November Events

Recently we had a pacifier party for Brianna where she threw her pacifier in the garbage, had cake and balloons and a present which was a new pillow.  It didn't go as well as hoped, but I suppose it could have been worse.  She cries herself to sleep but not hysterical or for a substantial amount of time.  She wasn't as easy as Emily, my niece, who just threw it away and was fine with that decision.   Now that we've crossed the pacifier bridge unhappily she seems to be interested in potty training, but there is no going back and we'll have to wait for a couple more months before we address the underwear issue.  Katie had a big party for throwing away diapers too and that worked quite well for Emily.  Maybe Emily is just a party and attention girl.

Carter turned 7 yesterday!  I have a hard time saying 7.  One year away from baptism.  What a sweet wonderful boy he is.  I can hardly believe how obedient he is.  For example, we have a rule that the kids have to have a "thank you bite" of dinner.  They can't use the excuse that they are not hungry or they don't like it because you always have room for a polite bite.  He never fights about his thank you bite.  He used to when he was 3 or so, but sometimes he will even take his thank you bite without being asked.  Even when I push him a little hard telling him the bite wasn't big enough or if I didn't see it it didn't count he will pick up his fork and try again.   To me, that is amazing.  He is doing a great job at school.  His reading is amazing, math is great too, and seems to make friends well.  He certainly wasn't the best on his soccer team this year, but he always had a smile and always tried to do what the coach asked.  He is considerate and extremely generous.  Especially with Will and Brianna.  What a happy wonderful kid.  What a lucky mom.

Carter's homework from our vacation.  I love the smoke above the fire.   Is it reminiscent of  Gutav Klimt or a different artist? 

We also decided to have lighting installed in our home.  For whatever reason, the builder or first homeowner didn't put lights in the living areas and bedrooms.  The house seems so dark and dismal and depressing especially in the winter.  It gets dark at 4:30 and when it rains, which is frequent, it seems dark all day long.  Charlie and I have taken to calling the house, and especially our room, the Bat Cave.  So a guy in our ward is coming to thread the wiring through the walls and up in the attic.  For the downstairs areas, he will use the room above it and pull back the carpeting and subfloor to thread the wiring.  Messy, but I am soooo excited.  I've gotta shop for some lights!

William has had a rough week this week.  He has stayed up late almost every night this week and it has really taken a toll on his humor.  Today he whined and cried almost constantly.  He is so hard to reason with when he gets that way.  We tried every trick in the book to get him to take a nap but that boy is stubborn too.  He was hysterical for an hour because he wanted Charlie to carry him upstairs and get him dressed because he didn't want to put his clothes on himself.  My mom always used to say how whiney and temperamental I used to be when I was little so I wonder if he just has my personality.  Sometimes we can snap him out of his moods by changing the scenery like going to the store or to preschool.  Sometimes just turning on some music will help that future music prodigy snap out of it.  Sometimes just a hug is all he needs but I can never be sure what to do for him.

Planning Thanksgiving with Tom and Ashley.  They're only going to be here for a few days but it will be fun to have my baby brother and his wife come to visit.  I call Ashley "Cheerful" because she always is.  Charlie wants to have Pie Night this year too.  It has been a yearly tradition for us but the last couple of years we have ended up in Utah for Thanksgiving so we haven't gotten to share it with out Maple Valley friends.  So, if you are in Maple Valley and would like to come to Pie Night, you are officially invited.  Of course, if you're in another part of the world, you are also invited and we would love to have you, just give as a couple hours to get a room ready for you.  Pie night will be Friday Evening the 19th from whenever to when the pie is gone (or when you have bust a button).

mustache

William noticed the abundance of mustaches when at the wedding in San Diego.  Yesterday he said to Charlie:

"Dad, I will be a grandpa soon and then I will have a mustache and I don't want that to happen.  And my hair right here (patting the back of his head) will come off!

Charlie explained that he didn't have to have a mustache; he could shave, but he probably will go bald in back because he got Mommy's hair gene and Mommy got Poppa's.  Carter will go bald on top because he got Charlie's hair.  Carter and William looked at each other and laughed.  I'm sure they were imagining each other 6 and 4 years old and bald.

Back from San Diego

We recently went on a family vacation to San Diego.  My cousin, Sarah, on the Allan side was getting married and asked the boys to be ring bearers and Brianna to be a flower girl.  We definitely wanted to go. Especially because Aunt Mary and Uncle Chuck came to our wedding and stood outside the temple in the middle of January.  Charlie took a week off work, he only had to work one half day and the rest of the time we saw the Wild Animal Park, Sea World, Torrey Pines paragliders, Birch Aquarium, La Jolla Cove, a fire and surfing on Oceanside beach, Aunt Elizabeth's homemade tacos, Botanical Garden, hotel pools, first class flight on the way home for all 5 of us, and of course the wedding.

William controlling the camera.

Brianna playing at Sesame Street

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?
A frequent phrase while wondering around Sea World.

Peekaboo.

Carter wasn't quite tall enough to ride by himself.  His elation turned disappointment was heart breaking when he realized that we didn't have enough adults to take all three kids on the ride at once.  Carter sat out while Will and Brianna went.  He was a good sport to wait.

Will's animal photo.

Wheeee!  Grandparents are the best.

Gorilla Dan, Gorilla Charlie and Gorilla with a stick.

lunch time.

Happy William

William, Brianna, Carter, and Poppa petting the deer.

Little Gorillas

Charlie and Susan 1985

Charlie was 7 in 1985 and I was 3.  Do you see any resemblance to the kiddos?  

Love Life

Man I have some really good friends here.  Good neighbors, good everything.  I could never leave Maple Valley.  Thanks for supporting and loving us.  I could never repay the friends who became family in the 2 years we've been here.   Which by the way is officially 2 weeks longer than we've spent anywhere else.

Carter's first grade picture

Carter is doing great in first grade.  He loves being a big kid and going to school all day.  He is one of the top readers in his class.  He  has to do a bit of homework every night to get through the work he'll miss while we're in San Diego.  Its quite impressive the amount of work they do in first grade.

Latest Events

Charlie is off to China again today.  He'll be back in 8 days; then about 48 hours later we'll pack up the family to fly (all of us in first class hehehee) to San Diego to attend my cousin's wedding.  It will be great to see the Allan side of the family and get a little sun.  We are planning to play a bit if Charlie can manage to step away from the phone long enough.  Aunt Mary lives next to Legoland and we want to hit the zoo, maybe the beach. . . .

I think we've only had 3 days of sun since coming back from Utah.  We haven't been to Utah in the summer since William turned one year old and I didn't realize how much I missed Utah summers.  Hot and dry with plenty of central air makes for a fabulous mix.  Immediate relief from the heat is in the shade and if it weren't for the mosquitos--and man there are a lot of them--it would be near perfect.  Charlie and I hiked to the top of Mt. Ogden when we were there and the smell of home was intoxicating.  The sun warmed sage and those scrubby sunflowers mixed with pine is a smell I could never forget.  It's the smell of camping as a girl and band camp as a pre-teen, hikes as a YW and drives as a newlywed.   Ahhh, Utah, I did miss you.

The drive back home was pretty good.  We left at about 4:00 a.m. and made it to Boise before the kids stirred too much.  The drive seems so desolate for the first 11 hours and then we peak the Cascades and in the difference of a mile the sage brush and dirt turns into moss, ferns, and green green green.  So I suppose I'm stuck between loving two places.

Carter is doing fabulously well in first grade and recently was evaluated at a reading level 10 (!!) the current target is 4.  William loves preschool and the one on one time we get when Carter is at school and Brianna is asleep.  Brianna loves the one on one time and the girls only errand running when the boys are at school.  The boys are both doing soccer this year and the difficulty lies in they had to be in different leagues so on Saturday they both have games at 10:00 in different parks.  Thanks to a good friend who offered to take Carter to his game so that I could take Will to his.

Charlie suggested we get a maid to help with the household chores since he's so busy bringing home the bacon and I've nearly consented.  I think I should really be able to do it all, I'm just easily distracted and a bit too lazy.  It would be nice to have someone clean the kids bathroom every now and then and dust and vacuum.  I worried that the kids would neglect their duties more, but really, there is no way they are going to clean so much that there is nothing for a maid to do.  I may get more lazy, but then again maybe I'll clean more so that the maid can have better use of her time. hmmmm.

Speaking of cleaning, have you ever had a diaper accidentally make it into the washing machine?  FYI, Pull ups are soooo much worse.

Posting photos is a lot of work!

I've finally decided to get my act together and post some photos. I've also buckled down to put all our pictures in a photo album. The last album I made was when we went to Europe 3 (gasp, already 3?!) years ago. We've had a pregnancy, a cross country move, a baby, several vacations . . . too much stuff for one book.

So, now that I have a husband again, I feel like I can spare the time to post some pics.

Will cheesing it for the camera.  Poor kid has a hard time posing for pictures.

This is the dress my friend Casey made for Brianna.

Will and Carter playing "guitar" to a Keith Urban song.  We love his new album.

Brianna was reaching up and through a chair to poke her fork in a  dish of cantaloupe.  I thought it was funny.

Help!

I remember why I haven't posted anything in a while. This whole computer thing is smarter than I am. Lately it won't let me post pictures. A picasa window pops up and then posts jibberish in the post instead of pictures. I've tried both the new and old editor and can't seem to figure out what's going on. Anyone have the same problem or some suggestions?

video games and a clean bedroom

Charlie recently promised the kids they could have a new Wii game (Mariokart) if they kept their room clean for a week. I was sure they wouldn't and wasn't thrilled about the promise but I didn't worry about it too much because I really didn't think it would happen. The first night Charlie helped them clean their room for half an hour and in the subsequent days only a few minutes of cleaning kept the room nice. Charlie was away on business so by the time we actually got the game it had been about a month :)!

They have been doing a great job and I extended the reward scenario to include a clean room if they want to play it. I have been genuinely surprised and pleased. Will especially does a good job. Just a minute ago Carter said to Will "I don't know if they are saying Mariokart Wii or MarioKart Wheeeeee! Like the thing you say when you go down a slide."

Fun boys.

Brianna is 2!!

I can't believe my little baby is 2 already. Its even more weird to realize how small the boys were at the same age. For example, when we moved to Indiana and later to Washington we had a boy who was only 23 months. I remember thinking they were so grown up. Only after the time has passed do I realize how small they really were. What really blows my mind is the fact that William was 23 months when Brianna was born. I can't imagine doing that again. Its amazing to realize that William was a baby when I had an infant to care for and he was an infant himself when I got pregnant with Brianna. Anyway, I'm rambling. Here are some pics from her birthday party.

Will's prayers

Lately Will has had some interesting dinner table prayers. He's not so elaborate at his bedtime prayers but his dinner prayers the last two nights have gone like this:

Heavenly Father, Please bless the food, please bless Daddy to come home and dream about me and Carter and Brianna and Mommy. Thank you, Jesus for making mountains to stop all the tornados. You're awesome Jesus. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.


And last night shortly after my parents arrived for a visit:

Heavenly Father, Please bless the food. Please bless that Gramma and Poppa will have a place to sleep. Thank you for the mountains and for campouts. Thank you for the mountains stopping the tornados. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

What the . . . That's my husband!

A british newscaster interviews Charlie about a modem.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvW3HUvooSU&feature=fvst

Character or Versatility?

When remodeling or upgrading a home should you choose character or versatility? Both of my options have equal parts labor and cost, pros and cons. All I have to decide is one of a kind, interesting, character (in the middle of a cookie-cutter neighborhood) or adaptable, ordinary, plain vanilla versatility. Does it all just come down to personality?

Which one would you choose?

Feel Great in Eight

So I recently decided to change my eating habits.  My mom used to do this diet called Feel Great in Eight which had several different key points to the lifestyle change and ran for eight weeks.  Some of the behaviors were not eating after 8:00 at night (Eat after 8, don't lose weight!) Eating 5 servings of fruit PLUS 5 servings of veggies, 8-10 glasses of water a day, exercising, plus other behaviors like personal prayer, maintaining healthy friendships, scripture reading, blah blah blah.  It's pretty intense.  They don't even let you count peas as a vegetable because of the high natural sugar content.

 So I tried to not eat after eight and be more conscientious about what I ate throughout the day. And then I read a book called The End of Overeating in America and I decided I was a genuine compulsive eater.  I highly recommend the book.  So I began a diet on April 18th to not eat any sugary or fatty treats for 6 weeks and not eat anything when I'm not hungry.  It's been an eye opening experience to realize how much of my day I focus on food and how much I think about the next time I can eat.  Really crazy when you stop to think about it.  I am starting to listen to my body's cues and am surprised how little I am genuinely hungry.

So I'm three weeks into it and I'm feeling pretty good about myself for taking control and being stronger than a craving and reprogramming my body to choose healthy habits instead of eating for stress relief, reward, loneliness, boredom, stress, stimulation, pick-me-up, celebration, comfort, anger, stress, and stress.

This one's for you, Jill

We recently got back from a vacation to Vancouver and in our amazing hotel they served this appetizer and gave the recipe!!
It was in metric, so I had to adjust the recipe as best as I could.  I also halved it so it would be small enough to put in the bread maker.  I didn't want to touch that sticky mess more than I had to.

Cheese Herb Bread
Combine in bread maker:
1 Tb Sugar
1 Tb honey
1 Tb salt
1/3 c olive oil
1 3/4 c water
1 1/2 tsp yeast
3 1/4 c flour

Yeast dissolved in warm water, other liquids, then mix together flour, sugar, salt and herbs and add to bread maker.  after raising twice, scoop gooey dough by 1/4 to 1/3 cup into oil (in pan or fryer) preheated to 400'F  When golden on both sides remove from oil and drain on paper towels.  Dust with Parmesan cheese and serve with Tomato Chutney.

The original recipe says to let it proof once, then knead on floured table, cut into 12,  roll out using cornmeal.  Allow to proof again and then fry.

Tomato Chutney

1 crushed clove garlic
1 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 in stem ginger peeled and finely chopped
2 lbs tomatoes (blanched/skin removed, eyed, seeded, and rough chopped)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 TB raisins

Saute garlic and ginger in a little oil using a hot thick base saucepan.  Add all remainder of ingredients and bring to a boil, simmer.  Cook until it has reached a thick consistency, correct seasoning, and cool.

I thought the chutney was too sweet so I haven't made or experimented with it.

Better Than Lofthouse Sugar Cookies

These thick, pale, moist cookies resemble Lofthouse (pink frosting an inch high topped with sprinkles)  but taste sooo much better.  Why?  Because they don't taste like preservatives.  I dare you.  Try it.  Lofthouse in one hand and these pale babies in the other.

Thanks Jamie for the recipe, by the way.


Sugar cookies


3 c sugar

1 1/2 c butter softened

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 c buttermilk or plain yogurt

8-10 c flour

Add flour until dough is barely more than sticky then refrigerate. 

Roll dough to 1/4 in thick and bake at 375' for 8 min.

Cookies should be doughy but firm not brown--not even on the bottom.

The baking time is what makes or breaks the cookie.  Shiny on top is not baked enough.  

Bake too long and they will not be moist.  I think I baked mine for 6.5 min but It might be 

a Seattle thing.

Frosting

1 cube butter

8 oz cream cheese

2 tsp vanilla

2 lb powdered sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Cream together and spread over cookies.

Sneak Peek

I've been busy with Brianna's room and only need to hang some curtains and find a lamp or two and it will be DONE!  I started this thing in January.  

Here is a pic of the last two walls to be painted while the tape was still on.  It was quite dizzying.

Floral Mobile

Some art I liked.  my friend Elizabeth helped with suggestions.  I also got a couple of fine art pieces that add a nice classic look to the room.

Brianna loves butterflies and calls them "flies" so we added some paper butterflies.  I still need to add some antennas and attach them to the wall with something other than scotch tape.

Teddy and a little bouquet.

Brianna eating a coconut milk ice cream cone.  I love this picture and I think she's really starting to look like I did when I was little.  Nothing more childlike than a pink dress and an icecream cone.

iBean

My dad at a trade show saw this silly gimmick called iBean.  Its a giant bean, only it sounds more trendy if you put an i in front of it.  I know I sound bitter.  I was just so excited for my bean!  My dad told me about it over the phone and I thought he was describing a bean with a word or symbol lasered on it that went deep enough it imprints on the bean itself and when it grows the little imprint shows up too.  
I was imagining this bean with a symbol printed on at least the first leaves but thought, well, if it can imprint on the first leaves why not all of them?!  This thing sounds cool!

Here's my bean with the first leaves popping up.

And here is the bean with the leaves up and open.  No imprint on the leaves.  I thought it was a little too good to be true.  Turns out the laser imprints only on the cotyledon, which is in laymen's terms the seed, only without the outer husk layer.  The leaves are popping out of the cotyledon and you can see the symbol on it in this pic. Darn.  Not that impressive.  Oh well.  Thanks anyway Dad!  I was very thoughtful of you to bring it.

So the instructions on how to plant the bean have something along the lines of "hold the bean in your hand and whisper your dreams and hopes to it.  Transfer your positive energy to the bean and your hopes and dreams will come true and grow with the bean"  Really lame and hokey.  Oh well.  I am grateful for the sign of spring.  (Gratitude is printed on my bean)

Ocean Shores Pics

View from the balcony of the hotel

Our sandcastle.  Might have been bigger if the sand wasn't so cold.  Not a very good smile from Carter.  Looks more like a scary face.Brianna went on a walk with me to look for seashells.  She thought we were cleaning up so she spent about a half an hour picking up every broken seashell she saw.

Ocean Shores Pics

Playing on the beach and flying kites.

Sunset on the water from our balcony.