Photos Of The Fun

At Marina Beach. This is Wendy and the kids. Of course Pablo had to bring his sword.
Shawn missing the ball. HA HA HA. Ok , the truth is that this was the ONLY shot he missed and I never caught a single pass. But I happened to get this on film and it makes me feel a lot better (insert evil Liz laugh).

My manly man, doing the manly man BBQ duties.

Here I am with a momentarily resigned Sweet Terror at the park by Pike Place Market.
Here is Shawn holding Sweet Terror. This is what she was like 90% of the time while we were at the market.

Here are the doughnuts that made the Sweet Terror's scream all worth it. Mmmmm... doughnuts (insert Homer Simpson drooling).

Ongoing Memorial Day Festivities

MUST. STOP. EATING.

Sorry for not posting anything new lately. We have all been enjoying one humdinger of a Memorial Day weekend over here. It started on Saturday and is still in process.

Saturday: I attended a fun little baby shower where many tasty treats were served. i started out with a small healthy plate, but soon went back for seconds, and when no one was watching I went back for thirds. I couldn't help it. There was lots of yummy fresh fruit, a rich spinach and artichoke dip with crackers, and some very addicting cranberry turkey pinwheels. I only had a sliver of cake, but was stuffed to the brim by the time I went home. Only an hour after the shower we attended a dinner party at one of my very best friend's home. Jamie and Andy were celebrating their 7 year anniversary and did so be feeding all of their friends. Jamie is a great cook and is my source for very good pasta. She made a great cold pasta salad with rigatoni, tomatoes, olives, feta cheese, basil, olive oil, and I'm sure there were other things in it. Now I was VERY stuffed.

Sunday:
Sunday night our very good friends Shawn and Wendy came all the way from Utah to visit. Shawn and DSSH have been best friends since 1st grade. Shawn has also served 18 months in Iraq and, considering the areas that he served in, we feel very lucky not to have to be memorializing him right now.

We started our bacchanalian marathon with awesome nachos ('awesome' referring to the size as well as the flavor) and multiple bowls of ice cream and tall glasses of Root Beer Floats. The cheesy nachos were served with taco meat, sour cream, Lizzy's Salsa, and butter black beans. The evening was spent eating and talking. We talked until 1 in the morning, just catching up on old times.

Butter Black Beans
melt 1 Tblsp. butter in pan. Add 1/4 C. finely chopped onion and cook until onion begins to brown. Add 1-3 cloves garlic minced and cook for 1 minute. Add one can black beans UNdrained. Smash a few times with a potato smasher. Stir and cook to desired consistency. Salt to taste. MMMMMMMM

Monday:
Luckily for me, S and W like yard saling as much as I do, so we left the kids with DSSH (he doesn't like "junksaling") and hit a few Memorial Day sales. I found some wonderful things, including a great art easel for Pablo's B-Day. For lunch we had make your own sandwiches with pickles, chips, and veggie sticks on the side (and they were some mighty big 'samiches'). With full bellies W and I took the kids to a local beach park to play in the sand and look for shells. We found a huge barnacle and had fun watching it poke its frilled head out. DSSH and S stayed behind to do some man bonding which requires that they sit in different rooms communicating over two computers while playing Age Of Empires III. For dinner we had a good ol' Rockwellian BBQ. W and I prepped all the veggies and side dishes while the manly men sat around drinking rootbeer and tossing a pigskin to the kids while waiting for the coals to turn grey. We chowed down on Peppered Burgers, Broccoli Salad, corn on the cob, 3 kinds of chips, 2 kinds of soda, watermelon, and ice cream. It was a lovely day. We tried to finish the night with a Mystery Science Theater 3000 called Puma Man but, about half way through all the laughter, I fell asleep. I think W fell asleep soon after so we called it a night.

Tuesday:
We took our guests on the requisite Pike Place Market tour. I LOVE Pike Place Market! It is crowded with so many people from all walks of life. In the same three feet you see a bodily pierced young woman selling her handmade purses, a man with a 2 foot beard playing his fiddle, a wealthy business woman buying flowers, a group of Japanese speaking tourists, and me with my big family holding a screaming Sweet Terror on my shoulders. Of course no trip to the market is complete without sampling foods from around the world. Our first culinary stop was Japan with a fresh shrimp spring roll dipped in peanut sauce (or is that Cantonese?), then some Mexican Pan Dulce, a few sweet flavored honey tubes to suck on, freshly fried doughnuts that the dreadlocked man flings behind his back and into the bag while knocking a beat with his tongs on the counter, a few Greek Dolmates wrapped in tangy grape leaves, a free slice from a heavenly sweetened California peach, a stop at the spice store for little bags of pepper, paprika, curry, herbal teas, and sea salt, followed up with some Chinese food at the Genghis Khan (I highly reccomend the broccoli and mushrooms, YUMMERS). After the Market feast we took a two hour break from eating before leaving the kids with our awesome babysitter and escaping to a great indian restaurant called the Sahib. The Sahib is located down by the ferry dock so you can enjoy a great view if you get the right seat, or sit on the deck. We all highly recommend the mixed appetizer platter, the mixed grill, the Malai Kofta, and Chicken Korma. The appetizer platter had something I've never heard of before, let alone tasted, they were fried spinach leaves. I know, it sounds funny but they were addicting. I'm already planning a second visit just for that combo appetizer. Oh, it was GOOD. We were all laughing about how full we were. Then we were laughing about the fact that we still had ice cream in the freezer that wanted to be eaten. After putting the kids to bed we not only ate multiple bowls of ice cream while watching episodes from the 4th season of The Simpsons, but I managed to polish off the leftover Chinese food too, AAAUGH!

As bloggers are my witness, I WILL NEVER GO HUNGRY AGAIN! That is, until 5 minutes ago when I had another bowl of ice cream for breakfast =). Let me just say that I'm actually glad that the ice cream sale is over so that I can return to my normal "three meals and two bowls a day".

Sunday Notes

7 year old Billy hid the flowers behind his back as he approached. He wanted them to be a surprise. He was very proud of them because he had helped pick them out. Billy was wearing his Sunday clothes, even though mom had told him he didn't have to. He felt that this was a special occasion and that it needed special clothes. As he walked he rehearsed what he wanted to say. His mom stood by him, gave him a hug, and then stepped back to give him some privacy. Billy cleared his throat.

"Hi, Grandma and Grampsy, mom and dad told me that you were baptized yesterday. I know how special it is to be baptized because I'm going to be baptized myself next month. You guys have always been very good examples to me and it makes me happy to know that you were baptized before me so that it can be another one of your good examples for me. I love you and I miss you."

With that, Billy laid his flowers by the double head stone, ran his fingers along the names of his loved ones, etched in stone, then turned to join his mother in the car. "In many ways each of us is the sum total of what our ancestors were. The virtues they had may be our virtues, their strengths our strengths, and in a way their challenges could be our challenges. Some of their traits may be our traits...

Fortunately our ancestors will have the opportunity to receive and accept the saving ordinances as we identify them and complete these sacred ordinances for them by proxy. We do for them what they cannot do for themselves. It is a very satisfying experience...

I testify that God is a just God, and He will not give privileges to us and withhold them from our forebears. But we will need to do the baptisms, the endowments, and the sealings for them by proxy here on earth in order for us and them to be linked together for eternity ..." ~James E. Faust

I Prefer To Be Preferred

Are you a Preferred customer? Are you one of the lucky owners of an Albertson's Preferred Customer Club Card? I sure hope so, because if you are just look at the frozen happiness you can acquire for the insanely low price of 2 for $5.oo. I told you it was insane. Albertson's must love me because this is obviously a sale put on just for me. As soon as I was able to stop drooling on my circular I hopped in the car, got back out because I had forgotten my kids, rushed them all out to the car and to our nearest Albertson's ice cream freezer. I've mentioned before that I don't like paying large sums for those inky dinky little gourmet cartons of ice cream, but at 2/$5 I can definitely go for some sahweet Ben & Jerry's frozen happiness. Sadly B&J's has done to me what Bath and Body works has done. They come out with the world's best flavor/scent, they get you hooked, and just when you are willing to admit that your very existence depends on said flavor/scent, they rip it off the shelves and call it "discontinued". B&J used to make two amazingly addictive flavors called

Wavy Gravy

"The flavorful flashback to the 1960s legend was a counter-cultural creation of caramel and cashew Brazil nut ice cream with a chocolate hazelnut fudge swirl and roasted almonds. Perhaps a bit too much for some to crunch, this was still a late-night bite we loved to munch."

and

Rainforest Crunch

"A joy-inducing jungle of vanilla ice cream with untamed chunks of cashew and brazil nut buttercrunch. Though it was a flavor all went nuts exploring, it could not be saved by such adoring."

Let us all rest our spoons for a moment of silent respect.................sniff, sniff............ So I perused the shelves looking for a good flavor. I remembered trying the Oatmeal Cookie Chunk and not liking at first and then feeling like it was heavenly, so I bought one. then i saw that they have a Strawberry Cheese Cake flavor. I have been searching for the perfect Strawberry Cheese Cake ice cream. The closest I have come is Breyer's Sarah Lee Strawberry Cheese Cake. I went on an 8 month binge of that yummy stuff. Sadly no one carries it any more so it is very hard to come by. I once tasted an even better one at a movie theater. It said it was Dreyer's brand but i haven't been able to find any Dreyer's Strawberry Cheese Cake in the stores, or on their website. Aw well, I keep trying, so I bought the B&J to try out. I also picked up some Breyers Root Beer Float and Breyers Heath Bar Crunch (I knew the B&J wouldn't last long so I needed some back up).

The votes are in:

B&J Oatmeal Cookie Chunk: Yummy. Did you ever try those cinnamon chocolate chips? They are like that in an oatmeal cookie. It was very yummy and very feel good comfort food kind of ice cream. It is one to eat when you feel homesick, or when it is snowing out, or when you are watching old reruns of shows you used to watch as a kid (like Cosby and Little House on the Prairie).

B&J Strawberry Cheese Cake: Good, but not as good as Sarah Lee or the mysterious theater ice cream. I don't think I would buy it again. It seemed to leave a chalky feeling in my mouth.

Breyer's Rootbeer Float: Perfectly smooth and rootbeerishly yummy. All it needs is the fizz and some french fries on the side and it would be the real thing.

Breyer's Heath Bar Crunch: If I had to choose a favorite toffee bar ice cream it would have to be Dreyer's, not Breyer's. Breyer's is good but overly sweet and all the toffee chunks have melted into little puddles of sweet toffee goo. I like big chunks of of crunchy toffee in my ice cream so I will let the kids eat this one and wait for Dreyer's to go on sale for this one.

I think I will exercise my Prefered Member privileges again tomorrow. The B&J Pistachio Pistachio, and the Creme Brulee are ones that I simply must try.

Now, I must give my full attention to this bowl of Rootbeer Float before it melts. Happy scooping!!!

Smells Like A Grandma

The back of my van is the storage unit for all pending D.I. donations. It has been full for quite some time now so I thought I would do the family a favor and finally donate the donations.

I always tell myself I won't go in, "Liz, you know you have enough junk. DSSH will poke fun at you if you bring home any more D.I. stuff. Don't do it, Liz, don't do it. Aw, great! There she goes. Oh no, she sees the book section..."

At which point I throw up my hands in sweet surrender and go back out to the car to bring the kids into the store. Pablo steps through the door and stands there while I load Sweet Terror and Monster Man into the cart, "Monster Man, if you don't sit on your bum you are going to fall out and then you will bleed." I know I will be saying this to him every five minutes for the next hour. I know I shouldn't have a kid sit in the back of the cart because it is dangerous. Let me just say that falling out and bleeding is safer than all the times I have lost Monster Man and all the times he has pulled stuff on top of himself while in stores (like the time he pulled/tipped the cart over while Sweet Terror was in it, and I was holding onto it). Meanwhile... Pablo is still standing there at the front of the store with his hands in his pockets seriously thinking about something. He figured out whatever it was that was bothering him because he then came over to me and loudly proclaimed, in front of everyone at the cash registers,

"MOM, THIS PLACE SMELLS LIKE A GRANDMA, THEY MUST HAVE GRANDMA'S HERE."

It was one of those moments where I was glad I wasn't drinking milk, because it would have come out my nose. I whispered, "You're right, you have a good nose", then I patted him on the head and pushed our cart towards all that grandma smelling booty. I love going to D.I for the books. They sell kid's books for 25-50 cents and at that price I can be ok with the fact that my kids like to use them to build trasportational highways. I like to go through the kid's books one by one so I don't miss any hidden gems. The kids are happy to sit and read books while I look for the first half hour. The next half hour is spent by repeating, "I promise we will go see the toys in just a minute, I'm almost done", while Sweet Terror drops books on my head as I thumb through the last of the very bottom shelf.

It was all worth it, in my selfish opinion, because I found some really great books, I only spent 9 bucks, I was able to get a shopping high and indulge in the self righteous feeling that I BUY BOOKS, all at the same time.

BOOK FOR ME

The sixty-year story of the world of Hollywood and its effect on America. From pre-nickelodeon days to the present (This is an old book because its "present" is 1956 and Gregory Peck).

I am going to LOVE this book. I will never forget seeing my first nickelodeon at an old ghost town exhibit with my mom and dad. I have been fascinated with old movies ever since.

BOOK FOR COOKIE (and me too!)

This book takes some of the greatest operas of all time and re-tells them in story format. I am so excited to read these with Cookie. I am going to find CDs of the operas so we can listen to them while we read.

I also found an ASL alphabet book, several great books for Pablo's science studies, illustrated folktales, historically correct coloring books, a book that has pop outs that build the alphabet letters in 3D, and many more. And all this is thanks to the Grandma Smelling Store.

Hablo espanol con mi familia

I am trying to learn Spanish. My dream is to be able to teach it to my children (so that I can yell at them in public, in Spanish) and to be able to speak with Spanish speaking converts or investigators at church. A very sweet friend of mine goes completely out of her way every week to drive 1/2 an hour through heavy traffic to my house to listen to my pathetic excuses for not practicing. She never complains and I love her for this. I've even left her sitting in her car, in my driveway, wondering where I am because I've forgotten that it is Tuesday and am not here when she shows up for our lesson (I figure that I was given this tendency to help others practice the art of forgiveness and to keep me humble). Anyway, today I actually felt that there may be hope for me yet as I understood and was even able to use quite a lot of the things she has been trying to keep in my sieve like brain. Today I learned some very important commands to use with the kids at dinner time.

Da una vuelta en tu silla = Turn around in your chair

Trae (pronouned trah ey) cinco tenedores = Go get 5 forks

Pon tu comida en tu plato = Put your food on your plate

No pongas tu comida en la mesa = Don't put your food on the table (the verb changes when used in a negative sense in this tense)

Sirve la agua = Pour the water

No sirvas demasiado = Don't serve too much (As in, don't give Sweet Terror more than a smidgeon of water or it will be all over the table in seconds)

Contengan los manos = This basically means keep your hands to yourself, or fold your arms for the prayer.

Sientense a la mesa = Sit your selves at the table (SIT DOWN!)

Arreglen las sillas = Arrange the chairs (We use folding chairs so I'm always telling the kids to put the chairs down and around the table)

No te muevas = Don't move (This one is for Pablo, a squirmer)

No muevas tu silla = Don't move your chair (This one is for Monster Man who likes to fall out of his chair)

No me toca = Don't touch me (sweet Terror likes to wipe her grubby paws on my shoulder during dinner)

So, now we can all yell at our kids and educate them at the same time. Enjoy!

P.S. If you've noticed that I have any of these wrong, please let me know. I like my yelling to be correct.

Poetry

I used to love writing poetry. I can't recall what made me stop. I must have let myself become too practical to have time for it? Well, today I had some fun with it again. Last Friday my DSSH told me about Yahoo answers, (if you know me then you know I love telling people how to run their lives). So, I signed up on yahoo answers so I could start bossing people around. I was having a lot of fun doing that when I noticed they had a literary section. In there I was having fun giving people my interpretations on Shakespeare, etc. From there I noticed that there was a poetry section. For laughs I quickly perused it's offerings. One guy had asked that people quickly write a poem about "secret love" off the top of their head. I decided to take his challenge to see if I still had any words in me. It was so fun that I quickly looked for others like this. Here are the end results of my foray into poetry today:

Quick poem about "Secret Love":

Thrilling and enticing, in its guilt it was discovered
The passion, like embers, can only live when covered
This raging inferno could never stand the test
So secretly it's kept where life will not molest
To bare itself is to kill itself
To ask for more is to hurt yourself
Beautiful in its lies
Expose it and it dies


Write an acrostic poem about food:

Pretty aprons
And time with grandma
No, time will not erase
Cherished moments
A life well shared
Keep love in this space.
Every time I eat one
She smiles from heaven's place


Quickly write a short poem:

Opening my hand, it is easy to do.
Wiggling my fingers, I see you can do it too.
The joints all bend, the muscles all move
With all of this it should be easy to do.
But, somehow, it takes more;
Much more than I posses,
To reach this hand of mine towards yours
And receive your offered caress.

This one isn't a poem, but a definition. Someone asked for the definition of love and I wrote:

Love is the ability and willingness to suffer


It was very fun playing with words again. I think I will do this again, hopefully at least once a week.

Crazy Dayz and Good Food

Yesterday was kind of a silly day for me at church. Sweet Terror was being more Terror than Sweet. She was quite entertaining to the folks sitting around us as she would loudly proclaim, "No, Daddy! Shhhh, quiet!", or as she would softly stick both hands into my hair then suddenly yank both hands up while loudly asking, "Dis yo heer?". I had to take her out twice. At least I wasn't alone. If we had had two more kids in the hall we would have had the entire nursery class doing hall time for bad behavior. Sacrament Meeting finished and that usually spells total freedom from the Sweet Terror for a whole glorious two hours as she goes to nursery. She calls nursery, "Toy Class". All through Sacrament she will say, "Uh, toy class, uh toy class?". So I quickly deposit my baby in the terrible two room and high-tail it to my primary calling (I'm the secretary). While in primary I am constantly having to tell Monster Man to be reverent. He always seems shocked to find out that certain actions do not qualify as reverent, such as shooting people with finger guns, laying on his back with his feet in the air, or jumping in his seat while saying, "Pick me, pick me, I'm reverent!". At one point his teacher (a lovely woman who already has 2 squirmy kids sitting in her lap) calls him over to whisper to him about reverence. Monster Man is leaning close to her, with his hands around her neck, and listening then everyone hears him say, "Ok, teacher. Hey can I give you the Biggest Hug Ever?". My head shoots up, I lunge forward in slow motion, reaching for Sister K, all the time screaming in my head, "NOOOooooooo". I've told you all about the Biggest Hug Ever, haven't I? I've told you all about Monster Man's unholy level of strength, haven't I? When Monster Man offers you a "Biggest Hug Ever", he is really asking if you would like him to decapitate you with his chubby little arms. Luckily Sister K survived, head intact. I think the two kids on her lap prevented him from getting the full leverage needed to complete the decapitation. I resume my normal duties when Sister B gets up to teach her lesson. I'm feeling calm at the moment so I offer to watch Rufus for her.

Rufus is a service dog in training. He ain't no German Shepherd. This guy is the size of a pony. Seriously. He has to be big because he has to be able to carry a full grown, 165 pound man, Sis B's son who is a quadriplegic. If I were to put a saddle on him I could easily take him for a Sunday's canter around the neighborhood without even making him break a sweat. So, I feel rather brave for offering to watch him. Luckily he is usually a very well behaved creature. He was laying calmly on the floor as I sat taking attendance. Then, "Woooosh", I feel the air current move as he moves his gargantuous body up. I quickly grab onto the handle of his vest and maneuver him out to the hall so he doesn't get the kids riled up. If he ever took off running I would either loose my arm or be carried away with him. but he is good. As I take him out I am met by Sis. W who tells me that Sweet Terror is about to be kicked out of nursery for bad behavior. "Dang it all and rasslefrazzlencamelpoop!" I think to myself. I heave Rufus toward the nursery in time to collect the psychotic terror that comes out screaming and pulling her hair. Apparently when they asked her to sit down for snack time she picked up her snack, chucked it at them, threw her cup to the floor, ran under the table to scream, etc... So, I spent the rest of church in the hall with Behemouth Dog and Sweet Terror. The depressing part is that the dog was better trained than my little rose. On the way home S.T. screamed about leaving church, screamed about being put in the car, screamed about being taken out of the car, screamed about being put in the house, threw her lunch on the floor, screamed and kicked about taking a nap, and promptly fell asleep.

Now, after a day like that I usually want several BIG bowls of ice cream to freeze out my headache. Alas! My freezer had betrayed me and there was not even a spoonful left of the sweet cold stuffs that would bring me peace. So instead I settled for making my favorite salsa and yummy no bake cookies.

Lizzy's Favorite Salsa (this is the lazy Sunday quick version):

Seed and chop 1/2 cucumber

Seed and chop one large tomato, or three roma tomatoes

Chop 1/2 medium onion

Seed and chop 1/2 bell pepper

Mince a good handful of cilantro

Stir together with some garlic salt

Liberally shake on Green Tabasco Sauce (it must be green).

A couple splashes of lemon juice, a good stir, some yummy chips and sour cream, and you are good to go.

For full enjoyment, eat when all the kids are down for naps. AAAaaaaahhhh. Food in silence.

P.S. I answered a new question on my advice column. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Creative Boredom

What do kids do when they have time to be bored?

They build intricate water way systems in various parts of the house.

They find ways to use recycled materials in the fashion industry.

They build transportation systems despite a lack of proper government funding.

When bright minds are left without readily available entertainment the universe becomes their playground.

Cookie's Birthday Letter in Chalk

I had a lovely Birthday yesterday. I ate some very special treats, but made sure to be good to my body (meaning, I didn't eat so much that I had to spend the rest of the evening moaning and groaning). I recieved some very nice gifts from my husband and some money from my mom, "Thanks!". Quite a few of my friends and family thought to call or email me, making me feel loved (that's what birthday's are all about, right?). I felt spoiled and special, and that's how a girl should feel on her special day. Now, I have to brag about a very unexpected, very special, very beautiful gift that I was given. When DSSH came home last night, I went out onto the deck to greet him. Before I could even say, "Hi", I noticed sidewalk chalk writing all over the railing of the deck. This is what I found, written by my amazing 8 1/2 yr. old, Cookie:

I (heart) my Mom.

My Mom

My Mom is kind, loving, smart, and gentle. She can help me feel better when I'm sad. She is willing to give up things for me. She can make the rainy day seem sunny and bad dreams go away. Laughs at bad jokes. That is my mom.

My Mom is loving and kind.

With a beautiful face and sensitive mind.

If she smiles at someone they will become blind.

My mom is beautiful and kind.

Her favorite food is cheesecake and creme brule. Happy Birthday Mom.

The world bows down to you.

I (heart) you.

Can you believe this??? I was shocked, touched, amazed, proud. I quickly wrote it down because it will be gone with the next rainfall, and this is Seattle afterall. Cookie and I have had problems getting along with each other and have been really working on our relationship this year, which made this all the more special to me. Anyway, I will stop gushing now. I just wanted to share.

Random Thoughts

An Ordinary Mom tagged me for a “Seven Random Things About Me” meme. This shouldn't be too hard for me since my thoughts are pretty random anyway. Hang on for the ride, 'cause here we go...

1. When I found out that the computers in my high school computer lab had minesweeper on them I dedicated a month to getting the highest score on all three levels on every single computer. I had minesweeper wars with my step dad. My score kept getting so good that he finally started photoshopping his score to fake that he was beating me. I still can't stand to see anyone but me have the highest score on that game.

2. I often fantasize about being the only survivor of a plane crash and having to survive on what I can. I have had this fantasy since I was a little girl. No, I don't watch LOST because I'm a T.V. addict so I just don't go there. But I love survival movies, so if you know of any, let me know.

3. I was sad when I reached 9 years of age because I knew that if Indians ever raided our city I wouldn't be adopted anymore, but become a slave, or be killed (or worse).

4. I LOVE peanut butter, mayonnaise, and pickle sandwiches on my Grandma's homemade bread.

5. I want my hair to be boy short. I love it that way. But I also like my hair long and I'm too lazy and cheap to maintain a short haircut. So, every now and then I chop it all off and then let it grow back.

6. I pick my pinky toenails off. Literally off. Then they bleed. It's really gross.

7. I'm eating Subway's white chocolate macadamia nut cookies right now. It's my Birthday and this was DSSH's first present to me.

And, if they are willing, I am going to tag Shark Daddy, Lucy, Becky, Cellista, Laughter Thoughts and The Momma Chronicles. I can't wait to see what randomness you all produce.

MAY 15th, 1978

Happy Happy Birthday Lizzy dear,
Happiness will come to me all year,

If I had a wish, then it would be,

A big cheese cake and ice cream just for me.

I am turning 20 today. Ok, that's a lie. I'm turning 29, but 29 is the standard age that people lie about so I thought I'd lie about being 20 so you would believe me about really being 29.

I thought it might be fun to look back on myself through these years. A lot has happened to me since I came out, all puckered and slimy, into the world. I grew up in very small town Rigby, Idaho. I lived just 5 houses down the street from our red brick chapel. We had a ditch in our back yard and a ball diamond behind that. I grew up wearing jean cutoffs over my swimsuit all summer, because one never knew when mom would take us to Rigby Lake, or when someone would dig a mud pit, or when a neighborhood hose fight would start. Winter was all about the snow. We would get snow drifts 4 feet high and the snow was so crisp you could walk on it. We would dig tunnels and pretend that we were lost and had to forage for ourselves in the winter wonderland.

My best friends were Tiffany (That's us with the matching pigtails, we knew each other from birth and were convinced that we were twins. I'm the blonde one that looks like a boy, yes a boy with pigtails in a hippie dress.) and my cousin, Laura (we are the ones snarfing down on chocolate beaters). It was a carefree, fun life full of sunshine and dirt. When I turned 6 Tiffany moved to Pennsylvania and I thought I would never get over it, but life went on. When I was 8 I found out that I wasn't the only friend in my cousin's life and that broke my heart, but life went on. At 9 my family packed up and moved to mid state N.Y. Everything seemed wet in N.Y., even the air; but I had never seen such forests and trees. I also started public school in N.Y. in the 6th grade (mom had homeschooled all of us). It was the neatest thing to have my own glue sticks, highlighters, even my teacher was just mine.

I grew up fast in N.Y.

and learned a lot about life, boys, social rules, and heart ache. When I was 15 my dad was found to have cancer. In 1 1/2 years I watched my 40 year old dad become an 88 year old feeble man. My mom still had us kids to raise so we moved back to Idaho so she could have the support of her family. We moved to Rexburg, Idaho where my dad lasted long enough to see mom settled in her own home. He passed away on August 19, 1994. It was fun being back in the sunshine and small town life of Idaho again, but I didn't fit in that town. I stayed long enough to graduate (just two years).

I packed up and moved to Boise, Idaho. I loved it there. I was independant for once in my life. I was free of all responsibility except my own survival. Then I had to go and meet a wonderful guy. My DSSH swept me off my feet at the all too young age of 19. By the time I was 20 I had my first baby, she was born a week after our one year anniversary, so don't bother counting ;)

The rest of the story is pretty much a "They lived Happily Ever After" story. I now have 4 beautiful kids, live near Seattle, WA, still love my husband with a passion beyond words, and have always felt that my life has been the best I know of.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

And in case you want to know, I'm making myself a cheese cake, just like I have every year since I was 7 (although now I make the yummy baked kind, and not the Jello kind).

Mother's Day

I hear of many women who suffer on Mothers Day. Many suffer because they cannot be mothers, many suffer because, even though they have children, they feel neglected on this day, others wonder why they must have children to be worthy of being celebrated. After many years of contemplating this topic I have realized that the celebration belongs to all women. Just the fact that we are born female means that we hold the eternal rights, responsibilities, and blessings of motherhood. Women are endowed with the special abilities to care, love, suffer, and endure. It is for these abilities that we celebrate this day. Sadly, the ones who are in charge of this celebration are not women. In giving women the "day off" it is amazing to me to see how quickly things fall apart and how many hearts are left broken. That is why I wanted to send all of you this lovely poem about womanhood (which is just another word for motherhood).

Motherhood
The bravest battle that ever was fought!
Shall I tell you where and when?
On the maps of the world you will find it not;
'Twas fought by the mothers of men.
Nay not with the cannon of battle-shot,
With a sword or noble pen;
Nay, not with eloquent words or thought
From mouth of wonderful men!
But deep in a walled-up woman's heart
Of a woman that would not yield,
But bravely, silently bore her part
Lo, there is the battlefield!
No marshalling troops, no bivouac song,
No banner to gleam and wave;
But oh! those battles, they last so long
From babyhood to the grave.
Yet, faithful still as a bridge of stars,
She fights in her walled-up town
Fights on and on in her endless wars,
Then silent, unseen, goes down.
Oh, ye with banners and battle-shot,
And soldiers to shout and paise!
I tell you the kingliest victories fought
Were fought in those silent ways.
O spotless woman in a world of shame,
With splendid and silent scorn,
Go back to God as white as you came
The Kingliest warrior born!
~Joaquin miller

Monster Man, I Love You

I feel angry and tired today. I know that the anger is a byproduct of my feeling tired. Monster Man came upstairs with dripping wet hair just now. I have cleaned up so many water messes this week that I kind of lost it. I asked him, in a voice much too severe, "Are you making more water messes? How did you wet your hair? Did you put water in a cup to wet your hair? Did you dip it in the sink, the tub, or the toilet?" The pitch of my voice is getting higher and starting to sound hysterical. Monster Man shrugs his shoulders, gives me that one eyed Popeye squint of his that I absolutely adore, and says, "I just wanted to show 'Pablo' how good my hair looks when it's wet". Instead of laughing and hugging my awesome little guy for trying to look his Sunday best, I continue the interrogation, "Is the sink empty now, or is it plugged? Is 'Sweet Terror' in the Bathroom too? is there any water on the floor? Well you better get down there and unplug it. You had also better make sure that bathroom is clean because if i find any water puddles I will scream!" He obediently went down to check for puddles and to unplug the sink. He does look handsome with his nice wet hair. Maybe if that was the first thing he did this morning I would have savored the cuteness of the moment. Maybe if it hadn't been for the steak knife carried up into the tree, or the stolen pillows from my freshly changed and made bed, or the marker writing on the side of the house, or huffing and puffing when asked to clean, or the spilled soggy cereal, or finding all my kitchen utensils out in the dirt and in the bathrooms and in the living room, or any of the other Monster Man creations today, maybe then I would have told him that he did indeed look handsome and then nicely have asked him to make sure he cleaned up any mess, just like a big boy should. Maybe that is why, when he came up from unplugging the sink, I grabbed him in my arms, squeezed him till he laughed, and told him, "Monster man, I love you SOOOOOO much!"

This is Monster Man 2 years ago, cleaning up one of his flour messes.

Cookie's FHE

Last night Cookie gave the lesson for FHE. I love it when she gives the lesson because she always amazes me with her mature grasp of the gospel. Her lesson made me proud and a bit sad. I felt sad because her opening story was about dealing with bullies. She has had to deal with bully behavior at school. She has been called names, she has been tripped, she has been pushed, and she has been yelled at by boys who just don't seem to know better. This has been a good, albeit tough, learning experience for her and I have been proud of the choices she has made in these situations. She has even turned several of these bullies into friends. So, last night she read her story from the friend and then she had us play a board game that she had created herself. I love these moments, when you feel like your child is mastering the skills you are trying, so desperately, to teach them before they must be sent out in the world on their own. It was good for the boys to hear, too, because they have been getting pretty rough with each other. They seem to think that it is o.k. to punch the other in the eye if he says, "You're a stupid face boy". I keep telling them that if they punch the name caller then they both have to be punished for bad decisions, but if they don't fight back, then only the name caller gets punished. Ah well, we keep trying.

Today I am taking on Mount Everest. I am climbing the summit, and then I am going to chip and hack away at it until it no longer exists (or at least until I turn it into multiple miniature Everests). If you can't tell, I am referring to my paper pile. And it is taller than me right now, seriously! It starts at the top of my computer armoir, actually it starts on the top of my printer that is on top of my armoir, it runs down the sides of my monitor, it is busting out of every cubby hole, is keeping the side cupboard and drawers from closing, has fallen behind the armoir, and has been pushed underneath, and between its side and the wall. Considering all that, I don't think anyone can accuse me of exaggeration for calling it an "Everest".
P.S. What time is it when you find a pitcher in the bathroom?

Answer: Time to sanitize the pitcher and see what else the kids have been doing while I blogged.

Monday, Monday........

Sorry folks. I know I usually post an FHE lesson on Mondays, but tonight Cookie is teaching and i have no clue as to what she has prepared. She often gives very good lessons, so I may share it with you tomorrow. Today has been a busy, regular, cleaning, dirty mom day. I spent the morning vacuuming up the sawdust that the kids tossed around downstairs, then I cleaned out the wood stove (cough, choke, cough). I've been cleaning and catching up on the uncatchable laundry pile. Wooo hoo, I found my missing happy sock (you know, that funky pair of socks that you wear because they make you happy, and not because they match). I was finally able to answer a very difficult question on my advice site (it was very hard for me to keep the answer short). I have also been sticking to my healthy eating goals today (I have been brushing and flossing after each meal and it keeps me from random pig outs and frequent snacking). The sun is out, the kids are napping, so far it has been a real hum dinger of a day. For that very reason, I am going to stop blogging, get off my butt, take a shower, and go enjoy the rest of it =). May you all enjoy a sunny Monday too.

liz

Still Shaking Out All The Sawdust

Lightening the Load
by Melanie Parker

...As soon as they had disappeared into the thickness of the trees, my brother Kevin threw up his arms in disgust. “He’s doing it again.” Brad and I knew what Kevin was referring to. Our father knew no limits when it came to service. Inconvenience wasn’t in his vocabulary.
“I bet we end up digging that guy out,” whispered Brad, poking gloomily in the dirt with a stick. The day suddenly felt a century long...

...The monstrous six-cord truck was sunk past its axles. Firewood weighed heavily on the bed of the truck increasing the complexity of the problem...

...Feeling like good Samaritans, we quickly hooked up our truck to the Lopez’s. Two spins of our tires later Mr. Lopez frantically waved his arms signaling my dad to stop. Between the weight of both trucks and the soft, marshy earth, our truck had sunk to its axles too...

...“Hey! Hey you over there! Do you think you could help us out of here?”

The stranger nodded slowly and climbed into his truck. When he saw what he had agreed to deal with, he said shortly, “Won’t pull ya loaded.” And with that, he made a graceful exit to his truck.

I looked at my dad and shot him the “You have got to be crazy” glance. He replied with the “What can I do?” shrug. We had no options available. All of us—including the Lopezes—scrambled to the top of the mountain of firewood in the back of our truck ready to destroy our entire day’s labor. As we worked side by side with one another, a strange feeling settled among us. I began to feel a bond with the Lopezes. If we didn’t work together, nobody was leaving tonight. A feeling of appreciation for one another was developing.

Little by little, our truck bed’s load was lessened until it was finally empty. Immediately, it sprang forward like a cheetah pouncing on its prey.

“Well, let’s get started on the Lopez’s truck. It’s not going anywhere loaded.”
The familiar process began yet again. Except this time, the mountain was Mt. Everest and the troops were showing signs of fatigue. The day began to haze over as the sun slowly set behind the mountain skyline.

By the time we’d emptied the truck, the piles of firewood scattered about the muddy meadow surpassed any I had seen before. Once the Lopez’s truck was unloaded, it leaped forward from the sticky mess. Both trucks were now free.

Without hesitating, the Lopezes began throwing the burly logs into the back of our truck. We were touched by their grateful actions, and as a result found hidden strength to finish this eternal load of firewood. I never saw my brothers work harder. Our companions had set a feverish pace, and our pride wouldn’t let us lag behind. When the last block was toppled on, I headed for the truck to climb in but was stopped by my father’s voice.

“There’s one truck left, kids.”

Kevin shook his head in unbelief. “Dad, I don’t think I can do it.”

Dad looked at his crew and smiled. It was a smile that said, “I know you can, and you will.” It was a smile filled with genuine love for his fellowman. It was a smile that told us in 20 years this would make a great family reunion tale.

We loaded that six-cord truck that night for a total of 20 cord of wood we had moved in one day. We never saw our friends again, but a strange bond developed between us that day. Our dad taught us a great lesson of service, one that would have a lasting effect on us. Because our dad had so strongly insisted on helping that family, we learned how wonderful service really feels.
The sore muscles are gone, but we still feel a love for the Lopez family. And I know that in 20 years, ours won’t be the only family reunion where this story is told.

This story made me feel like my little week of "firewood Hades" was nothing to whine about. The firewood is finally all stacked and stored away for next winter. I was able to get through it with out killing any of the people who stood by and watched me stack as they slowly commented, "My, that's a looooooot of wood ya got there". (I'm sorry, but if a woman is sweating you just shouldn't talk to her, unless you are sweating even more than she is.)

The worst part was when I got to the bottom of the pile and realized there was an even bigger pile of sawdust down there. My land lady drove by the place yesterday when the sawdust was still out in all its glory. She called my landlord (who is one of the people I didn't kill) and he came by to tell me that she was upset because the sawdust was on the gravel driveway and it would turn into dirt and get weeds in it and ruin her lovely driveway that we rent, yada yada "that's a big pile of sawdust you've got there" yada. I told him on Tuesday that I would have this all cleaned up by Sunday. I told him the same thing Wednesday. I basically told him this everyday this week. Well, Saturday I filled 10 of those ginormous lawn and garden bags full of sawdust. I put another 6 wheel barrels full of sawdust around all my roses and trees and fence. I have another box of sawdust in my shed. I am proud to say that with the help of a leaf blower, a rake, a wheel barrel, and a neighbor who wanted half of my sawdust, that my driveway looks just as "clean" and gravely as it did LAST Sunday. And I solemnly vow at this moment to never walk by someone who is stacking firewood without helping them!!!

Keyboards Cojmputer Ohn Water

k,eyboardl. cojmputer jmy over al.l. water pours Terror Sweet whnehn hnappehns whnat is Thnis

creajm ice to you treat wil.l.I says thnis whnat out figure cahn you If

L>z


Lucy,
you are so clever. When should I pick you up for your reward? Yes, the above message was an illustration of what your computer keyboard will do if water is spilled on it. I think the writing backwards was the funniest part. Last night I had noticed a little puddle of water next to my keyboard. I didn't think too much about it because Sweet Terror has been really into spilling water lately. Monster Man likes to pour himself drinks of water (all the way to the top of the cup), take a few sips, and then leave the cups in the middle of the kitchen floor, which provides Sweet Terror with ample ammo. Well, this morning when I went to blog about the messes my kids have been making while I've been stacking wood (will it ever end?) I was only able to produce what you see above. I lifted my keyboard to examine it and found a big puddle of water sitting under it. As I tipped it to look under it a bunch of water fell on my lap. I let it dry out (my keyboard and my lap), hoping for the best. It evidently works better with the water in it because once dry it ceased to function at all. Luckly DSSH had a decoy, I mean spare keyboard handy that I was able to steal, I mean borrow =) My DSSH is so smart. He uses a laptop but he bought an extra keyboard to use in front of the laptop so that when kids bang on it or spill things on it they only ruin a $15 keyboard and not a $1500 laptop.


Now all the kids are napping (I bribed them with a trip to the Children's Museum) so I am going to seize this opportunity to clean like the dickens so i can come home to a clean house tonight. After the museum I am off to Home Depot to by yard bags to fill with the GINORMOUS pile of sawdust that was under all the wood. Unless of course you can all come up with some interesting ways for me to use all this sawdust... (I've already thought of compost and mulch, so you'll have to think harder than that).


The past three days have been so crazy that I found great solace in the ranting blog of The Momma Chronicles. Especially this list she made.

Frugal Firewood Fiasco

Not 2 hours after writing yesterday's post my neighbor calls and says, "Uh, hey Liz, would you be interested in some free firewood? I got a whole truck load of 2x4s that I can drop off at your place if you want". I had just finished posting about my desire to be more frugal and help our family save money, I thought back to our very very painful heating bills this last winter and I replied, "Sure, bring it on over". He says, "Great, I'll be there in 20-30 minutes". 20-30 minutes later I look out my window and see a truck. Not a Ford F150 kind of truck. I'm talking about a big diesel truck with a big metal box on it's back. So he is backing it up and I'm thinking "SCORE". Then he opens the back and it starts to tilt and wood starts to fall out of this big box. This is a lot of wood. No, I'm serious, this is a LOT of wood. Before I can finish my thought of, "This is awesome, DSSH will be so proud of me", I start thinking, "Oh no, DSSH is going to KILL me". By the time my neighbor is done dumping there is enough scrap lumber in my driveway to build another house! Where am I going to store all of this? How am I ever going to get it stacked in time (before my neighbors turn me in for lowering their property values)? Oh stop your whining, Liz. I put on some scrubby clothes and dig in. I am so glad I spent most of my teen years playing Tetris on the Nintendo because I am now putting those skills to use in sorting, stacking, arranging, and cramming wood into every corner of my shed and backyard fence. I worked for 5 hours before DSSH came home. After 5 hours I had only managed to whittle it down by 1/4, so you can imagine my DSSH face as he rounds the corner to find this MASSIVE MOUND of scrap wood in his driveway (I hadn't told him about it, why ruin his day any earlier than I had to?). His jaw dropped just like mine did, but I just reminded him of our heating bills and, bless his awesome heart, he pulled off his nice work clothes and donned some sexy work clothes (I gotta say, I love my man in jeans, long sleeve Ts, and work gloves). He gets home at 7:30 pm and is always tired so I was surprised he was so willing to help me with this. With hubby helping, we were able to tear through that pile in no time. There is still about 1/4 pile left out there but we have big, nice piles of wood in the back, a nice cozy fire going on this morning, and a good feeling in our hearts because we feel more prepared for next winter.

Anybody need some free firewood? Come an get it!