An Embarrassing Glimpse Into What I Do With My Free Time...

My brother-in-law is an amateur videographer and submits his work to various mini-movie and commercial contests. He-Man and I have taken part on some of these, and they are lots of fun to do(...if not slightly embarrassing.) His latest effort is for a Butterfinger contest. He-Man gets in an office break room brawl and I'm obsessed with raisins...

http://protectyourbutterfingerbar.yahoo.com/?v=5I4TkcSOS

Bunny's First Day of School, EVER!

Bunny has been counting down the days until kindergarten. Her first day finally happened...

Button Nose felt the need to make an appearance too...(which comes full circle since Bunny made an appearance in Sunshine's pics of kindergarten)

The ceremonial first walk to school. (Button Nose is doing the chicken while she walks)

On the way, we met up with our good friends. Bunny and Cody are in the same class this year! Yahoo for already established friendships!


After all was said and done, Momma wasn't the only one a little sad to see Bunny go (it's like 95% happy and excited for the experiences she is going to have, 5% sad I can't keep her pre-K forever. Actually, I'm not sure those percentages are right.)


So how was the first day? She came home BEAMING!

Sunshine's First day of Third Grade!

Happy birthday He-Man!!

Tomorrow is He-Man's birthday, but we've been celebrating for 2 weeks already. Yesterday we threw him a 'surprise' work party...it would have been a total surprise to him, and made it to less than 24 hours, but then, the following conversation took place at breakfast on Friday morning...

Bunny: "Daddy, your birthday is in three days, but your party is tomorrow".

He-Man: "Oh, really?!"

Sunshine: (very nonchalantly running up the stairs) "MOM!!!!"

Me: "Yes?" (diligently folding the last of the laundry)

Sunshine: (with a look of utter horror on her face) "Bunny told Daddy about the party!"

He-Man: (quickly following Sunshine up the stairs) "So, uh, what are we doing tomorrow?"

Me: "Alright, we're doing something fabulous, but it's not what you think...Bunny, did you tell Daddy what we're doing tomorrow?"

Bunny: (who cautiously joined the crowd) "Yeah...OOOOPS! I forgot about the secret! (giggle, giggle)

LATER THAT DAY...

He-Man: (walking through the door after work) "I know what we're doing tomorrow!"

Me: "Oh, really? What is it that you think we're doing?"

He-Man: "We're going to weed and garden and finish all the projects I've been trying to finish for the last few months!"

Me: (Who really has NO Poker Face and very limited ability to lie, especially to He-Man, "What?! Who told you?!"

He-Man: "No one! It was just a lucky guess and I thought it would be a really cool gift! I'm sorry honey, I really didn't mean to guess it!"

Me: "Curses! Thwarted again!" I have yet to pull off a full-on, knock him off his feet, birthday surprise.

He-Man: "Bwahahaha (in a maniacal laugh). I'm still the champion!"

Me: (thinking in my mind) "I'll get you, my pretty! And your little dog too!"

The whole concept of our unconventional birthday shindig was to have He-Man's brothers and sisters bring him breakfast and then help him finish all the projects he has been trying to get to but has been unable to complete because of his crazy 80 hour work week.

It went exceptionally well...
We blindfolded him for added effect.

Is there anything sexier than a man who operates heavy machinery?

I imagine this is what Bunny will always be wearing while she does housework.

When all was said and done, He-Man was able to enjoy a beautifully manicured lawn, weeded beds and a harvested garden. It was just one of those small reminders of how loved we are by our wonderful family.

As a tribute to the amazing man I married, here are a few facts, tidbits and random memories of the man I was so lucky to marry...(I know the pic is a re-run, but I love it so much!)

*A random memory popped into my head the other day. I remember going on a date with He-Man, right before he left for his LDS mission. We watched a 'children's' movie that we both thought we would enjoy immensely since we both enjoyed the original story. Unfortunately, we both disliked it A LOT. As we were leaving the theater, He-Man turned to me and said, "Yikes! That was an awful movie...definitely not one my kids will watch!" I responded, "I know what you mean! My kids won't be watching it either!"

How funny that moment was, in hindsight, now that we know we were referring to the same gaggle of hypothetical kids.

*He-Man has an incredible work ethic and does so much for our family. About a year ago, I was listening to a public introduciton to who my husband is. I was so touched when the announcer included that "he is working a second job while building his chiropractic pracitce in order to avoid further debt for his family".

Suddenly, all those long, lonely nights made sense and I was filled with gratitude for the efforts he making now to ensure that we will be able to be debt-free later.

*He-Man has a fantastic sense of humor. The other day, we were making dinner together. I went to the sink, turned on the water and was surprised with a spraying of water. He had taken a rubber band and rigged the spray nozzle on our kitchen sink to spray the next hapless chap to turn on the water. He stood there, inconspiciously, waiting for the moment of triumph.

*He-Man has a great love for his country, nature, God and his Savior, Jesus Christ. He does much to instill in our family a respect for the environment and the earth and takes every opportunity he can to teach his kids.

*One of these days, I'm going to get him a super hero suit...since that is what he is. He can squash spiders in a single bound, mystify all of us with his magical ability to fix anything in the house, grow tall and delicious garden vegetables, lift boxes high above his head and exude great masculinity and strength even when surrounded by very high doses of estrogen and layers upon layers of pink, sparkles and gallons of nail poilsh.

Happy birthday, my hunka-hunka burning love! You are truly AMAZING!

My "Highs" from last week...

My brilliant friends, Dedra and Ken taught us something while we lived in Oregon that has stuck with us since moving to Utah. It's called "Highs and Lows" and is discussed at their dinner table. Basically, each person describes their best part of the day and the worst part of the day.

Obviously, discovering what awesome thing happened to each person during the day is a great conversation starter, but I realized in doing this that talking about the lows is important to because it helps each person talk about something that may have hurt them thus we have the opportunity to validate and show compassion to each other.

It's been a wonderful thing for our family because we always have something to talk about at the dinner table AND now cousins and aunts and uncles who join us for dinner have started doing it at their dinner table.

Dedra, your stroke of brilliance is being passed along beautifully!

With that said, I thought I would catch up by sharing my "Highs" from last week...

High #1

1 Word: Caprese! (Kirstin, I'm sooooo sorry if this image induces nausea)For any woman who has ever been pregnant, the words 'craving' and 'hankering' take on a new meaning. That extreme desire for a specific food has certainly led us pregos to do some crazy things. Heck, it even lost Repunzel's parents their baby girl....all in the name of cabbage!

Luckily, we had no need to resort to theivery to attain these succulent, juciy garden tomatoes, cucumbers, chives and bell peppers...Plus, our neighbors aren't that scary and mysterious. (You'd think that Repunzel's parents would take those two traits as red flags and choose not to mess with the witch).

These treats grew in the garden, were sliced and topped with Boursin cheese and olive oil. Translation: YUM! The moment they entered my mouth, I was happy...(blissful sigh) I'm still dreaming of eating Caprese again.

High #2

"The Fantastiks!" is currently playing at the Sundance Resort. It happens to be one of He-Man's favorite plays. So, I, in my stealthiest way possible (I was able to keep it a secret for 2 whole weeks!), I arranged a birthday date night for us to see it, accompanied by some of our favorite double-daters, Wonder Woman and Super Man.

It was so much fun to share with them. I highly recommend going, if that's you kind of thing. But you'd better hurry. The production ends on Saturday.

Don't let the somber face on He-Man fool ya. He was practically
giddy with excitement and we could hear him quoting lines throughout
the play. It was adorable!

By the way, how cute is this couple?! They're celebrating their 10th year of marital bliss too! There's something awesome about friends who happen to be siblings!





High #3

Pardon the irresistible pun, but I've finally taken the plunge and enrolled our two oldest children in swimming lessons.

Words can not express how terrified I became of water when I became a mother....yet still, found myself still enraptured by the beach and ocean. In fact, while I was pregnant with Button-Nose, I'd have this horrific reoccurring nightmare.

I dreamed of being suspended in the air, high above an endless ocean of water. I had to grip a rope with one hand, while clinging to our new baby with the other hand, Sunshine was bear-hugging me from the back and I was holding onto Bunny with my feet. I seemed to awake right as I was losing my grip.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, SIGMUND?!

Luckily, I've been able to overcome that fear, hopefully before giving my kids that baggage. I'm happy to report the lessons have gone swimmingly (hardy-har-har) and the girls are doing great. So great, in fact, that I'm planning on enrolling them in more.

Speaking of highs, What's yours?!

Seen and Heard Along The Merry Path

One of my favorite places to exercise is an outdoor paved track located right next to our community fitness center. It's surrounded by parks, baseball fields, a high school and homes. It's stunning view of the mountains and the sunrise are inspiring and seem to fuel my workout. At night, it's the ideal setting for romantic strolls and frolicking...although, He-Man would not admit to anything resembling frolicking.

It is along this half mile track that I have observed some rather interesting, if not comical, epiphanies...

*As I was walking home after a run, a young boy (who couldn't have been more than 4 or 5 years old) and his grandmother were walking a few steps in front of me toward a baseball game. At one point, the grandmother said, "I'll bet you want to be a famous baseball player when you grow up, don't you?"

The boy replied, "No, not really grandma. Actually, I want to be a doctor...except, I have to get used to other people's blood first."

*On Saturday I was walking (since running at this point would almost certainly induce labor and probably permanently displace my uterus). I was being passed up often by runners and walkers alike. At one point, I looked back, as what looked an awful lot like a really short Elvis impersonator, was passing me up. He had the sunglasses, the hair, and a Hawaiian shirt, along with jogging shorts and sneakers. I half expected him to say "Thank you. Thank you very much." with the signature lip curl at my efforts to make room for him on the track. Instead, he gave me an endearing wink and a thumbs up. I'd have given good money for him to say, "I'm all shook up." But instead, I had to settle for knowing that I was Elvis' roadkill (Roadkill for runners, by the way, are the people runner's pass up along their run).

*One afternoon I began my run just as the high school was letting out it's students. Floods of highschoolers were hightailing it as far away as possible and heading to various destinations that would enable them to enjoy at least 18 hours of freedom from their studies.

As I was running, I noticed up ahead something I couldn't quite make out as normal. Whether it was my brain not registering what I was looking at or I shouldv'e been wearing my glasses, I couldn't be sure. For whatever reason, it took me several moments to figure out what I was gawking at. That is when it registered.

I was looking at two hormonally enraged highschool students; a boy and a girl completely absorbed in each other's gaze and oblivious to the fact that they were surrounded by people. The girl was draped around the boy and looked totally morose, perhaps at the prospect of leaving her goth boyfriend for the day...or maybe theirs is the tale of forbidden puppy love. Maybe she has parents who are adamantly against boys wearing black nail polish and guyliner...or maybe her pet iguana met an untimely demise.

Whatever the reason for the melancholy farewell, it lasted for over 3 miles. Every time I ran up the line, the girl continued to find new and interesting ways to drape her arms around her boyfriend while sighing long lovelorn sighs in his direction. The boy stood prostrate and didn't move the entire time. He looked slightly uncomfortable. To be young, in love and goth again! Wait a sec, I was never goth...but plenty young and 'in love'.

For whatever reason, I find these observations to be quite humorous. The outdoor track never ceases to fascinate me with it's running Elvi and tweenagers chanting cheers for baseball players in decibels shrill enough to have every stray cat and dog in the area howling. With regular displays of polka dancing parties, napping mailmen and drunken BBQ's, there is never a dull moment there.

So hats off to all the people that add to spice of my exercising life! You make my workouts much, much more entertaining!