The One and Only E

Our family has entered a new phase.  Something new.  Something intense. Something uniquely crazy.

Dance Competition.

We experienced E's first competition yesterday and I've already learned, or at least realized, a few things for the next one:

*Groups of screaming girls will always overwhelm me.  And hurt my ears.

*Dress light and comfortable.  Between costume changes, make-up applications, pinning, sewing, fixing, anxiety, lugging baggage, snacks, stress, cheering, screaming girls (see above)....etc., I will be a sweaty mess!

*A bag that requires a check-list to pack is guaranteed to stress me out.

*Keeping track of all the knick-knacks of multiple costumes is guaranteed to stress me out.

*I will never be ashamed of being the mama who screams and hollers for her girl on stage. E pretends to be embarassed.  I wouldn't really care if she was.  

*Some form of caffeine is a must!  Exhausting, I tell ya!  

*I get weepy when E dances.  It's nerdy.  It's embarassing.  It's just ....what it is, I guess.

*I REALLY need to figure out how to get a good picture of Ella on stage.  My photo skills are SEVERELY lacking!

E and her darling dance buddies practice for hours. They were amazing!  E works so hard and it's so fun to have her hard work pay off and to watch her love something so much.  

Bottom line is this:  It is insanely amazing to watch your kids do something they are honestly good at.
This is new for me and I am loving it so far.

Cheese?

We have never had a family picture taken.   You know a real, effort-made, photographer taken, hang on your wall family picture.  

Wait, I'm remembering a photo session taken a couple years ... Jack was just born ... .ugly hair ... tired and sweaty .....   That's right . We did have a family picture taken.  But it doesn't count.  It was a "whole family in town, better have a picture taken" moment that a) I didn't really make an effort for and b) didn't really WANT to make an effort for.  Besides, there's no photo hanging on my wall to prove it.  Therefore, it must not have happened.  

Knowingly having my picture taken makes me sick.  Honest to goodness, pit in my stomach sick.  So much pressure, self-awareness .... money, time, energy ....   Add in three more people to coordinate clothing, colors, hair and smiles with and I am one freaky, sweaty mess.  

BUT,  I bit the bullet, purchased some extra-strength deodorant and made an appointment with my beautiful, photographer-friend, Allison.  She's amazing, hilarious and could kick my butt in 3 seconds flat.  Absolutely love her.   

A sample:

I am so happy with these pictures!  So happy, in fact, that I started to cry when I saw them.  What a RELIEF!!   Our Christmas cards will be displaying these pictures for the next 5 years because we aren't doing this again any time soon.  

A couple things I'm pretty sure about:

• I'm pretty sure that October just might be my favorite month.  Especially this year -- amazing weather, or what?!
• I'm pretty sure that Ella will someday be on TV ..... something along the lines of Hoarders ...
• I'm pretty sure I'm not going to plant as many tomato plants next year.
• I'm pretty sure that Sunday is my worst day.
• I'm pretty sure that running is not my favorite.
• I'm pretty sure that Jack's habit of taking off his underwear and leaving it places is a sign of a bigger problem.  I mean, don't serial killers do stuff like that?
• I'm pretty sure I have way too much stuff on my To Do list.
• I'm pretty sure I waste too much time .... .when I should be working on my To Do list.
• I'm pretty sure I need to go out and do something fun .... preferably without my kids.
• I'm pretty sure Jack isn't going to throw his shoes at his teacher today .... well, hoping anyway.
• I'm pretty sure my kids are hilarious ..... despite the missing underwear and hoarding tendencies.

Hope everyone's having a fabulous October day!

Jealous?

 I had sinus surgery on Wednesday.  I am PRAYING that this will all be worth it.  If you like blood and the feeling of being punched in the face, you should definitely look into this.

Taken this morning after a much needed shower.  A relatively decent picture considering I spent a good portion of yesterday praying to the Porcelain Gods.  

A few things I am thankful for today:

-Heavy medication

-Awesome neighbors and family. Food, babysitting, support ... awesome!

-Zofran has gone generic! 

-  Gauze pads

- Fall weather

- Gator

- A quiet house

Red

I love red.  I am a firm believer that every girl should own a clothing item or accessory that's red... except leggings.  a lot of people should not wear leggings, let alone red ones ....  

Red shoes, red purse, red hat .... A good RED has the power to make you happy.  I promise.

My latest finished knitting project:

A RED sweater for my new niece.  Yes, I know it looks a little weird with its sleeves sticking straight out but my crummy photo doesn't do it justice.  It's cute.  Little H. is going to be feeling her RED POWER when she gets this thing on!

You know what else are cute?  Purple shoes.  The only way I would love my shoes more is if they were RED.

Totally Sucks

I hate bad mornings.

I hate not knowing how to deal with stuff.

I hated watching her ride off on her bike this morning splotchy faced and sniffling.

I hate when I can't be the adult and STAY CALM!!

I'm going to have to apologize to my 6 year old for being a bad parent.  I hate that.

I'm going to have to tell her she's still grounded.  We are all going to hate that.

 .......

Being a parent can really suck. I think I need to be grounded.

A scenario.

A burnt piece of toast and a smoky, smoky house.

I say I'm getting a new toaster.

Husband says the toaster works perfectly fine if I would just stand and watch for it to be done (the automatic pop-up thing broke years ago).  He does this and rarely (if ever) burns toast. 

I say I don't have time to stand and watch the bread toast when I'm busy refilling cocoa puffs, finding drinks,  packing backpacks .... and checking facebook (just being honest).  

Husband says we don't need to go and waste $50 bucks on a toaster.

I say I don't need a $50 toaster.  A $10 toaster would suit me perfectly as long as the toast popped up automatically. 

Husband says we don't need a toaster.

I say Husband, don't tell me what I don't need.

Husband leaves for work, I put another piece of bread in the toaster.   Smoke billowing, fire alarms blaring and one charred piece of bread flaming in a toaster is flying through the air. 

I'm pretty sure I know who is getting a new toaster.

Harvest

Four huge bowls picked from my garden this morning.  In another day this will double. Time to buy more bottles, I guess. 

Sunday

A day of peace.  A day of reflection.  A day of rest.  

If you forget about the process before church, the wrestling of kids, Sunday school, teaching lessons, meetings, the never-ending day, grumpy, tired kids, Church Headaches and the pure exhaustion of the Sunday Circus Ring ....

It's the best darn day of rest I've ever had!

The Stake President asked me a while back, "don't you just love Sunday's?"  I asked him if that was a trick question.

And on the third day ....

My computer has been on this screen for three days.  I've been feeling the need to blog but writers block has seriously set in.  These last two sentences suck, yet they took me 5 minutes to write.  Hmm ....

You know when you start writing in a journal and after you've taken a break you feel like you need to catch up on everything you didn't write about?  But then you start writing, and writing, and writing and it's past your bedtime, and your hand hurts, and you're still not even current?  *sigh*  Do you even know what I'm talking about?

So, this blog here.  I need to blog.  It's been nagging at me.  I've had a million blogable thoughts rolling around this head of mine ....   but I can't focus on the current until the old is out of the way ... well, I think that's problem anyway ....

So as much as I've been trying to avoid a re-cap post, here it is.  Our summer:

Did you know that Jack has not slept through the night for the 3+ years he's been alive?  Most of you know this since I complain about it every chance I get.  We took in Jack in for a sleep study to figure out what was going on.  It was an absolute joke, nobody slept, I was ticked, but the conclusion was that Jack suffers from sleep apnea and we needed to get his tonsils and adenoids removed.

 So we had his tonsils and adenoids removed...

...which led to 14 days of Jack not taking any pain medication.  No pain medication = torture for everyone. Now, the sleeping?  Another post for another day....

Ella, Jack & Cousins

 The Kaysville 4th of July Parade.  Now THIS is a party!

We spent a week camping at the beach with some friends down in southern California.  We had such a great time!  The weather was a little crummy but overall a fun trip!

 Sea World.  3D Elmo.  Ella got scared and cried.

.

 Sprocket Rockets!  Division Champions!

Saints to Sinners -- a 500+ bike race from Salt Lake to Las Vegas. Me, along with an awesome team, spent the spring and summer training our butts off for this race.  It was amazing!  One of the hardest, hottest and funnest things I've ever done! 

Instead of running the full Bountiful triathlon this year, a few of us decided to do a relay team (except for Valerie, the girl in pink. She ran the whole thing).  We were awesome.  We were fast.  We were robbed of first place.  Next year we are coming back with a vengeance!!

 Hannah!

Gator's sister Ashlee finally had her first baby.  You can't see her, but she's darling!!

Gator had a company party at the zoo.  The kids love it!  Roar!

Me and Dwight and a huge pair of unflattering shorts.  Lake Mead.  100+ degrees.  Right after my last leg of the race .... what a relief!!

THE END 

Six

Happy Birthday, sweet girl.  Best Mother's Day gift ever!  

Love you.

Sweetness

I  snapped a picture of Ella today. This is not a work of art, I know, but I love this picture for so many reasons.  

* I love how she's sitting.  Man, I wish I could still sit like that.

* Her face is sweet.  No trace of annoyance on it at all.

* I love her big-cuffed jeans.

* See that red couch?  I love that red couch.

* Ella was so much fun today. I love when she's in a good mood.

* I finally finished her sweater and she hasn't complained once about wearing it. 

What I really got the camera out for was this:

I will LOVE when I don't have to deal with this anymore!  Right before Ella turned 2, she knocked out that front tooth.  We have been dealing with a fake one for 4 years and as thankful as I have been for an amazing dentist who hasn't charged me a penny, it has been a big pain.  Yesterday, the whole tooth snapped off the wire its connected to (again).  We were hoping to just leave the whole fake-tooth-contraption out of her mouth and wait for the new one to grow in.  Turns out it may be while before a new one will grow in.  We're having a new one fake one made (again) and in the mean time, Ella is eating as much taffy and sticky stuff as she can!

Good Friday

Did you know that part of Good Friday tradition is to make Hot Cross Buns?  I didn't.  In fact, until last Friday, I didn't know what either of them were.  This year, in honor of Good Friday (but mostly because I hadn't had a Diet DP in 4 days) I took the same concept of a hot cross bun -- give or take a few ingredients ... and a cross on the top -- and started a new tradition.  Bread + cinnamon + icing = Cinnamon Rolls.  I have to say, it was quite an enjoyable holiday! 

Grood Friday next year?  Come on over and celebrate Gatherum style.   I promise after these babies come out of the oven, it will be better than Good Friday, it will be Great Friday!

This is not my usual go-to cinnamon roll recipe.   However,  this was right up there in deliciousness.  I need to think more about which is going to take my #1 slot.  I'm not sure where I got this recipe -- I had it written down in my book with no source listed.  If it's yours, let me know.  You can have the credit.  

*If this doesn't make sense and you've never made cinnamon rolls before, come over and we'll have a cinnamon roll clinic!

**This picture is actually of my go-to cinnamon rolls ... not that you would have known that right?  Just trying to be honest.

Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls

½ cup warm water
2 Tb yeast
2 Tb sugar
3 ½ oz package instant vanilla pudding, make as directed
½ cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp salt

6-7 cups flour

In a small bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside. In large bowl, combine pudding, butter, eggs and salt. Mix well. Then add yeast mixture. Blend. Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Do not add too much flour. It should be very soft but not sticky. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Roll out on floured surface to about 34 X 21 inches in size.  I don't think I've ever measured my rectangles.  Make it however big you want.

Here's where I don't have exact directions.  A little vague, I know, but it's all according to preference.

Take softened butter and spread over surface (Don't be too skimpy on the butter).  Sprinkle cinnamon over butter (I like cinnamon so I use a lot.)  Take handfuls of brown sugar and spread over butter/cinnamon (don't be skimpy here either).  Roll it up into one big cinnamon roll log.  Cut in 1 1/2 section with a super sharp knife or use floss or thread (way easier than I knife, I think). 

Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and let rise until double.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Frost with cream cheese frosting or regular icing.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened 

1 tsp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tb milk

Crazy?

Yup.  I'm doing it.  Saints to Sinners -- check it out.  500 miles of road biking, 300 degree temperatures, great friends and a big fat sunburn.  Can't wait!

www.mygiveawaytoday.com is giving away one free entrance fee.  I'm going to win!!!

Dear Lowes:

Next time I ask for you to mix up a batch of that pretty blue paint,  I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't send me home with pretty purple paint.  Next time I come to your store for the third time in an attempt to get a batch of that pretty blue paint, I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't give me some lame excuse about how sample size paint colors don't necessarily convert to gallon size paint colors.  Ummm, why give me a sample if I can't get it in a bigger bucket?  Just a thought. 

Oh, and next time I bring my third batch of paint home that was customly tinted to match the pretty blue paint, please don't send me home with a bucket of slightly less but still kind of purple paint.

As much as I'd love to return to your store to make another attempt at the lovely blue sample you gave me, seeing as how you've already been so much help, I am fresh out of time.  You've left me no choice but to slap on the pretty blue-but not really color and hate you for the rest of my life.

Thanks,
Me

p.s.  I get my new wood floors tomorrow that will hopefully look fabulous with my pretty blue but mostly purple paint!