monday, meat loaf, movies

Sunday, January 23- Sam was back in the kitchen.  He was excited about this cooling rack that Grandma Martha gave us.  The cookies he made were from the Mrs. Field's cookbook.  They're made from honey instead of brown sugar, which gave them a different, but delicious, texture.

Looks like Sam was doing a little sampling too.  Next he made jam filled butter cookies, and then Tuna and Garlic pasta, one of our family's favorite recipes.  Sunday evening Sam insisted that I go to a fireside. Turned out to be fascinating- an anthropologist sharing his story of his conversion to the LDS faith.

So when I returned I was happy to find all was well, the kids were all together, happily watching Power Rangers the movie, which was why Caitlin and Grant have been shouting "Go Power Ranger Pink! Go Power Ranger Red!" all week.

Monday morning I found the casualty of my absense.  My camera was lying on the floor underneath the sofa, and I realized that the shutter was shattered, so when I opened and closed the lens, parts of the shutter stuck out.  I imagined the cost of buying a new camera or paying for a repair. All morning I tried to remind myself to look for how this mishap could possibly be an opening in the universe.

When I took the camera in to the shop, not surprisingly, the clerk suggested I buy a new one.  Instead I decided to rip the shutter out of camera, and was happy to find that it worked just as well.  It just looks bad. So what I thought might be an "out with the old in with the new" experience became a "use it up wear it out" experience instead...all the more empowering for being more financially appropriate, at least for this month.

One of the many ways that we have been blessed lately...

Granddad and Judith have made a tradition of bringing us dinner every Monday night.  It's always delicious, and always fun to see what they've brought.  Kyle loves Judith's meat loaf.

This was the scene Tuesday morning.  Sam had everyone up before 6:30...5:30 PST, to watch the Academy Award nominations announced.  The kids were happy to see True Grit get so many nominations, and Inception pick up a few...two of their favorite movies of the year.

The girls were up too.

Since we weren't invited to the breakfast in Hollywood, we had one of our own Tuesday night.  The kids call breakfast at night brinner.

And I was busy thinking about brinner and forgot to have the kids watch the President's speech...What a flaky mom...

Wednesday was supposed to be the beginning of the daunting task of re-enrolling the family at the dentist. I was set for my own appointment, and driving to pick up Grandma Martha,who had generously agreed to babysit, when snow flurries turned to snow fall. On the way back to our house, just before we hit the somewhat formidable hill that descends toward our street, my brakes went out, and I couldn't control the steering. I hadn't realized how slick the roads were. I pulled off to a side street to see if it was a problem with the van or just a slick spot, but every time I pumped the brakes, they would shudder and the back end fish tailed. We decided to park and unload, and the four kids and Grandma and I hiked home in the snow.

It was nasty driving but beautiful walking. I felt grateful that we hadn't tried to drive down the hill, and that the boys were so happy to be out for a winter hike. It was a great opportunity for them to try out their new Buzz Lightyear boots...one of the joys of being a three-year-old boy no doubt.

So the world is white again...even though my teeth aren't.

holiday beginnings

Tuesday December 21, my mother's to blame for this.

Weatherman said rain. My mom had to want snow so she could get all booted and bundled up and slosh around Christmas shopping on foot for four hours Tuesday, just to prove she's still a Maine-uh.

Meanwhile, my Tuesday was all about the highly anticipated Christmas program at the elementary school, and the parties after, and I signed up to bring treats, that kind of a day.... the kind of day when you wake up and don't see snow with idyllic thoughts.  So I ended up getting the littlest kids loaded up and buckled in and even managed to pull out of that pile of snow plow refuse you can see there, though that's not my vehicle, before the school bus even arrived.  That gave me an unanticipated notch of credibility with the kids.

Did I mention that I don't love driving, particularly on partially plowed, slushy, icy, don't- let- me- get- stuck here- with- mine- and- the- neighbor's- kids- roads?  That was my Tuesday morning.  Won't give you the entire itinerary, but will admit, for biographical purposes, that for my (almost) twenty-five licensed years I've chickened out of any situation of stressful snow driving. I claim to be a California girl when the circumstances warrant it.  But, it felt pretty good to face my fears for a change. Anyway, I'm a die-hard about Christmas programs.

Olivia's back there somewhere.A great rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas. I saw Olivia's head pop up for the two turtle doves.  Kyle's class also presented a jazzed up Twelve Days.  Mary sang in Spanish.  Bethany sang about Santa's cold.  William ran around the school while I tried to lure him back with a pack of sixty miniature candy canes.

Tuesday was also about getting ready for Rob's arrival.  I tried to clean and as usual Grant and William saw to a different agenda.  Kyle is always of the mindset that we shouldn't put on airs, since Dad already knows our house is always messy. And I just respond with...  Nonetheless.

So Tuesday was my first time to pack the kids up and send them off with Rob...call it the end of a chapter, or beginning of a new one. Co-parenting. How's that?  The kids couldn't wait to see him and couldn't wait to see their cousins up in Salt Lake. Thanks to Aunt Judy and Uncle Jeremy for agreeing to house seventeen children, our ten and their seven, for three days. I hope they survive.

I was grateful that Rob shoveled the back porch, that was thoughtful, while I saw to the packing that I should have known would take several hours, but tried to throw together in minutes.  So it was a chaotic departure, but that must have felt like a homecoming for Rob.  Standing in the silence after they left, I could feel the walls still vibrate from the excitement and kid commotion that had just passed through, like the ringing of sound waves after the final cadence of a climactic orchestral movement.

I went to the Relief Society dinner.  Was grateful for the opportunity to sing. And I'm not just saying that..so I guess I've made progress.  I wasn't too nauseous to eat and enjoy the company before the program. That's progress.

I guess Rob got worried that I'd died from the shock of too much quiet so he had Ben call to check on me Wednesday morning. I was just trying not to be a butt-in-ski (one of my favorite words, though I'm not sure how to spell it.) Just honestly enjoying handing all the responsibility over to Rob for a few days..a much needed break from the stress of wondering what William is getting in to.  By the way who got a hold of my camera?

I love this one. It looks like someone was having a near death experience.

I spent Wednesday cleaning and studying up about e-bay business, waiting for a call from the e-bay coach. So far no takers on the rubber chicken, so I guess Ben's getting it in his stocking after all.