Life Between Naptime

2012-02-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a long week. Luckily, it's basically over for me. While most people will head into work tomorrow, I have the day off. I have promised myself that I can wear my maternity yoga pants, slightly dressed up with a sweater and black clogs, out in public tomorrow as reward for spending a good part of the week "dressed up" for work/Parent Teacher Conferences.

This year, some genius at the school district decided it would be wise to hold the first day of junior high parent teacher conference on Valentine's Day. Crappy for teachers, who made it through the 2nd craziest day as a junior high teacher (the day before Christmas break is #1...and maybe Valentine's Day is a tie with Halloween) with all the sugar, flowers, stuffed animals, and balloons; crappy, also, for parents who had romantic plans for the holiday.

And boy, was it obvious this was truly a brilliant decision. Between the hours of 4-7 on Tuesday, I spoke with 23 parents, where on a typical PTC night, I usually visit with upwards of 50-60 parents. The night crawled by so slowly, I nearly finished a 280 page book that I checked out from the school library earlier that day. Apparently the incentive for parents to come to a pre-conference BBQ (gaggy district hot dogs & hamburgers) wasn't enough--I've never seen an emptier cafeteria where free food was being offered to a population who usually come in droves at the mention of "free food."

Our second night of conferences definitely made up for the slowness and turnout of day one. In all, I met with 42 parents---still not a record, but double the numbers from the night before. I had several visits with parents of students who have caused me grief, either in outlandish behavior or lack of work. Interestingly, some of the "highlights" of day 2 were:

1) When the father of a Polynesian student learned his son has sat in class since January doing absolutely no work (12%), complaining, and being pretty disrespectful, he broke down in tears right in front of me. He felt shame, embarrassment, and anger....and I witnessed that full gamete of emotions right before my eyes. As he wiped his tears with his t-shirt sleeves, like little boys do, he spoke softly: "I'm very, very sorry. He will be better."

2) A parent of one of my honors students met with me for what turned out to be his telling me how I should run an honors class. "This class is too easy and not challenging..." I get it because, for the most part, I agree. But what I couldn't seem to get across to this man who clearly thought he was professor material, is that anytime I do something a little more challenging (ie projects, homework, higher level thinking, etc.), the kids complain, shut down, and refuse to do anything. As I've thought about this most of the day today, I've come up with some ideas on how I can try to up the challenge and secretly wish I could invite this parent in to witness the aftermath.

3) One of my favorite, brightest students came with his parents and an older brother (who I'm guessing has at least graduated high school). The visit was brief because this kid is wonderful and there's only so much you can say with a kid like this. I saw his brother out of the corner of my eyes starring at me as I spoke, and when they turned to leave, the brother stuck back a bit and said...something. I'm trying to figure out the exact wording, but it was something about how he wished his junior high teachers were "hot." I was flustered and pretended not to hear him, but when he kept walking by (once with my student, a few times without) looking at me, I was a little freaked. Today this student avoided me, when he normally talks to me. I plan on not saying anything about it to him and hopefully he won't worry about it.

It was great both nights to come home to an empty house and wait for my mom to bring Little Man home. I missed him. Today he was pretty upset that grandma Susie didn't pick him up from the sitter's house, but we made up for it with a fun night of playdough, Valentine's candy, Dumbo & popcorn. I haven't really seen Big Man since late Tuesday night and am trying to keep my eyes open a little later tonight just so we can see each other and have a face-to-face conversation.

Like always, the best reward for getting through Parent Teacher Conferences (besides maternity yoga pants), is the no-school-Friday thing. It's extra exciting this time since Little Man and I will be heading to the airport in the morning to pick up my dad, who is coming up for the weekend. We're excited...and Little Man is convinced my dad is going to sleep in his car bed.

ten on tuesday

2012-02-07T16:49:00.000-08:00

Ten things on Tuesday:

1. Little Man is watching "Gnomeo and Juliet" for the, no joke, 15th time. We watched it a couple of weekends ago and it has become his favorite. The best part is he actually giggles out lout at the funny parts. I'm pretty sure he has a crush on Juliet (whom he actually calls "Julien") and he just about knows all of the songs. I admit at first I hated the idea of Shakespeare as an animated garden gnome movie, but truly it is a darling show and I love it, too!

2. Today is exactly halfway (20 weeks) of this pregnancy. Those first few months that went by so slowly have turned into weeks that zoom by. I feel ginormous and look ginormous compared to pregnancy pictures with Little Man. The big 20 week ultrasound is on Friday, wherein we could find out gender...but we're staying in the dark about this one, too, until baby arrives.

3. I took Little Man to Yogurtland yesterday for National Yogurt Day. We waited in line for about 20 minutes and each got a free yogurt with as many free toppings as we wanted. Little Man apparently has phobia of yogurt and wouldn't eat any, including the toppings of cookies, gummie worms, and blueberries. Instead, he told me "take the ice cream off, mommy," and I ended up eating his whole thing. Strange child.

4. Big Man is forehead-deep in his last semester of college. He's having to do some makeup work for a couple of incomplete classes from previous semesters. He's banished himself to the library before class and on nights he doesn't have class in order to get stuff done. I'll sure be glad to have this out of the way.

5. I've had the itch to do something crafty. It doesn't help that I spend a few minutes every day on Pinterest, looking at and pinning cute crafts (most of which I'll probably never do). I'm determined to make something cute and crafty by the end of this month, I just haven't decided what.

6. I'm prepping my students to take the DWA (Direct Writing Assessment) in a couple of weeks. This tests their ability to write persuasively. It's a slow and painstaking process, especially since they are so, ahem, dense, at grasping the concepts. Today they typed up rough drafts and the next couple of days we'll look at some examples and then edit/revise theirs. It doesn't help that writing persuasively is not really my forte, but you know how it is...teach to the test!

7. On Friday night I went with some girls in my ward out to dinner. It was so fun and a much needed break. We sat in the booth from 7 to 10, talked about kids, husbands, and a tiny bit of ward gossip. When we drove home, we stayed in the driveway of one of the girls and talked some more and I didn't get home until almost midnight! I felt like such a teenager. We're going to aim to do something once a month sans children and husbands.

8. The whole Josh Powell situation literally makes me sick to my stomach to think about. As more details surface, I get more and more upset. So, I've had to turn off the news and skip over Twitter feeds regarding the whole thing. I don't want to devote too much space to it here, only to say that it's beyond upsetting and tragic how sick the world is.

9. Right now I'm really craving gummy worms, an avocado/tomato sandwich, and chocolate cake. Big Man just indulged me in a few gummy worms he had hiding in his room and after only eating 3 he told me I could have no more. A trip to Walgreens may be in my very near future.

10. I've been working on a personal experiment this week. Big Man and I have been talking a little lately about how to keep the house clean and admit that we aren't super "clean" (as in, it takes a matter of seconds for our sink to pile with dishes because "well do it later.") So, this week, I've made a concerted effort to keep things straight before they get out of hand. I know it's pathetic, but I've only had to spend 10 or so minutes each night putting everything in order. Hopefully this will cut down on my regular 2 hour Saturday morning kitchen clean up. The next thing we tackle is getting rid of some of Little Man's toys and keeping his mess to a minimum.

evolution of dance

2012-02-02T17:10:00.000-08:00

Do you remember this from a few years ago?

Well, here's a version including someone you may recognize.

It was our annual Faculty Follies assembly today and last week my neighboring teacher (Ms. B) and I decided we should do something silly, since it's kind of been our tradition (read: Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, etc.). We got our wild friend, Mr. D, to join us because we knew he'd ham it up--and he totally did. We choose this because we thought it'd be easy to recreate but still be a lot of fun for the kids to watch. I think it was a hit! (I had one of my yearbook staffers record it and I told her to make sure to get the majority of it filming our entire group, but I realize she focused on me too much).

Students and teachers kept asking me all day if I was ok (as in, "You were sure dancing hard...are you ok? Is baby ok?) Besides being just a bit winded and extremely thirsty after, I felt great and had a lot of movement from the baby as I sat and watched the rest of the assembly. The principal kind of scolded me, though, and said, "You have no business dancing so hard up there!!" Then he came in during my 3rd period and made my students give me a standing ovation.

I think it's always fun for the kids to see teachers let loose a little. Some of the other acts included WL Hip Hop group (admin and other teachers dressed up all gangster like and danced to a hip hop song), the choir teacher doing a very funny musical act to the Rocky theme, a music video made by Ms. B that included many teachers from the school dancing to "I will Survive," and some truly talented teachers playing violin, cello, and piano.

happy birthday, family

2012-01-30T18:31:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow marks the 8th year of marriage for Big Man and I. 8 years. I kind of feel like it should be longer (since we've known each other so very long--ahem, almost 24 years or so). I also kind of feel like our marriage could be divided by 3 distinct "eras:"
--Era the 1st: Engagement--December 2002 (the longest Mormon engagement ever...just over 2 years) to October, 2004, when Big Man was finally released from the Army and we got to live with each other again. (We got marred in January, 2004, after an Iraq deployment).
--Era the 2nd: October 2004-April 2009. A long era, so to speak, where we were blissfully just a married couple with little responsibilities besides ourselves, our jobs, and making midnight trips to 7-11 or Wendy's. We stayed up late, slept late, and were free birds to come & go as we pleased.
--Era the 3rd: April 2009-Present Day. Post Little Man's birth, life & marriage took on a whole new meaning and purpose. We (mostly I) all of a sudden had sporadic, interrupted sleep and couldn't leave the house with a diaper bag that basically included everything but the bathroom sink. Life revolved around nap time (sound familiar?), a fairly strict schedule, and arranging babysitters for those times when one of us just wasn't available.

Now, we're obviously about to enter what will probably be known in a few years as Era the 4th with the addition of a second child. I know people say this all.of.the.time, but it's so true: we've definitely had really difficult periods of our marriage and really, really awesome parts (I'd say the awesome far out weigh the difficult), and it's amazing to see how far we've come. Big Man really is my best friend. Not because I'm kind of a loser when it comes to the girl-friend department (I have 'em, but don't see 'em very often!), but because I share everything with him, he knows how I work, and we've learned to accept each others strengths and weaknesses and rarely get in arguments about "the small stuff."

Last night we were talking about what to do to celebrate. Since our Scotland trip really counted as part anniversary/Christmas/birthday, we wanted to keep it low key. Big Man thought it would be fun to include our Little Man in our celebrations because, as he put it, "It's really the birthday of our family, not just our marriage." I thought that was cute and clever, so tomorrow when we all get home, we'll go to dinner--the 3 of us--and I'm planning on pigging out. And then we'll go grocery shopping.

hello, bump!

2012-01-25T21:20:00.001-08:00

Today I reached 18 weeks. An app on my iPod tells me baby is roughly the size of a mango and my uterus is the size of a large cantaloupe. I'm up way late (working on a passed due yearbook deadline) but decided to stay up even later to post.

I feel fat and tired and achy, but I've also been feeling little taps and nudges from the baby (I need 'nickname' suggestions while this little one is in utero...any ideas?) this week and that makes everything worth it. I told Little Man that I felt the baby move inside my belly and he giggled; I can't wait until he (& Big Man) can feel from the outside, too.

My students have taken a liking to assessing my belly size each week: "Mrs. Hubert, your belly got bigger!" (duh) or "You are so big for the baby being so small!" (thanks) or "If you spin around will the baby get dizzy? (ok, I realize that has nothing to do with size, but...)

Big Man apparently just noticed last night that my belly is growing. While I was standing in front of him as he was sitting on the couch, he gave me a funny look and said (in all seriousness), "Are you pregnant?" Little Man asked me on Saturday if I had stuffed a ball under my shirt.

Some good things--compared to my last post--are that my cold is slowly going away (though I have had a painful earache for the last two days) and I sent one batch of pimples packing (though I traded that batch for one ouchy one on my cheek!). I'm feeling ravenous and craving really random (& edible) things. Today I was at a meeting all day where they provided breakfast and lunch and I totally pigged out on pasta salad, slices of cheese, and 2 (!) brownies. Yum. It feels so much better than that all-day nausea of the first...16 weeks...of this whole 9 month thing.

In conclusion, I'm happy to be almost halfway done, I'm feeling mostly really great, and it's really super to be in the 'fun' stage of feeling movement, you know, before it gets painful and annoying. I'm looking forward to the big anatomy ultrasound on the 10th and my next ob appointment on the 13th.

(And also, my 8th anniversary is next Tuesday, followed closely by Valentine's day, which has become less and less important as the years pass)

pardon me while i complain

2012-01-21T18:15:00.000-08:00

Excuse me, I'm having a bit of a grumpy moment. Little Man is in the other room watching Thomas (a little bribe I use at bedtime--I know, awful--if he helps clean up his toys), so we are literally moments away from bedtime and I.Can't.Wait.

Part of my grumpy mood relates to the miserable cold I've had for the last few days. I'm so over the runny, stuffy, plugged up feeling, the body aches, and sneezes. I'm trying to muster through without too much drugs, though I did indulge myself in prego-safe cold pills last night and slept the whole night, thankfully. Little Man is still pretty juicy from his latest round of sickness, so between the two of us, we've gone through a ton of kleenex/boogie wipes.

Another reason I'm grumpy is that Big Man got called into work to do snow removal until midnight. Yup. He slept until 2:30 (with a migraine, but I was still a little grouchy about the fact that I was stuck with toddler-duty whilst sick as he slept the day away), then went to play piano for a ward baptism at 3. When he got home at 3:50, he was here long enough to change into his snow gear and then hurriedly left to do snow removal duty. Before he'd left for the baptism, he said he would go to the grocery store for me after and rent a Red Box and get me a Jamba Juice or ice cream. And that kinda has me grumpy because I 1) wanted to hang out with him tonight and 2) wanted ice cream.

Let's just continue this pitty party (really, I am sorry to sound so whiny), shall we?

-- I'm too lazy/sick/tired to trek in the snow with toddler in tow to the grocery store and we are thisclose to being out of milk, bread, and other basics. Luckily my mom brought over some leftovers from her book club, which saved me a scramble for dinner.
-- I'm officially out of my regular pants and hate all of my maternity pants. I must've grown or they must've shrunk, but they are all like floods and the elastic in some of the belly bands are all twisted and don't lay flat. I really could go for a weeks worth of these. Another pregnancy ailment that I have been experiencing is that painful growth/stretching of my hips/pelvic bones. It feels OK in the morning after a good sleep, but the longer I'm up, chasing after Little Man, the worse it feels. And can I just say how much I loathe pregnancy acne. I don't remember this awful breakout with LM, and even had a lady in my ward tell me the other day she predicts I'm having a girl because my face is so broken out. Gee, thanks. I've never had stellar skin, but this is ri.dic.u.lous.
-- I left the really good book I've been reading on my desk at work and I'm so bummed because I was aiming to finish it this weekend. I suppose I could see what's on the digital library shelves for my ereader, but again, too lazy. Looks like a night of watching Netflix---alone--is in my future.
-- Tomorrow I'm teaching YW. My awesome sister in law got me a mini donut maker AND a cake pop/donut hole maker for Christmas and my plan was to make some cute mini donuts for the girls (Trina & I played with it last weekend and they are tasty!), but I just realized I don't have one of the ingredients. Dang.

Well, Thomas is over and LM calls from his room to read some books, the best part of my day. I will post again when I'm in a better mood because this grumpy-ness is no fun!

the best we could do for this year

2012-01-19T18:31:00.000-08:00

Dear daddy-o:

Today is your birthday. I should have sent a big care package with cupcakes, presents, balloons, and party hats. We could have gone to dinner, eaten chocolate cake with rich, creamy frosting, and then home to open a plethora of presents.

But, maybe next year. I always think about sending you a birthday card or something a few weeks before your birthday, but then I forget or I am too lazy or *ahem* I get sick. Compared to how you spoil us for birthdays, I do a lousy job!!

I did sit Little Man down before bed to make a video. He did pretty good. Of course, I'm biased and think he's pretty stinkin' cute (except for when he throws his little fits where he jumps up and down, shakes his hands, and squeals).

Anyway, all of this to say that no matter how little we did for your birthday this year, we love you and have been thinking about you all day. Little Man asked if we could go to your house tonight and I told him we couldn't because you lived far, far away. He replied, "Well, actually, I want to go far, far away for Grandpa Mike," and then was sad.

You get a special version of this (hopefully) in your email, but here it is for others to see my cute boy.

Lots of love to you.

monday musings (written monday, tuesday, and thursday!)

2012-01-09T15:48:00.000-08:00

* Nothing better than listening to my toddler "read" to me. He's memorized so many of our books, including the ones we've checked out repeatedly from the library, he can pretty much read them word for word. It's also pretty sweet when he comes and asks, "Can you wead dis to me, mamma?"

* Today I had a strong desire to revamp my wardrobe. It doesn't help that I'm now in that awkward between phase of regular pants/maternity pants. If I could, I'd go semi-vintage and wear really bright clothes that you wouldn't think match but when put together actually look great.

* Last night (Sunday) I made sloppy joes, homemade oven fries, and cauliflower for dinner. It sounded good before I made it, while I was making it, AND after I ate it. I actually ate a little of everything and felt satisfied. Today, however, the meal as leftovers didn't sit well and, well, you know...

*Tonight, Little Man and I went to my mom's house for dinner after my Dr. appointment. She made cubed stake, sweet potatoes, peas, and chocolate pudding. If Big Man goes camping/ice fishing tomorrow/Saturday, Little Man and I will sleep over at my moms. And, I WILL bathe myself in her jetted tub!!!

* I was made the new team facilitator in my school team (a group of teachers assigned to a certain grade/group of students...I'm on one of the 8th grade teams). The old one decided she had too much on her plate and stepped down. After the vote, I instantly thought, "Crap! I'm not a leader!" My first action as facilitator was to cancel (with the urging of other team members) our meeting today. Thus, I had an extra looonnnggg lunch. I totally went in on the couches in the faculty room and took a mini snooze.

* Last night (Wednesday) I caught Little Man in bed, one hour after bedtime, with his nightlight on--usually off--and a big stack of books! My kid's going to be that kid who gets in trouble for reading late at night in bed with a flashlight. Or, that kid who teachers constantly remind to put their book away during class. Part of me was mad he was still up, the other part (English teacher pat) was beaming with joy! This morning when woke up, he opened his door, rubbed his eyes with "The Foot Book" in hand and said, "Mama, turn my light on, I wanna read!" Ahh.

* I had my 16 week checkup today at Dr. H's. I've been feeling paranoid about not knowing for sure if I've felt the baby yet and I don't feel like I'm 'big' enough, so my cute Dr. reassured me with a listen at the heartbeat (in the 150-153 bpm range), and showed me how to find and feel my uterus while laying down. Everything looks & sounds good and I suppose the constant pain in my hips/pelvic bones should be reminder that my body is doing it's job. We go back in 4 weeks for another Dr. visit AND the big ultrasound (the one you can find out gender...but only if you want to :)). Little Man kept saying, "I wanna hold the baby," and after hearing the heartbeat on the speaker, he said, "Is that the baby in the speaker?" He even told my mom he heard the baby in the speaker.

* We've made it to the end of 2nd quarter (1st Semester) at school, which means the school year is officially half way over. Halleluiah! I have to go in for a few hours tomorrow, but no students. And a better bonus is that there is no school on Monday! Coming up: my first yearbook deadline (yikes!), parent teacher conferences (on freakin' Valentine's Day!), and the big Direct Writing Assessment for my darling 8th graders.

Well, this only took me 4 days to write, but at least it's done and being published!!

soaking up some vitamin d

2012-01-07T11:40:00.000-08:00

This last week was unseasonably sunny and warm(ish). We haven't had snow (but woke up to a bunch this morning!) since well before Christmas and I think this nice weather threw us all off! Little Man was convinced it was spring time and wanted to play outside every day this week. Most afternoons I'd say no because I was either filling icky or too cold to even think about hanging out outside.

On Wednesday, however, we got home early and I was feeling like soaking up some sun, so we bundled up and I put a blanket on the porch for me to sit on. Little Man had a blast playing with his trucks in the dirt.

I told him that we'd have to go inside once the sun starting going behind the houses and for the most part he was ok when we finally made our journey back inside. I wouldn't say it was warm or that I even felt the sun on my face, but it sure felt nice just to sit outside.

The next day Little Man begged to go on a bike ride, so we pulled his little bike out of the shed and walked around the neighborhood. I was FREEZING by the time we got back and Little Man desperately wanted to stay outside to play some more. Mommy won, though, and we went back in where I promptly fell asleep on the couch while he played his game.

aviary

2012-01-07T09:58:00.000-08:00

Monday, when Big Man and I both had the day off, we got all bundled up and took Little Man to the Tracy Aviary. With our Red Butte Membership, we get into the aviary for free. We went a few times in the summer, but Big Man had never gone, so we went.

Little Man loved feeding the ducks. He's still got a ways to improve on his food-throwing skills.

I swore I rotated this picture...both of my boys enjoyed watching the bald eagle. What a pretty bird. This one had an injured wing and it was interesting to see it attempt to fly.

It was a fun afternoon, albeit a bit chilly, but we went for a visit at B's grandparent's house after and then home for dinner. This was the night before we both went back to work and needless to say, we were both kinda letdown that our vacation had come to an end!

so, i'm pregnant again.

2012-01-04T20:39:00.000-08:00

Ever since I found out I was pregnant (Halloween!), I have been kicking myself for how much I didn't write down with my first pregnancy--symptoms, feelings, etc. I have a little on my blog, but not the kind of dirt I was looking for in those early days (was I really this sick with LM?) So, I've tried keeping better record in my regular journal (lucky you).

But, what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't post my bump pictures and write about those pesky pregnancy ailments?? OK, OK, OK, I'll try not to go overkill, but it's fun to go back and see what witty things I wrote.

I took this picture at 14 weeks, 4 days (last Wednesday, I believe). Believe it or not, my bump has popped even more since then. I want to say that I'm less paranoid this time around, but I have my minutes where I worry. I also have spent less time reading the pregnancy books/websites (probably a good thing) and I'm feeling quite calm about the difficult part to come later!

Some random things that I want to remember:

--Breakfast rarely sounds good, even now in my 2nd trimester. Breakfast this morning? A glass of cold water from our Britta filter and two spoonfuls of yogurt.
--And if I'm being honest, food in general sounds revolting. I have a craving for something (last night, chicken pot pie from Marie Calendars and a spinach salad) and then when it's all ready to eat, I take one look and gag.
--Speaking of cold water, it's my lifesaver, along with Otter Pops. I've always got a fresh glass of cold water, lately with sliced cucumbers (yum!) and it is necessary to eat Otter Pops two at a time, preferably a red with a blue or a pink with a green.
--I'm already experiencing the intense pelvic pain I had last time, though it seems much earlier. This is where I can barely lift my leg to put my pants on, or put socks on, or walk fast. Today I had a difficult time hoisting myself up on my stool at work!
--My cute doc is also pregnant, just one week ahead of me. This is her third and she's taking a page from our book (her words) and not finding out the sex of the baby until it's born. Yes, we're doing that again. Big Man thinks-of course-boy, I think girl. If you ask Little Man he says, "It's a Erich!"
--My students are slowly starting to notice my tummy. Yesterday a few inquired and I said, "Yes, I got a belly bump for Christmas."
--We have names already picked out but probably won't share until after the baby is born, to save ourselves from the endless criticism, etc. Actually, I think it's just another fun part of the surprise!

It's definitely an exciting time and I can't believe we are blessed to be able to bring another sweet little one to this earth. Little Man so doesn't understand what's coming, but if you ask him what's in mommy's belly, he says with a huge grin, "A baby!" We got some "new baby" books at the library yesterday and he calls the little boy in the book Erich. He keeps asking "How much longer, mommy?" and I can never get him to tell me how much longer until what, but I wonder if it's "how much longer until the baby comes?"

Well, we've got a while, Little Man, but hopefully it'll continue to fly by!!!!!

And now, I promise, I will keep my pregnancy posts to a once per week minimum! Maybe.

top 10 of winter break '11

2012-01-02T08:12:00.000-08:00

Very few probably care to see nearly 2-week old pictures of our Christmas celebration. But, I know my dad probably would enjoy some, so this is mostly for him, the Top 10 of Winter Break '11:

10. Little Man had a great Christmas and actually kind of got into the whole Santa Claus thing. He asks me daily, "Is Christmas over, mommy?" Some of his favorites were his garbage truck (seen below), a fun "Cars" addition to his GeoTrax train, Superman jammies, and of course, his fun new Keen dino shoes from Grandpa mike (also seen below). Christmas really is way more fun with a little one. (If you care, I got some pretty new red/black square dishes, some maternity clothes, and a fun new collection of scarfs! And Big Man got his Dr. Who Sonic Screwdriver and some warm Under Armor for his outdoor job.)

9. An outing to The Gateway--specifically Z'Tejas--with my mom and Big Man's brother/sis-in-law to announce baby #2. This is also where we told Little Man, who couldn't get enough of the ultrasound picture of the baby in mommy's belly. After dinner, we walked down to see the color-changing tree by the fountains. It was a chilly night that prompted my last-minute splurge on a new, big, puffy coat for my boy.
8. Thanks to my dad who gifted my brothers, their spouses, and me & Big Man a gift card to PF Changs for Christmas. We left the littles with Grandma Susie (thanks, mom!) and enjoyed a night of adult conversation, good food and Sherlock Holmes. It really was one of the highlights of my break because it's not something the 6 of us do often and it was fun to hang out as adults, not parents of toddlers who consume our entire attention. A funny conversation while waiting for our table: somehow the subject of sushi came up, and because I hadn't quite figured out a way to stick in "I'm pregnant" into our conversation thus far, I said, "Well, I won't be able to have sushi until June." It took 'em a little while, but my sisters-in-law caught on and knew it was my pregnancy announcement.
7. Christmas Eve at my mom's house is kind of our tradition and I so love it. This year we added some fun things for the littles (pin the carrot nose on Frosty, a pinata, and lots of piano time). Big Man and I got some pretty sweet Scotland ornaments from mom and Little Man was spoiled, like always, with a fun Fisher Price iXL learning system (dad, look it up...a mini ereader, mp3 player,etc.)

6. What's Christmas (& Christmas break, for that matter) without good food? Well, for this still-dealing-with-nasuea-and-gag-reflex pregnant woman, you can kind of count me out of the good food. But, I saw lots of good food and enjoyed (kind of) watching my family dig in. I, of course, did little to no baking--not even Santa cookies! Big Man made Christmas Crepes on Christmas morning and we feasted on sausage and bacon. I enjoyed one creme with berries and powdered sugar and then gagged down my second crepe filled with cream cheese and berries. Even though I couldn't stomach much this year, we decided that crepes will be our traditional Christmas breakfast.
5. Lots of cousin time. These boys are getting so they have little conversations and play well together. It is so fun to see them interact and to see their little personalities come through. They all got in their Christmas PJ's before we opened presents and had fun reading books together. But, alas, could we get them all to pose for a picture together? Big. Fat. Nope.
4. Grandma and Grandpa H (& Oma & Opa, too!) came for a Christmas night visit, bearing gifts and fun conversation. Little Man got a kick out of a new Thomas train set from G & G. I always get a yummy box of chocolates from Big Man's grandparents (& haven't touched them yet, which is unheard of). It was sure tough to get Little Man settled and in bed that night, after all the excitement of the day!
3. The day after Christmas, we went with G & G H to Zoo Lights at the Hogle Zoo. It was cold, but the animals, especially the tigers, were quite active and it wasn't all that crowded. Big Man's dad got me this awesome panda hat/scarf because one time I was watching TV with my father-in-law and we saw a commercial for one, I mentioned I wanted one. It's pretty silly so I thought it was appropriate to wear to the zoo. It kept me really warm! And of course, we stopped to have scones, deep fried s'mores, and cotton-candy before leaving that night!
2. My mom took the week off, too, so we went to the Discovery Gateway downtown with Little Man. It was crowded and I was a frantic mess following Little Man around because he literally went from one thing to the next in lightening speed! He had fun, though, and that's what's important. Here he is at the news exhibit where kids can sit at the news desk and even work the green screen & do the weather!
1. With a new baby on the way, I wanted to get my current baby potty trained. We've dabbled in potty time here and there, but never really seriously. So, on Tuesday after Christmas, I buckled down, put the egg-timmer on for every 20 minutes and gave a nearly naked Little Man lots to drink. He didn't love sitting on the potty every 20 minutes, so I bribed him with YouTube videos of garbage trucks and Mickey Mouse. By 11, he'd not gone ONE time. So, I put on his new Superman underoo's and he immediately had an accident. He hated that feeling, so after I cleaned him up, I put on the new Batman underoo's, and not 20 minutes later, he said, "mommy, I need to go potty!" This was how it went pretty much every day after that. He immediately knew that he hated the feeling of wet undies and was vigillent in telling me when he had to go. He would sometimes say, "I wanna go anothergen." ("Anothergen" is his word for another and again...so precious). He wouldn't ask to go potty unless he had on the big boy underwear and we were very successful. He slept over at my mom's house on New Year's eve and she had to go buy one because her toilet was "too big for me." Now, at the sitters, it's a little slow going, but I think tomorrow we'll try something different and hopefully we'll have some success there, too. Thankfully, the sitter is willing to help out!!

merry christmas from the 4 of us...

2011-12-24T21:17:00.001-08:00

Here's our version of a Christmas card this year. You may have to squint to see the words.

{{Pretty soon there'll be no more SILENT NIGHTS at our house}}

{{And we'll Deck the Halls in a different way.}}

It's the most wonderful time of the year to announce....

Happy Christmas to all!!!

charity

2011-12-20T19:04:00.000-08:00

Being at work this week is a little on the annoying side. My students are pretty much already on Winter Break and therefor are not really in the mood to do any work. I assigned a (bogus) 300 point project where they have to create a holiday and make a poster that announces the details of the holiday. So that it isn't completely pointless, they have to include some of the 2nd quarter skills/concepts we've learned so far (commonly confused words, prefix/suffix, verbs, capitalization rules, etc.). Surprisingly, many are working on it, but most are kind of, ahem, "half-assing" the whole thing (man, what's with me & the swears lately?!).

Because it's pretty much a get to work kind of project, one that requires almost no direct instruction on my part (hehe, part of my evil plan!), I've been able to get caught up on some filing and cleaning and organizing in my room. I'm a horrible filer and cleaner and organizer so it usually gets done once or twice a year.

In between this activity, I get on my computer and check emails, read news, and spend time looking at KSL Classifieds. No, I'm not looking to buy anything particular, I just browse random ads and wonder about the type of people who post. Kind of a lame past time of mine.

Today, I clicked on the "Charity" link in the Classifieds section and that decision nearly had me in tears. Most of what I read in that section was moms and dads posting pleas for strangers to help them provide Christmas for their children. Some were well written, believable, and truly tugged at my heart. Others seemed more of an excuse for why thy can't provide but feel entitled to gifts.

It made me think of how many people are affected by the troubling economy and also how very blessed I am. My little family struggles at times to have any "extra" perks in life (minus that Scotland splurge of the summer..) and live with mostly the basics (I'm down to 10 TV stations, people, 4 of which are Spanish!). But, both of us have good jobs, we have a warm house and two (mostly) working cars, and we are all healthy. We are blessed.

I've thought a lot this season about how skimpy our own Christmas will be and have felt bad that I can't gift people the fanciest things. Instead, we're keeping our own personal gift-giving as follows: From Santa, something we want; From each other, something we need; in our stockings, practical items (toothbrush, socks, undies for the kiddo); and lastly, something to read.

After reading those charity letters on KSL, I wish I had the kind of income to follow through with one of those families and buy a few things so that they at least have something to open on Christmas. I feel lucky that we can provide a modest holiday for our toddler who is oh-so-excited. I feel grateful that Big Man and I aren't wondering where our mortgage payment is coming from, or if we'll have heat.

On a related note, a guy Big Man works with told him today that last night they received a call from Smiths (grocery store). The person on the phone told him that they had something there for him and he needed to come pick it up. When they arrived, waiting for them was $200 worth of groceries, diapers, and other supplies. Someone had filled up a cart of things they thought this family would need, paid for it, and asked Smiths to call this family. Big Man's friend has no idea who is responsible for this gesture, and of course they were completely blown away at the strangers generosity.

Anyway, just one more day of work this week and then it's a week-and-3-day break to celebrate with my family!!! That really is my favorite part of the season.

pardon my french

2011-12-11T20:47:00.000-08:00

Yes, this is exactly how I feel right now. Yes, I'm even thinking the "s" word, too. It's so close to Christmas break (1 1/2 weeks), and the last thing I want to do tomorrow is get up early, get Little Man up early, drive in my cold car to the sitters and then drive to work, and work all day. The.Last.Thing.

I keep putting off bed time. First I stripped our sheets off to wash them because I saw a couple dog hairs. Eww. Next, I sorted laundry really well (this is usually my least favorite part and thus I don't do a good job). Now, I'm wasting time on Pinterest (where I found my lovely Monday quotes), talking to Big Man while he makes Neimann Marcus knock-off cookies and bran muffins.

I know what's gonna happen, though. I'll stay up too late, then when my alarm goes off at 5:3o, I'll cringe and snooze a while longer. Then, I'll be in a scramble to get myself ready and then I'll get snippy with Little Man while trying to get him ready. Consequentally, I'll feel rushed and late getting to the sitters. I'll probably cry all the way to work (a new Monday ritual, it seems). When I finally get to school, it'll take me a minute to feel like doing anything, and I'll waste those few precious before-the-bell minutes and then when the bell rings, I'll panic not knowing what the heck I'm doing for the day (except tomorrow it won't be so bad because a) I have 1st period prep and b) my students will be in the library for testing, which will take up half the period ). When I drive to get Little Man, I'll mentally tell myself, "Early to bed tonight, dude." And then this vicious cycle will start all over!!!

AHHHH.

Christmas catchup

2011-12-10T09:24:00.000-08:00

I've finally unburied my desk enough to be able to function. I've spent all morning (literally all morning since 6:20am) cleaning our pig stye of a house. I even told Little Man, "We've been living in a pig stye like little piggies!" And he's been walking around saying "oink, oink, little piggies!" ever since. Not sure that's the image of our house I'd like him to remember in the future, but lately it's been difficult to clean, reclean, and clean yet again.

We've had a fun month of December so far, with 2 trips to see Santa:

{{Family self-shot at the ward party--Little Man loved the ham!}}

{{U of U Santa at the staff/faculty appreciation night at the campus bookstore}}

{{We set up our live tree and got it all decked out. Little Man loves when the lights are on and has been pretty good about not touching the ornaments.}}

I'm trying to work on a toddler-friendly advent for the 12 days before Christmas. I've found some neat things on Pinterest, but just need to get my butt in gear and put everything together. We are keeping Christmas pretty simple this year and it feels nice not to have to worry about doing too much shopping. Tonight Little Man (& hopefully Big Man) and I are going to see the lights at Temple Square with my mom and s-i-l, H and cousin D. It's never the holiday season without seeing those beautiful lights at that beautiful place. Here's wishing you all a merry, merry Christmas season!

toddler funnies

2011-11-27T16:46:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post a little about how funny my Little Man has been lately. I've never had a toddler before so I don't know if these things are normal (probably are), but I think my toddler is pretty much the cutest around. It's amazing how quickly he picks up on things!

The sitter that he goes to does preschool with the kids when they are 3. Apparently Little Man loves to just sit in with the preschool kids, so she says he picks up a lot from that and that he'll be really ready to start in the next year. He's getting to the point where he'll actually tell me, "I learned that at Lorraine's," or "I did it in preschool."

I've also noticed his imagination is really starting to flourish. It's just about every day where he'll set up a mechanic shop on the couch and use my laptop charger to fill up all of his cars with gas. He finds un-sharpened pencils and uses them as screwdrivers to fix different car parts. Sometimes, he even brings a washcloth and gives the cars baths. Lately, he'll put his toys in time out, which is really funny to hear since he mimics how Big Man and I talk when we put him in time-out.

He loves the movie Tangled and will occasionally sing the "Mother Knows Best" song from the beginning. He gets his voice to go all deep and gravely like the mom and he sings "mamma, mamma, mother, mother" over and over in his creepy voice.

Another thing he is starting to do a lot is tell me stories. He starts by saying, "Once on a time..." They are usually very short and make absolutely no sense, but he giggles. He still loves reading and going to bed without reading at least 3 books is absolutely out of the question, no matter how late it is. He loves going to the library, even though he doesn't quite understand how to be quiet!

Some funny things he has said lately:
--"Umm, mom, I was wondering...." He says this a lot and asks silly questions after.
--"And the monsters started coming and the dinosaurs started coming..." He tells me this almost daily after waking up. I don't know if it's dreams or what, but the hand gestures he includes kill me!
-- Today in church, the speaker said "Miraculous blessings..." and not but 2 seconds later, Little Man said (rather loudly) "Mwaculous blessings." Everyone around him turned and smiled.

And lastly, I have to share these two gems with you. A while ago I posted about him all of a sudden busting out with "We will Rock You" while in the bathtub. He does this quite frequently now and he just tells me he learned it at preschool. That's the first part of the video. Next, on Friday night we were running errands with my mom and while in the middle of Famous Footwear, he just literally starts reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. I busted up laughing and it's been my favorite novelty of the weekend; he pretty much says it on cue normally. In the video, however, he was in the middle of reciting when daddy walked in and distracted him so I had to caox him. For the past two nights, he's had to recite it before going to bed and calls it his "Legence." Precious!

thanksgiving

2011-11-27T15:51:00.000-08:00

It's a truth universally known that "time off" goes by way faster than "time on." By this, I mean, the last 5 days I've had "off" of work have zoomed by in comparison to the many 5 day work weeks I have. I swear yesterday was Tuesday and I was thinking about how I'd spend my looonnnggg break. But, alas, it's the dreaded Sunday evening before returning back to work and I'm fighting off the "blahs" and "boo-hoos."

It's been a lovely little break, however, and I'm grateful to even have had it. Big Man had the majority of the time off with me (with his new job, he got Thursday & Friday off and has all Saturday's off, too). Mostly it's just been a lot of just sticking around home and catching up on being lazy (as if we really ever need to catch up on that!).Big Man and Little Man at Thanksgiving dinner. Little Man could not get enough of the rolls. I think he ended up eating about 4 total.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Big Man's family and a had a fun time. I am so thankful for this family who treats me as their own in every sense of the word. There was delicious food, great conversation, and fun for the littles. I'm pretty sure my little was in H.E.A.V.E.N.
Big Man's cousin, S, was so good with Little Man. She helped him play dress ups all night. He was a purple dino, a pumpkin, and more!
There was a fun craft table set up for the kids. They made noodle necklaces, foam turkeys and gingerbread people, and then coloring with crayons and markers.

My mother-in-law made this really fun turkey pinata that the kids all took a swing at. Little Man was a tiny bit confused, but had fun watching the big kids smack the candy out.
I love this picture (minus the blur and the fact that it's a little far away). Big Man's uncle has a really nice DJ set up so he had his music set up and played some fun songs for the kids to dance to. This one was the chicken dance and you can see Little Man (in the red) and his grandpa running around to the chicken dance. Now, every day since, Little Man has been begging to do the chicken dance.

The rest of the weekend was spent mostly at home. I think I cleaned the kitchen 20 times, Little Man's room at least 40 times, and did 10 loads of laundry (ok, I exaggerate!). We watched a few movies (Harry Potter!) and read some books (Little Man's new favorite from the library is The Pokey Little Puppy). We hung out with my mom, spent some time at Big Man's parents house while Big Man helped his dad tile the new laundry room. And, of course, we ate a lot of yummy leftovers. Oh, and, last night Big Man pulled out all of our Christmas decorations. Everything is up except for our tree, which we'll go get (fresh) this week after pay day.

I'm always brought to thoughts of gratitude during this season and just being blessed with basics (the very basics), I feel blessed beyond measure. I'm grateful for what I have. I am grateful for my family--far and near. I'm grateful for mine and Big Man's steady jobs, for our house, and for at least one working car. I'm grateful for my sweet Little Man and all that he teaches me about patience and just having fun. I'm grateful for the gospel and for my truly blessed life.

saving money

2011-11-17T18:33:00.000-08:00

We finally did it. We cancelled our cable and are now a TV-less family (& by TV-less, I just mean we don't have any of the regular or cable TV stations).

Our decision to cancel was two-fold. First, we were paying WAY.TOO.MUCH on cable each month and because we are basically broke-as-a-joke after all our bills were paid, we couldn't justify keeping unnecessary bills. Second, we rarely just sat down to watch TV. Little Man watched TV in the form of "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" more than either Big Man or I watched shows regularly. I suppose this is minus my daily recording of the Ellen Degenerous show, but even that I ended up deleting a lot and skipping through the ones I did watch.

So, Monday Big Man took the DVR to turn it back in and cancel the cable plan. He also decreased the internet plan, which only affects us, um, not at all because it's still pretty fast. I thought for sure we'd go through serious drama. The first few days, Little Man begged for a Mickey Mouse when we got home in the evening, but it has since subsided and I am so pleased with how our evenings go, with little to no TV/Movies.

We still have Netflix, which is really all we need. Big Man and I watch a few TV shows on there and Little Man has a love for Kipper, Bob the Builder, and if I'm feeling generous and not easily irritated, I'll let him watch Yo-Gabba-Gabba (ugh!) or Caillou (double ugh!).

In addition, I dropped the data plan on my phone and reverted back to a basic phone. I'll admit I was a little bummed about this because I'd kind of gotten addicted to all it's fancy features, but on the other hand I really didn't need all that phone.

All of this coupled with the almost two-month (and counting) Facebook void, and I'm enjoying all that I'm getting done. Little Man and I play and read books on my bed, we build awesome train courses, and we play 'plano' (piano). And besides, it feels good to be saving money that doesn't need to spent!!!

day dreaming

2011-11-08T19:33:00.000-08:00

This week--and pretty much every week, if I'm being honest--has been pretty chaotic at work. I'm trying to get into the swing of 2nd quarter. In addition to this task, there's the meetings, the referrals, the "extra" responsibilities, YEARBOOK, and general organizing of...stuff.

At home, Little Man's just getting over a very gooppy, very snotty, and very whiny cold. It's been one of those weeks where if he isn't licking and/or wiping his own boogers, I'm chasing after him with a wipe to clean him off. And then there's, you know, basic wife/mother duties. (I'll just share openly here: I began the latest bunch of laundry last Monday when Little Man and I were home sick. I finally finished those loads Saturday. And the laundry--all piles--sat on the table in a multi-colored heap of wrinkled shambles until Sunday evening. I finally folded them, but, alas, they still sit on the family room floor, yet to be put away in their respective homes. Sigh.)

Anyway, today while I had just a few minutes after my team meeting, before lunch, I sat in my room trying to clear away the never ending mess that is my desk. I was listening to some random Pandora station and then I began daydreaming. I was dreaming particularly about this place:This picture was taken in Edinburgh, Scotland this summer. Specifically, this beautiful location is in Princes Garden, just below the castle. I fell in love with this random little cottage that sits in the corner of the spacious garden and viewed it as the epitome of a proper British home.

I was daydreaming of being back in that damp, luscious, green land where everything I saw was a brand new experience. I was daydreaming of not having a care in the world, except for traveling safe and having a good time. I was daydreaming of the food, the accents, the culture.

Funny enough, tonight Big Man came in to talk to me as I was putting Little Man in his pj's. He admitted that he, too, had been daydreaming about Scotland a lot lately. We joked we should make it an annual trip. Then we reminisced about the various things we did while over there.

I suppose for now, my daydreams will have to suffice and I'll revisit my pictures weekly, if needed.

how-ween

2011-11-03T18:10:00.000-07:00

I declare that Halloween 2011 was a winner for my little family (minus the whole bit about Little Man and I being up most of Halloween Eve being sickies)! Little Man enjoyed our "How-Ween" activities this year and was the cutest little monster EVER!

Our weekend started with just the two of us, since Big Man was out hunting. On Friday, we got all dressed up to go to Grandpa H's ward Halloween Party with the cousins. We've done this for a few years and it's always a highlight--they have yummy soups, salads, games, and trick-or-treating in the hallway.

From that party, we headed to my BFF's house for her Halloween party. She had some fun games for the kiddos and yummy food. Little Man quickly became friends with some of the other kids and had a fun time playing. They broke out a spooky eyeball pinata for the kids to take a smack at. I was surprised with Little Man's attempts to break it!And of course he had to help clean up with the vacuum!

On Saturday, we joined Grandma H and Uncle B, Aunt M, and the cousins at the zoo for Boo at the Zoo. It was CRAZY busy, but a fun way to celebrate the holiday. The kids actually trick-or-treated through the zoo and got candy. Most places even gave the parents goodies, too, in the form of coupons and certificates. Despite Little Man's grumpy face in the above picture, he did have a lovely time!

Here, he was getting a kick out of the HUGE turkeys roaming through the zoo. He kept saying, "Turkey's say gobble, gobble, huh?"
Little Man likes to see things from afar and usually freaks out if he gets too close for comfort. Take this, when he loved the BIG elephant that has music coming out of it. But as soon as I put him next to it, he turned his shoulder and said, "No, no, no."
No trip to the zoo would be complete without a trip on the merry-go-round. This time we just took the first available animal and now I can't remember what it was, but as evidenced by his face, he loved it!

On Sunday night, I made a meatloaf. My intention was to have it be something spooky, like a hand or mummy (like last year), but when it came down to it, it was just a normal meatloaf, using the same recipe I use all the time. Both Little Man and I ate a few helpings of the meatloaf, and Big Man just had a couple bites (because, he told me later, it looked suspicious with so many veggies inside!). Needless to say, at around 9:30 Sunday night, almost on the dot, both Little Man and I became sick. He actually threw up and I came close, but we were up all night feeling icky. So, I got up early to take some sub plans into school and then came home. Big Man had a job interview, so Little Man and I stayed home in our ickyness and I prayed all day that we'd both make a turn around before trick-or-treating. Luckily, we did and were able to get dressed to go to my mom's for dinner and trick-or-treating.

Little Man with cowboy C and Groovy Girl C at Grandma Susie's house. They were already hyped up on sugar before actually getting candy! We love cousins.
A pretty decent shot of my beautiful blue-eyed boy, even though he isn't smiling. He absolutely loved his monster costume!

Big Man is anti-picture, so here's the two of us enjoying mommy's favorite holiday. We left from my mom's and went trick-or-treating over to Big Man's parents house. We decided to leave for home and Little Man fell asleep before we were on the freeway. Big Man and I chuckled that our Halloween was over, but as soon as we pulled in, Little Man woke up and said, "I wanna go to trick-or-treating!" So, we visited a few houses on our street and got more candy. It's pretty much remained untouched until now; Little Man and I have been feasting on it since we both woke up from our naps today!

A note about Little Man's costume. I had the idea to make a monster costume, and my mom helped actually create it. We got the pants and hoodie and decided to do green spots and horns. I sewed the spots on and my mom made the horns and teeth. We used ping pong balls for the oogly-boogly eyes and then I added the red tongue. I loved it and Little Man begs to wear it daily! I bought the monster shirt he wore underneath because it looked a little like his costume and we can wear it to remember our cute Halloween monster!

Rock star

2011-11-02T18:40:00.001-07:00

So I am in the bathroom while Little Man is in the tub. He's getting quite the imagination ( I've got some pretty great stories for another day).
Anyway, tonight he his favoring playing with his rubber ducky family. All of a sudden, literally five minutes ago, he starts tapping the ducks on the side of the tub and sings, "we will,we will rock you! We will, we will rock you." I just busted up laughing!

2011-10-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

A video gem from the pumpkin patch last week.

halloweenie

2011-10-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

It's nearing in on my favorite holiday and we've been busy doing all sorts of Halloweenie things at our house.

Last Monday, we decided to head to our favorite pumpkin patch in Riverton. Little Man was excited to see the pumpkins, but he was really excited about the tractors! I was really smart and forgot to put a new SD card in my camera, so I was only able to take pictures with my phone.

Little Man with his pumpkin.

Like last year, they had a free corn maze and free hay ride. It was pretty chilly, but we managed to spend a bit of time hanging out. We got 8 pumpkins for $7 (they were all pretty dainty, small pumpkins). After, we went into one of those Halloween Spirit stores and realized that Little Man is a tender/sensitive soul, like his mamma, and doesn't like the scary side of Halloween.

On Friday, we went to our ward Chili Cookoff/Halloween carnival. It was a costume type thing, and since I had (at that point) not made Little Man's actual costume, I improvised and made him a "road" shirt. I used masking tape, felt, hot glue, and some basic stitchery (and an inside-out black t-shirt he's just about outgrown). I thought it turned out pretty cute! He only pulled off one car in the course of the night. I tried to match my "road" by being the stoplight--an old go-to costume I've used for years!

Yesterday, Big Man had to work on his normal day off since he's taking the rest of the week off for the deer hunt, so Little Man and I went to Gardner Village to go witch spotting! I had been telling him all about it and he kept saying, "No, I don't want to see the scary witches," but he ended up getting a kick out of them!

He was pretty timid at first and didn't want to sit down in front of any of the witches. He didn't quite understand the concept of "fake."
He loved all the pumpkins. I think this is a pretty decent shot of my picture-hating child, even if he did go behind the rope!
His favorite witch (we had to walk by it a few times and then drive by it on our way out) was the "Witch's stuck." He had a really funny story as to why the witch was up there: "It went up, up, up, and went oiasdlkjgowiejhuyet, and got stuck, huh, mommy?" He's still talking about the "witch's stuck!"
And, my favorite--like always--is the Witchy-Poo. This witch is sitting in the outhouse, reading a newspaper. I just laugh every time I see it. Little Man told me today, "Witch's on the potty, reading a book, huh mommy?" Cute stuff.

I'm so glad we still have a few more Halloween festivities this week! My mom helped me make Little Man's costume. It turned out so cute, but I'll wait to show pictures for now.

this may be boring to most

2011-10-20T20:25:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was asked to take the Family History class at church. At first, I didn't think much about it; I'd taken one in college and never really got into it. It's a 6 week course with a manual and each week there is a different focus. The first week, they set us up on the computers at the church to show us the new family search website through the church. Since it basically was my first exposure to family history work (besides the old 4-generation charts we did in Young Women's), I was a little overwhelmed. For the first two weeks, I just clicked around on the computer, trying to figure out the program and check out stuff I thought I already knew.

Now, I'm nearing the end of the class and I have truly been bitten by the genealogy bug!

A few things about my experiences so far:

* The first time I got into the program, I noticed my aunt Kaye (dad's sister) had submitted a bit of information (the website gives names of people who contribute information). I then thought to email her and ask her for any information she may have about where the work has stopped and what still needed to be done. I also asked her if she had any written histories of ancestors whom I had never met (a lot!). She responded and gave me some information and a promise to send me some stories and pictures. Just today she sent me another email about having spent today typing up a list of things she has for me to look at. She wanted me to read through and let her know what I was most interested in. She's got some pictures and biographical sketches. I can't wait to see what she sends me!

* Another thing I noticed is that all the temple work has been done for my grandpa Jerold who passed away in 2000. I told my mom this and she had been unaware that his work had been done. They stress in the class the importance of only doing temple work for family members for whom you are the closest living relative or for whom you have permission from other relatives. Whoever did grandpas work must not have understood that little rule! Oh well.

* I've found some pretty interesting names among my ancestors. Some of my favorites: Kitty Perry (when I first read it I thought it said "Katy Perry."), Adolph Julius Hauerbach (Big Man & I always talk about how no one has probably ever been named Adolph since, ahem, you-know-who), Abelone Elkear Pedersen (this one was interesting to me because it's a female name AND apparently from this person back, my mom's family is from Denmark...had NO idea I had Denmark in my ancestory! Mom, dd you know this?!), and in that same Denmark line, we have: Sidse (female), Cidsel (female), Ole (male), Aplleone (female), Jorgen (male) Soren (male). Also, a sweet old lady in my ward took some of my information home and looked up some names on ancestory.com (I must break down and buy myself a subscription for this!) and found a whole family on my mom's side; one side of this line (the mother) has the surname of "Onyon" or "Onion." When the lady in my ward saw me last Sunday she asked if I knew that I was related to onions...I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about until she told me.

* Besides the whole bit about finding out that the Hauerbach line is from Denmark, some other surprising things have been seeing that on my dad's side, there are people from Kentucky, Canada, and Connecticut. On my mom's maternal line, it's fun to see so many family members from Scotland and some even from places we went while we were there (we drove through Dumbarton and that is where a few of my decedents were born). On another line (I'm starting to get them all mixed, I need to write it out and study the various lines), there's family from Hertfordshire, England. Two things about Hertfordshire: 1) We drove through Hertfordshire as we were driving from Scotland to London. 2) If I am remembering correctly, Hertfordshire is also the name of the city where the Bennett's from "Pride and Prejudice" lives (I know for sure, anyway, that it's the name of the city in "Pride & Prejudice and Zombies," which I was reading as we drove through Hertfordshire!). And, of course, there's also loads of family from Lancaster, England...another city we drove through.

* This wasn't really surprising, just interesting. I found that many of my ancestors had HUGE families. Granted, many children either died very young or were stillborn. It is just interesting to me to see a family with 14, 15, 16 children and see how very different things are these days. Very rarely are there huge families. Well, if you minus the Duggars.

* On my dad's side, the farthest back we've gotten is 1682. On my mom's the farthest back is about 1700. That's just crazy to me.

Years ago, my dad gave me a copy of one of my favorite pictures. It is a picture of my grandma Erma Logsdon Adams (who died before I was born) and her two sisters. The picture is in color, though they aren't the bright, vibrant colors of today's pictures. I absolutely love to see the three of them, dressed up and hair done. I would often look at that picture and think that that was my family history, that the one picture I have of relatives older than my dad is where my family history stopped. Of course, I realized there were older relatives who had passed, but they were mostly nameless and definitely faceless to me and I just didn't think beyond that. Now, however, I'm slowly starting to feel a greater sense of ancestors as I try to learn about my history and connect names to faces and faces to stories. I'm excited to see what I will learn and who I will find.

Rev Run

2011-10-19T20:37:00.001-07:00

A few years ago, before Little Man, I used to watch a great deal of tv. It was my brainless escape from reality when I wasn't engrossed in a good book (for the record, we don't watch much tv these days and since I deleted facebook, I've finished 3 whole books!)

Anyway, one of the shows I watched only a few times was on MTV. It was called "Runs House," and it followed the life of Rev Run of Run DMC game. He'd had a family and became an actual reverend. I was drawn to this show mostly for one reason: Rev Run had a crazy big house with a beautiful black, red, and white kitchen...that I loved. Every time the family was in the kitchen, I admired the heck out of it. I also thought Rev was pretty funny in how he tried to get his wife on board with various things and how he joked with his kids.

Now, one more thing about this show. At the end of every single episode, instead of ending the show with the Rev and his family, it ended with a nice (completely covered) shot of Rev in his huge, bubble ~ filled tub. In the tub, at the end of every show, he'd be typing on his Blackberry some inspirational life lesson as it pertained to the events of the show. As he typed, you'd hear his voice over reading what he was typing. Then he'd end by saying, "God is love, Rev Run."

I bring this up only because right now I'm in my small, bubbleless tub, using my phone to blog. Mostly as a crazy personal experiment to see if I could start a new thing, blogging in the tub like Rev Run. But I realize how stupid is now because it took me twenty minutes to get this post typed out with no mistakes...and the water is now freezing cold and I haven't even shaved my legs.

no, mommy, i want to see the sun!

2011-10-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

Lately, Little Man has not been a champion sleeper. He's been getting up super early (for him 'super early' is 6:45-7:15). He's slowly starting to fight taking naps and when he does nap, they are pretty short (50-60 minutes). And, very recently, he's been waking up during the night.

Take last night, for example. We kind of had a late night because we went to a really fun pumpkin patch, then to the store to get a few groceries, then home for a late dinner. Little Man and Big Man took a shower, then Little Man went to bed. Big Man and I stayed up looking up really crazy and hilarious things on Funny or Die on my iPod. Eventually, Big Man left and I went to bed at about 11:00. Big Man crawled in bed around 12:30. I woke up briefly and then we both fell back to sleep.

Then comes 1:30 AM. I woke up to the sound of our bedroom door opening. Big Man woke up and turned on his lamp in a startle to see who was opening our door at 1:30 AM. As you can probably guess, Little Man walked right in and came to my side of the bed, and in a chipper voice he said, "Mommy, get up and go potty." Now, this may be TMI, but when I am home with Little Man and get up with him in the morning, I always have to go pee before I can do anything else. I always say things like, "Mommy needs to go potty before we change your diaper/make breakfast/get milk, etc." In this regard, Little Man assumed that he had woken up and that it was morning.

I told him that it was still time to be sleeping and that the sun was still asleep (that's been our ploy to get him to stay in bed longer; usually it works). He immediately said, "No, mommy, get up and go potty." In a groggy state, Big Man rolled out of bed as we were both trying not to laugh at Little Man, who was very adamant that it was time to be up.

Big Man came around and picked Little Man up. He said, "Do you want to see outside? The sun is still sleeping." Little Man said "Yeah, I wanna see." So we opened our curtain and, sure enough, it was still pitch dark. As soon as he saw that it was indeed still dark, he burst into tears.

"No, mommy, I want to see the sun!" He literally had tears and that cute little pouty bottom lip. I tried to console him and say that he could see the sun in the morning.

Big Man, who is great at getting Little Man to calm down, talked him into going back to bed. After Big Man had tucked him in again, he came back in and we laughed at how cute our little boy is. I admitted that at first I thought that I had slept in and that Little Man was right. It's a good thing he wasn't right, or I would have missed an early morning meeting.

When I picked Little Man up from the sitters today, he was cranky and cried at the smallest thing. So, he had some milk and watched a Mickey Mouse and then he asked to go night night. I could clearly tell he was tired, so at 4:30 he went to bed. This may or may not be a good thing; we'll see tonight.

4 hours

2011-10-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

It's amazing what can be done in four hours.

In our house, the hours between 4 and 8 tend to be a little crazy at times. At other times, those 4 hours are pretty basic and boring. Today, we had a jam-packed 4 hours that has left me both exhausted and extremely grateful!

Though it's been hard this year, I usually try to pick Little Man up by 4 so I have at least 4 good hours with him before he goes to bed since I don't see him in the morning (usually).

Today I was out of my classroom by 3:30, got stuck in traffic for a bit, but I still made it to the sitters by 3:50. Little Man and I headed home and enjoyed some popsicles, milk, and half an episode of Mickey Mouse. I was frantically trying to figure out dinner so I knew what time to start when Little Man said, "Les go for a walk, mommy." I thought this sounded like a splendid idea, since our warmer days are dwindling. I suggested a bike ride instead--because my toddler's version of "walk" is Let's see how close I can get to the road before mom freaks out-- and we were off.

On our 30 minute walk, we picked up some leaves of a variety of colors, collected random rocks of all shapes and sizes, and saw many dogs, who barked at us while we passed. Little Man loves to "go faster" on the bike which means I have to run while I push his bike. Then, shortly after going faster, he squeals, "Slow down, mommy!" So we go reeaalllyy slllooowwww. When we got back to our house, Big Man was almost home to exchange cars for his long drive to school tonight, so we hung out outside and picked up some stray trash that had made it's way to our front yard.

After Big Man left, Little Man and I had dinner, practiced identifying colors (he's pretty content not to know his colors and pretty much everything is just red). Then, we did round one of picking up toys and books that had been strewn through the house and were left around from last night.

I had a hankering for some cookies, so I put myself to the task of finding a zucchini cookie recipe. Thanks to Pinterest, I found this gem and immediately got to work while Little Man rolled his cars along the couch while making his famous car noises. Tonight, his cars were all very tired and were each taking turns taking naps. Little Man loves to cover them up with his tiny wash cloths and then says, "Have a good sleep, sweetheart." (Wonder where hears that, huh?)

Near the end of the cookie making process (they turned out super yummy!), Little Man came over to help. He got a kick out of squeezing the lemons for the drizzle frosting. He was so pro at dumping the measuring cups and even did a good job just looking at the cooling cookies instead of putting his fingers all over them. I rewarded his patience with two cookies and a glass of milk.

While I loaded the dishwasher, Little Man used the open dishwasher door to roll his cars around some more. We had a conversation about what we had done tonight and talked about what we'd do tomorrow. Because the cookie baking took longer than I thought, I didn't put Little Man in the tub until about 8:10. I could tell he was tired because almost immediatley after washing his hair, he pulled the drain and proclaimed, "I'm done, mommy! Les read some books."

One gigantic struggle to get PJ's on later, we were on the car bed reading the three choices of the night. He's getting so good at remembering all of his books and repeats most lines with me. Because I hate to say no to reading, we usually end up reading way more than 3. Tonight, however, Little Man was clearly ready for sleep after the third, so I kissed him and gave him all of his sleepy lovies (2 Scout's, 3 cars, one tow-truck, 4 books, an Elmo Phone, and the latest...big boy underwear that he just holds onto when he falls to sleep!)

Our night was nothing super special (though I rarely make a double batch of cookies on weeknights) and if it weren't for me writing it down, it probably would be forgotten eventually, blended in with all the other 4 hours. But, tonight as I'm sitting here preparing for bed, I can't stop smiling thinking about the last 4 hours. Little Man was happy (he told me himself a few times; "Mommy, I'm happy!"), he snuggled me and listened and didn't go time out once. I felt productive instead of bored, frustrated, or irritated.

Four hours may not seem like a whole lot of time, and to say that I only get to spend 4 hours with my little guy every weekday kind of sounds pathetic, but I guess it's what you do with those 4 hours that matter.

alone

2011-10-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in my bed, all alone.

Big Man took my Little Man camping with his dad and brother so that they can go fishing tomorrow. Little Man was SO excited to go camping in the "notorhome," and go "fising" in the boat. I called Big Man a while ago and talked to Little Man on the phone. He told me they were eating hot dogs and then said "ok, mommy, thanks for calling, I lufyoumommy. Buh-bye, mommy." I guess it's pretty darn cold, but they are already having a fun time.

But, this being alone, in my bed, in an empty house (minus to dog who has an ear infection & got stuck at home with me), I'm so not sure I like it. As much as I often dream about being alone...for just 5 minutes...at home, to do whatever I want, watch whatever I want, eat whatever I want, go pee alone whenever I want...I'm not sure I prefer it to having a house full of the babbling and professional car noises of a toddler, or the random conversation of my husband, or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the background, or the washing machine cleaning yet another load of laundry.

Before Big Man left, he stuffed his side of the bed with pillows. He knows how much I hate sleeping alone, so he made it look like he was still in bed. I have turned on all of the dim lights in the house--the touch lamp in the hall, two nightlight Scentsy's, one in the kitchen and one in my office. And, as much as the devil dog drives me crazy, he's sitting here next to me on the bed. (He's a good "watch dog" in that he'll get up and bark if he hears anything suspicious; he's certainly not the same as having the safety I feel with Big Man around, but it helps). I'm trying to make it seem like I'm not all alone, that there's other occupants here. It's quarter to 11 and I should so be in bed, but...I hate being alone!

I'm hoping my boys don't freeze. I hope I can sleep without them here....alone.

weekly recap

2011-10-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

This is the first time in about a week (since I deleted facebook) that I've been on my lap top. I kind of feel like I've been a vacation, having not been "tied" to my computer all that much. It feels wonderful.

A few things about this week:

1. It was Spirit Week at school. Each day had a different theme and I dressed for all of them (except Monday, pajama day, and Thursday, sports day). Tuesday was Decade Day, so I wore my sweet DI 80's dress with my hair in a side pony. It's funny to see students' reactions to that rediculous get-up. Wednesday I was twins with just about every other teacher at the building (Twin Day) because we all agreed to just wear our new WL shirts (which, apparently melt if dried in the dryer). And today, Friday, was crazy hair day. I created high pigtails, curled them and then ratted them so they were both big poofs. Then, when I got to school I added teacher stuff, like pencils, paper clips, binder clips, etc. This is what it looked like:
It made for a fun-ish week, having something small to make the days a little more exciting. Unfortunately, though, most students didn't participate.

2. I am still basking in the aftermath of conference last weekend. I went into the weekend looking for some specific answers and boy, did our leaders deliver! I don't ever remember a conference were I felt so well-fed and stuffed full of wonderful messages. I also never remember a time I've laughed harder at the prophet, who was full of jokes, eye rolls, and his ever amazing story telling talent. Little Man and I enjoyed the weekend hanging out in our PJ's and eating yummy treats. I made some fun play dough for him to entertain himself with and we even watched one of the Saturday sessions in his little tent. Little Man was able to recognize the "pwofit" and every time a new speaker began, he'd get a little upset that it wasn't the "pwofit."
3. Yesterday morning I woke up with what I thought was pink eye. I seem to get that nasty stuff at least once a year (yuck, I know!), so it wasn't a complete shocker. My left eye was completely goobered shut and was quiet tender to the touch. I decided at about 5:30am to call in for a sub and then made my way to write up some lesson plans for the day. I got to the school at 6am and was out of there by 7am. When I got home I laid on the couch until Little Man woke up. After I got him ready and Big Man took him to the sitters (Big Man had a random day off, too), we both went back to sleep. After a 2, 3, 4 (who's counting?) hour nap, I woke up and my eye was completely normal--not red, not itchy, not goobery. I suppose I just needed a little extra sleep! Big Man and I ended up going to lunch, doing a little thrift store shopping, and just having a fun day, just the two of us. Later in the evening, Little Man and I went to my mom's for dinner with both of my brothers and their families since everyone was in town. It was a fun day--so much better than work!!

4. Since the weather has turned all autumn on me, I've finally put my London-bought tea set to use! Big Man bought me a bunch of fruity flavored herbal tea mixes a while back and I just couldn't bring myself to drink tea when it was still warm out, but this week I finally enjoyed a warm spot of tea, much in the tradition of our UK trip. They drink tea there after every meal as a way to let their food settle. We loved that idea and Big Man surprised me when we got home with a really neat London set. I've been loving the peach flavor and the wild berry flavor; put a few sugar cubes in and, YUM! Also, Big Man has made some yummy ginger-lemon tea, too, which is so calming after a stressful day.

5. Guess what lesson I get to teach in YW on Sunday? Dating/Chastity. Enough said.

Happy Weekend!

feel goods

2011-09-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

I suppose I can get pretty dramatic with my feelings and emotions, especially with work. This year has been especially difficult (& I will not go into all the details because of this) and despite the fact that tomorrow if the first of October, it feels like we're mid April already and counting down until the last day of school.

I may or may not have complained with colleagues...I'm pretty sure we're all in the same boat frustration wise. I may or may not have said if things don't improve I'll be looking for a new job next year. When nearly every day results in tears of frustration, stomach pains just thinking about work, and thoughts of "Perhaps I'll just become a pizza delivery girl," you know things have to be rough.

I've had some good experiences this week, though, that have reassured me, made me feel better about the situation, and helped me take a step back from all the prickly feelings I have had for my job lately.

On Monday--MONDAY!--I lost it while on the phone with my mom. She's wonderful to listen to me vent, recognizes my feelings, and helps me come up with a solution in an outsider-looking-in approach. Her words gave me a little boost of hope that everything will be ok. I wiped my tears with a clearer perspective that even though work is tricky on many levels, I can do hard things!

Today--FRIDAY!--I was working in my room before school started and our Title 1 guy, who is beyond amazing, popped his head and said he wanted to talk to me sometime today in his office. I had no idea why and forgot about it until I saw him after school. So, after a little faculty meeting (and before another meeting), he snagged me and we went to his office. I wasn't feeling like I was in trouble, but was still a little curious.

He sat me down, shut the door to his office, and then went on to say that he'd recognized that it's been a tough year and that he just wanted to check in with me to see how things were going. Well, dang it, if I didn't just loose it in front of him! I composed myself and we had a good chat about everything. He asked me if there was anything he could do to support me, which I greatly appreciated because there's a wee bit lack of support from other 'leadership.' What it boiled down to is he's going to help me get some of the worst of the 11 hellions out of my 4A AND get me an aid for that class to help. He had some very kind words and made me feel valued, supported, and like I am not the worst teacher ever.

Also today, I met with my team--a group of teachers who I work closely with every other day. I really enjoy the people on my team and have gotten to know them more since the beginning of the year. One member is the drama teacher and she's always so sweet and positive. Today she handed me a sweet letter she'd written me, telling me some positive things that I'd forgotten. Again, it made me feel loved and made me forget all the...crap. I gave her a big hug and told her she was the best.

So, even though there are major frustrations and overwhelming feelings, there are moments when I feel good, no, great, about what I do. I'll need to remember these moments when things get hard.

why i'm leaving facebook

2011-09-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

**I'm going to be 100% honest here; it's hard for me to admit all of this stuff about myself. But, I've just gotta let it out and explain--even though most don't care--why I've made the decision to leave facebook.

It has nothing to do with all the changes...read on

I used to love facebook. I loved connecting with friends and family, some who I rarely see. I loved having a way to share pictures, thoughts, and links easily. I loved checking in to see news about my friends and family.

And then it kind of became an addiction. Like, I'd feel a little 'lost' if I didn't check it every day. I didn't necessarily comment a bunch, or even chat, but I was always checking it when ever I passed the computer. I just looked at people's pictures, looked up people I used to know (and in some cases, former students who I wondered about).

Then, when Little Man was born, I used it even more to, ahem, show him off. I was also in the midst of pursuing an online master's degree, so I spent a lot of time online. The addiction became full blown and Big Man began commenting how he thought I had a Facebook addiction problem. He would challenge me to go a day or two without checking (this, coming from the guy who checks his email, oh, about once every two weeks). And most often, I'd fail.

Soon, it felt like I was a slave to Facebook. I felt like I had to check it...just in case someone had an exciting announcement, or just in case someone sent me a message, or just in case a friend posted a picture of a really cute craft, or just in case....I had to check, just in case.

Finally, I just realized what a time-suck it is; I would tell myself "ok, only 10 minutes, that's it!" And then 45 minutes later, realize I still needed to do the dishes, or fold laundry, or make a grocery list, or....However, I did get good at limiting when I would check (not in the morning before work, not right after getting home from work, not when Big Man was home and had time to spend with me). Still, when I got on, I knew there was always something more important for me to do.

Now that Little Man is older he is a very active and demanding toddler, and he requires almost my whole, undivided attention at all times. If I'm on the computer, for whatever reason--Facebook, lesson planning, reading the news---he says, "No 'puter, mommy." If I would sit on the couch with my laptop, he'd come right up and shut it. I realized how insane it was that I actually got upset he did that, how I should have been paying more attention to him.

Let's recap: Facebook is a great tool to communicate when one can control their urge to log in, but becomes a time-suck,addiction,distraction,toddler-time-take-awayer if used carelessly.

So, that's why I'm leaving...to give myself permission to not have to check it every 5 minutes, to spend more time playing with my son and hanging out with my husband, to actually get all of my "to do's" done instead of one, and to finally fold the freakin' laundry!!

A few articles/blog posts I've read over the last few days that helped me make this decision: http://matadornetwork.com/life/why-i-quit-facebook/
http://bygonebureau.com/2011/08/03/what-it-means-to-quit-facebook/
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/80/quit_facebook.html

my husband thinks he's old

2011-09-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we had a reason to celebrate: The 30th anniversary of my husbands birth!!!

Big Man always goes back and forth between wanting to celebrate his birthday like a rock star OR practically forgetting it's even his birthday and telling people not to do anything. Well, this year was no exception.

At the beginning of the month, we were starting to plan a big bash for all the family and friends (the few that we have...haha); by last Monday, it was clear Big Man really wanted to forget about his birthday, even though I wouldn't let him really forget.

So, this is what ended up happening:
This year, Scotland was (is) both of our birthday & Christmas gifts, so I didn't get B anything. But, I did write 30 reasons why I loved him on little cards and taped them to the ceiling. He's trying to revel in my kindness (haha) and is pulling one down each day to read. Aww.

Because we both had the day off, Big Man slept in pretty late and had made some side job plans, so Little Man and I got pizza and watched our movie. When Big Man got home from working, we had this:

I made a birthday brownie and put 30 candles in it. Big Man's brother, B, brought over 30 Snowball cakes (good thing I don't like 'em or I would have eaten 'em!), so we used those in our display. Little Man helped daddy blow out ALL THOSE CANDLES!!!

On Saturday, after Big Man slept in late again, we piled in the truck and drove to Little Dell, a little reservoir up Parley's Canyon, to go fishing. Big Man was excited to take Little Man fishing and I was just excited to sit in a chair and read...something I haven't been able to do much of lately!

Little Man and I waiting for Big Man to get the fishing poles ready.

He's a darn handsome 30-year-old fisherman, if I do say so myself!Little Man wasn't really impressed with the whole fishing thing, but he had a grand time "plopping" rocks into the water. Sometimes he got close, sometimes the rocks never made it into the water. He also had fun just playing in the dirt and looking at all of the fancy (shiny) fishing equipment.

No fish were caught--by us or anyone else up there--but we had a fun time. It got downright chilly when the sun went down. I was able to get about 150 pages into a great book and we stopped at Big Man's parents on the way home for homemade peach ice cream, yum!

Sunday after church, we met up with Big Man's brother, J, and his wife, T, and their dad at Storm Mountain for another picnic. It was lots of fun! While there, I took my favorite picture of the weekend:

Most know of my Little Man's obsession with caterpillars. Well, Big Man found a really cool one. Of course, Little Man was freaked out by it and wouldn't touch it, but I loved the sweet expression on Big Man's face here showing the little caterpillar off to Little Man. After we took this picture, we put the caterpillar on a nearby tree. About 20 minutes later it was sitting on Big Man's fishing bag again. It was the coolest looking thing! Too bad Little Man wouldn't touch it!

fun with cousins

2011-09-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend, we got to spend some time with the cousins!

Three little boys who are getting really good at playing with each other and making each other laugh. They love this little play set at Z & H's house.

My son is a car hog but cousin D loved getting pulled around while sitting in the trailer in the back.

Going down on tummies!

Little Man and I introduced our favorite summer hangout to the family: The Veteran's Memorial Park in South Jordan is where we spent a good portion of our summer. There's a fun 'toddler' playground with a cushion ground and fun equipment, and then there's the "village," which is like a little....village...made from playground wood. So fun!

On the tire swing.

C on the swing. This kid is a cute little monkey and climbs all over the place!

D and E on top of a little cave.

D peeking out of the cave.

Climbing on the cave.

Poking out of the cave.

And just a goofy one of my brother, Z, acting like one of the kiddos on the twirly chairs.

the great outdoors

2011-09-28T19:29:00.000-07:00

Since the weather started getting cooler, (I've come to the conclusion that I do not like outdoor activities in the heat of the summer), we've been on many outdoor adventures!

My mom invited us for a quick camping getaway up Big Cottonwood Canyon the second weekend in September. We spent the morning walking around Silver Lake, following the fun ducks, and taking in the beautiful scenery.

This little boy sure loves to run, especially outside and especially when mommy has to chase after him!

Grandma Susie always spoils him (& me) when we get together.

Will this kid ever smile at the camera?!

Near the end of the walk, he was done and just sat down in the middle of the trail. He literally ran the entire time, so I guess he'd earned his tiredness.

Another outdoors outing was a very impromptu event created by my sweet husband who recognized a need to get away from the stress of work and the messiness that is frequently our house. One day I came home and Big Man instructed me to change my clothes and meet him in the car. Less than an hour later, we arrived at Storm Mountain for a family night picnic of hot dogs, watermelon, and marshmallows. Little Man absolutely loved throwing rocks in the water and running around.

Me & my cute boy.

He loved throwing rocks in the water and was extremely cautious not to get too close, so very often the rocks never actually ended up in the water...

Roastin' dogs. Love the squat.

movie night

2011-09-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

Little Man and I have settled into our evening routine. Most nights, it's just me and him, as Big Man works late, works second jobs, and goes to school. After being kind of lax over the summer, it's nice to be back to a good routine.

Most days it's the same thing--snacks, a little tv, cars/trucks/trains, dinner prep & dinner, tubby time, books, and then night-night. But this year, I started something new on Friday's. I've heard about families who do movie night on Friday, so Little Man and I have our own version of movie night while we wait for daddy to get home on Friday night.

We actually did movie night most Friday's during the summer. We watched some goodies--Despicable Me, Toy Story 3, and All Dogs go to Heaven--and some not-so-goodies--Ant Bully, Alpha & Omega.

About halfway through the summer, our neighbor was cleaning out their son's room (he's know a teenager) and found a little indoor tent, so they gave it to us for Little Man. We started setting up the tent in the front room for movie night. Now we both sit in the tent to watch the movie and Little Man rolls around on the blankets and pillows (and me) and we watch the movie. I normally just pop popcorn and make juice, but lately I've added some more snacks--tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, etc.

A few Friday's ago, we had our same movie night ritual, but Little Man was having a painful go at going #2. (He's been crawling under the table to "do his business" for the last few days and wants nothing to do with being touched at all during the process. He spent a good part of the afternoon under the table tonight). He wouldn't sit in the tent, wouldn't eat popcorn, and wouldn't pay any nano-second worth of attention to the movie. He was whimpering and saying "mommy" over and over. Finally, I just stopped the movie and turned the radio on and tried to comfort him.

Eventually, he was able to "go" and was instantly much happier (I've been working on helping him identify feelings and so he often says things like, "I'm happy!" or "I'm grumpy" or "I'm sad.") He proclaimed his happiness and we started the movie up again.

I thought we'd have a pleasant remainder of movie night...

But then, Little Man picked up his Nalgene water bottle and began swinging it around on his finger. I realized this wouldn't end well (it would either be him getting hurt, the TV getting hurt, or me getting hurt), so I went to grab it. Just as I reached for it, it flung off his finger and smacked my nose. I didn't have a mad reaction, I had a crying reaction--it hurt so bad, I just instantly began crying! Little Man instantly said, "Sorry, mommy," and put his head on my shoulder and touched my nose with his finger. It bled very briefly, and Little Man was very concerned. He gave me hugs and kisses and then proceeded to thank me for everything I had done for him tonight: "Thank you for the noodles, mommy. Thank you for the hot dog, mommy. Thank you for the juice, mommy." How could I be mad at that?

We never did finish the movie--it was so bad, I don't even remember the name, something I found on Netflix. Big Man got home as we were in Little Man's bed reading and the first thing Little Man said was, "Erich hurt mommy, right there," and pointed to my nose. You can tell he feels bad and I love how sweet and tender he was instantly.

life between summer

2011-09-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

It's officially the fourth week of school and already it feels like the fourth month. I'm run raggid and feel like there is something coming at me from every direction, and I don't mean paper airplanes or pencils, either!

This year my school has moved to the block schedule, so I teach 3 classes a day, about 75 minute long classes. There is a one hour period used for "intervention" (tutoring) or "enrichment" (recess for teenagers).

On "A" days (so every other day) , I have a one period prep period where I'm supposed to prepare awesome lessons, complete grading, examine testing data, create bulletin boards, and maintain an organized and clean room. On top of that, I am responsible for completing a monthly parent newsletter, advise the yearbook (which is no longer a class, but instead held during "enrichment" once a week), advise a small group of students who are leaders in a program at school (AVID), observe other teachers, and begin creating new curriculum based on the new common core.

On "B" days, I have a similar one period "free" of students, but instead of having more time individually to work, I meet with 7 other teachers who share (very, very few of ) the same students. In that one period of time--every other day--we meet to examine testing scores and student levels, S.M.A.R.T goals, student behavior and academic performance and referrals, and more. I'm growing to appreciate my team, despite some major frustration with the organization and expectations from administration. While I crave the time I could be spending working in my room to accomplish all that is required, I see the value and try to tell myself every day that it isn't a waste of time.

Because I only see my students every other day, it has been harder to really get to know them and get each class' "personalities" figured out. On the other hand, I only have to see the one class that is already given me trouble every other day and I am OK with that.

There are some other positive/negatives to weigh when using the block schedule, but I still haven't quite made up my mind yet. In general, this year is more difficult than last year in some ways, but my goal is just take it one day (or hour, or minute) at a time. June will come around again eventually, right?

mine

2011-09-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

See this little boy?

He's in the midst of toddler-hood, full of tantrums, time-outs, and tickles. He wears me out beyond what I ever thought possible and tries the last ounce of patience I have after a long day at work.

Some nights he's up once or twice for water or a hug, some mornings he comes in to my room when I'm getting ready for work and 'helps' by sitting in my lap while I put on makeup. When we get home in the evening, he is content to watch exactly one episode of Mickey Mouse Club while I sit down, collect my wits, and take a breath...but as soon as the "Hot Dog" dance is over, he enlists me as truck driver/train conductor or uses my limbs as road for cars (you know, knees really make good hills).

He begs for juice or milk or cheese and cereals every day just as I start making dinner. Usually, when I'm at a critical point in the dinner making process, he tugs on my pants and says, "I wanna hold you mommy." He doesn't get that when mommy is holding a knife, snuggling really isn't an option.

Sometimes, he spits on me and giggles. Other times he punches me on my "bumps" or kicks me during diaper changes. Lately, he does naughty things (crawling on top of the kitchen counter, for example) and puts himself in timeout with a smile, but as soon as he sits down, he screams for the full 2 1/2 minutes.

Yes, he is exhausting. He is my most difficult job ever. But, he is my peace and my joy and my heart.

And I wouldn't give that up for a full night sleep, a morning routine without a 'helper,' or a day where cars aren't accidentally dropped down my shirt. I wouldn't trade that for smooth dinner preparation or 10 minutes without setting the timer for time-outs.

Everyday when I leave my job as a teacher, I get those fun, anxious, butterfly feelings in my stomach because the job I come home to is twice as hard but ten times more rewarding. I get to watch his curiosity, listen to him read to me, and sing "Twinkle, Twinkle" over and over. I get to be covered with kisses, help him color with crayons, and get drenched while he plays in the tub.

I get to be his mom.

August 9--London

2011-09-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

Apparently Ben can't find the SD card he has his London pictures on and he took way more than I did. If I get them soon, I'll add to it but if not, this is what you get for my last trip post :)

We both slept in passed 10am and didn't really get going until noon. This is another regret from the trip: sleeping in too much caused us not to see everything. Oh well.

We walked from our hostel into the city--about 3 or so miles. As we walked, about one block from our hostel, we ran into this:

{A very familiar sign!}

{We walked down to the Thames River in search of The Globe Theater}

{Found it! Shakespeare's original theater was built near this site, but burned down. This replica acts as stage to many a Shakespeare plays and other plays and also includes exhibits on Shakespeare. It was pretty much the only reason why we flew into London instead of going straight to Scotland}

{We paid 5 pounds each for tickets as groundlings (the audience who stands the entire play right in front of the stage). The play we saw wasn't actually a Shakespeare play but was called "The Globe Mysteries," a revival of an ancient play by the same name (a very interesting past to this play, read about it here). The play was about 2 1/2 hours long and even though my back was tired from standing, it didn't bother me one bit to stand for the whole thing}

{They gave the groundlings these funny hats to wear to block the sun; mine didn't stay on very well and pretty soon after the play started, the sun was hidden, so it was OK. The play was amazing. Because it goes through various bible stories--some quite heart-wrenching and detailed--at points I couldn't decide if I should be feeling so entertained by the portrayal of sacred stories from the bible (Abraham & Isaac, the Crucifixion, etc.), but in the end, I was brought to tears by the performances and felt both entertained and edified}

We left the Globe and found a cafe for a small bite to eat, and then walked down the Thames toward the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. There was loads of construction going on (they must've waited until after the Royal Wedding to start), so it was a little tricky getting around.

{London Eye across the Thames.}

{Big Ben behind me. Ben has some way better pictures of this, unfortunately!}

{The palace. The flag was flying that day so the Queen Mum must've been inside somewhere. I had heard you could go and see a bunch of Royal Wedding stuff, including the dress, but it was about 18 pounds per person so we opted out of that experience. We walked around the entire block the palace sits on and laughed at the landscape...it was kind of dreadful and dead. Also, not only was there barbed wire across the top of the fence, there were many different types of barbed wire, some thick, some small. And there were these big metal spikes as well as security cameras every 20 feet or so}
{This gate was open for the people who paid money to see the wedding dress to walk across the front yard and exit. Ben really wated to get a picture with this 'bobby' but he didn't really look like the kind who was up for something like that}

We ended up walking a lot that evening, just around the city going in and out of shops. And then, the police started kicking people off the streets (because of the riots) and so we found the nearest Underground station and found our way back to the hostel. We were sharing a room with a few other American's who were pretty friendly. Ben got talking to one of the guys, from Boston. He wanted to talk politics, marijuana legalization, and sports...three things we (especially I) don't talk about much. So, I repacked all my stuff, climbed into my very uncomfortable bunk bed and shut the curtains around me and went to sleep while Ben had a very awkward conversation with guy. Then some dude came in wreaking of weed.

We had an early wake up the next morning of 5:30. We had to take the train back to the airport and because it took us 2 hours from the airport after dropping off the car, we didn't want to risk being late for our 9am flight. Needless to say, we got on the first train, made it in 45 minutes and had a decent wait in the airport before taking off. I tried sleeping--again--on the flight and didn't have much success (again, unlike my husband).

When we arrived in NY, it was dinner time in the UK. I was already deliriously tired--the kind where everything is funny, even if it isn't really. We had a little wait in Customs and had to give up some Heather seeds, a pinecone, and show them the bottom of our shoes. We had another long layover in NY, but I was so dead tired and couldn't bear the thought of carrying the backpack any more and do any more walking, so we sat in the airport. We ended up having about a one hour delay and by the time our plane left, it was 4am UK time and I hadn't slept AT. ALL. I was tired, moody, and irritated.

When we got to our seats, we were seated behind a young mom with two kids, a 4 year old and a 6 month old. The baby was screaming and all I could of was not being able to sleep with this crying baby on the flight. I broke down in tears during take off (while Ben had already fallen asleep!) Luckily, the baby calmed down and slept pretty good most of the flight. I maybe slept 1 hour of the 4 hour flight and was completely a zombie when we arrived in SLC.

Ben's dad picked us up from the airport. I took a long hot shower when we got home, fell into bed at about 2am and then was up at 7am for my mom to bring Erich home. It took me a good week to get over my jet lag.

This was definitely the trip of a lifetime and hopefully we'll get a chance to go back some day and do it a little bit more grown-up (hotels or B&B's rather than hostels, car the whole time, etc.). While we were gone, someone taught Erich to say that mommy and daddy were in Scotland and just about every day since we've been back, he says, "I missed mommy and daddy in Scotland."

August 8--Glasgow to London

2011-09-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

Monday morning after we'd packed all our stuff, we got on the freeway, London-bound. We had planned a few stops along the way, and by our calculations, would arrive in London at about 6:30, with enough time to do a tiny bit of site seeing and dinner.

This is how our day actually went.

From Glasgow, we drove to Dumfries, a little town near the boarder of Scotland and England. The sole purpose for our Dumfries stop was to see the Greyfriars Abbey--it was the location of Ben's ancestor, John Comyn, was murdered by his rival for the thrown, Robert the Bruce (note: had Robert the Bruce not murdered John Comyn, the Cummings would be royalty). It was a pretty scenic route, again, with the use of the GPS. When we got into Dumfries, it seemed like a tiny version of Glasgow--everything was compact, small, and much more quaint (I'd actually like to spend more time in Dumfries, if I ever go back). After a minor parking fiasco, we walked to the abbey, which sits in the town center, across from a Robert Burns memorial statue.
We still had some people to buy souvenirs for and decided since Dumfries was our last Scotland stop, we had to do it then. We shouldn't have put it off, though, because Dumfries doesn't really have much by way of souvenirs! I was going to buy some scarves for me and my mom and grandma, but of course, they didn't have them in Dumfries! We ended up being really disappointed in what we did get, but got on our way. On the way out of town, we passed an honest-to-goodness LDS church with the "Visitors Welcome" sign posted and everything.

From Dumfries, our GPS led us to Hadrian's Wall. This was something I'd never even known about let alone heard the name, so when Ben said he wanted to go see it, I had to do some research. Basically, it is the Roman wall used to keep the 'original' Scottish people out of the Roman Empire. It is quite tall in places and in other places, like where we saw it, the Romans used the natural hilly landscape to block them out and the wall is just short on top of the hills. We drove and drove until we got to one of the many places along the wall you can stop. There was a gigantic downpour as soon as we pulled in, but we went in the little shop, got a bite to eat, and then when the rain cleared up, we made the 10 minute hike up to see the wall.

{You can see it isn't very tall, but it is on a hill. I had no idea it would be so steep (and wet) so I just had my flipflops on. Dumb choice since it's also sheep country and sheep poop is EVERYWHERE!}

{On the wall! Ben was a little underwhelmed at the portion of the wall we saw. If we'd had more time, we would have made a few more Hadrian's Wall stops to check out other areas}

Back on the road again, we ended up taking the long way to London. We hit horrible traffic in Newcastle, a bad accident in Leeds, and more traffic right before London. Our car was supposed to be turned in at 5pm at Heathrow Airport. When I called and told them we'd be late, they simply said we'd be charged for an extra days use. Bummer. We drove as quickly as we could and along the way, passed through the Sherwood Forrest.

As we drove through England, I was reading "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" on my ereader. Wouldn't you know that as I was reading about the Zombies taking over Hertfordshire, we were passing through Hertfordshire! One of the coolest things ever.

Heathrow Airport is not small like the SLC one, so we had a heck of a time figuring out where to take the car. When we finally found it, it was passed 9 o'clock. The guys who took the car were quite sympathetic to our traveling woes of the day ad didn't charge us anything extra and we were sent on a shuttle to the train terminal at the airport to get into the city to our last hostel of the trip. Two hours later, we arrived at the hostel, just before they locked the doors for the evening. I was beyond exhausted and hungry. The TV in the common room was showing the London Riots, of which we had no idea since we hadn't seen tv or heard radio for days. The receptionists said we were just a few miles away from one of the trouble areas and as I laid in bed that night, I heard sirens all night.

Coming Up: A date with Shakespeare and the palace

August 7--Glasgow & Farm Traipsing

2011-09-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

Even though I have SO MUCH to do other than blogging, I refuse to do any of it until I've completed my Scotland blog posts. You'll see that at this point we were kind of 'over' taking so many pictures and, thus, most of the pics from here on our are kind of lame.

When we woke up on Sunday, I had desire to find a church in Glasgow to attend...even though we didn't have Sunday clothes. Ben had other plans and vetoed my desire, so we got ready and went out into the rain! First we headed to Glasgow Cathedral. Part of Ben's family history in Scotland is that Lord Cummings was instrumental in beginning the building of this cathedral but died before it was complete. Lady Cummings went into tons of debt finishing the building of the cathedral. As we learned, however, because of the Cummings (Comyn) history, most of the information about the Cumming's family has been wiped out and forgotten so we couldn't find any Cummings' information there. When we got home we did some more research about some of these things that supports Ben's theory that the Cumming history is not spoken of much in Scotland.

Anyway, we spent about an hour going through the cathedral. It was a Sunday so there weren't guides there to answer questions, but it was still very interesting.

{Do you see me?}

{The altar down in the basement...yes, basement. It looks very similar to another alter I'm familiar with, minus the brightly colored blanket at cross on top}

{Just behind the red chairs, you see two tombstones. Information within the cathedral states that this is where St. Mungo--patron saint of Glasgow--was buried. I can't remember who is in the 2nd one...}

{The cathedral is undergoing some construction, but here's a general idea of what it looks like o the outside. We headed from here to the 'necropolis' (cemetery) which surrounds the cathedral}

{It was cold and rainy that day...perfect day to walk through a cemetery!}

{I loved looking at the headstones. This one is a favorite, not necessarily for the words on it, but for the fact that the grass seemed to have completely grown over it. If you look closely at the portions of grass peeled off, you can see the indentations of the carved words}

After we got soaked to the bone, we got back in the car and drove around Glasgow looking for some 'landmarks' of Scottish comedian, Billy Connolly's standup routine that Ben and his brothers love so much. I was more or less there for the ride, but here's a few of the pictures we got.

{Glasgow Green is a big park, kind of like Liberty Park in Utah. Billy Connolley talks about a circus at Glasgow Green}

We drove by a few street names that Billy Connolley talks about and a few pubs, too. Here's a funny coffee shop:

The next part of our day was spent following the GPS coordinates to some of the Cumming castle remains. I have to admit up front that I was both a little bored and grumpy during this and I do feel bad for my behavior. Part of my problem was that I was wet and cold and hungry (we didn't eat again until dinner time...so from about 8 to 7 I had no food and that in general is not a good combination for me!)

{Ben typed in some coordinates he'd found online for the castle remains of his family's castle. It was just a little drive out of Glasgow, through narrow one lane roads, up and down hills, and by a bunch of farms. It was still rainy, but when we saw this 'hill' we istantly thought this was the right place. Ben found a few farmers and asked them about possibly getting up to the top of the hill. They all gave permission for us to climb up there, but none of them knew if there were castle remains there or not. After one attempt of climbing up the hill, we were getting chased by cows (haha, no pictures of this, but just picture us running in mud, rain, with a huge herd of cows coming after us mooing). We got back in the car and went to another farm house. No one was there and Ben was feeling defeated. He decided to punch in the coordinates again and realized his first time he had put a wrong number. So, we drove for another 20 minutes to get to the right spot}

{We came across this farm house and spoke with the lady of the house. She pointed us in the direction of the Maines Castle, which we could see from the property. The Maines Castle was built using material from the remains of the Cummings castle, which had been burned the ground. We headed back toward the castle and found a park near the castle to park the car. I was still grumpy and wet, so I stayed in the car while Ben went wandering, trying to find access to Maines castle, which by the way, is a private residence. He found the front gate, called up to the castle, and left a message for the owner stating that he was a distant relative of the Cummings family. He was sad he didn't actually get to go in the castle, but got some pictures of it anyway:

When he got back to the car, we drove back to the farm house and Ben knocked on the door once again. He explained that he believed the actual site of the Cummings castle was on their property. The lady to him she knew that there was a castle on the property many years ago, but she didn't know more than that. She gave Ben permission to walk around to see what he could see. He found some things that led him to believe it was the original grounds for the Cummings Castle.

{These are just a few of the pictures he took on their farm}

At this point it was about 6 or so and I was STAR.VING. So, we headed back to the city and went to the drive-through at Burger King...yes, I broke my no American food in Scotland rule, but it was all we could find and we were desperate! That night I finally got dry and warm and spent a few hours reading before falling asleep. We also made our travel plans for the next day to London!

Coming Up: Finally, we see the Comyn name, a wall, and WTH!!!!!!

August 6-- Glasgow

2011-08-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

The hostel in Glasgow was interesting. It was basically an old tenement house. We (THANK HEAVENS) had our own private room with a private bathroom--this literally saved the end of the trip for me because I was tired and ready to go home! We had a parking place and paid 2 pounds each morning for breakfast. This is one of the only pictures of the room I have, below.

Since we got in so late, we slept in a little bit on Saturday. Ben decided we'd take a drive (40 minutes) over to Sterling to see the Sterling Castle. We took a beautiful scenic route through tiny towns, passing 30 thousand (yes, I counted) sheep. When we got to Sterling, it was packed, the roads small and narrow, so we ended up parking a bit out of town and walking UP the hill through the old part of city.

{Here's an old high school in Sterling. Now, it's actually a hotel}

{You may not be able to read the sign I'm pointing to, but it says: "Quarreling is Taboo." I had great plans to print it off and hang it in my classroom, but I'd have to define two of the three words for my students and I think that would make it loose it's impact}

{As you walk through town, there is an old jail. Here's part of it, which has been pretty much left as-is for many, many years. We opted not to pay a crazy price to take a tour, but instead, walked around the little courtyard}

{Behind the old jail, and to the right, you see a kirk (church) that we walked through}

{They had some signs posted relaying information about the jail as it was used anciently. One of the torture methods was tickling. They would stick a prisoner in this little contraption and tickle them. Sounds pretty awful to me}

{We asked some lady to take this picture and she was so confused as to why we would want one of us in such a depiction. We laughed for hours about her reaction}

{The kirk was beautiful. I think it was called the Church of Holy Rude and it is still in use today. They had a neat prayer room where you could put names on a list and the parishioners of the church would pray for those people. You could also light a candle in remembrance of someone you had lost. All throughout the kirk was beautiful stain-glassed windows, pictured above}

{An interesting piece of history!}

{Just outside of the kirk is a decent sized graveyard, filled with ancient headstones. We kind of fell in love with these cemeteries and were fascinated with looking at the dates. Ben really hoped we'd just 'stumble' onto the grave of a distant relative, but that never happened. This picture shows the oldest part of the cemetery, dating back to the 1500's}

{Notice the little worn-down foot path behind Ben. The grass gets cut very infrequently so you can see the growth around the headstones. Many of them are slowly being covered by the vegetation}

{Behind me is the 'new' part of the cemetery, with graves dating back to the 1700's. There were a few semi-recent ones--early 1900's. The grounds here were very pristine, in comparison to the other section. As we left, there was a piper who came through playing his pipes...very neat!}

{We walked from the cemetery up to Sterling Castle. We decided--again--not to spend the money to tour this castle, but we were able to walk around the perimeters a bit. I didn't think it looked nearly as neat as Edinburgh Castle}

{View of Sterling from the castle}

{These clouds were quite telling of what the weather would be like for the next few days!}

{Before leaving Sterling, we went to a bagpipe store to get some pieces for Ben's pipes back at home. We spent quite a while talking with the store owner, who makes really nice pipes. He got Ben all set up and then we left to get some lunch. We stopped at a little cafe and had, what I consider, to be the 2nd best meal of the whole trip. I had an egg and mayonaise sandwhich (exotic, right?). Pictured is my glass of...Sprite? No. 7-Up? No. Water? Nope. It's lemonade. It tasted very much like Sprite, but it had a little different kick to it. I had it a few times on the trip and liked it}

{Just as we walked out, it started raining}

{A view of Sterling Castle from where our car was parked}

We drove--in the rain--from Sterling to a small town called Doune (pronounced "Dune"). Ben had learned that in Doune was the castle that was used in the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." We found it and the clouds parted for a few minutes while we got out and walked around. There was a wedding just taking place as we got there so we couldn't actually go in, but we walked around and took some pictures and visited the gift shop, with several Monty Python-esq souvenirs.

When we got back in the car, the rain started again. I fell asleep and when I woke up, Ben was lost. He had taken a wrong turn somewhere, so we had to drive all the way back, almost to Sterling, to find our way. That put us both in a grumpy mood. It had been since Edinburgh since we'd done laundry (to say I was desperate for clean clothes is an understatement!), so we found a little laundry mat near our hostel and did our laundry. While I was waiting for the clothes to finish, Ben went to a market to get some food to make for dinner. We ended up just hanging out in the hostel that night and went to bed fairly early.

Coming up: More lovely rain, all things Billy Connolly, and Ben knocks on random farm-owners doors.

August 5--Inverness to Glasgow

2011-08-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

**Somehow I've messed up the dates on these posts, unless my paper journal I took with me on the trip is wrong! In anycase, I'm trying to get this trip all posted so I can move on to other stuff, like school starting and other such things.**

On the morning we left Inverness, it was beautiful and sunny. We had to be out of the hostel by 10:30 and we barely made it, after sleeping in a little bit and being slow getting all packed up. We decided we had some time before needing to go pick up the car, so we walked around the city a little bit.

{One of my favorite stores we saw all over Scotland was "Poundland," which, as you can probably figure, is our equivalent to the Dollar Store. Stuff seed way more junky to me, but I thought it was fun to see the UK's version of dollar junk}

{We had to take another bus from Inverness to the Inverness Airport to pickup the car. We were so pro at the bus/train system at this point, but it was nice knowing we'd have a car to rely on for a few days}

{Ben asked the guy to take a picture of us with our car. Kinda silly, but it was a totally new thing for us! We had a Coursa}

{Ben was instantly pro at driving on the right. Everything was a little backwards at first, and luckily we were in a small city at first to practice. I never partook of the driving experience, but did try my hand at backseat driving a few time when I would tell Ben, "Wait! You are on the wrong side!}

Because we had the luxury of the car, we decided to venture out to the site of the bloodiest massacre to ever take place in Scotland (and the last, for that matter). The Battle of Culloden took place against the Jacobites (original men in kilts ;)) and the British Government...over land, I believe. It has a really interesting background and buildup to the actual battle, which lasted less than one hour. In the end, the British were responsible for the death of about 1500 Jacobites, all who were burried on site in mass graves--still there today. We payed (way too much money) to walk through a museum and then walk around the grounds (we found out later we could have walked the grounds for free!)

{The red flags represent the British army and the blue flags represent the Jacobites. They are located in the approixmate spot where the lineup was. Because there were so many, the line up actually extends the length of the property devoted to the memorial now, and goes as far as to cross a couple of roads and houses}

{Here is one of the mass graves, with a marker on it. The British armies were commanded to bury the Jacobites by clans, where possible, so each of the mass graves has a marker that says "Clan McAnitosh" or "Clan Fraser," and others.

{There is a small house that sits on the property that was a private residence for many years. I can't remember what they said the purpose of it was, but it was an interesting little house}

{The fence behind me represents a 'shelter' built by one of the armies for protection. In the end, the Jacobites were so unorganized and haphazard with their battle plan (as opposed to the British who had extremely regimented lines and an order to their fighting tactics) and that is why so many died so quickly}

After about 2 hours at Culloden, we got on the road, Glasgow bound. We decided we really needed to get over to Loch Ness--Ben was convinced he'd see the monster! So, we plugged it into the GPS and got on our way. We did not take the normal tourist route and instead went the entire way to Loch Ness on a single lane road that wound through tiny Scottish towns with beautiful scenery. Along the way we passed several smaller Lochs (lakes) and when we found the main road again, Ben insisted on getting out to take pictures of a tree.

{If you can see the road sign, you can see the names of the towns we drove through. The road behind Ben is the one we turned on to get to Loch Ness}

{Here I am waiting for Ben to finish taking his pictures. I had the door open for a matter of seconds and when we got back in, the car was filled with flying bugs! It took a good while to get all of those bugs out!}

{And then...we saw Loch Ness. We pulled off the side of a road at a little picnic spot. It was set on a hill so we had to hike down a bit to get to the Loch}

{Beautiful Loch Ness. We got Erich (and his boy cousins) little Nessie monster stuffed animals. I also got Erich a book about the monster. The book has one of the 3 different versions we heard about how the Loch was created, the myth of the monster, and Loch Ness today. Very interesting stuff (& a side note, Erich sleeps with Nessie every night and insists I give the Nessie a kiss}

{This is Ben just as he's walking down the hill to get to the loch. The picture I'm not showing you here is the one I took of him peeing in the bushes....I guess when nature calls.....}

{Across the distance you can see Castle Urquart, one of the most famous images of Scotland you see around. Obviously we didn't get a chance to go in, but it was still neat to see it from afar}

{As much as he tried, Ben could not summon Nessie out for a visit}

We made a few phone calls to family from Loch Ness before heading on our way to Glasgow...but, of course, there were a few more stops along the way.

{Since we were on the total scenic route, we stumbled upon a little town called Foyers, tucked away from Loch Ness but still close enough to see it. We were starved, so we grabbed a little snack and then walked down to see Foyer's Falls, which were really quite ugly compared to everything else we'd seen.
{At the gas station in Foyers, Ben joked with the attendant about seeing the monster. The guy said it'd been many years since any sighting, but that if you knew the right people, you could get a glimpse of a monster. In the above picture, if you look really closely in the top, right above the tree line, you can see a little squigly looking thing that someone has painted into the mountain side to look like a sea monster}

After driving for another hour or so, we had passed through Ft. Williams, saw Ben Nevis (the biggest mountain in Scotland--at a whopping 4, 400 feet), and a few other little towns. As we were on the road, we drove into this beautiful valley with nothing but green-covered mountains on both sides. We had to stop to get some pictures because it was too pretty to pass up!

{Above, I wanted Ben to take a picture of me and the first time I climbed up on that little rock, I almost fell off (first picture), the second time I managed to stay on top!}

{The same rock I was standing on there was a note that said: "Found Here: Nice Camera, last picture taken on July 29th. If it's yours, email me and I'll send it to you." We felt so bad for whomever had lost their camera! (I haven't told you about how Ben got in a minor fight with a Scottish man who was trying to walk away with Ben's camera after he left it on the table for 2 seconds...)

{See, the other side of the road is just as green!}

Then, a while later down the road, we came across a ski resort!! Yes! A ski resort in Scotland!

{After we walked around the resort for a few minutes, we got back on our way. We had a few more hours of travel to get to Glasgow and had to be at the hostel by 10:30pm in order to get our room.}

August 5--Inverness

2011-08-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

We got into Inverness in the evening, just after it had stopped raining. We had excellent directions to the hostel; this one was just next to the train station--perfect! We found it easy enough, but there was a code lock and we didn't know how to get it. So, we walked to pull out some pounds to pay for the hostel and then walked back. Ben was just getting out his phone to call when a tall blonde guy approached the hostel. He asked us if we were just checking the place out. He was American! He was staying at the hostel so he let us in and as we were walking up the stairs, asked us where we were from. When we said Utah, he said, "Awww, Mormons!" Then he asked Ben were he had served his mission. Then he asked if I had, I said no and he said, "That's ok, either did my wife." By this time, we were at the reception desk and he kept walking upstairs. Both Ben and I were kind of baffled at our brief conversation with him.

We got checked in. This was the first hostel we shared a bedroom with other people, 8 others to be exact. We picked our bunk beds and rested for a little bit before deciding to go find some dinner. Just as we were getting ready to leave, we ran into that guy again. He asked us if we had eaten yet and when we said that we were just going, he offered to give us a bag of pasta and some sauce he had leftover. We got to talking again and found out that he and his wife were on a 4 month world tour/vacation after graduating from BYU-Hawaii. They were in Inverness for a few days before heading to London, then to NY, and then back home to San Diego. We made our dinner at the hostel and then sat and watched an Elton John thing on TV that was really very entertaining.

The next morning was super rainy and cold. We slept in a little bit and made plans to take a bus to Loch Ness, a little south of Inverness. As we were leaving the hostel, we ran into the guy (Shawn) and his wife (Lindsey), who were also going to go to Loch Ness. We all decided to go together.

When we got to the bus stop, we had about a 45 minute wait for the bus, so Lindsey and I sat down to talk and Shawn went to get some food and Ben had to go back to hostel to make a phone call to our bank. When they came back, Ben and I went to get food and when we met back with them, they suggested that since it was rainy and cold, we just stay in Inverness and look around there instead. I don't know why we agreed because this really set us back a day in our plans.

So, we just hung out with them in the city that day and walked around. We went to Inverness Castle (not open to public as it is the court and jail), walked around a few shops, and then back to the hostel for lunch made by Shawn--delicious Italian pasta dish I can't remember the name of. After eating, I was ready for a nap. The plan was to meet back up with them a little later and then go to a pub for some dinner and live music. I ended up sleeping for almost 4 hours! And when I woke up, Ben was asleep with a headache, so we ended up just staying in. I walked to a market to get some food and made us dinner. We watched some more British TV before going to bed.

{The city of Inverness behind us}

{Inverness Castle}

{Ben and Shawn at the castle}

{Overlooking the city, you can also see the River Ness, which flows into Loch Ness}

{Inverness Castle}

{The train station we arrived at...this is a rainy day!}

August 4--Aberdeen (Drum Castle) to Inverness

2011-08-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

When we got to the bus station, we learned that we had 7 minutes to find a cash machine to get enough pounds for us to get back on the bus & make it to this castle, which was about a 30 minute drive out of the city. We made it, luckily, since that line only had 3 departures that day. I, of course, snoozed on the way and we basically hopped off the bus as it kept on going (where we were going is not a usual stop, so the driver kindly let us off at the closest point).

Once we got off the bus (big backpacks in tow) we still had a mile walk to get to the castle. Luckily we had our walking shoes on! It was a beautiful stroll through Scottish countryside. I actually got a little toasty on our walk up, so off came the jacket!

{The beginning of our 1 mile journey. He looks thrilled, huh?}

{Along the way, part of the road was lined with this stone fence. Note the vibrant green color|

{This was at a crossroads to tell us which way to go. Drum Castle has ties to Ben's Cumming's family so we wanted to check it out. It is most associated with Clan Irvine, and an Irvine girl married a Cumming guy. Most of the castles are operated by the National Trust of Scotland}
{Right before arriving at the castle, there was beautiful land for miles and miles. We saw small houses, farms, and lots of GREEN!}

{We finally made it! This is just walking onto the property before we went inside}

{At the entrance, after spending about one hour inside. Ben explained his relationship to the castle and they let him sign the family guest book. Each room in the castle (no pictures allowed) was decorated in period fashion. My favorite rooms were the children's nursery & library (wonder why?); the toys they had were fascinating and I've never seen so many old books, some dating from the 1700's! As we were nearing the end of the tour, we heard a piano being played in the sitting room. We walked back and saw a little girl playing the piano and Ben asked the volunteer lady what the requirements for playing the piano were; she said as long as you can actually play, go ahead. So, he got to play this 1800's piano for a few minutes and he had all of the people gathered and clapping. Such a fun memory for him.}

{After touring the inside/living quarters, we visited the tower. This is one of the third oldest towers of it's kind in Scotland that has also been mostly unaltered from it original use. We had to climb a set of stairs just to get in it and then another few sets of stairs to get on the roof}

{Not sure why I'm feigning a model pose here, but nevertheless, here I am on top of the tower}

{We toured the beautiful grounds, 18th century inspired gardens. Here I am holding the castle. We mainly took this because we had just been quoting lines from "Despicable Me." (At the very beginning of that movie they show a family at the Great Pyramids; the dad says to his wife, "Honey, take a picture, I'm holding the pyramids," while he has his hands under them, like me here}

{And then I decided I needed to do a cartwheel on the lawn of this beautiful (classy) castle}

{Of course, Ben was in.love with the gardens, including trees. He took a plethora of pictures of all of the trees, including this one that had been chopped down. Besides the piano experience, he enjoyed the grounds the most}

{Drum Castle}

We had to trek back down to catch a bus back into Aberdeen. We had train tickets to get to Inverness and just as we got to the train station, it was starting to rain. I wish we had more time to explore the city of Aberdeen, but there's always next time!

Coming up: "Awww...Mormons," and a wasted day.

August 3--Edinburgh to Aberdeen

2011-08-19T19:12:00.000-07:00

Our last stop in Edinburgh was to a tiny laundry mat to use the dryers to dry the rest of our clothes that had not dried hanging up in the closet the night before. No joke, Ben spent a good 35 minutes fold, rolling, and squeezing everything in his bag, just so he had some extra space. He was a proficient packer the entire trip!

This is a side view of our hostel in Edinburgh...our window is on the bottom, just peeking out behind the pole.

We had a little bit of a wait at the train station, so we were able to eat some lunch (we ate at a 'fast foody' type place inside the mall next to the train station. It's speciality was baked potatoes, and, boy do they know how to do potatoes! This meal ranks up there as a top 5 of our whole trip!) You can vaguely see the train departure/arrival board behind us.

We left Edinburgh around noon. The train ride was a little over 2 hours and I'm pretty sure it rained from the time we got on the train until well after we'd arrived in Aberdeen. Unluckily for us, this rain put a total damper (haha) on our Aberdeen experience right off the bat.

As I was making our reservations for hostels, Aberdeen was the most difficult place to find one able to do reservations online; nearly all of the ones I found I had to email to see if they had space, and they were all filled. So, I eventually stumbled upon a college who turn their dorms into travel lodging during the summer. In my effort to print off all of our hostel confirmations before we left, I forgot to check to make sure they all had directions to the hostel. Most of the time, it was no problem because we just punched the address in our GPS and it took us straight to it. This time, however, it didn't show up.

When we got off the train, we found a small map of the city center (where we assumed the hostel was located), and Ben seemed confident in his mapping skills and we set out--in the rain--to find Craibstone Estate (sounds fancy, huh?). Well, it's pouring rain and cold and the more we walk, the more out of the city center we go; we were in total local zone, no tourists, nothing to help us find this place.

Finally, I was feeling very badly for my lack of preparation, I begged Ben to go to a Starbucks to get out of the rain, use their wifi, and perhaps even just call the hostel. He obliged and we ordered hot drinks to warm us up. Of course, as we learned, there is nothing 'free' about 'free wifi' in Scotland; most places required you to pay a one time fee. Long story short, the Starbucks idea didn't work, so we went back out in search for some help. Ben walked into a fancy looking hotel and asked the receptionist if she knew of this place. She said that it was way out of the city, not in walking distance, and it would take one hour by bus. She suggested we find a taxi to take us there. So we walked out of the hotel and right there was a taxi who knew exactly where the place was.

It was rush hour traffic and because there are hardly any stop lights on the roads (pretty much all round abouts), it took us a while. The taxi driver was so kind and friendly; he felt bad for us after hearing our story, and stopped his meter well before we arrived at the hostel. It was still about 15 pounds--compared to 25 pounds--but we had made it and the hostel manager was waiting for us.

Craibstone Estate sits on the Scotland Agriculture College campus (SAC). How perfect that we were at an agriculture college? Ben was in heaven with the gardens and greenery. Our room was just like a college dorm--two beds, bathroom, closet, desk. We even had a small TV. After resting for a bit, we ventured out and walked off college property to the bus stop. We took a bus into the city for some dinner.

This is the train/bus station at night. Unfortunately, we didn't really take many pictures during our rainy walk OR when we went back into town for dinner. I'm kicking myself now that I did't take pictures of the front of our hostel because for a dorm, it was beautiful!

Here's some more of the dorm, the next morning as we left. I loved this hostel so much, I wish we had another night there. But, we had places to go, so we packed up and were off to Drum Castle!

They had a nice reception room that had all sorts of information on tours and things. There was also free postcards of the Estate (I took several) and a guest book that we signed.

This is the road you drive in/out on and the path we walked on to get to the bus stop. In all, I think the estate was about 20 minutes out of the heart of Aberdeen.

August 2--Edinburgh

2011-08-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

First: The single event of our trip that I would like to forget.

On Sunday after we'd eaten and got settled back to the hostel, Ben decided to go on a Haunted Edinburgh tour. I have no interest in haunted things (because I'm a scaredy cat), so I told him to go ahead on the tour and I'd just go to sleep in our room. In reality, I stayed up reading and finishing laundry (see our rad washer/dryer combo below). The tour was supposed to last 1 1/2 hours and then a little get together at a pub followed. Ben had wanted an "authentic Scotland experience," which we heard was drinking in the pub. So he planned on staying after for a bit, just to experience it. He met some locals, stayed to sing Karaoke ("The Devil Went Down to Georgia") and then left.

{Ben had one of the pub goers take his picture after singing}

As he walked out of the pub (& after being in the underground vaults of Edinburgh) he was quite turned around and in the end took a wrong turn that turned into a near 5 hour ordeal, walking alone on the dark, abandon streets of Edinburgh. Yes, he got lost. He was disoriented and went in the total opposite direction of our hostel. Back at the hostel, it's past midnight and I'm starting to panic. I have no way of calling out (even if I did know the number of police, etc.), no way of leaving the hostel (he had the key), and no idea where to begin looking for him. I tried reading more, but was distracted. 2am...3am...and I found Ben's cell phone (we only took his) in his backpack. I'd figured it was just time that our family was getting ready for bed back in the states, so I contemplated calling Ben's dad, just to get his comfort and ideas on what to do. But I decided it was better not to worry them until I knew there was reason to really worry. Every few minutes or so, I'd sit by the window that looked out on the street. I saw only one drunkard staggering around singing. No cars, no people, nothing. I was in tears not knowing what was up!

Finally, around 5 or so, I say the 20th prayer of the night, just trying to figure out what to do. I had the impression to lay down and sleep and that everything was going to be OK. I laid on the bed, and within 10 minutes, Ben walked through the door. He'd ran into two teenagers who led him in the right direction. Luckily, nothing else happened to him!! I was livid but glad he made it back. We slept until about noon and then got ready for the castle....another reason why Edinburgh was my favorite city in Scotland!

{The hallway in our hostel and our bedroom on the right. The bathroom was around the corner}

{Our kitchen. We searched and searched all over that place for one whole day trying to figure out where the washer/dryer was, until finally Ben opened the cupboard next to the sink and found it. It took about 4 hours for a full cycle of washing/drying...and even then, the dryer was broken, so we had to hang up our clothes in the closet!}

Edinburgh Castle
We walked up from our hostel a ways to get to the castle, which literally sits on the hill overlooking the city. The 'hill' is actually an ancient volcano. It was beautiful (not Cinderella Castle beautiful, but Scotland/Ancient beautiful!). The seats you see behind me are for the Military Tattoo, which is a big....ceremony/parade...of sort that we missed by one week! It's a once a year thing during the big Edinburgh festival, which is HUGE...and we missed it, too.

{Walking into the castle}

{On top, just after entering the castle. You can see the city behind me}

{Like most castles we went to, the Edinburgh castle served many purposes in it's history. This section houses a war memorial, which you couldn't take pictures of}

{Of course, Ben loved the landscape the most}

{Another building of the castle houses the Scottish Crown Jewels. Remember that we'd seen the Crown Jewels of England already. There weren't nearly the number of jewels in this display, but they were certainly beautiful! Also housed with the jewels is the Stone of Destiny (of Stone of Scoone), which is what the royals sit on during their coronation}

{Yet anther part of the castle is a prison, used as recently as WWII. You could walk in the cells and get a feel for what it was like. Ben's showing the sink here}

{There was a whole section dedicated to pipers...this is just after a huge downpour and we'd forgotten our jackets/umbrella at the hostel, so we had to stick inside for a bit}

{Love his smile. There was also a big exhibit on the prisoners of war. It showed some artifacts of the time and where they were primarily kept}

{Scotland is very short-person friendly!}

{The big cannons surrounded the entire boarder of the castle}

{Someone kindly offered to take our picture as we were exiting, one of the few we have together!}

After seeing the castle (probably about 2-3 hours) we ate at the castle cafe. I had my first Scottish biscuit...yum!

{After the castle, we walked back down the Royal Mile and visited various stops. Just as we were leaving, they were closing the castle enterance and the Military Tattoo grounds. We saw a pipe band walking in (without their instruments) and later found out they were there to rehearse for the big show!}

{One of the stores we stopped at was the Edinburgh Woolen Mill where they sell products on one level and then the basement is the loom, where you can go watch them actually weaving different tartans. We got there too late and didn't see the actual process, but we still got to walk around}

{You can see the various bolts of tartans. We had them pull Ben's family tartan (Cummings) and found out it cost 24 pounds per yard (which is like $48). Needless to say, we didn't buy any ;)}

Princes Gardens

We spent a little while looking through shops and decided to get some dinner at a little restaurant that was still open (everything closes super early there; most places are closed by 5 or 6). We figured by this time that Scotland restaurant service is quite different than America. They give you loads of time to read the menu, bring your meal and then leave you alone for a while....no checking back to see how things are, refilling drinks. Then, when you finally finish, they give you even more time to let your food set (this is where you drink tea!), and you have to ask for the bill, they don't just bring it. We ran into this pretty much every where we went and by the end, we were quite accustomed to it.

After dinner, we strolled down to Princes Gardens. The word "garden" and my husband go hand in hand, so we spent a ot of time there.

{Right as you walk down the steps to the garden, there is a working clock made from plants/flowers. Everything is so pristine and beautiful. And, yes, the clock moves and there's eve a kookoo that pops out on the hour (it was broken, but we found out it usually works)}

{Ben was in his own horticulture world, so I was pretty much stuck to entertain myself. I took a few of these self shots, but Ben also got some of me, too}

{This is pretty much what I saw the whole time...haha}

The gardens are just below the castle; here's a good shot of how the castle is on the hill}

{At the opposite end of the gardens was a fun children's park. We spent some time embracing our inner child and goofed off on the play ground for a while}

{This hammock is made from tire!}

{More thistle}

{A lot of the trees in the gardens had plaques under them stating an important event or date that the tree was planted in honor of. This tree was planted by the Scottish Jewish Youth, honoring Anne Frank}

{Good action shot of a squirrel. They were all over that park!}

{On the way out of the garden, this house sits in the corner. It is a private residence, but I am not sure o the history of the house itself. Either way, they had beautiful, very UKish gardens. Very accurate ad not one thing out of place}

By the time we were done with the garden, it was getting dark. We had a short walk back to the hostel and ended up stopping in a few more shops. I had to buy a sweatshirt because it was cold! This memorial you see above is the Sir Walter Scott Memorial, which focuses on the Scottish author. It was lovely and old and sooty...and you can barely see me at the bottom with my hands out.

Coming up: an expensive taxi ride, an agriculture college, and another castle!

August 1--St. Andrew's

2011-08-17T19:40:00.000-07:00

This was Ben's day. When planning our trip, Ben told me the only thing he really wanted to plan on doing for sure was going to St. Andrew's Golf Course the first Sunday since the course itself is open to public on Sunday's only. This means, anyone can walk the course, you don't have to pay, and you can watch the real pros play the new course. As a non-golfer, who loves her husband, I obliged and Sunday morning we strolled from our hostel to the Waverly Train Station to catch a train to St. Andrews.

{We walked down this hill to get to the train station. Just look at the buildings...}

{This is just above the train station, just a view of what this part of Edinburgh looks like. It wasn't very warm that day, kinda chilly and cloudy. I think we got a tiny bit of rain while we were on the train}

{Scotland is generally quite wet and because pretty much everything in Edinburgh is made of stone, most buildings, especially the really old ones have a greenish/blackish tint to them. Green for moss and black for years and years of pollution and weathering. For some reason, I just loved this and thought it was very neat. This is a old kirk (church)}

{There are alleyways all over Edinburgh, some are quite narrow, some go down hill, and some, like this one, have stairs. They call the alley's "close" and this was called "Fleshmarket Close." The stairs extended another flight or two beyond what you can see and takes you to another street and part of the city}

{I lived on hot chocolate in Scotland...from Starbucks, of course. This is walking down into the train station. Once we got inside to get tickets, we had a little wait. I order to use the restroom at most train/bus/coach station, you had to pay 30pence. Luckily, we always had some coins on us, but I thought it was kind of silly.}

{Waiting for the train. It actually took us about 1 hour to get from Edinburgh to St. Andrews. Our stop was called Luchars (I remember this only because Ben and I argued about how to pronounce it because the conductor had such a thick accent, it sounded like "Lucas," but I insisted there was an "r." I won) We had to take a bus ride fro Luchars to St. Andrews and the bus dropped us right off at the golf course, which is divided into the Old and New Courses. }

{You can see the faded part of grass where people walk on the course. The buildings in the distance are the golf clubs. To this day, one of them is for members only and NO WOMEN ALLOWED, even to sit on the bench in front of it}
{Ben at hole...7?}
{This is a famous bridge. I'm not a golfer, but this course was truly beautiful (though I did spot some weeds!) and later on in the day, we saw a bride and groom getting their pictures taken on this bridge}
{There was a Highland Games going on near the course and these pipers were here warming up. Truth be told, these are the only pipers we saw the whole trip (unless you count the on in London who wasn't very good)}

{Ben insisted we pay to go in the British Golf Museum. Again, as a non-golfer, I obliged him and feigned interest in reading about every aspect of the game. St. Andrews was the first organized golf course in Britain and the oldest in the whole world. There was a lot about the history of golf and the course, and also a childrens exhibit where you could "golf" and win the world cup}

{Some dapper golf duds}

{Ben won the PGA World Tour!}

{I didn't bother golfing...just put on the hat}

{After the golf museum, we walked to the North Sea, which the golf course sits right next to. The water was FREEZING but there were some crazies out swimming. This is when the wind really started to pick up!}

{I bet you can guess who took the pictures of the flowers and trees? Here's the national flower of Scotland, Scottish Thistle. This stuff grows everywhere! We saw a large number of HUGE bumble bees, too}

We spent a good 5 hours at the course walking around, and then we found a little restaurant for dinner. This was my favorite meal of the whole trip and I forgot to get a picture of the restaurant but it was called Fairplay. We were the only people there. I ordered a steak pie, which was basically really tender steak in a gravy, served with fresh steamed veggies and an amazingly flakey, delicious biscuit. Ben had haggis, neeps, and tatties (haggis, squash, and potatoes). After we ate, we walked back to the bus stop and then had a peaceful train ride back. We walked through the city a little bit and went to an electronics store to get some help with charging my e-reader because my US USB wasn't working with the adapter. We dropped some stuff off at the hostel and then went to an internet cafe. It was an iteresting experience to sit there with other Scots and listen to how passionate they are about their football (our soccer). I went to bed quite early and Ben went on a Haunted Edinburgh tour. I'd tell you what happened to him on and after that tour, but it still gets my blood boiling, so maybe next time.

{We passed a book store on our way back to the hostel and saw the Harry Potter books in the window. They are so different! I've heard the stories are different, too, and if we hadn't spent all our money by the end of the trip, we would have bought the UK version of every single book!}

Coming up: A castle, some gardens, and a very rainy day!

July 30--London to Edinburgh

2011-08-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

{This was mostly a travel day, so we didn't take too many pictures...but this is a typical shot of us}

Taking a coach from London to Edinburgh cost us about 20 pounds, which was much cheaper than train tickets, which would have totaled over 100 pounds. I thought it would be neat to drive through the country and see what it looked like, if it matched what I thought in my head based on years of reading Pride & Prejudice and other books like that. It was exactly how I pictured it and we got a day to catch up on some more sleep. The English country is beautiful and once we got close to Edinburgh, it really was quite green. We pulled in the coach station about 6.

{The door of our London hostel, before we left to Edinburgh}

{The street our hostel was on, our way to the train station}

{The underground is WAY underground. I keep meaning to figure out online just how deep it really goes in some parts; we took several flights of stairs or escalators (or elevators) at some stops}

{I can't remember what river this is, but I do remember that shortly after crossing this bridge, we were in Scotland}

{A street in Edinburgh, just before getting dropped off. After driving through Edinburgh, I instantly fell in love with this city. It was old, unique, and full of character. That is why it was my favorite city in Scotland}

Our hostel in Edinburgh was a short walk from the coach station and as we walked, I just couldn't stop looking at the buildings. Another thing I couldn't stop looking at is the "hen" and "stag" parties roaming the streets. "Hen" and "Stag" parties are the UK equivilent of the Bachelor/Bachelorette parties, held before weddings. We found out later that Edinburgh is the "hen" and "stag" party spot in Scotland and most weekends you will see tons of parties roaming around the city, either highly intoxicated or well on their way.

We finally made it to our hostel and got settled in. This hostel was an old school house and we had our own room. This was much (not a lot) bigger than our first one. We had a bedroom and then we there was another couple in the room across from us. We shared a big bathroom and a big kitchen/sitting room with them but I never did see them.

{I always slept on the bottom bunk, Ben on the top}

Coming up: Ben's Golf Day and my best meal

July 29th--London

2011-08-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

I survived the 8 hour flight from JFK to London by watching TV shows/movies on the little screen on the back of the seat in front of me. I dozed off and on, ate chicken curry a la British Airway (quite yummy, actually) at 3am (or so), and envied Ben as he snoozed the whole way, including during the landing.

When we got of the plane, I was excitedly delirious---you know, that kind where everything is funny and you're running off of excitement alone--and we spent a few minutes in the customs line. I loved how they say "holiday" and not "vacation," so for the whole trip, we always would tell people we were from America on holiday. We had our first London Underground experience, which took us from the Airport all the way to the Tower of London. I had purchased tickets for the Tower of London before we left and we decided to check it out rather than to drop off our stuff at the hostel and then go. I kind of regret that because after little to no sleep for almost 2 days, I was dragging and that backpack didn't help!

{We had a heck of a time calling the hostel to make sure they'd be open for reception late. Here's Ben trying to figure out the pay phone. It didn't work, so we walked around looking for another. That didn't work, so we pulled out Ben's phone. Mid conversation with the hostel, it died, so we walked to a Starbucks to charge it. Phew.}

The Tower of London served many purposes--residence to the royals, house of the Crown Jewels, prisons & torture chambers, a menagerie, and where Anne Bolyn died. Yes, we waited in line to see the Crown Jewels, but you couldn't take pictures, unfortunately.

{The Tower sits aside the River Thames; this is the Tower Bridge}

{This is the Tower of London from across the street, after we got off the subway}

{The entrance to the tower is in between those two short white pillars. There was a whole section about the "Beasts of the Tower," including lions and polar bears who lived at the tower and pretty much had free range to roam around.}

{Right inside the entrance, this big lawn was originally part of the mote...when they finally drained the water, they found body remains and other...trinkets}

{In one building, I sat on a chamber pot}

{They had some items you could try on to show how heavy they were...I thought my head would collapse into my neck with this helmet on!}

{SO many stairs!!!!}

{My handsome man in front of a throne}

{In the actual tower, they had a really neat and thorough display of the royal armor of kings, princes, and queens. This one is called "The Giant" and "The Dwarf"}

{Ben was intrigued by the weaponry displayed}

{In most of the prisons, there were carvings in the wall that showed interesting things about the prisoners. A lot of religious symbols, words, and names carved in}

{The Royal Ravens are housed on the property}

{I saw this a lot: Ben bending down (or looking up) to take pictures of grass (trees). He was amazed at the turf on the grounds of the Tower of London. To me? Just grass.}

{We had a quick underground trip to our hostel--one of the only ones I had directions to--and once we got checked in, we spent a few minutes laying in a bed after two days of not having beds to sleep in. Our room was teeny-tiny, with a bunk bed, a wall closet, and a sink}

{Taken from the top bunk, looking down you can see the door. Kind of shows just how teeny our room was}

{After a good night sleep, we were ready to get going. We took this just before we had the hostel breakfast of dry bread, stale cereal, and interesting (read: nasty) warm milk. Then, we headed to the coach station to catch our coach to Edinburgh...an 8 hour journey!}

July 28th--New York City

2011-08-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

Our adventure begins on July 27th. We flew out of SLC at about 12:45am (there was a delay on our flight, but it was OK because we got to New York around 8am instead of 6am). The flight over was OK. I didn't sleep, just as I had suspected, even though I took my melatonin and was sleepy. Ben, of course, slept the whole way but was still tired when we got off the plane. {Most of the pictures that include both of us were taken by me, holding out the camera. Here we are on the bus from the airport to the city.}

We didn't really plan our day in New York and ended up wasting some time at the airport trying to figure it out. We grabbed a bus into the city (JFK isn't all that close to the city...it took about 1 1/2 hours to get to Grand Central Station). On the way, we learned that there's Mormons in New York:

Once we grabbed a bite to eat (New Yorkers are very forceful in ordering a pastry and coffee in the morning...it took me about 5 minutes before I figured out there's wasn't a line, you just yelled your order and hoped someone heard you), we found a map and treked our way about 12 blocks to Central Park (we should have known to use the subway, duh).
I had been to Central Park once before on a trip in high school, but it didn't look at all familiar. I'm guessing time and a different entrance has something to do with that. It was pretty hot and our backpacks were heavy, so we found a shady rock to sit down on and Ben started taking pictures of the flora and the fauna.

After a little break in the park, we decided to make our way out of the city and to the New York Botanical Gardens (ok, who do you know that went to New York and, instead of seeing the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Plaza, or the Empire State Building, spends hours at the Botanical Gardens? Well, that'd be my horticulturist husband. Believe me when I say I was quite privy to trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses of our surroundings the entire trip).

{And I'll point out here that Ben was kind of anti-getting his picture taken. So, you'll see lots of pictures of me ('cuz I'm vain like that) and very few of my husband. But, yes, we were both indeed on the same trip!}

Once we got off the subway for the gardens, it was another 20 minute walk. Yes, that's right. We walked 20 minutes to the garden and because we have a membership to Utah's Red Butte Garden, we got in free (a plus!)
{You think the backdrop of this picture is green? Wait 'till you see the Scottish highlands!}

We started walking through and Ben was telling me the scientific and common names for every.single.tree/flower/shrub/plant. It was spacious and beautiful, well kept and groomed, and my favorite part was the poetry walk, where they'd taken awesome green-inspired poetry and set a blown up version of the poem by the ancient trees.
{I quite loved these bright flowers}

After 2 1/2 hours, I was anxious to make the long journey back to the airport. I was tired, sweaty, hungry, and my shoulders screamed to be released of the weight of the backpack. Nearly 2 hours later, we had finally arrived at the airport. Security was a little wait, but once we got inside the gate, we splurged and visited the airport spa. I got the de-stresser massage--head, neck, shoulders, arms, and face; Ben went for the foot massage. I enjoyed every second of that message, except for when the guy started going down behind my shoulders; I had (have) one million knots in my back and he kept working on them so much that I had pains for about 4 days!
{A pretty accurate shot for how I felt after walking all around the gardens; I didn't sleep any better here than I did on the plane}

Trying to find food in the JFK airport at 8pm was a little tricky. There were long lines at the fast foody type places and we couldn't justify spending $15 on a Wolfgang Puck airport pizza. So, we settled for dry, day 0ld sandwiches and chips. I made a quick phone call to my mom, brushed my teeth and washed my face, and then we were on the plane, London bound.

Coming UP: A delirious-inspired day in London and our first experience in a youth hostel.

But first, a couple caviats---
1. Believe you me that for every picture posted here, and in subsequent posts, we have about 50 more. There's a lot, obviously, I won't post here, but you can eventually see them all on my facebook page.
2. We had two cameras, a decent DSLR and my basic point and shoot digital. Neither have the greatest quality, but they suited our needs.
3. A lot of these details are ones I wrote down in my travel journal that I wrote in each night. They were important for me to remember then so I include them now for the same purpose.
4. I enjoy the saying : "A picture without a person is like a postcard." And so, you'll see lots of shots of me where I held my camera out. I realize now they kinda look silly and shallow, but I love that I captured that I was there and experienced it live.
5. Thank you.

scotland preview

2011-08-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

Last week at about this time, I was walking around rainy and cold Inverness, in the highlands of Scotland. Big Man & I had met another LDS couple at our hostel and we spent the day with them touring the city (kinda), eating a 'homecooked' meal in the hostel a la our new friend Shawn, and taking in some raunchy British TV.

Today, I've spent most of the day cleaning, unpacking, doing laundry and trying desperately not to fall asleep (this jet lag thing is kicking my behind!).

What a difference a week makes, yes?

I just spent about 45 minutes downloading all of the pictures from my camera and Ben's camera. I'm too tired to really organize them and begin the real Scotland blog posts, but I know I have at least a few people who are looking forward to seeing our pictures (mom, dad), so I'll just give you a few of my favorites to hold you over until I have more energy and can keep my eyes focused for longer in between blinks.

So...in no particular order, (really, these are about as mixed up as we can get...) I present:

THE HUBERT'S GO TO SCOTLAND (& LONDON):

As I am heading back to school on Monday for meetings and setting up my room, I hope to do one post a day (or so) to cover the whole trip. If you don't care, come back in about a month. Maybe by then I'll be posting other things.

introducing wayne

2011-07-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's finally time. Big Man and I will board a plane to New York tonight at 11:30pm. Tomorrow night, we'll board a plane to London and will eventually make our way to Scotland. I'm thrilled, ecstatic, over-the-moon excited!!

My dad had a really fun idea for us while we're over there. To learn more and follow our adventures (depending on access to the internet and time and desire to take a tourist break), click on this link.

http://wayneinscotland.blogspot.com/

So, dear reader(s), I bid you a fond farewell until my return to US soil on August 10th.

bye-bye binky

2011-07-09T22:13:00.000-07:00

I've wanted to wean Little Man from his binky for a while now but was worried about what the transition would be like. I found some information online about binky weaning in a more positive way than just cold turkey.

The first step was to start talking to him about it going bye-bye soon. I kept telling him that binky's are for babies and not big boys. I kept having him say "Erich is a big boy." Next, I poked some holes in one of the binky's and then snipped the tops off of the last two. When he saw the two with clipped tops, he instantly made the connection with them being broken and came close to throwing them in the trash. After a few days of this, I told him that the broken binky's needed to go bye-bye.

The final day came and the last binky turned up broken. I had clipped the tip off of the last one and there was no turning back. Before I had picked him up from the sitters, I bought a big bunch of balloons and later that night, we tied the three broken binky's to the balloons and said our final goodbyes. He handled it like a little champ, didn't whine or cry. When he went to let go of the balloons he said, "Bye-bye binkys" and waved.

Little Man has only asked for a binky once or twice since. He had a few rough nights actually falling asleep without it but still never asked for it. Last night he fussed a bit and tonight went right to bed as if he'd never needed a binky to fall asleep in the first place.

I'm glad the transition went so smoothly. Like usual, I stress way too much about things like that. I had nothing to be worried about but I am glad I did it how I did because I'm not sure it would have been so successful had I not planned ahead and just taken them away without a word.

So proud of my big boy!

mom's birthday weekend

2011-07-09T21:26:00.000-07:00

Recently, we celebrated my mom's 60th birthday. (I know she won't mind that I blurted her age just now; I heard her blurt it on TRAX). Her birthday wish was to have an entire weekend devoted to family activities and fun. Boy, oh, boy, did we ever have fun?!

Friday night we went to dinner at a really tasty pizza place in SLC. After a quick meal (the little boys had had enough sitting at the restaurant by the time they took our orders...), we headed to The Gateway to let the kids play in the fountain. Cousin D was grinning ear to ear the whole time, Cousin Little C wasn't quite sure what to think of the water so he was in and out. Cousin Big C loved every second and got her pretty summer dress all wet. Little Man squealed with delight like a little girl as he ran all around and got so wet, he started looking like a gangsta with droopy drawers!

Saturday we drove to the dinosaur museum in Ogden and checked out the neat displays there. The little boys had fun, mostly just running around, but they also were cute with their reactions to the dinosaurs. Mom had packed a stellar picnic lunch for us to eat at the park and after getting full, we headed to Cherry Hill water park for an afternoon in the pool. This was our first time there and it was so fun! We have a bunch of little fish on our hands. My Little Man had a blast swimming "like a turtle" in the kiddie pool and I enjoyed the water slides.

Sunday we met later in the evening to get some updated family portraits taken at Wheeler Farm. I've only seen a few sneak peak copies of the pictures, but I'm excited to see how they turn out. I think they will be cute! After pictures, we had a yummy dinner at mom's. The kids had fun jumping on the tramp and watching neighbor hood fireworks. We, of course, sang happy birthday to our birthday grandma and enjoyed a yummy dessert.

one month

2011-06-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

One month until the Big Man and I leave for Scotland. I'm only mildly anxious for the actual traveling part...and the being in a foreign country part...and that not being able to understand the Scottish brogue part...and the sharing a dorm room in a few hostels part....

And, well, I guess I'm anxious about it all. Big Man finally conceded in letting me make reservations for hostels/B&B because that was my biggest fear: getting over there and having no where to stay (we will be there during the busiest times). So, with the exception of the last 4 nights as we make our way from Glasgow, over to Newcastle (for Hadrian's Wall), then to London, we've got a place to stay each night, as well as train/bus tickets purchased. I'll finish up those last 4 nights later this evening.

Some things I've observed as I've made reservations:

~ When entering the credit card information, it asks for the "expiry date," instead of "expiration date." I think the word "expiry" sounds so...British, I giggle every time I see it and then practice saying it in my best Scottish accent.
~ Spending British pounds seems a whole lot cheaper than US dollars. I've been using my conversion app on my phone to figure out the cost in USD ('cause I can't do it in my head).
~ If you want to rent a towel or hostel locker or lock, it's called "hiring," as in "towel hire available."
~ Speaking of hostels: what a good idea. Obviously I've never hosteled before, but I am excited to try it out. Most nights I've managed to get us a private room (granted, we'll be sleeping in twin beds...), but a few nights we will be sharing a 10-16 bed dorm room with other travelers. This part makes me nervous and hopefully it wont be problematic.

Before this trip happens, I still have to get through girls camp. Things are slowly coming together for that and I will be glad when it is over, but I think we'll have a fun time.

the talk that wasn't

2011-06-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

So, Big Man and I had to speak in Sacrament meeting the Sunday before Memorial Day. Our topic was Memorial Day and how the gospel helped us get through B's time in the military. Since we were the program that day, I prepared a fairly long talk. When I finished, I felt confident that I'd be off the hook as far as speaking in church goes--for at least 6 months or so.

Two weeks ago, I found out that the YW presidency and the YW were going to be the Sacrament meeting program for Father's Day. I chose to talk about grandpas. We didn't know how long the girls would talk--or if they would at all--so I prepared a 8 ish minute talk. The other leaders and girls who spoke today did just an awesome job. We had some of the congregation in tears (one of the YW's fathers bawled the whole time, it was precious).

I was to speak second to last, right before the YW president, but when it was my turn to get up, time was almost out, so I decided to just cut my talk short and only highlight a few points. We ended up have a lot of really nice compliments and remarks about our talks and the girls who spoke were very proud of themselves for getting up.

I was a little sad not to be able to give my full talk, but what I did say I felt really good about. Here's the text from my talk--you can read or ignore.

There is a lesson I do with my students about word connotation. I try to get them to understand that the connotation of a word are the feelings and associations we make with words, not how it is defined in the dictionary. In class, I call out a word like house, junk, or nerd and students respond with their feelings or associations they make with those words. We then discuss how certain words have positive connotations and certain words have negative connotations. I’d like to do a simpler version of that activity with members of the congregation today. When I say the following words, think in your head the feelings and associations you make with each word:

Popcorn, mirror, fire, antique, cell phones, scrambled eggs, and grandpa.

Which words had a positive connotation for you? Which perhaps had a negative connotation?

I’d like to focus on just one of those words today as we celebrate and honor our Father’s. My focus is on grandpas.

Hopefully, the word grandpa made you think of positive feelings and associations. When I think of grandpa I think of unconditional love, laughter, kindness, and hearing the same old stories over, and over, and over again. I think of someone who was proud of me and who supported me whole-heartedly in everything. Whether your own grandpa is still alive or not, we can also honor the grandpa-like figures in our lives.

As a young girl, I had the opportunity of being very close to the grandparents on my mom’s side. They lived close to our house, we made frequent visits, and my grandparents were very involved in the various activities we participated in. Each summer, the cousins would spend time at grandma and grandpa’s and they’d take us to Liberty Park, to Lagoon, and usually we’d take a grandkid trip to places like Bryce Canyon or Lava Hot Springs during the summer.

Some of my fondest memories growing up involve my grandpa Jerald. I was the first granddaughter and he always had a smile on his face when he saw me. I remember driving to Tooele with grandpa, not in a car seat or strapped in with a seatbelt, but sitting on his lap with my hands below his on the steering wheel. I remember playing in his backyard with the broom and dustpan, following behind him as he pulled weeds.

Grandpa Jerald once acted as a chaperone on one of my elementary school field trips. On this particular field trip, I was in a group with a bunch of other girls…and Ben. Ben was the lone boy in our group and he became good pals with my grandpa. From then on, until the time of his death about 12 years ago, my grandpa often teased me about Ben and asked about him frequently. Grandpa died before Ben and I started dating but I think he knew we’d eventually end up together.

Other things I remember about my grandpa is how he always had a pack of Cert mints in his pocket and was always willing to share. He put salt on his watermelon, never wore shorts, and would often let us watch him brush his dentures. My grandpa lost his pinky finger in an accident and would sometimes hold our hand and pretend our pinky was his. Grandpa acted as our chaperone around town, driving me to dance class, my brother, Zach, up Big Cottonwood Canyon to hike, and my brother, Eric, to work.

My grandpa passed away during my first year of college. It was finals week and I was anxious to leave for Christmas vacation. My mom called early one morning to tell me grandpa had died. It was hard to concentrate on finals when I was so sad to have been away while grandpa was most sick. I think about him often and am sad that he cannot be the type of influence in Erich’s life as he was in my life. Today, I honor him.

Through marriage, I have acquired two more grandpas who treat me just like I was born in their family. Ben’s maternal grandfather often greets and hugs me before even acknowledging Ben. Ben’s paternal grandfather has always been very friendly and supportive of me. I look up to both of them as strong examples of what a family man is and admire many qualities that they lead their families with.

In our ward, we have several members who have grandchildren of their own, but who also—to me—act as grandfathers of the ward. I think about Brother Burton, who lives down the street from me, and how he always waves and smiles as we pass either in car or on one of our walks. I think about Brother Brown, who is friendly and shakes my hand whenever he sees me. I also think about Brother Forakis and Brother Assay who are always in their same spots on the back bench when I walk in with Erich each Sunday. They always stop me to shake hands and have kind words and smiles for Erich. I think of brother Lynes who has been known to get down on the floor in nursery and let the kids play on top of him. There are many other examples of wonderful grandpa-like figures in our ward.

There are grandpa-like figures among our general authorities, who we can look up to for their testimony of the gospel. It is hard to look at President Monson and not think how neat it would be to have a conversation with him about life or what it might be like for a small child to sit upon his lap and listen to him tell stories.

President Benson spoke about grandparents in a 1989 Conference talk. He said, “The Lord knows and loves the elderly among His people. It has always been so, and upon them He has bestowed many of His greatest responsibilities. In various dispensations He has guided His people through prophets who were in their advancing years. He has needed the wisdom and experience of age, the inspired direction from those with long years of proven faithfulness to His gospel.” He continues, “Grandparents can have a profound influence on their grandchildren. Their time is generally not as encumbered and busy as the parents’, so books can be opened and read, stories can be told, and application of gospel principles taught. Children then obtain a perspective of life which not only is rewarding but can bring them security, peace, and strength…Those who are blessed with a closeness to grandparents and other elderly people have a rich companionship and association.”

Grandpas are great. Let us not forget our grandpas and grandpa-like figures in our lives on this Father’s Day.

it's only a flesh wound

2011-06-16T20:54:00.000-07:00

So, I bit Little Man's nose. I'm 100% ashamed of this and admitting it on the internet kind of makes me feel a little pathetic, but I had to tell someone.

You see, one of his new favorite things is laying on his floor and getting tickled. He literally begs for me to tickle him. So, I oblige and we laugh our heads off. If I even consider stopping, he throws a fit and even goes as far as putting his arms up above his head just so I get the hint that his armpits need a good tickle.

So, this evening after dinner, we began our nightly ritual, which eventually led us to his room. I say "Ready..." and put one arm above his head, "Set..." and the other arm, "Go..." and tickle, tickle, tickle. He giggles and writhes, and squeals with joy, so I stop to let him catch his breath.

Tonight, I traded him places and tried getting him to tickle me, which at first turned out to be him just slapping my stomach. This progressed to pinching, and when I turned around to escape, he bit my back. And it hurt. Really bad.

I yelped and turned around, then gently grabbed him so that he was laying on my stomach, with his face looking at mine. I told him that it hurts to be bit, so I nibbled his nose a little to show him, except I didn't really bite hard. He laughed and then said, "Bite Erich's nose?"

Even though it didn't hurt him (& I wasn't going for hurt), I tried to settle things down after that and we had a fun time reading new library books.

the last: 29

2011-06-07T21:25:00.000-07:00

So, I'm 29.

29!?

It didn't hit me until today that I'm TWENTY.NINE.

Where did my 20's go?

Yesterday was a (mostly) fun day of celebration and today I woke up in a sugary daze with a birthday hangover. Today it was nice to just be able to veg at home, clean up after a day (and weekend) away, and snack on leftover birthday cupcakes all day. But, I did want to record the big day for future reference.

We started out with Little Man's eye appointment, which went well. After that, my boys treated me to a yummy Eggs Benedict breakfast at Village Inn. We came home and enjoyed an early 2 hour nap (seriously, I'm SO shocked that LM actually went to sleep at 10:30am...he who usually never naps before noon!). It was refreshing and lovely.

I had a brief meltdown after waking up from my nap. While Little Man played and Big Man still slept, I started feeling sorry for myself that I was at home, on my birthday. I was hoping Big Man had one of his usual fun surprises up his sleeves, and I probably had too high expectations considering how busy he is, but I felt bad and was a little upset that he was still asleep while I tried to entertain the child. Finally, I talked myself out of being such a brat, walked in our bedroom, and told BM we had to go do something. I don't think I was very nice about it, but I didn't want to spend my birthday watching Despciable Me for the 500th time while having a little boy drive his cars all over me.

So, off to Red Butte Gardens we went. I'd never been there for anything other than a wedding reception. Big Man has a membership there, you know, what with all of his green thumbery, so we got in FREE! We stopped at Wendy's for some food and then ate in the beautiful gardens before we walked around. I fell in love with the lovely purple wisteria and enjoyed Big Man's horticultural intelligence as he told me the scientific name for a bunch of trees, shrubs, and flowers. Little Man loved the children's gardens; there was a whole section dedicated to caterpillars! And there were some big lizards to climb on! And water!

We left the gardens just as it started to pour, so we headed home to get a few things and then left again. I needed a case for my phone, so we stopped at Best Buy. At 7, my mom hosted a tiny cake and ice cream party with the family. She ordered a cake large enough for a football team, so I still have left overs (anyone want some?), but it was lovely to be surrounded by my family (minus dad, brother Eric & his family, and Big Man's little brothers & families). I jumped on the tramp with my niece and tried to teach her a few of my old tramp tricks (but, you know, jumping on the tramp at 29 AND after having baby changes the way your body responds!)

As a last minute birthday activity, we went to see X Men: First Class with Big Man's brother J, and his finace, T. It was an entertaining movie that I enjoyed way more than I thought I would. We left Little Man to slumber at my mom's. The best present of the day was probably when I went to pick him up out of the crib, he snuggled with me and hugged me.

It was a late night, but overall a very fun day. Also, it was the first day of summer vacation so that is another plus.

eye love

2011-06-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

Ever since he was a tiny babe, Little Man has had weepy, gooey, and teary eyes. His eyes would tear up almost every day when he was little little and he would have yellow goo every once in a while. The pediatrician said to just watch it during his first year, so we did.

It kind of improved over that first year and when we went in for his 1 year check-up, it was doing OK, she wasn't worried, and so we went on. During his 2nd year, he had the same problems again and especially when he was going through Ear Infectionageddon 2011, his eyes were constantly teary and/or goopy. So, at his 2 year check up, Dr. N referred us to an pediatric eye specialist to get some answers and to possibly plan a tear duct surgery.

That was in April. This pediatric eye doctor is so special, that when I called to make an appointment in April, the first available Monday appointment was June 6--my birthday. Because Big Man wanted to tag along for this visit, we had to go on a Monday--his day off--so we spent my birthday morning visiting the talented Dr. Larson.

Little Man was a champ and I've decided I must schedule the rest of his dr/dentist appointments bright and early because there wasn't a whine, a tear, or a tantrum to be had. After totally rocking the little kid version of an eye exam (being able to pick out & focus on 'zebra stripes' quickly), the doctor did a quick check of the tear ducts in both eyes. It was fascinating how he was able to get LM to sit still all the while poking his eyes and shining lights in them (Ok, so his trick were Toy Story 3 playing on the screen AND an animated, quacking duck that LM could not get enough of).

The end result of the visit was figuring out that LM eye's seem to have a "functional blockage," which basically means the sinus' where tears drain into are a little bit too tiny, causing his eyes to overflow with tears. His tear ducts are fine and the doctor really thinks the sinus' will grow as LM's face grows and that we won't have to have the painful balloon surgery to correct the problem.

I was overjoyed with the good news. BM was elated that surgery isn't in LM's future. And LM just wanted to jump--1, 2, 3--of the foot rest on the exam chair (as seen above).

bear lake

2011-06-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

The weekend after school let out for the summer, my mom's friend invited my mom to use her family cabin at Bear Lake. Mom invited Little Man and I for a weekend of relaxing and playing at the cabin. We had such a fun time.Little Man was a champ in the car--mostly--and had a fun time playing cars & trucks, using books and his seat belt as roads. We spent time at the beach playing in the sand...
...and looking like models.......and burying each other in the sand......and strolling around town...Playing on the deck......playing dump trucks...
Enjoying the view...

....and good food...