Songs

So, if one can believe it, Brent is still going strong in the song dedication department.  Of course he is met with much encouragement, but it has been such a spark to our 13 yr old marriage.  Since my last mention of music dedicated he has dedicated more songs and even gifted a  few CD's.

"Open Arms" Journey,  On a call night "Babe" Styx,   "You Save Me."  Kenny Chesney (he also bought the CD for this one for me (an actual CD from Boarders, not just a download).  Kenny Chesney is one of my favorite country artists.  "Shameless" Garth Brooks.  ( he also bought this CD... did you know that Garth is not on i tunes?  DUH Garth, get with it!)  Then another call night, he did "Je l'aime A Mourir" Francis Cabrel.  And Today was "Can't stop loving you"  Phil Collins.  (cuz I leave tomorrow on my trip.)  What a doll.  I love that this is something that he is really thing thinking about.  The lyrics to each song are beautiful and pertinent to the day that they are offered.  I love you so much babe!  Thank you for being such a sweet heart.  :-)

Ah, this week...

So if you remember this was going to be a "week off".  HA HA!  So we started off nice and slow with a morning of baby sitting the Jensens, or rather, having play dates with the Jensens, the kids know that their time with them is limited, and it is fun to watch them kind of cherish each other a bit.

Tuesday we were all dressed in our swimsuits and everything, ready to head to the pool when we got a call from Aimee (she is teaching the kids swimming lessons), she was calling to tell us that they'd seen lightning and had closed the the pool.  We made some quick calls around and ended up at Patapsco Valley State Park, trying to find a spot where the river would be low and slow enough that the kids could play in it.  Jeri and I were both armed with cameras in hopes of finding some good light.  
The kids on the other hand were in search of Crawdads, and any other crawly swimming creature they could find.  They actually found a whole "pool" of them down by the river that were surprisingly large (to me anyway).  They scooped them up in buckets and tortured them a bit and then let them go.

Also while they searched for Crawdads, they found lots of bugs and beatles and a pile of worms, and Alex and Wyatt found a water fight.

(jeri, i cropped out his plumber bum, you're welcome :-) )

All in all, we had a good time.  Jeri and I found some good light and the kids found some critters and kept cool in the creek.  Even Simone eventually went to sleep and seemed to have had a nice time out there in the shade next to the creek sounds.  Talia did get bit by some flying beetle thing that actually took a chunk of flesh from her head!  We can't figure that one out!  But anyway, it was a fun day.

Tuesday night I got a hair cut and went to Tara's shower, on the way home I went to the theater to get tickets to the Bee Movie, no such luck, all sold out, so I vowed to go to the mall on Wednesday morning with all the kids in tow and get tickets for this Wednesday's movie with is "Surf's Up".  Only to be informed on Wednesday morning that Liza has seen it and that she said it's just a penguin being interviewed.  :-)  Too bad, you're going anyway!  LOL!  After getting the tickets on wednesday morning we headed to the mall.  I was a bit reluctant to go as sometimes when I take them to the mall,  it is a fine experience and some times I take them and I just want to shoot myself for being so silly and taking them all to a place full of things to ask for.   Fortunately it was a good day to go to the mall.  The kids all behaved beautifully, and we actually had a really nice relaxing stroll about the mall.  We finished off with a few minutes at the play place and headed home.  The kids were hungry at this point but when offered, they chose to head home for free PB &J rather then spend their own earnings on Mc Donalds.  (funny how that is).  

Thursday we again gathered the swim gear to head to the gym.  We had our normal mad dash for the gym, with me hurrying the kids into the gym saying things like "I'm going to be late, please hurry!"  Only to find that the big rain storm the night before had put out 1/2 of the gyms electricity and that the pool was closed.  I checked the kids into the child center and went to check out what I was to do about my job.  Then I got into a discussion with a sister from the ward who is inactive.   She attends my water classes every so often, and she had some issues on her mind.  By the time we were done chatting, the kids were about done staying in the child care that was only 1/2 open.  We called the Jensens and headed to a last Ho-rah at  Chuck E Cheese's.  Wow do they have a TON of new stuff at the Laurel location, you've got to check it out!  All new ski ball, just tons of stuff.  It was a very fun afternoon.  Thursday evening I got a sitter (brent was on call) and I went to Aimee's swim clinic.  It was really good, I learned a TON, and I got to go for a late night dip in the pool.  Although the clinic was terribly informative and it should be my favorite part, I really really liked the frogs.  I am sure that the other women in attendance could see right through my efforts to squelch my excitement over the fact that there were cute little frogs everywhere, "ribbit-ing" REALLY LOUDLY.  They were even jumping in the pool and then you could catch them.  I  love animals so i was so excited, like a little kid. :-)

Friday Liza went over to "help" babysit for the Jensens while I helped the other kids get their jobs done.  Liza was so proud of her first "babysitting" gig.  It was so good for her to have some responsibility and to see that people will pay you for being that way.  She then came home and "tried" to get her jobs done in time to go to her sleep over with Maia.  She messed around, as liza does, and was not ready when Maia came to get her.  Despite the wonderful deals offered and promises of her first born child, she was kept home to finish her jobs and I drove her over an hour later.  I sure hope she learned a lesson from that one.  I came home and picked up Alex, Tori and Katie and took them to Co Op where they were invited to stay overnight this time, to give Brent and I a nice long date.  AND THAT WE HAD!!  It was glorious.  We spent 9 hour together, just he and I!  Wow, how fun was that.  We went to the Body Worlds 2 Exibit @ The Maryland Science Center  It was Fantastic!  I would recommend it to anyone.  However, it may not be for the weaker stomached folk.  I was fine through 99% of it.  There were a couple times where it got a little too real, once when I got a whiff of formaldehyde as I leaned in to take a close look at what Brent was trying to show me.  It was really a cool thing to go and see with a Doctor on hand telling you what everything is and how it works.  The exhibit w/o a doctor is still very informative, you just have to do a bit more reading then I did.  We took a LONG time to go through it, it was VERY big and full of information.  For me, the most shocking part was how tiny an embryo is when it starts to look like a human being.  WOW, I've seen the pictures, but to actually see one!  Man was that cool.  What a testimony builder this trip was, how could anyone after looking that deeply into the human body deny a God?  It was fabulous!   We then went to Cheese Cake Factory, and as always, it was Fabulous.  I highly highly highly recommend 

CHRIS' OUTRAGEOUS CHOCOLATE CAKE
A Cheesecake Factory Original - Layers of Moist Chocolate Cake, Chewy Brownie, Toasted Coconut Pecan Filling and Creamy Chocolate Chip Coconut Cheesecake

We went and picked up Katie and transfered her to her crib from Jeri's house and then we set up a movie and stayed up really late, eating Cheese Cake and watching "21"  it was so FUN!  Thank you Jeri and Lincoln for a great night!  It was WAY fun!

Saturday was my much anticipated trip to Christmas Tree Shop.  My plans got all turned around, and to make it short if I wanted anyone to ride with on the way up there, I had to wait until after 2:00 to go.  I could have gone alone, but that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun, so we decided to pack all the fun into less time.  We hit the outlets for a bit, found some great dresses, and then went to Sonic for Cherry Lime-aid. YUMMMMM!  and headed for a good 2 + hours at Christmas Tree shop.  I had a blast and found some really good stuff for pictures.  I am really excited about it.  I picked up a few things for my kitchen, and some tub toys for the kids.  It was really fun!  We went to chilies after and had dinner, followed by desert shots Yumm again!  Then we rolled ourselves into the car and all the way home.  :-)  It was a really fun trip and the Christmas tree shop, once again, did not disappoint!  Next trip:  Some time in the beginning of October to collect cute Fall decor.  :-)  

Who Created this monster?

In the many moves and adventures of my life, I find that I pick up different little things along the way.  In collage I picked up an awareness of the real world (as most people do).  I also learned that sometimes people use you and think nothing of it.  I also learned that priesthood blessings are available and very very helpful.  I left Rexburg with a greater love of the gospel and a testimony of priesthood blessings and a surety that my Heavenly Father loves me.  

Our next stop was Salt Lake City, here I learned the importance of insurance, life, car AND homeowners (or renters as the case may be).  I also learned that some people are down right crazy, and you can't judge a book by it's cover.  I also learned here that my husband HATES noisy animals, and that having friends right next door is a blast!  Mostly I learned here that even when you are incredibly busy (working full and part time), you find time to serve others and don't judge those you serve as you do it, AND men go into their own zone to decompress, (this I did not know and struggled with it for the first 18 months of marriage).  

Living in Canada I learned that the grass is usually exactly the same color on the other side of the fence.  I learned that having a baby is a spiritual experience, and I learned that sometimes the greatest of friends can become to heavy to carry and you have to lighten your load a bit and say no.

Back in Utah I learned to be kind to the elderly, they're usually very lonely, and some times a little cooky.  :-)  I learned that being a stay at home mom is harder then it looks, and I learned to love every moment that is given to us, life is precious.  I also learned  to trust in the Lord.  Sometimes we don't know why He doesn't grant us our righteous desires until later in life, hind sight is always 20/20.  

In Philly I learned that it sucks to be a minority, and to really truly  treat others as equals.  I learned another lesson in service and the importance there in, and also that love is very important to service, not just the act of doing it.  I also learned to keep my mouth shut.  (this was a hard lesson)  I thought that everyone should know and follow what I learned at Ricks in my child development classes.  I never thought about family functions, and personalities and the ability to adjust, it seemed so cut and dry then (oh how wrong I was!).  This was my Red personality coming out, the controlling  male force that I have, that wants to solve a problem rather then just listen to it.  Don't offer advice unless asked for it, sometimes people just need a shoulder.

In Des Moines, oh my, is there a tender spot in my heart for Des Moines.  I learned humility.  Being on every government program on the planet just to get by and pay the bills will do that to you.   I learned that I can be friends with ALL sorts of people, and there is common ground amongst  us all.  The beginnings of my "events coordinator personality began to emerge here in Des Moines, and I loved being busy doing free stuff.  (Des Moines is great for free stuff to do).  I learned that I am capable of doing things with out Brent, and that I have to support him in his vocation and his church callings.  (Des Moines is a long one, cuz I learned a lot)  I learned that our Family members who have passed on are just absolutely itching to be found and that we really need to do our Family History work and Temple work.  The spirt of Family History is addicting and once you catch the bug it never goes away, (my flame for it right now is smoldering, but it can and will easily  re-ignite) I learned confidence and the ability to kick back and laugh sometimes, and how fun it is to name things (thanks mere).  I cried really hard when we left Des Moines there were some really pure and true friendships there.  It was wonderful!

In Toledo I learned that Ohio sucks!  (ha, just kidding)  Anyway, Toledo was a fun time for our family.  Just happened in an ugly state.  I learned here to step out of the box with my clothing choices, throw in some color, and by golly, I look good in pink!   I learned that I LOVE Young Women's.  That was my favorite calling of all time.  I love the young girls and their willingness to consider the opinions of their leaders.  Ohio is where I picked up my Water Aerobics career.  I have wanted to instruct the whole time I lived in Des Moines, but never did, and then started to in Toledo.  I learned that the YMCA is a wonderful organization that helped our family through some hard times.  I think my favorite lesson I learned in these two years is that you never ever ever know what someone else is going though.  You know that grumpy lady at the store, or that crazy screaming man in the restaurant,  maybe their spouse fell off the wagon last night and threw their whole career in the toilet, maybe their mother just died...  we don't know.  Smile at them, they could be having the worst week of their lives.  You just never know!  AND  Cherrish every conversation that you have with loved ones, and hold them a little longer when you can because it may be the last time, and you never ever can know for sure.  Always tell them I Love You, just so you can know for sure that you did. 

And now to Maryland, which was the reason for this post, and it was initially going to be a silly little post, but turned into this emotional blubbering that is probably meaningless to everyone but me.  Oh well you could have stopped reading, :-)

Here in Maryland I have learned that I am not the talentless schmuck that I thought I was.  (thanks Jeri )  I have found amazing confidence through the lens of my camera.  (this is where the monster comes in)  I love to play with the camera and with photoshop!  I could do both for hours and hours a day.  It has been a wonderful experience to learn so much and I look forward to more knowledge! I have also learned that if you don't want to look old you have to take care of your face (thanks Scarlett), and that there is a lot to be said for expensive make up.(jeri again! pricey friend)  (much to my bargain hunting chagrin.  Oh how I do love a deal)  So my stop here in Maryland, though not over has been a great confidence boost however it came with quite a price.  Between the purchase of our first home (after 11 years in apartments), the addition of a 4th child, the dog (holy crap are those expensive), my photography stuff,  and the make up etc... oh heaven help our budget.  I may have to take a little time and look back on Des Moines lessons.  

Life is sure special, there is so much to be learned.  As I have learned all these lessons, I certainly don't live by them always, but it was really fun to look back at the lessons learned and take a minuet to recommit to becoming a better person every day and picking back up some of the things that I have learned along the way.

I am sure a boring post for others, but it has been a great adventure for me. :-)

From the 1st to the 4th

Last night at 2am (as I was going to bed) Katie began to fuss, and I found my self hoping, just a little that she would wake up and let me rock her.  

I got to thinking about this, and how, with Liza I never cherished those mid- night cries.  I would always just take care of the problem and put her back in her bed to be sure that no bad habits were formed.  I would make sure that cuddling in the night didn't happen so that she would be a good little sleeper.  Oh the silly mistakes we make.

When I had Alex, the whole idea was, don't wake up Liza, fatten up that baby, and get as much sleep as possible between the two of them.  With Tori, I would somewhat enjoy those middle of the night wakings , but I was still worried about how much sleep I was going to get and how I would make it through the next day.  

Now, when Katie wakes, I can't wait to snatch her out of her bed, ah the blissful opportunity of rocking a sweet baby, all snugly and warm.  I love it.  We used to say things like "would you please rock her, I have to do ......"  now, we fight over who gets to hold Katie in the chair.  :-)  Funny how things change.

Yesterdays song was "our song"  which his "Forever and Ever Amen"  Randy Travis.  I beg him to sing it to me all the time, but he has only done that twice in our 13 years together.  :-)  I suppose dedicating it to me is the next best thing.

This mornings song was "Your The Inspiration"  Chicago.  Aww, what a sweet heart.  I have a play list on I tunes called "For my princess."  What a charmer.

I dream about blogging

This afternoon i took a quick little nap on the sofa, Chinook curled up with me, so I must have been thinking about him when I fell asleep.  I had this dream that a sister in the ward was really sick, and the only thing that would make her better is to be hooked up to an IV with a dog on the other end of the IV. (weird, I know, but that isn't the point of the story.)  Anyway, so in the midst of this dream where I was working with nurses on how to keep the dog by her, and how to get in his potty breaks and stuff, in the back of my mind, I was thinking about how I would need to blog about this.  I even was trying to come up with a catchy title about Chinook being a hero.  LOL!!  Has this whole blogging thing gone WAY too far????  Too funny.

Well, our week this week is looking rather slow.  I kind of planned it that way as we head out to Canada next week and I need some time to tie up loose ends around here.  Thus far, I am hoping to get appointments at the salon at Lifetime for Tuesday early evening.  I think monday or tuesday during the day we will have the Jensens over so that their mommy can tie up loose ends around the house.  Wednesday morning is "The Bee Movie" at Columbia Theater   I think we'll go to that if we can get tickets.

Thursday I teach at the gym, so We'll do a gym and swim.   Friday we have to do jobs and clean the house up.  Alex is pretty sure that he can earn his 800 points and therefor a privilege by Friday afternoon so that he can sleep over with Wyatt on Friday.  Saturday is my Big trip to the "Christmas Tree Shop".  I want to leave fairly early in the morning, and spend the day shopping the outlets in PA (no sales tax)  and then hit the Christmas Tree Shop in the way home.   (This is a good 2-3 hour stop. :-)  There is a Chilies in that parking lot for a late dinner and I am thinking Sonic for lunch.  It is about an hour to hour 1/2 drive.  Every one is welcome to come, just tell me before that you would like to hop on board for a mommy day out and we'll try to figure out car space.  I plan to drive out there, and we'll see if we need any other drivers.  If you're coming with me, I want to leave by around 9-9:30 and we won't be home till well after 10.  Yipee! 

What is this a post with out a picture, what ever shall I do?  :-)

PS the song this morning was "The Best of Times"  Stix.  Yes he did it again, what a sweetie!

Romancing the stone?

So I wake up on Thursday morning and there is a big sign taped to the Mac, that says "Christie Press Play"  then there are sticky notes all over that say "mom only"  "press here"  ..  I press play and I tunes starts up with Chicago's  "What Kind of Man would I Be?"  Such a sweet song.  I've heard it a million times, but never loved it as much as I did on Thursday morning.  :-)  Awww, so sweet.  Man this coupled with the flowers deserved a post all its own.  

We had our gym and swim day, and stayed for quite a while at the pool.  We actually stayed until someone either pooped or puked in the pool and they shut it down.  :-) YUMMY!  

I've continued to feed off my photo shoot at Larriland (as you can see) and keep staying up till ridiculous hours of the night blogging and flickring.  I got to use one of my Massages from my lovely massage a month gift that I got for Christmas.  So that is always a great way to end a day.
Friday Brent was on call, and would miss our date night, so when I woke up in the morning, the sign was back on the computer.  I thought "surely the kids have stuck it back up there".  Nope.  He had another song for me.  It was "Faithfully"  Journey.  Another song, I've heard many many a time, but boy did it mean a lot to hear it this morning, knowing that he wouldn't be around tonight.  AWWW.  This is where I started to wonder...... Is he dying?  What's up with all this romance?  LOL!!  

Took the kids to the science center on Friday.  They had a ball.  I never told them that we were going until about 10 minutes before we were to leave.  I yelled down the stairs "who want's to go to the science center today?"  The whooping and hollering that came up those stairs was comical!  The love going there, and we never ever do everything that they want to do in one day.  Once again, it proved to be a wonderful time.  The day swept by, and before I knew it, I had all my kids in the van and was picking up my "date" for the night.  We had Co op, so I picked up Barbara on the way, and we went shopping!  I read a quote on a sign in the Kirtland store.

"One shoe can change your whole life."

Cinderella

I saw these shoes last Saturday and haven't stopped thinking about them.  I looked them up on the internet to see if I could find them and watch them from home, but I couldn't.  After 6 days of wishing, these cute little shoes became mine.  :-)  Aren't they darling?

Saturday (Today) Brent was post call, he got home before I got out of bed.  (kids let me sleep in today!)  When he came to bed, he has to sleep during the day after a call night because he doesn't get to sleep at work, I got up.  And yup, the sign was back up on the computer!  What a doll.  This morning was "In Your Eyes"  Peter Gabriel.  Again, a very sweet and thoughtful song.  What a man eh?

The kids spent the day either working their tails off or avoiding working their tails off.  Tori worked her bum off and earned herself a sleep over with Natalia next Friday night.  Alex on the other hand....  oooohhh, it took a whole lot out of me not to string that one up by his toes today.  Good thing he is so dang cute right?  Yeah!  He swears up and down that he is going to earn his 800 points to get a sleep over before next Friday, I sure hope he does.  Well tonight, I am off to have a little movie night with my "Romeo".   I think we are going to watch "Real Genius"  w/ Val Kilmer.  We love this show!  SO FUNNY.  Well that about wraps up our week.  :-)

Dancing Through The Day

So at the end of the day today, this is the thought that went through my head.  "Wow, I just feel like I danced through this whole day with such grace.  It was wonderful!"  I took the kids out to one of my favorite places, Larriland Farms.  Today we picked Blue Berries.  No, not enough for jam, but Alex is sure hoping for a pie.  I was thinking muffins.  We'll See.

Anyway, I got to sleep in this morning, (ah, they are spoiling me this summer)  Anyway, we puttered around and slowly got ready for the farm.  We didn't even leave until 10.  It was so relaxed.  Of course I had to dress the kids up, since this is my favorite place to take pictures.  So, no, I wouldn't normally choose white for blueberry picking, but some times, it's worth sacrificing a shirt if you get really good shots.  Anyway.  The day was filled with happy children and lots of shutters snapping.
I went with Jeri, so we were both going, taking turns with the kids at times.  I got to have a go with her macro lens.... boy was that fun!! (thanks Jeri)  We had such a peaceful non stress day out there.  The sun shone the whole time, the dragon flies danced around the water, the butterflies around our lunch.  Beautiful flowers with bees digging around in them.  Oh it was just beautiful.  The kids ate their weight in blueberries and then we bought almost 3 lbs too.

In the above picture of Simone. If you look closely (or click on it, you can see almost our whole group of pickers in her eyes.  It is so cool to see what she saw there at the farm.  The grass, her moms profile, me taking her picture.  Katie and Talia, Liza in the back.  It is so cool.  

We left the farm around 3:00,  and picked up a slushy on the way home.  Katie grabbed a nap on the way that actually pushed her through till bed time. (AHHH, I hope we're not losing her nap) I signed up to feed the missionaries, so Alex (my kitchen "maker" this week) helped me make Enchiladas.  He was surprised to find out how many steps go into making those things.  And you know, he ate them today, way better then he ever has before.  While we made dinner Brent went to Costco for a contact lens appointment and some groceries.  He came home with everything I asked for, and even thought of a few things that I had forgotten.  AND he brought me my favorite..... STAR GAZER LILIES!!  Yipee!   They're so pretty. 

When the missionaries arrived.  The table was set (liza is setter this week), the dinner was on the table, and kiddies were served up, and I even had all the prep dishes washed already.

Dinner went great, the missionaries ate it up, and the kids had baths, read stories and went to bed.  All smooth, not too many glitches.  I washed up the last 2 serving bowls, started the dishwasher, and swept the floor and called it good for the night at 8:30.  :-)  It was a great day.  Productive, yet not stressful.

Ah,  I love days  like these.