13 Years

Everyone,

Today is the day I met Juice, 13 years ago tonight. I had planned on writing a big long entry about it, but apparently I already did that. You can check it out here. You can also see a fairly flattering picture of us on our first date...although I always hated the picture because I look a little vacant in it. I glanced away right as the photographer was taking the picture, and have always been sad about my wandering mind at that point. Still, Juice looks handsome and oh so young in those big glasses and huge smile on his face. You'd think he was pleased to be out with me. I know I was overjoyed to be out with him. Although really nervous since it was my very first date. And apparently had a wandering mind. Kind of like today. I still have my corsage he gave me somewhere in a shoebox at my parents house. (Seriously, you would not believe what kind of stuff I have at my parents house still. My room still looks like my room. My brother's room, however, was taken down rapidly after his move out and is now the very cluttered office of my mom. Although I have things in there too. I think I may have too much stuff.)

Well, since I've already done the day we met post about today, I suppose I can tell you about the picture and our first date. Here, I'll even move the picture up in case you want to stare at it dreamily like I have been for the past few minutes. Ahem... moving on.

This was the first weekend in October, 1996. I know, because this was 2 weeks after I turned 16. And since I was not allowed to date until I was 16 (a great rule, one I intend to inflict on all our kids), I was looking forward to this month for awhile. I don't exactly remember when Juice asked me (my journals would know but they are buried under a heavy box and I am under strict orders to not lift anything heavier than 15 lbs) but I do know how he asked me. In Utah, the big thing is to ask people out on dates in a fun cutesy sort of way. Instead of getting a nervous phone call from a boy, you'd get cookies in your yard spelling out the question. Something similar happened to my brother. I remember finding packing peanuts in my bed (filled to overflowing) with one of them having 'yes' written on one side. I asked a boy to a school dance and this is how he thanks me! :) Still, it was a fun tradition and then you could call your girlfriends over to help find the answer. A 'no' was mostly done in person.

So, about 2 weeks before the dance, I was sitting in my dad's office, supposedly doing homework (I think I was playing solitaire on the computer) and listening to Enya. I was alone in the house. My brother was at college, my dad at work, and my mom I think had run out to the store or was on her way home from work. I heard a small knock on my front door, and looked over my shoulder to see who it was. (You could see through the open office door to the front door with big open panels on either side so you could see right out. A fact that gave Juice a lot of pause as he walked up to my doorstep, question in hand, and could see me on the computer. He said he came back 2 different times to see if I had moved and decided to chance the drop. My parents' porch has about 8 steps up to it, and he didn't think that he could make it down those steps without me noticing since the steps were pretty much in plain sight too. So he parked he car around the corner, snuck up to the house, knocked, jumped over the porch railing to the side of the house, and sprinted up the street to his car. The 16 year old in me just gets thrills every time I think about it. Wasn't he cute?!)

On my porch, was a vase of flowers and a card. I knew it was him the minute I saw the name on the outside of the card. I knew his handwriting even then. I have no idea what the card said (again, in those buried journals) but I remember being highly annoyed that I was the only one home. Where was my mother when I needed her to squeal with me at the idea of going on my very first date?! I can't remember if I called friends to tell them, but I do remember being really anxious that my mom would come home. When she came home, she went straight to the phone (still does) and I had put the flowers right next to it. She guessed what it was right away and was appropriately happy at the aspect of me going to homecoming and my first date. Dress shopping ensued and we came up with this beautiful blue number in the picture.

And now, I have spent all day on this and will have to continue it later. To be continued....

Safire

PS- All is well with the boys, moving and shaking and happy as clams. Uterus, not so happy.

Hello Labor and Delivery

Everyone,

Sorry I haven't posted more but really, not quite sure what to say. I guess after the miscarriage, especially with how late the miscarriage was, I'm hesitant to say anything about the boys. I just don't want to loose them. And not talking about them is a way to keep them closer to me. Does that make sense? I'm not even sure if it does to me.

In any case, yesterday we had a bit of a scare. I had been having mild cramping for a few days. I just brushed it off as my uterus stretching and things moving around. And then, I had about 4 honest contractions. The kind that made me remember labor and think, "What did I get myself into?! How could I have forgotten this?!" I had these contractions one after the other on Wednesday night. I drank some water, went to bed, and felt fine. In the morning, I had another so I called my doctor. He sent me straight to the hospital.

I checked in, got all gowned up, and sat in labor and delivery triage for a few hours while they monitored my uterus. Both babies were great. Baby A doing his characteristic moving so they couldn't monitor his heartbeat. Baby B is mellow, but reacting to A's movements. But I was still having contractions. I was having 4 to 5 in an hour, which is not what they want to see. After they gave me 2 24 oz cups of ice water to drink, they did a fetal fibronectin test to see my risk of going into preterm labor in the next two weeks. That took 2 hours to come back, along with the loss of my blood in the lab and a redrawing to see if I had some kind of infection. The test came back negative, blood work came back normal, and the contractions had stopped. But my uterus is irritable and still acting up. Not contractions, just crabbiness.

I was sent home around 5:30, after spending 8 hours in a tiny bed listening to the other patients in triage and their issues. (Only 1 of the 5 ladies I shared a room with actually went to have her baby...never knew that triage had such a high send home rate.)

I was not sent home on bed rest, yet. Baby A is moving so so much that one of the nurses wondered if he was pushing an already crabby uterus to the edge. I also probably did not drink enough water through the holidays and that is not a good thing. So, I'm supposed to take it easy, drink 8 oz of water for every hour I'm awake, and call the doctor if I notice the contractions again. All things I can do. Except maybe the water. That's a lot of water!

Doctor follow up on Monday. Now I have to go lay down.

Safire

What to say...

Everyone,

I have a secret that I've been dying to tell. It's been months now and I have been very good to not even allude to it on here. I didn't want people who read this to guess and spill the beans before I was able to tell people in person (Hi Nana and Grandpa!). Well, I guess over the phone is as in person as I'm going to get these days. Kudos to people who knew who said nothing until I was ready. Thanks!

Sorry, I digress. It seems like because I've kept this secret for so long, I can't bring myself to talk about it. I had planned on writing and posting this yesterday, but I couldn't. I have put this mental block up so long that I am nervous for no reason about talking about it. Really, it's time to start talking about it. Better to say now than in a few months when the secret has to come out. Literally, this secret can be kept in for only so long. Look at the pictures and tell me what you think.

Did everyone notice the typing on the pictures too? No? Let me bring your attention to that as well. I know it's a little fuzzy. Take your time. I'll wait.

Yes, it's true. A and B. Doctors don't put that type of writing on ultrasounds unless there are 2 babies. So what kind of babies are in there you ask? Let me tell you what new big sister has been saying. Butterfly has been going around patting my stomach for a few days saying, "My budders, my budders." And true to boys, they spend a lot of their days kicking each other in the head. Or so they keep doing so on the many ultrasounds I've had.

I am 19 weeks, so almost half way. This pregnancy has been different. Rough. Not like Butterfly's pregnancy when I puked the entire time. But it has been fraught with spotting early, exhaustion, and food aversion. My doctor said that these babies are sponges and will take what they need from me with no regard to my body's needs. So they have been trying to help me eat anything at all. I have to take a small extra vitamin. I am a lot bigger (duh, 2 people!) and I am already feeling some of the normal 3rd trimester complaints with hateful heartburn and hip pain. I also hate maternity clothes. That's all I'm going to say about that.

So, everyone give a nice welcome to our new little boys, A and B. They have names, but nothing we're going to say on here in keeping with my rule of no names on the blog. They do actually have online names already (hard to pick out 2 nice names, let alone 2 more online names!) but I won't use them until they are born, since the A and B thing seems to be temporary. Where they are is also temporary. I am expecting their birth around early to mid-April. They are due on Butterfly's birthday but twins are always early.

Okay, I think I've caught you up on everything. It's nice to have this out in the open. Now that I've spilled the beans, I feel a little better. Not nervous any more. Well, not about saying anything. I am a little nervous to go from 1 to 3 and have 3 under 3 for awhile. But that's another post for another day.

Safire

Things I've been doing in Dec.

Everyone,

Instead of posting, I've been doing a lot of other things. Like sitting on the couch coughing up a lung. And feeling very miserable. And watching Juice and Butterfly play with a pounding headache. I went back to the doctor and got some more drugs and will hopefully kick Edwina's fat hiney out of my lungs.

We had our first snow fall of the year. Butterfly built a snowman. I found a ton of pictures on my second camera and was trying to go through them without feeling totally sick. My ipod died and I spent at least 2 days trying to get it to actually download stuff from itunes. I ended up resetting it and now it works fine. I did loose a few songs and one movie but not like I ever watched it. Feeling ill again so I will leave you with some pictures.

Safire

Not again!

Everyone,

We seem to be infected with Ed's little sister, Edwina. It's not as bad as Ed, but still bad. I am hacking up another lung and Butterfly is investing in some serious snot. She also has a fever this morning.

But yesterday...oh yesterday. She would not go to sleep for her nap. Normally I just let her cry it out since she goes to sleep a few minutes after crying. Not so yesterday. And she sounded funny. So I got her out of bed, took her downstairs with me and snuggled for a second on the couch. She is still sobbing a little and hiccoughing. She put her head on my shoulder, coughed really hard, and puked all down the front of my shirt. Which made her cry harder, and then cough harder, and then puke harder. Again all down the front of me. Great. All I'm thinking is it's a good thing she didn't puke on the couch or on the mail I have spread all over the couch. So as I'm trying to stand up without dropping the puke, she starts gaging again and coughed up a huge wad of phlegm. That seemed to be the turning point, and she only puked 2 more times (yes, both on me...what is with toddlers and puking on their parent?!) and started to feel a little better. After I cleaned myself up, her up, and snuggled her a little to make her feel better, Daddy came home and all was forgotten. On her part. I had had it. I went to bed at 5:30pm.

Of course, that meant I woke up at around 11pm when Juice came to bed and we sat up all night talking about the first time we met and deciding to get married, etc. But that's a post that's brewing for later. I will say that the end of this month will mark 13 years of knowing Juice for me, half my life.

Butterfly of course woke up super early today, refuses to eat anything, and I am feeling really groggy. We may have a day of movies ahead of us.

Safire

Done!

Everyone,

Ahh...the month of November is over and so that means that my need to post every single day is over. Although, here I am, posting again. I've found I really like writing every day. Plus, I had a motive with the prizes they offered. I probably won't get anything, but the idea of maybe getting something was enough for me to actually write. There are a few websites out there that are promoting posting every day in December as well, but they are not offering prizes and so, I will not be joining. I'm such a prize junky. :)

Today was a day of shopping. I realize now how much I hate living near a mall in December. The traffic is really bad around the house, and around all of our normal places like the grocery store. Nothing really fun was bought today, just a lot of groceries and more toilet paper because we are apparently out. I hate being out of toilet paper.

Although I did purchase Juice a very very cool Christmas present. Can't say now, but only a few days to wait. He will be very surprised and I hope very happy.

I'm missing the snow the rest of the country seems to be getting. Sometimes it's sad to live in the south.

Safire

A Bedtime Story to End November

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

Everyone,

It's been a great month posting every day. It was hard at first, but I've actually come to enjoy it like I did last year. And like last year, I would like to continue writing more. Although without the chance of prizes, I don't know if I will. :)

Butterfly has this book memorized. It is so dang cute to hear her "reading" it to herself at night. Plus, it's a long book. She is amazing to know the whole thing at 2.5 years old. Okay, she is just amazing. I hope you enjoy hearing it as much as we do.

Some of my favorite words from this book are: pedestal, perhaps ('haps, she says), period, flashy (faasheee). Okay, it's just all around cute.

She has a little cold (we all do again! No Ed! We don't want your cousins/aunt/3rd cousin twice removed to visit! Go away!) so she's sounds a little stuffy but man can she talk.

Good night Internet!

Safire

Back from Chicago

Everyone,

Juice came back from Chicago this afternoon. Yay!!!

Safire

Being yelled at

Everyone,

Yesterday, I went out to a coffee shop with a gal from my mom's group to a small kid concert they had going on. Fun, but parking was bad in downtown Silver Spring but I did it (parallel parking on the street no less!) and I didn't even get lost trying to find the coffee shop or my car after. Go me!

Anyway, we got there a little late, sat down and Butterfly immediately started playing with the wooden toy trains on the floor. They were big, with several wheels missing. She didn't care. She was just happy to play with a new toy! There were probably about 15 other mothers there with their kids, all gabbing happily while a lady with a guitar tried to play nice music over them. I felt a little bad for the guitar lady and wondered if it would just have been better to invite moms out to gab and kids play at the coffee shop.

Butterfly had 2 wooden trains, and went to go get a 3rd to do whatever with. She had given me the trains and I had put them on the table because I didn't want to hold them. Enter Snatch Boy. I had noticed Snatch Boy fighting with another boy (assuming it's his brother) when we had come in, and mentally told myself to watch him. He ran wild with his mom just talking to her friends. He must have been 3 or 4 years old. He had been wandering around snatching toys from all the other kids, only to discard them in 2 seconds to play with something else someone else had. So as Butterfly walked 6 or 7 steps away to get another train, he pounced on the 2 wooden trains I had put on the table.

Or tried to pounce. I stopped his hand, told him "No." Firmly but not mean and let go at that. He then tried to go around me, lean over me, and take the trains. This time it was a firmer NO with a look straight in his eyes. At this point, his mother comes up all mother bear-ish.

"Who is playing with those trains?"

"My daughter." I pointed out Butterfly who was coming back with the other train. A pause.

"Is she playing with them or what?"

"She is playing with them. She has just gone to get the 3rd car."

"She can't play with every toy here you know."

I looked around significantly at the other 100 toys and books on the floor with no one playing with them and said, "Okay. But for now, she is playing with these toys." And I turned away from her and put the trains in my lap. She was still standing over me with Snatch Boy hanging on her body when Butterfly came back. I made a point to show Butterfly how to hook all the trains together and she commenced pulling all the trains around my chair. Snatch Boy's Mom stalked off in a huff, and I noticed a lot of talking and looking over at me for the next 15 minutes.

Eventually, Snatch Boy was back to snatching other kids toys, but did he touch Butterfly's? Nope. But I did feel bad about it. I hate that I brought the mama bear out in another mother. I hate that I felt like I had to protect my daughter's personal space in a public forum. Would she have cared if the other trains were gone when she got back? Possibly but it would have been no big deal since there were tons of other toys around. And more than likely Snatch Boy would have discarded it a few minutes later and she could have played with it again. Do I wonder if I did the right thing, even days later. I worry that I have stepped over some invisible line by saying no to another person's child. A stranger's child. What would you have done?

And do I wish I would have told the mother that I was the one playing with the trains? Oh yeah.

Safire

PS- Butterfly was a stellar example of toddler sharing later when Snatch Boy had gone. She still had the trains, and another little boy kept trying to take them (but not so aggressively). I told her that he would like her to share with him and when she is ready, she can share. About 5 minutes later, she decided she was done and dumped all the trains in his lap. He was happy as a clam and she was ready to move on to something else. I love it when she makes the right decision!

I've been tagged

Everyone,

My friend Laura tagged me for a meme of 6 things/habits about myself. I have absolutely no idea what to say (if it had been 6 things about Butterfly or even Juice I could have done it!) so you guys are getting the first 6 things that pop into my head.

1. I always have to fall asleep on my right side. Juice and I call this 'assuming the position' because it has to be on that side. It's been like that for as long as I can remember, even back to my first house in Colorado. I remember because I would fall asleep looking at the ballerinas on my wall and naming them (Lily, Rose, Pumpkin, Petal). I don't sleep on night on that side, it just has to be the side I start snoozing on.
2. I am incredibly nosey when it comes to other people's fertility. This is especially odd since I'd like to keep ours under wraps a little bit. BUT, I always figure if they are having trouble, I have so many helps! There is always something I know that they haven't tried, or I'm great at being supportive while they go to doctors, etc. I also know all the lingo so they don't have to explain things to me.
3. I talk to my mom every Tuesday night. We have a standing date that at 8pm my time (6pm hers) I call and we chat for hours. I think it keep us connected even though we live thousands of miles apart. Besides, I like hearing about what my family is up to, and what her friends at work are up to, and their kids too. Okay, maybe we talk way too in depth but all I have to say is the saga of Loser Boyfriend is worth hearing. Sometimes we will record and watch the same tv show and talk about it while we watch. It's fun and I look forward to it every week.
4. I am horrible with names. Unless I write them down, I have a tough time remembering them. And spouse's names seem to be the toughest for me. Especially if I've only met them once or twice and only heard about them through other people. I frequently cop out of saying them by just asking, "How's your husband?" instead of "How's insertnamehere?" But once I have the name, I'm pretty good with keeping it. I am great with faces.
5. I love looking through catalogues. I rarely buy anything from them, but I love looking through them and imagining me actually having these things that I think are pretty cute. It's my version of window shopping I guess. I also have a good time buying things online and can generally get pretty good deals.
6. I want another dog. I won't get one because frankly, our house is too small and we have a little bit of trouble keeping the one dog we have walked. But, I would love a small pack of cairn terriers running around the house. I told Juice if Soot is 7 and we have no other dog, that's the time to get one. I would like a dark girl this time and I intend to name her Ashes. Juice still wants to name her Charcoal Briquette and call her Bricky but I bet my name will win out.

Whew, that wasn't as hard as I thought! Now I have to tag 6 people...My Brother because he hasn't posted much, Cousin Jen, Jill in France, Julia, Melissa, and Valinda.

Safire

Good things, bad things

Everyone,

Juice is in Chicago until Thursday. I thought I'd do a post on the good things about having him gone, and the bad. Let's start with the bad first.

BAD:

• I am a single parent. Boy does this make me tired. I am amazed at the single working moms whenever I have to go through this. It's a lot of work!
• I have to drop Juice off at whatever major transportation sight he is leaving from. This often includes us getting up at 5am to take him somewhere. Sometimes I hate having only one car. But really, it makes no sense for him to pay for parking when I am still in the area.
• He gets to go places I don't. Apparently Chicago has a big German Christmas Market and he intends to do some shopping there and do a little sight seeing while he is in Chicago. Why can't I have a company that pays me to go travel...let alone pays for the travel! I have only driven through Chicago and would love to see it from somewhere else besides the interstate.
• I miss him. It's hard to have only a 2 year old for company sometimes. I get lonely. And I get a little cross at Butterfly because she asks the same questions over and over and over. Oh the repetition! I have also not been sleeping well the past few weeks (bad dreams about the miscarriage...we should have had the baby by now) and I wake up and snuggle up to Juice to make me feel better. I'm hoping I'm so tired while he is gone it's not an issue.

GOOD:

• I am the sole parent. I get to decide when we do things, how they are done, what we do, etc. It's really no different during the day but at night and especially at bed time, things are different.
• Juice is not around to wind up Butterfly. In the evening he thinks it's fun to get her running through the house and screaming right before bedtime. He says it burns off energy. Since he is in charge of bed time, I let him do this. But all I can say is that it did not happen tonight, and Butterfly was in bed at 7:45pm and is very quiet and yawning instead of yammering and yelling.
• I don't feel like cooking. It's hard enough trying to come up with lunches for just me and her, that I just give up on dinners. We go out to eat every night, or every other night depending on what we bought. Tonight we had burritos. Yum!
• I get to watch all the girly movies I want. Bring on Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, The King and I and all other heaving bosom/musical movies that Juice hates and refuses to watch/be in the same room as. Tonight: Persuasion! SO CUTE!

In ways he gets a little break, and I do too. Well, after Butterfly is in bed anyway. We always feel a little more refreshed after a short break like this. But I still can't wait for him to come home. Now, on with the show!

Safire

It will heal!

Everyone,

Butterfly fell down today at church. She was running outside on our way out to the car. And boy did she fall. No face injuries but she got her knee (and her tights!) pretty bad. She immediately started to scream. The only thing we could get out of her is "It will heal! It will heal!"

Awhile back, she fell and skinned both knees badly. We cleaned her up, wrapped them up and told her they would heal. And every day when we changed the bandages, she would scream and we would tell her it will heal, it will heal. She still had a faint pink scar on one of her knees from that fall.

Of course, this happens to be the knee she fell and scrapped today. It's not as bad as the last fall was, but it's still pretty bad. She is milking it a little. She cries a lot and limps around the house. Now, when she forgets it's there, she runs and plays and does all her normal things. So really, it can't hurt that much. She's going to be fun the next couple of days while Juice is in Chicago, I can tell. Such a drama queen!

Safire

LaVell Edwards Stadium

Everyone,

Turns out we do get one BYU game a year. (Where Juice and I both graduated from college. We have a passing interest in the out come of their football season.) The game we get is the big rival game between BYU and it's neighbor, University of Utah. Juice is happily using the DVR to watch the game in between playing with Butterfly and not missing anything.

I am enjoying the sight of the mountains we lived by for 3 years. I lived across the street from the stadium and on game day, the noise was deafening. I never did go to a game while we were at school, but I did my senior year with my best friend and her dad. He always had season tickets and they invited me along one time. A fun memory.

In any case, one interesting fact about the stadium: did you know that the largest collection of Jurassic era fossils in North America are stored under the stadium? Yeah, who knew?

Safire

Black Friday

Everyone,

No I did not go out shopping today. I decided to just do it from home. Gotta love internet shopping sometimes. They even had some of the good deals online as well as in the store. I think I am pretty much done with shopping this year, just a few more odds and ends to pick up. Oh, and something for Juice. He is SO hard to buy for!

We pulled out our Christmas tree this evening (Juice had to work and then he actually got a hair cut!) and Butterfly was so funny. She said, "Look Mommy! It's the biggest and best tree of all!" I remember thinking that of this very tree when I was little. She is enchanted with the lights. She also thinks that the ornaments are toys and wants to arrange them on the tree so 'friends' can talk to each other. We only put up the 3 we bought this year (every year we buy a new one) and we will put up the rest tomorrow.

When I was in high school, my parents bought a new pre-lit tree. I convinced them to let me use the old tree as a decoration for a dinner we were having at our house in high school. It was for a school dance and my dad cooked us burgers (I think it was around Halloween, we were all dressed up in 50's clothes). Anyway, my friends and I carved pumpkins, put blankets on the unfinished basement walls and hung twinkle lights from the ceiling. We also put crepe paper all over the old Christmas and put it in the corner. I don't remember if the dinner was good (it probably was) but my date was awful. I had had a huge crush on him for a long time and I finally got up the nerve to ask him out. Long story short, he was rude, bored and didn't even try to hide it. Crush ended that very night.

However, the decorations did not end that night. Or the next, or the next 30 nights. Over the next few years, the blankets came down and I took down the twinkle lights to take to college. I think I even threw out the rotted husks of carved pumpkins a year later. (Yes, a year. It was in Utah and things don't mold there like they do here! It just shriveled and looked like a sad sad grey heap.) The tree was down in the basement with that crepe paper on it until Juice and I were married.

My parents had decided to actually finish the basement and wanted to throw out the tree. We couldn't afford a tree that first year of being married. We needed a tree, they didn't want this tree. A win/win situation for everyone. We packed it up with the rest of our meager belongings and used it every year since. My parents bought it the year after my brother was born for 80 dollars. This year would mark the 28th Christmas this tree has seen.

Most of the year it spends it's time up in our attic wrapped in a big white sheet looking strangely like a body in a bag. But when you pull it out, pull the branches down, and put lights on it, and pile presents under it, it really is the biggest and the best tree ever.

Safire

Happy Thanksgiving!

Everyone,

We were good. We made sure our phone was charged today. And I think between us, we must have spent a good 4 hours on the phone. It's hard to be away from family on these days. But it's good we have unlimited long distance and can talk as long as we want.

We had a great time at the babysitting place for dinner. The girls played, we talked, turkey was eaten...all good things. We probably didn't get home until about quarter to 10pm and Butterfly was asleep at 10:09 pm. Tired girl!

Speaking of, we are very tired too. More tomorrow!

Safire

Butterfly the Engineer

Everyone,

Lately Butterfly is into building things. And she builds things elaborately. This is a bird house made out of books. Do you see the bird? Juice and I make them for her in church to keep her occupied. She LOVES them. She does everything with them lately. She even takes them with her to bed (which often results in her screaming in the middle of the night when one falls in the crack between the wall and the bed...)

Her other building love is airplanes with her legos. I am a terrible airplane builder but she loves Juice's concoctions. Sure sure kid, go with the professional aerospace engineer's planes. These planes fly around, shoot each other, rescue each other from the shooting airplane, dance, cry, and want their daddy airplane. Lots of fun, I'm telling you. (This is not my favorite game, I mostly listen to her and Juice duke it out. I typically make my plane crash so I don't have to play anymore.)

She also loves to do mazes which is a-mazing. Haha. (Can you tell I'm in a funky mood? It's all this cranberry fumes!) She has a coloring book of games and pictures and she latched on to the mazes and will actually do them. As in, take her pencil and draw through the maze without crossing the lines to get to the end. It's pretty impressive. Then she likes to do the maze over and over and over. Good times. Good times.

Safire

Fun with Paint

Everyone,

My friend Lolli introduced me to a place called the resource center. We went once, Butterfly loved it, and so I joined. It's like a small preschool that the parents need to participate in. They have toys, books, puzzles, blocks, legos, dress up stuff, a big bin with fish tank rocks and funnels and spoons etc., a toy house with a kitchen and laundry and baby dolls and toy couches, play dough, paint, and a different craft project every week. They also have circle time with songs and books and little hand games. You don't drop your kids off, but they encourage you to play and enjoy the time you spend there. They do have 2 teachers that do circle time, help out, and answer any questions the parents have. They also have an extensive library of parenting books for the adults, and different parenting tips up on the wall. It really is a lot of fun. We've only gone a few times because Ed invaded our house right after we joined. But it's still so much fun and they do things that I refuse to do at my house. Like paint.

Butterfly discovered the easels and paint today, and had a great time making a very modern art looking painting. Don't you love her face...this is her new smile-at-mommy face. We also did the art project, played with play dough, played with rocks, played with potato head, the dollies, and sort of participated in circle time.

A lot of the songs ask the kids to stand up and do something (like jump) and then sit down. Butterfly will stand up, stand there scowling, and sit down. She is so funny. I really like going there because I feel like it gives her a chance to socialize and see how school might go (with a teacher leading some stuff, etc.) Now that we are better, we will try and go every week. Should be fun!

Safire

Christmas Cards, part 2

Everyone,

Since I am trying to figure out what to write about every day during this month, I thought I'd take Karen's questions about my Christmas cards and tell my process of picking them. Here goes:

Mid October- Think: oh, I have to do Christmas cards this year. I wonder if I have any pictures? Decide then and there not to specifically do a picture for the card but use one I have taken throughout the year. Wonder where I should get Butterfly and Soot's formal picture taken this year because we do every year. Wish parents were around to take them since she was so good for them at her birthday and is so so bad for me. Be glad that they closed the picture taking place in the mall because they had really poor customer service but be sad because they were the only place around that let me bring Soot to join in the picture. Wonder out loud to Juice about it. Be horrified that he said to leave Soot out this year. Not going to happen.

First of November- Think: oh yeah, I haven't really done much for my Christmas cards yet.

Third of November- Get a catalog in the mail from an online picture place. Really enjoy going through it and seeing the new things they have this year. See a card in the back of one picture and really like the idea. Take note of who sent the catalog and vow to look at it online for pricing.

5 of November- Go through Christmas cards on my regular online photo sharing place. Decide I want to share more than 1 picture this year (do I have pictures to share?!) and decide I want something a little fun and not terribly traditional. I then spend about an hour going through my 2007 pictures and pull out all of the ones of the 3 of us together, plus a few of Butterfly that I just absolutely love. (Gotta love the favorites button that puts them all together in a folder for you...nice!) Put together card. Like it but not love it. View a few other cards on a few other sites and not find anything I like. Start to like the card a little more.

9 of November- Show Juice the card. His one comment, "Where's Soot?" It just so happens that the best pictures of all 3 of us do not include the dog. I don't have a problem with it, but Juice does. Mentally complain (slightly) and vow to find a way to put Soot in the card. Scrap first card in head but keep it for reference.

11 of November- Get email for 20% off card purchase and think..ohh...20% off!

18 of November- Finally get back onto the computer for some serious searching for cards. Go to the 20% off place first and find out that it is the same place that put out the catalog I liked. Go searching for card I liked, find it and really like it. Price, eh. Thought I would just put the card together and see if I liked it put together or not. Upload pictures. Arrange on card. LOVE card. Even get Soot on there in a really cute mini picture. Write a tiny blurb about what we did this year. Shorten it even more because it won't all fit on the card. Finalize blurb, spell check it and read it about 10 times. Really like the card enough that I don't go looking for others. Write out who I'm sending them to to figure out how many to buy. Add a few more for scrap booking purposes. Fight with website for about an hour and have to build the card 3 times because time keeps running out. Finally get the card to work, put in my 20% off coupon and blanch a little at the price. Figure I got exactly what I wanted in a card this year and buy it anyway.

19 of November- Anxiously await card delivery and contemplate how I'm going to get Juice to pull out all of our Christmas decorations so I can find my Christmas address book to start addressing. Figure I'll convince him he needs to pull everything out before he leaves to Chicago so I can start decorating. Figure I'll do some cleaning to show him I am serious. Wonder if he'll consent to putting up the tree this weekend. Would solve my address book dilemma. Decide that's the way to go. Plan on going to the post office tomorrow to get stamps. Rejoice that so many companies send address labels (Christmas themed ones too!) that I will never have to buy another address label again as long as I live.

Safire

Christmas Cards

Everyone,

As I wandered around photo websites the other day wondering what I should do with our Christmas cards this year, I wondered what exactly we did last year. I know I used a shot of Hawaii that my mom wanted to use so she used a different one and shouldn't have. I know I had more than 1 picture. But I couldn't remember what else.

A hop, skip, and a jump to my very cluttered scrap booking desk (which I don't scrapbook at, it's turned into more of a junk heap) and moving a few old clothes I keep meaning to give away (btw, bro and dad, I bought Juice new ties and he doesn't like them...any interest? Green and gray, they are very nice looking and both long)...now I've used parentheses so much I've lost my place. Ah, yes, I dug through the pile on my desk and came across my box of extra cards from last year. It was nice to see exactly what I put on the card last year. It's also very nice to know that I have a bunch of stamps left over from last year. Sadly, I do have to get a bunch of 2 cent stamps to cover the postal hike. But still, 2 cents is better than 41 cents.

Also in the box were the Christmas cards we received last year. I had originally intended to scrapbook them all together, but never got around to it. I had a ball going over the cards, and seeing how much things have changed. How much babies have grown. But it also strikes me that life is full of a lot of the same. And that sameness is nice. It's nice to have some stability and just enjoy life as it comes to you.

Christmas cards are all ordered and will be sent out hopefully the first week in December. Juice is in Chicago in a week and I will probably take those long evenings by myself and address envelopes. So if you want a card and haven't gotten one in past years, shoot me an email at safirecat (at) gmail (dot) com. I will also be contacting those of you who I do not have an address for.

Christmas is coming, but I am looking forward to Thanksgiving this week. Christmas doesn't seem like Christmas without the snow.

Safire

Answers

Everyone,

A while a go, I asked people if they had any questions for me. Here are a few of my answers.

Brandy asks: do you and Juice get much alone or "date night" time now that you have Butterfly?

Yes and no. Because we are sticklers about Butterfly's bedtime (7:30pm), we get a few hours after she is in bed to hang out. Lately, it's been mostly watching tv or Juice will play on the computer and I will read. We do try to get out without Butterfly on a date occasionally. I have a girl from my church who lives close and is happy to have the money. Mostly we either go to a movie so there has to be something we want to see in order to use her. We also swap sometimes with Vinny's parents (Butterfly's best friend). Mostly, those are temple trips (picture) but they don't happen much anymore since Vinny's mom is pregnant. It would be nice to have family around to help out watching Butterfly, but we do just fine with our church friends. I am just glad we have them otherwise I think I would go crazy!

Valinda asks: Besides marrying Juice what was the defining moment of your life? If you had picked the other choice what do you think your life would "look" like now?

There are a lot of moments in my life that I feel are defining. But I guess the one that changed me the most was going to college in Idaho. I feel like in Idaho, I finally solidified who I was going to be. And that person was fun but also serious and thoughtful. I basically got straight A's in college and gained an academic scholarship. I remember my first year in college I took a class about music and art for a general ed credit. The class had a 2 disk CD of music that we had to memorize the composers and time period, plus the names of all the songs. I listened to it while I slogged through French. I listened to it walking around campus. I listened to it going to bed at night. And when the final test came, I missed one question on an painting. I got a 98% in the class, and that was my first experience of the teacher telling me he had to fail someone because I did so well. Talk about guilt! But it happened in astronomy, zoology, an English class called cowboy literature, and my animal restraint class. The teacher of the music and art class (Vaughn was his first name...can't think of his last name!) told me to not be ashamed of my abilities but to really push myself to become greater at what I can do. And just because I can study and put in the effort, I should be rewarded, while the other person should have worked harder. I think really at that point I realized that I could do great things if I chose to and put in the effort. So I do.

More answers later!

Safire

Thanksgiving Plans

Everyone,

This year, no family is coming to visit for Thanksgiving since the first year we moved to Maryland. We have been asked over to a friend's house from church, and we are pretty excited to just show up and not have to worry about the turkey. Although we have been asked to bring a few sides, which I volunteered to do anyway.

The first Thanksgiving we had in Maryland was the first Thanksgiving we had ever had on our own. About a month before, I started looking at recipes, planning the menu and planning how to make all of this on my income. Juice had JUST started his work (I think he had been there 2 weeks and was still going to school 3 nights a week) and I don't even think we had a paycheck from them yet. I started my tradition that year of buying one thing for Thanksgiving every shopping trip all through October and November. Things that would keep I bought first. Turkey (I think we just had 2 breasts that year), stuff for desert, frozen veggies, etc. And things like potatoes and fresh salad I bought last. It has been a great tradition and really easy to make one big meal out of maybe a few extra dollars a week.

That year I also bought a few of those little cookbooks they have at the check out counter next to the magazines talking about how fat Oprah was or the latest divorce. The first one I bought because it had a time line. I had never ever made Thanksgiving dinner before without help (thanks Dad!) so I had no idea what to put in where. This one had a nice time line of putting what recipes they had in what order where. We enjoyed a perfectly good and all hot at the same time Thanksgiving dinner because of this book. I still love to use the turkey breast recipe in there. Do you know how hard it is to find JUST a turkey breast though? And the ones I have found are as much or even more than a full turkey! (Juice would like some turkey left overs to make his beloved turkey puffs. Even though we are eating someone else's bird, I think I may have to make one for us. Okay, for Juice. Man, I'm nice.)

The other book I picked up was Pillsbury's Holiday 2005 edition. I don't care for most of the recipes in it but there is one redeeming quality about this book. The cranberry sauce. I think this is Juice's favorite part of Thanksgiving. It even goes great with his coveted turkey puffs. Butterfly loves it too and will eat only that if we let her. This is also if you look in my freezer right now you will see 3 2 lbs bags of cranberries and 1 2 lbs bag in my fridge. This recipe makes me want to know how to can so I can make a ton of it and have it all through the year. Sadly, no canning skills here so I just buy a ton of bags of cranberries and freeze them. (Easy to do...buy the bag. Put the bag in the freezer. In about 24 hours, enjoy the marble-like sound they make as you desperately dig for something else in your freezer.) I will be buying more as the cranberries are still available since I only see them in the stores this time of year.

I was watching the food network the other day (thanks again Dad!) and they had the secret to making really good cranberry sauce. Orange juice. They said to pour orange juice in the sauce after you have cooked it to make it less tart. My recipe takes it one step further. Enjoy!

Cherry-Cranberry Sauce
1 bag (12 oz) fresh cranberries
1/3 cup dried sweet red cherries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 tablespoons orange marmalade

In 3 quart saucepan, mix cranberries, cherries, sugar and water. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; simmer uncovered 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cranberries have popped open.

Stir in marmalade. Cool 1 hour. Spoon into serving dish; cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

How easy is that? It works well to make it a few days ahead, although after about a week in the fridge is gets a little runny. I also double or even triple it sometimes, but be prepared to double or triple the time to cook it. Plus, if you do double it, stir it a little more often than 'occasionally' and all the berries will be hot and soft at the end.

Let me know if anyone tries it.

Safire

Juice and the Doctor

Everyone,

Juice went to the doctor yesterday for Ed, the cough. He was gone a long time...I was almost convinced that the doctor had sent him for chest x-rays to confirm pneumonia. When he got home, I asked him what happened.

He shrugged his shoulders, said the doctor listened to his chest and gave him some antibiotics. "So I was right! You are sick!" I said.

"No, the doctor didn't want me to give it back to you and Butterfly. She couldn't hear anything wrong."

Ohhh..."What took so long then?"

"I went to change the oil in the car."

Nice of him to do that. The oil did need changing. And he is feeling lots better and actually slept last night. I just hope the cough goes away soon.

ED MUST DIE!

Safire

S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G

Everyone,

Today, since Juice was home again today (more on that later), I went upstairs to talk about nap time and what I needed to do while she was napping. It has been really nice to have Juice home during the day and I could go and run my errands while she was napping.

In any case, we were all in our computer room, and this is what we said:

Juice- "When is N-A-P?" (Spelling it out of course, or Butterfly flips)
Me- "Right now, that's why I came up here to T-A-L-K." (Totally teasing, of course.)
Juice- "Okay, so T-A-L-K."
Me- "I need to run to the S-T-O-R-E and get some food for Young Women's tomorrow." (A thing for church.)
Juice- "Alright."
Me- "And I really want some C-H-E-E-S-E F-R-I-E-S. So I'll get some while I am out."
Juice- (laughing) "G-O-O-D."
Me- (giving him a hug on the computer chair) "You need a H-A-I-R C-U-T."
Juice- "Yes, I thought I would wait until the C-O-U-G-H is better."
Me- "Ah, good I-D-E-A."

At which point Butterfly pipes up, "Yeah, that would be a good idea!"

Either she can spell or we say good idea a lot in this house. I'd like to believe it's the first reason. No, no, don't burst my bubble. It's the first reason. :) My child is a genius.

Safire

Juice the mad scientist

Everyone,

This afternoon, while Butterfly was napping, I decided to take a nap. I curled up on the couch and soon conked out. Only to be woken up about an hour later to Butterfly sobbing in her room. I was so groggy I couldn't figure out what was going on and why Juice was not going to see what was wrong. He was working in the room next to her.

I took my groggy self upstairs to hear the wailing getting louder and louder. And I must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed because I poked my head in where Juice was working and said, "Don't you hear the baby?"

He looked at his computer screen a few more minutes, clicked a few more times, turned his body around before his head, and said, "No, why?" At this point I stalked out, flung open Butterfly's door and said hello. She was crying because she couldn't find a book (kid, you have at least 6 others in your bed...won't they work?) and once I found it, she was fine. I went and stalked into my bedroom to count to 10, and heard her crying in the office with Juice. Once I calmed down, I went to see what was the matter and she wouldn't talk to me. Juice is eye deep in a project they have given him so he won't come into work. (Yes, his work basically told him to stay home until he either stops coughing or has been on antibiotics for 48 hours. They do NOT want pneumonia going through the office!) He has such great powers of concentration that he barely moves when he's working. That's why I say he can out wait a glacier.

I wonder if it was hard for his mother to get him to stop playing and come to the table to eat when he was little. Although thinking about his appetite, she probably didn't. These powers of concentration are nice when he's thinking about me. :) Just not when he misses the world go by.

Safire

Behold My Future

Everyone,


Who here is familiar with Gilmore Girls? Most people? Good. You know that one episode where they stay at the inn and Mrs. Gilmore stays with Lorelei and Rory? And Lorelei and Mrs. Gilmore are putting on their moisturiser at the same time the exact same way? And Rory says, "Behold my future."

I feel like that sometimes watching my mom, my aunt and my Nana. It's a little strange to get all 3 of them together talking and laughing. They sound the same. They have the same facial expressions.

***Blogger ate my post! I have no desire to go back and finish it right now. Stupid computer.***

Sleeping

Everyone,

Butterfly didn't go to sleep until close to 11:30pm last night. Today has been pretty miserable. Every little things makes her pout, cry, complain to the opposite parent, etc. She started throwing blocks so I told her we don't throw blocks. Especially at Soot. She pouted for a second, turned to Juice and said, "Mommy said not to throw blocks." She had her little bottom lip out and a slight whine to her voice. I must admit, it was totally cute. She knows how to work it.

Juice told her that I was right, and she crumpled to the floor and cried for awhile. It was like this pretty much all day long. She did not eat her dinner because she has this thing for rice. She refuses to eat it. And we had rice, beans, and corn casserole. So there was no getting around the rice. So she had no dinner. I figure, she can eat if she wants. But when she doesn't want to eat, she doesn't and is extra hungry in the morning. She needs to learn to eat the dinners we give her.

I, on the other hand, slept in till past noon, and took at least 2 naps today. I think I might be tired. It was nice to have Juice home to take care of her and I could have a small break. We skipped church because it was stake conference (all the congregations or wards in the area get together for one meeting, happens 2 times a year) and it started at 10am. Juice wasn't going to go (Ed is still plaguing him) and he was going to keep Butterfly with him. Stake conference is 2 hours long and I just didn't see her lasting. So I was going to go but when I woke up right as conference was going to be ending...I figured I shouldn't go. Just a thought. :)

Now, I'm going to go back to bed and hopefully get some good sleep tonight. Although I do hope that I can wake up at a reasonable hour tomorrow and actually feel like I get something done instead of sleeping till lunch.

Safire

Ed Must Die.

Everyone,

I am so sick and tired of Ed (aka the cough that would not die). Ed decided to make a trip to my parents' house with them, and well, Ed seems to have taken up house. They both have the beginning signs of pneumonia and are on major antibiotics. I am slightly happy Ed has decided to really start decorating at my parents' because it has been the only way I could convince Juice to go to the doctor. He will be making his appointment on Monday. Stupid Ed. Go away!

Running out of things to say this year so anyone have any questions for me? Anything?

Safire

Sweetie Pie

Everyone,

Butterfly took a 3 hour nap today which is why she is still awake at 10:15pm. At least she is a good girl and stays in her bed for hours at a time. And now that I've just posted that, she will be up. Isn't that always the way things go?

Butterfly is a really sweet little girl. She is just so cute. Especially when you are reading a book to her. She would seriously sit all day long and listen to you read if you were inclined to read 8 hours straight. Today we read The Cat in the Hat (at least 4 times), The Foot Book (first time for Juice. I have the thing memorized.), assorted Wild Baby Animal magazines that she gets, Bears in the Night, Snow White, Hand Hand Fingers Thumb, Dr. Seuss's ABCs, There's a Wocket in my Pocket, and Chicken Little (two times).

She makes reading to her so much fun. She snuggles up to you, gets as close as she can and really is engaged. Even if it's books she's read over and over. And even if she can recite the whole book to you. She really loves to hear it over and over. Occasionally she will put her arm around my neck, pull my head down, give me a kiss, and say, "Thanks for reading Mommy." If that doesn't want you to read more, I don't know what does. She will also say, "I love you" or "I love this book" as well. Sometimes she wants me to put my head on her shoulder like she does to me. That makes reading a little harder and more uncomfortable, but she seems to love it.

What a sweetie pie we have. It's moments like these that really make me happy I am a mom. And I am her mom.

Safire

Day 8. I think?

Everyone,

It's been an interesting day. Look, I actually have something to write about! I woke up in a start this morning because a man's voice was talking in the house. And it wasn't Juice's. I sat bolt upright from my very vivid dream (something about Juice chasing robbers out of our house with his swords in his robe...) and started to hyperventilate for a second. Then I looked at the clock. 3:32 am. I then wondered if the voice was not inside the house, but outside. It's very normal in the summertime for us to have a lot of people out on their decks having parties and drinking. That involves a lot of loud talking. And we hear it sometimes. Mostly it's in Spanish so I have no idea what they are saying. But this time, I understood the voice. So I took a moment to listen to see what they are saying. This is before I sent Juice downstairs in his robe with a sword. And this is what I hear:

"Has anyone seen a boat?!"

I flop back down on the bed and blow out the breath I had been holding. Butterfly has turned on her CD player with her Finding Nemo book on CD in it. She has been insisting to listen to this before bed off and on since she got it from my brother for her 2nd birthday. She loves the thing. But why is she listening to it at 3:30 in the morning? I hear her rolling around and sighing. Finally I hear her turning the pages of her read along book to the little tinkling ques. Great, she's fine. I can go back to sleep. Except now I have to go to the bathroom.

That taken care of, I listen to the book over the baby monitor. And I listen to it again. Sometime during the 3rd round she fell back asleep. No such luck for me. I sat there and worried. I considered getting up and going to watch tv downstairs. I considered turning the movie on in our room and watching that. I considered finding my book and reading for awhile. But that would mean I had to get out of the bed and all these things I just didn't want to do. So I just laid there. Very boring.

Somewhere around 6am, I finally fell asleep again. And it was not a pleasant sleep. I need to sleep more during the dark. It gets light too early now. And we have a 2 year old. Who wakes up on time at 8am. Even if she was up for about 45 minutes in the middle of the night. And even if she is so tired she is crying. Must. Play. Now.

A trip to the mall, to the craft store, and a 2 hour nap did nothing to improve her mood. So we made cookies with Juice tonight. They were great, but she was more interested in eating the chocolate chips than the cookies. Still, good wholesome family time was had.

And then I got a splitting headache and decided to write this and go to bed. Hopefully I will sleep more.

Safire

Things actually got done today!

Everyone,

The Cough That Won't Die (CTWD or Ed for short) really did a number on us. And I come to find out that my parents who were here while I was in the throws of it, took it home with them. Sorry, again. And sorry to whoever was on the airplane with them. And sorry to my mom's work. This is the worst cough ever and I had no wish to infect the west coast with it's ravaging croakiness. My dad's doctor seems to think his strain of Ed turned into pocket pneumonia. Yucky.

In any case, Juice went to work today only to come home and say he was not going tomorrow. Butterfly is still coughing but seems to be less and less. Ed is hopefully loosing it's grip on her and she will be better shortly. Me, I still have a small lingering cough in the morning, but nothing to stop me.

I've been trying to catch up on all the housework that went astray when Ed first joined us. I finally cleaned out the last of the shorts in Butterfly's drawers (left the short sleeve shirts because it's still fairly nice here). And this week I have been doing load after load of laundry. I finally am all caught up with it. I can take it out of the kitchen! Yay! I hate having our washer and dryer in the kitchen because there is no counter space to put things on while you're doing wash. I never thought I'd miss it but I did.

I also was able to get ink out of Butterfly's brand new winter dress. Juice let her play with one of his pens at church and she came away with a huge streak of ink down the front of her cranberry velor dress with a big cranberry bow in front. I was sad but resigned. I mean, what can you do with ink? Thankfully, the Master of Laundry (my Mom) was visiting us that day and she told me to put hairspray on it. Oookaay...I'd have to try that one out. And man, it worked! First I tested the dress for color fastness (wouldn't do to have the dress bleached out). I poured hairspray right from the bottle onto the stain and used cotton balls to dab up the ink. Came right out in a snap. The first dab took out most of the biggest stain, and 2 more dabs you couldn't even see it. I feel empowered by new found knowledge. Thanks Mom!

Safire

At A Loss

Everyone,

6 Days into this thing and I seriously have nothing to say. Today has been a very quiet and unassuming day. Mostly I spent the time trying to keep Butterfly away from Juice who is working upstairs. And trying to keep her entertained...lots of blocks and stuffed animals looking for their mommies.

In between play time, I read my book club book: All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. Every time I pick it up I worry that this is not the book I'm supposed to be reading. I'm getting a kick out of it...I love anything by James Herriot and this is one I haven't read before. It's very funny because doing some of this stuff in college, I can really relate.

Juice wants me to say that we had a soup milestone with Butterfly today. She had soup for dinner and got more on her face than on the table and floor around her. Good job Butterfly!

Safire

Pictures

Everyone,

My sister in law just sent me a slew of pictures of her and her 3 kids. And their new house (which looks fabulous!). It made me realize that I haven't put out my pictures for 2 whole months. Which means that everyone on my list is bound to get over 200 pictures to look at from Sept and Oct. I know my parents won't mind...but will everyone else? Oh well if they do! Now the trick is to write captions to aforementioned 200 pictures.

This morning, I did my weekly scrap booking with my friend Laura. Butterfly had a great time with her 2 youngest, and I actually finished my Hawaii pictures from over a year ago. There has got to be close to 30 pages of just Hawaii. I am going to have to re-think my yearly scrapbook, since I don't think I can put any more than 100 pages in it. I guess I'll just have to split it up or stop starting in August.

Juice has been home sick today again. He shut himself up in the office and worked all day. His cough is doing better. He is also feeling a little happier and is not so morose. And with him home, I got to go out while Butterfly was supposed to be sleeping for her nap and buy myself a new book. Oh, and get Juice's glasses fixed since they broke for the 5th time this year. Butterfly is hard on those things! Only 2 more months till he can go and pick out new, less fragile glasses.

Safire

Where does she get this?

Everyone,

Today while Juice was trying to wrestle Butterfly into her dress for church, she tried to run away. He snatched her back and laughed, "Ha ha ha! I got you!" She turned around and looked at him and said, "Did you just cackle with glee?"

No joke people. She's 2. Where did she learn the phrase cackle with glee and how to use it in a sentence correctly?!

Also said today to her daddy, "It doesn't matter what you think. It matters what I think. And I think you're pretty special." (This is from a book, You Are Special by Max Lucado.)

She's a talker!

Safire

Trip with Parents

Everyone,

If I don't write this visit down, I will forget! Well, some of it anyway. We went to the pumpkin patch with my mom's group and had a pretty good time. It was very hot that day. And we got there before all the school groups showed up. Once they did, it was pandemonium! My dad was nice enough to run around with Butterfly, although he did leave her at the top of the slide. He slipped trying to get all ready for her and down he went. She got over it.

We traveled up to the outlet mall in Hagerstown and then to Antietam Battlefield. It was very interesting, but we didn't spend enough time there. Most of the day was spent buying a headboard for Butterfly's Christmas present.

On the weekend, we traveled a few hours south of us to go to Jamestown, VA. It's their 400th birthday, and we thought it would be nice to see sometime this year. It was very interesting, but very hot again. Juice doesn't care for historical stuff and combined with the humidity, he was pretty unhappy. But I enjoyed listing to the guides tell us about the archaeological digs they are still doing on the island (did you know it was an island?) and seeing the really old ruins.

After Jamestown, we ran over to Yorktown to see where the Revolutionary war ended. We happened to be there on the day it ended (Oct 19th) so we got in free! That place was cool and I wish we could have stayed longer but Butterfly had had enough.

From there, we drove to Chincoteague and spent the night. What an interesting little island. And it's bigger and has more stuff on it than I thought! We spent part of the day over at Assateague hoping to see some horses. We only saw them from afar, but we did go see the light house. We also spent a lot of time at the beach and just enjoyed the water. My mom dropped her purse in the ocean as I was trying to get a picture. It was pretty funny. Butterfly kept saying, "It's water! Not the ocean! The ocean is where Nemo lives." Apparently the ocean is only under water. :)

From there we tried to stop in Ocean City, MD but it was late and kind of cold and I didn't feel all that great. So we headed home. We should have taken some pictures of the bridge/tunnel that goes under/over the Chesapeake Bay on the VA side, and then again on the MD side. Very big!

And then, it was time for them to go home. We had a really nice time with them and I wish they could come back more often. Butterfly loved having a captive audience for all her cute stuff, and also someone who will read any book she brings.

Safire

All caught up...sort of.

Everyone,

When I got sick, I just couldn't haul myself out of bed to do much of anything. Meaning, I fed and changed Butterfly, but mostly lay either on the floor or on my bed semi wishing I would die or pass out. Something to stop the coughing! And then I started to feel better after a much needed trip to the doc and lovely pills to take. And then my parents came. We had a great time (still more to come on that!) and we were out all day every day.

And then I'm not sure what happened but I guess I just got out of the habit of checking my email. I mean, it had been 2 weeks, what could possibly go wrong with another week? When I finally did get to the computer, I had over 700 emails. Yikes. Not to mention over 300 items on my google reader to go through. So I had a lot of stuff to do. And I have been doing it! I'm all caught up on my emails and I only have about 100 things on my google reader to go through.

I guess the question is do I really want to go through these 3 blogs or should I take them out of my circulation? I never comment on them. I doubt they even know that I read, other than a hit to pump up their numbers. I obviously haven't missed their lives. I'm really debating on deleting them. But then I wonder what I would do if one of you readers who I don't know did that to me. Would I feel guilty? I don't know. What would you do?

Safire

Practicing Avoidance

Everyone,

Today starts the first day of National Blog Posting Month. Check the ticker on the left for more information but basically it means I will be posting every day through the month of November.

I meant to get right up and post this morning so I wouldn't have to worry about it all day long but I have been avoiding things lately. What things? Oh, everything. I don't know why. I just have no energy to do...anything. I have a to do list that has at least 10 things on it, and what do I do instead? Lay on the couch and read a book while Butterfly does a puzzle. I had my scrap booking buddy come over yesterday and one of her kids left a pencil at my house. You would think that Butterfly had found gold. She has been drawing all day with it and it has enabled me to once again, ignore my list. Considering it's 9pm, I now have the energy to call back all these people that are calling me, throw in a load of laundry, and maybe pick up some toys. Maybe. But first! My blog!

Let's see...I had a bunch of stuff I wanted to talk about, that I had been saving for this month to talk about. Most of the posts I have deal with pictures and I just haven't uploaded them from my hard drive yet. Hey, look! Avoidance again!

Juice and Butterfly are sick. They have that nasty cough I had. Butterfly has also sprouted 2 brand new molars on the bottom. It makes me think back to her very first tooth that appeared on Halloween 2 years ago. She has been cross (in the extreme) and refuses to nap. So of course, by 4pm, she is a tantrum throwing, horn sprouting, where-is-your-father-he-better-not-be-late-today kind of kid. And of course, since Juice is sick, all he wants to do is lie down. I'll admit, he does do some stuff but I think it's mostly because I look like I'm about to run away when he comes home some nights. I just want all of us to get better. I hate being sick but really, I hate Juice being sick worse.

Looks like it's time for me to go use some of this waining energy on something. See you tomorrow!

Safire

Happy Halloween!

Everyone,

Happy Halloween! I originally wanted Butterfly to go as Strawberry Shortcake using an old costume of mine, but after I pulled this one out of the pile to find said Strawberry Shortcake costume, she would not let it go. It fit better over her coat, anyway. It is also one of my old ones, and I believe the hat was my Mom's. I used my mascara to draw the whiskers on because I have no black eye liner or anything of the sort in my house. It was a pain to get off but she loved saying, "My whiskers! My little nose! I'm a cheetah! Rar!"

Juice took her to our town's Halloween celebration. He said it was a dismal failure. Last year there were so many people around and every single business had something for the kids. This year, only 4 businesses had something and there was no one there. Sad.

She fell asleep on the way home, and is now crying in her bed because she is super tired. Ah, the joys of Halloween with a 2 year old. :)

Safire

Blogging Fun

Everyone,

I found this quiz on my friend Karen's blog. So much fun!! Post your results in my comments if you'd like.

Safire

On Vacation

Everyone,

So I got sick and then my parents came to visit and then I got sick again. It's been an exciting 3 weeks at our house. Juice is having a hard time getting all of his hours in at work because he is too busy taking care of me and my sick self. Butterfly is LOVING her Daddy time and barely notices that I'm conked out on the couch not doing anything. But Juice did have to go back to work eventually and she is getting a little frustrated that Mommy won't play. Mommy is just too sick. I hate this cough. And now, of course, she has it so she is up all hours of the night coughing. I just hope that Juice doesn't get it.

My parents' visit was a blast. My mom dropped her purse in the ocean which is huge and SO FUNNY! We also saw a few wild horses, (gotta love Assateague) enjoyed a lot of road food and a bunch of historical information in Jamestown and Yorktown. Lots and lots of fun! Pictures later during NaBloPoMo which starts next week. Look for a post every day from me!

Yesterday, I was laying on the couch and Butterfly came into the living room with a pizza box and a huge smile on her face. "Can I have pizza?" It was so cute and I wish I had my camera. Sadly, no pizza was eaten because we were having tacos for dinner. But it was still very cute.

Safire

Hey, I do have readers!

Everyone,

I'm so happy that you guys all left comments on delurk day. Thanks!

Things have been busy here. Mostly, I have been busily planting my 'bee hiney' (as Butterfly says) on the couch. I am sick with a horrible cough and my chest is on fire. Butterfly luckily hasn't come down with it. She woke up with a fever this morning but is fine now. I hope she doesn't get it because man, this sucks!

Of course, my parents are coming to stay for a week on Saturday and I have to get sick. Mom, Dad, sorry but the house is going to be a wreck when you come. I'm sure you will understand. We (meaning Juice and his great arms and organizational skills) will at least have all the boxes from the attic out of the room you are staying in. Probably.

It's nice to have family visit. Especially when I don't get to see really anyone else. That's the danger of living 3000 miles away. I miss all the fun stuff. But I also miss most of the not so fun stuff as well. So it's okay.

It has been over 90 degrees all weekend long. Gah, where is fall?! The humidity has been awful. We had to turn our air conditioner back on. The leaves are just drooping and browning. I doubt we'll see any great color this year. They say a cold front is pushing it's way through and should be here by Friday. We will see. Until then, I am HOT!

Let's see, all of my pictures are still on my camera. But just a mention that the PA renn faire was AWESOME. So much better and more family friendly than the MD one. We plan on returning next year and staying for 2 nights instead of one. We had a great time!

Butterfly is insisting I lay down on the couch because "you have a bad code!" So I'm off. More hopefully later!

Safire

Delurk today!

Everyone, it's that time of the year...let me know who reads!

Safire

Questions and a New Roof

Everyone,

They are re-doing our roof today. Actually, they were supposed to do it yesterday. They kept telling me this was going to be a one day job. Well, when you don't show up to your job until 11am, it's probably going to take 2 days. They worked until almost 8pm last night, and didn't show up until 11am again today. Maybe those are their hours? In any case, the pounding has stopped so I assume they are out to lunch. They better not have left because the yard is a wreck and there are nails everywhere. I just can't wait till they are done. Having a small amount of buyer's remorse as well. Oh well.

My friend Aimee as asked a few questions so I thought I'd answer them. Thanks Aimee! This is fun.

1. Who is the person you admire most in your life and why? Probably my mom because she has an amazing memory and she would do anything for us. That's pretty amazing. :)

2. If you were presented a Tree in a pot or a piece of chocolate cake on a plate, which would you choose and why? A tree in a pot because I am not a cake eater. I would plant the tree (this is assuming when I am given the tree I actually have a place to plant it) and watch it grow. Would be better than 5 minutes eating cake!

3. Tell me a story from your childhood. One year for Christmas I got a fish tank. I loved that tank. It was so much fun to set up, and to have the filter bubbling and the light softly glowing in my room at night. A few days later, we were able to pick out 6 fish at the pet store. I think I got 2 guppies, 2 black mollies, and a couple gold fish. Within a week, everything but the black mollies had died, and the black mollies had ick. (White spots all over them, poor things.) I kept getting more fish like neon tetras, the fish that you can see through, and a beta here and there. Some lived a long time, some died right away. At the time, I was keeping a very small journal with a lock and a key. Most of my entries around this time are about my fish. What I named them, and how sad I was when they died. I even drew a big picture of the fish tank in there and said good bye to each of the fish as they died. "Good bye Lemon, Lime, and Lemon Drop! You were good pet fish. I will love you forever!" Funny, those are the only fish's names I can remember. When we moved from Colorado to Utah, I decided against putting up the fish tank again. I think it is still in my parent's garage though. It has gone through about 5 moves and 3 different houses. But I never set it up after Colorado. I still love to look at the fish at the pet store. Maybe if we ever move back to Colorado, I will set it up again. I'm sure my parents will be happy to see it go from their garage.

4. What is your favorite thing to do by yourself? My all time favorite thing to do by myself is to read with a huge bowl of popcorn. Most days though, I don't have a moment to myself or a good book to read.

5. Describe yourself in 4 words. Hmm, this is a hard one. Loyal, thoughtful, quiet, nice.

If anyone wants me to interview them, just leave me a comment.

Safire

Feeling Busy

Everyone,

On my google home page, I have a big to do list right in the center so I see it every time I get on the computer. It helps me focus on what I actually need to to, instead of being sucked into google reader or my email. Every day this week I have had at least 6 things on it, 7 being the max amount of things you can put on there. Okay, a lot of things are rolled over things from the day before that I didn't get to. Because you can only do so much with a 2 year old in the house. Especially one that says to you, "Mommy, let's play with my toys! You are my favorite person to play with!" (I think she says that because I'm the only one around. When Juice is there, I can't even touch the toys without being yelled at.)

Today's list involves folding and putting away clean laundry (left over from yesterday), talking to the roof guy (roof day is Tuesday next week! Stay tuned for pictures.), paying bills, going to the grocery store, getting gas, packing for the PA renn faire tomorrow. Yes, we are leaving tomorrow for a night in PA and the renn faire there. We went to the renn faire here (another post, another day) and it was okay. There is just so much smoking there!

But none of these things are getting done because I'm trying to type and juggle being 'mommy horsey' with Butterfly's little people. And the couch is calling. Can I just go lay down for awhile and maybe my double will get everything done. That would be great!

Safire

Linky-Loo

Everyone,

Been super busy doing who knows what. Juice has a big project this week and has been busy at work until 7pm for awhile. Makes me tired! In any case, there has been a lot of talk around my mommy blogs about Bill Maher and his bashing on breastfeeding. You can read the story behind it here.

I read a few very good posts about this (many many more...just these ones stuck out in my mind, especially the last one) so I thought I'd share. I nursed Butterfly until she was 15 months, and it was the most wonderful thing for both of us. She loved it, I loved it. It's what I miss the most about her baby-ness.

While I am not pushing breastfeeding on anyone (I think everyone should choose what is best for them and their family) what he said was wrong and I want to say something about it. But since I only have a minute, here are what other people have said.

Suburbanoblivion gives good background and a good starting point for this.
VDog and the Little Man shows how upset mommy bloggers can get. Watch out, we're a sleep deprived, easily pricked group of people.
Mojo of a Mama is my favorite by far...(be warned there are pictures but man do they make a point!)

Safire

Mommy There's your Birfday!

Everyone,

This month Butterfly helped me change out our wooden calender (as she does every month). Whenever there is a special thing going on that month, I let her pick out the special tile. Well, this month is my birthday month. Butterfly picked out the cake with a candle (so you can blow it out Mommy!) and all month she has been pointing to the tile. "There's your birfday Mommy!"

My birthday this year was low key. Butterfly and I spent the morning at a resource center with toys, play doe and paint. And then our friends (where I go scrapbooking every week) replaced the brakes on our car. So nice of them! And Juice gave me a present I was wanting for awhile...another dutch oven. I am very excited to learn how to use them. Now I just need a place to put the fire to use them...

I was also able to talk to most of my family, my MIL, and best friend. I was only missing one person's phone call although he did send me an e-card.

All in all, it was an enjoyable and very low key day. Just how I needed it to be today. :)

Safire

Labor Day Hiking

Everyone,

Okay, I know Labor Day was weeks ago. But I just got the pictures off my camera a few days ago and thought you'd like to see us hiking. You know I have this national parks passport book. It is so much fun to put that little stamp in the book! It's become kind of a quest for me. My goal is get all of Maryland's stamps in the next year. Most of the ones we have left are battlefields and houses to see. But Catoctin is one we were still able to Soot with us. We had a great time! We hiked only 2 of the 4 little short trails I had planned out because it took us 2 hours to get out of the house.

We thought we should buy some lunch! So we had to stop at the sandwich place and pick up something. And then I thought that it might cost to get into the park (often does) so we had to stop by the ATM which was really busy. And then we had to stop by the babysitting place and feed/pick up their dog. We took her with us. I had no idea it would take that long to do those little errands but they did.

Anyway, we were able to hike to the highest point in the park, and also the opposite view. These mountains are nothing compared to Utah's mountains, but they are nice. Butterfly got tired half way through and it's a good thing I still had my carrier in the trunk. It was a good day for everyone!

Safire

Reader Requests

Everyone,

I've had a few reader requests lately so I thought I'd answer them. Jill has asked to see some of my scrapbooking. Here you go!

The pictures of the pages aren't that great. I had a hard time getting no glare on them because I refuse to take the page protectors off. But still, you get the idea.

And Karen over at Keeping it Simple has asked me to post the most awesome chicken salad recipes. You know, the one that almost set my house on fire. It's that's awesome. :) Here you go! (courtesy of my mom...Thanks Mom!)

BowTie Chicken Salad

1 box pasta bow ties, cooked as directed
celery, diced
green onions, chopped
water chestnuts, chopped (optional)
1 small can pineapple tidbits, drained
1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
red seedless grapes
1 package Craisins
1 small package slivered almonds
chicken or turkey; cooked and diced
Dressing:
1 cup real mayonnaise
1 bottle Kraft Coleslaw Dressing (has to be Kraft or it tastes funny)

Mix together celery, green onions, water chestnuts, pineapple tidbits, mandarin oranges, grapes, Craisins and almonds. Add chicken or turkey and pasta box ties. In a separate bowl, blend together mayonnaise and dressing. Pour almost all of the dressing over the pasta mixture. Fold in and let salad stand overnight, refrigerated. Pour the rest of the dressing over the salad mixture and stir well before serving.

I always leave out the celery, the almonds, and the water chestnuts and it doesn't seem to hurt the taste at all. And I cook my chicken in olive oil for an hour and send them through the food processor rather than dicing by hand. Both ways are good though!

Any more requests?

Safire