SoCal Greens

Spring and Summer 2010

2010-07-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

Our cute girls are growing quickly and so many changes are passing us by.
Monica graduated from High School, and has been accepted to BYU-Idaho.

I thought I'd try to preserve a few of our highlights today.

Here we are at Venice Beach, California. We were so lucky to have my sister and her family join us for Spring Break!

We also traveled together to San Diego and visited Sea World. This is a photo of our family at the Mormon Battalion Memorial. What a great place to tour!

James and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary by going on a cruise. AAAhhhh...such luxury for me! We cruised on the Carnival Dream. It embarked from Port Canaveral, Florida. We had four stops: Cozumel, Mexico; Isla Roatan, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; Costa Maya, Mexico. Our favorite excursion was to the Mayan Ruins of Tulum. A knowledgeable and spiritual tour guide really made this special.

Testimony of the Book of Mormon

2010-05-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

This sends chills through me each time I hear it.

Portland Oregon and a wedding!

2009-12-26T23:08:00.000-08:00

In the middle of December, the six of us boarded at plane to Portland, Oregon to be with family for the wedding of Kerrie and Pavel Dunn. Kerrie is the daughter of James' brother, Larry.

Day One: checked into Embassy Suites Hotel near the airport (and for those who know us, we use Embassy for their breakfasts). Napped a little, ate at Shari's Restaurant, then went to the charming church where we helped Larry and Diane (and others) with a little set-up for the reception the next day.

Day Two: awoke to a delicious breakfast, then we got ready for the wedding at the Portland Temple. This was our first time in the Pacific Northwest as a family. Winter here is VERY different than our SoCal! I was fascinated by the moss that surrounded the trees. I'd love to see this place in the summertime! After the temple wedding, our group dined at a Thai Food place. Later, we headed to the old, Mormon church for the reception. Kerrie chose the prettiest colors, and her mother, Diane, did an amazing job with creating all the table linens and chair covers! James and Larry were masters at stringing many lights throughout the ballroom (no basketball standards here! *wink*). I wish I could just blog about the food that Diane and her friends and her sisters put together. What a spread! The cake was the most delicious creation of Diane's. She is going to have to publish the recipe and make a fortune!

Day Three: Jenna found the pool and I found the gym before breakfast. Although it was another drizzly day in Portland, we wanted to check out the Portland Saturday Market. James heard it was nicknamed The Hippie Market, but I beg to differ. There were a lot of amazing vendors that were possibly NOT hippies. :) After the market, we headed to "Uncle Larry's" house. Our girls were so thrilled to be with these cousins they hadn't seen in about 10 years. The girls were already making plans for cousin Jamieson, 15, to come hang out in SoCal with us next summer. Alicia, home from college, was playing the role of mom, since her own mom was out of town for Kerrie's next reception. We missed one more cousin, Jesse, who is serving a mission for the LDS church in Taiwan. Monica also had a friend join us, since he just lives just North of Portland. Small world! We didn't want to leave on Sunday. Rain or shine, we loved connecting with our Portland family!

Our summer...so far

2009-08-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

Well, it HAS been a long break between blogs...so here is an update.

We have had a very fun summer. The girls and I were thinking we only went to the beach twice last summer. So first thing on the list of activities was the beach! We abandoned our (safe) favorite, Silverstrand, for Zuma. I'm thinking we won't go back. Silverstrand beach was cozy because of the jetty on our right and shallow shoreline. The kids had plenty to keep them busy with catching those weird little sand crabs (I call them Sand Bugs because they look like Roly Polys on steroids). Also, it was a usual day if it was very cool with a blanket of fog. We didn't mind 'cuz we don't like the cold water much.
Now we are fans of Zuma Beach. The same Sand Bugs can be found, and even though Zuma is about 25 miles southeast of Silverstrand, the temperature is about 10 degrees warmer, and much less fog.

Monica and Amanda enjoyed a week with their cousins, Michelle and Kirsten, at Santa Barbara College (about 1 hour North). It was a week of Especially For Youth, put on by the church. The four of them had a blast and didn't want it to end.

My mom and my sister came down with the cousins and another cousin, Jocelyn. I didn't want them to go back to their homes in Utah.

I just returned from a couple of days in the Santa Barbara mountains. I was helping out with the church's Girl's Camp, held each year for the girls 12 and older. It is VERY different than the camp I attended as a youth. This camp is owned by the Boy Scouts and is staffed by them. It has a lodge for the staff-prepared meals, a large swimming pool, and cabins with bunkbeds (mattresses also!). Since fire is such a danger there, we never have campfires and so no one goes home with that "camp smell".

Amanda and I went to Disneyland for her 15th birthday. She is such a funny girl! I loved every moment with her.

James and I went to our first concert in about 15 years. Our friend, Kevin, decided to surprise his wife, Audrey with tickets to The Fray. They were playing in Santa Barbara. James and I were happy to help out with the surprise...plus, we had a very nice dinner just before the concert at Enterprise Fish Company.
I think the summer is winding down, and we need to concentrate on the Back-to-School sales. Nobody wants this summer to end.....

A Mormon Prom

2009-04-11T00:28:00.000-07:00

Monica is sixteen now, and gets to date. On April 9th a Prom was held for the Mormon kids (and friends) in this area (2 Stakes). Its like a regular prom, but with LDS standards. Specifically, it comes down to modest dresses, clean music and clean dancing. Never any alcohol or rented hotel rooms. The kids cluster at homes before the prom for their photo-ops. The dinner and dancing is at a local country club. It ends around 11:30 pm and then the kids usually head to another home for more food and fun. Monica's group had a full-blown breakfast at midnight and jacuzzi time.

I only blog about this because I can't believe how lucky my girls are to have a nice, raunch-free place to be with good kids like them. I wish all parents could have an event like this for their teens. Monica went with a friend, Alex.

Some baby pix of us...

2009-03-11T23:11:00.001-07:00

I am so thankful for digital cameras and that they hold a gazillion pictures.

But sometimes I am too lazy to upload the whole group of photos,.....so I don't do it.

Then I don't have anything fun to show you.

But I was browsing absent-mindedly thru my old photos and ran across the kids' pictures.

Maybe you will find them as fun to remember as I have!

The simplest Valentine

2009-02-14T23:51:00.000-08:00

You won't believe how sweet a child can be, until you give her a chance to explain herself....

Our schools were out for Friday, Feb 13th this year. The last day for Valentine's fun (at school) was Thurs, Feb 12th. Two weeks earlier, 7 yr old Jenna started cutting out paper hearts and announced that she was making Valentines for her class. This was all fine (and un-noticed) until she ran out of paper for her last three Valentines.

I brushed it off, day by day, until 3 days before the Valentine's Day party in her class. I glanced at the home-made items, and impatiently said, "No problem. We'll go to the store and get the last three. It will be so much easier." She made a little pout and set me straight with, "But mom! I don't want them to think I was lazy!"

Wow. Good point. I took a deep breath and remembered another stack of red construction paper in my files. She was thrilled. This is how simple those heartfelt Valentines turned out.Now if you think I could just let them leave my house in that sweet, simple style---then you don't know me very well. I begged her to reconsider and add a note. Add stickers! Add more color! Add a piece of candy--for crying out loud!! She added stickers to a couple of her Valentines to appease me, but then Jenna wisely left the rest alone with a simple, handwritten, "Love, Jenna" on the back.

I LOVE FEBRUARY

2009-02-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

FEBRUARY is a magical month, don't you think? Growing up in a snowy climate, February was the 'fun month' despite the slushy, leftover, ugly, crusty snow. None of that mattered because our classrooms were always bright red and lovely. I still get great satisfaction from pulling apart paper doilies. There were a million crafts to go along with Valentine's Day--and don't forget the black-on-white silhouettes of Presidents Washington and Lincoln. February has Groundhog's Day. What other month celebrates a shy animal? The clincher is that February had a day off for the President's birthdays, AND it had less days than the rest of the months.

Lets cheer for Love, and the BEST MONTH of the year!!

Oh--and I was born in February. But that has nothing to do with it.

Forecast: Rain

2009-01-22T08:52:00.000-08:00

Woo Hoo! It rained last night and today.

That is all.

I love a nice, rainy day that doesn't make my roof leak.

This photo is little Amanda + Monica in '98, celebratin' the rain!!

When the Ladies Get Together...

2009-01-17T08:02:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't it be nice if we could

all get away whenever life gets a little stressful at home? Well, that is just what prompted my mother and sister to come to California and relax!! Mom has
been suggesting a Girls' Trip for
a couple of years now,

but it takes my sister to get things going in the right direction! She did a great job.

We shopped locally at the malls, then went to LA to see the stage production of Wicked at the Pantages Theatre. Kairle Ann's hubby scored us seats in the 2nd row...center stage!! The next day, we drove to San Diego, stayed 2 nights at a nice hotel and shopped and ate beautiful food. The big finale was having my evil big sister drop me off at the Amtrak Station in Oceanside. Just kidding...the train ride was just another breezy way to spend my mini-vacation. I hated to see my ladies leave California!!

(click on the pictures to see larger image)

Cream cheese Mints

2009-01-04T13:21:00.000-08:00

When James and I were married, I had a bad habit of not sending Thank You notes to my gift-givers. I'm not quite that girl anymore, but I hope that my lacking etiquette didn't offend too many. James and I were appreciative of everything we got for our wedding--especially the beautiful wooden plaque with our photo and the Los Angeles Temple. I had to throw that in, because the card had fallen off, and we couldn't even thank you---even IF I had used my engraved Thank You notes. But that is not exactly why I'm posting today. I have another tried-and-true wedding gift that I have to share my feelings about. The gift-givers were ladies in my home ward at church (I still have their gift card). I love these ladies, and that they thought my husband and I would start out our marriage with homemade candy makes me appreciate them more! Thank you: Lois Axford, Barbara Murdoch, Joan Walters and Susan Walters. The book? Candymaking, by Ruth Kendrick and Pauline Atkinson. It has been a treasure. Yesterday, my girls were wanting a mint we had made last Easter. I said I'd find the recipe and it was theirs for the making! We made Cream Cheese Mints. So simple. Even if the recipe says to use a wooden spoon, a little patience and a KitchenAid mixer together does the work for you. And we double the recipe every time. Since Monica was the instigator, she was the one to finish off the product by rolling the little mint balls in sugar (I pressed them with the fork). I love that my girls relate this recipe to home. My childhood memories of the little Cream Cheese Mints goes back to wedding receptions with BYU Wedding Punch. That punch is hauntingly delicious...especially when it is SKY BLUE.

Christmas highlights 2008

2008-12-31T21:29:00.000-08:00

Here is a look at some of the highlights of our Christmas!

In an effort to be even more adorable, Jenna tried to give HERSELF bunny-ears.

Brielle claimed to be more chilled than both grandparents combined. It was just her excuse to wear her new gifts and sip her tea from Gma Terry.

We subjected the grandparents to some arduous vision tests.

Monica was pretty successful at hiding from the camera..... here is her elbow...

...and here she is --leaving the room quickly...!

I was concerned that Amanda wasn't captured in any photos....because I could only find her knees in this picture..... but then I remembered "Christmas Dinner"! She may not like cameras, but she is sooo pretty when you can catch her!

Ta-da!!

We pretty much DEMAND that family and friends give us
Stephen's Gourmet Hot Cocoa.
This is from the Oaks family.
They know we love the Chocolate Mint the best!

Rounding out pre-Christmas 2008

2008-12-23T08:18:00.000-08:00

It's December 23rd, and most of you are snuggling into your Christmas peace. Not at our house! As a gaggle of girls, the 5 of us headed to the mall last night. James had a bunch of work to finish up. He bowed out gracefully as he handed me fistfuls of cash. Truth be told, he dislikes the whole "Mall Scene"....but he really had a lot of office work to enter into the computer.

If you haven't seen it, the Oaks Mall is the prettiest mall I've ever seen. It just went through a gazillion-dollar makeover (to woo the new Nordstrom -I suppose), and it shows. It was a pleasure to walk around. I only lost my Mom-patient Superpowers twice. That last straw was a doozy, and ended with a quick exit of the store (nothing purchased), and a more brusque dash to the car. Maybe I didn't get the message across to the 7 year-old?

Today we took James to a more comfortable shopping location. Everything went much smoother. Thanks, James!!

We still need that few hours to shop tomorrow, none-the-less.

Tomorrow we celebrate not only the birth of our Savior, but also the birth of our favorite 11 year old, panda-lovin' daughter! The next day is also James' birthday.
James' parents will be driving through forecast rain to be with us.

That is a LOT of celebrating!

James

2008-11-17T20:36:00.000-08:00

When you don't have your own accident-prone 9 year old son, what do you do to pass the time?

Well, us 5 ladies sit back and wait for the man of the house to hurt himself, so we can quiz him on the events that led up to the wounding. Usually he is unaware of his gaping wounds, but this time he couldn't brush it off!On Saturday the 8th of November, James was Four-Wheeling with boys and men from church. James crashed big time. He got hurt big time. Did he go to the doctor? No. That would have been nice, but inconvenient for Mr.Toughy.His self-diagnosis was 1) bruised ribs from hitting the handlebar (which bent) and 2) a badly scraped arm from the tire's sandy wheel. He may have been right about the bruised ribs; but later realized that it was the EXHAUST PIPE which damaged his arm. I have been designated as his nurse. I wish I had a real medical professional in the house! In spite of what you may have heard, husbands and wives should NOT play doctor.I also wish I had photos to prove what a knucklehead he is being for not seeking medical advice, but I know many of you have weak stomachs.

-------------------------------------------------------------

On a bright note, James has been a very good boy--it appears--- and is now in our Bishopric at church. He is a 2nd counselor to the Bishop. We are ready to support him in this new adventure!
First on my list: get the girls to church on time. I'll need an army of angels on my side.
Second on my list: to have a traditional Sunday Dinner worthy of a 2nd counselor, waiting for him when he returns home from a busy day of meetings. Grilled cheese sandwiches just won't cut it anymore. Okay--- so they rarely came close to his mother's Sunday Dinners.

California's (and the world's) big problem

2008-10-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

Okay. If you have a hard time trusting politicians like I do, then you can skip this post because it really only matters to us Californians.

Or does it?

I think the rest of the country needs to be focused on the Prop 8 situation.

I happen to be a big fan of traditional marriage. I just ask that the definition of marriage strictly be the union of a man and woman.

That is all!

Here is a blurb that I didn't write, but feel like I did. I'm so dissapointed in the judges that overturned the original majority vote against gay marriage in 2000.

Please vote YES on Proposition 8: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” Over 61% of Californians already voted in 2000 to reaffirm the traditional definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman with Prop 22. It is unfair that four activist judges, in a 4 - 3 decision, ignored the will of the people. Thankfully we have the opportunity to vote yes again to marriage between a man and a woman. Prop 8 is not an attack on the gay community. It is not bias against a gay or lesbian lifestyle. It does not discriminate against or take any rights away from gays or lesbians. Under California law, “domestic partners shall have the same rights, protections, and benefits” as married spouses. Prop 8 simply reaffirms traditional marriage between a man and a woman. It preserves marriage and the traditional family. There are gays and lesbians in support of Prop 8. Why? Perhaps because they were raised in a home with a loving mother and a loving father and realize the importance of a traditional family. It takes a man and a woman to make a child. It makes sense that the ideal situation for children is to be raised by a father and a mother. Although death, divorce, or other circumstances sometimes prevent this, studies show it’s what is best for children. Please join me in considering the rights of children and what is best for them. Please vote yes on Proposition 8.

My friend, Jennifer McLeod, wrote this to the editor of our local paper. It got published, and she is receiving a lot of horrible backlash. I don't want to go into that, but suffice it to say that total strangers opposed to her view were vicious.

This is what brings out the pitbull in me, and why I'm bringin' politics into my blog.

After Election Edit: YAY!!! Prop 8 passed!!

A "Lion Cut"

2008-10-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

Want to see something funny?

Our long-haired orange tabby cat was needing a bath.

I know I certainly didn't want to attempt the washing because she is a psycho cat when she is being forced against her will.

I took her to the groomers today. The groomer suggested beforehand that we give her a "Lion Cut" to help her manage all that long, shedding hair. Sign me up!

This is what we took in to the groomer.

This is what came back!

My darling daughters are appalled and embarrassed. The cat seems humiliated.

I am happy.

Story #2...I had no idea you would comment about this sad-looking cat, so I am here to clear up some things.

I was raised to believe cats never needed baths unless they encountered a skunk....however...

In her 5-ish years of her life, she had only been to the vet once. We don't know what happened to her, but she got so sick and was having kidney failure. She recovered on her own, but has since become a 120 year old cat. I mention this tiny tale to explain that she (on top of being a little fat) is not nimble enough to reach around her with that tongue.

Although she is an indoor cat, we let her outside to wander the yard a few minutes at a time. She must be picking up stupid fleas, and the fleas always show up this time of year in hordes! Fleas = 'flea dirt'. Ick. I can't even believe I can post this... yet this explains another reason for giving a cat a "Lion Cut"!

I would imagine a more cooperative cat would have achieved a smoother trim---but not in my cat's case. She chose to be trouble and got punished for it. I don't care. She may choose to be a better customer next time -- if she wants a prettier 'do'.

James adores her. Which is weird, because he isn't really a 'pet' kind of person. As I type this, that cat is at his feet, pretending to sleep. Once in a while she will pry her eyes open enough to shoot daggers at me; but I know she will thank me later.

Santa Barbara for Labor Day

2008-09-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

Our family went to the Santa Barbara Zoo on Labor Day---and let's just cut to the chase. If you were a zoo animal, you would think you had a pretty cushy life here. Sure, the enclosures aren't the most "natural", and there isn't a large variety of animals here---but the weather is always nice. That has to count for something!
Parents especially enjoy this zoo because it is sooo much more manageable than the amazing LA Zoo just 2 hours east. You can arrive at Santa Barbara Zoo by 9:30 AM and be finished by lunch. Without kids---in and out in 1 hour, I'd say! :)

After the zoo, we took a shuttle from the entrance of the zoo to the wharf. Just $.25 a person. Oh--and as if that weren't cheap enough--Jenna was free. We jumped into the nearest food joint on the wharf. I recommend Harbor Restaurant & LongBoards for beautiful views and good food--and the kids meal prices are nice (about $2.95 - $4.95). I thought the adult menu was pricey, but I happened to enjoy my Grilled Chicken BLT a lot!!After dinner, we walked along the wharf and marveled at how entrepreneurial the homeless can be! I wish we had photos of them--but it just wasn't weird enough at the time. For future fundraising, take it from the pros....anchor a bedsheet to the sand (any floor will do), and put a large tupperware bowl of water in the middle with a "Make a Wish" sign nearby. People willingly throw out their good money to make it in the bowl!

We saved our change for the shuttle to take us back to our car at the zoo. .

2008-08-31T17:52:00.000-07:00

What to blog about when you don't know what to blog...

We eat food. Maybe I can tell you about some of our family's food favorites...
My snack of choice is a handful of raw almonds and...a packet of True Lemon in a bottle of water. Daphne's is my fast food preference. And I go crazy for ElTorito's Mexican Ceasar Salad. James wishes he had a churrascaria (pronounced [ʃuxaskaˈɾiɐ]) (or sho-HAAS-kar-eeya), which is a Brazilian B-B-Q.

Monica and Amanda are salad lovers and wouldn't mind camping out at a Souplantation. Just don't even attempt to put onions in Monica's food--- she just can't stand 'em.
Brielle is the dream child---she will eat anything to make you happy.
Jenna's needs are also simple. Make the meal almost nutrient-free, with little color--and it works for her. Chuck E Cheese? Heaven for Jenna.

Well. That was a strange post...but I'm not deleting it. I feel it is necessary to document this because I don't scrapbook.

Amanda's Summer Love

2008-08-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

Well, if you were thinking a HUMAN love, then you'd be wrong. Our sweet Amanda turned 14 and the only item on her gift list was a turtle. Ugh.

Even after a kind pet salesman discouraged her from the turtle due to lots of maintenance, she was not deterred altogether. She had her eye on a tortoise. Rumor had it that they practically take care of themselves!

I was a little more practical.

Me: Do you realize you need to feed it a couple of times a day?

Her: Yep.

Me: ...and let it run around safely in the yard?

Her: I know.

Me: This kind of tortoise lives 50+ years! Do you have plans for taking care of it that long?

Her: Yeah. When I go to college, Brielle will have it. After she goes to college, Jenna will have it.

Me: .........that is only 10 years, ya know.....

Well, we brought the little guy/girl home and put it in a large storage tote. Apparently, the tote's sides are not tall enough. Our little Ninja Tortoise escapes. OFTEN. James built a little pen out of chicken wire, but it has escaped that also.

We are sure ninja skills were used. No one has seen the escape yet.

As with all pets and children, the love-fest is quickly over. Amanda has had the critter for about 3 weeks. It's going to be a long 50 years for all of us involved.

The video below shows a very slow tortoise. Don't let the little guy fool you. He sprints when he wants!

Some photos of our Utah trip

2008-07-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

4th of July in Utah Valley is where it is at!

We love being with our grandparents,cousins, aunts & uncles and enjoying the mountains.

Here are a few memories we want to share with you.

We spent a couple of days in Hobble Creek Canyon,

a day/night at Heber Valley Girls Camp,

Dinner at Utah Lake (yep, those clouds drizzled a little),

a day in Park City,

these faces were mosquito magnets (not the parent's fault that no repellent was applied),

Stadium of Fire dancers were absolutely amazing (over 1300 of 'em!),

Stay tuned ---I have some funky videos!

vacation report

2008-07-08T10:20:00.000-07:00

The family has been enjoying an awesome vacation in my homeland! Yep--we are in Happy Valley again! So far, we have enjoyed my Jensen Family Reunion in Hobble Creek Canyon, the Freedom Festival in Provo (parade too--don't forget), red and blue hair extensions (the girls--not me), Stadium of Fire, sunset B-B-Q at Utah Lake, etc. You really get more BANG FOR YOUR BUCK here in Utah---in my humble opinion. Today we are going to be at Scera Pool in Orem.

Tomorrow's plan? Probably Park City resort. We are seriously having a great time! I especially love the thought that I can "swing by" a home to grab a cousin to come along on our adventures. We really, really miss that in Cali.

It goes without saying that we never want our Utah vacations to end!!

What are YOU doing this summer?

Oh--to be a 1930's wife...

2008-06-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Superior

Take the test!

i love illustrated books

2008-06-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

I love illustrated children's books. I have a hard time clearing them out of my house. I can't stand to part with them while they are intact. I especially adore the books with the best illustrations. Content is not crucial at this point. Somewhat like gazing at a handsome man with a substandard IQ.

Just kidding. But you see where this is leading?

As a child, my mom would take us umpteen kids to the library to sign up for the summer reading program. I think the Provo Library simply had you fill out a bookmark-sized paper of your 20 (read) books and you got the reward. I don't remember what the reward was, because I just loved having piles of books around me. I would read my books-- and then my brothers' books. If I were particularly bored, I'd grab my older sister's chapter books. No illustrations? I returned the chapter books unfinished.

I have my favorite illustrators and want to share. After all, aren't our little children knocking down the library doors to get inside? Well, beware!! My friend Audrey said the local library is wary to us moms and they have posted a "Guard" (my friend Audrey used a different word that I loved better). It would seem that your children should not be making any noise in order to be allowed in the library. Check. We'll be taking our noisy children's business elsewhere...

Maybe Amazon.com? Well, here are some books by Audrey and Don Wood, in case you haven't seen them. They are favorites of ours.

Heckedy Peg.

King Bidgood's in the Bathtub and He Won't Get Out.

Piggies.

The Napping House.

Since I came across these, I found another illustrator today. I can't wait to get my hands on these books this summer.

The name is K. Y. Craft. I especially think Fairy Tales belong in the You-Gotta-Have-Great-Illustrations category. You can click on each book to see more illustrations.

June 27th edit: I went to my library and found only one book by this illustrator. Jenna and I enjoyed this story. It has a bit of 'Cinderella' mixed with 'Hansel and Gretel'.

Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave

summer haircuts!

2008-06-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

Its been only 1 1/2 official Summer Vacation days away from school...but look at the changes in these cuties! I know of many boys that get their heads shaved for summer, but how many girls or women take a little off the top as well? We are tickled pink with the results of Mandy's hairstyling skills. Monica and Amanda hit the 'Mandy Salon' yesterday. We'll have to catch a glimpse of those elusive girls later.

Brielle couldn't wait to jump into the chair fast enough.

The before shots

Almost done! (That's our cute friend, Mandy, in the mirror)

It's way too tough to wait around for your turn when you are six.

"Come on...it's not so bad....."

Whew! Crisis averted! Her smile has returned.

Jenna's before shots.

Jenna is picture perfect!

The two models at home. Brielle is acting like she is tired of being the model
(but secretly she swishes her bob when she thinks we aren't looking).

We have often discussed how wonderful it would feel to donate our hair to a charity that makes wigs for children/adults with illness. We haven't done that yet.

Promotions and Pies

2008-06-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

Its official. My girls have all been promoted to the next grade. Whew! Amanda gets the spotlight this time because she actually gets the fun of changing schools. She leaves behind middle school and goes to high school next fall.Amanda (in back) and friend Allison and Monica

James has had a great berry crop in the backyard!

He made some scrumptious pies for us and I thought I'd show you his masterpieces. If James were blogging, he would like to tell the Story of the Berries. Once upon a time, his family lived in Studio City, California against a hill. There were wild boysenberries growing on the hill. They were delicious and, unlike most berries, they had no thorns. When the Green family moved to Sherman Oaks, the berry starts went with them. As adults, the boys now have the same berry starts in their own gardens. During peak season, James can pick enough berries for a pie each day! James' mother's pie recipe has also followed the berries. As the kind and giving wife that I am, I have allowed James to be the sole berry pie maker in the house. He's really good at it, and also likes to make the fancy-schmancy lattice. This is where he used to drag me into the fun. I nipped that in the bud and got him a lattice-cutter gizmo last year for his birthday. Whew!

a Shout-Out to Craig...my little bro

2008-06-03T10:38:00.001-07:00

Craig and baby Gracie...now

Craig and Susan, circa 1989

This is Craig. He's cute, right? He also has a very cute wife and very cute kids. He is another sibling of mine enjoying life in Happy Valley.

Although the three of us youngest kids had aspirations to be great artists since we were little, my career ended during 6th grade, and Don, the youngest, was basically only driven to sketches during our church's Sacrament meetings.

Craig and Zak, summer '98

Craig has always excelled in his art courses. I wish I had taken more art classes. I am just as envious of my Monica's 10th grade Art Medium class now. She gets to play with lots of different art mediums. I am limited to crayons and the occasional, smelly marker in my daily art sessions at the elementary school where I am an aide. It does my heart proud when one of the autistic 1st graders says my picture is, "so cool".

Back to Craig. He has a website displaying his latest masterpieces. His wife, Cindy, is an amazing PR rep and agent for Craig. She deserves a shout-out also!!

Out in the Garden...week 2

2008-05-31T16:48:00.000-07:00

Why we should never, ever trust Susan with yard clippers.........(or scissors)

So I said to myself this morning, "Self, lets listen to some excellent tunes and tidy up the front yard a little."

My Self should have protested. Those unkempt shrubs didn't deserve the beating they got. I only wanted them to look more like our neighbor, StogieMan's, shrubs. Thats all.

StogieMan will be so disappointed that I'm his neighbor.

All of this reminds me of when I wanted to give Amanda a little "trim" before she entered kindergarten. I nearly cried at the outcome, but hey, (sniffle) the hair grew back in about 5 months. Yeah--it was THAT bad. Thanks Amanda for not holding a grudge.......4 months after "the cut"

By the way....I am not finished with those shrubs! I need to ponder the situation I have created. James is questioning whether I should be allowed access to the foliage anymore. I have no problem ripping the shrubs out and replacing them with colorful annuals. Marigolds are much more festive anyway...

What do you suggest?

Out in the Garden...week 1

2008-05-17T10:37:00.001-07:00

Normally, I love gardening. There are exceptions to this; namely, I don't like to get dirty and sweaty. I also don't like to weed a garden that is going to produce more weeds the second I turn my back.

In the past, my springtime garden skills went in full swing when I was baby-hungry and I needed to nurture something. Once I passed up the garden skills and just went into the bird-breeding business---but that is another story. Brielle was born about 9 months from that time anyway.

I assure you that there will be no more baby-making here---but I am ready to cultivate this mess of a backyard/garden this year. Here are the cast of characters you can look for throughout the Spring and Summer:

The Tethered-One.

"...But this time I promise I WON'T jump the fence and get stuck on the neighbor's patio cover for three days...."

One of many lizards. The fat ones were hiding from the camera.

The Cat That Couldn't Jump a Fence
(even if her life depended on it).

My two best friends. Gloves and Digger Claw. I can't do anything in the garden without them.

The North Corner. Its a curious eye-sore now, but give us time. That Lemon Tree was brought home with the Mandarin (below). It has shown its gratitude with a little crop of the best-lemons-ever 2 months ago.

The Berry Crop. We might even have a few pies this year, Audrey!

The Ugly Sisters. These plants didn't start out as a mess, of course. After 7 years of neglect, these uglies will finally get a little Spa Treatment this year.

The South Corner. You are looking at the Stumps From Heck. They haven't budged in 2 years.

The Mandarin Orange Tree. When we adopted this poor plant 2 years ago from Costco, we promised to plant it in the South Corner. The tree is barely clinging to life...

Glade Melvin Terry

2008-05-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

I want to wish my dad a Happy Birthday today!My dad in 1971

My dad is pretty amazing. Back in the 70's the TV shows were saturated with cops and detectives. Remember Baretta, Starsky and Hutch, MacMillan and Wife, The Rockford Files, and Kojak? I actually HAD a detective dad. He almost always had his "undercover car" parked in the street...but sometimes he had to bring home a "cruiser" (cop car). Yeah...us little kids thought we were sooo cool! Sometimes dad had to run an errand in the cop car and I'd get to ride shotgun. You bet I was sitting as tall as I could!!

Only a few years ago did my dad reveal how poor he was when he was small. My Grandpa Terry died when dad was 6 years old. I think that because my dad had so few possessions as a kid, he made sure that his own children were not deprived of anything with wheels!My dad in 1977

Dad has a knack for fixing anything broken. He made the best kinds of bikes for us. Even now, he has a small collection of kid-sized cars called Power Wheels for his adoring grandchildren.

Speaking of cars, my dad has the finest 1927 Model T. He restored it. That car is still in dad's garage, probably reminiscing about the days it was a parade car, a tour car and a prop for a few wedding receptions.

This photo makes me laugh for many reasons.

My dad is the youngest of seven children. His brothers and sisters are the kindest people you will ever meet.

That's me and dad at the church's Daddy-Daughter Dinner Date.
I'm very happy to have such a handsome date!

Penmanship has always been important to my dad. I don't know if his desire for the people of the world to print clearly and distinctly came from his fingerprinting expertise-- or he just wanted his children to not be judged for poor writing skills. Either way, dad bought the cutest little desk for me as a kindergartener. It was vintage...thats all I know. It didn't matter because it had a hinged top and I could store all my writing and coloring treasures inside. It also had a spot for an inkwell...but I digress. My dad expected me to practice my printing. Although I practiced on countless reams of paper, I didn't master the skill. My sister, once again, trumped me on that talent. My dad has always praised my sister for her beautiful penmanship.

Happy Sweet 16!

2008-05-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to our sweetheart, Monica!

Being the oldest of 4 sisters is not an easy task, but Monica is generally the calm in the storm.

As a youngster, Monica was tinier than most her age, but had the mannerisms of older children. Her indifferent gaze was mistaken as maturity. What a conversation piece she was for her first-time parents!

Amanda, just 2 years behind Monica, was a perfect friend....and still is. When these little girls would play at our neighborhood playground, Amanda seemed to fit in easier with the crowds of kids. Monica kept her distance and waited until Amanda had befriended someone. Monica would swoop in and take the friend for herself....the hard work already done for her!

Nowadays, you will find Monica attached to her iPod, at her friend Anna's home, in Anna's pool, and scanning her FaceBook for new admirers. Don't worry...her dad is a friend who checks in on Monica's admirers as well.

Here's to our Cinco de Mayo baby...(oh, and she doesn't appreciate Mexican Food like the rest of us...)

Try the Korean BBQ!

2008-04-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

Maroo Korean BBQ and Sushi

These photos are not taken at Maroo's, but they give you an idea of the style!

Have you ever been to a restaurant and wanted to blog about it? It would be weird if you did. However, I just have to tell you about a new place to try. If you happen to be in Northridge, California then you are especially in luck!

Our coolest-friends-ever, Audrey and Kevin, took us on quite an adventure last night at Maroo's Korean BBQ. Thankfully, both Audrey and Kevin were accomplished patrons of this tricky form of eating. It wasn't really tricky--but what do you do when you are seated at a table with it's own barbeque pit in the middle of the table?

I like fun food! This kind of dining was very fun, very social, as well as delicious! We were all happy with our entree choices of the Marinated Beef, Sliced Sirloin, Shrimps and Mushrooms and the Spicy Pork. For you veggie lovers, you would have been happy with the little salads that arrived first. If you cleaned out your Barbie-sized portion of salad, the waiter would refill.

It was a definite perk that Audrey and Kevin were neighbor-friends of the owners. The little Korean mother-in-law assembled a gorgeous plate of what we guessed was California rolls, topped with baby shrimp and drizzled with a sweet marinade. Yummy!

I'm an aide...

2008-04-18T09:19:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know where I'm at between the hours of 11:30 - 2:35 each day, I'm at school. At an elementary school in a Special Day Class for autistic kids K-2. I've been with this job since Nov. 07.

I admit, I didn't seek a job with special needs kids because I love working with them. I needed a job to supplement income since the sticker shock of 2 sets of braces last summer in our home.

Since I started with these little ones, I now have to say, "Why didn't anyone tell me sooner that I have been missing out on a job with a perfect fit for me?"

I could have made a lot of money being an aide for such a long time. Or maybe have some awesome health benefits that we seem to lack as James is considered a small-business owner.

Now I won't go on and on here about my daily happenings at school. I actually have visions of a very fun blog-read if I collaborated all of my other aides' and the teachers' experiences. You would have to laugh at what we deal with! I have flash-backs to the days I used to watch Cops late at night. The video camera was VERY telling! (...what if a video camera person were to follow me and the other aides around the campus?)

Besides, I signed a confidentiality contract. Bummer.

I never knew Autism had an awareness month til now. I just thought I'd do my part. If you want to know more from a mother's point of view, go here. Our little Marshall is a wonderful ambassador for his ASD friends. Thanks for telling it like it is, Aprilyn!
Lastly, one of the first things I remember learning about autism is Dustin Hoffman's character in Rainman. I thought then, as I do now, that these 'kids' are just Super Heroes. They appear a little 'different' from the outside....but watch out, because suddenly the kindergarten child will spell humongous words--correctly. Or the 2nd grader will recite all the 50 states in alphabetical order. Or the 1st grader will give you all 12 months of the year...in French and then Spanish. The list goes on...

Its the real deal, I'm telling you!!

2008-04-14T21:46:00.001-07:00

I don't blame some of you for not believing those prior photos of my sister and her loves, Johnny and Orlando. I should have warned you beforehand.

I didn't believe them myself and actually threw the word Photoshopped at her.

That truly is the adorable Orlando. He made a wonderful elf in Lord of the Rings.

It was her fault for not telling me she was hanging out in the Bahamas-- at the same hotel, at the same time, --as the cast of Pirates of the Caribbean (II and III) during filming. Her hubby was having some sort of "business retreat", and my sister had a chance encounter with those cuties. I assure you, only after speaking with my brother-in-law who never lies, I became a believer!

That's Johnny Depp. He wears more make-up than my sister. I don't mind that.

These are the actual photos my sister originally sent me--ever so nonchalantly, I must say! Why she didn't take out a full page add in the Daily Herald (my hometown paper) to announce her photo-op, I'll never know.

Johnny and My Brother-In-Law-Who-Never-Lies sharing a Home-boy handshake.
They must be best friends, I guess.

How was the luncheon?

2008-04-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

I went to the CUW Luncheon yesterday. I learned a lot of things. None of which had anything to do with pearl vending.

I was to meet a young lady whom Wendy sent from Utah who had brought a lot of product. Wow! Raimana delivered! By the way, Raimana is just so beautiful. I don't need to mention among some of her former professions that she was a Bridal Gown Model. But I just did. Suits her nicely! Tahitian girls.... I want to be Tahitian in my next life.

The CUW ladies were wonderful. I mean that not a one of them was Hoity-Toity. In all fairness, it should be stated, by me, that the $50 plate of food was actually a fundraiser. All proceeds are donated to Ettie Lee Youth and Family Services. It doesn't get nicer than that.

The funniest thing about the beautiful California Utah Women is that our good friend, Mama Jo was there with two other of the nicest ladies I know! I think she accepted my apology for my previous blog.

Lastly, I learned that I don't want to be one of the vendors at the next Luncheon; I want to browse the Boutique. The Boutique was so much fun! It was as if my own sister had contacted all the vendors herself. My sister lets me tag along with her to shop Salt Lake City and Utah Valley! My sister has the best taste.This is my sister and her boyfriend, Johnny.
I started liking my sister a lot more when I saw this photo.

....and this photo.....

If you haven't heard of the CUW Luncheon, you may just want to buy your Fall tickets and join the many California Utah Women to see what all the Hub-Bub is about.

My Saturday show

2008-04-11T10:04:00.001-07:00

I have always been a people-watcher. I honestly use my ADD skills to their fullest when I am able to just sit in a very busy airport or mall or PTA meeting with nothing to do but observe others.

Tomorrow, I will get to do a bit of that. Ideally, I will be super-duper busy selling Wendy's Pearls and stuff, but hopefully I can people-watch. I'm especially interested in this grouping of people because the event is a luncheon. A $50 a plate luncheon. I don't think I've ever put $50 of food on my plate, so I want to see what those people are like. I'll bet they dress better than me, walk more elegantly than me, and...the best part is that they will probably have "surgical enhancements" that will make me go, "Hmmmmm." I'm showing how shallow I am, aren't I?

I'm kind of joking, because after all, these are California Utah Women. They are California women celebrating their Utah heritage. That's me!! These are MY people!!

Oh wait. I just told James the name of the organization. He said I don't qualify as a California woman. He said I have never embraced California as my home. ((bites lip)) Oh well. I hope these lovely ladies aren't too hoity-toity to pass up charitable pearls.

Even if I am too busy selling, I will be at the Happiest Place on Earth. Next door. At the hotel.

Spring Break--Final Day 6

2008-04-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

To those of you who have read our posts and even commented, a hearty "Thank you."

To my parents whom James sat patiently with this last weekend to teach
Blogging Presets 101.. (just 3 clicks folks...no typing involved..)

..I love you even though you haven't turned on your computer since we were in your home (700 miles away) and you aren't reading this.

To catch the rest of us up...Yosemite was fascinating--even if seen primarily from the confines of our Denali. We apparently saved up enough energy to attack the wilds of Sequoia National Park. We were willing to walk throughout the highlands and lowlands that next day. But, alas, we could not do it without heavy snow gear on our bodies. At best, we had heavy jackets.

Thank you Mr. Park Ranger for clearing the snow for us.
The 300 feet to the museum would have been unbearable.

We remained the responsible family and only cautiously ventured forth on trails freshly 'mowed' with a Snow-Blower. That pretty much left us to the walk from the parking lot to the doors of another Visitor's Center.

At the bottom of the mountain---clear roads so far...>

...what's hiding in those misty clouds?.......>
Well...now WE are hidden in the snow clouds. You can't see the bottom of the mountain .

Only 4-wheeled vehicles were allowed up the mountain that day. Some sportier little cars would be seen with chains on their wheels. I bet that was the only time some of those sun-tanned tourists would ever have to touch a chain around their tires.

James is sporting his souvenir from Yosemite. Its a water bottle holder.
Little kids won't be stealing that, I think.

Hoods are a fashion statement. I had to document that.

The Four Guardsmen. And a cheering squad.

Action-packed view of a Giant Sequoia at the Giant Forest Museum.

That's all we have. I could make an appointment for you to see the other 6 gigabytes of photos and video if you want........

Spring Break--Day 5

2008-04-09T07:37:00.000-07:00

Yosemite National Park

Just the title conjures up feelings of magnificence to me. Yosemite is just MORE of everything that I grew up with in the Rockies. The big rocks are bigger. The big trees are bigger. You get the drift.

Since we arrived at our hotel in the dark, I was very excited to peek outside as soon as I could wipe the crusties from my eyes that morning. Yep...the view was MORE than I expected. Being springtime, the new flowers were bursting out all over the place. I'm use to a placid green in the hills around our house. Sadly, we were lacking in the Eagerness Department to scale any mountains or hike historic trails. Yep....we were doing the Car Tour. I am embarrassed to admit that we drove all this way to sit on our tushies; but there you have it. We took advantage of the Yosemite Visitors Center. You get more bang for your buck that way. We figured it was a Reader's Digest version of the first national park (you think it is Yellowstone? Wikipedia begs to differ. And as we all know, Wikipedia is the gospel truth).

Photographic evidence that our pilot was out of the car in Yosemite.
North America's tallest waterfall.
Yosemite Falls.

Gift shops are also nice when doing the Car Tour. You buy souvenirs to prove you got out of the car. Please note the cute fleece jacket Brielle is modeling from Monterey Bay. She wore the souvenir to school her first day back and lost it 3 hours later. Well....LOST is a strong word.....I dragged her to the Lost & Found after school and it never showed up. Some child who never stepped a foot in Monterey is now wearing ...............rant............rant.........
Finally out of our cozy car, we avoided the foreign-speaking tourists. We hoped they couldn't smell the laziness emanating from us. These adventurous people had obviously read and studied and planned and traveled across the world to stand next to where we were standing. The Green family was just a disgrace, and we knew when to bow out. We also knew when to snap photos. We aren't any good at photo snapping, but we do our best.

Monica and Amanda praying that they don't
have to look at the Big Tree Rings 15 feet away....>

but this random man thinks they are as fascinating as I do!! This tree is almost 2,000 years old. Wow dee dow..

When you give a bored child in the back seat a bundle of Stickerpalooza stickers you are bound to get something like this...

A short video of a Wiwok Village. There was an engaging tour going on nearby....but our family preferred reading the tiny plaques next to the structures...

And finally, here we rested from a restful day. Monica loves taking pictures of sunrises and sunsets. She has a good eye for it, really. Downtown Visalia (a little drive from Sequoia National Park) was a bit of a challenge when the sunset called to Monica.

She titled this, "Ghetto Sunset".

What you don't see is the brewery/pub next to the fabric store. I'm guessing that Visalia's louder, drunken nightlife enjoy this pub a lot.

Spring Break--Day 4

2008-04-08T08:26:00.001-07:00

How is it possible for a fresh-faced, 29 year woman (cough cough) to start the day like this....

and end up like this?*

Well---it kinda goes like this.

We woke up so happily in our gorgeous hotel and had a whoppin' good breakfast (hence the cheery, photo shopped face above). We parked our car at the ferry landing and took the ferry across the bay to SF. The day was sunny, despite warnings of oncoming rain. We caught a cable car around SF and ended up at Ghirardelli Square. Too tired to venture further on foot, we took a different kind of street car to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch.

The whole, "Too Tired to Venture On Foot" kind of became the way of life for the next 24 hours---as you will find out. Being scared that the darkening clouds would actually rain, we returned to the ferry, and then our car. We said goodbye to San Francisco and turned on the navigation system to "fastest route" to Yosemite. Well, people, the traffic was bad. Good thing we had the DVD player, or there would have been blood shed in the back seats of the Denali.

Brielle standing guard at the ferry.
The pesky little sister routine only gets you kicked out of the Cool Girls Club.

You only get his view of San Francisco from the luxury of a ferry!!

Its pretty empowering to be in the center of the city's cable car pully system.
You see this at the Cable Car Museum.

After a somewhat eye-opening experience hanging onto the sides of a cable car, we arrived at Ghirardelli Square. The looming clouds only accentuated the sad construction of the landmark.

See....I'm not kidding! Even the black tarps were a sign of a funeral......

I admit, we were getting pretty exhausted by now. What do you expect of a family that is too attached to their computers and TVs and couches? It was time to sit in the car for a while. Our ride to Yosemite was just the ticket. Did I mention the traffic out of town? We finally blazed a trail through...well, we don't really know where. The road maps would have been more, well, straight. Our navigation system in the car was taking us through Farmland, USA. Even in the dusk, we ooh-ed and aah-ed at the beautiful, simple country. Monica found out the hard way that a belly full of Jelly Bellys would not sit well with switch-back roads climbing up to Yosemite. We can laugh now...but we just wanted to get to our hotel, and that sick girl in back got annoying. Just kidding---ill 15 year olds are easier to deal with. We took away the Jelly Bellys and told her to drink water. She was cool with that.

The Yosemite View Lodge. Pretty sweet location, right?

Okay folks, we have 1 1/2 days left of this journey. If you want to see some WOW-DEE-DOW-DOW sights, stay tuned for tomorrow's post. We stood among the giants....and got our toes got cold and wet.

*And to my siblings-- a warning---I'm totally copyrighting this photo, so you can't take it and blackmail me later. I'm submitting it to all the CSI shows out there as my audition photo. I'm quite sure I'd rock at being a corpse.

Spring Break -- Day 3

2008-04-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

Well...my little chapter book of a Spring Break went on hold due to another teensy road trip. My family and I went to Utah for our church's General Conference in Salt Lake City. It was a wonderful experience for James, Me, Monica and Amanda. Jenna and Brielle stayed behind at their Aunt Annie's house. But I will have to write about that later. For now, I get to reminisce about the tastiest day of our Spring Break Trip!!

We got up early in the morning to get to the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, just 40 minutes north of SF. We hoped to get in the 1st tour at 9:15 am. It was a good thing, because the next groups of tourists were more crowded. I like less-crowded groups. The factory was making Green Apple Jelly Bellys that day. A bonus to the tour was the Mrs. Grossman's Stickerpalooza going on in a room upstairs. Jenna, Brielle and I got plenty of stickers for a buck. Wait for tomorrow's post to see what sort of mischief a girl can get into with stickers and a long car ride.

Brielle and Jenna in the Jelly Belly Gift shop.

We drove to Berkeley to get grab some lunch at a Burger King. Let me not sugar-coat how weird Berkeley appeared to our family. You see, our family rarely sees the transient hobos in action. One guy was seriously mentally challenged while demonstrating his use of the newspaper vending racks to stash his found food. Although James forbade me to look, I looked. Our girls were curious as to why our local hobos were not as entertaining. Could it be that Berkeley people were more tolerant than our local leaders? We didn't stick around to ask.

Tour #2
James was determined to reserve a tour of a Dark Chocolate-making factory at 12:30. He kinda didn't care that Jenna wasn't old enough to take the tour. But Jenna and I showed him!! We had some delicious hot cocoa in the Scharffen Berger Cafe while waiting for the tour to finish.

Afterwards, looking for something to do, we drove to the west side of San Francisco to see the sites of Golden Gate Park. This little-known park is comparable in size to Central Park in NYC. We chose to spend our time in the Japanese Gardens and then walked over to the Botanical Gardens and Conservatory, and a very fun kids playground.

A cute note about this Conservatory and the Butterfly Gardens-- James spent time in and around San Francisco as a boy because his grandparents lived in nearby San Raphael. As a group, his family would visit GG Park, but James' father would not spend the money to enter the tempting glass-walled conservatory. That made little Jamie sad. James has finally lived the dream. I am truly happy we got to be there with him for that.

The flowery gardens outside the conservatory.

A desperate would-be escapee from the Butterfly Garden on James' backpack.

The climate inside the conservatory would be so sticky-humid and hot in one room and then very cold and humid in another. This photo kinda shows how huge some of these plants have become.
After the park, we jumped into the Denali and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to San Raphael. We drove around his grandparents former neighborhood. Amanda got her wish of the day and we dined at Quizno's. Our hotel that night was our favorite! I recommend the Embassy Suites in Mill Valley with all my heart!
Phew!! Wasn't that awesome? Hello? ((crickets)) Oh well, we had a wonderful day. I was accused of taking a chemical substance which enhanced my happiness, but I am quite sure I was high on life instead. Spending quality time with my family is the best type of happiness there is!

Next up... finding out that the navigation system in our car is better than any road map because it doesn't care if you take the main road......

Spring Break -- Day 2

2008-04-03T07:41:00.001-07:00

Through Jenna's Eyes

What happens when you give control of the camera to a 6 year old? Let's find out, shall we?

Disclaimer: Jenna moves the camera with her subjects. About 75% of her photos just had to be deleted due to severe nausea while viewing. These are her better shots. I think they are 'Artsy' and belong in an art museum. Not really.

"Waiting for dad to buy tickets to the Monterey Bay Aquarium"

"a hammerhead shark"
"the best otter picture I got....those otters are super-fast"

"a dragonfish. It is the craziest seahorse ever."

"more blurry fish...sardines or anchovies?"

"A domed ceiling with circling sardines...or is it anchovies?"

"A group of ...well I don't even care now...I'll call them 'Finding Nemo' fish cuz they bundled together to make fun shapes. This group would go on to make a heart-shape in 3 more seconds."

"Dinner in Chinatown. The food just kept coming!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Day 2 of our trip we woke up in Monterey Bay. We promptly ate breakfast, checked out of the hotel and parked near the Aquarium. Good thing we were early-birds for once, because when we left 2 hours later there was a line around the block to get into the already crowded aquarium. Spring Breakers.....sheesh.

Brielle is in 4th grade and any California parent knows this means learning about California Missions. Back in Monica's 4th grade days, the school district was crazy for "Projects that Involved Parents Way Too Much" (PTIPWTM). I'm a little fuzzy about the curriculum at that time since I was sleep-deprived with a newborn and we had just moved into the new house. What I DO remember is the California Missions. Students were discouraged from purchasing the pre-fab styrofoam mission kits....but when you and your parents don't understand English adequately then it is not enforced. (wink) OUR outstanding family also shunned the kits, stupidly, and spent way too many hours constructing Monica's mission out of gingerbread. I love gingerbread houses. Monica just likes to decorate stuff. It brought our the worst of our ADD. Our finished product didn't resemble the actual structure much, but that isn't important; it had four sides and a roof. And it was edible with lots of candy---even the cemetery was delicious.
By the time Amanda got to her mission experience, all parents had had enough and severely reduced PTIPWTM. We dipped California-grown strawberries in chocolate and called it a day.

Back to our trip! Brielle was thrilled to know we'd be on a road trip and assumed we'd go to her assigned Mission. Lucky enough, it truly was smack-dab in the middle of our map. She and her dad made a video journal for her mission report. After some editing, we also called it a day and the DVD is being turned in early.

So the Santa Clara Mission was in the middle of Silicone Valley. Poor James. All those buildings we passed with logos of the front-runners of technology! He couldn't even get us to turn our unimpressed heads. If it wasn't the promise of the bay or the Golden Gate Bridge then we weren't interested. I apologized for sitting next to him when any one of his brothers would have been more welcome.

We arrived in San Fran and went to a hotel that was waiting for us in the heart of the city. Again, unimpressed with the possibility of a shoebox of a room, we ventured North of the city to Mill Valley and found a room for the night. We mosied back to Chinatown for dinner, but didn't linger much- due to a very unfamiliar nightlife. James and I realized that families of 6 were not conducive to the Big City. Large SUVs are as ridiculous as they are rare.

We needed to get a good night's sleep 'cuz tomorrow would be one of the busiest days of the trip...

Spring Break--Day 1

2008-04-02T17:24:00.001-07:00

Last Tuesday, we started our Spring Break road trip. We didn't want to fuss over the details, but most days had a basic outline of events. Warning: I tend to babble. Please move to your next friend's blogpage immediately if you start feeling sleepy and/or restless while browsing this page.

At noon we landed in Solvang. It is a quaint, Scandinavian village about 2 hours North of home. We wanted to see it mainly because of my mom's Danish heritage. The shops and restaurants are so cute. I thought the fun details on the outside of these structures were home-y....the kids said it reminded them of Disneyland. I didn't even try to explain how backward they got it.
After eating the danish sausages and aebleskivers (yum), we drove farther North to San Simeon. Although the amazing Hearst Castle is nearby, we used our valuable time more wisely at the Elephant Seal beach. Where have the seals gone? We were disappointed by the small group of seals. Nevertheless, we had the obligatory few lounging around for their photo ops.

The ride up Hwy 1 is not James' idea of fun (too winding). Brielle was very unsettled by the steep cliffs overlooking the edge of the world (to her). I thought it was all heavenly. Monica clicked away with the camera. Amanda read her books voraciously. Jenna was doing her job being cute.

We found a little hotel in Monterey Bay, then feasted on Panda Express. Ugh. How ironic that we would plan to have Chinese Food the next night in world-famous Chinatown in San Francisco!

Lets not forget our favorite accessory on our trip...the DVD player!! This little gem is what makes or breaks those long, boring stretches of road. I get to nap because James isn't threatening lives in the back seats. If there is unrest in the back seats, I don't get my nap and then no one is happy. I luv you, DVD player!!

Aha! Rust!

2008-04-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

No one is aware of my amnesia as much as me, but I can't remember such a wonderful product as this one I used today. Yes--just today, people!!

You see, I have a favorite cream-colored knit cardigan that I like to wear with everything. It (tragically) was left in our ancient dryer for a day. We inherited the dryer when we were married. It was ancient even 18 years ago. Thats the same dryer that was built back when Things Didn't Wear Out. The dryer heat settings have been reduced to Super Hot, Mostly Hot, and No Heat. There used to be several more settings.....but I digress. I blame this gifted dryer for a lot of woes in my life---because it can't defend itself, mostly. The years of tumbling Levi's rivets have taken their toll on this dryer's insides and created rusty gouges. If the not-totally-dried clothes have not been immediately removed, then the Rusting begins. I have tossed out many pieces of clothing and tablecloths. For, you see, not ALL fabrics choose to be on a Mostly Hot setting. Again, I digress. I couldn't bear to part with this particular sweater this time around. I found the Carbona solution in my grocery store. I expected this process of de-rusting to last all day. Good thing I cleared my morning schedule (jk). I applied some solution to spots on one sleeve, and methodically dabbed in a clockwise fashion. Boring enough yet? The stains were gone before I returned to the first sleeve. Wow. Don't walk; run to the nearest store and buy this product. But then again, you have probably never seen rust stains on your clothes.

Note: We are accepting applications for donated dryers. The less rusty, the better.

Don't forget to check back tomorrow to view "The Best Spring Break Road Trip Ever" issue #1.

2008-03-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

Spring Break in our school district began last Friday the 21st. I, for one, am very happy about that. I'm sure some of you are ready to hear more about us than Amanda and her Quizno's song fascination.

Some highlights since last post: I helped out my friend, Wendy, with her foundation that sells pearl jewelry.

Jenna went to the dentist and the dentist scolds me for not brushing her little teeth properly, let alone neglecting her flossing. For the record--I DO brush her teeth (with the little circle motions) and sometimes even floss the little ivory gems (even though my fingers are way too big for that teensy mouth)...and that takes a LOT of patience!

On the brighter side--Brielle, who concurs that her oral hygiene is lacking, had a perfect checkup and the dentist praised her (not me). On the ride home from the dentist I asked Brielle if she has any fillings. She swiped her tongue around her mouth and declared, "Nope!" Which goes to show--Life Isn't Fair.

The kids now go to our friend, Mandy, to get their hair cut. Mandy is super-cool because she is young, has a handsome hubby, cute kids, and lives on a horse ranch. She has a 'salon' in her garage. Her little girl actually gets a pony for Christmas! The pony's name is Cheeto. How cool is that? Monica and Amanda praise this young mom/hairstylist for her listening skills. Apparently, Mandy knows their hair needs more than their own mother. I have had to learn to step back--with big mouth shut--and allow the girls to voice their own preferences. Ouch...it hurts to keep my big mouth shut.

Lastly, a quote from sweet Jenna.

Me: I hope there are pets in heaven.
Jenna: Yeah, like a turkey.

First-graders make me giggle.

iPods, Quiznos, Amanda

2008-03-04T08:42:00.000-08:00

Lets think of rare things to see....Sasquatch, a Blue Moon, pigs flying......Amanda singing out loud.

I have witnessed her singing along with her iPod before. Its a very pretty voice. However, we can't acknowledge the voice, or it will disappear like the dodo bird. Thankfully, a cute boy band, Hawk Nelson, has a video blog in which the comedic lead singer writes a jingle about his favorite sandwich shop. This is just too much for our little Amanda to pass up and she just....has to sing!

Thank you, Hawk Nelson!!

PS....yes, this is brief---enjoy it while it lasted. I couldn't be happier if her dad had a video of Sasquatch himself.

..it stopped my whining for a day...

2008-02-16T13:48:00.000-08:00

I admit, I have a recurring complaint about this beautiful Southern California. Actually, I whine a lot about this----

...any time you choose to get away from it all and go somewhere "special" like a perfect beach, or a perfect campground, you must fight tooth and nail for a secluded spot to truly enjoy the atmosphere (and not the crazy people in their habitat).

If you get a tip on the radio or TV stating the promised Best Kept Secrets, you know that means your desired getaway is no longer desirable because 5 million people just got the same tip.My family and I were pleasantly surprised when we chose Friday to visit the snow since we were out of school and James took the day off. We drove 1 1/2 hours North to find snow. Mt. Pinos is at 8,800 feet. Long story short...the parking lot was nearly empty and we had the sledding hills to ourselves.
Very satisfying! Tempuratures were in the upper 40s, and despite the lack of snow gear for most of us, the sunny day was....awesome. Monica crashed badly into a tree. Jenna's toes got too cold--but what do you expect when you're wearing uninsulated rain boots?

I had to endure a mischievous 12-year-old trapped inside a 44-year-old body and become his moving target for the better part of the day.
I hope my girls remember this day as much as I will.

EDIT: James said, "Whats with the penguin?" Does anyone else need clarification regarding how close penguins congregate? Raise your hand...

Its my birthday...so I won't even lift a finger to blog...

2008-02-13T15:44:00.000-08:00

...so I'll let my sister do the damage!

Go to her blog to check out some funny photos of us

Or more aptly titled..."It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!"

Happiness and Hot Chocolate

2008-02-02T08:30:00.000-08:00

Enjoy Your Hot Chocolate

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate. When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: 'Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups. Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups.

The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

And enjoy your hot chocolate in 2008!

Aww of the day...

2008-01-30T19:26:00.000-08:00

So...my Blog Conscience has been screaming at me. Kari! I confess that my life is just a boring treadmill at the moment. I would cringe to have to share my happenings at the moment. Where is the fun? I need a better hobby than working at the elementary school.... :P. Anyhooo...you seemed to like my photos of "my baby James", so here I'll try to soften you with my own little photos. I see these photos and imagine a severely shy little girl. To add salt to the wound--about 10 years ago my mom admitted that I was so quiet and was carried everywhere that the neighbors would question whether I had "special needs" or not. Grrrr. My defense is that the neighborhood had lots of girls about 5 - 10 years older that did all of my speaking and transporting.

It also seems that once the pixie haircut was grown out, I always had those sponge rollers in my hair. It doesn't amaze me that I had ringlets all the time. I loved them! The only time I regretted ringlets was when Vickie Chappel would keep pulling them during Primary (church) and let them recoil with a loud, "BOING!" Sounds like something straight out of Ramona the Pest.

Susan, almost 3 yrs old (above, and kindergarten photo (below)

Best Christmas Ever

2008-01-13T08:54:00.001-08:00

Sometimes Jenna just makes me GIGGLE!!

jenna_christmas.mpg

Hidden Treasures

2008-01-12T11:37:00.001-08:00

While packing away Christmas, I finally decided to purge a space-wasting box labeled 'Hall Closet'. I knew this was from our last house--and junk was probably tossed inside, just waiting to spill out into the new home. Since I'm The Queen of Delayed Decisions (thanks for the title, Sweetie), I figured I'd tackle the box once and for all. I'm happy I did. Many "lost" photos were hiding inside. Here are a few I'll share for now. But stay tuned, because those Greens sure were shutterbugs!

<-- Baby James

What a handsome family!

This photo dates back to March '82. James (the youngest, far left) is a senior in High School. I feel obliged to Marian to remember there was always another son born to the family; however, little Thomas only survived about a week. Big brother Steven was about 2 years old at the time. Paul (James' dad) remembers little Steven giving gentle pats on the back to those who would pick him up at that sad time. Perhaps he knew all the big people needed a little reassurance? Sweet story. To this day, any birthday calendar given to Marian is quickly scanned for Tommy's birthday. I made the mistake only once! :)

Another photo from April '65. I honestly thought the leather tether with baby James was a leash for him. He quickly informed me it is a strap for the binoculars. He sheepishly admitted his father has since given them to us. James hates to admit he has his father's cast-offs. The rest of us call those things 'heirlooms'.

a belated video

2007-12-31T22:34:00.000-08:00

Jenna loves soccer. But more than soccer, she loves mugging for the camera. That is why this video is so funny. This was the only goal she made all season. She would rather we all just get less serious about the goal making part.

Happy birthday! Brielle is 10!

2007-12-24T09:07:00.000-08:00

This post is dedicated to my amazing little Brielle. She came into the world with a perfect, full head of dark hair, perfect ruby red lips, and those big blue eyes (with a darker blue ring circling 'round the iris). I could only stop and stare at her beauty as that toddler would ask endless questions. She couldn't make the 'L' sound. One evening she fell in the tub, but her front tooth cushioned the blow. The tooth died. We watched as that little tooth went black and then crumbled away over the next 3 years. Brielle loves pandas and the game 'Four Square' at school. She is an easy friend to make, and has a quick laugh. Her sisters love her and depend on her to get the family out the door on time (not an easy task).

A Christmas tag!

2007-12-21T19:51:00.000-08:00

Here's a Christmas list to make up for all the tags I've missed.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper
2. Tree-- Real or Artificial? Prefer real...but we have a fake one. *sigh* I can't even remember how much a pretty, 9' tree was at Home Depot, but it scared James and me silly.
3. When do you put the Christmas tree up? Around the first part of December. I applaud those who get to work on it right after Thanksgiving. I'm sure any home I've lived in never got a tree up in November.
4. When do you take the tree down? Whenever. And those who know me---you know I'm not kidding. Whats the rush? Its pretty to look at.........lol.
5. Like eggnog? I love the fattening stuff. I prefer to call my "milked-down' version an Eggnog Latte.
6. Do you have a nativity scene? Many...and I'm always on the lookout for nativity scenes that kids can play with. Remember the old church-distributed cardboard stand-up nativity? I wish I had one of those.
7. Hardest person to buy for? James. He either wants tshirts and ties OR really expensive stuff that I'm too uneducated to understand how top-of-the-line it needs to be. He'll settle for ties and tshirts.
8. Easiest person to buy for? My sweet 6 year old, Jenna! Her last birthday she asked for a ragdoll and a stick pony. Is she from 1955?
9. Worst Christmas gift? I remember one lousy gift to my newlywed hubby. His birthday is Christmas Day. We were pretty much penniless, I mistakenly forgot to wrap one of my few gifts to him in BIRTHDAY wrap. His family was in the room...we celebrated Christmas earlier...it was now time for birthday...I quickly grabbed a part of one gift and changed it to BIRTHDAY wrapping. Turns out I thought new socks were a nice idea.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. I love that people are more generous than me and actually send cards in the mail.
11. Favorite Christmas movie? It's a Wonderful Life. It throws everything into perspective for me.
12. Favorite Christmas song? Anything Donny Osmond or ANY Osmond sings. My family even had an 8-track of their Christmas album.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I pretty much procrastinate shopping so I can hang out with the crowds of other procrastinators. ...And long lines at checkout.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yup!
15. Favorite food to eat on Christmas? Wassail (the hot drink) is my favorite ANYTHING at Christmastime. But is it a food?
16. Clear or colored tree lights? White...twinkling. We are envious of the Wilson's pre-lighted tree. I'll take that baby with any colored lights as long as it saves our marriage while putting up the tree!
17. Travel during Christmas or stay home? Travel, travel, travel. Oh wait. I'm married. I rarely get to travel. It would seem that James has a job that keeps him grounded.
18. Can you name Santa's reindeer? Yes---and out of order from the song even!
19. Angel or Star on tree top? It varies.
20. Open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? We only open the 'Pajama Elf' gifts on Christmas Eve so we look totally cute despite our bedheads and sleepy faces.
21. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Having to pick out the presents within my budget. Why can't I buy everything? I'll give it away!
22. Best Christmas present? Way too hard to remember. But hands down is my favorite memory--my baby Brielle was born at 1:00 Christmas Eve (day). The hospital was extremely quiet those days, and I had no desire for anything else but to hold my new 'gift'!
23. Favorite Christmas tradition? Baking Christmas cookies and making candies together. My own tradition is the Gingerbread Boys that my mom made so beautifully. I insist that each Boy be as beautiful as Mom's. James' tradition is Christmas morning breakfast. It has to begin and end before the opening of presents. Oh--and it has to be lavish.

I'm a Great Aunt...who knew?

2007-12-21T18:30:00.000-08:00

What better news to share than the birth of my nephew's gorgeous baby? Congrats Kurt and Kelli! They will be wonderful parents.

<--Gorgeous Kelli (why did I never look that cute as a prego mom?)

Felicity Kaye Radmall---such a poser! (The knuckle in the dimple of the chin---who writes that script?)

Kurt and Kelli and baby Felicity. What a stunning name!

Kurt (middle) and his siblings Christie and Aaron 10/87

I sang in a choir!

2007-12-09T23:40:00.000-08:00

Although this isn't the most amazing news to any of you, I must admit it is the best feeling to be included in a Christmas choir of 91 singers. The conductor is top-rate and he also directs the Southern California Mormon Choir. Need I mention how intense he is? The concert was performed in two locations this evening. I am a little sad to see it end. I will post the link as soon as it is up on the website. In the meantime you can hear one of my favorite songs, Angels We Have Heard on High from a past Christmas concert with a smaller group.

I confess, I'm not a strong singer...nor do I hit the right notes as often as I should. I think that is why I just love being in a choir with a brilliant conductor. It is possible to bring out a pretty sound--if even for one evening!

Oh...and you can tell I'm never going pro with my singing career because I'm the one who is crying during the songs. The sweet spirit just tugs at my heart.

Thanksgiving 2007

2007-11-24T09:24:00.000-08:00

Its been a busy week. James' parents drove from Murrietta (2 speedy hours away) for Thanksgiving. James' oldest brother Steve and his girlfriend Kathleen also joined us for dinner. Excellent holiday! I'd do it all over again, but maybe not with two turkeys. James and I have liked to have a turkey ready before all other side dishes need to be cooked. That way it can be cooled and carved and pretty for presentation. We also like our guests to return to their homes with their own supply of meat. We overdid it this year with a 20 pounder and an 18 pounder. Nothing will be wasted, I assure you. I love, love, love turkey. Here are some highlights of our week so far.

The girls baked and painted cookies.

The girls and I at a beach house in Ventura. Gorgeous house!!

James' parents Paul and Marian.

Have you ever used egg wash to paint cookies? I remember doing this as a little girl. My mom basically rocked in the kitchen! I scrambled to find a sugar cookie recipe, but it was not tasty. However, the (almost inedible) cookies were vibrant! I tried a recipe from the ward cookbook. Generally they are the tried and true, generations-proven recipes. I actually had to scratch a big X on this page. Oh well, we doctored up a few with cream cheese frosting....everything is good with cream cheese frosting!

Our friends from Utah, the Cranmers, visited us and invited us to play at their beach house. Leslie and Ken have been our friends for almost 15 years. They brought 2 of their sons, Kyle (15) and Luke (9), and Kyle's friend Ty (15). Kyle and Ty are extremely cute and so my girls were sure not to miss out on the beach house with the Cranmers. Monica brought her friend Anna.

Last night, 10 of us went to see the movie "Enchanted". I had the best seat between Jenna and Brielle! We giggled and laughed throughout this movie. Even James isn't holding back on how cute--and yet enjoyable this movie is. We took his parents and our friends Allison and Anna.

Sunday Catch Up

2007-11-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

I've missed you, my friends! Wow, this blogging world is SO addictive! Most times Blogs have more cliff-hangers than a favorite novel.

My week in a jif:

Monday I started my new position as an aide in a local elementary school. I work in a classroom of autistic (and stuff lumped in with autism) children. Its just what I had expected...if you've been around autistic kids before..stop laughing at me, Aprilyn! I expected calm and chaos. I love it!

Whining pays off! After complaining that my house was under decorated for the holidays, my sweetest-sister-ever sent a gorgeous quilt to my home. I'm sure she wants me to decorate a wall with it. I just can't do that yet. I am still snuggling with it while I read scriptures in the morning.

Halloween almost didn't happen here. After all---can you really have a successful Halloween without Jack-O-Lanterns adorning your place? James and I had pumpkins lounging around the home...but without faces. He rapidly carved them with and without the girls help just in time to use as decorations that Halloween night. He also sifted thru the 'guts' of the pumpkins to salvage the seeds for toasting later. What a guy! Funny thing is...at 5:30 pm we locked up the house and sped away to the other side of the city for Trunk Or Treating with our friends on the other side of the city. That is where all of James' hard work of carving pumpkins is displayed for about 30 minutes. We then closed up the car and sped away to our friends' gated neighborhood for the serious art of Trick Or Treating. You know you get the full-sized candy bars at gated communities---right Audrey?
This is a photo of sleepy Brielle (Hillbilly) and Jenna (Minnie Mouse), Me-the Nerd, friend Anna in a vintage 20's flapper dress, Monica as the LadyBug, and Amanda as--well, we don't really know. It was supposed to be Super Preppy Girl...but evolved into Random Red Outfit.

I got a new pet. The last Betta fish croaked, and despite my family's utter distaste of the helpless little guy I hurriedly shopped for another before they noticed "The Fish" sleeping on the bottom of the fish bowl. It worked. They have another pet to despise.

Fires (again!)

2007-10-24T23:14:00.000-07:00

Its never a surprise when the Santa Ana winds blow into town. But the force behind them this year has been mind-boggling! I have a very good idea of the power behind a hurricane now. The fires began Saturday night, and the nearby Malibu fires were believed to have started from downed power lines. I was actually clueless to what had happened until Sunday around 2:00, when the sky got that familiar orange tint. By 3:30, the inside of the house was so dark, Jenna and I ventured outside.

The top photo is from our front yard, facing East (notice the flecks of ash, caught by the flash)...the bottom photo is facing West at 3:30 pm, Sunday. It is the gas station just around the corner from our house.

What I saw at 3:30 was a tiny red blot in the dark brown sky...and then the sun disappeared! Then I noticed that the street lamps had automatically turned on. All the neighbors' light-sensitive lamps were on! Later that evening I had a choir practice at a church building across town. It was super-smoky there, and when I got home I noticed my hair was still clinging to that Bonfire smell. I have been on the edge of tears these past 4 days...and sometimes I just let them flow. What tugs at my heart the most? Small things, like the horses running scared inside their corral; the photos of firefighters taking cat-naps (sitting up, of course); the TV reporter who is covering his own house burning to the ground (Kimmell?); parents finding out their children are safe..and then they burst into tears, etc.

Its a very humbling time, and creates gratitude for even the mundane.

Like my friend Audrey, I see the crumbs on the countertops and the drips of KoolAid on the floors as a reminder that I can stop whining and start helping others less fortunate.

Sadly, the fires aren't over. I'll continue my vigilant watch.

My sister's cute Autumn decor

2007-10-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well, she did it. My sister has just deflated my day. I wanted the day to be wonderful, but how can that be--now that I know how cute her house is, and how much fun she must have had while putting it together? Just scroll down to October 8th to see her photos of her quilts and house. *sigh* Did I need to mention that Happy Valley undoubtedly has that crisp chill in the air? Yeah--she had to go and take pictures outside as well. with the snow-covered mountains. I guess I'll just stare at my two $4.98 scarecrows (from Joanne's Fabrics) that I thought were going to add some punch to my under-designed, under-decorated home. The boy and girl scarecrows actually resemble $8.15 scarecrows (which were worthy of an entire page blogged exclusively on them)--but for now I can't revel in my thrifty shopping.

Do you think she will get my fun birthday card I picked out for her? It is her birthday on the 19th...and I might just have to blog about that. That will show her!

But seriously--I can't be too hard on her because she is the only family who reads my blogs! I love her to death.

My Pet, the Hornworm

2007-10-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

My beautiful cherry tomatoes are hardly producing anymore, but imagine my surprise when I found two tag-a-long hornworms munching away on the plants. I just thought I'd share my photos of one of these giants. It almost looks cute--just enjoying the green tomato the same way I enjoy a bright red one. This particular caterpillar could stretch over 7 inches. I've seen Tomato Hornworms before and they have been fatter than my fingers. My plan was to document how large they become in a week's time. Unfortunately, the duo disappeared the day after these photos were shot. Hmmm...where would one hide a 5 inch long caterpillar? I know they only eat the tomato plants.......and tobacco leaves.... According to the linked website, those monsters are under foot!

Too bad they went missing. I was grooming them for my little friend, Lizzie. She will take any creepy-crawly pet she can get her hands on...the bigger the better. Thats the way I was when I was 7.

This first photo taken Tues, 9/25.

This photo taken 6 days later on 10/1. Notice the severe damage to the plant!

Pearls and Me

2007-10-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

I was busy with a new project this past weekend. I'm selling pearls! I know...I expect you all to run and hide your checkbooks, but I'm not selling at the moment. I am, however, still thinking about the fun I had and what I saw.

Quick background to how I got into My Princess Pearls is 1) Wendy Bird started the foundation. 2) I became friends with her. 3) She moved out of California. 4) I met her at her store this summer in Utah and asked if I could do anything with her pearls in California since she left. Wendy set me up as a distributor and told me of an upcoming opportunity to sell her pearls at a Republican Women's convention in Palm Springs. I set it up, and here we are now. Fortunately, Wendy sent a fine person, Gail, to "help" me. Of course, Gail was the expert...I held onto her every word...regarding pearls, or about life. Gail is an amazing, beautiful woman I wish you all to meet. I wish I took a camera to record our adventures!

Funny thing about what we learned about our product and this particular convention. It's a finer jewelry than the partying, patriotic, Republican women wanted. Who could blame them? Of the nearly 45-ish booths at the convention, about 40 of us had "jewelry". Most of that jewelry was geared toward ladies with a flashier taste for sequined, red-white and blue, elephant anything! I saw humongous elephant belt buckles, sequined hat pins, sequined HATS with elephants, even a gold-painted elephant head (wine bottle holder). The Texas Republican booth was loaded with grand, sterling silver stars of every proportion. Go Texas! Although we were assigned a booth on the back row of vendors, we were slightly cheered to know the Ladies Room was nearby. We knew we would at least get exposure from women with weak bladders. A few ladies expressed their appreciation for our quality of ....everything. Hee hee.
Some popular sellers below...the Woven Button Bracelet (1/2 price was $10),
the Hand-woven Silk Wrap skirt (1/2 price to $20), and the Signature pearls in the top picture. I liked to dress up each day and drape myself with pearls to model. I even wrapped a skirt around me, sold it, and put on another. Was this a flea market in some tourist town? The skirt was popular not only because of the iridescent silk fabric, but because of the elephants in the pattern. I had my own pearls, like this cable bracelet, but I dared not wear the more expensive Slider Pearl necklace.
And I also found out this weekend that Wendy doesn't keep any of the money for herself. Any commission that would go to her is immediately put back into the foundation for things such as shipping more 'relief' boxes to the Philippines, buying more product from the Filipino women, rent on the tiny store she has in Lehi, etc. For Wendy, its all about supporting those families who are almost totally dependent on her efforts. Wow.

Anniversary Tag

2007-09-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

Well, its not my anniversary, but it is my friend Jolynn's anniversary. She is such a beautiful bride, and I just couldn't let this hottie down....so here is my info...

Where did you meet your husband?
James and I met the first night I was in California after I had accepted a job in Van Nuys. He sort of stalked me when he saw me in a room of married people. I was with my younger brother, but I think James was hoping we were single people. James followed us out the door and invited us to his Single's Ward the next day.

First date?
We didn't really "date" as much as I was just mooching rides off of him and others. James invited me to go to the Los Angeles temple 2 weeks after we met. We went there often together.

Where was the first kiss?
It was in the entryway of the house I was renting in Sepulveda.

Was the courtship long/short?
We dated for about 3 months before he proposed. Like my friend Marilee, I was mostly shocked that I said Yes because most of my relationships until then were about 3-6 months and then I ran out of the relationship. We were engaged for 3 months before the wedding day. For those bad at math--about 6 months total of courtship!

Where did you get engaged?
On the grounds of the L.A. temple.

Where did you get married?
Gosh--this is quite the theme! The L.A. temple, of course! It was a typical June-Gloom kind of day...hazy until about 3 pm. The wedding photos were taken during the hazy portion of the day of course.

How did the reception go?
Oh--I pretty much wish I could go back in time and re-do the entire day! I'm going to be a bit of a brat for a moment, so you can just skip this paragraph if you hate whiners; I was very bummed that I couldn't afford a gorgeous reception hall. We settled for the inexpensive Stake Center (gym) and I was sad that my reception was going to have basketball hoops as decorations. *sigh* As it turned out, our group of out-of-state family was running late for set-up and so James and I got to the Stake Center first. We were about 1 1/2 hours late and the custodian had gone home. The basketball hoops were not even retracted. *hysterical crying* James got the insensitive guy on the phone and told him to get his *tushy* back to the church because we needed him to set stuff up with us. *nervous break-down in an empty room* Family members start showing up, and I found my makeup bag and started reapplying. I was not a pretty bride! *blech* The highlight, besides the guests, was that we were able to move the reception line to an inner courtyard (outside) that had a wall of blooming gardenias for our backdrop. To this day I just adore gardenias. On a happier note, my bratty side was under control a month later for our Utah reception. It was held at Sil's Restaurant (on the BYU diagonal in Provo) with such a beautiful garden area surrounding us, and the food and decorations were taken care of by Sil's. *glowing bride*

How was the honeymoon?
I think it was wonderful. It started out just a little weird when we had to have James' dad drive us to the airport after our first night together. We went to Disneyworld/Epcot in Orlando. We had a beautiful hotel suite thanks to my perks as a travel agent at the time. James will never forget how stupid I was to freeze a Lemonade Bar to the back of my tongue at MGM Studios (when the guy selling the frozen pops warns you, "Be careful, they are frozen!", you had better not mock him nor stick the pop next to your tonsils because you won't have any flesh on your tongue for a week).

Go Me! or "Why I'm Not a Quilter Yet"

2007-09-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

Look what I did! This photo doesn't show the completed item with the girls' names and coach's name. Well, embarrassingly enough, I don't sew and I would appreciate you not pulling up any high quality resolutions--thank you very much! I just got a little 'bee in my bonnet' and when I was at last Saturday's opening day at the soccer fields, my eyes were always drawn to the cutest, home made team banners. Since our team's banner was still unmade, I decided that Jenna's team would get one of those--and it was up to me. How gallant, I thought. Well, as you can see, experience was not behind me. I felt like I was back in 7th grade sewing class with Miss Hanson tsk-tsking over my shoulder. I know enough about using a sewing machine to know when I'm cheating. I cheated a lot on this Ladybug banner. I'm still laughing at the bunched-up mass jammed around the feeder area. I hate to ask...but "what am I doing wrong?" So, the banner took 2 days to figure out, and I was ready to display it proudly today at Jenna's game. Jenna has other plans. She plans on being sick and not playing her game today. I reluctantly agree. She was up coughing a lot last night. Thank goodness I have a blog to document this momentous occasion. By the way, I did a banner for Brielle's team last year. It was nice, but I learned that hot-glueing fabric is just not as sturdy as the sewn fabric.

My sister is great because....

2007-09-10T08:54:00.001-07:00

I have the best sister. That is her -upside down- in the photo. I'm the shy blond one above. This photo was taken at a Mexican playground (heh). Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of us as kids (at the moment). I'm sure it's because several years back, mom was tired of all the photos lying around the house and she divvied them up, gave us all our own albums, and we made our own 'scrapbooks'. As an 8 year old, I only grabbed the photos with me. But lets chat about my sister... She blogged the nicest things about me in her quilting blog. She said I was the cool sister. If cool means I'm the one who is less responsible, less organized, less talented, less persevering--but has a nice ride and a Wii---then she is correct. I'm that girl. You know when you do something amazing that really makes you want to pat your own back? I come across one of those moments and can't wait to share it with my sister. Chances are..she already has a library of those moments to relate to. Yes, I took up knitting and then found out that she had been in an internet group of quilters for a couple of years. A couple of quilts? No! She had several. I learned to make my own Freezer Jam last summer. It turns out that my sister already has a stock-pile of her own Freezer Jam and even has a better recipe! I harvested my cherry tomatoes. She has a Martha Stewart-type of garden with several kinds of veggies, about a dozen herbs, and fruit trees. Our family has a Wii (because if nothing else, it makes my kids have to stand to play--that's exercise, right?), but her family has the trampline. My kids LOVE the trampoline. My sister's kids are super smart (I couldnt stop staring at their end-of-year reports that decorated the fridge) because they got their parents genes....my kids are "social" at school (sorry kids, thats all your parents gave you). For those of you who know her, she is so kind and has tons of good advice. She was recently put in charge of the women in her congregation at church. She looks after their needs and welfare and is just a great friend to all. They love her, and are so fortunate to have her. I just wish I lived next to her *tears are welling up*. Go to her blog and get to know her. Then you will think I'm cool cuz I have her for a sister!

"Does this garage make my car look fat?"

2007-09-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

So, who knew that a Denali is over 18 ft long? Our garage is about that, but with some ramshackle shelves in front of the intended vehicle.

After parking in the garage with the door shut, we managed to jam the Denali inside with
3 inches to spare in front.....

....and 3 1/2 inches in back! Whew!

I really think a new (larger) garage attached to a new house would have been easier to achieve, instead of cleaning out a spot for this big car! But we did it!

Hmmm...I have been tagged!

2007-08-29T22:07:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Audrey has tagged me. I always like to fill out questionnaires, hoping that I'll get someone to respond with their more exciting version..

Jobs I have had:
Hawaiian Shave Ice maker
Video store clerk (my boss said I didn't have to preview ALL of the R-rated shows) hee hee
Waitress at Big Boy
Print shop bookmaker
Craft service for a movie
Travel reservationist

Movies I never get sick of:
Pride and Prejudice (the 6 hour version is my fave)
Overboard
Heaven Can Wait
The Wedding Singer
The Italian Job
Ferris Beuhler's Day Off
The Princess Bride
Foul Play
Audrey and I could pretty much put our feet up and watch the same movies, I think. I stole a lot of hers.

Places I've called Home:
Provo, Utah
St. George, Utah
Various towns in Saskatoon and Manitoba
Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, and Newbury Park, California

Favorite TV Shows:
The Office
The Wonder Years (yeah...its still a favorite rerun)
The Deadliest Catch
America's Funniest Home Videos
Dirty Jobs

Favorite Vacation Spots:
anywhere there is good food served to me, and cleaned up for me, and the kids don't need me....
..I guess that means a cruise ship to anywhere.
Park City, Utah is also fabulous--and smells wonderful any time of year!

Favorite Web Sites:
all my friends' blogs
The Idea Door (for church songs for kids)
I-Am-Bored.com (I spend WAY too much time there)

Would you bungee jump?
Heck yeah

Favorite Cereal?
Frosted Shredded Wheat

The last thing I ate:
A Rolo. I wanted the last Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, but James gave me a pouty face.

The Last Person I talked to on the phone:
The office secretary from my daughter's school.

What I am listening to:
At least 2 noisy fans which aren't able to drown out the sound of the cars on the highway. Teddy Gieger's CD, Underage Thinking.

Eye Color:
Blue

Summer or Winter:
Summer in Utah Valley...hands down!

Scary or Happy endings?
Never scary. Never scary.

Tag YOU are it!
I hope I get responses from my sister and Marilee and Jolynn---because you read my blogs sometimes.

Back to School for us!

2007-08-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

School is in session! We have a 10th grader, an 8th grader, a 4th grader, and the 1st grader. When did that 8th grader get so much taller than our 10th grader? I was hanging around the PTA sign-ups just enough to sign up for the Walk-a-Thon. I'll do my usual Tuesday (Get Paid Day) at the school, but I'll start a bit earlier. Hey--who doesnt want to watch other people's children at 7:50 in the morning? My kids aren't keen to it. They know that if Dad can't take them to school...EVERYONE gets to their campuses extra early (if they want a ride). What troopers .....muahahaa!

When asked by their dad how the first day of school went--the oldest said, "It was okay." The next one said, "It was boring." Of course, that was the girl with poor eyesight and wears black. The 3rd girl said, "I really liked it! My teacher is SO nice!" And the youngest didn't want to talk about her teacher, "Now I'm talking about me now! I really like being in 1st grade! I only have 2 other kids from my last class. One is Austin James...you know dad--like your name. And the other is Cesar Oros. Thats it! And I can't believe Mia is in my class!" We got quite the earful.

Bye-bye Dodge Caravan...

2007-08-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here we go! We got the Denali...and it is nice! Funny how beautifully cars have evolved since we bought our first family car...13 YEARS ago. Our Denali is a 2005, but has been babied. We are very grateful to the previous owner. :) The criteria for our daughters? It had to have a working DVD system. Check! Alas, I don't understand why the DVD screens have to be so tiny. Yes, they CAN make them bigger, but not in our case. Oh- was that me whining? Now it is official...the Roomba (vacuum) has now been replaced as the favorite non-human member of the family. Roomba stays a close second. The Roomba just can't get us comfortably to our Utah destination.

Happy birthday, Jenna

2007-08-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Jenna's birthday at a fun place named Jolly Jumps. So much fun! It is a warehouse with a room of about 6 inflatable things and a rock wall to climb. The time went by too fast. Jenna and her sisters could not be a cuter set!

We love our friends!

I just had to show my lovely harvest! Could there be a prettier addition to a garden? This cute basket is going to a friend. I guess I need to include a recipe for lots of cherry tomatoes!

Any suggestions?

Click here for a YouTube video

2007-08-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this song and the video with it is adorable! I was born in '66, and that cute couple could have been my beautiful parents (but mom had the platinum blond 'do going on).

..its going to be tough when school starts for the kids...and me...

2007-08-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

Well, it may surprise you, but I have a moment to post something. I know the last two times I had started, "Something suddenly came up" (yep, Im quoting Marcia Brady) Since the last post the family has been to a family reunion in Irvine, California, went to the Getty Museum, we got a Wii, and are in the midst of getting a big, gas-sucking Denali. Life is good. Here I am with my reunion family team playing "Up and Down Pineapple". Ill spare the details--but why not embarrass yourself in front of your husband's family? I may have done that. I got very wrapped up in this reunion and even signed up to be on the next committee! Now looking back--I really have no business planning a get-together for 4 generations of strangers!

mid-july faves

2007-07-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

I dont know about you, but I just love summer. I just love, love, love it! I expressed this to sweet Monica today as we were driving home from her dentist appointment; being in the car together with our Jamba Juices, with the sun shining down, with the air conditioner---is the best. I just love getting to hang out with my girls. But another Best for me is being in the garden each morning before anyone is awake. I am going to have oodles of cherry tomatoes in another week. But the tomatoes are only accentuated by the basil planted strategically in front. Basil in the morning air is a rush...and you can't help bumping into it. Sadly, my basil this year is a gruesome sight---but it is doing its part as an air freshener!
James' knee is getting back to normal. Hes' been gimpy for so long, he has to re-learn to walk straight again. I think that is all the Physical Therapy he cares to do.......jk James!
I am also becoming a late-night junkie. I feel like a rebellious teen again and refuse to put myself to bed at a decent hour! This is only self-defeating because I only miss out on the best part of the morning hours when I do that. hee hee

More photos

2007-07-06T18:14:00.000-07:00

I wish I could have kept up this blog while on vacation...but the laptop died. I had so much to share with you. I especially wanted to thank my wonderful sister for letting us stay at her home.

Our Utah "break"

2007-07-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

Our cabin at Heber Valley Girls Camp. Yep, those are possibly the least comfy beds ever! At least everything was super-clean!

Jenna and me with the oldest hand-crank ice cream dasher I've seen (yep-ours from e-Bay).

How about this scene?? What you don't see is how high in altitude we really are at this Heber Valley Camp. Heavenly-for sure!

These are just a few of the almost 300 photos taken since our Utah spree started 6/21. The girls and I left James at home and drove straight thru to my sister's home in Orem. Whew! The kids loved the speedy trip. I loved having my i-pod musicto keep my fingers tap-dancing on the steering wheel. June 22nd--my siblings at Heber Valley Girls Camp where my parents are missionaries. Surreal mission...I agree. Camp sites were very tidy. We were always on the lookout for an elusive bear. The deer were common around our cabins. Hand-cranked ice cream! I dragged my own machine from Cali. It was used a few times on the trip. June 24th--drove 2 girls to EFY in Logan, Utah for the week. June 26th--took remaining girls and cousins to Scera pool. I'm quite sure the tempuratures were in the upper 90's in Utah Valley the whole time we were there. The pool day was over too fast. June 29th-July 1st--Jensen Reunion in Hobble Creek. My grandparents, Howard and Thelma Jensen, left a beautiful few acres for all of us to gather for such events. Another heavenly spot, in my book. I just love being among my cousins. They are the most amazing people. Why did they get all the talent in the family? July 3rd--My sister got us tickets for the Hale Center Theatre in Orem. We saw Beauty and the Beast in this little theatre-in-the-round. Fantastic! Even little 5 yr old Jenna was captivated the whole time! You would think that July 4th would be the big finish to the trip. That is why we trudge 1400 miles roundtrip...right? I think it is simply the candle on the cake of the whole 'returning to my roots' thing.

Oh yeah--we missed James. A lot. I want to thank the Wilsons and Whites and Ehlens for keeping him under wing while we were gone.

Is it summer break yet?

2007-06-11T20:19:00.000-07:00

Only a few more days of school. I can't wait. Really. I want it all over now. Unlike last year, where I was pretty busy with some school responsibilities, all is going smoothly and I'm not in charge of stuff. Well, a typical school week this year went like this...Monday-attempt to get house in order. Monday is my day to put my earbuds in and just CLEAN while cranking up my tunes. There is never enough Monday left for this messy house! Tuesdays-what I call my 'busy day'. I get the girls to their 3 different schools and hurry to Brielle's class to do a little work for her teacher. The rest of the school day is mostly spent as a paid Campus Supervisor (playground police). I get to be with the kindergartners in the morning and the bigger kids in the afternoon. Wednesday-same start to the day as Tuesday, but this time help out in Jenna's class for about 1 1/2 hours. Wednesdays are usually good errand days. Thursday-pretty much a repeat of Monday with less 'umph'. Friday-seems to be a day for school assemblies, field trips, etc. Since James likes to be home on Fridays it is also a nice day to go out to lunch. Fridays go by too fast. I confess, the reward for being around school a lot is for my kids to see at least one photo of me in their school yearbook. Yep--that is why I do it. *wink*

One week left of school!

2007-06-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

this family is so excited to be done with the work and responsibilty of school for the year! time to just be lazy and watch more lazy people at the park, beach, wherever!

These are photos from summer 2002

James is healing nicely. His CPM is flexing his leg for him to almost 100 degrees now. The doctor will be content with 110 degree flexibility. James' problem now is trying to straighten the leg -all the way-. The doctor asked if James needed to be prescribed a therapist. He laughed--and the doctor said that is what he thought James would say. So James is doing his own therapy. He will actually pull it off, I know.

Solved?

2007-06-04T23:05:00.001-07:00

Could it be as simple as my image files are too big? This is a test...I think I'm only allowed to upload one photo at a time here. Annoying, but worth figuring out so I can get my pictures published.

James knee update: we are totally overwhelmed by James' progress. It's miraculous! He hasn't needed hardly any pain meds, and the ice machine rarely is used. We love his CPM--its effect on his leg is much like the motion of rocking a baby to sleep. The constant motion of the machine keeps the knee from getting in an uncomfortable position. Now, if we could only get a sling for the rest of his body that is annoyed by sitting all day! :)

The problem with photos

2007-06-04T22:32:00.000-07:00

The problem with my photos missing is that I don't know what the problem is!! I'm working on it. Stay tuned...

The 3rd day...

2007-06-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

Again, thanks to you who have been concerned and kept James in your thoughts during his recovery. Yesterday was QUITE a 'down' day for him. He now figures it was due to the extra meds he took on Wednesday (just to be sure he was pain-free). Oh--and he was tired. The crazy thing is that this morning he is sooo much better, and hasn't had any pain meds since yesterday at 4am. He credits the CPM for keeping his leg moving, and not stuck in an uncomfortable position. Yay! This is amazing! The CPM gadget is set up level to his hip, and his leg sits in a sling-type rig. The machine very slowly (sometimes I think its turned off) pulls his foot toward him. He gradually will build up the degree of flexion (is that a word?). As you can imagine, right now he is in his recliner with the laptop. Lots of 'catching-up' to do in his world.

I have taken the gardening upon myself. I think James thought I was doing that before, and I always thought it was one of his tasks. Now that I have some cute tomatoes and basil growing, I'm taking charge. We have had a problem with bunnies and squirrels eating tomatoes. Although the tomatoes are still too small for nibbling, James' berry bush has almost been stripped clear of all new growth and the blossoms and berries with it. We put a little chicken wire cage around it and on top, but I think its too late. This morning a little ripe berry had been nibbled just an inch beyond the wire! Bunnies are the cutest non-pet we have. I can only fear for their lives if they keep this up and James' comes hobbling after them with his crutches one day!

Today, Jenna "bridges" (equivalent to graduates) from Daisy scouts to Brownie scouts. All of the girls have spent at least 4 years in Girl Scouts.

I can't find Amanda's Daisy photos...but she is the one who will earn her Silver award soon. By the time she is 16, she will have earned her Gold--pretty much equivalent to an Eagle for the boys. Go Amanda! She has fantastic leaders.

James is home

2007-05-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the 29th, James and I entered the hospital at 2:00pm for all necessary paperwork, even though his surgery wasn't til 4:pm. I left him at 3:45 and didnt hear from the doctor til after 7. I had been quite ancy for the past hour. Surgery was fine, and the doctor said he used the absolutely largest bone graph he could get. We are really grateful for the person who donated this. If you've received a 'donor part' before, you'll know that you also receive a reminder note to send to the donor's family. We've never seen James drunk before, but it is no stretch of the imagination to imagine him totally snoggered. He thought he was the life of the party in the OR. As he was wheeled to Recovery, he regretted that his 'quick wit' had failed him. Those escorting him just rolled thier eyes! The young, cute nurse from OR heaved a heavy sigh as she said to the Recovery floor nurses, "Who gets him now?" James received a blessing before all this that all would be well if he would adhere to the doctor's advice. Uh-hem..... Obviously someone knows James better than the rest of us! He couldn't wait to leave the recovery room. He's hooked up to no less than 3 machines, and he thinks he can just skip on out when he wants. I knew I had the reins on this Buggy Ride. I had to constantly remind him of the "doctor's orders clause" of his blessing. That would be good for, what?, maybe 5 min?...

We left the hospital around midnight. This morning James had a machine delivered to the house. Its a CPM. Basically, it flexes his leg for him. He'll be hooked up to that for about 4-6 hours a day. James is managing his pain nicely with good drugs.

Those of you that are not easily grossed out--you can google OATS. That is the procedure he had. For real fun, also google the images.

Thanks for all your calls and concerns. He's doing great! I'm just really going to miss my dishwasher, lawn mower, garbage can hauler, morning school-bus driver....... you get the idea.

"Why my lips stayed chapped on Mother's Day"

2007-05-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

This was the winning entry for the MSN writing contest for stories about Motherhood.

So, we had this great cat named Jack and the kids would carry him around and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on this mat in our bathroom. Well we have 3 kids and at the time of this story they were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old.

The middle one is Eli. Eli really loves Chapstick. LOVES it. He kept asking to use my chap stick and then losing it. So finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my Chapstick and how he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer when he was done.

Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around and try to get ready for Church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood.

We finally have the older one and the baby loaded in the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched everywhere and I finally round the corner to go into the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my Chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end.

Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped." Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right—their little butts do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind.

And the only question to really ask at that point was whether it was the first time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth.

And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your chap stick on the cat's butt.

This story -though gross- is just perfect for my tribute to 'real moms'. Although I don't have this chapstick story, I am one of those moms who has taken pictures of other gross stuff that my kids have done. If you have an image in your mind of something...then enough said. Someday I'll publish those embarrassing photos.

After our '05 Christmas photo. You like the fake beach behind us?

Yesterday, Amanda had her first Orthodontist visit. First, you have to understand that James doesn't understand all the hub-bub about braces. "The girls' teeth are fine!", he says. Well, the rest of the dental professionals must really have it in for us Greens, cuz the doctors are all in cahoots that we take care of Monica, Amanda, and Brielle's crooked teeth. Monica could possibly get away with what she has...but I'm taking no chances. A friend of mine with 3 daughters of her own told me once, "What if the girl meets the perfect guy? He has the choice to be with a pretty girl with straight teeth or one with crooked teeth. He will take the girl with straight teeth." Shallow? Perhaps. But back to Amanda. X-rays were taken. The orthodontist then does a visual check. "Whoa!", is his first word. I hear a 'cha-ching' in the back of my mind. He peers a bit more then says, "Mom, see this!" Another 'cha-ching'...he has to convince me now so he can get that down payment on his next Porsche. He is right. James' crooked face is actually a degenerative problem. He has passed it down to his sweet 12 year old. Who else has this hideous disfiguration?? Among the jumble of misalligned teeth, the doctor showed me the way the bottom teeth/jaw on the left side were 'caving in'. This is also making her chin a little assymetrical. Thankfully, James is a giver. Amanda will get braces.

Halloween '96

Speaking of James. He's getting ready to spend even more money that we don't have for his knee surgery, which is scheduled for Tuesday. We've been waiting several months for the generous 'donor' to give up a knee. I'll post more on that later. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers...this is going to keep him off his knee for 6-8 weeks.

What poison oak does for you

2007-05-25T11:11:00.001-07:00

The Photo That Needed To Be Exposed! I was thinking of how I could add this picture to the blog nicely. I guess there is no way. James was at an overnight scout trip a few years back. That first night was dark when they arrived and the young scouts grabbed anything to start a fire. To their credit, it was springtime, and the 'leaves of three...let it be' hadn't really emerged from the branches. The poison oak was burned -- the campground was infected -- but none were aware of the eminent chaos. James had been wearing a fleece jacket, and later used it for a pillow that night. Obviously he sleeps on his right side!! *I'm still doubling over with giggles*

2007-05-21T19:58:00.001-07:00

Pictures of us in Utah last summer

2007-05-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

Monica, Amanda, Brielle, and Jenna at a park in Utah. Photo taken July '06.

Monica is now 15 and a freshman in High School. Amanda is nearing 13 and is in 7th grade. Brielle is 9 and in 3rd grade; Jenna is 5 and in Kindergarten. All were born here, but are like their momma and would love to spend their lives in Utah Valley. We just can't get enough of those cousins, Fourth of July celebrations, summer rains (with lots of lightning), Granny's Milkshakes on the way to Park City, anything to do with Hobble Creek, and family reunions. We are also careful to load up on Grandma Sycamore's bread and Stephen's Gourmet Hot Chocolate when we head back home.

Michelle, Amanda, Kirsten, Monica