Goin' on a Trip

We're goin' on a trip
In our favorite Rocketship
Zoomin' on the Road
Little Family.

Climb aboard
Get ready to explore
There's so much to find
Little Family.

We're goin' on a mission (spring break trip)
Start the count down
Five, Four, Three, Two, One!

Everyone to rocket,
Rev it up now....
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

(Key Change)
We're goin' on a trip
In our favorite Rocketship
Zoomin' on the Road
Little Family.

Climb aboard
Get ready to explore
There's so much to find
Little Family.

Come on.
Let's go.
We need you!
Yeah!

(Theme to Little Einsteins)


The kids and I are on a road trip for spring break. The mission: bring joy, happiness, and not too many yucky germs to our family in Idaho and Utah. :)

:)

Friday Favorites

Today for Friday Favorites, I wanted to highlight Leelou Blogs. This is a sweet girl (I am thinking probably in my range of age) that creates awesome blog layouts and has them available on her blog for FREE! How cool is that!?!

Her website is:
leeloublogs.blogspot.com

I just went there and it appears she is even making custom headers now too! She has a small fee for those but they are super cute. She will also do wedding blogs and some other stuff so check her out.

Of course, I had to partake of her fabulous work and generosity so I have updated my site with a new look. :) All of her layouts are great so I highly recommend her. :)

:)

Time Wasted Preciously

Last night I was going to post some pictures and decided I would make a slideshow instead of just putting a bunch of them up separately. The end result is several hours time wasted on a very precious piece I am proud of. :) I hope you enjoy it (probably not quite as much as I do though).

:)

Friday Favorites

In honor of Easter, my Friday Favorites today is a favorite Easter treat that is a tradition in Jason's family. It is called: Moose Turds. I know, funny and a bit disturbing, but it got it's name from it's shape and color. These are one of my all time favorite treats. Here's the recipe:

Moose Turds

Melt together in double broiler or very carefully in the microwave until smooth:
1 large package of chocolate chips (at least 12 oz)
2 Tbsp. shortening

Filling:
2 c. powdered sugar
2 1/2 c. crushed graham crackers (should be crushed to pretty fine - you don't want many chunks - the best way to do this is throw them in a blender)
1 c. peanut butter
1 c. flaked coconut
1 c. melted butter

Mix the filling together well. Shape into balls (this is where the moose turd shape comes in) or ovals. Drop in chocolate and roll until covered. Put on waxed paper until chocolate sets.

These are soooo yummy. :) This year, I will be substituting the chocolate chip mixture with my Dove Chocolate. I am quite excited about this.

One note on the process: I have found that dipping the balls in the chocolate can be difficult. Many times I end up putting the chocolate in a bag and drizzling it very generously over the balls/turds. I would recommend giving the whole dipping/rolling process a try and if it gets too frustrating, resort to the drizzling. I am sure it is a "user error" on my part. :)

Bon appetite. :)

Let me know how they work out for you if you try them. I will be making them sometime this weekend. Jason's mom (who is the most awesome mom and mother-in-law in the entire world) just brought us some Easter treats by, including the Moose Turds. The picture is the turds she made for us. Jason is gone with the YM camping... I'm not guaranteeing there will be any for him when he gets back. :)

:)

Brilliant

My daughter knocked my socks off today - she successfully, and quickly, completed some simple Sudoku games. Keep in mind - she is five years old. :)

The games were with pictures (and stickers) rather than numbers - but the format was the same. There were four squares to a box and four boxes to the complete game. I sat down with her and briefly explained how to do it. She then took it upstairs and did one, by herself, in just a few minutes. She came downstairs and showed it me, and it was perfect.

I was so impressed with her ability and quickness at completing those. She's brilliant. :)

:)

Friday Favorites

For today's Friday Favorites, I decided on one of my favorite book series. Favorite, as in all time top three series.

Author Stephanie Meyers did an amazing job weaving a story line involving Vampires - and other things for which I will not reveal as to avoid spoiling it for others - into a non-science fiction feeling story. I am not really into science fiction and honestly, I had serious doubts about this series seeing as how a regular person falls in love with a vampire.

I was wrong... Oh, so wrong.

My sister loaned them to me (thanks, Chels) right before I went into surgery last fall. I picked the first one up a couple of days before my surgery and started reading, just to see. I could not put it down. I could not stop reading the book! I entered the hospital for my surgery a couple of days later with less than 100 pages left of the third book.

I love this series so much, in fact, that I have purchased my own copies of them because I know I will read them over and over. In fact, I am itching to start it again.

The funny thing about this series is that it appeals to people of all different types. I know of several adult men, even men the age of my father and grandfather, who have read the series. They appeal to real romantics like me, sci-fi people, and everything in between.

I recommend them to everyone that I talk about books with. I actually have two copies of the first one so I can loan one out and keep a copy at the same time. I gave the first one to another one of my sisters and she returned it about two weeks later... She had not only read that one, but she bought the series and had read each book TWICE!

So, if you are feeling like reading - read these books. I don't know of anyone who has not absolutely LOVED this series. Don't be fooled by the fact that it is about vampires - it is so well done the "vampire" issue isn't an issue. If you like vampires already, you will be that much more excited.

The first one is being made into a movie, which should be exciting. I don't see how the movie could be as good as the book though (because the book totally rocks!) so I recommend reading the book first.

And that's my Friday Favorite. :)

Superpowers

If anyone has superpowers, it's my Grandma. She passed this afternoon, but man... she was a fighter.

Grandma passed away in her sleep, peaceful. She hadn't really ever woken up for since the weekend.

While it is sad, it was not unexpected. It is also a happy time, however. Each of my siblings are flying in - one of which I haven't seen for more than three years. I think Grandma would be happy to know that we will all be together to celebrate her life.


Grandma's superpower? Staying alive against all the odds. :)

I think she had at least ten heart attacks in her life, had diabetes, congenetive heart disease, still smoked like a chimney, and was once an alcoholic. We had said "goodbye" to her at least two other times, expecting her to pass away. But, her superpowers kicked in and she surprised us by bouncing back time and time again. :)

I have to wonder if her ability to bounce back was to due to some deep down, innate nature to fight. I imagine that she had to have a fighting spirit to be able to get through her childhood and to get through all of the other stuff she went through. Maybe that innate piece of her spirit was what kept her alive despite the odds.

We really didn't think she would make it past the weekend, but she did. On Monday, they said her heart beat was at 155-160 and she wouldn't be able to sustain that very long, but she did for longer than anyone expected. Yesterday, she started getting jaundice. We didn't really expect her to make it through the day, but she did. This morning, the hospice called my parents at 4:30am and said that she was going and that if they wanted to see her once more, they needed to go right then, but even then they didn't think my parents would make it in time. But, oh no. They didn't realize Disneyland Grandma (as we all called her) had superpowers. She didn't pass away until late this afternoon.

If you're going to have superpowers, what a great one to have. :)

Everyone and their Dog

It seems that everyone and their dog is sick. I tried to take my kids to the same-day clinic three times yesterday. The wait ranged from 1 hour - 2 hours. I'm sorry, but waiting for an hour or two with two sick kids, trying to keep them entertained, just doesn't appeal to me. So, after waking up feeling even worse this morning, I headed straight to the clinic right at their opening time. That was the trick. There was only one person in front of us and within minutes, several others came in after me.

The verdict... Justis has an Ear Infection, not to mention his 102 fever. I have bronchitis, and a fever to boot. Sweet. The worst thing about being sick is that as a mom, there are no sick days. You still have to get up, get kids to school, get meals on the table, etc. Gone are the days when you could just go back to bed because you were sick. Ahhh.... oh well. I made it through the day.

I have to say though, I am so grateful that I have the priesthood in my home. It is very comforting knowing that my kids and I can get a blessing at any time. I am grateful that my husband is worthy to do that. :)

:)

Mommy? I need Drink.

Like many others, I have been nursing sick kids. My son has had a fever all weekend. When I put him to bed last night, I could not get him to go to the bathroom beforehand. Even though he's not quite three, he's never had an accident in bed (he's potty trained) so I felt ok about not forcing the issue.

At 2:30am this morning (it's now 4am), I woke up to him calling me.

Justis: "Mommy?" (brief pause) "Mommy?" (another brief pause) "Mommy?"
Me: (rousing from my sleep and then clumsily stumbling to his room) "What, bud?"
Justis: "I need go bathroom."
Me: "Ok." (pick him up, notice that his body is feverish again, and carry him to the bathroom)
(Go through bathroom routine.)
Justis: (as we are putting on his pants) "Mommy? I need drink."
Me: "Ok." Thank goodness for bathroom dixie cups.
(Justis takes a big drink, than I carry him back to bed, tuck him in, and say good night again.)

10 minutes later - I've not quite fallen back to sleep yet.
Justis: "Mommy?" (brief pause) "Mommy?"
Me: (risk waking Jason up by responding from the convenience of my bed) "What?"
Justis: "Mommy? I need drink."
Me: (reasonable request from a child that has a 101.6 fever) "Ok."
(Get another dixie cup because he had crushed the other one, and take it to him.)
Justis: "Thanks, Mom." (at least he's polite)
(tuck him back in bed - again)

5 minutes later - I'm in bed again but not asleep yet
Justis: "Mommy? I need drink."

repeat full process again 2 more times

about 45 minutes after the process began - this time, I'm a bit smarter...
Justis: "Mommy? Can I get up now?"
Me: "No, bud. It's still sleepy time."
Justis: "I want to get down."
Me: "How about Mommy sleeps with you?"
Justis: (excited) "Ok." Pats the spot next to the wall... "This is your spot, Mommy. I have train bed." (one of the best things we ever bought - train bedding)
Me: (climb into bed, situate bedding, a lay down hoping my throbbing headache will go away - I reach over and hold one of his feverish hands)

5 minutes later...
Justis: "Mommy? I need drink."
Mommy: (get up, fill dixie cup all the way up, come back and hand to Justis)
Justis: (took only a little drink) "Here Mommy. Pour water out."
Mommy: "No. I'll just put this over here in case you need more." (That's me - outsmarting the 2 year old)
We now go through half an hour of trying to go to sleep but obviously, he's not really sleepy anymore. He finally decides that he wants me to hold him. I sit up and hold him, but after 30 seconds, he decides he wants me to stand up and hold him. The problem? The boy weighs almost 40 pounds and it is now almost 4am.

So... here I am at 4:25, completely awake and unable to go sleep, downstairs with my son on the couch watching Dora on On Demand Comcast. Thank goodness for On Demand.

Today's going to be great. :)

:)

What do you Say?

In memory of my grandma, I am forgoing a Friday Favorites today.

My grandma was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last weekend. We expect that she will only be with us a few more days.

In looking back at her life, it is filled with sorrow and regret, but with some rays of sunshine - my dad, his brother, her grandkids, and Grandpa Ken. Those rays, I would have to say, are blessings from Heavenly Father, to let her know that He was mindful of her and loves her. Sadly, I don't know if she quite understood that.

My dad's family is unique. He has one full brother, 9 half brothers and sisters, and 3 step brothers. My dad is the oldest of all the kids, his one full brother is the second oldest, and then the others fall several years behind. Some of them are younger than me.

My grandma, whom we call Disneyland Grandma, is my dad's real mom. I don't know much, actually nothing, about her childhood, other than it was horrible enough that she married to get out. She married my dad's real dad, whom we call Opa. I'm not sure how long they were married, but it ended bitterly. What I do know is that she was/is an Alcoholic and did some things that I don't believe she has ever fully forgiven herself for. There was a period of time, several years I would guess, where she was out of the scene with my dad and his brother. They lived with their dad for some of that time and my dad even lived with his Grandma (whom we call Oma) for part of the time. It was during this time that they were introduced to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, for which I am forever grateful. My dad, his brother, Opa, and Oma all joined the church. My Disneyland Grandma, did not. (Again, she wasn't around at that time.)

After several years, she did find happiness, or at least contentment, with a man we called Grandpa Ken. He was a dear sweet man who had a history of his own, which I think suited them both. I know they loved each other, but in what way, I don't know. They were married at one point, but then he left and they divorced. He came back a couple of years later and honestly, none of us really know whether they actually got married again or just lived together. Kind of funny, I know. :)

My dad and his brother have grown to be strong members of our church, but through it all, Grandma has never accepted the gospel. My understanding is that she has never really forgiven herself and probably feels that she is not worthy of being forgiven for her mistakes.

It saddens me to no end to know that she refuses to accept the gift that our Savior has given her. While I do think she accepts Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world, I don't think she has internalized it and accepts it in a personal level. I wish that she could feel the peace that I feel when I know that because of the atonement, I am (not just "can be") forgiven of my sins. I want so much for her to feel that deep, settling, feeling of peace that seeps into the darkest recesses of one's soul.

Several years ago, she opened up to one of my sister's and I, more than I have ever heard her open up before. She shared with us the AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) bible she reads every day. But still, the light isn't there.

What do you say to someone standing at death's door, to try to help them feel the peace they have never truly had?

I don't have an answer for this. What I can say is: "I love you, Grandma." And then as I walk away, knowing that door will soon open for her, I pray with all my might that a truer knowledge and understanding will come to her. I pray that someone on the other side will be able to help her see what us, her family, have never been quite able to show her. I pray that somehow, someway, she will come to accept Jesus as her personal Savior and that she will be able to overcome her addictions (she smokes like a chimney) and her feelings of guilt. I don't pretend to think it will happen quickly or easily, but I will hold out hope that it will happen.

I am comforted by the knowledge I have that because Heavenly Father knows each of us, he judges us each individually. I know that he understands her past, better than I obviously, and will take that into consideration. I would venture to say that I will be held to a stricter and higher bar than she will because, as the scriptures say, I have been raised by goodly parents who love the Lord and have taught me the path on which I should go. Grandma didn't have that.

I pray that she passes in peace, with peace.

I love you, Grandma.


:)

Mysterious and Conniving

Mysterious:

Last night, the kids and I were watching (truth be told, I was reading - but I was in the same room) "The Last Unicorn." (Do you remember that movie from when we were young?) It was 8pm, a little past their bedtime. The phone rings and I check the caller ID. I didn't recognize the name but I answered it because you just never know...

It was, what I thought to be, a boy calling for Nia. The whole conversation was quite odd and humorous at the same time. Nia was completely distracted and uninterested in the conversation. She wasn't sure who it was and neither did I.

It sounded like the caller said "Ian" or "Ethan." She does technically know an Ian and an Ethan but she assured me she did not give them her phone number. She has been known to give out her phone number so I don't imagine that she remembers everyone that she has given it to.

My question is, why is a kindergartener calling another kindergartener at 8pm at night? My kids go to bed before 8pm!


Mystery Solved:

Nia asked Ethan at her school if he called last night and he said "no." However, the mysterious caller rang again today and so before I handed the phone over to Nia, I asked who was calling. It took a moment (and some background prodding from the supervising adult of the caller) before they answered: Jasmine.

I was a little disappointed, only in the fact that it would be a let down to the climax of my story here. However, I am glad to say that she doesn't have any boys calling her (even though I know she has given our number out to at least one boy - only as a friend though). I do find it funny though because Jasmine doesn't really sound like "Ian" or "Ethan" - except for the "n" at the end. :)


Conniving:

My family has all had the nasty cold/flu going around. Nia hasn't been hit overly hard by it but she has been on the verge for several day. Today, I decided that both of the kids really should take a nap. Neither wanted to take a "nap" so I made this bargain: Lay down in your bed and just "rest" - you don't have to go to sleep - until Nia's CD is over. After that, you can get up.

As expected, Nia was out within two or three songs. Justis, on the other hand, was not. To his credit, he had fallen asleep in the car so I was not entirely surprised. However, he really impressed me because he did stay in bed until Nia's music was over. The moment the last song ended, I could hear him get out of bed and he came out. He fulfilled his part of the bargain and he knew it. :)

:)