Happy Freakin' Spring

This was Thursday. Of course today is much nicer - sun shining, birds chirping, grass growing, high 50's kind of nice, but still. I'm so done with snow. So very done.

Good thing we're moving to Montana.

Snow Tubing on Mt. Spokane

It was a gorgeous day! It only took us about 20 minutes to get there - bonus! Everything went well except for the minor meltdow Caden had when we got there and realized that he had left his snowpants in the basement. Uh, this is why we told you not to put them on and play around at home. Luckily we had an extra adult pair so after a game of musical snowpants he ended up with a pair that would work.

The boys had a great time, and even Aile and Mom went on a few runs. Caden loved it from the get-go, Lincoln took a little more persuading but by the time we left he was loving it too. Aile was just chillin' the whole time - looking around and taking it all in. Everyone who asked how old she was was muy, muy impressed that she wasn't throwing a fit. But she definetly let us know when she was done. The girls bailed a little early and sat in the lodge, but the boys joined us after about 15 minutes, so we didn't miss much.

At the end of our session Ryan stayed on the mountain and got in some snowshoeing while the rest of us went home and had hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles with donuts on the side.

Mmmm, donuts.

Altogether a great time. Thanks to Daddy for the idea!

Now if I would just stop lactating

We went to Lynnwood a couple of weekends ago, a fast fun trip to see family and go to a couple of parties (wedding, birthday). It would have been more fun if I didn't have to get up several times a night to nurse the 13 month old. I have really enjoyed nursing with Aile, she is my last baby and knowing that going in made a huge difference in the experience of it compared to with the boys. But I'm done. She's 13 months old for crying out loud. She should be sleeping through the night, not nursing 2-3 times a night.

Yuh, I know it's my fault, that I should have let her cry it out a long time ago, but I didn't and this is where we are now.

So I did it. I weaned her. The mean way: cold turkey.

And you know what. She's just fine. She now puts herself to sleep for naps and for the night. And when she's thirsty she runs to the fridge for her sippy cup. She's grown up over night, and we're both better off for it.

The worst part was the engorgment. The horrid, horrid engorgment. Shouldn't have had it you say? She was 13 months you say? That just goes to show you how much she was still nursing. Plus there was another factor but we won't go into that.

But we're done. Finished. Finito! My body is my own again......ahhhhhh!

In an effort to give back and have a lot of fun in the process I had a 'ladies lunch' today. That probably sounds nice and dainty but was in fact 4 women (me included) and 11 kids, 3 of which are brand new 1 year olds. Hoo-rah! But in between the yelling and tears, requests for more food and water, we talked and laughed and got to know each other better. *sniff* Ah, female bonding.

When I called to invite them, all those lovely ladies asked me what they could bring. And my answer - nothing. They probably think I'm a controlling perfectionist - meh, not so much. My reason for doing it all myself was to serve someone else. It feels so good to do something for others since lately I've felt like I've been sitting in my little self-contained bubble sucking the life-force out of the universe. I'll take it as a positive sign that I wanted to do this, and didn't feel like I had to do it.

So ladies, thank you for coming and allowing me to serve you even though you probably didn't look at it like that. It was good for me, and a lot of fun too!

Aaaaand......

The Stud-Muffin turns 33!

Happy Birthday Ryan! Here's a list of 33 things you may or may not know about Ry:

1. If he doesn't like you, you'll never know it.

2. He's graduating this quarter with a BS in Geology.

3. He loves to rock climb.

4. He's an avid outdoorsman - hiking, biking, skiing, camping, he does it all.

5. He has his basic SCUBA certificate.
6. He's been accepted to the University of Montana, and that's where we're moving this summer.

7. He is the most anal organized person I know. Probably that you know also, short of a mental issue.

8. He enjoys reading for pleasure, but he's picky about what he likes.

9. He used to play the trumpet and baritone (ooo, I think) in band. We still have the trumpet.

10. He's good with his hands. Get your mind out of the gutter, I'm talking about woodworking, mechanical, handyman type things. I will not comment on the other - this is a family blog.

11. He used to work in mortgage banking for about 8 years.

12. He likes t-shirts.

13. He still looks awesome after 12 years together (see above picture).

14. He loves to watch college and pro team sports: baseball, basketball, football, even tennis. There's no shortage of testosterone at our house. He also loves to play the aforementioned sports but not at the college or pro level. ;)

15. He built our kids a fort out of old bunkbed lumber - and they love it.

16. He speaks spanish - though not as fluently as he once did.

17. He likes things neat and tidy.

18. He can be outgoing once he is comfortable around you.

19. He is an excellent artist. His doodles make me feel like I'm a 4 year old.

20. He's very creative.

21. He wants a chainsaw - I'm not quite sure what for, except it's manly.

22. He enjoys making Pinewood Derby cars - and has a little collection going on of the ones he's made.

23. He drives a stick.

24. He loves music - all types.

25. He got me into cross-stitching.

26. He has a fabulous sense of humor.

27. His backpack collection rivals Brets.

28. He likes to watch the Discovery channel - almost anything that's on there.

29. And PBS.

30. He loves me and our kids. He is a terrific father and makes an effort to do different things with them.

31. He's so smart.

32. His Wii fitness age is 34.

33. He's an art lover.

So there you go. Care to tell me anything you know about him?

He's a little bit country, I'm a little bit rock n roll

We had our ward's Lip Synch Saturday night, and it was awesome. Caden's performance of Keith Urban's song Blue Jeans brought down the house. He was the only one to earn a standing ovation that night. Way to go Caden! I'm trying to track down a copy of the show to post, but don't have one yet...

I had a rockin' good time doing Ballroom Blitz (the female version from Wayne's World), and I 'sang' backup for my good friend Melanie who did Aretha Franklin's Respect. I was definetly in my element that night and had a ton of fun goofing off. My mom said it reminded her of how I was when I was a teenager - so if you knewmewhen you know it was good. Of course it helps that everybody gets into the spirit of the thing and rocks and claps along with the music.

And the compliments. They're my favorite. ;)

Donna will get why that's funny

What good is a @@*&!%&*^* computer that won't do what it's supposed to do?

None. No good. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

I hate this computer. Hate with a capital H. And probably a capital ATE too.


*breathe deeply val, repeat your mantra: someday he'll finish school. someday he'll have a real job with a real income. someday you can throw this piece of @&*&#&^* out the window and shoot it. somedaysomedaysomeday.*

Just to catch you up

We're still playing the waitandsee game to find out where we'll be moving. We've now heard from a second school (no dice but really no surprise on that one), so now we are waiting for door number three. Will it open, won't it open? We don't know. We keep expecting to get a letter any day now...............................................

Aaaaaaaaaaand unsurprisingly everyone is sick again. *gasp* I know. Can you believe it? We wash our hands and everything. We are two weeks through it and Lincoln and Aile have antibiotics for their ear infections but Caden is just a couple of days into what they started with. Hopefully most of us will be better by next Friday when we are scheduled to make our trek over the mountains. Another waitandsee.

Tomorrow is our wards' annual Lip Synch Competition. This is our fourth year and, if I may just pat myself on the back, this is the very first activity that I did as Activities Chair 4 years ago. Even though I've been released it's such a hit that it just keeps on going. I think it's the most fun we have all year.

This year Caden is performing with the rest of us as backup dancers (except guess who - party pooper), I'm doing one solo, and I'm a backup singer for a friends number. It's not a real competition, the prizes are all candy bars (ie: funniest song wins a Snickers bar, etc.), but I think that's what makes it so great. I'm really looking forward to it!

And we have a date tonight. I'm so excited because with Finals next week Ryan has basically been living at the school this whole week. When I suggested earlier might be better than later via voicemail yesterday afternoon, with Aile screaming like a banshee in the background, imagine my surprise and extreme gratitude when he was home before 6pm instead of 8pm. He must love me.

And I count my blessings that it's not me

There are some people and some things that I just get so fetchin' excited about. This is one of them. I just love Kendra!

Okay, maybe not quite a million, but it feels that way

About a million years ago Ryan decided he wanted to go back to school and finish his degree. He had been in mortgage banking and decided he wanted to do something he loved instead of something he tolerated. So he started part time at the Community College and over two years he slowly finished the last year of his AA degree. Now we are down to the last quarter and a few weeks until he graduates with his Bachelors degree in Geology. And he wants to do a Master's program with an emphasis in Hydrology (that's the study of water, for you uneducated laymen).

(sound of head repeatedly hitting desk)

So he applied to three schools - University of Montana (in Missoula), University of Idaho (in Moscow), and Western Washington University (in Bellingham, WA). He finished all the applications at the end of the first week of February, and now we're playing the waitandsee game.

I love the waitandsee game. I love not knowing what my life is going to be like in 6 months or less. I love having to re-register the kids in an unknown school district. But most of all I love moving. This is the longest we've ever lived in one house, and I'm super excited to pack up everything we've accumulated while we've been here and see if it all fits in a new place. BONUS!

Would you get my meaning better if I put the sacastic parts in italics? Okay.

I love the waitandsee game. I love not knowing what my life is going to be like in 6 months or less. I love having to re-register the kids in an unknown school district. But most of all I love moving. This is the longest we've ever lived in one house, and I'm super excited to pack up everything we've accumulated while we've been here and see if it all fits in a new place. BONUS!

On Wednesday he got a letter from the department chair at one of the schools. It took everything in me not to just rip it open before he got home. And even then it somehow ended up in the bathroom while I took a really long shower without the fan running. Not quite steamy enough. But I finally got a hold of Ryan and he said I could open it.

He got in!

It wasn't the official letter, but they said it was coming in 1-2 weeks. We got it the next day. So now it's official, he's going to do the Master's program, but of course wants to wait and see what other schools he gets into before making a decision.

Terrific! As we already know, I LOVE the waitandsee game.