Terrors in Tiaras

My Family Is Awesome

2012-01-24T10:11:00.000-05:00

Sunday night I was in bed nursing a pretty good migraine. But, I wanted to avoid sleeping (so I could sleep well that night) so had the door cracked and the TV on (something about cooking shellfish, I think, which I don't eat...but, anyway). I heard bits and pieces from the conversation in the kitchen:

"...and you'll all have to be responsible for a dish, if you want that many things."

"...like a feast..."

"...had that much since Thanksgiving and..."

"...no, mine will be the best."

And I thought I heard, "...Charlie Brown..."...? What?

So, I was trying to figure out how they were coming up with the ingredients for a fantastic Thanksgiving feast, and drifted off to sleep, dreaming of apple pie.

A few minutes later, Sleeping Beauty came into my bedroom and said, "Mom, the 'Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Feast' is ready. Want to eat in the kitchen or should I bring you some?"

"Um, what is that? I don't even know what it is."

"Well, you can have Ramen noodles, popcorn, Rice-a-Roni, cheesy biscuits, peanuts, and that's all. It's like a Charlie Brown Feast. What do you want? Oh, and oranges. You can choose oranges, too."

She brought me a sampling of all the delicacies. It wasn't the feast I expected, but it was perfect. I just love my silly family.

The Dirty Dozen

2012-01-19T11:56:00.002-05:00

I came across a blog post about chronic migraines that was pretty spot on. I can't say that it is exactly what I would have felt or written, but it really was good. I have heard every single one of these things, from people that mean well, but don't completely understand how it is to live with an invisible chronic illness. (And how can one understand, having not lived it? Not really possible. I know this.) So, in the interest of pure education, I will repost the article. The post was originally on Migraine.com, posted by Ellen, and entitled The Migraine Dirty Dozen--Things Not to Say to a Chronic Migraineur. And now, I quote:

"Dear family and friends of chronic Migraineurs;
I write today to tell you what your loved ones probably will not – a list of the top things the Migraineur in your life will have a visceral, negative reaction to when heard coming from someone they care about:
The Dirty Dozen
1. If you could just lower the stress in your life. Migraine is not caused by stress, and although lowering stress levels is good for anyone, this will not eliminate our attacks which are both genetic and neurologic in nature. Saying this will cause additional stress to us though, because we have enough to deal with in our lives without feeling guilty and judged by those we care the most about. What we need the most is acceptance and to know that you are there to help us when we need it the most. Next time, why not offer to lighten our stressful load instead of making a comment that is not helpful.

2. You look so good/ You don’t look sick. Chronic Migraineurs use an enormous amount of energy trying to look as normal as possible, and we want to know that we have been successful. However this statement sounds condescending and judgmental to the chronically ill – as if we must not have a real disease because you cannot look at us and see the ravages it has caused in our lives. We know you don’t mean to hurt us, but if you could see the results of our disease on the inside of our bodies and our lives, you would be shocked and take a much less cavalier attitude toward our struggles. Next time, why not simply say “I am SO happy to see you today!”

3. It can’t hurt that bad. Migraine, especially chronic Migraine is one of the worst kinds of pain there is, and is often undertreated enough to cause disability to the patient. Add to that the nausea and vomiting and other symptoms we suffer sometimes daily, and the symptoms work in concert with each other to create a situation from which we cannot escape yet may become desperate to try. Chronic Migraine results in suicides that happen every year, devastating lives across the board. Next time, why not try asking what you can do to make the Migraineur feel better.

4. It’s all in your head. Clinical depression and Migraine are both primary (not caused by anything else) diseases involving neurotransmitters such as Serotonin. While it is common for clinical depression and Migraine to be comorbid — especially chronic Migraine — it is certainly normal for anyone with a chronic disease to become depressed as a result of their experience and should be expected as a normal result of the patient’s illness that can be minimized, treated and helped with a knowledgeable physician and a good support system. Migraineurs are not crazy, lazy or seeking attention. They have a disease. While it is usually not yet possible to see changes in labs or imaging in the Migraineur to prove their neurological disease exists , other physical signs abound and may include increased heart rate, respirations and blood pressure, dizziness, weakness or paralysis, the inability to speak, nausea and vomiting, among other symptoms and signs. Migraine is genetic and cannot be controlled by the Migraineur beyond the scope of seeking treatment from a headache specialist and their team who will try to prescribe medications and treatments which may or may not work for any individual patient. Next time, why not ask what you can do to offer support to the Migraineur.

5. It’s a “woman thing”.   Please, let’s not take this back to the dark ages when epilepsy was “demon possession” and “hysterical” women with tight corsets suffered “the vapors”. Men experience Migraine. Children experience Migraine too. There are physiological differences between males and females of every species, and this is a good thing. These differences make life much more interesting. Some of those differences can also trigger Migraine in those people with the genetic capacity for the disease. A frequent trigger is reproductive hormone fluctuations. Unfortunately for women, their reproductive hormones are designed to fluctuate, and lucky for men their hormones are meant to remain more stable. Hormones are only a small part of the Migraine picture though, and only one of thousands of potential triggers. Next time, consider asking the Migraineur about their particular triggers instead.

6. You can work through it. Chronic Migraine is recognized as a disabling, systemic disease by patients who experience them, as well as physicians who treat them and even the government who offers Social Security Disability to those who suffer from it. A Migraine attack often is worse than the worst flu a non-Migraineur can imagine, yet is often refractory to the easy to find treatments used for a case of the flu. Once the flu goes away you’re done. Migraines come back over and over and over again, sometimes for decades or a lifetime. Chronic Migraine is relentless.   Instead, why not suggest a shortcut to make their job easier, or offer to help them until their medicine begins to work.

7. Take a pill. Migraine is a genetic neurologic disease spectrum of which pain is only one part. You probably didn’t know that a patient can have a Migraine without the pain component at all, or that Migraine attacks can range from relatively mild, to life threatening. You might not realize that most chronic Migraineurs take preventive medicine every day. No two patients are alike, and what works for one will not work for another. Many episodic Migraineurs can take a medication and abort their attack and continue with their day – most of the time. Some cannot. Chronic Migraine often necessitates taking abortive or rescue medicine more days than not, and we are limited because those medicines can cause enormous problems of their own. Additionally, insurance only gives us a few to take each month and they can cost hundreds of dollars. Some days we have to make the choice not to treat a particular attack, because if we treat that attack, we won’t be able to treat another one that might be worse. Frankly, telling someone to take a pill is hurtful to the chronic Migraineur. We don’t want to be miserable and would take medicine if we could. Next time, why not ask if you can help the Migraineur by turning off lights, down audio or ventilating a smelly room to help with comfort issues.

8. It’s just a headache. Actually, it’s not. Migraine is a systemic disease that affects nearly every part of our bodies, from digestive to circulatory to endocrine, to nervous system. Chronic pain eventually results in central sensitization and allodynia that causes severe pain throughout our entire bodies. If the disease itself isn’t hard enough on the body, the treatments we are forced to take wreak havoc, often causing even further damage and disability. Next time, try asking the Migraineur about their symptoms so you can understand their experience and possibly help them with their next attack.

9. Go get a hobby, it’ll take your mind off the pain. If you break your arm, will getting a hobby make your pain go away? Of course it won’t. Yet a Migraine makes a broken bone look like fun at the circus. While distraction is a recognized and effective way for patients to better control their pain, this is a technique that requires immense concentration and practice much beyond a simple hobby. The worse the pain is, the less the chance that the distraction will be helpful. In either case, distraction will not prevent an attack, nor will it treat or “cure” Migraine. Migraine is a genetic, neurologic disease over which the patient has little to no control. Next time, try asking the patient if there is anything you can do to help distract them from the symptoms of their attack.

10. I read about something new that can cure Migraine or Have you tried this? It worked for a friend of mine. While Migraineurs want to know that our loved ones are thinking about us and want to help us, the chance that you have stumbled upon a miraculous treatment or “cure” that our specialists – or we who have suffered terribly with this disease – have not, is miniscule beyond measure. Everyone bombards us with the same information, and we’ve almost always tried it repeatedly ourselves anyway. We weary of the constant suggestions – not because we don’t appreciate that you care, but that it makes us feel even more helpless and reminds us that we have failed yet again where others have found success. If you truly want to be helpful, ask us what you can do, or what we might need. If you feel compelled to tell us about the latest treatment you read about or heard about, at the very least please preface it with the statement “I know you’ve probably already heard of this, but I wanted to ask just in case…”

11. You just need to get outside for fresh air and exercise more. While exercise is sometimes helpful for Migraineurs when they are not in the midst of an attack, chronic Migraine often means back to back attacks that leave the patient no time to go outside or exercise. Additionally, exercise is frequently a trigger for Migraine attacks, especially in those who are chronic. If we are seeing a specialist, we have most likely also seen a physical therapist that is helping us with needed exercise in ways that will be most effective for our particular situation. Moreover, the sunlight we are exposed to outside may cause physical pain as a part of our attack, or act as a potent trigger for another attack. Exercise and the out of doors is something we all miss, but it is a slippery slope we must navigate with care. It will not “cure” our Migraine disease.   Instead, the next time you see us having a good day, offer to take us to the park or go for a walk with us.

12. At least it’s not fatal. Unfortunately, this is not true. Though rare, Migrainous stroke takes the lives of patients every year. Migraine – especially chronic Migraine – has been found to be tightly correlated with other serious or even potentially fatal health issues, and often it is the combination that is deadly. Migraineurs without appropriate treatment are those most at risk of stroke, suicide, and death by related causes such as accidents, depression, accidental overdose, side effects, medical mistakes, etc…   Next time, consider acknowledging the struggle of the Migraineur and remind them how much you love and appreciate their presence in your own life." That's end quote.

And that's it. Now you know. Although, I would like to add one more, make it a Baker's Dozen? ...Do you drink enough water? I always get a headache if I don't drink enough water. I probably don't always drink enough water (does anyone?), but in the words of my good friend, 'You could drink the Nile (and probably pee the Nile), and it still wouldn't change anything.' True. I've had the kind of headache you get when you don't drink enough water. It's completely different from my chronic condition. Sure, if I drink enough water, it's good for me. But, have you ever tried to go to the bathroom when nauseated, dizzy, and in loads of pain? Yep, not fun. Sometimes it's good to not drink too much water. :)

And you may also want to know that I am nowhere near being suicidal, in case you wondered. Thankfully, I have a Gospel perspective (not perfectly--I am human, after all, and do have hard days) on the whole situation. That's not to say that I don't completely understand how someone could reach that point...there have been a couple of times even this week when I have thought, 'I'm pretty sure I would rather be dead than feel this way', but I know that there is hope and help in my Savior, Jesus Christ. I can rest knowing that He has made all things perfect, and even though it might be hard sometimes now, better things are to come. I re-read an article by Kent F. Richards just yesterday and found comfort in these words:

"President Henry B. Eyring taught: “It will comfort us when we must wait in distress for the Savior’s promised relief that He knows, from experience, how to heal and help us. … And faith in that power will give us patience as we pray and work and wait for help. He could have known how to succor us simply by revelation, but He chose to learn by His own personal experience.”¹⁴

". . . As Elder Dallin H. Oaks has taught: “Healing blessings come in many ways, each suited to our individual needs, as known to Him who loves us best. Sometimes a ‘healing’ cures our illness or lifts our burden. But sometimes we are ‘healed’ by being given strength or understanding or patience to bear the burdens placed upon us.”¹⁷ All that will come may be “clasped in the arms of Jesus.”¹⁸ All souls can be healed by His power. All pain can be soothed. In Him, we can “find rest unto [our] souls.”¹⁹ Our mortal circumstances may not immediately change, but our pain, worry, suffering, and fear can be swallowed up in His peace and healing balm."

Every word is true. Whatever your pain is, whatever your burden is, He knows. He loves you. And He can bear it.

Thanks for listening. :)

Well, I Tried

2012-01-16T12:58:00.000-05:00

My sisters convinced me to join Pinterest (an online bulletin board of sorts, where you can "pin" things you find online, so you can remember the ideas and how to get back to them). Which is really great. Especially for someone who likes to get great ideas of things to do and then never do any of them.

I had "pinned" a bunch of recipes to try. So, this week when I went to the grocery store, I bought the ingredients to try three or four of them. We tried chicken enchiladas, crock pot beef and broccoli and orange chicken. This, I must say, was a little ambitious. The amount of times I have made dinner in the last couple of months is paltry, at best. So, to all of the sudden make a huge effort to make dinner, and then try new recipes was a little shocking to the family.

The enchiladas were a little too spicy, but deemed edible by three members of the family, which is impressive. The beef and broccoli was a no-go. And so, when we sat down to orange chicken, I knew it could go either way. I didn't sit down with the family, as I started making a treat (also found on Pinterest) too late and was finishing it up. I could hear from the table how the meal was going down.

King was being upbeat and positive ("It's very flavorful."). Snow White was trying to find things she liked about the meal, but was having a hard time ("The sauce isn't too bad with the rice."), and Cinderella was strangely silent. I could tell it was not going well. And then Sleeping Beauty clinched the meal's fate when set down her fork and lamented, "I hate Pinterest!"

Needless to say, we're taking a break from new recipes for a while. (And, SB didn't try any of the Pinterest-found peanut butter rice crisp balls for dessert, in case you were wondering.)

In Stitches Around Here

2012-01-06T06:41:00.000-05:00

Sleeping Beauty has had me laughing the last few days. She's cute and funny and witty, but not the one of my girls that usually makes me laugh the most. She has said some downright hilarious things, and I don't remember them, of course. And then she's said things that just struck me as so funny.

A few days after my surgery, nobody had any clean clothes. Weird how that happened. (And by the way--surgery went well, as expected. No cancer (phew), no real complications, and fairly easy recovery. I'm almost back to normal. Now we wait and see if the 1/2 of my thyroid left will take over thyroid function, or if I will find that my body is lacking thyroid hormone and I get to take supplements.) SB was putting in a load of laundry. She comes to me and says, "Mom, it's so funny that when I get clothes out of your hamper to add to my load, the only thing that's ever yours in there is pajama pants. I think I washed three pairs of yours and no real clothes!"

We'll just pretend that it was the recovery from surgery that explains that. Okay?

Then, at dinner last night, King made crepes with assorted fruit fillings. At the end of dinner, the girls had all eaten at least twice as much as I had, and probably more than King, but they all wanted the last one. King suggested flipping a coin to see who got it. Sleeping Beauty lamented, "Dad! But, that's like flipping a coin to decide who in Africa will get water!"

King and I just started laughing. Um, no, it's not really like that at all. Good try, though.

"Yes," said King, "it's just like that if everyone in Africa had already had all of the water they needed and then we flipped a coin to see who could have extra water until four hours later when they again had all that they needed." Or something like that.

To which Sleeping Beauty gave a grin and a shrug, a signal that she given winning the crepe her best try, but lost it to Snow White, whom King deemed as having the best manners at this meal.

Which actually wasn't all that true. To be fair, Snow White got the crepe because she was funny, too. When King gave her a crepe early in the dinner, she enthusiastically said, "Thanks, Dad!" To which he replied, in all seriousness, "You're welcome, thank you for saying thank you."

And then she began a long string of SW and King saying "thank you for saying thank you because I said thank you" and "thank you for saying thank you to me for saying thank you to you for saying thank you to me", until the rest of us groaned.

And then King gave SW her next crepe and it began all over again. By the third time, we were all a little giddy, and begging them to stop.

So, see? If you are funny around here, you get enough food. And you get to do laundry. And you get water in Africa. And...uh...thyroid surgery?

Or something. There's got to be a moral in there somewhere.

The End.

Resolve

2012-01-05T12:24:00.001-05:00

I'm not a big "New Year Resolution" maker. I tend to like to do things constantly in small ways. I guess I feel a little bit overwhelmed thinking that I must choose what I need to improve on for the whole year at one time. That isn't to say that I don't evaluate the going year, and think about the coming one. I do that for sure. But, I guess I don't do it like a lot of other people do.

We do have Christmas tradition that probably plays into this a little bit, too. On Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day (whichever works for us) we take time to put in our little white stocking our "Gift to Jesus". What it basically boils down to is our spiritual goals for the year. We review how we have grown and strengthened our relationship with our Savior over the past year by reading our "gift" from the year before, and then think about the coming year. Sometimes we share what we have written, sometimes we don't. I really like it because it helps us focus our celebration of Christmas on the gift Jesus gave us--His birth, life, and death--so that we will live with Him again. It also helps us to think about what we can do to fully give Him our hearts daily.

So, I guess what it is about New Year's Resolutions for me is that I have already thought about the most important aspect of my life, reviewed goals and set new ones by the time the first of the year rolls around. Everything else is a little more secondary, I suppose. Not that I don't have things I am working on--like healthier family dinners or more service to others or maybe actually think about exercising some day--but I don't have a new list.

Except one thing: Update this blog so I can publish this year in a book. I am still slowly adding posts from September through December and hope to get it done in the near future. If you read in a reader, you may see some of these posts just randomly appear. I will also change dates on some of the posts to make them appear chronologically when I "slurp" my blog for publishing, so posts may show up there as repeats. If you don't read from a reader, then if you care about me visiting New York, pillow case service projects, and Harry Potter, you may want to occasionally browse through the archives of the last few months. And that's your fair warning. :)

And now, on to living a great life in 2012! I think this quote will help me do it:

So much in life depends on our attitude. The way we choose to see things and respond to others makes all the difference. To do the best we can and then to choose to be happy about our circumstances, whatever they may be, can bring peace and contentment. --President Thomas S. Monson

From the article, Living the Abundant Life. Which in four little words is actually a simply great resolution all on it's own, don't you think?

California

2011-12-26T18:38:00.001-05:00

It's a very long story, and even you kind die-hard readers that read most of the drivel I post on this blog will want to be spared the details. Basically, I had planned to go to California for a few days to visit a doctor with my cousin. Wendy has some of the same headache-every-day type things I have, and her friend recommended this hormone specialist. I had decided that since it had been a while since I had seen any kind of doctor for my headaches that I would go with her. Worth a try, maybe?

But, then I had a follow-up with my ENT regarding a nodule on my thyroid that was found at the Mayo Clinic, and it had doubled in size. It was decided that the best possible option (especially with my Dad's history of thyroid cancer) was that we should remove the half of the thyroid where the nodule is. (Surgery is Wed, Dec 28th.) So, with that likely to throw my hormones out of whack for a bit, I decided not to see the doctor in California.

However, I already had my ticket, and we were staying with my in-laws, so I went for fun anyway. And we had a good time. We visited the Los Angeles Temple, the doctor, Cal Poly (where we met Susan Egan and saw auditions for the production of Once Upon a Mattress at Cal Poly), yummy restaurants, Dreamworks Studios (where we met Wendy's cousin, who is an animator there, had lunch, and saw some really cool stuff), outlet malls, and the outdoor hot tub in my in-law's backyard (in December!)

I had fun just visiting with my mother-in-law and cousin, inherited some cool jewelry from King's grandmother, and finally found a winter coat--I just had to go to Southern California to get it. :) It was a good trip, and even though I was exhausted when I got home, I'm so glad I went!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T23:08:00.001-05:00

Christmas Eve, we had a delicious turkey dinner, read the Christmas story from Luke, and wrote our "gift" to Jesus (our spiritual goals for the year--something that will bring us closer to Christ and improve our relationship with Him) and put it in our special white stocking. We then opened pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa D. So soft and cozy. Sleeping Beauty made sure to leave a cookie for Santa, too. Santa came before all of the kids were asleep--he's just getting too old to be up for all hours of the night, I guess. Luckily, the girls didn't catch him filling up the socks.

Christmas Cookies

2011-12-23T17:32:00.002-05:00

Vocal Cords

2011-12-21T03:09:00.001-05:00

Besides the girls using their vocal cords to sling insults and scream of unfairness, we've never had much dysfunction concerning them around here. Until Cinderella was having these really weird attacks where she felt like she couldn't breath, although it seemed that she was breathing fine. And she'd occasionally, while at rest, make this weird almost wheezing sound. So, we took her to a pediatric pulmonary expert, where they ran all kids of tests to try to ruin her lung function and figure out what was going on. Turns out, she has Vocal Cord Dysfunction (a mild case), which actually appears to be a bit like asthma, but is in fact a condition in which the vocal cords don't relax after speaking, so do not let the air flow freely.

I had never heard of this condition before. It was a bit concerning, after reading some things about it, but after a follow-up with an ENT and a quick look via camera up the nose and down the throat (sounds gross, but she was a trooper, and actually thought it was cool to look down her throat) we are assured that she shouldn't really have too many problems. She can learn to relax when it gets that way, and will probably grow out of it.

In the meantime, we are encouraging her to use her "inside voice", like we did when she was a preschooler. So she doesn't exacerbate her condition. It's not true that this has any effect, but it's worth a try for more sibling peace around this place. :)

Again

2011-12-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

New brace face around this place:

She's excited. . .or was, until she woke up this morning in pain. . .

Girl Get-Away

2011-12-10T13:28:00.000-05:00

Snow White and Sleeping Beauty's friend, B, turned 13. She wanted a sleepover get-away. We usually don't do sleep-over parties, but this was an exception. Lucky for the twins (I think it's lucky, they may not), I am a good friend of B's mom, so I was invited to go along and chaperon. We had a great time. The girls were impressed by the fancy hotel, but most impressed by the "beach" channel on the TV and the mini Tabasco sauces and ketchup bottles. Too cute.

We played games, stayed up late talking, and giggled a lot. Oh, and the 13-year-olds did some of the same. Only they watched a movie, too. In the morning we went to the mall and stopped for lunch on the way home. Could there be a better way to spend a weekend? Probably not. Except for maybe actually doing some sleeping at a sleepover.

The Pillowcase Project

2011-12-05T18:55:00.003-05:00

When Cinderella found out her friend's sister had cancer, I think she wasn't quite sure what to do or say. Kind of like all of us. But, she was determined to do something. Since Amanda would spend lots of hours in the hospital receiving chemo and radiation, and lots of hours resting in bed because of those treatments, Cinderella decided pillowcases might help brighten her day. So, she got to work.

She picked out fabric and embroidery floss. She found some fun fonts. And then she spent hours and hours embroidering and sewing. I did help a little, but she did 95% of the work herself. I am proud of her for working so hard to help Amanda feel loved. I think they turned out great. And the report is that Amanda loved opening them--one each day for a whole week--and uses them daily. It was a great project. Love my girl and her big heart.

Catching Up

2011-11-26T11:05:00.002-05:00

I have so many posts to catch up on. It feels like it's been a whirlwind around here. I still have so many things to report on: four wonderful days in New York with my parents, an anniversary trip with my honey, vocal chords, sleepovers, a close call with in an FBI sting, Amanda's Walk, Thanksgiving, surgery plans, Black Friday fabric shopping adventures, pillowcases, and dry cereal blues. It's possible I'll get it all in. But just as possible that I won't.

In the meantime, how about a picture of the kitchen now that the floor is done? I am sure I never posted one, and that's one more thing to check off the list. :)

And also, check out this adorable picture I came across lost in the files of our computer. From the winter of 2005. I love the girls' faces. There is nothing like sledding as a little kid. This was on the little hill behind the middle school near my parents' home in Pleasant Grove. I think it was the first time the twins had experienced sledding and they loved every second. Cute. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T11:51:00.000-05:00

Focusing on the things that matter most today. The Lord has truly blessed me.

Hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving Day!

Amanda's Walk

2011-11-20T19:32:00.001-05:00

While King and I were out of town at his conference and celebrating our anniversary, the girls went with our good friends to Amanda's Walk, to earn money to help with Amanda's cancer treatment. There was a good turn out and organizers deemed it successful. Snow White started out running the 5k, but after a fall, decided walking might be safer. Cinderella walked with her friends R and M, and Sleeping Beauty also walked, which may be a miracle. (She doesn't really like to walk, unless it's at the mall.) :) Thanks to our wonderful friends for taking the girls. The girls had a great time!

Fatty Blobs

2011-11-11T09:50:00.000-05:00

I have this cyst on my arm. Near my elbow. It's been there nearly my whole adult life, but has never caused me any trouble. Until the last couple of months, when it sometimes pressed on a nerve and caused me pain. I showed it to the doctor. He said, "It looks like it's just a fatty blob. Maybe we should take it out. I'll refer you to a surgeon." And I thought, Could this surgeon take out all my fatty blobs? Like the ones on my stomach and around my thighs?

So I went to the surgeon consult this morning. He looked at it, said it should come out, and asked me how soon I'd like to be rid of it. I told him any fatty blob on my body that could be surgically removed, I was more than happy to part ways with as soon as possible. He (sadly) said nothing about my thighs and stomach, but said that if I did not want to be put out for the surgery , then he could remove the cyst immediately. "It depends on your pain tolerance level," he said.

Considering I walk around in pain all of the time, I figure if anyone knows much about pain tolerance, it's me. So I told him to go for it. Slice me open and remove the fatty blob. So he did. And it was kind of cool, in a grody sort of way. No problems. Tidy little stitches. And now I have one less fatty blob on my body. If only they were all so easy to lose. . .

Daylight Savings?

2011-11-09T14:53:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday night, when Daylight Savings time rolled around, we decided to not mention it to the girls. Everyone was tired on Saturday. And by tired I mean that I could barely stand anymore, the girls were fighting and whiny, and King had worked hard helping a few families that day and was exhausted. I decided, as 9:00 rolled around, that everyone needed to just go to bed, and reminding them that it was really only 8:00 would just prolong the grouchiness. So, off to bed we went. (It took forever, but it always does.)

The great thing about Daylight Savings time being on Saturday night is that I always wake the girls up on Sunday, so we didn't worry about alarms and changing the girls' clocks. And King was really relieved to have an extra hour of sleep before Bishopric Meeting.

But, we did not count on our girls being ultra-responsible that morning. At five minutes after five in the morning, Snow White cam into our room, dressed for church, and said, "Dad, why aren't you up yet? You said you were leaving at 6:15. I am going with you for BYC."

Oh dear. Two things wrong with this. 1) She's an hour early. She thinks it's 6:05, because we didn't set her clock. And 2) it's not BYC this week. She confused BYD (Bishop's Youth Discussion--like a mini-fireside/Bible study--which we had been talking about the night before), with BYC (Bishop's Youth Committee--which she serves on as president of her age group of girls to help plan activities and fellowship youth). BYC is held in the morning, before church, at 7:45 a.m., and BYD is held in the evening, at 6:30 p.m. She had asked King the night before what time BYD was (remember, thinking it was BYC) and figured she needed to be ready at 6:15. Such a responsible and nice girl. And now a tired one that got up at 4:40 in the morning. We sent her back to bed.

Then, at 5:45, King gets up and ready, then leaves for his meetings. Just after he leaves at 6:15, I hear an alarm go off and Cinderella get in the shower. What?! She never gets up on her own on Sundays. But today, of all days, she sets her alarm for 7:20 to get up and shower. Only, her alarm clock is not set ahead either, so it's 6:20. Such a nice and responsible girl. And now one that is up too early on her only day to sleep in.

Needless to say, I was not able to get that extra hour of sleep. Oh well. At least the girls proved that they can be responsible and nice. Unfortunately, everyone was so tired from getting up early and the confusion that we ended up being five minutes late for church. Well, next year we'll do better! Everyone will be setting their clocks ahead right after dinner. Sheesh.

Obligatory (But Sort of Sad) Halloween Post

2011-11-02T12:03:00.000-04:00

We had a nice Halloween. Cinderella's friend E was spending the night with us because her younger sister Amanda was recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and is in the hospital. We wanted it to be fun for her so she could kind of forget about her stress and relax. Thank to a few friends joining us, we kept E fairly distracted and had a great time.

We had our traditional "Dead Man" Meatloaf, Green "Brain" Casserole, and "Ghostly" Mashed Potatoes with three families from our ward. (Of course no pictures. But, I assure you, it did not look very appetizing.) ;) Then it was time for costumes and a few pictures.

Ceiling Fans, "Mexican Dude", and ~~Little~~ Red Riding Hood

Snow White's, Sleeping Beauty's, Cinderella's

Princess Peach, Red Riding Hood, Mexican Dude, "Tangled", Mario, Cutest Doggie Ever, and Ceiling Fans

I felt the girls were too old for trick-or-treating this year, but they didn't think so. In the end, I figured they might as well do it if they wanted to. What better distraction for E than running around the neighborhood begging for candy with some of our darling friends? They came home with quite the haul. We ran into more friends while out in the neighborhood. It would have been impossible not to, there were so many people out and about! It was a pleasant evening.

And our "punny", sarcastic ceiling fans had a good time puzzling the crowds with their clever costume. (Thanks to a suggestion from our friend Susan that morning, and her sufficient browsing of the web for easy costume ideas.) :) I just was happy to make it through the day in one piece. I dressed as a worn-out mother. The costume was spot on, if I do say so myself. :)

Honestly, it was a little hard to do something as menial as "celebrating" Halloween with E's family having their lives sort of crashing down around them with Amanda's diagnosis. Prayers for Amanda's recovery from surgery would be so appreciated. She is having a hard time recovering from the brain trauma during surgery, with complications in eating, speech, and double vision. They have a long road ahead with this recovery and chemo and radiation to come. They'll need all of the prayers they can get. I know the Lord is in charge and "that all things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28) but it sure is hard to watch someone else we know struggle with this terrible disease.

Anyway, thanks to our friends for joining us and making our day fun. It's so great to be with friends and be festive. And I must say, it's also pretty great to steal good candy from my children's Halloween buckets. (Did I just type that? Whoops.) :)

Last Day in NYC

2011-10-29T22:53:00.001-04:00

(We won't count the next day when we got up at 4 in the morning to catch an early flight...we were too sleepy to enjoy the cab ride and the airport.)

Tuesday was a rainy day, which was fine because we had decided to spend the morning at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We thought maybe that the rain would dissipate and we could walk around Central Park and go to The Shake Shack. However, the museum is cavernous, and we loved our time there. So much so, that we ended up eating in the cafeteria. Twice. Once we had our snacks we had brought with us, and once we paid an arm and a leg to eat there. But, I must say, the food was actually really good, even though some of it came in a cardboard yellow cab.

Now, posting a bunch of pictures of pictures seems like not such a great idea. I mean, really, a little snapshot of a great work of art just doesn't do it justice. Especially with a camera phone and no flash. But. But, you just have to see some of the stuff we got to see. And really, we explored a fraction of the museum. It was great.

Marie-Denise Villers

Sir Thomas Lawrence

Vermeer

The museum is so large that there are literally buildings inside the building.

Tiffany Glass

Monet

Renoir

Seurat

Van Gogh

Picasso

Degas

And those pictures are just a handful of the amazing art we saw. Next time I am in NYC, I plan to spend days and days there. Honestly, there were sections of the museum we didn't even get close to. And some we practically ran through to make it to another part of the museum.

After the Met, we hopped on the Grayline to take us back to Broadway and Times Square. We passed by some of Central Park and The Plaza Hotel.

Can you see the bird's nest in the light?

We walked a little looking for someplace to eat. For a minute, I felt like I was on Sesame Street. Doesn't this just look like it? Love those brownstones.

We had some pizza and cheesecake, and then Lindsay joined us for our walk to Broadway and a show. We saw Mary Poppins, and I must say, it really was practically perfect. Loved it.

And, isn't a show on Broadway the perfect way to end a few days in NYC? I think so. It was a great trip, and we can't thank Lindsay and Blake enough for their hospitality and help in making our visit to the city perfect. It was a whirlwind trip, and while a bit exhausting, it was wonderful.

Dad catching some rest on the train. Thought the ad behind him was so funny.

Our last subway ride of the trip--home from the show.

A Monday in NYC

2011-10-29T20:38:00.000-04:00

Monday in New York seems like a whirlwind of a day. We did so much! We started off the morning with treats from a nearby bakery, and delicious muffins made by our hostess. All good stuff. Then we hit the subway and headed to Times Square. It's so interesting to come up out of the dark subway into a street that is loud and bright and never stops. There were people everywhere. We decided to take a tour of the city on the Grayline double-decker bus.

A replica of the ball dropped on New Year's Day, in the Visitor's Center

We loved our first tour guide. He was funny, and knew a lot about histories of building, architecture, and neighborhoods. I wish that we had stayed on his bus the whole time--we would have learned a lot more--but we had places to see! I just love the different types of architecture you see in the city.

Our knowledgeable tour guide

This is Lady Gaga's neighborhood. I took a picture so the girls could see how normal it was. :)

Our first stop was the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. My parents had been here the last time they were in New York and wanted to go again. I'm so glad they did. It was gorgeous. (I am also happy to say that this is where my camera was dropped and broken. I never liked that camera, and was thrilled to be able to buy a new one--although I didn't buy it until Christmas. So pictures from here on out are taken by my parents.) The Cathedral has so much history; it's an interesting read, go here.

One of the side chapels where construction was happening. I don't think there has ever been a year where there was not some type of construction going on.

We hopped back on the Grayline and rode through Harlem and around Central Park. Again, I'm in love with all of the different architecture and the gorgeous old churches. I guess my dad is, too, because he took a lot of pictures. I kind of wanted to tell the tour bus to stop so I could hop off and see inside the churches. And the Apollo Theater, of course.

I loved that we were up high and could hear the street music and sounds and see the people bustling around.

Cute little school group. Reminded me of Madeline.

Temple Emanu-El

A glimpse into the Central Park Zoo

We hopped off the Grayline and hopped on the Subway (can you hear how well we were getting around--we were practically New Yorkers by this point-ha!) to head down to Union Square and check out City Bakery and Fishs Eddy. We were so glad we took Lindsay's advice on these two places. The hot chocolate at City Bakery was just as divine as she said it was--like drinking a melted candy bar. And the food was just as good. Delicious sandwiches and salads and mac&cheese and cookies. Yum! We really didn't mind how much we had to pay for the food, it was so good!

Fishs Eddy was the most charming shop. We picked up some unique NYC souvenirs and enjoyed browsing. I'm pretty sure that, if given the chance, I would refurnish my whole kitchen with dishes from this store. They carry vintage dishes from hotels and restaurants that have updated their dishes or gone out of business, as well as charming lines all their own. Such a great place.

Then we headed over to Chelsea Market and The High Line. On our way, we passed a movie set. Didn't see anyone famous, but found out the movie was called Gods Behaving Badly.

Closest I'll ever get to being in a movie. :)

Again, so glad we listened to Lindsay and visited Chelsea Market and The High Line Park. I loved The High Line. It is a park built on the old elevated freight rails, built in the 1930s to elevate dangerous freight trains above street level, that ran on Manhattan's West Side. (One thing that was fun about visiting there is that my Grandpa D used to work on the line--likely right near Chelsea Market. He would unload produce from the boats to the rails, and from the rails to the trucks and deliver them to markets. This is how he met Grandma.) It think it was a clever idea to change the rails into a park to add more green spaces to the city. It's very well done.

Chelsea Market is a fun place--a food and vendor market in a building that used to house the American Biscuit Company, makers of Saltines and Oreos. Now it houses the market and Food Network's recording studios. So much good food. It was too bad we were so full from our lunch at City Bakery. But, I did get a crepe from Suzette Creperie. I had to after seeing it on Food Network. But, it wasn't as yummy as I hoped.

We then headed back to Times Square where we used one of the cleanest and nicest McDonald's restrooms I've ever been in, and caught our night tour bus that took us over Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn. Despite our really annoying tour guide that was showing off for his Army buddies on the tour, it was a nice ride. But freezing cold.

I think we all barely had enough energy to make our way back to Brooklyn, where our ever gracious hostesses had warm beds ready for us to fall into. What a fun, full day!

NYC 2

2011-10-29T17:17:00.001-04:00

Sunday morning, we had a lesson in appreciating our simple drives to and from church with a visit to Sacrament Meeting, Brooklyn style. We walked a few blocks, with Lindsay's two cute boys in tow, and waited for our bus. After a 20 or so minute ride, where I was impressed with the behavior of the boys, who actually weren't feeling all that well, we then had a short walk to the chapel. It made me very grateful that while I had young children, my husband was not bishop (as Lindsay's is) and we could actually strap the kids in the car and drive right to church.

The meeting was very nice, as was the chapel, nestled there next to stores and the elevated subway tracks.

You can see the steeple of the church to the left, from the rail platform.

After Sacrament Meeting, we decided to head to Coney Island to check out the former stomping ground of my paternal grandmother. As a teenager, she used to go there on the weekends. We had to have some Nathan's Famous hot dogs while we were there. They are world famous, after all, and grandma could have enjoyed some when she was enjoying Coney Island in the 1920s. They were very tasty!

We didn't stay there long, just wandered for a bit and enjoyed the views.

We then boarded the train and headed into Brooklyn to see the Brooklyn's Prospect Park and Botanic Gardens. After visiting the grossest McDonald's bathroom (ick) we found the Botanic Gardens but decided to just wander in the park instead. It was a bit messy because of the after-math of Hurricane Irene, but it was beautiful and peaceful--until we got to the entrance near the library, where there was some kind of street festival going on. It was fun to see all the food trucks and street performers.

After a quick stop in the Brooklyn Branch of the New York Public Library and the Brooklyn Art Museum, we headed back to Lindsay's to enjoy the evening. It was one of the few chances we had to chat on the whole trip, and while it wasn't long enough, it was so fun to visit. All in all, it was a quite relaxing and enjoyable day.

NYC 1

2011-10-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

Early Saturday morning, we were docked in NY harbor next to the Intrepid. We had a leisurely breakfast and then got off the boat. I somehow convinced my parents we should avoid the long lines of people waiting and just take the subway to my friend Lindsay's house in Brooklyn. It seemed like a great idea, so we consulted the map and headed to the closest stations that reported having an elevator. Only, it didn't really have a working elevator, and Dad didn't want to lug his two suitcases down stairs, so we walked three blocks to the next station. Only that one had an elevator, but on the wrong line. So, we dragged all of our suitcases down the stairs and finally settled in for the ride. You'd think people with a lot of luggage would stand out on the subway, but no one really stands out on the subway. I think we did stand out on the streets of Brooklyn, though.

about a block or two away from Lindsay's home--we walked past this on our way to and from the subway

I felt really bad that my friend was sick when we got back from our cruise. But, she was generous as ever and still let us stay. We did miss her joining us on our adventures. I have no doubt we would have been much more efficient with her, not to mention that she is just really great company. And those boys of hers are adorable and so funny. Anyway...

We headed out to make the trek across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a beautiful day for a walk. You can see that a lot of other people thought so, too. We saw all kinds of people on the bridge, including a model having a photo shoot with the Manhattan skyline in the background.

this is not the model, this is me (bwah-hah-hah!)

a view of the Manhattan bridge from a top the Brooklyn Bridge

the skyline from the bridge

we even saw our boat, the Carnival Glory, heading back out to sea

We walked through City Hall Park, and over to St. Paul's Church. We got there just as the groundskeeper was locking the gates. Bummer. Behind the church is the 9/11 site. We snapped a few pictures of the new building, and wished we could have gone into the new memorial that opened on September 11, 2011. We didn't think about reserving tickets until it was too late.

I just love these tables in the city parks

the mounted police, directing someone to the church. they were all over the place.

Because we were in New York, and wanted some authentic food, we got some Papa John's bread sticks for dinner (?!) and then headed back to Lindsay's. (Actually, we were in the financial district and didn't really find much of anything open, so we settled for something quick. We stopped at Cold Stone once we were in Brooklyn, though, because bread sticks weren't quite healthy enough.)

Another Fun Day at Sea

2011-10-29T11:53:00.001-04:00

At dinner with Della

from the porthole in my parents' room

all of our drawers opened up in the night from all of the rocking

fairly warned

loved this poster hanging on the outside of a cabin door

the Red Sail dining room

Friday morning, the boat was rocking like crazy. We got a note from our Captain telling us that there were 7-9 foot swells in the ocean because of Tropical Storm Maria moving through the waters east of us. Wow. It was sort of hard to walk down the hall without running into the wall. I felt pretty lousy that day. I don't think the boat helped, but mostly I was just worn out from many days of going and going. Aunt Della is a peach and let me sleep in for a long time. I joined everyone else for playing games, had the yummiest Mongolian BBQ, overate at the chocolate bar, watched a comedy show, and packed up to get off the boat the next morning. It was a relaxing day, which I really needed.

Beautiful Heartbreak

2011-10-28T16:01:00.002-04:00

I think this song has a beautiful message. How many times have we wished something hard would go away, but then realize that our relationship with our Savior is so much deeper and it wouldn't be if the trial had disappeared? God works in mysterious ways, and sometimes our greatest heartbreaks bring the biggest blessings. I can testify of that. (Thank you annoying headache that will never, ever go away; among many other things.)

What? You don't have trials? Never mind then. This won't apply to you.

1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Doctrine and Covenants 58:2-4: 2 For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.

3 Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.

4 For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Halifax

2011-10-28T14:42:00.000-04:00

Thursday morning, we woke up to very thick fog, and a delay getting to the port because of it. We took our time getting to breakfast. We ate in the dining room this day instead of the buffet and sat at a table with some strangers. It was kind of awkward, but yummy anyway. You could see nothing but white fog out the window, and an occasional glimpse of the ocean. It was crazy. It felt like we were flying through the clouds. Eventually, we made it into port, and headed to our tour bus to start our day with our guide and his little skirt. Or kilt. Whatever. They look like skirts to me.

He was a nice guy, and a very informative guide. He first took us on a little drive through Halifax to the Public Gardens. Beautiful. I loved it there, and would have been happy to sit there for much of the day with a good book.

If I remember right, this gazebo was built in 1887 in honor of Queen Victoria, to celebrate her 50th year of reigning.

And this fountain was for the 60th year or reigning.

The fog would come and go all day long. We drove up to Citadel Hill where we had a photo op with the guard there. I must say, this is one job I would never aspire to have.

From the top of the hill, we had a great view of the clock tower, commissioned by Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, and finished in 1803 to supposedly help what he felt was the tardiness of the local garrison. There was also a great view of the harbor. Sort of. There was a lot of fog.

(Yikes. My headache is showing in this picture. It was a miserable, miserable pain day. I gave it my best effort, but there are a few times when I guess I just couldn't look pleasant.)

Then we were off to Downtown Halifax. Which was supposed to be right on the ocean, but our only indication of that were the "waterfront" signs and one ghostly ship. The rest was just one white cloud.

We did a little shopping and eating, and then were off to the "most photographed fishing village" of Peggy's Cove. It was charming. We first visited Peggy's Point Lighthouse, and did not get swept off of the rocks, because we heeded the numerous signs.

We wandered around the little town, and learned that the name of the cove has many legends of lone survivors of shipwrecks named Peggy that the town was named after, but really, the name comes because it is the first cove off of St. Margaret's Bay, and Peggy is a nickname for Margaret. Not very romantic, but true nonetheless.

I just liked this mail box and phone booth by the restaurant.

Old and new style lobster traps.

On the way back to Halifax, we passed the Swiss Air Flight 11 Memorial. Then we stopped at a Maple Syrup factory. Did you know it takes one tree's maple for the entire season (which is just a few weeks) to make just a quart of maple syrup. I guess I'd forgotten that. Wow.

Back in Halifax, we went to the Fairview Lawn cemetery where 121 bodies from the Titanic shipwreck are buried. Halifax was the closest port to where the Titanic went down, so several fishing boats and military ships were dispatched right away. It took them a couple of days to get there, and they were only able to pull frozen bodies from the wreckage. They numbered each body, and all belongings from each body so they could identify some. It was very sobering being there. (And I am quite sure that this is not the best place to visit when you are on a cruise and there is so much fog it is impossible to see the water. Just sayin'.)

Jack Dawson? Kate Winslet's boyfriend? Nope, but director James Cameron did use this name because he could not find any family or connections that could sue him, and he wanted the movie to have "real" characters.

I really liked the things we saw in Halifax and St. Margarets Bay. It was a nice day, if a little chilly, drizzly, and foggy. I feel a little bit like I was in my own fog, trying to push through a major migraine and act decent to all I came in contact with. I was glad I had a few minutes to sleep before dinner, and even more glad that the dining room was flexible enough they didn't mind that I had two appetizers and no dinner. And two desserts, of course. Nausea from migraine won't keep me from desserts. :) I was glad to climb into bed that night after a full day, and the boat rocked us (not so gently) to sleep.

Bay of Fundy

2011-10-24T11:58:00.001-04:00

Wednesday, our port was St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. It was kind of a cloudy day, but pleasant. We first boarded a bus to ride to St. Martins, a little fishing village off of the Bay of Fundy, population 374.

On our ride to St. Martins, we learned a little bit about the livelihoods of forestry, fishing, and lobstering that support residents of St. Martins and St. John. We also learned that the Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world--54 feet, and that one hundred billion tons of sea water flow in and out of the bay twice a day. Wow.

The village of St. Martins has two covered bridges, a small light house museum, a little wharf, and an amazing beach of colorful rocks. In the 1800s, it was a ship-building town where over 500 sailing ships were built and put out to sea.

One of the few original homes still standing, the first ship captain's home.

We went up into the light house, which was moved to a location near the center of the village and is no longer used. It offered a nice view of the wharf, though.

We drove around the corner from the little wharf and visited the beach. It was full of many, many colors of rocks that were worn smooth from the rough tides. The variety was amazing. Our tour guide explained that these rocks were from all over the world. In the 18 and early 1900s, when the ships would leave port with their shipments, they would add rocks to the ship to balance the load. A ballast. When they arrived at a port to unload, they would dump the rocks into the bay, and start over, loading their boats with wares, and balancing it out with rocks from the ocean floor. So, ships arriving from China, Europe, and elsewhere into the Bay of Fundy would unload their shipments and dump their rocks. Hence the variety. Gorgeous.

The beach had some sea caves, but the water was coming in too quickly, so we didn't go out to them. To give you some idea of how quickly the tide was rolling in, this first picture was taken at 10:27, and the second one at 10:44. You can see that the water had moved up at least a couple of feet.

We gathered a few rocks for keepsakes and enjoyed the scenery for a while, then boarded our bus for the trip back to St. John.

Our tour guide shared with us her two favorite treats on our ride back. Dulse, and Scottish mints.

She said she eats dulse like we eat potato chips, it's such a delicious crunchy, but healthy, snack. So I tried it. Barf. It was not crunchy. It felt like chewing wax paper, but tasted like rotten fishing village leftovers. At least the mint was good.

Back in St. John, we decided to walk around the streets and enjoy some of the architecture. We loved the high school, the old hotels turned apartment buildings, and the variety of buildings.

We visited a few historic churches in the town and learned a bit about their histories. This first, St. Andrew and St. David, was created after two congregations combined following a fire in town in 1877. They used bricks from the Victoria Hotel rubble for the sides and local limestone for the front.

The thing that was so cool was this pulpit. The front of it was hand-carved by an apprentice wood carver at age eighteen. It was the only part that was salvaged in the fire. So, sixty years later, when the church was combining, the same man, now seventy-eight years old, carved the rest of it for the church. It was amazing.

They combined windows from both churches, as well as some benches and other decorations.

The Trinity Church was built in 1880 to replace the wooden church destroyed in the fire. It was huge. And beautiful. The lady there told us that only about 100 people are active in their congregation. They must feel swallowed up in the cavernous sanctuary.

We then walked past a couple or more churches, the St. John's Anglican Stone Church, built in 1925 of stone used as ballast from European ships. Pretty cool.

There was also a Jewish Synagogue no longer in use across the street. It was built in 1865 as a Presbyterian church, but was purchased by the Jewish Community in the 1920's to accommodate their about 1400 member community. Their numbers dwindled to about 55 in 2008, so it was abandoned.

We ate at a delicious place on King Street, Urban Deli, for lunch and then headed up the street to the King's Square, a public park. And, of course, we took a picture of the fire house next door.

We went up and down the streets and in and out of shopping centers to try to find a post office. We finally found one, but not until after finding the Marco Polo,and some pretty fun statues. I bought a magnet and a deck of cards in the shops. (Which I did at every port.)

We headed back to the ship as a fog was rolling in. We heard the fog horn from the ship all night long...or at least as long as we were on the upper decks. Luckily, we couldn't hear them from our rooms down in the steerage. :)

Looking up from the dining room at the fog.

Playing games in the dining room after dinner.

Self Portrait

2011-10-15T20:33:00.000-04:00

Can you guess which one of my little princesses did this self portrait in art class? I think she did a great job!

Portland

2011-10-10T11:01:00.000-04:00

Portland seemed so much smaller than it really is. Although, we really only drove through the town quickly, and then when we were back we spent most of our time in the city right near the port. Our tour guide told us that the tallest building in town was this one:

Except when our ship is in port, our ship is actually the tallest "building" in town. I found that kind of funny.

As I said, we drove through Portland to make our way to Kennebunkport. It was such a charming little town, with little shops and cottages. I'm pretty sure I was born to live in a New England Coastal village. I wanted to move into all of the little houses.

Okay, maybe they aren't so little, but aren't they charming? I loved the historic hotels on the beach, too, and decided that I think I found the place to come for our next vacation.

Although, after our tour guide told us how much the hotels were a night, I decided that if we came we would probably have to stay in some little cottages by the river. They were a little dumpy, and in a not ideal location, but charming enough. I pointed them out to my family, saying that was where we could probably afford to stay...

...just before the tour guide said something like, "And if you'd like to stay there in those cottages when you come visit, the going rate is around $900 a night." Yikes! I decided a college education is probably a little more important for my children than a few nights in Kennebunkport. :)

We took a short drive through the town, and then made our way to our fishing boat tour.

We made our way down the river and out into the ocean.

Our group...Roxanne, Della, Kimberlie...Diane, Denise...Larry, Doug...picture taken by David.

We went right past the summer home of George and Barbara Bush. Well, as close as all of the security would let us, which wasn't real close.

George's speed boat. Apparently, he's a real speed demon, often ditching his security.

They then took us out further into the ocean to pull up their lobster trap and see if they had caught their dinner. They didn't. The guides taught us all about lobstering, and it was fascinating to learn some of the details. The two little guys that were in their trap this time, were too small to keep. But they let us give them a little hug and kiss before throwing them back into the ocean.

Showing us whether it's a girl or a boy.

Then we had some time to shop and eat. Not being a lobster fan, I opted for a big scoop of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream instead of a lobster roll. We stopped at the post office to mail my girls' post cards, bought the girls some jewelry, and browsed some of the charming streets.

Me, Roxanne, Doug, Terrell, Donna

Sending our love!

Then it was a short ride back to Portland, right past the "Wedding Cake House".

We met up with some of the others in our group and did some shopping and historical sight seeing, and of course, eating. We had some of the most delicious bakery items. Yes, ice cream, tarts, cookies and breads is what I ate this day. Not our most nutritious day, but certainly one of the tastiest!

Bakery with THE YUMMIEST gingerbread and pear tarts

Rhea, Thea, Me, Doug, Veva, Roxanne

City Hall

When we got back on our ship, we had dinner (I ate mostly fruits and vegetables, for you nutrition police out there), and went to a hilarious hypnotist show. Really, so funny. I loved the day. I felt so blessed to be able to be there with my extended family and see such fun things. I didn't get sick on the boat and managed to make it through the entire day without pain killers!...I think one of the only days that that happened on the entire trip. Yay!

Boston

2011-10-07T11:43:00.002-04:00

I was the lone traveler in our group of seven who had been to Boston before, so I was dubbed the tour guide. After I made them walk about four miles, including all of the Freedom Trail, and accidentally had them spend two dollars too much on subway train fair, I'm pretty sure they were all ready to fire me. However, since my services were free of charge, they got at least what they paid for out of the investment. :) It was a fun day, and a beautiful one!

We began our day taking a bus/train ride to Boston Common, the oldest public park in the United States. Incidentally, we came up out of the Park Street Station, which is one of the two oldest subway stations in the United States. (Never say you don't learn anything new around here.) We did not see much of Boston Common, as it was under construction in the area we were, but we walked up the edge of it to see the State House.

We then made our way around the corner to the Park Street Church, known for supporting Abolitionists causes, and the Granary Burying Ground, resting place of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, victims of the Boston Massacre, and more.

Next was King's Chapel and King's Chapel Burying Ground. I loved how the pews, designed to keep the winter drafts from chilling the congregation, are perfect corralling young children. Wish we'd had those about twelve years ago at our church. ;)

We next walked past the Old South Meeting House, the building where the meeting beginning the Boston Tea Party was held.

Then, up the street to the Old State House, where, from the building's balcony, The Declaration of Independence was first read to the public. Nearby is the sight of the Boston Massacre.

We then headed over to Faneuil Hall (birthplace of "no taxation without representation") and Quincy Markets for some lunch and shopping. One of the yummiest bagels I've ever had, actually. (Can you spot the famous grasshopper weather vane?)

We then met Paul Revere for a drink (ha!) near the Green Dragon Tavern.

And walked over to his house. It was pretty cool. I guess it is the oldest downtown structure still in existence. It was fascinating to me that they decided to preserve this piece of history in 1908, making it one of the first historic house museums.

Then we visited the Old North Church. You know, the "one if by land, two if by sea" place.

By this time of the day, it was getting pretty warm. (Are you still with us? This is long!) And it was our long part of the walk...over the bridge to Charlestown.

For some reason, on this trip, we were sort of obsessed with old firehouses and kept taking pictures of them. But, come on, isn't this one so cool? I can't believe they can fit the big fire trucks in those little arches made so many years ago.

It was a lovely walk up to Bunker Hill. So lovely, that we didn't even walk up Bunker Hill. We were too tired, and it was late in the day. We needed to make sure we caught our boat. So, we came, we saw it with the whites of our eyes, and left.

I talked to my kids on the phone as we walked down to the USS Constitution. It seems that I missed them much more than they missed me. We hadn't talked since Friday evening, and I missed them. All was well on the home front, I was assured, and so we continued on our walk.

Unfortunately, Old Ironsides was not open for the public, so we just got pictures outside. It is an impressive ship, and pretty cool that Paul Revere made the copper fittings for it.

At the Navy Yard, they also had the USS Cassin Young on a dry dock there. I thought it was kind of fun to see how they clean and fix the boats without that pesky water getting in the way.

We had to rush to catch the water ferry, so we didn't go inside Cassin Young.

Can you spot the Old North Church steeple in this picture taken from our ferry?

Custom House

The only thing left to do was catch our train(s) back to our ship. (I was very glad our boat was much, much larger than the USS Constitution.)

We managed to navigate the T-train with no mishaps, though a few too many dollars added to our cards. The lucky young man sitting in front of my parents on the train went home with about $12 extra train fare cards in his pocket. It was a long day of walking, but I'd do it again. Boston is a great city filled with so much history. That evening, we had dinner and went to a comedy show. It was a full, fun day.

Fun Days at Sea

2011-10-03T18:16:00.000-04:00

The first day of sailing was dubbed by the Cruise Director our "Fun Day at Sea". It was a fun day, but every time I hear that term it kind of makes me smile. It's funny they had to come up with something to call the days when the boat sits in International waters so it is legal to gamble all day. I am pretty sure that is how the cruise line makes all their money. That and alcohol consumption. They made nothing on the group of Mormons we were with. Too bad.

Anyway, our fun day at sea consisted of eating, reading, playing games, eating, sleeping, church service, eating, playing games, eating, dancing, laughing, and eating. It was super fun.

Aunt Donna, Uncle Terrell, Cousin Lorie, Cousin Nathan

John (Uncle Terrell's brother) and Geri, Aunt Diane, Uncle Larry

Friend Thea, Friend Veva, Aunt Denise, Uncle Dave, Aunt Della

Me, Mom, Dad, Friends Evan and Rhea (who are the parents of my bestest friend when I was in middle school.)

For the evening when they have the "Fun Day at Sea", they have what is called "Formal Dining Night". We all got dressed up for dinner. The people at the table next to us went so far as to put sweatshirts on with their jeans. ;) But, for the most part, everyone was fairly dressed up. They had photo backgrounds set up everywhere to get your picture taken and then sold them for $20 each. Needless to say, I didn't buy any pictures. Too bad, too, because my Sea Bands looked smokin' with my nice dress. ;)

Dancing with Daddy

Mom and Dad

Dave serenading Denise

Della and one of our waiters

Thought the girls would love our little towel bunny from that night. And our "Fun Times" newsletter with the schedule for the next day that was always in our room when we got back from dinner.

On Sunday afternoon, we had a nice church service. My uncle is a Bishop, so we were able to have an official Sacrament Meeting. It was nice to take a break from all the "worldly" stuff going on all over the ship, and focus on the stuff that really matters. Durell gave a great talk.

We also met a lot of nice people on our cruise. One of those was this friendly Catholic Priest whom we chatted with in the library. He was from India and lived in New Jersey and came on the cruise with people from his parish. He wanted his picture taken with some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I think he was kind of surprised we Mormons were normal, happy, Christian people. :)

I thought I would read a lot, but I never had much time. We played a lot of games on the ship. Especially a card game called Golf that I taught them (although we didn't use these exact official rules). Also one called Farkle. Fun stuff.

They had karaoke in the lobby atrium, which none of us ever participated in. But I thought the big American flag they had strung up was neat. Also, during the evening dinner, we had a moment of silence in remembrance of the September 11th attacks on The World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Every evening they had a show here in the theater. After the first night's mediocre show, we rarely went back. But, the hypnotist that came one night was very, very funny.

Instead of going to the variety show, we went a couple of nights to the comedy show. Aunt Denise showed off her dance skills while we waited, and made sure to let the waiters know she had already had plenty to drink when they came by to offer more. Of course, they had no idea that all she had had to drink was water. :) We can make our own fun, that's for sure.

Somehow Dad would frequently end up at a table full of women--his wife, sisters and friends.

Every night, the waiters would do a little song and dance show for us. They were very funny. I wasn't a huge fan of the strobe lights, but it was fun.

Our crazy, funny waiter.

So, that was life on the ship. And a sum-up of the first day. Other than the fun days at sea, we did not spend much time on the ship. Mostly, we would tour the cities we visited. Super fun. I'm exhausted thinking about all the adventures!

Sail Away

2011-10-03T10:55:00.002-04:00

Boarding a boat that is to be your home for the next seven days is a bit intimidating. (Okay, probably not so much if you are a normal person, but I am just a teensy bit afraid of drowning, so I was a little scared.) Turns out, sailing is pretty fun, especially going in and out of ports, and seeing the sights. It was fun to sail out of New York Harbor, right past The Statue of Liberty. We backed right over the spot where Captain Sully landed Flight 1549 in the Hudson River, which I found kind of a funny thing for someone to include on my uncle's tour guide map.

Just as we were boarding, we ran into my roommate for the trip, my dad's sister, Aunt Della. She was a great roommate!

Della, Mom, Dad with New York skyline


Me and Mom

After boarding, we got some lunch. Let me just take this time to tell you that the food on the ship was incredible. The buffets for breakfast and lunch had pretty good food. I loved the omelet station for breakfast and the Mongolian BBQ for lunch. But the dining room for dinner was great. Pretty food that tasted great. And really funny and fantastic waiters. And, the desserts! Yum. If you pay close attention (please don't!) you will see that the food really agreed with me. My clothes fit a lot better at the beginning. I'm pretty sure I had a couple of desserts a night and ate way too much.

After getting some lunch, we went to one of the upper decks to watch New York pass by as we left. They had crazy loud music going, and people were line dancing. One lone guy was swimming in the pool. Most everyone was on the upper deck as we left port.

The ship held 2,900 passengers and 1,100 crew members. It was huge. We had 20 people in our party, but only ran into Durell and Jayne. Later we saw Denise and Dave and Diane and Larry, though. And we always got to see everyone at dinner time.

Durell, Jayne, Della, Doug, Roxanne

Jayne, Della, Me, Mom

The building on the left with the cranes on top is the new 9/11 building. It is said to be about 800 feet high in this picture, and will be 1776 feet high when complete, commemorating the year our nation was born.

Manhattan skyline

Dad, Me, and Lady Liberty

Sailing under the Verrazano Bridge

Brooklyn skyline--my friend Lindsay's neighborhood from the boat, where we took pictures from the day before.

We then checked out our rooms and unpacked.

And, of course, Dad and Della had to check the baseball scores.

Every evening, they would fold a towel into some kind of cute animal. It was pretty fun.

Just after we unpacked, the people in the adjoining room began smoking in their room. We couldn't breathe, the smoke was so bad. So, we packed everything up again and they moved us to a different room. It was a room without portholes and down the hall from Mom and Dad. But, the room was clean and the air was nice, so we were happy.

I actually slept pretty terribly the first night on the boat. I felt every tiny movement and heard every motor thrust. After some ear plugs and some nausea bands (I really think they helped, even if it was psychosomatic) I did much better. I kind of liked the boat gently rocking me to sleep each night. After a day or two, I had my sea legs. :)

And, the next day was a "Fun Day at Sea!"

Weekend

2011-09-30T15:13:00.000-04:00

What are you doing this weekend?

Me? Listening to direction from God through the mouths of His living Prophets. Go here to listen, or here to read or listen to what I got to hear last weekend. (This one is my favorite.) So inspiring!

It's one of my favorite weekends all year. We even have cool weather and fall colors, which makes it even more perfect for curling up on the couch with a blanket, notebook, and cup of hot chocolate. Can't wait. :)

Security

2011-09-29T19:40:00.001-04:00

Flying in to New York on the weekend of the 10th anniversary of September 11th gave me the unique opportunity to witness security like I have never seen. I believe it was the safest place to be.

When I arrived at the Newark Airport, I had an hour before my parents came, so I took my time making my way down to baggage claim to meet them. Bought a snack. Checked out the restrooms. By the time I went to the escalators, I was alone in the stairwell. And the escalators were broken. So, I got to carry my big bag down the stairs. And two uniformed men, sporting gigantic guns and bayonets, watched my every move. I am not sure if they were waiting to make sure I was safe or waiting to split the contents of my luggage once I tumbled down the stairs to my demise. Luckily, there were no mishaps.

I soon learned they were two of many, many uniformed officers and security guards. The place was crawling with them, along with foreign speaking travelers. I am quite sure I was the only American in the terminal until my parents showed up. Already I felt a long way from home. And when we had to pay $120 for a cab ride to my friend Lindsay's home, I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore. Or Indiana, for that matter.

We arrived in Brooklyn, greeted by a gracious hostess who offered divine raspberry lemonade after she helped us hoist our bags up her three flights of stairs. (On a side-note--why do they call those apartment buildings "walk-ups" when clearly it is more of a "hike-up"? I can't imagine doing it with newborns, toddlers, groceries, laundry etc. Whew!) When her husband got home from work, they took us to an authentic New York pizza place where we folded our slices in half to eat them so people might think we were locals.

The next morning, my dad walked with Blake and little Garrett to visit the Bagel Boy store around the corner, where they were served by a brisk and efficient baker, reminiscent of this Seinfeld character. "No soup for you!" Very funny. Luckily they knew just what we all wanted. :)

We enjoyed a leisurely morning walk through their neighborhood and along the promenade. They have some amazing homes in their neighborhood. Amazing architecture, a few with marble rain gutters, and one house that we thought looked like Snow White's cottage. (Minus the trash cans and car, of course.) (The real Snow White, not my Snow White.)

We liked the views of Manhattan and the Verrazano Bridge, and Garrett and Caleb loved the sticks and seeing the ships. Apparently , Garrett is very obsessed lately with going on a cruise ship. I wish security were not so tight so I could have taken him on our cruise ship for a minute to show him the pools and food, of which he seems to be particularly keen on trying out.

Get used to this bag...I think it is in the next 600 pictures. :)

Staten Island and the Verrazano Bridge in the background

Manhattan in the background

Is that not the cutest face?

It was then time to head to our ship. We hired a car service for $34 to take us into Manhattan and to the dock. We crossed over the Brooklyn Bridge and sat in traffic for a very long time. They were checking all cars coming into Manhattan. Our driver was great, especially if you closed your eyes and pretended you were on a roller coaster or something. There were too many close calls for my liking, but it doesn't seem to bother anyone else that the cars pass each other with inches to spare. If that. Yikes. But, we got there safely and in plenty of time to spend in the long security lines.

Mom and Dad sporting their team colors heading to check in.

Returning

2011-09-25T21:06:00.000-04:00

Physically, I am back home. Mentally, (or more accurately, health-wise) I am not completely here yet. I am so glad I went on the trip, and so happy to be back home. I loved spending time with my parents, but I missed my girls and husband. I feel like I need a two week nap after my busy vacation to gear up to handle the normal strains life puts on my body.

Yet, since returning home, we have been to one track meet (which we mostly missed because we didn't know the location was not going to be at the school), two church meetings, dinner out, lunch out (we can't possibly stay home and eat when our grandparents are here to take to our favorite places), and a myriad of shopping trips. We (and by we, I mean my dad and my husband, but I was present) have installed light fixtures, worked on base boards, refinished our table, done laundry (that was mostly Mom), played games and cheered for BYU and BSU. We have had fights about showers, clothing, homework, and dishes (that was mostly my girls).

And it seems with a new week starting tomorrow, there is no rest for the wicked. Snow White has a out-of-town county cross country meet tomorrow, and then there is piano, mutual, homework, meetings, work deadlines and the normal life of a busy household. All that to say, I am so glad I went, and so glad to be back, but am not likely to tell you much about anything (either what is going on here, or what happened in New England) in the next few days while I get back my brain. Or at least the part I normally function with. I know, you are waiting with bated breath. :) I'll try to hurry.

p.s. I have 823 pictures from my trip--from my camera, Dad's camera, and Mom's camera combined. I haven't even gotten the good pictures from the two photographers in my family that were on the trip. If that doesn't scare you away, I don't know what will. :)

Random Thoughts

2011-09-07T20:25:00.000-04:00

*I saw a pretend arm and hand hanging out of the back of someone's trunk on my drive to the grocery store today. I laughed. It was very funny. In a disturbed sort of way.

*I'm no good at packing. I either over pack or under pack. The last couple of trips I am afraid I under packed. This time I might overdo it. It think when the temperature will be anywhere between 50 and 80, it makes things too complicated for me. This is not a good situation for someone who (regrets to admit that she) spends 1/3 to 1/2 of her days in sweats or pajamas, saving energy most people spend on dressing and primping, to do fun things like pick kids up from track or make dinner. I don't know what to pack and wear for twelve days. It's overwhelming.

*Cinderella had her first piano lesson of the fall yesterday. She was actually excited. She didn't come right out and say it, but I could tell. And today she practiced for 30 minutes without me saying anything. Could it be that she is maturing and is finally grateful we "forced" her to take piano all these years?. . . Nah, must have been something in the air today. She is fourteen, after all. I haven't done anything right or good in years.

*I have discovered Words with Friends on Facebook, a game just like Scrabble but played from your phone or computer with your far or near friends and family. I am addicted. It's quite possible that I may need some intervention.

*Not that I blog with much regularity as of late, but it may be a while until you hear from me again. I am afraid every coherent minute I spend over the next couple of weeks is already planned for me. I think I may not be on a computer at all, except for maybe a quick check of my email. (Ah man, I might lose all of my Words with Friends games by forfeit. Bummer.)

*I bought a seeded watermelon yesterday. By accident. I usually buy seedless. It was one of the best tasting watermelons we've had all year. But, my family ate hardly any of it at dinner because it was "too annoying" and "too much work". Oh, boy.

Before and After

2011-09-01T14:49:00.000-04:00

The kitchen is not completely finished. We still have some little things like painting touch-ups and making curtains, and one big thing to do--the flooring. But, for all useful purposes, the kitchen is finished and we couldn't be happier! We love it. My favorite part is....well, all of it. It is just SO much more functional. I mean, I set my new oven on the temperature the recipe called for, cooked the muffins for the time it called for, and they were actually done. Perfect. That hasn't happened since we moved here. And my things fit in the cupboards, and the sink works. Amazing. So, here are the before and after shots you (yes, all three of you) have been waiting for. I'll put some more up when we finish the floor and painting.

BEFORE

AFTER

Phew!!!

Today in Numbers

2011-08-26T11:08:00.002-04:00

Seven: The number of lights I had to turn off this morning after the girls ran out the door for the bus. Am thinking of getting neon colored light switches for all rooms. Do they make those? It seems like I should know this.

One: The number of times King has been to Lowes today. Which is way less than any of the previous four days, so we're making progress.

Four: Major things that must still be done in the kitchen. Back splash tile (tiler comes today--yay!), wire garbage disposal and change out outlets and switches to white (which is why I should know what other colors are available--I only spent 15 minutes in that isle trying to decide what color the outlets now installed at the end of my counter should be), put in microwave(sometime after the tile), and the floor (which may be a while. King is pretty much maxed out on the stress level for the moment. I'm thinking we'll wait a month for his sanity to return or save so we can pay someone to lay the floor. King is, after all, a college professor, and not a kitchen making expert and has other work to do. Poor guy, the timing for all this has been atrocious for his sanity.)

Two: The number of rolls of toilet paper sitting on the girls' bathroom counter. Any guesses as to what is on that toilet paper holder? Yep, an empty roll. Time for (another) lesson on how to change that roll.

Eight: The number of days Cinderella has managed to get up in time to be ready for early morning seminary. We won't count the one time she slept through her alarm since the first day of school she got up at 12:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. I'm so proud of her for being such a trooper while I slumber in my bed. She even gives us a "ten minutes until you have to get up and drive me" wake-up call.

Three: The number of baskets of clean laundry I should be folding instead of writing this post.

Seven: The number of days until King leaves to see the Ole' Miss and BYU football game in Mississippi. He's so excited, and I'm glad he'll have a chance to get away.

Fourteen: The number of days until I leave to see my friend Lindsay in New York and then go on a cruise to Northern New England and Canada with my parents. (I should tell you the story of how I managed to be able to invite myself on this cruise sometime. Or how I was talked into going, really.) I am very excited. Am I the only one that feels like poor King got the short end of the stick in the September vacation department? Poor guy. He's the BEST.

Two: The number of pain pills I have already taken this morning. Which is sort of my max for today, and it's 11 a.m. Yikes. I've had a pretty good streak on the headache scale as of late, but, the last two days? Not so much. Ugh. I think it always hurts worse when you've had it good for a while, doesn't it?

A Bazillion: The number of times I have thanked Heavenly Father in the last few days for the blessings He's blessed me with. So many blessings. But forefront on my mind this second--the opportunity to have the resources to finally fix our kitchen, the wonderful husband I have, and the three awesome brothers and dad who have limitless amounts of knowledge when it comes to all of the electrical and plumbing questions we've had. Take for instance...

Five: The number of times I called my brother Nate yesterday from under my kitchen sink so he could help me with plumbing. No joke. He's awesome. He didn't even think I was stupid (even though I am when it comes to Teflon and Pipe Dope(that's not a drug) ) and he is so smart. And nice. And even called our plumbing supply place in town to see if they carried stuff we needed.

Twenty-seven: The number of minutes I have been typing instead of working. Must get to those baskets of laundry and possibly move the kitchen from the living room back into the kitchen. But, wouldn't want to rush into something like that, now, would I? I mean, it's been so fun running from room to room trying to find utensils to make dinner.

Word of Advice

2011-08-24T11:09:00.000-04:00

Don't remodel your kitchen the first week of school. And the first week your husband needs to go back to work after working from home all summer.

The cabinets are in, and they look great. The counter is in, and it looks great. The dishwasher also looks lovely, but does not work yet. It's not that we don't love the results, it's that it is taking too long to get results. Today marks one week since we have had an oven, stove, or water in our kitchen, and it looks like it's going to be at least a couple of more days until the water is working correctly.

Cinderella thinks our house smells like Lowes. It should, we've got half the store here, it feels like. Speaking of, if you'll excuse me, I must head to Lowes to pick up our back splash tile. This better be the only time today. If I have to go to Lowes four times today like I did yesterday, I just might scream.

First Day

2011-08-16T09:16:00.000-04:00

Well, by all accounts, it was a fine first day of school.

Don't they look so grown up?!

Cinderella made it to all of her classes, wasn't late once, never got lost, and had a friend or two to eat lunch with. She even likes a couple of her teachers. Especially Social Studies. She's already planning a two-week bout with pneumonia when it's time for swimming in Gym Class. High school could grow on her, she thinks.

Snow White loves half of her teachers and can't wait to actually do a project in art. She has lots of friends in lots of her classes and lunch hour with her best friends. This year, for the first time, they split the grades for lunch according to the teacher you have, and she got lucky.

Sleeping Beauty misses having Snow White in her lunch hour; SB got the short end of the stick, she thinks. She has a few friends in her lunch hour, but none of her really close friends. She does like most of her classes, though. Except gym. She never likes gym, she tells me. (Who does in middle school? I never did. Ick.)

One funny thing--Cinderella decided that to prepare her body for the early hour of seminary, she should get up at 5:30, even though the bus doesn't come until 8:00. She set her alarm for 5:30, and we all went to bed. At 12:40 a.m., I hear the girls' shower. What in the world? She had thought she heard her alarm and was taking her morning shower. I checked her alarm--still set for 5:30. I have no idea what happened. But, she went back to bed and still got up at 5:30 and watched TV for a while to wake up. (What is on at that hour in the morning?) It was quite funny, and will be something to remember always about her very first day of high school.

The girls brought home a list of supplies their teachers require that were not on the supply list we had. So, it was off to the store to buy some binders and gym shorts, and more stuff for lunches. Apparently, even though it's quite lame to bring your lunch to school, that is way better than eating the gross food at school. Which is fine with me--except for the whining that there is never anything good to take for lunch.

So, we're back to the normal grind. Didn't take long to make it feel like business as usual.

Ready or Not

2011-08-14T15:05:00.000-04:00

School starts tomorrow. The girls are ready. I am ready. But I am not ready. I am looking forward to structure, some home-alone time (I need it!) and to the things the girls will learn and enjoy. I am not looking forward to homework, deadlines, and early mornings.

This year, mornings will be earlier than ever before, despite school starting an hour later than it has in the past (8:40!) We'll be up by 5:30, thanks to Cinderella's participation in Early Morning Seminary, a 50-minute scripture study class she will attend at 6:10 a.m. This year they are studying the Old Testament. I'm excited for her. She'll learn so much and have a chance to deepen her relationship with her Savior and her testimony of the Gospel. Thankfully, one of her teachers lives a few blocks from us and has graciously offered to take Cinderella to the church on the days she teaches. That will make it nice for us (well, King, who (let's not pretend otherwise) will be the one to take Cinderella on the days her teacher doesn't) and our morning routine.

In honor of our first day of school, as tradition expects, we went to our favorite ice cream place. The girls got the same ice cream shakes they always get, even though there are one hundred choices, and we talked about the school year and the new chore schedule. (yipee!) It's a fun way to end the summer and kick off the new school year.

We've got school supplies and new backpacks, and much needed new shoes. So I think tonight, after they receive special Father's Priesthood Blessings, we will be all set to go back to school. Or they will. I'm still not so sure. Ready or not, here it comes.

Freak Out Day (Just a Bit)

2011-08-08T22:29:00.000-04:00

So, really, registering your high school girl isn't so bad. It's pretty fun. Unless you think about how fast the last four years have gone, and then you start to hyperventilate a little because before you know it, she will be in college. And also you should really not look around at the other students, half of which are practically fully grown men!!!(Okay, young boys...but really big young boys!)--who will be looking at and conversing with your baby girl. Maybe. But hopefully not, because she is just your baby girl, right?

Oh, and at the pediatrician today, the twins got a full explanation of how horrible warts are. The down there kind. Disgusting. And traumatizing. And a little more of an answer than they wanted when they asked what one of the shots on the list of shots to choose from was all about. But I suppose if you ask a nurse these kinds of questions, you should be prepared for a detailed answer. They know that now. And I'm pretty sure they are done asking questions. Or thinking about engaging in...um...relations. Which is just fine by me.

So I was pretty much having one of those, "Holy Toledo, how on earth did I manage to get old enough to have children who are being educated on STDs...or one in high school...or almost in college?!?!?! I am living someone else's life, right?!"

But then the girls fought like little toddlers and acted selfish, and silly, and downright ridiculously juvenile during Family Home Evening, and all was right in the world again.

Phew.

Content

2011-08-01T14:30:00.001-04:00

Yikes--it's been a long time since I posted. I guess we're just trying to enjoy the last couple of weeks of summer. And I've been recovering from vacation. Doesn't the recovery take about as long as the vacation? I think so.

I had a great time in Utah. I saw some extended family and friends, but the bulk of the time was spent with my sisters and parents. Which was nice.

My niece, showing off her new posing skills.

My nephews, holding still just barely long enough for a picture.

My brother, holding his baby girl.

After our trip to the BYU Bookstore

It was perfect, actually. Now that I think about it, I had no energy for anything else. And, while I would have loved to see more family and friends, it was nice to enjoy the time I had with my family.

I just wish I lived closer to them.

Ah, well. Life goes on. We are blessed to live in a place we love and to have a secure job and wonderful church family. And unlimited long distance so I can call my family. :)

Well, I'm off to check on the girls at the pool. Have I said buying a pool membership was the best money ever spent? I have? Well, it's worth repeating. Best. Investment. Ever.

You all have a good week!

From Hawaii [Cinderella, Via Text]

2011-07-22T17:25:00.002-04:00

7/7--We just landed. It's beautiful out here. Took pics from 10,000 above. Flight wasn't bad. Turns out 4 hrs is killer but 8 is nothin.

7/7--The plane is huge. The seats are 2:3:2. They are playing really annoying Hawaiian music on the plane. We are alive!

7/7--I will call later. Our flight was almost an hour early. When you buy a new suitcase, I suggest getting a giraffe print one so it is easily recognized. We've been...

...standing at the baggage claim for like 15 min and haven't seen our bags yet.

7/7--Just got them. Off to our hotel. I have to go now. Love u. Txt u l8r.

7/7--There are baby sharks at the hotel!!

7/8--Hi mom. It's only 7:30 in Hawaii, but it's 1:30 your time. Good night. Don't be mad. :) We have 2 rooms. Both have 2 balconies overlooking the ocean. I...

...have lots of pics. There are lots of manta rays and baby sharks and cool fish here. We can see them over my and z's room balcony. We are on the 14th floor, but...

...it's actually only the 13th floor because floor 13 got skipped because of superstitious people. We have a book of mormon and a bible in our room too...

...We can control all of the lights the climate and the phone with a touch screen thingie on the bedside table. It's really cool. I tried a mango smoothie...

...and a strawberry banana smoothie and a pina colada. All were served in chilled pineapple shells. They were all super yummy. They were served...

...by the pool. I also got a yummy hot dog. There were two weddings today on the beach. We can see everything. I LOVE Hawaii!! Z and I can't find any outlets...

...in the room though. Oh wait, she found one. I am using all of her battery power to txt. The bathroom has 2 sinks, and a fancy glass...

...shower, plus a bathtub. Don't worry, I took a shower and I put on sunscreen too. We are parasailing tomorrow. We saw tons of cute little kids at the beach.Night!

7/8--Good morning. Hawaii is still really beautiful when it's really dark at 5 in the morning. Love you!

7/8--Yeah, we can't sleep anymore. WE went to bed early, but it's still really early. Z and I spent some quiet time on the balcony, now...

...we are getting dressed and watching tv. It took us five tries to send that super long text last night. We had to shorten it a bit too.

7/8--Breakfast we a-may-zing. Yum. We are going to watch the last space shuttle launch. :) :(

7/8--No parasailing today. Too windy. Having seafood :( and snocones :) instead.

7/8--Got Snow White a shirt that says peace, love, and pineapples. Perfect. And lip gloss for Sleeping Beauty.

7/8--We are just getting dinner at a Hawaiian bbq. Chicken and steamed rice. Good night!

7/9 Just went parasailing. It was fun. I didn't throw up on the boat. Z and I got Milano cookies and Ritz crackers. I have major...

...tan lines. We are going back to the beach now. Breakfast was so yummy. I would kill for some Chinese food right now. What r u doing?

...Have fun! Miss you...kind of. Love you!

7/10--Can't call now. No time. We are going to see turtles. Just stopped by the temple. Beautiful. Haven't been around campus yet. Church was ok. Luau...

...was awesome. But it started raining as we sat down to eat. There was a bride in a wedding dress there. She was crazy. They handed out ponchos...

...when it was raining like they expected it to happen. Food was good. I was sad to leave the hotel today because it was so awesome. Excited for efy. Would...

...kill for some chinese food right now. You will have to take me in Utah. WE just watched "City Slickers" at the g-parents house. So funny. Love you. More later. :)

7/10--I will tell you about how awful I was at snorkeling in Ut. I am not very sunburned, only a little on my face. At the Luau, we took pictures...

...holding real parrots. All the girls got painted tattoos. I will show you pics of both later. Bye.

7/12--Miss u. Love u. Txt u l8r.

7/15--WE are busy having a fabulous time!! This is the best week of my ENTIRE LIFE! Can't talk now. See you later. Luv ya! Buh bye!

7/16--Flight delayed 15 min. We met group of 4 efy girls at the LA airport. We talked. They were nice. I wonder how many other efy kids...

...are on this plane cuz a lot of them were from UT. See u soon!

7/16--We're here! Will miss efy SO much.

Chicago

2011-07-11T16:13:00.003-04:00

Last week, I flew to Texas to drop Cinderella off at our friends' house. She and I stayed to visit for a couple of days, and she is in Hawaii with them this week. Then, since Snow White and Sleeping Beauty didn't get to go to Hawaii, I met the girls and King in the next best place(?) for vacationing--Chicago.

It's not a tropical paradise, but we had great weather and had a fabulous time. The highlights were seeing our friends, Peter Pan, the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, the Adler Planetarium, Navy Pier, Architecture Boat Tour, the American Girl Store, Chicago Style Pizza, Oberweis Ice Cream, parking, and freaking out while being honked at in downtown traffic. (Okay, maybe that last two weren't so great.)

And, here is way more photographic proof of our adventures than you'd ever need....

Peter Pan

Parking in Chicago is SO much fun.

Sleeping Beauty thought taking a picture of Chicago's skyline was dumb.

Shedd Aquarium and Lake Michigan

Views from Adler Planetarium

Moon Jump

UV-Ray detector beads

Field Museum, including only a fraction of pictures the girls took of the animals.

We thought this guy looked like a Dr. Suess creature.


Don't ask me what King is doing in this picture...

Shedd Aquarium

That's a live little alligator!

The Jellyfish were awesome.

With the sharks.

Wish you could tell from the picture the amazing colors of coral.

We loved seeing our friends, the A's, again!

Architecture Boat Tour

Navy Pier

Just chatting with Bob Newhart

Downtown Chicago

Water Tower Pumping Station

Showing Cinderella that we saw Hawaiian girls, too. :)

The moms and the kids. At Oberweis Ice Cream Shop. Yum.

Tired Campers

2011-07-06T14:27:00.000-04:00

The girls had a fabulous time at Girl's Camp. They loved every minute. Snow White said the only thing she didn't really like was that it lasted only three days instead of a whole week. She's obviously young, and has never been a camp leader before. ;) Those ladies deserve a special place in heaven, that's for sure.

I am so glad the girls had a great time. I think one of the best things about camp is forming relationships with other girls that have also committed their lives to Christ and His church. The kids can gain so much strength from each other. And if the sacrifice for forming these relationships to lift and strengthen them is bringing home tired girls who didn't get enough sleep, we'll take it. Totally worth it.

The camp songs they've been singing, though...well, we could probably do without those. :)

Practicing Empty Nesting

2011-06-29T10:15:00.001-04:00

Cinderella made it to camp. Her fever broke, and since she had been fever free for more than 24 hours, we decided to let her go. Her leaders promised to make her take it easy and that they would take good care of her, and since it has been 24 hours since they all left, we are pretty sure all is well. So glad she was able to go.

And now, we are premature empty-nesters and we are not sure we like it. Last night we were driving around looking at tile options for our kitchen backsplash. (Oh, the options! So many. And so many we love that don't really match. And so many we think are good but we're not sure. How do we decide if we want the tile to "pop" or just blend in so the cabinets can "pop", or if we want the tile to be neutral or colorful? Wow.) As we left one store, we decided we needed to eat. What to do? Neither of us wanted to take the time to go home and cook for just the two of us. But we didn't really want to spend money eating out. And then we realized, we have three more nights of dinners this week with just the two of us. Yikes. Can't go out that many times.

It's not that I don't love spending time with King, it's just that it is so quiet. Not that I'm complaining (because I sure love quiet), it's just a little strange. When I think about the fact that in just six short years(!!!), all of our girls will be done with high school and moving on to college, I get a little bit panicked. (I think the fact that King is ripping apart our old swing set to take to the dump is contributing to this panic. How did they grow so fast? How is it that none of my babies want to swing on a swing set anymore?) Six years is not a lot of time! It will go too fast. And I better think of more meals that are easy to make for two. There aren't a lot of great restaurants in our neck of the woods.

And, I also need a career. Just now, being a full-time mommy takes all I've got, but I'll have 20 years of time between when the twins graduate and King retires. That's a lot of years. What will I do with myself? Have any good ideas for someone who has a debilitating headache 45% of the time, a really bad headache 45% of the time, and a stressed out lingering headache 10% of the time because the other 90% of the time her body is worthless? Yep, me neither. ;)

Which is why I'm really excited to have those noisy campers come home in three days. This week is enough empty nest practice for me. Let's get back to the crazy life.

Getting Ready

2011-06-26T22:57:00.000-04:00

Things we had to get to be ready for Girl's Camp this week:

Flashlights
Camp Chairs
A Whetstone
A Compass
A Swimming Suit

Things we the girls just wanted to get to be really ready for Girl's Camp this week:

Starbursts
Cookies
Chips
Lunchables

Things we didn't want at all, but got anyway, for Girl's Camp this week:

Cinderella's 102 Fever
Her Cough
Her Sore Throat
Her Lethargy
Her Loss of Appetite

So, pretty much only two of us are going to Girl's Camp, as of now.

Bummer.

Voice Lessons

2011-06-23T16:13:00.008-04:00

Cinderella started voice lessons a couple of weeks ago. When Grandma was here last, she said it was time for Cinderella to begin lessons. Not being one to know if someone has a voice mature enough for voice lessons or not, I listened to the expert and signed Cinderella up. (Grandma's a voice teacher and professor of music--she knows.) I have a friend who is a voice teacher, so it actually works out quite nicely for us. My friend's out of a job just now, so it works out extra nicely for her, I'm guessing.

And Cinderella liked it a lot. She said she liked it much better than piano lessons because it was much easier. She asked if she could now quit piano lessons and take voice lessons. I said, "Sure...."

She grinned.

"...for the summer," I said, "...until your teacher starts teaching again in the fall."

"Dang," she said. But she smiled. I know she secretly loves piano lessons. But she'll never tell me that. And she'll never tell me she loves voice lessons either.

Which is totally fine with me. I need forms of torture that aren't really torture, and she needs excuses to hate me. So we're both good.

Four Days?!

2011-06-21T23:12:00.000-04:00

I read yesterday that you should change your personal razor every four days. I'm guessing they assume you actually shower and use the razor each of those four days. Which I totally do, of course. And I change my razor every four days as well.

I also floss twice a day. And do a self-breast exam each time I shower.

Yep, I totally do all that.

Visitors

2011-06-19T14:49:00.000-04:00

We love having visitors! We especially love visitors that are old friends who just fall comfortably back into our lives. We pick up where we left off and have such a great time.
The M family came to visit last weekend. They shared a duplex with us when we were attending graduate school at Purdue, and now live way, way too far away! We played games and laughed and reminisced about all of the old times when the kids were little and spent hours together. We remembered when we used to trade babysitting and nights when we would just pile all of the kids into the same room for a big sleepover (obviously we can't do that anymore!) when there were long temple dates, or when new babies were born.

We visit them every few years on our drive to Utah, and it seems their kids grow at least 12 inches between each visit. This time was no exception--although looking at the pictures, I suppose our girls have grown just as much. (Sigh.) It's hard to believe it was more than ten years ago that they were all little ones. They always thought they were cousins, and they really almost are. We love them like family and wish they could come visit more often!

Almost Over the Hill

2011-06-14T16:20:00.001-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, King turned forty. We had a small gathering at a friend's house to celebrate. I asked Snow White and Sleeping Beauty to snap a few pictures of the festivities:

You can tell what the girls' favorite part of the party was, can't you? But, besides little cute people drooling and chewing on blocks, we also had dinner and Daddy's favorite lemon cake, and even played some games. And sang Happy Birthday. Thanks to E&L for hosting and our friends for joining us to celebrate! We love our King!