Thanks Greg and Richele!! We love you!

Greg and Richele got a fantastic boat and so kindly took us to Utah Lake today for some skiing and good times. I haven't been skiing in over 4 years but found it was like riding a bike! We had a great time and stayed out much longer than I thought we would because the kids were so good, the weather was great, the food was delicious and we were just enjoying each others company. Here are some pictures (a lot!) from our day. Enjoy!

Kids swimming in the water with me.
Grammy and Samantha on the tube.
Shell and Nicole.The proud boat owner.
I'm sure my mom would kill me if she knew I put this picture up, but I think it's cute.
Andy flying in the tube.
Richele kept us entertained on her tube ride.
Greg the master skier.
Me trying the wakeboard for the first time. I know I look good like I know what I'm doing....But this is me like a half second later crashing.

I knew Andy was taking pictures, so I cheesed it.
More cheese.
Having a great day.
And we'd like to thank our driver for the day!

A few thoughts on a full leg wax

Asking if I want paper panties just doesn't put me in the right mood.

I think the reason the wax is warm is to lull you into a false sense of security with the whole experience. It starts off all warm and comfy and then....

Waxing the lower leg by the ankle is just....just....wrong.

The whole serene Enya/Josh Groban music playing does NOT take away from the fact that hair is being ripped out by its roots. It does however make me need to pee.

When you give me a huge bruise on my upper thigh and only give me a slight sorry, your tip goes WAY down!!

Telling me with all of that pain that you can't get every single hair is just unacceptable.

For real, this time, it's the end. No more green wax, no more skin pulling strips. No more. Really.

Driving me absolutely insane today

I had to pull up this picture from last Saturday at the Farmers Market to remind myself that even though this kid makes me question what is so great about being a mom, he still is the cutest thing that has ever lived and how much I love him. Now snap out of it Alex and stop being so 2!!!!

Smells like Chlorine

We've discovered the joy of the pool here at our complex but found the trick to be going in the early morning. I usually take the kids around 8 am and we usually have the pool to ourselves. The water is warm and the morning sun hits the pool as well so we have no problem with the temperature. The kids are so good with their life jackets on and both just doggie paddle around by themselves. It's fantastic because it leaves me to swim and have a good time myself! Imagine that!! A mom being able to enjoy herself and do what SHE wants to do!!!!! Amazing! The spa is great as well and I've never seen Alex sit so still as he does on the steps of the warm spa. It's like he's in a trance. He's found his happy place. I kind of want to install a spa in our backyard and throw him in whenever he's being wild. It's like toddler sedative. Andy goes with us on Saturday mornings and yesterday morning when he had the day off. He asked Samantha if she wanted to be thrown in the air and land in the water to which she tentatively said yes. She let him do it once but decided it wasn't for her. Alex watched with wide eyes and quickly decided it WAS for him. He let Andy throw him way up in the air and had no problem landing in the water and popping back up without inhaling water. I think that was Samantha's problem - she kept inhaling water and sputtering. It made for a great morning.
In the afternoon we went up to Park City to do some birthday shopping for Andy and went to Braza Grill for dinner. The kids did well even though we stretched their capacity to stay up late. I'm paying for it today though and I smell 10.30 naps all around!

It's a good thing...

It's a good thing I've been swimming in the mornings with the kids because I made a batch of peanut butter cookies and I've eaten almost the whole batch myself. Which means I've eaten almost a whole cube of butter. Am I your hero or what!!??!!!

Happy Birthday Andy!

Happy Birthday to ya Andy! I won't spill the beans about your age, but it begins with a 3 and ends with a 3.
We love you lots!
Kristi, Samantha and Alex

What are the odds that this mobile blogging stuff will actually work from my phone?

Sasquatch

Poor Andy. He has to deal with Miss Sasquatch for the next week. I know I wrote a horrible post about my horrible leg waxing experience, but I'm doing it again! Last time the waxing lady (Frau Pain) said she wasn't sure my hair was long enough to wax! Are you kidding me??? When I walked my thighs were starting fires! Little herds of deer had made homes in the forest that was growing on my legs. Not long enough?? So, for good measure I'm growing them a couple days longer this time. It's driving me crazy already and I still have until Friday. If you see me and my leg hair wraps around your ankle and trips you, I apologize in advance!

Stay tuned because I'm planning on taking Andy's fancy phone (with the keyboard on it) to the appointment with me and writing my post LIVE from the House of Wax!! If I can see through the tears that is.

Football

We've been watching the European Soccer Championship so I thought it was a good time to explain soccer to Samantha. We signed her up for the city's soccer program that starts in July and she always gets confused thinking soccer is baseball. So I showed her the game on the t.v. and said, "See Samantha, this is soccer. This is what you'll be playing soon.". She watched for a moment and exclaimed, "I can't play that. Those guys will run me over and knock me down!!". I explained that she wouldn't be playing with these big guys but kids her own age. "Oh, kids my age, well, okay.".

Glad we got that all straightened out!! I would have had to take out those Europeans if they would have knocked down my kid. We all know Europeans are no match for me!

Samantha displaying her picture of daddy drawn for Father's Day. Too cute, I know!

Month O' Hell may be over!

Andy is on an airplane right now coming home his last trip for a little while. HOPEFULLY! You never know, but as of now, yes. AND, the kids are in bed. Probably not asleep yet, but that's okay. They are in bed. I knew this month was going to be tough with all of Andy's travels but we made it! (Virtual high 5 from everyone!) We're going to celebrate with our usual Saturday morning walk to Macey's for donuts and then go swimming before the pool gets to crowded and before our faces melt off from the heat. We are all very excited to have daddy coming home and staying home for a while. He's even taking Wednesday off of work for his birthday! He's old.

An Ode to Jenny, Florrie and their mother Mar!

EAT YOUR CARROTS!!!!!!

(By the way, I totally said this about 6 times to my kids last night!! Ahhhh, the circle of life!!)

Conversation with Alex this morning.

Alex: "Alligators talk to me."

Me: "No way Jose!!!"

Alex: "Yes way Ho!!!"

Perceptive little guy, wouldn't you say???

It just may be a long summer!

It's hot outside. Strawberry Days for the city of Pleasant Grove started today and they had a children's parade this evening with all the local church groups. Samantha desperately wanted to go so I told her to nap and we could go. She napped. Good and bad. See, I HATE parades. I loathe parades! I especially hate parades in 90 degree weather. The kids whined and complained; Alex ended up on Andy's shoulders and I carried Samantha half of the way. It wasn't pleasant. Maybe they'll remember this for the future and never, ever, ever, ever ask me to associate myself with a parade again.
Oh, and check out that backyard! You'd think with a pool, a sandbox and a trampoline along with numerous other toys the children could entertain themselves all day; but you'd be wrong. They do love to swim and then lay on their towels and have a snack though. It is mighty cute. Oh, and did I mention the heat? Yeah, it's hot. You can tell by my dead grass!

The Promised Land

Why is it that every time a bug lands on me it happens to land down my shirt into my boobicles? Why not my leg? Or my shoulder? I was just outside with Samantha and when I came in I felt a little tickle. I looked down and sure enough there was some little beetle setting up camp in my shirt! I don't appreciate this!! I'm not sure if Ashly was in the room with me or not but she remembers in Jerusalem when a spider decided that was a cozy place to be and I flew 10 feet in the air screaming until he fell out and I stomped his little guts out!! They're really not that large or impressive little bugs! May I suggest finding greener pastures. Thank you!

Pwease!!

Andy, please take me back to Brazil......soon! I am having a major Pao de Queijo craving!! And a Marriott hotel bed on the Copacabana craving. Minus the rain.

Hot Day

Today is going to be a hot day so I filled up the kids pool this morning so this afternoon the water will be nice and warm. Oh, and the kids have been naked all morning. I think they'll have a good day.

Happy Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day with both my dad and Andy's dad here for a BBQ. The food was great and the kids had a fun time, so that is a huge success. Poor Andy was swamped with homework and mid-term finals and then had to leave for the airport at 7pm so he really didn't get to enjoy his Father's Day too much. Sorry Andy!! We'll celebrate tonight when you get home!! (wink, wink)

Coldplay makes me feel warm

If loving the new Coldplay song Viva la Vida is wrong.......I don't want to be right!!

For Greg

A few weeks ago I posted one of the old Disney short cartoons, and now it's time for another one. This goes out to my brother-in-law Greg (whom I work with). He sent me a Powerpoint today with a flow chart full of squiggly lines and arrows. It totally reminded me of this cartoon (at the 2 minute mark) that I hadn't seen in 20 years - it's funny what you remember from your childhood.

Blah diddy blah

Alex likes to stand to pee now (he's such a boy!) and one of the first times he did this he looked up at me, mid-stream, and said, "That's fun to watch!". His father is SO proud!

Ice Road Truckers is my new favorite show. I think it comes on the History channel and it is fabulous. I'm thinking of getting my CDL, growing out my chin hair, buying some plaid and steel-toe boots and joining their ranks.

I had 3 break downs yesterday. Count them, 1, 2, 3. Does anyone else feel that is whole mothering thing is the hardest thing ever??

I want everyone on So You Think You Can Dance to win!! Although, the last 2 performances were my least favorite, so I'm cool with either of those couples going home. Go Thayne!!

And, a very random picture for your entertainment.......
Me shooting an Uzi in Israel in 2004. I tore that paper guy to shreds!!

Stephen Colbert for President!

I am currently watching The Colbert Report during my afternoon break from the kids (ie. they're in bed) and although I've always known Stephen Colbert makes me laugh, he just hit the nail on the head with his last guest!! This guy, I don't know his name because I wasn't that interested in him, was on for an article he wrote in New York magazine about the secret life of married men. His view is that we aren't made to be monogamous and therefore, a little slip up (having an affair) here and there is okay! He said he relates to people like Elliott Spitzer and because of our nature we shouldn't be chastised for once in a while having an affair. That was basically what I got from his interview. I did however write down word for word what Stephen Colbert said. And I quote, "Don't you think maybe this is just a sophisticated rationalization for being an ass-hole?". BAM!!! There it is!!! Once again, Stephen Colbert for President!!

Secret Formula

I've discovered that if I add "daddy's special" to anything, the kids suddenly perk up and become interested. Samantha asked for soda because she napped (praise heaven!), I told her she could have "daddy's special" juice instead and she was cool with that. Daddy's special pillow when you're sick. Daddy's special sauce to dip food in to make it taste better. Anything I think the kids might fight me about I just make it sound like it's daddy's special something and BAM, the kids are totally into it. Next I am going to try "daddy's special leave mommy alone time so she can nap in peace and, by the way, clean the house while you're at it". We'll see how that goes.

Blushing Brides!

All of us Loveridge girls got married in the Salt Lake temple (as did our parents) and here are our first pictures as husbands and wives coming out of the same door at the temple. Just thought I'd post these for fun.

First Tag I've done.

My friend Ashly tagged me and this one is much easier because it's about Andy mostly! And since I take every available opportunity to embarrass my husband, here we go!!!

1. What is his name? Andrew Christopher Higham

2. How long have you been together? Since 2001

3. How long did you date? 1 year

4. Who eats more? Andy, but I could probably kick his butt in the sweets department.

5. Who said 'I love you' first? Andy. I followed a month or so later.

6. Who is taller? Andy by 5 inches

7. Who sings better? We're both pretty okay singers.

8. Who is smarter? Andy for sure.

9. Who does the laundry? Me, but Andy's not afraid to help out.

10. Who does the dishes? Both. I stink at loading a dishwasher, so he does that part.

11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Andy

12.Who pays the bills? Me

13. Who mows the lawn? Andy

14. Who cooks dinner? Andy for sure. I take care of dessert.

15. Who drives when you are together? Andy

16. Who is more stubborn? I think we're equally stubborn.

17. Who kissed who first? Andy kissed me after I gave him "the look" for a while.

18. Who asked who out first? I asked Andy to the U2 concert. I'd heard he was a nice guy but mostly I just wanted a ride to Salt Lake to the concert. Worked out well if you ask me!

19. Who proposed? Andy, on his birthday, while he was deathly ill.

20. Who is more sensitive? Me, me and me

21. Who has more friends? We're both pretty slim in the friend department, but probably me.

22. Who has more siblings? Andy (2 sisters, 1 brother)

23. Who wears the pants in the family? The kids.

I tag the McLay sisters and Maile.

Ta Na!! (Samantha used to say Ta Na! instead of Ta Da)

Before

After

Andy's beautiful new teeth! This was just the day after so his gums were still a little inflamed and red but I still think they look great.

I wanna go back to bed.

Every morning it's the same crap! I go get Samantha from bed and she seems me and screams, "I wanted Daddy!! I called for Daddy! I don't want you!!". I ignore her as I lift up her curtains, "I don't want my curtains up! I want it dark!! I don't want my curtains up!". All of this after she woke up at 11.30 screaming because Daddy came in and she wanted Momma at the time and so Daddy put her in time out (go Daddy!). Yeah......these are our nights and mornings with this diva. I'm not sure how much more I can take. I guess a lot since I have no other choice!! I am going to choose to have the Pollyanna attitude that my friend Florrie talked about in her blog. Here goes..........at least I know she's not dead in her sleep (I know every parent worries about that, though it's usually when they're babies, but still) because she calls out a few times a night!! I think Pollyanna would be proud!!

The CLAW!

I had my hair pulled up into a "claw" today because I was lazy. I think all of the women out there know what I'm talking about but basically it's a claw device to keep your hair in place. Anywho, the kids decided to brush and play with my hair today and Alex grabbed the claw first and started to play with it. Once he figured out how it worked he was having a great time. I warned him that it could pinch and hurt so to be careful. He caught his fingers in it first and whined a little but kept it together. A few minutes later I watched him get it a little too close to his body and it clawed onto his little baby nipple!! And he let go. And it hung there. Just hangin'. Hangin' on his little boobie. I SO badly wanted to grab the camera but he started to cry and I figured it would be irresponsible of me to get up, go into the kitchen, get the camera all while he was crying. Still though, it would have made this post SO much better!!

A video of Alex's sweet lisp before he grows out of it.

A bunch of random thoughts from my VERY random mind.

1. This keeps my kids busy for at least 10 minutes which can be HUGE sometimes. You say "Give me 5 (kid gives you 5), on the side (5 on the side), way up high (you see where I'm going with this), way down low (hurry and pull your hand away before they can slap it), you're too slow". Alex cracks up every time which, if you've heard his laugh, is totally worth it.

2. When Alex forgets something he slaps his head and says "Oh no!" with such enthusiasm I'm afraid he's going to leave a mark. The other day he reminded me that we forgot to cut his fingernails with a quick slap to the head and a hilarious "Oh no!". I'm going to try and get it on film someday.

3. The best way to get kids to play with forgotten toys is to rearrange the location of the toys and POOF, they're suddenly interesting to play with again!

4. If parenting were like high school I'd get a 4.0! I've found a way to get in my "spa" treatments AND entertain the kids. Kids love to play with lotion, kids love to play with soap. Sooooooooo, I sit on the reclining chair with my legs up, grab a bottle of lotion and let the kids rub the lotion all over my feet. They love it, and if they aren't too rough, I love it too. This also works in the bathtub. I sit on the toilet and dangle my legs in the water, give the kids some soap and they wash my legs and feet (in fact, we did this last night and Samantha told me I had "gorgeous toes"). It's genius!!!

Vanilla

On one of the food blogs that I read (I know, you're shocked that Andy reads about food), the author talked about buying cheap saffron and vanilla from saffron.com. I can't remember what prompted me to do it, but I decided to buy some vanilla to see what all the fuss is really about. If you buy it at the grocery store in the spice section, you'll pay anywhere from $10 - $15 for 2 beans. I got mine here for $15 (they have a $12 min. order) for a 1/2 pound. The website says that's 80-92 beans. That's as good as 16 cents / bean instead of $7.50!!! And I have to say, this stuff makes the BEST vanilla ice cream you've ever had. It is absolutely incredible, and the recipe is so simple, I've actually memorized it. It's Alton' Brown's Supreme Vanilla Ice Cream recipe, or something like that. You can find the original on www.foodnetwork.com. I've modified it a bit - it's better, but takes a bit more effort.

1/2 pint whipping cream (small container)
1 pint half & half (normal size container)
1 cup minus 2 Tbs sugar
A splash of Egg Beaters, or some other egg substitute
1 Vanilla bean

Put the cream, half & half, sugar and egg beater in a pot. Split the bean, scrape the seeds, and add the seeds and bean to the pot. Turn on the heat to medium-low and heat, stirring, until a thermometer reads 170 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer, go until you start to see small bubbles form around the side. DON'T LET IT BOIL. You'll know you're getting close because it will start to get thicker, kind of like custard. I don't actually stand there stirring the whole time, I just mess with it every once in a while. When it hits 170, pull it off the heat, and let it cool enough so you can pour it into some kind of Gladware-like vessel. Into the fridge for a few hours. I usually make it early in the morning so I can pull it out of the fridge mid-afternoon. Or do it the night before. Then throw it in your ice cream maker, and let it work its magic. You'll probably want to put the finished ice cream in the freezer, as this stuff sets up really soft.

Kristi likes to eat it with smushed up strawberries poured on top. I made a batch with malted milk mix. I made another one with smushed up raspberries. That was tasty, but I should have run the raspberries through the blender first - I just mashed them with the fork, and the little frozen pods were really cold.

I've also used the beans to make vanilla milk (awesome), and I'm hoping that Kristi will find a way to put them into her chocolate chip cookies, which are the BEST in the world. Seriously, you should try them some time.

I want this on my grave!

"Oh squiggly line in my eye fluid. I see you lurking there on the peripherie of my vision. But when I try to look at you, you scurry away. Are you shy, squiggly line? Why only when I ignore you, do you return to the center of my eye? Oh, squiggly line, it's alright, you are forgiven."

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/oh-squiggly-line/3907746179

Funniest thing I've ever seen on TV!

Sign ups start today....

Andy is going to be gone for about 10 random days throughout the month of June for business (2 trips to San Francisco, 1 to New York, 1 to Philadelphia and a possible 2nd one to NY). I will be posting a sign up sheet so you can all participate in keeping me and the kids sane. Anyone who wants to take the kids for dinner and ice cream may do so. Anyone who wants to take me to dinner and ice cream may do so as well.

Random

I'm sitting here doing homework (again), and watching Kristi work on a blog post and watch So You Think You Can Dance at the same time. She watched it last week for the first time, and was so impressed with some of the dancing that she called me upstairs twice to watch a couple of dances. I figured I'd share the best of them with you, assuming that you don't watch the show. This guy was the last one of the night, and he was freakishly amazing. It's a bit long, but you won't be disappointed if you watch it all the way through - his interaction with the judges is hysterical.

Oh well, at least he makes good money!

Tonight I stumbled upon a hilarious scene. Andy was in Samantha's room reading her a bedtime story.....but this was no ordinary bedtime story. This was My Little Pony. Andy couldn't read about Rainbow Dash and Sparkleworks trying to find "the coolest place in Ponyville" without a little help from his, ahem, shall we say, feminine voice. The problem was he did the voice a little TOO well. Samantha was cracking up! I don't think she's ever heard her dad like that before and she'll never forget it I'm sure. I sure won't.

Boys are Stinky!

Potty training Alex is proving much harder than I had anticipated. I know that Samantha was ridiculously easy to potty train and I was prepared for Alex to be a normal kid, but man this is frustrating!! He's had more accidents in the past 2 weeks than Samantha has had in over a year. He does have many victories and I have been proud of him a lot but when he does so well only to suddenly have a big poop sitting in his underwear, it gets frustrating. I know the poor kid is trying his best and I know that yelling doesn't help with this kind of thing so I am just trying to be patient. And may the gods of clean underwear smile down on us in the near future!!

These pictures are a little far away but you can still sense the absolute adorableness of Samantha at her dance recital! Her recital was Friday night at the local Jr. High and it was almost too cute for words. In the duck outfit she is 3rd from the left, in case you couldn't tell. In the purple outfit she is 2nd from the right being extremely sassy!! Which I appreciate in dance, NOT so much with me at home when I'm trying to discipline her. Both sets of grandparents were able to attend which trilled Samantha. We got video as well but have yet to figure out how to get it off the camera and onto the computer! It's my sister's camera, so we'll have to have her figure it out for us. Anywho, enjoy the sweet pictures!!

Another Flashback

What Samantha is thinking : "I'm giving you cancer with my mind!!!!"

What Alex is thinking :

Scrumptious

Don't even try to tell me you don't want to eat this face right up!!!
Or this one....

Makes me a tiny bit sad they are growing up.....
But mostly I think "Hot diggity I've got cute kids". Samantha with her little elf ears and Alex's massive blue eyes.......sigh, and oh so innocent!

Just cuz I'm a stinker!

One of Andy's pet-peeves is having the sheets tucked in all the way up to his pillow.

One of my favorite past-times is to tuck Andy's sheet in all the way up to his pillow. It's just good clean fun!

A few thoughts on Cinderella.

As I was watching Cinderella for the zillionth time today a few things popped into my head.

1. I feel like Cinderella (only not as skinny and I have toes). I mean this is what the little mice said before singing... "Every time she find a minute, that's the minute they beginnith." AMEN little mouse man!! Every time I find a minute to do anything not serving my two little masters, that's when they decide they need me. Instead of "Cinderella!!!" being screamed at me it's constantly "Momma". Not that I'm complaining or anything. I wouldn't do anything of the sort!

2. I wish all the little critters in real life looked like the ones in the Disney shows. I mean, how cute are the little birdies that wake up Cinderella? They have coats and hats on! I tried dressing up my cat and put earrings in his ears. He didn't like it. I don't think real animals would stand for that yet in Cinderella even the mice have shoes on! And bugs too. Like in A Bug's Life. I wouldn't kill every bug I saw if they actually looked like Pixar makes them look. Maybe in my own world someday I'll make cute bugs. You'll all have to come and check them out.

3. I really don't want to watch Cinderella any more.

Must resist calling them panties!

Alex is on his third day of wearing big boy underwear and he's doing a great job! He hasn't had any accidents yet (cross your fingers!) and has been so good about telling us when he needs to go potty. We still check in with him about every hour and ask him if he needs to go, but it's working like a charm! I still put a diaper on him for naps and bedtime but I know that is normal. Samantha was the exception to the rule and once she was potty trained during the day she also was trained at night and never had to wear diapers at night. That girl can hold it for hours, just like her momma! (I once held my pee for over 24 hours when I was camping with some friends. I have a very shy bladder and can't "hover" to pee.)
Well, I feel that I have filled your heads with a sufficient amount of unnecessary information and may go about my day now!

Here are the kids after bath with their pajamas on their heads, Alex in his blue camo underwear, dancing to old-school Michael Jackson. Yup, we're raising them up right!

Oh, what a nap can do!

Samantha just woke up from a nap.....FINALLY!! She hasn't napped for about a week and a half and it's amazing how one nap can lift the spirits.....of ME that is! Yes, yes, she is happy as well and the nap did her good, but let's focus on me for a second. The health and well-being and happiness of this family really does rest upon me and my mood. I remember it was the same with the home I grew up in and my mom. If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!! It's true! When Samantha doesn't nap she is difficult during the day and wakes up numerous times during the night. This directly affects my attitude in a MAJOR way. Which, in turn, affects Andy's attitude and the children's attitudes as well. It's a sad, sad truth. But just having Samantha nap today (Alex is still asleep...woo hoo!) makes me feel so much lighter and happier. I think I might be able to make it through the day now!

Oh, this video was taken a couple of weeks ago at 8:30 in the morning! Yes, they are still in their pajamas and yes, I did let them run through the sprinklers when it was only 60 degrees outside. And YES, they did have a great time!! Call me a bad parent if you must, I just call myself a genius for buying 30 minutes of happiness.

Tomatoes

I planted my tomatoes and herbs this morning. I love my garden. I got my green thumb from my mom. She got it from her mom. We all especially love to plant tomatoes. My aunt, my mom's oldest sister, passed away on Monday and we went to her funeral today. Almost all of her children commented on their mother's love of gardening and growing things and how she enjoyed watching birds feed at the many bird feeders around her house. All of my mom's sisters are like this and now I see myself and my sisters with houses full of plants and bird feeders and flowers. It makes me proud that I am like my mom and my aunts and my grandma in this way. I like the fact that we can all sit around and talk about gardening and the little birdies that visit our feeders. I remember watching out my grandma's window at the birds and her telling me which birds were mean and which were funny and which ate the most. My aunts all do the same. I see my mom pointing out the birdies to my kids when we visit her house, and it makes me happy.
I think this summer as my tomatoes grow (hopefully 7 feet tall like last year) I will think of my aunt Kay.

Update

In case you're wondering, we finally settled on watching Enchanted.......AGAIN! It has a princess in it and Alex thinks it's silly (thilly in his words), so it works all around. Not to mention I find it mildly entertaining as well!

Conversation that JUST took place.

Samantha: I want to watch a Princess.

Alex: I want to watch Monsters.

Me: We need to find a show that we can both agree on or I will pick the show.

Samantha: Well, I said a Princess, so that's what we're going to watch.

Yes, we are SO screwed with this little girl. She's not yet 4 and is already acting 13. I am amazed everyday at how much easier boys are than girls. Alex has his rough times (he is 2 after all) but usually he shrugs things off 100 times easier than Samantha. Which makes my life so much more pleasant. My sister Kami wants a little girl so badly with her next baby but I hope she knows if she gets her wish, she's in for a rude awakening!!

What is strategy?

So I'm reading this article titled "What is strategy?" for my, you guessed it, Competing through Strategy class. Let me share a choice morsel of wisdom with you.

"The most viable positions are those whose activity systems are incompatible because of tradeoffs. Strategic positioning sets the trade-off rules that define how individual activities will be configured and integrated. Seeing strategy in terms of activity systems only makes it clearer why organizational structure, systems, and processes need to be strategy-specific. Tailoring organization to strategy, in turn, makes complementarities more achievable and contributes to sustainability."

The guy that wrote this teaches at Harvard. I can't express to you how glad I am that I don't go to Harvard right now. I swear, if the guy had used the word "synergy" even once in that paragraph, I would have dropped out.

Why we have the perfect family.....

Because Andy has one lap. I have one lap. Samantha fits perfectly on Andy's lap. Alex fits perfectly on my lap. And we can fit perfectly on one couch and watch Lambert the Sheepish Lion together before bedtime.

I miss Bob Barker

You know those people who sit on their couch and watch The Price is Right and scream the answers at the TV? Yeah, that's me.

Schmoopy!

I woke up this morning suddenly hit with the memory of a poem Andy wrote me when we had been dating only a month. I'm not sure what prompted this memory but I dug through my drawers until I found the print out of the email containing the poem. I think it may be the only copy I have of the poem so I am always so careful with it and someday I'll figure out a better way to preserve it. Andy wrote the poem while he was on his way to San Francisco for Thanksgiving in 2001. I won't share the poem here because I think that would embarrass Andy terribly. Which, oddly enough, was also my same reasoning for sharing the poem! But don't worry Andy, I won't do it. Let's just say it's the most wonderful poem I've ever read! It's so elegant and beautiful and the fact that it was written about me makes it even better! After all of these years together I still get butterflies when I read it. I guess I just wanted to say what a great husband Andy is and how much I appreciate him. Hence the title of this blog.......schmoopy!! I love you Andy!

I never even made it through the book!

Take the Quiz here!

You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of ridiculousness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.

I tried so hard to make it through Pride and Prejudice, but never could. The description sounds pretty fair though. Except the tremendously attractive part. I'm just plain ol' HOT!!!!

Things Andy loves

So we've got our computer hooked up to our TV. This is cool because Vista has a built in Media Center, which essentially means that we've got a Super Tivo. Lest you think that this is a total nerd-fest, Kristi actually asked me to do this because a couple of the guys at work have them, and they convinced her that putting all of the kids' DVDs onto a hard drive is a much better way to go instead of fumbling with the disks. That's right, we go into a folder called Disney, and pull up Cinderella, or Monsters, Inc., or Enchanted in about 5 seconds. No fumbling with discs, or cases, or anything. It's awesome.
So the reason I'm showing Microsoft all of this love, is because having our TV hooked up to the internet means I can watch things like this from the couch. Let's see who remembers this one.....



Bump, Bump

That's one of my all-time favorites. I plan to wander through YouTube one of these nights that I'm putting off homework and gather all of the old classics. So far I've gotten Lambert the Sheepish Lion and Paul Bunyan, a couple of my favorites from the old Sunday night Disney stuff they used to have on TV. Have to make sure the kids keep up on the classics. And just to make sure that they don't disappear off of YouTube, I go to www.vixy.net, and that site will download and convert the files into something I can watch in my Media Center. So we'll have a big folder full of the classics for me, er the kids, to watch. If I find some really good ones, I'll post those on here from time to time.

Waaaay too much time on their hands

Kickin' it old school Nintendo style.

krandy.etsy.com

Well, I FINALLY got my first duvet cover listed on www.etsy.com for purchase. I now have a link on my blog here below my pictures that you can click on and jump right to my shop. Kind of fun! We'll see if it sells, but at least it's keeping me busy while Andy does homework! I have started on a second one and have a third one in mind but I think I might see what the response is like for this one before I go too crazy and spend a ton of money on fabric. My sister Kami is also setting up shop on etsy under the name VersaJewel. She has some great jewelry on there so I highly recommend taking a look at her shop as well. But look at mine first! ;-)

A new kind of sandwich!

The picture we chose to study on family night on Monday was the picture of Peter, James and John giving the priesthood to Joseph Smith. Samantha just brought me the picture and we went over it with Alex. 2 minutes later I heard Samantha talking to Alex about "peanut butter and John" and Joseph Smith. I had no idea the church was so tasty!!

Triple D!

We had such a fun day today as we went up to Salt Lake to Ruth's Diner to watch them film an episode of Diner's, Drive-In's and Dives! It was very interesting to see how it all gets put together and how they decide what shots to do, etc. The host, Guy Fieri was there and very involved with all of the shots and interviews. I was surprised he didn't just sit back and wait until it was his turn on camera.
We got there around 11 and they started filming around 11.30. We sat in a section that was just for the people that emailed the show to tell them about Ruth's so Guy knew who to talk to. He interviewed a few of us including my family! He asked Alex to give him knucks but Alex was a bit shy. Samantha had no problem doing it though and has talked all day about "giving the spiky haired guy knucks!". Guy talked to Andy and I about our food and how long we'd been coming to Ruth's at which point I told him we were fairly new customers since we just moved back to Utah after living in the Diner capital of the world, New Jersey. I told him that this diner was better than any in Jersey I'd been to and he liked that I was sassy and offered a throwdown. We'll see if any of it makes it into the show, but hopefully the cute kids will seal the deal! We were half way home when the producer called us and asked us to come back for some additional shots of us eating. We were so full and not in the mood but we went back anyways and they got some great footage of the kids eating and laughing. The guy with the mike was hilarious and making the kids laugh while not looking at the camera.
It turned into a long afternoon but the kids fell asleep in the car on the way home so all was well!
I'm not sure when the episode will air, but I heard Guy tell someone usually about 5-6 weeks. If I find out beforehand I'll post the date on here. I know you're all DYING to see it and make fun of us!!

"Rock me please!"

I know Alex asks me to rock him just to stall bedtime, but if you looked straight into those big blue eyes you wouldn't be able to resist either! Plus, I know that the day will come (sooner than I would like) where he will stop asking me to rock him. He won't even want to sit with me anymore. So until that day comes I will rock him any time of the day or night that he wants!! Just don't tell him that!!

UB40

Samantha is dancing her little heart out to the UB40 music Andy put on and I told her she was a good dancer. She replied, "I've got the moves!". Really! Where does she get this stuff?? She is so fun it's ridiculous. Just as I was typing this she then switched up her dancing and said "Now I'm doing rock and roll moves.". What a character.

Alex is finally starting to say his "S's" in words but he says them with a bit of a lisp. It's very adorable.

A new Andy!

Today starts the Andy Smile Transformation! Andy is not really looking forward to this whole process, it will be painful, but the results I think are going to be fantastic! Today he is having 2 root canals leading up to a set of 8 new crowns for his top front teeth!! They are going to be so shiny and white and straight! If he lets me, I'll take before and after pictures. I know this doesn't mean a whole lot to Andy but I am so excited for him to have beautiful teeth to match his nice smile. The whole thing will be done in about a month. He has an appointment in a week to shave down all his teeth then in 3 weeks they'll put the crowns on.

Silly silliness

Samantha:
This afternoon I asked Samantha to get dressed after dance class so she could go outside and play. She got her shirt and pants on and I noticed she was putting her socks on. I told her she didn't need socks because she was just going to put on her crocs and it was a nice warm day. She exclaimed, "Yeah, I need socks because that's how I roll.". I know you're all jealous of my kids!

Alex:
Alex has come up with a new song that I keep wanting to get on camera but he gets all shy and won't sing. It goes something like this. "Me and my teddy, we get ready.". Which, if you didn't notice, rhymes!! Who taught this kid to rhyme?? It's got a cute little tune as well and even at 6:30 in the morning when I want to yell at him for singing so bloody early, I can't help but smile at his first song! He even lines up his animals in his crib and sings to them. I smell American Idol in our future!

We wear short shorts!

I have hairy legs. That's all there is to it. Oh, and my hair grows really fast too. Like, in the summer I have to shave every day just so Samantha doesn't mention about a thousand times a day "Momma, you have spiky legs!". And so my husband will sleep in the same bed as me. Although, I do enjoy the bed to myself......hmmmm......maybe I've devised the perfect plan! Anyways, where was I...oh, hairy legs. I get so sick and tired of shaving my legs every day so about 3 1/2 weeks ago I got my legs waxed. I've never waxed before and was a little nervous. Turns out I was nervous for good reason. It hurt. Like, really bad. Ouch. Pain. Redness. Soreness. Painful to have any sort of fabric touching my legs for about 24 hours. It felt like a super bad sunburn only without the good memories of lounging on the warm beach. The waxing lady, who I like to refer to as, Frau Pain told me that she suspected the results would only last about a week, week and a half. This was disappointing. Also, she really didn't even get all the hair! I still had to shave some off that night. I guess this is normal, but I was expecting more. I walked away, well, hobbled away quite sad that my plan of only waxing a few times during the summer was not going to pan out. And I wasted $50! Welllllllll, it's now been 3 1/2 weeks and I am still pretty hair-free!!! The hair is growing super slow and I only have to shave about every 4-5 days, which is astounding for me and my hairiness! I am so happy that I just might brave the pain again and get waxed when the hair really starts growing again. Although, it's tough because you have to let the hair grow out for like a week and a half which is super scary in the summer when you're wearing capris and shorts. But that might be a week and a half of being alone in the bed........decisions, decisions!

Blurg

Is it just me, or does everyone else hate all the colorful Mother's Day rings and necklaces that we get overwhelmed with this time of year?? I know my jewelry taste may be a bit more simple than most, but all that un-matching color in one ring is enough to make me evacuate the Oreos that I just inhaled while the kids were pretending to nap.

Explanation

Since a lot of you must live in a bubble and don't know what Samantha was saying or where it came from in the clip below, I will explain.
She is saying....."I will drink your milkshake. I drink it up." Followed by slurping noises. This comes from the movie There Will Be Blood with Daniel Day-Lewis. Here is the clip from YouTube. Every time she sees this clip she laughs and repeats it. Basically, the girl has hilarious taste! Learn, enjoy!

Why we love her so much...

Also, in the background is the wicked sweet mini trampoline that Aunt Cathy gave the kids. Not only does she babysit our kids for 5 days, but she buys them awesome gifts! Don't you all wish you had an Aunt Cathy???

Extras

The posts below are all about our trip to New York and are very boring and generic. They are a travel log mostly for Andy and I to remember our trip but hopefully you will enjoy reading them as well. I'm going to add pictures and maybe links tomorrow. They start with Saturday which is, by now, at the bottom of the page.

Overall this was one of the best vacations I've had. I don't feel like a tourist in New York. It feels more like a home to me. I didn't take many pictures because, again, I don't feel like a tourist there. I enjoyed the time I had alone, I enjoyed the time I had with friends, and I enjoyed the time I had with Andy. We don't get to spend a lot of time together these days because of school so it was muchly needed. I hate to admit it because it makes me feel like a bad mother, but I didn't miss the kids much. In fact, I completely forgot to call them on my birthday. I guess it's good that I was able to enjoy myself but as all of you mothers out there know, guilt consumes us in every aspect of parenthood. I knew they were well taken care of by Andy's super sister Cathy and her daughter Julie, so that was a load off.
Part of me wants to move back to New York/New Jersey so bad, but my quality of life here in Utah is far superior to what I would get back there. I have a nice house with a back yard for less than half of what my friends are paying for their tiny 2 bedroom apartment. AND, Andy's commute is 15 minutes versus the hour and a half it was in New Jersey. Can't beat that!

There was always this guy in front of the World Trade Center with pamphlets about September 11th and his tag line to get people to listen to him was "This is history, don't let it be a mystery". That guy always cracked me up and guess what?? I saw him still there this week! It was comforting to know some things haven't changed. Unlike Jersey City that is exploding! There are so many new apartment buildings, condos and townhomes. The place is looking nice!

I am really looking forward to when we can take the kids to New York. I think a couple more years will be good and we will have a fantastic time showing them all around and making their feet and legs just as sore as mine are!!

Wednesday

Wednesday morning we had to get up early and pack so we could head into New Jersey for Andy's work appointment. We caught a cab to take us to the Hertz rental car place to get our cute Ford Edge and left New York via the Lincoln Tunnel. It was fun to drive through Jersey again and when we drove into Woodbridge, again, I cried. Especially when we reached the Holy Grail......WEGMANS!! The grocery store to end all grocery stores! We had breakfast and lunch there if that says anything. After breakfast we drove to Princeton and Andy went to his appointment and I wandered around. Downtown Princeton is full of cute shops and the campus is just wonderful and old. I found a great shady bench and watched students come and go and read my book. It was very pleasant.When Andy's appointment was done we had lunch at Wegmans then drove to the shopping center Jersey Gardens to kill time until my flight. We found some adorable outfits for the kids at H&M but not much else. Andy drove me to the airport around 4:00 and I flew home!

Tuesday (My Birthday!!!)

The hotel bed was too soft for my delicate back so I was up early with Andy and he took me to breakfast at the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle. The restaurant is called Landmarc and I had the most giant French toast EVER! It was so good and I know probably so bad for me, but I didn't care, it was my birthday!! After breakfast Andy headed into work and I went back to the hotel and took a little nap watching VH1's top 20 countdown. I never get to watch it because the kids dominate the TV in the mornings, so it was a treat! Too bad music these days is CRAP! But the best part was the nap and when I woke up I got ready to meet Sarah and Andy at work for lunch. Sarah was sweet enough to take the day off of work to hang out with me but I think she enjoyed the sleeping in as well! Andy's boss Mike came to lunch with us which was great because he ended up paying and he made some cracks that made me laugh, so it was fun to see a side of him I've not seen before.

After lunch Sarah and I headed up 5th Ave for our day of shopping while poor Andy had to go back to work. Normally I wouldn't have wanted to hike 5th Ave because of the major quantity of tourists, but all of the shopping I needed to get done happened to be located on 5th Ave, so we just went for it. Sephora for makeup, American Girls for a doll for Samantha, H&M for clothes and FAO Schwartz for Alex. The weather was heavenly so after all was said and done we sat in some chairs outside FAO and enjoyed the sunshine and people watching. Sarah bought me some hilarious Smurfs for my birthday so we took some good pictures.
We went across Central Park for the Bouchon Bakery for some tasty treats before I had to head back to the hotel to get ready for my date night with my sweet husband. We had just enough time to make it to our reservation at this Greek restaurant named Kellari and the food was incredible but we had to hurry through it all so we could make our 7:00 play of Young Frankenstein in Times Square. The play was very funny but nothing can compare with the movie. If you've never seen it before......we can't be friends.

Monday

Andy had to go to work Monday morning (this was a work trip after all) so he got up early and I slept in! hehehe. After I got up I put on my swimming suit and went up to the indoor swimming pool in the hotel for a little morning exercise. It was so fun and refreshing but made me miss my kids a bit because I know they would have loved swimming. When I was done I got ready to meet Andy at work for lunch. I'd never been to their office on Park Avenue so it was fun to see it and meet some people I'd heard about and also see some old friends. We had lunch at the Blue Flowers Cafe with Sarah which was casual and huge and just good!

After lunch I took the subway to the World Trade Center so I could hop on the Path and ride to Jersey City. It was the same route that I always took when I lived and worked there and I got all dumb and sad thinking about the good ol' days! Seeing Jersey City again also brought back a lot of good memories. I rode the light rail to my friends house by the Liberty Science Center and the light rail took me right past my old apartment building and I will admit....a few tears welled up! Jersey City was a great place to live! It was a lot of fun to see Maile and her adorable kids and hang out with them for a couple of hours. Kaia was hilarious and came out to greet me in a purple princess dress with pink heels and by the time I left, she was dressed in a chicken costume! It made me sad that we don't live near them because she and Samantha would be such good friends!

Maile drove me back to the Path station where I returned to Andy's work and he and Sarah and I met our buddy James for dinner. We ended up going to Bobby Flay's restaurant Mesa Grill. Andy and I had eaten at the Mesa Grill in Las Vegas before and the food was just as good. We had an enjoyable evening catching up with James and the whole day ended up being another great day in NYC!

Sunday

Sunday morning we slept in, packed, and left the hotel. We took a cab to our next hotel in the city called the Le Parker Meridien. It was a very nice hotel and we had a very big room and the biggest shower I've ever been in!! I kept thinking how much the kids would have loved to play in that shower! I know I did!!! We dropped our bags in the room then went downstairs to this awesome restaurant in the hotel. It looks like a little hole-in-the-wall place but it's in this fancy hotel! It's called The Burger Joint and we each had a juicy cheeseburger. Num. After being recharged by the food we wandered around for a while and found a Pink Berry to have some frozen yogurt. We had it with blackberries and Fruity Pebbles. It was delicious! We shopped around, went to Chelsea Market and back to a Brooklyn Industries where we spent even more money on cool clothes (Andy bought a button-down shirt with blue pigeons on it...trust me, it's cool). We figured there might be a street market going on at Union Square so we went to check that out and I'm glad that we did! We have a couple of pictures up on a wall in our staircase that we don't really love and have been looking for something else to replace them, and we found a beautiful print that is colorful and I think will look great. I'll take a picture of it when Andy brings it home and post it.

There is a little place called Pommes Frittes that sells only French Fries with about 30 different dipping sauces and is SO yummy. We snacked on that before we headed to our friend Sarah's apartment to visit and bake cookies. Sarah moved to NY from Utah about 2 months ago and lives in a great little apartment......except it's 5 bloody floors up!! No elevator!! I guess the exercise is good for me! We talked and baked my chocolate chip cookies for all the guys at Neovest (and James) and then went to the Delta Grill for dinner. It's a southern restaurant which I generally don't enjoy, but I had some terrific Mac and Cheese there and everything else we tried was delicious. We caught a cab, took Sarah back to her apartment and headed back to our hotel.
I have to add.......the weather thus far has been great.....and it only gets better!!

Saturday

We arrived in New York on Saturday morning and tried to check into our hotel in Brooklyn. The hotel was packed with a bunch of school kids so we were not able to check in. They suggested we try back around 1:00. We roamed around Brooklyn Heights after a terrific breakfast at a little cafe. Brooklyn Heights was so nice and had so many cute streets and shops.....not to mention a fantastic view of Manhattan! After roaming for a couple of hours we passed a movie theatre and decided to watch a movie until 1 when we could hopefully check into the hotel. The only movie we thought might be good and played at the right time was Forbidden Kingdom (the Kung-fu flick with Jackie Chan and Jet Li). Let me just say, it was awful! The kung-fu was good but the acting and story was TERRIBLE! I was so tired because of the overnight flight so I curled up in the seats, laid my head on Andy's lap and took a little nap during the movie! Best $8 nap EVER!
After the movie we were able to check into the hotel and we watched the Pope make his way up 5th Avenue in the Popemobile. We were both still tired so we took a little nap and woke up around 5:00. We got dressed and headed to an area of Brooklyn known as Park Slope. We wandered the streets there and found a great store called Brooklyn Industries and spent a good chunk of money there. Then we found a cute Italian restaurant where we shared a pizza and some of the best ravioli I've ever eaten. For dessert we went to The Chocolate Room and had some Butterscotch Custard and a Triple Chocolate Cake that was featured in an issue of O Magazine (Oprah's magazine).

It was a very fun, successful day in Brooklyn!
By the way, food is important and fun for us, so you will hear a lot about what we eat.....get used to it!!!

I told you!

I told you that I'd suck at posting while I'm here in NY! In my defense though, I haven't had a laptop with me except in the evenings when I'm rubbing my sore feet and applying bandages to my blisters. Busy, busy!
I have written down every days events though and will fill you all in when I get home. You're excited....I know it!
Thanks to all of you who wished me a happy birthday today!! It was a fantastic day! Maybe my favorite birthday! I fly home tomorrow evening and am excited to see my babies again! Thanks for the wonderful trip to NY, Andy!!!

We're here.....but first....

We are here in Brooklyn and having a great time so far, but before I post on our happenings thus far I need to write the funniest thing Alex has said/done before I forget!

On Friday we were in Costco (surprise, surprise) and they were giving out lots of samples. One of the samples the kids spotted was cheese and crackers. Not some mild cheese that kids usually like, but gorgonzola cheese. I have to admit I was looking forward to their faces when they realized how nasty the cheese was and spitted it out. Alex took a bite and just kept on chewing and looking around all casual like while Andy and I peeked at him to see what he would do. He chewed and swallowed, looked down at the cheese, looked up at me, held up the cheese and with a furrowed brow exclaimed, "This cheese tastes stinky!". I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time! To make it even better, he popped the rest of the cheese in his mouth and ate it all! What a freakin' cute kid!!!

I'll catch up the blog tonight with our New York fun. The pope is in town so we might hang with him, ya know, bless some people, chill at Mass in Yankee Stadium, the usual!

Phew!

We are leaving tonight for New York on the midnight flight and it's difficult for me to express how badly this trip is needed!! So I won't. Let's just say that Andy's sister Cathy who is staying with the kids is my hero!!! Thank you Cathy!

We will, of course, have a computer with us since Andy will be working while we're out there, so I plan on posting every night about the days events. We'll see if it actually happens!

I love you dearly Samantha and Alex.......and I will love you even more after some time away!
Toodles!

Ahhhhhhhh

Yesterday Andy and I were sitting together on the couch and we kissed. Samantha saw the kiss and said "Ahhhh, true love's first kiss!". What an observant little girl we have........orrrrrrrrrrr we've watched Enchanted too many times!!

Also, (this is for you Andy) our daughter has trouble CONTROLLING THE VOLUME OF HER VOICE!!!!

Mad Parenting Skillz

No, I don't have any, but you can bet that I'm taking notes from this lady. Courtesy of Gizmodo.

UPDATE: after hearing about how the kid broke his mom's vacuum, Dyson is sending her a a $500 vacuum for free!

I'm gonna be a star!

So, a few months ago Andy and I were eating at Ruth's Diner (I posted about their goodness a while back) and we were commenting on how it was the perfect location for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives to do a spot at. We joked about how we should write into Food TV and tell them how delicious the food is at Ruth's. So, on whim, I did. Yesterday I got an email from someone at the production company telling me that they were seriously considering filming the show at Ruth's and asked if I would be interested in showing up that day and being interviewed! I called them right back and said "Hell yeah!". Not really in those words though. They are going to be in Salt Lake May 5-9 filming at various locations and are going to call me if they pick Ruth's and give me all the details. I think it would be hilarious and fun so I will keep you posted on the happenings!

Unwanted Company

Do I have a sign on my forehead that says "Hey, when I'm in the bathroom doing my business, feel free to join me! I love to have a party while I'm evacuating my bowels!!". No??? I didn't think so! Can someone please tell that to my children? Thanks!

Apron

Here is a picture of the apron I made for my sister. I am glad that you can't see the details very well because they need some work! I am also glad that you can't see my blue fuzzy socks and my sexy lounge clothes! Well, I guess you can see peeps of them!

Mmmmm.... Pie

Remember those Hostess Fruit Pies? I loved me some Hostess Berry Fruit Pies when I was a kid. Actually, it's probably safe to assume that I still love them, but I made the mistake once of looking at the nutritional information label on one. A third of the total fat that I can have in a day, and HALF of the saturated fat? I can find tastier treats. Anywho, I ran into this crazy article on Wired.com today that explains what is actually in those things. Perhaps I should re-title this post "Innocence Lost".

P.S. Check out these recipes from the Hostess website. Gag me with a spork.

NYC Flashback Friday

Remember when we went to the Knicks game at Madison Square Garden? The game was pretty lame until the 4th quarter when suddenly the Knicks came from behind, made the game close and ended up winning! It was a great comeback and a great ending to what was mostly a boring game. Who cares though......it was the Knicks at the Garden!! How could you not enjoy that!?! Do you remember who they played, Andy?

The Back Saga

A couple of my favorite Murray girls (hey Tiff and Michele!) asked what happened to my back after I posted my x-ray, so this post is more for them since a lot of you have already heard this story. So, here goes.....

We believe the original injury occurred one winters night while I was visiting my sisters house. She is known far and wide as having the most dangerous front steps in all of Springville, as I first found out. It was quite the fall. One of those cartoon falls where my whole body went up in the air and landed right on my BUTT!! Kami said the entire house shook when I fell. I'm not sure I should have admitted to that.....oh well. I knew that I broke my tailbone but didn't feel any other back pain until a few years later. When we were moving from New Jersey back to Utah my lower back just started hurting. Not from picking up any specific heavy box or anything, I just think the combination of moving things and herding kids and the stress and everything caused the disc to just bulge and break and put pressure on the nerve. It went on hurting for a few months before Andy finally made me go check it out at the doctors. After a bunch of doctors appointments I finally got an MRI that showed a huge herniated disc. I am no doctor and I even looked at it and knew something was wrong. I was referred to a great back specialist who told me that the disc was dead. Gone to heaven. No life left in it. Meaning, no liquid left in the disc. The only thing to fix it would be surgery. I don't know about you, but I've always heard the one surgery to avoid is back surgery, so I was a bit apprehensive about all of it. I knew the pain wouldn't get any better (even after I started physical therapy) and someday I would need the surgery, so I figured I'd get it over with while I was young and healthy.
So, a year after the pain started I went in to remove the disc (which the doctor said was so bad it was in pieces!), put in a spacer to fill in where the disc was, put a couple of screws and rods in to hold it in place and I was finished! I was back taking care of the kids full time 2 weeks later and only went to physical therapy a few times before she said I was all good!! There is still some pain, mostly from stress and the fact the kids keep me running all day, but if I lay down and get some rest it's managable. On my last appointment with the doctor the only question I had to ask was "Can I go water skiing this summer?". The doctor said yes. THAT, my friends, is a happy ending!!!

If wishes were fishes we'd all have a fry!

I wish that my children would simply state, "Mom, I'm hungry", rather than rip books, chew their faces off, shoot laser beams out of their eyes and scream so loud the international space station calls to tell me what a horrible mother I am.

Comparison

This is a comparison test of a tiny baby versus my giant baby Samantha! This is my cousins baby Katherine. She was a little premature and if I remember correctly was just over 4 pounds. Cute little mite!!
Now, to compare, this is Samantha at just a few days old. She, on the other hand, was 9 pounds 5 ounces. Yeah, I know, large baby!!

Alex was a large baby as well weighing in at 8 pounds 10 ounces....I think. I kind of forget sometimes. I don't have a picture of him in his car seat to compare, but I always chuckle at this picture of his first bath. That is one pissed baby!!

Some seriously silly kids

Alex with a plum slice smile. Unprompted, by the way, which is further proof of just how nuts this kid is! You can't help but love him!

Samantha doing her pirate impersonation. If you could hear her say "Arr Matey" with that look on her face, it would be even better!

All the cute you can handle!

If you've never checked out www.cuteoverload.com you are missing out!! Whenever I've had a bad day it is the first thing Andy tells me to go look at. You can't help but get in a better mood after you've checked out all of the wicked adorable animals. My favorite, and something that has made it's way on to my want list, are the Scottish Fold kittens. If we ever decide to get a cat or a dog, I think this kitten will win out over all the rest. Now check out that site and tell me that kitten on the first page isn't the cutest thing ever born???

Tag

My friend Ashly tagged me to tell 10 things about myself that people may not know. Honestly, I don't know that I could even come up with 1!! Sorry to disappoint Ash! It's a good thing you know just about everything about me already! Maybe if ya'll want the scoop you could ask Andy to write my list of 10. He may be able to come up with something scary to embarrass me.

NYC Flashback Friday

Remember when we went to the ESPN Zone with the guys from work for Torts' farewell party? We sat around eating appetizers, drinking and laughing for a few hours after work and just thoroughly enjoyed each others company.

Speaking of Torts, remember when I yelled at him for swearing on the phone and he thought it was hilarious! And when you first told him we were dating and my name was Kristi Loveridge and he said he thought it was a great porn name. Then there was the time at Todd's wedding when out of nowhere this little Italian guy from the Bronx ran up and hugged me; which was a little awkward considering his face came right smack dab into my breasts! That was the last time we saw John Tortorella.

Rest in peace JT. We love ya!

2 Assinine Arguements with a 3 1/2 year old

Samantha : "Is this tomorrow?"

Me: "No, this is today, Friday. Tomorrow is Saturday."

Samantha: "No, this is tomorrow, MOM."

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As we were driving to a restaurant for lunch we passed by a car dealership.

Samantha: "Momma, I want to eat at that restaurant." (She says as she is pointing to the car dealership)

Me: "No honey, that is a place where you buy cars. We'll be at the restaurant soon."

Samantha: "No, you don't buy cars there, we eat there."

Me: "Whatever."

Titanium

Ladies and Gentleman, my back.
4 screws, 2 rods and a spacer : $15,000
2 nights in hospital : $16,000
Spine surgical team of 9 : $30,000
Having insurance pay 95% : Priceless

Wanting to shout it at the top of my lungs!

As part of my "lose a few pounds" scheme I purchased a few of the frozen entrees from various companies; Lean Cuisine, South Beach, Weight Watchers, etc. I wanted to sample each brand before I bought massive quantities of any one type. Well, in my first try I found a winner!! It was the Lean Cuisine Panini Chicken Club and it was AWESOME! Maybe my expectations were just super low, but I found myself thoroughly enjoying it! It had tomatoes, chicken, bacon and cheese on a sourdough bread that came out of the microwave crispy and delicious. It only had 9g of fat and 350 calories and was high in protein and fiber. I've never had good feelings towards these frozen "health" foods, but this one may have changed my mind.

Thumbing my nose at the snow

Yesterday as I was terribly depressed because of the yucky weather and my difficult children, I decided to lift my mood by putting the new duvet cover I made on my bed. It fit better than I thought it would and looks great, I think. Samantha stood outside my room when I was finished and just said "Oh momma, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty!". It was cute. Every time I went into my room after putting it on, I smiled. THAT is the sign of a good looking room!

While I was posting on quiona......

While I was writing that last post, my very adorable and very monster-like son and his sister were in the kitchen having a snack of strawberry yogurt. Unbeknownst to me Alex was dipping his spoon in the yogurt and flinging it across the kitchen. Not the spoon, oh no, he realized that would be too much noise. But the yogurt, yes, that flings nice and quiet!!! It was the perfect plan until of course his sister snitched on him. It was a bit of a mess that I was lucky enough to clean up while Alex had his nose in the corner and Samantha sat there very disapproving thinking to herself "I would never do such a thing! No, my stint of rubbing vaseline all over my brother and dolls was not NEAR this bad!".
Only 4 more weeks until I get a 5 day break in New York. I'm going to make a construction paper chain to count the days. THIS is my Christmas!

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa)

Last night Andy found a recipe in Jamie Oliver's cook book for a spicy couscous. I LOVE couscous but we also wanted to try a new grain we've been hearing a lot about lately called quinoa. It's been around forever and it was a staple in the diet of the Inca because it provides more protein than any other grain. It's also very versatile. So Andy substituted the couscous for quinoa and it was delicious!! Samantha chowed down on it as well but did think it was a bit spicy for her. Alex had one bite and shoved it aside. Oh well, gotta give him points for trying! Needless to say, we're going to find a bunch more recipes for this new grain of ours and if you are interested in this recipe we did (I thought you might be Maile since you posted about quinoa as well) then let me know and I'll email it to you.

Blah blah blah

Pretty crappy weekend. Ornery kids who didn't nap. Ornery mom for no reason that anyone can figure out. And snow. Lots of cold snow. Snowed all day today. Looks more like December than the end of March. Of course, we are in Utah so I guess the unexpected is to be expected. On the bright side....it's 6pm and the kids are in bed!!! So I have a full evening of cleaning the kitchen, exercising and watching TV ahead of me! Rock on.

Some recipe help please!

I have decided it would be prudent for me to shed a few pounds for no other reason that I think it would make me feel good. So I am inquiring to all of you if you have any healthy recipes that you enjoy that you could pass along to me. I am going through my cookbooks and finding healthy recipes that sound good that I might actually eat but am finding I'll need A LOT more if I'm going to stick with this for a while. Mostly I'm shooting for leaner meats, no butter but instead use olive oil, more veggies and fruit (easier this time of year than winter) and smaller portions. Anyone who knows me well knows that I don't do self-control very well, so this is going to be tricky! Andy is on board with most of it too, so that will help. Of course, he'll be steering clear of the veggies. Wish me luck!!