What do you do with a bunch of sick kids??

Over the weekend we had sick kids - every single one had a fever and cough and was not feeling great. But the problem was I was getting stir crazy. STIR CRAZY. I think one more day of sitting at home watching Pixar movies would've pushed me over the edge. So Adrian and I drugged the kids (with Motrin for their fevers) and decided to go for a long drive. We wanted to see some pretty fall foliage, but the trees did not cooperate. So instead we saw very pretty but very green foliage in the mountains. It was great listening to the Beatles as we drove along. We drove up to Woodland Park and saw the coolest view of snow covered Pikes Peak. Then on the way back we stopped at Garden of the Gods. Beautiful. We stopped and got out to look around at the COOL rock formations (and of course take a couple of pictures), but alas our children kept having cough-attacks so we got back in the car and commenced driving around again. Even though we were in the fresh air far away from other people the other tourists at Garden of the Gods were looking at the kids like they had the plague. We did stop at the Garden of the Gods Gift Shop. I went in alone and got us a magnet. Tradi-t-i-o-n! Tradition! (That was suppose to sound like Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof.) What would a day trip be without a magnet?? It was a lovely drive and the kids enjoyed it. I think the kids were probably just as ready as me to get out of the house after a full week of being stuck inside.

As an update the kids are better! Yay! They all still have a lingering cough and of course Nina's asthma has flared up so she is still doing neb treatments 3 times a day. But all in all they are doing good. Now let's just hope that Adrian and I don't get sick!

Random Catch Up

So here's a random list of things that have been going on:

• It snowed today!! Crazy!
• Hoodie weather is back.:)
  
• Lots and lots of sickies lately - Ben just came down with a fever this morning and Nina has been really sick, but is doing better today.
  
• Nina has fewer accidents wearing Pull-Ups. Strange. When will potty training end?!
• My children's favorite popsicle flavor is root-beer. (Lot's of popsicles and Jello have been consumed in the last 2 days.)
• I had a great girls night with Jenny over the weekend! All About Steve was very entertaining and that Asiago Artichoke Chicken Spaghettini rocked at Mimi's cafe. Of course the best part was chatting. Thanks for getting me out of the house Jenny!
• Reviving Ophelia is one depressing book, but I look forward to going to my book club tomorrow and discussing it.
  
• The Lost Symbol (please cover your ears and "LaLaLaLa!!" if you plan on reading it and haven't yet) was so predictable. Poor Robert Langdon! Dan Brown has it out for him! From now until he dies his literary death he will be chased by a creepy madman 1-2 days out of every year. The whole time I was thinking, "wait a minute, didn't we already do this in Angels and Demons and Da Vinci Code??!!" In Dan Brown's defense it was a page-turner.
  
• I read The Lost Symbol BEFORE and FASTER than Adrian. Ha! (I didn't read Catching Fire faster than him, actually I still haven't read Catching Fire - he stole my thunder reading it in 2 days!)
• I'm part of a Freezer Meal Swap again! The group is small and I think that's wonderful because I'll only have to make 6 meals to swap each month. We had chicken enchiladas last night from the swap and it was so yummy!
• I love the new Dr. Oz Show even if poop does seem to play a rather important role in the show.
  
• So happy its the beginning of fall tomorrow. I think I'll make some kind of pumpkin treat to celebrate.
  
• I totally should be making the October primary newsletter right now or making chicken noodle soup for dinner, or doing laundry, but instead I'm posting.
• Speaking of dinner, today I did my first "Menu Plan Monday" post on my recipe blog.

Okay, now I really must go and make dinner. And a treat for FHE. Maybe we'll have chocolate crescent rolls - ooh those are so good and so easy to make. Easy sounds good right now.

Reading Meme

A Place of Her Own by James Christensen (Isn't this gorgeous?!! Kellie told me about this one and it goes so well with this meme.)

I've been posting about books lately so I thought I'd keep it up with this delightful meme from Cami's blog. Try it too - it's fun!

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack? No, but I do keep a big glass of water on the side table next to me or if it's a really good day a big old Sonic drink.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you? I mark books that make an impression. I hardly ever mark fluff reads.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Bookmarks of all kinds - folded pieces of paper, bookmarks Sophie has gotten from school, even gum wrappers.

Laying the book flat open? Only if I have to get up suddenly... which with kids happens frequently

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both? FICTION (I have to be honest, non-fictions tend to be a little boring to me)

Hard copy or audiobooks? hard copy (though I do have the Twilights and Shopaholics audiobooks that I like to listen to while cooking)

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point? I don't really care about chapters, but if it's a really good part I keep reading (even if it's incredibly late!).

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away? No. But if it eats at me I'll google it next time I'm on the computer.

What are you currently reading? The Lost Symbol, Reviving Ophelia, The Host

What is the last book you bought? The Lost Symbol

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time? Well as you can see from what I'm currently reading I often read more than one at once. Ususally book club books and 1 on my own.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read? Nap time/on the couch

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books? stand alone (Can everyone stop with the series already?? I do read a lot books that end up being series though and am constantly annoyed by it, but of course I'll read all the sequels anyway. Harry Potter is the huge exception. I love HP!!)

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over? Hmmm. Well if you asked me 2 years ago it would've definitely been Twilight (as cliche as that is now), but right now I'm all about Hunger Games and Rebecca and always, always Wuthering Heights

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?) By favorites, then genres, then height, and for those that don't fit they get stacked in front. I need more book shelves.

32

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. :)

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.

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.

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.