Aahh, the joys of Construction

Anyone want to trade bedrooms/bathrooms for awhile? I'm always amazed at how much sawdust John can accumulate in one place when he is doing construction in the house! The plus side is that I always enjoy the end result - down side is that I have to live through construction. I'm told that any remodeling in homes can cause friction in marriages. Fortunately, we haven't had that problem yet. Ask me in a few more months though...

This is actually after 3 days of demolition with piles...and I do mean piles of drywall in the bedroom. I forgot to take pictures. Notice that there is nothing in the closet right now. Yes, that means that all of our closet items are scattered throughout our bedroom. I had to root through a few piles on Sunday to find my slip! Not to worry though because John plans to have the closet done by this Saturday so the girls and I can paint, then I can return all of the closet items back to their home on Monday.

Luckily the girls can sleep through practically everything. Last night John had the dremel going and the smoke alarms went off (this of course at about 9:30 p.m. after the girls had gone to sleep). It took about 3 minutes for me to open a bunch of windows and the dust to settle before the alarms went off. This does not say good things about our kids waking up to a real emergency.

This was not an intentional part of the construction. John was prying some drywall above the sink when the hammer slipped, and John heard an awful noise knowing full well he had just destroyed one of the sinks. I was not a happy camper when I got home because this is the sink we use most frequently. Fortunately, it's high up the list to be redone, along with the counter top.

When this is all said and done, we will have a much larger shower with two shower heads, a new corner tub, new shelving in the closet, tile flooring in the bathroom, new sinks built into the counter top, recessed lighting in the bedroom, crown and base molding in the bedroom, and several other things I can't explain. John always does such beautiful work - I can't wait to see the final product, though it will be several more months.

I have to add that this all started out with a simple, "I think we need to redo the floor in the bathroom since the linoleum is getting pretty bad." I guess we don't know what simple means!

Birthday Visit to Tulip Gardens

We went to Thanksgiving Point for the Tulip Festival on my birthday. I love seeing so many beautiful flowers!! It rained on us halfway through, but we still enjoyed ourselves!


Take One

Take Two

Why can't kids smile cute when you want them too?

Girls Night Out

I love girls night out. I look forward to it all week. Yes, I visit with these ladies all the time because they are my neighbors, but we amazingly never run out of things to say. And girls night out is all about getting to visit without having to run after toddlers, mediate any fights, control the chaos of screaming, and in general - having to deal with the kids. It's like we all breathe a sigh of relief when we sit down and the real fun can begin.

I have heard once that in a marriage, you of course need your spouse - they are number one, but women also need their friends too to help them survive the ups and downs of life, probably because they can relate on so many different levels because they know exactly what you are going through. For instance, you can say, "I'm having a hard time feeling important right now because all my kids do is whine, fight, and throw tantrums. Am I really making a difference in these kids lives?" And they can turn to you and say, "I know exactly how you are feeling because I felt that way just last week."

When John and I first got married, the bishop of our newlywed ward turned to John and said one of the most important things he could do in our marriage was to encourage me to attend Relief Society and make some friends, because a woman with friends makes for a happy wife. I love that John is so supportive of my girls nights out and enrichment nights. I think he can see the benefits when I come home happy and giddy. Of course, I feel this way after our date nights as well...only a couple more years, and we'll have a permanent babysitter in the house!! Oh, I will truly celebrate that day. Gone will be the days of planning our dates well in advance and calling around the neighborhood to see who is available to come tend our house full of monkeys. However, if word gets out that Kimberly babysits, we may still very well need to plan our dates in advance so we can snatch her before someone else does on the nights we want to go out!

Anyway, back to where I was going at the beginning of this post. Girls night out is tonight...Hallelulah!! I am going to leave John home with the girls and his demolition upstairs in the bedroom while I get to enjoy Chocolate Fondue night. I found this easy recipe for making chocolate fondue in a crockpot:

24 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 t vanilla extract

Place ingredients into a crockpot. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes. Stir well. Cook 1 more hour on low. Use skewers or small tongs to dip into the the chocolate.

I'll post pictures of the fondue after it's done. Hopefully it turns out well!

By John
As much as we all love our congressional representatives for their flawless governance, the House of Representatives needs our input on bill H.R. 669. This one needs to go down in flames as ineffective and a colossal waste of tax money in a bad economy. Since some only read the first paragraph or two, I’ll put the good stuff at the top. Contact your House Representative to oppose HR669. You can go to www.nohr669.com. There, you enter your zip code and it will create a form letter to oppose the bill. Feel free to make modifications to cite specific examples important to you. You’ll find that the form letter requests the bill in its current form be killed; and that legislation specific to the real problem be introduced to the floor. Click send and you’ve done your civic duty.

Now for the details…

The Everglades in Florida are struggling with an influx of Anaconda snakes. These are not native to the area and are predating native critters with nothing to predate the big snakes. In an attempt to manage this situation, the House of Representatives introduced a bill to ban all non-native animals of the United Statues. Good intention, very bad law. Think about all of your pets. How many of you have goldfish, guppies, betas, any aquarium fish? Banned under HR669. What about gerbils, hamsters, gunea pigs, etc? Banned again under HR669. Hmm… Let’s try iguanas – yep, those are banned too. Parrots, cockatoos, or parakeets? Banned again under HR669. Your Poodles, Yorkshire Terriers, etc are not native to the U.S. Banned under HR669. Remember this entry a while back? The Saker, Gyrfalcon, and Aplomodo will be banned. It goes one step further, hybrid animals are banned. No more Gyr-Saker or Gyr-Peregrine falcons, and no more donkeys. It’s probably apparent now why I’m opposing the bill. Yep you guessed it, I love donkeys! ;)

In California, native raptors cannot be used for commercial purposes. California isn’t the only state with this regulation. So, the companies that use Aplomodo falcons to keep pigeons away from the golf courses and airports will now be forced out of business. Golf courses like the falcons because they are much quieter than the alternative noise cannons to keep pigeons away. Remember the commercial jet that went down in the Hudson River a few months ago? Many of the large airports, commercial or military, use falcons to keep birds down around the airports. States like California will need to find an alternative; nothing is more effective than the fear of dieing at the talons of a falcon.

Help me and all animal lovers oppose this bill and encourage good legislation.

I'm hooked

I am addicted to my new book, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.

You know the kind of book that you just cannot put down.

You will lose sleep just so you can read (I woke up to pee at 4 this morning, and decided I wanted to read more of my book - so I read from 4 to 5 a.m.).

Other chores go by the way side (I have a list of a gazillion things to do, but amazingly...book reading seems to top the list!),

And the kids have to remind me they are around because I can't seem to lift my eyes from the page (yes, Natalie made it through one container of yogurt and a bowl of applesauce before I noticed! Of course she left a humungo mess in both places. No worries...the mess could wait until I finished reading my chapter!)

This book is actually told by a true Geisha. Usually geisha's are quite secretive about their world, but this particular geisha, who is considered one of the top 20 geisha's ever, later became a U.S. citizen, so believed her story was free to tell. Well, that is she only wanted it printed after she died and all of the other prominent men in the story passed away as well. She didn't want to embarrass anyone, but felt her story was one that needed to be told.

Of course I have seen the movie, but as always, the book is sooo sooo sooo (do you get the idea already?) much better. I best sign off for now so I can read some more before I have to make dinner, clean up the kitchen, help with kids homework, get them ready for bed...ugh...several hours before I can get back to happy reading time again!

How I've Survived My 1st Trimester

I am a few days shy of the end of my 1st trimester and have mixed emotions. I am not ready for my middle to increase in size. I like my pants just the way they are thank you very much. That aside, I am anxious to be done with the weird and mysterious world of morning sickness. Here is how I have been able to survive the last 12 weeks:

An endless supply of Big Red Gum: I don't know why, but I seem to have a chronic bitter taste in my mouth and nothing seems to help it go away, other than a mouthful of Big Red gum. Of course, this only lasts for a short time before the bitterness returns, at which point, I'm popping in more of my latest addiction.

Rice Krispies: Gone are the the days of popcorn and other treats at night. Hand me over the Rice Krispies please because that is all that seems to sound good to the weirdness going on in my tum-tum. (Yes, you read correctly...no more Cheerios at night for the time being.)

Yogurt and Graham Crackers: I am an avid follower of Weight Watchers, so I am mostly good at eating my 3 point bowl of cereal in the morning, and then eating nothing until lunch (why would I want to waste a perfectly good set of points before the day has even really gotten started?). This no longer works for me as I start to get light headed and the queeziness begins settling into my gut before noon, therefore...I have now settled in to eating yogurt and graham crackers mid-morning with Natalie.

Good-bye cool aerobics tapes, hello annoying walk at home dvd - I have zilcho energy in the day now, so I could really do without all the exercise mumbo jumbo, but alas, I sleep better and my legs don't get so wild at night when I do (you know, restless leg syndrome), so I force myself into my exercise clothes and pop in the latest Leslie Sansone Walk at Home DVD. She is really annoying, ("Yes you can, I know you can do it, shape those beautiful thighs!"....ugh) but I just cannot gather up enough energy to do my normal, non-annoying dvds. So, I get to endure with Leslie for a few more months.

Thank heavens for my bed: Poor John. We are night owls. Usually. This changes when I get pregnant. Suddenly, going to bed at 9:30 p.m. sounds much more preferable to staying up and enjoying the yuckiness going on with my bod. Oh, and the lack of energy too. My eyelids are not not holding up their own weight these days either.

My potty at 3 in the morning: I guess my body is prepping me for the night feedings coming my way. In fact, this is how I suspected I was pregnant before I took a pregnancy test. Who enjoys waking up to a furious bladder demanding some attention?

Anyway, these were the highlights of the first trimester. Now the countdown begins (8 weeks) until we see if we are having a Jack or a Jill.

Lovin in the Sun

Amidst the snow and rain from last week, it was actually sunny yesterday and today - and boy, did I ever soak it up. As I was gazing out at the beautiful morning thinking spring has finally sprung, I looked to the weather report thinking it would be an equally beautiful week. I looked...looked again...are my eyes seeing correctly? Yes...it is supposed to rain/snow every day this week!! I seriously wondered if I was looking at the weather report from March. I am so disgusted that the weather would play so many cruel tricks on me!

Yesterday started out on a good note with the sunshine, the Easter bunny found our house alright, and the kids seemed pleased with their basket of goodies. So far so good. After getting the girls and myself ready for church, I had to run to church early for a quick choir rehearsal. While I was gone and John was in the shower, the girls slipped into the backyard to do their bubbles from Mr. bunny. In the process, Natalie got mud/dirt/yuckiness all over her new Easter dress. When I ran home to pick everyone up - I was oh so thrilled to discover this loveliness. We were late for church as I of course had to get a washcloth, clean off the mud, blow dry her dress dry, etc. Of course, John could not understand my craziness...."Why don't you just change her outfit?" Not cool...this was her Easter dress and it was going to be worn on Easter!! (Okay, just blame it on my pregnancy hormones). I don't have pictures yet - I will do them when our tulips are in full bloom :)

Later in the day, we enjoyed the afternoon and evening literally in the backyard soaking up the sun. We cooked a yummy dutch oven dinner, played games on the porch, did some swinging, and in general enjoyed family time (aka family home evening). After dinner, we pulled out all the bikes and went on a bike ride. After 30 minutes, the girls and I were ready to try another bike route, but was vetoed by John pulling the bike trailer. I didn't blame him.


Today is Natalie's birthday - she is officially two!! Don't worry, the two-year-old temper tantrums have already set in, so I won't be surprised anytime soon. I made a yummy butterfly cake for her earlier in the day.

I'm including a picture of Kimberly's cake from last month since I forgot to post it. I was sick with the stomache flu on her birthday, so the poor girl had to make her own cake in the morning, then John came home early from work to decorate it and take the girls out to dinner. Terrible timing for an icky virus.
I think this entry has turned into an epistle...luckily, you have the choice of ducking out early in the reading process if you get bored!

Spring Break

After early outs every day of last week, I was not looking forward to the girls' Spring Break this week, but I have been pleasantly surprised...it has been a really good week. Things started out on a good note when my sister, Christy and her family arrived on Sunday. We enjoyed conference and some good dutch oven dinner.

Monday we colored Easter eggs with them and went to the castle park. They left Monday afternoon. It was sad to see them go so soon, but we will see them again in June - only 2 months away. I think I can make it.

Monday night we had our second annual moonlight Easter egg hunt with the neighbors. We decided to have a family home evening lesson beforehand and a fun craft while we hid the eggs. The kids had a blast looking for eggs with flashlights (note - each of the eggs had reflective tape on it). It is definitely a twist on the usual Easter egg hunt.

Tuesday we went to Layton Park and talked to the ducks. They informed us they were well fed, thank you very much, as could be seen by the mounds of bread floating in the water.

Wednesday the girls went down to their cousins house in West Jordan for a sleep over. Aahhh...blessed quietness with just Natalie and I in the afternoon, and then a quiet dinner with John. We had so much fun just the 3 of us running errands after dinner.

Thursday it was back to having the tribe back together again. I decided to brave the Discovery children's museum down at Gateway in Salt Lake. I was prepared for a huge crowd since it was spring break, and it was raining - two reasons to send any and all kids in the vicinity in droves to this popular play area. I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun we had even with all the extra people. We spent most of the day there and had a wonderful time. I was so glad that Kim and Alicia were old enough to stay in the general area while I stayed with Natalie.

Thank goodness tomorrow is the last day of spring break, and then back to school next week. Natalie and I are already looking forward to our normal quietness next week. As I speak, a hoard of neighbor kids have decended upon my living room where the girls have built a ginormous fort. Oh dear...I just went in to check on them and it is a huge disaster! Sigh. Cleaning house with kids is like shoveling snow in a snowstorm.

Here are more pics of our day at the museum:

Change of Routine

Most of you know that I am obsessed with my routine - I always do my laundry every Friday, I clean the house every Saturday, I change the sheets every Wednesday, and up until this month have done my grocery shopping every other Friday since living in this house (10 years). I say up until this month because John's paydays are now on the 5th and 20th of the month. This makes bill paying much easier on my stress level because we hit the days right on instead of getting a wee bit stressed when certain bills were due on the 5th, and payday wasn't until the 10th!

However, I can no longer go grocery shopping on Fridays for the obvious reason that the 5th and 20th fall on different days every month. Added to this fact, I will need to buy enough groceries for 2 1/2 weeks instead of two...Can you see my stress increasing as I think of the changes I am going to have to make!! Aagghh!! I am stressing even as I type this.

Breathe in......Breath out.....one more time now....okay, I'm relaxed (I think). Anyway, this will just take some time to adjust to. Maybe I can make it into a game. Let's guess what day of the week I will be shopping this month? Monday! At least both days are Mondays. Let's see, for the month of May I will be shopping on...Tuesday the 5th and then Wednesday the 20th! I guess that is my new excitement in life. If you call and I am not home, perhaps I am out grocery shopping.

A New Addition...

We have a new addition!!! Isn't he/she beautiful? John is hoping for the he version, but I told him not to get his hopes up...seeing our record of 3 girls - what's another one? Is there such thing as too many hormones residing in the same house? Just wait until the girls are teenagers and our periods all hit at the same time...you just might find John over at your house for a couple of days!

Okay, so the he/she addition will be joining us sometime on or before October 30th looking much better than it's current version of no hair, squishy eyes, holes for ears, and fish like hands. The girls are quite concerned that I will be in the hospital on Halloween. I told them, no fear...I'm sure they do trick or treating at the hospital! They were not impressed.

So far I am nearly 10 weeks and have my ob appointment tomorrow. Hopefully only a few more weeks of this yucky morning (aka all-day sickness).

I thought I would also include some recent photos of our other kiddos in this posting as well. Here they are in no particular order...




And because Natalie is so cute, she get's extra coverage in this posting with this fun video of her dancing. I had to take this video on the sly because every time I tried shooting a video, she would catch me and run over to try and see her picture on the camera (oh, the joy of modern technology!). She loves any and all music and can't help herself - she breaks out into grooves when she hears tunes. In fact this morning, she was happily playing upstairs while I was on the computer. I decided to turn on the music, and she came careening down the stairs as fast as her little legs would take her and then squealing with excitement as she came into the family room and started shaking her buns. Absolutely hilarious!