laughter & loveliness

Sesame Street

2009-11-11T13:38:00.002-07:00

In honor of their 40th Anniversary, I thought I'd follow Allie's lead and post some of my favorite (at least the ones I can remember) skits from Sesame Street.

First, this one because I still quote it.

And then this one because it inspired "Crazy Melvin Day" at school, but we celebrated wtih bananas, not pencils.

This one is STILL funny.

And this one was my all-time favorite song from Sesame Street.

And don't forget "C is for Cookie", "Ladybug's Picnic" and "Number 9 Martian Beauty". I would post them, but this is already getting ridiculous.

Just a test...and pictures of Danny and Makenna!

2009-11-07T17:17:00.007-07:00

I'm just testing to see if I know how to make a video on the laptop and make it available for your viewing pleasure via YouTube. If you were able to watch a short clip of Danny and Makenna to the tune of James Taylor's "Never Die Young", then I have achieved success!

Rod Stewart

2009-11-07T09:02:00.004-07:00

My parents used to have this magpie who'd come around their house a lot. It'd poke around in the backyard for walnuts and other things to eat. It liked to hop around their deck and we could watch it from the kitchen windows. One day I think it actually flew in the house, but that's another story.
The reason I remember this bird so well is because one day, during Sunday dinner as the magpie was hopping around the deck trying to swallow a plastic toy grasshopper, we decided to name it. The first suggestion of "Maggie the Magpie" naturally lead us to our final choice of "Rod Stewart." We tried it out: "Hey, Rod Stewart is outside trying to swallow Andrew's plastic grasshopper toy." Success!

-Rod Stewart's Relative-

Rod Stewart doesn't come around anymore, but I'll always fondly remember his antics in the backyard.
"Hey guys, Rod Stewart's back...and he's trying to crack that walnut shell off the deck."
"Rod Stewart tried to fly into the house again!"
"Be careful. Rod Stewart's out there and he might bite you."

I think when we get another pet someday I want to name it something along the same lines as "Rod Stewart". You know, like "Phil Collins".

"Come, Phil Collins! Come! Good boy!"
"Phil Collins was trying to eat his poop again."
"Somebody let Phil Collins out. He's scratching at the back door again."

Train of Thought

2009-09-23T18:36:00.004-06:00

So, on my drive home from work today I heard a Peter Cetera song. "Glory of Love" to be exact.

And here's the train of thought that followed:

This reminds me of when Hannah and I made Erin and Corinne's wedding video. Erin told us not to put any music from the group "Chicago" on it. So what did we do? We set the video to the song "You're the Inspiration" by, of course, Chicago. Hannah's rationale was that Erin and his friends always said "Chicago" music was the best romantic music (or something like that). So we HAD to use it. Looking back, we probably should have listened to Erin and NOT used it.

What other questionable choices have I made because of cousin influence?

Well, there was that time we showed up at my ex-"somewhat boyfriend's" house dressed as old ladies, lured him to the side of his house and then beat him with handbags.

Then there was that time we made an entire batch of methylene blue brownies and took it to a party some of my high school friends were having. One friend and his brother ate pretty much the entire plate. I felt bad, but not really.

I won't even go into the rice crispy wigs because I still haven't decided if that was good or bad.

I wonder if people still judge me based on bad (or good) decisions I made when I was younger?

Do you ever grow out of the image people have of you from one point in time?
Think about it, I'm sure all of us can name at least one person from high school who we think is crazy because of something they did. Or we think someone is a jerk because of one thing they did. Maybe they're not crazy. Maybe they're not jerks. Maybe they're regular people who just made a bad decision.
Next time I see someone I knew from way back when I'll keep an open mind and not cram them into the box I've been keeping them in all these years. (For the record, I'm talking about a figurative box, not a literal box. I did crazy things with my cousins, but nothing that crazy.)

And that, my friends, was my train of thought as I drove home from school.

Love, Hate and School

2009-08-20T13:14:00.003-06:00

Right now I'm at school getting things ready for next week. I needed a break from working and this seemed like the funnest alternative. Funny how blogging becomes a break when I'm working, but it's work during the summer. Go figure.

I have a love/hate relationship with teaching.
I love the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction I get when I'm doing something I know how to do and that I've done so much that I can actually do it well.
I hate having to be somewhere every morning at 8:15.
I love starting fresh every year with a new group of kids.
I hate having to get subplans together at 3:15 AM because I woke up with the flu. Why can't it be like other people's jobs? If they call in sick they can just call in sick. I have to call in sick, get subplans ready, find a substitute, and then clean up the aftermath when I get back.
I kind of love having every child in the school know my name.
I love getting my room together.
I love stacks of freshly made books, freshly sharpened pencils, new crayons, markers, and colored pencils, and full glue bottles. That means I'm ready.
I hate the feeling I have right before the kids come in on the first day. I don't like being nervous.
But I love the feeling that comes right after the bell rings and the kids start coming in.
I love the drive to and from school. 25 minutes each morning and afternoon to reflect, think and listen to music.
I hate driving that 25 minutes when it's snowing and the roads are icy and covered with snow.
I love love love the people I work with.
I hate that I won't have that association when I quit teaching.
I love teaching kids how to read.
I hate that I don't have enough time to prepare all the fun things I want to do with those kids.

Speaking of prepare...
I should get back to that.

How Boys Play

2009-08-13T16:49:00.013-06:00

I used to think I knew how to play basketball. It wasn't until I married a true basketball fan that I realized that playing basketball isn't really 10 girls huddled underneath a hoop each taking turns throwing a ball into the air until, after several grueling minutes, one of them successfully manages to make it into the hoop that's been hovering elusively over their heads. Basketball is more than dribble, block, throw (e.i. shoot) the ball. It actually involves strategy. There are plays involved. Techniques. Moves. Skillz.
None of these I have.
But my hubby does. And he loves to play the game. Lucky for him he happens to know some other guys who love the game, too, and so they play every week.
I decided to tag along the last time they played and do a little playing myself.

...but I played with the camera.

I got some good action shots. Don't ask me what was going on here. I'm just taking the picture.

I just like this one.

It appears that Brad is going to try a granny shot and everyone is giving him some space to do it.

Don't mess with DAN.

But don't be scared of Dan! He's a nice guy!

Zack was popping up for the rebound on this one, but it could also be that he was attempting to dunk the ball and just fell short of the mark.

I like this because it gives a clear shot of Thomas's intimidation shirt (Who isn't intimidated by Porky Pig?) and because it shows how much fun these guys are having.

How To Make A Chipmunk.

2009-08-05T22:29:00.006-06:00

First, you take your dogs on a long, dirty, fun hike.

Like this.

And this.

You might even throw in a meadow or two.

Next, you let them cool off however they want.

Then you take them for a ride.

Let him stick his head out the window because you know how much he loves it.

The next thing you know...

You've got yourself a chipmunk.

Broccoli and Cauliflower Redeemed!

2009-07-16T16:53:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd share what Zack and I had for dinner last night because it was just. that. good.
We made Hope is Power's recipe for roasted cauliflower. I had broccoli that needed to be eaten so I added that, too.
After eating it, I don't know that I will be able to eat broccoli another way. I already knew it was the only way I could eat cauliflower.
Go. Try it. It's yummy.

Sometimes I Just Crave a Big Ol' Peesha Banana Smash Pie

2009-07-13T13:48:00.004-06:00

This is Zack's recipe for Banana Smash Pie. It's pretty straightforward seeing as most of the ingredients are "banana smash" with just a touch of fdsafdsa. It only takes about 3 1/2 hours to make and goes great with steak, potato, beans and corn. At only 567 calories a serving it's a meal in itself!

This is my new template for what I like to call our "dinner recipes". My intention is to make a recipe for all the dinners we have at our house. The idea is that one of us (or one of our future kids) will be able to pick a dinner, know what they need in order to make it and have some ideas for sides to go with it. My goal is to someday have my kids plan, shop for and cook all the meals for Zack and I.

(Now that you've had a chance to stop laughing....)
The real plan is for me to be able to plan, shop for and cook our meals without feeling like I've pulled out my teeth one by one. All I'll have to do to plan a menu for the week is choose from a variety of Evans Approved Meals. These meals aren't going to be rocket science. For instance, one of them is "BLT's" and the ingredients are, you guessed it,: bacon, lettuce, tomato, bread, and mayo. Sides might include potato chips and cottage cheese, broccoli, carrots or even corn!

Why do I need this? I don't know, but I do. And Zack was wonderful enough to create a cool template in Excel where all I have to do is plug in words and it creates that nice format you see in his "example recipe" for Banana Smash Pie! Thanks, Zack!

Random Pictures: Washington D.C. Edition

2009-06-26T18:29:00.009-06:00

Checking out the map of D.C. before we head out.

The Metro. It smells like London. I know it's just the smell of a subway, but I like it. :)
The Washington Monument (apparently growing out of Zack's head).

Zack shows his patriotism by enjoying a cool lemon ice. Abraham Lincoln and all his minions.
The closest shot we could get of the white house. I can totally see the chandelier!

This is the part where I salute the Washington Monument. Playing cards while waiting for "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" to start. I know, Doug. I know you said it was bad. But seeing it AT the Smithsonian made it good!

On the way to the metro station. So very government artsy.

Eating at the Chilis in the Atlanta airport. Ahhhh, fries. You never tasted so good.
My view at Chilis. :)

Random Thoughts - Maryland Edition

2009-06-26T17:34:00.003-06:00

So Zack and I have been in Maryland for the past 6 days or so. Zack had to go for business. I only travel for pleasure. This post is my random thoughts about our trip.

There are lots of trees in Maryland. You know how people are always talking about how we're destroying nature by cutting down trees and building our big cities and roads and suburbs and whatnot? And I always thought that's a bunch of crap because before my city existed there was just a bunch of dirt and weeds and now there's lots of trees so in reality we're helping by planting trees. Well, I totally get it now! In Maryland you have to cut down a forest in order to build a shopping mall. Whereas in Utah you are actually helping nature when you build a strip mall or a suburb! Yeah for us Utahans! Boo for Marylanders! (All nature activists, tree-huggers, people of Maryland and Rocky Anderson don't send me hate mail. I'm just kidding! Kind of...)

Speaking of the trees....you are surrounded by forest when you're on the freeway in Maryland. It's really pretty until you realize you can't see anything except trees and what you really want to see is some place that will feed you after 9:30 pm. Seriously, do they hide the restaurants on purpose?

Our rental car was a Pontiac. When the trip was over and we were driving home from the airport (and Zack was talking to his car, telling it how much he loved it) I asked Zack if he wanted a Pontiac like the rental car. His response: "I will never want a Ponti-ANYthing."

Our trip was divided into two parts: 'Before Zack had to work' and 'After Zack had to work'. Before Zack had to work we had a hotel in Virginia that was next to a metro station so we could go into D.C. and do some sight-seeing. After Zack had to work we were staying in Timonium, Maryland and we had Zack's co-worker, Lyle, with us. (Or, since I was the one who technically wasn't supposed to be there, I was hanging out with Zack and his co-worker.) Zack and I wanted to go to the D.C. temple during our stay, but the only time we could go was during the "After Zack had to work" phase which meant Lyle was with us in the evenings and would have to come with us if he didn't want to be stuck at the hotel all night. He's not a member of the church but was nice enough to drive the hour it took to get to the temple and wait outside while we went in a did sealings before we all had dinner. In the temple we met another family that was there to do sealings. They were from Idaho Falls. We told them we were from Bountiful (It's just easier that way. Usually we just say Salt Lake.). They said they had three kids waiting in the visitor center while they did sealings. We said we had Zack's non-member co-worker wandering the grounds while we did sealings. This lady's response was "Wow! A non-member from Bountiful? There's not a lot of non-members there, right?" (Seriously, lady?) My response to put her mind at ease, "Oh, he's not from Bountiful. He's from Park City." We keep all the heathens up there.

Speaking of the D.C. temple... The temple grounds are basically more of the woods that you see in Maryland. They have little paths going through the woods for people to walk on. It's really pretty. Can you say tall green forest, twilight, and fireflies?

While Zack was at work on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I had to bide my time at the hotel. This consisted of sleeping in, watching T.V., reading books, going to the fitness center, eating peanut butter sandwiches and ramen noodles, and playing on the computer. Not bad at all.

Two hour layovers in Atlanta aren't bad if you have a Chili's where you can eat lots of good food and you have someone fun to eat it with.

I got to have dinner with Zack and some of the guys he's working with in Maryland on Wednesday night. One of the guys asked us if we had any kids. We told them about our adoption and he proceeded to tell us how great and not great it was to have kids. He has 2 kids- a 4 1/2 year old and a 2 1/2 year old. He asked us if we had family living close by. Um, yes. Try a mother 15 minutes away, a brother 7 minutes away, parents 5 minutes away, a brother soon-to-be 2 blocks away, and a sister up the street. You could say we had family close by. He said he and his wife have no family close by and they haven't had a night alone together for 4 1/2 years. Wow. He needs to join the church, if nothing but for the social network and potential baby-sitters. :) I kid, I kid!

Speaking of being lucky because family is close by..... Our family really helped us out while we were gone. My parents watched our puppies the entire time and pretended like it was so much fun. And Danny saved us a lot of time and money when we realized (in Atlanta) that we'd left the key to Zack's car and our house key on the rental car keyring...which was in Maryland. He drove to our house, "broke in", got our spare key and took it to us when our plane landed at midnight. Thanks, Danny!
Zack's comment after he called Danny and asked him to help us out, "What would we do if we didn't have family close by?" I don't know. We're pretty spoiled.

Our dogs missed us while we were gone, but I think secretly they like to be at my parent's house more than ours. They're moping right now.

(Next post: Pictures!)

I Will Never Want Cable

2009-06-24T16:20:00.002-06:00

But I do feel more connected to my country....for better or for worse.

In the past three days I've seen:
3 movies (Oceans 11 and Secondhand Lions....great shows...and 3 Men and a Baby)
Jon and Kate plus 8 (It's not octuplets, it's twins and sextuplets, right?)
Cash Cab (How does that guy manage to drive, ask so many trivia questions AND manage to be a nice guy all at the same time?! He kind of reminds me of Mikey.)
I've seen at least 5 homes remodeled on a dime, for $1000 or for $45000.
I've seen 4 babies being born on some show called "A Baby Story".
iCarly
Some show starring the Jonas Brothers
Some golf
A travel show about Honduras
And a few cooking shows.

Seriously, who has time to watch all this stuff?
Oh yeah. Me.

Mullet with Headlights?

2009-06-11T12:04:00.004-06:00

Angie shared the love. Now I must share the love.

First Day of Summer: 2009

2009-06-08T16:36:00.004-06:00

Since I blogged about the last day of school, I thought it would be fitting to blog about the first day of summer.

It's starting off quite well.

Before noon I managed to exercise, eat, pull all the weeds in my front yard, straighten up the house and do 2 loads of laundry. Yea for summer!

In the afternoon I managed to do two more loads of laundry. (Yes, 4 loads of laundry today! Usually I only do 2: whites and darks. But on special days where we have an abundance of towel usage going on at our house I do 3 and include a load consisting only of towels. But today I included a special 4th load: Red things. I know, it's crazy!)
In addition to the laundry I managed to fill out forms to renew my passport (you never know when you need to jet out of the country at a minute's notice), look up stuff and fill out forms related to international adoption, read 3 chapters in "Three Cups of Tea" (yes, Allie, I'm reading it!) unsuccessfully buy heartguard meds for the puppies, and join the national bone marrow registry for free!

You can register for free, too, but only this week. Just click on this link. When Jeff needed a bone marrow transplant it felt pretty crappy when all of us siblings found out none of us were a match (but Mike, Danny and I have each other's backs in case we need one) and it sure would have been nice to find a match on the registry. If you register you might just be the means of saving someones life. Plus it's free. So go do it!

Last Day of School: 2009

2009-06-07T14:32:00.004-06:00

Friday was the last day of school.
Every job should have a "last day" and a "first day". There's just something about having an end to what you do, having a nice break and then getting to start over.

I won't regale you with tales of the events of school that day. I won't mention how the kids are always so fun on the last day. How they all say "I'm going to MISS you, teacher!" and how I get to say "You'll still see me in the halls. Don't forget to say hi!" I don't tell them that I'm not going to miss them. Not really. They have to move on. And no matter how great they were that year, it's always fun to have a fresh batch of chillun's each year.

So, anyway, I'm not going to talk about that.
What I'm going to talk about is how I celebrated the last day of school.

After school Zack came and helped me clean up my room and pack things away in cupboards. He has done this every year I've been a teacher. Nine years and counting!

Then we went home and....helped lay sod! Which was actually pretty fun, seeing how I didn't really do much work and basically watched other people do work. We did get to play a rousing game of "No Bears Are Out Tonight" when the work was done. Megan was a good sport about it despite the fact that she'd had her heart set on "Duck Duck Goose" as soon as she saw the giant, grass covered paradise that is her backyard.

Once Zack and I got home and cleaned up, we were going to head up to Mike and Jodie's to watch "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" (I know, I know, but Mike reassures us that it's funny and well, pretty much any movie is funny if you watch it with Mike and he thinks it's funny), but due to an unfortunate filter explosion that Home Depot better account for, we were unable to do that.

So we decided to spend the night playing games and eating treats.
You want to know how teachers party on the last day of school?
You got it:

I made some salads, Zack fired up the grill and grilled some asparagus and red peppers and we played Dominoes!

What happened to us? We used to do fun things! The weird part about this is that we chose to do it. Is this what getting old feels like? Realizing that what you're doing is considered boring but not caring because you actually want to do it?

Mikey!

2009-05-30T21:04:00.003-06:00

This Spring my brother, Mike, graduated from college with his MBA. I don't know how he managed a full-time job and three kids while he did it. (I'm preeetty sure it has something to do with his amazing wife.) I know people graduate from college every year, but I have to say that for some it's a bigger deal than others. For Mike, it was a huge deal. I can't say enough how much I admire him for doing it.

It's been a long road.

Let's take a peek at the beginning of that road, shall we?

First Grade.

(I'm skipping preschool and kindergarten because, honestly, I don't know much about his experience with that. Though I do think he actually graduated from preschool which is more than I can say for myself. I admit I'm a preschool drop-out.)

I've mentioned Mike to a few of my first grader's parents over the years. Mostly it's to reassure them that their kid is normal when they scream, cry or try to run away from school on the first day. I tell them my brother was the same way. You see Mike didn't like school much. (Pretty sure he still doesn't.) When my mom dropped him off at school he ran after her car crying and yelling. Once he hid behind the dumpsters all day to avoid going to school. Yes, the principal knew him by name.

School was not his thing. It didn't get much better after First Grade.

Fast forward through Elementary, Junior High, High School and College and you wonder why he went through 20 more years of torture?

To put it simply, and somewhat Martin Luther Kingish, he's got a dream. His dream is not to be sitting at a desk working for someone less competent than him. He's got big ideas. And in order for those ideas to become reality he knew he had to get his MBA. So he did it.

And that's what I admire about him. He's not afraid of hard things. He's not afraid of work.

I almost cried when he got his degree. Almost. (No one else was crying and I didn't want to look like a sissy.)

If anyone deserves all the good things in life, it's him.

Congratulations, Mikey!

On a future note, I had to put this picture in. Kalli's on her way to becoming just like her dad. Future business partner maybe? Or, in Kalli's mind, current business partner?

Jeff's Present

2009-05-19T17:22:00.009-06:00

Since it's Jeff's birthday today and he's not available to receive any presents, I thought it would be nice of him to give one.

And so, his gift to you:

The Whole Armor of God!

There are prices listed, but for you, everything's free!

Jeff drew this while on his mission in Hungary. VAJ means CTR in Hungarian. (If anyone wants a better picture of this, or just a digital copy, just ask and I'll send it to you.)

Doctrine and Covenants 27: 15-18

15 Wherefore, lift up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins, and take upon you my whole armor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to stand.

16 Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, which I have sent mine angels to commit unto you;

17 Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked;

18 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of my Spirit, which I will pour out upon you, and my word which I reveal unto you, and be agreed as touching all things whatsoever ye ask of me, and be faithful until I come, and ye shall be caught up, that where I am ye shall be also. Amen.

Spending My Days With 7 Year Olds

2009-04-30T22:07:00.005-06:00

"Hey teacher?"
"What?"
"When you get an earache do they shrink a doctor and put him in your ear?"
"No."
"Yeah they do!"

For Show and Tell yesterday one of my students announced that he could dance really fast. Then he proceeded to show everyone. I WISH I had video of his dancing because describing it will never do it justice. Just picture a little kid with an over-sized sweatshirt, jeans, and big shoes frantically moving his feet forward and back as if he were trying to kill a mouse or some other small rodent. My students were impressed. Very impressed.

Then another student decided he wanted to perform for Show and Tell also. He was a little undecided at first as to what to show us. He did a few kicks and jumps before he finally settled on some sort of dance routine that involved squatting on the floor and kicking his arms and legs out. I think it was break dancing. Then he lied down on the floor with his arms at his sides, feet together and twitched, at which time he yelled "Dead tuna! Dead tuna!" After a few more reps of convulsions followed by "Dead tuna! Dead tuna!" he stood up and was finished. Once again, the masses were impressed.

Lullaby

2009-04-28T08:35:00.005-06:00

"Well the sun is surely sinking down,

but the moon is slowly rising.

So this old world must still be spinning around,

and I still love you.

So close your eyes;

You can close your eyes, it's all right.

I don't know no love songs,

and I can't sing the blues any more.

But I can sing this song,

and you can sing this song

when I'm gone.

It won't be long before another day.

We're gonna have a good time.

And no one's gonna take that time away.

You can stay as long as you like.

So close your eyes;
You can close your eyes, it's all right.
I don't know no love songs,
and I can't sing the blues any more.
But I can sing this song,
and you can sing this song

when I'm gone."

-James Taylor

Random

2009-04-17T21:04:00.003-06:00

Now that I can see where people come from who read my blog, I feel, well, just a little nervous. Like I have to have something interesting for them to read. And I don't know what they think is interesting because I don't know them. I like to get to know who I'm talking to so I can make appropriate comments. So hilarity can ensue. Know your Nigel, people. Know your Nigel. How can I know my Nigel if I don't know my Nigel?!? (If that made no sense and you're still curious to actually know what it means, just ask. I have no qualms about sharing.)

I'm not feeling well tonight. I have the beginnings of a cold. The body kind of hurts, eyes hurt, sore throat and drippy nose kind of cold. I didn't want to take the dogs out on a walk tonight because I didn't feeeeeel good. But it's been raining (and snowing, but we'll just try to forget that part) the past couple of days and they've been cooped up inside. So, being the kind-hearted person I am, I took them for a walk. (I admit my ulterior motive was that I wanted to see Danny and Rachel's big, GIANT, hole in the ground.) Maxwell pulled on the leash the entire time and McKay tripped along beside him. When he does that I stop walking so he'll get the hint that he can't do that. Our entire walk went like this: step-step-step-step-stop. step-step-stop. step-step-step-stop. "Maxwell, quit it!" step-step-step-stop. "So help me, puppy dog, I'm going to turn this leash right around and go home if you don't stop tugging...." Is that how you show appreciation to someone for taking you on a walk? Hmmmm?

Zack's on a camp out tonight so I had Kraft Macaroni and Cheese with hot dogs for dinner. Reminded me of hanging out with Heather and Allie up at that cabin. Domestic Heroes we aspired to be. Domestic Heroes they have become.

I feel guilty that I crave Kraft Mac'n'cheese once a year.

King of Queens, Scrubs and a bath are really easy ways to make me feel comfortable and happy. Now add Zack to the mix and life is indeed good.

Speaking of Scrubs, that show is single-handedly ruining our bedtime. Why does it have to be on from 10:00 to 11:00 at night? I can't keep going to sleep after 11:00 PM. Seriously, it's not healthy. Hence the cold. Speaking of, I need to get that bath water running and go heat up my hot honey lemonade.

I couldn't go to sleep last night because I kept thinking about the comparison of first grade and the celestial kingdom and how I was going to write it. It's coming along.

I also couldn't go to sleep last night because Zack and I started talking about all the T.V. shows we used to watch when we were kids. Holy crap, people. Did we ever see the light of day? I think we came up with a list of at least 30 sitcoms. When did we have time watch them all? And why did we watch shows like Cheers, Three's Company and The Golden Girls when we were kids? The Golden Girls?! Twelve year-olds watching a show about three old women trying to get men into bed is just a little weird if you ask me.

Spring Break: A Semi-Dull Recounting Plus Pictures!

2009-04-10T17:06:00.002-06:00

We went up to the cabin for Spring break this past weekend.

We spent Saturday and Sunday listening to General Conference on the radio and going snowshoeing, sledding, playing games, and eating in between breaks. Good times.

Zack's mom came up with us but had to leave on Sunday night. But she had a good time while she was there. ...I think. :)

The puppies had fun racing up and down the hills.

It was just the two of us (4 if you count quadrupeds) Monday and Tuesday. We cross-country skied up to Lily Lake on Monday. We wandered off the groomed trail part of the time and experienced real back country skiing. (Meaning we skied very slowly as we trudged through the snow. ..but still lots of fun!)

We ate lunch up at Lily Lake. We wanted to eat ON Lily Lake, but it was too sunny and bright and we didn't want to get more sunburned than we already were.

Zack created a nice little lunch spot for us on a big rock.

After lunch we headed back. In order to get to and from the trail head you have to go down a steep hill, cross a bridge, and then go up another steep hill.

Here's Zack ready to ski off the bridge.

And here's Zack just looking really cute.

It took about 2 1/2 to 3 hours to ski up and about an hour and a half to ski back. Needless to say, we were dead the rest of the evening. But the beauty of the cabin is that you can't really do anything but eat, play games, and watch movies on the tiny T.V. So recuperating was easy.

The next day we wanted to take the puppies with us on our ski adventure so we stayed close to home and followed a snow-mobile trial up to "the looking rock." It was my first time up to the looking rock. Dad and Andrew like to go up there sometimes during their "fresh air walks". I can see why it's called the looking rock. It's got a great view.

Maxwell looking regal on the looking rock.

We skied home and spent the rest of the day, you guessed it, playing games, eating and watching movies. Zack did find some time to take the 4-wheeler out and drive it around in the snow. I declined to participate and opted to read my book instead.

Then we drove home. It was a good break. And now we want to go back.

Who wants to come with us? Can I have a show of hands?

Jeff

2009-04-07T23:21:00.002-06:00

Two years ago today you left us and moved on.

You didn't really leave us. We know you're still around. But that chapter of your life was over and with it, that chapter of my life with you was over.

And I miss it.

In all truth, the chapter of our life was over the day you left on your mission. To me that marked the end of our childhood. When you got back things were different and they would never be the same again. It's those days I miss sometimes.

To have someone I admired so much treat me the way you did. To have someone like you ask me for advice. To have someone like you tell me how your day was. To have someone like you tell me about things that bothered you or scared you. To have someone like you think someone like me was something special. That meant a lot. Thanks for making me your friend and for loving me like you did. Sometimes I can still feel that love. It's a different kind of love. Different from a mom or a dad's love. Different from a spouse's love. It's a special "I'm your brother and you're my sister kind of love" that is impossible for me to describe. But I can describe how it makes me feel. It makes me feel loved and good and funny and admired and accepted and okay to be me even when I'm goofy. It feels good.

It's funny. I've now been alive 29 days longer than you. It feels like borrowed time. It feels like it will take me a lifetime to become like you. Thanks for being THAT kind of big brother.

I miss you.

A Window For Their World

2009-03-30T19:50:00.006-06:00

We got a storm door last week.

And here's why.

Aren't they just adorable?!

Tippy, the old family dog, used to sit in front of the door all the time and just watch the goings on of our neighborhood.

I had a hunch Maxwell was from the same mold as dear old Tippy.

McKay has had to warm up to it a bit.

But now it's old hat for the both of them.Ah, such is life for a dog.

The Flower Pot: A Moral Dilemma. (Or not)

2009-03-24T18:18:00.000-06:00

I don't know what to do about the flowers my visiting teachers gave me a month or so ago. When I first got them I just expected them to die, like all flowers do at my house. It's not like I do it on purpose, but I just can't remember to water plants. The problem is, these things refuse to die after being water deprived for a few days.

I'll think they're dead, water them (don't ask me why I water them if I think they're dead), and they spring back to life. It's like they're on life support and I keep messing with the plug. Plug it in....unplug it! Plug it in....unplug it! Ha HA!

Here they are on their last leg:

And here they are an hour later, after I watered them.

I feel like I've got some sort of moral dilemma here. I don't want to keep taking care of them, but I can't throw them out until they're dead. But I can't just NOT water them when I see them in distress. And the darn things keep coming back to life. My negligence isn't killing them fast enough.

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-18T19:11:00.000-06:00

Leprechaun traps.

(I'm using the pictures of the traps the kids made in the classroom next door. I didn't take pictures of my kid's traps. :( Plus these look cooler.)

The traps are taken home under a shroud of secrecy (a brown plastic grocery bag).

And turned into "hats". (Film courtesy of Zack... who thinks the process is just so cooool.)

A Styrofoam cup and a cookie. That's all it takes to make a fanTAStic St. Patrick's Day for 7 year olds.

They spent the rest of the day looking for those pesky Leprechauns who stole into our classroom, turned over chairs, books and toys, left glitter everywhere (sorry, custodian) and posted this note on the board.