WICKED!!!!!

I have been looking forward to this quick trip up to New York with a couple of my friends for a long time. Mostly because we were going up to see Wicked on Broadway!!! At the last minute one of my friends couldn't go :( she has a new baby who suddenly refused a bottle. So I called my cousin Shelly to see if she wanted/could go and I was so excited when after a little figuring she was able to come!

The car drive was great and went a lot like this: yack, yack, yack, yack, yack yack, yack! A lot of talking. And the closer we got to New York the more excited I was to see the great New Jersey Turnpike. I of course knew it was 'great' because Simon and Garfunkel sang about it in a song, "counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike, they've all come to look for America". So I sat up in my seat and paid attention as we approached but after going through a toll it all just looked like your run of the mill freeways. So I asked Christy, "so where is this turnpike?" and she says, "that was it." I frantically started taking pictures out the back window but the illusion was speeding away faster than we were. Shelly took a picture of me giving my "that was it?!", look which I feel illustrates the moment well.

When we arrived in N.Y. we walked around the Times Square area and Rockefeller Center and did a bit of shopping before we went and fell asleep for a couple of hours in our room -which we were all grateful for, having been up since the wee hours of the morning. Then we got ready and had a great dinner before going to....

WICKED!!! I was so giddy and excited. I could whip out a bunch of descriptive words to describe the show but I feel like they would fall so short. AMAZING!!!! SO AMAZING!!!! It was so entertaining and the voices these people have...it just isn't normal...or fair. Seeing this musical will forever be a highlight of my life. Seriously.

After the show it was late but we changed and walked a block over to Times Square and grabbed a hot chocolate as we took in the sights. One of which was...wait for it...my first celebrity sighting, Carly Smithson from American Idol. Well, actually Erica saw her first and she and Christy were freaking out. It was hilarious. But Carly and her tatted-up husband were very cool. Shelly generously offered to take a picture for us and I was really glad Erica insisted Carly's husband be in the picture too. As we were walking away in shock, Shelly patiently asks, "Okay. Now who was that?" No wonder she was so willing to take the picture! She hasn't been watching American Idol this season! Thinking of the scene we made through Shelly's eyes makes me laugh even now. She must have been wondering why were freaking out over those two. Funny.

It was really a great trip and I have to thank Nathan for encouraging, helping, and supporting me to be able to go. He was great- they were even on time to church! Kennedy's quote of the day was, "Dad, it's okay that my hair is ugly. You're just not a good doer. But that's okay." She said this regarding the braid that Nathan attempted which was down-graded to her hair down with a barrette in it. Aly and Kohen's hair though...not bad. Not bad at all.

A Service For 50,000

So. Two years ago, May 1, 2005 I was a very pregnant Erin in my home in Boise sitting with an interviewer and their laptop for over an hour answering difficult questions for the General Social Survey. This is the huge survey that they get most of the statistics that are used all of the time in news and magazines, by politicians etc. I got paid something like $40 bucks so I think I felt like it was interesting enough and I had done a good job. By giving my oh-so-humble-opinions I represented 50,000 fellow Americans opinions and I felt a sense of pride about that...seeing as all of my conservative views are the correct views anyway, lol.

Anyway, I had pretty much forgotten I had even done the survey until this past Saturday when Kennedy opened the door for a lady who *surprise!* would like to schedule a follow up Survey to see how my opinions had changed, if at all, over 2 years. At first I was like, 'how in the world did they find me?' and then I felt a little silly for not realizing this would be an ongoing thing I had committed to. At any rate the lady made an appointment to come back Monday. So last night there I sat with Agnetha (she is from Sweden) who self-consciously admits in her thick accent that this is actually the first time she has really given the Survey...have you read my blog long enough to know where I am going with this???

2 1/2 hours later Agnetha finished her first survey ever and she left me totally starving and mentally exhausted. 2 1/2 hours!!!! Sheesh. I had forgotten the type of questions they ask. While they are still fresh in my mind I will share a few, understanding that most questions have options for answers that you have to choose the closest one to what you think or experienced. They ask about where I grew up, estimated population, views of area. My parents education, work, Nathan and I's education, work, what social class I grew up in, how much Nathan and I made last year, religious views, questions about gender/race discrimination in jobs, my opinion of working mother's (a little difficult to answer when being asked by a working mother, btw. There was no option for mother's working once their children are in school or only working if necessary. No, it was more like "A mother's place is in the home" do you agree, or disagree with this statement?!), situations I feel abortion is acceptable, and a series of 3 questions about 3 different groups of people, Blacks, Homosexuals, and Communists within our community. I set up three surveys to the left that you can anonymously answer that are the same as what she asked me. I am curious to see if I represented my friends and family accurately.

They end the interview after they turn the laptop over to me and I privately answer super personal questions about my sexual preference, experiences, partner(s), birth control, have I ever been tested for Aids, etc. And since this interview took so long I was s-p-e-n-t by the time she left. But I feel a real responsibility to answer these questions properly to represent my beliefs...I hope I did a good job. And maybe I wouldn't mind if they couldn't find me two years from now...No, I actually believe it is important so I will endure...and then blog about it. :)

Bunny in the Papoose

When Aly came up to me, handed me her favorite little bunny and then turned her back to me and just stood there, it took me a little while and a bit of gesturing from her before I figured out what she wanted. Turns out she wanted to carry her bunny papoose style. It has become her new favorite way to carry her little bunny leaving her hands free to get into all sorts of other mischief.. 10 points for being cute and clever.

A Bug's Life

Kennedy and Kohen discovered a couple of ants down by the garage door. This was big. Big for Kennedy as she went all Code Red and demanded permission to call her Dad and apprise him of this serious situation. Big for Kohen because he sat right down and got a little sugar ant to crawl up onto his hand. Classic. I got distracted by Aly and just a few minutes later Kennedy and Kohen are racing up the stairs to show me what they had put in their new bug house.

For some reason I didn't make the connection at first between the ants downstairs and the bug they had 'just' caught and put in the house. I saw the grass and I was nervously looking for the huge black spider I was sure Kohen had gingerly picked up and put in there. Then I saw it. It's there in the above picture, south of the grass, a little black speck- my children's first successful bug catch ever. They were so proud. As they chattered away to me I was trying to get a good shot of the ant and before I knew what he was up to, that little sugar ant walked right on out of the mesh cage.

I showed the kids their little ant was making a clean getaway and the below pictures were their sincere reactions. Kennedy was like, 'Hay-ee!' and Kohen was all, 'Didn't he see the grass we got for him?'.... They had never conceived that their little ant could or would just walk on out of the house/prison they had so feverishly/lovingly prepared for it.

At dinner they were telling Nathan all about their ant misadventures and at one point Kennedy says, "Kohen likes to pound with his hand....He just pounded that ant really hard with his hand....really hard...........He really likes ants." I sense some of the hilarity of that moment might be lost in translation somewhere between our kitchen table and the Bloggersphere but trust me, the way she said it, all serious, it had Nathan and I rollin'. I don't think I will ever look at a sugar ant the same way again.

Touche'

This is a picture of Kennedy holding our dear friends' baby, Zoe. Zoe was a preemie so she hasn't been allowed out or around children until recently. As you can see, Kenna was loving having a real baby to hold. Speaking of babies, the following is further proof that Kennedy isn't one anymore. *sniff*
So, Kenna's backpack totally busted open a week or so ago. Not the type of tear that can be patched up or I assure you I would have tried just so the bag would make it through this year. But alas, it's a goner. So on Monday I took all three children with me to the store on a hunt for a back pack. Kennedy liked several backpacks pointing first to one with the Disney princesses on it, then one with a My Little Pony on it, and then one with....brace yourselves....the Bratz dolls on it.

I told her 'No way' were we getting that backpack and when she asked why not I thought, "Um gee, let's see. If I wanted my young impressionable daughter to think that looking sexy was important at 5, or that getting Collagen injected into your lips is necessary to be cool, or that you need to keep your years supply of make up on your face, then these little tarts would be the perfect role models!" But as I tried to pick just one reason, Modesty was the answer that came out first. She has been very aware of this lately so I thought my reason might be reason enough. And for a few minutes it was.
Then on the relatively silent drive home Kennedy asks, "Mom, why didn't you want me to have that one backpack?" I answered again that it was because they were dressed immodestly and she pauses and then says, "But Mom, you said we shouldn't not like someone because of how they dress." Yikes...she has a point there. Look at her using my words against me! Already! But she was being sincere so I was more just shocked that she had connected the issues (and somehow, I hadn't). I told her she was right, that we don't just judge people because of how they wear their clothes. Then I tried explaining more that the dolls were not good examples for many reasons and Dad and I had long ago decided we didn't want our children playing with them. How should I have answered her? Any ideas? Input? I always come away from important conversations feeling like I didn't do that hot...and also irritated that it always happens when Nathan isn't around because of course, he always knows how to explain things...

Part One

Saturday Nathan and I decided to try and drive an hour to Baltimore's Inner Harbor area and go to this really cool looking hands-on Children's Museum. We risked it all by loading up the children at nap/quiet time. We told Kenna and Kohen they couldn't talk because it was quiet time and within minutes the miracle of the century occurred: All 3 children fell asleep! I still can't believe it. It was such a good omen. They all woke up as we pulled into Inner Harbor and though Aly was about an hour short of her regular nap, she did amazingly well. Having learned from mistakes in the past, we tell the kids absolutely nothing about where we are going in case for some reason it falls through or something is closed, or someone gets sick etc. So they were surprised and thrilled when we walked into this 3 story playground.

Every time we went passed this station Kennedy would ask if she could "feed the car" again. Would it be too cliche to say here, "with gas prices these days it sure feels like thats all we do!"??

Nathan's competitive nature glaring through as he tries to get a perfect score. This scene was very reminiscent of my favorite scene from I Love Lucy when Lucy and Ethel are working in the Chocolate Factory...

This was a super cute Diner where the parents sat in booths and at tables and the children brought you menus and then food after they had 'prepared' it in the kitchen. Nathan and I must have sat in there eating fake food for I don't know how long, it was a hit.

The food was made out of some sort of silicone-ish material and was rubbery and flexible...It was kind of creepin us out.

Then there was the water room where the children could all put on rain coats and play in the water. The cloud was raining and there was steam coming out of the mountain. You could build a damn and cause the flood plains to flood- you could shoot streams of water at instruments to make sounds. You could spray the windows and squeegee them, you could build fountains...so many cool things.

When you were done playing in the water room you could get dried off by pushing the red button and standing there while a heat lamp warmed you and air blew on you. Always fun to watch your children get blasted with air...

Part Two Inner Harbor

This part was fun, Nathan and Kennedy were climbing around the wall and Nathan was playing along as Kenna was being dramatic about their 'adventure'. He would even swing her off the wall and 'save' her by putting her back on. It was sweet of him to play along because she was deep into her pretend world. Two other things to note. Nathan is sweating but not from the strain of lifting Kennedy- it was super hot in there. Also, in this little part the floor was made of thin pieces of rope and then that was it, until you hit the concrete floor two stories down. I didn't love that part so much.


After the Museum we went and explored Inner Harbor and they have ships and a submarine that you can pay to go walk through. We might have gone through the sub except it was after 5pm so we just looked. Then we had a snack and fed the 'beautiful birds!' (rats with wings) before we went and had dinner where Aly tried her first California Roll...she is her father's daughter.

Our drive home was beautiful and we enjoyed the sunset. I even got a great shot of the Washington D.C. temple. Which btw, does not have beds in it for newly wed couples to consummate their marriages like the Fundamentalist crazies down in Texas had (yeah, I said it.) It was such a beautiful and great day as a family.

A Good Way To Spend A Weekend

So, I may be a little late on this post but I but I still wanted to put it up. We had a nice General Conference Weekend listening to the General Authorities speak and most importantly we were able to sustain President Thomas S. Monson as the Prophet and leader of the LDS church. But with a weekend full of trying to keep the children quiet and occupied as we watched Conference I got to focus a lot less than I would have liked. But we try to make the weekend something to look forward to and this time we got up and for breakfast made Monkey Bread together which was a fun treat. Later the older kids got to try something I remembered my good friend Amber D. telling me she had done with her kids a few years ago. Kennedy and Kohen got to build temples out of sugar cubes and they were pretty thrilled to be using glue for once in their little lives. And they actually did it for quite some time until Kohen discovered he was playing with sugar...building temples out of sugar cubes is now officially Kohen's favorite activity.

Videos

This took place when Aly and Kennedy were trying on some new $30+ dresses that I got for under $10!! Woo hoo! Anyhow, Kenna was in love and ran up the stairs and surprised me with this little performance- considering she has only seen this scene maybe 2 times. I of course grabbed the camera and had her do it again, you will have to excuse Aly's appearance. If you have never seen The Sound of Music, I doubt this will be cute to you, just f.y.i.

Now Kohen, well, he is quite the talkative little guy. In the middle of pretend play he will often run up to me and go off on some emotional rant about something make believe, in this case I believe it was about breakfast. I had interrupted his flow by getting the camera so this is a very mellow version of the usual. 10 points to anyone who can understand what he is saying!

Kohen's First Drawing

For some reason I LOVE when little children draw people, you know, circles with sticks jutting out of them? Well, today Kohen drew his very first person ever and I love it. He shows Nathan and I and tells us that "This is Santa." (notice the hat with the pom pom on top) and then he kind of sheepishly follows up with, "I didn't give him a bag cuz his arms are a little small." Oh my goodness Nathan and I busted UP! And Kohen is so expressive -always using unique facial expressions and hand gestures- that to see him explain the picture was just a parental treat. Seriously. What kid draws Santa for their first person drawing ever? I wouldn't be surprised if he was already trying to earn brownie points for next December.

Chariots Of Fire

Haven't I been pretty clear that Nathan is the runner in our family? Okay. So then what do you think inspired me to suggest I go running with Nathan and the kids this evening? Yeah, I think I've been desensitized by watching all of the running that Nathan does like it is no big deal and thought that "it wouldn't be that bad"-oh man, if you could hear me right now I am laughing so hard I'm snorting...Nathan often goes running with his super athletic 16 yr old cousin Kim and takes 2 of the kids in the double jogger stroller. Well once the kids got wind that I was thinking about going they were totally begging me to go with and all excited and it must have caused me to have a moment of temporary insanity because I agreed.

Let me just preface this little story by saying that I haven't done any consistent cardio since I was very pregnant with Aly. Aly is now 22 months old. But I guess you got to start somewhere right? Starting off both Kennedy and Kohen wanted to run. This was fine. Totally cute too. Kennedy has the weirdest run, but somehow it totally works for her. And Kohen actually kept our pace for a good 20 seconds before he needed a short break in the stroller. I would just like to point out here that I can totally out run Kohen. So yeah, I'm not a total loser.

We met Kim at the corner and started up a long low grade hill. My lungs felt like the combustion chamber in an engine and with each breath I took in I am wondering how long I could possibly have left to live. I am totally ready to cheese this little 'run' and walk home but the Super-Athlete-Kim and the Amazing-Marathon-Man-Nathan keep encouraging me to push through it. My pride keeps me going through mile 1. Pretty soon the little hill drags out into a serious incline and I start walking but with really fast moving arms to keep up appearances. Kohen -back in the stroller at this point- is totally on to me and starts shouting encouragements like "Keep going mom, Keep going! It doesn't hurt, Mom, keep going!" It was so dang cute, but it was killing me as I was huffing and puffing up that hill like the Big Bad Wolf. I didn't want to let Kohen down so I started to jog when he was watching me and walk when he wasn't. This technique worked very well for when Kim or Nathan would look back to check on me, I got super good at it. Mile 2, I finally convinced them to just go at their regular pace and not wait for me cuz they were doing that like, granny shuffle trying to let me keep up. I don't know why their shuffle was still so much faster than mine. Dang.

So then , Mile 3, I was on my own...cue Chariots of Fire music...Eventually I did make it home. I was able to cut a corner of the entrance to our street and see Kennedy sprinting to our house. She probably did more actual running than I did. I am glad the children have a love of running from their Dad's example. They may have a love of eating junk food from their Mom's example. In fact you are welcome to come over for dessert tonight. I will be serving up Ibuprofen and huge slices of humble pie.

Cherry Blossoms 2008

Last week I met Nathan downtown after work with the kids. The Cherry Blossoms were at about 90% of their full bloom- in my totally unscientific opinion- and were amazing. I wanted to try and get some good pictures of the kids there this year and I have to thank my friend Jessie because she let me borrow her awesome camera, which up-ed my chances of getting a good picture even though I am certain I didn't use the camera any where near it's full ability. It was still super fun to play around with. There are all of these professional photogs down there, several had all manner of tripods, gadgets, and serious demeanor's to take pictures of the blossoms and I'll admit I felt felt a bit like one of them shooting pictures with a suh-weet camera... only you guys will know the truth!! lol. Anyway, thanks again Jessie, we had a great time.

Two of my favorites

National Marathon 2008

On Saturday Nathan ran the National Marathon through D.C.. They have these cool things called "Pace Tat"s- that you put on like a fake tatoo and it has what all of your projectied times should be according to what you want to run- so that all you have to do is look at your arm to see if you are on track etc. pretty cool I think...and maybe in a strange way a little sexy...I'm just saying! ;)

It was a lot sunnier and colder -go figure- this year than last and with the wind chills at 7am it was straight up frigid. I wanted to quit and I was just a spectator. Nathan's cousin Peter and his *girlfriend Jen (*read following post for the changing of Jen's girlfriend status) came down and rode the Metros all over with me to catch him at different mile markers and cheer him on- I was so grateful for their company and Metro hopping skills -the kind even Napoleon would be jealous of. Nathan tried a new thing this marathon called Negative Splits (I know, sounds like something only the Peking Acrobats should be doing) where basically you really hold yourself back in the beginning and then continually go a bit faster and you end up passing hundreds of people which is super good mentally, and supposedly you aren't feeling like you are going to die mile #20. Well, apparently it worked because Nathan beat his best time by several minutes and finished in 3hours, 39 min!!! Trust me, that is good. He said that mentally it was his best race ever because by holding back in the beginning and not getting caught up in the initial excitement of the race and overdoing it, he took his time and didn't even feel like he was running a race until mile 17-never thought I would write the last 12 words.... I am SO proud of him and impressed with this race...in the freezing cold...running (voluntarily, mind you)...for 26.2 miles.

March 29, A Big Day

So Saturday, Nathan's Marathon day, is also his Big Tom's birthday. Happy Birthday Tom!!!!! We all went out to eat at Outback to celebrate. But it turned out to be an extra special night because between the time Peter and Jen left Nathan and I at the marathon and seeing them at dinner- Jen's girlfriend status changed to that of Fiance'! Peter and Jen are engaged!!! We are so excited for Peter and Jen and grateful for their example being all "smoocherations" (a favorite word coined by Big Tom) lately, causing Nathan and I to reflect on that special time in our life and not forget to do a little "smoocherations" ourselves. Congratulations Nathan, Congratulations PB&J, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM!

Side Walk Chalk & A Time Out

My parents sent some sidewalk chalk for Easter and it has been 7 days of nagging to go out and use it and the kidlings have been denied each time for several reasons, weather being numero uno. So when Nathan came home from work on Friday (oh wait that means it's only been 5 days of nagging...it's seemed like a lot more than that.) he took the crew out to play. As you can see they had a merry old time and Kennedy drew several things that were cute and Nathan drew them a 'scop-scotch' so Kennedy could play and Kohen could chuck a rock around without getting scolded.

Then we have Aly. Aly has decided it is funny to run out into our street. Our street is not busy, we are always near by, but she thinks it is hilarious to run out and have us come after her. Today as a van turned the corner onto our street she decided it was time to make a break for it. Don't worry, the van totally saw her and stopped far back and Nathan was right on her and this time she was in literally zero danger. But it is the principle- and I don't expect a 23 month old to understand why it is dangerous- just that it is and we don't go out in the street- especially not laughing and running! So Nathan picks her up, carrying her inside and sternly telling her 'no'. Aly doesn't appreciate sternness and so she was crying by the time he got her inside for her time out. She cried big 'ol crocodile tears (tangent: has anyone actually seen crocodile tears? And what classifies them as 'big'? Anyone?) and I couldn't resist the compulsion to take a few pictures. I love the last one. She looks pretty sitting there all seemingly repentant and, you know, not run over by big van.

Spring Favorites

Daffodils. They are my most favorite spring flower. Not just because they are a cheery bright yellow and such a sight for sore eyes after months of gloomy winter greys, but also because they appear to be heralding in spring time. They are always the very first flowers out and they trumpet the chilly weather away. By their very presence they assure us that warmer spring weather is mere days away. I totally couldn't resist running out to the median where these are planted to snap a picure.

This was one of my favorite Easter pictures. Moments like this are so rare and to catch it in a picture is just a treat because it is tangible proof that stuff like this does happen once in a while!

When I tried to get the three children to stand together for a picture, out of nowhere Alyssa turned to the nearest stair and totally lost it. But one of my favorite things that she does when she cries is cover her eyes- so dramatic- and even though none of us know why she felt so strongly about not taking a picture with her siblings, her break-down was pretty funny.