If it's broke...

...then fix it!!!!

Lindsay wore her purple splint for 3 days like we were told. We took it off Tuesday night for a couple hours; she was still in a lot of pain and was again holding it quite still and favoring it. So, I called the orthopedic doc today to get her in. And since it is the same doc we go to for Kate's feet AND she had her next follow-up scheduled for next week, I asked them to combine and make back to back appointments for me asap. Awesome. They got them both in today.

So we go in with our awesome x-rays from Urgent Care (the ones with the "inconclusive" evidence of a break). Dr. Hrasky was not in this week but the PA's, Nina and Sarah, are awesome. Super fantastic, actually. They put the x-rays on the light board and said "Did they tell you that you broke your arm?" Turns out that 1.5" long vertical line IS a break after all!! So they immediately start to cast it and talk colors - oh, if the orange was a pretty orange...so she got purple...with sparkles! Sarah started the cast and I had to juggle really quick while I had Kate in my lap and Nina was examining her feet to grab my camera - "Mama's got to blog this stuff!" I said. Nina and Sarah laughed. But doh! No memory card. So I grabbed a couple of quickie phone shots.

The good patient in her sling (sling just for a week) carrying her x-rays.

Afterward we went straight to Office Max to get a silver sharpie because Nina suggested that would be so cool for signing on the purple sparkly cast. Of course! Why didn't I think of that? And then out to lunch...she picked Wendy's. Funny thing - we were making the phone calls to grandma's and grandpa's to tell them about the broken arm and cool sparkle purple cast. So the funny thing was that a mom was there with her son who had a broken hand and was making the same kind of phone calls! But she was incredibly unhappy with the doc they saw and was talking about needing a second opinion because he may need surgery - seriously, his cast looked one step better than the fake casts the girls make with paper towels and tape. Luckily, I have been working on organizing our medical records for the girls, a la Katrina's advice, and had extra business cards in my pcoket and could give her one! I was able to give her a double awesome referral since I have two patients seen there!

Bottom line: Cast for 4 weeks. Sling for 1 week. No PE for 6 weeks. No gymnastics for 8 weeks! I got a note that will hopefully get our tuition back for this session...

Oh, and I will blog more about Kate in another post but the quick answer is that they are thrilled with the progress of her feet correction thus far and since she is starting to pull up on her feet, we are going to wearing the splints only at night and daytime she can go barefoot! Yeah!

...

A little plug...for a great cause!

My friend Shawni has written and photographed this book with her mother, Linda Eyre. You may know this family from their countless books on family and relationships, the creative force behind Joy School, frequent speakers at LDS Education Week, appearances on countless TV shows, etc. Shawni has written on her blog about their youngest daugther Lucy, who is pictured on the cover of the book. She has a rare genetic disorder Bardet-Biedl which will eventually cause her to lose her sight, along with a long list of developmental challenges. Shawni, her mom Linda, and husband Dave have decided to give a portion of proceeds of this book to the Foundation for the Blind.

Pick up a copy of the book (a great Mother's Day gift, I am sure!) and one for yourself and get some reviews on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. The more positive reviews, the more they stock the book, the more they sell, the more they donate to this foundation.

If any of you have been to my house or have admired several of the lovely black and white photo shoots (OK - a bunch are not hung right now...I am working on re-hanging stuff!) you have seen her work. It is gorgeous. I admire her and her dedication to motherhood and womanhood. She is truly an example of making the best experiences with your family.

AND...if you are in my ward, she will be our guest speaker at our May HFPE night next Thursday!!! I mentioned it in passing when I saw her last fall at an event and she emailed me after Christmas and said she would love to do it. I am not sure That the HFPE speaking circuit is her gig so I feel especially thrilled to have her come!

The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden

The Prophet said to plant a garden, so that's what we'll do
For God has given rich brown soil, the rain and sunshine too
And if we plant the seeds just right and tend them carefully
Before we know good things will grow to feed our family.

And the second verse is all about planting enough to fill our needs and sharing our extra with friends. I don't think our little garden experiment will yield THAT much but we are at least hopeful that a few things will sprout from seed and the transplants will stay healthy! We got a bit of a late start for spring gardening around here but are still within acceptable planting range on a few things. I have had some plans for raised garden beds that I want to build and each year we don't do it - something gets in the way! And this year there is talk about a possible move so I don't want to invest in beds for a yard we may be leaving. (I will let you know when it is more than a possibility...it would only be to a larger home in the area, nothing drastic.) So, we went with a small container garden with a few favorites: 2 blueberry shrubs (hot weather friendly variety...) tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, carrots, beans, zucchini and cucumber, and assorted herbs, and of course, some flowers out front. We need to work out a watering system - gardening here requires so much water and TLC!!!

Oh, and by the way...Saturday afternoon Lindsay went to get her arm checked out - on Thursday she had fallen while pulling Caroline in the wagon and landed on her left hand. After two days of favoring it and being in pain, we took her to Urgent Care Saturday afternoon. For sure we have a damaged tendon and less sure a break. Doc thought for sure there was a break but the x-ray was maybe yes/maybe no. So, after a few days of the rockin' purple splint (you can see it in the post before this one) we will remove it and check pain/mobility/etc. If it is still a problem, off to the orthopedist we go. They referred me to Kate's foot doc so we already know him. Lindsay was of course bummed she didn't get a "real cast like Ellie" right off the bat but the purple wrap helps with the cool factor!

You're invited...

I LOVE when the girls get their imagination going...and I especially love when someone tells me that they are taking care of Sunday Dinner!

Lindsay and Caroline presented us with our invitation after lunchtime on Sunday afternoon. Exactly as worded on the invite:

"We will be having dinner at 6:00, outside. When we are done with dinner we will go on a family walk. Then we will come back and have dessert."

Derections: Dress like you are going to a ball for dinner.

Thank you!

Oo la la!!

The Refreshments Spread (They kept calling it refreshments...) pizza, sunflower seeds, water, crystal light, fruit leather and granola bars, mac n' cheese, ice, rice cakes, and applesauce with cinnamon.

The fancy table.

All day long they worked on the preparations. I kept wondering what they would plan for dinner. They set the small table outside with a table cloth, the fancy pink and green dishes, stemware, and a centerpiece. (Really, we have had this same small patio table since we lived in an apartment a gazillion years ago and have never upgraded patio furniture. It has seen better days...) They brought their tea party table outside to hold all the "refreshments." They kept wanting to fix the food but we kept reminding them that a frozen pizza and macaroni and cheese are better prepared right before they are eaten so they got out things like rice cakes and granola bars and sunflower seeds, mixed some Crystal Light - you know, the things you can prepare ahead of time. :)




The girls chose fancy dresses for themselves to wear and picked a dress for me, jewelry and shoes for me. (A dress I bought to wear on a cruise 4 years ago...) Steve looked handsome in a dark suit, of course!

We came outside to the table and an announcement was made: "After dinner we will have dancing. "

We dined and laughed together and had the best time! Once Steve augmented his dinner with a hot dog, everyone was satisfied.

Kate joined us after a while - she was still asleep when the party began - it was supposed to be a 6:00pm party but the girls were so excited it got moved up to 5:30. We had pulled up the car so Kate could drink her milk.

Steve went inside and grabbed the kitchen radio/iPod speaker doc thing and played some tunes. We danced and played ring around the rosie and Lindsay showed us her disco skills! We just channel surfed for music, whatever sounded good at the time.

Then, before it got too dark, we went for a neighborhood walk with the new wagon Kate got for her birthday. (We celebrated a little early when Shelly, Joe, and Grandma were in town - a joint cousin Zac and Kate party - will post on that later.)

Afterward we sat on a blanket under the stars eating ice cream sandwiches and helped Lindsay work on her poem recitation that was due for school Monday. Really, it was a dreamy night.

I love this little family of ours - we should party more often!

Take your kiddos to work day!

Leaving for a "hard day at work."

The 4th Thursday of April is designated as the National Take Your Child to Work Day
and Steve's company always participates with a theme, goodie bags for the kids, real fake ID's like Daddy's work ID, (but their ID's don't magically unlock doors and open parking structures) and activities and snacks to keep them entertained. I kind of always thought this was a time to go and learn about your parent's workplace, what they do there, life lessons about work ethic, that sort of thing. Nope. At least not at The Apollo Group. This year the theme was nutrition and health and they got backpacks, pedometers, healthy snack bags, t-shirts, and played relay races in the common area outside the elevators. Steve has a daily 9:30am meeting and decided to include the girls on his agenda. Lindsay got to share about her newly learned cursive writing skills and Caroline was supposed to talk about facts she learned about the Earth this week but got shy. At noon I met up with them and brought Kate for some hanging around time and photo opps. Lunch in the cafeteria finished their day - they love to eat in the cafeteria. Steve would take us anywhere for lunch but the girls chose this.

Roaming the halls, meeting with the Boss, talking on the phone, eating lunch. That sort of thing. I give Steve a hard time about boxes every time I go to his office ...he changes offices fairly frequently or at least often enough that he never finishes unpacking before he gets moved to another place. Glamorous life of a software manager. He spends a lot of time there. I think I need to go and help him out and spice the place up. I just don't get out there that often. Even his framed photos are all still in a box from the last move!!!

Thanks for making this a fun day the girls look forward to all year, Steve!!

Thoughts in the back of my mind...

My mom holding Caroline (9 mo old) in August 2003. From a group of the last photos I have of my mom before treatments had started to show their signs. I often wonder what it would be like to have her here with Kate...and Bryn, Siobhan, Audrey, Zac, and Will.

A couple weeks ago a friend wrote on Facebook about spending a lovely afternoon visiting his grandmother in Tucson, who was in a hospice facility. He wrote of tenderly feeding her and holding her hand and just being with her, days before she passed away. It made me reflect again on the last 8 days of my mother's life, spent at Hospice of the Valley in Mesa, where we were able to sit with her and talk to her and even, gulp, sing to her. Cherished memories. Really, those days spent with my children (Lindsay was 3, Caroline 16 mo.) chasing bunnies in the yard of that the lovely facility, visiting with friends and love ones on the front porch, sharing a meal and memories and tears and laughter, being a friend to a homeless man who had no one in his final hour. My mom, Sue, Nama Sue, passed away 4 years ago today and it has been in the back of my mind all week. I am glad that we can laugh and remember her in our day to day conversations but I won't lie and say there isn't a hole in my heart that wishes she was here to go with me to Kate's doctor appointments for her feet, to watch the kids swim, to help me work through the pros and cons of buying a new house. A lump in my throat is forming as I type this, fighting back the tears that I have not cried in quite a while. But Sweet is the Peace the Gospel Brings and is really the way I cope on a day to day basis.

One of the last gifts to my mom before she got sick (or rather, when she was starting to show symptoms but was keeping them from us so we would not worry) was to decorate her kitchen and paint the kitchen and family room while she was out of town for Mother's Day with my Dad. Molly and I worked our tails off shopping and painting and choosing accessories and working with fabrics she loved to help make her dream come true. We got most of it done by the time she arrived home and finished the rest with her there. I loved surprising her like that. I wish she could have enjoyed it longer. To stand at the counter and make more cookies with grandkids. To host more birthday parties. To work on more craft projects together at the island. I cherish memories created in that kitchen. Sure, there were other kitchens where memories were made but this one involves all of us. My kids with their Nama Sue.

Since you asked...

Killer Brownies
(At least this is what I call them. I got the recipe from my Sister in Law Jeannie and she got the recipe from a fellow teacher at the school where she used to work)

2 boxes Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge Brownies (+ water, eggs, & oil as called for)
3 LARGE Toffee and Almond Symphony Bars (the kind that are about $1.69 each or get them when they go on sale 10 for $10.)

Mix 1 batch of brownies according to the directions and spread in a 9x13 pan. Unwrap the 3 candy bars and lay on top of the brownie batter. Mix 2nd batch of brownies according to package directions and spread on top of the candy bars. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.

That's it!!!

You are welcome.

Pajama Parties x 2!

Since we don't really do the sleepover thing with friends (we make an exception for cousins and almost cousins like Ellie - I grew up having sleepovers with her mom Maddy's family so how can we not - seriously, almost cousins is cousins in my book) the girls wanted to have their very own Pajama Party/Almost Sleepover/Late-over. No special occasion, not a birthday, a "just because" party.

Lindsay was first. She invited a few of her best friends - we had Ellie, Lizzie, Abbie, and Caroline tagged along. Paige couldn't make it and we were bummed. But the girls had a blast for 3 solid hours of PJ fun!

The agenda for the night: Homemade Pizza, watch HSM 3, assorted play activities of dress-up and playing store, and, Lindsay's favorite, build your own ice cream sundaes. We had a blast - it went pretty fast and they could have kept this up for hours more but it was nice to send everyone home to sleep in their own beds.

(Click collage to enlarge)

3 Weeks later....


...it was Caroline's turn. She wanted a big girl party just like Lindsay's so the agenda and menu were the same. That night, we had twins Zoe and Lucy, Presley, Madison, and of course Lindsay was in on it too.

Pizza, HSM 3, ice cream sundaes, and makeovers. Seriously? Makeovers at 5? Who thinks this stuff up? Caroline insisted the night include makeovers and she planned it all out. The got out all the lip glosses and lotions and got all prettied up. The best part? When Caroline came up to me and wrapped her arms around me and thanked me for her Pajama Party without being prompted.

(Click collage to enlarge)

Yup!!! Still here...and here is evidence!

Me and my friend Kelly at a Baby Shower I hosted at my house Thursday night...a mere 30 hours ago...no, the shower was not for her - it was for another friend. (Hers is soon.) Anyway, Kelly and I serve together in YW over the Mia Maids. She is awesome, by the way.

The wonder drug. I am on my 2nd box of Zyrtec-D after switching from Claritin D (On sale - $20 for 12 days worth...) and cut open all the individually wrapped blister packs and put them in another old (childproof) medicine bottle. Why, oh why is getting into some medications so hard? 24 individual blister packs? I mean, really. It is hard enough that us allergy sufferers have to jump thru hoops to buy the good OTC stuff BTC (behind the counter) because the key ingredient that really works on the congestion is also a key ingredient in making meth and a driver's license is required for purchase!

I have an old friend from high school who swears by acupuncture for seasonal allergies. Hmmm.....

I am also beginning to think I may have an honest to goodness sinus infection. I can keep the allergy symptoms like the itchy eyes and sneezing, mostly at bay but even on Zyrtec-D and Tylonol Severe Cold and Sinus I am still producing enough of the green stuff all day long that I should be losing water weight! Nice, huh? But, I feel almost fine - I don't even really feel sick. Oh - I did have a blocked ear for a week. The kids each missed a bit of school. Steve finally went to the Doc when he couldn't kick his cough and was up every night in a coughing fit, and was told it is Bronchitis.

Anyway, I have been blogger slacker extraordinaire! I even had a friend email me to see if I was OK - it seemed as if I had fallen off the face of the earth. It is 2am and I am getting a couple of posts out there - more to come Sunday afternoon. I am doing it mostly for myself because if I never get this stuff "down on paper/blog" it is forgotten. We have about 47 sessions of Stake Conference to attend this weekend plus a twin cousin birthday party for Kate and Zac. A little early for Kate but it works out with family being in town. it seems we have had SOMETHING going on every night for about 3 weeks. I am ready to sloooooooow down!

Upcoming posts will include:
*my birthday and trip to Atlanta from all the way back in January!
*Lindsay and some cool stuff at school
*Spring break adventures
*Almost sleepovers for the girls
*Preschool field trip
*I am sure a bunch of other stuff I am sure.....

Thanks for all the shout outs and well wishes - I have just been a busy Mama trying to keep most of the balls in the air!

Once upon a time, I turned 33 years old (And Jeannie turned 40!)

My birthday is January 26th but the celebrating got started a little earlier in January. My 2 sister-in-laws also have birthdays in January and SIL Jeannie was turning 40 and wanted me to attend her 40th birthday party and spend a few days visiting and "hanging out" with her and her family. I am so glad I was able to make it work out with the help of a dear friend and a wonderful husband and sister and friends who helped take care of the big kids. It was quite a treat to travel with just me and Kate - we had the best time - she really is my little buddy.

I learned how to make these Killer Brownies. (this is my photo of the brownies I made a couple weeks after returning - every bit as good as I remember!) Jeannie greeted me when I got in around midnight with a pan of these monsters and we sat up laughing and eating brownies for hours. No wonder I still have a few pounds of baby weight to lose - I keep eating stuff like this!

What did we do when I was there? We had a little outing to Costco, of course! Living in the South is just not like living here - where it takes Jeannie 20 minutes to get to Wal-Mart, I can get to 5 Wal-Marts in 20 minutes! Where Costco is 30 minutes away, I can get to 3, maybe 4 Costcos in 30 minutes! Jeannie is always talking about Mr. Yoshida's Teriyaki marinade that was used at my wedding 11 years ago and I always say I will bring her some because she cannot buy it where she lives. Well, the day I was leaving I was at Costco and grabbed a 1/2 gallon size jug for her only to realize they would never let me carry that thing on! It may be mistaken for Teriyaki bomb sauce or something. So, I took her shopping to Costco (HER FIRST TIME!!!!) and bought her a jug of sauce as a "birthday gift" because that is just the kind of SIL I am!!! Jeannie is now a proud member of Costco - way to go Jeannie!


Out for a day of shopping - it was bitterly cold (like 28 degrees or something) and Jeannie hated it but cold like this is such a novelty to me anymore so I just enjoyed it while I could. Much to her chagrin, I kept wanting to shop! I think she thought I was nutso!

This is Everett, aka Bobby. He was dying complaining of needing a haircut (he has awesome curly dark red hair and I think he likes it short!) but one late night I was straigtening Kayleigh's hair and we decided to take the flat iron to Everett's hair. We thought it looked a little Edward when it was all straightened - it was kinda fun and funny! Everett, thanks for sleeping on your sister's floor and letting me crash in your bedroom!

Saturday I got to attend Miss Basketball's (Kayleigh's) game - she had quite the cheering section with both sets of Grandparents and assorted Aunts and Uncles and cousins cheering her on - I loved being there to support cute Kayleigh and her team.

The ladies out to dinner for Jeannie's birthday. From left: me, our mother in Law Shirley 9came from SC for the party weekend), Jeannie, Jeannie's mom Penny, and sisters Quincy and Nikki. I think the men were annoyed with all the picture taking at this point. They were off to the side holding bags and purses and cameras and coats. We were so disappointed that Barbara, our sister in law, Steve and Brad's sister, was unable to make it like planned. Barbara - you were missed.

Jeannie's sister Nikki was my date for the dinner. Thanks Nikki! I had a great time! ;)

Kate thought these M&M's were pretty tempting. Good thing she was still a pre-crawler!

I had such a fantastic time in Atlanta - we didn't do a whole lot of special stuff - stayed up late talking, watching TV, playing games, playing with the babies, chasing Cozette, that sort of thing. Jeannie's family is wonderful and I told her parents I would be another daughter in their family in a heartbeat.

Monday the 26th of January (my actual birthday) was kind of a rough day. I was still in shock and pretty devastated about my Cousin Neil's accident 2 days previous. We had not made any big celebratory plans (since my birthday gift had really been the trip to Atlanta) but the girls wanted to make it a special night and planned a birthday dinner all by themselves. They picked an outfit for me to wear and set up our small patio table for dinner with candles and our favorite party dishes. The menu included: Chicken Nuggets, yogurt, oranges, left over bean dip and chips, sparkling cider (we happened to have a bottle in the fridge) and dessert would be s'mores over the fire. They made name tags for the chairs and I got to sit and be served by the most attentive wait staff ever! They even made a kids menu and brought out a bucket of crayons for Kate. They thought of everything!!! Really, that day there was a huge hole in my heart (and I actually spent that night setting up Neil's update blog for my Aunt Lori) but my girls made me feel so special and I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Here's a close-up of that fabulous dinner!

Me and my girlies - some pretty chic party planners!

My trip to Atlanta and my sweet girls making me a special birthday dinner - I spent the month with people I love the most and that is what matters most!

Are you ready for a Throw Down???

Throw Down, Mutual Night Style!

The Mia Maids and Teachers hard at work frying bacon, mashing avocados, grilling burgers, mixing seasoning for fries, testing milkshakes... lots of milkshake testing!

Wednesday night we had our first Combined YM/YW Mutual night since I was called to the YW presidency a few weeks ago. This activity was a total riot and we had a blast doing it. (I think the youth had fun too! ;) ) We were invited by the YM to a Bobby Flay style Throw Down and would combine Beehives/Deacons' MiaMaids/Teachers; and Laurels/Priests and compete with Burgers, Fries, and a Milk Shake.

I got a little nervous because the at the home of the YM President, there is also a Deacon, Teacher and Laurel so their was a lotta smack and trash talk - they had been planning and strategizing for days and my group? Well, the other leaders and I sent a couple text messages and had a couple brief conversations on the phone, made some assignments and hoped it would all come together!

Our menu?
Burger - seasoned with Montreal Steak Seasoning and Chili sauce
-stuffed with two cheeses and bacon bits (the real deal, nothing from a bag)
-topped with sharp white cheddar, letttuce and tomato
-Toasted sesame bun with fresh avacado spread

Fries - steak fries with custom seasoning blend
- mayo/BBQ sauce fry sauce like Training Table in Utah

Shake -We had a couple options. The kids on our team spent most of the hour experimenting
with diverent combos (banana, hot fudge, and strawberry - various combos) and
ultimately settled on Fresh Strawberry

Presentation (Because really, it is ALL about lookin' good) was a burger basket, parchment paper liners and wrappers, and a soda fountain glass for the shake. Really, it was adorable.

The goods at the judges table

There were probably 75 youth at that house all waiting for the results (and for some taste testing) after slaving for 1 hour to prepare. Bishop Wilken did the honors of reading the results and lets just say the Priest/Laurel Team was quite proud of their burger win and overall 1st place. (Homemade burger buns - who could compete with that??) Teachers/Mia Maids took overall 2nd (with 1st place for fries) . And the Beehive/Deacons? Well, they probably had the most strategy yet came in with a 3rd place overall and no category win. Doh! See where all that Trash Talk gets ya? I understand the milkshake category was a draw. I guess the Deacons were pretty bugged and we overheard one of their leaders say "We tasted all the other entrie. Ours was NOT GOOD!" That was funny.