Happy Birthday Mom!

For the past few years, it seems that my mom has been reflecting more and more on her mom. She admires how energetic my grandma was when she came to visit, or how helpful she was when my mom had her babies. She remarks at how Grandma remembered to send a card for every single birthday and holiday (with a $20 in it, that was the best). I think my mom is at an age where she is really identifying with her mom. And over the years as Grandma has become elderly and less healthy, my mom's role has evolved into a nurturer for her mother. My mom now frequently calls her and their conversations are about Grandma's cat, Becky, and how the lastest Wheel of Fortune was, when her next nail appointment is and if she's eating good......things in HER world, which is becoming smaller than it used to be. My mom loves when she calls and it's a "good day" for Grandma.

I always try to explain to my mom that the way she unconditionally loves, admires, is concerned for her mother is the SAME way that I (we) feel about HER. She is absolutely the biggest role model in my life. The person she is and the things she has taught me are completely weaved through me and are the foundation for the life I live. But I don't think its easy for her to "get it". That I love her like she loves her mom.....and I understand that it's a hard concept because it's hard for me to grasp that I am MOM to my kids the way MY mom is to me. It's an amazing thing and I am so thankful to be my mom's daughter.

Last night it was P-A-R-T-Y time to celebrate. Of course we had divine BBQ by "Master Mike" and I made a yummy chocolate cake (which is all my mom truly wants for dinner anyway). It was lots of fun (and we missed you Kristy, Carly and Alyson)! And tonight I think Lindy and I have convinced mom to go to the movies with us. We want to see Hairspray. I honestly don't know if I've been to a movie with my mom in the past 20 years ~ so this could be BIG!

Anyway, the point of all my ramblings is to say:

MoTHeR - HAPPY BIRTHDAY and I LOVE YOU!

A Lesson Re-Learned (and re-learned, and re-learned)

Whew, it's been a long week. Tucker's been gone all week with the scouts on a trip to Zion's. Which means it's been a-week-with-no-break for yours truly. This morning I drug myself and the three kids out in the 100 degree heat to swim at a friends house. And not with the best attitude, I might add. Sort of like "this is better than sitting at home" attitude.

Anyway, on to my lesson learned. So, Jordyn has been wanting to have her friend Tori over for a play date, and since Tori was swmming with us, I told her mom why don't I just take her home with us. She said "sure" but that she's been having a hard few weeks and would I mind if she came over for a while with all three of her kids. Admittedly, I was feeling 10000% drained and not completely social. But I sensed she needed it so I said "sure".

[I promise I'm getting to the point] So they all came over for a few hours, fed all our [6] kids, etc. Julie decided to leave around 3 o'clock, but asked if the two oldest (2 and 4) could stay to play. Tired, but realizing what the heck else am I going to do, I said yes. A couple hours later she called, and I assumed she was on her way to pick them up. But instead she said that she had been at the chiropractor with her husband, and that his back had taken a turn for the worse and they needed to go to the emergency room...and can she bring her youngest (18 months) over too? Wow.

So, I ordered pizza, we baked cookies, and now it's 10:00 o'clock pm and they will be here easily till midnight. All 6 children have been exceptionally good. But it's STILL 6 children, ages 5 and under! The good news is that my negative attitude has taken a turn for the better and my inward pity party has been stopped because [here's the lesson re-learned over and over] I SERVED someone in need. I am doing something to help a friend, and THAT is the number one thing that always helps me stop focusing on "poor me" or "tired me" or "whatever me".

The question is, why is it so easy to forget a lesson learned, and why are we stubborn enough to have to learn things over and over and over? To serve another is to be Christlike, and that is something that will bring true joy. So......I'm glad I was able to serve Julie today, I'm glad my attitude changed..........and I'm especially GLAD Tucker will be home tomorrow!

Road Trip!

I sort of went "back in time" the past couple of days. It reminded me of when I moved off to college 12 (gulp) years ago. My mom asked me to drive with Kristy to UT for the BIG move! She offered to watch the girls if I would do the dreaded drive (thanks a million to mom, lindy and beth for making it happen). I said "sure"!

It was a fun (and short) little road trip! Kristy is staying with Katie for a month until her apartment opens up. We were able to tour her apartment complex and her beauty school and they were both AWESOME! I had a few hours to spare to get Kristy situated, then flew back home to my kiddos!

I will miss having Kristy near by - A TON - we all will. But I know that she is going to have a blast and have the most wonderful experiences. Better keep blogging Kristy, we'll want to hear about it all! Love ya!

I didn't think it would be as exciting

I really didn't. I thought by the third time around, it would be sort of old news when the baby says first words, or crawls or eats. I thought it may be a little more like "whew, finally. Now you can keep up with your sisters" or something like that. But I couldn't have been more wrong. It's amazingly satisfying and exciting - every single new thing that Peyton does just melts my heart. Being a parent is a funny thing because you think there is NO way another child has ever done something as SMART, as CUTE or as AMAZING as what your child just did. There is just no way! But, alas, each parent feels this way...and so they should!

Peyton finally points to her nose!! Now, this may sound simple to you, but to me it felt earth shattering!! Andyou have to realize we've been working on this every single day for MONTHS and she DID IT! I was so happy I could have probably floated on air! It is the cutest thing - I actually got it on camera.

I also have to re-iterate that Signing Time works! Peyton did her first sign the other day (almost 9 months). She did "more". It's her own little interpretation of the word, but that is definitely what she is doing. I love it!

Water Snobs

Tucker and I are what you could call "water snobs". We drink bottled water. We have for years. On occasion, I'll try to drink tap water, and I just can't make myself drink 1/2 as much. Sometimes I feel silly paying money for water, but it just tastes SO much better. We have the 5 gallon water dispenser/cooler in our kitchen.

I just watched a tiny clip from The Today Show. They had some professional wine tasters do a taste test on lots of different waters. Do you know which one they rated the best tasting? Salt Lake City tap water! No wonder I don't mind the tap water in UT. It's always ice cold and crisp out of the faucet.

And do you like the new look of the blog? Thanks a million to Tiff's mom, Gail, for doing a photo session with us (the pics up top are just a few). She got some GREAT pics that I will be framing on my wall ASAP.

Toes in the Ocean

Last weekend we took a day-trip to the coast. It's a little over two hours to get there - we played at Avila beach all day, then (of course!) ate at Splash in Pismo. Yum. We had lots of fun with our family-friends Beth, Dane & kids, and Kandelyn, Rich & kids.

This was Peyton's 2nd trip to the beach, but her first time putting her cute little toes in the ocean! Not a single bit of her cared that the water was freezing - she is totally obsessed with water of any kind.

The Thoughts I Think

Today I was at Costco (not an uncommon thing).


I was standing in front of the peanut butter. [First, you must know that I tend to turn small decisions into big, time consuming decisions]. Organic or Regular? Regular or Organic?

Such a HUGE decision, as you are aware. Now, I wouldn't consider myself a health FREAK, but I do err on the side of healthy when possible. The main difference in Organic vs. Regular peanut butter is Palm Oil vs. Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil.


The other difference is that my kids don't like the Organic. And I figure, would I rather their sandwich be healthy but not in their tummies? Or not-as-healthy but IN their tummies? Hmmmm.
Today I bought the Regular peanut butter. I figure the ounce of peanut butter they have 1-2 times per week won't shed years off their life. But who knows? Next time I need peanut butter, and I'm making that critical decision....I may choose Organic? Depends on my mood.


And those are the (important) thoughts I think.

Raw is N-A-S-T-Y!

The other day, I drove through Sonic. I don't love Sonic, but between 2-5 pm their drinks are 1/2 off, so I grabbed myself a big ol' diet cherry vanilla coke, and the kids got a slush. I also got a chicken strip wrap.


I got home, unloaded the kids, got them situated and proceeded to take a big bite of my wrap. I immediately noticed that something was NOT right. It had a strange texture. I pulled the wrap away from my mouth and, to my horror, this is what i saw:





Isn't that so sick? Completely RAW chicken strip. The outside was cooked, but the inside was totally raw. Ugh. I was SO grossed out.


But I will say, in this case, it helps that we are in the food service business, because Tucker is consantly talking about what type of chicken strips, chicken breast, fried chicken, etc. that our company is using. He's talked quite a bit about the pros and cons of using pre-cooked breaded chicken vs. raw breaded chicken.....otherwise I wouldn't have even THOUGHT that there was such a thing as raw breaded chicken!


The story ended on a positive note. I called the manager - mostly to warn him - and he was VERY apologetic, he got my address and sent me out a coupon for a free meal. So, the moral to my story? Always check your chicken. It's one thing to like raw beef (Tucker likes his steaks moo-ing) but raw chicken is just N-A-S-T-Y.

Friends, Faces and Fun

FRIENDS

Peyton and Paxton are not only going to be cousins, but good friends. I just have a feeling...and I also can't explain HOW excited Peyton gets when she sees him. It's like "FINALLY you're here to play!". So cute.

FACES

We have been getting such a laugh from the pucker faces Peyton makes when she eats fruit. I've been peeling peaches and giving them to her (which she LOVES) and every single bite results in a funny face. Speaking of faces....you may notice she's quite red from her nose to her forehead. We went to the beach on Saturday (I will post when I get the pics from Beth) and I put sunscreen everywhere but where her hat was....and then I forgot when the hat came off to re-apply. How guilty I feel as a Mom! In my behalf, we did stay under the umbrella almost the whole time. Her glowing white skin just couldn't take it, I guess.

FUN

The other day, the girls were really quiet (aka: not fighting) for a while. When I found them, this is what I saw. I love when they get into great imaginary play.

Flashback Friday

I thought was only appropriate do to this photo for flashback friday today, given the funeral Tucker attended last weekend. This is Grandma Shirl and Tucker, maybe in 1974 or so.


The funeral was for Tucker's Uncle Dev, who died at the young age of 51. He had a long battle with cancer in which he fought quite hard. Dev is Tucker Mom Judy's younger brother. Judy also passed away when Tucker was 13, so over 20 years ago. So Grandma Shirl has seen the passing of two children - which, to my mortal mind, always feels not quite how it should be.

Tucker, Neal (great wind blown hair-do), Maren and Grandma Shirl in front of "our cabin"
Tucker was so glad he could attend the funeral and spend time with his family. They were able to spend time in Bear Lake, which is an extra special place for the family. They practically grew up in Bear Lake and Grandma Shirl & Grandpa Milt still spend every summer in their cabin there.

Tucker with his cousin Monette (on HIS right) and her husband (our buff friend, cousin-in-law and former boss!) Don with their cute girls Brandy and Danielle, and Neal. Beautiful Bear Lake is in the background....it usually is SOOOO blue, but this was an overcast day.

Immunization Shots - YUCK

Peyton and Dr. Saigal

I guess I've never seriously considered NOT immunizing because I'd feel horrible if my child ended up dying of a disease I could have prevented. But every time "shots" roll around, I sort of contemplate NOT doing it. I tend to be behind on shots because I dread it. So, today Pey got the dreaded shots, her 6 month checkup (even though she's 8 1/2 months.....how the heck is she 8 1/2 months old?). She did good, its just always a little sad to see them experience unexpected and unexplainable pain. One minute the cute nurse is cooing at her and getting big smiles out of her....and the next this cute nurse is HURTING her. Through the tears, Peyton sort of looked at her like "how could you do that to me?". That part of being a pediatric nurse would suck.

Oh, and Pey is 24 lbs 14 oz. Doctor always laughs a little when he says it. Although she's still off the charts, she has definitely slowed down in the growth department because 4 months ago she was only 3 lbs lighter.

Pey was entertained by her hemoglobin test band aid.....until she managed to eat it off her finger

I think today will be my last day wearing fun, big earrings for a while....because they're not so fun when pulled out of your ear

It's 11:37 pm

and I'm tired. Naturally, you would think I'd get to bed (since I do have three early-rising children). But no, instead I'm letting my natural-late-night-self take over and take me to other people's blogs, the writers of whom I do no know, but are fun to read. Funny how addicting that can be. I love my little laptop, but sometimes it can get me into a lot of trouble. Not like "that" kind of trouble... it's just that it's dangerous for a curious mind like mine to be able to google any subject in the universe and get an answer...or at least an opinion. It can also cause me to spend unnecessary money because it takes NO effort. But it's fun and I deserve some fun, right?

Note to self: *email Karli in the morning and ask her who this person is, from her site, who's blog I've been stalking*

it's 11:43 and I'm really shutting down my laptop now. Good night!

Individuals

Dang, I've sure been on a blog roll lately. Some of my non-blogging friends say "how do you have the time, I coudn't do it". And to that I say, YES YOU CAN! I literally spend 5 minutes on each entry, if that. Now, the time it takes to KEEP UP on everyones blogs depends on how obsessed you are....and how many strangers blogs you drill into! ha ha

Anyway, back to my point. My girls are all so individual. These pics capture it great:

Jordyn will kill me for this someday. But this pic is great because this is the EXACT face she loves to give Peyton lately to make her laugh. And it really does make Peyton laugh every time. And, seriously, how could it not?

Lexi's motto in life has always been "I CAN DO IT MYSELF". This is a classic example. I love this pic because at first glance, it's sort of like a "where's waldo" book.

I don't want to sound extreme, but I almost feel like I would die without the Signing Time dvds. I can't say enough about them. Peyton continues to LOVE them and they are the only thing that distract her from me! She is obsessed.

Grand-Mother Hen and the Grandchicks

Look how cute my mom is with all 6 of her grandbabies (ages 0-6) in a row. She's like a Grand-Mother Hen with all her chicks! :-)

Melinda's Wedding

I was so glad I was able to go to Melinda and Mark's wedding yesterday. With a sister giving birth, a sister moving and a husband at a funeral....I started to wonder if it would work out. But it did. Melinda and I have been friends since 5th grade. We've seen eachother very sporadically in the past few years, but we sure do have many great "growing up" memories together!

Melinda looked incredible and everything was beautiful. It was so fun to spend time with old friends who I don't get to see much anymore. Peyton came with me on a quick day trip to Palo Alto and back. Tucker is out of town for his Uncle Dev's funeral (I'll post pics and more about that when he gets back), so I arranged babysitters for Jordyn and Lexi...and Peyton was my date to the wedding!

(me, Jammie, Melinda and Mark, Shana, Becky)

(below: me, Shana, Derek, Wes, Jammie, Jodi, Paula [yay, Paula it's your blog debut, haha], Russel and Becky)

(Peyton was a great date! She was quite good for a newly crawling 8 month old!)

(Russel and Derek took care of Peyton while I got to 'tear it up' on the dance floor with the girls ;-)

Alyson

We've sure enjoyed having Alyson here for the past two weeks. The cousins have had some great bonding time and made lots of memories! We've had quite the fun times - with swim lessons, dance class, birthday parties, playdates, spent time at Grandma's and had lots of sleepovers. And I think the girls have worn swimsuits 90% of the time! Alyson made great strides with the pool too - she went from not leaving the step of the swimming pool, to swimming around without any help at all! We'll miss not seeing Carly and Alyson quite as often since they are moving to UT!

Nutella

If you have tried Nutella, you probably love it. If you have not tried Nutella, you need to run out and get it right now! I LOVE Nutella SO much. Yu-um, it is just a perfect chocolatey treat. I love it all by itself, or on anything (bananas, crackers, bread), but my favorite is to dip the stick pretzels in it. I try not to buy it too often because I know I will make twice as many trips to the snack cupboard! You can buy it anywhere, like Target, grocery store, etc., it's usually by the peanut butter.

(by the way, Lindy is doing well -tired and worn out- but she and Paxton are coming home Sat)

Paxton is Here!

At this point (2 am) I'll be tired tomorrow anyway, so I figure what's a few more minutes to post these pics? It was a long and good day. All is well with Lindy! Baby Paxton finally arrived at 10:07 pm!!!!! He was bigger than any of our guesses....weighing in at.......

****** 10 lbs 1 oz *******

NO JOKE! My mom was so proud of Lindy (since Lindy was my mom's biggest at 10 lbs 12 oz). We were shocked! He already has baby rolls and chub and the nurse said she needed to find a bigger shirt to put on him! He is so cute and looks so much like Lyric. Lindy labored for a long time, but only had to push through 7 contractions (I say "only" lightly). She did great and is quite tired now. Not that she'll sleep much tonight. But we are so happy he is here! He has lots of dark curly hair, and he was 21.5 inches long. Here are just a couple pics for now. I love the first one - it captures how Lindy felt most of the day!

This n That

We had a fun and relaxing 4th of July. It's always a welcomed change for me when Tucker gets to be home with us, so today was a 'hang out at home' day. Then this evening we spent time at two friends' houses (Rosa & Keith L. then Jim and Joanne S.) with lots of swimming, food and fireworks. The kids loved every second of it - I, on the other hand, was trying to fight off my natural anti-social desire to stay home in the peace & quiet and let Tucker take the girls. I ended up enjoying myself more than I'd thought (once the 107 degree weather died down).

Tomorrow is the big day for Lindy and Mike! Lindy has asked if I can go to the hospital and be the photographer (before and after, not during!). Exciting day! I'll be sure and post some pics.

I got a new camera. Ours was dying, so I found a good deal (where else but amazon.com?) on a Kodak Easyshare Z612. I really wanted to get a fun, cool one...but I read that its not worth it unless you're going to invest the time into learning how to use it. The article said if you are mostly an "auto mode" type person, it may not be worth your money yet - which at this point, I am usually throw-it-in-the-diaper-bag-then-use-on-auto-mode type gal. It seems nicer than I'd thought; it has a 12x optical zoom, which was better than some others (Karli, is that even good?). Anyway, I like it mostly because I can finally take up close pics. Here are some cute ones of Peyton that I didn't even have to crop, it just took them this close and good.

Speaking of Peyton, have I mentioned what a sweet baby she is and how I could just eat her up? Her temperment was obvious the minute she was born, literally. She has been calm, happy and good-natured ever since. She is absolutely a light to my days. Not to say I don't love my other girls, but there is just something so pure and sweet about a baby. I just genuinely love spending time with her. She is FINALLY beginning to crawl (8 months, my kids are never in a hurry), and it makes me a little sad because it means she's officially getting older. I feel SO blessed to have these three beautiful, happy, energetic, sometimes quite exhausting, sweet girls.

Speaking of exhausting....that would describe life lately. And I'm trying to gear up for the next couple days.....we have a wedding, a birth and a funeral all within 48 hours. But that's for another post, another day ;-)