I sure know how to pick 'em.

Birthdays, that is.


If it's the second half of the year, and it's a major holiday, you can safely bet that we're also celebrating a child's birthday.


Labor Day weekend: Emily. (That one's not so bad, except when you're in elementary school, it's kind of a bummer to go to meet your teacher and immediately ask, "When can we bring birthday treats?")

Halloween: Katelyn. (Hard to have a party that doesn't involve costumes.)


Thanksgiving: Hannah. So far she has avoided having turkey on her actual birthday, but it's going to happen every few years.


This year we had one day between Thanksgiving and Hannah's birthday, but it still made it difficult to really focus on her that day.

We had her friends over for a party a few days early.


It was a tea party, and it was so cute, if I do say so myself. The girls painted tea cups, made fancy paper fans, dressed up, and sat down to the kid-sized tea table, where they were served mini cupcakes with sprinkles, and hot chocolate from a tea pot.




Doug makes everything fun! He poured the tea and served the girls with a "cockney" accent. "Would you like another spot of tea, my dear?" You should have heard the giggles! Later, as I drove the guests home, I asked them what their favorite part of the party was. One little friend answered, "The tea party. Your dad was so silly! {giggle*giggle}" And Hannah replied, "Yeah, he learned to talk like that because he went to Hawaii one time."

I scheduled the party for an hour and a half, and we finished a few minutes early. That's just about all I can handle!


Hannah asked for macaroni and cheese with hot dogs for her birthday dinner. So, on her birthday, we ate whatever left-overs we could find in the fridge (including mac&cheese w/hotdogs).


We didn't even make a cake until the following day. Hannah's all excited about yellow lately, so she had a lemon cake. I also bought some ice cream that I thought she would like. It was some sort of triple berry flavor, and it was purple. But after one bite, Hannah said, "It tastes like lipstick." My brother's review was that it was like eating a scented candle. I took their word for it, and just threw the carton away.

I'm glad Hannah's still young enough to appreciate meager efforts to celebrate her special day. But I still feel kind of bad for her.

And next month we'll get to do it again. Two days after Christmas is Lauren's special day!

One more reason I prefer summer:

Wearing less clothing = Less laundry to wash and fold.

Especially, fewer socks to sort.

Deal or No Deal?

I used to love Black Friday like I used to love Christmas morning. So thrilling!

Then, two years ago, I was at a department store at 6:30 in the morning, trying on maternity clothes. I looked in the dressing stall mirror and asked myself, "What am I doing here?!" And then when I waited in the check out line for over an hour, surrounded by grumpy, loud people, I promised myself that I never needed to do that again.

Last year, I was at my mom's house. It's kind of fun to go shopping with my mom, and we both love a good bargain. We went early in the morning to a few stores, and I loaded up on socks for my family, plus a couple of DVDs. The deals weren't screaming, but my mom and I were smiling and relaxed. It wasn't bad.

But the better shopping was the previous night, online. Sitting in my pajamas at the computer, browsing and clicking, not having to stalk other shoppers to take over their shopping carts, or stand in line for unreasonable amounts of time while my arms throb under the weight of my purchases? Free shipping? Sleeping in, content with my bargains? Yes, please.

But last night I found that I wasn't the only one who has caught on to the new thrill of Black Friday - Home Edition.

Let me just say that, as irritating as early morning department store crowds can be, at least when I went to the stores I never got to the register to check out, only to watch the goodies in my shopping cart vanish in to thin air. Can you imagine?! Finding the things you want, handing your basket to the clerk, and having him (or her) look into your basket and say, "I'm sorry, ma'am, your basket seems to be empty."

On the bright side: In my frustrated state, I only had to walk a few steps to my warm cozy bed and go to sleep for the night, rather than face the bitter cold darkness outside and drive home in the crazy midnight traffic.

Thankful Thoughts

We loaded up the car with people and food this afternoon, only to discover that it would not start. I guess home is the best place to make a discovery such as that.

For a few seconds, we contemplated the question: "What if we can't get to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner?" I wondered if we should all squish into Doug's smaller car.

Doug pulled his car closer and connected the cables to the batteries. Within a couple of minutes, the engine was humming and we were ready to hit the road.

Emily, in the back seat, said, "One thing I'm thankful for is jump-starting the car.... And Dad...and Mom, and Katelyn, and Lauren, and ..."

Then she was interrupted by Hannah's smart remark: "You said 'one thing'."

I'm thankful for family, despite the inherent rivalry.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Back in Time

Doug came back from his business trip just in time for me to leave.

Most of my four day excursion was spent driving. The route was familiar. My sister Jennifer, who had joined us as a fellow Northwesterner two years ago, was moving back to Utah. When she broke the news of her move to me a couple of weeks ago, I cried with her. It's hard to move; even to move back to Utah. One year ago, I was in her shoes. I told her, "It will be hard. But it will be good."

I also said, "I want to come help you move!"

I wasn't sure what to expect on this road trip with my sisters and parents. What I learned was that it's pretty fun to be the "kid" on road trips. Chatting, teasing, relaxing, snacking, watching movies, singing along with satellite radio elevator music. Giggling in dark hotel rooms in the middle of the night with my sisters. Fun.

I felt very nostalgic, being back in that place from where my tender roots were yanked so recently. One year didn't seem long ago.

It was very gray and very rainy there. I remembered how tiresome that atmosphere got.

It was also beautiful, and familiar, and it felt good to be back there.

The drive back home--to where my home is now--felt long.

But I got back just in time. Today was Hannah's first true birthday party.

When Doug's out of town...

I spend less time making dinner, and more time baking cookies.

Last night, after our frozen pizza and chips and guacamole and root beer, I made double chocolate cookies.

Two words: Comfort Food.

Nothing much to say

Before I was married, I used to look at "older" couples and wonder (assuming they had been together for years) how they could possibly have anything left to discuss. Didn't they ever run out of things to say?

Now that I've been with Doug for fifteen years, I realize that there are always new things to talk about (or old things to talk about again), but we've also become more comfortable during the quiet moments.

Right now, my blog and I are having a quiet moment. I hope you're as comfortable with it as I am. :)

Deal of the Decade

When I was a little girl, we visited my grandparents every summer. Everything about those visits was special, and highly anticipated. They were full of traditions.

When we went to church with my grandparents, my Grandma James brought along a special Sunday bag. It was vinyl, and decorated with a 70s-style pattern of bold colored flowers. Inside the bag were little toys and games to keep kids quiet during the worship service. There was one item in that Sunday bag that I always anticipated: a small, cloth Little Red Riding Hood doll. If you turned Red's full skirt inside out, you would find that she transformed into Granny. And if you pulled Granny's nightcap over her face, the doll would transform into the Big Bad Wolf, dressed in Granny's nightgown.

Hook me up with the doll and a few Tic Tacs or Lifesavers from Grandma's purse, and I like to imagine that I was quiet in my seat for the entire meeting. At least, that's how I remember it.

When I had daughters of my own, I loved the idea and the process of introducing some of my favorite childhood items to them.

My Sunday bag is definitely influenced by the items I remember from my Grandma's, and my mother's. When Katelyn was barely old enough to appreciate it, I spent hours (and probably a significant amount of my budget at that time) making a felt "quiet book." And whenever I would come across an item such as those little doodle pads where you scratch words or a design on the tablet with a red plastic "pen" and then rip the sheet from the waxy surface to start over (what in the world was that called?), or cute finger puppets... I got excited about adding it to the bag.

I'm sure it was ten years ago now, but I can still picture myself vividly, in T.J. Maxx, the day that I saw the dolls. They were just like Grandma's Red Riding Hood doll, but these were even more beautiful and elegant, with characters like Cinderella. I was tempted, and I mentally debated with myself over the purchase for several minutes, but I thought the price ($13 or $14?) was too steep. This was during the dawning of eBay, and I figured I could find a better bargain there. So I passed up that purchase, and I went home, immediately suffering from Tightwad's Remorse.

I did check eBay, a good place to find collectible dolls, and I found out that these dolls have a name: Topsy Turvy's. I also found out that they cost more money (+ shipping) on eBay than the T.J. Maxx dolls, which were NIB (eBay lingo).

But by the time I returned to T.J. Maxx, the dolls were gone. And in ten years of sort of paying attention, I've never seen them anywhere else. (Can you believe I've held onto that regret for a decade? Can I not think of anything else to worry about?)

One time my kindred spirit Gerb found a Topsy Turvy Little Red Riding Hood for me. Just the same as my Grandma's, only about four times as big. She's an expert bargain hunter, and a great friend. But unfortunately, that Red is too large for my Sunday bag.

Today I went to my local thrift store, The D.I. (In case you don't know, the proper name of the place is Deseret Industries, but if you appreciate the local color of my town, you call it The D.I.) It's a place I like to go when I'm not really looking for anything in particular, but I just feel like looking for something. (I am a Tightwad, but I also love to shop!)

A great big smile came to my face when, among the piles of stuffed animals, I found this:

And this:

And this:

A childhood memory and a motherhood longing satisfied, for a grand total of a buck fifty.