Spring Cleaning

This week I have been trying to get a little spring cleaning done. You know things that only get done once or twice a year - like cleaning blinds, organizing the pantry, detoxing the fridge, etc. I was cleaning out our pantry and I found this:

I know you may be thinking that this has to do with my children's snacking habits, but not this time. There are about 10 pieces of pasta left in this package and I know that I am the one who left them there. Why? Why would I leave just a few pieces of pasta in the package instead of putting them all into whatever I was making? I tend to do this a lot and I don't know why. There will be a little bit of ketchup in the bottle and I will put it back in the fridge because there is just enough for one more hot dog. I will milk every last bit of toothpaste out of the tube before opening a new one. I will transfer the itty bit of hairspray left in the bottle that the sprayer can't reach into a new bottle so it doesn't go to waste. I know this drives my husband crazy. "Just throw it away!", he says. But what he doesn't understand is that "Waste not, want not." has been cemented in my brain and is most likely part of my DNA. I must confess to another weird compulsion. I absolutely cannot run the dishwasher unless it is completely full. If it is close to being full but not quite, I will scoure the house looking for any dishes that can be put in. I will search under couches for sour sippy cups. I will check the bedroom nightstand for the remnants of a midnight snack. I have even risked waking a sleeping baby to check her room for cups. Crazy I know, but it just doesn't seem right to not have it be full. Of course my husband has no problem running it no matter how few dishes are in it. And if you can believe it, he will start a load of wash with like 4 items in it. Come on- with 6 people living in our house you know there are always enough clothes to make a full load. It honestly almost feels like blasphemy to me!

My kind of challenge-

The Self Portrait Truthiness Project.A bunch of women, bloggers, mothers, professionals and friends taking pictures of themselves right as they roll out of bed. No makeup.No combs.No makeup.No toothbrushes.(Yes "No makeup" is on there twice...some women I know need to be told twice.)Being honest and real in a way that we rarely are even with our closest girlfriends who live just down the street. Why as women do we care so deeply if someone sees us without our makeup? Why do we base how well our day goes on how good our hair looks rather than how bright the sun is shining?

I copied this from Julie's blog and thought it was great. Since I have already put out a picture of me at 13 years old, this is a piece of cake.

The best thing about this picture is that is wasn't even taken first thing in the morning- it was 11:45am! I know I look like I am yawning, but I am opening my mouth to try to keep my eyes open. The flash on my camera makes me close my eyes and this was the best I could do after several takes. Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.

Now I just want to see what the rest of you have got!

Drinking from a fire hydrant

Have you ever felt like your life is like drinking from a fire hydrant? Well, that is how this week was for me. Which is part of the reason I haven't blogged in a long time. Here is a list of the major events I had this week along with any corresponding pictures I may have been able to take:

*My sister Natalie and J.J. got married.

*Annie had her 1st grade clown program that we had to make a life-size paper clown of her for. And I played the piano for it.

*Had my 11th wedding anniversary.

*Visit from some out of town friends that we haven't seen in over a year.

*Celebrated Finn's 9th birthday

*Easter egg hunts, BBQs, baskets and planned Easter sharing time for Primary.

Really could I have any more major life events in one week! And that list doesn't include all the laundry to be done and meals to be fixed and the occasional toilet that needs to be scrubbed. Plus I threw in 2 doctors appointments, had 2 sisters-in-law's birthdays to remember and nursed 2 major migraines. As fun as this week has been- I'm glad its over. I was feeling quite proud of all I had accomplished until I went to my aunt's house tonight for a family easter dinner and scavenger hunt. Here I found out that my cousin and his wife had hosted a neighborhood easter egg hunt yesterday where they hid 1200 eggs in 15 yards in their neighborhood. They also had special prizes for certain eggs and organized a breakfast after the hunt. Then my cousin-in-law still had time to make herself a darling easter skirt- that's right I said MAKE. It really looked like it could have come right off the rack from Nordstrom's. And then today this same couple created an incredibly complex scavenger hunt for the adults at the family Easter dinner. (Its a long story, but my family always does an adult scavenger hunt on easter that my cousin makes. There are no prizes if your team wins- just bragging rights. They always involve the ability to use both halves of your brain - like being able to understand trajectory and knowing the names of broadway musicals. Last year's involved a number of Sudoku puzzles that he made up. Seriously- this cousin is brilliant. I felt quite guilty about using my Sunday to take a nap when he uses his to think of ways to help his family members create new pathways in their brains by making them think so much.) Anyway I came away from that dinner with a thought that my sister says all the time- "Hey, where are my talents?!?" :) I think I'm going to stop now- I feel another migraine coming on....

When snacks go bad...

When it comes to having snacks in my house, I try to buy healthy ones that my kids will still enjoy. I'm not a snack nazi or anything, but I figure they get enough candy and crap everywhere else they go- so I have things like yogurt, cheese, nuts, popcorn, etc. I even will have chips, pudding and cookies. I just don't stock up on a lot of soda and candy. Anyway-I came home the other day, after being gone in the evening, and this is what I found:

Yes, that is a spoon in a can of uncooked Stove Top Stuffing. My detective skills tell me someone has been enjoying a very dry, very crunchy, very savory snack. Maybe it was because someone's dad didn't fix dinner. But I wasn't right about that. It really was a snack that Annie found in the cupboard and thought was tasty. Ewww- why don't you have some dry pasta and bread dough to go with it?!? Or any of the other crackers or cookies or even cereal that fill the cupboard! This is another "snack" that I often find my kids enjoying:

So weird! And here is my favorite snack remnant I also found that evening when I returned home:

Katie had some how managed to eat the middle of the bread without breaking the crust and thought it would make a nice door hangar. If I've said it before, I've said it a thousand times- It's a good thing my children have a mother. Then at least they can have a little jam on their bread or enjoy some cooked stuffing!

The Bedazzled Missys and a Mister

I don't know if very many people know this, but I have been training for a 1/2 marathon this winter. I ran this same one two years ago with my sisters and they talked me- aka forced me -into doing it again with them this year. My sisters are both much more "fit beasts" than myself- in fact they refer to me as a "fragile flower" when it comes to anything physical. But I agreed to do it this year again so I could lose the rest of my baby fat. My younger sister is getting married this month and has been on the LGN diet- if you aren't familiar with this diet I'll have to discuss it with you later. This is a G rated blog! And my older sister and I have been on the LGIBMDD diet. I can discuss this one- "Look Good in Bridesmaid Dress Diet" And that might even help you decipher the LGN diet. Anyway the race was this past weekend and I can honestly say it was so much fun. I'm sure there are several of you out there who think I am crazy to think running 13.1 miles is fun. But it truly was. My sister's finacee also ran with us as well as two of my cute cousins- Emily and Lisa. My Aunt Margie came to chaperone- :) and to be the designated photographer, clapper, treat provider, driver and freeway fetcher of beasts- this will be explained later! It was a great weekend of laughing, singing, not sleeping, story-telling, eating - oh and running. We all finished very respectably and good news- no one threw up although there was one casualty- again will be discussed later. I even improved my time from 2 years ago by 20 minutes. I attribute this to 3 factors- my incredible sister who stayed with me and wouldn't let me give up (in several areas of my life!), my Heavenly Father helping me because He knew I needed this weekend and caffeine pills. But more importantly we looked good running. We bought matching tank tops to run in as well as zebra stripped bandanas which Michelle bedazzled for us. J.J.- Natalie's fiancee even had a bedazzled bandana complete with at least one token pink jewel. (Yeah- he may not do this again with us!) Although this next part may not interest anyone except those who were there, here are some of the funny quotes or stories from the weekend that I wanted to remember:

*"Emily doesn't need an IPOD. She has herself."

*J.J. not willing to share a spoon with Michelle or even sleep with her for that matter- rude!:)

*All kinds of potty-talk like we were a bunch of 7 year old boys. Running brings out all kinds of stuff-literally!

*Lisa and Emily knowing someone every time we turned around and me seeing one person I knew- Finn's piano teacher's daughter- random I know but of course Emily knew her too! But we did have dinner with someone from my ward, but we didn't figure it out until the conversation turned to David Archuleta. I, of course, proudly claimed him living in my ward, but then this other guy we where having dinner with said he lived in his ward. What?!? Come to find out he lives on the street right behind me. Nice to meet you neighbor! In my defense he moved in two weeks ago!

*Everyone sending text messages to our cousin Jake.

*Margie's awesome salsa.-"Lisa" clap, clap "Salsa!"

*Quotes from several movies.

*Not being able to even recall the song "Sweet Violets" that our Grandma Sarah use to sing, but then being able to sing every single word once Margie provided the first line. I think our Grandma was close by at that moment.

*Talking about our near death experiences while driving in the deadliest canyon in Utah- Spanish Fork Canyon- then Margie hitting a deer but miraculously keeping us all safe with her expert driving skills. Then her pulling the deer from the middle of the freeway while a semi is bearing down on her. Just like the pioneer women of yester year who pulled deer from S.R. 71. Of course Spanish Fork canyon is now the deadliest canyon in the world!

I'm sure there are many more that I can remember and if any of my family remembers them- let me know! Here are some more pictures from the event:

My eternal visiting teachers! Man- do they have some guns?!?

After the race.

I sure do love my family-including my extended family. They fill me up and have made me who I am! I'm glad I get to be with them forever.

Pinewood Derby Update

As promised, here is the picture of me at Finn's Pinewood Derby in front of the checkered background:

Also , I mentioned in the comments of the Pinewood Derby Mania post that we had awesome scout leaders in our area who walked Finn through most of the making of his derby. This picture proves how great they are. Finn's den mother photoshopped another picture of him into the picture of me in front of the checkered background so it looks like he was there. Go Linda! We love her.

Superhero Kids

I have recently discovered that my children possess superhero qualtities. "Oh, great!", you think. "Another post where a mom brags about her wonderful children." But read on - you may discover that your children/grandchildren possess similiar characteristics.

For example Suzie has the ability to dismantle a recently organized bathroom cupboard in 10 seconds flat. She also remarkably has the ability to flash a toothless grin that can diffuse any possible repercussions that would result from this trait!

Katie has the ability to express two competely opposite opinions within the same breath. This quality also gives her the ability to make grown men and women cry. I've noticed that she can be throwing a fit and still absorb what is being said to her. This has been evidenced when she has told Eric he needs to focus or that hitting and kicking are not good choices. Well, who knew she listening. Not me!

Annie has the ability to notice if I have anything new on- be it lipstick, earrings, shoes, or a new shirt. It is amazing how girly she can be. Her "new stuff" radar is razor sharp. Carrying on with her feminine instincts, she can also zero in on when anyone is upset or sad. I really wish she could teach her dad this superhero ability!

Finn has the ability to always have to go to the bathroom, wash his hands, stretch and generally stare off into the distance when it is time to be practicing the piano. He is suppose to practice for 30 minutes, but if I were to guess the actual time he practices I would say 15 minutes. He asked me how long "piano season" was- like soccer season or basketball season. He wasn't too thrilled when I said until he was 18. He also has the ability to make his 3 sisters smile at the same time. And I don't think it gets anymore Superhero than that!