Fish Lessons

After 4 sessions of community swimming lessons, Miriam can finally put her head under water without sucking it up her nose. THIS IS HUGE. Some say I should have thrown her in the water as a baby, some say I didn't take her swimming enough as an infant, some people say they were born afraid of water....whatever it was, and whether or not it is my fault I am very happy for Miriam.

So many of my childhood memories revolve around water I want my kids to have that same freedom, fun, and opportunity.

{Thank goodness the Easter Bunny usually brings a new swimming suit to put in Miriam's basket, she's lookin a little threadbare. }

Costco Discussions

Costco brings out the philosopher in Miriam. We have had more than one shockingly deep conversation while rolling through the isles looking for fresh samples.
For instance, this is what Miriam said a few weeks ago:
"Mom, sometimes I feel like I don't know who I am....like I am watching other people but I forget I am Miriam, and then I remember I am 5 year old Miriam and I have a little brother Bub and you are my mom and I have dad too."

I think I know what she is talking about. I have those moments when I am watching the world as a confused observer, and then I become startled by my own existence. Darin has experienced it as well so it's probably something very common, I just don't remember ever expressing it to anyone. All I could say to Miriam is that I thought I understood what she meant and agree it is a strange feeling.

WELCOME SPRING!

Oh yes, we did celebrated Springs arrival. I didn't make any plans to celebrate but the weather was so great turned out we didn't even NEED A PLAN.

We played outside with friends and neighbors for THREE HOURS.

Miriam had her "KINDERGARTEN ROUND-UP"which left us both feeling confident about this transition to elementary school. So far I am starry-eyed about our quaint neighborhood school {no one is bused in....almost all the kids walk, and there are only 3 Kindergarten classes, it reminds me of my small hometown!}.

We got DOWN AND DIRTY in the backyard getting things ready for.....

our little GARDEN!

I was apprehensive about doing the garden thing. I LOVE gardens and fresh veggies and I am not afraid of the hard work {I am my mothers daughter after all} but, I want new flooring and am afraid this project with delay the other. However, Darin and Miriam are so enthusiastic about it I thought I might as well join the party.

The best part of our WELCOME SPRING celebration is that Julia and Jared had their baby today!! I can't wait to get my hands on little WYLER DEAN
Congratulations J&J and little T Marie.

Camera found !

I found my camera after it had been lost for a few days {whew}. Here are the events that were just waiting to be blogged about.

Draper Temple open house.
This was my second time through since I went with the Young Women a few weeks ago, but I was excited to bring the kids and meet up with Mirissa.

What Miriam liked best: The chandelier, the oxen, and the cookies. What Bub liked best: the bus ride, Jesus pictures, the cookies. I liked the brides dressing room.....makes me want to renew my vows. I also love that you can look out onto the Salt Lake Valley and see the Jordan River Temple in the distance. Oh and the cookies.

We had to kill some time before we picked up Darin from work so we went to the zoo dressed in our Sunday clothes. I pulled a wagon through the stinky animal houses dressed in pearls and high heeled boots. We received a few strange looks and a guy offered to pull my wagon up the big hill. I got that wagon pulled all by myself because I am of pioneer stock {and too shy to accept help from strangers}.

After picking up Darin we made it to Logan to see Danielle perform in a fabulous play. She did a great job and it was one of the most entertaining story lines I have seen for a youth play.

Way to go Dani we are proud of you!

K yak is coming along nicely.

Grandpa showed us how to make glass beads. It takes practice, but it is addicting.

I was so sad to discover I hadn't taken any pictures of Alicia's visit...but if she post some on her blog I will steal them off for mine. Alicia is sunshine and laughter. We were lucky we got to see her during her Spring Break.

Miriam took lots of pictures with my camera, which I deleted, except for this one. This one is a keeper for obvious reasons.

Fun with Leprechauns

The LEPRECHAUN that visited us last night was a RASCAL
{I didn't take pictures of the mess he made}

but kind and thoughtful as well.

Happy St.Patrick's Day!
it's so easy being green.

{I'm off to cook the corned beef, cabbage, and green mashed potatoes!}

It's been too long

I have checked my blog everyday hoping that somehow it would be magically updated.
I must be in a blog funk....I guess the wishy washy ways of March do that to me.

But life goes on around here whether I record it or not.

Bub is so terribly sick....look at those fevered cheeks, and look at him smiling through the pain. He was not smiling last night around 2:00 am, neither of us were. We have a Dr. appointment tomorrow morning.

I have learned to make some great artisan bread, and it is soooo easy!

Bub always makes me giggle. Lately I am giggling because he tries on any pair of shoes he can find, and then struts around the house in them. The other thing that tickles me is that he finds a special "toy of the day" which he will carry around all day long. As he toddles around from place to place he will put down and pick up this "toy of the day" always keeping track of it. Its usually a truck or ball, but right now....it's this mini stapler or a hole punch and we have to keep the tools out of his reach. So much like his daddy. Well not the shoe trying, strutting stuff, and Darin doesn't carry toys around....or staplers. Wow, I better clarify this, it's just that he enjoys gadgets and tools like his Daddy.

Golden Moment

Miriam has waited 2 long years for this moment.


Today, because I left my library card in the back pocket of the jeans and washed it, I needed to get myself a new card. "I am five now Mom, is five old enough?" she asked me. "We'll ask the librarian" I answered.

Five is old enough for a golden card, with limited access to just the childrens section which means I had to put Vintage Mickey Classics featuring Steamboat Willie on my card...because that is in the adult collection. I will also need to check out High School Musical 3.

If you have not experienced the thrill of pursuing the walls of books/movies/music at your fingertips for FREE, you should try it. It's like a treasure hunt every week.

Happy Square Root Day!

Today is Square Root Day! "a rare holiday that occurs when the day and the month are both the square root of the last two digits of the current year. Numerically, March 3, 2009, can be expressed as 3/3/09, or mathematically as √9 = 3, or 3² = 3 × 3 = 9." {as reported by Steven Musli from CNET}

Square root day only occurs 9 times in a century, the last one being 2/2/04......which happens to be MIRIAM's BIRTHDAY!? I knew 2 + 2 was 4 and that was a cool birthday but since I can't even remember how to do fractions, the whole square root thing never occurred to me! What fun!

"These days are like calendar comets, you wait and wait and wait for them, then they brighten up your day--and poof--they're gone," Ron Gordon {again,from Steve at CNET}

"Saturday is a Special Day......

.....it's the day we get ready for Sunday!"

Darin and I are both preparing lessons for early am church tomorrow. My lesson on "don't be rude to your parents" is basically finished but D is still working on his lesson for the men....hence the late Saturday night blogging.
My lesson is actually entitled Growing and Maturing in Self-reliance. Because I love my Beehives so much, I am including in the lesson a picture of me at 12....the height of my awkwardness. Just to give hope. And let them know they aren't finished.

Today, I got my hair cut and my eyebrows waxed. Darin prefers bushy eyebrows over the sleek arch. When I showed him the awkward 12 year old picture I was using in my lesson all he said was "I liked your eyebrows better then".

I waited 30 min in line to redeem a free automatic car wash.
It was so worth it. I forget how thrilling it is to move along under those rollers.
I wish I had brought the kids, but that can be a $6 adventure for another time.

I went out pre-dusk with the kiddos to enjoy the sunshine. I was waiting for the perfect lighting to get some fine shots of this handsome devil but my camera died after these two pictures.

After going through my old pictures to find the aforementioned awkward photo we discovered that Bub does indeed resemble MY baby pictures. People are constantly saying he looks like his daddy (everyone except Darin and my Mother-in-law) but there is "something very Rasmussen about him" as Darin says.

Miriam, Lindsey, Bub and Charlie at the Chocolate Factory

The Good News: We watched I Love Lucy {the chocolate factory one}
FREE Chocolate
Cheap Seconds

The Bad News: The workers had gone home 15 min before our tour.

The Better News: We have to go back so we can see the factory actually making chocolate which means; more Lucy, free chocolate and a new type of seconds!

{Before we left one woman did start hand dipping chocolates which was fun because that is what Lucy tries to do in the show. }

National Pancake Day

Their slogan: You take Burbon Street we'll take pancakes.

So this is how we celebrated Mardi Gras

Now....the REST of the story. I spilled 2 drinks on my friennd Jami AND Bub and I were sick, so those yummy pancakes came right back up later that day.

Sorry Jami.

Monday Monday

Cupcakes at Artic Circle, probably not the dreamiest way to celebrate a birthday, but kids + rain + townhouse living = meet up at Artic Circle.
Happy Birthday Jami!

FHE: Miriam told us the story of Ammon, and as per her request we listened to two songs about Martin Luther King. The songs weren't in my lesson plan, but he was a valiant servant no doubt, so it worked.

Tight Squeeze after reading Pipi Longstocking.

I've got laundry to fold.

Poster by Douglas Wilson


We finally, finally, FINALLY had our family Valentines Dinner tonight. After days and days of feeling run over by a semi I felt up to cooking real food. We can now take down the Valentines decor just in time for Mardi Gras.

Menu: Mango Italian cream soda (homemade), Moqueca de Peixe (our new favorite), of course rice and then a veggie. After the cream sodas we kept it simple for dessert, a brownie bite with whipped cream and a cherry on top.

I requested my valentines gift this year. As I was driving away to visit my family on Feb 13 I called Darin at work to ask him if he would make me a LOVE playlist while we were apart over the weekend. My only request was that it contained songs that reminded him of me, or us. I didn't realize it at the time, but it was a perfect way to make Darin miss me over Valentines Day...I am an evil genius without even trying!

The playlist is perfect. It's a little bit me, a little bit him and a little bit us. A little Jack Johnson, a little Led Zeppelin, Beruit, Tom Petty....I love it.

SPT - The first thing that attracted me to you was...

You were new. A new boy all the way from New England was very big news in my little hometown, and oh so exotic. Added to my intrigue was the fact that I had done my third grade US report on New Hampshire! I had drawn the state flag and knew the state bird was the purple finch. I went home after our first meeting to tell my mom "the cutest boy from New Hampshire just moved in!". Darin, who met a whole gaggle of girls that day vaguely remembers that I was wearing a red shirt.

That was the summer before our Junior year of high school, and we didn't see each other again until school began, at which time we each had significant others {as significant as "others" can be in high school}. So, we innocently flirted our way through English and Chemistry....NOT Seminary because Darin's girlfriend was in our class.....we sat on opposite ends of the room. We didn't have our first official date until midway through our Senior year {14 years ago}. We didn't date continuously through the 5 years between graduation and our wedding; I went away to college and we each served missions, dated others, grew up a bit. No matter whether we were dating, or definitely NOT dating, I always cared about him, always compared who I was with to him, always wanted only happiness and goodness for him whether we were together or not.

I loved him before I was ready to love him. I thank my lucky stars we were both patient.

SPT

My Valentine Project

I organized a group of women from my ward to make these holiday shirts for our kids. The origninal idea came from the Chasing Fireflies magazine, but their shirt was $54. I knew we could make them cuter and waaaay cheaper {and have a little fun to boot} if we made them ourselves.

I love how each holiday shows a bit of the personality of the women who made it {we are missing Halloween but it should be done soon}. Since Bub was the only boy getting a shirt {all other women only made them for daughters} my friend Jami designed a special non-girlie valentine shirt for him. I love it!! Thanks Jamie!

Crisis Valentines

Darin and I split up for Valentines weekend. This may seem really unromantic, but it was a mutual decision. I could stay until Monday with my family {celebrating Mark's 22 birthday} if Darin didn't come, and he is trying to get his kayak finished for a birthday launching. So, we headed in to our opposite destinations on Friday to beat the storm coming on Valentines day.

Although the weekend was to celebrate with Mark, we didn't see much of him. He had dates 2 out of the 3 nights I was there {including Valentines night...ooh la la} and his birthday dinner didn't pan out. The only picture I had of him from the weekend is the one above, Miriam took it and he was being silly for her. Julia, Jared, Sarah and I did get to take him out to buy some birthday clothes. He is fun to dress up, so easy to please.

Sunday morning, the day we were going to have the birthday dinner, we got a call from Julia saying she had fallen down the front steps {with Tatum in her arms, and she is 8 months pregnant} Jared had gone to church earlier because of his calling so she was alone. My dad and I rushed over to find her laying right inside her front door, luckily Jared's cell phone was on the coffee table so she didn't have to crawl all over the house. Her voice quivered a bit as she explained what happened but she never cried. Her ankle was a huge bulging ball that I couldn't even look out without feeling light headed and sick to my stomach. My dad carried her to the car and drove to the hospital while I stayed with Tatum. Sarah had gone to get Jared out of church so he met Julia and my dad at the hospital. We found out after church that Julia had broken her ankle in 3 places, and a chunk of her bone had broken off. The doctor said she probably broke it so severely because she was trying to protect both Tatum and her unborn baby from the fall. Basically, her ankle took the fall for all of them. Julia cried twice during the whole experience, once when she realized the accident would probably interfere with Mark's dinner, and then when the doctor told her she needed surgery immediately, and would have 8 {I believe} pins in her ankle. She started crying and said "but I am a dance teacher!" to which the doctor replied "I know, that's why we have to do surgery".

Julia can't put any weight on her ankle for 2 weeks, and will be on crutches for weeks and weeks after that and then need another surgery to take out a few of the pins. Her little family has moved in with my mom and dad for the next 2 weeks, and then they will need to figure out what to do next. Getting through these next few months will take so much sacrifice from everyone, there is a baby to be born, dance competitions, a dance recital, and my Mom and Sarah both have jobs. Here I sit, 2 hours away praying for them all but feeling useless otherwise.

Sometimes it feels like life is one crisis after another, but another way to look at it is one opportunity to show love after another. Boy Howdy does life give my family the opportunity to serve. This love, service, and support is rubbing off on the cousins who love each other dearly....as Miriam says "cousins are even better than best friends!". I say cousins are great, but brothers and sisters are even better and parents? Well....they are priceless.

So, there was a bunch of lovey dovey stuff this weekend after all, just not between Darin and I. Don't worry about us, we have plans to celebrate as well, I just need to get the kids and I over this blasted cold we picked up over the weekend.

Happy Valentines Day!

The kids and I hid valentines for Darin, as we do every year, but this year I asked Miriam to tell me the reasons she loves her daddy. I don't have the list with me to get direct quotes, but here is what I remember from our interview

Why I love Daddy
By: miriam
#1 He hugs me tight when he gets home from work so I feel like he really loves me.
#2 He is funny before we go to bed with tickles and silly stuff.
#3 He works hard so we can have food and toys.
#4 He lets me play on his Ipod and helps with computer games.
#5 ?? I Can't remember
#6 Ice cream (Daddy Daughter dates usually include ice cream).

My reasons for loving Darin are the same as above, but I must add that he is my security, my personal commedian, my sounding board, my voice of reason, my handy man, my encouragment, my teacher, my inspiration, my Peter Parker and my spiderman, my partner in all things.

Thank you for loving me back.
I miss you!

Pre Valentine Party Fun

While I was making chocolate valentine mice ("I know it's cheesey but will you pleasey be my valentine?"), I was talking on the phone to a dear friend (remember Mirissa?) and I forgot to put the almond ears in before the chocolate hardned. So I inadvertantly created a plate full of chocolate moles for the family to enjoy after dinner. This created euphoria and rampant self portrait taking.

Mice vs Mole

Thanks for the party Stephanie it was wonderful!!

I am excited for Stephanie's party tonight!!

I am prepared to be blown away by valentine genius.

Doings, Goings On and such

Sneak preview of one of my Valentine projects...doesn't look much like a valentine does it?

M and I have been missing Laura Ingalls Wilder and all her little houses. So, I introduced M to my dear friend, and kindred spirit Anne Shirley. I had a feeling they would like each other, and I was right. Miriam is just as in love with Prince Edward Island as I was/am.

M and I have so much in common, I hope she never out grows me!

And now....JUST FOR FUN

my kids in disguise.