Sciatica!

Had a little flare-up today with my back. It's such an old-person thing to say: "My back went out!" Makes me feel like I need the clapper. Or that "I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up" device with the poor old lady stranded on the living room floor. Fortunately, my flare-up wasn't tooo bad, but unfortunately it occurred at Ethan's 5th grade play ("Celebrate America!") as I was trying to lug Wyatt out in his car seat with the other masses of 5th grade parents and siblings pressing behind me. Schproooing! There you go. But you're in the flow of traffic and you just can't stop so I hobbled my way to the wall of lockers and leaned there for a minute until the halls cleared out and the kids and I could hobble the rest of the way to the car. (Forrest is in Minnesota, getting pangs of Minnesota-sickness. The heavy air! The green! The water! Such a lovely place. I get pangs just thinking about it.) So not only did I have to lug Wyatt all by myself, crippled, but Dad missed Ethan playing William Bradford, governor of colonial Plymouth--and he did a top notch job, delivering his lines with aplomb and singing robustly throughout except for the lyric in "Yankee Doodle" where one is supposed to sing, "I've got a Yankee Doodle Sweetheart. She's my Yankee Doodle joy." Wonder why? :-)

Here's a picture (and sorry it's grainy, best I could do, dumb cameras that don't know where to focus in low light with lots of people):



I have a few other pictures I've taken lately that I'll share, mostly because they're cute:




A boy and his cat. It was a lovely summer night and Wyatt was enjoying some lawn time. Buttercup thought she'd join him. They were both quite content.



Yo, yo--wasssupp! Wyatt is turning into a little man all of a sudden. I've been tweaking his sleep routine--no more swaddling, and I'm trying to put him down awake. Worked last night, but not so much tonight. After crying for 15 minutes, I couldn't take it anymore and went in and rocked him and he zonked out in my arms almost immediately. There's a part of me that wants to just keep rocking him. I do love rocking babies. Espeically right after a bath. Oh, their little heads just smell so good!



Introducing . . . my feet! Wyatt his discovered that there are fun little appendages on the end of his legs. It's nice because it gives him something to play with that he can't drop or use to bonk himself in the head.



And this is a picture of Joe, mostly so he can prove that he, too, has stunning blue eyes. Wyatt has been stealing some of his thunder.

Tomorrow is field day--three more days of school. I can hardly believe that next year I'll have a first grader, fourth grader, and SIXTH grader. (Don't we all remember sixth grade so well? At least those of us who are female and haven't had our memories wiped clean by testosterone? Miss Anderson, my sixth grade teacher, was young and beautiful and had a poster of Michael Jackson on the wall--he was wearing a yellow sweater vest--and taught us how to dance cool and told us helpful hints such as: "When borrowing a friend's shirt, always weare deoderant." As well as, "Don't wear knee socks with shorts. Dorky." Funny the things you remember.)

So I'll have to post some field day pictures soon. Note to self: don't forget the camera.

Blogreality

Sometimes I click on the links on friends' blogs to read the inner thoughts and blogworthy accomplishments of strangers (what could be more fun?) and I've come to the conclusion that we are all infinitely more fascinating/accomplished/beautiful when viewed through a blog-lens than in real life. It's an interesting new method of communication, this "christmas card letter to the world"--especially when the blogger is essentially a stranger we've never met in person, and what we see is only what the blogger wants us to see. Who is this "Omaha Mama" with the beautiful blonde children and the beadworking business and the husband who flies her to San Fransisco for her birthday? What about "Crazy Jane" the writer who opines on New York Times articles about global warming and lovlingly crochets multi-colored scarves for all her friends at Christmastime?

I betcha Omaha Mama sometimes forgets when it's her turn to help out in her son's kindergarten class. (I just did that). I bet Crazy Jane watches reality television. (Seriously, have any of you been watching "So You Think You Can Dance?" My favorite show. Sometimes makes me teary-eyed. I am not ashamed that I love watching reality tv shows where people who are really talented and passionate compete, a la "Project Runway" and good seasons of "American Ido"--although last season was kind of a stinker, IMO).

It's especially interesting reading blogs done by good photographers. Sunkissed children frolicking on the lawn; kindly bemused-looking husbands shot in black and white, sitting in Adirondack chairs on the patio; stunning sunsets captured from the back porch of the family cabin. It's easy enough to be bamboozled by one's OWN photography (flipping through the photo album, looking at the sweet cherub faces of our then-two-year old children, sighing that those were they days while conveniently forgetting that we never took any pictures of the time said cherub filled the toilet with magazines and flushed, etc etc). But the bloggers who take lovely pictures but don't write much live a particularly idealized life.

So for any of you who are reading this blog and think that I live some kind of blessed existence, here is the truth. Although I DO have lots of blessings, lots to be grateful for, lots that makes me very happy, I also have plenty to worry about. Having four kids pretty much ensures that. I'm lazier than I should be. (It's 9:06 and I'm still in my pajamas, having put Wyatt down for a quick nap in his swing. The dishwasher is not loaded and I haven't even showered, Elise's bedroom is a nightmare mess, and I'm sitting in front of my computer.) I'm not as spiritual as I should be. (Need to read scriptures more. Need to pray better. Need to be more focused on the important things in life and less on "So You Think You Can Dance." But I said I wasn't ashamed. Maybe I am a little.) I don't eat as healthily as I should and neither do my kids. (A friend of mine said here kids were eating sushi. SUSHI! Mine won't eat salad yet, not even Ethan.) I was mean to the volunteer lady from the Professional Firefighters of Utah who called for the FIFTH TIME IN TWO DAYS asking for money. (I wasn't mean the first four times. But this is an excuse.) Sometimes I listen to music by Nine Inch Nails and the Beastie Boys and turn it up loud and like it. Sometimes my kids fight. Sometimes I yell. When I was up in the middle of the night last week and had barely gotten Wyatt to sleep, Buttercup started yowling at the door to be let in and wouldn't stop, so I crept over to let her in, still holding Wyatt, and the sound of the door opening woke him up and it made me so mad I kicked the cat as she scuttled inside. But not very hard. More like scooted her across the hardwood floor with my foot. But still. Oh. And I have strech marks. Lots.

So there's the truth--and only a part of the truth. The truth is it's hard for anyone to know us really, even our own families. Isn't that a little scary? Scary but wonderful?

And now Wyatt's awake. And the dishes aren't done and I haven't showered and he'll probably cry the whole time I attempt to accomplish these tasks I should have been doing while he was sleeping. See?

p.s.--Ethan Update: He won 1st place in his class talent show doing his stand up routine, based on in-class voting. Seriously. He came home from school that day just about bursting out of his skin, he was so excited and proud. So that's a good thing--a true good thing, just like all the other true good things I write about on this blog that balance out the fact that I have one more week to go before payday and I'm already in my overdraft. Sigh.

Women in Art

A friend of mine emailed me this link to a video on YouTube. Just thought it was cool and that I'd share:



Enjoy!

Everything I Forgot To Tell You Last Week

I've been meaning to update regular life all week long and haven't gotten around to it yet, so here's the latest rundown.

First, Elise pictures. This pictures are from last week. First there's a shot of Elise and two of her friends at our ward picnic. We met at a fun little park with water fountains and the kids had a great time jumping around and getting wet, the dads enjoyed some horseshoes, and the moms pretty much stayed inside the pavilion, drank Diet Cokes and talked. (That's my idea of a good time). When I went to go get Elise to tell her it was time to come home, she was kicking the soccer ball around with her friends on the top of this hill. With the mountain behind them, they looked like Queens of the World, and I just happened to have my camera in the diaper bag. Cute girls.



And this is an action shot of Elise playing soccer. She's come a long way this year, considering she'd never played soccer before. I felt for her yesterday, though, playing soccer in 100 degree heat. That's just cruel and unusual, if you ask me.



Other things . . . hmmmm . . . Oh! Ethan has his school talent show today and he's doing stand up. No kidding. We worked on his routine a bit last night and he has some good material, mostly making fun of little kids shows ("Now Teletubbies, THAT's a freaky show. Especially that baby sun. Imagine if that was real. You walk outside one morning, happy, whistling a tune, then you look up into the sky . . . BABY SUN! Giant, freaky baby glaring down at you, laughing, gurgling" and so on.) Imagine that with an Ethan-style delivery. He'll have to fill us in on how it went this afternoon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for him because stand up is HARD, but he did have a guy in his class whose Mom came and he pointed at Ethan and said, "That's the really funny guy I keep talking about." Takes after his dad.

And speaking of Dads, yesterday was Father's Day! Hooray for Fathers! Forrest got a nice French toast breakfast, some hand made presents from the kids, some new bbq utensils from Mom (to go with his new barbeque that he bought himself a few weeks ago--I simply resort to token gifts because anything he wants for himself he buys before I can buy it :-). We had just enough time for a nice dinner as a family after church before he had to take off for the airport to head to Vegas. He has some client sponsored golf tournament today. It should be fun . . . but it will be 107 degrees. Yikes!

Which reminds me of my final bit of inconsequential news. (See how I'm working all these transitions between paragraphs?) Saturday was the hottest day of the year so far in Utah, and Rocky Mountain Power decided to pick that day to do a planned power outage from 7 am to 5 pm. All sorts of people had to cancel get-togethers and lots of folks were up in arms. Well apparently somebody tipped off Channel 2 news, because as I was walking home from the pool on Friday, I saw them parked in front of my house doing interviews. They asked me a few questions . . . and my slightly giggly, slightly double-chinny self ended up on the 6:00 broadcast. (I think I said something profound about how we couldn't even use the pool because the filters wouldn't work. It was mesmerizing!)

So that's it for now . . . more updates later . . . .

Great News

It looks like my novel, True and Faithful, is going to be published! After many stops and starts, I was beginning to lose hope that this book would ever exist outside my computer hard drive. But a new LDS publisher called Parables has offered me a contract. Although it's a small publisher and doesn't have the kind of muscle that a publisher like Deseret Book might have, Parables is willing to take a risk with a literary novel-in-stories aimed at an LDS audience. I am thrilled and will do all that I can to get the book in stores. (It will be available on Amazon, but getting distribution in bookstores like DB and Seagull and Barnes and Noble is another story). I still can't quite believe it. The publisher is tentatively hoping to have the book out by Christmas, which is a pretty quick production schedule. Aack!

Now that I'm faced with the prospect of having the book out there in the world, I'm surprised at my range of emotions. Although I'm incredibly excited, I'm a little scared, too. What will people think? From my literary friends to my visiting teachers to my family to some guy in Nebraska--they could all be reading this window into my psyche and coming to conclusions over which I have no control. Scary! SCARY!

But awesome. I'm thrilled.

Stay tuned . . .

Doing the Derby

Last night was the Pinewood Derby . . . and it just hit me today that it's probably Ethan's LAST! Hard to believe, but next year he'll be an 11-year Scout and out of the Cub program. "The years they pass like summer dew upon the grass." (Quick! What's the reference?!). Anyway, Ethan and his Dad spent a lot of time the last few days working on his car. It was black and shaped like a piece of marshal arts weaponry and had a symbol on it from the Anime style cartoon he's become recently fixated on called "Naruto." (I think that's how it's spelled. I'm not googling it, since I'm guessing most of my readers don't know how to spell it either). He was quite pleased with the result, and Dad was quite pleased with all the little Pinewood Derby tricks he employed to make the car run faster. (At our very first Pinewood Derby in MN, we simply built a car and got completely skunked, thereby reinforcing the need to learn the Pinewood Derby tricks of the trade, if only to spare Dad the humiliation :-).

But upon arriving at the Derby, it came to our attention that (dun, dun, duuuun) there was a ringer in the house! Turns out the Colletti boys' Grandpa was the Austrailian National Pinewood Derby Champion (honest!), and the minute we saw the Collettis' cars run the track we knew the best we could hope for was third. Those cars were smokin. Really, though, Ethan was just hoping to make the finals, because there were plenty of Dads around that were reaaaaaallly into graphiting wheels before the race began and pacing around, full of competitive anxiety. As Forrest put it to a friend of ours that night, he's a solid B+ kind of guy in most respects, Pinewood Derby races included. Here's a shot of Ethan and three other cute blonde boys waiting for their cars to come down the track. (The dreaded Coletti is sitting next to Ethan, second from the left. He's really a very nice kid, as is his brother and his parents and their Austrailan champion Grandpa :-):



The race was run by a guy who, I'm assuming, does PInewood Derbies as a job or something, since he informed us that we were the 60th race he'd done so far this year. He had a metal track that he also informed us cost $1,500 and that if anyone stepped over it, he would fine him $5. If he stepped over it again, he would be disqualified and asked to leave. And if stepping over the track became a REAL problem, Mr. Pinewood Derby would dismantle the track and go home. No kidding. I bet I heard a panicky adult say, "Don't Step Over the Track!" to an eight year old crazed with derby fever and not thinking straight at least a dozen times. Luckily, we got through the race without any track related tragedies. But even though this Derby guy was more than a little over the top, he did a great job running things and the kids had a lot of fun. Ethan did end up in the final eight--his goal--but didn't make the top four. (Dad encouraged him to run the car backwards during one heat because Mr. Derby had said some cars run faster this way and he was running against a Coletti, so he might as well try it out. But that slowed him waaay down and he took 4th in that heat. I was very impressed with the way he took it, though. A little disappointed at first, a little bit of a "Daaaad!" look of exasperation shot across the not-to-be-stepped-over track, and then he got over it.) Here's a shot of Ethan and his friend Alec at the end of the race:



So a good time was had by all. And before you know it, Joe will be in a Derby. And then Wyatt! A lifetime of Derbies are ahead of us. Can't wait.

Mr. Rollerbaby

I forgot to add on my last post that Wyatt started rolling from back to front on Saturday. (Forrest actually saw the first one--of course!). He'd been trying for days and finally figured it out. Now he's rolling like a champ. Here's video proof:

Scorchy

It's been downright HOT in Utah these days. I have sunburned shoulders to prove it. Although it did allow is to have our inaugural boating day on Friday--we took the kids out of school early and headed to Yuba with Forrest's family. A grand time was had by all, even Wyatt, who enjoyed riding in the boat but did NOT enjoy wearing the life jacket. The kids did a great job kneeboarding, mom got up on skis for the first time in over a year, and dad added a wicked new trick to his wakeboarding repertoire: an airborne 180. It was very cool. I keep reminding Forrest that he's on the downhill side to 40 and at some point all these tricks are going to catch up with him, but so far he hasn't broken or irreparably maimed anything. And it makes him happy to look so studly.

Sorry I don't have any pictures of Yuba. Forgot the camera! But I do have some pictures of the boys playing soccer on Saturday that I'll share, just so there's something to look at:




Alright, so Jonas isn't exactly playing. I had to feed Wyatt and got there late and he'd already done his playing and was sitting out for the last bit of the game. But doesn't he look cute on the sidelines? I also haven't taken any pictures of Elise playing soccer yet, but will. She wasn't very happy about going on Saturday because we'd spent all day at the lake on Friday then she slept over at a friend's house and stayed up till 2 in the morning and was exhausted--and Saturday afternoon it was over 90 degrees outside. But we gave her the ol' "you gott a support your team, if you sign up for something you've gotta see it through" lecture. I did feel for her. (I certainly wouldn't have wanted to play soccer either) but it is our job as parents to make our children do things they don't want to, so they become accustomed to doing things they don't want to for the rest of their lives. Right? :-)

Let's see. Anything else? Oh, I'm going to put in a link that 90% of you will have no interest in, but it's an interview with Mitt Romney that I found fascinating. http://pewforum.org/events/?EventID=148

The Pew Forum has a biannual conference on religion, politics and public life and a lot of well known journalists attend. They invited Richard Bushman, author of Rough Stone Rolling and a professor at Columbia, to attend and talk about the political history of Mormonism, how Mitt Romney might govern in light of his Mormonism, and to answer any questions that the journalists might have. I thought Bushman did a fabulous job (taught me a thing or two) and it was very interesting to see the questions and perceptions about Mormonism that came through from the journalists. Check it out.

Too Cute

I took these pictures of Wyatt last night during and after his bath. (He's almost too big for his tub, though. He makes a heckufa mess kicking water everywhere.)




Now is that a cute kid or what?

He's especially in my good graces today because he did a one wake-up night last night (2:00, then through to 6:20 . . . and Forrest got him so I slept till 7!) and I took him to my Rock and Stroll aerobics class and he stayed awake the entire time, and I didn't have to leave. I did have to give him his binki 17 times and take him out while we were doing biceps and curl him instead of the hand weight . . . but I'll take it.

We've had quite a weekend. The quick rundown is:

1. We had Darrin Wilkey stay with us for a couple of nights while he continued looking for a house for his family. (They live in West Virginia and are hoping to move here in July). The poor Wilkeys have looked at 60 something houses, but they have finally found two that might work and they put in offers, so we'll see which one takes. It will be fun to have them living here, for sure.

2. Forrest started working on our "Forest Corner" in our yard, aptly named as it refers both to my hardworking landscaper husband and the fact that we're trying to replicate what it might feel like to be in the mountains. We put in a bunch of red sandstone rocks to sit on and even fashoined some benches, and we planted some Quakies (yes, I know some people hate them, but I love them--the way they look, the way the sun shines through the leaves--and I forgive them for sending out shoots and being otherwise disagreeable) and some funky evergreens. We're going to have a firepit on a flagstone patio and it's going to be glorious. As soon as it's done I'll take a picture and post it. But Forrest worked like a dog, and watching him dump a 900 pound rock out of Grandpa Ranquist's beater druck with a crowbar was an exciting event.

3. We had Forrest's family over for a barbeque to celebrate his Dad's birthday and had some delicious kabobs on the grill. Mmmm. . . .

4. The pool opened! The kids had fun swimming and their cousins came over to join in on the good times.

5. We visited Grandpa Ranquist's grave on Sunday and went to Heber with Grandma Ranquist and Tony & Cindy and my mom and dad yesterday to visit Grandpa Sweat's grave. We used to go to Heber every year when I was a kid with the Hjorths and have a picnic and play softball, and it was so fun to go up again as a grown up and see my own kids playing bocce ball at the same park I played at when I was their age. It was cool to visit the Heber Cemetary, too--so many old headstones. Some were 140 years old or so. Here are some cool pics:






I love that picture of Grandma Sweat and all the kids looking down at the headstone. And the one with Great Grandma Ranquist is a scream--that's the best I could do with 8 antsy kids. Is anyone looking at the camera???

5. Last but not least we had an inagural marshmallow roast last night in our new firepit. (It's freestanding, so we just put it on the dirt where our flagstone patio will someday be.) Although Forrest went the cheap route and bought the Western Family marshmallows . . . and he will be the first to admit that it was a mistake and that t he marshmallows lacked the proper crunchy/gooey consistency . . . the kids still had a great time, and I survived even though I was totally paranoid that my neice Ayva was going to toddle into the fire. And Wyatt loved the fire. Mesmerized. Finally we got the kids in bed, exhausted and smelling like smoke, and our long holiday weekend was complete.

It's Now Been Four Months Since . . .

1. I slept through the night
2. I read the whole Sunday paper
3. I sat through church
4. I went anywhere without needing 15 minutes lead time for bag packing, diaper changing, etc.
5. I've gone to bed without a bra on (TMI??)
6. I've had Diet Coke without feeling a bit guilty. (Well, that's been for 13 months, really).
7. I haven't been spit up on, at least a little
8. My family room hasn't been full of baby paraphenalia. (Seriously, not counting the blankets and quilts and diapers behind the couch, and the two wicker baskets full of diaper supplies and nasal syringes and binkis and rattles and little tiny socks, I also have a swing, a baby bjorn, a baby gym and a bumbo seat in my family room. So much for aesthetics.)
9. I've been able to blog/watch tv/read/talk on the phone/edit manuscripts/write/sit in the tub without keeping one ear attuned to the possibility of hearing this sound: "aack." Or "waat." ( It's the sleeping-baby-is-awakening sound, for those of you who don't know or have forgotten.)
10. I had a life without Wyatt Dean Hallstrom in it . . . and I wouldn't change what I have now for the world. Although I would love to get eight hours of sleep, let me tell you.

Wyatt had his four month check up yesterday and he's right on track. He's a bit on the skinny side for a Hallstrom baby boy (he's 14 lbs. 4 oz and 25 1/2 in--the 24% and 59% respectively--a good pound less chub than either of his brothers at their age) but he's hitting all his milestones (does pulling my hair out count as a milestone?) and is healthy as can be. Jonas also had his six year checkup--I know, a little late, but he IS six--and he's even smaller than Wyatt, percentage wise. He's in the 29% for weight and the 16% for height! I don't get how a 6'2" dad and an almost 5'9" mom can produce such short boys. Maybe they'll pull an Andrew and mutate in Jr. High??? Elise is the only one with the tall genes, it seems, which I am sure she will use to her advantage in ways that her father and I won't like when she's sixteen.

I was a little nervous about Wyatt's immunizations because he had a bit of a reaction last time, but this time was better. I thought we were totally in the clear--no fussiness, no fever--but then when I got up with him at 1:00 this morning he was a little warm. So I've Tylenoled him up and he seems okay. We also fed Wyatt his first solid food yesterday, too: the classic rice cereal. Here's a shot of Dad doing the honors, and another shot of Wyatt's reaction;




Any other big news? Oh! I cut my hair kinda short. I'll take a picture right now and show you:



Gotta love the do-it-yourself arm's length pictures. This isn't the best representation of the hairstyle, since I went to the gym at 1:30 this afternoon and now I have workout hair--but you get the idea on the length. It had gotten quite long and I cut off quite a bit. It's hard to get used to a cut, but it's nice to not have this ginormous mound of heavy hair to haul around. And Forrest likes it. And Jonas. Ethan said I looked like Dora the Explorer (insulting, but creative!), and Elise said it was okay, but did this mean that she needed to get her hair cut for the summer too? Because she will NOT.

Now I have heard the aack. Wyatt is awake . . . gotta go.

A Father and Son Heart to Heart

Wyatt has been talking up a storm lately--and it's hilarious. Here's a little video of Wyatt and his Dad having a pretty engaging conversation the other night:



I can't believe he's almost four months old. He's getting so big so fast. Here's another cute shot of him in his newest piece of baby paraphenalia, (e.g. Baby Bjorn, papsan baby swing with rotating musical toys, bouncy chair with dangly toys, floor pad with mirrors and balls and more dangly toys, bouncy exersaucer with squeaky and squishy toys, etc etc . . . none of which I owned when Ethan was a baby. I'm sure our pioneer ancestors think we are hilarious.)



This newest innovation is called a "Bumbo Seat." I'm sure moms who've had kids in the last couple of years have heard of it, but I hadn't until recently. But Wyatt has been so insistent on being upright (he's no fan of his bouncy chair anymore!) that I thought I'd give it a try. He really likes it--and it's a scream to see him sitting in it. He looks even more like a little man, albeit one who likes to sit in a recliner.

Also, just got back from seeing Shrek the Third. Took Wyatt--and he did well. A little wiggly at first (and our seats were in the middle of the row) but them I wrapped him up in his blankie and patted him on the bum and he fell asleep. The older three liked the movie--don't they always? if it's in the theater especially, with popcorn and rootbeer??--but Forrest and I thought it was a little stale and scattered. Kids' movies. There are so many of them anymore that it's hard to get excited about any of them. Remember how cool Lion King was once upon a time? And Toy Story?

We also just got the "Singstar Pop" edition--I can hear Elise upstairs singing "The Reason" by Hoobastank--and it should be fun. I know a lot more of the songs than on the rock edition. So Andi and Drew, we're going to have to have a Singstar showdown next time you're in town! And this time I won't be nine months pregnant and lose my breath support.

I Am Eating a Bagel With Peanut Butter

and it is 10:02 at night. Both halves. Bad choice. I am really tired of the ferocious nursing hunger. I don't get so hungry when I'm prengnant, but nursing? Watch out.

I had a nice Mother's Day on Sunday. As Forrest always does, he treated me to lots of good food (french toast and yogurt with berries for breakfast, a light lunch of assorted cheeses like Gouda and Havarti and cut up peaches and crackers and little squares of chocolate arranged prettily on a tray, and a delicioso red snapper with pasta for dinner. Yum.) as well as some flowers and raspberry sticks. And of course the adorable cards made by the kids. And I got to sleep in. And read the whole paper. Nice day. It was interesting, though, to sit in the mothers' room during church feeding Wyatt and listen to the wonderfully nice and sincere man extol the virtues of womanhood and motherhood and find myself stereotypically feeling a little bit worse rather than a little bit better. I even had this running commentary in my head about how it's so *typical* to feel kind of down on yourself on mother's day and that it's silly to give in to those feelings and that when really nice men talk about their angel mothers they are doing it with the best of intentions--but I couldn't help thinking about how, right before exiting to the mothers' room, Jonas and Elise were both sitting really really close to me while I was trying to deal with wiggly Wyatt and the whole family was squished on the bench and it was hot and I felt entirely pinned down and space invaded and said kind of grumpily, "Guys. Please move!"

Now is that what an angel mother would say? On MOTHER'S DAY?!?!?!

Sigh.

I did forgive myself, because apparently the kids still love me. They told me so lots of times on Sunday, which is the whole point of mother's day, and I appreciate having such patient and forgiving children. :-)

I also spent a lot of time on Sunday putting together a Mother's Day present for my mom and Forrest's mom: a video DVD of the kids. I just started figuring out the video editing program on my Mac and it was a little frustrating at times, but I think I've finally started getting the kinks worked out. And I think the Grandmas liked their present. I also scanned some cute non-digital photos of Ethan and Elise and Jonas. Wanna see 'em?





I know I'm their mother and everything, but these kids were (are) so cute it hurts my heart.

Here's another cute picture (so Wyatt won't be excluded in the cuteness) of Wyatt and his big brother:



I also went to Monte Vista Elementary today to watch the Kindergarten Mother's Day program. SO CUTE! Nothing better than a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds singing their hearts out to their moms. Jonas did a great job, and afterward we got to go eat hot lunch together. It was pizza and mandarin oranges and chocolate milk and a rice krispie treat, miraculously all foods that Jonas likes. So it was a fun morning. Wyatt even cooperated and listened attentively to the program, then konked out in his car seat during lunch. Hooray for Wyatt!

Here's a picture of Jonas at the program, holding up his "Thank You Mom" card:



Momhood is sweet.

The Dangers of Cosmetology

They say that firefighters and deep sea crab fisherman have dangerous jobs, but I have one that rivals them: the cosmetologist. Yesterday Elise's 3rd grade had a "Marketplace" where the kids were assigned jobs and salaries, then had the chance to go around to different booths and spend their money on things like rent, bills, entertainement, etc. Elise was given a career in cosmetology (salary: $200 a week) and got to come to school all dressed up. We put her in a cute skirt, chunky heels, pasted sparlky jewels on her fingernails and did her hair in a bun form with faux curls that we had from her dance costume when she was seven. I even let her wear my lipstick. She was quite thrilled with her look:



Now comes the dangerous part.

The marketplace was scheduled to last until lunchtime, so I didn't think the kids would be running the track (they usually do that in the morning). I could have sent Elise with a change of clothes, but she liked her outfit and wanted to wear it all day. Can you see where this is headed? Jonas came home off the bus from kindergarten with tears in his eyes (cute little empathetic kid) saying that he had seen a "girl in a pink skirt with puffy hair on her head who was crying like Elise" who'd had an accident on the track right before he got on the bus and he wanted me to call the school and check on her. So I called the school . . . but they said she'd never been brought in. So I figured that maybe she took a little tumble but wasn't too banged up.

Wrong!

She came home all skinned up on her face, shoulder, the palms of her hands, and on both knees. (And she had been taken care of in the nurses office, so the lady at school gave me faulty info.) She was running the track and her heel wobbled and she biffed it spectacularly. Although I'm sure she had quite a howl out on the track (she's not one to shy away from letting her pain be known) she said she got it together and was fine the rest of the day, although it hurt to write. Poor kid. Here's her skinned face:



At least she was able to do the marketplace before the high heeled tragedy. It's dangerous work being a pretty girl.

Two other comments:

--I've been watching the last 10 minutes of the last few Jazz games and boy, have they been fun. I'm an excellent "last 10 minutes of a close important game" sports fan. I even let the kids stay up last night until the end of regulation play, but made them go to bed before overtime. When Elise woke up, the first thing she said (groggily) was "Did the Jazz win?" It was fun to tell her yes.

--Marie Osmond was on The View today and talked a little about Mormonism. I swear, we're everywhere these days. Watch out if Mitt gets the nomination, even for V.P. He's so much better looking than Dick Cheney, though, I think people would be happy to have such a photogenic second in command. He's got to watch the man-tan, though. Bordering on Hestonesque.

Blog Envy

I'm wondering if fiddling with the appearance of your blog is kind of like rearranging furniture. Something to do when you're itching for change. Also, I've been having blog envy lately. I go to other blogs and they look cooler and read cooler and just all together are cooler than mine. Is that prideful, having blog envy? I love clicking on the links from other people's blogs and eavesdropping on their cooler than mine lives, though. Fun times.

I also feel like the text was hard to read on my other blog template. So what to you guys think? Do you like this one? Or the one before?? Or the one before that??? I'd love your vote. And who knows--maybe I'll change it AGAIN in 3 months. It's surely not as likely to throw my back out as rearranging the furniture.

Tooth Pain = No typing

I'm wondering if the reason I haven't posted much lately is because I had my wisdom tooth removed last Tuesday and the extraction site STILL HURTS so I haven't been in the mood. Or the pain meds I've been taking because of the pain in the extraction site make me sleepy and less goal oriented. Or I've just been busy. Any of these is a usable explanation! So here's the rundown of what's been missed in the last little while:



1. Mega Babysitting! This is a shot of Tony and Cindy's 4 kids, our 4 kids and Mindy and Peter's 2 kids a week ago last Friday. We decided to do some babysitting switch-offs, a "you watch our kids we'll watch yours" kind of thing. It got a little hairy when there were two dirty diapers and two 4 year olds needing bathroom help almost simultaneously, but they're good kids and we got through it. But 10 kids is a lot! We got "Year at the Museum" (which is what they're all staring at) and that successfully distracted them, at least for a little while.

2. Aforementioned tooth extraction. Can I say how much I hate the dentist? Hate it. HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT. I hate the medicinal smell of the office, I hate the dentisty tase in my mouth of all their dentisty products, I hate getting shots, I hate being numb, I hate having a sore jaw aferward and not being able to eat or drink, I hate how they make you feel ashamed of yourself for having cavities, and I especially hate still having pain after almost one full week has gone by since the surgery. I've had one other wisdom tooth removed and it wasn't nearly this bad. I go in tomorrow to have the stitches removed and they'll have to take a look at it then and see how things are healing. Until then, I'll continue downing ibuprofin, eating on the right side of my mouth, and squiring a syringe full of salty water into my socket.

3. Up the canyon! On the day of the wisdom tooth, we went up the canyon w/ my family for a little picnic. Amy, Dave and Jack were in town for Dave's brother's wedding (it was so fun to see them, and Jack is getting so big) so we headed up Big Cottonwood for a little family togetherness. We haven't been picnicing up the canyon since we moved back, and I forgot how fun it is. It was a gloriously beautiful day and the kids had a great time scooting around on their scooters (there were paved roads), rock climbing (Ethan about gave me a heart attack. He's so tenative about a lot of things, but he'll scale a rock face anytime. Not a good thing for a Mom afraid of heights.), and roasting marshmallows for what I'm told were extarordinary S'mores. I say I was told they were extraordinary because I was in a crushing amount of pain and couldn't eat anything but a few morsels of well cooked carrot from the tin foil dinner. I finally started feeling better when I held some cold pop cans to my face, but even then it was hard just to talk. But I would have rather been up there w/ everyone than home suffering alone!

4. Wyatt's regression. Yes, Wyatt gave us a couple good weeks of the glorious "one wakeup night." I was starting to believe that sleep was possible when, whamo, he yanks the rug out from under us. (Is "whamo" a good yanking sound? Probably not. But you get the idea.) The last four or five nights he's gone back to his "three wakeup" nights, which are no good. No good, I tell you!!!

5. Movie night. Forrest and I took Mindy and Pete up on the babysitting trade and went out to Rumby Island Grill (pretty good--never been there before ) and saw a movie. Mindy was horrified that we were seeing "Disturbia," but it was a fairly mild, PG-13 thriller. I've always liked a good thriller. I know the more mature and spiritually sentsitive I get, this attribute is supposed to fade away, but it hasn't. Or maybe I'm just not very mature or spiritually sensitive.

6. Extended Wilkey Family Home Evening. The Wilkeys, Forrest's "Family #2," a very large clan of 14 children (and 15 if you count Forrest) have extended Family Home Evening every first Sunday of the month, and any Wilkey in town is invited. We've gone to a number of them over the course of our marriage. Well, we volunteered to host this month and had a gaggle of Wilkeys to the house yesterday. I used it as a good opportunity to spring clean, and Forrest, the kids and I cleaned and polished and vaccummed and scrubbed most of Saturday (and some of Sunday--ox in the mire!!!). We had a great time, and now the house is really clean, too!!

So that's the rundown! Sorry to write so much. Hopefully once my tooth is better, I'll be on top of things!

Cute Wyatt photos

Just had to share some cute pics of Wyatt. I pulled out the 3-6 month clothes and found some of my old favorites from Ethan and Jonas's babyhoods. I've always loved this little church outfit. Doesn't Wyatt look like a little man?



And here's a good fist-sucker shot:



And a cute tummy time picture. (I think he looks a little like my baby pictures in this one. Wishful thinking?)



Here's Wyatt and his adoring sister. Check out the blue eyes/green eyes contrast:



And last but not least, a smiley picture. He was looking at his dad:



I'm just adoring Wyatt at this three month stage. He slept 7 1/2 hours last night (!!!!) and he's so much fun to play with during the day. Makes me feel like I can ignore all the other boring stuff and just kiss his yummy little bare feet.

Ethan's is on his site!

See sidebar to click to Ethan's

Jonas's Three Things

Now it's Jonas's turn:

Three Things I Love:

1. Candy
2. My brothers and sister
3. My friends

Three Things I Hate:

1. Bullies
2. Hanging my shirts on hangers
3. Broccoli

Three People Who Make Me Laugh:

1. Ethan
2. My Dad
3. My sister

Three Things That Scare Me:

1. When Ethan sneaks up and surprises me
2. The dark
3. Blood

Three Things I Plan To Do Today:

1. Play with my friend Dallas
2. Play with my brother and sister
3. Help Dad go to the store

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:

1. Be a good Dad to my kids
2. Get a job NOT as a police because they have to spray that pepper spray
3. Work at the zoo feeding animals and stuff

Three Things I Can Do:

1. Running
2. Karate
3. Soccer

Three Things I Can't Do:

1. Jumping really high on the tramp
2. Like doing my homework
3. Change Wyatt's diaper

Three Things I'd LIke to Learn:

1. Dodgeball
2. How to read better so I can play more video games
3. Clean up Ethan's stuff

Three Favoite Foods:

1. Pineapple
2. French Fries
3. Chicken Nuggets

Three Favorite TV Shows:

1. Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends
2. Pokemon
3. Dragonball Z

Bye Bye!

Elise's Three Things

Ethan read Brandon's Three Things and tagged himself and the other two to do theirs. Here is Elise's:

Three Things I Love:

1. My friends
2. My Mom
3. And Wyatt Dean!

Three Things I Hate:

1. Being picked on
2. Jonas not being nice to me
3. Rice

Three People Who Make Me Laugh:

1. Mom
2. Ethan
3. Hailey

Three Things That Scare Me:

1. Burglers
2. Not being able to fall asleep at night
3. My teacher getting mad

Three Things I Don't Understand:

1. How to type fast
2. How to draw people very well
3. How to take care of Wyatt

Three Things I Plan to Do Today:

1. Play with lots of my friends
2. Spend time with Wyatt
3. Spend time with my Mom

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:

1. Bungee Jumping!
2. Train a horse of my own
3. Have good kids

Three Things I Can Do:

1. Read well
2. Horesback riding
3. Sing

Three Things I Can't Do:

1. 12 Times Tables
2. Remember to put away my dirty clothes
3. Fly!

Three Things I Miss;

1. Minnesota
2. Lincoln Elementary
3. Sam the dog

Three Things I'd Like to Learn:

1. Play the guitar
2. Play the drums
3. Play piano as fast as mom can.

Three Favorite Foods:

1. Spaghetti
2. Pizza
3. Chocolate Chocolate Cake

Three Favorite TV Shows:

1. Billy & Mandy (which Mom hates!)
2. Full House
3. Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends

The Horror

Ahh, fitness. A worthy goal. Particularly after one has had her fourth baby and one has lost the first 20 pounds and one's body has refused to lose any more. And even more particularly when one has signed up for a membership at a health club and one is paying dues.

So I decided to get back on the horse. Excercise. I'd gotten into a pretty good rhythm in MN, doing kickboxing and aerobics and Body Pump (a really good weight training to music program), and even though I didn't lose much weight, I had better muscle tone and my clothes were looser and I was IN SHAPE. But now it's been over a year since I have excercised strenuously at all . . . and I was a little nervous to go back.

Fortunatley, my first foray into the frightening world of Group Fitness Classes wasn't too bad. It was at night, Forrest was home with the kids, and it was a little more toned down "let's dim the lights," laides only, we should all feel good about our womenly bodies kind of class. I liked it. Then (cue the ominous organ music: bum, bum, buuuuuuum) I decided to 1. go to a class that was a little more intense and 2. put Wyatt in the child care room.

So I walk into the class (called 50/50, for 1/2 cardio and 1/2 weight training) and I see all these skinney ladies with jump ropes. Should have tipped me off. But undaunted, and with an overinflated faith in both my cardio stamina and bladder elasticity, joined in. Bad, bad idea. The first 10 minutes weren't too awful, but then the jump ropes came out and all bets were off. Needless to say, a woman in her mid thirties who recently had her fourth child and hasn't exercised in a year and is nursing is NOT the prime candidate for sustained and energetic jump roping. Once the instructor started shouting, "Okay, now just one foot! Let's GO LADIES!" I knew it was time for me to slip out unnoticed. Unfortunately, I was in the back corner and surrounded by whipping jumpropes. I stood there for a minute, drinking my water and plotting my escape, when the aerobics instructor (with the microphone) looked over at me and shouted "You Okay?" I nodded back in shame . . . but wanted to say "I'm fine! Just 20 pounds overweight, incontinent, top heavy, out of breath, and worried about my three month old abandoned in what must be, in his eyes, a baby torture room!" Urrggh.

When I made it downstairs, I opened the door to the child care room and could hear Wyatt crying right away. One of the ladies had him and was holding him and trying to give him his binki, but he would have none of it. He had that look on his face--red rimmed eyes, sad, pouty mouth, searching expression--that is baby body language for "my mother has abandoned me." Broke my heart. So not only had I suffered humiliation and various indignities in the jump roping class, but I hurt my baby's feelings to boot.

But today I went to a class called "Rock and Stroll" where you bring your baby with you in his stroller. Went much better. It was a good workout, and even though Wyatt was awake most of the time, he stayed in his stroller and didn't cry until the very end. That class is on Tuesdays and Thursdays and seems like a good bet.

And now he's awake, and gotta make the off track kids their lunch. Bye for now.

Three Months Old

Today Wyatt is 3 months old. This age always seems like a milestone, leaving infanthood and heading into babydom. He's not this fragile little thing anymore: he's a little guy with a personality and likes and dislikes and opinions and tricks up his sleeve. He's gotten pretty flirty in his old age, and loves being kissed on the neck and his brothers and sister making funny faces. He's also taken more of a liking to his floor gym with the dangly toys, as opposed to his bouncy chair with the dangly toys. And last night he did a one wakeup night between 9:30 and 6:00--which is good (for him). The night before he woke up three times (urggh). He also had a tremendous wakey-day yesterday, managing to remain awake from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with about 3o minutes sleep total, 15 minutes of which occured while hooked on to me and supposedly eating. I was getting to the end of my rope as Forrest was gone to MN, driving his parents' U-Haul across the country, and his parents were coming over for dinner (they'd just flown in). Luckily, his nap from 4:30 to 6:30 gave me just enough time to make Lemon Italian Chicken and tidy up. And it was good to see Forrest's parents and Chelle again. They're moving into their new apartment today--and now the whole Hallstrom clan is living in the Utah again for the first time since 1998. Pretty cool.

So in celebration of Wyatt's three month birthday, here's a video of him today:



Then here's another video of him tonight getting his massage. Every night he has a bath and a little rub down as a way to 1. have some bonding time, 2. have some tummy time, and 3. let him know that it's time for bed. We both like it. Sorry it's kind of dark--I was afraid turning on the lights would ruin the ambiance. Isn't his little naked bum cute, though? And doesn't he look big, holding his head up all strong??



Three month old babies are the best.

Zingers and Zoos

First, a funny story. Last week we'd reached a culmination of frustration with Jonas and his (ahem) poor eating choices. We were having a normal family dinner of pork chops and whatnot and we had given Jonas his obligatory banana and yogurt (since the last time he ate pork chops, he threw up, which he does surprisingly often when asked to eat new foods), and he was being a pain about eating even THAT, dawdling and whining and everything. So Dad had to suddenly become mean Dad, which doesn't happen very often. Usually Mom's the bad cop and Dad's the good cop. So when Dad's bad cop, the kids know something serious is going down. Long story short, part of Jonas's punishment was that he couldn't eat any sweets for one whole week. Jonas was surprisingly willing to go along with the punishment--I think even he knew how ridiculous he was getting about eating--but it wasn't easy.

About 5 days into the week-long candy ban, I came home and saw this in the kitchen:



What you see there is a zinger, secured with tape, stuck to the cabinet above the fridge. My first thought was "Why in the world did Forrest tape a zinger to the cabinetry?" But then, later on in the day as Forrest was walking through the kitchen he asked, "Hey Ang . . . why did you tape a zinger to the cabinet?" Didn't take to long to figure out who'd done it. When we asked Jonas about it he said, "There was only one zinger left, and I didn't want Ethan or Elise to get it before my week was over!"

Hilarious. And Jonas did a good job all week long and even tried some new foods: bacon (did a pretty good job), Velveeta Shells and Cheese (not as good--he gagged and spit out three mouthfulls before he finally got one down. I only ask for one), and real chicken, not the nugget variety (he squished it inside a Pillsbury crescent roll in order to hide it from himself. It seemed like a good idea until we realized he'd been sitting there for 20 minutes eating all the roll around it. We finally had to set the timer for 2 minutes and told him if he didn't eat the piece of chicken in that amount of time, we wouldn't be able to go to Leatherby's as a family after all.) We'd been using a family outing to Leatherby's all week as a bribe. So he finally ate the chicken, and the whole fam went to Leatherby's last night to celebrate. Jonas had bubblegum ice cream--no toppings.

We also went to the zoo yesterday. The kids are off track and it was a GORGEOUS day. (It's windy and cold today). We went with some friends of ours, the Bertolas, and Ethan brought a friend of his own so he wasn't the only boy over 6. The animals were out and about and the kids had a great time. Here they are in all their goofy glory, with a peacock they'd chased in the corner of the shot:




And a Wyatt update: he's doing great. Growing hair. He gives this little excited laugh when you play with him that's adorable, and this morning he was mimicking Forrest making this grunting sound (hard to explain in writing). He's getting big, and sleeping better, too, which Mom appreciates. Time flies.

The Many Faces of Wyatt Dean

The night before last Wyatt officially had his first "one wakeup" night. Slept form 9:00 to 3:00, then went back down until 6:30. Woo hoo!! He slept till 3:00 again last night, but then woke up at 5:30 (not as good.) But still! We're heading in the right direction. So here are some pictures of the little dude. He's getting big so fast . . . I'm putting away all his newborn clothes!

Contemplative Wyatt:



Flirty Wyatt:



Done With The Photo Shoot Wyatt:



That's it for now!

Three Things

I was "tagged" by a friend to do this three things email, so thought I'd put in on my blog and tag new people that way.

Three Things I Love:
1. My husband
2. My kids
3. Having my own office

Three Things I Hate:
1. Grapefruit
2. People who are so extreme in their political ideology that they believe Hillary Clinton/George Bush are literally in leauge with the devil and trying to bring down the country.
3. Still not fitting into my pants properly.

Three People Who Make Me Laugh:
1. Forrest
2. The kids (I'm lumping them together as one person)
3. Will Ferrel

Three Things that Scare Me:
1. Dolls that come alive
2. Heights
3. Any kind of disability that affects a person's brain (Tourette's syndrome, Autism, Alzheimer's, mental illnesses of any kind.)

Three Things I Don't Understand:
1. How the bump on my nose came to be and how it can grow back even after a dermatologist has sliced it off.
2. How to make a complicated Jello salad set up.
3. Gangsta Rap.

Three Things On My Desk:
1. The names and email addresses of last year's Irreantum fiction contest winners.
2. A can of caffeine free Diet Coke.
3. An easter egg full of silly putty.

Three Things I Plan To Do Today (or Did Today):
1. Laundry
2. Start editing last year's Irreantum fiction contest winners.
3. Watch American Idol

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
1. Publish a novel
2. See all my kids in the temple
3. Travel--to Europe again, to Asia, to Africa, everywhere

Three Things I Can Do:
1. Make good salads.
2. Teach
3. Write

Three Things I Can't Do:
1. Bowl
2. Get Jonas to try new foods
3. Discipline myself to wake up earlier than I absolutely have to in order to exercise/read/ponder/etc.

Three Things I Miss:
1. Dancing. I hardly ever dance anymore, and if I did, it would be embarrassing.
2. Sleep. But I know this is shortlived.
3. Minnesota.

Three Things I'd Like to Learn:
1. What exactly caused World War I? I don't quite get it, beyond that whole Archduke incident.
2. How to swim more gracefully
3. Patience.

Three Things I Regret:
1. Various Mommy-mistakes
2. Not being more diligent about reading my scriptures
3. Adolescent ditziness

Three Favorite Foods:
1. Cheesecake
2. Pasta w/ red sauce and seafood and artichokes
3. Good bread/rolls.

Three Favorite TV Shows as a Kid:
1. Little House on the Prairie
2. Family Ties
3. The Price is Right

Three People I Tag
(and these people can either do this on their own blogs, or comment on this one!)
1. My mom
2. Andi
3. Amy

Sheds, Bad Mommy Skiing, AML Stuff & Easter

To begin, a photo of Wyatt eating his hand, his favorite pastime:



And now, four blogworthy items in the last few days:

1. Forrest is building a shed. From scratch. I give him much credit for the attempt. Although it's been frustrating at times (for him, mostly, and mostly because he's married to me and I come outside and cock my head at it and ask him questions such as "Is this the way it's supposed to look?), now that he's in the home stretch, it's looking good. He's spent a lot of time outdoors working on it--and I must resign myself to the fact that he's going to be spending a lot of time outdoors again, finishing up the yard and other manly type projects--but he's saved us a lot of money doing it himself and it will be great to get some of our big, bulky items out of the garage. Here's a picture of Forrest working on the shed. I was trying to make dinner quickly and had to zip out the door to pick up Elise from a birthday party, so he was on Wyatt duty. He put Wyatt on the new tramp in his bouncy seat, and he really seemed to like it. And, of course, Jonas heard there was a camera in the vicinity, so he showed up as well :-).



2. We went skiing as a family on Friday (the kids have been off for Spring Break). First, let me say that the only time I've skiied since 1998 was an ill-fated family nightskiing adventure a few years ago. Well, it was ill fated for me, since the hill was kind of long and scary, it was DARK, the snow was icy, and I was extremely out of practice. But I decided since the kids are boffo skiers now that I'd better give it one more shot. Well . . . things started off kind of badly. We went on a "real" hill (not the bunny hill), and not only did I totally biff it coming down the first big slope, but I couldn't get my ski on and Forrest had to trudge back up the hill to help me. All the while the kids are standing there yelling, "Come on Mom! You can do it Mom!" and I was feeling like a dodo. As we proceeded down the mountain, I remembered what made my last ski trip so torturous: it was killing my feet. I kept having to do "pizza" with the skis because I was so afraid of going fast, but the outsides of my feet were supporting all my weight and they were cramping up like the dickens. (Should I capatialize that?). By the time I got to the bottom of the mountain I was in pain, embarassed, and exhausted. So Forrest took the kids for one more run while I rested and contemplated whether or not I wanted to ski again, then or ever. But then I thought about Elise and how hard her first day was and how she didn't give up, and what kind of Mom would I be if I did? So after the kids came down, Elise decided she would take pity on her poor mom and head over to the bunny hill. On that hill I started gaining a little more control and confidence and figured out that I wasn't leaning forward into my boots--and once I started doing that, my feet felt TONS better and I actually started having fun. Ethan, Elise and Jonas were all exellent skiiers; it was so fun to see them shooshing around. Jonas, especially, is a little daredevil, speeding around people and showing off, and Ethan was daring enough to try the moguls. Elise is a great little skiier, too. Her only bad luck of the day was on the last run on the bunny hill, a beginning snowboarder (who was a woman in her 30s) lost control and plowed right into her. Elise has bruises on the back of her legs to prove it. Forrest saw the whole thing go down and said the saddest part was that Elise was singing a little song that went "I love to ski, I love to ski," right when the lady slammed into her. Elise went down and started crying and the lady said, "Oh! Are you okay?" and Elise, wailing, said "NO!" At least she's honest. And she has some wicked bruises on her leg to prove that she wasn't okay, too!

3. I went to the annual AML conference on Saturday and had a good time. They surprised me and gave me a "Service to AML Award" for my work on Irreantum, which was very nice. It's always fun to see some of my AML friends again, and, as always, I came away inspired and hoping to do more/better with my writing. I met a guy who's written a YA fantasy novel for Deseret Book called Fablehaven which was just optioned by Scholastic (I think) and they're doing a big paperback release--great advertising, lots of PR. Makes me wish I wrote YA. Or fantasy. Instead I write these book clubby books for people just like me that Deseret Book has no interest in and that are too Mormon for a mainstream publisher. But I'll stop feeling sorry for myself. The Fablehaven guy was really nice--and young--couldn't have been out of his twenties for sure. He kept saying that he mainly just likes writing stuff that's "cool", which is why he thinks he's so popular with kids. Good to keep in mind.

4. Easter. Had a neighborhood easter egg hunt on Sat (which I missed, due to the conference, bad mom) and the kids woke up on Sunday and did the traditional Easter egg / Easter basket hunt. The eggs had been hidden outside (dumb Bunny) and we had a huge rainstorm pass through at about 2:00 a.m. I was sure the candy was all ruined because the eggs had little holes in them and the rain was pouring. But we woke up in the morning, and other than a few sticky jelly beans, we were okay! The kids liked their Easter baskets . . . I think . . . Easter is always so hard because it's not like Christmas or birthdays where they get big stuff, but I end up feeling like I spend a bunch of $ anyway and that the kids are vaguely disappointed. Everyone seemed happy w/ their stuff and didn't complain--I think I just always want the big WOW! But Easter isn't about the baskets anyway. And we had a wonderful day at church--which IS what Easter is about--and a great, relaxing dinner at Grandpa and Grandma Sweat's that night. So it was a good day. Here are some pictures of crazy haired Easter morning chitlins:

Almost cavity-free

Took the kids to the dentist today, and even though both Ethan and Elise had been complaining of mouth pain, both were cavity free! Hurrah! (Turns out they both have molars pushing down.) Only Jonas had a cavity, which was too bad, but not as bad as last time when he had a bunch of cavities and needed two appointments to fill them all. This time it was just a little tiny one that they filled right then and there, and Joe didn't even need a shot of novocaine. So it was a great dentist trip for the Hallstroms, all in all! It's so nice to go and not feel like a bad tooth-brushing Mom.

Spring break has officially begun, and I'm looking forward to not having to wrassle the kids out of bed and out the door every morning. And do homework at night. We're planning on going skiing on Friday as a family--with thanks to Grandma for Wyatt watching duty--and spend the rest of the time relaxin'.

I have the annual AML conference to go to on Saturday, which should be fun. I love the AML (Association for Mormon Letters). It was such a lifeline to me in Minnesota--I felt like the AML folks on the "AML-list" (the email discussion list) were my only Mormon friends at times, and the experiences I've had with Irreantum and with other AML members and writers have been invaluable. Although I've felt a little disconnected from the writing life lately, I'm itchy to get back into it again. I miss writing. This blog doesn't really count because it's more a stream of consciousness, personal journal/family chit chat vehicle. It's fun more than challenging--kind of like the differenc between a pick up game of basketball in the driveway and a playoff game. (See how I couch things in sport terms when I'm writing for the family? ;-). Whenever I read good stuff, though, it makes me itchier to start writing fiction again. I just finished reading "Children of Men" by an English author named PD James. I've never read her before--she writes mainly mysteries and speculative fiction, so not normally my cup of tea--but I'd heard about the movie recently that was based on the novel and thought I'd give it a shot. It's an entirely different kind of novel than any book I've read in a while. Older seeming, slower paced. But the language is striking, and her ability to describe is absolutely astonishing. Here's a couple of examples of how she describes different characters:

"She was older than he expected, with a round, windburned face, gently creased like a balloon from which the air has been expelled, bright beady eyes and a small mouth, delicately shaped and once pretty but now, as he looked down on her, restlessly munching as if still relishing the after-taste of her last meal."

and

"He was tall, with a pale, sensitive face and an etiolated body, the large knobbled hands drooping from delicate writsts, as if in childhood he had outgrown his strength and had never managed to achieve robust adulthood. His fair hair lay like a silk fringe on the high forehead; his grey eyes were widely spaced and gentle."

(and FYI, "etiolated" means "to cause to become weakened or sickly; drain of color or vigor." I had to look it up. I also didn't realize that "knobbled" was a word, but I like it.)

I read stuff like that and I think DANG! It's so hard. So hard to write like that. I have a story coming out in Dialogue soon and I just labored over how to describe a certain character. It took forever to think of something that didn't sound cliched, and even then I'm not 100% certain I like it. But it's nice to be inspired by writers like James.

I'm also not giving up hope on my book. I've had three different publishers tell me they want to publish it ("probably" or "hopefully") and with all three, something has happened to either cause it not to happen or delay it indefinitely. I'm trying to be patient, though. I still have hope for my little collection of stories, my little Palmer family. I'll try to do what Oprah says and think positively about it, put some good mojo out into the future.

So now Wyatt is awake. This is all the writing for today. But I'll close with some good pictures from Jonas's birthday and the Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Sweat's on Monday. (Which is what real life is all about, as opposed to the made up lives that I seem to love so much.)