Yesterday

Yes sir, I did, in fact, eat some of the WORLD'S BIGGEST ECLAIR yesterday. We stopped in on our way to story time to behold and consume the six foot creamy, chocolaty delight with frosted flowers on top. The kids got some too. FM 100, easy listening was there, it was a BIG deal.

I am getting in a Halloweenie mood by reading this:

Thanks for sending it to me Shauna, I am LOVING IT, and I enjoyed Cold Comfort Farm as well.

and then going to see this:

The Rogers Memorial theater is very fun. It's tiny so the stage is right there in front of the seats, in fact, you walk across the stage to get to your seats! We were on the second row so we saw MURDER! MURDER! IN THE NIIIIIGHT! right in front of our eyes. It was so great, but I tend to giggle when I am nervous...or during kissing scenes.....so I felt like I had to cover my face a lot of the evening as not to make the actors feel like I was mocking their wonderful performace. And then, neither Darin nor I felt comfortable giving a standing ovation because we would have been eye to eye with the cast, that seems too intimate for me. I was giving a standing ovation in my heart, rest assured.

Thank you Jami, for watching our little ones, and for giving Miriam the opportunity to create this astounding piece of jewlery, and for reading her 6 + books, and for puting M & B to bed all snug and tight, and for hanging at my house for 3 hours. You are amazing!

The leaves haven't even turned yet!

Quick Snowman in between EQ meetings and church

Then we got really creative and made Snow Ghosties.

While Daddy is away...

Darin, I hope you and your Dad are enjoying this bonding Father/Son Kayak building Saturday.
This is how we spent our Saturday morning without you...

Attended the Baptism for MacLayne and Emmaline
there were lots and lots and LOTS of kids there.

Had lunch at the Paradise Cafe...a bit of a splurge, I know.

We like their food, but we LOVE their cookies!

Sugar-Mouth kids

Then we went to buy printer ink ($35!?)


Then we went to see "fishes galore!" "birds galore!" "hamsters galore!" and one fluffy white cat (Miriam still loves using her new favorite word).

Now Bub is napping, and so was I until Miriam hit her elbow while dancing to Bella DancerElla and started crying. She wanted a frozen burrito so I made her one. Now she is laying on our bed moaning about being sick and saying she will NEVER eat another frozen burrito again until she turns 6!!

It's such a cold blustery day that I haven't had the energy to:
wash the dishes
type up and print out (with new ink) my Young Women handouts
make my bed
enter receipts
or do anything remotely productive.

This afternoon we might:
Go to All Tucked In to see if there are any left over books signed by Shannon Hale (I missed her talk today because of the baptism)
Drive to the mall to return some overpriced pants I bought for Bub that don't fit very well.
Sit around and watch movie after movie (that's actually just a pipe dream since the kids wouldn't last through one movie).

I love you!

Storytime Wednesdays

It was one of those days where Miriam gets dressed in normal clothes but when I say "Miriam, come get in the car" she emerges in a new ensemble.

We adore the library.

Wet Weekend

The kids and I spent the weekend with my family at my parents cabin in the mountains. We were a few weeks past the prime foliage but it was still beautiful. We had hopped to help stain the deck, but the rain kept us from being productive. I actually prefer to be doing something while I listen to General Conference or else I just zonk out and sleep for 4 hours. I actually listen if my hands are busy doing some monotonous chore. Luckily there were meals to make and things to keep my hands busy, and cousins to keep Miriam and Bub busy, so I was able to listen to more complete talks than I have since Miriam was born.

My big impressions from conference are:

have hope
Unity
If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all
The blessing of Priesthood blessings
Create + Service = contentment
Faith is a feeling and a choice


Then we celebrated this little sweetie's birthday.

"Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you!
You smell like a Tater.....
and you look like one too!"

-poem by Sarah

September Cookies

Miriam and Finn made cookies after pre-school today. They came out of the oven in time to share with the neighborhood kids who have gathered around our fence-less mud pile of a yard. They are, as I type this, screaming their guts out for no reason at all. I was thinking of going down to stop them, but I remember hearing somewhere that kids should practice screaming as LOUD as they can so they can do it if they are ever kidnapped. They are doing really well.

We found a Halloween tree. Now all we have to do is add the spooks!

What We Did Yesterday

Ogden Eccles Dinosaur Park was entertaining. The recorded dino sounds made Miriam apprehensive at first, but she came around. Bub yelled in delight at all the dinosaurs, although I think he prefers the zoo with its live action. The park is located at the base of Ogden Canyon, so it's surrounded by gorgeous scenery, and this time of year is especially pretty. I give it a 3 star mother rating....I would say 4 but it is so far away from us.

What We Did Today

Fence Demolition
Darin fought a long, hot, battle with some concrete slabs, but was victorious in the end.
I was in charge of garbage removal and made many trips to the dumpster.

Darin found Miriam this monster of a worm. She was thrilled and added "big daddy" to her collection!

I love how this guy can entertain himself with buckets, rocks, and dirt clods for hours on end.

This week will be the reconstruction. I am feeling overwhelmed, but I am confident in Darin's abilities. Anyone up for a little fence building? Could be fun right?

I took the kids to the Young Women's Dodge ball game tonight. Crazy idea, I know, but Darin was busy with his own calling, and his service was even less kid friendly. When we drove one of the girls home Miriam said this:

"Brooklyn, winning the game isn't what matters...it's if you have fun and do your best"

So this is when my heart swells, and I think maybe I am doing something right. Until she finishes her thought.

"I learned that from TV."

*The dodge ball has been so fun! It requires less skill than basketball and volleyball so all the girls love it and feel included. They still get really competitive, but less aggravated by non-sporty team mates and there is less pressure. I highly recommend it for any YW sports program.

Why I am not blogging....

#1 I am on this new house cleaning regiment. I LOVE it, I feel so much more "with it", and my house looks better but it's cut into my blogging time.

#2 Doing home pre-school with Miriam takes more time than I anticipated. Prep work AND actually sitting down to do it. She has started reading the beginning level reading books, and is getting fairly good at writing. She always requests more crafts, and has her heart set on a Halloween party this year.

#3 Speaking of Halloween, I am making Miriam's costume. So, I have gone from Jo-Ann's to Hobby Lobby to Wal-Mart, back to Jo-Ann's looking for the cheapest fabric/trim/supplies and using cupons. Luckily I scored a Pottery Barn Lion costume for Bub from Kid to Kid so thats all set. I also scored a pottery barn pirate outfit and the cutest doctor costume, but Miriam really REALLY wants to be Jasmin.

#4 Young Womens - thats all I need to say about that.

#5 I am in the middle of making a photo book for Miriam...and speaking of THAT I need to have it done by tomorrow to get it for FREE so I better end this.

But, I do want to remember that Miriam's teacher Miss Melissa told my neighbor and I that she is overjoyed with how Miriam and FinLey are doing as peer models. She said she coudln't have hand picked better kids. I guess they have been picking up on the phrases the teachers use and have been heard to say "uh oh Liam, remember to use your words" or "We have to use our manners". This makes me very happy. Since Miriam gets to participate in this amazing program virtually free, it reasures me that she if fulfilling the role they needed well.

As always there is a wee bit of worry at the back of my mind. Like......I hope Miriam doesn't get kicked when she says those same phrases in kindergarten.

A Family is Forever

All five siblings and my parents were in the temple last Saturday. It was a beautiful night, a wonderful reminder of what is important. I love my family.

The BIG READ

The Big Read is a National Endowment for the Arts program designed to encourage community reading initiatives and of their top 100 books, they estimate the average adult has read only six.

Here’s what you are supposed to do:
*Look at the list and bold those we have read.
*Italicize those we intend to read.
*Underline the books we LOVE. Share this list in your blog, too, if you like.

I can't figure out how to underline, so I am going to color the ones I have read and use Michelle's star ratings for the ones I loved.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen**
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte**
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling*


5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee**
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte*
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott**
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell**
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen**
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis*
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden


40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne**
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery**
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons*
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen*
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding** (British cussing isn't real swearing)
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett**
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce*
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White** (our first Mom and Me book club read!)
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl*
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo*

Yikes, I've only read 29!
Any recommendation from the list? Keep in mind, I don't do well with anything too gut wrenching...I have been known to be upset for weeks over books that are too miserable, and graphic. I do love to be inspired.

Bub Report

We had Bub's well child visit last Thursday. This was his year and 15 month visit combined because we missed an appointment last May. Actually, I have made 4 total appointments since May and something has come up each time (sickness, vacation, Dr had to cancel). So here are the Bub stats at 15 months:
Weight: 20 lbs 15 oz (10%)
Length: 31 in. (50%)
Head circumference: 18 1/2 in. (50%)

He is a happy boy, who likes to make us laugh with his antics. He has the most contagious laugh himself, and has recently started screaming with delight at the top of his lungs, which is amusing and annoying at the same time. He can also throw a nasty little fit, which usually includes dropping to all fours, crawling away at top speed until he feels the distance is just right, and then flopping onto his belly. This usually makes me laugh, and he consoles easily which is nice. Our latest fun has been teaching him sign language, he knows eat, water, finished, more, and airplane. Oh! and we also love asking him where his tongue is, although that might be something we will have to stop doing one of these days.

Bub Loves: Balls, throwing EVERYTHING, pouring EVERYTHING, airplanes, kissing, hugging, groovin' to music, and chasing Miriam.

So about that pre-school thing

Miss Amy and Miss Melissa

First off, since Miriam is my first child I stress about waaaay to much. I take little things too seriously, I worry about things that don't matter and I put too much energy into worring about those things. Like for instance, a little thing like pre-school. I have nothing against pre-school, but I have never felt the need to put Miriam into a real pre-school (especially when I saw how much they cost). I just couldn't justify spending the money when I didn't feel she needed it, and would benefit more from something physical like dance or swimming.

Then I started to feel pressure because everyone else her age was signing up (and that is no exaggeration EVERYONE in our neighborhood is going), it is also a major topic of conversation among my friends these days. Then, Miriam really wanted to go. I kept placating Miriam with the idea that she went to school too....it was just a school that happened during Bub's naps with just Mom. She was okay with it, especially the field trips, but I could tell she still wanted to GO to a preschool like everyone else. I felt like our decision not to do pre-school was right but I think both M and I were feeling a bit left out.

The Perfect Solution:
Our neighbor asked if Miriam wanted to be apart of a pre-school for mentally and physically challenged pre-school aged children. The program is everyday for 2&1/2 hours for the challenged kids, but the last hour and a half they have a few "mainstream" (for lack of a better word) kids come for modeling, to make connections....I am not sure completely why they come but it works. Miriam goes during that time, just for the "centers" (educational free play) outside play, circle time (songs stories and such) and snacktime. This completely works for us because she gets all the pre-school stuff she dreamed of, and I still get to teach her my pre-school for the reading & writing stuff (and I think my curriculum rocks).

The Pros
Miriam loves it.
They are doing a lot with sign language since there is a little boy who won't/can't? speak.
I am hoping this exposure to kids that are a bit different from her will make her comfortable enough to be friends with anyone and everyone.
It's only $30 for the ENTIRE year, plus a box of cookies, Kleenex, and Clorox wipes every month.
It's held in an elementary school, so hopefully Miriam will be familiar with how school is run by the time kindergarten starts.
There are only 7 kids in the class.

The Cons
It is held Monday - Thursday for an hour and a half. Between this and Bub's nap, we have very little time for field trips....and I dearly love field trips. So, my social life and entertainment has been sacrificed.

We are happy none-the-less. Prayers are answered my friends.....even prayers about things that don't really matter that much.

The Children's Literature Book Club

I am not a big fantasy book reader....at all. I am a Little Women, Anne of Green Gables kind of reader, BUT I read Twilight before it became really popular. Want to know why a girl like me would read a book about vampire love before the hoopla?

Because of this blog:

The Children's Literature Book Club

It's a great resource if your looking for books for young adults and children, but it's also just entertaining in and of itself. Go check it out.

This is like blogger Reading Rainbow.

It's Bird Week!

I can't believe I forgot my camera (my new small one that fits in my purse) for our highlight of "Bird Week". We went to the Tracy Aviary today. There were so many great photo ops, it was killing me! There was the swarm of ducks and aggressive Canadian geese that surrounded us honking for bread. Miriam started to whimper, Bub squealed in delight (he has never been nipped by a goose) and I was laughingly saying "throw the bread farther away!". There was the persistent peacock who joined us for lunch, thoroughly amusing us, as well as the feather collection Miriam accumulated. The day was mild and so peaceful in the aviary. Loud, with all the squawking birds, but peaceful none the less. I would say our first week of "mom and me" preschool was a success!

The benefit of having pre-school with just Miriam Bub and I is that there will be LOTS and LOTS of field trips.

Although....we did get a call yesterday inviting Miriam to join a special pre-school. We try it out next Monday, then we will decide if it's for her. No matter what, we will continue our home pre-school, I have done way too much work and research to bag it!

First Class

The only girl there with leg warmers on....oh the many many perks of having an Aunt who owns a dance studio.

Labor-free Weekend Post

FRIDAY

SATURDAY: Scored peaches at Pettingill's along with a raspberry shake and corn on the cob. When I say "scored" peaches I mean it, they only got 50% of their harvest this year and they have been slow to ripen. It took perseverance and a little luck to get a box. It was a madhouse!

SUNDAY

MONDAY