Is it over already?

Our girls weekend has come and gone! It was so super fun, and I am so sad that it is already over. We had a most fantastic time shopping, eating, talking, walking, eating and talking some more. I was really looking forward to actually sleeping in on Saturday morning, but was wide awake at 6:20. Oh well. I did, at least, get to lay in bed for an hour and a half. Dreamy.

It was great weather, with a brief afternoon shower (so typical for the mountains). Our hotel was conveniently located at the end of main street, so we could walk pretty much everywhere we went. We were there until late afternoon Saturday, after which we drove down the mountain to my stake center for the General Relief Society Women's Broadcast (for our Church), which was beautifully uplifting, as always.

Going to dinner:

Our hotel:
View from our hotel:
The girls again:

It was so nice to come home to freshly bathed, pajama-clad kiddos! They had a fun time with dad, but were really happy to see me. Isabel said she "mist-ed" me, Connor had lots of adventures to talk to me about, and Lucas just looked at me for a minute then got really happy and excited. Nice to know I am loved!

So, my proverbial bucket was filled in every way this weekend: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. The question is, how long before it empties again?

Thanks, Elizabeth, Kristie and Paula, for a fantastic time, and to Brian for being so supportive of girl time.

A few things for this Friday...

A few things as we head into this lovely weekend...

1. I am feeling sorta dumb with my finger and my thumb in the shape of an "L" on my forehead. Wow, your responses to the 100 book list are making me feel kinda like a loser! OK, not really, but lots of you totally blew me out of the water! There are a few more on the list I wasn't sure about but think I read, like A Christmas Carol, and a couple others, and I've read lots of Shakespeare, but not the complete works, so maybe I can push it up to 20. But that's about it. Lots of you were in the 30s and 40s! Good for you. My thought on some of those books is if they didn't make me read 'em in high school, I ain't gonna read 'em now. Plenty of others, though, I need to get on my "to-read" list.

2. I made this fashion mistake once, will never make it again. Have you seen some of the celebrities wearing rolled/cuffed jeans? I did this in junior high and will never ever do it again, no matter how trendy they try to make it. Then again, it won't possibly take; just look how far skinny jeans went this time around! Would you roll your jeans again now, 20 years later?


3. We're talking the real Desperate Housewives. I am in the midst of packing for our girls weekend getaway! We are all so excited to get away! It is a bit challenging knowing what to pack for late September in the mountains. It's been hot as summer down here this week, but up there, who knows? I've got 4 outfits and 3 pairs of shoes - for one night! Better to be prepared, right? We have been looking forward to this for months. We have a combined 12 children between us, 13 this winter. Can't wait to head out of town!

Have a great weekend (I know I will!)

100 books and People of the Book

I've seen this on a bunch of blogs, decided to test my own "read-iness."

The Big Read is a NEA program designed to encourage community reading initiatives and of their top 100 books, they estimate the average adult has read only six. I have highlighted the titles that I have read...

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (only read the first book; does this count?)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible (does reading part of it count? 'cause really, who has read the whole thing?)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

So, that's 15 for me, 17 if you count parts of the Bible and one of the Harry Potter books.

On a related book note, I just finished an excellent book for this month's book club (to be discussed in Ested Park at our retreat this weekend!!!). It's People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks. She is a fantastic, Putlitzer-winning author, who also wrote March: A Novel, a story of the absent father from Little Women and his Civil War experiences. March was equally fantastic. Here's the synopsis from the publisher:

"From Louisa May Alcott’s beloved classic Little Women, Geraldine Brooks has animated thecharacter of the absent father, March, and crafted a story "filled with the ache of love and marriage and with the power of war upon the mind and heart of one unforgettable man" (Sue Monk Kidd). With "pitch-perfect writing" (USA Today), Brooks follows March as he leaves behind his family to aid the Union cause in the Civil War. His experiences will utterly change his marriage and challenge his most ardently held beliefs. A lushly written, wholly original tale steeped in the details of another time, March secures Geraldine Brooks’s place as a renowned author of historical fiction."

People of the Book is also a historical fiction. Here's the synopsis:

"In 1996, Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, is offered the job of a lifetime: analysis and conservation of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, which has been rescued from Serb shelling during the Bosnian war. Priceless and beautiful, the book is one of the earliest Jewish volumes ever to be illuminated with images. When Hanna, a caustic loner with a passion for her work, discovers a series of tiny artifacts in its ancient binding—an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—she begins to unlock the book's mysteries. The reader is ushered into an exquisitely detailed and atmospheric past, tracing the book's journey from its salvation back to its creation.

In Bosnia during World War II, a Muslim risks his life to protect it from the Nazis. In the hedonistic salons of fin-de-siècle Vienna, the book becomes a pawn in the struggle against the city's rising anti-Semitism. In inquisition-era Venice, a Catholic priest saves it from burning. In Barcelona in 1492, the scribe who wrote the text sees his family destroyed by the agonies of enforced exile. And in Seville in 1480, the reason for the Haggadah's extraordinary illuminations is finally disclosed. Hanna's investigation unexpectedly plunges her into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics. Her experiences will test her belief in herself and the man she has come to love.
Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is at once a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotionalintensity, an ambitious, electrifying work by an acclaimed and beloved author."

This book was completely powerful and the story was amazingly told. It follows the main story of the rare-book expert's preservation of the Haggadah, with vignettes about different stories that comprise the book's story of creation, and repeated rescues/ many near losses.

I would highly recommend both March and People of the Book - terrific reads!

Happy Fall!

It's officially here! The season of all seasons started today. I love pretty much everything about Fall. My mom always made fall a special time when I was growing up. Our house always looked and smelled perfectly Fall-ish (stay tuned for some good fall recipes).

I love Fall clothes. I love Fall colors. I love cooler weather. I love Fall-idays (that would be Halloween, Thanksgiving, three birthdays in our home, and back-to-school time). I love Fall cooking and baking. It all just puts a spring in my step.

So today we celebrated by having family pictures taken. OK, so it was a coincidence that we scheduled our session for the first day of Fall, but it was a nice way to usher in the season. We hadn't had family pictures done in almost 2 1/2 years, when Isabel was 7 months. We were way overdue! My kind and talented friend Kristie did them (click here for her photog site) and she always does a superb job; should have proof of that for y'all in a week or so! Looking forward to seeing if they turned out. Two things concern me: 1. Lucas is an incredibly strong-willed and determined child who DOES NOT like to be told what to do. Made for some interesting posing. 2. Isabel had put on some of her clear little girl lipgloss before pictures. I didn't realize the hazard in this until Kristie asked why Isabel was making strange lip actions, and I remembered that she often sort of "freezes" her lips when they have gloss on them. As in she talks and gestures without moving her lips much, sort of like they're frozen in some strange sort of pucker. Not quite kiss-ready, but a step down from that. So she had some interesting faces, and had a fit when I wiped it off. Aside from that, there should be a couple hopefully that turn out!

Since my kiddos were so cute and coordinated all day, I sort of followed them around capturing some of the simple joys from their day.

Perfect ending to summer

We went to the Rockies game last night with our very good friends, Trent and Elizabeth. It was the perfect way to spend the official last weekend of summer. It was a beautiful evening, but got cool and rainy toward the end of the game. We stuck it out, and by the bottom of the 9th the rain has stopped.

I always enjoy a MLB game - the atmosphere is so fun. We had a great time!

Memory Lane tag

Kristie tagged me a while back, just now getting to this. I don't particularly like the years in this little survey; makes me feel like all I do is have babies!

20 years ago...
1. I was 13
2. I was co-captain of the junior varsity swim team
3. I was rocking out to Guns n Roses "Sweet Child of Mine"

10 years ago...
1. I was one year into my career post-college
2. I was single and living in Minneapolis, and met Lori and Monique
3. I spent a lot of time volunteering (at the Ronald McDonald House, at Mps. Children's Hospital, and as an adult literacy tutor)

5 years ago...
1. I had just had my first baby
2. I was adjusting to life as a stay-at-home mom (wasn't hard!)
3. I was just getting started on my freelance career

3 years ago...
1. I was huge pregnant with Isabel
2. I had just survived a summer of record-breaking heat
3. We had recently taken a fun trip to South Dakota with my parents and sister and her family

1 year ago...
1. I had just had Lucas and was getting lots of comments from strangers that I "had my hands full" whenever we'd go somewhere
2. Brian had his terrible car accident (Sept. 15 - the day he was at Yankee Stadium; a MUCH better way to spend Sept. 15!)
3. Connor was starting his 2nd year of preschool

This year so far...
1. We moved
2. I potty trained Isabel (in April, quite easily I might add!)
3. My oldest child started kindergarten

Yesterday...
1. Was a quiet day
2. I spent a beautiful cool evening playing tag with my kids in the backyard
3. I read a fabulous book after tucking in three little ones

Today...
1. I had a presidency meeting
2. I went shopping for clothes to complete our outfits for the family pictures we are having done on Monday (we haven't had family pictures since Isabel was 7 months -how sad is that???)
3. My way super cute bracelet that I won on Colleen's blog for the NieNie auction arrived in the mail - what would life be without those small joys? It's even cuter in person!

Tomorrow...
1. Isabel has dance
2. I have a meeting for one of my freelance work projects
3. I am getting a much-needed haircut

Next year...
1. We are planning to visit my sister in St. Louis
2. I will turn 35 and it's already freaking me out
3. Isabel will be a Sunbeam

Now I tag ... Camille, Cristy H. and Tara

Farewell to Yankee Stadium

Brian is at Yankee Stadium in NYC as I write this, fulfilling a lifelong dream to see Yankee Stadium. He made it by about 2 weeks! In case ya didn't know, this is the Stadium's final year, replaced next year by a brand-new, much-bigger stadium.

He managed to make this somewhat of a work trip, securing a press pass so he could write an article about the stadium's final days. He was able to sit in the press box, go on the field to interview Yankees players before the game (Andy Pettitte), and was given clubhouse access. This allowed him into the locker room to interview players after the game, including the general manager, a legendary relief pitcher, and a one-on-one interview with Derek Jeter at his locker. Oh, the baseball memories Brian has accumulated in the past year! From the Rockies historic playoff run to the World Series at Fenway to experiencing the full deal at Yankee Stadium, where to go from here??? Some little boys' dreams do come true. He managed to e-mail me a few pictures right after the game:

Some monument thingy:View from his seat in the press box:

Dance!!!

Isabel started dance class today! I am not sure who was more excited - Isabel or me. I've been waiting for this day ever since the ultrasound tech on May 23, 2005 said, "it's a girl!" When I reminded her last night that dancing started today, she said with a big smile, "oh - how exciting is that???"

The class is a combo ballet/tap. Her teacher is Miss Belinda, and she is fabulous. I think she and Isabel will get along famously. At the end of class today, Miss Belinda said to me, "Isabel is a doll! And she has a A LOT of personality - I love that!" Right she is - Isabel has a zest for life, and everything is an exciting adventure in her world.

She did great, was definitely the smallest, yet chattiest girl, in the class today. At first she was mad because she wanted to wear the tap shoes, but once we convinced her that she would wear the tap shoes after the ballet part was done, she was satisfied. It's hard to get a good pose out of her these days. Here are a few pictures from class:




An excited Isabel showing me the coloring project Miss Belinda gave them (it's a ballerina):
Heading home after a very successful first day. She loved everything about the class. Me, too.

Love that spunky little girl.

Apples and Bees

They're baaaaaccccccckkkkk!!!! I walked into my local grocery store today, and there they were ... HONEYCRISP APPLES!!! They are the yummiest apples ever. And, they were discovered by apples experts at the University of Minnesota, who discovered them by cross-pollinating Macoun and Honeygold apples. Those Minnesotans - they always know the good stuff! ;)

You must get some if you haven't tried them yet. Oh, and for good measure, make some of Becky Higgins' Toffee Apple Dip. Just slice the apples and dip 'em in this heavenly concoction. It is SO good. I just made some tonight, but delivered it along with dinner to a girl in my ward who just had a baby. Next batch will have to stay here for sure!

toffee apple dip

TOFFEE APPLE DIP

Mix the following together & serve with apple slices:

8 oz. cream cheese
½ c. brown sugar
¼ c. white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. Skor toffee bits (or crushed Skor toffee bars)

Also, I so did not know until yesterday that The Secret Life of Bees is now a movie, coming to theaters October 17! Joy! It is a truly great book, and the cast looks smashing. I totally adore Sophie Okonedo, who played Don Cheadle's wife in Hotel Rwanda.

This was the last book I read before having Connor; I finished it the night before I went into labor. I will always remember reading it in total silence and thinking, "my life will never be this quiet again." For real. I had NO idea how true that would be.

Anywho... I see a girls' night in October when this little treat hits the theaters!

Lotion, storytime and gems

Every boy needs soft feet, don't they? I was downloading pictures and came across this beauty that I didn't know about - clearly Brian took it. The greatest thing about this picture - and I hope I don't get in trouble for outing this - is that Lucas did not learn this from me. Nope. This is all HIS FATHER'S doing. If you didn't know, Brian has a major thing about lotioned feet, and applies Bath and Body Works body cream to his feet frequently. He always goes for the least feminine scents he can find. Some nice Bath and Body Works salesgirl tried to steer him toward the men's products on his last visit, but he politely declined, staying true instead to his old standby. Here we have Lucas applying Warm Vanilla Sugar, I believe. I think Brian is secure enough in his masculinity to have this little secret out there. He is, after all, the one who captured this priceless photo. And I ask, innocently, how can I share the photo without sharing the reason for it???


I enrolled Isabel in storytime on Tuesdays at our library. Do you not just *heart* your local library? And free, quality, educational kid entertainment always ranks high on my list! She is adoring storytime. They have the greatest things to play with, including some fabulous animal alphabet puppets. Storytime always includes books, of course, a days of the week activity, some music and dancing time, and a take-home craft. Today the theme was the ocean. Miss Jan read 2 ocean-themed books, they danced to "Octopus's Garden," and got take home a fish project. She truly is an art girl, and couldn't wait to do this project:


My cute cousin Colleen had a blog auction for the NieNie recovery, and I won this little beauty. It's an amazonite, jade, petrified wood, swarovski crystal, and glass beaded bracelet:
Brian's calling it an early birthday present to me. I'm just happy to be calling it MINE, and to have contribued just a teeny bit to this great cause. Did you see her siblings on the TODAY show? Amazing. All the blog auctions together have already raised more than $100,000. Goes to show a lot of littles can certainly add up to something big.

In the kitchen

We had another cool, cloudy, 50-degree day. Is it just me, or are those of you experiencing similar weather finding yourself drawn to your kitchen? Honestly, I am just loving these cool days, and my oven has been getting quite the workout.

Tonight I made homemade chicken noodle soup and banana bread. My house was filled with intoxicating scents! I had to share the chicken noodle soup recipe. It's another Becky Higgins gem; actually, each of her recipes I have tried have been true gems (I am a recipe junkie - adore a good recipe). You can go to her site for the recipe, or here it is:

chicken noodle soup

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

2 chicken bouillon cubes (or 2 tsp. granules)
2 cans chicken broth
1 c. chopped carrots
2 c. chopped celery
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/2 (half) can cream of chicken soup
1/4 c. milk
1/2 cube (4 Tbsp.) butter
1/4 c. flour
2 c. chopped cooked chicken (2 pieces)
4-6 oz. egg noodles

Boil chicken until fully cooked. Cook egg noodles. Dissolve 2 bouillon cubes in 1 cup boiling water. Add chicken broth and vegetables to the liquid until tender. In separate bowl, whisk a half a can of cream of chicken soup and milk until smooth. Whisk soup and milk mixture into broth and vegetables. Melt butter then stir into flour. Add to soup mixture. Add chicken and noodles. Optional: Season to taste with salt & pepper or Schillings garlic & herb seasoning.
*************************************************************************************

It was SO easy and super tasty (I definitely recommend using some sort of garlic and herb seasoning).

Also, are you looking for kid-friendly snack that is fun, quick and even a bit healthy? My friend Elizabeth made these during a get-together once, and I made them again yesterday. I only got a picture of 1 because they go so quickly!

I don't even know what they are called; we'll just call them Nilla Wafer/banana/pudding treats.

Simply take a Nilla Wafer, pipe some vanilla pudding on top (from a pastry bag, or you can spoon a dollop on the wafer). Then place a banana slice on top. Make as many or as little as you like. My kids literally devour these! A perfect after-school or whenever snack.

New calling

I got a calling in my new ward today .... first counselor in the Primary Presidency! They re-did the presidency, and there is a new president. I am excited to work with the presidency, who all seem fantastic. I seem to be in a Primary holding pattern, as my last four callings have been in Primary (Valiant 11 teacher, Primary secretary, Primary president, and now 1st counselor). I'm definitely building lots of primary experience! And with 120 kids, it should keep me pretty busy!

The faces I love

It was a cool, cloudy day today - only in the 50s! We all wore jeans and long-sleeve shirts, and I can't help but feel cozy on a day like this. I decided to devote the evening (Brian was working) to just being silly and playing with my kids. So tonight, we:

- Had a rockin' '80s dance party. This included: Isabel wearing only underwear, her dangerous pink heels, lip gloss and a purse (for some reason she thinks dancing means strip down; I SWEAR she did not get this from me) and trying out some rather interesting new moves; Connor doing some really good headstands; and Lucas doing his usual cool groovin'. And it must be noted that "dance" is one of his first words. Every time he hears music now, he says, "da..." It's only a matter of time before he adds "nce."

- Played a crazy game of "monster hide-and-seek." This is a game my dad played with my brothers and sisters and I in the fall/winter, when it was dark in the evenings. He would hide somewhere in the dark and we would find him, scared out of our ever-lovin' minds. It was terrifying fun! It made me smile and brought back so many memories as I lay crouched in a dark corner, hearing them trying to be brave and speculating about where I was, and then hearing the screams of fear/delight when I jumped out of my spot.

- Had a super-speedy game of "who can clean up the fastest." I think it was a tie.

- Ended with one of my very animated versions of "The 3 Little Bears." They L-O-V-E this story. I add more fluorishes each time, and they - all 3 - are captivated. As I was telling it, I realized they were all lying so close to each other, and had to capture it (even though it wasn't the greatest angle). This was totally unposed:

Sweetest faces, precious gifts, joys of my life.

Mmmm good

I love how much pretend play Lucas has already learned by having 2 older siblings. Currently, his favorite is to pretend to eat. He'll take a pretend bite, then smack his lips for a while. It's so stinkin' cute! I caught it on video tonight after bath time, when Isabel was feeding him and he was playing along. Don't you just love little imaginations?

Peanut update

Just wanted to clarify a few things, answer a few of your questions and give an update regarding Connor's scary peanut reaction at school yesterday.

1. Yes, as is standard, parents are asked NOT to bring anything to school that has peanuts; I'm not sure if this includes things that have "may have a trace of peanuts" warning. Either way, I guess some parents don't pay attention to this.

2. The teacher did apologize profusely for not having read through the forms. She did take full responsibility, but did say it is tremendously helpful when parents verbally point out something like a peanut allergy too. So next time I will be sure to tell teachers, etc., about 10 times - just to be sure.

3. One of the school nurses for the district called and told me how they are handling the situation.

4. The principal - who I hadn't yet met - called today. I thought this was a very good measure. Clearly the school - and district - are having conversations about Connor's situation yesterday, taking it extremely seriously, and making sure this error doesn't happen again. Yes, a mistake was made - fortunately the outcome wasn't worse than it was - but they have all taken ownership and been proactive in making sure we feel good about things. I have to say, the principal sounds phenomenal (I had heard excellent things about him). He is going to personally point out Connor to the cafeteria manager to make sure he is never given anything with peanuts or exposed to peanuts. He told me that their goal is be a "compliment to our parenting." Nice to hear. He said he hopes next time we talk it will be about Connor's many successes, not his emergency situation. Us too!

So, I feel it is resolved, scary as it was. I do hold the teacher accountable for not having read these forms 3 weeks into school, but a lesson has been learned and we are all moving on.

I accept!

My friend Elizabeth awarded me this most prestigious award, Kreativ Blogger.

Upon accepting my award, I am to list 6 things that make me HAPPY and then send on the award to 3 more "Kreativ friends."

Here are my 6 happy things:
1. Shopping with my mom and sisters. Always a super fun time, with honest opinions and lots of laughs. Miss them!

2. Time to myself. I love being a mom, wife, freelance writer, etc. But I do value some me time when I can get it, to go walking/jogging, crafting, reading, shopping,etc.

3. Fall. Best season, hands down. From pumpkins to Halloween, birthdays (Isabel, me and Brian) to back-to-school, and cooler weather to wearing jeans/sweatshirts/sweaters, I love everything about fall.

4. Being with Brian, Connor, Isabel and Lucas. Love them to pieces. Especially love fun family outings or hanging out at home.

5. Friends. Been blessed to have lots of good ones. Y'all know who you are ;) Some are old friends, some are new friends, and they are scattered 'round the country. They all bring different things to my life.

6. Music. Lots of kinds of music.

And now ... I award the Kreativ Blogger award to ... Lori, Susan and Vycci.

Bad day

Just been sort of a bad day 'round here. I'll share a few of the, um, highlights.

First, Connor's school called to say Connor had thrown up at school. A lot. Violently. Turns out, snack time today was granola bars that may contain traces of peanuts. Um, looks like they did indeed contain a trace. His face was also red, swollen and splotchy (ya know, the usual scary reaction). Fortunately, his reactions have not severely inhibited his breathing, but with peanut allergies, they say each reaction can get worse. No thanks. His teacher had not yet read the 3 forms I filled out each indicating a strong peanut allergy (her bad). And, I guess I need to verbally tell his teachers about the allergy IN ADDITION TO filling out the 3 forms (my bad). And, when his teacher announced they were having granola bars and was anyone allergic to peanuts, Connor for some reason didn't speak up (his bad). Consider us all having learned a big lesson. This has been my big fear (well, one of them) about school, him being exposed one way or another to peanuts. Reacting that strongly to a TRACE terrifies me.

So now we have a plan in place. He is only allowed to eat classroon snacks with no trace of peanut warnings anywhere. If they do have a warning or actual peanuts, he gets to have a safe snack from the class snack stash. And, he is not going to be able to partake in homemade birthday cakes/cupcakes for classmates' birthdays - you just never know when peanut butter might have come into contact with stuff. So, I have to provide a little Connor stash of Hostess cupcakes for those days. Poor kid. But what else do we do? It's just too scary to mess with.

Second, my mom called to tell me my grandpa had been in an accident. He was driving (which admittedly is sketchy these days), and they think he had a mini-stroke or something. He ended up hitting the same car 3 times, then running 2 red lights, and crashing into a firetruck that was actively involved in helping someone else. The police told him he is NEVER TO DRIVE AGAIN. It's for the best, but so hard to watch someone's independece being taken away. And his doctors are worried that he is experiencing early stages of Alzheimer's. He is becoming very difficult for everyone to handle.

This is complicated by the fact that my grandma just last week had a hysterectomy to remove her endometrial cancer. She can't drive for 6 weeks, and is having a difficult recovery. My poor mom is shouldering much of this burden right now. It really is true how life comes full circle, and you start caring for the parents who once cared for you.

Brian and I are fortunate to still have 5 of our 8 grandparents, and we'd love for that to continue for a long time. And all of them have been in pretty good health, too. So it's hard to think of my grandma and grandpa having these problems.

Third, can you see Lucas's shiner?:

Slammed into the coffee table. After his brother pushed him (another reason it was a bad day, grumpy kids all around.) It's pretty swollen and increasingly bruised.

Here's to a better day tomorrow!