To Clara:

Dear Clara Jane,

Thank you for insisting on wearing your 'pinpess dess' to Wal-Mart yesterday. Your outfit of choice made my day as well as many other shoppers. I wish I could be as uninhibited as you.

I love you.

Love,

Mommy

Photography - Chalk

Despite having fractured my second radial head in 3 weeks (more on that later) I had to post this picture of Thomas for the I heart faces photography blog chalk challenge.

Tender Mercies

Do you ever wonder why bad things happen when you are doing all the right things? I do. I had two conversations about this yesterday. One with my Mom and one with my Best Friend.

But it got me thinking...

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Yesterday I was driving a girl in my ward to her physical therapy appointment. As we were traveling on the freeway the car in front of me quickly changed lanes. As soon as it changed lanes I saw a huge rock in the road. I tried to swerve so I would miss it, but I didn't have enough time. I missed it with my front tire but my back tire ran right over it. As soon as we hit it there was a very loud THUD. I was hoping that my tire would somehow be unaffected, but sure enough it started to deflate. I moved over to the shoulder and just kept on driving. I wanted to try to get to the next exit that was 1/2 mile away.

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As I was slowly driving, my van started to lag and I knew that I wasn't going to make it. I was hoping to get off the freeway and make it to the Target parking lot. Instead of making it off the freeway, I was able to make it to the top of the off ramp. I got out of the van and saw my sad looking tire.

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The first thought I had was, 'this shouldn't happen, I should be blessed because I am doing service!' How stupid I am. I was blessed. Many times. Just because I was doing a good deed, it doesn't make me exempt from the bumps in the road.

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I've decided to count my blessings instead of being ticked off about my tire.

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1. I called my mom. Fortunately, we were pulled over right by her exit. She was able to make it to us before we were even able to unload all the kids and car seats. I had my two kids, and the girl I was driving had her 4-year-old. I was also lucky because this was a Thursday, my Mom's day to work at the temple. It happened about 2 hours before she had to leave.

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2. I called Steve as soon as I called for my Mom to come pick me up. He was at lunch and able to come fix the flat and get the van to my Mom's house.

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3. I had my stroller in the back of the van. This is not always the case. Usually I have my little umbrella stroller for quick trips, but for some reason I had my big stroller - the same one I have been thinking about taking to the consignment store because we never use it. It was big enough to load all my stuff in from the van, Clara, and a car seat.

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4. Out of all the off ramps I could have been stuck at, I was at a great location. It had a big enough shoulder that there wasn't a concern about traffic.

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5. We got close enough to the main street that we were able to walk to Target within 5 minutes. This is fast considering we had 3 car seats, a stroller, 3 little kids under the age of 5, one woman with a fractured elbow and another one who just had a total shoulder.

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6. My mom has an extra SUV that she let me use. We were able to load all three kids up with their car seats and still get my friend to her therapy appointment - ONLY 10 MINUTES LATE!!! I am that late when things are going my way!!!.

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7. After we dropped her at her appointment, My Mom treated the kids and I to Golden Spoon. Golden Spoon had a new flavor, Graham Cracker. It was delicious. My mom even bought me a quart to take home. She still takes care of me and tries to cheer me up even if I am 35.

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8. My wonderful husband called while we were sitting in the shop eating frozen yogurt. He wanted to make sure we were all okay. When I told him what we were doing he just laughed and made some comment about being traumatized and fixing it with sugar (but hey, it was non-fat). Then he said something about coming to my rescue on his white horse. I laughed. Then I started to think. I thought about how much I love him. I thought about how he is my Superman and does so much for me and our children.

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So, next time someone asks why bad things happen when you are doing good things, tell them to rethink the situation. I did, and I've come to the conclusion that blessings will surely be poured out upon you when you are doing service for others.

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Mosiah 2:17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

Aren't little sisters the best!

Overheard one-way conversation:

Thomas: CLARA! DO NOT POKE ME! TOUCH ME! OR HIT ME!!!

If blogger would have let me make it bolder, I would have. It was THAT LOUD!

I've become one of those moms...

Back in my BC days I was a teacher. (I know that may surprise a lot of you who read this blog because my grammar stinks, but back then I was careful about sentence composition and stuff like that). I was one of those teachers who assigned homework every night and expected it brought back completed the next morning. I was always astonished when the little kid who sat in the back of the class and picked his nose would show up with no homework. He would always have an excuse, but often it was, "we didn't have any pencils at home." I worked in an affluent school zone. The kids were all from families who could afford pencils, so I knew that wasn't the reason why it wasn't done. I figured that was just the first excuse that came to their mind after they were questioned about it.

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I need to repent. I now believe that little kid. I believe him because my boy is now that little kid -I just hope he isn't picking his nose.

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Last night we were getting ready to sit down and complete his assigned page of homework. I told him to go get a pencil and he came back and said he couldn't find one. I told him he wasn't looking hard enough and needed to go try again. After about 5 minutes repeating the same conversation I decided to join him in the hunt. He was right. There were no working pencils. Every pencil in our house was broken, missing lead or new. I grabbed a dull pencil and went for the pencil sharpener. That too was missing. I searched a good 10 minutes for something that would work. I even contemplated using my eyeliner sharpener as a pencil sharpener, but decided that I didn't want to walk up stairs whittling with a kitchen knife would work better. I was actually impressed with my whittling skills. I kind of got obsessed with making a perfect, symmetrical point.

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I am happy to report we finished his assignment, only 15 minutes past his bedtime. We spent about 15 minutes searching for a writing tool, 5 minutes taking pictures of broken pencils, 5 minutes carving pencils and a whopping 5 minutes writing his alphabet.

Remember when...

I used to blog. I do. It was fun.

I have a really good excuse...

I fractured my Radial Head. Before you go and google 'radial head' , it means elbow. Fortunately for me it wasn't a horrible fracture. I should write how I broke my elbow, but I don't want to embarrass Steve by writing down how he told me to "Catch the ball!" after Clara had dropped it onto the extremely oily bowling lane. And I don't want to embarrass myself by writing how I listened to him and actually tried to catch the ball before it got too far down the lane. Luckily, I didn't have to get a cast. I have spend the past week being a baby and holding it close to my body so it wouldn't get bumped. I could have been wearing a sling, but it's a pain in the neck. Literally. I went and saw an orthopedic last Tuesday. He wanted me to take it easy for a few days and then move it around so I don't lose range of motion. I couldn't carry anything heavier than a coffee mug in my left hand - meaning no camera! And I don't blog without pictures.

So without further ado...my first post in 2 weeks.

Much of my afternoon is spent preventing the above situation. I try to keep her busy and playing. It's not that I mind her taking a nap, it's just she sleeps hard. So hard that she will be rested enough to stay up until 10:30 tonight.

All is Groovy!

We had a great first day of kindergarten! I say we because it's harder on the Mom's! Thomas was very excited to go. I was so proud of him!

I only got a little emotional. Once when we started to drive up to the school parking lot, but I pulled it together. The other time was when he walked into the classroom. I didn't full on ugly-cry, but I did get a little misty. (Here is where I should insert that I came home and had a cinnamon roll and a chocolate cupcake. Guess who is an emotional eater? Guess who was trying to stuff the feelings in!!!)

Clara wanted to go with him so bad! She kept telling me she wanted to go sit on the little chairs.

Thomas wanted to ride the bus home, so I met him at the school and made sure he got on and knew what to do. (Yes, I know I am overprotective, so sue me!) He gave me such a disappointed look when he saw me waiting for him after class. He thought I was going to make him come with me.

After we got home I tried to get information out of him on how his day went. He told me that he "didn't have time for that, and that it would take too long!" Little by little information is coming out. I think he may be a little bored, but I keep telling him that it will get better once all the rules and procedures are taught.

He wanted to go back this morning, so I am assuming all is groovy.

First of many starting school blog posts.

Tonight was it. It's almost official. Thomas is a kindergartner.

It was back to school night at his elementary school. We went to see his classroom and meet his teacher. He was so excited and a little nervous. I asked him how he felt and he answered, "I'm just afraid I won't have friends." It about broke my heart. Of course he will have friends, he has plenty of kids from our ward in his class. But then the panic set in. What if...? What if my kid is socially awkward? What if I haven't prepared him for the real world? What if he talks too much in class? What am I going to do if I ever get a call from a the teacher saying that he took someones lunch money? What if he empties all the paper towels in the bathroom and leaves them in a messy pile on the floor? All these scenarios went through my mind as I stood in the classroom and pretended to be okay with everything. I thought it would help that I had a former teaching career that lasted 6 years. I know what happens in classrooms. It didn't help.

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Now I need to suck it up. He'll be fantastic. I'll be fine. We'll all be okay.

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I guess I should mention that he had a great time. He loved his classroom. He had a huge smile on his face when he met his teacher. When he saw the computers I think he did the dance of joy - especially since they had headphones! She also had a pet frog, a fish, and a big fake tooth cut in half that Thomas held up to his mouth several times. What more can you ask for?

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Before the event, I took him to Fresh and Easy and let him pick out flowers for his teacher. I was surprised that he picked red roses, but what can you do? It probably looked like we were teaching him to be a suck-up, but that was not the case. I have been in those teacher shoes! I know what it's like to work tons of hours getting the classroom set up. The money they spend out of their own pocket to provide the extras that are necessary. I know how their feet are aching and how they are counting down the hours until they can get home and climb into bed. They all deserve a special Thank You for the hard work they have endured this past week.

(I'll climb off my soapbox. But seriously - buy your kids' teachers some flowers or pick some from your garden and wrap them in wet paper towel and tinfoil. Teach your kids to tell them Thank you! Now, I'll really climb off.)

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After the meet-and-greet Thomas requested we go out for Pizza. We had a little party and celebrated his (and lets face it, my) milestone.

Just because I love them.

This picture is shows his personality. Calm and thoughtful.

And this would be hers. Wild and crazy.

I'm so glad our family is well rounded.

You are what you watch.

This little girl....

is currently obsessed with this girl....

Unfortunately, she has taught my little girl to say, "I oughta slug you."

This guy is also on her short list. He has taught her to say, "Not again!" every time she falls.

When this part comes on, she likes to dance like girl in purple.

Classic.

Eggplant Sandwiches

About a month ago I started to participate in the Bountiful Baskets Co-op. I'm loving it. Every Saturday I go down to the park and pick up my huge basket of fruits and veggies. I make it a point to consume everything before the following week, even if I am scared of something that is unfamiliar. The first week I had 3 mangos in my basket. I thought I didn't like mangos. I started searching the Internet to find recipes and found one for mango bread. It was the most delicious bread I have ever made. It had mangos and coconut, it was so good that I ate one piece and sent the rest with Steve to the clinic. I knew if I didn't give it away I would eat both loaves by the time Steve got home from work. I have no self control.

This last week the bonus prize in the basket was eggplant. I've had it once or twice. I think I liked it, but it didn't leave any lasting impression on me. Once again I scoured the Internet trying to find a recipe. I struck gold! I made these sandwiches for dinner tonight and both Steve and I were blown away. I'm sure you could un-fat it a bit by using lite-mayo, but come on - why? I am only concerned with my sugar intake right now so bring on the full fat mayo!

Eggplant Sandwiches
1 eggplant, halved and sliced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup mayo
2 cloves garlic (I used 2 large cloves and it was pretty strong. If garlic offends you, use less)
French sandwich rolls
Roma Tomato
Feta Cheese
Fresh Basil

1. Preheat your oven's broiler. Brush eggplant with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place cookie sheet with eggplant about 6 inches from the heat source. Cook under the broiler for 10 minutes, or until tender and toasted. They will look a little dry, but they are perfectly fine.

2. Split French rolls and toast. (I put a little butter on each side and stuck it under the broiler)In a small bowl stir together the mayo and garlic. Spread the mayo mixture on the toasted bread and top with eggplant, tomato, basil, and a little bit of feta cheese.

St. George

Last weekend we planned on going to a funeral in Littlefield, AZ. If anyone is familiar with the area, this is the church that seems to be in the middle of nowhere on the way to Utah. We figured that since we would only be 20 minutes from St. George we would take the kids along and make a weekend getaway out of it.

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The funeral was very nice. The music was beautiful. The kids were fantastic. What more could you ask for. They did so well sitting through the service. Clara only spilled ALL her fruitloops twice and Thomas only asked if "this was the last talker" every 4 minutes instead of every 2.

After the service was over we reconnected with old friends while the kids tried to pull us out the door. They were so excited to go to a hotel.

The whole purpose of the trip to St. George was to be together as a family, swim and eat hotel Belgian Waffles. Nothing else. We got into town around 2, had lunch, and then made our way over to the luxurious Comfort Inn (really, it is nice. It's one of the new hotels in town.)

We were all in our suits within minutes and ready to hit the pool.

I don't know how many times Steve threw the kids. He was a machine. They kept asking me to throw them, but when I throw them it's more like a push. Pretty lame. They are so lucky to have him as their Dad.

I have been trying ALL summer long to get Thomas to take off his life jacket. He never wanted to. Steve taught him a few tricks and he was swimming within 10 minutes. I was so proud of him!

We swam all afternoon and then took the kids over to Pizza Factory to introduce them to the famous bread twists. We figured we should probably call it a night when Clara made me scoot over on the bench so she could take a nap. After waking them up early so we could drive to the funeral, playing in the pool and a late dinner, I think we had officially worn the kids out.

The next morning we went and ate our waffles and then went swimming. Clara only lasted about 20 minutes. I think it may have had something to do with me rubbing sunblock in her eyes. She kept asking to go to the "office" and go to sleep. I have no idea why she called our room the office, but I knew what she meant. We're tight like that.

While the boys swam, Clara and I played with Foofa. I taught her the skill of using her dress as a baby blanket.

After we checked out of our hotel, we made our way over to the antique fire truck in Ancestor Square. The kids were in heaven. Something like this would last 2 minutes in Las Vegas!

See, I was there.

Did I tell you the kids were loving it?

That is until I made Clara get off so I could take her picture.

After the firetruck we went to the temple. We quickly walked the grounds (it was SO HOT) and made our way into the visitors center. Steve and I found a soft spot to sit and cool off while the kids had a blast watching videos and using the touch screens.

We all had a great time. The kids didn't want to come home and neither did I.

(Courtesy of Thomas)

What a $5 pool gets you.

Nothing but joy.

Rainbow hunt

The heavens FINALLY opened up this evening. After about 3 weeks of clouds creeping in every afternoon only to tease us and then evaporate, they delivered a fabulous thunder storm.

We forced the kids out to to porch to watch the rain, umbrellas in hand.

After about 10 minutes, the clouds started to part and the sun began to peak through a few spots. We knew that it was the perfect condition for rainbows, so we tossed the kids in the van and started to hunt. I was really hoping for a double rainbow , but we only found a single one.

And guess who the first one to spot it was....

She kept shouting from her car seat, "I tee wainbow!" Sure enough, she was right.

We pulled the car over into a parking lot and started to shoot some pictures.

What? Is there something wrong with my child? Yes, he is only wearing his boxers. Yes, he is wearing my shoes. We didn't have time for minor details like clothing.

Thomas is becoming quite the photographer. I gave him an old camera and he loves it. He actually can work it pretty well.

Love. This. Picture.

No mom, Steve was not driving here. We were pulled over.

So intense!