Chuga Chuga

Yes, I have finally gotten around to updating my blog after the trip Forrest and I took with the Wilkey family to Colorado last weekend. Here's a play by play:

Thursday:

Woke up and cleaned. I am grateful with all my heart for the wonderful folks who took care of my kids while we were gone . . . and I had to make sure there wasn't any ring around the toilet and whatnot while they were here. So I cleaned and prepped and wrote my little "Mom's List of Instructions" until noon, when I dropped Wyatt off at my friend Karen's place. (She has four boys and her youngest just went to Kindergarten . . . and she actually said "Thank You" to ME for asking her to watch Wyatt. She says she's baby hungry, but I say she's just really, really nice.)

So Forrest and Darrin and Katie and I settled into the Tahoe and took off for Colorado. We had an excellent time yapping and snacking and spotting UFOs on the seven hour drive to Durango.



See that shiny white speck in the sky? We couldn't figure out what it was, either. UFO, we figured. I took four pictures of it, by the way, and three of the four mysteriously disappeared from my iPhoto application on my computer after I deleted them from the camera. Mysterious, mysterious.

Also, on the way there we got a call from my Mom and Dad--who had taken over from Karen later on that afternoon, thanks guys!--letting me know that (of course) WYATT WAS SICK! So I moped for about an hour, feeling sorry for myself and my little guy that he can be perfectly healthy for months on end, and on the very day I leave him for the first time, he comes down with a fever.

He has recovered, however, and all is well.

We also received a call from a very conscientious older Wilkey brother who checked on our reservations and discovered that we, in fact, did NOT have a reservation at the General Palmer hotel that night. (Long story, but we'd asked them to cancel Friday, and they canceled Thursday instead.) After many attempts to call other hotels and finding them all booked (and getting continually disconnected from the ever-patient hotel personnel, because every time we would go up or down a hill our call would drop, even with three different wireless providers represented in the car) we finally finagled a way to get two rooms for the same price we'd been paying at the initial hotel, even though one of them was a suite. Sweet! we said. Well, Forrest and I said, because Darrin and Katie let us have the suite. Nice guys.

We pulled into Durango, which is kind of like Park City on Cowboy Steroids. Cool town. We had an excellent dinner with 20 other Wilkey family members and I enjoyed one of the best chicken dishes I have ever eaten. Plus I was really hungry. We stayed that night at the General Palmer--a 120 year old hotel--but it was a really nicely kept-up, modernized 120 year old hotel. Unlike the Friday night hotel. But I'll get to that in a minute.

Friday:

That morning we woke up to a tooting steam engine and little flecks of coal dust in the air. Here's a shot of Katie and me that a.m., if only because 1. we liked posing under a sign that said "Quiet Ladies" and 2. Forrest says I have Jennifer Aniston hair. (Circa 1999, maybe.)



And here's a shot of Forrest and me in front of the rail car that the Wilkey clan (and two other unrelated, and probably a little frightened, women) occupied. It was the last car on the train, which was great because we could step out on a little platform on the back and take excellent photos and enjoy the gorgeous air. And when we were near any roads, everyone would wave at us like we were celebrities.



Here's a shot of Darrin and Katie from the interior of the train. Not only is it a delightful photo, but it also shows off some of the woodworking and craftsmanship inside the car, which was built in the late 1800s.



The train ride to Silverton was gorgeous. Gorgeous! Here are some pictures to prove it:





Here's my favorite picture from the ride. Since we were in the end of the train, we could see the front of the train as it turned. I think it looks like a toy train on a track, or a Disney ride, don't you??



When we got to Silverton, we moseyed around town for a bit. It's a very small town, and probably would have disappeared by now if not for the tourist trade. Silverton actually closes down completely in the winter months. The train ride back to Durango from Silverton wasn't quite as exhilarating as on the way up--we humans are so easily bored, aren't we?--but it was fun to listen to assorted Wilkey family members sing morbid songs about the Titanic at the tops of their voices. (I wish I remembered what the song was called, but one of the lyrics I recall is "glug glug.")

We'd decided to stay Friday night in Silverton instead of Durango (which caused the initial hotel reservation confusion in the first place) -- and once we got to Silverton we immediately began second guessing our decision. The Silverton hotel was also a 19th century "classic" hotel like the Durango hotel, but it had slipped a couple of notches from rustic and charming to creaky and haunted. And I mean it when I say haunted. The lady at the front desk told us that she had seen the ghost herself--a Dr. Luigi, an unfortunate M.D. who had killed himself in the hotel over a hundred years before. "He's a nice ghost, though," she told us. Apparently he goes around healing people of their ailments. (Darrin's usually very reserved oldest sister mused that she might wake up with bigger breasts, then. Hilarious.) She also informed us that there had been a number of murders in the hotel, and that the most recent had taken place "a couple months ago." Hmmmm . . .

The floorboards creaked with every step, but Forrest and I lucked out once more and got one of the nicer rooms. (Darrin and Katie were bummed that they didn't get rod iron canopy beds.) Here's Forrest looking spooked in our haunted room, and a shot outside our haunted window:




Saturday:

We woke up in the morning refreshed and unharmed, although I was disappointed to find that I hadn't been healed of my stretch marks. Dang!

We took off that morning for home. The drive out of Silverton was one of the most gorgeous (and scary) drives I've ever taken. Apparently Coloradoans don't think guard rails are necessary, and we snaked our way through one of the most beautiful canyons I've ever seen. I kept telling Forrest to stop looking at the scenery and keep his eyes on the road, though. Here's a picture of Katie and me against some of the only fall color we saw on the trip (too early), and a cool shot of an old, run down mill up against the mountain:




We also saw three young bucks (literal young bucks!!) crossing a river. (We also saw antelope and wild elk actually frolicking, but didn't have the camera ready in time):



The final great story of the trip is how I ran into my old elementary school friend, Stephanie Reiva. Quick background: Stephanie and I were best friends in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. Her dad was in the military, though, and they moved to Denver when I was 10. It was one of the saddest days of my life. I went and visited her when I was in sixth grade, but we haven't seen each other since. Amazingly, we've stayed in touch all these years by sending Christmas cards, even though Stephanie lived in Boston (working as an engineer on the "Big Dig") and Puerto Rico. She got married about five years ago, and she and her husband finally decided the wanted to settle down and picked a small town in CO called Montrose and bought a business that builds cedar homes. So, as we were driving through random small Colorado towns, we passed a cedar home builder on the outskirts of one town and it reminded me of Stephanie. "Will we be passing through Montrose?" I asked Forrest. "Sounds familiar," he said. Well, a few minutes later I had to go to the bathroom, so we pulled over at a gas station. While at the gas station, we discovered we were in Montrose at that very moment. Darrin pulled out his Mio, a very handy/annoying GPS tracking gadget, and punched in Stephanie's address. Lo and behold, the cedar home business we'd passed was hers! So we flipped back around and walked in, their secretary called Stephanie on her cell phone (she was taking her son to the pediatrician to check for an ear infection) and fifteen minutes later, there was Stephanie Reiva! In the flesh! It was so fun to see her and meet her husband and her two little boys. Fifteen years is a long time, but I would have recognized her anywhere. Here's a picture of the two of us (even though I look TERRIBLE and blame it on the haunted hotel because it didn't have a hair dryer, so I couldn't wash my hair and I was all greasy and limp, but I must get over my pride):



We pulled into home at about 6:00. I was more than ready to see the kids, and I'm sure that Forrest's Mom and Mindy and Pete (thanks, guys!) were more than ready to see us. We had a ball, and we're so grateful to the Wilkeys for inviting us and for our marvelous babysitters for allowing us some badly needed Mom and Dad time.

And if you've read this whole thing until the end, congrats! (And I mean you, Dave. I know how you hang on every word I write :-).

**Addendum: I am a lot older than I think I am. It has actually been TWENTY FIVE years since I have seen Stephanie, not fifteen. Sigh. Why am I not 25 still????**

Fall is in the air . . .

which is nice since our air conditioner is broken . . . again. We've been patient w/ the Dick's Heating and Air Conditioning people, but after about seven or eight freeze-ups since we moved in, we think it's time to get a new one. (Especially since it's been broken since Wed. and they still haven't returned our calls). The heat is supposed to be back later this week, so hopefully they'll get sick of us calling everyday and fix/replace it sometime soon.

The other reason I say fall is in the air is because it's time for the kids to get back on the school/extracurricular activities bandwagon (and Mom and Dad, too). Jonas is playing soccer again, Jonas and Ethan have gone back to karate, piano is starting up, and Elise is going to do a Children's Community Theater this year--I think she'll like it. They're doing a "Pirates of the Caribbean meets the Little Mermaid" play. She has her first class tonight. She's also participating in the Monte Vista school choir and has to go to school 1 hour early on Tues and Thurs, which shows how much my girl who loves to sleep in wanted to do it. This morning, after dragging her out of bed and watching her droopy, grumpy face stare back at me in the mirror while I was doing her hair, she demanded to know why, exactly, they start school so early? "It doesn't make any sense!" she said. When I told her that junior high and high school were even earlier, she groaned and said, "Well that's not good news." I agree, sister.

Ethan also just graduated from Cub Scouts and got his Arrow of Light. Here's photographic proof:




The first shot is of Ethan and obviously me--with a loverly spit-up stain on my chestal region--holding the really cool plaque a nice woman in the ward makes for all the boys who receive their Arrow of Light. (For those of you without Scouts, it's an award you can work toward once you graduate from Cubs and move on to Boy Scouts.) The second shot is of Ethan walking across the "bridge" from Cub to Boy Scouts--a highly symbolic and emotionally weighty moment that, as you can tell from Ethan's stance, he wasn't taking quite as seriously as his mother and the Scout Master would have liked. But what are you going to do? I suppose the line between stand-up and somber symbolic moments can get fuzzy at times?? We discussed it and hopefully it is now clearer :-). I was still proud of him for getting the award. He worked hard in Cubs and did a lot of cool things. And now he's an official Boy Scout, and next year he'll be in the Young Men's program with his Dad, now that Forrest is the secretary. Hard to believe.

To conclude, I should probably say something about Jonas, since I've touched on Ethan and Elise (and I touch on Wyatt all the time--who by the way is having a rapturous love affair with remotes, shoes, and keys). He's doing great in 1st grade and his reading is really taking off. He's reading stuff all the time now. He had his first soccer practice on Sat. and did great. The more he plays, the more aggressive he gets about going after the ball -- but he still hates it when other kids take it away. I think he's spent too many years being the youngest and having a Mom who tells the older kids "just give him what he wants!" or "Maybe let him win!" in order to keep the peace. Bad parenting, yes. But I don't do it all the time. Just when I want some peace.

So that's it for now. As of yesterday, I have collected $1,779 dollars for our upcoming Super Saturday. Even though it's in check form, it's making me very nervous and I can't wait to hand it off to the woman who's buying all the supplies. Now that's really it for now.

Why do we hate Hillary Clinton again?

Good Hillary:



Bad Hillary:




I'm asking this question in all seriousness. I saw her on Ellen yesterday and she seemed quite nice. Although I can understand not liking her politics, or not liking her personality, I know there are quite a few people out there who don't find her simply unlikable. They think she's evil. And my question is . . . . why? I read the paper every day (almost), I read Newsweek every week, I watch the news, I read a lot of online stuff, I even listen to the occasional right wing radio program, and I'm wracking my brain to come up with why she's the fourth horseman of the apocalypse. I can't seem to put my finger on anything specific.

And you can't say it's because she's calculating (ambitious) or a flip-flopper (a politician) if you plan on supporting Mitt Romney, since he's both of these things.

I'm not on a pro-Hillary bandwagon or anything. I don't know if I'd ever vote for her. But it was a bit unsettling to me yesterday when I realized I'd dismissed the possibility of voting for her right out of the gate (when I haven't done the same with Barak Obama or John Edwards). When it comes right down to it, the reason I'm so skittish about the possibility of voting for her is I'm afraid some of my friends and family members will think I'm voting for a minion of Satan. Vote for Edwards or Obama and I'm simply a silly Democrat (like James E. Faust :-). Vote for Hillary, and I'm contributing to the constitution of this great nation hanging by a thread.

I don't think it's because she's a woman. Is it because she's a woman? If it is because she's a woman, would we even be aware that it's because she's a woman?

So . . . . lemme know. I won't jump on anyone's case or anything. I'm just curious, truly.

Kinky Neck

Yesterday we went on our final boat trip of the season with the Wilkeys and their five kids and Forrest's sister Mindy and her family. Lots of fun but supercrowded (and I mean super--it took us over an hour waiting in line to get our boat out. Should we have reminded ourselves not to go to Pineview on a holiday?? Hello.) I also had a pretty wicked wipeout on the waterskis and woke up with a sore neck for my trouble. My spell checker is underlining both "wipeout" and "waterskis". Are these not compound words? Hmmm.

Here's a cute picture of Wyatt and the Wilkey's little boy Isaac. They were both eating crackers at the time, so excuse the food remnants on the face. Our kids match up so well with the Wilkeys'--it's a lot of fun. They have FOUR boys and one girl, though. Thank heaven our two girls have each other to hang out with:



Right now I'm listening to Wyatt upstairs in his crib as he babbles and yells. He's supposed to be going down for his nap but instead he's saying "Bap, Bap, Bap" very loudly. But at least he's not crying, right? We've gotten to the stage where we can hand him a bottle at night. Very bad habit, but oooh, so nice to get right back in bed. Don't tell my pediatric dentist. My kids also rarely floss. Aren't I bad?

So a few quick updates. First, Forrest and I both got new callings at church. He was released as the ward mission leader and put in as the Young Men's secretary. I think he'll really like being in the young men's--he's never done it before. And I was released as the Enrichment Leader and put in as the second counselor in the Relief Society presidency. I think it will be fun, too. I'm happy to be a counselor in a presidency any day. It's being El Presidente that makes me feel woozy. So these changes should be fun.

Next, I have decided to drastically reduce my Diet Coke intake for a little weight loss experiment. To my dismay, I find that even though I stopped nursing (which always makes me lose a little weight--or at least, it did with Jonas) and I'm exercising regularly and trying to watch what I eat, I still weight exactly the same as I did at my 6 week postpartum doctor's appointment. My pants do fit better, but the weight itself is still so discouraging. I hate my dumb metabolism. So a friend of mine said she gave up Diet Coke and lost 5 pounds. We'll see. So far it's mainly making me grumpier and martyrish (I realize that is not a word.)

Ooh, also just finished reading a really good book, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaleed Hosseini (probalby didnt' spell that right), the author of The Kite Runner. I think I liked this one better than The Kite Runner, which I liked quite a bit. It's so interesting to learn about Afghanistan--the things the women went through under the Taliban are breathtaking. Like they were taken out of a horrifying post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel. I remember reading A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood ten years ago or so and not believing that such things could happen to women--and they were happening to women in Afghanistan and we didn't even know it. Anyway, the book is a page turner and fascinating and well written, and you'll learn something, too. Recommended highly.

Speaking of reading, a story of mine, "Accusation," just came out in the most recent issue of Dialogue. I'm sure that very few of my regular blog readers actually subscribe to Dialogue . . . but the story will be in my book when it comes out, so you can read it there. (Because you're all going to buy my book, right? :-).

So that's it for now. Wyatt has stopped "Bap Bap Bapp"ing, so hopefully he's decided to go to sleep. Now I gotta get to work!

These things I get myself into . . .

I remember before I had Wyatt, I'd decided that having a baby was going to be a new opportunity for me to simplify and stop overscheduling myself. Turns out, though, that I continue to overschedule myself and simply truck around with a baby on my hip doing everything I was trying to do before. I'm not saying this to whine, though. More an observation about my personality and why I must have a lot of stuff going on in order to, I don't know . . . distract myself from the housework, maybe?

The last week has been jam packed. I agreed to be in charge of this book publishing program at Monte Vista Elementary (I've been having PTA guilt--last year I wasn't incredibly involved beyond going to my kids' classes.) So I met with the principal a couple of times and got that all going. Relief Society Super Saturday is also coming up, so I had to meet w/ the Enrichment committee and get our craft projects decided. After a hilariously awful attempt to make a stepping stone with little glass marbles and grout, I was relieved to find that one of the committee members knows a lady who does Super Saturdays and she has super cute crafts that she supplies and teaches . . . and so we're using her. Relief! I also had various loose ends w/ the Irreantum fiction contest, and tried to find time to work on my book.

But those were the little things. The big things over the last few days have been:

1. Starting up my SLCC online English class. Long story (which I will make short) but it took the SLCC people a loooooonnnng time to get the template for my class posted, so essentially I wasn't able to work on anything for my class until Thursday. So I met with the teacher over online courses on Friday (with Wyatt--he crawled around and licked our shoes while we talked :-) and tried to overhaul my syllabus and get assignments figured out and learn the tricks of the Vista (online teaching) program all before Forrest got home from being out of town Friday night and the family left for our neighborhood Yuba trip. (Which will be #2. But I'll finish the teaching story first.) Last night was the first online "chat"--and I posted the syllabus about 20 minutes before the chat began. Whew! This was my first time chatting, and lemme tell ya, it's definitely different "lecturing" to a class that way. I'm thankful that I'm a relatively quick typist. How do the hunt and peck typists do it? I don't think it would be possible. But the class should be an interesting experience. Stay tuned.

2. Neighborhood Yuba trip. About 10 families from our neighborhood headed down to Yuba for camping and boating on Friday and Saturday. Forrest got home from a trip to MN at 5:00, and I had the boat all ready and he hitched it up and pulled out at about 5:15, with three of our four kids and Cameron (son of District Attorney Lora Miller) inside. Since we had to leave so late, I decided to stay home w/ Wyatt instead of tenting it--good decision--and I drove three other moms with babies there on Saturday morning.

Here's a cute pic of Wyatt doing his favorite beachy pastime, eating sand:



We really had a great time. It will probably be an annual event. I, however, am growing a touch weary of boat trips. I'm officially ready for fall. But I am looking forward to next year when Wyatt can play in the sand without eating it and splash in the water.

So we got home Saturday night, sunburned and tired and full of sandy particles, just in time for . . .

3. Ethan's birthday! We had the family over for ice cream and cake on Sunday night to celebrate. It was fun to get the Hallstroms and the Sweats together. Here's a video of Ethan's expert candle blowout (all eleven of them):


Then yesterday (Monday) we loaded eight of his friends, plus our four kids, into the van and the Tahoe and headed out to Classic Fun Center for skating, laser tag, and gigantic-inflatable-jumpything bouncing. Here's a picture of a bunch of sweaty boys:



Ethan had a ball and I think his friends did too. We got home just in time, though, for me to quickly scan chapter 7 and think up some discussion questions and start my online chat. So I went to bed happily last night.

Today I've been having a well deserved stay-at-home day. Wyatt and I have just been chillin. I even took a little nap. Heavenly. So for a final piece of cuteness (and an example of what really is fun about life, even with all the business), here's Wyatt:

The Promised Pineview Trip Blog Entry

Sorry this post is so tardy, but I used up all my blogging time with the previous first-day-of-school/existential rant . . . but now I can at least post some photos and video of our amazingly fun Pineview trip.

To whet your appetite, we'll start off the post with a video of Ethan's awesome kneeboard 360, his first completed attempt:




My Mom had the great idea to book a condo for the family at Pineview, and the digs were incredible. It was brand new and the furnishings looked like they came right out of a magazine--and the bed that Forrest and I scored (we got the biggest room because of Mr. Wyatt) had an obscenely huge bed with a cushy mattress and about 27 pillows. Well, not quite 27, but it seemed like it.

Everybody had a great time out on the boat on Thursday and Friday. The kids got a lot of skiing and kneeboarding practice, and Wyatt had a fun time playing in the sand and zooming around on the boat. Lucky for me, he loves being outside, and even seems to like the boat, too--which a lot of babies don't. It was so nice, though, to have an air conditioned condo to take him to for his naps. Made a huge difference. So here are some pics of the kids and their cousins out on the lake.







You might be able to tell from the pictures how much greener and prettier Pineview is than Yuba. Yuba still has its charms (can't beat the beaches, and the water is so clear), but as far as scenic beauty goes, Ogden canyon can't be beat. We did get caught in a HUGE storm that came barreling down said canyon on Friday afternoon, though. We could see the black clouds coming and before we knew it WHAMO! The kids were trying valiantly to make it up the hill to our condos and got stuck in a major sandstorm, all the while the men tried to wrestle our chairs and awnings into their bags (one awning didn't make it and ended up tossed 20 feet in the air and mangled like a giant spider corpse on the beach) and hold on to the boat for dear life. It was all very exciting.

Luckily we were able to retire to the condo and shower and recover . . . just in time to watch the premiere of High School Musical II. The kids were so excited, and it was a lot more fun for them to watch it all together (and stay up late--the movie didn't start until 9:00). Grandma even bought the girls matching pjs to enhance the experience. (And yes, Elise does have an "I Love Troy" shirt she picked out for school. There's something about that Zac Effron that appeals mightily to 9 year old girls. I think Scott Baio had the same innocent/not-so-innocent quality when I was 9. I had a poster.)



Notice Wyatt in the background crawling around. He perfected his crawling technique on the travertine tile and kept trying to crack his head on the stone fireplace mantle. Ah--the joys of mobility! I think I had the pleasure of a baby who would sit still and play with toys for a grand total of two weeks. While I type this, he has worked his way completely under my desk and is trying to suck on my toes. **Digression--We have been trying the "cry it out" method at night and he's doing better. Hopefully by next week, if we have the parental fortitude, he'll be trained!**

Finally, we also got to go and see the annual balloon festival held in the canyon. Although it was a little scaled down due to the storm, it was still a beautiful sight:




A wonderful time was had by all. It was so much fun to spend time with family and end our official summer vacation with a bang. Thanks Mom and Dad!

First Day of School

Even though it doesn't feel like summer is quite over yet, my kids ventured out for their first day of school today. Actually, since they're on D track, they are the last group of kids at their school to start (all the others started the last week of July). But I do like year round school, especially with D track: 7 weeks is the perfect amount of summer, if you ask me. The kids and I were all ready for school to begin :-).

So here are some cute first-day-of-school pictures that I love to do every year:



All the kids, even Wyatt Dean (who had been up since 5:30. Are all of you as sick of me complaining about my lack of sleep as I am of not sleeping?)



Sixth grader Ethan. Whenever I see pictures of him he looks like such a Hallstrom to me. I can see elements of so many Hallstrom relatives in his face. (His cute face). It's hard for me to believe he's in sixth grade, though. Only one more precious year until Junior High . . . and then all bets are off. But he's such a good kid, I have a hard time believing he'll be transformed into anything but a good teenager. He's definitely handy to have around, especially when your first grader is going to school and you don't want to worry about him. I know he's got Jonas taken care of. Ethan had been worried about his teacher because he'd heard a rumor that she was reaaalllly mean . . . but she told them all today that she'd told last year's sixth graders to start the rumor so they'd all be scared on the first day and behave, but that really she's nice. So he was relieved. He also lost his lunch box--a confession he made during family home evening, so I'd be less likely to be mad :-)--but he vows he will find it, as it is probably in the 4th grade pile of lunch boxes because that is accidentally where he left it. He reads this blog and will kill me for this revelation. Sorry, Ethan. I love you even if you are a teensy bit absentminded at times. (But aren't all future professors absentminded?)



And my pretty Lou. Fourth grade girl. She's always so nervous before the first day of school, and every year without fail cries on the last day of school because she loved it so much. I'm sure she'll be the same with 4th grade. She's wearing a new shirt that has glitter on it, and she ended up with glitter in her hair and on her forehead and cheeks. I'm sure all her friends thought it was some kind of fashion statement :-).



And big kid Joe. First grader. This is always a transition that kind of kicks me in the gut as a mom. My buddy's gone all day! But it's a good thing, too, especially for Jonas. He missed Ethan and Elise so much last year when he would come home from kindergarten, and I think he's ready to take off and learn in 1st grade. And tomorrow's a big day: hot lunch! They're having chicken nuggets, which is one of about four hot lunches I think Jonas will actually eat. Exciting!

And there you go. The three big kids in school. If I didn't have my kissy little Wyatt, I'm not sure what I'd be doing with myself. (Okay, so I do know what I'd be doing with myself . . . but it sounds kind of luxurious so I don't want to think about it too much :-). I've gotta say that Wyatt is such a little lover and a blessing and I wouldn't trade him for the world, but man, he's been kicking my can lately. It's nice that he's crawling, but now he's into everything, and his sleeping is still so erratic, and he's so, well, ACTIVE all the time that some days I'm exhausted just from holding him while he bounces. He even punches me while I'm feeding him, no kidding (or kicks me, or wriggles and squirms). Oh, the squirminess. I think I'm feeling a little extra exhausted today from all the excitement of the first day of school. When the kids came home, it took me literally TWO HOURS to read through all the papers they brought back and fill everything out and sign it and organize it and attempt to commit a dozen or so mucho importante parental responsibilities to my sleep deprived brain--all while Wyatt was wiggling and bouncing and trying to grab my pen and eat it and crumple the papers and drool on them. Oh, I'll stop now. No one likes a whiny blogger. I'm just tired. There's just . .. . so . . . much . . . to . . . do. All the time. And I keep trying to do other things--things that I like, like Irreantum, and my novel, and teach online for SLCC, and plan our Enrichment Super Saturday--and I wonder why I feel so frantic most of the time. And/or grumpy. Like today I came home from grocery shopping and bought a pork roast to make BBQ pork sandwiches and put it in the pot at 1:00--which is waaaay on the ball for me--so it could simmer and get extra juicy. Then when it came time for dinner, neither Jonas nor Elise would even touch it. They literally gagged when I tried to make them eat it. And I was so tired and so spent that instead of making me mad it made me feel like crying at the futility of it all.

This is really getting depressing. And this was supposed to be a fun first day of school post! Sorry.

I'm really not depressed, though. Just tired and overwhelmed and sick of cooking dinner and sorting socks and signing permission slips ad infinitum, all with a teething wiggly baby on my hip. And bad hair. And pants that still don't fit right, even seven months postpartum. And no food storage except brownie mixes and canned peaches. And a broken printer that leaves green streaks on everything I try and print in color. And a patch of stiff carpet where Elise spilled her milk and didn't clean it all up. You know the list. Waaah, waah. Yes, I must get over myself.
If you're worried about me, just go back a couple of posts and read my one about blessings. I'll feel better in the morning :-).

Oh, and I still have to post about my super fun family trip this last weekend, and I promise this one will be much more upbeat. Because it was super fun. Now I'm going to bed to degrumpify. Say a little prayer for me that Wyatt will sleep till at least 6:30. If he does, degrumpifying is much more likely. Stay tuned.

Tagged . . . and crawler baby.

I was tagged by my sister-in-law Andi, (**correction--I was tagged by my actual sister Amy! But they were both doing this list so I got confused. Sorry Amix!**) but before I answer her questions, I'm going to post some incontrovertible proof that Wyatt is now crawling (at 6 1/2 months--I told you he was a goer.)



So here's my list:


Four Jobs I've Had:

1. Hardee's Gal. I got the job before I turned 16 and my friends and I had waaaaay too much fun hardly working.
2. Receptionist/Assistant at my Grandpa Ranquist's law firm. I specialized in deciphering my Grandpa's handwriting and rewinding the little dictaphone tapes over and over and over to try and deduce what it was my Grandpa had mumbled :-). It was a great job, though, summers and Christmases my first two years of college.
3. Undergraduate Research Trainee in the Education Dept. at BYU. The professor I worked with gave me a ride on his motorcycle. He was about 65.
4. Various teacherly positions. Starting in the fall, I'm going to teach an online English 1010 course for Salt Lake Community College. I'll let you know how that goes with Mr. Wyatt pulling on my leg the whole time.

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over:

1. Say Anything. I think I've already explained on this blog how it is inextricably connected to meeting and (ooooh, so mushy) falling in love with Forrest and that I have a thing for John Cusak because he's so smart and so funny.

2. When Harry Met Sally. I just saw this movie again one day when I was up early w/ Wyatt and it's one of those that I love watching, if only because the dialogue is so great. Such good writing. It was heartening because I've been a bit nervous about my book because it's not very blurb-worthy ("What is your book about?" "Well, it's about this family, and it goes through time, and each character has a chapter," blah blah blah. So hard to explain.) Well try encapsulating "When Harry Met Sally." (Actually, the scene at the end after they're married does this: "When we met, we hated each other, then we didn't know each other, then we were friends, then we fell in love.") And look how popular this movie has been? And can you believe it's almost 20 years old???? How's that for staying power.

3. Good Will Hunting. It's a little melodramatic in places, but so am I. (Which places? I'm sure you're wondering.) Also good writing and great characters. I love Minnie Driver as the girlfriend. (I also love her as the girlfriend in Gross Point Blank.) But if I'm flipping through the channels and this one is on TNT, I always stop.

4. Best in Show. So funny. Period.

Places I've Lived:

1. West Valley City. The good times of my childhood on Cilma Drive. Lilac bushes, basketball hoop over the garage, walking to 7-11 on 4100 W. with Stephanie Reiva to get Tangy Taffy.

2. The Kearns (or, as I preferred to call it, "Unincorporated Salt Lake County") house, the starter home that Forrest and I built just off of 5600 West. According to a codified West Side Pecking Order, it's embarrassing to live in West Valley City, but not quite as embarrassing as living in Kearns or Magna. West Valleyites who lived in Taylorsville were obviously superior, however, and I often wondered what it would feel like to be cool enough to live east of 2700 West. I still don't know that feeling . . . :-)

3. Miiiiinnneeeessota! Land of 10,000 lakes and four homes over seven years (Edina apartment, Woodbury rental house, White Bear 11th Street house, White Bear Pintail Lane house.)

4. Jolly Old England. Okay, so we only lived in Altringham, a suburb of Manchester, for three months, but I'll count it since we were there long enough for me to learn to drive on the other side of the road and count out English change.

Favorite TV Shows:

1. So You Think You Can Dance. Best summer show. Well, only summer show. But it does make me happy. Finale this week! I'm rooting for Sabra. Did you know she lived in Roy, Utah for 10 years? Not rooting for Lacy, the sister of last year's winner Benji (my altime SYTYCD fave). She always seems fakey fakey, like she's pretending to be humble. And she shakes her tooshie at the camera too much.

2. Project Runway. Another great reality show about talented people doing things well. And a little snarkiness thrown in for entertainment value. I just saw a clip of season two and Santino doing his impression of Tim Gunn (the host), pretending that he had a crush on another contestant named Andre and that they were all going to Red Lobster. Truly hilarious.

3. The Office/30 Rock. I lump these together because they're both on Thurs nights and both laugh out loud funny. Those of you who aren't as morally corrupted as I am should not watch 30 Rock. But if you are already corrupt and haven't started watching it yet, please do. SOOO funny.

4. Lost. Nuff said.

Favorite Foods:

1. Foods derived from marshmallows. Peeps, circus peanuts, chocolate covered marshmallow Santas, Chicks & Rabbits. I've already explained this on the blog so you know of my marshmallow issues. I also like a good plain marshmallow from the bag.

2. Diet Coke. Also explained.

3. Really good red salmon smoked by Forrest. Yum.

4. Cheesecake with raspberry sauce.

I will have to finish this later because I have gone on way too long and must move along to other things . . . I'll update soon!

UPDATE:

It is now Wednesday morningish and Wyatt is sleeping and I swept the floor and put in a load of laundry and loaded the dishwasher and sat down at the computer to work on my novel, but I am weak and checked blogs instead and got sucked into updating this list. Don't tell my editor. Here's the rest:

Four Websites I Visit:

1. rottentomatoes.com This website is a must for anybody who likes movies. It takes movie reviews from around the country and averages them out for a score ("fresh" or "rotten"). Sometimes I purposefully DON'T go to Rotten Tomatoes before I see a movie and come up with my own little critique and then read the reviews to see how many reviewers agree with my sage observations. A little lame? Maybe. But fun.

2. Babycenter.com. I signed up for a little email newsletter on this site when I was pregnant w/ Wyatt and I've enjoyed the little articles and calculators and calendars and whatnots. Every once in a while I visit the "Birth Club" message board for January 2007 babies, but I never post. But it's fun to read other people's posts, and every once in a while somebody has some good baby rearing advice.

3. Segullah and other "Bloggernacle" (the Mormon blogosphere) blogs like A Motley Vision and Times and Seasons. My friend and fellow writers' group member, Kathy, is the editor of Segullah, and lots of other cool people I (kinda) know post on these other blogs. Fun reading.

4. Slate magazine. My homepage is MSN, and Slate is connected w/ MSN. It seems like whenever they have a "teaser" article on my homepage that looks interesting, it's always a Slate article. The article I linked above is my favorite Slate column, "The Human Guinea Pig." It's a woman who goes and does crazy things like competing in the Mrs. America competition or trying her hand as a street performer. Pretty funny.

Four Places I'd Rather Be:

1. In the really cool Hilton Hotel that Forrest and I stayed in when we visited NYC a couple of years ago. Best bed ever. And awesome views.

2. At the movies.

3. Out to lunch with someone fun.

4. Somewhere quiet. :-) (SCHOOL STARTS MONDAY!! HOORAYY! :-)

People I tag:

1. My friend Delise.
2. My friend Darlene.
3. My sister in law Mindy.

Blessings

Life is good.

Last night I was able to have a fabulous evening with a bunch of extraordinarily cool and smart people discussing the Irreantum fiction contest. We had over 130 entries, and I've spent a good portion of my summer as Irreantum's fiction editor reading these entries, culling them down to a top 25, and organizing the fiction contest committee, whose responsibility it was to come up with the winners.

Last night the committee met and I had a ball discussing the merits of each story and basically watching the gears turn in all these smart people's brains. It's still something of a mystery to me how I fell into my involvement with Irreantum, but I consider it one of my life's real blessings to be a part of something that I care about so much and that gives me so much pleasure. Although my work with the magazine is unpaid (people often ask me if I'm paid--which I'm not since a lit mag runs on a shoestring budget--and they seem genuinely perplexed why I would be involved with something like this without a paycheck attached. I tell them it's like me asking them if they're paid to play on their summer softball leauge :-), and has occasionally been a source of stress, the vast majority of the time I feel nothing but honored to be in a position to help champion quality Mormon literature. I like nothing better than watching talented people do things well, and last night was a prime example of it. Talented writers, talented committee members, smart smart, cool cool people, and I get to hang out with them. And make them cookies and yummy little tortilla wraps and have them over at my house. And have a husband who will take the kids and entertain them for hours and then hustle them upstairs (Wyatt included) with nary a peep to be heard and get them all in bed so my meeting can progress as smoothly as if I were the sterotypical single, urban writer chick living in a loft with nothing in my fridge but ketchup and takeout containers. (Actually it's full of ketchup and Sunny Delight containers.) So I'm blessed.

Then today I got to head out with my good friend Elise--who also happens to be my daughter--and have our annual Mom/Daughter day.


(Elise in her tennis getup, earlier this year).

Mom/Daughter day started a couple of years ago when the boys went on the fathers and sons outing, and now it's a day that Elise and I both look forward to every year. We went and saw Harispray (a wonderfully fun, joyful movie, and it stars the heartthrobby Zac Effron, so Elise was thrilled), went to eat at Red Robin (she had spaghetti and a chocolate shake--interesting combination, but it's her day--and we were both stuffed), and did a little school shopping. She's getting so old. She seems so much older to me than when we did this last year, and it's fun to think that she's growing up into a person I genuinely like being with. Seems like she was just barely my 15 month old who wouldn't walk unless she was holding on to my pinkie. Now she's my 9 year old, Heelying around J.C. Penney and chattering about how Zac Effron looks totally different than he did when he was Troy in High School Musical and she prefers his hair shaggy instead of slick.

So it's been a good couple of days. And tonight we're going to a BBQ (don't have to cook!). And Monday we're going to Lagoon. (I can ride the rides! And I couldn't last year because I was preggo.) And Thurs-Sat we're going to a condo by a lake with my family. And then the kids go back to school and Wyatt and I get to hang out. Did I tell you he's *this* close to crawling? Crazy 6 1/2 month old baby.

Life is good.

Why I don't go to the mall

I don't go to the mall very often, mainly because it's big and noisy and I buy most everything my family needs (wears, eats, watches, reads, drinks, plays with, etc etc) at Target. But the kids needed new shoes for school and Mervyn's was having a sale so I thought I'd check it out. While I was there, though, I:

1. Spent way too much money on shoes. The kids talked me in to getting them "Heelies" ("They're really comfortable, Mom, and we'll wear them without the wheels for our regular school shoes--promise!") which were on sale for $25 less than they usually cost, but still. Spending money on shoes and clothes gives me a very slight momentary thrill but then I end up feeling sick to my stomach. I wish this were the case for some of my other vices, though, as it usually keeps me from spending a whole lot of money on shoes and clothes. We'll see how practical the Heelies decision ends up being. I already told them that if they lose the wheels, they're dead meat. All three of them.

2. Decided to take Wyatt in to Kiddie Kandids for his 6 month pictures since he's almost not six months old anymore and Kiddie Kandids was virtually empty, so I could walk right up and get the pictures done.

3. But first I had to do to the Gymboree down the way and buy Wyatt an outfit for said pictures--but it was on sale for 14.99. Ethan said he looked like a giant tomato but I thought he was cute.

4. I had the smoothest, most enjoyable Kiddie Kandids photo shoot ever, considering it was spur of the moment and I had all the other kids with me going "NOOOOOO! Not Kiddie Kandids! That takes FOREVER!" I got right in, Wyatt was smiley and cooperative (except for trying to crawl off of the portrait platform.) Here are the proofs from the photo shoot. Sorry if they're small, but you know the Kiddie Kandids people want you to shell out the cold hard cash for the good ones:







Too cute, right? I ended up wanting to get most of them, but I didn't succumb and only bought the first (w/ the black background) and the last (on his tummy). It still ended up costing me . . . well . . . more than I'd hoped. I swear Kiddie Kandids used to be cheaper. Didn't it??? Oh, but he's so dang good lookin I couldn't help it.

And this is why I don't go to the mall.

Dr. Weissbluth is up in the night . . .

or at least he should be, with me, suffering the consequences of his sweeping pronouncements. Like, oh, babies should go to bed at 7:00, and if they do, then they will magically sleep even better because they are getting MORE sleep and sleep begets sleep and blah blah blah. Lemme tell ya, there was precious little sleep begetting last night. Here's proof: Wyatt Dean at 5:25 a.m.



I think the only thing being begotten there is his brother's light saber. And a mischievous look of satisfaction.

Yesterday I went to the zoo w/ the kids--lots of fun, but a story for another time--and, as a result, Wyatt's naps were all messed up. I tried to get him down for a late afternoon nap and he wouldn't go, so we decided to push him until 7:30 and then just put him down for good (according to the good Dr. Weissbluth's pontifications in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, this should be Wyatt's regular bedtime anyway. And if you miss a nap, you're supposed to push it until the next regular naptime or bedtime.) But then Wyatt woke up at 10:30--which wasn't too bad, because we weren't asleep ourselves yet, but then he woke up again and 2:00 and then again at 4:15. At the 4:15 wakeup, I went in to feed him (again) and of course he promptly peed through his diaper, which is the kiss of death if your baby is lightly on the edge of wakefulness. (I recommend Dr. Weissbluth add a new chapter to his book called "Peeing Through.") So I changed the Wy-Man, rocked him vigorously and patted his bum, and once again achieved a light state of sleepiness so put him back down in his crib and tiptoed away. I allowed myself to hope (which is the biggest mistake of all) and drifted back to sleep myself when I didn't hear anything by about 5:00. But then at 5:25 he started crying and we came downstairs and I took the cute picture with the lightsaber and started blogging.

Now he is getting fussy on the floor. He has moved from playing with the boys' lightsaber to playing with the electric blue hair piece Elise received as a party favor after attending a birthday celebration at "Sweet and Sassy," a beauty parlor for little girls where they dress them up in leopard print evening gowns and do their hair with electric blue hair pieces and cover all exposed skin with multicolored glitter and send them down a runway. Also a story for another day.

I do think that Dr. Weissbluth has some important advice to impart. Wyatt has been sleeping better when his naps are better and Forrest, ever the optimist, believes that last night was simply an anomaly because Wyatt's naps were so disrupted during the day. Perhaps so, my dear. Perhaps so. But I'm not buying the 7:00 bedtime, Mister Doctor with the sweeping generalizations and the horrifyingly disorganized sleep advice book that has sold millions. (Really, for a book that has gone through a multitude of reprints, could this guy get an editor??? There book has no internal sense of structure and he skips from thought to thought as if he were a self-important dinner guest giving no thought for anyone else's time. Maybe that's why I don't entirely respect this guy: not only am I up at 5:00 a.m., but he doesn't know how to write.)

And now a smell has wafted my way and I think it's time for a diaper change. Oh, Wyatt Dean. I love you. Now can I please get some sleep????

Update: Wyatt did fall asleep again at 6:30 and I was able to get back into bed myself, since the kids still don't have school. We both slept until 8:30. Hooray! It is now 9:07 and the other three kids are still sawing logs . . . .

Great Grandma's 80th Birthday

We all got together at my Aunt Karla and Uncle Richard's house this weekend for my Grandma Ranquist's 80th birthday. It was a lot of fun to see so many family members that we haven't seen in a long time, and we all loved hanging out in the Hjorth's backyard (so beautiful). I'm short on time tonight, but I wanted to post a video of the grandkids doing a 4 person "duet" (okay, so I know four people is techincally a quartet, but there was some part sharing going on). Major props to my mom for patiently and painstakingly teaching each one of these kids his or her part, and then getting them together to practice. Considering how hard it is to keep grown-ups in time, it's quite a feat to get kids to do such a great job. So excellent work to the grandkids and the grandma! Here they are:



And here's a picture of Grandma Ranquist with all the great-Grandkids (being surprisingly cooperative!)



And lastly, a cute picture of Ethan and Wyatt, because they're cute:

I should not be eating marshmallows

especially when I went to the gym and did a cycling class taught by a really nice girl (woman, lady, person) in my neighborhood named Stephanie. Stephanie has awesome legs, as you might expect from a person who teaches cycling classes. It was my first time doing the class and I really liked it, except for the fact that the bike seat hurt my butt. Do bike seats always hurt everybody's butt and people just get used to it, or am I doing something wrong? Really, I'd like to know. But it does seem kind of like a window into my personality that I would go to a cycling class and then come home and eat five marshmallows. I remember back in the day when we thought fat was the only enemy and therefore marshmallows resided on approximately the same nutritional plane as, oh, carrot sticks. Those were the days.

I also just read a newspaper article that people who drink at least one can of pop a day are more likely to get diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and basically turn into all around fatties, and it doesn't matter if the pop is diet or regular. Here's the link: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-soda24jul24,0,3841323.story. Bah, I say to that. And humbug. I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that people who just can't give up their Diet Coke--even with all the peer-pressure from the highly moral water-drinking crowd who look just a bit askance at a pop drinking habit, even a diet one (and don't get offended, you righteous water drinkers, you know you do it)--also eat five marshmallows when they come home from working out.

I did drink water during my workout. Putting Diet Coke in my water bottle would be pushing it, even for me.

So here are some random items from the week. First and most noteworthy is that my parents just bought a totally kickin' motorcycle. Yes, Grandma and Grandpa Sweat are ratcheting up the Grandparent cool quotient a couple of notches. I'm glad for them, though. They both love it--my dad had been a motorcycle cop back in the day--and they're still young enough to enjoy it. So I say good for them. My dad came over last night and gave us all a ride and even spinning around the block was exhilarating. Here's a picture of Elise with Grandpa:



And here's a picture of the boys with their water guns, just so they won't feel like they're not getting any blog time.



Finally, we are 98% done with our "forest corner" in the back yard. (Still some wood chips to put down and a few other cosmetic adjustments). Here's the finished product, complete with the little burbling fountain Forrest installed. I'm lucky to have a hubby who's so good with landscaping, no?




And last but not least, here's a cute video I took of Wyatt last week.


Oh! He went to his six month check up and weight a strapping 16 lbs. 2 oz. and is in the 15% for weight and the 75% for height. Ethan had his check up, too, and was the 15% for weight and 50% for height. So hopefully both of them will stay away from the Diet Coke and marshmallows and they can retain such admirable body fat ratios.

Cousins in the hizz-ouse

Is that how you spell rapper slang? I'm not altogether sure. (And I am altogether sure that rappers don't say altogether sure.)

I'm sitting here in my office listening to six giggling kids in the basement. They are supposed to be going to sleep, of course. It's 10:38 and I'm giving them 15 minutes before I go downstairs and be stern Mom (or stern Aunt), but for now I'm letting them unwind. Giggling kids is a happy sound until maybe 11:15.

I have my brother Tony's three girls (Lauren-8, Reagan-6, and Jane-4) staying here until Saturday. Their little brother Eli, who is two, is staying with their Grandma Bowman. Tony (a seminary teacher, for you blog readers who don't already know) is serving as Grand Poobah of an EFY at Utah State and they want the wives to come along, so their kids have been hangin' with the relatives all week. Forrest had marked the week off of his calendar so he could be here to help me but--of course--he was asked at the last minute to be on some kind of a team that was having an important meeting in MN this very week, so I'm doing the Mom of Seven thing all alone. So far, though, it's been fun. They're such good kids and they've all just been playing and enjoying each other. We went swimming; crashed the popsicle celebration after the Primary "Red, White, and Blue" parade (I didn't have seven modes of transportation for the kids, nor did I want to tape crepe paper and balloons all over the six modes of transportation I did have while holding Wyatt in the Baby Bjorn, so we decided to skip the parade part and walk across the street for the popsicle part. Grand idea!); had varying levels of success in eating our tacos; pulled out the halfway-broken and probably hazardous hideabed in the basement, popped popcorn, and watched "Never-Ending Story."

("How long is this movie?" Lauren asked. "It's neverending," Elise replied.)

I love that my kids get to spend time with their cousins. I kind of missed out on the whole cousin thing. I didn't have any my age, and the ones who were close to my age were BOYS (ack!)--so I always felt more like a babysitter than a friend when family got together. I guess that's what happens when you're the oldest grandchild on both sides. Poor Ethan is in exactly the same boat. Don't we all have our sad stories? Luckily, he really likes Lauren. Even though she IS a girl. But she's a cool girl and she'll play Ethan's elaborate role-playing fantasy games he concocts, so she's on his good list.

Okay, so they're settling down. One final funny thing. The kids were downstairs watching their movie, but Jane, the four year old, had come upstairs because it was kinda scary. (It's hard to be the littlest.) So she and I were snuggling on the couch, which I loved because there's nothing better than a snuggly four year old, as I was watching "So You Think You Can Dance." While we were watching, Janie sighed and said, "My mom just hates belly buttons."

"What?"

"Belly Buttons. She hates them. Like that girl." (She points to the scantily clad dancer on tv.) "She would hate her belly button a lot. It's not very modest."

Ahh, four year olds. Love em.

Now I gotta go downstairs and make these chitlins go to sleep.

Wyatt Dean, Sitting Machine

Wyatt has started sitting up like a big kid and it makes him seem so old to me. Here's a shot of his prowess--please excuse the drool and spit up. He's sitting on the floor in my office, the room in the house he hates above all. Every time I even walk through the office holding him he cries. Isn't it funny? He knows I need to answer email/edit manuscripts/work on my novel/blog (okay, so I don't need to blog, but sometimes I WANT to :-). Babies are too smart.



I do have to give Wyatt props for being a good boy at Yuba this weekend. We went with four other families in the neighborhood and had a wonderful time, and even though Wyatt spent most of the day in the baby Bjorn, trucking around the beach and contemplating the water, he enjoyed himself too. The big news of the weekend, though, was that Ethan and Elise both got up on skis! Jonas gave it a really good try, too--he's close. The look on Elise's face the first time she got up was priceless. Pure joy. And not only did Ethan get up, but when he fell he got up all on his own in the middle of the lake without any help. So I'm proud of the kids.

And last but not least, 15 years ago today a barely-20-year old college sophomore and a 21-year-old who'd been home from his mission for three whole months climbed into their 1976 Plymoth Volare and drove into the sunset of wedded bliss. :-) Seriously, though, I couldn't be luckier to have the husband I do, a guy who makes me laugh and trusts me and loves me for who I am. It's a cliche to say that your husband is your best friend . . . but he really is my favorite person. Happy Anniversary, hon.



(So young, so much hair product . . .)

Today I am the same age . . .

my mom was when I started dating Forrest.

Ahhh! The big 3-5. I know it's a cliche to be surprised at how old one is getting, but I'll admit it. I'm surprised. I wonder when I'll feel comfortable, for example, being called a "woman." I have a hard time calling anyone a "woman" who isn't at least 10 years older than me (e.g. "A woman in my ward," and so on.) But "girl" is so un-p.c. and has condescending overtones. So what am I? A human of the female persuasion? Who happens to be 35??

Just wait until people start referring to me as "middle aged!!" AHHGGHHGHGHG!

There's been a lot to report on, but I'm going to have to do a quick run-down.

1. Had a great 4th. Went to a big neighborhood fireworks party that was a lot of fun, and made even more fun by the use of illegal fireworks from Wyoming (not by us . . . we were innocent bystanders, just enjoying the illegal fireworks of others!!) and the appearance of the coppers. Yes, it was high drama on Snow Peak Lane when a nice guy from around the corner hopped on his bike and rode over to tell us that the cops had been seen in the neighborhood and to cease and desist. Pretty soon the whispers started that the cop was hiding behind a truck, biding his time, but we were on to him. The kids found it all quite thrilling. Even the grown-ups did. He finally came out of hiding after about 10 minutes when it was apparent that we were going to continue to pretend that we only had sparklers, poppers and little green tanks until he left. Good times.

2. Elise had a great week learning to ride horses. Her horse was named Buddy and was a beautiful animal--sleek and shiny and very well taken care of by his owner, Megan, who was Elise's "mentor" all week long. (She was only 10, but very mature and did a great job showing Elise the ropes.) Here's a few pictures from Elise's week:





3. My Grandpa Hiatt treated us to a production of Les Miserables, and not only was the musical fabulous (especially the female leads--what voices!!), but we got to enjoy the added drama of a power outage occurring during the brothel scene. We waited for almost an hour for the power to return, and a few minutes before 9:00--the time when the director said we'd have to give up and go home--the power came back on and everybody cheered for joy. Even though I was up waaaay past my bedtime, it was so much fun. I also ran into my high school choir director, Mr. Moore, an amazing man and one of my most influential teachers. He's still at Cyprus, still dragging high schoolers around the valley during snowstorms at Christmastime and to places like California and Hawaii on tour. I owe some of my best high school memories to him. And he looks great. In high school I'd been in awe of his wife, a beautiful lady who'd been a ballerina with Ballet West, and she still looks like she's 30. (Not even 35! So now I'm officially oder than she is.)

4. Saw two movies: Ratatouille (how in the world is that spelled??), with Grandma and Grandpa Sweat and Tony & Cindy and kids, and Live Free or Die Hard with Forrest on Saturday night. Both were quite good. Ratatouille was gorgeous to look at and well written--enjoyed by all the adults but probably not as adored by the kids. And Die Hard was fun, too. I've always been a Bruce Willis fan. I know he's a little smug, but I've always liked guys who have some smirkiness about them. Oooh, and I also recently saw 1408, a John Cusak horror movie based on a Stephen King story. Very, very scary and fun. I like scary (not gory) movies, and this was one of the better ones I've seen in a while. I got to go because my Dad wanted to see it, but my mom thought it would be too scary for her so she offered to babysit so Forrest and I could go with him. I'll take her up on that anytime! So I've seen a lot of fun movies lately. Nothing better than an air conditioned movie theater, a Diet Coke and some Junior Mints at the height of summer.

5. Last night Forrest made a delicious chocolate cake from scratch, with rasperry filling and an actual ganoche frosting and invited both sides of the family over to sing happy birthday. Mmmm.. . . . the cake was delish. Reminded me of something out of Ratatouille!

Okay, so that wasn't so short, but we had a lot of catching up to do. Now I'm going to have to dig into my novel, which I just got back from the publisher with edits. I told Forrest I'm going to have to get a hotel and stay somewhere overnight, alone, just so I have the silence and the time to get this book done the way I want it. And, as a bonus, I would get to sleep through the night. Ahhh, luxuries.

Does it get any manlier?

We went to Yuba this weekend with Tony & Cindy and my mom & dad and the cousins and had a great time, despite high winds, sunburn, a dead boat battery and the wakeboard of death. Here's a picture of my daring darling after attempting a 180 in choppy water, catching the edge of the wakeboard on a rogue wave, flipping over face first so hard I heard the "SMACK!" even though I was in the boat with the engine droning, and getting grazed on the non-smacked side of his face with the corner of the wakeboard when his legs flipped up behind him under water.



I was pretty worried when I saw him bobbing out there in the water with blood streaming down his head, but he was very masculine and nonchalant about the whole thing. He was even waving off the need for stitches until after we came home and he was chatting with a neighbor while he cleaned out the boat and noticed blood seeping out from under the bandage. (oops.) Luckily, he didn't need stitches, just that super glue for skin, and he should be good as new. With maybe a little scar up high on his forhead to show how even at 36, nothing slows him down.

So it's officially summer! The kids had their last day of school, and here's the obligitory sitting-on-the-front-steps picture that I like to do. It's the first time since Kindergarten that Elise hasn't come home sobbing. (Although she tells me she did cry at school).



All three of the kids had a great year. Now we have seven weeks off--lucky D trackers! the B & C trackers only have three--and before we know it we'll be back to the races again. Elise is starting her summer off with a bang at horse training camp. I just found the camp last week--the one I had wanted to do was full--and I decided to sign her up, even though I would have liked for her to do it later on in the summer when she was bored. But she's been wanting to do this for so long, and she had a great time today. I went to pick her up and she was all dusty and sweaty and beaming, chattering 100 miles a minute about her horse "Buddy" and riding bare back. She has a "horse show" on Friday, the last day of the camp, for family members, so I'll take pictures and share.

Oh, and I just have to include this pic of Wyatt looking cute in his bumbo seat on the beach. I also have to thank my friend Michelle for the hat. It's the only one I have that doesn't fly off of his head or fall down into his eyes. Wyatt would thank her too, I'm sure: