Pumpkin Walk

This week it feels like Fall has finally started. We went to the annual Pumpkin Walk at "the cousins'" elementary school to kick off the season.

Each class has a value and theme to decorate their pumpkins in. It was fun to see some of the creative things the kids came up with. Some of the pumpkins were pretty impressive.

These cute cousins had fun at the Pumpkin Walk, but had as much fun on the walk there and back. But we were a little confused. We were celebrating the Fall season and looking at pumpkins, scarecrows and bales of hay, but it felt like a sweltering summer day. We were all so hot and dying for a cold drink of water by the time we got back.

I am SO excited for Fall! There's just a feeling in the air. It's not as busy and cold as the Christmas season, and still has some of my favorite activities. I can't wait to decorate sugar cookies, carve pumpkins and bake pumpkin seeds, and watch the beautiful leaves change, not to mention the Halloween costumes that are already being put together and my decorations that are already up!

Now I just need to be able to wear my dark jeans without overheating and I'm good.

Happy Fall!

Us Veggies

Before Brian and I got married there was a big discussion involving both families,

"Are you sure you want to marry her?. . .she's a vegetarian."


I'm not even kidding. This conversation happened. Those words were uttered not by just one family member, but discussed as a group. They were really concerned.


Well, obviously Brian was willing to take his chances because here we are, five years later.


Lately I've been pondering where we are now and how a carnivore can cohabitate with a sweet little vegetarian, like me. How do we do it? How do our kids fare in this contrasting environment?

Number one, I am a totally laid back vegetarian. As in, as long as I don't have to eat it, it's not a big deal?

First, a little background on me. My earliest memory of not liking meat was when I was describing my distaste for ham (it has little white squiggles) to my oldest childhood friend Liz on the elementary school playground. Maybe third grade. I can't ever remember a time where I was okay with ground hamburger. I think that even before "my declaration" I was always pretty picky about meat. But the big commitment was put in high speed during the early nineties when my mom was on a Sante Fe chicken-burger kick, homemade of course. I guess I just found one too many veins in my chicken-burger and I'd had enough. At the tender age of ten I decided that I no longer ate meat. I was a vegetarian.


Oh, they all thought it was just a phase. They thought I was just being a kid and would forget or give up in a few days or weeks. Turns out it's been a seventeen year phase. And I don't know what they did with me. What did I eat back then? My mom didn't play into my "phase" very much because I never got special treatment. I never got special vegetarian meals and if I wanted to eat, I'd have to eat around the meat in whatever we were having. So, as this tangent is getting so very long, I'll just say that probably thanks to my mom, I'm a very laid back vegetarian. I don't mind if my food is cooked with or has touched meat, and although I make a mess on my plate sometimes, I am an expert meat picker. It works for me.


I also don't have any moral reasons for being a vegetarian. I love animals, sure, but that's not my platform. It's also not for health reasons, because I just had Lucky Charms for dinner. The bottom line is that I just think it's gross. It's yucky to eat an animal that was walking and breathing and thinking. I have even tried to stop. I had a few weeks in late 2004 where I decided I was going to eat chicken. I had a few nuggets at Wendy's and wee bits of chicken here and there. But I had to give myself pep talks with each chew and swallow. It was really hard for me. And also lets just say my bowels didn't know what was going on. So I stopped and told everyone to love me as I am.


That was actually a whole lot of background on me. Oops Back to my original point- me and Brian eating happily together.

Brian. He is the real reason that we've blended so well. I have never asked Brian to stop eating meat, or tried to keep him from it. I've even gotten more comfortable preparing it (which by the way just reaffirms my decision every time). Brian loves meat. But he loves me too. And over the years I think he's realized that it's just not that big of a deal. He never buys red meat. Never- unless I decide to make something in the crockpot, which has been twice. We have frozen chicken breasts, lunch meat, tuna and frozen salmon. That's it. We eat a lot of vegetarian meals, not because I force them, but because we both like them and that's just what we eat. And if he's feeling like he needs a little more substance he'll throw a chicken breast on the George and he's good to go. Or if our meal is centered around meat, then I am fine just eating the sides. It works.

He now admits that he could easily be a vegetarian because he basically eats like one. And Brian is a pretty healthy eater (those of you who know him from high school are laughing). He would be the type of vegetarian that would eat a lot of legumes and tofu- so not me. But I'm just grateful. I don't think many men could stand not having their meat. So I just like him. And I'd never have guessed it would be this easy. But I feel pretty lucky that it is.


As for our kids; I get excited when they eat meat. I'm happy for them. I'm happy when Elle gobbles down a slice of turkey, or when McKay wants to make tuna for lunch. I hope they'll have more "mental toughness," as Brian says, when it comes to animal consumption than I do. I hope it doesn't get to them. Because it can be really annoying to be a vegetarian. Like really.


But it's my destiny. My calling in life. And try as I might I can't get out of it.

this girl. . .

now has piggy tails

this girl. . .

flaps her arms and tries to fly when she stands

this girl. . .

has learned to be pretty tough

this girl. . .

is finally interested in walking

this girl. . .

has four new teeth

this girl. . .

is now climbing stairs

this girl. . .

knows what the doggy says

this girl. . .

can eat more than her brother

this girl. . .

is growing up too fast.

that's better

This guy is going to kill me. . .

I uploaded some new photos from my camera and this picture came up in it's own folder. Just this one picture all alone. Who is it?

It's a killer who somehow got my camera, took this threatening picture, and because he's a computer wizard, he somehow got it to appear on my computer just when he wanted me to discover it.

I began to panic. I called Brian and sent him the picture. He too was mystified. We don't know this man. No clue who he is. And he's looking at me like he's sending me an angry message, don't you think?

Well, I decided to do some research, with Brian on the phone in case the killer picked right then to strike. I looked at the file name which was 2008 06 04. A date. Curious. So I went back to my June folder and found pictures I had taken on June 4th.

Well what do ya know, this is Bryan Niven. . .a photographer. I was sitting in his class on June 4th. Why the pic just randomly created a new folder for itself now, I still don't know. But I'm happy that no one's out to get me.

Oh but I hope you know how scary it was before I figured it out. I actually can't look at it without getting the willies. I mean, he just kept staring at me. Those eyes. And I had no idea who he was. It really was a creepy feeling.

But now the question is what was he trying to teach us with this shot? Hmmm?

My Future Farmer

We go to the Utah State Fair every year. We love going to the Fair. I just get so happy when I'm there. We were excited to take McKay since he doesn't really remember last year.

He was so excited to do everything.

He got to pet some of the smaller goats.

But not this one- although he was completely taken with him

The highlight for McKay was seeing the "pooping cow"

He talked about it the whole way home.

The "stinky pigs" were also a favorite.

He was a regular on the farm.

The tiger show gave Elle the giggles.

And McKay hasn't stopped being a tiger since we came home.

McKay wore his boots for the occasion, so he could ride horses like this one. . .

. . .and this one.

His face every time he passed his personal cheering section was priceless.

Elle was really tired, but she was a trooper.

You can't go to the Fair without getting a funnel cake. . .and a deep fried snickers. . .and a candy apple. . .

We had such a great time with Grandma, Grandad and "the aunts", and overall I think. . .

. . .this little boy was born to go to the Fair.

"Mom! Look what I did!"

thank you son.


now i need a recipe involving lots of pears. . .

I Boiled my Baby

As if Elle hasn't gone through enough lately. Tonight as Brian was finishing up the dinner dishes I gave the kids a bath. I am not a seasoned mother by any means, but I am not brand new either and I know all about being safe in the bath. I checked the water before I put my kiddies in and it was warm. Nice and warm. In they went and I sat on the toilet and plucked my eyebrows while the bath filled up.

Usually Elle is at the top of the tub, opposite of the faucet, but tonight McKay somehow switched spots with her and she ended up right under the water flow. She was happy just watching McKay play whatever he was playing and grabbing at toys here and there. She's a pretty sturdy girl, so I don't feel like I have to be right there with her at all times. I just let them play.

Well, after about five minutes I looked over at Elle and noticed that her face was kind of red. I then noticed McKay giving her drinks of water from a cup and her coughing every time he did, so I thought that she was red from coughing/choking on the water. I told McKay to stop and went back to my eyebrows. Well, about five minutes after that I decided that she was really red. . .and then it hit me! She was right under the faucet!

I reached over and felt the water and it was HOT. It was the kind of hot that I would use in my shower. One time Brian told me that after I get out of the shower I kind of look like Charlize Theoron in the movie where she plays a lesbian serial killer. I took enormous offense to this because, you see, she is very, very ugly in that movie. I can't remember what it was called- I didn't see it. But I remember those ugly previews. I tell you this because he blamed my extremely hot showers on this comparison. I still feel ugliest right after a shower, but what can I say, I like them very hot!

Anyway, back to my baby. The water was very hot and I looked down at her and the whole side of her back that had been under the faucet was bright red. And her bottom. And her legs. And one of her arms. I picked her up- she was a million degrees- and began pouring cool water on her. When this wasn't doing much I stuck her back under the faucet- cold this time. I then began to feel extremely bad and guilty and started to cry. . .just a little. I don't know, if you boiled your baby you would probably cry too.

Brian came in and I told him what I'd done. . .horrible mother. . .and he told me that she would have been crying if it hurt her and that worst case it would be like a sunburn. He tried to make me feel better, but I still felt awful. At least she wasn't crying. But you know that old story about boiling frogs? How you put them in a pot of cool water and slowly boil them and they never know it's happening until they die. Yeah. I kept thinking of that. Of course she didn't cry. . .

We figured out that when I first turned on the water, Brian also had the sink water running and when he turned it off it changed the temperature of the bath water.

She's okay . . . and sleeping peacefully. By bedtime she wasn't even red anymore. But I will be on the lookout for blisters in the morning. And then if I see some I will crawl in my bed and never come out. . .

My poor girl.

Today at Target . . .

McKay said to me,


"Mom. When I grow up, maybe I can be a lady who gives out treats in the store!"



Hmmm. . .

My Birthday Boy

My son loves to pretend. He also loves animals. So there really is nothing better for McKay than pretending to be an animal. We go through different phases. Sometimes we're elephants; sometimes we're tigers. Right now we're on a horse kick. You can find us galloping around outside and McKay has even gone so far as to eat grass. . .like really eat it. But for his birthday it was Lion King all the way. Once I gave him the option of having a Lion King party I could not even mention any other ideas.

So there I was. My three year old convinced I had the talent to make him a lion cake. My three year old pretending for four straight weeks that we were Simba, Nala and Mufasa. When McKay started his Lion King phase my sister dug out some old Lion King figures that no one in her house was playing with and let us borrow them. By the second day of possessing these little guys, Brian and I kind of wanted to die. Okay, not really die, but we definitely were ready to send them back. He was so obsessed with playing Lion King. He wanted to do it first thing when he woke up, during every meal, and every time in between. I was all Lion-Kinged out. But I managed to pull it together for his party and he was in heaven.

He had to wait a little while before the big party. We held him off by giving him presents in the morning.

And having a yummy pancake breakfast on the special birthday plate.




After awhile it was finally party time.




These cute little lions (plus a shy one hiding around the corner) were quite a bunch.

(McKay, Matthew, Ethan, Gray and Drew (not pictured))


They were pros at the game "Sleeping Lions".

And perked up as they rocked out to "I Just Can't Wait to be King" with moves like this:

And some serious moves like this:

"Lion-Lion-Hyena" (aka, duckduckgoose) was everyone's favorite game. . .although most of the lions didn't ever totally get the concept.




Then it was time to gather at the water hole.




And what's this? A lion cake! Except I didn't decorate it. Because of our seven hours in the emergency room the day before and an early morning doctor's appointment for Ellery that day, my sweet mother-in-law came down to help. And help she did. She made this lion cake cuter than I ever could have. Lucky us.




And then it was over. My baby was three! I can't believe it. I think time starts going in warp speed once you have kids. Sometimes it seems so weird that I have a three year old. We have been doing this parent thing for three years and although it goes by fast, it seems like we've had kids forever.



But enough about that. Lets end with some fun words about McKay. Oh my goodness, how do I even describe my little boy? He is amazing. He keeps us busy. He keeps us playing. . .all the time. And he is such a little sweetheart. I honestly don't think it's much of what Brian and I do or have done, he just is a pleasant kid. He came that way. And we're sure glad he came to us.

Mary Jane

That's what I've been calling Brian all summer.

You see, Brian requested these babies for Father's day in June.

He bought them to run in, you know, to improve his form.

And since then they've been sneaking in to his everyday wardrobe.

They're supposed to be as close to being bare foot as you can get. . .with out actually being barefoot.

He gets a lot of attention whenever he wears these things.

And we all know how much Brian loves getting attention.

Every time he's out in them some stranger will comment.

They've also gotten a lot of attention from me. . . in the form of nicknames.

Mary Jane is of course my favorite, but I also enjoy monkey feet, reptile, wet suit, and another favorite, little prancing dancer.

These babies also evoke a stream of disgusted squeals from all his sisters.

They can't believe they have a brother with such poor fashion sense.

But Mary Jane doesn't care. He's commited to these shoes.

He loves them.

Minis

The month of August was pretty busy for us. We had what we're calling a bunch of "mini" vacations. One or two night trips that were quick, but still worth mentioning on our blog. So instead of doing four individual posts, here they are, altogether!

Mini #1: Wind Rivers

Ha ha ha. I should not be writing this. I don't even know where they went. Brian, his dad McKay, and his brothers Ken and Darrell took a boys trip up to somewhere in Wyoming. They hiked around a lot, saw some pretty scenery, and did manly backpacking things that I don't know the technical terms for. I know that Brian and Ken were so excited to pack for this trip. . .I can only hope the actual trip was funner than that. They saw a bear, "It's a Hard Knock Life" was stuck in McKay's head the whole time, and they all talked about how fun it will be to do it again some day.

I was so happy that Bri got to go on this trip because he's been dying to go backpacking all summer. It's a love that he and the rest of the boys in his family all share. They love camping and backpacking is even better! It took them the whole summer to find a time that they could all go, but they did it and I think they all had a great time.

Mini #2: Park City

Then it was the girl's turn. We had so much fun in Park City. Brian's mom, Adele, planned such a fun little getaway for us girls. We got pedicures, ate a yummy dinner, went in the hot tub, watched Olympic gymnastics, ate a lot of treats, and most importantly shopped! I savored the feeling of only having myself to worry about. It was very weird not having to load kids into car seats and only having to worry about feeding myself. Weird, but so wonderful. Highlights:

• We were lucky to find a place that had five pedicure chairs. We laughed when a lady came in to get her nails done looked at us and commented to the owner, "Wow. Did you have a whole bus load show up?"

• Doing facial masks in the hotel. That's what me and Missy's arm are holding up in the picture.

• Eating dinner at Main Street Pizza and Noodle. We all walked in there with appetites the size of China. . .but then quickly realized that we were just a bunch of girls when we had a whole pizza leftover.

• Adele treated us to everything! We are sure lucky to have her as a mom/mother-in-law!
  

Mini #3: Andrew's Baptism

Next we went to the outdoor baptism of this cute little nephew of mine.

Here he is climbing out of the very cold river, right after the act. That's one perfect boy right there.

The baptism was at my brother-in-law's father's cabin. They were kind enough to entertain us afterwards with lunch, horseback riding and four wheeling. A few quick things:

• I was in charge of leading the music. Me. I'm serious. Stop laughing, although it doesn't really matter, because while I was leading my whole family was laughing at me.

• McKay showed up to the baptism in full cowboy gear. He could have jumped out of his boots- he was so excited to ride a horse.

• Grandpa Cordell took Jana, Mark, Brian and I on a horseback ride. I was doing kind of okay, until we crossed the river and Jana's horse freaked out and took off running, back over the river, back to the cabin. I was a little bit worried about Jana on this wild, runaway horse, but mostly I was worried about myself. I was already feeling scared, my horse could sense my fear- at least that's what they told me- and Jana's sudden departure made my horse all upset. I was pretty much crying and wanted to get off and go back, but then Grandpa Cordell had some words with me. . .which were pretty much, "Stop being a wimpy girl. Relax and don't be ridiculous. You're not going back." (said in a really uninterested, no patience for helpless girl voice) What do you know, he was right? After Jana returned unharmed, our ride went much smoother. I think it's because I kept petting my horse and giving him positive reinforcement. ". . . we're friends, aren't we horse?"
  

Mini #4: Bear Lake

Oh I wish I had some pictures of the cabin we stayed in. Brother-in-law Mark's family has a "cabin" aka, second, very large home, in Bear Lake, Idaho. It was pretty huge, and pretty amazing.

After arriving on a Friday night, we started the weekend off with a yummy breakfast, made by the men of the family on Saturday morning.

While breakfast was being made, us girls were privileged to be audience to a one-of-a-kind show. I don't know what kind of show it was, but there were lots of costume changes and some really great dance moves. Highlights:

• Eight year old Bryson in a skin tight, black, cat suit. Couldn't get the picture to work, but it was quite a sight.

• After McKay came out dressed as what we called a snowman (see bottom right photo) he looked at us and said, "I'm not a snowman. I'm a princess." Then he began to twirl around with Ethan, the french maid. We were so proud.

After the wonderful show we headed to the lake for some swimming, boating and an outdoor lunch. On our way, we were the first car stopped by a little scout in a huge bike helmet and some sort of a bike accident in the middle of the road behind him. He was stopping traffic, and we could see that a boy was having a seizure in the middle of the road (what is up with seizures?). I poked my head out the window and asked, "Do you need a nurse?" Obviously this scout troop did need some medical help, so Brian hopped out and did some more of his "medical things" and I watched in the car. Then I realized that I had my camera and so I snapped a shot, just because I was feeling proud.

That's Bri kneeling in the white shirt. The paramedics took a long time to get there, but when we left the boy was doing okay.

We had such a fun day swimming and boating. McKay loved the boat, he even got to drive which he found very exciting. Ellery loved eating the sand. We kept her binky in the whole time, but she still stuffed hand fulls of sand in her mouth when we weren't close enough to stop her. It was really gross, but what can you do? I went on the tube-thing with Brian screamed the whole time, and afterwards we all jumped in the water for a swim.

I have never been in more beautiful water than Bear Lake. It is so blue and so clear and so pretty. You can see down really deep in the water. And the best part is, it feels so clean. I didn't even feel dirty after I got out and dried off.

We ended the day with a campfire. I tried to get some songs going, because I am the musical one in the family, but it didn't catch on. The kids loved roasting marshmallows, starbursts and brown bears (cinnamon/sugar breadsticks).

And that's it! Ah, I'm relieved to have this mini post out of the way.

Up next, Lion King mania! Get excited.