find joy in the journey

soft like a pillow

This morning Payton, Anna and I were running through the grocery store to pick up a few things.  When I have just the two of them Payton is allowed the privilege of walking along with me, rather than riding in the basket of the cart.  Anyways, he's such a funny boy when I let him walk.  He's so happy, inquisitive, and loves running along checking everything out.

I was picking out some mangoes and Payton was asking me questions about the various fruits.  He picked up an apricot and said, "what's this?" 

Out of the corner of my eye I glance and say, "It's an apricot."

"Look, it's soft.  Like a pillow."

I finally turn my head over and he's resting his cheek on the apricot like he's taking a nap.  It was so dang cute!  He's such a funny kid.

feeling good

my reasons for feeling good this morning

• went on a 4.7 mile walk with a couple friends this morning.  At first I wasn't sure if I could keep up, it was going to involve a couple big hills, and I'm sooo out of shape.  But it was great.  I came home feeling more energized and really good about myself.  This may inspire me to get back with my weekday pilates routine.  We shall see.
• enjoyed the company of friends at my pampered chef party last night.  We made mango salsa sundaes in a cinnamon tortilla shell.  So good.
• received new scrapbooking goodies this week (courtesy of another friend) -- a Heidi Swapp 567 piece embellishment kit.  And it's from Costco!  That just seems so weird to me.  But I like it! 
• Scott and Conner are out helping with someone's Eagle Scout project -- collecting canned food, I believe.  Glad to know that Conner is getting a taste of service and seeing the scouts in action. 
• And Anna's taking a nap.  So it's just me and Payton (munching on jellybeans) and watching Baby Einstein.  Enjoying some quiet for now.

four cavities

Four cavities for my poor little Conner.  I have been at the dentist 3 times with him this month trying to get things taken care of -- today was the last visit. 

When I first heard the list of work he needed done (including a silver cap on one tooth) I couldn't believe it!  He's only 5!  We brush his teeth morning and night, go to the dentist every 6 months for cleanings, give him a vitamin with fluoride everyday, what else are we supposed to do?  Well, when I came home from that first visit I went straight to the store and picked up disposable flossers and mouthwash for the boys.  Now we have a pretty big morning and evening teeth cleaning routine.

So, visit #1.  We took him to a pediatric dentist.  Our family dentist suspected that work needed to be done but they weren't able to get x-rays from Conner -- he just wasn't cooperating, but they weren't trying very hard.  They wanted it to be "a good experience" for him.  Thank goodness for the ped-dentist who took matters into his own hands and physically held Conner's face and mouth still and stayed in the room while the x-rays were snapped.  We like people who get things done.

Visit #2.  I was really nervous about the novocaine shot.  I know that I don't like it.  I couldn't imagine a 5-year old having to go through that.  But the dentist assured me that other kids have had it and done just fine.  They took Conner back and I stayed in the waiting room.  They say that if the parent is in the room then it becomes harder for them to get the work done because the child relies on mom for sympathy, reassurance, etc.  I totally understood what they were talking about and I was fine with the set-up.  40 minutes later the dentist came to see me.  The first thing he said was "Did you hear him?"  Oh no.  I hadn't, but I could just imagine the fuss that he had put up.  He went on to say that when Conner is happy, boy, he's 100% happy and talkative and fun.  But when he's upset, he's 100% upset and gets there in a hurry.  Soon the dental assistant came out with Conner & his prizes.  His face was all red -- he had obviously been through an emotional ordeal.  The thing that made him so mad was the rubber dam that they placed over his mouth.  He did not like that at all.  So I packed him up in the car and treated him to a McDonald's vanilla milkshake for the drive home.

Visit #3.  Today.  I only told Conner that we were going to the dentist last night.  No need for him to worry and complain about it for a whole week.  He told me, "I do not like the dentist's tools!"  We arrived at the dentist and they took him back as usual.  30 minutes later they were done and I was greeted by a happy, smiley boy with hands full of prizes.  I couldn't believe what a good mood he was in.  And he was so proud that because he was such a good boy the dentist was able to finish so quickly.  Again, I packed him up in the van with a high five and treated him to a McDonald's vanilla milkshake for the drive home.

But apparently this time the numbness in Conner's lip was a little too much for him to bear, or such a novelty that he couldn't resist playing with it, because it has blown up to twice it's normal size or more.

And this picture doesn't quite do it justice.  It got so big this afternoon that I even called the dentist to find out if this is normal.  He just needs to stop picking at it and maybe eat a popsicle or two.

So hopefully Conner will not have to experience novocaine again for a long, long time.  Meanwhile we'll be teeth brushin', flossin', and a-mouth-washin' all the day long.

watermelon baby

Anna's favorite food of the summer is definitely watermelon.

She'll put a piece in her mouth and pucker her lips as she tries to suck the life out of it.  But her suction must be reversed because what we see is a river of watermelon juice streaming from her mouth and down her chin and neck.

Yes, dinnertime has become a very messy ordeal and is immediately followed by a bath.  Now that Anna is eating some table foods it's fun to experiment and let her try new things.  But it's also hard to find enough things that she can enjoy to fill up her little belly.  It's going to be sad when summer is over and all her favorite foods are out of season (watermelon, blueberries, strawberries).  I guess then it will be time to teach her to like vegetables.

camping

This weekend we went on our first ever family campout!  It seems weird that it has taken us this long to do something like this.  Scott takes the boys on the father & son campout each year, but the last time I went camping I was pregnant with Conner.  We've talked about going every year but it seems that we could never just find the time to squeeze it in.  Finally, it was a ward campout activity that got us to go. 

The Kodak moment of our trip was this    

We had just finished setting up camp (actually, Scott had just set up camp) and Scott, Anna, and I were chillin' on the doubly chair, watching the boys play in the grass.  They found this rock sitting by the garbage cans (way back in the picture) and decided to pick it up together and carry it clear over to our camp.  For several moments we both sat there just watching, enjoying the scene unfolding in front of us.  The boys were working together, so happy, and so cute.  Until finally one of us said, "where is the camera?  Why aren't we taking a picture of this!"  And so I did.  And because we're the parents of a 5 year old and 3 year old, we both had the theme song of Wonder Pets playing in our heads, "what's going to work?  Team work!"

Anna and I hanging out.  It was so hot and humid that I stripped her down to her onesie to make things more comfortable.  I think the entire night it only got down to 74 degrees.

We brought the pack and play figuring that we could put Anna in with her toys and then I wouldn't have to hold her the entire time.  That worked for about 10 minutes.  Thankfully, there were 9, 10, and 11 year old girls approaching me pretty often to ask if they could hold Anna.  I thought they were such cute girls.  One of them said, "I can't wait for 2 more years when I can babysit!" 

And finally our beloved camp-master.  He did make it through this ward activity -- all 15 hours of it.  But we were the first ones to leave camp in the morning -- 8:40 am.

proof

not the best picture, but proof that Anna can now stand on her own!

In sunday school today she actually went from a crouching position to standing straight up all on her own, not even holding onto anything. 

Makes us wonder how much longer it is until she starts walking!  That could be scary.

christmas in july

been scrapbooking all of my christmas pictures lately.  I wanted to share my favorite one so far.  For those of you who really know us you'll get a kick out of this one.  (click on the image to read the journaling).

okay maybe the journaling is still a little too small, so here it is for you:  "It's not a secret.  In fact it's a well known fact among our family & friends that Scott does not like ward activities.  He avoids them at all costs and if it was left completely up to him, he'd never attend one.  Thankfully he has me.  I, on the other hand, quite enjoy a good ward activity.  Getting to talk with friends, to see everyone outside of a Sunday setting, it's refreshing.  Despite how much Scott loathes sitting through a chaotic meal in the cultural hall, he puts up with it and puts on a good face for me.  Then I try to compromise by being willing to leave when he's had all he can bear.  This often involves coming up with a code word before we arrive.  We have fun with the situation and keep a good sense of humor with us.  Maybe the fun scale is teetering a little more in my direction, but that's why I love him!  He know how much I enjoy getting out of the house and having an opportunity to visit with my friends, so I appreciate him giving his time in this way.  But I also have to point out that at this particular Christmas Party Scott was quite impressed with the way it was organized -- all the kids had the chance to sit on Santa's lap before dinner.  So see, he can find the silver lining in things!"

I hope you don't think I'm slandering Scott in any way -- he actually LOVES this layout.  I had it sitting out on my desk and he walked by it over and over again just to get another laugh.  I was pretty excited with myself when I came up with the title.  "Death by Ward Actiivty".  And the thing that made this whole layout come together is that priceless picture of Scott -- looking like he's rolling his eyes, just trying to endure to the end.

Anyways, I just wanted to share.  I have several others that I'm going to post to my 2Peas profile.

follow-up

I feel like I should follow up after a post like my last one.  Yes, I did write in my journal this week (very therapeutic to get some thoughts down on paper).

Then for family home evening I did a little lesson on journals.  We talked about what a journal is and what kind of stuff you can write in a journal.  Then I pulled out the individual journals that I have kept for the boys.  Now don't go thinking I'm any kind of super mom -- there's just a few sporadic entries per year.  So I flipped through and shared a couple stories with the boys that were all about them.  I couldn't believe how excited, shocked, and just plain tickled the boys were (especially Conner), that I had recorded stories about them.  If that didn't add fuel to my journaling/scrapbooking fire I don't know what else can. 

Then I explained that they can start keeping journals of their own.  I explained how we would do it (see the story in my previous post about a general authority at my parent's stake conference).  Then we sat around the computer and I let the boys pick out a picture to customize their very own journals.  They keep asking, "how many days until our journals get here?"  And Conner has an ever growing list of all the things he wants to write in his journal -- his dreams, when he's going to become a superhero, how he was such a good boy yesterday, etc.

It's been pretty fun.  I just hope we can keep it up.  I'll let you know how the first journaling goes with the boys -- just waiting for the books to arrive.

another update:  The last couple days I've been working on copying & pasting my past blog entries into a word document so that I could include them in my journal.  Today I printed it all up . . . 35 pages!  So now I don't feel so bad for falling behind in my journaling for the last year!

of far more worth than gold

Are there ever times in your life when it seems that a certain topic or issue keeps re-appearing over and over again until finally, it clicks inside -- maybe I should pay attention.  Maybe someone is trying to tell me something?

Well, in the last 2 weeks for me that topic has been journals.  Last Sunday I was asked to teach the combined Young Women lesson on Personal Records.  And today in Relief Society the lesson was Journals:  Of Far More Worth Than Gold.

Last week I had a great time teaching the YW (I don't know if they had a great time listening to me), but it was fun to prepare a lesson on the topic, pull out my old journals, and talk about all the different ways that I "journal" today -- traditional journals, scrapbooks, blogging.  I think it's so important to keep a record of our lives.  I personally get so much joy out of reading my old entries and I'm sure my kids will enjoy them one day too.  I know that it would be wonderful to be able to read a journal of some kind from my parents (hint, hint) or grandparents someday.

So I've been given a renewed energy to dedicate more time to my journals.  Yes, I'm pretty good about posting the things going on in my life right here.  And I eventually plan to print out my blog entries and slip them into my journal.  But there's always more going on behind that scenes that I want to make sure I record for myself.  In our lesson we talked about recording our testimonies in our journals, our spiritual experiences, our struggles, and so on.  Things that are a little too personal for a forum like this.

My plan is to set aside some journal writing time once a week.  I know I can't write daily, so I'm not even going to try.  Maybe if I'm feeling saucy, then a mid-week entry will pop in from time to time.  But I'd also like to extend my journal-writing crusade to the whole family.  All this talk about journals in our house has at least inspired Scott a bit -- he packed his journal for his business trip.  And for the boys, here's my idea . . .

My parents told me about a stake conference they had recently.  A general authority visited (someone from the seventy) and he talked about journals (see, I'm hearing about journals everywhere I go!).  He is a faithful journal writer and now has 65 volumes in his collection!  Wow!  But he gave an idea for parents with young children to help them begin journaling now.  And this could be for kids as young as 5, 4, 3.  He said, get a simple notebook or journal and at the top of the page adhere a photo of your child from that week -- something they were doing, some place they went, maybe a project they worked on, whatever.  Then have them write about it (if they're old enough to write), or they can tell you about it and you can write it for them.  Not only are you teaching your child how to journal, but it also gets the two of you talking, sharing stories, and bonding.

So now that I've advertised this to the whole world, I better stick with my goal.  If anyone else wants to join on the journaling bandwagon with me, please do! 

And here's a quote to inspire you:

“I promise you that if you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations. Each of us is important to those who are near and dear to us and as our posterity read of our life’s experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted” (“President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” New Era, Dec. 1980, p. 26).

chick flicks

This weekend I'll be heading to Blockbuster to stock up on some chick flicks for the week.  I scanned their website and began making a list of possibilities and I was hoping I could get your help with some recommendations.  And if there's something on the list that I shouldn't even bother seeing, that would be helpful to know to.  Here we go:

• Tristan & Isolde
• Rumor Has It
• Wedding Date
• Memoirs of a Geisha
• Pride & Prejudice -- the new one
• Must Love Dogs
• Rent
• 13 going on 30
• Shall We Dance?

Is there anything else you can think of that I might have missed?  Thanks for your help!  I'll let you know what I end up getting.

UPDATE:  I picked up Pride & Prejudice (too many good reviews on this one to pass it by), 13 going on 30, and Must Love Dogs.  Call me for movie showing times!

sportacular 4th of July

We began the day without many plans (other than BBQ and fireworks) and this (the above title) ended up being the theme for the day.  We spent the morning & afternoon just going from one sporting activity to another with the boys and they were loving every second of it. 

• First there was soccer with Conner as the goalie. 
• Then, baseball practice and the boys' first ever instruction on how to run around the bases.  It was quite a comical event -- yelling at Payton to run to first, but he always wanted to go straight to 2nd base.  Our noise, laughter, and general rowdiness got the neighbors watching too. 
• Third . . . . golf.  We have the most adorable kid size golf set and bag -- basically just a miniature of the real thing.  The boys have wiffle-type golf balls to hit, so no worries about broken windows.  They beg dad to hit the balls over the house and he usually obliges.  Then Scott pulls out the wheelbarrel and they practice chipping in.
• Last was the riding of the bikes.  We just got Payton a tricycle this summer and boy is he speedy on that thing -- we call him our little road warrior.  He'll race past Conner and say, "bye-bye, slow poke!" 
• Pictures!

here's Scott dragging Payton around the bases (the wadded up darth vader towel) and Conner closely behind trying to get them out

After Anna was soundly in bed and it was dark enough we began our little fireworks show outside.  Boy it was cold and windy!  I had the boys bundled up in blankets (in addition to their fleece pajamas and jackets) and we sat on chairs at the end of our driveway as Scott put on a show.  Nearly an hour and a half later we had finally made it through all the fireworks in our Costco pack and sent the boys to bed just after 10:30pm.  Needless to say, they had a bit of rough time waking up this morning.

It ended up being a fun 4th.  Although I was a little sad that we didn't go see a parade.  I had a rough time in the morning because to me it isn't the 4th of July if you don't have a parade.  That's just what I'm used to.  So I'm making a mental note -- go to a parade next year!

See our cute matching t-shirt family in the Our Family photo album.

tasty steak

Mix together:

• 1/2 cup A-1 steak sauce
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette dressing
• 2 small garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp dried oregano leaves

Put your steak in plastic bag and add 3/4 cup of mixture, reserving the rest.  Allow to marinade for 30 minutes, turning meat occasionally.

Grill - sorry, don't know the details on this step, Scott is our grill master. 

Use reserved marinade to pour over cooked steaks.

I was mixing up the marinade for this yesterday when Scott started giving me looks.  "Are you going to mess up the steak?"  I like to try new recipes and he's always pretty skeptical.  Well, near the end of dinner he told me that he had to take his words back.  He really enjoyed this one.