We generally don't do a lot to celebrate Valentine's Day at our house. It's just never been a big holiday for us. I guess before we had all these kids we might have gone out for dinner for Valentine's Day. ... But then again, maybe not. Restaurants are crowded on Valentine's Day, so it seems like the kind of thing we would try to avoid. I honestly can't remember, though. :)
The kids like Valentine's Day, of course. So we went out on Saturday and bought Valentines to take to their school classes. We had waited much too late, and the selection was VERY picked over, but we were able to find some acceptable Valentines. Sunday night was spent signing and stuffing the Valentines - because of course they must include candy! The last few years I just sent Haley with cards alone and she complained to me afterwards that she was the only one to give out cards without candy (or a pencil, or stickers, or fake tattoos... people put a lot of stuff in those little cards!)
Preston had insisted that he was supposed to be taking cookies to his class for a party. So even though we couldn't find a note from school about it, we bought some cookies and sent them. Turns out it was just an offhand remark about cookies that the teacher made one day last week which in Preston's mind translated into "You MUST bring cookies for Valentine's Day!" Oh well, I'm sure the class enjoyed them.
It seemed like way more trouble than it was worth to drag all the kids out to dinner, so we just decided to stay home. I did go to more effort than usual for dinner and made meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and brown sugar squash (hooray for yummy ingredients from the Bountiful Basket!).
And Aaron actually surprised me with 2 dozen yellow (my favorite color) roses! I believe I could count on one hand the number of times I've gotten flowers in the alst 10 years, so it really did surprise me. They're beautiful and it was a sweet surprise.
Then, in keeping with our usual romantic Valentine's Day traditions, we fell asleep in front of the TV. :-)
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
If I were a cursing woman, I'd have turned the air blue!
Saturday started out good... went way downhill... turned good again... went downhill again...
I woke up Saturday morning and was happy to find that my awful cold had mostly gone away. With nothing more than a stuffy head and a sinus headache, I could attend my friend's baby shower without feeling like a plague-bringer.
Unfortunately, the shower had been moved at the last minute from convenient Henderson, CO (about 10 minutes from home) to very inconvenient Castle Rock, CO. (For those of you in Utah, it's like driving from Vernal to Duchesne to go to a baby shower!) But I love Mary Alice and since she lives in Indiana now and just came back for a couple of days for this shower, I wanted to go.
But everything seemed to take 10x longer than it should have as I was trying to get everyone ready for the day. I get the baby dressed - and he immediately pees through his diaper and has to be changed again. I get the older boys dressed - and two minutes later they've already taken off their shoes and socks and discarded them in some random location.
I finally get everyone dressed enough to go pick up the sitter (it's a Saturday, so Aaron's working), and get out the door with them all. Only to realize I hadn't thought to ask Aaron to trade cars for the day. I don't have enough seats in my car for all the kids and the sitter. Okay - Haley is going to have to stay home and watch a show for the 5 minutes it takes to go get Sarah. I load the boys in the car and go unlock the house door for Haley. Go back to buckle the boys in - only to find that one of my seatbelts has completely locked up and I can't figure out how to fix it. I'm already 5 minutes late to pick up Sarah at this point, so I decide that Preston will have to stay with Haley while I pick up Sarah. Go unlock the house door again and give them a safety lecture (mostly - don't do ANYTHING until I get back!).
Get Sarah, get back to the house and the baby wants to eat. I haven't gotten directions to the shower or wrapped a gift yet, so I have Sarah give Rylen a bottle while I take care of that. Finally get out the door and on my way... only 20 minutes later than I'd planned. 5 minutes down the road I turn around and go home to get the present that I'd wrapped and then forgotten.
I decide I can take I-25 down - it's Saturday after all. The freeway should be fine! Except that there were three separate accidents tying up traffic. I don't know why - it was a beautiful day with clear roads! Rylen screamed almost all the way there. I could reach back and pop the bink back in his mouth when the traffic stopped, but as soon as we started moving again, the bink fell out and the screaming resumed. It was a LONG, LONG drive to Castle Rock.
I finally got there and it felt totally worth it. I loved seeing my friends and celebrating Mary Alice's baby. It was WONDERFUL. Rylen was perfectly calm and cuddly and well-behaved. So much fun.
But then I had to drive home. And that sweet baby screamed again. All the way home. And even though I took a different route home - I still got stopped in traffic due to more accidents! After all that, I vowed to myself that it would be a while before I take Rylen on another long drive. Only to realize that we're headed out on a drive to Utah in just a few days. *sigh* So much for that idea!
I woke up Saturday morning and was happy to find that my awful cold had mostly gone away. With nothing more than a stuffy head and a sinus headache, I could attend my friend's baby shower without feeling like a plague-bringer.
Unfortunately, the shower had been moved at the last minute from convenient Henderson, CO (about 10 minutes from home) to very inconvenient Castle Rock, CO. (For those of you in Utah, it's like driving from Vernal to Duchesne to go to a baby shower!) But I love Mary Alice and since she lives in Indiana now and just came back for a couple of days for this shower, I wanted to go.
But everything seemed to take 10x longer than it should have as I was trying to get everyone ready for the day. I get the baby dressed - and he immediately pees through his diaper and has to be changed again. I get the older boys dressed - and two minutes later they've already taken off their shoes and socks and discarded them in some random location.
I finally get everyone dressed enough to go pick up the sitter (it's a Saturday, so Aaron's working), and get out the door with them all. Only to realize I hadn't thought to ask Aaron to trade cars for the day. I don't have enough seats in my car for all the kids and the sitter. Okay - Haley is going to have to stay home and watch a show for the 5 minutes it takes to go get Sarah. I load the boys in the car and go unlock the house door for Haley. Go back to buckle the boys in - only to find that one of my seatbelts has completely locked up and I can't figure out how to fix it. I'm already 5 minutes late to pick up Sarah at this point, so I decide that Preston will have to stay with Haley while I pick up Sarah. Go unlock the house door again and give them a safety lecture (mostly - don't do ANYTHING until I get back!).
Get Sarah, get back to the house and the baby wants to eat. I haven't gotten directions to the shower or wrapped a gift yet, so I have Sarah give Rylen a bottle while I take care of that. Finally get out the door and on my way... only 20 minutes later than I'd planned. 5 minutes down the road I turn around and go home to get the present that I'd wrapped and then forgotten.
I decide I can take I-25 down - it's Saturday after all. The freeway should be fine! Except that there were three separate accidents tying up traffic. I don't know why - it was a beautiful day with clear roads! Rylen screamed almost all the way there. I could reach back and pop the bink back in his mouth when the traffic stopped, but as soon as we started moving again, the bink fell out and the screaming resumed. It was a LONG, LONG drive to Castle Rock.
I finally got there and it felt totally worth it. I loved seeing my friends and celebrating Mary Alice's baby. It was WONDERFUL. Rylen was perfectly calm and cuddly and well-behaved. So much fun.
But then I had to drive home. And that sweet baby screamed again. All the way home. And even though I took a different route home - I still got stopped in traffic due to more accidents! After all that, I vowed to myself that it would be a while before I take Rylen on another long drive. Only to realize that we're headed out on a drive to Utah in just a few days. *sigh* So much for that idea!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
It could have been such a touching moment...
I love the Bruno Mars song "Just the Way You Are." (If you haven't heard it, click here.) From the first time I heard it, it made me think of my daughter Haley. She's beautiful, she's wonderful. In the words of the song, she is amazing, just the way she is.
So a couple of days ago, we were in the car together, just the two of us. The song came on the radio and I told Haley that I really love the song because it made me think of her. She listened to it, then asked me why it made me think of her. I told her that it was because I wanted her to realize that she is incredible and amazing.
In my head, the next thing to come would be a touching moment where she was empowered by realizing that she is wonderful just as she is. There would probably be a big hug. Maybe even a sentimental tear or two.
In reality, she said: "Huh. That's kind of weird."
The touching moment then degenerated into a round of "You're weird." "No, you're weird." Followed by a rousing chorus of "You're a weird-o... just the way you are."
So a couple of days ago, we were in the car together, just the two of us. The song came on the radio and I told Haley that I really love the song because it made me think of her. She listened to it, then asked me why it made me think of her. I told her that it was because I wanted her to realize that she is incredible and amazing.
In my head, the next thing to come would be a touching moment where she was empowered by realizing that she is wonderful just as she is. There would probably be a big hug. Maybe even a sentimental tear or two.
In reality, she said: "Huh. That's kind of weird."
The touching moment then degenerated into a round of "You're weird." "No, you're weird." Followed by a rousing chorus of "You're a weird-o... just the way you are."
Monday, February 7, 2011
Can I Do That On the Bus?
As I near the end of my day at work, I frequently look over my to-do list. If there are any items still to be done (there always are) I ask myself, "Can I do that on the bus?"
So I use the trip home from work to get a few more things checked off my list. For example, today:
So I use the trip home from work to get a few more things checked off my list. For example, today:
- Review a co-worker's document - yep, I can do that on the bus
- Edit a PowerPoint presentation - yep, I can do that on the bus
- Pump some milk for Rylen -hmmm... maybe I'd better take care of the BEFORE I get on the bus!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
What is that?
Another sign I'm getting old...
I was listening to Plain White T's with Haley and singing along to a chorus that keeps repeating "like a broken record."
Haley sang along happily enough until it ended, then asked: "What is that?"
"What is what?"
"A record."
I explained that records came before CDs and cassette tapes and we used to use them to listen to music. I told her about how I remember having a little red record player that I used to play records with kids' songs. But that was when I was pretty young and mostly I had cassette tapes when I was a kid.
Of course, that led to: "What's a cassette tape?"
I was listening to Plain White T's with Haley and singing along to a chorus that keeps repeating "like a broken record."
Haley sang along happily enough until it ended, then asked: "What is that?"
"What is what?"
"A record."
I explained that records came before CDs and cassette tapes and we used to use them to listen to music. I told her about how I remember having a little red record player that I used to play records with kids' songs. But that was when I was pretty young and mostly I had cassette tapes when I was a kid.
Of course, that led to: "What's a cassette tape?"
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Knock Knock
The kids like to tell each other knock knock jokes. A couple of nights ago, they started off making sense and somehow slid downhill...
1st joke - told by Haley
knock knock
who's there?
who
who who?
stop talking like an owl!
2nd joke - told by Preston, trying to copy Haley's joke
knock knock
who's there?
an owl
an owl who?
stop talking like an owl!
3rd joke - told by Brekken... apparently trying to tell a joke like the last two
knock knock
who's there?
pineapple
pineapple who?
stop acting like a pineapple!
1st joke - told by Haley
knock knock
who's there?
who
who who?
stop talking like an owl!
2nd joke - told by Preston, trying to copy Haley's joke
knock knock
who's there?
an owl
an owl who?
stop talking like an owl!
3rd joke - told by Brekken... apparently trying to tell a joke like the last two
knock knock
who's there?
pineapple
pineapple who?
stop acting like a pineapple!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Challenger: 25th Anniversary
I just heard on the radio that today is the 25th anniversary of the Challenger space shuttle explosion. It's hard to believe that it's been so long, because I still remember it very clearly.
I was in 6th grade. They were remodeling the middle school and junior high buildings that year, so we were on a strange school schedule to allow the middle school and junior high to both fit in the same building. The junior high kids went very early in the morning and were done at lunchtime. The middle school kids stayed home until after lunch and then had a late school day.
So I was home eating lunch before school and watching the space shuttle launch on tv. I remember watching the space shuttle rise majestically from the launch pad and streak away across the sky. And then there was a strange puff of smoke and for some reason I vividly remember the strange shape of the smoke trails - with the two trails leading off from the main ball of smoke. I was confused. Was this normal? Was this what was supposed to happen? And then the shock as everyone realized what had happened and what a disaster it was.
I went to school and that was the only thing talked about. I don't remember if we had a regular class schedule, but I do remember just watching the news coverage on tv all afternoon and talking about what had happened. I remember one of my teachers with tears running down her face as she watched.
I also remember President Reagan's amazing speech about the Challenger disaster. Probably one of the most moving, beautiful speeches I've ever heard. If you haven't heard it, or haven't heard it in a while, you should listen. The line about how the astronauts "slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God" still brings a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes.
I was in 6th grade. They were remodeling the middle school and junior high buildings that year, so we were on a strange school schedule to allow the middle school and junior high to both fit in the same building. The junior high kids went very early in the morning and were done at lunchtime. The middle school kids stayed home until after lunch and then had a late school day.
So I was home eating lunch before school and watching the space shuttle launch on tv. I remember watching the space shuttle rise majestically from the launch pad and streak away across the sky. And then there was a strange puff of smoke and for some reason I vividly remember the strange shape of the smoke trails - with the two trails leading off from the main ball of smoke. I was confused. Was this normal? Was this what was supposed to happen? And then the shock as everyone realized what had happened and what a disaster it was.
I went to school and that was the only thing talked about. I don't remember if we had a regular class schedule, but I do remember just watching the news coverage on tv all afternoon and talking about what had happened. I remember one of my teachers with tears running down her face as she watched.
I also remember President Reagan's amazing speech about the Challenger disaster. Probably one of the most moving, beautiful speeches I've ever heard. If you haven't heard it, or haven't heard it in a while, you should listen. The line about how the astronauts "slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God" still brings a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes.
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