I want to blog.....

I really do...but I have (obviously) been a SLACK lately and now I just don't have any material that I can come up with.  So, let's try this.  Maybe it will help some of you lurkers comment....because I know you are there...I have a sitemeter!

Leave me a comment, let me know you are there, then give me some material for a post.  Ask a question, request a recipe, story, whatever......within reason.

Who knows, maybe it'll be fun, maybe it'll flop...And by all means, even if I don't know you, comment.  I love meeting new people.  Unless you are mean or a stalker, then go away! ;)

I'm here waiting.....and doing laundry.....

Just whistle while you work....

The only true and correct way to enjoy a Disney princess movie is to dress as the princess you are watching and dance to all the songs. (Notice the baby wipe she is holding?!  They are in the midst of a cleaning song, after all!)  As demonstrated by the four year old:

Sanity Time

After going skiing for my birthday, but not really being able to ski - meaning we spent all our time on the beginner runs - Ron and I decided to take a day just for ourselves to really see if we could still ski!  He was leaving for Chicago on business, so he took a comp day, we arranged for Ellie to go play at Grandmommy's house for a few hours, and we headed to the slopes of Sundance.

I have a deep and abiding love for Sundance.  I learned to ski there a mere 25 years ago....excuse me while I pick myself up off the floor after figuring that out....am I really that OLD experienced?!  After I learned to ski, I stayed very loyal to Sundance, mainly because it was always the closest resort to home and easiest to get rides to.  Fact is, I've only skied at 2 other resorts in Utah: Brighton and Alta.

The day we went skiing, we were still suffering at home in the valley from an inversion a few weeks in the enduring.....in other words, a layer of warm air traps the cold air in the valleys, and subsequently traps all the junk, pollutants, fog, smoke, etc. in the valleys as well.  Pretty soon, the sky is no longer blue, if you can see the mountains it's through a brown haze, the sun isn't bright, the news stations tell you if you have respiratory problems that you shouldn't go outside, and the school doesn't let any of the kids outside to play at recess time because we have the dirtiest air IN THE COUNTRY!  Not kidding either about that dirtiest air thing either....

Anyhoo, it is possible to get above all the filth and see the sky and sun again, and that is to head up the canyon, strap on the skis, and ride the lift as high as it goes.  I suddenly found the brightness of the sun warming my face and remembered how incredibly blue the sky can be!  It also was an amazing day as my husband and I were able to enjoy each other, without the sounds of screeching and whining laughter and playing children surrounding us.  It was wonderful.

See that picture there?  We took that to remember the gunk we were above.....you should be able to see down into that valley and see Deer Creek Resevoir and the Heber Valley...but not that day month!  I also thought it would be funny to pose at the gate to Bishop's Bowl.....ha, ha, ha, right, like I'm about to take off into that black diamond run!  (Black diamond=steep and difficult ski run)



Here's where the story gets sort-of funny.  After a few more runs, and a stop at Bearclaw Cabin for hot cocoa and chips and salsa, I suggested to Ron that we do Bishop's Bowl.....I've done it before, plenty of times....as long as I stay over on the groomed side, it'll be great.

Sure it will.

I forgot how incredibly long, long, long of a run Bishop's is...and steep.  I thought my legs were going to give out they were hurting so bad!  I am sooooo out of shape!  2/3's of the way down I was just praying to get to the cat track!  But obviously, I made it, and it was a GREAT feeling to know I still had it!  After 9 years, I could still do Bishop's Bowl and survive with all limbs functioning.  I love you Sundance!

Not worried about Ron....he was a bit of a ski freak in his younger days....skiing every day with his season pass, looking for the mogul fields, etc. I feel bad for him having to ski with me as I slow him down! Not to mention, I don't look all that graceful. Oh well, he's stuck with me! :)

Ron and I have decided that we need at least one more Sanity Ski trip this winter!!!

Happy Birthday!

Riley hits the big 16 today.  It's big.  It's amazing.  I've known this girl since just after she turned 5.  I'm about to enter my 11th year with her.  I'd probably be doing a much better job with her if she were only that old.  No lies, we've had some rough patches.  We're in the midst of more.  I fully admit that I was not prepared to be her mother when I took on the job and I should have done just about everything differently.  But I do know that Riley has some amazing potential.  She was given a test and trial in her life that many of us couldn't handle.  She's still finding her way through it.  I pray that as the next few years progress, we can find our way through the rocky stretches, and get through okay.

Riley and her cousins,  Haley and Jenessa

Happy 16th Birthday Riley!

The Sledding Hill

We've been lacking in snow around here, so the local sledding hill that the kids so enjoyed at Christmas was unusable.....then we had the forecast this past week for snow.  We waited, and the days passed with an inch or two falling, but finally on Friday the big storm came!  We woke up Saturday morning to 6+ new inches.  I was surprised the kids weren't suited up and ready to go by 7 AM, but they held out until after lunch.  Nana and Poppa came out so Ron could help set up Poppa's new cell phone.  Then we had lunch and finally headed over to the sledding hill.  Pure joy!

 

Apparently Poppa makes a good sled too!

 

Storytellin'

After dinner one evening, Ellie was regaling us with the tale about a dream she had the night before.  It was about monsters, and she was quite descriptive about how they looked, where they were, and what they were doing.  She was incredibly adamant that "It was REAL!" when we tried to remind her that there were no such thing as monsters.....this was the very end of her tale that Ron caught with his phone.....

**Ellie does not normally wear a bib, I am not that OCD!  But she found one in a drawer before dinner and decided she needed to wear it! ;) **

Fun at Brighton

For my birthday a couple weeks ago, my wish was for the family to go skiing together. We had not skiied in 9 years! Riley had only gone about 3 times when she was 6-7 years old, and the littles had never been. So we researched it out, and decided on Brighton. We put the littles in 1/2 day ski school, and Ron, Riley, and I just got a ski pass for the two "bunny hill" lifts. We unfortunately didn't get to stay all day because Riley had to get back to make up a Spanish test, but the time we did have was fun! Both Jared and Nicole made it through level 1, so when they go back are ready to learn how to make turns instead of just snowplow straight down the hill. They really enjoyed themselves, especially Jared. Riley needs to have a refresher course to brush up on turning. We think(?) she had fun...hard to get a solid answer! Ellie.....Ellie had fun the 1st run down, and then wanted to just sit down and eat snow for the rest of the day! We may let her sit out the rest of the year. :) It was a great birthday, spent with my favorite people.

Ron took some video of our day:


Kid explanation of the ski lift


Jared and Ellie in their lesson


Jared Wilson - Future World Cup Downhill Champion


Nicole - Guess the video-ing made her nervous!

Then She was Four....

Right after Christmas, Ellie had a birthday. Four... Years! I can no longer even pretend she's a baby. She's a kid. Now don't get me wrong, entering this next phase in parenting life is great. We can go places and don't have to worry about hauling diaper bags or toddler supplies anywhere, we don't have to worry about missing a nap resulting in a meltdown, etc. (Although it would be nice to get past the meltdown stage for all of them, but that's another post!) But no more babies?! Everyone said it would go fast, and I had no idea how fast until now. I guess I could be like that Duggar lady and just have perma-babies going on in the house, but I don't think my sanity would cooperate....nor would my husband!


We spent the 28th taking down Christmas, then heading out to get BDay gifts. Usually, we've found some good things for her on clearance, so that's always a plus, but the pickin's seemed to be slim this year for that....not sure why. Some stores were still seriously lacking on a good selection of toys even...ToysRUs was a bunch of empty shelves! But we had left a couple things out from Christmas loot, and found some other fun things, so presents were loved. My advice to anyone though, if it is your control at all, is to NOT have a baby that close to Christmas! Her Christmas toys are hardly played with and she gets a pile more....it is sort-of ridiculous! Then the poor kid doesn't get another present extravaganza for another 361 days. We may ask her when she's older if she wants to start doing a 1/2 birthday instead, just to spread the joy out a bit! :)

Anyhoo.....on to the bday pics.



Ellie's favorite book recently are the Laura Numeroff/Felicia Bond "If You Give a ----- a ------" books....Mouse a Cookie, Pig a Pancake, etc. and so forth. Which is good because I LOVE them too! For her BDay we added Cat a Cupcake, and Pig a Party.



Ellie had been practicing mightily on her older brother and sister's scooters this Fall. So for her BDay she got one of her own.....hopefully we can take it outside in March or so, but until then, she cruises around the kitchen and dining area.



Favorites for a four year old....dress-up and Disney princess loot. Perfect Cinderella playset to go with the castle she got for Christmas:)




The kids at our house get the choice of picking their own cakes....obviously, as only a four year old would choose the garish pink and purple cake with dress-up crown and scepter jammed into the buttercream!

All in all, a very good day. Happy birthday Ellie!!! You are a joy to our family.

Catch-up 1: Christmas

Well, just like at everyone's house, Christmas came! Whether we were ready for it or not. I never did finish decorating the house this year, but I'm not complaining about that...made it VERY easy to take down and put away. As in years past, not many pictures happened on Christmas. As soon as the kids get out to the family room and start ripping into things, mom and dad's hands are too busy opening boxes, assembling toys, showing them the general workings, picking up trash, straightening up the boxes, bows, ribbons and toys, and trying to keep the dog from stealing the Hershey's kisses that are strewn around that the camera just sits idle. :)

We did finally visit Santa a few days before Christmas...good thing the kids didn't change their wish list, and for the record, Riley would have nothing to do with the man in red.



Here's a couple shots from Christmas morning:

Presenting Ellie on "Beatles RockBand" drums. You haven't fully lived until you've heard your almost 4 year old sing "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds". That's Riley in the back. This is the best photographic documentation she'd let me get.



My only picture of Nicole was of her in a trancelike state playing her new Wii game "Super Mario Galaxy". Not worth posting! Nicole spent ALL day playing Wii, RockBand, or her Nintendo DS (Imagine Teacher game). It was sort-of sick. Thankfully, she backed way off on her own in terms of screen time for the rest of Christmas break.

All Jared's dreams came true with the punching bag he got. We rearranged his room and hung it from the ceiling. He's a happy boy, and we enjoy telling him in his moments of general or specific (usually involving a certain sister) frustration to go take it out on his punching bag!

Choose

I've seen on a number of blogs I read that the lovely women who write them have chosen a "word" as a new years resolution of sorts. A word they want to work on, and strive to focus on in the next year. I thought about trying to come up with one, and was always coming up with a blank. Until I watched this video. It sealed the deal. My word for the year is CHOOSE.