Thank Heavens for the Blackberry

Chris, Chris' Mom Linda, and I ventured out for a little Black Friday shopping. Grandpa was volunteered to watch the girls (thank you!!). We had an appointment to have the power steering pump replaced in the van at 8:30 am which gave us a good reason to be up and about fairly early, but nowhere near early enough to rival the hordes of shoppers at Kohls at 4 am. It was kind of nice to have the three of us because for awhile, Linda stood in a line that snaked all the way to the back of the store and then Chris spelled her off. He is so much more amicable about line-waiting and shopping when his blackberry is in hand. He can browse email, the news, blogs, or interesting stuff to pass the time. I like shopping with him much more when technology comes along.

A Delightful Break

Since Grandma and Grandpa were visiting, Christopher and I took the opportunity to enjoy a little time away. We headed first to Littleton where we attended a temple session--always nice to return to the temple. We enjoyed an uninterrupted dinner at On The Border, though I was reminded of my children when I heard a small voice across the restaurant announce, "I need to go potty."

Chris has been accruing a number of hotel points with his new job and we chose to take advantage of 15,000 or so of them. It was so nice to get away.

Service Challenge

Earlier this month we challenged our girls to participate in "A Birthday Gift for President Thomas S. Monson".

"When our beloved prophet, Thomas S. Monson, was asked on his birthday this past August what would be the ideal gift that members world-wide could give him, he said without hesitation, 'Find someone who is having a hard time,....and do something for them.'"

We challenged our girls to think of an act of service. After playing at the playground at their school-Centennial Elementary-during Thanksgiving break, they decided that they wanted to pick up all the trash around the playground. They enlisted Grandma and Grandpa's help after dinner on Thanksgiving Day and did a little trash picking up.

Gratitude

I spoke in church yesterday. Just an interesting quote on Gratitude with a bit of a twist.

If you haven't got all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don't have, that you don't want!

Grandma and Grandpa

Chris' parents are visiting for Thanksgiving this week. The girls were so excited to see them yesterday. Amy and Misha went with Chris to the airport where they got to park and go in to the airport instead of picking Grandma and Grandpa at the curb. They made whiteboard signs to offer even more welcome. Amy chickened out on carrying hers in at the last moment, but Misha was brave enough.

Are You Kidding Me?

It was just one thing after another that added up to a little frustration for me. Amy had her 4th grade showcase at the school last night. She needed to be at the school at 6:15, and I had planned to leave the house at 5:45 to grab a quick fast-food dinner. We have had some challenges with the garage door this week where it will just stop working. At that point, I have to head outside to the circuit breakers and flip the switch for the garage door. Not too difficult, but it is a pain and a definite inconvenience.

So last night the garage door stopped closing two feet from the concrete. Aaaghh! Not right now. I flipped the circuit; we had a few minutes less for dinner. I drive about two miles and realize that I don't have my purse. After turning around to go back and retrieve it, and praying that the garage door will work this time, we are on our way, but we are going to have to eat fast.

I chose Burger King because Misha doesn't like the nuggets at Wendys. We've now got 15 minutes to order, eat and get Amy back to the school. One of the co-workers stands outside the front doors, smoking, and watches us as we walk in. We get up to the counter, make our decision, and no one will come to help us. Someone is working in the back, someone is working at the drive-thru (and promises to come help us in a minute), but no one is at the front counter. After a couple of minutes, the smoker dude outside comes in and asks, "Is this to stay here or to go." I respond, "Well it's to go now." We'll have to eat fast in the car.

After loading the girls back in to the van and distributing their food, we are on our way back to the school. Kristen declares, "I need to go potty." "Can you wait a couple of minutes?" She responds in the affirmative. And one minute later I hear, "I rearry peed." WHAT!!!!!

I dropped Amy and Misha off at the school giving Misha instructions to save us some seats and race home with Kristen to change her clothes--again praying that the garage door won't stop working. The entire parking lot is full at the school and I end up parking almost close enough to home that we should have just walked, but we didn't. I grab two bites of my veggie burger and we're off. The gymnasium is packed and I can only see Amy's face, but at least I can see that--I hold the camera up over my head and try to get the best shot possible. Misha then takes the camera up front to take pictures because frankly, I've had enough and am simply running on mommy auto-pilot. She takes a lot of pictures, but none of her sister. I'll post pictures later.

Maybe?

Kristen has been pouring over some of the toy catalogs we have received in the mail lately. She even requests that we "read" the catalogs at bedtime. A number of times each day she'll find something she loves and wants for Christmas and asks, "Can I get this for Christmas?" My response is, "Maybe." Kristen doesn't understand "maybe". To her it translates to "Yes." I tried to explain that maybe could mean yes or no. Regardless, she'll still ask for new items to be added to her virtual Christmas list, and when I respond with "maybe", she always says, "Maybe!!! Woohoo!"

Making Memories

Yesterday, Chris, Amy, Misha, and I attended the BYU vs Air Force football game in Colorado Springs. I must admit, I had been checking the weather forecast for the past ten days, hoping that the weather would be nice. We lucked out for November with about a 50* day.

Our friends, the McFadden's, agreed to watch Kristen for the day. I'm sure they'll have extra blessings for their kindness. We dropped Kristen off around 9:45 am and headed to Colorado Springs. We arrived shortly after 11 am for the tailgate party with hundreds of other BYU fans--others from our group had already arrived--and we joined them for lunch.

Amy's highlight was seeing the BYU cheer squad and having her face painted. Ahhh the dreams they have inspired. But she did think being an Air Force pilot would be pretty cool too, so now she has a dilemma--cheerleader, pilot.







Misha was most enthralled by a tree to climb with Jonah. Different children, different aspirations.



What would be a tailgate party without Cosmo, the BYU mascot?





Half an hour before game time, we headed toward the stadium. We entered through the wrong gate, walked 3/4 of the way around the stadium and finally found our seats.



It was pretty cool to watch the pregame entrance of the cadets in their formality and organization--and then watching them spread like ants as they ran toward their seats.





The highlight for us was the flyover. All of a sudden the three planes were upon us flying in the fallen man formation in honor of a fallen comrade. The noise was incredible, the might was amazing, and as they passed by they turned and flew heavenward. Inspiring.





As expected, I got cold quite quickly. Shoot! I get cold in my house, what did I expect in an open-air stadium. At the beginning of the 2nd quarter, I took the girls to the bathroom and realized that there was still sunshine on the concourse, so we hung out there until half-time. Chris came to find me and began to thaw a little as well.

Suddenly, I turned around and there were our good friends, Wendy and Larry Helms We hadn't seen each other since we moved from Utah in 2001. They moved to Colorado, but much further south, about a month later. We've corresponded--usually at Christmastime--over the years, but this was so much fun to get caught up. We made plans to meet afterward for dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

I felt badly for Sarah watching Kristen for even longer, but hoped she would forgive me since Larry happens to be her cousin. Small world.

I worked with Wendy probably 13 years ago at UVSC and was so disappointed when she left her job there to go into teaching. Christopher was her replacement, and I got over her being gone. After Chris and I were married, Larry offered me a job with the company he worked for at the time, and so I had the opportunity of working with both of them. Cool people and we wish that we or they lived closer--mostly them since we don't want to move.

Chris finally caved into little girls' requests to buy hot chocolate.



It was hot and sadly Misha burned her thumb when some of the liquid spilled down her front.

We finally arrived home before 9 pm. Kristen was asleep on Sarah's couch and stayed mostly asleep until I laid her in her own bed. She whispered, "Is this my house?" and after I answered in the affirmative, fell into a deep sleep. Again, Sarah, thank you so much!

Date with Daddy

Kristen was positively giddy to go on a date with Daddy! And to Madagascar 2 no less. I love the way she says Gloria--"Lolia"--so cute.

Chris surprised both Kristen and I this morning when he walked in the door just after 10:30 am. We were expecting him around 12:30 pm or 1 pm. He callled Amy and Misha this morning before they went to school and then they just hung up. "Rude," I thought, "he didn't want to talk to me." I guess he just didn't want me to guess that he was trying to make an earlier flight. I'm so glad he did.



Random picture of a hair-do we tried last week.

Latest Saying

Kristen's most recent lament to her sisters is "You're ruining my heart!"

Halloween Repercussions

Halloween is hard on a little child's psyche. For weeks before Halloween even arrived, Kristen and I could hardly walk into Walgreens without Kristen trying to cover her head, her eyes, anything to avoid having to look at the ghouls and skeletons hanging from the ceiling. They freaked her out. I talked to a couple of workers there about how unnerving their display was and their only response was "Corporate." So we just tried to stay away from Walgreens throughout October. (Do they not realize the negative affect it has? Do they care? Doubtful because there are plenty of people who LOVE the gore.)

Since Halloween, Kristen has woken almost nightly, sometimes crying, sometimes screaming, always scared because of some bad dream she had. In fact, the first night after Halloween, she was probably up eight times. I would carry her tiny little body back to her bed and she would scoot over allowing room for me to climb in with her. Depending on how freaked out she was, sometimes I would, but usually I would kneel down beside her bed and pray for good dreams and for angels to watch over her. Tucking a teddy bear into her arms offered more comfort as she drifted back to sleep.

I put a nightlight in Kristen's room and no longer shut the door tightly so a little light could shine in from the hallway. She is now afraid of the dark. I won't go into how much Chris and I dislike Halloween, but this just reaffirms the feeling.

I asked Kristen if she could tell me what was scaring her, but she could never tell me. Last night, however, she asked me if I could give the play-doh back to Halloween. You know how some people give out play-doh instead of candy? Somehow it has given her nightmares. I told her I couldn't give it back to Halloween, but I could throw it in the garbage. She then asked me four or five times if I would throw it in the garbage. When I returned to her room after finding her teddy bear to tuck into her arms, she asked if I had thrown it in the garbage. I reassured her I had. There are some things as a parent that you wish you could step in and just remove or take care of in a child's life. This is one of those times.

A New Look

So Amy was visiting Audrey (Sophie's older sister--see next post) and came home with straight hair. She was so thrilled to be able to make it straight, she now wants a straightener for Christmas! We've had more hair flipping, mirror gazing, hair brushing than you can shake a stick at. I think she looks cute. It is kind of like Misha with blond hair though, you have to get used to the new look. I think she looks best with curly hair, but straight is her dream.

Mother's Little Helpers

Mother Nature that is. Kristen had Sophie over to play the other day. They were being awfully quiet in the backyard when I found them doing this--pulling leaves off the tree. This is one of the last trees in our yard still with leaves on, and apparently, they need to come off!

Symphony, Anyone?

Jo and I would like to go to the Colorado Symphony on December 16 (a Tuesday).  Jim Brickman is the guest artist, and we thought it would be a nice holiday date.  Tickets would be about $32/each.  Anyone up for going with us?  I promise to be on semi-good behavior. :-)

Dinner, Lunch, Supper

I'm sure that not many of you have this particular challenge (though there are probably other things you say that make them wonder), but my children are always correcting me. Calling lunch "dinner" is so ingrained in me from growing up in Southern Alberta, and frankly I'm getting weary of hearing "It's not dinner Mommy; it's lunch." Maybe we should just start calling it dinnerlunch because that's what I end up sputtering out to avoid being corrected. My Canadianism has been pretty stifled after living in the United States of America for about twenty years, though I do still say "sorry" with a long o sound quite often, and produce (the groceries we buy) with a short o. (Produce doesn't make its way into conversation that often mind you.) I just can't get past calling it dinner.

Christmas Lights

We were driving home from the library last night around 5:15. Sadly it was already getting dark. We drove past our friend's house and they had Christmas lights up on their fence and house. My girls loved it. Misha's comments was hilarious, "Sweet Mama! That's awesome."

I love this time of year. I just try and contain myself from getting too much into the spirit of the season too early. Even in November, Chris still says to me, "Christmas music?" I think anytime is a good time for Christmas music.

Misha

I was reading in bed last night while Amy read a bedtime story to Kristen. Misha climbed under the covers and snuggled up beside me. After a minute or so she said, "If I am tired, can I fall asleep beside you and then you can move me to my bed later?" I assured her that she could. Less than two minutes later she was fast asleep.

Misha is my one child who will go to bed when she is tired. Even when she can stay up a little later on the weekend, if she's tired, she'll come and ASK me if she can go to bed. I ALWAYS answer, "You sure can."

Amy

Amy said to me last night. "Daddy needs to run for President so I can be the president's daughter!" Yeah, we'll work on that.

Beware Flu Shots & Tootsie Rolls

Ahhh, flu shots. A rather sneaky time around my house. I thought I had it all planned out this time. Misha doesn't make a big deal about shots and Kristen isn't old enough to know better, but Amy FREAKS OUT if she knows she is getting one. So I didn't mention it to her until we turned in to the parking lot of the clinic. My first inclination that things might not go exactly as planned was in seeing the full parking lot. I had planned for 25 minutes to go in, fill out paperwork, get registered, get a shot and then deliver Amy and Lexi to a party with their piano teacher.

Because I only have the element of surprise once, and most importantly I don't want Amy literally worrying herself sick over a shot, I am disappointed when I walk into the clinic and the line snakes down and around the lobby. My plan is foiled as the minutes tick away until party time and the line doesn't move.

Amy thinks she has won a major achievement when we leave the clinic and she doesn't have to have a shot. Shoot! Now she's going to worry. Alas, there's not much I can do about it. I drop her off at her party and head back to the clinic to start standing in line all over again. Kristen is happy, "I get to have a shot." she sings. Just keep on singing baby.

And why is Chris not with me? Blame it on the Tootsie Roll. He was chewing away on the sticky creation after rummaging through the girls' treats and suddenly I hear, "Oh crap." This was one of those moments when such an expression was warranted. "It just pulled my crown off!" He called our dentist's on-call number and though we missed a 9:15 pm phone call on Halloween night saying come to my office, he was able to schedule something for Saturday morning. Beware the Tootsie Roll.



The crown doesn't look much different than maybe a marshmallow, but a crown it is.

Lucky for Chris, we had only moved a short distance in the long line by the time he made it back to the clinic for his flu shot.

As for Amy, I'll make an appointment tomorrow to get her in. I even asked about the nasal mist for her which they will do. Little stinker doesn't want either. There certainly will be more weeping and wailing to come.

Halloween Night

It was a new experience for my girls to be able to wear a costume to school this year. It hadn't been allowed at the charter school, except for Amy in kindergarten when she could dress up as a Pilgrim or an Indian.

Halloween Day dawned bright and wonderful. The temperature rose to the 70s, a delightful change over previous years of blizzards, snow, rain, wind and cold temperatures. Perhaps that is why their candy stash was so huge this year--it was warm enough to actually make it through the neighborhood. (And yes, they like to sort.)





But back to dressing up for school. Amy was once again a witch this year and Misha a cowgirl. You gotta love not having to create new costumes. Both girls wore their costumes to school and Chris, Kristen and I headed over for the Halloween Parade at 3 pm. My first glimpse of the parade was of Mr. Liddle dressed up as the Tin Man and his staff as other characters from the Wizard of Oz. How cool is that?



Kristen was excited to spy her sisters but often hid behind me because of the "scary" costumes walking by.





I think my favorite costumes of the day were two boys dressed up as whoopee cushions. I wish I had thought to snap a picture of them!

Kristen was excited to finally get dressed and have whiskers. I think she must have remembered whiskers from last year because that was the first thing she asked about when I showed her the kitty costume.



Halloween Night was crazy running from one activity to another and trying to fit dinner in there somewhere. Halloween is right up there with Easter and Christmas for my kids. Even Kristen got into the spirit of dressing up and could "frick or freat" with the best of them. We started with the Trunk of Treat at the church at 5 pm. From there, my girls and the neighbor girls canvassed the neighborhood. I stayed home to dole out treats. I think we might have hit 15 kids for the evening. My favorite of the evening said as I opened the door, "You look beautiful tonight!" I didn't even know her but thought, "You can ask for candy at my house any time."

Amy and Misha went with Lexi and Morgan to their church party in Longmont. They came home with more stuff and were excited that Lexi was spending the night. Misha never stayed awake past 10 pm and Amy and Lexi trudged through until about midnight. They all had good intentions. In fact, when Amy walked downstairs Saturday morning she bragged to Misha, "We stayed awake until 2 pm." I felt the need to correct her however as I turned off the light in her bedroom just after midnight.

Witches Party

Brigit comes up with the greatest ideas for a Girls' Night Out! Mind you I am not a big fan of dressing up, but with a little from Amy's costume, and a little from the Halloween box, I was able to pull a costume together. Twenty of the cutest, strangest, coolest witches headed to Chili's for dinner. It was so funny to see the reaction of people as they walked by our table. A few asked to have their picture taken with us and one little boy was simply mesmerized.

I copied the picture from Kris J's site as I forgot to bring my camera along. Amy did take a picture of me before I left though: