Mi Familia Linda

New blog

2011-06-13T23:40:00.000-07:00

What better time than to start up a new blog, right? I've once again filled up my space for pictures. Let me know if you know what I'm doing wrong.

Leave a message if you want the new blog address.

Ta ta for now.

Hodge podge

2011-06-13T12:41:00.000-07:00

Love holding our sweet little Marla, Loyd and Angela's baby.

Nate smiling

The toys are packed away. But no worries, the boys always are good at improvising.

Hanging out with some great people we met while living here.

Our awesome movers. This is installation number 1. These guys came in and packed up the house.

The final movers are here loading the containment with our stuff. I thought it would be an hour or so. I was wrong. They wrap up every piece they put in the container. They've been here for almost 5 hours and I'm guessing they still have another hour or so. Nicest guys. The house is looking pretty empty. We're paying bills and tying up loose ends. The carpet cleaners should be here tomorrow. Toki is at scout camp today and tomorrow.

The pictures in this post are not organized. Too tired to care. We were able to hang out with several friends before the big move. Love this park.

Hanging out with the Mitchells.

Installation number 2. Different packers who loaded up the container.

Where our stuff will be for a month or two. I hope it makes it to Tokyo!

Our movers were so awesome. Really.

Ice blocking at the park.

I'm really glad for this friend. She was often getting me out of the house. We ran and biked together. Our kids got along well so play dates at the park or church parking lot were always nice. I hope I find another friend like Jen and maybe even step it up and be one. I'm grateful for a good friend.

Some updates/thoughts

2011-06-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

So we sold our washer, dryer, and lawn mower today. We sold the car yesterday and the van a couple of weeks ago. Loyd came and picked up the green couches and some furniture we didn't want. If you thought we were minimalists before, you should see us now.

Without a car this morning, Vy rode his bike to school (accompanied by Chris). Toki opted to hitch a ride with his friend. By the afternoon we had picked up our car rental to hold us over for the week. I'll probably be heading to the Laundromat or a friend's house to do laundry.

We've been busy. We've both been cramming in as many private Japanese lessons as we can. Chris has been working on the house non-stop. He's also been working out the logistics of the move. I've been selling our stuff, getting the house clean for the showings, buying stuff we need, and other odds and ends. We also did a road trip to Mesa last weekend....only took 24 hours round trip to go to a wedding. Yikes.

We've been busy but there has been a lot of downtime as well. And although there has been tons to do, things are moving along smoothly. We're down to less than a week...movers are coming to pack up the house on Friday, on Monday they'll put everything in a cargo to ship, carpet cleaners on Tuesday, board a plane on Wednesday.

I don't know what to think. I'm mostly excited. I'm trunky and ready to go. And then there's this worry that I'm going to let the radiation problem taint my experience. It certainly is there and it's not going to go away. It's in the water, in the air, on surfaces everywhere...I'm praying to be protected during our stay in Tokyo.

Why are we doing this now, after all that has happened? We've had this dream to live in Japan for soooo long now. A path was made and we followed it. Now we're just going to live our lives to the fullest. Life's short and I'm not one to get up day in and day out doing the same old, same old.

We're doing this by faith and praying and hoping for the best outcome.

2011-05-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

I use to think that Vy was all Chris. After taking a second look at my kid picture next to Vy, I'm thinking he looks more like me now.

Hope your Monday was as Mellow as Ours :0)

2011-05-16T20:54:00.001-07:00

the Latest tidbits

2011-05-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

The phone rang. It was Toki. "Mom, I threw up." Poor kid threw up at the computer lab. Remnants of his snack, before standardized testing, were all over his pant leg to prove it. Luckily the secretary had read an article about this girl in the Sunday paper. She immedietely knew what I was talking about when I said gastroparesis. I had read the article too. It made me teary.

We're hoping it was something he ate this past weekend. That would mean it's not as serious a case as Gentrie's in which they don't know what causes it. She just couldn't keep anything down before they finally put a pacemaker in her tummy to get her stomach to pump food down. Toki says, "my body doesn't like food" to describe what he's going through. Pretty much his stomach can't digest certain foods and it sits there fermenting and causing pain. Anything else trying to go down will come up unless gravity pulls whatever has been sitting in there down to make room for the new stuff.

We know for sure he has no ability to digest dairy. Hopefully, he ate something with dairy in it that's causing this episode.
..................................

He recently read the Dragon Rider and ranked it up there with the Fablehaven series he just finished.

So I picked up the Inkheart series and the Thief Lord by the same author. I threw in a couple more books to mix things up. The other two are Beehive award winners, so they should be good. Let's see if my bookworm can finish these in 3 weeks.

For Mother's Day weekend we had a yard sale.

We wrapped up some house work including putting up a new fence/gate, painting the boy's room and some furniture, and did lots of cleaning. We've been slaving away this past week. Poor Chris has been working through this with a sore lower back. He fell a few weeks ago and he hasn't had time to rest, so it hasn't gotten better.

We also got to hang out with our Provo friends. A big thanks to Ang and Tasha for organizing that!! It was so good to see everyone and all the kids. Thanks Jess for the slideshow. The pictures turned out great!

To think we were all newly weds with no kids when we first met!!! We've all been through a lot in the last decade and yet Life is good.

On Mother's day, I slept and slept and slept. I just could not wake up. I slept 8 hours the night before, woke up for a brief time and then I slept most of the day, and then I slept all night long. I was pretty much asleep on Mother's Day. Thanks to daddy and the boys for letting me catch up!

First Pinewood Derby.....Does it have a happy ending?

2011-04-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

For Spring Break

2011-04-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

We went to Zions National Park. It's the first time we've ever been. At first we were going to go to Moab but after we learned that the Jeep Safari was going on (and I really didn't want to deal with the crowds), we switched to Zions. It wasn't any better in Zions since it was National parks week and Spring break. However, we were able to get into Zions, Bryce National park and the Grand Staircase Escalante State Park for free. We spent the bulk of our trip in Zions and one day visiting the other parks. The weather was so nice. It wasn't hot or too cold. It was just the right temperature for physical activities. Nights were cold and rainy for a few minutes.

It was pretty busy so we spent the first night at a commercial camp sight just south of the park and early the next morning went into the Zions and found an awesome spot to stay for another 3 nights.

We hiked to the upper Emerald pools, Weeping Rock (not much of a hike), and the Shinawava Temple. The trails we're mostly paved and very kid friendly. We saw lots of strollers. We drove through a mile long tunnel on our way to see the other parks. In Bryce Canyon we stopped at a couple look out points and tried to hike on one of the trails. It was too muddy. We turned back but not before we were caked in mud. We took a dirt road to the Governors Arch in the Grand Staircase and went up to the top from the back. We went to Glen Canyon Dam, outside of Page Arizona. We also went back into Springdale and took showers almost everyday, shopped for "souvenirs" or bribes for no whining during the hikes and drives, and on the last day participated in the Easter egg hunt that the locals put on.

We did dutch oven cooking for the first 3 nights and hit Denny's in Page, Arizona after a long day of driving and sight seeing. I love Dutch oven cooking. We just needed a couple more mouths to feed....we had so much leftovers every night. We made a breakfast pizza, monkey rolls, peach cobbler, enchilada pie, cinnamon rolls, amd Shepard's pie. Chris' favorite was the Shepard's pie with a twist. We added green salsa to it. My favorite was the enchilada pie. I bring recipes but usually tweak things.

For the enchilada pie (so I don't forget):
Bottom layer enchilada sauce (not too spicy if kids are eating)
lay a double layer of corn tortillas (about 6-8) I thought just 3 or 4 tortillas wasn't nearly enough
spread a layer of cooked ground beef evenly or ground turkey
spread a layer of black beans and corn
more enchilada sauce
this is where you would put a nice layer of cheese but I left this out. I was going to do soy cheese but didn't make it to the health food store.
another double layer of corn tortillas
do the same thing again with above ingredients
top with tortillas, more enchilada sauce, and I did lay some cheese on half of it so Toki could have the other half, pain free.
Cook over hot coals for 20-30 minutes.

Next time we'll bring our bikes and now I'm convinced we need a bike hitch. It would have cost over $100 just to rent bikes for the day. I really wanted to bike the Parus trail which ran right next to our camp sight and the Virgin river. It was so beautiful there.

I also wished we could have hiked the Cottonwood narrows in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Park. We drove by the entrance and exit. There was no water in the river and it looked really short and kid friendly.

The kid's favorite parts included making new friends. There was an exceptional amount of families with just boys. They found a boy's haven right next to the Virgin river and close to our camp sight: a beach full of the perfect sand. They spent a lot of time there and not enough time in their opinion. They also played with their bey blades and climbed rocks. They look forward to the camp fires and roasting marshmallows. They also found this playground toy that spun them around really fast. Only problem was it made them sick and one of them was throwing up in the car afterward.

It was a busy Spring break. I was glad we had a chance to do something. Now the kids are back in school, the laundry is backed up, I did lots and lots of yard work and Chris signed the contract to work in Japan today, decided to try and sell the house before going the renting route and picked out our Real Estate agent, Chris and Toki getting ready for the pine wood derby for tomorrow, and life is crazy busy.

Big Boy

2011-04-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

Lolo has outgrown his bike and got a new one for his big day. He's still getting use to it. Since it's bigger he has a harder time getting going but since we're having more warm days, he rides his bike to school and is getting lots of practice. He wants a volcano making party....should be a messy one.

Endoscopy Results on child

2011-04-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

Last week, Toki attended a full week of school pain free for the first time in a long time. Last month was a really difficult month for us. I was often sending him to school even though he wasn't feeling well.

A couple weeks ago he had an endoscopy to find out what was causing chronic stomach aches. Symptoms included acid, nausea, and pain behind the belly button. He's also had congestion, rash, diarrhea, and was throwing up. Celiacs, diabetes, allergies, lactose intolerance, Crohns disease, and cancer were all conditions swimming around my head.

The results showed a stomach full of undigested food. His stomach looked like he had just eaten an hour ago and not 12. It turns out that he has no ability to digest lactose. He has zero production of lactase, the enzyme that breaks down milk protein. Anything with dairy will sit in his stomach and ferment.

I was surprised that this was the reason for so much discomfort. I thought for sure it would be a wheat allergy or Celiacs with damage to the villi in his intestines. She said she saw no damage to the villi. Fabulous new!

I've thought for a long time now that he might be lactose intolerant, so it hasn't been devastating for us. Now instead of some dairy he has none. When he got over his milk allergy, he began to have some milk, yogurt, cheese, and ice cream but those were certainly not his main foods......he just didn't have a taste for milk and the other things he just tolerated. He'll probably only miss the ice cream and shredded cheese.

An interesting side note. Chris gave Toki a priesthood blessing. In it, Chris said that his parents (us) would understand what he is going through to better help him. Both Chris and I came down with horrible stomach issues. I had the worst stomach pains and food poisoning symptoms. I was up throwing up but it wasn't because I was nauseous. It was because the food was not digesting and going down. I felt so full and the food just came up, everyone hour or so throughout the night. I thought for sure it was food poisoning and called some people we had dinner with the night before. Everyone seemed to be fine. Chris felt similar symptoms later that afternoon. The severe symptoms for me went away after a day and then I just felt full all the time for another few days. For Chris......it went on for about a week. Toki was going through the same thing. And of course, the other two boys......completely healthy and they never got anything.

The latest Lego creation.

Laser Hair Removal, American Laser Center in Draper

2011-04-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

I've always been interested in getting laser hair removal ever since I learned about it. I went in to the American Laser Center a few years ago after "winning" a discount. I was so disappointed that the areas I wanted done (armpits, upper lip, and bikini) would add up to thousands. Laser hair removal became a wish at that point.

Then earlier this year I decided to go in again, after "winning" a discount again. I was happily surprised that the business has evolved to be more affordable. I got my discount plus an extra $100 off for setting an appointment and since I came in on the day they were doing a promotion, I received 3 areas for the price of 2. I was surprised how affordable it was.

Also they've changed how many treatments you can get. It use to be 6 treatments plus touch-ups. They found out that it wasn't sufficient enough to have happy customers and good enough results. So what I got was a 2 year contract. I can come in every 4-6 weeks for 2 years if I need to. And since I'll be moving to Tokyo, my contract gets put on hold and I can start it up when I get back. I'll let you know if that really happens or not.

The ladies at American laser are great. After you get over the sales pitch and sign your life away, the tension disappears and the ladies are back to normal again. However, if you try to get out of it, they can get really nasty. So far, they've been super nice and generous to me.

As for the hair removal.....you're probably wondering if it works.

So far so good. I could do hair removal this way for the rest of my life. Truly. I rarely ever shave those areas anymore. I started in January and am going in for my fourth treatment tomorrow and I'd say I've shaved those areas maybe 3 times. Some hair grows back but it's very fine. And the skin isn't smooth like a baby. It still looks like I'm shaving. All the course hair is gone, especially under my arms. Some day I want to have my legs done. How wonderful would that be!

Time will only tell if the treatments are permanent or not. I'll let you know. I'm just happy that the course hair is gone for more than 1 day (in fact it's been gone for months now). I honestly would pay $50 a month to have it this way for the rest of my life. It beats the alternative.

My reason for getting laser hair removal....I have stubborn, dark hair that grows back the next day. As I've gotten older, it's gotten worse and more embarrassing. The hair on my face was especially frustrating.

As a side note, fine hair and light color hair is hard to remove. Laser hair removal does hurt but not in all areas. It feels like a rubber band snapping on you times 5.

If you have any questions let me know. I looked all over the internet for reviews on American Laser in Draper and couldn't find anything. So this is why I'm writing about my experience thus far. I did however read loads and loads of bad stuff about American Laser and laser hair removal in general. It might not be for everyone.

Love Making These

2011-04-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

I love this kiddo. May the Lord watch over you and bless you always.

the Dentist

2011-03-31T08:54:00.000-07:00

He's my only one that doesn't brush his teeth and yet my only one without cavities once again. I'm guessing it has to do with him inhaling his food and not chewing. JK :0) It's genetic....just like dad and papa....but then again "inhaling" food.....that could be genetic too.

We recently discovered a huge difference in how we eat around here. For me, once I feel full, I can't eat anymore.....the pain of being full is no fun and it would be torture for me to take another bite. Toki and Lolo are just like this. You can't get them to take another bite once they're full.....it's torture.

On the other hand, for Chris and Vy, the pleasure that comes from the food overrides the pain that comes from fullness. And thus, we see them clearing off their plates, asking for more, and eating brothers leftovers. Finally, there's a moment of excruciating pain, that we all hear about and then we move on.

I think these patterns of eating are more genetic than they are learned. Genetically, Vy is more like his dad then the other two are. They have so many little things that align such as body shape, skin color and eye, sensitivity to light, good teeth, warm feet, and even how they react to life in general.

Does Rogaine Work?

2011-03-29T12:35:00.000-07:00

Picture taken end of December 2010

Picture taken March 2011

My husband has inherited the male pattern baldness from his family. Poor guy is balding EXACTLY like Uncle Quin and Uncle Kelly did, not that those two aren't ravishingly handsome without hair or anything. Uncle Quin said he noticed his hair falling out in his early 20s and was pretty much gone by his 40s.

(Uncle Quin and Kelly in background) Last Sunday dinner

According to research, Rogaine works only on that type of balding and only works if there are existing hair follicles. Looks like Chris is the perfect candidate; in only a couple of months, his hair is looking pretty good. Don't forget to put some on the crown of your head!! I'll put up some follow up pictures in a couple of months to see if it gets thicker in the back, with more careful application.

There are side effects to using Rogaine. Chris did experience these in the first month of use. So make sure you follow up with the doctor.

BTW, I bought a generic brand of Rogaine from Walmart. It was 2% stronger and 50% cheaper.

Food allergies (wheat and milk)

2011-03-25T10:42:00.001-07:00

We're back on a special diet for Toki. I spent $60 on the above stuff.....calcium supplements, hypoallergenic lotion, almond butter, wheat/milk free pasta and snacks. We're also staying away from eggs, peanuts, soy, and barley; basically all the stuff he use to be allergic to. We've been eating lots of potatoes and rice as staples.

Last week Toki had a cold. He stayed home from school for a couple of days. Towards the end of the week he wasn't getting better but instead was worse. It seemed to me he was having allergies. His symptoms included a rash down both sides of his cheeks and neck, puffy, itchy eyes, stomach ache, and congestion. He pretty much has eczema all winter long.

Come to find out, at the school "chocolate party" last Thursday, he had a whole milk shake. Anytime he has a lot of dairy, I notice he gets a stomach ache. I concluded that he became lactose intolerant since he was not raised on milk when he was younger due to a milk protein allergy. Anytime he has dairy I usually give him an enzyme pill to help him digest the milk protein. But for several years now he hasn't had hives and congestion with the ingestion of the above mentioned foods, so why now? I'm guessing his immune system has gone haywire. Perhaps having a cold and a milk shake at the same time was a bad idea.

Anyway, as for now, we're allergen free which makes school lunch a bit tricky.

This is a sandwich using "corn thins." They're a hit with the kids and I actually enjoyed it. Can't be too picky with minimal choices.

making progress

2011-03-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

A little sentence that Lolo put together and can read

Kites and stuff

2011-03-23T22:12:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we went to Soldier Hollow to tube. I liked it so much better this year than last year because it was warmer. The snow was slushy and we didn't sail down the big hill as quickly. I wasn't so freaked out for our lives, although watching Vy stand up as he went down was unnerving. This is our family picture attempt. It pretty much sums us up right now....Vy and Toki fighting over the blue tube, attacking each other, painful fits, and then more crying after dad whacks them too. Say cheese.

We went to the park to fly kites and we ended up staying for 3.5 hours. We had such a blast.

Toki and I battling out who can get the highest.

At first, the kite flying reminded me of our fishing trips.....trying to set everyone up and then having to do it over and over again and over again. Just like when we go fishing, someone has to get all tangled up. This time it was in power lines, trees, and brother's kite. After a while we got into the grove of things, we found a more open and windier field, a couple of the boys got side tracked, and it was all good.

playing in the sand doesn't require shoes

The Darth Vader kite that the boys fought over, ended up being claimed by Toki. It was the most difficult kite to get up. It was feisty and at first I thought it was broken. After a while, we got the hang of things, and it became the funnest. It twists and turns, spins and plummets, and if you're in the way, it will hit you. It was pretty sweet.

Lolo and I went to TJ Max to pick up the kites. He picked out the dinosaur for himself and asked me to get his brothers the star wars ones, which were better quality. Normally I get the dollar kites, which work fine, but the extra cost was well worth it. The kites rocked!

Happy March to you! Hope you get out to enjoy the wind. We're loving the warmer weather and I even got out to do yard work this week.

And the moment you've been waiting for

2011-03-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

Drum roll please...

Home made go-cart by Chris

Seeking J i m m e r F r e d e t t e

2011-03-02T19:09:00.000-08:00

for any one of our lovely Ericson ladies. I'm a huge fan. I'm so proud to be a BYU alumni. You've made us all proud. That's why we're so happy to let you know that we'd love to have you be a part of the family. Some of these ladies may have boyfriends but that's o.k. They're only temporary until you make your pick. And although not all are BYU fans, don't worry.....her love will be unconditional.

Meet Erica. Her love for children and life is exemplified by her service to children of all nationalities. She recently graduated and now teaches at some amazing school. She is an avid reader and collector of books. She's fun to be around and wise beyond her age. She's smart, thoughtful, giving, and has a strong ability to understand people even if they're not great communicators. You'll be very happy with this pick and your children will be so lucky to have her as their mother!

Meet Elsina. She's a high school teacher and past cheer leading squad coach. She herself was a cheerleader and dancer. She's got some funky moves and is always ready to impress. Her flawless skin and perfect locks are sure to catch your eye.

Meet Lauren. She's a great friend and easy to be around. She's laid back and sure to calm your nerves any day. She's very knowledgeable about fashion and make up. She grew up with lots of siblings and cousins and will sure be a great mother and wife.

Meet Maren. She's got great legs. They came in handy all through high school and college when she played volleyball for them. Her athleticism is sure to impress. She's also very smart and studying to be some fancy lawyer. She'll be certified to watch your back. You will not be disappointed with her sassy spunk.

Meet Katelyn. Recently graduated from BYU, she's interning at the church headquarters before heading to graduate school. She's musically talented and dances a spicy two step. Your family and friends will love her. She's a sweetheart and as cute as a button. You'll definitely move up in the world with this catch.

Meet Shauni. Although the boys are always chasing this gal, she will only have eyes for you if you pick her. Another brilliant Ericson girl, she can be whatever she wants....doctor, lawyer, accountant. You'll be wowed by her smarts. She's sweet and laid back but can work like a horse when it's time. You'll never be bored when you're with her.

Meet Malea. A Spanish gem, she speaks two languages. She's smart and spiritual. She has the most amazing hair, you'll never have to worry about your kids being bald. She's also a BYU student heading to high places. She's got brothers that will be at your beck and call; you'll have everything you'll ever need and more.

Well, there you have it....most of the single ladies in our clan. You are one lucky man!

sight words with S A M S O N

2011-03-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

Love this website. It helps me with teaching Lolo how to read. This particular sight helps out with the most common sight words. It's pretty cool. We've only done the first couple of lists. Lolo also discovered all the printables. We printed up a bunch of worksheets that he's enjoying. It also has fun ideas for games to play with the instructions. The assignments get harder as you move up levels. so cool.

Besides this, we play games throughout the day....like what does _________ start with? What's this letter and it's sound? He can also read simple words if he's in the mood.

I like doing this kind of stuff with him. For one, the other two boys are gone for a good chunk of the day and we get bored. He has a decent attention span and he's fairly easy to work with. Also, I'm worried that he'll be behind when he starts up kindergarten in the Fall. In fact, I know he'll be unless I work with him. He'll be tested in the summer by the International school and I want to help him be at least at grade level.

My other two boys are smart but when they started Kinder here, they were behind compared to their peers. They both went to a neighborhood preschool but I never really worked with them outside of that. While other kids were starting at higher levels of reading, mine both were at the lowest level and moved up throughout the school year. I never worried about it. They've done just fine at school.

It's funny that the principal of their new school said that Toki tested AT grade level in everything except writing in which he tested below grade level. Although he is in the top of his class here, the reality is he's just at grade level when we're talking private schools. I'm actually quite excited about the quality of education the boys will be getting. It's a shame what's happening to the schools around here. In fact, we have the next 3 Fridays off due to budget cuts. Utah ranks 30th in the nation on test results. We didn't even make it in the upper half. Now a days, we really do need to supplement education.....music, singing, art, etc. which all are offered at their new school....not to mention cooking which I have my eye on.

I hope our transition goes smoothly and that we won't have too many more bumps to face in our transfer. We've been wanting this for a long time. We're more excited than nervous. Things are progressing in the right direction.

2011-03-01T14:27:00.000-08:00

Vy was 16 months old.....Toki was almost 3. Lolo thought this video was so funny. There's still a lot of tug of war going on between the two. To that, they've added lots of not so nice things like punching and kicking.

"Falling off your broom"

2011-02-28T14:30:00.000-08:00

So for Valentine's day I picked up these brooms at the Chinese market. The boys have been playing "Quidditch." I thought these would be fun. But, it seems that it stunted there imagination and they stopped pretending. Then we got a kick out of taking pictures of them flying. So the brooms are being used now.

Some funny things I've heard lately from our Harry Potter fanatic include...."Do invisibility cloaks exist?" "I wish people could really fly." "Wouldn't it be fun if we played Quidditch for reals?"

He's been asking and asking for book 7. I've been holding off since he's so close to earning a book for practicing the piano. He resorted to starting the series over again.

Here's the "snitch."

I
I'm dreaming of a summer vacation that includes going to Florida and checking out the new Harry Potter theme land at Universal Studios, visiting NASA, and hanging out at the beach. There's no law against dreaming in between loads of laundry, right?

New camera

2011-02-21T11:51:00.000-08:00

Toki wanted a camera for his birthday. We debated over how much to spend on the camera especially since the boys have a tendency to break or lose things. We opted to get a middle grade Polaroid. He really enjoyed being able to take pictures. And I liked getting his perspective on things as well as seeing pictures of places he went to that I didn't. However, I was so bummed out while glancing at his pictures. The quality is so bad. For me, it's worth the extra buck to get a better picture. So I returned it and got a nicer one. Here are a few pics. from his old camera minus the first one which was taken with his new camera.

love seeing what pictures he takes!

Latest Tidbits

2011-02-16T20:20:00.000-08:00

This is the spare room that I've been storing stuff in. I'm ready to declutter, organize, and get things tidy......my heart feels this way but my mind doesn't have the will power. I just can't get myself to be tidy anymore. I've lost motivation.

My laundry room. Laundry is never ending. And it's not just the laundry......I feel like my whole house is this way.

My new toy Chris gave me for Christmas. WE ALL love it. We just added Netflix and it's very tempting to lay in bed and watch movies all day. The kids play games on it. I check my emails and facebook on it. I also have been checking out housing in Japan with it. Yeah, I pretty much can do all this from bed. So if you need me, you'll know where to find me. It is EVIL.
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Made sugar cookies for my scouts to decorate last week. I was released from being in the nursery after more than 2 years and now I am a den leader for the Wolf group. Thank goodness we're moving to Tokyo in like 3 or 4 months. That's one calling I don't want for 2 years. And yes, things got rolling again with the transfer.

Having dinner slumps? Here are a few dinners I've done lately, if you need some ideas.

Chicken soup. I used pasta in this one but you can substitute with rice or dumplings. I slow cooked the chicken until it fell apart. On this particular night I didn't know we were going to have soup until 10 minutes before we ate. I was in a hurry so I boiled noodles and dumped them in and added frozen peas and salt. The kids loved it.

Navajo tacos. Sometimes I make the chile but usually just open a can. So after I make the Navajo bread, I layer with chile, lettuce, corn, cheese, salsa and ranch dressing. It's usually a hit with the boys. See that face Toki is making.....it's true bliss. He absolutely cannot wait to have dinner. It has nothing to do with me telling him to say C H E E S E. Nope not at all.

frying Navajo bread

Baked grapefruit. 2/3 boys wouldn't touch them. I liked them though. I cut around the fruit and each section. I put butter in the center and topped with brown sugar and cinnamon. I broiled them until they got puffy.

Bagel pizzas. They're self explanatory. I will add that it's best to toast the bagels before adding the sauce and other stuff and then bake them, so they come out crispy and not soggy. Oh wow, that oven is nasty. I don't remember the last time I cleaned it.

In my hamburger patties I added bread crumbs, veggies, and seasoning. Then I baked them in the oven. It's so hard these days to cook. Nights get so hectic with sports, practices, meetings, and life. At least 3 times a week, the thought of fast food crosses my mind. I M U S T resist. Let me know your "fast food" ideas. Pancakes, spaghetti, and cereal only get used when I am desperate and out of ideas. Any others will be welcome.

Here we are anticipating Chris' cousin, Bryce, getting home from his mission. We ALL cried.

Here are the boys waiting for Bryce to get off the airplane from his mission.

Vy lost his first tooth in December and then another one on January 18th. He gets so excited about having a lose tooth and then he works it out. I love my kiddos.

Today I heard myself tell one of the boys......"Will you just sit down and not move.....just stare at the wall and don't think about anything?" I feel like my boys are going 100 miles an hour and are non stop all the time.......their bodies, mouths, and mind. When will they ever chill out? Their latest thing is Quidditch. They use a bakugan for the snitch, a rubber ball for the bludger, and brooms. They chase each other around the house all the while throwing the bludger to try to whack each other. And when that's not happening......my chopsticks and other sharp, dangerous, pointy things are being used to throw out incantations. My head hurts.

A few pictures from 2010

2011-02-16T13:55:00.000-08:00

Here are some family pictures from 2010. I tried to get 12 to fit, one from each month. I'm going to try harder to take more pictures. I haven't gotten a good start this year but I'll try from now on. Hopefully.

Latest Reads

2011-02-07T20:35:00.000-08:00

Toki just finished this book and LOVED it. He rated it up there with Harry Potter. I picked it up from the library just as I was headed out. It had the Beehive award sticker on it so I wasn't worried about it being a flop. I just looked it up and it doesn't have a sequel but it's from the same author that is writing the Fablehaven series. And it's geared for the 8-12 age range.

Before the Candy Store War, he read this book. It's the second book from the Brotherhood of the Conch series. I just found out there's a third book! This series was also rated really well by Amazon readers (if that means anything). (For ages 8-12)

There are 4 books to this series. My sister in law, Monica, gave them to us. It's a great young person's series (4th, 5th grade level). I just started the last book. This will be Toki's next series, then maybe the third book from the Conch Bearer and then on to Fablehaven or the Chronicles of Narnia oh and I can't forget Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Love a good book especially for my book worm

Some thoughts

2011-01-31T21:38:00.000-08:00

(this picture is not suppose to be here. It's the rewards chart I talk about later. For some reason I can't get it to copy and paste down where I want it. Any suggestions?)

We're setting the table for 5 again. When Chris is gone, I get into my work mode and get things going smoothly around here. When I think I have everything under control and feel that things are going quite well, the boys remind me of how much they miss their daddy. "I miss my dad." "I can't wait till dad comes home." And Lolo recently said, "I don't want anything but my dad."

Although I'm a big part of their lives, the boys love Chris. He just adds something really special into their lives that I couldn't do myself. He plays with them differently. He initiates his own type of activities with the boys, that they love to be a part of. When Chris and the boys were out running errands, Lolo said, "Dad, I hope this isn't a dream (hanging out with dad), because if it is, I'll be so sad when I wake up." How cute is that! (and sort of mess up as well).

Toki updates

He's doing so much better in the mornings. While Chris was gone, he slept in my bed. He needed some TLC. As soon as the alarm goes off, I turn on some classical music. I wake him up gently. And I move on to breakfast, packing lunches, warming up the van and their coats. He's been so happy lately. I've been really working on my tone with him. He's so easily affected by our tone of speaking. He gets really down on himself when we're constantly negative and not careful about how we express our frustrations with his behaviors. He's such a special person. A gifted kid. I often feel that Satan wants so badly to tear this kid down. Toki and I have decided that we're going to try really hard to not let this happen. I'm trying to be positive, watch my tone, say good things, and discipline with love.

He's a maniac reader. He finished six Harry Potter books, the Conch Bearer and is currently reading its sequel. When he's suppose to be asleep, I find him reading. He blows me away. His teacher asked him, "Do you really read this much?" in regard to his reading chart. She only lets us mark up to 1 hour a day of reading. If she only knew how much he's really reading per day!! 1 hour?? phish. Try 3-5 hours!

He's wrapping up indoor soccer and is currently playing basketball as well. He loves scouts and enjoys taking pictures with his camera.

Vy update

This kiddo cracks me up! As soon as he wakes up, he is talking my ear off. Talk about a morning person. He's up, dressed, fed and ready to start the day. He seems to enjoy school and I don't hear a complaint. He's certainly enjoys his days off, but he plows through whatever it is he needs to do.

The thing I love about this kiddo is how independent he is. He's a doer. He wants corn. He asks me for it. I tell him to make it himself. So what does he do? He takes the corn out of the freezer, puts some in a pot, fills it with water, sets it on the stove top. After it's done, he puts them on a plate and takes care of business.

When it's time to do homework, he just does it. "I'm going to do my homework now." OK with me! And he's so, so smart. We've decided he's got Chris' smarts and Toki has my smarts....meaning that Vy works things out in his brain and applies himself well. He's sharp in math has a great memory and quick mind. You can explain something to him and then he can tell you in his own words what it means. Toki is focused and has an amazing attention span. He memorizes well and reminds me of when I was a kid........I could sit in one spot and memorize page by page, chapter by chapter, in my textbooks, for a test. But don't ask me to put anything in my own words. I would just copy paragraphs exactly as they were written in the text books, to answer test questions. I think that's why Toki does so well with the Rubik's cubes. It's a lot of memorizing and it takes a good attention span. He can now solve the 4x4 and 5x5. He, however, is much smarter than I was. He's had way more mental stimulation than I ever had growing up.

I thought Vy would never learn to read because I could never get him to sit down in one spot for longer than a few seconds. Imagine a ball continually filling up with lots of jumping particles and trying to hold it still. Eventually it's going to explode because of all the energy building up inside. That's Vy during reading time over the past year. He's this little ball of built up energy about to burst if he has to sit for another minute, sounding out words. Every once in a while, he loses it and screams something out. Anyway, I've stuck it out with him, having to be very firm at times. And magically (haha, I wish) he has become more fluent. He recently read a couple Magic Tree house books and Flat Stanley. I'm very pleased with his progress. I even recorded him reading a year ago and recently, to see the comparison. I also wanted to get on tape the struggle I was having with him. Now instead of seeing a little boy about to explode and yelling at me, you'll see a little boy reading a chapter all the while shaking his leg, or picking at something or doing leg lifts, but yet reading page by page for 20 minutes. It's a miracle.

Vy is playing indoor soccer, loves building with legos, play dates with friends, and food.

Lolo

What to say about Lolo. He's been the one to do things a little bit earlier than his brothers. For example he potty trained 1 1/2 years earlier than Toki. He's also a little more advanced with his letters and phonics than his brothers were at his age. He'll be starting school younger than his siblings did but ahead of where they were in reading and writing.

I recently came upon a rewards chart at my friends house that I modified and is working for us. There are only a few things that I've been struggling with to get the boys to do. For Toki it is practicing the piano. For Vy, it is reading for 20 minutes per day. And for Lolo, not really anything at this point. But to allow him to be part of this rewards chart, he is working on reading and writing. He loves to do his assignments so that he can move up the rewards chart.

Everyday the boys do the required activity, they get to move up a tile. The kids get rewarded every fifth tile. As they move towards the end of the 30 days, the prizes get more exciting. For example, the first set of prizes include something from the dollar store, a large chocolate bar, or a red box movie. The second set includes a long foot massage or staying up late on Friday with us. The third set of rewards include a happy meal with dad or a dollar movie date with dad, or a trip to "Spoon Me" with mom. The fifth set of prizes include a new book or a new notebook/markers. After everyone has finished up the 30 days, we're going to Incredible Pizzas. All the rewards are things that are cheap and that we'd probably do anyway........but shhhh don't tell the kids that!!

It been a fun way to record whether or not they're doing these "not so fun" things and a fun way to reward the kids for doing something they really don't want to do but that I want them to do. It's hard work for them but it comes with immediate rewards and some they won't see until years from now.

Lolo is also playing indoor soccer. He chases after the ball the entire time he's in. He loves it and is such a good team player. He is doing really well in primary now that he has a new teacher that knows how to work with kids. Last year it was such a struggle since Lolo's other classmate has huge behavioral problems and they're teachers were just babysitting, not really planning anything structured and spiritual or fun for the boys. I was so frustrated. Now, even though the other kid is still a struggle, the teacher has fun things for Lolo to do and is actually getting some attention instead of none at all.

Me

My weeks have consisted of trying to keep a good atmosphere in the home. The most important prayer for me is the one we have before the boys leave for school. I can't send them out without one. I also hold family home evening with/without Chris. I keep it short and simple but take the opportunity to share my feelings about the gospel and my personal thoughts and experiences. I find that they actually stop and listen to my life stories. It's always a light switch as soon as I move from a lecture to an actual experience. I also find comfort in sitting down to have dinner (with/without Chris). A home cooked meal, a set table, and my family gathered around....there are blessings of doing this that I can't really explain and some that I probably don't know of yet. After dinner, it's homework, bath, and reading time. Outside of these regular activities, I get to work out, clean something, nap, etc. And when I'm not doing those things, I'm running the kids around town to all they're activities and often stressing out about having to be at two places at once.

Chris

Is so glad to be home. He's been catching up on sleep and this past weekend got the go-cart running. All I'll say about it is.......it's fast (too fast for my comfort) and that if he wants anyone to know about it, he'll have to log onto here and blog for himself. :0)

2011-01-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

Ice Skating

2011-01-18T15:47:00.000-08:00

I love my boys.

They are soooo cute.

And they are sooooo much fun.

They're best friends ( and worst enemies).

They're so smart and creative.

They make me so proud (and can be just as embarrassing!) I seriously would love just a couple more. 5 boys. How cute would that be! Just saying.

Cell phones and texting

2011-01-18T14:31:00.000-08:00

There are a few reasons why I don't have a cell phone. The number one reason for not having one is that I'm too frugal to get one. I don't want to pay for it and I'd rather use the money for something else......like a marathon or a new pair of shoes. I also have liked not being accessible all the time. If you can't get a hold of me, it's because I'm not home (not because I don't want to talk to you....which most likely is the reason I'm not answering the phone ;0). My new reason for not having a cell phone is........that I'm tired of being invisible to all you cell phone/blackberry/droid people. Hello!!! I am HERE. Talk to ME. If I don't have one.....then I won't be constantly checking my emails, texts, social network status updates, and ignoring the people around me.

If there's anything that gives me indigestion quicker at the dinner table, it has got to be texters and texting. There will be no texting at my dinner table. You will be excused without apologies. Thank you very much.

I've been the recipient of way too many phone calls and text, interruptions. And what I mean by that is when I'll be in the middle of a conversation with a person all the while they're texting, looking at their emails, or even told to hold on while they answer a call.

Next time it happens.......I'm just going to step out. No apologies.

Here is a video on cell phone etiquette. Watch it.

Jackpot

2011-01-17T14:02:00.000-08:00

I was looking for a specific video clip and came upon several fun ones of the boys. Oh my goodness.........I have cute boys!!! And I can't get over how cute Vy was as a kid. He has so much personality. He's such a ham!

And you're not allowed to watch the video unless you leave a comment afterward!

Untitled from Lucy on Vimeo.

Time is Flying

2011-01-12T23:40:00.000-08:00

Where did my baby go?

2011-01-12T08:52:00.000-08:00

l

Awwww. This is Toki about 8 years ago. He LOVED bath time. Sometimes he would get a bath 2 or 3 times a day. If you're wondering why, it's because of his allergies. His skin was so sensitive to allergens. It was especially a huge headache to go over to houses with pets. It was guaranteed that he and I would not sleep that night. He'd be up itching all night long and also would get a fever. I'm so glad our allergy days are over!

Now for fun, he plays with his Rubik's cubes or builds things with Legos. He is hooked on the Harry Potter series and is on book 5 to be exact. He's an amazing kiddo and I'm a proud mama.

The following video is of the boys' Christmas choir performance last month. Toki had a solo part that he tried out for. He actually signed up to audition for a part in a group but the director came back with this solo part and Toki was willing and happy to do it. The second song is the very end of the 12 days of Christmas. It took on a personality of it's own that the choir director just sat down for the second half of the song. "They obviously don't need me!" she said.

Photo shoots

2011-01-02T01:29:00.000-08:00

I did three more locally and then in California did a few more of family.

I'm trying to figure out a way to fit in photography into life. I have time constraints and issues with the computer. My kids monopolize it and I also don't like being attached to it. It seems that lots of photographers have the issue with sitting in front of a computer, post processing pictures, for lots and lots of hours. I have so much fun doing the post processing but it's really time consuming. For example, the other night I was up until 4 a.m. doing just a few edits. I'm going to have to figure out a better way of fitting photography into our lives.

I also need a website to showcase the families. It seems that this new hobby of mine is overtaking our family blog.

My younger brother and family. I did a sepia filter and a cross process to get a couple different looks.

My cousin Cathy and family.

My cousin Christy and family. I've been eying Florabella actions lately. But I don't really want to pay for them. So this is my attempt at the look. I take the picture and overexpose them. And then I add a vintage filter and maybe a matte on top.

I'm not posting up the ones I did locally. The snowy backgrounds and the fact that everyone seems to be wearing black, bored me.

Falling behind

2011-01-02T00:46:00.000-08:00

I really do not like falling behind on this journal. I have a bad memory and blogging helps me remember stuff.

Some highlights for the month of December.

Vy lost his first tooth on December 23rd. He had been looking forward to the day for a long time. He was feeling left out since most kids his age have already lost several.

Chris got a steering wheel for the go-cart he's building. And my dad gave him a Honda 5.5 horsepower engine for it. The thing is coming together nicely.

We had a super nice Christmas. We hung out with my brother and family in Vegas on Christmas Eve. I especially loved hanging out with my nephews and niece. We drove down to CA. and spent it with my parents. We also spent a lot of time hanging out with extended family. I did photo shoots of lots of them.

Chris and I had our anniversary. We spent the day driving back home in a blizzard. yipee.

Toki had a birthday. We had a chocolate fondue and opened presents at midnight. His favorite gift was a new camera. His best friend wants him to have a sledding party. So, Toki has requested another sledding party.

Now.........what should I do about pictures......yikes.....there's a lot of them.

Now if I can just get the pictures my mom, brother, and cousin took......I should be set.

2010-12-09T17:41:00.001-08:00

2010-12-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

Feeling Blue.....

2010-11-23T21:48:00.000-08:00

A sweet friend of mine passed away today. She had cystic fibrosis.
Still not running because of a sprain.....
Which means I'm feeling icky.
I haven't had a good conversation with another adult in a looooong time.
I can go on and on, but I won't.
Here's something I put together. Enjoy and leave a comment. It would make me happy.

Latest Updates

2010-11-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

Me: Vy do you want to sign up for basketball too?
Vy: No.......I only want to do easy sports.

Me: Vy, sing the songs for the choir.
Vy: No....I only know the short one and I can't remember it anymore.......I hate the 12 days of Christmas..........it makes me lose my breath.

...........................

On the topic of choir..........auditions were today. Toki signed up to audition for a small group part. The director called and asked what we thought about him singing the solo part in O come O come Emmanuel..........we're pretty stoked.

..............................
Lolo............cuddling with me, "Being next to you makes me happy.........I can't stop smiling."

Tidbits from the lastest Photo shoots

2010-11-15T18:04:00.000-08:00

One of my first shoots this Fall/Winter that gave me confidence. From posting this on facebook, I got 5 more lined up. From posting the consequent two families, I got 5 more as well. I'll be busy the next few weeks.

To make this photo below, that I love...

I used mom's face from the above picture

to replace the mom's face in this one.

I liked how dad and his son on the left looked in the above picture.

And I liked the mom and son on the right better in this picture. So I combined them to make the following.

Fun stuff

Taking baby steps

2010-11-12T21:51:00.000-08:00

I discovered MCP actions the other night when I was doing a search for something about photography. I'm a bit of an editing addict.......so the idea of editing shorts cuts, that are quite lovely, really interested me. However, the package I want costs about $400.

I downloaded a few free ones that the founder was giving out to test out the waters and found myself getting frustrated. I don't think they're easy to use (yet). Of course, Chris comes home and figures it out in a matter of a few minutes and then shows me a bunch of free actions online that other artists have donated.

Which brings me back to MCP actions.......I think I'd be wasting my money if I didn't get more familiar with the basics. So, although the shortcuts sound enticing.......they're probably going to be frustrating and not really short cuts, unless I do some shaping up. As for now, I think I'll continue taking baby steps and not jump into something I'm not ready for.

Sometime tonight I learned how to use the patch tool. And practiced on this sweet little baby. I also lighted up her splotchy skin using a brush and switching to the "light" filter and lowering the opacity. I'm sure there's another way to do it but just haven't learned how.

They'll be more pictures to edit and practice on. I have a handful of photo shoots lined up, this week and next........

2010-11-10T20:27:00.000-08:00

It took Toki a long time to get into the groove of reading this school year. Last year he devoured all of Roald Dahl books and found many favorite series including the Hardy Boys to fill up his reading chart. I think he was burnt out and took the summer off, and then it took us a while to find something that kept his interest. He started many good chapter books but didn't seem to look forward to picking them up and reading for more than 20 minutes.

However, I haphazardly picked up this book at the library and immediately he was hooked. Every night he looked forward to reading and reading for a long time.

After that book was done, Chris picked up this book series from the book fair. Toki read all three in a week in a half. He absolutely loved them and was eager to talk about the stories.

Something else that I'm excited about is the choir. This is the second year the boys have participated in the school choir. Last year the principal conducted the group and I was amazed at how well the kids did. This year someone else stepped up to the plate........and I am so impressed and happy with the program.

They practice twice a week before school starts and now there are auditions for small groups and solos. There are also auditions for dancing parts. I've been really impressed with the caliber of the choir this year and I'm so glad my boys can be a part of it.

Lolo tidbits

2010-11-09T22:58:00.000-08:00

You are so patient....always waiting so patiently. You by far are the best at this in our household.

I recently opened my eyes to this imaginary play thing you do with your hands. Last month I noticed it during our lunches together and right before you fall asleep while you lay in bed. I don't know how long you've been doing it and how it's progressed to this, but one day, when I opened my eyes and paid attention to what you were doing while you were waiting............I saw you........

waiting for lunch

More tidbits:
You call me "cutie mommy," "cutie pie," and "beautiful mom." Seriously stink'in cute.

I've been trying to convince you that you won't want to marry me but you're adamant that you will.

In part of the video you pick some colored cards up to play with. You got them from preschool to learn your colors. It's a game. I hide them around the house and you find them or vise versa. When your brothers are gone, you pull them out and make me play this game over and over again.......it drives me nuts after a while. And you always give me hints......you pretty much show me where you hide them each time.

Today, like on many days, while I was cleaning........you asked to help........You took a rag, rinsed it off, soaked it in vinegar water, ringed out the rag and cleaned surfaces.....over and over.......until we were done.

Some dialogue I want to remember: (there's so many, I wish I could remember them all)

Lolo "Who farted?"
Me "Not me."
Lolo laughing "I did."
Me "You're suppose to keep it a secret when you fart."
Lolo "Oh, K."
Me "Dad has a hard time doing that."

Lolo "Mom, I woke up without underwear. I put some on yesterday and now......gone."
Me "Oh, I hate when that happens." (not thinking when I replied)

Me "Lolo, on your next birthday you're going to be four again......I'm not letting you turn five......nope you're going to stay my baby. We're going to put a diaper on you and give you a bottle."
Lolo "Moooooom, I'm still going to keep growing even then."

Lolo "Mom, where's dad going?" (on our way home from somewhere, driving in separate cars)
Me "He's driving home."
Lolo "He's going to sleep there and in the morning he's still going to be there?"
Me "Yes."
Toki "That's crazy."
(apparently the boys have noticed dad has been working long hours)

Your own lingo:

I want a nola bar---granola
MOM!!! Tect me, tect me------protect me........as you run away from a brother.

We love you!

Practice makes Perfect

2010-11-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

Gotta long ways to go........

I had a hard time getting the kids to look at the camera. They were usually off to the side. I was thinking maybe next time to tape something eye catching right above the lens.

By the end of this photo shoot.......I was sweating and tuckered out.

I have so much fun playing around with the photos. Nothing can get in my way.........not even my poor kids. Unfortunately to make it worth my time, I'd have to charge a whole lot of money and I don't think I'm good enough for that. It's a tricky thing. I'm also super self conscious about the finished product.........just not quite sure if it's good especially after comparing my stuff to some of those amazing, talented photographers out there. I know it's a step up but still I want to be better than that.

One last pic.

2010-11-05T16:10:00.000-07:00

Some notes about Halloween

2010-11-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

the pumpkins that we came up with

Toki as Dumbledore.......or as a friend accidentally came up with......Dumble Dork

the boys before Trunk or Treat

Lolo's preschool class.......Vy had just head bumped Lolo in the face.......so not too happy right then

How Vy really felt about his costume......mostly was unsure about the helmet......which I thought was cute....."Mom, this is a weapon.........I can't wear this to school."

A courtesy photo by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third......thanks kiddo

Some things we did....
Dad's work party (Chris and I actually dressed up....hope I can get the pics.)
School Parades
School carnival
Provo Halloween Half Marathon.......which I didn't finish because I fell......I'm a dork
Trunk or Treat

Vy

2010-10-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

Some things about you:
You're the only one that was born with grey eyes.......your brother's eyes were just black. Turns out they're a pretty brown, in between dad's and mine.
The other day you told me you had "smashed" potatoes at school for lunch.
You're a giver....you just want to give...away your silly bands to your friends even though you spent your own allowance money to buy them........give treats to your teacher who got hurt.....make and give cards and treats out to neighbors....
Turns out you're very responsible in getting your homework done and you want to explode when you can't get the instructions.
You started reading beginner chapter books. I thought I would never see the day.
You're a math whiz.
You loathe cereal for breakfast.
You still eat and sleep like a champ.
You're persistent.
You have the softest, prettiest skin in the family.
You could care less about doing your hair and brushing your teeth.
You hate having your upper teeth brushed.......it tickles too much......and you freak out......one day I'll get it on video.
You have a big heart and watch out for your little brother at the play ground.
You're super warm, like an electric blanket.....in fact you sleep with the fan on.........as a baby, I had to fan you to sleep.
Nothing goes by you.....
You have a sharp memory and can recall details that the rest of us have forgotten......it's quite amazing actually.
You say the most random things.
The other day you asked, "Why do girls wear big fluffy things across their chests?" And I didn't know how to answer.
And you asked "Why do girls have a million hairs in their arm pits?" And after I said, "everyone does," you looked at your own armpit and said "Nope."
I love your toes and feet. They're strong and sturdy and an exact replica of your daddy's toes and feet. You make me massage them almost every night. You're the only one that gets one.
You're fun and busy and loud and boisterous.
You're a gem and we love you.

Fun for Me

2010-10-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a cute pose by me....which is unusual. And then I have the issue of liking the way I look but not anyone else. But I won't let this picture go to waste.

Cropped

Boys Erased

Color Changed

Texture Picked

and wa-laa! A gift from me to you cuz I know you just can't get enough.

the difference

2010-10-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

Me: Where did you get so many silly bands?

Toki: I've been finding them on the floor......finders keepers losers weepers.

Me: Where are your silly bands?

Vy: I've been giving them away to my friends who don't have any. I gave Eliza 2 bracelets for free. She said she loves them....and they make half her room glow. She's my best friend (with a sigh). And I gave Jared some since he lost and broke all of his.

Lolo: Mom, you can have my bracelets. Do you want to wear them?

Friends and Photography

2010-10-18T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased, but I never know....what looks good to me might not look good to you. Let me know what you think.

Chris went to Tokyo....and I

2010-10-15T23:07:00.000-07:00

brought this canvas painting home....

And made some pillows for our lovely vintage couches that I have fallen in love with over the years. And since I can't get rid of them....

I redid my kitchen chairs in this crazy, vintage, orange fabric.

and also made curtains.

Now I'm dreaming of making this .

And if you're wondering how his trip went....it was productive. He met with the people he needed to and found out good and bad news. He found out that they don't need him right now.....which was sort of bad news....and we wished they would have told us over the phone or by email instead of after spending all our points on a round trip ticket to Japan. However, because of the visit, he had a very honest and needed meeting with the head guy. After he got the truth about Chris and his mad skills, he decided that he would commit to getting us over there by May/June. We'll see....

He visited a few International schools and was taken on a tour for housing, by an agent. My main criteria for schooling is a music and Japanese language program....and also close proximity to Chris' work.

Chris was able to attend his cousin's wedding and see his parents who were there as well. He got lots of bonding time with his cousins, pulling a couple of late nights, ate good food, and traveled to Northern Japan with his parents to visit their old mission area. He also got to see what it's like to travel by train during rush hour in Tokyo and went to a Japanese bath house. Such a brave man...I'm much too shy for that.

Fishing

2010-10-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

You are so loved, kiddo. You did such a great job fishing today....such focus, patience, perseverance. We were amazed.

uh oh

2010-10-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

So sad...I thought I had lost these photos....

2010-10-05T23:23:00.000-07:00

glad I found them! They turned out great.

haha. I just noticed this......Chris and Vy's funny faces are the same.....they are soooo alike in too many ways!

the 4x4

2010-09-22T23:31:00.000-07:00

Back in the first grade, Toki learned how to solve the 3x3 Rubik cube. Remember the video?:http://mi-familia-linda.blogspot.com/2009/05/some-things-that-make-me-smile.html

Soon after, Chris ordered the 4x4 for him. Toki worked on it through the summer and got to the point where he could solve it some of the time. He got bored of it and put it aside until yesterday when he spent 4-5 hours reading, watching tutorials on how to solve it, and solving it.

He solved all but one row and was working on that a few minutes before I came back down to see how he was doing. This is when I discovered the broken 4x4. It got jammed and getting frustrated, he threw it against the wall. Just to give you an idea of what it looked like, I got the following image of a dissembled 4x4 off the internet. It has exponentially more pieces than a 3x3. You may think that the following image is of several cubes...but it's not....it's just one 4x4 cube.

He spent 5-6 hours putting it back together today, stopping only to do his homework and to have dinner.

Personally, I think it's harder to put it back together than it is to solve it. It has an insane amount of pieces and it takes technique, steadiness, and time.

During the process, it was knocked over and dissembled several times, on accident and on purpose, by his brothers. To which we all heard phrases such as, "I wish you were never born," "I'm going to kill you," and "I hate myself for breaking it." All are phrases that make me cringe.

At one point he assembled it only to discover that internally something was misaligned, causing one of the rows to be stuck. He took it apart and started over.

Where he gets his focus is beyond me. It will come in handy in his future for sure.

I meant to put up his video last week......Just 2 weeks ago, after practicing for a year, maybe two, he finally learned how to do the "Rainbow." This is just another example of how he gets fixated on something until he finally gets it. Of course, after he learns it, he moves on and forgets how. The other video is of some random high school kid doing the Rainbow at an actual game....once again...something I found off the good old internet.

Chris is working Late......

2010-09-22T22:39:00.000-07:00

so this is what I do.

Working in layers and with textures has come in handy.

Before

and After

I'm ecstatic.

Working with Textures in Photoshop

2010-09-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

only took me a few hours to figure out! Sheesh. Hope I don't forget how.

Playing in manual mode and photoshop

2010-09-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

9/11

2010-09-11T19:44:00.001-07:00

We've been busy today but we've taken the time to talk about what happened on this day 9 years ago. I was pregnant with Toki and on BYU campus in class. Our class watched the news on a big screen. Chris was at work, painting a house.

I get all chocked up.

Some words that come to my mind.....

love
humble
embrace
kindness
the truth
gratitude
acceptance
forgiveness

hugs and kisses from our home to yours

Back to School Night

2010-09-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

The principal showed this tonight. LOVED it!!! and my kids new teachers!! Wahoo....sounds like it's going to be a fun year.

I got carried away...

2010-09-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

These are what I've been working on this week.

These are the pictures I used to help me make them.

Needless to say, I now have three very Halloween hungry boys.

Little updates

2010-09-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

Lolo learned to ride his bike without training wheels on Monday, August 30th. I wasn't there for the big event. I was on a bike ride myself.

He was so amazed though.

Chris--"I knew you could always do it!"

Lolo--"I didn't think I could. I think Jesus helped me."

The next morning....

Me--"Hey big boy, you can ride a bike now."

Lolo--with a smile on his face, "I think it was all a dream." Still in a state of shock.

.............................

Boys started school up last week. I think the excitement has worn off now. Mornings are getting a little rough for one unnamed child (must take after me). Vy, however, is a morning person, just like his daddy. He is up and ready to start the day. What a cutie!

.............................

Been doing research on how to have a girl. Seriously though, I am dreaming of another little boy...and I can only come up with boy names.........Milo is my favorite....but I like, Jude, Ian, and Damon.

There are a couple theories out there. The Shettle's method being the most popular and what I was planning on doing. However, I just read about the O+12 theory. Anyone else heard about it? Apparently, one lady after trying the Shettle's method to have a girl, but was unsuccessful and ended up with 5 sons (6 sons total), learned that the Shettle's method only has a 33% success rate when it comes to having girls. What she observed was that more girl babies are born to couples who do the deed 12-24 hours after ovulation. She finally got her daughter. Perhaps they just got lucky.

Oh, I'm so easily swayed. Now I'm all confused and my plans just went out the window. I guess I still have plenty of time to come up with Plan B, since Chris isn't on the same wavelength as me when it comes to baby numero quatro.

I in fact, dislike being pregnant. It's just so uncomfortable. I also like how nice my life is right now. I asked Chris to talk me out of it. He thought he did a good job of it. I have to admit, he did a good job of reminding me of all the hardships. But, as much as I've been fighting the thought and procrastinating the next step and coming up with very good excuses to hold off.......I'm getting the "good to go" vibes. I'm praying to have a better attitude, to have more faith that things will be o.k., and probably should be praying for my hubby to have a change of heart.

Also, I have a doc. appt. for my throat again. I'm feeling like the cyst has come back. Hopefully that is the reason for the discomfort that I'm having and nothing more serious. Grrr, I dislike health problems.
.................................

Haven't heard anything different about Japan. It's been the same answers for the last couple of months. They haven't told us that they changed their mind, so we're still hopeful. I think it would be great if it works out, but as for now, I've moved on with my life.
.................................

Something for me to look forward to.............I'll be doing a triathlon on the 11th. Wahoo!

Our family vacation

2010-08-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

We stayed at the Marriott right across the street from the capitol. We ate at CPK. First time for the kids and I. We walked in and around the grounds and then walked to old town Sacramento where we splurged at the candy store, went to a couple shops, and checked out the bridge and river. We then walked back going through Westfield Downtown Plaza. Chris and the older boys went to the hotel pool while Lolo and I crashed. We did just drive 10 hours. Leaving at 5a.m., our new dvd player, listening to my sansa, and bringing our pillows, saved us.

The aquarium was crowded. I think I would appreciate it more if I had a pass and could visit it a couple hours at a time. It's huge. We were there for at least 5 hours and didn't get to read or participate in everything. We quickly went through the place, spending longer spurts of time at the touch and feel areas. We stayed at a Marriott in Salinas and ate at an all you can eat Chinese buffet. Vy said this after setting his first plate down, "Mom, I wish I had a bigger mouth." I think he meant he wishes he had a bigger stomach. I hear ya buddy, kapish.

We camped for four nights at Lodgepole campground. We booked sites 110 and 111. My favorite parts were trying out new dutch oven recipes and eating dutch oven food, being able to see the stars, having my niece and my parents around, Loyd reading The Great Brain to us around the campfire, and the variety of activities available to do.

This is 3.4 miles round trip. This will be a special hike to us since it was the first time we saw a bear in the wild. My neice (T) and Toki were up ahead of us. We see T stop Toki and whisper something to him. They turn to walk towards the rest of us. "We just saw a bear." To which Chris said, "No, you're just kidding. They're just kidding." All the while his head is spinning around to check out if it's true. I spotted it next. We were all really excited and a bit freaked out. However, it wasn't phased by us at all even when Chris followed it to take pictures. Pretty sweet experience. Chris owes Toki and T $5 each for spotting it first. That's the deal around here.
We went to three different areas to play in the water. We were mostly in the Kaweah river. But the kids and I did go and check out a nearby creek.

Some of the trails we went on included the Big Trees Trail which we did before heading to Crystal Cave. We also went on Congress trail where we were able to see some very impressive groves such at The House and The Senate. We were also able to check out General Sherman Tree and The President tree.

On one of the days we drove around to check out some of the trees, we also climbed stairs to this impressive view point. I found the following description on Wikipedia. "The Moro Rock Stairway has 400 steps that lead to the peak. The 797-foot-long stair was designed by National Park Service landscape architect Merel Sager and engineer Frank Diehl, and was built in 1931, following natural ledges and crevices." It originally was made from wood but now is cement. We made our boys go up it. T and my parents didn't quite make it to the top but they got really close.

My three fav. parts of the video include: hearing Loyd's version of why he was so nervous going up to Moro rock....a simple "because I'm a wimp" would have sufficed; hearing Angela say "ohhh, ohhh, it's so gorgeous" in the caves....I chuckled; and when the cave guide told us to turn off our flashlights....Vy had a really hard time doing that....there were at least 3 times we barked at him and once I actually wacked him with my flashlight but T took the blame. heehee sorry T, love ya!

peace out

I thought about

2010-08-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

not blogging anymore and deleting my facebook account. While on vacation, I was telling Chris how nice it feels to not have access to the internet, to not be lulled by the little voices coming out of the computer screen letting me know what they've been up to lately, and to not have the urge to see. This addiction of mine is a time waster and can take me away from being productive or engaging in other necessary activities.

However, during our vacation, I was reminded that if I don't blog about it, we don't remember. Chris absolutely does not remember when he and I and a few of my cousins went to Magic Mountain, a long time ago. I'm almost positive we did. And so the confusion would not have to be, if I had recorded it somewhere. A trip like this isn't worthy to make it into my paper journal but it probably would have made it onto the blog with a few pictures. Another example is Uncle Quin quickly forgets all those turkey dinners I've made for him. Every year he adamantly says that he spent Thanksgiving dinner with friends at some buffet followed by a movie. I try to tell him otherwise and that in fact he spent it with us, eating the turkey dinner that I slaved over. So, I make it a point now to take pictures with him in it, just so we remember or so I'm not insulted (insert laugh).

And so, I've decided that blogging is a good thing for us and will overlook the judgmental things that people say about my blog and us, and mostly me. And if you're wondering what I'm talking about, I guess I'll mention a few.....a person who wonders why I'm up so late blogging....she looks at what time my posts are recorded (after she mentioned that, I made sure I changed my post time to something reasonable although it really was 11 pm when I started and 2 am when I got done).......that same person also wonders "why I think anyone would want to read that" in regards to some of my posts.....geesh sorry for wasting your time and for having feelings.....another example is someone who mentioned that I brag about my races because I share them on the internet....geesh, sorry for sharing one of my few outlets with you.......I personally like hearing about other people's recent races...It inspires me.......but obviously I'm not inspiring to him, just an annoying bragger.

And so I say to people like them, if you're going to be critical, please don't visit my blog or please do us a favor and "defriend" me. Neither of us need that type of negative energy.

I'm also very excited for our vacation post. It was a great vacation. I have over 1000 pictures to go through. It will be 2 a.m. before I'm done with all the work that's going to go into the post and I'm not going to be ashamed of it.

A Transfer

2010-08-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

Earlier this summer, we thought for sure we were transferring to Japan. But, we've hit a roadblock and the process slowed down drastically. Whether we're going to go is still up in the air.

It seems that every other day someone asks us about it. I've never had a miscarriage but I'm feeling like we sort of have. I told a few people, too soon. They spread the word and now I'm having to tell everyone the bad news. :0)

I'm feeling fine about it. I'm not stressed or anxious at all. I've moved on and am living my life. We enjoy it here, so either way, it'll be fine.

One funny thing that has happened is our stuff is being claimed by people. "I'll take this." "I'll buy that." "I'll take that off your hands."

So far the bunkbed, ladder, trampoline, kid's battery operated jeeps and 4 wheelers, both vehicles, and our house have been claimed. Even my clothes have been eyed. And our 42 year old couches..........I hear are being fretted over....Don't worry I won't throw them away. They're too sentimental. They'll just go to whoever in the family wants them.

As for the other stuff......keep dreaming.

Crayfish and Naartjie

2010-08-09T20:55:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we went fishing at East Canyon Reservoir. One of the things they do after setting up their fishing poles is go exploring around the area. They usually collect treasures for their own tackle boxes. Besides that, they were able to find crayfish.

Here are the boys posing with the thing. Toki caught it but Vy found it. He felt entitled to hold it as well. So, there's a bit of tug of war going on.

Here Vy managed to steal the net. Toki punches him.

Vy kicks him in return.

They both get ready to retaliate.

Legs in ready position. ha-ya

Both got a good swift kick in.

Say "Cheese." And that's how life goes around here. (bad exposure on the photos above.....sorry....used my portrait lens when there was plenty of light....shame on me)

Naartijie Photo shoot. I brought my camera along this time.

Some snap shots of the boys while waiting around the photo shoot.

Vy's usual look

Vy's fake look

Vy's usual look.

Vy's fake look. Thanks for humoring me, kiddo. I love you.

Some post editing fun

Toki's eyeballs do this weird thing. They seem too far apart. I noticed Chris' eyes do the same thing in his pictures. Anyhow, I did take Toki to the specialist for this a while back. I think I've taken my kids to a specialist for just about everything now.

Chris went out of his way to take pictures of this project, so I think he wants me to blog about it.

Quin gave us two of these picnic table/bench things. They had fallen apart. I was tempted to throw them away. Chris taught the boys to recognize what needs fixing and then had them help tighten things up. After mending the benches and cleaning them, the boys stained away.

It's been a couple weeks since we put the t.v. in time out. I love how the boys haven't asked for it and have found other ways to fill the time. I have to admit......my house is extra messy these days and I've found the boys have a talent of trashing the house in no time. *sigh {can't wait till school starts....just between you and me ;0) }

Whips, Wolf Badge, and Whatevers

2010-08-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

Toki went to his first cub scout camp last month. My only request was that he did not buy a whip. Can you imagine him with his whip and younger brothers around? It just didn't seem like a good idea. Chris went up with him on the second day. He was sad to see Toki sad when all his friends bought a whip and he couldn't.

This put an idea into Chris' brain and the wheels started turning. He spent the ENTIRE weekend researching how to make a whip, driving around town looking for the right material, and then making them.

I know at this point, Chris would like me to go into the science of making the perfect whip. However, I wasn't paying that much attention. All I know is that it took a lot of time, it was complicated, and our neighbor who was formally known as the whip expert is now coming to Chris for advice on whip making.

Best Dad Ever

Toki learned how to make these survival bracelets out of the same material his whip is made out of. He has sold 4 and has 6 more orders. $3 each. Let me know if you are interested.

Stuff we did in July:

finishing up the painting, trim, doors in the house
Toki earned his Wolf in cub scouts
Camping/fishing
Swimming
summer outing with our neighbors
Soccer

I May Have to Go Private

2010-07-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks for coming to my blog. I enjoy your thoughts/comments.

I'm uncomfortable with just anyone coming here, so if you know the address, you must be really special :0)

Out of respect and courtesy, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't take my stuff, videos, posts, pictures, and anything at all from my journal and re-post it anywhere or share my link with anyone. I'm especially leery of just ANYONE looking at videos of us and especially of the kids.

There were a few recent incidences where this has occurred. Two of which I know weren't malicious but I still felt it should have been run by me first.......the other I'm not so sure was posted with love ;o).

I hope I don't have to go private.......because I know just having that extra step to log on is enough extra work to get me to stop visiting a blog.

Thanks

A ridiculous little Guilt trip.

2010-07-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

During the last few miles of the marathon I came upon a very large, bright, orange caterpillar inching it's way across the road. I'd never seen anything like it before. It was out of place.

My brain was in slow motion. But some things came to my mind like.....that's a huge road it's trying to cross, I wonder if it feels the heat coming off the pavement, I hope it doesn't get squished, I'm going to hang in there like the caterpillar. Not one of my thoughts was to help it.

I've been feeling guilty about the whole thing....Stuff like.........Why didn't I stop to pick it up and take it across....I was just thinking about myself and focused on finishing the race.........I could have carried it with me and shown it to the boys......How much do I do this in my life.... being so focused on myself or us to not see the little things I can do around me to make it a better place for someone or something else.

Just a thought.

the Deseret News Marathon

2010-07-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

Things I want to remember about this race:

Going to bed at 9pm and waking up at 1:45 am to get ready.

Boarding the last bus at 3:45a.m.

Finally getting in to the porta potties and secretly wondering if I could get away with hanging out in there for a couple hours.......it was freezing out there.

Talking to two incredible runners and wishing I could be like them.

When I hit mile 3 and my legs were already feeling like jello. I hadn't prepared for the steep downhills. I tried not to panic and tried to take it one mile at a time, hoping all along that my legs wouldn't buckle.

Soon after, I saw a steep uphill that went on for a long time......and I was actually glad that I could use different muscles. I persisted on jogging and not walking the whole way.

Soon after the long hill, things turned steep again downhill, and I was able to break away from the two most annoying chicks. Seriously, I respect those run/walkers. They make great time. But hate, when I am the poor soul they pass and fall behind. I had to jog around them so many times. And hearing their loud hits on the pavement made it worse. I felt like they were competing with me and it made it hard to concentrate on my running. It was taking a tole on how I was feeling emotionally about my running. Once that downhill came, I increased my pace, all the while I could hear them trying to pass me up. The last time I saw them from the corner of my eye was during a switch back and I really forced myself not to look their way....it was freaking me out. I never had to see them again.

Hitting mile 9 and experiencing excruciating pain on the inside of my left foot below the ankle. It came on gradually and persisted to get worse. I prayed. A thought came to my mind to take my shoe insert out and tighten up my shoelaces. It came to me a couple times before I actually stopped and did it. The pain was gone. It came back towards the end of the marathon. I believe the damage was done. The roads were really curved and it was hard to find a flat strip. My ankles were bent funny and may have a stress fracture now.

I carry a water bottle when I run. I get panicky when I don't have water and I'm thirsty. It's like torture on top of torture. I was running low on water but an awesome lady was giving away water bottles from her car. She saved me.

The time one of the volunteers filled my water bottle up for me. I kept jogging and he was so kind to run up to catch me. So many angels along the course to be thankful for. Every clap, every smile, every cheer, and word of encouragement carried me along.

Hitting mile 13 at 2:20. I was o.k. with that considering how challenging the course was and how my body was feeling.

Seeing someone I thought was Chris, and crying. Such a dork.

Seeing an old man hobbling through the marathon. He inspired me.

Hitting mile 20 and counting down.

Running through the parade and feeling the vibes.

Seeing the 25 mile marker. Just 1.2 miles left. It took me 15-20 minutes to do, I think.

Crossing the finish line. The joy of being done.

I got chocked up all along the course. It had to do with the pain, fatigue, humility I was feeling, thinking about my family, thinking about the amazing athletes around me and just the mere fact I was doing a marathon.

LOVED this.

2010-07-14T22:36:00.001-07:00

Mom doesn't fart (Rated R, not for the mature generation)

2010-07-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

A while ago I told Toki "Mom doesn't fart." As a result, I heard the following conversation.

Toot...

Vy: Haha, mom farted.

Toki: Mom doesn't fart.

Vy: Haha, then you farted.

Toki: Yeah, I guess I did...and I didn't even know it.

So the truth is out. I don't fart.

2010-07-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

Wha?

2010-06-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

Crazy Busy

2010-06-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this today. Chris and I just ran the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay this past weekend. A big thanks to the Calderwoods and Uncle Quin for watching our kids for us.

It was a challenging and rewarding experience. There is such a huge sense of accomplishment that comes from doing something that is difficult for you. Loved it.

It took our relay team 32 hours to complete the 188 mile course from Logan to Park City. This doesn't include the driving time before and after.

Chris had amazingly difficult legs. Just imagine going up the canyon for 7 to 8 miles uphill or downhill or on dusty, dirt roads, twice within just a few hours.

This year I pushed myself and ran 18.4 miles total plus 2 miles when I helped Chris finish one of his difficult legs. My last leg was 7.9 miles of downhill, then a lot of uphills. What makes this race unique is running several legs with little sleep, under rough conditions, with friends. Although there were rough patches, overall it was a blast with lots of good memories.

We came home and crashed only to wake up to feed the kids and put them to bed.

Wow, has it really been 25 days since my last post?

2010-06-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple conversations I want to remember:

1.

Lolo: Mommy said a bad word, mommy said a bad word, mommy said a bad word.

Me: Stop saying that. Someone's going to believe you.

the Boys: What did she say?

Lolo: Booger

Vy: Mom? Do people say bad words in their head?

Me: (pause, pause,pause) ummmm.

His question took me aback.

Of course after sharing this conversation with Chris, mostly because Vy is always thinking one step ahead, Chris said that what I should have said was "Yes, but we really shouldn't." But me being the slow thinker that I am..........couldn't think of anything wise to say.......my mind was clogged up with guilt.

2.

Me: Boy, all this dental work is costing an arm and a leg.

Chris: We should just have all your teeth pulled out and get dentures for you.

Me: That would be expensive too.

Chris: I'll do it for you.

Me: No thanks.

Our trip to Jackson Hole

about a 5 hour drive and non stops of "Are we there yet?" and Vy's most famous line, "How many more minutes?" It drives us all nuts.

The wildlife were out. The moose were roaming about, you can see a fox in the pic. above at the playground where the kids play just outside out condo, and loads of buffalo and elk everywhere. The coolest was when we spotted a wolf just a few yards away from us. We were driving and so we followed it for a while before it crossed us and disappeared.

The boys playing and exploring.

We went to the Ripleys Believe of Not museum. They had a cool belt buckle collection if you're into that sort of thing. Otherwise two thumbs down.

We woke up to lots of snow.

Love Jackson for all the trails and slow pace.

This is the condo we stayed at. It was really nice.

And I'm guessing about the size of an apartment in Japan if we move there. Tight quarters.

Vy wanted to go to the desert and get a cactus. So here we are in west desert. Not my sort of thing but Chris was way into it and so were the boys. Apparently it was something Chris and his family did once growing up. It reminds me of the time we came out here to hunt for geodes and another trip we made to look for pine nuts. Pictured above is the type of cactus we brought home and planted in our front yard.

The younger boys and I visited the zoo.

The boys are out for the summer. Here is Lolo and his class at their end of the year performance.

Vy and Toki in the choir.

We went to Spoon Me afterward.

The boys loved it. It was too healthy for me. I prefer a little more fat and sugar.

A quail family built their nest in our garden. After pestering them enough, they finally moved. But not before we let the boys hold one of the chicks.

We camped at Aspen grove and fished at Strawberry Reservoir.

The boys finally got nice bags and it was the first time ever that we slept well while camping. Hallelujah.

Hanging out with old friends. We also hung out with new friends but didn't take pictures of the BBQ and dutch oven cooking we've been doing now that the weather has warmed up.

We've been busy with soccer. All three boys played this Spring. Chris coached Vy's and Lolo's teams. We had a really good day of soccer last Saturday. My boys made me proud. All of them did awesome and played their hearts out. I even caught myself saying "I can have a couple more boys."

Being the soccer mom for the two younger boy's teams prepared me for my new job as the team manager for Vy's U7 academy soccer team. My brain feels fried trying to organize the team. Today they had their first day of workouts. I'm amazed at how much Vy has grown up. A 1 1/2 hour soccer workout is not easy and he stuck with it. They'll have two a week besides their practices with their team throughout the summer. Not to mention soccer camp and possible tournaments.

We also just had our second day of swim lessons. All three of them are in different levels but lucky me that they have them at the same time. Tomorrow I'll do swim laps while they are in lessons. And I bought a summer pass to our recreation center. We plan on living at the pool this summer. It's where we spent the bulk of the day today.

I thought this was sort of pathetic

2010-05-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

but then read that this is an iron man race finish not just a marathon. Well no wonder!!!

And to give you an idea, the St. George Iron man was a couple weeks ago and it was a 5 mile swim, 100 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. Hypothetically....now I'm just calculating (I would never do an iron man)....the 5 mile swim would take me 200 minutes to finish...the 100 mile bike would take me 500 minutes.........and the marathon would take me 300 minutes for a total of 1000 minutes or about 17 hours plus another 5 hours for fatigue. It would take me almost 24 hours to complete an iron man. An acquaintance of mine completed it in 13 hours. That's just insane.

2010-05-10T21:50:00.000-07:00

Some things I love about you.
I love the way your eyes smile at me.
I love that you make us all feel like we're so fun to be with.
I love that you're sweet and shy.
I love that you're a happy person.
I love that you think your thumb is delicious.
I love that you try to please.
I love your cute lisp (for now).
I love just about everything about you.
That you were such a good baby.
And now you're such a good big boy.
There isn't much not to love about you.
You're the best and I'm so glad you're part of us.
Everyday has been so much better with you around.
Thank you.

Missing my Boys....silly me.....As if they didn't get on my nerves today

2010-05-09T22:35:00.000-07:00

Earlier this

2010-04-29T22:05:00.000-07:00

week, we were running late for school. The school has a system of dropping off your kids. If I'm lucky there are enough cars in front of mine that we end up at the spot closest to Toki's route to class. It works out great when we're running late or we're having wet weather. On occasion, I'm at the front of the line and have to pull all the way around the driveway, dropping off Toki at the farthest spot from his class and adding a few extra minutes to his walk/run to class. He DISLIKES being late for anything. So stopping at the right spot along the sidewalk can be really important sometimes.

Anyhow, during this particular morning we were running late.....no one was behind me when I pulled up to the school.......so I stopped at that perfect spot. If Toki hops out quickly, he can make it to class on time, and I can leave before any other latecomers pile up behind me.

During this whole time, the morning traffic lady is waving me to pull forward. I telepathically send her a message "there's no one behind me and we're running behind."

Another thing Toki DISLIKES.......when mommy doesn't pay attention to those traffic people and embarrasses him to no end.

Before he left he said something that hit to the core....

"Mom, I wish you would follow the rules."

And so I do what I always do when something like this happens. I play what happened over and over again in my mind. I wonder what has happened in my past to make me think it's o.k. to take short cuts sometimes. I analyze what else in my life I've been short cutting or how else I've been breaking the rules. How is my mediocre example affecting my family and I?

I told Toki he was right and that from now on I'll follow the rules. I'm so glad he spoke up.

an April update

2010-04-25T21:13:00.000-07:00

Spring soccer. Lolo is now playing. He's underage so Chris is coaching his team. They're actually doing really well in spite of having two very young players.

Vy entertaining himself in between quarters.

Chris is coaching his team as well. A couple players are the same from last Fall.

Lolo had a birthday. We opened presents and had donuts that morning. We had soccer games and things to do. In the evening we had root beer floats.

Toki's new thing is to be cross eyed in all his pictures. I totally remembered going through that stage.

He's such a great kid. And so much fun.

A short hike

Easter dinner

Love turkey dinner because I get to make turkey dumpling soup the next day. And very often turkey tamales. yummy.

Toki's first science project (and mine too).

My new thing. I've always struggled with the whole allowance thing. They don't deserve it after all they've done and not done. However, I want them to learn about the value of money and it seems that the people who do well with money in the future, learned to earn it, had the opportunity to spend it as they please and learned to save some, early on. So my new thing is what you see above. If they get enough stickers to fill half of a sheet of construction paper, they get their age in allowance. The stickers here are what they've earned in just over 3 weeks. They could have easily filled half the sheet in a month. So they probably won't be getting their allowance next week. However, as soon as that half page is filled, they get paid. No stickers may be taken away. Once they've earned it, it stays for good. That way I'm not tempted to not pay up after all is said and done. Oh, and I get tempted really easily when they throw fits or piddle around when it's time to go to bed or refuse to pick up the toys.

Stickers are earned by doing things that are important to us and by working on things that they are struggling with. They can earn a sticker by brushing and flossing, not whining when it's time to clean up, and behaving during scripture reading time. Each kid has individual ways they can earn stickers. For example, Lolo struggles with getting dressed on his own. So he gets a sticker if he does, if he practices writing, or unbuckles himself from his carseat. Vy gets stickers for reading, not hitting that day, and taking his vitamins. Toki gets a sticker when he does his homework, practices his piano, practices soccer, takes a calcium chew, doesn't smack his lips during dinner, etc. They can get spot stickers for doing something great or doing something nice. I can use stickers as a bribe. Instead of paying them for making goals during their games, they get awarded lots of stickers.

I'm feel better about giving allowances now.

Lolo's party is scheduled for this upcoming Friday. I have so much fun making their invitations.

Chris and I ran a half marathon yesterday. We both ran slow and steady and were able to finish the race without walking. I had a really good run and felt strong. I think Chris wanted to run with me but early on I said I didn't want to hold him back and he should do it at his own pace. He came in 13 minutes before me, a whole minute/mile faster than I can do. Uncle Quin snapped this picture of us before we left. (You can see our unfinished project: The trim and walls.)

While we were away, Uncle Quin took the boys to buy bees.

And yes, the boys want bees. My way of resolving that......."Uncle Quin's bees are OUR bees. We're family."

Another unfinished project. But these will help in getting the other projects done. Can't wait. But, it'll be a while. Chris barely has time. And I don't have the abilities he has to do these things.

Another funny Lolo conversation

2010-04-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

Distraught little Lolo, flashing his thumb at me, says "mom my thumbs falling off!!" Years and years of Chris scaring him with the "your thumb will fall off if you don't stop sucking it" line. Oh we are so sick sometimes. He woke up to a funny looking thumb. His skin was splitting and it sort of did look like the process was beginning. Having dry skin and an already chaffed thumb didn't help.

Lolo: Mom my thumbs falling off!
Me: oh, o.k.
Lolo: Mom, what will happen if I don't have a thumb?
Me: You won't be able to write you ABCs.
Lolo: Or brush my teeth?
Me: Yeah, I guess that would be hard to do too.
Lolo: Mom, will you help me?
Me: Sure, I'll help you stop sucking your thumb.
Lolo: Noooo. Will you help me write my ABCs and brush my teeth?

*sigh* I guess it's just not worth it. Sucking your thumb must be really awesome.

A Silly Game that

2010-04-11T22:20:00.000-07:00

I've played with the boys, that my mom use to play with me, is to ask me who I love the most, "mommy or daddy" to which I would always reply "mommy" of course.

Early on, the answer is always "mommy." But as the boys learn how conniving this game is the answer becomes "mommy and daddy" because it's the truth. They always tell the truth.

So the latest game with Lolo went like this...

me: who do you love the most?
lolo: mommy and daddy
me: who's the funnest?
lolo: mommy and daddy
me: who do you like cuddling with the most?
lolo: daddy and mommy
me: who's the cutest?
lolo: mommy
me: who sleeps the best?
lolo: daddy
me: who works the hardest?
lolo: daddy
me: who's the boss?
lolo: mommy

Chris and I both chuckled at this. In reality we're both the boss. However, with him being gone so much, the dynamics of the family change and there's only one boss instead of two for weeks at a time.

Books, books, and more books plus a video

2010-04-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

Toki is reading theCharlie Bones and the 39 Clues series. He was getting tired of reading Roald Dahl books. He was reading one after another and it got to the point where he couldn't get past the first few pages of them. I know how that goes. So I asked the librarian for a suggestion and she led me to the Charlie Bones series. He's back in the game. He's also collecting the cards/clues and books of the other series. It always fun to own your own books.

I've read quite a few books lately. This one was noteworthy.

Currently reading the Inheritance series now. They're such long books and it's hard for me to get through them because reading time for me can never go uninterrupted. It's the way of life around here.

On two different occasions I checked the following book out but just couldn't get past the first couple chapters. On the third try, I got through it. And I'm so glad I finally did. I HAD to read it to the boys. They loved it. They're always taken aback when I cry but it makes the story all the more touching.

I give it two thumbs up.

We also read an abridged version of Peter Pan together. It took us a few weeks to get through it. And then we watched the movie Hook with Robin Williams. It was a great "little boy" flick. They loved it and especially took to the fat boy called Pockets, who rolled up into a ball to knock down the bad pirates during the last fight. He was the talk of the town. Besides the house being torn up by "Rufio, Peter Pan, and Hook" for several days after the fact, they came up with a way to be that fat boy. See for yourself.

In the video you can also get a glimpse of some of the work Chris is doing on the house.... new baseboards and trim around the windows and doors. I'm having a hard time deciding on paint for the walls. why oh why does it have to be so hard. It must match those wonderful, green couches....seeing that it's taking forever to replace them. I guess I'd much rather go to Hawaii sometime this year. keeping my fingers crossed.

Oh gosh, I'm so silly

2010-04-06T22:15:00.000-07:00

I really think this guy is on to something.......laughing yoga to relieve stress....check it out yourself.

Whatever he just did gets me chuckling every time, even if for just a few seconds, it works.

3D.....

2010-04-02T08:55:00.001-07:00

movies of late have been so cool. Just checked out "How to Train your dragon" and we were very impressed.

Birthday Boy

2010-03-30T20:36:00.001-07:00

Oh how I love the Birthday Boy.

Over dinner tonight, which were Navajo tacos (my fry bread finally turned out perfect), I was reminded of something Vy would do as a young tot. I was handing out everyone's pills--Toki is on some kind of acid inhibitor, Lolo is taking antibiotics for strep, and Vy is taking DHA pills--when I told the boys what Vy would do when he was sick and we would give him medicine.

100% of the time, I would begin offering his medication gently, the offer would turn into bribing and coaxing and then after he would absolutely, positively refuse to take any medicine it would become a wrestling match. One or two of us would pin him down, and this was no pretty thing, he's a fighter, and all red and sweaty in the face he would eventually be forced to swallow whatever it was we were giving him. 100% of the time we would get the same exact response--Not only would he throw up the medicine, he would throw up everything else that was down there. Serves us right. (A good response right now would be to laugh at us. No rude or judgmental thoughts please.)

On top of that, it took us a while to learn because we were hoping he would outgrow his messy response. And for a long time I felt it was the responsible thing to do to help him get better. However, we finally came to realize that he would just get better on his own.

So for his birthday, I made sugar cookies in Springy cut outs, to decorate. I boiled up a lot of eggs to decorate, and pulled out the stamps and water color pencils for some art. It ended up being too many activities, too many kids, too few hands to help, and a lot of chaos. :0)

Sorry no pics. of the chaos; we were too busy being chaotic.

Of course, we had to have a pinata. And yes, someone got whacked. Good thing it was one of my own, the birthday boy to be exact. This awesome pinata came from our local mercado. If anyone knows how to get a pinata right, it's those guys. BTW, tomatillos were 35 cents/lb. wow!

Last minute, I decided I probably should make a cake. But, I didn't have a cake mix. So it was from scratch--poppy seed cake. I used almond extract instead of vanilla, and canola oil instead of shortening. It turned out.

The boys in his class are so cute and fun.

And here's the birthday boy in all his glory. Something funny I want to remember. He got $6 from his papa and baba. With it, he bought a puffle pet that came with a code to unlock a gift on his club penguin account. Little did he know that when his older brother used it first on his own account that it would no longer work for his own. pooey. So then for his birthday, one of his friends gave him a penguin and a puffle pet. He was so excited! Only to find out the codes were already used. pooey again.

This party was all planned, organized, with invitations sent out just four days before the big day. I was looking at the calender and realized I didn't have much time and really no other days would work out better than that Friday. Love this little boy. It's all worth the chaos.

What the heck. What I wore. The top has no sleeves. I didn't have a top I liked to wear with it so I actually made the one I'm wearing from an old black shirt that morning. Chopped and sewed.

Good Bye Darth Vader

2010-03-23T22:28:00.000-07:00

Darth Vader passed away.....who knows when....it looked alive to me at a glance. But nevertheless it was dead and today we had his funeral....I was cleaning the kitchen and the dead fish was bugging me. I called the boys to meet me in the bathroom. I didn't get farther than, "We gather here this day to lay to rest our dear fish," when Lolo breaks down in tears. I was good and held back my chuckles.

We proceeded to say our goodbyes, one of us more tearful than others. And we gracefully poured out his tank, careful not to drop his rocks. But then he got stuck to the side of the glass and shaking the tank didn't help, actually it was a flower vase. His tank shattered to pieces when the boys dropped it on their way to take it to our neighbors house before we left for a road trip. Poor Darth...more than once he has fought for his life. I can imagine him flapping around on the sidewalk while the boys ran back to the house to get a cup of water for him. I didn't have another tank so we improvised with the glass vase. Anyway, back to the hear and now. We poured some water into his vase and swished it around and he finally went into his final resting place. I proceeded to flush the toilet. Lolo was distraught. The toilet? How can this be the right place? Fish love the water and this is the best place for him, I explained. He doesn't even know his body is down there. His spirit lives on in a better place. Lolo seemed to be o.k. with that. He returned to his room to mourn for a few more minutes. So tender. Not more than a couple hours later we replaced Darth with an ugly Goldfish that Lolo calls Goldy. It's so ugly, Toki said this during dinner...."Mom, the fish is so gross I'm going to throw up." Poor Goldy will no longer be invited to dinner. It really is a gross looking fish. He has one bulging eye, a swollen see through tummy, and is just flat out sickly looking. We really will miss Darth.

LOVE these videos and this song

2010-03-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

I first was introduced to this song by Justin Timberlake. I laughed and laughed. Then I saw the actual video by Beyonce and loved the song and video even more. Then one day on facebook I saw the video with the baby and fell in love with the baby. Love this song....it gets me moving....maybe one day we'll do our own rendition.

(And this is the full baby video that's worth watching)

And Erica introduced me to this video. I'm even more in love now.

Recent Notes

2010-03-14T22:00:00.000-07:00

Made play dough with the boys. For Vy's birthday party, we are thinking of doing a "play dough making" party....but it turned out to be very messy and tricky....so maybe not.

Notice Lolo's sleeve is wet. He sucks on it. Toki has been doing this for years as well. Where does it come from and why? Well.....I did it as a kid. I use to pull clothes from the dryer or washer and suck on them. I use to suck on the collar. Weird, I know. But I craved it. Don't know why.

I thought this was super sweet. The other day, Chris' tool box broke. Lolo one morning after he woke up, immediately asked for a wash cloth. He emptied out his craft box, cleaned it out, and told me this is for daddy's tools. Pure sugar.

Vy, finding a snack. He's so independent. It's actually quite nice. He'll make himself a sandwich and a cup of chocolate milk for lunch.

Here he is working on an art contest project. Water color pencils. My kids love them.

A cute snap shot I love. With the coloring of the picture and the old couches, it looks like it came from the 70s.

Toki loves scouts. Flying his home made kite.

It took us a couple weeks but we finished this version of the Wizard of Oz. Then watched the movie. Wow, the boys really looked forward to reading time together. Next in line....some abridged version of Alice in Wonderland....the new movie looks fabulous.

It finally snowed.

It's pretty....but I'm truly ready for Spring and Summer.

Celebrated White Day today. In Japan this is the day men do something for their women. Sort of a make up day for Valentine's. This year I flaked on Valentine's Day and so for White day, we had some artichokes and I set up a chocolate fondue. I think the artichokes were the hit though.

Love my family.

not a hard thing to do.

We're Robert Downey Jr. Fans

2010-03-08T17:41:00.000-08:00

Loved Iron Man I. Looks liked the whole movie was summed up in the trailer but still looking forward to it.

Catching up

2010-02-28T20:16:00.000-08:00

Finally have a keyboard and mouse that are not broken. An unnamed child of mine for some unknown reason thought it would be a great idea to spit into them. And I just thought I was draining water out of my keyboard.

Sugar cookies

I really wanted to do this around Valentine's Day with my visiting teaching circle of ladies but just couldn't find the gumption with the flu and all. Not only was I feeling physically blah but I was emotionally listless.

Lion House Sugar Cookies
1 1/2 C sugar
2/3 C butter
2 eggs, beaten
2Tbl milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 1/4 C flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugar
2. add eggs, milk and vanilla
3. Sift four, baking powder, and salt together. add to cream mixture. Combine thoroughly.
4. With hands shape dough into a ball.
5 . Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2-3 hours or overnight.
6. Grease cookie sheets lightly
7. On floured surface, roll 1/2 to 1/3 of dough at a time, keeping the rest in fridge.
8. for soft cookies, roll 1/8 to 1/4 in. thick.
9. Cut with cookie cutter. Place 1/2 in. apart of cookie sheet.
10. Bake at 400F for 8 minutes or until a very light brown.

I finally did manage to organize something towards the end of the month with some of the ladies and after the boys came home from school, we made some more.

It was fun

and messy too.

the Glaze recipe:
2 1/2 C powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. water plus 2 tsp. of water
1 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1/2 tsp almond extract
mix together. divide into smaller bowls before adding food coloring. a drop or two go a long ways. I bought new paint brushes of different thicknesses to decorate the cookies. The glaze dries quickly and then you can layer and embellish.

Just some guesses as to what this kid might be when he grows up....a chef (because he loves food and eating and is constantly fixing himself something and is very creative at it)....a doctor of some sort (he loves working with tools and doesn't fear blood and gross things, this is my wish for him of course :0).....maybe a construction worker or contractor (he's strong and again, likes working with tools).....but who knows...just will have to wait and see.

Still have no inclination as to what this little fellow will be.

With Toki....some kind of scientist.....maybe not an astronaut although that would be cool....he's so afraid of heights and freaks out when walking down those open staircases of apartment buildings or when we hike up to Mt. Timpanogas he has to be touching the mountain and freaks out when his siblings or I get too close to the edge....maybe perhaps working for NASA in the controls or designing parts for the space-station (of course my dream)

Discovery Museum

Lolo

on the laptop. Some web-sights we go to are pbskids.com, moshimonsters.com, clubpenguins, and dance mat typing (bbc.co.uk) where Toki is learning how to type.

Chris and I got to conversing about how we didn't know how to use a computer or type until we were much older than our kids. Me....I learned to type in high school and I never used a computer until college.

I found myself wondering if placing a laptop on a lap for long periods of time causes infertility or maybe cancer.

Anyway, I do want to give my kids all the opportunities in life, so just in case....no more laptops placed on laps for extended periods of time. *I read that young children shouldn't stand near a microwave when in use, in a parenting magazine. On the microwave topic....often microwaves are on counter level and if you are short like me that would be at breast level. Thus I no longer stand in front of the microwave when it's running, for fear of getting breast cancer. O.K. a little too much insight into my cancer phobia.

Date Night

We met up with the Mitchells for some dinner and then Chris and I saw Avatar in 3-D. I really loved the movie. I've been having some inner conflict as to why anyone would want to become a God to a world like ours with so much inequality, starvation, abuse, war, hatred, etc....finding a few reasons such as to experience love, personal growth, and to have the plethora of experiences that come from having children.....but at such a cost.... I think if I were to be a Goddess, it would be to a planet like Pandora and untouched by our hunger for power and money. Sometimes I wish for a world without disease and other types of suffering, a safe place, free from evil and terrible things, a place where the kids do as they're told and are perfectly obedient........sounds a lot like Lucifer's plan before he fell away. I'm not saying I'm falling away....just that I hate seeing so much suffering and here I am in my little bubble, warm and well fed. I do however know I would like to increase my faith and react more because of it than because of fear.

Projects

With only one full day in between business trips Chris tries to make the best of it. Last week, just an hour before we had to leave to take him to the airport, he made a birdhouse for our female parakeet and just a couple hours before having to drive to the airport today, he finished the bunk bed ladder and rail. What a guy.

Some things I'd like to work on:

Asking my boys to do things using "please" and "will you." Because I am their mother I feel entitled to tell them what to do because I am wiser and they need guidance. I either don't feel like I need to use polite words, lose my patience, or think it quicker to just give out demands. However, I've made a mistake and thus have created a couple bossy kids in the process. I'm in the very beginning stages of undoing the damage and I don't know if it can be done. crossing my fingers

Being a funner mom. I can be unenthusiastic with my motherly and wifely duties. Sometimes it just gets old. Maybe you can relate? I think if the lull drags on, everyone just starts getting down. So, even if it's just an outing to the dollar store or dollar theater, or reading the Wizard of Oz before watching the movie together.......I need to make the initiative. Since Chris is out of town, I can no longer rely on him to get us moving.

Making due with what I have. I'm envious of large, extended, Mormon families who have a strong social support system in place, helping each other and with kids the same age. I think it's a blessing for them. Their kids have so many good examples to follow. I feel like I'm doing this alone. And it's really, really hard sometimes. sniff, sniff. One of the speakers today at church spoke a lot about serving your neighbors. Not to be judgmental of him, but I was, when I thought...that guy has never bothered to speak to us...and when I thought...when are you going to come over and help me? How horrible of me.

and building up my kids. Just being more positive with them, praising them, really listening to what they have to say. They deserve it. They are precious to me. My test and gifts from God.

Latest Reads

2010-02-19T10:27:00.000-08:00

These books are written by Indian authors. They both gave me some insight into Indian culture, which I think is complex and fascinating. Climbing the Stairs is set during WW II. I never thought about this before but because so many of the people believed strongly in Gandhi's teachings that nonviolence is the weapon of the brave, they weren't able to fight in the war and if they wanted to or did, they were often ostracized by their families. The second book was set more in our times but both books included lots of protesting against the government and in the first book, against British rule. When parts of India were under British rule, the Indian people had to put up with a lot of discrimination from white people that lived on their lands because of the color of their skin. They became an independent country officially in 1950. Hurray.

I think there is so much inequality created because of the caste system. I don't want to criticize the culture but I can't imagine being stuck in one of the lower castes. It's sad to think what some of those groups do and are only allowed to do because of their caste. I'm specifically thinking of the people who clean up the feces from homes, known as Sweepers who are part of the group of Untouchables. They are not allowed to interact with other people of higher caste because they are considered dirty. Imagine having that label upon you, your whole life. I guess if you don't know any better, it wouldn't be as bad but I can't imagine not wishing for a better life. Here's a video if you are interested.

I also think that Indian people are some of the most beautiful people in the world. They have beautiful features and so many of them are striking to me. Chris showed me a picture of one of his co workers who is Indian and who Chris speaks highly of. He was really good looking and I sort of joked that someone's not telling him the truth about who his dad is because he was so light. Chris joked with him about it and the guy said that in Indian culture, the lighter skin is favored and often in arranged marriages the lighter skin is preferred. Interesting stuff.

A while ago I heard on the news that India has a low incidence of colon cancer and that researchers think it may be due to the high consumption of turmeric spice. They were testing that theory. The next time I went to the store I made sure to pick up the spice and started using it here and there. Because it does change the flavor of my usual dishes I started using it less and less. However, turmeric is a main ingredient in curry and I use curry powder a couple times a month.

While a missionary in Japan, I got to try Indian curry. Indian restaurant owners who opened shop in Japan, made a variety of curry and you could choose how hot you wanted your dish. They served all curry with Nam pan and you could choose to have a tasty yogurt drink with your meal. Seriously, some of the best food I've ever had and I miss it. If I ever go back to Japan, eating at an Indian curry shop will be on my list of things to do. Both books mention food quite a bit. I kept wondering what this or that looked like and what it might taste like. Made me really curious about the food. It all sounded really healthy and delicious. I wonder if I'll ever get a chance to get to know some other dishes besides curry.

In the Marriage Bureau for Rich People, arranged marriages were a main topic. I've always been curious about this topic. One of my neighbor friends that I played with growing up had her marriage arranged. I was shocked when I first heard of her marriage and couldn't imagine a modern girl putting up with that. However, the book mentioned that romantic love/marriage doesn't last and that most couples whose marriages are based on that initial romantic love will in a couple years have to find other things in their marriage to keep it strong. Arranged marriages are supposedly arranged by people with more experience and wisdom, keeping in mind the compatibility between two people based on several factors including marrying within the same caste. Love develops later as these two people come together, have a family and experiences together. It doesn't take much to convince me, so I must say that I'm convinced that it can work.

All in all the books were pretty good. It took me a while to get into them since I felt both had slow starts. They both gave me some really good insight into the culture and also ended with a love story, which I'm a sucker for, even if it is arranged.

We are working through the Flu

2010-02-08T15:15:00.000-08:00

First Chris, then I, and now all the kids. Sure makes me appreciate good health.

Some things I remember happening this past week:

Vy said something that made me chuckle...."Mom, all I think about is food." To which I could not disagree.

He also made us cards. One was a snowflake and one he wrote, "I lve Daddy, I lve Mommy" to which he drew the three of us holding hands. (he was the only one who made us cards...A thoughtful Vy...which he really is). This boy is so sweet and sour. And I love him.

For the purpose of division of labor, I believe we had the following conversation about who has it worse (Rated R, not for the modest, mature generation):

Chris--You didn't have to go to work feeling like this, and then lock your keys in the car and have to wait for road side service, and then try to drive home. I thought I was going to die. But I had to stay alive for you guys.

Lucy--Yeah, that's pretty bad. But I did have to get 3 kids off to school, 3 different times, and attend a school program looking like a train wreck and everyone giving me that look of disgust. And your girl problems didn't start up, and you don't have the runs. I definitely have it worse.

Chris--What about when we had cryposporidium and I was on that toilet for a week straight.

Lucy--You only had it for a week? Lucky. We had it for four weeks and you didn't get the debilitating cramps. I had it worse.

Chris--You did not have it for four weeks but it's true I didn't have the cramps. What about the time I had the stomach flu and I threw up all over the bathroom floor?

Lucy--Oh, I definitely had it worse. I was 8 months pregnant with Lolo and had to clean up man puke. Brotha, you might of had the stomach flu, but I had it worse.

Chris--Yeah, I'll go do the dishes now.

Date night

2010-02-02T12:59:00.000-08:00

Went to check out some hot pots.

It actually got too hot in there.

Nonetheless it was worth checking out. Just up the street were hot pots that were made for a housing community. It just look like a bunch of steaming swimming pools and hot tubs. Super nice. I'd live around there if it weren't for the long commute.

Some sushi and udon for the two of us.

Happy Birthday to Toki

2010-02-02T12:04:00.000-08:00

We had some of our favorite friends over for a "Game Night." Here they are playing "bop it." Lots of competitiveness, cheating, calling each other out, denial, and even some good punches. Boys, gotta love em.

While Chris led a game of Settlers with these very loud, excited boys, I got the better end of the deal with a game of Ticket to Ride with about half as many kids. They actually were getting it and wanted to keep playing. I'm thinking a cute black and white picture on that wall would look nice.

This face sums it up.

He's still holding a grudge that we let him sleep through most of the festivities.

Some brownies and ice cream. And not to mention all the goodies while playing games. The level of hyperactivity and noise was off the charts.

Some more silliness

A pinata. Everyone gets so worked up about not getting as much candy as so and so.

Cheap thing was decapitated after the first hit. Homemade ones are better.

Some gifts. Love how the boys are so eager to hand Toki their gift and then await for the reaction. He was so gracious. But then again he scored. His friends are so generous.

A last minute game of football. Half the boys were here and the other half were jumping on the trampoline. I'm always glad to throw a party for the birthday boys. They're so happy and built up afterward. Next time my goal is not be so raunchy while getting it all set up.

A little Insight into Lolo...

2010-01-23T13:28:00.000-08:00

There was a bit of coaxing to get the following pictures. These were taken for Naartjie. Every once in a while I'll find Lolo on their website.

Mallory, our cousin in Colorado, snapped this picture of Lolo at her local mall. So cool.

I miss my old Blog

2010-01-22T22:40:00.000-08:00

I visited my old blog and it got me chuckling. I wrote some funny things and I loved the comments that I got. And although this post isn't as interesting as some of the stuff I've posted in the past, here are a few of the things we've been up to lately.

Some hard core sledding. This is some scary stuff...at least for mommy. Taken at Soldier Hollow. I meant to take more pictures but it was freezing and I was worried that I was going to drop the camera as we flew down the hills. These ropes tow you up individually and then you may go down as a group. Once we all held on to each others tubes. Not a good idea. We picked up too much speed. It freaked me out and I refused to look.

Some more Lego creations.

Our t.v. channels haven't been working since the Holidays. The kids haven't asked for t.v. We've watched more movies and the kids have been into everything. EVERYTHING. T.V. is not such a bad thing sometimes.

Working on our own version of "I Spy" books. Still working out the kinks.

Our pet birds as part of our attempt at I spy

They're names are Yoda, C3PO, and R2D2 btw. Can you tell which is which?

Alot of reading. The top three were Toki's reads for the month or I should say a week. His favorite was BFG. But he really enjoyed Matilda and he refused to read Witches for a few days after starting it. Too scary but he managed to finish it. Thanks Bobby for giving the boys such good books.

Busy Season for Chris....Single parenthood for me

Trying to get to the secret stash of candy. I finally just threw it away since they were plowing through it.

Our new cabinets. Actually they're the old ones refaced. Chris took beadboard and used his new table saw (actually used off of ksl.com) to cut them to the right size. We glued, caulked, and painted, painted, painted. Now we need some antique looking knobs to accessorize actually more to decrease those finger prints.

love em. And him. He's so handy and talented.

A before-scripture-reading activity that should have been an after reading activity

The boys make a circle of objects and hop over the items as long as they can

It's quite the work out.

And actually quite fun for them. I of course just sit, watch and wish I had the desire to burn off some calories and join them.

I've also started Vy's scrapbook/journal. Did one for Toki a long time ago and now am compiling my thoughts, feelings, and journal entries about the little monkey. I had a strong start and was surprised that I remembered so much. It's one of those things I have to be in the mood for or it just doesn't' happen.

Hope you have a good day!

Some books that remind me of You.

2010-01-13T15:59:00.000-08:00

A few of our favorite picture books:

This one reminds me of Toki when I read it.

This one has Vy written all over it. (LOVE this book)

And this one is all Lolo.

Things I love

2010-01-10T20:57:00.000-08:00

How your hair comes to a point like this. And only yours and Daddy's does this. (Vy)

How you're so fixated on having the longest road that you could have won many turns ago and then you win anyway. (Vy)

How you HAVE to get at least one I spy book when we go to the library. (Lolo)

and then you beg us to do them with you and you are so utterly happy about it all

Our Eskimo kisses only you and I do (Lolo)

Teasing you about your burnt pork that kept you up all last night because you got overzealous about smoking it and got a late start and you never complained about being tired today. (Chris)

When your Primary teacher thinks about you and goes an extra mile to give you a card and gift for your baptism. (Toki)

That you love to play games with us and you're learning to be a good sport (all boys)

Finding you reading

Finding a book that makes me cry but mostly laugh and

then reading together. You with your book and me with my book.