Fa la la la la la la la la

It's no secret that I hate cooking...a lot. But Christmas time is one of the few times I really try to do a good job. I don't know how to make any of the usual Christmas goodies like fudge or peanut brickle (brittle? what the heck is it called?) or even sugar cookies. We do have a few things we're pretty good at baking. So today was my baking day to make some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins to go in gift bags for a few friends. I'm going to tell you a story that is really the quintessential reason why I hate cooking.

It starts out with a few errands I had to run. I had to go to the doctor this morning. After that I picked up the kids from my Mother-in-law and headed to the bank, then the $1 store, then Safeway (where I had to go through the line twice because I realized I'd forgotten something after I'd already bought my stuff), then the pharmacy and home again. I was pretty proud of myself that we made it through all that without a major catastrophe.

I find when I put the muffin liners in the tins that I accidentally got jumbo muffin liners instead of normal ones. I dug through my cupboard and found some regular ones, slightly squished but I figured they'd do. In my first tin goes. After about five minutes I walk past the counter and what do I see? 1 1/4 cups of oil staring me in the face, mocking me. I pulled the muffins out and tried to salvage them but I had to throw the entire batch out.

I stared over again.

Since I had to throw away one whole tin of liners with my bad batch I now have to use the jumbo liners. I dug through my cupboards again and found more regular ones but these look like maybe they've been attacked by wolves or at least something heavy enough to mash them flat...but I use them anyway. This batch goes fine except when you use liners that start odd shaped you end up with muffins that are odd shaped.

Most of the muffins were fine. Enough that I could keep the really strange looking ones. However, if you are one those people who got our muffins and yours look strange, I'm sorry. I really tried. I did. They still taste good.

Santa?

I'm purpretrating a lie! Santa Claus! Yup. I struggle with Santa. Not because I don't like the kids thinking they get tons of presents from someone they've never seen, but because I feel like a big liar making them think that.

I purposely deceive my children each and every year. I didn't expect to have a problem with it but now that Madilyn really believes in Santa I feel even more guilty. Is she going to be the kid that gets made fun of in school because she's 9 and still believes in Santa? Will she be disappointed when she finds out that we've been deceiving her?

Am I nuts? We do it. We get them excited for Santa and enjoy the pure elation every Christmas morning. But somehow it still feels wrong. Does anyone else struggle with this?

If not, I'll get off my moral high horse and continue the lie of all lies.

A Sad Day

The day I always knew would come, at last has come at last. (I hope someone knows where that quote is from. Karli if you don't I'm sorely disappointed in you because I think you were in the show too.)

Anyway...my darling little Emma is growing up. Not only did she turn three two months ago, she is potty trained, and now (sniff, sniff) she pronounced an 'l' for the very first time. Her 'r's have slowly been coming along. I didn't cry the first time she said 'store' instead of 'stoy' or 'more' instead of 'moy', but when we she said, "Look mom I'm all cuddly", not 'cuddwy', I almost lost it.

I don't want her to talk like Elmer Fudd up into kindergarten. Its more the outward expression of her growing upness that I find myself struggling against. Now that she's three she's entered the wonderful realm of arguing, opinions, and tantrums (ok so they were already there but they reach a whole new level at 3). Maybe its because with Madilyn I was always looking forward to the next great thing she would accomplish. But with Emma, I know whats coming and I'm not ready to move on, but obviously...she is.

I'll miss you my little two year old. May we always remember when we 'dwessed cuddwy to go get moy fwom the stoy."

All I want for Christmas

It's happened. Madilyn lost her first tooth at our ward party on Friday night. She came to me with blood on her face and mouth and said, "We were wrestling and my tooth fell out." Jer looked around in the dark and found the missing tooth.

She was visited by the tooth fairy that night, but here's the debate, does the tooth fairy take the tooth or not? We don't know. In Jer's family she did, in mine she did not. Actually in mine we were lucky if mom remembered to leave the money. Sorry mom but its true. (However that's not so bad for a kid. Mom forgot once and when I asked her why the tooth fairy didn't take my tooth I magically found like a 5 or 10 dollar bill under my pillow within a couple minutes.)

So to take or not to take?

Oh, Madilyn asked me the next morning if she looked older, like a six year old, without her tooth. I told her it had definitely aged her.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

He came to town yesterday at the Santa Parade but we didn't see him because it was cold. I'm talking cold. Cccccold. But we saw lots of great bands and cars with twinkle lights on them. I thought it would only last an hour, turns out it was planned to go for 2 1/2. We didn't stay that long. Did I mention it was cold? Anyway, good times had by all.

Thanksgiving of Firsts

Thanksgiving is over. Turkey (raised by my brother and family) was eaten. Games were played and Holly won Golf AGAIN.

I wanted to make a list of the interesting assortment of firsts for our family this Thanksgiving.

- First road trip in our van. It was awesome. We didn't have to unpack it to get the kids in or out.
- First major road trip for Garrett.
- First time its take us 16 hours to make the 12 hour trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house.
- First time we've had to stop twice in one hour.
- First time I've had to lay down in the back of a van to get my baby to nurse.
- First time (that I can remember) that my sister-in-law Holly has won Golf (the card game). Way to Holly!

It was a fun and good to see family but its good to be back safely home.

This I Believe

I work with the young women at church ages 12-18 and more specifically the 14-15 year olds. This year, the church-wide theme for the youth is from 1 Timothy 4:12 - "Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." I was looking for a theme for a particularly important activity that was based on being a believer. My good friend Karli inspired me with what her young women group did in Oregon by having women in their ward come in once a month and read a This I Believe statement , based off of a 1950s radio series hosted by acclaimed journalist, Edward R. Murrow, which was revived by NPR in 2005. I asked three women in our ward to read what they believed. I also asked the young women leaders and the young women to write a This I Believe statement to display that night. It was amazing to see how we are all so different yet we have many of the same values (beyond the obvious religious associations) like education, being your best self, and having courage. Karli posted her This I Believe statement on her blog and I always want to be like Karli so I'm posting mine too. Oh! Check out her statement here - http://www.wintersteam.org/winterskids/2009_05_01_archive.html

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear. – Mark Twain

A girl from my high school once said to me, and I can still see her saying it clearly because it has stuck with me, “I don’t try anything unless I know I’m going to be good at it.” I felt sorry for her then and I feel even sorrier for her now because the best experiences in my life have come from trying things I wasn’t sure I could do.

I played Little League baseball with boys because there wasn’t a girls’ league. My mom was worried I would get hurt but I wanted to do it anyway. I was teased, called a tomboy, scraped knees and elbows, and got knocked unconscious. Other parents complained that a girl shouldn’t be playing with boys. I learned that I could do anything boys could do and sometimes I could do it better. But first I had to try.

Sports continued to play an important part in my life and frequently tested my courage. I tried out for a select basketball team to travel to a national tournament. I made it. But first I had to try.

I wanted to play college volleyball but no colleges offered me a scholarship. If I was going to play I was going to have to walk on a team. And I did. But first I had to try.

At a young age I discovered a love of music. Music lifted my soul and expressed emotions that words could never describe. As much as I loved to sing, my voice did not match the feelings I wanted to communicate. In college I took a voice class with ten other students. I discovered that with some instruction and practice I could change my voice. After several years of lessons and hours of practice, my voice finally began to reflect the feelings my soul had longed to express. But first I had to try.

At twenty years old I made plans to either serve a mission or attend graduate school. However, I met a young man that I knew I wanted to marry. But marriage would mean changing my after-graduation goals. After much prayer and fasting, I knew what the Lord wanted of me. I worried about giving up on my goals for marriage and a family. I had to try the Lord’s plan for me.

Having the courage try also means having the courage to fail. When it happens it’s hard and heart breaking but I’ve learned far more about myself and other people through failure than success. I have survived a 2-18 basketball season. I ran track for four years and the only race I ever won was when there was one other girl and she had a crooked leg. I applied for scholarships I didn’t get. I have auditioned for the Sound of Music three times and never gotten a part. I made my college volleyball team as a freshman only to be cut as a junior. But I had to try.

I have tried sewing, crocheting, dance, racquetball, horseback riding, painting, student government, Spanish, art history, sociology, hiking, camping, water skiing, video games, FFA, Jr. Miss, and half a dozen other activities, organizations, and crafts. I have liked some and hated others. I am good at some and horrible at others. Looking back I have found I do not regret the times I tried. I regret when I did not find the courage, when I let fear govern my actions. The semester I didn’t study abroad, the girl I didn’t sit next to because she was different, the time I didn’t share the gospel with a friend, or when I simply made a wrong choice.

This I Believe…the courage to try enriches our lives and makes us a better version of ourselves. Having courage doesn’t mean we’re not afraid but that we don’t let fear dictate who we are and who we will become. Sometimes I succumb to fear but I continue to strive for courage. But first I have to try.

What I Didn't Know

I love my two girls. They are smart, funny, confident, and cute. But anyone who spent much time with us six months after each of their births might understand why I say I am not a baby person. I have two beautiful girls that screamed their guts out for the first six months of their lives (for various reasons, some we know about some we've never figured out). So...the point of my post is to tell you what I didn't know about babies until I had Garrett.

- Babies can stop crying when you pick them up

- Babies can like to cuddle

- Babies know who their mom is (this may seem odd but I remember telling my mom that I didn't think Madilyn even liked me when she was three months old because she cried constantly)

- Babies can stop crying when you change their diaper

- Babies can stop crying when you feed them

- Babies can be happy for periods longer than half an hour

- Babies can sleep in 4 to 6 hour periods at night before they are 8 months old

I'd heard rumors about all of these but wasn't sure whether to believe them or if people were teasing me. I'm sure there are going to be more along way but it's taken me three children to see what I didn't know.

FHE

For family home evening tonight I wanted to teach the girls how to answer the telephone since we had an incident when a man from church called and got to hear me yelling at the kids to talk into the phone since they had answered it (I was nursing the baby). Anyway, Madilyn did great but Emma was hilarious. I called the home phone from my cell phone so they could practice. I'm going to try to recreate my conversation with Emma (I'm going to try to do Emma speak but just imagine everything said like Elmer Fudd if you don't know what I mean).

"Hewow?" (Emma)
"Hello? May I speak to your Daddy?" (Me)
"No." (Emma)
"Uh" (Me)
"Mama is that you?" (Emma)
"Well yes but do you want to take a message?" (Me)
"No. I bwing you the phone." (Emma)
"No don't bring me the phone." (Me)
"Its foy you." (Emma)
"Honey I'm on the phone." (Me)
"But its foy you." (Emma)

That's the gist of it anyway. I don't think she quite got it but anyone that calls and she answers is going to be entertained.

Cindy Lauper Meets Sunday School

We had an interesting day at church. Long story short, store throwing away new clothes that hadn't sold, instead they gave it to our congregation. After the adults had gone through, my own little fashion models went shopping and came up with some beautiful outfits. The best part was when I walked into the gym and Emma had already picked out a pink shirt for me. She wanted to give it to me for my birthday. You never know what you're going to find at church.

Oh and that's a sun visor on Madilyn's head. She wouldn't listen to me when I told her that's not how you are supposed to wear it.

Mmmmm.....Cake

Oh boy. Uh, I don't really have any appropriate comments for this picture other than its the only one I have of my birthday except for a couple of the cake. It was good cake. Confetti cake with confetti frosting, yum.

What do 2 Princesses, a Queen, a Penguin, and an Air Freshener have in Common?

Absolutely nothing except that's what our family dressed up as for Halloween. Can I just say that the only reason I was a queen was to keep my kids from fighting. No, I'm actually serious. Madilyn told me weeks ago that she didn't want to be a princess, she wanted to be a queen because, and I quote, "They rule over all the land and get to tell everyone what to do." If that's the criteria for a queen you better believe its going to be me with my quarreling princesses. To keep Madilyn from bossing everyone around, which she does anyway, I was the queen for the night.

So our church party was Friday night and the girls wore one costume, the next night, Halloween, they got to wear a different one to go trick or treating. It worked out great because we have at least ten princess dresses in our home and yet Emma chose to wear one of her church dresses with a crown. Go figure.

My costume was a birthday present made for me by my talented sister-in-law Celeste. She did an awesome job and can I tell you all that it had something like 163 grommets on it. Yeah. For my own insecurities this isn't a great picture of me. I look schlumpy but it didn't really look schlumpy in person.

My favorite costume of the night was Jeremy's vanillaroma car air freshener complete with the wonderful aroma of vanillaroma . It was supposed to be a simple costume but in the end he had to put a lot of work into it. Now the problem is what do we do with it? It's too cool of a costume to throw away but I'm telling you right now that I can't stand having it hanging in my hallway much longer.

Anyone want a Vanillaroma?

Pumpkin Carving

We went to a friend's house for family home evening and carved pumpkins last week. Highlights of the evening - singing around the piano (my girls who are constantly singing at home were curiously mute), one minute lesson (in which I think we lost all four kids at various points), and the carving of the pumpkins which held their attention for all of ten minutes. We adults realized after that period of time that all the kids were gone playing upstairs and we were all carving their pumpkins. But alas, it was fun and the kids had a great time.

Explanation of pictures - Madilyn and Tavin (they are great little friends), Emma and Oliver (they never did come carve anything), and of course our finished products.

Spooner Farms

I wanted to blog about all our pumpkin related activities on one post but as it turns out I am having a hard time getting the time to do it so I'll have to do them as I can.

Spooner Farms. Wow, its like a mini-carnival, complete with Carnies and a pony ride. We went to get our pumpkins at Spooner Farms because some friends had told us it was fun for the kids. They weren't kidding. We chose our pumpkins, which thankfully Garrett slept through in the car seat (therefore he could ride in the wheelbarrow), and then got to play around a bit.

My only complaint, the corn maze would have cost us $25 to take our family through. No thanks. I'll just run through someone else's muddy field for free.

Oh, and the girls picked white pumpkins because they looked like something a princess would chose. Surprise, surprise.

America's Got Talent Here We Come

The girl is only five and colors like a pro. She definitely has a chance on America's Got Talent. Now if I can figure out how to make the coloring process stage worthy.

Fire batons anyone?

Bugs Beware

Bugs beware the Nash girls have magnifying glasses.

I'm No Fashionista

I'm no fashionista. In fact, I'm not even sure I'm using the word correctly but I went to do some birthday shopping for myself tonight. I had some time to people watch while I nursed Garrett and you know what? What is going on with fashion?

Who am I to criticize you say? True I was wearing my $8 jeans with my Stargate SG-1 10th Anniversary t-shirt (see post Geektastic) with no make up and pigtails, so its not like I'm the height of fashion or even the mid-point for that matter. But come on.

First, skinny jeans. SKINNY jeans. Meaning someone skinny should be wearing them (or someone needing skinny pants to fit in their awesome boots, i.e. Heather).

Second, Uggs. Oh my goodness can we get over these now. Nanook misses his boots.

Third, Leggings. I don't have a problem with leggings. I think they're cute with the right outfit. You know those cute "dresses" that look like long t-shirts, yeah leggings can be cute. However, when worn with Uggs AND a t-shirt that does not cover the behind, not attractive.

May we all wear the height of fashion that does not make us look like a muffin or beached sea mammal.

I SPY

I Spy with my little eye

a race track,

a whale,

a sandwich,

a cookie,

an undersea Nemo (complete with anemone),

Mountain Rainier

(Mount Rainier for those of you who aren't Madilyn and Emma),
and a self-portrait of Emma too.

Ah nuts. I got all done with my collage and poem that doesn't rhyme or even have meter and realized I forgot one (Oh and the poem is for anyone who reads the I SPY books with their kids). Its Jer in a boat with a fish.

Emma did the self portrait and Mountain Rainier.

Can I tell you this is the greatest stuff ever? I'm not sure what its called but its similar to Play-Doh except it doesn't break off into tiny pieces everywhere and make a huge mess. Then you let it dry for 24 hours and you've got cute sculptures. Its still doesn't flake off and remains slightly spongy. Its great.

Geektastic: Tales from the Nerd Herd

I picked this book up at the library because with a title like that I thought it had to be funny. There were a couple of funny parts, like the comic strip that talks about useful Klingon phrases, but mostly I was disappointed because I had to skip a lot, ok I only read one entire chapter and stopped even trying after three, because of language and/or content. Who knew geeks were such potty mouths?

I was a little anxious to read this one. I wondered how much of myself I would find in it, because, yes, I am a geek and/or nerd. As Jess, my friend from college, once told me I'm the good kind of nerd. I don't have a replica bridge of the Enterprise constructed in my garage...I don't have a garage for that matter, I don't dress like a Jedi on the weekends, I don't know the names of every Star Trek character and the actor that played them...oh, wait I do know that. My point is sometimes I feel I need to hide my nerdiness. When Stargate SG-1 came out with a recut of an episode I've seen a dozen times I wanted it but I pretended not to see it at Costco. Jeremy did though and he "talked" me into getting it. He couldn't tell what changes they'd made to the episode but I could. I could not contain my inner geek and watched it several days in a row.

Why does liking science and science fiction make one a geek? Everyone geeks out about something. All those people who can tell you the starting line up for the Chicago Bears in 1975 or how many home runs Ty Cobb hit his last year are sports geeks, but they don't catch as much flack. What it comes down to is that everyone has an inner geek. They have something that they love and know far too much about or simply can't resist. Whether its reloading, horses, sports, kitchen gadgets, weight lifting, or science fiction people like what they like and some like it a whole lot.

I try not to hide it but I can't help but feel judged when someone finds out I like Star Trek or any other show with the word Star in it. But today I'm embracing my inner geek. I like sci fi and secretly I try to go workout at the gym when the SyFy station has one of my shows on since we no longer get that channel. Whatever it is you geek out about, geek out with pride. I am.

Live Long and Prosper.

Emma's Birthday or a Rocking Horse Named Lisa

Today is Emma's 3rd birthday, but due to schedules we celebrated last night. As you can see she got a rocking horse which she promptly named Lisa then Leah and back to Lisa again today.

My sweet little Emma is an amazing girl. She is our family comedian; due in part to her talking like Elmer Fudd. It seems like whenever I'm trying to be serious with her or Madilyn, Emma will say "pwetty pwease" or "but we weawly want to"(She seriously talks like that and how do you stay mad?). And laughs...well she has one that sounds like a baritone chipmunk.

I'll brag for a moment. She's a smarty. She knows all her letters and about half the sounds they make. She has started to sound out words with myself and Madilyn. She's very observant. You have to be careful of everything she sees and hears. She drew a very anatomically correct picture of Garrett a month after he was born. Yikes!

Unfortunately for her, she also seems to be our vulnerable child. If something is going to happen to anyone in our family its her. It started at age 3 months when she had an ear infection that eventually led to ear tubes at age 6 months . She's been to the emergency room twice, once for ear issues and another for choking on an apple. She's gotten pink eye and impetigo multiple times. She broke her leg before she turned 2 (that was my fault however), and after having ear tubes in for two year the holes in her ears didn't fill in so they had to be patched. Poor kid.

But Emma has taught me two important lessons through her happy and loving nature. Each morning (after she gets done screaming for me) she has to show me "the sun is out!" She finds joy in the sun each morning, a rock in the parking lot, and getting on her own socks and shoes. She reminds me to appreciate the world around me.

She doesn't always wake with a smile but her first thoughts are always to love. For example when we were at our ward camp out. Emma was still asleep but Jeremy had to go get breakfast started for the ward. Madilyn went with him and Garrett was still asleep in the van. I sat in the tent waiting for Emma to wake up. When she opened her eyes and saw me she didn't say a word but got up and gave me a big hug. She loves unconditionally with all her heart.

Ok no more serious life lessons. I tried to make a fancy cake. It didn't turn out too bad but the red squares were supposed to be polka dots but I think they look like pimples. But it doesn't matter Emma thought it was the "perfect" cake.

And really, Emma's cuteness aside, my favorite part of the evening was Philip. We had banana splits with the cake and Philip had a full bowl of chocolate, carmel, and strawberries, etc. He sat down to eat it and couldn't find the ice cream. I'm talking full bowl, no ice cream. Woops, that's some serious condiments.

I just threw this last one in cause she's cute.

Baby Blessing

At the end of September Garrett was given a name and blessing at church. My awesome and talented mother-in-law made his outfit for him, which is great because I was ready to bless him in a white onesie. (Jeremy argued that was white trash but what does he know.)

The funny part of the story is that when it came down to it there was a miscommunication as to when in the meeting he was going to be blessed. I thought he was going to be blessed after the sacrament was passed so I only had him in the suit. I didn't want him to start fussing with the hat, jacket, and booties on. Well surprise, they blessed him before the sacrament and I had to send him as was. Soooo, all that work and he wore one piece out of four. Nice.

But that's not really what was important. I'm grateful I have a husband who is a worthy priesthood holder and could bless our son. I'm grateful family and friends could be there to share it with us.

Annnddddd...I'm grateful he looked great and didn't poop on it.

You Might be a Gamer if...

You strap your baby to you in a front pack so you can play Shaun White's snowboarding game on the balance board so he won't cry.

I'm just saying if...

Glass Pumpkins

I heard that glass pumpkins would be sold down at the farmer's market so we had to go take a look. My little girls love anything remotely princessy and whats more princessy than glass pumpkins? It was fabulous. We had to discuss and pick which ones Cinderella would have used for her coach. The only down side was keeping them from picking up or touching any as I would have had to sell one of them into slavery to afford one, especially since they like the big ones.

(Jeremy is gone hunting this weekend and took the camera with him so I couldn't take pictures but I found one online that's similar to what we saw today.)

A Good Book

I enjoy a good book but yesterday I found "A Good Book", a small locally owned bookstore. I had heard about and wanted to stop for quite a while. Yesterday I finally went in. I brought a trade-in along hoping to score a deal. If I were to own a bookstore (which, if I were to own a store it would be a bookstore) I would want to own this one.

Not only did I get $15 credit for my trade in, I also get 50% off used books and 25% off new! Yes, it is truly wonderful. As I walked through the store with the book lined walls, old comfy chairs to sit and browse, and even a couple of areas for kids to play, I found my eyes tearing up. You may think its an exaggeration, but its not. I love the smell of the books, the sound of the pages turning, the patron and sales people discussing recent reads, and the look of old worn covers. I even found an English translation of the Tales of Genji, which I know was significant in my Asian Studies classes at UPS but for the life of me I can't remember why now. But they have it in a nicely worn green hard back. Beautiful.

More importantly, it reminded me that in the day of Borders and Barnes and Noble there are still wonderfully cute and intimate bookstores where owners hope to learn the names of their patrons, and regulars find themselves greeted each time they enter.

Did I find anything? Of course I did. And when I left what did I find outside the door, a table of books, 4 for a $1. Yup, I had to go back in and get more.

I am so glad I found A Good Book.

Run for Fun?

As the mother of a kindergartener, I am getting an education along with Madilyn in the ways of well...education. Two weeks ago, Madilyn's school held their annual PTA fundraiser, a Run for Funz. The kids get pledges for each lap they run around the track. The kindergartners run/walk for half an hour and all the other kids run/walk for an hour. I volunteered to count laps while Madilyn's class ran as a way to be more involved with the school. My parents and Jeremy came to watch her run as well.

I did not expect what I found when I got there. Lots of kids (I expected that part) but lots of parents and families too. All of them cheering and many of them running and/or walking with their kids. Many parents were there most of the day because they had multiple kids running at various times throughout the day. It was great to see our community coming together to support their children.

Madilyn was awesome. She ran 8 laps, yes that's right, 2 miles in half an hour! Jeremy ran and walked some of the laps with her. We were so proud of her. When she got done she said, "Dad I was tired but I didn't give up."

That's my girl!

(I totally have pictures of her running but they're still on the camera and everytime I get a chance to download them Jeremy is out of town with the camera. Argh! So no pictures of our little Forrest Gump.)

Camp Out!

A couple of weeks ago we had our ward camp out. I am not ashamed to admit that I am not a fan of camping. I don't like getting dirty or bugs or dirt or dust or dirt. Luckily for me I had a wonderful excuse to not actually camp out. My wonderful husband however stayed overnight with both girls by himself, with the full knowledge that it was going to start raining during the night. I know he's not a masochist so I assume he really wants the girls to like camping. Despite the fact that all of them had to get their shoes and coats on at 4 in the morning to tramp through the rain to go to the restroom, they had a great time. And I'll admit after Garrett and I came back in the morning it was fun.

The girls got to shoot at the archery range. Madilyn tried to throw the arrows from the bow but she eventually figured it out.

Ok so this one isn't of anyone I know but I thought you would all get a kick out of the fact that I walked into on of those black peg looking thingers. Yeah, that's where they hang the bows when they aren't being used. I was watching where I was going and took one in the forehead.

I love camping.

I'm not exactly sure what Emma was doing here but that's not any kind of bathroom facility and neither is she remotely potty trained. I thought it was funny.

Here's the other thing, the very aspect of camping that I detest is the very thing that makes it wonderful for my children. All the kids were playing in a giant mud puddle. Eventually they all moved on to other dirt related activities, except my Emma. She sang about the mud and talked to it until she had enough.

At which point she came to me and said, "Mom can you wash off my boots?" Wouldn't want our boots to get dirty.

Meanwhile I'm trying to figure how I'm going to get her home at the end of all this without moving the mud puddle from the field to my van. Let's just say we had a little nudist colony on the way home.It was a successful camp out. The kids had a great time. Jeremy worked hard to make it happen so he was happy.

I tried not to complain. (Tried mind you.)

I love camping.

Parents Beware

As many of you know, last year Emma broke her leg riding on my lap going down a slide at the park. She had a spiral type fracture (I don't remember the medical term) from her knee to her ankle. You can imagine the guilt I felt. Well my mom sent me an article that, while not alleviating my guilt, made me feel that this wasn't something that is uncommon.

Here's the article if anyone is interested.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32880360/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/from/ET

Moral of the story, no moms on the slide.

First Day of School

Madilyn started Kindergarten a couple of weeks ago. All summer it moved slowly toward us. At times it made me cry to think of her growing up and entering school. She's come so far from the little toddler that ordered frunnies and a hamburger over the counter at the gun shop (where you only buy guns) to an energetic, dramatic five year old that has decided to be a queen for Halloween because queens are better than princesses. Then there were the days I wondered if I could talk the school into taking her all day.

Oh, and I got interviewed by the local newspaper for an article about kids going back to school. I gave the classic first child going to school answer of "I think I'll cry the first day." (On a side note, I wondered how they had chosen me to interview. The school called to see if they could give the paper my info. I had met the principal when I registered Madilyn and I wondered if I had made a particularly good impression on her and she had recommended my name. No that wasn't it. I then remembered that I had turned in Madilyn's registration the morning of the first day you could register for school. I was the first name on the list.)

Anyway, back to the first day of school...once Garrett was born everything went fast and the next thing you know I'm sending my baby off alone on the school bus. Buuutttt, she was ready and so was I. I thought I would cry but honestly if there had been tears they would have been for joy. Madilyn gets the social interaction she craves and I get a break for a few hours from one of my little Nashlings.

She's doing wonderful. So far her favorite things are recess and riding the bus. Here's her first day duds, along with the fam, and her waving from the bus.

Garrett!!

Here's why I'm a nut job. I had a baby seven weeks ago so my first post should have been Garrett! A few words about him before you all get to see his gorgeous face. He's gorgeous. I know I already said that but really he is. He's already smiling and cooing. I think his eyes are going to be brown but there still somewhat nondescript at this point. I'm glad he still has eyes. I caught Emma poking him in the eyes a couple of days ago. When I asked her what she was doing she said, "I'm poking his eyes.", like it was the most natural thing in the world and I had no right to stop her. We all love him...some of us a little too much.

He had quite the welcome when he arrived.

Here he is a few days old.

And here he is a few days ago at 7 weeks old.

We are so blessed to have our beautiful boy with us.

Summer

Here's a bunch of stuff from our summer. I'll try to give a running commentary along the way. For those of you other than my mom, you may find this very boring.

Despite the fact that I was pregnant, we did manage to get one good hike in this summer. It was Twin Falls up...somewhere. Ok I don't know exactly where but it was gorgeous. I slept the whole way there so the location is something of a mystery to me even now. We did go back and do the hike for my family's family reunion. Oooo, we had our family reunion in Cle Elum so the hike must have been near there! In case you can't tell I'm the giant pregnant bumblebee.

Emma learned how to fix her own hair.

Madilyn had her first dance recital, which nearly turned into a disaster at the end. Stupid recital virgins that we were, we didn't have flowers for her after the show. Luckily a lovely family in our ward who had two daughters in the recital gave us one of their bouquets so Madilyn never new her parents almost blew it.

We did a little fishing. I cleaned my first fish...only because I feel as the wife of an avid hunter, fisher, hiker, camper...gatherer...that I should at least know how to do it. I think I get bonus points due to pregnancy.

We had a huge shindig for the 4th of July. Not really, my girls plug there ears for snappers so this is as exciting as it gets for us.

Stay tuned for Garrett and the first day of school!

Peanut Butter Cookies and Foreheads

We are told, in fact, commanded to be humble. I have decided that having children is truly the most humbling experience of my life. I'm not talking about the overwhelming sense of responsibility and awe you feel when you realize that Heavenly Father has blessed you with beautiful children to raise, teach, and mold into responsible adults. No, I'm talking about the fact that children point out every flaw you possess, even ones you may not know about.

Case in point, and I'm pretty sure I've already told most of you this story but I feel the need to readdress it and do a visual. Madilyn said to me a few weeks ago, and I quote, "Mom your forehead looks like a peanut butter cookie." I was confused at the time not seeing the resemblance between my forehead and a peanut butter cookie. She clarified, "Yeah, you know how you take the fork and put all those lines in it and stuff." Yup, wrinkles! I know I'm getting older but come on, a peanut butter cookie!

So in my own defence I've put two photos for you to decide if, yes in fact my forehead does look like a peanut butter cookie (which if you do don't tell me and let me live in my fantasy world in which it does not), or no and my five year old needs some work on her compare and contrast skills.

I think these pictures speak for themselves.

Yes, I've finally done it. I've started a blog. I don't know how interesting it will be, but at least my mother can see pictures of my kids. ( i.e. I don't have to feel guilty about not mailing the pictures anymore.) Hmmm, I hope no one thought my first post would be exciting.