bex blog

Make Your Own Apothecary Jars

2010-05-11T20:59:00.007-05:00

I have always loved apothecary jars, but they always cost more than I'm willing to pay. I found a tall, skinny jar at the thrift store a few weeks ago that had a lid and thought it was pretty so I brought it home. I didn't know what to do with it, so I left it on my countertop until I could think of a use for it. I just so happened to have a collection of glass candlesticks that I was going to use with plates to make cake stands, but then it hit me that I could epoxy the candlestick to the bottom of the jar! Eureka!

***For those of you who are wondering (Naomi), epoxy is a really strong glue you can find at any home improvement store. Mine was called "Two-Ton Epoxy" so I guess it would take 2 tons of pressure to pull the candlestick and jar apart. It works great on glass and ceramics, or pretty much anything you want to stick together. And one other thing--to see the photos better, click on them to make them bigger.

So, take a cute jar with a lid (this one is from JoAnn's for $3):

Then pick out a candlestick holder, like this one from a thrift store for fifty cents:

Think of something you want to put in the jar:

Then add it all together to get something like this:

Or this:

Or make a whole collection to display together. I want to put little terrariums in them and watch them thrive.

Pretty. Easy. Quick. And really inexpensive. My kind of project!

Art for Ashlee's Room

2010-04-18T12:49:00.006-05:00

Here's some art I made for Ashlee's room last year. I had these two frames for displaying birth announcement samples that I used to do and thought they would go perfectly in her room.

All I did was print off bird silhouettes that were part of a free font download to the right size for the frames. Then I meticulously cut them out with scissors (the skinny little legs and feet were the hard part), found some cool paper in the scrapbook section of Michael's, and mounted the birds on top. Sooooo easy!

I found these shadowboxes on clearance at Target a good 6 or 7 years ago. I think they were only $3 a piece. The sand dollar and star fish came with the frames and the letter "A" used to be a seashell. Originally, I pulled them all out, added the wooden "A" monogram, reused the sand dollar, and added a cute little plaster mold of Ashlee's baby hand in the last one. I covered the back insert of the frames with leftover fabric that I had used to make her some bedding. But as she got older, they were in need of an update for her "big girl" room. I hunted down the star fish again, painted it white and replaced all the fabric with more cool paper from Michael's. This is the same girl who insisted I paint the zebra rug, so you can clearly see where her inspiration came from.

**Disclaimer** No, I don't have a zebra theme going on in my house, I promise.

I'm such a procrastinator that these 3 are still sitting in a stack on one of her bookshelves and I only put the bird prints up on her wall about a month ago. When I finally get around to painting her walls, fixing the crumbling plaster ceiling, pulling off the chair rail, and refinishing her floor, THEN I will put up these last finishing touches. Sigh!

No Need to Adjust Your Television Set

2010-03-28T21:50:00.005-05:00

Yep, that's right! You're not seeing things and you're not hallucinating. I am actually updating my blog! Trust me, I'm as surprised as you are! I have a million things I could blog about right now, but many of you have let me know that you are ready to see pix of the overhauled kitchen I began tackling last August. Well, today is not exactly your lucky day as this is not the reveal post for that. Sorry, I know that must have been anticlimatic. But, there is a decent picture of part of the "after" kitchen that should satisfy you for now. Really, I just wanted to show you this quick and easy makeover I did on an old sisal rug that has found its new home in aforementioned new kitchen. Here's the "before" rug, an old rug I already owned that had seen better (and cleaner) days:

I pulled off the old fabric border and cut it down to a 2' by 3' size, perfect for in front of the kitchen sink. Then I primed it with a thick coat of my trusty Kilz white primer, let it dry, and sketched a zebra print I had seen in my West Elm catalog. (It was a tough decision between Chevron and zebra, but my horse-loving daughter insisted zebra was the way to go.) Then I added the cool black contrasting stripes with some black paint I had lying around. To seal it and stop stains from soaking in, I sprayed on 3 coats of Minwax Polycrylic. By the next day, it was ready for its debut:

Ahhh! Don't you just love the contrast of black and white? It's really fun to see as you walk into the kitchen. A little pick-me-up especially after this long, dark winter. And here's what it looks like on my floor in the kitchen you have been waiting so patiently to see:

It's just a little piece of all the hard work I was doing last semester. It still needs crown molding and I have to put in all the filler pieces between the walls and cabinets, but this should give you a general idea of my little Ikea kitchen. I will try to post the before and more afters of the entire kitchen remodel in the very near future, but until then, this is all I've got. Don't you just love that cool zebra rug?

IKEA Pain

2009-07-15T23:59:00.004-05:00

I have been living, breathing, and dreaming IKEA lately. Why? Because I got this idea in my head that I wanted to completely redo my kitchen. Let me tell you a little secret . . . IKEA is stressing me out! I went online to use their kitchen planner and 12 hours later, finalized my design. Then I went to the store to look at everything I had picked out only to find that the white finish on the cabinets was more of an off-white. Now I can't decide if I should do it in a wood tone, or pick a different style altogether. I browse their kitchen brochure constantly, check out all the nitty gritty details online, measure and remeasure every tiny inch of my kitchen, watch installation videos, measure the kitchen again, and generally waste a lot of valuable time trying to decide if I really can squeeze in a dishwasher. Plus, they offer WAY too many options. This is not good for someone as indecisive as me. I picked out the countertop I wanted and then found out that if you are installing it in an 'L' shape, you just butt the two pieces together at a 90 degree angle . . . huh? That's not how countertops are supposed to be done. I guess I will get them somewhere else. But really. What can you expect for almost two grand less than everywhere else . . . caviar on a McDonald's budget? Honestly, yes. That's what I expect. Especially for the amount of work I'm doing.

The Most Delicious Eye Candy

2009-07-10T22:00:00.005-05:00

I stumbled across a blog called Clever Spaces today. It's for a company called Ferm Living which sells wallpaper and other stuff that is so, so, so beautiful. These are a few of my favorite things:

Don't you just loooooooooove this? Too bad it's $110 or I would order it right now. You can also get this in a wall sticker (below) which I also love, but which is also way out of my budget at $96.

I thought these bird cage wall stickers were also really cool. I don't normally love birds, but this black and white graphic is just too magnifique!

If you want to check them out for more amazing eye candy and designs, click here. Enjoy!

My Dream House

2009-06-27T10:31:00.004-05:00

I signed up for a service where a realtor emails me house listings in the area whenever they come up. I really love real estate and looking at houses and just dreaming of a space bigger than my 25' x 25' little house. Just the other day, the house of my dreams came up in Saline (about 20 minutes from here).

Here are its specs:

4 bedrooms
2 full baths
1 half baths
Built in 2001
2 car garage
2236 square feet
0.37 acres
Basement
1+ fireplaces
SALINE school district
130 BY 124 lot size

I love it! And to top it all off, it's only listed at $190,000. I'm tempted to rent out my house to incoming University of Michigan students and buy it. Isn't this house amazing?

Off to the Market We Go!

2009-06-26T21:47:00.007-05:00

There is a "to do" in my life that will just never go away no matter how many times I do it and causes me a great deal of stress. No, it's not the dishes, or the vacuuming, or the never-ending laundry. These are things I can cross off my list without my heart rate increasing too much. But the one thing that completely stresses me out is grocery shopping. I hate it. I really, really, really, really hate it. And the funny thing is that I haven't taken either of my kids with me in I don't know how long, so it's not the stress of a screaming toddler or having to abandon a cart full of food because of a child who is having a meltdown. It just dawned on me a few days ago that the one thing that is giving me anxiety attacks is the actual grocery store itself. And the people who work there. Just last week I decided to ditch my regular ghetto Meijer and make Kroger my new store. Sadly, it did not make a good impression on me. With only Ashlee in tow, we decided to go pick up a few things for dinner. We were greeted by a blasting air conditioner, which was good because it was over 90 degrees outside and almost 90% humidity. But within as little as a minute or two, Ashlee was saying how cold she was. I said, "Hold on. We'll be out of the refrigerated section soon." But no matter where we went, the cold followed us. We had goosebumps and our teeth were chattering. We were sooooooo cold! I started shopping really fast so we could check out, but when you don't know where things are, this takes awhile. Upon making it to checkout, the cashier commented on the watermelon in my cart: "Now that's a seeded watermelon if I've ever seen one." First of all, What?? How can you tell a watermelon is seeded just by looking at it? I said, "Actually, it's supposed to be a seedless watermelon." He says, "No, no. It's way too late in the season for a seedless watermelon. That one is seeded." I was thinking to myself, Well, Mr. Produce Specialist Moonlighting As A Cashier, I picked this one out of the section labeled seedLESS watermelons, but whatever, dude. Just let me check out and leave. He scans all my stuff and then I go to put the watermelon on the belt, but he says he's already scanned it. So I'm thinking, How on earth did he scan it when I haven't even taken it out of the cart yet? So I say, "Can you tell me how much it rang up as?" He takes 3 years to scan back over the receipt and tells me it was $5.99. I say, "It's supposed to be just over four dollars." All of a sudden, he takes off. Yep. Just turns around and leaves without a word. The bagger guy and I look at each other like, "What the heck?" We realize that he went to go and see the posted sign for himself in the produce section. I say to the bagger, "Why didn't he just scan the sticker on my watermelon? It would have told him the price." Bagger guy just shrugs and looks confused. Ashlee starts with, "Mom! I am FREEZING!" and we're all just standing there wondering when he's going to come back, and I'm getting anxious because I'm supposed to be on my way to pick up Nick. Then a manager lady comes over and asks where the cashier went. I tell her that he went on a quest to do a price check. Then I politely request that she kindly scan the sticker for me and send me on my way. So she does, and it comes up as $4.38. But then I realize that now I'm being charged for two watermelons and ask her to take the more expensive one off. While she's doing this, the cashier comes back and says, "Yep! It's $5.99, just like I said it was." The manager says, "No. It's $4.38. Why did you leave to do a price check? You should have just scanned the tag." He starts into some explanation about how my watermelon was long and not round like a ball, so he thought it was a seeded watermelon, blah, blah, blah. The manager tells him to void out the first watermelon which he can't seem to do very quickly. Ashlee reminds me again how cold she is and wants to leave. I'm stressed because of how much time this is all taking. After what seems like forever, they hand me my receipt without a single "Sorry for the wait." In fact, they seem to have the attitute that I am the one who is causing so much trouble and shame on me for making them correct their own mistake. Geez!

So, I have a few options. I can go back to my regular Meijer where the lines are ridiculously long and I'm afraid I will get mugged, I can give Kroger another chance*, or I can spend 3 months of my grocery budget on one trip to Whole Foods (where I get good customer service and have no fear of being mugged, but will be forced to fast until we have enough money to buy more food.) Can you see why I love grocery shopping so much? Seriously! Please tell me there is a better way!

*Kroger originally put a bad taste in my mouth when I was approached by a very scary hooded homeless man who was mumbling some extremely crude things under his breath--it frightened me so much that I didn't go back for many years. The Kroger mentioned in this watermelon account is at a different location.

Diary of Mad Woman

2009-06-19T18:44:00.006-05:00

I was driving down the road yesterday on my way to take Nick to karate practice. I tuned out the loud chatter of the kids in the seats behind me and was in my own little reverie, thinking about the events of the day:

"Kids, it's time for breakfast."
"I don't want breakfast."
"Nick, please get off the computer."
"I don't want to get off the computer."
"Ashlee, please go to the potty."
"I don't need to go to the potty."
"Nick, please vacuum the family room."
"I'm too tired."
"Ashlee, please pick up your Barbies."
"But I'm going to play with them later."
"Please get dressed guys."
"But I'm watching a show."
"Go outside and play."
"But there's nothing to do."
"Let's walk up to the park."
"I don't want to go to the park."
"Nick, come and see these tiny baby frogs I found!"
"I don't care about frogs . . . I want to go home. This is boring."
"Nick, it's time for karate."
"I hate karate."

I'm leaving out the length of these conversations for brevity's sake (along with the foot stomping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth), but hopefully I've drawn a partial picture of the absurdity of my days since summer began. You know in those prison movies where the inmates are sent to solitary confinement for huge amounts of time and how it basically drives them mad? I was thinking that instead, they should just sentence each inmate to a summer alone with two children. The end result would be the same and I could get some free babysitting out of it. Coincidentally, it was right at this moment that I was coming up to a red light. The car in front of me had a single bumper sticker that read, "Some Days I Wish I Was A Missing Person."
I wonder where I can get me one of those . . .

Beggars Can't Be Choosers

2009-06-17T22:20:00.003-05:00

My latest "project" lately, now that I'm finally down to one class, is to procure a trampoline for my two beloved children (ok, and for me, too.) In theory, this should be a relatively simple task: go to Sam's Club, put giant trampoline box in cart, put the safety net enclosure box in another cart, check out, go home, set up said trampoline, jump with silly grin on face, etc. But this simple life has been tainted by a thing called "Craig's List," where one can find pretty much anything at all at really, really, really discounted prices and sometimes even for free. You see, that simple life I was just talking about made no mention of the money I would have to part with to obtain the brand-new, blissful bounciness--$340 including tax. While this really isn't a huge amount of money, knowing that if I hold out long enough my chances of finding a decent free or really cheap trampoline prevents me from whipping out my credit card.

You would think this would give me great cause to jump on any trampoline listing (no pun intended) that comes up cheaper than $340. But strangely enough, I have the nerve to be picky. I don't want the giant 15 foot trampoline because then it will kill too much of my lawn and will be too heavy to move around to keep the lawn growing. Maybe I want the 12 foot trampoline or maybe that will be too small. Perhaps I should go with a 13 foot, right in the middle. I don't want the trampoline that doesn't include the safety net because I want the kids to be able to jump without me peering out the back every 2 seconds. I don't want the one that has rust on the legs because that will just plain look bad or it might fall apart. And when I finally find the right combination of things I am looking for, I back out because the drive to go get it is an hour or more and I'll have to take it apart and load it into my car. I'm so annoyed with myself. What is wrong with me?? I guess what I basically want is a decent used trampoline with a safety enclosure for free. Or a small amount of cash. Come on Craig's List! Help a girl out!

Peonies Season!

2009-06-12T10:46:00.003-05:00

These gorgeous flowers have become my new favorite. They bloom along a big stretch of our fence every late Spring. I just can't get over how fantastic they are!

The kids and I couldn't believe how perfectly fragrant they were!

It's too bad they're only in bloom for a couple of weeks. As of today, they are still growing, but it won't be for too much longer.

It's this kind of scenery in the Spring that almost makes the long Michigan winters worthwhile. Almost.

Spicy Tomato Soup

2009-03-17T12:46:00.006-05:00

I just tried a tomato soup recipe from my South Beach Quick & Easy Cookbook and it was so good (and healthy) that I had to share. This only takes about 20 minutes to make. I made a few adjustments and a substitution, but I thought it was fantastic! It's low in fat and calories (about 90 cal. per 1 cup serving) so you can eat til you're full. Give it a go and tell me what you think!

1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, coursely chopped (I used 3/4 tsp. dried garlic)
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (this is what makes it spicy so don't go overboard!)
2 (14.5-oz) cans unsalted diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil (I used 1 Tbsp. dried basil)
2 (5.5-ounce) cans low-sodium vegetable juice (I substituted 1 can fat free chicken broth instead)
2-3 tsp. Splenda to taste (optional)

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for 3 minutes if using garlic cloves and 30 seconds if using the dried. Add tomatoes with juice, basil, and chicken broth. Increase heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve hot and top with shredded mozzerella cheese and a dollop of reduced fat sour cream. The sour cream can be substituted with 1 Tbsp. of plain low-fat yogurt. (I took the sour cream route because I had no yogurt on hand.)

Enjoy!

Sweet Little Pettiskirt

2009-02-24T18:38:00.001-05:00

I have wanted one of these skirts for Ashlee for many, many years but they are so expensive that I could never justify the cost. I even went on ebay, hoping in desperation to luck out and get one really cheap. After weeks of checking all the auctions, I ended up buying something that I thought could work as a substitute. After getting it in the mail, I was sorely disappointed. It was so bad that Ashlee never even wore it. Now it just hangs from her closet door. Today I got a tiny little spark of hope! I was directed to this link after visiting a friend's blog. I am not one to enter things like this, in fact, this is my first one, but believe me when I say I will be down on my knees praying that I win it before I go to bed tonight. And if not, there are instructions on how to make it. However, I can tell you right now that by the time I get around to making it, Ashlee will probably have her own daughter.

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Here's a Phone Message Every Mom Wants to Get . . .

2009-02-20T17:35:00.004-05:00

"Hi Becky. This is Susan Smith (names changed here for obvious reasons), Sue Jr.'s mom. I was just calling because I wanted to let you know that Sue Jr. has head lice and she sits at the same table as Nicholas at school. I'm hoping it hasn't spread, but you might want to check Nick just in case."

Guess what I did as soon as Nick got home from school? Don't worry. There's no sign of it, but please pray for us as a preventative measure.

I Must Be Getting Old

2009-02-01T22:32:00.004-05:00

I can't believe it is already 2009. What's funny about that is when I was little, all the futuristic shows would take place in some year like 2019 and that seemed sooooooo so so so so far away. . .um, yeah, that's only 10 years from now. Shouldn't we be wearing our space gear and flying around the universe by now? Geez.

I just celebrated (a bit begrudgingly) my 34th birthday. It was a weird birthday because 34 seems so much closer to 40 than 33 did. In fact, 33 just doesn't sound old to me. But 34, that's a different story with a whole different feel. Plus, I'm sure my metabolism has just completely shut down altogether and if I gain another pound, I'm going to scream! Or, I could start exercising again, but I'm lazy and like to blame it on the fact that I'm older now.

But I digress. The other day I was sitting in my chemistry lecture. There is a girl who sits on my left who is fresh out of high school. (And yes, that also makes me feel old.) Anyway, on this particular day, she sat on my right. She pulled out the next assigned lab and asked me if I had gotten everything put in order. I could tell from all the times she had crossed out her answers that she'd been struggling with it. I showed her the order I got and we compared our answers. She got hers all straightened out and then she left for her lab session.

At the following lecture two days later, I sat in my usual place with high school girl on my left and one of my lab partners on my right (who has sat there since the semester began, except for the scenario above). My lab partner pulls out her lab and asks me what order I got on it. I said, "I thought you got it all straightened out last time." She said, "Um...I don't think so because I just printed this off last night so I wouldn't have had it with me last time." I said, "Don't you remember that we compared our answers and you had gotten a few out of order, so you crossed them out and fixed them?" She looked at me like I was crazy. Then she said, "I sat on the end of this row last time because I was late, remember?" (I'm pausing here while I'm trying to figure out this extremely confusing situation and I honestly believe that she is the one who's got it all wrong!) Plus, to make things even more annoying she's looking at me all tenderly like someone trying to explain a simple concept to a sweet little old senior citizen suffering from Alzheimer's. Suddenly it dawned on me that I had somehow gotten her confused with high school girl. If she had said, "Awww. That's OK," and patted my head, I would have popped a vein out of frustration. With that came the horrible realization that I was the idiotic one. No, not just the idiotic one--the OLD idiotic one suffering from a bad case of BrainTissueSlowlyOozingOutOfHeadDueToOldAge Syndrome. Not one of my better moments.

To top it off, I had to give the opening prayer in sacrament meeting today. Now if you know me, you know how much I HATE any form of public speaking, including praying in front of a gigantic crowd. Honestly, I would rather die than talk in church. But I thought I would do the right thing and give the bloody prayer because it would give me good practice and help me with my public speaking issues--the more you do it, the better you get, right? Plus, I can't deal with the guilt of saying no to the bishop. It's just one teeny tiny prayer. I will live.

So, I'm singing the opening hymn and as it gets closer to the last line of the song, I feel myself getting a little nervous. Not more than anyone else would be. Cool. I can do this. No problem. But by the time I make it from my seat near the back up to the stand, my breathing rate has increased. Yes, nervous equals faster breathing. Whatever. That's fine. However, since I was nervous, I didn't take a second to judge how close my mouth was to the microphone before closing my eyes. I don't think I could have gotten any closer to it without putting the whole thing in my mouth. But as you probably know, this just means that any sound you make is magnified about 10,000 times. Including my breathing. This resulted in every pause being filled up with one big, very loud exhalation. But since I'm still nervous, I am somehow frozen in place. I cannot force my back muscles to pull my face back a couple of inches from the microphone. Until I say, "Amen," and then my muscles are conveniently operational again. They always fail me at the most inconvenient times. Must be a result of my SpasticNervousSystemThatIsDeterioratingDueToOldAge Syndrome. Yes, that's definitely it.

After I sit back down, I lean over and ask Jere if I sounded like I was going to wet my pants. He says, "No. You actually did really well." I think, "Phew. It was all in my head." Then he adds, "Except that you were breathing really loud."

Don't Mess with the Aussies!

2009-01-21T14:58:00.002-05:00

This video makes me laugh really hard no matter how many times I see it. I love the ridiculous face on Marty Monster as he's getting mauled. Just make sure you protect your family jewels the next time you're in Australia!

I'm So Hungry!

2009-01-12T16:42:00.003-05:00

In desperation (and severe shock after standing on the scale a couple of days ago), I decided to start the Atkins diet for 2 weeks so I could jump start the fat burning process. I started out with flying colors and lasted all of a couple of hours before I folded and had a fiber bar. OK, so I failed the Atkins diet, but I am succeeding in keeping the calories really low. So low that I am starving hungry. But I'm sticking to my guns. Even if I don't jump back on the Atkins diet, I'm watching those calories like a hawk! I just want my clothes to fit properly again. Wish me luck!

One New Year's Resolution

2009-01-07T19:32:00.003-05:00

Yep. I said one. I only have ONE New Year's resolution this year, and let me tell you, it is quite lofty:

Do not eat anything after dinner in the evenings.

This is in attempt to stop my winter fat layer from getting any thicker. You would think that this is a very simple goal, but here I am already 7 days into the new year, and I haven't been able to do it yet. I can usually go through a day with pretty minimal food intake, but once the sun goes down and the cold gets colder, I suddenly lose any semblance of will power. I eat my dinner and mentally tell myself, "OK. This is it until tomorrow morning. You can do it!" About 2 hours afterwards, I find myself wandering back into the kitchen, staring at an open cupboard or an open fridge and before you know it, I've added another 3 or 4 hundred calories to my day, more if there's chocolate involved. Ooh, I shouldn't say "chocolate" this time of night. Sigh . . . it's a good thing I emptied the house of any chocolate supply or I'd be off to hunt for some right now. Maybe I have some leftover chocolate chips in my baking cabinet. No, I ate those a long time ago -- there are chocolate chips in granola bars, though . . .

Saved!

2008-12-24T14:10:00.003-05:00

I will continue to blog! You have given me renewed purpose! I write for you, my loyal fans.

AND a very Merry Christmas to you all! I hope it is a happy one.

Is It Time?

2008-12-21T13:23:00.002-05:00

I have been thinking about deleting my blog lately. I think it's because I always feel so obligated to update it which gives me a guilt complex since I rarely get around to it. Plus, it was supposed to be a great way to keep my family in the loop, but I think they have all lost the link to it. Either that or I have just started waxing way too political for them! I guess I wouldn't ever completely delete it (it does have hours upon hours of things that the kids might enjoy some day), so maybe I will just have to work on not feeling guilty if I don't get to it.

I don't know. What do you fellow bloggers think?

An Interesting Thought

2008-11-19T23:55:00.003-05:00

Here's an excerpt from John Steinbeck's East of Eden that struck me as true of our times today. Interpret it as you will:

"It is argued that because they believed thoroughly in a just, moral God they could put their faith there and let the smaller securities take care of themselves. But I think that because they trusted themselves and respected themselves as individuals, because they knew beyond doubt that they were valuable and potentially moral units--because of this they could give God their own courage and dignity and then receive it back. Such things have disappeared perhaps because men do not trust themselves any more, and when that happens there is nothing left except perhaps to find some strong sure man, even though he may be wrong, and to dangle from his coattails."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Are We Still in America???

2008-11-13T23:54:00.003-05:00

Here's a little video clip that should make you pretty angry, assuming you are a decent person. This was filmed at a rally where people who are pro-gay marriage are protesting the passing of Proposal 8, which thankfully overrode a recent California Supreme Court decision to recognize same-sex marriage as a fundamental right:

All other issues aside, does anyone else remember that in America, we have the right to free speech? It is disturbing to see a little old lady (who isn't even given the chance to voice her opinion) being utterly disrespected by being yelled at, signs being shoved in front of her face, and then practically being physically assaulted by men who should know better? Why are they so threatened by the presence of one elderly woman who had the courage to stand up for what she felt was right? Could it be that the view she had might have had an ounce of truth to it? It seems that evil only vehemently rears its ugly head when it feels the most threatened, and it is only in the face of what is truly right that it shows itself in its vilest forms. If these men were so secure in their view that same-sex marriage was absolutely and undeniably the "right" stance, then why would they even care that this tiny woman had come to the rally? They showed no respect for their elders, no respect for an individual's right to free speech and behaved like animals. Do they treat their own grandmothers like this?
I am sickened and ashamed. I thought this was America.

Gas for $1.93???

2008-11-11T16:12:00.001-05:00

Holy frick, I must be dreaming! I got gas today for $1.93/gallon! Somebody pinch me! We must have gone back in time!

My Sweet Girl

2008-11-10T09:20:00.003-05:00

This morning I was rushing around trying to get the kids ready for school. Ashlee had worn a t-shirt to bed that was so small for her that a lot of her belly was showing. As I was getting her dressed, I told her that her belly button was so cute that I wanted to pinch it. She giggled and finished getting dressed, turned around and said, "OK, Mom, I'm ready. You can pinch me now!" I said, "Why do you want me to pinch you? I was just joking around!" She said, "Because I want you to be happy!"
My kids are like night and day. I sometimes wonder how they even come from the same gene pool. Whenever I ask Nick if I can have one of his chocolate Halloween candies, he is quick to reply, "No! It's my candy!" I'll say, "Pretty please? Just one little candy?" I continue to get the same answer. (He has only shared something with me twice in his entire nine years, and even then it was with such reluctance that it doesn't count as sharing.) So I move on to Ashlee and say, "Ash, can Mommy have one of your Halloween chocolates?" Happily she says, "Sure Mom." I say, "Which one can I have?" She says, "You can pick whichever one you really like." Adorable.

Family Vacation to Utah in July

2008-11-03T23:31:00.004-05:00

I'm so speedy at posting! Again, this is all catch up work, which it will be until I can make it all the way up to November, so skip this if you feel so inclined!

A professional photographer came out to the house we stayed at to take family pics of everyone. This is not one of his shots--my brother took it so we could practice before the actual thing. And no, Nick never smiled.

Ashlee soaking up "cousin time." She loves her cuzzies so much!

Here is Ashlee back in her element. This horse is so adorable I wanted to put it in my purse and take it home. I wonder which weighs more . . . the horse or the guy in the overalls?

This one was too big to fit in my purse.

Four-wheelin'! We had a blast! Isn't Tyler so dang cute? He makes you want to pinch his cheeks!

We four-wheeled up and down to the reservoir until Sarah and I convinced ourselves that there was a serial killer living in the tent we kept passing. We creeped ourselves out! (It was getting dark by this point.)

Jere locked himself in the outhouse . . . again. He did it so many times that we started to think he was enjoying his time in there!

Nick playing tricks on Grandpa in Strawberry Reservoir.

Staying cool. It was close to 100 degrees.

Ashlee back in her happy place again. I'm surprised we were able to get her back on the plane to Michigan!

Still Backtracking . . .

2008-10-19T17:28:00.003-05:00

So here it is October and I'm just now getting around to my fourth of July post! I'm sorry if I'm boring you a bit, but I'm getting caught up more for the sake journaling than for blogging, so feel free to skip over this if you're entertained more by current events.
One of Jere's coworkers owns Kehoe Farm and we spent the afternoon there eating lots of yummy food, playing games and enjoying the sunshine.

The kids loved trying to outdo each other in tug o' war. Ashlee is on her way down!

Nick was determined to get the bean bag in the hole 50 times.

Ashlee thought it was hilarious every time she "pulled" me off my base.

The day just wouldn't have been complete without a ride on one of the adorable ponies. Can you guess where Ashlee spent most of the afternoon?

Like Mother, Like Daughter

2008-10-14T21:26:00.003-05:00

The other night, Ashlee came running out of her room saying, "Mom! There's a great big spider in my room!" My first thought was to say, "Oh, I bet he's friendly," and quietly sneak away, but being that Jere (my official spider killer) was not home at the time, I had to act like a brave mommy and go assess the situation at hand.

So I went to her room and asked her where she saw this alleged spider. She pointed down at her baseboard along the floor and said that it was hiding underneath. Great. A great big spider that is hiding where I can't see it. Introducing my number one fear in life: great big spiders that are hiding where I can't see them. Dang those stupid spiders! Nevertheless, I still had my brave face on. I waited a little while and when the spider didn't resurface, I told Ashlee that it probably ran away and won't be coming back. She replied, "But it will come out again, Mom! It's hiding from us! We've got to get some bug spray!"

Just then, I saw movement, and sure enough, the spider had resurfaced. Now this is not one of my proud moments as a mother, I assure you. I screamed at the top of my lungs. So Ashlee screamed at the top of her lungs and bolted from the room. All the screaming made the spider go back under the baseboard again. But now I was all creeped out because I had seen it's horrible and most terrifying legs and I was afraid to even move. Plus, I had bare feet and didn't want to risk squishing the awful beast should I have to take flight. So I kept my eyes fixated on the spot that it disappeared and called out to Ashlee that I needed her to come here and watch for the spider while I got something to spray it with. Instead of answering me, I saw her arm throw 2 squares of toilet paper into the room. Yeah. Two squares. OK, I wouldn't even squish a spider with an entire roll of toilet paper, let alone two squares. Great. I thought that if I could just spray it with some cleaner, it would probably shrivel up and die eventually but I didn't dare take my eyes off it's hiding spot because that would give it a chance to run somewhere else where I would stumble across it unknowingly . . . like inside the sleeve of my bath robe or something. So while all this is going through my head, the dumb thing comes out again. I grab Ashlee's little wooden chair and try to drop it right on the spider . . . and completely miss. This causes the spider to dart in fast, scary movements which causes me to scream again, which causes Ashlee (who was hiding in the bathroom) to scream again, which makes me scream again, which then causes Nick (who was watching TV) to start screaming. Complete mayhem for a minute. Now the spider is scared out of its wits and has gone back into hiding. I ran to the kitchen, grabbed my trusty spray cleaner, and sprayed the area in hopes of fumigating it to its death. I watched and waited for a few minutes and when nothing emerged, I decided put it all behind me and go back to watching TV.

Two days later, Jere emerged victorious with the great big spider . . . which was squished with two whole squares of toilet paper.

Running a Marathon Can Bite!

2008-10-06T18:56:00.002-05:00

This is my brother Ben who ran the St. George Marathon last Saturday. I guess no one told him about the bodily hazards that come along with long distance running! Ouch!

No, just kidding! He did run the marathon but this was actually his Halloween costume last year. Once you get over the initial shock of it, it's pretty hilarious! Thought you could all use a good laugh!

Another Conversation Between Nick & Ashlee

2008-09-26T15:00:00.003-05:00

Nick: "Hey Ash! Can you get my cat's cradle book from my room for me? Tazzie is sitting on my lap and I don't want to stand up and make her go away."

Ashlee: "No. I don't want to."

Nick: "Pleeeeease? I'll give you everything you own!"

When Grandma Comes to Town, Do as the Natives Do

2008-09-25T10:51:00.003-05:00

Again, I am still catching up on summertime. Grandma came to visit back in June and we had a great time with her. We took her all the places that would keep the kids happy! Poor Grandma! But she was a good sport as she always is and we love her for it.

The kids had to show her the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum. Here's Nick showing off his rock-climbing skills.

No, we did not execute Ashlee and Grandma. They were just having fun in the green room. They were in front of a camera and the green blankets made you invisible on screen.

There's no better way to refuel after a day of fun at Arby's with Dad. Jere is trying to suck down his vanilla shake before Ashlee asks for more! See how sneaky she looks?

The next event was to celebrate Grandma's birthday at the Olive Garden. Yum!

Afterwards, we took her to visit her old friends, the dinosaurs, at the University of Michigan Natural History Museum. Just kidding Grandma! :) We love to tease her!

The displays there are cool!

We really had a good time there and the kids learned a lot!

Then we dragged Grandma to the Toledo Zoo for some more kid fun!

Unfortunately, we got rained out, but the ride home was exciting with threats of tornadoes all around. It made the sky have a bit of a green tinge to it. Thanks for coming Grandma! We miss you!

Happy Birthday to Sarah!

2008-09-16T00:25:00.001-05:00

Today my little sister turns 32!

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to the girl who makes me laugh my head off!

Hope you're eating lots of cake & ice-cream and dancing to your Michael Flatley: Lord of the Dance DVD!

A Conversation Between Nick & Ashlee

2008-09-14T20:12:00.003-05:00

Nick: "Hey Ash! Do you want to play a game?"

Ashlee: "OK. What kind of game?"

Nick: "It's called, 'Ashlee, You Are Evil.' "

Ashlee: "Ashlee, You Are Evil?"

Nick: "Yeah." [proceeds to explain the game to her.]

Ashlee: "No, I don't think I want to play that game."

My Book Worm

2008-08-17T14:03:00.004-05:00

I don't know if you can tell from these pics or not, but Nick loves to read. We've read to him since he was in the womb and pretty much every night since. When he was a year old, he would make us read Dr. Seuss's ABC's to him over and over again, so much that I memorized the book! It definitely paid off because he was reading on his own before he was three.

I thought I would capture the moment with my new camera, which I am loving to no end! This is no small feat for a mom with a son who hates having his picture taken, but I got what I wanted without too many protests!

For A Good Cause

2008-08-16T19:12:00.003-05:00

In March, at the age of thirty, my friend, Abbigail Israelsen became suddenly ill and on a ventilator fighting for her life for 18 days. She was in the hospital for 21 days, but thankfully she survived. It has been a long and emotional recovery that continues everyday.

She has joined the ARDS Foundation team to attend a fund raising walk on Sept. 21, 2008. For every donation that is made over $40, Abbi will give the donor an original drawing created specifically for them. The drawings will be done on 100% cotton rag paper with pen, pencil, and ink. You will receive your drawing in the mail by mid October, 2008.

After donating towards the Hike for Lung Health, email Abbi (abbiisraelsen@yahoo.com) with three words that she will use to inspire a drawing as a thank you gift.

The drawings will be shown at the Anton Art Center for a special fund raising exhibition Sept. 12-Oct. 3, 2008. All proceeds made from the exhibition will be donated for ARDS research.

If you would like to read more about Abbi's journey through ARDS visit her website.

http://drawingforards.blogspot.com
The website with her story is: http://mystoryards.blogspot.com/
Hike fundraising page: http://my.imisfriendraising.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=260155&LangPref=en-CA
Abbi's artwork website: www.abbigailisraelsen.com

The Month of June

2008-08-03T14:09:00.003-05:00

June was quite a busy month with the school year ending and all the activities that come along with it.

Nick received his red belt in karate (this was technically at the very end of May) and we were so proud of him!

Ashlee graduated from Kindergarten. It's weird to think that she's not a baby anymore. Here she is with one of her best buddies, Lilly.

The kindergarten class had a little potluck get together with all the parents. This is Ashlee's teacher, Mrs. Duman.

The end of the school year also brought the end of Ashlee's soccer season. Here she is getting her team photo and medal from her coach, Don Packard.

She was so excited about this medal, especially since it had her name engraved on it.

These are most of the girls from Ashlee's team.

Ashlee also performed in a "Goldilocks & the Three Bears" play for Kindergarten. She got to play Mama Bear and said her lines perfectly. Good job Ash!

Jere took Nick to his first professional baseball game at Comerica Park in Detroit. It was the LA Dodgers (Jere's favorite team) vs. the Tigers.

Unfortunately, the grey skies brought a torrential downpour . . .

. . . and Nick was not excited about being soaked to the bone! Even their socks were full of water! Free air conditioning, right?

The Month of May 2008

2008-07-25T18:24:00.006-05:00

In May, we took a fun road trip to Cleveland, Ohio to see my sister Natalie and her hubby and son. They were there for a business trip and invited us to stay with them at their hotel. There was a really cool playground close by that the kids really enjoyed . . .

. . . Ashlee and Braden gave this dinosaur a good workout!

We didn't miss our chance to eat at PF Chang's, which is one of our favorite restaurants.

We also hit the Cleveland Zoo. Ashlee and Nick wasted no time mapping out our day!

We even made a quick trip to Australia! OK, so that's not entirely true. This was part of the "Australian Adventure." I thought this sign was cool because Ballarat is where I once lived.

Aaron and Braden took a ride on the camel. Don't ask me what this has to do with Australia. I don't remember seeing any when I lived there. Maybe they should move this attraction to the "Saudi Arabia Adventure." That makes way more sense, I think.

Ash and Jere admiring the lions from a distance (thankfully!)

The last day of our trip we went to the Cleveland Science Center. It was also Mother's Day. I would have liked to have been at home being pampered, but I guess whatever makes the kids happy, makes me happy, too.

I did get to go hang gliding through the Grand Canyon so I can't complain.

Jere gave himself a PET scan.

And after making fun of Aaron because he couldn't balance this skateboard for long, I was put to shame by not staying on it much longer, and to top it off, both Nick and Ash stayed on for at least 10 times longer than I did. Oh the shame!!

Ashlee used some sort of secret Egyptian balancing stance . . .

Nick also turned 9! Yeah, I can't believe it either. Here he is at our favorite b-day joint, Red Robin after opening some goodies from Grandma.

And more presents at home, including a tennis raquet and a Rubik's cube. Happy Birthday buddy!

Still Alive!

2008-07-20T11:46:00.003-05:00

I have about 3 months worth of "stuff" to catch up on, which includes 2 vacations, a birthday, fourth of July, etc., so I'm in the process of getting all the pix ready for publishing. Tomorrow is my Human Bio final, so after that, I will actually have a moment to do it . . . assuming this gross humidity and heat subside a little. The computer is upstairs where there is no AC, so I will blog the best I can. Later!

Funny Things My Kids Say

2008-07-01T17:39:00.002-05:00

Today we went on a "nature walk" together up around County Farm Park. My main intent was to give us all a good opportunity to exercise, but along the way I challenged them to find 5 different kinds of leaves and then collect some for crayon rubbings. Nick & Ash loved the fact that we found some wild raspberries, animal poop that was full of seeds and some really beautiful flowers. Along the way I decided to review my biology class material by telling them all about how antibodies work to help your body fight off "foreign invaders" like viruses. They seemed thoroughly interested and we had a good conversation about it. When it was time to go, we started our walk home. I asked them if they enjoyed learning about nature and they said they had a good time. Then I realized we had forgotten our leaves for crayon rubbings. Nick said, "We may have come away empty-handed, but we didn't come away empty-minded!" Good observation, Nick!

This afternoon I was driving Nick to karate practice. Ashlee was reading her Horse A to Z Dictionary. We were at a stoplight when she says, "Mom! Did you know there is a horse in here called an ass?" I said, "A what?" She said, "An ass!" (Nick starts giggling here.) I said, "Are you sure that's what it says? How is it spelled?" She said, "A - S - S." (Nick laughs even harder!) I said, "Let me see that." She handed me the book and sure enough, there was a picture of a donkey with the word Ass next to it. I said, "Oh yeah. That's a donkey and they're sometimes called jackasses or asses. But I wouldn't go around saying that word too much. Just use it for donkeys." Nick said, "Yeah, Ash. Don't say ass!"

Just Too Busy!

2008-06-13T22:56:00.003-05:00

So, you probably noticed that I haven't posted anything for a really long time. Well, I can actually say that I've just been too busy to even think about it! I've gone back to school and I volunteer at the Burn & Trauma Clinic by the University of Michigan hospital. So if I'm not at school, I'm studying or doing homework or just trying to catch up with all the laundry and chores that don't get done nearly as often anymore. Plus, today was the kids' last day of school so I am blessed to have them with me all day long until September 2. I am already running out of things for them to do so I have a feeling this will be a long summer . . . I'll try to keep you all updated but don't hold your breath!

I'm the Biggest Loser!

2008-04-27T22:36:00.002-05:00

My sister and I have entered into a weight-loss challenge with each other. We both have to lose 5% of our current body weight by May 14. The loser (aka Sarah) gets to buy the winner (aka Becky) meat pies from the Australian Bakery in Atlanta. She has even posted a link to the bakery on her website for her ordering convenience. She must be pretty sure that I'm going to win!
And for the record, I'm already down 2 pounds in just 3 days. I can smell the Aussie goodness already!

Bendin' It Like Beckham!

2008-04-27T22:04:00.003-05:00

Ashlee is playing soccer on the Bobcats team this season and is really enjoying it so far.

Here she is after her first practice. My little David Beckham in training!

I find that I keep screaming, "Ashlee! Chase the ball! Take it down to the goal!" over and over again.

Practicing good sportsmanship (she's number 7.)

Taking my advice (because she can really hear me over everyone else!)

An excellent save as the goalie! Great job Ash!

Nick's Art Show

2008-04-17T20:32:00.004-05:00

Nicholas recently had an art piece of his displayed at the Bank of Ann Arbor on Ellsworth. He was honored at a gathering at Palio's Restaurant downtown. Here he is telling everyone his name and the school he is from. He was then awarded with a special certificate signed by the mayor.

This is his "paper weaving" piece that was displayed in the window at the bank. Good job Nick!

That Time of Year

2008-04-15T22:39:00.004-05:00

Ann Arbor is such a great city to live in. It has pretty decent shopping, good restaurants, tons of really nice parks and awesome thrift stores. I would want to live here forever if I could just reduce the amount of time we have to spend indoors from 7-8 months out of the year to just one or two. It would also be great to transplant some family members here. But one of the hardest parts about living here is all the people that you have to say goodbye to every spring. Pretty much everyone I have ever met here comes to Ann Arbor for school. Sometimes that means 2-3 years for an MBA or law school, or 4-5 years for a residency or dental school, or 5+ years for a PhD. When Spring rolls around, many of them graduate and move out of state. Some just leave for the summer for an internship and the rest spend a lot of the summer on vacations or travels to see the family members that they haven't seen for the whole previous year. And then there's me. I'm now on my tenth year of "staying behind" while everyone moves on to greener pastures. Quite frankly, it sucks. I try not to get too attached to them, especially the MBA's or law school friends (they only stick around for 2 years, like I mentioned) but somehow they all work themselves into a little spot on my radar screen and it always feels really lonely after they're gone. The worst part is going to Relief Society and looking around to discover that you're now attending with only 7 people and 3 of them are in the presidency. This is especially disconcerting when you're used to being packed in like sardines. So I'm glad I've got a little group of friends who have been here for many if not all of the past ten years. But even for some of them, their time is drawing nigh. Goodbyes are extremely hard for me and I'm getting tired of doing them, but I'm glad that I've gotten to know so many awesome people in the meantime who will always be lifetime friends. And thank goodness for blogs so that we can always keep tabs on each other!

Giving Thanks

2008-04-10T14:32:00.003-05:00

Many years ago, I was watching Oprah and she talked about how important it was to give thanks everyday. She said that she had started a Gratitude Journal where she would write down all the things she was grateful for everyday. She also added that doing this had changed her life. I was all inspired and almost went and started a journal myself. Unfortunately, I never got around to it and even though my life feels overwhelmingly difficult right now, I'd like to show my thanks.

This is what I'm thankful for today (in no particular order):

1. Nick and Ashlee
2. A warm & extremely comfortable bed to sleep in every night
3. The fact that I have never had to go hungry in my life
4. To live in a country that offers so many opportunities to improve your lot in life
5. An amazing network of supportive family members and friends
6. An insulin pump that allows me to live like a normal person even though I have diabetes
7. A six-year-old who still gives me snuggle time, kisses and hugs

An Anniversary

2008-04-03T19:46:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was the anniversary of the day my parents passed away. They've been gone now for twenty-four excruciatingly long years. I just wanted to take some time to remember them. Mum & Dad, you are so loved and missed!

Animal Lover

2008-04-02T15:19:00.002-05:00

Ashlee and her boys, Frankie and Bruno. So sweet! I love how Bruno looks like he took a sleeping pill that just knocked him right out!

Written by Nicholas John

2008-04-02T15:01:00.003-05:00

Everyday when the kids get home from school, I pull all their papers out of their backpacks. The other day, I found the beginnings of some writing that Nick had done. I thought it was very well written, especially for an 8-year-old, so I decided to post it here:

'How Hard Life Was: Collection 1: Book 1/10'

Chapter 1/10: 10,000 B.C.
Here in the unknown abyss, I lie in my only shelter, a cave, captured. I was trying to find lizard eggs but when I found the 5th egg, I got captured. I tried to get my knife but it was too late. So I am about to get burned in this cave when my thoughts were disrupted by the social studies teacher. I looked at the board and knew the answer immediately . . .

Chapter 2/10: "Classical" Time Machine
11:59:10 a.m. It's almost time to go in, I told myself. I made a bet with someone that I wouldn't sweat. I felt a drop of sweat forming.

Not too bad! I'll post more if he writes the rest, but for now I just wanted to show off my boy!

The Funniest Commercial!

2008-03-29T22:12:00.003-05:00

This is one of my all time favorite commercials. The best part is towards the end when the stain starts practically yelling over the guy. Hilarious!

For Abbi

2008-03-21T15:13:00.002-05:00

As many of you know, one of my dearest friends Abbi is in the hospital right now with pneumonia and ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome). I was able to visit her in the ICU and talk to her a bit before she had to be put on a breathing tube. She is really fighting this battle with everything she's got but she's in bad shape. Thankfully, she's at one of the best hospitals in the nation and I know that she is receiving the very best care, but I am beside myself with worry. So if you happen to read my blog and even if you don't know Abbi, could you please include her and her family in your prayers? She needs them and I desperately need her to get better.

The Birds and the Bees

2008-03-09T18:51:00.003-05:00

Today Ashlee asked me how she was once inside my "tummy." She has never asked me HOW before, just "Where does a baby come from?" Well, when she has asked where a baby comes from, it has been easy for me to just explain things in very general terms. The last time she asked, I said,"Well, mommies have little magic eggs inside them and daddies have magic seeds. When mommies and daddies put the magic egg together with a magic seed, it starts to grow into a baby inside the mommy's tummy." For good measure I added, "But, only people who are married are allowed to put the egg and the seed together. If you're not married first, then it makes Heavenly Father unhappy."
She must have been contemplating what I had told her because she wanted to know exactly how the egg and the seed actually get together. When I started tell her my standard answer, she said, "Yeah, I know all that, but HOW do the egg and the seed find each other?" So I took the angle of, "When mommies and daddies love each other very much . . . " But then I realized that this wasn't really answering her question. So I did the responsible thing and told her that I would explain that part when she gets a bit older. My main intent was to divert her attention long enough to change the subject, because then we were talking about WHY she needed to be older to hear HOW babies come to be. I told her that she would be able to understand better at that time. Again, I started to add that ONLY people who are married can make babies. She cut me off mid-sentence and said, "Yes. I already know that part. It's because if you aren't married first, then Heavenly Father gets really mad! But that's not what I want to know. I want to know HOW the egg and the seed get together!"
I said, "Oh! Look at the time! We really need to start getting ready for bed!" This time, the diversion worked.
If any of you have some good ideas on how to talk about this with a 6-year-old, send them my way!

Frankie Turns Two!

2008-03-07T16:09:00.005-05:00

This is Frankie. Frankie is a weiner dog and just celebrated his second birthday! Here he is taking a sneak peek at his cake--a giant chocolate doughnut! Yummy! Frankie is SO excited!

This is his best buddy, Bruno the French Bulldog. Hi Bruno! Bruno brought gifts for Frankie's special day. Thanks Bruno! What a nice little dog!

Here's Bruno after changing into the proper birthday attire. What a fun friend. He looks so happy!

Time to open presents! Since paws are no good for opening presents, Ashlee offered her helping hands. And WOW! Frankie got a new rope toy! Yay for Frankie!

He was so excited that he played with it right away!

His next present was a brand new squeaky ball! What a great idea! Frankie LOVES squeaky balls!

But Bruno decided he liked it even more and told Frankie to take a hike. Poor Frankie. But Frankie likes to share with his friend, so that's OK. Thanks for coming Bruno! Happy Birthday Frankie! What a great day!

A Visit From Grandpa

2008-03-07T15:58:00.003-05:00

Jere's dad recently came to visit for a weekend. In exchange for the blue skies and warmth of Arizona, he braved our freezing temps, grey skies and snow. Funny thing was that for the three days he was here, it was sunny and almost warm. The day before he came, we had gotten dumped on with snow and it was uncomfortably cold outside. The day after he left, the sun went away and we got even more snow! Talk about bringing (and taking) the nice weather with you! Well, at least we got to unthaw a little tiny bit. Maybe one day we will be able to go outside without all our snow gear . . . one day.

Lost and Found Board

2008-03-07T14:45:00.002-05:00

Has anyone lost a shopping bag with legs? This one showed up on my front door step recently and I thought I'd see if anyone would claim it.

A Tree Came Tumbling Down

2008-03-07T14:25:00.003-05:00

This is what the inside of a dead Ash tree looks like after it is snapped in two by the wind. It fell in our front yard (missing the house by a few feet) shortly after we got back from Christmas break.

The only casualty was our chain-link fence which you can see is smooshed beneath it (click on the pic to enlarge if you can't see it.) This tree landed on the forked tree next to it which caused the fork to crack all the way down to the ground, leaving it swaying precariously over our neighbor's front yard. I was relieved to see that the little pear tree I planted last year (left corner) had survived unscathed.

Here's how it looked from the front. Doesn't seem nearly so shocking in photos, but it was scary nonetheless.

Ashlee came to the rescue with a toy chainsaw that she borrowed from the neighbor boys. She'll have it cleaned up in a jiffy!

Our neighbor from down the street, Crazy Mike (whom we named as such for various reasons), kindly spent many hours over a couple of days chopping the giant trees into smaller pieces. He really enjoyed himself and we really appreciated it. Despite all his hard work, I was able to find a tree guy to chop down the remainder of offending trees and grind out their stumps for a chunk of change, but at least we don't have to worry about being crushed to death during another wind storm.

Still Catching Up!

2008-03-07T12:43:00.004-05:00

This is still from over Christmas break, but this is the end of it (I think). We went to the Planetarium at the Gateway Mall and the kids loved all the space displays. They got to take a walk on Mars with Grandma . . .

. . . and be the weather man (or woman/girl) on TV. Wouldn't it be nice if they could send some temperatures above 20 degrees to us poor folk stuck here in Michigan??? Oh, wait! It's a balmy 27 degrees right now, so never mind. Practically swimsuit weather! (Can you feel the sarcasm just oozing out of me right now?)

Don't the kids look sooooo happy in this shot? They love it when their mom asks them to stop for a picture real quick. I do love how Nick ended up with Australia framed around his head like a hat. I guess the globe was magnetized to his part Aussie-ness. It sensed his inner kangaroo.

Sledding with Grandpa

2008-03-02T14:27:00.003-05:00

Grandpa was so excited to take the kids sledding that he went out and bought new sleds! (My question was "Where are the old sleds?" But I think poor Grandpa is getting older because he couldn't remember what happened to them . . .) But this is a favorite memory for me because Grandpa turned into a little boy in all the excitement!

Nick was less than thrilled so I told him to at least have one turn down the hill and then he could go inside. Six or seven tries later, he was still giving it a go. Unfortunately, the whining did not subside.

Can you believe how blue the sky was???

Ashlee and Grandpa making snow angels. This is one of my most favorite photos because it shows what a good sport Grandpa was to really get down and play with the kids. Either that or he was just so tired by this point that he couldn't get up!

Grandma came out and decided to join the fun! So did the neighbor's dog. This dog had a bad habit of standing directly in your path when you wanted to go down the hill. On top of that, it was deaf so you couldn't get it to move unless you got up off your sled, walked halfway down the hill, and physically removed the dumb mutt.

Catching Up Part 2

2008-03-02T13:44:00.004-05:00

More pix from over Christmas break. I got to catch up with old high school friends (Trudy, Emily and Julie) while enjoying the yumminess that is Cafe Rio. It took me 3 tries to finally realize what all the hype was about--you MUST get the shredded pork, whether it's in a burrito or on a salad AND their green ranch sauce. It blows Qdoba and Chipotle right out of the water!

This was at an indoor amusement park called Jungle Jim's. It was cool because there are rides for the older kids and the younger kids and if you couldn't tell, Nick thoroughly enjoyed himself.

We had a great time there with Auntie Natalie, Uncle Aaron, adorable little cousins Braden and Tyler, Auntie Sarah and Uncle Brandon.

My sister Sarah and me after we tried to get movie tickets to Enchanted but all the seats were already sold out so we went and saw it over at that really cool outdoor Gateway mall instead. Utah has got some seriously cool destinations.

Jere's brother Josh and his wife Andrea blessed their sweet new baby Elsie while we were there. This is Ashlee meeting her new cousin for the first time. Ashlee LOVES babies!

Just Catching Up a Little

2008-03-01T14:00:00.004-05:00

I've been such a blog slacker lately, that I have to catch up on about four months of events and such. So I'm really sorry, but all my descriptions are going to have to be extremely brief. This photo was taken at Thanksgiving and includes 3 of my sisters and their families. I couldn't believe Kelsie was as tall as I was!

Enjoying the golf cart with cousins Sammy and Kylie just after Thanksgiving. The kids LOVE riding on this thing and we all had a really fun but very short break.

Our family Christmas photo. I'm glad the picture didn't also capture all the whining and complaining the kids were doing during this session.

Nick and Ashlee with cousin Tyler after we arrived for Christmas break (this was taken just before they used the bed as a trampoline.)

Ashlee opening yet another Ponyville toy at Grandma and Grandpa's house over Christmas. She has already made her gift list for her birthday in October that includes even more Ponyville toys . . . sigh!

Saying Goodbye to Yet ANOTHER Honda!

2008-02-15T09:32:00.004-05:00

OK, so I know you're all dying from shock because I am actually posting again. Because I've been out of the blog scene for quite some time, I have a ton to catch up on. This post will feel familiar to a post I did about 6 months ago when we said goodbye to my Honda Accord. Well, last November, we had to say goodbye to Jere's Accord as well. Most people would say we are just having a lot of bad luck, but both times have turned out to be blessings because in both cases, our insurance company paid for replacement cars that were newer, nicer and had much less mileage on them than our poor Accords.

This car we replaced with a 1996 Honda Odyssey that only has 100,000 miles on it (as opposed to our old 1992, two-door, that had over 200,000 miles on it.) So yes, I have finally entered the realm of mini-vans and quite frankly, I've enjoyed it quite a bit. Now when any of you come to visit, I no longer have to request that you squish in the back between the kids' carseats. And now if more than one of you come to visit at a time, I will be able to pick you all up in just one vehicle. Fabulous!

Ashlee's Art Blog

2008-02-06T18:11:00.001-05:00

Ashlee has a blog where she can post her latest drawings. Check it out when you get a minute!
http://www.ashlee-raquel.blogspot.com/ OR click on the Ashlee's Art Blog link to the left.

A New Ashlee!

2008-02-01T16:57:00.000-05:00

Ashlee got a really cute haircut about 3 weeks ago. On the way to the salon, she was in a bad mood and kept telling me that she didn't want to cut her hair, that she wanted long hair forever. I kept thinking it was going to be a bad experience and kept bracing myself for tears and chaos in general. When we got there, I found a picture of a short bob and showed it to her. I asked her if she liked it and she suddenly said, "Yep. I think I want that one." I handed her over to the hairdresser and waited patiently in the waiting area. Not long after, I got a child that I didn't even recognize! AND, Ashlee was very happy with it (phew!) So happy, that she spent quite some time in front of the mirror when we got home admiring what a pretty girl she was.

Some REALLY Good Recipes

2008-01-26T13:57:00.000-05:00

OK, so I haven't posted in a really long time and I actually shouldn't be taking the time to post right now either, but I have found some recipes that are so easy to make and taste good, too. I love to make dinner in my crockpot, basically because it doesn't require me to stick around, so here are the recipes from Recipezaar that I think you should try:

Crock Pot Chicken with Black Beans and Cream Cheese
4-5 frozen chicken breasts
1 (15.5 oz.) can black beans, drained
1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
1 (15 oz.) jar salsa, any kind
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese (or low-fat kind if you're trying to stick to your diet)

1. Put 4-5 frozen (yes, frozen) boneless chicken breasts into crock pot.
2. Add black beans, salsa and corn.
3. Cook on high for about 4-5 hours or until chicken is fully cooked.
4. Add 1 package of cream cheese (just throw it on top!) and let sit for about 30 minutes.
5. You can serve as individual breasts with a yummy sauce, or you can chop (or shred) the chicken up into little pieces and mix all together to be served as a chowder-type soup. SO GOOD!

Easy Crock Pot Lasagna
1 lb. ground beef (or substitute chicken or ground turkey here for a lower fat version)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (29 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste (or substitute the tomato sauce and paste for a 26 oz. jar of Prego)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. salt
1 cup water
8 oz. lasagna noodles, uncooked
4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1. Brown beef (or other meat) with onion and garlic until onion is softened. Drain off the fat.
2. Stir in jar of Prego OR tomato sauce and tomato paste, salt, and oregano. Also add the water. Mix well.
3. Spread one fourth of the meat sauce in an ungreased slow cooker. Arrange one third of the UNCOOKED noodles over the sauce.
4. Combine the cheeses.
5. Spoon one third of the cheese mixture over the noodles.
6. Repeat layers twice.
7. Top with remaining meat sauce.
8. Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours OR on high for 2.5 hours.

Give these a try and let me know what you think! Bon appetit!

Halloween Fun

2007-11-03T23:22:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween! This year, Nick went as Link from the Legend of Zelda game and Ashlee went as Princess Aurora (also known as Sleeping Beauty.)

Look closely at the one where Ashlee is with some of her classmates (top right). You might have to click on it to enlarge it a bit. It seems that the "princess" has decided to give the poor girl in orange some bunny ears for the photo. I never thought a kindergartener could be that obnoxious! I had to put this one up because it makes me laugh! Ashlee looks like a football player posing for a team photo!

Trick or treating was a lot of fun. We went over to Janie and Andrea's neighborhood and Ashlee was pleasantly surprised to her see her old friend Josie from preschool whom she hasn't seen for at least a year, probably longer. All the kids had fun running from house to house and getting LOTS of candy.

There is a guy in our neighborhood who goes all out for Halloween. He decorates his entire property including parking a skeleton-driven hearse on the street. The creepiest part was the weird creature riding behind the skeleton. It seriously freaked me out! It was pretty hard to see in the dark so by the time you get up close enough to the window to see what it really is, you're face to face with it and that's when you wet your pants with fright! Ashlee was scared so I had to pretend that I was perfectly OK with it, even though I wanted to scream like a banshee! What is a banshee, anyway?? Hope you all had a great Halloween!

The Big Day!

2007-11-01T09:34:00.000-05:00

Ashlee came home from school at the beginning of October and announced that she had invited half of her Kindergarten class to her birthday party. I panicked a little bit, but then calmly reminded her that we were only having a family party at home this year because she had a big princess party with lots (ten, to be exact) of her friends last year. After seeing the disappointment on her face, I told her we should make a compromise--we would invite two friends and go to Chuck E. Cheese's. Thankfully, she was very happy with this arrangment.

On the day of her birthday, we ate out at Red Robin and the waiters sang her a happy birthday song and gave her free ice-cream. Good for both Ashlee and me! :)

At home, she opened more presents and finally got to blow the candles out on her My Little Pony cake.

I usually go all out making the cake, which is extremely time consuming. I wised-up this year by putting a Pony on the cake instead of trying to frost one with 3,000 different rainbow colors.

Queen for the day at Chuck E. Cheese and opening the number one present on her list -- Pinkie Pie's Balloon House! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Enjoying the day with Erin and Samantha. Here Nick is showing only a very small fraction of the tens of thousands of tickets he won doing a variety of games. Good job Nick!
Happy Birthday Ash!

The Tooth Fairy Cometh!

2007-11-01T09:04:00.000-05:00

This tiny little tooth that had been loose for weeks finally made its debut the day before Ashlee's 6th birthday. She was pretty darned excited. So excited that early the next morning she woke me up to tell me that the Tooth Fairy had come in the night and left a whole dollar under her pillow! I said,"Wow! That's SO exciting! And today is your birthday, too!" She paused to think about that for a second and said,"I get to open presents today AND the Tooth Fairly left me a dollar!"

The Tables Have Turned!

2007-11-01T08:37:00.000-05:00

The other day, Ashlee and I went to Michael's to track down some pipe cleaners for Nick's Halloween party craft. While waiting in line to check out, there was a display with little tiny plastic characters that I think were to use to decorate scrapbook pages. Ashlee pointed to one and said,'Aww, Mom. Look! There's a little Frankie dog." I said, "Oh, that looks just like Frankie. How cute." Then she points to another one and says in all seriousness,"And look! There's you and Daddy!" I expected to see a girl and a boy or something like that. Instead, I found that she was pointing to one that had 2 monkeys on it! I protested,"But those are monkeys, Ashlee!" She started to giggle and said,"I know, you and Daddy are monkeys!" I said,"I can't believe you said that, you monkey!!" Then we both started laughing really hard. We laughed all through check out and all the way to the car.
She was using my own joke against me. Sometimes, when we're watching Animal Planet and a chimpanzee comes on the screen, I say, "Ashlee (or Nick), how did you get on TV?" I never thought that such a sweet, innocent-looking girl would actually use the same joke on me! What have I done?

Autumn in Michigan

2007-10-28T20:47:00.001-05:00

This fall, I've been reminded of my two favorite things about Michigan--good friends and an autumn trip to the apple orchards . . .

Nicole visited from Utah for a weekend and we had lunch at Casey's Tavern. So great to see her!

Ashlee at Wasem's Fruit Farms later that afternoon. They sell the yummiest pumpkin-batter donuts and crisp, juicy apples. Mmmm . . .

Janie and Andrea. It was pretty chilly, but this is as warm as they were going to dress. I had my winter coat on!

Halt! Thief! Abby was trying to lift Ashlee up so that they could see into the window where they were making donuts. It looked like they were up to no good!

Jake, Freya and Ashlee. Such cute little kiddies!

My Baby's a Cub Scout!

2007-10-28T20:05:00.001-05:00

Yep, it's true. Nicky is a Cub Scout. More specifically he's a Wolf and is in Troop 100. So I've now entered the realm of weekly den meetings and monthly pack meetings, cute little uniforms, sew-on patches, flag ceremonies, and pinewood derbies. Scouting is a whole new world for me, but Nick loves it and is looking forward to his pack meeting this week where he will be presented with his Bobcat badge. Yay for Nick!

Walk to Cure Diabetes

2007-10-28T19:45:00.001-05:00

I have so much catching up to do! Last month, we participated in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Walk to Cure Diabetes. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who contributed to such a worthy cause. Team Freeman was able to raise almost $500! I was overwhelmed at the generosity so many of you showed. Also, a big thanks to Abbi, Ryan and Freya for joining Team Freeman and doing the walk with us. We had a lot of fun!

Trippin' Utah Style

2007-09-12T18:04:00.001-05:00

These cute little kiddies are "the cousins." They are so adorable! I had to make sure I got a photo of them all so I could go brag about them on my blog. First is Tyler (Sarah's little boy), then Jack and Abby (Ben's kiddies), and then Braden (Nat's little boy who is almost hidden by Simba the dog--I would have gotten a better shot of him except that he wouldn't sit still for more than half a second.) Abby is 4 years old, Tyler just turned 2, and Jack and Braden will both be 2 in just a couple of months. I'm jealous we live so far away from them all!

This was just after our tubing adventure down the Provo River. It was all great fun until I slammed into a concrete bridge support (also aptly known as "the Bridge of Doom") When I surfaced, I made the mistake of attempting to swim towards my runaway tube only to have been swept into shallow water where I kicked the rocks on the bottom a few times in a panic. No broken bones, but my bruises are still very sore. Sarah and Ben didn't even know I'd fallen off. Thanks, guys! Remind me not to hire you as river guides anytime soon! Don't you think Ben should use this shot to book some modeling jobs? :)

This was taken at Oktoberfest at Snowbird Ski Resort. Blonde is definitely Sarah's color! Ja! I would add something witty in German here, but no sprechen zie Deutsch.

Celebrating a late birthday with Tyler (look at his cute little face) and an early birthday for Sarah. We also made it up to Centerville for Chinese takeout with Dennis who was all alone because Anne was out of town. He introduced me to Neilsen's Frozen Custard. Why have I never been to this place before??? I feel like a traitor but I have to admit, it was the best ice-cream (or custard, I guess) I have ever had in my life. Twenty times better than Cold Stone hands down. It was so good I should have taken a photo of it!
Thanks so much to Sarah for requesting me as her birthday present. It was so fabulous to hang out without kids in tow for once and take a breather before heading back for a new school year.

Sunday Night Football

2007-09-10T12:29:00.001-05:00

No matter how much I try to ignore it, football season is here. Though I can't stand to sit and watch college or professional ball on TV, there's something highly entertaining about my kids playing with their dad. It's adorable, it's funny, it's touching, but it's also extremely competitive! (I didn't teach the kids that, it's just a genetic thing I think . . . no one likes to lose, right?) It's a sign that fall is on its way and that's one of my favorite seasons to spend in Michigan. I can already smell the pumpkin doughnuts and apple cider. Let the games begin!

Upgrading

2007-09-10T08:47:00.001-05:00

So, it turns out that my car accident was mostly a blessing after all. State Farm paid for this lovely upgrade to my poor old Honda. It's 3 years newer, has 60,000 less miles, leather seats, sunroof, and is an EX model (top of the line). My old car was an LX which is the middle model (say "middle model" ten times really fast!) Now if I can just get them to forget about the rate hike . . .

Bye Bye Poor Honda

2007-09-06T17:47:00.000-05:00

It's with a heavy heart that I said goodbye to my faithful Honda Accord last month. We almost made it to 200,000 miles. What you see here is the result of me rear-ending a Pathfinder with a U-haul bar on it. I had just changed lanes only to look up and see brake lights. The girl in the Pathfinder decided to suddenly stop for a light that had just turned yellow which gave my car a broken nose, black eye and smooshed insides. Her car was completely unscathed (of course) and I was the lucky winner of a "failure to stop within an assured distance" ticket and higher insurance rates. Yay. Happy Birthday to me.

My Ashlee

2007-08-13T09:06:00.000-05:00

I love having a daughter. It has given me the chance to take a peek into what I might have been like growing up. Ashlee has such a great little personality and there are so many things I love about her. She's very sensitive to other people's feelings (and animals, too). The other day, I came downstairs and found her in the laundry room with Frankie. She had decided that he was bored and quickly provided him with entertainment and toys.

In this picture, she has put out her VideoNow player (in case Frankie wanted to watch a movie) and a rubber chicken and a toy helicopter, in case he'd like some toys to play with. It's all neatly placed on top of his dog chow bag for added convenience.

Here she has provided the poor bored puppy (who is supposed to be spending his time eating breakfast) with a very chic silver ribbon around his neck, a bouncy ball, and a tupperware lid full of an assortment of toys. One of the toys in the lid is a tiny little plastic armchair. Ashlee explained that Frankie needed some furniture to sit on.

She was very pleased with herself. And Frankie enjoyed the pampering (I think.) I love this sweet, adorable, kind, loving, dimpled little girl.

Parents Say the Darndest Things

2007-08-07T22:50:00.001-05:00

A couple of nights ago, Ashlee was running around the living room on all fours. By 'all fours' I mean on both hands and both feet (not knees). She'll do this kind of thing often, especially if she is pretending to be some sort of animal, usually a dog. Well, this particular evening, we were all watching a movie together. Ashlee took off at full speed in her little animal way and decided that she wanted the light off. We kept telling her to turn it back on, but then she would turn it off again and laugh like we were playing a game. I kept telling her that she was a naughty monkey (especially since she looked so much like one.) As she ran back and forth, I would say, "OK, cheeky monkey, that's enough. Leave the light on please." After many episodes of turning off the light, I was starting to lose my patience. So I said, "I'm going to count to three and then I'm going to have to spank the . . ." I realized what I was saying just before I said "monkey."

The One That Started It All

2007-07-28T22:37:00.000-05:00

A little addendum to my Making Up My Own Song post . . . today I was reminded how slow I can be sometimes. You know that old song by Genesis, Invisible Touch? It came on the radio today so I started singing along with it. There's a line in it that goes, "She seems to have an invisible touch yeah." Here is the line that I have sung for years, "She sees a hat and invisible touch it." I know. My version makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. It just added to my idea (while I was growing up, not now, of course) that most songs don't make much sense. Jere just shakes his head and tries to make himself believe that one day I will think these things through a bit more thoroughly . . .

I'm Almost a Runner

2007-07-18T19:57:00.000-05:00

Today I had a breakthrough in my running. I finally did the first 8 minutes of my run without even breathing hard! This is a big accomplishment for me. For the past five weeks, I've been following a training program that teaches one how to run a 5K and every single run has been on the same level of torture as having my fingernails pulled off one by one. I know, I was grossly out of shape, but apparently, my sluggish body has finally achieved some stamina. I was so excited about it that I did the rest of my run around the neighborhood with a big grin on my face! Call me a big nerd, but at least I'm a big nerd who can RUN! Yippee!!

Making Up My Own Song!

2007-07-11T20:38:00.000-05:00

I am terrible at learning the lyrics to songs. It's funny how long I can go with a lyric in my head that makes absolutely no sense to me, but I'll keep singing it that way until Jere looks at me and says, "What are you singing?" Like that U2 song called One there's a line that I thought said,"Have you come here to play cheeses?" In my strange little world, I just figured that there was a game in Ireland called Cheeses that I'd never heard of. Turns out (as Jere corrected me through fits of laughter) that it says, "Have you come here to play Jesus. . ." AND it makes even more sense with the next line which goes, ". . .to the lepers in your head?" So apparently, there's no Irish game called Cheeses. Go figure!

There's another song called Voices Carry by an eighties band called 'Til Tuesday (I only know the name of the band thanks to Google.) For as long as I can remember, I have always sang, "Oh hush. Keep it down now. This is scary." After Jere stopped laughing, he explained that it's, "Hush hush. Keep it down now. Voices carry." I was SO sure that my version was the correct one even after he told me what the words really are. My version kind of makes sense, but I guess it does make a little more sense with "voices carry." I still sing "this is scary." I just can't unwire my brain on that one.

Remember that show, The Jeffersons from forever ago with the Movin' on Up theme song? Well, this one really puzzles me because I could swear that the lady singing it says, "Well, we're movin' on up, to the top, to a deluxe apartment . . ." My sister Sarah and I have sung it this way since the beginning of time, therefore that's how everyone else should sing it. Both her husband and mine said that it's actually, "Well, we're movin' on up, to the east side, to a deluxe . . ." Say what??? We had a big argument over the correct words, girls against guys, and for the first time since Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, we girls were . . . well, we were . . . ughhh! I just can't say it. OK, we were wrong. There I said it. But you have to admit, our way fits better and just plain makes more sense. So again, I'm hardwired to sing this one wrong. You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Now this next line of lyrics from James Blunt's Tears and Rain I actually had gotten right for once. It goes, "All pleasure's the same, it just keeps me from trouble, Hides my true shape, like Dorian Gray." So whenever it came on, Jere and I couldn't figure out what the "Dorian Gray" part was all about. Jere thought it was the name of some English tea. At least that was an intelligent guess. I said that I thought it might be a specific shade of the color gray, like the color of the Dorian car on Back to the Future (wasn't it a silvery gray color?) There was a pause and then Jere laughed so hard I thought he'd wet his pants. He said, "Beck, it's called a De Lorean car!" Oh! Woops!

And just for your information, I found out that Dorian Gray is a character in a book by Oscar Wilde called The Picture of Dorian Gray. When you find out what the book is about, the lyric really works. Who knew that songwriters were so smart?

May Pix!

2007-06-27T13:07:00.000-05:00

Cool! I did it! OK, actually Jere did it, but here are the rest of the photos from the month of May. Enjoy!

May 2007

Personal DNA

2007-06-16T19:51:00.001-05:00

I stumbled across this website that lets you take a personality test and then gives you a Personal DNA profile. Takes about 30 min. to complete but it's free and interesting. My results were that I was a "Benevolent Director" and it kind of surprised me that I was more masculine than feminine. . . ?? Maybe all those years as a tomboy came shining through. Anyway, click on the link below and give it a try!

I Love to Sleep!

2007-06-12T08:24:00.000-05:00

I have always been a deep sleeper. Once I'm out, it's pretty difficult to wake me up. I've been known to sleep through entire nights of thunder and lightning and wake up fully refreshed. I think I'm just genetically that way. I've been told I was a month overdue coming into this world. Why be in a rush to leave a nice cozy cocoon and pop out into the bright lights of this crazy world? My dad even described me as a baby with "a very sleepy temperament." Even in my first photo at the hospital you will see that I can barely open my eyes for my close-up. That's why I have small eyes. I didn't practice opening them much as a baby.

High school was hard for me because it started even earlier than elementary and middle school. Since I lived the farthest away from the bus stop, it was my job to stop at each of my three friends' homes on my way down the hill. They would always greet me with a smile and an abnormally perky "Good morning, Sunshine!" Sunshine was my nickname because they knew I hated early mornings so much. Very funny. There's nothing worse than peppy, happy people first thing in the morning. Go back to bed and come back when you're sufficiently grumpy.

Getting up early seems to be an unspoken competition between people. When anyone asks what time I get up in the morning, I always reply with a time that is one to two hours earlier than the actual time I get up because there seems to be horrible shame in admitting that you don't get up at 4:00am. Even if I did say that I got up at 4:00am, the other person inevitably says something like, "Oh. You don't roll out of bed until 4:00am? We'll I'm up and ready to go at THREE!" I haven't met another person on this planet that gets up one minute later than I do, even when I'm lying. I have observed that one is held in higher regard if one is an early riser. If you are a later riser (even if you get up at 7:30am), you are lazy. That's just how it is, so get used to it. If I mention that I sleep a little later because I don't get to bed until one or two in the morning, it either falls on deaf ears (the other party is already disgusted with my grotesquely late wake-up time), or they can't fathom going to bed that late. Another note to self: people who go to bed that late are just plain irresponsible.

Recently, my father-in-law said that "the older you get, the less sleep you need." The reverse of that seems to be true for me. So I'm thinking that by the time I'm eighty, I'll need about 20 hours of sleep a night. For me, early risers are a true phenomenon. I don't understand how they do it. Just like marathon runners. How do they do it? It shouldn't be physically possible. So if you are an early riser and you can run 26 point something miles all in one go, you are a freak of nature.

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. I know many people who do just that and are usually missing at least one of the healthies, wealthies or wises (usually the wealthies and surprisingly often, the wises, too.) I think most people probably forget about the "early to bed" part in that case. For me, I'm happy to say that my name is Becky and I'm a sleep-aholic.

The Month of May

2007-06-03T22:10:00.000-05:00

Phew! I know I haven't posted in a really long time, but as you will see, I've been busy having fun. We had family visiting, Nick's birthday, a trip to Arizona, a high school graduation, a court of honor, Nick's baptism, more family visiting (and being visited), a trip to Lake Powell, a trip to the Grand Canyon, and a long journey home again. I had originally picked out 72 pictures for this entry, but Jere told me that was way too many, and to my chagrin, I was forced to whittle it down to a mere five. Once I figure out how to do a link to the other really cool photos, I'll add that, too. Here we go . . .

Aunt Bessie, visiting from Australia, and my sister Natalie, visiting from Pennsylvania. This was the first weekend in May. Got way too much shopping done as Bessie will testify to when she tries to get all her stuff home!

Nicholas turned eight! We had a little celebration for him in Michigan and then left the next day for Arizona where Grandma Freeman made him a really cool cake. He looks so dapper in the birthday hat! He still refuses to tell me what he wished for before blowing out his candles. You'd think little kids would spill the beans a bit more easily! Oh, well. This won't stop me from unwrapping and rewrapping presents under the Christmas tree--preparing the correct response is essential, you know.

Turning eight is usually followed by a baptism (at least amongst us Mormons). Grandpa Parker conducted the meeting, Uncle Matt gave the opening prayer, Grandma Parker and Grandma Freeman gave really nice, spirit-filled talks (or tear-jerkers as I like to call them) on baptism and the Holy Ghost, then a few comments from the first counselor and Grandpa Parker, and then a closing prayer by Grandpa Freeman. Auntie Melissa did a beautiful job of accompanying all the songs and Auntie Tianna did a stellar job of leading the music. It was a great day to be surrounded by so many family members! (I love Jere's short pants. They were even shorter in real life . . . hee! hee!)

Then we were off to Lake Powell for some serious attempts to look as brown as the locals. This included a day of jet-skiing and a day of boating. There was also a really nice pool that we usually had all to ourselves. The unfortunate part was me having to wear a bathing suit . . . maybe that's why the pool was so empty!

We had a blast with Natalie, Aaron, Braden, Sarah, Brandon, Tyler, Bessie (when she wasn't capsizing the jet-skis), Anne & Dennis.

The last day of our trip was an excursion to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I don't know how we survived the heart-attack-inducing driving that Jere so kindly provided, but Bessie, Anne and I found good use for all those nifty bar-handles that Honda installs in their Odysseys. The North Rim is just fantastic! However, it's amazing how many times death crosses your mind on those skinny little trails. Just one wrong step and say hello to the bottom of the canyon, which is about a million miles down. A highly recommended adrenaline rush!

What a great month! It was so incredibly wonderful to have family around and the kids really enjoyed all the cousins. It was hard to come back to Michigan, but it has quenched a little bit of our thirst to be near those who are related to us.

Well, today is my thirteenth (yes, I said thirteenth) wedding anniversary, so I really must go. Wow! I must be getting old . . . I have an eight-year-old and I've been married for 13 years. The next thing you know I'll be posting a blog about Ashlee leaving for college.

Karate Champion

2007-04-28T18:40:00.000-05:00

Today was Nick's very first karate tournament at PKSA Karate School in Riverview. He chose to do Forms and Breaking as his events and did really well. Jere and I were so proud of him we couldn't stop grinning! We got lots of photos and video of Nick's big day so I thought I'd share some here. Tang soo!

Picture #1: Competing in his first event, Forms. He got the highest score!

Picture #2: Nick being awarded his well-earned gold medal by the black-belt judges. Good job buddy!

Picture #3: Breaking a wooden board with a powerful kick! He also broke other boards with his fist and elbow. Don't mess with him--he might hurt you! Nick's boards were thicker than his competitors! We tried to talk him into thinner boards, but he refused. Such a brave boy!

Picture #4: Nick with one of his instructors, Master Pitti. Nick has been approved to do the testing for his green stripe.

Picture #5: Showing off the goods! He got the highest score in both of his events and went home with two gold medals! This put him in a very good mood indeed!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies (South Beach Diet)

2007-04-26T20:28:00.000-05:00

Today I did pretty well at sticking to my diet. I don't know which diet I'm doing this time. It's a combination of South Beach and Atkins, so I eat a lot of protein and salad. It was getting old today and I was craving a baked dessert. I flipped through my South Beach cookbook and found this recipe which I had never tried before tonight. They were so good that even Nicholas ate them (and kept asking for more!) So, here's the recipe for anyone who would like to try it--I would double it to have them on hand for unexpected cravings:

3/4 cup granular sugar substitute (Splenda)
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup sugar-free jam, any flavor

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
Mix Splenda, egg, and vanilla together with an electric mixer on low for 3 minutes. Add peanut butter and baking soda. Mix on medium until dough comes together, about 30 seconds.
Form dough into 24 (2-teaspoon) balls and place on baking sheet 1 inch apart. Gently press your thumb into the center of each to make an indentation. Fill each indentation with 1/2 tsp. jam.
Bake until lightly browned on the bottom, 12-14 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Makes 24 cookies. Yummy! You will forget you're even on a diet!

Nutrition Facts:
Per cookie: 70 calories, 5.5 grams fat, 1.25 grams sat. fat, 3 grams protein, 3.5 grams carbohydrate, 1 gram dietary fiber, 105 mg sodium

Spring Means Creepy Crawlies

2007-04-23T18:19:00.000-05:00

Michigan had truly lovely weather today. Seventy degrees and sunshine. We've had freezing temps and dull grey skies for so long that when we get a day like today, everyone emerges like bears from hibernation. We try to soak up the sun (no, I'm not listening to Sheryl Crow right now) but we're always careful not to get too used to the idea of blue skies and warm, gentle breezes. As my fellow Michiganders will tell you, the very next day could be a snowstorm with temperatures that will freeze the liquid in your eyeballs. We're wary of the warm days, like they'll be ripped away from us at any moment. So in celebration of a warm spring day, I will do everything in my power to be outside. I've even been known to pick up sticks and yard debris. I don't care as long as I'm outside. Even picking up a month or two of accumulating dog poop can't dampen my spirits. I'm outside with no need for a winter coat and gloves, and I'm going to stay here, dang it!

But there's a dark side to these beautiful sunny days. No one likes to talk about it, but we all experience it on some level. I'm referring to all the little scary creatures with six or more legs. They like the warm weather just as much as we do, much to my chagrin. And being an arachnophobe to the extreme, the sudden appearance of their kind gives me such an awful fright that it's lucky I don't end up in the hospital with heart failure. Earlier today, I was walking home with my son after school. We were enjoying a splendid walk with the dog while Ashlee sat contentedly in the jogger stroller. Nick chatted about his day at school while Ashlee and I listened. As we approached our house, I pushed the stroller up on to the front porch. Nick headed straight to the front door, saying that he "really had to go." I said, "Hang on. I've just got to get the keys out of the stroller." As I turned to retrieve them, I was confronted with a very strange and scary-looking spider. It was perched two inches from the opening of the compartment that held my keys. I froze immediately and made a weird, unflattering sound. I must always make this sound when I see a bug or spider, because Nick picked up on it right away. He followed my frozen gaze and piped up with, "Mom. It's OK. You're just going to have to tell yourself that you can do it. The spider won't hurt you, he's a friendly spider! You can do it, Mom! Just be strong! You have to because I REALLY have to go to the bathroom!"

Strangely enough, this little pep talk actually worked! I suddenly felt no fear! I flicked the fabric on the stroller so that the spider fell off, made a quick check to see that it had fallen very far away from me, and grabbed my keys with gusto! I was a hero and I had saved my son not only from loss of bladder control, but from a big, hairy spider that could have killed us all!

The next part of this story does not tell tales of me squishing the spider I had flicked off the stroller. Only in the direst of situations do I make direct physical contact with the most horrible creature on earth. The closest I would come to that would be chucking a shoe and praying that it hit its mark. I don't wad up flimsy toilet paper and try to squash spiders with my hand. Are you out of your mind? There's always a chance the little bugger might decide to jump at the exact moment that I'm hesitating just inches above it. And if I happen to miss and squash part of its leg or something, then I'll have an angry spider who knows my address. No, I'm not taking any chances. People have suggested I get one of those hand-held vacuum cleaners made specifically for sucking up all kinds of bugs and spiders. Yeah, have you actually seen one? It's made out of see-through plastic. The last thing I need is the spider traveling down the crystal-clear tube to be deposited into my hand. Uh-huh. And how do you know it will stay inside the vacuum once you turn it off? Ever think of that?

So, my main line of defense is to scream so loud it hurts my throat, freeze in place, and then yell for Jere. Once I hear him coming, I exit the area immediately. After I hear the toilet flush, my blood pressure starts to return to normal. If Jere's not around, I resort to my can of hairspray. Not as effective, but at least it slows down the horrible rapid movements they usually make. It's a silly cycle, really. I don't like being so afraid of these ghastly creatures. It's a bit debilitating at times. Oh, well. Hopefully, Nick will always be around to give me a good pep talk. If not, I'll always have a good supply of aerosol on hand.

Attack of the Moo Cow!

2007-04-22T19:07:00.000-05:00

Little kids are the funniest creatures on earth. Especially mine. I get a good ab workout observing their daily antics (when they're not at each others' throats, of course!) So I decided to post a few pictures to give you an idea of the kind of scenery I'm exposed to with these miniature people. This sequence of pix was taken on a day that Ashlee was trying on Halloween costumes because she couldn't decide what she wanted to be for the big day. And this is what happened after she saw herself in the mirror and took on her new role as a cow (or bull, I should say).

1. Ashlee gets a glimpse of the ferocious beast she has recently morphed into and is on the prowl . . .

2. The unsuspecting victim. Run, Nick, run!!!

3. The cow makes her move and a terrible scuffle ensues!

4. Suddenly, the cow decides her prey has a strange odor.

5. The cow makes a final attack to ensure the death of her prey.

Give it a go, Mike!

2006-11-23T23:45:00.000-05:00

Never in a million years did I actually believe I would become an official blogger. I leave all the computer stuff to Jere who has already created a blog for our family. I have this weird block in my head that if it's computer-related, Jere will take care of it. So it's somewhat unreal to be sitting here typing my first post, but it's also about time I stop acting like a senior citizen and start taking advantage of all this really cool 'tech' stuff. Now if I could just figure out how to upload some pix . . . Jere?