A typical Tuesday

Today I got my hair done...I read the star magazines as my hair was drying because I forgot to take along a book. Those stars have really messed up lives! I was reminded again why I don't normally read those magazines...there is nothing uplifting about them.

Then I went to a store and bought a scarf to go with a sweater I bought a few days ago. I should have gone with my gut the first time around and bought the scarf as well; but hey, I was trying to save some money and use an old scarf...when I got home that old scarf just didn't jive with the new sweater.

I ate a Wendy's chicken sandwich for lunch with Brian while he read me an article about a woman who kept a McDonald's hamburger and fries on her counter to see how long it would take to decompose, the food was going on 6 months...talk about feeling gross after eating the chicken sandwich! I could just feel it sitting in my stomach. The end of the article claimed that the hamburger and fries had been engineered somehow and that they didn't truly represent the all-natural meat and buns that McDonald's claims. Regardless, I still felt sick afterwards.

After lunch I folded three loads of laundry, it must have taken me all afternoon to finish that chore while holding Sadie, feeding Sadie, nursing Sadie, bathing Sadie and holding her some more. She has been fussy to say the least. I think it's a combination of the three T's, i.e. teething, tired, and ticked off that she can't crawl or walk or keep up with Maggie and Sam. She has been in a hurry to grow up since day one when she had to come by C-section because she couldn't wait long enough to come the other way.

Somehow, I managed to make dinner. We had zucchini linguini. The dish is flavored with a little garlic and onion and chicken broth. It tasted good to me, but is wasn't a favorite with Maggie and Sam...even when I told Sam that the zucchini was the one he had picked from our garden a day ago. He did manage to try a few bites and secretly, I think he liked it but wouldn't admit it. Then he bargained with me as to how many bites he would have to eat to get dessert and he was off and running.

There was homework and dance lessons and bedtime reading and bedtime feeding followed by a sink and counter full of dirty dishes because the dishwasher was clean...and tomorrow it will start all over again, but it will be Wednesday.

Baseball

Brian grew up in northern California and has been a San Francisco Giants fan since birth. When I married Brian, I wasn't a fan of baseball. In fact, I had never watched a professional game in my life...that all changed the first year we were married when I discovered what a fan Brian was. His love for the game has been contagious in our marriage...he has shared his love of the game with me and I've gained a greater appreciation for the game, the technique the terminology etc. When we lived just south of San Francisco we witnessed a few great games in PacBell Park, and some rather cold and windy games as well, but hey, it wouldn't be San Francisco without them...and now the SF Giants are in the playoffs and we are frequenting their games from the comfort of our warm house and comfy couches. Go Giants!

Cooler Weather

Signs of cooler weather ahead.

The mornings are dark.
Leaves are changing in our yard.
Leaves are falling in the mountains.
The pumpkins are starting to appear.
The garden is starting to shrivel.
Soccer is coming to an end.
The shower water is warmer than the air and it is so hard to get out.
The house is cold and I need my slippers.
The coats are coming out at the stores.
Yesterdays thunderstorms brought snow to the peaks.
Hot Chocolate is starting to sound good again.
I feel like hibernating.

Mountain Biking

The last few Thursdays I've taken advantage of our unusually warm weather and hit the trail. A few weeks ago, Rosie and I rode down Clark's trail and then back up to Ghost Falls. Surprisingly, there was still a steady stream of water coming down. Last week, we rode up Clark's Trail and then back down. The leaves on the upper trail had already changed and were blanketing the ground, it was beautiful.

I am finding my legs again and building my confidence. This biking is addicting and I find myself smiling down most of the trail until I remember to keep my mouth closed to avoid swallowing one of those flying creatures.

Next week, we will be in Moab, the mountain biking capital of the world. I can't wait to get on a few trails down there...it has been awhile.

Another Big One

Brian, you may be getting older, but you can still blow out all your candles.
Happy Belated Birthday! We love you.

The Wax Museum

Maggie's third grade class did a "Wax Museum" called All About Me. They chose one thing about themselves and then for an hour they froze in several different poses. Maggie's favorite pose was 'goalie'. She kept a serious face the entire hour. We were impressed.

After the wax museum, we ventured on over to Sam's classroom for the Unusual Pet Show. Grrr and Sam were happy to see us.

Meet Grrrr and Furball

Meet Grrr. He has wings like a bat, antenna-like ears, a beak like a penguin, sharp claws and he lives in the basement and sleeps on our old mattress.




Grrr is Sam's unusual pet assignment. On the way home from the bus stop today, he told me his assignment was due tomorrow, (we've been working on it all week), but I told him the directions said it was due on Friday...then I checked the assignment directions again and OOPS, Sam was right! This just goes to show that Mother does not always know best, or follow directions.

Maggie thought it would be fun to make an unusual pet as well...she named him Furball. He looks like a robot, but has a white head, yellow beady eyes and blue, soft hair. Sam tipped him over accidently while running by...there was shrieking and wailing from Maggie as she pounded out her piano lesson...now Furball stands a little funny, but he will survive.




The aftermath: there are blue feathers and white fur floating around everywhere and I do not have a bird or a cat.

Fleeting Moments

Today was one of those days when I had a few moments where time stood still, if for only a few moments...I walked to the bus stop to pick up Samuel. He jumped off the bus with a smile on his face and said, "Hi Mom!"...then he took my hand in his and we walked those few minutes home together... time is racing on, but in those precious, fleeting moments, my hand in his little kindergarten hand, I had time to appreciate him now still wanting to hold my hand.

I took Maggie to the second of what will be one-of-the-many orthodontic appointments of her growing up years (is she really that old!). On the way home, I ran in to get her a Jamba Juice. While waiting I glanced back to the car and there she was, my sleepy, beautiful, toothless third grader, smiling at me from inside the car.

And then there is our little Sadie who is also like her big sister in that they are both teething. Those pesky, painful bottom teeth just popped through and she has been grinning from ear to ear, gum to gum, those darling little courtesy smiles to show off her new whites.

Where does the time go and why is it so fleeting? They want to grow up and I want to keep them little forever.

Wondering

I am still wondering where today has gone. Of course there have been those Monday loads of laundry and cleaning up from the weekend, but is it already 5 p.m.?

Happenings

Fall is a busy time of year especially in the yard and the garden. I have tomatoes and zucchinis coming out my ears...I've made zucchini bread, zucchini casserole and plan to make zucchini linguini and zucchini cake and then I will freeze the rest to use in my lasagna and minestrone soup.



Yesterday was my day to get a few things done for myself. I went mountain biking with Rosie. We rode up the canyon near the temple. The leaves are starting to change and there was that lagging Fall heat that will only be around for another few weeks. Needless to say, I realized two things while biking. One, I was reminded how much I enjoy the sport and secondly, how out of shape I am. I was ready to toss my cookies after about 1/2 mile up the mountain. Lucky for me, Rosie didn't mention to me until later that she use to compete in mountain bike races, also lucky for me, she is a great friend and was so patient with my meager efforts...but I have to say, the experience has definitely motivated me to get in better shape...someday I will be riding like I use to.

On another note, I found a few things yesterday while out in the yard that made me laugh. First, one section of our backyard is really over grown with weeds...I see this area out the kitchen window several times a day and it's more than annoying to me; however, my time outside in the evenings when it has cooled off hasn't happened too often this summer with a newborn and so those pesky, too-tall weeds grew to be three and four feet tall and camoflauged themselves between the bushes and trees that are suppose to be there...well, yesterday I had had enough and so those weeds came out. While I was digging in one of the flowerbeds I started smelling something really disgusting and much to my horror, right there by my shovel was a dead and decaying mouse...ugh...after the initial shock I buried him...he is the second of two animals I have buried this week. The other was a pigeon that must have flown into one of our windows...hopefully, there will not be any others this week.

I also discovered that those rotten squirrels that vex our yard have been taste testing my prize tomatoes. Off and on I have noticed a few bites out of my tomatoes but yesterday there was more proof that they are indeed still hiding somewhere in our yard...there were three tomatoes in my waterfall (not placed there by Maggie and Sam) and to top it off, they have also been chewing our hammock to shreds, rather Brian's hammock to shreds.

And lastly, the scrub oaks in our yard have started to realize it is Fall and are graciously dropping their acorns which in turn always means more work for us in having to pick them up before they root and become little trees with deep roots. Last year I filled an entire glass hurricane with acorns only to find out after a few days that the acorns were home to white grubs that had somehow found their way out of the hurricane and onto my kitchen counter. You can probably guess that I won't be decorating with real acorns this year.

Projects

We've been busy with a few projects around here...I finally got the courage to paint part of my kitchen...there were some growing pains involved and I ended up repainting a little bit after the painters left, but I am pretty happy with the finished product.

Before:

After:


Before: This west facing door bakes in the sun and needed a little doctoring up. Brian told me I have given a new meaning to Labor Day.:)

After:


And in a previous post, I mentioned that I went hunting for accessories, well, check out the lamp I found. It just happened to match my mirror perfectly.

I also found some accessories for above my kitchen cabinets...that is a tricky space for me, it is narrow, so I can't put anything bulky or too tall up there, but it needs to be tall enough to show over the edge and I absolutely will not do ivy.

A Miracle

It is a miracle...! I finally found a babysitter who is going to help me out once a week for a few hours with the kids. I've been going over in my mind all the things I will be able to do again: exercising, library time for me, shopping, time at the temple, time for the developing of talents etc. etc...the list is endless... I also went through a week of feeling guilty that I was leaving them for a few hours...I don't think that guilt will ever go away, I am a mother, my responsibility is my children and to be there for them and yet I am also a woman and an individual who needs time for self...that balancing act is a tricky one.

Today was a good day. I went and got a pedicure and started reading the "MockingJay" and then I went looking for some decorating accessories. When I am with the kids, I can't make decisions because I am always too distracted and because I am indecisive anyway, adding kids to the mix isn't a good combination...so I ended up coming home with a few fun things instead of just thinking about it and then leaving the store in frustration because I didn't have the wits about me to decide. I even found Halloween costumes for Maggie and Sam. Last year, I procrastinated the costumes and the stores were out of all the needed sizes by the time I got around to ordering...I learned my lesson on that one. So, what are Maggie and Sam going to be for Halloween? Well, you'll have to wait and see.

Temporarily Happy.

What do you do with a fussy, teething, baby girl?

Hold her, feed her, nurse her, hold her some more and just try to make her happy.

How do you sleep with a fussy, teething, baby girl?

You don't.

Labor Day

For Labor Day, I really wanted to get away and camp...and I guess so did everyone else because there wasn't a campground space left in the entire state of Utah so after packing and unpacking food for the trip, we repacked dinner and drove up to Silver Lake in American Fork Canyon for a nature hike and some fishing. The hike was pristine and beautiful, there was a small stream flowing down the mountain, rolling over boulders, so the kids did a little boulder hopping, a little log balancing, flower picking, and rock throwing. I remember thinking along the trail that Maggie and Sam are finally at that age where they enjoy the challenge of the hike...hallelujah!! After the hike, the fish were jumping, eating the flies off the top of the water, so Brian and the kids tried their luck at catching one or two...unfortunately, Brian's tackle box had every kind of bait but the flies that we needed...we would have had better luck with a net and some waders...but it was fun all the same, just being together and seeing the kids with that innocent hope in their eyes that maybe, just maybe, they might get lucky and catch one of those brown trout.

First Days

As the song puts it, yes, we are "Back in the Saddle Again"...with the start of school also came cooler mornings, it happened over night and with the new school clothes and shoes came the new jackets as well.

I made a first day of school cake for the kids and Sam was more then happy to donate one of his school buses for the cake topper.

Maggie started the big 3rd grade...she was ready and excited and is liking her teacher, Mr. K. There will be times tables and division and the homework, dance, soccer, piano lesson, balancing act, and there have already been a few tantrums, but we are slowly working into this new routine. I barely got a hug and kiss out of her before she jumped in the car with Brian for the ride to school.

Sam started Kindergarten on Monday...I cried a little after I dropped him off. He was already making friends and spreading his charm even before I walked away...I could barely give him a kiss on the cheek... how could I keep him home when he was so ready to go.

And then there is little Sadie who keeps me company at home...she started rolling over the week before she turned 6 months and she is determined to stand and prefers it to sitting. She greets everyone with smiles and puts out her hand to touch their cheeks, her gentle way of saying "hello"...and there she is now crying in her crib because she doesn't want to take her morning nap.