Cabela's virgin no more!!

Andy has been telling me for quite some time now that I need to venture off to Cabela's in Lehi and check it out. I never understood why and since I never thought, "Hey, I need to get XYZ, guess I'll go to Cabela's for that!", I never made it up there. Well, Andy is going off to London Sunday night and since he can't take me with him he has to take his special pillow. And, for that, he needed a compression bag to fit it in his luggage. So off to Cabela's the family did go. The kids have been there before and loved it and I can see why now!! The size alone is incredible as are all the dead animals! Now, I don't really like hunting or the use of guns to kill live things (although, the use of guns to shoot at targets such as paper or cans is, in my book, one of the greatest things in life!). But that is a discussion I will not delve into right now......let's just say that I don't like hunting and dead animals. But, if they are there, I will probably look at them and I actually am impressed at the size of some of them! Them moose be huge!!! I do enjoy camping every now and again so it was fun to look at the camping gear and the boating gear (Greg, you better be ready with your boat soon!!!) and the cute clothes. I also purchased a great bag that has so many pockets and zippers and places to put things that I almost needed a moment alone!!! We did forget a couple of things so I think next week I will take the kids up there for some shopping, dead animal looking, and lunch. What more could 2 kids ask for???

Feeling grateful, frustrated, apprehensive, and stressed

1. I am feeling grateful to my awesome husband who makes every day feel like Mother's Day. I know that is super cheesy but it's true! Most women are so grateful that one day a year they don't have to cook and they get a break from the kids, but Andy is so great to do that almost every day. He certainly does most of the cooking around here and whenever I want to get out of the house alone he is more than willing to watch the kids for me. Andy, you're pretty great! For Mother's Day this year I got a fantastic watch from Andy and Samantha made me these pens in preschool. Andy also helped the kids make homemade cards with their photos and I really loved them! Oh, and don't forget the e-card from Andy that made me laugh!
2. I am feeling so frustrated at my beautiful children. I can't even being to explain what it is like to be a parent to these two. I was hoping that since Samantha is nearing age 5 she would be close to being done with tantrums. I was wrong. I keep thinking that as they get older being their mom will get easier. I think, again, I'm wrong. I am frustrated.

3. Maybe apprehensive isn't quite the right word, but we found out today that our move to London has been approved! Now the fun of negotiating begins! It still isn't set in stone that we will be moving because they still have to make us an official offer and we need to accept that offer. With the economy the way it is, JPMorgan has cut back on a lot of things (like most companies have), and so we'll have to wait and see if their ex-pat package is acceptable for us. In the meanwhile, Andy will be flying to London next week and who knows how many other times before we get this all settled. Having him gone makes me apprehensive.

4. Stressed!!! Why in the world did I sign up for this damn BYU Independent Study class?? I don't have time to do it!! I don't have energy to do it!! I don't have the brains to do it!! I was used to getting mostly A's in high school and college and maybe the occasional B. The first C+ I ever got was in Chemistry class in college and I was devestated! I think my highest grade on any of my assignments so far has been a B+. My lowest???? D!!!! I am proof that children rot your brain and turn it to pure mush!!! AND, I am supposed to have this course finished by October and with everything going on lately (see above number 3), I can't imagine me getting it all done.

Life could be worse. At least my family has their health which is SO important to me, so I really shouldn't complain. I just think it will be fun to look back on this post in a few years and laugh about what we went through. At least I have my parakeet to entertain me......right now he is playing in his cage with his paper towel liner and fighting with himself. Not as funny as when he hangs upside down and falls, but it still cracks me up!!!

The Party Cookie

Tomorrow is my dad's birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!), so today I made some cookies to take to his work. I also wanted to introduce "The Party Cookie" and demonstrate what can be done with a giant cookie! The kids were very excited to see Grampy and to see the big machines where he works. Grampy gave us the tour and showed us all the missile parts that he is in charge of, but mostly the kids were concerned with the safety glasses they had to wear! I wanted to take some pictures, but that isn't allowed around missiles!! Go figure!

Scrubs

Last night was the series finale of the TV show Scrubs. I have always enjoyed this show and I was so happy they ended it before it got boring and stale. This season was hilarious and ended with this great song that I hadn't heard before - The Book of Love by Peter Gabriel. I looked it up on YouTube and here it is for your listening enjoyment.

Ugh

I really haven't been in the mood to post lately. Not sure why. Could be that things have been so hectic and then, suddenly, Andy was home and I felt like I could breathe again and I didn't want to waste those breaths on blogging. OR, it could be the fact that if one child is being good, it automatically means the other has to act like the spawn of Satan!! Today Samantha will be playing the role of Satan's child. Afterall, yesterday it was Alex's turn and we want to keep things fair! In an attempt to make myself feel better today, here is this video.

Andy laughing

Andy doesn't like taking pictures. Therefore, in most photos he kind of has this cheesy, fake smile (see below). I saw this picture from a friend of his on Facebook and had to steal it because I LOVE the look on Andy's face!!!! That is his true smile when he is laughing and I think it is so cute!! Try to ignore the nastiness in the background! They were on the nasty food street in Beijing and I don't even want to know what half of that stuff is. All I know is that Andy didn't eat ANY of it!!! Love you baby! Come home......FAST!!!!

Andy at the Great Wall of China.

Very deserving

All of you who feel I deserve these shoes from my adoring husband who has left me alone with the children for 11 days please leave a comment below letting Andy know. A simple AYE will suffice.

Thank you for your participation.

I thought you might like to take a look at what Kristi's blog looks like here in China.



You see that big white spot there? You know, where I posted that awesome Mythbusters vide,coincidentally on Kristi's birthday? It turns out that the Chinese government blocked YouTube about a month ago, to prevent people from watching propaganda videos posted by the Falun Gong movement, as its the 10th anniversary of their activity here in Beijing. You'll have to look it up on Wikipedia for yourself though - articles about Falun Gong are blocked here as well.

Angela

My friend Angela (the adorable blonde on the right in pig-tails) passed away 2 days ago from cancer. She has been battling with cancer for a long time now and she has been amazingly tough. I met Angela on our study abroad in Israel. We were in the same group together and you couldn't help but love her!! She was so fun and sweet and kind. I chose this picture because I remember this day as one of my favorite days in my 2 months there. We had the whole day free and a bunch of us girls decided to go shopping in the Old City and on Ben Yahuda Street! We had bags and bags of goodies by the time our day was done.......4 of us also had new ear piercings!! It was a fantastic day and I remember having so much fun with Angela. We only recently got back in touch, but I still consider her a good friend. I know she is in heaven now and free of pain, so for that, I am happy.

Andy in China

PUNK!!!!!

Another favorite old video

Here is Alex laughing at Mommy in the mirror. His laugh is still the same today and I can't get enough of it!!!!

Catching up on a few things

1. Tuesday I had my first paid cookie delivery and it was great!! Making the cookies proved to be harder than I had expected (difficult with 4 different kinds of cookies, 1 oven and not enough counter space), but the cookies were delicious and were there on time and everyone seemed happy! I even stopped by the dentist office where my sister works and surprised them with some free samples and business cards. They were all very sweet and supportive which made me feel good!!

2. Thanks for all the happy birthday wishes!! (Even the late ones....JENNY!!) I had an okay day with family but didn't fully enjoy it......I think I had most of my brain on the fact that Andy would be leaving the next day. It's always a little stressful with him gone, but I have some plans with family and hopefully some plans with some friends (Ashly? Britany? Please!). I am hoping the time (10 days!) goes by quickly and that Andy has a great, and safe, time!

3. Alex starting speech therapy yesterday. The poor kids stuttering has just gotten worse and we think it's time to help him out. I found a nice therapist close by who Alex seemed to really get along with. She said his stuttering is fairly severe but she's quite sure she can help. I really hope so!!! His stuttering is worst when he is in new situations or talking to new people. Alex is so super friendly and kind and wants to talk to everyone and it just breaks my heart when they can't understand him. Some people just choose to ignore him and I can tell it makes him sad. Poor little guy!!! I hope we don't have to have him in therapy for too long, but we'll go as long as he needs it! His therapist's name is Paige and when we got home I told him to tell his daddy what her name is........he responded very confidently with, "Paper!" Get it?? Paige (page), Paper??!! Andy and I had a GOOD laugh over that one!!

4. I have posted a page on Facebook for krandy's sweet co. You can log on and become a fan!! Just FYI!!

Happy Birthday Kristi!!

This doesn't really have anything to do with Kristi's birthday, but it's too awesome not to post. Oh, I know - birthday candles. Blow'em out, babe!

Old movies

I was browsing through some old movies the other day and was almost in tears!! I miss my babies when they were babies! I never thought I would say that because, at the time, life was hell! They were difficult to handle and my days were long and my nights were longer. I just wanted time to pass quickly and them to grow up quickly. Life hasn't gotten any easier like I thought it would. It's just gotten different. Lesson learned: don't wish away your days.

So, here is one of the videos that I love! It shows the relationship between my kids that has ALWAYS existed!! It also shows what a tough little kid Alex was!!! They still play like this today and only about half the time does it end in tears.

Second California Slideshow

First California Slideshow

I really have NOT been in the mood to post about our vacation yet, but I did put together this slideshow. It only has about half of the trip so I'll be doing another one tomorrow about Legoland.

I'm back

We are back from our "change of routine" down in Southern California and my day is going to be filled with laundry and house cleaning and, most importantly, getting the children to nap. I don't call it a vacation because with kids you NEVER get a vacation, but a change of routine is nice too! The kids had fun and were pretty good! They slept well and handled all the running around as well as can be expected for a 3 and 4 year-old. Andy and I had a good time as well and as soon as I get the pictures off the camera I'll do a nice long post!

Motherhood

I just finished watching an episode of Oprah that I had recorded about motherhood. More specifically, the good, the bad and the ugly of motherhood. I am so glad I am a mom at a time when it is becoming okay to be honest about your feelings. It is becoming more and more okay to talk about postpartum depression (which even adoptive mothers can have......TRUST ME!), and to talk about not loving being a mom every moment of every day. I am thankful that I have my mom and sisters to talk with who let me know that wanting to lock my children in their rooms for hours on end is normal - not okay, but normal. One thing that a woman on the Oprah show said that I loved was, "we are all trying to love motherhood as much as we love our children." It is so true!! I love my children more than anything but I DO NOT love all that comes with being a mom. Andy said it best, "I love being a daddy, but I do not love being a parent.". AMEN!! But, in the end, we signed up for this and even though we had NO CLUE what we were getting ourselves into, we are in it for the long haul and are just going to try and do our best......which is all anyone can ask for!! And, according to my mom, it will all be worth it someday when we can be grandparents!!!

Samantha funnies

Samantha has said a few funny things this past week.......

First, we were on our way to a field trip for school and we drove past the Mt. Timp temple. Samantha's friend EJ commented on the temple and how his parents were married there but he hasn't been inside before. Samantha told him that she has been inside the Draper temple (for the open house) but can't go in anymore because it has been decorated. I'm quite certain she meant dedicated, but I liked her version!!!

On Friday we had some errands to run up in Salt Lake so we decided to eat dinner there. We drove past Buca di Bepo which Samantha recognized since we've been there a few times. She asked if we could go to Boom Diddy Boondocks for dinner!! She asked what the name was because she knew that wasn't correct, but even after we corrected her she kept calling it Boom Diddy Boondocks. I think it will always been called that in our house now.

Much better

I'm just sitting here thinking how blessed we are to be able to watch Conference in the comfort of our own home. When we lived in New Jersey with small kids we couldn't go to the stake center to watch and so we streamed Conference on our laptop (which was spotty at best). It is so much more enjoyable to watch at home on our television. I am grateful.