Look what I made!

This is the first thing I've made without any supervision! :) It's a wrap skirt. I found some tutorials online for making one without a pattern and used some fabric that's been sitting in storage in my mom's basement. If you saw it up close, it would be obvious that an amature made it, but overall, I think it turned out pretty good!

Leonora counts

Okay, she's not the most accurate counter ever, but it's cute! For some reason, she never remembers 5. 1 and 10 are hit and miss.

Penelope

Last night Aaron and I watched the movie Penelope. It was a cute fun movie. It won't go down in history for any special achievements or anything, but it was a cute story. This is how I felt about it most of the way through the movie. The end seemed more special though. I realized that it wasn't just a cute love story about a girl with a funny face. It's about learning to love yourself-regardless of what anyone else thinks or says. It's about makeing choices, facing your fears, and believing in yourself.

Today, tabloids flaunt pictures of skinny girls, and sometimes in the same issue critisize various women for being too fat and others for being too skinny. Women are made fun of for imperfections in thier appearence, but if a well known woman feels bad enough about her appearence to go through cosmetic surgery, or looses excess weight, that is splashed across newsstands as well. Nothing seems to escape thier scrutiny.

In todays world, I think we need tales like Penelope to remind us that we all have our own natural beauty. We all have our own natural strengths. Our features are part of who we are-regardless of how we came by them. When we learn to love ourselves with all the imperfections we have, we are freed from society's judgements. We don't need to change who we are to look nice.

I can't say that I am perfect at this. I often critisize my own looks. Some of these things-like being more in shape-are things I can and should change, while other's are things I just need to accept. I am so grateful for a husband who thinks I'm beautiful despite my flaws! I hope I can teach my kids to love themselves and others for who they are-inside and out.

Memories

Okay, I've had a few friends post this on thier blogs, and thought it might be fun!

1. As you comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

I guess she does listen

Today I was watching Leonora play in her play kitchen. She was opening and closing the doors of her "oven" and "dishwasher," putting things in and out, and talking to herself. Then she turned around to me and said, "It's hot!" Ha, ha, I'm always worried about her walking into the kitchen when I've got the oven open or reaching up when the stove is hot. It's nice to know she's listening, and fun to see her imitate me.

The Desert is Alive...

We got some free tickets to see The Sound of Music this week. It's being performed at a local outdoor ampitheater. The usually have good productions there. Last year we were able to see My Fair Lady, which was fantastic! So we were excited to get use these tickets.
When going into a play that you are familiar with, it's always difficult to view it in the same way you would a play you've never seen. It's natural (at least, for me) to compare this "new" version with the familiar one. Hopefully, there is something new and fresh that each actor can bring to thier part and directors and designers can bring to the stage. I felt that this production had a good start on this from the moment Maria came out singing in her hills. She brought something unique and interesting to the roll. She gave a fantastic performance, and with only a couple of exceptions, forgot that I had ever seen Julie Andrews performance. Her counterpart unfortunatly, just didn't live up to that standard. Rather than an honest performance, it felt "put on" and over acted. That was disappointing. But, it was one of the few disapointments. The Baroness, who is briefly engaged to Captain Von Trapp, did a wonderful job! She was so funny and spunky! The children all did a great job. The youngest, Gretl, was especially fun to watch. She also happened to be the daughter of our previous Bishop, but I think I would have enjoyed her portrayal either way! :)
The music was fun as always, and I got to hear a couple songs that aren't in the movie-or at least not in thier entirety. The orchestra here is not always top notch, and can be disappointing for someone (like Aaron) who listens to a lot of top notch stuff. But it was good enough. They didn't distract from the voices onstage, and there were no really terrible moments-just no really great ones. The singing was at moments heavenly. The nuns choruses were flawless. They harmonized perfectly! Maria was no disappointment in this area either. She had a lovely voice and used it well. However, the Captain was once again disappointing. At parts he was good, but not great. At other times, he was obviously struggling. The children were good. Occasionally the complex harmonies got the better of them, but on the whole, they were very good.
For me, the acting and music in this play are probably the most important aspects, but there were a couple other moments that I felt really made this experience unique. The first was just fun! In the movie, there is a scene where the children and Maria put on a puppet show. I knew that this scene was added for the movie, and didn't know how they would pull it off in a live performance, so I assumed it would be left out. Luckily for us, it was not! But instead of puppets, we saw live dancers on the ends of strings! I chuckled when the first human puppet appeared, and continued to be delighted by the dancers' bobbing heads and whimsical movements. It was so much fun to watch! The second moment was toward the end of the play when the family sings at the music festival. It was something I don't recall experienceing at any other play. We became not only veiwers of the play, but players. Not that it was a difficult part to play-we played the audience of the music festival. We aplauded each song and while they sang "Edelweiss," Maria looked into the audience and requested that we all sing along. I felt like we were all singing our farwell to the Von Trapps and sharing in the love of thier homeland. It was amazing to be included as part of the performance. It was a moment that I felt truly a part of what was happening on the stage.
I enjoy good theater so much! It was wonderful to be able to see this performance. Although it was imperfect, it had many fun and touching moments. I know I've already said a lot about it, but I feel like I could go on! It was certainly a worthwhile evening.

Hurry! Nevermind.

Leonora has been potty training, and doing pretty well. Since I've started only putting "big girl panties" on her during the day, she has learned that a really effective way of getting my attention is to tell me she needs to use the bathroom. "Ah pee! Ah pee!" she'll say in a very urgent voice. Then as I hurry her off to the bathroom, she'll stroll right past the door and head for the bedroom. "Leonora, do you need to pee?" I'll ask. "No." Of course not, Mom, why would you ask me that? Of course, as soon as I go back to what I was doing, she begins her urgent call once more. Eventually I get her to actually sit on the toilet.
The other thing she has learned is that she gets an M&M when she goes to the bathroom. For some reason, she never changes her mind about that part.

The Cut

Sorry to anyone who didn't get to vote, but I did it! Yesterday, I got impatient and chopped Leonora's hair off. I did it myself, so there are still a few strands that didn't quite make it to the right length, but hey, it was free. And I think it turned out pretty good. It's hard to get a good picture of her. She likes to move, and my camera doesn't agree with things that move. But here's what I've got!

Win the essential babywearing stash!

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

To cut, or not to cut (and how much?)

I'm thinking about cutting Leonora's hair. It's a little past her shoulders right now and is constantly in her face. Even when I put it up, some strand always seems to find it's way to her mouth. She is always pushing it back, just to have it fall in her eyes again. It's always getting tangled or getting food in it and seems to attract lint for some reason. I'm seriously considering a major chop. But I thought I'd get other opinions before taking such drastic measures.

So, I could cut it like I did last time:


But I was thinking about this type of a look:


Or, I could leave it like it is (this is what it looks like today-after brushing):
What do you think? I'm adding a poll in the right hand column, but comments are also welcome!

A look back to an earlier post

This is one of my favorite posts. It's also one of my earliest posts, which means, unless you've got a lot of time on your hands for reading past posts, most of my current readers probably haven't read it. So, I wanted to share it again!

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Catch Them While They're Young

I was sitting here thinking of what I could babble to you all about, when I heard a sound. It was the sound of chiming music. It sounds so nice, but in reality it's a wolf in sheep's clothing! It's the ice cream van. Our appartments get several visits a day from various ice cream vendors, and they always pause at the children's playground, which happens to be just 25 feet out our back door. These guys are like the Pied Piper-you know, the one that led all the rats from the village, and when he wasn't paid as agreed, led all the children away from the town with promises of a blissful land. The kids all go running for their change or (like the kid who lives above us) yelling through the window for money from their mothers, so they can get their treat. As for me, I know that I really shouldn't eat that stuff, and if I were to eat it, I wouldn't buy it from them at their high prices. However, I've been trained like Pavlov's dogs, and I suddenly start craving something cool and sweet. All I can say is that obviously this type of marketing is extremely effective; train them when they're young, and they'll never forget it.

Posted by Kara at 3:45 PM
Labels: Me

What we did today

William has this book of Disney stories. A few of the stories have craft ideas that go along with them, and last night, he decided he wanted to make "Under the Sea Pasta Creatures" from the Little Mermaid story. So today we went and got some colorful pasta to make our sea scapes. Here are the results:

William's blue ocean



Leonora's Yellow Sea



And my Pinkish purple ocean



I was trying to draw some fish fins around some of the shell. I'm not sure that they look much like fish though! Leonora helped me with mine.

Happy Birthday America

I hope everyone had a good time celebrating however you chose!

It's official, and not a moment too soon!

Well, Aaron has changed employers. He's still selling cars, but has switched from the Dodge/Chrysler dealership to the Toyota dealership. One of his previous managers recently switched to the Toyota store and sort of recruited Aaron. Things have been kind of falling apart at the Dodge place for a while. Aaron was doing okay as internet manager, but it was becoming increasingly more stressful due to management and owner issues. Not to mention that Dodge is known for it's high performance vehicles and trucks. Not really the best market to be in right now. They are great vehicles, but it doesn't matter how good your product is if no one is buying it. Toyota, on the other hand, is well known for thier fuel efficient cars. And the dealership he's going to was recently bought by a local man who already owns a few dealerships in town. His business is growing and prospering compaired to the Dodge place-cutting back and shrinking fast! We're both pretty happy with the job switch.

Toyota vs American car companies article

Our Story: Part 3

Our first Date

This is a fun story to tell! It was the begining of November, which at my high school, meant the Sadie Hawkin's dance. It was girl's choice, but there were a bunch of other rules you had to follow. Boys couldn't just be asked to the dance, they had to be "tagged." And if they were successfully tagged, they couldn't say no, unless they had already been tagged. No one could be tagged on school property, during school hours, or during other school sponsered activities. The girl who wanted to do the asking also had to be the one to do the actual tagging.

Although some like to make it a little more difficult, most guys aren't that difficult to tag. The previous year, I had called up a guy's house and told his dad that I wanted to tag his son. I asked if I could come over after drama (he was in drama too) and tag him at the house. His dad helped me by sending him into the office where I was hiding behind the door. That was pretty easy. Aaron decided before hand that anyone who wanted to tag him was going to have to work for it, and I got no such help from anyone in his household!

So, I had bought my ticket/tag, and worked out a plan with my friend Tess. Neither of us had driver's licenses, so we begged her mom to help us on the appointed night. I'm not sure where my mom was, but she wasn't available. Even if she were, I don't know if she would have done it. Actually, I'm amazed that Tess's mom did! Anyway, the plan was to drive over to Aaron's house after rehersals and wait inside. Sound familiar? I figured it worked once, why not try again? Well, it probably would have, but Aaron's foster dad decided he was on Aaron's side, not mine. After telling Tess and I we could wait in the living room, he went outside. When Aaron came home, he let Aaron know there were a couple of girls sitting inside waiting to tag him. Aaron took off running after his ride, and Tess's mom came running up to the house to tell us what had happened. And just to make things a little more fun, she also told us that there was someone else who seemed to be showing interest in what Aaron was doing...

Okay, sorry to do this to you, but I've got to get going! More coming soon!

Why?

Why do I have curly grey hairs? I know why they are grey, but why are the curly?

Did you see them?

They stick out way more than the straight ones.

What a Konfusing language

This morning William asked me what the word "cow" starts with. He knows the sounds that the letters make, so I asked him what he thought cow starts with and repeated the word back to him, emphasizing the first sound. A little while later, he told me that "cow" starts with a "C" and a "K." Hmmm... I tried to explain to him that they both make the same sound, but that "cow" only starts with "C."

I don't think he believed me.

Okay, this is pretty far overdue, but I finally got Leonora's birthday pictures from the camera to the computer. Here's a video from her party.

Plants

I got some plants the other day. When we moved here from Seattle, I had to leave all my plants behind. I actually had a bit of a collection. Probably not as many as some, but for someone who moved around a bit and lived in little appartments, I think I had a few! I had this big pot for my porch that had an assortment of spring bulbs and some pansies. It seems like I planted other things in there a couple times, but they were short lived. One year I had a bunch of morning glories and sweet peas. I've always been into viney things. At the time we moved, we were living on the ground floor and I planted a bunch of nasturtiums (not at all sure if that's spelled right, but oh, well.) I had a couple in hanging pots, but the ones that did really well were right in the dirt around our back porch. They trailed all over the place. I wish I had pictures on my computer. I thought they were rather beautiful!
Since moving, and abandoning all my plants (indoor and out), I haven't really restarted my collection. My mom gave me a pot with some pansies last year. I think I'm not used to haveing to water as much as you need to around here! After Renee's birth/death, I was given a couple of plants: a "Mum" and a nice indoor flowering plant that I can't remember the name. Both died while Leonora was in the hospital. So, I'm starting over again. I got some house plants. It's just too hot to try starting something outside right now. So I got two hanging plants and three other smaller plants that I'm hoping will grow quickly! It makes me happy to have plants in my house again!
My new plants.

Long post- what my kids are up to

So I realized I've been kind of a slacker with posting about my kids. I have some pictures from Leonora's birthday party that I haven't posted-unfortunately, they will have to wait a little longer. Aaron borrowed my camera for work and hasn't returned it. Probably should have uploaded those pics a while ago, but like I said, I've been kind of a slacker. But I thought maybe I should give you all a little update anyway.
William's been excelling at being 4. I think he's trying to get as much mischief in before his 5th birthday as he possibly can. Last Sunday, Aaron ended up bringing him home from church because he was out running in the hallway when he was supposed to be in primary. I was in nursury and didn't find out until after church. This week he must have done better-at least he wasn't out in the hallway when he wasn't supposed to be. This brings me to one of his favorite things to do-run. I cannot stop this kid from running! He spends half the day running laps up and down the hallway in our appartment. I wish we had a yard to send him out to. Of course, his other favorite thing is still Superman. He talked to his grandpa on the phone yesterday. He told him happy Father's Day, and then spent 20 minutes talking about how Superman can fly, he's strong, he has super-eyes and ears, etc. Funny boy.
Leonora has been potty training. Some days she does really well, others not so well. We are almost out of all pull-up and diapers, but I think I'm going to have to get more for bedtime anyway. When she's awake, she's pretty good, but, so far, a dry night is pretty rare. She also had her 2 year old check up last week. She has gained back all the weight she lost in the hospital and more! She's right at 50% for her height but about 75% for weight. The doctor said we don't have to worry about making her finish everything on her plate. The thing is, it always seems to me like she's hardly eating anything! I hope she's just saving up for her next growth spurt. Oh, and she still has a big head-in the 85th %. She got 4 shots- 2 in each leg-and spent the rest of the day and some of the next crying about her "owies." Poor girl!
Well, I'm sure there are other things I could write about, but those are the "big" things going on right now! Oh-I just remembered-Leonora is also having major issues going to sleep when she should, but that could make for a really long post. I'll have to complain about that later. :)

A Drive Through Zion

This is a paper I recently found in a box of random stuff from my past. I wrote it my freshman year of college for my English 1010 class. I was thinking about it this week when I was driving near Zion on the way to a family gathering.

A Drive Through Zion

September 3, 1999

The red, cinder-paved road reflects the heat of the summer sun, as it winds its way up the majestic canyon. The bright double yellow lines that the road wears discourage speeding up to pass the cars ahead of you. Pullouts along the road are filled-as usual-with visitors and tourists who have come to see the towering pink cliffs of Steamboat Mesa, the royal, Great White Throne, or the bright orange and "blood" stained Great Arch.


At the base of the Great Arch, a wide switchback begins the climb-halfway up the mountainside-to the tunnel. The road continues to twist and turn, up the hillside, into the small pine-scented juniper bushes and the occasional wide-leafed tree, whose leaves laugh in the breeze. As you round the last switchback-still creeping upard-you're met with an un-moving line of cars, waiting for their turn to enter the low, narrow tunnel. Near the place you stop, there is a trickle of water that seeps from the smooth red sandstone, bringing relief from the dry desert to the mosses and wild flowers. Soon the bus, motor home, or other large vehicle passes through the tunnel, and the line of cars moves forward when signaled by the ranger who is on duty.
Inside the tunnel, there is shelter from the blazing sun. The air is cool and dark. Often, car horns can be heard echoing and re-echoing off the walls of the tunnel-along with the occasional holler from a would-be-yodeler. Up ahead there is a splash of light from one of the windows that peak out of the vertical face of the cliff. They make beautiful frames for the picturesque view of the canyon walls. Cement borders block the pullouts by the windows now. Stopping is prohibited, but you can slow down to see the painted, sun-lit world outside.

On the other side of the tunnel, the air is noticeably cooler, and the breeze coming through the rolled down window is fresh and relaxing. The scene here has changed from solid vertical cliffs to the almost liquid, rolling hills. The orange sandstone seems to flow down the hills like waves that have been frozen in time. To the right, is a small, sandy-bottomed canyon formed by flash floods. After a rain storm, a rivulet of water can be seen trickling through the white sand. Further to the right are more flowing hills. Dark reddish-brown stains show where the water has been. Often the hills are cheked with cracks. Sometimes plants will grow in the cracks; their gnarled roots spread across the sandstone. None of the cracks are so neatly patterned as those in the white walls of Checkerboard Mesa. The even squares rise above its surroundings-standing proudly-like the white king of a chess set.
As you near the exit of Zion, the red rocks become more hidden by the always green juniper bushes. A dark brown sign, suspended from a rock pillar, proclames, "Leaving Zion National Park" in clean, white, capitol letters.

Teacher's notes:
Kara, you have an excellent foundation of writing. Your skill level is what entering College Freshmen should be. Perhaps now you can work on refining your style. For example, you can concentrate on improving verbs, etc
"A"

I have to say that I'd do this a little differently now than I did then. I don't think I'd use "you" for one thing. As I was re-typing it, I was really tempted to add to and change it, but I tried to leave it as it was originally writen. It was fun to find and read again, and I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry if it was a little long!

Note: None of the pictures are mine. Unfortunately, I don't have digital copies of any Zion pictures, and the ones I have didn't fit with the essay. So, these are all pulled from various internet sites.

China

When I was younger-say early to mid teens-I saw this china creamer sitting on my grandmothers countertop. It was white with this delicate swirl of pink, peach and yellow flowers around the top. I liked it. I told my grandma. "Take it," She said. I was a bit surprised by this offering. It wasn't something I'd seen her do previously. She had a tendancy to hang on to things. I think it was after she married my step grandpa that she started being more generous. I once told him I liked one of the many bolo ties he used to wear. He took it off and handed it to me. I have never figured out what I was supposed to do with it. Maybe I should have told him it looked good on him! I digress... So I took home this cute little creamer. It was a few years before I realized there was a set of dinner plates, cups and saucers, desert bowls, and salt and pepper shakers that went with it. When my grandmother died, my mom was nice enough to get the set with me in mind. It all sat in my mom's cupboards, occasionally getting used, until recently. It technically became mine when I got married, but I wasn't able to take it with me when I moved to Seattle. It has been in my possesion for quite a few months now, but I don't get much opportunity to show it off in person. So, here are a couple pictures that I stole off ebay! :)

Movie Review

My Neighbor Totoro

When I've talked about this movie and other's by the same Japanese studio, I've sometimes gotten the response, "Oh, I didn't know you liked anime." This response has always been a bit puzzling to me. I don't consider myself a fan of anime. My first exposure to this style of animation did nothing for me. I was extremely uninterested. I never cared to see anymore of it after that. (Sorry, Natalie!) Even though I've enjoyed most of the films I've seen from this particular studio, I still don't like "anime." What I do like is a good story and beautiful art in any genre.
My Neighbor Totoro is a magical story. When I was much younger, my brother and I walked to school. But we didn't just walk. We had adventures to school! One of my personal favorites was when we rode triceratop dinosaurs to school. It always took us forever to get there. We lived about a mile from the school, left about an hour before school started, and rarely made it with any time to spare. This movie reminds me of those imaginative years of my childhood. Anything was possible. Any shadey corner was a secret place. Magic was everywhere. The same is true for the two sisters in the movie. When they move to a new house, there are all kinds of possibilities. The shadey path becomes a tunnel of trees, and the idea that their house might be haunted is not frightening, but exciting! This story to me epitomizes the immagination and excitement of childhood. Anything is possible.
The art is beautiful as well. It is set in the Japanese countryside. Everything is green and beautiful. I find it difficult to describe what makes it different from mosst animated movies... I think what makes it different might be how easy it is to watch. It's almost like the trees and bushes are quiet characters in the movie. They are important-not just background. I have now typed and deleted a few different descriptions. Perhaps, you will just have to watch it yourself to see what I mean!

Here's a clip:

Mamma, Dadda, Baby

Last night, Aaron and I had a little treat. Leonora, (who should have been in bed, but she took a late nap yesterday) helped us eat it. She was so cute when she asked, we just had to give in! She would say, "Mamma, Dadda, shoclate?" Dadda was the one with the spoon, so I told her, not "Mamma", "Dadda." She then pointed to Aaron and said, "Dadda," pointed to me and said, "Mamma," then pointed to herself and said, "Uhm Bebe." We laughed, which gave her enough reason to repeat the performance a couple more times. (This is one of those moments I wish I had on video-my description just doesn't do it justice.) Since she's turned two, I've been trying to convince William that she's not really a baby anymore, but she knows she's the baby around here!

Our Story Part 2

How We Met...
So Aaron had made it to this funny little corner of Utah. When school started, Aaron was looking for some extra curricular activities, I guess. He registered for band, choir, and something he'd never tried before, drama. I had been participating in the high school drama program for years, but for some reason beginning drama had never fit into my schedule before. This year, it did, so I took it. Aaron and I sat on opposite sides of the classroom from each other. I remember when he introduced himself to the class. He had registered for school late because they had had to work out guardianship issues with the family he was staying with. He said he was from Seattle, which I teased him about later because I found out he was not from Seattle proper. His parents actually lived in an area that was trying to become a city, but hadn't quite made it yet.
... And got to know each other
It was easy to learn the basics about him in drama class, but we didn't really start getting to know each other until we both auditioned for the musical, "Hello, Dolly." For me, this was nothing unusual: I auditioned for everything. Aaron was dared into it. He'd never been in a play. We both made it into actual rolls. He played Barnaby, and I was Ermagarde. I got to whine and cry a lot. So, in the beginning of rehersals, we were required to be there a lot, but for some reason, we never did anything. There was this huge opening scene that seemed to take forever to figure out, and Aaron and I were not in it. I think our teacher kept hoping to finish this scene and move on, but everyday, we sat there with nothing to do but get to know each other better. Which is what we did for at least a week's worth of three-hour-a-day rehersals. We learned enough about each other to become pretty good friends.

Birthday pictures

We got Leonora's pictures taken yesterday! Here are a few of my favorite shots.

Happy Birthday, Leonora! (a day late-oops)

A long two weeks after her due date, Leonora finally made her appearence in this world. My midwife and mom were telling me they saw lots of hair as she was born, but I was still surprised when I saw that beautiful, hair-covered head! She was a sweet baby, even if a bit more demanding than her brother had been! As a two year old, she still is-more than ever actually! But she's still a loving little girl. She loves to snuggle with mommy when she's tired, and runs to daddy when he comes home from work. She even loves her big brother and wants to be just like him-except prettier!
Happy Birthday Leonora! I love you!

obligatory post

Hello, this is probably going to be very uniteresting, but I realized how long it's been since I posted, and thought I should post something! So here it is. I haven't fallen off a cliff or anything, I've just been boring! :) or bored? Next week will be busy, but hopefully I'll have time to post a little. It's Leonora's birthday next week! Yay! so I should at least get pictures of her on there sometime! :)

Good news, bad news

Today our stimulus money was deposited into our account. That's the good news. The bad news is, it isn't as much as I was expecting. We will have to wait for Aaron's next check before we know when we will be able to move. Grrr... I'm so tired of this apartment!

Oh, there is some other good news. If someone else gets the apartment we were planning on taking, the one right next door will be available mid-June. I haven't been inside it, as it is still occupied, but as long as it hasn't been trashed, it should be pretty much the same-but with a built in microwave. :)

Moving Out

At the end of last month, I gave our apartment manager notice that we would be moving out. I have been wanting to move out for quite a while. The apartment we are in now was always supposed to be temporary, but with everything going on since our lease ended, we just haven't had time or money to seriously consider moving. With the economic stimulus coming, I thought now would be the perfect time to start looking. I've been occasionally picking up the local classified adds to see what was out there, but it had been a little while, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the rates seem to have dropped some. Not a ton, but some. I found one place that I really loved. It even had a 2 car garage! And was only $75 more than what we are paying now! I was really disappointed to find out this morning that someone else got to it first. :( So, it looks like we'll be going with the second choice. There's no garage with this place, but it does have one covered parking place. It also has a shared yard in the back where the kids could go run around when they are driving me crazy. And it acutally has hard floor instead of carpet in the dining area. That was something I really wanted. It really is a much nicer place than we are in now. Anyway, I'll show you some pictures.

Arch between living and dining



The Kitchen



This is the Master Bath. The picture doesn't really do it justice. It's got a double vanity! Yay!

Who I'd like to see in the top 2

Aaron and I have been watching American Idol. Last night, the top 4 performed. We don't have cable/satalite, so we watch on Youtube. No commercials! :) All over youtube, people are saying they want to see "the two Davids" in the top 2. While I have enjoyed many of David Cook's performances, I think we've seen the best that he has to offer. And I'm not a big Jason Castro fan. He has a pleasant voice, and he's certainly knows his strengths, I'm just not really into what he does. So, here are two of my favorite performances from Syesha and David A. These are the two I'd like to see belting it out in the final show. Last night, I thought there were three truly noteworthy performances-two belonging to David A. and this one from Syesha.



Here's one of Davids. I had a hard time deciding which one I liked better. They both were excellent! Anyway, here you go.



After this performance, Aaron commented that he "sure has a lot of 'soul' for a white boy from Utah!"

Breast is best: article on breastfeeding

First, I'd like to say that I don't look down on anyone who does not exclusively breastfeed. I think there are legitimate reasons not to, however, this study just shows that infants who are exclusively breastfed really DO have an andvantage over those who are not.

Breast-Feeding May Boost IQ


Published: 05/05/08
MONDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- Children who were breast-fed exclusively for the first three months of life or longer scored nearly six points higher on IQ tests at the age of 6 than children who weren't breast-fed exclusively, a new study has found.

The finding buttresses previous research that has suggested that children and adults who were breast-fed as infants scored better on IQ tests and other measures of cognitive development, such as thinking, learning and memory, the study authors said.

"Long and exclusive breast-feeding makes kids smarter," said lead researcher Dr. Michael S. Kramer, of McGill University and the Montreal Children's Hospital, in Canada.

Why breast-feeding might increase cognitive skills isn't clear, Kramer said. "It could be something in the milk, or it could be the physical contact between the mother and the baby," he said. "It could be the way the mother interacts with the baby during breast-feeding -- there is no way to know."

The one thing Kraemer is sure of is that it has nothing to do with differences between mothers. The women in the new study were all from the eastern European country of Belarus.

The findings are published in the May issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

For the study, Kramer's group randomly assigned 7,108 infants in Belarus to exclusive breast-feeding; another 6,781 infants received the usual practice of breast-feeding plus other foods.

When the children were 6.5 years old they were given a standard IQ test. Those children who were exclusively breast-fed scored, on average, 7.5 points higher in verbal intelligence, 2.9 points higher in nonverbal intelligence, and 5.9 points higher in overall intelligence.

In addition, their teachers said the breast-fed children had significantly better academic performance in both reading and writing, compared with children who weren't breast-fed exclusively.

Kramer thinks women should breast-feed exclusively for at least three, and if they can, six months, and try to continue breast-feeding for at least a year.

"For women in developed countries who can achieve exclusive breast-feeding for at least three months, their kids would benefit by about three or four IQ points," he said.

One expert thinks it's the nutrients in mothers' milk -- which aren't found in other foods -- that are essential for brain development and increased IQ.

"I'm not surprised because many studies have had similar results," said Dr. Ruth Lawrence, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics executive committee section on breast-feeding. "It's wonderful to have this very large study to confirm what we've known or thought for a long time."

Lawrence thinks that because mothers' milk contains certain amino acids not found in formula, it's better for infants' developing brains. These amino acids include omega three fatty acids and DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid), which are important for brain growth, she noted.

Human milk also contains cholesterol, while formula doesn't, Lawrence said. "We learned to fear cholesterol and yet cholesterol is very important for brain tissue, it's very important for nerve tissue," she said. "That's why human milk is a better nutrient to support brain growth."

Many professional organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend breast-feeding as the best way to improve infants' overall health and build their immune system. Breast-fed infants have fewer hospital admissions, ear infections, diarrhea, rashes, allergies and other medical problems than bottle-fed babies, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Our Story: Part 1

I love telling stories. Especially about myself. Does that make me self-centered? I'm not sure. But I think I have a few interesting stories. One that never seems to grow old is how Aaron and I met and ended up getting married. It's a long story from beginning to end, but I've been wanting to put it down for a while. It will probably take several installments, so I thought I should get started!

How he got here

Ten years ago, Aaron was 16 and living in the Seattle area. He had been having some issues with depression. His parents had decided that whatever they were doing wasn't helping him, and were considering sending him to a wilderness program or group home or something-which, I think, would have done more harm than good. It wasn't like he was on drugs or anything, he'd just stay up all night and sleep through school. Anyway, he was visiting an online chat room one day and started talking with a girl there. (No, it wasn't me.) After exchanging a lot of information that they probably shouldn't have (for safty reasons) they discovered that their parents had known each other, but had lost contact over the years. Her parents had taken in struggleing kids from time to time and offered Aaron a home with them. His parents agreed, and arangements were made for Aaron to move to their home in Utah. In the meantime, I was finishing up my junior year of high school and registering for my senior classes-completely unaware that anything more important was happening...

New Neighbor

A week or two ago, I noticed a new home under construction. Today, I had the opportunity to meet (and photograph) our newest neighbor. Here's her home. (I'm pretty sure she built it herself.)





And here she is! She's a cutie, isn't she? I've heard that she is expecting two additions to her family soon!

One down...

I actually lost a pound this week! Woohoo! I really didn't think I would. I ate donuts this week. Three of them in one day. I don't even know why except that they were there for the taking. My kids ate some of them, so I guess I didn't eat all three myself, but still. I feel like I kind of pigged out this week. I don't know why, I was just really munchy. I have been walking in the mornings this week. I think I would have gained weight if I hadn't been, but apparently, the walks help. Yesterday, I got in a toning session as well. I'm feeling a bit sore today. I guess that's a good sign though, right? It means somethings happening! And apparently the scale agrees. So, one pound down this week, 12 more to go!

Note: sorry no picture. My photographer left before I got him to take one. Really, I don't think I look much different from the last one though.

Pride and Prejudice

I am a relatively new fan of Jane Austen. I had never read any of her books or seen any of the movies until December of 2005 when I went with some friends to see the Kiera Knightly version. That was the beginning of my love for Jane's novels. I think I have now read and/or listened to all of her completed novels. This movie is the reason why. Since reading the book, I've watched the movie over and over. I've seen other versions as well. Long time fans of Pride and Prejudice will probably argue that the BBC version is better and more complete. Well, it is more complete, but that means longer. Much longer. Since I know the story, I don't feel like I'm missing anything when I watch the newer, shorter version. And actually, I think that as a film, the 2005 version is far better. It has more life. The cinamatography is absolutely amazing. It's not instantly stunning, but the more I watch it, the more I appriciate the complexity of each shot. I also love the music. It's so perfect for the film. The acting is faultless as well. It was a wonderful cast who excelled at breathing life into their characters. I don't think anyone could have done a better job on a theatrical release of Pride and Prejudice-at least, not one of the same length. It has become my favorite movie. If you haven't seen it, I recomend it. If you have, I still recomend it!

No change

I weighed myself this morning, and if you can't tell from the title, I still haven't lost or gained anything. The good news of course is that I'm not getting bigger. I bought myself a pair of capris this last week, and was excited to find out that I have dropped two pants sizes! Yay! That's encouraging. I also have started walking in the mornings again. It gives a good start to my day. I do feel better this week than last. Even though the number on the scale hasn't changed, I feel like I've been doing something to improve my health. And since I've been getting up earlier to walk, I've also been going to bed earlier. I feel more rested and more energetic in the morning. Overall, I'm feeling pretty good. I still want to be smaller, but I still feel like I'm heading in the right direction. I've lost all the weight from Renee's pregnancy. I'm still carrying around a large portion of what was left after Leonora was born. I'd like to lose all that, but like I said, I feel like I'm moving in the right direction.

Continued... (see previous post for first installment)

Hello everyone! I'm back, and hopefully blogger is too!
So here are some more of our fabulous tupperware sales!
This cute lunch set is 40% off right now. The water bottle has a compartment in the bottom to stow keys, change, or anything else small that you don't want lost. On sale now for $14.40

35% off our "Expandable Storage Set." It includes an eight cup flat out (smashes flat for storage, pops open for use. Also washes in the dishwasher flat.) and two stuffables. One is eight cups, one four. The stuffable lid is made to expand to fit whatever is in the bowl. Great for when your leftovers are just a little too much to fit.
On sale for $29.25

Here is a great product! They are called Heat and Serves. This set is 25% off right now. See that red dot? Cute, huh? But it's also functional. It's a little vent that automatically opens when there is too much steam preasure inside. These are great for microwaving or freezer storage. They are shaped especially to help microwaved foods to cook more evenly. This set has both a five cup and an eight cup square container.
Sale price $25.88


Okay, those are the sales. Now, I just want to show you a recently released line of products. These are now available at the introductory prices. The soaps and lotions smell wonderful and the microfiber dishcloths are dishwasher safe! That's right, just toss it in with the dishes! Very cool in my opinion. Anyway, here's the flyer:
(Click on the flyer to see a larger copy.)

Another Tuppeware Post

Hey Everyone! I've got some goals I'm trying to reach this month. My deadline is Friday night, so I thought I'd just let you all know about the sales going on right now and a few new products that I'm very excited about! Just so you know, these sales end Friday also, but if you miss out on these, we'll have more next month! :)
There are some great kids toys on sale:

And some other great products (up to 50% off!):
This Modular Mate set is 50% off.
$56.00 with blue or red seals

I have more to show you, but blogger isn't cooperating, so I'll get back to you on the rest!

Hello Chocolate Face

The prospect of no more diapers!

Leonora is showing definate signs of potty-training readiness! This is very exciting! She has been running around without a diaper the last few mornings, and hasn't had any accidents. I'm discovering that she's pretty good about going to the bathroom when she needs to. This is very exciting! If I'm repeating myself, it's just because I'm excited! :D We are getting low on diapers, so yesterday I went ahead and got her some pull ups. Yes, I know, they aren't all that different from diapers, but they have the little pictures that disappear when they get wet. I'm hoping that will encourage her to go to the potty when she's wearing them. She'll go when she's got nothing on, but if she has a diaper on, she just goes in it. I'm hopeful that I'll only have to buy the pull-ups once. Maybe next month for her birthday she'll get big girl panties!

Something I made

Aaron and I went shopping for some nice fake flowers on our date last week. We were lucky and caught the last half hour of the 60% off sale at Micheal's craft store. We picked out a heart shaped wreath and some flowers. On Sunday, I spent a little time putting it all together and later took the wreath to Renee's grave. I thought it looked nice, so I took a picture.

Weigh in

I weighed myself yesterday. I weighed myself again today in case it had changed. It hadn't. Actually, it hasn't changed since last week. Oh, well, at least it isn't going up, right? I'm going to have to work harder if I want more to come off though. I need to exercise. Is that spelled right? I really don't know. Anyway, it's something that I have not been doing consistantly-hardly at all in the last couple of weeks-and I'm going to have to bite the bullet and do it if I want to look and feel better. Eating better has been helping, but I've got quite a ways to go.
Yep, gotta start moving!

Walk through the desert

Leonora and I went for a walk this week. It was HOT! I'm dreading it getting hotter, which of course, it will! Since our walk, we've had a wind storm come through and cool us off. It's been nice. While we were on our walk, I took some pictures of some of our desert flowers that are blooming. When I went to Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, there were all kinds of flowers blooming along the freeway. It was so pretty! I haven't been able to find quite as much diversity or quantity of flowers here, but here are a few that I found.
This was our first find. It's one of the bushes that grows along the river here. Most of them are just green right now. I love the feathery look of these bushes when they bloom.

We had been walking for a bit, and I was anxious to find more flowers. I saw a few along the top of the hill we were walking around, but none of them were close enough for a good picture. When we got to the other side, we were rewarded with these blosoms.

Here's a closer veiw.

As we walked on some more we found these small purple flowers growing out of the loose "red" dirt hillside. On the road to Las Vegas, there were large patches of purple flowers. I assume they are the same kind.

Here are some cute daisy-ish flowers we found. There's a little purple one in there too!



On our way home, we saw these flowers growing on an outcropping of rock.



I hope you enjoyed our little walk! It's certainly not as lush and green here as a lot of places, but it has it's own beauty. Seeing the desert in bloom is one of those things that reminds me of what a miraculous world we live in.


Note: This was my first attempt at trying edit some of my pictures so you could get a better veiw. A camera with more zoom would be better... hopefully they look okay though.

Aaron is in reading a bedtime story to William. I just got back from driving Leonora to sleep. It's a terrible thing to make a habit. I try to only use it if I'm pretty sure she'll fall asleep quickly. Or as a last resort. Anyway, she hadn't had a nap and had been very clingy all afternoon. I think she's teething again/still. She's also gotten a little spoiled with being sick. She's also almost two. We sat out in the parking lot of the apartments for about 10 minutes to make sure things had calmed down inside. Leonora slept in her carseat, and I sat thinking and listening to the radio.
I realized that tomorrow is Wednesday, and that I've been weighing myself on Wednesdays. (I admit that I'm not looking forward to this week much.) Then I remembered that the last time I posted was my weigh in! Hmmm... I haven't been posting a whole lot lately, have I?
It's not for lack of subject matter. I just have been busy... I think... Hmmm... what have I been busy with? Good question. Then I realized... I've been listening to a book on Aaron's Ipod. Garlic and Saphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise. It's a memoir of a previous New York Times food critic. She's a fantastic writer. Her descriptions of the food she eats always make my mouth water- well, the ones from good restuarants do anyway! I've been enjoying it.
... It's getting late. I don't know if this post makes much sense. I'm being distracted. I think Aaron needs to go to bed. He's getting strange. I have more to post-some pictures even! but I'll have to get to it tomorrow. :)

Weekly weigh in

Was anyone anxiously waiting to see if I'd lost any weight? :) Well, I did! I lost 4 more pounds! Yay! :) Here are some things I learned this week:

Water is good. When I'm drinking more, I have more energy, and I don't get munchie. I don't crave junk as often when I'm well hydrated.
A little is okay. I've tried not to ban anything completely. I've had chocolate this week. I even had one peice of chocolate cake Saturday. It was really good! The two things I can't seem to go without are chocolate (obviously) and pizza. I don't know why, but I've always had a weakness for pizza.
I heard a few questions that I've been trying to keep in mind when I'm deciding what to eat. Is what I'm puting into my body going to be good for me? Is it going to help me reach my goals? and if not, is it worth it? Gourmet pizza is worth it. Papa Johns comes close. Little Ceasars, not at all! Jelly beans are not worth it, but a piece of dark Dove chocolate (just one!) is.
Portion size is important. I went to Las Vegas with my mom for a Tupperware convention. We were served a delicious lunch! It was set up buffet style, and we were given huge plates! Everything looked great! I picked out what I felt would fall into those questions above. I was a little tempeted by some things, but knew I didn't want to overfill my plate. When we sat down, my mom said, "You didn't get very much!" But I got enough to fill me up without stuffing myself. Then, I felt like it would be okay to get one desert. I watched what everyone else was bringing back from the desert table and made my choice before I went over. I was very pleased with myself for making good decisions! Did I splurge a little, yes. But I didn't binge. I watched most of the people at the table come back with 3, 4, or 5 different deserts after eating a huge plate of food. You know, I wasn't jealous of anything they got that I didn't. I wasn't disappointed about any of my choices. And I didn't feel guilty. The splurge was worth it! This is how I want to live! I feel like that lunch was a milestone. I proved to myself that I can enjoy good food without having to feel bad about it. Yay! :)

Hello, can we all be healthy for 5 minutes!?!?

Leonora is sick... again. Aaron just got over a nasty cough. I've had a slight sniffle (hopefully it's related to all that beautiful spring pollen floating around). Before Aaron's cough set in, Leonora also had a little cold. Nothing serious, but anytime I call the doctor's office with a list of symptoms, they say, "You'd better come in." So, I took her in when she had her little snifflie cold. (It was just a cold.) And again yesterday when she threw up. (Just a flu bug.) And again today, because her fever hasn't gone away. (Hmmm... we don't know what this is. Could you bring in some poop?) My alergies/cold/whatever hasn't been too bad, but William seems to be the only one who continues to avoid whatever case of the sickies seems to be going around. Ironicly, he tells me almost daily that HE is SICK, and needs some kind of special treatment. Hmmmm...

It's Wednesday

Okay, I did weigh myself today, and I'm not terribly excited or surprised. After all, I "cheated" (can you cheat when you're not really on a strict diet?) a few times. We went to a funeral last Thursday, and I stuffed myself with rolls, ham drenched in brown sugar, and "funeral potatoes." Oh, and a piece of chocolate cake. What can I say? It was 4:00 in the afternoon, and I hadn't had anything but a shake up to that point. (It was a good shake too! A berry smoothie (with protien powder) from Emerald City Smoothies. Any of you Seattle types been there? Aaron was excited to see one put in here. Previously, there wasn't any place to get a smoothie that wasn't made with ice cream. Or otherwise loaded with sugar. At least, we hadn't found any place. Anyway, I'm distracting myself.) The point is, I didn't eat all that great. (They also handed out chocolate bars in Relief Society! I couldn't NOT eat it!) On top of not eating as well as I could have, I also didn't exercise much. I went on a short walk yesterday with Leonora, but that was it for the entire week! Pretty terrible if I do say so myself. So, as I said, I was not terribly surprised to see the needle on the scale pointing in exactly the same spot as last week. My not perfectly accurate scale told me 3 consecutive times that I didn't loose anything. Ah, well, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained," as my Grandmother has been known to say. Or in my case, "Nothing ventured, nothing lost."

Bigdog, worlds most advanced quadroped robot

Aaron was watching this video earlier. I can't get over how strange this is! I mean, okay, it's a robot that walks on four legs. Not too weird right? But you have to watch the video. This thing looks man made, but moves like an animal. The combination is what makes it strange. Anyway, watch this clip, I think you'll see what I mean.

Weigh in Wednesday

It's been a week since I last posted about loosing weight, and I'm excited to say, I'm still loosing some! Yay! I've lost another 5 lbs in the last week for a total of 12 lbs! Yay! :) I had a couple of requests for picture last week, so I had Aaron take one of me this morning.

William's favorite video