Retraction

I am being forced to type a retraction. Apparently I misconstrued Chris' argument about spelling. He said, "Spelling is not as important as writing, but it is still important." There, I think that was word for word. Now he will not have to leave a nasty comment about my tendency to misconstrue and exaggerate. Well, it made for a good laugh anyway, and I'm all about the entertainment value of these posts. After all, my life needs some exaggeration, otherwise who would care to relive it with me?

BFF

My favorite commercial these days is the one about text messaging. The mom is yelling at her daughter, "Just who are you texting 200 times a day?!" and the daughter answers, "I D K, my BFF Jill?" and in subtitles at the bottom of the screen it reads: I don't know, my best friend forever, Jill? Hilarious. Seriously though, do you ever wonder where our society is headed to if all our kids grow up learning to communicate in this truncated form? What will happen to intelligent discussion and thought? Since language determines thought, will they start thinking in texting lingo? The communication breakdown continues with email. Who hasn't typed a quick note to someone, disregarding punctuation, grammar, even complete sentences? I'm guilty. For some reason we think it's acceptable, though most of us would never write a letter on paper like that. This leads me to the last discussion I had with Chris over Luke's inability to spell. He thought, as long as there is spell check, who cares? WHAT? For one thing, Luke's spelling is so bad, even spell check doesn't know what word he's trying to write, and for another, not ALL spelling is done on the computer! What about filling out job applications? Writing a personal thank you note? Don't get me started.
But I digress, the reason for this post is to acknowledge my BFF, Diana. My old friend from my days at BYU. We had a long heart to heart the other night, discussing our woes, our kids, our lives. She lives in AZ and I miss her. I have lots of good friends here though, so I'm grateful for that. I am grateful for friends! As women, we all need them. It's the first thing I set out to do when we move to a new town. I have to have friends. Someone to go get a Coke with, someone to trade kids with, someone to unload your woes upon, and in return, be unloaded upon. A shoulder to cry on, an ear to bend, a laugh to share. Yep, friends are the greatest. Here's to all my friends!!

Know what?

Chicken butt! Know why? Chicken thigh!
This is the running joke at our house, I know, we're raising intellectuals. Today, Kate came up with her own version. Know who? Chicken poo!
I thought she was being quite clever, it rhymed at least. Usually, she gives the wrong answer, as in, know what? chicken pie!
Here's one, know why? chicken sly! See her sneaking sips of my Coke?

That age old question...

What's for dinner? I actually heard myself repeating a phrase my mom used to use on us, "Food". Clever eh? Really though, am I the only one who gets sick of that question, and the inevitable groans that follow any meal that is not pizza or cereal? No wonder we have those last items at least once a week. Who can tolerate the aaawwww! I don't like that! or from Kate, "not eating that, nope nope nope!" Fine. Don't eat. Starve. We have a standing 'eat what's for dinner or go hungry' rule, and the 'kitchen is closed' rule that kicks in right after dinner. They don't want to eat, fine. But I guarantee they'll try harder tomorrow, because I don't give in.
Well, so much for not whining anymore.

A little perspective

I found a new blog yesterday after a friend emailed me an ebay listing that this mom wrote. She has 6 kids that are holy terrors from the accounts she gives. She is also a very gifted writer and you can't help but laugh your head off reading about her days. Anyway, I am not whining anymore. My 4 kids are ANGELS next to hers, and I'll take my life over hers any day. It is very entertaining reading though, and I encourage you to check it out when you feel like you just can't deal with one more kid mess!
http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/

Cease Fire!

Luke has gone to 'work' with Chris the last two days. It's been wonderful. I have not yelled or screamed since. I give him his work in the morning, he takes it, and AMAZINGLY, gets it done BY HIMSELF while Chris works. I wonder if the problem wasn't just between Luke and I. (NO! ya think?!) We don't exactly co-exist peacefully. He seems to like having a list of things to do, and getting it done while chatting with the random George Wythe student is right up his alley. When he gets back it's just normal family time, and we are good with that. Big sigh of relief. The shows over folks, everyone just move along....

Cleaning house...

Just a collage of my life's little joys. Having some fun with my computer today. Chris took Luke and Kate, Ella is napping, Tess at school. I love these quiet moments, when I can do whatever I feel like. I should be cleaning, but that is a thankless task that never ends. Frankly, my cleanliness standards are slipping, I just can't be bothered most days. I need some company so that the house will get some attention. Anyone want to come for a visit?

Astronaut Farmer

We saw this movie, with Billy Bob Thornton last night, and there were a couple of lines I found very interesting.
One was in reference to the gov't. shooting down Farmer's rocket if he launched it. The lawyer said they wouldn't dare kill him over it, and Farmer replied, "I don't know, I think they're pretty good at assassinating dreamers."
The other was Farmer trying to explain to his wife how he felt about going into space. He said something to the effect that while his family meant everything to him, if he gave up and quit on his dream, his mission, he would be letting them all down in the end.
The first is for all you conspiracy theorists, like my husband. The second, for all you dreamers, who have given up on your mission in life just to bring home a paycheck. NOT like my husband. In a perfect world, your mission, would come with a huge salary. I hope that is true for all of you. I hope you're all living your dream, AND being well compensated for it!

Really?! Take Two

****Disclaimer: This post contains very graphic descriptions. Read at your own risk.
Okay, So as usual, Tess brings Ella to me every morning so I can nurse in bed. Well today, at 6:30am when Tess came in, she said, "Ella is poopy." I noticed she was not wearing a diaper. "Did you change her?" I asked.
"No."
"Then where is her diaper?!"
Somehow, she managed to get her diaper off before Tess, half asleep, lifted her out of the crib. She wasn't wrong though, Ella WAS poopy. There were still bits of it all over her body and nightgown. UGGHH! I wiped her down, but in the wee hours and limited light, I must not have gotten it all because my bed still smelt like poop. I don't even want to think about the crib, I thought, as I lay there feeding her. I WISH I had never gotten out of bed. This is what awaited me in her crib:
HUGE mounds of poop, ground in to the sheets, peed on and soppy. The diaper, turned inside out, dripping. The 2 in. memory foam on her bed was soaked in it all. There was poop ground in to her blanket and all over her binky. Did she suck on that? I almost threw up. Literally. And I thought after 4 kids you'd seen it all.
So, How did your day start out?

Ella at the beach, take one

You gotta love blogger. They've added this new video feature, it's fantastic. We went to Quail Creek last month to jet ski with some friends. It was hot and windy and the water was yucky, but Ella had a good time eating the sand.
Here's a clip of her:

Really?!

We just finished helping our land lady clean out the basement apartment. The 32 yr. old male child that has been down there for 7 mos. was asked to leave. On top of not paying his rent for the past 3 months, he left some pretty disgusting stuff. Since we lived right above him, and since I frequently had to enter his apartment to dump unfinished loads of laundry on his couch, I know for a fact, that he NEVER cleaned the place. So this is what we found when we went down to discover the source of the disgusting smell wafting up the stairs:

1/2 tube of sausage on the counter (been there at least 5 days)
1 pot full of what last week was stroganoff, today, well you can imagine.
2 gallons of milk shoved in the closet under the stairs, along with the rest of the contents of the refrigerator, hastily emptied, molding and sliming all over the place.
3 bowls of half eaten food, weeks, maybe months old.
2 rotting apples in the bottom of the bedroom closet
1 gallon of melted ice cream left on the kitchen floor.

Now are you asking yourself, "REALLY?!" Because that's all I could think the whole time I was down there trying not to breathe. Do people really live this way? In his defense, he used to be a professional snowboarder, until he collided with a tree and almost died. Traumatic Brain Injury. We thought it only made him weird. Like he doesn't seem to understand social boundaries. All of the women he has dated since being here have had to either have the cops call him or file stalking orders against him. He just doesn't understand why he can't call a million times, or watch them through the windows from their backyards. The catch in all this? He joined the church 2 months after he moved here. How do you fellowship a person like this? We thought he was 'kooky but harmless' the first few months, but then it became apparent, he was a little scary. I was nervous when Chris was out of town. I have been really bunched up about him for the last month, hence, this post. Maybe putting it down in writing will purge the ill will from my soul. I am really trying to not let it get to me, but....REALLY?!
PS I decided NOT to post a picture of the rotting food to illustrate the point. You can all thank me later.

Only in a small town...

can you leave the keys in your motorcycle (accidentally!) overnight and all the next day, and still have your bike be there! We've been trying to sell the thing. Not that I worry about Chris, he's a good rider, and I'm of the opinion that no man is taken before his time. So, if it's his time, it could be a bike accident or a heart attack. There's no point worrying. But, winter approaches and we need the cash more than we need a bike taking up space in the garage...It's been fun for him, but, life takes $$$! Anyone interested?

I'm no Einstein...

but I sure love his quotes. This one to the right is a favorite. I wonder how my kids, or I, for that matter would measure up, if real education could be measured. Not those idiotic Iowa tests mind you, real knowledge.
So, shall we revisit the subject of home schooling? Luke and I have had a couple of bad days. (For those of you keeping track, that's 2 out of 3 now). The second day I had a meltdown when he couldn't do the ONE lesson that he was SUPPOSEDLY able to do independent. I mean really, 7 lessons, you'd think he could manage ONE without my help!It was bad. I was yelling, he was crying into his books. I felt like a heel. I took a minute to compose myself and then apologized, and we started over. The rest of the day went fine. Then there was today. We decided we'd just do lots of math today. He likes math, he's good at math. I figured he could manage pretty well on his own. So I let him take the test at the end of the lesson w/o my supervision, and let him correct it. He knows that we expect 80% or better to move on. Otherwise, he has to redo the lesson. So when I got back from shopping he told me he'd gotten 83% and he was on to the next lesson. Great! I thought. Then I decided to check his work, just for the heck of it. That's when all *@!? broke loose. Turns out he LIED to me. He flunked the test because he didn't do any of the work, just figured he could get ahead if he skipped it! Needless to say, I went ballistic. The tirade on cheating, lying and general dishonesty lasted a full 10 min. More tears, sobs really, but no sympathy this time. I was right. How did it end? He apologized, promised NEVER to cheat again, and we finished the day. PS, he got 100% on all his tests that he actually applied himself to. Big sigh* What am I going to do? At one point today he asked to be re enrolled in public school. I wanted to run right over and stick him in that minute. Any wagers on how tomorrow wil go?

In my next life...

I'd like to be a snail. Yah. Think about it, no rushing around, no 'places to go'. You wake up in the morning, say, "hmmm, I think I'll mosey on over to that rock over there." Forget about looking good, slimey is in! And, when your life gets to be too much, you just crawl back into your shell and put out the 'Do Not Disturb' sign. All crisis having passed, you ooze back out and continue on your way to that rock. Yep, I think I'd like the life of a snail.

Schools In!

Can I get a Hallelujah?! Amen! Tess' first day at school, Luke's first day of being homeschooled. Not sure if we're going to make it honestly. I was slightly alarmed when UPS dropped off SEVEN huge boxes of books and materials, half of which said, Teacher edition! What?! I thought he was going to go about his business online while I sat on the couch crocheting. Not so. Of the 7 lessons he had scheduled for today, 5 of them required Mwah. I sure hope it gets better. I was really aiming for the 'self-directed' learning here. It really only took about 3 hrs. but stretch that out over the day, we didn't finish till 2. Meanwhile, no housework or personal time happened. Ella and Kate did get fed and I managed to change the videos for Kate...hmmm, I'm seeing a problem developing here. Am I sacrificing one child for the other?

PS I can't get this photo turned, just imagine how tall the stack of books would look if it were actually vertical.

Vacations over

The kids returned home, after a 5 day stay with Grandma, sigh** All good things come to an end I guess. They were all relating the high-lights of the trip when the subject of boating came up. They all went out on the Lake, and the kids got rides in the tubes, you know, the kind you pull behind a boat. Most people probably use them for fun, but my brother Ryan is a little sadistic when it comes to them. Trying to get the riders catapulted into the air is his goal as driver of the boat. You'd think that he'd have slowed down a bit for his 4 yr. old twins and my 3 yr. old daughter, but no such mercy. She related to me, in her own words, the horrible experience. "Mom, I was just feaking out!" Even a hysterical 3 yr. old didn't soften up 'ole Uncle Rynee. Wish I'd have been there to witness it.

My mom

Is the greatest mom. I personally think it isn't possible to fully appreciate ones mother until you have 'been there, and done that'. I am constantly amazed at how each child, and each passing year of motherhood causes me to catch a glimpse of the sacrifices she's made for me. She was a wonderful mother, and now, she's going for the Grandma of the year award! Not only does she start College funds for all her grandkids, she PLAYS with them! My kids love to visit her house. She keeps all the sugar snacks that WE were NEVER allowed to have, in abundance. The house has more toys now than when I was growing up! And she is always taking them to the movies, or the children's museums, or Lagoon. Not to mention, every family vacation we've taken the last 5 yrs. has been on her! Yep, she's the 'bomb'.

The reason this blog is going up is because she's saved me again. Just when I thought I'd have to start up with the anti-depressants, or have a nervous breakdown, she saved me. She's had the kids for 5 days. 5 whole days of a purely selfish existence. Chris and I feel like we've died and gone to heaven. Don't get me wrong, we love the kids, but it's 24/7, and you never get a break. My hat goes off to single parents. I couldn't do it. I know it's hard on her, but I just couldn't decline. I NEEDED this break, so mom, THANK YOU! I guess this proves that motherhood never ends, it just grows.


Not afraid to get 'down & chalky'


Continuing the tradition she started when I was
a kid, making gingerbread houses at Christmas time.

15 YEARS!!

Then...
and now

Today I am going to break out that old wedding video and relive the happiest day of my life. There have been highs and lows since then, but we are still going strong, and I am proud to say, our marriage has never been better! We may even have acheived marital nirvana! Not that it's always been so, learning to love and accept each other warts and all has been a process. A long process, but so worth all the hard work and energy expended.
I often wonder what would my life be like if I had married that 'other guy'? The one mom and dad liked. And how would Chris' life have be different if he'd married his high school sweetheart? Would we both be as happy? I doubt it. We would both have married our same selves, whereas Chris and I are opposites. That has made all the difference. His strength of character, his ability to love unconditionally, his patience and forgiving nature all balance out my type A-RED personality. I hope I have offered as much to the partnership as he has, but I doubt it.
Here's a short list of all our accomplishments in 15 short years:
Chris became a successful entrepenuer, starting several businesses, and one charter school.
He FINALLY graduated! BA, Magna cum laude, George Wythe College
I graduated w/ my BS from BYU
We had 4 children, one of them at home, and Chris didn't even puke or pass out!
We moved 12 times (I am an expert mover) in 3 different states, UT, NM, NV
And our biggest accomplishment, learning to love each other unconditionally!
Who knows what the next 15 years holds for us? I'm just grateful to know that where ever life takes me, my best friend is coming too!

Trouble-pot-pie

This is what greeted me today when I finally looked up from my web surfing to see what all the clatter was! Ella has officially moved into the 'seek and destroy' phase. Last week she single-handedly emptied my bookshelves, all the magazines off the coffee table, all the videos out of the cabinet, all the tupperware lids out of the drawer, and all the piano books from their space. ARGH! She thinks it's funny to chuck things, I swear she's going for some sort of speed record. I can just hear her thinking, "I bet I can get all these books off the shelves and onto the floor in 2.6 seconds, anyone got a timer? ready go!" She laughs hysterically as you scold her, and now has started shaking her finger at me when I say, 'no no!' Time to get out the baby proofing latches. At least she's given up eating the dirt out of my plants!

On being a mother...

This is a quote from my cousin, mother of 5, very insightful. I thought it was so good, I want to have a record of it for myself in this 'online journal'.
"what are the requisites of being a mother?.....not someone with the capability of bearing children, but one that nurtures children? Here's what I'm thinking. Patience. The ability to give of one's self. A heart that never stops overflowing. Ingenuity. Common sense. Self preservation. Intuition. Imagination. Control. Self respect. The ability to forgive and ask for forgiveness in return."
She also said leadership. I totally agree, heaven help the mom trying to get 4 kids to church by 9am w/o some leadership skills! Not to mention organization skills and the ability to multi-task! Yes, this definition helps out with my current identity crisis quite a bit. For one thing, it says more than just Mom.
I have been pouring over the online catalog for BYU's education week all this past week. I haven't registered yet, I'm not sure Ella will be weaned in time, but I'm DYING to go. I have felt a real need to 'recharge', must be the summer break. All kids, ALL the time! Anyway, there are tons of classes on parenting and marriage, and I feel a little tinge of guilt as I admit to myself, I don't want to hear about how to be a better wife and mother! I just want to learn something new for a change! The classes on the top of my list are: square foot gardening, Islam, ballroom dancing, investing, and stress relief to name a few. Oh okay, I threw in one on parenting just to be safe. Maybe that's what is at the heart of this conflict I'm having. Since the only thing I can identify myself with right now is 'wife and mother', I should at least be good at that right? I'm not even close, I need a whole class devoted to patience! Definitely my biggest failing. Sigh* Well, we all have our weaknesses. I'm yelling at my kids to leave me alone even now as I write this! Ha! It's not working, so I guess I'll just post and attend to them...
(Oh, I added the Halloween picture to emphasize my state of mind right now. Ever felt like a big 'ole sow? That's about where I'm at right now.)

Milk from a Cow

We've started buying our milk fresh, yep, straight from the cow. Why? you say. Well, I'll tell you,
1. It's cheaper. Really, $2.50/gallon vs. $3.00 in the store.
2. I read something about how people with milk allergies/lactose intolerance do better when the milk is not pasteurized (kills all the digestive enzymes) Lactose intolerance and allergies run in my family.
3. Why not? We live in Cedar City UT!! I only have to drive 10 min. to a farm where the milk is labeled by am or pm. That's when it was squeezed from the cow.
So my kids get a real kick out of this new milk thing. Luke told one of his friends to come in and have a glass of REAL COW milk. Ha! Do kids these days think milk just originates in the store!?
As an added bonus, with fresh milk, you get...the cream! Thick yummy cream. We actually made our own butter today. I know! Who am I? It's all part of the identity crisis I'm going through I think. But it was quite fun. You know what the by-product of butter is? BUTTERMILK!! Who knew?! Tomorrow I'm going to make buttermilk whole wheat bread. Yep, I broke out my wheat grinder, and I am now making use of my new Bosch mixer (thought I was going to do it by hand didn't you?).
I tell you what, when society falls into chaos, you can all just come here. We'll have bread, butter, milk and oh yeah! Fresh eggs! My neighbors have chickens in the back yard!
How hilarious is my life? Call me crazy, but I'm LOVING it!!

Zuccini

The garden is starting to spew zuccini. If you garden, you know, ONE plant is all you need! Last year we had 6 to begin with, and as they kept getting bigger and bigger, I yanked them all out one by one, till there was just one left. Of course we still had too much. My freezer is still full of shredded zuccini. Waiting for the day when I get the urge to make zuccini bread. I do have one good recipe that calls for zuccini, so I thought I'd share it with those of you who also have too much of a good thing.

Armenian Chicken

2 lbs. chicken or lamb
1 large or 2 small zuccini
Marinade:
1/2 c. olive or salad oil
1/4 c. lemon juice (fresh is best, double if you love lemon)
1/2 t. each salt, thyme, marjoram
1/4 t. pepper
2 garlic cloves chopped fine
1/2 c. chopped red onion
2 T. parsley
This dish can be baked or grilled, so cut up your chicken/zuccini accordingly.
Bake in a 9x13 @ 350* for 20-30 min, just till chicken is no longer pink OR grill on the barbee till done. Voila!

the last peice

of fudge...this little guy is all that remains of a 9x13 pan of the worlds best fudge. Really, it's the best. I ate only about half this time, I always try to give it away before I succumb to the temptation of devouring the whole pan myself. Here's the recipe, for all you fellow choc-0-holics.
2 c. heavy cream (okay, you can use half & half, but I don't see the point)
4 c. sugar
mix in a large pot, and cook over medium high heat till it reaches soft-ball stage,
about 20 min, stirring constantly. (that's 238* on your candy thermometer)
remove from heat and add:
3 jumbo chocolate bars of your choice, dark or light (I use Hersheys Symphony)
2 cubes of butter(real butter, no substitutes, come on, live a little!)
I always cut up my butter and break up the chocolate bars, so they melt faster. Stir stir stir and when it's all smooth and consistent, pour into a greased 9x13. Put it in the fridge to cool and just try to stay out of it till it's done!
Yeah, it's not exactly low fat. If I eat too much I get the runs. But it's so creamy it melts in your mouth. Come on, I know you want to try it!

Addictions

I confess. I am an addict. Caffeine you may say? No, sugar, or more accurately, high fructose corn syrup. The silent killer if you want my opinion. Did you know that HFCS actually 'tricks' your body into thinking it's NOT full, so you keep eating? It's killing Americans, and me. I can switch to caf-free no problem, I choose not too, but I must have the sugar. It has pretty much taken the place of my first two meals every day. Good thing Ella is on her way to weaning. I'm afraid I'm not a very good source of nutrition anymore. Chris finally gave up his Mountain Dews, in exchange for Mate (pronounce Ma-tay, it's a south american tea) . I tried, but to no avail. Here's the thing, I live in a pretty small place. 30,000 people when SUU is in session. There's not a lot to do, and we live so close to everything, that I don't really even carpool my kids anywhere, they ride their bikes. So my life is pretty slow. Some days, the only thing that gets me out of the house, albeit for 5 min., is my ritual of going to the gas station. Drive-up window of course, I can't be bothered to 'pump it' myself. (Besides, I'd have to change out of my slippers) I have my little 'frequent filler' card, and for 60 cents a day, I have a built-in outing. Sad, pathetic, I know, but if I were to give up Coke, what would I do to get out of the house?

Ella's collage

I was just going through my photo files, and came across this collage I made from photos of Ella when she was a newborn. I love the picassa photo program! Now aren't these just the sweetest pictures of her little nose, and little toes, yum! I just want to eat her up! I've decided I'm a baby mom. Some mom's can't wait for their kids to hit 3 or so, but not me. I love my babies! I wish they'd stay little forever. They don't talk back, throw tantrums or scream, "I HATE YOU!" (I've only had one child say that to me, any guesses as to which one?) Yep, I love my kids under 3, after that, I want to ship them off to be raised by someone else some days, most days, well, it depends on which child we're talking about. Chris and I were discussing each of our 4 last night. Their strengths, personalities and temperaments. I am constantly amazed at how 4 kids raised in the same house, by the same parents, seemingly treated the same, could be sooo different. It makes me take sides with the 'nature' side vs. nurture. We are each such unique beings, and we come to earth with those traits already ingrained in us. No amount of reasoning can change Kate's mind, and yet Tess and Luke are very reasonable. Tess is also quite easy going, but gets her feelings hurt easily. Kate could care less what you think or say to her. Luke cares about everyone's feelings and worries about all the widows on our street. Tess just wants the candy they give when she visits. They all contribute so much to our family, and we're so blessed and happy to have them here, despite the daily grind, I just love my kids! Now if only I could wrap my brain around having the last one...

New Shoes!

They finally came! My new Chaco's! The wait has been long, and the drama just to get them ordered was ridiculous, but it's all worth it if it means I can sleep at night w/o my feet aching. Now I just feel ready to go 'hike' something! Um, on second thought, maybe not, I'm not in very good shape. Flexi, from yoga, but not exactly 'fit'. All in good time though, and now that I can walk w/o pain, I'm on my way!

Projects #329 & #330

Are done! These are the latest round of gifts for the new babies expected this fall in the Nakaya clan. Blanket for my sister's baby boy and Blessing dress for my brothers baby girl. Now I'm going back to working on Luke's blanket, a project which is 2 yrs in the runnin. I've decided it's just too big a project, and I lose interest fast. Baby booties, bonnets, blankets; these are the projects I can really sink my teeth into, and not have to neglect my family for too long in the process. The dress took me about 10hrs, the blanket, 4x that. And Brooke, if you don't like the blue border, you can pull it off. I left the strings out just in case.

Tub time reminder

A sad thing happened the other week, a local 9mo. old baby drowned in her bath tub, while her mom stepped away for a minute. She was in the tub with her 3 yr. old sister. I have to admit, I have left Ella in the tub with the 2 other girls, I've felt confidant that Tess could handle any emergency, but you never know. Since then we have switched to the sink, except that she can climb out! Just a reminder, nothing is more important than your child's life.