Our Little Johnny Appleseed

Our son is quite the personality. He is always making me laugh and his brain is always working overtime. He gets these big ideas/plans that are usually very detailed and quite over the top for an eight year old. Once he asked me if we could buy him the parts he needs to build a jet, he also wants to build a freeze ray gun. So, you see that he sometimes lacks the insight to see that at times the plans are even too great for him to accomplish. This photo represents one of those such ideas.

We were standing in line a few weeks ago to get the flu shot. The line snaked outside around the building and ran along a dirt lot. A very barren dirt lot that had obviously been prepared for laying asphalt sometime soon. There were also a few dead sage brush branches that had blown into the lot. Jared decided to use his time standing in line planting these branches. He found a piece of wood to use to dig a hole and then "planted" the branch patting the dirt carefully around the base. He was quite proud of himself, he felt very happy to be all Johnny Appleseed like. He planted three "trees" and is looking forward to seeing them large and green next summer. You've gotta love his optimism!

Some girl time at the mall...

Just had a fun weekend with the family. Now that Scotty is working out of state again and spends a lot of time away from us he has decided to spend some one-on-one time with the kids, alternating weekends.

So, on Saturday Scotty and Jared took off to play laser tag and have lunch while Caitlin and I spent some girl time at the mall.

I really don't like malls. I don't like the crowds and my feet always hurt. I much prefer the one-stop shopping centers. A mall is a bit more fun when you actually have money to spend and things to buy. We didn't. I did want to figure out what my 11-yr. old wants for Christmas though. I usually have most of my shopping done by Thanksgiving.

I'm getting a little less confident in my abilities to buy for Caitlin now-a-days. She has become more picky and has created or chosen her own individual style. Sometimes she likes a few of the things I do when it comes to clothes but, mostly we are not seeing eye-to-eye lately. I have come to the decision that as long as she is modest and not too over the top (such as punk, grunge, goth, etc...) I can live with her choices. I will save my battles for other things... this isn't one I absolutely have to win.

Caitlin leans a bit toward the punk style. She likes bright neon colors, and zebra print. NOTHING pastel, too girly, and floral. Some of the things she likes are quite cute. It's when she wants to put several of those things together and you wish you had a pair of sunglasses when you glanced her way... that bothers me. So, on our mall adventure we came upon a store. A punk store. Everything punk you could dream of and some I caution you against even thinking about. The employees of said store must have to have a punked out look to get hired. Pink hair, bright neon underclothing worn as clothing, partially shaved heads, some tattoos, nose and tongue piercings... all things that make me want to grab my daughter and run to the nearest Coldwater Creek.

But, I swallowed my tongue and entered the store. She pointed out a few things that were livable and started to touch a few things that were beyond the line I was drawing in my head. I listened to her tell me how cute something hideous was and then with a prayer in my head pointed out the store employee. "What do you think about her appearance? What type of message do you think she sends to other people? Can you see why there has to be a limit drawn on the amount of punk style I let you have? A few accessories are okay. Over the top is not. That girl may be the most God-fearing, lovable, friendly daughter of God on earth... but the message she is sending by her appearance is not that. She looks like she is wearing a Halloween costume, she is disrespecting her body and has made some choices that she may live to regret when she is much older. A lot of the accessories she is wearing represent bondage, control, and death. So, if you wear those ones... what message do you send to others?"

You know, I think she got it. We walked across the hall to another store and found some bright, fun accessories that she loved. Most things had zebra print somewhere on them, so many I was definitely seeing stripes by the time we left the mall. I've decided that I need to go to the mall with her more often. It is just interesting to know what she is thinking and leaning toward. Honestly she had no interest in punking way out and even mentioned that some things like neon bright pants were "too much", so I do feel somewhat calmer. I'm not interested in squashing her individual style but, keeping her on the ground. I don't blame her for not loving the things I love and I would wear for myself. What pre-teen/teenager wants to dress like their mother??

Welcome Reese!

Today we are welcoming my new nephew Reese Cecchini into the world! He was born this morning weighing in at 7 lbs. 7 oz. and 19" long. Congratulations to his parents Tony and Sara (my sister) and his three older siblings: Carlee, Garett, and Ginger!

I just can't wait to snuggle him!!

Our Halloween

Caitlin "Wednesday Adams" really looked
cute in her costume!!

Jared the scary werewolf, loved to try to
jump out and scare people.
The cat showed the most fear, as he had
NO idea it was Jared. Poor thing!

We had a great time this Halloween season! It was fun to spend it with some extended family for the first time! The kids looked adorable in their costumes. We did a lot of fun little crafts and special foods too!

The one tradition we didn't get around to this year was carving the pumpkin. I know, it's pretty sad. We have lots of other traditions though. Some of our favorites: Trunk or Treat, dressing up, decorating the house, making caramel apples, going to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin, fall photos, putting lights outside with a few decorations, on Halloween night we have hot chocolate with the PEEPS ghost marshmallows after trick-or-treating and homemade scones with soup for dinner. This year we added a few more: making "mummy dogs", "mummy pizzas", twinkie ghosts and skeleton brownies. Of course this stuff is spread out throughout the month. The kids schools each had some sort of fall festival/carnival type event that we went to this year too. That was a first for us. Hope your Halloween was fun!

Caitlin's bedroom is getting a makeover...

For a few years now Caitlin has wanted to get rid of the baby pink little girl room and makeover her bedroom to look a bit more grown up. No big surprise that she chose black and lots of very bright (bordering on neon) colors.

Today I've been working on getting Caitlin's room put together. So, far I've just repaired some furniture and painted a primer onto the bed and two bookcases. The desk is next. For many months I've had my eye on a beautiful bedding set from Pottery Barn. Colorful and fun- just like Caitlin. She wanted something else though. It's also colorful and fun, not my first choice but, still cute... and much, much cheaper.

The bedding set arrived this morning and I thought I had more time to well, build the bed. Ha!Ha!

In a few days I hope to surface from the paint fumes. Then I'll be reupholstering a great chaise I was given by my sister, she wants zebra print. For some reason that scares me to death, I've never upholstered furniture before, starting with a wild print seems a bit too adventurous.

Blogging, again

It's time to get back into blogging... I'm not sure exactly why I took such a long break, but I did. So, a lot has happened in the past um... year and a half. I won't bother catching you up with all the details. Just a few...

• We are now living in Meridian, Idaho (for the time being)
• Scotty has changed jobs
• Caitlin is now 11 + 1/2 years old
• Jared will turn 9 years old in January

From there I will just kick off like I had never stopped blogging...


The kids are in different schools this year. Yep, Caitlin has started Middle School and every time I go to the school, I just feel a bit in shock. I'm not sure it's shock that she is there as much as "culture shock", you know?

The schools have different schedules, they do it this way so they can share the same buses and bus drivers, what that means is that I have gained a whole hour in the morning. The hour between the time that Caitlin catches the bus and before I wake Jared up to get ready for school. It has become my favorite hour of the day. It is amazing what I can accomplish first thing in the morning. I wish I had this energy all day/night. It's more than physical energy though, it's mental energy, perhaps spiritual energy.

I sure wish I was a morning person. I usually go to bed at midnight, the alarm goes off at 6:15am and I hit snooze too many times... which causes a bit of drama in the mornings with Caitlin. Lately, I have felt sleepy though, so I started to go to bed at eleven and you know what... I've actually been waking up before the alarm. I like this! No more dragging myself out of bed. It is more pleasant, for sure!

Reminds me of that scripture... “cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.” D&C 88:124

You know, I'm only getting an extra half hour of sleep but it is making a difference. I probably need to go to bed even earlier than eleven. Wonder what difference that would make?

A "NORMAL" DAY AT HOME...

First day getting back to normal routines! Kids went back to school. Scotty returned to work today. He had his visit to the Wound Clinic and everything is going well for him. I got my script for a "SUPER" antibiotic. My ear is starting to feel a little better already.

I've been working on the mountain of laundry. The kids had soccer practice this afternoon. Jared had plans to sell everything in his bedroom and re-design the entire room around "his style". He also asked if he could color his hair blue and become a rock star later this year. I suggested he wait 10 years to which he replied, "But, MOM! I might change my mind by then. Ten years is a long time!" ...EXACTLY!

Our Weekend....

 

 

Scotty's mom was in town this weekend. We drove to San Luis Obispo and spent the night, the next morning we drove to Santa Barbara to see the start of leg 6 of the Tour of California. Scotty had a great time taking pictures of the riders, especially his favorite teams and their "dream" bikes. Jared enjoyed renaming every dog he saw. We then drove to Hollywood and did the Walk of Fame and saw where they had set up for the Academy Awards. I sure hate large cities. Crowded, dirty... I could have lived without that part of our day. We drove to Santa Clarita that early afternoon to catch the finish of the race. Caitlin somehow managed to squeeze herself up to the front for an excellent view. Scotty went in closer to the finish line... it was fun to see. The kids then enjoyed the bounce slide and obstacle course. They also got samples of Jelly Belly Beans from their team booth, and Caitlin knocked down the milk jugs winning a bag of yummy granola. We were to meet Jon for dinner but, the traffic turned out to be too heavy for him to get there in time. Then we all drove home, enjoying a long ride in the rain- talking about politics, what else??

Good day for us.

Scotty is doing well, tolerating a bit of pain still- but, it isn't slowing him down. Caitlin is only minutes away from finishing her science project. Jared is happy to be returning to school after the last 11 days off. I am feeling better from my Friday diagnosis of upper respitory infection, sinus infection, ear infection and flu. I have been fever free since Thursday. I still have the ear infection but, will most likely start the third antibiotic tomorrow just to finish clearing it up. I have never had an ear infection before so this has been a new experience for me. I didn't realize it even makes your teeth and jaw hurt. No wonder babies scream when they get one.

Family Update

It's been a busy time around our house. We spent Christmas here at home with Scotty's mom, Barbara. Then we drove to Idaho to visit my family. We took Cross Country Skiing Lessons (Scotty and I, my sister Mirriam, Brothers Aaron and Josh and Sister in Law, Michelle), Caitlin joined us the second time and did very well. Scotty, Aaron, Josh and Michelle also went snowboarding.

January for us was mostly about fighting illness. February is more of the same. Jared celebrated his seventh birthday. We had a friend over for a playdate, and then went to Fudruckers for dinner (Jared's pick). He had a Pokemon party a few weeks later. Scotty also had a birthday and he and I went out for dinner and a movie.

Jared and I have had 2 sinus infections since 2008. We also got the influenza virus. I have had fevers, chills and body aches for a week now. We also had two trips to the ER. I was trying to get the pit out of an avocado and the knife slipped, stabbing myself in the palm. I had stitches and was unable to use my hand for 10 days due to the swelling an pain. It has finally healed. Scotty had a much more serious accident when a large container of near boiling water broke in his lap and he had to spend a week in the Burn Unit of a local hospital. He is home now and walking around. He's working from home this week but, will most likely return to work on Monday or Tuesday. My dad flew down to help me out and that has been a blessing. When Scotty's accident occured I still had the stitches in my hand and Jared came down with the influenza followed by me. Dad's been a blessing helping me with the kids and housework. He even cleaned out my oven and has been helping Caitlin with her science fair project.

So, that's an update on our lives. Crazy and hectic.

 

 

Birthday Party for Jared

 

Finally got the photos up on the wall, a project that took me 18 months to tackle.

 

Valentine's Day. Visiting Daddy in the hospital.

A busy month and Christmas...

Wow! I've really neglected my blog this month haven't I? I guess that the Christmas Party for church that I did for my Enrichment calling has consumed life. I am also still very run down from this cold that still seems to be hanging on. I somehow found time to shop for Christmas too. I've spent the last week running other errands, doctor appointments, lab tests, finishing up the Christmas shopping, ordering Christmas cards, assembling and mailing packages.

Caitlin broke her glasses in half and so a trip to the Opthamologist to get new glasses actually turned into family appointments to get everyone checked out! Caitlin picked up her new glasses yesterday, cute dark plastic frames (like mine). She also got a "spare pair" - some less expensive wire framed ones that she will keep in her backpack for the days when she forgets her glasses at home. Her vision worsened a bit and she needs to be more diligent in wearing them so that her lazy eye doesn't return.

For the last two years Jared has been teetering on the edge of needing glasses for reading. Because he wasn't reading a lot we didn't push the issue but, this year he has become a big fan of the Magic Tree House chapter book series and so, he spends more time reading. We ordered a pair of reading glasses for him- and he looks quite cute. I'll have to post a picture after he gets them.

On Thursday we had our Annual Kids Cookie Decorating Party. We started this tradition when Caitlin was in first grade. Now that Jared is in first grade he and his friends were included this year too. We had 10 children decorating sugar cookies, making crafts and we also played a game to exchange a holiday ornament. I am exhausted! I think next year I will have to reduce the guest list and make some much simpler crafts.

The Enrichment Christmas Party turned out nicely. I received a lot of nice compliments and I think my body felt numb for a few days afterwards. So much work!! This ward had the tradition of joining efforts with the Activities Committee to put on a Christmas Party for the men and women. It was our biggest activity. The Activities Committee and our Enrichment Food Committee were in charge of the dinner. Miho, Joan and I did the decorations (including the tables) and the entertainment. This year we did a White Christmas theme.

Other things holiday: We've been reading a lot of holiday books from Up On The Housetop to beautiful books about the real Christmas Story, the birth of our Savior. The kids are excited about making gifts for Scotty and I. We haven't done any holiday baking and probably won't until Sunday after church.

We did go on an Elders Quorum/Ward Mission activity to see the lights at the Oakland Temple. It was so beautiful. Inside the Visitors Center they had sister missionaries singing Christmas carols in a multi-language presentation. This is the most culturally diverse area I have ever lived in so, it wasn't surprising to find a big exhibit of Book of Mormons in all of the languages it is published in. You could pick up the books and look at them. Very cool! We had donuts and hot chocolate in the parking lot and enjoyed the company of great friends.

Now, Grandma Barbara is visiting. (Scotty's mom) The kids are so excited! They plan on making Gingerbread houses with her tonight. We are also planing on going to the city's Christmas in the Park. Caitlin's wants to go ice skating there.

 

Sometime last year Jared started to add a second middle name. He's named himself Jared Scott Josh Perkins. It's a little bizarre, but names are important to him. He likes for his friends to call him "Ed". He signs his school work adding the Josh. So, although it's a bit strange, I think it's cute. Josh is the name of my youngest brother and although they've not been able to spend a ton of time together, Josh must have made a good impression. When I ask Jared why he added Josh to his name, he says "because I like to!"

Photos from Thanksgiving

 

My neice, Autumn, enjoying the yummy sugar cookies

 

My sisters Mirriam and Sara - beginning the puzzle adventure

 

My dad and Josh- having a bit of competition... as usual

 

My neice, Summer, dipping her paci in frosting. She LOVED it!


Better late than never, I guess.

Some beautiful faces!

 

Tomoko's Family

 

Caitlin and her friend Jenesis

 

My "Super Girl" - notice the gold reflector cuffs

 

Jenesis, Justice, and Jewel

My friend Tomoko asked me to take her family picture for their Christmas cards. I had so much fun doing it! This is an awesome family. Caitlin and Jenesis had been to a super hero birthday party and hence the gold "reflectors" on her her wrists. I guess she was a Wonder Woman type hero. (?????)

Anyhow, the photos I think turned out okay. It helps to have such beautiful people to shoot! I guess I need to start thinking about my own Christmas cards. It's that time.

Just a little bit about my obsession...

Sara gave me the book Austenland for an early Christmas gift! My SIL, Michelle, got one too! I finished the book last night and loved it! I have to say it is nice to have a good spin on the Pride and Prejudice that I can't seem to get enough of. Why do I love that story? The romance, I suppose... I'm not sure I know a woman who wouldn't like a "Mr. Darcy" in their lives. But, mostly I think that Jane Austen is clever, funny and has the greatest talent in using words! Afterall they have books of quotes from her novels. Compilations of wit.

The other day Caitlin asked me a hypothetical "Mom, If we had a fire, and you could only grab one thing out of the house what would it be? Your Pride and Prejudice DVD?" - "No, dear. I could just go to the store and buy another of those!" - he he he!

About being a girl...

(Can you guess what color my nails are painted??)

Today, Caitlin was using my nails for painting practice. It really is a bright color, but the painting job was pretty good and Cait and I talked about how well she does at painting my nails. She made me laugh when she said, "aren't you glad that Carlee didn't give me some really strange color of nail polish, like turquoise?!?" I couldn't resist, "Yeah, or like hard-to-even-look-at fluorescent bright pink?!" LOL!! (JK Carlee, you did great picking out a gift for Caitlin, she loves it all.)

As I watched her spread the neon pink from nail bed to tip, I felt grateful to see her so happy, so pleased with feeling more "grown up", so loving the color and happy that her mom was sacrificing her long unpainted nails for her enjoyment and growth in girlhood... a rite of passage for all young women, painting nails and smearing on shiny lipgloss.

Together we watched Little Women on a DVD I found for $5. While her brother complained "How much longer do we have to listen to this PERFECT singing?" our little girl exclaimed that she loved it. I'm glad! She has a hard time understanding my Pride & Prejudice obsession but, at least she likes Little Women!