Tagged

Haley tagged me. I made Dave do the last one and it was so funny. I don't think I'll be able to do this justice. I don't even know if I have 6 quirky things about me...spazzy maybe, but quirky? I'll try.

1. I'm a little bit of a control freak. Not OCD control freak, just more like I like to have my way. It's actually not something I'm proud of. If someone loads the dishwasher for me, I do it all over again...MY way. I don't let my girls paint or do craft projects very often b/c I can't handle glue/markers/paint all over the place. That's why I'm grateful for preschool. Just call me CF for short.

2. I still believe we're in a drought. The whole phrase "If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down" still rings true for me. Dave hates this. But I seriously can't understand the WASTE when it's just a little bit of liquid. Of course, if we have guests, I take care of business, but otherwise... :) I try to maximize my shower, washing machine and dishwasher usage, and when I'm getting ready for bed I let the water heat up for washing my face while I'm brushing my teeth, then the second the water gets warm I turn it off until I'm done brushing. That way I'm not letting it run cold and wasting while I'm brushing my teeth and THEN run it to warm it up. Dave thinks I'm crazy that I'll rinse my mouth with warm water. He can't stand that either. But I can't stand his long hot showers, so I guess we're even there.

3. People think that I can do everything, but I can't. I just copy other people. It's true that if I see something I like I usually don't buy it-I just figure out how to make it myself and personalize it to my tastes. It's good if I can make it for cheaper than it would cost to buy, not so good if it ends up costing more. But even when it costs more, I like the learning process-I come away knowing how to do something I didn't know before. But I'll bet you can't find an "original" thing in my house, just replicates of somebody else's stuff.

4. As social of a person as I am, I actually LOVE having alone time. There is nothing better than laying down with a book (on a couch, in bed, outside in the sun, wherever) by myself. As a matter of fact, I just got a new book from the library, so the faster I finish this, the faster I can get to my book. This is also the reason why people don't see much of me during the day-playdates are hard for me b/c I like to be alone-whether it's a playdate where only the friend comes over, or the friend AND the parent comes over. It's not that I don't love the playdates, b/c I do-I love all my friends and all their kids. It just means less alone time. Weird, huh? I'm actually quite conflicted about it b/c this can't be good for my kids. AND THIS DOESN'T MEAN I DON'T WANT ANY OF YOU TO EVER CALL ME AGAIN :) I'm willing to have playdates-it gets me out of the house :) I'm a control freak AND a hermit...is anyone else noticing a trend?

5. I can't say no. I've actually gotten a LOT better at it, so if I've said "no" to you recently I'm sorry-you should've hit me up a year ago when I wasn't able to say no. It's REALLY hard for me to tell people I can't do something, b/c in all honesty I usually am actually physically able to do most things. But then it kind of goes back to the control issue. If I say I'm going to do something, I put everything into that, and my mental health suffers and my family suffers. So I have to pick and choose. I've gotten better at understanding my limits, which is why you local people won't see me in charge on Saturday at the women's conference-I'll just be actively participating. But for the most part, you'll probably suck me in if you ask me to do something.

6. My sister has mentioned this about herself before, but it applies to me as well. I LOVE color. So when I see awesome scrapbook paper or (my latest addiction) fabric, I go nuts. My sister said that if she could wallpaper her house with scrapbook paper she would. Same goes for me. If we didn't have to focus so much on having to re-sell our house, you wouldn't be walking in and seeing beige walls. We'll have to see how it goes in our next house. I know I'll have to create some sort of "flow" in the house and its color schemes, but I would LOVE to have each room be it's own "character." The closest I've been able to get to what I really love is Emma's room right now. I'm actually quite surprised at the feelings color invokes in me. Maybe my feelings will change over time...but I doubt it. Too bad for Dave-what he really wants is a log cabin with moose curtains. No way. I can't work with that.

So now I tag anyone who has never done this before. Or who has done this before but has a lot to say about themselves :)

And just because a post is always better with pictures, here's one for ya. We went to the Geauga County Fair and thought this was quite accommodating of them...

Green Eggs and Ham

Some of my earliest memories are during preschool. Which I suppose would be true for everyone since honestly not a whole lot went on in any of our lives prior to that. Unless you count learning to walk and use a toilet. But some of us may not have really mastered the 2nd feat by that age so let's not count that.

Anyway there are 2 memories from preschool that stand out to me. The first was the realization that I am the fastest tricycle rider ever. I remember seeing my friend walking with his mom and we decided we were going to play together at his house. I got really excited and rode home to tell my mom where I was going. I don't know if I was hyped up on pixie sticks or just really excited but my legs were a blur as I zoomed home. I think I almost went into a wheely due to my superhuman acceleration. I ran into that friend after our missions and that was the one childhood memory he brought up to me. "Man, you sure could fly on a trike. And you knocked me out once." He didn't have much of a smile after that 2nd memory for some reason. But in my defense he was really asking for it. That's a whole different story.

So is this one. I remember the first time I heard the story Green Eggs and Ham. Our preschool teacher read us the book and at the end surprised us by having our own Green Eggs and Ham lunch. I remember thinking that those were the best eggs I'd ever had and was always a little mad that my mom wouldn't make them for me. Anyway I didn't want this memory to die with me so I decided to re-create the magic for our girls.

I know, hotdogs don't really count as ham but they're close enough by my book. Now if I could only get Emma or Bree to develop super huge quads to go really fast on their trikes. Maybe it's time to get them into the gym or pump them full of steroids.

Oh and one last memory. I was doing the truffle shuffle in the bathroom one day and my brother caught me. Very traumatic. And for those of you who don't know what that is and before you get some inappropriate ideas reference the movie Goonies.

Here's a link for you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltp-PPL_yeY&feature=related

Permanent Girls Night/Project Night

Monday nights, at my house. Come after the kids are in bed (so I'm not reigning in on anyone's FHE parade). For those of you without kids, that's between 8-8:30. Bring something you're working on or nothing at all. We talk...a lot. And if your kids don't go to bed until 9:30, it's not too late to come. We stay up REALLY late. If you have the munchies and want to bring something, we accept treats of all kinds. :) I'm thinking of spending one night showing people some basics of digiscrapping, so let me know if you're interested in it. If, by chance, I have to cancel, I'll post about it and hopefully offer a replacement location for those still wanting to have it that night.
Hope everyone can come!!

Memo to Mother Nature:

It's still August. Leaves should not be changing colors nor should they be falling from the trees. I think you are confusing them. While 70 degree weather is enjoyable, temperatures should not be dropping to 64 degrees (like it is right now) and gusty winds should not make us feel like we should be out trick-or-treating. My children and I should not be wearing pants and long-sleeved shirts. I want to be outside swimming and still working on my tan.
Please remedy the situation promptly.
Best regards,
Loralee

Held Hostage

Today Von & Lindsey came over and took Emma outside to play while I made some phone calls. Emma was having Von help her fill up this tiny watering pot to water the garden. Then she figured out a new game. She would pretend to empty it, but really not, then would tell Von that she needed more water b/c it was empty. So Von, being the nice uncle he is, would come over to her to fill it back up, at which time she would proceed to throw the water on him. He was a little wise after the first time, so future attempts were thwarted. Until she got a gleeful look on her face and said, "I know what will work BETTER!" She ran over to the hose and chased Von and Lindsey into the house. I hear them run in and slam the door laughing their heads off. So they tell me to go open the door and look at Emma. This is what I found. And don't worry, she sprayed it at us. And if you can't tell from the pictures, she's drenched too-don't know how that happened since she had the hose the whole time. We were stuck in the house for a few minutes-anytime we opened the door for peace talks we got a shot in the face.


And this is what happens when Emma gets ahold of the camera. She filled up the entire memory card with shots like these. Does she think she's being artistic?


And my baby DOES have hair, and it's CURLY!!!!!! That's some glorious spray gel at work there.

Fondant Recipe

Since so many asked for it, here it is! I got this from my old roomie Angela, who got it from HERE!
Just scroll down the page. It really is awesome and so easy to work with! I haven't tried flavoring it with any extracts, but I'm sure it would work. Make sure you share any masterpieces with me! :)

All things girly

Here's the cake I made for Lindsey's baby shower. It's been forever since I've done this, so I was happy with how it turned out. Thanks Angela for the awesome fondant recipe!!

So when Emma dresses up she usually doesn't wear the shoes b/c they always hurt her feet. But without fail, whenever Elizabeth comes over, the dress up shoes are the first thing she finds and puts on. Bree watched Elizabeth walk around in all her high-heeled glory the other night and now that's all Bree wants to do. Good thing she knows how to accessorize too.



In other news, Dave's brother Jared was able to stop by for a little bit last night-he's here on business. It was awesome to see him, even if it was for just a short while-WE MISS YOU GUYS! We'll meet again in South Carolina! :)

What happens when Mom is away...

It was actually pretty decent :) Emma had a golf class everyday for an hour, and he took the girls to the Holden Arboretum with the Jacksons.

Dave's pretty firm in letting Emma dress herself and I'm, well, not. So when I first saw these pictures I thought, NO WAY DAVE-you SERIOUSLY let her wear her princess dress to GOLF??? I thought that even THAT would go against everything sanctimonious about golf.



Then he informed me it was wacky dress up day. Whew!
This pic is after Emma accidentally hit a kid in the head :) Sorry. I think that's funny.
GOOD FORM!!

NYC!!!

Well, we returned in one piece. We still love our children (kind of). HUGE thanks to Emily for letting us stay at her apartment, aka, the "Toy House." I think the girls were happiest when we were there! Since we had kids, we had to pick and choose where we were going to "explore." We saw a lot of the Times Square/Central Park/5th Avenue area and a bit of the financial district. Bree was a crazy child and hated sitting in the stroller, so we had to work around that. I really wish I had a leash for her-but even if I did I don't know that we would have been able to let her walk around-she would have been trampled! So as often as we could we let her loose :) So here's the slideshow. I'll have to take some pics of our New York souvenirs/treasures. I'll post that later :) After NYC we headed to Washington DC so Dave could go to a continuing education course. We stayed in Virginia and all weekend it was TAX FREE DAYS! I went to the outlets :) Sadly, I didn't go in to DC to see any of the sites. After walking around NYC with the 2 girls and a husband I didn't think I could do it without Dave to help. Maybe another time. FUN TRIP AND GREAT MEMORIES! I'm glad we went and experienced it--next time, NO KIDS ALLOWED!

Where have we been?

Bree is a happy baby again. She cracks us up. She has decided that she doesn't want to go to bed at 6pm anymore (I know, it was good while it lasted!). So now she babbles up in her crib when we put her to bed at 6, then the babbling turns to screaming, which we have figured out to mean that she has thrown everything, including the binky, out of the crib. So we go upstairs and the second we open the door, we're laughing our heads off. Last night I found her sitting on the squished bumper pad with her legs sticking out of the bars, swinging. And by that time of night I've usually regained some sanity so I'm happy to see her, so I pick her up and she proceeds to "beep beep" my nose and her nose, poke my eye and say "eeeeeyyyyyeeee" and point to my mouth and do that funny lelelelele noise that babies do-you know which one I'm talking about? So, I love her again :)

We were so lucky to have my grandparents and extended family come through on a church history tour. They came to our house after a long day in Kirtland for a bbq. Then the next morning I was lucky enough to go meet with Brother Anderson and the family at the Isaac Morley farm to talk about the things that happened there. AWESOME information. And after that we all piled back into the cars and checked out the quarry that the temple rocks came from, went to sacrament mtg at the Kirtland building, ran through pouring rain back into the cars (I was DRENCHED), at which point we drove to the John Johnson farm. Richard Holtzapfel was with my grandparents in one car and we all had walkie talkies in our cars, so he would talk about EVERYTHING in the area, whether church-related or Amish-related, over the walkie talkies while we drove. That man knows EVERYTHING! That was a great day.

We headed to Cedar Point the next day with some of the family that stuck around. They were lucky enough to have kids old enough to go off on their own :) They were SOOOO nice to play with the girls while Dave and I stood in line for Dragster. I know they do that family pass thing, but to be honest, unless you have friends to go with, it's not much fun going on a ride by yourself. It was a REALLY hot and sunny day and the girls weren't so happy about it, so we'll be trying that again without kids. At least Emma got to go on a ton of rides! And Bree was big enough for a couple of them too. Of course, she screamed her head off when she saw Emma going on rides and SHE wasn't on them, hence the red eyes and snotty nose in a couple of the pics when she finally got to go on a ride :)



Can you tell this is the last ride of the day? Everyone was a bit hot and tired...



Dave's off for 3 weeks, so this last week we've tried to play "vacation." We went to see Kung Fu Panda and went to Geauga Lake. When we got home Emma took off her swimsuit and put on panties, but nothing else. But she wanted to go outside! I thought her shoe selection was pretty funny.





And tomorrow we go to NYC!!!!!! I'm so so so so excited. Our awesome friends have a sister that lives there and we get to stay at her place (we're friends with her too-we're not THAT weird!). We've checked out books about things to do with kids and tried to plan things so we can see stuff but have happy kids. So...we'll see you in a week!