Mmm, Mmm, Good!

One thing I really like about Amanda is that she is always willing to try new foods. This is one of the many ways she takes after Aaron. He is always trying to get me to try a bite of one exotic food or another but my teeth stay clenched and I always refuse. Lucky for Aaron, Amanda is always game. This weekend Aaron decided to grace us with his new love...SUSHI. I won't touch a piece of cooked fish, let alone raw! Amanda however, was all over it!


Here she is trying real hard to get the hang of the chopsticks.


She dips it into the soy sauce/wasabi mixture...


...and in it goes. She absolutely loved it!!! She'd polished off a good helping of it when Aaron mentioned that the fish is wrapped in seaweed. Suddenly, she did a double take with her eyes real big and said, "Seaweed???". She had no problem with the thought of eating raw fish but for some reason seaweed had her feeling a little iffy.


Mmmmm, doesn't he just make it look sooo good???

Easter Egg Decorating

Chaaalie!

I saw this on another blog and just had to pass it on. I couldn't help but watch it over and over. That accent is so incredibly cute!

Broken Boy

Austin broke his arm at school today. He was playing basketball during P.E. when a large kid accidentally stepped on his foot and slammed into him. Of course, he threw out his hands to break his fall but instead he broke his wrist. Unfortunately, it is his right arm and he's right handed. The next six weeks should be interesting.

Ceol 's Craic!

I am a daydreamer and most of the time when I dream it is about the many places I want to visit in the world. My latest travel obsession has been Ireland. Of course, I have been spending way too much time on the internet "planning" my trip to the Emerald Isle. I know I won't be taking this trip anytime soon but I will get there someday. You can imagine my excitement when I heard on the radio that this weekend the sixth annual Los Angeles Irish Fair and Music Festival was being held at the L.A. Fairplex. Aaron and I went and although it wasn't quite as exciting as I imagined (not much lives up to my imagination) it was still a lot of fun. We got to see Ireland's tallest Irishman strolling around the Fairgrounds.
There were lots of booths set up selling interesting Irish/Celtic wares. I was excited to buy a necklace with a Celtic symbol that represents the three phases of womanhood; maidenhood, motherhood and the Crone (wise old woman).
There were several of these huge, awesome fairy statues that I loved.
The water fountains were all sporting GREEN water.
We got to watch several Irish bands perform, including Gaelic Storm (above) who appeared in the movie Titantic (remember Jack and Rose partying down in steerage?). It is simply impossible to sit there and listen to these bands without your toes tapping and your hands clapping!

By the way, if my title's got you wondering, "Ceol 's Craic" is Irish Gaelic for "Music and Fun".

So Funny

Last night Lauren and I had the following conversation:

Her: Mommy, when I'm at school I'm always surrounded by boys and I don't like it.
Me: What do you mean?
Her: Like when we have to sit down on the floor for story time the boys always have to sit right by me. They even push each other out of the way to sit by me.
Me: Really?
Her: Yeah. There's a little boy named Austin who always sits by me even though he made a commitment not to.
Me: (Trying hard not to laugh) He made a commitment? Who made him make a commitment, your teacher?
Her: No, another boy.
Me: And does that boy try to sit by you when Austin doesn't?
Her: Yeah

I'm not sure which I find more funny, the fact that my little girl has boys fighting for her attention at such a young age or that she has incorporated the word commitment into her vocabulary.

A Decade Down and Looking Forward to the Next!

Today Amanda is finally ten years old. I say "finally" because to Amanda, nothing is greater than getting older and she has probably been looking forward to this day for at least five years! I often try to convince her to enjoy being a child but I know it falls on deaf ears. Nothing she experiences right now could possibly compare to what she will get to do in the future. Wearing make-up, going out with friends, dating, becoming a nurse, getting married and having eight kids (!). These are the things her dreams are made of and she can hardly wait!

Since she is ten years old today, I decided to share with you ten things I love about her. It's hard to narrow it down to only ten but I'll try!

1) She is not afraid to try new things. She decides she wants to do something and then she does it without worrying if she will be good at it or if she'll look dumb or if people will like her.

2) She is extremely compassionate. She can't stand to see people sad or hurt. She feels their pain and does anything she can to make it better.

3)She will always share. It doesn't matter what it is or how much she has, she is always happy to share.

4) She can laugh at herself and doesn't take herself too seriously. She's a bit of a goofball and it tickles her as much as it tickles us.

5) She loves music and can always tell you who's singing the song playing on the radio. I also love to hear her sing along.

6) She's a look on the bright side kind of person. Something really bad could happen and she will immediately think of something positive to say. She often says, "Well, at least..." and then fills it in with whatever silver lining she can find.

7) She has style. She's not afraid to mix and match her clothes to come up with a new and exciting outfit to wear. She also comes up with some very interesting hairdo's.

8) She's very open and easy to talk to. She's not afraid to tell you how she feels and what she's thinking. She wouldn't dream of holding in her emotions. You know exactly how she feels at all times.

9) She accepts and values people for who they are, flaws and all.

10) She has a strong sense of family and her love for them is immense. There is nothing she enjoys more than spending time with her aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents.

And there you have just a few of the endless things I love about my sparkling, loving, passionate daughter. I'm so lucky she's mine and I can't wait to watch her achieve and experience all those things she is looking forward to in life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANDA-LEIGH!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Catching Up

I don't know what's going on but my family has been sick since December. Runny noses, headaches, sore throats, coughing, ear infections, body aches. You name it we've had it and it just won't go away. We might feel better for a few days at a time and then BAM, it starts all over again. Every night there are at least 2 or 3 hacking coughs heard all night long. Last night I had the chills so bad the only way I could warm up was to sleep in my flannel pajamas, socks, hoodie sweatshirt with the hood over my head and my big thick robe on top of that all. Ugh.

Amanda just had to do a science project for school. She decided she wanted to drop tarnished pennies into different soft drinks and see which one came the cleanest. We did the research to find out what ingredients are in soft drinks and what was in them that causes a tarnished penny to look brand new again. I couldn't believe what we discovered. That stuff is pure poison.

Last week my Mom and Dad were able to fly out from Kentucky for a visit. Unfortunatley it was because of a death in the family but we still had a good visit. It had been a whole year since I'd seen them last- way too long! We had a good time hanging out and they were able to get their fix of grandkids and mexican food. Apparently Kentucky mexican food is even worse than Idaho's!

Well, I just thought I'd check in and let everyone know we're still alive. Just not much going on that makes for interesting blogging.

The Littlest Birds

I found this song, "The Littlest Birds" by The Be Good Tanyas on another blog and it's been stuck in my head ever since. It's so cute and jaunty. Give it a listen.

The New Look

I have been wanting so badly to do something new with my hair but I have just been too chicken. It's taken me so long to get my hair this long, the longest it's ever been. I want to keep growing it but I couldn't stand wearing it stick straight every day. I finally took the plunge a few days ago and had it layered. Here is the result:

I've been very happy with it and now I wish I had done it long ago. It's a little more work to do in the morning but that's okay.
Here's a picture of the little photographer that took my picture. I think she has a knack for it.

Denied

Lately I have been feeling a bit stir crazy. Now that Aaron is no longer self-employed, neither am I. When we had our own fence company Aaron would constantly have me running errands, making phone calls, looking things up on the internet, doing paper work, running materials and tools out to his jobs and cleaning his office and bathrooms. Of course I also spent a lot of time just hanging out at the shop admiring his "hard workin' man" skills and lending him my oh-so-valuable moral support. Of course all of this has come to an end and I am finding myself with more time on my hands than I am really comfortable with. A woman can only browse at Target so many times and remain fulfilled. I began wracking my brain to come up with a job I could get that wouldn't cut into my time with my kids. I could only come up with one idea: a school lunch lady. Within days of coming up with the idea I looked in the paper and discovered our school district was indeed hiring lunch ladies! I rushed right out and filled out a job application for the first time in thirteen years. I eagerly waited to hear back from them, sure that I would be given the position. A couple days ago the letter finally arrived. It politely thank me for applying for the position but unfortunately I am underqualified. How can I possibly be underqualified??? I slop food on plates and clean tables every day! Oh well, I didn't really want to be a lunch lady anyway. Besides, I would look terrible in a hair net.

Just So You know...

I know my font is out of wack on the following post. For some reason Blogger is acting up and won't let me fix it. Either that or I'm just too tired and I'm overlooking the obvious. Oh well, read on...

Happy Birthday, Big Girl!

Seven years ago, at this very hour, I was sitting in my living room in full blown labor with baby #3. I was determined not to go to the hospital until absolutely necessary. I waited and waited, confused because even though the contractions were 3 minutes apart, I just wasn't in as much pain as I remembered feeling with baby #2. I finally decided we should head for the hospital. It was a 7 minute ride. 3 1/2 minutes into it, I felt tremendous pressure and advised Aaron that he'd better get me there as quick as possible. 20 minutes after arriving at the hospital little Lauren Elizabeth burst onto the scene. Literally. She was not going to stay in there one more minute, not even to wait for the midwife to put on her gloves. She burst into the world and directly into our hearts.

Once Lauren arrived I couldn't imagine how we could have ever existed without her. We loved her, adored her even, and in return she shared with us her amazing gift of love. Whenever someone in our family felt sad or upset, Lauren would sense this. You could hide it from anyone else but not from her. She would know. She would quietly come to you, wrap those little arms around you, and you would instantly feel love flow into your body.

When she was little I wished so much that I could find a way to keep her from growing older. Needless to say, I couldn't, but I am okay with that now. It is so much fun to watch her grow and mature. For a little girl who was literally attached to my body until she was almost five, she is amazingly independent. In the past couple years she discovered she has an opinion and doesn't mind letting it be known. She loves to work, something she genetically inherited from her Dad, and she tries to help me with most everything I do. She loves to learn and loves to read. She has a great imagination and can play make believe games for hours on end.

Although she is growing and changing at an incredible rate, there is one thing that stays the same. She still has the gift of love and we are blessed by it daily.

Just Call Me Boring...

I've become a very "blah" blogger. Try as I might, I just have nothing interesting to say. Not. One. Thing. Tomorrow I'm going to unpack my camera and then at least I can post a new picture or two. Stay tuned....

First Day

Today was the first day of "real life" in our new town. Aaron started his new job, the kids went back to school and I was left alone to hit the Walmart Supercenter in peace. Everyone survived their first day just fine. Aaron went to work, then came home, sat on the couch and had a look on his face that said, "What now?". For the first time in 4 years his mind was done at the end of the day. Maybe it will be kinda nice not being self-employed. Austin seemed to like his school well. It is very large and spread out compared to his school in Emmett but he found his way around okay. At one point he found himself surrounded by pretty girls who wanted to look at his schedule to see if he was in any of their classes. He was also impressed by the massive amount of food choices in the cafeteria. Food, girls... what's not to like? Amanda and Lauren had good days also although Amanda wasn't too impressed with her teacher. She says her teacher's mean. Both girls said the kids were friendly and neither spent recess or lunch alone. I hope all the kids make friends quickly. Having a friend sure makes a difference when you are getting used to lots of changes. My day also went well. I ventured out and found a Walmart Supercenter only 15 minutes away and was thrilled to find the prices pretty much the same as they were in Idaho. I was worried that they would be much higher here in California. After about three weeks of packing, house hunting, moving, unpacking and living without routine I am happy to be getting back to normal everyday life.

Checking In

Well, we are all moved in now but we are still Internet-less. It's not very convenient to come to the public library to use a computer but I am grateful I have that option. January 5th we will have our computer back online. Aaron arrived with the moving van at about 1 am Thursday morning. The kids and I had gone to sleep on the carpet without blankets, using bags of dirty laundry for pillows. Not exactly my idea of comfortable but we survived. I was pretty happy when Aaron showed up, not only because I hadn't seen him for a week and a half but because he came bearing warm sleeping bags. We are already completely moved in and have everything put away. We really hate to live in mumbo-jumbo so everyone worked hard 'till it was all done. We really like the house we found. It's clean and comfortable and feels like "us". The neighborhood is really nice and we have been told there are lots of kids that live there. If we have to start over, it looks like we've found a nice place to do it.

Hello Out there!

Just wanted to check in from the public library near my Grandmother's house. We are alive and well and the stress is beginning to subside a little now that we've found a rental home and I know I'm not going to remain homeless forever. We found a home that we like and I think we will be comfortable there. We will move in next week, probably Wednesday. I'll post more soon.

Wish me Luck...

Tomorrow my life in Idaho comes to an end. The kids and I will be heading to California to hunt for a place to live. Hunt frantically, that is. We need to find a place to settle before school starts back up for the kids and Aaron has to start his new job. Aaron is staying in Idaho until I find a house (hopefully this week) and then he will be bringing down the moving van and our dogs. I feel pretty freaked out and quivery at the thought of trying to quickly find a place to live all on my own but I know it will all work out one way or another. This has all happened so fast. I feel like I haven't had enough time to prepare or really let it sink in. It feels like I've been caught up in a tornado and I'm just waiting to see where I'll land when I drop out of the sky.

The hardest part about moving is saying goodbye. I said goodbye to some friends this week who have had a life changing impact on my life. I am grateful for the lessons they have taught me that I know will stay with me forever. I feel like Heavenly Father brought me all the way here to meet and learn from these people and I'm grateful that He did.

Here We Go Again

Two years ago this month we were excitedly preparing to move our family 1000 miles away to a cute little town in the country. It was a brave, daring, adventurous move for us but it felt right and everything seemed to point us in this direction. Now here we are after two great years of small town life, preparing to move back. Business is slow, slower than slow actually, and we are forced to go where we can make a living. Aaron received a good job offer in Riverside, CA and it seems to make sense for him to accept it. The first few days after making the decision were rough but I'm starting to accept it a little more now. I'm trying to find a silver lining. So far I've come up with In-N-Out hamburgers, friends that go way back, nieces and nephews we'll get to see again, going to the beach and getting to shop at my favorite grocery store. My heart aches when I think about the things I will miss here but I know that will lessen with time. I am grateful we had the opportunity to experience all the wonderful things the last two years had to offer. We have many great memories we will be taking with us.

Scary

This morning at 7:15 I said goodbye to my son, telling him I love him and wishing him a good day. At 7:45 he called me with panic in his voice to tell me to come get him because someone is coming to the Jr. High with a gun to kill everyone in the school. Apparently a text message was sent out last night (to whom, I don't know) saying that this was going to take place today. Needless to say, I made it to the school in record time, boldly defying the 20 mph speed limits. At the school I was told that the threat was possibly just a rumor and that students could go home if they wished but classes weren't officially cancelled. Austin couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Today my heart goes out to all those parents whose children have become victims of school shooting sprees. As parents we trust that our children will be safe at school until they are returned to our care in the afternoon. I can't imagine what it would be like to be the parent of a Columbine student who never made it home.