Shhh...

Her Christmas present: cut with a saw, sanded, primed and three coats of paint later. I was beginning to wonder if we could pull this one off!

Merry Christmas!

It is a silent night tonight.
It is barely snowing here.
Downstairs John is singing softly, "I Saw Three Ships".
I can't help smiling as I think of the blessings the Lord has given to each one of us.

May we all find peace, joy and goodwill through Him.

Note: All these pieces of art are by one of my favorite Christian artists, Liz Lemmon Swindle. I had the privilege to get to know her daughter while living in Michigan and I can definitely say that they are an inspiring family. You can buy them at fine art galleries like Twiggs and Moore or here online.

"This Quote Probably Shouldn't Amuse Me..."

Said my sister this morning. My husband said after hearing this quote, "Whomever said this truly understood women."

Here is the Quote of the day:
Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater.
If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby.
If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.
If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.
If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.
She multiplies and enlarges whatever is given to her.
So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of #$*%.

Santa's Little Helper

I was surprised at how helpful Livy was at putting up the Christmas decorations! It still was a lot of work doing it with a toddler, but it was also fun to see how excited she was! There was a lot of "Wassdat?" and explaining. Granted the bottom third of the tree is in constant flux with her redecorating, but nothing is breakable so it makes it easy. We have yet to nail the tree to the floor like my parents had to with me. The "ights" on the tree and outside get an appreciative "Whoa." when they come on.
Another favorite of hers is the nativities (Little People one and the Fontanini). She loves rearranging them and is particularly worried about where the baby Jesus (or Jesuses as the case may be) will be placed. Sometimes I will find both babies together in one of the managers. She absolutely had to take the Fontanini baby with her to Nana's house. I personally don't find that creche baby artistically beautiful, but who am I to argue with her love of baby Jesus? There has been a lot more things underfoot with Christmas out, but it feels so much more holly jolly!

Taggin' Along

1. Started your own blog (duh!)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii (someday)
5. Watched a meteor shower (love it!)
6. Given more than you can afford to charity (but I couldn't afford much anyway...)
7. Been to Disneyland (love it!)
8. Held a praying mantis (they are so cool!)
9. Climbed a mountain
10.Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped. (never, ever)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (no way)
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill (before my "real" job)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb (My lambs names were: Salt and Pepper)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon (it is on the "To Do" list)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (wish)
29. Seen a total eclipse (overrated)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (NOT overrated)
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (this one is a half-sie one: Sometimes I am SO content no matter what financial status I am. And others, I think "It would sure be great if...")
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (not on real rocks)
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (she was probably too doped up to care about the McBurger)
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (Is this my best side?)
48.Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain (mmmm...excuse me while I remember...)
53. Played in the mud (I can't believe my mom let the whole neighborhood have a mud fight in our backyard.)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater (can't beat that white trash fun!)
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (the Red Cross loves me. They call me a "Zero Hero")
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt - currently trying to....
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (not the best boyfriend...nevermind, Mom...)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible - the Song of Solomon is ridiculous
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous - saw a lot of people in L.A., but never "met" them
92. Joined a book club (love book clubs)
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (awesomest thing ever)
95. Seen the Alamo in person (cooler than you would think)
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (I didn't swim in it, but I sure did smell it...yuck!)
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone (finally)
99. Been stung by a bee (too many times, and once in Sacrament...)
100. Read an entire book in one day (too many times too :)

Taggin' it along to: the two "Kris.."es: Krissmas and Kristie

Grateful for...

....sleeping babies.

Grateful for...

...feet.

Grateful for...

....things unseen like hope and faith.

Grateful for...

....someone to be silly with.

Grateful for...

...color.

Grateful for...

being a mother.

I Could've Done A Lot of Things this Hour...

...but I did this instead! LOL!

My sister sent me this advertisement last year in the mail. I LOVE it.
I've been meaning to try to duplicate it with Tucker.
I haven't taken the time until tonight.
Here's what pictures I got:

Not quite what I was imagining,

but I'm pretty amazed that Tucker would even stay in the sink.
The sink IS a bit small for him!Tucker will never have the stamina for professional modeling.

Link Love

So, as you know, I'm a horrible slacker when it comes to my blog settings and layout. I'm just happy that I'm posting; but I have really wanted to put up some links of my family and friends' blogs. I appreciate hearing about your lives (especially those of you I don't get to see very often!) I think I have everyone, but I would hate to forget any friend or family member so email me if I'm a dunce. So I have taken PeaPod's naptime and added the links! I'm so proud of myself. Now if only the socks were sorted...

God Bless Our Veterans! We Salute You!

On this Veterans' Day I send out my love and gratitude to all veterans. I don't think it is a coincidence that it is so close to Thanksgiving Day. I am grateful there are men and women willing to work hard,all hours of the day anywhere in the world, and put their very life at stake for my well being. I cannot imagine what they have faced but I am glad to know that there are those who have faith in what is good in this country. Both of my grandfathers are veterans. I have included pictures from their service. They look and are so young and full of life. They are good looking too!
God bless our veterans! God bless the USA!
May we not forget.

This first picture below is of my great uncle Ameth who died fighting in World War II. By all accounts, he was very heroic and there was a number of places named after him after the war here and in Germany.


The following is photos of my grandpa on my mother's side. He served in the Navy.



The following are pictures of my grandpa on my father's side. He served as a medic in the Army. I especially love the fourth photo because he looks so much like my dad in it!

Exhale or Pass Out? Snow or No!

Autumn seemed to be holding her breath the last week in October. It was beautiful with crisp mornings and sunny afternoons. My pear trees turned from brilliant shades of yellow into red. Halloween came and then either autumn passed out or she exhaled because winter seems to have replaced her. Here is a pic from the big snow storm during the first week of November. Pea was so excited about the change.
Princess Pea ran to each of the windows yelling "NO! NO! NO!" Which is her saying "snow" but I really did want to yell, "NO! NO! NO!" I think snow is pretty. I love a white holiday season. I love it as long as I don't have to drive in it! Pea first touched the snow. Then she pointed her toe in it. Then she really got into it and trudged all around the yard. She would fall and need me to get her up since we don't have mittens for her yet. It was fun to see snow as something so new and exciting.

Just One More Time...

Okay, I just love PeaPod in this costume, so bear with me as I post it yet again! Mothers have a right to brag and they should - it is in the Parental Bill of Rights! And I don't want to be a bad parent so....

My Mom, Our Nana

I have wanted to do this post for some time, but have procrastinated it because I just don't have the words. I don't know if there are words that can describe how wonderful it is to have a mother like I do. She is a beautiful person inside and out. She is always trying to improve herself and she is her hardest critic. At my age, she had 4 daughters and was taking care of her mother who was in the last stages of terminal cancer. I can't imagine that. I am blessed every day she is with me. She sewed little girl dresses and unusual Halloween costumes, played "squirrels" in the pantry and "alligator" with the vaccuum, tolerated many a "tent" made out of blankets and furniture and "potions" made out of cosmetics in the sink, she got tired teenage-me out of bed with the dryer buzzer, always encouraged me to reach out to others no matter what their popularity or station of life, and she knows how to make a great chicken noodle soup.
Our life and trials are so different, yet I feel so close to her.
She is generous of spirit and love.

I am so glad to have someone who lifts me up and is a great friend. She is inspiring, fun-loving and talented.

Her heart is soft and her spirit strong.

With a project in front of her, she is unwavering and no one works harder.

If I become half the mother she is, I will be a success.

I still don't have the words and probably never will. I guess that is why the word "mother" is so special.

I love you, Mom!

Climbing the walls..uhh..fridge

Sometimes I don't know how my 19 month old child does it. Today I found footprints going up my fridge!

PeaPod the Peacock and Poor PeaPod

This weekend started with some fun at the Hogle Zoo called Boo Zoo. It was a zoo at the zoo! We had no idea how popular this event was! Kids get dressed up in their Halloween costumes and trick-or-treat throughout the zoo. We invited our Christensen cousins along but unfortunately we soon lost them in the crowd since PeaPod was too little to wait for the treats. We'll have to get together again for some real together time. Nana and Auntie Krissy came along just for the fun of it. PeaPod made quite an impression running wild throughout the zoo as a peacock! Everywhere we went you would hear, "Look at the peacock!" She was pointed to just as much as the real animals! PeaPod loved the bears best this time and pointed to them saying, "Bar" every time the black bear would walk by.




The best part was when the free roaming turkeys came face to face with her. I shook her tail just to see what the male turkey would do. He was very disgruntled at having some feathery competition! He strutted toward her with a "Gobble! Gobble Gobble!" It was really funny, but I scooped her up quickly and didn't antogonize the poor fellow again! (I have memories of being chased by an oversized goose at Wheeler's Farm.) PeaPod wasn't feeling very well, so we left before noon.

I have no idea what I was doing in this pic, but I think I missed my chance at stardom doing cartoon voices as a career.

















Later that day, TheMan aka the Mad Scientist had his engineering friends get together to work on one of his "projects" they had been engineering. It is a trebuchet. "What in the world is a trebuchet?" you ask. Besides being a fun word to say, a trebuchet is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash masonry walls or to throw projectiles over them. Yep, my husband and his friends are making one. They want to throw pumpkins as the projectiles. Why? For fun. The neighbors can relax, because although the trebuchet construction is happening in my garage, the location of the seige is not yet determined.



By Saturday evening, PeaPod's cold had turned into a full blown fever of an ugly 103 degrees. So we visited urgent care, received some antibiotics and fluids. Sunday was a cuddle day alternating between Daddy and Mommy. I came home early from work today since her fever was still high. She's doing much better now. Poor PeaPod.

Comments Open

So, with the persuasion of my sisters, I have opened my blog to comments. No big deal, right? (Cringe) Introspective as I am, a year ago I thought a lot about the why I was starting a blog and my target audience. I had appreciated a lot of personal blogs and knew what I wanted to write and didn't want to be like. I wanted to write for the right reasons. Basically, I didn't want to be a Sneetch looking for a star on my belly and pointing to it. I did not initially set up this blog for comments because I felt comments might clash with my goals and focus for this blog which were and still are:
1. Create an easy way to document my family's life and share it with them - wherever they are.
2. Have you ever heard the quote: "Dance like nobody's watching"? Well, I wanted to blog like nobody was watching except God and my family. And, hey, if anyone else stumbled across it and was uplifted in some way (even if they were comforted because I get drowned in laundry too sometimes :), I'd be really happy.
3. Blog to inspire myself to be better at each of my roles in life: wife, mother, etc. I want this blog to be a gift of myself to my husband, children and family. To share my love for them and pieces of who I am in a different medium.
4. To help define the beauty and perspective of our everyday life.
My goals are still the same and I hope that I can continue to blog according to them with comments activated. So, this is a test. This is only a test....So's life too, I guess!

Green Now Gone, Fun Goes On

It snowed this week, the day after I took these photos. Now all the garden leaves are gone and the perennials are going to their winter slumber. I don't think we'll slumber much though nor the playground if SweetPea can help it!

Little Mother

Congratulations to M&M!

I love seeing two wonderful people who are in love with one another decide to get married. Matt and Mel are one of these wonderful couples. They were married and sealed to one another in the LDS Salt Lake Temple this Friday. Individually, they are great people. They are two accomplished engineers. She has experience as a Disney Imagineer (that is so cool!) and she's hot (not stereotypical in female engineer). He is working while going to school to complete his MBA. And it is necessary to mention that Matt was 1986 David Bowie from Labrynth last year for Halloween. Hilarious. Who knows what these two can do together?! After getting married and sealed for time and all eternity in the LDS Salt Lake Temple (same temple I got married), they celebrated with friends and family later that evening.
They made the reception meaningful and individual by designing and doing many of the details themselves. Because of their first initials are M&M, they decided on a chocolate theme - from the colors to the food!
To top it off: THE GROOM MADE THE CAKE! I'm sure they will give as much personal attention to their marriage as they did preparing for it and the celebration afterward. Congratulations you guys!