Football Season is Upon Us

Who ever said, "Christmas comes but once a year?" Sigh...Football season is upon us and Justin is in the throws of ecstasy. The BYU home opener is on Saturday afternoon, so Justin, as his own personal tradition dictates, took the day off work today AND tomorrow to emotionally prepare for the game that is still, yes, two days hence.

He spent a lot of time today surfing online for any scraps of information regarding injuries and starting line-ups, and passed most of the evening flipping through sports channels getting into "the zone." Thanks to the luxury of the big/split screen television, he can watch two games at once--though I've seen him keep up with as many as 4 at at time! That all being said, tomorrow his Annual Football Weekend begins in earnest.

It begins at high noon with a triple round of mini-golf, against the usual suspects who are ridiculous enough to participate in this insanity with almost as much enthusiasm as Justin. After golfing comes dinner, and after dinner the boys spend the evening (and much of the night) playing x-box and board games. Those who travel from Northern Utah or Idaho spend the night at our house, then we have a big breakfast before the boys laze around the house waiting until they figure they've unlocked the gates to the stadium. Justin likes to be in his seat an hour early, rain, shine, or, more likely, blinding sun.

Do I begrudge him this indulgence? Not a bit. He's been generous with my girly nights, weekends, and whatever all else I've come up with over the last few years. Plus, I can't beat it, and I don't want to join it, so.... I may as well tolerate it. And then squeeze him for useful favors down the road!

Does it ever cause conflict? Oh sure, like our first year of marriage when there was a game on my birthday. Or two years ago when Tanner was due during football season and he wouldn't commit to choosing the birth of his son, should it be game day. But for the most part, I've found that the more latitude I give him in this regard, the happier he is and the more lenience he gives me for my own obsessions. And I think we all know that I have plenty of those!

William's Wackiness

This is what I woke up to today. My mother showed my blog entry yesterday to my brother William. If you are not familiar with my little brother, those who know and love him best know that he has Asperger's Syndrome, is artistically gifted, and has an unusual propensity for drawing his family members as cartoon characters.

This is what I found on the Ahroon Family Blog today:

"This is a picture to immortalize the semi-submerged submarine that Kinley and Tanner encountered in their tub yesterday morning. This picture was commissioned by their Grandma and painted by their Uncle William."

The Bradshaws have no official position or response.

I Love YW!

Just thought I'd put that out there

:)

That Girl's Imagination

Tonight we continued with the adventures of Laura before bed. While reading about Ma making butter molds in the shapes of strawberries, Kinley said this:

"Mommy, we should make those sometimes. They sure are lookin' good in my head."

While reading about the family cat, Black Susan, Kinley said, "since I don't know what she really looks like, in my head she is white with a diamond on her forehead. A black diamond. NO!! A RAINBOW diamond!"

The Road To...

For as long as I can remember, my children have woken up between 6:00 and 7:00 every morning. For the last month (since I quit my job), they have been waking up between 8:00 and 8:30. Alas, due to my aforementioned (and fairly obvious) addictions that keep me up into the wee hours, I have lapsed into the habit of waiting for sounds of life down the hall before rising.

I decided last night that this morning was going to be a new day and that I would get back into my good early morning habits; I would get up before the kids, get showered, read my scriptures in uninterrupted peace, and not feel like a slug.

What time did Tanner wake up this morning? 5:45. What time did Kinley wander into my room this morning? 6:15. I gave Tanner a drink and Kinley an icy cold stare and convinced them, under threat of violence, to give it another half hour.

Alas, it is impossible to fight fate. I begrudgingly got up, realized that Tanner's problem was too MUCH to drink during the night and threw the both of them into the bathtub. I stripped his bed and went to take my own shower. As soon as I turned off the water, this is the conversation that ensued.

Kinley: Mommy, can you come here please?
Mom: Kinley, I'm taking a shower!
Kinley: I thought I heard you turn the water off
Mom: I did, but I'm still in the shower and I'm still wet!
Kinley: Maybe I should just wait until you are dry
Mom: Maybe you can wait until I'm dry and I'm ready to come down there
Kinley: Maybe I should just tell you.
Mom: Tell me what?
Kinley: Tanner pooped in the tub.

Sigh... I raced down there and found the two of them huddled in the corner, trying to avoid the semi-submerged submarine.

Little House, Big Boy!

Tanner was mesmerized by my eloquent reading of Little House tonight! I was so pleased (and slightly surprised). He sat there for a good solid 20 minutes, quiet as a mouse, occasionally laying down on his belly, propping his face up on his hands as any interested 6-year-old might do. It was so cute!

He's really blossomed into a book-lover this summer, but I was skeptical that he would even be quiet in his bed while I read a chapter book to them. I never dreamed he would actually appear to be listening! Anything is possible when you're wrapped in the comfort of a Bambi blanket.

FYI, the non-fiction children's section is an excellent place to look for picture books, of all things! I found the most wonderful picture books on construction equipment and cars yesterday. Tanner can now (almost) say "back hoe".

Our Life Revolves Around Books

We've been to the library twice in the last two days for books. Tonight I'm going to start reading Little House in the Big Woods at bed time. I've never tried to read Tanner a chapter book before, but I think he'll be ok if he's in bed. He will hopefully just enjoy having me sitting in the room, and Kinley will certainly keep me captive reading to her for as long as she can possibly have me. If all goes well, I can use this as serious leverage to get them into bed with more efficiency.

As for my own enjoyment, now that I'm done with the Harry Potter era, I'm back to reading Anne of Green Gables. Kinley and I have been watching the PBS mini-series on video in little pieces over the last month or so. In fact, she somehow managed to find the animated version at the library this morning, so we brought it home. It has two cute little animated episodes of Anne Adventures. That's what they are watching right now in the livingroom. In fact, Kinley just came up to tell me that Diana had head lice. What a lovely plot for a cartoon!

But back to Anne: Justin has accused me for years of being a "book worm" and he always grunts it with hint of a derogatory tone. This was our conversations last night:

Justin: What are you reading now?
Megan: Anne of Green Gables
Justin: Still?
Megan: Yep, only half way through. See? I don't read as much as you think I do. I'm still working on this!
Justin: (grudging) Hmph

What he didn't realize is that I'm actually half way through the 8-book series, and that the cover of the book I've been reading has changed 4 times under his nose. Hee hee hee!

I simply can't read fast enough to keep up with my ever-growing list of books I want to read before I die. Justin thinks I must be planning to expire by Christmas.

Nevertheless, I try very hard to not let it interfere with anything but sleep. It's very important to me that my children never feel ignored for a book! I figure there will be enough resentment for them to discuss with their therapist as it is; I don't want to risk creating antipathy to reading!

So, I go to bed later and later, but my books give me such happy, colorful dreams, and I sleep more peacefully. It's so much better for your health and happiness to dream of ice cream socials and fat cats than to be harrowed up in your mind by the anxieties of your real life, don't you think? I choose to only dwell on own personal dramas in the light of day.

That being said, Eclipse arrived in the mail yesterday, compliments of Courtney. This is one book I dare not open quite yet. Twilight and it's successors have proven to be the only books that I simply cannot put down for any reason short of a (major) earthquake, and even that's questionable. I can't spare 2 days of dropping off the face of the earth to make it through this latest installment, so I have just kept staring at it all day, feeling torn.

Kinley Playing With Friends

Credits: Papers and Elements from Retrodiva, "Poppy".

Man Versus Boy

Manly Tanner was SO thrilled to see Papa's tractor, so big and up close, that he bent over and growled at it!

Not exactly the same reaction when we came upon the bulls in Papa's corral...

Credits: Papers and Elements from Retrodiva, "Poppy".

My Brother's Keeper

On the way home from the library this morning, Kinley and I were discussing the concept of repentance and how the weight of carrying "heavy hearts" caused by naughtiness is a lot like the weight of carrying those heavy library books. She seemed to grasp it pretty readily and then quietly mulled things over for a while.

5 minutes later:

"Mommy, do you know what naughtiness Tanner carries in his heart? He puts his hand in the toilet and he also pulls your books off the shelf and throws them on the floor."

We Have So Many Farm Pictures!!!

I can't get enough of these pictures of Tanner with Justin. These are among my favorite pictures of all time. And the large one of Kinley smiling on the page below is just so "classicly Kinley" and proves to be surprisingly difficult to capture with the camera. She's usually posing with some silly and/or weirdly sultry face.

Credits: Template modified from Thomsen, "Template #12"; Kit from Amy Teets, "Sun Porch".

Template modified from Thomsen, "Template #12". Flower and ribbon from Kim B, "Cutie Pie"; Patterned paper from Lisa Majewski, "Girly Grunge"; Solid papers from Kari Q, "Floral Spray"; Background doodles from Anita Designs.

Visiting the Farm

I'm very proud of this page. I came up with the design all by myself and having the split frames was an interesting task. I know there must be an easier and faster way to pull that off! I can't wait for my "Advanced Class" with Mindy next week!

Credits: Kit from Retrodiva,"Poppy"; Doodle Swirl from Anita Designs

Tanner Moseying at Nana and Papa's

Hee hee!! I did it again! I LOVE templates! Credits: Papers by Leacindy, "All in a Tumble"; Template modified from Tracy Blankenship "Template Freebie #14"

Someone's Been Sleeping In MY Bed...

Credits: Kit "Adorable Mommy" by Scrapkut; Template modified from Tracy Blankenship "Template Freebie #14"

Mixing, Matching...Recycling...

Squash on some new papers...swap out the pictures...and VOILA!! It looks like a completely different page! And this one only took me 5 minutes because of the last one!! I LOVE digital scrapping! Credits: Kit by Paper Moons, "Cartoon Garden", font "28 Days"; Template modified from Colleen Brady "Template #1"

Scrapping Again!!

Finally I had a chance to do some scrapping this afternoon! But now the kids (and Justin) have woken up and it's time to go on a family outing to Wal-mart to find something to make for dinner! Credits: Flower by Kim B from kit "Cutie Pie"; Everything else from Lisa Majewski "Girly Grunge"; Template modified from Colleen Brady, "Template #1"

Squire Picnic

Last night we attended the annual summer picnic for Justin's firm. Both of our kids were a perfect age to enjoy the event without wanting to wander off or be carried around the entire time; the food was really good, and we actually won a prize in the drawing! The very last prize they called was our very lucky number for a gift certificate to Lowe's!

Kinley and Tanner had a wonderful time playing on playground equipment as well as the rented blow-up stuff.
"Mommy, this ladder is way too wiggly for me."

My favorite men.

This picture didn't turn out well, but it was my favorite face of the night.

Both of the kids loved the jumping gyms. I was proud of them both for holding their own with the big kids. They were too determined to have a great time to be intimidated by the wild chaos around them.

Airborne Kiki

When he first climbed into this jumper, he wasn't quite sure whether he was going to stay.

It didn't take him long to decide that this was four thousand times more exciting than jumping on Mommy and Daddy's bed!

Drama

So, I thought Tanner had a bad case of PMS, the way he has been behaving; He has been whining and/or crying and/or screaming at the top of his lungs non-stop for two days straight.

Well, tonight before I put him in bed and before I looked up the phone number for the local gypsies, I pried open his mouth and counted his chompers more carefully. Ugh. I, who worked 5 years in an orthodontist office, should have known better and recognized all the other peripheral signs... time for the two-year molars!

Yea!! The joy! The happiness! Oh, the things you forget from one child to the next!

Meandering Life

Today is Friday. Eventually I'm going to have to find a suitable routine and stick to it. Ahhh...maybe next week. This week I'm still reveling in the lack of structure. Last night Justin took Kinley to his softball game while I stayed home and sorted digital scrapbooking kits, making some headway on some files that have lain dormant since I downloaded them back in May! I'm feeling a strong desire to get scrapping again, but a stronger compulsion to organize the resources I have before making anymore pages.

I have some potentially very good news! Blah blah blah...long story...anyway, I'm pretty sure that I can have my digital scrapbooking pages printed professionally at Cougar Creations on campus for only 59 cents each! I'm very optimistic after talking to them on the phone last night. I can even bring my own paper (I'm partial to the cheap "photo-quality" stuff I buy at Wal-mart) and have it printed for only 39 cents! And they'll look even better than the pages I print off my home printer, and much closer to the edges! I've seen some other types of things printed there; they were super nice quality. This development has me all ramped up and motivated again to get cracking, without fearing the cost of ink. And it will cost the same for me whether the pages are soft pink or blood red!

Congratulations, Bethany!

Congrats to the Cory Family on the new arrival of the very handsome Dallin Dean!

Welcome To YW

Last night was our first activity with the new group of Young Women. Because we have yet to have a full 3-hour block of meetings since the split, this was also our first encounter one with another. We played various get-to-know-you games and ate treats to help with the transition. I think Natalie had a great game plan and it was definitely a successful evening. We only brought 2 girls with us from the 11th ward into this merge, and there are about 10 girls that were originally in the 6th ward. I drove the two from our neighborhood home and they seemed to have improved spirits about the whole thing, which was one of the goals.

While the girls who came originally from the 6th Ward were gaping at how very very tiny the YW program is in our new (15th) ward, I was gaping at how very very big it was! I realized very early on last night that I have never in my life lived in a ward where the YW program had that many YW. If it was ever that big in NY, I don't remember it being so. I found it very different. In fact, except for the 11th ward (the one we just left), I don't think I've ever attended a ward that had the luxury of an entire presidency, much less Advisors!

I also realized that I am not nearly as hip as I was almost a decade ago, when last I served in the YW program. Come on, who uses the word "hip" anyway? I should just rest my case right there! But really, I'm way more of a stodgy old bat than I was once upon a time! I spent a few years in the YW presidency in NY, and then most of my mission was spent organizing and developing the program in the Latvian branches, but apparently (and much to my great dismay and horror) it gives me absolutely NO "comfort zone" advantage in this interesting new situation!

So, to my chagrin, this is less like slipping on an old, comfortable pair of shoes, and more like standing on a street corner in my birthday suit. And who doesn't love that feeling???

T-Ball Anyone?

I took my favorite kids to the park this morning for a little t-ball fun! Tanner is getting marginally better at the concept of "Kinley's Turn, Tanner's Turn".

Silly Kids

Tanner isn't the only way-too-big kid taking a turn in the swing! I really need to put it in storage :) She got stuck, so I had to come free her from her own silliness.Tanner wanted to play dress-up this weekend with Kinley. The only suitable cape, in his opinion, was (of course) the Bambi blanket. He insisted on being wrapped up like a sweet little sausage.

Ritz Chicken

Tonight I made this yummy dinner; the whole family loves this chicken! And it's so easy!

Ritz Chicken
Originally from my friend Lisee

Ingredients
6 large chicken breasts
2 tubes Ritz crackers
6 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese
1 to 2 cups sour cream (can use fat-free)
1/3 to 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions
Put Ritz crackers in a Ziploc bag and smash with rolling pin until crushed into crumbs. Coat chicken with sour cream then roll chicken in Ritz cracker mixture and place in a suitable baking dish. When all of the chicken is in the dish, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and pour melted butter evenly over chicken. Bake uncovered in oven for 60-90* minutes at 350 or until chicken is cooked through.

*I've been cooking it for 90-100 minutes so that the outside is uber-crispy, and it's still quite tender on the inside. I'm ready to experiment to see if 60-70 minutes would be even more tender inside...

**Of course you can make it in much smaller increments...but why? ;)

FHE Supply Competition

Ok, I found this on my mom's blog, as a continuation (and presumably final statement) from all the other sisters on their blogs. The pictures say it all.

http://ahroonfamily.blogspot.com/2007/08/fha-kit-collections.html

Weekend Whirlwind

It's been a great weekend. We hosted babysitting club back to back 2 weeks in a row, due to weird circumstances. The resulting effect? We get 6 weeks of FREEDOM on Friday night! Except next Friday for Justin's work party. They actually want us to BRING our kids, can you believe it? ;)

Justin's parents came down to help his brother Matt move to American Fork. We were blessed to have his parents stay with us last night, which is always a special treat. Speaking of special treats, I made cottage cheese pancakes with orange sauce for breakfast this morning, and they seemed to go over well. They have already become the most-requested breakfast in our home, and it appears that they are suitable for company as well! Yea! Before the in-laws arrived, I turned our book shelf in the livingroom into a BOOK SHELF in the livingroom. You know, instead of a "misdirected crap and toy" shelf. Kinley said to me, "are you cleaning that so that Nana and Papa won't notice?" Savvy little git, isn't she?

Last night we all got together at Danny and Mardie's house. I hope soon to be able to post a picture of Papa Bradshaw jamming out on the Xbox 360 to Guitar Hero. We stayed out far too late for our own good, but it was worth it. Super fun.

I got a new calling this morning, one that excites me to no end. YW Secretary! I absolutely love the YW program, and I've missed serving in that auxilliary; it's been at least 8 years. I'm ridiculously excited, but that's a pretty normal response for me. I think I've loved all of my callings. Ok, I'll confess that I did suffer a sharp stab of disappointment back in 1999 when I was asked to be ward pianist, after having already served in that capacity in a variety of different wards and branches for a solid 13 years straight. Even so, I learned to appreciate it...at least when my roommates remembered to save me a seat off the bench...

Tonight we enjoyed parts of Angie's David and Goliath FHE packet. I found a great book to go with it for $1.99 on the clearance table at Seagull Book, that tells the story just perfectly (although I did change the word "stupid" to "silly" in one spot), with wonderful illustration. In her packet, Angie included a sign that had a picture of a girl on one side and a boy on the other. Depending on how it's flipped, that is who in the family has to sing. Tanner wandered during this part of family night, and Justin doesn't know many songs, so he just hummed by himself when it was the boys' turn to sing. Kinley went absolutely crazy with that sign; it was probably the best part of the night.

For dinner, I attempted to make the Olive Garden recipe for Capellini Pomodoro. I say "attempted" because I used too much pasta, and forgot to buy parmesan cheese, which I think must make a big difference. It wasn't awful, but it was not my best night in the kitchen, even more disappointing because I'd been craving it for a week. Though, on a positive note, Justin quite liked it even though it was riddled with fresh tomatoes. Kinley tolerated it, and Tanner had a banana for dinner.

As far as the rest of the night, I spent 45 minutes being beach whaled by Justin until I said I was sorry for being unkind. His family knows what the beached whale is, though I'm sure you have a good enough imagination to picture the indignity of it all; Kinley and Tanner thought it was thoroughly hysterical. Every time Justin would say "say you're sorry", Kinley would yell "NEVER!!" and then leap over us while I tried to gross him out by wet-willying his ear with whatever I could lick. Probably not the best parenting, but in the end, to free myself I did end up humbling myself in sackcloth and ashes and said with all the sincerity I could muster that I was, in fact, sorry. I probably could have held out if he didn't roll me onto my face where I lost all leverage (and access to his ear) and I stood no chance at all of extricating myself.

Perhaps you think the Bradshaws are crazy? Well, then, you'd be right.

Paul Potts

Many thanks to Heather W. for showing me this amazing video!

The Audition of Paul Potts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oxTy7KIAaA

Thursday Thoughts

Hola! Priviet! Sveiki!

We've had a happy couple of days. We've just been having playdates and preparing for Joy School to start in a few weeks. Today we had friends over; the highlights of the afternoon were the (3) impromptu easter egg hunts! Apparently they are just as exciting in July as in April.

Last night I went to dinner with some friends, which was really fun. For dessert we went to Pudding on the Rice. I had never been there before; I loved it! They have 50 different flavors of rice pudding and each night they offer 16 varieties. I sampled maybe 6, then settled on the very delicious "cinnamon kane" selection.

I'm still reveling in my freedom, enjoying the last hazy days of summer. We went to the pool on Tuesday for several hours, risking contagion from the Utah County diarrhea epidemic. We didn't realize how serious it was until after we enjoyed our day in the sun. We've sent prayers heavenward that we will be spared that particular joy! Tonight we went with Justin to support him in his softball endeavors. It's been pretty low-key lately, in a good way.

Rain Rain...

"Rain! Rain! Go Away! Come again another day!" We all know that sweet little nursery rhyme, right?

Try as we may to correct her, Kinley insists on singing:

"Rain! Rain! Go Away! Come back uh-uh-other day!"

Discord

"Someone" thinks we have way too many FHE packets...

I think he's crazy. It doesn't even fill a whole shelf!

This is my sister Heather's FHE collection. Incidentally, I don't think this is too much either :) It's more like...a goal...

More Gross Words

Thank you to my dear sister Heather, for reminding me of the OTHER words that make my skin crawl:

Catsup ("ketchup" is fine)
A "fluffy" (noun; as in a "toot" or "fart")

Gross Words

Surely everyone has words that make their skin crawl?

Words you'll never hear me say without a gun to my head:
Slacks
Galoshes
Moist
(I'm going to be sick here; this is the mother of all nasty words)...."Soil"

Justin was forcibly reminded last night of my very strong aversion to certain words when he informed me that Tanner had "soiled" his diaper.

My aversion to that word is so strong that I can't even use it in an earthy context. I'll say "dirt" every time.

Not So Bad

We attended our first meeting of the new ward yesterday. I recognized very few people. Then I talked to Mindy, who lived in our ward, then moved a few months ago to the neighboring ward that we were just merged with. She said that she recognized very few people. So where did everyone come from? Can't figure that one out. I'm sure many were from the singles ward. As for the rest? Remains to be seen, I suppose.

They didn't have any sustainings, which surprised me. I assumed they would have called the presidencies this last week, but I'm not a good assumer, as we all know. We only had sacrament meeting, followed by a meet-and-greet with milk and cookies (or cookies and cookies if your name is Kinley).

As far as sacrament meeting is concerned, the talks were excellent. Absolutely exactly what I needed to hear. And somehow it made me feel probably 80% better to really realize that Justin has been right all along. He has been saying all week that everyone feels anxiety over this and that there are others that we should have even more compassion for, whose lives are much more disrupted by this change than ours. I think subconsciously I thought that everyone else except for me thought that this was a grand and exciting new adventure, and I felt guilty about my resistance. As the week wore on, I discovered that wasn't exactly true. Then to see the anxiety-ridden faces from the other wards with whom we merged, I realized we were all in the same boat. Which, strangely, was encouraging.

By the end of the day, there seemed to be a bit of an excited energy permeating the gathering. Everyone is "new", everyone is starting over, everyone is anxious, and everyone wants/needs friends. I actually started to think (I know, shocker) that this could be a really energizing thing for our new ward, the ward we just left, and all of our neighborhoods combined. I'll reserve final judgment on that for now, but I'm encouraged. I had been hopeful that my feelings would change after Sunday and I'm relieved that they have improved somewhat.

I can't decide whether it's disloyal to the friends I left behind in the 11th Ward to feel better about things! :) Don't worry, friends! I still don't feel super amazingly great about it, I'm just not wallowing in the depths of despair! :)

He's So Wacky

I hate making banana bread, so I consider it a service to my family that comes at great sacrifice. I have to really gear myself up to touch the squishy bananas. This morning I was dry heaving while indelicately scraping the squashy mess into the mixer when Justin came into the kitchen.

Justin: What's wrong?
Megan: They are just so gross!
Justin: They are just old bananas, Megan
Megan: They are still gross!
Justin: Be nice to them. Don't you want people to touch you when you're old?

Fun in the Sun

Yesterday we enjoyed a little fun in the sun with friends! Water balloons and a sprinkler; what more do you need?

Time to clean up!

Kinley trying to get a drink.

Ring around the rosies!!

Cold Cucumbers

While I'm at it, I stole this little tidbit from my grandmother-in-law.

Cold Cucumbers
1. Peel cucumber
2. Cut into round slices and place in bowl
3. Pour liberal amount of rice vinegar over the cucumber slices
4. Stir until everything well coated.
5. Serve immediately.

Yum! Thank you, Julia!

Apricot Chicken

Love this recipe! I made this for the troops this afternoon and got thumbs up all around!

Apricot Chicken
Ingredients:
6-8 frozen chicken breasts
2 cups french dressing
1 and 1/2 cups apricot preserves/jam
1 envelope lipton onion soup

Directions:
Combine dressing, preserves, and soup mix together in a bowl. Pour over the chicken in a 9 x 13 pan. Bake on 350 for 90 minutes. Serve with or over rice.

The End of the Week (And Book #7)

This has been a funny week. The two big items were 1) Completing my FHE kit for the exchange on Wednesday night. 2) Finishing Harry Potter, Book #7. I am ready to rejoin civilization, now that those two indulgences are off my list.

The rest of my time and energies have been focused on coping and cheering myself up about the ward split. One consolation is that I have discovered that I am far from being the only one who has mixed feelings about the whole thing. Hey, at least my feelings are mixed now! That's a great improvement over the beginning of the week!

Up next: we are planning to do a "file folder game" exchange. In this case, the more the merrier, so if you are local and you are interested in participating, please shoot me an email ASAP. This is going to be an awesome thing, so jump on the wagon if you can!

We've Created A Monster...

We pride ourselves on the good sleepers in this family. Alas, our habits with Tanner have taken a bizarre turn recently. It started earlier this summer with allowing him a sippy cup of water, a stuffed animal, and the obligatory Bambi blanket (or three, if they were available and within eyesight).

Over the last month his bedtime prop demands have become increasingly, um, grandiose. Tonight I do believe we reached a whole new level of crazy at our house.
And yes, those ARE the clothes he wore all day. He insisted that they, and only they, would be suitable pajamas tonight.

Mommy and The Little Man

Kinley spent most of the day with her friend Aliyah today, while Tanner and I spent some quality time together. I Pine Sol-ed the kitchen floor while he dropped delicately dissected granola bars onto it; I read Harry Potter while he ran Chevron cars up and down my legs, taking small breaks only to wipe his leaky nose on my exposed arm; I tried to read more Harry Potter while he climbed up and placed his soggy bum squarely on my face, etc. All in all, I'd say we actually had a lot of fun together.

I Love FHE Packets!!

Well, I just returned from our fabulous FHE packet exchange. In these 10 kits alone, I have enough stuff for FHE for at least a year, no exaggeration. And we still have 2 more that are coming! Some of these activities will be great for quiet time or a Sunday afternoon too. I'm so thrilled!

Our topic this time was "Scripture Stories". I now have positively delightful kits for Captain Moroni, David and Goliath, Brother of Jared, Noah, Abinadi, Daniel and the Lion's Den, The Good Samaritan, Nephi and the Broken Bow, Christ's Birth, and Christ's Resurrection. They were absolutely amazing, as always. Each kit was more delightful than the last. I really couldn't choose a favorite. Honestly, I feel so happy and blessed to have these wonderful resources available to my kids.

I have a lot of the things available digitally, particularly my packet on Captain Moroni (and other previous kits). If you would like a copy of my Captain Moroni FHE kit via email (and did not already get an email from me this afternoon containing this little treasure--I may not even know you, after all), leave me a comment with your email address and I'll send it to you. I'm happy to share.

Tanner Breakthroughs

This week Tanner has really kicked it into high gear with his efforts at communication. He's been signing a lot for things that he knows, and he has been trying to parrot the rest of us more and more every day. This morning he pointed to the bananas and said very clearly, "nana!" So I gave him one. He still sings "KOO-kay!" in falsetto whenever he wants a cookie. I actually hope he continues that one until college :)

Last week he started fetching clean diapers on command. I would tell him it was time to change his diaper and he would run and go fetch a clean one from his bedroom. This morning he took it to the next level: I was in my bedroom compiling the FHE kits and he came in and handed me a diaper to let ME know that he needed a fresh nappy. Sure enough, he was ripe and didn't want to sit in it. Hooray!

Details, Details...

Today we went to the flag store to pick up some American flags for the FHE kits. Often when we discuss the flag, we talk about Kinley's Uncle Jason, who is in the National Guard. We talk about how he is a soldier who fights for our freedom and our country. Lately we've also been talking about various scripture heroes who go to battle for various causes, including Captain Moroni (which is my FHE packet topic) and the many bold adventures of Nephi.

This afternoon the stories all came together just before dinner when Kinley sat Daddy down on the couch and said, "Daddy, did you know that my Uncle Jason fights? He fights for us." Then, in a hushed tone filled with awe, she added, "And a long time ago...Uncle Jason fighted for the brass plates!"

Happy Monday!

Well, we've had a pretty good day so far. We took the car into the shop (it's making a squeaky, rattling sound when it first starts). We dropped Daddy off at work, then went to visit my old friends at the ortho office. The children were as well behaved as could be expected, for which I was very grateful. Then we drove to the park by our house and let the kids get hot and sweaty, so that they would take a good nap after lunch. The naps are starting now, and I still hear chatter, so if it was a good plan, I won't know for a little while yet!

I'm feeling (slightly) better about the boundary changes this morning. A big chunk of our ward merged with a big chunk of another ward to form the Slate Canyon 15th Ward. I realize we're not the first new ward ever created in this dispensation and I'm not the first person to feel booted from a hard-fought comfort zone. It took me a really long time to feel established and comfortable in the ward we've been in, and I was happy with my little social niche. And let me be very clear: I do NOT mean my calling. I MEAN my niche, which is quite different. I was so excited to finally quit my job and be able to spend even MORE time with the sisters in the ward. I guess... they will just be different sisters??

I know that these boundary changes are always inspired and that it has potential to be a great cause for celebration. I also know things like this always involve at least SOME growing pains, weird feelings, and whatever all else. At least the two merged neighborhoods have tremendous reputations for friendliness.

Well, enough about that. We'll all survive and in three months' time likely all be much better off. That's what I keep repeating to myself anyway :)

The great FHE packet exchange is coming up on Wednesday, so that's what I'll be focusing on for now. I've made great progress (it helps when you're basically copying a kit you already have from a previous exchange). I'm not in the usual panic, but it's early yet!

Changes Continued...

Ugh.

I think I can, I think I can....

Ah....Changes...

This afternoon we get further information on the boundary reorganization of our ward and new bishoprics, etc. Speculation is that it's going to be a completely different ward. We do know that they are making 3 wards out of 2, plus adding many many from the singles ward, those who are 31 and over, whom they are asking to please attend the family wards.

So the best guess is that I'll lose half of my friends to a neighboring ward and get a whole bunch of strangers to start over with. I'm sure it will work out for the best in the end, but it doesn't have me jumping for joy. I wasn't quite ready to "start completely over" in a new ward. That's one of the reasons we've stayed in our townhouse for so long; we are so extremely comfortable in the ward.

On a positive note, I might end up holding the record for the shortest-term calling, and I'm all for being a record holder! Everything will have to be redone across the board, at least that's what we figure. Auxilliaries will be pretty decimated, depending on how they split things. Enrichment ideas have been placed on hold since we don't have any idea who will be in what callings. That will still take some weeks to find out. On another positive note: the speculation (at least regarding the boundaries) will come to an end. The neighborhood has been buzzing all week long, trying to guess what will happen. It will be nice to have the facts.

In the mean time, I'll work on getting excited, since generally I'm a great proponent of change and shaking things up. This could potentially be a very exciting and fun thing for everyone.

Are You Ready For Some FOOTBALL?????

Last night was the BYU Women's Football Clinic, which I attended with Shannan and Stacey. It was absolutely fantastic and I've already decided that I must go next year! We had so much fun. Last year 190 ladies attended. This year they had 500. I'm sure it wil continue to grow.

They gave us nice t-shirts and fed us sandwiches, chips, cake, and drinks. They allowed us to tour the locker room and the press box. Then they had us sit in the "President's Hosting" room, set up with chairs and a microphone. The Head Coach, Bronco ("isn't he so handsome") Mendenhall spoke for a while, then answered audience questions. Shannan was brave enough to stand up and shout out her question, "what is the best and hardest thing about being a head coach". This is my favorite quote from the Daily Herald this morning: "Mendenhall, in a suit as usual at this event, continues to get more comfortable in his role as coach/hunk. There's no other way to say it. Women -- married, single, young, not as young -- go wild for this guy."

This was kind of funny too, from the same article: "Ok, so the question-and-answer chat with Mendenhall had moments where it got a little Oprah-esque, and there were a few giggles and cat calls when one coach spoke of the "tight ends" on the team."

This was also true, I forgot about this: "Doman elicited a laugh when he told the moms in the crowd to keep feeding their young boys potatoes and whole milk, saying the tradition of big, strong offensive lines was the reason BYU has been so good throughout the years."

What didn't make it to the paper was when one lady stood up and started the question in a way that got an enormous laugh: "Bronco, what with you being the Lord's Coach and all...."

Anyway, I digress...after Bronco, we met all of the full-time coaches on staff. Then they had a player panel, where 5 of the starting players answered questions for the ladies. There were about 20 players in attendance, and we laughed that a few of them were purposely wearing the smallest shirts in their closet!

After the panel discussion, we all went out into the stadium and learned some of the offensive and defensive positions. Coach Brandon Doman discussed a variety of offensive positions, then turned the time over to Coach Tidwell. Tidwell talked well over my head (and apparently the heads of many other fellow-clinic attendees). I pretty much glazed over during most of his speech because I couldn't follow it at all.

Then we all headed out on to the field, where they broke us up into 6 different stations. We ran obstacle courses, practiced passing, throwing, etc. I laughed so hard; it was such a good time! At the very end, we sat in the field and watched at 12-minute clip of highlights from last season. It was a perfect ending to an absolutely fabulous night. On top of our t-shirts and dinner, we got a bag full of goodies, including a large fold-out explaining a ton of nitty-gritty football slang, terms, positions, calls, fouls, gestures, etc.

I can hardly wait for next year! And honestly, the $25 registration fee? It was worth every penny and more.




While I'm grateful that Stacey had her camera phone on hand, next year I'll be sure to bring my own camera to get some glamour shots!!

Hairspray

Last night I took Kinley on a Mommy-Daughter date to see Hairspray at the theater. Did I love the movie? ABSOLUTELY YES!! Was I glad I brought Kinley? No. There were some "unnecessaries" and some innuendos that I was glad she was too young and sheltered to catch. PG rating just isn't what it used to be!

I didn't know anything about the movie or the storyline before last night. But I loved all the music, the actors were excellent, and John Travolta in drag wasn't nearly as disturbing as I expected!

Toy Recall

Please visit the following link regarding the mass recall of toys made in China that contain lead paint. We had some in our own toy box!

BUT... fortunately mine were not actually affected because I bought mine before May 1, 2007.

http://www.service.mattel.com/us/recall/39054_IVR.asp?prod

Banishment

Holy COW, she is sassy and outrageously disobedient today. I will miss her as she spends the rest of the afternoon on the couch in the basement until Daddy comes home... and I DON'T mean watching cartoons...

Sincerely,
The Mean Mom

Barometric Changes...

My kids are being TOTAL FREAKS today.

I Gave it a Good Effort...

I had the best intentions in the world of letting her hair grow out this time. I tried valiantly to let it become "long and luxurious", but it just seemed to get scragglier, whispier, and more difficult to manage. I gave up and chopped it back up where I like it. She just looks so adorable with her little blond bob framing her sweet little pixie-face. Why mess?

Feeding Himself

This is tanner attempting to feed himself. Sadly, I don't let him do it often enough (I do so hate the mess), so he is not very gifted. In fact, I got pictures of his only attempts. After he realized he had oatmeal all over his face, he touched the mess with his fingers and got them all sticky. That put him completely over the edge and he refused to touch the spoon himself again.