The Best Halloween

Esme's 1st Candy

*Eli and Esme went together since she can walk this year.  And they understood, they were jumping and bouncing with excitement while we got them ready.

*Speaking of getting them ready, ahhhh.  They wanted the same costumes, a duty free halloween for me.

*It was so warm!  And light outside thanks to daylight savings.  No freezing kids with coats over their costumes.

*People were so friendly.  All kinds of kids were yelling "Hi, Eli!" It took an hour to walk our short block because we kept talking and going in people's houses.  We only ended up doing two blocks.

*Neighbors were so generous.  The old owners of our house called to warn us it would be crazy busy with trick-or-treaters, but people told the kids to take several candies and even gave us parents some.  There were even a couple of houses that gave whole candy bars, I thought that was just legend.  And one house had hot dogs and cider for everyone while another had a bounce house set up.  It was amazing!

Merry Christmas

We were lucky enough to have Brian's parents here; apparently Christmas is quite boring for empty-nesters.  Eli was as happy as I've seen him with Grandpa as his playmate for all his waking hours. He also made a gingerbread house with grandma, her artistic talent and Eli's careful, detail-oriented nature produced a beauty we haven't been able to eat yet. Esme really took to opening presents, even ones that weren't hers.

It was a perfect Christmas with family. The kids were angels, no melt-downs and warmed up to Grandma and Grandpa quickly.  We're so glad they came and are sad it's over.

Temple Square Photowalk

Tweet, tweet

Esme's going to be a bird for her first Halloween. I was smitten when I saw the idea on Martha. And it gave me motivation to make this cute hat I saw a tutorial for a while back too.  She gives up trying to take it off since it's im-possible.  I can see myself getting addicted to making these.  Another great project to use up scraps. Why am I trying harder with two kids.  I'm supposed to be doing things to make my life easier.

Cutest baby bird ever!  Totally worth it.

Squeek, Squeek!

munch....munch

We were excited this year when we realized Eli finally understands Halloween, picking out a costume, building up to the day, not just the immediate gratification of trick-or-treating. I showed him some Martha costumes and he came up with his own. He loves mice, has lost 3 of his 4 stuffed rodents because he takes them everywhere. A couple of days ago I sewed up some ears, nose, and a tail with felt. I couldn't find any tutorials, so this is what I came up with. What do you think, does it need something more? Maybe a round of felt on the belly? Is the nose piece too big? His cheese sack is my favorite part of the whole thing.  I feel like a genius when I see it. Haha.

Becoming Utahns

So every weekend the questions is "Which lake are we going to?" I would plan, cook, and pack meals along with anything we might need for being outside with a baby. Then we're out in the sun all day, the kids miss naps, and we get home, bringing a big mess of dirty clothes and coolers. Then Sunday morning I go on a cleaning rampage, go to church, cook, clean, and put the kids to bed. Then I realized I'd had enough. Isn't the weekend supposed to be a time to rest and catch up? Now every other weekend is my choice.

This past Pioneer Day weekend was my first very own Helena's-choice. After living here for 9 years, I decided it was time to participate in some Pioneer Day festivities. During the week Shannon and I took the boys to the expo center that's close to see the parade floats up close. Here come the two best ones, one because of skill and the other out of a slight personal bias.

It was amazing to see how much work people put into these floats. So many great ideas and time-consuming details. Of course the one about the Miracle of the Gulls won first place. It was our favorite too. It had a "Cricket Cookbook" and huge numbers of hand-made crickets, each about the size of Eli.

Then us moms got the three buddies together to go to This Is The Place. They got to pet animals, ride a train and horse, and even learn.

Here they are writing their abc's in a pioneer school house.

And waiting for the candy cannon to shoot out taffy. I guess they didn't have snickers back then.

Finally, on Saturday morning, we dragged Bri out to the parade downtown. It was fun to be out in the community, seeing people's pride in their heritage and cheering for their ward's float, kid in the band, or favorite Republican, I mean politician.

Doesn't his face just say "I'd rather be fishing"?

On the train ride home we talked with this saint-of-a-lady that nurses kittens that were taken to the shelter too young to be taken from their mother and brings them back (after feeding them a special food every 4 hours and getting them used to kids and dogs) to be adopted. Eli was eager to have Shadow meet his (toy) kitten.

I guess next weekend we'll trade in the warm fuzzies for catching fish.

Easter 2010 Play-by-Play

First we ate, of course. And Brian dutifully and masterfully grilled a tri-tip for Carrol because you must always cook what a pregnant woman wants, especially since she's still in the sick phase.

Then Eli and Emi dyed the eggs (I love you magic eraser) that the adults skillfully decorated with electrical tape and hot glue while listening to the afternoon session. No wonder the directions say to use rubber cement, hot glue takes the shell too when you go to peel it off.

Seth is so skilled! Chinese characters with a glue gun. No wonder PhD schools are clamoring for him.

The stickers go on the egg, boy.

Then the kids hunted for their creations that we planted at a nearby playground. Eli got competitive, pushing Emi back when he saw an egg and tagging along when her dad tried to show her where to look.

Jackpot.

Esme patiently watched. (I'd be pretty content in that seat too.)

Back at home the kids played on while we devoured the best ice cream ever. Who needs the legos when they come in a boat.

Sickness Should Start With A "T"

I wish it was an April fools trick

It has been two days of tissue, tea, and tylenol. Eli's got two personalities- medicine working and medicine wearing off. Extreme sweetness and whininess switching off. I'm trying to apply more of that patience you hear about when becoming a parent.

You see, if you asked Brian to change one thing about me (I know, this is getting serious), making me more long-suffering and cheerful while caring for those actually suffering would top the short list. His mother's past pampering is making me look bad. I'm actually quite sympathetic, but the whining gets to me. And since it is impossible for children and men (my only housemates) to not complain while sick, I must be the one to change.

I do feel bad for the little guy. I'm also sad about the timing. Right now I should be at the opening of the new, closer Food Co-Op. Tomorrow is Brian's mission reunion. Saturday is easter egg hunt day AND when 3 of our favorite people are supposed to be coming over, including Emi, for fun and fabulous food. And this morning, we finally got some substantial snow. Just after moving here I decided it was my favorite, walking to class in the morning after a good snow, before the sun comes and it still delicately blankets the trees. I've always wanted to take pictures of it. And Eli forgot about his aversion to the cold and actually requested to go outside. So much for snowballs and snow shots.

Okay, I'll stop with the alliteration and complaining.




On a positive note. Esme hasn't shown any signs of sickness, Eli's finally learned to sneeze into his elbow, we have yummy chili to warm up with, and even loads of chocolate cookie dough in the fridge. My Swiss grandma believed whole-heartedly in the healing properties of chocolate.

Happy Valentine's Day

Today would be our 7th Valentine's Day, 5th one married, and I call this cake Brian's present. We're getting practical in our old age. I thought it was pretty until I put it next to our beautiful little Esme. Poor cake. At least it is made mostly of melted chocolate and next to no flour.

Tonight we quickly stuffed roast chicken and mashed potatoes in our faces in an attempt to have a peaceful dinner before the kids woke up from their well-timed naps. We didn't quite make it.

Some day, in a couple of decades, we'll have quiet, romantic evenings and probably spend the time missing when the kids were small and sweet. Until then we'll appreciate the preciousness that will be in the past before we know it.

2 New Christmas Traditions

Both of which came to me yesterday. And I don't mean I thought of them. Brian's sweet mom gave us THE most beautiful carved olive wood nativity. It's so lovely I can't even find more words to describe it. So I'll continue.

And my visiting teachee (that does more for me than I do for her) brought some treats, including my new obsession: chocolate-dipped, crushed-candy-cane sprinkled oreos. I'm not a zealous oreo or candy cane fan, but the combination is magical.

Conductor Hat

It's been over 3 weeks, but I'm still excited about my most recent sewing project. I've been okay with my straight lines for blankets and slings, and I haven't even considered sewing clothes that have to have pieces come together and fit just right. I was able to avoid my fear (since I hate projects that take too long-hence I will never be a quilter or scrap-booker or knitter- and must sit in an unfinished state for too long), but my theory that home-made, improvised Halloween costumes are best drove me to sew a hat for Eli last minute. Thanks to this tutorial, it went pretty well and Eli's head was just the right size for the directions. It took me 3 hours to make, and by the end it was my pride and joy. I'd like to think I was as excited for Eli to have Halloween fun as I was for him to wear my creation.

Next... a simple baby blessing dress.

Pumpkin Patch

I feel like a genius for having us go to the pumpkin patch last night, it was so much fun. It was a first for our little family and luckily we found a great one (Mabey's in South Jordan). I love supporting mom and pop operations; it was so small-town you just knock on their front door when you've made your selection and are ready to pay. She eye-balled our loot and said "$15." We were a little worried we about getting carried out there and had no way to track weight, plus I remember my sister saying something about spending $50 for a couple of pumpkins at a patch once, must've been in Berkley.

Eli searched patiently for small ones he could point out as "babies" and I was looking for beautiful ones while Brian kept mentioning the type good for eating. I'm so practical they will all, but one jackolantern, will end up as mush in due time.

Brian's 4th of July

I don't know if anyone else is sore from their Independence Day activities, but our first family hike was an adventure. When he doesn't have to work, Brian wants to be out in nature. After almost colliding with a speeding ATV on our curvy drive up the mountain, we parked at our usual fishing spot and and hiked 1.7 miles up to a higher lake. I was winded almost from the start, but luckily the gray clouds that had us worried only stuck around to keep the temperatures cool for our trek up and dissipated once we reached the lake.

Once there, Eli and I just wanted to rest and you'd never know Brian had been the one wearing the 40 pound pack (including Eli) up the mountain because he went right for his fishing pole. Eli and I stuffed ourselves on goldfish and tried to get comfortable on the steep, rocky shore we found. Eli was excited to try out his new Spider Man pole.

It got pretty dramatic on a walk to find a better spot when the path involved crossing a stream and big rocks. With a backpack on his back and Eli in his arms Brian slipped and miraculously managed to twist and land on his back on a rock. The boy was scared but just fine. Brian's elbow was not, although it wasn't too bad to keep him from fishing. I had to tend it first, but had to stop when I started getting light-headed and my hearing stopped working. Moms can't be wimpy.

We passed people along the way who were treating the hike like a nice walk after dinner, for us it was an all-day affair. When we finally made it back down [middle picture, I like how tired Eli looks(which was 10 times easier than going up)] I was actually relieved to hear those loud ATVs and visit the smelly outhouse. It was a beautiful place, good exercise, and made Brian especially happy. It was also good training for our trip to Switzerland at the end of August. I'm sure my dad will have us walking (for him, hiking for us) up and down all kinds of hills and mountains.

White Christmas

We noticed the snow coming down this morning and thought, in our warm, comfortable house, how timely. Then, during our present opening, we heard a poor guy plowing. I'm sure he and his family pray every year for a dry Christmas. I'm sure Bing Crosby wasn't singing about snow that comes down horizontally in howling wind, either. It made us appreciate our quiet, happy morning even more.After looking for something more than a silly blankie in his first box, he took his new Thomas train and disappeared to the play room for 10 minutes to put it to work. Sweet thing was content and excited with one new toy.In the mean time, Brian and I unveiled our big presents to each other. Brian got me the camera of my dreams along with some photography lessons at a nearby community center. Mr. Considerate. I had a hunch that this was my gift and felt bad just giving him my 2nd handmade blanket, until I saw how crazy he was about a Wii at some friends' house. He had no clue. Very exciting. And I think my shoulder's already out from a couple clumsy games of tennis. We were also spoiled with way too many presents from family, mostly asian-themed. Then we had a Swiss breakfast with salame, appenzeller, butter, good bread, and tea. Very gluttonous day.