There's Just Something About Donny (well to Nina anyway!)

We were just watching Donny Osmond sing on The View and Nina who has been so fussy all morning (a new tooth is just breaking through on top) quieted down and totally listened... miracle... and then she started singing along in her own little way, something like "ahhh....ahhhhh...aaahhhh..." It was adorable!! She's never done this before, so I'm thinking she's already a big fan!! I rewinded it w/ the DVR and let her watch it again and she did the same thing! She loves him!! He was singing a song off his new love songs from the 70's album - "Sometimes When We Touch". I've never owned a Donny Osmond CD (and haven't really wanted to :)), but I'm thinking for Nina's benefit maybe I'll buy a couple Donny songs off of i-tunes - any recommendations ??

3 Posts for the Price of 1 :)

Wow - its been almost a week since I last posted. I guess I haven't been feeling very posty lately, but I have been feeling very commenty on everyone else's blogs. :) Though as I go through each day I'm always thinking "oh, I should post about this or that." So I have an idea, I'll post a bunch of the things I've thought about posting about rather than one long post about any of them... Bear with me, we'll see how it goes.


Our Saturday

This last Sat. we went to a great regional park. It was a huge park with a great playground and even a carousel so the kids had lots of fun. The playground was so spread out that I basically had to stick right with Ben or he would have gotten totally lost. There was one point were panic set in because I was looking all over, up into all the slide/climbing areas and I couldn' t see Ben anywhere. I hate those moments so much when your scanning the crowd for the right color of t-shirt and you're so freaked out that you're never going to see it... Ben was fine, he had just wandered off a little more than comfortable and I herded him back towards the more age appropriate playground equipment. We had some nice family time chatting during a picnic snack of apples, bananas, bottled water, and little Trader Joe's chocolate chip cookies. (Have I mentioned how much I love Trader Joe's! I just discovered this store recently and it has the coolest corner market type feel to it, along with great organic stuff.) I also love picnics with the fam!! I am so glad those times that I actually plan little picnics when we have outings - it always adds to the fun and togetherness.


Our Nina Basket Crisis

As many know I have a basket "problem". I love baskets - I collect them, fill them with anything, put them all over the house, love them... I've tried to limit my basket consumption lately because I have so many at this point that its kind of an issue. Well Nina has become more mobile lately and she also LOVES baskets - but in a bad way. She loves to EAT them. In the past week I retrieved so many little basket sticks out of Nina's mouth that I had to do something about it. She was actually rolling over to the baskets in the bottom of our bookshelves in the family room and prying out loose little sticks with her tiny fingers and shoving them all sharp and splintery in her mouth. I think I was in denial for a couple of days thinking she would stop doing it - I mean it can't taste very good!! But no, she really likes eating baskets. Its horrible. So now my 6 lovely bookshelf toy baskets have been replaced with 6 red-plastic-$3-Ikea-toy bins. It makes me a little sad to even write about it as I look over at them right now - they just aren't as cute. Oh well, someday (hopefully soon) Nina will get over her taste for baskets and I'll be able to put them back, but for the time being it gives me peace of mind to know she won't choke or perforate her trachea with sharp little basket sticks. I guess another post I could write about is what a crazy baby-proofer I am, but that's another story... For that one I blame my vivid imagination of what "could" happen.


Sophie's Poems

Last week was standardized testing for Sophie at school so she didn't have any homework - silent cheer for Jenni!! Instead of homework Sophie decided for herself to write a series of poems each with an illustration. It was so great that she thought of this idea herself and wanted to WRITE!! Writing tends to be a little bit of a hurdle for Sophie. She loves math and art and reading and well anything in school other than writing. A lot of it is that she wants it to be perfect and spends a lot of time pulling her thoughts together and (when she starts actually writing) erasing. But with these poems she really enjoyed herself and there are no eraser marks on them at all. Here's her little poem entitled The Tree: "Waving in the breeze. So sweet and when it's hot your shade is nice." Another is Butterflies: "Flying in the sky. I try to be still, but I sneeze." I think they're really sweet. We had all the pages hanging on the fridge last week and now I think I'm going to put them in a folder in her memory box.

Getting to Know Me

Thanks for this lovely list idea Mendy!!

For hours and hours I could...
sleep, sleep, sleep... did I mention sleep!! (little sleep deprived at the moment :))
watch my favorite shows
read
blog

I feel best about myself...
when I get all dressed and ready in the morning even if I plan to have a low key day
when I serve others

I absolutely cannot stand...
bugs, bugs, bugs
being on hold

I am afraid of...
balloons - I choked on a part of a popped balloon on my 3rd birthday
saying the things I'm afraid of out loud :)

I love to splurge by...
going out to eat
buying books on Amazon

I save by...
planning a monthly menu and doing most of my shopping once a month
shopping around

I am trying to work on...
not comparing myself to others

In high school...
(oh, I almost want to skip this one... but here goes)
I got great grades - I actually can't remember getting less than an A-
I was an artsie-fartsie girl and always wanted to dye my hair maroon, but my Mom paid me not to :) (Do you remember that Mom??:))

In college...
I was an art history major and LOVED my classes - my favorite and most challenging was a Northern Baroque class
I met the love of my life

I feel I'm a good mom when...
I get down on the floor and play with my kids
when I plan fun family activities and they actually end up being fun :)
when I say "calm down" in a calm voice

I regret...
losing touch with my best friend from high school

I could never have too many...
cookbooks
shoes
sweaters/hoodies


What about you?

Thoughts

Since this blog is pretty much my journal now I really felt like I should record my thoughts on this day. Today there was a horrible shooting rampage at Virginia Tech. This shooting is now the worst mass shooting in the history of our country, 33 people have died and many were injured by a gunman who in the end turned the gun on himself. I hope this is a record that will never be matched or broken again. It's just too sad... As I hear more details I am horrified and shocked. Doesn't it seem like we're not getting a break here? It seems like there is a new tragedy to try and process every few months and of course with the war going on there are also those casualties to hear about every day. I just wish everyone could see the value of life - their own and the lives of others. I first heard about this massacre today when I was almost on my way to pick up Sophie from school. I was conflicted because I wanted to watch the news so I could know what had happened, but more than anything I felt the need to gather my children together like a mother hen. I can only image what the parents of the kids attending this college were thinking. It scares me that I am raising my sweet children such violent times. I realize that our Heavenly Father has a plan for them as well as me and I cling to this testimony when I am faced with situations such as these. It makes me want to make my home a place of peace and beauty so that my family can have a refuge from the turmoil and ugliness of the world. I was struck by a statement from Kellie's blog a few days ago were she said in effect (sorry to paraphrase, Kellie) that her children crave the stability of a well-kept home, dinner on the table, and milk in the fridge. I loved how she put it and it is so true. I had this same feeling of making my home a refuge after 9/11 and now I'm going to recommit myself to striving towards this goal again.

Can I just make a dentist appointment please?!!!

I just gotta vent about this... I decided to finally make a few phone calls that I've been forgetting or well putting off - doctor and dentist appointments. Anyways, I just called up our dentists' office (its a big group practice that I don't necessarily love, but its one of the few places I've found that accepts our dental insurance) and the person I talked to was soooo rude!! Here's what happened:

Me: "Hello I'd like to make appointments for me and my family."

Dentist office person #1: "Have you been here before?"

Me: "Yes."

Dentist office person #1: "Okay, hold a minute."

Me: "Okay."

Dentist office person #2 (Mark) : "Mark speaking."

Me: "I wanted to make appointments for my family."

Mark: "Why did they transfer you to me? Did you ask for Mark?" (this said in an obviously irritated tone)

Me: "No. I just want to make appointments."

Mark: "Well you should know that I just had to hang up the phone with an insurance company to answer your call and you should have just made the appointments with the first person you talked with. In the future if they try to transfer you, you need to get their name because they aren't suppose to transfer people to me to make appointments."

Me: "Look, I just called up to make dentist appointments for my family. I would appreciate it if you would transfer me to whoever makes appointments. Thank you." (Okay, so as you can tell I was irritated... Can you blame me?)

Mark: "Well I guess I'm going to have to make your appointments."

So after a pause I realize I'm going to have to continue talking with this rude guy so I start making the appointments and he continues to be really huffy. Then when I am scheduling the last 2 appointments (for me and Adrian) he abruptly says "Just hold." Okay, and then guess who picks up the phone, dentist office person #1. At this point, half way through making the appointments, I am just ticked and want to hang up and find another dental practice. Grrrr.... So I tell person #1 that I was transferred to someone who did not want to make my appointments and was almost yelling at me for being transferred to him, so could I please just finish making the appointments for my husband and me. So with out even commenting about transferring me to cranky-pants Mark she casually schedules the appointments and has much better appointment times for me than the ones Mark offered so I ended up changing everyone's appointments. Sheesh!! But I did it and now we have dentist appointments.

I must add here that it takes a lot of will power for me to even make dentist appointments for myself (which probably added to my own irritated response) - I'm a little dentist-phobic. My orthodontist as a kid was the meanest guy and then just the sound of the drill... It freaks me out. I seriously want to find a sedation dentistry practice for myself, but sadly the one I have heard of from Jann does not take our insurance. Bummer... Well I'll get through it fine, I just hope I don't have to ever meet this Mark guy in person and if I ever get transferred to him again I'm gonna just hang up. Ahh, vent over and I feel better. :)

Eggstravaganza!!! :)

Yesterday we went to the White House Easter Egg Roll. I still can't believe that we actually went, and this is our second time going, well third if you count the year we went all the way there and it got rained out. Its just so surreal to see the White House up so close and walk around on the lawn that you see all the press conferences on. Its weird, I'd liken it to being up close at a concert - you just can't believe you're seeing the real band right there in front of you or in this case the real White House. The kids loved it. They got to roll their eggs on the lawn. Its kind of an odd tradition, but what they do is give the kids big spoons and a hard boiled Easter egg and then line the kids up in rows and have them race, rolling the eggs with the spoons to a finish line. Sophie was so happy to actually win her race this year and well Ben came in dead last, but had such a fun time pushing the egg along. They also got to dye eggs, go on a little egg hunt obstacle course thing, pet a real alligator (there was an Animal Planet booth), see Elmo and Rosita from Sesame Street (and Gordon which I was excited about, but I don't think they knew who he was), and see tons of costumed characters like Shrek, Max and Ruby, Clifford, and a Wild Thing (Adrian and my personal favorite from the book Where the Wild Things Are). We also got to sit and listen to Mike Leavitt (who was the former governor of Utah, but now the Secretary of Health and Human Services) and his wife read a book. It was actually a book about cyber-bullying which I don't think Sophie had ever even heard of until this reading and even the word "flame" came up which was a weird moment with a bunch of 0-7 year olds. I don't think any of them had heard of "flame" before!! A little strange, but it was fun that Mike Leavitt was one of the readers and we just had to sit and listen - he's from Utah!! :) Nina was extremely cooperative the whole time. I think she really enjoyed all the spectacle. For the most part Adrian had Nina in the Baby Bjorn, but she also fell asleep and took a great nap in her stroller. She even skipped a feeding while at the White House and didn't even make a peep about it. When I asked the kids what their favorite parts were Sophie said the egg roll was her favorite and Ben said seeing Max and Ruby ("Wuby"). When we left we got lovely goodie bags that had a book for each child and little painted wooden eggs along with various other goodies. It was just super super fun and I'm so glad we got to go!I need to stop and give credit to Adrian for getting us tickets so we could go to this great event. Its free, but you have to sleep out on the ellipse around the White House the Friday night before and this year it SNOWED on him in line!! That is dedication. He went with a group from the ward so at least he had company, but it was a very cold night!! I did send him with hot cocoa and hand warmers!! :)

After the egg roll we went to the National Museum of Natural History. We figured hey if we're in DC and paid for parking why not make a day of it. It was also so nice to warm up (it was pretty cold, but at least not raining!!), have lunch and take a breather in the Museum Cafe. After lunch we strolled through the dinosaur and mammal exhibit. Ben thinks that T-Rex's are "dinosaur dogs" because of the movie A Night at the Museum and he was so excited to see one up close. Sophie really thoughtfully looked at all the small displays with fossilized see plants and shells. I can't believe how grown up she is getting. I remember when we took her to the Natural History Museum when she was just Ben's age and she was so into the big dinos but now she's really looking to learn and read the placards. Its wonderful. Nina's ultimate favorite thing of the whole day was a big bin of polished rocks in the museum store. The kids were picking up the stones in handfuls and letting them fall through their fingers and Nina just started kicking her legs and waving her arms. She wanted to touch them too. So Adrian held her close and she plunged her little hands into the rocks, not grabbing them or putting them in her mouth but just feeling them. It was so cute!! We might have a little geologist on our hands!We had the most wonderful day. I think our feet are paying for it all today and Nina actually slept until 8:45am this morning so that tells you what a full day we had. I am so glad we got to go and have this little adventure. I think it will be a memory we will treasure.

Our Spring Break Week

Whew, the biggest part of spring break is over. We still have Monday off of school, but Adrian is taking Monday off for our White House Easter Egg Roll extravaganza (I'll be sure to post), so my solo part of spring break has ended... And I survived. :) I discovered the key to keeping my sanity with Sophie and Ben home together for a week was keeping them busy. It was actually pretty funny because every morning Sophie would say, "So where are we going today?" And then Ben would chime in with a list of suggestion, "Go to mall? Have pretzels? (we pretty much go to Auntie Anne's or Wetzel's every time we go to the mall) Go to bookstore? (which is either Borders or the library), Go to park? Go to church? Go to sunbeams? Go to movie theater?...." and on and on.

We filled the week with a couple playdates, played at the park, walked around a lake near us that has a trail around it, and then when the weather got cold half way through the week we started going to malls and also we went to a neat indoor play place near us. (Here they are at that play place - it had a firetruck and ambulance which was extremely cool to Sophie and Ben.)

If we stayed at home for any extended period of time there would inevitably be shouts, screams, and cries... So and so did this and that... I just don't understand why Sophie and Ben have to antagonize each other so much. I spend so much time asking them to work it out and be nice to one another. I have been told by Adrian that I just don't understand because I didn't have any siblings that were close in age to me. Apparently he totally understands and finds it kind of funny - I think he was a little instigator as a kid!

Well I guess spring break has been a tiny glimpse into what summer has in store... My summer mantra will probably be: "Can't we all just get along?" :)