Today We Love... - todaywelove

Or as it is usually called around here 'black stuff'. Nutella was the sort of delicacy that was almost only enjoyed at my Nana and Poppa's house when I was growing up. It was a pretty incredible treat but rarely found in our house. When we moved to Missouri I was surprised by how easy it was to find (there it was right next to the peanut butter!) and how affordable it was. Because it was right there and not that much extra on our grocery receipt it became a bit of a staple for our household. We almost always have a jar in our cupboard and it wasn't long before Emmuska discovered she preferred her peanut butter sandwiches with 'black stuff'. Who can blame her it is pretty good. Still on the whole it was something enjoyed by me more than anybody else in the house. That was until Samuel discovered it.

Thinking back I'm not really sure how it started - I'd probably made a sandwich for myself that he had requisitioned for himself. After that first sandwich he was sold. Just about every morning he would request a 'butter' sandwich. Samuel tends to shorten his words and statements to the shortest possible version - thus peanut butter sandwich becomes 'butter' - however don't be fooled, it's not about the peanut butter at all. That's a nice side and all but has little to do with what he's really looking for. :)

So without further ado here are some favorite ways we use Nutella around here.

Basic Preparation:
On a slice of bread spread peanut butter (I prefer chunky here because the Nutella is smooth so it adds a little texture) add a layer of nutella to the peanut butter. Wipe your knife off on a clean slice of bread and use that slice to top your sandwich (nobody likes a messy knife hanging out in the kitchen and this ensure that you don't end up with Nutella in your peanut butter jar if you are making more than one sandwich (not that Nutella in your peanut butter would be a bad thing...).

Stepping It Up Preparation:
Lightly toast two slices of bread - you are going for warm and just slightly crunchy. Use Basic Preparation to finish your sandwich.

Stepping It Up Even More Preparation: (My favorite peanut butter version)
Lightly toast two slices of bread. Spread peanut butter then Nuttella on one slice. Top with banana slices and second slice of toasted bread. Enjoy with a cold glass of milk.

Nutella Grilled Cheese:
I had never considered this possibility until I came across it in my Food Network magazine (Love my Food Network magazine - once a month joy in my mailbox. :D) Cut two slices of a sweet bread. The recipe calls for Brioche but I have no idea where to find that so I used Italian sweet bread. I can imagine Kings Hawaiian sweet bread would be amazing. I think I will pick some up and try that out this week...
Anyhow take two slices of sweet bread. Spread ricotta on one slice and Nutella on the other. Sandwich together and put in buttered pan on medium-low heat until both sides are golden (flipping to do so) let cool for about a minute. Dig in. Once again enjoy with a glass of milk. Go ahead and smile. It's incredibly enjoyable. :)

And last but not least we have Samuel's Special Preparation:
With a spoon in hand open a jar of Nutella and go at it. 

This morning I had to pull a tick off of Emmuska. It's the second in less than a week. Add the one I pulled off of Liberty a couple weeks ago it's the third in the last two weeks. It's clearly going to be one of those years.

Shortly after taking care of this morning's tick I thought about the first tick I encountered a little over a month after moving here. It had terrified me to the point of calling the ER for pointers on how to remove a tick. This unfortunately qualifies as medical advise so they couldn't help me over the phone and instead advised me to come in. Despite the fact that going into the ER for a tick is probably one of the most ridiculous uses of our emergency medical system I am still glad I did it. 

The original reason I had called the ER was because upon discovering a tick on Liberty's head I had called a couple of people as well as going online to find out how to remove it. Unfortunately all the advice I got was contradictory - sometimes alarmingly so. For example one source would tell me to light a match, blow it out then put the hot end on the tick - this would cause it to back out. Meanwhile another source would say never to burn it because that would stress the tick and cause it to release any toxins it was carrying increasing the odds of transferring one of the nasty diseases ticks carry. I figured the best thing I could do was get some local advise that would be more pertinent about the ticks in the area and know professionally what would be best however all the clinics were closed so the only option was the ER.  

Which brings me back to the ER and the absolutely incredible nurse there. When we showed her the tick and explained that we just didn't have any clue what the right way to take care of it was not only did she not laugh at us be she was really helpful. She matter of factly informed us that her children pick up at least a couple each year and so she has found that the best way to take care of them is to get your fingers as close to the skin as possible and using firm steady pressure pull backwards. She then demonstrated the technique and next thing I knew there was the tick. I was fascinated, amazed and horrified.

"Umm...do I have to use my fingers?"

"Well you can use tweezers but I've found that it's a lot easier to break the head off (and then it's stuck under the skin) because they aren't as sensitive as your fingers. You can pull too hard and break the head" 

Since I couldn't bear the thought of touching the tick with my fingers I used tweezers the next two times I had to pull a tick off and each time I snapped the head off the body. After that I toughed up and started using my fingers. So far (knock on wood) I've never lost the head on a tick I've pulled out with my fingers. 

Back to this morning. After pulling said tick off of Emmuska (which still freaks me out - I really had to refrain from throwing it on the floor and stomping on it) I was a little surprised at how matter of fact the process had become. Sure my heart rate still jumps slightly at the moment (the idea of losing a head inside one of the kids horrifies me) and the popping sound/feeling when the tick leaves the skin still makes me a little sick to my stomach - it always sounds like I've snapped the head off...I have to double to check to make sure the nasty critter is still intact, but all in all it's pretty routine. I get the stuff I need (tissue, plantain powder mixed with water to pack over the bite, bandaid, ziplock bag to store tick in case the wound develops markers of Lyme disease) take a deep breath and pull the parasite off, deposit it in the ziplock bag then check for it's head. Cover bite with plantain and bandaid and clean up. Total time is under two minutes. Heart rate drops back to normal as I check everybody else for ticks. We move on with our day.

Three years ago as I was watching the nurse remove the tick on Liberty and listening to her talk about them in such a casual tone I sat in horrified awe - horrified that these little bugs are so abundant around here, awed that she could be so calm about them. Today I'm a lot less horrified (slightly horrified, really annoyed) and slightly in awe that I've turned into the person who can deal with them with apparent calm.

I had actually planned a different direction for this post but recently came across a lovely woman who makes these beautiful pictures.

There is only one home I've been in lately with less on their walls than mine (and I know that you too would love to have more decor...) and I've decided it's time to change that unfortunate circumstance so I've started ordering pictures. With that in mind when I saw this lovely print I couldn't resist. I loved the idea and the words. I've read a number of love stories and have recently found that my favorites are the ones that happen between real people. Maybe it's because their stories don't end with the wedding but rather last much longer than that. Thus the sentiment on these prints struck a chord with me. I decided that it would be the perfect place for me to start in my quest to make my house look more happily lived in (because there are days it definitely looks lived in... ;D).

 

Once I ordered the file and saw it on my computer I knew that I wanted some pictures of Mycal and I to go with it. We had pictures taken in February but I wasn't crazy about how the two of us turned out so I started flipping through the old computer files from 2004. There were some fun pictures of us:

 

but I kept coming back to the handful of pictures taken by my dad and SuZan right after we had gotten married. There is only one thing I would change about the day I got married - I wish I had a picture of us with everybody that was there. I occasionally wish that I had more pictures of the day but then other times I don't know if I really want that. Maybe just pictures with a little better resolution. Most of the pictures were taken on my dad's 1.5 mega pixel camera - you probably remember it from this post. I occasionally wish that the pictures were a little clearer, that they had better resolution but all that being said I love these pictures too much to give them up for anything.

I think I could go through every picture album on my computer and find only a couple of pictures that are this good of Mycal and I - every other time we've had pictures done there is the pressure of a photographer, time constraints, kids, etc. If we are just enjoying time together there is rarely a camera and if there is then it's because one of us is wielding it and therefore not getting these kind of shots.

We are just so happy, in love and completely lost in each other in these pictures. The thing is as much as we were in love that day it was nothing compared to now. Each year has brought not only more love but seen that love deepen and grow in ways I never would have imagined on that cold February day. It has been strengthened by hard times and seasoned by lots of good times. There is so much more happiness and joy in my heart because of the decision I made to spend it with this incredible man. He is handsome, charming, loving, fun to be with, intelligent, motivated and responsible. He is a great provider, father, husband and friend. He is a worthy priesthood holder, disciple of Christ and defender of truth. I am daily thankful that I have not only this life but eternity to spend with him.

He truly is the man of my dreams and I am thankful that ours is the type of love story that never ends.

I just wanted to note that patience (not being on the ball...) has paid off. Much like leaving your Christmas lights up all year my blog header is once more relavant. Hooray! I have plans for updating/blogging more over the next year but they are on a slight hold at the moment. I'm not sure how much will get done over the next couple of weeks. I have a number of things I want to write about along with the alphabet to keep up with...until I get those posts up though enjoy the fun Spring face of my blog. :D

Several months ago we were leaving the library when the girls spied a picture of the Statue of Liberty. They rushed over to look at it. Once there Emmuska informed me that it was 'the Statue of Liberty - it's in New York City'. I marveled at her geography when Liberty piped up.

"Yeah it's the Statue of Me."

"You mean the Statue of Liberty?"

"Yeah...the Statue of Me." (My children are incredibly patient with me - despite how long it generally takes me to catch on...)

"So is that you?"

"No Mom! It's the Statue of Me - she is the same as me, not me." (Insert a good measure of exasperation at my not knowing this fairly obvious fact.)

"Because she has the same name as you?"

"Yes"

"But it's not a statue of you..."

"That's right. She's like me but not me."

"Oh. Okay"

While she holds no illusions as to whether statues have been erected in her honor she is very good at hearing her name.  A few months after the Statue of Liberty event she was at a scout meeting with Mycal when they got up to give the Pledge of Allegiance. She couldn't have been more thrilled when they came to the line 'with liberty and justice for all'.

"Dad, why did they all say my name?!"

I don't know when her perspective about her name will shift but I hope it's not too soon and I'm able to enjoy a few more conversation about liberty and Liberty.

I have decided that due to the rather inauspicious start to the New Year that January presented me with the New Year will actually begin February 1. I mean what better way to start a new year than on a leap month? Who's with me?

For that reason I'm taking the last few days of the old year (January) a little bit easy while dipping my toes into my new year goals without the fear of failing if I don't follow through. I may or may not blog again in the next five days. I may or may not keep up on the kitchen, laundry, living room or exercise. I think the only thing I will commit to to over the next five days is figure out meals (at least through something together...) and take care of my nursery lesson.

Because it is more annoying to hear somebody mention the word 'inauspicious' without follow up than having a sentence start in 'because' (it drives grammarians nuts...) will be about the month of January.

January started out well enough. I didn't rush into any goal making - I wanted to make sure that the goals I had for the new year were both meaningful and realistic. I didn't want to pile up a list that would be easily forgotten or ignored and therefore useless. I wanted to narrow it down to a couple really important things/projects that I really wanted to complete in the upcoming year. Maybe it was because of my hesitance to commit to a game plan or maybe because I unwittingly shipped my motivation off in a Christmas package to SuZan (who apparently thought it was my special gift to her because she has barely stopped using it since) but I lacked that burning desire to do just about anything the first week of the year. I probably did a little cleaning and organizing - honestly it's a little fuzzy - I just didn't get gung-ho about doing much of anything.

Within the first week of the month I started to miscarry - I had been about nine weeks pregnant though at the the time my hcg (pregnancy hormone) levels were extraordinarily low suggesting that there was something quite wrong with the developing fetus. While logically I understood the loss was for the best especially given the scientific information it was hard not to take it personally especially after the loss in September.

To add to the difficulty of the moment I bled too much with out knowing it - the blood was clotting rather than flowing so while I'd been very mindful of the instructions I'd received on when to come into the ER because of blood loss and had been paying close attention I didn't realize I was indeed losing too much blood. It wasn't until I'd been loosing too much blood for three to four days when I went in for a check up that I found out I'd been hemorrhaging. My doctor was able to quickly identify the problem and take care of it so by the end of the day I was feeling much better.

I had never thought much about excessive blood loss and the impact that it has on your emotional health - while it seems so obvious now I had never considered it before. Turns out loosing too much blood is really hard on one emotionally. It's hard to maintain one's sunny outlook and see things reasonably. Small things feel too big to handle and all the logical thinking in the world doesn't make a dent in dispelling how you feel. It was like incredible sleep deprivation times ten.

After another week of healing (rebuilding my blood reserves...) I was beginning to feel motivated again. I spent a couple days setting goals and *gasp* completing them. Mind you I would only set three goals a day but I was getting them done! January was 3/4 over by that point but I was finally getting on track! That is until Sam started teething and came down with a bug. Two days spent cuddling with Sam then a day of getting a thing or two done before I came down with the same nasty bug. It was mercifully short lived. I stayed in bed all day and took it easy the day after that and by the end of the second day (Jan. 26) I was feeling a lot better.

Of course by this point the month was over and I had to start from scratch on finding a little bit of motivation. At that point I decided that it would be better if I just started the new year on Feb. 1 and let the rest of the month fall where it may. It's like the last few days of December. Sometimes you feel super ambitious and get a jump start on all your dreams for the New Year and other times you kind of slide through the rest of the year and let January 1 be the beginning of fulfilling your plans.

I'd say the last few days of January ended up being a little bit of both for me. I mean I sat down and started to write this blog post. (It was a bit longer as I dipped down a side track before realizing that wasn't were I was going with this post and cut it out to be written later). But I also didn't sit down again and finish it. I made a decent meal or two but didn't clean the kitchen right away as planned. I got caught up on laundry and then walked downstairs seemingly a day or two later to discover it had once again become a force to be reckoned with. I organized some of my craft area but still can't see the top of my desk...

So in summary Happy New Year! I have plans for blogging (hopefully about Christmas, days past, the alphabet...) as well as a few other for the new year. I will be updating you on those as I make them more solid. Wishing all of you the best for the new year!

Hey! I can't believe this month is already more than half over. It's been one of those months. The first week was spent in the usual after Christmas endeavors to get house and life back in order. Christmas took quite a toll on my craft area as well as the rest of the house - as usual December had been a busy month.  I've also had a bit of writers block this month. I've had a really hard time deciding what to write about...and how...  So in lieu of actually writing something I took this picture: and made this one: Hope it puts a little smile on your face.

*This post has a lot of videos and will be better enjoyed on my other site - you can check it out here.*

For more info on the Ultimate Christmas Questionnaire check out this post.

This section was titled 'Favorites' but the first question ended up being a novel on it's own (with lots of accompanying videos) so I decided to just answer the first question and leave the rest for another post, hence the 3-a. Yes I know I'm a bit of a nerd. :)

Favorites

1. What is your favorite Christmas Song?

I don’t even know where to start with this one even though I’ve been thinking about it for weeks (yes I think about stuff like this that much ;D). I’ve decided that I most definitely favor traditional style carols over more modern songs.

I think that ‘Silent Night’ is my favorite (especially as sung by Josh Groban – very well done - take a listen by playing the video above) but ‘The First Noel’ ‘Angels We Have Heard on High’ come in very close behind that.

There are a couple of versions of 'The First Noel' that I really enjoy one is done by Josh Groban and Faith Hill the other by the a cappella group Eclipse. Unfortunately I couldn't find either on youtube but I would heartily recommend checking them out in iTunes.

Speaking of Eclipse they did this fun version of 'O Come all Ye Faithful'. The first time I listened to it caught me off guard but I really enjoyed it.

I have really enjoyed ‘Breath of Heaven’ (as I mentioned before in this post) ‘Agnus Dei’ and ‘Christmas Lullaby’

Sung by Amy Grant this year. I don’t know if they have been done by other artists those are just the versions I have.

Some other classics that I love are ‘Bring a Torch Jeanette, Isabella’ ‘The Holly and the Ivy’ ‘Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine’ ‘Joy to the World’, ‘Here We Come A-Caroling’, ‘Ding Dong Merrily on High’ and so many more. I love Christmas music!

Continuing with the series started here . On to part two -

Grinch Questions

What is your least favorite thing about the Holidays?

Running out of time. I always have greater aims and ambitions than I have time to finish. I try to plan through the year but still find myself trying to squeeze too much into December.

What is the most annoying thing about Christmas?

The song ‘Santa Baby’ and people that are Grinchy about the holiday.

Do you feel Christmas is too commercialized?

Not the way I do it. I think there has been a movement towards less commercialization over the years and while yes there is tons of shopping and buying for Christmas I think generally people do it with joy at the thought of giving to others.

On that note I think next year I'll stay out of the family Christmas draws. I love buying/making presents for people as well as receiving the fun little things they've figured out for me but as I said before there just doesn't seem to be enough time for me to do everything I want to do. I think that staying out of the draws might free up a little more time to really immerse myself in and enjoy the holiday. What are your thoughts?

Last year I thought it would be fun to do a Christmas questionnaire but couldn't find one I liked so I tasked Bonnie with making me the ultimate list - of course this project took us an extra few days and I never actually got around to answering it. So I saved it for this year and now present the first in a series. Bonnie broke it down into sections so I am going to do one section at a time. Hope you enjoy. :)

Food:

What is your favorite Christmas Dessert?

You can’t have Christmas dinner without pumpkin pie. That being said there are two deserts that if they aren’t made then it just isn’t Christmas. First: Goldrush brownies. It just isn’t Christmas until the smell of Goldrush brownies has filled the house. (Get the recipe here) Second: Peanut Butter Popcorn. I love this treat and generally eat it all fall and winter but like goldrush brownies it just doesn’t seem like Christmas until I’ve made up a batch. I love decorating the tree while eating it.

To make Peanut Butter Popcorn:

1 cup peanut butter (if you use natural peanut butter you may want to only do half 'real' peanut butter and the other half something Skippy)

1/2 cup butter (one stick)

1/2 molasses or honey (or a mix of both - if you only have unsulphered black strap molasses I would recommend doing half that and half honey as it's flavor is a little strong. My favorite is to do the whole thing with a slightly lighter molasses).

Melt butter and molasses in a pan over medium. Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture starts to bubble - let it bubble for a couple of minutes continuing to stir constantly (make sure to be scrapping the bottom of the pan while stirring so it doesn't burn). Take off heat and add peanut butter. Mix. Drizzle over a large bowl of popped popcorn. This is the part you have to play around with. Sometimes it works better to do it in batches sometimes all at once. You have to play around with how much popcorn you have depending on how coated you want the popcorn for a thicker coat of peanut butter mixture use less popcorn for a thinner coate more popcorn.

Who normally carves the Turkey?

Unfortunately me. Neither Mycal or I like carving the turkey but it’s the only way you’re going to enjoy that well cooked meat so I usually give in.

Eggnog or Hot Chocolate?

Hot Chocolate hands down. I’m good for about four ounces of egg nog a season. Mycal doesn’t like it either so we don’t even buy it. Hot Chocolate on the other is consumed just about every day. I like mine dark, the kids like milk chocolate and Mycal likes his with caramel. We especially love salted varieties. If you have any ideas how to make the salt mixture that Starbucks uses please share.

Candy Canes…Yes? No? Color?

Generally for looking at or using in recipes though an occasional small one is fun. I like them traditional so just good old fashioned red and white for this girl.

*This post includes a video. You can either enjoy reading it on my Wordpress (todaywelove.wordpress.com) site where the video is part of the the post or just follow the link at the end of the post. - Added bonus for going to the other site you get to enjoy a little falling snow. :) *

I'm fairly certain this is will be the first in a series of posts - at least I hope it will be. ;) Since I've been doing so well blogging each of the last few mornings I didn't want to break the run (thus entering another silence for who knows how long...) but am not sure what I'm going to do about K, and not having another story hot and ready in my head I thought I do something fun and seasonal. After all I do love Christmas. A lot. There is just so much to love!

After working on presents and projects until rather late last night I woke up this morning to a thin but definite dusting of snow. No passing this off as frost. :) I've been dreading snow for a couple of days because I'm just not ready for it to be Christmas and if it doesn't snow then I can pretend that Christmas isn't as close as it is right? Beside that logical line of thought there is the fact that we are going to the Holiday Express tonight which is outside so a little warm weather for just a couple of days would have been really nice.

Despite the fact that I wasn't ready for snow it still does an amazing job at putting one into the Christmas mood pretty much instantly. Not that I haven't been in the Christmas spirit. I've been enjoying my amped up Christmas list on Pandora - I'm still working on my personal Christmas list for my iPod. I've been making Christmas plans and taking care of presents. Last night I completely enjoyed watching the 1947 version of 'Miracle on 34th Street'. Despite all of these precursor activities the little dusting of snow has gotten me even more excited for Christmas.

It is with that happy feeling in mind that I wanted to share this video with you. The song has been one of my favorites this year and I like how they put it with this video. I hope you are all able to enjoy it at much as I do.

Click here to see the video.

...along with a number of other incredible storytellers including Martin Jarvis, Bernadette Dunn, Jonathan Cecil and James Marsters to name just a few. These are not to be confused with authors or wordsmiths who are the original tellers of their stories. It's not that I don't appreciate their skills and in a number of cases the wordsmith is also an incredible storyteller (Douglas Adams and Ruth Riechl come immediately to mind) it's just that this post is about the teller of the story - the person who makes the book come alive. The person who in their telling makes a good story even better and a mediocre story enjoyable. 

Jim Dale is in my opinion the prime example of a storyteller. Listening to him is like listening to a good friend. You can't help but feel immersed in the world he creates with his voice. I will admit that I listen to the Harry Potter series every summer just because I love listening to Jim Dale and am always a bit sad when it is over. I recently discovered a couple other books he has read that I'm eager listen to as well.

I think my appreciation for storytellers started with the Storytelling Festival that Weber State University would hold each fall when I was growing up. I remember going with my mom (she was one of the volunteers for a siblings class field trip) when I was about 14. It was incredible to listen to these artist weave their stories. They usually performed either bits of folklore or personal stories from their life. Whatever the story the performances were spellbinding. I stayed for the entire day and came back the next soaking up as many stories as I could. In those two days I decided I wanted to be a Storyteller.

I think that to a degree I am a storyteller but since my primary form of personal narrative is this blog I'm more of a writer at the moment (I wouldn't dream of considering myself a wordsmith yet...maybe an apprentice though). Storytelling is something I need to practice more. Of course I get to practice a bit with the kiddos but I think that over time I've let my zeal for being a storyteller slip. Sometimes I simply read stories rather than tell them because I 'need' to do something else. Time to rekindle the ardor and practice more. Especially my own stories.

Our essential stay awake game. For those of you not lucky enough to know what a 'stay awake' game is let me enlighten your world. ;) If the kids fall asleep at four o'clock in the afternoon they will most likely be awake until some ridiculous hour. This is especially true for Liberty. A half hour at the wrong time is all it take for this girly to be awake until all hours of the night.

Of course the time we are usually driving home from an appointment or day of errands downtown is between four and five o'clock. The gentle rhythm of the car on the road, the subtle white noise of the wheels on pavement make for instant somnolence. 

On one such day I looked in my rear view mirror and my concerns were validated in the almost asleep visage of Liberty.
"Liberty!"
"Huh?" becoming alert for a second before drifting back to drowsiness.
"Ummm...what do you spy?"
She perked up and looked out the window.  "I spy something green and tall and has leaves."
"A tree?"
"Yeah! Okay it your turn mommy!"

Of course by this point we've piqued Emmuska's interest and she wants to play as well. Pretty soon the game settles into a happy little order. I spy something which Emmuska guesses so it's Emmuska's turn. Emmuska spies something that Liberty guesses so it's Liberty's turn. I guess what Liberty spies and it's back to my turn.

Almost more predictable than the rotation of our turns is the things that are going to be 'spied'.  The kids always start off with things that can actually be spied from the car window but it isn't too long before they are pulling things out of memory. Better than the fact that it's a free for all guessing game are the clues:

"I spy something black, that is a rectangle and a box that the mailman put mail in. What is it?"
"Ummm...a mailbox?"
"Yeah! You got it!" (as if I there was a bit of doubt as to whether of not I might) "Okay your turn!"

Emmuska: "I spy something big that you can drive and that you drive on the grass to mow the lawn."
Liberty: "A mow-lawner..." pausing because that doesn't sound right, "a mower-lawner...a mower-lawn..."
I empathize because it took me something like twenty years to get lawn-mower straight as well. I kept wanting to call it a mow-lawner too.

"I spy something that is red and has white words on it and it tells cars to stop."

Sometimes I like to shake things up a bit by throwing out a wrong guess. This gets the kids feeling sorry for me and they give me extra hints.

"I spy something tall that has leaves."
"A bush?"
"Mom a bush isn't tall. It's something that is tall and has leaves."
"A telephone pole?"
In a conspiratorial whisper "Mom, it's a tree."
"Oh. A tree?"
"Yeah! You got it! Your turn!"
Yeah my kids are so good to me. :D

I have had a pretty good number of ideas for the letter 'H'. I mean the obvious pick was History as we had recently attended a Civil War reenactment and I personally find history fascinating and not only relevant to our lives but pertinent knowledge that can guide the choices and life we have.

There were a few days in there that I really considered doing House as I'd recently made up this fun little friend:

However events and other little things around me pointed to the need for me to right about humility instead. Before August 2010 I always thought of myself as a pretty humble individual. I didn't take excessive pride in the things I made or accomplished and would say that generally don't hold a vain or over glorious view of myself. I figured by all accounts I was doing a pretty good job being a humble individual. The problem I was soon to learn was that I was only living up to half the definition of humble - as it would turn out the easy half.

In June I'd been counseled to ask for help when it was needed. My immediate thought was 'umm...okay...I'll ask for help...maybe...if the world ceases to function as I know it...maybe'. I don't like asking for help. Being raised by a very independent mother, in circumstances where I was often able to give help I could not conceive of a situation where I wouldn't be able to take care of anything that I needed to handle. I was in the situation in life where I give help, not ask for it.

Then August rolled around. We had enjoyed a lovely trip to Tennessee where our tires had needed to be replaced - not exciting but relatively easily taken care of. Then Mycal had suffered a pretty nasty back injury. Again not the highlight of the trip but not something that sent us beyond what we could personally handle. As I said before everything seemed to be under control until August when in the same week our basement started to flood every time I used the kitchen, we discovered a toenail that would have to be removed on Missouri - surgery that would cost more than we had left in savings and the check engine light suddenly blinked on in the van. We were (are...) still paying off student loans so we had only recently gotten to the point of having much in the way of savings and most of it had been used getting new tires so each of these problems felt pretty insurmountable. As much as I didn't want to do it I had to ask for help. We had a friend willing to loan us the money for the vet bill. They were also able to help us clear up the basement issue, having worked as a plumber before. I can assure you it was a very humbling experience to take the money from our friends and I felt that surely I had learned how to be truly humble now.

A week or two later as I was paying the friend back I reasoned that since I had learned a deeper sense of humility I could move on to other life lessons. Quite naturally I was wrong. Life remained tight but stayed within manageable limits. We had to watch our grocery budget but always had plenty of everything we needed. Slowly we built up our savings and enjoyed adding a little padding here and there to our budget. Any little emergencies that came up were not too big to be handled. Interesting enough when we had to make a surprise visit to the vet this August again for a sick and listless puppy the bill ended up being a bit more than we had had to pay the year before - on the same day as our vet visit we discovered the brakes in the van needed to be replaced. It was a mark of how much things had improved in our life that we were able to handle both unexpected expenses with relative ease.

Life was not to remain so easily taken care of. In the end of August on his fourth jump at Airborne school Mycal hit the ground too hard (this was due to the laws of physics and gravity rather than any error or failure to execute the jump properly) and fractured a vertebrae in his back. It's quite likely it was already weakened by the incident with the tree a little over a year before since it was the same vertebrae that was damaged. The point was that he was now stuck in Georgia and there wasn't much I could do to help him. He was able to get help from a fellow soldier heading back to our area.

The ensuing weeks were filled with doctor appointments and the beginning of the long road of healing.  Amidst the need to heal was the problem of how we were going to finish the ditch in our back yard. We had started digging a ditch to help the flow of water away from the house in order to stop water from leaking into the basement anytime the ground got saturated. We had started but had quite a bit to do. I was more than happy to do my share but was pregnant and advised against doing everything that digging the ditch entailed. There were things I could do but a lot that I couldn't. Again we would have to ask for help. I turned to my brother, Thom, who would be able to come out and help for about a week. I don't like asking for help but if I'm going to then I prefer it be family. Thom could come out and help me and that would be fine - bonus I would get to visit with one of favorite people who I hadn't seen in two and a half years!

A couple of weeks before Thom and my mom got here I went in for a twelve week check up only to discover that there were something amiss with the pregnancy. While doing the ultrasound the doctor couldn't find more than the embryonic sac. This necessitated more ultrasounds and other lab work over the next week. In the end it was discovered that I had what is called an anembryonic pregnancy. The fetus half of the pregnancy stopped developing at about five weeks but everything else (placenta development etc.) had continued. My body hadn't noticed that the fetus wasn't on board with the pregnancy so was going full steam ahead - I was pregnant there just wasn't a baby there. The necessitated inducing a miscarriage to reset systems as it were. Between the two of us Mycal and I made quite a pair and I got to learn a little more humility.

I figured since I had finished passing all the pregnancy tissue I could at least do my part in digging the ditch. So I got out there and worked with Thom and then spent the next couple of days exhausted, cramping and bleeding. I guess I wouldn't be helping as much after all. I ended up being able to throw rocks in the wheelbarrow and occasionally do a little something more but I wasn't good for too much while Thom was around. At least we were able to have a bit of fun when the day was done. :)

Unfortunately when all was said and done Thom wasn't able to get as much done as he had hoped. The ground proved more taxing than he had realized and while he got a lot done (including breaking up the cement where the ditch needed to run) it wasn't quite finished by the time he had to go. Looked like I was going to have to swallow more pride I didn't realize I still had and ask for help from church and friends.  As it is the ditch hasn't been finished yet. We still have a bit of work to do on it but I think we have a couple of friends willing to help and I'm happy to do my part again.

I was recently reminded the importance of humility in a different way. I have a good friend who has faced a number of problems recently who took the military up on the standing offer they have to soldiers and their family members to receive free counseling sessions for various emotional concerns (stress, family problems, situational changes are a few of them) and they mentioned how much of a difference it had made for them to unload all that had been happening in their life to somebody who wasn't in any way involved or had to deal with what they were going through. Each time they mentioned this to me and encouraged me to set up an appointment I would say 'Yeah maybe I'll do that' but of course I was thinking 'Not likely. I don't need help dealing with life.' You'd think I'd learn. ;) A few weeks later after feeling unreasonably down and overwhelmed with a few things in life I decided to call and set up an appointment.

While I was waiting for the day of my appointment I began to reflect on humility and being truly humble. I am surrounded by strong capable people who deal with everything they come up against with strength and independence. During the last eight years I've discovered that I have a lot more skills, substance, ability and strength than I ever imagined. I have handled plumbing problems, sole responsibility for lawn care, months alone where the only person to take care of the kids and house is me and more. And this isn't half of what some women and families around me have done. Despite all we can do it seems that most the difficult thing we might have to do is ask for help. Over the past year and a half I have had to humble myself to ask for help financially, physically and emotionally and finally I think I'm okay with that. I would like to believe that having asked for help a number of times over the last year and a half I will be able to graciously ask for and accept help when it's needed in the future. Rather that pushing to do it all by myself I hope I can happily rely on the bigger family that is all around me.

If there is one thing that has been reaffirmed to me over the last year it's that most people feel an underlying kinship towards their fellow human beings. Countless have been the kindnesses of people around me - a woman smiling and letting me go ahead of her in line when the kids are going crazy, a gentleman helping with the door or a burden (groceries, library books, etc.) that I might be carrying. Friendly faces helping entertain tired children. People were meant to be around other people because we are part of a bigger family - most of us ready and willing to help those around us we see in need. When I'm the person in need I hope I am humble enough to respond to the question 'Can I help you with that?' with a gracious and heart felt 'Yes, thank you so much.'

Sewing machines have always fascinated me. From the gorgeous piece of machinery I grew up around (a solid high end Viking from the late 1970's) down to the often troublesome White that I started sewing in earnest on I have always appreciated these incredible gadgets, mesmerized by their beauty, function and most especially by what they could do. I'd like to meet the person who isn't at least a little hypnotized by the up-down motion of the needle and the hum of the motor running. I'm so enamored with sewing machines that I currently own three.

A heavy duty White that Mycal got me for my birthday when I was pregnant with Emmuska and expressed interest in having a machine of my own

 a beautiful Viking Emerald 116 that he got me for my birthday this year

 and a gorgeous vintage maroon Viking similar to my mom's (and my first sewing machine love). (Quick note to justify my having three machines - I had the White in the shop for a servicing and was working on a project on my Emerald when something weird happened and I couldn't get it to work. I was able to set it aside to take in when I picked up the White but was still able to finish my project on the vintage Viking. While I think I can survive with just two sewing machines I don't think I ever want to only have one. ;D)

The point to all of this is I'm not all that surprised that Emmuska too is enchanted by sewing machines. A bit over a year ago we checked a book out of the library entitled 'Best of Sewing Machine Fun for Kids' by Lynda Milligan. We soon discovered it was a treasure chest of great ideas for learning and practicing how to sew. The first chance we got (meaning when Samuel went down for his nap) we sat down at the sewing machine and Emmuska started practicing. It wasn't long before she was flying solo.

I love how very seriously she took the endeavor. When it comes to crafting this girl doesn't mess around. :D Of course we spent every available chance we had over the next few days sewing on paper, first without thread and eventually with thread. Less than six months later she would finish a doll dress and a couple of months after that a stuffed aardvark.

I was just about to write up my H post - I had a steaming cup of hot chocolate and a couple goldrush brownies and was all set to catch up with Valerie when it hit me that I most definitely should have written about goldrush brownies. So I decided I should have two 'G' posts before moving on with my alphabet. :)

So here's the owl I mentioned in a comment left on Valerie's blog.

Which is the magic word in our house that apparently signals the mad dash to the van so we can embark on some new adventure. I didn't realize this little word had so much power until one day when I was trying to take care of a few things around the house and yard. I asked who wanted to go get the mail with me. This little task is generally met with quite a bit of excitement as everybody jumps up and rushes for the door.

After retrieving the mail Samuel made a bee line for the van and refused to leave his car seat. I sighed and decided that a little drive around town wouldn't disrupt anything and just might help him fall asleep for his nap so I acquiesced, grabbed my keys and we all piled in for a little drive to further discover our town.

I didn't think much of the twenty minute event until later in the day when I was taking lawn trimmings from the back yard to the front ditch. This simple task is made slightly mire complicated by the fact that Samuel gets pretty antsy about having a fence between us so I asked if he wanted to go with me. He did his slightly awkward and incredibly deliberate head nod to indicate 'yes' and I hoisted him over the fence.

After dumping the clippings in the ditch I headed towards the back yard but Samuel ran for the van. I had said 'go' right? Obviously it was time for another outing. It finally clicked for me that when I said 'go' Samuel heard a magical word that led to worlds away from our house. I finally managed to get him back into the yard, promising that after I was done mowing we could indeed 'go' somewhere.

True to my word after finishing the lawn we loaded up for our second excursion of the day. I had planned out a little route in my head a small portion of which I'd never actually driven but I was quite certain connected into the road back to our house.

As we started down this road Emmuska informed me of her misgivings over driving this 'spooky' road. After being on it for thirty minutes I began to think that she might have a point and decided to turn around. My turning around was all the signal Emmuska needed to know that she had been right and could now change her dialog from complaint about the spooky road to mild reprimand about my choice in drives.

"I told you it was spooky. Why did you have to choose that road anyway?"

"I thought it connected into the main road and that it would be a nice adventure for us."

"Yeah now look at the mess you've gotten us into..."

(Trying not to laugh while also trying not to take it too personally) "Ummm, we aren't really in a mess the road just didn't work our like I thought it would. I know exactly how to get back home."

This didn't exactly placate her as I got to enjoy her view on our situation long after we were on familiar ground. Needless to say I learned my lesson and have been more careful about my choice of words and roads since then.

It was going to be for food but then one day I was trying to clear up some of the 'clutter' that had accumulated in my various online accounts when I came across a few virtual gifts from my sisters called flair and I remembered how much joy I got from these little buttons and suddenly I wanted to share them with you. Basically flair are button pins decorated with little sayings and or images. Here are a few of mine:

Of course once I got into flair I had to try making my own:

I found a very telling example of Liberty's personality the other day when I went to get a shirt out of her drawer. She had helped me put laundry away earlier but I hadn't really paid attention to her process until I got a peak at her drawer:

Okay - this is my sixth attempt at writing this post. I've even finished it twice before. Here's the things about writing the 'same' thing several times. It never comes out the same. Sometimes it's much better (the last time I finished this post it was much better than the first) but sometimes it's not as good. I think the best term would be 'lack-luster' sometimes it just lacks the sparkle, wit and what not that I managed to imbue in the original writing. Wish me luck because it doesn't really matter which direction this version goes I'm posting it. Good or bad it has to find it's way to great wide open world eventually. I'd just really like for it to be good. ;D

D is for dogs, the furry, four legged members of our families. I'll admit there are time when I imagine life without them (no poop pick up, the ability to sit on the couch and write a blog post without a big ol' head vying or a spot on my lap...) I don't think our lives would be the same without all the personality they add to our families. They each have such unique personalities that change the dynamics of the family. They share so much with us like how to play:

and where and how to sleep:

Here are a few of the dogs that have been a part of my life.

Mac wasn't the first dog I remember - I have a few memories of a wolf/dog mix named Sonya who was incredibly smart, but he was the dog of my childhood. He joined our family when my little brother was just six months old and watched us all grow. I love the above picture of him (one of the very few pictures I have of him as if the day called for a camera than he usually slipped off somewhere a little more quiet) because it really captures his personality. A quiet and constant part of our life. Always there happy to watch his family but rarely in the thick of the action.

Mae Tae was hands down the most dignified dog I've ever met. She always reminded me of what I imagine Queen Elizabeth II would be like - always carrying herself with deportment and decorum. I mean she made cracking into plastic eggs look both easy and graceful. 

Shadow was utterly devoted to her family and loved being right beside them. She also had a mischievous streak to her and a whole lot of spunk. I loved that girl's spunk. I'm fairly certain she could have talked Quincy into doing just about anything.

Speaking of Quincy (the reddish golden dog on the right) it's been fun and interesting to watch his place and attitude in the family shift as the dynamics of the family changed. It seemed like he was almost stuck being 'the puppy' of our family but when Shadow and then Mac died he really stepped into being the patriarchal dog of the house. 

Autumn-dog. It's hard to believe she was ever this small. She was the first addition the the Mycal Brown family.

I just finished listening to an enjoyable reading of 'Ella Enchanted' by Gail Carson Levine.

I just spent three hours on a blog post - the D installment to my alphabet which I have tried writing no less than four times before this morning. I was one picture and a couple of sentences away from publishing it when I got up to fix the internet and get my picture put together. When I came back to my computer I found that it had shut down of it's own volition. Aaaaaaahhhh!! To top it off I just discovered that a company I own quite a bit of product from are miserable scoundrels and misers who care nothing for their consumers. I love capitalism and the chance that people have to make money and fully support them doing so. Shoot I even love to help them make money by spending my hard earned cash on their products/services but nothing irritates me more than when I as the consumer of goods or services am completely ignored and disregarded. Grumble grumble grumble.

About a month ago I bought a mermaid pattern. It was so adorable and I was pretty sure I could get some good mileage out of it between my girls, their friends and cousins.

Mycal has been encouraging me to get a website for my toys together for a while but getting time on the computer has been a quite a feat lately. (Wait until I show you what happened while I was writing up my blog post about my first digital camera...) I'd been pretty excited about getting a few things up onto Etsy but hadn't made any progress since then. I've started a facebook page but am not even sure how to access it right now so I can finish getting it all together. In the meantime Mycal has been talking to everybody about my stuff but has no where to refer them so they can get an idea of what I've already done. While he was telling me this today I decided to do something about it so I created a new site for my toys. You can check it out over here. I hope to get more done with it soon but in the meantime it serves as a fun reference point.

Valerie posted a sweet little blog post a few days ago with a picture she took using my dad's first digital camera. You may remember it from my post about the 2002 Winter Olympics. While it did have a bit of a learning curve it was a sweet piece of machinery.

Does anybody else find it completely unbelievable that it is already August?! Of course the ever constant march of the clock isn't a bad thing. There are so many things to look forward to that I don't often get stuck wishing for days gone by. Rather my wishful thinking is directed at better organizing myself/household/daily routine so I can make the most of every minute and get all the things I want to done.

I half suspect I struggle with this so horribly because I refuse to be honest and/or realistic with myself about a few things namely the actual size of a planned craft project or goal. (Other things I'm really unrealistic about: how long it takes to make dinner; how long it takes to get out of the house, load the car and get anywhere; how much sleep I need; how much the kids like to sleep with me and many many more...) There seem to be endless ideas running through my head.

At the same time there seems to be endless laundry and dishes cycling through the house. So per "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Kids" (it's amazing how well illustrated story books can make points in a memorable fashion) I am working at making balance in my life. It has been a process for the last few months and is still a process. But I continue to work at it and I will figure out my personal balance. In the meantime I am making it my goal to not let those moments that really rock my already precarious days into emotional oblivion.

Let me be clear - I am not very good at this at this writing but I know that it would really help me and the household as well as probably make it easier to recover from such unexpected disasters. Let's take last Saturday morning for example. I would have enjoyed a little more sleep but wasn't too upset about the time Sam and I got up. I had a lot of things I wanted to get done including a craft project, household jobs and a few things around the yard. No definite plans just ideas of things I wanted to finish or get in order. I got Samuel his breakfast which he made a huge mess with so when he wanted to go out and play in the little kiddy pools outside it seemed like a great way to get him washed up without a battle.

It wasn't quite what I planned on doing at that point but I could make it work with the vague plan in my head. However when I stepped back into the kitchen I noticed a couple of maggots on the floor. I don't know about you but I have the most irrational aversion to maggots or 'maglets' as Emmuska calls them. I mean I know they aren't going to do me any real damage (at least the ones I have to deal with...I don't know about all maggots in the world...) but the mere sight of the horrible little larvae make my skin crawl and my stomach clench. I will go to unimaginable lengths to avoid touching one and if I do find one on me, or even close to getting on me...well we'll just say that I act decidedly undignified.

That knowledge in mind when I saw those maggots on the ground my skin crawled and my stomach clenched but I was still feeling pretty good. Maggots are an unfortunate part of my life at this point. I'm only allowed so many trash bags per week and so have to be conservative about when I throw the kitchen trash out. This doesn't really matter in the winter but in the summer it makes a great breeding ground for these bugs. I've had to deal with a few maggots this summer but nothing too bad. Usually I'll see two or three, do a good sweeping, take out the trash and I'm back to my blissfully larvae-free home.

This time was a whole different animal. Just when I'd get an area cleaned up and start feeling okay with the day I'd come across another group of them making their bid for freedom. While I did eventually quell the maggot uprising it wasn't before a near hysterical moment wherein I was perched on the edge of Liberty's bed, arms clenched around knees on the verge of tears begging Mycal to bring me my shoes and socks (I'd happened upon the maggots in flip flops...and the encroaching masses suddenly felt very threatening to my feet) convinced that I'd never be able to rid my life of these cursed bugs.

So I almost had a breakdown. However my protective footwear arrived and I was able to plow onward. Ten minutes later the maglets where gone but they had left their mark. I was left on edge, grumpy and quite certain I would never be able to succeed at anything. While the effects did wane, thanks mostly to some serious amounts of work and therefore accomplishment I still curse and detest all magnets.

After much encouragement I decided to sell my stuffed animals. The last few months I've been making toys and working towards getting a shop set up online. I still want to set up a website and get my animals in a few other places (including a page here) but in the meantime I finally made jumped in and got a toy set up for sale on Etsy. You can check out my shop here. I'm hoping to get a few more listings up today but am feeling a little unsure about my wording. Any opinions/help you guys have for me will be greatly appreciated and of course if you know of anybody who is looking for a super special little bit o' love for somebody in their life send them my way. Thanks you guys are the best!

In 2002 the Winter Olympics came to Salt Lake City. It was pretty exciting as we watched preparations unfold and the state get ready. While I didn't get to attend any of the events I did have front row seats to one of the attractions.

The torch was scheduled to run right in front of our house. We were super excited, waiting in anticipation for it to come our way. What none of realized was the painstaking pace at which the procession was moving. Apparently even the organizers had not foreseen that the number of vehicles and other what nots and whose its surrounding the runner would slow their progress. Two hours after he was supposed to pass our house the caravan was in sight. Of course our spirits were not dimmed, we were still incredibly excited.

Before I can proceed with the narrative I have to tell you about the camera my dad had just purchased. It was an incredible piece of gadgetry that needed no film - you could see the pictures instantly which, of course, takes all the guess work out of photography. There wasn't a chance we'd walk away from the evening without proof that the Olympic torch was passing right in front of our house!

As the runner approached the house we noticed they were setting up the next runner right in front of us. Not only was the torch passing our house it would be stopped while the new runner lit there torch and then carried on. We couldn't believe our luck!

Finally the runner was to our house - my dad was out there taking pictures of this incredible moment. The runner stopped, lit the new runners torch and the new runner was off - whisking the torch ever closer to Salt Lake City. We rushed inside to view the pictures where we learned a new term. Shutter-lag. Yeah the moment we thought we'd be able to literally look on forever thanks to technology hadn't been caught 'on film' quite like we thought it would be. My dad had taken a picture when the runner had entered the frame but due to the cold or the dark it hadn't recovered until the next runner was already off. Of course I wasn't going to let something like shutter-lag deprive me of the memory so I sat right down and drew the moment on the back of an envelope. It looked almost exactly like this:

Whether or not we were able to capture our little bit of Olympic spirit on film it was unforgettable.

Valerie and I were able to enjoy a great day in Salt Lake soaking up the festive spirit of the event - chatting with people from all over the world. It really was an amazing opportunity and I hope to have it again.

I mean with our family how could it be anything else? Even Mycal is in on the crafty action (though generally he does so using a different definition than the rest of us :D). For as long as I can remember I have loved crafts. My mom's craft closet (which housed a most stunning and fun variety of craft supplies and projects) was one of my favorite places in our house, it was always so full of possibilities and new things to try.
The first time my mom took me to the Michael's craft store down the street from our house I was addicted. The sights, smells, colors, textures...it was all so thrilling for me. That summer I made sure I was there at least once a week, enjoying the 'Kid's Kraft' classes they offered.
Even after summer ended I could frequently be found in the Michael's. Stocking up on new craft kits and supplies. I was pretty determined to try everything. I won't take you through the list of crafts I tried...for one thing I don't remember them all and for another some are a little embarrassing (boondoggle...which I still have... ;D) let's just say that Michael's was the last place I saw most of the money from babysitting and my paper route.
Not too long after my introduction to Michael's I was introduced to another best friend named Joann's. I could have spent hours wandering between the aisles of fabric. Honestly I would just walk up and down the aisle running my hand along the bolts of fabric - savoring the smells and colors, soaking in the feel of each fabric. I didn't know what on earth I would do with it but I just knew I had to have fabric. So I started buying cuts of fabric - most a yard or less - and stuffed them away in my cedar chest for the projects I was going to do. Over the years I accumulated quite a stash of random cut - once again I couldn't begin to tell you about them all and yes quite a few are rather embarrassing but it's fun all the same. Looking back I wish I had cut a little piece off of each and glued them in a book so I could remember how bizarre my taste used to be. I think this would be very useful for the times I'm at the fabric store and Emmuska or Liberty pick something that has me wondering why it was even made...but I digress.
After collecting (and not using) a bit of fabric I decided that I needed to be more realistic about the craft supplies I bought. About this time I discovered paper. It was as amazing and exciting as fabric (so colorful and fun with lots of fun prints - and they even had fun textures too!) but a lot smaller and a lot less expensive. Plus it didn't exactly take a brain surgeon to figure out how to cut and paste in order to make something unlike sewing which felt positively daunting (more on that later). So my focus shifted to paper crafts. What I didn't know about paper crafting at the time was how incredibly broad the subject could be. Pretty soon I was playing with brads and eyelets, adorning my scrapbook pages and cards with ribbons and buttons, even sewing (the only place I sewed ;D). Being me I wanted things to look amazing so I would spend hours cutting letter out of cardstock in order to create nice looking titles.

Apologies for the absence. It feels like I'm playing the never ending game of catch-up around here. I'm certain that at some point I'll figure out how to maintain balance in my life but at the moment it seems like I focus on one thing (i.e. A couple of rooms, the lawn, the laundry, the kitchen, birthday projects, blogging, other projects...the list goes on...) and then turn around to find everything else in disarray or at least looking pitifully neglected. It is a matter of practice, patience and persistence (with a sentence like that I could totally be a motivational speaker! ;D) so for today I am hopefully plowing on confident that eventually I will get there. And no I don't always plow ahead with such hope and confidence. Some days I listlessly drag on with doubt and pessimism. I mean let's face it: our lives can be awfully daunting sometimes, however I know that God is there for us especially when life is daunting. I guess I've had the chance to see how incredibly blessed I am lately which has the effect of making life look not only possible but positively bright and cheery. So I'm going to revel in these days so when things don't look quite so bright I have a good reserve 'sunshine' to get me through.

Now for the business of the day: the winner of AaM-II (aardvark mark 2)

Since I didn't have any special guests and Liberty has been waiting for her chance to draw since Emmuska pulled our first winner back in March I asked if she would do the honors, which of course she was thrilled to do. She did it with all the flourish and enthusiasm requisite the nature of the task.

Carefully dumping

Mixing

And selecting the right piece of paper.

Which she had to carefully look at before letting me get my first glimpse (as if she was going to read the name there on and announce it to me...she really took the job seriously).

And then she had to do a silly face just for me. :D

Congratulations to SuZan! I'm certain she has the perfect story of an aardvark to go with this little guy for her library.

I'm really excited about July's prize. I think this little cutie is so much fun. I get the feeling she will be working her magic to end up in the right home. :)

You can call me crazy but some of my toys jump off the sewing machine with a whole lot of personality and that is very true of this kitty. I was going to put her in my shop but that just didn't feel right so here she is up for grabs. I can't wait to see where she goes. Much luck to all and as always thank you for the comments. They are so much fun to read and help me feel a little closer to all of you and they keep me accountable - helping to keep me blogging. Love to all of you!

Congratulations to my sister Kimberly who got married June 4, 2011. Unfortunately I couldn't attend the wedding so I've been waiting with baited breath for my sisters who where there to post pictures of the event. Finally got my first glance this morning and I was excited for my sister all over again.

Butterflies are another seemingly random (though admittedly not as random as aardvarks ;D) critter whom are a big part of life in the Brown family, so much so that some of our daily communications have been altered to include them.
I've always been interested in butterflies. I've appreciated their grace, color and variety of personality. However it took Liberty discovering butterflies for me to fully realize what a 'butterfly enthusiast' looks like. All three of the children are fascinated by butterflies but for Liberty they seem to be a part of her core being. I don't know if part of this adoration is due to the age she is (it seems as though her feelings and emotions have become incredibly intense - she either loves something or hates it) but at the very least it is a big part of who she is right now.
Looking back there were quite a few indicators that butterflies would become an integral part of our family. Last November before the kids had been formally introduced to the the creatures one stumbled into our house and we managed to catch it. Liberty couldn't have been more thrilled - it was her butterfly friend.
The butterfly then proceeded to walk off of her hand and up her shirt. The girl was positively shining with the excitement of having a new butterfly friend. After snapping a few photos the butterfly flitted outside so we followed it. Liberty again patiently coaxed her 'friend' back into her hand.

I'm stealing this fabulous blog prompt idea from my sister-in-law. She started doing one post for each letter of the alphabet. Frankly it's pure genius and being the person I am when I see a great idea I have to give it a whirl!

Aardvarks have become a really big deal in our house lately. It all really started before Emmuska was born when I decided that someday I was going to own my own store. To ensure a listing at the beginning of the phonebook I decided that my store would be called 'Aardvark and Snoddlegrass's...' the ellipse to be replaced with something suitable to whatever my shop was to be. Generally I imagined my store being a scrapbook store so the title usually ran 'Aardvark and Snoddlegrass's Paper Emporium' and that's generally how my store existed in my head. Six or seven years later I discovered that I like making stuffed toys and after some encouragement I decide to sell said toys but of course can't do so without a name so I start mulling options over in my head. It took me over a week before I realized I'd not even thought about my old standby. Suddenly it hits me that it would be utterly ridiculous for my store to be called anything other than 'Aardvark and Snoddlegrass's Stuffed Lovies'. Okay I actually wanted to go with 'Aardvark and Snoddlegrass - Purveyors of Fun, Friendly and Unique Stuffed Lovies' but that felt like it might be a bit too much. ;D The only problem with my fabulous (if not as descriptive) name was now I needed to make a stuffed aardvark...as well as a stuffed Snoddlegrass but that's another story...because what kind of 'purveyor' wouldn't at least have a stuffed mascot of the company's namesake? So set to work I did and not too much later I had managed to pull this fellow together:

Yeah pretty much the perfect mascot. I couldn't have asked for anything better. But perfect as he was to be my mascot he's not quite right for a child to love and cuddle up to every night. In my short time as a parent I've noticed that oversized stuffed animals generally are not the ones that the kids drag all over town or cuddle up with at night. They may enjoy playing with them here and there but when it comes down to the animal that is their best friend they are usually the right size to tuck under their arm and easily tote around. I was suddenly gripped by the need to have such an aardvark in my stock so I started out on the adventure of altering the patterns I had until in a Frankenstein manner I had created an aardvark pattern. And in case you were wondering it took everything I had not to jump up and scream 'IT LIVES'  every time I get one together. ;D

Version 1.0

Cute but the nose was too long and the tail was awkward due to the downward slope I gave it...also the hands/feet just weren't quite right...

Version 2.0

Shortened and widened nose, made tail angle up slightly, changed hand and feet and added claws, add detail to ears.

Version 2.1

Very similar to 2.0 but extended feet and added stabilizer and felt detail to ears. Still not crazy about the feet (slight angle out...just a little odd) and might rotate the top claws, making them vertical instead of horizontal, so instead of looking like they are being held out it looks more like they are ready to give you a hug. This is my most current version and I'm not completely sold on the feet yet. What do you all think?

Along the way Emmuska couldn't resist the pull of the aardvark and she wanted to make one as well. It seemed like a good project for her so I let her pick out her fabric, showed her how to trace the pattern onto the fabric, had her cut the pattern out, pin it together, sew it, stuff it and finish it. From start to finish Emmuska was right there doing each step which was fun to watch.

Liberty too needed an aardvark - though she had her heart set on the first version I'd made because it had butterflies on it. You'll be reading more about Liberty and butterflies shortly but you can also get a little more background in this blog post.

Every time one of the kids talks about an aardvark or asks to sleep with the aardvark I have to laugh at how much a part of our lives this little anteater from Africa has become and then wonder if we could possibly be anymore 'not normal'. ;D

After working tirelessly as an XO (executive officer - I don't know what the job entails beyond a lot of late days) Mycal showed that he was the best person to set up and lead a new basic training company. The BC (battalion commander) was so confident in Mycal as his choice for commander that he insisted on Mycal being appointed even when a few other people tried to get their choice individual into the spot.

Samuel wanted nothing more than to be held by Mycal throughout the ceremony so I handed my camera over to Emmuska to take pictures while I took care of Samuel. She did a fabulous job and even though it's an odd angle I love seeing the ceremony from her perspective.

On February 25, 2011 in an assumption of command ceremony Mycal was literally handed command of the new company.

In the above picture you see the company 1SG (first sergeant) pass the company guide-on to the BC who then hands it to Mycal symbolizing the company he is entrusting to Mycal. It was a really neat ceremony. Of course we all breathed a sigh of relief when it was over not quite realizing how much work still lay ahead of us. That being said his first set of basic trainees graduated a couple of weeks ago. The event marked the successful completion of a training cycle wherein he rose to every challenge and solved unexpected problems.

About a month and a half after the assumption of command ceremony on one of my visits to Mycal's office I poked my head out the door and saw this sign:

All the time I'd thought I had been going in the front door I was actually going in the back and missing the sign with his name on it. I was so excited I had to come back with my camera so I could take a picture. I couldn't believe he hadn't told me about the sign earlier - though to be fair he probably assumed I knew about it as there is a sign like this outside the office if every company on base. I just don't take things like that for granted.

So it's been a while...a really long while...if it makes you feel any better I have written three blog posts since my last visit (not including this one...because it's not written yet...just a bunch of thoughts that I'm holding onto with all my might until I'm able to capture them in print...) and have many more in the works. It's just been (really) slow going. :( Sorry about that. On that note I have enjoyed reading so many posts from other people that words fail me. It's been so much fun to check on my favorite blogs each day and see what has been written. If I haven't comment yet don't worry it will happen...I've been slow on that front for the same reason I've been slow about blogging.
Anyhow onto my thoughts/tidbits:
Mycal and I have never purchased a lawnmower. I realized this today as I was mowing the lawn with our newly acquired (free) lawnmower. We've been married seven and a half years and have been given a lawnmower just when we need it. The first week we were in California a soldier up the street gave us his back-up lawnmower because he was moving and only wanted to take one with him. Of course we didn't have to use it all that much before the business who took care of the housing decided it would be better to take over the lawn care for the installation. Basically we got out of mowing our yard! When we left California we gave the lawnmower to somebody else in the area which was fine because our living spaces over the next few years either didn't necessitate lawn care or had a lawn mower readily available. Until two years ago when we bought our home (where we are currently living). Not only did our home have the rooms and square footage we needed but it is sitting on 1/3 of an acre. Now I'm not that savvy about taking care of grass. I'm the kind of gal that believes it God wants it to look good he'll take care of watering it. Turns out that really works in the midwest. With an abundance of rainfall (I've yet to see a sprinkler system running, which is a little weird for me having grown up in Utah) the grass is ever growing. The downside of not having to water is that if you don't mow pretty soon you have a backyard that resembles either a growing wheat field or the types of places where tigers stealthily stalk their prey only greener. Just when it looked like we were going to have to buy a lawnmower we looked into the old shed in our backyard to discover a working (albeit begrudgingly...) lawnmower. It worked pretty hard for us for us last summer as well as half of the summer before and I'll admit that we didn't necessarily make it easy. (One time Emmuska asked Mycal if she could go play in the 'corn'. The grass had gotten a bit high because Mycal was busy and until last fall I didn't mow lawns.) But I had a feeling that without a lot of TLC it wasn't going to make it through this year. I was already cleaning the spark plug anytime the lawnmower sat for more than an hour just to get it started which I have to admit made me feel pretty awesome that I knew how to do that. I'll tell you what - a little manual labor and a few basic skills and I get feeling pretty excited about my 'skills'. ;D So a few weeks ago Mycal was out mowing the lawn when a colleague stopped by. He noticed that our lawnmower was a little bit pathetic and asked if we'd like his. Apparently he didn't see needing it anytime in future. Mycal accepted. Of course I didn't know when we would actually see this new lawn mower so I started mowing the lawn only to finally kill the poor thing. As I was going along it just spluttered and stopped. I started it again and again it spluttered and stopped. Yesterday Mycal brought home the new mower. When I glanced at it last night I thought it looked similar to the one we already had only newer. It wasn't until today when I pulled it out of the van that I fully realized how incredible this new piece of machinery is. In a word it's amazing! I've never mowed the lawn as quickly nor had the lawn look so nice. And, after thinking about all of our free lawnmowers and how this lovely machine was making me so ridiculously happy, I wondered if it's normal to think so much about one's lawnmower history.
Of course thinking about my lawnmower history led me to another interesting train of thought that most people probably never consider as well. Thinking about lawnmowers got me thinking about all of the places we have lived (13 if I've counted correctly...I'll have to check Mycal's Amazon account...I'm pretty certain it has everyplace we've lived stored in our address book...) which got me thinking about things that have happened at each place which led me to an incredible realization. Each of the three kids have been born in a different state but they were all conceived in the same house. Isn't that kind of amazing?! I mean it's probably not a world record but I'd be surprised if I knew anybody else for whom it's true.
As usual I had at least two more thoughts/ideas/stories to share today but I can't remember them. It seems as though once I get into detail mode basic thoughts slip away. *sigh* Still at least you got to enjoy the fun thought process that is my mind while mowing the lawn! :D Hope you enjoyed the, slightly mundane sprinkled with bizarre, journey!

I've been having a bit of fun with a few iPad apps lately. Not only is this blog post (along with most of the posts I've written recently) written with an incredible app but I have a couple photo apps that are amazing! For example I was able to fix up the following photos:

and

The best part is I probably did those while on the road (while Mycal was driving of course). More fun still was tweaking the following photo to look more like what I actually saw when I took the photo.
The really fun thing about it being I was able to do that while laying Sam down for his nap. I am in awe at how incredible technology is! Here I'm able to do so much with such a little thing. It still kind of makes me sit in amazement at how much we have. But now I'm beginning to sound dorky so I'll just share a few fun pictures that are the result of me (and Emmuska) playing around.

*I know it's been a while since the last installment of this series. Here's a link back to the last part (part 5) or to the first (part 1) in the series if you want to start at the beginning.*

I headed off to work but didn’t much feel like working. Truth be told I didn’t much feel like doing anything. I was so certain that after I’d cleared things up with Mycal I’d be feeling light and unburdened but I didn’t. I just kind of felt down and listless. Work didn’t do much to pull me out of that mood as it was a very slow night so I didn’t have the benefit of being busy to take my mind off things.  Half way through the night my best friend came into the shop and said we needed to talk – which sounded a little bit auspicious. Apparently Mycal had called her (I’d used his phone to call her once so he had her number) that afternoon and talked to her for about an hour trying to figure out what was going on with me. He had gotten the impression that I wasn’t too interested in talking to him ever again and it had been a little bit of a surprise to him. He was wondering if she had any insight as to what my thoughts where exactly. She told him that she thought I was confused about my feelings for him and his friend that I’d dated. She told me that apparently I had just confused him and that I owed him an explanation. And while I had thought I’d been pretty clear (I mean you read the conversation…who could have missed what I was saying ;) ) I felt absolutely horrible. I felt like I’d been so inconsiderate and treated him terribly. Making how I felt even worse was how absolutely wonderful Mycal had been to me. My friend and I talked a little more then she left and I finished working all the time thinking about everything that had happened over the last couple of weeks – especially over the last few days. When I got home I texted Mycal (I knew he had a date that night so didn’t want to call) asking him to give me a call when he was done with his date.

Less than two minutes later I looked at my ringing phone to see Mycal calling me. I was surprised that he had called back so quickly. I thought maybe he had finished his date earlier but he mentioned that he was at his friend’s (the one I had been dating) house for the date and he’d just stepped out into the garage. I felt badly for his date but was really glad that he wanted to talk to me. I told him I was sorry about the call earlier that day, that I hadn’t been very clear and that I had just sprung everything on him out of the blue like that. He said it was okay and that he was just worried and wanted to make sure I was okay. He said we could date at whatever pace I felt comfortable. I can’t remember any of the actual words we said but in the end I felt much much better. We decided to keep the dinner appointment we had planned for the next day (Sunday dinner at the Brown house) and then he had to go since he was still in the middle of a date. We’d probably talked for fifteen minutes but it was unbelievable how much of a weight that lifted off of my mind.

After we hung up I went up and put on a show. While I was watching it I sat there thinking about things. I started to reflect on how at least twice a year for the last six years our Young Woman’s leaders would ask us to make a list of the things we were looking for in a future spouse after which they’d remind us that ‘you marry the type of people you date’. I started thinking about those lists – I remember some of the other young women writing specifics like ‘6 foot 5 inches tall’, ‘dark curly hair’, ‘dreamy blue eyes’, and a few other choice traits. While their lists were pretty specific mine was very basic. The only thing I was looking for was a worthy priesthood holder that would take me to the temple.  I knew that if they honored God and the promises they made with him they would do the same for me. This isn’t to say the other young man wasn’t an honorable priesthood holder but at that moment I realized he wasn’t the right person for me and I didn’t need to worry about where we stood with each other because obviously he wasn’t interested in me (yeah I know – that took way longer for me to figure out than it should of…this whole thing was new ground for me so we’ll just call that my learning curve ;D). When I came down to it I knew that Mycal was interested in me and that he would (already was) treat me as wonderfully as I deserved to be treated. Better still he could see the potential within me.

The next day (Sunday) after church he came by my house to pick me up so we could go to his parents house for dinner. On the drive up we were able to talk about the last couple of days and I shared the thing or two I had figured out about myself because of everything that had happened. I explained that I am a very loyal person. When I feel like I’ve made a commitment to somebody I feel intense turmoil at the idea of not following through or living up to it. I recognized that I felt like I’d made some sort of commitment to this young man, and even though it clearly hadn’t been mutual it still caused me turmoil to feel like I hadn’t been living up to what I’d agreed to do. In realizing this as well as realizing that said commitment was something I’d created unnecessarily I could let it go. Mycal said that he just really liked spending time with me and that we could just have fun or date more seriously – whatever I wanted. Of course now that I had figured out the emotional maze hindering me and solved it I was pretty excited about jumping into a new relationship with Mycal.

Remember when I was talking about what a funny thing time is. This is the reason why. Back when I started writing this story I was mapping the events in my head and was thinking about this part of the story. From the day where the guy I had been dating suddenly showed up for lunch until the time I was driving with Mycal to his parent’s house felt like it had lasted weeks (the only reason I thought weeks and not months was because I knew it happened in Nov. and things were good by Thanksgiving…but I was pretty sure it took all of November). It wasn’t until I was reading my journal and looking at a calendar and plotting everything out that I realized the entire crummy thing had lasted a grand total of three days. Three days! I mean there are times right now when I’m pretty certain I don’t brush my hair for three days because time is flying by so quickly yet those three days seemed to last forever. I would like to say that time is a fickle friend but nowadays it seems to be more along the lines of my arch nemesis – constantly working against me. ;D

I love these pictures of Emmuska. She spied a crop of dandelions turned white and fluffy and became enamored. Where before I had tried, unsuccessfully, to convince her that dandelions were not called 'sunflowers' ('they look like the sun, so I call them sunflowers' she had informed me) the knowledge that they turn into these beautiful white wishing flowers was enough to satisfy her that dandelion was an acceptable moniker.

"Mom! Where do these white flowers come from?"

"So you can make a wish and then the little white seeds will carry your wish away when you blow them off the stem."

"I want to make a wish!"

"Go ahead." (Okay I really said 'wait until I get my camera', then I said 'go ahead' when I was all ready but we don't want to ruin the flow with pithy details like that. ;D)

"I'm pretty sure it will."

I absolutely adore my birthday. It is the one day of the year that is all about me and how glad the world is that I'm a part of it. Mind you not a lot of people (relatively) have gotten this memo so most people go about their everyday business but this doesn't dampen my enthusiasm for the day. And yes I know I'm terribly vain.

This year I had a fantastic birthday which was good because last year wasn't as exciting (I was so sick I could barely talk or swallow). Mycal went all out celebrating for the whole month. He was gone for the first two weeks of the month but didn't stop him from surprising me with little speakers for my iPod so I could once again listen to stories and music while cleaning the house. Anytime we were out running errands and needed to stop fora bite to eat he always deferred to me saying 'it's your birthday'. All the time he was asking me what I wanted for my birthday. Here was my conundrum. I knew that I wanted something - I'd tried not doing much the year before and really didn't like it - I just didn't know what.

Halfway through the month I had yet another battle with my sewing machine. The two of us hadn't really seen eye to eye for most of our relationship and were constantly fighting over one thing or another but this was different. Usually I could scream and cry a little and the blasted thing would come around and we'd make our way through another project. Not this time. I couldn't for the life of me figure out the problem and the machine wasn't yielding. It was in the middle of this latest battle that Mycal called and again asked me what I wanted for my birthday.

"A sewing machine. But this time I have to pick it out." Mycal had gotten me my current machine for my birthday six years earlier. The plan had been to get a less expensive machine to see how much I used it and if I really got into sewing we'd upgrade. I'd only sewn off and on for the first few years I'd had it but had really started to take off over the last year. "I think I've shown that I'm going to be sewing a bit more seriously and know that it would be a lot easier with a different machine." We talked a little about prices and I told him I'd get some numbers back to him and we could figure it out.

I spent the next few days researching sewing machines. I knew there were a few things I didn't want from this sewing machine so that helped limit my search a bit. I didn't want it to be computerized - call me old fashioned but I that seems like one more thing that could go wrong. It's not that I wouldn't like a computerized one eventually I just don't want it to be my only sewing machine. That qualifier took out a lot of machines. Then I read reviews and checked prices on the best known brands. After talking to sales people, reviewing and researching some more I finally felt really good about getting a basic Viking. It was feeling pretty good but I still had to do the final test of sitting down to the machine and giving it a test run. I found a shop that had the machine I was interested in and went in for the test drive. It was amazing! I was so excited. After confirming with Mycal I ordered the beauty and got ready to wait.

Now came the agonizing part of waiting. I ordered the machine a week before my birthday but that wasn't early enough for it to get in before my birthday. Of course at first I was completely put out by the knowledge that it would take forever (10 days) to get here but then life kept me busy enough to keep the days passing quickly.

My birthday came bright and early. Mycal's car was in the shop and I had to renew my license as well as take care of a few errands in town so we all got up with the sun and headed down. I went to the DMV and got my new license, which ended being one of the most pleasant trips to that office in my life. Apparently as soon as it opens is the best time to get there. After that I went to a Nutella party for a friend. Next up was lunch then getting our taxes done. Perhaps not the most exciting activity but very exciting to have done. Unfortunately taxes took longer than we expected so Mycal and I weren't going to be able to go to Jefferson City for dinner like we had hoped. Still we had a great friend willing to watch the kids for a couple of hours so we could enjoy a nice little dinner together.

I took the couple of days as sick days and did very little around he house aside from lying in bed/on the couch and was feeling much better very quickly. By the afternoon of my second sick day I was thanking myself for taking it easy as I was feeling much better when I got a call that my sewing machine was in. It was perfect! I was feeling well enough to make the trip to pick up my machine (of course - odds are good I could have had the black plague and still felt 'good enough' to pick it up ;D) so Liberty and I headed out to get it. An hour and a half later I was finally home with my brand new sewing machine! Emmuska graciously took pictures while I unpacked and admired it.

Of course no birthday is complete without cake. I made my favorite chocolate cake with help from Emmuska. Pretty soon I won't have to make my cake for my birthday because she'll have that covered. I have to say, I'm pretty excited about that idea.

I know the frosting isn't right either - this was a practicality thing about using up one that was already opened and everybody liked...that won't happen next year. ;) Don't thing I didn't enjoy my birthday cake it was fabulous - I love how the above picture looks like a smiley face - cupcake eyes, ice cream smile - like it knew how yummy it would be. It just wasn't exactly perfect and since it's an easy thing to do perfectly I might as well. :D

I came across an incredible quote the other day that I absolutely love. Etsy (an online market place for handcrafted items and supplies as well as vintage stuff) has a blog where they regularly interview different members of their selling community. I was browsing through some back interviews/articles when I came across an interview with a woman who specifically makes macarons (that's how she spelled them...I don't know if they are a different cookie than what I was thinking or just a different spelling). The article caught my eye so I clicked on it to read the whole interview and was very much rewarded for doing so. At one point the question was asked: 'What does handmade mean to you?' Her response was incredible: "There is a soul for every single handmade item; it has the crafter’s love, care and good wishes, yet you will never find two handmade items that are the same exactly." - Karen of Sparkles Kitchen (http://www.etsy.com/people/sparkleskitchen) I love how beautifully she put it! I can't vouch for every hand crafted item in the world - as there is an amazing variety of people on this planet I wouldn't begin to presume that every person who makes things does so with the same measure of heart and love that most do. But this is so true for my work. Even when I'm making up a set of ten cards that all have the same design each one is still a little different. By the time I've put one or two pieces of the design on there are little difference that I take into consideration when placing each of the next elements. Every item is made with thought, care and anticipation of what the recipient will notice or appreciate. I sometimes worry that I tuck a little selfishness in my creations because I so love the feeling of somebody enjoying what I've made for them. You have to understand that I love this feeling so much it feels like I really made the item for me so I could get that feeling - which is totally selfish. But then I wonder if maybe that little bit of selfishness is really a bad thing (the little bit in the creation - not mine...mine probably is...I mean if you knew how much I get out of making things for people you'd probably agree that that much selfishness could not possibly be a good thing). I mean in the long run where is the line between self care and selfishness? I would love it if I knew the selfishness I put into my creations helped remind the recipients to take a moment to take care of themselves. To do the thing(s) their heart might need if even for just a moment.

Emmuska: "I wish we could have gone to the movie tonight."
Me: "I know kiddo but I didn't think we'd like the movie that was playing tonight."
"You didn't think we would like it or you didn't think you would like it?"
"Well I didn't think either of us would like it, but I was thinking mostly of you when I made the assessment."
"Oh. What's it about?"
(The movie was 'Justin Bieber: Never Say Never') "It's about a boy who liked to sing who grew into being a teen pop sensation."
"Oh. That sounds so lame."
"I happen to agree."

Every time I make a doll Sam-Attack can't resist 'loving it up' by toting it around the house. This got me thinking that maybe he'd like a doll of his own, so I set to work making a doll that could be all his and came up with this:

I was actually pretty excited about how he came out. And I have to say the face was much faster than my usual ventures which was fun.

I never thought twice about calling it his doll until the first time I had to say it while he was carrying it around. I just couldn't bring myself to say it. For some reason it just didn't seem right to talk to him about his 'doll'. Call me sexist I won't argue. As I sat there trying to force myself to say 'doll' the word 'boy' popped out of my mouth.

That was it. It was exactly what his toy was. Not a doll but a boy. Sam knew it was the right name for his toy too. The first time I asked Sam where his boy was he immediately got it for me. He may never get another name...simply staying Boy for the rest of his life. Which is okay with me. It fits him.

I stumbled across a picture today that really took me by surprise. It's...well...it's really hard to describe with words which is why pictures are amazing things. They save those indescribable moments for the masses to share in. I think most of you know about the event that led up to the picture to which I'm referring but for the sake of posterity I'm going to dip into some of the details to give you the back story. The date in question was a beautiful June day in Tennessee. All of Mycal's family had flown or driven in for a family reunion. It had been years since we'd all been together and the family had quite a few new members since the last family picture so we jumped at the opportunity to take some family pictures in a local park.

Things were going quite well. We were having a fun time, laughing, playing, making memories and capturing them all at the same time.

We had done the big family picture, each individual family, individuals, couples and a few other groupings and just had a couple more arrangements we wanted to try before calling it a day. One of these was getting all the men in the family together on a rather hefty looking limb of the tree to take a picture together. They guys proceeded to move in that direction. Now I'm not very clear on how everything happened. I just know I heard an unbelievable crack (it sounded a lot like a gunshot - a very short, sudden, loud burst of noise) and turned around to see the limb in question on the ground.

Closer examination of the scenario revealed my husband under said limb. Apparently he had jumped up and grabbed the branch which the tree didn't take too kindly to as it jettisoned the strained limb with alacrity. The branch, though quite large and easily capable of the weight in former days had at some point become infected and died. The sudden weight at that particular angle/place was all that was needed to bring it cleanly off the tree. The major problem with this being Mycal was underneath the limb when it gave way. It fell on his head which he responded to by doing a sort of catch/twist maneuver to help 'roll' it off of him while they fell. Sorry for the foggy description. Like I said I didn't see any of this and have only patchy memories of what everybody who did see it said. Thankfully Forrest was right there and he and Alex where able to give Mycal a blessing before the police (who had been watching the park all day due to a convention nearby) and paramedics arrived. It was an intense and worrisome few minutes but I knew Mycal was going to be okay and when Liberty started to cry that she 'didn't want (her) daddy to be dead' I felt the best way to reassure her would be to explain that 'her daddy was alright he just got a bad owie and that he was just resting to help him feel better' then to go ahead and take the pictures of her and Emmuska in their 'fancy Nancy' outfits that we had planned on doing. It just seemed like doing what we had talked about was going to be the easiest on them so I asked that Forrest stay with Mycal while I stayed with the kids. We finished taking pictures and headed out for the ice cream I'd promised them earlier for being helpful with the pictures.

We came back from our ice cream to see a city worker busily breaking up the branch and getting it cleared away. I do remember being impressed with how speedily they took care of this especially as it was a Saturday.

Pretty soon the only witness to what had happened there earlier (well this and the bill we got from the county's medical services because they weren't too happy with what our insurance paid for the ambulance service...but that's another, less exciting story) was this picnic table who caught the tree branch after Mycal. Yeah despite having the branch's momentum broken by Mycal's head it still didn't hold up too well. Now we come to the picture I found today. I was sifting through SuZan's photos of the trip for a project when I stumbled across this gem:

Yikes! I mean...wow! For the last ten and a half months I thought I handled the whole thing pretty well but I've recently come to discover I looked very much like a doe staring down a semi. Mycal wasn't in the hospital for too long and it wasn't twelve hours before he was sitting with his family laughing about this or that from the day's event. I wish we had a picture of that part of the day...I hadn't laughed so hard in probably months. From the way everyone, especially Mycal, was talking about the day you would have thought we were talking about a humorous theoretical scenario. And even though ten months later there are some lingering effects from the accident it's hard to be really upset about it because of the many good things that I was able to gain from it. Not only did it bear witness to the power of the priesthood but also to the importance of having the priesthood available, the blessing of having a worthy priesthood holder available. It was an incredible reminder of the love and strength I have available to me from both his family and mine. I know that I have many people I can turn to whenever I need extra support and help. The experience bolster my trust in the family members there, to know that I could turn to them when things are hard and I'm not at my best. It also bolstered my faith in myself and my ability to trust in Heavenly Father. The fact is Mycal's job has elements of risk involved. He could be seriously injured in another country or even die. I don't fret over this aspect of his profession and I don't begrudge the possibility - it is just one of the risks of the job. Many jobs are riskier and you don't even know or hear about it so I feel blessed that at least the awareness is out there for one to think about and prepare for at least on some level. Anyhow through this experience I could really feel Heavenly Father's love and comfort with me and I knew that everything would be okay. And I got the feeling that no matter what we face during his career that same reassurance would always be there for me. So crazy eyes aside I actually felt pretty good experience because it gave me a better sense of the strength and comfort both within and all around me.

Two years ago yesterday (I started this post yesterday – nothing but the best of intentions around here. ;) ) after an exhausting journey we finally pulled into the parking lot for the apartment building where we were going to live for the next four months. I had my reservations about this place (and I’m not just talking about our apartment, though I certainly had some about that as well…). I didn’t know much about the state of Missouri aside from the rather dark past it shared with my religious forbearers and came in with the mentality that ‘we were only going to be here for four months and you can live through anything for four months’. It wasn’t too long before I discovered I really liked it here and when Mycal came home one day and said he’d volunteered to stay here for a couple extra years not only was I not surprised I was pretty happy about it. After two years I still enjoy being here and am constantly finding more to enjoy. In that vein I want to share some of my thoughts on this place I call home.

My first real memories (aside from trying to set our course here a little outside of Kansas City, but that is hardly worth going into...I mean after the many hours without sleep things like that were bound to happen...) is of us driving a little too fast over bouncy, twisty (I think 'rolling' would be the literary term) highways trying to make sure we connected with the right one (of the very many) to get us to our destination. This was after many (many) hours on the road with very (very) little sleep.  And we were eager to beat the storm to our front door so there we were, going a little too fast. While I was holding up alright the same cannot be said for Emmuska.  About an hour before we pulled into our driveway she started throwing up.  Car sick and exhausted her poor little body let it all go.  I have since learned that this was not to be a singular event. There have been a good number of times since then when the roads have taken their toll on each of the children.  And despite the unappealing nature of each of these incidents it's hard to get overly upset or regret the crazy highway system out here. It's just part of the state and one of the things I enjoy about living here.

We did in fact manage to pull into the parking lot of our apartment building just as it was beginning to rain and got everything unloaded before the real down pour began. Being safely ensconced by the walls of our new dwelling with our possessions safe and dry around us we were able to look around and take stock of where it was we would be living for the next four months (or so we thought at the time).  It consisted of two large rooms separated by a door - one room housed a small cooking area (I just can't bring myself to call it a kitchen) and the other a couple of closets and a bathroom.  It wasn't much but they let us have a dog and it wasn't the smallest place in which we've ever lived. Besides it was only for a few months.  After getting settled in Mycal had to report in with his commander and get everything he had missed while being gone.  Thom and I decided to take the kids somewhere they could play while Mom got some rest. (I'm fairly certain that of everybody involved she had slept/rested the least on the journey out - then of course once we got there she was busy getting everything put away. Simply put my mother is amazing and will make sure everything that needs to get done does - she's just that kind of woman.) However because we lacked knowledge of our surroundings and couldn't figure out how to get the GPS working correctly we failed to find the McDonald's housing the play place (it was a rainy day and we thought that would be a good place for the kids) and ended up on base, thus introducing me to what would essentially become the center of our social life.  Okay that may be a little bit of an exaggeration (we have church and the craft store too) but the base has become an incredible resource for us.  In any given week we are there twice during the week taking advantage of some program or other. A couple of favorites are the various craft times they offer here and there (Emmuska especially is a huge fan of these) as well as the free movies they show at the theater on Friday nights and Saturday mornings. We haven’t paid to see a movie in the last year and a half since making this discovery. Better still is the fact that they don’t seem to mind if we bring in our own popcorn (which is much tastier than the theater’s offering). There are of course the various annual activities that we get to enjoy such as the Holiday Express, Summer Reading Program and quite a few miscellaneous fairs. While we haven’t had the chance to live on base here we’ve still been able to enjoy many of the great resources.

Which leads me to the commissary. It’s funny how quickly you can grow used to something. As far as I can tell most commissaries are set up where the baggers will take your groceries out to your car and load them up for you. Baggers, however, are not paid by the commissary but rather earn all of their money from tips received from the shoppers for whom they help load the groceries. When we were in California I never took advantage of this opportunity always asking the baggers to load the groceries back into my own cart which I would push out to my car and load myself. The first time I went to the commissary here I forgot to make this simple request of the bagger and from then on fell into the habit of just tipping the bagger for the help they gave me out to the car. Approximately six months after getting here little Samuel made his grand appearance and I was happier than ever to give those helping hands a couple of dollars to load my groceries while I got all the kids buckled into the car. Now I’m useless on my own. A few months after Samuel was born I went to Walmart and realized how used to having that extra help I’d gotten. Suddenly it took so much longer to load up the car – it just wasn’t the smooth system I was used to. While I’ve managed to adjust so that it doesn’t feel so bizarre to not have help loading the car I still look forward to the extra help. While visiting family in Utah I stopped by the local grocery store (the one I’d shopped at while growing up and whenever I lived near my parent’s house) and upon checking out was asked if I’d like help out to the car. I paused for a second and said ‘yes, yes I would, thank you’ something I know I wouldn’t have done a year and half earlier when I’d last lived there. While I know that I can get the children and groceries all loaded into the car myself I’ve come to appreciate not having to and being able to enjoy the extra hands.

After a brief tour of the base (by now I realize just how brief it was) with stops at the PX and Commissary to pick up a few goods Thom and I headed home to start dinner. Mom had rested a little and popped up to help as soon as we came in. For the rest of the afternoon we made a list of things we needed but didn’t have. That evening after getting the girls settled into bed my mom and I head over to Walmart to pick up a few of the items. It had been raining off and on all afternoon and evening but was in a little bit of a lull when we left. We missed our turn and ended up taking short driving tour of the two towns outside of the base which was entertaining and exciting. We eventually found our goal destination and stocked up on the goodies we needed. When we stepped out of the store we were greeted by a good Midwestern down pour. I have always loved rain storms – but alas living in Utah most of my life haven’t been able to properly enjoy them. I mean sure it rains there but rarely was I able to enjoy good storms that lasted all day (or longer) with gusto. We’d could get a strong storm but they didn’t seem to last all that long. So when I stepped out of Walmart into that incredibly rainy weather my heart thrilled. I could tell that I’d get the chance to enjoy more of this sort of thing. We raced to the car and got everything loaded up – laughing about the rain the whole time. What we didn’t realize was that the real storm hadn’t even started yet. We were in the car for a couple of minutes, getting settled when suddenly the storm got serious. It went for a hearty down pour to a torrential down pour. Of course Mom and I looked at each other and just grinned, once again enjoying the fact that some places know how to do rain right. We had decided to stop at McDonald’s to grab a little treat beforehand so we started off in that direction. By the time we got there we could barely see out of the windows and a siren was sounding on base (a couple of miles from where we were). We decided to go into the McDonald’s rather than doing the drive through and darted in through the rain. We placed our order then finally asked what the siren we could hear meant. The employees looked at us blankly as if they couldn’t believe we didn’t know.

“You don’t know what the siren means?”

“No…we just drove in this afternoon.”

“It’s the tornado alert on base. Do you live on base?”

“No.”

“Good because you wouldn’t be able to get on right now. When that siren is going they shut down the gates.”

So we sat out the tornado in the McDonald’s enjoying our little treat. It was an amazing storm but didn’t stay strong forever. Maybe a half an hour after pulling in it had let up enough for us to drive home. There was another alert or two that night and many more to follow over the next few months. It turns out that our apartment was located was right along a stretch of road that is known as ‘Tornado Alley’ because of the way the wind patterns converge there and often result in tornados. The girls and I enjoyed quite a few times of cuddling up in the bathtub with some Honeycomb cereal and some blankets while we read stories or watched shows on the laptop. While a few of these times where a little scary I couldn’t keep that little part of my heart from cheering for the rain. Since then I’ve had the chance to enjoy a number of wonderfully rainy days each one bringing that thrill to my heart. Guess I just belong somewhere where it knows how to rain.

In the two years I’ve been here I’ve discovered many more things I love about this place. I love the weather. As much as I grumble about the winter I enjoy that there are four seasons and that they (mostly) fit into the months they belong in. I love the warmer falls and nicer springs. Even when the summer gets pretty hot I can’t help but enjoy it because it’s part of the cycle that is the weather here. I love the smells that accompany the weather – the way rainy days smell and the smell of leaves burning on crisp fall days or barely warm spring days. The smell of grass and trees and even humidity in the summer. I enjoy being able to step out and not only feel the day but be able to smell it too. I love the people here. The people in the ward truly feel like friends we could turn to in times of need. I’ve only ever met kindness from my neighbors and have enjoyed getting to know new people and form friendships in all the different places we go. I love the landscape, the rolling hills and trees. I’d always thought of Missouri as a desolate flat land with little variety in the landscape, and no trees. I’m not sure where I got the idea but it had always been there and I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s covered with hills, trees and rivers. And while the winding roads have been the cause for more than one need to clean out the car I wouldn’t trade them as I love the drives. I love the colors the trees turn in the fall (well not last fall but the fall before that…last fall was a little bit of an oddity) and I love the storms. I love living near the base and all the resources available to me because of it. There is so much to love about this place. And while I have complained now and then about this or that (not having the abundance of craft supplies readily available generally) and will more likely than not be very excited about the next place we get to go, there will be a part of me that will dearly miss being here.

Emmuska gets all the focus on the verbal end of this blog because, well she says some things that simply must be written down for the sake of posterity. I've felt badly about that but lately Liberty has really started to find her voice and I wonder what kind of things we are going to hear because of that. Today she had a perfect gem of a statement.
I'd been looking for a parking spot at the commissary which was pretty full compared to when we usually go. Despite the lot being pretty full there were four or so spots close to the store and empty. These spots are reserved for various individuals however the girls didn't know that so they helpfully pointed them out to me.
Emmuska: "How about right there?"
Me: "Those spots are for special people."
Liberty: "We're special people."
Me: (after a second so I could really appreciate her words) "You're right Liberty we are."

Emmuska (as you all well know) is in her own league when it comes to expressing herself. She has a way with words that simultaneously makes me stare in laughter and either burst out laughing or try to repress said laughter. Apparently she has become aware of her gift as well. The other day I was sitting on the couch when she brought me a toy and showed me how it worked. I was quite impressed as I'd try to figure out the toy and hadn't come close.
"Wow Emmuska! I was trying to figure that out earlier and couldn't. That was really in...in...in...(me struggling for the right word)..."
"Ingenious?"
*sigh*"Yes ingenious."
"I know."
I actually had thought of ingenious right away but was trying to find a different word that might better sum up the character strength she had exhibited. But on seeing me stuck she was at the ready to supply the answer. Apparently I'll have to think these sort of things out before I start my sentence. ;)
A few days before that we had just finished reading the scriptures at which time either Mycal or I share our testimony (usually something related to what we just read about) with the girls. Emmuska has taken an interest in doing this before and has born her testimony a few times in the past. After finishing the reading Mycal asked her if she would like to share her testimony. She declined and expressed her interest in hearing Kimberly's testimony. Kimberly looked up a little startled and asked 'What do I do?' clearly inquiring about how this little part of our routine went. Emmuska however missed that little nuance and jumped in with this answer:
"Look Kim, it's really easy. You say something like 'I know Jesus lives and that he loves us and if we ever need help that we can turn to him and he will be there to help us. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.' and that's how you do it!"
I think we should get her to give lessons to half the ward. ;)
Finally today we were out driving around when Emmuska piped up from the back seat,
"Mom, are voice boxes round or square?"
which I found to be an excellent question,
"Ummm...I don't know. That is an excellent question. We'll have to ask grandma."
After which she pondered what other possible shape ones voice box could be.

Today was trash day and I didn't get mine out in time. Has anybody else noticed a formula like this when it comes to their trash collection time: where x=estimated trash collection time and y=number of hours before x that I get the trash to the curb and z=time of actual trash pick up x+y=z. That is to say if I guess that the trash will be picked up at 7 a.m. and plan on sleeping in so I get my trash out by 11 p.m. the preceeding night it will then be picked up at 2 p.m. the next day. Like wise if I forget to get the trash out the preceeding night and wake out of dead sleep at the rememberance, rush to get the trash out at 4:30 a.m. (so I don't fall back asleep and miss it...) the trash will be picked up at 9:30 a.m. Of course if I completely forget to get the trash out and sleep through that inner reminder (or ignore it because...well they never pick it up before 9:30 anyway) that is the day the trash man comes at 7 a.m. *sigh* guess I won't be doing much spring cleaning this week. ;)

I came across a few Irish blessings a couple of days ago and figured since it was still March it's not too late to share them with you.

"You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.”

If you've ever taken something like this:

And made it look like this:

You are creative. I don't care what anybody else (including you) say to the contrary. I don't know if you've ever considered the feeling but I'm sure if you stopped to think about it you'd agree that sitting on a clean toilet just feels so much more comfortable and relaxing.
(And in my defense this is the downstairs toilet that we've barely used since moving in because it's not in an enclosed bathroom...strictly emergencies only at this point. It looked like that when I moved in. I swear.)

Emmuska got a tea set for her birthday and since the kids got their table and chairs for Christmas she has hosted quite a few 'tea parties' (made up with hot chocolate instead). These little socials are always huge hits.

One of my favorite things about Christmas morning has always been my stocking. It was always a big part of our Christmas morning - first because of all the fun and exciting surprises tucked in there by my parents and later because of the little trinkets and odds and end we would put in there for each other (in addition to what our parents did :D - yeah we had it pretty good). While part of this love had to do with the fun little goodies inside a lot had to do with my actual stocking:

I can't even do justice to how much I loved my stocking. I thought for sure I had the best stocking in the family even though the oldest six, as well as my Mom and Dad, each had little pictures and their name embroidered on it just like mine does I was certain that the fabric on mine, the picture - everything was the best in the whole family. So growing up I always felt that stocking were one of the central parts of Christmas. Imagine my shock when I met a family who not only didn't have personal stocking but couples shared a stocking! (You know I love guys and wouldn't change you for the world. :D) It was at that point that I started to examine my feelings for stockings and decided that I needed to make stockings for my family. The Thanksgiving after Emmuska was born I asked my mom to help me make stockings for Mycal and Emmuska (which in our house meant "please make two stocking for me and I love you!") and she did a fabulous job. Before Christmas 2005 I got a package that had two well made, blank stockings. I wasn't surprised because I had told my mom that I could handle the rest. But of course I had to finish this and that and...suddenly it was Christmas Eve and there I was embroidering Mycal's name onto his stocking. I reasoned that I could do Emmuska's name and the pictures later. And so it was that every Christmas I'd pull our stockings out in the beginning of December but never have enough time to finish them before Christmas. The year Samuel was born I did manage to sit down to the sewing machine and make two more stockings so we at least had the enough for our family. I also managed to cut a pig out of felt and glue it to Emmuska's so that we could tell the difference between her's and Liberty's.  This Christmas was no different. I had the best of intentions of finishing the stockings but in reality only managed to get an 'E' embroidered on Emmuska's. This year I was smarter though. I didn't put the stockings away with all the other Christmas stuff. So halfway through January (instead of halfway through December) I started cutting out the pictures and sewing them onto the stockings.

*This is part of series. If you've missed an installment go back and read it - they are much better (and slightly more clear) in order.*

Time is a funny thing. For example I can’t believe not only that it is already March but that March is already almost half over! What has happened to the last two and a half months?! I can’t believe that I started this story over a month ago and that it has been weeks since my last installment. So much time passes so quickly and I just can’t seem to keep track of it. But the thing that makes it really tricky is that it isn’t consistent about its march onward. There are times when it seems to go so slowly that it makes molasses in January positively look like the hare in Aesop’s fable. And other times it just messes with your perceptions to the point of utter confusion.

When I started writing this story I had to sit down and think about when everything happened. My mind seems to work a lot like one of those big filing cabinets with each drawer representing a specific year. You pull open the drawer and everything is laid out chronologically so I know precisely where to find things  because they are either before or after key dates/holidays/events ect. In the case of this particular story I can gauge much of its progress because it happened between Halloween and Valentine’s Day with big mental markers at Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, ect.  As I started to think about and plot out this story I was surprised. This part felt like it lasted weeks if not quite months. I thought that I battled feelings of indecision and guilt for a couple of weeks before calling Mycal up and telling him I just wasn’t that interested in him. And that it had taken a few more weeks to sort things out to the point where we were talking again. It felt like the longest part of our courtship. As I charted out the events and time line the reality proved to be quite a bit different.

After spending the morning with my best friend I headed back to my house to get ready for work at which point I called Mycal. I’m always impressed at what tasks I’ll proactively take care of while neglecting others. You’d think that I’d have procrastinated making this phone call a little more seeing as I’d been putting off doing the same with the young man I’d been dating before Mycal but no – once I decided to clarify this particular relationship I figured I’d might as well just do it and get it out of the way. So call Mycal I did.

“Hi!” (Mycal)

“Hey...”

“How are you doing today?”

“Alright…so I was wondering…do you see anything happening with us?”

“Umm…” (Mycal is much better at waiting to play his cards than I am)

“Because I’m not interested in anything serious right now. I’ve got a lot of things I want to figure out and give a try and not a lot of it includes being around here…”

“Ummm…okay…”

“I mean don’t get me wrong I think you’re a great guy and I really like hanging out with you but I don’t really have time for anybody in my life right now. Besides I think I’m going to go to Washington to stay with my sister for a while – you know to figure out what I want with my life.”

“Well that sounds…nice…” (said haltingly)

“Yeah…it should be pretty good…well I have to go to work now so I’ll talk to you later okay?”

“Umm…sure”

Okay this conversation isn’t verbatim – but I think you get the idea. I felt certain that I had clearly explained why any ideas he might have as to a serious relationship just wouldn’t work…and that I’d done it in a polite enough manner. Yeah I’m not exactly sure what I was thinking either. I find that when I’m not sure what to do or feel uncomfortable I act irrationally. And I had been feeling uncomfortable since I’d seen his friend at lunch on Thursday and didn’t know what I should do – so I had a double dose of irrationality going on. I’ve come to learn if I just wait I can usually get a better idea of what to do but I’m still trying to get that trick down and was really bad at it at the time. I felt like action was necessary so act I did. For better or worse it was done. I’d put an end to whatever little thing was happening with Mycal. I could breathe a little bit more easily and go on with my life.

But if that was the case why didn’t I feel better?

So the last entry wasn't really so many thoughts as much as short stories some of them admittedly quite random. The reason is when I sit down to write my random thoughts they immediately disappear so I pull the few stray things poking around and the result is a rambling (not so) short story. Anyhow I remember a few of my random thoughts and wanted to write them down.

Well...for the last couple of days really. What can I say - I think more often than I'm able to get online. ;) 

As I took a few quite moments to check my email and other computer what-nots I couldn't help but think that today was a good day. And then I started to think about today and why it was great and was a little surprised which got me thinking about how much ones perspective and attitudes can change and evolve as we grow. The thing is by all counts today's 'minuses' should outweigh 'pluses'. I had to drive down town - twice. I got up late so was running late which means I forgot a bunch of stuff and was very stressed because not only was I late but I was made my friend late. I really don't like being late but feel even worse when I make somebody else late. At the sewing activity Liberty pooped her pants. On top of that Samuel pinched his finger in the door and just wouldn't be reconciled and only found peace after he fell asleep in my arms. So it took me a while before I could anything done. Later that day while at my friends house Emmuska didn't make it to the potty on time. Indeed it didn't even appear as though she had tried...quite frustrating especially since it was at a friends house rather than our own. (I don't know about you but I'd prefer messes as the result of my children happened at home - especially when they involve body fluids.) To top it off my sewing machine has developed a new mystery symptom that I'll spend hours, tears and possibly a few curses trying to figure out. And if things go anything like they have in the past I won't even figure out the problem - it will suddenly just stop happening so the next time it comes up I will once again sit/stare/cry/curse at it in frustration. To top it all off my house is a disaster despite my best efforts over the weekend to reign in the madness - especially my craft area as I'm still trying to figure out how to Sammy proof it...

If you had been at our house today you might have heard the following:

Emmuska feels a keen responsibility to remind Liberty not only what to do but also when and how and...I'm constantly asking her to not worry about Liberty and take care of herself. Here was a conversation we had recently.

*This is a part of a series so if you haven't read the first couple installments go back and read them first - it's a lot better in order.*

As I’ve mentioned before I’m not really good with confrontation so rather than actually calling the gentleman and saying ‘sayonara buckwheat’ I’d opted for the avoidance path figuring that my hometown was plenty big enough for one individual to avoid another. And in my defense I had tried the whole talking thing once before (basketball game night) and hadn’t really achieved anything. He kept on saying everything was fine so avoidance just seemed like the best option. Until that day exactly one week after the last time I’d seen him. Seeing him essentially lit the fuse of an emotional bomb.

When Mycal saw the young man walk in he got up to talk to him and was chatting with him while texting me (how does he do that?! I can’t even talk to two people at the same time let alone holding one of the conversations via text message…) asking me what he wanted me to do. My response was exactly what I would have expected it to be – a combination of some of my biggest character flaws. My aversion to the dreaded confrontation especially in a crowded area (*gasp* a public ‘scene’ as it had quickly escalated to in my mind) had my stomach rolling in turmoil and a lovely faux smile plastered to my face. Which invariably led to the next character flaw, I lied. I assured Mycal that I was completely fine and that whatever they wanted to do was perfectly alright – which of course was exactly opposite of how I felt. I wanted to sink into the floor. More accurately I wanted Mycal’s friend to suddenly remember he had to go to work or something and leave so Mycal and I could enjoy the lunch I’d really been looking forward to. I absolutely didn’t want it to be another miserable hour of poor company. I, however, lacked the courage to say just that and so Mycal and his friend got into line while I finished talking with my friend. When she headed to her class I got in line with Mycal and company and numbly put on a great face while approximately fifteen million different ideas went racing through my head: what should I do? What does he expect me to do? Are we still ‘dating’? Were we ever actually dating or was that just in my head? Neither of us had said that things were over but was there a thing to be over?  You get the idea.

To better understand the perspective of the slightly quirky mind mulling over (over thinking…) the above thoughts I’m going to share a little more background that I didn’t even understand for myself at the time (or even for quite a few years…I’m still figuring myself out…which is okay because I’ve got my whole life to do it right?) I am many things – creative, fun-loving, intuitive, a listener, detailed oriented and many more. One thing I feel very strongly about is being committed. I am a deeply committed individual especially when it comes to people. When I make a commitment to a person I feel horrible when I don’t follow through. Not so much because I feel their recrimination or disappointment but because I feel like I hadn’t been good to my word. Likewise if somebody tells me that they will do something and they don’t follow through I feel it deeply. This has caused a little bit of personality clash with Mycal and I because Mycal is a planner or goal setter so he is often making goals or plans but is okay if they don’t work out. That’s fine with me until it crosses over into my life and he makes plans with me to do something and then something comes up or it just doesn’t work out. He may be disappointed but it is much worse for me – often physically upsetting. We’ve had to come to an agreement about what we can talk about and plan and what he has to just surprise me with if he wants to do something and isn’t 110% positive that it will happen.

Back to the story at hand. At the time I didn’t clearly understand this about myself and this had a definite downside. I felt very committed to people but was much less discerning about whom I’d make this commitment to. So I’d make too many commitments to too many people. I blame this character trait (I have to say trait because sometimes it’s a blessing other times a curse…) for my complete lack of sense over the next couple of days. When I saw that young man on that Thursday afternoon my commitment siren went buzzing. I’m fairly certain it went on alert because despite the way he’d treated me over the last couple of weeks we had kissed and to me that meant that we had a relationship on some level beyond just casually dating. I’d casually dated a lot and never kissed anybody else so to me that was something special that meant the relationship was more important. Like I said I have a hard time when people don’t follow through on commitments but I have an even more difficult time when I don’t follow through on a commitment so as I went over every detail of what exactly our relationship was I couldn’t help but notice everything I’d done wrong – ways I’d failed to follow through on whatever commitment my sub-conscious had arbitrarily attributed to a kissing relationship. What was I doing dating other people? That seemed so wrong if I hadn’t clearly ended the relationship with the guy I had kissed! At this point I’d also like to note that I’m a very detailed oriented perfectionist. I like things to be done just right. And obviously the right way to end a relationship (especially one in which kissing has been involved…) does not include obscure avoidance. In my head it’s done clearly and directly. I figure if we’d been willing to kiss each other that only seems right. And l like things to be done right. Now I know many of you are probably laughing at how silly, naïve and perhaps old fashioned I seem. I don’t blame you. I’ve yet to meet anybody willing to confess that they had this much inner turmoil because they kissed somebody. I think my favorite label is quirky. You may use it without discretion.

So despite the fact that Mycal had paid for my lunch and treated me like a princess at all times – I felt like I wasn’t being fair to the guy who could barely spare the extra oxygen it took to form a sentence when he was around me. Yeah I know. Not my brightest moment.  As we got our food we and sat down the girl Mycal had dated a couple of time (who was leaving on her mission shortly) came and sat down as well. Seating arrangements stood thus: I was next to silent young man and across the table from Mycal who was sitting next to future missionary who was across from silent young man. Fortunately there was food so I didn’t have to worry about what to say and I started digging into my mashed potatoes when Mycal starts playing footsies with me! I almost had a heart attack. There is he acting completely normal to everybody else at the table while sneaking goofy yet knowing little grins to me and I am on the verge of a mental breakdown because this is going against my kissing relationship commitment book of etiquette.  Aaaaah! Lunch finally ended and I obviously lived to tell the tale but at the time I had my doubts…

The next night was the star show date Mycal had set up on Tues. it was a double date with my brother which helped occasionally take my mind off the roller coaster of thoughts and feelings going on in my head. I say this because it was really sad watching him with his date. He clearly looked like he didn’t know what to do and she looked really bored. It looked so awkward for him that I couldn’t help but feel badly for him which helped pull me out of the funk I was falling into due to my emotional turmoil. I have to admit that looking back I feel somewhat embarrassed by all of this because it seems so little and silly compared to everything that is going on in the world – both on the big stages and the very little ones. But for the sake of posterity I plow on…

At some point in the evening my brother’s date went home and Mycal and I, my best friend and her boyfriend and Valerie (possibly with her boyfriend possibly without – I’m not really sure now…) settled down to watch a show. And rather than maintain a respectable distance (separate couch cushions?) from Mycal I cuddle up to enjoy the show. I know, I know…one word. Floozy. I felt like I was being so unfair to him because I clearly had another relationship I needed to do something about so obviously this little cuddling thing couldn’t possibly go anywhere but I just couldn’t seem to pull myself away from him.

The next day my friend and I went out for ice cream where we talked about this and that but mostly about Mycal and what was going on as far as he and I were concerned. Of course I lacked the insight I have now so I said that I wasn’t really sure but I didn’t think I was that into him and some other nonsense that I can’t remember. I do remember that I couldn’t pin down a reason for not liking him just vaguely ‘didn’t think it would work…’ It was at that point that I decided it was time I just do what I should have done earlier. Get to the bottom of where things stood with Mycal and make sure they weren’t going anywhere.

Emmuska has now lost three of her baby teeth and has yet to receive a visit from the tooth fairy.
She lost her first tooth in August. To tell the truth it completely freaked me out. She had mentioned that her tooth was loose the day before but I didn't know it was that loose. So there I am eating dinner and she comes up to me with a huge smile on her face because she lost her first tooth. My response? "What?! Really?! Are you okay? Are you sure? You lost a tooth?! How could you have already lost a tooth?!" Meanwhile she's just staring at me with her most patient expression waiting for me to come to grips with this moment. Yeah I wish I'd been all cool about it too but it really hit me out of the blue. I just couldn't believe she was already that old. So since I wasn't prepared for her tooth to come out I wasn't prepared for the tooth fairy to come so we set it on my desk where it was swallowed into the mass of clutter that used to be my desk...never to be seen again.
A month or two later she lost her second tooth. She decided the safest place for this tooth was in her pocket despite my warnings to the contrary. Yeah we didn't see it again after that.
For the last month she has had a loose tooth that looked like it was going to fall out any moment but then it wouldn't. It was a tenacious little guy just holding on for dear life until last week when it finally got knocked out. Apparently after all the twisting, turning and eating of apples she accidentally knocked it with her knee and that did the trick.
"Emmuska why don't you put that tooth up on the mantle above the fireplace so it doesn't get lost."
"No I think I'll just hold onto it..."
"Do you remember what happened to your last tooth when you decided to hold onto it?"
"Yeah...it got lost."
"Yes it did so why don't you put it up there where it will be safe."
"Or I could put it on my desk or dresser."
"Well you could but I don't think that's as good of an idea because Samuel can get into both of those places - he can't reach the up above the fireplace. It's probably the safest place you can put it."
"I think I'll put it in my shirt pocket."
"Okaaaay. It's your choice but I think you should put it above the fireplace."
"It'll be alright."
"Like I said - it's your choice..."
The fatal problem with Emmuska's plan was that her shirt was on inside out so she had to take it off and fix it to have the pocket on the outside so she could put her tooth in it. So she set her tooth down and started about the procedure of doing just that. Once her shirt was righted she went to pick up her tooth to find nothing but Autumn staring at her.
"Oh no! My tooth! It's gone..."
"It has to be here somewhere."
"I've looked everywhere I think Autumn ate it."
After looking at the situation and evidence for myself I had to agree that I too though Autumn had eaten the tooth.
"We're going to need an x-ray to get it back!"
"Ummm...that's not really how x-ray's work. Sometimes they can show us what's inside somebody but they don't get it out for us."
"But why would Autumn eat my tooth? That is so gross!"
"Well bones and teeth have calcium and other vitamins in them that dogs need. It's where they get a lot of important nutrients."
"It's still gross."
"I know. I'm sorry kiddo."
"Now what am I going to do about the tooth fairy? Do you think she will still come?"
"Probably not without the tooth...maybe if we write a letter explaining the situation..."
"Yeah. *sigh* I guess that's what we'll have to do..."
She was kind of down about this for a while.
"Emmuska"
"Yeah"
"You've got to admit...it's kind of funny that Autumn ate your tooth."
"Yeah it is kind of silly but I still think it's gross."

*This is part of a series - if you've missed the last two go back and read them first. This story is a lot more fun in order.*

The next day I was on break at work when I saw that I’d missed a call from a number I didn't recognize. Now I don't really think of myself as being an overly outgoing type of person but for some reason I feel compelled to call back numbers that I've missed when I don't know what they are. I'm fairly certain the reason behind this is I'm very curious. Especially about other people and why they are interested in me (does that sound vain...it's really not as much as it might seem...) Anyhow when I saw that I missed a call I did what I do and called the number back.
"Hello?"
"Hi this is Stephanie Stohel I missed a call from this number..." (okay side note I almost wrote Brown there...I think it funny that despite the fact that I wrote and answered to Stohel for two and a half times as long as Brown even when I'm writing about my Stohel days my mind is stuck on being Brown)
"Oh it was probably from Mycal I'll go get him for you."
"Thank you."
Pause
"Hey this is Mycal."
"Hi...I saw that I missed a call..."
"Yeah I was just calling to see how you are doing." (He'd gotten my number when he was trying to get tickets to Disney-on-Ice - at this point in my life I'm fairly certain this may have been a very clever ploy to get my number into his phone for future reference...Mycal is very good at seeing three moves ahead of the rest of us…or me at least :) – on that note I did have Mycal’s cell phone number in my phone just not his home phone so it’s not like I wasn’t okay with having him call.)
"Oh thanks..." We then started talking about what had been going on and how I wasn't planning on doing much with his friend for a while. We talked about a few other things and I mentioned that I had a date later that night with somebody I'd known in high school. By this time I had to get off the phone because my break was over but before I hung up he told me to call if I needed anything or ‘if the guy (I was going out) tries anything’ and he'd come beat him up for me. I told him 'thank you very much and I'll keep that in mind...' though I was thinking 'yeah that would have been helpful the last time I was out with your friend and why would I call you? I barely know you...' But still I thought it was really nice that he cared.

The next day Mycal called me and said that a bunch of friends would be hanging out that evening and I could come if I wanted to. I asked if his friend that I'd been dating would be there because I’d already decided that if asked me to do anything I’d already have ‘previous engagements’ and when he said no I said I'd probably be able to come after work. Fast forward to that night after closing up I called to see where they were so I could meet up with them. I walked into the local burger joint to see Mycal and two other guys and three ladies there. Amazingly enough it wasn't at this moment that I realized I had walked in on a group date...no being the clever individual that I am it took me a little longer (okay a lot longer…I was a little think about this whole situation) So I pulled up a chair and Mycal asked if I wanted a shake to which I responded that I’d get something in a minute. He insisted on getting if for me though so I told him what kind of shake I wanted and we all enjoyed talking and having a good time. (Okay I enjoyed it anyway...I can't vouch for Mycal's actual date of the evening. On that note Mycal's date was leaving for her mission in two or three weeks so I'm working on the assumption that she wasn't out that night in search of her future husband but rather just having a good time with a friend.) When everybody was ready to go home Mycal asked me if I wanted to go with him to drop his date off (he didn't put it like that - he just said her name and remember I hadn't realized it was a group date just yet). I had been hoping he would because the time I'd spent around Mycal had been the most fun I'd had in past couple of weeks.  It was a forty-five minute drive back from his date's house which we spent in pleasant conversation. It was a relief from the last few times I’d been out with a guy.

The next day there was a fireside at the Institute that Mycal, his date from the previous night and one of her friends were going as well. I decided that it might be fun and invited the gentleman I’d gone on a date with earlier that week to come too. The way we sat down had the two other girls between Mycal and I but whenever something was said that I thought was funny or interesting or in some way sparked some sort of thought I’d look at Mycal and we’d share the thought. At the end of the fireside he said he’d get in touch with me later that week which put me in an incredibly good mood.

A day or two later Mycal gave me a call just as I was leaving work. We started chatting about this and that and I couldn’t get over how easy it was to talk with him. Both then and now I could not tell you what in the world we talked about for four or five hours at a time but that is exactly what we did. We rambled over just about every topic possible sharing opinions and ideas and suddenly hours would have passed and it was late into the night. And the whole time I felt completely comfortable and safe. Whenever I was around Mycal or talked to him it felt like we had known each other for a long time and there was no need to go through some of the more awkward parts of getting to know someone. At some point in the conversation I mentioned that I was just going to leave my social life really open and see what happened. It was at that point he started talking about a star lecture on Friday:

“A group of us are going so if you’d like to come you’re more than welcome. You can bring a date…or I could be your date.” Yes my heart was like a pool of melted butter all over the place. The words on paper just don’t do the actual vocalization of the invitation justice. It was the best first date ask out of my life.

*girlish giggle*”heehee that sounds great!”

By the end of the conversation Mycal, being the super smooth man of action that he is, had set up three dates. I was completely twitterpated.

Date one was the next day – a lunch date. I couldn’t wait until noon when he was supposed to pick me up and I’ll tell you that lunch to a national fast food chain has never been so fabulous. Okay…maybe a few times since and occasionally on some family adventures but I just couldn’t get over my excitement of being out with him. It was easy and fun.

The next day in honor of Thanksgiving the Institute was doing a turkey dinner for the weekly lunch they host. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of all time and I really wanted to go but my friends who I went to institute with couldn’t go and I didn’t want to go by myself so I was kind of bummed about it. Until I mentioned it to Mycal at which point we made plans to meet there.

I walked into the Institute on Thursday and Mycal was already there. As soon as he spotted me he did what he always does when he sees me for the first time that day – he gives me the biggest, brightest smile you’ll ever see on his face. I love this smile for so many reasons – mainly because it’s his special smile just for me. It’s the sort of smile that clearly tells the person receiving it that they are the most important person in the whole world. It says that they (the receiver) have completely made the smiler’s day just by being there at that moment. It’s the kind of smile that is guaranteed to let you know just how incredible you truly are – even if you don’t really know why. It’s the kind of smile that makes you feel like you are being bathed in sunshine – warm and happy but instead of feeling sleepy like sunshine can make you feel you feel giddy and ready to dance – like if you don’t move your heart just might burst. And when you look around and the room full of people have somehow missed this phenomenon you feel a little sad for them because it’s the sort of feeling that you want everybody to enjoy.

I walked over to Mycal and introduced him to the friend of mine who was with me. She had also had the experience of being introduced to the other young man I’d been dating (see part one when we were at the Institute) and was immediately much more impressed by Mycal. I don’t blame her he did everything opposite of the last young man I’d introduced her to – for starters he was very friendly, chatted casually with her and treated me wonderfully as opposed to the silence so heavy that it threatened to sink any conversation that came within fifty yards which summed up our last Institute tete-a-tete. It was while the three of us where chatting when that aforementioned silent individual showed up.

*As I was typing up more of this story I pulled out my journal to double check a thing or two and realized that I'd made a few mistakes and left out a couple of details so I've re-written the initial Valentine post I started. If you aren't really interested in the little details and are okay with the story I origanially told don't worry about reading part 1 or 2 - my original post pretty much covered them.*

Now I wish I could say that was the last I had to do with this particular young man, because somebody else were telling me the story I would fervently hope that would be the action they would take. I mean it doesn’t take a billboard to know that no lady should be treated like that – people deserve better. I know I deserve better. My stellar sister Valerie was right there beside me trying to help me feel better. I’ve no doubts that she understood or knew then what I can clearly see now. I should’ve dropped the guy. At the very least (being the type of person who hates confrontation like I do) completely ignored his calls and pretend to drop off the face of the planet. I’m sure he’d have gotten the hint eventually. Sadly I was not as wise as I am now and I’m not particularly proud of what follows but we live, learn and become smarter right?  I didn’t hear from him for a few days and was on a date with somebody else when he did call. I said hello and told him I was busy that evening and we set something up for the next night after I got off work. The set time saw me driving out to his house to watch a movie and while I maintained my upbeat pleasantness it was hard to keep up with his attitude being the same as other recent evenings. The next day he called me up asking if I’d go to his grandpa’s birthday party with him which I, for reasons not clear to me right now, said yes. And once again it went the same way.

Now back on his birthday I had made plans with him to go to Disney-on-Ice. My friend’s boyfriend was in the show so we were able to get tickets for a great price. We had planned on it being a big group activity with Valerie and her boyfriend and a few other friends. The Sunday of his grandpa’s party was the Sunday before the performance and seeing as things hadn’t been all that great over the last week I asked if he still wanted to go. I said if he was too busy that was totally okay because I’m sure my sister or a friend wouldn’t my helping me with the ticket. I was hoping that he’d take me up on the offer to back out so I could avoid another evening trying to keep up a fun and lively conversation while he sat there like a dead fish acting as though he was wishing he was a million miles away.

‘No it’s okay I can still go.’

Shucks. Oh well. Like I said I’m not so good at confrontation and was even worse then. I just couldn’t figure out how to get out of the date short of faking an injury, sickness or coming out and saying I’d really rather he didn’t come. The week went by with little conversation between the two of us until the day of the show arrived and he came into my shop to ask if I could get two more tickets for his friend Mycal and his date. I told him I wasn’t sure but I’d look into it. Half an hour later Mycal came into the store to see if he could get tickets. At that point I think I’d tracked down a couple of more and told him that they’d be at the box office under my friend’s name (she was our contact for discounted seats) which I told him. I’m not sure how he did it but Mycal asked me about his friend and how things were going which I took as an opportunity to vent.  So for the next hour and a half I worked around the shop, cleaning and venting about what had been happening over the last week and a half. Mycal was great. Listening and empathizing. I don't remember much of what he said just that he was reassuring and comforting and said that things would be alright. Then he told me to get some lip gloss because guys can't resist glossy lips. (Yeah I know I remember the weirdest things...I can't remember what he said other than to get some lip gloss. Sadly I remember exactly what lip gloss I bought after work that day. What it looked like and what it smelled like...) I thanked him for his help and told him I'd see him at the show.

After getting the needed lip gloss I went home and got ready for the evening. The plan was for my date to pick me up then we’d go get Mycal and then Mycal’s date. I fine with this as more people in the car meant it would slightly less uncomfortable for me. Unfortunately Mycal was running late. Then when we went to get his date we got lost and couldn’t find her house – which was really out of the way. By the time we got to the show it was almost over. This little fact didn’t bother me all that much. As fun as the show probably was it wasn’t something that I’d been dying to see. That and being late to something seems to make the time go faster (probably because you are begging it to slow down so that you can catch up with what you are supposed to be doing…) So it helped make the evening seem to go a little faster. Valerie had made plans with another sister to do dinner at my parents’ house after the performance so after the show we made plans to meet back there. Which ended up being easier said than done apparently as the four of us couldn't find my date's vehicles - pretty impressive considering it was a huge truck. So we spent about an hour wandering the parking garage looking for a truck. While neither of our dates seemed amused Mycal and I had a great time laughing, joking and playing around whilst questing for the truck. It was easily the most fun I’d had in the last week and a half. We did manage to find the truck and eventually made it back to my parents’ house and enjoyed a nice dinner. When everybody was ready to leave I asked my date if he wanted me to go with him to drop Mycal and his date off. He said something about it being extra time and he had school the next day. That was fine with me I was just trying to be polite. I said goodnight and planned on having that being the last evening I spent with him.

As I was typing up more of this story I pulled out my journal to double check a thing or two and realized that I'd made a few mistakes and left out a couple of details so I've re-written the initial Valentine post I started. If you aren't really interested in the little details and are okay with the story I origanially told don't worry about reading part 1 or 2 - my original post pretty much covered them.

Since February sees both Valentine's Day and our wedding anniversary and since I've been looking at pictures from 'way back' recently I thought it would be a great time to write about the courtship of Mycal Brown to Stephanie Stohel.

It all really started when a friend of my set me up on a date with with brother-in-law. Being the fun loving and naturally affable gal I am most of my friends wanted to set me up with their relations or close friends - it's the best way to make sure you like your in-laws/friend's spouses. And being the fun loving and affable gal I am I'd generally agree to these attempts at matchmaking. (Okay truth be told I liked dating and I wasn't exactly called up every weekend of high school so I was okay with 99% of the date offers that came my way.) The date with aforementioned young man went well enough that we continued to make plans together for the next few weeks. About this time he wanted to do something with a few friends. Now it may seem odd to some of you but I distinctly remember the first time I met my in-laws and it wasn't as their son's date. The gentleman I was dating and Mycal were friends from work and the former wanted the latter to meet me so we had driven up to Mycal's house along with a few other people to watch a movie. (*side note* Forrest and SuZan seemed like wonderful people the first time I met them and I my initial assessment was only wrong in that wonderful is far too mild a world for how amazing they are.)
For the next week things went pretty well with the gentleman I was dating, we went on a couple dates, did a few things with his family, spent some time with friends (which included a thing or two where Mycal was present) and generally had a good time. On Halloween we had lunch together and he asked me to come by his house that evening for a little party with friends. We had a great evening and at the end of the night he gave me a kiss. The next day was his birthday so I showed up a little early to give him a present (what can I say I’m a sucker for birthdays so I had to do something…it wasn’t anything big just a little something to say ‘happy birthday’) before the rest of his friends got there and once again it was a pretty fun evening with a few unexpected adventure s (all I’ll say is his truck endured more than most bachelor’s cars should ever have to deal with…) but all in all a fun night. I came by his house the next night and he seemed a little quiet but I thought he was probably tired – we’d been out late the last few days. He was still pretty cuddly and kissed me a little bit.

Over the next couple of days I noticed a marked change in his attitude towards me. I really noticed on the fifth – a couple of days after I’d gone to his house. We’d made plans to meet at the Institute (the LDS Institute of Religion) because my class finished just a little before his. While I was waiting for him I got a call from my boss telling me she had a couple of extra tickets to the basketball game that night and she was wondering if I’d like them. I thanked her – then when I met up with the young man I was dating I asked if he wanted to go which he accepted. However during the entire time were together at the institute I was lucky if he said more than ten words to me. He was just really distant and a little chilly. When we were ready to leave he asked me where my car was.

“Oh…I got a ride with some friends – but they had to leave after class…”

“Oh.”

“But I can walk home it’s not that far.”

“No I’ll give you a ride.” It probably would have taken me fifteen minutes to walk home which would have passed much more quickly than the five it took to drive there. The drive was pretty chilly.

Like I had said I had tickets to a ball game that night and I felt really badly about making him drive his truck everywhere so I asked my dad to borrow his car and used that to drive to the game (it was about thirty five miles away). The night was pure torture. Despite having great seats and it being a fun game it was one of the longest nights of my life (obviously since then there have been a few that topped it - nothing puts the drama of a single college student into perspective like delivering a child or sitting up with your little girl who won’t stop throwing up all night) I felt like I had really put him out by asking him to come to the game with me. And I couldn’t help but think “If it was that big of a deal just say no. I wouldn’t care and would much prefer it to spending the evening like this.” On the drive home he got a call from Mycal whom he spent the entire drive home talking to – from the sound of the conversation it sounded like the best part of the evening for him. I was so frustrated and apparently upset enough that when we got to my house (he’d driven there with his truck) I told him that we didn’t have to hang out as much – I understood if he was busy with school or work or whatnot and needed more time to take care of things in his life. He responded that he liked hanging out with me (Really?) And I said that I liked spending time with him too but only if we were going to have fun not if he was going to be worried about other things he had to take care of. I know this can sound kind of fair-weather friend-ish but I was just trying to be helpful – giving him an out if he didn’t want to spend time with me which is what his actions said to me.  He said something I don’t remember then gave me a hug and said he’d call me later. I went inside threw my stuff down literally…sorry to those who feel this might have been unbecoming…okay it was unbecoming…but I had all this upset energy in me from the rather upsetting evening and had to get at least part of it out somehow – I shook off more by going downstairs, curling up and crying.

As I was moving my blog over here I had the chance to read through all of my old posts. Some made me cringe (I wrote about what?!) most made me laugh and just about all made me smile. It's hard to complain about life when the proof of how good it is is staring you in the face. As I was looking back on things like the endless rat updates (check out just one of them here) or the way Emmuska says things (once again...one of many here) or the way she tells stories (check out her version of the Three Little Pigs here) I could barely stop laughing. Top that off with the time our truck we couldn't get started wouldn't turn off (here) and I was done in.
On that note I can't believe how much I talk about food (one of many...) and the kids sleeping. By the pictures you'd think that my little angels spent most of their time sleeping with a few quirky and anecdotal activities thrown in for fun (and again...one of quite a few).
So if you are in need of a laugh or pick up try browsing though my archive you'll probably come across something that will put a smile on your face.

As I was putting pictures into the 2006 album (go to the picture tab to see more) I kept coming across great memories and stories that I'm sure most of you haven't heard. Since I'm still working on the other story I started but want to get into the habit of posting regularily I thought it would be fun to revisit some of these pictures.

*This post has taken me a bit longer to write than I thought it would and is getting a little long so I thought I would break it up. Here is part one - enjoy and look forward to part two hopefully following in the next couple of days.*
Since February sees both Valentine's Day and our wedding anniversary and since I've been looking at pictures from 'way back' recently I thought it would be a great time to write about the courtship of Mycal Brown to Stephanie Stohel.


It all really started when a friend of my set me up on a date with with brother-in-law. Being the fun loving and naturally affable gal I am most of my friends wanted to set me up with their relations or close friends - it's the best way to make sure you like your in-laws/friend's spouses. And being the fun loving and affable gal I am I'd generally agree to these attempts at matchmaking. (Okay truth be told I liked dating and I wasn't exactly called up every weekend of high school so I was okay with 99% of the date offers that came my way.) The date with aforementioned young man went well enough that we continued to make plans together for the next few weeks. About this time he wanted to do something with a few friends. Now it may seem odd to some of you but I distinctly remember the first time I met my in-laws and it wasn't as their son's date. The gentleman I was dating and Mycal were friends from work and the former wanted the latter to meet me so we had driven up to Mycal's house along with a few other people to watch a movie. (*side note* Forrest and SuZan seemed like wonderful people the first time I met them and I my initial assessment was only wrong in that wonderful is far too mild a world for how amazing they are.)
For the next week things went pretty well with the gentleman I was dating, we went on a couple dates, did a few things with his family, spent some time with friends (which included a thing or two where Mycal was present) and generally had a good time and I thought all was well with the world until a few days into November when his demeanor suddenly shifted. While he continued to make plans with me and accept my invitations to events he was very distant and a bit cold to me. Confused is a subtle way to put how I felt. Shortly after this sudden change in behavior Mycal came into the shop where I worked to see how he could get tickets to the Disney on Ice performance his friend and I were going to that night. I'm not sure why but I asked what the deal was with his friend - asking why he was acting the way he was. Mycal was great - I don't remember much of what he said just that he was reassuring and comforting that things would be alright. Then he told me to get some lip gloss because guys can't resist glossy lips. (Yeah I know I remember the weirdest things...I can't remember what he said other than to get some lip gloss. Sadly I remember exactly what lip gloss I bought after work that day. What it looked like and what it smelled like...) I thanked him for his help and told him I'd see him later since he was going to be at the performance with his date. That evening my date picked me up then told me that we were going to pick up Mycal and his date as well after which we all drove to the performance center together. We parked and watched the show. My date maintained the same distant demeanor that he'd exhibited the last few days despite my use of lip gloss. Valerie had also gone to the same performance with her boyfriend though they had driven in a different car than us so at the end of the show we decided to all meet back at my parents house and have dinner. Easier said than done apparently as the four of us couldn't find my date's vehicles - pretty impressive considering it was a huge truck. So we spent about an hour wandering the parking garage looking for a truck. While neither of our dates were amused Mycal and I had a great time laughing, joking and playing around whilst questing for the truck.
After a few more evenings of mild torture (dates with Mycal's friend) I did the girl thing and asked him what was going on. 'Nothing' was the only answer I got so I said that if he was too busy or needed to focus on school or work that was fine we didn't have to do stuff together that much I just wanted to have a good time and that was not what was happening. I don't remember what he said after that I just remember going inside and crying.

I know I haven't posted as much as I wanted to this month. I've been working on a post that has taken a little more time than I expected it to (though I'm not surprised...if I'd really thought it out I would've realized it would take me this long...but when it comes to guesstimating how long it will take me to do something I'm really starry-eyed...) Since it has taken me a while I thought I'd share this little story from a couple of weeks ago.
The girls have been giving me concerts quite a bit lately. They usually go something like this:
(Emmuska on 'stage') "Hello everyone I'm Hannah Montana I'm going to sing you a song!" She the proceeds to sing some song or occasionally 'vocalize melodiously'. "Now you clap and throw flowers and me." (I clap and pretend to throw flowers at her as I've been instructed...I'm a very good audience.) "Okay I'm going to take a little break so now. Until I get back you can listen to Dora!" (or Diego! depending on who Liberty wants to be at the moment - most concerts have at least three different acts because Liberty goes back and forth.) Liberty walk onto the 'stage' and starts singing. One of her favorites is 'Popcorn Popping' which makes me laugh because back in October I watched some home videos Bonnie had found on which I sing 'Popcorn Popping' numerous times for our family talent shows. Apparently Liberty and I have similar tastes in music. Anyhow she comes out and sings her songs then informs me I can clap and throw flowers and walks off the stage and Emmuska comes back on. Occasionally they sing a duet but not too often as they both prefer being the star of the show for a couple of minutes to sharing the spotlight at the same time.
So were in the midst of one of these concerts when Emmuska pauses her singing to do a little talking bit. (I really have no clue how she can be so well informed on how concerts work but she seems to have them pretty much down.) "Before I start my next song I just want to say a few things..." I was already laughing just because she is doing the perfect imitation of the real deal and then it got even better. "...I just want to say that someday I'm going to get married in the temple because it's a special place and the best place to get married (the mommy in me is saying 'Awesome! I've done something right!') and I know it's not going to be easy, that's it's going to take a lot of work but it's worth all the work because it's the best place to get married." Then she launched into her next song. I was so pleasantly surprised that I had to wipe the startled look off my face when she called for applause and flowers (which I threw heartily). I'll never get over how much kids soak in. Just when you wonder if you are making a difference at all they say something that lets you know everything you say and do does in fact matter and is being logged away for later.

My mother-in-law and I were talking about our blogs and how much we both love comments (because honestly who doesn't?) and she mentioned having a give away sort of contest. Since I'm a comment junkie and am not above bribing my audience to get some I jumped at the idea. So it is with great pleasure that I bring to you the first Comment Contest. My goal is to have a different prize each month which I will present at the first of the month. Every time you comment during the month I will write your name down and put it in a box. At the end of the month I will let Emmuska or Liberty draw a name out of the box then ship the prize to the winner and we'll start over with the next month. Lather, rinse, repeat...wait sorry wrong cycle... So without further ado I present to you February's Comment Content Prize:

I can't believe it's already February. It looks like this year is shaping up to be a lot like last - just too fast to cram in all of the great things I want to do. *Sigh* (and yes I actually just did). I'm pretty excited about having my blog here rather than over on Blogger. While there has been a bit of a learning curve and few wrinkles I still have to sort out I've already been able to do a lot more here than I was able to over there. Not to mention I'm now uploading files to just one site and backing them all up online while I'm at it. Since time is quite evidently a precious commodity for me that it a major bonus.
On that note since I'm able to do it all here I've been making a little bit of a time investment - putting a bit of time into getting things set up here. I've already managed to get a few pictures posted on the pictures page - but have grand plans for doing more...though I'm still a little hazy on how I'm going to do it. The scrapbook page is pretty exciting and as I clean up my hard drive maybe I'll find a few more things to add there.
The create page is my favorite thing right now. This has been an idea brewing in the back of my head for a couple of months now that I thought I'd be able to do on my old blog...then when I tried I realized it wouldn't work the way I wanted it to over there and I ended up shelving the whole project...until I got here. As I said I'm really excited about it and hope that it helps keep me creating - something I really need to do for the sake of my sanity, happiness and peace of the household. Once again still trying to figure out just how I want it and I'm sure I'll be tweaking it here and there but so happy that it's there.
Back in November my dad gave me his old hard drive which was very exciting for me as I was pretty much pushing the capacity of my little 120GB. My grand plan was to make my dad's old one my main external hard drive and back everything up on my little 120GB and keep it in my purse. *Side note - I know the purse seems a little odd but we had a tornado hit down here on New Years Eve and one of friend's house was completely destroyed. I realized that even if I had all my files backed up on a hard drive it wouldn't do me any good if they were carried away by a tornado or damaged in a fire ect. So I thought the best place to keep it would be my purse because I'm pretty much going to have to grab that to get anywhere - it would be my automatic reaction after making sure all people/animals are safe to grab that on the way out.* Anyhow I went to set this plan in motion and the hard drive from my dad was dead. *Sigh* (yes I did just sigh again...although when I found out it was dead I might have cried or pitched a little whiny fit that the electronic device was being mean to me) "I'll just have to get a new on later I guess..." is what I thought to myself at that juncture. Until I started making sure all my pictures were uploaded (online back up is always a good idea) and saw that some of my picture files were corrupted. Joy. After having a minor panic attack I informed Mycal that the next time I was in town I would be buying a hard drive. It's an absolute necessity for me if I'm to keep my sanity. I only wish today hadn't seen such bad weather as I might have hopped into the car the moment I realized that my hard drive might be corrupting my picture files and had a new hard drive this afternoon. But such is life. I will just have to keep on praying that my little hard drive holds up until the weather clears and I'm able to make it to the PX.
There you have my ramblings for tonight. I know it may seem a little mild as far as posts go - usually they are much more exciting and full of witty commentary on some outlandish happenings. Truth be told Mycal took Samuel to bed with him so I could finish making my pancakes. And then I ate them. All by myself. With two hands. In blissful quiet. It was incredible. After I was done with my pancakes I poured myself a glass of orange juice (a personal little treat - another thing my fabulous husband does for me - buys me good orange juice because he knows I won't buy it for myself but that I love it) I don't like to drink my orange juice during the day because then everybody else wants some. And while I don't mind sharing sometimes I want to savor it. Anyhow there I was drinking my juice and I thought I'd check a few things online. And when I was done with that the silence seemed too good to just waste so I thought I'd write a little. Of course I have a million things to write about but my pictures are in limbo right now and I didn't have the energy to sift through them for a story so you get my thoughts instead. And now I hear Sam so I must say good night. Look out tomorrow for a special and exciting blog post. (At least I'm really excited for it...) Tons of love and good night.

I now want to write a book for no other reason than to use that title. I have absolutely no plot or story line just an incredible title and let's be honest - books have sold with a lot less. ;)

Book writing aspirations aside the title of this post was actually a moment in our house. I know what are the odds right? Emmuska always wants to help me in the kitchen so I'm constantly trying to find jobs that she can do without too much supervision. She is quite excellent at many jobs especially grating cheese for me. When I make nachos I need a pound of cheese grated and will generally delegate this job to Emmuska while I take care of other aspects of the meal. The first few times I did this I just cut the two pound block of cheese in half and gave her a pound to grate. Being ever mindful of the importance of cleanliness she ran off to wash her hands leaving the cheese, bowl and grater on the table. Meanwhile I turned back to working on something in the kitchen.  When I turned back around I saw this:

What I hadn’t known was that Samuel likes cheese. A lot. He saw the chunk of cheese and dove right in. It was so funny to watch him dive in for a bite – trying to get as much in his mouth as he could.

I mean look at that grin. Could a boy with a chunk of cheese be any happier?

 

Because quite naturally I had to take pictures of this event he was able to get a couple extra bites of cheese. After I was done taking pictures I tried taking the cheese away. Let’s just say that didn’t go over so well. So I cut a few pieces of cheese off the other hunk and talked him into a trade. Since then the moment cheese comes out of the fridge for the evening’s meal he’s over to counter trying to snatch a bite of it. The boy loves cheese.

 

Inside the butterfly house was this glass tank full of cockroaches. Why? you may ask and I'd have to tell you I asked the same thing and yet still have no idea. I think the information went in one ear and right out the other because my brain was still boggled at the idea that anybody would possibly want a tank full of cockroaches in their building.

Of course the kids don't have sense enough to realize that cockroaches should make your skin crawl *shudder as I think about them* so the botanical garden people put a bubble inside the take so you can poke your head through and be surround by hundreds (thousands?) of cockroaches. Because who want that? *I'm raising my hand right now* However the kids really did want to go in and look and after I refused they looked to Auntie Bonnie who is much nicer and more brave than I and agreed to go look with them. As you can see Samuel was thrilled. Boys.

So I edged a little closer to take a picture of them in the bubble and better capture Samuel's apparent joy in the bugs and leaned over the top only to discover there was no top! Ahhh! I honestly screamed out loud when I realized I was hovering over an open pit of cockroaches. In above picture you can see the edge of the tank - which is generally a useless picture but I felt necessary to illustrate the mental anguish at having nothing between my face and a bunch of cockroaches. At this point I retreated, held my camera up to where I thought it might need to be to take a decent picture of my child's apparent delight with these hideous creatures and started clicking away.

I managed to get a decent shot or two like this one of Bonnie realizing what she had agreed to and wishing she weren't there anymore. On the other hand you have Emmuska completely fascinated. Sometimes I wonder how she can be my child.  

Inside the butterfly garden was absolutely amazing. I've been in a butterfly house or two but nothing like this one. There were a lot of butterflies everywhere. Our little group quickly dispersed to different parts of the butterfly house. Of course Liberty being the patient little soul she is (that and her personal preference for yours truly) stuck with me so I have the most pictures of her in the house. I absolutely love this one of her. It's actually one of a set where she sets her butterfly map down (she loved looking for each of the types printed in the pamphlet and wanted to identify each one she came across) climbs onto the bench, settles in and then notices a beautiful butterfly at which point she opens her mouth in wonder and joy. It's the perfect shot for what the butterfly house was like for both of us.

I did manage to get this one of Emmuska looking at this butterfly (look carefully there is one on the pink flower). Emmuska's wish for the day was to have a butterfly land on her but she also understood the instructions that she absolutely could not touch any of the butterflies so she would try to get herself as close to a butterfly as she could and hold out her shirt for them to land on her. Poor girl never got a butterfly to land on her but by the time we were done she was mostly okay with this.

Sam and Liberty looking at the butterfly nursery - I have no idea why Liberty has that expression. I'm going to guess that she is taking exception to something Emmuska just said. It happens a lot and this is usually the face that goes with it. Samuel was fascinated by the butterflies in these windows. There was one butterfly just out of it's cocoon waiting for it's wings to dry and stiffen. He just stood there and stared at it. Until he did this: 

This picture makes me want to snatch him up and hug him. It's the face he does when he's really excited about something. You think the face is good? You should here the sound that goes with it - a gaspy sort of intake of breath - yeah no good, you'd have to hear it.

And now he's explaining everything he just saw. The kid is a riot. 

Just before the exit there is this beautiful bench to sit on and when you do it just right you look like a butterfly. Emmuska loves this picture. It might have been the point when she began to be okay with not having a butterfly land on her - because she got to be a butterfly instead.

And butterfly Libster.

Throughout the entire house I'd been trying to get a good picture of the girls and a butterfly flying. It had proved to be difficult mainly because both little girls and butterflies are fast critters and somewhat resistant to my telepathic instructions as to where they should place themselves so I could get the perfect picture. So I was pretty thrilled when I was looking though pictures later and saw that not only did I have both girls and butterfly in the picture but the girls were looking at the butterfly in the picture. Super bonus it's an azure butterfly (read Fancy Nancy 'Bonjour Butterfly' and you'll know why that's awesome). 

The kids and I on the butterfly bench or as Emmuska calls it - the four-headed butterfly picture.

The whole thing was absolutely incredible and I couldn't have asked for a better surprise. I can't wait to go back but sadly probably won't until we have guests we can take there. If any body's interested I have an extra room and make some pretty good food. ;)

After having attended one Emmuska was pretty set on having a birthday party - complete with pinata. As I said before I was still sick for her birthday so we postponed it and turned it into a princess party instead. Since I hadn't planned on being sick (silly me) and had experienced store bought pinatas and just wasn't that impressed I decided that we would make the pinata for her party, which then turned into a five week project. We started off well enough:

Then I got sick and the pinatas were set aside then moved here and tossed over there. They suffered a fall or two and sadly Liberty's didn't survive to be decorated. Still we did eventually we did finish Emmuska's pinata and by the end of November I knew that I wanted to have the Princess Party before things really started to get busy. So we set the date for the first of December and went for it. Emmuska made gorgeous little crown invitations (she cut the crowns out on the Cricut and then decorated them) and delivered them to her friends. I made up some cupcakes and filled up the the pinata and we were ready to go.

We started the party off with a little craft - each girl got to decorate their own crown. This ended up being pretty fun and yielded this beautiful bunch of princesses:

Notice Emmuska's courtly curtsy - I can't get the girl to not pose for the camera - she is always pulling some inventive super model pose which results in oddly angled limbs and some quirky facial expressions. It's one of those things that I'm sure I'll enjoy even more in the future than I do now. (I can't wait to show her boyfriends these pictures.) :D

Princess Emmuska and her finished princess pinata - not half bad if I do say so myself. After the craft portion of the party we moved onto the pinata.

Most fortunately there was a hook in the middle of this doorway - Mycal graciously offered to hold the pinata - notice his hand on the right side of the door frame.

Notice his hand 'slipping' and letting the pinata go. Now I know why he volunteered. ;) His 'inability' to keep hold of the string ended up being okay though as apparently we make a mean pinata - it wasn't giving up without a fight.

But eventually it did yield. And the mad dash for candy ensued.

And finally we had cupcakes - complete with princess pink frosting.

Emmuska with her friend - once again note Emmuska's quirky facial expression. Have to love the girl! Also notice the rings on the cupcakes. Best way to decorate cupcakes for a princess party - cheap, easy, sparkly. What's not to love?

That summed up the organized activities of the Princess Party after the cupcakes they went off to play. I thought it turned out quite nicely - especially for being the first time I've ever done a children's party. Now that it's over Emmuska is busy planning next year's.

As I sat making a card recently I realized that I hadn't stopped smiling the entire time I'd been working on it - it was just so much fun to see it come together. And of course I didn't want to keep that joy all to myself so I started putting together a little kit for my niece so she could also make the card. Then I wondered who else might want a quick and easy little craft that might lift their heart and spirit. That's when it struck me that it would be fun to put it here on my blog - my Current Card Project (because who knows exactly when I'll have a new one so it can't be 'Weekly Card'...). If you are interested in the card shown let me know and I'll send you a kit so you too can have the joy of making it.

The first card for this little project (or to be more honest the card that inspired this project) is this 'Goody Gumdrop' card. Yes I sat there smiling the entire time I made it - it was just so much fun and turned out so dang cute! If you are interested in making one either leave a comment, give me a call or send me an email. (In other words - in some way let me know you want one.) Don't be shy because I cut out way too much stuff for this particular card (I seriously miscounted...it happens...a lot) and as a crafter I love being able to share my craft with others. The only thing you will need is a glue stick to finish this project although having a glue pen as well would be a lot easier for the letters. They are pretty cheap and can be found at any craft stores and even superstores like Wal-mart.

Emmuska was very excited about her birthday and had been counting down the days until we got there on her calendar. Unfortunately I had gotten sick just a couple of days before her birthday so wasn't feeling up to what we had originally planned on doing. Thankfully Emmuska understood this and took things all in stride. She enjoyed helping make the day special but also understood keeping it a little low key.

Sick or not no birthday is okay without a cake. (I learned this last year when I was miserably sick on my birthday and unable to make my cake...) So Emmuska set to work helping me make her birthday cake. Even if I had been in tip top shape she would have wanted to help - she loves to cook.

Given how much of the process she took care of for me with regards to her cake I feel pretty certain that if I'm sick again this year I can just set her loose in the kitchen and know that I will still get a cake out of the deal. And that is a comforting thought.

And of course all that hard work must be rewarded with the chance to lick off anything that came in contact with the cake batter. (Excluding the cake pans of course.)

She had to wait all day for Mycal to get home so she could open presents. Whenever I think she isn't being patient enough about something I try to remember this (as well as the patience she exhibits regarding Christmas) and know that she's actually doing quite well.

What could this one be?

A tea set from Grandma and Grandpa!

Look how excited Liberty is about this. That pretty sums up all of our feelings about this tea set. We love it! It's a really nice hard plastic set that you can actually use. Emmuska had been throwing little tea parties for months with a really cheap dollar store set. Every time she got it out another piece was broken. This was the perfect replacement.

Grandma and Grandpa also set a cookbook and a couple of baking sets. One for doing cupcakes and and the other for cakes and pies. Emmuska was so excited about them. She keeps going over the recipes trying to figure out which one we can make with the ingredients we have in the house. The cookbook (not pictured sorry) is amazing. It's perfect for kids and a lot of fun. We've made a couple things out of it several times.

After doing presents Emmuska and Liberty had a little tea party while I finished making dinner. This picture makes me laugh because it pretty much sums up the relationship between these two. Emmuska can frequently be found doing something for Liberty that Liberty can (and sometimes would rather) do for herself. Many times Liberty graciously accepts the 'help' as she is doing in this picture. Other times she pitches a royal fit and disallows even Emmuska's shadow to enter her personal bubble. The dynamics of their relationship are so often changing that I'm often baffled and sometimes even frustrated by it but then I'm sure that is very similar to how my relationship was with my sisters growing up.

Back to the tea party. Tea parties around here pretty much go the same way. I make up a thing or two of hot chocolate and put it into the teapot. Then I put milk into the creamer holder (is better word for that dish? I obviously need to study up on my parts of the tea set terminology).

Emmuska serves the tea (hot chocolate) and tops each cup off with a little cream (milk).

We all gently stir the cream into our tea and then delicately sip our tea.

Until Samuel discovers what we are up to and figures out a way to crash the party. Not that he's trying to crash it just that cup mastery is a skill he's still working on.

'Can I scoop the hot chocolate back into the cup?'

'Mmmmm, that's a nice cup 'o tea'

After dinner we did the cake - which of course had to be a piggy cake. The funny thing about the piggy cake this year was that she batted around the idea of doing something else but when it came down to is she still wanted the pig which was very relieving for me as I'm not really sure how I would have done some of the other things (mostly cartoon characters of one sort or another) now I have a year to contemplate any other design I might be able to do if asked. Hey I did make a Dora doll...maybe I could pull something awesome off for next years cake...maybe.

So when I started making toys for the kids I had this grand dream of how cute it would be if they were all peeking out of their respective stockings. Of course when it came down to it Emmuska and Liberty's stockings were too full for their animals to fit so Bonnie's was the only one that ended poking out like I'd envisioned. Still the overall effect was pretty fun.

The obligatory shot of the Christmas haul - T-minus 6 hours and counting...

Here's our earliest riser. No surprise about that - she'd been looking forward to Christmas morning for weeks. I'd informed her that on penalty of losing it all she had to wake me up before digging into her stocking so I could watch her. To her this meant that I apparently wanted a picture of holding up everything she pulled out of her stocking. After the third piece of candy I had to break it to her that I wasn't actually going to take a picture of each new item she pulled out. 

A few days before Christmas we took the girls to the Dollar General and gave them each a little bit of money so they could do their Christmas shopping. They each had a friend or two that they wanted to buy something for as well as for each other. So Emmuska went with Mycal to get a thing or two for Liberty, Samuel and her friends while I went with Liberty to do the same. Liberty found a ladybug ball that she simply loved so I passed the information along. Emmuska wanted to make sure it was a surprise so she told the lady at the checkout that it was for her sister but she didn't want her to know. The cashier being a wonderful patron of Christmas spirit double bagged it to help keep it a surprise. Of course in Liberty's mind since that was the only thing she wanted it's was what Emmuska had naturally gotten for her. The days leading up to Christmas were full of Emmuska trying to convince Liberty otherwise and Liberty clinging to the idea that it was her ladybug ball. Somehow or other we finally made it Christmas morning (yes there was a melt down or two). Emmuska was so excited for Liberty to wake up so she could give her her present.

And of course Liberty was very excited when she opened exactly what her heart desired. 

With an iTunes gift card inside. I think the picture adequately shows the surprise and excitement. 

Bonnie with Liberty, Samuel, Emmuska and respective stuffed animals. Because when it comes down to it some of the best things about Christmas are kids and how excited they get about everything and spending time with family.

Remember how I said Sam likes to ham it up for the camera? Emmuska might be his mentor. She sees a camera and she wants to be right there - first as the model who needs her picture taken 'like this and that' then as the artist taking the shots.

Samuel with his giraffe. I wanted to share this picture because it's been so much fun to see him love this little animal. Mind you it's not like he drags it everywhere. I do that much more for him because I kind of want to reinforce the special-ness of it. But he's always liked it and because I try to keep it around (making sure he has it at bedtime and for naps, that it doesn't get left downstairs ect.) he's starting to carry it around a lot more.

Apparently camera crashing is an inherited trait and I know where the kids get it. 

Bonnie and I with her monkey Chatter.

Me in Mycal's Christmas hat. For those of you not familiar with the Christmas hat the first Christmas Mycal and I were married he informed me it was pretty good but the Christmas hat was a bit of a let down because it didn't fit his head. Eventually I figured out that he was talking about his stocking. So for the next Christmas I got my mom to help me sew a stocking that had an opening big enough to fit on his head. Every Christmas since then the Christmas hat has been worn at some point on Christmas day. For fun I tried it on this year. I think it's a good look for me.

Sneeking 'some' pumpkin pie. I'm using the word 'some' loosely because obviously it's quite a bit-o-pie. Don't judge me. It was absolutely fabulous pie and anybody else who was around and managed to get some was pretty lucky.

The thing was I was given a few cans of pumpkin this year so I thought I would try making a pumpkin pie from scratch. Then I ate said pumpkin pie and my life hasn't been the same since. It is without a doubt the best pumpkin pie I've ever had (and I've had some great pumpkin pies). Now I'm hopelessly addicted and keep thinking about the next time I can make some.

Of course there were many other wonderful and thoughtful gifts that I failed to photograph. Nana made the girls wonderful little bags decorated personally for them (anything personalized helps because then I can easily and clearly solve the dispute as to what is whose) that have been used pretty much daily since we got them. They are perfect for the church and the library. And I love not having to carry their books and stuff. Nana also made Sam a car mat that is a replica of our town - complete with our house and the stores, gas stations, parks and what not that are in our town. It's really amazing.

SuZan and Forrest sent us digital photo frame with pictures from both our childhoods. Apparently SuZan went down to my parents house and found a bunch of pictures of me and my family. It's incredible. There have been a time or two that I've almost started crying because an extra special memory will just suddenly pop up in the frame.

Bonnie managed to surprise me with quite a few little treasures including an embroidery project that I'm really excited about. It's a scene that my mom has done a couple of times and given to my older brother and sister. It's kind of a family tradition. Anyhow Bonnie found it somewhere and gave it to me. I'm so excited to work on it. Mycal also surprised me with a bucket of tools and some organizing containers. The thing about the tools is that I'm forever complaining that all the tools are his and telling him that if he would just give me some tools I'd leave his alone and then he wouldn't have to look for them. Since then I've used my tools a lot - and am utterly in love with the tweezers set he got me I've been using it on a project lately and it's made it so much easier.  The tools and organizers where a filler present because the what he had ordered for me hadn't shown up yet and he wanted to make sure there was something for me under the tree from him. See in the beginning of December he ordered a portable dishwasher and a red KitchenAid mixer for me. The KitchenAid is still struggling to find it's way here (apparently red is a really difficult color to get...) but the dishwasher got here shortly after Christmas and it has been wonderful. Never did I think I would be so excited about something so useful. In my mind gifts are supposed to be fluffy and fun. I was obviously quite wrong as I absolutely love having my dishwasher. It helps so much! Cleaning the kitchen is so much faster and I'm able to maintain the quality of clean I felt slipping over the last year. It's been very exciting.

There were many other great presents that I haven't listed here and it's not because they were less important or less appreciated I just don't want to make this post any longer that it already is because right now I'm fairly certain I'm closing in on 'War and Peace' in the length department. It was a wonderful, relaxed Christmas. We enjoyed time together and the chance to not worry about much of anything at all. I hope that you all had an equally enjoyable and loving Christmas. 

Thus started a three month journey which was both fun and fulfilling. Being superstitious I didn't want to say anything here just in case I didn't finish. But Christmas is now over and I actually managed to pull it off (hooray!) so I can now do the big reveal. So without further ado: *cue fanfare* I present Christmas presents 2010!

I made this snake for Ethan - it ended up being quite the reptile - taller than Emmuska - you can't tell because it's all coiled up and unassuming looking ;) but it was really a good sized thing.

I made this tutu for Aurora who loves to dance. It was so fun and easy! I can't wait until I get to a craft store to get more tulle so I can make some for the girls (who both informed me that they would like one as well - thankfully they were both very understanding about each gift I made being for one of their cousins. I think knowing where each one was fun for them and made it a little more exciting and connected for them.)

This was is Isabelle's kitty which I've been informed has been named 'Kitty' so obviously it came out right. ;) This was my first attempt at crocheting in many (many) years. I won't go into the whole story here but I'd dabbled with crochet before but hadn't actually completed anything. So there was a little anxiety about if it would turn out looking like what it was supposed to and a few times when I almost threw my hands up in despair. I wasn't really sold until I embroidered the nose and put the whiskers on. At which point it suddenly looked like a kitty and I was relieved happy with how she came out.

When I heard that chamberlain was into doing crafty things I got very excited. I knew that the perfect thing for me to do for her would be to put together a little craft kit which ended up including supplies for making cards (markers, glue, paper, ribbons, buttons, stamps and ink) and a braided rug. What Chamberlain probably doesn't realize is that it was probably more of a present for me to be able to give her these little craft kits. I think most crafty people will tell you that the thing they love most about crafting (whatever their craft may be) is sharing it with others and they will almost always jump at the chance to give of their supplies to somebody who is interested in joining the ranks of their craft. (Or maybe that's just me...and a few other people I've observed...) I've got another little project that I don't want to say anything about yet (you know in case I don't actually follow through...which has been known to happen) but it involves being able to share my craft and it makes me smile every time I think about it.

This is Kassel's monkey. It was crochet project number two. Of course I'm still figuring a few things out about crochet so there was a little bit of a learning curve involved but it still came out very cute and should be pretty cuddly for her.

I drew Pamela's name for the family draw on my side. Pam's on a mission so I thought the thing she might appreciate most would be a little stationary holder/organizer. Of course it couldn't be too big but I wanted it to be able to fit stationary paper (which in my world is 8 1/2 by 5 1/2), envelopes, a couple of pens and some stamps.

Pamela loves skinny long scarves so I also made this patchwork scarf out of scraps from a quilt my friend had made. It turned out incredibly cute (though really hard to photograph in any useful way...apparently in my crafting frenzy my photography got pushed aside a little bit...) I need to play around with better ways to pose scarves so I can photograph them better. As a bonus if I get really good at it I can put it down on a resume as a totally marketable skill. (*skills: Excellent scarf poser - who isn't looking for one of those ;)

And of course I couldn't forget about my own kids. Liberty absolutely loves Dora the Explorer so I modified a rag doll pattern to make this Dora doll.

Side story: My mom has always had great sketching skills. She can do little sketches of all sorts of things and I was mildly sad that I can't draw a straight line...okay the straight line doesn't get me down as much as other things...that's what rulers are for...but I've always thought it would be amazing to be able to draw little things like she does.

I started working on this doll by cutting out a circle and a heart (on the Cricut because I can't draw either one even halfway evenly...see above statement) then glued the circle to the heart and trimmed away until I had her hair peaking just like Dora's does. I then put that paper onto another piece of paper and drew the side hair. (My drawing was much more accurate to what Dora looks like than the finished product because I didn't assemble it in perhaps the best fashion but I'm okay with that because I'm still learning.) Anyhow I drew her hair, then her eyes nose and mouth by looking at a coloring book. And I felt so awesome! I freehanded something just like my mom had always done. It was a very exciting moment for me. The funny thing about this Dora doll is that after I had sewn on the felt eyes and mouth and embroidered her nose she still only looked okay. It wasn't until I added those little white eye glints (just a few stitches with white thread) that suddenly she looked like Dora. It never ceases to amaze me how big a difference seemingly little details can make.

I made a few other things but in the hub-bub of Christmas completely forgot to take pictures of them. In the above picture on the far left you can see Emmuska's pig (there will be a few better pictures when I do the Christmas post) and on the far right Bonnie's monkey (which you can read about in great detail here).

Emmuska's pig was exciting in that I figured out how to do the tail all on my own (the pattern didn't have a tail but having learned from experience on the giraffe I knew I needed to put one on...okay so the giraffe didn't originally have a tail but I was informed it needed on as giraffes do so it was sewn on afterwards) and it was even curly. And I found the perfect scrap piece of fabric in the bottom of my box. It was pretty exciting.

I also made these books for Tiedyn and Azure. They are soft nursery rhyme books but I was so worried about getting them mailed in time I totally forgot to take a picture (this one is courtesy of SuZan). They were a lot of fun to make and a good beginner project as all the lines where straight.

And there you have it. That would pretty much sum up why I neglected my blog for the last few months. Each project was so exciting and rewarding for me and I think it was a lot of fun for the kids too. I think they really enjoyed talking about what was for whom and what they thought about. It made their cousins seem a lot closer because we were talking about them each day. It's funny I went into this thinking it would be good for letting the recipients know that they have family halfway across the country which it probably did but what it really did around here was remind the girls about the family they have which was something I didn't really foresee but am completely thankful for.

Lately the girls have been pretending they have babies in their tummies which I'm assuming is normal for girls though I'm not sure why they decided to start doing it at this particular juncture...anyhow a lot of stuffed animals have had the opportunity of seeing the underside of the girls shirts. So I was actually pretty happy when I Emmuska told me that she had to get married before she had her baby. 'Alright!' I thought 'I'm doing alright on teaching them the proper order of things' that was until I turned around to see her already 'pregnant' and just in time to hear her say: 'I've got to hurry and get married this baby is going to be here soon!' Okay...guess we'll work on this one a little more...

Just wanted to share a couple of pictures of the kids in their Christmas outfits. Mycal's grandmother got these adorable ensembles.

Emmuska and Liberty call them their 'ladybug' dresses and both absolutely love them. Liberty was telling me yesterday that she couldn't wait to go to church so everybody could see her ballerina dance in her ladybug dress. Because having the right dress is the first step to spectacular dancing. (And yes I'm saying that in complete seriousness.)

And then you have Samuel in his little outfit. The vest and tie make totally make him absolutely irresistible. (Not that he needed any help with that...his dimples and blue eyes already affect most people's judgement when around him...)

Just a few random thoughts for you to start your week off right.

Driving home from church today I couldn't help but love the air - despite the fact that it has been getting increasingly colder over the last couple of days. In this case the coldness is what helped make it endearing (if air can be endearing...something I'll have to ponder...) In any case the air was crisp and filled with the smell of wood fires burning. In a word it was glorious. In the olfactal sense it was the very essence of winter. The only thing I needed at that moment was a good book (or possibly a movie and project) my own fire and a cup o'warm beverage.

Another thing happened when driving home. I saw an armadillo walking across the road. Which immediately triggered two thoughts: First) armadillos look really funny when they walk (run? it wasn't moving really fast so it's hard to qualify it as a run...scurry?) which triggered thought number two) how could I have not noticed how funny armadillos look when they walk...I've seen tons of them haven't I? Wait...I think this is the first time I've seen one alive. In the more than a year and a half we've been here I've seen many armadillos but they've all been dead! Armadillos look neater alive than dead.

I had steamed cabbage with leftover sausage for dinner tonight and really enjoyed it. And with each bite I thought "It's amazing that cabbage can be this good...from what I've heard it's full of vitamins and pretty dang cheap...I should eat cabbage more often." And it's true. I think I'm going to go add cabbage to my grocery list right now.

And finally something I've been thinking about lately but would love some feedback on. I've been considering getting some fashionably cute leg warmers. Here is my thinking: I would love to wear my skirts out more often but don't have proper winter footwear for them. I would love to buy boots but in all honesty boots look absolutely ridiculous on me because my legs are too skinny for the size I need. Big foot, skinny calf is apparently not a common combination...that or we are all far too quiet as it's hard to find anything that looks halfway decent...think straw in soda cup and you have a good idea of what my leg looks like in a boot. I recently saw somebody in legwarmers and they pulled it off really well and it seemed like it might be a good solution for me but I'm weary because I'm not the most fashion savvy person I know so I'd like some feedback before I look more into making/buying some.

And there you have the highbrow kind of thinking that you can only be found here. (Okay there probably where a few more random thoughts thrown in there but I mercifully forgot them before I got to the computer.)

Praises be sung! Blogger is letting me upload photos tonight which means for your viewing pleasure we have pictures of Liberty's third birthday. It was a pretty exciting day for her. She and Emmuska played nicely pretty much all day (a miracle around here - they usually have some sort of falling out at least once a day...). We all went out in the afternoon to pick up some wrapping paper - where I gave each of the girls a few dollars each so they could buy each other presents. They had so much fun picking things out for each other (or rather for themselves then showing each other what they picked out at which time the other would decide the chosen item would be the one they purchased). We made pizza for dinner and chocolate cupcakes for dessert which we were able to share with Liberty's best friend Abby - something she may have been more excited about than anything else that day...she really loves spending time with Abby.

She really got into blowing out the candles on her cupcake this year.

Of course it may have taken a few tries but there where a lot of candles! ;) I love how her arms got in on the action to help give her the bodily momentum to finally vanquish those flames. (Actually I love just about everything about this picture from the smoke rising off the candle to her puffed out cheeks and closed eyes - it just has so much fun and happiness captured in it that it makes me smile every time I look at it.)

Finally present time!

You can't see it here but this box housed a doll from her Grandma and Grandpa - the second she got it out of the box she named it Dora and it has been pretty much everywhere Liberty has since she got it. She absolutely loves her 'Dora Baby'.

Which makes this stroller she also got very handy.

That is until Samuel notices it has wheels and is meant to be pushed around at which point he's convinced that it's really supposed to be his and a territory battle ensues. Fortunately generally fights over the stroller are dwindling.

Considering the truck is almost the same size as he is he did a pretty good job wrestling his gift out of the box.

Of course he had to give it a good visual inspection to ascertain that it was a well built piece of machinery...

Then he saw that I had the camera out so he had to put his inspection on hold to give me one of his grins - I'm beginning to think he and the camera have a relationship - you know the kind where the camera is hopelessly devoted to him and he is casually interested now and then but other times indifferent...yeah I know it's a timeless tale...

Then Emmuska pushed one of the buttons and the thrill of the truck was back - I mean what can possibly compete with truck noises in a little boy's world?

I mean could this boy be any happier about his truck? 

Probably not. 

Happy Birthday Sam-Attack - it's hard to believe it's already been a year. You're getting so big and doing so much. I only hope I can keep up with you throughout the year to come.

Some of you may remember that I discovered a worthwhile tradition last year in the form of Ice Cream Sandwich Day (you can head over to the blog post about it here). It was such a hit that I got really excited about doing it again this year - so I had the ice cream sandwiches already in my freezer and strictly forbade anyone from getting close to them until the appropriate date finally arrived, which if finally did. I was so excited about taking pictures of the fun we would be having that I didn't properly check my camera settings and ended up with a bunch of pictures that looked like this:

Definitely not as lovely as the pictures I captured last year. *Sigh* There was also the fact that the girls just weren't as excited about the ice cream sandwiches this year.

Thankfully I did manage to change my settings as still capture a picture or two of the girls enjoying their sandwiches.

While I didn't get the fabulous pictures of the rapt enjoyment over this little holiday that I had been hoping for I did manage to take a picture that I absolutely love. Of course my favorite picture for the evening wasn't one of the kids or anything I would have expected it to be but rather the one of this dismissed (rapidly melting) frozen dessert. Just goes to show that you never know how things are going to turn out and while something may seem like a complete bust you usually walk away with something - you just might have to change your perspective a bit.

We love to eat so limiting ourselves to a list of one or two favorites isn't something that we readily do however if we did have a list of our favorite meals Stuffed Shells and Bread sticks would definitely be on it.

It makes me feel like I'm eating out because it's something I never thought I'd be able to make - only it costs a lot less and tastes better than if I had gone out to eat (if I had someplace to go...my area is pretty limited on it's dining out options).

Of course part of this is due to the bread sticks...which are incredible. So good in fact that I can't seem to manage taking a picture of all the bread sticks before any of them are eaten. Somehow between pulling them out of the oven and aiming my camera a few of them manage to disappear - no mean feat as they are really hot at that point. I know this from experience. A lot of experience.

Point being if your looking for a little inexpensive extravagance in your life whip up some stuffed shells with bread sticks. It'll make you smile.

While I try to get my life more organized I thought I'd actually publish some of the posts I started but never finished...enjoy!

(note: I started this post before I took my grand adventure west where many of you were personally introduced to Samuel for the first time - so this might seem a little repetitive but I still wanted to post it.)

It recently came to my attention that our favorite nickname for Samuel might be a little odd (when within the space of two hours three people ask in absolute astonishment and wonder if I just called my son 'Sam-Attack' it became a question worth addressing). Samuel has a couple of nicknames such as Buddy and Little Guy but Sam-Attack is by far the most used moniker for our little man. The pictures below are just one reason why:

If he's not busy cuddling with me then he can usually be found pulling something apart or going after one of the girls. When it comes to exploration that tends to the destructive Samuel is the forefront in the field. And while picking up the books at least five times a day or putting the canned goods back into the cupboard can get tiring his little smiles generally make it okay.

So it's been so long since I've blogged that blogger as forgotten who I am...it's true I actually had to log-in which I haven't done...well in a really long time.

I just wanted to post a quick note letting you all know that I haven't forgotten you and that I intend on getting back into blogging. I've just been a little busy with a bout of rampant illness in our house and more joyously trying to beat the clock in finishing Christmas projects (And I do mean joyous - it has been so much fun making up little gifts and cards. I love Christmas!) that I hope to get posted soon...well relatively soon because I also need to post about a few birthdays. In the meantime check out Bonnie's blog for a great read about a tea party she, Emmuska and Liberty had a little while ago. It's great. Love to you all and don't give up on me - I promise I'll be posting more.

One of my greatest wishes in life would be to have a camera behind my eyes so that when I did my special blink the image would be saved and I could download it to the computer later. (This and having little flashlights in my fingertips so that I could just 'snap on' a quick light whenever I need it but that's another story.) My camera phone was about the closest to this wish I'll get in this life and that was probably the thing about it I liked most because then those moments when the few seconds it would take to grab my camera would have been the difference between getting the shot and losing it.

 I've noticed that a lot of these shots involve Samuel...it's because babies move so much and don't really care whether or not you capture their antics on camera (slightly inconsiderate if you ask me ;)

 This also seems to be true for dogs too...The above shot is one of my favorites. I was making dinner and turned around to see both of them staring at me like this. Boys and dogs - they will be where ever the food is to be found.

 And then there was the time Samuel's little play mat went all Venus Fly Trap on him. I walked around the corner and there where his legs just hanging out there. I laughed, took a picture then peeled back the play thing to see his slightly bewildered expression. (Once again wish I had camera in the eyes so I could have showed you that picture. *sigh*)

The truth of the matter is this - I almost always pack my camera and take it into town with me whenever I go and I rarely have need of it. Of course there are those occasional days when we are rushing out of the house and I completely forget to grab it. I'm pretty certain every single time I've forgotten to take my big camera there has been something I want to take a picture of.

 Like this time the craft for the day was to frost sugar cones and decorate them with candies.

 Things like this just can't be forgotten so have to photographed somehow - especially since the end product won't be around for the budding artist to reflect back on. (I mean look at how proud Liberty is of her little sprinkle star - she put a lot of effort into figuring out which candy would stay there - it was totally the highlight of the tree for her.)

 And then comes time to eat the masterpiece. (Because for about ten seconds I was considering letting them take them to Mycal's office like we always do after craft time but then I thought about that much green frosting in the back of the car for the five minute drive and I decided that they must be eaten before we left.)

Amazingly enough they were much much messier than these pictures depict but at that point I had to make sure I got them cleaned up before irreversible amounts of green frosting made it into all manner of clothing.

 Then there was the time that Emmuska found her first ever caterpillar on the playground. She was so excited about it and it was the caterpillar that kicked of saving every single one we found for the rest of the summer in jars and other various containers.

 After 'rescuing' this caterpillar and helping him find a new home in the tree we went on to scour the playground for more caterpillars in need of similar aid. Considering that neither Mycal or I willing to touch bugs I don't know where she gets this ability to just go up and handle creepy crawlies but she rarely hesitates.

And then there was the day where the sun was just perfect to take these shadow pictures. I took my camera frequently before and after this day but obviously not on this day...which happened to be the only sunny Thursday for quite a stretch of time. I was intrigued by the shadow their hair cast. Liberty for it's adorable little girly-ness and Emmuska for it's absolute crazy and staticy-ness. I mean it's not everyday you see hair that long practically standing straight up.

One of the things I loved about having my camera phone was being able to take pictures of ideas, items or store displays that I thought were fun without looking like a complete dork. I mean I'm sure I looked like a dork standing there with my phone buy I could almost pull it off like I was reading a text right? Anyhow here were a few of the things my phone and came across that we thought were fun.

'Cause who can pass up a giant teacup with tulips? The moment I saw this I wanted to somehow use it in my craft room as an organizational tool...alas I couldn't think of how and at the time I saw it we were living in a tiny one bedroom apartment so I didn't really have a craft room. ('And I don't really need a duck...' yeah it was one of those moments...) Long story short I never got it and even if I had I'm still not sure what I would have done with it. But I still think it would have been fun.

This little idea was in a catalog that I was skimming while getting the tires changed (so funny that I remember exactly where I was reading it but forget things like taking dinner out of the oven or putting soap in the washing machine - my brain functions like no one else I've ever met...) and it looked like a fun festive thing to do with the girls. I still haven't but I've thought about it a lot.

The commissary always has these awesome soda box murals set up above where one would get a cart. They've done things for movie releases, local sports teams, major sporting events and of course holidays. I'm always impressed by the marketing people behind these things.

This also caught my attention. It's not that I'm really that into football but I thought the idea was clever.

Bonnie this is for you. Close to your 18th birthday I was looking around for a great present for you and I cam across this purse which I thought would be absolutely perfect...until I picked it up and looked at the price tag at which point I had to put it back. But then I thought if I took a picture I could send that to you instead and you know that at least I was thinking about you (only we both know how good I am on follow through when it comes to that...but that's a different story ;) Anyhow - Happy Birthday!

I have also taken pictures of many book or movie titles so I would be able to remember what I was looking for either online or at the library as well as taking pictures of crafty/marketing ideas I thought would be fun to try out.

My deepest apologies for the long absence. It's not that I've forgotten how to long into blogger or decided that blogging just isn't for me it's just been insanely busy the last few months (year(s)...) Aside from trying to pull my life back in order from a very busy summer and having to deal with a few home malfunctions I suddenly found myself in the midst of a couple of large and unexpected projects. (I take full credit for one of them but the other I'm blaming Mycal for entirely...) We also enjoyed a family trip back to Utah but nothing make time disappear faster than a vacation so alas my poor blog has been neglected. However in a valiant effort to break that streak I thought I'd at the very least post one picture tonight.

Perhaps a little explanation is in order. My phone died. More accurately Sam-Attack got the better of it. In any case it's ability to make and receive calls is no more and almost as sadly as that is the fact that it is also no longer able to take pictures.

The camera on my phone was an invaluable resource always handy to take those pictures that would have been lost without it. At first I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get some of my pictures off of my phone but yesterday when I experimentally plugged it into my computer I was blessed with a file chock full of pictures that lit up my day with fond memories.

So in honor of my valiant phone that survived the drool of not one but two children, many drops, a few encounters with unknown elements and many other perilous hazards in order to always be at the ready when I needed to make an imperative call (some days just hearing an adult voice can be a true sanity saver) or take a random picture I wanted to post some of my favorite pictures taken on my phone over the next couple days.

Some of these pictures will need no explanations:

And some of them might:

Some where the only way I could capture milestones:

Or remember information I knew I would need later:

The thing about each image I will post is that each one makes me smile every time I see it and the only reason I have it is because of my camera phone.

Look what I stumbled across this morning:

Breathtaking on their own...but wait there's more:

And last but not least:

The kits are $25 dollars each. If I weren't already embroiled up to my neck in a Christmas project I'd be ordering one of these (though I'm not sure how I'd possibly narrow it down to just one...). Head over to the artists website to get a better look.

I am now officially overly excited for Christmas!

and by 'those' I most emphatically mean the kind that is super italicized. Maybe even super-triple-italicized. You know what I mean. It's not just one of those days...it was one of those days which is actually quickly turning into one of those weeks. It pretty much started like most days. The only difference - which really is the big difference and should have clued me into future course of events was that Samuel woke up a little fussier than usual. I figured this wasn't a big deal because I routinely wake up fussy - I'm just not a wake up kind of gal so I understand when others have mornings like that.

Quite naturally the house looked just like I had left it the night before:

This was not discouraging for me as my house usually looks like this in the morning. As much as I dearly want to get everything cleaned up before I go to bed I usually end up crashing minutes after I've gotten the kids into bed and of course up to that point we were busy doing all of the evening stuff. Anyhow I woke up ready to get dishes done, laundry folded and sundry items scattered where they didn't belong put away. I did manage to get a few things picked up in the back yard and the dishes to this point:

Yeah - three cups. That was all I managed to get done. See Samuel had been fussing so I put him in the carrier but he continued to have a fit and three cups later I decided I figured he wasn't happy back there and so I threw in the towel (figuratively of course what I literally did was toss my sponge back into the sink) and get him off my back.  Anytime I chose not to physically hold him with my hands throughout the day I could guarantee that I would instantly be admonished by this face:

So I held him...all day. At the close of the day I finally managed to get him to bed at which point I was able to do a bunch of dishes (not all mind because that would be a total miracle ;) before he woke up. Then I spent the rest of the night cuddling with one upset little boy who cried off and on all night long despite the fact that we were cuddling. (Trust me it was worse when we weren't cuddling.)

Poor Samuel was/is (I don't know if he's quite done yet but he's definitely more pleasant lately...though still not into me putting him down to do dishes or really anything for that matter...) teething and his pearly whites weren't making it easy on him.

Yesterday I was singing a song which lyrics included something about a guy and 200 degrees. Of course Emmuska wanted to talk to me about it:

"So is 200 degrees really hot or really cold?"

"It's really hot."

"Oh...so did the guy die?"

"What guy?"

"The guy who was 200 degrees - if he was really hot did he burn up and die?"

"Kiddo it's just a song there wasn't really any guy."

"Oh...but did he burn up and die?"

"Um...well it's just a song but no he didn't die.  Sometimes we say things to make a comparison. It's life if I said you are so pretty you could be a flower. Are you really a flower?"

"No...but I am really pretty."

"Yes you are. Anyhow sometimes when somebody is doing really awesome we say they are on fire. It's a way of saying they are doing really well at something. (She was practicing writing letters at the time) So I could say 'Emmuska you are doing really well on those Y's - you're on fire!' Are you burning?"

"Nope." (maybe a minute later) "Hey Mom look at my Z."

"That is a really good looking Z."

"Yeah you can tell me I'm on fire."

"You're doing great on your Z's. You are definitely on fire."

"Yeah but not 'cause I'm burning - because I'm so dang freakin' awesome!" (yes that was exactly what she said...I might need to clean up my language a little. ;)

And while I was trying to write that conversation we had this conversation:

"When I grow up I'm going to Hannah Montana." (I'm still not sure where she found about Hannah Montana but she loves her and this family can often be found on a Friday or Saturday evening watching an episode or two courtesy of Netflix.)

"Really?"

"Yeah and then I'll have to have a lot of shoes."

"Well that will be your prerogative kiddo." (Yes I used 'prerogative' - and I wonder why she zones me out sometimes...)

"Because Hannah Montana has a lot of shoes. You need to start buying me more shoes."

I'm sitting here thinking 1) I didn't know you loved shoes so much 2) Does one need a lot of shoes to be a pop star? I always assumed it was more of a by product but maybe there's a degree of it being the other way around. 3) We could go shoe shopping together. (unlike what we do now ;) What I say is:

"Well Hannah Montana has a lot of shoes because people pay her to sing so she has money to buy a lot of shoes. If you become Hannah Montana you'll be able to buy your own shoes."

Of course by this point she's onto another aspect of this future plan already.

"Yeah I'll sing and you can be on stage as my violiner."

I'm wondering if she's thinking guitarist but say "Violinist?"

"Yeah violinist. And Dad can be the drummist (It seemed cruel to correct her at this point - why do we have to keep changing the rules anyway?) and Liberty...(she had wanted to let Liberty sing but that was her job and clearly she doesn't know about back up singers) you can dance." Then she turns to me again "but Mom I don't know how to sing too well yet so you need to make me a CD so I can practice."

"Will do."

(p.s. I love these carts because - they hold two kids (or four apparently...) and have steering wheels yet aren't bulkier than standard grocery carts so I'm not constantly bumping into things and people. Yes it's the small things in life that make me happy.)

When it comes to nap time around our house this is usually what happens: I tell the girls that I have to go lay down with Samuel at which point I usually set up a show for them to watch but every now and then I tell them to just go in their room and play quietly (this is more likely to happen if they are already happily playing in their room). Then as I'm getting Samuel to sleep I will often drift off too and get a little nap of my own in. I'm a firm believer in naps and really love it when I'm able to get one. Well one day this little scenario played out where I had them playing in there rooms - only this time I completely crashed and instead of maintaining my barely-aware consciousness that I usually employ for nap times I slept hard. When I woke up an hour maybe and hour and half later the house was very quiet and still.  A little too quiet and still...Samuel was still asleep so I got up and started looking around for the girls. Because it was so quiet I assumed that they were outside in the backyard playing but when I looked out there they were nowhere to be found. This is when I started to have a little jump of panic in my heart. The thing is I have safety handles on all the doors leading to the front yard but Emmuska and Liberty are pretty clever and I'm never sure what they are going to figure out next. I pushed the panic aside and started looking through the house. It wasn't long before I found them sprawled out on Liberty's bed:

Okay maybe sprawled isn't the right word  for these particular sleep positions. Still there they were right where I asked them to stay. After enjoying the complete relief that this sight brought I enjoyed a couple hours of complete quiet, a pretty rare occurrence around here.

Speaking of nature (as I did my last post on Emmuska and the turtle) I just had to share these crazy pictures of the thing in our front yard trees:

Ten months of the year the tree has these big brown shell looking things that just sit there looking not all that special at all but when when our spring rains hit...

Suddenly they grow tentacles and look like something that belongs at the bottom of the ocean...it's like having sea anemone in our front yard.

It's really odd and a little disconcerting to walk by (yes...suddenly my path is a little more curved away from the tree...) and then suddenly all the orange tentacles dry up and disappear and if it weren't for the pictures taken I begin to wonder if I hadn't just dreamt the whole thing up.

A few months ago as we were driving home I noticed a turtle making his way across a street near our house. At the insistence of my critter-conscientious mother-in-law I turned around to make sure the turtle was safely across the road so he wouldn't get run over. I also figured Emmuska would really enjoy a closer look at this brand of wildlife. In the few minutes it had taken to turn around and get back to the turtle he was already across the road so our efforts at doing a good deed were somewhat thwarted but that didn't mean Emmuska couldn't enjoy a few minutes of close examination and a good conversation about turtles.

The second the turtle spotted/felt our shadows he receded into his shell so we sat for a few minutes trying to be as still as possible so he would emerge and we could get a better idea of what he looked like. Of course just because we were still doesn't mean Emmuska wasn't chatting just about the entire time. She usually has so many questions, opinions, ideas or stories that most of our time together is spent in perpetual conversation. (And when I'm being less than the perfect conversationalist she won't hesitate to draw my attention back to her with a gentle 'Mom...Mom...Mom...Hey Mom can I tell you something?')

Anyhow we talked all about how turtles are cold blooded so they need the sun to warm up and that was why when we first saw this turtle he head was stretched towards the sun - because he was warming up. I can't vouch for now but the week or two after this encounter she readily told everybody she came across everything she knew (a reflection of everything I knew...I really need to brush up on my wildlife knowledge) about turtles.

After sitting for a couple of minutes we accidentally made some noise behind the turtle that got him nervous - which was all he needed to suddenly emerge from his shell and take off across the lawn.

Turns out this little guy could actually move quite fast. Here's Emmuska following after him trying to see as much as she can while keeping up.

Here's what the view is from somebody being run down by a turtle. Like I said this little guy moved a lot faster than I had expected and I ended up having to jump out of the way to avoid being a part of the turtles path.

Whew! Got out of the way just in time. Emmuska continued to follow him quite a ways across the lawn trying to get a good view of as many detail as possible. She is fascinated by nature and wildlife and is usually much more willing than I to get up close and personal with the critters around us. I'm usually very glad that my own squeamishness hasn't been passed on but there are a few times when all I can manage when she brings some new bug for me to look at is 'That's nice kiddo but you can go put it back in the tree now...I don't want to see it any closer.'

I just got done reading the best thing about blogging. It made me happy and reminded me why I love to blog (which funnily enough isn't why I started blogging but that's another story for another time...). For all of you who write your own blogs head over to the Pioneer Woman and read her post on blogging. It's a quick read and very worthwhile.

Love to you all!

I apologize in advance for the number of pictures in this post - especially since they aren't adorable snapshots of the kids up to some insane new antics. While looking through my pictures for another project I remembered I had these pictures and thought they were kind of fun. While looking at them I thought they would be the perfect candidates for playing around in photoshop (even picking up a technique or two...yay for me!)

Ladybug on Dogwood Blossom I

Ladybug on Dogwood Blossom II

So it turns out that the tree shading my craft room windows whose leaves turn a beautiful red in the fall is a dogwood tree. I was thrilled to discover this fact when it started to bloom in April. I love dogwood blossoms. I don't know if it's because of that little bit of purple/pink on the tips of the petals or the fact that they have four petals instead of some reasonable odd number like every other flower. I don't know I just love them. So of course I grabbed my camera and set to work. I didn't intentionally pick the above blossom just because it had a ladybug on it - but was excited to see it there. It adds the perfect bit of color to these photos. As you can see I haven't quite decided which shot I like best yet. They are different enough that I can't just delete one because I've got 'two of the same'. They each have different merits so I constantly find myself going back and forth. Your thoughts? 

Dogwood Blossoms - SOOC

Dogwood Blossoms - Vintage Mod

I played around with the above shot quite a bit, trying to find a look that suited it just right. The first shot was exactly how I took it - straight off of camera. At first I was trying to playing around with the goal of making it look better but soon came to the realization that I really liked the way it looked right off the camera. So then I was looking to see if there was anything fun or 'artsy' I could do with it that I liked. Really not a whole lot. While I do like the Vintage Mod look because of the beautiful purple tone the whole shot takes on I think I'm still hooked on the original. I'm not going to lie I love that the shot came out perfect when I took it. Makes me feel like I'm getting better with using my camera correctly.

Dogwood Blossoms - Soft and Faded

This was another shot I really loved because the angle was so interesting. Still it was a lot easier to play around with this one because something about the original wasn't as exactly perfect as the last one. Anyhow The shot makes me think of something out of Anne of Green Gables - something Anne would be completely taken in by which influenced my treatment of the shot. I wanted to romanticize it even more hence the softening of the image and adding the white vignette around it. Speaking of which when I added added this particular vignette I screamed causing all sorts of concern throughout the house. I screamed both because I was so excited by what I had managed to figure out all on my own - namely put a dreamy vignette around the picture which finished it perfectly (In my humble opinion) and because it looked just the way I wanted it too. (Something that can be easier said than done in photoshop.) 

Vintage Tulips

After photographing my dogwood tree I moved onto my neighbors beautiful tulip garden. Seriously their garden was gorgeous and I loved to look out at it and sighed longingly every time I drove past it when coming home. It was incredible. I was a little surprised at the direction the above photo's post processing took. The picture is of red tulips and as you might know I'm addicted to color especially red so for me to favor a look that takes red out of the picture really says something about what it does for another aspect of the shot. By making the shot monochromatic it really brought out all the details on the petals, the different shades and textures.

Purple Tulip

White Tulips I

White Tulips II

White Tulips III

Those are actually three different shots of the white tulips and I haven't really decided which one I like best. When all is said and done though I think that I prefer the white tulips in color. While the black and white once again help bring out the details I think that the white tulips are already subtle enough to enjoy those aspects plus the traces of green and yellow add a little bit of extra interest.

Warmed Tulip

I love this shot - not my favorite mind you but I think it's a very interesting shot. I did play with it in photoshop a little to make it a little more warm which I felt really recreated the sun and lighting better. It's a funny thing when playing photoshop when you hit something and suddenly the picture is just right and even if you spend time tweaking later you end up going back to the way it was when it was just right. That actually happened with a good number of the shots I played with. Likewise I could play with a shot for a while and always feel that the shot just wasn't right - and playing with it in photoshop wasn't going to fix what I didn't like about it. Now that I write about it I think I get those kind of gut feelings a lot when making/doing something. I get an small brief feeling that I've struck on exactly the right thing. I just need to trust that in myself more because it would save me a bunch of time.

Soft Tulips

The post process work on this one was purely for the fun of it. I'd tried most of the techniques I'd wanted to try but still had this picture hanging out in photoshop so I thought I'd play around with it a little. I liked this look. Soft and romantic. (Yes I am a member of Hopelessly Romantics Anonymous)

Dandelion Seeds color

Dandelions Seeds black and white

After taking a bunch of shots of the blossoms and blooms I thought 'hey it's not all that hard to get a great shot of a tulip - they always look great...how hard would it be for me to get a good picture of something not so pretty...like a weed' So off I set to find some dandelions. Turns out it's not too hard to take a good shot of those either as they are actually very interesting subjects. The above shots where my biggest surprise of the bunch as I was certain I would like them a lot more than I do. I think my problem is that the I didn't get in close enough to the seeds so they kind of get lost in the grass. (And for whatever reason it didn't really occur to me to try cropping them in photoshop...yeah I'm a thinker. ;) Point being I'm often surprised by the difference between what I think I'll love and what I end up loving.

Dandelion Sunshine

I love this shot because it lended itself perfectly to a post processing action that I don't normally feel works on my pictures but I've really been wanting to use called Sunshine. It was fun to use and I love how it turned out.

Dandelion

Dandelion Glow

Which to me suddenly looked much more interesting and exotic than a run of the mill dandelion. To me it looks more like the flower on an Amazon lily pad.

Dandelion Burst

The above shot and the two following where definitely my favorites of the dandelions and among the top for me over all. Something about the intricate details of the seeds - that and dandelions are rather showy for a weed. ;) 

Dandelion Burst II

They're like fireworks only they don't disappear into the night so you get to sit and stare at them for as long as you want to.

Seeds on Edge

I hope you enjoyed some of the pictures. Let me know what you think.

When I was a kid - I'm guessing maybe four years old a neighbor gave us a few toys they were getting rid of one of which was a large stuffed rabbit. I can't remember all the details like why I got the rabbit but I did. Being the ever so imaginative young child I was I named it Big Bunny and played with it a lot especially as a means of transportation. Because she was bigger than all my other toys she quickly became my ride as I would straddle her back and hop around the house. Despite this level of high maintenance play she remains one of the few toys that has made it from my childhood into my adulthood into my children's toy box. So imagine my joy when I looked up from some task to see Liberty doing exactly what I used to do - taking Big Bunny for a ride.

So I was sitting there looking through my pictures for July and realized that while I had taken almost a hundred and fifty photos that month they are almost all of the kids eating popsicles - and the few that aren't of popsicles are of the kids playing outside. But they are mostly of popsicles.

And then as I sat there and looked at the pictures even though I have many (many) more of a similar nature I cannot bring myself to get rid of any and want to share them all with you because they were all so fun. What is it about popsicles that can possibly make them so amazing? They are frozen sticks of juice/colored sugar water yet they are the highlight of our days.

Even though the box comes with four to six flavors and they have eaten them all before they always have to share a couple of licks with each other - you know so everybody knows what everybody else's popsicle tastes like. Although I'm fairly certain that if anybody has managed to get a lick off of Samuel's popsicle they've done it on the sly because that boy is very serious about his popsicle. He doesn't really share his frozen piece of heaven. (He'll happily take care of yours though if you wave it too close to him)

Liberty is another story - generally she will happily share her popsicle and is often waving it in my face so that I can also sample the flavor. This generally drives me nuts as I really don't like things being waved in my face but especially don't like really sticky things being waved in my face. I don't like sticky things. And whenever she does this to help me keep things in perspective I just try to remember that at least she is sharing which is wonderful since she's at that age where she doesn't even like to share singing the songs in the car with other people.

But I digress. Shall we turn our attention again to how intent Samuel is on his popsicle. The girls will occasionally laugh or play around or chat with me while they eat their popsicles but Samuel is all business.

I've only seen this kid throw an outrageous temper tantrum over two things: the door being closed so he can't get outside where the girls are playing and somebody holding a popsicle when he is not. I honestly don't think I've finished a popsicle this summer because I'm a licker rather than a chomper so I'm still sucking away on my popsicle by the time Samuel gets done. When he looks up and see that I'm still blissfully eating a popsicle when his is all gone he goes crazy and starts crawling all over me with his sticky hands. As if that's not enough for my immediate surrender (it usually is - I'm telling you I really don't like sticky) he will usually break down into the most unbelievable mess of tears. And because I can't stand the sticky and to be honest the half eaten popsicle just doesn't seem worth all the tears so I give in and hand over my popsicle.

I've been feeling much more motivated lately - not that that has necessarily helped me out as far as this blog is concerned because first I was motivated to mow the lawn (which I'm fairly certain was a not very well thought plan to avoid the dishes - in the end I still had to do dishes but was sore and tired from mowing the lawn...) after I mowed the lawn I had to spend two days recovering. Then it was off to take care of the dishes I had been avoiding (of course I had been working on them during my two day break but I actually finished them this time). Having finished all of the dishes I thought it would be a wonderful idea to really clean my counters...which are right next to the stove. So the stove got a royal cleaning as well. For that reason I only have one temperature knob on my stove as the rest are still soaking a in a soap and water filled bowl.  What with the counters all clean and the stove practically sparkling (albeit sans temperature knobs) the kitchen floor just had to be taken care of. This quite naturally entailed more than one would suspect because I have my own unique way of doing...well just about everything. This time it involved completely clearing and scrubbing the extra table I had set up in the kitchen (sort of a mock counter because I love extra counterspace) which had been both a frequent dining ground for the girls and a favorite catch-all spot for all manner of items. (And I do mean all manner of items.) With extra table scrubbed and stowed away I commenced onto the cleaning of the kitchen floor. It looked absolutely lovely. For the rest of the day. I woke up to see that the dog had peed on it in the middle of the night. (Totally not necessary as I went to bed late and Mycal let her out pretty early. Sometimes that animal knows just how to drive me crazy.)  I am peace with this though for many reasons but especially because it just doesn't take all that long for just about every dish we own to get used. So today instead of tackling the dishes (again...) I decided to mow the back yard (yet again employing the same sad dodge that I tried last week on the dishes...it still didn't work - the dishes await my attention). But I refuse to fall prey to another whirlwind week of not blogging. See last week while trying to recover from mowing the lawn (okay I know you all think I'm really weak right now but imagine a lawn with decently rolling hills and grass that hasn't been cut in 3 weeks - it was pretty rough work) I started a great blog post. I got half the pictures up and then was interrupted by something and haven't finished it yet. But not this week. I'm too motivated. I'm  motivated because my sister has been putting some incredible posts up on her blog. (I love reading other peoples' blogs - probably because it gets me all motivated about doing my own.) I'm motivated because while (finally) sharing some pictures with another sister I was reminded how many great stories I have to write and pictures I need to share. I'm motivated because my mother-in-law is back to blogging and commenting. I'm motivated because my sister-in-law just started a new blog and has already logged four entries. (Have I mentioned how much I love reading other peoples' blogs?) I'm motivated because I've had a lot of paradigm shifts lately. I'm motivated because of the wonderful comments left on my lack of motivation post. (I'm sadly not motivated enough right now to link back to either it or my post on how much comments make me happy...but that's just because I want to make sure this gets published before I fall asleep) Seriously comments are like nectar to me. They let me know that people read this and enjoy it. They let me know that even though I don't get to live close to most of you right now we are still connected and a part of each others lives. I know in the future this blog will be valuable for all the stories and events I've manage to record here. For the little stories the kids will love reading about. But for right now it's valuable to me because it's the best way I have to share what's going on in our life with those who care. And comments are how I know people have had a chance to 'catch up' with me. Lame I know but totally true. I love comments. They make me happy.

Long story short: I'm motivated. And I still have dirty dishes. I have a ton of things I want to post. And I have a mountain of laundry to fold. But I'm really motivated. So I'm pretty sure I can make this work.

Not that I'm handing any out...just that I need some. I'm feeling a severe lack of motivation when it comes to blogging right now. I want the joy of having done it - and have plenty of good things to put here but am having a really hard time working up the motivation to sit down and put the posts together. :-(

As I ran across this message today I was reminded how powerful and strengthening the whole message given by Pres. Uchtdorf in the 2008 Relief Society general session was. I would encourage each of you to read or reread this message (you can find the whole talk here) it is an amazing talk. Beyond that I would encourage each of you to create something today whether it's a sandwich, picture, compliment, smile or something else.

On the One Minute Writer the topic for the day was to write about an non-food all you can (blank) buffet. Of course this was difficult because - well I love food. A lot. So I'm sitting here thinking what is something I would like to enjoy a sampling of as many different things as possible. Well there's literature which would be good but not my top pick (and really isn't life an all you can read buffet anyway? Even though I don't get to read as often as I might like I still get to read quite a bit and there is an abundance of variety available). An all you can see buffet? No there is just too much in the world that can tear your soul apart when viewed even just once. All you can hear? To me this would quickly become a cacophony of noise and I wouldn't be able to enjoy each piece as well as I might want to. I enjoy quiet too much and am quickly overwhelmed with much noise. And suddenly it hit me. If I were to create an all you can buffet it would textures. An All You Can Touch Buffet. Because I'm an avid toucher. I love to touch wood and paper and fabric and glass. I can hardly help myself when I'm in a store or even just walking close to something. I just have to reach out and touch it. (And if I'm not being rushed along by somebody I'll usually smell it next...)

Since July 30 (today) is Cheesecake Day I thought I'd share a mini cheesecake recipe that I absolutely love. It is unbelieveably quick and easy and tastes great. I found the recipe on the Tasty Kitchen - a website that is quickly becoming a favorite for finding new things to whip up.

Anyhow here is what you'll need for the cheesecake:

16 oz Cream Cheese (generally this will be two packages)

1/2 cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Cupcake liners

Optional: toppings (details to follow)

And the instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything together in a bowl until smooth. Spoon mixture into cupcake pan. Cook.

Seriously how beautiful is that? Okay okay I'm sure you'd like a few more details but I just wanted to illustrate how beautifully easy this recipe is. As regards the mixing thing this will work better if you leave the cream cheese out on the counter for a couple of hours first to help it soften up. I've done it straight out of the

fridge before but it's not quite as easy. As regards the cooking the recipe says fifteen mintues but I think it took a little longer than that for me. The things I look for most to tell that their done is 1) when there are some good cracks on top of a number of the cheesecakes, 2) a touch of color on top of the cheesecake (light brown to a soft golden usually) 3) they smell done. (Yeah sorry about number three - it's just how I've been cooking lately so I keep forgetting to even set a timer anymore.) There will be a great cheesecake aroma wafting through the house though so it's a decent indicator. As regards a crust well you can make up the one that goes with the recipe if you want to but I prefer vanilla wafers to it - they are more subtle and let you really enjoy the cheesecake. These also taste great without any crust at all so if you don't want to bother (or are allergic to wheat) don't worry about doing a crust at all.

The fun thing about these is the topping - options abound. You really can do anything you want to them. I've done a can of cherry filling (as pictured above) as well as just a bit of caramel sauce (I used a jar I picked up from the ice cream aisle at the store). My favorite so far has been melted chocolate with chopped nuts. Ideas I still want to try include other berries, toffee chips or chopped up candy bars (like Snickers). These are even great topless (how often can I say that on this blog ;).

I look forward to reading about how each of you celebrated your cheesecake day - the topping you enjoyed (or not) so come back and leave a comment.

And a friendly reminder to all of you who couldn't believe I didn't share the information sooner last year Ice Cream Sandwich Day is coming up on Aug. 2.

As most of you know Emmuska loves pigs. I clearly remember the day she showed this preference - she was about 18 months old and we were in the toy section of a store allowing her to pick out one toy. She spied a pig and held onto it but I being the naive parent I was thought 'why would she want a pig?' and put it back in favor of some other animal.  Thankfully at some point I realized the error of my parenting ways (on this point at least) and stop trying to 'guide' her preferences. Nowadays there is definitely not a shortage of pigs in this house.

Maybe 9 to 12 months ago I had a feeling that Liberty had an animal preference as well and that it wasn't really anything we'd gotten so far. It's hard to explain beyond the fact that I knew she wanted a particular animal but wasn't/couldn't communicated what it was. Then one day as we were driving around she started talking about wolves and how much she loves them. I was a little surprised as it seemed a little bit random. We hadn't read any stories, watched shows or talked about wolves at all so where was it coming from? She continued to talk about wolves for the length of the drive and off and on when we got home. Then when she went to bed she said she wanted a wolf to go to sleep with.

Me: 'Ummm...okay...ummm...I don't have any wolves kiddo.'

She was pretty persistent that she needed a wolf to go to sleep. After a bit of bartering and begging she finally accepted the green Care Bear as an acceptable nighttime companion for the time being but I could tell that I was going to have to come up with a more long term solution.

A few days of this same routine went by until I finally got her on my lap to look at wolves on the computer. Sure enough she knew exactly what a wolf was and that was what she wanted in her life. So Mycal found a few different options and let her pick out which wolf she wanted. She religiously checked the mailbox everyday (sometimes a few times a day...) until it arrived.

It was exactly what she had been hoping for. When I asked what it's name was she informed that it is 'Woof Woof the Wolf' (the whole purple Care Bear thing happened after this - having that point of reference the wolf is pretty lucky it didn't get named 'grey' ;) Later when Mycal was talking to her about it he said it was a dog and she corrected him saying it wasn't a dog it was a wolf-dog. On a side note huskies qualify as looking wolfish enough to be called wolf-dogs as well which is a good thing because you just try finding a wolf in most stores you go into. (Seriously I've started looking since then and so far I've found one very small stuffed wolf some nice artsy things and four huskies - just not a lot to be found especially for a two and a half year old.) In a recent trip she found a husky wolf-dog in a store and added it to her burgeoning collection. She named it Woof Woof too. (Once again - it dodged the 'grey' bullet...) One of the greatest (and at times most exasperating) things about being a parent is watching your children express their opinions and preferences. It's especially rewarding with Liberty because she was so particular but unable to communicate exactly what she wanted for so long that being able to understand and fulfill wants and needs has been a huge relief and joy.

For those days when being a mom seems like an insurmountable challenge. Not too long ago I stumbled across this video and it completely made my day. I wanted to view it again and struggled a little to find it once more so thought I'd post it here where I could always reference back to it as needed. To all the beautiful mothers and future mothers in my life - I look up to each of you and the amazing job you are doing raising God's children in your homes. You are examples in my journey as a mother and I look to each of you (yes even you who haven't been mothers as long or are still waiting for your children - your strength still inspires me) as guides of love, faith and goodness.

It seems as though clubhouses and children go together like me and food. The girls are constantly searching out and making their own little clubhouses. Said clubhouses usually entail a blanket draped over a chair and if they are lucky something else - adequate but only able to fit one person comfortably. So this spring there were a pretty fair number of fights over the fact that Emmuska would make a clubhouse to which Liberty would demand entrance, which demand was met with a flat no as there wasn't enough room, which refusal was met with an ignoring ear as Liberty tried to get in (because she wants to be in the cool clubhouse too) which would all result in a fight.  Finally in one of my moments of inspiration akin to the finger painting episode I said something to the effect that I would make a clubhouse big enough for both of them. (Yes I'm still working on seeking out help as regards this disorder of volunteering for insane projects...) Said clubhouse turned out like so:

Not too shabby eh? Actually it was a pretty nice clubhouse but quite naturally took a bit more work than I had anticipated (most of my 'brilliant' ideas do :D). In my head I saw me whipping this thing together and it just staying - wind and old cloths pins had different ideas.

Of course once the clubhouse was up it had to be decorated. Here Liberty seriously surveys the surroundings to best determine aesthetically pleasing blanket locations.

Yes. Right there will work just fine.

And there you have the interior of our well constructed and perfectly decorated clubhouse. Take a moment and note the snack 'table' on the bottom right corner of the picture. Because no clubhouse is complete without snacks.

Liberty - off to retrieve something else that the clubhouse needs to function properly.

Cheese sticks, apple sauce, graham crackers and yogurt. A veritable feast of clubhouse foods. - Time to dig in and fill those tummies left hungry from a days hard work.

I was pleased by how much the dogs enjoyed the clubhouse as well. It's always satisfying to see one's work appreciated by so many.

Of course the wind picked up so by the end of the day the clubhouse was once again in individual pieces waiting for our next attempt. Still it was a lot of fun and now we have a trampoline to aid in our clubhouse making. Next time we make one it will surely be a breeze. ;)

Five things that have increased the amount of salad we eat in our house:

1. Baby Carrots

2. Grape/Cherry Tomatoes

3. Sharp Knives

4. Croutons

5. Hidden Valley Ranch

Three things that would increase our salad intake even more:

1. Knives that Stay Sharp (i.e. really nice knives)

2. Salad Spinner

3. Budget that included picking up Fresh Veggies at the local market.

For the last six months or so I've wanted to do a post filled with little tidbits about me or one of the other members of our household - but mostly about me because well I just know the most about me. But then the last six months slipped by in a very silent and unreasonable fashion (my head is still reeling that it is almost August...what happened to February (March...April...)?) and I never pulled the grand vision that was swirling around in my head into a real post. Then today as I sat contemplating what to blog about (since blogging more is a top goal on my list right now) but not wanting to do the amount of work I normally put into a blog post I came up with the idea of breaking this grand idea down into many little posts. Just every now and then throwing out another little tidbit that you may or may not (and possibly don't ever want to...) know about me. This way whenever I'm short on blogging ideas (ha! I've got tons of ideas...) or just being blog lazy (far more likely...) I can just sit down and throw out another little tidbit about me. Everybody with me? Everybody excited!? Here we go!

I LOVE the smell of melting butter.  Actually in all reality I love the smell of many things - bread in the oven, (actually just about anything cooking in the oven when it has reached that moment of done-ness and smells divine - I've noticed that just about all foods have this point, that is the point when they smell done and just when this smell hits the living room I know it's time to pull that sucker out because it's ready for eating. Crazy I know but I've become an olfactic cook), babies skin and hair, babies milky breath (at least breast fed babies...don't know about formula - I don't have any real experience there), homemade chicken noodle soup, wood fires, fires burning in fall, fires burning in winter (yes they smell very different), apple cider - especially in the fall but not limited to just then, rain storms, chipotle...okay I think you get the idea. The point is I love to smell my world even the things I don't like the smell of I'd rather smell them than not. When it comes to the worst diaper changes or cleaning out the mystery smell that has developed in one of the girls car seats rather than in some way blocking my olfactic sense through mouth breathing or some other technique I have an odd need to breathe in through my nose and experience the smell. It's as though that is how I connect to aspects of my life and rather than missing an unpleasant moment I need to breathe it in and store it away in my catalog of experiences/knowledge/skills.

He was a huge part of our lives - and like I said the center of quite a few arguments.  One such fight occurred one evening right before bed and in a desperate attempt to end the fight quickly so we could get on with the going to bed process I told Emmuska that if she just let Liberty have the Care Bear I would let her pick out her own Care Bear and get it for her.  She happily agreed to this arrangement and handed over Lucky. 

Being Emmuska she very naturally had a specific Care Bear she wanted - a pink Cheer Bear she had frequently played with at a friends house.  Any attempts to talk about other possibilities ended with her mind still determined to own the Cheer Bear of her dreams so after a couple of weeks we looked on eBay, found the Care Bear of her choice and purchased it.  Thankfully she understood that things purchased on the computer come in to the mail box and she checked it faithfully until the big day when it arrived:

The excitement was palpable. Would it be all she hoped for?

Cheer Bear! Exactly as imagined - complete with a rainbow ribbon in her hair (trust me this was a huge selling point).

The beginning of a beautiful friendship.

The day of Cheer Bear's arrival saw a foster Care Bear in our home (Liberty and her friend had come to a Care Bear swap arrangement where the Lucky bear stayed at her friend's house for a few days while Liberty took home the purple Care Bear. A week or two later they were switched back and have stayed in their respective homes since. Yes a few more tears were involved than either mothers were expecting.) Here purple Care Bear and Cheer Bear give each other a 'Welcome to your new home' hug.

Since then Cheer Bear has been in just about as many places as Lucky Bear was dragged to. Cheer Bear has picked out library books and movies, gone grocery shopping and helped with craft projects.

And since she had an input on what we put in the refrigerator she obviously felt comfortable helping herself to a snack. (This is why I try to keep my camera near the kitchen - it's the center of the house and you never know when you are going to need it...)

So our family settled into the bliss of being the home to two Care Bears - one for each girl.  And while there were no fights over who got which Care Bear there were quite a few nights spent looking for one or the other (or both) so we all could get some good sleep.

One Saturday morning a few months into our new Care Bear living situation Liberty came up to me and told me that she would give Samuel her green Care Bear so that she could have a purple Care Bear (who needs to mess around with fancy names when their all different colors? Two year olds have the world so figured out. ;) I couldn't resist her winning smile and her logic was so sound - Emmuska had gotten a Care Bear in her favorite color just by giving Liberty the one that was in the house. What if she, Liberty did the same? Surely if she surrendered the Lucky Bear to Samuel she would get to pick out her own Care Bear! I was pretty impressed by the quality of her deductive reasoning on this one so headed over to eBay to see what we could find. Shortly into our search (naturally Liberty had to be there for the whole process) we found the purple Care Bear of her dreams (basically to qualify as the Care Bear of her dreams it had to be purple but we'll just stick to I'm pretty good at fulfilling her dreams. ;)

And after checking the mailbox daily for about a week and a half Liberty finally got the Care Bear she'd been waiting for.

Its name is Share Bear but around here it's Purple Care Bear or occasionally Libster's Care Bear. I'll say it again two year olds should be in charge of naming things - it'd be easier for just about everybody and most men would not only approve of the no nonsense approach but actually remember the names of their children's toys. ;)

Anyhow the flow of Care Bears didn't stop with Liberty's Share Bear. Since it was only a dollar more to get two when I got Liberty's rather than just getting the one I picked one up for Samuel as well:

It's Grumpy Bear - because I have a soft spot in my heart for him. (I'll save you from my Care Bear psychology for today.) I took the above shot just a second too late - he had fallen asleep holding it close but moved right before I hit the shutter release button.

Elizabeth and Corey found three jumbo Care Bears and brought them out to Tennessee (funny story about those - last night Liberty didn't want to go to sleep so started playing a board game with one of the big Care Bears - they're perfect for filling for that kind of stuff) so our Care Bear family continues to grow and I very much doubt that will stop any time soon.

Because it's been nice and warm out (I'll take all I can get - I love to soak summer in) and it's a huge favorite around here I thought I'd share our recipe for Orange Julius with all of you.

2 Cups Orange Juice (I like to get good stuff like Simply Orange or Minute Maid - anything one hundred percent juice with tons of pulp.)

1 Cup Ice

1/4 Cup Milk

1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Stick everything in a blender and let it go until it's nice and smooth. Sometimes we add a little extra orange juice. Play around with the recipe until it's just right for you.

Emmuska never gets tired of this one. She will often ask for 'her special orange drink' (because you know I came up with it just to please her ;) and never gets tired of the foam mustache it gives her. Everytime she takes a sip she giggles and demands I look at her mustache. We live in a house of non-stop hilarity.

The kind of pictures I love to take of others but never have of me - candid shots of relationships and personal interactions.

And as tempting as it is for me to sit and over analyze every detail of how I look and whether or not I'm making a goofy face (because that's just the kind of person I am...)

I just can't get past how much I love them in order to do a really in depth critique. The sheer fact that I have them make them some of the best pictures I've ever seen. (Not to disregard the quality of the image - many thanks to either Jennifer or Kelton for taking such wonderful pictures. They are beautifully composed and focused.)

Each shot just makes me ridiculously happy. 

Many thanks again to Jennifer and Kelton for taking these pictures and preserving these valuable (and generally hard to capture) moments.

Everybody left the blanket well fed...including the inanimate diners.

And filled with love as well. (There will be a post that will go into greater detail about this picture - I'm just waiting for the final piece...)

The girls friend Abby was over, enjoying the sunny afternoon with us. I love this picture of her - she is so photogenically gifted.

As is this girl - because honestly who else could pull off a shot like this what with food in her mouth and wind whipping her hair around. Yet she does it and still looks good.

Of course after the food has to come a little play time. And after a couple months inside outdoor play just can't be beat.

Those of you who know me pretty well know how much I love my baked goods. And since every now and then I get a little bee in my bonnet and decide to try making something myself only to have every store bought version ruined for life. (It's not my fault that stores just can't compare with most things I make on my own. It certainly doesn't make my life any easier.) I'm finding that in order to consume my little pieces of happiness I have to spend a little more time whipping them up in my humble kitchen. This is quite naturally an undertaking that thrills the girls to no end.

First because they love to help me in the kitchen. Just about anytime with any dish they love being able to do it with/for me. (I just need a more help friendly kitchen - more counter space and designated fold down step stools would be a good start...)

If there is a task to be completed they are always right there (and I do mean right there) to help. One of my favorite things to let them do is divvy up the batter into the cupcake tray. I have no idea why but for some reason this is the job I can let go of with the most ease and not be worried about the level of mess and mayhem that will ensue. (You should see me hover when it comes to cracking eggs...) Probably because they are pretty good at cleaning up all messes made when it comes to chocolate batter.

And really they are very focused and dedicated to doing the best job possible.

This made me laugh. Just before I was about to throw the cupcakes in the oven I looked down and noticed that maybe I should clean it up a little before that batter gets cooked on. Its fun to see which side I did compared to the side they took care of. It makes you wonder who really had more fun with this project.

Because when it really comes down to it - isn't this were all the fun in chocolate cupcakes comes from?

(Well after sprinkles that is...)

Emmuska's ability to lick a whisk clean is something I marvel at - how in the world does she get the inside so well? (Mind you it usually looks like more of it ends up on her face than in her tummy ;)

"All done filling the cupcake cups - we'll start cleaning up!"

Thanks girls - you make baking so much more fun. (Most times anyway) ;)

You got it! I'm not sure where the notion came from but one day she decided to blow through her struck instead of slurping and was rewarded with big white bubbles (or maybe pink...it's hard to say what kind of milk she was drinking the first time she did this). She was instantly addicted. I couldn't give her a glass of milk without turning around to see bubbles overflowing.

Now I need to research why/how exactly it does this so I can explain it to her. Kids really are the best learning experience!

Original - this is what the shot looked like straight off the camera - not too shabby if I do say so myself. ;)

Soft and Faded plus Boost

Because the shot I was working with was pretty good I wasn't really focused on fixing it but more with just playing around with different styles. I like the faded look of this one - though originally it was much too faded so I boosted it and enjoyed the result.

Boost plus Soft and Faded

Colorized (with tweaking)

I liked this one a bit more when I had finished it than I do now. Of course there is no saying what I will think of it in an hour or tomorrow - right now it's my least favorite of the ones I have up here. Not bad just not something I would do often.

Fresh and Colorful

I do like the strength of the colors in this one but am wondering if they look too powerful. And then I wonder if it's just because I've been looking at those softer ones too long and am used to the photo being more faded. This would be why I wanted to play around with one shot and then post them to this blog so I could come back and review them - go back and forth and really compare the difference to really get a good idea of what I like.

Boost with Edge Burn

I'm not sure how much I want to be using the edge burn (darkened border) but I do like how it minimizes some of the background clutter that is, alas an all too frequent part of my photos. In this case I love how it really makes Samuel stand out. It could just be me but it almost makes this shot 3D and I think it looks great here.

That's right - finger paint! Some days I'm fairly certain I'm a psychiatric evaluation short of being certifiably crazy. Seriously not sure what I was thinking when I agreed to this undertaking. I know I put some thought into this (notice the big purple shirt Liberty is wearing? Proof that I was indeed thinking ahead) as I did do it outside and had my camera ready to take pictures.  As it turns out it just wasn't ready enough.  The picture above is moments after Liberty dumped half of the orange container out while I was trying to get Emmuska's paint ready.

But was distracted by the still open and half full container of paint. (Children seem to have an inner guide about what will be the biggest mess...)

Having rescued the container of orange paint I turned around to find that Samuel had happily reached his original goal...

And he was loving it. (By the way - don't let the whole bare skinned knees on a concrete surface fool you - this boy can move across, well any surface, with alacrity. When on a rough surface he does this by crawling on his hands and feet - bear crawl style - impressively fast. I'm thinking I should enter him in a race of some kind.)

And then he had to taste his masterpiece to make sure it was just right. Doesn't everybody?

Said masterpiece apparently required a lot of fancy foot work to complete given by how much paint ended up on them...

Meanwhile Liberty and Emmuska were very happily working on their masterpieces. One thing I would like to do differently about this activity next time (beside the whole orange all over incident...) would be to have an extra couple of hands to help with Samuel so I could focus more on doing this with Liberty - helping her perfect the art of covering one's hand and slapping them on paper. (Okay that doesn't sound as technical or requiring of instruction as it did in my head...)

Emmuska too was busy making her work of art - just the right amount of blue right now.

What's this?

Apparently her masterpiece is on Samuel's back. Naturally he's only too happy to oblige. (Generally we can end that sentence at He's happy - paint's a bonus.)

I can't really fault Emmuska's logic. Samuel makes a great canvas - a face like that can't help but add to the work.

However all this gave Liberty a bright idea...interestingly enough all the colors combined do a pretty good job of matching her shirt. We'll just assume she's really good at combining colors until they become the exact shade she needs.

According to the time stamp on my camera the entire event lasted less than twenty minutes.  I'm quite certain the cleanup took at least that long (baths all around!) But it was twenty minutes of fun.  And just maybe I learned enough from this time around to be better prepared for next time.

I probably took more than twenty pictures of it just trying to get the right shot.

I'm blaming the raspberry. It just pulled me in and captivated me. Visually it was the perfect little touch.

And yes it was very yummy.

Nothing says 'we need to spend a couple of hours playing at the park' like a beautifully sunny day after a number of chilly stormy ones.  So that's what we did.

a few times actually.  Still it didn't hold her back because she is rather (read 'much too clever for her mother to keep up with her'...) ingenious when it comes to puzzling out these sorts of situations.

Yes - it's hard to keep up with her.

Sometimes it's hard for me to believe how big this guy is getting. Since I've been so remiss at keeping this blog up to date (something I'm trying to rectify starting with this post) I'll quickly bring you up to date with what he is doing lately. Mid-March he was quite good at sitting up on his own, mid-April saw his first two teeth and the cutest little crawl (which has worked up to impressive speeds...) and my mid-May he cut two more teeth (four total) and loves to pull himself up onto just about anything and make mad dashes for the backyard door if he has the slightest inkling that it might be open. He has gotten quite good at getting back down after standing up (with the aid of someone/thing) and has recently experiment with standing unsupported. As far as I could tell it went well enough that he'll probably be trying it again soon. And then I can only imagine what I'll be dealing with. ;)

Sorry about that long tangent - point being this little guy is growing so much and quickly. Long gone are the days of me holding him while at the park - he wants to be down and playing just like the girls.

Just like the girls.

Though often he has a hard time keeping up. (Notice they all started out at the same time...by the time Samuel got up the slide they were long gone...not to worry...they are about to lap him and that's good enough for him.)

I'm going to chalk Samuel's love of all things playground up to this tunnel. (Well that and his personality that seems to love just about all things period.) One day we came to the playground and Liberty was feeling quite sick (she threw up as soon as we got there).  I couldn't just take her home as I had an appointment later in the day so we were playing when Liberty informed me that she needed something out of the car. I left Emmuska in charge of Samuel while I ran to the car with Liberty. (Don't worry it was only a little stretch of grass away from the playground - I could see and hear them the entire time I was at the car.) Despite the brevity of my absence Emmuska managed to show Samuel the tunnel and it was love at first sight. Now I can't take him without him working his way out of my arms to get down then climb up to the tunnel.

Because of the slight angle and slick surface he usually has a difficult time making headway. That's were super sister Emmuska comes in. Every inch progress he makes she scooches up right behind him so he doesn't fall back and he continues to make progress.

And Liberty doesn't mind throwing in her help too. (Okay she just likes to hang out with everybody else...she has no real clue what's going on besides the fact that everybody is hanging out in the tunnel.) At just about every little opening Samuel has to stop and look. He's a scenic route kind of guy - all about being along for the good times and enjoying every vista.

I'm okay with that because I love the view too.

And to top the fun filled day off was this wonderful revelation:

Emmuska likes taking her brother down the slide. Samuel loves having Emmuska take him down the slide. I never have to go down a slide with a child on my lap again. No more mess of legs and sneakers trying to make it to the bottom because these things were clearly not designed for an almost six foot tall woman. I can now pass that fun opportunity on to the (appropriately proportioned) older sister. I love parks.

Being the diligently helpful big sister she is Emmuska is always willing to pick Samuel up when he seems upset (and even sometimes when he doesn't...) and bring him to me. The first few times this nearly gave me a heart attack because, well - he's half the size of her and I just wasn't convinced she could carry him without catastrophe ensuing. Yet Samuel seemed to have complete faith in her (which could be due to the utter adoration with which he regards Emmuska but that's another post...) and after she brought him to me unsolicited a few times without incident I began to get used to the sight and gradually my heart's settled down.

We will preface these pictures with a little back story. Our friends have some lovely dress up things - crown, tutu skirt, plastic heal shoes - you know all the good essentials any self respecting princess would have. Since the first day we went over and discovered such playtime necessities Emmuska has strived to show patience in my procuring the same. This has been difficult on her part though as I'm incredibly slow sometimes. Months passed and finally Emmuska took matters into her own hands and decided to make her own princess accessories. So pipe cleaner and beads in hand she asked me to make her a crown.  Thus started a three day crown/ring/bracelet extravaganza. For your viewing pleasure I present the aftermath:

Look at the size of that rock! (Well...piece of foam anyway...)

With the completion of her beaded crown Emmuska royally bestowed her beginner crown on Sparkly.

I was very surprised a little while ago to realize that Samuel was already five months old. I don't know where the last five months could have flown too but flown away they have. Anyhow as I was contemplating this mystery I thought it would be fun to host a little Name that Baby game here on the blog. So off I went to collect one picture of each of my children at approximately five months of age. Just to make this a little more challenging I changed the pictures to sepia so that their surrounding weren't a dead give away.  In no particular order our contestants are:

Baby Number 1:

Baby Number 2:

and Baby Number 3:

Leave a comment with your guess/answer in the comment box.

At some point in the future I will (hopefully) repost with the answers.

As I was clicking through the pictures I took for February I realized that I had a lot of stories I haven't shared yet - as well as just a bunch of random but fun pictures.  So I decided I'd do a little catch up post for the month of February...only it turned into a huge post as the number of pictures that needed to be shared continued to grow. I'm apologizing in advance for the size of this post and hope that you will all forgive me. So without further ado here are some of the fun things we did this last month. (Note to those who follow my other blog - there are some repeats here but I wanted to make sure my general audience got a chance to see them too.)

Whilst making something Emmuska thought it would be a great idea to share the lemon juice with Samuel who was pretty excited by the idea. (I'm not exactly sure but I'm guessing something about a round object with a round pointed spot that is darker than the rest might of reminded him have something else he's pretty fond of...but that's just a guess) He enjoyed playing with it and as it turned out increasing his physical dexterity by grasping it with his little monkey feet. The girls and I were impressed enough to make this well worth the effort of doing it several times.

We all spent a bit of time playing on the floor this month (what can I say...little guy is pretty persuasive...) The bond between these three siblings is so much fun to watch. (More on that later.) They love spending time together - and of course anywhere the three of them are I have to be too for the sake of getting some good shots...like this one:

Libster really wanted her picture taken. I love that it doesn't deter Emmuska who still has her beautiful smile there in the background.

I finally got around to picking up this roll of paper from the newspaper printing office this month. Apparently this is considered an end and is just not enough to print on...whatever I'm not complaining as it cost me all of five dollars and we have already used tons of paper for projects like this:

 Yeah I'll just roll out a huge cut of paper (usually about as big as Liberty at least...sometimes as big as Emmuska) and let the girls go crazy with it.  We've done this quite a bit and have not even made a dent in our roll.  Seriously best five dollars spent this month. Anyhow I love the ballerina Emmuska made. She used some leftover hair I had cut out for a paper doll project, drew the dress (don't you love the pattern?) and glued a bead on for her ring. This picture makes me smile every time I see it. And once again I'm thankful for the over abundance of craft things I have on hand for moments like these.

Speaking of things crafty we couldn't overlook Valentines. Emmuska was so excited about Love Day that she had to make some (read many) cards. Out came the ribbon, stickers, markers and glue. Liberty had fun too but you could really see the wheels turning as Emmuska put these together. She even did a fancy little number where she would punch a couple of holes, thread some ribbon through them then tape down the ribbon. However since I wasn't on the ball enough all the Valentines were handed out at church to friends of all ages rather than making their way to their intended relatives across the country. I would like to tell you however that Emmuska named many of you individually as the preferred recipients of her creative works.

I also had to laugh at the pictures that Emmuska drew for her Valentines. They included (but definitely were not limited too...) vegetables, spiders, clouds, birds, books and occasionally hearts. Honestly there where many other things she drew too...I took to writing down what each picture was on the card - unfortunately she gave all the cards away so that doesn't really help me here. You will have to believe me when I say outside of the box is a very mild way of putting the choice of imagery she chose to represent the day.

February also saw Mycal and my anniversary. Because Mycal is in the middle of a training cycle he's been very busy so I knew the best present I could give him was a fully prepared date.  So as soon as I struck upon this marvelous idea I arranged a baby sitter and asked Mycal where he wanted to eat. I assumed he would want to go someplace in town which meant Mexican but wasn't too surprised to hear he wanted Thai. We'd both been dying for some Thai food so this was great. We found a place a little over an hour away and enjoyed a lovely drive there, really enjoyed an incredible meal (probably the best Thai we've had yet) ran a few errands and then drove back all the while listening to the playlist Mycal made for me (it's a bunch of songs he'd noticed lift my spirits - thus the title 'Songs that Make Steph Happy' I love it and have listened to it more than I'll admit). It was great being able to enjoy conversations without the fear of our sentences (thoughts...) being interrupted by some new child dilemma. And there you have what qualifies as blissful for us. ;)

Making the whole Thai experience even better was the scanning menu and coming across plate number 33. Now I thought it was probably some curry containing large orange squash but wasn't positive - after all it could be some word in Thai possibly meaning octopus liver (not high on my 'to try' list right now).  Turns out it is indeed your garden variety Cinderella squash which sealed the deal. I ordered the dish immediately. It was incredible. I won't make your mouth water too much by going into the details but I will say I need to learn how to make something like this at home.

 

After our anniversary was Valentine's Day - in honor of which we have a picture of the guy who will someday make some lucky gal's Valentine's Day utterly lovely and sadly many others' day sad because they aren't with him. Have to admit I feel badly about bringing someone that could potentially cause so many tears into the world but it's not really our fault there's only one of him.

And then you have my gorgeous girls - so full of life and fun. Here they are cutting a rug - though I really couldn't tell you how Liberty is accomplishing that end with her hands...funny girl.  I just love watching them when they get into something like this.

Samuel was a little bit of thumb sucker throughout January and February (hasn't really done it so far this month...) and wasn't fond of a pacifier in replacement. This was a source of distress for a few friends who remembered their days as a thumb sucking child. I've never really had a thumb sucker (Muska liked her pacifier until she cut teeth and Liberty would settle for nothing less than my breast...) and occasionally get a little distressed by possible implications.  I was thinking about this while rocking him to sleep once when I looked down and saw the picture above and suddenly it was hard to get worked up about anything he did. He was just so precious and innocent. I know he will make choices that will be hard for me to understand or accept - that will even make me sad but it's hard to think about those things right now. And I just keep praying that I can be the kind of parent he needs.

And then you have Emmuska. I could spend countless words trying to sum up her character - but there really isn't anyway. She's just too many things. Independent, photogenic, helpful, stubborn, determined, understanding...what would be the word for somebody convinced they are fifteen years older than they are? Yeah she's that too. Never a dull moment with this girl. And once again I pray for wisdom, strength and courage to be the mom this girly needs.

Never fear. I'm not about to leave Liberty out of this little introspective moment.  The above picture was taken one night when I just wasn't doing anything quite right. For some reason I just couldn't figure out what it was she wanted and needed.  In utter desperation she turned to turned to her source of solace (at least for this day...) her exercise mat.  This poor girl - she tries so hard to tell us what she wants or needs and far too often we just don't get it. Especially frustrating for her since she likes things to be just so. Misunderstood holds true for this little girl on a number of levels but she keeps on trying.  On an exciting note Liberty has decided that nursery isn't so bad and has been going lately - even staying throughout all the meetings. (A huge step as she has been going to class with me since August when the nursery leaders were changed. Each week I would ask her if she wanted to go to Nursery or to class with me and without exception she would choose class and then sit through the next two hours with me so this has been exciting. Hopefully as much for her as for me as now she gets to enjoy singing time, snack time, play time...) She's a great girl and we are blessed to have her in our family.

Which brings me to sibling relationships.

These kids love each other. A lot. The girls love holding and helping with Samuel.

They love telling him stories, playing games with him, watching over him and making him laugh - by whatever means necessary.

And he just eats it all up. He loves every second. Not that he doesn't reward the effort. He has special laughs and smiles that make the girls hard work all worthwhile.

On a completely different note...okay there is no explanation for this picture. In fact I was a little surprised by it when I was going through pictures today. All I can say is I'm not too surprised I have it.

Okay its official we've entered the random part of this blog post. Here we have Emmuska in her standard Damsel in Distress routine - yelling out for help and all. Because it was pretty apparent that her mother wasn't going to help her Liberty ran back there to help her sister. Heart of gold I'll tell you what.

And while we are in this particular corner of the house I thought I share Emmuska's second bedroom with you. Yes this is actually the little nook by the front door but for some reason Emmuska likes to duck back here to change in and out of her pajamas (note the pile of cloths). I've no idea why I just know my odds of stumbling across some panties or any other piece of clothing are pretty good.

Liberty helping me with a stamping project at 2:30 a.m. - because rather than help her fall back asleep I put her to work. (Actually she really wanted to stamp like I was...which is why I stamp at 2:30 in the morning...)

Because I had to capture the burgeoning fashion sense in our family. (Emmuska not Liberty...I picked out Liberty's outfit.)

Emmuska telling how disgusting it would be if babies peed or pooped while they were in mommies tummies which is why it's a good thing there is a cord between mommy and baby. Of course once the camera came out she had to strike a pose:

Yeah she loves the camera. (And it loves her.)

The following are of the girls giving their stuffed animals piggy (and bear) back rides. This was about the most exciting way we could spend a Friday afternoon.

I'm telling you its pretty amazing the house is still standing after this event. They were so funny tromping around that I could barely take any decent shots.

And then you have this shot...I have no idea why Emmuska has this expression on her face. I think she was thinking about something (because giving a stuffed pig a ride does require a lot of concentration) but couldn't tell you what. This picture just cracks me up every time I look at it. I think it's because of the pig peering over her shoulder.

And then we have this little thing - we'll call it 'untitled marshmallow sculpture 1' otherwise known as 'what I would spend a good portion of my time doing if I didn't have three kids, two dogs, an intense amount of laundry, the insatiable need to make new foods and take pictures of just about everything while I'm at it'. I think it's missing something...what do you think?

And we will close with this picture of Small Fry....or rather Hungry Hippo since he is currently going through a growth spurt complete with the need for food almost non-stop. (Yeah I'm practically responsible for feeding Mycal's son single handedly - some of you probably have a pretty good idea how much food that takes...)

Thanks for sticking with me through this post. Without a doubt you are a trooper. Hope you enjoyed this not so little look into our house - don't worry I'm sure we will be doing this again soon. ;)

Take this

plus this:

plus this:

These girl don't need a formal ball to have a good time...

anytime there's a little music they can be found dancing to it...

We tried like anything to call the girls our 'Valenswines' but Emmuska would have none of it. "We're pigs!" she insisted. No swine in this house.

And even though Emmuska can totally say 'valentines' she kept calling it 'Love Day'. I'm not even sure where she picked that up - I think she saw all the hearts and made the connection. The kid is way too smart. (Which really isn't that big of a deal in this scenario but trust me there are times...)

And then we have the ever-so-adorable two year old in our life. And boy is she two. Often sweet - usually stubborn...she is not content to let somebody else call the shots in her life. She does however apparently respect her sister's opinion now and then as she currently loves pink and pigs. (Though she will not eat out of a pink bowl...) 

And we have this little man who is trying to sneak his way into that #1 man in my life position. He's really giving Mycal a run for his money...

...mostly because he does things like this...

...pretty much all the time.

Yeah just about all the time...few are the strangers that resist the allure of this grin.

Sorry about that...Samuel totally took over this post. Okay only a little sorry because as I right this he keeps sneaking glances at me complete with huge grins and intermittent fits of shrieking laughter. What can I say he's a charmer.

And because I didn't get a decent shot of my number one valentine I have to put one with a 'stand in' up instead. Just imagine the man in the picture is a little older. ;)

 

And just because I do love all you my readers I'm sharing this picture with you because I think you'll enjoy it. Of course the one picture where my face is completely goofy is the one where small fry is looking at the camera and at his best. Kids. Got to love 'em.

Vintage

soft and faded

old west

fantasy lights

colorful

Between the dress, shoes and puppet pig these shots of Liberty reminded me of vintage Valentines - so of course I had to spend a couple hours playing with them in photoshop to enhance that effect. As of this moment I'm happy with these (subject to change at any moment...) Which one is your favorite? What about it do you like? I want to do more post production on my photos but am not sure which direction to go so would love your feedback.

I'm really torn on which one I like best...I love the almost glowing effect of fantasy lights and what it did with the extra light from the window.  I really like old west because of how soft it makes the whole picture feel but at the same time really like the crispness of soft and faded. This would be why I would love some extra imput on these...there are so many good looks!

Believe it or not I've been studiously pondering what goals I wanted to set for this new year. It's true I've spent the last six weeks (I actually did start this process before New Year's Day...) trying to decided what I want to improve about myself. For some reason I took this task very seriously this year. I wanted goals that would improve my character whilst being achievable. As much as I wanted to say 'go to bed with a clean kitchen every night' I knew it would have been akin to saying 'not a scrap of chocolate this year', which is to say there's not a chance it's going to happen.  I also wanted to incorporate the Relief Society's three goals (Help increase personal faith and righteousness, strengthen families and seek out and help those in need). So without further ado and after much consideration here are my goals for 2010.

-Read/Study scriptures daily.

-Refrain from yelling at family members out of anger of frustration.

-Complete visiting teaching each month and look for and give service outside of the home at least once a month - preferably once a week.

(Those are my goals inspired by the R.S. goals.)

These are the rest of my goals.

-Take and post (to my blog set aside for this project) at least one picture each day. (You can check out my blog for this project right here.)

-Get my craft room back to operational levels (desk cleared off, supplies put away various things that find their way in there organized and put away...) by the end of each week.

-Find a schedule/routine that works for our family that by the end of the year that includes having the kitchen cleaned each night before bed (see it's something I'd really like to achieve...unlike the whole no chocolate thing...that's just silly).

-Post to this blog at least fifteen times a month (okay so kind of blew it in January but am really committed to just getting up and doing better each day).

There you have it - my goals for the year. They seem a little small for the amount of time I've put into trying to figure them out but I'm really excited about them and hopeful for the growth before me if I stick to them.

Just a couple of things for the last couple of days weeks (this post has taken me an absurd amount of time to finish...)

So I went grocery shopping on Thursday. My practice is to keep a running list on the board in my kitchen of things we need. I have the eternal goal of remembering to transfer the list from my white board to a notebook or something I can take with me to the grocery store...so far I haven't quite managed it but that hasn't deterred me from hoping that someday I might succeed in that endeavor.  In the meantime when I get home from grocery shopping I rub off all the things that I remembered from the list as I put them away - leaving the one to three items I've invariably forgotten on my list. Here's the after shot from this week's outing:

Seriously. Besides having written it on my list (twice) I had had the added reminder of using my last trash bag that very morning so it was very fresh on my mind. If I hadn't been out the door to get groceries when I used my last trash bag I would have written it on the list again. All's well now. I once again can throw my trash away.

Shortly after the grocery incident Emmuska was taking pictures with her camera. She decided she wanted to take alphabet pictures (pictures of items that start with various letters of the alphabet). Naturally she started with 'a' and since our house apparently has a shortage of alligators we had to come up with something else. I thought I had struck on something really good when I said 'Hey we how about art? We have a piece of art. Do you know what art is Muska?' to which Emmuska responded 'Yeah, it's something people do because they like to do it.' And there you have it - art is apparently another word for hobby.

Possibly coming in as the world's youngest back seat driver Emmuska has been extremely helpful in reminding me the rules of vehicular operation. As we were driving down to town on day Emmuska informed me that 'we didn't want to hit the mail boxes...'cause that would be bad.  Look out! There's a mail box! Don't hit it!' Despite a mailbox being one of the things I haven't hit in my years of driving this warning was shouted out for every mail box we passed on the twenty five minute drive down to town. The only respite from mailbox warnings was when she was telling me which direction to go. "Go that way." Kiddo which way? I can't see you because you are behind me." "That way...on the black." "Oh on the black." "Yeah you always want to drive on the black because you don't want to drive on the green grass...that would be bad. Grass isn't for driving on it's for other things but it's bad when you drive on it. Always stay on the black." This point may have been reiterated a time or two more but you get the idea. And this was on a day when I had been driving really well.  You can imagine what it's like when I've made any sort of mistake (hit a bump, come up on a car too fast etc.) Still fear of the never ending lecture from my four year old should I make a mistake keeps me in line way better than the shadowy threat of getting pulled over. So in the long run I thank her.

And finally I thought I'd share this text message I received as it completely made my day: "Right? It's such a pain to add words to my dictionary too! (I'd just mentioned that I wished I could cut and paste words sent to me so I didn't have to type them into my phone's text message dictionary.) Although my dictionary people were snobs and hoighty toighty. I know this because they have words like totalitarianism and obsequious but not ouch, snobs or hoighty toighty :)"  *For the record my dear texting buddy Microsoft word doesn't consider hoighty toighty a word either...sorry.

Last night while uploading pictures for the blog I stumbled across this website. The woman who put this together is incredible.  On her sight she has something called actions for Adobe Creative Suite.  Basically actions let you stylize your photographs - in various ways depending on the action. You can buy them online for quite a bit of money.  I stumbled across this sight and this lady is giving away probably twenty different actions for free.  Not only did I have a bit of fun playing around with these photos but it really made me happy to find somebody so generous. Honestly what she is giving away would have cost me a couple hundred dollars easily. It gets me thinking about what I can do for or share with others. These are a couple of the photos I played around with last night - obviously still getting the hang of them but I don't think it will take me too long before I'm getting great results with them.

Recently it became evident to me that I don't post enough pictures here on the blog. Apparently there are some family members out there starving for visual confirmation that we do in fact still exist. So I thought I would give you a little visual update as to what we are doing...

And Liberty is still traveling with her blanket - using it in as many endeavors as possible.  Here it has become an improvisational bed roll.  Funny thing about this picture is that Liberty is wearing snow pants.  One could make the assumption that she is all tuckered out from frolicking in the snow. Not so much. Emmuska very much wanted to go outside to play so I went down and got the only snow clothes we currently have - which fit Liberty.  Emmuska bundled up in two pairs of pants, shirts, winter coat ect. in order to go outside. Liberty was thrilled to see the snow clothes and almost immediately pulled them on.  After Emmuska had headed outdoors I asked Liberty if she wanted to go outside.  She responded with an incredulous look and then said. "No.  It's cold outside." and that was the end of that discussion.  These snow pants still haven't ventured out our back door and don't seem especially destined too this year.  (I've got to give the girl kudos though...it is cold outside. Really cold.)

Like I said, Emmuska wanted to go outside to play. Sometimes I wonder how she could possibly be my child (picture was totally taken from inside...me? outdoors? in this weather? not unless there was a dire emergency...and I'm still trying to figure out what said emergency would have to be to tempt me.) But then she reminds me that "(she)likes the cold, but you don't do you Mommy? No you like warm weather. but I like the cold." Alright - her compelling argument gets me every time and I decide that it's okay to like different things.

Recently the children came across some Easter eggs.  You can bet it's been one big party since then.  We've spent large portions of the last couple of evenings doing egg hunts.  Kids are hilarious when it comes to egg hunts by the way.  Emmuska hid all the eggs and wouldn't leave me alone until I helped her find them.  Only once I started looking she found everyone before I could get to it. That's fine...I'll man the camera.  Tonight Liberty and Emmuska took turns hiding eggs.  One would cover their eyes while the other ran off to hide an egg.  Only as soon as the person looking started the egg-hider would point or tell them where to look.  Thankfully this didn't upset anyone. In fact it would seem as if this was the way it should be in their minds.  A good time was had by all.

What else is new? Hmm...well there is my new plan for redoing my look.  Today I gave myself a manicure...with a crayon.  I sitting there coloring with Liberty when I decided to see how well crayon worked on fingernails.  Not too shabby thought a little too opaque for my tastes.  Still avoids a lot of the hassles of real nail polish. Like the smell, the potential mess ect.

And finally a couple of pictures of Samuel.  He has been drooling like a machine lately. (You know a really wet slobbery machine...) but at least he still has his cute grin and inability to stop laughing if somebody else starts.Yeah that river of drool headed right toward me actually on the mild side.  His shirts and jammies are generally in a state of damp.  I can't believe he could be teething already but it seems like the usual conclusion...still we will see. And finally one with Mycal and Samuel hanging out on the couch together.  These two actually enjoy time together and can be found hanging out a lot.

And there you have it a little something we are up to and some pictures.  If there are needs for more let me know and I'll try to accommodate.  I'm even up for special requests. :D

So there was an amazing topping to my great day - so amazing that I'd have to say it wasn't just whipped cream but whipped cream with chocolate sprinkles and a cherry...maybe some chopped nuts as well. Yeah it was that good.  You have to head over to SuZan's Blog to see what it was though. (I just can't say it like she does and she has the picture to go with it.)

Found this little in progress craft project sitting in the middle of the living room this evening.  Yes that is glue and glitter and yes there were globs of it all over the floor.  My previous glue pen brilliance was either 1) a very (very) small victory or 2) a ploy to lull me into a state of complacency leaving this the battlefield clear for this strike.  I can't bring myself to believe it was truly an elaborate plot to over throw the house with glitter (of course that could be the weakness...) however I am vowing to never bring any adhesive stronger than craft glue into the house.

Today was really an amazing day in many small ways.  Throughout the course of the day there were various little joys that made me smile and my heart happy.  Nothing big or spectacular (okay one thing was pretty spectacular) just small things that made me happy.

Like uncovering two couches because I folded all of our laundry. (After taking the picture I put everything most of it away - I had actually put a bit away before I took the picture because there was so much it was toppling over and all.) The laundry had been hanging out on two different couches, finishing it has opened up so much sitting room I hardly know what to do with myself.

Then there was breakfast.  Once again it's not that it was elaborate - just really joyful.  It's a homemade roll (thanks Tamara) warmed and cut in half spread with raspberry jam and topped with cheddar cheese (medium sharp I think). Delicious! Since the picture has both I'm going to go ahead and tell you that grated cheese is much better for this than sliced.  Which brings me to the second part of why this was wonderful and that is I used my new food processor to grate the cheese.  It was positively joyous.  Not only was it unbelievably fast and the grate incredible (look how cute and curly it is!) but it didn't scrape my fingers up and was so much easier to clean than my crazy grater.  My cheese grater is of such a design that it limits my grated cheddar intake simply by being a huge pain in the butt.  I've been wanting to make this little treat for a while but keep putting it off because I didn't want to grate the cheese and it's difficult to slice the cheese thin enough to make it really good.  I'm not even positive it will ever be as good with sliced cheese - something about the grated makes it much yummier on this dish.  But I digress; in short I hadn't made this dish yet because I couldn't face using and washing my cheese grater.  So I thought 'What have I got to lose? There's no way it can be harder to clean than the cheese grater...I'm gonna do it!' and I did and I loved it!  It honestly made this little snack taste even better.

After enjoying my snack I read about a quiz that a lot of Americans aren't doing too well on.  It is ten questions on basic Revolutionary War knowledge.  Of course I had to head over and take it (you can take the quiz here) and ended up doing quite well. (I got nine out of ten and almost went back to change the answer on the one I missed but thought about all the times I second guessed myself and regretted it so didn't...isn't that just the way it goes?) Of the ten questions I think that most Americans should know at least four, three should be know but it wouldn't surprise me if they aren't and three were a little harder.  Anyhow it made my day that I did know as much as I thought I did about our country.

The next item of joy came in the form of a little thing I had picked up at the grocery store on Saturday. While there I stopped by the deli to see if they had any baby Swiss (it's hard for me to describe baby Swiss cheese other than to say it's got a great flavor just a little less sharp than regular Swiss. It's really yummy.) (side note: apparently being a mom is doing some damage to my adjectives - in our world there are two types of food: yummy and yucky) They didn't but they did have a little package called bits and pieces which is exactly what it sounds like it would be - a package that has a bunch of the ends of meat and cheese.  It looked promising and for a dollar didn't seem too extravagant.  I broke into it yesterday and really enjoyed snacking on the different flavors of meat and cheese I don't normally try. It was a lot of fun and really tasty (yay! I thought of another food adjective!)

Then there was the moment when I realized that my children were pink squared.  They had both of their own accord chosen two items of pink clothing each. (And to top it off Liberty was packing the pink scissors...) Apparently Liberty has decided that pink is plenty okay as she is choosing it more frequently lately. This reminds me of something else I completely enjoyed about the day and that was reading a new Fancy Nancy book with Emmuska.  I love Fancy Nancy.  If you've never read it I would ask you to go to the library and check it out. After reading it let me know who Nancy reminds you of.  The one we read was about Nancy's first book report. To complete her book report she has to go to the art supply store to get the necessary supplies and proceeds to make the most dazzling cover (her words).  I won't give more of the plot away but I can just imagine this is exactly how Emmuska would approach a book report.  (I tried to get a picture to put with this but was experiencing difficulties - go here to check one out.) Seriously anybody who knows my girl needs to read Fancy Nancy. 

Perhaps it was because so much was going well so my brain shifted into 'sensible functioning mode' who knows but for some reason while Samuel was taking his nap and the girls were playing on Nick Jr. I decided to do something well sensible.  I grabbed my pillow and blanket and lay down on the couch to take a nap.  And that's what I did.  I don't remember what woke me but it wasn't something dramatic and it could have even been *gasp* me just waking up on my own.  Shortly after my extraordinarily refreshing nap I got a text message from my sister Bonnie telling me that her name was on Jimmy's board for a free rose.  Now I can't adequately express how exciting this was for me.  Having my name on this board has been a dream of mine for years. Seriously.  Ever since I was aware of this store and their give-away I've hoped to see my name up there.  I introduced Bonnie to this board and she became my cohort in this dream.  She and I talked often about how fun it would be to see our names up there and get our free roses.  Having her name up there was about as thrilling for me as having mine up there would be. It was really exciting. Get her story here.

January 6th is Shortbread Day according to one of my favorite websites so I had decided that I was going to celebrate by making shortbread (naturally what else would I make?) I've made shortbread before so I thought I'd try a little something different in honor of the day and made two kinds of shortbread. Traditional and Parmesan-Pepper.  I got the recipes from the insert of my Food Network magazine. (Yes I get Food Networks magazine and I absolutely love it!) But if you are interested you can grab the recipes here.  Making shortbread is great because it generally has about five ingredients, maybe a few more for something fancier.  It's easy and fairly rewarding.  The basic shortbread turned out pretty nice - though I think I might have over cooked it a little bit (and according to the recipe I pulled it out early) but that's okay if I'm dipping it in hot chocolate.  It takes on a slightly caramelized flavor.  Better than biscotti for sure.  The Parmesan-Pepper shortbread has a fun and subtle flavor. Liberty categorized it as yucky but I don't agree.  I'd say it's definitely more of a savory shortbread best matched to a soup but I've still enjoyed snacking on them (they are the smaller ones in the picture).  The best thing was making the celebrated food item on its day.

Yes it's been a great day. 

Not this part...this was just funny and went really well with the last post. Yes she fell asleep bundled in her blanket standing next to the couch. I have no idea why she isn't curled up somewhere or gosh even sitting on the couch. Usually a scene like this happens because said child is throwing a fit standing next to an article of furniture and simply falls asleep out of exhaustion.  Not this time.  She wandered into the kitchen to see what I was doing (washing dishes) left and when I came out to see what she was doing not five minutes later this sight is what I was greeted with. My kids are funny.

Onto my brilliant moment of insight - here you see four glitter glue pens in Liberty's backpack.  They are great as art supplies for the kids but a bit on the messy side and lately all over the house. (The craft room is an unbelievable mess so not really being used at the moment...) While I don't like Emmuska getting into them without my awareness she's usually pretty careful Liberty however is another matter altogether.  However she also gets very upset when she can't hold them.  Generally upset doesn't really bother me. I'm in the habit of upsetting daily - at the very least.  Yet I don't like to do it more often than necessary especially with Liberty because it can result in really bad break-outs of the eczema on her face.  So I try to pick my battles carefully.  I didn't want to fight over the glue pens but would have if it came to that. However a good compromise was available.  She didn't want to surrender possession of her best tool for glitter graffiti however putting said equipment into her backpack still counted as being in her possession but was still inaccessible unless I got it out as she isn't quite coordinated enough to reach back there and grab them.  It had the added bonus of creating an alarm system if Emmuska tried to get her hands on them.  Liberty would know about it and immediately let out a wail.  It was amazing - no stepping on drying glue covered pictures today! I saved the non-glittered status of some of my walls and floors as well as a fight. It was a happy mom moment. (I would say blissful but I recently realized that bliss is picking up and finding a gummy snack wrapper with one or two snacks still inside. Love it! Seriously it makes picking up like a treasure hunt and every time you stumble across the aforementioned scenario it's like finding a little piece of ingestible joy!)

At first I was nervous about this blanket getting dirty - being handmade with love from Nana and aunts and all, but as I was looking at it today (for the minute or two she wasn't wrapped in it) slightly despairing over the spots that have already formed I realized that stained blankets are generally favorite blankets and are the ones likely to be cherished for all the memories each stain holds (it's kind of like a food scrapbook ;).  And that would have been the perfect thought to end on but I have to say that Liberty has spent maybe twelve hours total (church and various errands where it's required to stay in the car) NOT wrapped up in her blanket.

Lately Emmuska has been into asking me how to spell words and what various letters say. She's started reading a few words in books - for example everytime we come across a 'he' or 'woof' just for example she will read it.  Couple that with her conversations and I just can't believe how big she is getting

I was having a rough afternoon - getting frustrated with one thing or another. Whilst trying to find something on a scrapbooking site one link led to another which led to me stumbling across this video.

I'm thankful for a Heavenly Father who hears the prayers I haven't had a chance to say and for His incredible love in know just how to answer them.

Little Sam hit three months on Sunday.  I honestly don't know where the time is going (as horribly cliche as that is).  In an attempt to avoid more cliches I won't wax lyrical about how much we love him and how great he is but just share a few pictures we took on Sunday.

Yes he smiles like this a lot.  But you all probably know how much big mouths (and the tendency they have of not staying closed for too long) run in our family. ;)

My favorite from the night.  He's just so gosh-darn happy!  Thanks to his cooperative attitude (as well as the same from his father...he's behind the scenes keeping the little guy upright) we were able to get shots I was really excited about quite quickly.

Here's a few of the girls and one of the whole family as well.  Nothing professional I just set up the tripod and used the self timer but it's not too shabby and at least it exists.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. Tons of love to all of you and looking forward to sharing more of our stories and moments next year!

Christmas ended up being everything we could have wished for and more.  It was a lovely day spent having a good time together as family - very quiet and laid back.  It actually started on Christmas Eve (naturally - why ever keep all the joy to a mere 24 hours?) with me getting the house all picked up before I running out to do a little Christmas shopping. Yes I waited until Christmas Eve to do my shopping and overall it was a pretty good experience.  I was able to score some pretty sweet deals, pick up some dinner (hey I just got the kitchen clean - nothing was touching it until I started cooking Christmas dinner.) and take care of a few errands in less than four hours - and that includes my driving time so I'm pretty satisfied with the results. (Not to mention I didn't have to worry about hiding presents as I could leave them in the car until I set them out at night - seriously it was kind of awesome.) I came home to find Emmuska in full decorating mode.  She wanted the house to look nice for Santa so she pulled out the crepe paper we had purchased for her birthday but never got around to using. She'd really been itching to use them anyway - this seemed like as good a time as any.  She went around the house hanging 6-12 inch of crepe paper in the most random places i.e. under my light switch, middle of doors, middle of walls, the ironing board, the fireplace etc.  I still chuckle when I stumble across one somewhere.  The best was when she pulled out my small fake tree and decorated it green then decorated all of her stuffed animals with pink and put them in a circle around the tree for a 'Christmas Party'.  The picture does a pretty good job of capturing this little spectacle.  While she was decorating I set to work getting a couple stockings made.  I hadn't yet put one together for Liberty so I thought I would make hers and Samuel's at the same time.  While this took a little longer than I expected (naturally because honestly I am horrible at guessing how long something will take me) the stockings turned out quite well I thought.

After that we made some cookies for Santa because Emmuska just couldn't go to bed until she had set out a plate of cookies.  Almost as soon as I got the first batch out of the oven she rushed into the kitchen to stack the cookies onto a plate after which she carried the plate from the kitchen to the living room. That might have been one of the longest walks we've taken this year. The cookies kept slipping and sliding on the plate and I was quite certain that each step would see a dozen cookies all over the floor. She did make it to fireplace without incident and the cookies were almost safe until Mycal asked to test one and she jerked the plate away.  Let's just say that I hope Santa believes in the 'ten second' rule. 

 I've delayed writing this one for a little while. (Partially because I've barely touched my computer in the last week...honestly where has it gone?) I wasn't sure if I should write about my favorite Christmas music because, well quite frankly Christmas music isn't a seasonal thing like decorations for me. It's more like a genre akin to country, pop or rock music. I listen to it at least eight months out of the year - sometimes more. I'm not shy about listening to Christmas music just because I feel like it. It is one of the most listened to playlists on my ipod and the cd's that weren't in storage from March to August. All the time I was thinking about this post I wondered if maybe Christmas music didn't really invoke Christmas for me because I listen to it so often when it's not Christmas. Turns out that isn't true. When I put on 'Sleigh Ride' (done by either The Ronettes or The Boston Pops Orchestra) my heart immediately flutters with joy and my mind shifts over to planning and thinking about all the great things I want to make and do for Christmas. The same can be said for many Christmas songs. Here in no particular order are my top 5 favorite Christmas songs for 2009: (hopefully I can keep it to five ;)

1: Sleigh Ride - I've loved this song forever (okay maybe not forever but at least as long as I've been able to make informed decisions on my preferences...) though to actually make it on this list it has to be either the version done by the Ronettes ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa-hTXE72G0 )or the Boston Pops Orchestra ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4rSocVAD6c ). Nobody else compares to their performances.

2: The Holly and the Ivy - This is a traditional carol from the Renaissance (or so I read somewhere...) and is a little hard to find. Don't know why I just love it. What? Never heard of it? I'm not really surprised I've never heard it on the radio. I stumbled across it when Mycal bought me an obscure Christmas cd. This isn't the best version on YouTube but it's the best with lyrics that I've come across so far: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57l6dSbVppM&feature=related

3: Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan doing 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings' - okay so I obviously have a thing for traditional carols - still at least you're likely to hear this one on the radio. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGVNzgUxE-g

4: Josh Groban singing any Christmas music (its okay you can go ahead and laugh). If I had to narrow it down I would say either his version of Silent Night or Believe ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sFcisgUvGo )

5: Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella - This is a new one for me this year. It's also a bit older - originally written in the mid 1500's but the lyrics are great and the music beautiful. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNsrjNi7css )

Wow look at that! I actually kept it to five songs! Okay I'm immensely proud of myself right now. It was hard as there are so many great Christmas songs (runners up include 'Once in Royal David's City, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, and The First Noel). It's hard for me to adequately describe why I enjoy these songs so much. Part of it is the peace and joy with which they fill me...which may be why I listen to them frequently.

I have been thinking about this post ever since I wrote about one of my favorite Christmas sights. (And I spend a lot of time doing fairly mindless tasks that allow one's mind to ponder deeply so there has been a significant amount of thought put into this, in fact I'd be a little embarrassed to admit just how much thought has gone into this.)  I worked to narrow down what my favorite smells that to me really define Christmas.  At first I thought maybe peppermint or pine - and while these were good they just weren't right.  True they are Christmas-y but they don't invoke memories or really get me into the Christmas spirit.  My next thought was the crisp smell of a cold snowy night or the smell of fires burning.  Both seemed close but were also not quite right.  More than being Christmas smells they were winter smells.  It wasn't until I walked into a bank and it hit me - literally.  As soon as I walked through the doors I could smell Christmas.  What was that smell?...it's exactly what Christmas smells like...memories where flooding in and I know this was the right smell I just couldn't place it.  While scanning for the source of the smell and racking my brain for what it was I spied a sign welcoming all customers to join in this bank's Christmas celebration by enjoying some cookies and wassail.  Wassail! That was it! Being more pungent than spiced cider it is able to fill a whole building with its aroma.  I could not begin to tell you why this smell so strongly invokes memories and thoughts of Christmas for me but it does.  It smells of warmth and special-ness. Yes I'm pretty sure that's not a word...what I'm trying to say is that it's something that you don't smell very often or really at any time other than at Christmas.  It like Christmas is only around once a year. I could walk into a forest and smell pine or a candy store and smell peppermint but for some reason I've only ever smelled wassail in conjunction with Christmas celebrations.

A little more than a month ago we had Samuel's baby blessing.  It was a very good blessing.  A few things he was blessed with was faith like a rock, strength, intelligence, the ability to feel the Lord's love and share it with others, to help in his family and the ability to bless many of God's children.  I can already see some of these blessing at work. (Anybody who has been on the recieving end of a Samuel smile can tell you how much God's love can be felt through this little boy and he has been an incredible blessing to this family.)

'Are we going to leave cookies out for Santa?'

'Yeah we can do that.'

'And we will leave some out for his reindeer too.'

'Well reindeer usually like carrots more...'

'Oh, okay we will leave one cookie out for Santa and one two three four five...a lot of carrots out for his reindeer.'

'Okay'

'Will the reindeer come into get their carrots or can we take the carrots out to them?'

'Well we will probably be asleep when Santa comes here so we will just leave them with the cookies and Santa will give them to the reindeer.'

(looking a little dubious about the reliabilty of leaving this task to Santa...)'Ok I guess...'

'Mom Santa is really sneaky.'

'What?'

'Santa. He's really sneaky.  He goes through the house, well the living room and kitchen, and leaves presents and eats cookies and drinks milk and gets carrots for his reindeer and he does it so quietly that nobody ever sees him because he is so sneaky.'

'Wow, you know you are right.'

'Yep.'

'Is Santa going to come down the chimney or through the door?'

'What do you think?'

'Well what if we didn't have a chimney?'

'Do we have a chimney?'

'Yes.'

'So how do you think he will get in?'

'Down the chimney.  But for all the houses without chimneys he will have to use the door...because he can't get go down a chimney if the house doesn't have a chimney.'

'Can we leave Santa a present?'

'Sure what do you want to leave him?'

'How about a princess game I think.'

'I don't know if Santa will want a princess game - can you think of something else?'

'I'll go make him something!' (said as she runs down the hall to the craft room)

I think somebody is getting pretty excited about Santa.

For me lights twinkling on green branches immediately invokes Christmas. It's always been one of my favorite parts of the season - just staring at the tree all lit up in the mostly dark room.  

There have been many nights throughout the Decembers in my life where I have fallen asleep on the couch because I was mesmerized by the tree lights.  And every year after stringing lights onto the tree - spending hours to make sure they cover it just right, leaving no dark spots or overly bright clusters, the moment I stand back and actually look at the whole thing my heart opens up.  I remember many happy memories from Christmases past including nights spent staring at lights just like these and am filled with the excitement for the potential that this season has.  I think more than anything else lights on my indoor evergreen are the start of Christmas for me.

From there it just got better.  Shortly after discovering the extreme reasonability of tree prices in my neighborhood Mycal came home asking if I wanted a Christmas tree.

'Of course I do! I don't think our two foot fake tree is going to cut it for the kids this year.'

'Oh, okay then I'll pick one up next week.  They are going to give some away on base.'

Once again...seriously?! It's true a bunch of tree farms and FedEx team up to donate and deliver hundreds of Christmas trees to military bases.  Isn't this country amazing!  So I was looking forward to the day we would get our tree.  However something happened so that we weren't able to make it to the tree lot on the day of delivery.  'So much for that' I thought, because honestly what are the odds that a bunch of free trees aren't going to disappear before I'd be able to make it there.  As it turns out the odds were pretty good.  So many trees had been donated that there was still a pretty good selection by the time we made it to the tree lot to pick out our tree.  Once again the people in this great nation are truly wonderful.

Picking out our tree turned out to be a lot of fun.  There were all kinds so we spent a while fingering the needles (See above for a picture of Emmuska doing just that...) to make sure they were soft enough to be our tree. (Because a prickly tree would just not be acceptable.)  Whilst Emmuska was ensuring our tree wouldn't be too prickly I was making sure I could heft the thing to the car.  (An unnecessary precaution as Mycal got off work just in time to help us load it up - but I'm still very glad I did it that way as it has made the whole process easier.)  After getting it home I went all out and trimmed off a section of the tree so that it could take water in better.  Armed with nothing more than a hacksaw I worked my way through the trunk. All the time I was doing this I was thanking my lucky stars that I had had the foresight to pick out this tree as the trunk wasn't actually all that big. Before I go on I'd like you to take a look at the tree behind the hacksaw in that last picture - I wasn't really sure what to expect when I got the string off but would never have guessed that something that could wrap up so small could look so full once it's branches where free. 

Moving on...now that the tree was unwrapped and secure in it's base (thank you Mycal - despite his insanely busy work schedule the past three to four weeks he found time to help me tighten the screws in the stand - so well that he will now be the only one able to get the tree out...) other preparations had to be made before we could get on with the task of decorating the tree.  First was the making up of a (larger than expected) batch of peanut butter popcorn - sprinkled liberally with chocolate chips.  I don't know what it is about peanut butter popcorn but decorating the Christmas tree seems to demand it.  It's not like it's a family tradition we've had for ages - more like something I thought should be a family tradition.  I made some.  It's really easy to make but I hadn't done it in a while so of course I kind of fudged and to cover that mistake ended up with a double batch. (read copious amounts of popcorn - to Mom: quite naturally you were right and I shouldn't have doubted you.)  

And just to make sure we were adequately covered I made up some chocolate chip cookies as well.  I had already gotten the lights on the tree as I felt this was a job best done with less help so now we were ready to begin the final part of the decoration process.  Hanging the ornaments.  I pulled out my two boxes of ornaments, gave each girl one and let them go at it.  I was a little surprised that by the fact that in no time at all Liberty had hung up six or seven ornaments while Emmuska had yet to actually approach the tree.  Turns out Emmuska really enjoyed unwrapping the ornaments as after she had done that and there was a pile on the couch of her box's contents she came over to do the same for Liberty's box.

I was occasionally able to persuade her to go and put ornaments on the tree but it was a difficult task.  Exploring the minimal depths of the decoration box was simply more fascinating.  In the end I think that Emmuska got maybe six or seven ornaments on the tree and Liberty a few more than that.  Of course as far as Liberty's went they were all on the same three branches but still...She's only two so not too shabby. At one point I mentioned that we needed to get some Christmas music on  in order to do this thing right.  Before I was able to get something on though Emmuska started singing 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' and some songs that had a lot of Merry Christmases in it. It was priceless listening to her sing songs.  Once again I can't get over how into the season she has gotten (funny story about that that I will have to share later...)So here are a few things that I absolutely love about our tree: first it was small enough when wrapped up that I could simply throw it in the car and drive home (no spending forever trying to tie it down to the roof of my car and then trying to get it off...) - yet when unwrapped it looks great.  Second it is a nearly perfect cone - just the right shape for a good looking tree. I mean it just looks like a Christmas tree should look.  Third it's needles are pretty soft.  Fourth it was very accommodating to the light enthusiast.  It was really easy to put lights on and holds them well.  If we had never finished decorating it would have been okay because it still looked really nice. Not only does it carry lights well but it didn't fight back to me putting them on. (See number three) Fifth it smells really nice - no doubt about the fact that it is Christmas time in our home.  And finally it brings joy and happiness to our living room.  There is nothing like a tree to bring that Christmas feeling.Here is a short history of this tree's life:

If you are looking for a fun little way to get into the Christmas mood go brew yourself some hot chocolate, head over here and settle in for half an hour of fun. I stumbled across this while looking for something else for Emmuska - it totally made my day and got me all excited again. Seriously put a smile on my face (okay I laughed out loud several times but we all know I'm a little odd that way...) definately worth the time.

We started December and all the joyous festivities for Christmas off by attending the Holiday Express hosted by the MWR on base. It was a lot of fun (okay I'll admit it - it was better than I was expecting). A lot of organizations from the community pulled together to make a sort of North Pole village you could wander through, enjoying various activities at each building. So you could go to the North Pole Optometrist, sponsored by the Lion's Club and they would help you decorate and put together some paper glasses. The North Pole Library, hosted by the library on base, had a bunch of pillows and blankets on the ground where you could sit while listening to Christmas stories. This was at the 'Salon' which was really nice for two reasons 1) they had good lighting set up so we could actually see what we were doing (coloring pages - which has nothing to do with a salon but what are you going to do?) and 2) they had furniture set up so I could take a minute and sit on a nice couch. Okay the really fun thing about this particular stop was that Liberty loved the lights. She found the lights absolutely enchanting and spent more time staring at them than just about anything else she did that evening. (I can't blame her - Christmas lights are one of my favorite things about the season - there is something simply magical about each little bit of light along the string.)

The Grinch! Yeah we didn't actually visit Santa at this festival but we did get a chance to snap a photo with the Grinch. The funny thing was that Liberty had checked out the 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' movie (not so much from a desire to get into a festive mood as she just picks out and puts back shows until you say it's time to go and then she gets whatever is still in her hands at that moment) a few days before so the girls and I had watched it and Emmuska had been talking to me about it a lot the days leading up to this visit. This led to more discussion as to whether we met the Grinch who liked Christmas (consensus was that he did indeed since he was in Santa's Workshop) and how he hadn't before because his heart was too small, his head wasn't on right and his shoes were too tight. (That's right nothing gets by this kid.) It was a pretty exciting meeting that happened at just the right time. Got to love that!

All in all it was a wonderful adventure. We had a great time and it really did get us in the spirit of the season - ready and excited for all things Christmas-y!

This little guy has completely won over everybody in this house. I think we are all in agreement that he is one of the most amazing people any of us have ever met. He's very relaxed and easy going (Mycal and I love that) always ready to grin (Liberty and Emmuska get endless enjoyment from this...okay I don't know anybody who doesn't get endless joy from this...) He's got a great little laugh and an attitude about him that makes you feel like whatever you do for him is genuinely appreciated. Not to mention he is so incredilby handsome - seriously this guy has it all, charm, charisma, dashing good looks...is there anyone impervious to his spell?

Because it's always a party at our house...

Because I overwork the girls by making them sit in the shopping cart while I push it through out the store it's easy to see how this could happen. However these pictures succinctly describe why my Thanksgiving grocery shopping was incredibly easy. Honestly I've never had such an easy (read quiet) shopping trip. ;)

Thanksgiving was quite the event for us. It has been five years since the last time Mycal and I did Thanksgiving on our own as a family - and of course back then it was just the two of us. For some unexplainable reason I was really excited about this prospect. I was just looking forward the the relative peace and quiet of spending some great time together as family. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday so I of course I had all these plans of making it just right and I was pretty sure I could pull it off.

I started by getting my grocery shopping done adequately early so I wouldn't have to deal with unrealistic crowds at the store. This went remarkably well. I suspect this was partially due to the fact that all three children fell asleep remarkably early into the endeavor. I had only gone a couple of aisles before I noticed Emmuska slumped over the steering wheel of the car cart she and Liberty were riding in. Soon after that Liberty was in the same position as Emmuska and Samuel, being snuggled up next to me in the baby carrier didn't take too long in following the girls example. As a side note I was rather impressed by how intriguing this scenario was to every other shopper. I don't think I passed more that one or two people in the store who didn't have something to say about the sleeping children. And there you have my children...always the phenomenon.

After that was getting the kitchen ready. I started by completely cleaning the dining room down to mopping the floor. Mind you what with little Samuel this is a task that hasn't been done in almost two months - sure I've cleaned spots as necessary because well let's face it with two kids four and under and a couple of dogs my floor gets plenty of mop time. Still this was the first time I went all out and moved the table to make sure I got everything. The result was stunning. (The key to really gratifying cleaning is to not do it for a while because then the results are extra good.) So here I had this sparkling dining room floor so I sensibly turned my attention to the kitchen. Within twenty-four hours a dog peed on the floor twice and Emmuska tracked poop from the back yard all over it. Seriously? I mean nothing that drastic happens in two months and then the same day that I mop it I end up mopping it three more times. I have understandably sworn off mopping my floor anymore - it's apparently bad luck. ;)

After getting the floors all clean I turned my attention to a spare table I have set up in the kitchen for extra preparation space. As is the nature of spare table space they have a way of just collecting stuff so I set to work and got the thing cleared off. (Honestly a much more remarkable task than you would imagine I was very proud of myself.) It was at this point that things took an ugly turn.

I had an appointment on the Monday before Thanksgiving, which was actually really good doing wonders to lift my spirit. However the journey didn't help the cold that was threatening to attack me. Liberty had gotten sick the preceding Thursday and Emmuska had followed suit on Friday. I managed to hold out until Monday but the trip down to town and the minimal level of strain involved in that (because as much fun as any event is going to be packing up three kids to get there is bound to test anybody - and I was going to a doctors appointment - not exactly the least taxing event already) pushed me over the edge. Tuesday I was completely miserable and Wednesday wasn't much better. By Thanksgiving I was now sure I wasn't going to die but still had to deal with the never ending nose blowing, necessary mouth breathing due to congestion, tender skin on the nose as a result of never ending blowing and all those residual aches and pains.

But it was okay! I was going to persevere and have an amazing Thanksgiving anyway! I had gotten my little turkey into a brine very late the night before. (Happy little side note - my turkey was in a wonderfully thawed state - no frozen bird this year! This might have been my happiest pre-Thanksgiving accomplishment.) I got up - not too obscenely early (Liberty had kindly slept in an extra half hour so it was actually pretty nice.) We ran to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things we might need then came back to get to work. Now everything I read said that this bird would take four hours to cook and since I've never had a turkey done early (in fact it's always been quite the opposite...I don't think I've ever been present for a turkey that was done on time - they alway seem to take a little extra time) so I figured I had at least that long to get the potatoes, rolls, stuffing etc. done as well as baths for the kids and a shower for self.

Yeah...not so much. I had an internal theremoniter tucked into my bird (thanks to my wonderful Mom!) and after only an hour and half it was telling me that I was almost done. I turned into the proverbial tornado flying around the kitchen to get everything else ready. Even after letting my turkey over cook a little I wasn't close to done. I finally pulled the bird out to let it rest (maybe I could finish everything else in fifteen minutes...right?) Let's just say that nobody burned their mouth on the meat portion of our meal. Still it turned out rather well. By the time I had everything else done the turkey was a really good temperature - still pretty hot just not so hot that it hurt. That being said it was amazing. It was a really good turkey - very moist and flavorful (a humble thanks to Alton Brown). The girls weren't too into it but that was fine by Mycal and I - we managed to polish the whole thing off by Monday. (I actually really liked having some leftovers to enjoy for a couple of days...another anomally for me.)

Yes mustard is so important in our house that we have an entire shelf in our fridge devoted to it.

A couple of weeks ago the kids and I had a chance to meet up with my Dad. For those of you who don't know he is currently trucking and the highway near where we live is one that he drives semi frequently. As he would be passing in the middle of the day and would have to stop for gas at some point anyway we decided to meet up at the fueling station (they don't call them gas stations - and I might have gotten that wrong...I just remembered I was corrected when I called it a gas station) about forty-five minutes from where I live. Quite naturally we couldn't pass up this opportunity to see each other. S. David (as he is regularly called by my father) was in every way his happy smiling self - instantly winning over his Poppa. We snapped a couple of pictures on what was the first beautiful Friday in the last couple of months...so beautiful that blazing sun didn't quite make for ideal photography...still.... I love this picture of the two of them...great chance to pick out all the similarities.

One last hug before he had to go again. It was great to be able to see Dad for a little bit. As much of an adjustment as the road seems to be for him it also seems to be much better for his health than when he was teaching. He seemed much more alive and there than I had seen him in a while and that was really nice. The girls were sad to see him go again but being the optimistic creatures they are decided to focus their attention on when they will get to see him again. I'm with them...can't wait for the next chance.

Due to popular demand (two out of five consistent posters...that's pretty popular right?) I'm posting the chocolate chip cookie recipe I featured not too long ago:

1/2 cup rolled oats (regular or quick)

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 eggs

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used half and half dark and milk one time and a mixture of dark, semi and milk another...I think it's just up to personal preference. However 3 cups does seem to be a bit much and I've been scaling back a little. They were find with 2 1/2 cups and I'm going to try 2 next time...will tell you how it turns out.)

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (or other preferred nut, I used pecans)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper (I only used one and just cooked in batches.) Place rolled oats in blender or food processor and process until finely ground. (I used a little extra rolled oats and liked them better as it made them a little fluffier...maybe an extra 1/4 cup but I'll measure next time I make them and let you know.) Combine ground oats, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a mixing bowl.

In another bowl, cream butter, sugars, vanilla and lemon juice together using an electric mixer. Add eggs and beat until fluffy.

Stir the flour mixture into egg mixture, blending well. Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix well. Using 1/4 cup of dough for each cookie, scoop round balls with an ice-cream scoop (I used a measuring cup...) and place 2 1/2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.

Bake until cookies are lightly browned, 16-18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a sealed container to keep them soft and chewy. (As if some of you will even have to worry about that part... ;) )

Anybody who tries them let me know how they work out for you. In the meantime I think I'm off to make some cookies!

A few days before her birthday I was looking at Emmuska and surprised to see how spindly she has become over the last couple of months. It is as if she lost any remaining baby fat she had in less than two months. (She was definitely chubbier, in that child sort of way, in August than she is now...) While she's no Aurora there's no doubt that she's growing up and into a new phase of life.

I LOVED this picture and was pleasantly surprised with the fact that I managed to get it. On the morning of her birthday Emmuska's grandma called to sing her Happy Birthday. I got my camera out in time to hear SuZan ask Emmuska how old she was. Emmuska started to say three then this look came over her face as she realized that she was now four. It was precious! She absolutely glowed with the realization that she had added a whole year to her life.

I left the gift buying for Emmuska up to Mycal but took her out to spend the money from her Grandparents. I figured we might as well make sure she gets what she wants. (That and part of it was shoes so I had to have her try them on...) Almost more exciting than picking out the gifts was picking out the wrapping paper...and then helping me wrap the presents. There was no way she was going to get left out of this part of the process.

So we snuck into the craft room to wrap presents. (We snuck because I didn't know how much help I could use while still being able to effectively accomplish the task...funny thing was how much Emmuska loved the 'sneaking' part of it all. I thought it was funny because the birthday girl and I were sneaking to wrap her own presents...maybe it's one of those 'you have to be there' things.) There were a couple of presents that I had gotten for Liberty as well at the same time like some jammies and a bib, that Emmuska had gotten as well so I would ask her 'Do you want me to wrap these up and wait for your birthday or do you want to use them now?' Every time the answer was 'Wrap them up! I want to wait until my birthday!' Of course she then asked me everyday until her birthday if she could open them yet but still I was impressed with the patience.

My crowning achievement for the day! Honestly while I'm certain this kind of tactic will be so 'not cool' at some point in the future I'm very pleased with my effort this year. (And it's not just about the looks either...the cake tasted awesome!)

A birthday classic. Better yet has been Emmuska telling me for the last week that she 'blew three candles out with one breath!' A crowning achievement you can be sure.

Since I never got the cupcakes made for Liberty's birthday we had her blow out candles too. We also had our friends over and had their son blow out candles on a cupcake since they will be on the road for his birthday. Something I learned from this birthday is to make sure you have a gift for everybody to unwrap... I hadn't planned properly for that aspect this time around but at least I learned.

I absolutely love how thrilled she is to unwrap these presents. She is so excited over what she will find under the paper despite the fact that she picked it out and wrapped it up. Here she is so surprised and excited over this present even though before she unwrapped it she asked 'Is this my coloring book?' Kids are great!

So maybe nine months ago I came across this recipe card for chocolate chip cookies. It was one of those cards that includes the picture (dang food porn...) so of course I wanted to make them to see if they tasted as good as they looked. When I went to make them I discover that I didn't have all the ingredients. After that I would keep promising myself that after I finished such and such task or this and that I would make up these cookies as a reward. Of course I would always get busy with something or after finishing stated task would find myself immediately immersed in another project. Last week I finally made them. I actually packed all the children up and headed over to the grocery store for the express purpose of buying the necessary ingredient then came back and set to work. End result:

Being exceptionally pleased with myself for having finally made these cookies I had to grab my camera so I could share my triumph with the world. I walk back into the kitchen to this:

Yeah Mycal was trying to sneak some gooey goodness (fresh out of the oven and all). The cookies were fabulous by the way. Crunchy to bite into with a soft inside that wasn't in the least bit doughy. In short one fourth a cup of chocolate chip heaven.

I can't even begin to express how much this boy has managed to wrap me up and make me all his. He is such a handsome sweetheart that it's impossible for me not to be hopelessly in love with him. (Apparently he will be taking after his daddy.) This would be one (of the many) reasons why. A few weeks ago he started giving me this grin. One day he looked right at me and then burst into the most beaming-ly happy smile I've ever seen. It was as if he was saying 'You are my mommy and I think that you are the most amazing woman in the world - you make me so happy and I want you to know how much I love you.' If it hadn't happened to me I don't know if I'd believe that one brief smile could actually say all that yet his did. Everyday for one week he would flash exactly one of these at me. My heart would jump each time and I'd become euphoric. I would then do everything I could to coax another one out of him but to no avail - one a day was what I got. After that first week he became much more generous with these smiles to the point that I'm almost afraid I will start taking them for granted. (Hasn't happened yet - my heart still gets all warm and fuzzy when he grins.) Occasionally he will also laugh which is complete bliss.

Added to his killer smiles is his fuzzy hair. After every bath his hair is gloriously soft and fuzzy. It often sticks out at whatever angle it can manage (being so short and fine makes this a tricky task but it does the best it can...) I just can't help myself - I inevitably end up staring at it for a couple of minutes, soaking in all it's fuzzy glory. I don't know why it's so fascinating to me but it is.

And then you have how well he dresses up. I don't generally get over excited about baby things but seeing this outfit in the store was too much for me - I had to pick it up. Making it even more worth while was having the thing look better on him than the hanger. (Even better when he's sitting or being held rather than just lying down but this was what I had a chance to snap a picture of...hopefully better pictures will come at some point in the future). All through church I just reveled in how handsome he looked. Honestly I'm completely enamored by this boy.

And to top it off a little bit of an 'artsy shot'. Samuel was obviously sleeping and the girls were happily entertained doing something so I was able to take a couple of minutes to play with the depth of field in this shot. I've been wanting to practice this concept (sharp focus on foreground portion with blurred but still distinct background image) but have had a hard time finding time/subject to do so. The concept turned out really well in this picture (even if the composition could use a little work...) One small step closer to being as skilled as I'd really like to be right?

I'm a fall kind of girl anyway but this fall has been amazing! I've got to say that I have absolutely been loving fall here. I can't believe how different it is from Utah. I mean superficially it seems the same but there are a lot of small things that I've enjoyed. One example would be the whole leaves changing color thing. I've always enjoyed this immensely but I've never really appreciated the orange/brown trees as much as the more vibrant reds and yellows. While I still loved those colors this year I gained a news sense of joy from the aforementioned oranges and browns. The thing about orange and brown leaves here was that the variety in shades (moving from orange to brown) was so perfectly blended that the landscape looked like it was covered in gold. Honestly it was amazing. Every time I went out driving I couldn't get over how beautiful it was. The change in colors made every drive seem new and different. (One time so much so that I missed my turn and drove into another county - all the while literally thinking 'I still can't get over how much the change in colors makes every drive look completely brand new - like I've never been on this road before.' Seriously my exact thought. Sadly it was another five minutes after this thought before I started thinking 'wait a minute...have been on this road before?'. Just for the record I timed myself after turning around and it turned out I was fifteen minutes past my turn. Still it was a lovely drive.)

Another thing I've enjoyed about fall here is how long it seems to last. In Utah it only seems that the colors are really there for a couple of weeks. Even the weather transitions rather quickly from summer to winter. Sure we might get lucky and have a few beautifully warm days after the chill has set in but one must endure a snow fall or two to get them and even still they are too few to really make up for snow in October. (I'm convinced those beautiful days are only thrown in to keep us fall enthusiast from revolting entirely...if there's one thing mother nature doesn't want to deal with it's a picket line...) Here fall has been an actual process that one can take in and enjoy. The leaves slowly changed colors providing ever changing and enchanting views for at least a month and then just as slowly the leaves fell (there are still quite a few hold outs...and they don't even all look dark and dead - they've still retains vibrancy). There have been a lot of rainy days (it's apparently been a very rainy year) but we've also had many gorgeous fall days. I don't know how to describe other than a legitimately paced autumnal season. I'd never realized how sorely lacking Utah was in this department (rushing from summer to winter and all...) but the difference is now glaring to me.

Another difference is that nobody around here rakes up leaves then stuffs them in bags. Honestly nobody. Everybody rakes their leaves up (generally into the ditches that run along both sides of the road) and burn them. This adds to the fall atmosphere by adding that gloriously smoky/earthy smell. I don't think there is any better way to describe it than Autumn.

One final Halloween photo for you all to enjoy. As I said in the post on Liberty's birthday - Tigger attracts outfits. I'm guessing that the second my back was turned on this costume it was spirited away because the next time I saw it was on this guy. Personally I think that the colors in the costume compliment his complexion nicely.

Because Emmuska's birthday is approaching we've had a lot of these conversations lately:

'What present do I get to open today?'

'None it's not your birthday yet.'

'Is tomorrow my birthday?'

'No'

'Tomorrow's tomorrow?'

'Yes tomorrow's tomorrow otherwise known as the day after tomorrow is your birthday.'

'Is tomorrow yesterday?'

'No tomorrow is tomorrow.'

'Is today yesterday?'

'No today is today.'

'Is today tomorrow?'

'No today was tomorrow yesterday.'

Yeah try to wrap your head around that. The first time I said it I had to sit there and make sure I said it right. Of course it is now almost like breathing as we have conversations like this a lot. (Minus the birthday bit - that's new we usually just jump right into the Is today yesterday? part.) My almost four year old - helping to keep my brain active.

I can not believe Liberty's birthday has already come and gone. It really snuck up on me this year. Overall I think it was a rather joyous event - at least she doesn't seem to feel traumatized by the lack of a birthday cake.

I hope you all had an enjoyable Halloween. Ours was really nice - especially since the weather preceding it had been rainy and cold it was extra nice to have a very warm sunny day with which to celebrate. Here are a couple of highlights from our holiday: The pumpkin patch we stopped by also had a petting zoo. Of course Emmuska wanted to get some of the food pellets so we could feed the animals. Surprising was that after we got the pellets she still wanted to feed the animals. I think this might be a first when it comes to actually feeding animals. Usually she gets the food then changes her mind and Mycal and I end up feeding the animals. This time she carefully set one pellet at a time in her hand and fed the goats. Liberty was another story - this picture accurately shows as close as she ever got to the animals.

Emmuska, being the weed that she is, really needed new shoes so off we went to find some. I'm not sure where she gleaned the information (because I didn't say anything...) but this seemed to be the catalyst for the revelation that there are many different types of shoes.

'Mom these are sneakers.' she said of her newly acquired shoes.

'Yes they are.'

'Sneakers are a type of shoe.'

'Yes they are.'

'Hikers are a type of shoe too.'

'Yes they are.'

'Church shoes and boots are types of shoes too.'

'Yes they are.'

'And clappy shoes...'

'Tap shoes'

'Yeah tap shoes are a type of shoe too.'

'Yes they are.'

'And parachutes are a type of shoe too.'

'No parachutes are like really big umbrellas that help people jump out of airplanes. Perhaps you mean pair of shoes which means a set of shoes or two shoes that are the same.'

'Pair of shoes are a type of shoe too.'

'No a pair of shoes is a set like Liberty is wearing two shoes that are the same that is a pair of shoes. You are wearing two shoes that are the same that is a pair of shoes.'

'So a parachute is a type of shoe too.'

'No a parachute is a really big umbrella that helps people jump out of airplanes.'

'Then a pair of shoes is a type of shoe.'

'No...'

Yeah it went on like that for a while. I'm not sure I've convinced her otherwise so for all I know if I hadn't gone off to take care of something else we might still be having this conversation.

Whilst I was busy doing something non-descript Liberty, being and industrious girl, decided to find something productive to do as well...like make power-shakes for us. She scrounged up a blender and some grapes (do power shakes really need anything else?) and put the two together.

So I had this fabulous artsy craft project whirling around in my head. In an effort to capture the ever changing size of my children I thought it would be fun to stamp their hands on canvas, label them with their age and then hang them on the wall. This didn't seem like an incredibly difficult idea.

It's a little heart-warming to realize just how much my girls love to do the things I'm interested in. (Okay it's heart-warming when it's not completely frustrating because they are getting into my supplies or severely slowing me down...)

Because I like living and I'm quite certain Bonnie has access to the kind of resources that might hinder that hobby I've been working for the last day and a half to get some pictures of baby Samuel up. (Sometimes I think blogger wants to create discord by NOT allowing me to upload pictures necessary for familial happiness...) In any event here they are! Pictures of our oh-so-handsome little boy! He really is a handsome boy - especially when he smiles (something I've been graced to receive a few times this week...) that's when his dimples show up and I've got to tell you my heart was melting like butter on a hot sidewalk. This boy isn't going to have any problem stealing hearts.

Since I know you have all been waiting with baited breath to hear how the food adventure turned out on Wednesday I did my best to chronicle the event photographically so I could share all the details with you. As you may remember my bold and slightly overly optimistic goal was to make pumpkin cheesecake, caramel apples and possibly some cupcakes (for Liberty's birthday). Aside from these lofty food endeavors I needed to go to town for story/ craft time, run errands, get groceries, take Emmuska to guitar lessons and if at all possible pick up some birthday things for liberty. Yeah l dream big. So given all that I'm not too surprised that as far as my culinary goals were concerned this was all I managed to accomplish... In my defense I got started on this project only to discover that bag of sugar I thought I had was in fact less than a cup...hardly adequate for my purposes. 'Well there's always tomorrow' I thought. 'Tomorrow' (yesterday) dawned with me determined to finish what I had started. The only problem was I still only had 3/4 cup of sugar and had to steel myself for the task of packing up three kids to drive half a mile, unload them, run into the store (ha ha...I don't think the four of us 'run' anywhere...Emmuska and Liberty might but that is generally a frustratingly different story...) purchase sugar, get loaded back up, drive half a mile back home and unload. It sounded like an awful lot of work for very little. (The problem being I wasn't looking at the bigger picture...I only saw the fruit of such a trip being the sugar not the goodies I was going to make with the sugar. Sometimes we need to think bigger.) I was saved such a trip by my incredible friend however because she graciously came to visit bringing sugar with her. (Hero of the day award goes to you Tamara.) We set to work creating the pumpkin cheesecake. It smelled incredible and thankfully wasn't too intense an effort, though I did manage to forget an ingredient. Thankfully it still turned out quite well. How's this for slightly ironic though - not wanting to push my luck by making the crust as well I purchased a pre-made graham cracker crust only it wasn't big enough to hold all the filling so I had to mix up a crust anyway to make some cupcake sized cakes. And now I know that I can make a graham cracker crust. Five hours later here was the end result:

Unfortunately I wasn't sure how long to cook the cupcakes for so I did end up burning the crusts a little. Overall though the cheesecake turned out pretty good. It definitely wasn't the best pumpkin cheesecake I've had but it was still quite enjoyable. If nothing else it sure looks nice. ;)

This leads to my other goal of doing a caramel apple bar. That one is...well let's just say it's still in the works. By the end of yesterday this was as far as I'd gotten on that front:

Due to another blog I follow I've discovered the most amazing website a foodie like me could find. Admittedly initially this website made me a little sad as it informed that Sunday (Oct. 18) was Chocolate Cupcake Day - only I found out too late to make chocolate cupcakes. (I even had the supplies and know how...ready and capable...so close yet so far.) But then the possibilities overshadowed all previous disappointment at missing the chance to celebrate one day (although chocolate cupcakes are probably one of my favorite things to celebrate...) So I'm taking the opportunity to wish you all a very happy Apple/Pumpkin Cheesecake/Carmel Apple day. (I don't know why they have to group all the good things on one day...honestly we couldn't have spread them around a little more?) So aside from getting things ready for Liberty's birthday (yeah she's two - unbelievable...it really snuck up on me this year) I'll be purchasing the necessary supplies and trying my hand at making cheesecake (thank heavens for Paula Dean and Food Network's website) and putting together a (albeit small) caramel apple bar. Maybe for good measure I'll have a plain apple as well just to do full justice to the day. I promise to take pictures of the result (good bad or ugly) and post them. For the time being I'd better head off to the kitchen and get it cleaned so we are ready for the day's work.

(Look this one looks both incredibly appetizing and healthy! For more caramel apple pictures and a caramel recipe (that I may or may not try...still torn between that and just getting some caramels from Kraft...) head over here.

Every now and then I wonder so this little bit of proof that the girls really do love each other is very much appreciated...I mean you wouldn't let just anybody drape their leg all over you right?

We are all very excited to finally have him here and his timing couldn't have been much better. At a week and a half 'over due' my doctor had informed me that they wanted to see me Monday (9/28) morning to be induced. Happily Samuel didn't think too much of this plan either.

Seeing as I was due yesterday I thought you all might enjoy a few pictures of me being pregnant. (I'd really love to say that they are the final installment to a series but all my best intentions to go out and take a few pictures of burgeoning bellied self never seemed to become more real than just that - intentions, and before I knew it viola! I'm at forty weeks scrambling to get a couple pictures taken to prove that I had indeed packed a kid around for the past nine months.) So enjoy the shots - with any luck the next ones will be the unveiling of what is behind that black t-shirt (basketball or baby...you'll just have to wait and see...)

After a couple of really hot days I decided to pull out the kiddy pool we have that I had recently unearthed in my never ending quest to get all of our household goods put away. Of course it was the kind that you have to blow up so I set to work filling the thing with air. Thankfully my bicycle pump has an attachment that fit the pool. More than two hours later, my arms about ready to give (despite the help I received from my two favorite helpers) we had managed to fill up the first two layers. Good enough for me!

I don't know if I can adequately do justice to how much this girl LOVES her pink. This outfit is just one of three different head to toe pink ensembles she picked out for herself in a six day period. (she only has three pairs of pink pants the rest being boring denim or khaki otherwise I'm sure she would have scraped out a few more...) She just can't get enough of it. Under the sweater she is of course wearing a pink shirt and she has the perfect pink accessory in her back pack. I don't know what this girl would have done had white never been mixed with red. An indication of how deep this love runs can be seen in the following interview I did with her back in March (I don't think she'd change many answers...)

Favorite Color: Pink (obviously...)

Favorite Shape: Square (okay I don't know where this one comes from...)

Favorite Animal: Pig (because they are...pink)

Favorite Movie: Charlotte's Web (featuring a pink pig)

Favorite Toy: Her stuffed pigs Pinky and Stinky (and now Oinky the newest in the collection)

Favorite Thing to do: Play on Slides (I'll have to double check but this might have been replaced by making cards with 'sprinkles' that is to say embossing powder. She's pretty fair in this area though picking out any color that has sparkles...)

Favorite Beverage: 'Pink' (strawberry) Milk

Favorite Food: Noodles (unfortunately for her the cup-o-noodles that are packaged in pink writing are shrimp so she hasn't managed to talk me into buying that pink food item...yet...)

There you have it - my pink girl. Liberty on the other hand has decided that her favorite color is whatever isn't pink. I don't think this has anything to do with an aversion to the color as she will happily pick out pink clothes to wear, I just think she has gotten used to getting whatever wasn't pink (if I pull out two bowls a pink and an orange than Emmuska gets the pink and Liberty gets the orange...Emmuska has a pink plate and Liberty has a green plate...) and she has begun to make her decisions accordingly. It doesn't seem to have done any real damage as she still has a very solid opinion about what she wants and will let me know if I've done it wrong (just you try to give her pink milk instead of chocolate...)

And since I used these shots to illustrate one of Emmuska's pink outfits I have to tell you how funny it was when she fell asleep at her art desk. I was laughing so hard because first of all she dropped in the middle of talking to me - which does happen occasionally but still makes me laugh. Second because the desk angles down slightly so the pull of gravity combined with a slick hardwood floor was causing her stool to push out away from the desk so she was constantly getting further away from her sleeping surface - which made for some great moments as she tried to catch a few z's without finding herself face first on the floor. (Being a good mommy after I had my fill of pictures I picked her up and carried her to her bed where she was able to nap comfortably.)

So having had kitchen sink issues this week (if you are into detail torture you can read the previous post...) I haven't really been able to do dishes very well. I was able to do them for the first part of the week but it was veritable torture and by Tuesday night I had removed all plumbing from under the sink. Despite our best efforts to keep dishes down they have still accumulated (even with Mycal not eating at home as he has been in the field they've piled up...how do they do that so quickly?) After having the situation taken care of today I was looking at the kitchen and caught myself thinking 'Yay I get to do dishes today!' I immediately saw the problem with the statement and was somewhat aghast. Since then I've had that part from "The Emperor's New Groove" where he is trying all the other potions and is then turned back into a llama and says 'I'm a llama again!...wait a minute...' That moment of cinematic excellence pretty much illustrates the return to my dish washing ability.

p.s. I later burned my finger so washing dishes is a little painful now...I would love to believe the universe just doesn't support my dish washing efforts but I'm not sure who would take over for me if I stopped. Sometimes I think the cosmos are confused.

For those of you who haven't had me calling for advice as to what to do about it I'll start out by mentioning that I've had some issues with my kitchen sink lately. Frankly I'm beginning to believe it's a rite of passage for every place I live - I can't fully consider myself a resident of a dwelling until issues with the kitchen sink arise and are, to some degree, taken care of. Over the last couple of weeks it became apparent that there was something wrong with the sink and that it wouldn't go away with a little use. (It hadn't been used regularly for a few months prior to our moving in.) So I started with the basics - Drano or some other liquid plumber equivalent. After having no success I went to the best resource for anything do it yourself - my mother-in-law SuZan. Not only has she done just about everything she is an internet search engine genius and can usually turn up a few more pearls only available on the world wide web. This solution alas did not alleviate the problem either. Still endeavoring to be self-sufficient and economical I decided to tackle the s bend myself. I figured I would try taking it out to see if there was a clog in there I could clear. After maybe an hour of battling the under-the-sink fixtures I managed to get the thing out only to discover that in my oh so humble opinion this wasn't were the problem was. 'Oh well' I thought 'I'll take it into the hardware store anyway and see if they have a better solution.' Only I wasn't able to actually follow through on this plan as trip to town was quickly consumed with other necessary tasks and the thought of facing Lowe's with two tired children seemed too daunting for serious contemplation. I figured we'd just do something basic for dinner to help keep dishes minimal and take care of it the next day. Thankfully Mycal (who had been out in the field all week with the final training of the cycle) was able to get off a little early on Thursday (the day after my tearing everything out) and spent three of the twelve waking hours he spent at home this week working on the problem. Still no luck. While at Lowe's Mycal had had the foresight to purchase an auger (plumbing snake) just in case we needed to clear the lines beyond the plumbing we were replacing. So after hitting a few dead ends last night I woke up this morning ready to tackle the thing with the snake. An hour later I wasn't getting it anywhere, though had been able to pull up a really nasty spoon and another bunch of grimy nastiness. All of this brought to mind a conversation I had had with SuZan a few months back where somehow we were talking about the various home improvement things we were capable of. I readily admitted that I'm very proficient at using the phone book and calling professionals. I took this moment to exercise that ever so important ability. Within two hours there was a very polite gentleman under my sink running a snake for the third time. The first had hit the ninety degree angle our pipe apparently makes and wouldn't go back (the same problem I'd run into...) the second had gone through and broken up a lot of stuff but it still wasn't draining fast enough for the plumber. After doing that he replaced all the pieces I'd taken out, (in the process fixing something that was a little off with the new set we had purchased...) plunged both sinks quite vigorously for ten or so minutes until finally the water was draining beautifully, put sealant around the necessary pipes to avoid possible seeping all the time answering all my sink/plumbing/what-should-I-do-in-this-situation questions. As he was leaving I was pondering the course of events. I now had a sink in good working order and a whole lot of useful information. I wasn't upset with myself for a) not being able to do it myself or b) not having called him sooner. I had given it my best effort and discovered I wouldn't have been able to really do much more on my own. It was one of those rare moments where I actually timed things well and I gotta tell you - it felt great knowing when to call in a professional.

I saw this ad while waiting at my doctor appointment today. I haven't seen any other photo ads like this one from the current Hidden Valley campaign but can't forget the television one I saw a couple of years ago where at an outdoor carnival all the traditional treats have been replaced with veggies - displayed in such a way that one could easily see why anybody would switch their box of popcorn for a box of cauliflower. This great picture of broccoli 'cupcakes' was a wonderful reminder. What I love about these ads are how almost completely accurate they are (besides making food look astonishingly glorious.) I'm not saying the broccoli are really replacing cupcakes just that it's amazing how great veggies taste with Hidden Valley. (Side story here - I explained this to my mom while I was staying with her insisting that veggies are better with Hidden Valley which turned into a bit of a joke between us. A few weeks after this assertion my sister was visiting dinner was accompanied by a salad. Not normally a salad eater she began serving herself seconds off-handedly mentioning that there was something about this salad that made it really good - nothing like salads she normally consumed. I would love to say that it was because I'm an awesome salad maker but it was just some romaine with carrots (there were red bell peppers too but she had picked those out...) so I felt completely justified in the gratification of being right on this point. My mom and I shared a good laugh over the spontaneous and unwitting endorsement of my favorite veggie accessories.) I'm not sure when I discovered this truth - probably about four years ago - but since stumbling across this fact of life I've experimented with other ranches 'just to see'. While some are pretty good nothing quite compares. I love my Hidden Valley. Now I just need to go pick up some fresh broccoli.

I ran across this today and it completely made my day. If this perfectly describes anybody in your life (aside from me of course) go here. (There are some other fun ones here too - take a moment to check them out - made me laugh anyway.)

Emmuska was clearly cut out to be a soldier's daughter. When Mycal got home he was taking care of some business on the computer while Emmuska sat next to him. For some reason the flag on his uniform really struck her this time (probably because we attended a culture festival about a week ago and since then she has been intrigued by flags and has been happily pointing out 'ours' (the American flag) every time we pass one) while asking about others). She began to tell Mycal - with the most matter of fact tone of voice - how he was wearing 'our flag' on his PTS's. Yes she used an acronym to describe his uniform. When we asked for clarification she readily gave it with 'your PTS uniform'. It was priceless. In reality they are called ACU's (Army Combat Uniform in case you cared...) but the fact that she knew it was some combination of letters was incredible - especially since his army workout uniforms are his PT's - blew me away. I was immediately entertained and impressed as well as relieved that at least one of our children will apparently be able to handle the next nine to twenty years of our life.

(p.s. meanwhile blogger's spellcheck is incredibly misinformed as to what are acceptable letter groupings as it filled my screen with highlighted text - letting me know it wouldn't consider such things appropriate for publishing. Yet another thing our girl has the one up on. ;) )

If the math on a knitting pattern doesn't make sense (say you have 48 stitches and you are supposed to take five off each time you go around yet end up with 20) then don't assume that it will just work out in the end. Odds are you have misread the directions. Knitting directions are surprising strict about following math and like most computer issue while you are quite certain the fault lies with anybody but the operator on closer inspection the reverse generally proves to be true.

As I sat outside with my whiny dog at 4:30 this morning I came to the stark realization that the weather is shifting. Summer is almost over and Fall is quickly approaching. This got me so excited that it took me almost five minutes to fall back asleep (that's a lot for me...what can I say waking up multiple times each night to take care of dogs and children leaves me a little sleep deprived...) I couldn't stop thinking of all the fun possibilities that come with the glorious season that is upon us. Pumpkins, spices, Halloween, crisp leaves, changing colors (I've already seen a few trees doing this...) wonderful weather (doesn't matter if it's drizzly and chilly because that is still perfect for the season and then when it's warm and sunny it's a pleasant surprise). I love everything about it and am so excited to see what it's going to be like here.

Emmuska's art has really branched out in the last four or five months - my personal favorite is her rendition of humanity. They so perfectly resemble the characters of the Mr. Men and Little Miss books by Roger Hargreaves.

Even more amusing is the fact that I am running into these characters at every turn. Of course her coloring pages are full of them and they are all over the side walk but I have also found them on this porch railing, various boxes and totes (the most abundant surface in our house...) and a few counters (so far...who knows what other surprises I've yet to turn up). She has been very good at not drawing on the walls however so it's hard to be terribly upset when I do find another little miss (notice the mop of curly hair on top...) or Mr. Man somewhere. (The number one reason Crayola has my undying devotion as a consumer...washable crayons are without a doubt miraculous.)

(Yes she covered the entire railing with her drawings minus the occasional stormy looking cloud Liberty was allowed to contribute.)

I've decided to go along with this for two reasons - I love my sisters and would hate to let them down and my brain is really struggling on the putting a complete thought together front so maybe having an outline will help (fingers crossed...)

8 Things I'm Looking Forward to...(in no particular order)

1. being unpacked/everything put away and boxes cleared out.

2. Ice Cream Party I'm throwing in September

3. Education Week being over (so I can call SuZan on a daily basis...yes I'm that selfish)

4. a massive rain storm (the kind that last all day - maybe two or three...)

5. bedtime

6. getting 'Up' on dvd

7. Mycal's cycle break

8. making an incredible homemade chocolate cake. (Okay more accurately eating said cake but I have to make it first...)

8 Things I Did this Week:

1. clean up almost all types of bodily fluids (from blood to vomit and I'm fairly certain just about everything in between...)(since writing this I've been brought to the realization that I haven't had to clean up oozing nastiness from a small pox epidemic and had to change my statement accordingly.)

2. blog

3. unpack

4. laundry

5. dishes

6. drink 32+ ounces of water then diligently hold it(not use the restroom) for two and a half to three hours - the last forty five minutes of which because somebody forgot to inform the technician I was waiting...(trust me this was harder than it sounds and I did it amazingly well)

7. figured out how to cook an egg so that the white is pleasantly done but the center is nice and gooey...in the microwave! (Probably one of the most exciting discoveries in my life as I sure can't do this in a pan and it's my favorite way to eat eggs...now I can do it in thirty-sixty seconds with minimal dishes. I don't think I can begin to convey how happy this makes me.)

8. Mafia Wars (yes I'm that lame.)

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. promptly and efficiently organize my house (anything...)

2. cook anything

3. enjoy cleaning up after

4. be a taste tester for an incredible restaurant/bakery

5. increase my patience

6. make miniatures

7. swing dance

8. review products for companies

8 Places I'd Like to Travel to:

1. Italy

2. Washington D.C.

3. Reykjavik Iceland (maybe all of Iceland...)

4. New York City

5. Valley Forge

6. British Isles

7. Williamsburg Va.

8. Japan

8 Shows I watch: (taken with a grain of salt as I don't really watch any shows...these are what are commonly playing the house or I would watch if I sat down to watch t.v.)

1. Clifford

2. Little Einsteins

3. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

4. Strawberry Shortcake

5. Dora the Explorer

6. Good Eats

7. Just about anything on the Food Network

8. ditto for the History Channel

Hallelujah I've finished a post - with any luck this will help break the difficulty I've had in writing lately. Hope you all enjoyed this intimate look at my soul ;) .

While blogger is being a pain about lettng me upload other photos this one is apparently okay...go figure. In any case I had to share this book with you because I was laughing so hard when I read it to the girls. It's not that the book is hilarious because of the story line - the point is to help educate children about different jobs and how they are done. It's the fact that so much care was taken over every characters name. Here are some examples: There is Judge Fairley, Manuel Laber the builder, Tim Burr the carpenter, Phil McLass the bartender, Gemma Tree the math teacher, Mike Doe the pastry chef, Ron Dermupp the cowherd, Frank Furter the pig keeper, Jackie Tupp the mechanic, Weaver Scoop the reporter, Len Scap the photographer, Ivor Hose the fire chief along with his second in command Mandy Pumps and the two fire officers Don Pannick and Jose Bilding, Doctor Penny Sillin, Police chief Colin Alcars with police sergeant Luke Hare and detective Prue Vit, Leading ballet dancers Honor Toze and Leo Tarde along with their choreographer Pierre O'Wet and that's not even half of the people in the book. It was so much fun to read. I think I might have to pick a copy up.

Finally able to get these pictures uploaded so I could share them with all of you. Whilst in New York my mom, dad and I took the opportunity to attend a session in the Palmyra temple not too far from where Chuck and Maren lived. It was of course a wonderful experience (many thanks to Chuck and Maren for watching the girls as I wouldn't have been able to go without that help.) While there we took the chance to walk through the Sacred Grove for a little bit. I always love the peaceful feeling one can enjoy there. It was made more enjoyable by the chance I had to take some fun pictures. I've loved using my camera since Christmas and have on many occasions been very thankful to have it but I haven't had a whole lot of opportunity to play with the more creative settings (generally striving to catch the girls doing something or making sure they aren't doing something...) The visual circumstances of the Sacred Grove force one out of the comfort of 'auto mode' however and I was free to work with the shutter speed/aperture almost to my hearts content. I really liked some of the resulting images as well as being reminded that I need to take the time to go and do this more often. I'm glad I was able to be there and once again thank my parents and Chuck and Maren for making it possible to enjoy such a wonderful trip.

For those of you not in the know Aug. 2 was Ice Cream Sandwich Day. Naturally I was prepared for such an event (even being thousands of miles away from home...what can I say - it's a gift ;) ) Here are some of the choice images from the day - of course Riepe and Chamberlain were involved as well but where Riepe may be a precise and slower eater in other foods ice cream sandwiches he is not - that thing was gone long before I was able to get the camera in order. I also missed Chamberlain enjoying her treat. Still if the other three are any proof I'd say the day was a great success. Mark it on your calendars for next year - it's one of those days that shouldn't be missed!

As promised here are some pictures from New York - I'll be doing a couple more posts later with a few more pictures in meantime I hope you enjoy these.

Here are a few of the kids at a park in Syracuse. The playground was insane - it looked like a wooden castle. It proved that it was built for kids only. While trying to follow Liberty and Kassel around (the structure also made it a little difficult to keep a visual path on the small ones) I got stuck a few times in the doorways and tunnels that the structure was made of. (Admittedly my belly didn't help...)

Here are a few pictures at the beach along one of the Finger Lakes in New York. The girls loved playing in the sand and water (what child doesn't?) A couple favorite points were Liberty getting sand on her tongue who then tried to wipe it off with her sandy hand - it was a vicious cycle until I was able to wipe it off for her. I also couldn't help laughing when Emmuska enlisted the help of some unknown adult to build her mud cakes (she prefers cake to pie apparently) somehow she managed to talk this nice lady into scooping up wet sand to pile up on the dryer parts of the beach. Leave it to Emmuska to talk a stranger into some random task.

Here are the pictures of Chuck's graduation. I couldn't help comparing it to the few military graduations I've been to. While I've never been to a basic training graduation I've been to a few for additional training as well as a commissioning and other military events each time they encouraged family to stand up and take pictures of their service member, moving around as necessary (there was one graduation where the commander waited to continue to ensure that one mother was able to get a good picture of her son). So it was quite a different experience to be told at the beginning of the ceremony that under no circumstances are you allowed to stand up and take a picture - if you want pictures you need to be in the designated picture area (which was not the best place to get a picture but at least there was that...) Here family members are receiving their doctorate, a once in a lifetime event, and the visibility of the audience (who in all likelihood are only there for one or two people themselves...) is more important than catching a picture of the moment. It just seemed like a reminder that the event was less about the graduate and their families who had worked hard for this moment than the 'pomp and circumstance' of the institution. But that could just be me...

And just a few more fun pictures...over all a great time had by all and a good chance for family to get together and get to know each other better.

I don't know about your computer but mine is set up to automatically go into a sort of shut down mode if I don't do something (mouse movement or keystroke) after a lengthy period of time, say twenty or thirty minutes. Apparently Emmuska is also equipped with this feature. After roughly thirty minutes of being left to her own devises in a quiet house (usually when I'm laying down with Liberty for nap time and 'accidentally' fall asleep...) she can often be found slumped over whatever she was last working on before going into her own version of sleep mode. She usually falls asleep over her coloring books but I've seen her do this over many different endeavors including stories she's been reading, her computer game, various toys and movies. The real joy in it is the positions she ends up in. It's as if it would take too much extra effort or she is so devoted to her task that she can't be bothered with stretching out and laying down in a comfortable position/place. And then you have Liberty who has recently decided that she would rather fight me on the afternoon nap front and this is the end result. By the time six o'clock comes around she is so tired that she simply drop in her tracks. In this picture I was working on something while we were talking to each other (she had been actively responding...) after a fairly brief pause I look up to see that the poor girl had finally given in and just dropped. It's baffling to me that anyone would fight the idea of a naptime - especially when the result is not being able to complete a conversation because you've fallen asleep mid sentence. I guess appreciation of some of life's finer things comes with age...

A little while ago I wrote about how helpful Emmuska has decided to be about bedtimes and her enthusiasm at being able to read stories to Liberty after I tuck them into bed. Not too long after that exchange I looked in on the girls as is my custom when it sounds like they are both asleep to be greeted with this image...

Emmuska was so willing to help her sister be happy that she had shared her bed with Liberty - probably at one point lying next to her but later falling off. Thank heavens for moments like these, they certainly help carry me through the times when they are fighting over the silliest (at least so they seem to me...) little things.

...or in this case the keyboard. It's not that I feel that writing on my blog is such an immense chore that it is somehow akin to the exertion required to push a massively heavy stone around on top of another massively large stone in order to get my daily bread, more that when one pauses for too long a period the momentum is easily lost and it's hard to get started again. In this case it was not a personal choice to take a hiatus from the world wide web that kept me from updating you on the ever fascinating ins and outs of our daily life but simply just the way things turned out. Last week I was given the opportunity to drive out to New York with my parents to see my brother Charles graduate from New York Chiropractic College. I was excited for the opportunity and jumped when they offered to drive out of their way to pick me and the girls up as well as drop us off. I wasn't sure if I would be able to get online once in New York but as it turned out internet was not available which was alright as I have no idea how much I would have been able to do online anyway as we were all quite busy getting things ready to move after graduation. I can not with a clear conscious say I did anything useful in the packing/cleaning department I was however able to help keep children busy and out of the way so packing and cleaning was a little easier. What can I say going to the beach is such a chore. It was great seeing Chuck graduate and being hooded (I believe this is the correct term for the moment they put the extra shawl like thing over the graduation gown) as well as being able to participate in the many celebratory events surrounding the big event. It was nicer still to spend so much time with family I don't get to see very often, allowing cousins to play and get to know each other better. There were a lot of great memories made and opportunities taken that make me even more grateful for having taken the chance to go. As soon as I get my camera and computer on the same page I will upload some pictures. In the meantime I hope this is an adequate response to at least one reader who apparently feels I've been shirking my duty ;) . On that note I did notice that a week's absence did wonders for my comment box and am slightly tempted to do so more often if it means people will respond more...

For Mycal's Graduation they served water and for some unknown reason bright red fruit punch - one look at this stuff and you knew it was the stuff that stains are made of. Of course it was also the first choice beverage for Emmuska (I'm not sure how we talked Liberty out of it but there wasn't a fight or any tears so it obviously wasn't all that important to her...). Being one of three mothers with young children in the assemblage I was justifiably worried the entire time Emmuska was drinking and eating - constantly keeping an eye on that worrisome red liquid. Meanwhile Emmuska sat blithely drinking the elixar. She enjoyed every swallow and performed magnificently - always being very careful not to spill - even on her shirt (which she considered a napkin so it still got some punch on it...). The same cannot be said for at least one adult in the room. Not to far from where we were sitting a soldier knocked over his entire cup of punch. Emmuska's expression was almost disdainful as she watched the punch soil the carpet "He was not very careful - I'm being very careful and haven't spilled any juice but he was not very careful..."

I thought it only fair to add this picture of Liberty who has so loved the dolphin her grandparents sent her from Greece - even if it hasn't been responsible for toting as many useful items as Emmuska's. She loves this little animal, cuddling up to it for bedtime and carrying it around quite as much as Emmuska does her purse.

While traipsing across Europe Forrest and SuZan (Mycal's parents) visited several Mediterranean islands, on one of which they took the opportunity to ride donkeys. (Please correct me if I'm wrong in my facts as this part of your fabulous adventure has not yet hit the blog and I might have misheard/understood during our admittedly all over the place conversations...) This was apparently such a memorable experience that they brought home a little donkey purse and sent it out here for Emmuska. Of course she was instantly enamored as she loves purses and the old one of mine was just not her style (let's just say it wasn't shaped like an animal so how could it even compare?) She immediately set to work putting what she deemed to be absolutely necessary for survival into it including two headbands, the necklace her grandma also sent, some cuttlebug (die cut machine for children) shapes, her chap stick and some other odds and ends. She then proceeded to make sure it went with her everywhere.

Turns out to be a good thing that she was so vigilant about toting it around with her. Barely twenty four hours after receiving the receptacle we were at a company dinner where Mycal had to keep track of the number of guests attending. Within seconds of mentioning he needed a piece of paper Emmuska whipped out a notebook and handed it to him. Slightly stunned he responds "Thanks hon..." and then to no one in particular "Now what am I going to write with?" where upon Emmuska starts to empty the contents of her purse looking for her pen. I didn't think the scene could have been any better until Emmuska uttered this phrase in exasperation while searching 'I know it's in here somewhere!'. Priceless I assure you. I was dying as the battle between keeping an encouragingly straight face and laughing at the incredibly grown up manner in which she made this statement waged. Eventually she found the pen and allowed her father to use it. She was however reluctant to let him keep it and was about to pack it back on the bottom of the Mary Poppin-ish bag (honestly you should have seen how much stuff came out of such a seemingly small receptacle) when I intervened and gave her a quick course in purse packing. By the end she was able to keep the pen in her purse but it was readily available whenever Mycal needed it. Both Mycal and I had to admit that Emmuska had earned the most prepared award for the evening.

This was not the purse's (or rather the purse packer's...) only moment of insight in being appropriately prepared however. The next day I was picking up the last couple of items from the apartment after church. When I went to close the door I was paying attention and slammed it into my foot hard. It hurt a lot - even admitting my wussy nature - so I sat down to see the damage. Sure enough when the shoe was removed there was blood dripping (honestly) off my toe. Emmuska ever at the ready offered me heartfelt condolences then extended a Dora band aid that she had packed in her purse 'for emergencies'. Having recently fallen down at the park and getting a pretty decent scratch she decided that it would be wise to have three (because she is three) band aids in her purse. What could I say (besides the obvious 'thank you') she was more prepared than I was as was evident by my Dora bandaged foot. Most of the way home she talked about how she would have to get some more band aids and put them in her purse for any other accidents and that I should put some mommy band aids in my purse so I wouldn't have to use her's. Who was I to argue the girl had out prepared me two days in a row with a donkey purse. Never underestimate a three year old.

I don't know how many of you are into spaghetti but it is pretty much a staple in our family - gracing our dinner table at least once (and yes sometimes more) a week. Miraculously enough we never get tired of it - it's always a great meal. Today as I was eating my bowl of spaghetti I was pondering over the noodle I use. Vermicelli is the noodle of choice in the Mycal Brown family (okay the girls haven't thrown in their two cents on the subject but Mycal and I are in complete agreement on this). So there I was thinking about Vermicelli wondering what made it so perfect (it had come out particularly well despite a serious of cooking flaws that would have really ruined lesser noodles) and it struck me - it's because it's like the Little Bear (of Goldilocks and the Three Bears) of noodles. Where spaghetti noodles are too thick (Papa Bear) and Angle Hair noodles are too thin (Mama Bear) Vermicelli are just right.

Liberty sometimes (read usually) has a hard time laying down and going to sleep on her own and sometimes I don't mind lying down with her and helping her fall asleep but usually I have to finish taking care of tasks for the day so let her cry for a little bit. If it takes her too long to quiet down then I will go in and lay down with her. When she quiets down without my help then I like to check in and see how/where she is (she has a tendency to fall asleep on the floor next to her bed or holding some hugely bulky item that is bound to wake her up later...). Last night was business as usual with Liberty crying while I fed the dogs and put away all perishable leftovers in the kitchen. After a fair amount of protest things became quiet and ten minutes or so later I checked in to see how everything was. There on Emmuska's bed were Liberty and Emmuska huddled over a book.

Me:"Oh, hi girls...ummm what are you doing?"

Emmuska: "I was reading Libster a story to help her be happy. She was very sad that you weren't here so I offered to read her a story."

Needless to say the praise over floweth - I couldn't tell Emmuska enough how much I appreciated her being so nice to Liberty and how helpful it was to think of that (I might have gone overboard a little but I was a rather stunned as it hadn't been the friendliest of evenings so the gesture was completely unexpected). Emmuska just glowed under my enthusiastic response to her solution. Liberty was happy that I had come to my senses and went to lay down and the evening proceeded as usual.

Tonight the article we were reading for family scriptures happened to focus on being a peacemaker. When we were done reading I started talking to Emmuska about being a peacemaker:

"Do you know what a peacemaker is?"

"No"

"It's somebody who tries to make other people by finding solutions to their problems."

-blank look-

"Like how you read a story to Liberty last night. Instead of getting mad at her for being loud and making it hard to sleep you came up with a good solution to make her happy by reading a story to her. That was a good way to be a peacemaker. You found a way to make somebody happy instead of getting mad at them."

Being the center of the example made her even more excited to do it again. In her prayer she asked for help in being a peacemaker and as I was tucking her into bed reassured me that if Liberty got sad she would read her some stories. I was interested to see how this would work out (Liberty being a focused individual sometimes resents being redirected...) However there was not more than ten seconds of crying after I left the bedroom. It's moments like these that make me love being a parent.

Not in that car-trip or long haul move kind of way but in that we hit the pavement with our bicycles kind of way. It was so great to get back out on my bicycle. It's been a while since I don't bicycle in cold weather (read snow...) and then it was difficult to do in our last place (people driving on the highway next to our home were notoriously lacking in courtesy and likely to hit you rather than slow down or move over just a touch). But now that we are in a new place happily situated in the middle of a quiet community we were able to get out the bikes and go for a ride. While it wouldn't compare to our Californian rides at least there was a fair amount of green rather than what we were able to do in Ogden. It was glorious. I have definitely missed it. My legs were burning and I actually ate a bug (fairly certain that is the first time that has happened - generally because I don't bicycle around with my mouth open. This time however I had opened my mouth to take a breath of air in order to blow the bug that had flown up my nose out...guess that ought to show me) and I actually reveled in both experiences. Coming from the supreme non-outdoorsist that is saying something. I can't wait to get out again (hopefully tomorrow - just depends on how apartment cleaning goes...). Can't adequately give words to the joy this small event brought me - I hope you all have as happy a place to go as this.

In the hopes of giving Emmuska something extra to do as well as teaching her the value of work and money Sunday night Mycal told her that he would give her a dollar if she swept the garage, patio and sidewalks around our house. The conditions were that she had to do a good job and that it had to be done before he got home from work. After arranging this Mycal went to get ready for the next day while I read stories for bedtime. While Emmuska enjoyed her stories she was thinking about something else altogether.

"After I sweep the garage I'm going to clean my room. Daddy will be so happy he will give me another dollar."

"Well you'll have to talk to daddy about that."

We finished our stories and I sent the girls off to give Mycal a kiss goodnight at which time Emmuska delivered her proposal to Mycal. Mycal laughed and told her she was a swindler and that he she could clean her room if she would like to and that it would be a good thing to do but he would not give her a dollar for it. They talked a little longer before Emmuska said:

"Okay I will clean the entire house and you can give me five dollars."

to which Mycal responded

"I think it's time you learned a new word - extortion."

Emmuska laughed with the rest of us but I could see her mind continue to scheme on how to make more money.

(By the way she woke up Monday morning very excited to start sweeping. It was all I could do to encourage her to get dressed before we were outside. It did take all day (with many breaks) but she did do an excellent job and couldn't wait to show Mycal all she had done when he got home. She definitely earned her dollar.)

I don't do it very often and when I do it is because the situation is one of two scenarios: a) Mycal is alert and watching the girls or b) I was helping Liberty fall asleep and happen to also fall asleep in the process. If it is situation b the only reason I stay asleep is because Emmuska is happily watching a show, playing a computer game or coloring - in short happily engaged in some other event that will keep her busy for a little while. (Trust me if she decides she is bored with any of her options she will come wake me up to do something.) However for some reason I was tricked into laying down for 'just a minute' with Mycal while the girls were watching a show. I've done this before and generally get up very shortly after without falling asleep and go on taking care of the days tasks however this time I fell asleep. Of course it wasn't very long as my brain knew something was going on and quickly got the rest of my body going.

While cleaning up the living room this evening I noticed that one of the more loved stuffed toys we own had a decent whole in it's back. Knowing full well that any hole big enough to fit one child size finger (and this whole was already bigger than that) can soon become a de-stuffed animal in the same amount of time it takes me to wash the dishes (the most likely time it would happen as my back is turned...) I picked up the animal and put it on top of a bookshelf until I had the materials and chance to sew up the whole. I continued on with my evening until Mycal said "Why is there a cat up there?" I was confused as we don't own a cat. For some bizarre reason I assumed that he was talking about a live cat and was thinking 'where did a cat come from and why is it on our bookshelf?' until I turned around and remembered the stuffed animal I had set on the shelf.

"Oh that, I noticed a hole and wanted to make sure it didn't get any bigger until I was able to fix it so I put it up there."

"It's freaky."

"What? Why?"

"It's just freaky, sitting up there, watching us...does it have to be there?"

"No you can move it I just don't want the kids to play with it until I fix it."

Nothing for several minutes.

"Seriously it's freaky. I think it's eyes are following me." said while Mycal moves around to every possible position in the chair (pictured sans Mycal as he couldn't take it anymore...) "Yeah it's eyes are definitely following me. Why does it have to be up there?"

"It doesn't have to be up there - just somewhere where the kids can't get into it. You can move it anywhere you want to."

Just some pictures of Liberty being absolutely adorable. A little while ago while Emmuska and Mycal were playing a game Liberty plopped down to watch whatever Emmuska had left on that I hadn't gotten around to turning off yet. She was so cute sitting there that I had to grab a couple of pictures. Then she gave me this gem...

...precious, I know. Kids have so much class!

That's what the nurse told me I had when I went in for my appointment the other day. In a word this diagnosis is perfect. Symptoms include progressive abdominal swelling, unpredictable emotional shifts, either an increase or decrease in appetite (sometimes within the same day...), some fatigue, some irrationality and most especially forgetfulness. I can't remember (of course...) the last time I left the house and had everything I needed. I invariably go back once or twice for the forgotten necessities before finally deciding that whatever else I missed I will just have to survive without said item. (Half the time this works out just fine however the other half of the time I have to buy what I missed or go back and get it anyway.) Yesterday - the day after my diagnosis - I managed to lock my car keys in the house...with the house keys. I realized what I had done not three seconds after I closed the locked door which happened to be about ten seconds before it started pouring. So there I stood with Emmuska and Liberty, mercifully protected by the overhang on our apartment all dreams of actually making it to an appointment on time drifting away. Thankfully I was able to get a set of keys from the apartment front desk which was open surprisingly early, though this did entail herding the girls across the open parking lot in the aforementioned rain and back again. Despite the fact that I had to enter the apartment for the keys I still forgot a bunch of stuff and had to turn around to get it (this was after an internal struggle over whether I really needed it and if I could just come back later...yes I needed it and as it turned out I would not have had time to go back and get it and I was rewarded by being able to help somebody into the building though I did miss my appointment). Another recent episode of brainlessness involved me putting burritos (or burridosos depending on who's consuming them...actually everybody in our house calls them burridosos now but I digress) into the oven supposedly for twenty minutes. Three hours and a completely different lunch later I was sitting in the living room wondering what somebody was making that smelled so good. It wasn't until I went into the kitchen and noticed that the stove was hot as if the oven was on 'why would the oven be on?' I thought 'the girls definitely know better than to play with these knobs...' Of course I turned off the oven and that is when it finally hit me that it was on because I had started (and evidently never stopped...) cooking burritos. I couldn't believe I would actually do something like that but when I opened the oven sure enough there were the burritos...well done. Thankfully I had been cooking them on a low temperature so they hadn't charred but there was no way we could eat them. They made lovely chews for the dogs though. These are just the recent events (that I can remember) there are the countless day to day things such as asking Emmuska three + times what she was asking me to do again, lying in bed wondering if I did indeed put away all perishable food as well as feed the dogs (almost already have done said things but didn't remember doing), walking into a room only to stand there with a blank look on my face before turning around and walking back out because I have no idea what I'm doing there. (This is invariably followed by my returning to the room because I remembered almost as soon as I left. I won't admit how many times this whole scenario is repeated three or more times as I walk in, forget what I need, leave, remember, turn around, walk back, forget etc.) I've taken to giving my short term task list to Emmuska. She is awesome at helping me remember what I was planning on doing. I find that this helps her as well as she has a good idea of when specific things will be happening and can look forward to them accordingly. This is why when the nurse told me (because I had forgotten something) that it was okay I was just suffering from progesterone poisoning I couldn't stop laughing (to myself) about it. Admittedly I had to google it when I finally remembered that I was going to blog about it because I couldn't remember exactly what she had said...

This term has already lost a little of it's meaning to me as Mycal has only done it something like three million times. Alright that is a bit of an exaggeration but seriously I'm fairly certain Mycal has 'reached this milestone' (because every ceremony contains this phrase at some point) at least once every year we've been married. Still it's very nice to be done with this training as it will probably be a little while (a year? *said hopefully*) before he is up for any more Army training. Now we get to sit back and enjoy just being active Army. I'm not even sure what that is supposed to be like but I've heard rumors that it includes things like paternity leave (he might actually get more than one day off for the birth of a child? Unbelievable) the ability to take leave for things like family vacations or other non-emergency events and hopefully a more consistent work pattern. I'm intrigued.

This pretty much sums up Emmuska right now. She loves to communicate (which is a bit of an understatement but it will have to do). Everywhere we go she starts conversations with those around her, including telling the tour guide all about why she has Car shoes right now, our neighbor about how 'annoying' Missouri-kid-Kentucky can be but she likes her anyway, Mycal's classmate all about mosquitoes (including some lore picked up from the Little Einstein's Firebird Rescue) and a random grocery store clerk how everybody has blood and that ticks like to suck to suck it. Throughout this all she has been putting together a fairly impressive vocabulary. Saturday while Mycal was playing around with Liberty because she wouldn't stop crying Emmuska piped up "Daddy stop antagonizing Liberty." and yesterday she explained to me that she wasn't going to open her car door because there was a vehicle next to her. When I asked what a vehicle was she said 'Usually it's a car or truck.' But every now and then real words don't quite do what she has to say justice - so she comes up with her own. Current favorites are 'burridosos' for burritos 'mazert' for dessert and 'boozing' for the action that is blowing really wet raspberries. (I've no idea how that one possibly came about...and my questioning only ever gets the response 'it's boozing - that's just what it is, boozing'). I guess when all else fails to express your actions/feelings make something new up.

Today I started running water for a shower and Emmuska, being ever inquisitive, asked

"What's that for?"

"My shower."

"Why do you need a shower?"

"Because I'm dirty and want to be clean."

At that point she grabs my wrist for a second then hastily lets go.

"Yep you are very dirty. You had better take a shower."

"Thanks."

Proof that the amount of hair I get off of Autumn in a quick brushing (quick mind you - not even complete) really could make a small dog.

I found it interesting one night as I went in to make sure the girls were all tucked in their beds that the stuffed animals had ended up on the floor while the massive books are what each girl chose to cuddled up with/under. Emmuska has always loved taking her book to bed with her (though I admittedly tried to keep the book size a little smaller...) and it looks like Liberty is following after her. As I tried to pick the books up (in an effort to make their rest more comfortable) I encountered definite resistance. Emmuska relinquished fairly easily (once she's asleep there isn't a whole lot that bothers her...) but Liberty got quite upset as I tried to sneak the book out - grabbing at it and holding on for dear life (she has an impressive grip for a sleeping 20 months). I decided not to push the issue but obviously had to grab my camera. It is gratifying to see the value they place on the written word.

The moment I know you have all been waiting for...our enjoyable evening at the Green Dragon Ball. Okay so maybe the anticipation hasn't exactly been mounting for you my dear audience but it has made for a chaotic week around here. (That and other fun adventures would account for the abysmal lack of posts.) It was a really nice evening. I of course enjoyed the opportunity to dress up (I always do...) and even attempted doing my own hair (for at least a couple of hours throughout the day...all to no avail - it ended up, as you can see, being pretty basic...still at least I gave it a valiant effort). This was the dress that Emmuska helped me pick out - when it came down to this one and a blue one she said that this was better 'because it's pink!' I agreed less because it was pink and more because it was 1/3 as much as the other one. I also really liked how it showed off my cute belly. The picture doesn't quite to it justice (the photographer was really nice and definitely the best photographer I've had at an event, being really into each couple, but still a little odd...) but it still gives you an idea. One thing is for sure it made a great conversation piece - people just couldn't resist it. The whole event was well done. The food was just okay - but the decorations as well as the flow of the evening were great. It's hard to explain but anytime three hours pass quickly you know things were well planned. We had a great time and I know that at least I'm looking forward to next year.

While running errands yesterday I decided to pop into a dress shop to look around. Well more accurately I was 'looking with the intent to buy' (not my common shopping mode of operation unless I'm in a grocery store...I'm a big 'looker') because in one week (less now) we have the Green Dragon Ball. It is apparently a very big deal in the Chemical Corps - we've had our tickets for months. All of my formals are in storage however and lets be honest, there is no way I would fit into one of them right now anyway. So it's been on my to-do list for a little while. Yesterday I just happen to be taking care of something right next to a dress shop so I thought I'd pop in. (I love how I just said that as I'm toting two kids around - I don't really just 'pop in' anywhere - it's pretty much a big ordeal everywhere I go...still in my head I was 'popping in'.) Having been fortunate enough not to have to shop for dresses since...well ever (my sisters have good taste and then decide to sell them to me...I'm so lucky!) I had no idea how this would work with children. Thankfully this store was prepared. They had a nice couch with a bunch of books and a very patient sales lady who would read books to the girls between bringing me every dress in my size that might work. However despite my apprehension with the idea I quickly learned that best person I could possibly go dress shopping with was Emmuska. Every time she saw me in a new dress she would say - in the most enthusiastic and sincere voice imaginable 'Oh Mommy! You look gorgeous!' Or 'You look very pregnant in that dress' (given the huge smile on her face and the tone of her voice when this was said this is apparently a good thing). She was also able to help me narrow it down to which of the two viable options I should get with her unfailingly good fashion sense (it follows a golden rule that will be evident when I show pictures of me in said dress next week). So to sum up - take a devoted three year old with you when you have to make a fairly high priced clothing purchase - they will be honest, complimentary and provide you with that final touch of fashion knowledge that you need.

As anybody who has spent anytime around children can tell you there is much that can be learned from them. Here is what Emmuska taught me yesterday:

After casually tossing a book that is special to me onto the floor I got upset at her telling her that it was inappropriate to treat books - especially that one in such a way. Mycal seeing how upset I was over the treatment of said book told her to give the book a kiss (in order to exemplify to a three year old the level of respect it should receive) to which Emmuska responded:

"But it's not a people."

Valid point - inanimate objects do not receive the same treatment as people. So now I have to figure out a better way to teach treating non-people with respect.

Some interesting things I learned at the base museum:

Since I have been so remiss in writing on my blog of late I thought I would try to catch up on a couple of the comings and goings around here. Then of course when I sat down to start writing my mind went completely blank (that's a post in it's self so I will just let it go for now...) So I thought 'When all else fails check your picture file!' It is admittedly less full than usual (though I've had to transfer quite a few pictures to my external hard drive recently as we've been taking so many since we got here...) But it did contain our exploration of the museums here on base which we did on the first Saturday of this month. I was really impressed by the obvious amount of work and effort that has been put into the museums.

Let me clarify a little - it is one building that houses three different sections. This base not only does a lot of basic training but also does most of the training for the Army's Chemical, Engineer and Military Police Corps so there was a section devoted to each corp. Because Mycal is Chemical that was the first one we went through. It's starts by having you walk through a WWI style trench complete with sandbags and rats (check on the board above Mycal's head a little to the right). Apparently that is when the Chemical Corps came into existence. This would be due to both the obvious use of chemical warfare (mustard gas for example) as well as the new use of flame throwing which was overseen by the first Chemical Corps. (I didn't know that and found it really interesting.) Throughout each of the museums they really worked to make you feel a part of whatever they were trying to convey. Included sights where an underground bunker that could be found in the US during the Cold War and the type of vehicles they would take to do demonstrations with during WWII to show people what they could do to further the chemical side of the war effort.

The same was true for the M.P. and Engineer displays. Both of these started with Revolutionary style settings (since both corps have been around since the inception of the United States Army). The picture I have up is from the M.P. museum - however the same was true with the Engineer museum when you walked in you were presented with a Revolutionary scene showing what engineers did at that point. (I was going through with two children so I don't remember all (read any...) of the details but at least it will be fun to go again!) At one point in the M.P. museum you walk down the middle of a street where an M.P. is directing traffic. It's scene out of WWII Europe after Allied forces have taken an area and they are getting all the right equipment in as well as troops and what not. Same thing for the Engineer museum only it was a soldier clearing the path of the rubble from fallen buildings. It was really neat to walk through (though a little difficult to photograph as you are in the middle of the scene). For those scenes too large to create a walk through display of they had created some amazing miniatures depicting what happened. Liberty was fascinated by this one (I had to carry her away after she stared at it for five minutes...seriously). Added to that was the incredible amount of historic material they had managed to collect - it was really amazing. I can't wait to go again (trust me if you come and visit you will be subjected to the museum). After the museum we walked across the street and looked at several Army vehicles on display as well as several old barracks (constructed in 1943 I think, to accommodate the huge influx of soldiers being processed through for basic training) that had been turned into mini museums as well so you could see the function of each building and how it would work on a practical level. Once again we weren't able to see it all but that is okay - we will have a chance to go back and enjoy it again.

I've had to adjust to a few things living here in the state of Missouri (see my entry about ticks...) and one of those things has been tornadoes. Like ticks tornadoes just don't really happen in the Rocky Mountains so I had never learned what one is supposed to do while there is one raging outside. Since moving here there have been at least five, possibly six tornadoes (I'm not sure if the last was actually a tornado but it was incredibly stormy.) On my second tornado this is what I did: Listened to the alert going off from the base informing us that there was a severe weather alert out and that the main gate was closed (coded in the form of a wailing siren with brief pauses - what with the dark sky it felt really WWII air raid alertish), gathered the children, blankets and a bag of fun cereal I had randomly purchased earlier and headed for the bathtub where we sat eating cereal and pretending to have fun for an hour until the alert was over, (by the way Emmuska is a bathtub hog) while in the bathtub I pulled out my laptop and started researching the details of the tornado in our area (what part were specifically on alert, for how long, etc.) as well as the best procedure to take during a tornado. While doing this research I learned that during a tornado alert one should go to their basement, if they don't have a basement they should go to an inside hall, if no inside hall than the innermost room (our bathroom qualifies as that for us). It then proceeded to outline the procedure for if you live in a mobile home. "Get out and go to a substantial building, if a substantial building is unavailable then find a ditch and lie flat in the ditch." At which point I was thinking 'you have got to be kidding me!' My response was so strong because there are tons of mobile homes around here. There are at least three mobile home parks along the road to drive to base - probably a few more beyond the immediate road. I know that there are a few more throughout the immediate area as well as many properties where the land is a personal parcel but the home there on is still a mobile home unit. And I can't help but wonder 'Why in the name of...would you chose to live in something less safe than an open ditch in the event of a tornado when said tornadoes happen regularly? I mean they call it 'Tornado Alley' for a reason.'

I know that it's been a while (by my standards at any rate...) and I can understand why some people might think I've could have possibly been mortally wounded. I'm happy to report that I am still alive and well - as is everybody in our family. In fact the level of excitement has been at the perfect point for blogging, just enough to have something to write about without being so much as too keep us away from the computer. Truth is I've discovered that skipping out on blogging is like skipping out on school. You sluff one day figuring it's not really a big deal but the next day it's really hard to motivate yourself to go back so you decide 'well it's just one more day...' and pretty soon a week has gone by and now it really sucks getting back. I know this to be true because I routinely missed a week of school every spring because I just couldn't bring myself to go back after that 'one' great day where it just didn't make sense to go to school. The sad thing was that the make up work wasn't the deterrent to going back - shoot the make up work was the easiest part of going back because that usually took all of two hours to catch up on (for all six classes...my school wasn't particularily challenging...) it was trying to explain to people (friends and teachers) what happened to me for a week. 'I woke up in a strange hospital not knowing my name until somebody accidently dropped something on my head and I could suddenly remember everything...yes even how to conjugate all the verbs for this test.' 'My grandmother was dying...yes I know I said that last year but she got better...and she did this year too...I'm guessing she will be fine until next spring but you never know.' 'I was unexpectedly given the opportunity to visit (someplace relevant to the class Washington D.C., Spain, Japan...whatever) and felt the chance for practical learning was too good to pass up...no I can't remember the name of the organization that was funding the venture.' See the thing is that even though I was able to return, catch up and maintain an A for the rest of the school year 'I just didn't feel like coming to school for a week' was not an acceptable excuse. I think I told one teacher that I clearly didn't need to be there as they were still going over the exact same idea as when I had left (I kid you not) and that I had understood the concept two days before I stopped coming so obviously I didn't miss much. He appreciated the validity of the statement but not the sentiment behind it.

But I have digressed (a lot) the point is that apparently blog sluffing is much like school sluffing. Except in the case of blog sluffing it will actually take me a decent amount of time to catch up on whats been going on around here. And I don't have to come up with a good reason because I'm only accountable to myself. Sometimes the benefits of being an adult outweigh the downsides... :)

I just wanted to say that thanks to the comments left on my last post I just polished off a pint of chocolate ice cream. At first it just sounded like a really great idea and then when more people mentioned how they were off for some chocolate ice cream I decided to look into my freezer - which was happily housing a pint of Dutch Chocolate ice-cream. Yes it was completely enjoyable and I have all of you to thank for that. This is why comments are powerful things. :)

I'm addicted to porn...food porn. Sad but true. I came upon this realization yesterday when I happened to notice a headline stating that it was National Doughnut Day (yeah I was going to pass up that headline? not likely...) So I clicked on the headline to learn more about National Doughnut Day (started in 1917 when members of the Salvation Army took baked goods including doughnuts out to the front lines as a moral boost for the troops - it is now celebrated on the first Friday in June) and stumbled on a link for Food Porn. Curious I clicked on the link (isn't that how it usually happens?) and was hooked. It didn't help that they started off with pictures of some amazing Thai dishes (next to impossible to find in our area at present... :( ) Then moved onto things like this... It's not even the most amazing picture I've ever seen...I mean it's a little blurry but it's how many layers of chocolate cake? With nuts! I think I could have stared all day. Apparently not able to resist temptation I not only saved the image to my desktop (how long before it's my background picture...) but kept on looking. Thankfully not everything looked as amazingly appealing. For example Don't get me wrong this definitely has appeal to it - I mean wow - but it also seems to cry out "CHOLESTEROL INDUCED HEART ATTACK WAITING TO HAPPEN!" The funny thing about that to me is the fact that one slice of that cake could easily kill me (anybody...) but it doesn't look nearly as dangerous. I'm almost convinced that 'just one bite...' couldn't hurt...

This is what my ever-loving sweetheart brought home for me yesterday in commemoration of the day - what a wonderful husband!

(for more information on the significance of yesterday read the post below...)

This happened this morning and it was too funny to forget. After I had some dental work taken care of the girls got to pick out a treasure from the box for being so good (I got to write a check for the receptionist as a reward...but I digress) After insisting that the receptionist ring the toys up (they took me seriously when I said we had to stop at the desk to pay) we got all packed up and ready to go. Liberty had picked out a little purse and Emmuska after much deliberation had picked out a toy phone. Once buckled up and on the road she proceeded to call everybody she could think of (a list much longer than you'd think...) starting out with the Schott family 'Hi Aurora...Ethan guess what...Dieuwke is Lance there? I wanted to talk to Lance.' After talking non stop for the duration of the drive (ten to fifteen minutes) she throws out this little gem. "Well I just called to say 'hi' I don't really want to talk because I'm not much of a talker." Yes that statement was uttered by the child who essentially hasn't stopped talking in the last 1 and 3/4 years.

p.s. Had to add this update - she just called called Quincy off of "Little Einsteins" here was the complete conversation:

"Hello Quincy" brief pause "It's me Emmuska, how are you doing?" another brief pause "Quincy I don't want to talk about that right now." (said slightly petulantly)

Honestly where does she pick this stuff up?

As promised here are the pictures from the St. Louis Zoo. As I mentioned before I was really impressed. It was a great zoo with lots of fun features and well put together displays and habitats. We had a great time. In the over two hours we were there we were able to see a lot of the animals but didn't 'hit' (as Emmuska put it afterwards) at least two whole sections, so we still have a lot to see when we go back. One of Emmuska's favorite animals (and most requested stops...) was the elephants. She couldn't stop talking about seeing them and started getting really excited when she saw big elephant foot prints in the path leading up to the habitat (a fun thing the zoo did was put impressions of the animal's whose habitat you were approaching into the path leading up to it. By the time we got to the elephant habitat Emmuska understood this little game and it made her even more excited when she got there. Of course it also led to one of the funniest moments of the whole day when I asked her what one set of prints was and she paused for a minute before telling me it they were 'macheetah' footprints...um okay...) She was not to be disappointed as they elephants were very close. One of them was eating the shrubbery right outside of their enclosure which was very close to the rope. It was really fun to be able to see them doing something (come on how active are elephants really? Especially in 94 degree weather...) made even better by the fact that they were so close.

This is outside the Insectorium which was insanely creepy. I should have figured it was going to be a very vivid display since they put so much work into the building (check out the massive ants climbing over the doors...) One of my least favorite (because of the 'I really didn't want to think about that' factor) but really impressive displays was the 'Not Home Alone' display. They had a kitchen set up where you could open cupboards and drawers and see favorite living places of insects within in your kitchen. (shudder) Just thinking about the 'Meal worm Munchies' (a box with a clear section so you could see the little white bugs mixed in with the cereal) makes my skin crawl all over again. (No picture - like I really need that on my laptop) Add to that the Brown Recluse in the odds-and-ends drawer, cockroaches in various places and other nasty creepy-crawlies all over the place and you have one unforgettable display.

Of course we had to have a group photo - while there were plenty of people at the zoo (it is a free attraction on a Saturday in the summertime...) it was amazingly hard to get anybody to snap a photo of us.

I love that the girls can't be bothered to look at the camera for ten seconds to take a family photo - there is just too much to see! The other must see animal for Emmuska was the penguins. This was actually her first choice animal. While the live penguins were not as much fun as the elephant there was a really fun rock covered in penguins. I let her climb up so she could take a picture with the penguins. How could any real bird actually beat that?

Thought I would share a couple of my fun new crafting purchases. While at the scrapbooking day a while back one of the ladies there had this amazing container. I thought about it for a few weeks then decided to order one (anything to help our one craft store continue to flourish right?) I couldn't believe how much stuff I was able to fit into it. And it's not that everything is just there (kind of the situation all of the goodies had been in before...I obviously had room for all of it somewhere...) but it's wonderfully accessible and so much fun to look at!

I also finally decided to buy one of these tool carry all things (yeah I have no idea what their technical name is...) I've been eyeing them for a while but just couldn't bring myself to spend $20+ dollars 'just to try it out'. Then I saw one in Wal-mart (hooray to our home town hero! ;) ) for ten and thought 'for ten I can try it out.' So I did. It's amazing. When I started putting stuff in it there was no stopping. It was like Mary Poppins bag. I ended up consolidating three different containers/holders into this one bag. Unbelievable.

As if that wasn't enough I was putting everything away, knowing that there was a little pocket on the bottom. I assumed it was just a small pocket that zipped up. It ended up being a pull out drawer. I was so surprised and excited that I almost peed my pants. Honestly it was that exciting. Of course I had to go back and reorganize a whole bunch of stuff I had put somewhere else (opening up even more room!) Of course one of the best parts about both of them is that they are red. Not that they match any of my other scrapbooking stuff just that I love red and perhaps will make it a theme. That was only second to the opportunity I had of spending all afternoon with the girls as they 'helped' me organize everything into their respective spots. (The box has 40 sections all filled with small items...it was...an adventure.)

Just to let you all know that I didn't actually die. Over the weekend we went to the St. Louis Zoo - it was awesome, especially since it was free! I was thinking 'oh a free zoo...okay not expecting a whole lot...' but it was actually quite amazing. The habitats and exhibits were actually some of the nicer ones I've seen in a zoo and they had a rather impressive number of unique animals. However I will be doing a post on the zoo (when I can get blogger to upload my pictures...after four tries today I've decided I just might need to come back later).

Aside from that we kept it pretty low key this weekend. Mycal had to go to class until noon on Saturday so I did some cleaning until he got home at which time we headed to the zoo. Sunday was nice and laid back. Church was nice - especially enjoyable because it was the fifth sunday so for the third hour Mycal and I got to sit together w/o children (it's amazing how quickly an hour can pass...). Sunday was laid back just enjoying time together and getting ready for the week ahead.

Yesterday I had my first doctor's appointment here...yeah I know I put it off a little. I had no idea how quick and easy it would be to set up. There was so much frou-fra to get everything set up with finding a provider through Hill AFB and then I ended up choosing somebody I really didn't like (thankfully I was moving so I didn't have to try to transfer). That and after having an OB I really (I mean really didn't like) I was nervous to find out what the doctors around here would be like. Turns out I was procrastinating for nothing. The doctor was great (too bad the one I saw is getting deployed :( ...he said that everybody else on staff was really great though and that he wouldn't have a problem with any of them delivering for his wife). After finally getting the appointment set up I kept running into people who were able to tell me how amazing each of the doctors and the certified nurse midwife (CNM) are so I am very encouraged about how it will all turn out.

I'm feeling even better about it since we found out on Thursday or Friday that we will actually be staying here for another year or two - so I will be delivering here (yay not transferring again, yay not having to build rapport with yet another set of providers...so many bonuses). That's right we've had a change of orders keeping us here. As much fun as Kentucky would have been we are having a pretty good time here and this base is really nice. So I'm okay with that.

Okay I'm going to log off for now...at least you know what has been going on. I hope all is well with everybody else and will hopefully have photos up soon.

I decided today that as much as I don't feel like I'm a 'natural' mom (are they supposed to be so frustrating sometimes?) I must be doing something right. At the oh so tender ages of 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 I have two little girls who love mustard. They still eat ketchup with their hot dogs but I don't know how much longer that will last - I can't just do ketchup or there is an uprising letting me know that mustard is a necessity (yes it is...just few children are so wise as to see that truth at such a tender age...) and the amount of ketchup they eat seems to be diminishing in comparison to the cry for more mustard. In Liberty it isn't so surprising as she will eat pretty much anything she can get her hands on. Emmuska however is much pickier so I know she is eating it because she likes the flavor. So nice to know that at least on a culinary level these children appreciate the good things in life.

Emmuska came up with this brilliant idea while I was doing her hair today (anything that helps her not focus on me doing her hair is brilliant) and I readily encouraged her. She started out with a piggy story (naturally)

"Once there was a piggy...."(something I couldn't understand but I thought it was 'named...')

"I'm sorry what was the piggy's name?"

"I don't know it was just a piggy."

"Oh okay go on."

"Once there was a piggy who built a house, but he didn't build it out of bricks. And he didn't build it out of straw."

"He built it out of straw?"

"No he didn't build it out of straw."

"Oh, what did he build it out of?"

"Blocks I think"

"Oh, okay."

"Then the bad wolf came and knocked on his door 'Let me in' the wolf said 'No' the pig said 'fine I'll blow down your house then' So the little pig got scared and ran to his brothers house."

"What was his brother's house made of?"

"Bricks. Wasn't that a nice story?"

"Yes but what happened to the wolf?"

"He met another wolf and the other wolf ate him. He was a nice wolf so he ate the bad wolf."

"Ooookay"

"Let me tell you another story. Once upon a time there was a kitty and there was a Grandma who wanted a kitty so Grandpa bought her a kitty named Sunday. And they read lots of stories because they had a library full of stories and the kitty and Grandma were happy. The end. Was that a nice story?"

"A very nice story."

"I know."

Then I read "Is your Mama a Llama" probably ten times until her hair was done. Twenty minutes after starting and this is what we have...

One of our more exciting hair attempts!

Yes Emmuska took both the picture at left and the one below it by herself. I just thought it was funny how similar the photo below is to one I took a few years ago with the same camera. Obviously we have the same artistic taste. (Admittedly I wonder sometimes with the things she puts together...)

or at least as short as I am able to make them...(I've noticed lately that I've gotten into the habit of being horribly verbose in my posts so I will try to keep these short.) Here are a couple of fun tidbits I found on my point and shoot while clearing it off today...just can't help but saying that life with my girls are pretty much non stop off the wall moments - you just never know what will happen next.

For example we have Emmuska who picked some weeds while out on a walk. She wanted to make sure they 'were happy and lived a long time...' so she 'got them a drink of water'. She was awfully proud of the whole operation - spending at least an hour in the bathroom filling various tea items with water for her too precious plants. The best part was when one of them fell into the bottom of the much too large teapot. She came rushing out to me afraid that it was lost and drowning. I fished it out for her and all was well in the world again.

And of course Liberty was not content until she had her own plant to take care of. She did make the mistake of picking one of Emmuksa's to take under her wing which didn't go over so well. Thankfully wonder-mom stepped in, securing a plant all her own for Liberty and restoring peace and order to our household universe.

...they capture your memories and hold them ransom.

*Disclaimer - this is what it looks like when something really irritates me and I decide to do what I can about it...you've been warned.*

As promised yesterday I am here today to tell you my take on photo piracy. I'm not talking about taking photos off the internet and claiming them to be yours or distrubting them without permission from the artist - that is wrong, should be and is punishable by the law. My view of photo piracy is much more insidious. Let me give you some background. I recently discovered that a friend of mine had her wedding photographed by a professional photographer. I thought that was an excellent choice as it's an unforgettable event that deserves the expense of being properly recorded on film (SD card...). She paid for the photographer's time as well as the prints she ordered. In return for her investment she was not even given a proof set of prints to look through for ordering purposes. She had to select the prints she wanted from an online photo gallery (that was closed a few weeks after the wedding) not even having the luxury of viewing photos side by side to determine which was the one with the facial expression or hair she really wanted. When she asked if there was anyway to purchase a disk of the prints she was told something to the effect that maybe but all photos would be reduced to an image quality only good enough to print a four by six photo. Even still after various family members have tried there has been no response as to what the disk would cost or how to get it. What makes this so frustrating is that this newlywed couple who are just starting out together have already paid a substantial amount of money for essentially 6-10, albeit lovely, photos. The whole deal about withholding the digital copy of the photos wouldn't frustrate me half so much if they had at least been given a proof set. There are countless special shots that it's hard to justify spending $5-25 on because honestly for that much you can't put them in a coffee table photo book and really how many photos are you able to frame and put on your walls of one event?

As I was indulging in an incensed rant to Mycal on the matter - wondering why so many photographers feel justified in continuing to treat their clients in such an unbelievable manner I came across the perfect term for such practices - photographic piracy. They capture something of immense value to you then hold it ransom for unbelievable prices and conditions. Don't get me wrong I believe that people have a right to make money at their profession - especially if they are good at it. They are providing a valuable service that is worth being paid for. I just wonder at the need to withhold so much from a customer after they have given so much money. Here are some numbers based on one photographer I called after Liberty was born. She was a friend of the family but was giving me numbers based on the industry in the area. The sitting fee was $200 but $100 would go towards the print order. If you spent $200 on your print order ($300 total) you could purchase the disk of photos for an additional $100 making your total purchase around $400. I know and respect that photographers have to put a lot of money into their equipment and perhaps paying off school or taking classes, and like I said - if you are good you deserve to make a living at what you do. But I also believe there is a point when you go from making a living to abusing the consumer. My friend spent over seven hundred dollars on her wedding photos and still is unable to get a disk - even one with limited resolution. Her family have no photos of the day and will have to pay the photographers print price to get any. I wanted to make her a scrapbook as a wedding gift but at $5 dollars each 10 4x6 photos would cost $50 plus all the scrapbooking supplies. Now that it is evident that they can not pay any more the photographer is ignoring requests for a photo disk even though her website says you can add a copyrighted cd (I'm assuming for an additional cost though it won't say what.) Even more galling was to visit said website and see photos of this lovely couple being used as advertising for the photographers work - photos they can't afford to own.

Forgive my frustration on the matter - it still irritates me to no end. Like I said I understand that a person has to make a living however the wedding photographers work (she's doesn't exclusively do weddings...) isn't any better than the photographer who I talked to about doing Liberty. Her wedding prices may be higher but she is operating in the same area and I'd be very surprised if her general business practices where hugely different than what she outlined to me.

So here is what I am going to do about it - first encourage consumer awareness. I think that as consumers we need to make sure people know they work for us. We deserve to be treated with respect and the best way to get that is to let professionals know that we are proactively looking for what is best for us. I will talk to everybody I can about their photographic decisions and encourage questioning the photographer on such matters as cost, ability to get a disk copyrighted or otherwise, no matter how well you know the person. Second I am becoming a better photographer and sharing the pictures of others I take with them. I had a chance to take photos for my sister-in-law's wedding and believe me I felt the responsibility. I wish I had had more experience and better equipment. I am now more committed than ever to lugging my camera around with me and taking pictures of people with pride rather than being embarrassed about it so the next time somebody asks me I will be better prepared and able to do a better job. I will continue to study photography and improve my skills. I am happy to report that I started yesterday by photographing the birthday party we went too...while I don't think there were many spectacular shots I did catch a couple really fun ones especially one of the birthday boy blowing out his candles. I hope it's a shot that at some point is important to his parents (I heard them trying to get their camera ready but their hands were pretty full of other children.) I don't know if I will ever be a professional photographer. I will continue to improve my skills though and hopefully encourage more people to find those photographers who won't hold their memories ransom.

Yes it is both the electric skillet that I had packed as well as the list with the campsite information. Mycal looked at the table and said "That's not funny" and I said "Just wait it will be" so I took a picture. So we had to borrow somebody else's campfire and missed out on the planned pancake breakfast, or that we drove aimlessly around Nauvoo for an hour - at least we had great memories and help others expand their skills in the process.

We didn't get to Nauvoo until three in the afternoon and everything closes as six so we jumped right into seeing as much as possible until everything closed. After seeing as much as we could we went to a park and had a picnic lunch. I was so proud of myself as I had packed up all the food we would need on the trip so we wouldn't have to buy anything (in an effort to keep the trip as economical as possible.) After dinner we headed over to the temple grounds to take some pictures of and in front of the temple. I don't know why we parked where we did as it was much farther than necessary (there was tons of parking on the street in front of the temple) but it turned out being a good thing photographically if nothing else. I was able to get some great pictures coming across the field that blocked out cars parked in front. Also we had fun jumping over ditches (Lib's jump is especially fun to watch - I don't think it will be too long before she is actually getting off the ground...) After seeing the temple we wandered over to the outdoor stage and watched some Polynesian Fire dancers as well as another show called 'Sunset on the Mississippi' basically a campfire variety show. Starting off the show was a parade that all children were invited to join in - where they were given hats to decorate and flags to wave. Emmuska took decorating her hat very seriously and did a marvelous job. Liberty took wearing her hat very seriously and also did a top notch job. (Seriously you should have seen the way she wore her hat - as if this most important responsibility could not be properly by anybody else.)

After the shows we decided to find our campground but ran into a few difficulties. I couldn't find the paper I written down all the information on and we were having a hard time calling anybody as our phones didn't get very good reception. Eventually we found the site and began setting up our tent. It was after dark by that point but given how the ground felt around the car and the fact that we were pitching on a very grassy area I thought that it would be a pretty good night. After getting all set up I tried to find the electric skillet we had so we could quickly cook some hot dogs and go to bed. I knew I had set it aside to come with us but I couldn't find it anywhere. We didn't have any firewood and it was too late to start a fire anyway which was why I had packed the electric skillet - a sort of just in case measure. Who knew my just in case would fall through too. Thankfully the people next to us were very kind and let me roast the hot dogs on their fire. After a few hot dogs and getting cleaned up we finally settled down into our sleeping bags. It was already after midnight and I had had several short night before as it was so I was very ready to sleep. Unfortunately my girls idea of making a long car trip shorter is to sleep much of the time...so they were well rested and excited about the new arrangements. It took a very long time to get them settled down enough to sleep. After everybody was asleep I spent the night tossing and turning punctuated by brief moments of actually sleeping. Apparently Illinois grass has evolved to being able to grow on solid rock. It was ridiculously hard. I tried sleeping on my stomach for about ten seconds but that wouldn't work (it barely works on my marvelous mattress anymore...) I couldn't sleep on my back as whenever I did I could barely breath. So I was left to switch from side to side - thinking every time I did so "People do this for fun?" Mycal's experience apparently wasn't much better (though I note bitterly that whenever I looked at him he was asleep...) He asked me the next morning how I could possibly sleep on my side 'didn't that hurt?' I gave him a rather dark look and informed him that my options had been limited and that yes it was uncomfortable. The kids however seemed to have a lovely night.

Important lesson learned - if we are trying to be frugal look into campsite cabins (actually would have cost us less than the campsite and renting tent...)

Something I'm very glad we did - rent the tent...I don't think we will need one in the foreseeable future.

I will end on that but want to share a few pictures with you - okay it's quite a few so don't give up too soon. I know it's more than I usually do but trust it's far less than I would love to do. Enjoy!

Not too much to say about this photo - here we are in front of the temple. I wish we had had more time - enough to let at least Mycal go through as I was able to during the open house. Still it's special just being on the grounds. As we are trying to remember the things we do as a family we strive to ask somebody to get a shot of all of us everywhere we go. The guy we asked here was really into it - most people just point and click - he made sure he was in the best positions, kneeling down and framing the shot and what not. I'm glad he did as it turned out rather well and I don't know that others would have worried about getting the entire temple in otherwise.

I took this shot as we were walking over a field up to the temple grounds. The lighting at the moment couldn't have been better. Everything just looked beautiful for us that day (even though it had rained less than an hour before...)

Busy weekend - starting with the tick episode...happily it got much better after that. We were planning on heading off for a day trip on Friday but put it off as we decided to sleep in instead (it had been a long night before...) Since we were still in town we headed over to the base and decided to rent a tent and couple of sleeping bags and for a short camping trip. We pretty much spent the rest of the day cleaning up and getting ready to go before deciding to not leave until the next day. (What can I say - sometimes we procrastinate a little bit.) Since we were still in town I went to the local craft store to meet with the stitching group. Everybody else was knitting whilst I worked on my cross stitch as all of my knitting things are in storage. I had never thought about how different scrapbookers are from knitters but there is was definitely a big difference between the two different groups I've met in the same place. I guess I hadn't really thought about it because well I'm a scrapbooker and a knitter and I'm not exactly plagued with multiple personalities. No offense to any knitters out there (hey I'm a proud knitter) but they don't seem to be as much fun. I think that 'proper' would be the best word to describe them. It's not like they were all older than me - half the group was my age - but they talked and sat and acted like very refined sixty-something women from the Victorian age. Not that that can't be fun...it just wasn't as much fun. Anyhow it was still good to get out and meet a couple more people in the area and get some good work done on my cross stitch (four years and counting - someday I'll be halfway done!)

Saturday morning we finished packing up and headed off to Nauvoo Il. For those of you not familiar with Nauvoo it's one of the United States largest historical preservation sites. Preservation has mostly been done by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as it was a large and successful settlement founded by members of the church before they were driven out by mobs. About forty years ago LDS church leaders started buying and restoring homes and land recreating portions of the town to it's 1840's heyday. Now one can go through various homes and landmarks and learn what life in that time and place would have been like. From a historical perspective it's very interesting and fun. Added to that was the opportunity we had to be in a place of religious significance for us. We were excited for the chance to be there. Of course it did entail a five hour drive there and of course back - which actually ended up being one of the highlights of the journey. The kids did great with the driving and Mycal and I had a good chance to talk with minimal interruptions. I'll get more details on the trip up later but overall it was a wonderful family experience full of fun moments and great memories.

After getting back we returned the camping equipment and settled back into being home for the night, calling family and getting back into life at home. Today (Monday) we went to a birthday party for the child of one of Mycal's classmates (if that wasn't a little confusing...) We weren't sure if we wanted go but it ended up being a lot of fun. That and I was able to start my personal crusade against photographic piracy (more on that later...) which was encouraging. Now we are back at home and I'm attempting to get the blog caught up with at least the most memorable moments from the past few days - which I know matters to oh so many.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and had at least a moment to say a prayer for those who died defending our country.

And I'm beginning to think that maybe it's time for me to rethink that philosophy. Honestly it's the truth - for me at least to the point that here is what I do...

When I get on the computer I take care of all other internet concerns first - checking email, checking in with the designer whose creative team I'm on, taking care of online business etc. After I've taken care of everything I need to do online I head over to Blogger and login to my account. Once I'm logged in and looking at the screen wherein I manage my blog I scroll down to see if there are any new posts on the blogs that I follow. (All but one are family and friend blogs - I love to see how people are doing even though so distant. If you read my blog and have one that you wouldn't mind letting me follow let me know so I can start reading yours too!) I will then go through and read other peoples posts, which is like a dessert appetizer for me - it gets me ready for my favorite part of internet time. (Those whose posts I read please don't be offended reading your posts is my second favorite part of internet time.)

After reading others posts I will go in and read any comments left on my blog since I was last on or since I last posted. I love getting the feedback or thoughts of those who read about my day to day life. I just love the small connection formed over a few sentences. Most times they make me smile, sometimes I sigh (I'll admit that I'm hopelessly pathetic) other times I honestly burst out laughing. Lately I've enjoyed some extra variety in the comments and it's really nice as it has shown me readers I didn't even realize I had. Cue warm and fuzzy feelings all around my heart...seriously though it's just nice to know that even though I don't have time to call and talk to everybody that in some small way we are still communicating.

Anyhow I'm beginning to wonder if I should rethink this because sometimes there are comments on my blog that require me to go back to the commentator's blog to comment back. So I'm beginning to think that maybe I should be reading comments first then other peoples' posts, so I can streamline my comments. As much as I know I should do it I don't think that I will. I just love savoring comments too much. Thanks to all those who continue to indulge my favorite Internet joy.

I've been going through my pictures for a project lately - meaning I looked at more than five years worth of pictures yesterday. I have some hilarious pictures! There were times I was laughing so hard. Of course I also have tons of pictures that I couldn't help but wonder "what the heck did I need to take four pictures that look exactly the same for?" (So now I need to do some serious cleaning of my hard drive.) And finally I have a bunch of picture that made me wonder why I don't actually have these pictures someplace other than my various hard drives for safe keeping. Here was one I had fun playing with after 'dusting' it off.

This is Mycal and I before we got married. I was looking at it - thinking how woefully bare our walls are right now (most of our wall decor is in storage) and then thinking how even if we had all of our pictures up we don't have one like this. We have a picture we took a couple of years ago but it's not the same. I think that I need to do something about it. I'll try to keep you informed if I decide to do something more exciting than printing and 8x10 While I'm at it I have some great memories that were amazingly caught on camera so I need to do something about those too. Happily I noticed that some amazing memories have been captured into a more storied format. For example... I think one of the reasons I loved doing this was because even though it was a little overwhelming at time and I felt like I wasn't getting everything I wanted to done - in the long run I've been doing okay and that the only thing to do is keep plugging away.

Today wasn't exactly my kind of day. While cleaning up around the house I saw something that looked a lot like a grey jelly bean (think a little bigger than a Jelly Belly...) thinking it was a crayon or piece of food I picked it up to throw it in the trash when I spied legs. I freaked out and tossed the wretched thing into the air. I took five seconds to compose myself, found it again on the floor and picked it up with a piece of paper - depositing it in a small plastic container I happen to have on hand. My curiosity didn't have too long to wait in the confirmation that it was indeed a tick. I thought it was - it looked like a tick - but I had never seen one so big (this was easily four or five times bigger than any I'd seen before - maybe more) nor that color. It was apparently a well fed tick that, being satiated in it's lust for blood had dropped off it's host - probably Autumn. The other reason I hadn't been sure it was a tick was because I've been quite faithful in checking Autumn for ticks since Mycal spied one on her about a week ago, and I had just checked this morning. There was no way I could have missed that sucker. Still it was what it was and I had to endure an evening of horrible tick dialogue from my ever loving spouse. Little did I know that was the good part of it all. As the evening wore on Mycal was playing with Liberty, talking to her about her hair (seems weird in a sentence but it was completely normal at the time) when he spied yet another at the base of her neck right within the hair line. I was floored as I've been checking the kids for them too. I can deal with the dang bug being on the dog but it was horrible to have on my daughter - I felt a lot more pressure to get it off without detaching the head, something I've yet to successfully do. After calling different people for advice and receiving conflicting instructions I decided to call the medical number on base. I was directed to a different number for medical assistance and called that instead. It turned out to be the emergency room. I was told that they couldn't give any medical advice over the phone (some legislative reason I believe...) but that they weren't very busy tonight so I could bring her in and they would show me what to do. That was good enough for me. A little over an hour later there were watching a nurse simply pull the tick off. She made it look so easy! I'm not convinced that it really is as easy as that but at least I know what to do and what to worry about and what not to worry about and what to keep an eye open for. Having many worries eased at the visit I felt it well worth the trouble (don't know if the nurse feels the same...but still she was really nice and informative). Now I'm just going to have to get over my aversion to touching blood sucking parasites with my fingers and everything will probably be okay. Still I'm really missing places where such knowledge is completely unnecessary.

I would like to call Liberty's love for croutons a mild mannered addiction however given these events I'm sure it's much (much) more. See I was sure it was just a favorite food preference on Saturday when after failing to understand what kind of peanut butter she wanted (she most definitely had an opinion about what kind we should be getting and I wasn't getting it right) I finally pulled her out of the cart saying "Fine you show me what peanut butter you want." At which point she walked past the peanut butter to the croutons (apparently croutons and peanut butter go well next to each other on the shelf...) grabbing herself a bag. "Oooh" I said the light coming on. "That's nice." Emmuska had picked out pony gummy snacks so I thought it was okay if Liberty got croutons. I had no idea what we were in for from that point on. She was okay with the croutons being checked out and bagged up so we didn't give them much thought for a couple of days because when I got home I put them up. Monday morning she spied them on top of the fridge and asked for them. "Okay - what could be the harm in a couple of croutons?" She was not to be separated from the bag for the next thirty-six hours. She carried it around all day - snacking now and then, sharing with Emmuska, sharing with the dogs but mostly just carrying it everywhere. Come evening time we were all getting ready to go for a walk and there was Liberty ready to go clinging to her croutons. "Libster you can't take the croutons on the walk - I don't want them to get yucky or lost." She hugs the bag even more closely. "Liberty either you can put the bag on the table and it will be here waiting for you or you can stay home while Daddy and Emmuska go on the walk." I thought this would get her for sure as she takes the responsibility of holding Autumn's leash very seriously. Not so much - she clung to her bag of croutons while Mycal and Emmuska took the dogs for a walk. At first she was upset and I told her we could catch up if she would just put the croutons down. Still not convinced she cried for a couple of minutes before opening her bag of croutons and munching on a couple. Content to be at home as long as she has croutons. At this point in the history I decided it was probably an addiction and was hoping that was the end of the story - however it's not. Bedtime came rolling along and everything is going as normal. I had the girls teeth brushed and we were sitting on the couch getting ready to do stories when she wants me to open the bag of croutons. Of course I say no as I had just done battle to get her teeth brushed and would like them to stay that way for at least ten minutes. She eventually gives up on opening the bag as long as she can hold it. So she carried it to bed and cuddled with it until she fell asleep. Around 2:30 am she begins crying inconsolably. I lay down with her to no avail. Finally I let her come into our bed yet she keeps on crying. I have no idea what could be wrong until Mycal rolls over and says "She wants her croutons." (Mycal has no memory of the event but I thank his insight.) I get the bag of croutons and she almost immediately falls back to sleep. Mercifully she and Emmuska finished them off yesterday, and she doesn't apparently doesn't feel the same connection to an empty bag (hallelujah). I'm not sure if it's just a phase or not but one things for sure - as often as possible I'm buying peanut butter when I'm alone.

I can't really say it was at home as I spent most of Saturday out running errands and Mycal had staff duty so he wasn't home at all. But overall it was pretty quiet. Because Mycal knew he'd be gone all day Saturday and much of Sunday he was very insistent that we find a babysitter for Friday night. After quite a bit of effort we found one girl who was available. (Come to find out there are over five hundred students in the freshman class of the local high school...where are they hiding them?) She was great! The kids loved her (Liberty so much so that even after I came home she was content to let the babysitter hold her...big deal for Liberty). Mycal and I enjoyed having a dinner without kids. Since we missed the movie and the night life around here is pretty much limited to checking out bars (seriously the tourist brochure recommended night activities are "catch a movie" (just missed it) "play games with the family" (the point of our getting out being not to do that...) and "go to the pool at your hotel, get in and play with your kids!" We decided on the fourth unwritten suggestion (as did quite a few of the adults in the area) wander around Walmart. I had to drop a prescription for Liberty off anyway so we headed on over. Turns out that they wouldn't be able to fill it until Monday so after walking the aisles of Wally World talking and browsing for forty-five minutes we walked out not having spent any money. It's was kind of weird and a little exhilarating. There are many stores that I can walk in and out of without making a purchase but Walmart is rarely one of them as I only ever go there with a purpose.

Saturday was as mentioned pretty busy just getting groceries and taking care of some errands that needed to be done. One small thing of note was me driving over a parking barrier. It was one of those short kind that the wheels just rest against. Having not driven into the spot and having been busy with something in the car I hadn't seen it at all and the way our car as well as the other cars were parked completely hid it. When I went to pull out I decided to pull forward as it was faster and easier. With (honestly) minimal pressure on the gas I went forward and was suddenly over the bump. Aaaah - going over it had been really easy it was the horrible landing sound the car made as the wheels cleared it. It was so awful. All there was to do was back up over it (another horrible landing noise) and check the underside of the car. Everything looks fine and I've been keeping an eye out for leaking fluids but there hasn't seemed to be any problems so far. I of course felt completely miserable about it but to top it all off was Emmuska's incessant reminders to not go over bumps. "Yes I know Emmuska - it was an accident, I didn't see the bump and didn't mean to go over it." "I know it was an accident mommy but you just have to be more careful - don't go over bumps they hurt the car." (said in a very condescending tone of voice - as if the many mysteries of driving are all to clear to her.) A circular conversation constantly coming back to me not driving over bumps for the next hour with periodic reminders throughout the day. I'm going to ahead and guess that the number of mistakes I've repeated since Emmuska began to talk has gone starkly down as it's not worth the never ending reminders "to be more careful" after I've messed up. Kids'll keep you on track.

I'm sure most of you know that Emmuska is enthralled by pigs. She absolutely loves them. They are almost always the basis for purchasing decisions ("which show would you like to see?" "This one - it has a piggy!") So a couple of months ago when we saw "Will You Be My Valenswine?" we knew it would be perfect for her. It is a book about a piglet named Polly who is trying to find her one true valenswine and is often discouraged as it seems there is nobody for her. It's a cute book. From the day we got it and first read it I was Emmuska's valenswine which I will admit was quite gratifying. Last night I was reading it too her for bedtime when she stops me in the middle (as usual) when Polly is trying to find her valenswine to proudly tell me that she has a valenswine. Since she does this every time I read the story I play my part perfectly and ask "Who's your valenswine?" expecting her to tell me that I am her one true valenswine. Immediately she responds "My doggy!" I was properly humbled.

Given what Emmuska says back to me I'm guessing that these are just a couple of the things that I say too often...

"Come over here - does it look like I have gorilla arms?"

(Today when I told her to come closer she said "Because you don't have gorilla arms?" which she has been saying to me for a couple of days however it was followed by this new little gem... "Maybe you should buy some gorilla arms they'd be really good" Good for what? Helping her put her panties on from across the room?

Then there would be this exchange:

"Emmuska get ready to go."

"I am getting ready"

"No you're sitting there like a dead fish."

I apparently say this too often as when she is doing something and I tell her what a good job she is doing she replies "yeah I'm not sitting like a dead fish!" (said with a huge grin).

Now you essentially know everything that happens at our house...

In an effort to limit the endless amount of paper that piles up around our little apartment the last time we were at the store I gave Emmuska the option of getting either a coloring book or beads. She was very excited about the beads especially since they were a lovely mix of pink and purple. We got some string (also pink...) and have been making necklaces ever since. Emmuska is intent on making one for everybody (she gave one to the little boy who came with his mom to visit me, who was very excited about it...) so I wasn't too surprised when the other day she brought one up to Mycal and asked how he liked it because when she was done it was going to be his. Mycal told her that it was lovely but that he couldn't were it because it was a pretty necklace and he could only wear manly necklaces. Emmuska assured him that it was pretty AND manly and that he could wear it. Mycal told her that pink necklaces were not manly. This conversation went back and forth for a little while each reiterating their respective points. All the time I was sitting on the side laughing the entire time. Finally Emmuska said "Okay I will go make you a different necklace." Mycal asked what kind it would be and she said 'Pink, don't worry it will be pretty and manly.'

This week's adventure was purely the product of being in the right place at the right time. That is to say we are in Missouri and the Branson Airport is opening tomorrow (Mon.) so they held their grand opening festivities this weekend. Mycal (with his infinite resources) knew that part of the celebrations would include an air show.

Saw this sign outside a building for Army recruiting yesterday. Couldn't help but laughing and taking a picture. Seems like the Army may be dropping their expectations for new recruits...

Okay so it was for some sort of simulation thing the Army was doing - still this sign next to a recruiters booth - funny if you ask me.

There is only one thing better than getting the "Virtual Army Experience" - I think Mycal's enthusiasm here makes it quite apparent what that is.

Apparently I had to tell Emmuska that today was not actually Christmas. This evening she asked when we would be going to the store for some treats for Christmas, at which point I had to inform that today was not in fact the day she thought it was. She took it like a champ - not even questioning me as much as normal (but why did the bird die? Why was it too cold? Why did it rain?...) I just thought it was funny that hours after posting she put me in the situation of doing what I had previously thought unnecessary. That's Emmuska - keep me on my toes.

Having watched the Mickey Mouse Christmas show she picked up from the library every chance she got Emmuska has been singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" for the last week. I wondered if this could turn into a problem as she might start wondering when Christmas was and take up the idea that it should be much sooner than December (when she decides something it's very hard to change the conviction...) Today she decided that it was Christmas - she started wrapping up small toys in her coloring pages and giving them to me each time saying "Merry Christmas!" I would say thank you and she'd look at me and say "I love you" followed by a big hug. Who needs to tell her otherwise? (Yes I let her take a picture with my camera of all my 'Christmas' gifts and amazingly she did a great job framing the shot - I have a head...)

Emmuska is hilarious. Anytime I ask her a question that has a negative answer she pauses takes a breath in, expelling it in an 'ummm, I think not.' She says it in the way a person sharing their vast knowledge, gently directing a misguided novice would. Like I absolutely believed that she ate her sandwich when I asked and she had the difficult duty to inform me otherwise. I don't know where this child gets her command of English as well as her intonations - (okay I can guess at the use of the language given the environment that surrounds her...)

At the school carnival there was a lady making balloon animals. The line took a little while (the only one we had to stand in...) but the pink tiger was totally worth it. Of course it had to be pink because Emmuska was asking for it. (Extra story: Later she was asking me why it was pink because tigers are supposed to be orange. When I returned the question to her she said because she doesn't like orange - she likes pink and it's okay if the tiger is pink. Sometimes I think that she just asks questions so I will ask them back and then she can talk.)

This weekend was, of course, quite busy. Mycal had to help with a carnival at the elementary school on base so we couldn't really go anywhere far but that was okay because we had heard that Waynesville would be doing their Frog Festival this weekend and we wanted to check that out. There were many fun things about the festival - starting with no entrance fee (always a little annoying...). The Chamber of Commerce holds a frog race where you can adopt a frog (a rubber ducky looking frog) and if it wins you get a scholarship or something like that. So of course we adopted 'frogs' that the girls got to pick out. (Don't know if we won the race as we had to go to the carnival before it was run...I'm thinking probably not...) There were ponies for riding, face painting and all the standard booths and eclectic food offerings that can be found at any outdoor event. Mycal had been joking earlier that maybe we could get some frog soup or something - thinking I'm sure of the artichoke brownies we had enjoyed at the Artichoke festival while living in CA. I told him that there probably wouldn't be any frog food because - well seriously who cooks frog? I am here to admit that I was in the wrong. While there wasn't an over abundance of frog fair they did have...

FROG LEGS!! Yes for a small price one could buy a pair of frog legs and feast on the delicacy. So of course we bought a couple of pairs. I couldn't believe it when we got them...as you can see they look exactly like frog legs. There is no imagining that these suckers are anything but the back end of some hopper. For the sake of posterity and this blog I had to take pictures so I couldn't be the first one to try a bite (poor me), that lucky task fell on Mycal...

We've needed to buy pj's for Emmuska for a couple of weeks as her winter ones were too hot and too small. While shopping at the PX it became apparent that she would not be getting anything with a T attached to it, but I couldn't believe how big the final jammies where. At size 10/12 in girls they are a little big but not falling off (probably just about right for growing into over the summer...). Either they are making clothes smaller or making kids (specifically mine...) bigger.

As promised (albeit a little late...) here are the pictures of Missouri-kid-Kentucky. That is the name that was settled on for this tiny animal. Yes the name is just about as long as the dog. But it's not Boots, Dora or Diego (first choices that were deflected narrowly) so I am okay with that.

Mycal had to do some Army stuff on Saturday and I had signed up for a scrapbooking thing at the local craft store so we decided to do something fun Friday night instead. We didn't get out as early as we had hoped to as we had to have the drain fixed (it had stopped completely...so much fun - I'll tell you there are some times I'm so glad I'm a renter and don't have to actually deal with these problems). Mycal being the quick thinker that he is decided to stop by the Pulaski County Visitor Center and see what there is to do in the more immediate area. There he found a pamphlet for a self guided auto tour of Historic Route 66. It was approximately 35 miles to be done in about an hour to hour and a half. It was actually a bit of fun and really great for family time. Emmuska had insisted on grabbing her camera when she saw me grab mine, so she was out every stop snapping away. I think the best was when she directed Mycal, Liberty and I to all stand together so she could take a picture of us. (Apparently I need to help her work on framing her shots as they invariably did not include Mycal's head and often didn't have mine either...) It wasn't super exciting but it was a lot of fun. Here are some pictorial highlights

Route 66 - this is actually the best the road looked while we were on it - there was one part that was completely unpaved and a lot of two lane highway. Still the scenery was quite pretty.

The girls are obviously a little incredulous of the amount of mirth that their parents are having but I think they had fun too - especially whenever we got out.

It wasn't in the pamphlet but apparently the end of the tour was marked by some people selling jack russell terriers. For some reason we had to stop and Emmuska was convinced that this one puppy really wanted her and that she needed to go home with us. Between the copious amount of pleading eyes turned on me I buckled and agreed to the purchase of said puppy. The rest of the evening was filled with getting everything together that we needed to accommodate 'Emmuska's new responsibility' but that is another post that I will be getting up either later today or tomorrow.

As predicted Saturday was busy with Mycal's commitment as well as mine and of course our new four legged family member. Church was nice, we actually got a chance to meet many of the members of the ward. It's a nice place to be even if it's only for a few months. Liberty went to nursery for the first time today - having reached the 18 month mark this last week. I went in for a couple minutes but soon she was off exploring and playing on her own and I left. The nursery leader was stunned with how well she did telling us that she played, wandered around and generally had a good time - despite the fact that half the class, which was abnormally large today, was crying. She has really been growing and branching out - what a joy! There you have it - our third weekend in Mo.

I've had some requests to tell a little more about our nearest neighbors. I don't really know anybody else who lives in our apartment building but the closest thing to our apartment building (basically the only thing within walking distance) - well words just aren't good enough I had to grab a few pictures to tell you about them. This is essentially our closest neighbor...

That's right Big Louie's.It is actually a pretty big 'adult' entertainment and shopping complex, as can be seen in this picture, starting with a couple of shops I wasn't able to fit in the beginning of the picture, curving all the way around and then behind the last building (the white one on the far right side of the picture). It gives a whole new meaning to the word 'strip mall'. As far as I can tell (not having actually patronized the establishment) they have just about anything you could wish to find including...

All I can say is kudos to the Pulaski Christian Ministerial Alliance - never give up!

This is me getting organized. I bought a household planning template set months ago but haven't really done anything with them since then. Yesterday I decided to make a to do list - and then remembered that I had these templates. I opened it in photoshop, chose some lovely papers for it and viola - a great looking to do list (technically daily task list). It was so much fun and it took me maybe two minutes. Best thing was I actually got a lot of what I wrote down on it done - could just be me but I think that sometimes presentation is the key to follow through. How much more fun is it to add and check things off this list? - not to mention it looks good on the fridge. There's no knowing how far my organizational moment will take me but I think I'm going to go explore more of the templates see what else would be fun to play with.

Having only four months in Missouri we decided that we needed to see as much as we could before we left so last Friday night we did some research (hit some hotels and grabbed every brochure there) and found out that the Purina World Headquarters are about an hour and a half from where we live. This was actually a really great attraction. Of course they had the entire history of the Purina pet food company but since it was self paced we pretty much skipped over that. Not only did they have a fun dog show but they also had all sorts of animals that you could get up close too - generally the girls loved that. Apparently during other times of the year they have many other events happening but this weekend it was just quiet which was good for us. We watched some dogs do tricks, learned safe rules for petting dogs (Note to Val's neighbor you always ask and never stick your hand into a fenced yard - kid you not that is what the Purina people said) then headed over to the barn.

There were some animals that Emmuska was very excited about seeing. This cow wasn't really one of them. It was a very vocal bovine - I'm not sure if it was lamenting the rain or welcoming us to the barn but it was loud. Emmuska still talks about how loud the cow was and how much she didn't like that.

Our laundry facilities are down the hall. Emmuska being the independent person that she is insists that she leads the way every time we leave our door, walk the twenty feet down the hall into the laundry room. (Actually she insists on being the leader everywhere we go - but that's another story.) This afternoon I mentioned we needed to go shuffle laundry and was pulling some things together to do so - in which time she could easily (and usually does) dart out the door, run to the laundry room and back to our apartment before I'm actually to the door to leave. This time she darted out into the hall, came back in and shouted "All Clear!" then darted back out. I managed to follow her out and asked ''all clear' what does that even mean?' to which she respond "There's nobody out here, we are clear to go" in that voice that says "gosh mom you're not too on top of modern terminology sometimes, but that's okay because I'm willing to take the time to explain it too you." Between being completely amused, I couldn't help but wonder where in the world she had picked up the phrase (in proper context no less...) as well as how long she was going to be patient enough to explain everything to me.

Okay I'm not positive that this is a true case of irony (from what I can recall of three weeks in an English class a while back...) but it seemed so to me. At the very least it is quite humorous.

A couple weeks ago we acquired a diesel 1988 Ford F250. It apparently has a history of neglect and probably abuse, so like anything living thing who has had such a background it is a little temperamental. Mycal recently told me that it is his faith truck because he has to pray every time he tries to start it. It takes a lot of cajoling to get going.

Last night Mycal went out to start it (something that needs to be done at least once a day) to make sure it would be ready for 4:30 this morning when he needs to head off to PT. After a few minutes of trying (and praying) he got it going. I breathed a sigh of relief - we had another day of a functioning truck. That was until Mycal came inside. "Well I got it going but I can't turn it off" I thought he was kidding until he held up the keys. Of course I could still hear the behemoth idling out front at which point my disbelief turned to mirth. What were the odds that the truck we could barely get to start would now have a problem turning off. I had always assumed that it preferred to be left alone but now it appears that it just likes to be contrary.

Long story short Mycal did everything he could think of to stop the truck, disconnecting the batteries, pulling all fuses etc. He eventually called a towing company because he figured they would be the only people open at the time. He managed to call somebody the first time who knew about diesels and knew exactly which wire to pull to get the truck to stop, so we happily did not have to wait for all the fuel to be gone for it to stop working (which probably would have done some damage to fellow residents as they aren't exactly in the prime of life...)

I know that it will cost something to get whatever is wrong fixed and today I am without a car but in all it is still funny to me - I'm not sure when I'll stop giggling over this one.

...with one ball and a dog. For those of you who are a little more tender in nature you will not want to read this post - and don't look at the pictures (or at least the third one...)

We don't live in a particularly fun area, and after the massive amount of rain we have had much of the ground is somewhat swampy. So the discovery of a field a little higher than everything else across the highway we live on has been a joy. It's a good walk for the girls and Autumn each morning. Once we get there I throw the ball for Autumn and the girls run around and a good time is had by all. Early in our discovery of this field we noticed a bird. It was pretty attached to the field and quite vocal and theatrical, often putting on a display of being wounded, but then again not. After the first day I assumed that it probably had a nest somewhere in the area and that was why it wasn't leaving. It wasn't until our second day in this spot, and after a couple throws of the ball, that I decided to investigate that idea a little further. Sure enough in the middle of this field was a nest - four eggs scattered, two broken. Yeah I had thrown the ball right through it followed by the tromping of a 75 pound lab intent on a green ball and nothing else. Upset would be the mild way of putting how I felt. I didn't have the heart to stay there anymore. I throw the ball for Autumn a couple more times but long before she was ready to leave I had her back on her leash walking away. As we left I saw the bird picking up a broken egg, carrying it off and dropping it. By the time I got back there with my camera (of course I had to take pictures) one egg had been corralled back into the nest with the other on it's way. After a little exploration I found one of the broken eggs. When we went back that evening both of the good eggs were back in the nest and the bird was back to guarding it. Emmuska was very good at telling me where to throw to make sure that we didn't hit the nest again. I don't think she understood everything that happened as she said things like 'The mommy bird won't want to fix the eggs again' but she did understand that we had to be careful to stay away from the nest. When I was showing Mycal pictures of the nest and eggs Emmuska was asking to look too. When I came upon the ones of the broken egg I said something like 'you don't want to see those they'll break your tender little heart' to which Emmuska piped up that she wanted to see the pictures 'they wouldn't break (her) tender little heart'. I still didn't show her the pictures.

My sister-in-law was married last Wednesday. After moving the date around more than...some really good analogy that I can't come up with...she and her fiance looked at each other and said 'Why aren't we getting married tomorrow?" So they did. Having done similarly on my wedding I understand the sentiment and am very excited for her. She made a most beautiful bride. Check out some of the pictures here. http://www.storybook-photos.com/blog/

(I need to start taking classes, I would love to be able to shoot like this lady - she is incredible!)

Writing an entire post, hitting spell check and having no misspellings. I love that - it makes me feel so smart. (Especially exciting on the long posts...)

I wanted to let you know how things were going with my brother-in-law. He is doing amazingly well. Yesterday they took him off the ventilator after a week of steady progress. His numbers have been doing fabulously and there haven't been any problems (at least serious enough to make their way my direction) Apparently some of the infections are still alive and well in the fluid they have been draining but they haven't been spreading so the doctors are pleased. He was doing so well that they took him off the medicine that was keeping him asleep. Now with the ventilator gone and his being awake he is able to respond and talk. We are all very excited about his progress and continue to pray for him. I don't know everything that has to be done before he can leave the hospital but he is moving along more rapidly than expected. (I say this because from what I understand they weren't planning on taking him off the sedation or ventilator for a couple more days but he was ready - anybody who knows better please correct me in the comments.) Sounds very much like him to me - when he is ready to do something he does it well and quickly.

Liberty being the self appointed organizer that she is has taken on a few responsibilities each time I use the restroom. I'm not sure but I think that she just isn't quite convinced that I will be able to get them done right without her. For the most part I probably wouldn't bother with some of them - on others if I couldn't do them without her I don't know how I got through 24 years without her.

Responsibility #1 - Pull up my pants. I don't know how she can be this fast and still get her toys stolen by her older sister. The second it looks like I'm going to stand up she runs over and starts pulling up my pants for me.

Responsibility #2 - Make sure the toilet lid is down. (If only she'd help the guys out more we would all be saved some trouble ;) )

Responsibility #3 - Turn off the light. I'm thinking I should get a step stool for this as I have to lift her up as it is but who knows what kind of troubles that could bring with it.

Okay so I don't know how well this will translate but when it happened it was really funny. Last night we were eating dinner including baby carrots with ranch (Hidden Valley works wonders for getting kids to love their veggies!) Emmuska was taking her time munching her dinner, not in the she didn't want to eat kind of way, just in the wanting to take forever eating kind of way. Well I was ready for her to be done so I was asking her if she was done yet. After the third time of her saying - 'No I still have ____ carrots left' (the number occasionally changing) I said in exasperation 'I'm going to be in a nursing home by the time you finish dinner.' After a second both Mycal and I started laughing. The reason being we are actually staying in an assisted living facility. The other half of the building is devoted to those who can no longer live on their own while our half has many older people who are also a part of the assisted living program as well as a few families and individuals like ourselves who were thrilled to find a place with a month to month lease that allows pets. Anyhow Mycal and I started laughing because we are one step away from living in a nursing home.

So I went to title this post only to find that I have previously used the title I was going to use before. I might be a little too predictable. Thinking about it a little more I can see that I really am. Emmuska pretty much has my responses to her questions or actions down to the correct intonation. I realized this when I was at the grocery store and she was asking me for things non stop. To which I would respond 'We'll see...' because it generally is forgotten and then I don't have to deal with arguing the matter over with a three year old (who is very good at sticking to her point and getting you confused on yours). Well after being asked about ten or fifteen items I stopped answering - at which point she started reminding me what my answer was supposed to be 'Mom, your supposed to say 'we'll see'' Sometimes I think she just asks questions because she doesn't know that you don't have to talk to prove you are still breathing. Then she expects answers for the same reason - to prove that you are still breathing. (At least she care about my welfare too...)

Anyhow the point of this post was to try and catch you up with the comings and goings of late. We are now safely settled in Mo. It will never cease to amaze me how much of a new culture one has to learn and understand in the same country. Things here are so different from any other place we have lived. To better illustrate that point maybe someday I will tell you about our 'neighbors'.

Our drive out here was punctuated by only a few mishaps. At the beginning of the venture my mom (she and Thom drove out with us to help drive so we could make it as straight though as possible) talking about how amazing it is that we could drive to Mo. in such a short time. It took the pioneers months to get from one place to the other and we complain if it takes more than twenty hours. I am blaming her for everything that happened after that point as she tempted fate with the statement. After driving all night we were somewhere between Rawlins and Laramie Wy. It was there that the truck decided to make the trip more fun by deciding not to switch between gas tanks - so it ran out of gas, while still having a full tank of gas. Mom and I were already ahead so we kept on going and picked up a couple of cans of gas then took it back to the truck. However apparently when a diesel runs of out gas it makes you jump through hopes to get going again. We did eventually get it started and headed again on our merry way after a delay of two and a half - three hours.

Well things were going well as we entered Nebraska. We decided to take a nice long lunch so that the girls could run around and relax and we could rearrange the seating and packing arrangements. After about an hour and half we got back on the road but stopped shortly (very shortly) because the truck had a cut in the radiator hose (or something like that) so Mycal and I drove until we could turn around, went back to the city we had just left picked up the supplies and went back to fix the truck. Once again we got it working just fine but it took us over two hours to take care of the problem. After another night on the road - including a couple hours of sleep, we finally pulled into our new place. Overall we were very blessed to have everything work out as well as it did. We managed to stay ahead of a huge storm almost the entire only catching a little rain in the last hour. We had time to get everything unpacked just before it started to really pour. However the drive took over 37 hours. After a couple days of rest we are feeling much better.

Mom and Thom headed back on Saturday catching a flight out of St. Louis. We really appreciate everything they were able to do to help. Now we are just trying to figure out the area. The base is much larger than either of the others we have lived near - (not including Hill AFB - I never really explored that one I only went on occasionally for appointments). Of course I have already found the craft store. I haven't had a chance to actually visit yet but plan on checking it out as soon as I can. More to follow on the area as soon as I'm able to get out more.

Maybe not the most applicable to my current life situation but it was the best way to put how things have been going lately. I was going to be moving last Saturday but with everything that has been happening to the Brown family Mycal ended up flying out here instead. When things looked like they would be okay we thought we would leave yesterday but there ended up being issues with our car as well as additional need for us to be here. So now we are just taking it one day at a time. We are hoping to leave tonight but I'm not sure how realistic that is as anything can happen (and usually does...). We still have to wait for the car to finish getting fixed, get it weighed, loaded, weighed again and then we can leave. I'm just not sure we will be able to get it all done before the weigh station closes. I'd rather not leave tomorrow as Mycal has to be back before Thursday and that would make for an awful long day of driving... But we will do what we have to do and it will all be okay.

My brother in law has been in the hospital all week. He was admitted with severe pneumonia, however shortly after being transferred to a different hospital they realized that was not the only problem and began testing and working to understand what was wrong. It has been a crazy week with lots of downs and a few ups. The situation was so bad that SuZan (my mother in law) had to contact the Red Cross to process the paperwork for Mycal to get emergency leave to come home and help out. Thankfully Mycal was able to come home Thursday morning (hooray for Delta and their great rates for military members). Of course I'm really glad to have him home and the girls are ecstatic, they have been all over him every chance they get. Most importantly I think he was able to really help his family. I keep wishing I could do more and feel badly because I want to help in anyway I can but there is nothing I can do so I feel useless. Still Mycal was able to give his brother a blessing yesterday and already things are improving. His vitals are stable now and he is becoming more responsive to what is happening around him. Of course the whole family is always in my prayers.

Speaking of celebrating I am on a little bit of a high today. Last night I turned in my last paper for Anthropology. Now all I have to do is take the final and I am done with that class - I think I'll even get a decent grade (somewhat disappointing test scores not withstanding). It is so nice to have the papers done. I'm trying to get the test taken care of before we head out to MO - if I manage it I will feel practically burden free (yeah still have a couple but nothing like the monkey that is Anthropology). The point is this... I am so excited that I'm done with the papers that even though I'm sure none of you are particularly interested in my half-hearted school venture I still had to write it out to the world. I'm almost excited enough to go someplace incredibly public and packed (Walmart?) and shout it out "I AM VICTORIOUS! I HAVE SLAIN THE BEAST AND HE SHALL RISE NO MORE!" But since I'm not really that adventurous (or crazy) I will just shout it out to all of you. (Or rather I already have...)

I absolutely love my birthday. I look forward to it each year. When I was a little younger I used to have an exact countdown from the first of the year to my birthday and would (honestly) tell everybody I talked to how many days away it was. Mind you that wasn't all that long ago. Since then I have mellowed in my approach realizing that most people probably don't really want to know when there are 87 days to my birthday. I'm not quite sure what exactly it is that I so love about my birthday. It isn't really about me getting older because - let's face it there aren't exactly any new rites of passage with age for me anymore. I don't think that it's really about the presents or the cake - although those are always so much fun and much appreciated (okay it might be a little about the cake...) I think what I really love about my birthday is that it is my special day to celebrate me. For twenty four hours I get to revel in the fact that (in my mind anyway) everything is honoring my existence, my contribution to life. I think that in some way I really let myself appreciate all that I am and manage to do and how important I am. It's something that can be easy to forget in the insanely busy life of moving here, fixing that, going to this and making sure I get all my school work done on top of everything else. So I love the chance to sit back and really see how much what I do matters.

This year was wonderful. It ended up being a really nice birthday. I missed Mycal and it would have been more fun if I'd been able to do something with him too, but as it was I had a completely enjoyable birthday doing things I love to do with people I enjoy being around. The elements favored me so it was a gorgeous day. Grandpa watched Emmuska and Liberty was extraordinarily bright and happy. It was a wonderful day and it felt like almost everyone and everything was celebrating it with me.

I don't think there is anyway I can go back to the person I was Thursday night.

Since we are going to Missouri for a few months before we move on to our final base we needed to have the Army move us so they could keep our stuff in one of their storage facilities rather than us going to MO then trying to come back and move all our stuff. In the past the only way we have moved is on our own. We take care of everything, with help from friends and family of course. Yet no matter how many people are there to help us I am still busy doing everything that has to be done right beside them. I'm almost always the last person out of the house after making sure that everything has been picked up and adequately cleaned.

The point of all that being that that is how I used to be - on moving day I work my backside off trying to take care of the kids, organize anybody helping out and taking care of packing something as well. Busy, chaotic and a tiring. And until last Thursday night I just thought that that is just how life is. Then came Friday morning. The movers showed up and in approximately 50 min. had packed up everything we had at my parents house and were ready to move on to the storage unit. It took them a little longer because there was tons more stuff and they had to unpack and then repack it all but it was still done really fast. Less than five hours after showing up they were done - I was done. I said goodbye to my belongings not to be seen for another five months and breathed a huge sigh of relief. It was amazing. I don't think that I will ever be able to move myself again. Granted at first I felt a little awkward just standing around telling others what to do and not doing a thing myself but that is the way it had to be - I wasn't allowed to pack a box or go near the truck. It might take a little getting used to but I'm sure it won't take me too long.

Well I only have one more paper for anthropology. Well that and another test but we all know how I feel about those so...basically one more paper and I'm done with this class. Now I really need to focus on my mountaineering literature class. I'm one paper behind (okay not yet but I will be tomorrow as I'm not going to get it finished tonight) with a total of four more to do. I was looking ahead at my anthropology paper options and am thinking that as much as it will not help me with English it will best if I do the next one (due in one week) because all the rest of my options will not be at all fun or easy to write about. So here is to cramming in another paper and getting caught up in English.

And by the way - sorry if this paper is horribly jumbled as I'm not sure how well my brain is working anymore. I've been slinging around words trying to figure out how to possibly make a two page paper five for the last seven hours - words have become putty in my head...all goopey and stuff. So sorry if this is incomprehensible.

So I recently experienced a first in my parenting life. I'm not saying I don't experience a whole lot of firsts still just that they are becoming less frequent. That is until the other day. Emmuska was playing with some buttons-which she does actually quite frequently generally without mishap. I was working on something else when she comes up to me crying and telling me her nose hurts because the button was too high. Yes she had stuck a button (2 maybe) up her nose. As I sat there (amazingly calm) trying to think what I should do if I can't get the button out I kind of marveled that it had taken us 3 and a half years to get to this point. I told her to blow her nose-and stopped her from trying to dig it out and pretty soon the button fell out of her nose. All's well that ends well right? The thing that really made me happy was how well I kept my cool. Maybe I'll make it as a parent yet!

Emmuska has been staying with Grandma and Grandpa for that last day so Liberty has taken full advantage of being in the unfought for limelight. It's always so much fun to see Liberty on her own as she does some of the most hilarious things when she isn't battling a big sister on any of a number of fronts. So today we were having a little snack of Oreo's and milk - Liberty was wandering around while I was talking to Mycal. I wasn't really paying attention but I noticed that whenever I gave her a cookie she went over to the trash can, did something then came back with at least a portion of her cookie that she was apparently eating. It didn't take me too many trips to the trash can before I realized that she was throwing away the top half of her cookie and eating the filling and bottom half. When I asked if this was indeed what she was doing she confirmed with the whole body nod. At which point I informed her that she didn't have to throw them away because I would happily eat them for her. Upon receiving such information she seemed to process it and there after did give me the parts she didn't want, but did so in such a manner as to say - 'If that's what you want to do silly lady but really I think my way was better'

Children are great.

Yeah I know you all thought you were safe but here they are again. I'm thinking it's just a plot put together by some huge rat coalition - working to improve their status one family at a time by keeping themselves at the forefront of that family's mind. Here is our current rat story.

Last night I had to go to an Enrichment Activity while Liberty was still taking her nap so I left her in the oh-so-capable, always loving and much appreciated care of my little sister Bonnie (I hope that shameless flattery keeps you wanting to watch my children on short notice...). Apparently shortly after I left Liberty woke up and started wondering around the house. Bonnie told me that she found her downstairs staring at the place where the rats used to be and crying. Bonnie was a little perplexed and asked what was wrong to which Liberty pointed at the spot and continued crying, then she pointed to all the rat stuff, bedding, food, water bottle etc. Bonnie in a moment of insight asked "Do you want to see the rats?" to which Libster did her whole body nod. Bonnie felt quite heart-broken at the sight and offering condolences to the distraught little girl offered that maybe Liberty and I could go buy new ones later, to which Liberty perked up and went in search of something. Turns out that something was Emmuska's piggy bank, which she kept with her until I came home.

When Bonnie told me this story I couldn't stop laughing. Thankfully Liberty did not drag me to the door in hot pursuit of new rats - and just maybe we will make it to Missouri without them - though I was hoping to save any rat purchases for our final destination...

So I took my second Anthropology test today. After not doing so well on the first test I decided to put some effort into this one and study all the chapters being covered. I didn't get to study as much as I would have liked but still put a lot more energy and time into making sure I knew the material so I could do well this time. Well after about a month of effort I walk into the testing center feeling more confident in my ability to get a decent grade on the test. I sit down and start reading the questions only to discover everything I've read doesn't really seem to fit with the answers given or that the answer is just beyond my ability to recall - you know that horrible feeling when you know you know something but you can't quite grasp it. Yes many answers were stuck in that region of my mind. So I finish the test and find that I did better by only 3 questions. 3 questions! I don't know about the rest of you but where three questions only equals six points it hardly seemed worth the extra effort I had put into actually studying this time. After reviewing the questions I had missed I felt even more discouraged as they were rarely the ones I was completely guessing on - they were ones I had studied and had either (apparently) misinterpreted the meaning of the text or those few pesky ones where the odd words unique to a particular study (anthropology in this case) get all muddled because they are (a) hard to pronounce (b) all look the same and (c) weird. Anyhow not doing so well on this test was actually liberating for me because now I'm thinking I just won't bother trying as hard - I'll just skim some chapter reviews, read definitions and guess my way through the next test. (How disillusioned do I sound right now...)

So Mycal ordered my birthday present and had it sent to me because the shipping was supposed to take 3 weeks to get here. In typical UPS fashion it only took 3 days so it arrived to me today. After much back and forth I decided to open it early and was surprised with a wacom tablet. I am so excited! ran not wait to get better with it. It is so much fun! I've written this entire post by pen and am getting better at writing. The handwriting on the screen is resembling mine the more I practice. I can't wait to get better at this and use it more in Photoshop. No doubt about it I have the best husband ever.

Yay for beautiful days! It was unbelievably beautiful yesterday - a glorious 65 and sunny, if a bit windy. The girls and I had a great time going for a walk and spending time outside. It is so nice to be able to enjoy the outdoors again. (Without all the extra wear that is...) Whilst outside we spied two robins - I was so excited. Usually because if it's not gloriously warm I won't really stay outside long enough to see the first robin of the year - but this year I was and I did. It just seemed like a really good omen to me. In fact it made me so happy that I decided I could pitch into the effort of making the world more ready for spring. So I grabbed a rake and started raking the yard. I love how raking seems to magically make green grass appear. It's like magic - where everything is dull and brown before there suddenly springs up little shoots of green. Of course the green is always there it's just hidden under the layers left on it by winter but still it's one of my favorite things to do in beautiful weather - bring out the green!

Okay I just punched some numbers in but seriously doesn't it seem like that? I'd swear I talk about the rats every other post. So here is what the most recent story is. Wed. night Diego escaped from her cage (she had been doing that recently...) and apparently walked right in front of Quincy (Thom's dog). Now if she had walked in front of Autumn or Belle it wouldn't have mattered because they have accepted her as a fellow pet. As it is Quincy has tried his hardest to kill the rats since they entered the domain so of course he sees Diego, snatches her up and snaps her back. Okay so we are speculating that this is what happened as Thom, the only person in the room at the time, didn't hear a sound, just turned around to see a dead rat and a dog expecting kudos (if still somewhat high strung...it's Quincy he's perpetually high strung). I was a bit upset as I was really fond of Diego - she had a great personality. Really easy going and great with the girls, both who loved to hold her and she was okay with that. Honestly how many animals that size are okay with the style of love a 16 month and 3 year old give out?

As it stood Diego was dead which left us once again in the dilemma of having one rat. So today we ran to Petco and picked up another rat. Things seemed to be going smoothly until I get down to the rat cage and see Parsnip dead at the bottom of the cage. Seriously? Yeah it was unbelievable. I'm left single-rat after going to buy one. I'm taking it as a sign to let the rats go for the time. I'm taking the new rat back to the pet store as soon as I get a baby-sitter. I don't think the girls would be okay with it at this point.

On the bright side the rat stories should cease for a couple of months...

I didn't want to say anything until I knew for sure but about a week ago I put an application to be on the creative team of one of my favorite designers. Basically I would make scrapbook pages with her products. It is the first time I've tried anything of the like and was really hoping I'd make it. Today I found out for sure I was chosen for Andrea Gold's creative team. I am so excited. I love her stuff and use it in just about everything I create digitally. Not to mention now I won't have as much free time on my hands (ha ha ha) seriously it will be great to have a deadline to create - for some reason that really helps me get more done.

After the other exciting news I thought that I had better go ahead and share the other news in my life - not so amazing but still very fun. I'm pregnant. That's right I'm expecting baby number three in about 30 weeks. That would be mid September for all of you who can't quickly calculate 30 weeks into the future (mostly known as normal people). Who knows what state we will be in by that point but we are very excited in any case. With any luck it will probably be in the South - that would make us at three births in three different states. (I know don't you all wish you had goals like mine ;) ) You are of course more than welcome to leave ideas on what you think we should name the little one...as long as you won't be offended if we completely ignore it.

Liberty (well both of my girls really but this story is about my second born so...) is hilarious. She was a little grumpy when she got up from her nap today and was just not satisfied with anything I did while we were cuddling and watching a show. A little into the show Bonnie got up to get some peach pie. From the moment she got up Liberty was pointing at her and whining and wanting something in the direction Bonnie went. At first I didn't think much about it, until Bonnie super sweet thing that she is brought me a piece (seriously...super sweet thing) At which point Liberty got really insistent about the pie. Fine with me I don't mind sharing. So I tried sharing mine with her but that was a no go. Finally I realized that she wanted her own piece, so of course we got her a little slice. I go to get her tucked into a kitchen chair and she looks at me like I'm nuts. She walks into the living room and stands in front of my mom, pointing and grunting. I had already figured that she wanted to eat in the living room with the rest of us but it still took me a couple of minutes to realize that she wanted to sit in 'her' chair which her Nana was currently occupying. So we all rearrange so that Liberty can sit in her chair to eat her pie just like the rest of us. What a big girl she wants to be.

I can't believe that it has been a week since I posted last. I've been super busy (of course...) but not with exciting things to tell you all about. Just a lot of school and a little packing. I have been catching up on my English class - I've read so many mountaineering stories this week that I'm starting to have dreams focused on entirely on climbing stuff - not a good thing. Hopefully I can get a head a some point so I don't have to read so much at one time. Then of course there's packing. I bought boxes a week ago to start packing and have managed to fill one so far (Thursday night...) not as much as I would have liked to get done. That with the endless organizing (everything - including sock...again!) I'm going a little nuts. So this afternoon I just listen to my audio book and played around in photoshop. Of course I was constantly wondering what Emmuska was up to but not enough to actually get myself out from under a sleeping Liberty to get up and find out so my afternoon was actually pretty nice. Now I'll just read a little Anthropology and catch a few hours before tomorrow (today) actually starts. I know you are all jealous but it's okay.

Emmuska giving out her valentines - she was so proud of them!

What a fun holiday! We have really gotten into it this year. I decided it would be much more fun to make all our Valentines so I rummaged through my (seemingly endless) scrapbooking stuff and found some great little white hearts. Then Emmuska and I sat down and colored and stickered them. I did end up buying some foam conversation heart stickers - there were just to awesome to pass up. Emmuska had a ball. Everyday she would ask if she could make more 'hearts'. Of course that was fine by me as I tons of the little suckers and it kept her busy and happy. I found it a good time to try and encourage portion control (only four stickers to a heart). In the end she made at least two for every child in her preschool class, many for family and some that still ended up in the trash (Liberty would occasionally help by pulling stickers off...) We had such a ball. I hope that she wants to make her own every year. It was just so great to watch the pure magic and enjoyment in making them and in giving them away.

Aside from making a bunch of Valentines we also make a bunch of cookies. Call me crazy but I have really been into baking lately. So a batch of sugar cookies was in order. Naturally I had two wonderful kitchen helpers every step of the process. It doesn't matter what else is going on as soon as I start to work in the kitchen they are there - especially when I'm baking. They seem to know that there is going to be yummy food as an outcome. So they helped me mix, roll and cut the cookies. Then Emmuska helped me decorate them. Of course she threw herself into the project with all the serious intent and joy of the Valentines, telling me who each one was for. It was fun to watch her 'style' evolve. At first every type of sprinkle went on the cookie. After a little bit she got to be more discerning and careful until one of the last ones she did looked very similar to one I had made earlier. Kids are amazing. After all that we took some to a couple of people. It's fun to get out - I know the girls enjoyed it as did I. There's nothing like sharing a treat to make a holiday as much fun as it can be.

Rutabaga and Diego - Rutabaga is the smaller one.

We now have three rats...in one cage. Yes we finally managed to catch little Rutabaga. Sunday afternoon right before Mycal and I were supposed to head to a meeting I heard rat scuttlings (again...I'd been hearing them off and on over the day) I got Mycal to help me round her up if at all possible. Turns out by the time we got downstairs to do so she had hopped into a box all we had to do was quickly (very quickly) close the box, take it to a secure place, like the bathtub and then try to coax her into something we could carry to the the cage. She had gotten kind of wild in the couple of days out on her own, not really being used to people yet anyway so it took some effort but we eventually managed. She is actually adjusting pretty well. The pet store said it will probably take a couple days for her to calm back down to a more domestic level. Until then I'm a little wary of holding her because she is one fast little sucker and I don't want her getting away from me and having to catch her again. Still she has to be held to help calm her and make her okay with people so it's a little bit of a conundrum. Anyhow they are all safe and well.

The last week has been nuts! I have been so busy with school (including and extra paper and a test), another class I'm taking, a surprise I'm working on for Mycal, Emmuska and Liberty etc. Here is the little extra drama thrown on top of everything else for the week. As you know Dora died last week. Rats being super social really need companionship so last Saturday Mycal picked up another rat - an absolutely teeny little guy we named Rutabaga - she was cute small, especially compared to Diego that it was really cute. Diego really took to her - I think the mothering instinct in her really came out. (As a point of clarification all the rats we have owned have been female...despite their names...what can I say I have a two to three year old helping us name them.) So Diego really took Rutabaga in and it looked like things would work out okay. Then Wed. night, while I'm trying to finish homework due in a few hours, I hear Mycal calling to me that I really need to come downstairs. Turns out Quincy (Thom's dog, the only dog in the house that cannot deal with the rats...) knocked the cage off the stand it was on, breaking it open. By the time I got down there neither rat was to be found. It didn't take to long to find Diego. She's used to people so she will readily come out of hiding but despite concerted efforts we can't find Rutabaga anywhere. We assume that she ran down a pipe or that Quincy ate her or something to that effect and last night headed to the pet store again. While looking at our new rat we aren't quite sure what to name it - Rutabaga was a really great name but it fit the other rat so well it's almost like betrayal to give it another name. We finally decide we will ask Emmuska if it's name is Rutabaga or Parsnip (the other name we had in case she felt the last Rutabaga was the only Rutabaga we could have). She goes with Rutabaga and for twelve hours things are almost like they had been two days ago. Until this morning when I hear rustlings. At first I thought it was my imaginations until I hear it again. I look and there is little Rutabaga, alive and apparently well, but also very quick. Mycal and I tried to catch her for about 15 minutes before she completely disappeared. When we went back she is nowhere to be found. We have spent all day cleaning and de-cluttering in order to find her and can't find a trace of the little rat. I have no idea where she could have possibly gone. I hope we find her. It seemed such a sure thing this morning after sighting her, but now I'm not so sure.

I am having the hardest time with school right now. I'm only taking two classes but it is kicking my butt. What is really frustrating is that they aren't even really hard classes. One is rather enjoyable. It's just really difficult for me to keep up with the work. I wish I could listen to the textbook - that would help a little. It would also help if I wasn't so freakin' tired all the time. I don't know what it is but I'm thinking my body decided that it should be hibernating right now instead of staying up to work on class. Whatever it is I'm going crazy that I'm not getting more done. Well I'd better get back to work...got a lot due today.

Dora died this evening. I'm more sad and down than I know I should be. She was a rat. She was a rat in pain and ready to go. But I'm still sad because now she is gone. She was a really good rat. Patient, laid back, great with the kids. She just had a sort of soft personality that one couldn't help but love - even if she was a rat. I'm sad because she was a great rat. She was Diego's friend and I'm not sure how easy it will be to replace that kind of friendship. I hope that she is happier now, even though she was just a rat because she was special to us.

Dora isn't doing too well. I don't know what happened but somehow she got sick. It's been getting progressively worse for the last couple of days and now it's really bad. My heart is so sad for her. I don't know what to do to help her. Taking her to the vet would cost 40$, putting her to sleep is 76$. I just can't justify paying that but I feel so badly because she looks so sick. I don't know what to do and just wish that I could help her get better.

It's true - the girl absolutely loves music. She carries around my pocket hymnal opening it up and 'singing'. I love it! She makes the cutest sounds while she is singing. I'll have to try and record it sometime - it's so adorable! When we are in church no matter what she is doing (unless by some miracle she has fallen asleep) as soon as the piano starts playing she grabs the hymn book, pulls it open and starts singing. One time we were in another room down the hall from the chapel when she heard the music start. She grabbed my hand and walked me down to our seats in the chapel and started singing. Even better is when she adds dancing to it. Sometimes she will twirl around other times (like when I turn the radio on in the car) she will do a little head bobbing action. It's so much fun to see kids personalities coming through.

Emmuska started preschool this week. It's just a couple days a week for a little over two hours each day but she loves it. She was so ready to get out and do a little more on her own. She keeps talking to me about her teacher and how much she loves going to her school. She is also taking tumbling/dance classes (one of each each week for half and hour, the days she isn't doing school) She is also thrilled about these classes. It's really fun to see how much she is growing. The tricky part is that of course I need to take Liberty with me to drop off and pick up Emmuska and of course Liberty wants to do what Emmuska is doing. She was so sad today when Emmuska went into the dance studio and the door closed and she couldn't go in too. On preschool days it's a little easier to make it up to her because she and I have a couple hours to go out and do something together but on dance days it doesn't really work to leave. We'll have to figure something out.

As it turned out Emmuska's preschool was taking a field trip this week so we all went to a museum. Emmuska was so funny she packed her school bag (the school gave her one for projects and what not) with stickers, paper, her camera, Goldfish and water. She told me that she wanted to share with her classmates. It made me so happy - almost as happy as when we got to the museum and she saw something she liked so she pulled out her camera and took a picture. What can I say - she's learned some of life's most important lessons already. The rest is just fluff.

Regarding a question left in the comment section by a loyal (quite possibly solitary...) reader. Since when and how is Mycal faculty at the university allowing me to enjoy the benefit of a couple free classes. Mycal is smart. I know that you all already know this but it's the basis of this post so I thought I would mention it. You see many cadets (that I've encountered) don't really think about where or what they will be doing after they commission. It is generally assumed that they will be in their next training assignment pretty quickly afterwards. This actually rarely happens so often times they have to get some sort temporary job while they wait or work as an instructor at a previous training camp. Mycal foresaw the probability of not being able to get orders into training immediately after commissioning and made sure that he had one of the two positions at the ROTC house until his training date in February. It's really amazing it all worked out because you have to be able to work for at least 45 days to get the position and Mycal had something like 48 until he had to leave - talk about be watched over. Anyway apparently working for ROTC makes you faculty of the university (at least at this particular institution). As faculty his spouse is allowed to take six credit hours free. Yay for me. On that note it was a little bit of a struggle to get into classes that would work. I'm about 20 credit hours away from an associates degree and needed to get specific credits (a diversity credit, computer science, humanities, creative arts etc.) as defined by the school. I also had to take these classes during times when I'm most likely to have a babysitter - especially with Mycal leaving - and when the kids will be the happiest for a babysitter. I was pretty thrilled when I found all my particular needs available from 7-9am on Mon. Wed. and Fri. Alas it was not to be it turned out that these courses wouldn't work for me so I went to change them - amazingly enough finding the only other classes taught at that time with a couple seats still open. Turns out they are actually on an extension campus that I had no way to get to. Thankfully we managed to find two classes that fulfill credits I need online. (I'm pretty sure they are about the only online classes still available.) So long story short we finally got my classes to work with my schedule and I'm all set to go. Let's just hope the class work is easier than registering for them was.

A new year...I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. I mean I have some general notions of what's going to happen but no clue what I'm going to do. There's the obvious - I'll spend most of my time raising my beautiful girls and being supportive and helpful to Mycal in his career efforts over the year. I'll be moving...twice. I will apparently be taking classes this semester (long story short Mycal is apparently faculty at the moment so I get to take 6 credit hours...) But I don't know what I'm going to do with myself yet. I'm a little stuck - I'm not sure what I want to do to really improve myself. It's put me in a little bit of a slump - so many things I want to do (or just do better) but I'm not sure which ones are most realistic and personally beneficial. Blasted New Year - I don't think I've ever taken making resolutions so seriously before. So I'm still thinking about what I can do with myself this year - a week later I'm still trying to make resolutions. Don't get me wrong I'm really excited for all the prospects ahead of us this year. It's going to be a great year filled with adventure and lots of good things - I just need to figure out how I can make the most of it.

It's been a while since I've done this too so I thought that I would wonder over and look at the prompt du jour - I liked the way it turned out and thought I would share (It also helps me keep all my stuff in one place.)

The prompt was " If you could be the best in the world at something, what would it be?"

When I read this question a few things flitted through my mind...scrapper, mother, wife but it didn't take me too long before I thought the thing I wanted to be the best at was everything that is me...wife, mother, crafter, follower of God - and that's when I realized that the thing I want to be the best at is following God's path, ways and commandments because that is how I can be best at everything else that I am.

I'm beginning to go through craft withdrawls. Because we were (are until we get paid...any day now...) one step ahead of destitution (maybe a little dramatic...) most gifts needed to be homemade this year. So for the last two months (at least) I have been very busy making one thing or another for Christmas (maybe another reason I loved it so much - I got to make so many things and put all that love out there for my family and friends...) I honestly finished up my Christmas present making on Christmas Eve (at least it was the afternoon and not late into the night). Now I'm going a little crazy 'What no projects that have to be done by a specified time? What am I supposed to do with myself if I'm not cramming to get something done.' Because of course I still have plenty of projects to work on - scrapbooks that need to be worked on (are they ever caught up?) cards to make (I've actually almost used up the stock that I've had for the last year - and I barely write to anybody) a huge cross-stitch that I set aside in October because I didn't have time to work on it with Christmas coming...things like that. The problem is none of them have a specific time frame they need to be done by - just 'soon' (whenever that is...) So I'm sitting here going a little more crazy each day because I need a project that I need to get done. If anybody can help me with this I would so much appreciate it.

Goodness me I can't believe how long it has been since I've posted. Yes...I fell of the face of the planet. Luckily I'm pretty good at getting out of a scrape so finding myself back in front of the computer with a couple of minutes to try and catch up did eventually happen. So now I'm faced with the ever intimidating question of where to start catching up. Christmas seems like the obvious place to begin. I had a fabulous Christmas. It was all about family, fun and even a little bit of service. In fact I'm a little giddy still from Christmas. It's not so much that I received fabulous gift (although I'm not going to lie...I did) It's just that I had a great chance to visit with so many people that mean so much to me. I got to spend a bit of time with my dear sister who was able to come from Washington as well as another who has come from Ceder City. My dog Autumn was able to come home and now after a year we get to keep her with us. My sister-in-law who has been away at school was able to visit for longer than usual and it was a lot of fun to spend so much more time with her. Another sister-in-law announced that she is getting married and her fiance is wonderful - I couldn't be happier for her. And yet another sister-in-law is having a baby in Feb. so we were able to through a shower for her - between that and her ever growing (and beautiful) belly I'm getting really excited for her little one to arrive. It just seems like I've really been blessed in family relationships right now - to get to know more people and the one I already knew a little better - and I love that. It's great for Mycal to have a job right now. It's just comforting to know that we have that security. Especially since that job includes great benefits like insurance (we are once again covered as of two days before Christmas...) I don't know if it's really Christmas that is bringing all this together - if it had happened in June it would be just as wonderful - but it seems like the cold weather helps keep us a little more together and strengthen our family bonds a little for the year to come. Whatever the reason or the time I'm feel extraordinarily blessed and grateful for all that I have.

I just saw that my quote of the day was by P.G.Wodehouse - "I know I was writing stories when I was five. I don't know what I did before that. Just loafed I suppose." and it made me happy. I absolutely love P.G. Wodehouse. He is one of my favorite authors of all time. He has a way of writing and using words that never ceases to amaze me. It's not just that he brings a smile to my face when I read his stories - he actually makes me laugh out loud. I think he is one of the most under appreciated authors of the 20th century. Anyhow I loved this quote. I'm always thinking of stories I want to write - mostly my own but they don't seem to get on paper often enough. I think that maybe I just loaf a little too much. Here's some motivations to write more of my stories down.

p.s. I found this quote by Wodehouse and I think he perfectly summed up why his literary status is what it is..."I go in for what is known in the trade as 'light writing' and those who do that – humorists they are sometimes called – are looked down upon by the intelligentsia and sneered at." Perhaps that is one of the reasons I enjoy his writing so much - he writes what he likes to write and the end result is completely enjoyable and unpretentious.

After almost two years in the program and lots of hard work Mycal commissioned last night. It was amazing. I can't even begin to describe everything I felt as I watched the ceremony and pinned the bar on his shoulder. I think that Mycal summed it up best when he said euphoric. That's really what it was. Beyond happy or glad or relieved or even giddy or excited. It is so wonderful to be on this new path in life. Of course we still have a huge journey ahead of us but it's nice to be finally be starting this journey. The ceremony was wonderful (as is to be expected - military ceremonies are always the best because they are so orderly and to the point). It was powerful to be there. Mycal had asked myself and his granny Liz to pin the new rank on. Major McVeigh, the professor of military science, led Mycal in taking the oath of office, and his mentor in the program Sergeant First Class Ziegelmann gave Mycal his first salute. The reception that followed was lovely. It was a great evening. It's even better waking up today and having so much of our lives be different.

Mycal and I after the ceremony at the reception.

In response to a comment left - and I sure because people are generally curious what I do when I don't have kids (specifically one...) that keep me on my toes all night I've decided to tell you what we did that night the girls stayed at Grandma's house. We drove back to town and took care of errands - so nice without little voices asking for one thing or another. Then I finished up a Christmas project - which was also nice to do something without being interrupted countless times. It was a really surreal evening. I expected a phone call all night telling me Liberty was ready to come home...but it never came so I got ready for bed and was cuddling up, looking forward to 6 (maybe 8 ;) ) hours of uninterrupted sleep. Unfortunately three or four hours after I fell asleep I was wide awake unable to fall back asleep because I was feeling so sick. I had been sick the day before which was partially why we had sent the little ones to Grandma's house in the first place. I was awake for several hours before finally drifting back to sleep. The best thing was that I didn't have to drag myself out of bed minutes after finally falling asleep (which would have inevitably happened if the girls had been at home.) So it was nice to be able to rest in the morning which I think helped me kick the bug a little more quickly. There you have it - the first chance I had for a solid nights sleep since dear Liberty was born and I missed out because of the flu. ;)

Because I haven't been feeling very well yesterday we asked Emmuska if she would like to stay at Grandma's house. (The answer is always yes - she loves Grandma's house). So we where getting her stuff together when Liberty walked over to Emmuska's big pink backpack that contains all the things she needs for a visit to Grandma's house and started pulling at it like she wanted it. Mycal looked at her and asked 'do you want to stay at Grandma's house too?' Liberty did her whole body nod (quick note - I love her whole body nod it's so fun to watch - it's like she wants to emphasize the fact that she is saying yes). So Mycal says 'well you have to get your own bag - that's Emmuska's bag'. Immediately Liberty left the backpack alone and found her jammies and diapers and started putting them in the diaper bag. Mycal and I were laughing so hard - obviously the girl really wanted to go. So we went up to Grandma's house with and open mind knowing that Liberty may or may not want to stay (she definitely knows her own mind... the rest of us can't figure it out but she knows it) She had been rather clingy while we had been there so I was pretty sure she was going to go back down with us. As I was getting ready to leave I looked at her and said 'I'm going now are you going with me or staying with Grandma?' She thought about it for a while before pushing herself down from my arms and walking over to Grandma. The only thing she could have done to make it more definite would have been to wave goodbye. So she stayed the night at her Grandma's last night (it's my own belief that she has wanted to do that for a while...) all night I was expecting a call to come and get her because she was ready to come home but we never got one. Mycal and I were both a little stunned as we drove back home. It was a little hard for us to believe that it would really work. But it seems to have turned out fine. My children continue to grow up.

Yeah that's right - I've been feeling a bit under the weather. It's actually been a rather drawn out ordeal. It started with Mycal feeling sick, then Emmuska then Emmuska again then Liberty then me then Mycal again then Emmuska (again poor girl...she's had it pretty rough...) then Liberty again then me again. This actually started in the middle of Nov. and we are still dealing with it - miserable. I think the worst thing is that we all feel great in between so we get a false sense of security in thinking that we are okay now...before WHAM! we get hit by it again. Still can't complain as there are many people dealing with worse. I think the best attitude comes from little Emmuska who will be throwing up violently but within minutes of throwing up look up at me and say 'It's okay mommy I feel better now. My tummy isn't upset anymore now I'm all done throwing up.' She said it every time. It's especially sweet because she will say it and before ten minutes have passed be throwing up again but as soon as she is done she will say it again. It's got to be the most hopeful attitude I have ever seen. Because she was throwing up so much I was limiting certain foods because 'even though (her) tummy doesn't hurt now it can still get upset' to which she responds 'it's okay I'll eat it (or drink it) really softly' which is of course accompanied by an open hand emphasizing the point that she will be careful. What a crack up. She is such a blessing.

I am proclaiming the turkey Dieuwke and I made for dinner the winner for best Thanksgiving dish of 2008. Please - nobody else take this too hard as it was an incredibly tough (and biased) choice. Team Stohel Turkey '08 won for a couple of reasons...mainly because I have never had white meat I liked that much - especially when it came to leftovers. This turkey was still super moist after being reheated the next day for a sandwich (which ended up being so yummy that I just ate it straight). The truth is we watched Alton Brown's take on cooking turkey that landed us this super delicious bird. We even had to cut some corners and it still turned out great. This is by no means a slight to any other turkey I've ever had - the other turkey of the year was also fabulous - I'm just saying that I might try this for you guys this Christmas so you see what I mean. Anyhow here are some runner-ups.

F.B. Carmel Pumpkin Pie

D.S. Huge Tub O' Potatoes

D.K.S. Cranberry Dipping Sauce

E.B. Stuffing

If anybody feels I missed something awesome be sure to comment so I can add it - I have had so much good food in the past four days (pretty much I haven't stopped eating since my post last Wed. - now you know the truth) that my brain may not be functioning at full capacity. Leave a comment and I will add the fabulous dish to the list. Also would love to hear what others thought might have been the best dish of there Thanksgiving.

I can't believe it has been so long since I've been on here...unbelievable. Sorry to any diligent readers I may have and here is to doing much better this week. Where to start...of course the last week has been fabulous - if somewhat chaotic. We had family in from out of town - my sister's family of six to be exact in an already bursting household. Added to that was an uncle later in the week...it's amazing to me that more toes weren't stepped on. Also amazing to me is how much space little people seem to need. As I sit writing I realize that there were only five people under the age of 7 (6,4,3,1,1) yet it seemed like there were so many more children here. It seems that with each added child you add exponentially to the amount of energy in a room until before long it can feel much fuller than it is. Kids...aren't they just amazing. I am glad to see Emmuska and Liberty get a chance to visit with their cousins. Family is one of the most important things you can have in life and it times when we can so easily get scattered in many directions due to jobs and what not it's nice that we can still get together and create such special bonds.

Okay it's not really new - we've had it for a while but it's been in the shop for the last month - after having to work on it for that long, replacing just about everything on it, they finally finished getting it fixed so now I get to use this sweet machine. It is so smooth and clear - I'm really excited. As long as it keeps working great (it was in pretty bad shape before we took it in...I'm in dread that I will experience the problems we were having at any moment...) Life will be so much easier. The best part of the whole experience was that we didn't have to pay a penny. That is why you get computers from people with a lifetime service plan - because on the rare occasions where there is something wrong with a fundamental part of the equipment they take care of it for you.

Here is a picture of Mycal and me - sorry we are so small in in. When I get a chance I will scan in the other picture we have - until that happens hope this one gives you a little idea. We looked pretty good.

It was so nice - the ROTC bought roses for all the ladies - talk about making us feel extra special!

Just found this blog and think it's a fabulous idea. I wasn't able to keep it under a minute but with a little practice will hopefully get better. I think that's one of the best parts of this idea - stripping it down to a minute helps distill thoughts to what your really trying to say - great for me since I over think so much and end up adding to much that isn't important which leads to (I think) journaling that sometimes detracts from my feelings with too many facts. Don't get me wrong I think facts are important, I just think that in the long run people would rather have more feeling and only the essential facts than an abundance of facts and only a little of the feelings. You tell me. And when you get a chance check out this blog. http://oneminutewriter.blogspot.com/

And quite frankly did anyone see that last entry covering so much territory? Good grief if it had been on a map it would have covered the U.S. on three trains (does that make sense to anybody else or only me?) Point being my line of thought travels faster than I can keep track of sometimes and before I know it I've hit three subjects in one paragraph - all relatively different. Is that how everybody's minds function or just me?

That's what Pamela said when I mentioned how happy I am about gas prices falling. I laughed so hard. So I was going to sit down and write about how happy I was that gas is dropping (it still has a ways to go if you ask me but at least it's going in the right direction...) But then it turned into how much I wish I could record little statements like Pam's more often. I don't know how many times somebody says something to me that should be unforgettable due to the incredibly great nature of the statement (profound, funny, special etc) but I don't have anything to write it down with me if I don't do something the instant I think of it, it's gone forever. This is so sad to me. I know I should keep a notebook with me and just write it all down but let's be realistic I barely manage to keep my phone on me (and am sometimes not even successful there) so really what are the odds I'll keep a notebook and pen on me. And even if I did great statements come at me while I am doing things - it's a pretty rare thing to have my hands be free so what's a gal to do? I'm going to go with first of all I need to let go of the need to save everything (a battle I've been waging with the pictures I take for the last couple of years) and secondly I need to find out if my phone has a recording function (I think it does) and figure out how to use it. See the thing is if weren't for sitting down and writing about this I wouldn't have come across these solutions. Yay for creative writing.

Today the ROTC held it's annual Turkey Shoot. It's a fundraiser for troops stationed overseas for the holidays - specifically Thanksgiving. The proceeds go to help pay for food whatnot to make their holidays seem a little less far away from home. Not only was it a great cause but it was tons of fun. Basically you pay a couple dollars for the chance to shoot a pellet gun at a target. The person with the best score in the round gets a gift certificate for a turkey (donated by local grocers). Now I'm not claiming to be a sharp shooter but all of my shots did end up inside the target circle which for round one made me the winner. Yay! It's always exciting to win something - even more so when it's based (even ever so slightly) on merit. Unfortunately for me my second round included many good shots so I didn't win that one but still it was a lot of fun. Speaking of doing a good deed for our troops overseas here is something I ran across that I want to get more involved in - it looks like a much appreciated effort, if your interested check it out. It's called 'Cards for Heros' http://www.cardsforheroes.org/

I had to show you my pumpkin after raving about it - I mean honestly what else is a decent person to do. Mine is the one on the left hand side of the tree tucked in with the flowers. Mycal's is the big one in front of Liberty and Liberty is holding her own. Emmuska won't let anybody touch hers...I mean it is her 'pumpkin'.

I know that there are a few (in my opinion odd) individuals out there who do not love pumpkins...(I'm not quite sure how but I'm beginning to deduce that it might be a genetic disorder.) In any case it seems that all but the most hardened pumpkin hater still enjoys going to a pumpkin patch and picking out their own large orange squash. There is something about it that is so uniquely fall - the smells and colors, the distinct quality of air. I love it. This was my first memory of going out to an actual pumpkin patch and picking out my own pumpkin and I loved every minute. Perhaps it was more fun because I had the joy of watching Emmuska pick out her own special pumpkin (actually more along the lines of a gourd of some sort...She would pick a non-pumpkin pumpkin - being among the less pumpkin-loving at heart).

Watching Liberty take so much care of her little pumpkin - It was so much fun.

Of course one of the best parts was finding my pumpkin. Not going to lie - it was just about perfectly me. And of course it's not to be found in a single one of these pictures but you can take my word for it - it was the perfect 'Stephanie' pumpkin.

And now that it has enjoyed some time on the front porch I think it's about time to cook it up and enjoy one (of the hundreds) of the yummy things it can become. I'm so excited!

So started the conversation with Emmuska as we drove to the grocery store.

'I have a question for you Mom. Once upon a time there was a Grandpa boy, and I love going to Grandpa and Grandma's house but not right now because it too dark outside but later I will ask to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house. The end. I love good questions.'

Yes I agreed I love good questions too but usually you use questions when you want somebody to say something back like 'What is your favorite color?' (quickly answered 'Pink!') and stories are when you want to tell somebody something and they don't need to say anything. So then she told me that she had a story for me and proceeded to tell me a slightly familiar but still enjoyable tale.

I never expected her to pick up the concept that quickly - especially since I didn't explain as well as other concepts that are still eluding her. Children are amazing.

I love it when babies transition into being toddlers. It is so much fun to see them figure so many new things out and gain more skills and preferences. I love seeing their unique personality come through more clearly each day. Last night was one such strikingly clear moment for me with Liberty. I was in the living room working on the computer with her on my lap when she decided to get down. Fine with me since she didn't make a huge scene wherein I am left confused as to what she wants. So I sit there and watch her as she takes a couple of steps away at which point she turns around in a somewhat annoyed manner and puts her hand out to me, clearly indicating that I am far too slow in getting myself ready to walk with her, but it is okay because she is patient and will wait for me (what a sweetheart eh?) So I stand up and hold her hand as she walks over to the table and points at what she wants - a cup that I had put there earlier because she had not wanted it back when I offered it originally. She gives me a pleased smile, obviously happy that I am not making it difficult to understand her (as I supposed I am wont to do as I am not to her desired level of mind reading yet). We stand there as she drinks the contents then she grabs my hand again and walk into the kitchen to the water jug. She hand me her cup and is once again thrilled that with minimal coercion on her part I understand and oblige her unspoken request by filling the cup with water. Later she takes me to the fridge, when I open it for her she considers the three options and works to pull her choice out. With a little help she gets it, walks across the kitchen hands the milk to me and then takes it back to the fridge after I fill up the cup. After closing the refrigerator door she comes to me, gets the cup then walks back into the living room. She has always known exactly what she wants (much like her older sister...) - I just love that now she knows better ways of getting it.

Since we are just getting this thing stared I thought I would share a couple of my favorite photos of the moment. One of Emmuska's new favorite things to do it lead music. And she is actually quite good too. I'm not positive where she picked this up (nursery maybe?) but it's fun to watch especially when Liberty is around because then she will get in on the action too.

For several months I've been trying to decide if I should start a web page of some sort to replace the emails I've been sending out. As I looked into the advantages of a web page it definitely looked appealing but I just couldn't settle on the idea - until the last email I sent. After putting it off for several weeks because one of thing or another I finally got it out only to discover that it only went out to a few of the recipients that I had put in the send line. When I tried to fix the mistake by sending it again it did the same thing. Well that was that...time for me to join the space age and see what I could do with a page of my own. So here is to trying new things.