Sunny Saint George

We spent the week in St. George a little while ago and it was beautiful!
Naomi flew her first kite and James discovered how awesome sand is.
We played in the pool almost every day, my kids are little fish, they love it so much!


-I've been asked how to make these collages before. I use Google Picasa photo program, it's free to download and there is an application to select photos and make a collage.

Happy Birthday James!

Happy Birthday to my little James.
He turned two a few weeks ago and is growing so fast. He talks so much and sometimes I find myself counting how many word sentences he's making. I think his largest is 6-7.
James is sweet, funny, snugly, giggly, rowdy and just a little bit stubborn. He's a joy, and I love making him laugh and listening to his serious conversations about things. He loves big trucks, anything that goes. It's fascinating to observe James naturally loving all these traditionally "boy" things. I knew preference for those kinds of things can be inherent, but it's so interesting to see first hand. He loves balls so much too. He can't quite catch one yet, but he's not afraid of getting one in the face anyway. But not to forget, he also gets his fair share of barbies, dress up dresses, complete with crown, wand and heels, headbands, tea parties and calling every color "pink" to balance it out. Having an older sister makes for some entertaining play times.
My parents came to visit James for his birthday morning and brought a seriously cool dump truck that talks, makes a back-up beeping noise, and all kinds of truck noises. He also got his new favorite movie, CARS! He's loved Lightning McQueen for some time, and now he has the movie too. Later Zach's family all came over and brought some more fun toys, the highlight being the basketball hoop and a mini golf club set.
James also got from Me and Zach a lightning McQueen matchbox size car, to match his Mater. And new markers, crayons, coloring book. And just because he's so dang cute and we spoil him, he got a Woody doll, and a awesome "automatic" screwdriver. He calls it his "scrubadriver" and it's adorable to hear him say it. He loved to raid the tool bucket and carry the real one around, so Zach went on a mission to get him one of his own.
So, overall the birthday haul was more than enough. Lucky Naomi is enjoying all these additions too. It's nice to add to the "boy" toy collection.
The birthday cake was the only disappointment of the day. I didn't even take a photo it was that bad! It was supposed to be a train cake and I couldn't get the frosting to stick to the edges of the cake where I had cut it. It slowly came together, and with the help of my mother-in-law and Zach with the decorating it turned out ok. James even identified it as a train. Whew. But at least it tasted good!
Happy 2nd Birthday James!

Naomi"s Birthday!

Naomi successfully turned 4 years old. And yes, I feel like that sounds old. She is old. Three seemed a lot more like a baby. Now she's very much a big girl. She has been for some time, I just like my children to stay as my little babies.

Naomi had quite the Birthday celebration! She celebrated early with her Champlin grandparents before they left for a vacation. The next morning she had a Valentines party as school, and got to pick a present at circle time for her birthday. Then, on her actual birthday Her Low grandparents visited and brought her presents. Later we had a fun little party with Naomi, Mommy, Daddy and James here at home. My friend Andrea let me borrow her cool cake pan to make the chocolate castle cake. It was beyond simple and looked very cool. The photo doesn't show the details very well. I didn't put tons of effort into decorating, but you can't beat frosting and m&m's! We went bowling at the fun park, Naomi, and James, they loved it. It was so funny to watch them barely get their balls rolling hard enough to make it down the lane.

The next day Naomi had her princess birthday party with her girlfriends! It was a blast. Those girls had a royal good time! They played dress-up, danced, colored, played pin-the-jewel-on-the-crown, ate cake and ice cream, decorated crowns, opened presents and just played their little hearts out.

I love how Naomi's castle cake turned out. She didn't even end up eating any of it. She's an ice cream kind of girl. I used cake cones for the pillars, and sugar cones on top. It was fun to make and a huge hit with the little princesses!

Overall it was a great week-long celebration. Lucky girl!

Naomi's already planning her party for next year, and from what it sounds like, it will be a Bat Man party!

Remember how awesome Barbies were?

A few days ago my parents said that the day had come for me to finally rid them of my old Barbie house and it's paraphernalia.

This house was built by a family friend for his little girl who in turn passed it along to me when she had grown out of it. I loved this Barbie house. It was awesome. My mom indulged my little sister and me and bought all kinds of little things for it. Like a popcorn popper, sewing machine, telephones, clock, washer and dryer, kitchen table, and appliances like a fridge and oven. I even had the most awesome, and very Barbie-pink, Corvette.
I had forgotten all about most of this. It was like being 7 years old again as Naomi and I opened the boxes and sorted things out. I played with Barbies until I was kind of old. I don't know exactly how old, but with a house like this, do you blame me?
Naomi's Princess dolls and my old Barbies are great friends already. Naomi is getting better at dressing them by herself and her fashion sense is hilarious. The old clothes I had were great. But mostly because there are a few Barbies and lots of clothes from my older sisters. From the 70's. These Barbies had straight bangs, California-tanned skin, and long straight blond hair. Mine have the curly-fuzzy look that was hot in the late 80's early 90's. There are aqua-colored unitards, with stirrups. One piece ski suits, with ski's boots and poles to match. Halter style one-piece outfits. Sweet. There seems to be a trend with the one piece. I also have a few pairs of MC Hammer pants for made custom for me by my little neighbor friend, Ashlee. I remember opening that birthday present. They were so cool!
I can't seem to find my Ken doll anywhere. I'll have to go back and look at my mom and dad's. I always made him drive Barbie's pink Corvette. Maybe now I should let her drive instead.
So, here's to a new age of Barbies. I had no idea how fun this girl stuff was going to be.

Anyone want to come and play Barbies with us?

Mr Darcy...

Mr Darcy... handkerchief.
How romantic!

Create

I am in the mood to create something. I've been hanging around on design blogs all day, bookmarking, making mental notes of what I could do, what materials I have on hand.
A few things that are looking attractive to me right now:

Skye-O my friend and fantastic sewer made a really cute quit. Using scraps. I have scraps! I can do that! Something about quilts is so beautiful to me. I love them. I want to make them but I never, ever have. So this might be my first attempt. It's so cute, isn't it? She got the idea from here.

IS-LY is a really fun blog. She has cool ideas and often free patterns/tutorial. Like this one. An iPhone case. Not that I have an iPhone. But I'm thinking I can alter it for my little Pixi. And use felt, not leather. Might just work.

Also from her website, these tissue poms as a mobile. It's so pretty, I want to make one right now:)

And, I've pulled out all my hair clip/bow/headband making supplies. Naomi needs some new stuff for her hair and she's been asking for big flowers. So maybe I'll get some fun stuff done tonight. I also bought some little pearl beads, I think I might be able to incorporate those into something. The trick to all this stuff is this: Hot Glue. 

And last but not least, Naomi's birthday is coming up, SOON! We looked around online at some castle cakes and picked a few that we liked best. I'm thinking I'll whip one up that's a mix between these three. I really like the sand castle structure. It's cute off-center, and round. Fun stuff ahead!

from Coolest Birthday Cakes

Sand Castle Cake from the Family Fun website.

And this video tutorial from Betty Crocker for their Pink Castle Cake.

Last year I did a Princess Belle cake. It turned out really cute and most importantly, Naomi loved it.

And on a different note, Naomi just informed me that she "needs ear drops!!!" Suddenly her ear hurts and it is 4:52 p.m. on a Friday. Awesome.

Dress Up

I've been on one of  my favorite websites. Not that I've actually purchased anything there. Modcloth.com. I just like their stuff. Just look at all these cute dresses! I want a new dress. No, I don't need one. But let's pretend for a minute I was going to buy one. Or you were, which would you pick?

I envy short girls when it comes to dresses. You can get away with so much more. Probably a lot of these would be at best pushing the limits, if not all together too short. But maybe with leggings?

So What do you think? The blue crazy-collar one is maybe my favorite.

http://modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Womens/Black+by+Popular+Demand+Dress

http://modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Additional+Sizes/Golden+Age+of+Hollywood+Dress

http://modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Womens/Lost+in+Grace+Dress

http://www.modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Fall+2009/Fall+Coverings/Damask+Rose/Precious+Dress+in+Pearl

http://modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Womens/Sally+Jane+Dress

http://modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Womens/Dresses/Under+50/Sci+Fi+Heroine+Dress

http://modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Womens/Frocks+and+Robbers+Dress

http://modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Womens/Dresses/Under+50/A+New+Angle+Dress

While overall they seem to have really cute stuff, sometime you run into items like this.

Seriously? Please don't tell me if you actually like this. But I do think that the ruffles are removable.

http://www.modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Womens/One+Two+Ruffle+My+Shoe

El Bandito.

From Pickleville Playhouse website:
Warning: Viewers of The Hanging of El Bandito can expect to experience severe fits of laughter, chronic happiness, and an overall increase in quality of life.  
No seriously ... we're not kidding.


So here's a shout out to a great show run by even GREATER people!
(and I'm also hoping to win some free tickets:) but if not, I will be a paying customer, cross my heart.)


So, I've been wanting to see this show for what seems like forever. Maybe it was just all last summer. But that's a long time too.
So now it's playing in Logan! Hooray. But only Valentines weekend. Feb 13 and 15. 
Here's a link to the webpage, for show and ticket information, and here's a link to the blog for more stuff:)

Happiest Place On Earth!

Disneyland!
We had a fantastic, magical time. I loved it, maybe as much as Naomi!
I took Naomi with me to St. George on Friday, Saturday I ran my race and had a great time hanging out with Talia, Wes and company. Dylan and Trey are awesome:)
Erica and her two "big" boys met us in St. George Saturday night. Sunday we made it to church. Early too. I was very proud of myself. Something about just one child to get ready must be the trick. Note, Erica still had two. By herself. After church we scarfed down some healthy mac 'n cheese, hot dogs, etc. and made for the state line! We had to make potty breaks more than is normal I think. Naomi probably drank way too much the first half hour of the car ride. And she was just plain excited.
We rolled in to Anaheim at a decent hour and rendezvoused with Jesse, Brooke and their strapping boys, Matthew and Drew. Lots of boys on this trip.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we were at Disneyland and California Adventure non stop. Naomi was tall enough to hop on almost any ride. Dawson and Drew were sporting their heeled cowboy boots so they could board Space Mountain and other not to miss rides. They were good sports about standing up "straight and tall!" for so many height checks!
We saw princesses and lots of other fun characters. We went on every ride we could. Fantasy land has some kid favorites. Naomi loved Pirates of the Caribbean best. So she says. She liked Dumbo a lot, and Mr. Toads Wild Ride, the Matterhorn, the roller coaster in Toon Town was really fun too. We went on that as many times as we could before the park closed Monday night. There were no lines, there hardly ever were. That made for happy kids and even happier parents! We went on Space Mountain at least twice each morning, and got fast passes for later. Naomi and Dawson were not so sure about that ride. In fact, Naomi complained every time I "made" her go on it. It's my favorite and we decided that it was fair to go on Mommy's favorite ride and then we could go on her favorite ride(s). She wouldn't scream, she would just death-grip my arm and hold on for dear life. The dark makes her nervous, she likes to see where she's going. She talks about it now like it was no big deal. Funny girl.
She wanted to go on the big roller coaster at California Adventure, California Screamin' but she was much too short. She made it on Mulholland Madness though, I took Naomi and Isaac and Matthew a handful of times, they all laughed their heads off on that ride. Tower of Terror was fun too, Naomi was totally scared but informed me afterward that the ghosts are fake. Ok. She didn't have much desire to go on that one again:) She did really like the Haunted Mansion though. You just never know what she's going to love. Usually she's a little morbid. I mean, Pirates? as her Favorite?
Tuesday Naomi and I ran (really, I did, and I was so tired at that point, she was in the stroller.) to Ariel's Grotto for a lunch date with the Princesses. Naomi was honored to help introduce the first princess, Snow White. My silly girl was shy but did stand as they welcomed her in. She's got a stage fright thing going on lately. Or maybe always. Not wanting to be center of attention in big groups. Especially strangers. So much for my Broadway plans. Kidding.
Naomi met Snow White, Ariel, Aurora, Belle, and Cinderella. The food was fantastic, the dessert was especially heavenly. The princesses stopped at each table and met everyone, signed autographs, took photos and chatted with the little princesses. It was darling. Naomi loved it, but she had a hard time eating anything it was all so exciting. Afterward we rushed back out to the rides. I'm not sure which Noami loved best.
We had some rain Tuesday afternoon but it didn't stop us. Well, not at first. Naomi and I gave up and got our wet selves back to the hotel and the hot tub by about 6:30. Jesse came too, with a sleeping Drew. He was covered in a rain poncho asleep in an umbrella stroller. It was so cute!
Erica and Brooke decided that as long as they were wet they would go on Splash Mountain, several times. I think they must have been totally soaked by the time they were through.
Naomi decided to practice her swimming skills she's been honing at preschool swim lessons all year. I have to say I was impressed. I knew she was comfortable with the water now, but she was awesome! She jumped in the deep end and swam (doggy paddled) back to the edge and pulled herself out. She doggy paddled across the deep parts of the hot tub over and over. I was so proud:) I am excited to take her swimming teach her more. Yay for loving the water, finally.
Wednesday the weather was so nice, really except for the rain later Tuesday, we could not have asked for nicer weather. We played all day and squeezed in a few last rides before it was time for me and Erica and our respective children to load up the suburban and head for home. We left California after 8 and made it to St. George in under 6 hours. Not bad. Erica was great driving and I just blabbed in the front seat. The next morning we all headed back up to snowy Cache Valley.
It was a fantastic trip. I missed my baby and felt guilty a few times when I knew he would have loved seeing and riding the toy story rides. But it was a great trip with the "big kids". I'm so glad I could go and take Naomi, it was just magical. She insists the Princesses were real. I think I'll go again when James is just about 4 also, so in two years. I already miss Jesse and Brooke and their boys. It's too long between visits. And Alaska is just really far away! Maybe we'll meet in California again:)
So, how to end an incredibly long post about Disneyland. I don't know, but I'm sure I'll be there again soon enough.

Half

Well, I did it!

A few Saturdays ago, I "ran" a half marathon. The St. George Half Marathon. More correctly, I completed the half marathon. That is 13.1 miles thank you. 

It was great. Actually it was great to finish and the first 7 miles were great! I ended up walking some towards the end but finished that thing running. My knee was giving me trouble past the half way mark. 

Talia and Wes were awesome and came down to the finish line to see me there, it was cold but they had bundled up their two boys and Naomi to see my big finish. I was a cold, tired girl when I made it to the end, but the important thing is that I made it! Tal and Wes are so awesome, they took care of, and played with, and fed Naomi all that day while I ran and then recovered (hot bath) and even took a nap. Thanks guys!

A few things to consider before my next half. And I am planning on doing more.

First, maybe I should stick to the warmer weather runs. I like it hot. And I swear I am partially cold-blooded.

Second. I needed to be a little more prepared. I was a little under-trained. But it was ok in the end.

Third. Don't eat Gu, protein bars, etc. They are gross and kind of made me feel sick on the run. I think I'll pack snacks I like. Maybe my favorite peanut butter-chocolate chip granola bars. Something appetizing. And maybe carry a Gatorade flavor I like. Lemon/Lime is yuck.

That's all I think of. I had a good run, I love my NikeFit shirt and capri's they are so comfortable. The shirt is for cold weather, but I was chilly still. My shoes were awesome, new Asics from my in-laws for Christmas. Big thanks for those. I really do love them.

Now I'm taking a little break for a week or so, then back to the gym until this snow melts away! 

I think I want to do some shorter races, maybe the Ogden Marathon 5K in May. But my next big run will be the Top of Utah half in August. And I'm recruiting running buddies. I'm not very fast though. Let me know if you want to run with me, or run the races too.

Anaheim

I'm laying here in my uncomfortable hotel bed and everyone else is sleeping. We had an amazingly fun day at Disneyland today. The weather was cool then warm and sunny and then cool again. The lines were short or at worst very bearable. Even the kids were pretty well behaved. I did loose my temper with Naomi once. I still feel badly, sheepish maybe. The kind of situation where something else is the stressor, you feel frustrated and suddenly, "snap." You (I) bark at your (my) child for somthing minor. I know I'm not the only mom who has done (does) this. But maybe I am the only mom who blogs about it though.
Anyway, that was realitivly minor and an exception to our awesome day here. Let me just get something out on the table. I love Space Mountain. A lot. Naomi was unconvinced that she should like it. it's very dark and terrifyingly thrilling. Dawson and Drew were not big fans either. This little posse consists of me and Naomi, Erica and her boys Isaac and Dawson, and Brooke and Jesse with their boys Matthew and Drew. Lots of boy for my little Naomi to play with! She just finished a mini weekend with her (boy) cousins on the other side, Talia and Wes's kids. it's been fun and so much more than that to spend all this time with family we don'y see as often as we would like.
So, it's late, I'm tired and we have 2 more days here! I have photos and videos that would make you laugh and melt your heart, (yeah, it's that magical here). But I can't post them now.
Also, I have stuff to talk about concerning my race last Saturday. That can come later. I'm tired of "typing" on my phone.
And one more thing. This is blog post 300. Wow.

Okeedokee Artichokee

We like artichokes at this house. It's a new development, within the last 6 months. I must have presented them in a good light the first time, the kids were actually hungry, or something. Or maybe it's the melted butter. Never underestimate the power of melted butter.

The kids go wild for them. It is, at the very least, comparable to the excitement level of when we have ice cream cones. Seriously.

I know, who knew that kids could be so perplexing?

I guess I should add though, in all fairness, that my kids do like vegetables in general. Broccoli, peas, carrots, corn, peppers, squash, and cucumbers are regular winners. And avacados and mushrooms for James. So there wasn't that bump to get over. And artichokes are fun to eat. And Naomi will try anything once, and James will do anything she does.

So there you have it, a recipe for artichoke lovers.

They are just kinda weird looking.

Naomi asked me the first time, like she does often when a food is only vaguely familer or altogether new, "do I like this mom?" And what do you think the answer invariably is? "Yes, you love it!"

Now don't start worrying that either, 1) I am bragging and exaggerating, or 2) my kids like everything. Neither is true. Well, definitely not the second one.

My kids have plenty of things they do not like. Will not eat. Not one bite. And James is the worst when he decides he is done. He is DONE and will not, no matter the coaxing, bribing, demanding, camaraderie, take one more bite. Not ever. He's better with distraction, like "look, that's a neat __________, eat your _________." And sometimes absent-mindedly while he's looking at said distraction he will take another bite. Not usually though.

So, back to the artichokes. Naomi asks every time we hit the grocery store if we can buy one. I tell her we will check the prices. It's a good introductory to the concept that things cost money, things change price and we don't like to spend too much money. Buy low, eat high. Something like that.

So last shopping I brought home from Macey's not one, but two cool-funky looking artichokes! Oh happy day!

I cooked up the big one,  using this recipe page the first time and they have turned out delicious repeatedly.

I set the kids up with their own little cups of melted butter. I reuse applesauce cups for stuff like this. They are perfect.

Naomi danced a happy dance before I finally told her she had to sit down to eat. James has entered the "I DO IT" stage and I supplied him with fresh leaves. He dipped, licked, slurped to his belly's content. I often had to confiscate and replace leaves once he had stripped the edible part off and was trying to see if he should eat the whole thing. Naomi was more precise but I did stop her from sipping the butter at one point. Only to turn to see James's butter cup bottoms up and then him bring it down to the table and ask innocently for "mo butter. pees."

Naomi babbled about the artichoke heart and was just as excited for that part as anything. It's a pain to get clean. You have to cut off or dig out the little thistle things once all the leaves are off. But then it's a big delicious chunk of artichoke. We split it three ways, a satisfying way to end a meal.

So if you haven't tried these before, go check prices next time your are shopping. Supposedly they can get as cheap as a dollar each. You might just love them, and your kids too. Shocking, I know.

First times for James

James had a day with a few "firsts" in it. He's 22 months and seems to be changing so rapidly right now. He's learning new words and talking more. Learning colors. All that good stuff. So it's sweet when I consciously can catalog a moment that he did something brand new.

Earlier my kiddos were playing in the next room and I heard James come running to find me. He did, hugged my legs and then looked at me and said; "Naomi, hit. Naughty."

He had his first experience tattling. On his sister, of course. I found it to be so sweet that I laughed when I should have shown concern. It was a good moment in an otherwise kind of ornery-mommy day. We talked to Naomi and she was sorry and gave him a hug and a kiss. All better.

This next part wasn't a "first" but it's related to the above incident.

Later he had apparently  thrown a (quite heavy) Lightning McQueen at Noami. It hit her head. She came crying to me. It hurt and I could also tell that she was just plain sad that he had hurt her. On purpose, or so it seemed.

We then found him and I told him that we never throw toys at each other, that Noami was hurt, etc, etc. I asked him to say sorry to Noami. Instead of saying anything he just embraced her. He was sorry. Poor thing, he wasn't quite sure what he had done wrong in the first place by that time.

And best of all, today while we were just about ready to eat lunch I asked Naomi if she would ask a blessing for our meal. She, as usual, kinda declined, wanted me to say it. I said that I would help her. Ok then, she consented. I started out and James piped up. He was folding his arms and smiling. He proudly repeated "Hevly Fahder" and so he said the little prayer for us with my help. I told him he did a good job, it was so sweet! Naomi added, "you liked saying the prayer, maybe you can do it again next time!" Meaning, I'm sure, that she is now forever off the hook. What a gal.

He was so proud of himself, and so was I.

This is today, after a mid-morning shower. He busied himself with the squeegee, wiping down the shower door and floor, also trying to avoid the shower spray.

Naomi

This girl deserves a post all her own. She is energy, attitude, curiosity, generosity, inquisitiveness, brilliance all stuffed in a little 3 year old body.

She never ceases to amaze, surprise, frustrate, and make me laugh out loud.

She has a knack, like most little girls, for putting together some pretty awesome outfits. She also likes to gather together favorite items and stash them away. I'm a forever finding these little treasure troves.

So here are a few I captured on film to share.

Christmas Stockings

I am finally making Jame's Christmas stocking. It's only his second Christmas, not bad. And it's been a effort to get motivated. But I'm excited and ready to do it.
I had originally planned on a teddy bear for his stocking, but I couldn't seem to get a pattern that would look good. Or even very much like a teddy bear. I was feeling frustrated and stuck, I had already purchased the brown corduroy.Then Zach suddenly said, why don't you just do a gingerbread man? Perfect!
So here he is so far. I'm stitching the double layers of the little man to the top layer of the front of the stocking. After he's on, I'll finish all the other embellishments before sewing the stocking together. I learned my lesson the hard way a few years back. It's easier to sew stuff onto it without sticking my hand inside the finished stocking.
On this site, she has a great stocking tutorial. Mine are similar, but I have the unfinished edges out and I snip them so they are frayed.
Merry Christmas!