Still darling at six years old...

I used to think that kids that were six weren't cute anymore. Now I think that they are darling, especially mine! They still say really cute things and they are really good company and are beginning to be interested in things that even adults can be interested in. They still cuddle and cry when they are hurt and say and think really funny things. Here are some fun things about Ruby at six years, 4 months...

The other day, she was tired of cleaning the toy room, and I am all for cleaning breaks, so I suggested we cuddle while Alice went to the bathroom. We were on a big bean bag, and she was feeling kind of big...

Me: "Ruby, when do you think you'll be too big to cuddle?"

Ru: "I'll never be too big to cuddle. You remember Buddy the Elf?"

Me: "Yes."

Ru: "Well he was way bigger than that guy who adopted him and he still sat on his lap to cuddle, so I'll never be too big, right?"

Me: "No matter how big you are, I'll always want to cuddle with you."

So now it is documented forever, Ruby...you will always cuddle with your mom.

Okay, then there is our crazy cat. She really is insane, we've had her over a year and she still runs around the house like she's just seen a mouse. The only person in the house that she likes on a routine (she initiates it) basis, is Ruby. Every morning, Ruby wakes up and opens her door and the cat runs in her room and they have time together for sometimes as long as 30 minutes. Anyway, so Ruby has developed her special kitty-talk and today I asked her what it means...

She says this all the time (in a funny voice): "Kitty, don't be so nominating!"

Me: What does "nominating" mean?

Ru: Goner.

Me: What does "goner" mean?

Ru: Prisoner!

Okay, I still don't get it, but she continues to lecture the cat, "Don't be so nominating."

She also calls her "Queen Azribelle" and I don't know what that means either, but I guess it's just a kitty-Ruby thing.

I interviewed her recently and posted it on facebook, but I need it documented here, because facebook is not set up for journaling like blogger is...

This was fun, even if she reduces who I am to our activities of the past week.

1. What is something mom always says to you? Wanna watch American Idol?

2. What makes mom happy? When I listen.

3. What makes mom sad? When I don't listen.

4. When does your mom laugh? When I do silly knock-knock jokes. Mom, can I tell you a knock-knock joke? She makes them up, and they are really funny.

5. What was your mom like as a child? There were no movies invented.

6. How old is your mom? 21

7. How tall is your mom? 31 feet

8. What is her favorite thing to do? go to Disneyland.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? She naps, she watches American Idol, she practices Dr. Mario because Dad always beats her.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? the computer (ouch)

11. What is your mom really good at? Dr. Mario.

12. What is your mom not very good at? doing basketball

13. What does your mom do for her job? work at the YMCA

14. What is your mom's favorite food? Vegetarian salad

15. What makes you proud of your mom? When she wins Dr. Mario

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Ruby from Max and Ruby (she said, Hannah Montana first, but I pointed out that she's not a cartoon.

17. What do you and your mom do together? we pick up until Daddy gets home and we like watching American Idol when Alice isn't around.

18. How are you and your mom the same? We have the same black hair and I have a little bit of tan skin, we both have a pale stomach.

19. How are you and your mom different? my hair is sorta lighter than hers.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? Is when she takes me to the ice skating and to Disneyland.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad? B/C they have marriage.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? out to watch the movies sometimes with daddy.

A Night of Jewel...

I've declared for at least ten years that Jewel is my favorite artist. I've wanted to see her in concert as long, and my chance finally came last weekend. Many fans know only her first album, and that's enough to love her, but I have adored every albums, even her 0304. I just love how her songs tell a story and aren't so blatant, but more poetic. I love how her music has narrated my life, and that I can think of my freshman year roommates and breaking up with Chris and singing it at the top of my lungs with my girls back home as we drove around town.

My friend Sommer has a friend who has a sister (you still with me?) who works at the casino where Jewel was playing, and she was able to snag five free seats...and I was lucky enough to be one of those to sit in one of them. I would have paid in a heart beat, but better yet to get them for free! I didn't know until the last minute that she was coming and I was so glad that there wasn't anything planned that I couldn't get out of.

The show was AMAZING. Honestly, I feel like I was almost tense the entire three hours (just shy...that's right, almost three hours) she played, I was so into it. She told really great stories, many that had to do with the inspiration for her lyrics and it was the first time in ten years that she'd played on stage just her and a guitar. What a treat. She doesn't plan a set or anything, so it was very off the cuff and natural feeling.

She played a few amazing songs that she hadn't ever performed before...that I'm hoping will be on a new album at some point. She messed up the lyrics on "You Were Meant For Me" and had to start over again. Every song was a new version and kept it interesting.

The venue was really small, like a hotel banquet room size, 21 rows is all. It was so intimate that she opened up for Q & A at one point, as well as requests from the audience. I wish she hadn't gotten injured on Dancing With the Stars, because I want more Jewel!

When Chris and I saw Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young on stage a few years ago I was in awe as the only sounds coming from the stage were from them and their instruments. The talent was so raw, and amazing, and Jewel was that. She is just a true musician and it is no wonder that she was discovered just by playing her music in a coffee shop in So Cal. It was a night to remember for sure and I will never pass up another chance to see her.

Here's an excerpt from my favorite Jewel Song, "Life Uncommon" from her album titled, "Spirit".

"Lend your voices only to sounds of freedom

No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from

Fill your lives with love and bravery

and you shall lead

a life uncommon..."

Though this isn't my favorite song of hers, it is lyrically one of the most poignant. I loved the story she told behind the lyrics. She said that when she was living out of her car, she started shop lifting a little. She said it started with carrots. She really wanted some carrots, decided she deserved them and so they were hers. She said, a few days later, she saw this darling sun dress that was $35. She didn't have the money, but she was holding it in her hands contemplating taking it when she suddenly became disgusted with herself. She thought, when did I become so useless and meaningless that I would put my own value below a $35 dress!? She thought, this is my life, and my hands and my future and my integrity and nothing that anyone does to me and nothing that happens to me can ever be worth forgetting my own value and worth. Anyway, so she wrote the following song (which was a big hit and I know you all know it, but the words are still worth reading),

"Hands"

If I could tell the world just one thing

It would be that we're all OK

and not to worry 'cause worry is wasteful

and useless in times like these

I won't be made useless

I won't be idle with despair

I will gather myself around my faith

For light does the darkness most fear

My hands are small, I know

But they're not yours, they are my own

But they're not yours, they are my own

and I am never broken

Poverty stole your golden shoes

But it didn't steal your laughter

and heart ache came to visit me

But I knew it wasn't ever after

We'll fight, not out of spite

For someone must stand up for what's right

'Cause where there's a man who has no voice

There ours shall go singing

My hands are small I know

But they're not yours, they are my own

But they're not yours, they are my own

and I am never broken

In the end only kindness matters

In the end only kindness matters

I will get down on my knees, and I will pray

I will get down on my knees, and I will pray

I will get down on my knees, and I will pray

My hands are small I know

But they're not yours, they are my own

But they're not yours, they are my own

and I am never broken

We are never broken

We are God's eyes

God's hands

God's mind

We are God's eyes

God's hands

God's heart

We are God's eyes

God's hands

God's eyes

We are God's hands

We are God's hands

THANKS Rachel and Sommer for the great night!

Family-ese

(Thanks Jenni for inspiring this post, sorry her blog is private.)

We have a sort of motherese at our house, but we all talk it...and I guess it's a little different than motherese by now as we are kind of in to coining our own vocabulary as well. Given that motherese or baby talk is helpful to the mental development of babies, I've never felt annoyed by baby talk. Some studies show that the use of baby talk is important to bonding, and I know that if my little ones are hurt or sick, a little baby talk on my part will calm them down even. My friend Sommer has brought to my attention that we also sing while we talk as a family. I only really notice when Chris does it, but I know I do it too, and I know that our kids both really, really use this when talking to their dolls or younger children. It's really singing...

My lifelong friend, Lyndsey still says (or at least she did when we were in college), "amblience" for "ambulance" she knows it's not right, but it rolls off the tongue, so who cares! Anyway, so here are a few things you might hear around our house (this is a little embarrassing for some reason)...

Our Family Language

"renember"= remember
"somefing" = something
"baff = bath
"sing" = thing
"tutti fruitti" = toot
"ba-guy-na" = nuff said
"wenis" = only one at our house
"Babes"= Alice
"Roo", "Ruby-doobs" or "Ruby-roo" = Ruby
"kidda" = kitty
"blankie star" = star blankie
"huggy hug" = hug
"bornder" = past tense of born
"missionMaries" = missionaries
"boochie" = a swift shove
"ting tong" = appropriate in any moment of the day for no reason, just to say it. You sing this like you would "ding dong". Usually you get people to laugh with a simple, "ting tong". Alice says it constantly.
"sissy" = sister
"whinese" = whining
"piz-agna" = lasagna
"tom-much" = sandwich
"cozy me" = tucking someone in, usually two people cozying up for cuddles on the couch
"smoovie" = smoothie

There's some of it anyway. I think we'd be moving beyond it if we weren't still treating our three year old like our baby!

Anyway, maybe not that interesting to read, but good to document for myself.

Big Love...

Enough said here.

Speaking of fences...

One thing we didn't bargain for was that we live in the path of a lot of middle school traffic...pedestrian traffic, and recently they have taken to kicking the boards of our fence so that they are BROKEN in half. This is wonderful since then our dog gets out, not to mention that our fence is in need of major repair...there are probably 25 boards currently broken, and more happen everyday. SO FRUSTRATING. I want to set up a video surveillance and nab the kids. I am sure the principal could identify them if we got it on video and hopefully the parents would want their child to make it right. Grrrrrr.

Dream Home...

This is going to be a good post for me. I'm not going to post pictures because I'm too lazy, but my cousin Megan is house shopping and she posted about her pickiness and I had been thinking about how we've been in our house for two years now and how the place that I once envisioned changing cosmetically looks virtually the same. Still, though I bought a place with dated wood stains, wallpaper and a bathroom with mirrors that surround you, I did check off every last "want" on my list. Here's a history of our home ownership...

Our first home, Chris moved into a year before we got engaged. By real estate terms it was a "detached condo" meaning that it had it's own four walls, but we didn't have a garage or a driveway, we didn't have to maintain the grounds or the exterior of our house/condo. It was 1200 square feet with three bedrooms and we sold it for $138k. It was (sigh) a rambler and I had no idea how wonderful it was to have the whole house on one floor until we moved. I had no big complaints with the house, so I went into the next house looking mostly for just an actual laundry room and two sinks in the mater bathroom.

We relocated an hour and a half south and bought a 2500 square foot, 4-bedroom home and was BRAND NEW. I was able to check off the wants on my list, and Chris got his garage. We had to fence the yard, put a sprinkler system in, order screens and blinds/window coverings and it was a lot of work. Still, it was the first home that I'd shopped for and I loved it, we could have lived there forever, it had a den and a nice big kitchen and all the indoor space we could need...except for a bonus room, eek, I know, not a necessity, but it was on our want list. Why the move? LOCATION. For us, the location was a deal breaker. We are from up north and I commuted for all my doctor/prenatal appts, etc an hour north. Sometimes it would add 30 minutes to that hour just getting from our front door to the nearest freeway. I have traffic phobia, and so we wanted to live closer to Chris' work, closer to the freeways, shopping, farmer's market, etc. We also wanted more privacy from neighbors and a bigger yard.

So here's the list that I gave my realtor...

three car garage
sprinkler system
fenced yard
no bedrooms bordering other bedrooms I (sometimes babies need to cry it out)
no child bedrooms above the garage (the garage opening is loud)
specific proximity to a major highway
bonus room
four bedrooms
den
no gates (people are really big on "gated communities" here and it drove us crazy in our last neighborhood)

My realtor did not think we could find a house that met all the qualifications, but we did! It was the first house we saw, and though every single room in the house needed some minor cosmetic work (new window treatments, wallpaper coming down) and the kitchen needed an overhaul, I was thrilled to find what we really wanted in one house knowing that if we lived there long enough maybe we'd update it too. We love the location and we have room for more kids (PLEASE) and we even scored a driveway that doubles as a pickle ball court, a stunning view of Mt. Rainier (when it shows itself) and a mature pear and apple tree and a blueberry bush.

It is such a blessing to have a home. Being faced with the rising unemployment and knowing people who have hard choices to make and taking into consideration all the unknowns that the current economic state could mean for our family, I'm glad to know that if my life were to be reduced to a one bedroom apartment or a room at my parents' house, I'd still have what really matters to me. I love my husband and our two kids and I hope we can make a life in this home and someday refinish the floors and spruce up the faded tile on the roof, but if not, I just pray for healthy kids and a long life together.

(P.S. Everything is great for us, I'm not currently worried about Chris' job or anything, we are so blessed, but I have reflected a lot as a result of the hardship faced by friends and I'm grateful to know what matters.)

Challenge...

So I read some essays on msn.com around Valentine's Day that I really liked. At the time they were called, "How lucky I am that I have so Much to Lose". I really liked the writing and the reminicent thoughts expressed simply by the authors. I related to most of the essays and I thought for the first time in a long time, "I could write that!" So I am going to do it. I am going to write an essay with that theme (the funny thing is that msn.com has reposted the essays now with a new title, "Is This What Romance Looks Like?" (to which I say, "YES!") and is a fine jumping off point for an essay as well. Anyway, it seems like I have heard many of my friends express an interest in writing, many of you do so regularly on your blogs anyway, so I want to invite you all to write something to the effect of one or both of those subjects, read the essays for food for thought and post them on your blog or email them to me and I'll post them here on April 2nd (can't do April 1st, sorry...this isn't a joke). If you post one on your blog (if your blog is private, let me post it here) then let me know and I'll enjoy reading it.

Alice...

I love my almost three and a half year old. Love, love, love her. I'm aware that there are plenty of documented struggles between us, but I guess that makes the loving moments even more precious. She's been my baby so long, and there's no one to take her place, so it is hard to see her grow up and change and get big. Then there's that guilty mom in me that knows that I documented every move Ruby made at Alice's age, and that I don't have as much documented about Alice. Here's to her!

Alice loves to say "I love you." She says it randomly probably 25 times a day. Literally, she will be eating lunch, and I could be in a different room, and she'll holler, "I love you, mama!" She also gives lots of unsolicited kisses, she just grabs my arm or my hand or my hip depending on if I'm sitting or standing, and she squeezes tight and gives me a kiss while saying, "mwah". She does it kind of like a parent would, when you are overcome with the need to squeeze and love on your kid, she does it like that. It's so sweet.

Alice says "bornder" for "born". I don't know why, and I hope she never stops doing it. She'll say, "Mama, before I was bornder was I in your tummy?"

Alice likes to do everything herself. She will undo anything that you manage to get done before she realizes that she needs to do it by herself. I always run late. Always, and this doesn't work for Alice. She doesn't hurry and if I force her to allow me to do something for her, she will cry like I have broken her heart, I can't do it. So either we are twenty minutes late (instead of ten) or I plan a head and get us all going early enough to accommodate her independence.

Alice would leave a TV show, her favorite playmate, you name it to be with me if I am making something in the kitchen. She wants to help me, and she's not helpful, but I like that she's curious about what I'm doing. She either sits on the counter or pushes a chair over to stand on. She is really impulsive and never asks before dunking her fingers into everything.

Alice can hear a rule fifty times a day and not internalize it. She's not usually looking over her shoulder to see if she's getting caught, it's like she just doesn't sweat the rules at all. Everyday I find remnants of food all over the house, her shoes never get taken off and put away (mine either), her toilets don't get flushed and lights don't get turned off. I love this about her.

Alice is very protective of Chris. If he and I are playing video games, she will be off playing somewhere but she'll even be upstairs, but she'll be able to tell the minute the match is over and she'll holler down, "Who won!?" and if I say, "Mommy did." She'll say, "No, daddy did!" In Alice's mind, Daddy always wins. It's very sweet. The only reason she ever picks me is if she knows it will bother Ruby...sibling rivalry will trump even her daddy loyalty.

I love my baby.

Playtime...

I don't have a lot to say for the past few weeks. We've been taking turns with different illness and staying home a lot. It hasn't been all that exciting. I haven't been breaking out the camera very often either.

Here's poor Minnie Mouse. She's the super expensive toy that they wanted in Disneyland, but we found it for $1 at a garage sale just after we returned. She is in jail in this picture. The girls are really mean to her, it kind of alarms me at times, they'll tell her that she isn't their sister anymore and that she has to go to jail. There's always some crime she commits, sometimes they fight over what she did...she drove too fast, she lies, she colored on the walls (thankfully her "crimes" are pretend). I think I might get rid of anything magna-doodleish. It is just horrible that you can't save what they draw, and this was so cute. "I Love Yoo". As her school teacher I just have to say that after like six months of drilling the lowercase, she still favors the upper case. ARGH.

Bye-bye Elders...

So the missionaries moved out. It was a welcome change, but I still cried for two days. Anyway, that was four weeks ago (I am so behind on blogging), but this weekend we took Elder Gouett, who lived in our home for close to six months out to lunch as he is finishing his mission and returning home to L.A. tomorrow. We'll miss him, his appetite, his embroidery work, his Settler's of Catan tactics and his hard work.