Friday's Walk down Memory Lane 3/30/2012

Las Vegas Nevada

Jordan, age 5

Kenzie, age 3

Brad would set up these make-shift jumps for Jordan on the sidewalk in front of our home.  Jordan loved them.  He'd jump his bike over and over again for hours.  It was cheap, easy entertainment. 

Of course, not to be outdone, Kenzie was always right behind training wheels and all.  Look at that air!



Sunday reflections 3/25/3012

We had a lot of meltdowns this week.

Jacob broke down when Riley wouldn't let him in the shower with him on Friday and another when I threw away the rotten strawberries he insisted that he should be able to eat. (Terrible, I know.)

Riley broke down when I wouldn't let him pass off two of the piano songs he was assigned this last week because his rhythm wasn't right. 

Jordan had a meltdown when I took more than 5 minutes for his piano lesson because he had SO much homework.  Oh, and another when Kenzie ate some of the strawberries off his waffle.

Kenzie's breakdown was over the front seat because I insisted that she move as it was Jordan's turn to sit there.

And Ben had a meltdown when Jacob tried to play with his new lego star wars set he bought for his birthday.

I hope the meltdowns are over.

Jacob wants a younger brother...or sister...to him it doesn't really matter.  Of course, this Tuesday he decided we needed to go to the store and get one.  Which store is that?  The baby store.  Oh, of course.  How much do you think a baby would cost there?  9 dollars.  Have you ever been to the baby store?  No.  They're in the forest.  We have to travel there and go to the baby store and buy one. 

Jordan told me this week that he finally knows how to do his hair "cool".  "I just put my arm under like this and comb down like this with gel."

Ben, Age 8.

I am really good at: building with my legos.
I like to: work in the garage with my Dad building things.
My favorite thing to learn at school: math games.
One person that makes me laugh:  Jake.
One word that describes me: annoying sometimes but also nice.
I am really happy when: it's my birthday.
I am really sad when: my little brother Jake loses my legos.
My favorite book:  James and the Giant Peach.
My favorite Movie:  Sponge Bob Square Pants: Plankton's Plan Z.
My favorite place to visit: the beach.
My favorite school subject: technology.
My favorite time of year:  any holiday.
My favorite toy/game: lego bionicles.
My greatest fear: being left in the dark alone.
What makes me mad: when people break my stuff.
My favorite sport: wrestling.
I like my Dad because: he's funny.
I like my Mom because: she's kind.
I like my family because: they take care of me.

Sunday Reflections 3/18/2012

Whew!  The birthday party is over!  I threw it here in my home.  Here in my home with a bunch of 7-8 year old boys and no Brad.  I survived.  Just barely:)  Does any one else think that 7-8 year olds are as weird as I do?

Ben wanted to build something (he's really into building right now) for his party.  He suggested birdhouses.  In my minds eye I pictured 8 or 9 young boys with nails, hammers and paint and quickly said I would think of something myself.  Something requiring little use of tools that can be lethal in the hands of 8 year old boys.  A quick search on the internet gave me the idea to make balloon powered cars...tape, scissors, straws, carboard and balloons were all that were needed!  In addition I could have the boys race the cars at the end.  I made a trial one the day prior to the party and after a successful run decided it was the perfect boy craft.

They loved it.  Until they started trying to get them to go. 


Some, like Ben's, didn't move more than a few inches and some had a little more luck.  Can you see the defect in Ben's car? 





I think the most enjoyed game was the one where you try to pop everyone else's balloon.  Once your balloon is poppped you're out.  They could have gone on playing that all afternoon. 

And...to make things easier on me, I let them decorate their own cupcakes.  That was a stroke of genius as no fancy cake had to be whipped up.  For me, it gets so much easier when they are older and the cakes just have to taste good, not look good.  I'm not much of a cake decorator.

I think Jacob truly has a talent.  At the end of the party I could hear some light snoring...almost as if someone was sleeping.  Sure enough, I look over and there's Jacob at the table sound asleep.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see this boy sent to some country for his mission where they sleep with mats on the floor.  I believe he could do that for two years and not suffer one bit.

Friday's Walk down memory Lane 3/16/2012

This walk down memory lane is a fairly recent one.  It's just a post I forgot about and decided I still needed to write about before the memory becomes dull and forgotten.    Do you ever wonder why your husband does some of the crazy things he does?  One of the things that Brad does that drives me absolutely nuts, but of course all our children LOVE it, is what he calls "crazy driving".  Every time we get in the car with him, Sundays included, my kids will clamor "Dad, Dad crazy drive!"  Now, to give him credit, Brad is a safe driver and would never do anything that he feels would put the family in danger.  So the only place he "crazy drives" is down our mile long dirt road (which very few ever travel since we're the only house up here).  His favorite corner to whip the back end of our suburban around is this one here.  You can't see the road past the trees because it curves around passing over a small bridge that fords the creek on the property.  To the left you can kind of see the pond.  It's frozen in the winter.

So a few weekends ago, probably about a month back, we are on our way to Kenzie's basketball when Brad receives the request to crazy drive. It has been months since Brad has given our children this special treat as the road has been covered on and off with snow for most of the winter.  By this time most of the snow had melted so Brad decided to give it a go.  Coming up to his favorite corner though he misjudged his terrain (being somewhat slushy) and slid off the road going a speed of about 45 mph.   

On the majority of the road this would not even be the slightest bit of a problem because it is surround by flat prairie.  But here, at his favorite spot to whip the back end around, there are some trouble spots.  Like this grove of trees.

Oh, and all those bushes.

Not to mention the fact that just beyond that thicket there is a stream and a little to the left a ten foot deep pond that could also wreak havoc if we landed there.  My heart raced and my surprised children started shrieking as Brad tried to gain control (and avoid those trees which would definitely do some damage).  We went crashing through the bushes, hopped over a felled tree and stopped just inches short from the bank of the creek.  The first thing out of some of my children's mouths were, "THAT WAS SO COOL DAD!!!!  CAN YOU DO IT AGAIN?" These cries of enthusiasm were quickly extinguished by me as I explained what had just happened and that we were lucky no one was injured as none of us had even put on our seatbelts yet.  Brad made no attempt to defend the attacks I made on his stupidity.  After a brief once-over to assess the condition of our vehicle, Brad concluded that this experience had just given us all a good scare as he backed out and continued on his way to the basketball game.  Upon arriving home he was able inspect the suburban more closely.   He found this: 

It's one of our front shocks.  He broke it right in two.  Good thing Brad's Grandpa was a mechanic or his crazy antics of the day might have cost him more than just an afternoon and $50 to replace the part.

I'd like to say that Brad has learned his lesson and there will be no more "crazy driving" henceforth and forever, but knowing my husband I'm not sure I can say that is true.  He'll probably just outlaw it on slushy roads from now on. 

Sunday Reflections 3/11/2012

I didn't attend the caucauses here in Colorado.  I know.  I know Mitt Romney fans.  I should have.  I am a shame to the political process.  If others, like me, had gone it just may have made a difference.  I read an article the other day that ended with a quote from Milton Friedman that I like.  It makes me desire to be more politically active than I currently am.  It makes me want to attend the caucaus and not forget about it next time there is one so I will share it.  "A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither.  A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both."  It was a great article which really put in perspective why you can't put equality before freedom especially when it comes to economic matters.  You should read it.  Here's the link:  http://www.freedompolitics.com/articles/inequality-3278-income-equality.html.

Two Mondays ago (I'm backtracking here since I didn't write last Sunday) Ben and Riley had set up a fort in our basement.  They thought it was so neat that they wanted to sleep in it.  I worried that if they slept in it that night they would be too tired for school the next day.  So I made a deal with them that they could keep it up for the week and sleep in it Thursday night because they didn't have any school the following day.  The evening of the said sleep-over in the fort they were as excited as if we were going to take them camping, let them fish, feed them a great dinner of roasted hot dogs followed by smores and then allow them to sleep in their own tent.  They ran downstairs and set up their bedding.  Within moments they were both peacefully sleeping making my earlier week's worries that they would stay up all night unfounded.  I guess you only stay up all night if the person sleeping with you doesn't normally share the same bedroom.  Before I retired to bed myself, I descended the stairs to accompany Riley to the bathroom (he still has trouble making through the night if I don't take him).  I hadn't seen the fort, but the scene that greeted me made me laugh.  They had created a tent with the trampoline net that we don't use (to me it looked like mosquito netting) and had somehow drug in their mattresses, their stuffed animals and their blankets.  Now if I can only find the pictures to justify me telling this at all (Yes, I did take pictures).  With the way I write only a picture will do it justice and make you chuckle a little too.  Yeah!  I found them!!!!!!

The next morning they ran upstairs, huge grins on their faces and said, "Thanks Mom!  That was great."  I couldn't help but think, "What was great?  You both fell asleep within 5 minutes and are up here as soon as you awoke."  But who am I to burst their bubble?  Instead I replied, "You're welcome.  That was an AMAZING fort you built.  I'm glad you had so much fun."

While we were in Cody last weekend Red ran away.  Well, he didn't really run away he went exploring and explored himself onto a trail close by that people run on.  Some "NICE" people (that just can't let exploring dogs well enough alone) picked him up and brought him home.  This was Sunday afternoon.  We received three frantic calls on our home phone from them.  Our first mistake with Red should be noted here:  we should have put Brad's cell on his ID tag.  Had we done that we would have received the first call and contacted some friends to go and pick him up.  However, we didn't do that.  We put our home phone on his collar.  From her tone I could almost hear the chaos Red must have been creating as Red is not an indoor dog and people that pick up poor little doggies are usually the type that think it's cruel to leave an animal outside.  The third call (this was three hours after the first call) they informed us since we hadn't called back (mind you we were in the car on our way home) they were taking him to the Humane Society.  The fourth call was from the Humane Society informing us that they had our dog.  We got home at 7 PM (three hours after the last call from the nice doggy lovers).  Jordan was frantic.  Monday morning I called the humane society to find out that our dog would cost us over $150 to retrieve.  There was a fee for initially being impounded (it didn't matter that they didn't pick him up), a fee for licensing him (unknown to me until that day you have to license your pets in Colorado due to state law), a fee for vaccinating him (it doesn't matter that he was vaccinated since we didn't have him licensed), a fee for staying overnight, and on and on and on.  No mercy was shown and Brad didn't feel we should pay the fee since this is the 2nd time in a month that we know of where Red has run off and been picked up by some doggy lover.  The first time I was home and able to come and get him right away.  He is a coonhound.  He loves to hunt.  He chases scents.  Brad's argument to me was what happens next time Red runs off?  There will be no fees for the vaccination and license (because we'll have paid that and they'll have his shots on record) but the impounding fee will be higher because it is his second visit and the other fees will still be there.  We do not own the property, I cannot build a fence to contain him and even if I did he would escape (Red is a digger).  So after many tears, which were shed by the whole family including Brad (and Brad never cries...it's hard to see your kids crushed), we decided that Dad was right and we couldn't get Red.  We haven't signed over ownership yet so he will be up for adoption in a few days from now.  Hopefully a loving family will adopt him.  He is such a cute dog.  Just writing this is making me a little weepy.  I know my family is laughing at me, they know how much I don't like animals, but really he was Jordan's best friend.  That, along with the possibility of moving the kids again, just disheartens me.

On a brighter note we inherited a trampoline and have been enjoying spring like temperatures (50's and 60's).  My kids love it.  For Jacob it is his first trampoline and he goes and jumps whenever the opportunity presents itself.  I'm am told his jumping resembles the movements of a jackhammer.  Trampolines are the best, aren't they?

And as a perk for those of you who read my blog I'm going to include the recipe for the best baked chicken I have ever tasted.  It's better than rotisserie chicken you buy in the store and almost as easy (easier if you have to count the trip to the store, especially with children).  Every mother should have this.  Here it is.

Sticky Chicken: (I usually buy a bigger chicken and double the rub recipe)

1 3 lb. chicken

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. paprika

3/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 t garlic powder

1 onion quartered (optional)

Wash chicken and dry well inside and out.  In small bowl, mix the seven seasonings.  Rub mixture well into body cavity and all over the outside.  Loosen skin and rub over meat (this part is kind of gross, just be sure to wash your hands well after).  Stuff quartered onion in cavity.  Put in sealable plastic bag and let sit for 4 to 5 hours or overnight (or 1 hour if you forget to do this early like me, it still turns out).  Roast UNCOVERED at 250 for 5 hours.

Friday's Walk Down Memory Lane 3/9/2012

Kenzie, Age:  2

My mother-in-law always takes such great pictures.  This is one she captured of Kenzie while she was visiting them in their motor home.  Kenzie was the most beautiful toddler and I don't think I'm being prejudice here AT ALL:)  I loved her golden hair.  I loved her soft, tan skin .  I loved her chubby cheeks.  Of course, here hair was just the right length to be styling it all sorts of different ways and soon thereafter, Jordan got a hold of some scissors and chopped it.  I cried. 

Friday's Walk Down Memory Lane 3/2/2012

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly of Argentina.

I got to looking at my mission photos the other day and thought I'd post a few of my favorites.  Some are good, some are bad and some are just plain ugly.

1.  Women's restroom at a train station.

One would squat, do their business and pull the chain and try to exit as quickly as possible to not get the water that was used for flushing on you.  There was even a lady there to remind you every few seconds (I think she was crazy, at least she looked that way) "Tira la cadena!" (Translation: Pull the chain!)   This was the only bathroom I ever saw like this.  I did have to use it.  Thank goodness it was only #1.

2.  Musicians on the train.

I loved it when the musicians would play for you on the train.  It would make my whole day to travel with them.  They almost always were from Bolivia and their music was absolutely beautiful.  I wish I had a recording. 

3.  The water retainers on top of the roof and cold showers.

Every residence had one.  It held our clean water.  It was necessary to get in there and clean it every month.  Yuck!  Lots of bugs!  In one of our apartments there was no hot water for about a month (I can't remember why) and I showered in cold water.  It was miserable.  This happened a lot more to the Elders though.  In fact, an Elder from my mission wrote a song about how we were complaining it was cold and we were illogical and how we ought to try and take a shower in his shower.  It went something like this:

Illogical girls, like Hermana Mergenthaler

Illogical girls all they do is yell and scream and holler. 

Illogical girls, Think you're cold, you ought to try and take a shower in my shower

In the freezing cold, COLD, COLD!

We were really good friends.  It didn't offend me at all that he used my last name in the song, it just rhymed with holler...and I'm sure if the morning was cold we (the sisters) were complaining.

4.  The Sarna Dogs.

These dogs were all over.  They'd get this way because of scabies.  No one would take care of them and they'd scratch off all their fur.  It was so sad...made me appreciate the humane society a lot more.

5.  Which brings me to:  Piojos and Sarna.

Translation:  Lice and Scabies.  Got them both for the first time on my mission in my first area.  The children of a family we were teaching had them.  I loved these children (and still do) but they would hug me and touch me and I wore my hair down a lot at first and well...suffered the consequences.  Hopefully the last time I will ever get scabies...as for lice, Kenzie brought it home from school once.  At least I knew what it was when I saw it.

6.  The bread.

Mmmmm....It was warm, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and fresh every morning.  I've never had anything as delicious since.  This Lady had her own set-up in the backyard and taught Brad the arts of bread making.  He is good with bread.

7.  The rain. 

Every time I see this picture it makes me smile.  That's my dress soaking wet in the corner.  My companion and I had been caught in the worst rain storm on our way to teach a lesson to Ramona and we ended up soaked.  As soon as she saw us she insisted on giving us her clothes for the night and giving us a warm cup of maté (Argentine herbal tea).  I never looked better.  There were many such rain storms that we trudged through.  Ramona ended up joining the church as did some of her grandchildren.  She was one of my favorite investigators.  We'd often go to her house and she would still be in bed because it was just too cold.  I always say to Brad in the winter mornings that I feel just like she used to...too cold to leave the bed and that if I lived in Argentina I'd stay there all day.

8.  The simplicity of life.



The argentines are not wealthy.  I mean, there are wealthy people there, but the majority of them are not.  They do not own cars, they ride buses and trains, they live in small houses and they still mow their lawns with push mowers.  Somehow though, without the wealth, they are still happy.  They seem to be able to sit and enjoy time and company much more than we, here in America, can.  There's never too little time to not sit and sip some maté with a friend.

9.  The specialty stores.

The frutería, the carnicería, the panadería, there was a specialty store for everything.  Not only was it a neat experience to see a skinned cow hanging up in the butcher's store but the food was always fresh and delicious.  I've never had fruit as tasty and ripe as I had in Argentina.

10.  Asados.

Everyone should schedule a trip to Argentina just to partake in one.  It's a big meat barbeque.  Chicken, cow and pork.  You name the meat, they are cooking it in an asado.  It will be worth the trip, I promise.  Of course, beware of the cow intestines they cook.  I never ate one of those.  I do not know if Brad ever did.  Brad's zones were lucky when he was the zone leader.  They'd have an asado once a month.  I wasn't in his zone then.  If I had been, I may have fallen for him much earlier in our courtship.

11.  I was tall in Argentina and I loved that.

I really don't like this picture of me because...well, because I look terrible and I look huge.  However, it is the best picture I have to show that I was a lot taller than most Argentines.  A lot.  I loved feeling tall.  Of course, 5'4" (almost 5'5") is nothing to boast about in America, but in Argentina I was tall.

12.  The people.

I loved the Argentine people.  Even those that were crazy and different.  I loved the ones that lived in nice homes and those that lived in homes with dirt floors and a tin roof who had a pink sheep named negra. They were kind and sweet.  They were loving and accepting.  I cannot say enough good about them.  Yes, there were times when we got the door slammed in our faces and we were called American spies, but for the most part they were a lovely people.

When I think of the 18 months that I spent living there it seems now as if it were all a dream.  And yet, I see these pictures and it all comes rushing back.  It's all within me and the words, "Don't cry for me Argentina...the truth is I never left you," resonate within my soul.