Erg.

Does anyone else hate school picture day? I hate it for 3 reasons:

1. Because my girls think school picture day is a day to go all-out on their clothes and hair. I think one year Makenna wanted to wear her Christmas dress. This year she wore a cute shirt and some cute capri's - I thought we were safe until she insisted on adding a polka dot scarf, which totally didn't match. Then, she wanted braids, a headband, and one of those stretchy crocheted hats. All together. I told her I wasn't sure, but there might be a rule about no hats for picture day. She told me she thought I was making that up. But I convinced her to show her pretty hair off with just braids.

2. Because once we get hair and clothes perfect and carefully walk to school (no bike riding today!), I know that somewhere in the 20 minutes between when school starts and the picture is taken, their ponytails will be lopsided, their shirts will have a stain on the front, and they'll have blue teeth from eating some weird candy that came from who knows where.

3. Because they charge a ridiculous amount for a forced-smile, dinky picture. Oh, of course I think every picture of my girls is beautiful and priceless. But I am not going to spend 12 to 20 (or more!) bucks for a dinky little picture when I could take a much better one for free.

There. I'm done venting. Erg. And who knows - I'll probably end up buying the pictures anyway!!

How Pretty Is This?!

Yes, it's a picture of our dinner. Stir-fry. But isn't it pretty? And it also could mark a turning point for me (dramatic, I know.) Here's the deal: I've never been a big fan of Chinese food. Oh sure, I'll eat it if it's for a dinner party or something, but I would never choose it over Italian or Mexican or other, much yummier food. Probably because the only vegetarian thing on a Chinese menu is a bunch of stir-fried or steamed veggies. Maybe with rice. And I always skip the sauce because you never know what could be in it - I heard once that basically all Chinese sauces are not vegetarian. So...what I usually end up with is plain veggies and plain rice. Which can be kind of tasty, but it never fails that I am starving again an hour after I finish dinner. It's just not substaintial or sustaining.

So...can you guess what is one of Quentin's all-time favorite foods? Yep - stir fry. We got a wok for our wedding and have used it maybe 3 times in 13 years. And yet I still hold onto it because I had visions that I would someday be a "good wife" and make my husband his favorite dish more than once a year. I've been known to buy the frozen stir-fry veggies, heat them up in the microwave, and add rice to it. But yuck. I can't stand frozen broccoli, and I can barely swallow the other frost-flavored veggies.

Well, I decided to conquer my dilemma - either enjoy stir-fry or toss the wok. So today I got a boat-load of FRESH veggies, chopped them up (which only took about 20 minutes), put them in the wok - and viola! Dinner is served. It's pretty, it's healthy, and...it's yummy! Better than frozen for sure!

So...there's cabbage, celery, carrots, zucchini, summer squash, broccoli, green peppers, red peppers, snow peas, baby corn, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots. And we'll mix in a white and brown rice blend (cooked in vegetable broth - mmmm....) and those crunchy Chow Mein noodles. Quentin likes to top his with soy sauce and/or sweet and sour sauce, but I like mine either "naked" or with Asian Toasted Sesame dressing. Maybe I'll be convinced to make this more often after all!

More Funnies

I know my kids would be horribly embarrassed if they knew I posted the cute things they say on my blog for friends and family to read.... But oh well. Their time to embarrass me will come soon enough (when they're teenagers...?)

Last Thursday, Kasidee kept asking me if I was going to go to Lego. I couldn’t figure out what she was talking about until I got my yoga clothes on and grabbed my mat to go to my new yoga class. Then she said, “Are you going to your Lego class now?” How cute!

Makenna has been sick today. She told me her tummy felt "all circley," and when she had diarrhea and got a little bit in her panties, I could tell she was embarrassed. She said, "I'm so sorry Mommy - it's just hard to keep track of it all." Poor thing!

Quentin gave Makenna a blessing this afternoon, and I overheard Kiera telling our neighbor that she and Daddy gave Makenna a blessing. I said, "You mean Daddy gave her a blessing?" And she said, "Well, yeah - Daddies can give blessings, but girls can't. Why not?" I began explaining how the priesthood is given to males to help serve others, but females are blessed with other gifts. Kiera was quiet for a minute then said, "You mean like girls can clean the house while the boys play video games? Kind of like Uncle Corbin and Daddy sometimes?" Hmmmm....

Fun Run

Kiera and Makenna went to school early this morning to join the Fun Run. We've never participated in the past, but since we offered to help our neighbor (who was the lady in charge) and had to be there anyway, the girls decided to run. It was just one loop around the outdoor track, which is 1/4 mile, and it only took a couple of minutes. But they had so much fun! Makenna got second place in the first grade girl race, and Kiera got third place (well, maybe fourth - but her ribbon said third) in the third grade girl race. They had lots of fun, and maybe it will be something we'll have to do every year!

Favorite Books - Part 1

I've always loved children's books. There's something about them - the art, the stories, the lessons - that just makes me feel good inside! (Or maybe it's because I get to cuddle with my girls on our reading bench while we read them!) I love collecting children's books and love checking out books at the library and even buying them at the library book sales. And preschool has given me a good excuse to get some more that have been on my list! But I don't like to buy books just to buy books. I'm pretty picky about the ones I want on our shelves. Anyway, this post probably isn't interesting to anyone but me, but I wanted to post some of our all-time favorite picture books for a record. We have most of these books, and I'm sure they'll be on my shelves even when I'm a grandma! (And I'm sure I'll have more to add to the list!)

ALPHABET CITY
These drawings inspired us to look around our house and yard and make a book of our own.

BEAR SNORES ON
This is probably our all-time favorite book. We love the rhythm and rhymes! We love all the "Bear" books - I think there are 4 or 5.

BECAUSE OF YOU
How sweet to know that each person is so special and essential!

THE BIGGEST BED IN THE WORLD
This one keeps us laughing and hits a little close to home!

BLUE HAT, GREEN HAT
This silly one for babies just tickled each of my girls when they were little - they cracked up at the silly turkey putting his clothes on wrong!

CDB
Just letters make out sentences. C D B means "See the bee!"

A CHILD'S CALENDAR
These poems are so descriptive they leave me breathless!

COOKIES
Learning life lessons through cookie analogies!

COUNTING KISSES
Each of my girls loved this one when they were babies.

DEAR DEER
A book of homophones - there are quite a few in the English language.

THE DISAPPEARING ALPHABET
"What if there were no letter A? Cows would eat HY instead HAY. What's HY? It's an unheard-of diet, And cows are happy not to try it."

EATING THE ALPHABET
Love the pictures from Lois Ehlert.

THE EMPTY POT
A classic, sweet story about being honest no matter what.

GOOD NIGHT, POPPY AND MAX
This is a fond one - the first book Kiera ever read!

HOME
No words, just pictures showing how the view from a room in a home changes through the years.

I LOVED YOU BEFORE YOU WERE BORN
The title alone makes me get teary-eyed!

MATHEMATICKLES
This is full of clever little puzzles: raindrops x leaves = pearls on green plates

MOUSE MESS
This one makes us laugh every time.

MY DADDY IS A PRETZEL
My girls and I both love yoga, and these have some fun poses.

MY GRANDMOTHER'S CLOCK
"I can count seconds by the beating of my heart. Have you noticed how the seconds go much quicker when life is exciting?"

OH MY BABY, LITTLE ONE
When I read this for the first time to the girls the night before school one year, I just started sobbing!

ONE LITTLE MOUSE
A little mouse goes looking for a new home but realizes what he had was right for him all along.

THE SEVEN SILLY EATERS
Sometimes I feel like this is my house!

SNOW SOUNDS
Just onomatopeic words - so fun!

SOMEDAY
Sweet story about hopes for the future.

STELLALUNA
A classic about friendship.

THANK YOU, WORLD
Shows different scenes from different cultures - how we're all different and similar.

THE TURN-AROUND, UPSIDE-DOWN ALPHABET BOOK
Turn the letter B on the side and it looks like a pair of goggles. Turn it on the other side and it looks like two windows in a castle. It also can look like one side of a butterfly.

UN-BRELLA
No words, just a magical story about changing seasons. Love, love, love the art!

WHOSE GARDEN IS IT?
Nothing in this world can be done alone. Everything in the world works together.

Grandparents Day

Sunday was Grandparents Day, a little-known holiday that I tend to forget unless it happens to be printed on my calendar. We stopped by Grandma Johnson's (Mom was there too!) and Grandma Stepehens'. We're so lucky to have all of these ladies in our lives!!

First Day for Two

Yesterday was a big day for both Kasidee and me. It was the first day of preschool! I normally would have waited till Kasidee was 4 to put her in preschool, but since I'm the teacher, she's lucky to be able to go now! And she's ready. She watches her sisters go to school and she misses them all day - so it's good that she can go to school as well!

Yesterday was also my first day teaching preschool in our house (remember, I taught last year at another preschool). I was a little bit nervous but once it started things seemed to go smoothly. I already can tell this is a good group of kids and I'm excited to be able to teach them (hopefully!) and watch them grow. Some people look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I'm doing a preschool. I admit that even just one of my own kids can drive me crazy and make me want to pull my hair out. But preschool is different than the craziness of home life and it's different than having my girls' friends over to play, where they go from room to room and in and out, making messes and noise in their path. This is structured, it's fun, there's a purpose, and I'm glad to be doing it. Especially since my Kasidee gets to be with me!

Room Ready

It was crunch time a couple of weeks ago, trying to get the preschool room ready. We had acquired lots of second-hand items and spiffied them up a bit. Some things were purchased new, and other things we borrowed from our houses.

To be honest, once we started making the room look like a preschool, I was excited but I was a little bit sad - I felt like I was taking away from our beautiful theater room! I tease Quentin, but we all have really enjoyed the theater room. I'm so glad we have it and I'm so proud of Quentin for all the hard work he put into it. He has been a good sport and is supportive of me "taking over" the room for the preschool. Though some have doubted - and even me at times - the room really is suitable for both purposes. It can be a small, intimate, cozy theater room - and it can also work well for a little preschool. It may be small, but it's a good thing the kids are small too! It works just right. And when preschool is over for the day, we can still bring in some chairs or a loveseat and watch a flick! And if we're having more than just our family over to watch a movie, it's easy to fold up the tables, stack the chairs, and turn the toy shelf to the side for more room. Voila!

It was hard to get a good picture of the whole room, but check out some pics. Oh, and our supply closet is in the kitchen next to the preschool room. Accessible, but it doesn't take space away from the preschool room.



CUTE LITTLE TABLES AND CHAIRS...

BUBBLE GUM CLOCK...

CUBBIES...

Labor Day

I had so many good intentions to be productive on Labor Day, and I think I even had Quentin on board too. Our garage is in desperate need of a thorough clean-up. There are leftover construction materials from the theater/preschool room, scattered tools that need to be organized, and items meant for the DI that need to be taken over - not to mention it needs to be hosed or sprayed out. We had geared up for it and planned on doing it Monday morning. But then we realized the city clean-up for fall isn't until October. Why would we want to have a pile of our junk sitting in the middle of our garage or, even worse, in front of our curb for a month? So...that was all the excuse we needed to wait a few more weeks!

Instead, we went on a nice, long bike ride. We went on the Legacy Trail and started in North Salt Lake. We rode to 500 South in Bountiful and back. We were gone nearly three hours, but it was because we took a few stops or detours. On the way back, we decided to not stop and we discovered that it only took us 40 minutes one way. It was a fun day. We all love to bike, and the weather was just perfect!

Then we visited Mom and got her bike fixed up - a bike that Grandpa had given to Grandma a long time ago. Grandma loved riding it but can't anymore and gave it to Mom. We'll have to take Mom on Legacy Trail with us next time! Mom also had an extra girls bike. Makenna has already outgrown two bikes, and this other bike was a perfect fit! The two girls rode around Mom's neighborhood and even met a new friend.

Then we decided to go to Firehouse Pizzeria for dinner. I love, love, love that restaurant! But after being told there would be a 20 minute wait and waiting 55 minutes, then sitting down and not seeing our waiter for another 10 minutes, we decided to leave. It was already 8:00 and a school night. So we went to our other favorite place, Cafe Rio, and had a yummy, quick dinner.