So I am technically 32 now, but I asked Adrian if he wouldn't mind putting 29 candles on my birthday cake (which he refused) because I don't feel 32. Oh well. The cake by the ways was the monster chocolate Costco cake that I love so much! Mmmmm!!
On Friday we got a babysitter and went out to Japanese hibachi (of course:)) and to the new Tim Burton movie. I think a Tim Burton movie should come out every year on my birthday - could you make a note of that Tim?! 9 was awesome visually. As far as the story, well that didn't work out so well, but again visually those little ragdoll horcruxes (seriously JK Rowling could sue) were awesome. The little cataloger twin ragdolls moved in such a cool way and that is what I love about Tim Burton - he is so eerily creative. I'd love to just look at a still of the sculpture garden scene with the moon and twisted trees in the background. Stunning. Fun fun stuff for me. When we got back Adrian could not wait until my actual birthday to give me THE BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT so he handed me a box with the "Blurb"logo on it. Yes, he had published in a book the first 2 years of my blog!!! Without telling me! Isn't he sweet?? So there have been some years that Adrian has forgotten my birthday, but then there are these years were he knocks it out of the park. I love my blog book!! It has been so fun to read all the posts from when Nina was a tiny baby and Ben just started preschool and Sophie was in 2nd grade! Wow, I've had this blog for a while now and I love that it's a new-finagled way to journal that gives a much better snap shot of my life that normal journaling.
The rest of my birthday weekend we celebrated by taking the family to Olive Garden (mushroom ravioli and Coke for me - BTW I'm allowed to drink real Coke on my birthday!) and having Costco cake and presents. My huge present was trading in my car on a Honda Pilot (yay I love it!) because we wanted a car that would do better in the snow this winter. The buying of the car took so much work and time researching and finding the best deal and test driving so many cars, but we found a great used Pilot and are happy with all its neato features. Then for my normal presents I got a load of cooking stuff: an enamel covered dutch oven (Martha Stewart not Le Crueset - maybe someday it will be a Le Crueset), new pizza pans, new frying pan and crepe pan and Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child (I love that Julie & Julia movie and want to make an omelet like Julia!) and of course my blog book. I made a haul. Thank you thank you Adrian! And then I got so many birthday wishes from sweet friends and family! Thanks SO much!! It was a great birthday even if it did mean I have to be 32 now. :)
Monday, September 14, 2009
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Book Happy
I spent my morning smiling for various reasons which included some lovely alone time and a diet cherry sprite from Sonic. But that was not all. After dropping Sophie and Ben off at school and Nina off at preschool I made a bunch of store returns by myself. Who knew that could make me happy. I noticed how fast I can walk sans children, though heaven knows I love walking with Nina's adorable pitter-patter next to me when we run errands together while Sophie and Ben are in school. First was Target and since today is September 1st I had to check out the book section (I will tell you why in a minute). Well it was in the Target book section that my face spread into the biggest grin this morning and I couldn't help giggling to myself (I don't think anyone heard). This book caught my eye:
Could you stop yourself from giggling?? Wow, Mr. Darcy the vampire. Well that's just perfect isn't it?!! On the back (because I had to pick it up) it read, "A married man in possession of a dark fortune must be in want of an eternal wife." Ha! Hahahahaha!! Now seriously do I think this will be a good book? No. Do I think it will be great fluff? Most definitely. It will be in my possession soon, don't worry, but today is a one book buying day so I did not put it in my cart. In fact they did not have the book I was looking for at all. But Walmart did which was my next stop in my returns errands.
Still giggling (quietly to myself) about Austen vampires as I made my return in Walmart and moved on to their book section. Big smile #2: Catching Fire. It came out today and they had it! For cheap too -
5 bucks off the listed price. I really enjoyed Hunger Games and am so excited to read this sequel. I don't know why I am so excited about this sequel because I'm kind a getting annoyed by all the freaking sequels. Can't an author just finish a story for goodness sake!! But as far as stories go I am interested to see what will happen to Katniss and sweet Peeta. I love Peeta.... bread... with chicken salad... Darn! Are you happy Cami? I can't think of his name without the "bread" now!:) I told Adrian I got the book (he really liked the first one too) and now he thinks he's going to read it before and faster than me. Isn't he a dork? That's always how it is when we get a book we both want to read - it becomes this race with all sorts of talking smack. It got pretty nasty when Harry Potter 6 came out let me tell you. And he claims I only read HP7 faster than him because I left town with the book the morning of it's release. (Okay so that's true, but I read it in less than 24 hours!! There's no way he would have. NO WAY. Yes the smack talk is obviously on both sides as you can see.) Well we'll just see who's the faster reader Adrian, we'll just see....
What a smiley happy book morning I had and then tonight is book club. Yay! And though I have another 50 pages of Amelia Earhart's Shoes to read I'm sure I'll finish and have a great time discussing with some of my favorite ladies.
Could you stop yourself from giggling?? Wow, Mr. Darcy the vampire. Well that's just perfect isn't it?!! On the back (because I had to pick it up) it read, "A married man in possession of a dark fortune must be in want of an eternal wife." Ha! Hahahahaha!! Now seriously do I think this will be a good book? No. Do I think it will be great fluff? Most definitely. It will be in my possession soon, don't worry, but today is a one book buying day so I did not put it in my cart. In fact they did not have the book I was looking for at all. But Walmart did which was my next stop in my returns errands.Still giggling (quietly to myself) about Austen vampires as I made my return in Walmart and moved on to their book section. Big smile #2: Catching Fire. It came out today and they had it! For cheap too -
5 bucks off the listed price. I really enjoyed Hunger Games and am so excited to read this sequel. I don't know why I am so excited about this sequel because I'm kind a getting annoyed by all the freaking sequels. Can't an author just finish a story for goodness sake!! But as far as stories go I am interested to see what will happen to Katniss and sweet Peeta. I love Peeta.... bread... with chicken salad... Darn! Are you happy Cami? I can't think of his name without the "bread" now!:) I told Adrian I got the book (he really liked the first one too) and now he thinks he's going to read it before and faster than me. Isn't he a dork? That's always how it is when we get a book we both want to read - it becomes this race with all sorts of talking smack. It got pretty nasty when Harry Potter 6 came out let me tell you. And he claims I only read HP7 faster than him because I left town with the book the morning of it's release. (Okay so that's true, but I read it in less than 24 hours!! There's no way he would have. NO WAY. Yes the smack talk is obviously on both sides as you can see.) Well we'll just see who's the faster reader Adrian, we'll just see....What a smiley happy book morning I had and then tonight is book club. Yay! And though I have another 50 pages of Amelia Earhart's Shoes to read I'm sure I'll finish and have a great time discussing with some of my favorite ladies.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Crepes for Dinner = Happy Family
Mmm crepes!!! Please forgive the Hannibal Lecter undertones in the second and third photos. Crepes maybe flesh colored, but they go best with Nutella and strawberries rather than "fava beans and a nice chianti." Hee hee.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Kids Stuff: Viola, Preschool, and Kindergarten
Sophie is starting the orchestra program at school and I'm so excited for her. We went to the "rental night" last night and of all the instruments she chose the viola. It was down to the flute or the viola and when she saw that the viola was small she decided on it. I guess she has confused the viola with the cello until she saw it. Cami and Jann, I think you totally influenced her! ( I told her you played the viola Cami and that your girls play too Jann.:)) Sophie, Adrian, and I all had fun last night "playing" her newly rented viola and I think she is considering naming it Vinny. It is fun to have a child old enough to start playing an instrument in school. I hope she wants to stick with it. Having never played an instrument for real (I played the piano and guitar for brief periods of time) I wonder if taking piano lessons and doing the viola with the school program will be too much?? I guess we'll have to see how it plays out.
On to Nina, she had a big day today and got to meet her preschool teacher Miss Stacey. My friend Stacey has started a very cute preschool and Nina gets to be part of her first round of kids. Her basement is decked out with preschool stuff and looks like such a happy place! Nina kept saying "I met Miss Stacey!!" (Stacey is her nursery teacher at church too, but I guess she met her as "Miss Stacey" for the first time today so it was momentous to her.) So I'm going to have 5 hours a week with no kids in tow at all. Crazy. It's going to be so great for Christmas shopping!! Oh and I almost forgot. Potty training is going great! Woohoo! She still doesn't tell me when she needs to go, but as long as I remind her it's "potty time" she goes and hasn't had an accident for days. Please let this keep up! I'm crossing my fingers and toes and knocking on wood as I say this, but she has been the easiest of my children to potty train. Just a minute while I cross my fingers and toes and knock on wood again...
I feel like I'm leaving Ben out here so I'll have to tell ya a little about what he's up to too. He is loving Kindergarten and plays with the same little girl and boy at recess everyday and wants to do homework everyday like Sophie. I've had to print him out worksheets from the internet because he hasn't had any actual homework yet. I must admit I was worried about how Ben would do with the transition to Kindergarten. He is still my sensitive boy, but he's relating well to the other kids and tells me school is "SO fun". He had a playdate with a little boy in his class (and in our ward) earlier this week. Of the kids he had the hardest time with our move a year ago (yes, a year ago tomorrow was when we closed on our house!) and even though he's done pretty well over the past year I feel like now he's back to his old self and is a happy guy.
On to Nina, she had a big day today and got to meet her preschool teacher Miss Stacey. My friend Stacey has started a very cute preschool and Nina gets to be part of her first round of kids. Her basement is decked out with preschool stuff and looks like such a happy place! Nina kept saying "I met Miss Stacey!!" (Stacey is her nursery teacher at church too, but I guess she met her as "Miss Stacey" for the first time today so it was momentous to her.) So I'm going to have 5 hours a week with no kids in tow at all. Crazy. It's going to be so great for Christmas shopping!! Oh and I almost forgot. Potty training is going great! Woohoo! She still doesn't tell me when she needs to go, but as long as I remind her it's "potty time" she goes and hasn't had an accident for days. Please let this keep up! I'm crossing my fingers and toes and knocking on wood as I say this, but she has been the easiest of my children to potty train. Just a minute while I cross my fingers and toes and knock on wood again...
I feel like I'm leaving Ben out here so I'll have to tell ya a little about what he's up to too. He is loving Kindergarten and plays with the same little girl and boy at recess everyday and wants to do homework everyday like Sophie. I've had to print him out worksheets from the internet because he hasn't had any actual homework yet. I must admit I was worried about how Ben would do with the transition to Kindergarten. He is still my sensitive boy, but he's relating well to the other kids and tells me school is "SO fun". He had a playdate with a little boy in his class (and in our ward) earlier this week. Of the kids he had the hardest time with our move a year ago (yes, a year ago tomorrow was when we closed on our house!) and even though he's done pretty well over the past year I feel like now he's back to his old self and is a happy guy.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Silver Linings
The Car
Oh my poor minivan. In the last week and a half we took my minivan to 2 mechanics (just to make sure) and had to face facts and have the breaks replaced (for the 3rd time) and THE WHOLE power steering system replaced. Lots of money parted with sadly, but it had to be done. Ugh. The silver lining is that I think we found an honest mechanic who explained the whole thing and gave us a fair price to fix it (mechanic #1 was not so honest or helpful). So let's hope my car will be good for a while.
Sharing Time
I've shared on the blog before that I am an anxious public speaker, very nervous. Well today I did sharing time in primary. Sounds easy enough but I still got nervous. I have a new calling and am the assistant secretary in the primary (very excited and happy to be a secretary again!) and since the primary president was out of town the other secretary and I taught sharing times - me Senior and her Junior. I was shaking. I'm not so much scared of the kids, more the adults. It went fine. But I was really embarrassed that my hands were shaking like leaves and I couldn't stop them. Silver lining is that it's all done and I survived and didn't pass out or puke on anyone. Bonus. And I taught about the blessings of temple ordinances and that was a very special and wonderful thing to teach about. Bonus bonus.
Potty Training
Da da da dun.... We are in the midst of potty training Nina. Today is the second day and we are 2 for 8 right now. Yes that is 6 accidents cleaned up as of noon today. Nina has a cold so consequently her asthma is flaring up and it's wheeze-city for poor Nina. So she stayed home from church with Adrian and they worked on potty training. (The wheezing is kind of a constant state for Nina for weeks after a cold so if we waited for no wheezing the kid would never be potty trained.) Well today hasn't gone so well, so far anyway. Yesterday she did #1 and #2 and was so proud of herself, but then today it doesn't seem like she's remembering how to do it. We're watching the potty video, reading potty books, having potty parades (when she actually does the deed) and basically hoping for the best. I know it will happen (I'm trying to convince myself here) and this week is likely to be hard, but I'm staying upbeat. Pretty soon (knock on wood) I'm not going to have to change diapers anymore!! Woohoo. It will be great when it happens and that's the silver lining.
Oh my poor minivan. In the last week and a half we took my minivan to 2 mechanics (just to make sure) and had to face facts and have the breaks replaced (for the 3rd time) and THE WHOLE power steering system replaced. Lots of money parted with sadly, but it had to be done. Ugh. The silver lining is that I think we found an honest mechanic who explained the whole thing and gave us a fair price to fix it (mechanic #1 was not so honest or helpful). So let's hope my car will be good for a while.
Sharing Time
I've shared on the blog before that I am an anxious public speaker, very nervous. Well today I did sharing time in primary. Sounds easy enough but I still got nervous. I have a new calling and am the assistant secretary in the primary (very excited and happy to be a secretary again!) and since the primary president was out of town the other secretary and I taught sharing times - me Senior and her Junior. I was shaking. I'm not so much scared of the kids, more the adults. It went fine. But I was really embarrassed that my hands were shaking like leaves and I couldn't stop them. Silver lining is that it's all done and I survived and didn't pass out or puke on anyone. Bonus. And I taught about the blessings of temple ordinances and that was a very special and wonderful thing to teach about. Bonus bonus.
Potty Training
Da da da dun.... We are in the midst of potty training Nina. Today is the second day and we are 2 for 8 right now. Yes that is 6 accidents cleaned up as of noon today. Nina has a cold so consequently her asthma is flaring up and it's wheeze-city for poor Nina. So she stayed home from church with Adrian and they worked on potty training. (The wheezing is kind of a constant state for Nina for weeks after a cold so if we waited for no wheezing the kid would never be potty trained.) Well today hasn't gone so well, so far anyway. Yesterday she did #1 and #2 and was so proud of herself, but then today it doesn't seem like she's remembering how to do it. We're watching the potty video, reading potty books, having potty parades (when she actually does the deed) and basically hoping for the best. I know it will happen (I'm trying to convince myself here) and this week is likely to be hard, but I'm staying upbeat. Pretty soon (knock on wood) I'm not going to have to change diapers anymore!! Woohoo. It will be great when it happens and that's the silver lining.
Monday, August 10, 2009
First Day of School '09
Last week Sophie and Ben had their first day of school. Sophie's in 5th grade and Ben is a kindergartner. It was a great day for both of them. Sophie has the favorite teacher of all 5th graders (by her own report) and Ben has a really upbeat and happy teacher that has already emailed all the parents and plans to update us regularly by email. I think that's awesome.
We started off their first day with our traditional breakfast out - this year it was IHOP. Then we had the kids pose for pictures before we all walked them to school. Nina had to wear her own little backpack on the way to drop of Ben and Sophie at school. I think she was a little sad when she didn't get to stay with them. After school everyone reported happy times getting to know teachers and new kids in their classes. Ben apparently met a very funny kid named Alex who likes pink and Sophie's teacher is the "best math teacher" which makes her very happy - she is such a math and science girl.
Can I just tell you it's kind of weird having 2 kids gone at school everyday. Granted Ben only has half day kindergarten, but still every morning it's just Nina and me. I think it's great because now I can give her more one on one time, but what am I going to do when she goes to kindergarten? I've probably mused about this on the blog before, but I know I'll cry. Enough of that. Stiff upper lip Jenni. I still have 2 years with at least one kiddo to keep me company and it's always a joy to watch them grow and learn new things. Now it's time again for homework, reading logs, spelling lists and remembering to buy lunch box foods when I go to the store. Goodness, it seems like summer ended quickly this year!
We started off their first day with our traditional breakfast out - this year it was IHOP. Then we had the kids pose for pictures before we all walked them to school. Nina had to wear her own little backpack on the way to drop of Ben and Sophie at school. I think she was a little sad when she didn't get to stay with them. After school everyone reported happy times getting to know teachers and new kids in their classes. Ben apparently met a very funny kid named Alex who likes pink and Sophie's teacher is the "best math teacher" which makes her very happy - she is such a math and science girl.
Can I just tell you it's kind of weird having 2 kids gone at school everyday. Granted Ben only has half day kindergarten, but still every morning it's just Nina and me. I think it's great because now I can give her more one on one time, but what am I going to do when she goes to kindergarten? I've probably mused about this on the blog before, but I know I'll cry. Enough of that. Stiff upper lip Jenni. I still have 2 years with at least one kiddo to keep me company and it's always a joy to watch them grow and learn new things. Now it's time again for homework, reading logs, spelling lists and remembering to buy lunch box foods when I go to the store. Goodness, it seems like summer ended quickly this year!
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Our Birthday Girls at 10 and 3
My girls are now 10 and 3!! Crazy. Sophie is in the double digits! It's starting to get a little more difficult to make them both happy with a combined party (their birthdays are on the same day), so Sophie celebrated last week by going with her best friend to the movie G-Force and then out to lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger. Nina of course wanted a princess cake, but we made both Nina and Sophie happy with a Dairy Queen ice cream cake with flowers on it. Who isn't happy with an ice cream cake, right?! I can already tell that in the years to come they might have more qualms with having to share their birthdays, but I'm sure we'll work it out. Happy birthday girls!
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