mine is a home

but back to the cute stuff

2012-01-06T22:24:00.003-07:00

Lets talk about Niels

I absolutely fall in love with this kid time and time again. He might have me wrapped around his little finger-( but don't tell my other two )

Niels started school (we love kids village!) , had his first picture day,

he started soccer- go elephants! and knows how to rock a cardigan

and he learned how to ride a two wheeler. well he already knew how because of his run bike, but he learned how to pedal while balancing.

ahhhh life

2012-01-06T20:42:00.000-07:00

It keeps getting crazier by the day- life that is, maybe me too.

One day when it's all worked out I'll share, because this blog is a record of my family and even the bad stuff should be recorded.

Luckily for me I have amazing family and friends and a Heavenly Father who loves me.

I feel the prayers and appreciate every single one of them.

and when the spirit whispers this:

I know it will be

ps to the one/s who left the envelope on my doorstep:

thank you, I hope one day to be able to do the same for someone.

a family portrait

2011-10-24T22:10:00.002-06:00

Niels had to draw a picture of his family for school.

He came and showed it to me and was so proud that he included the new baby. But if you are good at math you might notice that someone is missing. So we went through everyone in the picture. The family member not there is the husband. I asked "where's dad?" Niels answered, "he's gone." in a matter of fact way.

The husband has been "gone" for a little more than half of Niels' short life.

And so I guess this is what happens.

and one more makes four

2011-10-18T16:53:00.010-06:00

well here's my little something

I'm 21 weeks

I just told the kids what we're having.

I bought the little converse and before they opened it I told them the shoes would be pink for a girl or blue for a boy. Kail of course grabbed the box, ripped it open and started saying "boy boy boy!" and Lily burst into tears. Poor thing, she wanted a sister so badly (I wanted one for her too). I was able to calm her down after a little while, now she's not as upset.
And I got it all on video :)

I'm due at the end of February.

but now comes the hard part- the name!

I'm open for suggestions.

what if

2011-08-29T23:20:00.000-06:00

what if life was a little more perfect?

what if my marriage was one hundred percent amazing, with passion, and laughter and spontaneity, good communication, understanding, unselfishness and flowers?

what if my kids listened and cleaned up after themselves?

what if I had a garage?

what if I wasn't connected by walls to my neighbors?

what if I didn't have to worry about money?

what if I loved cleaning and organizing my house?

what if I was good at time management?

what if I could finish something?

what if my garden would produce something other than pumpkins this year?

what if I could I could be myself around everyone?

what if dreams came true?

but my life isn't even close

and I guess that's what makes life, life

right?

but there's a little something on the horizon, that gives me pause and makes me smile

soon I'll share

cinderella pumpkin- the only thing growing in my garden this year

my kids are triathletes

2011-07-09T00:25:00.001-06:00

Triathlons are all the rage these days in the valley. It used to be running marathons. Then it was road biking. But now all those soccer moms have gotten bored and sick of being like everyone else with their Ragnar Relay stickers on their minivans, so they've turned to triathlons*.

Including my younger sister. But she makes her minivan look good. So if Nic does it, it must be cool

love you Nic ;) !

But enough about trends in the UC.
*I am not in any way degrading or making fun of those who run in any marathon including the Ragnar Relay. I only wish I was as hard working & focused as those people are. You guys rock and I am lazy.

My kids all competed in the first annual Ivory Ridge Junior Triathlon. It was so much fun! and there's nothing cuter than seeing your child's eyes get as big as saucers when they have numbers written on them with permanent marker.

little Yale was too young to compete but he will rock it when he is old enough.

The older kids; Kail, Lily & Kate, competed in all three events. They swam, then biked, then ran.

The little guys; Sophie and Niels, just biked & ran in the little guy competition.

Since the two were at the same time the husband and Nic went with the older kids and I stuck with the younger ones. It was the cutest thing ever.

Niels kicked butt on his run bike. He lapped the others a few times. Little Sophie was just happy to be there- in last place :). But then they had to park the bikes and line up to run. Poor Niels is not a runner. He lagged behind and kept Sophie company in last place. Seriously so cute.

But all was good in the end because they all received medals.

(not to dampen the fun of this but I really need to have a post on the "everyone is a winner" mentality that has taken over)

There was some confusion on the different paths the older kids were to take once they started the running portion but it all worked out. And they had so much fun! Kail wore his t-shirt and medal all day. And when the kids were in the shower/tub they wanted to make sure their numbers didn't get washed off. Lily wore her numbers proudly to church the next day too. Making sure to choose a dress that wouldn't hide them.

Thanks Nic for inviting us! We can't wait for next year. Hopefully you'll share with us all your newly learned triathlete skills

I had to add this last photo. Some of the kids were really into it, I mean all decked out and they probably compete all over in junior triathlons.
And this dad is clearly hard core and had the right idea. I'm purchasing one of these for each of my kids.

neglectful

2011-07-06T00:19:00.001-06:00

I have been neglecting my blog like crazy.

I've been having some personal problems that I'm trying to work out.

I'm considering sharing, we'll see.

so, when you're feeling down the first order of business is having family over,

with impromptu picnics

where minis must have at least 2 popsicles each while running wild

and best cousins are allowed to dig in & pig out.

This was an angel food cake that I let miss Lily and best cousin Kate just dig into.

They figured they'd never been so lucky.

It's good to remember to forget things- even if just for a little while

finally

2011-05-23T23:52:00.000-06:00

I like my hair today.

I know what you're thinking- 'oh my gosh, how shallow' guess what, I know. but I don't care.

Every now and then can't I stop trying to be mother teresa mixed with martha stewart and just worry about my hair? 'yes' you say?- thanks ;)

this photo was taken by my photographer in training.........

...............this guy (my golden child)

ps I just typed out this huge history of all my crazy haircuts explaining why it's kind of a big deal for me to finally be content with my hair but decided it's no fun without pictures. I'll have to wait to share when I get a scanner. Oh the hairstyles I've had (LOL)!

cleaning up my act

2011-05-23T11:39:00.001-06:00

I started a tumblr blog. because I wanted to keep this more about life and not awesome things I find online. Like the way some other blogs I love do it. But Tumblr wasn't working for me the way I wanted it to. I decided Pinterest was want I wanted so I've moved all those great things I find and love and want and want to do over THERE. so you really must go check it out.

But on Pinterest you can't add video, so I guess I'll be posting those awesome, funny, inspiring videos here.

Like this one

EF - Live The Language - Paris from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

and this one

j'adore

the anti app

2011-05-23T11:18:00.000-06:00

Press Here by Herve Tullet

so cute

my birthday & other things

2011-04-12T01:38:00.003-06:00

Other things:

The husband left again. I had forgotten how nice it is to have someone else around to help out. I was enjoying being in the kitchen again- no more having to referee while cooking and cleaning in another room. Bedtime was no longer stressful- because the husband did it. I was able to sleep in!

And then he left and I had a break down. It happened around dinner time. The kids asked the dreaded question and then complained when I said "spaghetti". That's when I lost it. I screamed and yelled and maybe threw toys up the stairs, grounded them from the Wii for life and other things I'm not proud of. And then I told them that I quit and that they'd have to make their own dinner, then I marched myself up to my room and gave myself a time out. Of course I did remind them of the kitchen rules; no knives, no stove or oven. So they made cereal. Then they sent me a note saying they were sorry. I felt bad but, it got my point through and the rest of the night they were angels (sort of). I'm not sure what to take from this, other than I finally realized that sometimes my life is hard and breaks are needed.

my Birthday:

I had another birthday. I've never been a fan of it. Expectations get to be too high and then the let down is too much. This year I had no expectations. The night before my younger sis, Nic, took me out to dinner at Pizzaria 712- why am I not documenting? We always have a good time together. Then we ran down to the Bijou market, lots of cute stuff I didn't buy.
The morning of, I woke up to a snow storm. On the one hand- ugh, on the other- cancelled early morning soccer games (yea! & sleeping in). I slept in way too long. Then headed down to my parents so they could take me out for my birthday dinner. My younger brothers came along too. We went to my restaurant of choice- La Jolla Groves at Riverwoods. I have been craving their grilled salmon for months. It did not disappoint- I should have taken a photo. Then I got a birthday dessert- the lemon cake. Normally I choose chocolate, but this was to die for. So so good. They just so happened to be having a music thing going on at Riverwoods that day, right outside the restaurant. When we finished eating we hung out- in the freezing cold- and watched Megan Joy perform. I really love her voice. Later that night Jimmer was supposed to come and show off one of his major awards, then Sugar Ray was going to perform. But not until 9:30. And it was coooold and I had to get back and pay the babysitter. So my brother Shawn and I returned to my parents house where my mom had instructed the babysitter that while we were gone, to help my kids decorate a cake. It was so cute, with my name spelled wrong in purple frosting. So my brother and my kids and I sang 'happy birthday' and I blew out my candles. All in all it was a GREAT birthday.

Better than expected.

This is a friend of my brother Gordon. His name is Sam and owns Sammy's. He helped getting the entertainment for the day. I've read about his shop on others blogs but have never gone. How great is THIS reception catered by his shop? I told him how I had heard about how great his food is from the blogging world. Then he proceeded to make a dig about middle aged mommy bloggers, and then asked my age- it was awkward. But he's super nice so I won't hold it against him.

ps. all you young ladies- these fabulous good looking brothers of mine are single...

our G.A.H. comes home

2011-03-31T23:31:00.000-06:00

The husband came home, for a short visit. He got into the states on friday night then called saturday morning saying he was coming home! And he let it be known that absolutely no one other than me & the kids & his parents were to be at the airport- YEAH RIGHT!

I immediately texted everyone I thought would want/should be there and they all showed!! I told them to make sure to have signs. And some brought balloons and flags.

needless to say- it was AWESOME! haha!

Lots of photos

(my camera had been played with by my kids so the settings were off and I didn't realize until it was too late- baaaah. But luckily Ashley (below) is offering me copies of hers)

good friends the Kunics & the Blairs.

Carolyn brought those flowers for me- so nice!!

Family from both sides

the Harrison-Hansen's ;) and the Jorgensens & the Saxtons

My dad holding court

My videographers Shawn & Drew

Yay for signs- anything to make this more embarrassing for the husband

Waiting waiting waiting....

the crowd

getting the crowd warmed up!

and this doesn't even begin to capture the uproar we created at SLC international.

We whooped and hollered his whole escalator ride down. Even passer-bys got in on the excitement

Gary bypassed all of us to give the first hug to his heterosexual life partner.

Kidding!! I was hugging and kissing (and maybe crying) so picture taking was not my first priority. but luckily I got my wits about me again and grabbed my camera because I had to get a picture of this! I'm sure there were sweet nothings whispered ;)

Lily was embarrassed, poor thing too much attention on her. She at first would not go to Gary and got upset when I tried to make her. Eventually she warmed up and gave him a sort-of hug. albeit with this look of disgust on her face.

Oh my little Niels. I warned the husband to not be too upset if Niels wouldn't go to him. But I shouldn't have worried. Niels asked about his dad every 3 hours in the couple of weeks leading up to this and would hardly let his dad go as soon as he got a hold of him.

It was such a fun night!! and I can not thank everyone enough for showing up!!!

THANKS GUYS!!!!

I love you all

i can breathe again

2011-03-26T00:37:00.001-06:00

the husband is stateside

and soon to be on his way home for a short visit.

i really better get to cleaning my house

some fun family photos taken the night before he left

by Heather Mildenstein of the coterie blog

slightly obsessive list making

2011-03-18T23:33:00.002-06:00

because of the amazing response I received on my last post all about food storage & preparedness :P I thought you'd all like to see how my list is progressing

* how could I leave out fishing gear?? I've got a river in my backyard!
I'll have to go steal my fly rod back from my brother

the husband has got his work cut out for him when he gets back

if ye are prepared ye shall not fear- D&C 38:30

2011-03-15T01:49:00.003-06:00

I can't stop watching the footage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

It breaks my heart for them, then it freaks me out.

So I am going to do my best to start getting our food storage &a 72 hr kits together. Of course that whole undertaking alone is freaking me out too.

But I know that when I am prepared I'll no longer have that fear. I know it will still be scary if and when the big one hits* but I know that if I have done all I can to prepare for it, I'll be able to handle it better and to help others who might be worse off.

here's my list so far-

(it's random & non-orderly)

(this is so far without the influence of research)

(can I just tell you, the husband says "my food storage consists of a gun & a ward list -oh Gary)

cash
water /water purification
fuel for stove & heater
generator
solar chargers /batteries
flashlights
plastic & tape for windows
toilet paper
tampons
cleaning supplies
bleach
tooth paste /tooth brushes
wellies
work gloves
shovels
garbage bags
snowshoes
guns /bullets
flour
wheat /wheat grinder
sugar
baking powder /baking soda
vinegar
meal plan
fire extinguishers
seeds- fruit /veggies
gold fish crackers

Oh I just ran across THIS blog found via the blog a room somewhere it's written by a military wife who is living in Japan. And so I have added some things to my list:
peanut butter
nutella
candles
(and maybe even looking into beeswax sheets)
oh and I remembered I want to have laminated copies of all of our important papers- birth cert./ss cards/ insurance info/ etc.

The post I linked to has some great insight into what it's like and what is needed most and other practical things to know after an earthquake. Plus I learned that Japan has an anti-hoarding law, so the people there can't have food storage- what?? Hopefully after this disaster they will rethink that one.

Now just so you don't think we're completely unprepared we do have a lot of these items just not specifically for our food storage- not that they need to be but, my storage needs to be organized and it would be nice to store these things we have along with everything else.

Oh and I know there's not a lot of food on my food storage list, but that will come later when I get my meals planned and figure out exactly what we need. One thing that really frustrates me about this is that we eat mainly fresh food, so it's hard for me to imagine eating things from cans. But I'll get over that when I'm starving.

*let's talk about the 'big one' shall we? Okay ever since I can remember people in the UC, and I guess all of northern Utah have been talking and scaring little children about the big earthquake that is going to come. I clearly remember in my 7th grade science class my teacher scaring the class to death with his wonderful theatrics and stories of the 'big one' One day he took a yard stick and held it half way on a desk then had a student bend down the half hanging off and keep bending it down until - snap crackle pop! it splintered then broke in two. the lesson was about the energy being built up at a fault line and how that energy is released. That was almost 20 years (eeeek, I'm old) ago. So we're still waiting. And I'm sure there are 7th grade science teachers all over the UC just loving that it hasn't happened yet.

And if I haven't fully scared you yet, I'll leave you with these video's

if you know of any good sites or anything I'm missing on my list let me know!

mary, mary quite contrary

2011-03-12T22:15:00.002-07:00

I've just finished ordering seeds for my garden this year- yay!!! And I know it's a tad late in the year for that (I see all you garden experts shaking your heads). Give me a break, I've had a busy month, next year I'll do better.

I'll share my giant list with you as soon as they arrive. I'm pretty excited.

I heard once that the thing you obsess about in your free time is your passion. In my free time and non-free time I obsess about plants & gardens, so I guess my passion in life is gardening. Some days I wish I would obsess about cooking, or baking or picture taking or cleaning, or dish washing or laundry doing. But sadly they are not.

I'm trying to get my kids involved & excited about gardening and hopefully they will -somebody has got to pull the weeds ;). I'm putting in one more growbox that will be for the kids & some of their friends to plant the giant sunflowers I've been promising for the last 2 years.

Also I might be doing some gorilla gardening, that I know the kids will love!

As I was searching the internet and drooling over plants, I ran across this cute Stone Soup Kit.

This would be so fun to plant with the kids in pots on my non-existant patio. And then read the book and hopefully the kids would learn lots and lots of lessons & the importance of hard work (a mom can dream can't she?).

For our new reading time book (I'll elaborate about that in another post) we are reading The Secret Garden

It was my favorite as a child. But with all the Yorkshire accents going on, this is a hard read aloud (I'm terrible at accents)

seriously, try reading this out loud:

'Where has tha' been, tha' cheeky little beggar?' he said. 'I've not seen thee before today. Has tha' begun tha' courtin' this early in th' season? Tha'rt too for'ard.'

how did you do? probably better than me

What's your passion?

not learning my lesson

2011-03-02T22:31:00.000-07:00

I am not learning my lessons from yesterday. Well it doesn't help that I just received the new j.crew catalog or that they have the most beautiful swimsuits or that I can't stop dreaming about warmer weather or that the day I start pms-ing is the day I decided to start my new exercise regime. (i will get skinny I will get skinny! okay I should say "in shape" but really I want to get skinny)

Maybe if these photos don't send me completely over the pms edge they will inspire me to keep up my new healthier, green smoothie drinking, calorie counting, lifestyle.

this is my all time favorite. I love the one-shoulder silhouette & the ruching & the throwback, over the hips, hemline.

This is more 70's meets the French Rivera, now all I need is the boob job to pull it off.

I just bought this one. and don't fret I'll be wearing mine with the optional strap, my girls need all the help they can get after nursing 3 minis

and this has nothing to do with the other, but I think this girl is sooooooooo pretty.

I've decided that if I had to change my ethnicity, I would choose to be hers.

And if that's racist I'm sorry.

j.crew love: one <> two <> three <> four

you know what I should not do?

2011-03-02T13:37:00.001-07:00

I should not write posts late at night
I should not publish posts when I haven't thoroughly proofread them
I should not look at blogs to avoid paying my bills so I can see that money sit in my account longer
I should not look at blogs when I'm hating my house
I should not look at blogs when I'm already not liking myself
I should not look at a blog, see a cute girl, love her bangs then cut mine to look like hers
I should not forget that the next day after cutting my bangs, I am most likely going to run into my sister who is a hairdresser, and she's going to see my handiwork
I should not forget that people are cute because of their genetics & who they are & not because of their bangs
I should not let my pms run my life
and most importantly I should not forget that this is most likely going to happen every month

miss Olivia

2011-02-28T00:38:00.002-07:00

This is my niece Olivia. I wanted my sister to name her Olive but her husband won that fight- how rude!

My sister asked me to take some photos of her in her blessing gown. And the consensus is- I need to take more photography classes. Luckily she is a cute baby and her cuteness makes up for my lack of skills.

Miss Olivia had an exciting birth. She was 10 lb. 14 oz. my older sister who had her is not equipped with a body to accommodate such large birthing circumstances (read; petite). But all turned out well &a this baby & her mom are healthy and happy!

This blessing dress was my Grandfathers (my mom's dad). Olivia's mom was blessed in this dress (if I remember correctly) and now Olivia has been. There's nothing I love more than generational hand-me-downs. It's worth it to invest in beautiful kids clothing.

I'm going to regret this post in the morning

2011-02-19T23:00:00.002-07:00

I want a BABY!!

(i might be crying about it, just a little bit)

i want to be a flower farmer

2011-02-11T16:10:00.001-07:00

This store marigold & mint not only sell the flowers, they grow them

how great would it be when someone asks "what do you do?" & you get to say

"I'm a flower farmer"

screen shots & protests

2011-02-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

While I was in Jordan I was lucky enough to be able to use my computer & the internet

I thought it was cool to pull up google & yahoo & have everything in Arabic. So I took some screen shots.

The first and last one show the Yahoo news real with stories of the protests in Egypt.

Speaking of all that, we received a lot of emails & calls asking if we were okay & we were. It didn't really affect us except for some protesters that we had to avoid on our way to church. There was never a time I didn't feel safe. Even when crossing the Jordan/Israel border & an alarm went off & the guards went running- but that's a story for another time.

who is this man & what has he done with my husband

2011-02-06T15:24:00.001-07:00

it's creeping me out

maybe, possibly

2011-01-24T15:48:00.002-07:00

This just might be my very first passport photo, to go in my very first passport.

Maybe this very first passport will be used for a flight that I might take to help a sister of mine & her four girls get home to Amman Jordan. This flight just might take me to the heart of France where I could possibly have a 2 hour layover where maybe I would buy some of the most delicious & beautiful macaroons one could ever taste & see. This very first passport might possibly take me on a new plane bound for the Middle East, where I might meet the nicest French flight attendants who just might help carry bags, tell us how wonderful our little ones are & maybe want to know everything about where we're from. And maybe when we land and get off the plane this very first passport might possibly get it's very first visa. Which could possibly, finally make this girl a world traveler,

maybe.

my home

2011-01-01T01:28:00.000-07:00

It is time for me to move. I've been saying this for at least 5 years now so don't read into that. The husband and I had a 5 year plan to stay in this house and move on, but this home is the only thing that doesn't bring out the husband's ADD- go figure.

But as much as I want out, when I really think about it I do love this house. We've had so many great things happen here so I guess I'll show you some things I'm loving about it.

(super randomness is about to begin)

First off the location is awesome. Other than living at the entrance to the neighborhood I live almost right across the street from the dumpster & the mailboxes. I know you don't understand how awesome this is but trust me those suckers shlepping their trash up the street through the snow can only dream about living in such close proximity. Plus the garbage truck has entertained my kids on more than one occasion. The garbage man should sell tickets to the neighborhood kids- he'd make a killing.

But the best part by far is that I have a park as my backyard. It is so nice to let the kids run free & check on them from my kitchen window. And the view is always gorgeous, Lehi has the best skies around.

these are taken from my back porch

Speaking of my backyard, this past summer I finally got my grow boxes in, thanks to my in-laws & my dad. No thanks to my husband, it was the one thing he was supposed to accomplish before he left.

I grew some awesome tomatoes, yummy carrots, delicious lemon cucumbers, sweet sweet peas but mostly eggplant- lots of eggplant, but the cutest little eggplant ever.

it's all about the square foot gardening.

Inside I've been changing some things and hopefully will finally get this house to be a little bit more the way I want it. At the beginning of the year, one of those times the husband was away, I painted a chalkboard on a wall in my kitchen. I highly recommend doing this it was easy & the kids love love love it. And it helps with homework.

here Lily is teaching school- so cute

Another project was the floor & also after the husband left. And boy was it a project! Scraping up the subfloor was a Nightmare (with a capital N!) Luckily I had my super awesome, amazing friend Carolyn show up to help and thank goodness she did I was about in tears, she saved my behind!

THANK YOU CAROLYN!!! I LOVE YOU!!! (and if I ever do move you are coming with me!)

There were about five million staples, I'm not sure why the builders thought it was necessary. By the end of the day our hands were numb and arms were jello. So I made the executive decision that I didn't care how much it cost, the flooring guys were going to do the rest.

Oh yes and we found mold! stupid builders

But once the new floor was in it was all worth it because it is beautiful & I love it & it's so much better than the ugly tile-then-carpet-then-linoleum.

But one of the very very best things about our home is our awesome neighbors. We live next to one of the best families there ever was. They have blessed me in so many ways. I adore the Hostettors and when or if we ever move I'm going to insist I pack them up and take them with us.

This day in July they had invited Lily & Kail to a Bees game.

Oh and I made some blueberry crumble muffins once, they were so good I ate almost every single one

& no house is truly a home until you make blueberry muffins and eat them all

But I'm sure I could pull myself away from this wonderful place if you waved a garage under my nose

A garage, a garage- my kingdom for a garage!

best Christmas EVER!!

2010-12-18T23:26:00.001-07:00

This morning Kail found a present by our front door for me. The note said:

to JaNae- Open now or wait until Christmas. You are so loved.

Merry Christmas. From some of Santa's elves.

The kids wanted to open it right away. I wanted to wait. My sister came over and hung out and we talked about what it might be & who it might be from. The kids asked a hundred more times to open it but I held strong. Well that is until the kids went to bed. Then I decided the note said I could open it now, and I'm terrible at waiting, so I did.

And you wouldn't be able to wipe the smile off my face!

A Blendtec Blender!! People you do not even know! I have been wanting one of these for forever!

I was dying, DY-ing!!

I had to call my sister right away. She was so mad I didn't open it when she was there. I'm seriously still in shock, and pretty sure the "elves" are going to show up any minute to tell me it was a mistake and take it back.

I'm DY---ing!

You know with Gary being gone (this will be our first Christmas apart) I was kind of expecting my life to be insane, with me ending up hating everything. But it hasn't been. I've been uncharacteristically calm.

It's been a wonderful season so far and this just makes it so much more.

so Thank You Thank You elves!!

(even though I don't deserve it)

now how & to who am I going to pay this forward...

(Oh and I have to tell you that Kail thinks I must be something special because after he read the note he said "Santa's elves know you? wow" and that was present enough)

crying & laughing

2010-12-02T22:49:00.002-07:00

So I'm pretty sure I've finally lost it. At least I'm sure that's what it means when reading this blog post I was laughing then crying then laughing then crying & crying & crying. Yes, crazy, I'm almost positive.

While this woman has undoubtedly gone through so much more than me I could relate so much to wanting to, some days, wear a sign. Mine would say:

Please understand, I have 3 kids, my husband is half way around the world risking his life for our freedoms and today the responsibility is too much.

And there are days when I get a tad judgmental. I know it's shocking, I'm not perfect, sorry for the disappointment :) I need to remember that others would love to wear a sign too.

While I was reading it I kept thinking- where are her visiting & home teachers? It's helped me to remember how important that calling is. What a great opportunity we have as visiting teachers to go into sisters homes and be able to see what help, spoken or unspoken, is needed.

I do have to say though that I have been so blessed by such wonderful friends, family & neighbors who are always so willing to help out in every way possible. Some days I want to wear a sign that says:

thank you for understanding why my house is a mess, and it's 5 o'clock and I haven't showered. Thank you for letting me talk your ear off. Thank you for letting me cry on your shoulder. Thank you for letting my son practically live at your house. But thank you most of all for the comfort I receive from knowing that if I really really needed you, you would be there.

It's a must read. And if you happen to laugh and cry simultaneously, if you could let me know. It might mean I'm not as crazy as I think.

love from afghanistan

2010-11-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

The husband sent more photos, he didn't explain any of them so I guess we will all wait on pins and needles until he does :)

He is no longer bored. And if you can't guess what that means then I don't know what to tell you. He calls home around two to three times a week mostly before he goes out on an op. With things getting more exciting he sounds a lot happier.

Now if we could all keep world peace in our prayers especially around the 38th parallel then I wouldn't have to worry about where the husband will be going when he gets home.

beautiful all around

2010-11-11T02:01:00.000-07:00

Photos by Jonathan Canlas

Aren't these beautiful? And that brooch bouquet- ahh- LOVE! These photo's are of a girl in my ward. Miss Tracy. She is the music teacher in nursery and does the best job. Not only is she beautiful on the outside but even more so on the inside.

And my Niels has the Biggest crush on her.

If you ever have the chance, ask her how she met and fell in love with her husband.

You can view more of her wedding here

side notes

1. may I please go back and redo my wedding?

2. one day i'm going to order a bunch of prints from Mr Canlas,

specifically his temple photos

alice dancing under the gallows

2010-11-03T23:52:00.002-06:00

** Update!** I found it again! this is a must watch! also here are some links to a couple other videos and the link to their official page.

Alice The Film Dancing Under The Gallows

This is one of the most beautiful, tragic, wonderful, amazing, extraordinary stories I've ever heard.

It has changed my life and it's only the trailer for the movie that's coming out soon!

It makes me even more excited to have Kail & Lily starting piano lessons (they are loving it)

I adore this woman! If there was anyway I could have only a fraction of her attitude I would have the happiest life!
"all the complaining 'this is so terrible' it's not that terrible"

I wish I had the words to explain how I feel after watching this.

The world will be a lot less beautiful when she leaves it.

maybe I should be taking lessons too

if you want to receive a copy of this film in early 2011 email dancingunderthegallows@gmail.com.

proof

2010-10-26T23:24:00.000-06:00

proof of the husband's new existence

he's doing well- taking lots of classes :) ha ha!

we miss him LOTS! but are so happy for him

there's just something about a man in uniform that makes me swoon ;)

knit 1 for our soldiers

2010-10-07T01:20:00.004-06:00

photo's from purl soho

It's that time of the year, time to warm up our knitting needles. I love autumn!

I'm going to be knitting another scarf this year- maybe two, hopefully two- for our soldiers. One for my soldier and one for another. I was speaking with the husband yesterday and he says it's starting to get cold in his part of the middle east. So if you would like to join me again this year here are the details:

> I'm donating through Operation Gratitude

> I would love to collect the scarves and send them all off together, if you'd like to do that you can contact me at: janaejorgensen@yahoo.com

> All scarves or hats must be in by the beginning of December

> The size restrictions for the scarves (for shipping purposes) are 5-7" across & 48-50" long- no fringe please

>Simple is good.

>Only subtle colors please, tans, browns, blacks, grey and olives, dark blue for the Air force

>No acrylic, rayon or other artificial yarns. It must be 100% wool. Acrylic melts when it burns & when it gets wet, it gets cold and nasty. Wool, even when wet, keeps the body warmth in. I'm told that the Cascade 220 superwash is warm, soft and washable. There are other washable wools too.

>They would like all handmade items to include a little note including an email or street address so the soldiers may respond if they have time. A brief note is very important & will make your gift even more special

here is a link to Operation Gratitudes info on this
h~~ere~~ ~~is a link for a good scarf pattern (this is the one I used last year, super simple but you can use whatever you'd like)~~
*I hate that pattern, hate it. It takes forever and uses a ton of yarn. I'll find a new one*

here is a link for some men's hats (one day I'll learn how)

There are other things that they are in need of you can go here to find out more

This is such a great way to show these men and women that we the American people haven't forgotten about them and their huge sacrifice for us and the people of Afghanistan.

the husband & Niels

taken the night before the husband left

just because

2010-10-05T21:37:00.001-06:00

just because this has got to be the cutest photo

doesn't it just make you want to call your best friend?

found @ ink & vine leaves, original somewhere here

shoot

2010-09-22T19:37:00.000-06:00

Niels just turned into a little boy tonight

he's no longer my baby :(

doing his best risky business

if summer were a dessert

2010-09-17T18:01:00.002-06:00

If summer were a dessert it would be warm and chocolate and gooey. You would be able to smell it well before the waiter brings it out. When it finally arrives at your table you would shed your cardigan and say "finally" out loud with a sigh. Everyone at your table nods & "hmmmm's" in agreement. Well everyone except Tiburon she's turned her nose up at the whole event and prefers her gazpacho. But that's alright not everyone enjoys the way summer warms you from the inside out as you spoon it over your tongue. Summer should be shared to truly enjoy it so everyone at your table shifts their summer to the right so you can have a taste of each others; a warm peach cobbler, fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookies, apple pie with a crumble top and lemon bars- the kind that reminds you of your piano teacher & how much you'd rather be outside with your friends than in her home playing "alouette". But thats what summer does, as you take each bite it reminds you of all the summers you've had before & somehow forgotten. After a few more tastes of different summers you return to yours. You and your friends all agree- summer would go well with lots of things: an outdoor wedding, a family barbecue, a picnic with your neighbors- what does summer not sound good with? After sitting and enjoying summer a while longer you take the last few bites and start feeling overly full. Summer no longer tastes as good as those first few bites. In fact now you are pretty much sick of it. You can't wait for the waiter to take summer away and bring your check so you can hurry home to sit in your backyard, wrap yourself in a warm blanket, start in on a new knitting project & watch the sun set,
while drinking a tall cool glass of autumn.

family photos

2010-09-11T00:22:00.000-06:00

Here are a bunch of our photo's from our session with Heather Mildenstein.

She did such a great job!

enjoy ;)

bragging rights

2010-08-21T00:20:00.002-06:00

The husband is always saying I don't paint him in such good light on this blog of mine. Well today I am undoing this with one broad stroke.

Ladies, my husband is tougher than yours.

And here's the proof:
The Discovery Channel is running a series called 'Surviving the Cut' giving "viewers unprecedented access inside the military's special forces training programs". They've done shows on the SFAS (the husband did this) & BUDS which the husband and I have watched. In this new program they will be showing US Army Rangers, the US Army Special Forces Scuba School(the husband was going to do this but couldn't because of his eye), the USAF Pararescue School, Marine Force Recon, Navy EOD, & Marine Sniper School(the husband went through this school just weeks after we were married- it is not pretty).

Wednesdays at 10. You know you want to watch, to see how awesome the husband is ;)

hat tip- blackfive milblog (link fixed)

two weeks

2010-08-20T22:59:00.001-06:00

It's been two weeks since the husband left. And a little less than two weeks since he's been in the field. It's gone by faster than I thought. I'm grateful he left when he did. Because it only gave me a week before the start of school, soccer & all sorts of craziness that comes with this time of year.

But that first week, well, that was the hardest week I've ever had out of anytime he's ever gone away. It was this week times ten. Any mention or thought of where he is & my stomach did somersaults. It was like my insides were having their own personal gymnastics meet. It was getting irritating. I thought "this can not possibly go on the whole time!" Luckily it's calming down.

Although I have been avoiding the car. At home I'm kept unaware of anything except cleaning up after kids, listening to kids, keeping track of kids, organizing kids, kids etc. Also I get to distract myself with books, blogs & the lovely, coma inducing television. But the car is when the kids, if I have them & after a few moments of doing their best to annoy each other, are silent, lost in their own thoughts. And that's when I get trapped by mine, all the horrible things that could happen & all the things I shouldn't be thinking about and then my insides are playing double dutch & I can't hold back the tears.

It's funny because I was a car wreck the week before the husband came home for his visit. While he was home I was good. Then the week after I was a 40 car pile up. I couldn't believe it. Before all this I had myself convinced I was wonder woman, by my own doing. But I realize now a lot of my strength comes from him. (which really does nothing for my super human image)

I've gotten a few emails from him and just yesterday he called for the first time. The 2nd email I got (the first one only reading - I'M HERE!) made me laugh out loud. Not that it was funny or anything but because you could feel the excitement and happiness he was feeling. It makes me smile to think of him over there, working his tail off, hardly getting any sleep, in the hot hot arid heat, knowing he is completely and absolutely in his element. This is what he has been waiting and training for his whole life!

And while I sit at home and do my best to make it through another day. I am able to smile because I know he is having the time of his life. He is doing what he was born to do. And then because I love him so much & I know he loves me the same, I am strong again- I am wonder woman.

photo by Heather Mildenstein of the coterie blog

(ps favorite photo of all time!)

on my mind

2010-07-29T00:19:00.000-06:00

The husband is coming home soon for a short visit before he is shipped off to lands unknown to live out his dreams of being the greatest american hero ;) While he is here we are getting family photos taken. And I am stressed! I seriously have been losing sleep over this. I want everything to be so perfect; do I have the best shoes? is Lily's dress too dressy? should I cut Niels' hair? why doesn't money grow on trees so I can buy that Emerson Made flower I want? do we have too many patterns going on? & etc.

Yesterday at 3 am tossing and turning thinking about all this I was convinced I had gone insane, they are family photo's for heaven's sake. I kept telling myself to remember last years thrown together last minute photo & it's one of my favorites. Why couldn't I just chill?

Then today it came to me

while getting good mom advice

it didn't hit me like a ton of bricks more like a slow snowfall

this could be our last

our last family photo, our last family time, our last hug, our last kiss.

The husband and I have had many long talks about this, mostly dominated by joking & sarcasm. And of course when I talk about it I laugh and tease and joke to the shock & horror of whom ever I am talking to. But that's how I've dealt with this cloud over my head that was attached the minute the husband slipped the ring on my finger.

And now, who knows why (pms?) the tears won't stop.

I feel incredibly silly about it. I mean the husband is still around, and the statistics say he's more likely to be killed on the freeway than where he's going.

but still..

it happens & I think I'm a little scared

little lovelies

2010-07-17T23:57:00.000-06:00

You know what I should not do? I should not go looking for a lunch box for Kail online. I should stick with brown paper bags & be happy about them. But I do go looking because I can't keep throwing paper bags in the trash & causing my inner environmentalist to freak out. And when I do look, I do not find a cool lunch box instead I find lots of other cool little kid things. Blast! if only money grew on trees.

here are some of my latest finds:

bookhou alphabet Miller Goodman Playshapes

basically all the books at Present & Correct

Kaiku super wagon & push pull

and you better believe I'm buying this Bednest (even if I have to fly to London to get it!) when I have my next little one. I can not tell you how much I love my arms reach co-sleeper, but I always hated how I couldn't wash the padding on it. plus how beautiful is this one? ahh dying!

and there are a hundred other things too. I need to set up a tumblr blog for all of them.

fun with kail & music

2010-07-12T01:02:00.000-06:00

Kail is a self proclaimed music snob.

okay well I proclaimed him a music snob because he knows what he likes & what he doesn't & he's pretty sure that if he doesn't like it "they shouldn't play it, ever"

here are two new songs that he belts out at the top of his lungs

("when doesn't he belt?" you ask? "touche")

I liked this one better as a non music video, because sometimes bad music video's get in the way

the airborne toxic event "sometime around midnight"

Love this bands drummer!

neon trees "animal" (viral version)

beautiful secret

2010-07-10T22:16:00.002-06:00

Your secret from Jean-Sebastien Monzani on Vimeo.

4th of July....now

2010-07-07T00:53:00.002-06:00

our 4th of July '10

Is it too much to ask for one good photo?

-yes, yes it is

Lily did not want to wear that dress (that I made) with those shorts,

it's amazing what 1$ will buy you ;)

Jorgensen annual Cul-de-sac of FIRE!!

Kail doing his best to get in the way

Hugo & Kail

proof that the Husband was here

The (good looking) Saxtons

the Enforcer the trouble makers

it was unseasonably cold

with the 4th being on Sunday this year we were able to celebrate 3 days.

Saturday we celebrated with the Jorgensens

Sunday we celebrated with the ward

Monday we celebrated with the Hansens

and yes that is a lighter in Kail's hand. My dad let him do everything. He loved every minute!

This weekend we were lucky enough to have the husband home. Niels was so excited and wouldn't leave his side for anything. We can't wait until the next visit!

4th of July....then

2010-07-07T00:11:00.002-06:00

this is our July of 'o9

my sister Natalie was in town with her family in between moves these 3 are her girls

Nic's cute Kate & Sophie

what's the 4th without a pool-dance party!

Jorgensen annual Cul-de-sac of FIRE!!

clearly we had some pretty captivating if not down right exciting fireworks :)

11 years

2010-06-16T17:33:00.002-06:00

I've been married for 11 years, today

(holy crap!)

what's for dinner (ugh)

2010-06-05T18:33:00.002-06:00

I hate making dinner. I never know what to make. plus the fact that I don't have an open floor plan does not allow me to keep tabs on my kids while I'm in the kitchen which means I clean up the living room then head into the kitchen to start dinner or to start crying about making dinner & when I make it back to the living room to make sure everything is all right, because everyone is menacingly quiet, the living room is a mess, covered in torn paper, wii controlers, shoes & always a new purple stain on the carpet.

so making dinner has become a nightmare.

And as much as I'd like to order pizza for the 4th time since the husband left, tonight I'm going to try to make some homemade tortillas & homemade guacamole to eventually end up with chicken burritos.

Wish me luck.

(i stole this photo from Megan's blog I haven't asked her yet if it's okay for me to use on my blog but she did borrow my monitor last night so I think it'll be alright & if not she knows where I live and can come punch me or stare me down in nursery tomorrow ;) )

you can find the recipe for the tortillas here on megan knorpp's super cute blog and you can also find other good looking recipes there that I will be trying out if the tortillas go well for me.

(one day I'll learn how to make black beans that are not out of the can & oh shoot I just remembered I forgot to get brown sugar from the grocery store- boo)

and here is the guacamole recipe I use which I loooove

here are the ingredients minus the cilantro, the husband hates cilantro. but when he's not around I make sure to add it

kail wanting in on the action

and this is one of my favorite kitchen tools. I stole it from my parents when they bought their new fancy juicer. I love the color. & it was made in America- so you know it's good to go

I would like to give a shout out to my sis-in-law Jan for introducing me to chicken burritos with black beans- soo good. & now that i think about it she has been making some pretty awesome delicious food lately. her salad with the candied walnuts and the pork tacos with that tomatillo sauce -serious tastebud goodness. I'm going to have to steal her recipes and pass them off as my own ;)

remembering

2010-05-31T11:46:00.000-06:00

there are some days when it all feels too much & I can't do it.

then I remember that others have done more

I hope while we are all having fun this Memorial Day we take time to remember those soldiers who have sacrificed all for our freedoms & their families they've left behind!

one week down

2010-05-24T20:52:00.002-06:00

I don't hate the military

I just hate that my husband wants to be apart of it.

For completely selfish reasons.

I just want my husband focused on my family.

Not on yours, no offense.

You have a great family.

I want you to be safe.

I want you to have freedoms.

I'd like everyone in the world to have that.

But I'm tired of my husband being one of the people making it possible.

I want him at my kids soccer games.

I want him to tuck my kids in bed more.

To have him read more books.

And change more diapers.

Eat more dinners at home.

Be my husband again.

I'm not supposed to feel this way.

I am a military wife after all.

We're supposed to be unselfish.

Brave.

Strong.

Independent.

I'm tired of being those things.

I'm tired of answering the question of how do I do it.

Because I don't.

I cry a lot.

But not in front of the kids.

I get mad a lot.

And frustrated.

And overwhelmed.

In front of the kids.

I'm working on that.

But I'll still pretend.

To be unselfish.

Brave.

Strong.

Independent.

For the love I have for my kids.

And Soldier.

(I just have to add that even though I can't be mad about this deployment, no I really can't, I love that my sister-in-laws are mad for me- it makes me smile)

just thought I'd share

2010-05-11T23:28:00.000-06:00

I ran across this video shot by Michael Deppisch after watching this video he shot of the flooding in Nashville. He's also an amazing photographer (of course)

but back to this video, isn't she super cute? & I love the song.

our august '09

2010-05-10T23:54:00.006-06:00

Last August Lily turned 5. Oh my.

I am the worst mom because I am scared to throw a friend birthday party so I opt for very last minute family gatherings. & that's what this was. Invites were sent out via text a few days in advance. We had a barbecue at this super cute park in Orem.

It was hot hot hot! (Oh, how I long for those days) The cake started to melt & that added to little fingers wanting a preview it ended up more of a disaster cake than the cute confection I had in mind.

We had a pretty good spread. Kabobs, watermelon, chips & salsa & pasta salad- yummm
My brother Gordon (on the left- still single ladies!) & the husband was our grill master

Kail & cousin (once or twice removed) Daisy, see how cute this park is? all the tables are covered by arbors with wisteria vines growing up them. Kail is half dressed because of the water feature at this park. The sign says not to play in it because the water isn't treated. Luckily Kail is still with us.

Nic's going to kill me for this photo & I'm going to have to say "deal", I love my sis & she always looks gorgeous.

My brother Chris & daughter Caitlyn- making sure dad looks his best

How cute are these two? My niece Kate & cousin Devry's mini, Lindsay

all the boys must have called each other beforehand (did you notice the red shirts?). & my favorite- Izze! (my favorite flavor is pomegranate just in case you felt the need to bring me over a bottle or two) the kids loved having their own with a straw.
ps if you buy bottled drinks you must have straws.

My older sister Nat & her hubby Tim flew all the way out to join us. Okay it was just a happy coincidence they were in town while in the midst of their move from Germany to Jordan (not the west kind of Jordan the middle east kind), we wish their cute mini's could have come too!

Luckily I had made this bunting banner for Lily's birthday morning at home. I think it turned out pretty cute.

And my allll time favorite photo. These two melt my heart!

Lily got a new bike- a beach cruiser. She looks so cute on it. why no photo? who knows.
now all we need is a garage to store it in ;)

This last minute party was so much fun! I'm getting a lot better at throwing these things together, less & less stress each time. I guess practice makes less stress.

do you have any last minute party planning tricks or tips?

I am the proud new owner

2010-05-04T21:30:00.001-06:00

at least one good thing came out of this deployment :)

well i guess this is what makes life interesting

2010-04-20T23:04:00.000-06:00

Gary came home

he drove my car & it broke

-600$ later it still needs hundreds more but at least it works (for now)

he used the only computer we own, it broke

he drove his car, it broke

I've asked him not to touch anything else

Oh no, I hear him using the washer & dryer, got to go.......

alice for the ipad

2010-04-14T01:01:00.002-06:00

Are you kidding?? this is AWEsome!!

I need one now just so I can buy this e-book.

I wasn't too excited about the whole thing but now... I mean just watch that again.... and now again,

if they would do that for all books, with original illustrations!

Apple why are you so so.

(thanks to my facebook friend Dustin Christensen for sharing!)

our september '09

2010-03-30T00:05:00.004-06:00

Last September Lily started soccer. She's a natural.

Here are some shots from one of her teams practices.

Here's part of her team. They do really well!

& there is nothing more entertaining than watching a group of 5 year olds play another group of 5 yr olds

Our best neighbors took Kail out to a ball game & he loved it. Adam & Amelia have been so great. Amelia is always willing to watch my kids & Adam is so nice to share his dad time with Kail. What would we do without them? We love the Hostettors!

Kail loves his baseball glove, the Queen Bee &Lily showing us their sassy side.

He slept with it for about a month after this

book club

2010-03-29T23:17:00.002-06:00

I keep saying "I need a book club" and everyone who has invited me to theirs- thank you!

But I've been a giant hermit and not having my live-in babysitter aka the husband it's hard to leave the house.

So I'll share with my online friends what I've been reading and would like to hear your opinion if you have read these & if you have any books to recommend.

I know you've read these, but wow! right? There are times I want to smack the main character but I also want to be like her. Am I a total geek if I said I want to take archery lessons now? -my nephew Mason would be proud ;)

Have you read this? I was almost turned off when I stumbled upon the first swearword but it is about war and being married to the military you have to realize that this is the way it is. Although the first swear wasn't in the war part of the book so maybe that's why I was thrown. Okay now I'm completely off topic.

This is a great book! Although I must warn you again that it is set during World War II so yeah...

Have you read this? The ending still doesn't sit well with me because of the book club questions at the end. I wish I could take back the reading of those.

After reading all these books I'm feeling the need more than ever to get; my backyard chickens, a windmill, generator, squarefoot gardens, food storage, 72hr kits, water storage, hunting skills honed, canning skills in place and everything else I need to become self sufficient.

I've got a lot of work a head of me!

I'm going to need

2010-03-29T22:42:00.002-06:00

These herringbone floors

(and if you know how to do this you better call me & offer to help me put them in!)

alice lane home via a room somewhere

This pantry

(swoon!)

emmerson made home via design*sponge

& this flow chart

Can be found @ blog.h34
Looks like they are going to be reprinted and if you leave a comment then you will also be entered into a giveaway for this poster.
you have to read down through the comments to get this info.

oh kate

2010-03-26T22:20:00.000-06:00

I feel your pain

Love love LOVE this little one!

our big november '09

2010-03-23T22:09:00.008-06:00

Our november in '09 was huge!

Because Kail turned EIGHT!

Eight years old- holy cow I have an 8 yr old

& we all know what that means:

Baptism

These are the pics of our family and friends who showed up. & it was no small, insignificant feat for them or me either. The baptism was at 9 am- I'm not kidding people. Who schedules anything at that time- on a saturday? Crazy morning people that's who.

So before I move on I must say a HUGE THANK YOU! to all of you wonderful supportive people who showed up, you are all amazing & earned numerous brownie points in my book

Our newly baptized boy

(left) my brothers, Shawn & Gordon (all the single ladies,
put your hands up because I need to get these two married off!) & Mimi & Opa

(right) the Hollands- I'm with Kate, mornings are the worst

(left) Grandma & Grandpa

(right) the Wynders

(left) the Dave Jorgensens- I love this photo of them, so classic

(right) the Oppermans

(left) the Saxtons

(right) the Hoops

(left) the Kunics- our ward bffs

(right) the best neighbors aka the Hostetters

if we ever move I'm going to pack them up & take them with us

(left) Brother Vernon (our 2nd Counselor-seriously the nicest man I've ever met) & daughter Avery

(right) Sister Woolcott- Kails Primary teacher & Sister Garcia- Primary President

Kail also started Boy Scouts! He had been so excited to start, and now it's official.

he loves it!

I have an 8 yr old..... nope still weird

another conversation with Niels

2010-03-20T18:07:00.001-06:00

Me (from upstairs): Niels?

Niels (from somewhere downstairs possibly the kitchen): Yes?

Me: What are you doing?

Niels: Umm........

*sounds of shifting papers, a utensil dropping, sliding of chair, possible cereal dropping, refrigerator door shutting, little legs moving as fast as they can back to the family room*

Niels (out of breath): nothing!

I {heart} masterpiece classics

2010-03-14T21:47:00.001-06:00

They are replaying the Emma series tonight- all three. Even though I have them recorded I have to watch it again. This movie has helped get the bad taste of "Clueless" out of my mouth. I can now read the book again!

And last summer, Tess of the d'Ubervilles, was so lovely and heart wrenching

And now the miniseries Lark Rise to Candleford, even though it's not technically a Masterpiece classic it is on PBS after Masterpiece and I'm loving it.

How about you, are you hooked?
♥

found!

2010-03-11T16:53:00.002-07:00

Nope, not my wedding ring- but wouldn't that have been great?

I have been searching for this store for forever! okay so it has only been a few weeks, but, in blog time a few weeks means searching through endlesssssssssssss posts!

But lucky for me miss Stephanie from stephmodo, read my mind & created a new post just for me to find it! Okay so maybe not, but whatever her reasons I have to say thank you!

And now I have the link to Emmerson Made on my blog so I'll never have to search again!

& why am I searching for this store? Because before things change too much around here *wink wink* I need family pictures taken and if you happen to follow the link you will see the most adorable handmade flowers ever. They even have tie tacs for men or little boys in my case. So cute! so many ideas, so little time.

And you have to check out the pictures on their blog- these people are having way too much fun.

(how do I get in on that action)

a conversation with Niels

2010-03-10T17:08:00.000-07:00

Niels: Dad come to my house?

Me: Yes, he gets to come home for a few days.

Neils: We have cake?

(he's been on a kick about Gary's birthday & not missing out on the good stuff)

Me: Yes we'll have a cake for Dad.

Niels: You going to look pretty?

Me: What's that supposed to mean?

have you seen?

2010-03-03T00:00:00.002-07:00

this bathing suit?

for little girls

a la Jcrew

wouldn't Lily look adorable?

Or these shoes?

for mommies

a la Sundance catalogue

wouldn't I look smart in a pair at the playground?

all the other mommies would swoon :)

my hero(s)!

2010-02-27T21:17:00.000-07:00

more fun from NC

now what should their super hero names be?

speaking of easter

2010-02-24T16:59:00.003-07:00

I just had some long forgotten film developed and found some great photos. These are of Easter when we were in NC.

I have about 10 of this photo and this is the most normal one of Lily.

There were not a lot of places to hide the eggs. The grass by the new building next door hadn't even been put in yet, so really we just had about 5-10 feet to hide the eggs oh and our porch. But I guess with minis this young you don't have to be too creative.

And speaking of creative; I had left all non-essential items at home (ie holiday stuff) so I made Kail & Lily's Easter baskets, out of paper.- Thanks Martha!

When I saw this photo I laughed so hard, I had forgotten Lily went through this fake smile stage, so funny

Now here's a real smile, she found the money egg- she's got her Aunt Nic's luck!

Our "fat boy", now that he's thinned out, people (my dad to be exact) don't know why I call him chubs & fat boy, Here is your reminder:

Oh NC, I'm glad we were there to be with Gary, but you could not pay me enough to go back!

i need

2010-02-18T20:55:00.001-07:00

this dress

for lily

for easter

but

it's 98$!

from Jcrew

of course

christmas '09

2010-02-18T00:30:00.000-07:00

wouldn't you know it, a bunch of my christmas pictures are gone, deleted off my camera- bah humbug

I didn't take a lot this year, I was more concerned about video taping. & trying to get Gary to help out in the memory keeping dept. is a tough sell. Oh well.

This was our first year to do the nativity with the grandkids. and it was pure entertainment.

Kail was Joseph, Kaitlyn was Mary and little baby Yale was Jesus.

Lily, Kate & Sophie were angels, Niels was a shepherd & little Sydney was a lamb- the cutest lamb ever.

we couldn't find a lamb stuffed animal so Niels had his trusty sheep dog at his side, well actually it's a type of terrier but we'll just pretend. & poor little Sydney was so tired after all the excitement.

Probably the most entertaining part was these three (Shawn, Dave & Gordon) dressing up as the three wise men and really getting into their parts. Dave ended up being the donkey that Mary rode in on too.

and here was our narrator, see that red book on his lap? That is one of our Christmas songbooks that we have had as long as I can remember.

It was a fun holiday, even though I waited until the last minute to get everything. We have decided to keep things as simple as possible for our holidays. The kids only get three presents each. And they don't know any better. Although i don't think Lily understood the 'each' part because Christmas morning I heard her go into Kail's room to wake him up and she said "Kail we got way more than 3 presents!" I told my mom she's not allowed to show my kids any home movies of my Christmases growing up. I don't know how my parents did it but my siblings and I made a killing every year.

I wish I had a picture of my tree! We buy a small, small tree that fits inside of our bay window. It's so cute. the neighborhood kids are always a little concerned over the size of it. Every time our favorite neighbor, Queen bee, came over she would suggest we go get a big tree, or tall tree, or real tree. It was so funny. But I assured her we were happy with the one we had.

It was a great Christmas filled with homemade snowflakes, school christmas programs, family, & caramel apples. Which reminds me; I never got out my neighbor gifts, I'm sure it will happen one day.

working my way backwards

2010-02-15T01:25:00.002-07:00

So here I go without editing my pictures or having my computer fixed. but sometimes pictures are way better than words. & I've decided to start with the last thing I took pictures of and work my way back to where I left off. Lets begin.

This is the best Christmas present I recieved. I know I'm a plant nut. But forced hyacinths? The BEST! especially when the winter doldrums set in.

These were given to me by my friend Ashley, who is hilarious & shares my love of gardening. Plus I'm pretty sure I've talked her into getting backyard chickens. One day I'll have some too

Here's Ashley & I on New Years Eve. So much FUN!

Ashely's significant other, Ryan & his malfunctioning noise maker, it's funny- trust me.

ps this is gary's heterosexual life mate. they're having a bromance

Here is their awesome dog, every time I'm around her I can't help but want one immediately.

And here are our little men. I left my other two at Grandmas for a sleep over, oh remember how easy it was with just one? Niels tried to assert his domination this night, man what this kid tries to pull with out his older brother & sister around! I'm pretty sure Ashley's mini was in complete shock. He sure is a handsome little guy & how cute is that sock monkey blanket?

After a fun night of pizza, playing & fist shaking it was time for the mini's to go to bed so the adults could get their game on- Pictionary that is & of course the girls dominated!

We had so much fun!

Thanks Ryan & Ashley

please

2010-02-09T21:15:00.003-07:00

may I have a do-over?

'she's a fox' or kids mullets rule

2010-01-29T22:12:00.007-07:00

if you remember 6th grade mullets, tween angst, and fun runs then the film 'she's a fox' is a must see!
Written & directed & narrated by Cameron Sawyer.
My sister and I just watched this tonight and we were laughing so hard. & maybe that's because half the characters were based on some of our childhood friends. but even if you didn't know Talia or Cameron or Ross Williams personally this film hits home with anyone who "went out" with the love of their life in the 6th grade for a whole week- if you were lucky.
Plus there are some awesome mullets
& the ASL alphabet signing- did you and your friends do that to communicate to each other across the lunch room like my friends and I did? (we were so good at it)

Click HERE or on the picture to see the movie.

(Jake Magnum- who wasn't in love with you?)

my heart is

2010-01-08T22:49:00.002-07:00

full, broken, aching
all for this family I don't know, after reading about the precious baby they just lost.
& the beautiful words and beliefs that mimic my own.
I wish I had beautiful words to give them to make the hurting stop.
but all they ask for is prayers.
& that is something I can give.

Years ago I had this friend & neighbor. Our two little boys (big boys now) were only a few days apart in age, and the cutest little things ever. We would go walking together in the mornings and discuss everything under the sun. One of our conversations was about how blessed we were. About how we knew people in our lives that had too many deaths and disease to count. We wondered in our own lives how we got so lucky. Or maybe it was a countdown. Maybe we'll all have these things happen and it's just a matter of time. We wondered when it would be our time. Stephanie moved away and we lost contact. I'm not sure how she is now but I still wonder when will it be my time, to have heartache.
I don't know if it will ever come
I do know that I am blessed
And I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for that.

ChristMAAAAAASSSSSSSSSS!

2010-01-08T16:43:00.003-07:00

or maybe I should put- HoliDAAAAAYYYSSSS- AAAAAHHHH!!!

I'm going to post pictures soon...maybe.

but I just have to say as much as I loved this past holiday season, yes it ended up being a good one no help from my procrastination, it's still staring me in the face. Not everything has been put away and I'm not sure if it ever will.
I need to find some serious reslove before I end up watching myself on the show Hoarders.
and a reminder to me for next year- fat girl may love cheese balls but that doesn't mean fat girl should go to the store and buy one for fat girl to eat by herself.
Thank goodness for New Years resolutions and a jogging stroller.

bah humbug

2009-12-10T22:26:00.002-07:00

Blah!
I hate holidays
(but not really)
I love the idea of it all
I hate my holidays
. . . because . . .
I'm a procrastinator
I've known for 11 & 1/2 months
that Christmas was coming
eleven and a half months- wasted
why do I wait until the last minute
until everything is super crazy busy
and I can't think or find anything to get anyone
and I want to yell at and strangle everyone
completely loosing the wonderful Christmas spirit?
next year
I promise
to do much
much better

ps- my computer was stepped on by one of my wonderful, beautiful, talented, amazing, clever, precious angels, and I have yet to fix it. Gary won't let me install my camera software on his so no new pictures. but I'll get it fixed soon because I know you are all dying to see those cherubic, innocent, lovely, well behaved munchkins

you know what's awesome?

2009-12-02T22:07:00.004-07:00

It's so awesome when you've had a busier than normal day and you've finally made it to the grocery store. And you have just enough time to grab some essentials before you have to run to go pick up your son from school, who doesn't really want you to pick him up and lets you know it with a groan, because what he really wants is to walk all the way to Aunt Nicole's house where she has homemade cookies waiting. The essentials aren't nearly enough to fill your empty refrigerator & pantry shelves but you're pretty sure a few apples, some lunch meat, a bunch of bananas, Oreos, sour dough bread and some kabobs for dinner can tide you over until you get another chance to go with only 2 kids screaming and yelling in tow. It's so awesome while walking around the grocery store peoples eyes linger on you a little longer than normal. And, it's not your kids they are looking at but you. It's awesome when you think you must be looking better than normal- a lot better than normal. Which is completely out of character for you because normally if someone was to look at you too long or smile at you, your first reaction is to rush to the nearest mirror to see how big the zit, that must have magically appeared, really is. but no it's awesome that you just keep right on strolling at a fast pace with a smile on your face because you must be looking goo-ood.
And you want to know what's really awesome? After fighting with your 2 yr old about what he can and cannot put on the checkout stand, and informing your 5 yr old for the 100th time that she can't open her yogurt in the middle of the store no matter how hungry she is, you notice the checker looking at your shirt. It's so awesome when you look down to see what she is looking at and you're shocked to find that your garments have worked their way up and out of your shirt and you are displaying your religion loud and proud. It's really awesome when you realize that is why you were getting those long looks and suspicious smiles. And it's super awesome when you have to remind yourself, with a growing red face & trying to strategically pull and shove the rogue garments back into your clothes while pushing the cart out of the store as quickly as possible, that thinking the worst may, in your case, always be the best.

best caramel apples EVER!

2009-11-23T10:04:00.004-07:00

This is not an exaggeration.
These crispy apples covered in creamy caramel, milk chocolate (or dark if you prefer) and oven toasted almonds are so amazingly delicious they have overtaken the #1 spot on my list of favorite holiday treats. And now they can take over yours.
Normally you would have to be a close friend of one Wendy Hoop to rate getting one or two of these beauties for Christmas but now she has decided that everyone should have the chance to delight in this delectable treat.
Wendy is now accepting orders! Upon order, these will be hand made with love in her very own organic, vegetarian, cozy kitchen. Could you ask for more? How about a cute ribbon on top? You got it! Perfect for gift giving or just savoring yourself- because you know that's what I do. The mini's & the husband are lucky if they even get to lay their eyes on one.
These make unforgettable gifts for neighbors, coworkers, teachers, friends, family, me, visiting/home teaching, mailmen, garbage collectors or anyone you want to be grateful they know you.

You can find out more about Wendy's apples over at her blog five, four buckle my shoe
& you can email her at: wootz04@hotmail.com

the art of art collecting

2009-11-17T14:59:00.016-07:00

There are so many things in my home that need to be done before I can even think about adding any art to my bare bare walls. But I ran across this piece on emily style and absolutely fell in looove. And when that happens I get stuck on what other art pieces I want in my home.

I have a special place in my heart for clementines because my Lily has a special place in her heart & stomach for them. (seriously she packs away at least 7 a day when they are in season)
This would look great in my kitchen. Along with the ever so popular 'keep calm and carry on' poster.

Lonely Clementine by PainterNick on Etsy

When I saw the Lonely Clementine it reminded me of the painting of plums below. When I saw this painting hanging in my friend Carol's mom's home I fell in looove with it also. This painting in real life is gorgeous. There's just something about it that makes me feel at home. The artist is Carol's brother-in-law Jeff Merrill. And if I lived in la la land it would be mine. (it's still available)

Plum Basket by Jeff Merrill

but wouldn't you know it, Jeff also has a painting of clementines!
unfortunately it's no longer available.

Sweet Clementines by Jeff Merrill

And this painting of a young Jane Austen (still in contention whether or not it is the author Jane Austen. It's not signed and only has been verified by word of mouth- you can read more about it here)

If I could find a print of this painting it would be the first in my collection. and hung over my bedside table. Isn't it lovely? A cropped portion of this painting is on my personal- you don't touch- copy of Pride and Prejudice.

And there are many other photographs, paintings, prints and art that I want. That's not even counting all the personal family photos I need to frame and hang.
My choices are all so scatter brained. But I think when it comes to the art of art collecting you choose what speaks to you or moves you, not who painted it or what goes with what or how much you paid for it.

I had to add this last one. Isn't that a great photo? the extreme over-sized painting or photo is a must have in every home. I love the horse but maybe I could find a fox. Why a fox? I don't know it just seems cool who doesn't want a fox living at their home?

spotted on the Bedlam of Beefy from Country Living

what is it about yarn stores?

2009-11-16T21:28:00.004-07:00

Especially cute little ones run out of a 60's style converted home, with cute stylish Oma's- one showing you where the yarn of your choice is and the other entertaining your mini's with a giant knitted ball that makes you want to have a shop just like it squeezed into your closet craft room? What is it about the way the yarn is placed so orderly and the way the big comfy chairs are set up just so, begging you to have a seat and knit yourself a blanket to cozy up with and stay a while? What is it about all the scrumptious colors and textures that makes you want to touch and squeeze everything in site?
And what is it about yarn stores that when I go in for one skein makes me not able to pry myself away without four or five?

I just bought my yarn for the scarf I'm making for a soldier in Afghanistan (yea!). Needless to say, I bought more than I should have *smiling mischievously*. Hey the husband is going to be deployed some day, I thought I'd knit him one too and let him choose his favorite color.

motivated knitting for our military

2009-11-13T16:50:00.009-07:00

Many many thanks to Kelly from my happy little life for posting this on her blog!

Okay guys so I haven't done anything like this since I was in student government a lifetime ago. but I've become determined to see this through. I'm going to knit at least one scarf to send to Operation Gratitude who'll send it on to one of our many soldiers (70,000 +) in Afghanistan.
And I'm hoping you'll join me.

photo from each pretty penny- creative commons

I'd like to be able to collect as many scarves & hats that I can, made by you with love, so they can all be sent together. All the details are in the post below this one. The due date on Operation Gratitude is December 5th. I know it's not a lot of time but I'll need to get them in the mail by the 1st.

photo of a soldier waking up in the cold Afghanistan mountains found here

If you or anyone you know is interested in donating please email me:
janaejorgensen@yahoo.com
and we can work out where they will picked up or dropped off.

Wouldn't 100 be a great number?

knit 1 for our troops

2009-11-11T23:35:00.013-07:00

Hey guys- a lot of people are being sent to this post from Kelly's blog. I decided after this post that I would try to get people to help and wrote about that above. if you are in the Utah area I would love to collect all the scarves and hats then send them out all together. If you're interested in sending yours with mine or any questions please email me at:
janaejorgensen@yahoo.com
and we can work out where to pick up or drop off thank you!!
and a BIG thank you to Kelly for writing about this on her blog- my happy little life

I have finally learned how to knit! Thanks to Kelly from my happy little life. She had a knitting 101 class and I loved it. Cupcakes, cute girls and yarn, could you ask for anything else? She is going to be posting about more classes so if you are interested pop on over to her blog.

photo from the purl bee*

but if you are already a knitter or crocheter then I've got a great way for you to help a soldier/soldiers:

Operation Gratitude is a wonderful non-profit organization that sends care packages to our soldiers serving overseas that help them out in so many ways. Right now you can help by using your yarning talents to make hats, scarves, and helmet liners to send to troops serving in Afghanistan. We can all feel how cold it is now I'm sure you can imagine sitting in the mountains of Afghanistan with nothing but a tent to keep you out of the elements. This is such a great way to show these men and women that even though some people seem to be dragging feet on decisions about their mission, we the American people haven't forgotten about them and their huge sacrifice for us and the people of Afghanistan.

(This info found on the blog proud liberal army wife)
There are some rules you need to follow, and these are not suggestions, these are mandatory.
First - NO acrylic or rayon or other artificial yarns. It must be 100% wool. Acrylic melts when it burns & when it gets wet, it gets cold and nasty. Wool, even when wet, keeps the body warmth in. I'm told that the Cascade 220 superwash is warm, soft and washable. There are other washable wools too.
Second - muted colours. tans, browns, Army green, black, deep maroon if you must, dark blue if you want to send to airforce.

This is short notice but they need to be sent by Dec. 5 to:

Operation Gratitude/California Army National Guard
17330 Victory Boulevard
Van Nuys, California 91406

And including a little note of support with your name and address or email address pinned to it would be super nice. Or anything else they might need.

Here are some links for helmet liners: 1 2
and troop hats or other mens hats

As for the scarf - simple is good, plain and long enough to go around the neck once then get tucked in.

*I love purl soho for yarn & the purl bee for patterns
also for those in the salt lake area Blazing Needles is a gorgeous yarn shop
& for those closer to Provo Heindselman's is always a classic

opinion please

2009-11-10T22:30:00.004-07:00

So after yeeearssss of talking about new flooring I think I have finally found something and would love your opinion- and soon, the husband is tired of waiting for me to make up my mind.
What do you think?

Home Legend, hand scraped elm walnut

room view:

And while I'm at it the bathroom needs to be redone too, I'd love a vanity like the one below
isn't that bathroom dreamy?

spotted on stephmodo

And am thinking this honeycomb stencil design would be fun for the walls- instead of wallpaper

spotted on design*sponge

sweet nothings or loverlies

2009-11-06T21:46:00.004-07:00

I couldn't decide what to name these posts I'm going to start doing to remember the little lovelies (hey that's good too) I find & want to remember & catalog because you never know when someone is going to want to start paying me to do this- ;)

On you are my fave she had a post about this Jcrew sweater asking someone to do a tutorial on how to make this because the original was sold out ($118 dollar sold out) and Anjelica at mismatcherie did it! yea for her & us. Someone get this girl a gold star. This is one I definitely will do, someday

Remember this tutorial by laura from orange beautiful ? another gorgeous piece of clothing from Jcrew

And speaking of ruffles. Here's another tutorial from Etsy's blog the storque

I will make the pillow as long as I can have the eames rocker too.

you know what I need?

2009-11-04T20:40:00.006-07:00

No, not a life- ha ha

what I need is a place to store all these cute ideas I find online. I'm pretty sure I'll never do 90% of them but they are very inspiring and fun to look at.

Like these S'more kits:

from twig & thistle -spotted on you are my fave

Also loving this kids table:

from sweet paul - spotted on you are my fave

Couldn't I just be paid to look online at all the super cute and creative things people do then catalog them for someone?

sick, sicker, sickerest update

2009-10-29T22:01:00.004-06:00

we're sick
it bites
no one likes cleaning up things that should just stay put
especially me
especially not at 3 am

*Now that we're all feeling better & I can sort of laugh about it I should inform all of you that I am now the expert at cleaning up throw-up and am also the expert in reading the warning signs of when it will make an appearance and the best way to get the kid in front of a toilet.
a quick tip: the sink is NOT a good choice for throw-up, but I know a good home remedy for unclogging that sink if you happen to make that mistake & it's 1 am and your husband is at work- oh your husband isn't at work at 1 am? -huh, well I guess you can forget the home remedy & just send him to the store for Drano.

oh no!

2009-10-20T23:46:00.003-06:00

Remember THIS post? about our loverly pet manti, mantis, mantises (honestly what is the plural?) Carolyn & Joe? Well we have an update on those two love birds*

*it's not pretty

The other day Lily was helping me hack my way through the jungle of weeds in the out of site, out of mind backyard. As we worked toward a corner Lily excitedly informed me she had found our long lost friends Joe & Carolyn. She sat there studying them for a few seconds while waving me over and insisting I drop in to say hi. As I was leaning my double edged hoe* against the fence I heard her cry out
"Oh NO!"
I ran over (okay, my backyard isn't that big) quickly took the two steps over to where she was and asked what was wrong.
"Carolyn is EATING Joe!"
she told me in utter shock, horror & disbelief.
What do you tell a 5 yr old after she witnesses one of her favorite pets whole heartedly consuming the other? I was about to start explaining the wonderful & wonderous circle of life. How when one thing dies it helps feed another, but she beat me to it,
"EWWW she just bit his head off his body- that's so COOL!"

RIP joe

* while purchasing this wonderful double edged hoe at Home Depot a man waiting for his paint asked me what sort of tool I had and what was I going to use it for. I was in shock- SHOCK! "why it's a double edged hoe" I politely & incredulously informed him, "it's used for weeding and turning up dirt." He acted as though it was the most ingenious thing he's ever seen. Then promptly help up his 500 gal container of liquid poisonous weed killer, "this is my double edged hoe" He chuckled- uh yeah gotch-ya.

the lesson I learned while making dinner tonight

2009-10-15T22:09:00.006-06:00

and I'm going to share it with you:

While making dinner- namely tortilla soup ( and not just any tortilla soup but the most amazing delicious, spicy, goodness you could ever stick in a bowl then spoon over your tongue, goodness. I'm telling you when I first tasted this at my mother-in-laws dinner table I literally went to food heaven. I dream about this soup.)- and you are preparing the jalapeno pepper to be roasted in the oven- and here's the lesson-
DO NOT, DO NOT
( i cannot stress this enough do you see the capitalized letters & the red?)
TOUCH YOUR NOSE!!

Ignore the itch, tell it to go away, break up with it in a crowded restaurant so it doesn't cause a scene and you are forced to stay with it. And trust me don't even try a napkin or towel barrier, it will not help! the force is strong in these jalapenos.

IF you don't heed my warning, IF you don't believe what I'm telling you, IF you do cut up a jalapeno pepper, remove the seeds with your fingers, place said jalapeno pepper in the 350 oven & IF you scratch that itch, your nose will yell and scream at you, as if from the depths of hell, for the next 24 hours.

People believe me when I say:
jalapeno + nose = pain x 24hrs

but ohhhhhhhh the spicy goodnessssssss

feeling loved

2009-10-13T00:07:00.004-06:00

did you notice all the comments I received on my last two posts? (okay 1 or 2 of them are my own but still more than one comment that isn't mine is a pretty big deal, for me) I did and I am feeling the love & wanted to send it right back to you, paying for the postage and all. but I don't have everyone's address so this will have to do-

photo found via flickr

(Doesn't it feel cold enough for there to be snow on the ground? What happened to our transitional 70's period? No one should be thrown into this kind of serious weather relationship so fast! It's not fair to my toes or wallet. My feet are having serious sandal withdrawal)

And you know what else I love?? When I'm having a headache-y, grouchy, pms-y, kind of day but then I trick my fabulous neighbor or amazing sister to stop what they're doing, come out, talk to me and listen to me whine or laugh annoyingly loud while my & her kids run a muck.

nothing better...

2009-10-02T08:44:00.002-06:00

than watching my kids learn the disco roll from Jack Black on Yo Gabba Gabba.

we have not died- yet

2009-09-23T09:02:00.002-06:00

I know you all are extremely concerned but I'm back to reassure you that no we have not died or fallen off the face of the planet, although I can't speak for the husband I haven't spoken with him for a day 1/2 so who knows ;) Apparently I am running low on "disk space" whatever that is. I blame it on all my pictures that I need to get onto disks or developed for my non-existent photo albums. Soon it will happen because even though I know maybe 2 people still care to check in on me from time to time I love blogging & HATE that facebook is killing blogs left and right. So I promise to have updates and new pictures soon but for now I'll leave you with this new family picture taken by my brother Gordon.

My sister was in town with her family and we decided it would be a good time to get a family picture with everyone unfortunately it wasn't thought through enough and my brother shawn flew in after my bro-in-law,Tim, flew out. (Honestly) It's a good thing we didn't hire someone like I wanted to. they turned out okay but I'll still be getting someone who knows what they're doing to take a nice picture of my own family.

in the garden or not so much

2009-08-28T17:46:00.003-06:00

This year I had some extreme plans for my little piece of dirt out behind my home. unfortunately the husband was not as excited as I was about weeding and what not. So it has been going slowly I mean snail pace slow- no slower than that- I mean waiting for christmas morning when you are 7 years old slow. I try to do a little here & a little there but those weeds adore my back yard too much. so I'm shooting for fall, who wants to work in 90 degree weather anyway. So with out my back yard up and running we tend to stay out front where it's taken care of for us (starting at 7 am every monday and tuesday)

The other morning we noticed we had some new visitors to our frontyard oasis. At first there were three but only two remained the next day. We decided that they would be our pets & in being part of this family they had to be named. We decided on Joe & Carolyn. And they stayed for about a week. It was fun to hear Kail wake up, go out side and say "good morning Joe & carolyn" & I got a good giggle out of hearing lily proclaim "oh look carolyn and joe are playing piggyback!" I wasn't ready for that talk so I said "how nice that they play well together" Well then Joe and carolyn got tired of playing piggy back and joe left. Carolyn lingered a few more days then she was gone too. Off to make a new safer, aways from prying eyes, home for her new brood. We hope they are doing well.

(my neighbor Ameilia is relieved they're gone seeing as how she is deathly afraid of the little green monsters and is apparently attacked by them even when trying everything she can to avoid them)

Since I don't have a back yard of my own I've been livng vicariously through other people's in person like my dad's & also through lovely pictures on blogs. Like the ones below.

This is Jim Kumiega's secret garden, he works for Flora Grubb gardens -enough said. The fabulous part? it's all completely planted in containers- WoW! How fun would that be? My neighbors backyard on the other side of me is almost completely concrete except for a sweet little unruly vegetable patch with a tomato plant that has a mind of it's own. I think they should do something like Jims garden.

Or something like this. A little less in the plant deptartment but wonderful all the same. One of these days I'm going to figure out how to make that verticle garden and do a smaller version for my backyard.

Seeing these make me want to go back to school to be a landscape designer or maybe just go work in my own back yard.

photo 1, photo 2, photo 3

*and for those of you who read this blog at regular intervals aren't you happy for this post so that Roots video no longer comes up, I love the song but was so tired of hearing it

the CPSIA + your garage sale = death of children

2009-08-24T10:59:00.006-06:00

Thank heaven for the government and their over regulation of everything. I mean if it wasn't for them I might have let my baby play with a hand made wooden toy while sitting in a car seat that is more than 4 years old all the while wearing a hand me down sweater that hasn't been tested for traces of lead or arsenic for that matter! I mean he could DIE at any moment! I'm such an irresponsible parent I'm glad the government found the time and money to let me know exactly how I should be raising my children. There are days I think "how did I ever make it to be an adult without the wonderful supervision of the government we have now" It's a miracle we're all still alive.
(and if you can't tell- it is sarcasm)

Well watch out because they are back and meaner than ever. Now they are coming after your garage sales. In THIS story found via Hot Air it tells us "The initiative, which targets toys and other products for children, enforces a new provision that makes it a crime to resell anything that’s been recalled by its manufacturer. …" (the emphasis is mine)

"Those who resell recalled children's products are not only breaking the law, they are putting children's lives at risk," said Inez Tenenbaum, the recently confirmed chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

How dare you put children's lives at risk!

Whatever happened to common sense & personal responsibility? While I understand that toys are recalled for a reason I think making it a criminal act is ridiculous.

(Lets burn some books too)

AHHH the joys of big government

here is a picture of my son wearing a hand- me-down hat and sweater. That sweater is 30+ years old & clearly causing my son great pain. How could I have ever let him wear it? I should have run to the store immediately and bought him a Go Diego Go, made in China, who knows what kind of crap it's made with & how many young children working on it for pennies, jacket at Walmart. The CPSIA should just come arrest me now.

SAVE HANDMADE!!!

my lily

2009-08-15T00:20:00.000-06:00

Five years ago I had my sweet baby girl

Where does the time go?

We love Lily and her wild imagination,

her quirky comments on life,

her clumsiness,

& all the lovliness she has brought into our home.

Happy Birthday Lily-lulu!!

the night max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind then another....

2009-08-11T17:27:00.003-06:00

This new preview is making me so excited to see this movie.

I love the Max character because I know it emulates many if not all little boys. And Kail and Max seem to have a bit too much in common. Kail used to have me read this to him at least twice a night when he was little.
Now when I read it to Niels, Kail comes in to see & pretend to not want to read a baby book. But when I see his lips moving because he still remembers every word,
I know my big boy isn't so very big.

"....I'll eat you up I love you so."

botographers & silent music

2009-08-10T00:48:00.005-06:00

on the way down to my mom's tonight:

Kail: I like Brother Canlas

Me: Yeah? Did you know he's a photographer. That means he takes pictures for a living

Kail: That would be fun

Me: He's a very good photographer

Lily: My friend is a good botographer.

Me: oh yeah? who's your friend?

Lily: Carol. She takes good pictures of me and Owen

Me: what about me? do I take good pictures?

Lily: Well.... you take A LOT of pictures!

A few minutes later:

Lily: mom if everyone is real quiet I can hear music no one can hear. Then I can show you it.

Me: Alright let's be quiet.

*silence for about 2 minutes*

Lily: starts singing her version of Nephi's Courage

*5 minutes later it's still going- amazingly Kail is listening & not saying a word*

*7 minutes into it we get to Orem and the song ends abruptly*

Lily: *singing* and that's why Nephi was braaaaaave!

* we clap and Kail and I share a wink*

I love being shown the music that only Lily can hear.

i lovely love my family, the roots & yo gabba gabba

2009-07-30T23:01:00.003-06:00

I'm planning a block party with my neighbor amelia & it will also be to celebrate Niels' 2nd birthday- my sad attempt at making it up to him for pushing it to the side in May. & since I'm having a get together I'm sure the Roots would agree to swing by & sing this & maybe some others for us. They won't even have to bring their own meat.

Then I'm sure the Ting Tings could drop by and sing happy birthday

I love Yo Gabba Gabba

new baby!! YEA

2009-07-15T22:47:00.005-06:00

This gorgeous girl...

(my sis Nic. And just so you know I went and visited her the day she had him and, yes she looked this gorgeous. She's making me look bad- well she always has so that's nothing new. Love you Nic!)

...just gave birth to this handsome guy who....

(Yale is his name & I could not be happier he came along. Now I'm not the only one with a little boy on my side of the family. And, yes, he is even more adorable in real life- a perfect gentleman)

...just so happens to look a lot like this handsome guy

(My baby brother Gordon, or Dordie as the nieces and nephews call him when they are first learning to talk. Isn't he blindingly goodlooking? He's amazingly sweet, super smart, and loves kids- he's still single ladies-if you'd like a date leave a comment with your email!

Yea for new babies!!

love love loving this weather!!!!

2009-06-16T20:16:00.004-06:00

photo found via flickr

Sunny in the morning (perfect for the kids swim lessons)
Stormy in the afternoon (perfect for working in the garden)
I wish every day this summer could be just as perfect!!

where I'm pretty sure I need to buy & renovate a french cottage

2009-06-04T14:23:00.010-06:00

I was perusing some blogs and ran across one I haven't seen before & am wondering how could I have missed it. Stephmodo is a great blog with lots of pretty pictures, great ideas and yummy looking recipes (maybe it will help solve my worst question ever problem) Anyway, she & her husband have bought a 400 year old cottage in France (pictured below- no really it's the one pictured below the one next to the castle & the view) and they are renovating it!

I am not jealous at all /sarc.

It sits right next to a castle and just look at those views.

Did I mention the view? Apparently on the drive up one of the many views is of another castle the same one seen in one of my all time favorite movies, the same movie that got me through my first month of marriage & no cable- ie Ever After

You must go and read about how they acquired it. And to see the darling picture of her kids playing on the hill next to the castle.

so amazing!

Here is a photo of a wall they just recently uncovered, I want to live there, even with the dirt floor.

I wonder if I offer to help out she'll let me stay there.
Even though I have no renovating skills I could always babysit. Oh and I could cook- I make a mean pancake ;)

the worst question EVER!!

2009-06-03T23:14:00.002-06:00

It's 4:30. You've had a pretty good day. You had to wake up too early again. A few loads of laundry were done & actually got put away. You had a few moments of silence during quiet & nap time. You paid some bills - never fun but it has to be done, luckily your kids woke up just in the nick of time, bill depression was about to take hold. You forget all about the bills while watching your kids play outside & while talking & laughing with one of the best neighbors ever. You cut the tops off a few otter pops & wonder why the kid in the red t-shirt always shows up when the treats come out. You're happy. Content. This is what being a mom is all about. Then the otter pops are done & the kids start telling you they're hungry. You know what's coming next. You don't want to hear it but it's inevitable. Your oldest is first, interrupting your conversation about the cute thing your baby did today, "mom? WHAT'S FOR DINNER?" as the words are uttered everything goes into slow mo- the dark clouds roll in, you can't cover your ears fast enough. "NOOOOOOOOO!!" you hear in your head (also in slow mo). You pray the other kids didn't hear the question. But they have. It's like a plague. It starts spreading from one child to the other. One runs home to ask his mom. The kid in the red shirt wants to know too. Now it's all you can hear. You apologize to your neighbor. She just laughs (she has the secret weapon- she's planned ahead. She probably goes to the grocery store with a list too) The little zombies keep asking. "Food" is not a good enough answer for them. You resist the temptation to start singing the song from Oliver. Finally after racking your brains for what seems like an eternity, with little people's big eyes staring into your soul, you say "Pancakes?". "With bacon and strawberries?" your little one asks, hands clapped together in a pleading grasp. "Sure" you answer. "YEAH!!!!" the munchkins cheer in unison. The clouds disperse, the sun is shining again. You don't remember the grass looking so green. You take a deep breath & your heart starts beating regularly again- the same beat as that song you learned in preschool that one you can never remember all of the words to. The mini's are dancing around. This also catches, spreading like the peal of church bells over some distant European village. You can smile again & kind of want to start dancing too. You decide you better go call the husband to let him know you need him to stop by the store on the way home for some bacon. Suddenly you stop, your stomach drops - how are you going to explain pancakes to your husband? You look around why is the house so messy? You start to panic again. You whip your head around to look at the clock. It's 4:35. You breath a sigh of relief. The frantic 10 minute clean up can wait & the husband will just have to realize he can't have steak every night of the week. As you walk back outside to watch the munchkins ride up and down the side walk & you and your neighbor start to discuss the best way to knock down part of the fence that separates your backyards, you hear the kid in the red shirt say "I love pancakes!"

where there are lots of little things l'd like to share

2009-06-03T15:45:00.003-06:00

There are lots of little things I've been wanting to share with you but have been too busy with kids & no husband then getting ready for husband to come home and now busy with kids & husband but I've found some time & can now share

Have you seen any of these? I've seen some others too & always think how fun it would be to participate or just to be surprised with it.

Make sure you go HERE to see the how they did it

sent to me by my friend Wendy

Here's another one- the people's face who were not in on it are priceless!

And I seriously want to do this with my family:

this girls made an instructional video so her family could perform this dance at her sisters 21st birthday. It's so great. & doesn't hurt that it's set to Jamiroquai

Make sure you check out the outfit she wore in the instructional video & read her post about everyone learning the dance- This has made my week & I don't think I'll stop smiling!

where it's been a lot harder than I expected to have my husband back

2009-06-03T15:33:00.006-06:00

let me clarify for you ie the husband (Gary read the heading and thought I was being mean)

It's harder than I thought to:

share the authority again
clean up after an extra person
wonder where the _______ is
have to sync up my schedule daily
share my teeny tiny bathroom
have more things cluttering my teeny tiny house
discuss money on a daily basis
have to hear the worst question EVER from one more person*

But it's wonderful to:

have my best friend home
have someone else discipline
have an extra pair of helping hands
get things done around the house
have my children's dad home
get a break from putting the kids to bed
have Kail's energy released by daily jogs with dad
have someone to run errands for me (yea!!!)
go grocery shopping by myself
give my parents a break from babysitting

so you see while there are some hard things that I'll figure out how to deal with sooner or later there are many many more things that negate all the others & make me more than happy to have my husband home

- even if he is going to be working graves- blah ;)

*if you are wondering what the worst question EVER is see a few posts up