300 Posts in 15 months!

My brother Jeff pointed out on his blog that I was getting close to 300 posts, so I decided it was blogworthy to mention that fact. It also called for a new look! Anyway, it's no goal of mine to post a lot, so this isn't some accomplishment or anything, but it is significant! I didn't even realize I'd been blogging over a year! Woah, time flies.

Darling baby Talmage...

My friend Sommer just had this little piece of baby heaven...Talmage. I got to see him a minute today, and we took some pictures. We were so busy with pictures, that I didn't really ever hold him! He wound up cooperating really well, and we got some good pics. I love the one with his hand over his face for some reason. I'm sure it won't be a mom pleaser, but I love it! It always happens that the parents like different pics than I like. It is interesting. Anyway, so happy for our friends! We love him already!

LOATHING...

Love that song from Wicked...I just added it, enjoy. I just love the creativity of the song since they sing it as if it were a love song, but it is actually a "lothe" song. Love that play!

(I realize that if you aren't familiar with the play, you might not gather that there are two people singing in the song...here's a video of a london cast. I don't like Glinda as well as Kristin Chenoweth, but it is a decent portrayal. Here's one to "popular", another favorite that has been on my blog for a long time...Ruby can belt this song like a pro, I love it! Yes, Kristin has a new gig, on Pushing Up Daisies...I don't follow the show, so I don't know her character, but I know she'd on it, and sings apparently on every episode.)

Anyway, BLOGGER has the most annoying quirks, and I just have to say that the below post and many others do look correctly spaced and paragraphed before I publish them, but when I publish, it's all jacked! It drives me nuts! It doesn't happen all of the time, either. Any ideas?

"PICK ME!"

My favorite "Aliceism" at present is her darling little phrase, "pick me!". She says it ALL THE TIME! Let's say it is lunchtime, and I say, "I need to make some sandwiches for lunch now..."

"Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!"

Or..."It's time to take a bath, let's go upstairs."

"Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!"

Or...(trying to make her clothes really appealing so that she doesn't disagree with getting dressed) "Alice, look at this pretty princess skirt you get to wear today!"

(If it worked) "Oh, pick me! Pick me! Pick me!"

Her other phrase is just as common, and not as endearing, but very repetitious, and stands out because of the repetition of her tone and facial expression...so if my above effort didn't work she'd say, "I don't like pretty princess skirt." Any time she declares that she doesn't lllllike (the 'l' drags for drama) something, you know there's no talking her into it.

Something very two-sie that she does right now falls into the category of two year olds never knowing what they want, but usually wanting whatever it is that they just finished rejecting. Tonight at dinner, I sliced a peach for the girls. I gave Ruby 9/10 of the peach, and Alice 1/10 because I knew Alice would waste it. She wasn't eating it, and pushed it away (without trying it) saying, "I don't lllllike it."

Ruby piped in more than willing to eat the last sliver of the perfect peach, so I reached across the table, retrieved the peach from where Alice had pushed it away in disgust and handed it happily to Ruby. This sent Alice into immediate rage saying, "I want Mama to eat it!"

It is really odd to me that Alice, who has never known a day of her life without Ruby, has more sibling rivalry than Ruby, who enjoyed three solid years as the only child! They love each other plenty, and play well a lot, but in general, Alice doesn't tolerate any mommy-Ruby time or affection whatsoever. Because her mood swings are so detrimental to everyone, we really oblige her, and cuddle only during her naps. I know, the two year old is in charge! It's awful, but the alternatives are so heinous, we just let it be this way.

It isn't like she always gets her way AT ALL...that's the problem. There are so many battles in a day to fight her on, I just have to tip toe around a few issues so that there is some quality of life for Ruby and I! There isn't even a thirty minute television show that I can rely on to entertain her without me sitting there with her on my lap. She is ALWAYS wherever I am, and insists on being held. We love her, but I'm so ready to see her age out of this terrible two stage! There better be happy three's on the horizon.

At your service...

Ruby is really into servants. Really, it was bound to happen to a little girl so cued into the whole princess thing. Certainly not from any personal servant experience at our house! She volunteers to be the servant, "and you tell me what to do," when she is playing with her friends.

Anyway, we were out to lunch the other day, and there was someone cleaning the table next to ours. She told him, "Wow, you are really good at cleaning tables, you should be a servant!"

I was really embarrassed, because it could sound insulting, but I assume he knew she holds the life of a servant in high regard. Anyway, love my little Ruby's mind.

Memorial Day...

We had a nice Memorial Day. We live in a town affected by military service, and it has been eye opening for me because before we moved here, I never really had any personal ties to any members of the armed forces. We have sent several neighbors off to Iraq multiple times, we've had ward members go and come home and leave again, and it is a sacrifice I am very grateful not to have to make (is that bad?). So I had to make mention of that at the beginning of this post.

We enjoyed a leisurely morning, a late breakfast out, and then we bought plants for my annual planters and headed home for a few hours of gardening. It was warm, but the sun wasn't out, so it was ideal for gardening. The sun peaked out here and there, and the girls decided to get in their suits and run through the sprinkler.

I did a little layout of Ruby and all her funny poses. I don't know where she got the photo shoot idea, but she does this thing where every time I snap a picture (at least once a second), she changes poses, like a model. I kept going with it for awhile, and decided to put (only half or so) them together in a little layout (using a fabulous freebie template that I found awhile back here).

At 3, Chris went over to help our friends with some house projects they have going on, and we were going to join them, but by the time we were all ready, it turned out that my car battery was dead. Alice was pooped, and I was ready to put them down, knowing that we'd probably just distract from the hard work anyhow, so we had dinner at home and that was that. Chris was home late, so I worked on my not so progressing website.

It was a great day!

Randomness from last week...

We had a nice weekend at my parents' house. I went up on Thursday with the girls and we spent time with Oma doing some shopping and taking it easy. Then on Saturday, Chris and I were lucky enough to witness a sealing of our friends, Kerry and Jeff's baby, Elizabeth that they adopted in October. It was funny, they asked Chris to be a witness, so it was Chris and the grandpa that were witnesses. In some cases, the witnesses would be the paternal and the maternal grandfather, and since the mother's maiden name is Pearson, it turned out that the man performing the sealing thought Chris was Kerry's FATHER! Kerry is several years older than Chris! He called him Brother Pearson, and had the "parents" congratulate the family first...it was so funny!

After the sealing, I ran to a shower for Braden and Amanda. Should have taken my camera, but taking pics starts to feel like a chore, so I left it at home and enjoyed myself. I was an hour and a half late, but I still was able to see Amanda open many darling little things for their babe. It was really fun to see Braden and Amanda for dinner that night, and my grandparents came as well, and it's always a treat to see them because they are only plagued by the weather of the northwest during the summer. We were blessed with really hot (scary to complain, and we all knew it, so we tried not to) weather, and we had a nice meal off the BBQ. As the sun set, we played a few games of Bocci.

Just in case those of you who know that I tend to spread out my birthday celebrations, yes...there was singing and cake for my birthday...again. Love that!

We got to see Robb's family! Here's Ruby and Hailey right before they drove away. ME: "WAIT! I need a picture for proof, Ruby, get in the car!"

Uncle Mike (Sage's husband...technically, Chris' brother) was in town for a JOB INTERVIEW. We got to have him for one day, and most of that was spent driving around town looking at real estate trying to convince him he should want to be our neighbor. However, he was good for plenty of tickles for the girls and was a good sport for many a "Uncle Mike, watch this!" We just hope that this job interview translates into a job, because he's definitely interested in "our town" over the other communities he visited.

Maybe Chris is a preschool teacher on the side or something. Anyway, Ruby mentioned that she wanted to make a bird feeder, and so he decided to have them make it for me on my birthday for a present. I was really curious while they were hard at work, and still curious when my eyes beheld the pinecone and peanut butter (with bird seed stuck to it) creation. I haven't been out to see if the birds have taken to it, but I love it, and the girls were thrilled!

Website Nightmare

For someone who has zero HTML experience, I've managed to code a few simple things using cheater coders online. So I went and registered my domain address with godaddy and started working on my photography website...it's not going very well!

Any online resources that you know of to help with this kind of thing?

I love Webelos!

Having served in Cub Scouts for only three months or so, I have to say, I really like it! My boys are all young enough that they are totally squirriley, but grateful, and they give lots of loud verbal praise when I annouce what we are going to do. For example tonight, we did Handyman at my house.

ME: "Here's some mits, let's wash my van!"
THEM: "Awesome!"

Car is relatively clean, but time is ticking and there's no time for perfection...

ME: "Now let's put some air in my tires, and check the air pressure!"
THEM: "Are you serious!? Cool!" Then they proceed to hog their fair share, becuase they like doing it so much.

I just love their energy and enthusiasm. I had one on his Heeley's, wheeling around all over the place, another brought his skate board (I told him to, for part of Handyman) and was all over that, and the other kept sneaking off to entertain our needy Golden Retriever.

If you ever get the chance to work with the younger scouts, it's so fun, they are all over everything you say and they LOVE you for showing them how to do such apparently "cool" things.

Me, Great Grandma Slingsby and Mt. Saint Helens...

Your Birthdate: May 18

You are a cohesive force - able to bring many people together for a common cause. You tend to excel in work situations, but you also facilitate a lot of social gatherings too. Beyond being a good leader, you are good at inspiring others. You also keep your powerful emotions in check - you know when to emote and when to repress. Your strength: Emotional maturity beyond your years Your weakness: Wearing yourself down with too many responsibilities Your power color: Crimson red Your power symbol: Snowflake Your power month: September

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Happy Birthday to Me!

What a lovely birthday weekend! I started off the weekend on FRIDAY with my lifelong friends, Kelly and Sandy coming down to visit with their little ones.

Aksel and Alice

We spent an afternoon in the sun while the kids played (or in 2-month old Addison's case, slept). Then I packed an overnight back (Sandy lives in Seattle) and headed off with Kel and Sand for a night of eating and talking and eating and talking and eating and talking with the rest of the girls I grew up with (Leisha, Eden and Jenn). We had appetizers at Leisha's beautiful home (I hadn't seen it yet)

Eden, Sandy, Jenn, Leisha, Kelly and me at Leisha's

and then went out to a nice Italian restaurant, Sarafina's. We must have been there forever, because we didn't pull into Sandy's until 12:30AM. It was lots of fun conversation! In the past year, two of the group became moms for the first time and two others got married, so it was really noticeable to me how our conversations revolved around in-laws, babies, child birth and marriage more than ever before. I think now that we are all TURNING 31, we are entering a new phase of life, and it was fun to see how that affected the evening. Kelly, Me, Jenn, Eden, Sandy and Leisha after dinner.

So I slept at Sandy and Adam's (I really don't like driving up to Seattle by myself, then home again alone, so I really had to strike some deals to avoid that), and SATURDAY morning, they took me to meet my family at the LDS temple in Bellevue. Chris was going to be there for something, so I figured I could wander the grounds for awhile and take pictures of the girls. We had a nice two hours or so at the temple, relaxing on the grounds, and I got a few good shots of the girls.

We came home, and Chris started his prep for a little birthday barbecue he was holding at our house. We had a nice time. It was in the high 80s here, and so the kids had fun playing with the water slide. We adults talked and ate! Once the weather was cooler, the men set up the pickleball court in the driveway and had a good time playing and making fun of each other. Mimi made me the yummiest chocolate and peanut butter ice cream cake--sooooooo yummy!

Now Chris is putting the girls down and I'm ready for a cold bath and an early bedtime with the window open!

Tomorrow, SUNDAY, is my actual birthday, and it will be a nice day to relax with my little family, but no big plans!

Sun burns and slippy slides...

With the forecast bragging 80+ degree weather, I invited some friends over for an afternoon in the sun. We waited until like 1:00 to see the clouds finally burn off just in time for our 2:00 date. The kids had a great time, and the slide was entertainment enough to give us moms plenty of gab time. I'm sure everyone in question slept well that night!

Fun friends...

I don't have other pictures from this day, but it was a fun one! I watched my girl, Mimi's kids for awhile and it was so fun! It wasn't a very nice day, but that didn't stop Ellie and Alice from repeatedly covering themselves in wet sand, eventually, I was out of layers to strip them of, and they were cold, so I popped them in the bath. They are cute little buddies and I'd say they are starting to grow out of the stage where they fight over who posesses everything in sight. They have their moments (usually when Alice hasn't had a nap, or if there is a baby stroller in question), but they get along pretty independently these days.

I haven't mentioned it yet, but Mimi got some life changing news (update here) about the baby "in her tummy" recently and so I'm looking forward to many more such days of hanging with her kiddos while their family is in this new state of all their needs and eventually half their lives being spent in Seattle. When friends go through times like this, it is such a relief to be good for something! Stay tuned for fundraising info!

Piano Recital

Ruby's end of the year piano recital was this week. As usual, Mrs. Steck went all out. She had the kids play downstairs this time because she had gotten a beautiful, new piano, and it was a really special event. Ruby sang a little solo, "Three Little Kittens," and then she played her three songs: "Mary Had a Little Lamb," "Lightly Row", and "French Children's Song." She did a really great job, and was noticeably proud of herself, though you'd have to know her facial code in order to know that. She got a bronze medal for being the 3rd place practicer over the course of the year, and she asked me later that night, "am I really just dreaming that I got a medal, mama?"

Mrs. Steck made the girls some darling little crowns, and a lollipop tree, and she gave them each a folder with all the things they'd earned and worked on all year inside. Oma came to show her support, and of course Chris and Alice were there with us as well. It was a special day!

Interesting...

You Are Mulan!

Strong and spirited. You're no one's girly girl; actually you are very determined person with a strong sense of self. Never let go of that! The only thing that equals your sense of self is your family, but the traditions of society can always be bent to protect something or someone you love.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Great Resource...

I've been interested in Digital Scrapbooking for some time now. So far my hobby hasn't amounted to much more than designing baby announcements for friends and lots of blog headers for the same friends...oh and shower invites and birthday invites...but no real scrapbooking.

This hobby amounts to a massive amount of collected freebies on my external hard drive and a subscription to "Digital Scrapbooking" magazine (thank you, Pam).

So my sister-in-law, Heather has been posting some layouts recently and inspiring me to take some time to work on MY OWN projects for once! She had someone fabulous leave a comment on her blog tipping us off to a great resource for digital scrapping freebies...the site is GREAT... this girl shops all the freebies and compiles new great links DAILY!

I also take advantage of the kit freebies at 2peas and http://www.shabbyprincess.com/, and if I ever need a font, I buy my girl Amy's fonts EXCLUSIVELY at 2peas.

I really like working with clipping masks and templates created by other people with kits made for me by other people. I know I should be plugging the people who created the stuff I used above, but know that you'll find both the template and the kit used on the ikeagoddess blog.

Yo Quiero...

If you are shopping for me, buy it here. Floral please!

Top 10 Reasons Why I Want Sage to Move Here...

I know she wants to be closer to her sisters.

So that I can see her sisters more.

So our kids can play together and have a closer relationship.

So we can visit them anytime we want (Ruby's reason).

Maybe having two families in one area would entice more visits from long distance family.

It is possible she'll motivate me to workout more.

She loves American Idol.

Having a nurse in the family is great...but having a nurse in the family that lives down the street is even better.

WE WANT MORE OF PORTER!

Our husbands are brothers, I can't imagine a more fun date night!

6 Quirks Tag:

1. I fingerspell all the time. I can be caught randomly with my hand down by my side, fingerspelling things that are being said around me or by me. I don't know when this little habit started, but it hasn't been more than four years since my mom asked, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I don't go into full motion, I just twitch my hands slightly so that I'm satisfied that I am in fact changing for each letter and pretty much keeping up with the flow of conversation. I have tried to stop, but every time I think I have stopped, I find out that those around me still see me doing it...so what? I fingerspell!

2. I am a personal shopper. This applies to job hunting as well. If you mention to me that you are looking for a job, a house, a new pair of sandals, a deal on cereal, and I come across the right thing--I HAVE to call and tell you about it. I think I am more about wanting to be the matchmaker putting two things that fit together, because maybe they would otherwise not find each other. I'm not really sure why I am this way, but it is a huge part of my personality. I have been known to house hunt for people who hardly know me!

3. Speaking of people who hardly know me, I talk to them all the time. This is a fact that mortifies Chris. He is soooooo embarrassed when I strike up a conversation with someone about how we have the same coat, or how the cereal they are buying is on sale somewhere else. Sometimes I can overhear two people talking about something in my general vicinity and I will insert myself in their conversation. For example, if two people were discussing which movie to see that night, and I had just seen a really good movie or knew of a real bomb, I would absolutely fill them in on my opinion to steer them in the right direction. I really appreciate it when people do the same for me too! Chris literally wants the ground to swallow him up when I do this, but it doesn't reflect on him, right?

4. I love filling out forms the old fashioned way. Give me an application or survey of some kind and a pen and I'm in heaven. Opportunities for this are limited these days, and it is not the same fun if it is done on the computer.

5. I have a degree in English, but in the 7 years since graduating from college, I'm only read one novel. Something tweaked in me during those long semesters of three classes that each required one novel a week. I lost my love for a good read! I also can't stay awake long enough to get more important reading the time and attention it deserves, so there's no chance for a novel to sneak in there. It took me roughly 5 years to read that one novel, The Poisonwood Bible, so it didn't have that much impact. I read all the time for information, but my reads are more psychology based either on marriage or parenting, and lately I've been reading homeschooling books. I think I will start the Twilight series because it really bugged when the whole world was amped on Harry Potter, and I was out of the loop. I'm going to borrow the books, so I'll have to get them read fast.

6. I don't eat the last bite. In a sandwich, there will always be a part where there's no sauce, cheese or other tasties, so I just abandon that bite. Same is true for most everything, and it just never fails that there is one bite left on my plate for no apparent reason. I just don't like eating that last morsel.

I tag Heather, Amanda Hamm, Rachel Hudgins, Jayne (unless you've already done it), Jenni (have you done it already?) and ChickenSedan.

Mother's Day Weekend

There's this place in town that is all set up for daling little girl parties with different themes, dress up and all the fancy details a little girl could wish for. They were having a fashion show at the mall along with a mother/daughter tea, and we heard about it beforehand, so we were able to get the girls all set up to participate.

Ruby, Alice and I went to the "tea" beforehand, and then Chris caught up with us to see the show. It was darling. Right up there with having your child participate in a wedding...just so fun to see them in front of everyone, and for complete strangers to be oooohing and ahhhing over their darling-ness. Of course, it was super fun for the girls, who looked forward to it for over a week and were so thrilled to be princesses for a few minutes.

This funny face is classic Ru. She's happy, and wants to smile, but she stops herself! I always tell her, "SMILE!", but it never fails that she opens her mouth really wide to stop the smile from sneaking onto her face.
All the girls came up with their own posing idea, and Ruby chose to do a little ballerina twirl and then a curtsie. It was really cute. She did a great job!

Alice was totally herself, and came up with an interesting combo of poses. She walked out kind of fluffing her tutu, and then she planted her feet front and center and pulled off a really princess like hand roll...similar to what you would do when singing "Pat-a-Cake". She just stood there doing her original rolling of the hands and then she flashed the crowd and "I love you"! It was so darling. I wish our video camera had worked because it would be fun to watch over and over again (at least for Chris and I).

Then everyone came out at the end for a bow, and these two girls had obviously taken charge of little Alice back stage, because they were very nurturing to her, on stage.

After the show, we went up to my cousin's house to celebrate her adoption of her son (he's lived with her like 11 years now), and then to my folks' house for a movie. On Sunday morning we had a nice brunch with my folks and my brother Jordan before heading home for afternoon church. Ruby sang a few sweet songs with the other primary children during the congregational meeting, and then all the moms were given some nice annuals to bring home.

Mother's Day has been a hard day some years. I think it is because I get my hopes up really high and then I spend all day believing that I can't lift a motherly finger for a second, and so it can almost ring kind of contentious when I constantly defer every petty responsibility to Chris. So...this year, I had no expectations and planned on treating it like any other day. That way, my husband's extensive and sincere efforts could be appreciated and not fall short.

This was a nice year, I had a decent amount of R & R on both Saturday and Sunday, but I didn't go for the full-on diva act. Chris made me a thoughtful meal after church, and then we made a little fire in the backyard and roasted marshmallows.

It was a really nice day! Happy Mother's Day to you all!

Adulthood on the horizon...

Before my rant, isn't "K" a beautiful senior? She's heading off to college at BYU-Idaho in the fall. Watch OUT World!

There is something so conflicting about graduating high school! I think a part of me will always be trying to grapple with the fact that when I graduated, I was on a slippery slope to permanent adulthood and great responsibility. Sometimes when I'm around these bright, carefree, almost-adults, it hits me that in a few short years they might be paying a mortgage, putting in 50 hours at the office, toting toddlers around on airplanes and taking on other countless adult responsibilities. It is funny that I have this inner conflict because it isn't like I didn't live it up in college! I didn't get married young, I didn't have children before I was pining away for them, and I travelled, earned a degree, latin danced and crushed on guys with accents before I settled down with my man.

I think I secretly yearn for that fountain of youth...not just for myself, but for everyone. Even though I look forward to my children growing more independent, I actually feel a little remorse when they learn to do something new for themselves. Not remorse that they are growing independent of me (I actually LOVE that), but that they are gradually becoming responsible for themselves, and they don't even know it! Literally, when they potty train or move out of their crib or learn to ride a bike or brush their own hair, I think..."slow down, the mortgage is around the corner!"

Last year around Christmas, we were in the process of moving, and we had a glitch at the last minute with our loan (when the accountant sends you your tax portfolio, he includes a postage-paid envelope filled with original documents that you actually have to sign and mail to the IRS on your own) and two days before Christmas, I had to put all the packing and wrapping on hold to take care of the urgent issue. It was a crazy day, and when I got home and looked at my sweet babysitter, who was months from graduation, and had been babysitting for me since she was 14, I lost it. I actually cried! I told her, "I don't feel a day older than you on the inside, but I woke up this morning with two kids and an issue with the IRS, and Christmas presents for two whole families on the kitchen table--they should have been mailed three weeks ago!"

I begged her to stay little and sent the poor, baffled teenager on her way.

Life happens little by little, and it is all such a blessing and part of progression, but sometimes, there's a teenager in me that wonders how she got involved with all this adult stuff.

Anyone else ever have these moments?

He's ONE!

My friend Julie has the most darling, happy little one year old! He had a lot of fun taking pictures, especially when his brothers were there to help.

Photography fun...

Mimi and I have been taking this intermediate photography class together. We had a field trip this week to sort of follow our teacher around and see what she sees and hear what she's thinking as she sets up a shot. It wasn't overly applicable to me because I'm usually shooting people, but it still taught me a lot. We experimented with different shutter speeds, and zooming in while the shutter is open...that was fun...Mimi was feeling a wee bit weary due to her fabulous belly, and so she thought a head and brought a snack and a chair! She'd already taught dance that afternoon, and was off to dance more to prepare for the recital as soon as class was over...so it was a little odd that we wound up putting her to work... Our teacher had Mimi stand down this trail and pose for us while we experimented with slower shutter speeds and movement and other sort of pointless stuff...

THEN someone was asking how to achieve a silhouette effect, and what better subject to take a silhouette of than a pregnant woman! So good old teacher summoned Mimi a second time to pose for some pics. It wound up not being the right light for silhouettes, but we still couldn't get enough of her! She's so pretty and photogenic and the background was just right and the light was so warm, this is only 1/2 of the people who were busy snapping away...literally, there were like 15 people shooting the girl at one time.

The only bummer is that Mimi wasn't really prepared for a photo shoot, as she was wearing her dance teacher uniform! This baby will always know that her mama is a dancing queen!