugh. But I found that I minded taking my kids along because it wasn't how I would have chosen to spend time with them. (And yet, I did choose this because I am the one who signed up for the shops!) I'm discovering more and more how I loathe performing these shops that I sign up for, and when the due date approaches and I finally have to make good on my obligation, I'm cranky and resentful and stressed. And the people who pay the price for my bad mood are Kate, Avery, and Lilly (and Mac, too, I guess, but mostly the girls).

When I first started mystery shopping a couple of years ago, it was fun and interesting. Here was an unusual way of making a little mad money that often got me free stuff and allowed me to role play different scenarios. I fell in love with it! But as Mac's work schedule has gotten busier and the number of babie's I've birthed has increased, I'm finding that it's just not worth it to me to spend my precious time out on these errands that have become so laborious and so, well, stupid. It's not just the time spent doing the shop either. Once I'm home, I have to find time to input all of the information online while other important things, like cleaning, cooking, playing with my kids, reading, addressing Christmas Cards, and relaxing all have to wait. It's just not worth it anymore!

So why haven't I quit? The same reason any intelligent person doesn't stop a knowingly destructive habit: Because I'm addicted. I keep saying that I'm trying to stop, but doing the stopping is actually really hard. I've always enjoyed making money, and when I became a mom and quit working full time, I began looking for other ways to make money, even when I didn't need to. But I'm hereby declaring that once the new year is upon us, I will sign up for no more mystery shops! I mean it. I do have one shop I'm already scheduled to perform in January, but really - that will be the last one! By making this commitment public, I'm counting on myself actually standing by it. Mylife will be richer, fuller, and more stree-free if I can finally let go of this little money-making side business that has made me into more of a working mom than I want to be.

I blame (er, thank) Lilly for pushing me to this state. That third child really makes you come to grips with your limits.

A Budding Author . . .

2008-12-09T20:28:00.000-08:00

Kate is really into grabbing five pieces of paper (I don't know why, but it always has to be five), stapling them, and making it into a book! I am really proud of what she's able to do, since she's only four, so I thought I'd share with you one of the cute books she made. I helped her very little. Sometimes, after she had written a word, I would tell her that she spelled a word wrong and how to spell it correctly. She would look at me very confidently and say, "Well, I like to spell it a different way." So I will provide a translation for your convenience for when her spelling gets a little "different."

Cover Page: Boy Stop Writing on the Table . . . Stop Writing.
(Page One): Princess (I'm thinking this is a short prologue to tell us that a princess becomes important later on in the story).

(Page 2:) "Boy, stop writing on the table!" (Apparently, this is a mom speaking, although she's not important enough to be mentioned specifically.)

Page 3: The boy stopped. He gave his mommy a hug.

Page 4: Princess was walking in the woods. She saw a monster.

Page 5: They got married in the temple. (The princess didn't marry the monster - she married the boy, just in case you were wondering.)

Page 6: But there were pirates in the boat. (Cue the scary music!)

Page 7: The pirates came to the . . .

Page 8: Came to the temple!

(The End.)

What a cliff hanger! I mean, did the boy and his princess live happily-ever-after or what.? It's quite a disappointing ending, although not as disappointing as in Breaking Dawn. As her editor and agent, maybe I can talk Kate into writing a sequel with a more satisfying ending.

2008-12-07T10:55:00.000-08:00

Ta da! I've finally managed to blog my first video. It was really hard, and it took forever for the video to upload, but here it is in all its glory. Lilly has started to "dance" by shaking her head back and forth the instant anyone mutters anything with a beat. We think it's hilarious, but that's because she's our baby and we love her. Most of you will probably find it passably amusing, a little cute, but boring.

Three Reasons to Smile Today

2008-12-02T19:48:00.001-08:00

Reason #1: Cute Baby

Reason #2: Silly Girls
Reason #3: Cute Bums

Locks of Love

2008-12-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

Before

After - Curly.

I've tried to replicate the curly look like the stylist did on this day, but I have been totally and completely unsuccessful. I've used all the products, but I still can't get the curls to come!

After - Straight

Halloween Princesses

2008-11-07T19:49:00.000-08:00

Other than my mannish arm/hand that ended up being the focal point of this photo, I thought we all looked pretty good here on the set of High School Musical a la Melaleuca. Every year Melaleuca decorates the building and lets the kids come trick-or-treating. It's a big deal, and each department has a different theme. The sales department chose High School Musical as their theme this year, and Mac landed the role of Ryan. They even learned songs and dances to perform for the big day, and I captured some of it on camera. It was a hoot! Plus, they won the Best Overall Award for their decorations and performances, so they get to enjoy a pizza party here soon. We couldn't have pulled off his costume, though, without our friend Kim, who was so so kind to sew the Es on Mac's hat and letterman's sweater. I'm hopelessly inept at sewing and all things crafty, as most of my friends know, so I was extremely grateful for the help. The girls got a lot of candy, and I'm still helping them eat it a week later. Here are some more pictures of them in their Old Navy costumes.

On Halloween, we drove to Boise and went trick or treating with my brother Mike and his wife, Brandi, my sister Jenny, her husband, Woodson, and their two kids, Matthew and Nicole, and my sister Aimee. My parents were there too. My siblings and I were running a race the next morning, so that is why we were all together in Boise. We took the kids to my uncle Gordon's neighborhood to go trick-or-treating. The neighborhood was very festive and enthusiastic about Halloween. One house had a haunted porch for older kids to go through, and one neighbor was dressed as a 70's dj with a sound system playing outside. He was offering drinks for all the adults who came by. I think it might have been an alcohol drink, so we didn't try any, but we thought it was nice of him anyway. Another neighbor told us that last year, they had 500 kids come trick-or-treating. Wow! Last year, I think we had ONE trick-or-treater come to our house. The weather was great - so warm! The kids didn't even have to wear coats. Kate kept saying, "Okay, this is the last house." I guess she just wanted to go home and get started on the candy.

Applesauce, Peaches, & Squash, Oh My!

2008-11-06T20:37:00.001-08:00

Aren't they pretty? I'm very proud of these lovelies, the result of my first attempt at canning. (These aren't all of the jars I canned - the rest are in my pantry and food storage. These ones are just the lucky few that got to pose for the picture.) The pink stuff on the left is applesauce - my girls love that it's pink. And it tastes great. Thanks, Penny, for teaching me to can! I'd like to say that I'm now a canning fool, but until I get all my own equipment, I'll still be kind of slow to do this on my own. But, as luck might have it, I think Mac is going to get me canning equipment for Christmas. We will just have to cross our fingers and see. I'm really excited about the applesauce. Not just because it's pink, but because I picked the apples myself, for free. It was actually kind of a scary experience. I was dangerously perched atop a VERY tall ladder to get at the best apples, the lower ones having been picked already. I kept having the scene from Pollyana flash in my mind - you know, the one where her hand is reaching for that perfect apple, and suddenly she's screaming and falling, and later we find out she's paralyzed! Well, that scene kept coming to mind as well as the grief my poor husband and girls would experience at losing me if I were to fall, because don't we all at times like to imagine what would happen and how our loved ones would react if we were to pass on unexpectedly and tragically? And believe me, if I had fallen, I would have died. The ladder was THAT tall. Happily, I survived and lived to make this wonderful applesauce, along with some apple butter that isn't pictured, but I didn't bother to can that, I just froze it. Now, you're probably thinking I forgot about the squash part of my title. No, it's coming. Check out this photo:

My friend Kim was kind enough to share with me a spaghetti squash from her garden. I had never had spaghetti squash before, but I was excited to try. So I cooked it according to her instructions, scraped out one half of the squash, tossed it with butter and parmesan, and sat down to scarf almost all of it down. We had enough for leftovers, well, enough for me to have leftovers, the next day. And then I was thinking about what I should do with the other half I had left, so I decided to make baby food with it. I scraped out all the flesh, tossed it in my blender, added a smidgon of water, and presto - I had this perfect, store-bought-looking puree perfect for Lilly. I half-filled old baby food jars I had saved and popped them in the freezer. Since then, I've done carrots (also donated from a friend's lovely garden), and I plan on using some of my lovely canned peaches and applesauce as well. I love all the money I'm saving, so if any of you are wondering what to do with all your leftover winter squash and vegetables, now you know that you can make baby food with it.

While I'm on the topic of squash, I have to pass on a recipe for you. I made this dish the other night, and I thought it was so exotic and decadent. If you like squash, you've gotta try it out. I've only recently discovered that I like squash, since I never had it while I was growing up. (Don't worry mom, I forgive you!) But it is spectacular! I feel the same way about zucchini and sweet potatoes, food I never had the privilege of sampling as a child but now couldn't live without. Here's an awesome zucchini recipe if you're tired of making zucchini bread all the time.

Well, I've finally exhausted my thoughts on squash and canning. Who would've thought my longest post so far would be about food, and NOT my children or family? Well, if you know me, it's probably not that much of a surprise.

Lilly is 6 months old!

2008-10-28T13:39:00.000-07:00

Lilly is in the 97th percentile for height, and 75th percentile for weight. She just got her first tooth poking through on Sunday, and I'm very happy to have her sleeping through the night again.

I love Halloween!

2008-10-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

Ever since I had kids, Halloween has become my favorite holiday. Sure, there's nothing significant and meaningful about it, like Christmas and Thanksgiving, but it sure is fun! I love seeing my kids' faces light up when they receive a ton of candy and realize they can eat as much as they want. Halloween has become much more than just a one-day affair. It's more of a week-long blitz, starting with Monday. For FHE, we made sugar cookies in the shape of ghosts and pumpkins and frosted them. On Tuesday, Kate gets to dress up in her costume for dance class, and they have a little party with cookies and punch. On Wednesay, Kate gets to dress up in costume again for her preschool Halloween party. Then on Thursday, all the kids get to go trick-or-treating at Melaleuca. Later that night, they get to go to the neighborhood trunk-or-treat and carnival at the church. Then, finally, on Friday, it's officially Halloween and the real trick-or-treating can begin. Here are some pictures of our family pumpkin carving night and of the t-shirts I made with some friends. Yes, we tie-dyed the shirts ourselves and painted on the pumpkin faces!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Hubby Tag

2008-10-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

You can thank Katy Paskett for the following!

1. Where did you meet?
At a stake dance at the Wilkenson Ctr at BYU. I introduced myself, and he got my phone number, but he never did ask me to dance.

2. How long did you date before you were married?
We got engaged a year after our first date. Our engagement lasted 5 months.

3. How long have you been married?
6 years and 4 months.

What does he do that surprises you?
He likes to surprise me with romantic mood lighting by lighting fragrant candles throughout the house.

5. What is your favorite feature of his?
I love his broad shoulders and long arms - great for giving hugs!

6. What is your favorite quality of his?
He's very patient and thoughtful. He never wants anyone to feel badly.

7. Does he have a nickname for you?
Sometimes he shortens my name and calls me "Ju."

8. Does he have a favorite color?
Yellow.

9. What is his favorite food?
He loves the Italian nachos at Carinos. He really likes my homemade pizza: he sometimes eats so much of it that he makes himself sick.

10. What is his favorite sport?
Baseball.

11. When was your first kiss?
I can't remember which number of date it was, but I think we'd been going out for a couple of months. I was wearing this striped sweater that I still have, which he loves. It was on the doorstep of my apartment in Liberty Square, and I was totally surprised by it. I didn't see it coming. (It was also his first kiss EVER - no lie!)

12. Favorite thing to do as a couple?
We like to get on the internet and watch the TV show Bones and Pushing Daisies on the laptop in our bed.

13. Do you have any children?
Three beautiful daughters.

14. Does he have a hidden talent?
When he decides he wants to cook something, which isn't that often, it always turns out really good. He's also really good at reading instruction manuals and figuring out how things work.

15. How old is he?
29.

16. Who said I love you first?
I did.

17. What's his favorite music?
His taste in music is eclectic, to say the least. He loves broadway musicals, Peter Cetera, Air Supply, and Lionel Richie.

18. What do you admire most about him?
I admire his ambition to succeed and advance at work, but I also admire how supportive he is of me in my hobbies and endeavors.

19. Do you think that he will read this?
Probably not, at least not for a long while. I said last night to him, "You know, you can always post stuff on our blog too." And he replied, "I know, it's just the last thing on my mind right now."

Okay, now here's the fun part . . . I tag Aimee, Jenny, Lindsey, Alicia, and Cassie. (Since you're all family, you can't stay mad for long, right?)

Pictures of Lilly

2008-10-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

My sister Aimee asked that I post some recent pictures of Lilly, so here are a few. She's just starting to eat ceral, and she's really cute about it. She's growing so fast.

Since Kate turned four, I've been wondering where the time went. I recently looked at an old video of her, and I feel like it was a different life completely when I had this little helmet-wearing baby. Now look at her, a little smartie-pants who loves dance class and preschool and Zac Efron! (My girls are High School Musical fans.) Plus I have two other little kiddos. Here are all three of them being cheesy for the camera. Lilly doesn't quite know what to do with all the attention. She really isn't sitting up up that well on her own, so this was one of our "practice" sessions with the boppy pillow.

Kate's 4th Birthday

2008-10-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

Kate turned four years old yesterday. Wow! I made her this lamb cake, which was a big hit to look at but not so much to eat - who wants to eat all those marshamallows? This is what it was supposed to look like. The day was a pretty good one. She was excited all day, and I tried really hard to make the day special for her by not getting mad at her and letting her do whatever she wanted. By the time birthday dinner rolled around, she couldn't wait for her presents. After we ate, Mac set up the video camera and we started singing happy birthday. As soon as we started singing, this funny look came over Kate, like she was getting overwhelmed by the attention and starting to shut down. She's gotten this look many times before: at Easter Egg hunts, her first day of dance class, etc. But it's always been when we're with a lot of other people, when she clearly isn't comfortable. So it was strange to see this look come over her when it was just us, the family, singing to her. After we were done singing, she wouldn't blow out the candles, and it took a lot of coaxing to get her to finally do it. Then, as she was opening her first present, she wouldn't look at it while she slowly took the wrapping paper off. We kept saying, "Look, look - some of the present is going to fall if you don't look at what you're doing." But she refused to look and would only stare at us with that strange look. She didn't even act excited about the gift, even though normally she would be ecstatic at the thought of watching High School Musical. Finally, she started to loosen up and get back to normal after a couple of presents, and then she had a blast playing with everything. She was so caught up in playing with her new toys that she didn't even eat any of her cake. I was afraid they didn't like it, but the girls ate a lot of it today.

Overall, yesterday was a really good day for Kate. She's a funny girl, but she enjoyed herself a lot. Today she was getting excited just talking about her 5th birthday!

Lilly is Four Months Old

2008-08-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Lilly had her four month check up today. Here are her stats:
26" long (100%), 14 lb 3 oz (75%).
She continues to be taller and skinnier than our other daughters. She's rolling both ways now, which is way earlier than our other kids, and she's a little bow-legged, something we hadn't seen with our other two either. This kid keeps the surpises coming, and we love it.

Funny things my girls have said . . .

2008-08-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

Whenever I take the girls to the park, they only ever want to be pushed on the swings. I have to MAKE them go play on the slides and other stuff. Well, a couple weeks ago (I don't update my blog very quickly), I was pushing Kate and Avery on the swing, and after pushing Kate kind of high, she started laughing and then told me that her stomach was starving. I asked her to repeat herself since I wasn't sure of what she had said, and sure enough, she told me her tummy was starving. I guess this was the only way she knew how to describe the funny feeling in her stomach. I thought it was cute.

Two days ago, we were visiting my parents in Orem, and Avery went to nursery in their ward. In contrast to our ward, my parent's ward only had a handful of kids in nursery. What the nursery leaders told us later was this: The group was singing "I love to see the Temple" when Avery got real excited and interruped everyone, making them stop, so she could tell them all that she was going to get married in the temple. I'm surprised they could understand her! That's our Avery, though. She's obsessed with getting married in the temple. Every day, and today was no exception, she tells me, "See ya, mom." When I ask where she's going, she replies, "Get married in the temple!" Sometimes she'll add, "I be right back." Usually she's dressed up in her fancy, princess clothes. If you ask her who she's going to marry, she says, "My prince!" Kate will usually remind her that she can't marry her prince until she's 20. I told Kate that you don't have to be 20 to get married, and that I was 23 when I got married. She thought that was pretty old and decided to stick to getting married at 20.

My Favorite Store

2008-08-09T20:55:00.001-07:00

Since Mac forgot and left our camera at his parents house last week, I won't be able to post any new pictures of the kids for a while. So I thought I'd share something about me that you may or may not enjoy. I love Macys! I'm talking about the Department store that once upon a time was called The Bon Marche. In particular, I LOVE the junior's section. They always have cute and stylish clothes. I was able to take a break from the kids last night and do some much needed shopping. I don't get the time to shop for clothes regularly. I fear that I'm slowly succumbing to "The Mom Who's Let Herself Go" look. Anyway, I stopped off at Old Navy first, found a couple of decent things to wear, then hurried over to Macys before I had to get home to nurse Lilly. Found a lovely pair of shorts and two tops that I love. Everything was on sale, so I spent less than $40 for all three articles of clothing! So for all of you out there who have never shopped at the junior's department in Macys before (I only discovered it last year), I urge you to give it a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Another thing that I love is the movie Penelope. It recently went to DVD, and I watched it a week ago with my sisters-in-law. I thought it was funny and sweet.

Rice Krispie Treats and Breaking Dawn

2008-07-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

So, I know that Rice Krispie Treats are the easiest thing to make in the world. I know this, but I don't think I've ever made them until today - I had to google the recipe. I've also learned an important lesson today: Never make Rice Krispie Treats before dinner, when you're hungry. As I cook dinner right now (boilding hotdogs does count as cooking, right?), I'm looking at the pan of Rice Krispies wondering where half the pan went and why does my stomach feel a little unsettled? So I'm sending out this warning to all three of you out there who will read this and may not already know the perils of cooking dessert on an empty stomach.

Onto my second part of this blog, many of you are fans of the Stephenie Meyer Twilight series. The latest book in the series, Breaking Dawn, is released this Friday. For those of you who live close by and who like to read the books, I am planning on having a party to discuss the latest book. You are all welcome to come to the party, but we will be discussing the latest book, so if you haven't finished it by the time of the party, you may not want to come if you don't like having the endings of books spoiled for you. I will post more information about the party when I get it organized. I would also like you to help me generate some discussion topics/questions for the party. You can post them here as a comment or tell them to me later. Feel free to also leave party ideas! Thanks everyone!

Lilly's Blessing Day: July 6th

2008-07-20T15:49:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Blacktail Triathlon 2008

2008-07-15T19:44:00.001-07:00

On Saturday I finished my first sprint triathlon of the year. It was at the Blacktail Resevoir, about 10 miles from our house, and it was KILLER! I did two triathlons last year, and after I did those, I thought - Hey, these aren't that bad. Anyone can do them! Well, what I didn't realize about the two triathlons last year is that they were very flat, which made them much easier to do. I didn't know anything about this triathlon when I signed up. And then on Friday I attended a meeting and they told me about the 12% grade hill I have to bike up. I got scared. I realized that this was a tough course, and boy was it ever! The swim and run weren't too bad - those are the legs I enjoy. I will readily admit that I'm not much of a biker, even on flat terrain, but I'm even worse if there are hills, and this course at Blacktail was nothing but hills. I was on my bike for FOREVER! Here are my times:
Swim - 22:56:98
Bike - 1:54:14.04
Run - 40.32.07
Total Time - 2:34:42.9
Yeah, I was really slow, especially when it came to the bike. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, but I finished, and when you finish it's just a lot of fun and you feel so good. After having done a few triathlons, I KNOW that anyone can do them. Even if you don't feel very athletic - because I definitely don't - you can do them. It's the perfect sport! So much more fun than a half marathon!

Sea World

2008-06-30T21:35:00.001-07:00

This picture is classic! Here is our lovely family at Sea World in June. It was a rainy, cold day, but Mac and I are eager to show the girls all the park has to offer. Kate and Avery weren't near as excited at times as we were, as this picture depicts. Perhaps our $137 could have been spent better on something else!

Three Girls

2008-06-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Mac and I feel so lucky to have three wonderful daughters. Each one is sooooo different. It's crazy having three so close together. Just today I was thinking that I don't want to have any more kids. I might change my mind in a couple of years, but for right now I have more than I can handle. Any of you feel that way sometimes?

Lilly - Oh How She is Growing!

2008-06-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

I have a bunch more photos to share, but I don't know how to make a slide show. Anyone have any help for me there? Lilly is getting some rolls on her legs as she fills out. She started smiling last week, and it is so sweet. You can see the smile in her eyes before her mouth starts to move. She's a lot more fun to talk to and sing to now that she's responding.