Thing 3 is Thankful

Bah! I meant to post this on Thanksgiving, and I forgot. Thing 3 brought home a paper from his nursery class at church two weeks ago, with the classic painted hand print turned into a turkey. On the side, they had asked him what he was thankful for and wrote down his answers. I think it's a pretty good list for a three year old:

My family
My body
All three blankies
My grandma and grandpa
Jesus
My friends
Grant
All the colors

I love that he's thankful for his friends... and Grant. It makes it sound like Grant isn't his friend, but really what's going on is his relationship with Grant is beyond friendship. Grant is five, and Thing 3 thinks that everything Grant says or does is genius. He worships Grant.

I also love "all three blankies" and "all the colors." I know my son, and those are two things that he really is thankful for.

"When all words fail, she speaks, Her mix tapes are masterpiece" - Ben Folds

I love making mix tapes/CDs/playlists. I've made one for almost every major trip I've taken since college. They're all have names like "Reno 1998" or "San Onofre 2000." I even have a Shingletown 2002. You get bonus points if you know where Shingletown is. I have others that are named after an occasion, like "Viking Fest." Some just have stupid names like "Songs I Really Like" or "Fun Songs."

It all started in 10th grade. My best friend and I made our first mix tape - we called it "Hector and Lee's Hot Picks." ( I was the only one who called her Hector, and it would take way too long to explain why I did.) I found the tape case two days ago when I was going through my music. I thought I would post the playlist here for laughs.

Hector and Lee's Hot Picks:

The Glory of Love - Peter Cetera
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
Forever Young - Alphaville
Stayin' Alive - The Bee Gees
Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
Faithfully - Journey
Just Like Heaven - The Cure
What Have I Done to Deserve this? - Pet Shop Boys
Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You) - Pet Shop Boys
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Free Fallin' - Tom Petty
Who'll Stop The Rain - CCR
Who Can It Be Now - Men At Work
I Can See It In Your Eyes - Men At Work
Down Under - Men At Work
Never My Love - The Association
Cherish - The Association
Stay - ? I don't even know what song this is.
On Bended Knee - Boyz II Men


Apparently this was made when we were going through a classic rock phase, after my pure 80's days but before I started wearing flannel shirts and cut off jeans to school everyday, listening to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" about a hundred times with my friends, trying to decifer the words but still proclaiming Kurt Cobain to be a genius. I look at this list and cringe. Boyz II Men? And what was I thinking putting songs by the same group next to each other on the playlist? Rookie mistake. And I threw up in my mouth a little when I saw The Association on there.

So anyway, this week I've made four mix CD's to give out as presents. Three of them are mixes of Christmas music for some awesome ladies that I work with at church, and one is for my brother's birthday, just some music that I think he'll like. (My family rarely reads my blog, so no worries about anyone blowing the surprise!) Now we get to the reason for this post. Are these lame gifts? I'm afraid it's too high school. I love getting mixes from people - it's personal, they took time to do it, and sometimes it introduces me to something new. It's how I got hooked on Ben Folds, this generation's piano man. But maybe someone else will think it's dumb. I'm not trying to be cheap - usually I'll just build up a bunch of songs that I think a certain person would like, and when I get enough, I make a CD and give it to them. So, what are your thoughts? Give me some feedback.

Halloween Piano Recital 2008

I got tired of seeing the post about my kid mooning people, so I had to post something else.

This is the second year that I have done a Halloween recital, and I love doing it. It gives the kids an extra chance to wear their Halloween costumes! We do the recital at an assisted living home in the area, and the residents love seeing the kids dressed up and hearing them perform. I even found some spooky Halloween songs for most of them to play.

Here we are, all the kids minus one, plus me and two stowaways:




And of course, we have to have the silly picture. This is how we look at the end of a lesson:





I am really having a lot of fun teaching this year - probably my favorite out of all the years I've taught so far. The kids are great and most of them are doing a good job of practicing, which makes lessons so much more fun. This year I'm teaching not one but two of my own kids - Thing 2 started lessons. You would think that teaching my own kids would be horrendous, but we actually have a good time. Plus, that's two students out of my twelve that I don't have to wonder about how their practicing is going - I'm all for less mystery!

Blue Moon

Um... what do you do when you see your three year old mooning his brothers with glee? I'm pretty sure the proper response is not to laugh, but I just couldn't keep it in. Both big brothers were completely offended. Where the heck did he get the idea to do this? And, more importantly, is this a one time thing, or am I going to get a phone call from the preschool telling me to come pick up my wayward child?

Belated Thing 2 birthday pics, AKA how in the world did I pull this thing off?

A few weeks ago we had Thing 2's birthday party. The guest list kept getting longer and longer as we got closer to the party, but I thought, no big deal. Not everyone will come. Oh, Fireball. So naive. Everyone came but one. We had 16 kids at our house. My friends all told me I was insane, and in the back of my mind I agreed with them. Here is a picture of the whole crew: a pilot, a wizard, Cleopatra, a ghost who didn't want to wear his costume, a cat, a pioneer, a police officer with his arm around a ninja, Boba Fett and Jango Fett, a robot, a 10 year old friend to torment the little kids, a skeleton who didn't want to wear his mask because it was too scratchy, two more ninjas, and Indiana Jones (or as Thing 3 says, India Jones).

We decorated ghost cookies and bat cookies.

There were so many kids that everyone had to stand around the table so all the kids could fit!

Here we are at the start of the treasure hunt. I have a funny look on my face because I'm pretending I lost the party bags. "Help me kids! Here is my only clue to where I put them." After looking in the flower beds, the play house, the basketball court, the truck, the mailbox, and Sparky's shoe, the kids discover that I had them with me in the house all along. Silly mom!






All in all, it wasn't too bad. The kids were good, and I didn't crawl into my bed and pull the covers over my head when they left.

Happy Sparky Day

Today is Sparky day. He turned... well, I don't know if he wants me to say. I think he sometimes reads my blog, but who knows. I've mentioned before that he thinks he's old, but I discovered this week that he doesn't like me saying that he's old. Whatever.

Despite his quirkiness, or maybe because of it, I love him. This weekend I got to see him in his element at Thing 1's end of the season soccer party, where as the coach he got to hand out medals and talk about each kid individually - what they did to contribute to the team this year and things he liked about them personally. He loves coaching, and he loves the kids he coaches. We talked in the car about how we didn't realize what we were getting into when he started coaching that first team 5 or 6 years ago, but how we wouldn't change anything. I don't like being apart from him, but I love that he enjoys volunteering in the community. I love that he is a good dad to our boys. I love that he makes me laugh and he still lets me beat him at Dr. Mario. I love that he is fantastically brilliant, but spells like a third grader. And I love that out of all the presents I got him this year, his favorite is the college basketball preview magazine that I got for 5 bucks. I told him it's like babies ignoring their presents and playing with the wrapping paper.

Anyway, happy birthday, Sparky!

We're sorry, but your princess is in another castle

I smiled when I found this online. If you aren't into old school nintendo, this might not be that fun for you, but for me, this took me back in time...

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me

A couple of mornings ago, I went running and about half way through my run, I looked up and saw the big dipper. At 7:00 in the morning. I should not be able to see the big dipper at 7:00 in the morning. I should see the sun. It should be bright and sunny and cheerful, and I shouldn't have to worry about whether cars can see me well enough to know I'm there and not run me over. I don't want to be able to have a quick astronomy lesson with my kids before I send them off to school. Really.

Tagged Again

Nothing like getting tagged when you don't know what to blog about. Thanks, Jen, for the tag!


8 Favorite TV shows: (I'm noticing that most of these are now off the air. Sad.)
1. The Office
2. Scrubs
3. Gilmore Girls
4. Ed
5. Lost
6. Freaks and Geeks
7. You Can't Do That on Television
8. The Colbert Report

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Dejunked my room (yay!)
2. Taught piano lessons
3. Helped Thing 2 with homework
4. Pulled weeds
5. Read Thing 3 books
6. Made homemade vegetable soup and muffins
7. Ran 3.5 miles
8. Listened to an audiobook

8 things to look forward to:
1. Halloween piano recital
2. Thanksgiving with my parents and some siblings
3. No more shoulder pain
4. Going to the pumpkin patch with the kids
5. Sneaking candy out of my kids' Halloween bags
6. Finding time to play Brain Age
7. Going out with Sparky this weekend for the first time in months
8. Christmas in San Diego - Yay!

8 Favorite restaurants:
1. Tio Lio's - Mexican restaurant in San Diego
2. Santana's - Mexican restaurant in San Diego
3. Old Town Mexican Cafe - you know where
4. Oscar's - Not Mexican food, but still in SD
5. Claim Jumper - serves enormous amounts of food, there is one in SD
6. New York Burrito - doesn't exist anymore, was our favorite place in Provo
7. Central Market - best soup in the world located here, look out Soup Nazi!
8. Aroy Dy's - Thai food located here

8 Things on my wish list:
1. Nice ear phones for my iPod that work!
2. A new Ben Folds CD
3. Mental Floss!
4. Real Mexican food
5. Time
6. Energy
7. Health
8. A house where we can stretch our legs!

8 people I tag:
1. Suzanne B.
2. Emily S.
3. Sara K.
4. Diana G.
5. Thing 1!

6. CDR
7. Rachel B.
8.Sandy F.

I'm Getting Old

Sparky is always claiming that he's getting old. I used to have little patience for this and would tell him he's fine, suck it up, only in a much nicer and more acceptable, loving way. But now I'm starting to think that maybe he was on to something and I was just two years behind on the enlightenment since I'm two years younger.

Case in point #1:
I am forgetting everything. People's names. Things I'm supposed to be doing. Semi major events that happened to me years ago. I used to brag that I had a great memory, now I am batting under the league average.

Case in point #2:
Last night I was playing volleyball (I know, another volleyball story, sorry), and I pulled a muscle in my shoulder during my first hit of the game. I tried to keep playing, but I was worthless. I went home early, popped a couple of Advil, and iced it. I thought of my father-in-law, who takes ibuprofen like they're candy - before, during, and after basketball and surfing which is almost every day for him - and realized that I am teetering at the top of a very slippery slope.

I am getting old. I am making the transition to liking classical music more than rock. I care about current events and listen to NPR. I like to go to bed at a reasonable hour, and I tell the kids to turn the TV down. I swear, next come dentures and a walker.

BYU vs. Washington

I have been meaning to post this for a while. About a month ago, Sparky, Thing 1, and I went to the BYU-Washington game with a bunch of friends. My parents drove over and went to the game with us, which was fun. Now, if you follow BYU football, you know what a close game this was. We're up by seven, Washington's quarterback has a fantastic run into the end zone, celebrates by flipping the ball up into the air and gets called for excessive celebration. Washington fans cry about it, boo-hoo. I think it's a lame rule, but it is the rule. If you have a problem, take it up with the NCAA and get the rule changed. Anyway, they moved the ball back for the extra kick, and BYU blocked the kick for the win. I could not stop celebrating (which for me consisted of jumping up and down and screaming my head off), until a guy a couple of rows in front of us started taunting the Washington fans in the next section. I wanted to shake him and say, "what are you trying to do, get us killed?" The Washington fans have hated BYU since 1984 when they claim we stole the national title from them, so who knows what they'll do when provoked.

Luckily we made it home safely. I learned two things at the game: 1. Washington fans are whiners. 2. Wahington fans like to brag about how "established" their stadium is, but all that really means is it's falling apart and the seats are brutally uncomfortable.

Pretty

This is the result of Thursday night's volleyball fun. I love playing volleyball, and those who I've played with know that I'm not afraid to sacrifice my body for the ball. I'm usually pretty good about rolling so I don't get hurt, instilled in me from all those high school practices (thanks, coach!) But I often get mocked for my less than graceful rolls, and Thursday night I guess I got a little self conscious about it, et voila. I dove for the ball and didn't roll. See? Roll, people, roll! Tell your friends and neighbors, don't let this happen to someone you love. It's been two days, and I still can't kneel down. But, I saved the ball and we won the point, so it was totally worth it.

Facebook: The beginning of a beautiful love/hate friendship

I caved and joined facebook. Sparky has been telling me to join for a long time. Apparently my friends were finding him and asking where I was. I've been dragging my feet with it just like I did with this blog - hey, I am a busy girl, and I don't have time for computer fun! Plus, I'm weak. I knew once I started I'd get addicted.

Case in point: Last night I signed up and it was so fun finding and talking to people that I haven't been in touch with in years, many since high school. Then I looked at the clock - cub scouts had ended five minutes ago. Yikes! So that's what facebook gets you, a good dose of neglecting your children. I felt so bad. I was always the last one picked up as a kid. The office ladies at my elementary school got to the point that they didn't bother asking if my mom was coming; they knew she'd be there eventually. I was so embarrassed by this as a kid, so now I totally overcompensate and make every effort to be there on time to pick up my kids. Except, apparently when someone has asked my to be their friend on facebook or has written on my wall. Luckily I called Sparky, and he happened to be at the same building for a meeting, so he went and grabbed him for me. At first I was grateful, but then I realized that this is all his fault anyway for having me sign up and getting me hooked.

Getting My Jim vs. Dwight Fix

Happiness is watching a new season premere of The Office. It's my favorite show out there right now. I love love love the pranks that Jim pulls on Dwight. Stapler in jello: funny. Wallet in the vending machine: hilarious. But my favorite is the one where Jim steals Dwight's identity. I've shown the boys clips from the show, and this is by far their favorite, too. They spent the whole summer saying, "Bears... Beets... Battlestar Galactica" to each other, and Thing 1 can quote the whole scene he loves it so much. Anyway, to celebrate tonight, here is a video of some of Jim's pranks on Dwight for your viewing pleasure.

First Day of School 2008

I have been meaning to get these up for a while - first day of school pics! Sparky's family had a tradition of taking a picture of each kid in the same spot on the first day of school every year, and we have done it every year, too, starting when Thing 1 started preschool. This is the first year that I have had all my kids in some form of school; for the last ten years I have always had some little guy with me that I tortured by dragging him on errands with me. What do I do with all this free time, you ask? I've gotten to go on some long runs during the week, which has been nice, I run lots of errands of course, and apparently today I'm wasting away my free time by blogging.

Thing 3 started his first year of preschool. He loves it and is completely frustrated that he doesn't get to go as often as his brothers. We know he likes his teacher, because the other day at church Sparky asked him what Jesus did for him, and he said He made Ms. Diane. If you ask him what his favorite thing about school is, he'll tell you it's the blackberries that grow near the playground.

Thing 1 is in 5th grade. His teacher told me at parent night that he is the top of the class in every subject, although I think she must have forgotten about spelling because he seems to have inherited his father's abilities in that area. Too much spell check! He ran for class president and lost, although the girl who won picked him as her VP. They also have a class legislature and a judicial system, and his teacher said she has had to send him as VP over to the legislative meetings to break up some arguments. I think the class politics thing ended up being more realistic than she expected! She also told me that she had a meeting with Thing 1 and the class president over who to appoint as Chief Justice, and he suggested that they choose one of the two new kids in class, since they didn't really get a chance to run for anything because no one knew them. What a sweet kid.

Thing 2 is in 1st grade this year. His teacher told me that he is Mr. Popularity. Everyone wants to sit by him, and the kids keep giving him gifts - cool looking rocks, twisted up paperclips, pencils sharpened down to little stubs. You know, what most of us refer to as trash but first graders see as treasures. I think the first day of school was a little long for him. He came home from school and plopped down his stuff and went to lie down on his bed. I don't think he has taken a nap since the day he turned two. I hated that I had to tell him to get up and get his cleats on because he had to leave for soccer practice in 10 minutes.

Monkeys

Question: What do you do when you walk into a room and you see your kids doing this:

Apparently I am raising a couple of monkeys.

Whaling Days 2008

Here are some pictures from the races the boys and I did at the end of July. Whaling Days is the big festival here in Silverdale and is always lots of fun. Here is Thing 3 in his first race ever! He is in a navy blue shirt, number 2200. Note how he keeps looking back to check on his mama!

Next is Thing 2, on the far right in a gray shirt, who had a great start and a not so great finish. At the very end, a kid cuts in front of him and trips him. Not the sparkling first place finish we saw at Viking Fest in May.

Thing 1 ran the 1 mile again and did great, finishing in 8:08. This course is pretty hilly, so he was pretty happy with his time. As you can tell, he gave it all he had!

I ran the 4 mile, and had a lousy race. I felt really tired from the start. I had been sick with a cold, and I coughed throughout the race. At the end, I felt like it was hard to breathe, which brought back memories of childhood asthma. Apparently other people were having trouble as well. Sparky said four or five people who crossed the finish line before me puked while crossing. Nice. No wonder the race worker looked panicked when I crossed looking green. I ran it in 33:26 which is a full minute and a half slower than last year. Here is a picture of me at the beginning of the race before I knew what I was getting myself into. Sparky took one of me at the finish line, but I'm not posting that one.

Feel Good Parenting Moment

Today is soccer picture day for Thing 2. I hate when it is scheduled on a Sunday, but I try not to make a big deal about it. I have a big thing about playing sports on Sunday. I only did it once in my life; it was the Gus Macker 3 on 3 basketball tournament. I was 17, my parents were out of town, no one would know. Long story short, I broke 2 fingers, my bishop had to take me to the emergency room, and I nearly screwed up my senior year season of volleyball. Yikes! Lesson learned - no sports on the sabbath.

But what about sport pictures? I figure it's okay to take pictures on Sunday, we do it all the time. I'd rather do soccer stuff on a different day, but whatever. This year it's a pain, though, because I have to take Thing 2 out of primary a few minutes early to make it. Now, let me pause here and tell you that this is the kid that really grumbles about going to church. "Is it Sunday? Aw, man!" "Why do I have to wear a tie? I hate ties!" "Why is church so long and they don't even have any food?!" So when I stopped in primary to pull him out a little early (I know, I'm evil) he surprised me. He wouldn't leave. "Mom, I want to stay. Can't I just put on my uniform for you later and you can take a picture?" I wanted to give him a big hug right there in front of everybody. Of course you can stay in church, buddy. Thanks for teaching your mom about what's important.

Loving the Blackberries

One thing that I hate about the Northwest is the blackberry vines that grow all over the place. They are a weed that I constantly have to yank out of my yard, and they poke me and make me bleed. But one thing that I love about the Northwest is the blackberry vines that grow all over the place. In August and September the berries are everywhere and we can pick them to our hearts' content. All three of our kids would live off them if I let them.

This year was a particularly good year. I got ambitious and made a couple of batches of jam. A friend happened to stop by mid-process and caught me amidst the stirring and the sweating. I also happened to have some bread baking in the oven at the time to give to our awesome neighbors for watching our house off and on this summer, and my friend accused me of going Molly Mormon on her. I told her to snap a picture because it would be a rarity.

Yesterday I took it up a notch and baked a blackberry pie. I had just watched the movie Waitress the night before, and if any of you have seen it before, you know that you can't watch that movie without craving pie. So the kids and I went out to pick berries. An hour and many scratched up arms later, we had a bowlful. Thing 3 insisted on carrying home the bowl. I gave it to him and then two steps later realized that was a bad idea. Sure enough, before I could take the bowl back, he tripped and dumped all the berries we'd picked. He looked up at us with sad eyes and said, "Sorry, guys." He was too cute to get mad at, so we picked more berries, and the pie turned out great. Not as good as Keri Russell's character would have made, I'm sure, but then again I'm not married to an angry, needy wife beater either, thank you very much.

Playground Etiquette

Earlier today I took Thing 3 to the play place at the mall. When he was done, he came over to sit by me and put his shoes on. Before he could get started, a little boy of about 3 came over and stood in front of him. He stared at Thing 3 for about 5 seconds, and then wiped his nose on Thing 3's knee, and then ran off. Seriously, nose to knee. Thing 3 looked confused and then completely grossed out.

What do you do in a situation like this? A) I could go the parent, but it seems like it's an adult form of tattling. "Your kid wiped his nose on my kid." I could B) scold the kid myself, but that never goes well. Kids don't care what you say to them unless you're their parent or their teacher. Plus, if the parent caught me, she'd be ticked. And I'm too repulsed by the whole thing to just C) ignore it and forget it ever happened. I guess I decided on D) rant about it on my blog and subject my poor friends and family to the trivialities of my life.

Happy Birthday Thing 1

Last week we had a sleepover birthday party for Thing 1. I've decided that throwing sleepover birthday parties for your kids is like giving birth to your kids - when you're in the middle of it, it's unbelievably painful and you vow you're never going to do it again, but as time goes on, you think it wasn't that bad and you sign up for another one (No, I'm not pregnant). The party this year did contain a few gems, though. It was the first year that I heard girls discussed (in hushed tones, as though the subject was taboo), and we apparently invited a couple of pyromaniacs because I heard "Yeah, I know! Fire's awesome!" more than a few times. However, the best moment of the party came during the opening of presents. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

Thing 1 opened his gifts from the kids and then I brought out the pièce de résistance: the gift from all four grandparents and us. He started opening it, and he got this smile on his face that anyone who knows this kid well will recognize. It's like he's trying to hold it back, but you can tell that he's really pleased. It was a Nintendo DS. Every ten year old's dream. The best part, though, was the reaction from the rest of the kids. They broke into applause. They cheered for their friend. They patted him on the back and shook his hand. I swear, if this kid ever wins an Oscar or a Nobel prize, the crowd support will be a disappointment after this. I think they would have hoisted him on their shoulders if he hadn't been holding the DS. Sparky and I were both shaking with laughter. I am kicking myself now for not getting it on tape. Luckily I did manage to get a few pictures with the still camera.

Here's that smile I was talking about...




And here we are in the midst of the hand shaking and celebrating.




Happy birthday, kid. 10 is a big birthday. I hope you have many more birthdays like this, and I hope for your sake and your brothers' that I continue to forget what a pain it is to throw a sleepover for a bunch of 10 year olds.

Thing 3 gets a haircut

Before our trip, Thing 3 went from shaggy to spiky. Here are the before and after pics. (Why do my kids always look like they're being tortured when they smile for the camera?)

Vacation + Illness = No New Posts

Earlier this week we got back from our two week vacation to everywhere. We spent two nights in Spokane, where we hung out with my fam and went to the water park, then we went to Yellowstone for five days, then to a surprisingly fun family reunion in Lava Hot Springs, then to Utah for three days to visit friends and family. We did the 16 hour drive back in one day, and of course I had to get sick on that day. One of the great things about Addison's disease is that you catch everything that's going around, so sleeping in a house with 55 people is not recommended. I'm not exaggerating. We had 55 people in one house for three days. My immune system just couldn't handle it. It's like using a bullet proof vest made out of swiss cheese. So we got back Tuesday night, and after two days of drugs and tissues, I have decided to rejoin the land of the living.

You always learn new things when you go on a vacation with your family, and this one was no exception:

The nursery in the West Yellowstone ward is full when it hits 6 kids and won't accept any more.

When you drop off your kid at the sunbeam class because he was rejected by the nursery (hey, he's tall for his age and can sit still), don't panic when he's not there at the end of church and the teachers think you're crazy. He'll be in the CTR 6 class, and no one will know why.

If you lose Thing 2 at a swimming pool crowded with hundreds of people on the Fourth of July, just watch the diving boards. (It's starting to sound like we lose our kids all the time - I swear we don't.)

I heart playing Rock Band on the Wii.

A ping pong table, an air hockey table, and two Wiis can make anything endurable, even a family reunion!

You can learn new things about people that you've known your whole life by playing Loaded Questions. I learned that one of my sisters is a closet political junkie, another thinks she looks like Zoe from Sesame Street, that my mom wants to be in a boxing match with Satan, and that my Dad likes Christopher Cross ("You could get caught between the moon and New York City. I know it's crazy, but it's true." Can anyone name the TV show this quote is from?).

Pool lifeguards are actually there to rescue people and not to daydream. We saw one jump out of her chair and save a kid from drowning. The kid was five or six and the parents were nowhere to be seen.

When you're three, you get to make up new words. Thing 3's new word of the trip was "drinky." "Mom, I'm drinky." "I'm berry drinky." I heard this all trip, and it always made me smile.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is breathtaking, possibly the most beautiful place on earth, and Old Faithful is worth the wait.

When three-year-olds see guns in a play, they think they're real. We went to the Playmill in West Yellowstone to see "Oklahoma," and during the show, they shot guns, with blanks of course. I didn't think anything of it until the end of the play when the lights went on and Thing 3 turned to me and said with relief, "Phew! They didn't shoot us!"

When you visit with old friends that you haven't seen in years, it's like you were never apart.

The Prophet Said To Plant a Garden

Here is my attempt to grow an herb garden:



Seriously. This is why I don't own pets! I thought I was doing great - you know, I use fresh herbs all the time when I cook, so I'll save some money and grow my own. Food's getting expensive, and we're supposed to be self reliant, but I am just going to have to find another way to do it. This is the third time I've tried to do this, and each time they've been completely dead in less than a month. My grandma, who is a gardening genius, is just going to shake her head when I see her at the family reunion this summer. I feel like I'm letting her down. Hopefully she has passed her talent on to one of the other grandkids, because I am a genetic dead end when it comes to gardening.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go

Yesterday, Thing 3 was carrying around his backpack and told me he was ready for our trip. I found this slightly amusing since we aren't leaving for a couple of weeks. Later, I noticed the T.V. remote was missing, so I checked to see if he'd stuck it in his backpack. No remote, but I did find some fun stuff in there.

Things a three year old packs for a summer vacation:
Shoes
Jacket
Monkeys
A packet of instant oatmeal
Fruit snacks
All of our letter refrigerator magnets
Book of Mormon
A hymnbook
Han Solo
Little pirate guys
Little knight toys
Compass
The top of a toy fire extinguisher
Two books
Hammer
Football

Not bad, not bad. We have a couple articles of clothing, a little food, and if we get lost, Thing 3 can tell us where to go with his compass. I'm impressed that a Book of Mormon made its way in there; I can't tell if that was randomly thrown in or not. I love the packet of instant oatmeal. Of all the food we have, he wants to bring oatmeal? It wasn't even a good flavor; it was one of the "regular" packets.

Now I have to see if I can unpack it all and put it away without him noticing. And by the way, anyone know of any good hiding places for remotes?

Spring Recital 2008

Last Friday we had our spring piano recital here at our house. The kids did great! This is worth mentioning because I wasn't sure that would be the case. I held my breath during a couple of the songs, because earlier that week during lessons, a couple of the songs were... still in the "needs-more-practice stage." However, the kids worked hard and pulled it off. And a big thank you to one friend who helped out with serving the desserts afterward - the kids always make a mad dash for the kitchen as soon as I start hinting that the recital is over. I saw a few eyes glaze over as I started wrapping things up, you know, "this has been a great year," "the kids have made a lot of progress." It was like I could see the words changing as I said them out loud, and all the kids could hear was "Blah, blah, blah." I felt like one of the adults from the Peanuts specials. Then I said the magic word - dessert - and bam! The whole front row was gone.


We did have two minor catastrophes, though. I forgot to give out the award ribbons at the end! After going to all the trouble of ordering them, picking out a color that would match the programs, writing the kids' names and song titles on the back - I was furious with myself for forgetting. I have been hunting down kids all week, trying to get them their ribbons. The other issue we had is also my fault. I have been stubbornly continuing to have some of the recitals here at our house. It is mostly because I heart my piano and the way it sounds with the high ceilings in our front room. So I force everyone to get cozy and smoosh into the front two rooms of my house. In the past, we've had 30 people at most, so it hasn't been too bad. Friday's attendance: 45. So. Many. People. It's fantastic, it's what I want, we just don't fit. We had people spilling into the kitchen and the front entry way, and of course the parent paparazzi on the stairs. I felt really bad when I noticed that someone that I borrowed twelve chairs from ended up having to stand. I think next year I am going to have to bite the bullet and reserve the church. The piano there may be crummy, but at least we won't feel like we've been playing sardines.

Check out this video of Thing 1 and his friend playing their duet. I got this from a friend; I would have posted the version from my camera, but mine didn't have the dance footage in the background.

Viking Fest 2008

A few weeks ago, Thing 1, Thing 2, and I participated in various races at Viking Fest in Poulsbo. Thing 2 squeaked out a win in the 50 yard dash:




And Thing 1 ran his first 1 mile race in an impressive 7:38.





















Thing 3 said when do I get to run my race?





















And I ran the 5 mile race. It was a gorgeous day, and the course was breathtaking (in more ways than one, ha-ha). Most of it is right along Liberty Bay, and it ends in downtown Poulsbo. I counted 12 women and one man from our stake who ran the race. It was nice to run with friends! I ran with a friend from basketball for the first mile or two, then I caught up to another friend around mile three and ran with her for a bit. I was really pleased with my time - my goal was to be under 45 minutes, and I finished in 41:38. Thing 1 admitted to me that Sparky had told them that I would finish sometime between 45 and 50 minutes. Thanks for the confidence! I took fourth in my division. I was bummed about not placing, but third place finished two minutes ahead of me so I didn't feel too bad.




















Before this race, I had only run in 3 races since I had been diagnosed with Addison's disease in 2005, and all of my performances had been... less than stellar. This is the first race where I felt good before, during, and after the race. Sparky said I felt too good afterward - I guess it looked like I still had a lot left in me at the end. I don't know, I totally crashed on the couch when we got home and was completely worthless for the rest of the day. Anyway, it was fun, I'm looking forward to doing it next year, and I'm planning on doing more races this summer. And I'll have to remember to sign up Thing 3 for one of the kids dashes next time!

Losing Teeth and Sleep

A few nights ago, I was sleeping peacefully when I was shaken awake by Thing 2. “Mom! Great news! I lost my tooth!” Great news. Stop the presses. I looked over at my clock. 1:35. I decided at that moment that I am completely out of touch with what it's like to be six. He was practically doing a jig by my bedside, and all I wanted to do was roll over and go back to sleep. I gave him a “That's great, buddy,” and sent him off to bed. As an after thought, I called out, “I'm pretty sure the Tooth Fairy has already passed our house, so don't bother putting it under your pillow. We can do it tomorrow night.”

I have to say, he does look cute without that tooth.

Tag - I'm It

So, apparently my lovely friend and cousin CDR has "tagged" me.

The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What was I doing ten years ago? Let's see, I had just graduated from BYU, living in San Diego and about a month away from giving birth to Thing 1. I was mostly living in my in-laws' pool trying to cool down.

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today: Read to my kids, make dessert for 30 to 40 people for tomorrow, play basketball, talk to Sparky on the phone, order our new carpet.

5 Snacks I enjoy: pickles, candy, cashews, dried fruit, and ice cream (The pickles and ice cream make me sound pregnant but I swear I'm not).

Things I would do if I were a billionaire: I never know what to do with this type of question; I'm just not dying to have lots of money. I think I would just spend it on the people I love, take lots of trips together (Germany and/or Hawaii, anyone?), maybe get some huge cabin somewhere so my family and friends could gather and spend time together. I would probably get a house in San Diego and keep our house here in Washington, so we could go back and forth. I think I would end up giving a lot of it away, maybe start some sort of foundation or after school program for kids in this area. Boring, I know, but I'm just not the type of person to spend a thousand bucks on a pair of shoes. Oh, and I probably would have to break down and get my kids a Wii, because I wouldn't have an excuse not to anymore.

Places I have lived: Provo UT, San Diego CA, Reno NV, and Silverdale WA.

Jobs I have had: Retail, various odd jobs at a hospital in Reno, Athletic Trainer, Piano Teacher

The 5 bloggers I am tagging? Jenn, Diana, Potato Girl, Rachel, and Mako

Adventures in T - Ball

I'm the worst mom ever and I'll tell you why: I hate T-ball. Sparky coaches the boys' soccer and basketball teams, so by the time baseball season rolls around, we are pretty burned out. Thing 1 decided not to play baseball this year, and we did a silent cheer when he wasn't looking. Thing 2, however, loves snacks and trophies, so he wanted to play again this year. We put on our happy faces and signed him up for the Orioles, since he played on their team last year. Bad move. They have a new coach, and he is super nice, but any skills Thing 2 has picked up this year have been from the few minutes here and there we've spent working with him in the yard or at the park. I'm not one of those parents that dresses up the whole family in Orioles gear for the games (we have some of those on this team), or is living through my kid's experiences, pushing him hard, dreaming of him pitching in the world series. I just, you know, want there to be a point for us to sit through two games a week besides getting to take pictures of him in catcher's gear (so cute!), and the fact that we paid for him to do this. But I could live with this if it weren't for the whole T-Ball Snack Fiasco of 2008 *cue scary music*.

A couple of weeks ago, it was our turn to bring the snack. Now I should preface this by saying that I have issues with the whole snack thing. Why can't it be like when we were kids, where every once in a while your mom showed up at half time with a bunch of cut up oranges and everyone was happy? Our kids have gotten ridiculous snacks in the past - the 3 course meal snack, the Halloween-came-early-this-year snack, and what I like to call the happy meal snack, where it comes with a toy. Now maybe I'm just being the T-ball Scrooge and I need to lighten up a little, but I refuse to spend 50 bucks or more on the snack. So anyway, we had the snack, and it wasn't horrible - craisins, a granola bar, a fruit roll, and a little bottle of gatorade. A little on the healthy side, but I don't think the kids would have tossed it in the trash on the way home. After the game I went on the field to give it to the kids, and the team mom comes over and stands right in front of me with this big cooler. I asked her what she was doing, we had snack, and she told me not to worry, she just wanted to give something out because she had forgotten to bring snack the week before. So then the kids come over, and she starts handing out her bags-o'-candy and drinks, and Thing 2 ends up being the only kid that takes one of my snacks. The team mom was completely unapologetic, and I was fuming. Thing 2 looked at me with big worried eyes and said, "Mom, I thought we had snack." Sparky kept giving me sideways glances, waiting to see when I was going to explode, but luckily I held it in until we got to the car.

Giving in to Peer Pressure

So, for the last couple of years, I have had people politely nudging me to do a blog. It does make sense - I enjoy writing, and I have a husband who is a computer genius. But with a husband, three kids, two pain-in-the-butt diseases, and 11 piano students, I haven't had the time to just sit down and create one. Well, today I don't know why, but I decided to go Nike and just do it. So here it is. Aren't you so pleased?

My husband and I aren't big on putting our family's names out there in the big bad web, so from this point on, my husband will be known as Sparky a la the Chevy Chase Vacation movies, and the boys will be, from oldest to youngest, Thing 1, Thing 2, and Thing 3. (The idea for this came from Sara's post with her two youngest kids in cute Thing1 and Thing 2 shirts. Thanks, Sara!) If my family doesn't like them, too bad. They can get their own blogs.

I know I'm going to get questions about this - why "Training Fireballs?" Fireball was my nick name in high school. It came from a friend of mine who was at one of my volleyball games my sophomore year, who was unfortunately completely stoned at the time. I had rattled off a bunch of serves in a row, and he yelled out during the match, "Wow! Those things are like fireballs!" After that, people started calling me Fireball (with red hair, the nick name came easily), and the name kind of stuck. I became Fireball Trainer when I graduated from college with a degree in Athletic Training and passed the NATA certification exam, and now that we have our three boys, I figure I am training my own little fireballs. And they truly can be fireballs, as you will see in future posts.

I think one of the reasons why it took me a while to start blogging is that I wasn't sure what I wanted to blog about. I wanted to do a blog about my family, one about Addison's disease and Celiac disease, one about my running and fitness goals, one about the mountains of books that I read, and maybe one about being an LDS gen X mom. I just don't have time to do them all. They are all going to be smooshed into this blog, so I apologize in advance for the seeming randomness of my posts (and I apologize for, you know, you having to read my blog. Seriously. You must either be family or a really great friend).