That Folk Singing Sci-Fi Geek Was Pretty Cool

It may come as a surprise to you that I. LOVE. MUSIC. Okay, maybe not. When I was a young mom I was going through a slight postpartum cuckoo phase. I was conflicted, what kind of mom was I that I didn't want to listen to Raffi or Barney sing in my car whilst towing little ones about. But I felt my life was no longer my own and music was the only thing I could still control. The only thing that was still all mine. And in all seriousness, I don't think your kids care what kind of music it is and it won't stunt them cerebrally if they don't sing The Wheels on the Bus while driving about suburban Utah. So I had my music to sooth my troubled soul. Well that and Phil Hartman making me laugh on News Radio. (Laughter is right up there with music too.) I seriously mourned that guy's death a little when his wife tragically shot him.

Not to say I didn't give the kids a good dose of kiddie songs. Isabella had a Barney dinosaur that was about two feet tall with arms that moved as he sang. The three of us (me, Isabella and Barney) could belt out a medley of top 40 toddler hits like no one else. There was also my own medley to all three of my kids when they were babies of You are My Sunshine, Carpenters, Close to You and Beetles, Obladi Oblada. I could so rock that medley. So clearly, my kids were in good hands musically speaking.

Now it is so cool to see my girls enjoying their instruments. Zoe makes a great tormented pianist. She reminds me sometimes of that Muppet pianist on Sesame Street who always freaked out and banged his head against the piano when he couldn't get it right. (I kind of loved that guy.) But eventually she does get it and she is really enjoying it. Isabella gave up piano and moved on to guitar. I can't tell you how proud I was to hear her tell me after class the other day that her teacher said she was the winner of the best chord playing for Smells Like Teen Spirit. (Or how thrilled I was to find a teacher who teaches songs from musicians like Nirvana, Green Day and Bob Dylan.) Okay, she's only been in this class for a month but a mom can still be proud. I am more than a little jealous she is taking this class. Someday I'll make time to get back to learning the guitar.


So I love music, all around my house, in my car; I wonder when the day will come that my kids shame me enough into getting me to stop singing along. It was easier when they couldn't sit in the front seat. Now I'm getting a little self conscious, and I feel I should share the radio every once in a while. Not a fan of hip hop and the other music they play on that station but I can share (a little). I love seeing my favorite artists play in person too. I'd go to a concert every month if I could but that's not really practical. Last weekend Brent and I went to see They Might Be Giants again. They are just so much fun. Not quite the musical genius Ben Folds is but tons of fun and lyrics that are like goofy, profound poetry. I asked Brent if he minds me dragging him to these things. His reply was, I don't want to go out when I'm at home, then I get there and have a good time, then after about an hour I'm done and tired of standing. Well at least there is room for compromise in there somewhere. He was pleasantly surprised last week because Jonathon Coulton was the opening act. I said, who is Jonathon Coulton? Oh, he played some songs on John Hodgman's book on tape, he replies. Aaaa-hah! Now it makes sense. Well, no it doesn't really because a book on tape doesn't usually have a musical guest. Anyway, he turned out to be sort of a folk singing sci-fi geek sort of performer. How can that not be entertaining?





Funny how a song can sound beautiful, disturbing and funny all at once.

Halloween 2011

The Zombie

The Mime

The Rock Star

Trampolining and such

One kid got baptized, one designed her own t-shirt, and one stuffed her face in a cake.

On the new trampoline:

Zoe made a cake at a party and decided the best use of it would be sticking her face in it:

Isabella went to Brent's work to job shadow him. She got to design and print her own t-shirt:

Noah was baptized by Uncle Matt:

What a handsome boy.

Another First Day Of School

The new school year has come again. Isabella had her first day of Jr. High-7th grade. Zoe is now in 5th and Noah is in 2nd. They're growing up too fast, dang it! They all had a good first week and no one cried or had any horror stories. Success!

Best Home Movies Ever

Well, to me anyway. From Brent's short stint as master home videographer. He really needs to take that up again.

Cooking Up A Storm

Isabella and Zoe cooked dinner for the family a couple of Sundays ago. Zoe wanted to reopen their restaurant, Loukieniez. They first did this restaurant a couple of years ago. Noah made up the name when he was about 4 or 5. Brent and I had a lovely meal in the art room all by ourselves, and the service was excellent! On the menu was peperoni pizza frittata, fruit, hash browns and strawberry lemonade. Delicious!

We also did another cooking class with Isabella and her friends (I've been rotating the monthly class with the other girl's moms, this was my last class). This time around they learned to make a tasty orange julius and homemade granola.

I thought I'd post the granola recipe since it was so good, especially with milk. I'd maybe double the cinnamon next time though.

Homemade Granola

Makes 6 1/2 cups

• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1 cup coarsely chopped almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup honey
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup raisins
• ½ c chocolate chips

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment, and spread shredded coconut on top. Bake until toasted. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
2. Decrease oven temperature to 300 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment; set aside. In a large bowl, toss together oats, wheat germ, almonds, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, stir together honey and butter; pour over oat mixture. Stir well. Spread onto sheets. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Break up granola; sprinkle with raisins, chocolate chips and toasted coconut. Store in airtight container.

Cooking Class

Isabella's friend Amber.... Her mom asked some of us if we wanted to do a monthly cooking class with the girls, rotating months. So this month was my turn and veggies were on the menu. It turned out to be a lot of fun with the girls, no one was injured with all of those knives cutting vegetables, and I think they may have learned something too!

A cornucopia of vegetables!

Vegetable Chowder

Vegetable Skeleton (in honor of Halloween)

Insanely Stupid

I do not have my finger on the pulse of all things tween. I tend to think that despite that, I'm still a good mom. I've still got the whole Big Picture thing going for me. Today, however, I almost blew it as a tween mom. Tomorrow is Zoe's 10th birthday. Today I got a phone call from her soccer coach and was offered free tickets to Miley Cyrus. Of course I said,"Woohoo! She's going to love that! I'm going to be a hero! Thank you so much!" Okay, I didn't really say that. What I said was "No thanks, it's Zoe's birthday." The coach's response was, "Oh, she's having a birthday party?" My response to him was, "No". So I say goodbye and hang up on the man who just offered me FREE tickets to Myley Cyrus on my daughter's 10th birthday. Immediately I know I am now in the doghouse. She's going to hear about this. She's going to be sad because her BFF is going. I've just ruined my kid's birthday!

Isabella is going to hear about this too and how I could have gotten three tickets. Isabella asked me why we couldn't go to her concert a couple of years ago. My response, "I didn't even know she was coming until the day after". See, no finger on the pulse of what tweens want there. Then she asked last summer, "Why can't we go to Stadium of Fire and see the Jonas Brothers?" I answered, "Because we don't like giant crowds and traffic on the 4th of July and Stadium of Fire is just a little too Republican Rally for our taste. I prefer my holidays nonpartisan." (Don't be offended by this anyone, I'm just joking. I've never been there. Not joking about traffic though. 4th of July, 1989, Phoenix, AZ, literally FOUR hours in traffic!) She wouldn't have to ask me why we couldn't go this time, her answer would be, "My mom is mean and clearly hates me!"

Why did I think it was so important to keep my kid home on her birthday so we could open presents and eat cake and ice cream together? Because those are our big plans. Fortunately, I realized I was being stupid and insane and called the coach back up and told him I may have been the teensiest bit hasty in my initial response. Luckily, his offer hadn't expired and I was still able to get the free tickets. I'm going to have to milk this hero mom thing for all it's worth.

Back To School Pics

Some cute back to school pics, even though they've already been seen by pretty much everyone on facebook. Worlds colliding again! Maybe they are right that facebook is a waste of time. Hmm.

They are definitely growing up way too fast!

Summer Is Over *Sigh*

It was a great summer with the kids home. I love having them home in the summer and I'm always sad when they go back to school. Yes, I'm the one with the red face and watery eyes walking down the hall on the first day of school after doing the drop off, trying to compose myself. Here are some of the fun things we did, trying to squeeze in fun 'til the last day:

*4th of July in Logan for a mini vacation.
*We went to our first Real soccer game on the 24th of July. It was so fun! I knew soccer kicks baseball's and football's behind!
*Trips to the Gateway to play in the fountain and visit Clark Planetarium and Discovery Gateway (the children's museum).
*Trips to the pool. Noah can now swim and go down the water slide without floaties!
*Playing in the water at Liberty Park.
*Two trips to Lagoon this summer because I finally got brave enough to take the kids back by myself on the Bounce Back day (double the fun and nausea). They all dared to ride lots of roller coasters this year!
*The annual camping trip where we hiked to Dog Lake and saw no less than 13 dogs, many of them swimming in the lake even though there was a water shed sign that said no dogs in the water. (Irony?)
*Back to school shopping (of course). The most challenging back to school shopping trip to date. (Girl going into sixth grade, she's got her image to think of.)
*Back to school weekend outings. Friday we had a picnic at the park, followed by the new Miyazaki animated movie, "Ponyo". Saturday we went to the Museum of Natural History up at the U., followed by dinner at Macaroni Grill. We even had something fun to do on Sunday. Birthday party for Grandpa Richard. Lots of fun packed in one weekend!
*Kids got a lot of their summer school stuff done and the girls were even able to earn some money by tutoring Noah. Bribery or teaching responsibility? It's a fine line.

Good times o'plenty. I have the best kids!

What DO You Do In The Summertime??

First it was all cold and rainy and we didn't know what to do. So we went bowling. Me and the kids. They all kicked my butt. I haven't improved much since I was a girl of ten and on a bowling league with my siblings. What was that score I got on that one game back then? Oh yeah, a 5. Five! Do you know what the highest score in bowling is? That's right, 300. And bowling is supposed to be in my genes. Well, I didn't do quite as poorly this time. Got into the 70s in the second game. And the kids were using the bumpers. The bowling attendant wouldn't let me use the bumpers.

Then it was too HOT! Just a week later. We had to get out of the house. Hot and bored. Bad combination. So into the "big city" we drive. I have a new scheme in mind. I want to learn to play the guitar. I know! My secret calling in life is to play kick *@&* piano on stage while singing songs with thought provoking lyrics. Oh, wait. That's not my life. It's Ben Folds'. Anyway, I haven't given up on my secret, inevitable passion. But I've moved on to the guitar. I thought, since I'm going back to school with hopes of pursuing a degree in elementary ed. some day, that learning to play the guitar could be a fun asset. Do a little "This Land Is Your Land" and "Kumbaya" with the students. Yes, I realize it is not, in fact, 1978. I'll have to learn some new songs. So Zoe wanted to go look at guitars so we headed out to Target. Just window shopping. It turns out that Adam Levine of Maroon 5 has his own line of guitars over at Target, along with a lesson manual with a few of his band's hits to learn to play. Who knew? Mighty enticing, but we're not quite ready to commit just yet.

So from there it was off to PetSmart to browse the pets. We have no pets, as you may know. But it can't hurt to look, right? Stinkiest store I have ever been in. But, pets we did see. Fish, reptiles, vermin, etc., etc. I was tempted to get a simple little goldfish but no one helpful was around and we've already had one regrettable fish incident and didn't need another on our hands. So I needed to know what to do to keep this thing alive at least for a couple of weeks. We all thought the little hamster and white mice were cute, spinning around in their little wheels. But then you see about six of them crammed on one wheel, spinning and spinning and spinning. After a little bit you start thinking too much about those little spinning rodents and you start to get a little nauseous. I start softening though and thinking: Oh, a little pet. Wouldn't it be fun for the kids? But then I remember. Every animal poops. I don't need the extra excrement. I was softening a bit, though. Maybe someday I'll cave in and my poor children will get that furry critter they've been wanting. Maybe a lizard.

We finally left the pet store and made our way over to the shady Jordan River Parkway. The pond and playground were looking up this time around. They've implemented a "Do Not Feed The Ducks" policy (and sign). The place is no longer full of bird doo doo. Or crazy ducks and geese. Yeah, it was fun feeding the birds, but not worth the mess. So I was happy about the change. The kids played on the playground for a bit then we went for a walk down the parkway path. Very patriotic people live by the parkway in this area. There was nary a home without a flagpole and old glory waving. Very patriotic. We made it to the bridge and the wind was kicking up again and the rain was on its way, and Noah was tired of walking. So we made our way back to the car and returned home from our hot summer's day journey.

...

I love the playroom under the stairs! This is Noah (of course) watching a movie while his sisters watch HSM3 in the family room. He's also slept there for the last three nights. See the secret entrance on the left side that leads from the family room closet. There used to be a window too, on the right, until we finished the bedroom on the other side and covered it up. Isabella and her friends like to set up club HQ in there. It's a good place to go star gazing-glow in the dark stickers on the ceiling. It's been a fun little hangout place for the kids. I tell Isabella and Zoe we should move one of them into Noah's room and this can be his room. He'd probably love it, for a while anyway!

Mommy Tag

1. Typically what time do you wake up? 7 am.
2. On a good night what time are your kids in bed? 9:30.
3. How long have you been a mommy? 11 years.
4. How old were you when you became a mommy? 26. So glad it wasn't any younger!
5. What is your favorite kids tv show/movie? I loved that Kit Kittredge American Girl movie. I've always been a fan of Arthur, even though it's pretty old now.
6. What is your least favorite kids tv show? Teletubbies, some of the tweeny disney shows like that short show between other shows with the high school kids in the hall acting like morons.
7. What is your favorite chore? Favorite chore? Isn't that an oxymoron?
8. What is your favorite meal to cook? Chicken tacos.
9. What is the meal you cook most often? Uh, spagetti?
10. What is your kids' favorite meal? That I cook? Chicken tacos and Crazy Casserole. They also love the kid's stand by: cheese pizza and mac n' cheese.
11. What is your favorite thing your husband does with your kids? He wrestles with them and plays soccer and he's always finding interesting and educational things to show them on the internet. He really is a great dad.
12.What are 5 things that make you smile when you're being a mom? 1. That they all still like to blow kisses to me. 2. Our drawn out bedtime routine that is too long but I will really miss it one day. 3. Scooter adventures with the kids. 4. Giving and receiving hugs and kisses on the cheeks. 5. That they really are good kids!
14. When was the last time you went out without your kids? Valentines Day.
15. What is your favorite pass time/activity to do with your kids? Going on adventures with them in the summer and holiday tradition stuff.
16. Name 1 thing you said you'd never do as a mom: I know I said a million things but it's been too long since I was a kid to remember. I'm old!
17. What is your favorite quality that your mom has? The way she would listen to me gab on and on before bedtime every night as a teenager. Those were good conversations.
18. What is your advice for new moms? Relax. Most of your screw ups won't psychologically damage them. (At least that's what I keep telling myself!)
19. What is the scariest or most heartbreaking moment as a mom? The hurt that they go through growing up, that we all go through, and there is nothing we can do about it as parents but let them get through it and, hopefully, learn and grow from it.
20. What is your most joyful moment of being a mom? Seeing them succeed and overcome their weaknesses.
21. When was the last time you were told 'I Love You' by one of your kids? Today when I dropped Noah off at school.

Silly Pics....

....from trying to get a Christmas card picture. Who knows if we'll actually get around to it since I've got a bad attitude today and our printer sucks! Sometimes it just is what it is. I just said that because I keep seeing it everywhere lately for some reason. Maybe these pictures will put me in a better mood. That's what this blog is for right? Serving my own selfish wants? Ha ha ha! Okay, I need to leave now. Take a nap, eat some ice cream....Or something.

Zoe's Zombie Art

Zoe always does the most entertaining art.

What's Up This Week

Well it has definitely been kind of a different few days. We had fun watching all the election stuff on Tuesday. The kids were counting the electoral votes and checking out which state went to which candidate. The moment when they announced Obama will be the next president was so exciting and I was really touched seeing the reactions of African Americans around the country when they announced it and when he gave his speech. I can only imagine what it means to African Americans. A person's race is definitely not the reason to vote for them one way or the other but it really is cool in its historical nature. After seeing John McCain being funny on Saturday Night Live and his classy concession speech I remembered that I kind of like this guy.
Zoe was home from school for a couple of days with a neckache. It was weird because Noah stayed home a day last month for the same reason. Neither of them had fevers or any other symptoms (so I could happily rule out meningitis, always the paranoid mom) but I keep wondering, what is up with my kids? Maybe they fall asleep standing on their heads every night.
Today is sad because Brent's Aunt Judy passed away after battling cancer for months. I didn't know her as well as I would have liked to and I'm not as good with situations like this as I wish I could be. I feel like I'm too often a little too socially awkward. But I was grateful for getting to know her a little and for the warm, funny woman she was. I really appreciated it three years ago when she came down to visit Brent's mom and was kind enough to spend a week of her time here staying at our house helping Cathy watch the kids while Brent and I went away for our tenth anniversary. I am very glad to have known her a bit and it was fun to see how much she was getting into everyone's blogs when we all started them a few months back. Whenever someone I know dies, which seems to be too frequently, I feel so grateful to Heavenly Father for the knowledge that he loves all of his children and welcomes them back home.
I had a good conversation with my cool, sweet sister in law today (my brother's wife) who was having a little buyers remorse over the election and possible biblical implications (we've all heard those). I am admittedly not a scriptorian and definitely need to work on that but I did do some praying before the election on whether my choice was a good choice for me to make and I honestly believe everything is going to be okay. Unless it's really time for the second coming, in which case I don't believe our future president is the one bringing it on.
I've been reading the last book in the Twilight series five pages at a time. I haven't gotten into this book like the other books. Maybe because I read all of those one after the other over a couple of weeks last winter and because I have such a short attention span I lost interest. I really didn't care much for the first half. I know I'm in the minority here, that seems to happen a lot to me! But it's finally picking up now that the Nessie part is here, etc. Don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it yet. Is there anyone who hasn't read it yet? Brent still asks when the leprechaun is going to show up. He figures if there are vampires and werewolves then why not leprechaun's too? Maybe I'll finally get it finished this weekend.

Cute Halloween Kids

FHE Halloween Style

The annual carving of the pumpkins and making and eating of the caramel apples. :)
Brent even got out the dremel to help Isabella carve hers. As if you really need an excuse to use the dremel!

Ugg! Crazy Week!

This week has been crazy! Every fall it takes me a while to get back into the routine and all the craziness that comes with it. It's taken a while, but I don't scream and protest as much as I used to. I love summer because it's just me and the kids and we can go off on little adventures whenever or just kick back at home. When school starts I kind of feel like my kids aren't all mine anymore. But routine and being a functioning part of society are good things too I know. This year on top of all three of my kids doing soccer, Isabella is also doing band (learning the flute) at the Jr. High which is a ten minute drive from here. She gets to do that three mornings a week before school, then ride a school bus from there back to the elementary school. I'm lucky enough to be able to carpool with another mom (I haven't even had my turn yet, next week) but it still means we are getting up at 6 a.m. three times a week and I am not a morning person at all! But I am getting used to it I guess. This week has been extra crazy because we had a couple extra girls here for a couple days. Isabella has a friend from school who's parents were out of town so we took her and her little sister for a couple of nights.
This has been interesting juggling even more kid stuff. I felt like a drill sergeant cracking the whip getting all that homework done every night! I don't envy those parents who have lots of kids close in age, juggling all the activities and homework. On Tuesday, Isabella had soccer practice at the park down the street at 5:30. Then one of our little house guests had practice at 6:00 over at the elementary. Then it was back to pick up Isabella and going straight back to the school where everyone else was waiting. Then I dumped everyone at home, because Brent was finally home, except for Zoe and ran off with her to her 7:00 practice. So it was quite the adventure. But the kids had a lot of fun having friends over for a couple nights. I kind of wished they would have stayed over the weekend so they could stay up late and party tween style, instead of having so many rules and all that structure and that pesky bedtime! On top of all that, I've had a cold all week. So I'm looking forward to kicking back and relaxing this weekend, after tomorrow's soccer games.

My little boy is a big kid now!

Noah started Kindergarten this week! He is having a lot of fun. He is still a little nervous, but he's doing great! The first day he was fine until his dumb mom stared him down a little too long while she was trying not to cry, making him start to cry. But Brent talked with him and all was good. That's why I insist he come with me on the first day of school (he likes to too, of course!) Then we watched him on the playground and he ran back and forth between us and the kids and went into the class just fine when the teacher came out. Noah and I have been riding bikes to school everyday. I'm loving that, it was too much of a pain with the girls when they were in kindergarten, with younger siblings in tow, since I never really got along with the bike trailer. We just zip over to the school and back after. It's fun doing that with him. I guess the girls could walk him home from school but I walked them when they were little and I want to enjoy this short time I have left with him before he's too big and rides off with the scooter gang. Yesterday before we left he asked what time he would be home. I told him 3:30, then he went in his room, picked up his big teddy bear and told him when he would be home, giving him a kiss and a hug. It was seriously too cute.

Noah's first day of Kindergarten!