Excuse Me?

I went online to renew all of our library books today. After I clicked the button to "Renew All", I saw the summary page and noticed this in the list:

Kaufman field guide to butt is renewed.

It was disturbing for a minute, until I remembered the butterfly book Emily had checked out a couple of weeks ago.

That's a relief.

I Won't Grow Up!

Things finally aligned for us to go out on Grandpa's boat this morning. We had so much fun!

But I also realized that my body is not as young as it used to be. Sure, I may still look younger than I am (according to many), but I don't feel it, physically.

Mentally, sure. I feel like a kid, pretending to be the mom. But that's what gets me into trouble. My mind says, "Yes, I'd love to go on a crazy tube ride with Katelyn and Emily. And I hope we get thrown off the tube; that would be hilarious!"

But my body (after being tossed from the tube) says, "Ouch."

And then it complains for, like, the rest of the day.

I'm just ignoring it, because, as my kids will tell you, that's how I respond to whining.


P.S. Another symptom of being more like the kid than the mom: I didn't bother to bring my camera.

Guess who...

had dental work done today:Maybe when I grow up, I'll want to be a dentist, just for the sake of giggling at the funny faces of half-numb patients.

Olivia loves grapes.

And I love to watch her eat them.

There's a brief period of time in a child's life when the sounds of their eating, chewing, and lip-smacking are super cute! And Olivia's in it now. I love it!

Counter-Productive

Tonight, after making it through our first hour as official Webelos leaders (phew! How many more meetings left to go?...), I headed out to run a few errands.

We're having family pictures taken soon, which means that we all have to sort of match, and that means that we all have to buy new clothes. (Because, as you know, family pictures are all about capturing the "real us", right? And we are almost always found wearing clean, new, coordinating outfits, huddling together, and smiling big.)

Anyway, my point was that I've been shopping for picture clothes for all of us, and I finally got that all taken care of, so now I have to return all the options that didn't make the cut. It would be a big pain, except that I enjoy shopping so much.

So tonight, as I headed out to make my returns, Hannah asked to come with me. But I declined her request, because I told her that I needed to go really fast, which is easier when I'm alone.

That was my first mistake.

My second mistake was that, when I parked in the Old Navy parking lot, and wondered why it was so crowded at this time of night, and looked at the store windows and saw the huge clearance sale signs (extra 50% taken off clearance prices!), I didn't get back in my car and skip that stop.

I am such a sucker for CLEARANCE. Seriously, clearance racks have a stronger pull on me than chocolate. I'm not kidding.

But here's why: I got some super deals on school clothes for Katelyn. Like sweaters for $3. And a cute shirt for 50 cents. Yes, I typed that right. 50 cents.

So, in the end, I did make my returns, but then I came home with new bags of clothes. Not exactly what I set out to do, but sometimes I just can't help myself.

Next time, I might not refuse to take Hannah with me, because even though I'll still hit the sales, she'll keep my browsing time to a minimum.

She's Quick!

Playing Mario Kart...

Emily: "I've been in first place for two laps!"

Lauren: "I've been in last place for too long!"

The Empty Room

Since our house here has nearly twice the square footage that we had in Washington, we're bound to have some empty spaces.

This room, off of the kitchen, would make a cozy sitting room...if we had any furniture to sit upon. (Yes, we do have the bench that goes with our dining table. And the dining hutch goes in here as well.) But we have the living room right next to this space, and the casual family room down in the basement. Do we really need one more sitting room?

While we try to imagine how to fill this space, we're making really good use of it: playing; wrestling; "fat-dogging" after heavy meals; folding laundry; and the other night, it even made the perfect location for Emily's spa.

Should I just call it the multi-purpose room, and leave it well enough alone?

Seeing the Sweet, Sweet Light

When a cupcake is packaged like this,

you just know it's no ordinary cupcake.

Delicious both outside...

and in.

Ooohh, Mama!

I thoroughly enjoyed that experience.

(Someone knew I needed a little sunshine in my life right about now.)

It's not you, it's me.

During the five years we lived in the rainy Northwest, locals often told me how "unusual" the weather was. They'd say things like, "I'm never bothered by the [cold/gray/wet], but this year it's worse than normal."

Whenever I'd leave the state, I'd be excited for a change in the weather, but usually, I'd be disappointed. Every time we came to Utah for Spring Break, it would rain or snow, while those who stayed in the Northwest would report that I'd missed a week of beautiful weather there! Even when we went on our Caribbean cruise, our biggest excursions got rained out. In the Caribbean!!!

Now that we're back in the desert, and I'm smugly anticipating a warm spring and hot, dry summer...

Here are today's weather reports.

Seattle:
While not quite unheard of, we are nearing "rarely heard of" territory with the current dry streak. Monday will be the 27th day in a row in which no measurable rain has been recorded at Sea-Tac Airport. We are nearing the record for longest dry streak spanning May into June. If we don't get rain Wednesday, the streak could last well into the 30s as we return to a dry but pleasant pattern of morning clouds then afternoon sunshine, with highs in the 70s.Enjoy the week!
Paul Deanno, komo4 news

Salt Lake:
We've had rain just about every day this month-- and it looks like we are in for more. Partly cloudy early in the day- but with so much moisture in the air- and a low pressure area to our north- we should see some more showers this afternoon. Another chance of rain Wednesday and Thursday. -Grant Weyman, Live 5 Weather


I know it. It's me. Expect the unexpected.

Isn't it Ironic

While the skies are rumbling with thunder, a few little tummies in this household are rumbling with sickness.

So while my kids are "tossing their cookies", I'm in the mood to bake some. With chocolate chips.

How Do You...

...choose a dentist?

Do you choose someone you know personally? Or do you avoid personal relationships with medical professionals? I'm not sure I want my dentist to be that up close and personal with my face/mouth in his office, and then casually say hello at church on Sunday. Knowing someone is a dentist, even if he's not my dentist, makes me self-conscious around him. What if I have bad breath? I already know that I have crooked teeth, which are not perfectly white. Do I want someone I know personally to get a really close look at them?

Here's a unique set of choices for you to help me with right now. I could :

A) Go back to the dentist we used to see 6+ years ago when we lived in this area before, although I'm sure he wouldn't remember us, and I have no special feelings towards him as a dentist. He wasn't bad. (And for a dentist, that's a compliment, I'd say.)

B) Go to a dentist who was in my last ward. All I really know about him is that his wife is delightful! :)

C) Go to a dentist who lives in my new ward. I saw a girl asking him questions about her orthodontia this past Sunday, and I wondered if she's his patient or not. I suppose he could be a handy resource either way. And I bet he might get tired of that. But maybe not.

D) Pick a random stranger from my list of participating dental providers. Maybe the closest one to my house?...


Ok, vote now. And hurry, because I need to schedule appointments before it skips my mind again!

Summer Syndrome

Every time school lets out, it hits.

Last year I blamed it on having a newborn, and waking up with her during the night.

But this year, it's affecting us all...even little Olivia.

When school is out, we like to sleep in.

And, not unrelated is the fact that we like to stay up later than usual. Even Olivia. I tried to put her to bed at the normal time last night, but she wouldn't have it. So we gave that up, went for a walk, and put her to bed later.

Which might explain why it's now after 9 a.m., and she's still asleep.

Even though I hate waking up in the morning, I really feel lazy when I sleep in past 7:30 or so. I'm conflicted, I know.

Lauren gets to attend summer school this month, which begins at 8:30. Last week I was good about getting myself out of bed when Doug left for work, giving me time to get dressed and fix breakfast before taking Lauren to school. But the past two mornings, I've startled myself awake at about 8:15. Not good. (Except the good part is that I know my internal clock is pretty accurate. I never wear a watch, and I don't set the alarm. My mind just subconsciously keeps track of time for me. I think it's a talent, or maybe just a gift of motherhood.)

Anyhow, the worst part of this summer habit is having to break it again in two months. And then dealing with the Daylight Saving time change just two months after that.

Instead of waiting til then, I'd rather nip this thing in the bud, and continue to get out of bed closer to 7:00 in the morning, even during the summer.

Also, I would like to exercise. I think a morning walk/jog would be refreshing. But I don't like to go alone. Anyone...?

Biped

Take one cute crawler.

Remove one pair pants.

Add one pink plug (aka Binky Power).

Voila! She walks.

Olivia is a self-motivated little thing. Set up two of her favorite people in a walking practice scheme, and Olivia would rather cuddle or be carried. But give her some space (like an empty room), and she'll teach herself to stand, unassisted, and suddenly walk right past you while you're sitting, preoccupied, on the couch.

Way to go, Baby!

Reduce & Simplify

As of this morning, and for the first time in two months, we are officially responsible for just one house: our own.

The rental home is empty, clean (Thanks to my mother!!!), locked, and the keys are no longer in my posession.

It is so nice to be relieved of that burden.

But since I know that it is going to be vacant for the next 30+ days...I might have to go cut myself some fresh flowers and pick myself some apricots (if they ripen soon enough) from the yard. That place was kind of nice. :)

Can You Spot the Differences?

Calling P-O-P-C-O-R-N

I have a pretty good memory for numbers. Doug uses me as his personal phone & address book instead of ever looking anything up (even his own parents' digits), or memorizing it, for that matter.

But we've had quite a few changes in a very short time: 3 distinct addresses in the past 6 months, all of which were based on North/South - East/West coordinates. It makes new places easy to find (except in WA where they are not square blocks, and there are several streets by the same name in the same city that do not connect--crazy!). But it really tests my brain's retention skills.

In Washington (where we also had 2 different addresses that were very close to each other), I made up songs to teach my little ones our address, using familiar tunes. One was to the tune of "The Song That Never Ends." That made for fun car rides.

I didn't even bother trying to teach the girls our most recent address, because 1)it was long and random, and 2)I knew it was very temporary.

When we bought our new house here, the difficulty of the address honestly made it onto my list of "cons". But other features overcame that. So here we are, with an address to memorize, and I can't come up with a song that fits it.

To complicate matters of the mind even more, we have changed phone numbers even more frequently than addresses. Doug's work number and cell phone number have changed, and obviously our home phone number changed when we left Washington. I was really happy to get to pick a super easy new home phone number back in December.

And then, when I transferred our phone service to this new home, they just about sent me over the edge when they told me I couldn't bring that easy phone number with me.

I tried to get them to assign us a number that would be easy for my kids to remember. We tried to incorporate part of our new address into our phone number--no luck. Finally they offered me a number that seemed very simple to recall. I was happy with that until, two days later, it turned out to belong to a local tire company, and not to me.

So, we have a new number. It has been proven to direct callers to my own home phone, and not someone else's business. But my poor mind (let alone my poor kids) is overwhelmed with numbers (and other issues) at the present time. So I'm trying to figure out some little device to help me remember.

And then my mind (which is having a hard time remembering everything current) when back to when I was a kid, and our favorite number to dial was P-O-P-C-O-R-N, which was a recorded message with the local time and temperature.

That also reminded me how, when I was a freshman in a college dorm, some girls living across the hall from me discovered that the last 4 digits of their phone number spelled out K-I-S-S. A number only freshman girls could be giddy about.

So I studied my new number, looking for a word it might spell, and here's what I found:

a problem.

Our last 4 digits include a zero. Can you think of any words that have "operator" in the middle?