Daddy Is My Favorite Pal

Every time Travis comes home

from work,

from scouts,

from a campout,

this is the reception he gets.

I'm glad he is so loved...because I love him this much too!

Count 'Em Boys

Issac pops up each morning with, "Is today Easter?". Sadly the answer is no and he asks how many more days. Life wouldn't be the same if we didn't have an Issac. A boy who for a month before a holiday starts asking daily about its impending arrival. This weekend marked our official countdown calender.

On Saturday we boiled, colored, and dyed Easter Eggs. It was the first for so many things. It was our first time dying sans Travis but he was on Boy Scout Campout, it was the first time we stayed fully dressed to do the dying, and it was the first time there were no major spills. Oh how I love my growing children and their reduced mess making tendencies.On Sunday we had this year's annual Baron's Ridge Easter Egg. After several beautiful weather days we were hoping the hunt would be free from the weather disasters that have plagued us in previous years, but it was not to be. The air was cold, the wind blew blustering, and minutes after cleaning up the party the rain came down. The kids were cold and ready to go home which left us with less time for girl chat, but it was still fun and lucky for me we are planning another night for New Moon viewing so girl time is just around the corner.

And so of course Monday morning came and Issac popped up and asked "Is today Easter, yet". Still the answer was no but at least six days seems manageable. Hooray for holidays and innocent childhood excitement.

I Love...this week anyway

...being elbow deep in dough and dreaming about the bakery i will one day own and operate with beautiful and magnificently large kitchen appliances. ...that one of our(travis and my) guy friends was chatting with travis and mentioned how hot he thought i was. i never realized how much i like hearing this. don't laugh those of you who remember my self obsessed teenage years. they are long gone, often i don't think of myself, often i don't even feel hot anymore. i feel like a mom, a wife, a friend, a sister - perfectly average in every way. it is really good to hear i am anything but average after all. after realizing how much this means to me i have given travis the universal heads up to tell women themselves, their spouses, and friends which girls he thinks are hot too. spreading the love of feeling beautiful seems like such a pleasant concept to me. and if i do say so myself this guy friend of ours is pretty hot too.

...that my last Relief Society meeting went so good. it was a great mixture of fun and encouragement. i have many friends who helped make it such a success. and i have uplifting friends who readily tell me how spectacular they think the night went and how great they think i am.

...new shoes. they make me happy; they make me feel cool. they make me feel grateful that travis and i are at a stage in life when i can see a pair of shoes i want and get them.

...being quoted or paraphrased and upon hearing it back feel very smart and wise. i see myself as such a goofball, partially awkward because often i do things to my own drummer's beat, but hearing me being paraphrased i feel proud of who i am, the things i think, and the beliefs that drive me.

...that my daughter is a budding poetry prodigy (sample below):

i'm always there for you

i'm always there for you

to help you go far.

there are things that one can't do

so i'm there for you.

i'm gonna go no matter what you say

you don't need help but deep down you want me

so i'm going to be there for you.

you want me you know it

so do i.

so please tell the truth.

...that my son loves to dress himself and has clear ideas of what he likes, even though his sense of fashion or even matching for that matter may be skewed in some people's eyes.

I Am

I am a Gopher Tortoise. What the heck is that you ask? Yeah I asked the same thing when I found out I was a Gopher Tortoise. A GT is someone who works hard, but their work helps others, and so sometimes others take advantage of your good nature. Wondering what kind of animal you are, well look no further than the "What Animal Are You" book. I own it. It's a throwback to my Marriage, Family, and Human Development days. I can't resist a personality test. Even one so cheaply made as to be false in their results since the person taking it can project almost any image or be just plain delusional.

Then last night while perusing the local library, I stumbled upon "The Career Within You". It differentiates the nine major work personalities, their strengths, their weaknesses, and what jobs best suit them. Being me I checked out the book to take the quiz. I am "the Asserter". Additionally I am red, I am ENTJ, I am bull/owl, I'm close minded, conscientious, extroverted, disagreeable, but calm. This calm thing is funny, because most people who know me see the serious energy I bring with me everywhere and are sometimes confused by this adjective. Yet in a psychological sense it refers to anxiety, nervousness, and ability to be easily agitated. I am none of these things.

But two nights ago as the phone started ringing at 11:45pm waking me from a deep and restful sleep, I wondered is someone hurt just briefly. I answered, "Hello", and was promptly greeted by the cheery and not sleepy voice of my sister, a Sea Otter, two hours earlier in Utah. She started babbling along at a rapid fire pace of which my foggy brain tried to unscramble to a stream of conscious thought. Not that she was talking any faster than we normally do when we talk, but I was not in a normal state. She quickly asked if I had been sleeping to which I replied "No". Only moments later was I left thinking, what the heck? Yes I was asleep. But even in my haze despite all the things I am, I would never want to make someone feel bad, even if it is an inconvenience to me. Blast my Gopher Tortoise ways.

So there we sat chatting because a random question from something we had discussed a couple weeks ago had popped into her head and she wanted immediate relief from her "anxious worrying". I answered her question only partially because I am still holding out information intentionally, and we chatted for several more minutes before she said I'll let you go back to sleep. Can't fool my best friend even if I try. I'm just a vulnerable sucker when sleepiness hits. Upon hanging up I stayed awake for what felt like forever but was probably five minutes, trying to unwind from the serious energy my family consistently brings to the table.

Who are you?

'Hood Rats

I am surronded by wonderful people. With the fabulous weather some of my friends and I met at Rapho Park on Friday for playing. Then on Friday night the Barons Ridge neighborhood had our monthly mommy/daughter night. The theme was tea party. We served blueberry tea or lemonade, scones, chicken salad or pb sandwiches, and other delightful goodies. Then on Saturday afternoon a friend came over to play all day. Another friend and I took our kids to the duck ponds to feed the ducks. She let me play with her fabulous new camera that I long to have. And Saturday night, the hood rats and I got together for a late night viewing of the just released on video "New Moon". Life is just a bit sweeter with good friends to share it with.

New Faces

I love it!

The Birthday That Keeps Giving

Bella's actual birthday was Sunday March 14th. But the festivities begun on Wednesday the 10th and they didn't finish till Sunday the 21st. She turned 8 and we let our kids pick a restaurant to go out to eat for their birthday. Well life being what it is the closest day we could originally find for dinner was the 10th. She wanted to go to Friendly's. We were all geared up but schedules got delayed, and we ran out of time. To prevent true disappointment we ended up going to McDonald's in town, her second choice, for a quick bite and delayed eatting out for real for Monday. Friday was our monthly temple weekend where my brother Benj and his wife and Travis and I swap kids for babysitting. So we spent the weekend with cousins celebrating her birthday. We made cake and ate it and played. Saturday she wanted to go to the ward ice cream social. Then Sunday the actual day we had a scavenger hunt to find her presents, ate cake, and rented Redboxes to spend the afternoon cuddling and watching. Monday night we actually hit Friendly's up for dinner. And then Saturday, Bella was be baptized. In our church we believe that 8, is the age of accountability where kids know right from wrong. So this was a big milestone for her. We also celebrated by going to Rita's and getting our free frozen ice. Last today Bella was introduced as the newest member of our ward. I am one proud mama. And then last I spoke today in church on making covenants. After a week and a half of going, going, going and anxiety over all of this occurring without problem all I can say is "Whew"!

She's Lying

Yeah that's what Issac told Wyatt concerning me last night. Here's the story:

We are walking around Costco last night getting some Baptism refreshments. And random other yummies and goodies that I had not intended to buy as well as a year's supply of deodorant for both Travis and I. I have the three boys with me because Bella is at Activity Days and Travis is at Scouts. Kody is sitting in the basket of the cart while Issac and Wyatt are in the two front seats. I can hear them going back in forth with "Yes, she does and No, she doesn't". Finally I tune into what they are talking about as their voices begin to escalate and carry.

Me: What are you guys arguing about?
Wyatt: Mom do you have a dingy?
Me: No. (A little surprised because Wyatt already knows this)
Wyatt: See Issac, she doesn't.
Issac: I am right, she's lying.
Wyatt: Mom, pull your pants down and show him.

This amidst the curious stares and giggles of other late night Costco shoppers.

This Is How I Roll

Yeah we ran out of milk. I wanted the kids to eat dry cereal.

Oh the inhumanity.

No milk, but I had heavy cream.

Diluted it to half and half with some water and poured it over the cereal.

Still super heavy and rich.

But my kids loved it.

And that's how we roll at my house.

It Did It Again

I know that at some point I blogged about Daylight Savings kicking my trash. Well it happened again. Not only after my own mental reminder but more than a half dozen reminders last night, I forget to set my clocks forward. And in the morning, on Bella's birthday, I didn't remember. So Travis woke up and made pancakes for Bella, upon her request, but the kids slept in, and then we casually ate, and were playing with Bella when I popped on the internet to check on something and was horrified to realize that it was 9:45, the time I should be leaving to get to church on time to lead choir practice. Well Travis was ready but that was it. And so in ten minutes I got totally ready, give or take the doing of my hair - blasted flat iron can't be expected to heat up so quickly. I got Bella ready and what was to be curly hair on her birthday ended up being straight - flat ironed actually since her much thinner than my hair doesn't require quite so much heat.

I left Travis high and dry to get three boys ready and himself in less than 20 minutes, clean up the kitchen for breakfast, and bust it to church himself. Well choir practice went well, Travis arrived on time, early actually for church and all felt calm. Hooray maybe it wasn't too bad after all. Then last night we celebrated Bella's birthday. At cake time it was almost 7pm. I snuck one bite before my 7pm Lent deadline of eatting. I gave everyone else cake and made my way over to the computer to once again check my email. Holy Mother of Mary. How did this happen again. We still never changed our clocks. What was almost 7pm was actually almost 8pm and that is the story of how I broke lent, screwed up Daylight Savings repeatedly, and felt a bit stupid.

It's Great To Be Eight

Practically Perfect In Every Way:
That's my Bella Bear, Isaboo, Bellbadoo, Princess Pe Pe, girl. She is my best girlfriend and I know that each day will bring us closer. She is funny, smart, pretty, kind, and special in so many ways. I know that she will share every single time, I know that she will always try to comfort a crying sibling, I know that she will always try to choose the right, I know that she will be the most spectacular adult ever. I just can't wait to see her when she gets there. She makes me proud of her every single day.

Happy Birthday - my special girl.

Cream Anyone?

Last night Travis had very dry hands. He asked Wyatt since we were in his room if there was any lotion in his bathroom? Wyatt said yeah lots and went to get dad some. He brought back three kinds which he let dad pick from. Travis and I lost it as we looked as his options of Lansinoh nipple cream, Vagisil from Bella's old medical issues, and Desitin for diaper rash. Yeah I don't think those are going to help so we sent him over to my room to grab some lotion amidst Wyatt's confused expression about why these lotions wouldn't work.

Healer

When Travis and I got married we had a ring ceremony at our reception with an exchanging of vows and rings. We did this because some of our family couldn't go to the temple at the time, I had only been out of high school for a year, and my friends were feeling left out of my wedding. As we shared our own personally written vows I blubbered my way through sharing how knowing Travis saved me. It wasn't very clear if even intelligible what I said. The blubbering made my words incomprehensible even if at any point they would have been well written, which they weren't. But he understood what I meant that day. It pains me to watch our wedding video and see myself loosing it in a big way. But the sentiments still ring true.

I can only best describe it like this. When I went to college, met Travis - these things are one in the same - I was broken, injured, and hurt. I knew that I was struggling, but I didn't know exactly what was wrong and I didn't know how to fix it. I was treating symptoms as they occured. But Travis came in, like a well trained physician, and after examining me found the problem and showed me how to fix it. Since then I have stumbled across a passage in Psalms. It is in chapter 147 verse 3. "He healeth the broken heart. And bindeth up their wounds." Of course it is referring to the Savior and that describes what Travis did for me. He saved me from a certain life of repeated mistakes and victimization.

Imagine my surprise when yesterday I got an email from my husband tellng me that he had recently hooked up with an old roomate from college via facebook. He said he had been very touched when he read his bio. I clicked over to see what it was and found in his About Me section: "....I hope that life has been good to you and that you have safety and people who care about you. Of course my most serious apologies for any wrongs I did on accident or purpose. What can I say, I was a lost and lonely kid. People trampled on me and I trampled on others. But, thanks to my amazing once roomate Travis -------'s example (from Texas of all places) I began to question the central tenets of this tragic mosaic (eye for an eye) social law that has become the modern rules of road of accepted interaction sadly even among otherwise decent people."

It can be pretty intimidating being married to someone like this, someone so without guile that I wonder if he has ever thought a bad thing about anyone, someone so pure in their intents and desires that I am constantly told stories like this. I wonder if I am good enough to be married to him, if I help him grow the way he helps me grow. I wonder if I got the better end of the stick when we got married. Regardless I consider myself lucky and blessed and thankful. I'll take the good things as they come and he is the best of them.

D.D.

Kody is busy boy. He is filled with giggles, crusty faces, and a constant need to strip to near nakedness. He is potty trained, and he moved into the shared boy bedroom now that he is not a baby anymore. (Wyatt now has his own room.) Today his activities included waking up earlier than normal, playing very hard, eating breakfast, interrupting Travis and my private time before church to tell us he had to go potty (good boy - I guess), watching a movie, getting dressed, going to church nursery to collapse into a near comatose sleep in the corner while kids played noisily. This is my only sign of his babyhood intact. His little snack of pretzels and cheese never left his side as noticed by the pictures. And so my baby is a big boy now. Man I love this cute boy.

Calling It Like I See It

Best Breakout Dress Weird - I never thought I would see the day where Mariah Carey looked fat up top and not down by her hips, but it has arrived. To her credit she looks nice instead of totally slutty.Yamma Jamma - The worst dressed of the night - I'm speechless. What a hot mess and purple is my favorite color. No just no! What person with her skin coloring picks this color dress? And that is just the beginning of my problems with this outfit. Although there are several things I love about this dress, so many things went wrong. And in the end the feeling I am left with is that she is getting swallowed by a pink monster. I'm not sure what is with the black on navy blue, the weird lace inverted "U"s by her crotch or the hair, but I think this dress had potential somewhere in the beginning or on the top half. So close, but not quite: Ditch the shoes, seriously no one should own or borrow these. I love the top half. I love her body, but the mermaid bottom competes with the top criss crossing for attention and I would have left it totally fitted instead. Holy crap, motherhood is the best thing that happened to Nicole. I love this look. Sexy, understated, Old Hollywood Glamour updated. Fab. I love this dress. The color is good. I love the fitted empire waist, the rouching up top, the off center bow and the gathered texture below. Almost my favorite of the night, but... Mariska does it just a bit better. The black is classic, the jewelry is perfect, the hair flawless and soft, the makup beautiful. Although she has a weird smile here, live moments caught her looking ultra glamorous.

Favorite Day

I am loving this sunny weather. the extended time outside
the windows of the car being down
the slight shift in music on the radio
the increased family time

We are an outdoorsy type of family. Today just might have been a perfect day.

Need I Worry

Okay so I can sing and play the piano depending who you ask. Not so much the guitar, but a girl can wish. When Bella was little she was very tone deaf. For me this was varying levels of stressful. Travis is not tone deaf, but won't be giving a performance anytime soon. So I never knew what to expect in this department while considering our gene pool contributions. But to hear my daughter sing, led me to fits of giggles or deep worry depending on my mood. But recently she has come into her own. She can sing on tune and asks me to play the piano or guitar so she can sing along. We sing together and I treasure this time. One little glitch, it all comes to pieces when Bella is forced to use her falsetto. Perhaps time is all she needs. Otherwise we'll just limit her singing to one basic octave.

Like New

After months of complaining about the dirty state of my car, I came home to find that Travis had surprised me by cleaning it. Although this isn't exactly like new, it's as close as it will every get. Trash out, debris vacuumed, and interior dash dusted, and windows cleaned.
And what have I learned, complaining really does work.
And my husband is the sweetest guy ever.

Do You Know Me?

Facebook has instituted another activity which involves answering questions about your friends. After many friends having notified me that they had made answers about me, I went to check this application out for the first time. 51 questions had been answered by my friends and I could see their answers, but not who specifically answered unless I engaged in the earning of points. I'm not that interested so I declined, but I chuckled as I read your responses about me. Most were accurate, but I would like to make some clarifications about myself. I am who I am. So here's a crash course for my mere acquaintances. The first answer is from my friends, in parenthesis are my real answers.

• Do you think Mary would pull a fire alarm as a prank? Yes (Not anymore) As this is illegal, I try to steer clear of these activities now that I am an adult, married, but most importantly have kids. You know set the example and all. And although I wouldn't personally think this funny, I used to do pretty much anything on a dare. Let's not kids ourselves I still do.
• Do you think Mary speeds while driving? No (Do you even know me?) First who doesn't speed. And in case that person considers five and under speeding the speed I still ask Do you even know me?
• Do you think Mary needs to lose weight? No
• Do you think Mary should pass on the chocolate cake? Yes (Yes) These two are contradictory but then I guess so are people's opinions. Yes I need to lose weight and I don't really like chocolate and so I would pass anyway.)
• Is Mary smarter than you? Yes (This sparked my curiosity the most in figuring out who answered this.)
• Would you like to see Mary dance like Michael Jackson? Yes (That would be a good time.)
• Would you hook up with Mary? No (Yes!!!) Unless you are a girl or related to me you better change that answer.
• Do you think Mary could eat 3 Big Macs? No (Yes) Really - 6 brothers; Need I say more?
• Do you think Mary likes to sing Karaoke? No (Yes) So if any of you are interested in a good time, you name the place and time and I'll meet you there with my vocals all warmed up.

Could you have answered these questions right about me?