The storms of life

7:00 is Annie's bedtime. Especially if she hasn't had a nap. Sometimes we start the process at about 6:45 so that she is asleep at 7:00. One of the good things about Annie is that she realized that sleep was important very, very young. She slept through the night at about 6 weeks old and has literally never looked back. I don't think this is a record of our amazing parenting. I really think that Annie just knows that sleep is a vital part of feeling good. I realized this when she was about 2 and told me it was time for her nap.

Not only does she go to sleep well, she stays asleep. A couple of months ago when she was at her grandparents house, a pretty big earthquake (5 pointer!) hit with the epicenter being just miles away from where she was. It was during the day, but she was tired and so her grandma told her to go take a nap. Without her being tucked in or sang to or anything, she went into a bedroom and took a nap. Amazingly, she slept through the whole earthquake - even the aftermath of other children screaming in terror. She can sleep through just about anything.

Last night a big monsoon hit around 7:00. The storm was so wild that when we opened our front door to look at it, the door whooshed open so quickly that it slammed John's arm into the wall (he's fine). The rain and the wind made it look like waves on the ocean. To top it all off, it was NOISY! We thought at first that it was hail, but after looking at it, we realized it was just really, really big drops of rain. The house sounded like we were being pelted by very small rocks.

We hear the tired screams of Annie. "Mooooooommmy. Daaaaaady." Daddy goes in to check on her since I am on the phone. He calms her down and tells her to not be afraid. He tells her that it will stop soon and it's just rain so there is nothing to be scared of. What does she tell her? "Daddy, I'm not scared. It just waked me up!"

It must have been a bigger storm than I thought.

Songlist of silly things

There are a few songs that I have heard lately that have made me happy. Just happy. Happiness is a beautiful thing and I thought I would share them with you, no matter how cheesy it is.

Would it help melt the cheese a little if I gave a little explanation to why these make me happy? I hope so.

Take me the way I am, by Ingrid Michaelson

Whenever I hear this song I think of John and how he puts up with my craziness. I have mood swings and hormones and he just takes me the way I am. I love it.

Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani

Annie loves this song and sings along to it whenever it comes on the radio, which is a lot. It would be annoying how often we hear it if it wasn't for Annie. She calls it the "Wee-hoo, Woo-hoo song" and asks for it whenever we're home listening to music. I should get the CD and let her dance around to it whenever she wants, but I'm a loser mother and just wait for her to hear it on the radio. We have spent countless minutes waiting in the car for the song to finish before I shut off the car. We dance in our seats and yell the lyrics. Fun, fun, fun.


Everything by Michael Buble

My family is everything to me. I think of John and Annie when I hear this song and I smile and smile. This is the cheesiest of the bunch, but it's the song that makes me think of twirling girls and fields of Jonquils. It makes me think of my wedding day and the day my little girl was born. It makes me grateful for my everything.

Feelin' the love

A fun thing happened at sacrament meeting today. Today was High Council sunday, and we were blessed to hear from the high councilman from our ward. He was assigned to talk about our scripture of the month, which is 3 Nephi 11:29, "For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another."

So he was talking about anger and contention and how we need to rid our homes and lives of it and the way to do that is to displace it with love. He got a little fired up about what he was saying and then he said, loudly, "Do we love one another?"

Annie replied just as loud, "YAH!!"

Everyone around us laughed, but I don't think Bro. Nelson heard us. We were giggling for a good 5 minutes after she said it.

I guess I should be happy that we have given her enough love that she feels the need to exclaim it to the world.

Summer Daze

Summer is here - and boy is it hot! It seems like we live in our pool. Either that or we go from our pool to someone elses pool. My hair is in a constant state of damp. If it wasn't for the chlorine, I would be growing mold.

I actually love summer, and I actually don't mind the blistering heat. We are blessed to be able to keep our house at a reasonable temperature throughout the day, and both our cars have A/C - so I can't really complain.

And popsicles . . . oh boy do I love popsicles! My mom and dad used to take us through the drive-thru dairy in Chino and get Big Sticks and Sidewalk Sundaes. The Sidewalk Sundaes were our favorites - chocolate coated vanilla ice cream with a streak of dark fudge on the inside. I didn't realize how much I adored the Big Sticks until I moved to the South and couldn't find them anywhere under any name. They are a pineapple/cherry popscicle that I really missed - until I found them at every grocery store in Arizona. The only problem is that they are not quite the same.

The Big Sticks of my youth were heavily flavored and rather slushie-like - I feel like I can suck all the juice out of the imitation Big Sticks and all I'd be left with is a ice-pop. But I'll take them rather than leave them. They still remind me of backyard swingsets, hot porches, burning skin and many happy afternoons. It's those kind of memories I want to pass onto Annie.

This is the reason I will only allow Annie to eat popscicles outside - even if it is 120 degrees. It's not because I can't stand the drips!

I wasn't really worried

Yea right!

I've been stressing about this appointment with the doctor ever since my little procedure last Tuesday where they knocked me out so they could look at the inside of my uterus and take away anything that wasn't supposed to be there.

They found five polyps, scraped them all out and sent them to the pathologist.

They also looked at my strangeness. I'm still weird. According to my doctor that is a histological term.

Benign uterine tumors.

Never have three words made my heart stop racing so quickly.

Earth Day Amazingness

I guess Earth Day is coming up, and I've been seeing on other people's blogs how they are trying to help the world. So I've decided to list how I try to help! I'm not perfect in all that I do (and I'm NOT an environmentalist-wacko), but I am fully aware that living on this Earth means I need to do my part in keeping it healthy.

Here's a list . . .

1. I recycle. I didn't before I moved into a home that had curbside pick-up, but now I am fully on the bandwagon. Our HOA used to pay for our trash/recycle pickup. They decided it was too expensive so now we're in charge of it. I decided to stick with the company that recycles instead of the one that picks up regular garbage twice a week. I was proud to see most of my neighborhood doing the same.

2. I cook from scratch. I know that sounds like a long shot, but have you ever noticed how much packaging goes into frozen pre-made foods versus the ingredients that go into said foods? It's significant.

3. I reuse (and then recycle) plastic grocery bags. I have this nifty little contraption under my sink that fits a grocery bag perfectly. Since this is my recycling bin, I end up recycling the grocery bag along with all the other glass, aluminium and plastic. Yes, I feel superior.

4. I think it's really cool that my friend Colleen is getting her new (to her) diesel car to run on vegetable oil. I would do it in a heartbeat. I don't think it would be difficult to find a source for used oil here. I think the first step in doing this is to think that other people doing it is the right thing, don't you?

Don't. Just don't.

I have had some real successes in my life. I can make a beautiful cake. I can recover and refinish furniture. I can shoot a gun and not embarrass myself. I'm not being vain or prideful when I say that I usually can do almost anything I put my mind to - especially if there is a book or a class involved.

So when I went to the jewelery shop to find out how much it would cost to have my wedding rings resized (over $100!!) I figured there was a better way. I went home and googled and you-tubed and figured "it can't be that difficult - it's not like it's rocket science!"

Over the next week I went on e-bay and purchased a ring mandrel, a jewelers saw, some gold solder and flux. I spent about $50, but I figured it would save me money. I even went to the thrift store and found some practice pieces so I wouldn't have to practice on my wedding bands.

I used my little butane torch that I use to make creme brulee, I was assured on a couple of websites that this would put out enough heat. The first two solders worked perfectly - flowing and doing all the things it is meant to do - so I went on to my wedding band. I sawed it and prepared it for solder. Again, the first couple of solders flowed and behaved beautifully. When I tried it again, though, all the solder did was form a beautiful little ball that didn't stick to anything. Arrgh. I cleaned it up and tried it again - and again the ball kept showing it's ugly little head. I kept trying and now my ring is heat scaled and not "one eternal round."

I think I need a higher btu torch (real jewelers use oxygyn and acetylene in their torches - but those are really spendy) - but if that doesn't work, I would pretty much be spending as much on tools as I would on getting my rings sized properly by someone who knows what they are doing! I don't think I actually ruined my band (which we bought after the wedding) - and I never touched the actual ring that was at the wedding (a small band with 9 diamonds). I'll end up getting the little ring sized up and I'll probably end up purchasing another cheap band. Argh. What an ordeal.

Throughout this process I learned a couple of things.
1. Hormones make me think I can do impossible things.
2. My husband must be a saint. He never once voiced the "I told you so" I know was on his brain.
3. Sometimes I just have to leave it to professionals and not think I can do everything.
4. Target sells beautiful sterling silver/cubic zirconia wedding bands that I wouldn't be embarrassed at all to wear. In fact, while I am saving to purchase the band and re-sizing, I might just spend the $25 on a beautiful wedding set.

Cabbages

I've talked about my awsome vegetable/fruit co-op before. I get a huge basket every couple of weeks and usually they are amazing - tons of really fresh, beautiful fruits and vegetables, some normal - some a little crazy. But never have they been the dreaded cabbage!

I'm not a huge fan of cabbage. I've tried bok choy, napa and even the brussels sprout, and I just can't get the hang of cooking it so that it doesn't stink up my house and cause me to vomit. We had a good friend in South Carolina that gave us the biggest cabbage I have ever seen - straight from his garden. I made Annie hold it, took pictures with her and the beast, and threw the thing away.

So what do you think they gave us in honor of St. Patricks day? Two huge, heavy, green cabbages. So I got out the cookbooks and hoped that there were at least a couple of recipes that I could get through. I don't know if it's the texture, or the flavor, or the stinkiness or the cabbage-i-ness - but I'm trying to use up all of my basket so I can get the best value from this co-op. And I've been reading all the good things that cabbage can do for you - so I thought I would give it another try

I found one that is called "Cabbage Joe" - it's basically a Sloppy Joe made in the crock pot with ground turkey and a pound or so of shredded cabbage. I have it in the crock pot right now and all I smell is the lovely smokiness of the homemade bbq sauce I put in it. I'll have to let you know how dinner turns out.

I also have a recipe that is a "cabbage casserole" - but there ain't nothin' healthy about this recipe. It calls for mayonaise and butter and it's covered with melted cheese and corn flakes and baked for an hour. I may hold off, just for the sake of my heart.

I might also make some egg rolls, but that won't take up much of the poundage.

Does anyone have any really good cabbage recipes? I'd love to hear how you would use up two heads of beautiful cabbage.

duh!!

These were a couple of conversations I had with Annie today . . .

On our way out the door . . .

Annie: Mommy, I don't want a pink pony tail, I just want straight hair
Me: Mommy really wants you to have a pony tail, it will make things easier
Annie: But I don't want to make things easier
Me: I've realized that
Annie: Don't realize that - I just want straight hair (yelling at this point)

Whilst making cookies . . .

Annie: Mommy, I smell burn
Me: Oh goodness (while lifting up the pizzelle maker to see two burned cookies) these are beyond . . .
Annie: Is there anything else that is beyond? Look Mommy, these are beyond, too.
Me: Thanks kid

Directly after an unfortunate and accidental stroller dumping during an early-morning walk

Mommy: I'm so sorry - but you're going to have to stop crying.
Annie: But I hurt!
Mommy: I understand, but what do you want me to do about it right now?
Annie:
Mommy: I can cut off your hand!
Annie: No!!!
Mommy: What then?
Annie: Mommy, can I get a hug?

Our Sweet Annie

She's beautiful. She's redheaded. She gets noticed because she's cute. But lately, she has been really communicating with strangers in stores. She's very excited about Halloween, and I bet everyone in the valley now knows that Annie is "freeee years old" and that she's "gonna be a Doctor for Halloween."

She also loves to sing about what's going on in her life. We've been in the aisles of Target and Annie has been singing "I'm going to be put in Time Out and Mommy will swat my bottom if I am bad," or "I like cookies," or my personal favorite, "I don't talk about Mommy's boobies," all set to song. She's always very happy when she's singing, and when she starts talking about inappropriate things, people seem to always be very gracious instead of judgmental. Maybe they don't understand what she's saying yet!

Because of preschool she has also learned the entire Pledge of Allegiance and, in the middle of any random activity, will put her hand on her heart and recite the entire thing, with very few mistakes. I still need to get out the video camera and record this for eternity.

She also loves to count - with a little help she can count to 100. She'll say 29, 20-ten, 20-eleven, if we don't correct her and tell her that 30 comes after 29. It makes me wish there was a song for counting!

Her favorite toys are usually the ones that I have found in the dollar section at Target. Little musical instruments or trains that only need a push to go the entire length of the carpet. She also still loves to dress up and be with her preschool friends.

She is still VERY tall for her age and people always think she should be in school. She had another growth spurt recently and went up three sizes in shoes and another size in clothes. It's getting hard to buy shirts because the ones that fit her around are never long enough. Her length is in her torso - which also means she's clumsier than her friends. She hasn't figured out her center of gravity yet.

Ahh . . . the life of a 3-year-old.

Goodbye to the Daniel Shirt

When we were in South Carolina, John was the 11-year-old scout leader at church. He never had more than two boys at a time, but he loved this calling. He took them camping, taught them nuclear physics, and basically endeared a generation of boys to him. Because of the new rules about never being alone in the same room with a scout (a good rule, by the way) - Annie and I were usually in the same room while all this was going on (except we weren't allowed to go camping with them - they had Dads for that). The last 11-year-old that we were involved with was Daniel. Daniel was - and probably still is - an amazing scout. He proudly wore his scout shirt and brought his book and always wanted to learn what John was teaching. Since he was always kind to our little girl, Annie adored Daniel. He would make her laugh and give her hugs and be a remarkably responsible young man with Annie. We loved him and had some fun experiences in scouting.

So we move to Arizona and I get called to be a cub scout leader. I love this calling and get really into it. I bought a shirt and put all the leader patches on it, and every Wednesday night I wear it proudly while I recite the cub scout promise and the pledge of allegiance. I love these 8-year-old boys - but the thing I love the most is when I put my shirt on my daughter calls me "Daniel." She calls it my "Daniel Shirt" and that we're going to "Daniel Scouts," but she also really calls me "Daniel." For example - "Daniel, we need to have supper." and "What are you doing, Daniel?" She calls me "Daniel" until I come home from scouts and take the shirt off. I then become plain old "Mommy" again - without even a nod that I was anyone else.

A couple weeks ago, I was released from cub scouts and put into the young women program. I now am the leader of the 12 and 13 year old girls. I don't have to come up with skits every month or do the funny claps (Who wants a 'round' of applause?). I traded sweaty boys for beautiful sweet-smelling girls. I really like my new calling and I'm beginning to get to know the girls better every time I'm with them - but the one thing that I really hate about being released? I won't ever get to wear my "Daniel Shirt". It makes me kindof sad to think that she'll forget about Daniel. I love that she remembers him when she sees me in the shirt. I love that I remember South Carolina and the good people that were there. I really want her to remember that she was born in a wonderful environment - that there were people there that were as close as family.

So maybe I'll put on the "Daniel shirt" every once in a while and show her pictures of the actual Daniel. Maybe she'll remember a good memory - in the only way a three-year-old can really remember - symbolically in a shirt.

3 bathrooms with a 3-year-old in 30 minutes

When we moved into our pretty new house, I became the proud new owner of three full-sized bathrooms. Two upstairs, one downstairs. I love having three bathrooms - it is only annoying when I have to clean them. I don't like cleaning bathrooms - I don't get the great feeling that some people get when they clean things. It's not magical or even transformative . . . it's disgusting. But it's necessary, especially because you go into a bathroom to get clean. I realize the need for clean bathrooms, so I've devised a way to do it quickly - even with a 3-year-old who wants to "help." Yesterday, I cleaned all three bathrooms, with Annie, in under 30 minutes. I was pretty proud of myself.

How did I do it? I put Annie on counter duty with a wet washcloth while I did everything else. I've also realized that (except for the downstairs bathroom) it saves time when you group the jobs together. Instead of doing one bathroom from top to bottom and then moving on to the next bathroom, clear off all the counters, do all the bathtubs, then the toilets, then the countertops (that are already nicely wet because of Annie's excitement). End off with a hearty spray of Windex on all the mirrors and fixtures (it gives them a beautiful sheen). Done.

I never thought I would feel so proud of three clean bathrooms. It's the little things.