Feasts, Noise, and Toys

Christmas came and went with its usual excitement. There was plenty of snow, a few parties with friends and family, and pounds of yummy food.


The third grade at Jade's school put on a pirate themed Christmas program before she went off track.
Nate's mom put on a snowman themed party for the kids. They ate gilled cheese sandwiches drank hot cocoa. She gave them each a new pair of pajamas and a bag of goodies to open until Christmas.


We made a trip to Gardner Village to see the elves. We completed a scavenger hunt rewarded by a candy stick at Sweet Afton's and finished off the afternoon with hot soup and bread at the Naborhood Bakery.


Grandma and Grandpa came over for a baking day. So we all donned aprons and broke in the new kitchen.

We spent Christmas Eve at home with Grandma and Grandpa where we enjoyed good music, food, and a few gifts. My mom wrapped up each of our favorite foods and we had fun guessing what it was. The kids left out a plate with Twinkies and a Cherry Coke for Santa and headed to bed. Nate assured them that Santa would enjoy the menu change. For the first time, Logan seemed to really understand what would happen in the morning, and kept peeking out his window hoping to see Santa.

There were a few surprises in the morning. Santa forgot to take the training wheels off of Logan's new bike. It sure did make it easier for him to ride it all over the basement though. It's a whole lot taller than his little 12-incher!

We went to Nate's parents' house in the afternoon where their cousins' puppy was about all the entertainment needed.

Letter to Santa

Well my job is certainly easy this year!

I'll try to be brief

Since it's been a VERY LONG TIME since I've updated this blog and it's not because we haven't been doing anything worth writing about, but rather that we've been so busy that I haven't written, I'm going to make a list of all the noteworthy events in our household.


1. Jade ran in a 1-mile race and won 1st place in her age group, 3rd overall for female racers.


2. We celebrated Halloween with parties, parades, and trick or treating resulting in so much candy that Logan told someone we'd been to every house in the whole world and that he had about a million treats.


3. We closed on our new home.


4. We scrubbed our new home top to bottom and painted the cement basement floor. Now our kids can roller skate down there all winter.


5. We moved into our new home.


6. We enrolled Logan at his new elementary school.


7. We unpacked and put our house together in less than a week. I can't stand to live in disorder.


8. I started teaching piano lessons again.

9. We put a water softener into our new home. Hard water is the WORST!!! I've used a TON of Lime Away and haven't even made a dent in some of the hard water build up on the counters and in the master shower. The toilets and sinks are clean, thanks to a pumice stone.


10. My grandmother passed away peacefully at 90 years old... the last of my grandparents.




10. We enjoyed visits from all of my siblings who came into town from out of state for the funeral.



11. We celebrated Thanksgiving with visits to Nate's parents' house and mine. It was nice to visit my parents' house without all of our stuff cluttering it up! Aeris really misses them and she was so thrilled to be there that I let her skip her nap.

12. We decorated for Christmas. The last few years, I've struggled to find space for all my decorations, and now it feels like I don't have quite enough. I LOVE THIS HOUSE!!!


So that brings us to today, where we are trying to create some routine after a pretty crazy year. I hope it won't be so long before you hear from me again.

This is what our kids can tell their friends at school tomorrow

How did our kids get the VIP treatment with the local fire department? They made a house call yesterday morning.

The day started out pretty normally. Breakfast once. Breakfast again... (LOVE living at grandma's house:). The kids were downstairs watching Saturday morning TV. Nate was sleeping in. I was upstairs enjoying a chat with my mom while Aeris played. When the smoke alarms went off we both assumed it was a malfunction. REALLY, how many times do your smoke alarms go off when there's an actual fire??? Jade came running up the stairs, "everyone needs to get out of the house!"

We were assuring her that everything was okay when Nate came up, looking dazed. "Something's wrong with the smoke detectors," we told him.

"Ummm no. There IS smoke in the basement."

So, at this point, we're supposed to follow Jade's advice, right? Of course, my curiosity to blame, I went downstairs instead. Sure enough, the laundry/storage room, hallway, and Logan's bedroom had a lovely smoke layer covering the ceiling, and it reeked of something burning. There was no heat though, no flames, and it wasn't difficult to breathe. I sent the kids outside in their pajamas and bare feet, and then proceeded to change out of my own pajamas and grab jackets, shoes, and pants for them. Duh. I guess all those lessons on fire safety have just gone over my head.

The fire department, thrilled to have some excitement on a quiet Saturday morning, came with three engines, one battalion truck, and an ambulance, all with sirens screaming. They used a fan to blow out the smoke, checked every room in the house, as well as every light, both furnaces, and the dryer in the basement. The last thing they checked was the washing machine in the basement, which apparently had burned up it's belt or something. With the source found and determined safe, our dramatic event drew to a close.

The kids loved keeping warm in the fire truck and can't wait to tell all the kids at school that "their house was on fire and they got to dress in the captain's clothes in the fire engine." We'll see if the story ends up embellished even more by the time school gets out tomorrow.

This post is for the AMAZING inventor of flu mist

Whenever we talk about our favorite seasons with our kids and someone brings up fall, the color drains from Jade's face. "I don't like fall." she says.
"Why not? Your birthday is in the fall." we remind her.
"Yeah, I know. And I like that. But I can't stand flu shots." At this point she talks on and on about why shots make her miserable. We, of course, then explain why shots are good for us.

I have several great flu shot stories to tell about Jade. Last year's took place the first week in November and I wrote about it on this blog. My favorite story to tell though is the year I took her up to a clinic at Nate's workplace. I told Jade nothing about why we were there. We waited in line for 45 minutes or so. When we reached the front she began to pay attention to what happened there. I completely avoided her questions. Finally it was her turn. She took one look at the lady at the table, then at me, and took off running. Some nice bystander kept a hold of Logan for me while I attempted to round her up. I brought her back kicking and screaming. Apparently we made such a scene that Nate's co-workers all went back to work to tell him about his daughter's performance.

We went last Monday for this year's shot. I brought along reinforcments, since I had learned the hard way that year at the clinic not to try it alone. I figured between the nurse, my mom, and me, we should be able to hold her down long enough for the poke. But, I have no story to tell because all three kids got flu mist this year. Jade's eyes brimmed over with tears just for a second and then it was over. No Pain = No dramatics. WOW! Maybe now she won't dread fall.

Movie Review: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

This movie got three thumbs up from the viewers at our house. The only disappointment was that the food they kept catching in their mouths had no substance. Tricky 3D!

Babies, Babies

There are so many new babies at the zoo this year. I knew the chance to see them as babies was passing us by, so we made a trip just before winter arrived. (It snowed the next day!) I've been to the zoo lots of times, and I always enjoy it, but it seemed like the animals were more active this time. Baby Zuri the elephant put on a little show with her ball.

The monkeys screeched and jumped and swung from their vines. The black bears wrestled. Those adorable little amur tiger cubs snuggled with their mother and attacked their toys.

It was Aeris's first visit to the zoo. Though her favorite of the animals was the cats, she actually thrilled the most in seeing that there was so much water. At every cage, we'd point at the animals, and all she was interested in was "Water! Water!"The kids had fun using the map to plan where to go!Of course the train ride was a hit.

Surprise!

When I told Jade there was no way I could pull together a big party for her birthday this year she didn't question it. That's when I knew I needed to do it. More than any other year. The best part was, she would have no idea. She has been planning surprise parties for her toys for years, so I knew she would LOVE it. And actually, the preparations were minimal. I sent out Evite invitations and we had the party at a park, so there were no decorations. I made a cake for dinner on her birthday and she didn't ask why I had her decorating a bunch of cupcakes too. I put the favors together the night before and planned some outdoor games. Not everyone could come, but she didn't know who I'd invited, so there was no sadness about who wasn't there, just the thrill of seeing the friends who did come. It was a great day!

I Miss My Clothes

Of all the things packed away in the POD or in one of the many boxes piled up in the basement family room here at my parents' house, I think I miss my clothes the most. I brought only what would fit in our luggage. Since it was early May when we moved, I do have some for cold weather and some for warm weather, but there's just not as much variety as I'm used to. I brought my favorites, but by the time we're out of here they'll no longer be favorites because I'm going to be so sick of them. That goes for the kids' clothes too. At least Aeris's clothes bins are here. And that's good, because as fast as babies grow, she'll be needing the next size up for the winter.



And we still have no idea when this little adventure is going to end. I wonder what qualifications you need to handle short sale negotiations at a bank. I'd really like to get that job so I can find out WHAT IN THE WORLD IS TAKING THEM SO LONG! AND WHY IN THE WORLD THEY CAN'T GIVE US A STRAIGHT ANSWER ON WHERE THE FILE IS AT!



I've been patient. I'm DONE with patient.

Hair Wars

Before...
After... You gotta love the "yank everything out of my hair" phase. We're going through this 3-4 times a day.

Baby it's Your Day!

Whenever someone has a birthday at our house, we do whatever they want to do that day. We spent yesterday celebrating Aeris’s 2nd birthday. We ate her favorite breakfast, Cheerios. We went outside so she could swing on the swings. We blew bubbles. She had oatmeal with peaches and milk for lunch and then had a nap. That probably wouldn’t have been on her list of favorites, but she slept for three hours, so it was much needed. Jade and Logan played in the little swimming pool with her until dinner. We ate pasta with tomato sauce and lots of cheese and garlic bread. We finished the day with a cookie and a walk to the park.

Happy birthday baby girl! I can’t believe you’re two years old!

I love the way you laugh whenever someone else laughs.
I love your dimpled chin.
I love the way you pick up on musical tunes and start singing along no matter where we are.




We ate cake at the park with family last week.

Too Old for Lagoon and I'm Glad Movie Theaters are Dark

Jade talks about Lagoon a LOT. We went twice the year Aeris was born, but then didn't go last summer. It was nearly unforgivable, so when discount day arrived for our church ward, she wouldn't let the opportunity pass her by. I used to love Lagoon. I'd invite my most favorite of friends and we'd see how many guys we could pick up on before the end of the day. Well, now that I'm married, THAT side of Lagoon has lost it's charm and without that, you just have the fact that I'd probably throw up if I rode anything. So, being as nothing will make Nate throw up, he had the honors of taking her.

As a consolation for missing out on "Lagoon Day," I took Logan and Aeris to see a movie. Deep down, I guess I knew how it would go taking a two-year-old into a movie theater, but it was an acceptable replacement activity as far as Logan was concerned, AND it was out of the heat. We arrived part way during the previews, so the theater was already dark. Aeris wasn't sure what to think at first. She clung to me for ten minutes or so, peaking out of my shirt just enough to see that something was showing on the screen. Once that wore off, she wanted out. Out. OUT. She fussed and complained, and climbed. I finally took her in my arms, assured Logan that I'd stay close by, and stood in the aisle with her. That lasted about ten more minutes. After that, it was pure torture. She walked up and down the aisle, giggling at herself. She found her way around the back of the theater and noticed someone else went out that way. She banged on the door. I proceeded to hold her some more, until she'd squirm her way out of my arms, then it was back to walking up and down the aisle and giggling. Oh, and while all this was going on, Logan kept turning around and standing up on his seat to see where I had gone. As soon as the movie was over I grabbed Logan's hand and told him to RUN. Thank goodness for the protection of darkness. No one from the theater will recognize me or my unruly children.

Nate brought Jade home before 10 pm suffering from a major headache. Maybe Lagoon has lost its charm for him too. Apparently Jade ran him from ride to ride ALL DAY. And now... well she's talking about Lagoon more than ever.

Restaurant Review: Asian Star

Click here for location & online info

http://www.dininginutah.com/asianstar.htm

Dishes ordered:
cashew stir fry with assorted veggies and chicken
sweet and sour pork
hot and sour soup
egg flower soup
*both dishes came with soup, rice, fried shrimp, egg roll, & cream cheese wanton

We ate here for our anniversary this past weekend. Nate had been before with some friends from work, but it was my first time. They have a very small parking lot, so they offer free valet parking (tips optional). Otherwise, you have to park across the street. They seated us quickly and had water on the table within seconds of us sitting down. The waiter came immediately behind the person delivering the water to give us menus and take a drink order, which came out seconds later. Within minutes of taking our order, we were brought our soup. It was hot and delicious! I had the hot and sour soup. I have no idea what was in it, but I could have eaten that and nothing else! It’s a good thing the soup portions are small though, because the dinner portions were HUGE! Nate and I used the extra plates on the table to share the meat dishes. The cashew chicken was LOADED with cashews. It’s a good thing I love them! The veggies were carrots, zucchini and celery. I’m glad I ordered a dish that had veggies, because the sweet and sour did not have any. Between the two of us, we probably ate about a third of the food. It warmed up nicely as left-overs the next day. If you come with a large group as Nate did, you can order several items from the menu and rice ala carte and then eat them “family style.” We saw the table next to us do it that way.

The service was super fast. In fact, I almost felt rushed. This was not a place to sit and stay to chat. On a Saturday night, we were in and out in less than an hour.

The food was so delicious, of high quality and came in large portions.

The price was expected for the amount of food. It’s a little more pricey than your fast-food Asian restaurants, but well worth it.

What I will try next time: lettuce wraps. I’ve heard they’re amazing! We just didn’t have any more room in our bellies this time!

Chocolate Relief

Picture this: kids fighting, yelling, for the upteenth time that day. Me, hiding in a closet to get away from the fighting, yelling, and eat a chocolate treat of some kind because it DOES make me feel better and somehow gives me the energy to manage the fighting, yelling while still maintaining my cool.


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I love free stuff. Don't you?

Celebrating Independence Day

Parade

As you can imagine, by the end of the parade, this little trailer was loaded with treats. Aeris was quite content on the ride sampling each one as they came in!

Aeris was facinated with splashing in the water puddles on the tarp under the water slide.

Aeris showing her cousin Will how to make a splash.

Lining up the fireworks.

Don't get too close to those fireworks little girl!

Preschool Grad

I'm a little slow posting about Logan's big preschool finale. The last couple of months has been hit and miss with preschool attendance thanks to that long drive back to our former neighborhood. The graduation was the culmination though of those pre elementary school years, and I wanted to keep taking him (even if it was only once a week) until that finishing moment. It makes him seem more ready for kindergarten.

His teacher shared a few of their favorite things as she presented their certificate of graduation. Following is Logan’s list. It cracks me up that whenever my kids make up this kind of list they mention several things that aren’t what I’d call “favorites.” It’s just something they did that particular day.

Food: Cake
Color: Red & Gold
Animal: Panda Bear
Game: Light Bright
Song: “Popcorn Popping”
Book: Easter Eggs
Toy: Cars
Cartoon: “Word World”
Movie: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Holiday: Easter, “The Easter bunny lives at my house” – Jade has a big stuffed rabbit. She has Logan convinced that it comes to life on Easter to deliver all the eggs.
Season: Summer, “I love to be hot!”
Favorite part of Preschool: Snack time

Before the graduation we made our half-yearly visit to the dentist. No cavities! And Dr. Johnson removed Logan's thumb-sucking appliance. Our results have been true to the research. The habit is totally gone. Hooray! Now we're REALLY ready for kindergarten!

Speedo Man

For anyone who saw our Jon Lennon nursery, this may come as no surprise, but Nate's quite an artist! A friend of his from work was racing at a swim meet on Friday. Nate decided to embarrass him with our two very loud cheering children and a poster. Well, Nate never does embarrassment half way, so he created the poster in the photo below. The kids thought it was the greatest, especially since Speedo Man won his race and gets to go next week to California to race with the best swimmers in the nation - Phelps, Lezak, etc.

Cousins Visit

We enjoyed an unexpected visit from my sister, Diane and three of her kids this weekend. I saw Diane last fall, but haven’t seen her kids for a year. I can’t believe how much growing up they’ve done in that short time. They’re all so tall! Jade & Curtis are almost exactly the same age and see how much taller he is?

Jade and Logan loved playing with Sydney & Curtis in the backyard.

Thomas

We spent a day with Thomas the Train on Saturday. Logan and Nate rode the train while Jade, Aeris, and I visited all the other sites. They were having so much fun that lunch time came and went without one of them begging for food. Now that's amazing!

Fun at Grandma's

The kids haven't needed any adjusment to life at Grandma & Grandpa's house. They quickly made themselves at home. Jade & Logan thrill in being able to sleep in the same room. Luckily there are enough other rooms in the house that we're able to remind them that if they don't actually go to sleep, other room arrangements can be made which won't be near as fun for them.

Here are some photos highlighting our past couple of weeks.

Last Saturday Nate took Jade on a hike up Bells Canyon.

Bubbles are a popular activity!

They all love to play in the backyard. There is plenty of grass, flowers, and SHADE! Something we didn't have much of at our house. Aeris puts on her shoes, asks for her hat and knocks on the door, saying "outside!"