Today

Things I love today:

My girls playing "school" out back in the beautiful 70 degree weather.

As always, Jordyn is the teacher

Who doesn't love the fall leaves? The colors are breathtaking!

I love our lemon tree! Look at these beautiful lemons!

And I love this cute little baby trying to pick the lemons.

Peyton really watches her big sisters! I looked over at her today and this is what she did all by herself! Purse on arm and baby in hand.

Things I DON'T love today:

The barren trees, like this crepe myrtle. It used to have such vibrant colors all over it!

Senior Citizen

I cannot believe that the age of 55 is when people start to get "senior citizen" discount. Because that would mean that my Dad is now a Senior Citizen!

No way! 55 is young!

Yesterday we had a birthday party for Dad. He's a Veteran's Day baby.

For his gift, we had a big banner made for him to hang in the garage (a.k.a. Family Gym). He's got a sweet set up out there that Tucker utilizes 4 mornings a week! My dad has been into working out ever since I can remember. And he's still going strong!

Happy 55th Dad! I love you!

14 Hours and a Story

So yesterday was a ROAD TRIP day! 7 hours of driving, then 7 hours of visiting..........and it was completely worth it.

Here's the story:

Lindy and I (along with baby Paxton) drove down to Anaheim for the day to visit our [maternal] Grandma. I've been thinking of her extra lately and really felt an urge for a visit. Left the kids at home with Tucker (thanks hun!) so as not to overwhelm Grandma.

Grandma was in good spirits and happy to see us.

I LOVE to go to her house. She's lived there for over 40 years, so her house is a huge part of my life.

Grandma is the queen of silly faces.

After we arrived, we chatted for a while. I showed her some pictures and blogs, which she loved.

Grandma could not believe how many pictures I was taking. She was trying to hide.

She's kept saying "are you taking MORE pictures?"

She finally said "fine. take all the pictures you want!" and started shaking her booty at me. I'm totally serious.

When I could tell Grandma's blood sugar was running low, we packed up and headed for Marie Callendar's. She had collected 6 pie tins from over the years, and we took them with us to get the $ .50 return credit per tin!

On the drive, I put in one of her CD's (which my mother gave her). It was Bette Midler singing Rosemary Clooney songs, which she LOVED. She got so into it, she was dancing and singing. One song in particular "This Ole House" she was tapping her hands to the beat and really getting into it.

Lunch was so yummy. Although I think we were all full after the just the yummy cornbread (especially Grandma's small stomach)!

"Hmmm, which pie do you want Grandma?". She finally decided on the Chocolate Silk.

We dug into the pie when we got back to her house. "Open wide!". This picture is fun and it was actually Grandma's idea. She loved the pie so much, and she actually sprayed even more whipped cream on top!

The funniest part. I walked over as she was cutting up the pie ad noticed lots of the chocolate crust all over the counter. She was picking it off the pie, so I said "Grandma, what are you doing?". She said "well, they gave me a pie with burnt crust! I don't want this burnt stuff!!". I started laughing so hard and explained to her it was OREO crust! Oh, she laughed about that the rest of the day.

Grandma and Lindy

Grandma couldn't get enough of BIG Paxton. She snuggled and kissed him.

See what I mean about silly faces! I can hardly get a serious pic of her!

I took a few pictures of things I love about and around Grandma's house. Things that have ALWAYS been there, but as I get older I realize they won't always BE there......................................................

Grandma has a green thumb. Every time I have visited in my life, she talks about her flowers, or her tomato plants or her trees. This is her little nursery out back. In fact, I have a little palm tree in a pot on my front porch, which she broke off one of her palms and gave me last year.

Grandma has ALWAYS had ice cream in her fridge. ALWAYS. Now she is really into Dibs and usually has three cartons at once. When I was little, there was usually Neopolitan. I never understood this because I thought "why would you pick strawberry or vanilla when you could have chocolate?"

These scissors have hung in this scissor-holder on the wall in the kitchen for as long as I can remember. I've never seen anything like this anywhere else, but it sure comes in handy!

This Dixiecup dispenser is at least 30 years old. I has ALWAYS had cups in it and when we were little, Grandma and Andy would constantly say "don't leave all your cups all over the place! try to only use one and put your name on it!". I'm sure, as kids, we'd go through 10 a day each! She'd always buy fun Disney ones for us. I love that she still has this.

This is her living room window, from the outside. What a unique window! Again, this has been there my whole life and it is such a signature part of Grandma's house. I wish I could take it with me when she's gone!

This bench has also been on her front porch for as long as I can rememeber. I can VAGUELY remember it not being there, so it's probably been over 20 years. Andy (my "step" grandpa...married to my Grandma since I was born....who passed away 5 years ago last month) brought it home from one of the schools he was a custodian at and he spent 70% of his life here! He'd sit there and smoke his cigarrettes, talk to all the neighbors and watch the grandkids go in and out. I still see him sitting here in my mind as clear as if it were real.

Oh my gosh. This curling iron. It belongs to my Aunt Kelly, who is 10 years older than me. I remember being little and seeing her curl her pretty long blonde hair with this CORDLESS curling iron. I though it was so cool! It has a outlet in back that she'd plug it in and warm it up, then she'd sit on her bed and curl her hair. It is at least 20 years old.

And her front door. Yet another thing that's been this way (even with the bells hanging) for "as long as I can remember!". I love the stained glass, it's so unique.

And finally, here's Becky. She's probably 7 years old. She is my Grandma's constant companion. I am so happy she has Becky. Andy adopted Becky not too long before he died, and thank goodness he did.



My grandma is a strong soul. She is a giving, loving, nurturing person. She has 6 children, she is the oldest of 11 children. She has taught me so much. It's hard to see her aging and changing. She will be 80 next year. I have so much love and respect for her. It was so great to spend a few fun and happy hours with her. It has become much too few and far between.

I LOVE YOU GRANDMA!

Flashback Friday

This was 7th grade.

The story: In 6th grade (which was jr. high), my friends and I decided to try out for cheerleading, for the following school year.



I was devastated when my friends made it and I did not.



I walked home - crying the whole mile. My mom felt so bad, she caved in on her steadfast rule of "you can get your ears pierced when you're 12". I was still 11. I have to admit, it did make me feel better.



Anyway, as the story goes, they decided to have me be mascot that year since I didn't make cheerleader. That was fun because I got to be with my friends (Katie, Shana, Becky, Jammie).


But it wasn't fun because I was shy. So shy, that I actually MOUTHED most of the cheers that year. Are you kidding? The mascot is supposed to be loud and even obnoxious. That was NOT me.



How awesome of those cheerleading advisors to give me a chance like that. I ended up cheering 8th, 9th and 10th grade years. I was even on the Varsity squad my 10th grade year, so I redeemed myself.



What I loved most about cheerleading? I loved the team spirit we had. We cared SO much about the school sports, and it was so fun to be involved. I also loved learning and performing the dances at Varsity football halftime. Talk about scary! But I can seriously still remember performing to New Kids on the Block's "Step by Step". Is that cheese, or what?



I remember one of the nice basketball defensive cheers was:

Hey you with the ball trip & fall! Hey you with the ball trip & fall!

Coppelia

Tonight, Tucker and I had a special date night with Jordyn and Lexi. Kristy came and babysat Peyton and we took the girls to see the ballet Coppelia.

BYU Theatre was doing a small tour and one of their stops happened to be near us. So we got the girls ready for a night out. We ate at a small Mexican restaurant and then walked to the beautiful restored theatre for the ballet.

They were quite fascinated and asked a LOT of questions. They stayed pretty focused for 3/4 of the performance, but during last part they could not do a single thing but dance around the side of the theatre. They were so inspired by the ballet, they wanted to imitate it right then and there.

Afterwards I said "Girls, if you keep practicing ballet and listen to your dance teacher, you can do that on stage someday".

To that, Jordyn confidently said "Mom, I can already do it just like them and I am ready for the stage!".

Believe it or not, I forgot my camera for the event.

We even got some Cold Stone ice cream to top off the evening (have you ever tried their seasonal flavor...Dark Chocolate Mint? yummmm)

'Twas a late night, but a fun night.

Right Now

.....I feel quite busy. Sometimes blogging fits in and sometimes it doesn't. Maybe depends on my mood?

.....I feel like I need to get back on the exercising bandwagon. Dr. Oz makes me feel like I'm killing myself early with my sodas and non-exercising self.

.....I feel like I am not prepared for Christmas this year.

.....I feel like I love all of my family so much, and am even grateful for the trials that make us closer.

.....I feel like I want to eat lunch EVERY day at this quaint little garden place my mom and I went to yesterday that served FRESH veggies and was so peaceful.

.....I feel ready to wear a dang sweater....is that too much to ask Mr. Sun?

.....I feel thankful that the Arthritis is not so severe lately.

.....I feel like I don't know what we're doing for family pictures or Christmas Cards this year.

.....I feel like buying a slightly bigger house/property before the market in CA picks back up.....but I also don't want to SELL this house until the market picks back up. What to do? Suze Orman, do you want to come over for a little chat?

.....I feel like I need to visit my Grandma soon.

.....I feel like I love my girls, even though they can be SOOOOOOO intense (esp the oldest). But I feel so happy and lucky to be their mom.

.....I feel like I better prepare for my Primary meeting now....

Morning Greetings

Low and Behold, what greeted us on our front porch this morning?

This cute little snake, that's what!

My husband totally screamed in sheer terror. [His biggest fear is of snakes.]

This one was fairly small, but still creepy. Not to mention quite unusual in this neck o' the woods.

Luckily, my sister Kristy is not scared, and kindly disposed of it for us (into a field nearby).

And I'm pretty sure this little snake did NOT writhe its way here to our front porch alone....just another reason why I "love" our cat.

It's Like Riding a Bike

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day, so we dedicated some time to teaching Jordyn to once-and-for-all, ride without training wheels. One day, about a month ago, she was playing out back and took her own training wheels off . I said, okay! That's it! You're not getting them back!

She really wants to learn, but is VERY un-trusting about the whole thing. The slightest wobble makes her hysterical. I know once she gets that little tast of balance, she'll be fine. But she is determined that she will fall and so she stays in her no-confidence zone.

It was good practice though!

Daddy helping

Mommy taking a turn (but I made her almost fall, so she fired me)

She does better with Tucker. Or maybe Tucker does better with her?

This is Jordyn explaining to Tucker that she CAN'T do it and she WILL fall. She said she wants to use training wheels forever. And I said, that would be like you going to Kindergarten with a walker like Peyton's because you never wanted to learn to walk. She laughed at that visual.

And last but not least, the entertainment of the day. Peyton was a happy little lark over in her stroller watching her sisters get all worked up & emotional about nothing, as usual. She'll join them soon enough.

California Babies and a Fun Day

My close friend, Beth, has a birthday coming up. And I decided that I'd give her what most mom's dream of...a day off. So I had her kids on Friday so she could have some "me" time. This meant I got to have two 12 month olds (which was a peek into the life of a mom with twins) along with a 6,5,4 and 3 year old. They actually did great and it all went very smooth.


We spent a lot of time outside. And I couldn't help but think how odd it was that it was November 1st...and we were playing outside in the 80 degree weather! These babies were crawling around like it was mid-summer!

Only in California, huh? (well, and maybe Arizona and Nevada too)

Lukey and Pey Pey

Lexi and Jacob - Best Buddies!

Jordyn, Lexi, Lindsay and Jacob playing "don't break the ice"

Dan in Real Life

I should basically copy a post from Katie from a week ago. I took her advice and Tucker and I saw the movie "Dan in Real Life" on our date tonight. OH MY GOSH! It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. I cannot even explain how much I loved it. We laughed and cried...and even felt a little scared because "Dan" has three daughters just like us, only they are about 9 years ahead of us. Whew, are we in for it.

Anyway, seriously you should RUN out and see it. It is just pure clean fun. Pure comedic relief. And pure feel-good-I-love-my-family-so-much reminder. A+++

Flashback Friday

May 12, 2000



Before our wedding, Tucker and I never spoke a single word about the cake eating part of the reception. Not a single word.


I think its because we both knew we could not look the other in the eye and honestly say "I won't smash it in your face".



Much to our parents' embarrassment....and to our satisfaction, this is how it played out......






























It was literally up my nose, down my bra, in my ear. You name it, it was there. I can still remember to this day the feeling of Tucker's arm (which is obviously longer than mine) keeping me just far enough away so I couldn't satisfactorily just GET HIM the way I wanted to! I still crave my revenge.



He really should watch his back when eating cake. ;-)

Post Halloween Candy Thoughts

So, it is an interesting thing, trick-or-treating. You buy lots of candy to pass out...only for your children to return with an equal amount of candy you just gave away (but larger variety).

What to do with ALL this candy that your children now think is ALL theirs to do whatever they want with?

Hmmmm.

I haven't really formed an opinion on this yet in my motherhood. This is our first "real" year to have to think about this. I've somehow escaped the hords of candy in years past (one year, they were TOTALLY freaked out by our neighbor and would not go to a SINGLE house after that).

So I've heard various theories in various extremes, like: let them eat a TON in one day, then get rid of it OR let them pick one candy per day until it gone.

As I reflect back on my mother's rules on this, I don't recall any specific rules. I think she just let us have it and I was disciplined enough to make it last like a month or more. It was so fun. My sisters and I would come home, dump our pillow cases out on the floor, sort it all, trade with eachother (I was the manipulative oldest sister that would make a bargain of 4 generic candies for one REAL fun size candy bar, like a snickers).

Speaking of that, I think it IS different than when I was little. We would get lots of little generic candies and MAYBE a few "real" candy bars sprinkled in there. Now days it's quite the opposite! Maybe it's all those Costco sized bags of GOOD candy we all have access to!

So back to my dilemma, I need to find peace with whatever decision I make regarding the girls and their candy. Either way, I wasn't excited tonight when I checked on Jordyn....and lying there in her bed peacefully sleeping, guess what was beside her? An empty candy box! So, I've got to do something because I really don't want to add more work to my current $3000 dentist bill.

What do YOU do?