My Week So Far

It's been a busy week with lots going on, school starting, playdates, parties... A full week, but a great week. I love the start of school because I like falling back into a set routine. I think I thrive with routine just as much as my kids do. It's fun to be spontaneous and flexible, but I get so much more done during the day when drop offs, pick ups, naps help to organize my time better. Anyways I thought I'd blog a bit about some happenings:

• Sophie has loved her 1st week in 3rd grade and is especially excited that in "Technology" she gets to work with Apple computers. Adrian had a wide grin when she wrote on one of her homework papers, "if I had 100 dollars I would by an Apple computer". Sounds like soon Adrian and Sophie will be ganging up on me to join the Mac-side. I still stubbornly like Windows.

• Benjamin can pee standing up! I don't know why I was excited for this milestone as it's been my pain to clean up the bathroom!

• Nina loves frozen peas! Christina's little Leah loves them so I tried it out and it's become a favorite snack for Nina.

• Benjamin can't wait for preschool to start and asks everyday if he can go to preschool, but his preschool doesn't start for another couple of weeks. I totally think it's a scam - we have to pay for the whole month of September even though they only have like a week and a half of regular classes. Oh well, other than that I absolutely love his preschool and he gets to have the same teacher this year that Sophie had when she was 4.

• Sophie has not complained about doing homework at all thus far and they have had them write a bit, which is her least favorite thing to do. I really hope this non-complaining trend continues.

• Sophie has complained about practicing piano and I am willing to take any advice to make that a more enjoyable experience for us both. :)
  

• Overtime just, well... sucks. Sorry that's sounds a bit harsh, but Adrian putting in much longer work hours has been rough. He's got a lot going on a work right now and needs to do this, but because he's usually out the door bright and early, I no longer have the alone-getting-ready-time that I used to have while Adrian got the kids breakfast. Argh! I think, however, that Adrian is enjoying the new schedule since he's such a morning person... Still having a hard time understanding how anyone can be a morning person... :) The closest thing I resemble in the morning is a tired grizzly bear! :)

• Nina loves facing forward in her carseat! Her first day facing forward was Monday and as soon as I put her in her carseat and she realized it was switched around she started waving her arms and legs and making happy sounds! :) She has especially liked being able to see the DVD screen now and all car trips have so far been such a treat for her. I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon. :)
  

• I love my new i-Pod playlist, which coincidentally has a lot of the same songs from Cami's wonderful playlist she played at giant journaling. Love those SYTYCD tunes!! Must also acknowledge a heavy influence from the Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse playlists (well the calmish songs from those playlists - man, turns out Stephenie Meyer is a rocker-chick!! :)). Here's the playlist in full:

1. A Narnia Lullaby (this is the one that Mr.Tumnus plays for Lucy)
2. Breaking the Habit - Linkin Park
3. Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
4. Come Again - Sting (oh, this is a beautiful song from his Songs from the Labyrinth album)
   
5. Hamburg Song - Keane
6. The Moment I Said It - Imogen Heap
7. Sing for Absolution - Muse
8. Can't Take it In - Imogen Heap (from the Narnia soundtrack)
9. Hey There Delilah - Plain White Ts
10. Ruled by Secrecy - Muse
11. Every You Every Me - Placebo
12. Night of the Dancing Flame - Roisin Murphy
13. Time is Running Out - Muse
14. Infra-Red - Placebo
15. Here With Me - Dido
16. Running Up that Hill - Placebo (great cover of a favorite Kate Bush song)
17. My Immortal - Evanescense
    
18. Dawn - Pride and Prejudice soundtrack (picture Mr. Darcy walking through the field :))
    

Sophie's 1st Day of 3rd Grade

Sophie had a great day today, her 1st day of 3rd grade - can you believe she's that old!! These were some pics we took before school.

Pay It Forward Exchange

This exchange has been on many friends blogs, so I thought I'd play along (not to mention I get a homemade gift from Kellie - thanks Kellie!!)

Here's the blurb on it:

I will send a handmade gift to the first three (3) people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. You may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. (So, you must have a blog to participate.)

August Art Pic

So this month's art pic was inspired by a trip while on vacation to a little art gallery/shop on Center Street in Provo that specializes in Christensen prints. Adrian and I know this little gallery well because it is right next to our favorite deli - Hickory Kist. When we were young marrieds at BYU I worked at First Security Bank on 9th East and Adrian worked at a small computer company on Center St. so we used to always meet for lunch at Hickory Kist. And then if we had time we'd stroll down Center St. and look in this little gallery. It has always specialized in Christensens, well at least since I was in high school.

This time it had quite a few worked by his daughters. (Ashlee, I know you really like their works and at this little shop some prints actually weren't as expensive as you would think. Maybe they have a web site?) I was especially struck by Christensen's angel paintings. When I think of Christensen the first thing that pops into my mind are poofy clothed, funny, fairy-tale type paintings, but these angel ones seem far more moody and how I love moody art! :) So this one was my favorite and I hope you like it too:

Men and Angels - James Christensen (I couldn't find a date for it)

Successes!!!

Warning: this is a potty post... :)

This is the potty-training update I was hoping to do and it's coming true... Ben has kept his Pull-Ups dry for a day and a half now and that is including last night!!! YAY!! We ended up doing the Pull-Up thing because he has more fear of making the little cars in the front disappear if he pees on them then of peeing in underwear or on the floor - go figure, wouldn't you think the later would be more traumatic?? Anywho, I am so happy with his progress!! I must say that I think a turning point was yesterday. Ben had a little playdate with Eli over at Christina's and actually went in Eli's cool musical potty-chair. Then sweet Christina had a "potty parade" for Ben, picking him up and marching him around her house singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" and letting him pick a treat from Eli's special potty treat jar. I think it worked like a charm! Christina, you are a good friend for getting so excited for Ben's success and helping out the potty situation immensely! Ever since that potty parade Ben has gone in the potty! We've been having lots of rounds of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"! It has just been #1's, but I'm not going to worry about the #2's right now - I'm fine with letting him go in the Pull-Up and changing it after, I'm sure that will come in time. (Man, is that just a little too much detail for all of you not in the middle of potty training?? I feel like potty talk has taken over my whole vocabulary at the moment. Sorry.)

So we still have lots to work on, switching over to underwear and making sure Ben tells us when he has to go (he has a couple of times now)... But I am happy with the progress and hopeful it will continue. Yay!

Recipe Swap

Think I need to post and think about something other than potty-training so I don't go crazy. (Yeah PT is still not going so well...many accidents, only 1 success and that was yesterday right after my last post...) So I think I'll post about recipe swap last night. By about 7 o'clock last night I was frazzled to say the least and was so happy to get out of the house and leave the bedtime routine to Adrian. So off I went to recipe swap. It was a boost to get out of the house and enjoy the company of the wonderful women in our ward. The conversation was great and the food was awesome. It was nice to forget my day as I chatted. The theme last night was desserts and all the dishes were delicious. I myself took a thawed frozen Oreo cream pie (Edwards brand). I just wasn't up to cooking yesterday with all the potty trips and clean ups. (We had McDonalds for dinner.) Out of guilt tho, I'm going to post the recipe I would have made if I felt up to it. It's a really easy cream cheese pie that sets up incredibly quickly.

No Bake Easy Cheesecake

8 ounces cream cheese

14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

9” graham cracker crust

21 ounce can of your favorite pie filling, chilled

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually add the milk; stir until well blended. Stir in the lemon juice and vanilla. Pour the filling into the crust and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Top with pie filling before serving.

Potty Day 1 Update

3:45pm. Not so good news so far. Frustration has definately set in for me, but I'm still keeping a smiling stiff upper lip around Ben. He's had...uh I think 4 or 5 accidents at this point and has not once told me he needs to go before peeing or doing a #2 in his underwear (and of course on the couch or floor). I have some serious laundry to do. I'm quickly losing faith that this attempt is going to work out. I've started searching Cami and Ashlee's blogs for PT tips and have gone onto the Dr. Phil website too. I think I'm going to try to hurry and make a personalized potty book for Ben - get the pictures today and make it on the computer tonight. Oh, what I really want is a break right now. This was not the update I was hoping to do, but venting about it via blog has, surprisingly, helped me feel a bit more positive... Time for another trip to the potty with Ben...

Jumping on the Potty Train

Last night we had a potty-party for Ben to give him his new "big boy" stuff (i.e. underwear, potty seat and Kando wipes). When we told him he was going to have a potty-party he said, "I have cake?!!" So we even had a small cake and I wrote "Happy Potty Party" on it with icing. It was a fun little party and Ben was so excited to get his new big boy underwear and potty seat and he readily gave all his diapers to Nina. It was giving all her diapers to a friend's baby brother that worked for Sophie when she was finally potty trained (on the 4th try). And then last night Ben did go on the potty and we were so happy - high fives and hugs all around. But then today so far we are: accidents - 2 and going on the potty - 0. I am staying all positive with Ben, but can't help feeling frustrated. I felt like we were on the right track last night, but now I'm dubious that Ben is going to soon learn to hold it till he gets to the bathroom. So far today he hasn't even tried to make it to the bathroom on time. Why does potty training have to be so hard?? I have little less than a month to potty train Ben before the start of preschool and I really don't want to have to send him to preschool in pull-ups... I so wish kids came with instructions like,"this is the potty training method that will work for Ben..." Wouldn't that be wonderful?? Well wish us luck and I hope I have good news to report on the potty front soon.

Our Trip... at last

At the moment I am really hating Fios!! We just had it installed on Thurs. and ever since our internet and phone have been going out, coming back on for a few hours then going out again. It's been really frustrating. I hope they'll be able to fix it for good. Anyways, with no internet and then with my compulsive reading of Eclipse every chance I got over the last few days I haven't been blogging. Sorry... I feel like a bad bad blogger. :) But the internet is working now so I'm going to try to hurry and blog all about our big vacation. So here goes... (Warning this will probably be long so feel free to skim. :))

Our trip to Utah was so fun and relaxing, well all except for the actual flights - I hate flying, really, really hate it, but after I blocked out the horrible fight there (Nina pretty much screamed the whole flight - poor people sitting around us) and went into complete denial that I would have to get on a plane again to go home, I had a great time.

We stayed with my parents and spent the first couple of days just hanging out with family and letting the kids play with their cousins. Sophie and Ben were in complete heaven in a house full of cousins. Nina also did surprisingly well. We really tried to make sure she got as many regular naps as possible and that helped out so much. Then August 4th was Sophie's baptism. It was such a wonderful and special day. A lot of our extended family was able to be there. Sophie was baptized at the chapel that I went to as a teenager and I knew from growing up the other family who's little 8 year old girl was being baptized. The program was great, a member of the primary presidency there gave a talk and it was very sweet, there was also a great musical number. Sophie got to wear Jann's girls baptismal dress instead of a white baptism jumper and she looked lovely. My sister found her confirmation dress in Utah and it was just what Sophie had hoped for - she looked like a princess. :) The confirmation prayer and blessing was also a very special moment and Adrian blessed her that she would be able to remember her baptism day through out her life.



After the baptism we had a big family party to celebrate Sophie's baptism and the girls' birthdays. Nina once again tore into her own personal birthday cake with great flair, but got fussy when she realized everyone was smiling and laughing at her. We again we're happy to say there were no candle incidents! It was so fun to visit with everyone at the party. I cannot get over how big my nieces and nephews are getting. We hadn't seen many of them for 2 1/2 years and had not even met my sister's adorable little boy Zach or Adrian's brother's cute little Anton. It's so hard to live so far away... But the party was a blast and the girls made a haul in the present department. We actually had to buy another duffel bag in Utah to accommodate all the gifts we received. Thanks everyone!!


After the baptism our days were filled with family visits and fun. Adrian and I took advantage of staying with my folks (and my mom's wonderful willingness to babysit) and went to the BourneUltimatum with a big group of family. I was amazed at how popular that movie turned out to be. For me it was not the best of the Bourne trilogy, but entertaining, yes. Adrian and the 2 older kids got to go out with his mom to see Underdog, which just might be Ben's favorite movie to date by the way he keeps talking about it. We just went "big boy underwear" shopping and Ben was very disappointed that there were not Underdog briefs!

Then about a week into our vacation Adrian and I got to escape and take a mini 3 day vacation by ourselves to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Big BIG thanks to my parents and my sister Lori for watching our kids while we were gone. We went to the Homestead in Midway, Utah and it was gorgeous. Heber Valley must be one of the prettiest places I've ever been. It is so green and nestled in the middle of the prettiest mountains in the world (but of course I'm a little biased). From our room at the resort all we looked out at was green trees, grass, and Timpanogos. Beautiful. We got to go on a super cool 2 hour horseback ride with just the 2 of us and a guide. The horses were very easy going and calm and the scenery was so picturesque. We went way up on a ridge (it felt very Man From Snowy River-ish) and looked down on all of Heber Valley. Just no words for how beautiful it was. I would be happy if someday we could retire to Heber Valley and see that everyday... Of course a big plus of staying at the Homestead was the marvelous fudge they make there. :) Yum!!


When we got back from our mini-vacation we were surprised to find our son playing with water in my parents front yard! As many know Ben has some serious water "issues", but in our absence he found a secret love of spraying people with garden hoses. Does he like to be sprayed? NO. But he likes to spray other people, so there's a start. He did actually get into a kiddie pool of his own volition, so we are hopeful. It's so funny my parents actually had pictures to prove he had played in the water while we were gone just in case we didn't believe them! Sophie of course had tons of fun playing with her cousins while we were gone and Nina did okay too. Apparently she had cried quite a bit the first day, but did much better than we thought and didn't cry all the time.

Adrian's Dad came down one weekend and we were able to go out to dinner with him and Adrian's step mom to the fabulous Los Hermanos. Such good food. It was fun to catch up with Jim and Shirley. We hadn't seen them since Ben was about 3 months old, so of course they were happy to see the kids and meet little Nina. Right before we left the restaurant Nina dumped a full glass of water right on my lap. The last time Jim had taken us out to Los Hermanos was when Sophie was about 2 and she choked really badly on a tortilla chip. With that and the full glass of water dumpage, I think we're going to try to pick another restaurant next time Jim takes us out. :) We were also able to have a fun picnic with Jim and that side of Adrian's family at Murray Park. It was a beautiful day and the kids had so much fun on the playground with cousins. Shirley also had a stroke of genius in bringing salt water taffy which occupied the kids for a long time while they weren't playing.


Let's see what else did we do -- I stocked up on Shade and Down East Basics T's at the University mall and we reveled in the bliss that every mall in Utah has a wonderful playland for kids. I also of course had to check out Quilted Bear, craft store extraordinaire. We had family pictures taken on both sides of the family and my brother in law David, did incredible shots of us and the kids through out our trip, including my side of the family's picture which was taken at a beautiful spot up American Fork Canyon. Thanks for the pictures David!! Most of the shots I've used in this post are his, so I must give him full credit for how cute they are. We got to go to my little niece Hannah's 4th birthday party up in Ogden, another totally fun day. Oh, and I completely forgot to mention that my family completely surprised me with a month early party for my 30th birthday. It was a shock and so nice of them. I got amazing presents from everyone including a framed family portrait and pictures of the kids from Julie and David. The shots he got of the kids are fantastic. I did not like the tombstone candle on my cake with "here lies your youth" written on it, but that's okay I can appreciate the humor... a little... :) Saying goodbye to my 20's is proving harder than I thought, but thanks guys for the party!!

Well, that's about it... I'm sure there is so much more I'm forgetting but I'm a little worried our internet is going to cut out and this is already a record length post so I'll stop there. We flew back... It was not the best flight, but again I'm trying to block it out so I'll get back on a plane again... At least next time Nina will be a little older, even bribe-able maybe. It took us a couple of days to get back on the time in our time zone, but we were so happy to have the kids wake up at 8:30 for a couple of days - it was heaven.

What a great vacation we had and now I'm so missing my family back in Utah. It was wonderful to bask in the glow of extended family love. Now if we could just move them all out here... What do you think guys?? No maybe, Adrian could tele-commute from Midway?? Probably not... Well I guess we'll have to just be satisfied with wonderful visits.

My Opinion on Eclipse - Spoiler Alert

Eclipse, Eclipse... Well, my opinion is mixed I'd say. And I know the book has had lots of mixed reviews... So, for me, a grown woman, man it was great!! And it was steamy!! Not to the point though that I know it would have gone in a normal vampire-genre novel, and that's why I love Stephanie Meyers. And not to the point that I was ever personally offended. Also, I readily admit that it was not full of the best writing in the world. Really cheesy parts. But every trip I make into Forks is purely for escapist fluff and I think Meyers delivered as far as that goes. :)

As far as it being a great book for teenagers, well that I'm not sure about. I think that depends on the individual teenager. (And of course this is from the point of view of a mom who's oldest child is only interested in Disney's Fairies books at the moment.) For some kids I think the book would open up great discussion for why you shouldn't put yourself in situations that could get heated - cause that's what the feelings are like and that's why you shouldn't be alone in a parked car... or your boyfriends BED in Bella's case... Hello! That was a little unexpected, but I guess from the very beginning he's been watching her sleep in her bed... Anywho, that "one" scene was a little much and I did say out loud to Adrian, wow that scene was a bit shocking. Honestly, and I really don't want to give the wrong impression of myself as a teenager... I did know right from wrong and all and I never made hugely bad choices, but man I read some smutty vampire lit that was extremely popular when I was younger. And I never thought Eclipse went to the point of smut. I think Edward arguments were really quite good (in "that" scene) and maybe for some teens that was a good talking to from the super duper uber vamp they love. I think the thing about that scene that was shocking to me were the arguments on Bella's part. That was strange knowing that an LDS mom was creating those words for a character that up until that point I didn't know was THAT hormonal! I guess she was exploring the feelings of lust and love and commitment in the eyes of a non-LDS teenager, which is probably the bulk of her audience. Glad Edward's counter arguments were included in that scene.

I loved the Wuthering Heights parallels, that was so great to me. That quote "...I cannot live with out my life. I cannot live without my soul." is the page that my well worn copy of Wuthering Heights automatically opens to from the constant reading of it. Heathcliff is evil (and sometimes misunderstood), but man he has some great lines!!! All and all I'm still a huge Edward fan, Jacob's great, but Edward is... well Edward!! I was never swayed to go towards the... warmer side I guess! :) I thought the meadow scene was great at the end to show that Bella had decided to choose the right, shall we say... Okay, one question, when is Bella gonna learn the self-sacrifice thing just messes things up!! I know that suppose to be poignant in each one, but for me the whole cutting herself with the rock thing was just silly in this one. Wait, two questions, when is that Midnight Sun one coming out??!!! Meyers is just being mean putting that off any longer!

So there you go. Just my humble opinion and review. I must remind, the Da Vinci Code happens to be a favorite of mine along with Catcher in the Rye, so with that maybe you might view my review with a grain of salt??? :)

We're Back

Just had to do a quick post not all about our vacation (which was wonderful and lovely!!), but just about being back. It is so crazy to take 2 weeks off of blogging and email. I had serious withdrawals the first couple of days... It was rough!! :) AND now that I'm back I feel severley out of the loop!! There have been so many posts that I've missed!!! I just completed a whirlwind friends-blogs-reading-athon (all wonderful posts ladies!!!) with the proverbial hands over my ears and "la la la la la"ing when ever Eclipse was mentioned!! BTW, Eclipse was my first purchase when we got back - I went to 3 different book stores AT THE AIRPORT to find it!!! You might think I stuck to my plan of not buying the book on vacation because I would be anti-social when I read it, but no I tried to buy that book at every darn bookstore we drove by from August 7th on!!! The book was completely sold out in Utah county, Salt Lake County and Wasatch County!! I know this because I went to book stores in all 3 of those counties to look for it!!! Argh!! And as soon as I am done with this post I am delving in to the fluffy depths of Forks, Washington again!!! (I'm only on the 2nd chapter do to a rampant stomach bug that struck me and the girls last night - thank goodness it wasn't on the plane! :) I think and hope it's just a 24 hour thing.)

Soon I'll post all about our 2 weeks in Utah with pictures and all. We really did have a fantastic time and I'm so glad we got to visit with our family. And soon I'll probably post about Eclipse too I imagine. :)

Post over... Edwar...uh, I mean Eclipse here I come.... :)!!