At the very beginning fo this video, J is trying to tell us how "Big" the tower is. He's invented his own sign for big. It was actually C who pointed out to me, "You know when he does this with his hand, he's trying to tell you it's big." He uses that at the table, too, when I've cut his bites too big (I always do that ...) Anyway, he built this entire lego tower by himself. Completely. Everyone else in the family was too obsorbed in their other stuff to help. I was very proud of him.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
A new year of NaNoWriMo
I can’t forget my yearly plug for this program I’ve grown to love so much. Seriously, this will be my fifth year of participating in some way, shape, or form, and I always get excited.
I also love their sticker this year. See that dark patch in the middle? That’s SO me.
I’m also excited for my novel this year. I’m combining two of my favorite genres to write: romance and fantasy. I wrote two BYU romances a few years ago, and I’ve just finished my first fantasy novel.
Speaking of my first fantasy novel, I finished my 4th revision just yesterday. I was working on this last revision when I had a friend show me this:
Harper Voyager is the fantasy/sci-fi imprint of Harper Collins. So, BIG TIME publishing. The last time they opened their doors to any submissions other than from agents was over a decade ago. For two weeks in October, they accepted submissions from anyone. It had to be a completed manuscript, between 80k-120k words, and polished.
In all honestly, I might describe my “Tremanat: The Bodyguard’s Predicament” as smoothly sanded, rather than polished, but when you only have two weeks to submit, there’s a limit to what you can accomplish. I just couldn’t pass up an opportunity like that.
Wish me luck!
What I’ve been up to
And by that I really mean what I’ve been up to, not my kids. I do occasionally find time when I’m not actively taking care of them, and this is what I do when that happens:
This little hat is something a dear friend of mine requested for her baby that is due in November. I was beyond thrilled to actually find the right pattern for it, here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/brookeslittlestitch?ref=seller_info
By the way, she’s got some awesome stuff in her shop (not a paid advertisement – she’s just cool).
And once you get me started, I have a hard time putting on the breaks, because in that shop, I also found a pattern for this:
It’s a dragon hat!!! SO CUTE!!! Especially because my friend has a connection with dragons. Her little girl NEEDED this hat. So I obliged.
I also have a sister-in-law who’s having her first baby this fall. I felt inspired to try my hand at quilting. I’ve watched many a quilt get pieced together; my mom and my grandma are pros. I thought it would be easy. Turns out, I thought wrong. It was a mite bit tricky.
Still, I think the final result was acceptable.
I am pretty good at crochet, though (see above hats). I made my first blanket when my sister had my nephew more than ten years ago, and I’ve made blankets for my babies, hats for family, and any number of other things. I even told my sister-in-law, “Just tell me what you want, and I’ll figure it out. Who needs a pattern?”
I really like the stripes on this one, and it’s thick and heavy, just right for a winter baby.
When I finished those projects, I got around to something I meant to make at the beginning of the summer (instead of at the end, when it actually got done). I have one little picnic blanket that I keep in my trunk, but I wanted a bigger one. Much bigger. So, I bought 2 1/2 yards of 60 inch rip-stop nylon and the same amount of fleece to made this picnic blanket.
J saw the camera and got in the way, but you can still see the blanket on the couch behind him. It’s large and wonderful, and I love taking it to the park! I look forward to using it more next year, because our park days are limited this year.
Just when I thought I’d done with my hats this year, I had another friend start posting baby hats on facebook. She was looking for something cute for her new baby boy. All she did was put ideas in my head, and when another friend of mine said she thought she needed one, I didn’t need any more encouragement.
This little giraffe hat? ADORABLE! I was glad my friend had a baby to put it on!
Little Hoot Owl hat? Yes, Please!
And when I found the baby’s nursery was going to be decorated in owls … well she just NEEDED to have this:
The pattern didn’t call for tail feathers, but come on, HOW CUTE IS THAT?!!!
I’ve also had a few things coming in from my garden. I’m not the best gardener, but zucchini thrives anywhere, and I’ve found my beets come up well.
My family only eats beets if I pickle them. Have you ever tried pickled beets? They’re actually very sweet. And yes, I still tease C about throwing away the beet greens …
Ok, I lied, my kids are gonna end up in this post anyway. They helped me pull all the stuff left in our garden the night before we got our first frost. The carrots were their favorite:
Can you tell L did her own hair that day?
J was fascinated.
S was adorable, as always.
And this is why you grow your own carrots. Just so you can see the crazy shapes the form, and for when your oldest pulls the carrot from the ground and proclaims, “Mama, look! It’s an octopus carrot!”
And then you make zucchini lasagna for dinner because your counter is covered in zucchini and you’ve been frying it in butter all summer long. And your husband takes a very small piece, eats it, and says, “Well, it doesn’t taste that bad! Honestly, I wasn’t hoping for much …” Then he helps himself to a quarter of the pan. You’re welcome.
And for the last thing I’ve been up to:
Wrestling my baby into a tiger costume (an action he interprets as attempted murder). Give mama a smile? No way.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
My hubby in the paper
Funny thing is, he got this a few months ago. But we live in a small town, and when they found out about it, it had to go in the paper. Ever hear that saying, “Everybody dies famous in a small town”? Yep. It’s true.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
First day of first grade …
I neglected to post pictures of this earlier, so here they are. L is officially a first grader:
She was very anxious that I get a picture of her backpack, with the lizards she’d made hooked to the zipper. It was all I could do to get her to turn around and look at me.
When she was satisfied that I’d gotten pictures of her backpack, she turned to let me get her face better (which I care about more than her backpack!).
Friday, September 7, 2012
A Little More Life
A recurring thought going around the mommy blogs is that you don’t have to savor every moment, just the ones that count. We’ve had a few recently that definitely fall into that category. Some more than others, but each special in their own little way.
J came out of his bedroom like this. We bought him this hat at the fair last year, and you can tell his head has grown since then … but he knows he’s got to have his hat on to ride his horse. (And I’m still tickled pink that he’s figured out how to “ride” his horse!)
L has really started noticing how other little girls are dressed and what they wear. Lately she’s been very insistent that everything she wear “matches” just right. She’s also started requesting curls and braids for school and church.
She has also learned to tie her shoes. She wanted the pink, sparkly ones to go to school in. I told her, “If you buy the tie shoes, you’ll have to learn to tie them. Your teacher can’t be expected to do it for you.” She insisted she’d learn, and she sure did. I showed her how three times, and after that, she hasn’t asked me again. She’s a pro!
Summer hats were on sale the other day, and the girls picked one out for me. Then S wore it all over the store, and by the time we got home … it was hers. I mean, look at that little face!
J is in the “cheesy grin” phase, and it just kills me. Every time. C says I coddle him. I probably do. He’s just so stinkin’ cute!
We went to the fair again this year. It’s definitely on my list of my favorite things to do. I love the petting zoo, the merchant booths, and even the livestock barns.
It seems like there’s always something that happens in the livestock barns. Last year it was all the alpacas that the girls fell in love with. This year someone offered to let them groom a cow. They fell in love with her! Now every time they drink milk, they wonder if they’re drinking her milk.
This last moment is not a picture, but it’s just as cute. For Family Home Evening this week, C gave L and S Father’s blessings before the new school year. First L sat on the chair while C gave her a blessing. Then S took her turn. As soon as she was done, J jumped off my lap and climbed up on the chair. He sat there so straight and still while C gave him a blessing, then climbed down. Melt my heart, he’s such a doll!
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Vacation!
We just had a wonderful week of vacation. Unfortunately, I’m not the best at taking pictures, so I didn’t get anything from the first two days. We spent one afternoon with my cousin and her kids, and my Aunt. We drive past them every time we go down to my parents’ house, but we rarely get a chance to stop. This time we did, and we had a blast playing at the pool and then going to get ice cream.
Day two I saved for some old friends from College who live down in Provo, but since we’re always up in Salt Lake with my family, we don’t ever have enough time to visit. Since we weren’t on a time schedule this trip, we spent a whole day with them. It was a blast. I just felt bad that C couldn’t get off work. He would have loved to be there, too.
Day three I made my kids rest up. We visited some family and then planted them on the couches in my mom’s house in front of a movie while she and I went shopping and stocked up on food for the next few days. Good thing they got some down time, because then all the fun (and all my pictures) began.
My sister’s family came Wednesday night, so bright and early on Thursday, we went to the zoo!
We had a blast, but the most noteworthy event was that J spent all his time with my Grandma!!! They made friends!
On Friday, we took the boat out.
This little boy objected to being small and not being allowed to go out in the boat with the big kids. (Never fear, he did get to ride in the boat, but he was denied the tubes, which is what he really wanted!) We set up in this pavilion up on the beach and went out in groups.
I wasn’t sure S was going to like it, and as soon as I put her in the tube, she wanted back out. Then I had a flash of brilliance and reminded her of snow tubing … and just like that, she was fine!
L was a little unsure …
But they both ended up having fun!
They both ended up with smiles like this one.
We stopped for lunch while another group took the boat out.
Some people couldn’t sit still long enough to eat, so they walked around with sandwiches in their hands.
The group of people next to us had a Sea-do that kept un-beaching itself (it was quite windy the day we were out), and my dad had to keep calling to them that it was floating away. As they were starting to pack up to leave, the Sea-do started floating off again. This time, when my dad called out to them, instead of running off to get it, they started arguing amongst themselves. The dad told his son to get it, he whined back incoherently. The dad pointed out that he was all dry and didn’t want to get wet again, and the boy mumbled back defiantly. The father demanded the boy go get the Sea-do. The boy refused.
It was about this time that I raised my hand and called over, “I’ll go get it for you, if you want!” I got a surprised, semi-suspicious look from the father … but apparently he was serious about not getting wet again, because he started to walk my way, asking if I knew how to drive one, etc, etc. Then he asked if I was serious.
“Heck yeah!” (Yes, I’m a Mormon, I say “heck” … ) He handed me his life vest and gave me some instructions. I nodded and scrambled into the life vest …
In the water, I realized he was a little smaller than I am, and it was like swimming in a corset. I couldn’t breathe, but with the wind blowing, I didn’t want to let the Sea-do get away, so I kept going.
When I got to the Sea-do, I adjusted the chest strap … apparently the delay in getting it started caused some concern among the party that owned the Sea-do. “Is she having trouble getting it started?” But then everything was ok, and I turned it on and took off. My mom says one of the people said, “Oh, well, she’s obviously been on one before!”
Well, yeah, why do you think I was so excited to go rescue it?!!! He told me to take it for a spin, and I was having a blast! Then I looked down and realized I was going 37mph! Whoops! I’m not so sure that’s a “safe and prudent” speed on a lake … But I got to play around on it for about 15 min before the black suburban brought the trailer down to pick it up. Those 15 min were awesome! Too bad I didn’t have one of my daughters on the back.
Then we got back in the boat for the final ride before putting it back on the trailer.
It took all of two minutes before J fell asleep on the way back to Mom and Dad’s house!
Unfortunately, my pictures stop here. The next day I got to go to the temple with my brothers and sister and their spouses. C was the only one missing, but he was on his way down. We went up to Snowbird to Grandma’s condo in the afternoon and spent a couple hours in the pool.
Sunday morning we had family pictures taken, so I will hopefully soon have new pictures for my wall, and for our parents’ walls. Then we went up to the condo for dinner.
Now I need to backtrack to tell one more story. A few weeks ago, I started to have a nagging feeling I needed to put roadside assistance on my Malibu. I put it off a few weeks, but the Friday before we left, I finally called and got it put on.
Sunday, heading up to Grandma’s condo, we followed a semi up the mountain, going 15 mph, and the Malibu overheated … and then did this funky thing where it would lose power, then surge forward, lose power, then surge forward. We were almost at the condo, so I was able to ease it up to the building. I unloaded the kids and the stuff and headed up only to get a call from C when I was half way there that he couldn’t get the car to start at all.
Just as I got to the condo (and found cousins and and a brother who would be able to help with the car) C called again and said he’d got it started. He parked it, and after letting it cool for an hour or so, he went down with one of the mechanics in the family to check it out. It started and ran fine, so we figured it had acted funny because it had gotten too warm, and it would probably be okay.
The trip down the mountain went fine. We picked up C’s car at my mom’s house and headed home. About 10 miles out of Tremonton, I started noticing the slightest hesitation/surging. I turned off the radio and started paying more attention to it. Checked my temp, my tachometer, etc, and while everything looked fine (still no check engine light), it got worse. I finally pulled off the road one exit before the one where we usually stop. C hadn’t noticed anything, and when we parked, he first asked, “Decided you wanted Arby’s instead?” I was almost in tears. “No! The car’s not going to make it home!”
C suggested we trade cars for one mile and he could see what it was doing. I got in his car and waited for him to back out. He just sat there. The Malibu was dead again.
We took the kids into the restaurant and got them fed while we called for … Roadside Assistance!!! Which I’d only added 8 days earlier! We got the car towed to the local dealer, loaded all our stuff into C’s car, and headed home. C remarked that he wasn’t worried or upset about it, because it really felt like someone was watching out for us the whole time.
Luckily the mechanic found the problem, and we should be able to go get our car tomorrow. We’re just feeling very grateful today!
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